Chapter 26

She's late.

As if on que the sound of someone fumbling with the lock echoed through the apartment. Door swung open, Juli had her hands full with bags of groceries and a few bits of mail clenched between her teeth. They were the first to be dropped; right on the coffee table. "Sorry that I'm late." Juli cursed to herself as she dropped a bag.

Ruvik glanced up from the couch, rubbing at weary eyes before checking his watch. "It's one in the morning." He told himself the time more than telling her.

Light flicked on, Juli dumped the bags on the island in her kitchen. "I know…I know…" Fridge popped open, she began to place everything bought inside. "I just… I swore I had a lead tonight."

Slowly approaching the kitchen, Ruvik watched her organize. The way she kept meat in a freezer drawer, the way she put apples with vegetables and not the other fruits. All of it. None of it was filtered out. A glimpse of her when he was not around.

Sometimes he wished that wasn't the case.

Sometimes.

Most of the time.

Every moment.

Mahogany eyes lifted their hues to peer over at him. "I'm really sorry that I'm late. I swear I didn't intend to miss our little class." The fridge door closed as she pushed it shut. "Forgive me?"

Amusement strung across Ruvik's mouth. She charmed him with a few batted eyelashes. A sigh escaped him as he wandered into the kitchen. "I'll consider it. If you can do something for me," He purred, arms looping around the woman's waist.

A curious brow and a sly grin encompassed Juli's features, white stone nails dragging down the crimson colored shirt on his chest. "What did you have in mind?"

"A glass of wine." He uttered softly, brows raising high when she laughed. "What?"

Breaking free of his grasp, Juli sauntered to the rack to select a bottle. "Oh, I thought you might have something more morbid or erotic in mind."

Arms crossed, a snicker escaped Victoriano. "What did you think I would ask that was morbid?"

Juli stood tall, deciding on a merlot. "Oh, I don't know… Helping you hide a body."

His expression fell flat, but recovered into a snort. "I have a man for that already." It wasn't a lie, though his tone implied nothing more than a joke. Somewhere out past Elk River, a fresh grave was ready to feed worms.

Parting is such sweet sorrow…

"You wouldn't call me if you needed to hide a body?" Wine cork popped out, Juli feigned a pout. "I'm hurt that you wouldn't."

Ruvik smirked, leaning against the marble topped island. "If I ever do, I will call you." He accepted a glass from her, inhaling the aroma of a wine that was less than what he normally would have. The urge to make a face was fought, and he took a sip. "So… this lead you had tonight."

The contents of Juli's glass went down in one go. She made a face at the taste, setting the glass aside. "Dead end as far as Homicide is concerned…" The brunette poured herself another glass. "Some psychic said that there are twelve bodies buried in a mass grave out past Elk River and we're supposed to go look for them because she said so." Glass lifted to her lips, Juli took another swig. "The woman is full of shit. All of the murders are in Krimson City. Sebastian almost threw me out on my ass when I told him I had followed up on that lead." Her lips pursed. "It was a bad day…"

Ruvik couldn't hide the alarm in his eyes, but she wasn't paying attention to his expression. He pinched the bridge of his nose, and then approached her. "It'll be fine. You're being thorough." He uttered softly, pulling her into his arms again. A hand running the length of her back, Ruvik sighed. "If they do…I can always find you a job."

"Ruvik, no…"

"No, it'll be a real job. I can make room for you anywhere."

Juli's expression cracked under the stress. Mobius wouldn't be quiet if she managed to get herself thrown off the force. She was supposed to keep an eye on her team. That was her whole job and somehow she was failing miserably at it. "This has been my life… I worked so hard for all of this. I don't want to pick up and go elsewhere. I've looked at doing something else… I'm not cut out for it."

He fell silent. She didn't need him to fix the problem, only to listen to her.

"I just… I want to catch this woman. I want to put her away for good." She reached for her glass and finished it off. "Well, enough about my horrible day. What have you been up to today?"

Oh nothing…just finished butchering your attacker.

Lips pressing into a thin line, Ruvik shrugged. "Walked the dog."

"Must be nice." Juli uttered, wandering into the living room. Holster and gun removed, she laid both on the coffee table. Her badge went down with them.

Ruvik followed, an arm draping across the back of the couch as he sat down. When she joined him the appendage wrapped around her. All he could smell was her perfume. "It'll be fine. You'll catch her one way or another."

Legs crossed, she nestled her nose against his shirt. The scent of spiced cologne filled her nostrils. It was a welcoming aroma after such a long and miserable day. "You know what's funny? I believe your insight more than I do the others. I feel like we're just chasing our tails."

A sound of acknowledgement escaped Ruvik, long fingers pressing high along her shoulder. "You're tougher and wiser than you give yourself credit for. I hardly could do your job. The red tape and justice system would have driven me into madness."

"Yeah…" She sighed when his mouth touched to her neck, tongue rolling against that creamy throat of hers. Juli melted into the touch. She needed his wicked silver tongue in more ways than just spilling words in her favor. Pulse battering her heart in its cage, she was quick to begin unbuttoning her shirt. A laugh wandered free of her when he brushed her hands aside and did the work for her. One by one the pearl buttons popped open. A wanton sound slithered free when his chilly digits ran under the lacy black fabric of her bra.

"Did I buy you this one?" He asked barely above a whisper, fingers running over the stitching of the fabric.

"You did." She replied under blushing cheeks.

"I should have bought it in red…" He uttered softly, guiding the shirt away from her shoulder.

Juli laughed. "You buy me everything in red. It must be your favorite color."

"On you…" White stone nails running the length of his inner thigh, Ruvik's nostrils flared. His long fingers guided her jaw, mouth fusing with Juli's own.

Her hand went to his belt, wrenching both it and the fly of his trousers open. There was some pride in seeing his pupils dial when her nails drug along the span of skin hidden beneath the fabric. Rising from the sofa, Juli shed the layers covering her ivory colored skin. Black fabric fell away from the swell of her breasts and was dropped to the floor. The sheer fabric of her panties gave a glimpse of what hid beneath. She left them on as she crawled into his lap. Her fingers went to his tie, loosening it and removing it. "I've thought about this all day."

"Have you?" He asked softly. Long fingers slid down her ribs, grasping at her hips when she ground down against him.

"Mhm…"

He cupped the swell of her right breast. Tasting all she had to offer with a slick pink tongue, his lips spread wide in an open grin when the woman's breath hitched. Tongue wandering over the sensitive bud, she mewled so shamelessly that the air felt too warm and his clothing five sizes too tight. He released her to wrestle with her urge to overpower him and take what she wanted.

Juli intended just that. Long fingers ripped Victoriano's shirt wide open. Red buttons fell to the floor like jewels. One escaped under the couch.

A laugh escaped Ruvik. He loved her savage nature when it appeared out of its camouflage before him. He despised the world for forcing her to wear masks to hide it. He would burn it all to the ground to free her from it if he could. His wild Aphrodite deserved better than this world.

It was short lived as Juli had his chin in the claws that were her white stone nails. Mouth crushing his, she forced her tongue in and pushed against his, demanding reciprocation from him wordlessly.

He followed in kind, letting her devour him between pale edges. Ruvik could taste the wine still leaving traces of its flavor for him to find. When their lips broke, he could only inhale the sweet aroma of wine and her perfume.

She made him ache in the worst of ways.

Her fingers trailed over rough and damaged skin on his bare chest, a pathway to nowhere and yet everywhere.

Ruvik shoved his hand between her legs, nimble digits feeling their way under the sheer fabric. A gentle finger traced the petals, toying with her. He grinned as she shuddered.

Juli gasped when his wrist flipped, an able finger gliding in. Internally she collapsed around him, over and over while his thumb ran in circles over her pearl. "Don't stop." She whispered breathlessly, visibly trembling.

Ruvik's grin could not be sunk watching her lose her mind before him. Her beautiful back arching. Sweet nectar dripping over his hand. Her nails testing themselves on his flesh; all of it more than he ever deserved.

Biting back a moan, Juli brought one hand to rest on the wall behind the couch; the other went straight past his fly to curl around the length of his girth.

The third stroke of her hand and his eyes were shielded by hooded lids. He wouldn't have been surprised if he melted on the spot from her touch.

It was too much.

Not enough.

He was a Lotus eater in her hands. "I-If you do that too much, it's going to be a short evening for both of us."

His words went unheeded, her grip tightened. Her thumb rolled over the undercarriage of the head in a lazy rotating fashion. She wasn't pleased until he was dripping all over her fingers, with flushed cheeks and begging her to stop before he finished.

He hated how she made his member weep all over the skin stretched between her thumb and index finger.

He loved it too.

Juli obeyed, despite being spurned the chance to see him lose his mind for once. Hazy in expression when he withdrew his fingers from her, she drug her nails along his jaw and wandered downward. The panties were tossed off, finding their way onto the undisturbed ivory keys of her piano. Slowly, she eased herself onto him.

Ruvik's breath mutely hitched, hands wandering back to her hips. So warm and inviting, he could have died a happy man on the spot. He swallowed hard, brows knitting. It felt like the first time all over again for him. It always felt like the first time and he was still in disbelief that she was his. His disbelief evaporated as her mouth fused to his once more.

Juli kept the pace slow, savoring the moment. She let him set her on fire again with that silver tongue, crying out when his teeth marked her shoulder as his. A groan accompanied his tongue bathing over the perfect imprint of his teeth on her milky colored skin.

He strained with composure, desperate to maintain control. It faded quickly, his fingers leaving white marks to turn into red water color on her hips. He met her halfway over and over, desperate to wring every last wanton sound that was bit back by Juli.

She lost the fight to contain those sounds, hips bucking as his girth brushed against that one spot deep inside. One spot that drove her right over the edge. She shattered in his arms, a mess of sound and motion as she reached her peak.

He followed soon after. His arm coiled around her as affectionate as a snake coiling around its prey. The free hand went to lift tresses of brunette from her face, revealing her savage beauty and the exhaustion.

"I love you…" She whispered breathlessly.

A scarred palm gently splayed against her cheek. "I love you too, my joy…"

Juli's pink lips spread into a smile. She believed him.

Both handles were given a twist. The bath water ran a suitable temperature for both of them. She let him decide. She favored watching him leaned over the side of the lion clawed tub, naked with a palm in the water. Nothing about him in that moment eluded her. His breath causing a rise and fall, and the way his soft pale skin gave way to ruthless scars.

My Adonis…

A good man to her lived in a shell damaged by the world. She never had wished for him any different than he was. She was not a shallow woman. There was a beauty to his appearance. A rugged and ruthless beauty only found in lone wolves and battle scarred stags. A beauty that had unwove her thread from the clutches of the fates and gave her new outlook on life.

I'm not alone in this world.

She smiled to herself, a hand clutching her house coat closed. Stepping into the bathroom, a gentle hand went to his shoulder, shrouding a wicked scar.

Ruvik looked up to her, the corners of his mouth turning up.

"I really do love you." It sounded so awkward to Juli, like it wasn't enough.

He knew.

He could see it in her eyes.

He crawled in first.

She crawled in second.

A gentle hand pulled her back to him, resting on her forehead. Tilting her away, his mouth enclosed around her earlobe; biting and teasing the tender flesh; his favorite game to play with her.

Juli laughed, a carefree and silly sound forking from pearly teeth as she tilted away from his reach. "Don't do that." She was such a liar, she loved it. She was as bubbly as champagne with him.

Ruvik smirked, satisfied with his work. Long fingers reached out to the Victorian styled stand next to the tub. Into the tub went a generous amount of bubble bath. Soon bubbles rippled around them amid the warm water.

She fashioned a foamy beard on him and laughed.

He did the same, shaping one on her.

They both laughed.

Wet footprints led to the bedroom and to the bed where they played in the dark.

She squealed when his teeth found her hip, desperate to pull away before he did it again.

He laughed when she couldn't overpower him with arms alone.

They wrestled and played until they were out of breath. Both laid out in the dark, it was Juli that grabbed a pillow and tossed it over her companion's head. Playfully she pushed it down.

"You dead yet?"

"Completely and utterly dead." He replied when the pillow was pulled away, eyes closed. He blindly reached out and pulled her close. Coiling around her, Ruvik rested his nose against her throat.

"Do you think we'll always be like this?" A rather deep question from Juli at three in the morning.

Ruvik tilted his head, gazing toward the shadows casting their fingers in long lines on the ceiling. He liked her deep questions. "No…"

Juli raised a brow, turning her head to gaze at his outline.

"We'll be better than this…"

My face will be restored… All that was taken from me will be mine once more. I'll live the life I should have lived and I'll live it with you.

She gazed toward the ceiling as well. "I think we're great just like this."

Ruvik side glanced toward her. "You do?"

Juli nodded. "I hope we never change." Her voice sounded wistful and tired.

Ruvik's silence was all the reply she would have.

"To love is to burn, to be on fire."

-Jane Austen