Chapter 14

Reality interrupted in the form of my cell phone ringing insistently, the loud chirp waking me from the deepest and most peaceful sleep I've had in ... well, a long time. I moved, trying to heave myself out of bed to shut my phone up when the heavy, warmth across my abdomen tightened into an unbreakable band of steel.

Talon pulled me back into him, holding my bare body against his own, obviously not open to letting me go. I wasn't minding in the least. The phone could wait, as far as I was concerned. A nagging worry inserted itself as I snuggled back into my lover: what if it was my father? What if something else had happened?

With a groan of defeat, I resigned myself to getting up as my phone went off downstairs, unable to ignore it anymore.

"Talon," I called out softly, rubbing his arm where it lay across my stomach. "I need to get up. My phone's been ringing for a while."

Voice rough and sexy with sleep, he grumbled, "Just let it keep ringing, they can leave a message."

I sighed. "I can't. What if it's my dad trying to reach me?" The ringing downstairs stopped briefly and my cell started chirping again. Talon grumbled some more but let me up, his reluctance a twin to my own.

Finally finding my cell under the chair, I answered it on the last ring without looking at the screen. "Hello?"

"Aggie? Where are you? Are you all right?" It was Aunt Annie and she sounded extremely worried.

Confused, I said, "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm at home. Is something wrong?"

"Thank goodness!" she exclaimed with a huge sigh. "I've been calling for the last hour. When you weren't here to open the shop, I got worried."

Glancing at my alarm clock, then my wrist watch, I felt my eyes widen in shock. It was after one o'clock in the afternoon! Not only had I forgotten to set my alarm before passing out, I'd overslept hugely. After stammering an apology, I assured her that I'd be there as quickly as possible and hung up, pulling clothes out of my dresser at random.

"What's wrong?" Talon asked, sitting up and watching me scramble around madly, his shoulder-length hair tasseled and bare chest marked with imprints from the blanket.

I laughed, a slightly hysterical note in my voice as I said, "Oh, nothing besides have Aunt Annie call to tell me that I am four hours late for work!" I found my bra and hooked it, spinning it around so fast that I felt my skin burn around my rib cage.

Talon looked at my clock himself, sighed and muttered, "So much for that idea," before getting our of my bed and hunting through the mess I'd just made for his own clothes, most of which I vaguely remembered helping him remove as we'd staggered up the stairs to my room. I allowed myself a very brief moment to stop and admire his fine, muscular ass before darting into my bathroom to brush my hair. It was even more tangled than it looked and I decided to twist it into a bun to deal with later. I could smell alcohol and sex on my skin like a tell-tale perfume but didn't even begin to have time to shower. I'd just have to hope I could air out on the drive.

By the time I slid into my flip flops, Talon still hadn't managed to find all his clothes, specifically his leather pants, and I had no choice but to leave him to continue searching alone.

"I'm sorry," I told him in a rush. "I wish I could have stayed in bed with you." That's all I wanted to do and it's exactly what I couldn't do.

He gave me a new, seductive smile that had my blood heating as he pulled me to him for a thorough and abbreviated kiss. "That's all right, Ramirez, you can make it up to me later." I felt myself flush and kissed him back roughly before heading for the door. "I'll lock up when I leave," he assured me and mused quietly, "if I can find my pants."

"I have some gym shorts in my dresser that you can borrow," I told him over my shoulder. "I'll call you when I get off."

"Not if I call you first!" he yelled as I shut the front door. I couldn't help the silly smile that was on my face as I went to get in my car, only to find Talon's Mercedes was barely in the driveway and had managed to block my car in. "Just take mine," he called out when he saw what the problem was. The keys were still in the ignition and the doors were unlocked, though they were shut, a surprising feat considering the state we'd been in last night.

I raced through the late lunch traffic, cursing at every red light and slow moving car along the way. Because of the hour, parking was scarce. The fact that it was Friday didn't help. I finally found a spot three blocks away from the shop and ran from there, discovering that my legs ached, the muscles of my thighs having been given quite a workout between dancing with Talon for hours at the club and the fabulous sex we'd spent the rest of the night having. It really wasn't too surprising that I'd slept so late now that I thought about it; last night had wiped me out.

I came staggering through the front door, breathing hard and sweating, my legs trembling as I crossed the sales floor to the counter, behind which Aunt Gene sat, looking impassive.

"You are very late, young lady," she intoned gravely.

"I know," I panted. "I am very sorry, Aunt -"

"Oh, good, she's here!" Aunt Annie came bursting through the dividing doors, her expression one of relief. She continued over to me and enveloped me in her herb-scented arms briefly. "We were so worried."

"Not I," Aunt Gene huffed. "I called Marcus, who said you two had gone out last night."

My breathing was finally settling down, so I stood up straight and nodded. "We went out and didn't get back until late. I passed out and completely forgot to set my alarm." There was no way I was going to give them any more details than that.

The two of them stood there scrutinizing me like they knew I'd left a great chunk out. Not for the first time, I was extremely thankful that Witches didn't possess an enhanced sense of smell because the car ride and run hadn't lessened the smell by much. Still, I tried to keep my face impassive and body relaxed as they continued to stare.

"Good for you!" Aunt Annie exclaimed with a sudden smile and a pat on my arm. "I'm glad you two are getting along well together."

Aunt Gene just snorted, hopping off the wooden stool. "There's left-over pizza from lunch if you're hungry," she called out, following her friend back through the swinging doors to the other part of the shop as a bell chimed, announcing a customer. "And be sure to drink your juice; it will help those love bites fade faster."

With a gasp, I hurried over to the big mirror by the dressing rooms. Sure enough, red and purple splotches covered both sides of my neck and down onto my collar bone. They'd started to heal already, as evidenced by the faded colors, and they would probably be gone in another hour or two, but none of that made me feel any better.

Beyond embarrassed, I was grateful the two women weren't still in the room as I began untangling my hair, wanting to use the long, dark strands as a screen until the marks disappeared. One thing was certain: I was going to kill Talon.

After the incident on Friday, I decided there wouldn't be any more trips to the clubs unless I had the next day off. Once I'd kicked Talon in the shins a couple times for laughing at my embarrassment, he agreed.