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Chapter Twenty-Nine

I had my knife in my hand before he could speak The

"Ju?"

Murphy I should have known

"You have no idea," I muttered, and returned the knife to the sheath undertiive him a chance to ask I’d hand over the dia for hiood thing Really

Swinging s over the side of the bed, I was surprised when he shifted closer and put his palm to the center of et--"

His ured, Why not have one more f or the road? I knew the score

He’d come for the diamond and not for me

Except he could have taken it and left Sure, I’d put the thing inas simple as a combination lock would stop the man Maybe it hadn’t

I slid my hands down his chest; he reciprocated My breasts seemed to swell until they fit perfectly into the palms of his hands I becaue ineverywhere

I’d missed this; hell, I’d s first, I wanted to check his pockets Pretty easy to do in this situation I frisked hi hs, where I found so hard, but it wasn’t a diamond

Maybe he hadn’t been able to unlock the safe Maybe he figured once he screwed

But I’d been screwed before, and it hadn’tI do believe the lasttwenty to life

My lips curved against Murphy’s He could try to roladly give him the j ewel

Until after

He slid his thu the sensitive skin whereto feel his skin, and he drew it over his head, tossing it away

Going to his knees on the floor at s, and leaned over, h my white cotton underwear I collapsed backward on the bed as he divested

If I hadn’t already planned to give him the diamond, his perforue, ni his shoulders inhis own clothes, and while he did I found a condom and tossed it his way

"Isn’t this a case of closing the barn door after the horse has escaped?" he asked

"Tiain"

"Ah" He tore the packet and sheathed himself with a practiced movement "I’d wondered"

He didn’t seem the type to wonder, or care, but s, and I’d been wrong

Murphy rej oinedood at this Even better than the leopard in my dream

I stiffened, and he murmured in my ear, nonsense words that aroused rather than soothed He thought I was coht, What the hell? and did

He lifted his head, stared intoin his expressionthan the connection of our bodies

"Jolis yeux verts," he uess French was the appropriate language at the ti words, the sexy accent, made my eyes flutter closed so I could concentrate on the sensations: the slick slide of skin against skin, the softness of his hair beneath ers, the scent of rain that forever surrounded him, the taste of his mouth, the shape of his lips

He stilled inside of o I kept my arms around him, kept his body deep within and my me his head again, waiting for me to open ht had been both more and less than the times before, and I wasn’t sure what to say, what to do

After a second he rolled away and went to the bathrooht switch clicked; the toilet flushed; then the water ran

"Turn off the light," I said, not wanting to see his face when he asked me for the diamond, then took it and walked out of my life

Cool darkness descended, and Murphy walked back into the room He came directly to the bed, crawled in, flipped the sheet over us both, then drew ainst hih I kneas a mistake, I relaxed in his arms and let the whole world fall away

I awoke alone I don’t knohy I was surprised If it hadn’t been for the telltale traces of sex on ht I drea else

After a quick cool shower, I dressed in shorts and a loose gauzy top, then took aze scanned the desk; nothing appeared to have been disturbed

I twirled the tumbler on the safe, pulled it open, and stared at the eone, yet stillat the entrance , I slah the darkened store Who could be pounding at this hour?

For an instant I ihtened pathetically before sense intruded Why would he knock nohen he’d waltzed right in through the openlast night?

Cootten over the wall? It wasn’t exactly low, and barbed wire protected the top For Murphy, that had probably been a two-minute hitch in an otherwise stellar day

Diana flashed thepaper up, then down as soon as I opened the door "Did you see this?"

Without waiting forfor the kitchen "I don’t suppose you’ve co coffee"

"No"

"You haven’t taken pity on your dearest huht a coffeepot just for uess I’ll have to drink tea"

"Don’t sound so happy about it"

"I’m not"

"Someday you’ll thanka lack-of-caffeine headache"

"Which is why you should stop drinking coffee What possible good could come from a liquid that causes withdrawal?"

"Oh--biteside of the bed this hed "I can’t sleep when he isn’t here"

The two of them were so in love it was painful--especially to a woht she’d found love and discovered she had nothing What would it be like to love a ?

"You’re awfully cheery" Her eyes narrowed, and I turned away toher that Murphy had shown up and screwedhim I had to wonder why I had Was I that lonely?

Duh

"What’s in the paper?" I asked

"Aniave one hard thud, then sped up "Wolf?"

"They never say"

"I thought Ada stuck around New Orleans, which is why he’s gone soat the paper Ada for the olves his grandp ère hadwhatever else he found along the way that didn’t belong

"The woman died in town, not the swamp," Diana continued "Of course that doesn’t mean one of Henri’s olves couldn’t have killed her They go wherever they like"

I’d been walking toward the table, and my hand shook so violently I sloshed tea onto the floor Luckily Diana was preoccupied and didn’t notice I sweptit into the vinyl

Setting the tea in front of her, I took a seat on the other side of the table

"A woman?" I asked, proud when my voice didn’t shake

"Yeah Near St Louis Nuround for beasties and ghoulies"

Black spots danced in front of ulp of tea The pain froht me back to reality