by Sylvia Day
“I’m okay.” Darcy held his gaze, let him see the clarity of her eyes. The ache in her chest would never totally go away, she knew, but it was easier to bear than it had been just that morning. That she could feel differently was a miracle to her after living with it unchanged for so long, that her chronic pain could be alleviated at all. God…it had been so nice to lean on someone in the cemetery and have her grief accepted without reservation. “You wanted to make me feel better and I do.”
“Fuck that.” He scowled. “I’m a selfish bastard. I wanted to make myself feel better. Seeing you hurting was killing me. Watching you suck me off would make me feel worse. Hell…I’m not a douche.”
“When did I give you the impression that I was the type who went down on a guy without really wanting to?”
His scowl grew fiercer.
“Right.” Her gaze lowered. Her mouth watered. “You have the most perfect cock, Jared. Did you know that? It’s a thing of beauty.”
“You’re scrambled.”
“Actually, I’m ridiculously pleased with myself. I managed to snag exclusive access rights to your delicious body, which I’d like to exert now.”
His hand moved to grip the object of her desire. His fingers curled around it and stroked from root to tip. “I have work to do.”
“So stop lagging and let me have it.”
Releasing himself, he stepped forward and cupped her face in his hands. He searched her features, his gaze softening. “Are you okay, Darcy? Really okay? Or are you feeling shaky?”
She caught him by the wrists. “I think you’re feeling shakier than I am. I’ve had three years to deal with this. You’re the one who’s been blindsided by a cold case.”
“And a hot woman.” His thumbs slid gently over her cheekbones. “You’re an occupational hazard.”
“Step a little closer and I’ll make it worth your while.”
One of his hands slid down, the pad of his thumb gliding across her parted lips. “You already have.”
He didn’t stop her when she reached for him again. He set one hand on the tile above her head and turned down the temperature of the water with the other. The spray beat down on his right side, running in rivulets down his muscular torso and washboard abs. She started there first, tracing the ridges with her tongue, her hands caressing his cock with soft, gentle pulls.
Jared’s palms pressed flat to the wall, his head hanging over her, his breath quickening. As his skin heated beneath her hands, his raw sexuality slipped its chain. She could almost see its smoky tendrils curl around her, intoxicating her. Primitive need burned in her blood, melting what few inhibitions she had. She was like a bitch in heat with him and she liked it, liked the wanton freedom his acceptance gave her.
Fisting him, she made him harder, made him shudder. She nuzzled his cock with one cheek and then the other, before moving lower to fondle his balls with her lips.
“Fuck,” he gasped, his cock jerking her grip.
Darcy took one full, heavy testicle into her mouth, sucking gently, rolling it around with her tongue. He was such a primal male. Big and hard and virile everywhere. There was a part of her that reveled in that, celebrating her claim on such a potently desirable masculine creature.
His thighs began to shake, his lungs heaving. “Payback’s a bitch, Darcy. Stop torturing me and suck it, sweetheart. Suck my cock in that hot little mouth.”
She purred and pumped him with a two-fisted grip. She wanted to eat him up, every mouthwatering inch of him.
One of his hands cupped the back of her head, his fingers flexing spastically in the soaked strands of her hair. “Wrap your lips around me, Darcy baby. Yes…just like that.”
Her mouth flowed over the thick crest, her eyes closing at the feel and taste of him. Warm satin over stone. Her tongue rubbed the sensitive underside of his cock head, every sense focused on his responses. His low groans. The tension gripping him. The sound of his teeth grinding.
“So good,” he bit out. “Your mouth is so damn good…hot…fucking perfect. You’re perfect.”
She sucked hard on the wide, sensitive crown, moaning as a hot wash of pre-cum spilled over her tongue and made her ravenous for more. She stroked him with her hands, milking him, as his other hand tangled in her hair. His hips began to move, his grip holding her still. He fucked her mouth at the depth and pace he needed, his hips lunging in a steady unfaltering tempo, his stomach clenching and releasing as his cock slid in and out.
Darcy looked up at him, their eyes meeting. Holding. As raw as the encounter was—her mouth filled with his thrusting cock, his abdomen sheened with water and sweat, the muscles flexing powerfully—it was intimate in deeper ways. His pleasure was hers, hot and sweet. Fierce.
He hissed when her cheeks hollowed. He swelled further, making her pussy ache to feel him tunneling deep into her. “Shit. Just like that, sweetheart. Suck it just like that…I’m gonna come so hard for you.”
Her pussy spasmed as his flavor sharpened. She moaned and squirmed, so turned on by an act that had never gotten her hot and bothered before. She liked it well enough, but it’d never aroused her to a fever pitch, never burned her with the stark eroticism of the act.
His fingers tightened in her hair. His face twisted in a grimace of agonized pleasure. “Fuck yeah…you’re making me come.”
Greedy, she sucked him like a woman possessed. Her head bobbing. Working the pulsing length with both lips and hands. Urging the furious spurts of semen to flood her mouth. Jared shouted a curse, his entire body wracked with violent spasms as he released stream after stream of hot, thick cum over her stroking tongue, his hips pumping his spending cock to the back of her throat.
His hands were shaking when he finished, when he tried to pull her off. She continued gently sucking, wanting everything he had. Every drop of his pleasure. Moaning in triumph when she pulled one last pulse of semen from his still-rigid flesh.
She was startled when he hauled her up and pushed her against the chilly tile, his hand dipping between her legs to thrust two long fingers into her. He took her mouth, his tongue delving into the depths that tasted of him, his moan of pleasure vibrating against her lips.
Hooking her leg over his, he set his foot on the bench, stealing her balance and opening her completely. His fingers began to rub inside her, sliding through the silky skeins of her desire, expertly finding all the tender spots and capturing her gasps of pleasure in his mouth.
Darcy clung to his shoulders, her nails digging in as he pressed his taut frame against her and pushed every thought from her head but him. “Jared—”
“You’re so fucking sexy,” he growled, his fingers sliding free of her pussy to rub the pucker of her ass. “You make me so hard. I’ve never been this hot for a woman, never felt like I’d die if I didn’t touch her. Taste her. Make her come screaming my name.”
She cried out as one finger slid into her rear, only to retreat and come back with two fingers. Ferocious pleasure pumped through her with the maddened beat of her heart.
Watching her with that fierce blue gaze, he pushed deep, then withdrew. “Only you, Darcy. You’re the only one to make me want to crawl out of my skin and into yours.”
“Yes,” she gasped. “In me.”
His fingers were driving her mad, fucking her anally with a steady, wickedly knowledgeable tempo. Her hips circled without her volition, trying to get him deeper. Harder. As close as they were, it wasn’t close enough.
“Oh, I’ll be in you, sweetheart,” he promised darkly, his breath gusting fast and hard over her ear. “Bare and deep. I’m gonna pump you full of hot, thick cum while I’m riding your ass as hard as you can take it. Pounding into you until I can’t tell where I end and you begin. You turn me into an animal, Darcy. You make me want to invent new ways to fuck just so I can own every inch of you.”
Jared’s thumb slid into her pussy and she cried out, so close to orgasm it was painful. Even the cool water couldn’t cool the fever for him in her blood, a need that grew with every h
our she knew him.
He caught her breast in his free hand, squeezing with a tenderness so at odds with the ferocity of his passion. She gripped the back of his head with both hands and ate at his mouth, sucking his tongue and moaning as the orgasm hit her with the force of a hurricane. He choked out her name as she tightened around his thrusting fingers, her body trembling so violently she thought she might break apart into thousands of tiny pieces.
It was Jared who held her together as the pleasure raced across her nerve endings like an electrical charge. He sank onto the bench and pulled her into his lap, his arms banding around her as she shivered with sweet, fiery aftershocks.
chapter ten
Jared finished his list of unusual package deliveries to investigate and began gathering up the items he needed to take with him to the motel. When Darcy’s doorbell rang, he straightened and moved toward it, waving her back when she headed for it, too.
“I’ve been perfectly safe for three years now,” she reminded dryly, but she backed off and let him get it.
Finding Jim Ralston on her doorstep with a six-pack of beer in his hands made Jared immediately irritable. He’d never been the possessive type, certainly had never cared who his lovers had fucked before he’d come along. But the animalistic drive to claim Darcy as exclusively and irrevocably his extended beyond the bedroom. He fought it back with effort.
“Inspector,” he greeted the man.
“Deputy,” Ralston returned, his eyes lit with amusement. He was dressed casually in black jeans and a button-up shirt that was rolled up at the sleeves and open at the throat. His civilian clothes made him look younger and gave Jared his first inkling of what might’ve prompted Darcy to have a friends-with-benefits relationship with the man.
Darcy rounded Jared with a welcoming smile. “Come in, Jim. Ah, and you come bearing gifts. Deputy Cameron’s heading out for pizza with his partner, which has got me craving some. You up for that?”
Ralston stepped into the house, the storm door gliding closed behind him. “I’ll have to take a rain check. I’ve got a date with the insurance adjustor who’s looking over Nadine’s shop. She called after I’d already left the house to say she was running late, so instead of driving all the way back and waiting around, I figured I’d make a pit stop here until she calls again.”
Her eyes brightened. “Yeah, a hot date trumps pizza. Good for you.”
Returning to the coffee table, Jared grabbed what he needed along with the keys to the BMW. “I’ll be no more than a few hours. I’ll call if I’ll be back later than that.”
Darcy came to him, looking just as hot in stretchy pants and a V-neck T-shirt as she had in the red dress she’d worn to lunch. “You know where to find me.”
“Walk me out.” He glanced at Ralston, feeling marginally better knowing the man was going out to get laid tonight. “I’d like to see you tomorrow, Inspector. Go over a few things with you.”
“Absolutely.” Ralston gave a curt nod. “Buzz me and we’ll work out a time.”
When they reached Darcy’s car, Jared dropped his stuff in the back through the open roof, then turned toward her to catch her close. He brushed his lips across hers and murmured, “When Ralston leaves, lock up the house.”
She looked prepared to argue, then seemed to think better of it. “Okay.”
“Thank you.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “For everything.”
“It’s been my pleasure, Deputy.”
“I’ll be back quick as I can.” He smacked her ass cheeks with both hands and squeezed playfully, lifting her to her toes against him. “Set out some lube on the bedside table. Bottled water, too.”
“You’re a machine.”
Flushed and sporting kiss-swollen lips, she looked like a woman who’d been fucked long and well. It suited her. If he had his way, she’d be looking just like that every day from here on out.
She grinned as if she knew his thoughts. “Lucky for you, I can take it.”
He pressed his temple to hers, needing her safe and happy and close. He needed the time and space to explore the connection between them, both physical and emotional.
Backing away, Jared admitted that his emotions were still raw from their interlude in the shower. She was deep under his skin already. “Yeah, lucky me.”
WAVING, DARCY WATCHED Jared drive away in the car that was her last real piece of her former life. She clung to it for that reason and because she loved it. Thankfully, her parents owned the house outright and she didn’t have to pay rent. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to afford to keep the car with what the town paid her.
“Things are moving pretty fast with you two,” Jim said, coming out of the front door with an open beer in each hand.
She accepted the one he handed her and smiled. “That’s an understatement.”
Together they walked back up to her porch and sat on the swinging bench. With one leg tucked beneath her and the other on the ground, she rocked them gently.
“He likens it to being smacked upside the head,” she said. “I have to say, I did feel like I’d been sucker-punched when I first saw him.”
“I’ve been hearing the women around town talking about him. I gathered he’s considered very attractive.”
“That helps. But it’s not everything.”
“That’s true.” He tipped his bottle back and took a long drink, the muscles of his tanned throat working with each swallow.
She looked away. The sky was deepening into shades of pink, purple, and navy blue. The breeze grew in strength, cooling slightly and carrying a tinge of salt from the nearby ocean. “We’re due for another fire, aren’t we?”
“Yeah,” he said. “And we’re just sitting here. Makes me so goddamn mad that we know he’s out there and there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“Deputy Cameron thinks Dani’s murder and the fires are connected.”
Jim froze, his green eyes going wide. “What? Why?”
“He can explain it better than I can, which is why he wants to hook up with you tomorrow, I’m sure.”
“Wow.” He shook his head. “I’m speechless. Not a conclusion I would’ve jumped to.”
“I know, right?” Darcy took a pull on her beer. “Fucking insane. All of it.”
Reaching over, he set his hand on her bent knee. “I’m sorry. This has got to be really tough for you.”
She looked at the spot where her car had been and thought about Jared. Knowing he was working on Dani’s case was keeping her grounded and, for the first time in a long time, optimistic. Placing her hand over his, she squeezed. “I’m okay. Been a long time since I was able to say that and mean it.”
Her smile faded as the sheriff’s vehicle pulled up in front of her house. She watched as Chris got out and put his hat on his head, his gaze holding hers as he shut the door of his cruiser and rounded the front end. “Hey, Darcy. Jim.”
Jim returned the greeting, but she waited until Chris joined them on the porch, his boot-clad feet thudding heavily over the wooden planks and his leather holster creaking.
“What brings you out this way?” she asked.
“I need to speak to Cameron.”
“He’s not here.”
Chris cursed under his breath. “Where is he?”
“With his partner. Working the case.”
“Fuck. Did you know he thinks Dani’s murder is related to your arsonist?”
“Yes.”
“He’s in town two damn days and he’s going to wrap up a cold case along with the arsons? That’s bullshit.”
Her brows rose at his vehemence, but she wasn’t overly surprised. Chris didn’t like others digging into his cases and she couldn’t blame him. She knew how she’d feel in his shoes. “It’s an angle, but it’s not his only angle. I watched him compiling information—he’s covering a lot of bases.”
Leaning forward, Jim set his elbows on his knees, holding his beer in both hands. “Chris.”
Something about the way Jim said
his name had Chris stiffening. Darcy frowned.
“What?” Chris snapped.
Jim stared at him.
“Don’t look at me like that, Ralston. You don’t know shit.”
Darcy’s gaze shot back and forth between the two men. “What doesn’t he know, Chris?”
Chris glared at Jim. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
Putting both feet on the deck, she stood. “That’s crap. Don’t lie to me. Not about this.”
Jim pushed off the swing, too. “Dani told me.”
“Bullshit.” Chris ripped the hat off his head. “That’s fucking bullshit.”
“Dani told you what?” she demanded, her temper flaring.
Jim kept looking at Chris. “It’s going to circle back around to person of interest.”
“Fuck you, Ralston,” Chris shot back, turning to leave.
Darcy focused on Jim. “Jim?”
As his mouth opened to reply, his cell phone rang. “Damn it. Hang on, Darcy.” He stepped to the other side of the porch to take the call.
She set her beer on the little glass table by the swing and watched as Chris stalked back to his cruiser. She followed. “What the hell is going on?”
Then it hit her. Person of interest. There had been only one person of interest in Dani’s case…
“It was you, wasn’t it, Chris? You were the one seeing Dani.”
“No. Damn it.” He spun around halfway down her front walkway, his face red and eyes fierce. “It wasn’t like that.”
Darcy’s heart raced. “What was it like, then, Chris?”
He stared down at her when she came to a stop in front of him, his handsome face taut with strain. “She changed after you left, Darcy. A lot. She started dressing different, acting different, styled her hair and makeup different.”
“You were attracted to her.”
“No, I wasn’t.” He crossed his arms, looking ornery and defensive. “You’re the one I want. No one’s like you, Darcy. What we had…You can’t tell me you don’t think about it. We couldn’t get enough of each other.”
“Jesus, Chris.” She exhaled harshly. “We were kids. Teenagers for god’s sake. We were hormonal, and frankly, there wasn’t much else to do around this town.”