Suddenly, something inside her seemed to snap. She gasped and arched her back. Her whole body was on fire. The force of everything she felt seemed to erupt like a volcano. Pleasure whipped through every nerve ending in her body and she felt as though she might fall to pieces right there in his arms.
Mindy thought she was going to collapse. Then all of a sudden, she felt Ash’s arms come around her. She was flying, and then just like that she was beneath him. He settled between her legs and began to thrust hard into her wet center. She felt as though she was climbing once again. No pause between the peaks. No plateau. Just one rolling wave of incredible pleasure.
Then he kissed her. His lips found hers in the darkness, their tongues tangling together as their bodies did the same. There was no beginning and no end. Just the powerful movement of Ash’s body as he pushed inside her with a gentleness and fervency that almost did not seem possible. Harder. Faster. And then suddenly he thrust hard and Mindy thought she might die of pleasure.
The rippling tingles of erotic sensation traveled from the center of her body to her fingers and toes and maybe even her eyelashes. She could not think past this moment and this man. This was it for her. Everything hinged on this moment and what might come next because she could not imagine this would be the last time. She could not bear it.
Time spooled away into nothingness. She wished for a way to stop it completely. To stop the dawn. To stay here forever in this moment when the soft cool darkness of Ash’s bedroom seemed to provide a cocoon away from the world.
“That wasn’t what I had in mind when I asked you to stay here,” Ash whispered after some time had passed.
How much time? Was it time to get up yet? Mindy closed her eyes and refused to look at the green numbers of his bedside clock. She didn’t want the dream to be over yet. “I know,” she told him finally. “I never thought you meant for this to happen.”
“Then why?”
What an odd question. Did he believe she thought she owed him? Perhaps. Her history proved that, with Kevin anyway. But she had learned her lesson.
“I’m not sure why,” Mindy whispered after a moment or two. She was afraid. She knew the reason. But she was afraid to say it out loud. Afraid to tell him that she was falling in love with him. Afraid he would laugh at her or tell he that it wasn’t possible. She didn’t want to let go of the dream. “Maybe it doesn’t matter.”
He exhaled a long sigh. “It matters, Mindy.”
But he didn’t push her away. She thought he might. But he didn’t, and he let her lay there curled up against him with his body cupping hers. The two of them with their legs tangled together and their combined sweat drying on their bodies. This was what it meant to be in love. To love someone.
Or did it? If she really loved him, wouldn’t she say it out loud? Or was she deliberately not saying it so that he didn’t have to feel that pressure? So many questions and no answers.
“Go to sleep,” he whispered. He already sounded as though he was nodding off. “Perhaps we can talk about it a little more in the morning. I’m thinking breakfast. Pancakes. Waffles. Fruit. Some eggs and bacon maybe?”
Mindy’s stomach gave an appreciative growl and she giggled in the dark. “Why do you always think that I’m food motivated?”
“Because you are and because you need to eat,” he told her quietly. “You have a whole lot more calories to catch up on. I just figured that it would be nice to make them worthwhile. That’s all. That way you can say you caught up with all of those foods you’ve missed out on.”
“Food.” She whispered the word and felt ten kinds of silly. “Food has always been a priority in a way. Something you didn’t talk about because you couldn’t figure out how to get enough of anything, much less what you wanted or what you needed. People don’t get that. They think you’re crazy when you look at their peanut butter and jelly sandwich and you act as though it’s filet mignon because you cannot remember the last time you had jelly to put on your sandwich. Not even the cheap ninety-nine cent kind.”
“Hush,” he whispered. “Go to sleep. Time enough for that later. Tomorrow will be a big day whether either of us want it to be or not.”
She almost hated to ask him to expand on that. So, she didn’t. Mindy closed her eyes and she let his breathing lull her into sleep. She inhaled and she exhaled in perfect rhythm with Ash. They were like one person laying there on his soft, enormous bed. It was the perfect end to any day. Even one that had been absolutely horrifying.
Maybe someday this would be her reality. This feeling of secure contentment. Probably not. Mindy had learned not to make that sort of assumption or even wish for things to happen like that. It never worked out that way. Never.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Once Mindy was safely fed and stowed at work, thankfully without Kevin Eads in sight, it was time for Ash to show his face at the office, which was exactly what it felt like. Showing his face as though he had done something so horrible that he should be hiding in shame.
But he had done something horrible. He had slept with Mindy Hall in spite of the fact that she was a damaged, abused young woman who was not only too young for Ash, but going through a string of personal tragedies that would have made a saint question their sanity.
“You look like shit,” Titus grunted from his desk as Ash walked into the building.
Duke Dunbar was at his desk on his computer doing some kind of research. Ellie was out. Younger had pulled out of the parking lot as Ash pulled in. That left Caroline as the only other person in the room. And she was tied up behind her terminal doing who knew what, but something that probably involved an online store and her daddy’s credit card.
Ash headed right back to Titus’s desk and took a seat in his extra chair. This was the chair they left for potential clients. The nice chair. It was even padded. Ash pretty much collapsed into the seat and then stared at his boss.
“What?” Titus frowned at Ash. “You look like you need to go to confession. I can smell the guilt on you.”
What an odd statement. Why not say he could see the guilt on Ash? What was it about smell? Sometimes Titus made the strangest references to smelling things. As if his sense of smell was so important to him that it took up a good portion of his thought process.
But all of that was just distracting Ash from why he was really here. “We need to talk about Detective Lowell.”
“We need to talk about where the suspect went last night after you took her out of the police station,” Titus retorted. He stared hard at Ash. “Lowell said he went by her apartment late last night and she still wasn’t home.”
“Gee. Because it would be so great for her to go back to that crime scene dump of an apartment and wallow all night with memories of her dead brother.” Ash could barely control his tone right now.
So, almighty Lowell had suddenly decided to go ask her how she was doing after his operation had blown up in his face and her brother had died instead of being saved like they had been trying to do in the first place. Good for Lowell. He was on Ash’s shit list right now. The list of people he was sick and tired of taking advantage of Mindy Hall.
“I took her home with me last night,” Ash said in what he hoped was a flippant tone. He had to carefully school his features. Although, why bother since Titus could smell what Ash wasn’t saying. “She needed a good meal and a soft bed in a place that was not filled with memories of her brother. The girl is distraught.”
Titus raised his eyebrows. “You call her a girl?”
Ash stumbled over his response. He did refer to Mindy as a girl a lot. But that had not been a girl in his bed last night. That had been a grown woman with the seductive qualities of a goddess. “She’s not a girl. She’s a woman. It was just a figure of speech. That’s all.”
“Uh huh,” Titus muttered. Then he shook his head. “Yes. You took her to your place. You fed her and bedded her I would guess?”
The crass words nearly made Ash come out of the chair. He had to force h
imself to relax. “Excuse me? That’s not what happened at all!”
Duke was now peeking at them, his paperwork probably forgotten as he did his best to pretend he wasn’t totally eavesdropping. Ash was thankful that Caroline didn’t seem to be paying attention. Although, with that one, looks could often be deceiving.
“Then tell me,” Titus continued. “What did happen. Because I have a feeling that’s what the guilt is all about.”
It wasn’t like Ash could really say that Titus was wrong. He just needed a better slant to put on it. That’s all. “Yes. We slept together. It was a mutual thing. I fail to see how that is any of your business, or anyone else’s business for that matter.”
“For pity’s sake,” Titus growled. “Are you trying to kid me or yourself? How is that not my business? You slept with the main witness in a police investigation that we are assisting with. How can you say that’s not my business?”
Ash couldn’t help it. He slid his gaze over toward Caroline and then back to Titus. Were they really supposed to be discussing this in front of Caroline? That probably wasn’t a great idea. Caroline was already on the hook for stealing secrets from their office and selling them to her friend the newspaper witch, Hilary Allenwood. Ash did not particularly want his business plastered across the front page of the Branson Register.
Titus gave a bare shake of his head as though this was fine. They didn’t have to worry about Caroline. What did Titus know that Ash didn’t? Or was it just that this wasn’t Titus’s dirty laundry they were airing out all over the office in front of everyone?
“Look,” Titus said calmly. “You shouldn’t have done that. All right? I know you’re probably confused about this whole thing.”
Now Ash was confused. “About what whole thing?”
“This weird overprotective thing you have going on with Mindy Hall.” Titus actually looked to Duke as though he needed backup. Duke, of course, was nodding.
“I don’t have some weird overprotective thing with Mindy Hall!”
“Yes you do,” Duke volunteered. “Younger even said he was concerned. He said you were asking him some weird stuff.”
That was just great. The whole office was discussing Ash’s love life? “Yeah? Well Younger needs to keep his mouth shut. Just because someone asks him a question doesn’t mean they’re contemplating some huge life event. I was just asking some—general stuff.”
Titus waved this off. “You’ve been very overprotective of her from the beginning of this. You’re suspicious of everyone as though you honestly believe the lot of us would sacrifice her to get what we want.”
“Wouldn’t you?” Ash snapped. He pointed at Titus and tried not to let his anger boil over. “Wouldn’t you sacrifice her? She became a drug dealer for Lowell. He didn’t even bother to pick up the phone and help her out until they had pulled her in on a murder charge. A charge that is totally bogus because Caprico is hiding something that stinks a lot like his own guilt!”
Titus put up both hands. “Just because we can’t see all of Lowell’s plans and intentions does not mean they’re wrong. And yes, Caprico is really hanging himself out to dry right now. My concern is that Sellers isn’t really on board.”
“What?” This made no sense to Ash. “Your concern? You’re concerned Sellers isn’t totally on board with being a criminal?”
But Titus was nodding. “We have to be sure he’s not just going along with it because Caprico is blackmailing him. Or maybe he was in on it to begin with and now he’s changed his mind. That changes some things when it comes to liability and legal ramifications, too. There are a lot of balls in the air right now and I don’t want you to go off screwing things up just because you’ve suddenly got the hots for a suspect!”
It was a huge speech for Titus. Ash found himself wanting to spit in his boss’s face anyway. “She is not a suspect. There is no way that she had anything to do with her brother’s death. I know you know that. I showed you the text messages.”
“And I passed those on to Lowell,” Titus informed Ash. He looked as though he was completely confident that this was the right thing to do. “Lowell is in a position to do things that we can’t. He can actually make arrests. Remember?”
“And that’s what he’s going to do? He’s going to arrest Caprico and take him in for questioning? Because I really feel like that’s a stretch here, Titus.” Ash was struggling. He stood up and folded his arms. Then he unfolded them.
“Look.” Titus now sounded calmer. “I get that you’re attached to the girl. But she’s just that. Can’t you see there’s no future in being with a woman like that? She’s not only damaged, she’s also incredibly young compared to you. You’re in your early thirties. She’s in her late twenties. There are a lot of years between you. She has a lot of growing up to do.”
“She’s been growing up since she was a little kid,” Ash muttered. “Their mother was poor as dirt and raising the two of them. Then she got cancer and things got worse. Can you imagine what it would be like to live like that? To be responsible for your sibling because your mother couldn’t be?”
“Yes. I can actually.” Titus’s words were hard and clipped. “But that’s neither here nor there because you can’t understand what it would be like to be in her shoes. That makes you vulnerable here. You feel bad for her. You can’t see why anyone would treat her that way or why her luck would be so bad. You feel guilty because your life has always been good and plentiful and you have a roof over your head and a job and a way to get food,” Titus continued. “So, you feel you owe it to her to let her have some of your lifestyle.”
Ash thought his head might blow off. “That’s bullshit!”
“No. That’s truth.” Titus gave a shake of his head. It was pointless to try to move him on this point. “And there’s no way around it. You need to get some distance between you and this case. I’m sending you to Springfield to follow up on a story.”
Not only was Ash sure he’d heard wrong, but the idea that he was going to be off this case was absolutely not possible in his mind. “No. That’s wrong.” Ash shook his head. “I can’t just ditch her right now, Titus. Everyone else in her life has just ditched her. I refuse to be one of those people.”
Titus pressed his lips into a tight line. “Fine. But you need to back off. No more running around at all hours of the day and night taking her to your place and feeding her champagne until morning.”
“Good Lord, is that what you think happened?” Ash was appalled. “Where on earth did I get that reputation?”
Titus looked momentarily confused. “Oh. It was just the way I imagined it I guess.”
Duke Dunbar snorted. “Yeah, boss. I really don’t see Ash as the champagne and strawberries type. Although, if any one of the guys in this office was going to be that way it would be Ash.”
“Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence,” Ash told Duke sarcastically. “I suppose I should be sending you and Olivia a box of strawberries and a case of champagne so I can prove to your future wife that I’m the better man.”
“Hey!” Duke glared at Ash. “There’s no need to be mean now. I was paying you a compliment.”
Ash wasn’t buying that. “A compliment? I call bullshit. I think you were trying to say that I’m into seducing women. Young women this time. Is that what you both think of me? That I would take advantage of a young woman who was in need just to get her into my bed? How desperate am I? Allegedly, of course.”
Titus waved his hands at both of them. “I just want you to see what’s going on, Ash. You need to realize that this young woman’s entire life has pretty much come down around her ears. She’s got nothing. And then you step in. Are you actually prepared to take this to the end? Do you have any idea how much you’re taking on? I wouldn’t want to touch it.”
“Me neither,” Duke chimed in.
Ash could not believe they were being serious. If Olivia fell to pieces, Duke wasn’t going to ditch her. And Titus wouldn’t have given any woman the time of day n
o matter how put together she was. The guy was like a eunuch.
“I know what I’m doing,” Ash told them stiffly. “And you need to back off.”
The doorbell chimed and the door opened as Detective Lowell strode into the office. Ash’s heart sank a little farther into his boots. This was not a positive development. Lowell looked disgruntled and a bit more disheveled than usual. He was also pointing right at Ash.
“You and I need to talk,” Lowell said in a low voice filled with irritation. “You took my witness without my permission and that’s not cool.”
Not cool? Ash thought his head might blow clean off his body. “Your witness? You left her there with the dogs even though they have been systematically ripping her apart for days! What do you mean, your witness! She couldn’t even count on you to pull her ass out of the fire that you created!”
“Don’t be stupid,” Lowell said derisively. He was as arrogant as Ash had ever seen him. What was going on? It was like Lowell was no longer on their side! Lowell examined his phone. “Just because you don’t get to know all of the details doesn’t mean they aren’t there.”
“Why? Because you’re pretty sure that Caprico is the only one running the show and you’re hoping to get him on murder charges that will sort of make the drug dealing nothing more than an entry on his long rap sheet?” Ash could not believe what he was hearing. It was like they’d all taken leave of their senses.
Caroline suddenly stood up and grabbed her purse. “I don’t know what’s wrong with all of you, but I’m going out to grab lunch and I want there to be less arguing and fighting when I get back.” She muttered something that sounded a lot like the word children on her way out the door.
Ash was ready to lay into Lowell when the door closed. But that was when Duke got up from his desk and practically sprinted toward the door as though he was after Caroline. But when he got there, he stopped and peered out the window.
“She’s gone,” Duke told them all. “I can see her inside her car. She’s fiddling with the radio.”
Rock Wolf Investigations: Boxset Page 89