Breaking Bad

by Karin Tabke

  “Where will you take Ms. Schillner?”

  “The city. We have staff there who will get her to a safe house until Spoltori is in custody.”

  Val’s was forty minutes away in clear traffic; it would be twice that in rush hour. As they headed south on 880, Jack flipped the toggle on the dashboard, and moving to the diamond lane shoulder, he code three’d them all of the way to Val’s.

  “Mayo is pure fat and cholesterol. It’ll kill you,” Jack said, shaking his head. He was much more health conscious, adding only ketchup and mustard to his burger.

  Stevie nodded and muttered, “Mmm, hmmm,” just as she bit into the sloppiest burger he’d ever seen.

  Fascinated that one person could pollute her body so thoroughly with something as simple as a hamburger, Jack watched as globs of mayo mingled with mustard, ketchup, and pickles oozed from a rare piece of meat barely held together by a bun.

  “Bess burger eber,” she said, chewing a mouthful and making small satisfied sounds. When the tip of her pink tongue slid along her bottom lip, then slowly licked the corner of her mouth, Jack squirmed in his seat. But he couldn’t help smiling as he enjoyed watching her orgasmic indulgence of the 20 percent fatty beef. He groaned when she dunked a steak fry into a glob of mayo.

  “You’re going to die a terrible death, Detective.”

  Stevie swallowed and took a long sip of her double chocolate fudge milkshake. Jack shook his head, wondering where she was putting it all. “Ahhh, yeah, but what a way to go.”

  She pushed her basket of fries across the table to him, nodding at them. “Go ahead, Jack, take a walk on the wild side.”

  One turned into two and before he knew it, Stevie ordered a basket of beer-battered onion rings and ranch dressing. She would be the death of him. One way or another.

  When the onion rings and dressing arrived, she dinged one into the dressing and held it out to him. “Now if you really want to live—or die in your case—take a bite of this.”

  He did. It was good.

  Her blue eyes twinkled with mischief. “See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” She reached over and pressed the palm of her hand to his chest. “Heart still beating?”

  She held the half-eaten ring in her other hand in front of him. Jack slid his hand up her arm and circled her wrist and fingers, noticing how soft her skin was and how slender her wrist was. His fingers almost double-lapped her wrist. His thumb gently rubbed the scratch there.

  “Yeah, my heart’s still beating.” Then he brought her hand to his lips and bit down on the onion ring, catching her fingertips in his lips. She hissed in a breath that went straight to his groin. Her hand trembled. As he slowly chewed with her fingertips pressed to his lips, he smiled, never taking his eyes off her.

  After he swallowed, savoring the salty taste and the smooth warmth of her skin, he licked each of her fingers like they were his own. Slipping his tongue in the curve between her index and middle finger, he slowly flicked the sensitive skin there. “I want more.”

  He watched the emotions flicker across her face. Desire, fear, frustration, then back to desire. She tried to pull away from his grasp, but he tightened his fingers around hers. “I’m going to start by slathering that dressing all over your body and licking it off until you’re writhing and begging me to lick something else.”

  “Jack,” she whispered, looking around.

  “Just you and me back here, sweetheart.” They were in the far booth at the end of the counter and for the dinner hour, the place was unusually quiet.

  “You’re not going to slather me with anything,” she rasped.

  Not taking his eyes from hers, he smiled and dipped another ring in the dressing. Taking a bite he chewed it slowly, savoring the badness of it. Just like the onion ring, Stevie could be detrimental to his health. But like a junk food junkie, the addiction to the badness overrode all rational thinking. He wanted her as badly as she wanted that juicy death burger.

  “Come home with me.”

  Her eyes widened then narrowed. “You’re asking me now?”

  “Yes,” he said roughly.

  “Oh really?” Stevie dunked a ring and held it out for him. Just as he was about to bite down on it, she snatched it away. She laughed at him and popped it into her mouth. “Don’t think I’m a sure bet, Thorn.” She took a swig of her milkshake and leaned back, away from him. “Because I’m not.”

  While he understood her hesitation, he would not be denied. He slid around the booth so that they were thigh to thigh. He picked up another ring and dipped it into the dressing. Tracing it against her lips, he said, “I bet I can make you come right here with your clothes on.”

  He watched in fascination as the pulse in her jugular leapt at his words. Her blue eyes darkened to a stormy gray. His cock thickened at the sight of her getting turned on just from his words. “You’re intrigued. I can see it in your eyes.”

  Nostrils flaring, she shook her head. “Don’t, Jack.”

  Jack’s instinct where she was concerned was never wrong. He knew when her “no” was a hard limit “no” and when…it wasn’t. And right now, it wasn’t.

  “I see the want in your eyes, baby.” He brushed a long dark strand of hair from her face. “You want it bad, don’t you?”

  Her only response was a long swallow. His fingertips trailed along the curve of her cheekbone, his thumb caressing her skin. “You have the softest skin I’ve ever touched.” His hand trailed down to the smooth line of her jaw, then across her parted lips. “Beautiful.” Down her jugular to her shoulder. When he slid his hand along the swell of her breast and pressed it to her heart, he smiled when her breasts quivered. “I feel it in your heartbeat, Stevie. It’s beating like a kettle drum on parade day.” He leaned in and inhaled the scent of her hair. “Do you remember the excitement you felt when you opened your door the night you graduated, to find me standing there, no uniform to separate us?”

  She swallowed hard and nodded.

  “I tried to stay away,” he said huskily. “I did, the last three weeks of academy. But your lure was too strong to resist. I had to see you.”

  “I wanted to hunt you down and shoot you for staying away,” she whispered.

  “I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to hold out, to keep from touching you, Stevie. I had to wait until after graduation. And then I was so nervous, so afraid you’d already left or that if you were still there you’d tell me to take a hike.” He traced his lips along her ear. “But you were there…waiting for me. Weren’t you?”

  “Yes,” she squeaked.

  “Mmm, yes you were. I saw it in your eyes, just like they are now, so dark they’re almost gray.” He pressed his hand more firmly against her heart. “Your heart beat just as crazily then as it’s beating now.”

  He brushed his middle finger across a tight nipple. “Yes, just like that night, your nipples are so tight, so hungry for my mouth.” She squirmed in her seat.

  The small whimpering sound that escaped her full lips went straight to his dick. “I couldn’t undress you fast enough. I needed inside you like a crack addict needs its next fix.” He inhaled her coconutty scent. “You were wearing shorts; I ripped them off and the panties beneath them.” He chuckled, pressing his lips to her ear. “Do you remember how we didn’t make it to the bed that first time?” He nibbled her ear and felt waves of pleasure rush through her. He was as hard as the tabletop. “You were so hot and so wet for me. I pushed you up against the wall, you wrapped those long legs of yours around my waist and my God, Stevie, it was like going home.” He closed his eyes as he remembered the sublimity of entering her for the first time. There had been nothing like it. “The way your muscles grabbed me, held on, milking me. Jesus, you felt so good.”

  Stevie’s body heat had jumped several degrees to match his. He was seriously hard and his self-control was slipping.

  “I bet you’re s
oaking wet right now, just like you were when I touched you there for the first time.”

  “Shut up.”

  “No,” he said and brushed his lips across hers. He smiled against them. “You taste like a bad, bad burger.” He licked her top lip. “With extra mayo and pickles.”

  “I’m worse than a heart attack on a plate, Jack,” she said hoarsely.

  “What a way to go.”

  “You might regret it.”

  Sliding his hands along her arms, he pulled her in to his embrace. “My only regret is not calling you after that most amazing night.” The words were out before he realized what he said. But they were true. So he owned it.

  She stiffened and he chastised himself for reminding her of his major fuckup. When she tried to push him away, he pulled her back toward him and caught her deep gaze. He took the next step.

  “I’m not back in the Bay Area by accident, Stevie.”

  Her eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve put in for the Bay Area since I came out of Quantico. I could have put in for anywhere, with no guarantees of anything, but I chose here. Where you were.” When she trembled in his arms, he gently caressed her. “When I told you I missed you, I didn’t lie.”

  “You’ve been back for how long?”

  “A year.”

  “A year?” She asked surprised. “It took you a year to make contact?”

  “I was working on a task force that had me traveling extensively. I wanted the time to be right. This case was the right time.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “Would you believe me if I told you I was afraid to reach out to you? That I could not have dealt with you refusing me?”

  “So you created a way I couldn’t?”

  His gaze dropped to her lips. “Yeah. And I don’t have one regret this time.”

  As his eyes lifted to hers, he saw the doubt and wished he could convince her that he was not going to run again.

  “I want to believe you, I do, but damn it, I just—”

  “Remember what I taught you? About following your instincts?”

  “Yes.”

  “What are they telling you now?”

  “That you’re trying to be serious.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  “I’ve never been more serious in my life,” he said.

  His words, the way he looked so intently and unblinking at her, Stevie knew he believed he was sincere. And she believed he was sincere…but was he for the reasons she wanted him to be?

  “I believe you believe that, Jack, but—” She slid her hand along his thigh to his erection. He was so warm. So virile. A fresh rush of heat flooded her veins. He groaned when she gently caressed the thickening mound. “This bad boy does a lot of speaking on your brain’s behalf, only to regret the trouble he caused after the fact.”

  “You minimize my sincerity, Stevie.” He picked up her hand and set it back in her lap, then moved away from her. Cool air swooped in, taking his warmth with it. “This isn’t about sex. But I won’t lie; I want to tie you up and spank that sweet ass of yours pink. I want you squirming and begging for my dick so deep inside of you, you can’t breathe.” He paused for a moment to allow his words to sink in before he continued. “I want to bend you over my kitchen table and fuck you hard from behind, then turn you over and fuck you face-to-face.” He lowered his voice. “And I want to lay you down on my bed and make love to you, too. I won’t deny any of that.” He leaned toward her, his breath warm and moist on her cheeks. “But there’s more, Stevie. I want to possess you. I want to be your one and only obsession. I want everything you own.” He smiled, the gesture dangerous as his fiery gaze swept her. “I want to own you.”

  Excitement sizzled through her. So did fear. Being possessed by a man like Jack came at a price. Could she sell her soul to the devil? “I don’t belong to any man.”

  “You belong to me. The sooner you accept that, the sooner we can get on with the business of us.”

  Her jaw hung open. She snapped it shut and looked past him. Everything he said, she wanted, too. But that meant giving up control. Completely. A man like Thorn was possessive, like his friend Simon was with Katrina. Jack never did tell her what happened to the guy who touched Simon’s wife. Stalling for time she asked, “What happened to the last man who put his hands on Doc?”

  Jack’s eyes flashed dangerously. “Her husband beat him so viciously; he was in the hospital for three weeks before they could take his mug shot.”

  “Oh.”

  Jack stood and tossed a couple of twenties onto the table.

  “I was supposed to pay,” Stevie said, attempting to turn the conversation away from where she so desperately wanted to go with him.

  He held out his hand for her. “You’re going to. More than you know.”

  She swallowed hard. She wanted to know, God help her, she did.

  He guided her up from the seat, then dropped her hand and stood aside so that she could precede him to the front door, which he opened and held for her.

  When they came to the passenger side of his car, he said, “You will spend as long as necessary at my place, Stevie. I will put my hands on you. And you will allow me to.” He yanked the passenger door open. “There is nothing short of you tapping out that will stop me from taking what I want from you.”

  As she moved to get in, he caught her around her waist and pulled her against his chest. His confident eyes held hers. “Do you understand?”

  Not trusting her voice, she nodded.

  He smiled the smile of an outlaw who had just held up a bank and was about to shower in the bounty.

  Her bounty. Heat liquefied between her thighs. Squeezing her eyes shut, Stevie fought an internal battle she knew her brain was not going to win. It never would, not as long as her heart and body craved Jack Thornton.

  The drive to her house was silent, each of them allowing this shift in their relationship to settle in. Jack had laid down the law. Stevie was shocked that she, a control freak, a modern-day woman who needed no one and nothing, would entertain the idea of being in a relationship with a man who demanded total control of her. But was it control when she wanted the same things? She wanted to be possessed by Jack. He had been her obsession these last seven years. That wasn’t going to change except for her obsession becoming more desperate. Obsessing wasn’t healthy. Hell, it was the polar opposite. How would she survive him tiring of her and walking away?

  She exhaled loudly, as if she had been hit in the chest.

  “Stop thinking about it, Stevie, just go with it.”

  No guts no glory, right?

  Swallowing hard, she nodded, again not trusting her voice. After a few long minutes she said, “I’m afraid.”

  He reached over and entwined her fingers with his. “I’ll protect you.”

  When she looked over at him, he was smiling. “How can you, when you’re the one I need protection from?”

  “I think you have that turned around, sweetheart.”

  His words washed warm through her.

  “I guess we’ll have to see how this plays out to know for sure.”

  “I guess we will.”

  While Stevie threw together a suitcase for Jack’s place and their trip east, Jack was on a conference call updating her men as well as Deavers and Flynn. From their end: no sign of Spoltori at his apartment or his office. His Beemer had been located earlier in the day in Castro Valley just down the street from the registered owner of the black truck he’d tried to run Stevie off the road with.

  He was still at large, however. As Jack came back into her bedroom he said, “Spoltori gave us a gift by parking so close to the truck owner’s house. I wonder why he was so sloppy.”

  “Not sloppy; he’s arrogant and figured he’d be back and driving away in his car in no time.”

&nb
sp; “Which makes him all the more desperate.”

  “He knows we’re on to him.”

  Jack nodded and made a quick call on his cell. “Ryker, I need you to add an addendum to the warrant we wrote up today, documenting the theft of the truck and the proximity of Spoltori’s vehicle to the residence of the stolen vehicle. I’ll need it no later than eleven thirty tonight. Thanks.”

  Jack looked up. “If that judge doesn’t give us everything now, I don’t care how bad it looks; we’re going to shop the warrant until we get a judge to sign off on it.”

  “Just turn that special agent charm of yours up a few notches and you’ll have Judge Halpert eating out of your hand.”

  Jack grinned. “A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.” He glanced at his watch. “It’s eight; I want to be at the meeting location by nine, which mean we leave here in thirty minutes. That doesn’t give us enough time to get to my place and be in Fremont by nine. What do you have left to do?”

  “Nothing. I’m packed. I just need to lock up on our way out.”

  Jack slid his phone into his pocket and stalked to where she stood by the side of her bed. “We’ve got a few minutes to kill.” His eyes blazed as they raked her from head to toe. “Unbutton your blouse,” he commanded softly.

  Swallowing slowly, Stevie reached up and began to unbutton her blouse. When it hung open he moved into her space. “Slide it off your shoulders, slowly.”

  She did. Her breasts plumped as her nipples poked against the thin lace of her bra.

  “Now take off your pants but leave your panties on.”

  “Jack—”

  “That’s one spanking for later. Now do as I say or I add another one.”

  She did. He nudged the shirt off her shoulders, his fingertips grazing her sensitive skin. Warmth flushed in the wake of his touch. “Take off the bra.”

  As it slid from her fingertips, he said softly. “I love your tits. I love the nipple rings.” He plucked one gently. Shivers raced across her skin. “Why did you do this?”