Tall, Dark and Dangerous Vol 1: Tall, Dark and FearlessTall, Dark and Devastating

by Suzanne Brockmann

  That was really what he wanted. True, he’d give damn near anything to have sex with this woman, but he wouldn’t risk scaring her away. Because he needed her company tonight—her smile, the sound of her husky laughter, the warmth of her eyes and maybe most important her patient and unswerving belief in him. He needed all that more than he needed sexual relief.

  And then she was standing in the doorway.

  Blue could sense her tension. He picked up her undercurrent of anger and frustration before she even spoke.

  “I hope American beer is okay,” she said, handing him the dark-brown bottle. She turned to pull the shade down on the window. “It was on sale and—”

  “It’s fine,” he said. Her hands were shaking and her voice was unnaturally tight. But she was working so hard to hide it from him, he wasn’t sure if he should ask her what was wrong. “How’d it go in town?” he asked instead, keeping the question neutral, his voice light.

  “Well, it went,” she said, taking a long pull of her beer. “It went straight to hell in a handbasket.” She turned and gazed directly into his eyes. “Mind if I climb in there with you?”

  Blue’s heart stopped. And then it jump-started in double time. “No,” he somehow managed to say.

  Lucy leaned against the sink to pull off her boots and socks. She tossed them into the bedroom, then unzipped her pants.

  As Blue watched, she wriggled out of her blue jeans. Her legs were longer and even more shapely than he remembered. Her panties were bright white against her tanned skin. Mercy. He was going to die.

  She didn’t look at him as she peeled her shirt up and over her head and threw it down on top of her jeans. Her bra was also white, and she unfastened the front clasp as if she casually stripped naked in front of a man every day of her life. Her breasts were beautiful, so full and firm, with dark-brown tips that tightened under his gaze. Her body was exactly as he’d imagined it. She was slender, yet she had some real muscle in her arms and legs and torso, giving her body shape and definition. Her stomach was flat, her hips curving softly out.

  He was going to explode, Blue realized. Out of all the ways he’d imagined that this evening would end, he hadn’t considered the possibility that Lucy would throw all her cautions and reserves to the wind and make love to him. He’d fantasized about it, but he never believed it could possibly happen. Just last night she’d locked her door tightly against him. He knew she’d locked it—he’d tried the knob.

  So what had happened between now and then? What had happened between now and just a few hours ago, when Lucy had maintained that they stay friends instead of lovers?

  Lucy slid her panties down her legs and moved up the steps to the top edge of the hot tub. She paused for a moment, looking down at him, boldly meeting his eyes. “You seem to have run out of things to say,” she said.

  She slid down, letting the water slowly cover her body. She sat, a full half circle away from him. Closing her eyes, she let her head fall back against the side of the tub.

  “I’m just trying to figure out when I died and went to heaven,” Blue said.

  Lucy opened her eyes. “You’re not in heaven, McCoy—at least not yet.”

  Blue had to laugh. This was just too much. He couldn’t have written a better script for a sexual fantasy himself. “Lucy, I’m confused as hell,” he admitted. “What’s going on here?”

  “I decided I’d come home and seduce you.” Her eyes suddenly looked uncertain, vulnerable. Her voice got very soft. “Am I doing it wrong?”

  “Oh, no,” Blue said quickly. “No, you’re doing it perfectly. I just don’t understand why you’re doing it.”

  “I was suspended from the police force,” she said in that same low voice. “For sexual misconduct.”

  “But—”

  “I had no real hearing and no chance to challenge the charges,” she said, her voice growing stronger. There was a spark of anger in her eyes. “Bradley removed me from the investigation and gave me a one-week suspension, disguised as a vacation. I argued—he fired me—I quit.”

  Blue swore. “This is my fault.”

  “You didn’t do anything wrong,” Lucy said. “And I didn’t, either. But I figured as long as I’ve been tried, convicted and I’m serving sentence for breaking a rule I didn’t break, well, hell, I might as well break that rule, right?”

  Blue didn’t know what to do, what to say. She wasn’t here because she honestly wanted to be. She was here in some kind of knee-jerk reaction to her altercation with Chief Bradley.

  With any other woman, Blue wouldn’t have hesitated. With any other woman, he would have already been on the other side of the hot tub, performing a seduction of his own. She’d taken it this far; he could easily see it through to its climax, so to speak.

  But…Lucy was his friend. She had been right earlier today. Something had developed between them that could only be called friendship. And as much as Blue wanted her, he didn’t want her this way.

  So he kept his distance and waited for her to answer her own question.

  “But this really isn’t me,” she finally said. “I mean, I don’t…do things like this. I’ve never tried to seduce someone before….”

  “Yankee, I do believe you’re a natural,” Blue said with a slow smile.

  Lucy laughed, covering her face with her hands. “I’m feeling pretty stupid.”

  “Don’t be,” he said. “I’m in serious pain.”

  “Then why are you sitting way over there?”

  Her soft question made the bathroom seem suddenly very, very quiet. Blue could hear his watch ticking from underneath the pile of clean clothes he’d brought into the room. He moistened his dry lips. Damn, he couldn’t remember ever being this nervous with a woman before. “Do you want me to sit next to you?” he asked.

  Her eyes were wide and a bottomless shade of brown as she gazed at him. “I don’t know what I want,” she admitted.

  Blue took a deep breath, trying to slow his raging pulse, trying to lower his soaring blood pressure. “When you know,” he said, “then you let me know.”

  She was silent, just staring at him. “I can’t believe you’re turning me down,” she said at last.

  “I’m not turning you down, because you haven’t made me a real offer,” Blue said quietly. “You make me an offer, Lucy, and I assure you, I will not turn you down.”

  There was wonder in her eyes, wonder and the sheen of tears. “You told me you weren’t a gentleman,” she said.

  “I’m not.”

  Which was why he had to get out of there. Right now. Blue stood, water sheeting off him. He climbed up the stairs and out of the tub, trying not to limp. He could feel Lucy’s eyes on him, skimming over his nakedness, and he wrapped his towel around his waist. She couldn’t have missed his state of arousal. Even though he’d tried his best to calm his raging libido, he could have sat in the tub forever and still it wouldn’t have completely gone away.

  “What do you say we go downstairs and I cook us both some dinner?” Blue said. He didn’t wait for her to say no. “Throw some clothes on and meet me in the kitchen.”

  * * *

  It was nearly ten o’clock before dinner was over.

  Lucy had gone into the kitchen with some trepidation, but Blue did or said nothing to remind her how foolishly she’d behaved up in the bathroom.

  He made her set the table and then sit and do nothing but watch as he cooked up a fragrant pot of spaghetti sauce and pasta.

  As he cooked, and then as they ate, he told her the story of how his friend and swim buddy, Joe Cat, had met his wife, Veronica. She was a seemingly prim-and-proper media consultant who worked for European royalty. He was a rough, tough Navy SEAL from a bad part of New Jersey. According to Blue, it was love at first sight—only, both Joe Cat and Veronica stubbornly refused to acknowledge it.

  “Do you really believe in love at first sight?” Lucy asked Blue as he began washing up the dishes.

  “Yeah,” he admitted. “I know it so
unds corny, but, yeah, I do. I saw it happen with Cat. Something just grabbed him and wouldn’t let go. It scared the hell out of me. One day everything was normal, and the next Cat was totally out of control.”

  Lucy was silent. She understood. She was falling in love with Blue, and it was way, way beyond her control.

  “Cat and Veronica both tried to run away from what they felt,” Blue said in his slow Southern drawl. “But you can’t run away from something that’s inside you. I saw that first-hand. Cat was miserable without Veronica.”

  And Lucy would be miserable without Blue. But why force herself to be miserable with him, too? She could have him—even if only for a few days, even if only on a physical level.

  She knew Blue wanted their relationship to be a sexual one. Even though he’d gallantly turned her down up in the hot tub, he’d made that more than clear. She could have his body. All she had to do was ask. It was more than nothing, and it would have to be enough.

  Why should she refuse herself even just an hour or two of happiness and pleasure? Yes, Blue was going to leave. No, Blue wasn’t in love with her. Yes, she’d probably be just a substitute for Jenny Lee Beaumont. But Lucy didn’t have to think about that. She didn’t have to make herself miserable. She had the entire rest of her life to do that. She deserved at least a day or two of happiness now, even if it was only false happiness.

  But how was Lucy supposed to tell him that she finally knew what she wanted—that she wanted to make love to him?

  Another seduction attempt? The thought made her squirm.

  Make me an offer, he’d said. That kind of offer seemed so unromantic, so calculated and cold.

  Maybe instead of an offer, she could issue an invitation.

  Lucy stood. “I’m going to head upstairs,” she said. “Unless you want me to help clean up?”

  Blue glanced at her over his shoulder and then at his watch. It was still early, and he was clearly disappointed that she was leaving. “No, that’s all right,” he said. “I’m almost done down here.”

  “Good night, then,” she said, and started out of the room.

  “Lucy.”

  Lock your door. He didn’t have to say it aloud. “I know,” she said. Heading up the stairs, she smiled.

  * * *

  Blue tried calling California from the telephone in the kitchen as he finished up the dishes. Yes, Lieutenant Joe Catalanotto was still out on a training mission. Yes, Admiral Mac Forrest was still not available.

  He hung up the phone, fighting a feeling of dread.

  Lucy was no longer in charge of Gerry’s murder investigation. Travis Southeby was. Blue figured it was only a matter of days, maybe even hours, before Southeby found what he felt was enough evidence to lock Blue up. Tomorrow Blue very well might be in jail.

  And today Blue had had heaven in his hands, and like a damn fool, he’d let it slip away.

  It was still early—before midnight, anyway—and he was feeling way too restless to sleep. His leg hurt too badly to go for a run, but a walk might do him good.

  He headed upstairs to get his handgun and…

  The door to Lucy’s room was unlocked and open a crack.

  Her room was dark inside, but the door had definitely been left open.

  Dammit, he wasn’t strong enough for this. He’d turned her down once tonight, but there was no way he could handle twice. He knocked loudly on her door. “Hey,” he said crossly. “Yankee. You forgot to lock up.”

  “No, I didn’t.” Her voice was soft, but very certain.

  The meaning of her words crashed down around him, and Blue had to hold on to the door frame for a moment to keep his balance. She’d left the door open. Intentionally.

  “May I…come in?” he asked.

  He heard her husky laugh. “How many invitations do you want, McCoy?”

  Blue pushed open the door. The dim light from the hallway spilled all the way across Lucy’s room, falling onto her bed. She was sitting there, wearing an old extra large T-shirt and a pair of panties and quite probably nothing else.

  Her hair was down around her shoulders and she had no makeup on her face. She looked clean and fresh, and as she smiled hesitantly at him, he couldn’t believe how utterly beautiful she was.

  She held out her arms, shrugging slightly, her smile turning almost apologetic. “This is me,” she said, laughing self-consciously. “What you see right now is really me. No negligee. No borrowed little black dress or spike heels. No fancy hairdo. No hot-tub seduction. Just an old University of South Carolina T-shirt and a pair of cotton underpants. White. No frills. Just like me. If you decide to…accept my…invitation, this is what you get.”

  Blue knew instantly that this was what he’d been waiting for. She had no police badge to hide behind, no hesitation, no more doubts. She’d worked their relationship down to the simplest equation: she wanted him and he wanted her.

  And oh, how he wanted her. He’d had his share of women wearing fancy negligees and seductive clothing, but none of them looked even half as sexy as Lucy Tait did in an old university T-shirt with her hair tumbling down her back, her face clean of makeup. No frills, she’d said. Maybe not. Maybe just one hundred percent pure woman.

  Blue sat down on the bed next to Lucy and gave her his answer in a kiss. Despite all the fire surging through his veins it was a sweet kiss—the sweetest he’d ever known. He felt her fingers on his chest, unfastening the buttons of his shirt and he put his hand over hers, stopping her, slowing her down.

  “We’ve got all night,” he whispered, pulling back to look at her.

  He closed his eyes as she ran her fingers through his hair. It felt sinfully, deliciously, good.

  “Then you won’t mind if I just sit here and do this for about an hour,” Lucy said.

  “Not as long as I can kiss you, Yankee,” Blue murmured, pressing his lips to hers.

  He pulled her back with him onto the bed, and their legs intertwined, and still he kissed her. He gave her long, slow, deep kiss after long, slow, deep kiss, until her breath grew short, her hands gripped him tighter and her body strained against his.

  Deftly, he removed her T-shirt, pulling it up and over her head in one quick motion. And then all of her smooth, sleek skin was his to touch, to caress, to kiss.

  Lucy was delirious. She’d known that making love with Blue was going to be an extraordinary experience, but she’d never imagined that his hands could be so gentle. She’d never dreamed that he could kiss her so slowly, so completely.

  She’d imagined a frantic, urgent joining, not this languorous, sensuous worship of her body. She clung to him as he brought his lips down first to one breast and then the other, laving her tender nipples with his tongue, drawing them slowly into his mouth.

  She tugged at his shirt and he slipped it off, tossing it onto the floor along with his shoulder holster. As she ran her fingers across the satiny skin of his back, careful of the bandage on his arm, his mouth journeyed downward, to her stomach, stopping to explore the softness of her belly button.

  Heat pooled through her, sending liquid fire through her veins. Her love for this man seemed such a tangible thing that Lucy was almost certain he could see it.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, meeting her gaze and smiling as he slid her panties down her legs. The heat in his eyes was more than lust. It was more powerful, more pure—almost transcendental, making the blue of his eyes seem luminous and soft.

  For the first time in her life, Lucy felt cherished.

  She knew it couldn’t possibly be so. In reality, Blue didn’t love her. He would never love her. But she fought that reality, allowing herself the complete illusion tonight. Tonight, she would be cherished.

  He kissed the inside of her knee, parting her legs as he slowly moved his mouth down toward the sensitive skin of her thigh. And farther. Lucy gripped the bed as he touched her, kissed her, first gently, then harder, deeper.

  The sensation was beyond pleasure, beyond ecstasy, beyond anything sh
e had ever felt or known before. And that, in tandem with her love for this man, catapulted her up and over the edge.

  She heard herself cry out as he held her tighter, as a sudden and unexpected release cannonballed through her, seeming to rip her apart with wave upon wave upon unending wave of sheer, excruciatingly wild pleasure.

  Finally, finally, it came to an end. She reached for Blue, pulling him up and across her. He was laughing, real delight in his eyes.

  “Hoo-yah,” he said.

  “Oh, man,” Lucy gasped.

  “Do you do that all the time, Yankee?” he asked, smoothing her hair back from her face.

  “No,” she breathed. “Never. Not like that.”

  His smile grew broader, satisfied. “Good.”

  He kissed her, slowly, tenderly, but that wasn’t what she wanted. She deepened their kiss and reached for his belt, unbuckling it.

  “Mercy.” Blue pulled back, laughing again. “You want more?”

  “Yes.” Lucy unzipped his pants, tracing his length with her fingers. There was so much of him. She ached to feel him inside her. “Please.” She reached down into his shorts, touching him, encircling him with her hand as she kissed him fiercely.

  She heard him groan, felt him pull away as he pushed and kicked his pants from his legs. She tried to help, but she suspected she only made the process more difficult. Still, she wanted to touch him, to run her hands along the lengths of his long, muscular legs—

  Oh, shoot, she’d forgotten all about his injured leg. She pulled back. “Oh, Blue, have I hurt you?”

  He just laughed at that, catching her mouth with his and kissing her, hard. She felt herself melt against him, opening herself to him in every possible way. She reached down to touch him again and found he’d already ensheathed himself with a condom he must have taken from his pocket.

  He kissed her again, a kiss of fire and passion, and she felt something shift, as if the powerful kick of their rocket fuel-powered attraction was ready now to ignite. She knew instantly that this phase of their lovemaking would be neither slow nor languorous.