Deceived At Every Turn

by Jennifer Cole

  For balance Harper braced one hand against Riley’s chest and the other on the wall of the shower.

  “I need to taste you.” His voice was a low, sultry tone full of promise. Dropping to his knees, he lifted one of her legs over his shoulder and slid his hands along her thighs to her center. Using his fingers to spread her outer lips, his gaze locked onto her swollen petals he’d exposed. “I bet you’re delicious.”

  Harper sucked in a breath and held it. She watched his tongue slip past his lips, and shuddered when he slid it along her clit. “Oh God, Riley.”

  His eyes sparkled with satisfaction when he glanced up at her. “Mmm, like that, do you?”

  “Good Lord, yes,” she panted.

  When he closed his lips around her and began to suckle her throbbing nub, the room tilted. Need flashed through her like fireworks. The sensations of pleasure thrumming along her nerve endings overwhelmed her. She didn’t know how long she could hold out before she blew apart at the seams. And they’d only just begun. How was it that Riley played her so well? Knew exactly what buttons to push to render her near senseless? She didn’t care to analyze the semantics, she was too busy concentrating on his incredibly talented tongue, working her into a sexual frenzy.

  * * * *

  Riley felt her body melt under his touch. Sliding one hand between her thighs, he massaged her ass. Harper had a great ass. He slid along the seam of her backside, and feathered a light touch against the tight rosette in between her cheeks. When she didn’t tense, he gently probed her opening then eased his fingertip inside. He refrained from moving as her muscles relaxed against his intrusion. While he continued to tongue her clit, savoring the sweet taste of her, he inserted two fingers from his other hand inside her pussy.

  From above he heard her sensual moans of pleasure, and his pulse accelerated. Her fingers tangled in his hair as her hips started rocking against his hand. Her labored and uneven breaths fed his need. His cock throbbed, and his balls ached.

  When her muscles clamped down around his fingers, Riley increased the strokes of his fingers and tongue. Between his lips he suckled her clit. Her swollen nub pulsed as he continued his pleasurable torture. Moments later, her essence coated his tongue.

  Harper trembled as climax claimed her. A sob of release spilled over her lips. Riley eased up on his oral assault, but didn’t stop until the grip of her muscles around his fingers weakened. Once the tight hold she had on his hair lessened, he withdrew his fingers from her heat and slid her leg off his shoulder. Satisfied her legs wouldn’t give out under her, he collected the packet he’d left on the edge of the tub, tore into it and rolled its contents on his length. He stood and gathered her in his arms.

  “You are so fucking beautiful, Harper.” He took possession of her mouth in a gentle kiss, stroking her back as the tremors of her orgasm subsided. Her arms went around him, and she held him tight. Despite the release she’d had, Harper returned his kiss with renewed hunger. The demand of her mouth working against his sent his want for her through the roof.

  Riley turned them sideways and pressed Harper’s back to the shower wall. He slid his hand beneath her right knee and lifted her leg, holding it against his hip. Slowly he slipped his cock inside her. He pushed forward until he couldn’t go any further.

  “Damn you feel good,” he whispered in her ear.

  She shivered against him.

  He pulled his cock halfway out and paused to enjoy the passion on her face, the burning need in her eyes. When she tightened her pussy around him, he plunged back inside her again. Over and over he repeated the slow withdrawal and heavy thrust. Pounding into Harper, he waited until he knew she was on the brink, and then slowed his strokes.

  As he withdrew his length, leaving the head of his dick just inside her opening, a whimper of protest rumbled in her throat.

  “You’re close,” he said with raspy breath.

  “Yes. Please,” she begged him.

  He pushed into her with a hard, possessive thrust. “Please what?”

  She gasped.

  He withdrew.

  She panted, struggling to control her breathing.

  His nostrils flared with each excited breath. The fragrance of their lovemaking filled the confines of the shower.

  “Please. You’re driving me insane. I can’t hold on,” she stammered between his thrusts.

  “Then let go, baby. Come for me.”

  They locked gazes as their mutual culmination exploded in a rush of spine tingling euphoria. Harper’s teeth sank into her lower lip as tremors of release racked her body.

  When her grip on his biceps eased and her breath slowed, Riley released her leg and placed his hands on either side of her face. Her bottom lip quivered. As he studied her face, he wondered how in the hell he’d managed to live as fulfilling a life as he had before she’d come into it. True, they’d only shared a whirlwind couple of days, but he was looking toward the future. Did she feel the same? He dipped his head and brushed his lips against hers. It didn’t stop their quivering.

  “I’m crazy in love with you, Harper,” he whispered.

  Riley held his breath when she didn’t respond in kind. Perhaps she wasn’t ready to admit those feelings to him yet. He knew there was more than sex between them. Something was building that went beyond the physical gratification of sex. Harper had to feel it too. Didn’t she? His heart deflated, along with his cock that slipped free of her body. He tried not to panic.

  Although he was ready to take their relationship to the next level, he realized and understood that Harper had issues she needed to sort through. One of those issues was the fact he carried a badge, and he knew her trust in that regard wouldn’t be easy to gain. But Riley wasn’t deterred. He knew the woman in his arms was worth the effort, and the time. He’d be patient.

  “I...I love you too, Riley,” she said after several heartbeats.

  Riley continued to study her, looking for a sign that she’d simply said the words because she figured it was what he wanted to hear. Or perhaps she’d said them because she was caught up in the sexual afterglow of their lovemaking.

  In her eyes he saw the truth. She meant the words. His heart swelled. Her eyes were also guarded, cautious. But after hearing her tell him she loved him, and seeing the honesty in her eyes, the rest he could work with.

  After drying each other off, Riley picked her up, carried her to the bed, and made love with her again.

  Chapter 16

  The sounds of childlike fun and excitement filled Riley’s ears as he climbed out of his car once he arrived at Harper’s house. She wasn’t home yet, but based on the noise coming from the backyard, Melina and the girls were. Riley was paying her extra for those days when he and Zandra spent the night and Melina cared for his niece as well as Olivia. This was becoming routine.

  The four of them were great together, and Riley was enjoying playing house with Harper and the girls. It was nice belonging to a family and doing family sorts of things.

  Over the past week Harper had started to open up to him and was letting down her guard more and more, allowing him a deeper glimpse into her personal space. It was a huge step for her to take, what with everything she’d been through following her brother’s accident. Her growing trust made him disgusted at what he was doing to her. However, work was work. Past experience taught him that to get what one wanted, sometimes one had to get their hands dirty.

  Hurting her wasn’t something Riley wanted to do, but Harper had information he needed, and he intended to get his hands on that evidence, at any cost. It was apparent to him early on that she didn’t trust easily and once her trust was broken, it would be near impossible to win back. He knew he had to be very careful.

  After spending a few minutes catching up with the girls and their day at school, he ventured into the house to conduct some snooping. His search of Harper’s bedroom had yielded nothing in the way of her brother. Riley had to find something. Figuring he didn’t have much time before Harper came ho
me, he went straight to Olivia’s room and right to the closet. He was going to have to look fast.

  Olivia’s closet was neatly organized and there wasn’t anything unusual or extraordinary in its contents. Unlike the last time he nosed around, this time he listened closely for footfalls inside the house as he rummaged through her dresser and night table.

  Under the bed he found a couple of cardboard boxes, containing nothing but children’s clothes. The three shelves above the bed were neat, with a variety of trinket boxes and pretty figurines. A couple of pictures of her parents, Fred, Ginger, and her and Harper were interspersed amongst the boxes and figurines.

  Harper was a great parent to Olivia, and he admired her commitment to the little girl. He found himself visualizing her with a couple of children of their own. He liked the thought of her being home when he arrived there after work. Greeting him at the door, perhaps in one of those teddies he’d found in her lingerie drawer.

  Making love to her whenever and wherever he wanted.

  He was doing that now. His penis was in a constant state of semi-arousal since meeting Harper, and it didn’t take a hell of a lot to make him hard as an iron pole when he thought of her. He loved the way she called him ‘cop’ as a playful endearment, but he didn’t like it when she was pissed. When she was mad, he was no longer Riley. Intense hatred and contempt laced her voice and she’d only refer to him as ‘cop.’ The latter might be all he’d have to remember her by when his case was finished.

  He suspected there was more to her dislike of the police than what she’d already said. Harper told him Marshall called off the investigation within the first week. Marshall indicated the investigation wrapped a few weeks ago. Riley hadn’t been able to find any corroborating evidence to confirm either of their versions. There was something fishy going on at the Metro PD, that’s why the FBI had put him there undercover. But the case was becoming more convoluted. The puzzle pieces were stacking up, with none of them seeming to fit together. Riley had to get Harper to open up more about the night her brother was shot.

  After finishing his search of Olivia’s bedroom, Riley checked the linen closet on his way to the living room. On the coffee table he spied Harper’s laptop. Plopping himself on the sofa he grabbed it and turned it on, and hoped it wasn’t password protected. He checked the internet history to see what sorts of sites she visited and what her interests were. Scanning through her file folders, he’d found nothing suspicious.

  “Find anything interesting?”

  Riley jumped when Harper’s voice startled him. He mentally kicked himself for not paying attention to his surroundings. He’d been so focused on his nosing around that he hadn’t heard her come in, or noticed her standing in the kitchen doorway. He didn’t miss the harsh tone of voice in her question. He closed out all the windows he’d opened and set her laptop back on the coffee table.

  “Hi, honey. I didn’t hear you come in. I was just checking my email. Sorry, I should have asked you first before using your computer.” He walked over and dropped a kiss on her pursed lips. “I needed to check on something for work.” Not a complete lie, he convinced himself. He placed his hand over his heart. “Am I forgiven?”

  “It’s all right, I don’t mind you using my laptop. You’ve just never done it before, so I was a little surprised, that’s all.”

  “Let’s go out for dinner tonight, my treat.” Riley’s cellphone started to ring. The caller ID announced it was his boss from the Bureau. “Sorry, I’ve got to take this, it’s work, but I won’t be long.”

  Riley walked out the front door, closing it tight behind him.

  “Now is not a good time,” Riley snarled into the mouthpiece.

  “Shit happens, kid.”

  “I told you I’d report in.”

  “You were supposed to check in two days ago. I got tired of waiting.”

  “Things came up.”

  “I don’t care to hear about your stuff getting up. You’re getting in too deep with the woman. Do I need to remind you not to compromise this case? There’s a lot at stake here, Special Agent Spence.”

  Riley looked skyward. He hated it when his boss went formal. “I assure you I have things under control.”

  “Fine. What have you got for me?”

  “Nothing yet. Remember, I don’t have a key to her place so it’s a little difficult to get my snooping in with two kids and the nanny here. It’s going to take more time.”

  “We don’t have more time. What has Miss Rainier told you?”

  “No more than I’ve already reported. She’s tight lipped where her brother’s concerned, but I’m confident I’ll get what we need out of her soon.”

  “And you’re certain there’s a correlation between Detective Rainier’s accident and Chief Marshall? Because the brass is still grumbling about changing our focus from Marshall.”

  “We aren’t changing our focus, just expanding it. Right now all we have is speculation about their connection, nothing tangible. We need documented proof, and if Alex Rainier was a good a detective as I’ve heard he was, he had that proof. I just need to get my hands on it.”

  “All right, kid. Just remember, we’ve got a lot on the line. We’re only going to get one shot at this. If Marshall catches wind we’re onto him, he’ll flee.”

  “I know. I’ve got this under control, but I need a little more time.”

  The front door flew open and Riley’s fantasy family came out onto the porch.

  “Gotta go.” Riley snapped his cell shut.

  The call had left him with an uneasy feeling in his gut. He forced a smile and prayed Harper wouldn’t see his discontent. She returned his smile and reached for his hand, seemingly oblivious to the torment racing around in his brain. So far so good.

  “All right, my three beautiful ladies, where are we off to for dinner?”

  Chapter 17

  Harper and Riley sat together on a bench at the park, holding hands while watching the girls burn off their pent up energies before bedtime. They caught up on the trials and tribulations of the day, the two dogs lying on either side of them. After several minutes passed, Riley decided to start pumping Harper for information again.

  “Listen, honey, I was thinking about our conversation a few days ago, about your brother and his accident, and I’m rather curious about your dislike of the chief.”

  Harper stiffened at the mention of the chief, and her hand in Riley’s tightened.

  “I already told you, he refused to investigate my brother’s shooting.”

  “There’s more to it than that, Harper, I can read your body language.” He gave her hand a supportive squeeze. “What did he do?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Maybe there’s something I can do--”

  “There isn’t anything you can do, Riley,” she snapped. “Leave it be.”

  Riley watched her tension ebb after a bit. She appeared to struggle to control her anger and frustration.

  He was far from finished. He pushed her again. “I understand why you’re so angry over the police never finding a suspect. I really do.” Her shoulders tensed again. “It’s upsetting, infuriating and even discouraging for families when they can’t find closure.”

  She snapped her head around to face him. Fire shone in her eyes. “Why are you pushing this? I told you, I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Talking it out will ease some of your pain. Let me in. Let me help with your healing.”

  She stared at him for a long time before he cleared his throat, distracting her concentration.

  “What is it you want to know?”

  “Whatever you want to tell me.”

  “I already told you, I don’t want to discuss this with you,” she spoke through gritted teeth.

  Riley studied her, unwilling to let it drop. He couldn’t. There was too much at stake. He’d start small. “Why is there nothing of your brother around your house? You know, photos, commendations, any of his police stuff?”
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  Riley thought he heard Harper growl. Or it might have come from Ginger as she rolled over.

  “It was too painful to look at the photos, so I packed them away to share with Olivia when she’s older. I’ve put some special ones in her room so she doesn’t forget who her mom and dad were. His police stuff I tossed. I didn’t, and still don’t, want any reminders of his job around the house.” When she stopped, she held his gaze for a moment, before turning her head to watch the girls on the swings.

  She was holding back, damn it. Why was she making this so tough?

  “Tell me about the chief.”

  She groaned and shook her head in frustration. “Your interrogating me is infuriating. Wade Marshall was a friend of my father’s. They met in college and went through the academy together. Were best man at each other’s wedding. When our parents died he stepped in as the doting uncle figure. My brother looked up to him. Alex thought Marshall was a good man.” She scowled as if there was a bad taste in her mouth.

  Riley sat quietly, taking in her words. Her body was stiff as a board, her voice full of hatred, and her eyes blazed fire.

  “He let my brother down, Riley. He let us both down.” Harper stood and walked a few feet away, putting some distance between them. In silence, she watched the girls swinging. “Satisfied?”

  Riley moved in behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist, rested his chin on the top of her head, and when she relaxed against him, he closed his eyes in contentment. Despite pissing her off, he also brought her comfort. Suspecting he’d struck a painful nerve, he knew she wasn’t going to give him anything more right now. She’d shared all she was going to, but it was enough to keep Riley’s wheels spinning. Though he didn’t want to without tangible evidence, he couldn’t help but consider Marshall’s involvement in Alex’s shooting.

  “I’m so sorry he hurt you. Both of you.”

  “You have no idea how badly,” she whispered.

  Forcing her to relive painful memories unsettled him. Causing her more anguish had not been his initial intention. Yet, she was withholding information from him. Important information he needed, and he was prepared do whatever necessary to get his hands on it.