He yanked himself out of his daydreams when she moved to step out of the old claw-footed tub and slipped, throwing out her bandaged arm to save herself. In a flash, he was there, grabbing her around the waist before she could hurt herself further.
Hot, wet skin touched him all the way down, soaking his clothes, but he didn’t give a damn. And when her good arm tightened around his neck to hang on, pressing those tits up against him, he thought he’d died and gone to heaven. Dipping his head to her neck, he inhaled the scent of lavender steaming off her skin. “Hmmm, you smell wonderful, babe. But I’ve just gotta know,” he nuzzled the crook of her neck, his tongue swiping out for a leisurely lick, “if you taste as good as you smell.” She shivered in his arms, and he smiled against her skin and nipped it lightly.
“If you’re hungry, big guy, I’ll fix you a snack. But I’m not it.”
Well, he reckoned she could fight it all she liked, but she was as turned on as he was—no doubt about it. He wasn’t imagining that sexy, breathy sound in her voice, or the scent of her arousal that even overpowered the lavender overdose filling the bathroom.
“Randy?”
“Hmmm?”
“Are you going to lift me out, or are those arms just painted on?”
“Just enjoying the moment.” God, he loved the way she sassed him. But the woman was a walking disaster. With a quick movement, he hooked a hand under her knees and swung her legs over the side. He lowered her legs, his hand enjoying the feel of hot silky skin as he ran it up the outside of her thigh to settle on her waist, still not prepared to release her. “You need a keeper, babe,” he whispered against her neck, not letting her go.
A soft laugh shook her frame. “What? And I suppose you think you’re the man for the job?”
He lifted his head and looked down into laughing blue eyes. “I know it.”
Watching the play of emotions—laughter, disbelief and then the first pinkish blush of desire—flicker across her face, he tightened his hold, her body flush against him, and lowered his head until the heat of her mouth brushed against his. His tongue swiped a slow line along the seam of her lips before he settled his mouth on hers.
Soft, sweet… His heart was racing. Slow…he needed to go slow. Now that he had her where he wanted her, he couldn’t risk spooking her. He nuzzled her lips, prodding and licking with his tongue until they parted under his.
Yeah, c’mon, that’s it, babe. Let me in…
A warm, wet tongue tentatively flicked out to meet his, and his cock jolted inside his jeans, his groin reflexively nudging hers.
Releasing his hold on her waist, he reached up to cup her face with both hands, exploring her mouth, savoring the heat, deepening his touch, stroking and tangling with her tongue until he felt like he was on a first name basis with every taste bud. And man, the taste!
Just like the other time. He couldn’t get enough of her. He’d fuck her right now if he didn’t have his damn clothes on. He was pondering how to divest himself of enough clothes to get inside her, when the little minx bit him! Playing with his tongue until she bit and sucked, holding him captive. Deep down in his balls he could feel the punch of response, like he’d been zapped with a red-hot poker.
His skin tightened. A primal growl fluttered in his chest. He could feel the wolf inside him busting to break free.
Did she know, did she have any idea what she’d done? Among his people, that was a signal a female was ready to mate. And while it had been done to him a few times before by females of his kind, it never had the reaction it had this time. The urge to turn her around, press her down, and force her submission hit him so hard it left him gasping. Oh, Jesus…
He grimaced inside as he ate at her hungrily. His incisors ached. His cock ached. His whole fucking body ached to change.
Control. Where the hell was his control?
Skimming a hand down over her hip, he cupped a firm, well-rounded globe, palming it briefly before moving on. Running his hand along her thigh and lifting it, he wrapped it around his waist as he yanked her up hard against his throbbing erection, grinding them together, and a savage need rose up in him to taste more, feel more…
Hell, he’d never lost it with a woman yet, but just the feel of Crissy, and he couldn’t hold on. His breath ratcheted in and out, burning a path to his lungs.
One arm wrapped around her waist, the other hand slipped between them and slid down the zipper on his jeans. Reaching up to his shoulder, he grabbed her hand, moving it back down until she wrapped her fingers around the pulsing shaft and caressed it from root to tip.
“Christ! Feel what you do to me, babe.”
With her hand encasing him, squeezing him, he kissed her again and again, savagely, swallowing the needy little moans escaping her mouth.
More, he needed more! He wanted inside that hot channel, and he wanted it now!
He dipped his knees, ready to slide on in, when a feminine little chuckle from behind him stilled them both. Crissy’s hand stalled, and pulling back a fraction, she broke the seal of their lips. Forced to relinquish his hold on Crissy’s mouth, he raised his head but didn’t miss the heavy-lidded blue eyes slowly opening under his, the rosy flush on her cheeks, or the way her breath stuttered as she tried to draw oxygen back into her lungs. His thumb reached across to wipe a soft line across the swollen, glistening skin of her lower lip.
“Guys, I’ve gotta say, this is better than one of those X-rated DVDs—”
“Georgie!” Crissy snapped. “Do you mind?”
“Hell no. But I guess I can come back later if you like,” Georgie offered. “I just thought you might need help getting out of the bath, Cris, but I can see you’re doing just fine. Real fine, in fact. See ya downstairs. Oh, and don’t rush on my account,” she chuckled as she left.
When her leg slid down over his butt to land on the floor, Crissy tried to push him away, but he tightened his grip on her waist and fought the urge to growl. “This isn’t over, babe, not by a long shot.”
She smiled, a sexy little up-turn of her lips that made him crazy. “I need to get dressed, Randy.”
He released her reluctantly and moved back a couple of steps, running his eyes down her body and back up again, pausing a moment on those breasts that had been pressed up against him only a moment ago, before looking into her eyes. “Not on my account. You look pretty as hell just like that.”
Shaking her head in exasperation, she placed her hands on her hips. “Georgie?”
He grinned. “Yeah, shame about her timing.” More than a shame, he could wring her scrawny neck! Grabbing a robe off the hook behind the door, he wrapped her in it, kissing her lightly on the forehead before releasing her. “Remember, we ain’t done yet.”
“Just consider that a ‘thank you’ for helping me out of the bath. Now, if you don’t mind?”
Her feeble attempt at brushing him off was about as effective as stopping a volcano from exploding by plugging it with a cork. With a laugh, he turned and grabbed his gun before he walked out the door. “I never mind, babe. Getting wet with you was the highlight of my day,” he threw over his shoulder.
Chapter Four
Georgie was sitting at the kitchen table when he got downstairs, and saluted him with a frosted bottle of beer. A second one was sitting on the table opposite, the condensation running down the side to pool in a little ring.
“That for me?” he asked.
She snorted and chuckled. “Yeah, well, I reckoned you might need something to cool yourself down.”
He pulled up a chair and spun it around, cocking his leg over it so that he straddled the seat and leaned his arms on the backrest. Tipping the bottle back, he took a long, cold pull. She was right. He felt the chill and fizz of the amber liquid all the way down. It didn’t reach his cock though. Just the scent of Crissy lingering in his head and on his skin was enough to keep him hard as a rock.
As he lowered the bottle to the table, he caught the assessing look Georgie was casting him. “Out with it,
sugah. You got something on your mind?”
“You could say that,” said Georgie, her green eyes narrowing as she looked at him. “Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for a girl or a guy scratching an itch if the mood takes ‘em, but you hurt my cousin and, sugah, I’ll make damn sure you hurt, too.”
He shrugged. “It was just a kiss.”
A disbelieving laugh blurted out. “Honey, that was not just a kiss. That was a declaration if ever I’ve seen one.”
Well, she had that right, at least. “And? You got a problem with that?”
“Depends on what you’re declaring, I guess.” Her eyes narrowed and she assessed him before answering. “I did a bit of investigating of my own while I was gone, Randy Trudeau. You have quite an…ahh, amazing reputation from your former clients. The females ones, that is. Just remember what I said. If you’re just looking for a quick fu—”
“Georgie!”
Dressed now in a floaty, peach-colored sundress that did little to hide the fullness of the body underneath it, Crissy sailed into the kitchen, cutting off Georgie’s words with a snap and sharp look, and headed straight for the fridge to grab another beer.
Georgie shrugged and smiled at him, but it never reached her eyes. The message was clear. For a tiny thing, she was a tough nut, that was for sure. Whichever man took Crissy’s little cousin on would definitely have his hands full.
The moment passed and a cheeky look crossed Georgie’s face as she wiped the frosty dew from her bottle in long streaks with a finger. “Well now, ain’t this cozy? I honestly didn’t realize you had…ah…company, Cris, or I might have taken a bit longer coming back with the beer. You know, gone round the block a few times, taken a long drive down to Florida or something.”
Crissy smirked. “Maybe if you’d gotten back a bit sooner, Mr. Super Sleuth here mightn’t have scared the bejeezus out of me coming into my bathroom with a gun in his hand…”
“Is that what it was?” The look of innocence on Georgie’s face disintegrated as a burst of laughter bubbled up.
Crissy glared at her, but Georgie just swallowed to stifle the remaining chuckles and turned to Randy. “Why the gun, hotshot?”
“Try a wide-open door, for starters,” he offered. “And considering what’s been going on around here, I wasn’t taking any chances.” He turned to Crissy, fighting the need to pull her onto his lap and have her close. Instead she sat in the chair between him and Georgie. Which was too far away for his liking. “You damn near gave me a heart attack, woman.”
“Sorry, that was my fault,” said Georgie. “I keep forgetting I need to slam that door to make the latch catch.”
“Right. And that’s just one of the things that’ll be getting fixed. First thing tomorrow morning.”
Georgie stood and slapped her hands down on the table. “So. Dinner. Crissy and I were planning on heading down to the new pizza place on Decatur. You wanna come?”
“If it has lots of pepperoni,” Randy said, “sure. My treat.”
Crissy jumped up. “No wa—”
“Yes, thanks,” said Georgie with a big smile, cutting off her cousin. “That’d be great!”
* * * * *
Fortunately, Georgie only stayed long enough to down a couple of slices of pepperoni with extra cheese before she dashed off to her other job, leaving them alone at last.
“How many jobs does that woman have?” he asked, making conversation. Crissy had been watching him intently for the last half hour. Not that he minded. He just wanted to know what was going on behind those baby blues.
“She has two. But she volunteers at another place three mornings a week.”
“Busy lady.”
“Uh-huh. Look, let’s cut the cozy chitchat, shall we? This afternoon was an aberration. If you think you’re moving into my bed, you can think again. I know your type, Randy Trudeau, and I’m not going there.”
“Oh? And what’s my type?”
“Smooth. But you’re like a big kid in a candy store. So many lollies, you can’t pick just one. And you just want to try them all, don’t you? Well, not this lady. So, yes…” Her eyes ran down his body, the look of appreciation making his red blood cell count jump through the roof, before the startling blue orbs settled back on his face. “While I’ll admit the package is impressive…and the technique is pretty darn hot…just so you know, I’m not buying what you’re selling. Save your energy for someone who’s more likely to get off on it.”
Randy wasn’t stupid. And even though he knew she was aroused—that was a particular scent of hers that was permanently imprinted on his brain—he knew enough about women to know that fighting Crissy with words right now just wasn’t going to work. Besides, maybe a small breather was what he needed too. God knows, when he was around her, all he could think about was fucking her, and this time…this time, dammit, he wanted more.
“Okay, then.” He stood and grabbed his jacket off the back of the chair, shrugging into it. “What say we walk back home along the river. It’s a nice night.” Holding out his hand, he waited for her to stand.
He wasn’t surprised when she ignored it and headed over to the cash register. But his hand darted out and grabbed hers the minute she got her wallet out of her bag.
“No way, Crissy. It’s on me, remember.”
She rolled her eyes at him and walked away, waiting for him outside the door.
God, as if her life wasn’t enough of a mess already.
Sneaking the odd glance at Randy as they strolled back to her house, she wasn’t really surprised by just how…safe, she felt with him. His presence was so tangible, even when he wasn’t touching her, which for once he didn’t seem to be trying to. Although he was close enough, either by design or accident—she couldn’t work out which—that they kept bumping together as they walked.
And he was easy to talk to when he wasn’t trying to do the whole alpha-male-sex-god thing. He had a great laugh—deep and throaty, warm. And hell, the man was a walking stick of dynamite. A big stick. And a big fuse to go with it, now that she’d had the proof of it in her hot little hand!
But he was just as dangerous. If rumors could be believed, the man took sex to new heights. More than one of her girlfriends was still love-struck—or, more accurately, sex-struck—over him. After that little interlude in the bathroom earlier, she could see how easily that could happen and she had no intention on being one more to add to his list. The man went through women like water through a sieve.
No, she’d have to keep her head around him. Or try to. No matter how hot he made her. Like earlier. What the hell was that? That was beyond, way, waaay beyond any previous experience. She’d never thrown herself at a man like that—ever. She’d all but climbed inside him. And the size and weight of him in her hand. Whoa mama!!
She shook her head to clear it of the erotic images, the memories of just how good it had felt.
Maybe it was too long without good sex. Or any sex, for that matter. That must be it. But she was looking for more than a quick romp. She was getting too old for that. She wanted sex to mean something. And Randy Trudeau was not the man to give it to her.
Deep in thought, not watching where she was going, her next step brought her smack dab, straight into a brick wall. At least it was solid enough to pass as one. Except this one was warm and smelled like all things forbidden.
She felt Randy’s hands settle on her shoulders, and lifted her head, looking into a concerned pair of eyes.
“You want to tell me what’s on your mind, babe?” he asked, his voice a soft whisper.
Like answering that honestly wouldn’t get her into more hot water. She shook her head.
“Okay then, you don’t want to talk, that’s fine, but you let me know when you do. Maybe I can help, eh?”
When he was more than half the problem? Not likely.
He wound his arm around her shoulder and hugged her as they walked down Esplanade back to the house. And for now, she let him. Fatigue was starting to hit her. She h
adn’t had a decent night’s sleep since the first attack, but now she could hardly muffle the yawns. Even though she should push him away, right then he was warm and good to lean on, and she just didn’t have any energy left to fight.
Arm tightening around her shoulder, Randy slowed their pace to a crawl, two doors down from her house. Sniffing the air, he stopped and looked around.
“What?” she asked, her words low. Feeling the tension ripple through his body, all her senses went on alert and the weariness of moments before disappeared behind the pump of adrenaline through her body.
“I don’t know. Give me a minute.” He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Where’s your car?”
“Around back. In the garage. Why?” She tried to ignore what the heat of his breath tickling her ear was doing to her.
“Too far. Too dark. And I don’t want you heading around there without me. Just stay close. You got your cell phone?”
“Always. In my bag.”
“Get it out now. If something happens, I want you to call Chad. He’ll get here faster than the cops anyway.” He waited until she had it in her hand and the little screen lit up to let him know it was turned on.
“Five-three-three…”
“What are you doing?”
“Giving you his number.”
“Oh, that’s okay. I already have it on speed dial. He gave it to me this afternoon.”
“When?”
“He called me. Why?”
She heard a mumbled curse leave his lips.
“Never mind,” he grunted. “Just hold on to it.”
They reached the tall oak outside her house, sheltering behind its limited cover, and watched as two black shadows peeled themselves away from the side of the house.
Randy slipped Crissy around behind him, holding her there with his left arm as his right hand reached inside his jacket for his gun.
“Hold it right there,” demanded Randy.
Candid Camera Page 5