Julian grasped her hands, feeling her soft fingers slide against his. “People have let you down in the past. Abandoned you. So you’re shoring yourself up for when I give up on this investigation. On you.”
Her eyes were big and full of her doubts. Her resolve. “You will. We’re hitting dead ends. You’re the kind of guy who needs results.”
“I’m the kind of guy who sees things through.”
She looked down at their linked hands. “But you walked away from your family. Shut them out.”
He released a long breath. Of course she would see it that way. His family couldn’t count on him to stick around. Why should she?
“Because I don’t want to end up in jail.” He let those words settle for a moment. “Some of my family’s business activities are illegal. Stock market scams. Pyramid schemes. Money laundering. When my brothers and I were kids, they used us to perpetrate their scams. We were trained to cry on command if we were in a fender-bender. ‘Oh, my back! My neck!’ ”
He shook his head, embarrassed by the memory and his devoted enthusiasm. “They justify it because they think they’re not hurting anyone; only the government and insurance companies. I joined the military to get away from them, because I wanted to do something right. After I left the SEALs, I went home to visit. When guilt and obligation didn’t work to keep me there, they handcuffed me to the bed and sent in my ex-girlfriend to seduce me. I sent her out for a condom and escaped—they forgot why I’m called Houdini. I haven’t been back since. So no, they can’t count on me to stick around. But you can.”
She gave him a slow nod. “I appreciate you telling me. You didn’t want to.”
“I don’t like to advertise my family’s criminal predilections. Don’t get me wrong, they’re good people in a lot of ways. Loving, giving to the community. Moneymaking schemes are the way my father was raised, too. It’s all he’s ever known. My mom was drawn into the Bonnie-and-Clyde excitement of it. And us, too. Only I grew out of it. They’ve talked about going straight. It’s always ‘just one more scheme, and then we’re out.’ But I don’t know if they can do that.”
She reached up and brushed a stray lock of hair from his face. “You’re a good man. You’re here helping me, after all.” Her gaze softened. “I know you’ll do everything you can to find Di. And I know that if you do get tired of running down leads with me, you’ll give me notice.”
He swallowed back his sigh. She still expected him to give up on her. Words weren’t going to do anything. He would have to prove it.
Lang brought their pulled-pork sandwiches and fries, and they ate while watching the clientele coming and going. No outlaw clubs and no sign of Brick or Di. Mollie ended up talking to the woman next to her, giving her advice on her love life. Which Julian found amusing, considering. He texted Chase to check in with their location and progress—or, sadly, lack thereof.
Chase texted back. I’m chasing down a lead on Brick in St. Louis. My ATF contact should have something by morning. Julian touched Mollie’s arm, pulling her away to show her the text. She leaned close, her arm pressed against his, her cheek on his shoulder.
Then he answered. We’ll hang until we hear from you.
When the woman engaged Mollie in conversation again, Julian sent another text to Chase. Please don’t take me off this case.
Then he quietly ordered a slice of chocolate cake. Once Lang set it on the counter, Julian tapped her on the shoulder.
Her face lit up at the sight of the cake. “For me?”
He touched the spot in the center of her collarbone. “For your soul.”
She swallowed hard, as though he’d given her a diamond ring. “Thank you.”
He shrugged. “It’s just cake.”
But he could see that it was more than cake to her. She relished her first bite, then offered him one. He wasn’t a big sweets eater, but he wrapped his fingers over her wrist and took the forkful. “Decadent,” he said, his gaze on her. “Definitely makes me want more.”
Her eyes were locked to his. “The cake. It is delicious.”
“Mm-hmm. The cake.” Too.
She continued to share it, but he only took the proffered bites for the opportunity of touching her hand to steady the fork and look into those big blue eyes of hers. In fact, he almost ordered another piece when every crumb was cleaned off the plate. Then he remembered that they were there for a purpose other than gazing into each other’s eyes.
Finally he got around to chatting up the bartender during a lull. “Chumley over at the Bar None in Tulsa said you might know a military buddy I’m trying to find. I was planning on looking him up in OK City but found out he’s with the Kings of Chaos now. Didn’t feel like approaching any of them, if you know what I mean.”
Lang had smiled at the mention of his old buddy’s name, but he scowled at the Kings. “Luckily they don’t come through here much. What’s this guy look like?”
Mollie, who’d tuned in, produced her phone again. Lang studied the picture, then shook his head. “Haven’t seen him.”
“What about his girlfriend? Maybe she was in here without him.”
“I don’t pay much attention to OMG chicks. Those meatheads think you’re flirting with one of their women, they’ll cut your balls off.”
“I hear ya.” Julian popped one last, cold French fry into his mouth, then asked, “Have any campsites available tonight?”
“Plenty. The rain’s passed us by, but the forecast scared folks away.” He pointed at one of the waitresses. “Gracie Kay’ll set you up.”
Julian glanced at Mollie. “You leave your bra, and we’ll head on out.”
She had an impish gleam in her eyes. “Only if you leave your briefs.”
He laughed and slid off the stool, hooking his arm around her waist. “I’ll get that bra off you yet,” he said with a wink to Lang, then led her over to Gracie Kay.
“Are we pretending?” she whispered.
“No, mami, we’re just having fun.”
Chapter 7
Twenty minutes later, Julian had bought her a sleeping roll and found a nice little spot down by the river. It was as far from anything Mollie would have imagined seeing on this trip. Moonlight spilled down through the trees and sparkled on the water as it softly flowed past. The air was clean and fresh, a soft breeze rustling the damp leaves and sending a patter of raindrops to the ground.
They’d both washed up in the cabana that served as campground bathrooms and showers. She’d brushed her teeth and hair and put on the pajamas she had packed. He had laid their rolls a few feet apart right on the riverbank. She should be dog tired, but an odd energy flowed through her. It might have something to do with the way Julian looked in the slashes of moonlight, dark and dangerous and way too sexy. He wore shorts and nothing else—his sleeping shorts, he’d called them. They were the kind of fabric that draped over the curves of his behind and showed off muscular thighs dusted with the same dark hair on his head. Luckily she couldn’t see much in the dimness, but her memory supplied the sight of him at the well-lit cabana just fine, thankyouverymuch.
He wandered down to the water, knelt, and stuck his hand in. “It’s cool, but nice. How about a night swim?”
“No,” she said too fast. “The thought of getting into water I can’t see the bottom of …” She shuddered. The thought of getting in with Julian made her shudder in a whole different way. “Besides, we don’t have towels.”
“I’ll grab a couple from the cabana. Be right back.” And he was, within a couple of minutes. He handed her one. “No more excuses.”
She set it down beside her. “I’m sticking to the one about not seeing the bottom. Creepy.”
“Suit yourself. I’m going in.” He kicked off his shoes, shimmied out of his shorts, and walked right into the inky water. Even in the moonlight, she could see the curve of his bare behind until he was waist deep. He spread his arms out as he turned to face her. “This feels amazing. Come in.”
“You’re naked!”
She imagined that he was giving her a well, duh look.
“Why get my clothes wet? It’ll take them a lot longer to air-dry than it’ll take me. Or are you afraid of what might be lurking in the depths?”
“It’s the naked man I think I’m most worried about.”
“I’ll keep my distance.”
“No, thank you.” Even as her body strained to join him, she made herself drop down to the grassy bank. After kicking her shoes off, she submerged her feet into the water, all the way up to her knees. It was nice, the perfect ending to a grueling day.
He sank back, making a soft splash, and disappeared beneath the surface. She watched where he’d gone down. Waited. And waited. She started to get anxious. What if there was an alligator in there? No, she didn’t think they had alligators this far north. Maybe a water moccasin then. Or—
Something grabbed her ankles, making her scream. Julian surged out of the water in front of her, still gripping her so that she couldn’t lurch away.
She smacked at him. “You scared the heck out of me!”
He laughed, a soft chuckle. “Did you think I was some kind of river monster?”
“At first I was worried about you, silly me. You were underwater a long time.”
“SEALs get real good at holding their breath and maneuvering under water. We’re made for this.”
He stroked her ankles, his voice a different kind of stroking. “Come in, Mollie. It’s dark. I won’t see you.”
“I can see you. There’s plenty of moonlight.” Of course, she’d just admitted she’d been looking.
“Then leave your bra and panties on.”
He pushed back, maybe to give her space. To think about it. He flicked water from his hair. Oh, to be that easy with her body. “Di is like that, too, the first one to go skinny-dipping. Once I was chaperoning her—she thought I was just tagging along with her and her friends—and we ended up at the beach. Di just dropped her clothes and raced into the surf. Everybody else followed.”
“Everyone? You, too?”
“No, not me.” Mollie had sat on the sidelines while they all frolicked in the ocean. “Di’s the crazy one. I need to be the sensible one.”
“Why?”
The question made her pause. “I don’t know,” she said at last. “I’ve just always felt that way.”
He splashed his hands across the water. “You don’t have to balance her, you know. You being sensible doesn’t make her any less reckless.”
“I know.” That night she’d felt the pull to join them. To let go for once. And she felt it now. “I have issues. I know that, too.” Her body now strained to slide into that refreshing water. “Turn around.”
“Pardon?”
“Turn around. I’m coming in.” When he did, she pushed down her bottoms and panties, then pulled off her top. He was right; it would take forever for a bra to dry, especially during the night. “Are there rocks on the bottom, or is it smooth and slimy?”
“Sandy, not slimy. Some rocks.” He disappeared beneath the dark surface and came up with something pinched between his finger and thumb. “About this size mostly.” He flicked it up in the air and caught it.
The water swirled around her legs and waist and finally her breasts as she sank in enough for modesty. “Okay.”
It felt crazy sexy to be naked in the water with him, only a few feet away. He’d promised to keep his distance. Would he? Did she want him to?
“You have a lot of spunk when it comes to finding your sister,” he said. “But you don’t have a lot when it comes to you. Good for you, doing something out of character.”
His praise swirled through her. “Do you skinny-dip a lot?” she asked.
He sent the rock flying up and snagged it behind his back. “I haven’t had much of a chance in the last ten years. That’s why I couldn’t resist the opportunity tonight.”
“I’ve never had sex in a bathroom before either.”
“It’s definitely not my preference.”
“So you’ve had sex in a public bathroom?”
“At a country club and once at a restaurant because my girlfriend had this idea about doing it everywhere we went.”
“You have a girlfriend?” It shouldn’t make her stomach sink, but it did.
“Susana was my girlfriend at the time. The one who tried to seduce me into staying in Orlando.”
And still missed him. If that was her text. “Do you still love her?”
“No. I loved her in the way a seventeen-year-old boy loves a girl. All hormones, drama. No substance.”
Mollie pushed past the feeling that smacked of jealousy—ridiculous!—and made another confession. “I’ve never had sex like that from behind either. Is it supposed to be … anal sex?”
“No. That’s why you bend so far down. I’ve never dry-humped a woman. That was different.”
“Probably not very satisfying.”
He lifted one shoulder. “It felt good for what it was.” He had moved a little closer, and the moonlight glistened on his wet hair. “I’m a guy. Any sensation on my cock feels good.”
She’d never been around a guy who just said things like that. It threw her off. “What were you saying when you were pretending to come?”
“Nothing that makes sense. When I’m in that place, I just let words flow. ‘Hot,’ ‘sweet,’ ‘oh, yes, baby,’ that kind of thing.” He gave her a wicked smile that she could see even in the near dark. “I’m loud and expressive when it comes to, well, coming.”
Everything he was saying tightened inside her. “So the rubbing was why you were … hard?”
“I was hard because I had your luscious ass in front of me, your hips in my hands, and my imagination where I was buried inside you.”
The picture of that sent her cheeks aflame. “You’re so … honest. Blunt.” She would never admit to feeling aroused in that situation, though he’d certainly tried to get her to.
“Is there any other way to be?”
“But you were evasive about what you said at the end. Where I could only understand the mami part.”
“I said, ‘you keep telling yourself that you were only acting.’ ”
“Oh.” Well, she’d asked, hadn’t she? She narrowed her eyes at him, even if he couldn’t see. “It’s my turn to be blunt. You’ve been moving closer to me.”
He shook his head. “I’ve had the same rock under my foot since you got in.”
She glanced to the bank, which was farther away now. She had been moving closer. The way the water had called to her—or rather the adventure of getting into the water—he called to her, too.
“Why don’t you come the rest of the way?” he coaxed, his slight accent softening his voice. “You know you want to.”
“I don’t.” But she took another step closer, on purpose this time.
He pulled her the rest of the way. “Maybe we should figure out exactly what you want.”
He kissed her, his wet hand threading up into her hair. Even his kiss coaxed her, as he slid his mouth slowly back and forth across hers. Before she realized she’d done it, she opened her mouth fully to him. Needing to taste him, to sink fully into the kiss.
He let out a sound, stronger than a sigh, softer than a groan, and took her invitation. Their tongues danced in that same sensual pace. He kept a chaste distance between their bodies, though she was achingly aware of his nakedness only inches from her own. And of her need to close that distance.
His other hand slid down to her waist, stroking her lower back. He enveloped her even with that space between them, his mouth, hands … presence.
She moved back, shaking her head. “I can’t do this.” She wasn’t really all that convincing with her breath coming fast and shallow.
He hadn’t released her, though, and he continued to stroke her skin. “Are you sure?” He brought his hand around, down her stomach, and lower to gently cup her mound. “Because your body sure wants me to touch you.”
Hungry. That’s
the word he’d used earlier. And she was, terribly, wonderfully hungry.
She couldn’t deny it, not when her hips were involuntarily pressing into his palm. “It just doesn’t feel right having pleasure when I’m supposed to be looking for Di.”
He brushed his mouth next to her cheek. “You can’t give yourself to your search for her if you’ve got nothing left. You need to fill the well.”
The emptiness inside her, everything depleted … he was so right that it ached. “I don’t want to have sex. My mind, my heart, just can’t go there right now.”
He rubbed his hand very slowly back and forth, bringing her to life down there. “It doesn’t have to be sex. It can be just this, my hand and your heat.”
“Guys don’t work like that. You’ll get me off and then you’ll want me to get you off. And of course, fair is fair. But touching is always a precursor to sex.”
“Not with me, babe. Right here, right now, I promise you this will only be about you. Will I get horny and want to get off, too? Sure, maybe. But I won’t put any expectations on you. I’ll take care of myself. Right now I want to take care of you. You’re strung so tight, you’re going to explode. Release your tension, mami.”
She’d heard it before, just a back rub, honey, and then before she knew it she was lying flat on the bed with Jimmie aiming his penis between her legs. Still, her body was responding to Julian’s fingers moving in feathery motions across her clit, stealing her breath. She almost forgot that she was in the water, she was so caught up in the other sensations.
“This is too—”
“Don’t think. Go with the feelings in your body. Let go, Mollie, and be.”
“Okay,” she barely managed, because he hadn’t stopped moving those skilled fingers.
They slid into her folds, as gentle as butterfly wings. “Spread your legs,” he ordered, though it was soft. “I can maneuver better.”
Her body screamed to let him maneuver better. She obeyed, but that lowered her out of his easy reach.
“Let’s try something,” he whispered. “Hook your arms around my neck and brace your knees on my thighs.”
Wild Ways Page 9