by Diane Saxon
Damned if she’d pass up the opportunity. She fluttered her eyelids closed. “Yes.”
Warmth stole from the depths of her soul as his lips cruised feather-light across hers. The inviting taste of coffee and chocolate mingled as she opened her mouth and let the slide of his tongue dance across hers. Permission or not, the man was temptation enough to wipe every brain cell from her mind. If it wasn’t for the solid door at her back, and the press of the iron man in front of her, she would quite easily have slithered to the floor in an overheated mush.
His low groan rumbled through his chest and vibrated through the palms of her hands. She smoothed them up over his wide shoulders, standing on tiptoe so she could reach to wrap her arms around his neck and coax him in closer. This was going to be good. Jack hardly required persuasion.
She’d never had stand-up sex before, none of her previous partners had been so inventive, or so strong, but from the hard push of his hips against hers, he was willing and able. With a breathless whimper, Kate slithered one foot up the back of his leg, desperate to get more intimate. She slipped her hands down his back to grip onto his waist as she pulled him in. Need clawed its way through her belly to light a spark much lower. Hunger gripped her until she was mindless, and the thrust of his tongue inside her mouth drove her insane until she craved more. Desperate, she wrenched at his khaki shirt with her fingers until she could slide them under and touch his flesh with hers.
The red-hot heat of his hands on her naked ass whipped her breath from her, but not her desire.
He nipped his way down the length of her neck, sank his teeth into her collarbone. “I’ve wanted to fuck you since the moment I first set eyes on you. Even when I believed you were a stripper.”
True remorse wriggled its way into her consciousness, and she opened her eyes as he raised his head. Passion streaked across his features as she uncurled the death grip her fingers had on his skin.
His firm lips twisted while his eyes turned cold. “I guess it would have been simpler if you had been a stripper.
She dropped her hold on him. “Perhaps.”
“So that’s a no?”
Regret laced her reply, but it was the right one. “That’s a no.”
He scanned her face for a moment longer before he released her. “It’s a shame, Kate. I reckon we could really tear up the sheets together.”
Her chest burned, the words almost lodged in her throat, but she had to make it clear. “Undoubtedly, but you’ve already stated your position with regard to relationships. I assume that remains unchanged?”
He chewed his lip while he raked his gaze over her, and then gave a curt nod.
“Yep, as I thought. And I’m unmoved on my stance, too. I don’t do one-night stands.” She wafted her hand around to encompass the doorway. “Or quickies with no feelings involved.”
She stepped out of his way as he reached for the door and pulled it open. He gave her one last chance to change her mind as he paused to run his hand through his hair, but she bit her tongue and let him go.
The quiet snick of the lock heralded the end of their short but very passionate interlude.
Kate smacked her forehead against the wooden door and blew out a breath. She was a fool. She should fling open the door and run after him, knickerless and abandoned.
Pride and a sense of self-preservation kept her where she was until the sharp rap on the door had her jerking her head upright.
“Katie.”
She screwed her eyes closed and placed one hand on the door. “Yes.”
“Two things before I go.”
She held her breath.
“First, there were feelings. I had feelings, and I’d bet my badge you did too.”
Her throat closed around her answer, and she waited in the silence until she had to ask. “And the second thing?”
“You have the finest ass I’ve ever had the pleasure to lay my hands on.”
Chapter Six
Eerie silence interspersed with pitiful sobs came from the kitchen area to greet Jack and Bill as they entered The Shake and Bake Shack. The place had been deserted by the customers. Plates, cups, and food had been abandoned along with the odd personal item—a jacket, car keys, a purse.
Jack raised his gun and held it steady as he made his way into the Shack, comfortable in the knowledge he was closely followed by Bill and backed up by his other deputies, Perry and Sean.
With a wary nudge, Jack pushed the swinging doors open into the kitchen and froze. There at the other end of the room was Billy Ray wearing only a towel around his middle and looking like he’d been through a meat tenderizer. He had his brother Tyrone, who appeared relatively unscathed, pushed into the corner with a knife held at his throat. They were both quietly sobbing with tears running down their faces.
Jack lowered his gun and sidled his way into the room. Bill followed, signaling for the other two deputies to stay put.
“Billy Ray.” Jack kept his voice soft. Billy Ray never moved, never flinched, and never took his gaze off his brother.
He’d known the boys since they were born, and they’d never run into trouble before. “Billy Ray, what are you doing there, son?” Jack was only ten years his senior, but his familiarity and position dictated his decision to treat the man like a boy again. Billy Ray sobbed in a breath and wiped his nose up his forearm, leaving a trail of blood and snot.
“Tyrone.” Jack tried again. “What’s going on?”
“I caught him fucking my wife,” Tyrone rasped out as he chanced a sideways glance at Jack.
“I wasn’t, I wasn’t.” Billy Ray pressed the tip of the knife deeper into Tyrone’s throat. It hadn’t broken the skin, but the way Tyrone’s Adam’s apple bobbed in a frantic motion, it wouldn’t take much.
“You fucked her, you’ve been fucking her whenever I turned my back. You’re my brother and I loved you, Billy Ray, but you can’t go ’round fucking someone else’s wife.”
The knife drooped as Billy Ray sobbed, leaving a gap between it and Tyrone’s neck. Jack edged closer.
“I never did, Tyrone. You’re just so jealous, you can’t see straight, and as for Delilah…”
Jack stepped up, removed the knife from Billy Ray’s limp hand, and passed it backward to Bill. Neither of the boys seemed to even notice it had been taken away, they were so intent on each other.
“…when are you going to wake up and realize your wife is a whore?”
As Tyrone leaped for Billy Ray, Jack grabbed a hank of his long, straggly hair and wrenched him back, meeting with barely any resistance.
“Okay, boys, let’s go get you cleaned up and we can talk about this sensibly.” Jack glanced back to see Bill pass the knife away to Sean. She stepped forward to handcuff Tyrone as Jack cuffed Billy Ray. There was no fight in either one of them, they’d already beaten it out of each other.
Jack scanned the rest of the kitchen, listened for any further sounds, but other than the quiet sobs of the boys, there was nothing else. “Where’s Delilah?”
Tyrone jerked his chin upward. “Upstairs, in bed.”
Jack exchanged a quick glance with Bill. He hoped to God Tyrone hadn’t killed her before he’d set about his brother. The woman wasn’t worth the jail time.
Jack caught Sean’s observant stare. “Go check on Delilah, Sean.”
“No, no.” Tyrone yanked back on the cuffs and hauled Bill around with the force of his panic. “You’re not to send him up there. She’s naked.” Spittle flew from his mouth as he drew back his lips and screamed. He twisted in Bill’s grasp and managed to wrench his cuffed hands from her hold.
In a quick motion, he jerked his arms up and caught Jack with a backhand across his face. Jack’s neck popped as his head snapped back. The cold metal of the handcuffs smacked into his cheekbone. Black fury washed over him as he squinted through his throbbing eye, ready to rip out Tyrone’s heart.
Bill slugged a neat punch on the man’s chin and saved his life.
Tyrone’s head hit t
he wall behind him with a meaty thunk, and he slithered down with his legs splayed out in front of him. Jack gave Bill a long, hard stare. It was difficult to kill a man when he was already down and out. Jack’s breath soughed in while the trickle of warm blood drizzled its way from his eyebrow down his face. His cheekbone hurt like a son of a bitch.
“Nice shot,” he managed as he swiped the back of his hand across his throbbing face and then stared at the blood smeared over his fingers. “Shame you didn’t hang onto him in the first place.”
Bill glanced down at Tyrone’s prone body and gave a cluck of regret as she shook her head. “Yeah. Big shame, now I have to haul this worthless bag of shit to the vehicle.” She hefted him up and slung him over her shoulder, giving a pained grunt as his limp head hit her back.
If Jack wanted a little remorse, or even a touch of sympathy, he was looking in the wrong place if he expected it from Bill. She was bad.
He smudged another drizzle of blood with the back of his hand to avoid it going in his eye and peered at Sean. “Go check on Delilah.”
Jack took a hold of Billy Ray’s arm and paused as Sean pounded up the stairs.
“She’s fine.” Sean’s voice floated down the stairs, long and drawn out. “She’s naked.”
Jack chuckled. Sean was the shyest and most respectful of all the cousins. She’d probably scarred him for life.
“Well tell her to get her clothes on pretty damn fast and come down to the Jailhouse to answer some questions. And Sean, make it quick, I’m timing you.”
“Hang on, Sheriff. Don’t leave me alone with her.”
Jack waited as Sean pelted downstairs with Delilah in tow, eyes glassy, panic streaked over the young man’s face. Jack could hardly term her as dressed, but he doubted she had anything more respectable in her wardrobe. Her heavily charcoaled eyes surveyed the men in the room like she was looking for her next fix. He’d known she was trouble the day he first met her. It was just a shame she’d managed to cause it between two reasonably law-abiding citizens.
With a sigh he perused the man’s shirt she’d donned which left her legs exposed in a deliberate attempt to draw their attention. Unfortunately for her, he’d seen better, and only just that morning. He knew for sure Sean wouldn’t give her a second glance, he’d already got his heart set on someone else. And Perry, well Perry was gay. Looked like she’d crapped out on all counts.
The clientele from The Shake and Bake Shack lined up on the other side of the road keen to watch the developments while they kept a safe distance. Bill was already in the driver’s seat, with Tyrone’s skinny little frame curled up asleep in the back of the police vehicle.
Jack pushed Billy Ray in alongside him and watched while Sean invited Delilah to slip inside the second vehicle. It may have been wise if Sean had ensured the woman was wearing panties.
At least she wasn’t coming with them. Someone in the Jailhouse would find her a spare pair of panties to cover her bare ass. He could only hope it was before she managed to give half of them heart attacks.
As they arrived at the hospital, Bill was ushered into the waiting room with Tyrone, while Jack and Billy Ray were taken straight through to consultation by a neat little nurse who smiled constantly at the pair of them.
He had no idea why, but Jack knew even before she opened the curtain it would be Kate. He’d even held his breath in anticipation, and when she glanced at him, he gave her the best smile he could muster. Perhaps it didn’t work so well when you had blood trickling down your face and an eye which felt like it was swelling to the size of Mount Vesuvius.
She gave him a quick sweeping assessment, her gaze cool and serious, and then glanced away to Billy Ray without responding to Jack’s smile. Breath hissed through her teeth as she took in the mess of his prisoner.
“Who’s responsible for this?” Her voice was frosty, her glance frigid.
He could almost hear police brutality in her accusing glare, so he held out his hands flat, knuckles up. Despite the whip of insult, he kept his reply laid back and relaxed.
“Not me, Kate, not my style, but you should get a load of his brother.”
A quick flicker of remorse passed through her eyes and lightened his heart. Goddammit, he might not need her approval, but it sure as hell made it easier when he had it.
“Can you un-cuff him, please?”
“Not a chance, that’s how his brother managed to get the drop on me.” He moved Billy Ray around, sat him on the gurney, and then made himself comfortable next to him, leaning back against the wall, dangling his feet while his face throbbed.
Kate snapped on a pair of protective gloves and leaned in to grasp Jack’s chin. Her cool stare assessed him before she let go and stepped back.
“Sandra, get the sheriff an ice pack please and I’ll see to him next.”
She snapped off the gloves, disposed of them, and slipped on another pair before she turned her attention to Billy Ray.
Soft and soothing, she handed Billy Ray a tissue so he could wipe his nose and then turned to study the instrument trolley. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”
“Whoa, whoa.” Jack bolted straight up, jerked Billy Ray’s limp body upright. “I read you your rights, Billy Ray, you understand I can use anything you say as evidence, don’t you?” Jack almost jumped back off the gurney in his haste to stop the boy from spilling everything to Kate.
She turned her cool, blue gaze on him and pointed what he assumed was a scalpel in his direction. With the threat she’d made earlier, he knew the woman was dangerous. He’d just had it confirmed, and a reluctant nugget of admiration warmed his stomach.
He was right about her. She had ninja skills and a little sliver of ice in her heart. Not surprising with her job. Jack knew from his own experience what it required. All of the above and a sense of humor.
He tilted his head to study her better out of his good eye. Yeah, she had a quirky streak of humor. Dry and barely discernable, but it was there, under all that professional seriousness.
Billy Ray sniveled and nodded. He scrubbed at his eyes furiously with the tissue Kate had given him and then gave a harsh blow of his nose. He squinted up at her with his puppy-dog expression, tears trembling on his long blond eyelashes that made Jack want to thump him just for the sheer hell of it. His face throbbed like a bitch, and his eye watered as his fat eyelid insisted on closing over it, while the kid who was responsible for the mess garnered all of the doc’s sympathies.
“My brother thinks I fff…” Jack gave him a firm nudge, boot against boot. “…slept…slept with his wife. It isn’t true. She tempted me, she walks around naked an’ all when she thinks Tyrone isn’t around, but I wouldn’t touch her. She’s my brother’s wife. I wouldn’t. I just wouldn’t.”
“Okay. I need you to lie down, Billy Ray. Jack, you need to un-cuff him for me please.” She spoke with a gentle authority, and the nugget grew into a burning rock. Despite the please, it wasn’t a request.
Jack flashed Billy Ray a hard look before he removed the cuff from his own wrist and attached it to the hospital bed. “That’s as good as you get.” Damned if she was going to boss him around. He met her raised eyebrows with a flat look of his own. Who was he trying to kid? She’d already got him to do her bidding.
He moved out of Kate’s way to the other side of the small room and hunkered down as best he could while he attempted to squish his big frame into the small plastic chair in the corner. They probably made them uncomfortable so no one outstayed their welcome.
Jack kept a close eye on Billy Ray just as the little nurse arrived back and fussed around him. She held the ice pack against his swollen eye, impeding his vision of both his prisoner and the hot doctor. The nurse rubbed his arm with gentle soothing strokes. It felt to him like she might be checking out his muscles, but he relaxed back while she tended to him and smiled warmly at her in encouragement. At least someone was willing to pamper him.
“I don’t think we need to check the sheriff’s pulse rig
ht now, it’s only a minor laceration to his eyebrow.” Ice laced Kate’s voice, but she never raised her head. “I’m sure he can hold the ice pack against his eye all by himself, thank you, Sandra.”
It wasn’t his fault the nurse wanted to tend to his…injuries. He simply leaned his head back against the wall, held the ice pack to his eye, and grinned. Perhaps the good doctor was a little jealous.
While she tended to her patient, Jack took the opportunity to study her. She had a lovely profile. She’d scraped her long, golden hair back and tethered it, but loose tendrils escaped to bounce around her ears. Pretty, neat little ears.
“Carry on. Your brother accused you of sleeping with his wife.” Her calm tone encouraged Billy Ray.
“I came home from work. I was hot and sweaty, so I climbed into the shower. I was in there a few minutes, soaping up my hair, when she stepped in behind me, naked as a jaybird. She wrapped her arms around me from behind, her skin against mine. My eyes were stinging with the soap. I tried to push her away, but she wouldn’t let go. She took a hold of my dick… begging your pardon ma’am… my penis and starting tugging.” Billy Ray shot Kate a guilty glance. How did the woman command such respect? “I pushed her away, she slipped in the shower so I stepped out, snatched up a towel, but Tyrone walked in and, well, he started to beat the shit out of me.” Too wrapped up in his own pain, Billy Ray’s mouth ran on heedless. “I ran downstairs into the kitchen. I thought he was going to kill me. I grabbed a knife. You know the rest. I was only defending myself.” He shot a look at Jack, his breath kicking up fast and panicked. “He’d have killed me.”
“Billy Ray, listen to me.” Kate tilted the young man’s face up, and a warmth spread through Jack’s chest as he let her cool, non-judgmental tones wash over him. “You need x-rays to see if your ribs are broken. I’m going to send you up now and then we’ll be able to give you something for the pain. We’re going to keep you in the hospital overnight in case you have a concussion, and we’ll take good care of you. Do you understand?”