He waited out front of The Colonist in his car, watching the vehicles pass by on the Pat Bay Highway. The main door to her building revolved with people coming and going, but none drew his attention for more than a few seconds. Except when Mattie stepped from the interior. His heart did a double flip of excitement and he wasn’t going to argue with his emotions.
She walked to his car and opened the door, but didn’t get in. Instead, she squatted and gripped the door for balance.
“I’m going home, Greg.”
“Silence is not a sign that things are better, Mattie. Get in the car.”
“Not unless you’re driving me home.”
“Okay, I’ll drive you home.”
“I’m staying there.”
“No, you’re not. Get in.”
She let out a deep sigh and got into the car. “Maybe the Ripper has moved on. Left town to kill somewhere else,” she said, fastening the seatbelt.
“Did he leave town before, or are we just unaware of his victims between April and October? There’s plenty of women on the streets that go missing.” He pulled into traffic and headed in the opposite direction of her condo.
“Where are you going?”
They still had some daylight left and he wanted privacy. “To Tsehum Harbour.”
“What’s there?”
“You’ll see.”
Thirty minutes later, he parked in the small lot and got out. She did too and put her hand on the Audi’s roof. “There’s no connection to the murders here.”
Tense, her eyes telling him she’d bottled herself up with the Ripper case. “I know that.” He walked around the car, taking her hand into his. “LV, one of my teammates, has a forty-five foot sailing yacht he moors here.”
“Good for him, but I need to get back to my research.”
He pulled her slender body next to his. Over the last two weeks she had lost more weight, always putting more emphasis on research than food. “You need a new perspective.”
“I need to figure out who is killing these women. Every turn brings me to a dead-end.”
He opened the trunk and pulled out a bag.
“What’s that?”
“Dinner.” He nudged her to walk with him.
“Greg.”
“Mattie, just appease me. One night without glaring at your laptop. One night to see things differently.”
“I did that and I lost my head. With you.” She stopped. “I can’t concentrate on the case if I let myself drift off course.”
“And I’m off course?”
This was why she was keeping them apart. She slept in the spare bedroom at his place. Even with Austen giving him the eye to make a move, he didn’t. He respected her space. He didn’t like it, but he respected it. He kept walking and she followed.
On the pier, he stopped and pointed at the falling sun. When she turned to look, he wrapped his arms around her and dropped smalls kisses on her neck. “And what was wrong with losing your mind?
“Because it’s just physical and someone’s going to get hurt. Namely me.”
He murmured against her ear. “I think you love the feeling of being stripped naked by my hands and my mouth against your sweetest places.” She trembled in his arms. “I don’t want you to forget that feeling.”
“Not likely,” she squeaked.
“We’re going to sail over to Sidney Island, anchor, and enjoy our freedom.”
“Greg, we had our moment. I heard you when you said Diana didn’t own all of your heart. You’re one of those guys that…never mind, I just—”
“Those guys!” he repeated with a grin.
“I lost control. We had wild, crazy sex. A couple of times.” She cleared her throat and looked away. “I don’t want to do that again. It’s different for me. I…I can’t do that and not feel something.”
These were sweet words to his ears. “Chérie, how broken do you think I am? I feel plenty.”
Mattie stepped aside and gave him a serious look of doubt. “Bullshit.”
There was something else going on here, but he’d stay the course. His course. Until he found out what was really bothering her.
“All right, just dinner and a sail.”
Her brows torqued together.
“I will not force myself on a woman, mademoiselle. You have turned me down. If you’re not attracted to me, then I must accept it.” Her shoulders sagged and she became an open book to him. Mattie wanted to be sought out. Did not all women want to feel a little special? “Are you not hungry either?”
Her nose twitched. “I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”
“You drank coffee.”
“Well, that was breakfast.”
Three men in plaid jackets and worn jeans traipsed up the dock in their work boots. As they approached, their eyes raked Mattie’s figure and a swirl of possession licked at his temper. “Then we’ll enjoy, eat and share a bottle of French wine. Are you opposed to that?”
“No,” she said.
There was only about an hour of light left in the day, and Greg quickly guided her to the finger where LV’s sailboat was tied up. He helped her onboard and started the engine then let go the lines from the dock. Mattie helped, and he slowly motored his way through the marina, stacked bow to stern with vessels of every type. Some looked as if they were listing and hadn’t seen a hull cleaning in years, others were one-hundred-foot yachts, sparkling clean and gleaming under the falling sun.
Once clear of the marina, he hoisted the sails and the northwesterly winds caught the billowing fabric, sending the forty-five-foot timber ketch across the waves. He watched Mattie venture toward the forward peak of the sailing yacht. The cold wind caught her hair and ruffled the material on her jacket. When she turned, her smile was so bright it could light a mariner’s way for miles.
It was in that moment the light came on for him. A single, crystal clear thought eclipsed all others: He could fall in love with this woman who was exquisite in her zeal for life. For her profession. For adventure. Mattie was the kind of woman who would climb Everest with him if he asked her to. A kind and gentle soul. Independent, open and honest.
“Mattie!”
She strolled down the starboard side of the vessel and straight into his arms. Her cheeks were rosy from the cold bite of the wind. As she leaned her head back to look up at him, she stole his breath and he wanted it back.
“Mademoiselle, I’m sorry.”
Mattie looked dismayed. “For what?”
“For not being strong enough.” He met her mouth with a deep and unrepentant kiss.
Mattie’s body pressed against his, revealing her desires and he needed every one. They needed to anchor. They needed to be naked to touch and explore. He needed to put his mind on where he was going or they’d end up on Sidney Island.
Greg stole one more kiss from her. “We’re going to anchor over there,” he said, pointing.
“Okay, do you need me to help or can I set dinner out?”
“Dinner sounds good.”
Twenty minutes later he took the steps below deck into the galley. Mattie had their meals waiting and the bottle of Beaujolais uncorked. The hunger in her eyes wasn’t for food, but he wasn’t going to mislead her into thinking all he wanted was sex.
At the moment, it would feed him for hours if he could feast off her body, but he needed more than that. He needed to know her. Really know her.
He poured the wine and they toasted, not to finding the killer or war or surviving, but to life. “Mattie, I find it hard to restrain myself when I’m with you, but tonight I want to find out who you are. We’re not going to make love until I’m familiar with the woman I desire.”
She swallowed heavily and absently flipped her long straight locks over a shoulder. “Then start by telling me who you are. What you want.” She touched his glass with a delicate tap of hers.
He broke the loaf of bread and placed a piece on her plate. “I thought you knew who I was after researching me,” he teased.
“Definitely smart to keep a low profile in my occupation.” He liked this. Liked having her here with him. Just the two of them. No rush. No serial killers. The swell of the ocean gently pushing at the hull. “I’ve never asked you your age.”
She grinned at him. “You’re forty-one or forty-two. I don’t know your birthday.”
He nodded. “I am forty-one.”
“I’m not.”
He chuckled. “No, although you’re independent and intelligent, I imagine you’re quite a bit younger than I am.”
She nodded and nibbled on some cheese. “Eight years younger.”
“I’d consider myself extremely lucky to have your attention. You know what they say, a younger woman will keep an older man spry.”
She laughed. “You’re not exactly over the hill.”
“No, but time does pass quickly. I’ve given twenty some years to the Navy. Fifteen of those to JTF2.”
“I suppose travelling the world is out,” she said, smiling at him.
“It’s different wearing sunglasses and swim trunks than it is with seventy-five pounds of gear and the chance the locals will blow your ass off.”
“Maybe I should do an article on the secretive JTF2 and a particular lieutenant commander.”
He topped off her wine and she swallowed a dainty sip. “Not sure in a town full of Navy people they’d be interested. We’re not as established as the SEALs. Don’t have thousands of romance novels written about us.”
Mattie sat back with a smirk. “In 1993, the Canadian Armed Forces accepted their role in counter-terrorism, relieving the RCMP of those duties,” she stated. “In 2001, JTF joined the special operation forces coalition in Afghanistan. In 2002, the mission tasking was completed. This was your first important role in the SpecOp Forces outside of Canada. You earned the respect of all the global special forces for your skill and integrity.”
He crossed his arms, tilting his head at her knowledge which frankly surprised him. “Mais oui, mademoiselle, you are correct.”
“Bon.”
“Bon,” he repeated. “You must feel the French language, not just say it.”
She tried again and he nodded with a grin. His heart galloped to see she would accept his mother tongue that she disliked for no other reason than she felt pressured. Or maybe it raced because of the soft glow of her skin beneath the warm light above their heads.
He leaned closer. “Je suis, Greg.”
“Je suis, Mattie.”
“Mon trésor.”
“Mon is my. What is trazsore?”
He chuckled at her poor annunciation. “Trésor is treasure.”
“Treasure!”
He couldn’t stop the naughty grin he knew grew on his lips. “Oui.” He cupped her chin and kissed her, savoring the wine so much more from her mouth.
She drew away from him. “Why does French sound so sexy rolling off your tongue?”
“Because the words are spoken from my heart to yours.”
Her bottom lip dipped to let in a little more air. “Okay. I can’t stand much more of this. Maybe we should change the subject.”
Greg rose and offered his hand.
Her eyes grew round. “But you said we wouldn’t—”
“I did, ma chérie, but I said nothing about not kissing you until you lose your mind.”
The aisle between the bulkheads didn’t leave a lot of room. He drew her along behind him toward the sleeping quarters; a small cabin with a large bed and plenty of room to kiss her breathless.
He turned to face her and Mattie’s fingers hooked through his belt loops and she yanked him closer.
Greg chuckled as his mouth wandered from beneath her ear to her shoulder blade, allowing her to push him closer to the back cabin. Her soft hands undid the buttons on his shirt. He moaned into her mouth as her hands slid down his chest and slipped the catch on his pants.
Their mouths were made for each other, and he enjoyed every gentle press. Every hungry caress as they reached the back cabin. Her timid exploration pushed his lust higher. Within a minute, she had him as naked as when he was born. Her pretty mouth kissed its way down to his abdomen taut from her touch. His legs were pinned against the mattress, and he savored Mattie’s attention to his body. She teased him, tasting everything except what stood boldly between them.
With an extra little push, she had him lying on the bed and climbed over him, her cheek gently running along his chest. She swung her long brown locks to one side, his body trembling when she lapped her tongue across his nipple.
Exploring his body, her moist tongue followed the ‘V’ of sinew from his hip to his balls.
“Oh shit, Mattie.” His body arched with pleasure. He’d had many lovers, but he wanted his spicy lady to take him in her mouth and into complete oblivion.
A second from undressing her, she did him the favor and pulled the T-shirt over her head, but he had the pleasure of removing her pants, slowly, until she squirmed with impatience. He slid her hips above his face, lashing his tongue against her crease to taste her. His reward was a sigh of sweet acceptance. He palmed her ass and pressed her clit to his tongue, licking with rhythmic strokes, driving her to the edge by teasing her plump little button of nerves.
Mattie slid down his body and planted kisses on his mouth as he guided her to where he could fill her with his shaft.
He needed to be inside her. Needed to make love to her. Wanted to look in her eyes and see her soul when her warmth wrapped around him. “I must renege on my promise.”
Soft strands of rich brown hair fell across his chest, and her cheek brushed against his before she sat up. He gazed, enamored at her slender waist and full breasts. She teased him, brushing her moist slit against his shaft with a stir of her hips.
“Are you sorry?” she smiled down at him.
“Oui, mademoiselle. I offer a thousand apologies for being a weak man and desiring you so much.” He gripped her waist and she laughed when he rolled her onto her back. “I must also apologize for making you lose your mind,” he whispered against her ear.
Holding her arms above her head with one hand, he plunged his shaft inside unable to linger a second more at the entrance to her core. Her body arched under him, and he drew in every breath of pleasure from her mouth. His hunger grew with every stroke and every sigh from her lips.
Mattie freed her hand and gripped his ass, pressing him to the hilt. “You feel so good inside me.”
Somewhere from a hidden place, hunger took control of him. It wanted to give, not take. Deep and decadent, her channel milked his shaft, trying to hold his cock inside. Her body craved him as much as he craved hers. His shoulders clenched with the raw lust clutching his body.
“Mon Dieu, Mattie. I’m sorry,” he breathed as her thighs opened wider. “I want to fuck you so hard.”
Her nails dug into the muscles of his ass. “Do it.”
She cried out as he stroked her into sounds of pleasure instead of words. He convulsed with a paralyzing release. His cock throbbed, filling her with his cum as her moist core spasmed with her own orgasm.
Fifteen minutes later and coiled in each other’s arms, they hadn’t moved. Her warm skin pressed against his chest. He nuzzled her cheek and then kissed her sweetly.
“You finally look relaxed,” he said, smiling down at her.
She winked at him. “Very.”
“I did not intend this, I swear.”
Her arm slid around his waist, and she nestled even closer. It didn’t make him flinch. He didn’t have the urge to back away like he had with other women. Instead, he flattened his palm against her beautiful ass and drew her closer.
Mattie smiled. “I love your intentions.”
The word ‘love’ reverberated inside him. “Good. Because I sent Austen a text that we wouldn�
��t be home tonight.”
Mattie propped her head in her hand. “Are we staying here?”
“That is my hope.” He watched her expression for a flicker of resistance.
She extracted herself and shuffled up the bed until her back pressed against the bulkhead, bringing the sheet with her, and covered herself.
His patience did not have a long fuse with her action. Covering herself signified she thought she was not quite good enough. Had to hide herself from his gaze. He sat up, curling his fingers around the sheet and pulled it down to bare her breasts. “Your body is beautiful, Mattie. When we are together, don’t hide it from me.”
She wouldn’t look at him, now that they weren’t in the throes of passions.
“Are you afraid of me?” he asked.
She crossed her arms in front of her. “Not afraid. I just have to keep reminding myself that this is about sex.”
“Is it?” He traced her delicate cheek with his finger. “If that is all it is, I could seek my release at the club.” She shrugged and he leaned forward to kiss the soft edge of her arm, then her shoulder blade, then her neck. Gripping her chin he made sure she was looking into his eyes. “It’s not my pleasure that I need, it’s yours.” He brushed her bottom lip with his thumb. “When you call out my name from these lips, it makes me desperate to hear it again.” Between his thighs, the familiar tightening of desire made his cock hard.
Her gaze flashed to his, and she made him laugh when she said, “But you’re so fucking good looking.”
He curled his arm around her waist and slid her back under him. “Merci, but do you not think I feel the same about you?”
The peaks of her nipples hardened, and he put his attention to a slow, leisurely trip with his tongue around her pebbling areola. Pulling it into his mouth, he suckled her as his palm strayed down her flat stomach and brushed the very tip her clit.
“Oh, God.” She stretched like a cat with his touch.
Mattie’s body was a plate of enticement. His shaft ready to stroke her into something wild and irresistible once again.
Her long legs draped open and her hips rose to meet the plunge of his finger in her warm channel. This time, he would torture her with slow, merciless attention. He wanted her to see how much he desired her. When he drew away, her gaze fired with impatience.
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