by Jo Leigh
Bax leaned back, pulled away from her greedy mouth. “Wait, stop.”
Her whimper escaped before she could hide it. “No.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You’re not.”
“But I will if I take you into the bedroom.”
She looked at his concerned eyes, at the bit of moisture she’d left on his lips. “Let me worry about that.”
He shook his head. “You’re still healing. It’s crazy.”
She pushed off him and somehow got her legs under her as she stood. “You’re right. It’s crazy.” Holding out her hand, she could see his dilemma written all over that rugged face.
She urged him on silently, willing him to feel how much she wanted this. Wanted him. And when he took her hand and stood up, the butterflies in her tummy leapt for joy.
“Mia, this is nuts. We can wait. Tomorrow, maybe, or the next day.”
“Now.” She pulled him with her to the bedroom door, then next to the bed.
“I’ll feel like hell if I do something that hurts you.”
She thought about arguing the point, but decided words wouldn’t cut it. Instead, she grabbed the bottom of her sleep shirt and yanked the damn thing off.
He shut up right quick.
When she slid off her panties, he appeared to have forgotten how to talk.
Hiding her triumphant grin, she got busy taking off the detective’s clothes. Her hands went to his shirt buttons and she undid them as quickly as her shaky fingers could.
By the time she got to his jeans, he lurched out of his fugue state and joined in on the fun. Balancing on one foot then the other he got his shoes off and maybe his socks, she didn’t bother to look, not when she had to concentrate on undoing the next set of buttons.
He took over and there he was, as naked as she was, only he showed his enthusiasm in a much more vivid way.
She took a step toward him and after she’d captured his gaze, she ran the tip of her finger from the base to the crown of his cock.
His eyes fluttered shut as he groaned pitifully. It was wonderful.
“We can do this,” she whispered into his neck. She nipped him there where she could reach without straining. “Let me show you.”
His hands were on her back once more, only this time he didn’t stop until he’d cupped her behind and drawn her close.
She felt the scratch of chest hair against her breasts, felt his weeping cock against her thigh. It was all wonderful, but not enough. She wiggled free and sat on the edge of the bed. “Lie down.”
He looked at her sitting there, then got on the bed, on his knees, and then he maneuvered himself conveniently beside her, stretched out and gorgeous with his head neatly on the pillow.
She stood again, figuring her best approach. “You just stay still,” she said, and laughed as she saw his hand, inches from his cock, freeze in midair.
Although she wanted to hurry, she forced herself to be careful. Now would be a tragic time to pull her stitches or fall on her head.
Her slow movements seemed to captivate her audience, so she relaxed, making it all work.
He was easy to straddle with those slim hips, and the view from on top was delicious. From the way he smiled, she gathered he’d seen the simplicity and economy of her position. He didn’t have to worry now. She would control the pace and if she started to hurt then they’d rethink things.
But she wasn’t going to hurt.
It was tempting, what with him being so hard and standing tall, so to speak, to back up and bend forward, but no. That would have to wait for another time. Right now, what she wanted was to go for a long, slow ride.
“You sure?” he asked.
“Surer than sure.”
His smile broke. “Protection.”
Disappointment hit, but only for a second as she remembered where they were. “We’re in Hush.”
“Yeah,” he said, not catching on.
“Hush hotel.” She pointed to the big armoire. “A full service hotel.”
“The rooms come with condoms?”
“A wide assortment.” She took his cock in her hand and gave it a little squeeze. “Don’t go anywhere.”
His hiss told her she needn’t worry. Then it was all about the dismount and a quick, well, sort of, walk to the cupboard.
She flung the doors open to find a treasure chest full of naughty goodies. Furry handcuffs, dildos, vibrators, feathers, powder, videos, oh my, a whip which didn’t look as if it was designed to really hurt, and much, much more. There, between the Astroglide and the edible panties was a basket of condoms. She hadn’t exaggerated about the variety.
Not willing to waste another second, she grabbed the basket and went back to the bed. “Choose,” she said, putting it down on his chest.
He didn’t even look at the selection as she climbed back on top of him. He only had eyes for her.
Comfortably back in place after the delay, she made the choice herself, picking one packet at random.
She ditched the basket and tore the package, then proceeded to prepare him as her body let her know in no uncertain terms that she had to hurry.
She caught a glimpse of his white-knuckled fist. She wasn’t the only impatient one.
“Finally,” she said. “I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time.”
Bax gurgled. No actual words came out and yet she understood perfectly. Holding him steady, she lifted herself up and aimed.
12
BAX WAS ON SENSUAL OVERLOAD. Shockingly, he was grateful for the condom. Maybe it would help him maintain a bit. Considering the fact that just her touch was enough to make him explode, it was a good thing.
God, just looking at her stunning body, naked and quivering above him like something sent from heaven. She was small all over, and that was fine with him. Her breasts, Jesus, they were perfect. Especially with her nipples hard and jutting.
He couldn’t completely relax. Right next to his excitement was his concern. If he were a stronger man, he’d insist that they wait. At least with her on top, he could watch, make sure she wasn’t in trouble.
She had him in a terrible position though. Holding his shaft had been bad enough, but now she was teasing him, rubbing the supersensitive glans up and down, making him shake with his need to thrust. He ground his teeth together, held on to the side of the bed and the sheets, praying for mercy.
Keeping his eyes open was another tortuous exercise. Not just because she was so beautiful it hurt, but because she knew exactly what she was doing to him, and she was having an enormously good time as she did it.
“Mia,” he said, although it was more of a growl than a word.
“Is something wrong?”
“I’m begging.”
“Hmm. I think I like that,” she said, only he could hear the tremble in her voice.
“You’ll be sorry when I have an aneurysm.”
“Oh, it’s not all that bad, is it?”
He meet her evil gaze. “It’s worse.”
Her smile softened just a bit. “Okay, sailor. You ask, I obey.”
With that, she lowered herself slowly, achingly slowly, onto his cock.
It was indescribable. For a man who loved words, he had none. No language existed that was powerful enough, exciting enough, the sensations were that intense. To remain still as he filled her, as her hot velvet squeezed him, was impossible. He simply couldn’t hold back.
At least he didn’t let loose. If he had, she’d have sailed across the room. As it was, she had to find purchase on his chest.
He took hold of her slender, warm hips as he kept his pace slow and steady. She moaned the most erotic sound he’d ever heard, then found and captured his gaze.
“Oh, my God, Bax.”
He lowered himself in that same excruciating pace.
“This is, oh, God, it’s too much.”
He froze as he was, stilling every part of him, including his breath. “Are you all right?”
; “Don’t stop. Don’t you dare stop. I’m more than okay. I’m in a new dimension. I mean, oh. Oh. Shit.”
Hearing her swear, even that mild curse, made his predicament worse. Whatever the condom was doing, it wasn’t enough, because he was heading straight to blastoff.
He didn’t want to go there, not yet. Not until she could blast off with him.
He let her go with his right hand, and moved that to where her body and his came together. It was exciting to touch the little bit of hair that covered her mound, but that wasn’t the goal. One more shift and there, his finger slipped between her moist lips. Not too far. Just until he reached her clit.
“Oh, my—”
He knew he had it right when she lost the power of speech.
He stroked her, not too hard, but very fast. She increased her pace along with him. A moment later, her mouth opened wide, her eyes fluttered closed, and he felt the most exquisite pressure squeeze his buried cock.
His fingering stopped as his cock became the universe. Nothing existed outside of the pressure to come. He thrust up one last time, lifting Mia as she continued to squeeze.
He saw stars behind his eyelids, heard himself howl as if he’d been stabbed, shot, mangled, but instead of pain he was dying from the most shattering orgasm he’d ever experienced, and man, he’d had a lot.
Once the ringing in his ears became a dull roar he got to hear Mia’s version of what it felt like to splinter into a million pieces of pleasure. She wasn’t as loud and her cries were more delicate, but yeah, it was something. He kept having these tremors that were not as powerful but almost as sweet as coming.
Mia lowered her body until she was lying on his chest, her head nestled in the crook of his shoulder. Bax put his arms around her, and soon, even their breaths were like one.
SHE REALLY NEEDED to move. Not because she wanted to leave him, but her right leg was cramping and she needed an aspirin for her head.
Totally worth it, though. In fact, she would have been willing to go through a lot more if the reward had been making love with Bax.
“Hey,” she said, wondering if she was going to wake him.
“Hmm?”
“I’ve got to move. Just thought I’d warn you.”
He sighed. “I supposed it is impractical to live the rest of our lives like this.”
“Just a bit.”
“Too bad,” he said as he reluctantly moved his hands from her back.
She kissed his neck and sat up again. Something told her if she stayed like that, if she moved in the right way, he’d be raring to go, but he had things to do. Important things. Things that she would miss out on, being sequestered and all.
No, she wasn’t even going to think about the case. She would take a really long bath. Then she’d watch TV, which she never did. Order room service. Call Carlane and Jenna and Moira and all her concierge pals to give them the scoop.
“You okay?”
She was still sitting on him. “Fine. Wonderful. Happy.” She moved off him and the bed, and went to her purse to get the aspirin.
With a groan, Bax got out of bed, too, and headed straight for the bathroom. She heard the shower and debated joining him, but she’d made him late enough.
Despite her headache, she found herself grinning like a fool. She’d imagined being in bed with him a lot, but the real thing was so, so much better. She could hardly believe her luck. All those women out there who thought they were happy. They didn’t know that she’d gotten the best one. The handsomest, smartest, sweetest, funniest…
Oh, my. Uh-huh. She had it bad. Really, really bad.
Behind her, she heard the soft padding of bare feet. Then felt hands on her shoulders. Lips on her neck. “Holy shit,” he whispered.
She laughed, turning to face him. His hair was all damp and his skin glowed. She looked him over, appreciating more than ever what a low-slung towel around the hips could do for a man. “Can you call in sick?”
“I can,” he said. “But I don’t think it would be wise.”
“Why not? Let someone else solve the crimes. We could order all the desserts on the room service menu. And dirty movies! We could watch a whole bunch of those.”
“Stop, you’re killing me. I have to get dressed. I have to do my duty.”
“Duty, schmooty. I want you here.”
He kissed her. “I want to be here. And I will be. Later.”
“Stupid criminals.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
“All right. I’m going to take a bath.”
“Good. Then get back in bed. Rest. I’m a terrible man for taking advantage of you in your weakened state. You must get well so I don’t live the rest of my life under a pall of guilt.”
“Very well. Just for you, I’ll get better.”
He kissed her once more.
Yep. She’d gotten the best one. No doubt about it.
IT WAS DIFFICULT for Bax to get back into the swing of things, but only for about ten minutes. It wasn’t his devotion to duty that had him hunting for bear, either, but the idea that someone out there, someone he’d spoken to, smiled at, questioned, had tried to kill Mia.
There were still too many things he didn’t know.
No time like the present to fix that. The moment he got to the lobby, he called Grunwald. Whoever and whatever was stalling the search warrant to Sheila Geiger’s was going to get a rude awakening. After that was taken care of, Bax was going to pay a visit to Oscar Weinberg, and this time, Bax knew exactly what to look for.
DAYTIME TV wasn’t nearly as wonderful as Mia remembered. There were too many commercials and not enough Clive Owen for her taste.
She clicked off the gorgeous flat panel TV and went in search of her cell phone. What she needed was a fix.
“Ellen? It’s Mia. Do me a favor? Find out if we have a free loaner laptop, okay? And could you ask Theresa, if she has a minute, to bring it to suite 1406?”
“Well, yes, of course, I can, but sweetie, you have to spill. What in the world happened to you yesterday? It’s all over the Internet.”
“What?”
“Did you think it wouldn’t get noticed? The Golden Key is all abuzz.”
The Golden Key was the premiere concierge association, and practically everyone Mia knew was a member. Including her parents. “I’ll give you the whole scoop, but not right now. I have to call my folks. They must be going insane.”
“Later,” Ellen said.
Mia hung up and for the next half an hour she in turn apologized profusely and reassured first her mother then her father, then her mother all over again. A knock on the door saved her from round three.
It was Theresa. And Ellen. And the laptop.
Mia ushered them in, where both women oohed and aahed over her impressive bruise and her stitches. Then they had to know every little thing that happened in the garage.
Theresa was completely sure that Oscar Weinberg pulled the trigger. Ellen’s money was on Bobbi Tamony. Mia kept her opinion to herself, although she was both wheedled and cajoled.
Finally, though, she was on her own again and connected to the outside world. With her phone in one hand and her other on the trackball mouse, she was all set. She would get through the day without going insane. She would stay put, and not get into trouble. What she wouldn’t do was stop trying to solve the murder of Gerry Geiger.
OSCAR WAS IN HIS SUITE, which was just where Bax wanted him. He was spread out in the living room like a maharaja, with a bowl of fruit at his fingertips, a speakerphone blaring, and three, count them, three assistants in a worshipful circle before him, writing down every word that was uttered.
Bax was happy to wait, but he wasn’t about to sit in his assigned chair. He needed to find the camera. Cameras. There wasn’t a chance in hell Oscar hadn’t had them installed. One was undoubtedly on his desk, but he needed more. He needed to get a good view of every possible visitor, in every possible location. The man was a film producer and he knew about coverage.
&n
bsp; When they made a movie, they used one camera, and kept moving it to get all the angles necessary. But in a static location, like the suite, Oscar would have to have planted cameras all over the place, just in case.
So Bax wandered around the perimeter of the living room. He knew Oscar was dying to make him sit. To make him stop. Even though the room had to be in the low seventies, Oscar had a budding garden of sweat on his face, and his eyes, those beady green eyes, they were captivated.
Bax was enjoying this, especially knowing that Grunwald and Miguel were on their way to Sheila Geiger’s with a great big old search warrant. By the time he finished with Oscar, the boys should be at the precinct, cataloging every picture, memory card, camera and computer.
“Detective,” Oscar said, shutting down the speakerphone. “Have a seat.”
“Thanks,” Bax said, but he didn’t even look at the chair. Instead, he picked up an ornate box sitting on a credenza. “I have a few questions for you, Mr. Weinberg.”
“No problem. You want some coffee? Maybe something cooler?”
“I’m good,” Bax said, as if he were talking to a friend. Or at the very least someone he could stand. “You told me before that from time to time you’d hire Gerry Geiger to take some pictures.” Bax put the box down now that he’d seen the tiny little hole in the side. “Yeah, that’s right. You hired Geiger quite often. But you said you didn’t call him personally, is that correct?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Bax meandered further, to a big flower arrangement at the other end of the credenza. The flowers, he realized after touching one, were fake. Not something that would have been provided by Hush. There wasn’t a fake flower anywhere in this hotel. “So who did?” he asked.
“Who did what?” Oscar mopped his face with a small white handkerchief.
Bax hadn’t realized men still carried handkerchiefs. “Who made the calls to Geiger? Which one of your…associates?”