Feeling The Heat

by Rhonda Nelson

  He’d also walked up behind her while they’d been standing by the Jungle Room and told her in no uncertain terms what he’d like to do to her in there. Or anywhere, for that matter, which had sent a wicked thrill whipping through her.

  Much like the one she was experiencing now, Georgia thought, remembering the wonderful things Linc had done to her body last night.

  And she wanted them again and again.

  “As for the fried peanut butter and banana sandwich, I had no idea I was missing out on something so fabulous.” She nodded succinctly. “I stand corrected.”

  “Beale Street?”

  She paused consideringly, sorting through her impressions. “The guy doing the gymnastics in the middle of the street was quite cool.” They’d wandered in and out of the shops, looking at everything from tacky sunglasses to old albums. Musicians were on every corner, cranking out their soulful sounds. Linc, she knew, was right in his element and several of the street players knew him. At one point he’d even been asked to step in while another player went to the bathroom. Watching those wonderful fingers competently stroking those strings, pulling the notes out of the guitar, his longish espresso curls falling across his cheek as the music moved out of him…Georgia released a shuddering breath.

  That had been damned sexy.

  She knew what those fingers felt like, how well they stroked, and the notes of sensual melody he’d pulled from her just this morning.

  “The zoo?” Linc asked, interrupting her X-rated musings.

  Georgia’s heart blushed with pleasure. “I loved the zoo.” It had been years and years since she’d been. In fact, if she wasn’t mistaken the last time she’d been to the zoo had been with her Girl Scout troop in sixth grade. Maybe it had been seventh.

  At any rate, she and Linc had strolled from one exhibit to the next, hand in hand, and had even gotten to take a little behind-the-scenes tour to see how much care and attention went into preparing the animals’ food. It had been quite interesting, to say the least.

  Her favorite thing, of course, had been the giant pandas. They were big and beautiful with their masked faces and sad eyes. Interestingly, there were only four pairs of giant pandas currently in the U.S.—less than a thousand in the world—and seeing one had been a unique opportunity she was glad she’d gotten the chance to have. Her gaze slid to Linc, she sighed softly, and her heart melted all over again.

  Thanks to him.

  She knew he’d been appalled by the fact that she hadn’t taken a vacation, but frankly, Georgia had just always preferred to work. Though she enjoyed her own company for the most part, a vacation had always felt like a couples’ thing and since she’d never really been part of a couple, she’d just put it off.

  If she’d learned anything today—aside from the fact that she adored Linc Stone—she’d learned that she needed to change her thinking. Yes, going on a vacation with him would be a lot more fun, but whether she went as part of a couple or alone, she needed to make the time to do more things for herself. Soaking in her tub and taking a morning ride with Mags wasn’t enough.

  Furthermore, Linc had been right. Karen was fully capable of helping out more—craved more—but Georgia had always been such a micromanager she’d never given Karen the responsibility she was clearly ready for.

  That would change.

  She’d had fun today. To think that she’d been so reluctant to do this and yet, she’d truly enjoyed herself.

  She squeezed Linc’s hand and rested her head upon his shoulder as the Duck they were riding in made its way back to town. Another interesting experience, Georgia thought. The Ducks were amphibious vehicles that were originally built and used in World War Two. The Ducks of Memphis took a historical tour through the town by Sun Records, Saint Jude’s Children’s Research Center, the Pyramid and much more, then splashed into the backwaters of the Mississippi into the Wolf River Harbor.

  They’d also found out the people who ran the company were instrumental in helping the with the search and rescue of Hurricane Katrina victims. Just another tidbit that she’d learned during her Tour de Fun with Linc.

  The tour guide finished his spiel and people began filing off the bus. Linc tossed a few bills into the tip bucket, then carefully helped her down. She landed against his front and had to resist the urge to go up on her tiptoe and kiss him. He was big and warm and smelled like fresh air, sexy man and patchouli.

  His heavy-lidded gaze tangled with hers. “Where to now, Trouble?” he asked, that deep baritone moving through her much as the music had left his fingers.

  Heat broadsided her, her belly went all hot and muddled and she felt her breasts pucker beneath the flimsy fabric of her bra.

  She’d tell him where to—the same place she’d been thinking about all day.

  Georgia took his hand in hers and tugged him up the street. “It’s my turn to show you something,” she said. Being a wedding planner did have its perks, one of them being that she was on good terms and knew the layout of some of the best hotels.

  The Peabody would do nicely, Georgia decided. Clean, classy. Just the place for a little secret, dirty sex. She herded Linc through the lobby away from the marble fountain where the famous ducks played and depressed the call button for the elevator. Brunch would be over right now, meaning that the Skyway area would be virtually deserted.

  The moment the elevator doors slid closed, she was on him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and tugged him closer, tasting him, feeding at his mouth. There was an insistent urgency about it, a desperateness she knew could only be caused by the fact that their time was drawing to a close. When they found Carter—and she didn’t doubt that they would—her reason for being with Linc twenty-four-seven would be over. The thought almost made her whimper. He’d go back to his artistic badass bounty-hunter world and she’d return to making happily-ever-afters for everyone but herself.

  Things would go back to normal…and yet she knew her normal would never be the same.

  Linc cupped her rear end and growled low in his throat. “I love your ass.”

  Georgia slipped her hands down over his and squeezed, as well. “Yours is pretty damned nice, too.”

  The elevator glided to a stop, then the doors opened revealing a blessedly empty hallway. She grabbed his hand once more and propelled him toward the nearest bathroom. She tried to tug him into the ladies’ room, but he balked.

  “The mens’ room gets less traffic and guys aren’t inclined to linger and fluff their hair and smear stuff on their faces. Come on,” he said.

  Though he was right, Georgia couldn’t resist the impulse to argue. “I thought you were going to follow my lead,” she growled.

  The door had no sooner closed behind her when Linc pulled her into the handicapped stall and backed her against the door. “Your lead was misguided.”

  Then he kissed her deeply and she forgot to care.

  Sensation and desire and the pure unadulterated need to simply have him inside her took over. Her hands went to the snap at his jeans while he tugged her sweater up and freed her breasts. He bent down and tugged a pouty nipple into his mouth, sighing against her as though he was a starving man and she was an all-you-can-eat buffet. Georgia made quick work of his pants and wrapped her hand around the length of him, feeling a heavy ache land in her womb as she touched him.

  She was achy and hollow and needy, and the idea of Linc filling her up made her panties drench and her sex throb. She worked the slippery skin back and forth, felt him groan against her, his big calloused hands slide over the small of her back. He made her feel small and feminine, made her want unspeakable things. The air around them seemed to shimmer and vibrate with the glow of sexual heat.

  “If you don’t stop that we’re going to be finished before we get started,” he warned.

  “Then how about moving your ass?” Georgia told him. “FYI—I’m ready.” God, was she ready. She needed him now, didn’t want to wait. Couldn’t wait. She was frantic for him, desperate for him. S
he needed him now, not later. Hell, who was she kidding? She’d been needing him forever. She just hadn’t known it.

  Linc chuckled against her as she kicked her shoes off and out of the way. He put the condom on while she shucked her pants and, as he lifted her against the door and plunged into her, a huge sigh leaked out of her lungs.

  Ah, there, she thought, inordinately relieved, her head dropping onto his shoulder.

  She went boneless with relief, felt it all the way down to her curled toes. Need surpassed reason, longing trumped logic. She shouldn’t want him, but she did. He was a fever in her blood, a parasite in her foolish heart, the very counterpart to her soul.

  He was the disease and the cure, Georgia decided, and an antidote didn’t exist to heal what ailed her.

  And God help her when she couldn’t get her fix.

  LINC PUSHED INTO HER, covered her mouth with his own and savored her sigh of relief against his tongue. Madness, the thought. Sheer madness. All day long he’d been doing his best to show her a good time without dragging her into the nearest bathroom. He’d wanted her all day, of course. He couldn’t look at her without wanting her. Needing her, which was inherently much more frightening.

  And yet, here they were—him following her lead, of all things—in a bathroom in one of the South’s premiere hotels, getting it on like a couple of teenagers away from home on spring break.

  She pulled his tongue into her mouth, inadvertently reminding him of the blow job she’d given him last night—that sweet mouth closing over his dick, sucking him up like a Popsicle on the Fourth of July. Firelight dancing off of her wet curls. A warm blanket at his back and a hot female all over him.

  He almost came again just thinking about it.

  And he was dangerously close anyway.

  He pushed into her again, frantic to find release. Taking it slow wasn’t an option, and since they were in a damned bathroom and she’d already told him she was ready, he didn’t think he had to stand on ceremony and be a love machine. He wanted her and he was going to take her hard and fast, the way he’d been fantasizing about all friggin’ day.

  Linc powered into her, pumping wildly. In and out, in and out, harder and harder. She made little mewling sounds of pleasure, grunted and thrashed against him, riding his dick until he feared his legs would give way or his balls would break.

  It was a testament to his insanity that he wouldn’t care.

  So long as she wanted him and he was inside of her, nothing mattered. The world existed to this particular moment in time—just him and her—and everything else faded into insignificance. A terrifying truth lay hidden in that thought, but Linc was too consumed with the orgasm gathering force in the back of his loins to care.

  Georgia was almost there, as well. She sank her teeth into his shoulder, then licked the spot she’d hurt. He could feel her clamping around him, holding on to him with every bit of power she possessed. Unable to control himself, he pounded into her greedy body, pushed and pushed until he was certain someone was going to hear them, but he didn’t give a damn. The only thing that mattered was her. Wanting him. Crying out his name.

  “Oh, Linc,” she whimpered brokenly. “I’m coming apart inside. You…make…me…crazy.”

  He pistoned in and out of her, pumped hard and fierce and angled high. “Welcome to my world, Trouble,” he sighed. “Welcome to my world.”

  Georgia pumped and flexed harder against him. She whimpered. She mewled. She swore. Her body suddenly went rigid and she clamped around him over and over again, triggering his own orgasm.

  It rocketed from his loins with enough power to make his legs quake and his vision sparkle with white light, but at the moment he didn’t give a damn. He didn’t need to see, he only needed to feel. He locked his knees to keep them from giving way and held her to him while the last violent contractions of her own release milked his.

  Breathing hard, shaken, Linc kissed her cheek and settled his forehead against hers. Smiling, she looked up at him and pressed a kiss to his jaw, the gesture sweet and endearing and should have been out of place after the wild, back-breaking sex they’d just shared.

  Curiously, it wasn’t.

  He sighed contentedly and breathed in her delicious strawberry scent. “FYI,” he said, throwing the line right back at her. “That was pretty damned wonderful.”

  Georgia chuckled and hugged him close. “FYI…I think you’re pretty damned wonderful.” She said it almost shyly, which was so out of character that Linc drew back to look at her.

  And that’s when he realized it—she wasn’t talking about the sex.

  She was talking about him.

  His gaze tangled with hers and the genuine affection he saw mirrored back at him simultaneously filled his chest with warmth and dread.

  Thankfully, his cell phone rang, preventing him from thinking about it, and in the time it took for him to find his phone and answer it, whatever he thought he might have seen in her pretty melting chocolate eyes was gone. Curiously, he didn’t know whether to be happy or relieved.

  In the end, it didn’t matter.

  “This was the call we’ve been waiting for,” Linc told her, snapping the cell shut. “That was Lena at the Vacation Inn. Carter just checked in.”

  13

  GEORGIA’S HEART SKIPPED a beat. “He’s there? Now?”

  “That’s right,” Linc said. He helped her with her sweater, then quickly righted himself, as well. “We’re fifteen minutes out, twenty if traffic is bad, but if he’s just now checking in then chances are he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.”

  Hurriedly struggling into her shoes, she hopped on one foot and snatched her purse from the floor. Linc was more than likely right about Carter not leaving in the time it took them to get there—he’d been right about everything else up to this point, after all—but Georgia didn’t want to take any chances. The sooner they got to him, the better she’d feel. She didn’t want the slimy bastard getting away from her and she wanted her mother’s ring back.

  Finally, she thought, as they hurried out of the bathroom, an amused bellhop in their wake. One way or another, she’d have some answers. Naturally, she hoped Carter had the ring in his possession, that he hadn’t had time to sell it. Unfortunately, if he’d checked into a hotel and wasn’t sleeping in his car, then it was all too possible that he’d managed to finally unload her ring.

  The idea sent a shot of fear into her veins, but she knew she had to be realistic. She didn’t want to, but Linc had left her no choice. He’d repeatedly told her that just because they found Carter didn’t mean they’d find her ring. She knew that, but she just couldn’t seem to make herself accept it. In the event that he didn’t have it, then she’d simply have to start her search over, but she’d never give up.

  Her gaze slid to Linc as he stepped into the waiting elevator. Either way, she’d be giving him up, she thought woodenly. A pang of regret so intense it brought tears to her eyes kicked her in the stomach, but she blinked them away and told herself she was merely emotional. This miserable ache in her chest couldn’t possibly mean what she suspected it did.

  It was too soon. He couldn’t be the right guy for her. She hadn’t known the instant she’d seen him the way her parents had. She hadn’t been bowled over with emotion. She hadn’t heard bells or seen stars—other than the ones bursting behind her lids when he’d made love to her—or any of the other stories she’d heard in her line of work.

  Georgia straightened. Nah, she thought, pulling in a bracing breath. Couldn’t be. She wouldn’t let it. In just a little while she would have to dump her pretend boyfriend and that would be that. If she thought about the fact that they’d just made love for the last time, she’d fall apart, and doing this right with Carter—getting her mother’s ring back—had to take first priority. It was actually a relief to be able to focus on something else. She’d have time enough to fall apart later.

  “I’m going to call Cade and let him know what’s going on,” Linc said. He re
ached for his cell phone.

  “Oh, you’re not going to need any backup,” Georgia told him, rocking back in her heels, a determined growl in her voice.

  He grinned at her, that endearingly wicked smile reaching his eyes. “I hate to break it to you, Trouble, but I wouldn’t need it if you weren’t with me.”

  Georgia felt her lips twitch and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “I know that. I’m not trying to impugn your masculinity or imply that you can’t take care of Carter yourself,” she said, waving an airy hand. “It’s just…I want to.” She paused, her jaw clenched so tight she thought she felt a tooth crack. “You know, I’ve never been a violent person, but I want to hurt him. I really do.” She looked up at him and frowned. “Does that make me a terrible person?”

  “No, Georgia. It makes you human. He’s hurt you. He’s taken something important away from you. Revenge is a perfectly normal emotion.” He pulled a shrug as the elevator landed on the ground floor. “Or it’s normal in my world, anyway.”

  Georgia nodded, silently thanking him for giving her the validation she’d needed. She wasn’t accustomed to doubting herself, but this was all new territory for her.

  They hurriedly made their way to the parking lot where they’d left the SUV and soon they were on their way. Thanks to some excellent defensive driving on Linc’s part, eleven minutes later—she knew because she’d looked at the clock—they were sitting in front of the Vacation Inn.

  The hotel was one of those circa nineteen-seventies designs—a two-story brick with room doors facing the parking lot, convenient for the speedy, thrifty traveler who didn’t want to haul luggage through a lobby. This, Linc had pointed out, worked to their advantage.

  Afraid of losing her job, Lena’s help had only gone so far as to say that Carter had checked into the hotel and was in a ground-floor unit.

  “There’s his car,” Georgia said, recognizing the make and model. Determination and anger and hope all congealed in her belly. She withdrew her stun gun from her purse and slipped it into her pocket where it landed with a reassuring weight.