She stared at the tan hollow of his throat. She fought the urge to bury her face against the warm column and inhale his soothing scent. She fought tears, and how much she wanted to confide in him.
“Look at me.” This time it was an order.
When she brought her gaze level with his, her breath stopped. The dark calm in his eyes reached inside her. For the first time in ages—ever?—Kate felt safe, cherished, protected. Loved.
In his eyes, she saw everything she’d ever wanted.
An old shame had burned a hole through her heart, remembering the life she’d almost had with a man she’d thought she’d loved, years ago, before she chose her career and success and the validation she’d found in the law. A life with a man who couldn’t handle her achievement and the sacrifices that came with it, and gave her an ultimatum.
She’d never regretted her choice to leave. But despite her successes, a mountain of uncertainty lived inside her, afraid of rejection and the crushing despair that lingered afterward.
What Kate saw now, in Jack’s eyes, was what she’d always hoped for. “Jack, I…” Emotion plugged her throat.
“Shhh,” he murmured, a patient smile touching his lips. “It’s okay.
A rogue tear leaked from the corner of her eye. He caught it with his finger and rubbed it into his skin with his thumb. Like he’d absorbed her into him, as if she became a part of him in that moment.
She wanted to open up, to spill the contents of her heart, knowing he wouldn’t walk away like everyone else had.
I’m here for you. His significant words gave her the courage to trust him. For the first time in so long, she felt safe, and she could be vulnerable in front of a man. However, it wasn’t a weakness, but a strength. She clung to the notion the way she clutched his shoulders as she revealed, “I’m afraid.”
“Of what?” he coaxed gently.
“Too many things.” She traced the tribal tattoo on his bicep, reminded that his strong arms were holding her. It was safe to reveal the truth. “I always prided myself on being in command, in control. At the moment, I feel incompetent, like a fraud.”
“Because you admit you have feelings? Needs? Fears?”
“Those things make you vulnerable.”
“They make you human, Kate. They make you the amazing woman you are.” She shook her head, unable to accept the compliment. He tipped her chin up to him again. “And how amazing you are makes me want to be the man you turn to, the man you need. The way I need you.”
Tears burned along her lashes. They carried the liquid pain of wanting to believe in him but fearing to lay her heart on the line. She blinked hard. “You want to know what I’m afraid of most? I’m terrified that the murderer in the courtroom will go free. Your testimony and the clues your sister left behind provide the best evidence we have to nail Vervin, along with a solid closing argument. Being with you, like this, threatens all of it, everything I’ve worked so hard for—”
“What does your heart tell you?” he interrupted quietly.
“What does it matter? And how the hell can you be so calm? You have as much to lose in this case as I do. How can you stroll in here like this and…and…”
“Screw your brains out?” Despite the seriousness of his expression, his lips quirked. “Because you only relax after I’ve made love to you. When you’re relaxed, you’re confident. And when you’re confident, you’re unstoppable.”
“You dragged me up here for more than sex. You knew I needed you. More than physically.” She felt a little dizzy, shaky, realizing he’d understood what calmed her down. To her shock, it had worked. He’d returned her to sanity and helped restore her self-confidence.
Even though she was revealing her fears, she felt better, more capable. Ready to stand up in front of the courtroom and command it like she always did.
He kissed the tip of her nose. “You’re finally starting to get it.”
Panic dented her re-enforced confidence. “What if I can’t convince the jury? Then…oh, God. What if he comes after me next?”
Jack’s arms tightened. “Do you think I’d let anything happen to you?” He shook his head. “Forget your fears for a minute. Just answer me, Kate. What does your heart tell you?”
“That he’s guilty, and I will put him away for life.” She sighed, distressed. “But my heart’s afraid of something, too.”
“Of what, baby doll?”
“Losing you.”
A stirring moment of silence passed between them, one second wrapped in an eternity of emotion. Then he dipped his head and stole a passionate kiss from her. When his tongue swept inside her mouth in a sensual claiming, her doubt melted and her arousal soared.
Frantic to grasp absolutes that didn’t exist, she raked her nails up his arms, around his shoulders that bowed over her like a shield of protection, and slid her fingers into his hair. The heat of his skin scorched her hands. She held him to her.
Their kisses turned desperate. Her hands were everywhere on his body, stripping him naked as she tried to pull him as close as possible. She wished she could crawl inside him, experience his reassurance and certainty surrounding her completely. But she’d settle for feeling him inside her, stroking her to orgasm again.
He seemed equally lost to their passion, in this as deep she was. After shedding the rest of their clothes, his arms held her so tight she could barely breathe, but she didn’t mind. His lips left hers so he could consume her sensitized skin with his mouth. Guiding her down to the sofa, he feasted on her intensely, sucking her breasts, tugging her nipples. He left suction marks down her stomach, as if he owned the path that led to the wet warmth below.
Again he reminded her of his incredible skill as a lover when his mouth fastened on her pussy. Kate cried, sobbed, screamed in ecstasy as he tasted her, savored her, licked her thoroughly as if it might be the last time.
They were like two lovers about to be separated by fate, desperate to consummate their love before the twelfth hour.
Their love?
Kate’s eyes flew open as the word love swooped through her brain like a wild bird. She sat up on the velvet couch, but fell back when an orgasm shuddered through her. He flicked her clit and sucked her with feverish dedication. She collapsed into ecstasy. She rocked her hips in time to the waves of bliss rolling through her. She trembled in his hands.
When he raised himself over her and slid inside her hard and fast, she gave over to him, body and soul.
Devoured by his passion, she succumbed to the emotions swirling inside her. She took him deep into her body, matching his thrusts, loving the feel of him within her and surrounding her. One with her.
“I need you,” she whispered against his shoulder. “I don’t ever want to be without you.”
His arms closed completely around her, locking her to him. “I need you, too, Kate.” He rose up on one forearm, staring intensely into her eyes. “I love you.”
As the words connected with her heart, she admitted the truth. She couldn’t run away from what she felt for him.
Love. It was powerful, all-consuming. Terrifyingly real .
She made love to him with all the passion in her soul. Their bodies strove together toward the ultimate summit. They came simultaneously. A shared burst of ecstasy. They shook, surged and shattered in each others arms.
She clutched him as she kissed his shoulder, his neck, tasting the light mist of perspiration on his skin. If she broke apart, this man would pick up all her pieces and put her back together again. Not that she’d let him—she’d put herself back together just fine, thanks very much.
Yet the fact that he would broke her heart at the same time as he healed it. Despite their drastic differences in personality and lifestyle, he was perfect for her. Leather to her lace. Her diamond in the rough.
But could she accept his love—and return it—without compromising this case, her future…or herself?
Chapter 5
“Easy, sweetheart,” Jack said in a strained voice.
He untwined her arms from around his neck. “I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”
Kate hadn’t realized she’d clung to him so tightly. Like his physical presence, his nearness, could banish her fears. “I want to believe that,” she whispered.
“You can. Because it’s true. What I said, Kate—I meant every word.”
I love you . His rich dark eyes spoke the words for him.
He strung kisses along her hair line, her cheeks, her jaw. He nibbled her chin and sipped at her lips. How could such a powerful, commanding man have such a gentle, sweet side to him?
From the beginning, he’d been a steady light for her during her darkest case. Thanks would never be enough for everything he’d been, for all he’d done. But these concentrated emotions demanded her whole heart. Could her life accommodate him the way this love required? Kate pushed those thoughts aside and admitted, “You made my day by stealing me away up here.”
An enigmatic expression stole over his face. “I hope I can make more than just your day.”
Still lodged inside her, Jack shifted his weight. Her hips rocked, causing his length to slide within her channel. Lifting up, he rested his weight on both his forearms, hesitating. His fingers formed a fist, and he pressed his closed hand against his lips as if debating something.
A glitter of reflected light caught on his lashes. Surprise parted Kate’s lips. Was her conquering hero who’d stormed the bastions of her walled-off heart actually getting choked up? The lingering remnants of guardedness dissolved, and love spilled through her being. She glowed as though lit from within. She caressed his face, a wordless acceptance of his momentary pause, his struggle to relay his feelings.
“Kate, when I met you in the D.A.’s office that first time, I was so full of rage. The kind that consumes your every waking thought. It was burning me alive. All I could think about was revenge. I wanted to torture Vervin the way he did my sister.”
Jack’s gaze was cold, hard. A little frightening. Kate didn’t doubt for a minute if Jack had been allowed five minute alone in a room with Vervin only one of them would’ve walked out. Vervin wouldn’t be in court right now, but six feet under.
“My sister and I…for the past ten years, all we had were each other. I blamed myself for not being there to keep her safe. She’d just started this new life with a great guy. Nancy was crazy about Mark, and he thought she walked on water. They’d just gotten engaged, damn it.” Jack’s hands clenched. “Now I’ll never walk her down the aisle. Never see her give birth to my nieces and nephews. Never spend another Christmas or birthday with her.” The muscles in his arms flexed with unspent aggression. “There wasn’t a damn thing I could do to bring her back or make it right. Between the guilt and the rage, I wasn’t sure I’d ever go back to being a normal person.”
“You seem perfectly normal to me,” she said.
He tilted his head thoughtfully. “Something shifted inside me when you walked into the room. You were like some angel of mercy. Beautiful, kind, so compassionate, and just as determined as I was to make Vervin pay for his crimes.”
Jack took a deep breath. “Maybe you and I started out as lovers, giving in to an amazing attraction and looking for an escape. But I found way more than that with you. You helped me heal a wound I never thought would close. I feel like a whole person again. I don’t want to lose that. Or you.”
“Me either,” she admitted earnestly.
“That’s why I had to get you alone today. To tell you how much I need you in my life. Come back to me, Kate. I want to wake up beside you every morning. For the rest of my life, if you’ll let me.”
The lump in her throat melted away. Her lips formed words that sounded foreign coming from her mouth. But at last she said what her heart had wanted to say to this man from the moment she met him. “Jack…I love you.”
He looked amazed and relieved. “Yeah?”
“Yes. I love you.” Her heart soared at the rightness of it all. “So much.”
She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him fiercely. They flipped positions on the velvet sofa, positioning her above him. She made slow passes over him, skimming her naked torso against his, her hard nipples grazing his chest.
Growling, he rose up and sucked one nipple into his mouth, then the other. He delivered stinging bites that he soothed with swirls of his tongue. Moaning with pleasure, she moved her hips in circles until he was fully erect inside her again, his cock drenched in her arousal.
Sliding along his hard length, she made love to him for all she was worth. Their bodies were so attuned to each other. He moved in perfect rhythm with her, keeping up with her frantic pace.
But he wasn’t one to be dominated for long. He stood up with her in his arms, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He trapped her between his powerful body and the full-length mirror on the wall and fucked her against the glassy smooth surface. His hot skin contrasted sharply with the cold mirror.
She gasped. He surged inside her. The sound of her back squeaking against the glass, and the slap of skin against skin as he plunged into her, accompanied their groans.
“Yes,” she gasped. “So good. My God. I love you.”
He kissed her hard and came inside her.
The pump and throb of his cock triggered her orgasm. Her pussy clenched and contracted with searing pleasure. He held her tight to him, shivering with each spurt as he poured himself into her. She kissed his damp forehead while his chest labored for air.
Words wove through his choppy breaths. “So…amazing…love you…Kate…”
“I love you, too.” She meant it with all her heart.
Her legs were a little weak and shaky when he finally set her down. She held onto him while he helped her dress. She somehow managed to restore her former ossified, professional look.
Strange, she thought. She would walk out this door a very different woman from the one who’d walked in. She was happier than she ever imagined she could be.
“Thank you, Jack. For everything.”
He cupped her neck with one hand, stroking his thumb beneath her jaw. “You mean the world to me, Kate. I’d do anything for you.” His lips tilted slyly. “Even drag you all the way up here to fuck you hard and loosen you up.”
She grinned. “Obviously, I needed it.”
He nodded and without warning he gave her a swat on the ass. “Now get in that courtroom and do what you do best, baby doll. I’ll meet you at your place when it’s over.”
“You’ll stay in the courtroom to see the trial wrap up, right?” She tried not to sound panicked.
He nodded. “I’m not going anywhere. I believe in you, baby. You’ve got this. Just believe in yourself.”
A smile rose up from her soul. “You’re amazing, you know that?”
“I plan to show you exactly how amazing I can be—later. When I have you alone. In bed. Writhing under me.” His eyes held a devilish gleam. “Obeying my every command.”
“Again? We just spent the last hour doing that!”
“Yeah, but there’ll be a couple dozen roses waiting for you. I want to make love to you in a pile of red petals on white sheets. Then I want to take one long-stemmed rose and see how many creative ways I can use it to make you come.”
A quiver of lust went through her abdomen, despite the amazing tryst they just shared. “Sounds sexy, and totally romantic. How can I resist?”
“I cornered you in the elevator to make sure you wouldn’t.”
“Mission accomplished.”
He checked the time on his cell phone. “You’ve got six minutes to get back in the courtroom and send that bastard to prison for life.”
She sobered. “More like three lifetimes, without parole.”
His jaw hardened, eyes burning with vengeance. “Works for me.” He finished dressing quickly, then framed her face in his hands and kissed her. “Knock ‘em dead, baby doll.”
Her hands fisted, determination searing through her. “I’ll make sure he pays for what he di
d.”
“I’m not worried. You?”
“Not anymore. I feel better than I have in…three weeks to be exact.”
He grinned. “Must be coincidence.”
“I don’t believe in coincidence. Not since I met you.”
His smile widened. “I’ll see you tonight.”
Kissing her one last time, he finally tore himself away and left her to pull herself together, mentally and physically. No doubt lingered in the recesses of her psyche. Self-assurance sang in her veins. She’d walk back in that courtroom and convince the jury Vervin was the Diamond Murderer. They’d hear her vehemence, see her conviction. Using her gift with words, reinforced by the love coursing through her, she’d achieve her greatest career success.
By the time Kate returned to the main floor and strutted down the center aisle, she owned the room, and this final sentencing.
As she passed the rows of benches, she understood the burden of expectation following her. Families of the victims filled the courtroom. They depended on her to prove Vervin’s guilt, to put to rest the memory of their loved ones by bringing the justice that alluded them all these years. Their hopes added fuel to her inner fire.
Instead of paralyzing her, the tense atmosphere galvanized her. She heard the powerful words of her closing argument form crisp and clear in her mind.
Holding her head high, she aimed a glare at Vervin, her thoughts cold and fierce. I won’t let you hurt any more women, or destroy any more lives. You’re going to prison for life, you bastard. And if there’s an afterlife, I hope you roast in hell .
Vervin’s eyes widened. He slunk down in his chair.
When the judge invited her to give her closing argument, Kate stood calmly and approached the jury. She’d never been more certain of herself, her life, and her future. She’d found a man who respected her for her career and believed in her skills in the courtroom. One who wholly respected this is what she excelled at—putting the bad guys behind bars. She’d done this a dozen times, but this moment encapsulated her love of the law, her career, and her love for Jack. This meant everything.
Her Diamond in the Rough Page 4