‘So as far as you know he never once came here?’
‘No, absolutely not,’ Beatrice insisted. ‘I don’t encourage younger guests anyway. I like the more mature guest. They’re far more reliable and never complain about the service.’
Eloise suddenly felt terribly middle-aged and boring.
‘Would you like another chocolate?’ Beatrice thrust the box under her nose.
‘Thanks,’ she said, and took two. ‘I will.’
The evening was warmer than the night before and the sea breeze only slight. Eloise lifted her face to the air and breathed in deeply. It felt good to be back in her own clothes. She felt safer somehow, as if her armour was back on. She looked down at her dark blue trousers and white linen shirt. They weren’t exactly haute couture but they were comfortable and made her feel professional and in control again.
She walked down the steps of Trevallyn House with the intention of avoiding Lachlan before he arrived to collect her, but as if he had sensed her intention, he suddenly appeared at the foot of the stairs.
‘Am I too early?’ he asked, a little too innocently for her liking.
She gave her head a little toss. ‘I was hoping to avoid you.’
He cocked one brow. ‘Oh, really? Why was that?’
She gave him a churlish look. ‘You know why not.’
He smiled that boyish smile again. ‘So I need some work on my pick-up lines. You can coach me through them while we have supper together. I’ve made a casserole to die for.’
‘I wasn’t planning on dying tonight.’
‘I wasn’t planning on killing you.’
Eloise looked up at him. ‘Have you talked to anyone about the forensic results?’
He frowned at the gravity of her tone. ‘Not apart from my colleagues and Nick Tremayne. Why?’
‘There are rumours circulating in the village. I’m concerned that Ethan Jenson’s family will hear of the new verdict secondhand.’
He rubbed at his jaw for a moment. ‘I was hoping for a bit more time. I’m running with a couple of lines of enquiry but perhaps I’d better talk to the family first. They went to London for a few days but will be back tomorrow, or so I’ve been told.’
Somehow Eloise fell into step with him along the pathway. ‘What are the leads you’re working on?’ she asked.
‘Your findings showed that Jenson was dead prior to being placed in the water. He was seen having a drink with a group of young women at the Anchor Hotel at seven-thirty p.m or thereabouts. The women have all been interviewed and they all said the same thing. Jenson left alone soon after and wasn’t seen again until he showed up dead. You said he was in the water by midnight so that leaves approximately four and a half hours in which he was murdered before his body was dumped.’
Eloise glanced up at him. ‘So no one knows where he went or who he was with during those hours?’
His forehead was etched in lines of concentration as he continued walking. ‘It’s as if he disappeared off the face of the earth.’
‘Someone must have seen him but they’re not telling because they’re somehow involved or are worried they might be implicated,’ she said.
‘That’s true enough.’
She stopped walking to look at him again. ‘But?’
A sigh whistled out from between his lips. ‘But there’s something about this that doesn’t quite add up,’ he said. ‘I keep thinking I’ve missed something along the way. You ever had a case like that?’
‘Chief Inspector, they are all like that,’ she remarked wryly. ‘That’s what we’re paid to do—to make sure things do add up.’
‘You can call me Lachlan,’ he said with a smile. ‘We’re off duty, remember?’
‘We are?’
‘Of course,’ he said, reaching for his keys as they approached his house. ‘We’re just two colleagues sharing a casserole.’
‘As long as that’s all we’ll be sharing.’
‘What about a bottle of wine?’ he asked as he closed the door. ‘Is that allowed?’
‘Yes.’
‘What about information pertaining to the case?’ he added. ‘Are we allowed to share that?’
‘You know we are,’ she said. ‘That is, if no one else is listening. Will your daughter be home?’
Lachlan busied himself with opening the wine and finding two glasses. ‘She’s visiting her mother for a few days.’
Eloise took the glass from him and frowned. ‘Did you send her away deliberately?’
‘No, it was her idea, actually,’ he said. ‘Poppy’s, that is. She wanted to spend a few days shopping with her mother.’
‘I can’t help feeling there’s something you’re not telling me,’ Eloise said watching his expression closely.
‘I’m getting a little tired of telling you Poppy has got nothing to do with this case,’ he said with a little clench of his jaw.
‘Where was she the night Ethan Jenson died?’
‘She was at home with me.’
She hesitated, then went on. ‘Can you prove it?’
‘Yes, I can, actually. I had dinner with her about eight and she went upstairs to her room and listened to music until she went to sleep.’
‘Did you check on her?’
‘I don’t usually check on her, but the phone rang at about two in the morning. It was a call from one of the constables working on a case with me in Wadebridge. Poppy woke up then and used the bathroom. We spoke briefly on the landing and she went back to bed.’
‘Are you sure she didn’t leave the house after that?’
‘She was still in bed when I got the call about Ethan Jenson at six a.m.’
Eloise reluctantly backed down. ‘All right, I believe you.’
He came over to where she was standing and, using two fingers, slowly lifted up her chin and looked into her eyes. ‘You don’t like trusting people, do you, Eloise?’
‘Every time I have trusted someone they have let me down,’ she said in a softened tone.
‘So you keep something of yourself back just in case, don’t you?’ he said. ‘You close off the part of yourself that is vulnerable, but in doing so you’re not living a full life. It’s half a life.’
She stepped out of his hold. ‘But it’s my life.’
‘But you’re not happy.’
‘How do you know I’m not happy?’ She looked up at him defensively. ‘What right have you got to comment on my private life? How do you know what or who I am?’
‘I know because when I kissed you something happened.’
‘Nothing happened. You kissed me. I kissed you back. End of story.’
He reached for her, pulling her close to the heat and temptation of his body. ‘But it’s our story, Eloise,’ he said, looking down at her mouth with fierce intent. ‘It began just over seven days ago and each day is another chapter. Don’t you want to see what happens next?’
‘I know what happens next,’ she said. ‘I’ve read this sort of story before. It’s not a novel, it’s a short piece of prose. You wave me goodbye in a couple of weeks’ time and I never hear from you or see you again.’
‘Not according to the version I have,’ he said, still looking at her mouth.
‘Go on,’ she said with a roll of her eyes. ‘Tell me what your version is.’
He brought his mouth closer, the movement of his smile against her lips catching on them ever so slightly. ‘This is my version,’ he said, and covered her mouth with the searing temptation of his.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
ELOISE wondered much later if she should have at the very least put up token resistance. The thought had crossed her mind but only briefly for as soon as his mouth set fire to hers she was swept away on a rushing tide of need that drove every bit of common sense right out of her head. His tongue danced and darted around her mouth until she was clinging to him, her body screaming out for more.
She kissed him back with escalating excitement, her tongue duelling with his, her stomach leaping and kic
king in response as he tugged her even closer to his aroused body. She rubbed against him without inhibition, his low growl of pleasure inciting her to do it again and again.
He backed her into the sitting room towards the sofa, his mouth locked on hers while his hands dealt with her clothes with more haste than care.
Eloise did the same to his, the wild abandon of hearing buttons ping to the floor at their feet thrilling her. Her hands skated over his broad chest as she uncovered it, her fingers exploring the dusting of dark hair before going lower to unfasten his trousers.
His body leapt against her feather-like touch and Eloise wondered if it had been even longer for him than it had for her since the last time he had made love.
She pulled her mouth away from his to anoint his neck and shoulders with teasing kisses, her tongue darting in and out to taste and tantalise him, every movement she made against his skin bringing another guttural sound from his throat.
His pleasure delighted her in a way no one had ever done before. She felt so alive and vibrant, and so very feminine in his arms. Her body pulsed against his, her need matching his as the final barriers of her bra and knickers were tossed to one side.
He looked down at her hungrily, his pupils dilating as he took in her breasts and flat stomach and the gentle curves of her hips. ‘I was right,’ he said low and deep. ‘You look much better without your clothes.’
She gave him a sultry smile as she peeled away his black briefs. ‘So do you.’
Lachlan swallowed deeply as she moved down his body in a series of exquisitely tempting kisses, over each of his flat nipples, his sternum, the cave of his belly button and then even further…
He sucked in a breath as she tasted him, her tongue lapping at him in a cat-like manner that lifted every single hair on his scalp. The sensations rose in him with every movement of her mouth on him, the raw intimacy of it taking his breath away.
He pulled away before it was too late and brought her upright to suckle each of her beautiful breasts. He bent his mouth to the right one, drawing delicately on the engorged nipple before increasing the pressure as she clutched at his head and writhed against him.
He moved to the left breast and suckled her, delighting in the whimpering sounds she was making. He moved down her body as she had done to him, lingering over her belly button before moving to the secret heart of her.
She jerked at his first touch, as if it had been a long time since she had felt a man’s fingers exploring her neat soft curls. He brought his mouth to her, tasting the sweet honey of her body.
Eloise couldn’t believe the impact on her senses at that first intimate stroke of his tongue against her neediness. Her whole body felt as if it was shaking from the inside out, each nerve and pulse sizzling with energy. The first flutters of release came and went, to be replaced by stronger and stronger waves of tension that built to a crescendo until finally she was there, in paradise, her body rocking and rolling with each thunderous wave of pleasure.
She came back to earth with a heavy thud of self-consciousness. Shame coursed through her like a red-hot tide as she met his gaze.
‘No,’ he said, suddenly straightening and taking her by the upper arms. ‘Don’t do that.’
‘Don’t do what?’ she asked, trying vainly to tug herself out of his hold.
‘Don’t go all shy and repressed on me,’ he said, frowning at her. ‘You enjoyed that. Why should you feel ashamed?’
Tears came to her eyes, which made her both angry and frustrated. ‘Because I don’t do this sort of thing! I never do this…with anyone, or at least not this soon.’
‘That makes two of us,’ he said sliding his hands down her arms to encircle her wrists. ‘I haven’t exactly been painting the town red or anything lately. I’ve been paying lawyer’s bills and learning how to be a single dad. I’m ashamed to admit how long it’s been. I don’t even have a packet of condoms in the house.’
Something loosened in her chest at his gruff confession. ‘Oh…’
He gave her a rueful smile. ‘Pathetic, don’t you think? I’m letting the male side down. I should be out there, having fun every night like everyone else, but until now I haven’t even felt the need.’
Eloise ran her tongue across her lips. ‘I don’t know what to say…’
‘I don’t suppose you have a condom or two in your purse?’ he asked, with another one of those stomach-tilting grins.
‘If I have, they’d be well and truly out of date,’ she said with a wry twist to her mouth. ‘I can’t even remember the last time I had sex.’
‘Are you on the Pill?’
‘Yes, but not for the usual reason,’ she confessed. ‘I only use it to keep myself regular.’
‘So what would you say if we moved to my bedroom and wrote another chapter of our story?’
‘I’d say if my foster-parents saw me right now, they would both have myocardial infarcts.’
He laughed as he swept her up in his arms. ‘I won’t tell if you don’t.’
‘Put me down, I’m too heavy,’ she protested feebly.
His eyes twinkled as he looked down at her. ‘Is that a “put me down I don’t want to sleep with you” or a “put me down I’m having a fat day”?’
Eloise couldn’t help giggling in response. ‘It’s a “no one’s ever swept me off my feet before.”’
‘Do you like it?’
She gazed into his warm brown eyes and sighed with deep pleasure. ‘I love it.’
He carried her through to his room, kicking open the door in such an essentially masculine way she felt her stomach do another somersault.
He laid her on the bed before joining her, his strong thighs draped across hers as he began to kiss her all over again, his mouth wreaking havoc on her already shattered senses.
‘You have such a beautiful body,’ he said, as he cupped her right breast in his hand, his thumb rolling back and forth over the tight nipple. ‘So full and yet so neat.’
‘So you do think I’m fat.’
He grinned at her mock pout and leaned over to kiss it away. ‘I think you’re gorgeous, even though you try and hide it all the time.’
She kissed him back and then asked in a musing tone, ‘Why am I doing this with you? I feel like I’ve turned into someone else—someone reckless and shameless and totally wanton.’
He kissed her shoulder and then moved up to her neck, before nibbling on her ear lobe as he said, ‘I like the sound of you being reckless and shameless and wanton, especially while you’re with me.’
Eloise shivered as his erection brushed against her thigh. Reaching down with her hand, she stroked him boldly, enjoying the satin strength of him against the pads of her fingers.
‘Mmm…’ he groaned.
‘You like that?’
He pressed her back into the mattress and nudged for entry. ‘I want you so much I don’t think I will last. I’m trying to count backwards and think of sad things to distract myself, but it’s not working.’
She smiled and when he looked at her she felt her heart contract. ‘You really are a very special lady, Dr Eloise Hayden from Australia. You are so warm and generous under that do-it-by-the-book exterior.’
She wrinkled her brow at him. ‘You think I’m uptight and a total control freak, don’t you?’
‘To be perfectly honest with you, I’m not doing too much thinking at all right at this very moment,’ he confessed as he moved against her again.
She lifted her hips slightly and held his gaze. ‘I want you to make love to me, Lachlan. Now.’
‘Is that an order, Dr Hayden?’ he asked, with a dancing spark of mischief in his eyes.
‘Ye-es,’ she said on a swiftly indrawn breath as he surged into her honeyed warmth. ‘It is…ohh’
‘Am I going too fast?’
‘No…no…it’s perfect…’ she said, on a breath of wonder.
Her body was soaring again, each muscle tightening all over again as she was pitched forwards into oblivion. She c
lutched at him as she panted her way through it, her skin shivering in reaction as she felt him let finally let go, the sheer force of it pinning her to the bed as he emptied himself.
She stroked his back and shoulders with her hands, exploring him in intimate detail, each knob of his vertebrae, the well-defined muscles that indicated he was a competent swimmer. She went lower to his buttocks, massaging the trim tautness of him before coming back up to his head, her fingers going to his thick curly dark hair, playing with it lingeringly.
‘Mmm…’ He nuzzled against her neck. ‘That’s nice.’
‘Are you falling asleep on me?’ she asked.
He propped himself up on his elbows and looked down at her. ‘You know what they say about men who fall asleep after they’ve made love, don’t you?’
She tried to purse her mouth but it turned into a smile instead. ‘No, Chief Inspector D’Ancey, what do they say?’
He gave her a playful grin. ‘I have absolutely no idea,’ he said, and brought his mouth back down to hers.
Eloise rolled over to her stomach a long time later and idly played with Lachlan’s long lean flank lying close to her.
He gave a little shudder. ‘That tickles.’
She moved her hand to cup him intimately. ‘Does this?’
He stretched like a well-fed jungle cat, even the deep growl that came from his throat sounding primal. ‘You’re asking for trouble, Dr Hayden. I’m going to pounce on you any minute if you don’t stop doing that.’
‘I’m hungry.’
He smiled at her. ‘For love or for food?’
She let her hand fall away, her expression falling slightly. ‘Isn’t it a bit soon to be talking of love?’ she asked, without looking at him.
He rolled onto his side and turned her face back towards him, his gaze very intense as it held hers. ‘I don’t know. Is it?’
Eloise felt every second of the pulsing silence as she struggled to think of a suitable answer. She was wary about revealing her feelings but uncomfortable too with allowing him to think she would fall into bed with just anyone to satisfy a physical need.
Brides of Penhally Bay - Vol 2 Page 44