Heat Wave

by Denise A. Agnew

  His gaze sharpened, and he nodded. “Makes sense.”

  Theories rolled around in her mind. “Maybe microquakes.”

  “I thought people couldn’t feel those either.”

  “Same theory as people not feeling electrical or barometer changes or twenty-twenty vision. There’s always someone out there who can do what others say they shouldn’t or can’t.”

  “I like how you think.” His gaze went thoughtful and intrigued. “Hell, woman, you’re a virtual fountain of information.”

  Heat filled her cheeks at the way he looked at her, as if she’d intrigued him and he couldn’t wait to discover more. She wanted to talk, but she was so dead on her feet.

  “Thanks, but I think it’s mostly useless trivia filling my head on most days. A lot of what I know is only interesting to scientists or people intrigued by weird stuff.” On impulse she put her hand on his chest. “But thanks for the kudos and hospitality.”

  He moved in a little closer, and his spicy, warm scent smelled so good. Her body coiled in anticipation as everything primal and female inside her went hot.

  He slipped his fingers into her hair. “I don’t want you to think I’m pressuring you into anything.” His voice was soft and persuasive. “But right now I’d love to kiss you.”

  The fact he’d stated his intentions surprised her. “No guy has ever asked to kiss me before.”

  He cupped her face gently in both hands. “They aren’t me.”

  She clasped his forearms and realized she was leaning into his warmth and strength. “No, they aren’t.”

  He came closer and closer until her eyes drifted shut and her body softened into his. His mouth touched hers. Played. A sweet and gentle brushing that sent wildfire sparks dancing low in her belly. She wanted one kiss. One only.

  Instead their kiss lengthened and intensified. His tongue darted into her mouth, teasing with small flicks. Wild need flooded her body. Her nipples hardened, her body going moist with desire. Incredible. She’d never wanted a man this fast before in her entire life. She yearned to draw him closer, throw him on the bed and do him into the next century. The scorching intensity of her feelings blew her away. She’d never reacted to a man this strongly with one kiss.

  With a gasp, she broke away. He took two steps back and held his hands up.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean for it to go that far.”

  She shook her head. “It’s okay. I…it was my fault, too.”

  He headed for the doorway. “Sleep well. If you need anything from the kitchen, feel free. My house is your house.”

  “Thanks. Good night.”

  After he closed the door, she fell straight back on the bed with a groan. Jeremy Tate was hot, hot, hot, and he could kiss like nobody’s business. After being amazed by everything that happened, she decided to just go to bed. She drew the curtains on the sun, stripped and put on her short pajama set. After washing up in the bathroom, she eyeballed the garden tub. Her body ached and a good soak would feel nice, but fatigue weighed down her eyelids. Instead she drew back the comforter on the king-sized bed and slid between the cool sheets. Once she clicked off the bedside lamp she knew she’d fall asleep.

  Instead, her body went into sexual overdrive. She replayed the kiss in her head, over and over until the slickness between her thighs and the ache for completion demanded action. She drew off her short bottoms and zeroed in on the aching flesh between her thighs. At her first touch, she gasped. She was swollen with arousal. It was if she hadn’t kissed him for barely a minute, but for hours. As if he’d stroked her breasts, tasted her clit. At the mere idea, she groaned softly. With a driving need for relief, Cassidy slipped two of her fingers deep into her slick vagina. She smiled. Oh, yes, God, that was good. Her sensitive walls seemed to throb as she stroked slowly in and out. She didn’t want to moan and alert him, but it was hard to hold back as she visualized his fingers caressing her. Her hips jerked at the wonderful sensation. She bit her lower lip as she swirled the middle finger of her other hand over her clit. She imagined even more, thinking of how wonderful it would feel if his cock filled her deeply, moving with a tantalizing cadence, building and building. Her excitement rose so high, so quickly, she moved her fingers faster. Faster. With a sizzling heat, her climax broke over her sharply. She shivered and shook as liquid fire pulsed from her belly through her clit. After lying there, panting softly for a long time, she left the bed and cleaned up in the bathroom. When she returned to bed, she couldn’t even think how mind-blowing her fantasy had been, or what her attraction to Jeremy meant.

  Three

  Jeremy woke the next morning with his cock tenting the sheets. The room was still semi-dark, with the door closed and only the nightlight in the bathroom. He reached for his cell phone and checked the time. Six. On his days off he liked to sleep in, and six was way too early. Nope. He wasn’t getting up. Well, okay…part of him was up and happy. Man, oh, man. He wished the woman in the guest room were in bed with him right now, her sweet body clasping him tight. He didn’t give another thought to what it meant that he turned him on this fiercely. He threw the sheet back and clasped his cock. Oh, yeah. That is good.

  His imagination went into overdrive. He remembered his reaction to seeing Cassidy’s slim, tall body. He was six four, and he guessed her to be somewhere around five foot six. So he towered over her. Not only that, she had a slim, almost fragile appearance. Her small breasts pressed against her t-shirt. Round, luscious little tits that fit her light build. But damn they were pretty. He groaned thinking of how sweet they’d taste as he cupped them, brought them into his mouth. They’d pucker tight as he stroked one and suckled the other. He’d feast on her until she begged for mercy. This wasn’t going to last long, because he ran his hand up and down his cock. His fist squeezed a bit harder, putting pressure in the right way as if her slick, hot pussy clasped him. He reined in any sounds coming from his throat. He didn’t want Cassidy to hear him. Yet…maybe he did? How fucking hot would that be if she walked in on him right this moment and caught him jacking off? The very idea made him hotter as he thought of what she’d be like under him, taking each of his thrusts. Her sweet body would clasp him. Throbbing and slick, dripping hot as she writhed and moaned. His excitement erupted so fast and hard, he burst into climax. His entire body trembled, and he gasped as the orgasm wracked him with spasms. He continued to pump himself until every trace of pleasure diminished. He lay on the bed, his breath coming hard, eyes closed.

  “Holy shit,” he managed to rasp softly.

  He heard a pan rattle in his kitchen, and he jerked in surprise. Hell, she was up. Normally he would roll over and go back to sleep after a blast off like that. Instead he found himself eager to see her. Slow down, man. Don’t get nuts. You’ll come at her like a begging puppy. He’d scare her off from…what? Wanting to stay with him while she investigated the so-called hum? Before he could fuck her brains out?

  Get a handle on it. You’ll scare the shit out of her.

  He headed into the attached master bath, glad he didn’t have to see her before he cleaned up. He looked in the mirror. With his chin stubbled and his hair wild, he looked uglier than sin. As he shaved his beard, he remembered that he’d caught her staring at him more than once. Women looked at him one of two ways. Either his law enforcement uniform scared them, or they glommed onto him like he was their savior. When they found out he’d been in the navy they automatically wanted to know if he’d been a SEAL. When they discovered he’d never been a SEAL but had worked with bomb disposal, their admiration went down a notch, but they still got off on the danger he’d experienced.

  He knew he wasn’t anything to look at. He hadn’t grown out of his too-big ears and slightly crooked nose or his angular face, which made him appear brutish and intimidating. Women didn’t know what to make of him. He’d always protected women—his mom and two younger sisters knew that from experience. During the incident yesterday when he’d recognized Cassidy, the fierce protectiveness
that rose up inside had blindsided him. How dare anyone threaten his friend, the woman he’d never forgotten all these years? She hadn’t looked at him like he was ugly at any time yesterday, but as if she wanted to eat him up. He’d longed for her to feel that way about him when he was a teen. When she’d revealed her teenage crush, it had blown him away. And the idea she might want him now…fuck, it made him crazy. Maybe the next three weeks they could connect, even if just in bed.

  He heard another pan clank in the kitchen and smiled. He’d better shower and get his ass out there before she destroyed his kitchen. If he remembered right, she couldn’t cook worth a damn.

  As he showered, he had another revelation. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d fantasized about a woman like this. Okay, he could. More than once he’d imagined a faceless, nameless woman just for the relief. A quick jerk off in the shower. Still, being around Cassidy felt different…incredibly intense.

  He left his bedroom in t-shirt, jeans and barefoot. One lamp near the couch threw muted light across the living room, while all the lights in the kitchen blazed. He grinned, amused as she moved about the kitchen doing multiple tasks. The coffee maker gasped and sputtered.

  She looked up and smiled, and the entire world brightened. She wore a white top covered by an open long-sleeved navy blue shirt. Her wavy, almost black hair fell to just around her shoulders. Her blue eyes sparkled back at him behind those geeky glasses. She wore little if any makeup as far as he could tell and her skin was amazingly fair. She moved around as if she should have banged pots and pans in his kitchen and in his world all this time. She belonged here. The idea knocked him back, made him pause in the middle of the living room.

  Her grin widened as she also stopped. “Hey there. Did I wake you up?”

  Still stunned by his thoughts he said, “No.”

  “Hope it’s okay, but I woke up with this huge appetite. I swear since I arrived in Bristol Peak my appetite is crazy. I’m hungry all the time. If I keep eating like this my ass isn’t going to fit through the door.”

  “Are you serious? There’s absolutely nothing wrong with your ass.”

  She tossed another happy grin at him. “Flattery might get you somewhere. Omelet sound good?”

  “Sure.” His stomach growled loudly. “Toast and bacon sounds good, too.”

  “Bacon,” she said with a teasing growl. “Now I know you’re a real man.”

  A flare of heat gathered in his groin. Christ, Tate, get a hold of yourself. He walked slowly around the kitchen counter and stood next to her.

  “A real man, eh?” he said softly.

  Her eyes widened a little, and she looked up at him. “Yeah.”

  Damn, if her little tongue didn’t dart out to lick her bottom lip. He wanted that mouth under his again. He wanted to tell her exactly what he was thinking and feeling. Instead he started helping her with breakfast.

  She shooed him away. “Have a seat. This is the least I can do. You’re giving me room and board.”

  He watched her hustle around the kitchen, working with an efficiency and self-confidence that impressed him.

  A considerable time went by before he saw money on the counter. “What’s this?”

  “For food. I’m not staying here without contributing.”

  He laughed. “Cassidy—”

  “Nope.” She scrambled the eggs fast, like a woman possessed. “That’s it. I’m not taking no for an answer.”

  He grunted. “I kind of remember that about you.”

  “I’ve always been pretty good at getting what I want.”

  As she moved around the kitchen, he grabbed a mug of coffee and sat at the breakfast bar and watched. He liked the efficient way she moved.

  “Since when do you like to cook?” he asked. “You used to hate it, and if I remember right, you weren’t good at it.”

  She lifted one eyebrow but didn’t pause. “I changed. I got tired of eating out of boxes and microwaves.”

  “Me, too. But my skills still suck.”

  They laughed. A burning need to know more assaulted him, as if they ran out of time. It was a crazy notion.

  “Tell me everything,” he said.

  She glanced up as she snatched a bread slice from the toaster. “Everything about what?”

  “The last fifteen years.”

  So she told him about her life in the shadows of volcanoes in Central and South America, and as she explained he worried.

  “South American can be dangerous,” he said as he sipped black coffee.

  She shrugged. “It can be. But I’ve never had a problem in all those years.”

  Admiration mixed with his concern. Conveying his worry to any woman outside of his family members didn’t come easy. An urgency to confess everything in his life ran through him. He couldn’t stop himself.

  “I wish you didn’t have to go back there,” he said.

  She laid a plate of bacon, an omelet and toast in front of him. Her happy-go-lucky expression disappeared. “Why?”

  “Because…I don’t like the idea of you in danger. It made me crazy when I realized it was you in that motel room and that idiot could have hurt you.”

  Her eyes, usually as cool as a long drink of water, warmed and flared. “Well, if we’re confessing stuff…when I saw you it did weird things to me.”

  “Weird things? That doesn’t sound good.”

  “No, I mean weird as in here I was in a perilous situation and you saved me. It was like a hero rescuing the damsel in distress. I’ve never put much stock in that sort of thing, but everything inside me reacted that way. I was not only so happy to see you, my body was…”

  Her body? God, he liked the sound of that. “Yeah?”

  “I was…” She shrugged and her cheeks turned a bright pink. “I’m attracted to you. I was more than attracted. I was so hot it’s no wonder I didn’t combust.”

  He grinned as full on male satisfaction flashed like a neon sign within him. “Well, that’s good…because I feel the same way.”

  Her eyes widened. “Really?”

  “Really.”

  “Umm…” She cleared her throat, obviously no longer the self-assured chef. “Eat your breakfast before it gets cold.”

  Her long-sleeved shirt parted, she stripped it off and left the tank top. Maybe she was getting hot, and he let the idea simmer in his blood as he chowed down. The house wasn’t that warm, at least not yet.

  “What’s up first thing this morning?” he asked.

  “I’m going to drive around this town and see if I can pinpoint anyplace the hum could be coming from. I might interview some people.”

  “Want some help?” he asked, eager.

  She smiled. “Don’t you have anywhere you’d rather be?”

  “No. If I tag along with you maybe I’ll actually hear this hum.”

  Cassidy could tell Jeremy didn’t care for her rental car as they drove into town. He was used to moving around in his more spacious squad car. He shifted in the small seat. His long legs, even with his seat pushed back farther, seemed to take up the entire car. By virtue of his powerful presence, she thought he could overwhelm her. She was jumpy as hell, but in an oddly good way. Excited might be a better word for it. Joanna’s request for her to come to Bristol Peak—she’d hesitated at first. Now she liked the idea she’d taken the chance. Jeremy made her tingle in places she’d forgotten existed and maybe hadn’t tingled before.

  “Where are we going first?” he asked.

  “Power plant.”

  He glanced at her. “Hoover Power Plant?”

  “Yep. That’s the one. I’m been thinking maybe Old Wiggins can tell us if the power plant could create a hum. If he still works there.”

  “He does. Damn, that guy is about ninety-five.”

  “He was old when I left town,” she said.

  They laughed softly. It didn’t take long to get to large building, although she’d had to wind around on a couple of backroads.

  The power plant rose in
to the sky, a large gray and steel building. The old man wasn’t at the power plant, but his much younger son met Cassidy and Jeremy at the front desk and ushered them into his back office. Tall, lanky and wearing a plaid long sleeve shirt even in the heat, Rex Wiggins had a huge smile. Cassidy’s smarmy meter went off big time. Cassidy and Jeremy declined coffee.

  “Please have a seat.” Rex sat behind his gray metal desk. “Sorry Dad’s not here to talk with you, but I don’t think he’d be willing to discuss the hum anyway.”

  “Why’s that?” Cassidy asked.

  “Because he hasn’t heard it and doesn’t believe it,” Rex said.

  “Join the club.” Jeremy smiled.

  Cassidy threw Jeremy an annoyed glance, then looked back at Rex. “What about you?”

  Rex threw his hands up and sighed. “You know, I’m not sure. I haven’t heard it either. But I try to keep on open mind.”

  Cassidy wondered if the trip had been a mistake. “Okay, do you think this power plant could be causing it?”

  “No. Why would it suddenly start causing the problem?” Rex asked, tilting his head slightly to the side and giving her a quizzical expression.

  “Mechanical problems?” Jeremy asked.

  “We checked everything when the hum started. I suggested it to my dad.”

  “Even though your father doesn’t believe in the hum?” she asked.

  Rex planted on another smile. “I encouraged him to because I knew people would ask. Just like you are.”

  “Smart man,” Jeremy said.

  “Anyone here at the plant hear the hum?” she asked.

  Rex shrugged. “Not aware of anyone hearing it here or anywhere else.”

  “Could we question them?” Cassidy asked.

  “What?” Suddenly Rex’s open expression shut down. “No. There’s no reason to.”

  “Uh-huh. Well, what if you questioned them?” she asked. “That way they wouldn’t feel threatened. You could get back to me.”

  Rex didn’t appear pleased with the idea, his mouth turning tight. “What did you say you do again?”