“Have any big power or telephone lines gone in to the area lately?” Cassidy asked.
Joanna shook her head. “Not that I remember. They’re putting a lot of that stuff underground now anyway.”
“Of course.”
Joanna’s face perked up. “What about earthquakes? Have you considered that?”
“I talked with Jeremy about that. A little. I checked this morning. There haven’t even been any micro quakes.”
Silence hovered between them, and Cassidy could almost hear both of their brains cogitating for answers.
Joanna threw her hands up. “Well, it can’t be helped. You’ll have to ask Jeremy or someone else in town to go with you if you want to investigate those places. So wait until Jeremy gets off work and convince him to go with you. While you’re waiting for him to get back, you could shop and nap. It is your vacation.”
“I hate it when you’re right.” Cassidy sighed and finished her coffee.
“You just aren’t normal if you don’t want to do some shopping.”
“Oh, come on now. You know I’m not normal. Where I worked in Costa Rica there weren’t any big malls. I got out of the habit of shopping.” Cassidy lifted her arms and looked down at her khaki shorts and nondescript tank top and the shirt over it. “I’m not exactly a fashion plate.”
They laughed again. Soon Joanna got back to work, and Cassidy decided the woman was right. She couldn’t explore those places alone. She yawned, weariness hit her straight between the eyes. It didn’t make sense—she’d slept enough last night except for the times Jeremy had her occupied.
After she left the cafe, she wandered down the main street to see if any of the shops were open. Meandering with no purpose felt strange to her, but it also brought back great memories. Living in this small town had been one part comforting and one part horrendous. Comforting because of all the good things that happened living in a small town, the part horrendous because of what she’d experienced with Bud Rankin and her so-called friend that set her up. She shrugged off the bad memories. No use thinking dwelling on the past. She was here now with an entire new life, she’d found her way, and no one gave a crap about that past anymore. A sweet little thrill rushed into her body as she thought of Jeremy. Oh, yeah. He’d brought a new spring to her step.
She drew in a deep breath and took in the moment and sights and sounds. People hustled down the sidewalk both young and old, and while she didn’t recognize a one of them, she appreciated the friendly nods and hellos as people walked by on the sidewalk. Everyone was dressed for the unusually hot weather, though many had their coffee in hand. Down the street some high school group participated in a car wash. Nice, homey, ordinary things. Even if Bristol Peak had a crazy hum, they managed to keep moving forward despite the strange happenings. After slugging down some more caffeine, she decided to go back to Jeremy’s house. She was so tired.
She hadn’t taken more than a half dozen steps when the hum started. She came to a halt on the street, and so did a few other people. One lady near to her and some others across the street looked around and then continued on their way, expressions ranging from curious to scared. It was a low, determined, rumbling sound that hovered on the edge of existence, as if it might be a figment of the imagination. She rushed down the street trying to get a bead on where it originated but it surrounded the area like a blanket. It didn’t make any damned sense. She hurried back to her car and sat here thinking while the hum went on for a couple more minutes. She couldn’t hear it so well with windows shut, so she opened them. To her it sounded like the annoying and persistent rumble of a diesel engine. Suddenly it stopped. Intrigued, she started up the car and drove back to Jeremy’s house. She’d been remiss in her research and needed to remedy that right away.
Jeremy walked into work with his mind rattled from bone-melting sex with Cassidy. But he shoved erotic thoughts out of his head. He’d gotten a call from work that morning asking him to come in—three deputies the flu in the last few days and the sheriff’s department was a little thin in Bristol Peak and the immediate area. He’d hated leaving Cassidy when he wanted to day with her. But what could he do? Work called and off he went. Second to that was a determination to find Bud Rankin sometime today.
At the end of the shift, Jeremy was almost to his car when he saw Bud exit another sheriff’s department vehicle in the motor pool. Rankin saw him at the same time, but simply gave him a stone-cold stare and headed for the back door.
A muscle in Jeremy’s jaw tightened. Not happening asshole.
He caught up Rankin before the man could reach the back steps. “Rankin.”
For a second Jeremy thought the guy would continue, but Rankin stopped and turned to face Jeremy. “What?”
Jeremy crossed his arms, his feet braced apart. No use mincing words. “I know what you did to Cassidy.”
Rankin’s eyes went from frosty to amusement. “Oh yeah? What did I do to poor little Cassidy?”
Jeremy knew he couldn’t deck the bastard right here, but damn if it wasn’t tempting. “You raped her, you son-of-a-bitch.”
Rankin’s expression turned cooler, his eyes filled with pure contempt. “Shit, you don’t know her as well as you think. Whatever she told you is at least half lies.”
Jeremy’s blood pressure raised a notch. “If even half of what she said you did were true, that would be pretty fuckin’ bad. I know it and you know it. You drugged her with her so-called friend’s help and then took advantage while she was half out of her mind.”
Rankin’s hands went up, palms out as he shrugged. “Tell me you never did stupid shit when you were a teenager.”
“I did stupid shit when I was a teenager, but it never crossed my mind in a million years to rape a girl. That’s never been in my DNA like it is in your fucked up genes.” Jeremy didn’t stop there. “Any other women you’ve raped? Any that are afraid because of your uniform? Because if there are, I’ll find out and your ass will be barbecued.”
Rankin snorted. “Give me a break. Even if there were other women, you think I’d tell you?”
“No.”
Rankin took a more defensive stance, arms at his sides, fists balled. “What are you gonna do? Defend your woman’s honor?”
Jeremy knew he couldn’t do what he wanted—he couldn’t punch the guy’s lights out. He would make a vow, though, that he wouldn’t have any trouble keeping. “If you ever…ever come near her or touch her again, I’ll risk my career and my reputation to kick your ass. Then I’ll make sure you’re prosecuted for what you did.”
“We were just kids, Tate. She was a teenager, I was a teenager. We screwed. So what?”
“The difference, asshole,” Jeremy growled, “is that she was drugged.”
Rankin looked around, and Jeremy noticed two deputies leaving a squad car to come their way.
Rankin smirked and leaned in to speak lower. “Cassidy will never tell anyone what I did. She’s a little whore. She wanted it. What’s the matter, Tate? You don’t like the idea that I had her first?”
Jeremy saw red, felt his muscles tense. Man up Tate. You can do this. Don’t break. “Like I said, get near her or touch her again and that’s it. I’ll kick your nuts so far up your ass you’ll be chewing them for breakfast.”
It took everything Jeremy had to turn away and walk to his car.
Cassidy was finishing a peanut butter sandwich and making good use of Jeremy’s computer in his office. Her eye were crossing from research, and she closed yet another file. Up popped his desktop picture, and she smiled at the family photo he used for wallpaper which featured his mother and but not his father. Cassidy wondered if he’d ever talk to her about his father. She shoved the thought aside and continued trolling the Internet for more leads on the hum. A wealth of information appeared, although she didn’t believe everything she read.
She clicked on the link to major newspaper in Tucson. The paper mentioned something she knew about but hadn’t thought of in the context of the hum.
Before she knew it, the front door opening caught her attention. Excitement sang in her veins as she looked up.
Jeremy stopped at the doorway to his office, a smile breaking out on his face when he saw her. “Hey.”
She grabbed the empty plate and stood. “Hey.”
He folded his arms and gave her a stern look. His eyes sparkled in amusement, though. “You been eating in my office?”
Immediately she felt contrite. “Sorry. I didn’t even think. I was in here researching the hum on the Internet.”
As she retreated from the office, he followed her into the kitchen. “Did you find out much?”
“Not really.” She hesitated. “But there’s something else I want to do that’s important.”
He sat his hat on the kitchen counter. “What?”
She took a big breath, part of her terrified to ask. “I need to go to the munitions area.”
“What?” he asked again, this time his face filled with apprehension and disbelief. “No.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
This wasn’t going to be easy, but then she’d known all along it wouldn’t be. “Maybe there’s an explanation out there for what’s happening in Bristol Peak with the hum.”
“I don’t understand.”
She put her plate down on the counter. “There were a lot of experimental things done at the munitions area. Rumors of government experiments with certain drugs.”
“Most of what you’ve heard—what we heard as kids—were rumors.”
“Right. But sometimes rumors are true.”
His face turned to solid rock, but he said nothing.
She said, “People claimed that maybe whatever the military did there back in the sixties caused service members to lose their mind.”
Jeremy’s mouth tightened. “Yeah and caused my father to go crazy, too, right?”
Fear rose inside her. Not of Jeremy, but of hurting Jeremy in any way. “Yes.”
“That’s crap. Dad was just insane all on his own. He didn’t need mind control experiments or anything else to make him do what he did.”
She put one hand out. “Okay, that’s probably true. But I’m going out there with or without you.”
“No.”
She made a scoffing noise. “If you don’t go with me, I’ll find someone who will.”
He was quiet then, his gaze thoughtful. She could practically see his brain working out a plan or at the least trying to formulate a way to make her stay away from Hexley’s old place and the munitions area.
“Look, I’m sorry,” she said. “Of course I don’t expect you to go. It’s selfish of me to ask you. Thoughtless.”
When he didn’t speak, she turned to the skink and rinsed the plate. She put it into the dishwasher, and he came up behind her. His arms came around Cassidy and drew her back against him. She melted, cupping her hands over his as her libido came alive. Sweet heat flooded her breasts and her lower stomach as he buried his face in her neck and breathed deep. The tense words of moments ago faded away.
“God, you smell good. Want to play arrest?” he asked.
She snorted a laugh then sighed in delight as he kissed her ear. She shivered. The man would reduce her to jelly in nothing flat if she didn’t stop him now. Then again, why would she stop him?
She leaned back, turned on by the heat and power in his arms. “Oh, officer, what did I do?”
His words came deep and soft against the back of her neck as he kissed his way around to her nape. “You got crumbs on the keyboard.”
She laughed again. “Oh? Where’s the evidence, officer? How do you know it was me?”
His hot breath touched her right ear. “Are you giving me lip?”
She smiled as heat swirled low in her belly. The man was getting her wet so fast she couldn’t see straight. “Are you going to punish me for that, too?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“What’s the punishment?”
“Giving me your lips over and over.”
Any thoughts of rushing to Hexley or the munitions place fell away as he slid under her t-shirt and palmed her belly with both hands. Another shiver of delight made her shift and moan softly. She ached deep within her core, wanting and needing. The hell with common sense and restraint. Under his touch she turned into pudding and wanted nothing more than to fuck him blind. She shoved aside thoughts of stopping.
“Put your hands on the counter,” he said, his tone a bit more forceful.
Amused, she did as told. “I’m innocent.”
“Stay here.” He walked out of the kitchen, throwing an amused look over his shoulder as he headed to his bedroom.
Damn. As he walked her gaze snagged on his broad back and hard butt cheeks moving under his well-fitted uniform. The man was a god and a half. She heard some clinking sounds like he might be removing some clothes. He returned without his gun belt, his shirt open to reveal the white undershirt, and minus boots and socks.
“Why deputy, you seem to be missing part of your uniform,” she said, affecting a Southern accent. A really bad accent, but what the hell? “How disgraceful.”
His grin was hot with promise. “I’m hoping you’ll help me get out of the rest of this uniform. I don’t think I can do it on my own.”
“Whatever I have to do to avoid arrest.”
“Baby, you’ll have to do a lot more than that. Punishment for this crime is severe and takes a long time.”
“Darn.”
His grin grew wide as she started to turn, eager to touch him as entered the kitchen.
“Hands back on the counter, ma’am.”
Following along with the playacting, she did as told. “This is police brutality, Deputy Tate.”
He came up behind her and tossed a condom on the counter. “That’s Lieutenant Tate. And if you think this is bad, you haven’t seen anything yet.”
She couldn’t wipe the smile off her face, having a good time as her body went liquid with need. Hell, if she’d known something like this would have such an outrageous sexual effect on her body, she would have tried it before. But no, she wouldn’t have. Because no one had turned her on like this man. She’d never felt this safe with anyone.
“Now we’re going to do this nice and slow. To escape you’ll have to beg me to finish it,” he said.
Once more he brought her back against him, his breath warm near her ear. The rumble in his voice sending volcanic need straight to her core.
“Finish it?” she asked.
“You’ll have to beg me to stop the punishment. To give you relief from it.”
“I see.”
He pulled her back into his strong body with an arm around her waist. With his other hand, he undid the button on her jeans and slid down the zipper. She sucked in a little breath, caught up in a thrill. He hadn’t even kissed her yet, but her heartbeat quickened, her pulse throbbed. When he slipped his hand into her panties and found her wet, she took another excited breath.
“Oh, hell yeah.” His voice was a low, slightly gruff sound.
She moved in his arms, tormented as he smoothed her cream over her clit. Excitement made her wriggle a little. “Jeremy.”
“Lieutenant Tate.”
Oh, so they were still playing the game. “Lieutenant Tate.”
“Spread ‘em.”
She did as he asked, parting her legs a little more.
As he kiss the side of her neck, he said, “Does that feel good?”
“You know it does.”
His breath puffed over her skin, sending hot spikes of arousal straight to the folds between her legs. He strummed her, played her like an instrument as he drew one finger over a fold and traced her opening over and over.
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“Lieutenant?” She gasped the question.
“Hmmm?” He licked a path to her ear.
Before she could reply, he gently, slowly sank two fingers straight into her pussy. Her mind blanked. She didn’t know what she wanted to say, her mind destroyed by pure knee-buckling pleasure. She closed her eyes, fell into the abyss as he pumped his fingers inside her with slow thrusts. Over and over he caressed a certain spot inside her, his fingers moving in her tight, wet heat with ease. She closed her eyes and jumped into the sensation, wanting release so much she almost begged him. Each slow, gentle stroke of his fingers along her aroused flesh sent her into a frenzy of need.
His other hand eased up until he found the front clasp on her bra. He flicked it open with ease. He clasped one nipple between thumb and finger and tenderly rolled and pinched. She gasped, unable to control, not wanting to control the crazy response in her body. A moment later he removed his fingers, spreading her liquid response over her clit while continuing his assault on her nipple. He alternated his touch, moving back and forth between each breast, caressing and tweaking. His fingers were relentless on her clit. She writhed in his hold, moaning as he quickened his touch.
Before she could climax, he released her and turned her around. She groaned in protest, but he drew her into a hot kiss. His tongue plunged deep, tangling with hers and caressing. When he drew back moments later, he took his wet fingers and spread her juices over her nipples. She watched his eyes, so hot with arousal and couldn’t stand it anymore. She threaded her fingers into his hair and slowly urged him down to her breasts. His mouth enveloped one nipple. She threw her head back and fell into the sensation as he licked and suckled the hard nubs.
“Oh, lieutenant. Please.” She ground her hips against him, eager to feel his cock. His erection thrust against her belly, a steel-hard bar of strength. “Please,” she said again.
He released her nipples, stepped back and reached for the condom. He undid his pants and pulled out his cock.
As he sheathed himself, he said, “Turn around.”
Once more she did as ordered. She heard him put on the condom, and the ache between her legs turned into a tight, ready to explode need. One part of her marveled at how easily he aroused her, how smoothly she’d fallen into wanting him without thought or reason. The other part of her told her to shut up and enjoy.
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