Long, Lean and Lethal

by O'Clare, Lorie

  Noah guessed the wine would help her loosen up and possibly they would learn more.

  “You really don’t need to go all out for us,” Rain said before he could say the wine sounded fine. Rain didn’t look at him, though.

  “It’s the least I can do after upsetting you the way we did.” Joanna sounded sincere.

  Rain stroked Joanna’s hair down her back. “And now you’re upset. So who got hurt? Someone from your group?”

  Joanna opened a door that turned out to be a pantry and walked inside the small closet and reappeared instantly with a couple bottles of wine.

  “Which is better for the occasion?” she asked Noah, holding the bottles out for him to inspect.

  He tapped the bottle in her left hand, noting both bottles were pricey brands. “The Cabernet Sauvignon would go well since we’re eating cheddar.”

  “Good. I’m so terrible at knowing what wine goes best with what food.” She again gave him that inviting smile, then turned and stretched, her sweater rising and showing off her narrow back and slender spine.

  Noah pointedly looked over at Rain, who rolled her eyes at him. He didn’t know why, but her apparent jealousy appealed to him. And although he knew it wasn’t the reason for being here, pushing her a bit, giving her a feel of what she would be exposed to tomorrow night, sounded like not only a good plan but fun as well. He liked the idea of smoothing her ruffled feathers later.

  “All it means is that I’ve eaten in restaurants way too much in my life,” Noah offered, grinning when Joanna closed the pantry door and turned around.

  “Oh, I see,” Joanna said, and scowled at Rain as if trying to figure something out.

  Rain cleared her throat. “He means before we were married,” she pointed out, and Joanna quickly nodded. “Tell me where the glasses are,” Rain offered, turning around and facing the cabinets. That skirt made her ass look incredibly good. “If you’re going to all of this trouble, the least you can do is let me help.”

  “It’s no trouble. I admit going over to your house really upset me, too. Honestly, I don’t like thinking about it. But Patty and I talk from time to time, you know? And when all of us were sent an e-mail announcing that new blood in our group would help pull all of us out of our melancholy state and then announced that you two would be at the potluck tomorrow night, well, she called me and we discussed whether this in fact was a smart move.” While she chattered on, she pulled a corkscrew out of a drawer and turned to Noah. “Would you mind popping my cork?” she asked, batting her eyes at him while putting an extra kick to her tone to make the question ooze with underlying meaning.

  “I’d be honored,” he said, straightening, and accepting bottle and corkscrew.

  “I bet you’d be good, too,” Joanna whispered, and then turned around before she could catch the scathing look that Rain quickly wiped off her face. “And I know, instead of enjoying our snack here, why don’t we take it out to the patio? I haven’t shown you my hot tub yet.”

  “We didn’t bring suits,” Rain said.

  “No suits allowed in my hot tub, darling.” Joanna tilted her head slightly and studied Rain, who to her credit didn’t bat an eye at Joanna’s comment. “The guys are going to love you and it’s a shame you aren’t bi. You and I could put on a show that would make the men come in their pants. That black hair is your natural color?”

  “All of me is real,” Rain informed her in just as sweet of a tone as Joanna used. “And it’s really not black. More like a dark brown. It’s more obvious in the sunlight.”

  “Well, it’s beautiful.” Joanna didn’t seem swayed about the “all real” comment. Instead, she looked down at herself and then placed her hand on her breast. “I was all natural until I got these last year. And they’re perfect, too. They don’t feel like Nerf footballs the way some fake breasts do. Here—feel.”

  Noah almost broke the cork in half when Joanna reached for Rain’s hand and then placed it on her breast. Again, Rain was smooth as the skilled professional that he already knew she was. This move pushed her to her limits, though, although she didn’t blush.

  “They do feel real,” Rain offered, sounding sincerely surprised.

  When she didn’t pull away but instead dragged her fingers over them until Joanna’s nipples turned into hard nubs, Noah’s mouth went dry. But when Rain slowly turned her attention to him, and then graced him with a wicked smile, all blood drained to his dick. He pulled the cork out of the bottle of wine with enough force that it made a loud popping sound and he almost dropped the bottle.

  Rain looked more than pleased that her action affected him, and he wondered for a moment if he’d read her wrong. Damn, what if she actually got into women, too, and for whatever reasons had decided to play it straight?

  “Should we let him feel them, too?” he heard Joanna ask Rain in a soft, tempting whisper.

  Rain shifted her attention from Joanna’s breasts to him and Joanna tossed her hair over her shoulder, arching slightly when she cocked her head and flirted with him with her eyes. If this was a sample of what he was in for tomorrow night, he might have been wrong in guessing Rain needed more preparation for the evening than he did.

  “You should feel these, sweetheart,” she purred, grinning mischievously at him, although the glow in her eyes would have him hesitating if they were dating for real. “They really do feel real and are so soft and big.”

  Noah narrowed his gaze on her. There wasn’t any way he could bring them the bottle, let alone get up and go feel Joanna’s breasts.

  “Trust me, I’m having a damned good time watching you play with them,” he told Rain honestly, and prayed his expression didn’t reveal the strain he endured to stay on his stool and not attempt to begin something that he knew without a doubt would start more trouble than it would be worth. Not to mention, Joanna’s breasts weren’t going to help him and Rain crack this case. He repeated that in his mind more than once as he cleared his throat. “But by all means, don’t stop on my account.”

  “Men are all the same.” Joanna rolled her eyes and then pulled Rain into a hug, whispering something to her that Noah didn’t catch.

  Rain laughed easily. “That’s no lie. And you better watch out; Noah might be better at it than any other man you know. At least that’s been my experience so far,” she added, winking at him and appearing to be very much enjoying herself. The jealous strain he’d seen on her face when they first arrived was gone. Either Joanna was a professional at loosening up wives or Rain was truly getting into the moment. It might be a bit of both. Either way, Noah knew well enough to allow them their moment and not try to intrude. His partner and “wife” had one hell of a temper, and they would both work this case better if Rain remained happy and relaxed so she could gather what info she could out of the voluptuous redhead.

  “That wouldn’t surprise me one bit.” Joanna’s gaze burned his flesh when she took him in with an almost animalistic glaze in her eyes.

  He ached to know what was just said but wasn’t foolish enough to ask. Instead, he placed the open bottle of wine on the island bar and then plopped a slice of cheese in his mouth, offering both of them a roguish grin.

  Joanna took down three wineglasses and placed them in front of Noah. She didn’t say a word when she hurried out of the room. He poured wine and watched Rain while she stared after Joanna. Letting his gaze travel down Rain, and enjoying the hell out of her profile, with her perky breasts and nipples that were very hard at the moment, he’d have to say hands down she was a hell of a lot prettier than Joanna. In spite of Joanna’s intense sexual aura, with her thick mane of radiant red hair and her bombshell figure, Rain’s elegant stance, and sultry, if not mysterious, air she carried so well had him guessing he wouldn’t be the only man aching to choose Rain over Joanna tomorrow night.

  Before Noah thought to ask Rain what Joanna whispered in her ear, Joanna returned and walked to the back door and locked it, then slid out of her shoes. “Come on,” she said. Grabbing the cutting boa
rd and her glass of wine and leaving her shoes at the back door, she headed out of the kitchen and farther into the house. “Follow me.”

  Noah brought up the rear as they entered Joanna’s bedroom. She pulled back thick, long curtains and then opened a sliding door and led the way out onto a patio with a tall privacy fence that he guessed was probably ten feet high and completely enclosing the intimate outdoor setting. Joanna didn’t ask for help but slid the cover off her hot tub and leaned it between the house and the tub. Then placing the plate of food on the edge of the tub, she ran her fingers through the water.

  “Perfect,” she informed them, and then smiled at Rain as she started undressing. “Shall we get in?”

  It surprised him once again when Rain followed Joanna’s lead and stripped out of her clothes without hesitating. She laid them on the back of a chair with Joanna’s and then skillfully took her hair out of her clasp and twisted her hair at the top of her head, then replaced her clasp so her thick dark hair pooled around her face, with several strands draping over her shoulders. He stood there, watching one woman climb into the tub and then the other, both giving him a view men would kill to see.

  Suddenly he was all thumbs trying to get out of his own clothes, feeling anything but like a stud for being able to climb into a hot tub with two hot, naked women. Each of them took their own corner, and bubbles prevented him from seeing too far into the water. Not that he cared; the cleavage and occasional nipple shot when either of them moved was such incredible eye candy that it was all he could do not to climb in with a raging hard-on.

  Thinking about the best way to bring the conversation back to the murders helped keep everything under control.

  Rain broke the silence first. “Inside you said people you knew were dying. How are they dying?”

  “Yes. Three of them.” Joanna sipped her wine and stared at him over the rim of her glass. “First Roberta and Lynn, and then George.”

  Noah felt toes crawl over his feet when he relaxed in his corner, and guessed his hostess was making her move subtly. Possibly he distracted her from the facts and that was why she said three instead of four, or maybe she didn’t know about the latest murder. He adjusted himself and stretched out in the water, only to run into another pair of feet. Rain glanced his way and smiled.

  Her expression sobered quickly, though, when she looked at Joanna. “How did they die?”

  “Shot to death—all of them.” Joanna placed her wineglass on the side of the hot tub. Then clasping her hands in front of her, she straightened her arms and aimed with her fingers pointed like a gun, aiming at Rain’s temple. “Imagine it. One moment you’re alive and healthy and the next moment it’s done, all over. To have that kind of control and power over someone living, or dying. It really makes you think, doesn’t it?”

  EIGHT

  Half an hour later, Noah pulled away from Joanna’s house. Rain didn’t stay in the hot tub much longer after having Joanna point her fingers at Rain’s temple. After agreeing they most definitely wanted to get together with Joanna again, they said their good-byes.

  The glass of wine and hot tub put him in the mood for a nap, or at least crawling into bed. Ravishing Rain sounded like a hell of a plan, too. He had a feeling she wouldn’t tell him no, in spite of the contemplative look on her face at the moment. She stared straight ahead, chewing on her lip. He was getting used to being able to see her mind churn when she was lost in thought trying to figure something out.

  Turning off of Joanna’s street, he headed in the opposite direction of his and Rain’s home. That’s when he knew she was really tearing into something in that brain of hers. Letting the silence continue between them, he glanced at the time on the dash. Five o’clock. They would make their meeting that he had arranged this morning. He looked forward to brainstorming their time spent with Joanna and learning how the hot redhead’s attention toward him affected Rain. The kiss good-bye that Joanna gave him was passionate in itself, but when she whispered in his ear, “I can’t wait to fuck you,” he wondered if Rain overheard.

  “I wonder if Joanna is typical of all swingers or if her personality is unique, in spite of the lifestyle she indulges in.” Rain’s expression didn’t change and she continued staring straight ahead.

  Noah glanced her way for a moment before slowing for a red light. When she tugged on her skirt, he reached over and ran his hand over her smooth leg. God, he couldn’t wait to fuck her again.

  “Are you referring to how quickly she could go from being upset about something to acting like she couldn’t wait to jump my bones?”

  Rain glanced down at his hand and then looked up at him with those baby blues. “Either that or her ability to be upset yet never quit yearning to fuck you.”

  Leaving his hand on Rain’s leg, he brushed his thumb against her knee as he accelerated, then turned onto a main street that would take them across town. He focused for a moment, trying to remember the way without asking for directions. He really was curious how distracted Rain’s thoughts were and how long it would take her to realize they weren’t going home.

  Home. It wasn’t home, he reminded himself, but simply a staged setting they would continue to use until they cracked this case. His home was an almost empty apartment in D.C. He remembered fond memories of spending evenings there with Laurel, in between cases, and dreaming of the future. She’d been his life, his reason for getting a case wrapped up as quickly as possible. They would talk on the phone every night after she got off work while he traveled, everything from political debates to phone sex. Laurel didn’t start into him on opening up their marriage until he put a ring on her finger. And she didn’t start naming names of who she wanted to fuck until she and Noah had their wedding planned.

  “I’ve had a few encounters with swingers over the years,” he began, hating to use any past experience to define Joanna. “But honestly, we’ll get a better feel for how she is tomorrow night. That is, if you still want to go to the potluck.”

  “Definitely. Don’t you?”

  “We have to go.”

  “I agree.” Rain looked away from him and out the window. “Where are we going?”

  He smiled and gave her leg a squeeze. “That visit left you grossly preoccupied.”

  “You’re intentionally going the wrong way just to see if I would notice? Do you honestly think that I can’t handle being around women groping you, mister?” Her tone rose along with one eyebrow. She glared at him while her eyes turned a violent shade that almost looked violet. “This is a case, Noah. We fucked each other, and okay, it was incredible. But don’t think for one minute that I’m some ill-prepared rookie who doesn’t have a clue how to rein in her emotions and not keep her thoughts on her job. And where the hell are you going?” By the time she demanded to know their destination she was yelling at him.

  Noah pulled his hand off her leg and placed it on the steering wheel. He focused on the road, watching street signs. “Excuse me for thinking your preoccupation had something to do with you sorting out the data we gathered on a possible suspect,” he said tightly, fighting not to white-knuckle the steering wheel. It wasn’t that he believed everything Rain just spit out at him. Maybe he needed to be more careful what he wished for in the future. If anything, her sudden tirade proved that not only did Rain get jealous, but it pissed her off that she did, and now she would berate him for it. Like he would put up with that. “And we’ve got a five o’clock appointment, if I can remember how to get where we’re going.”

  Rain crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in her seat, crossing her legs, which caused her skirt to ride up high on her thighs. He barely risked stealing a glimpse of her hot long, slender legs before forcing his attention on the road.

  “Where are we going?” she asked coolly.

  He rattled off the exact address that he’d been given earlier and committed to memory. “It’s a strip mall and there is a flower shop there. We’re heading inside and we’ll meet someone there who will drive you to the morg
ue. It’s just a precaution. I don’t want anyone seeing the two of us going down there together.”

  “I see,” she said, but then went silent.

  She was right about one thing she had screamed at him. They weren’t rookies, neither one of them. And they needed to discuss Joanna.

  “Do you think we can debrief each other without any more yelling?” He knew he sounded condescending, but he didn’t like his head being bit off and handed to him.

  “Sure. Forgive me for yelling,” she said tightly. “You looked so triumphant that I didn’t notice sooner where we were headed that I thought you were suggesting Joanna’s flirting with you bothered me. Because it didn’t. I don’t get jealous that easily and sure as hell not after knowing a man for two days. We’re together to catch a killer and nothing else, right?”

  “Right,” he agreed easily, although he swore the tightness in her tone meant she was forcing herself to voice the words.

  “Good.”

  “Good.” He relaxed his hands on the steering wheel and slowed at a green light until he saw the street sign. “I commented on your distraction because I enjoyed watching your mind churn while you worked to analyze and search for clues from our meeting.”

  “Oh.” She sucked in her lower lip and nibbled on it. She caught him watching her and then, to his surprise, reached out and ran her fingers through his still slightly damp hair. “Why do you think she said there were three murders and not four?”

  “Maybe she didn’t know about the fourth. You need to get your chief to assign someone to record any and all news clips that cover these murders on TV.”

  “Good idea. And any newspaper articles. Any discussion of this case at all by the media,” she added, shifting to face him and forcing her seat belt to press against her heart and accentuate the round curves of her breasts. “I’m pretty sure the address you said is the Southern Hills Mall. There’s a flower shop there. You better take a right up here.”