Long, Lean and Lethal

by O'Clare, Lorie

  “Noah,” she gasped.

  Her lips tingled and felt numb and swollen. Noah’s mouth seared her cheek with fire that damn near melted any coherent arguments left in her brain that supported reasons why she should stop this.

  “Hmm?” He sucked on her earlobe while grunting his response.

  She held on to his shoulders. His smooth, warm, and wet skin covered solid muscle. Every inch of him was hard, in control, and overwhelming her. He didn’t seem to be shaking or hesitating. Noah came into her shower knowing what he wanted and had every intention of taking it.

  And damn it all to hell and back. She wanted it, too. There was no argument left inside her that could justify why she should stop him.

  The last thing she would ever do was beg, though. “Is this a new way of cleaning a person?”

  His deep chuckle sent shivers rushing over her. He blocked a fair bit of the water, but it wasn’t a chill she felt. The pressure he released when he first kissed her swelled inside her again, growing and throbbing, aching with every breath she took.

  Noah left her ear and stared at her for a moment before dropping his attention to her breasts. “If you don’t want this, you better tell me now,” he informed her, and at the same time gripped her ass and pushed her, against his hard dick.

  Her breasts smashed into his chest and for a moment she swore their hearts beat the same.

  It wasn’t the sex she didn’t want, and she opened her mouth to tell him that. But voicing her concerns that being intimate with him repeatedly would become more than physical, and that she didn’t want to get hurt, would complicate things. Already she wasn’t sure she understood the glow in his eyes, the confidence with which he held her, and his incredible ability to find the exact spots on her body that made her smolder with an intensity she’d never quite experienced before.

  “How are we going to do this in the shower?” It wasn’t what she planned on saying, but as she willed the words of caution out of her mouth, what was on her mind most tumbled over her tongue without hesitating.

  Noah’s intense expression didn’t change. His hands moved to her hips and he turned her around. Then pressing his hand in the middle of her back, he pushed her against the shower wall.

  Rain pressed her palms against the wet wall and looked over her shoulder as his hard shaft nudged between her legs.

  They were the perfect height for each other. She arched her back and, with the slight movement, granted him access. Noah slid inside her, stretching and creating even more of a burning need as he pressed deeper and deeper.

  “The water makes you not as wet. Does it feel okay?” His baritone whisper crept into her fogged brain.

  “It feels wonderful,” she answered truthfully. In fact, it was better than wonderful. Rain was wet, soaked. But the shower water rushed over them, washing the thick cream seeping from her pussy and allowing her to feel every vein, his thickness, and his full length. The way he pressed deeper inside her, the soft flesh over his rock-hard cock like smooth suede. He was rough yet soothing her so incredibly perfectly she wanted to cry from the sheer pleasure of it.

  He pressed one hand against her stomach and she covered it with her own. Immediately he slid his hand out from under hers but then put his hand on top, intertwining their fingers. She closed her eyes, holding his hand and feeling him burrow farther inside her. He didn’t stop until he was to the point where he could break the pressure that soared out of control inside her.

  “God,” she hissed, feeling him so close to where she needed him.

  Yet he stopped. Her world was seconds from shattering, the weight of need finally appeased. Yet he stopped. He fucking stopped.

  “Damn it, Noah,” she cried out, dragging her nails down the shower wall and then twitching her ass in an effort to get him moving again.

  “You need this as much as I do,” he said, his soft whisper too calm.

  His voice raked over her nerves and did nothing to soothe the fever that burned inside her.

  “Fuck me,” she demanded.

  “That’s what I thought,” he said, the edge of triumph registering, but a moment too late.

  Noah thrust forward, breaking the dam that released the pressure. He impaled her with enough force she damn near passed out. And as intense as it was, she needed more, craved more, cried out, unable to form the words to beg him to do it again.

  She grabbed at the slick shower wall, gripped his hand at her waist, and held on for dear life.

  “Noah, yes,” she cried, finally finding words.

  Nothing ever felt better. He glided in deep, reaching that spot again and again that needed him so desperately. His thick, long dick felt perfect, stroking tortured muscles, relieving pent-up desire she’d tried ignoring for too long. Nothing had ever felt so perfect, so incredibly satisfying. Rain arched into him, causing him to go deeper with his next thrust, and she howled.

  “You’re perfect, Rain. Do you know that?” he growled over her, his hands holding her waist, his fingers long and his grip tight.

  Rain opened her mouth to answer him, not caring what words came out. There weren’t words to praise the intensity that he delivered, carnal and rough yet so incredibly soothing and perfect.

  “Yes,” she gasped. “Perfect.”

  She felt herself tighten around him, was acutely aware of his thickness, the length, and every time he spasmed inside her. Noah fought to hold on, to keep up the momentum, and it made her aware, also, that he needed this as much as she did.

  Maybe even more, since he instigated it. That created a spark of hope inside her. Possibly this was more than sex for him. If it was?

  “Rain, sweetheart,” he growled, running his fingers down the length of her arm until he stretched his fingers over hers, both of them pressing against the shower wall together.

  As he moved his other hand, gripping her shoulder and almost pinching her skin while creating friction between them she doubted all the water coming from the shower could extinguish, his lovemaking turned almost brutal. And God, she loved it. Needed it. Prayed it would never stop.

  “You’re so tight, so goddamned fucking perfect.”

  He swelled, thrusting one last time, and then roared next to her ear, bearing down hard while he spilled everything he had deep inside her.

  Rain’s world shattered, lights exploding before her eyes when she climaxed along with him. She heard her cries, knew she uttered words, but for the life of her didn’t have a clue what she said. When he eased out of her, leaving her feeling empty, stretched, yet so incredibly satisfied, Rain didn’t fight him when he held her close as he straightened. Nor did she care when he took great care washing her, making sure she was thoroughly rinsed, and then held her in his arms, cradling her while the water pattered over her back. There were things they needed to do. Lives depended on it. Yet Rain didn’t have any desire for this moment to end, feeling one with Noah, completely relaxed, and possibly for the first time in her life not worrying about preventing someone from getting too close. Because it was too late. Noah had seeped deep inside her, and she felt him there still.

  Half an hour later, Rain considered blow-drying her hair a bit before they headed out. She pulled ankle-length socks onto her feet and then slipped into her tennis shoes while Noah talked on the phone out in the living room. He continued talking as he headed back to the bedroom and sat in front of the computer where she could see him.

  “We’ve still got usual movement, or at least the pattern remains the same since the GPS devices were put on their cars,” he told Brenda, his supervisor, whom he’d been on the phone with since Rain came out of the bathroom.

  She tucked her shirt into her shorts and stared at Noah, who sat in the chair without a shirt on. The top button of his jeans was undone, and the sprinkles of dark hair on his chest were curled tight, having dried that way after the shower.

  He ran his fingers through his dark, damp hair and rested his elbow on the edge of the desk, hiding his face from her. “His car is par
ked at his work, a press located over on O Street. And Susie Porter’s car, or at least the second car registered in their name, still hasn’t moved from in front of the house. Hell, for all we know Susie might not drive.” He paused and then, as if sensing she watched him, lifted his head and looked in her direction, his expression ragged. He’d been drilled, answered the same questions over and over again, as if he were the suspect in this case and not the investigator. “Yes, it’s possible she uses another car, but we didn’t see one at their home.” Again a pause while he rolled his eyes at her. “Yup. We’ll be down at the field office here in a few.”

  Rain fought the urge to yank the phone from his hand and disconnect the call. Noah’s supervisor was a pushy bitch and a pain in the ass. Her questions were redundant and the sooner she backed off, the sooner Rain and Noah could get to work.

  Returning to the bathroom, she stared at herself in the mirror when Noah came in and then moved behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and then clasping his hands over her gut.

  “We’re heading down to the field office, getting the report on the weapon, and then we’re supposed to get a warrant.” He rested his chin on the top of her head.

  She stared at him through the mirror. Even though she was well sated, with his arms wrapped around her and his body pressed against her backside, every inch of her tingled.

  “Sounds like it’s all wrapped up,” she said, contemplating the thought of trying to fuck him again.

  He continued studying her, not making any effort to let her go. “What’s on your mind?” he asked slowly.

  There wasn’t any way she could talk to him about the two of them. Technically, there was no “two of them.” Blowing out a sigh, she forced her attention to her own reflection in the mirror. There wasn’t anything she could do about her hair with him resting his head on top of hers.

  “I’m not sure we’re ready for an arrest,” she offered instead of sharing the thoughts that plagued her.

  “I agree.” He lifted his head but pulled her back against him. “Go on,” he encouraged.

  “I’m sure your supervisor won’t put any merit on a cop’s hunches.”

  “She doesn’t put any merit on my hunches,” he said, continuing to watch her in the mirror with a gaze so intense her insides fluttered, making it damn hard to organize her thoughts. He brushed his thumb over the underpart of her breast, his eyes growing bright when she sucked in a breath. “Tell me your hunch,” he encouraged.

  “Last night,” she began, sighing and relaxing in his arms. It felt so good with his strong arms wrapped around her. “Everyone seems to have quite a resentment toward Steve. If you ask me, it almost makes him more the victim than the criminal. I just don’t think we have this all the way figured out yet.”

  “What’s your take on the gun that is registered to Steve Porter being the murder weapon?”

  Rain frowned. Damned good question. “I say there is still something we don’t know yet.”

  Noah nodded and backed up, then released her and headed out of the bathroom. When he paused in the doorway, corded muscles stretched and flexed in his arms and bare chest when he faced her, his expression tight. “Do you hate the fact as much as I do that we can’t be the ones to question those two?”

  Rain looked at him and grinned at his brooding expression. “I would kill for the opportunity to interrogate either one of those two.”

  “That’s my girl,” he said, and headed down the hallway. “You about ready to go?”

  Rain stared at her reflection. She managed to straighten her hair with her fingers where Noah tousled it, and then quickly grabbed a hair clasp. Twisting it into a quick bun at the top of her head, she secured the clasp and then called it done.

  “Ready!” she announced.

  In spite of spending the first half of the day working on paperwork and then the latter part of the afternoon down in the detectives’ lounge bullshitting with several of the officers and listening while Noah and a few of her coworkers swapped war stories, Rain was surprised when the chief showed up.

  “We’ve got Steve Porter in interrogation room two, and his wife is in three,” he said, not entering the room but standing in the doorway. He looked tired and squinted like he did when he had a headache. “You can come up and listen and watch if you want.”

  “Let’s go,” Rain said, turning to Noah, who already stood from the desk where he’d sat for the past hour while chatting with one of the older detectives on the force.

  The chief stopped at the elevator, but Rain was wound too tight. “Want to take the stairs?” she asked Noah. She smiled when Chief Noble raised an eyebrow. “Sorry, Chief, nothing personal. I’ve got a lot of energy to burn.”

  “Come talk to me before you leave,” he said, and then turned when the elevator doors opened.

  Rain envied the hell out of Al when the detective entered the interrogation room where Steve sat waiting. He looked up, taking her in with a slow, curious gaze, as he made a show of letting his attention trail down her body.

  “Where’s my wife?” he asked, leaning back in the chair and crossing his arms. He glanced toward the twoway mirror where Rain and Noah sat on the other side. “And who’s over there watching me? I have rights, you know.”

  “Yes, you do.” Al was a pretty decent interrogator.

  Rain knew Al could do her job well. Nonetheless, she chomped at the bit.

  “Ever been on this side before?” Noah asked when she jumped out of her chair.

  “No, and I don’t like it.” She stood with her back to him and crossed her arms, listening as Steve’s and Al’s voices came through the speaker over her head.

  “You want me to remember where I was three months ago?” Steve laughed easily. “I don’t remember where I was every minute of last week, let alone yesterday.”

  “What kind of relationship did you have with Roberta Swanson?”

  “Roberta and Richard were good friends of ours. You aren’t questioning my wife about her, are you? She was destroyed when Roberta died. I don’t want her hurt all over again.”

  “Answer the question, please, Mr. Porter. What was your relationship with Roberta?”

  “Are you asking if she was my lover?” Steve’s cocky expression would nail him to the cross, and as shrewd as he liked to come across, obviously he wasn’t smart enough to realize that.

  “I’m asking what your relationship was with her.”

  “She was a friend. A good friend. And one that I miss,” he added, almost as an afterthought.

  “And Lynn Handel?”

  “Wait a minute. You think I killed them.” Steve pointed at Al and then looked at the two-way mirror, for the first time appearing serious. “Well, you can just tell everyone right now that I didn’t kill anyone. Not one of them,” he shouted.

  A police officer stood just inside the interrogation room behind Al and stepped forward when Steve started yelling. Al held her hand up for the officer to stay where he was and kept her attention on Steve.

  “Mr. Porter,” she said, sounding annoyed. “Saturday morning the police were called to your house over a domestic dispute.”

  “I’m sincerely sorry that the neighbors were bothered. Every married couple has their moments.” He held his hands out in surrender. “That doesn’t make me a killer.”

  “You’re aware that a gun was fired during that argument.”

  “The gun going off didn’t have anything to do with our fight.” He sounded exasperated. “I was cleaning it and didn’t realize it was loaded. Susie wasn’t even in the same room when it fired.”

  “Good thing,” Al said dryly. “And that gun is registered to you, yes?”

  “Of course it is. It’s perfectly legal.”

  Rain shook her head and turned to see Noah resting his head on his palms and staring at the glass. He looked up at her when she glanced down at him.

  “I agree,” he grunted.

  “You don’t know what I was going to say.”

  �
��Sure I do.” Noah stood and stretched. “He didn’t do it.”

  “I don’t think he’s smart enough to have pulled it off.” She turned and scowled at the glass.

  “You aren’t asking my wife about that gun, are you?” Steve demanded. “She hates that it’s in the house. I always keep it out of sight, and believe me, she threw a bloody fit when I accidentally fired it. Put a hole through the kitchen cabinet, which she’s making me pay for out of my check. And I told the police that.”

  “Yes, you did. I have your report right here.” Al looked at her paperwork in front of her and then put her hands on it and stared hard at Steve. “Mr. Porter, I’m going to be very clear with you. I want you to think carefully before you respond to what I’m going to say.”

  Steve didn’t respond but looked at her. Not only was his cockiness gone, but his serious expression teetered on nervousness now. Rain kept a close eye on him while Al spoke.

  “When your gun was confiscated, several tests were run on it. Ballistics has the ability to determine if bullets found at a crime scene match a gun when it’s brought in later.”

  Steve didn’t say anything but stared at her, not blinking, as if waiting anxiously for what she would say next.

  “Your gun is the gun that fired the shots that killed Roberta Swanson, Lynn Handel, George Lapthorne, Lorrie Hinders, and Patricia Henderson.”

  Steve jumped out of his chair, for a moment looking like he would leap over the table and attack Al. Noah was on his feet just as quickly, and the cop behind Al flew forward, grabbing Steve’s arm and forcing him down into his chair.

  “I want a lawyer!” Steve screamed. “Give me back my fucking cell phone right now! I’m calling my lawyer! Do you hear me, god damn it? I’m calling my lawyer right now!”

  EIGHTEEN

  Susie Porter smiled at James, her chauffeur, or at least that was the label she used for him, when he opened her car door and reached for her hand.

  “Are you going to be okay tonight?” he asked, searching her face, and then grinning when Susie handed him a fifty.

  It was amazing what money could buy. Barely twenty-one, with a perfect, youthful, well-toned body. James was her boy toy, her chauffeur, or whatever she wanted him to be.