Without allowing their lips to part, he wrapped his arms around her bottom and lifted her up. When her legs parted and straddled his hips, he took the necessary steps that brought them to the couch and sunk into it, taking her with him.
Faith wrenched her lips from Ken’s, tilted her head to suck air into her starved lungs. His lips and hands were all over her, and she welcomed the onslaught. The knot of desire weaved its magic, leaving her both excited and scared. She was so hungry for him, she shocked herself. Yet she felt not a single ounce of shame. Sex between them before had been earth-shuttering. Made her feel alive. She desperately needed to feel alive again.
She’d agreed to the friends-with-benefits arrangement with one goal in mind—sleep with him in order to get him out of her system. But the more they kissed and touched, the more she realized she’d missed Ken. The taste of him. She nipped at his jaw. The intoxicating scent of him. She buried her face in his neck and inhaled. Most of all, she’d missed the way he made her feel. Feminine. Powerful. That it was okay to let go because he’d be there to catch her. She wanted Ken. Not next week when she came back from New York. Not forever. Right now. As though he read her thoughts, he tugged at her jacket with impatient fingers.
She sat up. “Let me.”
As she twisted and fumbled to remove the jacket, Ken groaned. Her gaze flew to his face. Tiny beads of sweat pooled across his forehead and his eyes were glazed. “You okay?”
“I will be. Give me a minute.” He raised her slightly, and she realized that her bottom was positioned perfectly on his powerful thighs, cradling his engorged member pushing up his pants.
Her hands itched to stroke him, relive every moment she’d missed. She quickly shrugged off her jacket and threw it over her shoulder, eliciting a chuckle from him. She grinned, reaching out to run unsteady fingers along his sculptured lips. Clever, beautiful lips. The way they curved when he smiled. The merciless way they teased her senses and drove her crazy. She dug into the grooves that appeared and disappeared from his cheeks when least expected, caressed the strong square jaw….
Ken didn’t speak. He let her explore his face, his hands coming to rest on her waist. He sucked air when she reached down and slid her hands under his T-shirt. His skin scorched, muscles trembled under her palm. She reveled in his response, the power she wielded over his body.
“I’ve missed you,” he groaned.
She couldn’t bring herself to utter the words telling him she’d missed him too. What was she afraid of? Didn’t she just tell him about her parents? Something she’d never told anyone. Ken would never hurt her.
This wasn’t the moment for self-analysis. One of her legs, jammed between Ken and the back of the sofa, started to tingle from lack of circulation. The other one landed on the carpeted floor with a muted thud. “I don’t think this will work.”
Ken stiffened.
“Why?” he growled.
“Because making love on this sofa is killing me. I need to get out of these boots and—”
He cut her off with his lips, released her long enough to laugh and say, “You drive me crazy, you know that? Let’s take it upstairs.”
She circled his shoulders, kissed him in response. He wrapped his arms around her waist, swung his feet to the floor and stood up with her as though she weighed nothing.
Faith tightened her thighs around him. “I can walk.”
“Humor me.”
“And just so we’re clear, I plan on going home tonight.”
“Funny, I plan on persuading you to spend the night.” Then his mouth claimed hers, the plundering kiss, one of sexual possession.
Faith could barely breathe, the erratic thump of her heart drowning all thoughts. Ken took the stairs like a man on a mission. He reached the upper landing and headed left along a hallway. Soon, he was lowering her onto the floor in his bedroom. A single bedside lamp lit the familiar bronze and charcoal room. Everything became a blur when he picked up where he’d left off, nibbling her neck, her shoulder, his hands slipping under her top to find skin.
Faith shivered, yet she burned and drowned with needs and emotions she couldn’t keep up with. A soft breeze stroked her overheated skin as he unbuttoned her shirt. He removed it, cupped her breasts and played with her nipples. His lips followed, the bra no barrier as he suckled the tight nubs.
She grabbed his shoulders to keep from falling when her knees gave out. Scooping her up, he gently laid her on the bed. Faith watched him through a canopy of lashes as he moved to her feet, unzipped her right boot and pulled it off. Then the next. She lifted her hips to help him peel the jeans off until all she had was her bikini briefs and the matching bra. He knelt at the foot of the bed, his gaze running up and down her body.
“You’re so beautiful,” Ken said. He swept a hand up her calf, sending tingles all over her.
She didn’t know whether it was a lust-induced observation or not, but she reveled in the awe in his eyes. It was her turn to feast on his nakedness, to feel and touch. She sat up and crawled to where he knelt.
“So are you, Ken. Beautiful, generous, amazing.”
She helped him undress, pushing his T-shirt off his body and pressing her lips to the exposed skin—his taut stomach muscles, his chest, the erratic pulse beating at the base of his powerful neck. He raised his arms and assisted her. They quickly dispensed with the rest of their clothing, fell in each other’s arms, a wild joining of mouths and tongues, bodies rubbing, hands caressing and kneading.
He stroked his way up her inner thighs. She opened wider and lifted her hips, anticipation driving her insane. When he reached her neediest center, he delved deeper into the slick folds with one finger, then another.
Faith writhed and buckled. She was so ready she could explode. “Please.”
Ken reached across her and pulled open a bedside drawer. A rip and crackle and he put the latex on. Then he raised her legs around his waist. He positioned himself at the entrance of her body and hesitated, his gaze finding and holding hers under the soft glow of the lamp. Feeling exposed and vulnerable, Faith started to close her eyes.
“Don’t.”
She wanted to defy him but couldn’t. Gazes locked, he lowered his hips and entered her. A gasp escaped her. How could she have forgotten how big he was, how he went on forever, stretching her, filling her so completely? Locked hip to hip, she sighed and savored the connection.
This goes beyond sex. Faith rocked her hips, an attempt to block that haunting inner voice. This is coming home.
Ken started to move, each stroke sending a flood of sensations through her. Soon she couldn’t think of anything else but him. He picked up tempo. She met each thrust with her own, her hands all over him, her mouth on the parts of his body she could reach. Sweat dotted his skin, his chest expanding and sinking with each breath. She became light-headed. White spots fluttered in front of her eyes. She was close to cresting.
As though he knew, he repositioned her legs, placing one over his shoulder and the other between his. The angle deepened the contact, drove her straight out of her mind. Their thrusting grew frantic, skin speaking to skin, bodies singing in perfect rhythm. Pants and moans filled the room. An abyss opened and they launched over the edge, both of them crying out.
She plunged into a darkness that had no beginning or end. When sanity returned, Ken was kissing her. He rolled onto his back, taking her with him, bodies still connected. Faith kissed his jaw and chest then rested her cheek against his shoulder and closed her eyes. Home.
“I need to go home,” she whispered in a sleepy voice.
He kissed her forehead. “Go to sleep. I’ll wake you in an hour.”
Her last thought before sleep sucked her under was that her intention to get Ken out of her system by sleeping with him had just backfired. She would never get enough of him.
***
Ken watched Faith sleep. The long lashes fanning her cheekbones, the gentle slope of her jaw, her lush lips. She looked so sweet and angelic, but he missed
the challenging gleam in her eyes, the stubborn tilt of her chin. Sex with Faith would always be hot, but winning her heart would take more than great sex. He needed to gain her trust. It was the only way she’d let him in. The task was daunting, but he planned to rise to the challenge.
Music echoed from downstairs. Ken frowned as he slid off the bed, dragged on his pants and went to investigate. At the foot of the stairs, he was greeted by silence. He checked the gizmos and gadgets at the workstation in his home office but nothing was out of place. Just when he was about to head back upstairs, the song began again. A ring tone?
Ken followed the sound to Faith’s bag, which he grabbed and took upstairs. He found her still curled under the covers fast asleep. He pressed his lips to hers. When she moaned and shifted, he deepened the contact. Even in sleep, she responded to his touch.
“Ken.” Her hand caressed his face.
“It’s time to wake up, sweetheart.”
“Love me again,” she murmured, pulling him closer, eyes still closed.
The temptation was great, especially when delivered in a husky tone that did things to his body. “I plan to, but first we need to talk.”
“Why?” Her hand swept over his chest, past his abs to his waist. Her eyes snapped open when she encountered his pants. Dewy eyes stared into his, a frown settling between her brows. “You’re dressed.”
“Your phone’s been ringing like crazy. I thought it must be something important for someone to call this late.” He lifted her bag from the floor.
Faith shot up and dove for her cell phone. Ken’s eyes stayed riveted on her face though the covers slid to her waist, baring her breasts. Her eyes widened when she checked the caller ID. She pressed a button and brought the phone to her ear.
“Eddie? I’m at a friend’s. Why?” She gasped then scooted to the other edge of the bed. “I’ll be there.” She circled the bed and went on her knees to collect her clothes, grabbed her bag.
“What’s going on?”
“That was my cousin Eddie. Someone broke into my store.” Her voice shook. Before he could react, she disappeared into the bathroom and closed the door.
Ken pulled on his T-shirts, socks, and shoes then sat on the edge of the bed and started dialing the phone by his bed. Eddie Fitzgerald was a meticulous detective who wasn’t afraid to go outside normal channels to find answers. He’d met the detective last year when they both worked on an old arsonist case. Since then they’d helped each out here and there.
“Eddie, Ken Lambert here.”
“Can’t talk now,” Eddie said in his usual brisk manner.
“I know you’re on the job—the break-in at Falasha. Can you tell me more about what happened?”
There was silence from Eddie. “Faith is with you?”
“Yes. How bad is it?”
“That depends on how you look at it. Are you two on your way?”
“How bad, Eddie?”
“It’s not pretty, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“We’re on our way.” Hanging up, something cold sunk deep into Ken’s chest. Faith didn’t need this, not on top of everything else. He walked to the bathroom door. “Faith?”
“I’m almost done.”
“I’ll start the car.”
“No, I’ll drive myself.”
“I’m not letting you drive.”
The door swung open. She stood before him barefoot, eyes flashing, blouse askew. She’d skipped a button. “I’m fine,” she snapped.
“I know. Give me a minute.” He stopped her when she could have brushed past him and started to redo her buttons. Her expression shifted from bewilderment to blank then she took over from him. “Come on. You can put on your boots in the car.”
He started down the stairs, not sure she’d ride with him. When he reached the door to the garage, she was behind him. She slid in the passenger seat of his SUV without speaking.
Anxiety filled the cab. He wanted to reassure her that everything would be okay, but Faith wasn’t the type of woman to be placated by empty phrases. She met problems head on. He reached over and covered one of her fisted hands. She clasped his, tight.
The blue and red lights from several squad cars flashed outside her store. She was out of the car before Ken parked. When he stepped out, she was at the entrance talking to Eddie.
One policeman blocked Ken’s path.
“I’m with Ms. Fitzgerald,” Ken explained.
Eddie waved him over before he followed Faith inside. Ken picked his way through the shards of broken glass. From the size of the hole on the window, a car must have rammed through it. He heard snippets of a conversation from several cops behind him.
“Damn smash-and-grab thieves,” one said.
“The third store this week?” another one asked.
“Sixth if you count the hits in Ventura and Burbank.”
Inside the store, a team of crime scene investigators was already dusting the place for prints and photographing the room. The gowns on the mannequins were gone, the display cases broken though not all the jewelry was taken. Some littered the floor along with scarves and belts. A few clothes dangled on the arms of hangers by the wall and the cash register was missing from the cashier’s desk. Ken couldn’t imagine how Faith felt seeing the destruction.
He caught up with Eddie and Faith inside the walk-in closet beside her sewing room, where she stored her collection for the show in New York. He tried to catch her gaze, but she was busy going through a rack of clothes in garments bags, pulling zippers down then back up.
“Are they all there?” Ken asked.
Faith nodded.
“They didn’t come this far,” Eddie added. “It’s typical of these smash-and-grab robbers to not waste time. They go for the nearest things then flee.”
“I heard there’ve been similar robberies all over the county,” Ken added, his gaze not leaving Faith.
Eddie nodded. “Several.”
Faith’s hand stilled then she turned slowly to face them. “Are you saying this is just a random break-in?”
Eddie’s eyes narrowed. “It is, unless there’s a reason to suspect someone targeted you. Do you think there might be someone who would purposely destroy your store?”
Faith’s gaze collided with Ken’s but she quickly looked away. “No. Of course not.”
Eddie studied her then turned to stare at Ken before coming back to her. “Faith?”
“Believe me, Eddie. If I knew who did this, I’d want him hauled to jail too. I’m going to lose business over the next couple of weeks because I have to replace the windows and my clothes.” Her voice broke.
Ken moved closer to her. He wanted to take her in his arms, get her away from here, but he knew she wouldn’t appreciate being coddled.
“Did the surveillance camera pick up anything?” Ken asked instead.
“We haven’t seen the footage yet. Where do you keep the system?”
Faith pushed open the door that led into her office and walked ahead of them.
Eddie blocked Ken’s path when he could have followed. “I saw the look you exchanged with my cousin, Lambert. Want to tell me what’s going on?”
Ken shrugged. “I don’t know what you saw, man. Can we get this done, so I can get her out of here?”
Eddie glowered then glanced over at Faith who was punching in numbers on the console of her surveillance system. He lowered his voice. “Listen, I will not let another psycho mess with one of my cousins, so if something is going on here, you’d better level with me.”
“Of course. I always do.”
Eddie continued to study him then turned and headed toward Faith. Ken followed. Eddie Fitzgerald was good at what he did, but it wasn’t Ken’s place to tell him about Faith’s problems with O’Neal. Ken didn’t know her reasons for not going to her cousin for help, but he was happy she’d come to him instead.
Ken joined Eddie and Faith as they replayed the robbery footage. The two thieves had worn ski-masks, so identifying them w
as out of the question. They also appeared to have been more concerned with destroying the store than stealing. One had even attempted to pull down the mannequins from the ceiling with little success. From their flashing teeth, they had laughed the entire time.
As Eddie replayed the footage again and again, everything fell into place. These were no ordinary burglars, not when one of them went straight to the store’s security pad as soon as they entered the store and punched in numbers on the security panel. They knew the number combination. Interesting.
Eddie pressed stop on the machine, turned, and faced Faith and Ken. He crossed his arms, his eyes bouncing from one to the other. “Okay, what the hell is going on?”
CHAPTER 9
Faith sighed. She never wanted her relatives to learn about the mess with Sean. Most of them treated him like family, so she wasn’t sure whose story they’d believe. Sean already painted her as a selfish heartbreaker and himself the jilted lover who still wanted her back as a fiancée and business partner.
At first, his malicious words had hurt and she’d even contemplated telling her family the truth. But she hadn’t wanted to play the victim, or give Aunt Viv an excuse to start her standard lecture.
Fitzgeralds don’t whine, Faith. We are fighters. No matter how often life knocks us down, we pull ourselves up. Faith got enough of that in her teens, so she’d kept her mouth shut. Now, hell was about to break loose and she must find a way to contain it.
Aunt Viv’s lectures didn’t bother her anymore but she might see Faith’s problems with Sean as a lack of business savvy or incompetence. Her aunt had a history of bailing out family members whose companies struggled due to limited funds, mismanagement, or lack of vision. As a result, her generosity wasn’t just limited to handing out cash. She gains part ownership into the company and the right to vote on every major decision, including the direction the company was taking. Faith wasn’t ready for that kind of a partner.
“It’s obvious this was an inside job, Faith,” Eddie said, interrupting her thoughts. “And the way you two are acting tells me you know more than you’re letting on.”
Dangerous Love Page 11