“It’s great.” He swiped his hands through his hair, making those biceps bulge and his forearms flex.
Jess had to close her eyes, trying not to react. Could someone die of lust? Trying to constantly swallow it down could choke a person, couldn’t it? If so, she was dead girl walking.
“Why don’t you come in for a dip?”
She shifted on the lounge chair, lifting one leg and leaving it bent at the knee. He’d merely glanced at her when she came out wearing a fire engine–red bikini, not saying a word. So infuriating, especially because she knew he loved her body. “I don’t know.”
“Come on, you know you want to.”
Hmm. Had there been the tiniest hint of suggestiveness in the comment, or was her horny brain imagining it?
“I guess,” she said, lifting herself from the chair, her every movement languid. Although she had slathered herself with sunscreen when she’d come outside yesterday and Friday, she knew she had a little bit of color. At least she didn’t look like a washed out ghost as she had when she left the hospital.
Tossing her sunglasses on the chair, she sauntered over, dipped a toe in, and smiled.
He turned and dove under the water, swimming across the pool.
Damn it. Jessica had never had to actually seduce a man. Maybe she sucked at it. Maybe having seen her hugging a toilet bowl had grossed him out and he didn’t want her anymore. Maybe he only felt guilty about what happened to her, and he’d brought her here for that reason, and not because he cared for her.
I want to keep you…safe.
The comment he’d made in the car on the way up here Thursday night kept coming to mind. She hadn’t heard the word safe the first time he spoke, and for a few seconds, she’d let herself believe he really wanted to keep her in his life. Not just as his employee, not merely a lover. For a brief instant, she’d let herself think he wanted her. All of her.
Just as she wanted him. All of him. Body, mind, and…hell, yes, even his heart. Because, she feared, he’d already stolen hers. She had fallen in love with the stubborn man. He had been sexually frustrating her for the past two days, but, knowing he’d been doing it for her own good, she’d only fallen harder.
If he’d been trying to resist her for her own good, though, why would he barely look at her now that she was so much better? Especially when she was trying so hard to make him trip over his own drooling tongue?
“Stupid man,” she grumbled.
Completely frustrated, she closed her eyes and jumped in. She bent her legs, dropped to the bottom, and then pushed back up. Hitting the surface, she winced at the coolness of the water. Then, strangely, her body grew warm—even hot. Her eyes flew open. Reece stood right in front of her and had set the water to boiling. He apparently had mad swimming skills, because she would have sworn he was all the way across the pool before she leapt. “Nice,” he murmured.
“What’s nice?”
His eyes narrowed. “The bikini.”
She tossed her hair, which didn’t toss at all because it was sopping wet and clinging to her head and shoulders. She hoped he got the point. “Oh? I didn’t even realize you noticed.”
His soft, sultry laugh clued her in to his mood. It held an edge, and she shivered, her heart starting to thud and her breaths getting raspy. “I realized you didn’t realize.”
“Tongue twister time?”
“What an excellent idea.”
Without warning, he put his hands on her hips and pulled her hard against him. She barely managed to draw breath before his mouth captured hers, their tongues twisting in a way that was no rhyming game.
Jess wanted to sob with relief. He did still want her.
She threw her arms around his neck, turning her head to the side for a deeper, hotter connection. Despite the cool water dripping off them both, steam practically rose from their bodies. Their kiss was hungry, tongues giving and taking. He explored her mouth as if he needed to devour her, and he moaned as his hands skimmed from her hips, up her waist and midriff, to cup her breasts. Arching into his touch, she practically begged him to remove the bikini top, and with two tugs of each string, that’s what he did.
Letting the top float away, he caught her breasts in each hand and stroked, making her moan against his lips. The water was a bit shocking against her vulnerable skin, but his hands were so big, so strong, so hot, she thought she’d die from the pleasure of it.
She’d ached for this. She wanted everything from him. And then she wanted it all again.
When Reece ended the kiss, he muttered, “You’re such a cock tease.”
“What?”
“You’ve been putting your hot body under me like raw meat under a dog’s nose, driving me out of my fucking mind.”
“Oh, you noticed?” She leaned back, offering him more. She loved the way his hands felt on her, and the sun felt on her, and the water felt on her. Mostly she loved the way Reece felt on her. And she was dying to be reminded of the way he felt in her.
“Of course I did. I’m not blind. I wanted to do you right on the kitchen floor last night when you started dancing to that stupid old disco song.”
Ahh. Donna Summer. A classic. How she did love to love him.
“I’m so glad you finally got the point.”
“I got it the second you sashayed out of your bedroom Friday in those short shorts.”
“So why didn’t you do anything about it?”
He bent to bite her earlobe, making her hiss. “Despite the fact that a lot of people think I’m a selfish son of a bitch, I do know it’s wrong to take advantage of a woman who’s in pain.”
She huffed. “It was just a little pain, and only in my throat.”
He moved down that throat, tasting flecks of water, kissing, biting lightly. “Have I mentioned lately that you’re pouty when you don’t get your way?”
She stiffened. “I am no such thing.”
“Yeah, you are.” He licked her collarbone. “That mouth of yours was made for…pouting.”
Oh, lord, did that ever put images in her head. Jess had a mental list of things she wanted to do with this man, and tasting every bit of him was high on it. She shivered remembering how big and hard he’d been last week, especially because he felt even bigger and harder now. While oral sex had never been high on her must-do list, it was with Reece. She wanted the intimacy of it, wanted to drive him crazy, wanted to pleasure him until he lost himself in her mouth.
“Admit you were pissed because you didn’t get your way.”
“If I admit it, will I get my way?” She groaned as he lifted her higher, his attention going lower.
“Oh yeah.” His mouth was close, oh so close, to her breast. “Now admit it.” He started rubbing his lips up the slope, his warm cheek brushing against her nipple for a brief, heart-stopping microsecond. “You’ve been sulking for two days.”
“All right, I admit it.” She groaned. “As long as you admit you’ve been a stubborn ass.”
He laughed softly. “No, just a concerned one.”
She lifted her head to stare at him. “I’m fine, Reece. My throat’s fine, my body’s fine. And I want you so much.”
He kissed her, fast, hard, hot and deep, then pulled away to rumble, “I want you, too, wild woman.”
Pulling her legs around his hips, he continued a thorough, sensual exploration of her. Everywhere his mouth landed reacted with intense pleasure. Pushing her into a seat built into the side of the pool, he finally gave her what she’d been craving. He plumped her breast with his hand and moved his mouth over her nipple, pulling it between his lips and flicking it with his tongue.
She let out a low, satisfied cry and twined her fingers in his wet hair. He sucked harder, and every nerve ending went on high alert. Each hungry suck sent fire surging between her legs. She needed it quenched more than she needed another lungful of air.
He seemed to know. Even as he moved to pleasure her other nipple, he slid a hand into the crotch of her bathing suit and stroked h
er clit. The heat of his fingertips and the chill of the water combined in a dizzying wave, and she gasped, thrusting against his touch.
Reece pushed her up out of the water, setting her on the edge of the deck, her feet still resting on the underwater seat. “Up,” he ordered as he tugged at her bikini bottoms. She lifted, letting him pull them off her, holding her breath in anticipation of what was to come. She didn’t know what he intended; she only knew it was going to be good.
He pushed her legs apart and kissed her right above the knee. Then those lips moved higher and higher, as if her thigh were a feast, until he reached her cleft.
“Beautiful,” he muttered, his voice hoarse, before dipping in to taste her.
She threw back her head and cried out, captured by a deep, powerful orgasm that shattered her from end to end. Reece groaned with satisfaction, obviously realizing he’d brought her to climax within seconds, but he didn’t stop tasting her, eating her into a frenzy.
“Oh, please,” she begged, trying to pull him up. Orgasms were wonderful and all, but she wanted his body, wanted him covering her, filling her, taking her.
He stopped, looked up at her, and must have seen the need in her eyes. Without another word, he pushed himself up onto the step and rose to his feet in one smooth motion. Jessica gulped at his strength. Not to mention the massive bulge right in front of her face.
She lifted a hand, but he said, “Huh-uh.”
Her bottom lip came out.
“God, I love that pout.” He pulled her by the arms, stood her up, and stepped out of the water. Then, to her shock, he slowly walked around her, until he faced her back.
“What…”
“Shh. I’ve wanted to do this for weeks.”
She knew what he intended one second before he kissed the nape of her neck and his hands went to her waist. His thumbs stroked the tiny bones at the base of her spine, and she lost her legs. She would have splatted face-first into the pool again if he hadn’t held her steady.
“Oh, God,” she groaned as he kissed his way down her back. Slowly. So slowly.
When he dropped to his knees and finally pressed his mouth against the deepest hollow of her back, she wanted to howl. It was so intense, so sensual, she had to arch forward, wondering how she had existed for twenty-five years without this man doing that to her.
But she needed him doing something else, and she slowly turned around. He smiled up at her. Reece Winchester’s sexy, amazing smile, the one she’d longed to see up close and personal the night they met, was now all hers. It stayed on his face as he rose to his feet.
He reached for a towel and slowly rubbed it on her body, drying her, taking his damn sweet time. He had to know he was building the tension, the want. Part of her adored him for it. Part of her wanted to kill him.
After he’d dried himself, too, those muscles bulging and arms flexing, he tossed the towel to the side. Her hands went to the waistband of his trunks, slowly pulling the string to untie them. Before she managed it, he pushed her away, and then bent to sweep her into his arms, bride-style.
“What are you…”
“Inside. In a bed.”
She shut up, letting him carry her through the house, to his bedroom. “This is where I should have been sleeping every night,” she grumbled.
“Stick out that lip again,” he said, his voice throaty. “I dare you.”
She did. He caught it in his mouth and nipped her. She scratched his back. He twisted her hair. And then both of them fell onto the rumpled, unmade bed.
Although she wanted to pull his trunks off him, she wasn’t sure she could, considering she was trembling like a leaf. So she settled for watching him do it. She shook when she saw him, all of him, masculine, massive, and proud. The closet had been too dark for her to really appreciate everything the man had to offer, and she had to clench her legs together, the wanting was so intense.
He grabbed a condom conveniently left on the bedside table, and sheathed himself. She was pleased to see that his hands trembled the tiniest bit—he was just as excited as she was.
Parting her legs in welcome, she smiled up at him. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
“I know,” he said, holding himself just above her on those powerful arms. “You’re beautiful, Jessica Jensen.”
She reached for him, cupping his face in her hand. “Do you think you want to keep me?”
There was no confusion in his eyes. He knew exactly what she meant. And he confirmed that she hadn’t really misheard anything in the car the other night by saying, “Yes. I don’t deserve you, but I do want to keep you.”
She pulled him down and brushed her mouth across his. “That’s good. Because I want to keep you, too.”
Their lips parted and their tongues met. This time, their kiss was slow and sensual, and that was how he came into her. Slowly. Sensually.
Reece sank into her with exquisite restraint, a tender conquest this time, unlike the wild storm of last week. She closed her eyes, loving the feel of him as he dug a place for himself deep inside her, taking an inch, and then another, and then all of her body, and then her entire world.
Only when he thrust all the way home, wringing a cry of deep, guttural pleasure from her, did she again look up at him. She found him studying her face, his gaze intense, almost wondering.
“I am going to keep you, you know.”
He said it as though there had been some doubt. Silly, silly man.
“Of course you are.”
She arched up, meeting him as he began to slowly move in and out of her. Each movement was powerful, each thrust a claim. But even as they grew hotter, as the need increased, the intensity along with it, there was that same hint of wonder in his face.
It took her a while to figure out what it meant. When she finally did, she smiled and wrapped her arms and legs around him, whispering urgent demands in his ear.
He gave her what she wanted, hard strokes that broke her apart and put her back together again. When his whole body clenched, she clung to him as he came, hard and fast and forever. Only after he rolled over, dragging her onto him, did she allow herself to think about the realization she’d made when she had finally begun to understand the wonder she’d seen in his eyes.
Reece Winchester didn’t just want to keep her.
He loved her.
Chapter 13
The phone rang early Monday morning, at around six thirty. Startled out of a sound sleep, for a second, Reece forgot where he was and what he’d been doing. Then he heard Jess mumble something in her sleep and glanced down to see her sweet, naked body curled around him.
Oh. Yeah. That’s what he’d been doing. All night long.
He didn’t know how he’d survived it. But, God, did he want to do it again.
He grabbed the phone. “Hello,” he answered, keeping his voice low so he didn’t wake her.
“Reece, it’s me.”
Rowan. He came to attention, hearing the seriousness in his brother’s voice. Rolling away from Jess onto his side, he rose on his elbow. “What is it?”
“We’ve got her. Maisy Cullinan is in custody.”
Relief flowed like a river, and he collapsed back on his pillow. “Thank God.”
The woman who’d stalked him for months, who’d likely burned down his house, shot at him, and, most importantly, hurt the woman lying in his bed, had been caught. It was as if he’d awakened from a bad dream to face a sunny day.
With her history, and the damning evidence Maisy had left behind, he had no doubt she would be put away for a very long time. She would either go back to a mental hospital or go straight to prison. She might have enough money to hire the best lawyers, but she hadn’t even tried to cover her tracks at the hotel; her face was all over the surveillance tape. Plus, according to Rowan, three neighbors of the murdered woman had now come forward as witnesses, and Cullinan’s fingerprints had been found, not on the wiped-down murder weapon, but on a crystal glass holding watery iced tea in the victim’s hous
e.
It was over. Jessica was safe.
“There’s more, bro. I don’t think you’re gonna like this.”
“You’ve already made my day. Not much you can say that could ruin it.”
“She wants to talk to you. She’s insisting on it.”
Reece inhaled slowly, and exhaled more slowly. Every muscle in his body tensed as anger roared through him. His head started to pound. The woman hadn’t put him through enough hell? She was still trying to call the shots, to bend him to her will? Did she think she owned him?
“Why the hell would I agree to that?” he snapped.
Apparently he spoke too loudly. Jessica jerked awake. Her eyes flew open and she peered at him, asking a silent question. Feeling stupid for waking her, he forced himself to calm down. He grabbed her hand, shook his head, and returned his attention to the call.
“I know it’s a lot to ask,” his brother said. “And normally I wouldn’t. We’ve got her on attacking Jessica, and on the murder of Candace Waterstone.”
“Okay, so what’s the problem?”
“Sid Loman.”
The gallery manager. The one he’d fired the night he and Jessica had met.
The one who’d turned up dead in the street.
“Did she kill him too?”
“She won’t say. Nor will she say what she knows about the shooting at the gallery, or the fire at your house. Not unless she can talk to you.”
“Jesus Christ.” He put a hand over his eyes, knowing Jessica was growing more concerned. When he felt her hand on his chest, he grabbed it and squeezed.
“Maybe the other two cases will be enough to put her away, but you know she has a lot of money. She can hire the best of the best and drag this out.”
Yes, she could, thanks to that stupid lottery jackpot.
“If she sees you, though, and gives us something on these other crimes, it adds more nails to her coffin. Hell, bro, she hinted that she might even confess and plead guilty, as long as she gets in a room with you.”
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