by Jenny Penn
“The dress…built in…”
Kathy stumbled over the words, unable to complete a sentence as his fingers slipped down to clasp her tender tits in their tight grip. Collin had her whimpering, twisting with wanton delight in his arm as he pinched and rolled the tender tips of her breasts.
“You ready to tell me about what’s missing from the mantel?” Collin strung those words out between the light, butterfly kisses he feathered up the tense column of her neck. “Or do you need more convincing?”
Scraping his teeth over the sensitive patch of skin beneath her ear, Collin ensured that she didn’t have the breath to answer. Not ready to relinquish his treat yet, he didn’t plan on stopping until he’d gotten to play with her sweetest parts. He could smell the spicy musk of her pussy calling to him. She’d be wet and tight, just like last night.
Collin groaned with his own memory as the lush globes of Kathy’s ass rubbed back against the thick bulge of his erection. He was so hard it hurt, making it nearly impossible to resist the siren call of Kathy’s sexy grinding. Her hips had started to roll, pump in a slow, sensual rhythm that had him flexing in an instinctive response.
It took all his control not to give in to temptation, but Collin couldn’t. Not here. Not now. Not with the Feds watching. Not when she wasn’t being honest with him. Collin still needed an answer. He planned on getting it.
Letting one hand slide down the quivering muscles of her stomach, he slipped his fingers beneath the elastic band of her panties to find the satiny material already drenched with the heated cream flowing from her pussy. She murmured her approval, shuddering in his arms as he stroked a finger between her swollen folds to trap the swollen bud of her clit beneath its callused tip.
He rolled the sensitive nub with a slow and easy motion just as he did the nipple pinched between the fingers of his other hand. Kathy cried out, her body jerking with the demand for more. It didn’t take long before her breathless pleas echoed with the same need.
“You moan so pretty, sweet meat,” Collin praised her, slipping a finger down to the clenched opening of her cunt. The way she tensed brought a smile to his lips that turned to chuckles as she began to pant, “yes, please.” He couldn’t help but drive her pleas into almost-incoherent sounds of desperation. Twirling her clit faster and harder, he brought her to the very edge of climaxing, but left her there to strain and whine for the final release.
“Collin, damnit!” Kathy groaned, arching mindlessly toward his hand even as she cursed him. “This isn’t right.”
“And I don’t care,” Collin assured her. “You want to come, and I want to know about what’s missing from the mantel.”
“It’s just a stupid photograph,” Kathy spat, anger clouding the lust in her tone. “An old one of Eddie and his son when they won some stupid fishing tournament. It’s certainly no justification for this!”
“No, but your attitude is,” Collin growled back, bringing his finger to a standstill. She ground against his hand uselessly, having to exhaust herself before finally giving in to his silent command.
“If he took it, he must not be planning on coming home anytime soon,” Kathy confessed, her voice softening as her body relaxed in his hold. “Now, please, Collin, I’ve told you all I know, so won’t you let me come?”
He answered by fucking two thick fingers right up into her cunt and making Kathy gasp with the pleasure. Not giving her a chance to catch her breath, he fucked her hard and fast, adding more and more fingers until he had her pussy stretched wide. The soft, velvety muscles of her sheath spasmed and clenched, sucking at his fingers with a strength that had Collin groaning.
It took every last bit of Collin’s self-control not to replace his fingers with his cock as he rode Kathy over the edge. She screamed, writhing as her cunt pulsed, gushing with a heated wave of cream. She collapsed in his arms, giving over to the frenzy of shudders that shook her body.
Collin held her, gently stroking the smooth skin of her mound as he waited for her breathing to slow and her muscles to stop quivering. Slowly she relaxed while he patiently waited for her to regain her strength and her senses. Finally she lifted her chin to turn her flushed cheeks in his direction and blink up at him with wide-eyed, dazed satisfaction.
“Oh, sweet meat,” Collin groaned, having to close his own eyes or risk losing the battle for his self-control. “Don’t tempt me to make a bigger show out of you than I already have.”
It took a moment for that comment to pop Kathy’s bubble of bliss, but Collin knew the very second it did. Her eyes cleared with amazing speed as her jaw dropped and gaze cut to the window. With a high-pitched squeal, she jerked free and dove for her dress. Collin released her, stepping back to enjoy the show.
“You really are an ass, you know that?” Clearly not amused, Kathy snapped at him with a waspish tone while she danced around trying to zip the dress up.
“And yet you keep giving it up to me,” Collin pointed out, unrepentant. “So I’m thinking you like asses.”
“Yeah? Well, we all know that you do,” Kathy shot back, too frazzled to come up with a good insult.
“Yeah, I do,” Collin admitted, unashamed. “I like looking at them and I like fucking them, which is what I’ll do next time you force me to enter a house you broke into.”
“What?” Kathy shrieked. She stopped fussing with her clothes to gape at him as her cheeks flushed so bright red Collin knew she was getting ready to detonate. Collin matched her indignation with his own, stiffening up to glare back at her.
“Look, sweet meat, you can have as cavalier an attitude as you want toward the law as long as you keep it to yourself and remember that some people take it so seriously we actually take an oath to uphold it and put our lives on the line to defend it. Got me?”
Collin knew that would shut her up, mostly because she’d have to be a bitch to belittle his years of service. Kathy was a lot of things, but mean wasn’t on the list. Stubborn, though, was.
“Yes, well,” Kathy huffed as she lifted her chin in obstinate defiance. “Maybe you could remember that I’m just trying to help a friend out. It’s not like I’m planning on stealing the silver.”
“And I’m just trying to keep my friend out of jail,” Collin retorted, unimpressed with her reasoning.
“Friend?” That threw Kathy, causing her tone to dip shyly. “We’re friends?”
“Well, I’m yours,” Collin stated pointedly. He gave her a second to echo the sentiment, but she just stared at him in obvious confusion. “And that means that if you go down, I’m going with you. Why the hell else do you think I’m here?”
Unlike before, Kathy had an instant answer to that question. “Because you’re Jack’s friend and he told you to keep me well fucked and out of the way, remember?”
“And obviously I’m only living up to half of that agreement.” Collin smiled in the face of her scowl, not the least bit cowed by the accusation in her tone. “At least, you aren’t complaining about that part, right?”
Kathy glanced at the window before shooting a dirty look in Collin’s direction. “Don’t bet on it.”
With that warning, she turned, muttering the rest to herself as she stalked toward the door. He caught the word “ass” again and sighed. Kathy was being incredibly stubborn about this, even for her. Unable to help himself, he pestered her about the matter all the way back to the car and the whole ride back to the library. She wouldn’t give.
In fact, the harder he pushed her to admit they were friends, the more annoyed she got until finally Collin recognized it for the guilt it was. He couldn’t figure out, though, what she had to feel so guilty about.
Chapter 20
Jack stared at the picture Tagger had e-mailed him, not sure who he was more pissed at in that moment. Collin knew better than to let Kathy go into Eddie’s house. He sure as hell knew not to fuck her once he got inside. On the other hand, Kathy could try not to break so many damn laws just as she should try to rein in her hormones once in a while.<
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Hell, they were both to blame, but only Kathy stood to lose anything. Thanks to her cavalier attitude toward criminal activity, Kathy had managed to not only convince Tagger of her involvement in their case, she’d moved herself to the top of his list of “people of interest.” Being green-lighted by Tagger to pump Kathy any way he needed to get information only aggravated Jack’s foul mood.
The very fact that Tagger would sanction such unethical behavior spoke not only to his desperation, but to the fact that he’d be willing to risk Kathy for answers. Jack had a problem with both of those motives, especially given what Tagger had found in Eddie Dyne’s bunker.
Clicking to the next image, Jack’s gut tightened at the charred remains of what had once clearly been a living room. They suspected the body sitting in what remained of the easy chair to be Eddie, but it would take a few days for the lab rats to confirm it. Jack didn’t need them to tell him that the fire was covering up something more than just the man’s identity.
Whoever set it didn’t want them knowing how Eddie had died or if he’d been tortured before. It didn’t matter to Jack. All he cared about was ensuring neither one of those things happened to Kathy. That would be a hell of a lot easier thing to do if she’d stop poking her nose into his case. Of course, that was supposed to be Collin’s job, but instead the ass had to go make the situation even worse.
Jack planned on having words with his buddy, not that he considered Collin any less guilty than Kathy. He had special plans for her, something along the lines of stripping her naked and bending her over for the paddling she deserved. Jack’s palm itched to do just that, but he forced his focus back to the problem at hand—Eddie Dyne and his involvement in this case.
They’d cleared him over a month ago, not that Tagger hadn’t attempted to keep an eye on the old man. Eddie had gone missing, though, and now it was too late to fix that mistake. All they had left was Kathy and whatever she could remember and would be willing to share.
Toggling back to Tagger’s e-mail, Jack stared at Kathy’s animated features, memorizing every delicate angle. She really was beautiful and tough. The determination in that small body shined through in those eyes, but for all of that, there wasn’t a single hard thing about Kathy other than her head. And he’d kill anybody who touched a single hair on that stubborn head.
Jack cracked his neck as he rolled his chin from side to side, trying to release the tension that came along with that thought, but he couldn’t relax. He needed Kathy. He needed to see and touch and smell her to know she was truly safe. Snatching his keys up, he headed for the door only to find the sheriff waiting on the other side.
“We need to talk.” As if that statement gave him the right to simply walk into Jack’s little room, Sheriff Black stepped forward, using his considerable bulk to back Jack up.
“I don’t see as where we have anything to say to each other.” Jack disagreed, but didn’t stand in the sheriff’s way. Stepping back, he let the man in, even closing the door behind him so they could have some privacy for what Jack suspected wouldn’t be a polite conversation. As if silently agreeing, the sheriff took Jack’s measure with a sour look.
“Don’t get all squirrelly now.” The sheriff’s scowl deepened as he turned to confront Jack. “At least wait until I tell you I can recognize a Fed a mile away.”
“I’m sorry, Sheriff, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jack didn’t miss a beat with his answer. “I work for Amanda Johnson’s security detail—”
“Don’t feed me that shit,” the big man snapped. “Security details don’t break into—”
“I didn’t break into anybody’s house.” Jack put a stop to that accusation instantly.
“Yeah? Well, your buddy did,” the sheriff shot back, proving he knew more than Jack would like him to. “And I don’t appreciate you guys encouraging Kathy. It’s already hard enough to keep that woman out of trouble!”
Jack sighed, unable to argue that point and not really feeling up to playing this game. “You want a beer? Because I could use a beer.”
“I want answers,” the sheriff corrected, turning to track Jack as he made his way to the small refrigerator tucked in near the vanity. “Honest answers.”
“That’s all I want, too,” Jack muttered, pulling out a can and offering it the sheriff.
The man just glared back at him. Ignoring the sheriff’s scowl, Jack shrugged and took his beer to settle back down in his chair. What he really wanted was Kathy naked and ready to help him work off some frustrations, but instead he propped his feet up on the small, scarred trunk that served as both bench, storage, and coffee table for the small efficiency.
“Look, you can glare at me all you want, but I’m kind of immune to intimidation.” Jack waited a second, smiling slightly when the sheriff finally conceded some ground and relaxed back enough to settle his ass against the dresser holding up a TV that belonged in a different era.
Like any good suspect should, Jack kept his trap shut and waited for the sheriff to instigate the conversation. The sheriff didn’t bother until after enough time had passed for the silence to become pointed. The quiet gave Jack a chance to study the sheriff, and what he saw impressed him.
Tony Black was as mean-looking a son of a bitch as Jack had ever seen. He had the kind of internal hardness to him that would make a cowardly man crumble quickly in his presence. Jack wasn’t a coward, but even he tensed at the steely determination churning in the low drawl of Tony’s voice.
“Why don’t we start with just who you are?”
“Jack—”
“I don’t give a crap about your name, Jack. I care about who you represent, and don’t give me any crap about private security. We both know that if I decide to arrest you, whatever case you’re working on will most likely be compromised. If you don’t want that, speak now.”
Sheriff Black didn’t beat around any bush, nor did he hesitate to put all his cards on the table. Jack couldn’t argue with the man’s point. He knew enough about small towns to know the cops could beef up any superficial complaint and blow his cover. It wasn’t like they suspected the sheriff of anything, which meant Jack wouldn’t be compromising the case any more than it already was to share just a few details with the man.
“Okay.” Jack stretched back in his seat and nodded. “DEA, but this is a multi-organizational task force.”
“And you’re monitoring Amanda?”
“Her safety along with discovering anything she might know is my primary objective.”
“And Kathy?” It had only taken the sheriff three questions to get to the point, proving he was as blunt and direct as Jack had surmised.
“Is a very lovely woman.”
“Don’t get smart with me now, Jack,” the sheriff warned him. “Kathy is a friend, and I want to know what you and your friends have planned for her.”
“Is there anybody in this town you wouldn’t say that about?”
“No…well, maybe Will McKinney, but he’s dead.”
“And I’m aiming to make sure Kathy doesn’t end up the same way.” Jack didn’t bother hoping that would suffice for the sheriff, but he did expect it would appease the man’s concern about Jack’s intentions. “Trust me, Sheriff, I’m trying to make sure all your friends are alive to reelect you next time around.”
“You think that’s what this is about?” Clearly misunderstanding Jack’s intent, the sheriff stiffened with indignation. “You think I care about my job more than my town? Let me tell you something, asshole, I got this job because nothing matters more to me than this town and the people who live here. They’re my first priority. I want to bring this violence to an end so my people are safe. Got me?”
“Clear as a bell.” Pleased that he’d inverted the situation and put the sheriff on the defensive, Jack tried to ease the tension that move had caused. “That’s all I want, except my notion of ‘this town’ is a little bigger.”
“How very noble of you,” the sheriff sneered. “You know
the problem with worrying about the whole fucking world? You start accepting that you might have to hurt one woman to save the rest of us, and I don’t buy into that. So I want to know what the hell you and your inbred hick of a buddy are doing with Kathy, and the answer better not piss me off or your ass will end up a jail cell so fast the speed of light won’t be able to catch up for a few hours. Now talk.”
“Nobody’s doing anything with Kathy but trying to keep her from getting herself into trouble,” Jack assured him, not sure that he could offer a better answer. The truth certainly wouldn’t help.
“See, I find that hard to believe when the rumors are you spent a night with her and now you’ve passed her on to—”
“Nobody’s passed her on.” No sooner had the words passed his lips than Jack realized his mistake.
“Really?” The sheriff arched a big, bushy brow. “’Cause I could swear your little blond friend is over at her house right now.
“Collin’s a bodyguard. They tend to stick close to their subjects.”
“And they don’t tend to run them off the road either.”
“He’s new to the game.”
“That must be why instead of stopping Kathy from breaking and entering Eddie’s house today, he fucked her in it.” The sheriff cocked his head and studied Jack for a second before asking him point-blank, “So how many lies you going to feed me before you try the truth?”
“The truth is, Sheriff, Kathy’s a grown woman and a stubborn one at that.” Jack paused, letting that sink in for a moment before pointing out the obvious. “I’m sure you’ve figured out by now that she’s decided to solve all of Amanda’s problems. Apparently, they’re friends and here, in Humble, that means that common sense is put aside in favor of the ‘at any cost approach.’”
Either his words or his desperation penetrated the sheriff’s thick skull, finally allowing the man to see that Jack didn’t have many options when it came to Kathy. Heaving a heavy sigh, the big man kicked back, setting more of his weight onto the dresser.