So he did something to prove it.
Declan stripped off her top. And he gave her the same once-over she’d given him. She was wearing a bra, white and no frills, and he unclasped the front hook and rid her of that, too. Her breasts spilled into his hands.
Man, she was perfect.
But while he was gawking, he unzipped her jeans and shimmied them off her. The panties matched the bra. Nothing special, but when he removed those, the woman beneath still fell into that perfect category.
“You’ll do just fine,” he teased, and he pulled her down to him so he could kiss her the way he wanted.
First, her mouth.
Then he shifted their positions and went exploring. To the curve of her neck. He got a good response there. A nice little breathy moan. Then he went to her breasts and took her right nipple into his mouth.
Better-than-nice response.
The moan was louder, and she arched her back to give him more of her. He stayed there for several moments. Pleasuring her and pleasuring himself. Before he dropped some kisses on her stomach.
He took in her scent. Her sex. And coupled with the kissing, he was burning for her when she caught him and flipped their positions.
“I want these off now,” Eden said, and she tackled the zipper on his jeans.
Yeah, he wanted that, too, but after she fumbled with the zipper, trying to get it down over the bulge of his erection, he wasn’t sure what exactly she meant to get off.
So that he could prolong this past the foreplay stage, Declan reversed their positions again and helped her with the jeans and boots removal. Her hands were frantic now. Something he understood. Everything inside him was yelling for him to be inside her.
They were lying diagonally across the bed, and he groped behind him to open the nightstand drawer while Eden tackled his boxers. The need and urgency made them both a little sloppy, and her fingernails nicked his upper thigh. He didn’t even feel the pain. The only thing he could feel was her beneath him.
Somehow he managed to grab a condom and get the darn thing on. And he could have sworn a lightning bolt hit him when he finally got inside her.
Yeah. Perfect.
This was special all right, and even though this fire made him stupid, he could still see that.
He forced himself to take a deep breath. Just so he could savor her and this for a few seconds before the breakneck pace started again. In those seconds, their gazes met. Declan saw the heat, of course. Saw Eden’s amazing face. But he saw something else. Some emotion that he hadn’t expected to see there.
This wasn’t just sex for her.
Normally, that would have caused him to pull back, because he never wanted to lead a woman on. He’d never looked for anything permanent.
Still wasn’t.
But there was something in the way Eden was looking at him that made him wish that he was doing that. That their situation wasn’t what it was.
Then she lifted her hips, started moving and all thoughts of emotions and wishes went right out of his head. The need took over and dictated the speed. Dictated everything. Eden and he moved together with just one purpose.
To finish this.
It didn’t take much. Probably because their foreplay had lasted two days, but Declan felt her climax ripple through her. It ripped through him, too, and brought him right to the edge.
However, before he went over, he leaned down and kissed her. Really kissed her.
It was Eden’s taste in his mouth. The feel of her shattering around him. And the sight of the sight. He couldn’t hold on any longer. So Declan took the plunge.
And landed right in Eden’s waiting arms.
Chapter Sixteen
Eden’s eyes flew open, and she bolted to a sitting position. Her heart was racing. Breath, too. She’d had a nightmare that had already faded, but it still caused the panic to rise inside her.
“It’s okay,” Declan murmured, and he pulled her back to him.
She glanced around. Then at him. It was dark, but she remembered she was in his bedroom. In his bed.
And they were both stark naked.
With the effects of the dream gone, her body relaxed. How, she didn’t know. She’d never suspected she would be able to relax around a naked Declan. However, the thought had no sooner crossed her mind when Eden felt that trickle of heat.
A familiar one.
She let herself slide right back into that heat, and against Declan.
His eyes were closed, but he gathered her deeper into his arms and planted a lazy kiss on her forehead. “I’ll get up in a minute.”
Eden wanted to nix that idea right away. She wanted to stay like this, well, probably a lot longer than Declan did. He was a love-’em-and-leave-’em type. But she wasn’t. It’d be hard when he walked away from her. And he would walk. Once this investigation was over, there’d be no reason for him to stay in her life.
Talk about a mixed bag.
The danger would be gone, but so would he. That put a pain in her chest as if someone had clamped a meaty fist around her heart.
Great.
Now she’d completely fallen for him.
The exact opposite of what she’d told herself to do.
Declan groaned softly, gave her another kiss. Not so soft and sweet this time. And he pulled away from her so he could sit up. He swung his feet off the bed, and she got a good view of his backside when he walked to the adjoining bathroom. He came back a few minutes later.
Still naked.
But this time she got a great view of the front of him.
He smiled, gave her another kiss and started to dress. Peep show was over, and Eden could only hope that they’d get to do this again.
“How soon will this be over?” Eden couldn’t believe she’d blurted that out. And clearly she’d confused Declan because he just gave her an odd look.
He stood there, wearing just his boxers and that puzzled look. “I’m guessing we’re not talking about the danger here?”
“No. Sadly, we aren’t.” She tried to wave him off, but Declan came closer, eased back on the edge of the bed. “Just so you know, I don’t expect anything.”
Mercy, she was babbling. And saying really stupid things.
“There’s an old saying,” she mumbled. “If you want to get out of a hole, the first thing you should stop doing is digging. I should stop digging.”
The corner of his mouth lifted in one of his body-tingling half smiles. “You want to get out of that hole?” he asked.
And now she was the one puzzled. “I’ve done a thorough background check on you. I know you don’t stay in relationships for long.”
Now it made it sound as if long was what she wanted. And maybe she did. But that was a lot to dump on him after just having sex.
Incredible sex.
But it’d been just that once.
“Can we just forget everything I’ve said for the last five minutes?” she asked.
The smile returned, and he kissed her. All right. That made things better. The heat returned, too, washing away her blabbering.
“We’ll talk soon,” he promised. But then his forehead bunched up.
“You don’t have a clue what you want to say to me,” she guessed. It was apparently a good guess because he lifted his shoulder.
“I know I want to keep you safe.” He glanced down at the scar on his chest. “And I know what happens when I lose focus. Not because I don’t trust you,” he quickly added. “I do. But I need to find this killer first. Then I’m thinking I’d like you back in my bed.”
The next kiss he gave her left no doubts about that. Better yet, it cleared her own doubts. If sex was all that became of this, then it would still be some of the best memories of her life.
“You can stay in bed if you like,” he offered, standing and continuing to dress. “You need the rest.”
So did he, but he was obviously getting ready to work, and that meant she needed to work, as well. She got up and gathered her clothes, too, and was nearly dressed by the time Declan fished his phone from his pocket.
“No calls,” he said under his breath.
So they hadn’t missed anything. Again, a mixed bag. A good update on the case would have been a nice bonus.
Declan placed his phone on the nightstand while he strapped on his holster. Then he scrolled through the numbers on his phone and called Clayton. Because he put it on speaker, she could hear the ringing.
But Clayton didn’t answer.
He tried Harlan next. But he got the same results. By the time he made it to Dallas’s number, Declan was cursing.
“Something’s wrong.”
Eden moved closer and saw him try Stella next. Unlike the others, the woman answered on the first ring.
“Did you find him?” Stella immediately asked.
That question caused Eden to pull in her breath. Stella’s tone was frantic, and it was obvious that something was wrong.
“Find who?” Declan asked.
“Kirby.” Stella made a hoarse sob. “You don’t know what happened, do you?” She didn’t wait for him to answer. “I told Clayton you had your hands full guarding Eden. And besides, I thought you’d need some...distance.”
“What the heck are you talking about, Stella!” No longer just a question but a demand. “What happened to Kirby?”
“Someone called him on his cell phone here at the hospital about an hour ago. I don’t know who. Kirby said it was private and asked the guard to take me to the cafeteria for a while. When we came back, he was gone. His gun was missing, too.”
“Gone?” Eden and Declan said in unison. Mercy, this couldn’t be happening.
“How could he go anywhere?” Declan continued. “He’s weak, going through chemo.”
“Well, he somehow managed to get out. Or else someone took him. There was no sign of a struggle,” she quickly added. “And he left me a note. He said he had to confront this killer once and for all.”
Declan groaned. Then cursed. “Where’d he go?”
“I don’t know, but Clayton and the others are looking for him.”
“I’ll call you back,” Declan snapped. He hung up and fired off a text for Clayton to call him ASAP. He then sent the same text to the rest of his foster brothers.
The seconds crawled by, and Eden considered trying to reassure Declan that everything would be okay. But that would be a guess at best. A lie at worst. Because this sounded far from okay.
“I need to go look for him,” Declan said. He glanced back at her. “And I don’t want to leave you here.”
She nodded. “I want to go with you.”
Neither of them had to say that it might not be safe to do that. It didn’t matter. Her father was out there, too, but he wasn’t sick. He could fend for himself. It wasn’t the same for Kirby, even though he’d apparently taken his gun with him.
The wait for a call from one of his brothers turned into what seemed an eternity, but Declan’s phone finally buzzed, and she saw Wyatt’s name on the screen.
“What happened?” Declan asked the moment he answered.
“We’re still not sure. We don’t think Kirby was kidnapped, but it’s possible.”
Declan’s mouth tightened, his only visible reaction, but she could feel the tension coming off him. “How did Kirby get past the deputy?”
“He got called away right before all of this happened. He said he thought the call was from dispatch, but it turns out it wasn’t. It’s possible Kirby was responsible for that, too.”
It took Declan a moment to get his teeth unclenched. “But why the hell would Kirby do this?”
“We’re not sure—yet. But we were able to put a tracer on his phone so we know where he’s going.” Wyatt paused. “Declan, Kirby’s heading out to the abandoned Rocky Creek Children’s Facility.”
* * *
DECLAN COULDN’T GET Eden in the truck fast enough, and he gunned the engine so they could speed away. He had to get to Kirby, to stop whatever the hell was going on. But he had to be smart about this, too.
“This could be some kind of trap,” he told her. “Keep watch around us.” He’d do the same. But it might not be enough.
They were both armed, but it was getting dark, and their attacker could have set all of this up just to lure them out from the safety of the ranch. That nearly caused Declan to turn around and head back. He could leave Eden with the ranch hands.
But that could be a trap, too.
What if all of this was designed to get them apart? So that someone could pick them off one at a time? Besides, Eden wouldn’t stay put while he went after Kirby. Declan was sure of that. She would try to help him, and in doing so, she could get herself killed.
Later, he’d curse himself for that. He shouldn’t have slept with her. Should have kept this professional. But even now, with the unknown and the fear eating away at him, he knew that would have been impossible. From the moment he’d seen her on his back porch, he’d wanted her. And yeah, that didn’t make sense, but then attraction rarely did.
“What would cause Kirby to go to Rocky Creek?” Eden asked.
Declan was still trying to work that out. “Maybe he didn’t go voluntarily.”
In fact, that was his first guess, because even if Kirby had learned the identity of the person who wanted them dead, he was too weak to go after him or her alone. He would have called one of his foster sons.
Unless he had believed his sons would refuse to let him go.
Which they all would have done.
They would have fought this fight for Kirby and forced him to stay at the hospital even if they’d had to cuff him to the blasted hospital bed.
“But why Rocky Creek?” Eden’s gaze fired in all directions on the isolated country road. Keeping watch. “If he’s doing this of his own free will, or even if someone took him, why go there?”
Declan had a theory about that. A bad one. “Maybe it’s where Jack would have taken him to force Kirby to confess to Webb’s murder.”
Of course, that would only happen if Jack had been the one to kill Webb and now he wanted Kirby to take the blame.
But why do it this way?
A confession from his hospital bed would have accomplished the same darn thing. And why would Kirby have agreed to a confession anyway? Kirby was just as much of a suspect as Jack. Maybe more. And there was no physical evidence that Declan knew of to cause either of them to be arrested.
So what could Jack have on him that would make Kirby do this?
Eden made a sound to indicate she was thinking about his answer. “If Jack threatened to exchange your life for a confession, maybe Kirby’s out here to meet him. And kill him.”
Yeah. Declan’s mind had already gone in that direction, and it wasn’t a comforting direction to go. Kirby had been a good shot in his day, but this was no longer his day. Not with the cancer making him so weak. If he’d gone to Rocky Creek for a showdown, then it was a fight he could easily lose. With any of their suspects. Heck, even Beatrice would be able to outshoot him.
Declan’s phone buzzed, and he put it on speaker as fast as he could. “It’s me,” Wyatt said. “Harlan, Dallas and I are at Rocky Creek. We had Clayton and Slade stay with Stella in case she’s in danger. They’re taking her back to the ranch.”
Good idea, and Declan was glad his brothers were thinking more clearly than he was. That could be part of the trap, to divide and conquer, and if the killer managed to get Stella, it would give him or her a bargaining chip that could turn out to be a deadly one. All of them, including Kirby, would do wha
tever it took to protect Stella. Of course, Declan could say the same for Eden.
“We found Kirby’s truck,” Wyatt continued. “It’s in a ditch about a quarter of a mile from Rocky Creek Facility. The engine’s still running. The headlights are on.”
Not good. That meant Kirby had exited in a hurry. Or had been forced from the vehicle.
“Any sign of footprints?” Or blood. But Declan didn’t have to ask that specifically. If it was there, Wyatt would let him know.
“No footprints. But there are drag marks.”
Hell. That was not what Declan wanted to hear. Beside him, Eden pulled in her breath.
“The drag marks end just a few yards from the car,” Wyatt added. “Looks like maybe someone picked him up and carried him, but the footprints have been brushed away.”
“Kirby could be anywhere on the grounds,” Declan grumbled.
“Yeah,” Wyatt confirmed. “Dallas is headed to the main building. Harlan’s taking the area near the creek. I’m going to the west side of the grounds.”
“Eden and I will search the east side. We’re just a couple of minutes out.”
Declan shaved some time off those minutes by pushing even harder on the accelerator. He prayed there wasn’t any ice on the roads, because he was taking the curves way too fast. He took the final turn on what had to be two wheels, but then had to slow on the uneven surface. It wouldn’t do Kirby any good if they ended up in a ditch.
“Mercy, there are a lot of trees and shrubs,” Eden said, looking out the window.
There were. Too many places for someone to hide. “When we get out, I need you to stay behind me, and if anything goes wrong, I want you to hit the ground. Agree, or it’s the only way I’ll let you out of this truck.”
She nodded, but he didn’t have time to push his point any further. Ahead, he saw Kirby’s truck, and yeah, it was indeed in the ditch. The headlights cut through the dusk-gray winter landscape and created an eerie effect. Like stepping into a horror movie.
Wyatt was nowhere in sight, but Declan hadn’t expected him to be. They were all out looking for Kirby, and he prayed that one of them would find the man alive and unharmed.
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