a Touch of TNT (An Everly Gray Adventure)

by Charles, L. j.

  My temper flared, a sharp jab in my belly. “Let me run loose?”

  He slid a look at me and backed away, just out of reach, his mouth crinkled from fighting a grin. Guess he valued his life.

  “Poor choice of words,” he growled, eyes twinkling. “I’m getting used to you. It’d be nice if you hung around for a while.”

  I wasn’t ready to let him squirm out of this quite yet. “Comic book super star?”

  He lost control of the grin. “You gotta admit, you have the strange-power-bestowed-at-birth angle down pat.”

  Yeah. I did at that. “Right. Maybe I should contact Marvel, see if they have any positions open for a super star heroine type.”

  I slid my hand into his.

  “You checking to see what I’m thinking?” Tension rode his words.

  “No. I can’t read minds. You know I only see images. Besides, you’ve told me what you’re thinking and my fingertips aren’t touching you.” I tugged on his hand. “I need help getting out of this chair. I’m stuck.”

  He tossed his head, flicking back an unruly lock of hair. “And you wonder why I worry?”

  I did my best to distract him with a slow lip-lick.

  He slid his arms around me, crushed me against him. “There’s no way I’ll ever be able to tame that intrepid curiosity, I know that. I don’t like it, but I don’t want to change you.” He backed away a couple of steps. “That’s a lie. On days like this I do, but somewhere along the way I’ve learned better. Probably from growing up with Jayne.”

  I pulled away, wrapped my arms around my ribs. Held on tight. Any mention of Jayne tends to make me a little wacky, and telling him about Jacobson and my screwy fingers had scraped my nerves raw. “You’re comparing me with your sister? Jayne is insensitive, overly protective of you, very uptight, and she doesn’t like me. Exactly what part of that is like me?”

  He started to laugh, swallowed it. “You’re not alike in that way, but you do make me equally crazy.”

  I grinned at him. “Yeah, I can see that but this thing with Hayes is no biggie. I’m just looking over some construction sites that have been experiencing an unusual number of accidents. And he’s assigned Adam to be my keeper. I’m perfectly safe, except that my hinky touch thing has gone even more hinky.”

  “No biggie? Did you, or did you not just describe finding Jacobson’s body?”

  “Not part of working for Hayes. That one rests solely on my curiosity.”

  Mitch pulled me close, tucked my head under his chin. “Definitely gray before I’m forty. Damn, but I actually understand how you’re separating the two. Still, no more dead bodies, okay?”

  “Fine with me.” It was an easy promise because I never planned to bump into dead people. It just happened. “But we wouldn’t be together if I hadn’t stumbled into you on the beach, touched you and seen the image of—”

  His hands slid under my shirt, warm and calloused. “That’s in the past. We’re talking about the future here. The very near future.” He leaned forward, caught the edge of my shirt, and eased it over my head.

  Delicious anticipation slipped over my skin.

  Mitch stood there, his hands fisted in my shirt while he took in my lacy black bra. “The lace…perfect.” His tongue touched my skin through the fabric and heat poured through my body waking up my girl parts. Oh, yeah. There they were, all tingly with anticipation.

  “I want you. Now.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the bedroom and the condoms. “No more talking.”

  We usually took our time with welcome-home-sex, relearning curves and angles, exploring any changes in body and soul. Not tonight. Before we were halfway down the hall, he stopped and tugged me against him. A low moan rumbled in the back of his throat and his hands tucked under my waistband, rasping over my skin as he pushed shorts and panties to the floor with a single swipe. They tangled around my ankles, holding me captive as Mitch worked his way up my body.

  “Beautiful. I love your scent, Sunshine. Want to bury myself in you.”

  My body rippled with pleasure under the assault of his teeth, tongue and hands. I desperately wanted him to erase the horror of the day. “Now,” I gasped as he stood and pressed me tightly against the wall.

  I fumbled with his zipper, couldn’t stop shaking long enough to free him. He pushed my hands aside, pulled a condom from his pocket, and before his jeans landed in a heap on the floor, I’d wrapped my legs around his waist. My fingertips dug into his back, images flashing behind my eyes. How I looked, felt, smelled, his animal need to protect me from harm, all seared my mind, intensifying my need for him and demanding my response.

  Wild. Fast. The orgasm ripped through me, a cleansing of everything ugly in life.

  Nothing is more powerful than love.

  FOUR

  Hazy, early morning light splashed on the deck, a faint promise that it would be another hot day.

  “Gotta go, Sunshine.” Mitch caught me around the waist and tugged me out the kitchen door, both of us reluctant to end our time together. “Don’t know when I’ll be back, but probably not more than a few days. Bunch of meetings to wrap up.”

  I leaned into him, savoring the warmth of his body and the musky, satisfied scent that clung to him even after our morning shower. Nothing like a night of love making to create that special glow. “Yeah. I’m learning how to balance my coaching clients with helping Adam, and it doesn’t leave much time for the fun stuff.”

  His lips found mine, the kiss a toe-curler.

  “Ahem. Audience here.” Annie—hidden in the pool of soft morning shadow on her deck.

  I blinked, shaded my eyes from the sun with the flat of my hand. “Big pile of paper you have there.”

  She nodded. “Research on your case. Meeting this morning, remember? Say goodbye to the nice man.”

  Mitch grinned at her. “Love you too, Annie. Later, Sunshine.” Mitch tossed a wave in our direction as he jogged down the stairs.

  “Must have been good sex. You’re glowing, and I’m jealous.”

  “Great sex—” I made my way to her side of our shared deck— “and you should be positively shivering with envy. Any of that coffee left?”

  “In the kitchen. Top mine off, will you?”

  I grabbed her mug and followed the smell of freshly brewed coffee, filled both cups, and settled on the chair next to her. “Anything good in that stack of paper? Where are Adam and Pierce?”

  “Pierce stayed to go over it last night. Adam called in this morning to get the details, and yes, some good stuff.”

  “Whatcha got?’ I blew across the top of my mug, and took a careful sip. “No cinnamon.”

  “I was in the mood for hazelnut. The deal is, both Jacobson and North have the same alma mater. Calverton College.” She paused, flipped through a couple pages. “They belonged to a club called the TNTs.”

  “As in blow-things-up TNT?”

  “Don’t think so, but who knows. Clubs don’t fall under school supervision, so there’s a lot of slack. Seems that membership is by invitation only.”

  “Huh. Elitist?” I tasted another swallow of coffee, the hazelnut flavor nose-wrinkling strong against my palate.

  “Yeah. I’m guessing there’s an initiation ceremony of some sort.”

  I ran my finger down the list of names on Annie’s printout. “To keep out those who don’t have the right stuff…like women?”

  Annie shook her head. “Women members are rare, but I think it’s more that they were screening for a certain personality.

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah. Adventuresome, you know, the daredevil type who live to break rules.” She sifted through her notes. “There’s an annual—” she made quote marks in the air—”mandatory meeting every October for the members.”

  “I hope this case is settled before fall, but if not, we should crash the meeting. You super spy types do that sort of thing, right?”

  “Um-hmm.” She was totally ignoring me. “Jacobson graduated ten years prior
to North, so they didn’t know each other during college. Must have met at the yearly meeting. Could be they’ve been friends for years. “

  “Interesting. I don’t know anything about groups like that because I stayed away from everyone in college.” I spread my hands in front of me, and then ran my thumb along my fingertips. “Didn’t want to be bombarded with stuff. Weird that the club is called TNT, what with all the explosions going on around here. So, what’s next?”

  “I’ve got a call in to the president at Calverton. We’ll see what he says when he gets back to me, but clubs like this are usually founded on secrecy and a pact of silence. Still, he might know something that will help us with the case.” She shrugged, an impatient hitch of her shoulders. “Other than that, Jacobson and North often bid on the same projects with North coming out a clear winner, so I’m not liking him for the killer.”

  “Guess I better find something to touch—”

  “No. Adam will be pissed if I let you do anything unsanctioned today. He needs time to regroup after Jacobson’s homicide, so—are you ready for this—to help you stay out of trouble I’m taking you shopping.”

  “Shopping? Oooooh. You have a date with Sean. Finally.”

  “I do. And I’m thinking a new dress would be good.” Annie tried to tuck her hair behind her ear but the curls sprang free. “He’s finally off call, and I need your help finding something that will…something perfect.”

  A scant hour later we were in a dressing room at Nordstrom’s and Annie was twirling around in a black halter dress with enough pizzazz to take the innocence out of her new haircut. Combined with a pair of heeled sandals, she looked every ounce a femme fatale. “Damn, I’m nervous. Sean has only seen me dressed in sweats covered with soot. Do you think he’ll like me all feminine like this? It was the…other part of me that he asked out. Not this.”

  “Annie, look at me.”

  There was fear in her eyes. Annie didn’t do fear. “What’s this about? You’re one of the most amazing women I know.” I met her gaze in the mirror.

  “I think I love him.”

  “This is your first date.”

  Her forehead wrinkled. “We’ve talked for hours while he’s been stuck on call. He gets me, and it’s really scary and wonderful at the same time. What if I don’t know how to love someone? The guys I go out with are fun, not special. Haven’t been for a long time.”

  “What happ—”

  Annie cut me off. “How do you…what do you and Mitch…do with each other?” she asked as she wiggled out of the dress and started to tug on her jeans.

  My eyes crossed.

  “Do?”

  “Yeah, you know,” she said, waving her hands around.

  “Uh, no. Not exactly.”

  Annie muttered something I couldn’t hear, then raised her voice. “Not sex.” It came out a hint of a decibel softer than a shout.

  I cringed.

  She glared. “Sex I can do. How do you communicate?”

  My breath came out in a rush. Right. Communicate. “I don’t know how to answer that. Mitch and I have a different relationship. Careful. So far we’ve managed to avoid the discussion about my ESP fingers versus the security issues that come with his job. So, I guess there are some things we’ve tacitly agreed not to discuss. Probably because the topics are too heavy for the snippets of time we’ve been together. He travels a lot, and we’re still getting to know each other.”

  Angling for some thinking time, I took a swallow of watered down mall soda. “There’s a definite connection both with and without words—but my touch thing is doubly hard for him because of his work.”

  “I get that. Took me a while to get used to you too. To learn when to keep you at a physical distance, and when it was okay to act normal,” she explained as she grabbed the dress and headed for the register.

  I picked up the shoe bag and followed. “Mitch is all logical male. He tries to understand me. I know he cares about me.”

  “But the connection thing—”

  “What I have with Mitch is good. Solid. And more than I’ve ever shared with a man, so I’m willing to wait it out on the hinky touch verdict. See what happens.”

  She signed the receipt and slipped her Visa back in her wallet. “Okay. Knowing you have questions about the whole man-woman thing makes it easier.”

  I touched her arm, glanced down at my abdomen. “There’s something else.” I slowly lifted my shirt to expose my belly. “This was a gift from Pierce.”

  We stared at the diamond nestled in my navel.

  It took a minute, but Annie managed replace her open mouth with words. Clipped. “Tynan Pierce? My former partner? That Pierce?”

  “That’d be him.” The edge of my shirt slipped from my fingers and covered the diamond.

  “Surely, you…what have you done? Pierce is…dangerous, at best. Usually lethal.” She shook her head as we started walking again. “It’s the Irish in him, and those damn blue eyes. Women drop at his feet. Not that I’ve ever known him to take up with anyone for more than a night. Pierce is elusive. It would be like falling in love with the wind. Surely you didn’t? Haven’t?”

  I rescued her. “Nope. Nothing physical and nothing emotional. At least nothing that would account for a gift like this. There’s Mitch. And in my book that doesn’t leave room for anyone else. I definitely appreciate that Pierce is gorgeous. And sexy. And dangerous. But no.”

  She nodded. “Yeah. I get that.”

  “It’s one of the diamonds from the West case, and I’ve been wondering exactly how he got it.” My words littered the space between us, sharp with anxiety.

  “No worries there. He purchased it. It wasn’t evidence, it was available on the open market. I guarantee Pierce didn’t steal it. He may play fast and loose with rules, but he would never steal evidence. Which leads us to the bigger question.” Those too-knowing green eyes of hers held me captive in their glare. “Why did he give it to you?”

  “I’ve worked on that one for a while, couldn’t rest easy until I figured it out. He saw the storyboard I built for the West case, knew the picture of the belly jewel fascinated me, and knew I wanted one. But the biggest reason is that it was a tribute to my belly, to my intuitive skills that helped us end that nightmare.”

  “Makes sense. And it’s exactly how he thinks. You’re sure you’re not—”

  “Of course not. But we do have an…understanding.”

  Her aura sparked. “An understanding? What the hell does that mean?”

  Whoa. I didn’t usually see stuff like that. “You have to promise not to get mad.”

  “Do I look mad?” she asked at the top of her whisper.

  “Well, yeah. You’re all scrunched up, and your aura has red and orange sparks flying around.”

  Her face went smooth. “No promises. Come on, give.”

  “He’s teaching me how to pick locks.”

  “Teaching you—I’m not even going to ask how that happened. Better if I don’t know.” She took a long swallow of soda. Another one. Backed me toward a bench until I sat, then loomed over me. “Pierce is dangerous, El. I mean really dangerous. He goes places and does things that you can’t—don’t want to imagine.”

  I squirmed a bit. “Okay, Mamma Annie. Time to let it go.”

  She caught my arm. “Question. What did Mitch think about your new jewel?”

  “When he first noticed it he said, ‘pretty’ and then his attention moved on to other things. Not surprising considering where it’s located.”

  “Good point.”

  After the horrific day yesterday, an amazing night, and a long morning of shopping, every muscle in my body ached. All I wanted was a long, cold shower with an ice cream chaser. As I shuffled through the front door, I managed to bang my elbow and drop my handbag, spilling the contents all over my office floor.

  Correction on the ice cream chaser: this called for an entire pint of Ben and Jerry’s finest.

  I stuffed everything back into my handbag,
and spared a cursory glance at my calendar.

  Katelan Finn.

  Damn if I hadn’t forgotten my one o’clock client. I ran upstairs to my living space, my gaze zeroing in on the wall clock in the kitchen. Mixed up numbers were piled along the bottom of the clock face, and “Whatever” stared at me in condemning black letters. The designer had a sense of humor that I could appreciate. Katelan would be here in fifteen minutes. Shower? Yes. Ice cream? No.

  I’d never forgotten a client before. A flicker of unease skated along the back of my neck. Was it too much for me? Helping Adam and the chief? No. Finding Jacobson was so far over the top as to be stratospherical, but the rest of it I could handle. That meant it had to be the problem with my fingers going hinky. Yeah. That one triggered gut-wrenching fear.

  The long, cool shower I had planned turned into a ten second walk through a burst of icy cold, revitalizing spray. I quickly pulled on a tiered skirt in soft shades of blue, and then added a matching jacket. I hadn’t seen Katelan in over six years and wanted to look professional.

  Katelan’s car turned into my driveway at the exact moment I reached the bottom of the stairs. Body language is telling, and as a personal coach I made it a point to watch my clients as they moved between their cars and my front door. Katelan looked good. Petite and slim, of Eurasian descent, almost fairy-like with midnight black hair that hung straight down her back, stopping just above the waist of her cropped jeans. Full lips accented her features, and when she saw me at the window they curved into a warm smile. This Katelan had come a long way from the unhappy woman I’d worked with six years ago.

  I welcomed her with a hug, my fingertips confirming what her body language told me. She was in a good place. “It’s great to see you, Katelan.”

  “You, too, and I can hardly wait to tell you what’s happened since…gosh how long has it been? I love the new office. It’s homey, welcoming compared to the space you had before.”

  “Thanks. I really like living and working in the same place. Let’s see, it has to have been about six years. The last time I saw you was just before I moved here. Doesn’t seem that long, does it?”