Ultimate Kill (Book 1 Ultimate CORE Trilogy) (CORE Series)

by Kristine Mason

  When they’d finished eating and had cleaned the kitchen, she suggested they move into the living room. As he followed behind her, he tried to keep his eyes off the sexy sway of her hips and the tempting curve of her rear. But couldn’t. He also tried to stop his mind from wandering to the past, to those unanswered questions. But couldn’t. He also couldn’t stop thinking about her offer to stay the night at her house.

  Seriously fucking pathetic.

  What the hell was wrong with him? He’d been a badass Marine, a kick-ass sheriff and planned to be both as an investigator for CORE. All of these confusing thoughts and emotions were pissing him off. Instead of dwelling, he should be acting. Demanding answers.

  He took a seat at the end of the couch. She settled next to him. Close. Too close. He caught the swell of her breasts as she shifted her arm over the back of the couch. Remembered how they’d felt in his hands, how her nipples had responded to his touch. Shit. So many memories. Spreading her legs, dipping his head, tasting her, making her come alive.

  His dick throbbed. His head ached from thinking too damned much. He wanted to stay and lose himself in her body. He wanted to run before he did something stupid.

  Scrubbing a hand down his face, he quickly stood.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, her brow furrowing, her eyes questioning and uncertain.

  “It’s getting late,” he said.

  She glanced at the clock on the mantle. “It’s only eight-thirty.”

  “Yeah, but I’ve been up since dawn.”

  Understanding softened her face. “Well, in that case, let me make up the bed for you. There’re towels in the bathroom linen closet, shampoo—”

  “Thanks, but I’m going to head out. I think it’s best if I stay at the Lodge.”

  She looked away. “I see.”

  “Do you?”

  Standing, she moved toward the door. “Yep.”

  In a few strides he caught up with her. “You sure about that?” he asked, snagging her arm and turning her until she faced him.

  “Didn’t I just say—”

  “Yep.”

  She pulled away but he kept her near him. “Whatever, Jake. I’m not going to play this game. You don’t want to stay here, then don’t.”

  “Oh, I want to stay,” he said, crowding her until she backed against the closed door. Sliding his hand from her arm, he cupped her breast. “But I don’t want to stay in the spare room.”

  She grabbed a fistful of his shirt. “So don’t,” she said, her voice low, breathy and sexy as hell.

  His erection swelled. He had to leave. Now. “And then what?”

  A slow, sexy smile tilted her lips. “Has it been that long?” She let go of his shirt and ran her hand down his chest until she reached his belt buckle. “I’m sure there’re a few things I can do to refresh your memory.”

  When her palm grazed his erection straining against his jeans, he grabbed her hand, then the other and pinned her against the door. “I’ve been living on memories for five years,” he said, his voice rougher than he’d intended. Damn, he wanted her. But not like this. Not a quick fuck for old times’ sake.

  “Funny, earlier I was thinking about making new ones,” she said, her eyes matching her seductive tone. She pulled against his grip, causing her breasts to thrust forward. “I’ve missed—”

  He crushed his mouth against hers. He didn’t want to hear what she’d missed. Him? Them? Sex? It didn’t matter. At this point he wasn’t sure what to believe, he couldn’t be sure if the words coming out of her pretty mouth were lies, the truth or a variation of both. He’d kiss her hard and fast and walk away. Tomorrow they’d discuss the past and put it to rest. As for tonight, he had no plans on making any new memories that would only—

  She opened her mouth and slid her tongue along his. His body switched into overdrive. Need rushed through his veins.

  Screw it.

  Releasing her hands, he tangled his fingers through her hair and grabbed a fistful. He held her head still and assaulted her lips. His conscience warned him to back off, that he was being rough. That he was doing the exact opposite of what he’d planned. But he couldn’t stop. He’d missed the taste of her, the feel of her body against his. She cupped his jaw with one hand and palmed his erection with the other. He’d missed her, damn it. Needing more, needing his conscience to shut the hell up, he pressed her against the door, ran his free hand down her sexy curves and lifted her leg.

  Moving her hand from between their bodies, she held onto his ass, pushing him closer and settling her heat on his thigh. She rotated her pelvis and sighed against his mouth. He should make her come, he could make her come, remind her what they used to have together and leave her wanting more.

  He tore his mouth away. Breathing hard, he stared into her eyes. They glittered with desire, with the same need pulsing through his body. With trust.

  Damn, he was an asshole and a selfish bastard for wanting to make her want him, when all he craved was her and the love they used to have. Knowing now was the moment to end a kiss that could go further than he’d intended, he ignored the rational side of his brain, gripped her hips and moved her along his thigh.

  Her breath hitched as she kept her eyes on his. Aware of what she liked, he slid a hand under her shirt and pushed the material up her torso. Hot pink lace covered her breasts. Aching to taste her, he gave the lace a tug and exposed one taut nipple. With his eyes still on hers, he dipped his head and took what he wanted. Ran his tongue along her nipple and kept her heat pinned against his thigh.

  She shoved her hands through his hair, gripped his head and forced his mouth away only to kiss him again. Scorching hot, deep and demanding, she was the one who took and tempted him. She ground her pelvis against his thigh, untucked his shirt and ran her hands underneath along his bare skin. He wanted to be skin to skin but knew that wasn’t an option. If he allowed this so-called kiss to go that far, it might cloud his judgment and make the questions he’d demand answers to that much harder to ask. But he could leave them both satisfied and not in a way that would make him out to be a total jackass.

  He moved his hand between their bodies and unbuttoned and unzipped the front of her capris. When she slid her hands down his bare back and gripped his ass, he fought to keep his own desires in check, raised her up slightly and worked his hand beneath her panties. Swollen, soft and wet, he sank his fingers into her heat.

  With a low moan, she released his lips and rested her forehead against his. Her warm breath mingled with his and came in short quick puffs. As he drove his fingers deeper into her, over and over, she sagged against the door. He kept her upright, kept her pinned and dipped his head again for another taste of her nipple. He tugged and sucked on the hard peak while she hugged him close and clung to his back.

  His stomach clenched with desire. He wanted her to come. He wanted to come. But now wasn’t about him. Everything he’d done from the moment he’d met and fallen hard for Naomi had always been for her. The pleasure he could give her, the life she deserved, her wants and desires. He’d loved her more than life itself. He still did, and still wanted to please her in every way possible.

  Her inner muscles clenched around his fingers. Her breathing grew labored. The leg she stood on trembled. Knowing she was close, wishing he could taste her orgasm, he quickly moved away from her breast and sought her lips. He captured her mouth as her body went rigid. Her groan vibrated against lips as she kissed him back, this time unhurried and with so much damned tenderness it made his heart ache.

  With reluctance, he let go of her leg, slipped his fingers from her heat and tugged her shirt back down. She drew away slightly, a small smile tilting her lips as she kept her arms twined around his neck. “Still thinking about that room at the Lodge?” she asked.

  “I’m having a hard time thinking about anything right now,” he admitted with a half-smile.

  “Then don’t think. Stay.”

  The day she’d told him she needed to leave Bola and what
they’d just begun to build there, he’d asked her to stay. To give their new life a chance or to at least try to maintain a long distance relationship until his term as sheriff had ended. But she’d refused.

  He wouldn’t stay now out of spite or childish recourse. He’d leave to keep the small amount of restraint he possessed intact, and to give himself time to come to terms with the confusing emotions unraveling inside him.

  “Not tonight,” he said, tucking a lock of her silky hair behind her ear. “Can I see you tomorrow?”

  He swore he caught regret in her eyes before she hugged him. “Yes,” she said against his chest, then quickly took a step back. “Be here at nine for breakfast.”

  “Good night, bossy,” he said and touched her cheek, then opened the door and left before his willpower completely dissolved.

  As he drove away from her quiet street and headed for the Lodge, his body and mind waged a vicious battle. Spending the day and evening with Naomi hadn’t brought him any closer to putting the past to rest. Instead, being with her was not only a bitter reminder of what they could have had if she’d never walked away, but that he was still in love with a liar.

  Chapter 3

  HE STARED ACROSS the table at his wife of six years, wishing she would do them both a favor and die. Liliana had once been a means to an end, a way to gain her father’s trust, confidence and the share holdings of a failing shipping company. A vessel to implant his seed in and create two children. Now, he no longer needed her. He’d wiped that long-standing shipping company, which had once been an American icon and his competition, from existence. In the process, he’d ruined her father and forced him into an early grave.

  Yes, he wished she’d slit her wrists or swallow a bottle of pills. Or maybe drive into a telephone pole at eighty miles per hour. He could and should simply do as Ric had suggested and have her throat slit in a staged robbery. But then he’d have to deal with the press and the police, not to mention his children who would likely need therapy and coddling.

  The pretty young kitchen maid he’d been meaning to fuck entered the dining room with a serving cart. Shy and no more than twenty-two, he could easily picture her coming to his office, dropping to her knees and taking him into her mouth. Maybe after he was through with the maid he’d let Ric have her. He eyed her pert tits as she leaned over and set a plate in front of Liliana. Yes, Ric had been working hard lately and deserved a little fun. He’d just have to make sure Ric didn’t take the fun to a level that required disposing of the young maid’s corpse.

  “Thank you, Alison,” Liliana said to the maid. “Have the children had their breakfast?”

  Alison. Yes, now he recalled the hot little maid’s name.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Alison responded, filling his wife’s Rogaska crystal glass with orange juice. “Waffles, eggs and sausage. Their nanny took them to the music room for their lessons after they finished breakfast.”

  “Very good. I’ll have to stop by and see them. Charlotte has really taken to the piano, don’t you think, dear?”

  He shifted his gaze from Alison’s breasts to his wife’s shit-brown eyes. “Yes, she’s doing well,” he said. “Mary Had a Little Lamb has never sounded better.”

  Alison giggled as she set his plate in front of him. After she poured him a cup of coffee, she asked, “Do you need anything else?”

  My wife dead and you sucking my dick. “Nothing, thank you.”

  With a smile first to him, then to his wife, Alison left the dining room through the servants’ entrance. Once the French doors were closed he looked across the table again. “Liliana, do you really plan to eat all of that?” he asked and nodded to the sparse breakfast morsels on his wife’s plate.

  She blinked and looked to the six small chunks of grapefruit, half of a hard-boiled egg and half of a slice of dry toast. “I worked out for sixty minutes this morning and burned over five hundred calories.”

  “So?” he asked, and raised a forkful of scrambled eggs to his mouth.

  “This food is less than one hundred calories.” She pointed to her plate. “I think I can afford to eat it.”

  He set the fork on the plate and picked up his coffee cup. “Are you sure? The charity ball is in two weeks and I refuse to go out in public with a fat ass.”

  Her eyes widened and filled with contempt and insult. She glanced to her plate with longing, then picked up her glass of juice.

  “That’s also high in calories,” he reminded her. “But you do what you think is right.”

  After setting the juice back on the table, she folded her hands in her lap and stared at her plate of food. The dumb bitch had no backbone. She obviously needed glasses, as well. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on her scrawny body. If anything she should eat everything on her plate and his before her body shut down from malnutrition. Then again, death by starvation would save him from having to find a way to rid himself of his useless wife.

  “Why do you hate me so much?” she asked, a tear slipping down her boney cheek.

  “I don’t hate you,” he said and sliced into a sausage link. “I feel nothing for you.” He took a bite of the sausage and savored not only the delicious flavor, but the shock in Liliana’s eyes. She’d never been welcomed in his home. He’d never wanted her, but what she could give his empire. Lying with her, having to force himself to have sex with her, had been about as hot and satisfying as a root canal. But he’d wanted the children. Everything he’d worked for would not be inherited by distant relatives, but by his blood.

  She wiped her cheek with her napkin and stared at him with hurt and hatred. “Then why not divorce me? The prenup you made me sign lets you keep your fortune. If you feel nothing for me, then let me go.” Her chin trembled. “Please,” she begged, her voice raw and ragged.

  “Divorce?” He leaned back in his chair and shook his head. “And ruin my image? The press would have a field day. And I can’t allow that to happen. Until death do us part,” he said with a smile and raised his mug in a mock toast.

  Tossing her napkin on her plate, she stood. “Then maybe I should have an affair,” she said, her voice shaking. “Maybe I should take a page from your book and have an affair. The pool boy is very attractive.”

  Lack of sustenance must have warped her brain. Rage momentarily blurred his vision and he had to grip the armrests of the dining room chair to keep from climbing across the table and choking the life from her.

  No one threatened him.

  “Do that, and I’ll cut his dick off and stuff it down your throat.”

  She gasped and held a hand to her neck.

  “Do you doubt me?” he asked, narrowing his gaze.

  “I wouldn’t,” Ric said as he entered the dining room through the main entrance. “Actually, I’ll probably end up being the one to cut off said dick and do the stuffing. And quite frankly, the thought of touching another man’s junk just doesn’t settle well with me. So do us all a favor, Liliana, keep your legs closed and your mouth shut.”

  He grinned at his right hand man. “Well said.” He glanced at his wife with disgust. “Now get the fuck out of my dining room and go listen to my daughter play the piano.”

  The fear and defeat contorting his wife’s face made him chuckle. When she didn’t move, he rose from the chair. “And by the way, dear, just for being a whiny bitch, the next time I bring a woman to my bed I’m going to make you watch.”

  Ric burst into laughter as Liliana rushed from the room. “You wouldn’t, would you?” he asked, wiping tears from his eyes.

  He pictured Liliana bound to a chair and watching as he bent the sexy little maid over the bed and pounded into her body. Aroused, he decided he most definitely would make good on his threats.

  “What do you think?” he asked Ric.

  The sadist grinned. “Forget I asked,” he said and poured a cup of coffee from the serving cart Alison had left behind. “I heard from Santiago.”

  He resumed eating breakfast. “Are we on schedule?”

  �
�They reached St. Louis last night around ten. Took care of business and then flew to Peoria, Illinois. Today they’ll take care of the stops in Indiana and Ohio. Tomorrow, Tennessee and Virginia. We’ll be set to go Monday morning.”

  “Excellent. And the hired help?”

  Ric shrugged and took a seat. “Bright enough to do the job, but too dumb to know what they’ve gotten themselves in to.”

  The men Ric had hired were brothers who lived in the area. The one brother had tried to find a job with his company and after he’d been quickly dismissed due to his prison record, he’d gone to a local bar where many of his crew would hang out and drink. While there, he’d proceeded to become inebriated and had spouted off about how he and his brainy brother had pulled off a bank robbery without even entering a bank. Santiago had been there. Knowing what he and Ric needed to flush out the bitch who had evaded him for eight years, the Columbian had called Ric. After looking into the brothers’ background, he and Ric had decided they would not only be useful for this particular job, but easily dispensable.

  “Very good.” He pushed his plate aside. “And my speeches, are they ready?”

  “Already on your desk. Of course I’m biased, but I think they’re probably my best work to date. You’ll look like a hero and leave the country longing to have a man like you in the White House.”

  He smiled. President of the United States of America. Now wouldn’t that be some wild shit?

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Besides, could you imagine Liliana as my First Lady?”

  Ric chuckled and shook his head. “You know my opinion of your wife.”

  He did. Which was why he wouldn’t give Ric free reign over her. Yet. If she didn’t die of malnourishment or suicide within the next year, then he’d let Ric do as he pleased. He couldn’t imagine having to be married to the scrawny shrew for any longer than that.