by Smith, C. P.
“Sweetness?” I heard from behind me and then Jack wrapped both his arms around my waist and pulled me into his chest. I closed my eyes at the feeling of arms around me again. What was wrong with me tonight?
“Hey, Jenn, talk to me, why the tears?”
“Sorry, it’s just been a while since I felt cared about, and Ben reminds me of my dad.” I pulled away from him and wiped my face with my hands, then picked up my key chain to attach the new keys.
“Must have been hard moving here on your own?”
“Actually, it’s one of the easiest things I’ve ever done.” I looked back at Jack and smiled, then moved back to the kitchen.
“You want a hot cocoa?”
“I’ll pass, thanks, why was it easy?”
“It’s been my dream since I was little. When Doug died, and Bailey left for school; I thought about what I wanted for my life and the mountains were the first and only thing that came to mind.”
“That’s still a big step to take moving away from your family.”
“My brother moved to California ten years ago, and my mother and father retired to Florida three years ago, so I wasn’t leaving anyone behind except a few friends.”
“So here you are, ready to take on the whole of Colorado and a killer at the same time?” Rolling my eyes since he managed to move back to the subject of my disobeying him, I decided not to fight again.
“You made your point earlier Jack, you’re right, it was stupid what we did and I don’t plan on making the same mistake.”
“Babe, I’ve known you about thirty-six hours, and in that time I’ve learned pretty damn quick that you’re going to do whatever the hell you feel like doing. That being said; I’m gonna do my damnedest to try and keep up with you so I can catch you when you fall. But honest to god, right about now, locking you in a cell sounds pretty damned good to me; at least there I know you’re safe.” I rolled my eyes then it hit me what he said.
“Has it only been thirty-six hours? It feels longer.”
“Longest fucking thirty-six hours of my life.”
“I know what you mean.”
And I did, two bodies, one break-in, three toe-curling kisses, a gun pointed at me, three men either asking me out or giving me puppy dog eyes, and let’s not forget Ben and Gerry. Mandy was right; I am the shiny new toy, and just like all toys they will get tired of playing with me. Was I hoping for or dreading that day?
“Jesus, you’re somethin’ else, you know that?”
“What’d I do now?”
“If I didn’t know any better I’d say you’re fearless.”
“Ha, I’m scared to death most days Jack, I just hide it well.”
Jack had been slowly moving towards me during our conversation and by the time I finished my statement, he was looking down at me. Without warning, he picked me up and deposited me on the countertop, so I was even with his face. He pushed in, so I had to open my legs, then he grabbed my ass and pulled me against his hips, and I sucked in a breath at having his crotch up against my heat.
“You scared of me?” he whispered, looking into my eyes.
“Yes,” barely came out, but I nodded with the word.
“Let’s see if we can change that?”
And just like the last three times he kissed me, I didn’t stand a chance. He went slower this time; keeping his eyes locked on mine as he lowered his head infinitesimally, and my heartbeat picked up. Right before his lips touched mine, he smiled, and then his eyes lowered to my lips and he leaned in, and then nipped my bottom lip. I moaned as the shock of it went straight through me like an electrical current. Jack’s eyes darkened at my reaction, and he whispered, “Jesus.” I didn’t need any more prompting; I threw my hands in his hair, wrapped my legs around his waist and went straight for his mouth. His hand grabbed my hair, and he pulled, holding me back. He looked down at me with a face full of need, and I felt that run through me and up the amps of electrical current coursing through me. Jack moved to my exposed neck and kissed his was up to my ear, and then nipped my lobe. I shuddered, and he growled in my ear, “You like my teeth?”
“Please,” came from my mouth even though I’d never been bitten, the evidence pulsing between my legs suggested that I did, in fact, like his teeth. Nipping and biting his way down my neck, I was a trembling mess when he came back to my mouth. “Jack—” was all I got out when he slammed his mouth over mine.
Leaning into me, I found myself flat on the countertop, and my hips arched up to feel the pressure of his body on mine. Jack’s free hand moved down my side and lifted the hem of my shirt. Then with light fingers, caressed my side from my ribs to my hip, causing a shiver. Jack ripped his mouth from me and put his forehead to mine.
“If I don’t stop now, I’ll be buried deep in you till morning.”
“Right now I can’t think of a reason to stop you.”
“Baby, do not tempt me. I’m trying to be honorable here.”
“Jack, I haven’t had sex in sixteen months,” I whimpered. God, I sounded pathetic, begging him when I knew I shouldn’t be jumping into bed with this man.
“Jesus,” Jack replied conflicted.
His mouth said no, but his body rubbed against mine and I felt a building in my core. I groaned and bucked my hips, and he rubbed again.
“Jack, more,” I begged, and his face grew darker, hungrier. His hand moved up to my breast; his thumb and finger found my nipple, and then he pinched and pulled, as I whispered, “Yes.” He ripped my shirt up, and pulled my bra down, attaching his mouth to my breast. He sucked my nipple deep and then used his teeth; the friction and his mouth building me higher and I felt a building orgasm between my legs.
“Jack, please.” I couldn’t wait any longer; I needed this. Then with more pressure, and a hard pinch on my nipple, Jack threw me over the plateau and into bliss saying, “Let go, Baby, I got you, you’re safe with me.” I tensed when it hit me, holding my breath as the warmth ran over my body, and then relaxing as it swept through me like no drug could. Jerking with the aftershocks, Jack’s eyes were watching as I fell over into sexual heaven. “Fuck,” Jack groaned and then he lowered his head to my ear. “Gotta tell you, Sweetness, you’re every man’s wet dream. I can’t wait to watch your face when I’m deep inside you.”
I was too relaxed to care; I nuzzled his neck, nipping and licking. My sex-starved body decided being a slut worked for her, and after hearing Jack talking dirty, I was ready to test his theory. Jack inhaled deeply as I worked his throat, moaning.
“Jenn, baby, only so much a man can take.”
“Let go Jack, your heart’s safe with me.” I whispered in his ear, and he froze, turned his head to look at me, and his face went soft. Do not ask me why I said that, I plead the fifth. Jack smiled at me then kissed my lips gently and on a whisper said, “Good to know, Jenn.”
I was about to come up with some flippant excuse for talking about hearts and flowers thirty-six hours after meeting this man, but something crashed through my window, shattering the calm. Jack jerked up bringing me with him, and he shoved me down into a squat on the kitchen floor and ordered, “Do not fucking move, you hear me?” Nodding my full agreement, ‘cause after the last two days I wasn’t arguing, and watched Jack draw his weapon from his holster. He moved to the window, looked outside, and then moved to the door unlocking it. He brought his gun up in front of his chest and then moved through the door, swinging his outstretched arms back and forth, scanning with his gun. After what seemed like an hour, but was more like five minutes, he came back inside and shut, then locked the door. I stood and watched him move towards whatever broke my window, then he bent over and picked up something dark, and I gasped when I saw it was a bird.
“It’s too dark for birds to be out flying isn’t it?”
“It’s a Mockingbird; they like to come out at night, and they’ll drive you nuts with their mocking calls.”
“Is he dead?”
“Yeah, Baby, a bird flies through a window it usual
ly kills them.” Nodding as Jack went to my kitchen and got a plastic bag to put the bird in, I got a broom and dustpan to sweep up the mess. Jack came back after digging in my odds and ends closet, with duct tape and heavy cardboard he’d found in my craft box. Purple sparkled cardboard; leftover from a graduation party I’d made invitations for, two years earlier, now graced my window. As we cleaned up the mess, Jack got a call from the station and had to leave to take a call, so I walked him to my door. With everything that had happened with the bird, I hadn’t had time to think about what had happened in the kitchen, but that didn’t stop Jack from reminding me.
“You ok with my taking off after what happened?”
“Jack, I, oh man, this is embarrassing.” Jack put his hand to the side of my face and rubbed his thumbs across my cheeks, then dipped in close and with a gentle voice, eased my nerves.
“Jenn… look at me, Baby.” I looked up into his crystal blue eyes and saw them gentle and warm looking back at me. “You’re amazing, and fucking sexy as hell, do not be embarrassed, I’m only sorry I have to go.”
“You’ve got a job to do, Jack; I know that, I’m not mad you’re leaving.” Jack seemed surprised by my answer, and studied me for a moment like he was looking for the truth of my statement.
“Christ, you get me don’t you?”
“Get you?”
“Get that my badge means more than a paycheck.”
“Of course, isn’t that why you do what you do, ‘cause it means something to you and the people you protect?” His face got even warmer, and he whispered, “Jesus, you’re something.” So I smiled at his compliment. He watched my smile then he leaned in and kissed me softly, then pulled back and winked at me barking out, “Lock up, I want to hear it click before I leave.” I nodded my agreement and opened the door for him to leave. He walked out onto the porch, then turned back and smiled.
“Night, Sweetness.”
“Night, Jack.” Then he moved down the steps, turned back and waited for me to close the door and lock it. So I did as he said and locked my doors, then watched as he pulled out of my drive. Looking back around my cabin, I noticed the silence was deafening…A killer, men with guns, and a gorgeous Sheriff with a magic mouth…Welcome to Colorado, Jennifer, you asked for it, you got it, now what are you going to do with it?
Chapter Ten
Better and Better
I woke slowly, my alarm playing the soulful sounds of Lifehouse singing “From where you are,” the words speaking of missing and wasted years, wishing someone was here, and I felt a lump form in my throat. It’s times like these, first thing in the morning when I’m lying in bed and listening to the quiet, I get scared and lonely. And that song wasn’t helping. Damn. Pity party, Jennifer, really? Bailey is beginning her life and doesn’t have time for her mother, that’s normal. And you’ve met a few people here and made friends, even if you did keep to yourself the first few months. Boy did that change this past week, though.
Invitations to lunch from two men, Mandy inviting me to hang out again, and then Ben and Gerry offering to help with my investigation.
And then there was Jack.
How in the hell did I go from not knowing the man one day to what had happened last night? And since we’re speaking of the Sheriff, I wondered what he was thinking this morning? He seemed interested, acted like I was different, but could I trust that? Or was I just another woman to try on for size? Will I be added to his growing list of women who didn’t make the cut? “Naomi is beautiful and sexy, and she only lasted eight months.” Was Barry, right? Was Jack’s problem with women that he just couldn’t commit? It made perfect sense if he’s not been married by now, so the question is, do I want to take that chance with him? Get in deeper than I already was, and risk my heart? Staring at the ceiling and weighing the pros and cons of a relationship with Jack, I realized I was taking all the risk, not him, and I just couldn’t do it. Nope, there are just too many questions and not enough answers to chance my heart, and that sucked, ‘cause bossy or not, he intrigued me like no other has.
I sat up and moved to my bag and pulled out my calendar. I needed to look over my schedule and see what was on the table for the day. Put my focus back on my responsibilities for the paper and work the killings on my own time, and, keep out of Jack’s way, simple. Yesterday and all the craziness needed to be filed under, “exciting, but scary,” and I need to move onto boring, predictable and bake sales, even if I gained twenty pounds. This felt good. I felt focused. I’ll keep my eyes on the prize, keep out of Jack’s way, and all will be as it was. Boring, but safe.
* * *
My phone was ringing as I was driving into Gunnison; I looked at the caller I.D and saw it was Bossy. Do I answer? No, I’ll ignore him, and he’ll get the message. Then it occurred to me Jack was bossy, stubborn and tenacious, and he probably wouldn’t stop calling if I ignored him. Deciding to take the bull by the horn and get this over with, and steeling myself against the sound of his voice, I answered, “Hello.”
“Babe, just checking to make sure you didn’t have any more bird attacks.” Ha, funny man!
“Nope, I didn’t become a heroine in an Alfred Hitchcock movie,” I answered, but wanted to kick myself for being flirty. Focus Jennifer.
“Good to hear, Baby,” Jack replied and hearing him call me baby, weakened my resolve. Thinking indifference might work with Jack; I took a breath and went for the big brush off.
“Well thanks for calling and checking, Jack, I gotta run, bake sales to cover and cookies to buy.” That sounded friendly but got the message across, right? I waited for his reply but got dead air.
“Jack?”
“There a reason you just went from sweet to indifferent in a blink of an eye?”
“Sorry?”
“Jenn, is there a reason you’re dismissing me like a stranger?”
“Um, I, wow, you’re not making this easy are you?”
“Seems where you’re concerned nothing is easy, so no, I’m not making this easy when everything about you makes me hard.” I sucked in sharply at that blatant sexual reference, and swear I felt my nipples get hard.
“Jack, I—”
“Do not pull back, Jenn, I told you last night you have nothing to be embarrassed about.”
“You can’t just let this go and chalk it up to extenuating circumstances?”
“Fuck no.” He growled, and that felt good too. Damn.
“Ok, Jack, here it is, I like you, you're hot, funny, really smart, but you’ve never been tied down, and why would you when you can have any woman in town, right? I mean; I get that, you look like you do and wear a badge, why limit yourself to one woman? So I get it, really; I do, but I’m not the type to be someone’s flavor of the month. So if it’s all the same to you, can we just be friends?” I held my breath waiting for his explosion, but it didn’t come.
“Christ, I pegged you completely wrong when we first met.” Um, what?
“Thought you were a typical nosey in your face reporter, then you showed
me a different side and I liked what I saw. But Babe, gotta tell ya, this innocent side, the one where you have no clue to the fact that you could have any man in this town and still you’d be settling, total fucking turn-on; and you think I’m gonna settle for friends? Fuck no.”
I had nothing to say to that; I mean what do you say to that? This man was good, real good, how can you walk away from that? Shit. I’m so screwed!
“Jack—”
“And now on top of sweet, I get innocent too? No way, Jenn, no fucking way.”
“Ok, Jack.” I couldn’t argue with this man, damn him, he just reeled me in, I should have never answered the phone.
“Damn right.”
“I said ok, you don’t have to be bossy.”
“Oh, I’m gonna be bossy, in fact, I’m gonna be bossy right fucking now. I don’t share, so lunch with the Mayor better be one-time only, understand?”
“How did you know about that?”
“Mayor Hall enlightened me last night, now, did you get what I said?”
“Yeah, I get you Jack, but I don’t respond well to being bossed around, do you get me?”
“Deal with it,” he barked out. Seriously?
“Whatever,” I snipped and he chuckled. I am so screwed.
“All right Sweetness, now that we have that out of the way, I have work to do. You stay safe and don’t go looking for any more dead bodies.” I rolled my eyes at him. ‘
“Yes, sir, Sheriff, sir.”
“Smartass.”
“Bossy.”
“Later, Baby.”
“Later, Jack.”
* * *
Jack
Shaking my head at Jenn as I hung up, ‘cause honest to god the woman could drive me to drink, I gave her a moments more thought, grinning at how damn cute she was, and then moved to concentrate on this killer.
We knew he targeted women with brown hair and brown eyes. Based on the history of serial killers we could assume he’d had a bad childhood and a mother with those characteristics, or, scorned by a woman who looked similar. Phone records showed no connection between all three women. They’ve never lived in the same place; their families didn’t know each other, so by all appearances the only thing they had in common was their looks and their age. Toxicology showed no drugs or alcohol; last meals were different, so they hadn’t all gone to the same restaurant and been singled out there.