Lethal in Love

by Michelle Somers

  ‘Not just anywhere. Here.’ She turned the screen, so he could see better, so he didn’t have to lean further in and send her body’s already screaming senses into hyperventilation.

  ‘Black Keys Security? You know this, how?’

  ‘The colour of the key, along with its size and shape. When Dad was undercover we used a deposit box there as a means to get messages to him safely. And once he returned home, he decided to keep it for a bit of fun, every once in a while leaving little notes and surprises for Bec and me to find.’

  The memory thickened her throat. She swallowed. Focused on the blinking cursor in the middle of the screen.

  ‘There must be other places that use black keys.’

  ‘Perhaps. But I’ve a hunch this is the place.’

  She turned. So close she could see silver lights shimmer in his irises. Her lips parted, tingled. Closer. She wavered, he moved in.

  Her head jerked back and she averted her gaze to stare once again at the computer screen. ‘I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.’

  ‘You have Bec’s funeral.’

  His mouth was still so close. So reachable.

  ‘In the morning. Our afternoon is free.’ She moved off the couch, out of his heat, and set her computer aside. ‘Now we only have two things left to figure out.’

  His brow arched, dragging her mind back to their initial meeting and the bad-boy look that had her hooked from that very first moment.

  She swallowed. ‘What’s for dessert and where is Madden’s child now.’

  Jayda watched Seth all but lick his bowl clean of Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Therapy and sprinkles. He was like a little boy in an ice-cream parlour for the first time. At a guess, the treat wasn’t something he’d enjoyed much as a child. If ever.

  He eyed her bowl. She wrapped her arm around it and moved it closer. Countering any designs he may have on stealing hers, she scooped up the last few melted, multi-coloured spoonfuls.

  They worked well together. She’d even moved past the fact that he was a reporter and not to be trusted. So far, every one of his actions indicated otherwise. They’d long since finished their coffee, so Seth made another. The caffeine helped her think. Sleep was overrated, and unlikely with or without the buzz she was all but throwing at her system. Munching on a packet of salt and vinegar chips—a weakness they discovered they shared—they outlined what needed doing over the next couple of days. An extension of the list she’d started earlier.

  As she chased the last crumbs in the almost empty foil wrapper, Seth glanced at his watch. Then his mobile. Then her.

  ‘It’s past midnight.’ He pushed himself up from the armchair. ‘We should get some sleep.’

  Her heart jolted and she grabbed at her computer, thwarting its slide down her legs and onto the floor. ‘There’s still a heap to do.’

  ‘Nothing that can’t be done tomorrow.’

  ‘I’m not ready for bed yet.’

  ‘Well, I am.’ He stretched and looked around. ‘Where’s your spare room?’

  Everything in her body froze. ‘You— you’re not staying.’

  She inhaled. Deep. To steady the shake in her voice, along with the nerves jumping like crazy, everywhere. It didn’t help that the scent of pine and spring was making her dizzy. Dumping her computer onto the cushions, she stood. He wouldn’t intimidate her with height. And he wouldn’t stay when there was a tiny, unsubstantiated part of her that wanted it. Needed it. To feel alive.

  Bad idea. At this point, she didn’t need protection from outside forces. She needed protection from herself.

  ‘I’m not asking, Jayda. I said I wouldn’t leave you alone, and I meant it.’ Less than two steps away, his skin radiated heat; wild flames that licked and snatched and caressed the length of her body. Made her want to burn. Unashamedly.

  Every instinct said retreat, but with the couch at her back, it was impossible. She wouldn’t run, not again. The action was cowardice, and a coward she was not. It was time to face Seth head-on and strip him back, layer by layer, until the power he had over her receded.

  Then they could move forward and all this ridiculous sexual nonsense would be behind them.

  She squared her shoulders. ‘Bully tactics won’t work. I’ve seen and tried them all.’

  He moved in. Everything stopped. Including her breath, which jammed inside her throat along with any chance at speech. She wanted to breach that final distance. So much. To feel live, pulsing flesh pressed hard against hers.

  She wanted all that ridiculous sexual nonsense.

  36

  Seth cupped her cheek, brushing his thumb along her trembling lips, his voice shivering up her spine. ‘I don’t bully. I play nice. Very. Very. Nice.’ Humour slid a path across his lips and his chin dimpled in that way which stole every bit of staunch from her knees. ‘Would it kill you to let me in?’

  She swallowed, her voice coming out all husky. ‘I told you, I don’t mix—’

  ‘Business with pleasure?’ He leaned closer, the whisper of his breath tantalising her to open up and do as he asked. Let him in. ‘It would be pleasure, Jayda. We both know you know it. And that’s why you’re running scared.’

  Seth slid his hand back, combing his fingers through Jayda’s hair to cup the back of her head.

  ‘You’ve got a girlfriend.’

  ‘I do?’ His lips twitched, fighting a smile that would surely aggravate her.

  ‘Yes! You had a date.’

  ‘With a work colleague. And believe me, there is no stretch of the imagination large enough to place Richard in the role of my girlfriend.’

  Her eyes widened, then narrowed. ‘You misled me.’

  ‘No. You did that all by yourself.’ He moved closer. ‘With maybe a little help. But you were so . . .’

  ‘Irresistible?’

  ‘Immovable.’

  The scent of windswept meadows and green apples intoxicated him. He inhaled, drowning in the sensation. ‘You hooked me so bad I tried that juvenile stunt just to get your attention. And I’d say it worked. Jayda, we want each other, we’re both available, consenting adults. No reason now to hold back.’

  ‘I have rules.’ The words toppled out in an agonised whisper, from lips which trembled and taunted him.

  He dragged his thumb back across her mouth and watched the bottom lip plump and darken. ‘I don’t care.’ He dipped his head, slow, giving her time to back away.

  Her pupils glazed, almost swallowing the lush green of her irises. She didn’t move, so he didn’t stop. When their lips merged, the past days’ anticipation exploded between them.

  She moaned. Memories of unfinished business drew his hand to her hip, urging it to slide behind and pull her closer. Her tongue skimmed along his teeth and entered his mouth with unequivocal need, the sensation slamming his groin with the force of a supersonic cruise missile.

  No way could she deny it now. She wanted this. No trumped-up rule system would let him believe otherwise. They’d been inching towards this moment since the second they met. It was inevitable, the most natural progression in the world. And regardless of guilt—misplaced or not—stopping wasn’t an option.

  He needed to feel her skin, beneath his fingertips, against his body. He found her waist and slid his hand beneath her tee. Soft, warm silk waited for him as he smoothed his palm along her back and up towards her shoulder blades. She shivered and he pulled her closer, the throb of his erection finding solace between her thighs.

  Peeling his lips from hers, he made to drag her top up and over her head. She pulled back, her chest heaving with every gasping breath as she tugged the hem down over her jeans. ‘We can’t do this.’

  His heart continued to thump, even as it plummeted towards the plush carpet at his feet. ‘You’re kidding.’

  She turned away. ‘That never happened.’

  ‘Felt pretty real to me.’

  ‘It was wrong.’

  Tense fingers slewed through his hair. ‘How can something this good be wrong? I
t doesn’t make sense, Jayda. You wanted that kiss as much as I did.’

  ‘I have rules, Seth.’

  ‘Which you want to break.’

  ‘Maybe so, but that doesn’t mean it’s right.’ Her voice wobbled.

  Sliding his hand around her waist, he pulled her in. ‘Giving in to your desires isn’t weakness, Jayda. It’s strength. It’s following your convictions and saying to hell with everything but what you feel.’

  His hands slid under her tee and up over her back, and she shuddered into him. Whatever her rules, whatever she wished to believe, this reaction was real. She wanted him. And God, he wanted her! He rolled the fingers of one hand down her back to clutch her bottom and pull her closer still.

  They fit, the perfect complement, like pizza and cheese.

  Jayda’s heart galloped through her chest like a stallion on steroids. Every part of her body bar her brain agreed with Seth. A majority vote.

  To hell with everything but what you feel.

  If she could . . . Just. Stop. Thinking. About everything. Escape the blunt reality of her life and trade it for a few moments of peace.

  This could be the way.

  Not leaning so much as giving in to temptation for one brief, beautiful moment. She’d wanted Seth the second she’d seen him in that house. It’d be stupid—and untrue—to admit any different. The more time passed, the more her reasons for holding back became forfeit. Or so lame that she couldn’t dredge up the means to fight anymore.

  Even with that damned paper in her pocket.

  His fingers tightened about her waist and she trembled. The anticipation and need to feel them on her breasts, taunting, stroking, squeezing . . . She groaned, and his expression told her he knew she was his. Tonight only.

  Need ribboned through her quivering body like flames stroking the logs in a fire. She couldn’t keep saying no. Had lost all strength to deny herself any longer. She wanted Seth. He just didn’t need to know how much.

  ‘This is a bad idea.’

  He inched her tee up and she lifted her arms, letting him slide it over her head before her trembling fingers moved without conscious thought towards his buttons.

  ‘Yeah, bad,’ he agreed, never once detaching his gaze from hers as he tossed her top behind him.

  ‘Very bad.’ She did the same with his, leaving his chest bared, beautiful. Just as she remembered.

  Running her palms along the planes of his stomach, her fingers explored along the waistband of his trousers.

  His breath hitched, his mouth swooping to capture hers. ‘Mmm.’

  ‘Terrible.’ Her words were muffled as he worked at the clasp of her jeans.

  ‘Uh huh.’ His hand slid between the denim and black cotton briefs, and the flesh between her thighs gave an almighty shudder.

  She still hadn’t bought those lacy, silky panties. Too late now. And what did it matter when she’d be out of them soon anyway?

  The thought sent another shudder coursing through her.

  His fingers slipped down further still, and her sex contracted as if he were inside. As if it had been waiting her whole life for this moment and couldn’t bear a second longer.

  ‘You’re way overdressed for what I have in mind.’ The breath against her ear blew hot and wet, his voice low and deep as his words sent thrill after thrill though her body.

  She closed her eyes and sank into the sensation. ‘This doesn’t mean I like you.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘Or that I want you to stay.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘This is the one and only, the absolutely last time this is going to happen.’

  He raised his head, his face melting into that to-die-for grin. ‘We’d better make the most of it then, hadn’t we?’

  37

  ‘Kiss me.’ Seth grabbed the open tab of her jeans and tugged.

  She stumbled into him and clutched his shoulders for balance. Taut muscle flexed beneath her palms, heat and hunger zapping every living, breathing cell in her body. Not the pizza-craving hunger she’d felt earlier. This was deeper, earthier. Animal.

  To hell with everything but what you feel.

  Her heartbeat drummed in her ears. She wanted to feel Seth. Lose herself in him, in this. Until every heart-wrenching, soul-slamming bit of her life receded into obscurity.

  She wrapped her hands behind his neck, pulled his head down and lifted her lips to meet his. Her breath caught, firelights erupting inside her brain. Lips so soft, so gentle. Seemingly impossible when their touch was charged with such fire and tempest.

  At first he let her own the kiss, a slow, erotic trail into mindlessness. But when she dared flick her tongue between his lips, they hardened as he at once reclaimed it, and her. He reached back to unhook her bra, and she tugged the straps down her arms, curving her body away from his to allow the fabric to fall somewhere at their feet. Then blissfully, mercifully, her skin coupled again with his.

  His hands found her breasts, the powerful length of his thighs marching her backwards, slamming her into the wall, rattling the keys on the hall table beside them. He threaded his fingers with hers and locked them above her head, making the air whoosh from her lungs as he took her lips and swallowed every last breath. He tasted of coffee and pizza and promises to come.

  Rough denim bit into her flesh. The pain mixed with pleasure and she moaned into him as she felt the thrust of his erection between her thighs.

  His lips found her neck, and that wondrous curve where it joined her shoulder. She shivered, every nerve in her body firing on full-throttle. Then he sucked, and her sex pulsed. Needy. Hungry. Impatient.

  He nibbled her earlobe, drawing it into his mouth, robbing oxygen clear from her lungs. But when his hand skimmed her tummy and slid between her thighs, her heart faltered, then stopped beating altogether. Her hands dropped to his shoulders before the jelly in her legs could make her slither to the ground. The tortuous, barely there stroke of his fingers had her eyes slamming open and her hips bucking uncontrollably.

  ‘Oh!’

  He rubbed again and her body shuddered, her sex contracting in hungry, grasping need. For him. Then his breath fanned her ear and he yanked at her waistband. ‘These need to go.’

  Yes.

  Their fingers scrabbled at her jeans, dragging the material down her thighs as his mouth slipped lower still and found her breast.

  Holy hell! Her legs buckled, everything below her waist a boneless, liquid, quivering stupor. Fists of denim filled her palms as she clung to him, his hands on her thighs, her jeans scrunched at her ankles the only things keeping her from dissolving onto the floor.

  She tried to widen her legs, feel more of him where she wanted him most. Impossible with her jeans stuck. She kicked off her shoes, then wriggled and stomped until her feet were free. Knees locked, she fumbled at his zip, moaning as his teeth rasped over her nipple before he moved to the other.

  Every nip, every graze, sent her soaring body higher than she’d imagined possible. She shoved at his waistband until it inched past his hips, allowing her to forage beneath his jocks to hard, throbbing muscle, hot and, oh, so big. Ready for her.

  She ignored the inner quiver of her stomach muscles.

  Wrapping him in her fingers, she squeezed, his groan and the thrust of his hips making her feel powerful. Decadent. Ready.

  Seth wanted her, with no other agenda but satisfaction. One night of passion, no strings. That was enough.

  He lifted his head, his eyes gun-metal grey and all-encompassing. Sweat slicked his chest, a smorgasbord of bronzed skin and muscle, hers for the taking.

  She ducked. His nipple, hard and flat beneath her tongue, tasted of salt and Seth; a virile, sexy, all-male tang that exploded against her taste buds and made her crave him all the more.

  Strong hands cupped her bottom and squeezed, pulling her towards him. She moved to the other nipple, this time grasping it between her teeth and tugging as she recalled him doing to hers. His nails clutched deep into her fl
esh as he groaned and bucked his hips.

  She seemed to be doing all the right things, could tell he was clinging desperately to control, even if only by a thread.

  Eternal love may not exist, but this hunger, this aching, empty need, was real.

  No. More. Waiting.

  ‘Seth, I want you.’

  ‘You have me.’

  He growled into her skin as she squeezed her hand again, running her palm up and then down his length, feeling the pulse of his need as surely as hers was making itself known between her thighs.

  ‘Not all of you, yet.’ She opened her legs, guided him closer, rubbing his tip there.

  So good.

  ‘I want you inside me. Now. I can’t wait any longer.’

  Seth’s cock pulsed, the only thinking, cognisant organ in his body.

  Whatever control he’d clung to fled in a blast of sensation as tentative fingers slid lower still to cup and squeeze his balls. He shuddered, so tight that bursting like some feverish adolescent was a real possibility. He’d never wanted anything more than he wanted Jayda right now.

  Two sidesteps right and he lifted her onto the little table beside them; not such a useless hunk of wood, after all.

  Her keys clattered onto the floor. He didn’t care. He eased her knees apart and moved in. Her eyes widened. Skimming his hands over her buttocks, he urged her forwards until she was right where he needed her.

  Gaze locked in an ocean of liquid green, he shifted his hips and perched just shy of heaven, her trembling wet heat taunting his tip with the promise of more.

  He leaned in, inhaled apples and arousal, shuddered as her hands grazed his chest, scraping his nipples, lower, stopping short where he nestled between her thighs. Her lips hovered inches from his and he took them again, hard and hungry, and thrust inside. Slick, tight.

  She stiffened, gasped, her surrounding flesh constricting until he felt he might explode.