Sage laughed. “We were. We did. Then you went and got married.”
“That shouldn’t stop you from telling me when something is wrong!” she snapped. “What kinds of strange things? I want details.”
Sage listed out the various things that were going on. “Well, some of my plants have been trampled in the night. A few of the pots on my patio were smashed while I was at the grocery store. There have been times when I thought someone had been in my house. And on Friday afternoon, I found a scorpion in my kitchen. I vacuumed it up but…did you know that vacuum cleaners don’t kill those suckers?”
Jade laughed. “Yeah, I tried to suck up a spider one day. It didn’t die!”
“Right?! It would seem like they should die once they were sucked into the vortex! But they live. I don’t understand how, but…well, I digress.”
“So, is Arik there? Should Simon call Arik? He was supposed to check in on you. I was really…!”
“Arik is here.”
There was a long silence as her older sister processed that. “Really. That’s interesting.”
“Yeah.” Sage closed her eyes, leaning her head back. “Well, about that too. I sort of–”
“You slept with him?!” she gasped.
Sage laughed. “I refuse to answer that.”
“You did! You slept with Arik!”
Arik’s head swiveled around. Sage shrugged as if to say, 'Sisters know everything.’ “Stop talking about this around Simon. It’s not his business.”
“Don’t even go there,” Jade replied. “We’re in the car. We’re heading home. We should be there in three hours. So is Arik going to protect you from whoever is doing this?”
“Yes. I’m staying at his place tonight along with my dogs.”
“Dogs?” she repeated, clearly confused.
Sage looked at the sweet pair watching through the window. “Yeah. Arik suggested that I get a dog, for protection. The dog would bark at night if someone approached the house. So, I thought it was a good idea. One of them is an adorable little teddy bear who thinks he is in charge. I named him Minx.” She smiled, looking at Minx who pawed the window. “The other is a German shepherd mix, named Xena. She allows the little one to think he’s in charge.”
There was a smile in her tone when Jade said, “They sound wonderful! I can’t wait to meet my canine niece and nephew.”
Sage laughed, nodding. “They are adorable! And I’m sure you’ll love them.”
“So I just heard Arik is taking you to his place tonight. That’s good. You’ll be safe there. And the dogs will go with you?”
“Yup,” she replied, glancing over at the man who made her heart pound with happiness. And love?
Yes, she thought. Love. Logically, it seemed too soon for love, but that was exactly what she felt for Arik. She’d never felt this way about Jerry. Plus, her ex had torn her down too often over the year that they were married for her to have thought of him as anything other than her tormentor.
But she loved Arik. He was…everything.
Chapter 8
“Are you sure…?” she asked, gripping the two leashes as if they were a lifeline.
Arik unlatched the leashes. Both dogs immediately started exploring his apartment, familiarizing themselves with his scent. Because their tails were wagging, Arik assumed that they liked what they smelled.
He stood up and looked down at her, stepping forward to do what he’d wanted to do since the moment she’d walked out of the bedroom in that tiny little camisole and those adorable panties that made her ass look incredible!
“Yes. I’m sure,” he told her, tossing the leashes onto the sofa before putting his hands onto her waist. “And now, I want to do something, but I need a promise from you first.”
“What’s that?” she asked, her hands immediately moving to rest on his wonderfully broad shoulders.
“I want you to release all of the sounds.”
That was a curious comment. “What do you mean?”
He smiled devilishly. “When I do this,” he murmured, nibbling on her neck, “I want to hear the sounds you want to make. I don’t want you to hold anything back. Every sound, every reaction, I want it.”
She groaned, then immediately tried to stop it. He lifted his head and kissed her gently. “See? You’re already holding back.”
Briefly, she leaned her forehead against his chest, then pulled her head back and looked up at him. “I don’t think I can just…let go, Arik.”
“Will you try?” he asked. “Because I can guarantee that I love every moment of it. And each sound only makes me hotter.”
She liked the sound of that. She loved the idea of releasing her control and simply enjoying the moment.
“I will try,” she promised.
“Good enough,” he said, then bent down and…flipped her over his shoulder. Sage squealed, laughing as she grabbed onto his belt while he carried her through to his bedroom. There, he flipped her over, dropping her in the middle of his big, comfortable bed.
“That was a good start,” he told her, pulling at her leggings. “But in order for this to work properly, these have to go.” A moment later, she was left in only her panties, sweatshirt, and the camisole.
Moments after that, she was completely naked and his mouth latched onto her nipple, teasing and torturing the stiff peak. “Arik!” she whispered, pressing against him. Her legs wrapped tentatively around his waist for a moment, but she pulled back. Arik lifted his head. “Please, do that again. I liked it,” he whispered, then returned his attention to her nipples.
Sage gasped and moaned, giggling when he tickled her waist before moving lower.
And lower! When his mouth moved between her legs, she thought she’d about died and gone to heaven. That was before he started teasing that nub, making her groan, then scream when he sucked that nub into his mouth, flicking it with his tongue. It was all too much, too fast. The climax rolled over her like a tidal wave, washing her out into a sea of pleasure.
As she drifted back to earth, Arik grinned. “That will work,” he said.
Sage had no idea what he meant by that, but she enjoyed watching him strip off his clothes. He was absolutely gorgeous, so when he pushed his jeans down, she couldn’t stop herself from touching him, wrapping her fingers around his throbbing erection. She rubbed the top with her thumb, then let it slide around, just under the top ridge. “I don’t know how to do this,” she admitted quietly. “Jerry never let me touch him except…”
“Stop, Sage,” he said as he cradled her head. “This is you and me. And I love it when you touch me.”
Her fingers stilled as she looked up into his dark eyes. “You…do?”
“Hell yes!” he wrapped her fingers around him more securely.
She let her fingers explore and tease him, just as he’d done to her. And when her curiosity wasn’t appeased, she lowered her head and…tasted him. He was hard and soft, musky and all male. And she loved it! She especially loved the hissing sound he made when she took him into her mouth. She loved how his body moved against her mouth and hand, silently telling her what he liked.
“No more,” he groaned. “Not yet. Once I’ve made love to you…oh, a thousand times, maybe I’ll have my lust under enough control and I can enjoy this more,” he told her, pulling back, then kissing her. He pressed her back against the mattress. “I need you, Sage! Now!”
He grabbed a condom from the drawer beside his bed and rolled it on. When he was fully sheathed, he looked down at her, taking her hands and…rolled over. “I want to watch you tonight,” he said.
Sage stared down at him, whimpering when his hands guided her hips into place. She perched atop his shaft, feeling powerful and strong and…beautiful! Then he lowered her down and she could barely breathe as he filled her up. Inch by inch, he filled her until it was almost too much. But she took all of him into her body, settling down with her hands braced on his chest. When his fingers tightened on her hips, she smiled, the sensation of power al
most overwhelming her.
“Anyway you want, honey,” he said, his fingers digging into her hips slightly. “Just move in whatever way feels good.”
She started experimenting, lifting herself higher, then sliding back down until she was sitting on him, his shaft fully inside of her. When she lifted again, she moaned as the friction made her shiver with sensation.
Gaining confidence now, she began to ride him. Over and over, she felt him deep inside of her. Sage took her time, experimenting with various angles and sensations until she found exactly what she wanted. And then she just kept going, feeling like a goddess as she used his body unmercifully.
When her climax came over her, she couldn’t believe how beautiful it was, how truly magnificent she felt as she rode him. His hands were all over her, touching her breasts and her stomach, guiding her with his hands on her bottom. It was…incredible!
When she was finished, he flipped her over and took control, thrusting into her faster and harder than she’d thought possible! Unbelievably, another climax hit her and she grabbed onto his shoulders, hanging on to him as her only lifeline in an ocean of desire deeper and more powerful than she’d ever believed possible!
When he finally collapsed against her, she couldn’t catch her breath. It was as if he was a lightning bolt and she was the rod. It was…magical!
She’d just closed her eyes when pounding thudded against the ceiling. Someone yelled but their words were muffled.
“What’s that about?” she asked.
Arik lifted his head, laughing down at her. “I think your screaming woke my upstairs neighbor,” he explained.
Sage stared at him, not understanding. She hadn’t screamed. She never screamed. “I didn’t!” she whispered. But even as she said the words, she realized her throat felt scratchy and sore. “I did!”
He laughed, hugging her close and kissing her neck. “It was awesome!”
Chapter 9
“Sage!” a female voice called out.
Sage turned, smiling as her older sister burst into the house. “I’m fine!” she said to her sister who hadn’t bothered to knock. Nor would she. Jade wasn’t going to let a mere piece of wood or lock get in the way of protecting her baby sister, even if that baby sister was only two years younger than herself.
Sage could hear her sister’s shoes on the floors. “Where are you?”
Sage stepped out of the kitchen, drying her hands. “I’m right here,” she said with a calm, even voice. “I’m perfectly fine. No reason to worry.”
Jade kept moving forward until she could hug Sage. The sisters stood like that for a long moment, only half aware of the two men watching with amused resignation.
“She okay?” Simon asked his partner. Arik immediately nodded. “She’s fine. She was pretty exhausted when you asked me to check on her. I knew immediately that something was off.”
“Why?”
Arik sighed. “She was visibly stressed and exhausted. I doubt she’d slept more than two hours before that night.”
Simon turned to frown at his friend and partner. “What the hell is going on?”
Arik crossed his arms over his chest, but kept his body at an angle so that he could keep an eye on Sage. “She knew that something was wrong. Things were missing in her house, flowers outside stepped on and damaged, pots broken on her patio, and,” he paused to check on the ladies before he continued, quietly, “and someone jimmied the lock on her back door.”
“What the hell?” Simon growled. “I installed those locks myself!”
“I know. They’re good.” He rubbed a hand over the scruff that he hadn’t bothered to shave this morning. Mostly because he was preoccupied with a very lovely lady. “I didn’t tell her about the lock because I didn’t want her to worry, but I also don’t want her around here until we catch the guy.” He sighed. “I’m taking her to my place every night until I catch whoever it is. I want her far away from here.”
Simon’s eyes narrowed as he considered his friend’s words. Slowly, he nodded, glanced pointedly at Sage, then back at Arik. “So it finally happened then?”
“Finally?”
Simon smiled. “Hell, man. I’ve known that you’ve had a thing for Sage ever since the first moment you laid eyes on her.”
Arik considered arguing the point, but didn’t bother. Simon was right. He’d been struck dumb and blind where Sage was concerned, since he’d first seen her. He would have done something about it months ago, but she had pushed him away.
Now he understood why. Now he wanted to find her ex-husband and kick his ass!
“I want to go around and check out the hotels,” he said, keeping his voice low so Sage and Jade couldn’t overhear.
“You think it’s someone from out of town?” Simon probed. “You don’t think it’s a local who saw her in the grocery store and…I mean, she is a beautiful woman, Arik.”
Arik looked over at Sage. The two sisters had moved to the kitchen and were whispering together. Sage must have felt his gaze because she glanced up, and their eyes locked. In that instant, he knew that she felt just as connected.
“Snap out of it, man!” Simon cautioned, adding a playful punch to Arik’s arm for emphasis. “We have to figure this out.”
Arik jerked his attention back to his partner, nodding sharply. “Right.”
“You were telling me why you think that it’s an out of towner.”
Arik rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know. It just doesn’t feel like someone from around here.”
“In what way?”
Arik thought back to the foot prints. “Well, for one thing, most people around here wear boots. It’s part of the job, in most cases. And part of the culture.”
“Agreed. So what?”
“The foot prints I noticed outside of Sage’s windows weren’t boots. They were shaped…more like a dress shoe.”
“In what way?”
Arik heard the intensity in his partner’s voice and appreciated the fact that the man wasn’t questioning his instincts. Just trying to understand. “There were lines on the prints. Men’s dress shoes have rubber soles with lines for traction on concrete sidewalks.”
Simon nodded. “And here, boots don’t have the lines because they’d interfere with horseback riding.”
“Exactly. We need a smooth sole for the stirrups.”
Simon’s eyes narrowed. “Okay, so we’ll check the hotels on the edge of town first and work our way in.”
“I agree. I don’t think that the person doing this would be too close though. In fact,” Arik sighed and looked over at Sage, then dropped his voice lower still. “I think it’s her ex-husband.”
Simon stared for a long moment, then glanced at the sisters who were settled at the table now, steaming mugs of tea at hand. “Sage was married?”
“Yeah. The guy was a real bastard. Emotionally and psychologically abusive.”
“Physically?” Simon asked, the tension in his body increasing tenfold.
“Not that she said. But I don’t know if Sage would admit it. Not yet. She’s still a bit…battle-weary from her ex-husband’s taunts during their short marriage.”
“How did she get out of that relationship?”
Arik’s pride in his woman brightened his eyes. “She started killing him,” he explained, laughing at the Simon’s stunned expression. “Yeah, I know, I made the same face. She writes stories about killing abusive men. Female serial killers,” he continued. “Apparently, Sage is a best-selling mystery writer.”
“Seriously?” Simon asked, then laughed at Arik’s nod. He looked over at the two ladies again. “Jade mentioned that she was a writer, but I just assumed she was a blogger or a journalist.”
“She funneled her anger into her writing, submitted her first story to a publisher, and her career was launched. It gave her enough money to leave the ass.” He laughed. “Apparently, the ex-husband warned her that he wouldn’t give her alimony. Sage agreed. Got a quick divorce and moved out here to W
yoming.”
Simon chuckled. “Good for her! Too many women, and men, struggle to find a way out of those situations.”
Arik’s humor diminished. “Yeah, well, I don’t think the husband is done yet. I think he’s lurking out there, coming by her house when she’s not home and just…terrifying her.”
Simon’s jaw clenched. “That’s not good. He’ll escalate.”
“They always do,” Arik agreed. “When they don’t get satisfaction from one strategy, they’ll try a different one. I think the guy is messing with her mind. I just don’t know why.”
Simon punched his partner on the shoulder. “Let’s go find out.”
“First, I want to get Sage and Jade over to my place along with the dogs.”
“Dogs?”
Arik chuckled, then opened the back door and whistled. A moment later, the dogs came streaking across the backyard. He noticed that Xena shortened her stride so that Minx could keep up, and the smaller pup was giving it his all.
“Hi guys!” Sage cooed, bending down to greet her “babies”. She put an arm around each animal, who leaned against her happily, their tongues hanging out and their tails sweeping across the floor behind them. “Simon, Jade, this is Minx,” she introduced the little guy, “And this is Xena. Arik helped me pick them out yesterday.”
Arik rolled his eyes. “I had nothing to do with that walking mop,” he muttered.
Sage was already down on her knees, extending her hands for the pair to smell. She scratched their ears as they greeted her. “Oh my! You guys are very handsome fellows!”
“Xena is a girl,” Sage pointed out. “Minx is the male. He’s also the pseudo alpha dog, aren’t you sweetie?”
Minx stared up at Sage with adoring eyes as if agreeing with her. “You’re adorable!” Jade corrected.
Simon chuckled. “They are cute,” he agreed with his wife.
“The mop thinks he’s in charge, and the big one lets him, but she’s really the one in control.”
“As it should be,” Jade commented.
Arik rolled his eyes, and headed back so that he could talk to Simon. “Let’s get the ladies and dogs over to my place, then we’ll find this bastard.”
Summer Heat (Wyoming Fever Book 2) Page 8