by Elise Noble
“And the property guy?”
“No motive. Unless being an asshole counts.”
“We must be missing something.” Emmy started pacing. I was with her in spirit, but I couldn’t be bothered to get up and join in.
“If it helps, the property guy’s having money troubles,” Mack offered.
“What kind of money troubles? His house didn’t smack of somebody who’s on the breadline.”
“He’s three months behind on the rent.”
“Interesting, but I’m still not sure how that would make him want to kill Christina. If the development went ahead, relocating Ethan’s project would be such a tiny part of it.”
“But why is he short of cash in the first place? I looked at his company accounts, and those developments are super profitable. Where did it all go? He’s never been married, so there’s no ex-wife who’s taking alimony, and even living in a palace, he should have plenty to spare.”
“Can’t you see from his bank account?”
“He takes chunks out as cash.”
“Drug habit?” Emmy suggested.
“I didn’t see any evidence of that,” I said.
He hadn’t had any of the signs of a long-term user. I’d seen enough of them on the streets to know.
Emmy looked at Mack, Mack looked at me, and I looked at Emmy.
“Hookers,” we said, all at the same time.
Could that be the answer? Had he met Christina?
“But there’s nothing on his phone records,” Mack said.
“Another phone?” I suggested.
“Maybe, but how do we find it?”
Emmy grinned. “Break into his house?”
Sometimes I think she actually preferred the illegal approach. Not that hacking the phone company’s records was particularly legal either, but it somehow felt less invasive.
I groaned. “This is all just speculation. How do we know we’re not just clutching at straws?”
“We don’t,” she said. “But in the absence of anything else to clutch at…”
“Let Mack try the rest of her searches first.”
Emmy rolled her eyes. “Sometimes you’re so boring.”
Ethan was waiting in the hallway when I got back to Riverley, and he leapt off the sofa before I’d closed the front door.
“Bradley said you’d gone out to visit a suspect.”
How did Bradley even know? Sometimes I swore he bugged the rooms more than Nate did.
“Yeah I did, and I was perfectly fine. I can look after myself. You have to learn to trust me.”
Ethan didn’t seem convinced. “What happened?”
“We’ve still got checks to do, but Carr’s got no motive.”
“I told you that already.” He rubbed his temples. “Is this ever going to end?”
“One day. It has to.”
He sighed, then made an effort to smile. “Do you want dinner? Mrs. Fairfax has been experimenting with Caribbean food.”
“I need to look through the files again.” His face fell. Dammit, I kept forgetting how sensitive he was. “Okay, just something quick. I can work afterwards.”
He hesitated a second then took my hand. Thank fuck. Were we getting back to normal at last? Or at least, whatever passed for normal in this weird non-relationship we had going on?
In the kitchen, he held out a chair for me.
“Here, sit. I’ll get your food.”
Any other man who told me to sit like a dog would have felt my bite, but I kind of liked Ethan telling me what to do. The way he cared and wanted to look after me.
I sat.
Plus it meant I got to stare at Ethan’s ass as he moved about the room, plating up jerk chicken and rice and getting us cutlery. Wherever Bradley had found those pants, he needed to go back and buy Ethan ten more pairs.
“Do you like hot sauce?”
“No, just hot men.” Shit! It popped out before I could stop it, and Ethan stared at me. “Uh, hot man?” Dammit. “Just forget I said that part. Please?”
He leaned down, so close his lips brushed my ear. “Still having trouble keeping your mouth shut?”
Uh, yes? It hung open at the moment, and my tongue had rolled out. Ethan reached out and pushed my chin up then kissed the top of my hair.
“Eat the food, Dani.”
I loved the way he used my name all the time, or at least his variant of it. It rolled off his tongue and shot straight between my legs. Did he talk in the bedroom? Or better still, sing? Eli said he sang, right?
He slid a plate in front of me, and I forced myself to concentrate on eating. Fork to mouth, chew. Fork to mouth, chew. It was official: Ethan White made me lose my freaking mind.
And the worst part in all of it? Having to admit that Emmy was right.
Ethan sat beside me rather than opposite, close enough for our knees to touch. With my nerve endings already on fire, every bump sent a shockwave through me.
“Food okay?”
“Delicious.” I barely tasted it.
Ethan didn’t say much, and I didn’t trust myself to start a conversation. I’d probably blurt out something dirty and totally inappropriate and be forced to move into Emmy’s other house. Not just because of the embarrassment, but in case I got tempted to act it out.
But words didn’t matter. Just being in Ethan’s company was enough.
“Do you have more work to do tonight?” he asked when I’d taken my last mouthful.
“Yes.”
If there was one thing I could do for him, it was to solve this puzzle and get him his life back. I pushed my chair back and got up, and he did the same.
“Are you sure?”
He stepped forward and I held my breath, my heart thumping as his hand skimmed my hip.
No. “Yes.”
He kissed me softly on the cheek. “Then I’ll clear up here and see you later.”
CHAPTER 45
ETHAN WALKED SLOWLY towards me, a towel wrapped around his waist. Drops of water glistened on his hard chest as he walked through a sliver of moonlight, and I licked my lips. I couldn’t help it. He looked edible, and I longed to taste him. Every last inch.
My gaze dropped to the impressive bulge he sported under his towel. Oh yes, every last inch.
I slid one strap of my dress off my shoulder, and his eyes smouldered. The other strap followed, and the silky material pooled at my feet, leaving me standing before him in a pair of lace panties and diamond earrings.
“You’re overdressed,” I told him.
He closed the distance between us with four quick steps, then his mouth was on mine. Soft lips, and I couldn’t resist biting the bottom one like he so often did. He groaned softly, and I swallowed the sound, licking along the seam of his lips until they parted. Red-blooded male with a hint of whisky. Delicious.
“Ethan.”
His name escaped on a gasp as he brushed his fingers up the bare skin of my sides, so softly I could have imagined it. I shuddered, arching my back, and the movement pressed my breasts against him. His hand on my ass pulled me closer still, and his hard cock rocked against my stomach. I stood on tiptoes so it nestled between my legs, right where I wanted it to be. He lifted me effortlessly, and then we were both floating, floating…
Hold on, there was something wrong with this picture.
I woke with a start as Ethan’s fingertips trailed across the back of my neck. Shit. I’d fallen asleep in the conference room. I froze, tempted to feign sleep so Ethan would keep touching me, but when I shivered involuntarily, he knew I was awake.
Great. I sat up and peeled a sheet of paper from my cheek. A couple of paperclips dropped onto the table after it. Shit. Nothing said sexy like the indent of stationery on a girl’s face.
“Dani,” Ethan whispered. “Time for bed.”
He was right. It was. And as I shoved my chair back, I desperately wanted to drag him in there with me. And maybe take up Ana’s suggestion about the handcuffs.
Half asleep, I stumbled
back into him, and when he caught me, I knew at least one part of my dream was true. I could feel it at the top of my ass. He wrapped his arms around my chest, fingers brushing the underside of my breasts, and I relaxed then gave myself a mental slap. What was I doing?
Ethan was virtually a client. He was out on bail for murder, for fuck’s sake. He didn’t follow any of my rules. He knew my name. We’d had deeper conversations than, “Your place or mine?” Dammit, he knew me. He knew part of my history and some of my secrets. But did he know my desires?
Had he noticed my nipples straining against my bra? The goose bumps popping out on my arms? Did he realise my panties were soaking?
Time slowed down. All I could feel was his breath on my ear, his warm hands on my ribs, the beat of his heart against my back.
Fuck. Everything about this screamed “terrible idea.”
Because I knew, I absolutely knew, that this was the one man I wouldn’t be able to walk away from painlessly when the sun rose.
I closed my eyes as his lips brushed the skin under my earlobe. They were every bit as dangerous as I’d imagined. When I didn’t move, he trailed kisses downwards, licking along my carotid artery. Could he feel my pulse? Did he know it was racing in time with his heart?
I twisted in his arms. I had a craving for a midnight snack, and only one thing would satisfy it. One man. Just like in my dream, his lips parted, but instead of whisky, I tasted orange juice. I ran my tongue along that perfect row of white teeth then tangled it with his.
Control was lost.
But was my heart gone as well?
I locked my arms behind his neck and pulled his head down as I pressed up against him, moulding myself to the length of his body. He held me tight, and the ferocity of his kisses scared me a little. Not because I was afraid he would hurt me, but because I was afraid the feelings pouring out of the crack in my heart would lead to me hurting myself.
But I couldn’t stop. I needed this man inside me. I needed him to make the ache between my legs go away.
His hands were everywhere—my back, my ass, my breasts, tangled in my hair. I couldn’t resist giving his butt a squeeze, and damn, the man had glutes.
I took a step backwards and my ass hit the table. Without pausing, he hoisted me up onto it, our lips never leaving each other’s.
As he lifted, the smart dress I’d worn to meet Carr got bunched up, and now Ethan slid his hands underneath it, further, further, until his hands grazed the naked skin of my waist. I wrapped both legs around him and pulled him tight against me. He was rock hard now, and his cock had grown to a size that my subconscious had grossly underestimated. I released my arms to fumble with his belt, and I’d just gotten it undone when he pulled back and laid his forehead against mine.
“Dani, are you sure about this?”
In the dim light coming from my laptop screen, his eyes were endless black pools of emotion. Lust, hurt, and fear. It was like looking into a mirror.
“Sure? No, I’m not sure, but I don’t want to stop.”
He understood exactly what I meant.
“What about tomorrow? What happens then?”
“Tomorrow’s tomorrow. Can’t we live for tonight? Please, just give me tonight.”
He closed his eyes, fighting an inner battle. Who would win? The child who feared being hurt again? Or the rebel that said, “Take a chance.”
I closed my own eyes, fearful of watching his face in case I didn’t get the answer I wanted. An age passed before I felt the pinch of his teeth on my bottom lip.
“Open your eyes, Dani. I want to see everything you feel.”
I obliged, although the intensity of his gaze made me want to look away. For the first time, I saw right into him. And I knew he could see into me.
Right through to my twisted soul.
He arched his hips, and I writhed against him shamelessly.
“You feel how much I want you?” he whispered.
I nodded. It would be hard not to.
“How much do you want me?”
He soon got his answer as he pushed my panties to one side and slid a finger inside me. A half-smile, half-smirk appeared. Seeing some of the confidence this whole mess had knocked out of him return made my heart soar. Not to mention the fact that it made him look even sexier.
He drew his finger back and ran it along my centre, pausing on my clit then circling slowly. So maddeningly slowly. I sucked in a breath when he stopped, gripping him tighter with my legs.
“Please…”
“Please what, Dani?”
“Make me come.”
He kissed me again, and I shuddered against him. Fuck. A bead of sweat ran down my spine as the room got hotter, and my skin sizzled as Ethan touched it.
He swapped out that finger for a thumb, and I jolted as he pressed. He played my body like his Gibson, strumming a sweet tune as I vibrated underneath him. Two fingers slid inside me, and that was enough. Stars burst behind my eyes, fire tore through me, and I slumped into his arms.
He held me tight as I melted against him. “You burn, baby,” he whispered.
“You ignite me.”
When I stopped shaking, my hands made their way downwards to complete what they started earlier. Ethan’s belt already hung open, just a button and zipper to go. Then I could have my prize.
And what a trophy it was. I didn’t know whether to touch it, taste it, or beg him to fill me with it. As it happens, I didn’t have to make that decision.
Ethan groaned long and low as I stroked his length. “I don’t have a condom. I wasn’t exactly expecting to need any here.”
Luckily, I spied my handbag on the leather couch beside the door. Thank goodness I’d spent so long acting like a slut. I wriggled off the table and wobbled across the room on shaky legs.
“Got one! I’m always prepared for an emergency.”
I clapped a hand over my mouth. Oh, shit. Why had I said that? Ethan knew he wasn’t my first, but now was hardly an appropriate time to remind him of that. I wanted to sink into the floor, and my knees duly obliged. Ethan tried to walk towards me as I plopped onto the sofa, but his pants were around his ankles, so he lurched forward in an ungainly hop instead.
We stared at each other, and I couldn’t do anything but laugh.
“Could this be any more awkward?” he muttered.
Sure it could. We still had to get through the morning after part, and I’d spent my entire life avoiding that little issue.
I struggled to my feet and stepped forward, unsure, and he took another shuffle. We met in the middle and clung to each other.
“Can we just erase that part?” he asked.
I nodded, stifling a smile. He reached down and freed his legs then picked me up.
“Against the wall or on the table, Dani?”
“Table. We can do the wall later.”
He set me down on the polished wood, ripped open the condom, then did the same with my panties. I’d never liked those ones anyway.
I wrapped my legs around him and locked his gaze with mine as he lined himself up. A little nudge and he slowly slid inside me, seating himself to the hilt. A gasp escaped my lips. It was most definitely a stretch.
His smile came back, that secret, cunning smile, and I grinned back like a bloody idiot. This was where I wanted him to be. It was where he was meant to be.
He drew back slowly, a man with far more patience than I had. When he pushed forward, a moan tore from my lips as every nerve ending tingled. What was happening to me? Sex never felt like this. So…so…volatile. Like I could explode at a moment’s notice.
I wriggled, trying to get him to move again.
“Patience, Dani,” he murmured against my lips. “Unless you want this to be over fast, you’re gonna have to give me a minute.”
“Fast is fine. We can do slow after.”
“Fuck, baby.”
“Yes. Yes! Fuck. Exactly that.”
He gave up and slammed into me, again and again, and I screamed in
to his mouth as I came. Another second and I swallowed his cries as he let go as well. Holy freaking amazeballs.
All these years, I’d been doing it totally wrong. The old saying was true. Quality over quantity.
Hair fell into my eyes, and Ethan tucked it back behind my ears. His body felt slick against my fingers as I traced the contours of his back.
“We’re a mess,” I murmured.
“In every possible way. And you know what? I don’t care.”
He kissed me softly, and my heart sang.
“You want to make a bigger mess?” I asked.
“The dirtier, the better. Shall we head somewhere more comfortable?”
I nodded. Fun though the table was, a bed gave us more options.
Ethan pulled his pants back on while I shimmied my dress down. The house was silent as we tiptoed through it, holding hands.
“Your room or mine?” he asked.
“Mine’s closer.”
We were already pulling each other’s clothes off again as we fell through the door. If what happened downstairs was the warm-up, I couldn’t wait for the main event. I clicked on the bedside lamp so I could see Ethan’s face, and its soft glow showed he wanted this as much as I did.
That and his cock, already hard again despite its efforts downstairs. He lowered me to the bed, and I reached for the unopened box of condoms in the nightstand. I’d never brought a man back here before, but we’d be making quite a dent in those tonight.
What would happen come sunrise? I pushed that thought to the back of my mind.
Just enjoy tonight for what it is, Dan.
Ethan didn’t waste any time. Despite what he’d said about slow, our thrusts soon turned frantic. There was an undercurrent of need, an intensity that I’d never felt before, and it bordered on terrifying. Did Ethan feel it too?
I didn’t dare to ask.
After he’d spilled into me for the second time, he relaxed a little, and I lay back, boneless, as he went exploring. Fingers, lips, and tongue. Thank fuck I got waxed last week. Then it was my turn, and he tasted every bit as delicious as I’d imagined. My very own lollipop, sweet as sugar.
We played for hours, and the moon was already dropping when my eyes began to close. Ethan gathered me close, and I nestled against him as I drifted off. Safe. Wanted. Content.