Colton 911--The Secret Network

by Marie Ferrarella

  It was as if he was attempting to put a lid on a pot that was threatening to explode at any second.

  In that one moment in time, their eyes met, and suddenly, there were no more secrets between them, no more hiding places where those same unvoiced secrets could be tucked away.

  The very intense desire that seemed to have been there right from the start took over, ready to govern her every move, her every thought.

  January had never felt like this before, whether because she hadn’t had any time, or because she had never been attracted to another man to this extent, she didn’t know. All she did know was that whatever this was was threatening to explode within her, drenching every part of her, promising to be exquisite when it finally emerged.

  She couldn’t put any of this into words, and when she did try, Sean gently placed his finger against her lips, letting her know that right now, words really weren’t necessary.

  “We don’t want to disturb her,” he told her softly, nodding toward the sleeping Maya.

  January still wasn’t sure if they were on the same page, even though something—some deep inner instinct—told her that they were.

  For now, January just took the hand that Sean offered her and followed him out of the room.

  Without saying a word, as if talking at this moment would somehow break the spell, Sean took January into his bedroom.

  Looking around the room, January couldn’t help smiling.

  “You made your bed,” she noted, although the rest of the room still looked like a hurricane had recently touched down, then left.

  His eyes smiled at her as he said, “You’re rubbing off on me.” Then, because he was aware of what the rest of the room still looked like, he added with an appealing smile, “A little.”

  “Hey, Rome wasn’t built in a day—or cleaned up in one, either,” she told the man who had managed to totally hijack her heart without any effort whatsoever.

  Every part of her smiled at him even as he began undoing her by slow, languid increments.

  “No,” Sean agreed, his voice low, husky, as he pressed a kiss to her throat. “It wasn’t. But it’s always good to have something to aspire to,” he said, touching soft, tantalizing kisses along first one side of her neck and then the other.

  Her pulse quickened and she could feel her knees being reduced to the consistency of well-cooked spaghetti, all but dissolving beneath her.

  January found herself all but gasping for air. She dug her fingertips into his shoulders in an effort to remain upright.

  He could feel her swaying against him, trying to regain her balance. “Am I going too fast?” Sean asked.

  It took her a moment to actually comprehend the words. What she was really aware of was the feel of his warm breath along her skin as he formed them.

  Pulling herself together in order to focus on what he was actually asking, she finally answered, “No, not fast enough.”

  Her response pleased him, but at the same time, he wanted to be absolutely sure that she was a willing participant. That he hadn’t somehow managed to overwhelm her so she couldn’t think clearly. He needed this to be real.

  With what seemed like lightning speed, this woman had become incredibly important to him and he didn’t want to risk losing her because he had given in to the moment and, in so doing, had robbed her of her free will. He wanted her more than he could possibly say, but not that way.

  “You’re sure?” he asked.

  January drew back just a little so that she could look at him. The detective made her feel almost dizzy, she realized—and she reveled in the sensation.

  “Detective, I can sign a sworn statement to that effect if that would make you feel better, but could it wait until later?” Standing up on her toes, she brought her mouth up to less than an inch away from his. “Because right now, my hands have got better things to do than write,” January assured Sean just before she pressed her lips against his.

  Hard.

  At the same time, she managed to undo Sean’s belt, slipping it out of the loop that was holding it in place.

  She felt his grin forming beneath her lips. “Multitasking?” Sean asked her.

  There was nothing short of a wicked expression in her eyes as she answered, “Always.”

  She wasn’t sure if, in the end, it was he or she who slid his trousers down his very taut, appealing hips. January was only aware that the garment was no longer an obstacle.

  And neither was her dress.

  Sean had sent hot shivers down her back as he slowly lowered the zipper. But the way her dress managed to all but sigh as it fell to the floor, no longer creating any sort of barrier between them, remained a mystery.

  January wasn’t interested in the why, only in the end result. And the end result was that very, very quickly they went from being dressed to being naked. They were cloaked only in red-hot desire. It was coupled with a network of pulse-scrambling kisses mutually pressed to every conceivable place on their throbbing bodies with superb results.

  January had never even entertained an inkling of the fact that she could actually feel this beautiful, this overwhelmed. This incredibly exquisite. Accustomed to giving, she desperately wanted to share this wondrous feeling, to make Sean feel exactly what she was experiencing at this very moment. She could honestly say that every single part of her body was smiling and cheering at the same time.

  While she had no idea exactly what was happening to her, she did know that she didn’t want this to end—even though it had to.

  Still, January tried to hang on to the mind-blowing sensation that had suddenly taken hold of her.

  Sean felt his breath growing shorter and shorter. Like a man who had fallen overboard and was only marginally able to swim, he found himself close to being overwhelmed.

  He never would have guessed, not in a million years, that this sweet, kind, thoughtful person he had impulsively kissed harbored a powerful storm within her. A storm that stirred his blood and made him unbelievably happy to be here with her tonight. This unexpected surprise completely took his breath away and made him want to pleasure her within an inch of both their lives.

  Maybe it was foolish, but Sean couldn’t shake the feeling that what was happening right at this moment was something that two people had never experienced before. Not to this extent.

  It wasn’t conceit or vanity that made him feel this way, just a secret insight that had taken over and was now, inexplicably, holding the reins.

  Every kiss between them gave birth to one more. Every eager caress cloned itself into yet another, more stirring touch.

  Heaven help him, but he couldn’t seem to get enough even as he tried his very best not to overwhelm her.

  Or scare her off.

  When he heard her labored breathing, he drew his head back, concerned. Had he gotten too carried away?

  “Are you all right?” he asked, his eyes sweeping over her face.

  “If I were any more all right,” January told him, her eyes shining, “I’d probably be in heaven right about now.”

  Sean laughed then, relieved as well as delighted at the way she had assessed the situation.

  “How do you know that this isn’t heaven?” he asked. “Because it is, for me.”

  Then he filled his hands with her, bringing her body closer to his and exulting in every warm, giving inch of it as he caressed her.

  He slowly kissed her over and over again, feasting on her lips before moving down to the swell of her breasts, thriving on the sounds of ecstasy that escaped her as she reacted to him.

  When he found that he couldn’t hold himself in check any longer, Sean laced his fingers through hers and drew himself up along her body.

  January shivered in anticipation.

  And then, his eyes on hers, Sean slowly entered her. The rhythm between them seemed to come on its own, filling
his soul as well as hers.

  Sean began to move.

  At first it was just ever so slowly, but then the tempo increased. January matched it, moving with him beat for beat. She managed to delight him and tantalize him without even knowing it.

  Sean kissed her harder as he continued to up the tempo until it was all but a frenzy throbbing between them.

  Bound together in this inner paradise, they went faster and faster until they raced together as one to the very highest pinnacle on the summit.

  The explosion that seized them echoed through their bodies simultaneously. They clung to each other, savoring the experience and wishing that it would never end, even though they knew that it would.

  The euphoria melted away in layers, eventually leaving them in each other’s arms, in awe of the moment and savoring the memory.

  January felt her heart pounding so hard she thought it would stop. She waited for it to regain its normal rhythm.

  It took a little longer for her to steady her breathing.

  “Detective,” January finally managed to say to him in a voice that was barely above a whisper. “You definitely have some hidden talents.”

  “That would probably be thanks to my earlier undercover work,” he said wryly, kissing the top of her head as he held her close against him. “And you. Let’s not forget you.” He returned the compliment. “You are a total revelation.”

  “You mean I’m not the boring dud you thought I might be?” January asked, amused, as she continued to try to catch her breath.

  Sean’s grin grew wider. “The words dud or boring never crossed my mind. Give me a few minutes to regroup and I’ll be ready for round two.”

  Not that she wasn’t sorely tempted, but she knew she couldn’t give in to that. And she told him as much. “Oh, as enticing as that really is, I think that might be pushing it.”

  Sean raised himself up on his elbow to look at her. “Don’t tell me I drained you,” he said incredulously. The way she moved, Sean was convinced that the woman had enough energy to go on like that indefinitely.

  “No, it’s not that,” she told him with more than a tinge of regret in her voice. “But I feel like I should be getting back to the guest room before Maya wakes up and wonders where I am. She’s much too young to understand what happened here, and on top of that, I never learned the proper signs to explain to her what we just did—even if I wanted to, which I really don’t,” January added with feeling.

  Getting off his bed, she looked around for her discarded clothes while Sean caught himself looking at her—and aching for her all over again.

  “Yeah, maybe you’d better go,” he reluctantly agreed. “Before I totally disregard all the sense you’re making and give in to this overwhelming desire to seduce you.”

  “Seduce me?” January echoed, amused, as she pulled on her dress. Since she was going back to bed once she reached the guest room, she didn’t put on any of her undergarments. “Is that what you call it?” she asked him. “Because from where I was, it looked pretty much like we were seducing each other.”

  Sitting up on the bed, Sean reached over and hooked his arm around her waist, pulling her to him. He was unable to resist one last, deep kiss.

  Releasing her after several beats, Sean took in a long breath. “Yeah,” he agreed with a grin. “I guess you’re right.” Nodding his head, he allowed his eyes to wash over her one last time. “We’re going to need to talk about that.”

  She looked at him, uncertainty undulating through her. Why did he want to talk about it? Was he already beginning to regret what had happened tonight? She had next to no experience with men, but she knew a lot of women who had poured out their hearts to her, telling her about being tossed aside after having what they thought was the perfect romantic interlude. They had thought they were building something when it turned out they had experienced the vibrations of a death knell.

  “Why would you want to talk about it?” she asked, even as she warned herself to drop the subject.

  “Well, I don’t know about you, but after what just happened between us, I really don’t want that to be the last time,” Sean told her.

  As he talked, Sean quickly got dressed again. All he could think of was that Maya might accidentally come looking for them. He didn’t want her education to take a turn for the adult at this point in her life.

  January blinked, staring at him. Did he just say what she thought he had, or was that purely wishful thinking on her part?

  “You don’t?” she asked him.

  “No, I don’t,” he answered with emphasis, then asked her pointedly, “Do you?”

  She stared at him. “Would I be too pushy if I said no, I don’t?”

  “I’m sorry, my head’s a little scrambled,” he admitted. “Is that no, you don’t want it to be the last time, or no, you—”

  She leaned over and stopped his mouth with her own. It was the best way she knew to end this line of conversation that seemed likely to go around in circles and not lead to the desired destination.

  When she stopped kissing him this time, January told him, “No, at the risk of sounding like a complete pushover, I do not want this to be the last time you and I build our own stairway to heaven.”

  He grinned. “That is a very interesting way to put it.”

  “Well, right now, that is the only way I am going to be able to put it. I’ve really got to get back to Maya before she wakes up, gets scared and comes looking for me.”

  “She might not wake up,” he told her.

  “Maybe not,” January agreed, “but I really don’t want to risk it.”

  “Yeah.” Sean nodded, even though it cost him. “You really shouldn’t.”

  Her mouth dropped open at the same time that her heart swelled. The words escaped her mouth before she could react to stop them.

  “And that’s why I love you.”

  The next moment, she was stunned as shock—not to mention instant regret—filled her. January had no idea what had come over her. She had allowed words that should never have seen the light of day emerge, unencumbered, on their own.

  Chapter 19

  She realized that attempting to backtrack at this point wasn’t going to do her any good.

  “I mean—” January had no idea how to take back what she had just said.

  Sean could only look at her, speechless, because of what he had just heard her say. “You what?”

  “Nothing,” January cried, unable to take it back and at the same time very aware that she was attempting to close the barn door a second after the horse had managed to gallop off, escaping. “I’m delirious,” she quipped. “I don’t know what I’m saying.”

  “Well, from here it sounded like you said you loved me,” Sean told her. The expression on his face was totally serious.

  Tossing her head, January tried her best to brazen it out. “If I were you, I’d get my hearing checked,” she informed him, avoiding his eyes as she headed for the bedroom door.

  “It’s good to know,” Sean continued, ignoring her disclaimer and commenting on what January had just said.

  “And why’s that?” she asked without turning around.

  “Because,” he replied very matter-of-factly, “I think I love you, too.”

  That statement, uttered without any fanfare, stopped her dead in her tracks. It took her a minute to recapture her breath. Very slowly, she turned to look at Sean, then she immediately turned back toward the hallway.

  This was just too much for her to deal with, January thought.

  “I’ve got to get back to Maya,” she said, her voice all but stilted.

  Sean nodded as if they were having a regular conversation. He wasn’t about to stop her from leaving. Instead, he casually told her, “I’ll put this on the list of things we need to talk about.”

  January made no comment. She just
continued down the hallway.

  Still, she couldn’t get herself to stop smiling.

  * * *

  He needed to get his mind off January and back on the reason he was here in the first place, Sean upbraided himself. His priority was protecting Maya. But he was also focused on finding a way to bring down Mercer. He needed to find out if the drug lord was the one who had executed those three men in the warehouse, or if he’d paid someone to do it for him.

  Sean’s search for answers hadn’t led him anywhere, but he wasn’t about to give up. His gut told him that there had to be something that he was missing.

  It had to be somewhere in his records, he thought. He just needed to find what it was that he had managed to somehow overlook.

  His thoughts kept him up for most of the remainder of the night.

  * * *

  He finally managed to drift off. And when he did wake up, it was to the warm, tempting smell of fried eggs and bacon.

  January was making breakfast, he realized.

  A man could really get used to this.

  Throwing off the covers, the detective took a five-minute shower then quickly got dressed. He was making his way to the kitchen within ten minutes after opening his eyes.

  Because of the aroma, Sean had expected to find January in the kitchen, preparing breakfast. But he was surprised that she had a pint-sized assistant helping her. The chord that this utterly domestic scene struck made him smile.

  “Is she really helping?” he asked, nodding at Maya. “Or does she get underfoot?”

  January hadn’t heard Sean entering and, remembering last night in all its glorious detail, she smiled warmly at him.

  “Let’s just say that she’s learning how to help,” January answered. “But she’s not really getting underfoot. She is helping.” Changing the topic slightly, she asked him, “How do you want your eggs this morning?”