Jamie turned the rest of the way until she was on her knees, straddling his legs. She put her hands on the sides of his face and lifted his head to look at her. “I feel exactly the same way. I have this ache, this emptiness inside me.”
“Kiss me. I’ll take care of it.” He pulled her head down until theirs lips touched. The contact was electric. Her arms wrapped around his neck clinging, pulling him closer. He slipped his hands under her knees buckling them, settling her down on top of him. She let out a muffled cry of pleasure as he entered her, stretching her. She threw her head back and pressed down on him until his full length was buried inside her.
When she started gyrating he pushed up at her groaning. He put his hands firmly on her hips. “Honey, you have to slow down. I’m not using any protection.”
“It’s okay,” Jamie whispered. She didn’t want to stop. She’d dreamed of this moment since the morning he walked out of her motel room after Nicole and Hunter’s wedding.
Her breath came in short withering gasps. She fought against Quint’s arms as they encircled her waist trying to restrain her. Then she made a soft protest when he lifted her off of him.
“Come on little mermaid, let’s move to the bed,” he murmured.” He stood up with her in his arms, stepped out of the tub, and headed for the adjoining bedroom.
She clasped her arms around his neck. “Aren’t we going to dry off?” she asked.
“No. Takes too long.”
She was laughing when he laid her on the bed.
“I’ll be right back,” he said trying to dislodge her arms.
She held tight. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“What about protection?”
“I said it’s okay. Don’t leave me.”
Quint didn’t need any further encouraging. He eased onto the bed, braced himself up on his elbows and stared down at her, brushing the damp curls off her face. “Have I told you how much I need you.”
Jamie reached up and pulled his hand to her lips. “You’re the first person who’s ever said that to me.” She lifted her face for his kiss.
His lips moved from her face to her neck and lower to suck the budding tip of a breast into his mouth. Jamie buried her fingers in his hair, biting her lip to keep from screaming out. His mouth made a hungry trail down her belly. When he attempted to go lower, her grasp on his hair tightened.
“No. Don’t.”
Quint halted his quest and looked up at her. “You’re beautiful all over, love. I want to kiss every inch of your body.”
“I don’t think—”
“Just lay back, relax. I promise you’ll enjoy it.”
Jamie’s laugh was shaky. “Relax? I’m about as relaxed as a forest fire. I’m burning up. What are you doing to me?”
In answer his sucking mouth sought out her most erogenous zone. Wild sensations snaked through her body like streaks of white lightening. She was beyond breathing, beyond conscious thought. She cried out as release took her in pulsing waves. It zapped the strength from her, leaving her weak and throbbing.
She could feel his movement on the bed as he came to lay beside her. “Nobody has ever done anything like that to me,” she whispered when she could find her voice. She absently stoked his shoulder, using first her fingertips and then her nails.
“I’m glad I could be the first,” he said in her ear. Then he was kissing her again, hungrily. She could taste the musk of her own passion on his lips, but he hadn’t finished with her yet. While she was still pulsating, he entered her and started moving inside her. He brought her to the top of the mountain again. He spoke to her in crooning whispers, silencing her moans with urgent kisses.
“Come with me, babe. Soar with me. Let it go, sweetheart.”
When he finally sagged against her they were both breathless. He rolled over to his side bringing her with him. She curled up in the shelter of his arm and slept.
Quint pulled a cover over both of them. He stared at the wall where the moonlight cast narrow strips of light through the partially open blinds. Colors from a flashing neon sign across the street danced intermittently over the moonlit strips. If he concentrated on the colors he wouldn’t have to think.
Red for the roses he’d sent her, one for each time they’d made love that first night. Gold for the color of her eyes. Green for the plants she loved. Red for blood spilled on a racetrack. Gold for the Cadillac trying to run her off the road. Green for the color of the cap the driver wore. A cap with a logo of gold circles. He’d never seen the logo before, but if he ever saw it again he’d recognize it.
* * * *
Jamie woke to the sound of a phone screaming in her ear. When she tried to reach for it, Quint’s arm tightened around her.
“Don’t answer it,” he said sleepily. “Let’s just stay in bed all day.”
She kissed him on his stubbled cheek. “Easy for you to say. If I don’t show up at that track today we’ll be having a lot of company.” She eased away from him, glancing at the clock, groaning when she saw it was eight thirty. She reached for the phone, knowing it would be Buster wondering where she was.
She put the phone to her ear. “Yeah, what is it?”
“Jamie,” Buster’s voice boomed from the receiver. “Where the hell are you? Are you okay?”
Quint reached over and cupped one of her breasts in his hand.
Jamie smiled. “I’m fine—if I’m not there just start without me.”
“What!”
“I’m joking. I’ll be there.”
There was silence on the line for a moment. “Oh, jeez don’t do that to me. You want to put me into cardiac arrest?” Buster paused again. “I have some information you’re not going to like.”
“You’re putting Lasco in to run my car?”
“Now I know you’re joking. You’re starting to worry me. You never joke.”
Quint’s hand moved to her belly.
“Well, maybe I’m just in a good mood,” she said, grabbing Quint’s hand before it could roam further.
Buster gave a cynical snort of laughter. “Well, hold that thought, because you drew first run. You have to make your qualifying round in two hours.”
Jamie swore under her breath. “Is the car ready?”
“It’ll be ready. You just get your little butt over here. We need to talk. There’s a detective snooping around asking questions about Jimbo’s death.”
“I’ll be there shortly.”
She hung up the phone and sagged back on her pillow.
“Problem?” Quint asked.
“You might say that. I got a bad draw. I have to qualify at ten-thirty.”
Quint rolled over on his back, mumbling some choice words she didn’t care to decipher.
“What can I do to help?” he offered.
“You can order room service while I shower. Just get a toasted English muffin and two soft-boiled eggs for me. Order whatever you want for yourself. Tell them to put a rush on it.”
“Does that mean I can’t shower with you?”
Jamie headed for the bathroom, giving him an impish wink. “I’ll take a rain check on that. And, on the way to the track, you better fill me in on what Virgil had to say. Buster said there’s a detective there asking questions.”
“Sampson.”
“Who else?” She called from the bathroom. “Which reminds me, I have some questions of my own for my loving father.”
Chapter Fourteen
Jamie took a few minutes to get Quint settled in with the crew before she had to report in with NASCAR officials for her qualifying run. It was fortunate for her that she worked well under stress, because being the first driver up was the ultimate pressure. Forty-two drivers would follow after her, all trying to beat her numbers.
She climbed into her car, assisted by the crew, and strapped in. Beyond the wall she got a last glimpse of Quint’s anxious face. She hoped he wasn’t thinking about that Indian-going-into-battle thing. She never got a chance to tell him it was an ongoing joke amon
g the drivers. It was the last personal thought she allowed herself.
She made an initial run around the track to get the feel of the car, before calling in the okay. The green flag snapped, starting her clock.
Quint climbed up on the trailer to watch and stay out of the way. He got a friendly greeting from Tim and Hal who were sitting in front of a television monitor that had been set up. Buster was down below wearing headphones and watching the central monitors with the rest of the crew.
Quint had no idea how fast she was going or how fast she needed to go. He’d heard enough to understand that the first driver set the pace for those following.
Buster said running early had only one advantage as far as he was concerned. It was the coolest part of the day. This had more importance, however, in the heat of the summer than in mid September.
Quint’s heart rate slammed into overdrive as he watched her take the first turn. It looked like she went into the curve playing a game of chicken with the wall. If it came to blows between a mound of concrete and a speeding hunk of metal there was no doubt who would come out the winner. A map work of scars adorned the wall like graffiti trophies to prove that point.
Tim watched her closely, calling her moves, giving her encouragement even though she couldn’t hear a word he said.
“Go in low, Jamie-girl, hold it steady, three-quarter throttle, you got it. Yes. Okay, squeeze the gas, unwind the steering, push the outer wall. Cut the gas, pressure on the brake… Not too fast… Keep it off the wall, Sweetheart. Great, now pop her into third and get your RPMs up and power down that straightaway. Shift! Shift! Goddammit… You’ll blow the engine! Jesus, Jamie, you scare the crap out of me when you test the engine that way. Grab the turn, hang on. Okay, babe, mash it down. You’re home free.”
Tim collapsed in a chair, breathing heavily.
Hal nearly choked on his laughter. “Tim, you act like you gave vaginal birth to that engine.”
“I did,” Tim groused. “Well, not the vaginal part.”
“Trust her, she knows what she’s doing,” Hal said.
“How did she do?” Quint asked.
“We’ll know in a minute,” Hal answered. “Looked real good. I wouldn’t be surprised if she did one twenty. That’s one hundred and twenty miles an hour,” he explained to Quint. “Their position is established by the highest average speed.”
“She did better than one-twenty,” Tim said. “I’ll bet you a six pack.”
“No bet,” Hal said grinning. “But if she did better, I’ll buy a whole case and help you drink it.”
“Deal!”
A cheer went up from the crew on the ground. They were slapping each other on the back as Jamie’s car pulled into the pit.
“One twenty-three!” Buster yelled.
When Jamie pulled into the pit, the crew helped her out of the car, congratulating her with bear hugs. Buster wasn’t in on the hugging but his craggy face glowed like a Halloween jack-o-lantern.
Quint was surprised see Marcus Lasco in the midst of the revelers. “I thought Lasco didn’t like Jamie,” he said to Hal.
Hal spit a wad of chaw over the side of the trailer. “Shit, he likes her, all right. The guy’s got a hard on for her so bad he can’t get his britches on some days, but she won’t give him the time of day. Man, was he pissed when you walked in the shop with her.”
Quint frowned. “I thought he just wanted her job.”
Tim chuckled. “He’d like both her and her job, but even he’s smart enough to know he doesn’t have a chance at either one.”
Hal threw a husky arm around Quint’s shoulders. “Lasco’s only chance at her job is if somebody up and marries her and gets her pregnant. He should be loving you up like his favorite puppy.”
Tim grunted. “Knock it off, Hal. You’re getting out of line.”
Hal threw his massive arms in the air. “What did I say?”
Tim grinned at Quint. “I hope Jamie warned you about taking a little ribbing. Most of us have known that girl since she was chin high to an eighteen-wheeler tire. A lot of the younger fellows grew up with her, not only our crew but a good share of the others too. I know only two people who were happy when she started taking up with Clay Riker.”
Quint watched her from his lofty perch. She had managed to shake the crew and was coming toward the trailer. “I suppose that would be Jamie and Clay,” Quint said rather glumly.
“Hell no,” Tim snorted. “That would be Buster LeCorre and Kent Riker, Clay’s father. They pushed those two together from the time they were teenagers. The day they broke up we all went out and got drunk to celebrate.”
Jamie climbed up on the van. She was smiling. “I see you guys are all chummy up here.”
Tim rounded on her. “What the hell you trying to do to my engine, woman?” He was unsuccessful at concealing his grin as he gave her a hug. “Congratulations, girl. I have a hunch there’ll be some cars waltzing with the wall trying to beat your time.”
“God, I hope not,” she said.
Hal came up behind her to give her shoulders a squeeze. “Great run, kid. How’s the car handling?”
She smiled. “Thanks Hal. Car’s perfect. One lap down, five hundred and thirty-three to go.”
Quint was staring at her with wide eyes. “Over five hundred laps.”
Hal burst out laughing. He slapped Quint on the back. “Take it easy, son. It’s only a four hundred mile race. Some are five and six hundred. Come on, Tim, we better give that speed wagon a once over.”
Quint gave Jamie a shaky smile. “He’s kidding, right?”
Jamie laughed. “No, I’m afraid this time he isn’t. This race is called the Chevy Monte Carlo 400. Next week is the New Hampshire 300, after that the Talladega 500. You had better sit down, Quint, you don’t look so good.”
Quint opened his arms to her. “Don’t worry about me. Just get over here for your hug. I seem to be the last one in line to congratulate you.”
She stepped into his waiting embrace. “I was saving the best for last. Besides, I wanted to be alone with you.”
“Alone? We’re on top of a semi trailer in the middle of a three-quarter mile international speedway. Hundreds of people are able to see us.”
She lifted her face to smile at him. “I don’t care. Kiss me so they have something to talk about.”
“You are a delightful minx.” Quint pressed his mouth down hungrily on her lips.
Their kiss continued even as the roar of the second car started its qualifying run. A few minutes later, the cheers went up from the Pink Mink pit below.
Jamie broke from Quint to see what the commotion was about and found thirty pairs of eyes staring up at them.
“Don’t you guys have anything to do down there?” she yelled.
Somebody yelled back. “Yeah, we’re doing it.”
Jamie smiled up at Quint. “I guess we better save this for later when we’re really alone. By the way,” she whispered, “last night was fantastic.”
Quint slipped his arms around her waist. “You must be reading my mind,” he said. “I do need to ask you something though. I didn’t use any protection—exactly what did you mean when you said it was okay?”
“I had a Depo shot. It’s a pregnancy prevention—”
“I know what it is. I also know it takes a while to be effective.”
“Yeah. Come on, let’s sit down and watch the other racers.” She pulled a chair up in front of the monitor and started to sit down.
Quint followed her. “Just when did you have this shot, Jamie?”
“Two days after I got back from the wedding. Davis finished his run. How’d he do?” she called down to the crew.
Buster answered her. “One nineteen. No threat there.”
Quint didn’t say anything. He was staring at her with a disbelieving look on his face. “You care to explain that?” he asked finally.
“Well, that puts Davis in second place until—”
“Jamie.”
Jami
e lifted her shoulders in an innocent shrug. “Well, I enjoyed my time with you so much, I thought I might try a few more one-night stands.”
Quint snorted. “And rabbits lay colored eggs.”
“They don’t?”
“You knew I was coming, didn’t you?”
Jamie turned her eyes back to the screen where the third driver was starting his run. “Not exactly…but…one little corner of my mind was hoping. It was a very small corner, mind you.” Her gaze narrowed playfully as it swiveled to meet his.
“How could you possibly want to see me again after the shitty way I treated you? And if you did want to see me, why the cold reception?”
“I wanted to see you…until I actually saw you… Then I was angry again.”
“Truthfully, I was surprised you gave in.”
“I might not have if Nicole…”
Quint waited for her to go on but her attention was focused back on the screen. His mouth formed a thin line. “You may as well finish what you were going to say, because we’re not leaving the top of this truck until you do.”
“It’s not a truck. It’s a trailer.”
“Whatever. Tell me about Nicole. You asked her about me, didn’t you?”
Jamie shrugged. “All right. Yes, I asked her what kind of a person you were.”
“And what did she tell you?”
“She said you were a wolf and I should stay away from you.”
Quint folded his arms over his chest and narrowed his gaze on her.
Jamie laughed. “Okay, she said you were like a brother to Hunter and were a vital part of their family. The rest was girl-talk.”
“Girl-talk?”
“Yeah. Girl-talk.”
“I’m getting a picture of teenagers sitting on the phone and giggling over boys.”
Jamie gave him a wide grin.
Another volley of cheers came from below. Somebody bellowed out, “one twenty one, another one down.”
Jamie gave them a smiling thumbs-up before turning back to Quint. “Any more questions?”
“Just one. When exactly did you have this little chat with Nicole?”
“At the wedding reception. I’m a little surprised you didn’t corner Hunter and question him about me.”
Secret Sacrifices Page 17
