Reunited in Danger

by Joya Fields

  Margaret’s shooting had brought out an urgency for living life in the moment. Love could disappear so fast. Sure, they hadn’t resolved all of their issues from the past, but right now, she didn’t care. She needed him right now.

  She lifted her chin and slammed the car door.

  To hell with common sense.

  …

  Logan planted his second empty beer bottle of the night on the scratched coffee table. The day had been a wreck. He’d wanted to stay with Keely, to hold her and comfort her, but he’d had to back off. Give her the space she wanted. But Christ, how he hated being away from her.

  A knock on the door jolted his attention from the television. Pressing the MUTE button on the old black and white western, he stood, heartbeat accelerating. Nobody knocked this time of night unless there was trouble. He grabbed his Glock and walked to the door.

  Squinting through the peephole, he spotted Keely, wearing a fragile-looking smile and holding a six-pack of beer. Surprise and lust kicked him in the gut. His muscles tensed. Could he really trust himself to be alone with her? He ran a hand through his hair, still wet from an earlier shower, then unlocked the deadbolt.

  He yanked the door open. “What are you doing in this neighborhood after dark? You should have called so I could watch for you.”

  She must have expected his greeting, because she whizzed past him and headed for the couch with the six-pack. She left a heavenly trail of vanilla behind her. “Hello to you, too.”

  No, no, no! This would not work.

  He put his weapon in a drawer and stared at her as she cracked open a beer and settled on the couch as if she visited him every day. As if she belonged there.

  Wishing she didn’t look so good in a pair of worn jeans and an old red University of Maryland sweatshirt, he slammed the door and set the lock.

  “Keely.” He stood by the door, afraid to trust himself around her. He had to keep her at a distance. As teens, he’d been too wild for her, as adults, he couldn’t give her what she wanted.

  Anger grew in his gut. What if she’d been attacked in his own neighborhood, on her way to see him, and he’d been inside watching a movie? He faced her, using his best cop tone. “Do you know how many muggings there were on the next block last month?” He could have bought a house in a safer neighborhood, but he liked the fact everyone knew he was a cop. His presence kept crime down on this block. But he’d never expected women to come over at odd hours in the night.

  She didn’t even have the grace to look chastened as she took a swig of beer and shrugged. “So, I see you still like Louis L’Amour movies.” She smiled and pointed at the television screen with her beer bottle.

  He forced himself to take a slow, calming breath, counting to ten.

  “Logan?” A furrow formed between her brows and she stood. Her long brown hair, damp from the rain, clung to the sides of her face. A loose tendril fell across her cheek.

  He wanted to step forward, brush it aside, grab her face in both hands, and kiss the hell out of her.

  “Why didn’t you return my calls when I reached out to you a few years ago?”

  So that was why she was here. To finish the conversation they’d started earlier, before the street outside her dad’s house had erupted in chaos.

  She set her bottle on the table and took a step closer to him.

  His gaze dropped to follow her pink-painted fingertips as she reached for the hem of her sweatshirt. Surprise shot through him as she yanked it over her head, tossing it to the sofa. She wore a thin beige halter and no bra. He stared at the pert outline of her nipples, and his mouth went dry. Oh, holy shit.

  With every ounce of willpower he possessed, he forced his eyes higher and stared back at her. But focusing on her eyes didn’t do him much good. Her blue eyes sparkled in the dim lamp light, sending him signals he knew only too well.

  She hadn’t come over solely to get the answers to her questions. She’d come here to seduce him. And God help him, he didn’t know if he had the strength to resist.

  He could arrest murderers and capture the scum of society with his bare hands, but Keely had always overpowered him. The trick was going to be not to let her know it. The issues of their past may be over and done, but they had no future. Not the way he saw things.

  “I was busy. Work,” he said. His arousal pressed against his jeans and he clenched his fists at his sides. Damn. Suddenly he found it hard to concentrate.

  “So you said. What if I told you I don’t believe you?” She stepped closer.

  He refused to back up.

  A mistake.

  With both hands, she slowly unbuttoned the top of her jeans, holding her fingers on the clasp, ready to unzip them. “And what if I told you that right now, just for this moment, I’m going to forget about how you ignored those calls? I’m giving you a free pass.”

  Soon he’d be past the point of reasoning with her. Or himself. His gaze lingered on those hands and his pants got tighter. This slow strip tease might kill him, but at least he’d die happy. He tried to clear the sudden fog in his brain. “Keely,” he said, his voice straining, “I never wanted to hurt you.”

  She unzipped her jeans, revealing low-rise black underwear. “I know that now,” she whispered. She closed the distance between them and took both his hands in hers. With her gaze holding him hostage, she guided his hands to the hem of her halter, sliding them up the sides of her waist, then slowed at her ribcage.

  Her soft skin tantalized him, made him want more. Touching her like this would never be enough. She moved his hands higher, and his palms rubbed over her taut nipples.

  He could slide away. He should slide away, stuff his hands in his pockets, and keep them there, tell her to leave.

  But then she lifted her mouth to his and pressed her slim frame against his with the front door bracing them both.

  Damn it all to hell! He gave in to need and slid his tongue between her lips. Her warm mouth, the beer and peppermint taste, sent electricity through every muscle and bone in his body. He’d wanted her so badly for so long, and now she was here, offering herself, giving him everything he’d wanted. He didn’t deserve her. God help him, he couldn’t say no.

  But he had to try.

  “Keels.” Her name came out husky, his throat clogged with emotion and the warring feelings inside. He framed her flushed face with his hands, massaging her temples with his thumbs. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

  “Logan,” she whispered. “This is what I’ve wanted for a long time. Please don’t make me beg.”

  How the hell was he supposed to resist that? Cupping the nape of her neck with a groan, he pulled her to him and kissed her, drank in the taste of her. Who knew if he’d ever get the chance again? Bullets of desire slammed through his body. The taste of her, the feel of her soft skin and hard nipples as she rocked against him, brought his erection to full stance.

  His mind spun and something deep in the inner realms of his brain told him he should try one last time to stop her, that it was his duty to stop her. But when she undid his zipper and slipped her hands into his boxers and stroked his hardness, he forgot everything except the feel of her.

  Dipping his hands lower, he cradled her bottom. She kissed the corner of his mouth, stirring the memory of their time together back when they were teens. He’d wanted her then with the libido of a nineteen-year-old, but something that went much deeper fueled his need for her now.

  Damn. He wanted to feel her skin against his. With his hands on hers, he yanked his shirt over his head, then trapped her hands behind her. Her soft vanilla scent filled his nostrils like a powerful drug.

  “Take the bad out of this day.” Her words came out a husky whisper and her eyes opened wide, pleading.

  More than anything, he wanted to make her feel better…make her feel good. “With pleasure.” He released her hands, then slid her halter off. His gaze dropped to her small, perfectly-formed breasts. He yearned to taste more of her, to pull those pink buds into h
is mouth. But he needed her to know their time together had meaning. Not simply lust. Not a quick lay. She deserved so much. Probably more than he could ever give her.

  “Let’s start here…” He slid his hands to her bottom and dipped his mouth to her jaw, tracing a line of kisses to the sensitive spot behind her ear. Something familiar pulled at his gut. A fierce yearning for her, the memory he never seemed to be able to shake. The ache no other woman could come close to fulfilling. The drugged feelings of lust and love filled his limbs with sweet lethargy.

  A long breath escaped her mouth and caressed his neck.

  He slid his hands around her buttocks, to her hips, and lingered before pushing her jeans lower. She stepped out of them. Forcing himself to go slow even though his body screamed for relief, he traced soft circles toward the heated spot between her legs.

  She gasped and rocked her body against his hands. “Logan��my body remembers your hands…your touch.”

  Her husky voice, scented skin, and long hair were almost more than he could endure. And he felt the familiarity, too. Like coming home where they belonged.

  Gathering her in his arms, he strode up the steps to his bedroom, pressing her almost naked body against his until he reached his bedroom, where he kicked the covers of his unmade bed to the side and laid her down. Soft light trickled into the room from the hallway. Her sweet breasts heaved up and down, begging to be touched.

  Her eyes sparkled as she gazed up at him. She wore only thin panties—he’d already removed the rest of her clothes. The sight of her lying on his bed, offering what he’d wanted for so long, tore at his gut. His erection grew, and his mind screamed for him to be careful. This was a way to help her see they couldn’t be together. A way to get one another out of their systems. Maybe the fantasy of their past would be washed away, replaced by the hard reality of today.

  “Logan, make love to me.”

  Her words swept the worries from his mind. Every inch of him ached for her. He lifted one knee, then the other, to the mattress and straddled her slim hips. The sight of her nakedness under him kicked his heartbeat into overdrive. He wanted to be inside her, to feel the heat of her encompassing him. But more than that, he wanted to make her feel good. To take the bad away, as she’d requested.

  Kneeling back, he slid his hands down her sides, past her ribcage, kissing her as he lowered himself to her core. She gasped and he teased her with his tongue through the scrap of black fabric, breathing in the full scent of her.

  “Oh!” She lifted her hips.

  With his teeth, he tugged at the fabric, pulling it lower, then dragged the panties past her knees and down her ankles. He tossed them aside.

  She shivered and reached for him. “God, Logan,” she panted. “I-I can’t take much more of this. I need—I need…”

  He pushed her knees apart and kissed her inner thigh. First one leg, then the other. Smooth hot skin. He couldn’t get enough.

  Cupping her bottom, he touched the tip of his tongue to her heat, closed his eyes at the scent and taste of her. She dug her hands into his hair, brought him closer, deeper.

  He flicked and nibbled. His breaths came fast and hard. He needed her to know she was special, and he’d do anything for her.

  She gasped. The sound of her pleasure made him wild with desire. He exhaled, letting his warm breath caress her along with his tongue.

  “Logan,” she moaned. “For so long… Logan.”

  He skimmed his hands on the soft skin of her inner thighs and tongued her.

  She stiffened and he held her close as orgasm racked her body.

  Finally, she lay gasping, her fingers still massaging his scalp.

  “Now. Please now. Inside me,” she urged.

  With the rain pounding against his bedroom window, he slid on top of her, finally giving in to the need to be with her, to have all of her. To hell with tomorrow—they’d take what tonight offered. He quickly opened a drawer, took out a condom, and sheathed himself.

  He wanted her to claim him, make him hers. He’d appreciate every second of that. She clawed at him, begging him to get closer, deeper. For this one minute in time, he let himself believe he could be hers.

  “Now, Logan. I need you now.”

  He thrust her legs apart with his knees and eased into her. Using every bit of self control he possessed, he paused. She lifted her hips, guiding him deeper, and he grinned. She didn’t wait for anyone to give her anything. His girl took what she needed. He slid into her warmth, encompassed by the softness of her skin.

  “Keely,” he moaned. He needed to say her name. Needed to hear the sound of it to be sure this wasn’t a dream. He stroked harder and faster, matching her hip thrusts with his rhythm.

  “I’ve missed you so much.” She gripped him tight inside her and sucked on the lobe of his ear. Sensations rippled through his body from his head to his feet. With his last ounce of willpower, he pulled out, rubbed himself along her folds.

  She cried out and bucked under him.

  With a final plunge, he thrust deep into her, spiraling out of control as she moaned and shuddered with him.

  Oh God. What had he started?

  And would he be able to see it through to the end this time?

  Chapter Ten

  Keely slipped the note on Logan’s counter next to his coffeemaker. She wasn’t exactly sneaking out. She was already running late. Last night, she’d been sad, lonely, and needing him. Hadn’t properly thought things out. Hadn’t dared to think they’d spend the night together in each other’s arms. Now she needed to get home, shower, and change before heading to work.

  After ensuring his front door was locked behind her, she hurried down the front steps and fobbed her car door unlocked. Her cell rang. Logan? A tingling sensation raced up her spine, reminding her of when she was a teen, awaiting his call.

  She checked the screen. No. Nevaeh. She answered, greeting her coworker.

  “Can you swing by the office and pick me up?”

  The request surprised Keely. She glanced up at Logan’s bedroom window, half expecting him to be looking out, watching her. She could still feel the warmth of his breath, see the relaxed set of his mouth as she crawled out of bed. As much as she wanted to be back in his arms, she had a job to do—a cause to fight.

  “Why?”

  “We got an anonymous tip that some runaways are living in that homeless camp near the old abandoned warehouse.”

  Maybe Melita was one of them. Or Ava. Her heart skipped a beat.

  “I’ll be there in ten minutes.” She climbed into her car and started the engine. Thank God she carried a spare pair of thick-soled boots in her trunk, because while her jeans and sweatshirt would be fine for a visit to a homeless camp, her thin-soled tennis shoes could make the job dangerous. Shattered glass. Needles.

  She merged her car into the road as she disconnected the call. The memory of the night she’d spent with Logan washed over her, and she smiled. She wanted to relive it in her mind a hundred times. They’d finally given in to the need to be together. But now what? Where did they go from here? Did they actually have a chance at a relationship together?

  She shifted her thoughts to her dad’s attack. Today she’d make time to talk with members of the Loving Arms Board of Directors. Maybe a casual conversation would reveal helpful information. She mulled it over on the way to Child Protective Services.

  When she got there, Nevaeh stood on the sidewalk, waiting.

  After her friend handed her a go-cup of coffee from her favorite shop, she took a sip of the hot brew. After only one taste, she felt more awake. “Thanks for this.”

  Nevaeh nodded. “How are you doing after your crazy day yesterday? How’s Margaret Beyer?”

  “Bad off. But it could have ended worse.”

  “Sounds scary.”

  “Will police officers meet us at the camp?” Keely asked, diverting the conversation away from a memory she didn’t want in her mind.

  “I didn’t call the police. Thou
ght it might make people run. What do you think?”

  “I think it’s probably safe enough there during the day.” The homeless camp wasn’t legal, but didn’t everyone need a place to sleep?

  Keely’s phone rang.

  Nevaeh glanced at the screen, then waggled her eyebrows. “Logan.” Nevaeh knew their history. She’d also been the one to say she should never give up on him.

  Keely pressed the speaker button and Logan’s voice filled the car. “Calling to see if you still wanted to get into the jail today.”

  “I have to be back at the office for an appointment at one, and we’re on our way to check out a homeless camp right now. Got a tip that there were some runaways living there, and I was hoping Melita was one of them. Maybe some older kids took her under their wing.”

  “The camp by the abandoned warehouse?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “It’s a dangerous part of town. I’ll meet you there.” He disconnected.

  “Your boyfriend’s bossy, isn’t he?” Nevaeh said.

  Keely opened her mouth to object, but the smug look on her friend’s face made her laugh instead. How had Nevaeh known she and Logan had rekindled their former flame? Had her face betrayed her feelings when she’d spoken with him?

  “You think it could work out between the two of you this time?”

  “Maybe. He’s different now. Not as high-strung. Like yesterday, when that kid shot Margaret Beyer. Logan held it together. Was calm under pressure. My legs almost buckled under me. But he directed the EMTs, reassured my dad, controlled the scene…basically kept everyone calm.”

  They pulled in front of the fenced area in the shadow of an old brick warehouse with broken windows and vines growing up its sides.

  Tents peppered the cement lot behind the fence. Clothes hung from lines strung between poles, flapping in the morning breeze. A few adults sat in beat-up lawn chairs near the tents, smoking and staring at them as they approached.

  “Should we wait for Logan?” Nevaeh asked.

  “They’re already looking at us. Let’s just check it out before anyone bolts.” She quickly changed into her boots.