by Jami Alden
Her lips pulled into a knowing smile. “I thought they might be hooking up again.”
“What do you mean, again?”
Brooke lowered her voice. “You know how Kate’s brother was killed?”
“Yeah.” Ben grimaced. “By Emerson Flannery. You know Erin who runs the Mary’s? He was her uncle.”
“Well, the night it happened, Kate was supposed to be watching her brother, but she’d snuck off to fool around with Tommy Ibarra.”
Ben’s eyes widened in surprise. “Wow, she totally doesn’t seem the type. She seems kind of, I don’t know, uptight. They both do.”
Brooke shrugged. “They were a lot younger then. Anyway, Kate told me her dad had kept all of that out of the press.” It occurred to her that Kate might not want that information to get out now either. “And I don’t think she wants anyone else to know, so don’t say anything to anyone, okay?”
“Promise.”
They’d reached the hospital entrance and Brooke paused for a minute, bracing herself to run the gantlet of reporters milling outside. “No comment, okay? Sheriff Kovacs doesn’t want any of us talking to the press until he gets a chance to question Tricia.”
Ben nodded and tucked her protectively against his side before he activated the automatic door.
Chapter 24
By the time Tommy got to his place, he was so keyed up he could barely key in the code to unlock his security gate. On the drive over, he’d tried to distract them both by discussing Tricia’s case and Kate’s plans for dealing with the press over the next few days. Several outlets were contacting Kate to comment on the case, but she wasn’t going to give an official statement until CJ was able to question Tricia.
But even speculating on the identity of a violent criminal who preyed on young women didn’t do much to take the edge off Tommy’s raging desire. He’d never felt anything like this with any other woman. This intensity that went beyond need, beyond lust.
Only with Kate. Always with Kate. He’d done everything in his power to keep it locked down, under control, convinced if he let it loose again it would be as disastrous as it had been the first time around.
But as she reached for his hand and let him help her from the truck, an eager glimmer in her eye, he couldn’t do anything but give in, give over to it. Being with Kate was as inevitable as the tides, and now that he’d stopped fighting, he realized nothing in his life ever felt as right as when he was with her.
He closed the front door and backed her up against it, lifting her up so he could take her mouth in a deep, hungry kiss. She wrapped her arms and legs around him and eagerly parted her lips to take him.
He groaned at the first taste of her, sweet and spicy and better than anything he’d ever tasted in his life. His cock, which had been rock hard from the second he’d shut the door to his truck, strained against the fly of his pants until he thought he was going to bust through the seams.
And he hadn’t even undressed her yet.
He took a deep breath, willed himself to slow down, ease off. She was still injured, for fuck’s sake. He couldn’t go after her like a raging bull.
But God, it was hard to slow down when she sucked his tongue into her mouth and made those little high-pitched, needy sounds in the back of her throat.
“God, Katie, I need you, I need you so much,” he moaned against her lips.
“I need you too. I’ve never wanted anyone like I want you.”
He sucked and nipped at her lips, savoring the taste of her, absorbing every detail. Her fingers threaded in his hair, sending bolts of electricity through his scalp and rippling down his spine. Her nipples were hard little points against his chest, and the memory of them, so pink and sensitive against his fingers, made his blood go thick.
Her hand curved around his neck, and he let out a surprised hiss as her thumb brushed over a long scratch he must have gotten bushwhacking while he was searching for Tricia.
The tiny jolt of pain pulled him back from the razor’s edge, reminding him that he’d spent hours today out in the heat, that his skin was coated in a layer of dried sweat and grit.
He cupped her ass in his hands and pushed away from the door, his lips never leaving hers as he carried her down the hall.
Kate barely noticed they were moving until Tommy peeled her legs from around his waist and set her feet on the floor.
“I need to clean up,” he said, and gave her one last, hard kiss before he stepped away. She blinked, swaying a little as she realized they were in Tommy’s bathroom. He quickly turned on the shower and soon the room was filled with steam.
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that in the state she was in, it would take more than a little sweat and dirt to put her off. Then Tommy peeled off his T-shirt and the words died in her throat.
She stared hungrily at every inch of flesh that was revealed. God, he was gorgeous, his skin so tan and smooth, stretched tight over muscles that coiled and clenched as he pulled the shirt over his head. And now that she knew how he felt against her, skin to naked skin…
His pants came next, and Kate’s mouth practically watered as she took in long legs, thick with muscle. And in between… God, he was so gorgeous he made her mouth water. Long and thick, so hard she could see his pulse beat in the long vein that ran down the side.
As she watched, his own fist closed around the thick shaft, stroking up and down, making her own fingers itch to do the same. She tore her gaze away and lifted it to his face. He met hers with a look so hot she thought she was going to burst into flame.
“You gonna join me?” he said in a thick, gravelly voice that sent a pulse of need straight to her core.
Kate nodded mutely and scrambled to take off her T-shirt, skirt, panties, and bra and join Tommy under the hot spray.
Like everything else in Tommy’s house, the shower stall was anything but ordinary. Over sixteen feet square, it had shower heads mounted at various heights so no matter where you stood hot spray hit your body. There was a wide bench on one end. Just in case showering became so tiring you needed to take a rest.
This morning Kate had marveled at the luxury during her quick shower. Now she realized Tommy’s shower alone was nothing compared to Tommy’s shower with Tommy.
He pulled her to him and ran huge, soap-slicked hands down her arms, back, and legs.
“Don’t let me hurt you,” he murmured as he ran a gentle hand down her bruised ribs.
Kate was too distracted by the feel of his palms closing over her breasts to even think about pain.
“God, Katie, you’re so beautiful,” he said as he bent his head and sucked one pink nipple firmly between his lips.
She squeezed her legs together as every lick, every nip, every lash of his tongue on her nipples intensified the pulsing between her thighs. She’d never thought of her breasts as remarkably sensitive, but right now she felt like she could come any second with nothing more than his tongue on her nipples.
“I love how your tits feel in my hands, against my tongue,” he groaned.
Kate gave an answering cry as her sex clenched hard and shuddered almost like a mini-orgasm. “Oh, God, Tommy, if you’re not careful you’re going to make me come before we even get started.”
He gave a low chuckle and backed her up a few steps. “Then I guess I better move things along.”
He backed her up, urged her down on the bench seat, and sank to his knees in front of her. The hot spray gently pummeled her sides and legs as he threaded his fingers in her wet hair and took her mouth in a deep, tongue-thrusting kiss.
His other hand went back to her breasts. He cupped and squeezed, rolled her nipples between his fingers in a way that had her rocking her hips up off the warm tile, her body yearning in a way she’d never felt before. Never come close.
She’d never experienced anything like this sharp, needy ache that had her begging for his touch, desperate for release.
Desperate for him.
“Tommy,” she gasped against his mo
uth, unable to keep the pleading tone out of her voice. “Tommy, I need… I need you…”
“And I need you too,” he groaned, and pulled his mouth from hers and slid it down her neck, chest, his tongue tracing the shallow valley between her breasts before he kissed his way down her belly.
Kate’s breath caught in anticipation as Tommy delivered a firm sucking kiss to the skin beneath her navel before he pulled her ass closer to the edge of the bench. She braced her weight on her hands, her sex throbbing in anticipation as Tommy hooked her knees over his shoulders.
The first touch of his tongue sent her cry echoing through the small chamber.
He parted her with his thumbs and took her in long, slow swipes of his tongue, teasing her clit before sucking it in between his lips in a way that made every cell pull tight in anticipation of pleasure.
She’d tried to tell herself she’d been imagining things the other night, that it couldn’t possibly have been as good as her memories suggested.
But, oh, God… Kate had enjoyed oral sex in the past—what wasn’t to like?—but somehow it was like Tommy was connected to her body, like he knew exactly how to touch, lick, suck, knowing exactly what she wanted before even she did.
And it wasn’t just his skill, it was the way he touched her. Like he was starving for the taste of her. Like he could never get enough of her. Like he was feeling her pleasure almost as keenly as she felt it herself.
Kate was usually modest during sex, preferring to have the lights off and her eyes closed, but with Tommy she didn’t want to miss a single detail. Biting her lip, she looked down and gasped. She’d never seen anything more erotic than the sight of Tommy’s dark head between her pale thighs, his tongue buried in her folds as he groaned in pleasure.
Then, as she watched, one tan hand stroked up the inside of her leg and she moaned as she felt firm pressure followed by the thick penetration of his fingers sliding into her wetness.
One hand came up to clutch at the slick skin of his shoulder as she rocked her hips against his mouth and fingers, urging him harder, faster as the pleasure pulled tighter and tighter in her core.
She came with a shuddering cry, her body clenching tightly around his fingers, her hips arching eagerly against his mouth. He groaned, continuing to suck and stroke her until the last of her tremors faded.
Kate blinked against the fog as she came back to earth and found herself sprawled on the bench, her body still tingling with little aftershocks.
Tommy still knelt in front of her and pulled her up so he could kiss her. Kate reached dazedly for a bar of soap next to her and lathered her hands and ran them over Tommy’s shoulders and back. He groaned, arching under her touch like a jungle cat. As she explored his mouth with lazy strokes of her tongue, she ran her hands over every patch of skin she could reach, discovering the muscles cording his arms, the thick slabs of his chest marred here and there by ropy scars. She traced the ripples of his abdomen and lower.
He gave a harsh groan as her soapy hand closed around his erection, his hips arching helplessly as she squeezed him firmly. She couldn’t take her eyes off the sight of her fist closed around his shaft, stroking it up and down as his breath sawed in his chest and his fists clenched at his sides.
Though the last pulses of her orgasm had barely faded, the sight of him in her hand was enough to make her body quiver with the need to feel him buried deep inside of her.
First she wanted something else. “Stand up,” she said as she leaned in to chase a rivulet of water down his throat.
He rose to his knees, his dark eyes shimmering with lust as he read her intentions.
“You don’t have to—” His words caught in his throat as she closed her lips over the tip of his cock and swirled her tongue around the head.
“I know I don’t have to,” she said, and traced her tongue up and down his length. She reveled in the tremors that shuddered through his body, loved the power that surged through her, knowing that this man who was a hundred pounds heavier and a million times stronger was totally powerless against the pleasure she was giving him. “I want to.”
Tommy clenched his teeth around a groan as he watched Kate’s kiss-swollen pink lips close over the head of his cock. Just the sight of it was almost enough to make him come right then and there. He tried closing his eyes but the image was seared in his brain.
And the feel. Oh, Christ, hot wet suction, the firm stroke of her slim hand squeezing him in a firm, steady rhythm. How many times had he dreamed of this, Kate’s sweet, soft mouth closing over him, taking him as deep in her throat as she could?
Jesus. He’d never imagined that thing she was doing with her tongue, swirling it around the head and fluttering it against the sensitive spot right below. Everything about it, everything about her was better than any fantasy he’d ever conjured.
Her hair fell in a wet curtain against her cheek, and he brushed it back with trembling fingers so he could watch his cock slide between her lips, then out, its pulsing length slick and shiny.
He could feel his orgasm bearing down, felt his sac pull tighter against his body, his thigh muscles pull tight. “Kate, I’m going to come,” he warned. “You should probably stop—”
A harsh groan ripped from his chest as Kate sucked him harder, deeper into her mouth, her fist pumping him in short, fast strokes. Then his whole body shuddered as he came with a force that drained every last bit of strength from his body.
He collapsed to his knees and pulled Kate down on his lap. He kissed her and felt a primitive thrill at the taste of himself in her mouth. Her knees fell on either side of his hips and her arms looped around his as she kissed him back, slow and lazy, as the water cascaded over them.
It didn’t take long for their kisses to grow more urgent, and within minutes Tommy could feel himself hardening against the smooth curve of Kate’s ass.
Kate gave a little sigh and shifted against him so she could cradle him between her thighs, and Tommy’s eyes practically rolled back in his head as he slid against the slick folds between her legs. He slid his hands to her hips, careful of her bruise as he guided her closer, rocking his hips until the head of his cock nudged against her opening. He gave a low groan as the tip squeezed inside, and it was all he could do not to shove himself all the way in.
“Aren’t we forgetting something?” Kate asked, even as her hips rolled against him, taking him the barest millimeter deeper. She held herself still, unable to pull away, knowing that they shouldn’t go any further. “God, it would feel so good to have you inside me with nothing between us.”
His cock surged, seeming to stretch inside her as she perfectly echoed his thoughts. Jesus, just having the tip inside was about to kill him. The thought of taking her in deep, slow strokes, without even a thin layer of latex separating them… “I don’t suppose you’re on the pill or something,” he said.
She laughed, making them both groan at the way it made her clench around him. “Don’t I wish. And it’s not even really a safe time of the month or else…” She trailed off with a frustrated sigh.
If he fucked her without protection, she might get pregnant. A vision flashed in his head, a little girl with his dark hair and her solemn, blue-gray eyes.
It wasn’t the idea of their baby that made him lift her by the hips and set her firmly away. It was the fact that the idea of getting Kate pregnant didn’t send him into a full-scale panic. In fact, in what had to be a moment of sheer insanity, it actually struck him as a pretty good idea.
Jesus. Acknowledging the fact that there was something between them worth exploring was one thing, he thought as he helped her to her feet and pushed open the glass door. Entertaining crazy notions of getting her pregnant to tie them together forever was another.
Then he couldn’t think about anything but Kate, her wet, naked body pressed against him, her sweet, soft mouth moving eagerly under his own. She felt so good, her slick skin and slim curves moving against him he almost forgot to grab a handful of condoms on the wa
y out.
Hands on her hips, he backed her out of the bathroom to the bed, dragged the comforter and sheets back with a yank of his hands, and urged her back against the pillows. He tossed the condoms on the bedside table and paused a moment, to look at her.
He’d had a moment last night, holding her in his arms, in his bed, where he’d felt like nothing had ever been more right in his life.
But the sight of her, naked in his bed, her lips swollen and dark pink from loving, her flawless pale skin marked here and there from a too-firm kiss or a brush of his beard… it blew everything before this out of the water.
It swelled in his chest, an undeniable force, the realization that he wanted Kate in his house, in his bed, more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life. And not just tonight. He wanted a lifetime of days that ended like this, with her naked, her open arms and knowing smile beckoning him like a siren’s song to pleasure beyond his wildest imaginations.
She reached out and traced her fingers down his side, over his hip, before closing it around his rock-hard erection. “I want you inside me, Tommy,” she whispered.
He didn’t need any more urging, quickly sheathing himself and settling between her legs. His gaze locked with hers as he pulled her hand back to him and covered her hand with his own as she guided him to her slick folds. “Put me inside you,” he said.
Kate bit her lip, felt another rush of heat and wetness bathe the head of his cock as she guided him home. His dark, smoldering gaze never left hers as he slid inch by devastating inch until he was buried to the hilt. “Oh, God,” Kate murmured, shifting under him, her body already tightening, rippling around him. After the other night, she should have been more prepared for it, the swiftness, the intensity with which her pleasure crashed over her.
But as he covered her mouth with his and started a slow, steady rhythm, Kate was once again shocked at how fast her body responded, already on the edge as though she hadn’t just come less than ten minutes ago.
