by Janie Crouch
That little gasp she made as his mouth closed around her breast made him desperate to bury himself inside her so he could hear it again and again.
He peeled them out of the rest of their clothes, donning protection from his nightstand and moving back up her body with his mouth, starting with her feet and legs. He took the time to stroke, lick, and nibble as he moved up—concentrating on her most sensitive areas—until she was alternating between moaning his name and cursing it.
“You owe quite a bit of money to the jar,” he whispered against her belly as he continued his way up.
“Westman, stop messing around.” Her voice was a mixture between a plea and a command, her whiskey eyes hooded, lips swollen, as her fists grabbed his hair and pulled him up so he was poised over her.
Shane had never seen anything as beautiful in his life as this woman—so alive, so passionate—looking at him like she wasn’t sure whether to kiss or deck him. He hooked one of her legs over the outside of his thighs and slid inside her.
Both of them cried out.
Shane couldn’t stop his groan as he began to move in and out of her. He entwined his fingers with hers from where they’d grasped the sheets, and as she fell apart his control snapped. All he knew was Chloe.
Forget ice. He was on fire. They both were. Burning to glorious ash.
Chapter Fifteen
The next three days, Shane gave Chloe little opportunity to hear any other voices than his, inside or out of her head. Not that she wanted to.
She’d had no idea it could be like this. Sex. A relationship. Life.
It wasn’t that Shane quieted all the voices, it was just that for the first time she didn’t feel like she needed to do anything about them. At all. She didn’t need to listen or ignore them. She had somewhere else to turn her attention.
And it was wondrous.
She was also exhausted. Sore in places she didn’t even know could get that way, much to her delight.
She’d had a few moments of self-doubt when she’d woken up draped over Shane’s oh-so-lickable body. Had she been too easy? After all, they hadn’t even been on a date. Had only shared one kiss.
He might have been around all the time, but they certainly hadn’t had a relationship.
As she lay on his chest, stroking the muscle of his bicep as he slept she’d realized it had felt like they did have one. Like he’d been courting her for the past couple weeks, for Pete’s sake. With bringing her coffee, making sure she ate, and pushing a chair under her when she was about to collapse. Plus, carrying her to the couch when she’d fallen asleep on a stapler.
He’d infused himself in her life and she hadn’t even noticed.
But for the last couple weeks he’d been the first person she’d looked for each morning and the last face in her mind as she fell asleep. The only person whose nearness caused less chaos in her mind rather than more.
His hand had begun trailing up and down her spine and she knew he was awake.
“You’re a sneaky little bastard, you know that?”
His chuckle was deep, full of sleep. “So I’ve been told. Are you referring to something particular?”
“You snuck into my life.”
“I’m pretty sure I was hired into it.”
“Not that. The other. All the stuff you’ve been doing lately. Getting through my defenses without me even realizing.” She pinched him lightly on the arm and he chuckled again. “You know what I’m talking about. The coffee. Food.”
“When I was in Special Forces, one of my specialties was enemy infiltration. Getting on the inside before they even knew I was there.”
“Good to know you have a skill set that can be applied other places.” She knew she sounded sulky but couldn’t help it.
He rolled her so she was completely on top of his chest and he could wrap his arms securely around her. “Looking for weaknesses and using those to accomplish my goal were my specialty. Same with you, for example.”
She brought her arms up on his chest. “Yes? What was your goal with me?”
He gave her a devilish grin that made her want to forget this entire conversation and just slide her body a little lower on his. “Getting you naked in my bed, of course.”
She sulked again. “I guess I wasn’t too difficult.”
“Are you kidding? You were more mentally and emotionally fortified than most highly guarded enemy compounds I’ve ever tried to infiltrate.”
“What?”
Shane rolled his eyes. “Half-pint, if I had asked you out, you would’ve said no outright. Made some excuse about how you didn’t date people attached with the show, or were too busy, or didn’t like men in khakis or something.”
“You do iron your khakis to within an inch of their life,” she muttered.
He ignored that. “Once I knew I wanted you, which was about eighty-seven seconds after I met you, I knew a direct approach wouldn’t work. So I had to work my way inside your perimeter without you realizing I was doing it.”
“Like I said, sneaky bastard.”
He’d kissed her then and proceeded to work his way inside a much more pleasurable perimeter.
They’d eaten every meal together. He could cook as well as he’d bragged. Italian cuisine. French. Even some German. Chloe had just watched in awe of his skills. Evidently, a lot of his time in the Army had been spent on bases in Europe.
The man was good with his hands. As if she wasn’t already well aware of that.
And so far they’d only lost one meal because Chloe had distracted Shane in the kitchen. How was she to know that mentioning she was dressed only in his shirt and nothing underneath would cause him to stop what he was doing and attack her right then?
The rigatoni had been unsalvageable by the time they were finished. But cheap Chinese takeout had been just fine, given the circumstances.
She worked all three days, when they weren’t in bed or arguing about the best movies of all time. He had worked too, mostly involving adding more security to the set and coordinating with the sheriff’s office.
A Deputy Hammell had come out to take their statements about the shooting. Neither she nor Shane had mentioned any voices in Chloe’s head. As far as official law enforcement reports went, Chloe stumbled onto the shooter while she was walking and had saved Shane’s life. He’d done the same for her by barreling up into the trees and scaring the attempted murderer away.
Sheriff Linenberger was on his way over now. Shane had files he wanted to go over with him.
“I’d like for you to be part of the conversation too,” Shane said.
Chloe was pounding away at her computer, right in the middle of a scene. Since Conversation Hearts hadn’t been around in a few days—she was hoping he’d convinced his lady friend to be his one and only and was gone for good—Chloe had been trying to make up the work she’d missed the past few weeks. These blessed quiet hours had to be used to regain what she’d lost.
Or to give in to Shane when he’d distracted her. Fortunately, he’d had his own work to do too.
“I’m working. You and Sheriff Linenberger can handle it. I trust you.”
He hitched a hip on the kitchen table next to her computer. Shane all casual in jeans was hard to resist. She liked solider Shane, but casual Shane did all sorts of funny things to her insides. Her girlie parts and heart. Which was a little scary.
He dipped a finger under her chin and she found herself looking into blue eyes. “Linenberger is coming over for us to discuss who of the cast and crew were still here locally during the break. Anyone we know who was gone will be off our suspect list.”
“Wait, you think the stalker is a member of the cast or crew?”
He nodded. “I’ve already talked to Nadine and Travis about this, but they didn’t want to mention it to you if we didn’t have to. The stalker, the shooter, he’s almost definitely someone in the cast or crew. Someone who has access to the set. Who could come and go unnoticed.”
Chloe stood, unable to pro
cess this. “But I thought we were focusing on people connected to Alexandra? She’s had stalkers before, a couple who weren’t caught. Isn’t it more likely that it’s someone related to her past?”
“We looked into that, and still are. But I don’t think Alexandra is the target. I think the show as a whole is.”
He moved closer to her, but didn’t try to touch her, as she paced back and forth. “I can’t stand that thought, Shane. These people are…” She shrugged.
“They’re like a second family to you. I understand. I felt the same way about the men in my unit. Thinking of one of them as a traitor sucks.”
She stopped pacing and walked to him, putting her forehead against his chest. Now his arms came around her, now that she was ready—God, observation really was his superpower—and she leaned closer to him.
“We’ll eliminate a lot of people by their location over the break. Obviously, if they weren’t in the state then they weren’t the one shooting at me or attempting to strangle you.”
She did not want to think about the stalker, the would-be killer, being someone she knew. Part of the team. Someone whose face she looked at every day. Who would do that?
She snuggled closer to Shane, breathing in his scent. She wasn’t great with defining smells, probably a byproduct of having her other senses overwhelmed all the time, but she loved the way Shane smelled. It was clean, strong. A hint of something she couldn’t really define but reminded her of rich cinnamon.
She wanted to lick him. Partially to not have to think about someone she knew trying to destroy what meant so much to her, but mostly just because she just wanted to. And knew he would lick her back.
Sheriff Linenberger would love to walk in on that.
“Get your brain out of the gutter, Jeffries.”
“Now who’s reading minds?”
“Your mind has nothing to do with how you’re rubbing against me. The sheriff will be here in just a minute.”
“The sheriff is already here, and can hear you through the open window.” A voice rang out from the porch.
Chloe smiled as Shane cursed under his breath then released her to go open the door.
The two men obviously knew each other, which in a town the size of Black Mountain wasn’t surprising.
“I didn’t realize when you came to see me the other day that the questions had a personal nature to them,” Sheriff Linberger said.
Shane shrugged and let the man into the living room. “The personal nature is a more recent development.”
The sheriff turned to Chloe. “I hope you give him hell. It will only serve him right after all he gave us growing up.”
Chloe’s eyes widened. “Mr. Ironed-khakis raised hell? I’m pretty much going to need to hear every story there is.”
Shane groaned as Linenberger chuckled. “It will be my pleasure. You know he is Betty Cordell’s grandson, right?”
Chloe’s eyes flew to Shane. “Miss Betty was your grandmother?”
Shane looked as surprised as her. “Did you know her?”
“Are you kidding me? She was a fantastic lady. All of us knew and loved her. She came to visit us all the time on the set. Even made us muffins.”
And so much more than that, but Shane needed to see it without Chloe spoiling it. The sheriff was biting his tongue too. “She was a real fan of the show. Have you watched it? The last season especially. You’d probably get a kick out of seeing places you know.”
Shane looked a little sheepish. “I haven’t watched it at all. As a matter of fact, until this job I hadn’t even really heard of it, except for what my grandmother told me. She did leave me a DVD set of the first three seasons, with the command to watch them.”
Chloe met the sheriff’s eyes and they both grinned. “Well, I definitely think your grandmother would want you to watch it.”
And Chloe hoped to be there when he did. When he saw his beloved grandmother on camera in full zombie gear. They’d offered her a chance to be whatever type of extra she wanted: vampire, faerie, shapeshifter, even human.
Miss Betty had chosen zombie. And she’d kicked ass in the small role she’d had on the show for one episode. Chloe couldn’t wait for Shane to watch it.
She walked over to where Shane was setting up files on the dining room table and kissed him on the cheek. “I’m sorry for your loss. Your grandmother was a remarkable woman. Her visits were highlights on the set for everyone, but me especially. She and I became pretty close. She mentioned a grandson, but I didn’t know it was you.”
Shane nodded. “Grammi was amazing. Everyone thought so.”
Chloe touched one of her small ruby stud earrings. “The last time she visited, she gave me these. I had mentioned before how striking they were. I didn’t mean for her to give them to me, but she said she wanted me to have them since she didn’t have a daughter or granddaughter to give them to. But you can have them back if you want. I would totally understand.”
He reached up and touched the earring, before trailing his hand down her back and hooking it around her waist. “No, you keep them. I’m glad she knew you. Glad she was able to come hang out on the set and get into trouble with you.”
He kissed her then began working with the sheriff.
Chloe half listened to the guys as they went over files as she typed on her computer in the living room. She appreciated, as she knew Shane did, that the sheriff himself was helping sort through this. Buncombe County might not be very big, but that didn’t mean that Linenberger didn’t have other things to do.
They were discussing not only people, but access points to the set, and the most difficult areas to guard. Chloe had no idea there were such nuances involved with security. She’d never even thought about it before.
They’d been at it for a couple hours, Chloe’s attention going back and forth between them and her work, when Shane called her over.
She stood next to him at the dining room table as he looped an arm loosely around her hips and gestured to the files in front of him.
“Here’s who we’ve cleared. Hopefully this sets your mind at ease somewhat that those closest to you are not responsible.”
Nadine and Travis had both been in Wilmington for the past four days. Not that Chloe had suspected them anyway. Justin had gone back home to Portland, so that cleared him. Most of the other main actresses and actors were cleared, including Alexandra.
Although she was glad to know no one in her creative team had betrayed them in this way, there were still dozens of people—extras, crew—who we were still unaccounted for.
“It’s a start,” Shane said. “Knowing who we don’t have to watch gives us more eyes on who we need to. And at least it’s not your core team. I’ll be honest, I had some concerns about Justin.”
Chloe nodded. “I know he’s not easy to work with or talk to. And gets sickly quite a bit. But he’s brilliant when it comes to scenarios and dialogue.”
“Well, being in Portland pretty much eliminates him from being the shooter.”
There were still faces looking back at her from the files that Chloe couldn’t believe would be behind this. Adam Woods, the stunt coordinator. Kendal Mitchell, one of the main set designers.
“Kendal is gay, you know.”
Shane just shrugged. “Doesn’t eliminate him from being the stalker. As a matter of fact, I know you think it’s a man, but I’ve left some of the taller women in the suspect group also. I learned the hard way on a mission in Afghanistan that a woman can look very much like a man, or vice versa, and that both can kill just as easily.”
The voice she’d heard in her head hadn’t been female. But was that Chloe projecting her own assumptions onto it or had she really heard a man’s voice? Chloe couldn’t be positive.
“Based on your struggle with the shooter,” Sheriff Linenberger said, “we think he or she is at least 5’10”. There are some women who fit that bill.”
“Thank God Nadine was in Wilmington so we don’t have to include her.” Not that Chloe wo
uld’ve done that anyway.
She picked up Noah’s file. “Poor kid. We run him ragged and he doesn’t even get paid. If I was him, I’d be tempted to shoot everyone on the set just on principle.”
Shane chuckled. “I’m sure he’ll be eliminated as a suspect soon. He’s local, but has been at his parents’ house. So hopefully someone can verify his whereabouts.”
They went over a few others before Sheriff Linenberger was preparing to leave and Shane was packing the files.
“I’m going with John back over to the set,” Shane said to her. “We want to try to get everything as air-tight as possible before everyone returns tomorrow.”
Chloe nodded. “I’m sure by now the studio has sent even more security. Joy.”
Shane kissed her on the forehead. “More means catching this person faster. I’ll be back later and we can try the rigatoni again.”
She smiled. “I can’t make any promises that the same thing won’t happen.”
His lips caught hers. “Then it will be Chinese takeout again.”
The sheriff cleared his throat. Shane smiled and they walked out the door. Chloe sat down with her laptop to get to work. And did so for hours.
She had one episode almost completely written, and was outlining another when the pain hit her.
Having gone so many days without it, the agony crashed over her like a wave. She fell from her chair at the table onto the floor. Could see blood dripping from her nose onto the hardwood at a rapid pace.
Complete me.
Make me whole.
No one else.
Only you.
Mine.
Mine.
Mine.
Chloe sobbed as the agony burned through her. She curled up on the floor, grabbed her head, and just tried to survive.
Chapter Sixteen
Shane stopped by the grocery store on his way home to pick up what was needed for the rigatoni. Not that he would mind if they ended up eating Chinese again.
He and the sheriff had met with the new members of the security force, as well as the private bodyguards that were making their way back onto the set. Everyone was debriefed and notified that they were now looking to catch an attempted murderer, not just a stalker. Shane knew Chloe wouldn’t like having this many new strangers in khakis—and damned if he wasn’t going to think of her and her smart little mouth every single time he ironed his pants for the rest of his life—but at least she agreed it was necessary.
