Playing to Win

by Shelley Munro

  “I haven’t had a chance to check,” Kate said. “I think the culprit was more intent on making a statement.” She indicated the graffiti on her walls.

  “There are messages on the upstairs walls as well,” Lane said. “Similar sentiments.”

  “Lane, do you have any ideas of the culprit’s identity? Have you received any phone calls or notes from fans along the same lines?”

  “No.” Lane shook his head. “I haven’t received anything like this.”

  Kate sucked in a deep breath, her hands tightening at her sides. “I suppose this is tied in with the notes and other pranks.”

  Detective Harwood nodded agreement. “The fingerprinting won’t take much longer. I’m going to check the house, both inside and out. Once the fingerprint guy is done, you can start cleaning up the mess.”

  Kate groaned and Jamie echoed her sentiment with a fierce frown between his gray eyes.

  “Tomorrow,” Lane said. “That’s soon enough.”

  Constable Allen spoke up. “We’re finished upstairs. We’ve discovered how they gained entrance. They came through the laundry window. Approached from the back of the house.” He shook his head. “Child’s play with the overgrown jungle out there.”

  Kate flushed and bumped gardening higher on her mental to-do list. Constable Allen was right. She’d let some of her chores get behind. She wandered through to the kitchen to inspect the damage while Jamie and Lane checked out his room upstairs. In the distance, she heard Jamie discussing the break-in with Lane. A sigh of relief whooshed from her. At least he’d listened and taken her lecture to heart the other night. Since their talk, he appeared more receptive to Lane’s company. Kate had watched Jamie studying Lane’s brother and his sons over the weekend, but he hadn’t asked too many questions yet. She felt sure he would.

  Kate halted by the fridge and wrinkled her nose. “Lovely.” She skirted pile of debris, looking down ruefully as dampness from a large puddle of milk and flour seeped into her runners. Gumboots tomorrow, she decided.

  “Are you ready to go?” Lane called.

  “Coming.” Kate joined Lane and Jamie in the hall, fatigue bringing a wide yawn. “The vandal has dumped the contents of every container from the kitchen cupboards on the floor. A pigsty looks cleaner.” Outrage tinged the dismay in her voice.

  “Finished your tantrum?” Lane murmured in an undertone.

  Shame prompted her to avoid his gaze, but the low rumble of husky laughter flustered her even more. He was nothing like Steve, and she had no idea why she’d confused the two men. Steve had borne grudges for days, but judging from Lane’s amusement, she hadn’t annoyed him.

  The discovery fueled hope for a future. In the past, she’d cynically written off the idea of a happy relationship as something that wouldn’t happen for her. But perhaps she’d been wrong.

  “Ready to go?” Lane urged her out the door. “Jamie is so tired he’s almost sleepwalking.”

  Kate took one last look at the damage before she stepped outside. She sighed. Tomorrow promised to be a difficult day with lots of hard, physical work.

  The drive to Lane’s apartment didn’t take long and it was so late, Jamie had fallen asleep. Lane scooped him from the car with an ease Kate admired.

  “I’ll settle him,” Lane said. “How about pouring us a drink or coffee if you’d prefer?”

  Kate ambled through to the kitchen. After toeing off her shoes, she reached for the kettle, filled it with water and plugged it in.

  “I’ve put Jamie in the room you were in,” Lane said from behind her.

  “Sh—” Kate whirled about, her heart dive-bombing against her ribs. “Sugar,” she snapped. “Don’t creep up on me like that.” The sickening wave of terror dissolved, leaving her knees weak.

  “Should I check for gray hair?”

  Kate leaned against the granite-topped counter for extra support. “Not funny.” Must be a male thing. Jamie received a thrill from sneaking up on her too. “With all that’s happened, I’m jumpy. I admit it.”

  As she glared at him, Lane ruffled his hair with one hand. The move made his black T-shirt tighten across his chest, accentuating the muscles she’d touched and explored. The memory made her breasts tighten while other parts of her body heated. Her gaze roved farther south. Trim waist, slim hips. Her mind filled in the gaps…the ripple of muscles on his abs. Strong, solid legs—vital power leashed in a well-toned body. The stuff of a young girl’s dreams. And a twenty-eight-year-old woman.

  A small choked sound made her eyes leap back to his face. She froze at the intense look in his gray eyes. An inferno built inside, flames licking through her veins. Stop. This was foolish. Dangerous. But a sense of urgency drove her, made her ignore the warning whispering through her mind. She took half a step toward him.

  “Kate?”

  That one word, her name, spoken in a husky baritone told her everything.

  He wanted her as much as she wanted him.

  “Are you sure?”

  “I thought women were the ones who wanted to analyze everything to death.”

  His grin spread, slow and easy, and stoked the sensual fire burning inside her. Her clothes felt heavy, smothering. She stirred uneasily as the cloth abraded her sensitive flesh.

  “Just so you’re sure,” Lane said. “This has nothing to do with Jamie.”

  Kate stilled, her eyes widening in shock. The thought had never entered her head. She’d forgotten her son! Oh boy. “I…um…” She swallowed. “What is this about?”

  The grin turned wolfish and he glided across the floor, closing the gap between them. His callused hand cupped her nape, sending a shiver coursing through her body. Her hasty breath sucked in his masculine scent along with much-needed oxygen.

  Oh yeah. She was in big trouble here.

  “It’s about hot sex between consenting adults. It’s about mutual pleasure. And…” His voice lowered until she had to strain to hear. “It’s about making love to a woman I admire, a woman I care about.”

  Big trouble in China.

  “Any questions? Can you deal with that?” he whispered, his breath feathering across her mouth.

  Oh boy. She wanted to. Her traitorous body did. Could she take the leap into full trust? She stared him in the eye, gray eyes with intense black pupils. Did she take the blind leap into uncharted waters?

  Then Kate heard her sister’s voice whisper inside her head. Nothing’s certain in this life, kiddo.

  The tension melted from her limbs. She leaned in to the fire, in to Lane. Her gaze drifted to his lips. And Kate leapt in to the deep blue water, trusting he’d catch her and save her from drowning.

  “No questions,” she said as she snaked one hand around his neck, tugging his head down so she could kiss his firm, sensual lips. Taste them. Taste him.

  Oh wow. Sensations layered one on top of the other. She drew her hands downward, across broad shoulders, mapping biceps that flexed under her questing hands. He was one excellent kisser. Eleven on a scale of one to ten. He sucked on her bottom lip. The slight bite of his teeth sent jagged signals swooping through her body. Maybe a twelve, she decided, her mind hazy with the pleasure.

  “I want you in my bed,” he murmured. “Now.”

  He kissed her again. Slow. Easy. So good. The world shifted beneath her, moving at the pace of a Sunday afternoon drive. Then she realized he’d scooped her into his arms, and she lay cuddled to his hard chest while he carried her down the passage to his room.

  His king-size bed.

  She wobbled when he placed her on her feet. But his kiss saved her, grounded her. While their lips sipped and tangoed, her hands continued on the journey they’d started earlier in the kitchen. Skin. She wanted to feel the heat, burn and wallow in his strength, his vitality. His maleness.

  Kate tugged his T-shirt from his jeans. Her hands burrowed underneath, cruising warm masculine flesh. He gasped, shivered at her touch.

  “Later, sweetheart.” He dragged her hands from under his shir
t, placing them on his shoulders then stooped to switch on a bedside lamp. The room glowed in the soft light. The king-size bed beckoned.

  “Let me…undress you.” He punctuated his words with a kiss that shot off her personal scale. Every nerve lit, desire stirring as he nibbled her bottom lip, tasting her, tormenting her.

  “Mmmm.” He could do anything he wanted as long as he kept kissing her exactly like that.

  Her jacket and silk shirt whispered to the floor. He paused to skim blunt-tipped fingers a fraction above the lace of her bra. Goose bumps pebbled across her skin.

  With an expertise that should have scared her, the lacy bra peeled away from her breasts. Her chest heaved when she took a deep breath.

  Insecurity hit. Kate licked her lips, her gaze tangling with his. Warm reassurance blazed from his eyes and her breath eased out. He bent his head and blew across the tip of one breast. It pulled tight while they both watched. Lane stroked his fingers across the plump curve, dipping one into her cleavage while he splayed the other hand over her taut stomach.

  “Very nice,” he murmured. “I’d imagined but the reality is better.”

  Before she had a chance to reply, he dipped his head again and took her nipple into his warm mouth. Oh boy. If she’d thought his touch had felt good before and couldn’t improve, she was mistaken. This—his mouth—felt like pure magic. He sucked harder, drew her deeper into his mouth and she gave a shudder of helpless pleasure. Only one thing would make it better.

  “Let me take your shirt off. Please,” she whispered.

  He laughed, a low sound full of promise as he whipped the T-shirt over his head. He kicked off his shoes and peeled off his socks.

  The muscular chest moved with each deep breath he took, attracting her close attention. The need to touch was a stab in her heart. A physical pain echoed by her entire body. This was trouble big time and she loved it. Her hands smoothed down his biceps.

  “Looking. No touching,” he ordered, stepping out of reach. “I can’t think when you have your hands on me.”

  Kate’s eyes widened and a wicked snicker burst out as she closed the distance between them again. “I know. Terrible, isn’t it?”

  He ducked in close, his competent hands unbuttoned her jeans and swept them off along with the lacy panties shielding her femininity. Then he scooped her off her feet, dropping her in the middle of the mattress. He moved to her side so quickly she never bounced once.

  The light glimmered over his face, his skin pulled taut over his cheekbones as he gazed at her. “You’re beautiful.”

  And she felt it, basking under his reverent gaze. Steve remained a fleeting bad memory as Lane kissed her. His hands closed over her breasts, imprinting his strength, his masculinity, sending desire and excitement surging through her needy body. He dipped his head and pushed his tongue past her lips, exploring the hardness of her teeth and the softness inside her cheek. He threaded his fingers through her hair, deepening his kiss until he filled her senses with his rich taste and masculine scent.

  His lips left hers to nibble at her earlobe. Kate winced at a nip and the stab of heat shooting to the juncture of her thighs. Sensual tension tightened her insides and urged her to hurry.

  She wanted now.

  Her hands went to the fastening on his jeans, struggling with the button fastening. At least this time he didn’t stop her. He tensed as her hand skimmed his erection. His breath hissed out, but he helped her remove his jeans and dispense with his black satin boxer shorts. Kate shifted back so she could study him and ease her curiosity.

  He was the beautiful one.

  The soft light highlighted his musculature, honed from hours in the gym and out on the rugby field. A faint bruise colored his hip and she gently stroked her fingers across it. “The game on Saturday?”

  “Yeah.” He laughed. “Some of the Queensland forward pack is huge, and it was a hard game. We gave as good as we got.”

  Kate shifted her gaze lower, a pulse beating in the hollow of her throat. His erection pulsed slightly under her close attention. She stroked a finger along his length, barely touching him but it was enough to draw a low moan from deep in his throat.

  “I don’t think touching me is a good idea, sweetheart,” he whispered in a husky voice. “I don’t have much control where you’re concerned.”

  “You had plenty of control the other night,” Kate countered.

  “Ah, but you don’t realize how much it cost me. I had to suffer through a cold shower.”

  Kate pressed a kiss to his shoulder, savoring both the faintly salty tang and the hint of outdoors from his aftershave. “I would have kept you warm.”

  “You weren’t ready,” he said, lifting her chin a fraction with his finger so he could meet her gaze. “You didn’t trust me, and I needed to know you believed in me first.”

  Kate frowned even as she acknowledged the truth of his words to herself.

  “Don’t frown.” He leaned over her, pushing her back so she rested flat on the mattress. He loomed over her, grinning. “It’s time to have some fun.”

  Suiting action to words, he cupped a breast and suckled it while pinching the nipple of the other between finger and thumb. Kate felt the powerful thrust of his cock brushing her skin and shivered under the duel sensations. Lane teased her, kissing, sucking and adding the odd nip to keep her on edge. He stroked her rib cage and licked the hollows of her collarbone before parting her legs.

  Kate’s pulse kicked hard, increasingly urgent hunger for Lane thrumming through her sensitized body. He dropped a soft kiss on her lips before moving down the bed to rake his tongue across the swell of her stomach. Each move seemed languid and lazy but she had no doubts as to where he headed.

  Suppressing a giggle, she shifted restlessly, her mouth dry with nerves and her body on fire. He stroked her swollen flesh—a barely there touch that had her jerking her hips sharply upward. Lane repeated the move, parting her folds and skimming his finger across her clit.

  She gasped, swallowing hard at the spike of pleasure. It had never been like this with Steve, not even in the early days of their relationship when everything had gone well between them.

  Without warning, he slipped his hands beneath her backside and lifted her to his mouth. The moist softness of his tongue running down her slit took her pulse rate into speedy territory, raw need arcing from his touch. The dark stubble on his jaw rasped across her delicate inner thighs but all Kate could think about was the pressure he applied to her slick flesh, the jolts of pleasurable excitement.

  “Please. More,” she murmured, scarcely recognizing the voice as hers. She desperately wanted him to lick across the sensitive nub nestled in her core. She wanted to fly, but only with him.

  Kate rocked against his mouth, desperately wanting more, but he continued to tease, to fuel her hunger. One finger pumped into her pussy, the wet sound of arousal bringing a flush to her cheeks. She sucked in a deep breath and released it with a moan when he continued to stroke her with his tongue and thrust into her with his fingers. A quick punch of heat stole her breath and seconds later, she exploded, climax racing through her. Kate moaned, part of her astonished at the speed of it. Never before, she thought hazily.

  Lane smiled and released her, sliding his hands across her body in a long, luxurious stroke before taking her mouth with a sleek thrust of his tongue. She tasted herself on his lips and trembled, holding him close with insistent hands.

  Sensing her urgency, he moved away from her to jerk open a drawer on the bedside cabinet. Foil packaging rustled as he ripped a condom open and sheathed his erection.

  His eyes gleamed as he rose over her trembling body and parted her legs. “You are beautiful,” he said again, and she actually believed he meant it. The words weren’t merely window decoration designed to tempt her.

  Kate felt the rapid pounding of his heart and derived great satisfaction from the knowledge. But oh, she wished he’d hurry. She’d never experienced such desire and her nails dug into his s
houlders in a silent demand for speed. Lane lowered his head to drop a quick kiss on her lips before moving down to tease one dusky pink nipple with his tongue. The moist heat jerked her insides like the strings of a puppet. Her body bucked when he drew hard.

  “Ohhhh,” she groaned when he pushed inside her, stretching her inner walls until the pressure climbed again. Kate clutched at his shoulders, raising her hips and straining against him. Lane moved with easy strokes, the velvet flare of his cock brushing across her clit with each thrust.

  He kissed her lips, her throat, and skimmed his tongue across the whorls of her ear while the clawing tension rose again. The scent of sex perfumed the air and the bed creaked in a telltale way.

  Lane’s muscles jumped at her touch and his harsh breathing told her he was close. Without warning, a curl of arousal spiraled low in her belly. Their sweat-sheened bodies strained against each other. Their lips crushed together, parted and returned in another gentler kiss.

  “Lane.” She pulled away to sob out his name, tensing as orgasm took flight, sweeping through her and crashing like a rogue wave. Kate was dimly aware of his climax, his grunt of pleasure and rapid thrusts. His heat surrounded her, filled her…

  Finally when his weight had almost become too much, Lane rolled so she rested on top of him, their sticky bodies clinging together. He ran a possessive hand over her shoulders and butt, and Kate relaxed into his embrace, knowing instinctively her life would never be the same again.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Kate? Are you awake?”

  No, she thought. Don’t wake up. Finish the dream first! His kiss tasted so good, of mint toothpaste and hot, wicked, masculine desire. Lane ravaged her mouth, drinking deeply and awakening every one of her senses until they clamored for fulfillment, for the surge of his cock pumping hard and fast into her slick body.

  Her hands came to rest on his shoulders. Cloth. That couldn’t be right. Kate’s eyes snapped open. It was real. Lane was there but unfortunately fully dressed. Her mouth formed a moue of disappointment.