Take a Risk (Risk #1)

by Scarlett Finn

  His own anxiety fled and he stepped into her, pulling her into his arms, against his chest, to hold her firm. She sagged against him and released a long exhale. ‘All night long,’ he whispered into her hair.

  ‘I know we were fighting and—‘

  ‘That doesn’t matter,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry for being a jerk.’

  ‘You were a jerk, but I shouldn’t have reacted in anger.’

  ‘Lys, Mom wants to know how you take your coffee,’ Ruger hollered, and while holding her Colt turned so they could see his younger brother hanging out of the front door.

  ‘I shouldn’t go in,’ Lyssa said. ‘There are too many questions.’

  ‘Are you kidding? There will be more the next time you’re here if you don’t come in now. I’ll field the questions, you’ve got enough on your mind. But if you’re up for it then you should come in and say hello. It’s just Blaser and Ruger.’

  ‘And your mom and dad,’ she said.

  ‘Yeah, but my dad won’t say much. My mom takes care of the talking in their relationship.’

  ‘Smart woman.’

  Hooking her under his arm he took her across the yard and into his parents’ house. He’d have to call Chavez, and his contacts in homicide to get the details on what happened last night. Colt didn’t like this development at all, there were too many coincidences here and his hunch was that they weren’t coincidences at all.

  ‘A doctor, you’re a doctor,’ Blaser said when they were in the car travelling away from his parents’ house an hour later.

  The questions hadn’t been so bad, but Colt had done as he’d said and dealt with most of them. After a brief, whispered conversation with Ruger, in which she imagined Colt filled in his brother about what had happened last night, Ruger did his part in diverting his mother’s attention when he could.

  But no one could prevent one thing, Blaser finding out the truth, or at least part of it. And although he hadn’t questioned them in front of his parents’ it seemed now was the time for him to say his piece.

  ‘Yes,’ Lyssa said.

  Ruger was driving and Blaser was in the passenger seat, giving her and Colt the backseat to themselves, but Blaser was hanging over the shoulder of his chair, glaring at them.

  ‘So all this time you’ve been what? Studying us?’

  ‘Not you specifically,’ she said. ‘But the customers and your employees, yes, I suppose you could say that. But I think of it as research, you’re not like lab rats.’

  ‘Forgive me for struggling to see your point of view. You came in and gave me a sob story,’ Blaser said, then smacked Colt in his gaze. ‘And you knew about this?’

  ‘Me too,’ Ruger said. ‘You were the only one out of the loop.’

  ‘You’re not helping his anxiety,’ Lyssa said. ‘Don’t you think that maybe this is why there is animosity in your relationship? Maybe if you all trusted each other—‘

  ‘You don’t know the history,’ Blaser said, flopping back into his seat to stare forward. ‘You’re fired by the way.’

  ‘I figured that out,’ she said.

  ‘You can’t fire her for having a qualification,’ Ruger said. ‘She’s a good worker.’

  ‘Actually she’s not, she’s kept her job because she’s sleeping with my brother. Her mind is never on the job, she has ducked out of more shifts than she’s actually seen through to the end, and she never keeps on top of her tables.’

  He had a point. ‘You’ve been very kind to me, Blaser. I appreciate the opportunity that you gave me.’

  ‘You got shot at outside of his club, then one of your patients was murdered, and you’re being gracious to him?’ Ruger asked.

  ‘One of your patients was murdered?’ Blaser asked, twisting around again. ‘How?’

  ‘I don’t know, the cops wouldn’t tell me.’

  ‘Shot,’ Colt said. ‘He was shot.’

  ‘How do you know that?’ she asked, bringing their joined hands to her abdomen.

  ‘He still has contacts in the department,’ Ruger said. ‘Who has the case?’

  ‘Hoburn.’

  ‘He hates you,’ Ruger said.

  Lyssa couldn’t imagine why anyone would hate Colt. ‘The feeling is mutual,’ Colt said.

  ‘I need to check my messages,’ she said.

  ‘You can do that from my place, you’re staying with me tonight.’

  No question, just a command. ‘What if the police need to talk to me again?’

  ‘Then they’ll track you down,’ he said. ‘They’re the cops, if a detective can’t locate a woman at her boyfriend’s house then he’s not worthy of carrying the badge.’

  When he put it like that it made sense. ‘Ok. I cancelled my morning patients, so we could go out for breakfast.’

  ‘Or have a long lie,’ Ruger said.

  ‘I have an early meeting,’ Colt said. ‘But you can stay in bed.’

  ‘An early meeting with who?’ she asked though it was none of her business.

  ‘You got one of your spooky hunches, brother?’ Ruger asked him, glancing in the rear view mirror.

  ‘Something isn’t sitting right with me about this. I want to check out a few things.’

  ‘He wants to solve the mystery,’ Ruger said. ‘You can rest easy, Lys, you and this Bobby dude. Once Colt has something in his teeth he won’t let it go.’

  ‘I don’t want you getting involved,’ Lyssa said, bending to look at him, she lowered her voice. ‘You were fighting with Bobby last night. If the cops find that out—‘

  ‘We’re not going to hide anything from them,’ Colt said. ‘Just because I was fighting with the guy doesn’t mean that I killed him.’

  ‘You were fighting with him?’ Blaser asked. ‘How come?’

  ‘He got a hard-on staring at Lyssa’s tits.’ Jabbing an elbow into Colt’s ribs, she frowned at him. ‘What? That’s why I was fighting with him.’

  ‘Sounds like a reason to take a guy out to me,’ Blaser said. ‘Where were you last night?’

  ‘Your girlfriend’s apartment,’ Colt sneered, then leaned down to her. ‘I’m kidding, he doesn’t even have a girlfriend.’

  ‘Colt and I got drunk last night,’ Ruger chimed in. ‘Solid alibi, must be a couple of dozen people who saw him.’

  ‘No one suspects Colt of anything,’ Lyssa said.

  ‘Only because you haven’t told them the truth yet,’ Blaser said. ‘You didn’t tell them about Colt’s tête-à-tête with the dead man, did you?’

  ‘No,’ she said. ‘I didn’t think about it. I just answered their questions.’ Lyssa hoped that by omitting the details of Bobby’s return to her office, and the ensuing outburst, she hadn’t made things more difficult, or seem more suspicious, for Colt.

  ‘Don’t worry about it,’ Colt said. ‘We’ll clear it up.’

  ‘I can’t believe that he’s dead.’

  ‘Yeah, you lose your second job and a patient. You’ll have to tighten your belt,’ Blaser said.

  ‘Hey.’ Colt dived forward and shoved his brother. ‘You want to be a jerk, you aim your shit at me.’

  ‘Great, now you’ve had a go at me,’ Blaser said, facing the windshield. ‘Wonder if I’ll turn up dead tomorrow.’

  Bobby was dead and as far as she knew he hadn’t achieved his goal. She wanted to know if he’d gone on the date with Deshana, and if there had been any success between them physically. After all of the therapy that they’d worked through together she really hoped that he had found what he was looking for before he lost his life. To die without accomplishing it would make his demise all the more tragic.

  When she and Colt were alone she would ask him these questions. If the cops had a time of death and a location, then those facts might answer her questions. But answering the material questions didn’t answer the biggest questions of all: who would want Bobby dead, and why?

  Spending the night with Colt was just what she needed. He made dinner for her, and then they put on a movie. Neither spoke about the argu
ment last night, which she was grateful for, because she didn’t want to think about more drama, she just wanted to relax and feel. Colt obliged and then some. A gentle, soothing massage in front of the movie quickly became something more and the heat of his certain hands surrounded her with security. With Colt she was safe and she was treasured.

  Turning toward him, she took hold of his hands and pushed her mouth onto his. At first she was uncertain about what she wanted to do with him, because she wanted to do everything all at once. She wanted to kiss him and touch him, she wanted to taste his body and his dick as much as she wanted to feel him move inside of her. But he took control and she didn’t have to think anymore.

  Lifting her from the couch he carried her into the bedroom and literally threw her onto the bed then stripped off all of his own clothes, while staring down at her with feral eyes that were beyond reason. When she began to take off her own shirt, he seized her hands and threw his weight down onto hers, holding her immobile.

  ‘I’m going to do that myself,’ he said and bit into her lip, then her earlobe.

  The sting of his teeth made her wince but he didn’t apologise. He elevated his weight enough to grab the neck of her shirt and rip it apart. That sound did something to her and he must have noted her reaction from before because a satisfied pant cascaded over her chest when he tore away her bra then he took one of her nipples into his teeth and bit into it.

  ‘Pain,’ he said, tugging the nipple tight until she squealed. He released her and lapped the peak. ‘It’s only temporary.’ Blowing against the dampness he’d caused, the spear of pleasure made her arch. ‘We cause it in those we care about without intending too.’

  ‘You were defending my honour last night,’ she whispered, stroking his shoulders. ‘I am thankful that you feel so deeply for me. I’m just very protective of patients.’

  ‘I understand that,’ he said. ‘But you’re going to have to understand that I don’t want to share this body.’

  ‘You don’t have to, you’ll never have to,’ she said. ‘But what I do requires me to talk about intimate things with other men. I don’t discuss my own intimacies, I only discuss theirs. This, our time, is entirely private. And you are the only one who gets to share this side of me.’

  ‘I’ll come to terms with that. But give me time to do it, don’t always expect me to be understanding of other men getting erections while they’re alone with you.’

  ‘It’s not sexual.’

  ‘Maybe not for you, but it might be for them.’

  ‘Colt, this is what I do. You will have to get used to that. Just as I will have to get used to what you do. I’ll have to make accommodations for that.’

  ‘Enough talking,’ he said, kissing her and pushing his tongue against hers, filling her mouth and her mind with the ideas of how having him inside her again would feel.

  For now he only played with her breasts, fondling and stroking, then kissing every inch of them in circles of increasing circumference. His fingers skimmed down the centre of her abdomen and she anticipated them in her centre. Instead, he spent time circling her belly buttons, pushing into it and massaging the disc, which transferred a spiral of arousal down to her intimate opening.

  The bulge of his penis rubbed against the cotton of her skirt and she tried to wriggle to bring the hem up, but he kept her wrists in his hand, above her head, so her hands were out of commission. Her whimpers became more impatient and only then did his finger begin their journey downward again. The button in her skirt was unclasped and he dispensed with the zip, but spent an inordinate amount of time massaging her outer thigh, then her inner thigh, without touching her centre.

  ‘Colt,’ she breathed and tried to force herself upward, but his weight pressed further down until she actually struggled to catch her breath.

  ‘I like to see you writhe and whimper,’ he admitted. ‘It turns me on to know that you’re desperate for me to satisfy you. I want your mind clear, thinking about nothing except me inside of you.’

  ‘I’m thinking,’ she said. ‘I’m definitely thinking about that. Please.’

  ‘Not yet,’ he said, moving his hips to rub his dick on her thigh. ‘Are you thinking about that?’

  ‘Mm hmm. Yes.’

  ‘Open your eyes and look at me.’

  When she did as she was told the darkness in his eyes and the twist of pleasure on his own mouth moistened her further. He was enjoying this, kneading the length of his shaft against the flesh of her quaking thigh, which she tried to move aside. That exploit only prompted him to stop moving and slam down onto her. The breath left her body and she gasped in for air. He kissed her throat, using his head to force her chin up. He licked the column he’d kissed, then rubbed his face on her damp skin.

  ‘You’re a lucky girl, you know that,’ he said, taking hold of her breast again. ‘I’m going to make sure you spend the rest of your life craving the ecstasy that only I can give you. Your pleasure will be delivered by me, in every way imaginable. Sex will be part of your everyday diet and I guarantee you that I’ll deliver each and every time.’

  ‘In your own time,’ she murmured, groaning at the flood of unsated desire that was livid within her.

  ‘Do you feel that desperation now? Feel what it is to be desperate to sate your lust?’

  Keeping still was a distant memory. Her eyes closed again and he let a fingertip touch her opening. She wondered if this was how some of her patients felt. To be aroused yet unable to accomplish release must frustrate them beyond belief.

  ‘Pleasure me, Colt, please.’

  Gently, a finger slid in, but his body remained pressed to hers, clamping her hips down, which made it impossible for her to respond to the action with anything other than a moan. Another finger joined the first and they pushed in deep and curled, tickling that cushion inside her.

  Panting was the only way to get oxygen and he moved his fingertips back and forth, bringing her closer and closer to the brink of that ecstasy that he’d referred to. Then his fingers came out of her, his body lifted and bam, in less than a heartbeat his dick filled her up and she was screaming in climax.

  Colt knew what he was doing with a woman, he knew what he was doing with her, and as he pumped into her and she lifted to meet his thrusts. Orgasm wasn’t the only cliff her hormones fell over.

  Opening her eyes, she saw the intention in his eyes, and it was every bit as enamoured as the intensity of emotion she felt. How it had happened so quickly she didn’t know, but Lyssa was sure she loved this man now and if they got through this, she’d prove her dedication.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Colt did go out in the morning, and he woke her up before he left to pleasure her. When he returned she’d asked questions, but he hadn’t answered any of them, he had gone around to Ruger’s instead. She thought that he was going to retrieve his brother and return. When twenty minutes went by without a word, she took matters into her own hands and went to Ruger’s door to find out what was going on.

  Taking the chance that the door was unlocked, she opened it, and found both men sitting at the kitchen table, just to the left. They were drinking coffee, wearing serious expressions, and apparently righting the wrongs of the world.

  ‘You ditched me?’ she said to Colt.

  ‘I’m updating Ruger,’ Colt said.

  ‘Without updating me? This is my life, my patient, when were you planning on updating me?’

  ‘I don’t want you to be upset and you don’t need to know the details. It might be best if you don’t.’

  ‘Why?’ she asked, coming into the apartment and closing the door. ‘What did you find out?’

  The men exchanged and look at Ruger shrugged. ‘She’s tough and smart, I’m sure that she can handle it.’

  ‘I don’t think that it was a coincidence,’ Colt said.

  ‘What?’ she asked, heading toward the enticing scent of java and helping herself to a cup of it, using a mug from the tree by the coffee machine. ‘What wasn’t a c
oincidence?’

  ‘Bobby was shot,’ Colt said. ‘After his date, on his way back to his apartment. His body was found in an alleyway, but it looks like the shot came from the street, possibly from a car. It could be a drive-by, just like at Risqué when you and Suzette were outside.’

  ‘Do you think that he was aiming for me outside the club?’

  ‘No. I think he was showing you what he intended to do.’

  ‘Why would he want to kill Bobby? Why would anyone want to kill such a harmless person?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Colt said. ‘I could be wrong, which is why I didn’t want to say anything to you. I just don’t think it’s a coincidence that all of these things happen to one person in such close succession. His obsession has intensified.’

  ‘But why? Why now? He’s been doing this for more than four months, why would he choose now to—‘

  ‘How many men have you screwed since this guy started leaving the flowers?’ Ruger asked.

  Leaning back on the kitchen counter, she held her coffee mug in both hands. ‘Colt is the only man that I’ve… you think that because I’ve started seeing you that my admirer has taken offense?’

  ‘Possibly,’ Colt shrugged.

  ‘But that… that means you could be in danger too.’

  ‘It’s possible. Chavez says the investigation they are undertaking hasn’t turned up anything at all. So Ruger and I are going to take the case privately.’

  ‘Wait, you’re back on the case?’ she asked.

  ‘Don’t worry, I’m sure he’s ok with screwing a client now… especially since you won’t be paying us,’ Ruger said.

  ‘I never received a final bill,’ she said.

  ‘Consider it paid,’ Colt said. ‘I never did cash that check you gave me.’

  ‘I thought you didn’t take barter,’ she said and received a scowl in return. ‘What about the rules?’

  ‘This guy could be hunting you,’ Colt snapped. ‘Do you expect me to stand aside and let that happen? Ruger and I know what we’re doing. Forget the bullshit from before, this is serious.’