Danger Zone

by Dee J. Adams

  Quinn’s burgeoning guilt disappeared when Ellie flashed her dimple a second time. She really was an amazing woman, and he wanted to do something special for her.

  “Feel like taking that shower now?” He ran his hand through her damp hair, loving the soft, sated glow in her eyes.

  “Mmm.” She sighed and blinked heavy lids. Quinn brushed his lips against hers, wanting another taste, needing the connection. The kiss got hotter when she opened to him and another shot of something primal erupted in his gut. He palmed her head and drove his tongue deep into her mouth.

  Someone rapped on the door and Ellie jumped in his arms. “Hotel services,” a man called.

  Already breathing hard, Quinn pulled back. “Hang tight. I’ll be right back,” he whispered. With a quick kiss, he hopped out of bed. “Be right there,” he called. He grabbed a towel from the bathroom and wrapped it around his waist. “I arranged to have our clothes laundered,” he said, quickly snatching up all their wet clothes scattered in the room. He dumped a pillow out of its case, tossed the clothes inside then stripped a few bills from the wad on the dresser. Opening the door, he handed the bundle off to the man in the hallway…along with cash incentive. “The faster you get those back to us, the bigger the tip,” he told him.

  The man’s eyes lit with motivation. “Yes, sir.” He trucked down the hallway and Quinn shut the door, turning to Ellie. She’d scrambled to cover herself with the sheet and now sat up in bed, mussed and beautiful.

  “What are we going to do without our clothes?” she asked.

  Was she kidding? He cocked his head to the side. “You didn’t just ask that question, did you? Because I can think of a few things.”

  She blushed and pulled the sheet more tightly across her breasts. “We can’t stay here,” she insisted. “Aurora’s waiting for us.”

  Quinn checked his watch. “Aurora’s still sleeping. You’re the one who said she crashes as soon as she gets home. This way she sleeps uninterrupted and we’ll see her this afternoon. It’s not like we have a car to deliver.” Talking about the car sent his stomach roiling. The vision of Ellie straddling both cars had scared the living hell out of him. Knowing that her life depended on how well he drove the Mustang…that any false move meant her death… He opened his eyes and erased the picture.

  She leaned against the headboard. “I can’t believe the car is totaled. How is Aurora supposed to make the drive now?”

  “We’ll drive her and she’ll rent a car home. We’ll figure something out.” He gestured toward the bathroom. “They’ll be back with our clothes in a couple of hours. Go get your shower. Save me some hot water.”

  Wrapped in the sheet, Ellie scooted off the mattress and moved into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Quinn sat on the edge of the bed and called the front desk. Renting a car wasn’t the only option. He got the number of a local car dealership and made another phone call. Next he ordered lunch from room service. Satisfied that he’d solved the problems at hand, he hung up the phone and exhaled a deep breath.

  He shouldn’t be sitting on the bed when she was waiting for him in a hot, steamy shower, but he couldn’t seem to move. He hadn’t said much when she’d told him about her possible career change and then all hell broke loose with the car and he hadn’t thought about it again. But now…alone in the room, her secret weighed on him. He wanted to get out of racing and she wanted in? Her choice shouldn’t bother him, but for some unexplainable reason it did. Just what the hell did he think was going to happen when he went back to London? When he sold the company? Sure he’d come back to the States, but he hadn’t given thought to where he’d land back in the U.S. It hadn’t really mattered. Until now. Because now he had someone he wanted to be around.

  She was alone in his shower, waiting for him with a slick, hot body that he was dying to touch. Quinn headed to the bathroom. Shit. Almost forgot. He double backed and grabbed a condom. The anticipation of a shower with Ellie had him rising to the occasion.

  Steam filled the opulent bathroom, but not enough to block Quinn’s view of Ellie behind the glass shower door. She stood under the spray, eyes closed, face turned up to catch the water. Hot water ran rivers across every smooth curve. He itched to touch her soft skin, to sink inside of her again and lose his mind in the wonder of her body. Letting the towel drop, Quinn opened the shower door and joined her.

  Without opening her eyes, Ellie smiled. “What took you so long?”

  Quinn stood behind her, ran his palms down her arms until he reached her hips. Then he pulled her back against the erection that had sparked to complete attention the second he’d seen her naked in the shower. She felt better than good as she rubbed against him. The need to take her again was just as fierce as before.

  “Is that a flagpole in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”

  He laughed as he wrapped his arms around her and slid his hands along her flat belly and farther up to cup her breasts. He loved when she made him laugh and she did it a lot. How long had it been since he’d actually enjoyed life?

  “I ordered room service,” he said. “We’ve got about thirty minutes before it gets here. Any ideas how to pass the time?”

  “You didn’t just ask that question, did you?” she said in a perfect imitation of him. She pressed her ass closer so that his dick slid between her cheeks in an erotic glide. Quinn inhaled at the sweet torture. Ellie turned in his arms. “I’ll bet you didn’t know I do impressions?”

  “I especially like your impression of a naked woman in my shower,” he said, running his hands over her smooth ass. “I’ll be wanting you to do that more often.”

  Her green eyes sparkled. “All depends on the ovation I get at the end.”

  “Trust me. I can guarantee you a standing ovation,” he quipped. “In different varieties too.”

  Her dimple peeked out as she wiped some droplets off his eyebrow, but it disappeared just as quickly as she took a deep breath and met his gaze. “I do need to thank you for keeping a steady head out there. I know what you did wasn’t easy.” She shook her head. “I shouldn’t have even asked you to—”

  “Stop right there.” He didn’t especially want to talk about the incident, but he couldn’t really ignore it. Shrugging, he continued to stroke her back. “I didn’t have much choice.” Because he couldn’t even picture the alternative. “I’m just glad I didn’t fuck up. That would’ve been bad.” He gave her a smile he didn’t feel. “Can we talk about something else? Like how much I want to be inside you again. How much it turns me on when you tighten up all around me.”

  Those green eyes darkened with desire.

  Quinn had never known a woman to respond to his words as much as his body. But he’d caught on quick enough last night that she liked hearing what he planned on doing to her. It ignited his own lust watching her react. Searching low with his fingers, he inched up inside her until her pupils dilated and her eyes were nearly black. “Do I need to wash all your private places?” Her body squeezed around his fingers and his dick twitched hungrily against her belly.

  Ellie shook her head. “I washed. I’m waiting to wash you.” Her husky voice promised heaven even as her body clenched around him again.

  What a complete turn-on. Just the thought of touching him, of being with him, got her hot and wet.

  She reached for the soap and lathered her hands and his chest. Soap slid down his abdomen followed by her fingernails lightly scraping his skin. Watching him, she moved her hand lower until she had his dick in her grasp. Her internal muscles clasped him again and Quinn bent his head and kissed her parted lips as he thrust into her hand. He was already too close. Ready to come hard and long just from her words and her light touch.

  “I need to put this on,” he rasped, ripping the foil off the condom.

  “Let me.” Taking the condom, she stepped aside and let the spray wash the soap away. Then her lips were on his chest and her hands eased down his sides along his hips and behind him to cup his ass. Fire burned i
n his blood and Quinn struggled to control his breathing. Ellie turned them so the spray hit his back and moved lower and lower until Quinn wasn’t sure he could stand the anticipation. In the next second she was kneeling in front of him, her eyes looking up, dark and seductive. She ran her tongue over her lips and his dick twitched against his belly.

  When she licked him from base to tip, his eyes nearly rolled back in his head. “Jesus,” he muttered.

  “Mmm,” she purred and did it again. Clenching his jaw, he watched as she looked at him, her intent clear. But when she covered him with her mouth and went down…holy God, he couldn’t do anything but feel her. He closed his eyes, savoring the sensation of her hot mouth around him, stroking with her tongue, taking as much as she could, sending all his senses careening out of control.

  With her hands on his ass, she urged him forward and he fed her. Slowly, in and out, giving her a little more with each gentle thrust of his hips. Fire burned him up from the middle of his body. Pleasure coiled more tightly in his belly, ready to explode and decimate him completely. God, and the sounds she made, as if she couldn’t get enough of him. As if she’d always wanted to do this to him. Watching her take him was his undoing. He wouldn’t last much longer. Lifting her up, he snatched the condom out of her hand and rolled it on. “Turn around,” he said. He turned her in front of him and bent her over. Wrapping one arm around her waist, he anchored her against him. “You okay this way?” he asked.

  “Only if you do it hard,” she said, torturing him again with another silky rub of her ass against his dick.

  She might possibly be the most perfect woman in the world.

  “You trying to give me another heart attack?” he asked as he glided his hands over her skin. She was smooth and slippery and he wanted to touch her forever. Positioning his erection at her wet opening, he entered her slowly and she leaned her head back as she pressed her ass closer to him, straining for more. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he rasped. “Don’t let me hurt you.”

  If she replied, he didn’t hear it. He was too lost in the sensation of her body taking him, surrounding around him so tightly that he couldn’t think of anything but staying inside her. Reaching around with the other hand, he found her clit and circled slowly with his finger. She was hot and wet and it had nothing to do with the shower.

  A sound emerged from her lips. Half gasp, half moan. He pulled out and moved in again, ramping up the rhythm of his finger on her clit. She pushed against him harder, demanded more.

  “Hold on.” He barely managed the command and she seemed to understand. She braced herself against the tile and he slammed inside of her. As carnal and primitive as they’d just been in bed. The need to own her, to mark her as his, had never been stronger. He worked her clit mercilessly as he shoved deeply inside her over and over and over.

  She threw her head back and cried out. Hearing his name on her lips as she came sent him over the edge. He erupted inside her so hard that stars exploded behind his lids. Still he pushed inside her, holding her tightly to him, rocking them both with the motion.

  When they finally stilled, they were both breathing hard, gasping for air. Ellie stirred something deep inside of him. As if the harder he took her, the more she belonged to him. It was ludicrous to think he even wanted that. His muscles felt like Jell-O as he pulled out of her.

  She leaned back, rested her head on his shoulder. “God, that was intense.”

  He nodded. That explained his jumbled thoughts and screwed up emotions. Hot jungle sex clearly messed with his head. He turned her in his arms and lifted her chin, bringing their lips together in a tender kiss. God Almighty, how the woman could kiss.

  “I need a shower,” she murmured at his lips.

  Quinn laughed softly, grabbed the soap and lathered it up along Ellie’s back, sliding his hands all over her. He loved the serene look on her face as he touched her. Love that he affected her so intimately.

  After finishing the shower and devouring lunch, Ellie climbed into the other bed and tucked the sheet around her. How many more times could he make love to her before their clothes came back? How many different positions could they manage with another hour? Quinn slid under the covers next to her and propped himself on an elbow. Looking out into space, Ellie didn’t seem to be on the same wavelength.

  “What are you thinking about?” he asked.

  She scratched her head and sighed. “There’s something about the car that’s bothering me, but I can’t… Wait!” Her eyes widened and she sat forward. “Would the bags have flown out the front windshield if the air bags had inflated?”

  “You’re right.” Quinn sat up too. “Why didn’t the air bags inflate? And why didn’t the seat belt work? And why the hell didn’t you mention that when we started the trip, Miss Click It or Ticket?”

  “And why did the car suddenly start on the first try this morning?” she said, ignoring the incredulous tone of his last question. “It never does that.” Goose bumps broke out on her arms. “What if the detective was on to something? What if someone’s out to hurt Ashley? They nearly killed her with that scaffolding accident and when they couldn’t, they rigged her car.”

  “But why tamper with the car after she was in the hospital?” Quinn asked. “It’s not like she was going anywhere anytime soon.”

  “You’re right. That doesn’t make sense.” Ellie sat back against the headboard. “But we don’t know when it was rigged. It could’ve been before Ashley’s accident.”

  Maybe. Except…

  “Did the seat belt work when you drove home last night?”

  “Yes.” Her head jerked up. “I buckled in which means someone tampered with the car after I got home.” Her eyes widened. “That’s why the engine started so easily! Which means someone wasn’t after Ashley at all.” The realization sunk in. “Holy shit,” she uttered softly.

  The implication sent a giant frickin’ chill down Quinn’s back. Someone wanted Ellie dead? The thought staggered him. Didn’t seem possible. Either way, they needed to make a phone call. “Do you still have the card that detective gave you?”

  She nodded. “It’s in my pack. I should call him, shouldn’t I?”

  “Oh yeah. Definitely.”

  Two hours later, wearing freshly laundered clothes, Ellie turned on the gravel drive of the trailer park where Aurora and Mickey lived. Their off-white mobile home needed an overhaul. Butterfly wind chimes hung beneath the faded green awning and yellow daisies struggled for survival in chipped clay planter boxes lining the short walkway.

  Visiting here always made Ellie melancholy.

  “Home, sweet home,” Quinn said under his breath. But the look in his eyes carried more concern than distaste. “What are you going to tell her?” he asked after Ellie cut the engine.

  “The truth. I wrecked it. But I won’t tell her our suspicions or that the police are checking out the car before it gets towed.”

  He nodded. “Probably a good idea.” He got out of the Mustang and walked to her side of the car, opening her door. The way he stared down at her with such tenderness in his eyes made her heart skip. Taking her hand, he pulled her up, but he didn’t immediately let go. Instead he bent his head and kissed her softly, running his hand through her hair and making her weak in the knees—something he was really good at.

  Turned out he was really good at making her come too. He’d done it three or four times in the last two hours. She shivered just thinking about all the ways he’d made her body sing. She could get used to the feeling, used to him being inside of her. Of course, the reality was that he was only temporary. She had to keep reminding herself.

  The heavy gray clouds had moved east, leaving half the sky a brilliant blue and letting the sun sparkle until it nearly blinded the eye. Bright sunlight glinted off the screen door as it opened and Ellie flinched.

  Aurora’s large frame filled the doorway. Her once-blond hair was now gray and shoulder-length. She had Ashley’s blue eyes, but they lacked spark. Although who could
blame her after thinking her daughter had been dead. She took note of the lone car in her driveway. “Don’t tell me…it didn’t start.” She smiled knowingly then put her hand up. “No, that can’t be it because you would’ve called instead of come all this way.” She cocked one gray eyebrow. “It broke down on the way here, didn’t it?”

  “Kind of.” Ellie stepped up as Aurora ushered them inside.

  “I don’t like the sound of this.” Aurora hugged her tightly. She had dark circles under her bloodshot eyes.

  Ellie couldn’t believe her calm and acceptance of life and its curveballs. Aurora had survived the death of her husband and parents. She survived ill health and a brutal job. Her motto of Accept It and Move On made for a good life mantra. Until last night, Ellie thought she’d lived that way too, but she’d been fooling herself. The last two days proved positively that she couldn’t deal with death. At least not Ashley’s death.

  “Ma, I want you to meet someone.” She dragged Quinn closer. “This is Quinn Reynolds. Quinn, this is Aurora Bristol. Quinn followed me so I could get back.”

  Aurora ignored his outstretched hand and drew him into a hug. “Hello. Nice to meet you, sugar. Ellie, you didn’t tell me you were dating anyone,” Aurora admonished as she pulled away.

  “We’re not dating.” She glanced at Quinn. “Well, I mean, we went on one date, but we’re not really dating. Quinn’s from out of town visiting his brother. We just met. He’s a nice guy, Ma. But just a good friend.”

  What else was she going to tell the woman who thought of her like a daughter? Hi, Ma. This is Quinn. He just finished screwing my brains out.

  Instead of contemplating what Quinn thought of the words, good friend, Ellie looked around the mobile home and was transported back in time. The furniture, the knickknacks… everything took her back to her youth when she and Ashley had been teenagers with raging hormones. Pictures of the Bristol ladies—Aurora, Sheryl and Ashley—lined the walls. Ellie was in half of them. Jack Bristol had died the year before Ellie had met Ashley, but the girls resembled their father as much as their mother. Seeing the pictures brought a question to mind.