“You’ve been thinking about that, huh.”
She nodded.
“Say it.”
“Yes, I’ve been thinking about you and me, coming fast and hard.”
“I have, too.” He chuckled and ran a finger down her spine, along the crevice of her buttocks and sex then pressed on her clitoris with unerring accuracy. Once there, he stilled his touch. “We’ll get to head banging sex sometime, but this morning I want pearly gates.”
She shifted a little, wanting his finger to slide over her clitoris, but he stayed with her, applying the same maddening pressure. She shifted again, rocking a little, wanting him to press her clit harder. He took his hand away instead.
She moaned. “What’s the pearly gates?”
“One step at a time. First I have to get you dewy wet all over. Every pore of you will weep for an orgasm. Spread your legs a little more.”
She moved her legs a part. “Like this.”
“Perfect. Now close your eyes and stay just like this for me.”
She closed her eye, anticipation raced over her senses.
He shifted on the bed and the next thing she felt was his mouth covering her clitoris and sucking her. He’d turned onto his back and eased his head between her legs. She moaned and shivered as she imagined what he was doing and how he was doing it. He spread the lips of her sex wide and thrust his tongue into her vagina, swirling around and around her sensitive opening, making her want to scream.
She arched and strained. Wanting more. Wanting him to go back to her clitoris. Wanting him inside her. Her hips jerked. And he backed away from her, only giving her clit a little flick. She cried out.
“You’re starting to get a little pearly,” he said, moving to kneel behind her again.
She opened her eyes. “Only a little?” she huffed. “I feel very wet.”
“Patience. You’ll see.” He slipped his fingers into her vagina and she pressed back against him, her breath catching. He pulled his fingers out.
“Come inside,” she begged.
“Like this?” He shoved his erection into her, filling her in one thrust.
“Yes!” She cried out arching her back and pushing against him.
He reached around and cupped a breast with each hand, flicking his thumbs over her hardened nipples as he thrust deep into her three times. Then he stilled.
She moaned and pushed back, wanting more.
“Tell me you want me deeper.”
“I want you deeper, Jared. Please. Take me hard.”
Releasing her breasts, he straightened. He gripped her right hip, holding her steady as he reached down and grasped her left thigh. “Lift this leg for me.”
With him anchoring her in place, she balanced on her hands and her right knee, and lifted her left leg.
“Sa-weet.” He pulled her leg up, shifted the angle of his thrusts and went deeper than before. His penis stroked the front wall of her vagina. Suddenly a gripping shudder of pleasure rippled through her. Her palms grew damp.
He thrust three more times, each stroke intensifying the shuddering pleasure. Her body strained, arching for the orgasm that wasn’t quite within her grasp—just a little more, just a little. “Oh, yes. That’s amazing. Don’t stop.”
Jared pulled out and she shuddered hard as her body ached for what he didn’t finish. A sweat broke across her brow, her entire body.
He lay back on the bed and stretched as if he didn’t have a care in the world. She reared up and set her hands on her hips. “Jared Weldon. If you think that—”
He ran a finger down the center of her chest all the way to her clit and pressed.
She almost screamed at the shard of pleasure. Her legs shook.
“You’re dewy enough get started.”
She glared at him. “What if I don’t—”
“Trust me. You do. You will. You will want everything.” He tugged her arm, making her fall on top of him. Then he caught her shoulders, and turned her until her back rested on his stomach. He bunched a pillow to support her head just above his left shoulder. Maneuvering his legs inside of hers he spread hers wide and used his hand to position his penis at just right angle to thrust into her.
Once inside, he used his legs to open her legs wider. Then he clasped her nipple between his finger and thumb of his left hand and put the forefinger of his left hand on her clitoris. She was so excited, so ready that she could taste the pleasure. She’d never felt this open and vulnerable. She was splayed wide like a sexual sacrifice just waiting to be devoured. Her already racing heart thumped hard. She ached. She needed. She wanted.
He didn’t move though. He just held her like that, whispering softly into her ear. “Feel me squeezing your nipple?”
She nodded.
“Feel my finger on your clit?”
She gasped. “Yes.”
“Feel me inside you?”
“Yes. Oh, yes.”
“Want to come?”
“Jared, please.” She shuddered.
He rocked his hips twice stroking the front wall of her vagina. “Along here is your G-spot. I’m going to find it. The pearly gates will open wide and we’ll enter heaven.”
Rocky didn’t think she had a G-spot, but she couldn’t think at the moment. Couldn’t do anything but feel. He pressed his palm down on her sex, as he thrust up, an intense, shard of pleasure ripped through her. More intense than before. Her body shook.
“That’s it, Roc. Do you feel it?” He stroked again.
“Yes.” Her heart pounded. Her vision swirled.
He thrust five more times. “Do you want it?”
“Yes. Hell, yes.” She felt feverish. Perspiration covered her.
“Then let’s open the pearly gates.” He shifted his thighs up and out, forcing her legs as far opened as they could go. In a frenzy of thrusts he gave it to her hard and fast, lifting their hips off the mattress with each stroke. He rubbed her clit and rolled her nipple. The world as she knew it cease to exist. Her body was no longer hers to control. Pleasure exploded inside her and burned a trail over her every nerve. Her vagina clenched over and over. Her mind tingled everywhere. Her lungs spasmed in shuddering breaths that rocked her whole body. Her vision went black and lights burst before her eyes.
“Jared!” she cried out, ecstasy consuming her.
“Heaven,” he whispered as his body spasmed beneath hers with his orgasm.
Once her thundering heart slowed and she could breathe again, she turned her head toward Jared. He turned, too, and kissed her softly. At that moment, she felt as if she could face any trouble and weather any storm. And she realized she hadn’t run from her problems this morning, to escape mindlessly into sex, but had turned to Jared and bonded with him, so that together they could slay dragons and conquer the world.
Coffee in hand and Jared behind her, Rocky walked into the video conferencing room. It was set up boardroom style, with a massive oval table surrounded by about twenty chairs. Jesse and Mulligan were already there, looking solid, and oozing I-can-solve-anything confidence. Papers and files littered the table and Jesse had a laptop in front of him. Rocky assumed it was his desktop displayed on the massive TV screen at the end of the room.
It was eight in the morning. She’d already spoken to Maggie and Mack. Riley was doing fine, but Collin had yet to be located since he’d lost it in her office yesterday. Last night’s bomb had blown her already crumbling world completely apart and the only element keeping her from drowning was Jared and the company he worked for.
“Pick a chair,” Jesse said then frowned at Jared. “Jackson is going to shoot you for not wearing that plastic cast.”
“He won’t know unless you tell him. Besides it being cumbersome as hell, after last night, the lining is wet and I hurt worse with it on. So it stays off for now and these Italian leather loafers are staying on.” Jared pulled a chair out for her and she sat. He sat next to her.
Jesse shrugged. “It’s your leg.” He brought his gaze to Rocky. “Good news
and bad news. The good is that we know how your UUSUB is getting information, and staying a step ahead. My team located a bug in your house last night when securing it after the fire. Besides smoke and water, the damage is minor compared to what it could have been. They then checked your car and your father’s nursing home room for bugs and found listening devices planted in both. Most likely your construction offices are bugged, too.”
Rocky set down her coffee cup before she dropped it. “Bugged. As in someone is listening to every word I’ve said? Good God, how is that good news?”
“Because once we get our facts in order we can use the planted bugs to set a trap for the UNSUB. Hind-sight always bites a man in the ass. The bad news is that when Jared brought us your case on Monday, with only the planter having falling, and no apparent reason for violence immediately visible in your life, I didn’t follow the company’s usual protocol of thoroughly checking out a victim’s environment. I figured having Jared with you was enough. If I had done so on Monday and found the bug, we would have perceived a real threat, which might have led to preventing the fire at the hotel and the bomb attack last night. The bug also broadens the scope of this case to those beyond your inner circle. We need to take a look at everyone you come in contact with or have had contact with over at least a month before the break-in at McKenna Construction’s office. Thank God I put you both under surveillance and Mulligan was able to get to you so quickly. It wasn’t enough though. You both could have been killed because I didn’t follow protocol.”
Rocky frowned. Sure she could understand where Jesse was coming from, but she thought he was being too hard on himself.
“No, this is all my fault,” Jared said. She glanced at him. He was white as a sheet. “From the very start I should have—”
Rocky held up her hands as if to stop a freight train. “Hold it. Both of you. You two are looking at this all wrong. The fact is I didn’t even remotely believe there was a threat to my life until...well until the bomb last night. Call me stubborn or stupid, but I thought someone was sabotaging the jobsite. And I really hadn’t processed what happened with Uncle Patrick. Murder was more far-fetched than suicide. Both were unbelievable. The truth is that if I hadn’t just wanted to be with Jared I would have done exactly what I’ve always done—rejected help and dealt with things all by myself. You all saved my life. Now I need to find out who is trying to kill me and why.”
Jared sighed. She didn’t know if it was in relief or not. She couldn’t look at him. She’d basically just confessed she brought him home with her because she’d wanted him in her bed.
Mulligan snorted. “Only a Weldon’s sex appeal could be strong enough to stop a murder.”
Heat flushed her cheeks and Jared groaned. Now she really couldn’t look at him.
Jesse rolled his eyes. “More like another example of the twin’s dumb luck.” He smiled at her. “You’ll see. The rest of us mortals struggle and scrape and just maybe have something end up well, but Jared and James, they can get into the damnedest situations and come out on top.”
“Can we stop roasting my ass now?” Jared muttered. “It’s already going to get a blistering.”
“Sooner better than later,” Jesse replied.
She finally shifted her gaze toward Jared. He looked worried as if he was facing the gallows. That confused her. Did her confession of wanting him with her upset him? She could hardly think why. She thought the sex had been amazing for them both. And he was the one who’d pursued her into having him with her.
“Meanwhile, let’s get to the case,” Jesse said, steering the conversation back to the reason they were all there. “First, you should know that we couldn’t have stopped Patrick Brady’s death even if we’d followed protocol from the second Jared brought you to us. The ME has Brady’s time of death as being around nine or ten Monday morning, not long after leaving the bank. The suicide vs. murder question is still being investigated. The police want to question the woman who was with him at the bank. In my book, it’s a strong indicator of foul play. Jared’s positive it was a man who planted the bomb. Let me ask you this. Is there a person or a new couple in your life that could possibly have a connection to Ireland?”
Rocky sifted through the people she knew but no one stood out in her mind. She shook her head. “No.”
“Anyone who gives you an off vibe? Sometimes we know something isn’t right even though we don’t realize it.”
“Just Collin’s rage. That’s nothing new. But I still don’t believe he’d hurt his father and as for building and planting a bomb, that’s just not him. He’d get drunk and do something stupid.”
“The guy last night was tall, muscular, but not necessarily built. Like Collin, but also like other men you work with. What about Riley?” Jared asked. “I gather from what I overheard on Monday he’s giving you some problems?”
Rocky shrugged. “I’ve encountered the same attitude from other men too many times to count. It’s normal male ego stuff in my book. Men don’t like women bosses, especially in construction. Besides, he was attacked yesterday at the hotel.”
“So he claims,” Jared replied.
Jesse nodded. “A criminal playing victim to his own crime is a dynamic to consider here. He could have faked what happened to him once he realized the explosion missed you both.”
Rocky frowned. “What about the truck disappearing from the scene of the fire? Or the planter? Riley was with me when the planter fell.”
Jared leaned forward. “An accomplice, maybe? One who could have taken off in the truck? One who could have pushed the planter? If you remember, Riley was facing you and Mack that day. All he had to do was step back to avoid harm. Did Riley lure to you that spot? What do you know about him?”
“Lure me?” She rubbed her temple. “It was a hectic morning. I don’t remember how or why Mack and I stopped and spoke to Riley and I don’t know much about him. My father hired him about four months ago. The office secretaries, Alice or Maggie would know more. They processed his paperwork. I can call them and ask, but it seems to me you two are stretching to make things fit. He went to the hospital for a nice bump on his head.”
“Maybe we are,” Jesse said. “After last night, the team here will be looking into everyone who was on the jobsite Monday. I’ll need a list if possible.”
“I’ll have once sent.”
“Good. You know, instead of causing a rift, it could be someone who goes out of their way to be helpful. Ted Bundy worked at a crisis center and his co-worker’s never had a clue.”
“Like Mack?” Jared asked. “He goes above and beyond.”
She rolled her eyes. “Now you’re really stretching. Mack has been around for years and he always goes above and beyond.”
“You should read Ann Rule’s The Stranger Beside Me, maybe then you won’t shoot down everyone we bring up.”
“I don’t...” Rocky stopped her denial. She was dismissing their suggestions. She really had to keep an open mind. After all, her parents, whom she’d lived with and loved all of her life had kept secrets from her. “You’re right. Until Sunday, and Uncle Pat’s revelation I never would have thought my parents were hiding something either.”
“Speaking of which, we’ve had some interesting interviews from my man on the ground in Belfast, Ian Conelley. He’s been tracking down the families of the murdered college students. I’ll let you listen to his reports, starting with Shona O’Loughlin’s family. As of yet, we’ve been unable to make a direct connection, but we’ve found people who knew her family well.” Jesse hit a button on his computer and a video popped up on the TV screen.
Rocky fisted her hand, disappointed, but anxious as well. The name Shona was the only apparent connecting dot between her and the book her mother left. But as the interview unfolded, Rocky saw more pieces fall into place. Not only had Ian asked questions during the interviews, but Jesse and Mulligan had as well. What they’d learned was Rose and Seamus O’Loughlin had four children, three daughters, and a son. Shon
a, the eldest, had been an outspoken young woman studying to be a lawyer who’d had strong views and had fought for them. She’d been pro-woman, anti-British, and anti-religion—both Catholic and Protestant—which were unpopular beliefs for a woman at that time, especially in Northern Ireland. In contrast, her younger sister, Anne, had been quiet and studious, always reading and writing, and wanted to be a teacher. After the murder of Shona, Anne grew bitter, dropped out of school and ran away when she was sixteen. The family never heard from her again. The O’Loughlins left Ireland with their remaining daughter and son and moved to Australia.
“The description of Anne fits my mother’s personality perfectly,” Rocky whispered after the interview. “She gave me part of her real name and part of her sister’s name. Anne...Roxanne Shona. Shona would have been my aunt.”
“I’ve got someone trying to locate the family in Australia,” Jesse added. “One other thing Ringo discovered that fits is, in the closing of her note, your mother signed the Gaelic words—”
“Anchora salutis,” Rocky said. “It means anchor of salvation. She always wrote that at the end of her manuscripts.”
“What you might not know is that it is the motto for the O’Loughlin family Coat of Arms.”
Rocky shook her head, almost speechless. “How many other clues are woven into what I thought was a normal life?”
“Sherlock, rollover. Welcome to the new world of Cyber investigation,” Jared said. “No need to globe-trot and pound the pavement when you can do it with your fingertips and a keyboard.”
Mulligan frowned. “Don’t fool yourself. There are some cyber-less places so dark that a sane man would rather die than go.”
Rocky got the idea Mulligan had been to those places. So was the man calling himself insane? “Sitting here and not being out there asking the questions does feel a little odd.”
“Safety for our clients is our first priority,” Jesse said. “We do the fieldwork.”
Rocky held up her hands. “That wasn’t a complaint. Seeing Uncle Pat...the bomb...it was more than I want to experience in a lifetime. Were you able to find out more about the other families?”
Hard Irish Page 18
