“Probably should tone it down a little while you’re at work,” she said, breathing heavily, and then smiled a naughty smile, before leaning forward and whispering in his ear. “I missed out on all the fun of being irresponsible when I was young; having said that, I wouldn’t be opposed to finding a place for a nooner.”
He grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the exit to the back parking lot where they had parked. Once she was in the car and belted in, he leaned over and kissed her again.
“My town house is a couple minutes away.”
She giggled.
“In a hurry?”
“You had me at nooner.”
She was full out laughing until his hand slid between her legs and under her skirt, seeking out the hot little spot he knew she loved to have touched, effectively cutting off any laugher.
Kara sucked in a breath and moaned at the feeling of his hand between her legs. They practically squealed into his parking lot at his house. Like a couple of sex-starved teenagers, they walked quickly to the entrance to his town house. Once inside the door, they began kissing again. His tongue was exquisite in the exploration of her mouth.
She broke off from the kiss and backed away from him, beckoning to him with her finger as she reeled him in, stopping at the foot of the stairs in his two-story town home. Desperate for his skin on her, she tugged at his shirt, pulling it up and over his head. Her mouth sought out his nipples, teasing one with her tongue until he sucked in air and tugged her shirt over her head. With nimble fingers, he undid the front clasp of her bra and tugged it off her, throwing it to the floor with their shirts.
Then she shimmied out of her underwear and skirt. She was standing before him in nothing but her strappy sandals, when she sank to the steps behind her, spreading her legs, inviting him to feast on her. Kara was momentarily struck by the thought that she felt like a wanton woman and then his mouth was on her. Devouring her with his tongue, he slipped a finger inside her, and she arched up against his mouth, crying out in need.
“Oh, unh, please don’t stop,” she moaned, reveling over that talented mouth as her orgasm built. When he slipped a second finger in, she bucked against him, straining toward the finish line, straining until it felt like she had fractured into a million pieces.
Digging her hands into his hair, she tugged his face up to hers and kissed him feverishly, while wrapping her legs around his hips.
“I need…I need you inside me,” she gasped, all shyness gone.
He tugged at the button and freed himself in one fluid motion and then he drove into her. She was still climaxing from the ministrations his tongue had put her through, and as soon as he thrust into her, she called out in undiluted pleasure. He captured her scream with his lips and drove his tongue into her mouth in the same rhythm that his hips were driving his erection into her.
“God. I can’t…I need to…” he panted.
In answer to his pleas, she slid her hands under the fabric of the underwear and pants he was still wearing and dug her nails into him, pulling him closer as she arched into him. That was all it took to destroy his resolve to hold on, and he gasped her name as he rocked into her one last time as he, too, climaxed.
Caleb had been holding himself above her with his arms, but momentarily spent, he relaxed, and his full weight came to rest on her. They had made love numerous times since last night and in numerous positions. However, none of those times had he put his full weight on her. For one fleeting moment, Kara panicked. The claustrophobia of being pinned down was too much for her; she took a ragged breath and inhaled his scent.
At the precise moment that she relaxed, he was moving to get off her, sensing her panic, but she wrapped her legs and arms tightly around him, signaling to him that she didn’t want him to move. She needed him there, his body on hers; because she needed to know that she could have a normal moment with the man she loved.
“Kara…” he said, cautiously.
“It’s all right. I know what I can handle. And I can handle this. What I can’t handle is you moving away from me, not after we just enjoyed an incredible moment of sex together.”
He nodded and relaxed, but she could tell he was still trying to keep some of his weight off her. When she looked at his face, she could see that he was trying to shut down his emotions. Suddenly, old insecurities popped into her head. Of not being adequate, never being able to be normal. Maybe it wasn’t as much fun for him as for her.
“Unless that is, maybe you didn’t enjoy it…” she trailed off, feeling embarrassed enough to want to hide under a rock. Suddenly, she felt his body shaking and, confused, she looked up at him, entirely shocked to see that he was laughing at her. “What?”
“You don’t honestly believe I didn’t enjoy that, do you?” He rolled off her and lay on his back on the stairs, laughing so hard that tears were forming in his eyes.
“I don’t understand how that is funny?”
“Oh, honey, I am a man.”
“So? What’s your point?”
“I just had sex with a beautiful woman, who I didn’t even take the time to take my clothes off for, on the stairs of my house. A woman that I just professed my love to and she to me. A woman who has bestowed the honor of trusting me to make love to her. Me. Does that not equal enjoyable?”
“I…”
“Kara, that wasn’t just incredible sex. That was mind-blowing sex. A man could go his whole life without ever having sex like that, and you can actually think I wouldn’t have enjoyed myself?”
“No, it’s just … I am such a novice, and you, well, clearly you aren’t.”
“You don’t honestly think that was a pity fuck, do you?” he asked, agitation rising in his voice. “I don’t want to ever hear you say anything like that. I don’t even want you thinking that. No part of me is having sex with you out of pity. I am making love to you because I want to…”
She stopped him when he would have continued, by climbing onto him and kissing him passionately. His softening cock jerked to attention, and she broke the kiss.
“Honey, if that isn’t proof right there, I don’t know what is. Because Mr. Happy wouldn’t be trying to dance so soon if he didn’t want to.”
Kara stood up with new confidence and with legs on both sides of him, she walked up a couple of stairs and sank back down, leaving her soaked nether regions within inches of his face. With a wicked smile, she stared down at him.
“Well, then, prove it.”
With a growl, he dove at her. Moments later, she was crumbling forward, unable to maintain her posture because of the sensations pouring through her. She crawled off him and up the rest of the stairs. She was brazenly naked and not the least bit affected by it. When she got to the top of the stairs, she turned and looked over her shoulder.
“You coming, hot stuff?” she asked, saucily.
“Not yet, but give me a minute or two and I will be.” She wiggled her butt and laughed when he charged up the stairs after her.
An hour later, they were lying in his bed, snuggled against each other, both satiated for now. Muscles like rubber, he pulled her butt against his groin. Burying his face in her hair, he sighed.
“Mmmm, you smell good.”
“I’m sure that I don’t smell that great right now.”
“Yeah, you do. God, Kara, what did I do before I found you?”
“Sat in a dark room, pining and waiting for me?”
“I think you just might be right about the waiting part and maybe even the dark. Because my world sure seems a lot brighter now.”
“I should be asking what you’re doing to me? A year ago, I never would have done any of that. Heck, a week ago, I wouldn’t have.”
“I guess I’m gifted,” he said with a smile on his face, before he claimed her mouth in another kiss.
Caleb must have dozed off, because he woke with Kara in his arms, to the sound of his cell phone ringing obnoxiously on the table by his bed. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He should be working on
this case, but it really was at a standstill. There wasn’t much to investigate at this point; all the leads had dried up before Andrea Vincent had been found.
Sighing, he picked up the phone before it went to voicemail.
“Montgomery.”
“Caleb, it’s Cathy. We just got a tip to go check out an abandoned cabin on the outskirts of town. It might be where Andrea was held. Get your ass here ASAP so we can go check it out.”
“Give me fifteen minutes.”
“Make it ten.” She hung up and Caleb sat there suddenly wide awake.
“What’s going on?” Kara asked, the phone call had obviously woken her up, as well.
“A tip just came in about an abandoned cabin outside town. It might be where he held her.”
“Let’s go.”
“Not a chance. You’re coming with me to the police station, where you’ll wait until I get back.”
“I think I’ll be safe here. We weren’t planning on coming here, so how would he know where I am?”
“He’s always a step ahead of us; remember how you told me you wouldn’t leave the police station without a police escort? I need you to do this for me or I won’t be able to focus. It’s the safest place for you to be.”
“I understand that, but Caleb, if this isn’t a break in the case...at some point, you’re going to have to leave me alone. The city can’t afford to keep watch over me, and I need to go to work, too.”
“I know that, and we’ll figure that out when the time comes, but you need to give me a little more time to find this asshole. I can’t leave you unprotected. My head will be consumed with worry for you and that makes for a dangerous situation for me in the field.”
“I need you to be safe, so I’ll go to the station, because I know it is the smartest choice to make. As long as you do acknowledge that this setup will eventually have to change.”
“Not today,” he growled.
29
Kara was bored. Resorting to reading all the signs in the room, after reading every magazine in the police station, not that there were that many to read, was getting old. She supposed that they didn’t have a lot of time to sit around and read when they were at the station. Looking around the room, she saw some large statute books sitting on a shelf and decided it was better than nothing.
She had just sat down with the large volume of laws when her cell phone rang. Glancing at the screen, she didn’t recognize the number. Aware that she had failed to program in the hospital phone number, she suddenly worried it was the hospital calling to say something had happened to Ethan. She answered the phone quickly, tension making her muscles tight.
“Hello?”
“Is this Dr. Vanderbilt?” the female voice asked.
“Yes, this is Dr. Vanderbilt. Who is this?”
“This is Suzanne. Uh, Nurse Abfall.”
“Has something happened to Ethan?”
“No. Uh, no, he’s fine.”
“Then what did you need?” Kara asked. She couldn’t help that she sounded annoyed. She had been terrified Ethan had a setback.
“It’s nothing like that. But this call does have to do with him.”
“How so?”
“Well, you had mentioned that you are his healthcare POA.”
“Correct. What is the purpose of this call, Suzanne?”
“It’s just, well, hospital policy is that we need to scan a copy into our computer system. In case, something was to change, we would need that on file. I should have gotten it from you the night he was brought in. Things were hectic, and I forgot.”
“All right, I’ll bring it in tomorrow. Thank you.”
“Actually, would you mind bringing it tonight?” Suzanne asked, cutting her off mid-sentence.
“I’m afraid I can’t tonight. I don’t have the time or the means to get there.”
“Please.” She sniffled. Was she crying? The woman Kara remembered from school and the other night didn’t seem like the type to cry over something so silly.
“I just can’t tonight.”
“I could lose my job over this. After the other day, the way I treated you, well, Dr. Chiglo and Dr. Brenner weren’t happy.” This time, the sob was audible. Kara didn’t want her to lose her job, even if she was unpleasant to her the other day.
“All right. Fine. I will find someone to give me a ride. But I have to go home first. I’m not at home and the paperwork is at my house.”
“T-Thank you,” Suzanne hiccupped and then hung up.
Inconvenient timing, but it would be more interesting than sitting around here. Kara’s mood brightened when she saw Officer Black. Surely, he would be willing to bring her home and then he could leave her at the hospital and she could visit with Ethan until Caleb got back. That sounded far more enjoyable than sitting in the stuffy police station reading statue books.
“Officer Black, would you mind giving me a ride home and then to the hospital? I need to deliver some paperwork, and I thought I could sit with my brother until Detective Montgomery gets back.”
“Sure, that won’t be a problem,” he said.
Kara grabbed her purse, and they started walking toward the entrance Officer Black had just come through. They were almost out the door when the radio on his shoulder squawked, and he paused to listen. Through the squawk of the radio on his shoulder Kara could only make out the words ten and fifty; it was amazing that Black could understand anything else.
“Copy that. Four seventy-one responding.” He glanced quickly at Kara. “Sorry, there’s a minor car accident that just got called in. I have to go.”
“No problem. I’ll just wait.”
Kara turned to go back to Caleb’s desk and crashed into someone coming from the other direction. The officer caught her before she crashed to the ground.
“Sorry about that. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”
“No worries. See you later, Officer Black.”
Black paused for a second and looked at the other officer.
“Do you mind giving Dr. Vanderbilt a ride to her home to pick something up and then a ride to the hospital? She has some papers she needs to drop off tonight.”
“No problem. I was just getting off shift; my car is parked out front,” he said, and she followed him to the door as Black ran out the back entrance.
“Thank you so much for giving me a ride home. I really appreciate it,” she said as she buckled into the car.
“I hope Detective Montgomery doesn’t get upset,” the officer said, smiling.
“I’m sure it will be fine.”
“I don’t know, he seems awfully protective of you.”
A flush creeped up Kara’s neck and settled in her cheeks. Never had she blushed so much in her life as she had the last couple days. She wasn’t embarrassed as much as turned on by the image of Caleb gloriously naked in bed next to her; the image was so vivid that she could feel warmth spread through her at the mere picture in her mind. The faster he got back and picked her up, the better.
“Ah, that’s sweet, seems you have it bad for the good detective?”
“Um, that’s a pretty personal question, don’t you think?”
“You’re right. Sorry, ma’am. It’s just, well, the blush, it gave it away.”
“Nothing to be apologizing about; I just don’t like to share my personal life.”
“I get that. Cops are pretty tight-lipped, too. Must be a habit picked up from our professions. I imagine being a doctor means you have to be really careful with what you share.” He paused, and when she didn’t say anything, he continued. “HIPAA, right?” he asked, an awe shucks smile on his face that for some reason raised her hackles.
“Right.”
Caleb was irritated when he dropped Kara off at the police station and picked up Cathy. That irritation didn’t come close to the way he was feeling now that they were at the cabin. Or what was supposed to be a cabin. In reality, it was a deer blind that some hunter had put up on private property.
“We came out here for this bullshit,” he said, fighting the urge he felt to kick something.
This case was infuriating with its utter lack of clues or viable leads. His conversation with Kara kept replaying in his head. There was no way he was leaving her unprotected until this killer was found. No. Way. In. Hell. They could work around her job. Mercy Hospital had security. He would just reach out to them. Doctors worked long hours so she would be covered for a large portion of the day, and when she wasn’t at work, well, he would be with her as much as possible. Even if it meant his taking a leave of absence.
“You know as well as I do that we had to come out here. You never know what tip is going to pan out, and since we have nothing but dead ends when it comes to this case, we had to at least check it out.” Cathy said, sounding equally annoyed. “I get it, I hate spinning my wheels, too. Not to mention, I would much rather be home with my baby and husband versus trudging around out here on a wild goose chase.”
He grunted his agreement. This whole situation sucked. There had to be something that was missed, some clue that would lead them to this maniac. Serial killers got tripped up over small mistakes; they had to just find the needle in the haystack.
“I hate feeling like someone is jerking our chain,” Brett mumbled. He had come along hoping they would find some evidence.
“It always sucks when we go investigate a ‘tip’ that turns out to be nothing. I don’t understand why people call in crank tips. I mean, do they get off on wasting our time? Don’t they know we have a murder case to solve?” Cathy asked.
The blood in Caleb’s veins went ice cold when their words finally sunk in.
“What did you say?”
Cathy looked at him, obviously confused by his outburst.
“I hate when someone wastes our time on a wild goose chase. Caleb, where is your head tonight?” she asked.
“Probably on that smokin’ hot doctor he’s been watching over,” Brett said, but quickly changed his joking tune when he looked long and hard at Caleb’s drawn face. “What’s wrong?”
“Wasting our time…a distraction…getting Kara away from me.” Each word drove a dagger into his heart.
In the Night (Darkness Falls Book 1) Page 24
