Hide My Memories: A Romantic Suspense Thriller Series (Hide Me Series Book 1)

by Lisa Ladew

  “Mmm, yes,” Katerina whispered.

  West dipped his mouth and lightly brushed her lips with his. Katerina shivered and opened the seam of her lips, seeking him, encouraging him. West brushed her lips again and pulled her body close to him. Her words still rang in his ears, spurring him on. Work relationship be damned. This moment was about them.

  Softly, as softly as he could, he pressed his mouth against hers, running his hands up her back and lifting her hair, letting it fall down gently. Electricity crackled between them, creating energy. She moaned softly and darted her tongue between his lips. West felt his cock pulse and throb at the touch. He ran his hands down her sides, gently grasping her hips and kneading the muscles there. She arched into him and he ran his hands around her back, pulling her closer, loving the feel of her, grinding her center slightly into him.

  Katerina plucked at his shirt and he pulled away from her long enough to whip it over his head. Her hands immediately went to his chest, spanning the muscles there and then working around to his shoulders and back. He caught her lips again, exploring her, feeling the crackle of energy even inside his mouth. He’d never felt anything like this before and he wondered what it would feel like to slide in and out of her. Would it be too much? Or exactly enough?

  He slid his hands slowly up her sides, pulling her shirt with them. It passed over her breasts and then above her head and was gone in one movement. He brought his hands back to her breasts, clothed only in a simple, pink bra. Katerina reached behind herself quickly, as if she couldn’t wait to be rid of the thing. She unclasped it and dropped it on the floor, revealing perfection. Creamy skin contrasting delectably with perfect, taut nipples.

  West groaned at her ripeness. “Beautiful, Katerina, you are so beautiful.”

  He bent forward, wanting his first touch to be with his tongue. He caught a nipple in his teeth and lightly nipped at it, loving her reaction. She arched her back and tugged at his hair, breathy sighs escaping her throat. West pulled back to look at her breasts again, then tried to gently place her on the bed. He needed to spend some time here and he wanted her to be comfortable while he worshiped her body like she deserved.

  She stopped him, pulling at his zipper. “Please West, I need to feel your entire body against mine.”

  West shed his pants and underwear in an instant, his cock rigid and tall, nudging his stomach. Her eyes saucered at the sight of it and she reached for him, her tentative, gentle touch almost proving too much for him. He sucked in a breath between his teeth and grasped her hands. “Katerina, it’s been so long. I can’t take too much.”

  “We have all day West, we have all year. We have forever. I want to touch you,” she whispered back, fire in her voice, her eyes wide and pleading. West saw only one thing in those eyes. Desire. They’d lost their haunted quality and he was fiercely glad. He dropped his hands to his sides. Katerina could have whatever she wanted.

  She descended slowly to her knees in front of him and he moaned slightly at the visual. He’d never seen anything so seductive in his life. Her sensual mouth was mere inches away from him. She wore only jeans and her breasts tumbled free, their curves drawing his eye again and again. Her feminine hands grasped his cock. She leaned forward and kissed the tip of it, the curiously dynamic sensation thrusting him closer than ever to that edge. He plunged his hands in her hair and threaded it through his fingers as she sealed her mouth around him. “Katerina,” he moaned, closing his eyes, trying to block out the stunning sight of her mouth and her body and all of her hair - trying to hold off just a little bit longer. But he couldn’t. Katerina was his undoing.

  ***

  Katerina’s senses were heightened to a point that felt surreal. She knew right now, in her hyper-aware state, even the blandest food would be painful, water would be like tequila, but West - West balanced everything that was off in her. There was something magical about their chemistry together, and she felt the rightness of what they were doing all the way to her core. West was going to save her, and she was going to let him.

  She fastened her gaze on his erection in front of her. It was gorgeous, like all the masculine energy in the world culminating in the body of one man. She ran her fingers over it, delighting in its soft texture. It was so hard, and yet so soft. A contradiction that she wanted to explore for a lifetime. Her mouth opened on its own, begging to be part of this. She took him into her mouth, her tongue making love to the hard softness. West’s body arched and she felt his release start. He pulled slightly away from her but Katerina followed him. He was magic, and she wanted every bit of him she could get. Cum spurted into her mouth, bringing images of desire, images of her looking more beautiful than she’d ever looked. She loved the way he saw her. It was unrealistic, but that didn’t matter to her right now. She was easily able to override what was coming from him, just by focusing on the heat in her own belly, on her own feelings of lust and arousal. A glimpse of his firefighter’s muscles and gorgeous cock were enough to obliterate any image she didn’t want to see in her own head. But she didn’t have to just glimpse them. She could touch them, lick them, stare at them, and take them inside her body. Heaven replaced horror, one contact at a time.

  West shuddered and she let him go. He swayed on his feet and opened his eyes, looking dazed and completely hers. She stood quickly and shed her pants and underwear. She wanted nothing between them. She pulled him onto the bed and draped a blanket over them, snuggling into his side. He lay limp and spent, and she felt his struggle for words. He was embarrassed. He had wanted to pleasure her.

  “Shh, you don’t need to say anything. That was amazing,” she told him.

  He looked sharply at her and she kissed his shoulder, then ran her fingers down his muscular stomach to his groin. She felt him stir again and she smiled jubilantly up at him. No need to be embarrassed. He laughed and turned over, taking her in his arms. He kissed her thoroughly, patiently, his love filling her mouth and her senses. She felt his erection grow again against her hip and she wriggled against him. She couldn’t get enough of the feel of his skin on her skin. It pacified her senses, and calmed her, but excited and aroused her at the same time. She felt clean, whole, and herself for the first time in days.

  West broke contact with her mouth and laid a trail of kisses down her neck. She felt her nipples harden almost painfully in anticipation of his attention. He kissed first one and then the other, and she watched, loving the look of his mouth on her skin. Loving how intense his expression was, like nothing existed on earth at that moment but her body. Each touch from his tongue sent a coil of blissful sensation out around her core, until she was drowning in it.

  West continued lower, kissing her middle, then her lower belly, and her breath quickened. He settled himself at the end of the bed, between her legs, and she felt his hot breath on her sex. She throbbed in want and need, and when he lightly kissed her, right where she wanted to be kissed, she writhed under his touch and clutched at the bed sheets. Her nerve endings were tight and overflowing with sensation. The smallest movement from his tongue sent her into dizzying spirals of delicious sensitivity. She’d never felt such intensity in her life. West laved her with the flat of his tongue, and she exploded into paroxysms of release. Her orgasm burst through her, blinding her, pushing everything else out of her mind and body. She screamed and arched up off the bed, barely aware of space and time or even who she was for one euphoric moment. Waves of softer pleasure washed over her and she collapsed onto the sheets, breathing hard, reveling in the sensations.

  After a moment, she felt West move, bringing her back to reality. She lifted her head and looked at him, and his triumphant smile made her laugh. He deserved to feel good about that. She’d never had an orgasm like that, ever. Before she could gather herself, he was poised between her legs, and she felt his hardness nudge at her sex. There was more. Good.

  “Any chance you have a condom close by?” he asked, and she flapped her hand weakly at the bedside table. In a flash, he found one and s
lid it on. Katerina marveled at the events that had brought this handsome hunk of man into her bed and into her life, even as he bent forward and kissed her again. She responded, kissing him back with a new urgency. She wanted him inside her more than she could ever remember wanting anything. Her attention was divided between his lips on hers and his hard length pressing against her entrance. He went slowly, deliciously, and agonizingly slowly, until she wriggled, trying to accept more of him.

  It had been so long for her too, maybe as long as four years since she’d had a boyfriend. But it had never been like this. He was stretching her, filling her up, centimeter after pleasant centimeter. He pulled away from her slightly and she opened her eyes. He was staring at her intensely, his emotions on full display. She saw the words “I love you” on his lips and she hoped he wouldn’t say them. She loved him too, but if all they had was this one day, she didn’t want the words to complicate things for them. He didn’t know that she was using his touch to cleanse her soul, to wash it free of Frank Phillips. He thought he knew, but he didn’t. He didn’t know that she could choose to block him but she wasn’t. She could choose not to see his thoughts and feel his feelings but she wouldn’t. Not until his inherent goodness had eradicated every trace of Phillips she’d had to endure. She was using him. She loved him, but she was still using him. She would tell him later, and then he might choose to leave her, but for now she would immerse herself in his love for her own selfish sake.

  He didn’t say the words. Instead, he pushed harder, until he was seated fully inside her. She gasped at the sensation, then moaned lightly as he pulled out and thrust back in again. His rhythm said he had all day, and he was intent on using it. She stared into his eyes, drowning herself, losing herself, gaining herself, and surrendering herself. He brought her to orgasm again, then one more time, until her muscles fluttered weakly and she felt complete, whole, faultless.

  West thrust harder and faster, still staring into her eyes. He pushed against her one last time and stiffened, a soft noise of approval and rightness coming from his throat.

  “Yes, West, yes,” Katerina urged him quietly. He collapsed on top of her and she hugged him close, spent, exhausted, and ready to rest well for the first time in a week. He’d done that for her. She sent her gratefulness out to him energetically, and tried not to think about what the rest of her life would look like. It was enough that she was here with him now, that life had triumphed over despair, that she had stolen a few precious moments of happiness and normalcy.

  Chapter 28

  Katerina listened on the phone to Lieutenant Masterson tell her she was cleared to come back to work the next day if she felt up for it. Relief and disbelief battled inside her for supremacy. West cocked a finger at her and winked. I told you so.

  She stuck out her tongue at him, then pulled her focus back to Lieutenant Masterson’s words. “Katerina, no one expected you to come back to work as soon as you got out of the hospital. And we all know none of this was your fault. You didn’t ask for it, but you did the right thing. Because of you, that man will go to prison for the rest of his life, where he’s no longer a threat to anyone. You didn’t ask for it, but you finished it, and I admire that in you. Don’t worry one more second about your job. We’ll pick up tomorrow like you never missed a day.”

  Katerina bit her lip, trying to keep her emotions in check. She felt a single tear slip down her cheek. She still had a job. “Thank you, Lieutenant, thank you so much.”

  “Anytime, see you tomorrow.”

  Katerina hung up. West took the phone from her and put it on the table, then pulled her into his arms.

  “Do you think she knows about us?” Katerina asked, laying her head on his chest. She hadn’t told him a thing yet. She wanted to, but she didn’t have the courage to face him walking out of her life forever. Instead, she’d pretended it wasn’t true. She’d pushed the ability down deep and vowed to never use it again. Swore to forget how to do it.

  Too bad it was becoming easier for her to do, and sometimes she did it to West without even realizing until it was too late. Luckily, it didn’t make him tired. In fact, it energized him and made him look at her with lust in his eyes. They’d spent the last two days making love almost constantly, stopping only to eat, sleep, and shower. Katerina was slightly sore, but happy. As happy as she’d ever been in her life.

  West answered her question. “She’s a smart woman. Probably.”

  “But she’s still going to let us work together?”

  “Seems like it. She and I go way back. She knows I wouldn’t lie about your horrible paramedic skills just because I was getting a little action on the side.”

  “Horrible paramedic skills!” Katerina cried, mock outrage in her voice. “I’ll be a better paramedic than you in six months!” she teased.

  West only smiled. “I know. I told her that the second day I worked with you.”

  Katerina’s mouth dropped open. “Really?”

  “Scout’s honor.”

  West dropped his mouth to hers, stopping any murmurings of appreciation in their tracks. They spent their last free day in bed, pleasing each other with every touch, every word, every desire.

  Katerina’s last thought before dropping off to sleep was, Maybe we can make it work.

  <<>>

  Epilogue

  Katerina felt strange about driving West to work early the next morning, like they had big signs on their foreheads that said SLEEPING TOGETHER, but his truck was still at the repair shop. Luckily, no one gave them any sidelong glances or whispered behind their back. In fact, the few people they did run into treated Katerina warmly.

  Katerina plodded through her pre-shift checklist, soaking in the sights and sounds of the ambulance and the radio and the yells and greetings of the paramedics going on and off-shift. She was thrilled to be back at work. Guilty twinges about sleeping with West, practically being his live-in lover, hit her occasionally, but she tried to ignore them. She hoped she didn’t have to see Lieutenant Masterson today. Her face would give her guilty conscience away for sure.

  West opened the side door and looked at her. “Why don’t you drive today?” he said, handing her the keys. Katerina smiled at him and took them, walking through from the back to the front and settling into the driver’s seat. Once West was in place next to her, she started the ambulance and pulled out. West called them in service.

  “Want to try to get coffee?”

  “Sure, where?”

  West gave her directions to his favorite coffee place and she started that way, a sense of contentment settling over her. Their call sign came across the radio and her calm, relaxed demeanor shattered instantly.

  “Standing by,” West said.

  Relax, don’t be jumpy. You’re going to have a good day, she told herself.

  “Respond to possible DOA, 129 Farragut Street. Police responding.”

  “Here we go,” West said with a grin. “Maybe we’ll have time for coffee later.”

  Katerina tried to grin back at him. She turned the ambulance down a side street and took a deep breath. Three minutes later they turned into the industrial area of Westwood Harbor and drove through the empty streets. All these buildings would be full of people on Monday, but today, Saturday, they looked like an abandoned city inside a city.

  West called out the numbers to her and they finally turned in the parking lot of a large red, brick building. Katerina parked close to the door and they got out. West grabbed the aid bag and walked to the building.

  “Looks pretty empty,” he said. He tried the door. Locked. He knocked, then looked around the parking area. There wasn’t even a car in sight. West got on the radio. “Central, nobody is here. Is there any more information?”

  “Negative, caller said there was a dead body in the parking lot and hung up.”

  West grimaced. “Must be a prank caller.”

  Katerina looked around, her unease finally easing a little. A prank caller. Not anything evil.

 
; A police car rolled into the parking lot and parked next to them.

  “Anything?” the pretty female police officer asked.

  “Nobody is here,” West said.

  “Okay,” the officer said. “I’ll take a spin around the parking lot and then we can clear.” West nodded and he and Katerina got back in the ambulance. The officer drove to the left first, looking at the side of the building, then she drove to the far right where a dumpster stood. As she drove past the dumpster she stopped suddenly, then honked her horn.

  “Crap,” West said. “Drive us over.”

  Katerina nodded, her heart in her throat again. As they pulled past the police vehicle they could see a pair of legs sticking out from behind the dumpster. “Damn.” West said, shaking his head. He got out and Katerina watched him go. Slowly, as if in a dream, or maybe underwater, she opened her door and slid out to the ground. She didn’t want to see this. She had to see this.

  As she walked in front of the ambulance, the dumpster still obscuring her view, she heard West swear. “Shit!” then he came for her, his eyes wide. “Katerina, stay back. Don’t come over here.”

  Katerina’s eyes went from West to the body, to West again. In two more steps she would be able to see all of it. He tried to get between her and it, but she sidestepped him.

  It was a woman. She was naked. Some sort of a mask covered her face.

  West caught her. He enveloped her in his arms and pushed her backwards. “You don’t want to see it, Katerina. I don’t know what’s going on, but we’re getting you out of here.” He walked her backwards all the way to the ambulance. She tried to sidestep him again, but he wouldn’t let her. “No, Katerina. Listen to me please.”