The Warrior In Me

by Anita Philmar

  “But…” She hooked her legs around his. The tantalizing heat of her pussy hit the front of his shorts, lancing through him like a sharp blade and exposing the ravenous predator beneath.

  All civility left him. His animalistic instincts ruled and demanded he stake his claim. He covered her mouth with his. Her full sensuous lips clung to his. Her sweet flavor rode over his tongue. After several long moments, he pulled back enough to nibble on her lower lip, and then couldn’t resist thrusting back into the heavenly wet opening.

  The impact of her body so close to where he needed to be set him on fire. His cock swelled, and his balls tightened with an alarming desperation. The hard points of her nipples poked through her nightshirt, and moisture seeped from her core through his shorts.

  He slid his hands down her back as hers closed over his biceps. To draw away or pull him closer, he couldn’t be sure. He only knew the carnivorous hunger burning inside him wouldn’t let him back off.

  A low, enticing sound rumbled from her chest, taking his cock from hard to painfully in need of relief. The urgent message rushing through his body had him reaching for the waistband of his shorts. One little tug, and he’d be buried ball deep inside her.

  Twisting her mouth away from his, she panted in his ear. “Bruce.”

  Damn. His mind had taken a vacation for a few minutes, and he’d forgotten they weren’t alone. His partner had only left the room to make a few calls. Would he return if he heard Lily moan in ecstasy? Did Sebastian want to take a chance?

  He turned his head and whispered, “You have two choices. One, we stop right now.”

  Her face was flushed, her lips were swollen from his kisses, and the heat in her gaze scorched him. “The other.”

  “Then let me hear you beg, be loud and vocal so Bruce knows exactly what we’re doing.” Sebastian directed his hand away from his shorts and his fingertips played over the soft, sensitive folds between her legs.

  “Sebastian, I can’t.” She groaned.

  He dipped one long finger into her inviting pussy and recalled how she’d teased him earlier. He wanted to return the favor, but he was way beyond foreplay. He gritted his teeth and bit out, “Yes, you can. Bring out the naughty girl who had me moaning in the shower.”

  “Then don’t play, give me this.” She slid her fingers under his waistband and toyed with his cock.

  Not needing any more encouragement, he palmed his erection and nudged the head into her moist heat. With one thrust, he powered home. A low growl reverberated through his chest. He dug his fingers into her ass and held her still until her excited gaze returned to his. “Sweetheart, I can’t be gentle. I need you too much.”

  “Yes.” She lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist. The new angle allowed his cock to slide deeper, and his control snapped.

  Lily didn’t know where she got the courage to insist Sebastian not wait. Hell, if someone wanted to kill her, she needed to latch onto one more moment of mind-blowing pleasure before it all ended.

  Or maybe she had a death wish of a different kind.

  He eased slowly back. The soft glide against her inner walls ignited her nerve endings, and then he slammed deep. The violent thrust turned the fire inside her into an inferno as his pace increased. The relentless rhythm wiped everything from her head.

  “Oh, please.” She fought hard to regain some semblance of restraint over her out-of-control emotions.

  “Louder.” His voice sounded harsh and raspy.

  “Sebastian,” she yelled and squeezed her legs tighter around his hips to draw him closer. He shuddered, and his hands gripped her ass with bruising force.

  He drew back enough so that just the tip of his erection remained inside her. His hot gaze locked with hers. “What exactly do you want?”

  Reading the uncompromising challenge in his eyes, she rocked her hips trying to entice him back inside her pussy. With a shallow thrust, he moved an inch or two deeper, and then retreated.

  Lily bit her lip. She knew what he wanted. Desperate, she arched her pelvis and strove to change his mind.

  “Say it,” he growled and held back.

  She had no doubt he enjoyed torturing her. She shivered while her pussy clenched around the mere inches he allowed her. “Please.”

  “What?” He punctuated the word with a hard thrust that hit her cervix before he drew back and stopped at her entrance again.

  Her body shook at his merciless teasing, and she panted for air as the wicked siren she always longed to be powered through her. Now, if she could give him what he wanted, she’d die a happy woman. “Fuck me, Sebastian. Fuck me, hard.”

  He grunted his appreciation and slammed his thick cock deep, tunneling through her weeping flesh until he completely filled every aching bit. Her body rejoiced at their joint surrender.

  Not slowing again, he rode her exactly as she requested with a persistent force that had her screaming with pleasure. Every slap of his body against hers drove the air from her lungs. Each withdrawal had her crying for more.

  The formidable emotions streaming through her body locked her in an erotic storm. Her approaching climax threw her off center, sending her whirling through time and space and rocking her world. The blissful tornado hit, hard and quick, shattering her understanding of how sex could bind two people. Because somewhere in the heart-stopping moment, he’d captured her body, soul, heart and made them his.

  With her entire body spasming in reaction to her orgasm, she rebelled at the sappy idea of them somehow bonding. Those types of notions were for fantasies and syrupy romance novels, not real life, and certainly not her life.

  After one more thrust, he emptied himself into her with a low groan. The hot surge filled her with a warm rush of passion. She tightened her arms around him and allowed herself the simple pleasure of being in his arms and having his pulsating cock buried deep.

  Utterly sated, she marveled at his endless energy when he edged back, withdrew, and lifted her in his arms. She snuggled closer and kept her eyes closed.

  “Bruce, I’m taking Lily upstairs so we can both change.” He strolled to the dining room door.

  “Good, Detective Callahan is on his way and should be here any minute,” Bruce said his voice full of amusement.

  A blush burned her cheeks, and she buried her face against Sebastian’s neck. “Damn, I’ll never be able to face him again.”

  A chuckle broke through his lips. “Why? Now, he knows how truly hot you are.”

  The compliment didn’t ease her discomfort, but still she had to ask, “You think I’m hot?”

  “Smokin’. That’s why I’m not going anywhere.”

  ****

  Staring at the logs in the center of the fireplace, Lily recalled doing the same thing on many other occasions with Mark at his desk, Zane in the wingback chair near him, and her on the couch while Violet fluttered between them, doing different things.

  Today, the other three men in the room had taken up similar positions. Settling into her normal spot, she kicked off her shoes, rested her feet on the ottoman, and listened to the conversation going on around her.

  With Detective Callahan on a mission, he, Sebastian, and Bruce reviewed every minute detail of the shooting. Each had been discussed until she could have sworn they’d checked every “i” that had been spoken to make sure they were dotted with a little girl’s fanciful heart.

  Exhaustion dulled her mind. Their words played through her head and lost their meaning.

  “Tell us again, Mrs. Winslow, why you chose that moment to pick up the napkin on the ground.” The detective sounded as if he were accusing her coordinating with the shooter the exact moment so she’d still be alive.

  She shook her head, trying her best to come up with an answer he’d like. “I don’t know. Like I said, I was upset with Sebastian and needed to clear my head. I stepped out of the house and noticed the napkin on the ground. I took a few steps forward, bent to retrieve it, and the glass door shattered behind me.”


  The panic she’d experienced at the time sizzled through her, blinding her with fear again. She tightened her hands into fists. “I fell to the ground and stayed there until Bruce said I could move.” She glared at the man sitting behind the desk. “I’m sorry, Detective, but I don’t know what you want me to say.”

  Sebastian set his hand over her thigh. His warmth seeped through the thin denim of her jeans. “You did exactly what you should’ve.”

  Her focus shifted to him. Memories of the pleasure she’d found in his arms warred against her resolve to create some distance between them. After they’d made love in the kitchen and he carried her upstairs, she’d done some soul searching while she dressed and considered the situation from every angle possible.

  No matter how she examined it, she’d come back around to the conclusion their affair couldn’t last. They each had separate agendas—hers to get back to work and further her research at the lab while his involved catching a killer and moving on to his next case. Their interlude would be over as soon as he achieved his objective. His hints of his boss wanting their connection to last because of his interest in the Neanderthal project seemed irrelevant. If they already knew they were descendants, why would they care what she discovered?

  With all the logical reasons lining up, she’d acknowledged her need to have him safeguard her life. However, she refused to allow him to become a crutch on which she would lean. She had to stay strong.

  “The question that keeps running through my mind is how did the shooter know you would be home and outside?” Detective Callahan glanced at his notepad. “You didn’t notice any unusual car parked on the street behind your house, did you?”

  Lily tried to remember the ride home from the funeral home and failed. Her emotions at the time were centered on her fight with Olivia. “The call—”

  “Yes.” Sebastian snapped his fingers and pointed at Bruce. “Someone called the number here and hung up when I answered. They must have been checking to see if we were home.”

  “Okay, add that in with the broken sensor and the smashed lock on the back gate, and the shooter could have snuck in and waited for an opportunity to take a shot.” Bruce offered as an explanation to the detective’s query.

  The detective tapped his pen against his notepad. “And you heard the shots from the driveway?”

  “Yes, I had just arrived from the viewing. I’d stuck around until everyone left except Olivia. She stayed to talk to the funeral director, and I came back here.” Bruce cast a knowing glance at Sebastian as if he had something to add. “I parked and was heading up to the apartment over the garage when the first shot rang out.”

  “Did you see any cars parked on the street behind the house?” Detective Callahan lifted his head and drilled Bruce with his steel-gray eyes.

  Lily squirmed. The policeman had a way of staring at her that unnerved her. Sebastian gave her thigh a light squeeze then laid his arm on the back of the couch behind her. His enticing warmth ran along her left side. She wanted to sink into him and snuggle closer. Goose bumps ran over her skin. She edged away and focused on Bruce.

  With a casual shrug, he answered, “I didn’t come home that way. I needed gas so I drove in the other entrance.”

  “Great, then from the driveway you entered the backyard from the side gate.” The detective read from his notes. “You ran around the house to see what?”

  Bruce rolled his eyes. “Like I said the first three times, I drew my gun and scanned the yard for the perp. Lily was on the ground by the patio door that leads into the breakfast nook. Sebastian was somewhere in the house, and no one else was in sight. I worked my way around the yard, using the fence as cover, and found the back gate unlocked. Once I secured the area, I let Sebastian know. He carried Lily into the house.”

  The detective raised an eyebrow, his gaze homing in on Sebastian. “Because of the glass?”

  “Yes, it was everywhere, and I didn’t want her getting cut up.”

  “I didn’t have any shoes on,” Lily offered as a way of explaining Sebastian’s kindness.

  The detective scowled. “What did you have on?”

  “A nightshirt.” She sank into the couch, suddenly feeling as if she sat under a microscope.

  “Could this shooter be a jealous lover? After all, Mark was your ex-husband.” He glanced at his notes, giving her a reprieve from his accusing scrutiny.

  “No. Why would you think that? Mark and I had already gotten a divorce.”

  “And Cain? Was he your lover, too, like Sebastian?” the detective asked.

  What the fuck? Did he think she slept with every man she met?

  Lily dropped her feet to the floor and stood. Her hands automatically fisted at her hips, and she glared at the detective. “No. I barely knew Cain. If someone wanted to kill the person who I might be sleeping with, they would have targeted Bruce, not Cain.”

  Sebastian leaned forward. “Lily, he’s just trying to come up with a motive.”

  “No, what he’s trying to say is someone out there is so obsessed with me they’re willing to kill.” She cocked her head and stared down at him. “We both know that’s not possible. I just don’t inspire that type of fascination.”

  Rising to his feet, he grabbed her by the shoulders. “He’s not blaming you.”

  Lily closed her eyes as a wave of guilt surged through her. Could this be her fault? Had she not given the right man her attention?

  Stretched to the limit, she surveyed the black abyss of her life and accepted the heavy burden of not only her parent’ deaths but Mark’s and Cain’s, too. The burdensome weight caused her legs to wobble, and she sank onto the ottoman. She dropped her head into her hands. “I’m done. I have no more energy for questions.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Searching the crowd coming out of the funeral home, Sebastian looked for one woman in particular—Mark’s first wife.

  Bruce had spoken to Karen Winslow yesterday. She’d told him she didn’t plan to attend the cemetery services and could save him a trip to her house if he wanted to talk after Mark’s funeral.

  Hoping the lady would be okay with him taking Bruce’s place, Sebastian waited impatiently for her to exit the building. His mind detoured to his conversation with Lily this morning. She’d insisted they change their plans. Instead of him accompanying her to the funeral, she’d decided Bruce should go with her.

  Detective Callahan had prompted the change. He’d proposed the argument of the killer being jealous of her lovers. She’d argued that if he were correct, she’d be in more danger with Sebastian by her side.

  Sebastian didn’t buy into the theory, especially since she’d locked him out of her bedroom when she went upstairs after the detective’s interrogation. He suspected she was trying to build a wall between them again. Not that he’d allow such a thing to happen. He did decide to back off and do some investigating while Bruce protected her. The change might confuse their killer and give them an advantage…or not? Either way it was worth the time apart, for clarity’s sake.

  “Mr. Berlin.” A short woman with frosted brown hair waved at him. Smiling, she strolled toward him. “Your partner said you wanted to talk to me.”

  “Karen Winslow?” He studied the woman, who didn’t look a day over forty. The bright sunlight fell on her smooth complexion and no wrinkles marred her face. Knowing the woman’s age to be fifty-eight, he wondered after the brief view he had of her yesterday if he had found the correct woman.

  “Yes. I thought perhaps we could head down to the coffee shop on the corner and get a cup.” A brief smile fluttered over her lipstick-coated lips. She shifted the purse under her arm and patted his arm lightly. “I didn’t exactly sleep well last night, and I’m afraid I might fall asleep on you.” She gave a little laugh even as sadness formed in the depths of her blue eyes. “I almost nodded off during Mark’s funeral. The silly man would have accused me of getting old. He hated doctors and hospitals and believed age would never catch up with him.”


  She shook her head, as if to brush the pain away and pointed toward the parking lot. “My car is just over there if you’d like to ride with me.”

  Enchanted by the older woman, Sebastian couldn’t hold back a smile and indicated for her to lead the way. “I appreciate you agreeing to talk to me. Lily has tried to fill me in on the different aspects of Mark’s life, but she’s only known him for the last seven or eight years. You two seem to have a lot longer acquaintance.”

  “Yes, and with all his family gone, there’s no one to tell you about his childhood years.” Mrs. Winslow’s short stride had him altering his to stay even with her. The crowd had thinned with everyone either heading for their cars or waiting for the procession to start.

  “I’m not sure what he did as a teenager applies, but I can use whatever information you can give me.” The hot summer sun beat down on him, turning the sports coat he wore into a sauna. He wished he could take it off, but the holster and gun underneath might frighten the woman. Nor could he remove them. After yesterday, he wouldn’t be caught without them again.

  Mrs. Winslow laid a hand on his arm. “I’m right here.” She turned in front of him, walked to the driver’s side door of an older model, blue Mercedes, and hit the button to unlock the doors. “I’m not so sure leaving at the moment is a good idea. It looks like it’ll take a while to get out of here.”

  Sebastian opened the passenger door but didn’t slide inside. Waiting for some of the hot air inside to escape, he studied the cars in the parking lot. Most had a hefty price tag. “Mark seems to have known a number of wealthy people. Did he meet most of them at his job at the university or at the lab?”

  Mrs. Winslow smiled at him when he settled into the passenger seat. “Both. Mark was a tenured professor who not only taught classes but also helped raise funds for his department. The exposure introduced him to a number of important people through the years.”

  “Did that include you?”

  With a light chuckle, she turned the key in the ignition and hit the buttons to open the automatic windows. “Yes. Mark and I met when he first became a professor. I was young and excited at the opportunity to take his classes. After I graduated, we continued seeing each other. I fell hard for him while he was swayed in large by my family’s money. He, of course, denied it and claimed I was his first love.”