Her hands fisted in his hair, guiding him, nudging him back to her breasts then further down toward the searing heat.
He tugged at her shorts and found her bare-assed underneath. His fingers went wild, plunging into her moist hot center. She bucked. They rolled again. He came out on top. His fingers probed, toyed, played. As she climbed, he watched her eyes change from glaze to dark, then flicker with pleasure as it built slowly, layer by layer.
His mouth connected with hers, took in her short breathy groans.
The orgasm rocked through her, sending her body into waves of little quivers and quakes. As soon as the tremors played out, he began to move down the length of her, tasting every curve of nipple and ridge again, savoring every touch of smooth skin. He leisurely, deliberately laved his way past her navel, past her flat stomach, past a landing-strip-patch of feathery light hair, hair that proved without doubt she was a natural blond.
His tongue dipped to play at her moist core.
Baylee wanted to thrust, propel him further toward the satin heat. Her hips moved to the beat of his tongue as he feasted until she came in a burst of dazzling colored rockets.
He trailed back up her body, tasting skin, licking his way until he got to her mouth. He nipped her lower lip before sucking her tongue.
Coming out of her satiated state, surrender came easily, sweetly. She began to move beneath him. At some point he rolled to his back, retrieved a foil packet from somewhere, and sheathed on a condom.
Eyes closed, Baylee missed the weight of his body on hers. Lazily she tried to lift her head. She opened her eyes in time to see him settle between her legs. She felt his lips on hers again then hot moist tongue. He slipped a finger in between her folds, began to stroke again, working her to another fast quake.
But just before she came again, he knelt between her thighs, eased gently into her. She wrapped her legs around him and began to move again, plunging him deeper, driving him further. He fought against greedy release, fought for control, fought to hold back. But when her rhythm increased, he quickened his thrusts. When he saw her eyes change, he simply let himself go, dropping into the depths of the blissful wave.
She traced a finger along his spine as she lay there, content as a puppy lapping cream, with him still inside. If there were anything that could have made this morning more perfect, she couldn’t think of what it might be.
He let out a sigh and pressed his lips to hers. Reluctant to move, he rested his forehead on hers. “That was incredible. You’re such a little thing. I must be crushing you.”
“You’re fine. No, more than fine. You’re amazing. After such a long drought I had four. Fabulous four.” She threw her arms out wide in celebration.
He rolled to his back, bringing her with him. Still buried inside her, with his arms locked around her, he pushed her hair out of her face so he could see her eyes clearly. “You have the most incredible shade of eyes, the color of the ocean. Promise me something.”
“What?”
“You won’t ever again believe I couldn’t be attracted to you. You are beautiful.”
“Oh, Dylan. You say the sweetest things.”
“Now,” he prodded, “tell me how you and Kit got all that stuff into the dinghy by yourselves.”
She giggled, still high on afterglow. “We did it the old-fashioned way. Catalina has all manner of people you can hire to transport your stuff to shore. Kit and I simply got online, found a company who specializes in unloading a boat, picked up the phone, and paid someone to show up with a big boat of their own, load up our stuff, and cart it to the house in one trip. We didn’t want you to have to spend half a day by yourself lugging all that crap around after having such a difficult night.”
“Aww, that’s sweet.” He started moving his hands up and down her slim body, exploring things he’d missed earlier in their haste to make love. Then with his teeth, he tugged lightly on her lower lip. “That must mean between the two of us we should still have enough energy left to go another round.” Smoothly, skillfully, he rolled on top of her again and began to feast on her mouth.
It took Dylan and Baylee another two hours before they finally made it to the Spanish-style two-story villa, tucked up against the harbor. Like two randy teenagers coming in from a date, reluctant to say goodnight, they snuck up to the porch and stood at the front door, locked up in each other. Neither wanted to end one of the best mornings they’d had in some time.
From the living room, Kit thought she heard someone on the porch. With Sarah poised on her hip, she went to the front door and threw it open. Still wrapped up in each other, Dylan and Baylee stood entwined in each other’s arms and didn’t even bother breaking apart.
“What took you guys so long?” One look at their goofy faces and Kit had her answer.
After all, Baylee had been gone for almost three hours.
“What took you guys so long?” Kit repeated like a parrot, forcing them to look at her, but neither bothered to acknowledge her existence.
“Ran into rough seas,” Dylan finally admitted without sparing Kit so much as a glance.
“Almost a squall,” Baylee added, all innocent, standing there with her arms locked around Dylan as if she were under a vampire-like spell and couldn’t tear herself away.
“Definitely bad weather,” Dylan persisted.
Kit sighed. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Snapping her fingers with her free hand, Kit said without rancor, “Hey, snap out of it. We still have to put all this stuff away, like the groceries, unpack our clothes, finish cleaning this place up. I can’t even put Sarah down to crawl on the floor without giving it another swipe with the mop.”
Mentioning Sarah finally had the desired effect. It got them both moving. Once they let go of each other, Baylee headed straight for Sarah, plucking her out of Kit’s arms. “Hey, angel-face, did you miss Mommy? Did you eat your cereal for Auntie Kit?”
“Chowed down just like Dylan here does. Put cereal in front of her and it seems she’s just like this big guy with food.” Kit playfully tugged on Dylan’s shirt sleeve. “It was like watching Pepper zero in on his Dog Chow.”
“Even though I resemble that remark, I’ll take it in the spirit it was given, and say, I’m glad Sarah’s taken to her cereal—like her Daddy,” Dylan boasted, lips curving into a wide grin.
Kit looked him up and down with hands on her hips. “I could use some muscle to get things cleared out of the living room.” She rolled her eyes, then smiled. “Daddy. Those moving guys dumped the gear right here. I’ve checked out the bedrooms, all five of them. We can use the middle one upstairs as the staging area. If we store most of the stuff there until you guys get around to unpacking it, I think we can get most of this stuff out of the high traffic areas. Although, at some point we may have to cram some of it into one of the larger closets at least for now to get it out of the way. I checked the closets in this place, even the ones in the hallway. All five bedroom closets are filled to the brim with junk.”
She turned her attention to Baylee, “I never realized your father was such a pack rat or the sentimental type. Take a gander in those closets and it doesn’t look like the man ever threw anything away.” Remembering the mess Jake and Dylan and Reese had found in Alana’s attic when they went looking, she added, “What was it with that generation about keeping everything they ever laid their hands on?”
Focusing on Dylan, without skipping a beat, she gave orders like a drill sergeant. “Start with the guest room further down the hall. We designated that as Sarah’s room. Then grab the bags with her clothes. Haul them upstairs like a good boy. Daddy.”
“Yes, boss, right away, boss, anything you say, boss,” Dylan mocked, his eyes lighting with merriment. Picking up a bag, he heaved it up onto his shoulder before heading down the hallway toward the staircase.
“Oh, stop it. You slept the day away and now it’s time you made yourself useful,” Kit yelled after him.
“You sure are bossy without Jake around,” Dylan dec
lared, jovially.
At the mention of Jake her drill sergeant demeanor softened into a puddle of marshmallow creme. To Baylee she merely said, “He called after the meeting. St. John agreed to send any DNA sample from Connor to the lab. They have DNA from the crime scene, Baylee, and it doesn’t match Jake’s. He’s no longer a suspect. Yay for our side!” Kit did a little happy dance.
“You mean if we can get Connor to take a DNA test, we could find out if he’s the one who killed Claire?” Dylan asked, picking up a box of groceries and heading into the kitchen.
“Yep. Jake said there’s a ton of DNA.”
“But that would just prove they had sex, not that he killed her,” Baylee pointed out.
“Not if his DNA matches what’s under her fingernails. Claire fought her killer, put up quite a struggle. So there’s evidence from the fight.”
Hearing that grisly detail sent chills up and down Baylee’s spine. Her face went white. Slowly, she dropped down on the sofa with the baby on her lap. It was Dylan who saw her face, set the box of supplies back down on the floor, and came over to kneel down in front of her. “What’s wrong?”
“Tell him, Baylee. I already told Jake what you told me.” When Baylee looked horror-stricken, Kit added, “I’m sorry, but he needed to know what Connor said to you that night because it might be relevant to Claire’s murder, although I’m not sure he mentioned it to St. John this morning. But Dylan needs to know because he’s caught up in all of this.” Noting the concerned look she saw on Dylan’s face now, that seemed to be an understatement.
“What are you not telling me? Something else happened with Connor, didn’t it?”
She told him what she’d told Kit on the dock about Connor’s showing up at her apartment before she had left L.A. “I took the threat seriously. It was more than just trying to scare me. You should’ve seen the look in his eyes. He was glassy-eyed, empty, like he wasn’t all there.”
“My God, I thought maybe Jake was reaching, you know, just grasping at a last straw in Connor’s direction, that maybe that e-mail he received pointing to Connor was some kind of a joke, but… I understand now why you didn’t go to the cops. Look, I know this is overwhelming. I know you’re scared. But you have to try and relax while you’re here. You can’t keep up this stress level for long without it taking a toll health-wise. It isn’t good for your immune system or for Sarah’s, especially since you’re still breastfeeding. You need to work on putting this mess out of your mind while you’re here.”
He kissed the top of her head and then leaned down to kiss Sarah’s. “I’ll do everything I can to keep him from getting to you and Sarah. I promise you that much here and now. You have my word. Whatever it takes.”
“We all will, Baylee. That’s a given,” Kit assured her.
“I know that. But has it escaped either one of you that if he suspects Sarah belongs to him, if he pushes that, he’d be forced to take that DNA test and bingo, Jake would have his proof. Or…it could…backfire completely and…” Her voice trailed off. She couldn’t even bring herself to say what she’d been thinking.
Dylan did it for her. “A DNA test would prove paternity, prove once and for all Sarah’s his, and it would open up a huge can of worms for both of you, especially if the DNA came back showing he wasn’t the one who killed Claire. I get it, Baylee. You’d have everything out in the open about Sarah’s paternity, a custody battle on your hands, and he’d have unfettered access to this baby.”
“Exactly,” Baylee huffed out. “And he’s an attorney with all kinds of power at his disposal. It’s too scary to even think about. Look at what Jessica did to Gloria.” She drew in a breath. “I’d have to leave; Dylan, take Sarah away and hide. Costa Rica here I come.”
Dylan gave her a weak smile. “Let’s take it one step at a time for now. Keeping you and Sarah safe is the first priority. Right now, Connor taking a DNA test for any reason is down the road. I’ll say it again, try to unwind while you’re here. You deserve a break. I’m not suggesting that you lower your guard.”
“I know what you’re saying.” She took a deep breath before puffing it out. “I’ll try. That’s all I can do.”
Kit looked at her watch. “I’m meeting Jake at the harbor at one-thirty. He took the ferry over from the mainland. I’ve got to get going. I don’t want him wandering around Avalon looking for the house. Can you two behave yourselves while I’m gone?”
Plucking Sarah from Baylee’s arms, Dylan looked wide-eyed and innocent at the comment. “Hey, we wouldn’t think of doing anything in front of the b-a-b-y. Shame on Aunt Kit for thinking like that. She has a dirty mind, doesn’t she, Sarah?”
“Oh please,” Kit shot back. “I’m trusting the two of you to act like mature adults and not like the naughty teens I caught standing on the porch earlier. I’ll be back in thirty minutes. Do you think you can keep your hands to yourselves for that long in front of the b-a-b-y?”
Baylee laughed. The intense mood lifted. “Get out of here and go make out with Jake. You aren’t fooling anyone. So go. You’re on the clock.”
Kit had just disappeared out the front door when Sarah started rubbing her eyes like she was sleepy. “Okay, somebody’s ready for a nap. Let’s get you all tucked in, sweetie.”
Baylee headed upstairs and Dylan trailed behind her carrying Sarah. “Do I need to set up the port-a-crib?”
“Nope, all taken care of,” Baylee told him as she approached the bedroom down the hall, one of the smallest of the guest bedrooms upstairs but the one that used to belong to her. The room suited Sarah perfectly. The walls were painted a cheery yellow and decorated with some of Baylee’s own artwork, colorful paintings of different kinds of animals she’d done in high school and hung years earlier to brighten up the room. She reached over, plucked Sarah out of Dylan’s arms, and put her down on the twin bed to change her diaper before sitting down in the wooden rocker. Baylee looked around the room. “Could you maybe find her baby monitor so we’ll hear her when she wakes up?”
While Baylee fed Sarah, Dylan dug around in several bags that had already been brought upstairs until he found the monitor. By the time Baylee put the baby down in her crib Dylan had it up and running. He stood in the doorway patiently waiting for her to back out of the room. As soon as she closed the door, Dylan pulled her into his chest, kissed her full on the mouth.
“Mmmm, you taste good. We’ve got twenty minutes before Kit comes back. Let’s make the most of it.”
His touch, his kiss, sent her reeling. She covered his mouth. Dylan cupped her rear, picked her up. and whirled around, leaning his back up against the wall. She pressed her body into his. They were both on fire
But then they heard the front door burst open. Even with the need hanging between them, they recognized the voices downstairs in the entryway. Kit had returned with Jake.
“Damn, that was fast,” Dylan protested. “I thought we’d have more time.”
“We might have if I’d been quicker putting Sarah down.”
“Couldn’t be helped. We have the next few days.” He touched her cheek. “I think I understand now why you were so upset that first night at my house about moving so many times. It takes a lot out of you—out of Sarah. I see that now. We’ll get through this, Baylee. I won’t let him hurt you.”
Baylee smiled. This was what she liked about him, his ability to pick up on how she felt, see her predicament, and appreciate the circumstances. The mention of “him” made her breathe out a sigh. But she was determined not to let Connor wedge himself into her thoughts. “I know how uncomfortable my meltdown the other day made you. But you handled it very well.”
He chuckled, tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I’m getting used to having women around. You and Sarah are growing on me.” He looked further down the hallway wishing the two of them could make use of one of the bedrooms. “Which room is yours?”
“The one with the balcony, the one closest to the ocean.”
“Tonight then.” He
gave her a mouthy kiss and rested his head on her forehead. “That will have to hold us both for a while,” he whispered, as they both started moving toward the stairs, hand in hand.
For the rest of the day, the four of them stayed busy getting Baylee and Dylan settled in their new digs for the long haul. That meant a thorough cleaning and dusting of the place from top to bottom.
Even though Jake and Kit weren’t staying, they did their part unpacking boxes, scrubbing down the kitchen, putting away the groceries they’d ordered, and unpacking stuffed-to-the-gills suitcases.
Kit had not underestimated the amount of junk William had stored in the closets. To cover more ground, the four of them split up, each taking a bedroom to strip the sheets off the beds and prepare for a massive laundry detail.
But no matter the bedroom, each of them encountered the same problem. The bedrooms were cramped, crowded with furniture.
There was no way to clear anything out because every closet was in the same condition, stuffed to the brim with years of outdated clothes or stacks of old magazines, everything from ancient copies of Life to Reader’s Digest to Harper’s Bazaar, along with a ton of old hardcover books and just plain junk. It soon became clear they couldn’t unpack anything until they’d made room in the closets for all the stuff they’d brought.
Baylee had taken the master suite at the end of the hall near Sarah’s room for her own. She opened the windows to let in some much-needed fresh air. The breeze right off the ocean felt cool as she stood there a moment enjoying the view of the glistening water and the pristine sandy beaches below before turning to strip the sheets off the bed.
After choking from the dust, she took the linens and dumped them in the hallway.
It was time to tackle all the useless stuff in the dreaded closet. The minute she opened the door, she scanned the overflowing mess inside and groaned. She stared at her father’s old clothes. Every stitch of clothing smelled like mothballs. But she had to make room for her things. And if Dylan decided to put his clothes in here they’d definitely have a storage problem. One by one, she started taking down shirts and pants still on hangers. She toted them into the unoccupied bedroom, which had become the staging area, and tossed them on the bed for now. She’d deal with them later.
Deeper Evil (The Evil Secrets Trilogy Book 2) Page 27
