As for me, I was in motion too.
I pulled back to nudge down the upper portion of her dress. At the sight of her nakedness, I sucked in a breath. There was no bra, only her swelling curves, tipped with those sweet pink nipples. I lowered my head and took one into my mouth, wanting to smile against it when I heard Chloe moan.
She was my dream girl, and no matter where we were, or what we were doing, I could never get enough. I stroked her skin and made her squirm – touching, kissing, and squeezing until her nipples grew hard and her breath grew short.
Breathlessly, she moved forward to straddle my lap. With a desperate motion, she reached between us and tugged down my zipper. A split-second later, she pushed down my pants, along with my briefs. By now, I was breathless too, surging with all kinds of love wrapped up in lust.
I wanted her, and I loved her. Her skin was soft, and her touch was firm. She stroked my hardness until I was half insane. My eyes drifted shut, and my lips started moving. I whispered sweet nothings, along her name again and again.
Time stood still, but my hands kept moving. Desperate for the sight of her, I opened my eyes. Her head was thrown back, and her pulse was jumping. I wanted to lay her on the seat and take her right then and there.
Not yet, I told myself.
I reached under her panties and cupped her ass. Holding it tight, I leaned forward to kiss her mouth, and then her neck. I shifted my hips and reached between us. I rubbed my thumb on her favorite spot and stroked it in the way I knew she liked best.
She lowered her head and found my neck. Against my skin, she murmured my name.
In the passing shadows, I heard my own voice, ragged and raw. "Chloe, you're just so –"
Her lips found mine before I could finish. Her hand on my hardness said more than words. She stroked and squeezed and rubbed against me, driving me to distraction while my thumb kept moving.
Watching her, listening to her, touching her, it was almost too much. Her little black dress was hiked over her thighs. Her breasts were bare, and her lips were parted. I rubbed her clit and teased her nipples – tugging, kneading, and pinching just the way she liked.
I lowered my head and zeroed in one hardened peak, and the other. I ran circles with my tongue and sucked with my mouth, sometimes gently, sometimes harder.
Her hips were in motion, along with her hands. She whimpered and moaned and soon, began to shudder, giving me a memory I'd never forget – the sight of her, the sounds of her, the feel of her flesh, hot and hungry against my hand.
Still gasping, she shifted her hand and shoved aside her panties, guiding my hardness to her opening. She was hot and wet, and everything I'd ever dreamed of. When she lowered herself down, I groaned out loud.
When our hips met, I almost lost it. She was so tight and so sweet. She was a vision of heaven in the darkened car. Vaguely, I realized that we'd left the highway, and were now riding along the deserted city streets.
Soon, we'd be home. I wanted it to be our home, not just mine. I could almost see it, our home, our life, our everything – joined together like our bodies were now.
Over and over, I said her name. Over and over, our hips rose and fell. Over and over, I let my hands roam free, over her back, through her hair, on her bare breasts, and between her thighs.
When she began to shudder, I stopped holding back. I gripped her tight, and kissed her like our lives depended on it. She leaned forward, grinding against me like I ground against her.
We came hard, and we came fast, falling together as we held on tight. When our trembling ended, I didn't want to let go. I held her in my arms and listened to her breathe.
For a long time, we were quiet, and then she spoke in a soft, sleepy voice. "I guess that wasn't exactly safe, was it?"
I stroked her hair. "What wasn't?"
"You know what." She pulled back to meet my gaze. "I am on the pill though, so you don't need to worry about that." Her voice grew uncertain. "But the other thing…" She let the sentence trail off, unfinished but clear enough.
If she didn't sound so uneasy, I might have laughed. On the nights she'd slept over, I'd seen her pink pill packet sitting by the bathroom sink. And even she weren't on anything, was that really so bad? I wanted kids, and I wanted Chloe. I had plenty of money and a big empty house.
And I loved her. I even loved her dog.
I might have told her that right then and there, except I knew what the real problem was. It was my own fucking reputation, literally.
She gave a nervous laugh. "Never mind."
I reached out for her. "Oh baby." I looked into her eyes, trying to make her understand. "Don't worry about it." I ran a hand along the side of her face. "I'd never do anything to hurt you. Ever. I'm always safe."
It was true. Thanks to my dad, I'd been careful from the get-go. He'd been the wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am kind of guy – a hit-and-run sperm donor of the delinquent kind. And then, there were the other reasons to be careful – syphilis, gonorrhea, and things more serious than a social disease.
She gave me a shaky smile. "You sure about that?" Her tone was light, but tinged with worry. "We weren't exactly tonight."
"You're the first." I met her gaze and stroked her hair. "You and only you."
On her face, I saw the hint of a real smile. "Really?"
"Really." I ran a soothing hand along her back. "Like I said, there's been no one like you. Ever."
At this, she leaned forward and rested her head on my shoulder. "Can I confess something?"
"Anything."
"This was my best birthday, ever." Her voice grew softer. "Thank you."
She didn't need to thank me, and between long, lingering kisses, I told her so. Soon, we were just a couple miles from my place. "Wanna spend the night?" I asked.
"Definitely. I'll just need to grab my stuff." She gave a small laugh. "And Chucky, of course." She glanced down. "And, I guess I should get dressed, huh?"
She was still half-naked, and so was I. But I liked her like this, all sleepy and tousled and yeah, mostly unclothed. "Or," I said, pulling her close, "I could wrap you in a blanket and carry you inside." I meant it. I could even stop by and get Chucky myself.
She rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't make you do that."
"You're not making me do anything." I thought of other things I could do to her later. Or maybe we'd circle the block, and I'd do them right now.
But already, she was tugging her clothes back into place. She combed her fingers through her hair and said, "I'm a mess, aren't I?"
"No," I said. "You're beautiful." And she was. Rumpled clothes, disheveled hair, none of that mattered. She was beautiful inside and out, no matter what she wore.
"Oh, sure I am," she said. "Good thing Bishop's not in town, huh?"
Damn it. I tried to keep my tone neutral. "Why do you say that?"
"Oh, you know," she said, leaning in for a quick kiss. "I might look beautiful to you, but…" She glanced around the darkened interior. "Have you seen my shoes?"
When I didn't respond, she turned back to study my face. "Oh." She paused. "He is in town, isn't he?"
I nodded. "He just got in today."
I still hadn't mentioned to Chloe that Bishop and I were related. Come to think of it, I hadn't mentioned a lot of things where Bishop was concerned. But I'd deal with all of that later. Now, all I wanted was to do was carry her inside and see what played out. We could sleep – or not sleep – and I'd count myself lucky.
Inside the vehicle, Chloe let out a long, unsteady breath. "On second thought," she said, "I should probably pass. I've got Chucky and work tomorrow, so…" She gave me a smile filled with regret. "Another time?"
"Forget Bishop," I said. "Stay with me anyway." I reached around and helped her with the zipper of her dress. "C'mon. Bring Chucky. We'll have a sleepover."
She laughed. "No way."
"Alright," I said. "Then I'll stay at your place."
She hesitated. "Sorry. No guests, remember?"
I
did remember. And I didn't like it. I hadn't for a while now. Earlier, she'd told me flat-out that she lived alone. And earlier, I'd pretended to believe her.
No. I did believe her. But there was something about this that still didn't add up. Through the passing shadows, I studied her face.
What, exactly, are you hiding?
Shadows from streetlights came and went. And still, I said nothing. The silenced stretched and crackled between us, threatening to ruin an amazing night. I refused to let that happen.
"Alright," I said, trying to sound like I meant it. It was, after all, still her birthday. But tomorrow, I decided, I'd be asking again.
Soon, I was walking her to her own front door and kissing her goodnight. As I held her close, I kept repeating a simple fact. There was no way she'd be kissing me like this on the front steps if there was somebody else waiting inside.
Right?
Chapter 49
It was nearly dawn, and I still couldn't sleep. It was just a few hours after Chloe's birthday celebration, and already, I was missing her.
Before Chloe, I'd gotten used to not sleeping. But then, she'd come into my life and changed everything. With her in my arms, I'd been sleeping like the dead. And I'd been liking it.
Lately, I'd been liking a lot of things – the sounds of her laughter, the feel of her hands, the way she dove for the covers when I tickled her feet.
But there were also things that I didn't like – the secrets, the mysteries, the way she clammed up tight whenever I mentioned her house.
Lying in the darkness, I reminded myself that I had secrets too, secrets I'd tell her when the time was right. I told myself that regardless of my own feelings, we'd been together for just a few weeks. And Chloe wasn't like those other girls, the kind who gave it up fast for a guy they'd just met.
Still, the dark thoughts wouldn’t go away.
For the past few years, since the thing with the sex tape, I'd been a different kind of guy – slower to protect and refusing to fall. But Chloe – maybe partly because I'd met her before all that – had slipped under my guard and slammed into my heart. Now, I was over the edge and flailing in the darkness.
I wasn't used to this.
Cursing, I threw off the covers got dressed in the shadows. Ten minutes later, I was standing near the back fence, looking at the rear of her house. There was nothing to see and nothing to hear. The place was dark, and the night was quiet – except it wasn't really night anymore, was it?
I looked at the sky. Sure enough, I spotted the pink glow of sunrise in the morning clouds. I hadn't slept, and I didn't plan on it now. Why bother? At this point, I had two options. I could stand here like an ass, watching her house. Or, I could hit the weights and head downtown.
I knew what I wanted to do. But that would be a mistake.
Over the last few weeks, I'd been going to the office less and less while delegating more and more. Yeah, I'd been putting in a lot of hours from home, but if I didn't step it up now, I'd be paying for it later.
Besides, I wasn't going to do this – stand outside like some silent creeper, watching her windows in hopes of a glimpse. I felt my jaw tighten. Would the glimpse be of her? Or someone else?
Screw this.
I turned around, only to see Bishop standing a few feet away, with his arms crossed and his gaze on me.
I stopped moving. "What? You're spying on me now?"
He lifted an eyebrow and waited. When I said nothing else, he looked deliberately toward Chloe's place. His look said it all. If anyone was spying, it was me.
I turned away. "Oh, just drop it, alright?" Silently, I began walking back to my own house.
Bishop fell in beside me. "You're losing it. You know that, right?"
I did know it. But hell if I'd ever admit it. So all I said was, "I'm heading downtown."
"Well, I guess that's something."
Something less crazy? Yeah, whatever. I kept on walking.
He spoke again. "Remember. We're meeting back here at seven."
I nodded. He didn't need to remind me. We had Tanya and the hotel room ready to go, complete with camera, sound, and everything else. Or rather, Bishop had gotten all of that together. As for me, I'd been focused on Chloe.
I'd been focused on her a lot lately. Too much? Maybe.
Bishop spoke again, his voice softer now. "By tonight, get your head on straight, okay?"
Like that was gonna happen. "Yeah, seven o'clock. Got it."
But when seven o'clock came, all our plans went to hell, because something else – something I never saw coming – happened on just the other side of my fence.
And it involved Chloe.
Chapter 50
It was Saturday night, the night after Chloe's birthday celebration. I was in the five-car garage out back, doing a final check of our surveillance car when I heard a vehicle pull up outside.
I heard a car door open, followed by the sounds of pounding on the nearby garage door. Through it, I heard Bishop's voice, low and urgent. "Open up."
I shook my head. He had a remote, the same as me. But hey, whatever. I strode to the panel and hit the button. The garage door slid up, leaving me staring at an unfamiliar black sedan.
What the hell? So he'd gotten out of the car to knock in person? Why not just hit the horn? I shrugged. Maybe I wasn't the only one who was losing it.
The car pulled into the open bay, and the driver's side door flew open. Bishop jumped out of the seat and flicked his head to the same garage door. "Close it, will ya?"
The door wasn't even halfway down when he said, "There's trouble."
I wasn't worried. "Isn't there always?" I said.
He strode to the back of the sedan, where he popped the trunk and looked inside. He glanced over at me. "Hurry up. We've got to get these clothes off."
Well, that wasn't something you heard every day. What was in there, anyway? A dead body? Knowing Bishop, it wasn’t exactly out of the question. "What's going on?" I said.
He looked up. "It's Chloe."
"What?" With my heart in my gut, I rushed to the trunk and looked inside. It wasn't Chloe. Thank God. It was just some guy, dressed in all black. Dead? I took a closer look. No. Just unconscious.
Bishop turned to give me a serious look. "Now stay calm, alright?"
When someone tells you to stay calm, you know it's bad. And he'd mentioned Chloe. My blood turned to ice. "Tell me."
Two minutes later, I was at the back fence – on Chloe's side, not mine. Keeping low, I'd crept through the narrow back gate, forcing myself to breathe slowly.
Don't run. Don't panic. Don't make a sound.
Don't mess this up.
Still, my heart was pounding, and I was having a hard time holding it together. Hidden in the shadows, I scanned her property. Her yard was dark, too dark. No patio light. No floodlights. Probably, no porch light either.
Through the trees and shadows, it would be hard to see anything, unless you knew where to look. It couldn't be a coincidence. Whatever was going on, it had obviously been planned.
Crouching low, I moved toward the back of her house, keeping to the trees whenever I could. Once there, I skirted the back patio and circled to the side, hugging the brick as I edged my way forward.
At the front corner of her house, I stopped and peered through the shrubbery.
Suddenly, I couldn’t breathe. Through the trees and shadows, I spotted her, just where Bishop had said. She was lying on the sidewalk, with that son-of-a-bitch, dressed in all black, including a ski mask, holding her down. She looked terrified, but unharmed. So far.
Based on what Bishop had learned earlier, I knew why. The plan wasn't to do anything here, but to take her someplace else. And do what then? I could only guess.
Whoever, he was, I wanted to kill him. I would kill him – right after I got Chloe away safely. I wanted to do it now. But I couldn’t, not if I wanted Chloe to walk away unscathed.
Anger flooded my senses – at the stranger, at myself,
and yeah, even at Bishop, who should've shot the guy when he had the chance. Now, my girl was lying there, helpless, afraid, and probably expecting the worst. I heard her whimper, and it tore out my heart.
It took everything I had to not say, "The hell with it," and run forward anyway, to grab that guy by the throat and rip him off her before pounding him to dust.
There was only one thing that made me stop. It was the thing Bishop had warned me about. The guy had a knife, and it was pressed to her throat. One mistake on my part, and she'd be the one paying.
Desperately, I scanned the street. Where the hell was Bishop?
I held myself steady, waiting on the edge. I'd been waiting probably less than a minute, but it felt like years. Was he trying to give me time to get in place? He didn't need to. I was already here.
Just hurry up, already.
A minute later – thank God – the sedan pulled slowly into the driveway and cut the lights. I recalled the plan and tried not to lose it.
My gaze slid to Chloe, and I wanted to explode. Her body trembled, and her eyes grew wide. Aside from the obvious reasons, I knew exactly why. She thought they were going to take her, to force her into that car, and do who-knows-what.
They weren't.
It hurt to look, but I did anyway, taking in every single detail. One gloved hand was pressed to her mouth, while the other held that damn knife against her throat. Her chest rose and fell, too fast and too frantic. If she kept this up, he wouldn’t have to cut her. She'd be doing it herself.
In the driveway, the car door opened, and the driver got out. It was Bishop, dressed in the other guy's clothes, including the black ski mask that obscured his face.
The guy holding Chloe called out in a quiet, but urgent, voice, "C'mon, move it, will ya?"
Bishop lifted the same tire iron that he'd found in the trunk. He held up a hand, as if signaling for a delay. He crouched beside the sedan and made a show of inspecting the driver's side front tire.
The guy holding Chloe still hadn't moved.
Shit. He was supposed be distracted. He was supposed to sit up. He was supposed to lift the knife away from her throat.
Damn it.
Lawton Page 21
