Crime and Punishment 4: Burning Submission

by Trista Ann Michaels

  Josh walked to the fireplace and brushed his thumb over the curved corner. “That will be a job. There’re lots of deep grooves in the leaf design.”

  “I know, but I think it would be worth it. What about built-in bookshelves on either side?” she asked.

  Josh stepped back and studied the wall. “It could be done.”

  She admired his physique from the corner of her eye. He was definitely over six feet. Jeans hugged trim hips and thick thighs. The blue of his shirt darkened the blue of his eyes, especially in the dim interior of the house. In here, she also didn’t notice the gray in his hair as much.

  “How old are you?” she blurted out, then felt the heat of a blush cover her cheeks. She sighed and closed her eyes for a second before saying, “I’m sorry. That is none of my business.”

  Josh laughed. “It’s no big deal. I’m forty. Men don’t fret over age as much as women do.”

  “Well, that’s because you have the better end of the deal. As men age, they become more distinguished and attractive. As women age, they just get older.”

  One side of Josh’s mouth lifted in amusement. “Don’t tell Linda that. She still believes she’s twenty-five.”

  Jennifer snorted. “Tell me about it. Half the time I can’t even keep up with her. The woman runs circles around me, and she’s over twice my age.”

  “How do you know Linda?” he asked.

  “She and my mother were friends.”

  “Were?”

  Jennifer glanced back at the mantel and rubbed the pad of her thumb over the corner of the shelf. He was so easy to talk to; she had an insane desire to spill the truth. She couldn’t. Not to him. Not to anyone. Only Linda knew the truth.

  “My parents died about two years ago.”

  “I’m sorry,” Josh said softly.

  She kept her gaze down and away. She knew if she looked at him, she’d want to run into his arms. What was it about this man that had her defenses wanting to drop? That was dangerous—for her and for him.

  Chapter Three

  Josh had a sinking feeling Jennifer was hiding something. Unfortunately, he couldn’t dig. He was here to help her with the house and nothing more. He wanted to ask her questions. But he knew from experience that if he dug too much, she would withdraw.

  And he found he didn’t want her to.

  He liked her. There was something about her. She seemed cold and distant, although occasionally he caught a glimpse of a softer, teasing side. He imagined she liked to laugh, but he got the impression that wasn’t something she did very often. Sadness filled her eyes, especially when she talked about her parents.

  He’d seen that haunted look before in military friends who’d gone off to war, in victims who’d survived tremendous violence and anguish. He’d seen it in his friend Nathan’s eyes when he blamed himself for his fiancée’s death at the hand of a serial killer. Nathan was happy now with Connelly, and that haunted look was gone, but…Jennifer’s wasn’t.

  What had caused it? The FBI agent in him wanted to solve the mystery. The man in him wanted to get to know the girl. And she was a girl. God, she was at least ten years younger than him. He had no business, but damn if he couldn’t stop staring at that round ass of hers. In those jeans it looked incredibly spankable.

  “Are you seriously staring at my ass?”

  Josh looked up at her in surprise—both that he’d been caught and that she’d actually called him out on it.

  He cringed. “Caught me. Sorry.”

  She snorted, but amusement sparkled in her eyes. “No, you’re not.” She pointed her finger at him. “I’m going to have to keep my eye on you, aren’t I?”

  Josh chuckled.

  Jennifer rolled her eyes, and then her lips spread into a resigned but teasing smile that looked good on her. “I guess you’ll definitely make things interesting around here.”

  “Interesting could be good.”

  “Yeah,” she acknowledged. “Interesting can also be trouble.”

  Josh started to say she had nothing to worry about from him, but Linda walked into the room and interrupted him. “I see the two of you are already hard at work.”

  Josh snickered. “We’re talking. Hardly working.”

  “Well, talking is making progress. So, do you think the two of you are going to be okay?” she asked.

  Josh and Jennifer looked at each other. “We’re going to be fine,” Jennifer said.

  Linda smiled, obviously pleased with herself. “Good.”

  Josh frowned slightly at the older woman. Was there something more to this? He wouldn’t put it past her. Linda had an obsession with matchmaking, and as much as she would probably argue the contrary, Josh had a sinking feeling that was what she might have in mind here.

  Her intentions were good, and he always appreciated her efforts, but Josh wasn’t interested in a relationship. Been there, done that, and had the scars to prove it. He worked too much, had too many demons to deal with. He tried to make relationships work, but he always put his job first, and that never sat well with the women of his past.

  When his last girlfriend cheated on him because he was never there, he decided to call it quits and just accept that he would be a bachelor the rest of his life. Most of the time he stayed so busy he didn’t notice he was alone.

  Most of the time.

  “I’ll leave the two of you to get started, then,” Linda said as she walked over and gave Jennifer a hug. “Bye, sweetie. I’m just a phone call away if you need me.”

  “I know. Thank you, Linda. For everything,” Jennifer murmured as she held tight to Linda.

  Josh watched the exchange in silence. When Linda pulled away, Josh said, “I’ll walk out with you.”

  She nodded and started to lift her suitcase by the front door, but Josh pushed her hand away. “I got it.”

  “Josh, that’s awfully heavy,” she admonished.

  “It’s fine.” Josh lifted the large bag and winced at the pulling in his chest.

  “Josh, put that down,” Linda snapped.

  He shook his head stubbornly. “I’m fine. I swear.”

  He waved for her to open the door. She scowled at him but held the screen door open so he could step outside.

  “Are all Doms as stubborn as you?” she asked.

  Josh stopped and looked back at her in surprise.

  Her eyes sparkled with devilment as she walked past him toward her car. “You didn’t think I knew that? I’m married to one, dear. I know one when I see one.”

  Josh sighed as he fell into step behind her. “You never cease to amaze me, woman.”

  Linda laughed as she used her key fob to open the trunk of her Chevy Traverse. Josh lifted the suitcase into the back and slid it up against the seats.

  “She’s not like other girls, Josh,” Linda said softly.

  Josh straightened and turned to stare at her. “Meaning?”

  Linda licked her lips, and a strange wariness crept into her features, making the hairs on Josh’s neck stand on end.

  “Is there something you’re not telling me? About her or this ex-husband of hers?”

  “Just keep an eye on her. She’s been through a lot. Too much for someone so young. She’s strong, though. Much stronger than I believe I could’ve ever been under the same circumstances.”

  Josh frowned. “What the hell happened to her?”

  “She hasn’t told me everything. But I do know she wasn’t just abused but tortured, manipulated, drugged. When she showed up at my house, she was still having issues with withdrawals. I don’t know what they had her on, but there for a while, I wasn’t sure she would be okay.”

  Josh raised an eyebrow. “They?”

  Linda shook her head and waved a hand, dismissing it. “I meant he.”

  “Really?” he replied skeptically.

  She sighed. “I know that you know I’m not telling you all I know. Jennifer will have to tell you the rest, if and when she’s ready.”

  “Will what I don’t kn
ow affect my ability to protect her or put our lives further in danger?”

  She again licked her lips in a gesture that Josh was beginning to recognize as nervousness. “I don’t think so. You’re good at what you do, Josh. I know you’ll keep her safe, and you’re where you’re supposed to be.”

  Josh put his hands on his hips and glanced away briefly before turning back. “Know it how, Linda? Is this more of your witchy knowledge?”

  She swatted him on the shoulder. “I’ll have you know, smart-ass, that my witchy knowledge, as you like to call it, has never been wrong.”

  He would have to agree with her on that one. He wasn’t sure how she did it. Wasn’t even sure he wanted to know. But somehow, she knew things.

  “All right,” he sighed.

  She smiled and touched the side of his face. “Good. Now go make that house something the both of you will love.”

  Josh inwardly tensed at her use of “both” but didn’t say anything. Yes, Jennifer was pretty—also young—and if she was recovering from an abusive relationship, the last thing she would probably want in her life was a man who liked to tie up his girlfriends and sexually torture them.

  He leaned down and kissed Linda on the cheek. “Have a safe trip home. Call me when you get there.”

  She smiled. “I will.”

  As she walked around to the driver’s side, Josh shut the trunk and stepped back. He watched her turn the car and waved as she headed out of sight down the long gravel driveway toward the road.

  “Now that she’s gone, the place will seem a bit dowdy.”

  Josh turned at the sound of Jennifer’s voice to see her standing on the porch, watching the car. “She does have a way of brightening things up, doesn’t she?” he said with amusement.

  Jennifer nodded but didn’t take her eyes off the car. She seemed nervous, and Josh got the impression she desperately wanted to call the woman back.

  “She can also be scary as hell,” Jennifer added quietly.

  He snickered and walked toward the porch. “That she can, especially when it comes to her ability to just know things.”

  He stopped at the top of the stairs and studied her profile. The wind blew the wispy tendrils that had escaped her braid across her cheek, and he had a completely inappropriate desire to brush them aside. “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” she replied but didn’t look at him. “I’m just going to miss her.”

  Josh turned and glanced at the now empty driveway. The sun was getting lower in the sky, sending streaks of gold through the trees to slash across the lawn. As fall approached, sunsets would get earlier. Tomorrow he would take a walk around the grounds and see what he could do about security. The fewer surprises, the better.

  Chapter Four

  Jennifer awoke and stared around the room in a near panic. It was her first night without Linda—without her comforting embrace whenever the shadows in the dark became too much.

  She flipped on the lamp next to the bed and breathed a soft sigh of relief as the light revealed empty corners. Would this feeling of fear ever go away?

  It was nights like this she missed the numbing effects of the drugs. She didn’t care or wasn’t afraid whenever they gave them to her. She just wished the drugs had wiped away the memory of what had been done to her as well.

  A chill swept across the room, making goose bumps rise along her arms. She hugged herself and rubbed her hands up and down, using the heat she could generate to warm her skin. Her talents certainly had their merits, but she still wished she’d never been born with them.

  She would’ve been out of school by now and living a life as opposed to hiding from one. At least she had money from her parents’ estate. If she didn’t, she’d be in serious trouble.

  Had they been killed because they’d been looking for her? A single tear slipped down her cheek, and she quickly wiped it away. She hadn’t even gotten to say good-bye to them, hadn’t even known they’d died until she’d escaped and found her way to Linda’s.

  For some reason, the second she’d gotten free, she’d felt a pull—an urgency—to get to Linda. It had probably been some spell Linda and her twin sister had spun, but Jennifer had never asked. Her mother had found Linda’s talent interesting, but Jennifer had had enough of that stuff in her life over the past six years. She wanted normal, and that was what this house was supposed to give her. If, that was, they didn’t find her.

  And now Josh was here. He was handsome—or was it just that she’d been without attention from the opposite sex for so long? No. He was handsome. He had a commanding way about him that both exhilarated and scared her. He made her feel safe, or at least safer. She wasn’t sure she would ever truly feel safe.

  Realizing she wasn’t going to get back to sleep, she threw on her robe and tiptoed downstairs. She grabbed her sketch pad and a pencil from the dresser at the bottom of the stairs and then headed into the kitchen. She made a quick cup of tea before sitting down to sketch out some ideas for the kitchen and the adjoining deck.

  She lost herself in the drawings, making notes on color and the type of wood and tile she would like to see. She was debating on granite when a figure in the doorway made her jump. She scooted her chair back and started to stand, ready to defend herself.

  Josh stepped forward, hands up in surrender and said, “It’s just me. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I couldn’t sleep.”

  She let out a sigh of relief and placed a trembling hand over her rapidly beating heart. “It’s fine. I couldn’t either. There’s tea if you’d like some, or warm milk. That always worked for me when I was younger.”

  Josh’s soft smile and the concern in his eyes calmed her instantly. She really shouldn’t be staring at him, but she couldn’t help it. He wore a pair of blue plaid pajama pants and nothing else. His chest was broad. The skin stretched taut over bulging pecs and a firm stomach. A long, still slightly red scar ran down the middle of his chest, and a round bullet hole to the right of it made her flinch.

  “Did that hurt?” she asked.

  He raised an eyebrow before glancing down at his chest. “Guess I should’ve put on a shirt.”

  “No, you’re fine.” Definitely fine “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t stare. Does it bother you?”

  He shrugged as he walked over to the teakettle on the stove and shook it to check for water. Satisfied it had enough, he set it back on the burner and ignited the gas.

  “It bothers me that I was stupid enough to get shot, but it doesn’t make me self-conscious, if that’s what you were asking,” he replied as he pulled out a cup and tea bag.

  “Do you remember it?” she asked.

  “No.”

  He leaned his hips against the counter, crossed his ankles and then his arms over his chest. He looked thoroughly relaxed and way too sexy for either of their own good.

  “That’s probably a good thing,” she said as she turned back to her sketches and tried to take her mind off how sexy he looked.

  “So they tell me. What are you working on?” he asked.

  “Some ideas for the kitchen.”

  She heard the kettle whistle and Josh moving around seconds before he ended up behind her chair, staring at the sketch over her shoulder. She could feel his heat, smell his musky scent, and her entire body tingled as though the electric current between them sprang to life at their proximity.

  She bit her lip, suddenly very conscious of every nerve ending in her body. What the hell was happening?

  JOSH FELT THE current between them and tried to ignore it. Perhaps they’d both built up some sort of electricity as they’d worked last night. That had to be the only explanation. The heat and sizzle were so strong, he believed if they touched, the spark would send them flying.

  It was the weirdest damn feeling.

  Moving away from her, he walked around the small table and sat on the other side. The sensation ebbed but didn’t fully go away, so he tried to focus on the sketch lying on the table before her.

&n
bsp; “May I?” he asked, pointing to the pad.

  She nodded and slid it across, careful not to touch him. He wondered if she felt it too, but brushed that thought aside as he stared at the drawing. She drew well.

  “I like the farmer’s sink,” he said. “I think it will look good in here.”

  “I do too, but I’m not sure about granite. Would that be too modern?”

  Josh pursed his lips and shook his head as he lifted the cup of tea to his lips to take a sip. After he swallowed, he replied, “I don’t think so. If you put a set of double French doors leading outside instead of the single, it will let in more light.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that. It’s a good idea.”

  He looked up and studied the kitchen. “You might want to also reposition the appliances. It will give you more cabinet room.”

  “I thought about redoing the closet in the hall, maybe expanding it and turning it into a pantry.”

  Josh glanced toward the wall before saying, “Good idea.” He turned back to her and grinned. “Plan on doing a lot of canning next summer?”

  She frowned. “I suppose I could.” She shrugged as sadness filled her eyes and tugged at Josh’s heart. “What else am I going to do?”

  Josh set the cup aside and studied her. “What do you want to do?”

  She pulled the sketchbook back and stared at the drawing. “I had planned on some sort of architecture, maybe interior design.”

  She looked down when she said it, and Josh’s instincts immediately went back to the impression that she was hiding something. Maybe even lying. “What’s holding you back?”

  Jennifer sighed and reached for her cup. Josh let his gaze slide down her back and curvy hips the blue silk robe clung to as she carried her cup to the microwave. What was holding her back? There was more to the story than Linda told him, and Josh just had to keep prying until he figured out what.

  “Too many wasted years,” she said sadly as she hit the Start button.