The adrenaline rush had long since ended for both of them. They were somewhere between the stages of shock and exhaustion, and the exhaustion was slowly but surely winning out. That was why Reed had tried to convince Livvy to go back to the inn and get some rest. He would have had better luck trying to talk a longhorn into wearing a party dress.
Still, he’d keep trying.
“The gunshot was self-inflicted?” Reed asked the coroner.
“That’s my official opinion. The angle is right. So is the stippling pattern. Billy also had gunshot residue on his right hand.” Dr. McGrath cursed. “How the hell did it come to this, Reed? I’ve known Billy for years.”
“We all have.” Thankfully, the fatigue allowed him to suppress the gut emotion and keep it out of his voice. “If Marcie had testified against him, Billy would have gone to jail for a long time.”
That was the motive, and it was a powerful one. Everything fit. All the pieces had come together. Billy had killed Marcie, set up Shane and then tried stop Livvy and him from learning the truth.
“I need your report when it’s finished,” Reed told Dr. McGrath and ended the call.
Two lights were blinking on his phone, indicating he had other calls. Probably from Woody or someone else in town. Maybe even Billy’s widow, Charla. The woman had called five times in the past four hours, but Reed didn’t want to go another round with her trying to convince him that her husband had been set up. If Billy was innocent, then it would come through in the evidence.
“What are you reading?” Reed asked, looking over at Livvy again.
“A fax from the county sheriff’s office. I asked them why they’d given Jerry the file on my mother.”
“And?” Because this was something Reed wanted to know as well.
“Apparently, Jerry asked a clerk, who also happens to be his cousin, to get the file for him. Jerry thought I would jump on this lead and wouldn’t focus on Jonah, his client.”
Damn. Talk about a slimy move. “I hope the clerk was fired.”
“He was.”
That was a start, but Reed would have a long talk with Jerry about dredging up old wounds just so he could try to help out his client.
Reed ignored the blinking lights on the phone, stood and went to Livvy. Reed caught onto her arm and lifted her from the chair. She wobbled a little, and he noticed her hand was still trembling.
“It’s past midnight,” he reminded her. “You need some rest.”
She opened her mouth, probably to argue with him, but Reed opened his, too. He started to tell her that he could carry her out of there, caveman style. But he rethought that and simply said, “Please.”
Livvy blinked. Closed her mouth. That please apparently took away any fight left in her, and she sagged against him as they made their way out the door.
The receptionist had gone home hours earlier, and the front office was staffed with loaner deputies, some of whom he barely knew. But Shane was there, and even though he probably needed some rest, too, Reed preferred to have his own men in the thick of things.
“We’ll be back in a couple of hours,” Reed told Shane. But Reed hoped he could extend that couple of hours until morning. Maybe he’d need a few more pleases to get Livvy to shut her eyes and try to recover from yet another attempt to kill her.
“I’m waiting on a call about that glove we found in Billy’s trash,” Livvy said as they walked out. “And that piece of paper that dropped from Billy’s pocket. It was too burned for me to read, but I’m hoping the lab will be able to tell us what it says.”
“Don’t worry,” Reed assured her. “They’ll call one of us on our cells when the tests are back.” Even though it was a short walk, he helped her into his truck so he could drive her to the inn.
She wearily shook her head. “That glove is critical. My equipment bag was destroyed in the fire.”
Reed didn’t respond to that except with a heavy sigh that he just couldn’t bite back. Fires, rattlesnakes and bullets. All of which had been used to get to Livvy. Billy had certainly been persistent.
And maybe he hadn’t acted alone.
That thought had been circling around in Reed’s mind since he’d seen Billy’s body propped against the house. Of course, there was no proof of an accomplice, but once they’d gotten some rest he’d look into it.
Reed stopped his truck in front of the inn, and Livvy didn’t protest when he helped her out and went inside. Her silence bothered him almost as much as the trembling. He grabbed the spare room key from the reception desk and led her up the stairs.
“You okay?” he asked her.
A soft burst of air left her mouth. Almost a laugh. But it wasn’t from humor. “I’m fine,” she lied. Her eyes met his as he unlocked her door. “You?”
“I’m fine,” he lied right back.
She stopped in the doorway and stared at him. “Your friend tried to kill you tonight.”
Hearing those words aloud packed a punch. “He tried to kill you, too.”
“Yes, but I didn’t know him the way you did. He certainly wasn’t my friend.” She touched his arm. Rubbed gently. “I’m worried about you, Reed.”
Now, it was his turn to nearly laugh. “You’re worried about me? No need. I’m worried about you.”
Livvy broke the stare, turned and went into the room. But she didn’t turn on the light. “No need,” she repeated. “True, I’d never really had my life on the line until I came to Comanche Creek, but this baptism by fire will give me a lot of experience to deal with future cases.”
That sounded, well, like something a peace officer would say. But he knew for a fact that this particular peace officer wasn’t made of stone. He reached for her, but she moved away from him and waved him off.
“Not a good idea,” she insisted. “If you touch me, we’ll end up kissing. And then we’ll have aftermath sex. It won’t be real. We’ll be doing it to make ourselves forget just how close we came to dying tonight.”
Now, that sounded too damn logical. And she was right. If he touched her, they would kiss, and they would have sex. But Reed was afraid she was wrong about the “not being real” part. He figured Livvy was afraid of that, too.
“I’ll take a nap,” she continued. “Then, I’ll pack.” Thanks to moonlight filtering through the gauzy curtains, he could see her dodge his gaze. “Because once the lab confirms that Marcie’s blood was on that glove we found in Billy’s trash can, the case will be over. I’ll need to head back to my office. And Comanche Creek can start returning to normal.”
That did it. All this calm logic was pissing him off. So did her packing remark. Yeah, it was stupid, but Reed figured if he didn’t do this, then he would regret it for the rest of his life.
He slid his hand around the back of her neck, hauled her to him and kissed her.
Reed expected her to put up at least some token resistance, but she didn’t. Livvy latched on to him and returned the kiss as if this would be the one and only time it would ever happen.
Her taste slammed into him. Not the fatigue and the fear. This was all heat and silk. All woman. And the kiss quickly turned French and desperate.
She hoisted herself up, wrapping her legs around his waist, while they continued to wage war on each other’s mouths. Reed stumbled, hoping they’d land on the bed, but instead his back slammed into the wall. He’d have bruises.
He didn’t care.
Nothing mattered right now but taking Livvy.
She took those frantic kisses to his neck and caused him to lose his breath for a moment or two. Turnabout was fair play so he delivered some neck kisses to her as well and was rewarded with a long, feminine moan of pleasure. So Reed took his time with that particular part of her body.
Or at least that was what he tried to do.
Livvy obviously had other ideas about how fast this was all moving. Her hands were as frantic as her mouth, and she began to fight with the buttons on his shirt. She didn’t even bother with the shoulder holster, and speed became even more of
a necessity.
Reed tried to slow things down a bit because he wanted to add at least a little foreplay to this, but foreplay didn’t stand a chance when Livvy got his shirt unbuttoned. She unhooked her legs from his waist and slid down so she could drop some tongue kisses on his chest. And his stomach.
All right, that did it.
To hell with foreplay because she was playing dirty in the best way possible. Every part of his body was on fire, and sex with Livvy was going to happen now.
LIVVY COULDN’T THINK. Didn’t want to think. But she did want to feel, and Reed was certainly making sure that was happening. For the first time in years, every part of her felt alive.
And needed.
Reed was making sure of that as well.
Livvy had him pressed against the wall, literally, and they were both grappling at each other’s shirts. Even though Livvy had his open, she still lost the particular battle when Reed threw open her shirt, shoved down her bra and took her left nipple into his mouth.
Everything went blurry and fiery hot.
She had to stop kissing him. Because she couldn’t catch her breath. She could only stand there while Reed took her to the only place she wanted to go.
Well, almost.
The breast kisses sent her body flying, but soon, very soon, they weren’t nearly enough. She needed more, and she knew just how to get it.
Livvy went after his belt and somehow managed to get it undone. He didn’t stop those mindless kisses, making her task even harder, but she finally got the belt unlooped from his jeans, and she shoved down his zipper. She would have gotten her hand inside his boxers, too, if he hadn’t pushed the two of them toward the bed. Not gently either.
But she didn’t want gentleness anyway.
This was how she’d known it would be with Reed. Intense. Frantic. Hot. Memorable. So memorable that she knew he was a man she’d never forget.
In the back of her mind she thought of the broken heart that was just down the road for her. Their relationship couldn’t be permanent. This would have to be it. But even one time with Reed would be worth a lifetime with anyone else.
A thought that scared her.
And got her even hotter.
Because even in the heat of the moment, Livvy knew this wasn’t ordinary.
Another push from Reed, and they landed on the bed, with him on top of her. The kisses took on a new urgency. And a new location. With her shirt still wide open, he used that clever mouth on her stomach and circled her navel with his tongue.
He went lower.
And lower.
Kissing her through her jeans and making her very aware yet again of just how good this was going to be.
She felt him kick off his boots and tried to do the same. It didn’t work, and Livvy cursed the difficulty of clothing removal when both of them were dressed in way too much and were way too ready for sex.
Livvy changed their positions, flipping Reed on his back so she could reach down and drag off the boots. Reed helped himself to her zipper and peeled off her jeans.
Her panties, too.
With her thighs and sex now bare, she became all too aware that he was still wearing jeans, a barrier she didn’t want between them.
Reed obviously felt the same because he turned them again until he was on top. Both grabbed his jeans, pulling and tearing at the denim. Livvy considered trying to use a little finesse but gave up when the jeans and boxers came off and she had a mostly naked Reed between her legs.
“Condom?” he ground out. “I don’t have one with me.”
“I’m on the pill,” she answered, though she didn’t try to explain she was taking them to regulate her periods. For once she praised that particular problem because without it, there would have been no birth control pills. And no sex tonight with Reed.
Livvy wasn’t sure either of them would have survived that. This suddenly felt as necessary as the blood rushing through her body.
They both still had on their shoulder holsters and weapons, and the gun metal clanged against the metal when Reed grabbed on to her hair, pulled back her head and kissed her. No ordinary kiss. His tongue met hers at the exact second he entered her.
He tried to be gentle.
Livvy could tell.
But gentleness didn’t stand a chance tonight. She dug her heels into the soft mattress and lifted her hips, causing him to slide hard and deep into her. She stilled just a moment. So did Reed.
And in the moon-washed room, their eyes met.
Livvy wanted the fast and furious pace to continue. She didn’t want to think about the intimacy of this now. But Reed forced her to do just that. The stare lingered, piercing through her. Until she could take no more. She grabbed on to his hips and drew him into a rhythm that would satiate her body.
Too soon.
She couldn’t hang on to the moment. Instead, Livvy gave in to that rhythm as well. She moved, meeting him thrust for thrust, knowing that each one was taking them closer and closer to the brink.
Livvy heard herself say something, though she hadn’t intended to speak. But she did. In that moment when she could take no more of the heat, no more of those rhythmic strokes deep inside her…
She said Reed’s name, repeating it with each breath she took.
And then she surrendered.
Chapter Fifteen
Reed forced his eyes open. His body was still exhausted, but humming, and already nudging him for a second round with Livvy. It wouldn’t happen.
Well, not anytime soon.
She needed to sleep, and what he wanted to do with her involved the opposite of sleeping.
Reed checked the blood-red dial on the clock next to the bed. Four o’clock. Livvy and he had been asleep for nearly three hours, more than just the catnap stage. He should get up and make some calls to find out what was going on at the station.
Livvy’s bare left leg was slung over him, and he eased it aside. She reached for him, groping blindly, and Reed brushed a kiss on her hand before moving it aside as well. Even though he kept everything light and soft, Livvy still woke up.
“I fell asleep,” she grumbled and started to climb out of bed as well.
“And you need to keep on sleeping.”
“So do you, but you’re up.”
He couldn’t argue with that. Heck, he couldn’t argue with his body, which was begging him to climb back into bed with her. She was a sight, all right. Naked, except for her rumpled white shirt and bra that was unhooked in the front. That gave him a nice peek-a-boo view of her breasts.
And the rest of her.
Later, after he’d cleared up some things at work, he would see if he could coax her into taking a shower with him. Reed was already fantasizing about having those long athletic legs wrapped around him.
He had to do something to stave off an erection, so he pulled on his boxers and jeans. He, too, still wore his shirt, and it was a wrinkled mess. He also had a bruise on the side of his chest where his gun and holster had gouged him during sex. Livvy and he hadn’t gotten around to removing their weapons until they’d finished with each other.
“I need to call the lab,” she explained. She peeled off her shirt and bra, leaving herself naked.
There wasn’t enough devotion to duty in the world that would make Reed pass up this opportunity. He caught her arm, pulled her to him and kissed her.
She melted against him.
She smelled like sex. Looked like sex. And that was sex melt. A hot body slide against his that let him know it wouldn’t take much coaxing to get her back in bed.
Reed pulled away, looked down at her. “Give me just a minute to check in at work. Just a minute,” he emphasized.
Smiling, she kissed him again. “Tempting. Very tempting,” Livvy added, skimming her fingers along his bare chest. “But we both need to take care of a few things. Then, before I leave, maybe we can spend some time together.”
Before I leave.
Yeah. Reed had known that was coming. Still
, work could wait at least another half hour, so he leaned in to convince her of that. Their mouths had barely met when the ringing sound had them jumping apart. It was his cell, and when he checked the ID screen, he knew it was a call he had to take.
“Shane,” Reed answered.
But before Shane could respond, Livvy’s cell phone rang as well.
“We have a problem,” Shane explained. “Charla Whitley’s out front, and she’s got a gun pointed at her head. She says she’ll kill herself if we try to come any closer. I’ve cleared the area, but I haven’t had any luck talking her into surrendering.”
Hell. Charla was obviously distraught, and with good reason, since only hours earlier she’d lost her husband. “Has she made any specific demands?” Reed wanted to know.
“She’s insisted on speaking to you—and to Sergeant Hutton. I wouldn’t advise that, by the way. Personally, I think Charla wants to kill both of you because she blames you for Billy’s death.”
Of course she did. Charla certainly wouldn’t want to blame her own husband, even though the guilt might solely be on Billy’s shoulders.
“I’ll be there in a few minutes,” Reed informed him. “I’ll drive around back so Charla can’t get off an easy shot at me, but if she moves, let me know.”
“Will do, Reed. Right now, she’s hiding in the shrubs on the west side of the building. Be careful.”
Oh, he intended to do that. After he talked Livvy into staying put so she could get some more rest. However, he quickly realized that would be a losing battle because Livvy was dressing as she talked on the phone. Since he couldn’t make heads nor tails of her conversation, he finished putting on his clothes as well.
“Charla’s at the station,” Reed explained the moment she ended her call. “She’s demanding to speak to us.”
Livvy blew out a long breath and shook her head. “So, we’ll speak to her.” She collected her boots from the floor. “That was the lab. The blood on the glove was a match to Marcie James. Billy’s DNA was on it as well, and in the right place this time. The DNA inside the finger portions of the glove was his.”
So, there it was, the proof that connected Billy to Marcie’s murder. “What about the charred piece of paper that fell out of his pocket?”
Shotgun Sheriff Page 14
