Final Words

by Teri Thackston

  Anger and grief coursed through her. “Everything that has happened to me is Alan’s fault!”

  “I know.”

  “He emotionally abused me with his women and his lies.” She rubbed her face against his shirt, feeling the cotton scrape her face, feeling her tears soak into the fabric. “Then he tried to kill me and because of that I can…I can…”

  “We’ll take care of it, Emma.” Jason held her tighter. “He can’t hurt you again.”

  A sob caught in her throat. “He’ll hurt me for the rest of my life.”

  Jason held a knuckle under her chin and tilted her head back, forcing her to look up at him. “Only if you let him.”

  The compassion in his eyes strengthened her. Real emotion, real caring. She saw it. She trusted it. And, finally, she trusted herself.

  “I won’t let him,” she whispered. “Not anymore.”

  Rising on her toes, she pressed a kiss to Jason’s lips. His response was tender and so brief that, when he broke their contact, hunger sliced through her.

  “Emma, I want you.” His voice, throaty with need, sounded sincere. “But not on the rebound. Not out of some need for you to get even with him.”

  She gave sanity one moment. One moment to peer into his eyes and assess his feelings. Triumph, male pride, an accounting of that next notch on his belt. She saw none of that. Instead, she saw his desires, his needs and vulnerability. She saw his soul.

  “On the rebound would have been the day I got my final divorce decree,” she said. “It might even have been that night that you led me to Alan in the bar. But not tonight. Tonight is all you, Jason. Tonight, for the first time in a long time, I’m going to trust what I feel.”

  Before he could respond, she threw her arms around his neck and pulled his head down. She kissed him hard, pouring out all the love and need in her heart. She felt him stiffen, resist and then his own desires overpowered him. Together, they sank to their knees.

  Chapter Twenty

  Before Jason could catch his breath, she dived in deeper, her kisses devouring any protest he tried to make. And her hands—the woman seemed to touch him everywhere at once, scorching his flesh with each stroke of her fingers. Tiny flares shot over his chest and stomach, his shoulders and neck. Somehow she’d gotten her left arm under his shirt and as she shifted higher, the bottom button popped off.

  “Sorry,” she breathed against his mouth, then shifted to grip his shirt in both hands and yank it. Cotton ripped. Buttons flew. Before Jason could react, she slid down his body, her mouth following the trail her hands had blazed upward moments before.

  Jason feared he might burst into flame. His heart burned as he realized that was just what he needed to do.

  Emma wanted to touch and taste every inch of his body. She wanted him touching her, mouth to mouth, skin to skin. She’d never felt such a sense of abandon. Her brain seemed to have shut down, giving her body complete control.

  With his salty essence on her tongue, she stood, stripped her shirt over her head and then unhooked her bra. Yanking it off, she tossed it aside. He continued to kneel before her and she felt the heat from his eyes as they feasted on her flesh. He hungered for this as she did but he waited, leaving all the choices in their lovemaking totally in her hands. He allowed her to take the lead. That gave her a sense of power she’d never had before. Alan had never let her take control, never let her decide when or where or how long. Jason waited on her in spite of his own naked hunger.

  “Stand up,” she said and he obeyed.

  Stepping close, she pressed her breasts to his hard chest. The nipples hardened as the tight curls that dusted his torso tangled around them. His big hands slipped around her to stroke down her back to the waistband of her shorts. His fingertips dipped under the cloth but he waited there again as if for her permission.

  “Yes,” Emma whispered. “Touch me. Everywhere. Now.”

  He reached down, gripping her bottom, pressing her closer. Through the clothing that remained, she felt his hard need reaching for her. The pounding pulse within that hardness sent heat sluicing through her and she strained closer, wanting everything he had to give.

  As if he’d read her mind, Jason stripped her shorts and panties down her thighs. She wriggled them past her knees and shins and kicked them free. Then she reached for the zipper on his jeans only to find his fingers already fumbling there. Between the two of them, they managed to remove his clothes, pausing only long enough for him to grab his wallet and rip free a condom.

  She couldn’t wait any longer. She needed release. She needed it now and she needed it from him. Taking the condom from his hands, she slid it over his hardness, rising on her toes and then following her fingers with her body. Sparks shot through her passage as she sank onto him and her body weight carried him down to the sofa. He gave out a grunt as he landed with her on his lap and she felt his thighs tighten beneath her buttocks.

  “Are you all right?” she asked, afraid she’d hurt him.

  “Oh…yeah.” Shoving one hand through her hair, he pulled her head down to his and captured her mouth in a kiss that revealed his own sexual starvation. His other hand gripped her backside and jerked her hard and fast against him.

  Emma came instantly in an explosion of sensation that she’d never experienced before. It sizzled and popped and then flared through her body like flames up a dry pine tree. Some kind of sound erupted from her and then she heard his answering groan and felt the hot flash of his orgasm as it rippled along the shaft buried inside her. For a long moment, they hung together, suspended in that conflagration of feeling and then he fell back against the sofa and she collapsed atop him.

  Both of them breathed as raggedly as if they’d just run a marathon. She felt his heart pounding against the inner wall of his chest, felt her own answering cadence.

  “That…was…unbelievable,” he said and then sucked in a deep breath that lifted her so high that she nearly slid off him. She realized then that their bodies were slick with sweat. With what little strength she could muster, she pressed her palms into the sofa and shifted herself into a more secure position.

  That shifting did more than stabilize her. It moved his body where it joined to hers, striking like a match to flint and sparking a fresh surge of desire inside her. She felt his cock twitch and harden again inside her. Lifting her head, she met his gaze and saw that he was ready and willing to go again too.

  Emma smiled. “How about something a little slower paced?” she suggested.

  His lips curled in an almost wolfish smile that struck that match again and Emma decided that slower paced could wait until the third go-around.

  * * * * *

  Jason looked down at Emma’s flushed face a short while later. Her lips curled with satisfaction and she snuggled her supple body closer to him as they lay on the living room carpet. He wasn’t sure when they had tumbled off the sofa but they’d certainly put that wall-to-wall to good use.

  He burrowed his face in her cool auburn hair. This was where he wanted to stay for the rest of his life, coiled around her, holding her, watching her. Breathing in her very essence. The thought of losing her terrified him.

  And because of what she believed she could do, he stood a good chance of doing just that—of losing her to her own mind.

  “I…can’t…breathe,” she gasped and he realized he’d tightened his grip around her.

  “Sorry,” he murmured.

  As he eased his hold, she shifted upright and leaned across his chest. Her breasts molded to his ribs as she circled one fingertip through the hairs on his chest and gazed into his eyes. Shadowed, gleaming, her eyes probed deeply into his.

  After a moment, she said, “I need to tell you something.”

  The movement of the hair tickled his flesh. As her fingertip circled ever closer to his nipple, he found it difficult to form a clear thought. Damn but the woman might just kill him. “What is it?”

  “I want to tell you about Alan and me.”

  A
chill touched him. He didn’t want to hear about her relationship with her ex-husband any more than he wanted to hear about ghosts. Especially not now when he still felt the glow of their lovemaking.

  “All right,” he said in spite of his feelings. Hers, at the moment, were more important to him.

  She shivered as a cool breeze swept through the open window. Sitting up, she grabbed a towel off the sofa behind them. Unfolding it, she held it over her body and leaned back against the sofa.

  Jason rolled up on one elbow. Obviously she needed some distance from him in order to tell her story. But she didn’t look distant. She looked sexy, all tousled and flushed from their lovemaking and yet shy enough to hold a towel in front of her nakedness.

  Reaching out, she touched his chin with one finger and lifted his head. “Are you listening to me?” she asked with one doubtful eyebrow raised.

  “Sorry.” He grinned. “I was kind of distracted by the view.”

  She hugged the towel closer but he didn’t miss the smile playing at one corner of her mouth.

  “You were saying?” he prompted.

  Emma took a deep breath. “Alan was always very persuasive and charming.”

  “And obsessive.”

  “Yes, I should have seen that.” Looking down, she played with a corner of the towel, folding and unfolding it. “We hadn’t known each other a month before he convinced me to marry him. The wedding took place within a few weeks. Another year passed before I learned that his charm extended to women other than his wife.”

  Jason pushed himself up higher. “Emma—”

  “I won’t be taken for a fool like that again.” She lifted a serious gaze to his. “I won’t be cheated on.”

  Her lack of trust hurt but Jason hid the pain. She had a right to feel as she did.

  Lifting one hand, he brushed a strand of hair back from her forehead. “If our relationship goes anywhere, you will be the only woman in my life. In fact, right now, you are the only woman in my life.”

  “I want to believe you.”

  His finger stroked down her cheek to touch the corner of her mouth. “I’m not going to lie to you,” he murmured. “I’ve always liked women and they usually like me back. But I never took any relationship seriously until now.”

  “Until now?” she whispered.

  Easing himself completely upright, he shifted to sit beside her against the sofa. He looked out the window across the room. Night had fallen and the streetlights had flickered on. A warm breeze stirred the drapes. Peaceful and quiet, it was a time for sharing.

  “After Rose died,” he began, “I became more interested in finding out who killed my sister than I was in a social life.”

  “I heard you always have at least a couple of women on your line.”

  “That used to be true.” He hesitated before going on. “I liked to have fun, picking up ladies in bars or other places and going home with them.”

  Emma lifted one eyebrow. “Really?”

  Jason gave a light shrug. “I didn’t think I was hurting anyone. Most of the women involved weren’t any more interested in commitment than I was.”

  “Most?”

  Jason thought about Maggie Richardson. She had been interested in more. So, apparently, had Layne Simmons. “There were some who would have preferred an exclusive relationship,” he admitted.

  “But you weren’t ready for that?”

  Jason met her gaze. “Not then I wasn’t and I always made that clear. At least I thought I did.” When Emma’s eyes began to shimmer, he went on. “Rose saw the kind of life I was living and she thought that was okay for her too. I disagreed.”

  Her eyebrows twitched in surprise. “You didn’t actually try that old double-standard on your sister, did you?”

  He lifted one shoulder, uncomfortable with this self-analysis. But for Emma’s sake, for her peace of mind, he would tell the full truth. “Rose had a point about the women I picked up. I was wrong to have casual sex with just anyone. So, while I didn’t cut myself off completely, I did learn to be choosier about my partners. I still wanted casual relationships but only with women who had a similar philosophy.”

  “What about Layne Simmons?”

  He shook his head. “I misread her completely. Layne was a cop. She lived forty miles away in Houston. I thought she was like me, just interested in a little fun. We weren’t together more than four or five times and I guess that distance kept me from seeing the truth.”

  “She let you see what you wanted to see so you wouldn’t leave her.”

  “I guess so. I sound arrogant, I know but after Rose died, I let my reputation continue so that women would avoid me. I wasn’t interested in romance. I wasn’t even interested in sex.”

  “You didn’t think you deserved it,” she softly offered. “Subconsciously.”

  “Maybe. Consciously, I only wanted to find out who killed my sister.”

  “And when you didn’t, you felt like a failure, so you pulled even further inside yourself.”

  He looked down at her. “Have you been picking up psychoanalysis tips from Dr. Sanders?”

  She didn’t smile. She gazed back at him as if she could see inside his very soul. “You’re not a failure, Jason. It was a tough case. If there had been any worthwhile clues, you’d have found them.”

  “Maybe.” He shrugged again. “Anyway, after Rose died, I moved to the beach house. She had lived there for a couple of years and staying there helped me feel closer to her and to my folks.”

  “Rose died in a hit-and-run. That’s why you were so determined to find out who hit Brian and me. Because you couldn’t find out who hit your sister.”

  Something pinched inside his chest. “That’s part of it.”

  “Losing Tyrone and Brian so suddenly was the other part?”

  “I guess I just got slammed with too much at once.” He made sure his gaze was as level and serious as hers. “But once I got to know you, I wanted to solve the case for your sake.”

  She began to pick again at the towel covering her breasts. “I see.”

  “So you believe me when I say I’m not a womanizing lout any more?”

  Moonlight caught the glimmer of her teeth. “I’m going to try really hard to believe you.”

  “I’ll spend every waking moment trying to prove it to you.” Leaning over, he kissed her warm mouth. Then, drawing back, he took her hands in his and stroked his thumbs across her knuckles. “I guess, since you’re going to try to believe me, I should…” He paused and took a deep breath before continuing quietly, “Try to believe you.”

  He felt an almost imperceptible tightening of her fingers beneath his touch. Her eyes revealed a flash of desperate hope.

  “About the spirits?” she whispered.

  Jason nodded. Shifting his hips, he turned more toward her. “I can’t promise that it will be easy for me. I mean, it’s so strange, Emma.”

  “I know.” Her hands turned in his. She tangled their fingers together and squeezed gently. “But just hearing that you’re willing to keep an open mind means so much.”

  Her voice trailed almost to a whisper as tears sparkled in her eyes. Looking at her, seeing that hope blossom, seeing the relief shimmering within it, Jason grew more determined to accept whatever she might tell him. Leaning close, he kissed her again, pouring all the love he felt into the embrace. This time, when the kiss ended, his guilt vanished. There was only contentment and completeness that Jason knew he’d never felt with any other woman. For a long time, they sat together, leaning against the sofa, her head nestled against his chest, his chin resting on her cool hair.

  A car drove past the building and its lights swept across the screen of the open window. Somewhere in the complex, someone was frying chicken. The scent of it drifted in with the breeze. In the distance, he heard the horn of a boat in the bay. Everything felt normal and wonderful.

  And yet they had a murderer to catch.

  Jason rubbed his chin over her hair. “Did you know that Paul
Sanders’ parents were murdered?”

  Emma looked up at him. “No.”

  “The killer was apprehended but his lawyers pleaded him not guilty by reason of insanity. A psychiatric evaluation supported their claim and he was found unfit to stand trial.”

  Emma pushed further upright, breaking the contact of their bodies. Jason felt the night air sweep between them but he refused to allow it to chill their closeness. He refused to let go of that no matter what came between them. Instead, he relaxed and let her take the lead again, knowing that was what was important to her.

  “That means Paul has a possible motive for killing others who’ve been found unfit to stand trial,” Emma said. “Maybe he kills them as a way of gaining justice for his parents.” Her eyes grew large as she looked back at Jason. “What happened to his parents’ killer?”

  “The man was sent to a mental institution but he escaped and killed another couple. The second time he was locked up, another inmate killed him.”

  “Divine justice,” she whispered.

  Jason decided that, even though they were partners now—in every conceivable way as far as he was concerned—boundaries remained that they both should respect. “We wouldn’t be on to him if it wasn’t for you, Emma but it would be a good idea if you let the professional detectives check him out from now on.”

  “Okay.”

  Jason lifted one eyebrow. “Convince me.”

  She looked down at his chest. Reaching out, she pressed her palm against his flesh, pushed her fingers through the hair just over his heart. “Since the night of my accident…” She nibbled at her lower lip and then went on. “Jason, I don’t want to die. But I know what’s waiting on the other side. I’m not afraid to risk my life to stop Paul from killing others.”

  “You don’t need to risk your life. That’s my job. Promise me you won’t ask around about Sanders on your own anymore.”