Covert Kisses

by Jane Godman

  “There are only two ways I can see for us to catch him.” Laurie was curled up in a chair, the light from the fire casting a golden glow over her features. “One is that we find the bodies of the other girls.”

  “Tough call when we have no idea what happened to them.” The subject matter might be unpleasant, but watching Laurie wasn’t. Cameron let his eyes rest on the delicate hollow of her throat as she turned her head to watch the dancing flames. He wanted to press his lips to the point where he could see a faint pulse beating.

  “He is our common denominator. If we can figure out more about Grant Becker, maybe we can find out what he did with these women.”

  “You said there were two ways to catch him. What’s the second?” Cameron was fascinated by the intent look on her face as she turned back to face him.

  “We set a trap for him.”

  It took a moment for him to register what she was saying. When he realized what she meant, he shook his head vehemently. “No way. Not a chance in hell, Laurie. I don’t care what they teach you in the police academy. Where I come from, you don’t set a trap for a man who wants to kill you. Not if what you mean is you want to put yourself in his way.”

  “Do you have an alternative suggestion? We just wait it out up here? No matter how much I like the scenery, I’m not sure I could stand this sort of inactivity for more than a day or two.”

  Cameron heard the frustration in her voice, and tried to reassure her. “Hopefully you won’t have to. Now you’ve let your captain know about Moreton, the FBI will be all over it. One of their own men is dead. His throat was cut. Once they access Moreton’s case notes they’ll be on to Grant in no time.”

  Laurie regarded him thoughtfully for a moment or two before changing the subject. “Tell me about your brothers.”

  Cameron shook his head. “Not so fast. The first time we met you warned me you’re stubborn, remember? I knew your cousin well, even if you didn’t. She had the same gene. I’m going to need your word that we’re in this together and you won’t go setting any traps for Grant I don’t know about.”

  A slight smile trembled on her lips, fascinating him into staring at her mouth. The memory of those lips parting beneath his was fresh in his mind, sending a wave of desire surging through him in a direct hit to his groin. Being alone with her like this was the most exquisite form of torture. “If you insist.”

  He relaxed back in his seat. “My brothers? Why do you want to know about them?”

  “Just because we have a bigger problem doesn’t mean the investigation into your firm has gone away. Since you’re not the one who is running the illegal operation—” Cameron quirked a brow at her, and Laurie had the grace to blush “—and I apologize for ever thinking you were, then isn’t it likely one of them must be responsible?”

  Cameron leaned forward to place another log on the fire. “It looks probable that’s the only answer, but I’m struggling to believe it of either of them. In Bryce’s case, just because it would be so out of character.” He felt his face relax into a familiar affectionate expression, one that carried years of memories of his younger brother with it. Years filled with laughter and companionship. “I could no more doubt his honesty and integrity than I could my own.”

  “And Vincente?” Laurie prompted when he lapsed into silence.

  Cameron wished his expression didn’t have to change at the mention of his older brother’s name. Wished he could feel the same sense of certainty and trust where Vincente was concerned.

  He sighed. “I just don’t know.”

  Laurie was easy to confide in. How had he gotten to a point where he felt totally at ease in her presence after being so angry with her a little over twenty-four hours ago? Was it simply because they’d been through so much together in that space of time, or was there something more? Could two people bond so easily? It was the strangest way to start something. Could anything lasting be built on such awkward foundations? And what was the “something” he was thinking of? It certainly felt like more than friendship.

  “It had to be hard for him when we were growing up. Vincente was the outsider, but he never tried to be anything else, you know? He delighted in being the stereotypical half brother. He was always so jealous of everything. But particularly of me. Jealous of my relationship with our father, jealous of my closeness to Bryce, jealous of my success in business and jealous of my political career.”

  “He sounds like a good candidate to be the one using your company for illegal purposes,” Laurie commented. “Even if he isn’t doing it for personal gain, he could be doing it just to get at you.”

  “It would be so easy to think that, but I honestly believe he’s turned himself around. These last few years, since he’s been working for Delaney Transportation, Vincente has been a changed personality. He’s worked harder than anyone I know to develop the company’s financial systems, and he’s really tried where our relationship is concerned, too. I hate to think the worst of him just because he’s not Bryce.”

  “Could it be someone else inside the company?”

  “I suppose nothing is impossible, but it seems unlikely. Given what you’ve told me, I need to get in there and check things out.” He slumped in his seat. “I’m too tired to think straight about any of this right now.”

  Laurie fixed him with that direct blue gaze. “Is this where we need to have a conversation about our sleeping arrangements?”

  Cameron rose to his feet, holding out his hands. Laurie placed her own hands in his and allowed him to draw her to her feet. “I guess it is.”

  “You said we had a lot to talk about before we finished what we started earlier.” Her voice was husky.

  “I’m all talked out. The most important thing to say is how much I want you.” He drew her slightly closer, exulting in the warmth of her body and the clean, floral scent of her hair.

  “I got that message when we were on the porch.” Her lips were tantalizingly close.

  “No. What I’m trying to say is, I want you, Laurie. I’m not using you as a Carla substitute. You have to believe that.”

  He felt the shudder that ran through her at the words, as though some final, invisible barrier had been broken down. “I’m glad.”

  “And finally, however forward it might have been of me, I went shopping for more than food before we came up here.” He reached in his back pocket and withdrew a pack of condoms. Buying them had been the test. If it had felt like a betrayal, he wouldn’t have gone through with it. Would have known it was too soon. Instead, it had felt—he searched for the right word—different. There had been the frisson of anticipation, the thrill of something new, the wondering if he was doing the right thing. The sensation of stepping over a chasm from the past to the future. But betrayal? No. To his relief, that hadn’t featured in his thoughts. “I knew being alone here with you would be tempting. After the kiss we shared last night, I thought—maybe even hoped—you might feel the same way.”

  Laurie didn’t reply. His heart pounded. Had he got it hopelessly wrong? He was thirty years old and he felt like he was doing this for the first time. Then she took hold of his hand and led him toward the bedroom.

  * * *

  Cameron took Laurie’s face between his hands and bent his head to hers. Her lips parted readily. His tongue gently met hers before he crushed her mouth in a kiss that melted them into one another.

  “Sure about this?” He raised his head to scan her face.

  Laurie loved that he could ask her that question in spite of his raging desire for her. Sweet, molten heat surged through her. “More than I’ve ever been about anything in my life.”

  Sweeping her up in his arms, Cameron carried her over to the bed. Placing her on its surface, he lay down with her, covering her body with his. His leg moved between hers and, as he parted them, he brought his knee up, applying pressure at the apex
of her thighs. Laurie stifled a groan as his lips moved to kiss the hollow of her throat. With her stretched out beneath him, Cameron pushed himself harder against her, his mouth closing on hers.

  At first the kiss was light and teasing, then something shifted so it became rough and hungry, wild and abandoned. One of Cameron’s strong hands fondled a breast through her shirt, finding the hardened peak, as his knee continued to press against her, driving her into a frenzy. Shifting his weight to one side, he undid the buttons of her blouse, dragging the cup of her bra aside. His hand was warm on one breast, exposing it to his gaze before he bent his head and suckled, his lips and tongue feeling maddeningly good on her sensitized flesh.

  Laurie’s hands gripped his shoulders, and held on to him as she pushed her body up toward his, bucking and writhing against that insistent knee. Soft, pleading sounds escaped her lips, sounds she had never heard herself make before. Wanton, demanding sounds she never would have imagined issued from deep within her throat.

  With an answering groan, Cameron raised his head. Swiftly, he helped her out of her blouse and bra, then flung them aside. His own shirt followed, and Laurie drew in a sharp breath at the sight of the muscled perfection of his chest and shoulders. His biceps flexed as he worked her jeans over her hips and helped her wriggle out of them. When her underwear was gone, she lay back on the bed.

  “My God, Laurie, you are exquisite.”

  “Your turn.” She reached for his zipper, sliding it down. She slipped a hand inside and wrapped her fingers around his shaft, exulting in his hot, hard flesh beneath her touch.

  Cameron’s whole body jerked as though from an electric shock. “Laurie...” His voice was hoarse.

  With the last barrier of clothing gone, they were free to explore each other’s bodies. Cameron ignited fires all over Laurie’s skin with his mouth and hands as he alternately touched, stroked, licked and kissed. There was too much urgency between them for restraint. Too much wanting for waiting. Although they had known each other for only a matter of days, it was as though they had packed a lifetime’s worth of desire into those hours. It erupted now into a torrent of touches and tastes that quickly grew out of control.

  Shifting his weight, he eased himself on top of her. Laurie was burning for more. Lifting her hips, she wrapped her legs around his waist, rubbing herself against his hardness, letting him feel how much she wanted him. Her heart hammered wildly as she felt his erection pressing hard up against her entrance.

  “One second.” She heard the rip of the foil packet and felt him reach between their bodies to get the condom on.

  Then he was slowly pushing into her, and everything else was lost except red-hot sensation. Cameron held on to his control, maintaining eye contact, those glorious eyes darkening as he drove home in one long, searing push. Laurie gasped, gazing back at him as she dragged her nails up his back.

  She bit her lip. “God, that feels so good.”

  He gave a shaky laugh, easing his hips back until he almost pulled out of her completely, before pushing all the way back inside her again. “Feels even better now.”

  She didn’t know how he could stand to take it so slow. Not when she could see in his eyes how desperately he wanted her. Dragging back, pressing forward. Keeping his gaze fixed on hers. She knew that was important to him. He wanted her to know he wasn’t thinking of anyone else. Laurie certainly wasn’t. She was lost in Cameron, wrapped around him, feeling every hot, hard inch of him. Pleasure so intense it was painful rippled up her spine and made her cry out his name.

  His patience and control snapped then, and he drove in and out of her. Fast and frenzied. Cameron slipped a hand between them, using his thumb to stroke, circle and tease. Pressure built through her core, a wild mix of pleasurable tension and tingling ache. She had handed over control of her body to this man, and now she was moving in time to his rhythm, matching the pace he was setting, and she couldn’t get enough of it...couldn’t get enough of him. Her body strained to draw him closer, her tongue tangled with his, her hips bucked beneath him, her breasts were hot and aching as they pressed against his hard chest.

  Cameron’s kisses grew more demanding as he picked up the pace. He rocked faster and faster, driving deep as Laurie began to moan and cry out. Stars floated in front of her eyes, and she gasped for air. Frenzied pleasure built to a peak until Laurie’s body exploded and she clung helplessly to Cameron. As his own body jerked in time with hers, he pressed his face into her neck, murmuring her name over and over.

  Reeling with a series of aftershocks, she lay back until the world finally righted itself. When they drew apart, Cameron pulled her into his arms and she snuggled into his hold as if it was the most natural thing in the world. For that moment, this was all there was. Just the two of them. No serial killers on their tail. No murdered FBI agents. No human trafficking. No dead lovers.

  * * *

  Sunrise had always been Cameron’s favorite time of day. Here, high in the forest above the Stillwater Trail, the early morning light was just poking its golden fingertips between the trees. A faint mist lingered over the ground, and the scent of pine was a fresh, clean wake-up call.

  He had left Laurie sleeping, easing away from her gently as he slid from the bed. She looked so beautiful, lying there with her hair tumbling over her naked shoulders; it had been tempting to stay where he was and maybe wake her with a kiss...just as he had done in the night. Instead he had pulled on his jeans, fixed himself a cup of strong coffee and came out onto the porch. He needed some thinking time.

  They had made love again during the night. Slower, that second time. Exploring each other’s bodies, each taking the time to find out what the other one liked, drawing out the pleasure so it became an exquisite agony. And, in Cameron’s case, confirming what he already knew. He was doing exactly what he had sworn he wouldn’t. He was getting in too deep.

  This had all crept up on him too fast. He didn’t know what the rules were about grief and mourning, but he was fairly sure the town gossips in Stillwater would be able to tell him. He could picture the whispers behind the hands, the shaking heads, the sour expressions. Twelve months? Not nearly long enough. It isn’t seemly, they would say. He should still be grieving. Add in the complication of Laurie’s looks, her relationship to Carla...

  Thinking like that made it seem like he was somehow trying to distance himself from what had been an earth-shattering night. He knew how Laurie made him feel. He had never experienced a connection like the one he had felt to her. Never. And that scared him. He wasn’t going to devalue Carla’s memory with comparisons. Even now, the thought of Laurie was doing things to his body he’d never believed possible. Just thinking about her was making him hard as all hell. He shook his head, giving a soft laugh. He wasn’t in control of his own body anymore. It was a strange and new phenomenon, one he was surprised to find himself enjoying.

  Cameron had never been a love-’em-and-leave-’em guy. Even before Carla, he hadn’t been into one-night stands. He had to feel an emotional connection to a woman before he engaged in a physical relationship. He wasn’t vain, but he knew his looks attracted women. He could have had affairs, before and after Carla, if he chose. He just didn’t choose. It wasn’t him. Now he was faced with a new and intriguing situation. He’d found a cure for the pain of his grief. The problem was, he might already be addicted to the remedy.

  A sound behind him made him turn. Laurie was standing there, dressed just in his shirt, her hair tousled and her long legs bare. She smiled. “The lack of phone and internet signals is going to kill me.”

  He slid an arm around her waist, the action feeling comfortable. “Why? Do you think you might get bored?”

  She chuckled reminiscently. “After last night? Not likely. But I wish I knew what was going on with this investigation.”

  “I have to go and check in with Bryce today. His pleas for help were getting in
creasingly frantic when I spoke to him briefly yesterday. And I need to pack a bag with some clean clothes. I’ll see what I can find out while I’m in town.” Her lips parted and he shook his head, anticipating her question. “It’s too dangerous for you to come with me.”

  Laurie sighed. “I suppose you’re right. How will I stop myself going crazy on my own up here without you?”

  “There are a few books and magazines, so you will stay inside and keep your gun right next to you.” The thought of Grant finding her here, alone and vulnerable, was unbearable. He can’t know where we are, his rational mind insisted. He’s never been here, and even Bryce or Vincente would struggle to find this place after all these years. He tried to remember the last time his brothers had been up here. They must have been kids, Bryce no more than eight years old, Cameron ten and Vincente two years older. A memory, bright and clear, of the three of them playing in the snow while their dad and uncle watched from this very porch came back to him. How could he possibly broach the subject of one of his brothers betraying him?

  “Now you know what you’re looking for, it will be easy, because you’ll know the right questions to ask them.” Laurie’s voice was sympathetic.

  How had she known what he was thinking? He gazed into those clear, blue eyes and marveled at the chain of events that had brought them to this point in time. It felt so right holding her at his side like this, yet there was a trail of death and flames behind them and a madman lurking in the shadows. Not to mention someone using his firm for trafficking underage girls. Was it wrong to feel happy in those circumstances? In any circumstances? And what was Laurie feeling? What did this mean to her? There was no question in his mind last night meant something to her. The raw emotion between them had been incredible. Could she be experiencing the same wild roller coaster of emotion that was sweeping through him?