All Through the Night (Liar's Web) (16 page)

She gazed up at him, tears brimming in her eyes. “I need you. I'm afraid, and I don't know how to be brave right now. I just want to forget for a little while that there's this madman coming after me. Make me forget, Jake.”

With a groan of surrender, he pulled her against him, his lips connecting with her own in a bruising, blistering kiss. He held her head between his hands as he kissed her for all she was worth, his tongue punishing and persuasive. She knew he was fighting this every step of the way, and it turned her on that he was rapidly losing. He started pulling her clothes off, layer by layer. His movements were frenzied and impatient.

He unzipped her hoodie, throwing it on the ground as he yanked down her shorts and made scraps of her lacy underwear. She shimmied out of her shirt, wanting to be totally naked for him. When she was completely nude, he stood and stared at her, his eyes glazed over with passion.

He made a movement toward her, and she stopped him with a single flick of her hand. “I've got this,” she said smoothly. She quickly reached his side, pulling his sweats down so they were pooled at his ankles. He wasn't wearing any undies so his shaft was jutting up proudly. She reached out and caressed his thick manhood, lightly running her finger around the rim of the head, feeling a few droplets of moisture on her fingertip. Provocatively, she raised her finger to her mouth and sucked it, rapidly moving her finger in and out of her mouth in a tantalizing motion as Jake began to touch himself.

“
Don't start without me,” she warned in a husky voice as she pushed him backward until he was in a seated position on the bed. She scrambled to her knees, pulling her wavy hair back with one hand so it wouldn't get in her way. Jake watched her with feverish eyes as she reached out and grabbed his shaft, stroking it for a moment before wrapping her lips around it and lightly sucking the head.

She alternated between sucking and licking as she massaged the base of his shaft with her hand. He held handfuls of her hair as her mouth bobbed up and down over him. Her tongue wandered down the length of him, loving the feel and texture of his sex as she explored every delicious inch of him. She inhaled deeply, feeling heady as Jake's masculine scents washed over her.

With her other hand, she kneaded the muscles in his butt, lightly running her nails across his flesh until she felt him shudder and cry out her name as he orgasmed. For a few moments he lay still on the bed, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he got his bearings.

Darcel watched him with a sense of deep satisfaction. Seeing him come completely undone like this gave her a wild rush. It was nice to know she wasn't the only one who felt so out of control when they had sex. Going down on him had left her incredibly wet and turned on. When she'd felt the waves of his orgasm, she'd wanted to join in and feel the same sort of release in her moist heat.

Jake stood from the bed, stunning her into silence with his massive hard-on. She couldn't believe he was aroused again so quickly after she'd just given him a taste of paradise. Without saying a word, he reached for her, his strong arms lifting her up so she was straddling his waist. Impatiently, he flipped her over on the bed so her butt was facing him.

She heard the crinkling of a condom rapper and saw him sheathing himself in one quick movement. He spread her legs and entered her from behind, his movements powerful and frenzied as he thrust himself inside her slippery wetness. She let out a cry as he entered her in one solid movement. She felt herself stretching to accommodate his size as he pushed himself farther and deeper than she'd ever experienced. He managed to angle himself so he could give maximum pleasure, and for what seemed like hours, he sent her to the brink and beyond.

She gave herself to him completely, trusting him to set the pace and rhythm. She had no idea how many times she climaxed, nor how many times she screamed out his name. Each time she felt him begin to climax, he pulled himself back from the edge, delaying his own gratification as he plunged back inside her to take her to the heights of pleasure.

Just when she thought she might die from pleasure, he pulled her on top of him so she could ride him cowgirl style. For a moment she resisted, her body language letting him know she wasn't comfortable with this position.

“
What's wrong?” he asked with a frown as he held her hips in place with his hands.

She looked down at him, incredulous that she could even feel embarrassed after all the positions they'd already assumed tonight. Her face became heated as she confessed, “I've never been on top before.”

Jake smiled at her devilishly, his face showing amusement mixed with surprise. “No? Well, darling, there's a first time for everything.”

Slowly, she lowered herself onto him, taking him inside little by little until she was comfortable. Jake's eyes were closed, and he threw his head back and gritted his teeth, his face flushed with pleasure.

“
That's it,” he crooned. “Nice and easy. Find your rhythm.” She arched her back and rode him as he instructed, taking her time and finding a nice pace. She placed her hands on his shoulders to gain leverage then quickened her pace. As she rotated her hips in a circular motion, she found the friction between their joined bodies intoxicating. Sheer pleasure rocketed through her as Jake reached out to caress her clit as she moved over him.

Harder and faster she rode him until she felt a strong climax building inside her. Jake grabbed onto her hips with his powerful hands, his face twisted in desire as he finally orgasmed and released himself inside her. “Ahhhh…Darcel,” he groaned as his body spasmed underneath her. Sparks went off inside her, and she felt a white-hot heat searing through her. She found her release at the exact same time as Jake, joining him in a shattering climax.

Afterward, she rolled off of him, lying on her back next to him with her face upward to the ceiling. They lay side-by-side in this position for a few moments as they struggled to get their hearts beating at a normal pace and their breathing under control.

“
God, that was amazing,” she said, her breathing still ragged and choppy.

“
I'm not sure we can give the man above the credit for all that,” Jake replied dryly.

They both burst out laughing, their bodies shaking as they erupted into fits of laughter so strong that Darcel had to hold her stomach. Jake reached over and started ticking her, causing her to burst into another round of uncontrollable giggles. She rolled over on her side so they were facing one another, her eyes drinking in the sheer sexiness of Jake as he lay nude next to her. His tousled hair, the rock-solid abdomen, his chiseled features, the muscled beauty of his ass—he had the whole package.

“
Stay with me tonight,” he whispered as he ran his hands through strands of her hair.

She nodded her acceptance, unable to speak due to the huge lump in her throat.
Stay with me tonight
. His words hit her in a soft and tender place. She'd needed him tonight, more than words could ever convey. And he'd given himself to her, despite his better judgment. He'd made her feel safe and protected, as if nothing else existed other than the two of them. If only for this night, she was going to take what he was offering. She needed it. She needed him. To chase away the bogeyman and make the darkness seem as if it wasn't such a scary place.

As her lids became droopy and her eyes began to close, she felt Jake pulling her toward him so her head rested against his shoulder. As she drifted off to sleep, she heard him say, “You don't have to be afraid. ‘Cause I'm here. And I'm going to hold you, all through the night.”

* * * *

Morning came like a thief, stealing the night away and making it nothing more than a delicious memory. Memories of the previous night were indelibly engraved in his mind, torturing him with hot, vivid flashbacks of naked skin, greedy lips, and scorching flesh. They'd been on fire together, blazing hotter than the sun. And despite his guilt about sleeping with a witness, he knew deep down in his gut that it had felt right.

He couldn't regret something so amazing. Waking up with Darcel sleeping soundly in his arms was one of the sweetest moments of his life. He didn't consider himself a romantic, but the sight of her lying naked between his sheets, coupled with the memories of last night, made him want to shout his feelings to the world.

He'd been able to sleep last night courtesy of the elite law enforcement team stationed outside the house. After the attack on Bodine, he'd called in a few favors from some police buddies who'd agreed to team up and take turns watching his house. His gut told him the killer wouldn't be so foolish as to come back to his house a second time, but in reality, he had no idea what he was capable of doing. He suspected that like a rat cornered in a cage, Ronnie's killer was going on the offensive.
        

The shooter had seen Darcel the night of the shooting, and he knew she could finger him as a murderer. Which meant, Jake deducted, the killer knew Darcel. She wasn't some random witness to a crime. His theory was backed up by the facts. Since the night of the murder, her identity had been carefully shielded by law enforcement. The only thing that made sense to him on a gut level was that the killer was someone Darcel knew on a personal basis.

He gazed down upon her as she slept peacefully, her curls swirling around her head on the pillow, lending her an angelic look that defied her feisty personality. Her brown skin looked good enough to eat against the simplicity of his white sheets. She was growing on him, he realized with a heaviness in his heart. He was getting used to her being around. He liked protecting her. And the sex wasn't too bad either, he thought with a grin. The sheets had practically been on fire last night as they took their attraction to a whole new level of sensuality.

His cell phone rang, startling Darcel out of her slumber and into the world of the living. She grinned at him as she demurely pulled the sheets over her naked body. For a moment he toyed with the idea of pulling the covers back and exposing every delectable inch of her mocha-colored body. He'd love to play with her delicious belly, to run his fingers teasingly down her spine and kiss the sensitive spot on the back of her neck. He'd relish the opportunity to run his tongue along the insides of her thighs and to nibble on her glorious backside. He groaned as he recognized the incoming cell phone number displayed on his phone. It was his sister calling from the Rez, one of the few calls he couldn't afford to ignore.

“
Hey, Ruby Red. What's up?”

He heard his sister's voice talking a mile a minute. None of the words were intelligible. It was nothing more than white noise. Making it worse was a crackling sound on the line.

“
Slow down. I can't hear a word you're saying,” he commanded forcefully.

His stomach constricted painfully as the room began to spin crazily around him. Despite the crackling over the line, he knew he wasn't imagining what he'd heard. His sister had just confessed to killing someone.

* * * *

One step forward, two steps back. From the moment the ringing cellphone had awakened her, she'd known it was going to be one of those days. When Jake began to yell his sister's name into the phone, she'd watched him transform from her sexy pillow pal into an intimidating force of nature. When he told her to pack a few things in an overnight bag, she'd been mildly alarmed but not panicky. Surely if there was danger headed their way, he'd tell her.

He wasn't saying much, she realized. He was banging around the kitchen and knocking pots and pans around, all under the guise of making coffee. Just when she'd gotten used to his warm and fuzzy side, he'd turned back into a grizzly bear. The entire ride he'd barely grunted out two words to her, two of which had been “get in” as she made her way toward the car. She'd been casting him sidelong glances, taking in the way he was gulping from his coffee mug, his face as hard and unyielding as a marble sculpture.

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. “Where are we going?”

“
To the Rez,” he said in a clipped tone, his jaw tight and clenched.

“
Seriously?” she blurted out, incredulous that they were going for a joyride when everything was falling apart around them.

He sent her a glowering look. “Seriously. Is there a problem with that?”

“
Uh, not a problem unless you consider the fact that all hell broke loose last night. Bo's in the hospital, Ella's a total mess, and unless I'm mistaken, there's still a killer lurking out there.”

He didn't utter a single word in reply. His brow was furrowed, and his hands tightly gripped the steering wheel as he stared straight ahead down the road. As the minutes ticked by, she found herself going crazy with not knowing what had transpired to cause Jake to resemble a ghost of his former self.

Finally, she cracked. “Jake, you've got to tell me something. I know it was your sister you were talking to on the phone. What's wrong?”

He hesitated for a moment before speaking, his tone on edge and flat. “It's Ruby. Something went down on the Reservation. She said she killed someone.”

“
What? Oh my God. What happened?”

Helplessness oozed from every single one of his pores, and a shell-shocked expression had taken over his face. “I have no idea what went down. The line went dead, and there was a busy signal every time I tried to call her back. I have to get to her!”