Seeking Evil (Looking Into The Mind Of A Killer Series) (28 page)

“
I want to see if that offer still stands.
”

Her lips brushed
across
his
invitingly
.

Desire kicked to life in his lower parts.
It was hard not to return her kiss
with passion, throw caution to the wind,
but he
had questions he
needed
answering
.
“
What offer was that again?
”

“
The one to give us a chance.
”

And what was h
is answer? A ragged breath and then he drew her up into his arms
,
shouldered the front door open
,
and headed for the bedroom. He needed her. Needed to be inside her. Needed to believe this was real. He couldn
’
t survive another wet dream of her.

John
lowered her
down to his bed
, wordlessly
unbuttoning her
blouse. He touched her bare breasts reverently, caressing the upper slopes to the rosy tips. Slowly, gently, he lowered his face to them and pressed kisses to the pale curves. She arched, but she didn’t close her eyes. She watched him take her nipple into his mouth, lave it before drawing deeper. His warm hand smoothed from her ribs down to her hip and thigh, pulling her skirt up when she lifted for him. He fit their bodies together easily, the hard length of him sliding deep into her core, right to the heart of her.

He didn’t move and she didn’t want him to. Their gazes locked even as their hands coursed over each other’s bodies. Caressing. Soothing. Forgiving.

He lay over her, fitting together skin to skin, still staring into each other’s eyes even as he kissed her. The intensity of the joining stole every sensation that wasn’t about them. Still, he didn’t move his hips. Didn’t pull back or surge back to her. Right now, in this moment, they were truly one. This wasn’t about lust or need or hurt. It was communion. Without words, she knew he wanted them to stay that way as long as they could.

But there were words she needed to say. “I love you,” she whispered, touching his jaw, his mouth, with her lips as she spoke. His smile, when it came, still had the tinge of sadness, but she could see the hope in his eyes now, too. Could see it growing. He took her hand into his own, pulling it down so he could twine their fingers together. A second later, he took the other as well, moving both of them just above her head. It lasted a second, or maybe forever, but for a perfect moment, it was pure connection between them. But then he
moved. Slowly pulling from her, easing back inside. The urgency, the fiery need, had changed into something different. Something patient, something willing to build within them.

“More.” She lifted her hips for him, urging him to meet her. She was ready now. Ready for everything he needed to give her. His gaze flickered, his expression growing darker, his thrust burrowing deeper. “More.” She tightened her legs around him, lifting her lips for his kiss. He groaned, his mouth fitting over hers even as he increased his pace. He drove into her, grinding against her clit and sending pulses of dark pleasure through her. But she knew there was more. She whimpered for it, clamping her fingers tighter to his. Faster he moved through her slick sex, harder, shuttling against her sensitive walls without grace. Just raw, desperate plunges that stole her breath and stroked parts of her she hadn’t realized she had. She cried out, her body jerking from the force of her release, and still, he kept moving. Kept plunging into her. Swelling thicker, ratcheting her orgasm higher instead of bringing her down, until finally, she was bucking beneath him as he came, spilling inside her while he groaned against her neck. She let go of his hands to clasp his shoulders, holding on as their bodies slowly cooled. She smiled.
For the first time in a long time she belonged
.

H
e kissed her, his gaze meeting hers with a world of meaning
he said.
“Home.”

He took his time and convinced them both that there was
such
a thing a
s
second chances.

*
*
*
*
*

“
I
’
m glad you came.
”
John
kissed the top of
Anna
head and drew
her
closer.

“
I’m glad you did too…and,”
Anna
added when his expression turned just a bit frustrated. “
I
’
m glad
I came and that
you
’
re glad
I’m here
. I
’
m sorry. You were right. I was holding onto my guilt like a weapon.
”

“
It
’
s okay. None of that matters now. Will you stay?
”

Anna
t
wisted in his arms so that
she
could see his face.
“
Only if you
’
ll have me. Only forever.
”

He gathered
her
e
into the circle of his arms and showed
her
in all the ways
she
’
d long since stopped believing possible how much he wanted
her
. Forever.

Now that the threat had passed and he knew
Anna
wasn
’
t leaving,
she could see that
there were still something
clearly
troubled him.

“
What is it?
”
She
g
lanced up at him
,
sensing something was wrong.

He tried to dismiss
his misgivings
.
“
Nothing.
”

“
No, something
’
s bothering you. It
’
s about the case
,
isn
’
t it?
”

He smiled
,
not really surprised that
she
’
d guessed.
“
Yes. I know this is probably the last thing you want to talk about now, but why
’
d she do it?
”

Anna had
struggled since Lewis
’
death to put aside Brenda
’
s terrifying memories of that monster. They
’
d become little more than fragmented pieces that made
her
think the small part of
Brenda's
that still existed in
Anna
understood the threat that had been Jericho Lewis had passed.

“
You mean w
hy
’
d she kill herself?
”

He nodded.

“
I think she believed it was her only way out. She was terrified he
’
d kill her. In the end, she took the matter out of his hands.
She reclaimed some control over her life.
”

John didn
’
t buy it. He knew there
had to be
more.
“
And that
’
s it?
”

After a moment,
Anna
shook my head.
“
No. By killing herself the way she did, Brenda was certain her death would get blamed on
Jericho
. She
’
d obviously researched it very tho
roughly. All the statistics say
most women never take their lives by violent means. Brenda was smart. Much smarter than her husband gave her credit for. But she was also desperate to keep him from hurting anyone else. She knew he would if he remained free. In her mind, this was the only way to prevent that from happening. She knew if he were locked away in prison somewhere, even though she couldn
’
t save herself, she could save
Jericho
’
s next victim. Or so she thought. I guess the outcome wasn
’
t quite as she
’
d planned.
”

John held her
tighter
.
“
No one could have predicted the jury
’
s verdict in finding him mentally incompetent to stand trial. Brenda played it right. She did her part by planting the seed of abuse in her family
’
s minds. Her sister told us that she
’
d sent her a letter. She was certain he
’
d kill her. Brenda told her that if anything happened to her,
Jericho
was to blame.
”

Some of Brenda
’
s pain crept back into
her
memory.
Anna
shivered at the vivid images of horror
Brenda had
endured.
Anna
closed
her
eyes and held John closer,
while
silently hoping that perhaps, with Jericho Lewis
’
death, Brenda could finally find some amount of peace in hers.

Chapter
Seventeen

“
I have something to tell you.
”
John
had been
distracted as
they
made breakfast together the following morning.

Anna's pulse
did a little fearful flip.
She
put down the toast
she
’
d been nibbling.
“
What is it? Please tell me you haven
’
t changed your mind about us.
”

John rushed to reassure
her
.
“
God no. I can
’
t live without you. But I
do
have a confession to make and I need you to listen.
"

I
t
was hard hearing
her
own voice over
her
staccato heartbeat.
“
What is it?
”

“
After Aaron
’
s death, I cleaned out his desk and boxed his things away. I couldn
’
t even bring myself to look at them
, so
I never opened the box. Then once we
’
d caught
Jericho
,
and with the move
here
, well I figured it was time to lay the past
to rest
for good. I opened Aaron
’
s things and found a couple of letters in one of his notebooks. One was for me and one for you.
”

John got to his feet and went over to the desk in the living room. He opened a drawer and brought back a small envelope with
Anna's
name scribbled in Aaron
’
s writing across the front.

She
didn
’
t open it right away.
H
er
eyes held his.
“
What is it? Is it bad?
”

He took
her
hand and squeezed it.
“
No. No, Anna it
’
s not, well, not really. In a way, it
’
s good.
It explains so much.
Y
ou should read it alone. I have to check on the generator anyway. I think I have some work to do on it before we go grocery shopping.
”

Even after he
’
d left, it was a long time before
Anna
could tear the envelop
e
open and read Aaron
’
s final words to
her
. But when
she
did, so many
things about
her
former
husband’s strange behavior
fell into place.

She
was still sitting at the table a few hours later when John found
her
.