Alone in the Dark (60 page)

She caressed his jaw with fingers that trembled. ‘Then I think I should give you a rain check on the triple-dog dare.’ She kissed him again, then smiled against his lips. ‘Mrs Pepper is watching.’

He pulled back far enough to peek around her. ‘How do you know?’

‘I saw the reflection of her porch light coming on in your window. We should go inside before she comes over to talk to us. She can talk for hours,’ she added in a whisper.

He was out of the car and around to her side to open her door in seconds, making her laugh. He tugged her out of the car and put her keys in her hand. ‘Unlock the garage door. I’ll pull it up so that you can drive the car in.’

‘I can open my own garage door, Marcus.’

‘I know you can.’ He gripped her chin gently, kissing her long and wet and hot, making her sigh when he kissed his way to her ear. His hands itched to run over her curves, but as hot as she looked in the tactical vest, it covered her curves all up. Plus he could see Mrs Pepper peering through the curtains on her living room window. ‘Let me open it anyway,’ he murmured. ‘Mrs Pepper will think I’m a gentleman, and I want to get on her good side. She makes great cookies.’

Scarlett shook her head, chuckling while she did as he asked. He waited until she’d parked the car and shut off the engine before pulling the door down, leaving them in semi-darkness. And total privacy. Finally.

He opened the driver’s door and pulled her to her feet and into his arms. Then he held her. Just held her. Her arms wrapped around his waist, her head rested on his shoulder.

He was shaking like a teenager, dammit. ‘This morning,’ he whispered, ‘was different.’

‘I know.’ She lifted on her toes and kissed his mouth softly. ‘This morning
we
were different. I didn’t know who you really were yet.’

He smiled down at her. ‘Batman?’

‘No.’ She nipped at his lip, then soothed the hurt with the tip of her tongue. ‘The man I so desperately hoped you’d be.’

‘I’m no hero, Scarlett,’ he said soberly.

‘Neither am I. I’m just me.’

He kissed her gently, because even though his body craved her, his mind knew this was too important to rush. ‘I like “just you”.’

‘Sometimes I’m not very nice,’ she warned.

‘I like my roses with a few thorns.’

Her lips twitched, then stilled as she grew very serious. ‘I’ve been alone a long time, Marcus, and I got used to it. But now, with you, I don’t feel alone anymore, and that scares the hell out of me. This morning was sex, and that was satisfying and fun. And simple. But this, us right here, right now . . . It isn’t simple anymore. This is . . . more.’

He kissed a line down her throat, making her shiver. ‘I
want
more.’

Her head fell back, giving him better access. ‘Oh good,’ she breathed. ‘It would suck if I were the only one.’

He unsnapped the vest, lowered his voice. ‘What do you want, Scarlett? A husband, children? A picket fence?’

She swallowed, shivering again. ‘Yes. I’m greedy. I want it all.’

He nuzzled her neck. ‘I can build a fence. And I’ve always wanted kids. And a wife. So we’re starting out on the same page.’ He slipped his hand under the vest, cupped her breast, felt the hardness of her nipple against his palm. ‘What do you want this minute?’

She laughed breathlessly. ‘To drag you off to bed and do all kinds of naughty things.’

His control snapped and he took her mouth roughly, too roughly. But she gave as good as she got, shoving her fingers into his hair and kissing him until he was afraid he’d come right there in her garage.

He reared back, breathing hard. ‘What do you need to do first?’

‘Walk the dog, take a shower.’

‘Then go. I’ll get my things and meet you inside. Where’s your bedroom?’

‘Second floor.’ She kissed him hard before pulling out of his arms and walking backward toward the door into the house. ‘It’s purple.’

He frowned. ‘What?’

‘My bedroom. It’s purple.’ She grinned. ‘You’ve been warned. I’ll hurry.’

‘Okay,’ he muttered, somehow managing to bend over far enough to gather up his gun and laptop and her jacket and shoulder holster. ‘Purple it is.’ He headed into the house and up the stairs, his pulse racing in anticipation even as he felt his shoulders lighten.
Peace
, he realized.
This is peace.

Cincinnati, Ohio
Tuesday 4 August, 11.55
P.M.

Scarlett normally let Zat struggle up the stairs on his own, but tonight she was impatient. She could hear the shower running, and the thought of Marcus under that spray left her knees weak and her pulse thrumming hard. Everywhere. Scooping Zat into her arms, she ran up the stairs just as the shower shut off.

Holding her breath, she put the dog down gently and walked to the open bathroom door. ‘Oh.’ It was more a long sigh of appreciation than an actual word. She’d seen him shirtless. She’d seen all the important parts when they’d gone at it like horny weasels on her sofa that afternoon.

But not even her very imaginative daydreams had prepared her for the whole package of deliciousness that was Marcus O’Bannion naked and dripping wet. Broad shoulders bunched and flexed as he toweled the hair on his head, while droplets of water clung to the dark, crisp hair lightly furring across his chest, making her want to lick it all up. And then keep on licking downward. My God, the man was a fantasy in the flesh, and what flesh he had. Long and thick and hard. Remembering how it had felt inside her had her core muscles contracting so hard she shuddered.
Soon.
She’d feel him inside her again soon.

He finished toweling his hair and was dabbing at the bandage on his scalp from his run-in with Chip Anders’s splintered door when he saw her standing there, agape. His grin started slow, but spread to his whole face, his cheeks creasing in a way she hadn’t yet seen. He looked happy, she realized. And very relaxed. Except for his erection, which grew even larger and harder as she stared, bobbing to its own beat.

‘I didn’t use too much of your hot water,’ he said. ‘I didn’t know how big your tank was.’

Abruptly she closed her mouth and leaned against the door frame, trying for cool and knowing she was failing utterly. ‘It’s tankless. It heats the water as you need it. You can run it until you’re a giant prune and not run out.’

‘Good to know.’ He spread his arms wide, making her mouth water. ‘So then, come on in. The water’s warm.’

‘In a minute. I want to look. You are . . .’ She sighed again. ‘Just as I knew you’d be.’

‘You’re wearing too many clothes, Detective,’ he said lightly. She stepped back into her bedroom to strip, but he wagged his finger. ‘No, no. Stand there. It’s only fair.’

‘Just a minute.’ She took off the vest, placing her phone on the nightstand and her gun in the drawer. She considered not checking her messages, but knew she had to. Thankfully there were none. They had a momentary lull and she was taking advantage of it.

She returned to the doorway to peel her shirt over her head, revealing the bra she’d put on after her morning shower. She’d chosen it thinking about the way he’d look at her when he saw it. Pink and lacy, it was one of her very favorites.

His grin faded, his expression becoming the same one that had made her kiss him up against that SUV. ‘Come here,’ he said quietly, and she walked to the open shower door while her legs shook like jelly. He ran his finger under the scalloped lace edge of the bra, teasing her. Tempting her. ‘So damn pretty.’ He met her eyes. ‘I like it. Take it off before I tear it off.’

It was a front clasp, and he groaned when she popped it open. ‘That’s all I had to do?’

She laughed and let it fall to the floor, gratified at his sharp intake of breath.

‘My God,’ he whispered, then stole her breath by taking a breast in each hand reverently, measuring their weight. He kissed the slope of each one, then dropped his hands to his sides, clenching them into fists. ‘Keep going, but hurry. You’re killing me here.’

She didn’t comply, taking her time in pulling out all the pins that held her braid in place. He watched silently, his eyes missing not a single movement as she removed the last pin, her braid falling to the middle of her back as she dumped the pins in a pile on the vanity. She started to loosen the braid, but he stopped her.

‘Let me,’ he said quietly. He began untangling her hair and running his fingers through it. ‘I’ve wanted to do this since the first time I saw you. I’ve fantasized about your hair spread all over my pillow.’ He smiled. ‘Spread all over me.’

Her arousal growing exponentially now, she kicked off her shoes and pushed her slacks to the floor, leaving her clad only in her matching pink lace panties, along with socks and an ankle holster.

His chest expanded as he inhaled. ‘Very nice,’ he said gruffly. ‘The ankle holster is hot. Makes you look very badass.’

‘I think the pink lace cancels any badass-itude,’ she said, hooking her pinkie in the string that held the front and back triangles together.

‘It’s a synergistic effect. Trust me on this. Are your panties wet?’

She drew a deep breath. ‘If they hadn’t been already, they would be now. But they’ve been wet every time I’ve been around you today.’ She dropped to one knee to take off the ankle holster, then came to her feet. ‘I’ll be right back.’

‘Hurry.’

She obeyed, quickly putting the backup gun next to her service weapon in the nightstand drawer, but when she returned, Marcus was leaning back against the shower wall, slowly stroking himself.

Scarlett couldn’t have looked away if someone had threatened to shoot her on the spot. ‘You started without me.’

His dark brows lifted, making him look like a smug Greek god. ‘I told you to hurry.’

Yanking off the socks, she shimmied out of the panties and kicked them aside. She joined him in the shower, closed the door and turned on the spray.

He pulled her under the water, playing with her hair as it grew soaking wet. He squirted shampoo into his hands and began to wash her hair, strong, long strokes on her scalp. She moaned and leaned her back against his front, letting him drive some of the tension from her shoulders and neck even as he built a sweeter tension between her legs.

‘You have a lot of hair, Detective,’ he said, his mouth next to her ear. His soapy hand slid down the front of her body, lightly caressing one breast before darting between her thighs, one wicked finger delving deep into the part of her that had already been wet for him. Her gasp made him chuckle. ‘This could take a while.’

She wasn’t sure if he meant the washing of her hair or the slow stroking he was doing with that finger of his. She didn’t care. Didn’t think. Just leaned into him and savored the contact after so many months alone. He wasn’t rushed, didn’t hurry. He just stroked her, languidly working her into a delicious froth until she began thrusting against him, urging him to go faster. Harder.

She protested when he withdrew the finger, using both his hands to rinse the shampoo from her hair, then casually sniffing the various bottles of body wash in the caddy hanging from the shower, as if they had all the time in the world. ‘Marcus,’ she said, her voice husky. ‘Hurry.’

‘This is the one I like,’ he announced, picking the honeysuckle-scented body wash and pouring it into his hand. He washed her thoroughly, torturing her with touches that were far too light and far too fast, chuckling when she cursed him.

‘You’re enjoying this,’ she accused when he went down on his haunches to soap up her legs, massaging her calves and feet.

He picked up her handheld sprayer and started rinsing her body with warm water, a teasing smile on his face. ‘Aren’t you?’

‘Yes, but— Oh God.’ She choked on the words when he abruptly rocked forward to his knees, slid his hands up the backs of her thighs to grab her butt and buried his face between her legs, licking up into her. ‘Oh God. Yes. There. Please.’

In seconds he had her whimpering, moaning, her legs threatening to fold beneath her. She clutched his hair, her hips thrusting to get closer, get him deeper. She was close, so close. Then . . . ‘No!’ she cried when, as abruptly as he’d started, he lurched to his feet, leaving her on the edge and ready to claw his shoulders to make him go back down. Until she saw his face.

He was no longer smiling, his eyes dark and glittering with need. Without looking away from her, he turned the water off, backed her against the wall and kissed her so hard she saw little white lights floating behind her eyelids. He broke off, letting her gulp air into her burning lungs, then lifted her arms around his neck, curved his hands over her butt and shoved the shower door open with his shoulder. He picked her up, and she wound her legs around his hips, wiggling to get his erection up inside her folds, rocking against him as he carried her out of the bathroom. Once in the bedroom, he carefully laid her down on the bed, both of them still soaking wet, the overhead lights blazingly bright.

But she didn’t have even another second to think about the wet, because he followed her down, sliding down her body until his mouth was between her legs again. He didn’t lick, but went straight for her clit, sucking it into his mouth, making her scream. He didn’t stop, sucking her hard, and then his finger was back inside her, then two, stroking her faster and harder and higher.