Arrested Pleasure (21 page)

His mouth tasted good on her lips. Champagne, chocolate éclairs—and sin.

"I didn't think I'd last until they cut the cake."

He chuckled. "I almost regretted agreeing to come. Being around you today reminded me how much I wanted to spend the whole day with you." His erection prodded her stomach despite two layers of fabric separating them. "All day."

"Oh, yeah, me too." She wound her arms around his neck and kissed him, opening her mouth and hotly sucking in his tongue. Flames of desire soared between them.

"Oh, baby, you taste good," he murmured against her lips. His hand snagged the strap of her camisole top she'd worn to match her flowery dress. He pulled the strap down until it lay loose, exposing the top of her breasts. She wore a strapless pink bra, but the sheer fabric provided little coverage. Gabe's lips dipped under the cup of her bra and laved the top of one breast. Her nipple responded, the nub hardening under his wet ministrations and the dampness between her legs building.

She let him back her up until something hard impeded from behind. But nothing was as hard as the feel of Gabe's rock-solid frame molding her body.

"My family has been good today, but I'm afraid"—she gasped as he tugged down the camisole and bra to expose her breasts to the cool air of the room—"I . . . was afraid they'd . . . ."

Her words were lost as he latched his mouth onto her breast and began to suckle.

Good God, her body jerked with the sudden need that soared through it.

His hands moved to her buttocks and began kneading. She could feel his cock hard and thick. She needed to remove the barrier of clothes between them. Her need out control, she reached down until she found tab of his zipper.

"What . . . the—?" Gabe muttered. He chuckled as her hand ran down the length of him. "Ah, sweetheart, you're gonna kill me yet."

She smiled even though she knew he probably couldn't see her face. "Only returning the favor."

He chuckled again and returned to her breasts. His hot tongue lapped at a hardened nub, and a jolt of electricity speared Cassie. She groaned and would have lost herself in the sensations wrapping around her, but she had her own agenda in mind.

Slowly, she lowered his zipper. He felt solid and hot beneath her fingers. Luckily he hadn't worn a belt today. As the metal parted, he tented out to greet her. Dipping her hand underneath his briefs, she freed him. Her soft hand grasped his heated length, and she lightly ran her hand up to the tip. A silky wetness met her touch, and she ran the pad of her finger across the tip, swirling around the head of his penis.

He groaned in response and stopped suckling her breasts. She sensed she had his immediate attention right now and took advantage. She slid her hands into his briefs and tugged them down along with his pants. Dropping to her knees, she contemplated her actions. She couldn't make out his cock in the darkness, but the heat emanated from his body.

"Cassie—" His voice groaned even as his cock pulsed against her hand.

Anticipation rose between them.

A cheer echoed from the room next door. Muffled voices floated to her, and Cassie assumed this meant Junie and Rodney had cut the cake. She supposed her mother and father wondered where they'd gone. She might use the excuse she'd been busy showing Gabe around.

As she leaned her head closer, she smelled the essence of him. Sexual heat licked as the flames rose inside her. She had to taste him. Licking her lips, she moved closer, and her tongue encountered something hard. She twirled her tongue around his shaft.

Salty. Warm.
And incredibly good.

He moaned above her, and she took that as an invitation to plunder even more.

With her mouth, she felt around in the dimness until she reached the head of his penis.

With his hands, Gabe held her head in place. He wanted it as much as she did.

"Oh . . . this is incredible. I can't see you. Now I know how a blind person must feel," she told him. She licked his tip.

"Ah, yeah." He twitched beneath her. "Do you . . . ah . . . suppose they're missing

. . . ah . . . us out there?" he finally dragged out.

She tilted her head and listened. Voices trickled in from the other side of the walls and the music had resumed. "I think they're busy and quite frankly, I don't care."

She took him fully into her mouth.

"Damn, Cassie, you're killing me," he muttered as his body stiffened and his member grew harder beneath her touch.

She ignored his mild protest and took him in as deep as she could. The sensation was of eating a Popsicle, only this tasted warm and salty. He seemed to get bigger as the seconds ticked on. Releasing him for a moment caused a suction-like effect. She dipped her tongue underneath his cock and licked her way to the root.

"Cassie—" He groaned loudly into the room. "I need to be inside you now."

"No. I need to finish this," she told him.

"I can't—"

"Yes, you can." And she engulfed him with her mouth again.

He seemed to abandon his protests and soon only silence filled the room except for her sucking sounds and his grunts of pleasure.

Time stood still as Cassie eagerly took to the task of finishing off Gabe.

Somewhere in the distance, a door opened and footsteps padded gently, but Cassie paid them no heed.

"Cassie, I'm coming!" Gabe groaned. Against her mouth, he seemed to grow bigger and harder. His body suddenly stiffened and, with a rush, he came hard in her mouth.

As his body quaked for several moments, she drank his essence and sucked him dry. Long seconds passed while his body's spasms subsided, and she finally collapsed to the floor and laid her head against the wall. She didn't know how he still stood after that.

As if on cue, his legs gave way, and he joined her on the floor. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. The intoxicating smell of sex hung in the air.

"God, you're magnificent," he told her.

"Mmm . . . ." Cassie's eyes closed, and she smiled to the dark room. "I wish we could stay here all night."

He sighed. "Yeah, me too." He shifted slightly. "I supposed we should pull ourselves together and make an appearance before your family posse comes looking for us."

"Oh, yeah. I think the reception might be coming to a close because I heard—"

They froze at the sudden rattle of the doorknob.

Cassie dragged her camisole back up and scrambled to her feet. To hell with the bra. She didn't have time. Beside her, Gabe also rose to his feet to pull his clothes together.

The door opened, throwing some natural light into the darkened room. Cassie watched in alarm as a hand fumbled with the light switch. Fingers finally found its target and harsh light flooded the room just as two people tumbled in with their arms locked around each other in a tight kiss. They fell in a heap at Cassie and Gabe's feet.

"Oh!" Cassie yelped.

"What the—"

The couple on the floor screamed and confusion reigned in the room for several seconds as they rolled around, caught in the tulle of the woman's enormous gown.

Cassie sent a quick glance to Gabe, thankful he'd zipped up his pants . . . just barely. She stepped in front of him and looked down at the couple entangled in white satin and lace. Cassie shook her head and put her hands on her hips.

"Junie and Rodney, couldn't you have at least waited until the honeymoon started?"

Gabe cursed and slammed down the phone for what seemed the tenth time.

Another fruitless day spent trying to track down the men who'd filed complaints against Casa de Massage.

"I take it no luck?
Again
."

He glanced at his partner standing in the door with two cups of steaming coffee in his hand. Chaz had made some calls and gotten nowhere either. These men either didn't exist or planned to lay low for a few days.

"Nope. Nothing. I finally located the owner of the apartment building where Frank Schwartzman supposedly lives. The manager's never heard of the guy." Gabe ran his hand through his hair. "Damn. I wish we could just close the case on the evidence—

or rather, the lack of evidence—we have, but the boss says we've too many complaints to let this go."

Chaz laid Gabe's coffee down on the desk. "I tend to agree with you. Something fishy's going on, and we need to approach this with caution."

"I think some asshole is playing with Cassie's reputation, and I have a hunch it's something to do with her business problems."

"Has she discussed anything with you?"

"Not really. And when I bring up the matter up, she clamps her mouth shut and says it's her problem. I guess I should level with her about what's going on, but dammit, I'm not sure what
is
going on." Gabe threw his pen down and shook his head. He'd spent most of the day in perpetual frustration.

He waited while Chaz sat and mulled this information in silence for several moments, his brow furrowing as he sipped his coffee. Gabe had spent the rest of the weekend with Cassie, finally leaving near midnight. He would've stayed the night as well, but Cassie told him she needed to get up early to handle some pressing business needs. He sensed something bothered her. Maybe part of his frustration was her reluctance to open up to him, despite their closeness.

"I say talk to her. Find out what her business problems are, and if someone is pressuring her," Chaz suggested.

"Yeah, I think I will." Gabe glanced at the clock. Already early afternoon and he needed to tie some loose ends on another case. "I'll head down there in a couple of hours and speak with her."

"Good idea." Chaz started to say more, but the phone next to Gabe began to ring, the red light indicating a call from downstairs.

"What now?" He tried to hide the annoyance in his voice. He didn't want to have any more distractions today, so he hoped the call wasn't another case.

"Hey, Banks, are you ready for this?" Marci Adams voice sounded excited on the phone. "A guy by the last name of Alvarez says he's here to make a complaint against Casa de Massage."

Anger shot up his spine, and the blood pumped into Gabe's head. "Another one?

Shit
." He about knocked over his coffee getting to his feet. This time, they'd get to the bottom of things. "Don't let him go."

"No problem. I have Officer Thomas watching him."

"Good. We'll be right there." Gabe slammed the receiver down and snarled at Chaz, "A rat is downstairs saying he got hit on at Casa de Massage."

Chaz cursed and scrambled to his feet. "I can't believe this case," he muttered as he followed Gabe out the door.

"Me either," Gabe replied tersely.
Damn.
He'd never seen a case where the evidence didn't match what they found in their investigation.

Skipping the elevator, Gabe raced down the three flights of stairs. He had to collar this Alvarez guy and find out what the hell was going on. If he didn't know better, the whole situation sounded like there were two of them. Lucky for her, Gabe had seen the good side of Cassie's business.

He spied Officer Thomas right away and marched over to where he leaned against Marci's desk. "Where is he?" Gabe asked them without any preliminary chitchat.

"In the chair." Marci pointed behind Gabe.

Gabe turned and zeroed in on a nondescript black-haired man who stared curiously back at him. Despite his anger, he tempered his immediate response, which urged him to grab the guy by the front of his shirt.

"Mr. Alvarez?"

The man nodded and rose. "Yes. Are you a detective with the vice department?"

Gabe assessed the man. Although somewhat nervous, he appeared a bit more relaxed than the other two men before. Both of them had been jumpy and ill at ease.

Alvarez smiled easily at Gabe.

"Let's go over to one of the interview rooms," Gabe told him.

Chaz came to a stop beside them. He glared at Gabe. "Jesus, Banks, you could've waited for me."

Gabe ignored his partner's words and showed Alvarez into the room. "We're going to tape this conversation if you don't mind. I want to make sure we're getting everything down."

Alvarez frowned. "You have doubts about my story?"

"No. Police procedure. We don't want anything misconstrued or left out. This'll cover both your ass and mine."

Chaz pulled out a chair. "Yeah, you know how words can get turned around. We want to make sure what you said was interpreted correctly."

Gabe relaxed at Chaz's explanation and ability to get the heart of the matter.

"Oh. Okay." Alvarez settled into the chair while Gabe continued to study the guy. The man seemed decent. He glanced around the room in a relaxed manner.

Whatever happened, they'd make sure the guy's story and background panned out.

Gabe wanted to get this over with quickly. "First off, when did this happen?"

They had to be sure the incident was recent and not something several months ago.

"This morning. I arrived shortly after ten." Alvarez's voice was clear and concise.

Chaz made a note. "First, state your full name and address."

"Albert Lee Alvarez. Everyone calls me Al. Anyway, I live in Clackamas at 2128

Ninth Avenue East."

Hopefully a local man, Gabe thought. No fly-by-night person, never to be seen again. "Okay, good. Now, tell us what happened from the moment you walked into Casa de Massage," he asked Al.

The other man shrugged. "Not much at first. I came in to get a massage, and the therapist—"

"Which one?"

Al's eyes flickered to Gabe. "Uh, a dark-haired one who looks Hispanic."

The air whooshed out of his lungs.
Cassie
. Dani had red hair, and the others had brown or blonde hair. And there was no mistaking the darker skin of Cassie's Filipino roots.

"What did she do or say?" This from Chaz, who sent him a meaningful glare as he continued to question Al.
Keep yourself under control,
Chaz's expression said.

Al continued his story. "We were going along fine until the lady started rubbing my buttocks. Then she leaned over and suggested she might be able to give me more than a rub."