Inseparable (24 page)

“Reese…”

She’d said his name softly, but before it was all over he intended for her to scream it. Moving his hand, he inserted it between her thighs and began parting them, inhaling her seductive scent and gazing at the most intimate part of her body. He remembered the first time he had feasted on her and his taste buds hadn’t been the same since. She tasted sweet and he would always yearn for her essence.
Like now.

She watched as he began trailing kisses from her breasts down to her stomach and then began licking his way in between her legs. The moment his tongue touched her feminine mound and began circling her clitoris with the tip of his tongue before dipping it deep inside of her, she swallowed a moan deep in her throat.

“Oh, Reese…”

The sound of that was a little better, he thought, as he began feasting on her just as he’d been imagining all day long. His lips locked on her core as he began alternately sucking gently and stroking her.

She squirmed from the foreplay of his mouth, and he knew that the exact moment she lifted her hips off the table was his cue to delve deeper. And he did so with a ravenous hunger. He didn’t intend to let up until he heard what he wanted to hear.

“Reese!”

When she screamed his name he was glad he’d remembered to close the door, or his men might think they were in some sort of danger. The only danger either of them risked was too much lovemaking. He doubted that he would ever get enough of her.

He tasted her orgasm as her thighs trembled under his lips. It was only then that he released her—but not for long. He eased on top of the table with her, and spread her luscious thighs wider.

She was watching him through a haze, with eyes that still shimmered from her climax. He lifted her hips up in his hands. “Don’t get too comfortable, baby,” he said softly as the head of his erection eased into her, stretching her as it kept moving, sliding deeper into her as her muscles clenched him all the way.

He threw his head back when he felt he was inside her to the hilt. Her inner walls milked him hard as he began moving, thrusting back and forth inside of her, going in and out, right to left, left to right. He was pounding hard, yet in his mind not hard enough. They would be in one hell of a fix if the table broke under their weight. But dammit, he was determined to have her like this. Chalk it up as just one of his many fantasies, since he had plenty where Kenna was concerned and was making up new ones every day.

The table rocked, and a time or two he thought it might have rolled, but it held firm and did what they needed it to do. It withstood the endless pounding, thrusting and stroking, and when she screamed his name again, the sound triggered an explosion that he felt all the way to his toes.

He growled out her name as he felt himself come…and come…and come. Making love to her was off the charts. It was never like this with any other woman—only with her. Pleasure surged through him, touching every part of his body, and he leaned down and kissed her, tasted the sweetness from her lips. He knew at that moment that she would never move into the condo she was building, because he intended to keep her here with him always.

He slowly pulled out of her and got off the table. Once his legs were steady enough for him to stand on, he gathered her into his arms and carried her to the hot tub. He gently eased them down into the warm water. He couldn’t remember a time that he’d
enjoyed a woman more. But Kenna wasn’t just any woman. She was the one woman he wanted to spend his life with, and each and every day he intended to make sure she knew it. Hopefully his “show me” approach would convey the emotions he had yet to put into words.

Chapter 21

L
ynette leaned across the table as her lips curved in a half-mocking smile. “Must be nice.”

“What?” Kenna asked, looking up from her menu. She had agreed to join Lynette for lunch at Rowdy’s. Because of everything that had happened yesterday, Steven and Shaun had the night shift for the rest of the week.

“To have a sex-all-night glow on your face that lasts through lunch,” Lynette said, smiling.

Sheer willpower was keeping the heated blush off of Kenna’s face. “You’re imagining things,” she admonished

“I don’t think so. Besides, if the blush didn’t give you away, that passion mark you tried covering up with makeup did. Admit you’ve been caught.”

Kenna was saved from admitting anything when one of the waitresses came to take their order. Lynette shook her head when the blond-haired woman walked off. “I bet she was just itching to ask where Shaun was today.”

Kenna glanced over at the waitress, who had gone back behind the counter. “You think?”

“Hell, I don’t know and I shouldn’t even care,” Lynette moaned.

“But you do.”

Lynette nodded and chuckled. “Yeah, you’re right, I do care. But I don’t think she’s his type. She doesn’t have enough curves.”

To be honest, Kenna didn’t think the waitress was all that attractive anyway and wasn’t much competition, at least not in the way Alyson was. She still couldn’t understand why Reese wasn’t taken with Alyson, when it had been apparent at the party that most men were. Instead, Alyson had tried encouraging them to take an interest in her.

“So what’s the latest on the woman who was found yesterday?”

Lynette lifted a brow. “You haven’t heard?”

Kenna looked confused. “No. What?”

“The details were released to the press a short while ago. It was bad enough she’d been raped, but it seems she was thrown into a pit with rattlesnakes while she was still alive. She had bite marks all over her body. There was enough venom in her body to take down an elephant. The bastard probably sat there and watched her die.”

Kenna shivered at the thought of someone dying so horribly. It seemed the killer was becoming more and more vicious. He probably stayed awake at night trying to come up with new ways to torture his next victim.

“People are beginning to panic. They are arming themselves for protection. We’ve hired more people just to keep up with all the calls we’re getting and to work the tip line. According to CNN he’s killed sixteen women now. But he usually has at least six kills before moving on to another place,” Lynette said.

The thought that the serial killings would continue angered Kenna.

“I’m glad Reese got to you yesterday,” Lynette said interrupting Kenna’s thoughts. “I’m not saying you were in any danger out there by yourself, but right now I wouldn’t take chances. Even when I’m working undercover next week, the captain has assigned a partner to act as my boyfriend.”

Kenna lifted a brow. “Who? Shaun?”

“No. Some rookie who joined the force a few months ago. That means I’m going to have to look out for his back as well as mine.”

“Well, well, if it isn’t LaKenna James.”

Kenna glanced up and wished she hadn’t. It was Alyson, and she was with, of all people, Wendell Thomas. She plastered a smile on her face. “Alyson. Wendell. Yes, and how are the two of you doing?”

“Fine. We were downtown strolling around and thought we would drop in here, although now I wished we hadn’t. It’s not what I thought,” Alyson said, putting her hand in the crook of Wendell’s arm to make sure Kenna got the picture.

Kenna introduced them to Lynette. But when she introduced him as Wendell Thomas, he immediately corrected her. “I’m
Doctor
Wendell Thomas,” he said. “I’m one of the head neurologists at Park Plaza Hospital.”

Kenna hid her smile. If he was trying to impress Lynette he was wasting his time. In fact, Kenna had to fight back her laughter when Lynette batted her eyelashes and said, “Evidently there’s a reason for you wanting me to know, but last time I checked my nervous system was working just fine.”

The smile on Wendell’s face turned into a frown. “Well, I’ll leave you ladies to your meal.” He then quickly ushered Alyson toward the exit.

“Was it something I said?” Lynette shrugged with an innocent look on her face.

Kenna couldn’t hold back as she and Lynette burst out laughing at the same time.

“Who are they?” Lynette asked, shaking her head. “I’ve never met two more self-centered people in my life.”

“Alyson is Reese’s ex-girlfriend and Dr. Wendell Thomas is the guy she was all but throwing in my face,” Kenna said. “Now it looks like she has him all to herself.”

Lynette chuckled. “Yes, it looks that way.” She checked her watch. “It’s taking forever for them to bring our food. But today is Wednesday, Flo’s bad day, and I for one don’t intend to get on her bad side.”

Kenna grinned. “Is she that mean?”

“I bet you won’t ask me that a month from now,” Lynette said, taking a sip of her soda. “Are you sure it’s okay for me to bring Aleena out to the ranch Saturday? She loves horses, and to think I actually know someone who owns one.”

“It’s not me who owns the horses. It’s Reese, and he has several. I know he wouldn’t mind.”

“You sure?”

“I’m positive,” Kenna said, smiling.

“He sure sounds like a nice guy.”

“He is, and you deserve a nice guy, too.” Kenna paused a moment. “I’m the last person to give advice about affairs of the heart, but if you’re so sure Shaun won’t ever come around, then…”

Lynette drew in a deep breath. “I know. I know. My mom and my sisters think I need my head examined, and they’re probably right.” She paused a moment. “Not sure if you’ve heard, but there’s a rumor floating around the station that Shaun is being hit with a paternity suit. One of the dispatchers is claiming she’s pregnant by him. The last thing I need is to get involved with all that drama. I’m a hard-working woman who has a lot to offer, and I shouldn’t settle for a man who might end up causing me nothing but heartache.”

Kenna didn’t say anything and was glad when the waitress finally brought their food. Although Reese was a good man, she couldn’t help but wonder if he could end up causing her nothing but heartache.

“Hey, what’s this I hear about Kenna being missing the other night?” Dex Madaris asked as he slid onto the bench next to Reese. They were working on a site downtown, getting the area prepped for what would be a major department store.

It was lunchtime, and the workers had scattered to eat. Reese, who wasn’t hungry, had brought a copy of
The Wall Street Journal
to read.

“I can just guess who told you,” Reese said, shaking his head. News traveled fast in his family by way of Mama Laverne. “Kenna wasn’t exactly missing. Her car wouldn’t start once she got to where they’re building her condo, and her cell phone battery died. Luckily, she’d told one of her coworkers she was planning to stop by the site after work.”

He frowned. “By the time I got there it was dark and she was a nervous wreck.”

Dex nodded. “I can imagine with a killer on the loose.”

“I hope they arrest him, and soon, or you’re going to have people taking the law into their own hands and shooting anything that moves. Hell, Granddaddy Luke is talking about loading up his shotgun.”

Dex chuckled. “Yeah, I heard about that. We might want to send Jake to talk to him. All Milton will do is help him load it.”

Jake was the youngest of Reese’s grandfather’s brothers and Milton was the oldest; the difference in their ages was nearly twenty years. From what Reese had heard, Milton, who was Blade, Slade, Quantum and Jantzen’s grandfather, had been hot-headed back in the day. Jake, the youngest of the seven Madaris brothers, had always kept a level head.

“Are you bringing Kenna to the meeting at Mom’s tonight?” Dex asked.

“Yes, this thing is serious. Deadly serious,” Reese replied. “There’s never been a serial killer in Houston before, and I can’t believe the police still don’t have any leads.”

“Yeah, well, I hear the killer has covered his tracks. I would just love to get my hands on him,” Dex said angrily. “Even though most of the murders have happened at night, I don’t plan on taking any chances where Caitlin and the girls are concerned. Caitlin and I are practically joined at the hip, and the girls are never out of our sight. But I’ve warned them about being careful during the daytime as well. Still, I’d loved to get my hands on him and give him a taste of his own medicine.”

“I think you’ll have to stand in line,” Reese said.

That evening, his attention shifted from the magazine he was reading to the flat-screen television. He shook his head at the news report.

“This is the fourth woman that has been murdered in Houston within the past two weeks, and each was killed in a very violent way. They were all raped and then brutally tortured before being murdered. All the victim’s bodies were found with only one shoe. So far, the police and the FBI don’t have any real leads in finding a suspect in the Shoe Killer murders.

He smiled.

“Women are being warned to take every precaution. Houston police have increased their patrols around universities and shopping malls and they are encouraging businesses to install surveillance cameras in their parking lots to protect their employees, especially those who work at night. This is Cherie Saunders reporting for Channel 2 News.”

He picked up the remote, turned off the television and continued reading his magazine.

Trevor looked over at Alex. “What have you been able to gather up so far?” he asked.

The four of them had met after their meeting with the mayor to determine the best way to proceed. They’d decided that it was best to involve as few people as possible—even their wives, although there would probably be hell to pay. But they eventually decided that it would be impossible to keep a secret from them, so they’d agreed to tell them tonight.

Since Alex’s wife, Christy, was attending a meeting at her mother’s house, they had decided to hold their meeting in the basement of his home. The place was set up with so much technical equipment and computers it looked like a NASA command center. Alex was able to pull in data from just about anywhere and had access to the FBI and Homeland Security intelligence.

Alex leaned back in his chair. “First, we are looking for a guy responsible for sixteen murders. His DNA is a positive match for all the women, but his DNA is not in any state or federal database. He’s good at covering his tracks. But I think, as anxious as everyone is to get him off the streets, there are too many things that have been overlooked.”