Jane Doe's Return (17 page)

She stirred.

She stirred him.

“Hi.” She cleared her throat, running her

fingers across his chest.

Taking her hand, kissing her palm, he tried to ease the tightness in his throat. She smiled at him with a morning glow that sucker punched his ability to think.

“Screw it,” he muttered, taking her mouth with his. It was Saturday, and while they were still technically on the job, it was the weekend. Unless they got called, they weren’t punching a time clock. Therefore, he would take the weekend.

The whole damned weekend.

“What are you doing?” He tugged a little too harshly at her hair while she gently nipped at his nipples. She stroked him, teasing him, slowly pushing him over the edge.

“Giving you pleasure.” Her voice was as alluring as her smile. She nipped at his nipple again.

Closing his eyes, he grunted. She gripped him and he groaned again. She was going to kill him.

Then she tortured him by taking her bites down his stomach. He sucked in a sharp breath. She hadn’t done this last night and he would never ask. Had she not been so damn good at touching him, he would have felt like a guinea pig.

She held him in her hands, admiring him, stroking him, basically, driving him insane. He could feel her breath on him. All he wanted to do was reach down and push himself into the warmth of her mouth, but he gripped the sheets instead, forcing his body to stay in control.

First, her tongue flicked out and touched him. He hissed, looking at the erotic position she was in, hovering over him. Dizzy, he dropped his head back on the pillow as she took him in her hot mouth.

Not having much control left, he reached down and ran his fingers through her hair, trying desperately not to lose it. “Come here,” he demanded, pulling her by the hair. “Sorry.” He blinked, forcing himself to calm.

She sat next to him on her heels, smiling. “Don’t be. You’ve held back every time. I don’t want you to.”

He sat up cupping her face, kissing her swollen lips.

“Tell me how you want me.” Her eyes told him she wanted it all.

God, he wanted her so much it hurt.

“Like this.” He placed her hands on the bed, turning her, lifting her hips to him as he stood. He rubbed her behind, her back, then frowned as his finger glided across a scar. Feeling the need to soothe her skin with his touch, he bent over and kissed the whitish line across the arch of her back, then his fingers found her wetness and her legs spread in acceptance.

She looked over her shoulder. Her gaze blazed, like a passionate woman wanting to give her lover everything he gave to her.

Slowly, he entered her, feeling her tightness around him. He wouldn’t last but a few minutes. He held her still, leaning over her and wrapping his arms around her. He pulled at her aroused nipples as she tried to move him inside her. He couldn’t, not yet.

He wanted to give first. “Stay still.” He bit down on her back.

“I can’t,” she cried, still wiggling.

He chuckled. She was so close. Giving up trying to make it last, he caressed her where their bodies merged while his other hand reached across her chest, managing to excite both nipples at the same time. He still didn’t drive himself inside her. He wanted to feel her release around him.

“Oh, God,” she cried out, pushing against him.

“Shauna.” He grunted. Her orgasm rushed over him again and again. Seconds later, he pushed her hips hard against his and held her there. Neither one breathed for what seemed like an eternity.

“Are you okay?” he asked, gliding her down on her stomach when he could finally breathe. He lay next to her, propped up on his elbow.

Her smile said it all.

Her kiss said it better. “Always the gentleman,” she teased him.

He cocked a brow. “That wasn’t very gentlemanlike.”

“It wasn’t very ladylike either.” Her smile turned wicked.

He frowned, rubbing her back. He had one question that had to be answered. “What happened here?” The scar looked almost like a whip’s mark, but at the end, it appeared to be indented, almost like a chunk had been taken from her side about the size of a half dollar.

He shifted his gaze from her scar to her face. “The rape?”

“No.”

“Then who did this to you?” He tried to keep his voice even. It hadn’t occurred to him until just that moment that someone did this intentionally. “Tell me.” He felt his control snap.

****

Shauna took a deep breath, knowing that this conversation had been inevitable. “My stepmother pushed me through a glass window. It was a clean cut for the most part. She kicked me here.” She reached to her side and rubbed the knotted scar. “A piece of glass was lodged there. It was hours before my father got me to a hospital and it had already gotten infected.” All this was true, but she left out that it was a scar on top of a scar. What her stepmother had done had been a blessing in disguise. The branding would now forever be gone.

Shauna saw the tension in his face. She could feel his contempt. “Where’s your stepmother now?” His jaw grew rigid, but his touch across her back felt tender and soothed her pain.

“I don’t know and I don’t give a shit.” Oh, she knew, but she didn’t care.

“I give a shit.”

“Let it go. She’s an unhappy woman, living a nightmare. She’s getting worse than what she deserves. Last I heard, she was dying.” She stood, taking his boxers and pulling his shirt over her head. She needed to end the conversation. She didn’t want to think about Roxanne or her father. She never wanted to see either one again.

“How can you just forgive them?”

“It’s not worth carrying anger and sadness like that around. It just bogs you down. I don’t want to live in the past. Can you understand? I need to keep moving forward. I’ve got a lot going for me.” She meant every word that spewed from her mouth. It wasn’t just fluff, but it had taken her years to believe the words. She knew it wouldn’t take much to bring her confidence down, which is why she chose to focus her energies on her career.

“Those belong to me.” He tugged at the boxers, trying to pull them down and redirect the conversation.

She pushed him back on the bed, shaking her finger at him. “I earned the right to wear these this morning.” She laughed. “Want coffee?” She turned, hearing him grunt a yes as she headed out of the bedroom to find the coffeemaker, but just as she turned the corner, she came in contact with a large moving object.

“Oh, crud! Sorry.” Shauna put her hand on the back of Travis’s brother, Bill. He hunched over, not breathing all too well from the belt she had given to his stomach. “I didn’t know who you were. It was a knee-jerk reaction.” She shook out her hand. “Damn, you’re built like a tree trunk.”

“Damn good reaction.” Bill coughed. “Mac truck, actually.”

Shauna glanced over her shoulder and saw Travis hiking up his zipper. She glanced back at Bill, who arched a brow. She knew her perfect night had to come to end, but she hadn’t expected it to come to an end by getting caught.

“Jess is—”

“Standing right behind you, Dad. Real smooth, Uncle Trav. Nice hit, Miss Morgan.” The teenager giggled.

Shauna looked over Bill’s shoulder. Jessica had turned and headed back down the hallway.

“Great. Another conversation in sex ed,” Bill said.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Travis asked.

“Watering Mother’s plants.” Bill glared at Travis. “Hi, Shauna.”

“Hi.”

“Didn’t Mom tell you I was coming?”

Bill shook his head.

“What? Missed the truck parked in the driveway?” Travis raked his hand through his hair.

“Boat.”

“Excuse me.” Shauna dodged Bill and eased her way toward the kitchen. She could still hear their muffled voices, each sounding angry at the other. She really didn’t feel like standing in the middle of it, since she seemed to be the cause it. Jessica followed.

“You made coffee.” Shauna smelled the hint of hazelnut in the air, before she heard the coffeemaker gurgle. She watched it drip, hoping that it would go faster with an audience. It seemed to go slower.

“I guess you really like my uncle, huh?” Jessica spoke quietly.

Shauna looked to the teenager and wanted to laugh. She had a protective glare shimmering in her eyes. Shauna’s own embarrassment left the building. But how did she answer that?

“I do.” What the heck, she did. Even if she hadn’t slept with him, she still liked him. She would never be able to deny that.

“Grandma thinks you’re the perfect woman for him.”

Shauna spilled the hot coffee on her hand as she poured it. “Damn it.”

“Grandma usually gets her way.”

“Huh?” Shauna turned.

“My grandmother, she has this weird ability to make people see things her way. She said the next time she saw the two of you, she would start to weave her magic, just like she did with my parents.” The teenager didn’t smile, but seemed to study Shauna. “I might agree with my grandmother. I like you. Couldn’t you get fired for…” Her face flushed bright pink as she waved her arms in the air.

Shauna had to admire the girl’s spunk, but she suspected her own cheeks were as red as they were warm. “Fired is putting it mildly.” Shauna heard the voices get louder. Either the argument was getting out of control, or they were coming toward the kitchen. “Come on.” She pulled Jessica by the arm and they both headed down to the lake.

Once perched on the edge of the dock with feet dangling in the water, Shauna decided to pump Jessica for info she had no business looking into. But she couldn’t resist.

“So, Jessica. Tell me about your uncle’s other girlfriends.” Shauna sipped her coffee. She had gone from feeling like a woman to a stupid teenager in just a few seconds.

“Does that mean you’re his girlfriend?” Jessica’s voice rang out in excitement as she kicked the water.

“No.”

“Oh.”

Shauna felt the disappointment that echoed in her ears from Jessica’s simple response. “The job.” It was the job, at least for Travis, that would keep them apart. For Shauna, it was a whole lot more.

“I’ve never met any of his other girlfriends. Well, except the ex-yucky Gina we never talk about.”

Shauna’s heart stopped, then picked up speed as soon as she let herself breathe. She blew on her hot coffee trying to decide how to process this information. “Why is that?” Shauna heard herself ask.

“He hasn’t dated much since he and Gina split. My dad says he’s obsessed with trying to find my aunt’s killer—that it drives him.” Jessica continued to splash her feet in the cool lake water.

“It does.”

“My mom says he’s been hurt and doesn’t trust women much. I think he trusts you.”

Shauna took another sip of her coffee, looking out across the lake. If that were true, she didn’t deserve his trust.

“I look like her,” Jessica said, softly.

Shauna turned to her. Tears had formed in the young girl’s eyes. Shauna smoothed Jessica’s long black hair. “You do.”

“I’m about her age. Sometimes I worry that the killer will think I’m her and come after me.” She sniffled.

“Your uncle and I are going catch him and make sure he pays for what he did.” She hadn’t meant to sound so serious, but she could understand Jessica’s fear. She always felt like the killer was out there, watching, waiting for her to come back to him.

Jessica threw her arms around Shauna and cried.

Shauna put her coffee mug down and held Jess. “What is it?” She stroked her hair.

“I don’t even remember her. I was just a baby when she died. No one talks about her with me because they think it upsets me. But what really gets me is they always stop talking when I come into the room. I’m not a baby.” She lifted her head.

Shauna saw so much emotion in such a young girl. “They’re doing what they think is best for you. That’s all.” Hearing the crackle of gravel, Shauna turned and looked over her shoulder to see Bill jog down the path.

Jessica swiped her tears from her face. “Please don’t tell my dad I was talking to you about all this.”

“All right.”

“Come on, pumpkin.” Bill took his daughter by the hand and helped her on to the boat. “Start her up,” he called as he helped Shauna to her feet and guided her away from the dock. He looked at Jessica before turning his attention back Shauna.

“That fight had nothing to do with you,” he said right after the boat engine came to life.

She figured the fight had been about a lot of things, including her.

“Travis has my wife all wigged about Marie’s killer. While I believe everything my brother says, I don’t want my family scared shitless.” His eyes looked like he carried the burden of the world in them.

“This may be overstepping my bounds, but talk to Jessica about Marie. She knows how much she looks like her. She’s scared all on her own and she wants to know about her aunt. She needs to hear from you that it’s okay to be scared, but not to let it run her life. Just to be safe.”