Lucky Charm (45 page)

Gently, Matt cupped her face. “You’re sure? When did he say that?”

“Earlier today,” she said quietly, “before they made me call you.”

His jaw tightened. Lovell wouldn’t have made that dangerous admission unless he’d been sure Ariel wouldn’t repeat it. Looking into Ariel’s eyes, he could see she’d known that. Matt pulled her closer, curled his hand around the back of her head.

“Ariel, I could have lived the rest of my life not knowing for sure, not to have put you through that.”

“I know,” she said.

“So, now we know. You’ve done it, son,” Darrin said, “you’ve caught the man who murdered Bill.”

Looking first at him, then down into Ariel’s eyes, Matt said, “No, we did it.”

The police arrived, explanations were made, statements were taken and a little patching up was done before everyone was finally gone. Even Darrin begged off.

“I think you two probably need some time alone together,” he said and kissed Ariel on the forehead before clapping a hand to Matt’s arm on his way out. “I’m getting too old for this shit, I’m heading for bed.”

“Darrin,” Matt called.

Waving a hand over his shoulder, Darrin said, “I know.”

They heard him chuckle.

Above them the sky was bathed in glory, glowing in shades of rose and gold. The sun was coming up.

Standing beside the pool, Matt combed his hands into her dark waves. “I need to ask you something.”

“Anything,” Ariel said.

“Stay with me,” he said.

Her blue eyes stared at him, stunned, her lips parted, soft. That mouth. He wanted to kiss it and often, for the rest of his life. He was fairly, almost positively, certain what she would say.

For a moment Ariel was speechless, looking into his beautiful green eyes. Stay. With him. With Matt. Here. She loved him. Knowing what he did and the risks he took? It wouldn’t always be like this, though. Panic swept through her and fear. The fear she’d felt out there in the desert, the fear of losing him. Her breath was short.

She swallowed, hard. “Yes.”

His mouth locked on hers and hers on his. Heat roared through him.

Mine. She said yes. It was all he could think. He had her off her feet and was carrying her into the bedroom before she could change her mind.

“God, I want you,” he said, “I always want you. I need to see you, touch you.”

He stripped the t-shirt and shorts from her, reaching a hand around her back to unhook her bra and free the fullness of her. Sliding his hands down her hips to glide her panties down her lovely white legs to reveal the dark curly mound between her smooth white thighs. Kneeling before her, he stared at her, at the beauty of her. Like smooth ivory she gleamed whitely. All of her. Her rich black hair was such a contrast to the whiteness of her skin. Those black-lashed blue eyes looked at him, her hands touching him, stroking his hair. Her mouth. Ariel’s mouth. His to kiss and possess.

Slowly, he stood, running his hands up those ivory thighs, over the curve of her hips to the indentation of her waist, the vault of her ribs, brushing lightly over her breasts to cup her face in his hands.

“Ariel. God, I love you.”

“Matt, I love you,” she said, heat pulsing within her. “I need you.”

He looked into her beautiful blue eyes. Her rosy mouth was soft.

Fiercely, Matt drove his mouth down on hers. He ravaged there, driving his tongue between her lips, penetrating, taking possession, owning her and she answered. He loved the taste and the feel of her, her body melting against him as his hands slid into her rich waves.

Running her hands up into his thick blond hair, Ariel reveled in the feel of it. His beautiful face, all the strong firm lines of it but his eyes, those beautiful green eyes. His mouth, so firm to look at, so soft and wonderful to kiss. She brushed her fingertips across it.

“Please,” she said, her blue eyes wide, “I need to see you, to touch you.”

She needed to see him, see all of him. Her hands were tugging at his shirt. He stripped it off as her shaking hands undid his belt and then the rest. Her hands caressed the strong firm muscles of his shoulders and his chest.

 “Oh, Matt, you are so beautiful,” she whispered.

He was. A golden man with his tanned skin.

His mouth was on hers again, her own was as hungry back, tongues tangling.

The brush of his hand had her nipples hard.

He had to taste that, feel that, he attacked her breast as he plunged his hand between her thighs. She cried out as he tried to devour her breast. His fingers caressing, teasing, stroking between her thighs. Writhing, quivering, she tried to give him everything he wanted but she was everything he wanted.

Ariel’s knees were shaking and Matt eased her down onto the bed.

Sliding one arm beneath her hips, with the other he coaxed her thighs apart to expose her to him. He needed to taste her, to touch her, to drive her wild, to brand her as his with his mouth and his hands. He closed his mouth on her, on that little bud nestled within the dark curls, suckling, teasing and nibbling. She began to tremble, crying out his name, calling to him, begging him. Sliding his free hand up her smooth white thighs, he found her moist heat, circling it as her body flexed, her hips rising and falling in a demand for more. He wanted her, wanted her badly, wanted to fill her up and possess her but not yet. His mouth moved on her, demanding, insistent, feeling her quiver to each quick flick of his tongue. Her body shuddered, trembling ecstatically as his fingers plunged into her. Bringing her quivering to the brink, holding her there, teasing, her body trembling uncontrollably as he slid his fingers deeply into her, stroking as he suckled on her and she arched, crying out his name.

 “Matt, I love you, dear heaven, I love you.”

He rose over her, bracing himself on his arms as he looked down at her. Those blue eyes met his and she smiled as her hips rose to take him. One thrust and she came again as he drove deeply into her. She felt so good, so tight and so good. Plumbing her depths again and again, stroking, driving deeper, ever deeper. She tightened, tightened. His mouth closed on her breast and she quivered and arched and he exploded within her as her legs locked around him. They shook together, clinging to each other.

“God, I love you,” he said, looking down into her beautiful blue eyes, at her softly swollen mouth, the arching eyebrows so dark against her white skin.

Her hand was trembling as she lifted it to touch his face.

Cupping her cheek in return, Matt kissed her gently, lovingly, as he lowered himself to her side and drew her close.

“Stay with me. Marry me.”

“Yes,” Ariel said, smiling radiantly.

“Darrin and I talked. We have a job for you here if you want it. Doing what you and I have been doing but more legitimately. The family business, you might say and keeping it in the family. We’ve needed someone with computer skills.”

She started to laugh, “Yes, okay, yes.”

Matt smothered her with kisses, covered her with kisses, curled her within the safety of his arms and swore he would keep her there forever.

The hot breeze lifted her thick black waves, blowing it back from her face and her dress against her body so it clung to the rich curves of her. The sunlight glowed on her white skin. She seemed to reflect the light as she walked out of the airport. If anything she seemed to shine even more brightly than Matt had ever seen her. Her skirt swirled around her shapely white legs. Ebony and ivory. Except for her brilliant blue eyes and the touch of rose in her lips and cheeks.

“She’s beautiful, isn’t she, Darrin?” Matt said.

Smiling, Darrin said, “You’re besotted, son but yes, she is.”

She wasn’t expecting him, she didn’t know he’d come back early from his last investigation but he was hoping to surprise her.

It was instinct, or proximity, something. A sense of him. Ariel looked up and saw him.

His golden hair was tousled by the breeze, his brilliant green eyes lighting up as he saw her. Her heart caught at how gorgeous he was. The sun glowed golden on the clean lines of his face, the straight nose, the firm lines of his mouth. He had dressed up somewhat, wearing a pair of crisp black jeans, a white shirt, a black denim jacket and his best boots. She smiled at how well they suited his long legs and broad shoulders.

“Matt!” she shouted and then she was running down the steps toward him.

He was out of the car and striding to catch her up in his arms, fill them up with her. Her arms twined around his neck. His mouth was locked on hers, devouring her, one arm curled around her firm bottom as he lifted her up, burying the fingers of the other in her hair to pull her mouth to his and savor the taste of her.

Ariel was hungry for him, desperate for the feel of him. Trying to crush her mouth on his, her arms were tight around him to feel his strong body against hers again. Indecorous it might have been but she wrapped her legs around his waist as he crushed her against him.

He carried her that way back to the car.

“God, I missed you,” he said.

“I missed you, too,” she said, as he reached for the door handle then swung her around to settle her in his lap before he closed the door.

Definitely against all the driving codes but he’d pay the fine. Darrin had already moved into the driver’s seat.

“Hey, sprite,” he said, grinning.

She leaned across to give him a kiss on the cheek. “Hey, boss.”

Darrin was definitely a much better boss than her last. Not to mention father-in-law.

Settling back in Matt’s lap she draped an arm over his shoulder as he stretched the seatbelt across them both. He wrapped his arms around her.

“I thought you weren’t due back for another week or so,” she said, looking over her shoulder at him.

“I wrapped it up as quickly as I could, I missed my bride.”

He was so aware of her firm bottom in his lap.

She smiled radiantly. “I missed my husband.”

“We knew that you wouldn’t want to miss this, either,” Darrin said, gesturing, as he found a place to park.

Ariel untangled herself as Darrin gave her a hand out of the car.

The three of them walked to the edge of the small crowd. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t a major event for most people, except for all those who’d lost their life savings. Mostly those who could afford it the least.

The formal press conference by the Attorney General regarding the case against Genesis, Marathon, et al. The sun glittered off booms and microphones, beating down on the mass of reporters and passersby on the shallow steps. A hot breeze blew hard, making the flags snap and the chains holding them ring against the poles. There was a low murmur from the crowd, a restless sound and the whirring of cameras.

A tall barrel-chested man, the Attorney General stepped up to the podium to announce the indictments against Marathon and Genesis, their corporate officers and the charges against Genardi and Lovell. Those charges included murder in the second degree for Thomas Genardi in the death of William Parkhurst. Genardi had been careless in a lot of ways.

Once questions were raised about Bill’s death, they were able to prove that both Bill and Genardi had been in Marathon’s San Diego office on the night of his death. That had led investigators to a memo from Genardi to Lovell noting that Bill had accessed certain files in the computer, raising a red flag within Marathon, with a request from higher ups to ‘take care of the problem’. It was enough to use as leverage against the stooges. The assault and kidnapping charges against them for the events at the ranch convinced the stooges to testify against Genardi and Lovell in exchange for a deal.

Additional evidence in the form of a cell phone had been found in Mr. Genardi’s possession. The flurry of calls to a certain number around the time of Bill’s death had been damning. Once the murder charge was laid, Genardi had been more than glad to trade a lighter sentence to turn on Lovell to imply Lovell had ordered it.

There was a burst of questions from the surrounding reporters.

It had been a long investigation but it had started here and here was where they’d decided to finish it.

The investigation proved the two companies had conspired together to defraud thousands, to artificially raise or lower the prices on a variety of commodities, and as part of an enormous Ponzi-style scheme. By their interference and knowledge of the situation, they were able to predict the trends well in advance, thereby encouraging investors to place their money with them, to everyone’s profit. The corporate officers had also profited from their insider knowledge, knowing when to invest their money and when to bail out.