Promises of Mercy(Montana Promises-Book 1) (22 page)

“This way, no matter what we do, we won’t fall off.” He sat on his heels and lifted off her shirt.

Her damp hair from the swim chilled her. She wrapped her arms around her chest. “Brr.”

He grinned. “You don’t have to worry about being cold
for long, baby. I’m going to warm you up inside and out.”

“I bet you are.” And she couldn’t wait.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Stone rolled the damp towel and placed it at the head of her mat. “I want you to be comfortable.” He gently pressed on her shoulder, and Amber lay down, her gaze never leaving his face. While the air was a lot warmer in the tent than outside, she was still chilled.

She’d already ditched her shoes, so all he had to do
to get her naked was tug off her pants, panties and sports bra.

He stared. “I don’t know where to begin. You are almost too much for my senses.” He snapped his fingers then looked to the side. He dragged his pack closer, opened it, and extracted a condom. “Now, I need you naked.” With care, he
removed her clothes below her waist. He fingered the material. “We need these to dry a little more.”

While he found a place for them, she removed her sports bra. “This is kind of wet, too.” She dangled the material from a finger.

Stone took her bra, set it out to dry and then removed his shirt. He placed it over her chest. “This is to keep you warm until I have you naked and under me.”

“Ooh. I can’t wait.” It seemed a lifetime since she’d made love with Stone. This was going to be unique and wonderful.

When he finished undressing, he slid next to her and pulled her to his chest. “I’ve been waiting forever for this.”

Their kiss started
out hard and then softened to a tender caress. As his tongue dipped in and out of her mouth, she ran her hands down his back, loving the feel of his muscles. Stone rolled over and dragged her on top of him. His hard cock that she wanted to taste pressed against her belly.

She reached under her and ran a finger
along his hard shaft. “I want to lick it.”

He hesitated. “Be good.”

Not if she could help it. While there wasn’t much room to maneuver in the small space, she was able to sit on her heels between his legs. Bending over, she grabbed his cock. This was going to be so much fun. With a small amount of pressure, she lifted her palm up and down, loving the bumpy ride.

“Suck on him, baby.”

“I will when I’m ready.” She’d always been accused of pushing a person’s limits—at least she did when it came to caring for her patients, but would she take it too far with Stone?

Fine.
She flicked her tongue down the middle of his cock, zigzagging back and forth. He moaned. This was good. When she reached the tip, she ran her tongue under the lip, increasing the pressure each time she circled him.

A dollop of his tangy cum surfaced. “Excited?” A giggle escaped.

“Keep that up and you’ll be on the receiving end of a geyser.”

“Uh-huh.” Carefully capturing the head of his cock, she dragged her mouth down as far as she could go. She swirled her tongue around his length and slowly massaged his balls while she rubbed his thick shaft.

“Oh, baby. Take it easy. I’m getting too close.”

She lifted her head.
“You wouldn’t.” To test his resolve, she pumped harder and sucked longer. She swallowed to open her throat so she could take in more of him.

Stone grabbed her hair and tugged. “Fuck!” His cry came a second before hot jism squirted in
to her mouth.

He let go of his tight hold and she lifted her head, drinking in his tangy nectar. When he finished, she sat up. “I can’t believe you went off like that.”

Stone dragged a hand down his cheek. “I told you to take it easy.”

She dropped mouth open. “Me? It’s my fault?”

He grinned. “Totally.”

She’d get him hard again if it was the last thing she did. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, he’d need some time to recover. ”How about trying to make me come?”

“That’ll be so easy.”

Now he’d insulted her. “Oh, yeah?”

He raised his brows. “You willing to wager something?”

“Nothing more than hot sex.”

Stone laughed. “Love it.”

Not having a lot of room in the tent, they changed positions. Stone twirled a finger around her folds but didn’t open them. He leaned back on his heels and pressed her feet closer to her butt. “Open your knees wide for me.”

She opened her pussy completely to him.
Oh, my God
. Her cream was already seeping. One thing became obvious. She liked being vulnerable and at his mercy.

His brows rose. “I’m glad I’ve earned your trust.”

The moment you came to speak with Chris you had my trust—and my heart
. “You have.”

“Then let me see if I can excite you.”

He was being silly because in this small space, she’d already perfumed the air. Stone leaned over and ran his tongue right across her opening. The first swipe had her stomach clenching.

“I love your sensitivity.”

“I liked your sensitivity, too.” It had been exhilarating to make him lose control.

He slipped a finger into her and slowly withdrew it. She waited for him to continue. When he didn’t
make any more contact, she lifted up on her elbows. “I love when you touch me.” She hoped he’d do more with encouragement.

Instead of fingering her, he slid next to her and removed his shirt from her chest, exposing her breasts. “So pretty.”

He ran his finger around a puckered nipple in a teasing fashion. Amber firmed her lips, but he didn’t seem to get the hint. She glanced at his cock. It was actually hard again, and from the way the vein was throbbing, he’d recovered completely from his climax.

Stone stopped touching her. “What are you thinking about, baby? I just rubbed your other nipple and you didn’t respond. Bored already?”

“Hardly. I was focusing on your cock.”

He laughed. “Thank you for being honest.”

As soon as he kissed her again, desire swamped her senses. Stone’s hand on her breast warmed her from the inside out. He had a way of exciting her with the lightest of touches. Instead of diving into her mouth, he nibbled around the edges, pulling out her bottom lip between his teeth. Then he kissed her again. Damn Stone Benson. Her pussy throbbed.

“I’m ready,” she said.

“Not yet.” Stone used his free hand to swipe her damp hair from her face. “I could watch you all day. I love how your emotions flash across your face.”

She tried to keep her expression blank
, and he laughed. He was trying to psych her out. She inhaled to lift her breasts. “My tits are needy.”

He grinned and dipped his head, sucking on one nipple while he twirled and pressed on the other one.
She tried not to make any noise, but she failed miserably. He went back and forth between them. With each pass, her pussy clenched and cramped.

“Sto—ne,” she whispered.

He slipped a hand between her legs and cupped her mound. Slowly, his hand came to life—first with one finger, then two, and finally three. When he curled his fingers and hit her most sensitive spot, she squeezed her eyes shut. Maybe if she didn’t see the passion all over his face, she might calm down.

Wrong
. Her body caught fire. Just as she about to give up and come, he stopped, and her eyes flew open.

“Condom.” In seconds, he picked it up and
ripped open the foil. He stilled. “Shit.”

“What?”

“Hear that?”

Blood was thrumming through her veins so fast, she heard nothing for a moment. Then laughter sounded, and they both bolted upright.

Stone groaned. “Might be time to pack up and head back to town.” He cocked a brow. “Unless you want to walk out naked and scare them away.”

“I’m not that brave.” Besides, the voices sounded like kids. That wasn’t good, but at least they were inside the tent. Had these hikers come up thirty minutes earlier, they’d have gotten an eyeful with them swimming naked.

“Get dressed so we can pack.”

Damn, damn, damn
. She’d been so close.

The trip down the mountain didn’t take long. Neither spoke much
, because they were in too much of a hurry to reach the car. She for one was anticipating finishing their lovemaking at the house.

Unfortunately, close to
town, his cell rang. He glanced at the number. “Shit. Sorry.” He listened for a bit. “How bad? What about Drake? Colter? Brett? Where? I’ll be right there, sir.” He tossed his phone on the seat. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”

“Another fire?”

“Eight car accident. It’s over in Drumfield. They’re really short-handed and our captain offered our services.”

“I understand.” If it wasn’t Cade rushing off for a case, it was Stone racing to rescue someone.
Maybe she was destined to get her heart broken.

* *

Cade and Ethan returned to the station to make phone calls and to check out Ben’s alibi.

Hartwick showed up an hour later. “Anything?”

Cade shook his head. “Nothing yet on Ben Ford. But take a look at this.” He’d created a timeline for when the killer struck and twisted his computer screen toward his boss.

Hartwick studied the entries and whistled. “I’m not liking this. The killer’s escalating.” He pointed to the last entry. “What’s this?”

Cade wasn’t sure if he should have included the woman Ben had visited, which was why he’d shaded it a different color. “This might have been an aborted attempt.” He reminded Hartwick about Amber possibly interrupting Ben.

“I’m wondering if the murders are well-thought out and the timing planned, or if he has a mental list of the people who are suffering, and then takes advantage of a lull in security.”

The idea was sound. “Our men have been posing as doctors and nurses but haven’t spotted anything suspicious so far,” Cade said. “That makes me think it’s a staff member. Whoever is doing this is good at not attracting attention.”

“That scares me
. Put more men around this Ben guy.”

Cade nodded.
He and Ethan had been discussing one option. “Ethan and I have come up with a way to draw out the killer, Captain.”

Dan quirked a brow. “What do you mean?”

“We’ll send in a cop to pose as a sick patient. We can say he has pancreatic cancer and has only a few weeks to live. Make him in pain—a lot of pain. That way when the nurse tells everyone about her really sick patient and how much it hurts her to see him this way, the killer might strike.”

Dan nodded appreciatively
then sobered. “Wouldn’t our guy be in hospice at that point?”

Cade scrubbed a hand down his jaw. “Maybe not yet.”

“Who should we bring in?”

Cade and Ethan had battled over who should be his caregiver. They’d gone back and forth about whether Amber should be the nurse in charge. He didn’t want to put her in danger, but the killer had yet to harm a staff member. He figured when she was in the room she’d
be safe.

Still, Cade had agonized over the decision. If he had his way, he’d keep Amber away from the hospital until the killer was behind bars. Knowing her, she wouldn’t agree. If he chose someone else to be
the nurse, there would be less chance this person’s complaints would reach Ben—assuming he was guilty. What Cade wanted would hold little weight to Amber. She’d insist on doing this, if only to prove her suspicion about her friend’s guilt was false.

“We thought we’d ask Amber Delacroix to be his pretend nurse, and even bring in a shrink to make it appear more legit. Twice now, the person has targeted people Amber has been associated with—Emma Luther and Amber’s own brother.”

“Yes, but three times he’s killed or attempted to kill other patients.”

Cade blew out a breath. “If I could see into the killer’s head, I’d know what to say, but we have to act fast, Captain.”

Hartwick threaded a hand through his hair. “Tell me about it. The mayor is riding my ass.”

“If you’ll give us the green light, we’ll set it up.”

Dan drew in his bottom lip. “Go. We have to get this guy.”

“Thanks. If he keeps to schedule, he’ll strike by the end of the week.”

“You better hope it’s our undercover agent he tries to kill next.”

“Amen.” He and Ethan already had discussed the agent wearing protective sleeves to prevent the killer from jabbing him with a needle. There would be a fake port in his arm if he decided to go that route. Cade prayed this worked, because he hated putting Amber through any more emotional turmoil.

Ethan strode in. “Sorry. I was on the phone.” He dragged a chair across the aisle and sat down. “So? Did Dan go for it?”

“Yes, thank God.”

Ethan nodded. “Who do you think would be a good undercover guy?”

He’d looked over the rosters to find a match. “Thad Dalton or Mark Eagan. Both are strong enough to wrestle a needle out of the guy’s hand.”

“Thad is faster than shit and could run the killer down, but a cancer patient in late stages should be pale and thin.”

Cade held up a finger. “Ah. That’s the beauty of makeup. I figure if they can make it look real in the movies, why can’t we?”