Rising Heat (84 page)

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe he’s just trying to see how long it’ll take before I fall to pieces.” I shrugged. “The police were right. I just don’t understand why he hasn’t killed me yet.”

“Well, I’m glad he hasn’t,” he said, stacking the bowls. He rose from his place and put them into the sink. He looked over his shoulder. “From what I learned from Cutter, he didn’t take so much time playing with the other women.” There was a long pause. “Not like he’s doing with you.”

It was a sobering thought. So what made me so special? What made me so much fun for the killer? I felt really bad for the older woman. Was she my fault?

“Why didn’t he?” I asked into the silence of the cabin as Hawk returned to his place in front of the fire.

“Why didn’t he what?” he asked, sitting cross-legged, his arms resting against his knees. He focused all of his attention on me.

“Why didn’t he kill me right away, like he did the other women? You said, or Cutter said, that they only received one note? Are they sure?”

He nodded. “That’s what Detective Cutter told me.”

“Then why is he spending so much time with me?”

“Maybe you offer him a challenge that the others didn’t.”

He said it so matter-of-factly, it gave me pause. Maybe there was some truth to that. My first instinct had been to go to the police. It was Detective Cutter who mentioned a private investigator. Maybe if it hadn’t been for Hawk’s intervention, I would have been dead a couple of days ago. Maybe the killer liked this… this game of cat and mouse. It was possible. A challenge. If that was what the killer wanted, who was I to disappoint him? I made a decision.

“Hawk, if he’s looking for a challenge, why don’t we give him one?” He looked at me, frowning, intent on disagreeing, but I held out my hand. “Listen to me. It may not be the greatest idea in the world, but it might help. What if I go back to my house tomorrow? You can watch from the woods. I’ll go about my day as if nothing has happened.”

The scowl on his face was daunting, but I forged ahead. “And yes, I’ll be terrified, and I can’t guarantee that I won’t be, but maybe, if we can draw him out… maybe you can even ask Detectives Cutter or Westin, or maybe some other officers from the police station to post themselves in the trees around my house. Hell, one of you could even be inside the house before I get there.”

I could tell that Hawk didn’t like the idea, not one bit. He slowly rose from his position in front of the fireplace and moved to sit beside me on the bed. To my surprise, he draped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer.

“I don’t like the idea,” he said. “The thought of anything happening to you… well, I don’t like it.”

“If I can’t deliver to my clients, I’m going to lose everything. Maybe even my house.”

He continued to try to discourage me, but for once I was insistent. “You can check the house before I even go in. I’ll call you the minute I sense, see, or feel anything. Maybe I can stay for just a few hours.” I shook my head. “I don’t have to sleep there. I could go to a motel, or even come back here to your cabin. Hell, maybe I should just stay at the house. Maybe if someone stayed with me, if you could sneak in without anyone seeing you…?”

“If he gets an idea that you’re back at your house, you’ll be an easy target. We don’t know the capabilities of this guy, what lengths he’s willing to go to get at you.”

“But surely he wouldn’t dare attack if he saw you or another police officer or someone else there, would he?”

I could feel the hope in my voice and I could see how badly he didn’t want to discourage me. Finally, he said, “That’s something we don’t know.”

I felt his breath on my cheek, turned to look at him, and automatically looked from his eyes to his lips. I don’t know who initiated the first movement, but before I knew it, our lips were touching. I felt such comfort in his embrace. I felt like I was being swooped into a cave, a figurative cave, where nothing could touch me. Our kiss deepened and in a matter of moments, my blood was coursing through my veins, replacing fear with desire.

I could hardly stand it. In an instant, within Hawk’s embrace, I could go from despair to the heights of passion. I didn’t understand it and I didn’t try to. All I knew were the feelings that Hawk invoked within me. An incredible sense of security, of comfort.

I didn’t know if either one of us was using the other, but at the moment I didn’t really care. Up here in the woods, isolated, surrounded by darkness and silence, I felt safe. And with that safety came a deep sense of appreciation. Not gratitude exactly, but an appreciation for the way Hawk could make a person like me feel safe and secure, regardless of how dangerous my life had really become.

My breath accelerated and I swept my fingers once again through his luxurious hair. Pressed my breasts against his chest, trying to get closer, my arms nudging him ever closer. My fingers traced a path down his spine, the muscles there, and then dipped downward. His skin was so hard, so warm.

Seconds later, I was desperate to feel skin-to-skin contact. I leaned back, grabbed the bottom of my T-shirt, and pulled it over my head. I was still braless, and I pressed my breasts against his chest, reveling in the warmth. My nipples hardened instantly upon contact with him. My hands were everywhere, stroking his shoulders, his biceps, and his forearms as he lifted his hands to cup each breast in one of his. He squeezed gently and then his thumbs brushed across my nipples.

I gasped, wanting desperately to make love to this man, this near stranger who made me feel things that I had never felt before. And then we were lying side-by-side on the bed. His T-shirt was off as well, but I’m not sure exactly whether it was he or I who pulled it off. All I could think about was my burgeoning desire, the burning flame erupting deep in my belly, sending an electric current throughout every cell in my body. His breath was coming as deep and fast as mine. I kicked off my shoes. He sat up slightly and pulled off his boots, each one landing with a heavy thud onto the wood floor beside the bed. Seconds later, our pants joined our shoes and we laid naked next to each other.

He lay on his back, me on my side as my hand swept down the length of him. His cock was fully erect, jutting out from his groin. I grasped it with my hand, my pussy tingling with desire. My palm rubbed up and down his shaft, cupped his balls, and maneuvered them in my fingers for several seconds while I felt his thigh muscles tense. I smiled and grasped his cock again while he kissed my cheek, traced his tongue along my jaw, then once again captured my mouth with his tongue. My hands stilled and I started to straddle him.

He stopped me. I wasn’t sure what he wanted, but I slid down on the bed, thinking to take his cock into my mouth, but grabbed my waist.

“Turn around and straddle me,” he said. His hands guided me as I did so.

Now, I sat facing his cock, my buttocks settling on his lower chest. He had a rather inglorious view of my backside. Before I could wiggle away, his hands were tracing my back, much as mine had done to his moments earlier. Up and down. The light strokes sent tingles of desire racing through me. His hands embraced my waist and then caressed my hips, his thumb finding my crack and stroking gently. I groaned and lowered my head, ready to take his glistening cock into my mouth. To my surprise, he placed his hands on my hips and lifted me upward, then pulled me closer to his mouth. Oh my God.

I felt his tongue on my lower lips; a long, broad, warm stroking movement, and then he suckled me, slowly licking my slit from one end to the other. I shivered with pleasure and lowered my head, taking his cock into my mouth and returning the favor. I went down as far as I could. Tightening my lips, I swirled my tongue around his shaft as I moved upward. At the same time, Hawk’s tongue repeated the movements on my pussy that I was making on his cock.

We gave each other the utmost in pleasure, at least I could say so from the feelings he elicited within me. His tongue was magical, cycling, stroking, licking, flicking… changing rhythm, depth, and pressure. My mouth wrapped around his head. His tongue licked my clitoris and then he began to flick it gently with his tongue. I groaned. His cock responded, seeming to bounce gently within my mouth. I took him deep into my throat, bracing my upper body on the bed on my right forearm, my left hand alternating between pumping up and down on his cock and fingering his balls, heavy, solid, and warm.

I’m not sure who gained the most pleasure, but in seconds, I felt my internal muscles clenching. I released my grip on his cock long enough to whisper, “I’m coming.”

He continued to lick, suckle and swirl, holding my hips still even though I wanted to gyrate and pump them against his mouth. I began to suck on his cock, harder, my hand slowing its movement but increasing its grip as I sought to bring him to climax as well.

And then, everything went white. My blood pulsed and throbbed and once again I found myself groaning. His hips pumped once, twice, and then I felt him start to come in my mouth. I quickly lifted my head, using my tongue to lathe his shaft as his hips continued to thrust upward.

Hot semen squirted from the tip and onto my cheek and hand as I kept up the rhythm until he reached a hand down and placed it over mine. Without saying a word, he nudged me and I quickly shifted my position, lying down next to him, my head now resting on his chest, his arm wrapped around me. The sound of his heart was comforting beneath my ear as my hand rose and fell with his breathing. I smiled when he grabbed a corner of the sheet and cleaned me up.

Neither of us said a word, nor moved. For the first time in days, I felt a wonderful and soothing lethargy flow through me. Before I knew it, I fell asleep.

*

When I woke up, dawn was just brightening the interior of the cabin. I still lay in the same position I’d fallen asleep last night, cuddled within Hawk’s warm embrace. We were still naked and uncovered on top of the bed, but I felt incredibly warm with him next to me. I wished I knew what he was thinking.

Were we in a relationship, the beginning of one, or was this just sex?

“Sleep well?” he asked.

I looked up, saw he was grinning down at me. I smiled in return, the warmth I was feeling giving me the greatest pleasure, and it wasn’t sexual this time. It was the warmth that came from being cared for.

“I did.”

I kissed his skin, feeling incredibly content. Until reality came crashing down. Much as I would like to, I knew I couldn’t stay hidden up in this cabin forever. I glanced up at him again. “You ready to take me home?”

He stiffened. “I don’t recommend this, Tracy. I don’t think it’s a good idea to flaunt yourself in front of a potential serial killer.”

I sighed. “It’s not like I’m trying to put myself in danger. But sooner or later, he’s going to find me up here. And I can’t stay up here forever. Either I go home and fight, or I go away, try to run from the guy, leaving someone else at risk for his attention. I don’t like it, believe me I don’t, but I think I need to go home. At least for the day. He won’t strike during the daytime, will he?”

I frowned at the inconsistencies in my words. One part of me wanted to confront him. The other side… I shivered, thinking of that very thing happening. I swallowed a sob. This could be a terrible mistake and this could potentially be my last day on earth. Then I took a deep breath. Did I have a choice?

Hawks sat up, his muscles rippling as he sat on the edge of the bed and glanced down at me. “I have no idea what this guy is going to do next. But you’re right. You can’t hide from him forever.”

He stood and reached for his clothes. I couldn’t help but admire his physique. His rock solid buttocks, his narrow waistline, the broadness of his shoulders, his muscled thigh muscles. His cock lay flaccid now, nestled in a nest of black curls. I glanced at him and inhale sharply when he saw me ogling him. I quickly pulled my gaze away and busied myself getting dressed as well.

“Let’s go by the station first,” he suggested. “Talk to Cutter and Westin, see if they have anything new. Maybe they can assign someone to sit in a police car at the end of your driveway, send a clear message to the killer—”

I glanced sharply at him. This is the first time he had actually labeled the guy a killer. Not a stalker, not a maybe killer, but a killer. My heart trip-hammered. Maybe I was being foolish.

“But you’re not going to stay there all night. We’ll figure something out this afternoon. And if we can’t get a patrol officer to watch your house, you’re not going back there. Is that understood?”

“Why can’t you—?” I shook my head. “Never mind. You need to keep looking for a lead, not sit around babysitting me.”

“Is that understood?” he repeated.

“Understood.” I nodded as extra confirmation.

We left the cabin and drove back toward Seneca, neither of us doing much talking. My thoughts were jumbled, going from one extreme to another. One minute, I was focusing on the glorious sex we’d had last night, and then I was contemplating whether we were fuck buddy or in a relationship. Then I’d think about the killer and wonder if I’d ever get the chance to find out. Then I’d force that thought away and think about the sex again.

That was better. Much better to think of Hawk pumping long strokes inside me instead of a killer jamming a knife in my stomach.

Stop it!

I didn’t want to think about the killer out there. It wasn’t like I was trying to stick my head in the sand or anything, but why dwell on it when all it did was get me all upset, so frightened I could barely move? I had to keep angry, had to keep my current job so that I could fight, protect myself. If I could go home for the day, at least feel safe enough to get the doctor’s website finished, maybe then I would feel a little less desperate when it came to hiding out. Surely a half a day at my house, with a police car parked out front, would be safe enough, wouldn’t it?

I knew what Hawk was thinking. I was thinking about it myself. Maybe going home, even during daylight hours, was a foolish thing to do, but what else could I do? Sit up at the cabin for days and twiddle my thumbs? Just wait for the guy to find me?