Snapped (16 page)

"Is that the official
prognosis?"

"Yep. I'll get someone out
here."

He picked up the phone on the wall and
dialed. He sounded like he'd called an administrative person at the department
and requested the heating at the house to be fixed ASAP. He spoke politely but
with enough authority in his voice that the person on the other end wouldn't
put his request to the bottom of the pile. He hung up. "They can't come
till tomorrow. Can you stand it till then?"

"I think so." She flapped the
tea towel near her face but it only circulated hot air. She opened the back
door that led to the courtyard and sagged against the doorframe when the
coolness crept across her skin. "That's better."

He joined her. "Yeah but we can't
stand here all day."

"We could open the windows in all
the rooms."

"Yeah we could if most of them
weren't painted shut."

"Oh. You really need to speak to
your chief about this place. It needs major renovations."

"I will. When this is over. Right
now there's too many other things to worry about."

"Are you still concerned about me
speaking to Thompson?"

He shrugged. "I'm more concerned
with you
meeting
him. If he requests a meeting, try to talk him into
letting you take a friend along."

"Like you?"

He shook his head. "An undercover
guy. Someone who can act as your mate, or boyfriend. You've got the rest of
today and tonight to think about what you want to say to convince him."

She nodded but she didn't want to think
about Mack Thompson at all. Right now, she just wanted to get cool and that
meant getting out of her sweater. Somehow, she didn't think Nick's good mood
would last too much longer.

She exaggerated fanning her face. "I
need to change."

"Change?" He sounded like he
knew exactly what she had in mind. "Into?"

"Nothing of course. I didn't bring—"

"Lucy." He pushed a hand
through his hair and followed her into the living room. "Give me a break. Please."

With that one word, almost a beg, she
knew she had him. No way would she let him off easily now that he'd practically
admitted he was close to breaking point. Another idea occurred to her, one that
would make sure he'd crack.

"Actually, I think I'll take a bath.
Which means I'll need reading material." She picked up
Slippery When
Wet
which Nick had shoved under a newspaper when their visitors arrived. She
gave him a finger wave, then smiled when she saw the look of anguish on his
face. If she knew men—and boy, did she!—then he was already picturing her naked
and wet in the bath. Maybe she'd keep the door open, just in case he wanted to
make sure she didn't drown.

She spun on the faucets and undressed
while the bath filled. The bathroom was the hottest room in the house because
of its close proximity to the central heating system and the lack of windows. When
the bath filled, she tested the water with her toe then stepped into it.

Heaven. She sank until her breasts bobbed
above the water like two floating islands and opened her book. Her eyes
gravitated to the open doorway every few minutes but so far Nick hadn't decided
to join her. There was still time.

Time which slipped away as she read the
book. The scenes got hotter as the book progressed and even involved S and M. Not
Lucy's cup of tea in real life but this was a novel, fantasy, and she was happy
to suspend reality for fantasy when she had the chance. Especially since the
male character, Kyle, was the one tied to the bed and Wanda, his
"Mistress", held the key to his leather bonds.

Wanda approached a spreadeagled and
blindfolded Kyle and tortured him with kisses and a silk scarf between his
legs. His erection, which sounded just as impressive as Nick's, beat out his
excitement against his abdomen. Lucy could just imagine the sight, only it was
Nick she imagined on the satin sheets, naked and ready for her. The thought
warmed her, made her nipples tingle in anticipation.

Wanda discarded the scarf and kissed her
way down to Kyle's erection, taking him in her mouth in one gulp. But just as
Kyle's orgasm rose, she stopped. He begged her to keep going until he came but
she waited until his erection flagged, then bent to suck again. Again, she
stopped, this time settling herself over his mouth and demanding he make her
come. His own release wouldn't get attended to until she did.

As Wanda rocked to her orgasm, a pulse
throbbed between Lucy's thighs. The scenes in the book had made her so hot, she
ached for her own release. She reached down under the water and touched her
heat, cupped herself and circled the engorged bud. Damn it, if only Nick was
willing to participate, she wouldn't have to squirm while she read about
someone else fulfilling their fantasies. She could fulfill her own.

But he wasn't willing and she was
desperate. Six months without sex was too long. It was time to sate her desire
herself.

She dropped the book on the floor and
closed her eyes. The circular movement of her hand made the water lap against
her breasts, teasing her nipples like a wet tongue. Nick's tongue. She touched
one, rolled it between her fingers, gasping at the pleasure striking to her
core. Goosebumps tingled her flesh as her orgasm rose. She rubbed faster,
spiked a finger into her soaking warmth—in, out, in, out—then around the nub
again until she was panting, rising, floating, coming.

In the midst of her sighs, she heard a
breath catch. Not her own. She opened her eyes, and caught Nick in the act.

He watched from the doorway, his body
half hidden as if he'd only peeped around to look inside. Apparently he liked what
he saw. His face was flushed, his eyes stared unblinking and he swallowed hard
as he looked at her.

A very distinct bulge filled out his
jeans.

Nick's legs felt like tree trunks, rooted
to the ground. He couldn't move. Didn't want to. The scene acted out before him
in the bath was too amazing to walk away from. He'd never seen a woman bring
herself to orgasm before and he was enthralled by it.

Lucy's half-submerged body trembled with
her release. Her skin flushed pink and her nipples, tweaked by her fingers to
points, were a dark rose. Water lapped around her in small waves, and he could
imagine the heightened sensations of warm water against her delicate skin. As
she came down the other side of her orgasm, she relaxed back against the bath,
breathing heavily, and slowly opened her eyes.

He felt like a deer caught in headlights.
And he didn't care. He was too turned on to care.

"Did you enjoy that?" she
asked, staring directly at him. She wasn't embarrassed or vulnerable, and he
felt privileged to witness the sensual intimacy of what she'd just done.

"Yes," he said in a throaty
voice. He couldn't lie. Not now. She'd come in front of him and he'd stayed to
watch. Why lie? Why ignore the fierce attraction between them and the heat in
his groin. He wanted her, she wanted him, and he was in too deep now to ignore
those facts.

She stood and rivulets of water cascaded
off her shoulders, her breasts, down through the undulations of hips, thighs. He
came forward like a puppet maneuvered by his mistress's strings and pressed his
hands to her waist. And licked the water off one tight nipple.

She sucked in air between her teeth and
moaned.

"I feel so sensitive," she
whispered.

"Where?" He licked the other
nipple. "Here?"

She shuddered. "Everywhere."

That one breathy word, spoken with her head
tossed back, sent heat running along every nerve to the surface of his skin. She
was so hot, so sexual, there was no point denying this was going to happen.

It would.

He picked her up and she curled into him,
dampening his shirt. The woman in his arms looked into his eyes, hooked her
hands behind his neck and kissed him. Soft. Soulful. Simple kisses had never
touched him like this, somewhere deep inside that he didn't know existed. Somewhere
protected and shut away that she'd found the key to.

He carried her into the bedroom and lay
her gently on the bed.

"I'm getting the covers wet."

"I don't care."

She stretched out and he admired her
small but firm muscles, her full breasts—not large but perfect for her size—and
the gentle flare of her hips.

"You're beautiful," he said.

She smiled tentatively, her eyelids
fluttering down, her cheeks turning pink. Was she embarrassed? Surely this
siren had been called beautiful before, by many men.

But he filed that thought away for later.
He didn't want anything to ruin this moment.

He stood and quickly undressed, wanting
to be naked with her.

As he lay down beside her, touched her
thigh with his, she said, "Are you sure?"

He looked at her for a moment, drank in
the sight of the woman of his fantasies lying beside him. "Yes." He'd
never been more sure of anything. "I want to make love to you, Lucy."

She smiled shyly again and he touched her
lips with his fingertips because he wanted to feel if the smile was real. It
was. How could this brazen woman who'd just masturbated in front of him, be shy
of anything?

"You know I want to do this,"
he said, moving his fingers to caress her cheek. "You've known all
along."

And it didn't have to be the end of the
world. He hadn't tried the one-night stand thing in a while, so maybe this time
would be different. This time, he might be able to forget, and leave, and get
on with his life without looking back and thinking of Lucy's eyes, her generous
breasts, her soft lips.

It might be worth a try.

He cleared his throat, determined to take
this one step further. He could do this. Forget self-respect—hers and his—it
was just sex. He wouldn't read anything more into it than that.

Besides, he couldn't back out now, even
if he wanted to. He wouldn't deny himself one perfect night with one perfect
woman, even if the future would be less than perfect.

She reached up to his face, cupped his
cheeks. "Kiss me."

He did.

Oh yeah, he was definitely going to give
in. But there was one thing he could do to protect himself from falling too
far. One position that didn't allow too much intimacy.

"Turn over," he whispered.

She raised a brow, gave him a cocky smile
and rolled onto her stomach. Her round, milk-white rump thrust up to him and he
groaned. This position might not allow him to see her face while they made
love, but it drove him crazy just the same.

Even if he'd wanted to take it slow, Nick
couldn't. He was too turned on to wait and she teased him further by wiggling
her behind and flashing a smile over her shoulder.

"I want you inside me," she said.

"Soon." He rubbed the two
mounds of her ass, fascinated with their high, round shape. He scooped a hand
underneath, around, pressed a finger to her wetness and found the swollen nub. She
moaned and pushed onto his hand. He didn't do anything, just watched as she
circled herself around his finger, pressed onto it so his finger slid inside,
all the way, then withdrew to circle again and touch the pink anus. Her moans
filled the room and his head until she was shuddering, near release.

"Now," he whispered in her ear.
"Get on your hands and knees."

She did, giving him an even better view
of her delicious ass. He bent, kissed one cheek, then the other, drawing her
sweet scent into his lungs. He allowed himself a taste, but that one flick of
his tongue was nearly too much for her and she ground into his face, moaning.

He knelt behind her and with one swift,
sharp stab, wrapped himself in her slick warmth, nearly coming just from the
luxury of her surrounding him. But he steadied, parted her legs wider, then withdrew
to the tip before plunging again to the hilt. She cried out, pushed into him
and tossed her head back. She was beautiful like that, primal, passionate, and
he was going to come just listening to her ecstasy.

As the spring in his groin wound up tighter,
he reached around and played with her clit as he thrust again and again. He
thought he wouldn't make it, that he couldn't hang on long enough for her to
peak first, but he screwed up his eyes and tried to shut out her loud intakes
of breath.

Her body arched and twitched and her
fingers dug into the sheets. When she came she called out his name and dropped
onto her elbows, the new position sending him in deeper.

It was too much.

The spring released inside him and he
poured himself into her, shuddering with every ejection. His skin sung as
sensation after sensation flowed through him and out of him into her.

"That was..." she sucked in
air, "amazing."

He rolled off and lay beside her,
fighting for breath. She curled into him, rested one hand on his chest and her
knee on his thigh. She kissed his throat, closed her eyes and snuggled.