The Deception (26 page)

She moaned again and thrust her hips up against him. Needing no further encouragement, he sheathed himself once again and pushed his cock inside her, groaning when he was once again deep within her warmth.

“God, I can’t get enough of you.” He groaned against her neck. “You’re so warm, so tight, so wet.”

He strained to hear her shy whisper. “I love the feel of you inside me. It feels so right.”

Growling low in his throat, he tightened his hold on her and increased the pace of his thrusts. “You feel right. Too damn right,” he muttered close to her ear.

Savannah brought her legs up and tightened them around his hips. His strokes became deeper and longer. She tensed underneath him. Her muscles once again tightened and flexed around his cock until she found her release. He surged into her, burying himself deep into her warmth. He groaned his relief.

Slowly, he became aware of his weight on top of her. He shifted slightly until he lay on his side, and gathered her close against him, spoon fashion. Kissing her softly on the back of her neck, he inhaled the exotic, musky scent of her hair.

Within minutes, he was asleep.

CHAPTER 21

Friday morning

The blast of a ferry horn right outside the window awoke Savannah with a start. The room was dim, but the faint illumination of the morning sun reached for her through the double glass sliding doors adjacent to the bed.

The heavy damask curtains that covered the windows were open and the sight of Sydney Harbour spread before her in all its sparkling glory, looking close enough to touch, disorientated her. She moved slightly on the bed. Will stirred beside her. His arm tightened around her and he pulled her back into the curve of his body.

“Where do you think you’re going?” His voice was clouded with sleep.

She smiled. “I was getting up to have a better look at the view.” She turned in his arms to face him.

His eyes lingered on her nakedness. “I think the view’s pretty damn good right here.”

“
Mm
, that may be so,” she agreed, stroking her fingers along his cheek, “but I also have to use the bathroom.”

She extricated herself from his arms and scooted across the bed, tugging the sheet with her. He groaned in protest. Wrapping it around her securely, she padded into the bathroom and closed the door. After using the toilet, she hefted the sheet back around her and walked into the bedroom. Will was propped up on his elbow, an amused expression on his face.

“You mean to tell me after all we’ve done, you’re still shy about me seeing you naked?”

She ducked her head, thankful for the dimness which concealed her embarrassment.

“Come here.” His voice was a velvet command.

Her pulse leaped. She made her way back to the bed. He lay sprawled across it, bared to her gaze.

“Sit down.”

She sat.

He leaned over and gently tugged at the sheet still clutched in her hands, exposing her nakedness.

“You’re so beautiful.” His response was husky with emotion. “I love looking at you. Don’t be embarrassed.”

“Okay.” She smiled, feeling beautiful under his tender regard. His arm snaked out and drew her close into his side. She snuggled into him.

He glanced at the clock on his nightstand and groaned. “It can’t be that time already. It feels like I only just closed my eyes.”

Savannah blushed at the memory of their night of lovemaking. “Don’t tell me you’re complaining?”

Will’s arm tightened around her. “Not on your life. I’d happily repeat it every night—and every day,” he added, his eyes twinkling.

“Too bad we have to work for a living.”

“Yeah.” He hesitated and then grinned. “Except, I’m on a day off. How lucky is that?”

Savannah faked a pout. “It’s all right for some. What about me?”

Will raised an eyebrow. “You could call in sick.”

Savannah contemplated the idea for a total of two seconds and then grinned, feeling deliciously naughty. “You’re right. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I feel like I’m coming down with something.” She coughed. “There it is. Definitely a sore throat and I’m feeling…achy all over.”

Will’s eyes darkened with emotion. He leaned over and kissed her, taking the time to linger over her mouth. His hand came up to cup her breast. He rubbed her nipple with the pad of his thumb.

Desire kindled low in her belly. She couldn’t believe how quickly he could arouse her.

“Tell me where it hurts.” His mouth moved down to nuzzle her neck. Her head fell back.

“
Mm
, that feels good.”

His hand moved to her other breast. His fingers kneaded and squeezed. “How about here?”

“Yes, I think that needs some attention.”

His mouth replaced his hand. He drew her nipple into his mouth and suckled. She gasped and moved restlessly beside him.

“Don’t move. It’s not good to tax yourself while you’re feeling unwell. Let me fix it. I’ve been told I’m good with my hands.”

His hand skimmed across her taut belly. Moments later, his finger slid along her wet slit and slipped inside. She moaned.

“Yes, Dr Will. You certainly are good with your hands.”

His cock lay thick and hard against her belly. She widened her legs in silent encouragement. Releasing her nipple, he positioned himself between her thighs.

He stared down at her. “I can’t get enough of you,” he muttered, his voice hoarse. He reached quickly for a condom. His cock pressed at her entrance. She lifted her hips to meet his savage thrust. She cried out and clung to him, riding the waves of desire until they both found fulfillment.

A few moments later, Will shot her a look full of mischief. “How are you feeling? Still achy?”

She grinned and turned on her side to face him. “You may have helped a little. I’m not sure I’m up for a day at the office, though.”

His expression sobered. “No, you’re right. Your color’s high. You need take it easy today. Bed rest would be preferable.”

She laughed and gave him a playful punch to his shoulder. “I’m sure that can be arranged. I’ll call Max and let him know. I submitted a story to him before I left yesterday. It’s now up to him what he does with it.”

“Is it about the Black Opal?”

Savannah nodded. “Yes. I kept you out of it, but as for the rest of it, the public has a right to know, despite what Max says. Anyway, Pete told me the immigration department and the homicide guys are all over it. I assume they’ll be making arrests any day, which makes it even more important we get the scoop.”

“I know it shouldn’t matter who locks Maranoa up, but I wanted to be the one to nail the asshole for drug dealing. He could do fifteen to twenty years if we found out where he stores the gear.”

“I understand where you’re coming from, especially after hearing about Cole.”

“Ever since I transferred to the DEA, I’ve dreamed of being the one to snap the cuffs against that asshole’s wrists. I’ll never know if he was Cole’s supplier, but he and his ilk are all the same. They don’t give a damn about the lives they ruin. It’s all about the dollars.”

“Unfortunately, you’re right.” She reached for his hand and threaded her fingers through his. “I’m sorry about your brother. My brother’s the only family I have left.”

Will squeezed her hand. “What happened to your parents?”

She sighed. “They died in a freak accident a little over six years ago.”

“How did it happen?”

“They were camping.” A wry smile turned up her lips. “They’d never been camping in their lives, but they both decided it was on their bucket list. They wanted to go and explore the great outdoors. They bought one of those tent trailer things—you know, the ones that fold out from a box trailer?” He nodded and she continued.

“Mom and Dad were both academics and not at all practical.” She smiled wistfully. “They raised me to be an independent thinker, encouraging me to ask questions and not be content just to accept someone else’s explanation. They gave me a sense of appreciation and awareness of those around me—people who were less fortunate than me, the ones most of us try to forget. They led by example and gave me a social conscience.”

“I guess that explains your dogged determination to get to the bottom of the brothel story,” he murmured, a rueful smile tugging at his lips. “Even if your research approach was incredibly stupid.”

She frowned and pushed against his chest. He tried to pull her back into his arms, but she moved away.

“I’ll have you know, I had everything under control in there. You were the one who decided to take me to one of the bedrooms. I’d planned to finish my dance and disappear the way I’d come, with no one the wiser.” She stared at him defiantly.

“And what would you have done if some other bloke, infinitely less desirable and understanding than me, had requested your services? Maranoa told me he was interested in having you for a plaything. I bet you didn’t even consider that possibility?”

Savannah scowled. “Of course I considered it, but I decided the risk didn’t outweigh my need to go there and find out what was happening.”

“Why didn’t you just call the police? That’s what we’re here for.”

“You’re right and I thought about it. But by that time I’d met you and I didn’t know where you fit into the whole scene. I thought you were in advertising, remember?” she said, giving him a pointed look and then continued.

“Once the police were involved, innocent or not, any chance of you staying out of the spotlight would have vanished. I-I didn’t want that on my conscience.”

The annoyance on his face dissolved. He pulled her unresisting form into the warmth of his chest. “Even then you were looking out for me,” he murmured, nuzzling her hair. “I think you might be a little bit in love with me, Savannah O’Neill.”

She stared at him. Her heart thudded. It wasn’t the first time she’d thought about her feelings for him. Surely, she didn’t know him well enough to be in love with him? She certainly
liked
him a good deal. How far she wanted to take that, she had no idea.

“Hey, don’t look so serious,” Will smiled. “I was joking. Now, tell me what happened with your parents’ camping trip?”

Shelving the idea of analyzing her feelings for a later time, she continued the story.

“Right, the camping trip. They were so looking forward to it,” she said. “They’d taken long service leave from their jobs and planned to travel around Australia for a couple of months, stopping at camping grounds along the way. Dylan, my brother, was at boarding school and I was old enough to take care of myself. There was nothing holding them back.”

She smiled in memory. “I laughed at them when they told me. They didn’t know the first thing about camping. But they didn’t care. They were sure there’d be plenty of people along the way who could help them if they needed it and that was true. They’d call me or send me an email from the middle of nowhere and tell me all about the adventures they were having and all the friendly people they’d met. I was happy for them. They’d worked hard for many years and they deserved to have a break.”

She sighed. “Everything was fine until they pulled into a camping ground near Alice Springs. They’d been away about three weeks.” Memories came flooding back to her. She paused.

“It’s okay.” Will rubbed her arm soothingly with the pad of his thumb. “You don’t have to say any more.”

Savannah blinked back tears and looked up at him. “No, I think I need to. I haven’t spoken about it to anyone since the funeral. Not even to Dylan.” She took a deep breath and continued.

“The police told me my parents had parked the trailer under a stand of huge gum trees—looking for shade, I guess. Even though it was spring, it was already hot up there. They don’t call it the Red Centre for nothing.”

She paused and drew in another breath. “A limb fell off one of the trees through the night and hit their trailer. Just like that, they were gone. There’d been no wind, no rain…nothing. A freak accident. That’s what the police said. I’ve since learned you should never park anything under a gum tree. They’re notorious for dropping branches.” They lay in companionable silence. Will was the first one to break it.

“Tell me about your brother.”

Savannah sagged against him. Burying her head against the reassuring solidness of his chest, she took comfort from his strength.

“Dylan’s nineteen. He’s the reason I moved back from Canberra. He-he’s found it hard since Mom and Dad died.”

“How do you mean?”

Savannah’s lips compressed and she was flooded with emotion. At last, in halting sentences, she talked to him about her brother and the difficulties he’d faced after their parents’ deaths and the toll it was taking on her.

“Does he still live with you?”

“No. He’s been in rehab since we arrived. At least, he was. He—” Her voice hitched. Will tightened his arms around her. She shot him a grateful look.

“He came by my condo a couple of nights ago and told me he was done with it. He’s checked himself out a month early. The judge spared him a custodial sentence on the proviso he spend a minimum of six months in rehab. I’m so scared he’ll be brought before the courts again and resentenced.”

Will pulled her closer, his eyes insistent. “It’s not your fault, Savannah. You’re not responsible for him, sweetheart. He’s an adult, now. I know exactly where you’re coming from. I’ve been there, too. As much as both of us might want it to be different, things move beyond our control.”

“You’re right, but it doesn’t make it any easier. I just hope he hasn’t fallen back in with the men who got him into trouble in the first place.”

His hand stroked along her arm, providing comfort. “Are there any signs that he has?”

She thought of the man she’d glimpsed at the Black Opal. She was almost certain it had been Dylan, but something held her back from telling Will. He was a police officer, after all. Her brother was the only blood relative she had left. He deserved a level of loyalty. Will contemplated her, waiting for her to answer.

“He turned up wearing expensive new clothes and a pair of boots that must have cost five hundred dollars.” She shrugged. “He has no money. I’ve been supporting him his entire life. Besides, he’s been living at Dexter House. Where would he come up with the funds for things like that?”