Uncorked (46 page)

Moments later, he dropped to his
knees, slipping one of her legs over his shoulder. He pleasured her sweet, deep
crevasses with his fingers. She felt every movement as he spread her lips apart
and his tongue travelled through her slippery, wet trench. Ecstasy radiated
through her body, and it was becoming increasingly difficult for the night to
remain silent.

“Oh, Mitch,” she cried, as she
sank her fingers into his scalp.

He stood and kissed her fervently
on the lips. She responded to his passionate kisses. He raised her body, and
she circled her legs and arms around him. He carried her to the living room,
setting her on the floor pillows in front of the roaring fireplace. He lay next
to her, devouring her lips and continued using his fingers to explore her as he
rubbed her pleats.

“Oh God, Mitch...”

Her breathing turned to soft
cries. She moaned with total indulgence. He stopped when her fingers dug into
his scalp. For her, he knew, it meant she was nearing her peak.

He lay on his back, and she
kissed his lips, working her way down his neck, chest, and belly button. She
took him, in all his glory, into her mouth, working the backside of his shaft
up and down then repeatedly circling his tip with her tongue. She plunged him
deep into her throat. Her hands massaged him, gliding up and down him,
following with her lips.

His moans increased. She worked
his tip with her lips, sucking him hard as she worked her way down to his
sacks, licking them, loving them, taking them into her mouth. She straddled
him, taking him into her mouth once more, slipping him in and out of her mouth,
encouraging his juices to flow as he became slippery and wet. She placed her
body over his shaft using her trench to arouse him further as she glided her
body around his.

Finally, she allowed him to enter
her, spanning his body. He lay back while she worked him, touched him, stroked
him, kissed him, and loved him all while he slipped in and out of her. He
groaned with pleasure, pulled her toward his chest and seared her lips with
his. She arched her back, and he helped her slide over him. He teased her clit
as she moved over him, setting her off with cries of complete sensuality. He
gently pushed her off him and braced her body against the window seat, both
looking out toward the snow-white mountain views.

He entered from behind, plunging
his stiff shaft into her wet folds. He relished the view of him sliding in and
out of her. Holding her by her waist, he continued to circle himself inside
her. Her soft cries gradually increased. Raising one of her legs onto the
nearby window seat, he pinned it in place with his, rubbing her clit and
repeatedly moving in and out of her, in an erotic dance. Extending one of her
legs aside, he continued to plunge inside her, hitting her sweet spot
repeatedly.

“Oh, yes, yes…baby…I’m coming…”
And as she started her release, he went into waves of violent convulsions
behind her, plastering his lips onto hers and circling his arms around her as
he held her tight. They collapsed onto the plush rug.

Slowly, their breathing eased.

“I love you. Sweetheart.”

“I love you, too,” she replied,
laughing as he held her close. They wrapped themselves in a nearby throw and
watched the snowfall outside.

A while later, Chella said, “You
never told me how long you’re here for.”

“Forget the fact that I couldn’t
get out of here even if I wanted to. How long do you want me to stay?”

“What I want is irrelevant. We
have to think about what’s in everyone’s best interest.”

“Everyone else isn’t here right
now. It’s just you and me.”

“As lonely as the past few weeks
have been, I never worried about my safety. That is, until you showed up here
and told me a private investigator found me.”

“He said you were hard to find,
that you hadn’t left a paper trail. When he couldn’t find out who occupied this
house, he had it under surveillance for a few days before he could ID you.”

“Is that supposed to ease my
mind?”

“Yes. Now that I’ve found you,
are you going to move again?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think so.
It’s been lonely and sometimes boring, but I’ve also enjoyed the solitude and
being away from the stress. I’d be lying if I said the thought hasn’t crossed
my mind to stay away. Part of me wishes I could have it all back in San Diego.
I don’t know.”

“Having it all—what does that
mean?”

“Love, health, a career,
happiness.”

“Chella, I want to share all
those things with you.”

“I do, too. But for now, I don’t
think Emily and I can be in your life at the same time. It’s not safe.”

“What if we kept things separate
until an arrest has been made?”

“What do you mean?”

“I spend time with you and Emily
separately.”

“You’d be spreading yourself
thin.”

“I want you in my life. I’m
willing to do whatever it takes.”

“That sounds so tempting. I’m
afraid that you or Emily will get hurt again.”

“Trust me, Chella. Trust me to
handle this.”

“It’s not you I don’t trust. If
the police are right and Jade is the one responsible for all this, she knows
everyone I’m close to, and she knows you have a daughter. Mitch, these people
were in my private space, in my computer and in my house. God alone knows what
information they have about my friends, your family, and me. I’m not willing to
risk anyone’s safety.”

“But you’re willing to risk your
sanity, your health, and your emotional needs?”

After some thought, she replied,
“I guess I am. Yes.”

“Chella, I can’t accept that.”

“I don’t think you have a
choice.”

“What if I don’t leave?” said
Mitch. “January is a slow month. I don’t need to be in San Diego. Maybe by then
an arrest will be made, and we can go back to our normal lives.”

“Why do you try so hard?”

“Because I love you.”

“I love you, too. More than
you’ll ever know. I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” she whispered.

“We don’t have to. At least not
right now.” He kissed her lightly on her forehead.

Early the next
morning, Chella had a conference
call with Jamie Cooper, the undercover officer doing her old job, to go over
the last details of the promotion. After, she called Detective Carter.

“Merry Christmas, Detective. How
are you today?”

“I’m great. Merry Christmas to
you, too. I was going to call you yesterday but things got a little crazy over
here.”

“Do you have news?”

“Yes. The two employees I spoke
with yesterday confirm that Jade and Mr. Stewart were in a relationship. One of
them told me she was sure the romantic relationship ended. It confirms they
knew each other. Jealousy may play a part in her motive to do this, but I think
money might also be a factor. We’ve subpoenaed her bank records. We may not get
all of them until the new year. I tried to get a search warrant to check her
home before the holidays, but the judges had already left for the long weekend.
Hopefully, I’ll be able to get that sometime next week.”

“Okay. Anything else I should be
aware of?”

“We ran that partial print we
lifted off Mr. Mariani’s Jaguar when it crashed. It was inconclusive, not
enough of a print to make a clear identification. We also interviewed three of
the people at the café the day you got the email—all but the woman you said looked
familiar. They’re all in the clear. I need to find some sort of DNA or physical
evidence placing her at the scene of any of the crimes before I can have her
arrested.”

“Were you able to see anything
off the cameras from my old condo building?”

“No. The night in question, there
are six people walking by at one time or another that are unidentifiable. Mr.
Mariani is also out of town. He’s been a bit difficult to reach. We need his
permission to get copies of the surveillance cameras from when the last package
was delivered to identify who dropped it off.”

“I’ll ask him to call when he
wakes up.”

“Oh, he’s with you?” he replied,
sounding surprised.

“Yes. What about the promotion
tomorrow? Is there extra security?”

“There is. At this point, I see
no reason why everything shouldn’t run smoothly.”

“Great. Thanks again for all your
hard work. Don’t forget to leave work on time so you can spend time with your
family.”

“I promised my wife and daughter
I’d be home right after work.”

“I’ll have Mitch call you later. Have
a great day.”

Later that day, Mitch made calls
to Emily and some friends. Chella called Craig and Maggie. They finished
cooking dinner together and enjoyed the fruits of their labor. When dinner was
done, they cuddled up on the sofa to watch Christmas movies.

Christmas had tuned out so much
better than Chella could have imagined. She wasn’t sure how it would end. It
was nice being in her own little world with Mitch, but she knew they would have
to discuss how they were going to move forward in their relationship. She
wasn’t sure she was ready for that.

Chella’s cell phone
rang at 2 a.m. the day after,
waking both her and Mitch.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Ms. Noon, this is
Detective Carter. I have some bad news.”

“What’s wrong?” she asked,
immediately switching the phone to speaker mode.

“There’s been an incident. Mr.
Spencer is in the hospital.”

“What?” She sat up in bed. “What
happened?”

“He was poisoned. Someone slipped
something in his drink. He is in critical condition.”

“Jade?”

“We suspect so. We’ll have her in
a lineup over the next few days. See if the bar tenders recognize her—perhaps
she was lurking around the bar. We had hidden cameras installed at the
after-party venue. We’ve already started reviewing them.”

“I have to be there for him.”

“Ms. Noon, I strongly advise you
not to do that. Stay where you are. It is not safe for you to be here. This is
exactly why they did this, to lure you out so they could get access to you.”

“Craig and his family have always
been there for me. I can’t abandon them at a time like this.”

“I have some more bad news.
Someone placed pictures of you in all the gift bags for the guests. We were
able to retrieve about eighty percent of them, but we were unable to get them
all. I’m so sorry.”

“I can’t believe this is
happening. Can you recognize me in the photo?”

“Unfortunately, in the one that
was used, your face is clear.”

As Chella listened to Detective
Carter’s words, anger consumed her. She handed Mitch the phone and walked into
the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

“Detective? It’s Mitch
. Be honest with me. How bad is
it? Is he going to make it?”

“It’s hard to say. He was
unconscious when he arrived at the hospital. Mr. Mariani, I know Ms. Noon wants
to come back to San Diego, but I can’t reiterate enough what a bad idea that
is. I have a hunch this is exactly why they did this, to get her to return.”

“I’ll see what I can do. She’s a
stubborn woman when she makes up her mind. Please keep me informed. I’ll turn
on my cell phone in case you need to reach me.”

“I will.”

“How many pictures got out?”

“About a hundred.”

“Any way to trace who received
them?”

“Guests signed for the bags when
they received them.”

“Chella might need that list
later.”

“I’m so sorry about this. I’ll be
in touch.”

Mitch knocked on
the door to the bathroom. He
heard a faint, “Come in.”

Her tears were gone. He pulled
her into his arms and held her. Eventually, he convinced her to come back to
bed.

“I need to call Maggie.”

“Are you sure that’s a good
idea?”

“Craig and Maggie are the closest
thing I have to a family. I won’t allow these people to stop me from calling to
check on them.”

Chella listened as Maggie
answered the phone.

“Maggie, its Chella. “I’m so very
sorry. How is he?”

“The doctors think he will make
it.”

Chella released a breath she
didn’t know she had held. “Thank God. Is he conscious?”

“No.”

“I want to see him. I need to be
there for him.”

“Stay where you are. Craig would
be furious with you if he knew you came back here. Chella, you know how much we
love you. Be smart. Stay safe.”

“I love you, too. I’ll call
tomorrow. Let me know if there are any new developments.”