What Belongs to Her (Harlequin Superromance) (20 page)

Sasha squeezed her eyes shut and dropped her head into her hand. “It’s not about that. I had sex with him because I really, really like him.”

“I was joking! I know you, remember?”

Sasha closed her eyes. “Sorry. I just...if there was any chance John might think—”

“He won’t. You’ve already said he’s nothing like Kyle and he hates everything that has gone on at Funland. Take a chance. He’s handsome, rich and clearly gotten right under your skin. It’s time. It’s time to trust someone.”

“I don’t know....”

“I do. Look, why don’t I meet him? Maybe it will make you feel better knowing what I think of him after I’ve actually spoken to the guy. We could set something up this weekend. I’ll find a man for a double date. It’ll be fun.”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe? Don’t you want me to meet him?”

“Of course. It’s just finding out about Mum and what she did... It’s sent me running and wanting to hide for a while. Socializing is the last thing on my mind.”

“Where are you now? Shall I come over with a bottle of wine?”

“Why don’t you guess where I am?” Sasha rubbed her head against her palm as though trying to scrub some sanity into her brain.

Now her best friend was on the other end of the line, the reality she was sitting in Kyle Jordon’s towel, in Kyle Jordon’s house, waiting for Kyle Jordon’s son to come back, didn’t feel quite so surreal as it did half an hour ago. Now it felt deranged.

Leah coughed. “Okay, I could say where I think you are, but that will mean part of your brain has fallen out.”

“I think it has.”

“You’re at his house, aren’t you? You’re actually at Kyle Jordon’s house. Oh. My. God.”

Sasha laughed and pushed up from the chair. “I am, and it’s amazing.”

“That’s it. I’ve got to see this for myself. Please, Sasha. Let me come over there.”

“Now? No, you can’t.”

“Tomorrow then. Please. Run the dating idea past John. Maybe we could have a quiet night in...at Kyle’s house.”

Sasha grinned at the excitement and slyness in Leah’s voice. “You’re a bad girl, Leah Dixon.”

“Is that a yes? You’ll set something up?”

“I’ll see. Now get off this phone before...” The slamming of a door downstairs brought her words to a halt and her heart beat erratically. He was home. John was back. “I’ve got to go.”

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

Sasha smiled and dropped her towel. “Nothing’s wrong. Everything’s absolutely right. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.” Sasha ended the call, hoping Leah understood the succinct ending of their conversation held the silent “do not disturb” signal and her friend wouldn’t consider calling her again later.

For now, she didn’t want to think, breathe or consider the mess of her life. She wanted to keep hold of the feeling of being loved and cared for. She wanted to be free. She wanted to be a woman exploring the discovery of a new relationship—no matter how futile the longing for something lasting might be.

More than anything, she wanted to be free.

Drawing in a long breath, Sasha strode from the bathroom, feigning sexual confidence despite the tangle of knots in her stomach. Her entire body hummed with the need for comfort, for the feel of John’s hard muscled body beneath her hands and the thump of his pulse joining hers. Every moment with her mother had been washed from her skin and now it was time to eradicate it from her heart. For tonight, she wanted to think of nothing else but John. God only knew how long she had left with him before he left Templeton and her life.

Her heart ached with sadness at that thought, but she had no intention of wasting a single moment when John could be hers.

She padded from the bathroom and along the pale cream opulence of the upper floor landing. Her ears strained for his movements and when she leaned her hands on the ebony banister and looked over, their eyes met.

She didn’t smile. She didn’t speak.

His darkly intense gaze wandered the entire length of her naked body. Her heart pounded and her body tingled with anticipation, yet she stood perfectly still as his gaze wandered over her. He slowly ascended the grand staircase, not taking his eyes from hers.

Second by unbearable second passed as he closed the space that separated them. He reached the landing and paused.

His jaw tightened and his midnight-blue gaze lit with a raw animal lust that shot sensation after sensation through her core and her entire body. He opened the buttons on his shirt, and it fell to the floor behind him. She swallowed and drank in the sight of his bronzed, muscular chest and washboard stomach. His feet whispered over the carpet as he strolled toward her, snapping open the top button of his jeans.

She wet her lips and resisted the urge to run at him. No more taking over. No more rushing to the end. He’d see her bare and vulnerable. He’d see her. She wanted him to make love to her. She wanted his love.

He stopped so close, she had to tip her head back to meet his gaze. His eyes bore deep into hers before dropping lower to her lips. Without touching her, he kissed her. The soft gentle persuasion as he opened her mouth and slipped his tongue inside, was the most sensual moment of her life. She trembled for him, yearned for him, but the slow, concentrated feel of his mouth on hers was all she needed to understand the emotions that pumped through his blood equally matched the ferocity of hers.

Slowly, he eased back and slipped his hand around hers. Silently, she followed as he led her along the landing toward a bedroom. They stepped inside, and Sasha flicked her gaze to the setting sun in the distance. The entirety of the dove-gray room was bathed in pink from the lowering sunlight coming through the floor-to-ceiling French doors at the other end of the room. Together, they moved onto the gray satin sheets of the enormous four-poster bed.

The material slid across her naked body as she collapsed against the pillows. His lips caressed her collarbone and her breasts, teasing and licking at her hardened nipples.

Moaning softly, she slid her hands over the rigid planes of his shoulders as he kissed her skin. His eyes were closed and his dark lashes fanned his cheeks, Smiling, she smoothed her fingertips through his hair, and he opened his eyes.

“You’re so beautiful, Sasha.”

Tears burned. “When you look at me, I feel beautiful.”

He smiled softly and eased from the bed, the mattress lifting with his weight. She didn’t want him to leave her. Not for a single second. She wanted the moments to last until they truly had to end when he walked from the Cove.

With his eyes locked on hers, he removed his shoes and socks, jeans and boxers, before climbing back on the bed beside her. He leaned up on one elbow, his body pressed to the side of hers and his gaze roaming over her face and lower to her breasts. His erection firmly lay across her thigh, and she lifted her fingers to it. She smoothed them back and forth across the engorged and silken skin, circling the head and back down to run her nails through his thatch of pubic hair. His eyes closed as he inhaled a shaky breath through flared nostrils.

There was no power game here. No better or worse. She sensed his enthrallment as she embraced hers. With the front door locked and the world kept out, Sasha had never felt more at peace. This was the man she was meant to be with. This was the man whom fate had decided should share her life. Would it happen? Would they
make
it so?

She stared into his eyes. “Make love to me.”

He leaned over her, and she closed her eyes as he stroked the back of his fingers down her side, from the curve of her breast to her rib cage, featherlight over her waist and thigh until her nerves screamed for him. He brushed his fingertips over her thigh and along the inside of her leg. She opened them instinctively, and he fingered her aching clitoris.

She opened her eyes. He smiled. She opened her mouth, but no words formed as he slid two fingers deep inside her. She clamped tightly around him, urging him deeper and harder. He complied, their eyes locked.

He caught her breath in a rough kiss that sent her desire rocketing. She reached for his penis as they kissed and sighed, moaned and explored. She clasped him firmly and moved her hand up and down the length of him, fast, then slow...fast again as he mirrored the action inside her.

“No more.” She closed her eyes and moved her head to the side as he sucked and nipped at her breasts. “I have to have you. All of you.”

He lifted away from her and reached toward his discarded jeans. Sasha’s heart pounded with anticipation and her body hummed with impatience. He took out his wallet, then a condom. The wallet was tossed back onto the floor. He sidled back toward her, and she curled her fingers into the satin sheets in a bid to stop from plucking the packet from his fingers.

When he’d sheathed himself, he came back toward her and touched her again as he had before, bringing her to the edge of insanity with his fingers, his mouth kissing every inch of her skin. She was aroused and more ready than she’d ever been before. She wanted this man with every cell of her being. Their union was the most amazingly natural thing in the world. He hovered above her, and she opened her legs to welcome him inside.

“I was meant to meet you.” He brushed the hair from her face. “We were meant to be together...like this.”

She nodded, unable to speak above the roar of her blood as it surged through her, fueling her need for him.

He maneuvered the tip of his penis against her opening and then kissed her as he moved hard and unyielding inside her. She closed her eyes as relief left her on a gasp of breath. “Yes.”

Gently, he moved. Then harder. Gently. Then harder.

Together they met each other’s thrusts, their rhythm the most natural and beautiful thing Sasha could imagine. On and on until the sensations built and his penis grew impossibly thick inside her, filling her and taking her. She clung to his strong shoulders, urging him on.

Emotions whirled as her orgasm grew. Then they were there.

Over and above he took her, her climax merging into his and exploding as they came crashing down to earth together.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

J
OHN
COULDN
’
T
TAKE
his eyes off her. Her face lay in complete repose as she slept inches from him on their shared pillow. One slender arm rested limply across his stomach, her leg covering his thigh. The skin on her shoulder was smooth like silk as he gently played his fingertips back and forth across it.

He breathed deep and her soft, feminine scent filled his nostrils. A scent he believed entirely hers and not a blended perfume. Just Sasha.

God, he wished he could keep her with him like this forever. Safe and protected from the demons of the past...and the phantoms of the future. He clenched his jaw. How was he to do that? How could he help and protect her when he would have to leave soon and go back to his job and life before Templeton...before her?

Lifting his gaze from her beautiful face, John stared toward the French doors. He had to go back. He had people who relied on him. He had children at the school who needed him to help them through their exams. He’d no more let them down than he would her. So, what was the answer? He softly exhaled. Someone was going to be let down and right then, he had no way of knowing who it would be.

He closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind. He needed to sleep. Needed to take this moment of peace and embrace it. Soon, Sasha would wake and they would have to plan their next step. They knew more now. They had Sasha’s truth and needed to act on it accordingly.

Next would be uncovering Kyle’s truth...

The ringing of the doorbell and the harsh pounding at the door shot John’s heart into his throat. Sasha’s eyes snapped open, and she stared at him, her dark eyes wide and scared. “What was that?”

Bang, bang, bang.

“Mr. Jordon? This is Detective Inspector Garrett. Would you please open the door?” The shout came from downstairs, followed by the harsh clanging of the letterbox in his front door.

“Bloody hell.” John sat bolt upright. Judging by the harsh tone of the inspector’s voice, there was little chance of her disappearing anytime soon.

Sasha leaped from the bed. “What are the police doing here?”

He tossed back the covers and planted his feet on the floor. Where did he put his pants? “I’ve no idea.”

“John, I’m scared.”

He stopped and looked at her. “Don’t be. Everything’s going to be all right.”

“How can you say that? Didn’t you hear the way the inspector sounded? Something’s wrong.” Sasha scrambled from the bed and ran from the room toward the master bathroom.

Bang, bang, bang.

“Mr. Jordon, you’re leaving me no choice. I will have my officers break the lock in exactly sixty seconds.”

Cursing, DI Garrett’s threat left him no time to console Sasha. He located his jeans on the other side of the bed and dragged them on, his heart pumping. What the hell had brought the police to Kyle’s home at this time of the night? Surely nothing else could go wrong now? He’d gotten Sasha to trust him, to relax enough to make love to her as though they had all the time in the world...and now this.

He strode onto the landing, buttoning his jeans as anger seeped into his blood. He rushed down the stairs, but when he reached the door, he lingered with his hand on the bolt. Sending up a silent prayer for the inspector to have made some kind of mistake, he shot a final glance toward the top of the stairs. Sasha had yet to appear. God only knew what was going through her mind.

He turned back to the door, unlocked it and flung it wide open. He scowled as he met the inspector’s determined glare. “What’s going on? It’s past midnight.”

“I know what time it is, Mr. Jordon.” She brushed past him, followed by two uniformed officers. “You need to come to the station.”

John pulled back his shoulders. “What? Why?”

Her eyes dipped to his bare torso before she coughed and looked back through the open door. “If you’d like to get suitably dressed, we can talk more when we get there.”

He glanced toward the stairs again. Where was Sasha?

“Is someone here with you, Mr. Jordon?”

He turned. The inspector stared directly toward the landing, her eyes narrowed.

Damn it. He didn’t want Sasha dragged into whatever the hell was about to unfold. “Yes.”

Her jaw tightened. “Who?”

“Me.”

He and Inspector Garrett snapped their heads toward the stairs in unison. Sasha had gotten dressed and wore such an expression of guarded suspicion that made John’s heart lurched painfully. Minutes before she’d been at such peace.

She descended the stairs slowly, almost nonchalantly, her chin held high. “Has something happened?”

He turned from staring at Sasha to face the inspector. Two spots of color darkened DI Garrett’s cheeks as she regarded Sasha at the foot of the stairs. Clearly, this was not the situation she’d expected or wanted.

Another second or two passed before DI Garrett spoke, her tone tight and laced with annoyance. “I’m afraid it has.” She turned to John, her jaw tight. “I’m here to bring you in for questioning regarding the cache of class A drugs we seized from Funland earlier this evening, Mr. Jordon. It’s unfortunate Sasha is here to witness it.”

John froze as a lead weight dropped into his gut. His mind whirled. “What?”

“We were given an anonymous tip-off. We searched the fair and found a substantial amount of cocaine.”

Anger hummed deep inside as Sasha’s study of him burned holes into his temple. Freddy. He clenched his teeth. “There are no drugs at the fair.”

“We’ve found enough to warrant bringing you in immediately.” The inspector glared. “I’d like to think I won’t have to ask my officers to arrest you, but I will if necessary. Now, if you’d like to get dressed, we can go.”

John raised his hand. “Wait. Just wait.” He dug his fingers into his temples. “This is impossible. There haven’t been any drugs at the fair since I arrived. If there were, I would’ve known about it. Kyle wouldn’t have kept that from me.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “Are you sure about that? After everything you’ve told me about your relationship with your father, I’m not so sure you should place that much trust in him to have your back.”

John clenched his jaw. She was right. How the hell did he know what Kyle would or wouldn’t do as far as protecting his son from the law’s attention? He’d brought him here to “sort things out.” He’d said the drugs were gone, but who was to say he was telling the truth? John held the inspector’s steady gaze. He could not let her see his doubt. “I’m confident Funland has been free of drugs the entire time I’ve been there. If you found something tonight, it was planted. Have you contacted Freddy Campton, by any chance?”

She tilted her chin. “I have officers looking for Mr. Campton as we speak.” She turned to Sasha. “Would you like a lift home, Sasha?”

The use of Sasha’s first name and his surname did not go unnoticed. He was an outsider. A man to be watched and suspected. He was a Jordon. Sasha’s gaze pinned him. Questions stormed in the black depths of her eyes and her cheeks were flushed with either shame or anger. He couldn’t have placed a bet as to which.

She blinked and faced the inspector. “I’d appreciate a lift home. Thank you.”

John’s heart picked up speed. The atmosphere had turned icy cold, and it was clear Sasha was taking the inspector’s word on her accusation and believed he’d knowingly kept narcotics stored at the fair. Her fair.

“Sasha...” He moved to touch her elbow, but she stepped back, her gaze trained on a spot above his shoulder as a muscle worked rhythmically in her jaw. Swallowing, John dropped his hand to his side and curled his fingers into a fist. “This has Freddy written all over it. You know it has. Surely you don’t believe—”

She nodded toward the front door. “Shall we go, Inspector?”

Detective Inspector Garrett stepped back and gestured with a wave toward the door. “You can ride with me while my officers take Mr. Jordon to the station.”

With a curt nod, Sasha walked outside. John watched her go. He could only hope and pray she didn’t do something rash and get herself on the wrong side of what was surely Freddy’s smoking and vengeful gun.

He snapped his head around and scowled at the inspector. “So, you’re telling me Freddy is out there? That he could’ve left the Cove after doing this?”

She planted her hands on her hips. “I don’t know any more about Mr. Campton’s involvement or whereabouts than you but, rest assured, I soon will. Now, if you’d like—”

“He did this. Freddy Campton’s not a happy man right now. I fired him and this is his way of thanking me.”

She nodded toward the officer standing beside her. “Are you going to get dressed or shall I get Officer Langdon to cuff you and take you to the station as you are, Mr. Jordon?”

Their eyes locked, and John drew in a long breath. “Give me five minutes.”

She smiled tightly. “Absolutely.”

* * *

S
ASHA
CLOSED
HER
apartment door and collapsed back against it, her mind and emotions racing. John had been arrested, but not for a single minute did she think him guilty of keeping cocaine or any other narcotic at Funland. Yet, something inside her told her it was paramount that the less they said to each other in front of Inspector Garrett, the better.

On the ride back to her apartment, the inspector had been gracious enough not to mention the obvious sexual relationship she and John now had, but she hadn’t been so subtle when she asked Sasha not to go anywhere anytime soon. In other words, the police hadn’t dismissed her out of hand as having something to do with the seized drugs, either.

Anger burned.

How could anyone, including the town’s inspector, think of her dealing in drugs? Maybe they hadn’t...until it became clear she was sleeping with Kyle Jordon’s son. Sasha pushed away from the door. Well, there was no way she’d regret her time with him. Nothing and nobody in her entire life had given her the sense of peace John did when they were alone and the rest of the world shut outside.

Snatching her bag from her shoulder, she strode farther into her apartment and took out her cell phone. She dialed Liam’s number, glancing nervously at the clock. It neared twelve-thirty.

“Hello?” Liam’s voice was curious but alert.

“Liam? It’s Sasha. I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“Of course not. Everyone knows how I love to work until the early hours.”

She managed a small smile. “Well, I’m glad to hear it because I need you to go to the police station. Now.”

“What?” All semblance of humor left his voice. “What’s wrong? Are you there now?”

“No, it’s not me who’s in trouble. It’s...” She hesitated and grimaced, not believing she was really asking Liam to do this. “It’s John Jordon.”

“John... Wait. You’re surely not asking me to help the guy who’s standing between you and the fair? The guy who happens to be related to the Cove’s most notorious crime lord? Of course you’re not. You wouldn’t ask me to do that. That would be ridiculous.” His tone dripped with irony.

Sasha sank onto her sofa and closed her eyes, her elbows on her knees. “I know, and I’m sorry, but Inspector Garrett’s just arrested him for drug possession and I know he’s being set up.”

“How do you know that? You know what his father is. I know I teased you about liking this guy, but you can’t afford to forget who he is. If the police have arrested him, it’s time for you to step back.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Yes, you can.”

She squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her fingers across the developing headache shooting from one side of her head to the other. “I can’t.”

“Why not?”

Because I’m falling in love with him. Because I trust him. Because he has to be good. I can’t be wrong about him. Please, God, don’t let me be wrong about him.
“I just can’t. Until I know for sure he had something to do with this...I have to believe he didn’t. Liam, please.”

Heavy silence filtered down the line as Sasha waited. Her heart beat hard and her hand turned clammy around the phone. If Liam said no to helping her, she had nowhere else to turn. What she was asking went beyond the call of friendship, but how could she leave John at the police station without representation when he knew absolutely no one else in the Cove?

Liam’s heavy sigh rasped down the line. “Tell me what happened.”

Her words rushed out as she told him about the inspector turning up at the house saying they’d found drugs at Funland.

“Wait.” Liam’s tone was ice-cold. “You were with him? At Kyle’s house?”

Sasha stiffened as heat hit her face. “Yes.”

Silence descended.

After a long moment, Liam cleared his throat. “Well, I see things have progressed since we last spoke. Fine. I’ll go. If he refuses my representation, or I see or hear anything that makes me think Jordon is guilty, I’m out of there. Do you understand?”

Relief pushed the air from her lungs and she grinned. “Absolutely. Thank you so much. Anything you can do to help him—”

“I’ll call you later. I want to see this guy for myself...especially now I know how quickly you seem to have gotten involved with him.”

“Will you call me as soon as you’ve seen him?”

“Keep your phone on. I’ll be in touch.”

The line went dead, and Sasha dropped her head back against the sofa. Now that John would soon have someone with him, there was only one other man to be taken care of. She pushed to her feet and adrenaline pumped through her veins. If the police hadn’t found Freddy yet, then she damn well would.

Leaping from the sofa, she stormed toward the front door, dropping her cell phone into her bag. She left the apartment and slung the strap of her bag across her chest, grappling for the key to the bicycle shed by the side of the apartment block. Her hands trembled but she finally managed to fumble the key into the lock. After several attempts, she freed her bike and wheeled it out.

She locked the shed behind her and dropped the key into her bag. She pushed away along the street. The night was clear and the full moon lit the stars above her as she pedaled from her apartment toward the main high street. She had no idea where Freddy would hide, but she’d start with the pubs in the hope someone had seen him...better still, had listened to him brag about John’s demise.