When the Storm Breaks (22 page)

“Where are you going?”

“I just need to go for a drive to clear my head. I haven’t been alone in weeks. I have to—get out.”

Olivia hesitated before giving her keys to Claire. “You be careful, hear? Keep the doors locked and take my cell phone.”

Claire grabbed the phone and keys, then gave Olivia a quick hug. “Thanks.”

Olivia watched while Claire gathered her things from the security guard and headed outside—the back way. Olivia had expected it. She went out and down the front steps in a rush to the detectives.

“I gave Claire my car keys and cell phone.”

“What?” Sean asked. “You let her go off alone?”

“Of course,
cher.
Be careful when you follow her. She’s close to…let’s just say she needs some time out of the fishbowl.”

Sean pulled his own keys out. “It’s my fault she’s mad. I’ll follow her in my truck. You take Olivia home,” he said to Aidan.

Olivia ducked her head to hide her satisfied smile.

At the edge of Washington, D.C.

Saturday night

“I
t’s called a turn signal, moron,” Claire said aloud to the driver who had cut her off and then immediately slowed for an upcoming turn. “You might want to use it before somebody hauls a gun out of the glove compartment and shoots you.”

With a jerk of the wheel, she whipped out and around the other car. She’d been on the road for over an hour, weaving in and out of light traffic and enjoying the luxury of driving with no particular destination or deadline. Every time her thoughts strayed to the past few weeks, she shoved them right out of her mind. At the moment she was free, and nothing was going to spoil that.

Claire rolled down the windows to enjoy the breeze. A thunderstorm was building in the distance, giving the night a hushed, tense quality that vibrated through the humid air. The smells and sounds brought back memories of summer nights in Louisiana with a clarity that was almost painful. Claire stared into the darkness and thought of her
parents, dead for eight years. She needed them now more than ever, but took comfort in the fact that they were together. Wherever they were.

Biting her lip against the bittersweet pain, she watched lightning arc inside a distant cloud and thought how wonderful it would be to stand in a drenching rain and let it wash the last few weeks away.

The idea made her smile faintly and gave her a goal. Calculating the direction of the storm, she figured her best chance to hit the rain was to head toward Chesapeake Bay. She knew of several quiet coastal roads that led right to the water. She could park there and enjoy the storm in peace.

Peace.
The thought of it was like a drug.

She reached down to tune the radio to an oldies station, one locally known for playing torch songs and blues. Humming along to Patsy Cline, she crossed the Chesapeake Bay bridge, turned off the main highway, and headed toward the water. After paralleling the coast for several miles, she chose another tiny road made of crushed shells and dirt. She was sure she wouldn’t encounter anyone on this little track, because it didn’t lead directly to the water. Instead, it ended at a wide turnaround separated from the high tide line by thick brush and scrub trees.

No one else was there ahead of her. She let out a long sigh, shut off the engine, and dropped her head back against the headrest. She closed her eyes and let her mind drift. The sound of water and the calls of night creatures came in the open window.

So did the sound of an approaching vehicle. Since she was at the end of a one-way road, the other car couldn’t miss seeing her.

“Damn it!”

Headlights flared, and the outline of a large pickup pulled in directly behind her. Too late it occurred to her that she was alone on a deserted road on the Chesapeake with a large vehicle blocking her only avenue of escape.

Fumbling with the key, Claire turned the car on. She quickly raised the windows and hit the locks, while mentally calculating whether she would have enough space to get around the truck and not get stuck in the sand. Without taking her eyes off the rearview mirror, she felt around on the passenger seat for the cell phone.

She squinted in the darkness, trying to determine how many people were in the truck. She could only see the outline of one tall person behind the wheel. The driver’s side door of the pickup opened, causing the dome light to come on and creating a silhouette of the seated man behind the wheel.

Sean.

“Son of a bitch!” Claire tossed the phone back onto the passenger seat and cut the engine. She shoved her door open and headed toward the truck. “What the hell are you doing here?” she yelled, marching unsteadily across the sand and shells in her high-heeled sandals.

Sean stayed in the truck and watched her approach through the open driver’s window.

“Why did you follow me?” Claire demanded. “You scared the shit out of me until I recognized you.”

“And here I was thinking you were too stupid to realize you should be afraid,” Sean said, stripping out of his weapon harness. Lines of sweat showed everywhere the leather had been.

She stopped short a few feet away from him. “Did you just call me stupid?”

“I’ll say,” he muttered as he wrapped up the weapon and shoved it under the front seat. “What else do you call a woman who is under police protection but runs off all by herself and drives late at night to a deserted rural area?”

“I’d call her a woman who wanted to be alone! I still have rights, you know.”

“You gave up those rights when you became the target of a serial killer. And when you agreed to take part in the investigation and play by my rules.”

“Yeah? Well fuck your rules.”

“Tired of playing detective?” Sean’s voice was level, almost understanding.

“No, I’m tired of having my every move recorded and criticized. I’m tired of living my life on your microscope slide. You could understand that, if you had feelings. But you don’t, do you? You just sit there behind your badge and watch.”

Sean’s jaw tightened. “Don’t push that button. You don’t want to pick a fight with me right now.”

“Why not?” Claire asked, flinging her hands up in the air. “You’re here. I’m here. I’d love to see if you have any normal human emotions under that badge, or if you’ve succeeded in completely eliminating them in order to
do your job
.”

“That’s it.”

Claire took a step backward when Sean abruptly got out of the truck.

“What are you doing?” She took another step back as Sean began to come toward her.

“I don’t want to fight with you, but I’m more than happy to give you everything else you’re asking for.”

She took another step backward, only to feel the ground give way beneath her heel. He grabbed her upper arms and finished the job of pulling her off balance. With a hungry sound he crushed her against his chest and brought their hips into full contact.

Before Claire could absorb the dual sensations, Sean’s lips covered hers in a kiss that devoured. Tipping her head back, she let his tongue into her mouth. To her surprise, he began a gentle game of advance and retreat. She made a choked sound, then closed her eyes so she could drown herself in the taste of his desire.

This was what she’d been waiting for, and she was going to enjoy every second of it.

Sean also closed his eyes to better experience the sensation of kissing Claire after denying himself for days that seemed like years. He wrapped one arm more securely around her, pulling her closer. With his free hand he touched her hair, the side of her neck, and her gently sloping shoulder. Hungry for more, he ran his hand down the side of her breast, pausing to repeat the stroking caress when her breath caught.

With another deep kiss, he let his hand drop to her taut waist, then moved on to the curve of her hips. Repeatedly squeezing and releasing the supple flesh, he felt her body arch into his growing erection and knew that this time he wasn’t going to let her go until they were
both
satisfied.

Without breaking the kiss, he released her and quickly unbuttoned his shirt. He jerked it free of his slacks, then caught his breath on a groan when her hands rubbed teasing strokes across his bare stomach and ribs. He tossed his shirt onto the hood of the truck and peeled off
her short-sleeved cocktail jacket. In seconds it joined his shirt on the hood, and he was running his hands from her bare wrists to the sensitive skin where shoulder met neck.

A gust of salt-tinged air whipped around them. Chills roughened Claire’s skin, though she wasn’t cold. The temperature had to be at least eighty, and the humid night shimmered around them with the electricity of the coming storm. Still, she shivered again and pressed herself closer to Sean, wanting to crawl inside him and wrap him around her like a down blanket on a cold night.

The feel of her rubbing over him made his breath stop. He ran his hands down her sides to the soft skin of her thighs just beneath her hemline. It was as low as he could reach without breaking the contact of their lips. He let his hands slide around to the backs of her thighs, enjoying the sensation of slick nylon and warm flesh beneath. Pushing under the hem of her dress halfway to his elbows, he wrapped his hands around her bottom and shifted her until he had the dress up around her waist. He practically tore the nylons off her in his haste for skin-on-skin contact. Bunching the dress in one fist to keep it out of the way, he lifted her and wrapped her legs around him.

Twining her arms around his neck, Claire took advantage of being nearly his height. Sliding her fingers through the soft hair at his nape, she leaned forward and ran her tongue teasingly across Sean’s lips. When his mouth opened, her tongue darted in repeatedly to find the soft flesh inside his lips and cheeks. He tried to deepen the kiss, but she pulled back to sip at his lips and flick them again and again with her tongue.

Two could play at the game of tease and retreat. She figured it was time for him to get a taste of his own medicine. The game lasted until Sean traced the sensitive base of her spine with his fingers, then sent his hand below the waistband of her panties and arched his erection against her. When she paused in her teasing to enjoy being caught between his hand in back and the hard thrust of his flesh in front, he captured her mouth in a deep kiss. He arched into her again, feeling her moist heat through the thin fabric that separated them.

When they came up for air, both were panting. Claire’s unzipped dress sagged loosely around her breasts. Sean felt the first cool raindrops splatter his back. Still holding her wrapped around his waist, he turned around, ducked her head, and laid her out on the truck’s oversized bench seat, a treasure he was about to devour.

Crouching down in the doorway, he looked into the black depths of her eyes and gently ran his hands up her bare legs.

“If this isn’t what you want, you’d better say so now.”

“What?” Claire was drowning in the erotic sensation of his hands caressing her thighs, slowly drifting closer to the center of her pleasure.

“Is this what you want?” Sean repeated, sliding his hands over her belly and up toward her breasts. The loosened material of her dress offered no protection from his wandering fingers, which stroked across nipples that were already hard and aching.

“Talk about stupid,” Claire said. She caught Sean’s belt buckle and tried to pull him onto the bench seat with her.

“Wait.” He slid her hand off the buckle and undid his clothes. “I’m too tall to get undressed in the truck.”

Moments later, he was naked. She reached a hand out to him, but he merely kissed her fingers and urged her to sit up so he could remove the rest of her clothing. He unzipped her dress completely and watched the fabric pool around her waist. Her breasts were bare underneath the silky blue material.

“Christ, woman. You’re practically naked under this dress.”

“Built-in bra,” she said.

He rubbed his palms across her nipples while she wiggled the dress down over her hips. The shift and slide of her flesh made him groan. With one hand he drew her dress down her bare legs, and tossed it up onto the dash-board. He watched as she lay back across the seat and fiddled with the elastic waistband of her panties.

He reached for the scrap of dark fabric and slowly eased her out of it. Silently she lifted her hips to help him, then held a hand out to him when she was nude. In a heartbeat, he was stretched out across her. He groaned aloud at the pleasure of feeling her naked body against his for the first time.

Claire heard Sean’s sound of pleasure and murmured a reply as she pulled his mouth back to hers. But they were too hungry to be content with kisses for long. Soon his mouth was traveling down her chest. He ran one hand up and down her ribs while he blew softly on the nipple closest to his mouth. She arched, and he ran his tongue across the taut crest, then blew on it again.

When she stiffened with pleasure, he lowered his head and took the nipple deeply into his mouth, tormenting it with teeth and tongue. Then he was distracted by her other breast, which seemed to demand the same treatment when she arched and rolled her head on the bench seat.

Claire closed her eyes and gave herself over to the sensation of Sean’s mouth caressing her breasts. She moved her hands across his strong shoulders, stopping to dig her nails in when he teased her gently with his teeth. Smiling as he arched back against her, she continued down his back with her hands, stopping when she reached the firm flesh of his buttocks. She repeatedly clenched her fingers and released them in a rough caress that made him groan.

Suddenly fumbling, he reached to open the glove compartment. Pulling out one of the two condoms he had removed from his wallet, he tore open the foil packet and quickly sheathed himself. Settling on top of Claire once again, he pressed his erection against her damp flesh. He caught his breath at the sliding sensation and probed gently one more time.

When she felt the touch of his penis against the most sensitive part of her body, she moved against him in return. Breathing rapidly, she raised her head and found Sean’s lips with hers. His tongue teased her mouth and his body teased hers, nudging her sensitive opening before retreating to rub his length against her. Finally, he stopped his teasing and pulled his mouth from hers.

“Look at me, Claire.”

She lifted heavy lids and filled her nostrils with the musky scent of Sean and sex. His eyes were dark blue in the dome light of the truck, his pupils dilated with passion. She vaguely recognized the steady sound of raindrops outside the car, but was too focused on the storm inside to pay attention.

She kept her eyes on his as he nudged her legs even further apart and began to enter her. The incredible sensation of being invaded went on and on, until she felt sure she
could take no more of him. Then he adjusted her thighs around his hips, and with a thrust seated himself completely inside her.

At Claire’s shakily exhaled breath, he nuzzled her lips with his. “Everything okay?”

“Mmmmmm.”

It was more purr than response, but Claire couldn’t form a coherent reply. Instead, she tightened her legs and arched her body against his in a way he couldn’t mistake. Sean took the hint and began to thrust slowly against her. When she began to meet his movements with her own, he quickened the pace, losing himself in her.