“Oh, my God,” Jamie choked out, lifting her hips to bring him deeper. “So good…it’s so good…”
All he could do was mumble something incoherent in return. So good was an understatement. His entire body was coiled tight. The feel of Jamie’s warmth surrounding him was too much. Too good. Knowing he was in danger of losing complete control, he forced himself to go slow, to draw out Jamie’s pleasure before he exploded into oblivion.
“More,” she begged, winding her arms around his shoulders and digging her fingernails into his skin.
He stared down at the beautiful woman beneath him, at the tousled dark red hair and swollen, thoroughly kissed lips and that last thread of restraint snapped like a bungee cord. With a groan, he let go, thrusting into her over and over again, until the haze clouded his vision again and every inch of his body ached with impending release. When he heard her cry out, felt her tighten against him in climax, he threw that last ounce of control into the wind.
As pleasure exploded around him, he knew without a doubt that his entire world had just been changed.
When Jamie crashed back to earth a few minutes later, the lingering ripples of pleasure were replaced with a wave of panic. Panic so strong her throat tightened and her palms began to tingle.
From the corner of her eye she saw Cole’s impressive chest heaving as he regained his breath, the hard ridge of his arousal, the sated expression on his face. Her body reacted instantly, a fresh dose of desire shivering through her veins which just intensified the frantic pounding of her heart.
Unable to stand it, she bounded out of the bed as if she’d just discovered a cockroach between the sheets.
“Jamie?”
Cole’s deep voice, tinged with caution, only succeeded in heightening her panic. Avoiding his eyes, she edged toward a doorway to the left, hoping it was a bathroom as she said, “I’m just going to get cleaned up.”
She hurried into the bathroom and closed the door behind her, then drew in a calming breath and moved toward the sink, where she splashed cold water on her flushed face.
Her reflection in the large mirror showed a woman who’d just been thoroughly satisfied, and she had to move her eyes away. Unfortunately her gaze landed on the black marble Jacuzzi Cole had told her about earlier, which just turned her on again as she pictured making love to Cole in that tub.
“Snap out of it. It was just sex,” she muttered to herself. “Chill out, Crawford.”
Her fretful brain clung to the reassurance. Just sex.
Fine, great sex.
All right, the best sex of her life.
She promptly bent down, cupped some more water between her palms and doused her face again. When she’d come to his room, she’d been fully prepared to sleep with him. She just hadn’t thought it would be so…explosive. Was that how sex always was? How it was supposed to be?
A soft knock rapped on the door. “Jamie?”
Shutting off the faucet, she took another long breath, then straightened her shoulders and opened the door. She found Cole standing there, as naked as she still was, and there was a knowing look in his eyes.
“You panicked,” he said frankly.
As her cheeks went hot, she crossed her arms over her chest to shield her bare breasts. “A little,” she admitted. “I…that was really good, Cole. Too good.”
“Is there such a thing?”
His gruff voice and the crooked smile he shot her chipped away at the alarm that had had been coating her throat.
She gave a rueful shake of the head. “I’m being silly, aren’t I?”
“No, just cautious,” he said softly. “And if I’m being honest, what happened between us just now got me a little scared too.”
“Really?”
He stepped toward her, gloriously nude and looking oddly vulnerable. “I’ve never had sex like that before. Intense…out of control…”
He trailed off, and the slight bewilderment in his husky voice banished the last of the worry from her body. Was there really any point in second-guessing herself now? She’d already given in to temptation and fallen into bed with the man. And sure, a relationship probably wasn’t in the cards, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t continue to explore this attraction for a bit longer.
Exhaling, she slowly uncrossed her arms and let them drop to her sides. Cole’s black eyes instantly dropped to her chest, leaving splotches of heat on her skin. Her nipples tightened painfully, and moisture gathered between her legs. Cole didn’t make a move toward her. He seemed content with simply looking, and after several long seconds, she groaned in frustration.
“Kiss me,” she ordered.
His mouth quirked. “Are you sure?”
Jamie sighed. “We might as well finish what we started.”
“I thought we already finished,” he said with the teasing tilt of his head.
“Then let’s start again.”
Before she could blink, he’d scooped her up in his powerful arms and was laying her down on the bed, his big body covering hers. Their mouths found each other, latching together in a kiss that left her hot and breathless.
She ran her fingers over his sinewy back, breathing in his familiar scent of spice, musk and soap. When his hand moved between her legs, she moaned, parting her thighs so he could tease her into oblivion. Pleasure gathered in her belly, dancing along her bare skin.
“Cole,” she choked out, reaching between them in search of his erection.
Her intentions were clear, but he ignored the unspoken plea. Instead, he slid down her body and placed his mouth on her aching core, officially stealing all coherent thought from her brain.
She fisted the silk sheets as he made love to her with his lips, his mouth, his tongue. The sensations were almost unbearable. As her muscles went taut and her moans grew more anxious, Cole promptly climbed back up, and then he was sliding inside her in one long, delicious thrust.
Jamie came apart, her entire world exploding as stars flashed in front of her closed eyelids. She clung to him, digging her fingers into his firm buttocks as he moved inside of her in a fast, crazy rhythm.
When her heartbeat regulated and the last ripples of release faded, she found him staring down at her with heavy-lidded eyes, his sexy mouth tilted in a pleased smile. She suddenly realized that he hadn’t climaxed, that he was still hard and throbbing inside her.
“You didn’t…” She groaned as he started to move again, igniting another spark of passion in her sated body.
“Nope,” he confirmed, answering the unfinished question.
His hips rolled, eliciting a sigh from her lips.
“Last time was too fast,” he added, his voice rough, his eyes glittering with arousal. “This time…” He pulled out, then thrust in again.
“This time what?” she squeezed out, dying from his sensual ministrations.
“This time I’m going to take it nice and slow, sweetheart.” His mouth brushed over hers in a fleeting kiss. “All night long.”
“I’m too tired to move,” Cole mumbled the next morning, burrowing his head under the covers. “Just call me when the coffee’s ready.”
Jamie burst out laughing. She was already dressed in a pair of blue cotton shorts and an old Duke University T-shirt, and for some reason, she was wide awake and feeling energized, despite the endless rounds of mind-blowing sex they’d indulged in last night. Apparently their time between the sheets achieved the opposite effect on Cole, who had so far resisted every effort she’d made to drag him out of bed.
“Come on,” she cajoled. “It’s a beautiful morning. Sun is shining, birds chirping. You’re missing out.”
“Stop being so damn chipper,” came his muffled voice. “I deserve some much needed rest after what you put my body through.”
She laughed again, but decided to give up. “Fine, I’ll go downstairs and make a pot of coffee. I’ll give you a shout when it’s ready.”
“Thank the Lord.” He proceeded to roll onto his side and pull the covers ov
er his head, effectively dismissing her.
Rolling her eyes, Jamie left the bedroom and headed down to the kitchen where she clicked on the coffee machine, then drifted to the patio door. It really was gorgeous out, the sky a cloudless blue and the sun high in the sky, its light reflecting off the sliding glass door. After pouring herself a cup of coffee, she reached for her purse, which she’d left on the kitchen counter, and rummaged around for her cell phone. With a steaming mug in one hand and her phone in the other, she stepped out on the cedar deck overlooking Cole’s backyard.
She inhaled the warm morning air, then sipped her coffee and admired the yard. It was enormous, large enough to house a swimming pool, but evidently Cole hadn’t wanted one. Not much of a swimmer?
Her chest went tight for a moment as she realized she really didn’t know much about the man whose bed she’d shared last night. He ran a real estate empire, built things with his own two hands, but what else? What did he do for fun? What books did he enjoy reading?
That she didn’t have the answers to those questions troubled her. What exactly was she doing here? And why did it bother her so much that she didn’t know every last detail about Cole? When she’d decided to act on her attraction, she’d told herself it would only be a fling, that for once in her life, she wanted to act on impulse instead of worrying about the consequences. But sleeping with him was one thing. Wanting to know him was an entirely different matter.
Setting her coffee on the wooden railing, she flipped open her phone and punched in Finn’s number, needing a distraction from her muddled thoughts. But when Finn answered, he sounded just as angry as he’d been yesterday at the clinic.
“Still alive, I see,” he said in lieu of a greeting.
Her jaw tensed. “Come on, Finn, there’s no need to be a jerk. I told you why I went with Cole.”
“Right—for his security system.”
She ignored the sarcasm dripping from his voice. “Would it kill you to admit that Cole is innocent?”
“And ignore the evidence against him?” He hurried on before she could protest. “Circumstantial, I know. But guess what, circumstantial evidence can still send a man to jail.”
Frustration curled around her spine, making her antsy. Descending the wide steps of the deck, she stepped barefoot onto the grass and began to pace, a habit that always reared its head when she was feeling particularly annoyed. “Joe Gideon saw Cole in the woods at the time Teresa was murdered. Cole didn’t kill her.”
“Then who the hell did?”
Her pacing intensified. “I don’t know,” she said in irritation. “It’s hard to come up with a profile when there’s absolutely nothing to go on. I told you already, our guy is—”
“Neat, analytical, reserved,” Finn cut in. “Yeah, I remember. But how exactly does that help us? We still have to find the bastard. Unless we already have, and you’re just refusing to admit it.”
“Cole didn’t do this,” she said through gritted teeth. “He couldn’t have.”
Why, because you’re sleeping with him?
She banished the mocking voice right out of her head, refusing to believe there was any truth to its taunt. She may have slept with Cole, but sex hadn’t completely wiped away her common sense. Or her professional instincts. Her gut was telling her that Cole had nothing to do with his ex-wife’s death. They just needed another suspect. Another clue. Anything that could help her make sense of this murder that seemed determined to remain unsolved.
She quit pacing, suddenly noticing just how far she’d walked from the house. Somehow she’d ended up a hundred yards away, near a cluster of trees with thick branches that swayed in the morning breeze.
“There has to be something we’re missing,” she said as she headed back in the direction of the house, the grass tickling her bare feet. “We just need to—”
A sharp crack suddenly exploded through the air and pain streaked through her shoulder!
With a cry, she stumbled forward. The phone fell out of her hand, landing on the grass, and she could hear Finn’s tinny voice yelling, “Jamie? Jamie?”
She touched her right shoulder, shocked when she lifted her hand and saw it was stained crimson.
Dear God, she’d been shot.
Chapter 12
Cole had been trudging down the stairs, rubbing the sleep from his eyes when he heard a loud boom. His spine instantly stiffened, adrenaline filling his veins as he realized the noise had sounded suspiciously like a gunshot.
A gunshot?
As his pulse raced off in a wild gallop, he sprinted to the kitchen. “Jamie?”
But the room was empty, and when he noticed the open sliding door he streaked through it, bursting onto the deck in time to see Jamie tumbling to the grass fifty yards away. She clutched her shoulder as she went down, and Cole fought a jolt of sheer panic.
The adrenaline spiked, propelling him into action. Without a solitary thought about his own well-being, he dashed toward Jamie, half expecting another shot to ring out and hit him in the chest.
He skidded to a stop in front of her, sinking onto his knees and launching himself at her. He got her flat on her back, shielding her with his own body as he moved his head from side to side to make sure nobody burst out of the trees. Moisture seeped into his shirt and his heart jumped in alarm when he looked down and noticed the blood pouring out of Jamie’s shoulder.
She’d been shot. Someone had shot her, on his goddamn property!
“Are you okay?” he demanded.
She nodded, looking dazed. “I’m fine. It was just a graze.”
“Just a graze?” he echoed in disbelief. “You were shot, Jamie! By a bullet!”
“Yeah, that’s usually what comes out of a gun.”
Her cavalier reply had him seeing stars. Maybe getting hit by a bullet was no major event to her, but to him, it was a freaking big deal!
He lifted his head again, scouting the area, but the woods at the edge of the yard were quiet, save for the soft rustling of the trees and the happy singing of the birds. The shooter must have positioned himself somewhere in the trees. The motion sensors only surrounded the house and the perimeter of the yard, but not beyond that, which meant that someone had been in the woods, watching the house.
Although Cole was loath to get up and risk the gunman taking another shot at them, Jamie was bleeding like a stuck pig beneath him. Maybe she was right and it was just a graze, but there was too much blood for his liking.
“Come on, we’ve got to get you inside,” he told her. “Keep your head down, okay?”
To his relief, she did as he asked, hunching over once they stood up. She had her hand clamped on her wound as they ran in the direction of the house. The sight of the sticky red blood marring her skin brought a rush of fury to his gut. The person responsible was going to pay for this. Cole would make certain of it.
“How’s the arm?” he asked urgently.
“It stings. But I’ve had worse.”
Fighting the urge to lift her into his arms and carry her the rest of the way, Cole squeezed her hand tighter, not once relaxing his grip until they were in the safety of his kitchen.
“Sit down,” he barked. “I’ll get the first-aid kit.” He paused in the doorway. “On second thought, I’ll drive you to the clinic.”
“No way,” she grumbled. “Just get the damned kit.”
When he returned to the kitchen a minute later, Jamie had taken off her T-shirt. She wore only a snug black sports bra and she’d slid down the right strap so it didn’t constrict her shoulder.
A lump of terror lodged in Cole’s throat. Blood was caked on her golden skin. He had to wonder if the shooter had aimed for the arm, or simply missed Jamie’s head, or heart or whatever the intended target had been. Either way, Cole swallowed down the terror, along with a dose of relief that she was alive.
She didn’t make a single sound as he cleaned up the wound, not even when he dumped a generous amount of iodine on her skin to sterilize the laceration.
He knew it must have stung like hell, but Jamie didn’t even twitch.
After he’d cleaned it, Cole examined her shoulder, realizing she was right. The bullet had only grazed her skin, leaving a nasty-looking burn and taking off some skin. He quickly bandaged up the area, then walked over to the sink to wash his hands.
“Cole” came her hesitant voice.
He turned around slowly. “Don’t say it’s no big deal.”
“I wasn’t going to. I was just going to suggest we call Finn. Though he’s probably on his way over. I was on the phone with him when the shot rang out.”
“I’m already on it,” Cole said as he reached for the cordless phone on the counter.
“Good.” She finally winced, revealing the first flash of pain and discomfort he’d seen since she was shot. “And maybe you can grab those painkillers from upstairs. I think I might actually need them this time.”
He knew admitting any weakness was probably a strain for her, so he decided to bite back the urge to order her to lie down or something. She didn’t seem to have any intention of getting off the chair and he decided to give her that. As he headed upstairs to get the pain pills, he dialed Finnegan’s number, and when he reentered the kitchen a minute later, Jamie was where he’d left her, the elbow of her good arm propped up on the table. “Did you call Finn?”
“Yeah. You were right. He was already on his way,” Cole reported as he got her a glass of water.
He handed her the water and two painkillers, which she swallowed without any objection. It was only after she drained the glass and leaned back in the chair that Cole finally let himself relax. The adrenaline racing through his blood slowly dissipated, leaving him numb and unbelievably angry with himself. He’d been supposed to keep her safe, keep her protected. Someone had cut her brakes the day before, for chrissake. He should have locked her in the damn house. Refused to let her out of his sight.
He stared at her in dismay. She looked small and fragile sitting there in nothing but a sports bra and those little blue shorts, with her red hair coming out of her ponytail. A smudge of dirt marred her silky cheek, and there were grass stains on her knees. He wanted to take her into his arms and never let her go, which was almost as disturbing as the fact that she’d just been shot on his property.