Cat 'N Mouse (19 page)

Uncertainty flashed in her eyes as she moved closer to him. Sam let out an uneven breath when her hand reached out and caressed his chest, slowly traveling down the length of his body, smiling.

In one swift movement, he pulled her hard against his chest and kissed her. Hard. It was meant as a punishment, but she met his kiss with the same intensity. He couldn’t get enough of her and wanted more.

Sam ran his hand down the length of her body, stroking her exposed leg, pulling the snaps and bows holding the dress together. The dress fell away leaving her naked. He jerked back. A centerfold had nothing on her.

“I can’t believe you wore that in public,” he growled looking at the laced material at her feet. “Where is your bra and underwear?”

“It’s built into the dress,” she replied kissing his chest.

“Easy access for pretty boy, is that it?” He was jealous and didn’t bother to hide it.

“I didn’t wear it for Damien.” She ran her hand down his chest smiling up at him and his stomach muscles tightened under her slow caress. Her hand found the snap at the waist of his jeans and undid it. Pulling the zipper down, slowly pushing her hand inside, she smiled up at him as she touched him and he gasped. “It wasn’t Damien I had imagined taking it off of me. It’s not Damien I want to touch. It’s you.”

Sam combed his hand through her silky black curls letting it cascade down her shoulders. He guided her back onto the bed. She pulled him down on top of her. Her lips met his again in hungry, biting kisses. She was in a rush, but there was no rushing him, not tonight. He had waited too long for this and he would savor every moment.

He held her head between his hands as he slowed the tempo, planting butterfly kisses on her eyelids. When he found her mouth again, he pressed soft kisses against her lips and she opened so their tongues could mingle and dance. Working his way down her neck, he kissed behind her ear, held the delicate lobe between his teeth and sucked. He loved the feel and taste of her skin, the sounds she made as she writhed beneath him.

She pulled at his jeans. “One of us is entirely overdressed for this party.”

He rolled off her and replied, “What are you going to do about it, Princess?”

With her teeth biting into her bottom lip, he watched as she straddled his hip. He raised his hips and she pulled his pants over his hips, but it was taking far too long. He flipped her on her back and kicked off his pants and his underwear followed.

Her eyes were dark, intense, full of fire and she gave herself over to him. She trusted him to guard her body. Now she trusted him with her heart and that trust overwhelmed him. It also scared him because he was only living in the moment. And at this very moment, he wanted her more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life.

He kissed her neck down to her shoulder. His tongue made circles around one breast then the other, taking each into his mouth. He smiled at her while he kissed along her arm. Her muscles flexed under his delicate touch. Kissing each finger individually he then clasped her hands around his neck.

“You’ve long beautiful fingers,” he murmured against her lips. He trailed butterfly kisses along her stomach dipping his tongue into her navel causing her to shiver.

He continued his sensual exploration with his lips along her inner thighs then down her legs.

“You’ve beautiful legs.”

“Mmmm. Legs. Beautiful….”

A
lexandria’s body became alive and more responsive with every touch as Sam claimed her body. She was incoherent and her breath came in short gasps when she felt his tongue against her ankle. It was the most erotic thing she had ever experienced. At that point, the world tilted on its axis and she was lost. Sam lifted one leg gently kissing behind her knee, nibbling at the sensitive flesh and then sliding his hand slowly along the full length of her leg. He proceeded to kiss her toes, one by one.

She was floating and wanted more. Fulfillment only he could give. Her toes curled in anticipation as he moved upward, leaving no part of her body untouched. Each caress pushed her over the edge and she spiraled toward ecstasy. She dug her nails in his shoulders and felt when he released her grip.

Alexandria moaned with pleasure. Her head moving from side to side against the pillow while the muscles in her stomach clenched as waves of spasms shook her. Sam found the sweet spot she’d only read about. Good girls didn’t let men do these things to you—that’s what Sister Mary Elizabeth had said.

Sam played her body as a musician would play a finely tuned instrument he’d played for years. Her hands tugged at his shoulders, still wanting more. He reached up to kiss her then abruptly rolled away and reached for his jeans on the floor.

“No!” Panic rose up inside but she smiled when he fished out a silver packet from his jeans pocket.

“Now…where were we?” He kissed her on the tip of her breast.

“I believe you were about to make my toes curl.”

They became one, dancing to the tune of love, both moving in unison, and she didn’t want it to end. It was the ultimate roller coaster ride and when it reached the peak, she cried out his name and hung onto him.

When the ride came to a halt, it left them both breathless with Alexandria clinging to him. Her hair was a tangled mess when he folded her in his arms, combing his fingers through it, staring up at the ceiling.

“That was incredible,” Alexandria said with a smile, running her hand along his right thigh, his body slick with perspiration. She encountered a scar and halted her caress, lifting the sheet to see. “What’s this?” She fingered the scar and he stiffened, pushing her hand away.

Sam rolled away sitting on the edge of the bed, his elbows on his knees and she knew what was coming next. His playful smile and the passion they’d shared a few moments ago disappeared. The tension that seemed to be the driving force between them returned.

“This shouldn’t have happened.”

With that sentence, he shattered the fragile truce they had forged with their lovemaking. It felt like someone had thrown cold water in her face.

“Sam, don’t do this, please,” she begged. Tears stung her eyes.

She stopped him with a hand on his shoulder because she didn’t want him to leave. Not yet. She didn’t want him to be alone. He turned his head over his shoulder and met her eyes as he stepped into his jeans.

Emotionally he had already left. She was alone once again.

•  •  •

Sam didn’t look back at Alexandria as he opened the door, or when he closed it behind him and headed for his room.

He heard the sadness and plea in her voice when she’d called out to him. Yet, he still left her. He’d hurt her and she didn’t deserve it. At that moment, he knew he was the biggest idiot that ever walked the planet, but he couldn’t go back to her, not after that huge mistake. And it was a mistake. This was not what he was hired to do. This was a job. Maybe if he kept repeating it, he would eventually believe it.

When did it start becoming more than a job? When the bastard tried to run them off the road and almost succeeded. When he discovered that Princess was not the woman he thought she was. When he discovered that something was happening between them. All of the above.

He had told himself that Alexandria was off limits. Period. But when he’d seen her at the club common sense flew right out the window.

What happened? One minute he wanted to strangle her for putting her life in danger and for scaring him half to death, the next he was all over her like a horny teenager.

He’d racked his brain trying to figure out why she snuck out to see her ex and had gotten his answer. She was reaching out to him and what did he do? Jump in front of a moving train.

I didn’t wear it for Damien…it wasn’t Damien I had imagined taking it off me.

Sam had stepped away from reality indulging in a fantasy he had no right to. It was a fantasy all right. He had nothing to offer Princess. She was way out of his league. But for a brief moment he’d considered it while he made love to her. He had never experienced anything so sweet, never wanted anyone so much. He drew in a deep breath and could smell her soft musk on his skin.

What would life be with her? Then she’d asked about the scar left by the gunshot wound. It opened a floodgate of memories that he had managed to keep buried.

All was well with his life before the shooting. He was on the fast track. When he was assigned a case he left no stone unturned until he solved it. Then everything changed. A child shot him, then the hospital stay followed by rehab and he had fallen into a dark hole.

Since he’d never allowed himself to reach out to anyone, didn’t want anyone before he’d gotten shot, he’d fallen in so deep and couldn’t climb out. When he did manage to climb out that hole, he became content with living by himself, not wanting anything more than casual encounters.

“Not anymore,” he mumbled to himself as he dropped onto the bed. Princess had changed that. She made him want to—

His cellphone rang interrupting his rambling thoughts and he rolled over to grab it from the night table.

“O’Malley.”

“She belongs to me.”

Sam sprung up out of the bed and tore out into the hallway looking around. Alexandria’s bedroom door was still closed. He did a sweep of the living room and checked the front door to ensure it was still locked. The alarm was still activated.

“Who is this?” Sam stopped at the kitchen counter and grabbed the cordless, dialing Matt’s number. He put the phone on speaker turning down the volume as it rang, waiting for Matt to pick up.

“You didn’t make her happy,” the angry voice boomed in his ear. He didn’t recognize it. “Only I can make her happy.”

“She doesn’t want you though, does she?”

The dead silence on the other end of the line made Sam’s pulse race. It occurred to him that bastard was spying on them somehow. The creep had eyes in the condo. The bedroom? Why wasn’t Matt picking up?

“I’m going to kill you and let her watch,” he hissed and slammed the phone down.

“Why is he doing this?” Sam turned and saw Alexandria. Tears shimmered in her eyes, clutching at the belt of the long white silk robe.

“Hello?” It was Matt on the landline.

“Did you get that? He’s got cameras in here. How soon can you get here? Okay, see you in half an hour.”

Sam hung up the phone with Matt. “Stay in the living room,” he said and raced into Alexandria’s bedroom. It had to be some kind of transmitting device. That’s how he knew they were together.

His eyes slowly scanned the room from the crumpled sheets to the telltale condom wrapper on the floor. He bent to pick it up and caught her eyes as he straightened up.

“What are you looking for? Oh… I guess we wouldn’t want Matt to see that.”

“No.” Sam shook his head. “The phone call, he knew we were together. There’s got to be some kind of transmitting device.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Remember when you told me you couldn’t find the pair of diamond earrings your father gave you?”

“You said you found them in the kitchen.”

“I found them in your cordless phone where the battery is located a long with a bug.”

“A bug? I don’t understand.”

“He’s listening in on your conversation. Why he would put the earrings in your phone I don’t know. I removed the bug, but it appears he can see you as well.”

“Oh my God. He’s been here all this time. Last night…”

Her eyes pooled with tears. She was about to fall apart and he didn’t want her to do that. He couldn’t handle that right now and decided to put her to work.

“Check everything over on the dresser, picture frames, and that stuffed animal.”

“The teddy bear? My mom gave that to me when…” her voice trailed off. She started to tremble.

“Sweetheart, I need you with me. It could be anywhere. We need to find it.”

Sam watched her as she moved toward the dresser like a robot. He left her to the task knowing that she wouldn’t find any thing but he had to keep her busy.

He started high up. Light fixtures, pictures hanging from the walls then the ceiling fan. Nothing.

She finished and stood staring at him. The lost look was still on her face. Damn that bastard. Every time she made a step forward. He was there to push her back into fear. He wasn’t going to let that happen anymore. If there were some kind of device in the room, he would find it.

Laying back on the bed, he rolled to the right, left and then center. Bingo. He spotted the air vent on the wall, directly across from the bed and about three inches from the ceiling. The bastard had a bird’s eye view of the bed and was certainly entertained last night. The fact that he’d seen them naked had set the stalker off. Sam got up slowly and headed for the door. It had to be a small recording device.

“Come on.”

“What is it?” She followed his eyes, looking toward the vent.

Someone knocked at the door and she jumped. He hurried to his bedroom for his gun, and she was right behind him when he exited the bedroom.

“Wait here.”

•  •  •

“Whoever it was is long gone,” Matt said when he entered Alexandria’s bedroom after a trip to the unit above.

Matt glanced at the door before he pulled the device out of his pocket. A camera was attached to a long wiry tube that went up through the concrete to the ceiling above. Sam had taken it from the vent after Alexandria left the bedroom.

“According to building management, the unit had been vacant for the last six months. He must have taken off after making the call,” Matt said.

“Or made it after he left.”

“Maybe,” Matt said. He shrugged out of his jacket, walking over to the uncovered vent.

“Why go through all of this trouble? It doesn’t make sense,” Sam said thinking out loud. He started pacing the floor, then stopped. “How did he know the unit above was vacant? It has to be someone that works in the building or live on that floor, don’t you think?”

“Before he was just following her, spooking her. Then all of a sudden he’s running you off the road and issuing death threats?”