Desire Unleashed (26 page)

Shane pulled her to her feet. “If we’re done here, I’ve got a deadline to meet.”

Kathy looked to the detective who nodded his consent. “I think we’ve gone about as far as we can go at this stage, I’ll be in touch if there are any further developments, if not I’ll call you Tuesday with the DNA results,” McKenzie said as he escorted them out of the building.

* * * *

Ice calculated the hours left before he had to be at the base, if he played his cards right there’d be just enough time to grab something to eat, inform the guys of the change of venue, and say a proper good-bye to Kathy.

She was subdued in the car ride back to the apartment. He picked up her unsettled vibes and tried his best to reassure her.

“Home at last babe, I’ve got steaks and eggs in the fridge, how about I make some fries to go with them while you put your feet up with a glass of wine and watch the TV?”

“I’d rather keep busy, I’ll cook dinner and you do what you have too.”

“If that’s what you want Kat, you get started while I go pack.” Ice readily agreed, the packing and telephone call wouldn’t take long, and then he could lend a hand with dinner giving them a bit extra time for that special good-bye.

By the time they’d finished their meal and tidied up, he was more than ready to usher Kathy to the bedroom, and she was just as eager to go.

Conscious of the time constraints, they stripped each other in record time and fell into bed. His cock was already primed as he rolled her beneath him, but he wanted to make sure that she was too. As his mouth found hers, he reached down between them then swallowed a grin. Her pussy juices were flowing. His fingers found her clit, and he rubbed it till she begged him to take her. He dressed his cock and entered her. She moaned her pleasure, and he rode her hard and fast. She clawed his back and met him thrust for thrust until they both climaxed together. It was exhilarating and left him hungry for more, but he was out of time.

They were freshening up when Ice heard a knock at the door. “That’ll be Havoc,” he said as he stepped out of the shower, and securing a towel around his waist went to let him in.

“Right on time.” Ice said, checking his watch and stood aside to let Havoc pass.

“Howzit goin’ mate?”

“Mug shots were a no go, so back to square one. Take a seat while I get dressed.” Ice disappeared but returned less than five minutes later. “Slight change of plans, Kat feels more comfortable staying at her place, and I figured what the heck.”

Havoc cocked a brow, a slow grin spread across his face. “Whatever you say, boss.”

“She needs to feel in control, that asshole really unnerved her,” he justified his reasoning to the big Australian.

“As you say mate, here or there makes no never mind, but rest assured, nobody will get to her on my watch,” Havoc vowed with his hand on his heart.

Kathy emerged from the bathroom, her hair damp from the shower and wearing the aura of a woman who had just been thoroughly fucked. Wispy curls framed her face, sweat pants clung to her ass, and a white T-shirt strained across her breasts. Ice watched her come forward, glowing and sexy, and was aware of exactly what Havoc would be thinking.

“Hi Havoc.” She sent him a sweet smile. “Thanks for giving up your time to watch out for me, I’m sure you’ve got better things you could be doing.”

“It’s my pleasure, it’s always good to have an intelligent woman to shoot the breeze with, and I’ll enjoy the company. Besides, if I wasn’t here with you I’d be hanging with Wolf or Hawk, and believe me love, I much prefer to be looking at your pretty face than their ugly mugs.”

Kathy gave him a cheeky grin. “I think you’re just being kind, but thank you anyway.”

“I’ve brought along some of my special stash of Australian chocolate, you’ll love it I guarantee, it’s sooo so good.” Havoc smacked his lips and held up the chocolate bars like a prize.

“Careful Kathy, next he’ll be trying to force feed you Vegemite.”

“Hey, don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.”

“Chocolate, mm my favorite thing, that’s so sweet of you, Havoc.”

“I’ve brought DVD’s from my collection too, a chic flick, a comedy and a horror. I thought we could veg out on the lounge, stuff our faces and kill some time that way.”

“Great, what did you get?”

“
The Notebook,
it’s a bit of a tear jerker,
The Castle,
a typical Aussie comedy that I thought you might enjoy, and I even grabbed a horror of the shelf,
The Ring
. I wasn’t sure what you’d like, so I got a selection, your choice of course but we don’t have to watch any if you’ve got something else in mind.”

“No, you’ve won me,
The Castle
sounds fun and every girl loves a love story,
The Notebook
is one of my favorites, and I’ve been wanting to see
The Ring
like forever, but was too scared to watch it alone. Hey, why don’t we do a movie marathon and watch all three. There’s a bottle of wine chilling and I can make popcorn, we can dim the lights and if it gets too scary, I’ll have you to hold on to.”

Prickles rose up Ice’s spine as Kathy gushed in her sexy Southern drawl. He reined in his anger, but when he saw her all aglow with gratitude for the silver tongued Aussie, the rein slipped. “Hell, this isn’t a damn date,” he thundered, startling the other two. “As nice and cozy as Havoc’s plans are for the two of you Kat, he’s here to do a job, so can you get it together and hurry things along. I want to see you settled in your apartment before I have to leave for my flight.”

“Good Lord Shane, what’s got into you?” Kathy glowered at him. “You’ve got nothing to be jealous about—I’m only doing what you asked. You’re embarrassing me and being unreasonable to Havoc, he’s given up his free time to fall in with your plans, so I think he deserves a little more consideration than this.”

Kathy gave him a much deserved dressing down. Hell, he was acting crazy. Heat burned up his neck and with a thunderous face he glared at Havoc, whose Cheshire Cat grin was firmly fixed in place.

“Sorry babe, I know you’d never play me false.”
Play me false?
Geezus, did that crap just come out of his mouth? “Come on, we’ve really got to make a move,” he made the excuse, transferring his gaze to his watch.

Kathy took his hand, and he led her next door, the big smug Aussie following in their wake. She unlocked her apartment and stood aside, enabling Havoc to give it the once over while Kathy and he said their good-byes.

“I’d better be off then,” he muttered after kissing her good-bye. “I’ll be back Tuesday night.”

As he turned to leave, Kathy stroked the line of his jaw with her fingertips. “I miss you already.”

His chest tightened, he didn’t want to leave her. The boys would take this assignment seriously, and she would be in safe hands, but that didn’t stop him from feeling that he was deserting her.

Ice dragged her to him and lifted her off her feet, molding her to the length of his body. “Promise me you won’t take any chances babe—just allow the guys to do their job okay?”

“I promise.” Her eyes glistened.

“I’ll be back before you know it.” He brushed his lips across hers one last time. Over her shoulder, he could see Havoc watching from the living room and gave him the nod.

Havoc was astute and strode over, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Come on Kathy, let’s put on a DVD and eat chocolate, this big
galah
will be back before we’ve even had time to miss him.”

“Bye Shane.” Her lips quivered as she gazed up at him.

“Look after her Havoc.” Ice closed the door and left the building. He would have to hurry now to reach the plane on time.

* * * *

Kathy and Havoc settled down to watch the DVD’s and the evening passed pleasantly. Havoc was an easygoing, likeable man, well-read and well-traveled. His mom was a Texan and his dad Australian. Together they’d had three kids, but when his dad died, his mom moved the family back to the States. He clammed up after that, and she thought there must be a bit of a mystery there, but he was reluctant to say more, and she was reluctant to pry.

It was late when they called it a night. Kathy showed Havoc to the spare room and went to her own. As she settled beneath the sheets, her last thought before drifting off was that she no longer liked sleeping alone.

The next morning, Hawk arrived bright and early with fresh bagels and banana muffins for breakfast. They looked delicious, but Kathy, feeling a little queasy, had to beg off. She hoped she wasn’t coming down with anything.

After breakfast, Havoc left, leaving Hawk in charge, but promising to return Sunday night for his next shift. Hawk suggested they go jogging, but because she wasn’t feeling up to scratch, they decided to give it a miss and instead filled in their time playing board games, reading the papers, listening to CDs, and chatting. Hawk was also easy to talk to, not shy or gauche as she’d first thought. He even confided he was seeing a new woman who was several years older than he.

As the morning stretched into late afternoon Kathy suggested a walk to the French bakery. They were both fed up with being indoors, so sipping cappuccinos and shooting the breeze, Hawk agreed, was a pleasant way to spend an hour.

Kathy had just finished her second cup when Hawk got to his feet.

“Wolf will be arriving soon, time we made a move,” he said.

When they arrived back at her place, Wolf was indeed there, cell in hand. “I was just about to call.”

“Sorry Wolf, I hope we haven’t kept you waiting long.” Kathy apologized for both of them as she turned the key in the lock.

“Nah, I just arrived and I’m a bit early, I thought I’d cook dinner.” He held up the bag of ingredients.

Hawk shouldered his way into the apartment, opening doors and peering into closets before giving the all clear. “What’s on the menu?” he wanted to know.

“Chili Con Carne.”

“Heck, too bad I gotta go.” Hawk looked genuinely disappointed. One thing she’d learned about Hawk was that he loved to eat.

“Wolf makes the best darn chili I’ve ever tasted,” Hawk clarified as he haphazardly stuffed his gear into a duffle bag. “There’s nothing to report, all’s quiet,” he added before taking his leave.

“She must be one hot mama for the kid to pass up my chili.” Wolf hedged, angling for a confession, but she remained non-committal about Hawk’s love life.

Wolf’s chili was every bit as good as Hawk claimed, and the dinner conversation was enlightening. Wolf was different from the other men—they talked, he questioned. He had a devil-may-care attitude combined with an aloofness that made him very hard to read. “Do you have brothers or sisters?” she inquired in an attempt to draw him out.

“I have a sister, Loretta. She’s just a kid, much younger than me.” Wolf’s face lit up when he spoke of her.

“How old is she?”

“Almost twenty-one.”

“That’s hardly a kid, Wolf.”

“I’ve been responsible for her since she was ten, so I guess she’ll always be a kid to me.” Wolf didn’t elaborate further, instead he skillfully steered the conversation away from personal issues by challenging her to a game of Scrabble.

“You’re on,” she agreed getting the board from the cupboard. The game was well underway when the first interruption came with the phone running hot. It was Olive Green returning her call. She’d left a message earlier thanking Oliver for her assistance. Olive, in turn, wanted to check on her. When the second call interrupted their game, Wolf reached for the handset.

*

“Ms. Bellamy’s answering service.”

There was only a slight pause before a female voice came back with a curt, “Who’s that?”

“It’s me, who’s that?” he countered, with a smile in his voice.

‘”This is Liz speaking, I’m Kathy’s friend, who are you?”

“I’m Zach, and I’m Kathy’s friend too.”

“May I speak with her?”

“Certainly, she’s right here on the couch snuggled up next to me, I’ll put her on.” He passed Kathy the phone. “I’ll make us some coffee,” he offered, standing up and walking to the kitchen to give her some privacy.

“No, he’s just a friend … there’s nothing
to
tell.”

Overhearing Kathy’s end of the conversation, Wolf chuckled as he spooned instant coffee into two mugs. It was plain Liz was tenaciously quizzing Kathy. He could hear the exasperation in her voice as she answered Liz’s questions.

“You are the nosiest lawyer, if you must know I’ve been seeing Shane… I was going to tell you … next time I saw you if we were still together.”

“No, he’s Shane’s friend … yes, very cute.”

Wolf’s lips curved upward, he’d never heard himself described as cute before.

“No, he’s away … that’s none of your business.”

The kettle shrilled, making any further eavesdropping impossible. Wolf placed the coffee, along with a couple of tempting muffins, on a tray and carried it through to the living room.

“I’ll call you next week.” He heard Kathy say before she hung up. “Well, that’s one mystery solved. Ian was here last week on business. He wasn’t in touch because he had my old phone number. I knew there’d be a logical explanation.”

Wolf gave her a bland look and handed her the coffee. If that’s what she wanted to believe, fine. But he wasn’t buying it just yet.

Helping himself to a muffin, he dropped to the rug. Kathy joined him on the floor, and they continued their game. An hour later with two games finished the score was one all.

Kathy stifled a yawn for the second time in as many minutes. “Do you want to make it best out of three?” she asked.

“I think it’s time you hit the sack,” he said, getting to his feet and pulling Kathy to hers.

“Are you going to turn in too?”

“Nah, if you don’t mind I’ll watch the box for a while.”

“Be my guest. I’ll say good night then.”

“Yeah, see you in the morning.”

* * * *

Sunday dawned bright and sunny. The aroma of bacon and eggs wafting from the kitchen had her mouth watering and her stomach growling as Kathy threw back the covers and popped out of bed. It was Frosty’s turn for duty today, and with Sarah due any tick of the clock, they’d probably just be hanging around the house, so jeans and a T-shirt were a safe bet.