Dying to Tell (37 page)

In spite of the heat rolling off the house, a chill engulfed her.

Someone had tried to kill her tonight.

I warned you
, the man had said.

Then he’d knocked her out and left her there to die.

Jake met the paramedics as they arrived and directed them to Sadie while he watched the firefighters work to extinguish the flames. Given the wind, saving the main house was futile; so they focused on containing the blaze and preventing the fire from spreading to the guesthouse and woods beyond.

“Sadie was assaulted before the fire started, so consider this a crime scene,” Jake told the lead firefighter. “We need to know the point of origin, what type of accelerant was used, and I want the debris searched for evidence.”

“I’ll alert the chief to get in touch with our arson investigator ASAP,” the firefighter said.

Jake thanked him, then walked over to check on Sadie. “How is she?” he asked the medic.

“I’m fine,” Sadie said, pushing away the oxygen mask the medic had placed on her face.

A female who introduced herself as Judy offered him a smile. “She inhaled some smoke, but her lungs sound clear.”

“How about the cut?”

“A butterfly bandage should do it, although she’ll probably have a headache tonight.”

“I told you I was okay,” Sadie said.

Jake crossed his arms. “You should go to the hospital for observation.”

“I don’t need a hospital,” Sadie said in a tone that brooked no argument. “I have to be here in case Amelia shows up.”

Jake made a low sound in his throat. He understood her concerns. Burying their grandfather today had to have been painful. And if Amelia was coherent enough to realize what had happened, tonight she would want to be with Sadie.

But Sadie broke into a coughing spell again, and she looked so damn pale against the soot streaking her face that he didn’t want to take any chances. For God’s sake, when he thought he was going to lose her in that fire, it had scared him senseless.

“Stay with her for a few more minutes,” Jake told the medics. “Then if she’s breathing normally, you can go.”

The next two hours passed in a blur as he helped the firefighters extinguish the last embers. A light rain began to fall, aiding in the task, and finally the firefighters packed up. The arson investigator was supposed to come in the morning to examine the scene.

Jake marked it off as a crime scene, knowing he had to stay close by in case Sadie’s assailant returned.

Not that he would have left her anyway. She had almost died tonight...

After the paramedics drove away, Jake helped Sadie into the guesthouse.

Her legs trembled as they entered, the sight of her sister’s gory, manic paintings a reminder of her troubled mental state.

“I have to shower off the smoke,” Sadie said, then she quickly disappeared into the bathroom. Jake phoned Gigi to explain that
he had to keep watch over Sadie during the night in case her attacker returned.

The shower water kicked on, and images of Sadie naked, water sluicing over her body, taunted him. Then he heard her crying, and guilt slammed into him.

What kind of man was he, lusting after her when she’d just suffered a trauma? Not only had she been attacked, but she’d buried her grandfather and lost her home in the same day.

He paced the living room, studying the pieces of art while he waited. Anything to distract him from Sadie’s sorrow and the fact that he wanted to go to her and comfort her more than ever.

One of the paintings was a childlike sketch done in crayons, depicting two little girls holding hands. In the next one, a black wall had been drawn, dividing them.

Another drawing showed one of the little girls locked in a small room that looked like a box. She had scribbled the words to the childhood rhyme, “Take the key and lock her up, lock her up, lock her up...,” below the picture.

He moved on, to a charcoal drawing that was so morbid and so real that it made his skin crawl. This one was of a graveyard, but the grave had been exhumed, and a shadowy figure stood like a ghost, looking out at the river.

The water shut off, and he willed himself to be strong. He was here to protect Sadie, nothing more.

But when she left the bathroom and entered the room wearing nothing but a big terry-cloth robe, her damp hair tangled around her shoulders, she looked so lost and vulnerable and alone that he walked toward her.

“Sadie?” He tilted her chin up with the pad of his thumb, and his heart lurched at the need and want reflected in her eyes.

He had loved her with all his heart ten years ago.

Hell, he had never stopped loving her.

She had left because of her tormented family, and now had returned to be drawn into their drama again.

The image of her lying unconscious on that floor with flames billowing around her zapped through him, and he couldn’t fight his feelings any longer.

Someone had almost killed her tonight.

Had almost taken her from him forever.

A lone tear trickled down her cheek, and he wiped it away with his finger, then dragged her into his arms and held her. The feel of her slender body pressed against his and the low murmur she emitted brought all his senses alive, reminding him of how she’d felt years ago and how much he’d missed her, and he lowered his head and closed his mouth over hers.

Sadie had never wanted anything more than she wanted to be with Jake. Ten years ago, when she’d walked away, she had left her heart here with him.

It had always belonged to Jake, and it always would.

She threaded her fingers through his hair, pulled him closer, and kissed him with all the passion pent up inside her.

“Sadie...,” Jake whispered. “We shouldn’t do this—you’re hurt.”

She shook her head in denial. “Please, Jake, I need you tonight.” Even as she spoke the words, guilt clawed at her.

But for once, she pushed it away. She would deal with it later.

She had almost died tonight, and she couldn’t tear herself away from his arms. They deserved one night together again—didn’t they?

Yes, they had both been hurt, had both suffered. They had to live in the moment.

So she parted her lips and moaned as his tongue slid in to dance with hers. He teased her with his loving, his big hands sliding down to cup her bottom and pull her up against him. She felt the thick bulge of his arousal pressing against her heat, and desire fluttered inside her.

Jake walked her backward toward the bedroom, his lips blazing a trail along her throat. She whispered his name in a plea for more, raking her hands over his muscled shoulders, then downward to tear at his shirt.

His breath fanned her skin in an erotic rush as he emitted a hungry moan against her throat. An ache burned deep within her, and she pressed a kiss to his chest, sighing as he slid his fingers inside her robe and slipped it off her shoulders.

Cool air brushed her skin, and her nipples hardened to stiff peaks as his gaze skated over her.

“I’d forgotten how beautiful you are,” he whispered.

And she’d forgotten how wonderful it felt to be held and loved.

And love her he did.

He lowered his mouth and closed his lips over one turgid peak, suckling her until she buckled and cried out his name. Then he pushed her onto the bed, stripped off her robe, and traced his fingers and mouth over every inch of her.

Sadie returned the favor, kissing him with all her heart and opening to him as he climbed on top of her. He caressed her breasts, suckling her again, then planted kisses along her abdomen and thighs as he parted her legs and plunged his tongue inside her heat.

But Sadie was hungry for more. She flipped him onto his back and rose above him, her breasts swaying, teasing his chest, as she lowered her head and planted erotic kisses all over his mouth and jaw, then down his chest.

“Sadie...,” Jake groaned.

She didn’t stop though. She had craved Jake for so long that she wanted to taste every inch of him. His bronzed chest was muscular, the fine hair dusting it so soft that she raked her fingers through it, then lowered her hand to cup his sex.

He was hard and big, throbbing in her hands, and she wanted him inside her, filling her, loving her, remembering how good they were together.

Wanting her as desperately as he had back then.

Another groan erupted from deep in his throat, and he threaded his hands through her hair and wound his legs around hers.

Sensations pummeled her. She raked her hands across his chest, then licked her way down his belly.

His sex hardened in her hand, and he thrust himself toward her, then moaned as she trailed kisses down his thighs, then flicked her tongue over his thick length.

Jake grabbed her arms and threw her on her back, a guttural groan of pleasure rumbling from him before he told her that was enough.

Then he climbed on top of her, kissed her so deeply that she thought her heart might explode. She was trying to catch her breath when he dipped his head, pushed her legs apart, and thrust his tongue into her soft folds.

Sadie had only known such exquisite pleasure at Jake’s ministrations. And Jake remembered exactly what she liked, the slow flick of his tongue along her inner thighs, the gentle strokes, the mind-numbing feel of his tongue swirling against her skin, teasing and torturing her until she thought she was going to come.

She curled her hands into his hair, erotic sensations assaulting her as he greedily loved her. Another flick of his tongue against her core, and her body convulsed, shuddering with sweet relief as her orgasm rippled through her.

One delicious sensation followed another, and then he rose above her and cupped her face in his hands. “Sadie, I—”

“Just love me,” she whispered. “Please, I need you tonight, Jake.”

Jake’s heated gaze met hers, and a smile tilted his handsome face, then he thrust himself inside her. She arched her back and cried out his name again as he filled her and took her to oblivion.

Jake made love to Sadie over and over during the night. It had been so long since he’d touched her, kissed her, held her, that he never wanted to let her go.

Sadie seemed just as eager to make love with him as he was to keep her in bed. Her skin seemed softer, her body more in tune with his touches, her womanly curves even more perfect as she nestled in his arms.

“I missed you,” Jake whispered against her ear. “I’ve missed this.”

Sadie curled into him. “I missed you too.”

He nibbled at her neck. “When you left, I didn’t know what to do.”

Sadie tensed slightly. “Jake, please, can we not talk about the past tonight? Let’s just enjoy holding each other.”

He hugged her tighter. “I do love holding you.” And this time he wanted it to last. But Sadie obviously wasn’t ready for promises.

She traced her finger down his abdomen, pausing to run a finger over the scar that stretched across his belly. “What happened here?”

“I joined the military after you left town,” Jake said, remembering that dark time. “Got injured on a recon mission and was given a medical discharge.”

“What branch were you in?”

“The marines. I thought it would bring me closer to my dad, that I might find out what happened to him through some of his contacts.”