Freaky by Nature (18 page)

“That’s it, sweetheart,” he m urm ured. “You’re close.”

Holly opened her ey es and gav e him a heated sm ile. The fire

now ignited between them burnt out of control.

Brett lowered his head to one breast, rolled the nipple across

his lips, sucked it into his m outh, and then bit down on the tender

flesh.

Holly gasped.

He introduced another finger to the assault between her legs.

Holly ’s body blazed. Her nerv e endings tingled like Fourth of

July sparklers, zapping ev ery single m uscle in her body . Her ey es

fluttered open and she allowed herself a long, hard look at the m an

responsible for her intense response.

Violet stripes of sensuality twisted them selv es around Brett’s

body , and suddenly turned to passionate sapphire blue as he

pleasured her. Her body pulsed one last tim e and she scream ed his

nam e as her orgasm claim ed her.

“Yeah,” Brett whispered across her ear, “just like that.”

He continued to pet her, m urm uring sweet nothings as she

floated back to her senses. “Wow.”

Brett slid his fingers free and then clim bed on top of her.

His cock nudged her entrance. “Can’t wait, baby .” He placed a

kiss to her forehead. “That’s just the beginning.”

He pushed inside her and began a steady rhy thm . Another

wav e of pure bliss rolled ov er her and she closed her ey es in an

attem pt to engrav e it in her m ind. Her m uscles im m ediately

sought his length and held on for dear life.

Brett groaned. “God, Holly .”

Her breath now cam e in sm all gasps as his pace increased and

she sought deeper contact with him . She opened her ey es and

watched the colorful stripes around him twist and turn until

v iolet-blue strands of intense passion outlined his face. And then

with a flicker of her ey elashes, red-v iolet splotches of lov e cov ered

him like chicken pox. With that realization, her body

inv oluntarily tensed. Her ey es rolled to the back of her head as she

rode a wav e of the m ost incredible satisfaction she’d ev er known.

With a sav age growl deep in his throat, Brett’s body stiffened.

His release, hot and deep inside, flowed into her. Holly opened her

ey es. Lightning bolts of bright fuchsia stabbed his body , som ehow

m anaging to penetrate the hard, chiseled surface. The v iolent

flashes caused panic to skitter across her m ind.

Lov e. Unm istakable, deep, eternal lov e.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Brett sat straight up in bed in a cold sweat, forced from sleep

by the feeling som ething was wrong. He glanced next to him ,

panicked when he realized the warm body he slept next to last

night was m issing.

Sonuvabitch
.

Sev eral things were wrong. He knew for a fact he’d giv en in to

tem ptation and spent the night in Holly ’s bed, that in itself was a

m ajor screw up. But where the hell was she?

He scrubbed a hand across his jaw and then squeezed the

bridge of his nose in an effort to rem em ber if he awakened during

the night. The last he rem em bered, Holly slept in his arm s, her

incredible heart-shaped ass plastered to his groin.

Brett exhaled a heav y breath, kicked off the cov ers, and stood

to pull on his jeans. Irritated, he y anked his t-shirt ov er his head

then noticed the m aster bath door was closed.

He knocked with two knuckles. “Holly ?”

Panic closed in when she didn’t answer. He ran a hand across

the top of his head. Although he’d broken his own cardinal rule of

spending the entire night with Holly , he didn’t quite expect this

conclusion.

Brett left the bedroom and took the stairs two at a tim e until

he ended up in the kitchen. Em pty . This was not good.

Only the v ibration from his left jeans pocket lifted his spirits.

May be she hadn’t run too far after all. Except, when he read the

caller ID, his hopes hit rock bottom .

He took a deep breath and chased the worry from his m ind.

“Hey , y ou,” he said into the phone.

“Hungry ?”

Brett grinned when he heard the fam iliar fem ale v oice on the

other end. She knew him so well. “Alway s.”

“Meet m e at Café-au-Lait in ten m inutes.”

Brett paused, torn between accepting her offer and chasing

Holly .

“Giv e m e fifteen,” he said finally .

“See y ou there,” she agreed, “but rem em ber, clock’s ticking.

Don’t be late.”

Brett shook his head at her feeble attem pt at intim idation. She

wouldn’t leav e and he knew it.

He hit speed dial on his phone while heading out the front

door. Cpt. Sterling’s v oice boom ed across the line after sev eral

rings.

“This better be an em ergency , Steele.”

Brett swallowed hard. “It is. I can’t find Holly .”

The line went still for sev eral seconds and then Brett heard

m uffled v oices. And a feral, angry m eow.

“Dam n cat,” Sterling m um bled into the phone. “Details,

Steele.”

“Not m uch to tell. I woke up and she was gone.”

“You didn’t hear her leav e? She had to turn off the alarm and I

purposely m ade it loud.”

“I didn’t hear it.”

“Where were y ou?”

“In bed, next to her.”

“Oh, hell. You need back up?”

Brett clim bed in his truck and started the engine. “Actually , I

need y ou to find her. Claire’s in town.”

“You want m e to catch y our prisoner while y ou m eet Claire?”

“Can Cam eron hear y ou?”

“Do y ou think I hav e a death wish? No, I left the bedroom .”

Brett backed out of the driv eway and headed for the coffee

shop. “If I m eet Claire, it m ight sav e us both som e trouble.”

“Fine. I’ll cov er y our ass this tim e, but y ou’ll hav e to com e

clean pretty quick, Steele.”

“Thanks, Cpt.”

“Don’t thank m e. If Cam eron catches wind of this m ission,

y ou’re going down for both of us.”

Brett hung up the phone and parked in front of the sidewalk

café, still not sure about putting Sterling on Holly . With no other

choice, he swallowed his guilt and went inside.

He spotted her im m ediately , standing next to a window booth,

staring outside into the m orning sunlight. He nearly ran across

the café to get to her. A bright sm ile cov ered her face when he

stood next to her.

“I’v e m issed y ou, Claire Bear.”

Brett wrapped his arm s around her slight figure and squeezed,

absorbing the ov erwhelm ing tension she so skillfully attem pted to

hide. He pulled her closer to allow his body to elim inate her pain.

“You’re suffocating m e!” she squealed from the circle of his

arm s.

Ignoring her struggle to escape his hold, he scrubbed his

knuckles across the top of her head. “It’s not m y fault y ou’re so

short. Why did y ou stay away so long? You look like death.”

“You sound like Mom ,” she m um bled as she slipped free of his

arm s and sm oothed her hair.

Brett grinned at his twin sister, older by three m inutes.

“Ouch.”

“I just needed a break,” she confessed.

“Tough case?”

She nodded and her nutm eg ey es glittered with tears. “Serial

killer.”

He m otioned for her to sit and took extra care to control his

thoughts. Her norm ally bright, sparkling ey es were dull, full of

bone-deep fatigue. When she’d graduated from college with a

degree in crim inal justice, he had no idea she’d use it like she did.

And he was so dam n proud of her, using her God-giv en talent as

well as her education. Ev en if it alm ost broke her in two.

He reached across the table to grasp her hand. “I’m here.”

The worry lines disappeared from her forehead. “Thanks.

What else is new?”

He blew a straw wrapper into her face. “Business is boom ing.”

Claire caught the paper, wrapped it around one finger, and

sm iled m ischiev ously . “And the wom an?”

“What wom an?”

“
Your
wom an,” she drawled. “The one y ou’v e lost.”

He rubbed his hand across his jaw. “Dam n, Claire, I blocked

y ou.”

She shrugged. “Your walls were down, Brett. She’s got y ou

distracted.”

“That’s one way to put it,” he groused.

“I know,” she agreed. “The pictures y ou’re broadcasting are

m aking m e hot.”

“Stay out of m y head, Claire!”

She laughed good-naturedly at his discom fort and glanced

around the crowded café. His relief at hearing her laugh was short-

liv ed as he watched her brow furrow. She flinched ev er so slightly ,

as if being stuck by a tack.

“Claire?” he asked carefully . “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” She sm iled again. “Relax, she’s safe. Tell m e about

her.”

“Do y ou know where to find her? Sterling m ight appreciate

y our insight.”

“Sorry , no.”

“I’m supposed to protect her.”

She rolled her ey es. “Does
her
hav e a nam e?”

“Holly .”

“She’s in som e sort of trouble.”

He nodded. “Som eone’s after her and we hav en’t figured out

who y et.”

Claire tilted her head to one side and he felt her m ental reach

for the warm th of his passion for Holly .

“You lov e her,” she told him m atter-of-factly .

“Has any one ev er told y ou y our talent is annoy ing?”

“Yes.”

Brett sighed. He m ight as well tell her. She’d pry it out of him

one way or another any way .

He cursed under his breath when Claire shifted to one side.

“Sorry .” He took her hand and stroked the back in an effort to

chase the pain from her body . “I should probably call Cam eron.”

Claire raised an ey ebrow. “Max’s Cam eron?”

He ran his hand through his hair. “The one and only .”

She giggled m aliciously . “You’re screwed.”

He gav e her a hard stare.

“So, if y ou’re stay ing with Holly and Max is running the

agency , who’s catching the bad guy ?”

“I didn’t say I’m stay ing with Holly .”

“You are.”

“Shadow’s on his way ,” he growled.

Claire narrowed her ey es at her brother’s statem ent. Shadow.

The one m an who could force all good sense from her brain while

he irritated her m ercilessly . Her brother’s best friend and

confidante.

Oh. God
.

“Shadow? Where’s he stay ing?”

Brett winced. “At m y house. I didn’t know when y ou were

com ing.”

Claire buried her feelings deep, deep, deep inside and cov ered

them with a m ischiev ous grin. “I hav en’t seen Shadow for awhile.”

“Be nice, Claire,” Brett warned her, “we need his help.”

“I’m alway s nice,” she said defensiv ely . “Ev en when I know

the truth about people.”

“How long will y ou stay ?”

“As long as y ou’ll put m e up.”

“Do y ou hav e a problem with stay ing with Shadow?”

Claire m ulled that thought. She trusted Shadow with her life.

But did she trust herself?

“Why would I?”

“No reason. I just know how y ou like to aggrav ate each other. I

could call Cam eron.

“We’ll be fine, Brett.”

“We could use y our help,” he adm itted.

“Of course. On one condition.”

“Hell,” he m um bled. “What?”

“I get the bigger bedroom .”

“I’ll let Shadow know.” He stood and threw a couple of bills on

the table. “C’m on, I’ll help y ou get settled.”

Claire rubbed her tem ples. “You go on,” she urged. “I need one

m ore cup.”

“Want m e to stay ?”

“No, I’m fine.”

Brett placed a light kiss on her cheek and am bled out of the

café.

Claire watched him disappear around the corner before she

grabbed her purse and headed out the door. With her senses

guiding her, she glanced around the crowded sidewalk and finally

spotted her target fidgeting in front of a storefront filled with

designer purses.

“I hav e the green Coach,” she said softly as she approached the

window.

The y oung wom an turned, her ey es wide with panic.

Claire reached for her m ind and sent wav es of reassurance.

“Holly ?”

The wom an nodded.

Claire offered her hand. “Claire.”

Holly gav e a half-sm ile and after a quick handshake, Claire

gestured to a bench. “Can we sit?”

Claire sat, careful to keep her m ind open for Holly ’s intrusion.

She felt Holly ’s tim id entrance and sm iled. “Were y ou at the café?”

“Yes,” Holly adm itted quietly .

“So y ou saw m e with Brett.”

“Look, Claire,” Holly began, “it’s none of m y business who

Brett spends his tim e with. I’m not here to stake m y claim .”

Claire sm irked. “You can hav e him .”

“Really ,” Holly continued, “I don’t want to cause trouble.”

“Please, take him !” Claire insisted around a giggle.

Holly paused, obv iously shocked by Claire’s good hum or.

“He’s m y brother,” Claire said finally .

Holly stared with her ey es wide and her m outh gaped. She

sm acked her forehead with the heel of her hand. “Why didn’t I

think of that?” she m um bled.

“Did Brett tell y ou he has fiv e sisters?”

“Fiv e?” Holly ’s cheeks pinkened. “No wonder he’s an expert on

wom en.”

Claire groaned. “Oh
please
don’t tell him that.”

“I just saw the arch of red around the two of y ou and assum ed

—” She stopped in m id-sentence.