In Hot Pursuit (6 page)

“That's pretty big talk considering your utter defenselessness, don't you think?” He yanked a condom out of his wallet and cursed the fact he only carried around one. He'd be damn sure to use it wisely.

“I dare you to come closer and say that, Detective.”

Heat practically radiated from her in waves. Josh could feel her sultry warmth, sense the position of her body even in the dark as he leaned over the chaise once again.

Her exotic scent filled his nostrils. Flowers and musk—hothouse sex.

She moved to loop her handcuffed wrists around his head, but he was having none of it. Before her arms could settle around his neck, he secured her wrists above her head with one hand and lay his other palm over the front of her panties.

Her body shuddered, shivered, lifted off the chaise
to meet his touch. He kissed away her hungry whimper, rubbed away the chill bumps on her thighs with his fingers.

“Are you ready for me yet?” he whispered into the tangled silken mass of her hair. Her ear lay below those spiral curls somewhere.

His finger skimmed up the inside of her thigh, stopping just short of her satin panties.

Her moaned affirmative was part womanly plea, part threatening snarl.

He found her slick with desire and deliciously ready. The scrap of satin didn't stand a chance against her heat and his hunger. With a snap of his wrist, he snagged them straight off her hips, shredding the seams in a noisy ripping of fabric.

Lexi made a little squeal of delight and wrapped one of her legs around his.

Unwilling to be distracted, Josh maneuvered his shoulders beneath her thighs, positioning her body for the kiss he'd wanted to give her ever since she'd slithered her way out of her black sequins.

She tasted like rich red wine, and she clouded his senses twice as fast. He would have indulged in her all night, but too soon her thighs went taut, her hips flexing upward off the lounger.

The shriek that should have accompanied her orgasm must have been released into the stuffing of one of her soft velvet pillows, but the muffled cries still reached his ears. Satisfied his male ego. Made him want to bring her to that mind-blowing point all over again.

“Please,” she finally managed to say between deep, gasping breaths.

The cuffs jingled in completion of her thoughts.

He didn't need to ask where the keys were. Josh had seen her work the fake cuffs at the fund-raiser. With the press of a button, the links fell open, freeing Lexi and unleashing a small-scale attack.

She fell on him, rolling him onto his back sideways across the chaise.

“You are so all mine now, Winger.”

T
HE EARTH HAD MOVED
.

Lexi still shook from the tremors of the most incredible orgasm ever—not that she'd had many for comparison's sake. But she knew from the way her body trembled inside and out that she'd just experienced majorly amazing sex by anyone's standards.

And they hadn't even done
it
yet.

She meant to remedy that situation right now.

“I want you.” Whispering the words in Josh's ear, Lexi wriggled over his body, savoring every provocative sensation the man inspired. “Now.”

“There's a condom on the floor near my pants.” He molded her hips with his hands, measured her waist with his fingers, spanned her belly with his palms.

Lexi hadn't even thought about protection. She had no intention of getting personal with Josh Winger, but she had to admit, he was the kind of man a woman could trust to protect her in every possible way.

Searching over her bedroom carpet with her hands, Lexi found the packet and handed it to him.

A snicker of satisfaction rolled through her when she thought about the stud on the condom-dispensing
machine she'd seen in the women's restroom earlier tonight.

Josh was ten times the stud that man was. And she'd snagged him.

Josh handed the condom back to her, and the packet brushed her fingers in the darkness. “Will you?”

Not a simple request for a woman who had never put a condom on a man before. Lexi's snicker faded.

“I'm no good with those things.”

She could hear the condom packet ripping open and Josh rolling on the device without her aid.

“I hope you mean the condom and not what's inside.”

“I'm very good with what's inside.” She hoped. She wanted to be. After that orgasm he'd given her, Lexi wanted him to see stars. Solar systems, maybe.

Luckily, the impersonal dark gave her the brashness to straddle him. She never would have been able to carry off tonight's sexy scenarios with the lights on, but the utter blackness of the room gave her permission to be daring. The darkness gave her confidence a boost, removed all insecurities about her appearance, making her feel beautiful.

Taking what she wanted most, Lexi guided his rigid length inside her by slow degrees.

He filled her so completely, stretched her so lusciously. Her world narrowed to the hot, seductive sensations he imparted.

She tested the length of him, easing herself away from him until he nearly withdrew, then edging back down to join them together fully. Lost in her enjoy
ment of a body that brought her so much pleasure, Lexi was surprised when he flipped her to lay on her back again.

His chest seemed to surround her in a wall of fur-covered muscle. She couldn't see him—but everywhere she reached, she felt him. Soft velvet hair over steely sinew.

She wanted to remain there, wrapped in the safe, sexy haven of his powerful body, but he reached between her thighs to touch her again.

That unerring thumb found the source of all her pleasure and gently plucked. Sensual satisfaction pulsed through her like electric waves. Lexi would have lost it again—if he hadn't nearly withdrawn for a moment.

She lingered on the brink, her body coiled with pleasure, until he slid back inside her and sent her hurtling headlong into the sultry abyss. His groan of fulfillment comforted her, assured her she wasn't the only one flying apart in the haven of a chaise longue tonight.

As aftershocks rippled through them, Lexi marveled that a certain dangerous detective had lost his cool right along with her, and it couldn't have been more satisfying, more rewarding, or more terrifying.

Lexi had allowed herself to be far more personal with Josh than with any other man she'd slept with. If she wasn't careful, she'd find herself caring about him—about what he thought, about whether or not he liked her in return.

And she wouldn't allow that. Not when she'd
fought for so long not to care what anyone thought of her.

All she had to do was make sure he left before dawn. Then maybe she could pretend this had all been a regular one-night stand, instead of something earth shattering.

But the heat of his body was mesmerizing now, and dawn was blessedly hours away. She snuggled closer to his shoulder, reveling in yet another heady experience she'd always missed out on—wrapping herself around a man's body and cuddling into the crook of his arm.

She could afford herself a few more hours with Josh, a little more time to enjoy their over-the-top chemistry. Just as long as he was out of her bed by morning.

Because no matter how many hair-curling orgasms Josh Winger had the power to give her, Lexi wasn't about to allow their relationship to turn into something personal.

Handcuffs she could handle, but sharing her toothpaste was a risk she had no intention of taking.

 

J
OSH WOKE
to the soft whimper of a dog.

He didn't need to pry his eyes open to remember precisely where he was and why. Lexi's perfume had scented all his dreams, while her wild hair had been his only blanket. But the cop in him had no choice but to investigate the canine problem.

Sunlight had managed to permeate the blinds, providing him with his first glimpse of the bedroom he'd
slept in—or rather, the apartment's jungle headquarters.

Tiger stripes decorated half the pillows on the chaise, while some sort of cheetah or leopard print covered the rest. Everything was faux fur or velvet, including the black lounger.

A few feet away, a mammoth bed dominated the room, its pristine white linen coverings protected by a suspended tent of floor-length mosquito netting. Any wooden furniture was dark mahogany—the headboard, a bookshelf, a nightstand—and all of it showcased elaborate carvings.

But the furniture and framed prints of exotic animals weren't what held his attention. It was the walls covered with framed photos that accomplished that feat.

There was silence from the whimpering dog for a few moments, while Josh let his eyes roam the pictures of Lexi in her charitable mode. Some photos were from glitzy events like last night's fund-raiser; in each one Lexi was dressed to the nines. In a few, she had her arm slung around well-known actors and actresses; in others, she embraced pint-size kids sporting ball caps that only partially hid the effects of chemotherapy.

There was obviously a lot more to this woman than he'd realized. More heart. More generosity. He touched a photo of Lexi riding on the back of someone's wheelchair at the Special Olympics. Lexi tangoing with a woman bearing a shirt that read “I'm a Survivor.” Both women wore the pink ribbons that raised awareness for breast cancer.

He still couldn't shake the feeling that he'd seen Lexi somewhere before tonight. Maybe he'd been at one of these events? No. How could he ever have seen a woman like her and not remember?

Josh was squinting to see the details of a photo showing Lexi in a soup kitchen wearing an oversize red T-shirt with a Christmas tree on it, when the sound of the canine whimper distracted him.

He snuck a glance at Lexi, but she didn't appear to hear. Last night's dominatrix now had an innocent face, a mouth hanging half open in sleep, and a blanket of black hair covering a shapely naked body.

When the whine came again, Josh remembered Lexi's menagerie greeting them at the door last night. If that brood was still stuffed in the guest bedroom, they would definitely be crying by now.

Wide awake now, Josh slid off the lounger and located his pants, all the while wondering what the protocol should be for the morning after a night of anonymous sex.

Logic said he should just slip out the door. She was the one who'd wanted it to be impersonal, right?

Josh slid into his pants and zipped up, then padded his way into the hallway. The other women he knew never minded him leaving without a big goodbye. But then, those women were as likely to be his beer-drinking buddies, sparring partners or weightlifting spotters.

Those women couldn't be more different from the femme fatale he'd spent the night with.

Locating the front door in the living room, Josh oriented himself. Guessing the guest bedroom was the
other closed door off the living area, he turned the knob.

And found himself floored by a pack of wild dogs.

“Hey!” Flat on his back, he shouted at the horde of mutts in his scariest bad cop voice, but the canine crew didn't stand down. They licked his cheeks and sniffed where they had no damn business. The littlest one, a fur ball with no discernable eyes, climbed right on his chest and pranced around excitedly in circles.

“Mush.” He brushed off his limited knowledge of dog language to reestablish command of the situation. “Heel.” The dogs worked together to keep him on the living room floor, on his back. They ran around him in such tight circles that he didn't have any room to move. “Will you sit down, damn it?”

They seemed to recognize something in that sentence. Josh made a mental note that they must respond to either curse words or “sit” commands.

“That's better.” He hauled himself up to his feet as the pack of dogs watched him with wide eyes. Except for the fur ball, who probably couldn't see past the pink bow falling down over her forehead.

“Only three of you?” Where had the other ten dogs disappeared? “How is it three little mutts make as much racket as a kennel full of normal-size dogs?”

Before they could answer, Josh's pants began to ring.

He fished in his back pocket for his cell phone, before it woke Lexi.

“Winger.”

“I'm on my way out the door, Columbo,” Josh's partner, Duke Rawlins began without prelude. “Un
less you tell me you have a hot lead that forces me to stay in town this weekend.”

“As if I'd give Amanda any reason to kick my ass.” Josh plunked down into a wide white chair in the shape of a scalloped seashell. Where the bedroom had been the jungle, the living room seemed to be the sea. Aqua-colored walls and lamps made of pink coral provided color for a room furnished all in white.

“Yeah, me either. Forget I asked.” Duke laughed the goofy guy-in-love laugh. He'd always been the “good cop” half of their partnership, but ever since he'd fallen for Amanda Matthews, he had added “sappy, would-be family guy” to the list of his good traits.

“Seriously, I just wanted to find out if you learned anything new last night.”

That Duke had to call and ask him was more of a wakeup call than the dogs barking this morning. Josh sure as hell had gotten sidetracked last night if he'd managed to forget all about the smugglers he had been following for two months.

“My cover was blown early on. I didn't get a chance to look into a damn thing.”

A sudden round of yapping from the doggie set gave Josh the perfect excuse not to explain himself. He definitely didn't relish the idea of telling Duke how on his big undercover mission he'd wound up handcuffed and sitting in a fake jail cell half the night.

“I'm in control, though,” he shouted over the dogs as he turned to see what they were barking about.

“I'll tell you all about it when I—” He forgot what he'd been about to say when Lexi strolled into the
room wearing a long red silk robe with—honest to God—a little train of material trailing behind her.

She cocked a hip to one side. “Don't let me stop you. Go ahead. Tell him all about it now.”

“I'll catch up with you next week, bud. Gotta go.” Josh slapped the phone closed, well aware from Lexi's haughty pose that he'd probably done something wrong already. “Morning.”

“Yes, it is.” She agreed with him a bit too wholeheartedly.

“You were hoping I'd have vacated the premises by now, weren't you.” No use dancing around the issue. He'd made the wrong decision by staying past dawn. A pity, considering he'd been hoping to leave on a peaceful “I'll call you” sort of note.

Was it such a crime that he'd entertained the notion of seeing her again? Sure, she was like a walking scattergun to his well-focused world. But that didn't mean he couldn't at least have a cup of coffee with her after everything they'd shared.

Besides, he was so close to remembering how he knew her. His smuggling investigation might be headed down the toilet, but he could at least solve the mystery of why Lexi looked so damn familiar….

 

L
EXI SHIVERED
under Josh's assessing stare. Did she expect him to be gone this morning? Sort of like she expected the
New York Times
to be on her welcome mat.

Of course she did.

“Anonymous sex sounds like something that should have circumvented an awkward morning-after,
doesn't it?” She sounded like a serious bitch. And the red robe she'd yanked out of her closet surely only added to the image.

But if she didn't start drawing boundaries fast, Josh would see beyond her daring facade to the houseplant underneath. She needed to keep her public face very separate from the private one if she wanted to survive in her business. Josh wouldn't want to know the Lexi whose idea of excitement on a Saturday was taking her dogs for a walk.

Josh patted her miniature poodle absently on the head as he stared at Lexi.

“Sorry about that.” His big, tanned hands moved awkwardly around Muffin's ears as he re-tied the pink bow falling out of her fur. “It just didn't feel right to run out of here this morning without saying goodbye.”

Lexi's bitch imitation couldn't withstand the appeal of a man who could groom a poodle without feeling like his
machismo
had been compromised.

“You want some breakfast?” She had to at least ask.

“That's okay. I'm just going to grab my jacket.” He jerked a thumb toward her bedroom, and she nodded.

He came back in moments, buttoning his shirt. “I don't look familiar to you by any chance, do I?”

Familiar from her fantasies, maybe. He was everything Lexi wanted in a fantasy man, just a little too dangerous for the real world.