Jermy, Marie - Together Forever [The Andersons 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) (19 page)

He grinned as he returned his knife to his back pocket and slid the window up. The harsh, grating sound it made set her teeth on edge. “Nobody can see. The driveway is at least half a mile long and covered by trees. I also know for a fact the alarm system is years out-of-date and doesn’t work.”

“And how do you know that?”

“The security intercom box on the front gate? Its wires were rusty and not connected properly. How else do you explain how I managed to open the gates and drive up here without anybody asking for my name, rank, and badge number?”

“That doesn’t mean a damn thing,” she argued. “It still could be alarmed.”

“Do you hear any bells?” he asked impatiently as she caught hold of his arm, preventing him from entering the house. “Trust me, Jess, there’s no alarm. Silent or otherwise.” He started to climb through, but again Jessica caught his arm.

“Okay, what about if somebody shows up? Like Williamson’s family. Or a member of staff.”

“They won’t. I checked.” He huffed at her doubtful expression. “Mrs. Williamson’s in heaven. Senator Williamson’s in jail. They had no children, and there is no record of any living relatives. They dismissed the staff months ago because they couldn’t afford to keep them on. Satisfied?” He climbed through, then extended his hand and helped Jessica inside. “Nice,” he murmured at the large rug in the middle of the floor, its bold design of red, orange, and yellow squares adding spice and warmth to the spacious, yet sparsely furnished, living room. “So where did Mrs. Williamson meet her maker?”

“Just outside Williamson’s study at the rear of the house.” Jessica shivered as she followed Ross through to the entrance hall and stood at the bottom of the wide, oak-carved staircase. The circular, stained-glass dome above threw splashes of color across the black-and-white tiled floor. She shivered again and pulled Ross’s blazer tightly around her body. “This place gives me the creeps.”

“How so?” Ross asked as he admired one of the small bronze figurines on either side of the staircase.

“It’s cold and drafty.”

“Considering it’s pushing ninety degrees outside, be grateful.”

“It’s probably haunted, too.” Ross rolled his eyes, so she poked him in the chest. “Stop doing that. You know they exist. You’ve seen one.”

“Jess, the day I believe in ghosts will be the day I shake hands with Sam Carrick.” He must have noticed the weird look she gave him at the mention of Carrick’s name because his eyes narrowed a fraction, but then he shrugged and said, “Can I leave you alone for a minute without having to worry you’re gonna scream your head off at meeting Casper? I’ve left the backpack in the car.”

“Casper’s a friendly ghost. And I think we could do with him on our side.”

Again, Ross rolled his eyes. It only took him a minute to go and get the backpack. Her back to him, Jessica was examining the same figurine he’d admired when she heard him come right up behind her. He then shouted, “Boo!” She jumped so high it was a wonder her head didn’t hit the glass of the dome above.

His laughter died when she turned around, her face drained of color. He added color with some specially chosen curses, then gathered her in his arms and, under the blazer, soothingly ran his hands up and down her back. “I’m sorry. That was incredibly immature of me. Go on, call me a moron.”

“Moron.” Jessica inhaled and exhaled a deep, calming breath, then locked eyes with Ross. Those sky-blue depths were filled with mirth, concern, love, and lust. Particularly lust. Heat radiated from him in waves, penetrating the fabric of her dress, soaking right through her skin and into her bones. She felt sure if it weren’t for his firm hold, she would have melted into a puddle at his feet.

Apart from his highly aroused state, the evidence of which was pressed into her belly, she sensed the battle within him. The vow he’d made to keep her safe was obviously overriding every natural instinct to make love to her. She understood that, even agreed with it, yet at the same time, every one of her instincts screamed at him to say the hell with it and take her right there and then. Her pussy clenched and dripped with the mere thought of it.

Ross’s eyes then began to cloud over. He was pulling away from her. Quickly concluding they’d have to be extremely unlucky for something to happen in the next few minutes—other than bone-jarring, frantic sex—she wound her arms around his neck and tugged his mouth down to hers. She kissed him fiercely, her tongue bold and rash, the tension twisting and coiling in her pussy exploding with frustration when he clamped his hands around her wrists and pushed her away.

She hit him then with a good, solid punch to the nose.

For a second, surprise glinted in his eyes before they blazed with the same naked hunger she’d seen earlier. The next second, he had yanked her back into his arms.

“You want it? You’ve got it!” His lips crashed down onto hers, his tongue dueling wildly with hers.

Jessica reached for and lowered his jeans zipper, forcing a low, guttural groan from him as she freed his cock and curled her fingers around the swollen shaft. Impossibly, he grew harder as she pumped him. She grazed the thumb of her other hand over the plump head, smearing the pearl of pre-cum that had accumulated in the slit.

With another groan, Ross tore his mouth away, and, before she could complain, he spun her around and lowered them to kneel on the stairs, shoving her dress up to her waist in the same motion.

“I want to be in you. Now.”

“Oh, yes,” Jessica whispered, her own urgency blocking out the hard wood beneath her knees. She heard the tearing of foil as he sheathed himself, then felt the roughness of denim against the back of her thighs as he surged into her pussy from behind.

The length and girth of his hard cock, the way he stretched and filled her felt so friggin’ good she couldn’t help but cry out. She placed her hands on the stair in front of her while he slid his right arm around her waist, anchoring her to him. His left hand he braced beside hers.

Then he began to thrust, his dynamic strokes rubbing the highly sensitized front wall of her dripping pussy as she matched his confident rhythm, bucking her hips against him, taking him deeper.

Her breathing quickened, and that sweet friction increased when Jessica felt the fingers of the arm around her waist homing in on her clit. One brush was enough to send her over the edge, her cries sweet, her muscles clamping his cock so hard she was afraid she might have bruised him.

Ross didn’t stop though and continued to pound into her pussy from behind while working her with his fingers to the front. Just when she thought she couldn’t bear it any longer—the wood was really hurting her knees now—he grew still, then with a primal roar released himself into her, his scorching-hot cum creating tiny fizzles of extra pleasure within her pussy.

His left hand braced beside hers shook slightly as he leaned over her, molding his body against the curve of her back, his breathing coming out in uneven pants near her ear.

“Sweet heaven, Jess. You really know how to undo me.”

She smiled and wiggled her ass, liking the sound of his low growl.

“You’re gonna be the death of us.”

“But what a way to go.”

Ross chuckled then, his laughter easing the tension he felt for dropping his guard and taking Jessica every which way on the stairs. Because it felt more pleasurable than the last time he’d buried himself inside her, he withdrew slowly. Then he saw the reason why. “Oh, fuck!”

She glanced over her shoulder at him. “What’s up?”

“The condom. It’s split.” Ross backed away completely and stood up, staring at the latex, torn from tip to base, with a growing sense that this failure to protect Jessica was only the beginning. “Please tell me you’re on the pill.”

She shook her head. “No. But don’t worry. I’m more than halfway through my cycle.”

He passed his free hand over his mouth, relieved, yet at the same time disappointed. Whoa! Disappointed? Things were sticky enough between them without adding a baby to the madness. “I swear, Jess, I won’t fail you again.”

“Oh, don’t be silly.” She approached him and placed her hand on his arm. “You haven’t failed me, Ross. If anything, I’ve failed you. If I’d been honest with you from the start, we wouldn’t be in this mess, and I wouldn’t have lost the best thing in my life. You. Ross, I love you. And I know I’ve hurt you, but can’t we try again when this is all over with? And I don’t mean only as friends. I mean
us
. Us as a couple. A relationship.”

Ross badly wanted to say yes. Yet, he found himself shaking his head. Not because of those barriers he’d erected, he realized they had fallen the moment he spilled himself inside her, but because he had to erect them in the first place.

He was scared, something he hated to admit. Jessica had broken his heart once, so chances were she’d do it again. And the next time, he wouldn’t be getting up. It was best for them to remain friends. It was also best to keep his hands, mouth, and cock to himself. Condom or no condom, to make love to Jessica again would be classified as heartbreak with a capital
H
.

Now, if he could just persuade his cock to follow his brain…
Jessica’s
using you.
She’ll screw you, then dump you as soon as she gets bored.
Matt’s words—they weren’t so cynical now—followed by a crash from upstairs helped him win the battle.

“What was that?” she asked, her eyes darting between Ross and the stairs, her hand tightening on his arm.

Ross pocketed the condom and removed the Magnum holstered at his hip. “Don’t know, but let’s go find out. Stay close,” he ordered. She nodded, and he felt her taking the Beretta from the back of his jeans. Damn, he’d forgotten about that. He hoped the safety had been on. He might have tested the big bang theory in more ways than one.

The wood creaking underfoot, Jessica in his shadow, Ross ascended the stairs. Through an archway at the top, a long corridor ran lengthwise, with a number of doors down each side. Directly in front of him were two highly polished mahogany doors. He quietly turned the handles and stepped into a bedroom that would have easily accommodated his apartment and still had room for half of Jessica’s.

Across the room, the afternoon sun poured in through three large windows. Along the wall to his right was a row of mirrored doors. He sneaked a peek in the one closest to him and saw a rail of clothes. A massive four-poster dominated the left wall.

Indicating to Jessica to stay close, they crossed the room, their footsteps sounding heavy on the hardwood flooring. He tried the windows but found them all secure.

“Ross?”

He turned around. “What?” She pointed to another door by the bed. He went over and opened it. It was a bathroom. And an ostentatious bathroom at that. It literally swam in gold and marble. There was even a crystal chandelier.

Under all the glitz, however, was a bath worthy of his admiration. Half-sunk in the middle of the marble floor, it came equipped with whirlpool jets, a small drinks bar, and a home entertainment system, including television, DVD and CD players, all obviously waterproof.

It was also a bath built for two.

A vivid scene flashed before his eyes. Him, up to his chin in bubbles, a glass of Jack Daniel’s on the rocks in one hand, the remote in the other, and Jessica, at the side of the tub, clad only in the bra and thong he’d bought her, gaining his attention away from the DVD of his favorite movie of all time—Hitchcock’s
Rear Window
—
by whispering in his ear she was slicker and hotter than the water.

Ross felt his cock twitch. Which in turn reminded him he had a ripped condom in his pocket, a brain in his head, and a woman’s life to protect.

“Ross?”

“Coming. Figuratively speaking, that is,” he muttered to himself as he discarded the condom in the fancy, gold-colored bin.

He rejoined Jessica by the bed. Another image flashed before his eyes, this time of them rolling between the silk sheets. It didn’t bother him in the slightest. Yeah, right, who was he kidding! He knew before the night was out that image would become reality. He’d worry about his broken heart in the morning.