Playing with Fire (15 page)

“Did you enjoy that?”

A shyness over took her and she
averted her eyes. “Yes”, she whispered.

Trent stared at her until she finally
looked at him. “Don’t ever be ashamed of how you react to my
touch.”

His words were spoken softly and she
knew Trent would never use sex as a weapon against her, he would
never turn her arousal into something that was anything but
beautiful and intimate.

That knowing nearly brought her to
tears. She kissed him deeply and reveled in the safety of him
arms.

When he finally entered her, it was
like it was her first time. They both froze after the initial
thrust, soaking up the feel of her stretching to accommodate his
size and getting a perfect fit. With each following stroke, their
bodies coupled further.

Damp skin danced across damp skin.
Noelle clamped her hands to his shoulders as she grasped for
control. When she felt another orgasm rushing to break free, she
flexed her fingers and her nails dug into the flesh on Trent’s
back.

He thrusted hard and fast until both
collapsed in exhaustion from their simultaneous releases. Their
gasps and heavy breathing lasted several minutes as both tried to
recover.

Noelle’s mouth felt dry, but her skin
and the place where they were still joined felt as if she were
submerged in water. It was exhilarating.

A long while later, Trent rolled to
the side and drew her to him so that she lay on her side with him
behind her. His hands intertwined with hers and she held them
against her chest.

Neither said anything; words were not
needed. Their bodies had said everything for them. Trent kissed the
back of her neck and she hugged him tighter.

As Noelle drifted off to sleep, still
naked and uncovered, she couldn’t help but feel as if she’d finally
found the safe place she’d once thought she’d never
find.

When the morning finally broke, Noelle
woke inside the comfort of Trent’s embrace and knew that for the
rest of her life, that was how she wanted to welcome every new
day.

CHAPTER
ELEVEN

Trent opened his eyes and let out a
yawn. He nuzzled closer to Noelle and inhaled the faint hint of
coconut in her hair. She turned her head toward him.

“Good morning.”

He kissed her neck softly and caressed
her side. His voice was husky. “Good morning. Did you sleep
good?”

She bit her lip and nodded. “Better
than good. How about you?”

“I slept with an angel, it was better
than great.”

He saw the blush overtake her cheeks
and knew she wasn’t used to compliments like that. Then again, he
wasn’t used to actually meaning them, but he meant it
now.

Trent propped himself up on his elbow
and kissed her shoulder. He looked over at the alarm and scrambled
off the bed. “Shit, I’m going to be late for work.”

Noelle jumped up as well and hurried
to grab his shirt and a sock from the other side of the room. “I
hope you don’t get in trouble.”

He looked over and saw the worry in
her face. He stopped buttoning his pants to lean over and kiss her.
“I won’t be but a few minutes late. Even if I do get in trouble, it
was well worth it.”

The blush returned to her cheeks.
“Yeah, you weren’t too bad yourself.”

He kissed her soundly and lightly
patted her derriere. “Now there is the smartass I first
met.”

Noelle gave him a wicked smiled and
put on a short silk robe. She walked him to the door, with each
step the silk slid over her skin until her nipples were two hard
buds pressing into the thin fabric. He couldn’t help but eye the
deep V where the robe fell open over her breasts.

Trent felt himself harden and groaned.
“Lord, mi amor, you are the most tempting woman I’ve ever met. Tell
me you are gonna greet me at the door tonight just like this
because what I want to do right now, I can’t.”

She stood on tiptoes and kissed him
deeply. She pulled back enough to whisper against his lips, “I’ll
be ready and waiting.”

Noelle winked at him and waved as he
took off out the door. He was almost to his car when he heard
Delphine call across the parking lot, “It’s about damn
time!”

He laughed and got behind the wheel,
speeding out of the parking lot and into morning traffic. He took
out his phone and called Fitzer.

Trent was surprised to get the
voicemail, but left a brief message. Fitzer was always early by at
least fifteen minutes, so for him not to be answering his desk
phone was odd.

At five minutes after seven he put his
car in park and headed for the back door of the precinct. The smell
of burnt coffee and pastries assailed his nostrils, just like every
morning. The faint hint of stale cigarette smoke still clung to the
walls even though smoking inside had been banned with the
California Labor Law in 1995.

Trent went into the locker
room and changed into his spare uniform. He’d always kept an extra
change of clothes at the office for days when he was late, usually
always because of a woman too. But Noelle wasn’t any woman, she
was
the
woman, of
that he had no doubt.

He strapped on his gun belt
as he walked toward his desk. Fitzer’s coffee mug was there, on the
right side by his phone, as always. His notepad lay on the left of
his
key
board, as
always. The only out-of-the-ordinary thing was, Fitzer wasn’t
around.

Trent sat at his desk and looked at
the clock. It was ten minutes after, and Fitzer would normally be
checking his emails. Hell, Trent knew his schedule so well that he
even had down when Fitzer planned bathroom breaks.

Everyone else was busy with their
normal routines, but something didn’t feel right. Trent looked
around again, and then headed for the chief’s office.

Marshall Martin was a barrel chested
beast of a man, exactly what you’d think the chief of a busy police
department would look like. Fresh from the academy, Trent had been
Martin’s rookie partner, and he’d held the older man in high esteem
ever since – even when he was ribbing the chief about his receding
hairline.

“Hey, baldy, have you seen the
rookie?”

Marshall scowled at him and pursed his
lips together so all that could be seen under his nose was
moustache and chin. “You know Torres, if it was anyone else who
called me that I’d throw this piping hot mug of coffee at the
bastard.”

Trent laughed and shrugged. “I can’t
help it I’m so damn charming.”

Marshall rolled his eyes. “I’m not
your type so stop oozing out the BS. As for your partner, he’s in
Interrogation Room 3. Something about a possible missing person
case.”

Trent swore and headed down the hall.
Sure enough, when he walked into the adjoining room and watched
through the double sided mirror, Fitzer was sitting with two burly
men.

Trent hit the button to hear what was
being said. He knew immediately these guys were here for Noelle,
unless there was the off chance that another woman from the south
was missing. Their thick accents were almost hard to understand at
times.

“She’s my everythin’. I don’t know
what she done woulda run off fur.”

The younger of the two men hung his
head and shrugged. He looked to be a few inches taller than Trent
and outweighed him by at least fifty pounds. Trent felt sorry for
the polo shirt the guy had squeezed himself into.

Based on his frame, Trent would guess
he was a former athlete, more specifically a defensive lineman.
Blonde hair hung to his shoulders and looked like it hadn’t been
washed in a few days. This had to be Lenny.

The other man patted
Lenny’s back consolingly. That man wore a pair of dark slacks, a
crisp white dress shirt, and a big shiny badge. His cowboy hat lay
on the table along with a pair of mirrored sunglasses. Trent
thought southern sheriffs only looked like that in movies
like
Smoky and the
Bandit
. Obviously this guy intended to
live up to the hype.

“We just want her ta come on home and
get things back ta normal. My boy’s been a mess since she took
off.”

Even though Trent knew both sides of
the story, had these two come in and done the same act in front of
him, he would have been suspicious. Lenny made sure to play up the
‘distraught boyfriend’ every time Fitzer addressed him.

“I’m very sorry for you. My partner
and I came across Miss Dupre during a breaking and entering call.
My partner has seen her since then.”

Trent didn’t miss the flash of anger
in Lenny’s beady eyes. “Whatta ya mean he’s seen her?”

Fitzer sat up straighter
and tried to cover his slip up, but the way he tripped over his
words was enough that the good ol’ sheriff knew he was lying. “I
mean we’ve seen her when we did a follow-up in the case. Not that
he was
seeing
her. Not that at all. That would be
unprofessional.”

Trent had to stop himself from
breaking through the glass and throttling someone, but he didn’t
know whether to start with Fitzer or Lenny. Either one would be
gratifying enough at this point.

Instead, he took a deep breath, shut
off the mic, and walked out to knock on the door of the
interrogation room. A moment later, Fitzer peaked out.

Trent said nothing, but his stare said
it all. Fitzer looked back into the room and excused
himself.

Trent checked to see if another room
was open and they went in there to have privacy. Once Fitzer closed
the door, it took everything in Trent to not go off like a
grenade.

“What the hell are you
doing?”

“Well, I’m …”

Trent waved his hand and
cut Fitzer off. “I know what you
think
you’re doing. You think you’re
letting this distraught man know that his girlfriend is safe and
sound.”

Fitzer gave him a dumbfounded look.
“Well yeah.”

Trent kicked the chair, pretending it
was Fitzer’s face. “Look Rookie, everything isn’t black and white.
Maybe in that fancy neighborhood I’m sure you come from, but here
in the streets, people lie all the time.” Trent pointed toward the
other room, “Like those two.”

Fitzer’s brows furrowed. “How do you
know they are lying?”

Trent found it hard to keep his temper
in check. He knew it wasn’t because his partner went behind his
back, or even that he knew the other men were lying, it was because
of Noelle. The protectiveness he felt toward her rivaled that he’d
always held for his mother, and Lord knew he’d stop at nothing to
keep either of them safe.

“I’ve talked to Noelle. I know the
other side of this story. It’s why I didn’t call it in.”

Fitzer’s face fell slightly.
“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh. When the missing person is
an adult, you take the time to talk to them, find out what
happened, and go from there. What did Boy Wonder in there tell you
was the reason she left?”

Fitzer shrugged. “He just said he came
home and she was gone.”

“Did he say there was a
fight?”

Fitzer shook his head.

Trent leaned against the table and
braced his arms near his hips. He clenched his fingers around the
edge of the cold metal until it hurt. That helped release a little
of the anger he felt. Through clenched teeth he asked, “Did he tell
you he gave her a concussion or that he threw her across the room?
Did he tell you that she was hospitalized for it?”

Fitzer nearly fell into the chair and
hung his head. “No. I never thought it could be a domestic
dispute.”

Trent pushed away from the table. He
knew he was yelling, but didn’t care. “No, you never thought.
Period. Like I said, life isn’t black and white. The sooner you
learn that lesson, the better.”

“Now what do I do?”

Trent put his hands on his hips and
shook his head. “You’ve done enough. I’ll take it from
here.”

Before Fitzer could finish sputtering
out a reply, Trent was already out the door and storming toward
Lenny. Adrenaline coursed through him and pounded in his ears,
drowning out Fitzer’s calls to stop.

As he turned the doorknob, Trent took
a deep breath. He looked toward Fitzer, who was already heading
toward Marshall’s office.

He swung the door open and let it slam
shut behind him. They stood, and he motioned from them to sit back
down.

“
Gentlemen, there has been
a misunderstanding. Though my partner contacted you and I
understand you have traveled quite a ways to get here, Ms. Dupre
has stated to me that she does not wish to be contact by either of
you.”

Lenny’s rage was visible in the
reddening of his face, but his father held him back. The older man
spoke. “I’m Frank Dunlap, this is my boy Lenny. Can you at least
tell us how she is? I know she’s got folks back home worried sick
about her.”

Trent ignored Frank’s outstretched
hand. “I’m Trent Torres. As my partner stated, we answered an
erroneous breaking and entering call, at which time we met Ms.
Dupre. When I saw the bulletin for her I contacted her right away
and she was adamant that she does not want anything from you,
either of you.”