Safe From the Dark (18 page)

Oh
yeah,
he
thought, her unspoken demand a total turn-on. Which was interesting. Colin was
used to taking the lead in bed, and his girlfriends generally preferred it. The
image of submitting to Evie, letting her pleasure him and fuck him any way she
wanted to, sent an uncomfortably intense surge of arousal through him, and he
shuddered.

We’ll
have to try that. Next time.

Colin
used his shoulders to spread Evie’s thighs wide, and then cupped her ass,
lifting her to him. She was soft and wet and swollen, and his mouth watered for
her. He felt her startled intake of breath as he feasted, coaxing her arousal
higher and higher, feeling her shake in release as he suckled her sweet clit. Then
he started all over again, until she was twisting against his mouth, attempting
to get closer, fingers clutching his hair, trying to pull him where she needed
him to be. The erotic little tugs had his cock up to full salute in no time at
all.

“Oh
God…Colin…please – ”

When
she was panting,
begging
for him, he surged up, half-frantic himself, donned
another condom with lightning speed, and turned her to the side so that her hips
were perched on the edge of the mattress, and then stood, pushing her thighs
apart to make space for himself. He positioned his throbbing dick at her core.

“Hard
and fast?” he asked, his voice a rough growl of arousal.

Eyes
gleaming and unfocused, Evie nodded, her hands reaching up to twisting in the
sheets over her head, pushing her breasts up.

Unceremoniously,
Colin wrapped her legs around his hips and plunged deep into liquid heat,
noting with satisfaction how those perfect tits jiggled deliciously with each
stroke. He pounded into her until her eyes went dark and she screamed out her
release. With a shout, he followed her over, letting the waves of pleasure wash
over him before he collapsed, barely managing to catch himself on one arm to avoid
crushing her.

In
a tangle of limbs, he hauled her up the bed and leaned over to kill the light
and dispose of condom number two. At this rate, neither of them would be able
to walk by the end of the night.

Colin
wrapped his arms around her, cuddling his cheek against her breasts, and was
supremely gratified when her hands came up to hold him close.

“We
have to talk,” she murmured, but the ominous statement was broken by a yawn.

“We
will,” he responded, half-asleep. “Tomorrow.”

They
were both asleep in seconds.

SUNLIGHT
STREAMED THROUGH THE windows as Evie stretched, which only pressed her body
more tightly against Colin Daniels, who tucked her closer but didn’t wake, the
stubble on his jaw rasping against her nipple in an unconscious move that sent
tingles running through her, though she was barely awake.

Evie
couldn’t remember the last time she had slept so well.

But
phenomenal sex will do that
,
she thought wryly as awareness returned.

Colin
was wrapped around her like a living blanket, one leg thrown over hers and a
sizable morning erection prodding her thigh. It was the thought of what she
wanted to do with that thick flesh,
what she had already done
, that had
a wave of panic welling up. Suddenly desperate for a little space, she eased
out from under him , shoving a pillow into his arms to cuddle. She stood naked
by the bed, staring down at the rumpled, sleeping sex god who had taken control
and pleasured her like no other, and a wave of hot and cold rushed over her. She
shivered.

Okay,
Asher. You’ve fucked him out of your system, now go take a shower and get on
with your life.

That
sounded sensible enough, but as Evie hurried into the bathroom, she was newly
startled by her image in the mirror. Her lips and nipples were still swollen
from his mouth, and reddened scrapes on her thighs and torso showed where his
stubble had rubbed her sensitive flesh. A bluish bruise under her right nipple
had her yelping in shock – he’d given her a hickey. She looked comprehensively
debauched – tasted and marked and well-fucked, her intimate muscles sore from
his thorough possession.

“Oh
God,” she muttered, and jumped into the shower, scrubbing hard to erase all
traces of the night before. It wasn’t guilt she was feeling about giving in to
her desire for the hot young mayor.
That
she had gone into with her eyes
open, full steam ahead. It was shame that she was desperate to do it again, to
let him have her every night for as long as this insane chemistry burned
between them.

But
that would mean they were having an affair. And it wouldn’t be long before
everybody knew about it and started poking into the corners of her life. And then
it would blow up in her face, as the residents of Bright’s Ferry realized that
their precious Mr. Daniels had shacked up with a homewrecker.

Evie
groaned as she shut off the water. It was too much to stress over before her
first cup of coffee, and besides, she was pretty sure Colin was going to throw
a fit when he found out about the latest incident. She still had a killer to
catch.

Sighing,
Evie reached for a towel.

“YOU
SPEND A LOT of time in my house all wet,” Colin rumbled, propping himself up
against the pillows to admire the delectable sight of Evie coming out of the bathroom
in nothing but a towel, “Although the naked is a pleasant development.”

A
drop of water rolled from her throat down between her breasts, and he was
suddenly very thirsty.

“Good
morning,” she managed, and he could see that her nerves were back.

“Drop
the towel,” he ordered, and watched a shiver run through her.

Of
course she ignored him and opened the bedroom door to grab her shirt and bra
from the hallway floor.

“I
have to get going.”

“You’re
not inspiring me with much morning-after confidence,” he teased and she rolled
her eyes, shaking out her shirt.

Colin
knew his eyes were predatory, but he couldn’t help it as Evie stepped toward
the bed to grab her discarded jeans, and every muscle tensed. Waiting for just
the right moment, he pounced, and managed to grab a handful of towel. Evie
screeched as it came away from her body. Colin couldn’t even feel ashamed of
the juvenile move because there she was, naked and damp and absolutely
breathtaking.

“There,
you got a good look. Happy now?” Evie glared at him, temper sparking, and threw
her arms out in disgust.

“I’d
be happier if you brought that luscious little body over here and let me give
it a proper good morning.”

Colin
pushed the sheet away from his hips to give her a good look at his straining
cock. Her eyes widened and she swallowed, licking her lips as if she were
remembering the thick flesh filling her mouth. He certainly was.

“I
can’t,” she whispered, frozen. She had apparently forgotten that she was still
naked.

“Can’t
or won’t?”

The
question was not destined to be answered because at that moment the phone rang.
Scowling, Colin picked it up, half-distracted by Evie hastily turning around to
pull her panties on, treating him to a glimpse of the perfect curve of her ass.

“Yeah,
Tony, what’s up? Hang on, let me check and see if she’s up.”

He
pressed the phone to his chest and quirked an eyebrow.

“See?
I’m protecting your virtue, Miss Asher. Doesn’t that deserve a reward?”

Expertly
twisting into her bra, she stomped up to the bed and reached for the phone, and
Colin took advantage of the move to yank her down to his chest and capture her
mouth in a scorching kiss, pleased as punch at the nails that dug into his ribs
and the little whimper that left her throat as he let her go.

“You
are such a prick,” she whispered, breathless.

Colin
grinned and handed her the phone, holding her captive.

“Hey,
Tony. No, you didn’t wake me. Yes, uh huh. That’s great, we can find out if he
has an alibi for last night. Okay, see you there in an hour.”

Colin
was distracted, sucking on the curve of her neck as Evie hung up the phone. She
permitted the caress for a moment, and his dick throbbed hopefully against the
softness of her stomach, and then she pushed him away. Colin settled back into
the pillows with a regretful sigh. Her armor was definitely back up. He wasn’t
surprised that the fact irked him, but the feeling of hurt was uncomfortably
sharp.

“What’s
up?”

“Dreyer
Morton has graciously decided to grant us an interview to discuss his
whereabouts the night of the murder and the fact that he totally hates your
guts.”

“He’s
all hot air, Evie.”

“Still,
he’s on my list. And I want to grill him about yesterday.”

Colin
saw her wince and realized that she hadn’t meant to say anything.

“What
happened yesterday?” His voice dropped a register, suspicious.

“Nothing
important.” She shrugged into her shirt and hastily pulled on her jeans. “Got
any coffee around here? I’m going to go see if the guys outside want any before
they change shift.”

She
was barely done babbling before she was out the door.

Frowning,
Colin reached for the phone.

EVIE
HEARD HIM POUNDING down the stairs before she saw him, and leaned over the
percolating coffee pot, closing her eyes in a silent prayer, which she knew was
probably a wasted effort at this point.

“What
the fuck, Evie!”

Yep,
furious.

She
looked up and tried not to drool. Practically vibrating with anger, Colin had
stormed into the sunny kitchen in nothing but a pair of low-slung jeans he
hadn’t bothered to fasten.

“Well?”

She
was supposed to answer him?

Evie
tried to focus, but her thoughts were arrested by the insidious idea that if he
really were her boyfriend, she would be perfectly within her rights to explore
all that hard muscle, and he’d go willingly when she pressed him back to the
scrubbed butcher block table. He’d just have to take it as she climbed up and petted
his hard body all over, his big cock straining against the zipper of those open
jeans. Her pussy clenched at the thought of peeling back the denim to free his
shaft, and then picking up where she left off last night, when her oral
exploration of that thick stalk was interrupted by his not unreasonable need to
fuck her silly. This time, she’d taste every inch at her leisure, and he’d just
have to surrender…

“Keep
looking at me like that and I’m going to take you on the counter, Evie.” His
voice was gravely and hot, but still angry, “After you explain why you didn’t
bother to tell me that your house was
vandalized
yesterday afternoon.”

“I
was going to tell you,” she sighed, but the words sounded petulant, even to
her.

“The
other night was a warning. That’s why the stalker didn’t kill us. And now he’s
after you.”

“Good,”
said Evie, grimly.

“Good?
Are you out of your mind?”

“I
apparently piss this lunatic off enough to vandalize my house in broad
daylight. Anger leads to stupidity.”

Colin
stepped forward to grab her shoulders.

“You
are
not
going to use yourself as bait. I won’t allow it.”

Evie
shrugged out of his grip, irritated.

“You
don’t tell me what to do! I am the law enforcement officer, you are the pretty
boy Mayor with the stalker problem.”

“And
you don’t have any idea who that stalker is!”

Evie
poked him in the chest.

“For
your information, I’ve narrowed it down to a short list.”

“Who?”

Evie
started to answer, and then stopped. She’d already shared too much with him,
both in terms of the investigation and her life. Every suggested suspect was
met with disbelief from Colin, who trusted his friends and his community too
much to really believe that one of them could harbor something so evil and
dark. And now they’d slept together, and her growing emotional attachment to him
was going to cloud her judgment. It was time to set some hard boundaries she
should have set the moment the problem began. Before one of them got seriously
hurt.

Ready
to start paying attention, Asher?
Her
inner cop sniffed in contempt.

“I
can’t talk about an ongoing investigation,” Evie blurted out, and watched the
thunderclouds gather on Colin’s face.

“You
can’t be serious.”

“From
now on, all information is on a need-to-know basis. I’m already going to go
down as the worst cop in history for getting involved with the focus of an open
case, I’d rather not make matters worse. You will not be present at any
interviews, investigations, or crime scenes. You will be briefed only as
occasion warrants it by Sheriff Arnetto or myself. You will maintain a security
escort at all times, avoid open windows, and stay off the street until I tell
you it’s safe. In fact, as of right now, I’m putting you on home protection. You
step one foot outside that door and you’ll be sorry. Do I make myself clear?”