Tipsy (18 page)

I used the weight of my body to guide
her back onto the floor, and her hands clutched my backside, urging
me to the center of her body.

“
Wait a minute, sweetness,”
I murmured, pulling back so I could hurry to smooth the condom over
my twitching length.

Once it was on, I rested my elbows on
either side of her head and held myself just inches above her. She
looked up, her eyes heavy with need, but there was more than that.
It was almost as if she were slightly in awe of the feelings
churning between us.

It was almost overwhelming. This moment
had been in the making from the instant I leaned down into her
window. The sexual tension, the immediate attraction I felt for her
was unlike anything I ever experienced.

It’s exactly why this wasn’t a booty
call.

Julie was never going to be someone
that could satisfy me with a late-night call and an hour in the
sack. The minute I dipped into her, I was going to be
lost.

Her hand came up and cupped the side of
my face; her other hand wound around my waist and her little
fingers curled against my skin.

The same exact second I joined our
lips, I thrust inside her in a single, long, hard
thrust.

The kiss broke because both of us
moaned. Our lips vibrated with the force of the sound. I held
still, feeling her walls stretch out around me, letting the sheer
bliss of being inside wash over us both.

She was the first to move, a slight
rock of her hips, and then she was patting me on the bottom, giving
me instructions to go.

I braced myself on my hands and started
to move. Every single thrust sent energy soaring over my nerve
endings, prickling over my scalp and making my bones
tremble.

Her inner walls spasmed with every
plunge, and she moaned, tossing her head back and forth as she
clawed at the skin around my waist. Julie began to move, wrapping
her hands around my biceps, planting her feet into the floor and
raising her pelvis so she could meet each of my thrusts with her
own.

It was freaking epic that I stopped
moving all together, but the sensation continued on and on and on.
I held myself suspended as she worked my rod like no one before.
The way she bucked against me, grinding down and milking every
ounce of hardness I could give.

Julie collapsed against the blanket,
giving me a shy smile before her eyes drifted closed, and I noted
the sheen of sweat glistening over her body.

I started to move, swirling around
inside her with a swivel of my hips. Her hands knotted in the
blanket as I slid one of my palms beneath the small of her back and
tilted her lower half upward.

I dove in so deeply that she cried out.
Our pelvises were touching and I bore down on her and started to
rock. Her little moans turned into a whispered plea, and I felt the
exact moment she fell over the edge because she pulled me with
her.

Together we spiraled into a
passion-laden freefall as the orgasm tore me up from the inside
out.

“
Blue,” she moaned, saying
my name over and over again.

When the last tremor of pleasure
rippled through me, I collapsed onto the floor, rolling beside her
and scooping her into my arms, fitting her against my side. Our
skin slid against each other, slick with sweat.

I pressed a kiss to her damp forehead
and she sighed.

Sex with her was quite literally the
best I ever had. It was almost bittersweet. Sweet because I felt
like my body had searched for that kind of closeness, that kind of
release since I figured out girls didn’t have cooties. And bitter…
bitter because it took me so long to experience Julie, bitter
because I wanted more… and bitter because after tonight, I might
never see her again.

17

Julie

He stayed until darkness began to give
way to a shadow-filled sky. We lay by the fire for as long as we
could, not really talking.

Okay, we couldn’t talk.

Because we were making out like
teenagers.

I knew when he was going to leave by
the way tension slowly creeped into his body and invaded our
moment. I didn’t ask him to stay. I knew he couldn’t. I didn’t tell
him I would miss him, even though I would. And I didn’t pout
because pouting never changed anything.

Instead, I pulled on his shirt (it
smelled just like him) and padded barefoot into the kitchen and hit
brew on my coffee pot. The rich, deep smell of brewing coffee
filled the kitchen as strong arms wrapped around my midsection,
pulling me against his hard body.

“
You in the habit of
drinking joe in the middle of the night?”

“
It’s for you,” I said,
enjoying the husky tone to my voice. My body had never felt so
liquid, so loved. “It’s cold out and I don’t like the idea of you
out there driving at this hour.”

He spun me around and pinned me up
against the counter, fitting a muscular thigh between my legs. “I
don’t want you worrying about me,” Blue said seriously.

I didn’t bother telling him I wouldn’t
worry. I wasn’t into lying. “How long until I see you
again?”

He let out a long sigh and cupped my
face in his palms. “I don’t know.”

I kissed him.

We kissed until the coffee beeped and
made its final brewing sounds. I pulled away to fill a stainless
steel travel mug almost to the top. I glanced over my shoulder.
“Cream?”

“
If you have it.”

I pulled out a bottle of Vanilla Fire
creamer and added a healthy dollop. Using a butter knife, I swirled
the coffee and cream together as the fragrant steam hit me in the
face. I was so getting up early enough to have coffee in the
morning. I was going to need it after spending half the night awake
in his arms.

After I deposited the knife in the sink
and screwed on the lid, I turned, extending the brew to Blue. He
took it and set it on the counter beside us and drew me into a hug,
locking his arms around me.

My cheek fit perfectly in the little
indentation between his pecs, and I dipped my fingers into the
waistband of his jeans. Something shifted around us. It was a
feeling, an instinct perhaps. It was as if all of a sudden, a dark
cloud drifted right above us, threatening to dampen us with
rain.

“
Blue?” I asked, not sure
how to voice what I was feeling.

“
It’s going to be
okay.”

“
What is?” I asked, pulling
back to search his face.

He picked up the coffee and took a sip,
sighing as he swallowed. I knew the coffee was good, but I also
knew he was merely stalling.

I wasn’t going to like what he was
implying. It had to be about his job. The case was heating up. Why
else would he come over here in the middle of the night?

The last time he came here, it was
because he said he couldn’t stand the thought of me out there
hating him. He’d said I wouldn’t see him again. He did imply that
perhaps once the case was over, he and I might have a
chance.

But then he showed up tonight. He did
things to my body I would crave until my last moments on Earth. He
came even after he said he wouldn’t. Almost as if he thought it
might be his last chance to see me…

Horror streaked through me.

My eyes shot up to meet his grim gaze.
“You have a very expressive face,” he said.

I slapped my palm against his chest.
“You’re a jerk.” I pushed away from him, going back out into the
living room where I stood staring down at the blanket where we’d
just made love.

“
It isn’t as bad as you’re
thinking,” he said softly behind me.

“
No?” I asked, tilting my
head and staring into the flames. “So you didn’t come here tonight
as some sort of good-bye?”

He snatched me by the elbow
and spun me around. His face pushed close to mine and his blue eyes
sparked with anger. “Do you think after that—
after us
—that I wouldn’t do every last
thing in my power to come back to you?”

“
But before we did that?” I
challenged.

He swore and released me. I swallowed
past the sob threatening to rip its way out of my
throat.

“
The case is heating up.
There’s some stuff coming up I gotta do.”

“
What kind of
stuff?”

“
You know I can’t tell
you.”

“
But it’s
dangerous?”

“
Isn’t everything?” he
quipped, but I heard the masked wariness deep in his
voice.

I dropped onto the sofa, tucking my
knees beneath me. It was pointless to ask questions or demand
answers. I wasn’t about to compromise his cover, his very life, by
prying answers out of him.

This was totally out of my area of
expertise. I knew color. I knew cut. I knew the best kind of blow
dryer and flat iron to buy. Drugs and police work? Not so
much.

After a few quiet minutes, he dropped
onto the couch beside me, once again laying his arm out across the
back of the cushions. “Look, if everything goes well, then there’ll
be a break in the case very soon. I could have this wrapped up in a
couple of weeks.”

“
That soon?” I glanced at
him, hopeful.

His eyes softened and he brushed a
strand of hair out of my face. “That soon.”

I nodded and gave him a small smile.
With a sigh, he got up off the couch and paced near the fireplace.
“I just need to know where they’re coming from.”

“
Who?” I asked.

He seemed to realize he spoke out loud
and spun. “No one. I really have to go.”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

I stood up and he looked at his shirt
hanging off my frame.

“
I’m not giving it
back.”

He chuckled and grabbed his jacket,
sliding it over the sinew of his muscles. “I like the thought of
you sleeping in my shirt.”

He tugged the gray cap over his mussed
short hair and then picked up the coffee. “Thanks for this.” He
gestured toward the mug.

We walked over to the door, a heavy
feeling replacing the light one I felt earlier. Just because I knew
he had to go didn’t make it any easier.

He undid the locks and turned to glance
at me.

“
Be careful, okay?” I asked
softly.

He wrapped one strong arm around my
waist and lifted me off my feet. Holding me tightly, he kissed me.
He tasted like coffee, strong and sweet with just a little hint of
heat. I pulled his lower lip into my mouth, tasting him to the
absolute fullest.

With a deep growl, he pulled back and
set me on my feet. “Damn, woman.”

I smiled.

When he opened the door, a little bit
of my smile slipped as he stepped outside. Leaning back in, he
pressed a quick kiss to the tip of my nose. “I’ll see ya later,
sweetness.”

“
See ya,” I said, softly
shutting and locking the door behind him.

I listened for his retreating footsteps
until I couldn’t hear them anymore. I picked up the blanket off the
floor and wrapped it around my shoulders. I didn’t bother going up
the stairs to bed, instead lying down on the couch, tucking the
softness around me.

As I drifted to sleep with the feel of
his shirt on my skin, I hoped I would see him again
soon.

18

Blue

The interior of the Mustang was a lot
colder than the inside of Julie’s living room, but I didn’t really
feel the chill. My blood was still sizzling from what we just did.
Fuck, she was one hot woman.

I’d never slept with a woman who so
actively participated in love making like that. Her hands were
everywhere. Her mouth was eager, and her hips… shit, her hips. That
woman could for certain be a professional bull rider.

It made me wonder what all the other
women I dated had been missing… Surely it wasn’t me that had been
lacking; surely they just weren’t that hot.

It didn’t matter anymore. I would never
go back to a lukewarm bedmate again. Hell, I never wanted another
bedmate.

It dawned on me then that Julie turned
the tables on me. It was me who vowed to make her never want
another man again, but it was me who didn’t so much as want to look
at another woman now.

I glanced down at the coffee cup in the
cup holder and smiled slightly. She even made damn good
coffee.

She was a keeper.

I stared out the windshield at the
vacant street (I parked several blocks away from Julie’s townhouse)
as a bitter taste erupted from the back of my throat. I literally
felt my world shift around me.

Clarity was like a bucket of ice water
in the face.

I didn’t want this life anymore. I
didn’t want to live for my job. I didn’t want to eat, sleep, and
breathe this case. Living in a ghetto house with a frickin’ pink
bathroom was not how I wanted to spend my days. Balancing myself as
two separate people with two very different ideas of lifestyle was
getting old.