He tucked her hair behind her ear and tried not to notice how great she smelled.
“Who are you trying to convince?” he asked.
“Don’t ask me that,” she said.
“Okay. What would you like me to do?”
“Make love with me.”
“My pleasure.”
MAC DIDN’T WASTE any time, Jill thought happily, as he instantly stood and pulled her to her feet. Before she could think about where or how or even what, he had her in his arms.
His hands were everywhere. Her back, her hips, her arms, her hair. He roamed her body like a blind man paying tribute. At the same time, he pressed his mouth to hers and claimed her with an intimate kiss.
She parted for him instantly, wanting to taste and feel him. When their tongues touched, she felt the heat pour through her. It was like standing under a waterfall of de sire. Every inch of her skin tightened in anticipation. Between her legs, her body softened, dampened and swelled in anticipation. Her breasts began to ache, while her muscles clenched.
He explored her mouth, then broke the kiss to nibble his way along her jaw. Her head dropped back and she felt her breathing quicken. She held on to him, her fingers curling into his shoulders.
“Bed,” he murmured against her neck, his breath teasing the places he’d already dampened with his kiss.
“What?”
She couldn’t think, not when he made her feel so delicious. Tiny shivers rippled through her with each brush of lips, teeth and tongue.
“Upstairs. My bedroom.”
“Oh.”
Of course. They couldn’t make love here, not with Emily in the house. They had to go behind closed doors and be quiet and make sure Jill was gone well before dawn. And they would. In a second. As soon as he stopped licking the side of her neck and…
“Go,” he said, straightening and pushing her toward the stairs.
Laughter filled his voice while passion darkened his eyes. The irresistible combination had her scampering toward the second floor. She headed for his bedroom and waited until he’d shut and locked the door behind him before carefully peeling off her T-shirt and dropping it on the ground.
“I like a woman who takes charge,” he said as he re moved his own shirt.
“Do you?”
She hadn’t bothered with shoes when she’d come over, so she only had to unfasten her shorts and let them fall to the floor. Then she stood before him in only her bra and panties.
He followed her actions, dropping his jeans. He, too, had been barefoot. Now he stood before her in briefs that did little to disguise his erection.
“All that for me?” she asked as she pressed her hand against his belly before moving lower to stroke him.
“There’s more,” he said, nudging her toward the bed. “Come on. I’ll show you.”
He waited until she stopped next to the mattress be fore reaching behind her to unfasten her bra. After pushing away her hand while muttering “Later, I promise,” he drew her onto the bed and knelt beside her.
“So beautiful,” he said in a voice that was thick with need.
His words made her shiver, the intensity of his stare made her want. She shimmied out of her panties and tossed them onto the floor.
“My kind of girl,” he said with a smile before lowering his head toward her breast.
The first brush of his lips on her tight nipple had her arching toward him. When his tongue teased the sensitive flesh, she actually whimpered.
“It feels so good,” she whispered.
“I’m glad.”
He cupped her other breast and matched the movement of fingers to his tongue. Heat exploded low in her belly and radiated to the very tips of her fingers and toes. Her legs moved restlessly as she tossed her head from side to side.
He moved slowly, then faster. He nipped, he licked, he sucked, and he whispered how much he wanted her. The contact, the words, and when she opened her eyes, the visual of what he was doing sent her perilously close to the edge. So much so that when he left her breasts and began to kiss his way down her belly, she wasn’t sure she was going to hold off long enough to actually let him get there.
But somehow she managed to keep control so that when he parted her legs and knelt between her knees, she could draw in a deep breath in anticipation of his soul-stirring kiss.
His fingers gently parted her slick flesh, then he un erringly found that one central point of pleasure and swirled his tongue around it.
Jill covered her mouth with her hand to hold in the scream of pure pleasure. It was better than she’d imagined, better than she’d ever felt. The heat, the speed, the movement, the something. Her toes curled, the soles of her feet burned, her back arched, her body shook.
He kissed and licked and teased and soothed until she couldn’t stand it another second. She was already too close and when he took her to the edge, she hung on as long as she could before giving in to her explosive re lease. The orgasm ripped through her like a tidal wave of pleasure, tossing her back and forth, filling her with ecstasy before slowly seeping away and leaving her boneless.
“Earth to Jill,” Mac said as he settled in beside her.
She blinked, not exactly sure when she’d closed her eyes in the whole thing. Not that it mattered. She stretched and turned toward him.
“You’re really good at that.”
He grinned. “Thanks.”
“No, seriously. You could teach a class or something.” She had a vision of an entire classroom of men eager to learn technique. “Hmm, you’d need some volunteers for them to practice on. I bet I could find a few.”
He tunneled his fingers in her hair. “Not a good idea.”
“The class or the volunteers?”
“Both.”
He leaned in and kissed her. She moved against him and felt his erection pulse.
“I think I like this,” she murmured as she slid her leg between his. “A lot. But one of us is still seriously over dressed.”
“I can take care of that.”
He rolled away and tugged off his briefs. She took advantage of the moment and collected a condom from the nightstand. Seconds later she was on her back, he was between her thighs and they were both starting to breathe fast.
“Ready?” he asked after he’d pulled on the protection.
As he spoke he slipped a finger deep inside of her. Instantly she clamped her muscles around him and felt the first thrill ripple through her.
“More than ready.”
He eased himself inside of her.
Jill reached for his hips and pulled him in deeper. “Don’t hold back.”
His blue eyes dilated. “Are you sure? I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I’m too wet and swollen for that. Just do it hard.”
He groaned with the pleasure of a man just given a free pass. Then he braced his hands on the mattress and thrust in all the way. The sharp, erotic movement made her insides quiver with delight. She wrapped her legs around his hips and gave herself up to the feelings.
“Just like that,” she breathed when he did it again and again.
Harder. Faster. Slick. Hot. It was the perfect mating between a man and a woman. When she felt herself once again falling into paradise, she opened her eyes and found him staring at her. They climaxed together, watching each other. Bodies stiffened, muscles tightened and, at that moment, she understood exactly what all the fuss was about.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
LATER, WHEN SANITY RETURNED and Jill found she could breathe normally, she curled up next to Mac and pulled the covers over them.
“I can’t fall asleep,” she said quietly.
“I know, but I don’t want you to go yet.”
His words warmed her from the inside out. “I don’t want to go, either.”
She wanted to stay right here, to be with him, around him, making love, touching, talking. Being.
He rubbed her bare back, then played with her hair. She sensed he was with her, but also miles, or maybe years, away.
“What are you thinking?” she asked.
“Just looking over my life.”
“That’s a pretty serious topic. Listing highlights?”
“No.”
“Because of Emily?”
“Yeah. I don’t want to lose her.”
She wished she could tell him he wouldn’t, but she wasn’t sure. She didn’t know the details of his arrangement with the court, nor did she know what had happened in his past.
She pushed herself up on one elbow. “Tell me what happened, Mac. Why did Carly leave you?”
He stared at the ceiling. “It’s a long story.”
“I don’t have a whole lot of plans for the rest of the night.”
He was silent for a long time. Not sure if she should prompt him or let it go, she said nothing. Eventually Mac began to speak.
“I met her while I was still in the Marines. We had a couple of long weekends together. Good times, but nothing special. Then she turned up pregnant and I wanted to do the right thing, so I left the service and be came a cop. I thought it would be more stable, and the pay was a hell of a lot better.”
Jill did her best not to react, while inside small explosions of fireworks shot up in celebration. He hadn’t loved Carly. She didn’t want to think why the information was important, but it was and she accepted that.
“So you moved to Los Angeles,” she said.
“Right. I’d been an MP, so it was an easy transition. I liked my job, the people I worked with. Carly and I had to adjust, but then Em came along and I knew, what ever else happened, she’d made everything worth it.”
He exhaled slowly. “I loved her from the second I held her. She’s my best girl and the best I’ll ever be.”
Jill’s heart sighed at the words. “I think she’s pretty terrific, too.”
“Thanks. So there we were. One happy family. Carly and I had our problems, but we were good friends and that helped. Then I went to work in South Central L.A., in the gang division.” He turned and looked at her. “I was excited because I thought I could make a difference. I was wrong. Those kids live a life the rest of us can’t begin to imagine. Violence is what they know and understand. I got weighed down and I started to drink to escape.”
Jill hadn’t expected that and she didn’t know what to say. Mac didn’t wait for her to comment.
“I got more distant at home and Carly didn’t like that. We started fighting. I knew I had a temper, but I was determined not to show it to her, so I buried it and drank more.” He returned his attention to the ceiling. “One day my partner and I were on routine patrol. We saw some kids jump an old lady and take her purse. We headed out after them, rounded a corner to an alley and ran head first into an ambush.”
Jill tensed even as she began running her hands up and down his torso. “Are you okay? Were you shot?”
He glanced at her. “Twice.” He patted his chest. “Right here. I had on a vest. So did Mark. The difference is, they shot him in the head.”
She gasped. “Oh my God.”
“They said he was dead before he hit the ground. I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t do anything but react. I was past rage, to whatever the hell place that is. I came out shooting and got every one of them. There were four of them.” He closed his eyes. “Not one of them was older than sixteen.”
She shifted so she could stare into his face, and shook him until he looked at her. “They tried to kill you, Mac, and they murdered your partner. What were you sup posed to do? Let them go?”
“That’s what everybody said. Even the department psychologist. But here’s the thing. There’s a difference between killing someone because you’re trying to save your own skin and putting a bullet in them because you’re so furious you can’t see straight. I acted out of anger, not fear. I wanted them dead. And I killed them.”
