Busted: Promise Harbor, Book 3 (24 page)

Jackson leaned forward. “Come on. He plowed my center into the net. The poor kid needed twenty-six stitches after that. Rocky had it coming.”

Hayley only let her gaze slip away from his for a second. “And when you took down Shane Calvert for tripping you?”

“He threw the first punch.”

“Unlike the throw down between you and Freddie Hall during the opening game of the season four years ago.”

Jackson frowned. “What did you do, keep a scrapbook?”

She shrugged, making a last-minute decision about her cards. “Stone’s was full every game night you played, so Matt often needed the extra hand.”

“How many games did you miss?”

“Only a couple.” She smiled innocently.

He searched her face, finally realizing that the more riled up he got, the more he tipped his cards just enough she could see them. “You cheater.”

“Sorry, not feeling myself. Must be the flowerpot I took to the head.”

He tossed the cards aside. “And you even managed to say that with a straight face. You’re clearly feeling better.”

She started to laugh, but the sound quickly died away as he reached out to touch her cheek.

“How’s your head?”

“Pain meds are a beautiful thing.” Mostly. She had a mild headache, but it was manageable.

“Still dizzy?”

“No.” Not unless she counted the spinning in her head when he was only inches away.

“Good.” Jackson slid two fingers beneath her chin, guiding her forward to meet his mouth.

Chapter Ten

Hayley whimpered, the sound hungry and needy, and stifled by a kiss soft enough to melt her into the chair.

It was like they were back in high school and he’d just taken her by complete surprise all over again.

Getting caught with the mascot costume would have spelled disaster, but being outed by Jackson would have made it that much worse. Not giving herself away when he’d crushed his mouth down on hers had been difficult. But not nearly as difficult as trying to act like the whole thing was no big deal. She’d failed horribly at that, clinging to him, taking as much from the moment of mistaken identity as she could for as long as it lasted.

She was about to repeat history, teetering on the edge of falling hopelessly into a kiss that was shaking her to the core. And she couldn’t make herself care.

His palm slid along her jaw, moving slower than the teasing drag of his teeth across her bottom lip. His other hand roamed up her thigh, kneading and tugging her closer until he finally gave up on that and hauled her into his lap.

She planted her hands on his chest, marveling at the strength beneath her palms. And the hardness pressing into her hip. Her eyes slid shut, and she arched against him, aching to rub herself along his shaft.

Jackson pushed her hair back from her face. “I don’t want to stop this time, so if this isn’t what you want…”

How did he look so sexy and vulnerable at the same time? Was that part of his charm too? Or was her grandfather right about it being far easier to hurt him than she realized?

“I don’t want to stop,” she whispered. Stopping would mean sacrificing the taste of him on her tongue, the sweep of his fingers up her back. And stopping sure as hell wouldn’t satisfy the hunger licking across every nerve ending in her body.

He waited, his gaze holding hers.

“Do you want me to sign a contract agreeing to it?”

He laughed. “No.”

She brushed her lips across his, letting her tongue slide into his mouth. “Then you need to get back to the part where you were kissing me.”

“Whatever you say, Detective.” He caught the back of her head, holding her to him as he ravaged her mouth.

Her breath stalled in her throat. Jackson pulled at her shirt, gathering the material in his hands and dragging it up her body. His thumbs brushed the sides of her breasts, and her nipples hardened to aching points.

He tugged the shirt off, drinking her in. She shivered beneath the wicked scrutiny that seemed to log every inch of her. The intensity of it threatened to turn her into a molten pool at his feet. All with just a look.

“You have that expression again, like you’re thinking too hard.”

“I didn’t expect this…” The words surprised her as much as the desire flooding her, filling every cell in her body.

“Didn’t expect what?”

“That it would be like this,” she admitted, feeling more than a little drugged on the buzz she felt when she was this close to him. She waited for some slick or sarcastic response, something to keep the mood light and playful.

“Neither did I.”

She felt his hands at her back, traveling up her spine. When he reached the ends of her hair, he wrapped them around his fingers, using the sexy grip to lean her back. One strong hand spanned her hip, keeping her firmly in his lap as his lips laid a searing path from the valley between her breasts to her navel.

Hayley clenched her thighs, the ache deep in her core driving her increasingly mad. She rocked her hips, sliding down the hard length of him. He groaned, catching a handful of her breast, kneading and tugging so damn slowly on her nipple.

His tongue flicked across the tip, and then he sucked her into his mouth. Greedy pulls, one after another, sent waves of pleasure streaming through her.

Needing to feel the heat of his skin against hers, she tugged his shirt over his head. He growled at the interruption, recapturing one dark pink tip, rolling it back and forth between his fingers.

Moaning, she ran her hands across his chest, up over his shoulders. Muscle tensed beneath her palms and she reveled in the feel of him. Warm, Strong. Alive.

Jackson hauled her up his body until his mouth was even with the boxers that were all but falling off her now. He pressed his mouth between her legs, kissing her right through the fabric.

Sweet heaven.

He pulled at her shorts, sliding them down and off one leg, then nudging her thighs apart so she was straddling him, her feet back on the floor. “I need to taste you.”

Jackson palmed her ass, following the crease down to where she was already wet. If he weren’t already hard for her, the tempting slickness would have done the job. From behind he stroked a finger through her folds, rubbing back and forth. She gripped his shoulders, her nails biting into his skin until he ran his tongue up her lips, dipping inside for a taste that had him grabbing her ass just as hard.

“Yes!” Hayley’s breathy voice made his balls ache.

Taking his time, he nuzzled his face against her, then licked a lazy path down to her opening. He circled her clit, laving the swollen flesh in slow, soft strokes with his tongue, then faster. She tilted her hips, moving with his mouth, grinding sweetly into him.

Shit, she was hot. He looked up at her, loving the sight of her blonde hair trailing down to her breasts, her nipples still shiny and damp from his mouth. She bit her lip, then let her head drop back.

Sexy as hell.

Jackson feasted on her, devouring every trail of moisture, returning to slide his tongue over her clit every few seconds. She clamped her legs tight, and he used his shoulders to keep them open, licking at her over and over.

“Jackson,” she hissed, shaking and pleading, though he wasn’t sure what for. Slower? Faster? Harder?

And that train of thought was going to set him off like a rocket if she so much as accidentally rubbed the head of his cock. He desperately wanted inside her, but he wasn’t done making her come yet.

The taste of her filled his head, overloading his senses as his mouth moved against her, coaxing her closer. Cupping one full cheek with a palm, he slid his other hand up the inside of her thigh. Sliding through the moisture, he pushed at her opening.

Hayley cried out, burying her hands in his hair. He pumped his finger into her, thrusting in and out, matching the carnal rhythm with every sweep of his tongue. Moments later she shattered in his arms, rocking her hips, and he nearly lost his mind to the sound of it.

Holy fuck.

Fumbling for the bag on the floor by the closet, he jerked it toward him. He had a condom in his hand in record time, rolling it on seconds before her knees gave out and she sank into his lap.

She was so wet, she slid onto him so damn fast he could have come on the spot. He gripped her hips, holding her still long enough to drag in more oxygen.

“Jackson?”

He groaned, their foreheads touching as he fought for control. What was it about this woman that tested every ounce of his restraint? “I’m good.” So fucking good.

His heart pounded, heat tunneling through his veins until his whole body burned. She wiggled in place and pleasure spiked through his system.

Fuck yeah.

Holding it together, he relaxed his grip on her hips, sinking his cock all the way inside her.

Her mouth found his, her tongue thrusting between his lips, wild and hungry. She rocked faster, sliding up and down his cock, pumping hard, and damn it, there was no way he was going to last.

He groaned, quickly losing control under the sweet motion of her riding him. She leaned back and he suddenly fit even deeper. All he could do was clutch her hips and watch himself sink into her over and over. The slick walls clenched around him, and he rocked his own hips, lifting up to bury himself inside her.

Release roared through him, and he pumped faster, lost in the feral tempo. He held her down on him, the spasms finally fading until only the sound of their heaving breathing filled the room.

What the hell just happened?

Hayley collapsed against him, her body shaking. That couldn’t be good.

“Hayls?”

She lifted her face, and he realized she was laughing. “Did we just have sex on a beanbag chair?”

He laughed, noticing the way she was sprawled across him and the few inches of overstuffed vinyl keeping them off the floor. “Guess I can scratch that one off my bucket list.” He looked down at her, smoothing her hair away from the bump that should have made sex the last thing on either of their minds. “You know, I think I like concussed Hayley. She’s dirty.”

She laughed even harder and slugged him playfully in the arm, then she settled back into place, her face resting on his shoulder. Exactly where he wanted her.

“You want to get fired, don’t you?”

Hayley looked up from her desk at work to where he partner stood, coffee halfway to his mouth as he scowled at her. Phil hadn’t been the first person to give her a double take when she’d showed up for her shift.

She pointed in the direction of her captain’s office. “He knows I’m here.” He was probably the only one not surprised that she hadn’t wanted to sit home and lick her wounds for a couple days.

Phil leaned over her desk. “What’s that?”

She shrugged, holding up the shadowed sketch she’d doodled. The partial image had been going through her mind since she’d woke up, but putting pencil to paper hadn’t helped her figure out what it meant.

Phil tipped the paper sideways. “Is it a tree?”

“Not sure. But I think it has something to do with last night.”

“Something you saw on our suspect’s clothes?”

“Maybe.” Although all she could clearly remember was the dark pants and black hoodie. The harder she concentrated, the more her head pounded.

She’d awakened to a full high school band doing a pep rally between her temples this morning, giving her a good reason to slip out of bed without disturbing Jackson.

God, she’d slept with Jackson Knight.

Worse than that, she’d spent three quarters of the night wrapped around him, unable to put more than a few inches between them. And when she had rolled away in sleep, he’d pulled her back to him. It was a wonder she’d made it out of bed without him recapturing her.

“Maybe you gave our boy a scare last night?”

“What?” Hayley stared up at her partner, wondering how in the hell he’d heard about Jackson.

“Maybe almost getting caught will make him rethink his plans. Make him move on to another town.”

“Oh. Right.” Except neither of them wanted that. They wanted to nail the bastard’s ass to the wall.

“Get some coffee, Stone. You need it.” Phil walked away, leaving her staring at the sketch.

The dark blob on the page was easier to think about than what had happened between her and Jackson last night. It should have been an isolated incident, except twice more he’d brought her to an explosive release, leaving both of them sweaty and tangled in the sheets she’d gripped every time he made her come.

“Had a rough night, huh, Stone?” Gauthier flipped through a stack of folders in his hand. “Maybe you should let Knight catch your perps.” He flashed her a teasing grin.

“Any openings I can apply for?”

They both turned at the sound of Jackson’s voice. Although he smiled, there was tension around his eyes that warned her he was annoyed about something.

Suspecting that something was her, she slipped a hand across her stomach, which gave a nervous tug. “Does this look like anything to you?” She thrust the sketch at Gauthier, buying herself as much time as she could before Jackson pounced.