Read Need Me Online

Authors: Cynthia Eden

Tags: #Fiction, #Suspense, #Romance

Need Me (3 page)

BOOK: Need Me
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And she was kissing him back. Not hesitantly, but fully, moving her lips and her tongue against him, and Devlin’s cock swelled against the front of his jeans. He didn’t know what game she was playing right then, and he actually didn’t care.

He just wanted her to keep playing it.

Her robe had come loose a bit at the top, and he wanted to shove that robe out of the way. He wanted to put his hands on her breasts and feel her nipples against his palms.

But he kept kissing her. Hot and hard. Thrusting his tongue past her lips, and when she arched toward him, desire pounded through his veins. Her legs rose and wrapped around his hips. Her nails sank into his upper arms. She pulled him closer, and closer was exactly where he wanted to be.

His mouth slid from hers, but only so he could kiss a hot path down her neck. She shivered against him. He used the edge of his teeth, lightly scoring her flesh. Was she completely naked beneath that robe? He was going to find out. He’d strip her and then—

“Stop.”

Devlin blinked. He really, really hoped he’d misheard her.

But Julianna’s hands were pushing at him now and her legs had slid away from his hips. “Let me go, now.”

Jaw locking, he did. And Devlin stepped back so he wouldn’t give in to the urge to grab her again and pick up exactly where he’d just left off.

Her cheeks were flushed. Her eyes glittered. “That was a mistake.”

His spine shot up. “You’re the one who kissed me.” And he knew exactly why she’d done it. To stop his questions. To distract him.

Consider that a successful distraction.
He didn’t want to question her anymore. Fuck her? Most definitely, yes.

“It was
my
mistake.” She edged away from him. Her hands quickly adjusted the robe for maximum coverage. “I didn’t expect that.”

Now she had made him curious. Eyes narrowing, cock aching, temper rising, Devlin asked, “What, exactly, didn’t you expect?”

Her lashes lowered. She stopped adjusting the robe. “I didn’t expect to want you that much, not from just a kiss.”

Every muscle in his body locked down. “Baby, you should be careful saying things like that to me.”

Her lashes lifted. Her gaze met his. “It was my mistake,” she said again, and she turned for the door. “I won’t be repeating it.”

Oh, but I hope you do.

She stopped at the door, her hands on the wooden frame. “Where do I sleep tonight?’

“The guest room is down the hall. Third door on the left.”

She nodded, but then she glanced back. “And where will you be?”

“I’ll be in the room right—”

A hard pounding on his front door stopped Devlin’s words. Frowning now, he hurried toward her. His penthouse was private—for a damn good reason. He wasn’t the type to want uninvited visitors. And
no one
but his partners at VJS—Chance Valentine and Lex Jensen—were ever to be let up to his home without an announcement. His doormen knew that rule.

So who was pounding at his door?

“Devlin?” Julianna sounded worried. “You expecting someone?”

No, not that late. It was nearing midnight. Definitely not the time for any other guests—wanted or unwanted. Shaking his head, he hurried past her and went to the main door. He glanced through his peephole, and when he saw who was on the other side of the door, tension coiled in his body. Devlin opened the door.

Detective Faith Chestang stood on his threshold. She wore a no-nonsense suit, and her badge was clipped to her belt. Her hair was combed away from her face, and her determined expression said she meant business. Faith was an attractive woman, an African American in her early thirties, and a general force to be reckoned with.

“I tried to keep her downstairs, sir,” Peter Close, the doorman said quickly, “but—”

Faith sighed, cutting through his words. “But I’m a cop and my badge gets me in all kinds of places.” She lifted her dark brows. “It’s about to get me inside this fancy penthouse of yours right now.”

Devlin moved, blocking the entrance. “Unless you have some kind of warrant, it’s not.”

She smiled at him. He didn’t know her as well as Chance did, but Chance had told him that Faith was a good cop, one he could trust.

Devlin didn’t exactly trust many cops.

“I need to see Julianna,” Faith said flatly.

“And you think she’s here?”

Faith glanced over his shoulder. “Yes, I think she’s about five feet behind you, wearing
your
robe.” She gave a little whistle. “Cozy. I didn’t expect that.”

Swearing, Devlin whirled around. Sure enough, Julianna was there. What was up with the woman’s silent moving? If he didn’t know better, he would have thought she’d had some kind of special training. Chance and Lex both could take silent steps like that, to sneak up on their prey, but those guys were ex-military.

“I need you to come with me, Julianna,” Faith said.

“Why?” Devlin’s question, not Julianna’s. Julianna hadn’t moved.

“Because there’s been another murder,” Faith said, her delicate jaw hardening a bit. “And I’m afraid Julianna is tied to this one, too.”

Devlin took a step back, clearing the path so that the cop could make direct eye contact with his new client.

Faith stared at Julianna. “People sure do have a habit of dying around you.” Her gaze slanted to Devlin. “If I were you, I’d be very careful. Men who sleep with Julianna tend to wind up dead.”

Julianna surged forward. “Who’s the victim?”

Faith was watching her, the way a hungry spider might watch a fly. “Your lover.”

Julianna told me she didn’t have a lover.

“Th-that’s not possible,” Julianna said, her voice breaking. “I don’t have a lover.”

Faith gave her a long look. One that took in the robe Julianna was wearing and Julianna’s swollen, red lips. “It looks to me like you may have more than one.” Suspicion was in her drawl.

“I
don’t
,” Julianna hotly denied.

“That’s not what the photographs say.” Faith put her hands on her hips. “Now we can do this easy or hard. If you want me to lead you out in cuffs—again—I can do that.”

“No.” Julianna’s voice was hushed. “Just, let me change, all right? I’ll be right back.” Then she turned and fled down the hallway.

Devlin didn’t speak until she was gone. “Who is he,” he asked, voice lethally soft, “and how did he die?”

Faith laughed, but the sound held no humor. “Seeing as how you’re supposed to be so good at investigating, I would’ve thought that you’d do a little more research on your own lovers.”

“She’s not my lover.”
Not yet
. But he sure wanted her.

Faith pointed at him. “Consider yourself lucky that I arrived. Men who fall for Julianna have a tendency to end up in a pool of blood.”

Not the best visual. “Who is he?” Because Julianna had seemed so sincere when she’d told him that there was no one else.

Right before she’d kissed him.

What the hell? Am I going soft?
Since when did he let a pair of warm, brown eyes trick him? Obviously, she’d been trying to seduce him and stop his questions. He got that. But…

I still believed her when she said there was no one else.

Anger, this time directed at Julianna, began to simmer within him.

Faith cocked her head as she studied him. “Come down to the station and see for yourself.”

Shit. She wasn’t going to give him anything else, at least not right then. The sound of Julianna’s footsteps reached him, a fast clatter. She hurried toward the detective. “I-I need to call Sophie,” she said quickly.

Sophie Sarantos—her defense attorney.

He caught her hand. Pulled her close. To Faith, it probably looked as if he were embracing Julianna, but he wasn’t making that mistake. “Yeah, you’d fucking better, baby.” Because two dead lovers wasn’t good. “And don’t ever lie to me again.”

Her breath caught and she pulled back, just enough to look into his eyes. “I didn’t.”

He shook his head. Her breathing was too fast. Her gaze sliding away from his. And her voice trembled. All dead giveaways for deceit. “Bullshit.” But they’d deal with her lies…they’d deal with the mess of this case…as soon as he figured out just who the dead man was.

Chapter Three

“I don’t know him.” Julianna stared down at the pictures before her. Terrible, sickening pictures of a dead man—a man who’d been stabbed repeatedly. Nausea rolled in her stomach because that man—
he’d died just like Jeremy.
The photos showed the dead man sprawled on a brown carpet, a carpet that had a big, red splotch on it. A pool of his blood.

“I’m not in the mood for games,” Faith said, her voice hard. No, the detective had never struck Julianna as the playful sort.

Sophie Sarantos leaned across the table and her fingers closed around the picture. Julianna cast a quick glance at her lawyer. Sophie’s face showed no change of expression at all, as if looking at a dead man were totally common place for her. “You heard my client,” Sophie said. “She doesn’t know this man.”

Julianna was too conscious of Devlin standing in the far corner of the interrogation room, watching her. She wanted to look back at him, but she forced her attention to stay on the detective.

“If that’s the way she wants to play this…” Faith opened a manila envelope and pulled out a photograph. Actually, quite a few photographs. Then she tossed those photographs across the table so that they slid toward Julianna. “You sure look mighty comfortable with a man you don’t know,” Faith said. “Do you sleep with strangers often?”

It was hard for Julianna to breathe. Way too hard. Because she was staring at photos of herself. Her very naked self. Only she wasn’t alone. The dead man was with her.
Not dead. Alive in those pictures. Touching me. Kissing me.
She shoved the photos away. “Those aren’t real.”

“Oh?” Faith picked up a photograph. Her brows rose as she studied it. “They certainly look real. I mean, this
is
you, isn’t it? Unless you have a twin I don’t know about.”

Desperate, Julianna focused on her lawyer. “I don’t know that man. If I slept with him, I’d remember it—”

“But you don’t remember killing your husband,” Faith said, pouncing on that, “even though you were found with his body and the murder weapon.”

This couldn’t be happening. Just when she thought things couldn’t get worse…

“When was he killed?” Sophie asked.

No, no, that wasn’t the question that should be asked. Julianna’s hands slammed down on the table. “Who is he?”

Silence.

Then…footsteps, walking closer. Devlin stood at the edge of the table. He picked up one of the photographs. Her hand flew out and grabbed his wrist. “I didn’t sleep with him.” She’d know if she had.
Just as I should know if I killed my husband.

No, no, she
hadn’t
killed Jeremy. Even if…even if she’d thought about doing it.

But Faith wasn’t looking at her. She was focused on Sophie. “Your client
had
psychological evaluations, right? There’s no reason for her not to remember—”

“I didn’t sleep with him!” She jumped to her feet. Devlin still had that picture of her. He was staring at it so hard and tears were stinging her eyes. She’d thought she was long past tears. “I don’t know that man!”

Sophie rose, too, and she put a comforting hand on Julianna’s shoulder. “Is there a reason you aren’t telling us his identity, Detective?”

“Interesting…” Faith was still sitting. “When we found the dead man, he was lying in a pool of his blood, and all of these pictures of him and Julianna were tossed across the floor.”

“That screams set-up to me,” Sophie said instantly. “My client is—”

“These are fake,” Devlin announced.

Julianna’s gaze shot to him.

“Excuse me?” Faith demanded, reaching for the photo.

But Devlin slapped that photo down on the table…and he put it right next to the police shot of the dead body. “Look at the necks.”

The what?

“In this picture…” He tapped on the bloody picture. “His neck looks at least two inches shorter.” Then he tapped on the picture of the guy—
the guy having sex with me.
“His neck is longer here. Probably because someone pasted his head on another man’s body.”

And Julianna looked at the picture again. Really looked at it. She was
mostly
naked but…she still had on underwear. A scrap of blue lace. Lace she remembered.

“Look at the wine glass near the bed,” Devlin instructed.

Now she did.

“See that curve there? That curve shouldn’t be there. The glass shouldn’t appear warped like that, not unless someone was playing around with a digital image. Changing things up.”

Her gaze slid from the glass to the bed in that image.

I know that bed.
“It’s the wrong man.” Her voice emerged as a husky rasp. “But that’s me.” In her way too exposed glory. “And that’s…that should have been Jeremy.” Their wedding night. That wild trip to Vegas. They’d stayed in the honeymoon suite. She remembered that massive bed and the wine glasses…

“It probably
was
Jeremy,” Devlin said. “Until someone started playing around with editing tools and that someone spliced this guy’s head on Jeremy’s body.”

But…but those photos meant someone had taken pictures of her and Jeremy together. During their honeymoon. Dammit.
He was always watching. Always.
She’d had no idea just what Jeremy had planned for her. Not until it was too late.

“The dead man’s name is Ray Holliwell,” Faith said, squinting now as she eyed all of the pictures. “He was a security consultant for Jeremy Smith.”

“A security consultant?” Julianna repeated. Her temples were throbbing.

“Yes, we think Jeremy hired him when he wanted to dig up dirt on his competition.”

Julianna exhaled as another piece of the puzzle clicked into place for her.
And that’s how Jeremy learned my secrets.
He’d paid for some guy to dig up her past and discover secrets that he’d used to control her. To keep her with him when she wanted nothing more than to leave the bastard.

And she
had
been his prisoner.

Until that last night. When she’d had enough. But she couldn’t tell the detective those secrets. She couldn’t even tell Sophie.

“When did this Ray die?” Sophie asked.

“Yesterday, around 6 a.m., according to our ME.” Faith focused on Julianna. “Do you have an alibi for that time?”

Julianna didn’t speak.

“Maybe…” Faith’s gaze slid to Devlin. “You were in bed with another lover? A living one who can back up your alibi?”

If only. “I—”

“Yes,” Devlin said firmly. “Julianna was with me.”

She turned toward him, stunned. “Devlin…” She couldn’t let him do this.

He stared straight into her eyes and said once more, “Julianna was with me.”

She shook her head. Julianna’s lips parted—

“I want to speak with you outside, Detective,” Sophie said sharply, then she pretty much grabbed the detective and rushed for the door.

Faith frowned, but she didn’t fight the lawyer. The door shut behind them, and Julianna asked, voice broken, “What are you doing?”

He leaned in close and put his mouth right at her ear. “Saving your ass.” His lips brushed over the curve of her ear and Julianna shivered. “After all, that’s what you hired me to do.”

But she hadn’t hired him to lie. She rose onto her toes. He was still leaning toward her so their bodies pushed together. And it was her turn to whisper into his ear, “But what if I’m guilty?”

***

Sophie Sarantos made sure she shut the interrogation room door firmly behind her. She was really having one hell of a week—near death episodes could be real bitches—and she just wanted to get out of that police station and go climb into the nearest bed with her lover, Lex Jensen. Lex was currently pacing just a few feet away and based on the hard stare he shot her way, he wasn’t a very happy camper.

Because we were having one hell of a time…until Faith hauled my client off to jail.
“She’s being set up,” Sophie announced. Wasn’t that obvious?

“Oh, I’ve never heard that one,” Faith said, giving a faint eye roll. “No criminal is
ever
set up for a crime that he or she didn’t commit.”

Sophie just waited.

Faith sighed. “Okay, the pictures do make it look as if—”

“As if someone is out to get my client? The photos were left there deliberately. Let me guess…” Sophie put her hands on her hips. “It was a grand death scene, right? The guy probably had a big envelope or a manila folder right next to his body and it looked as if the photos fell out when he was attacked.”

Faith stared back at her.

“Wouldn’t she have stopped to—I don’t know—pick
up
the photos if they had been legit?”

Faith thrust back her shoulders. “You know I have to follow the trail of evidence. The captain said for me to bring her in…so I did.”

Ah, so that meant Faith hadn’t been buying the scene, either. But her hands had been tied. “Get your tech guys to look at the photos. They’ll back up Devlin.” And she would make a mental note that the guy could spot forged photos very quickly. Probably because of his computer skills. Hmmm…if he could spot forgeries so easily, Sophie was willing to bet he could make forgeries just as fast. Another point to file away for future reference.

“Why is he alibiing her?” Faith asked.

I have no idea.
“I’ll assume it’s because they were in bed together at 6 a.m.” She made sure to deliberately phrase her reply.
Assume
was such a handy word choice. “Now, the next time you want to talk to my client…” Sophie gave Faith a hard smile. She respected the woman, but she wasn’t about to let Faith or any police officer harass her client. “Call me first.”

Faith gave a slow nod then she said, “It’s not a bad thing that she has protection now.”

Oh, hell. She knows that Dev isn’t Julianna’s lover. Faith knows he’s been hired to guard her.

“Because,” Faith continued thoughtfully, “if Julianna really is innocent, then it certainly seems she has one very dangerous enemy out there.”

Yes, it did seem that way.

Another cop appeared, calling Faith’s name. “Excuse me,” she murmured as she hurried away.

And then Lex closed in on Sophie. “What the hell is going on?” Lex asked, keeping his voice low.

Ah, where to start? “Your partner has just alibied my client.”

He frowned at her. “What?”

“According to Dev, he and Julianna are lovers…”

***

He felt the soft touch of her lips against his ear and arousal shot straight through Devlin’s body. He wasn’t supposed to get turned on in a police station. There was no way he should be
that
far gone…but his cock was pushing against the fly of his jeans, and Devlin knew he had one serious fucking problem.

He was hot for a would-be killer.

But what if I’m guilty?
Her question hung between them.
What if...

His instincts screamed at him, telling him to protect Julianna.

But he wasn’t a fool. He wouldn’t let desire lead him down a dark path with a killer. He’d find out the truth about Julianna. He’d discover every secret she’d ever kept. If she was a murderer, then he’d turn her over to the cops, wrapped up in a big, red ribbon.

And if she was innocent, then he’d nail the bastard who was playing such a vicious game with her life.

The best way to uncover the truth? Stay as close as possible to Julianna.

“Let’s get out of here,” he told her, leaving that
what if
question unanswered. He knew they had to be very careful what they said—and how loudly they said their words. In a police station, eyes and ears were everywhere. He wrapped his arm around Julianna’s shoulders and steered her toward the door. When they headed into that hallway, he saw Sophie standing a few feet away, and his friend Lex was at her side.

Lex inclined his head to Devlin even as Sophie hurried toward Julianna. “You’re clear to leave,” Sophie told Julianna, but there was worry in her blue gaze. “They don’t have any evidence to charge you on this one. But…” She cast a quick glance toward Lex, then looked back at Julianna. “I don’t like this setup. The car bombing, the murder of the security consultant. Someone is
after
you. Someone with a serious grudge.”

Just who would want to destroy Julianna’s life? Devlin would be finding out. “I’ll be staying close,” Devlin assured Sophie. “You don’t have to worry. She’s under VJS protection now.”

“They’re the best,” Sophie said. Lex put his hand on her shoulder. His gaze met Devlin’s. Devlin could easily read the questions in the other man’s eyes , but those were questions that would have to wait until later. Right then, his priority was getting Julianna out of there. He took her hand, threaded his fingers with hers, and they walked through the station. Since it was so late, the bullpen was mostly empty. A good thing because he didn’t feel like dealing with the suspicious stares of other cops right then.

Once outside, they hurried down the steps and he put her into his SUV. Minutes later, they were cutting through DC, moving quickly in the night.

“Thank you,” Julianna said.

He didn’t want her gratitude.

I want her.
What the hell was it about her? How was she piercing right through his control? His reaction to her was dangerous, mostly because it was so damn primal.

“If you hadn’t spotted the problem with those photos, I-I would have been there all night.”

He grunted. “Sophie wouldn’t let that happen.” And the kick in his gut also told him that Faith had probably already suspected those photos were fakes—she’d just wanted to see Julianna’s reaction to them. He knew the technique was a cop favorite. Bring a suspect in during the middle of the night—a perfect time when the suspect would be groggy and off-guard. Then, proceed to grill the hell out of that suspect. Toss your evidence at her. Throw out your suspicions.

And watch the person break apart.

Only Julianna hadn’t broken apart.

“I…I hate that you saw the photos, though.”

They stopped at a red light. A fast glance showed him that she was twisting her hands together.

“It’s silly, isn’t it? With everything else that’s going on, I’m embarrassed because you saw me naked.”

Mostly naked. “You don’t need to be embarrassed.” She had a beautiful body. He’d looked at those images and he’d felt two things.

BOOK: Need Me
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