No Chance in Hell (20 page)

He sped up his movements. Faster. Harder. He pounded into her, pulling her climax to the surface. “Come for me. With me.” Urging her on, he lowered her legs, and then slid his hands under her hips. Lifting her, he continued to thrust.

“Oh, God,” she moaned.
 

Her inner muscles contracted. Her eyes fluttered and then closed. Witnessing the look of ecstasy on her face, he lost it. While he was buried deep inside her, his spine stiffened for a split second, and then he exploded. Saying her name, he emptied himself to the rhythm of her tremors.

Sweaty but satiated, neither spoke for a few minutes. A dull ache started in his heart the second he rolled away to dispose of the condom. He turned back to her and propped himself up on his elbow. He leaned over and kissed her. Her lips were so very soft and swollen from his kisses.
 

“Hair mussed, lipstick gone, and sleepy-eyed, you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

“Thank you.” She smiled and stifled a yawn. “For everything.”

“Can you reach the light?”

“I can.” She turned off the bedside lamp, rolled over, and nestled her head on his chest. The darkness was a good thing. No way could he explain the silly grin on his face.

“You’re beautiful, too,” she whispered.
 

“No more sex for you. It makes you delirious,” Marcus said on a chuckle. “You’d better get some rest.”

“Not delirious,” she said behind a yawn.
 

Marcus lay in the darkness and tried to analyze why he’d let this happen. Did he want this thing between him and Chris to be real? Could he leave the past buried and start again? In his line of work, he couldn’t even guarantee he’d come home at night. Sex with Chris would have to be a short-lived affair, nothing more. Besides, there’d be no reason for her to stick around once the killer was behind bars.

Chris shifted and pushed hair off her face. Her breathing said she was still awake.

“You’re thinking too much.” He smoothed his hand up and down her spine. “Stop trying to analyze what just happened.”

“You don’t know what I was thinking,” she said.

“I can guess. And you’re wrong. I don’t regret making love with you,” Marcus said, surprising himself by saying it out loud. In fact, he felt good.
 

“Neither do I.”

“Then what’s got your neck and back tied in knots?” He walked his fingers down her tense muscles, while he waited and wondered if she’d tell him.

“When you spoke to Nate earlier, you sent someone named Holly your love. Who is she?”

Marcus smiled to himself at Chris’s question. A long time had passed since anybody had been the least bit possessive of him. Somebody caring felt damn good. “Are you jealous?”
 

She lifted her head, propping up on her elbow. “I’m sorry. I had no right to ask.”

The overhead light in the outer room cast a shadow across their bed, but the embarrassment in her eyes was easy to see. He cupped her cheek, pulled her back onto his chest, and then kissed the top of her head. “Hey. I’m flattered. I don’t mind you asking. I’ll tell you anything you want.”

She popped back up on her elbow. “Really? Mr. I Play My Cards Close to the Vest is willing to answer any question?”

He leaned up and kissed her. Damn, she tasted sweet. So he kissed her again. This time she joined in, making it difficult for him to remember the question.

Chris broke the kiss, then went back to her position on her elbow. “Is she an old girlfriend?”

“No. But I do love her. Holly Hoffman used to be a close friend of Kay’s. Now, she’s more of a family member to all of us at Lost and Found. Holly was our first rescue as a team. We didn’t get to her in time to keep her from getting abused and beaten.”

“Is she okay now?”

“She’s dealing. The whole thing traumatized the hell out of her. I think she quit her job and moved to Hill Top because being around us served as a constant reminder of everything she went through. She’s the assistant librarian at the Hill County Library and teaches night classes in English as a second language. Nate was telling me she’s moving back to Dallas. She’s apparently looking into becoming a nurse.”

“I’ll bet Kay missed their friendship.”

“Yeah. It’s all good between them now. Holly was working for Child Protective Services with Kay when she uncovered a human-trafficking ring. The bastards tried to kidnap Kay a couple of times. They failed, so they took Holly and offered to swap her for evidence. She took some rough treatment before we got to her.”

Marcus went on to explain that their college friend, Jake Donovan, who they’d thought had been killed in Afghanistan, had turned out to be alive and working for the criminals. A tumor on Jake’s brain had robbed him of his memory, and his boss had given him the name Johnny Darling. “Holly touched something inside Jake, restoring at least part of his humanity. He kept her from being raped and killed.”
 

“She must be quite a woman to have survived such an ordeal. Her story makes me feel like a whiner.”

The compassion in Chris’s voice touched a place deep in Marcus’s soul. He picked up a long blond curl off her shoulder and wrapped the silky threads around his finger. “You’re one of the strongest, bravest women I’ve ever known. You haven’t whined one time.”

“You’re being kind. Learning your friend Jake was alive had to have been a shock.”

“For sure. His helicopter had been shot down, and we’d heard everyone on board had died. But he’d been flown to a military hospital where they patched up his injuries, but also found a growth on his brain. He was delusional, convinced the doctors were going to kill him, and so he ran. After he was arrested, the military took him back to the hospital, where they removed the tumor. Kay says he’ll be released soon. We’ll make sure he has a place to go and people to care for him.”

“You really are a tight-knit group,” Chris said softly. Her words were slurred and thick with sleep.

“We go way back. But we’re not an exclusive club. There’s always room for more.” He’d almost added her specifically, but he’d caught himself. Instead, he buried his face in her hair, breathing in the scent of her shampoo.

He’d been right when he’d told her an affair would end badly. Right now, she was in need of that white knight on his fiery steed to protect her. He wasn’t a knight, but he’d die trying to keep her safe. The two of them came from different worlds. She might not know it now, but when the case ended and she could think straighter, she’d go back to her affluent lifestyle. That’s how it should be, and he was fine with that. Or he would be.

****

Marcus stood in the doorway, holding two cups of steaming coffee. Damn, he hated to wake her. Naked as the day she was born, she’d pulled up the sheet and covered her luscious breasts. Her beauty and strength were proof enough there was a god.
 

She rolled his direction. Opened her eyes. Her gaze strolled down his torso and back up, reminding him that he wore nothing but a towel.

“Good morning. Is one of those for me?”

“Sure thing.” He sat next to her on the bed and handed her a coffee. He shifted his weight and then adjusted his towel, as it was dangerously close to falling off.

“Thank you.” She held the cup under her nose, breathing deeply.

“My pleasure.” He made an effort not to stare at her bare shoulders, opting to let her drink her coffee.

Much to his disappointment, she pushed herself up, taking the sheet with her, and adding his pillow behind her head. “You’re awake early. What have you been doing?”

“Showered and shaved, but mostly I watched you. You’re beautiful when you’re asleep, almost angelic.” She hadn’t been an angel during their lovemaking. In fact, she’d surprised him by being aggressive, so he added, “Unlike last night.”

Her eyes widened. One hand grabbed the sheet and pulled it under chin. She grinned mischievously, and her cheeks flushed. “Oh. Right. Last night.”

Marcus set his cup on the nightstand and moved closer to her. He tugged the sheet from her grip and pulled the cover back, stopping at the edges of her nipples.

“I’ll be damned. You do blush all over.”

“An affliction I wish I could control. I hate blushing so easily.” The soft skin at the top of her breasts colored as she spoke.

“I wondered how far it went.”

“So that’s what last night was all about. A fact-finding expedition?”
 

“Exactly. Since we have a few hours, I have a few more places I want to explore.” She was so beautiful that he had to touch her. He swept her hair across the pillow, fanning it out with his fingers.

“It seems we have a lot of ground to cover.” She tugged his towel loose and jumped out of bed. “You had your shower. Now I want mine.”

She took off at a run to the bathroom with him right behind. He stopped directly behind her at the glass shower door, slid his hands around, and took her breasts in his hands. She reached back, grasped his butt cheeks and tugged him closer, pushing his erection into her flesh.
 

“That’s a strong grip you have.” He rolled her nipples with his fingertips. They pebbled, growing hard under his touch. Her body reacted perfectly every time.
 

“Hmm.” She moaned, reaching in to turn on the water.
 

His phone chirped from the other room. “Not answering it.”

“Good.” She stepped inside. She raised one eyebrow, pushed her hair back over her shoulders, and extended her hand. “You coming?”

He chuckled at the double entendre. “I’ll make sure that I don’t too soon.”

He stepped under the warm spray and took her in his arms. Looking up at him with mischief in her eyes, she was the very definition of sex. How had he gotten lucky enough to be in the shower with the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen?

Chris slowly sank to her knees, dropping kisses on the way down. She wrapped her hand around his erection, stroking back and forth, before taking him into her mouth. She braced one hand on his thigh for balance as she pulled him deeper, her tongue making circles around him. He’d just told her he wouldn’t come too soon, but much more and he’d explode. Jesus, he hated to stop her.

“You better stand up.” He caught her under the arms, pulled her to her feet, and then turned her back to him. “Hand me the soap.”

He lathered his hands and started with her shoulders, rubbing and massaging down each arm and back up. Slowly, he soaped every inch of her, enjoying the sighs as he washed her breasts, belly, and between her legs. He kneaded, stroked, and smoothed her body, committing her soft skin to memory. The delicate curves and valleys of her body molded perfectly with his. The only word that came to mind was perfection.
 

He hated to release her, but it took two hands to get the top off the small bottle of shampoo. Burying his fingers in her hair, he scrubbed her scalp. Her sultry moans were almost more than he could take.
 

“Turn around. Let’s rinse your hair.”

She moved slowly, smiling up at him. “Thank you,” she whispered, leaning her head back under the running water. “Much more of this, and you’ll have to carry me back to bed.”

Chapter 16

Chris had never been so pampered. Never been ministered to with the tenderness Marcus was showing. Never been so insanely turned on.

She finished rinsing her hair, stood on her tiptoes, and then kissed him. Deep and hard, she delivered the message. “Make love to me.”

One corner of his mouth lifted. “I thought you’d never ask.”

Marcus held her hand as she stepped onto the rug by the shower. He slid a soft terrycloth towel over her body. She closed her eyes and let him take control. As he dried her, he trailed soft kisses on her skin. He circled her nipple with his tongue, and she buried her hands in his wet hair, holding his head in place. “More,” she whispered.

His cell phone rang again. “Damn it.”
 

“You better answer it.” She pushed his shoulder, indicating he should go.

“Don’t start without me.” He wrapped the towel around his hips, walked to the table next to the bed, and then picked up his cell. Frustration clouded his face. “It’s Nate. I should take the call.”

Chris nodded, knowing their time alone had ended. Reality had reared its ugly head. She gathered her clothes and returned to the bathroom. She slipped on her new linen slacks, a short-sleeve blouse, and then went to work on her hair. The hotel dryer and her brand new brush were different from the ones she had at home, but she was thankful to have them. For the first time in days, she didn’t look like she’d stuck her finger in a light socket. A swipe of lipstick, a little mascara, and her new flats had her ready for the day.

Marcus was still on the phone, speaking so softly she couldn’t understand what he said. He’d slipped on his jeans and stood with his back to her, looking out over the city.

He turned toward her, and her heart jumped into her throat. His eyes flashed cold, sending her stomach plummeting. When he saw her, his expression mellowed too late. The reality check had been received. She got it. Marcus had returned to work. It was his job to keep her alive, and it was time they got busy finding the killer.