The Law of Desire (9 page)

And how did they go from making out hot and heavy under the trees all the way back to his interrogation mode?

For the first time she felt like she was really ready to go all the way with a guy. She didn’t have the stress of school and a job that made relationships and getting to know men difficult. And she didn’t have her overprotective, gang-banger and
all-the-time-blocking
brother there to scare the guy away. And who does she develop an attraction to?
A cop.

Maybe it was for the best. She had waited this long to lose her virginity; she might as well wait until she met a man who at
least
trusted her.

Frustration didn’t even begin to describe her feelings. His kisses and caresses had unleashed something inside her. Against all her better judgment, she wanted to be with him. She knew she wouldn’t be able to resist her desire. She just hoped she wouldn’t regret it.

W
hen she hadn’t come back downstairs, Lawrence decided to do some thinking about the case, trying to figure out what she was keeping from him. The more he thought about it, the less likely it seemed that she really was a criminal mastermind.

But she
was
hiding something.

It wasn’t until she’d come into the study to tell him that dinner was done that he realized he’d spent the entire day mulling over and hashing out all the angles, yet he still wasn’t anywhere near figuring her out.

And the fact she had once again prepared a meal that knocked his socks off left him even more confused.
She can cook like my mother!
He didn’t take any pleasure in the fact that his long-standing line to keep him forever single was coming back to bite him in the behind. How did a woman her age learn to cook like that? It was just one of the many contradictions surrounding Minerva Jones.

He got up to clean the kitchen. He hadn’t said much during dinner except to tell her the food was delicious. She accepted the compliment gracefully. But it was clear she could do without conversation. Or at least she could do without talking to him.

“I’ll help,” she said.

“That’s okay. You cooked. You don’t have to clean up, too.”

“I don’t mind. You wash and I’ll dry. And tomorrow you’re cooking for me, Detective.” She nudged him playfully and he could tell it was her way of trying to call a truce.

Damn if he didn’t want to take her peace offering.

He smiled. “Okay, Minerva. I’ll make you the best breakfast you’ve ever tasted, and the best turkey and cheese sandwiches for lunch.”

“
Whatever.
Get to washing.”

They cleaned up in silence and perfect harmony. It felt comfortable and right. And he was determined to keep the warm feelings between them, to spark them up even more. Just when she turned to leave the kitchen, he pulled her into his arms.

Feeling her petite curvy body in his arms pushed all thoughts of suds and ages to the side. Thoughts of how right she felt underneath him when they were making out on the bed of leaves, how he’d come so close to making love to her, and how her mouth tasted like the sweetest candy he had ever savored, pushed past any common sense he had. The only thing he could think of was to finish what they had started earlier.

He allowed his lips to plunder and peruse. She opened to him automatically and her tongue met his with matching passion and desire. As he suckled on her soft lips, he couldn’t help but roam her body. Her delicate curves had his mind spinning. Before he knew it, he had picked her up and carried her into the nearest bedroom. As he fell back on the bed, he pulled her on top of him and continued to caress her lips with his own.

He would never get tired of kissing her. Her groans hinted that she might feel a fraction of the same thing he was feeling. He let his hands lift her shirt. He massaged her breasts and felt the soft smooth silkiness of her skin.

He wanted her. He had to have her.

Now.

He halted the kiss and started to remove her shirt so that he could feast on her perfect breasts. Her eyes widened for a moment, but then she held up her arms so that he could take away the annoying barrier. He threw the shirt to the floor and quickly did the same with her bra.

“Lovely.” He sat up and covered one nipple with his mouth as he massaged the other with his hands.

“Mmm.” Her head went back and she moaned, “Lawrence.” His name came out in a pant.

He sucked harder and began a soft twist and twirl of the other nipple with his thumb and forefinger.

“Ahhh…Ahhh…Lawrence.”

He could get used to the way she said his name. Her body started to shake and that only made him up the ante. He let his hand slide down to her jeans and unbuttoned them. He positioned her so she was now lying on the bed and he slid her pants off. He decided to leave the lacy underwear on for now and just slide them to the side as he began to probe her heated sex with his fingers.

God, she was tight, so tight. He stroked her folds and her pleasure spot as his mouth found her nipple again. When she cried out in ecstasy, he knew she was ready. And he was more than ready. He stood and removed his pants, taking the protection out of his pocket and removing it with all the fervor he felt. He slid the lacy panties off her and positioned himself between her legs.

As he moved to enter her, he found her wet but almost impenetrably tight. He didn’t want to hurt her. So he slowly eased back and forth small inches at a time. He placed his hand between them, touching her pleasure spot and coaxing her to open for him. Soon she was moving her hips tentatively. He took that as a sign to move completely into her and thrust forward as gently as he could. He wasn’t prepared for the resistance he met until it was too late.

It had been feeling so good, so incredibly good, so unlike anything she had ever experienced. The initial sting of him entering her completely gave her a moment of pause. It caused her to close her eyes as she tried to get used to the sudden fullness.

He had stopped moving altogether and she was afraid to look at him.

“Open your eyes, Minerva,” he demanded in a barely controlled voice.

She had never been this close to anyone, ever. Slowly the stinging ebbed away and in its place remained heightened sensations of desire. She arched her back and moved her hips.

“Don’t move. Be still. I don’t want to hurt you. Ahhhhhh…You should have told me.”

“I’m sorry, Lawrence. I’m…I’m okay…honest. Please don’t stop.”

He let out a hiss of breath and for a minute she thought he was going to get up and walk away.

“We should stop,” he said, his voice strained.

She opened her eyes and moved her hips again. But she had no idea how to move them in a way to get him to continue, to finish what he started. She hadn’t really felt anything since her brother’s murder and she needed to feel. She needed this. She needed him.

“Please, Lawrence, show me how. Show me what to do.”

His stony, determined stare changed and he covered her mouth with a soul-stealing kiss just as he began to move his hips slowly, in and out. He rocked her, lulling her with the comfort of his loving.

This was it. This was what she knew would happen the very first time she set eyes on him. She predicted he would be her undoing. And sure enough, every one of her nerve endings had begun to unravel and shock her into the ultimate pleasure. She had never really known what she’d been missing.

He broke off his kiss and started to move his hips faster and faster.

“Minerva…oh, baby…”

Her sex tightened and she exploded as she moved to meet him thrust for thrust. His arm wrapped around her body embracing her and resting at her buttocks. He pulled her body so close to his she could hardly tell where she ended and where he began.

“Ahhhh…” She moaned.

“Scream, darling. Let it out, baby.”

She did. She hollered loud and long as her orgasm raced through her.

He wasn’t far behind her and soon he was screaming out her name.

He pulled out and she felt an enormous amount of wetness. When she heard him curse she looked up.

“The stupid condom broke. Damn!”

Uh-oh. That’s not good.

She nibbled on her lips in contemplation. What were the odds the first time she decided to make love with a man the condom would break? Given the fact she was on the run and shouldn’t have been having sex with a cop anyway, the odds were probably very high.

And the way Lawrence paced the room naked, wearing only his brooding glare and mumbling, let her know any romantic mood they could have had in the aftermath had been ruined by the shattered prophylactic.

What the heck is he all hot and bothered about? He’s the one who’s done this before and could be disease-ridden.

It was damn near insulting and she never took well to being insulted.

“I don’t have anything, you know. So you can calm down with the pacing and cursing,” she snapped at him and tried to push back the hurt feelings welling up in her chest.

He stared at her for a moment. “I don’t have anything, either, if that’s what you’re implying. And disease isn’t the only thing to worry about. I’m assuming that since you were a virgin you weren’t on birth control?”

So much for holding the hurt feelings at bay…

He was worried that he might have gotten her pregnant as if, God forbid, he were to have a child with the likes of her. How she wished she could burst his bubble and proclaim that she was protected. But she wasn’t on the Pill or any other form of birth control.

Getting up slowly, she reached for her clothes and started to get dressed. Once dressed, she moved to leave the room. He took her arm, halting her.

“Are you on the Pill or anything, Minerva?”

She could only shake her head, her voice totally lost to the mess she had made of everything. But she vowed that she would find the voice to cuss him out if he had a fit because she wasn’t on birth control. She didn’t know she was going to move to New Jersey, be shot at, fall in love with a cop and give up her virginity to him in a gorgeous house in the Poconos. How did she know she would need to be on the Pill? And did she really just admit that she was in love with him?

She wasn’t ready to admit that, not even to herself. So that thought could just move on back to the far reaches of her conscious mind, where it belonged.

He wrapped his arms around her. Pulling her close, he planted a tender kiss on her forehead. “I’m sorry, baby. I should have protected you better. I’ll do better next time.”

Her face twisted in confusion. He wasn’t mad at her? He blamed himself?

What. The. Hell?

“It wasn’t your fault the condom broke, Lawrence. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. But can we change the subject? Better yet, can I just leave this incredibly embarrassing situation altogether and go hang my head in shame alone.”

He stood back and seemed to notice for the first time that she was fully clothed. “You could do that. Or…you could take those clothes off and join me in the hot tub. I’m sure you must be pretty sore right about now. The hot tub would be good for you. Let me take care of you, Minerva.”

He squinted, studying her every expression. And she was sure her face was a sight to see. She had never felt so confused in her life.

He pulled on his jeans and took her hand.

“Come on. A nice soak in the hot tub will do you good. And I promise to be on my best behavior.” The sexy gleam in his eyes suggested anything but.

Yet she followed him, anyway.

She had never been in a hot tub before. But she had to admit he was right. The aching soreness that had taken over her body after their lovemaking slowly ebbed away. And, luckily, for the first fifteen minutes or so, Lawrence was content just holding her and not talking about the embarrassing, but oh-so-satisfying chain of events that had led them there.

“So what made you wait until you were twenty-six years old to have sex? And why me?”

It couldn’t last for long…

She had just gotten comfortable and was working on putting the incident behind her.

“Try having a social life with a gang-banging brother always getting in your business. He scared away all the nice and not-so-nice guys alike. After a while, I decided to just focus on school and work, getting my degree. And I figured when the right guy came along, Calvin wouldn’t be able to intimidate him or scare him away. He’d be the one…”

He cleared his throat and his voice came out kind of strained. “So why me, Minerva?”

You. Are. So-oo. The. One.

But she wasn’t even about to go there. She was hardly ready. And based on the strain in his voice and the apprehensive expression on his face, neither was he.

“No worries, Detective Hightower. I’m not pegging you for the love of my life…”
Liar. Liar. Liar.
The words blazed in her mind like an alarm going berserk. “I just figured since we’re both so attracted to each other, and there’s not much else for us to do while we’re hiding out here. We might as well explore our attraction.”

Her words sounded so bold and brazen. She leaned over and placed her lips on his. She nipped his bottom lip with her teeth and nibbled seductively. She trailed the kisses to his neck and chest.

He inhaled deeply as if trying to control himself. “Watch out there, baby. You’re still sore. I can’t promise I’d be able to restrain myself if you got me started again. I will ride you hard and put you through your paces. You’d be soaking for days to get rid of that sweet ache.”

Dang! Good. God!

She stopped her kissing and stared at him. A devilish grin crossed his face. She assumed he must have thought he’d scared her off. She wished she had a camera for the shocked expression on his face when she straddled his lap and kissed him full on the lips with everything inside her. He didn’t need much coaxing at all. He opened his mouth and plundered hers, taking over the kiss with very little effort. His hand trailed her body in the water. All she could feel was silky wetness and strong touches, focused touches, marking touches. Every spot he caressed he owned.

“Lawrence…” she moaned when his hand moved to her core and stroked her there. She writhed on his lap wildly as an orgasm ripped through her at the first swipe of his skilled fingers across her slick folds.

“You were warned, baby. You didn’t listen. I told you about being hardheaded and stubborn. Now you have to learn your lesson. It’s a hard lesson to learn. But by the morning you might get the hang of it.” He grinned that sexy grin of his as he reached for his jeans, resting next to the hot tub, and pulled the protection from his pocket. He moved her long enough to sheath himself first with the condom and then in her, deep and all-encompassing.

“Ohhh…” It felt glorious with steamy water all around them. She started to move her hips, rocking back and forth and moving up and down, her knees bracing her on either side of his strong muscular thighs.