The Reckoning (13 page)

She’d found a way to help Mike with his sister dilemma, and she hoped that she was right.

“What theory?” Mike asked.

All four women smiled at him. “It’s just a little girl talk. You wouldn’t be interested,” Claire said as she got up and walked over to Butch, putting her arm around his waist. “I’m tired, baby, Let’s go home.”

CHAPTER 11

The night air bristled with electricity. Every nerve in
Elizabeth
’s body shimmered with the possibilities of what might be coming next. The thought of the professor being set free, for whatever reason, was enough to make her shake.

Elizabeth
reminded herself this was the way it had to be. She’d put her foot down. Running was no longer an option, and neither was keeping the man behind bars.
Elizabeth
glanced around and watched the rest of the sisters leaving with the husbands. She envied them, so totally in love and even caring for her, under the circumstances. She’d wanted to go home, but that hadn’t been an option. The professor knew where she lived and was probably pissed at being put behind bars. He’d be coming for her, and soon, if she knew the man at all.

Mike pulled the SUV door open for her and waited for her to climb in. He’d said they’d be going to his house tonight in an effort to keep her safe, but safe from whom? When she was with Mike, it took every ounce of control to keep her hands to herself, and it seemed he had the same problem.

Mike jumped in the driver’s seat, pulling the door closed behind him. He rammed the keys in the ignition and took a deep breath. She didn’t have to be a mind reader like Claire to know that Mike had apprehensions about taking her to his home.

Elizabeth
reached for his arm and gave a gentle squeeze. “Mike, you can take me home. I’ll be all right.”

Mike shook his head. “No, Doc, you’re coming home with me.”

The butterflies in
Elizabeth
’s stomach were doing summersaults at the prospect of being alone with Mike for an entire night. She couldn’t decide if this was what she wanted, needed, or both.

“Don’t you think he’d be a fool to attack me tonight?  I’ll be plenty safe behind the locks on my doors.”

Mike reached up and cupped her cheek. “You’ll be even safer with me.”

Mike put the SUV in gear as
Elizabeth
lowered her eyes and mumbled, “I’m not so sure about that.”

Mike drove down the long drive, heading toward what could turn out to be a fate
Elizabeth
had never dreamed of. What would she do if he made a move on her? Hell, who was she trying to kid? What would he do if she couldn’t control herself and made a move on him? 

Mike cleared his throat and glanced her way, his gaze full of sincerity. “
Elizabeth
, I promise to be a pure gentleman; you can sleep in the spare bedroom if you want.”

Elizabeth
knew Mike would be true to his words, but did she want him to? Her body sizzled just being in the vehicle with him, only an arm’s length away. Her palms itched to touch his bare skin. She wanted this man like she’d never wanted anything else.

“What if I don’t want to?”
Elizabeth
glanced up at Mike through lowered lashes. She didn’t think she’d have the nerve to be so forward, but she had, and she wouldn’t regret it. With the stalker back in her life, it only confirmed one thing—life was short—and she wouldn’t pass up on something she’d been wanting for so long.

Mike’s jaw clenched. “I’m not taking you home. You can get that idea right out of your pretty little head.”

Elizabeth
felt a smile spread across her face. “That’s not what I meant.”

Mike raised one eyebrow, his intense gaze possibly searching for any sign she wasn’t telling the truth. “Are you sure, Doc? After everything that’s happened and everything you’ve learned about me and my family, are you sure this is what you want?”

A few more bricks around her heart crumbled. He’d deny his gratification if she said she wasn’t sure. He’d thought about her and her feelings, unlike any other man before him.

Elizabeth
eagerly nodded. “One hundred percent.”

****

Mike pulled up in his drive and killed the ignition, not moving from his seat. When
Elizabeth
had said she wanted to sleep with him, he’d gotten excited at the prospect of having her sexy little body pinned to the bed. In an instant, his jeans had become painfully tight. There was nothing he wanted more than his little sex goddess. He wanted to devour her and take his time doing it.

There was one problem as he saw it. He didn’t want it to be like this, not under duress with a cloud hanging over them. He wanted her to make up her own mind without surrounding issues pushing her to make her feel like she was alive. He’d firmed his resolve. He wasn’t sleeping with her, at least not tonight. 

Mike pushed his SUV door open and hopped out, rounding her side to open her door.  He extended his hand and helped her out. He firmly gripped her hand, glancing up and down the street as he escorted her to his door, unlocking it and ushering her over the threshold. The death threat was still viable as far as he was concerned, even more so since the bastard had gone to jail. If he’d talked his way out, he’d be thirsty for revenge.

He pushed the door closed behind them, locking it. Walking over to the wall, he turned on the enhanced security system. Mike put his palm on
Elizabeth
’s lower back and steered her toward the kitchen. He pulled two beers out of the fridge, popped the tops, and handed her one as he walked by toward the living room. He brushed her arm in passing. Denying her would be the hardest thing he’d ever done. He took a seat on the opposite side of the room from her in his recliner and motioned toward the couch. “
Elizabeth
, I think we need to talk.”

Elizabeth
smiled and sat perched on the couch, taking a big gulp of her beer. “What about?”

“I don’t think we should sleep together just yet, at least not together- together.”

Elizabeth
threw her head back and laughed. She glanced at him and laughed some more. Tears had started to run down her cheek.

“I didn’t think it was that funny.”

“I’m sorry,”
Elizabeth
said, swiping at her tear-stained face. “But isn’t that supposed to be my line?”

Elizabeth
rose and placed her beer on the coffee table; she sashayed over to Mike and slid the beer from his hand to set it next to hers.

Elizabeth
climbed up into his lap, straddling his legs in the recliner. Her hands went around his neck and up into his hair, digging in to tangle in the strands. She put her lips to his neck and kissed a path down to his collar before she sat back and smiled. “Don’t worry, Mike; I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do.”

Mike held her arms to still her next descent. “Doc, you’re not thinking clearly. You don’t want this.”

Elizabeth
brushed his hands away. “Oh, you’re wrong, Detective. I’ve wanted this for a long time.”
Elizabeth
ground her core over the hard ridge that fit snug between her thighs. “And from the feel of it, you want this too.”

Mike reached for her hips to still her movement. He let his head fall back, closed his eyes, and released a breath. God, she was making this difficult. She was almost too tempting to resist. He’d thought about lifting her up and carrying her to his room and ravishing every delectable inch of her body. But that wasn’t the type of man he was. He knew what was best for her, even if she couldn’t see it right now.

He wanted her all right, almost to the point where he would take her, his morals be damned, but he didn’t break.

Mike lifted his head. “Baby, there isn’t anything I want more than to take you to bed, and trust me I will—”

“Good...”

Mike placed a finger across her lips. “Just not like this. When we make love, and we will make love—slow, long, hot love—I want it to be for the right reasons. Not because of everything that’s going on. If I’m going to protect you, that means all of you. Not just your body.”

Elizabeth
’s mouth momentarily parted in disbelief before she snapped it closed.

“I’d love for you to sleep in my bed, but that’s what we’re going to be doing, just sleeping.”

Mike stood with
Elizabeth
still attached to him and turned, easing her down into the chair. He reached for his beer, downing the ice-cold liquid, hoping that it would quench his desire for the little doctor. “I need to go take a cold shower. Make yourself at home.”

Mike left her sitting there. He could feel her eyes on his back as he walked to his room.

****

“Well, that didn’t go how I wanted it to.”
Elizabeth
picked up her own beer and finished it. She’d need the liquid courage to follow through on her plan. He thought what he said was the final word; well, he had another thing coming. She knew he wanted her and was just being stubborn. Well, it was time to get him in the same game.

Elizabeth
waited until she heard the shower start before she strolled back to his room. Pushing the door open, she slid in and glanced around. The man had a king-sized bed covered with deep chocolate linens. She’d expected to find the room a mess, maybe clothes strewn about or at the least the bed unmade, but she’d been pleasantly surprised that he kept a clean house.

She picked up a picture from his dresser. The picture was from years past. He stood with his arms around Abby’s shoulder as she stood in her graduation cap and gown, holding her diploma.

She set the picture down and picked up the one next to it. In this one, he was with all of his sisters, smiling with a goofy grin on his face. He hadn’t been the man she thought he was. All this time, she’d pictured him as a big brute, telling the women what to do. It had been fascinating to learn that was the farthest thing from the truth.

Elizabeth
grinned, letting her fingers slide down her blouse, unbuttoning each one and letting it fall from her shoulders; she laid it over a chair in the corner. She let her dress pants slide down her legs and thanked the heaven that she’d shaved her legs the night before. She discarded her panties and bra. She put her hand on the doorknob and closed her eyes before she pushed it open, entering the steam-filled bathroom.

Her mind whirled with what ifs. What if he denied her again, what if he just wasn’t interested?
Elizabeth
pulled in a breath and pushed the curtain back. She climbed silently in the shower as Mike had his head under the water rinsing the shampoo from his hair. She took a step closer, wrapping her fingers around his protruding flesh and slid her palm from the bottom to the top. Mike’s eyes flew open, and he let out a guttural groan.

“We weren’t finished talking, Detective,”
Elizabeth
said, reaching for his hand. She lifted his palm to her breast and held his hand in place. “As I see it, this has been a long time coming.”

She slid her hand down and up his shaft as she placed a kiss on his toned, sun-kissed chest. “Please don’t deny me. This is only between you and me. No one forced me to strip and climb in the shower with you.”

Elizabeth
let her hand that was covering his drop, thankful his hand remained place. His fingers gave a gentle squeeze and then moved to craze her nipple. She looked down at his hand before lifting her gaze to his. “Just like no one is forcing you to touch me.” The feel of his hand on her bare skin sent tingles of awareness and heat to her core. She wanted his hands all over her, his hands, his lips, all of him. “If you don’t want this, tell me to stop because it’s what you want and not because in your head you think it’s the right thing to do.”

 
Elizabeth
pressed her lips to his before pulling back. “Do you want me to stop?”

Elizabeth
stilled her hand but kept it on his shaft.

Mike reached down and put his palm over hers, starting the glide again. “No.” Mike let out a breath. His free hand snaked around her waist and pulled her tight against his body. He leaned down, melding his lips with hers. His tongue slid across her lips, and she opened, giving him the invitation he sought. His tongue dueled with hers in a dance as ancient as time itself.

His touch left a trail that felt like fire coursing through her body as he inched his way down her midsection. Her body arched into his every touch. Evidence of his desire nestled between her thighs. She felt her cream leak and pool around the place she most desperately wanted him. She hadn’t felt like this in years, so alive and responsive. His palms inched up her chest and encircled her breasts. He gave a gentle squeeze as he lifted their weight in his palms. Her hand stilled in her ministration; his cock thickened in her hand. He wanted her as much as she wanted him. Mike increased the circle around her areolas, sending more cream to her thighs. He pinched and pulled the extended nubs.
Elizabeth
’s head fell forward against Mike’s hard chest. The pleasure-pain of his hands built her desire, centering low in her belly. She wondered if he would send her sailing over the top with just his hands caressing her and nothing else.