Lucky Like Us

chapter Thirty

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ELIZABETH WOKE TO the dim light of sunset darkening her room. Sam sat in the rocking chair in the corner watching her, his blue eyes intense. She sat up on the bed and faced him, hoping it had all been just a bad dream. She’d met him at some party, instead of lying in the street.

“The cops are gone,” he began in an unfamiliar flat tone. “They took the Muffin Man to the animal hospital. The vet called and said in addition to his broken leg, he’s got three broken ribs, but they think he’ll pull through. I’m sorry about your cat, sweetheart. The cops printed the cake box and the back door, but if it’s the same guy who came to the hospital, there won’t be any. I don’t know what to say. We checked the place top to bottom before we brought you home. The alley is easily accessible. After John left us off here, he checked the alley to be sure no one was there. There’s no place to hide, so he didn’t come all the way down to the door. He didn’t see the words on the door or the cat. I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”

Not a dream at all, she thought, but a living nightmare that got worse and worse. She held her hand out to Sam because she needed him close. When he was near, nothing else mattered. She waited for him to come to her. He rose slowly and sat on the edge of the bed. Taking her hand, he leaned down and kissed her palm. She didn’t say a word. Fisting his shirt in one hand, she pulled him down on top of her as she lay back on the bed. She wrapped an arm around his neck, leaned up, and planted her mouth over his. When he tried to pull back, so he didn’t crush her, she pulled him closer. She wanted to feel his weight and taste his lips and forget the rest of the world. Safe. Warm. Strong. All those things and so much more for her. She wanted him like she’d never wanted anyone.

Life was too short not to grab hold of something as good and precious as what she felt when she and Sam were together.

Intoxicated by her scent, the feel of her soft skin, the taste of her, everything. If he didn’t stop soon, he wouldn’t be able to stop at all. She held on to him with all her might as he crushed her into the bed. She didn’t seem to care and pulled him as close to her as possible. He didn’t object to being there. He ran his hand over her head and down her cheek to her neck and shoulder. Pressing her down into the bed, he lifted his head and stared down into her eyes.

“I don’t want to hurt you, sweetheart. Your back is still bandaged, and so is your thigh.” She rocked her hips against his hard cock, and he groaned. With his forehead against hers, eyes locked, he said, “Honey, you’re not making it easy for me to be a gentleman and let you recover.”

She rocked her hips against him again and again to let him know she didn’t want to stop. She leaned up and kissed his neck, grabbed his hair and pulled his mouth back to hers. Her hands skimmed down his hard back to his waist. She pulled the T-shirt out of his waistband and up and over his head and let it sail off the bed to land on the floor. She ran her hands over the smooth muscles in his back. So much strength in him. He kissed his way down her neck to the V in her shirt and the top of her breast.

“I want every inch of your skin against every inch of mine, Sam. I don’t want you thinking about the scars. I want you wanting me.”

“I do want you, sweetheart.” He came up and leaned on his elbows, holding himself over her. “I don’t care about the scars. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

His hot, wet mouth pressed against the swell of her breast, his tongue swept across her skin, leaving a blazing trail of heat. His big hand cupped her breast and his thumb swept over her nipple, bringing it erect. She shivered from the ripple of passion radiating through her and moaned when he continued to rub his thumb over the sensitive pebble in slow circles.

“Oh God, Sam. Show me how much you want me, because I want you more than I want to breathe right now.” She leaned up and kissed him again, her hands trailing down his hard chest, over his flat, taut stomach to his belt. She undid it and his jeans. When her hands went to his hips to push the jeans down, she accidentally grabbed his gun.

Consumed with her, Sam had forgotten all about his gun—at least the one on his hip—until she went absolutely still in his arms. He leaned back and pulled the gun from his belt and put it on the table beside the bed.

He waited a moment to see if she’d changed her mind.

Should have known better. Thank God.

In an attempt to drive him even crazier, her nimble hands glided over him again and again. He went back to her, gently pulling her pants down her legs and trailing kisses down her uninjured thigh. Grabbing her hands, he pulled her up and took his flannel and her white T-shirt off. He bent to her and took her taut nipple into his mouth, sucking and licking while he wrapped an arm around her back and lowered her gently to the bed. He cupped her breast, brought it up to his hungry mouth, and feasted. Always careful where he touched her and put his weight, he gave in and caressed every inch of her with one reverent stroke after another.

He moved to her other breast, savored the taste of her. Smoothing his hand down her stomach, he found the very treasure he sought. He hadn’t removed her panties, so he stroked her through the thin barrier while she rocked her hips against his hand. Her body responded, hot and wet for him, he moaned with pleasure and dined at her breasts. Kissing his way up to her throat and jaw, he made his way up to her mouth. Stroking his tongue over hers, he slipped his hand into her panties to rub and slide one finger, then two, into her slick core. Hot and tight, he wanted to be deep inside her—now.

When his finger entered her, she thrust forward and welcomed him. Muscles trembling, that familiar ache increased.

“Oh God, Sam. I want you. Don’t stop.” She felt so free and cherished. So gentle and demanding at the same time, he coaxed her to respond to every reverent touch. Her whole body flamed, and with each stroke of his fingers that fire burned hotter.

He rubbed his thumb over the sensitive little nub and sent her skyrocketing over the edge. She bucked and moved against him, wave after wave of heat rocked her.

As the trembling subsided, he leaned back away from her. “I don’t have any protection with me. Do you have something?” He wanted her, but he was always careful and the last thing she or he needed was a baby on the way.

“I’m on the pill.” She had a momentary second thought about its effectiveness, since she’d been in the hospital and missed several days. Then he moved over her, and she could only want. “I haven’t had sex since my last year of college, and even then, only with one guy. You’re safe with me.”

“I’m blown away. You’ve only been with one guy,” he said, completely surprised. “Are you sure you want to do this? Maybe you’re just upset, or . . .”

“Sam, I don’t care if you’ve been with one woman or a hundred. I know you’re smart and careful, and you don’t use people.” She slipped her hand into his jeans and took him into her palm, gently squeezing. Her hand stroked up and down his hard shaft. Heat and strength radiated from him, and she loved how he felt in her hand and the sound he made deep in his throat as her palm and fingers worked over the smooth skin.

She kissed his neck and nibbled her way to his ear. “I know what I want. It’s you, Sam. I’ve never wanted anyone more. I want you inside of me and wrapped around me. Please, Sam, don’t make me beg.”

Something snapped inside of him, and in the next second her panties disappeared along with his jeans. Still holding him as he came back to her, she guided his hard length to her before she gripped his hips and pulled him hard and deep inside her. She felt wonderful and powerful. She’d never been so daring or adventurous.

Sam took her mouth in the same instant he slid into her with one powerful thrust, her nails biting into his hips. He didn’t know what he’d expected, but as he pushed into her, she came up to him and took him deep and moaned into his mouth. He was lost to everything but the feel of her.

Cradled between her thighs, she pulled her knees up, allowing him to plunge deeper. It was like diving into molten lava, she set him on fire. She rocked her hips, keeping pace with him. Her hands rubbed over his back, down to his hips where her nails dug in. She arched up to him. He made love to her with everything he had, hoping to erase every thought from her mind except her need for him.

He tried to keep the pace slow, but her hands were everywhere, driving him mad. Each time he thrust forward, he didn’t think he could get closer to her. She pushed toward him and proved him wrong. Her long legs wrapped around his waist and pulled him in deeper.

Quickening the pace with his face buried in her neck, he kissed her and thrust harder, slower, longer, faster. She tightened around him, he thrust hard and fast until she cried out his name and went rigid around him with wave upon wave of spasms. He rocked against her, but never pulled out, and she crested a second time. Her heavy sigh echoing in his ears, he finally let himself go and spilled himself deep inside her with a satisfied groan.

Their coming together had been the most perfect joining. Connected to her in a way he’d never experienced with any other woman scared him to death.

He’d emptied himself into her, yet he felt so full.

Exhausted, he’d set her whole body on fire and turned her to liquid gold. She loved the feel of him inside of her. His breath whooshed out in ragged pants at her neck. She stroked his back lazily, up and down, loving the feel of all those rigid muscles. Leaning on his arms, he tried not to crush her. Cradled between her legs, she slowly slid them down his thighs and calves, using her feet to rub his legs the whole way down.

“I can’t stop touching you, Sam. You feel so good against me.”

“Sam’s dead. A beautiful woman killed him. She seduced and ravaged him. It was the sweetest death.”

Giggling in his ear, she hugged him fiercely and said shyly, “I didn’t know it could be like that. I’ve never, you know. And now, I did three times.”

She’d never had an orgasm, and she’d only been with one guy. He couldn’t be this lucky to have such a beautiful woman, who was so giving, want him so much. Still smoothing her hands over him, his groin stirred even now, after they’d had the most amazing sex ever.

“You’re killing me all over again. You’ve never had an orgasm?”

“I’ve had three now. Thank you. That was wonderful. I didn’t realize I could be so free and want so much. You’re amazing.”

She really knew how to make a guy feel a hundred feet tall. The sincerity and warmth in her voice made it all the more sweet. Possessiveness, male pride, her honesty, all of it made him want to give her more pleasure. This was making love, not merely enjoying a bout of sex. Kissing his way from her neck to her cheek, he found her mouth, and began the journey to ecstasy all over again.

His flesh swelled inside her. She sent him to the brink when she whispered in his ear, “That’s the most amazing, unbelievably erotic feeling,” and pressed her hips to his.

“Sam, I need to get off my back. It’s starting to hurt.”

He couldn’t pull out of her, even if bombs were going off around them. He wanted her too much. Holding her hips with one hand, he lifted her, shifted over on the bed, and rolled with her, careful to go over her good thigh and leave the bandaged one over his hip. Landing on his back, he helped her get situated on top of him.

He held her hips and she found her rhythm and slowly drove him crazy. Head back, eyes closed, her body moving steadily with his, not a bit of self-conscious shyness or reservation in her movements. He ran his hands over both her breasts, sat up and took one hard nipple into his mouth. She wrapped her arms around his head and held him to her breasts while she rocked back and forth on top of him.

A fire burned inside both of them. Her body tightened around his and she rocked harder against him. Lying back on the bed, he caressed her with his hands and moved his hips to the rhythm of hers. He gripped her hips and used the pad of his thumb to gently rub the wet nub where they were joined. Her head fell back, and she crashed over the edge of sanity, her mouth partially open, a heavy sigh escaped her.

Beautiful and so carefree, her body locked tight around his. Unable to hold on any longer, when she rocked forward again, he thrust up deep inside her and let himself fall over the edge. She crashed down on top of his chest and lay there holding on to his shoulders. Her breath came out soft and warm against his throat. He wrapped his arms around her and held her, thinking he’d never let her go.

The shadows lengthened in the room until they filled every corner. Her hands in his hair massaged his head, hypnotic and so relaxing he thought he might fall asleep with her on top of him, and him inside of her.

Gently sliding out of her, he used his fingers to stroke the soft flesh he’d just left. She moaned with pleasure and he stroked her hot, wet center again and again.

He continued to touch and tease and coax her to make those wonderful sounds. He slipped two fingers inside, pulled out to stroke the soft flesh before he pressed his fingers back inside of her again. She continued to moan and whimper and call his name until he pulled out, stroked the soft nub with a circle and sweep of his finger. He pushed back into her, and she tightened around him, and dug her nails into his shoulders as the tightening spasms crescendo and subsided.

Her lips moved against his chest when she smiled. “You sure know how to play me like an instrument. I feel like spaghetti. I don’t think I can get off you. Ever.”

“You’re fine where you are.”

When she didn’t move, he gently rolled to his side and let her slide off him. He nuzzled her ear and laughed. She’d been exhausted from the shower that morning and hadn’t been able to get herself dressed. After making love and having multiple orgasms, he was surprised she wasn’t comatose. Limp beside him, a tremble rippled through her. It worried him he might have hurt her, or set back her recovery.

“Honey, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have been so rough with you.”

“You couldn’t have been more gentle or wonderful. I’m fine. You are a beautiful man, Sam. I can’t decide if I like looking at you or touching you more.”

“Stick with the touching.” He couldn’t help the cocky grin from turning up one side of his mouth. She made him feel so good.

She lay on her stomach with her arm on his chest, her eyes closed. Cherished, cared for, she felt loved. She never wanted to lose this feeling. “I wish you didn’t have such a dangerous job. Of course, then I wouldn’t have met you.” She didn’t know what she’d said, but his whole body went rigid and the fingers that had been softly rubbing the back of her hand stilled. “What’s the matter? What did I say?”

“You don’t like my job?” Here we go. They’d shared an amazing night, and now she’d tell him how she couldn’t live with the work he did.

“I think your job is fine. It’s just that since I’ve seen firsthand what kind of danger you put yourself in, I wish you didn’t have to. I’d hate to see anything bad happen to you again. I know you love your job, and you’re good at it, great even, but your job is dangerous. I’m worried about what could happen to you.”

“So what you’re saying is you wouldn’t want to be stuck at home wondering where I am for days at a time, or what kind of danger I might be in.” That’s what she meant to say. She wouldn’t be happy with a man who spent days away on a case. She didn’t want to have to worry about him every time he went to work.

Frustration and something else filled his voice. Something he didn’t want her to hear, but there all the same.

“Well, as your fake fiancé, what kind of woman would I be if I didn’t worry about you?”

She gave him a pinch to let him know she was joking with him. He didn’t bite though. She sighed. Time to explain and convince him she didn’t mind his job, which meant admitting the deep feelings she already had for him.

“I care about you, and I’d hope you’d expect nothing less.” He tried to get up, but she was faster. She moved her body on top of his and pinned him with a look, and he went limp beneath her, waiting. “I, on the other hand, won’t be waiting around for you to get your butt home. I have a business to run, charity work I do, social functions to attend, and a dozen other things that occupy my time. I don’t know what the other women in your life were like, but I have my own life. That isn’t about to change if we decide to have a relationship. I’m perfectly capable of being alone without beating you up because you went to work.”

“You say that now, but sometimes I’m undercover for days, even weeks. I’ll miss taking you out to dinner, or to some fancy party you have to attend. You’ll resent the fact I’m not here. Then you’ll resent my job, and what I do. We’ll argue about how important my work is to me, and you’ll say it’s too dangerous, and you can’t live with wondering if I’m dead or alive.”

“Well, I’m glad we’re getting this fight out of the way now. It will save us from having it in six months.” She waited for him to look at her. When he wouldn’t, she took his face in her hands and made him. “If that’s what you think will happen, you’re wrong.”

His eyes remained cold and steady. He didn’t believe her, so she tried again to convince him.

“How about the fact after we’ve been dating six months, you’ll be begging me not to make you attend another dinner party dressed in a tux? Or maybe you’ll decide that after you’ve been gone for three or four days, and we’ve made love all night and you wake up alone because I’ve gone to work at three in the morning I’m not giving you enough of my time, or putting you first, when we only have a little bit of time together. Maybe when all the bandages come off, you’ll decide you can’t stand the site of all these scars. Maybe . . .”

He stopped her words with the press of his mouth to hers. All worked up and disgruntled, trying to prove him wrong. Hell, maybe he was wrong. Maybe she could handle it. Right about one thing, the other women he’d dated didn’t have as full a life on their own as she did. He really wanted to make it work with her, like he’d never wanted to with anyone else. And maybe that made all the difference.

“You could have a thousand scars and I’d still think you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I’ll wear a tux for you whenever you want if I get to take you out of whatever sexy dress you’re wearing. And why the hell would you go to work at three in the morning?”

“I run a bakery. I have to bake early in the morning for the breakfast crowd. I have people who do the early morning shift, but occasionally I have to cover for them. The point is, you might be gone for several days, and when you get back, you’ll find I’m busy. That could be a problem for you, since our schedules will be unpredictable. I want you to understand I get it, and I have my own life. I’m sure you don’t expect me to sit around waiting for you to come home.”

She kissed him again and laid her head down on his chest. Exhausted after a long and stressful day, she let out a huge yawn to prove it. “I started this conversation because I wanted you to know I care about you, and I don’t take our sleeping together lightly. If you don’t want to be my fake fiancé and only want a casual bed partner, you have the wrong girl. I think we could have something amazing. But I don’t want you thinking every time you go on an assignment. I’ll be angry with you when you get back. Your job is a part of who you are. It’s part of what I love about you, your commitment and your devotion to your family and your work.” She yawned again and closed her eyes.

Did she say she loved him?

He didn’t hear her right. Tired and not thinking straight after a long and difficult day, she only meant she cared for him and admired his committed to his family and job. Right?

Concentrate on the fact she wants a relationship, not a casual affair. She wanted to be with him, committed with him.

“I want you all to myself. I’m a possessive man when it comes to you. If you think you can handle my work and the long hours and days I’m gone, I’d like to see if there’s something special between us.”

She mumbled her agreement, sound asleep on his chest seconds later. Her head lay over his heart, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling the covers over them. He kissed the top of her head and settled into the bed, the moment, the happiness building inside of him, and slept.