A Case of Love (11 page)

"I knew I liked that woman,” he said, as they headed for the parking lot.

"Why's that?” Mac asked, distracted.

"She always knows when to end a conversation. Hey,” he called, as she started to walk by his car. “Earth to Mackenzie, are you here or in orbit?"

"Oh, sorry,” she smiled but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"You aren't having second thoughts, are you?” he asked, backing her up so that she was between his body and the car door.

"Well...” she trailed off when she saw his eyes and the look of heat that he tried to hide behind a concerned mien. “It's just...” she shrugged.

His hand rubbed gently at her waist and he moved just a touch closer, addicted to the feel of her heat and the curves of her body against him. “We don't have to do anything, Mac. I'll take you home, or out to dinner if you want. I'd just...I'd love to hold you tonight if nothing more.” He lifted his hand, sliding his fingers down over her cheek, his thumb rubbing gently at the softness of her skin. “You've gotten in here,” he said, thumping his head with his finger, then his chest, “and in here and I don't want to do anything that would change the way things are going with us."

"Even if I were to tell you that my nosy cousin Dillon, might come out here and give you the third degree?” she teased, relaxing as his words made her feel so warm inside.

"Should I be afraid?” he smirked, as he bent his head and kissed her gently.

"Oh yes,” she whispered, when he lifted his head. “You should be very afraid.” She pulled his mouth back down, loving the gentleness he was showing her, the care. “I also have two cousins married to Feds,” she teased.

He dropped his hands, backing away with a look of horror on his face. “No!” he exclaimed, holding his hands up and crossing his fingers like a crucifix. “Anything but that."

Kenzie grabbed his hand, laughing at his silliness, and yanked him back to her. “Come here, funny guy,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her slender waist, hugging her close.

"I meant it, Mac. If you aren't comfortable with the idea of me taking you back to my place and ravishing this beautiful body of yours, I won't do it."

"I know,” she said softly. “I trust you, Gideon."

"Good,” he said. “You should. I'm one of the good guys. I'll even show you my white hat sometime.” He leaned gently against her, almost groaning as she parted her legs a little, rubbing against him. “So dinner? A movie?"

"How about take out and your place?” she asked pointedly.

Hawk lifted her up, spinning her in a circle before hitting the button that opened the locks on his car. He slid her inside before she could change her mind again, almost running around to the driver's side of the car. “So,” he said again. “We've done pizza, what are you in the mood for?"

"Chinese,” she decided. “There's a small hole in the wall place on Main and Freemont Streets that serves the best sweet and sour chicken."

"I know that place,” he said, starting the car. He put it into gear, hesitating just an instant. “Thank you, Mac,” he said, leaning over to kiss her gently.

He watched as the man's car started, seeing him bend over in the seat, to kiss her again. Every time the man did that, it made his back tighten and the pain in his stomach start up again. After seeing the fire, he'd tried to go home. He had, but it had been impossible. He had to see where they went next.

He started his car as the man pulled out of his parking spot, his eyes following the couple closely. Taking a deep breath, the smell of semen strong in the car from the stained boxers that lay on the back seat, he pulled out after them. He'd wanted to relish the memory of the fire, to relive it in the feel of his own seed coating his body, wet against his skin. But he'd felt shamed. Coming in his pants was nasty, it was dirty and disgusting.

It was the sign of the pervert. That's what he'd been told in the foster home he'd grown up in. The one he'd finally ran away from when he was seventeen. His foster mother was always watching him, always following him, always picking at him. Don't do this, don't do that...she never gave him a chance.

That was where he first started lighting fires, finding a box of matches left out from her cigarettes. He'd taken them into his room, lighting them in the night, letting them burn down until they touched his fingers—relishing the pain.

Even now, he kept boxes of matches in his glove box, in his apartment, in his desk at work. Just the thought of that blissful first strike, the smell of sulphur burning, the look of the flame, bright, beautiful, dancing as it ate up the match, could make him relax. Then that sharp contact, the burn of his fingers, that hiss of pain that sent teeth like sensations to his brain. Adding them together made for a combination that he craved, like he craved the hugeness of a building fire.

Where were they going? He slowed down, letting them get a few cars ahead of him. He'd broken out the man's tail light to make it easier for them to track. The fool hadn't noticed it when he'd pulled Mackenzie out of the park. He'd been in too much of a hurry to kiss and to touch. He'd been like a dog after a bitch in heat, floppy eared, unable to see past the scent of the bitch.

He followed them across town, sometimes dropping further back, always able to stay in sight of that busted taillight. He drove past when they pulled into a small parking lot, going round the block and finding a parking spot on the street. His hand fell across the back of his seat, going to the stained pair of boxers, feeling the wetness that befouled the material. It would be a long night.

"Mmm,” Hawk moaned, taking a bite of seafood that came in his Happy Family. “Sure you don't want a bite?"

"Seafood, ick,” Mac shuddered delicately. “Thanks but no."

"How can you live on a coastal city and not like seafood?” He snuck a piece of her chicken and then snuck a kiss. They'd brought the food into his apartment, a good-sized two bedroom loft on the third floor of a converted warehouse. Hawk had set down the food in the kitchen, handing her the remote and telling her to find some music for them to listen to. She'd settled on some soft jazz, listening to the bluesy sounds that came from the huge speakers.

Then they'd snuggled down on a wide black leather couch, Mac kicking off her sandals and tucking her feet under her as she'd hungrily dug into her sweet and sour chicken. “Hey, I lived in Texas but I didn't eat steak for every meal."

He rolled his eyes before setting his plate down on the coffee table and wiped his lips on the paper towels he'd brought out with the plates. He picked up his beer, taking a long drink before settling back. “So, why a journalist?"

"I could just as well ask you why a cop?” she smirked. “Lousy hours, days of not being at home, danger, dealing with the worst scum imaginable. Yet you seem to enjoy your job."

"I do, especially when I get unexpected little perks, such as a petite brunette in a red dress busting in during the middle of a sting.” His hand reached out, his finger running along the pale skin he could see inside the Henley neckline of her shirt. “I don't think I'll ever forget that dress."

"Neither will I,” she sighed, leaning back and putting her head on the back of the couch. “It seemed to draw some pretty amazing attention."

He scooted closer, taking the plate off her lap and setting it next to his. Lifting her legs, he slid them over his lap, moaning as she twined her fingers into his shirt, yanking him closer. “This shirt is kind of interesting too,” he said, pulling at the tails that were still tucked into her slacks. “It would look great on my bedroom floor..."

Kenzie started laughing. “Does that line ever work?"

"I'll tell you in the morning,” he drawled slowly, his hands slipping under her shirt tails and resting against the warmth of her abdomen. “Still want to stay?"

She tugged on him, pulling him just a bit closer. “If I were to say no?” she asked, sighing as his hands moved over her stomach and then up against her ribs.

"I'd take you home but I sure would be disappointed."

"Well, we can't disappoint a member of the law enforcement community. I might find myself getting tickets all the time.” She giggled as he raised an eyebrow.

"You don't have a car,” he retorted.

"And that would stop you?"

He chuckled, his hands wrapping around her waist and pulling her the rest of the way on his lap. He tipped her back over his arm, his head dipping towards hers. “I don't know anything that would stop me from being with you, Mackenzie Hunter."

"I take it that means you like me a little bit.” She started playing with his shirt, tugging on it and pulling it up.

"Yeah, I guess I do, a little bit."

"Good. I'd hate to sleep with someone who doesn't like me at least a little bit. My momma always told me that I should save myself."

"Oh and you've been a good girl?” he asked, nuzzling his face in against her neck.

"Very good, but then again, that might have to do with my cousins. So are you going to make me a bad girl?"

"Can I?” he asked, lifting his head until he was a mere breath from her lips.

She squirmed against his lap, feeling the hardness of his cock under her hip. She desperately wanted him to kiss her, to bring back the heat that only he'd made her feel before. She slipped her hands under his shirt, feeling the wide plains of his chest, the strength in the bunched muscles moving under her searching palms, hearing as well as feeling the gasp that fell from his lips. “Yes,” she whispered, lifting her lips the rest of the way until she could feel his.

With a barely restrained growl, he lifted her in his arms, standing easily under her slender weight. He navigated the furniture without lifting his head, his lips hot and fervent against hers, his tongue eager in her mouth.

He kicked open the door to his bedroom, carrying her easily over the threshold. He walked over to the bed, dropping her down upon the wide mattress than went back to the door and slammed it shut behind them.

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Mackenzie lay against the thick blue comforter, her heart thumping almost painfully loud. She watched Hawk come back toward her, an arrogant swagger to his walk that made him even more attractive to her. He reached for her feet, tracing his fingers gently over the high arches before bringing one to his lips and kissing her slender ankle.

"If I make you nervous at all, you tell me, okay?” he said quietly.

"Okay, but you'll do the same, won't you?” She sat up in the bed, her hands reaching for the long tails of her shirt and pulling it up and off her head, leaving her in nothing but a bit of peach silk and lace.

Hawk's eyes widened at the sight before a small grin appeared on his handsome lips. “Well, this is enough to make me nervous as hell,” he quipped, reaching one finger out to slide over the mound of her breast. “If I'd known you were wearing something like this, I doubt we'd have made it out your door."

"Then poor Chase would be on a milk carton come morning,” she gasped, her back arching as his finger hooked in one lacy cup.

"We couldn't have that,” he whispered, his lips lowering to find hers. “I just have to ask one question."

"What's that?"

"Do the bottoms match?"

Mac nodded, a sly grin blossoming upon her face. “Oh yeah, I bought them together."

"I'm doomed,” he groaned. For just a moment, he turned from her, pulling his holstered weapon from its place at his back and dropping it on his night stand. Then his shirt was tugged over his head, leaving him bare to the waist. Kenzie sat up, her hands going to the buckle of his belt, unbuckling it with an unsteady hand.

"In a hurry?” Hawk chuckled, groaning when her fingers found the button on his pants and then his zipper, pulling it down, her knuckles brushing against the long rigid bulge hidden by his boxer briefs.

"I've been waiting for this for a pretty long time.” She slid her hands inside his pants, her fingers caressing then cupping the bulge his erection made. “I mean, if you think about all the times that my cousins and brother scared off men...” she trailed off on a sigh.

"If you keep that up,” Hawk gulped, “you might have to wait longer. Geez, Mac.” He groaned, pulling her fingers off of him and settling them in her lap. He patted them gently. “Leave those right there for now."

Kenzie tilted her head to the side, her raven curls dancing around her face. “Did I do something wrong?” she asked, her eyes wide as he shook his head.

"No, you did something too right. If you can't tell by this,” he said, motioning towards the tent in his boxer briefs, “I want you pretty badly. The way you were going...” He shook his head, as he leant toward her forcing her to fall back against the mattress. “I'd have come in my pants like a teenage boy.” He climbed up on the bed, forcing her to scoot backwards until he lowered his body over hers.

The silk and lace of her bra slipped across his wide chest like a lover's caress, her nipples hard as little points under it boring into his flesh. His lips found hers, opened mouth and hot, desperate for her taste. His tongue swept over her lips, teasing the soft corners of her mouth, licking at the inside of her lip as he coaxed her open for him. Mac groaned as she parted her lips, his tongue a fiery hot flame, demanding response.

Hawk rolled with her, his arms folding around her as she lay against his chest. His mouth twisted, her lips rubbing and clinging to his, her fingers going to his hair, twining in the softness of the locks. When her bra loosened she gasped into his mouth, unaware of his fingers working upon the clasp. He urged her to sit up, watching with eager eyes as the straps slid down her arms, the cups sticking to her breasts for one breathless instant before falling as well.

"You're beautiful,” he groaned, reaching out and tracing gentle fingers over the hardened pink tip. She shivered under the caress, her nipple growing even harder, goose flesh breaking out on her arms. Kenzie arched her back, wanting more. Her eyes slipped closed, her lips parting, her teeth catching upon the lower one and biting.