Accounting for Lust (12 page)

Jake at eighteen would have been more than any girl could comfortably handle. Hell, Jake at any age represented a challenge to
most
wom
e
n.
The urge to know more about him, overwhelmed her
. Encouraged by the lack of bitterness in his voice, Cassie pressed on.

“Why on earth did he do that?”

Jake chuckled. “No need for sympathy. I deserved it. At eighteen I was invincible and the brawn outweighed the brains. We clashed often because he had to bail me out of trouble
. So
he got sick of it and threw me out.”

“Where did you go?”

“The best place
for an eighteen year old
. I joined the police force and when a spot opened up on the SWAT team, I applied. Lucky for me I got it. It made me grow up real fast.”

“So how come you now have a security firm
?”

He sighed and Cassie detected a measure of regret
. His
shoulders slumped slightly. He seemed to weigh his answer before he shrugged
.
“I got injured during a raid in South America while working for ATF. My cover was blown and I
returned
to ride a desk
. I couldn’t deal with it, so when Matt offered me the opportunity for our own business, I figured I had nothing to lose.”

Cassie’s jaw dropped. “Matt was ATF?”

Jake bellowed out his laughter and the mood lightened. “I grew up with Matt and after I joined the force we kept in contact. I know it’s hard to believe but the man is a genius with a computer and just as good convincing people what they need.”

She wiped imaginary sweat from her brow.
“Wow
,
for a moment there I thought our country was in serious trouble.” She speared a piece of cucumber onto her fork. “And what about your dad? Have you seen him since you moved out?”

“We made ou
r
peace a couple of years after I left. When I finally realized why he thr
ew
me out and my own arrogance stopped getting in the way, I drove to see him. We still go fishing at least four times a year.”

A warm feeling she refused to analyse settled in her stomach. Man enough to admit when he’s wrong. Jeez, this must be the first male she’d met willing to do that. Maybe she’d just moved in the wrong circles.

“And your mom?”

“She died when I was in high school.” He pointed the fork at her. “You know, you would have liked her. Everybody liked her.”

Great, ten points for being
insensitive. She placed her hand over his. “I’m sorry I pried.”

He shook his head. “No, it’s all right. Sometimes I just wish she could see the man I became instead of dying knowing only the cocky teenager with a chip on his shoulder.”

They ate in silence for a while, but Cassie’s curiosity was aroused. “What were you doing in Mauritius.”

“Working.”

“At the club?”

He took a swallow of water. “It was my last night on the island, the client was safe and I hit the clubs looking
for some fun
. I didn’t plan what happened that night, but neither am I sorry it did.”

Cassie finished her food and
moved
her plate to the centre of the table.
S
he folded her arms in front of her. “What about relationships. It must have been difficult with you traveling all over the world for your work to sustain a relationship.”

Jake was quiet for such a long time, Cassie thought he wasn’t going to answer. “When I got injured and had to leave ATF, I was home more and Sarah
, my fiancé,
couldn’t cope with it. My being
there
interfered with
the
numerous relationships she had going with a couple of guys simultaneously. I cramped her style
,
so she left.”

Cassie tensed. Despite the indifference in his voice, she detected sadness behind the words. Jake still cared for Sarah.
Which made what they had, mere sex. Cassie forced the disappointment to the back of her mind.

His gaze flicked over her with an intensity that made her want to squirm. “What about you? Any serious relationships? There had to be quite a few or the guys are stupid and blind.”

Grateful for the lightening of the mood, s
he laughed
.
“Thanks
for the compliment. I try to keep any relationship light.
I learned from my parents
’
mistakes. Nothing lasts forever, not even love.
Dad was devastated
when mom left even though it was partly his own fault. He loved her to distraction and since the divorce
,
he tried to find love with every woman he met. It only made him sad and bitter.”

“So you decided it was better not to try the love thing and avoid being hurt when something went wrong?”

She swung her fork in his direction.
“That about sums it up.”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “You mean you’ve never dated the same guy twice?”

“I have
,
b
ut after the third or so date, they usually decide I’m not worth the time they spent on me. I’m always honest in what they could expect of me.”

Why was she telling him this? It’s not like they considered taking the relationship any further. This was sex, pure and simple without any emotional garbage getting in the way. So why are you feeling all gooey inside at the simple facts he had shared with you, the little voice inside her head mocked.

As if he could read her thoughts, he regarded for a moment before continuing. “So, what was Cassie’s normal day before someone tried to kill you?”

She
smiled
. “Unfortunately it was pretty boring routine. Just the way I like it.”
S
he wasn’t so sure about the truth of that statement
now
, but she continued. “The most exciting thing to happen was finding a client who had cheated on his IRS forms. Nothing as nerve wracking as finding someone laundering millions of
Rand
and wanting to wipe me off the face of the earth.”

“Mmm, sounds uneventful, but I don’t see you being satisfied with being on the
side-line
s
of life.”

“Why do you say that? We’ve known each other for practically two days.” A slight blush crept up her neck.
It has
only been two days and she was acting like a rabbit in heat, unable to keep her hands to herself.

Jake grinned. “Proves my point.
Cassie
, you’re a
handful of
hot and feisty woman. You ooze the kind of sexiness most woman pay thousands of
Rands
to achieve. I’m sure I’m not the only male who can’t think of anything else than having you beneath me all naked, lusty and needy.”

Cassie’s body reacted instantly to the imagery his words evoked.
“What’s stopping you?”

“Nice try to change the subject, but I plan to devour you in any case. You bring out the beast in me. An insatiable one. So, will you still be satisfied with you
r
uncomplicated life once this is over?”

“You think it will be over soon?”

Jake sighed. “You’re not going to answer the question are you? And yes, I firmly believe that with the information we gathered tonight it will be over in a matter of days.”

“Then let
’
s not waste any more time.” Cassie rose
,
collected the dishes
and
carr
ied
them inside.
This turn of conversation made her uncomfortable. She hated doubting her own decisions and she almost hated him for raising the issue. Not that she doubted
returning
to her normal, uneventful
existence
was what she wanted, but
the thought of
not having him to share amazing, fulfilling sex with, threatened to erode her enjoyment of the moment.

She stifled a yawn, not wanting to waste a moment with Jake. Already her hands itched to run over the broad chest, tangling her fingers in the splattering of hair.

Blood rushed to Jake’s penis at her words, but he had seen the dark circles under her eyes and the lines of fatigue crinkling her eyes.
She
needed sleep more than she needed him at the moment. They had the whole day ahead of them to fill.

He followed her inside, stacked the dishes in the washer and wiped the surfaces in the kitchen before he picked her up and strode
to the bedroom
.
Another cold shower will be required to ease his now painful erection, but
Cassie
needed her sleep. Even if she smelled of rose
-
soap and
the
subtle perfume
of sex
. Even if her soft breasts pressed into his chest as she hooked her arms around his neck
and her nipples hardened under the friction.

Cassie pressed her lips to his neck and nibbled softly. He tightened his hold on her to keep his arms from dropping her right there in the passage and taking her hard and fast from behind.
She
pushed all the right buttons. She massaged his scalp and he stifled a groan. Did she realize the havoc she caused in his body? Judging from her wriggling against his fully erect cock and the soft m
ewing
,
she
knew perfectly well what she wanted and how to get it. He hardened his resolve. She needed sleep. Alone.

As he turned to switch off the light in the passage, his eyes caught a white envelope on the matt in front of the door. He paused in mid-stride. It wasn’t there when they carried the dishes to the kitchen. A glance at his watch confirmed the time. Who delivered a letter at three o’ clock in the morning? He straightened and switched off the light. She had the right to know about the letter, but it c
ould
wait until she’d had some decent sleep.

Once in the bedroom, he tangled his fingers in her hair
and
captured her lips in a tender kiss
. When she moved to deepen it, he
broke the kiss and tucked
a strand of hair behind her ear.

“I have some work to do. You need to rest. Tomorrow we go picnicking at the river.”
Confusion darkened her eyes
and
he
cursed inwardly
as the lusty look slowly dissipated.

She tilted her head to the side, suspicion lining her face. “What’s wrong? What happened that I don’t know about?”

If he told her about the envelope she wouldn’t go to sleep. If he didn’t and she found out later, she might have his hide for hiding it from her. Tou
g
h shit, she needed the rest more than knowing whatever the envelope contained. He was a big boy. He could handle all the abuse she would probably throw at him if the envelope turned out to be serious.

“Nothing’s wrong. You need rest and I need to get some work done if we were to move along with this case quickly.” He pulled the sheet over her
, planted
a kiss on her forehead
and hurried from the room
.

His bare feet slapped on the tiles as he hurried towards the door.
Taking a
cloth from the kitchen
, he
picked up the envelope. Besides the hour in which it was delivered, he couldn’t see anything suspicious about the physical appearance of the object. Judging by the weight, it contained only a few sheets of paper, if that much.

Sliding a knife through the top he made sure he didn’t disturb any possible DNA evidence they could gather from the glue. 
Dammit, he needed their evidence kit with gloves and tweezers and bags. For a second he considered fetching it, but discarded the idea quickly. He couldn’t leave Cassie unprotected. Not if someone took the time to deliver a message in the early hours of the morning when normal people
slept
.

He
shook the envelope and the contents drifted to the counter
. A
single
photo wrapped in single sheet of paper
.
The photo depicted a young man in his early thirties embrac
ing
another man. Nothing unusual about that, except that both men were stark naked and the one whose
was
face
visible
, rested his hands on the other man’s buttocks.
They were in an office, but books of fabric littered the desk, some of them open at similar patterns. The lighting inside the room was dim and gave the photo a grainy appearance. Although it didn’t degrade the quality of the facial expression of ecstasy on the man’s face. Clearly the two enjoyed each other’s company on a carnal level.