Collision Course (16 page)

His
fingers moving inside her found her sweet spot. She arched up to him as his
lips closed over one taut nipple, sucking and pulling. She squeezed his cock,
forcing herself to resist the urge to pump. When he came, she wanted him to be
inside her. Wanted to feel him against her inner walls.

“Beautiful,”
he murmured. “So beautiful.”

When he
pulled his hand away from her pussy, she gave a protesting moan but he silenced
her with his mouth. He kissed her shoulder, her neck again and found the hollow
of her throat, sucking it lightly. Every place he touched her, nerves sparked
and a riot of sensation danced through her. She slipped her hand from between
them to caress his taut butt, squeezing it with a gentle touch then raking it
with her fingernails. He groaned at her touch then moved to run his mouth down
between her breasts. He paused to trace the furled flesh of her navel before
moving lower and lower.

T.J.
held her labia open while he ate at her, licking and sucking and thrusting his
tongue inside. Casey lost herself in the sensuality of it, the eroticism
engulfing her. He played her like a fine wire that needed tuning. She responded
to every touch, every caress, every place his clever mouth touched her. Nothing
existed except the touch of this man and the pleasure he drove her to.

She
clenched her fists, trying not to come until he entered her but he pushed her
with relentless determination. The climax swept over her like a storm, lashing
at her, every one of her muscles convulsing and tightening. His tongue never
stopped moving as the walls of her pussy clenched it, tightened around it.

She
hadn’t yet caught her breath when he slid off the bed, returning seconds later
to resume his place. She heard the ripping of foil, the snick of latex. Then
his hands were pushing her knees back to open her more and the head of his
shaft pressed against her opening.

“Open
your eyes, Casey.” The words were a growl. “Look at me.”

She
opened her eyes and thought her heart would stop at the emotion she saw in his.

Holy
shit!

She
blinked and it was gone. All she saw was lust. Had she imagined it?

“God,”
he rasped. “You are so fucking beautiful.”

He
shifted, moved, so his hand could reach her head, anchoring in her hair.

Then she
stopped thinking as T.J. entered with one hard push, stretching her tissues,
the head of his shaft bumping up against the mouth of her womb. She had time
for one quick breath before he set a pace for them, driving into her over and
over again. Still aroused from the previous orgasm, her reaction was
instantaneous, her muscles closing around him like a tight, wet fist.

He
rocked into her again and again and again. He leaned forward enough to suck
each nipple, pulling on them until the sweet pain lanced all the way to her
center. She pushed up to him, taking every hard inch, so hungry for him she
didn’t know if she’d ever be satisfied.

He
murmured her name over and over, like a chant or a prayer, the one sound in the
room save for the slap of flesh against wet flesh and the rasp of harsh breathing.

When the
explosion came, it engulfed them both, his shaft pulsing inside her as she
spasmed over and over again. Nothing but the two of them, spinning in a black
velvet void, bodies jerking, slamming together. It seemed to Casey it went on
forever. She didn’t even know if she’d survive it.

But
finally the shudders slowed, faded into aftershocks then gentle tremors. At
last she drew a full breath. Another one. T.J. eased himself from her cunt,
straightening her legs, and rolled to the side.

Casey let
out a slow breath. “Wow.”

“You
took the word right out of my mouth.” T.J.’s voice had a low, gravelly sound,
as if speaking from a deep, hollow pit.

“What
happened here?” She could barely get the words out.

“I could
ask you the same thing.” He turned his head to give her a quick kiss then
rolled off the bed. “Don’t move.”

What
have I done? Lost my mind, is what. And damn me for it, I’d do it again.

No way
could she write what just happened off as plain sex.

She
watched him head to the bathroom to dispose of the condom. Then he returned,
sliding into bed next to her and pulling the covers over them both.

“Will
anyone worry if you don’t show up at home tonight?”

Casey
made a face. “One of the disadvantages of being an adult and living with your
parents.” She couldn’t resist a grin “Who said I won’t be home?”

“I did.”
He pulled her into the curve of his body. “If you’re going to protect me, I
don’t think you should leave me alone for a minute. You never know what might
happen if you do.”

A wicked
mixture of emotions swirled through her. “T. J.?”

“Uh
huh.”

“Do you
think we should talk about what happened here?”

She felt
him tense. “If you want to.”

Did she?
Somehow without even realizing it, she’d fallen into the deep end of the pool
and didn’t know if she wanted to swim again.

“Maybe.
But later.”

“And
what about going home? You still didn’t answer me.”

She
tossed the covers off, padded naked to the table and dug her cell phone out of
her purse.

“I’ll
send my mom a text.” Replacing the phone, she crawled into bed next to T.J. “I
think they don’t quite know what to do with me since I came home so they pretty
much let me do whatever I want to. That doesn’t mean they don’t worry.”

T.J.
reached over her to turn off the bedside lamp.

“Did you
bring a lot of emotional baggage home with you, Casey?”

She
sighed. “Yes, but I don’t want to unpack it tonight, okay?”

“No
problem.” He smoothed her hair away from her forehead, his touch gentle. “Go to
sleep now.”

She
didn’t think she’d be able to but it seemed bare seconds past before her eyes
slammed shut and she was out like a light.

Chapter Nine

Charles Bennett
closed the file he’d been reading on his computer and stared out the window of
his office. It didn’t seemed possible that a little more than a week had passed
since the tightly woven fabric of his life had begun to unravel. In the
intervening days, his sleep had been restless and intermittent. When he did
manage it, his dreams were invaded by nightmares. Two meetings in less than a
week with El-Salaki and Serrano were enough to poison anyone’s dreams.

And
still no results.

To make
matters worse, he had to do a delicate juggling act at work. The staff was
pressuring him to contact someone in authority and report Trey missing. They
didn’t understand why he hadn’t raged at the local police to find him, or
checking with security in the countries where BGE had offices. Having the
executive vice president go missing was no small thing.

It took
all of his discipline to keep himself under control and not tell them to mind
their own business. Instead, he called a staff meeting to assure them he’d put
every effort in place to find Trey. Explain they needed to keep publicity to a
minimum so as not to affect the company’s position. Then he assured them he had
experienced people working to locate Haggerty. He left out, however, the
information the “investigators” were a billionaire drug lord and an infamous
arms dealer.

When
he’d sent the phony email from Trey’s computer, he’d expected to have a body
within twenty-four hours along with a plausible explanation. But then the man
had disappeared and the fallout from the fake story turned into a nightmare. He
had to do something soon.

He
hoped.

Daily,
he kept expecting either of his two business associates to walk in his office
door, a disastrous situation on many levels.

Where
is that fucking idiot, anyway?

He had
reached into his drawer for an antacid when the secure phone rang. His hand
shook as he lifted the receiver, not sure he wanted to answer the call.

“Yes?”

“I think
we’ve got him.” Serrano’s harsh voice boomed in his ear.

Bennett’s
heartbeat tripped, stuttered and restarted. Was it possible? Could his problems
be solved so soon?

“Where
and how?”

“I told
you it would take my men to do it.” Bennett couldn’t mistake the heavy arrogance
in the drug lord’s voice.

“Details,
please.” Bennett found himself squeezing the telephone in desperation.

“We
found the driver of the bus he took out of the city. The one headed for
Seattle. At first, the man didn’t remember Haggerty but then we ‘helped’ him
jog his memory a little.”

“I hope
the ‘help’ you gave him produced truth and just not something to get your men
to leave him alone.”

Serrano
grunted. “Trust me here. He gave up the real info. Your man left the bus in
Iowa.”

“Iowa?”
Bennett frowned. “What the hell is he doing there?”

“Nothing.
He left there. And believe me, finding the information took a lot more
digging.”

“I can’t
believe you found him at all.” Could his troubles be solved so quickly? “How
did you manage?”

“I had
to reach out to all my connections in the surrounding states. Send his photo
through the pipeline. Not something I like to do but we had little choice.”

“Time is
a huge factor here,” Bennett pointed out.

“No one
knows that better than I do,” Serrano growled. “I assumed if he’s running, he’d
want to get as far away from where he left the bus as possible. He’d want a
place where he could hole up and feel safe. He would also need to find a way to
acquire some method of transportation.”

“He
drained his bank account,” Bennett told him. “He’s got enough cash to do
whatever he wants.”

“Within
certain limitations.”

“So
where is he?”

“He’s
been located in a town so small you could blink and it would disappear. My men
have eyes on him as we speak.” Serrano delivered the news in a self-satisfied
tone.

“And
you’re sure it’s him?” They couldn’t afford any mistakes here. “You’ve made a
positive identification? One hundred percent? I mean, it’s like trying to find
a fucking nickel in a hayfield.”

“My men
tell me they are sure. They plan to take care of him tonight.”

“We need
to find out if he’s contacted anyone,” Bennett reminded him. “See if there’s
more of a mess to clean up.”

“It will
be taken care of,” Serrano assured him.

Bennett
replaced the receiver. If Serrano’s men had Trey Haggerty, all the problems
would be solved. They could stage a car crash or something equally as
acceptable. He could play the grieving employer, pay for an elaborate funeral
and close the books on the entire unpleasant episode.

Now he
somehow had to keep himself in check until he received the call telling him the
problem had been resolved and he could draw a full breath.

*****

Casey
thought they were like high school seniors who’d made out on their first date,
the way they circled shyly around each other the next morning. They bumped
elbows and hips in the small motel bathroom, trying to be polite until she
finally burst out laughing.

“You’d
think we were eighteen.” She grinned.

T.J.
turned from the sink and cupped her cheeks. “What I feel for you is long past
what I had at eighteen, Casey. And much deeper.”

Her
muscles tensed and she almost pulled away from his touch. “Don’t you think
we’re going a little too fast here?”

He
frowned. “Too fast? I trusted you with information that could get me killed. I
think it goes a long way toward saying how I feel.”

“That’s
not it.” She bit her lip and shifted her gaze away from him. “I…don’t have the
best history with men, T.J.”

“So you
built a big wall around yourself?” He asked the question in a gentle tone of
voice. “Because I can promise you, there’s nothing to worry about with me.”

“And
when everything is resolved and you can return to your old life?”

His face
sobered. “Casey, I have no life to go back to. I’m sure my boss is going to
jail, I don’t know what will happen to the company and there’s nothing there
for me now anyway.”

“Not
even a woman waiting for you?”

Bright
anger flared in his eyes. “Do you think I could do what we did last night if I
had someone waiting for me? What kind of man do you think I am?”

She
swallowed hard. “Sorry. I’m just…” She shrugged, not sure how to put it into
words without blabbing her whole sad history.

“Listen
to me.” He tilted her face so she had to meet his gaze. “I’m not whoever messed
you up. I’m me. I made a conscious decision to trust you. Can’t you do the same
for me? Or didn’t last night mean a thing to you?”

More
than I expected it to. Maybe more than I’m ready to deal with.

She
swallowed against the knot in her throat. “I think I’m afraid to tell you how
much it meant.”

He
brushed his lips against hers, his breath carrying the fresh mint scent of his
toothpaste. “Then don’t say anything. But keep in mind sometimes danger
accelerates things. If it wasn’t there to begin with, though, nothing would
have happened. I’m not afraid to trust you with my life. Can you try to trust
me with your heart?”

She blew
out a breath. “I’ll try, okay? Can that be enough for now?”

He
grinned. “As long as I won’t be sleeping alone tonight.”

Casey
let herself relax. “No problem.”

Casey
wanted to go home and change clothes, pick up her truck. T.J. let himself be
talked into it, but insisted on following her. And also convinced her to pack a
small overnight bag. He had no illusions about her agreeing to move into the
motel with him, not given her obvious history. For now, as he’d told her, he’d
take it one night at a time.