Cosmic Sex (18 page)

“I want you,” she told him. “I want to taste you on my lips.”

His dick jerked in response to her words. He moved until he straddled her, his knees on either side of her face, his face right above her sex. He couldn’t stand it anymore. Wanting her, seeing her. He had to taste her, too.

He lowered his mouth, brushing across her sex with his tongue. She gasped when he sucked her inside his mouth and scraped his tongue up and down her clit.

But he wasn’t so lost in giving her pleasure that he didn’t know when she licked her tongue across the tip of his dick. White light exploded inside his head as she sucked him in deeper, the heat of her mouth closing around him.

He rolled to his side, taking her with him, moving her leg over his shoulder until his face nestled between her legs once again. Now that his hands were free, he was able to explore more of her body.

He began to massage her ass, bringing her passion-swollen sex closer to his lips, then pulling back just a little so he could nibble and lick.

It was all he could do to hold back his orgasm, but he wanted her to come, wanted to taste her juices on his lips. He wanted to know everything about her.

Her body began to tremble; she gasped and arched toward him. He sucked and licked even as she cried out, her body tightening against him. Ah, man, she tasted so frigging sweet. So much heat.

While she was still panting, he moved her onto her back and grabbed a condom, quickly sliding it over his aching erection. He spread her legs open, staring down at her sex before he slid deep inside her.

Her passion-glazed eyes met his as she raised her hips up to meet his thrusts. His ass clenched as she sucked him deeper into her wet, moist heat. When he thought it couldn’t get better than this, she wrapped her legs around his waist and he sank inside her a little more.

He began to thrust harder, stroking her on the inside, her body contracting around his. He plunged faster and faster until his own release exploded from him. It took him a second to realize the low growl came from him. He didn’t care. He wanted Kia to know what she did to him. How she made him feel.

It was all he could do to take a decent breath. He collapsed to the carpet, rolling to his side, attempting to fill his lungs with precious air.

When he could take a halfway normal breath, he looked at her. “You okay?”

She shook her head. “I think it’s going to be very difficult to leave this behind.” She opened her eyes and looked at him.

She’d conceded a little more. But he knew exactly what she was talking about. It wouldn’t be easy letting go.

Chapter 20

“Explain why you started a barroom brawl during a drug bust.” The Internal Affairs investigator leaned forward, her elbows on the desk, brown eyes narrowed as she unflinchingly stared him down.

At least, she attempted to. Candace Burke was the department investigator in charge of everything from employee complaints to drug deals gone wrong. Her promotion had gone through about a month ago.

She’d commandeered a room not much bigger than a closet and had installed a bright light in the center over the scarred and chipped table. The lady watched way too many old movies, if you asked him.

Nick leaned back in his chair, stretching his legs in front of him and crossing them at the ankles. He returned her stare. She wasn’t bad looking, but it was as if she intentionally tried to make herself look plain.

Her dark brown hair was scraped back from her face and squeezed into a tight little bun at the base of her neck. Collar buttoned up high enough to choke a giraffe, lips pinched tighter than a miser’s wallet, and glasses that would make Buddy Holly sigh with envy. She would’ve made a great schoolmarm during the horse-and-buggy days.

“Are you having trouble answering the question, Officer?” Her eyebrows rose to her hairline.

“Do you ever relax?”

The look she gave him could’ve frozen hell over.

Okay, that might not have been the best thing for him to ask, especially since it was his balls on the chopping block. She really needed to loosen up—get laid or something. Not that he thought it best to mention that right now either.

Maybe he should try to fix her up with Weldon. He really needed to get laid, too. Come to think of it, Nick had noticed they seemed to look at each other a lot when they thought the other one wasn’t watching. Maybe there was a little bit of an attraction going on. That might be something to file away in case he needed the information later.

“Yes, I relax, just not on the job. This is an investigation, Officer Scericino. I’d suggest you remember that.” She steepled her fingers, her gaze losing none of the chill.

“Since I’ve been forced to take vacation time, I don’t think I’ll forget.”

“The brawl? Why did you start it? Was it a cover for something else?” She slapped the palms of her hands down on the table, making a sound much like the crack of a whip.

She probably didn’t have much of a social life. Yeah, that was it. Or maybe he should introduce her to the mayor’s niece. She’d be able to tell Candace how great it felt to loosen up. He let his gaze sweep over her once again.

Nah, that might be stretching the realms of even his imagination. She looked as stiff as the crisply starched suit she wore. He couldn’t really see her swinging from a pole wearing only a thong.

“The guy was late,” he finally said. “I doubted he was going to show.”

“But you didn’t know that for sure, did you?”

“Positively?” He shook his head. “No.” Damn, now he was starting to sound like Kia.

“Scericino. That’s Italian, isn’t it?”

“German.”

Her lips pursed. “Don’t get funny.”

He sighed. “Yes, it’s Italian. Do you have a problem with my ancestors? My mother is Irish, if that makes you feel any better.”

Ah, crap. Her looked turned calculating. He really hoped she wasn’t going to bring up the Godfather movies. If she did, he might be forced to stick cotton in his mouth and talk funny.

“Why did you start the fight?” she asked, switching gears without blinking an eye.

Yep, she’d watched way too many old movies. “Who says I did?”

She leaned back in her chair, looking more relaxed than Nick had seen her since he’d sat down. She wasn’t too bad at playing cat and mouse, he’d give her that.

“The man whose nose you busted. He said there was a woman in the bar that night. Dark hair, blue eyes—dressed better than the drudges that usually hang out there.”

He shrugged, but he could feel his pulse pick up. “Some guy was bothering her. I told him that he might want to keep his hands to himself. He had an attitude problem—I did a little adjusting.”

“And the girl?”

“I gave her a place to stay for the night.”

“A regular Good Samaritan.”

“So I’m told.”

“Are you involved with the Russian mafia?” She abruptly sat forward again, the front legs of her chair slapping the concrete floor. “Maybe the Italians and the Russians have put their heads together.”

“You’re joking, right?”

She opened her hands. “It could generate a lot of money if they combined forces.”

Give me a fucking break!

He leaned forward in his chair. “And what if I talk—tell you everything.” He lowered his voice, making the words raspy as he relied heavily on a long-unused Italian accent. “You gonna make me an offer I can’t refuse?”

“If you think you’re being cute, you’re not.” She drew in a deep breath. “I’m keeping you on suspension pending the outcome of this investigation.”

“Ah, come on, Candy. You know damn well I’m not on the take.” Hell, she’d known him long enough to know better than this.

She stood. “My name is Candace, not Candy. Maybe the time off will help you gain a little respect for the position I hold.”

“The only way you can get respect is if you earn it.” He didn’t know if she’d heard him or not. She was already walking out of the room.

Well, hell. Why didn’t she just slap his wrist and let him get back to work? Candy knew damn well that he wouldn’t jeopardize the badge or his integrity. Some people shouldn’t be put in charge of anything.

The one good thing about being on leave was that he might be able to get Kia home. That odd rumbling in his gut started again when he thought about her leaving, but he quickly told himself that she had to go sometime. Forever was something they would never have.

He pushed away from the table and walked out of the room.

“Spssss.”

Nick’s eyebrows drew together. What the hell? Was there a gas leak somewhere? He turned around. He should’ve guessed—Weldon.

“What?” he asked.

Weldon looked from side to side, then over his shoulder. “We need to talk.”

“Okay, talk.”

Weldom vigorously shook his head. If the guy wasn’t careful, his head was going to come loose and go rolling off behind him.

“No, not here. In my office.”

Whatever. He followed as Weldon covertly made his way down the hallway. Weldon and Candy should get together. They’d make a pretty good team—sort of. Maybe they wouldn’t be so damn uptight.

As soon as they stepped into Weldon’s small office, he shut the door and tuned the lock. Nick’s eyebrows rose. “You mind explaining just what you’re doing?”

“It works,” he whispered.

“Well, I’m glad for you. Who’s the lucky girl?”

He looked confused, then it was as if a light went off in his head.

“Get your mind out of the gutter.” He frowned. “The locator, I fixed it.”

Nick felt as if the floor had just dropped out from under him.

Sam marked another name off the list of Hanks, then glanced through the pages. Half the names had red lines through them.

Kia frowned as she laid down the phone.

“What?” he asked.

She glanced in his direction. “He said he wouldn’t mind standing in for the other Hank. I don’t think I liked his tone of voice. It was very inappropriate.”

“There are a lot of jerks out there.”

“Jerks?”

He kept forgetting she didn’t know some of the slang. “People you would just as soon not know.”

She nodded. “Jerks. Yes, I think he was a jerk.”

She stretched her back. Guilt washed over him. They’d been calling since Nick left for the station. He should’ve realized she would need a break.

“Why don’t you grab us something to drink. A soda maybe. Walk around a bit and stretch your legs.”

“That sounds good.” But still, she hesitated.

“Did you want something?”

“You’ve been friends with Nick a long time?”

He dropped the papers on the coffee table and leaned back against the sofa. Maybe he needed a break, too. “Yeah, I’ve known him since the fourth grade.” When her forehead furrowed, he explained. “School. We learn stuff: history, arithmetic, English.”

“We learn on Nerak, too.”

“Do you miss it?”

“Nerak? Yes. It’s my home. My family are there. I would miss them if I were never to see them again.”

“Yet, your cousin apparently decided to stay.”

Kia straightened. “She will be ready to return when I locate her.”

“Are you sure?”

She picked at the fibers on the sofa, not meeting his gaze. “No, I’m not.”

“Then what will you do?”

She must’ve realized what she was doing because her fingers stilled. She raised her chin, meeting his gaze. “I am a warrior. I will convince her it is time to return home. She won’t have a choice.”

“Will you be able to leave Nick?” He threw the question at her, wanting to see her reaction.

For a moment, her mask dropped and he saw the stricken look on her face. But it was gone just as quickly, making him almost wonder if he’d imagined her wounded expression. But he was a good cop and he knew he hadn’t imagined a damn thing.

He’d been afraid of this. He’d known Nick a long time and knew he sabotaged every one of his relationships. All because his dad had walked out when he was sixteen. Nick denied that was the reason, but Sam knew differently. He didn’t want to see him hurt. Hell, he didn’t want to see Kia hurt, either.

“What I feel doesn’t matter,” she continued. “Would you leave Earth to spend the rest of your life in a strange land? Even for love?”

He wasn’t sure he would. “I don’t know,” he truthfully answered.

“I didn’t want to hurt anyone. Only find Mala. Maybe that should be as soon as possible.”

“I’ll do what I can.”

She stood, going into the kitchen. After she brought him a soda, she went back to the kitchen and brought the puppies out to play.

It was worse than he could’ve imagined. Why else would Nick let her bring the pups home? His friend was sinking fast and he didn’t know if he could save him.

He picked up the phone and dialed the next Hank on the list. No answer. He went to the next one. Busy. He took a drink of the soda and dialed the next one on the list.

“Hank’s Mule Barn, head ass speaking.” Guffaws came over the phone.

“Is this the Hank that picked up the woman and brought her to Dallas?”

Silence.

Sam’s pulse skipped a beat. “You let her out in front of a bar.”

“I didn’t do nothin’ to her. I swear. I just gave her a lift. That’s all. Said she was goin’ to that ranch that J.R. lived at. I took her as far as I could, even though she wasn’t very nice.”

Sam scooted to the edge of the sofa and grabbed a pencil. “Where did you pick her up?”

“Do I need a lawyer?”

He gritted his teeth. The guy might need a body bag if he didn’t start talking. “You’re not in trouble. I just need to know the location where you picked her up. That’s all.”

“Swear?”

He took a deep breath, then expelled it. “Nothing will happen after I hang up the phone. I only need the location.”

Hank hesitated. “Okay, but you better be telling the truth.”

“The location?” Sam prodded.

“Devil’s Bend.”

He gripped the phone. “And that’s where?”

As Hank began telling him the exact location, he jotted down the directions. Hank abruptly hung up the phone before Sam could ask any more questions. When Sam redialed, no one answered.

Great, what if this turned out to be a wild goose chase? Lots of truckers picked up women, and they probably dropped them off at bars. It was a well-known fact hookers worked the highways.

Hank hadn’t told him anything specific. He glanced down at the directions before making a quick decision. He had some time coming. Why not check it out? It could be nothing. One thing was for certain—Nick was too close to Kia to think rationally.

He crossed out the Hank he’d just talked to, then folded the piece of paper with the directions and stuck it into his pocket. He knew Mala was on a ranch, Nick had told him that much, and he had the area. That was all he needed.

One of the puppies ran toward him, stopped, sat on his butt, and barked. If you wanted to call it a bark. It was more like a squeak. What the hell was Nick going to do with four puppies? Sam snorted. Nick better not look in his direction, because he damn sure didn’t want one. And besides, they were girly dogs.

The pup growled and barked, then bounced on its front legs.

“Think you’re tough, huh?” He scooped the pup up in his hands and brought it close to his face. “You don’t even have a nose, hardly.”

The pup licked his face.

“Ugh! Did you have to do that?” He wiped the back of his hand across his face.