Dangerous Kisses (Siren Publishing Classic) (6 page)

Things you need to put back to sleep.

She straightened on legs that still trembled and snagged her cell phone off the coffee table. She threw her head back, closed her eyes as she took a deep, calming breath, and pushed the talk icon. She waited two rings, and a familiar male voice filled the cellular waves.

“Cusack.” The single word was sharp and alert, telling her he was still awake.

“Where are you?” She paced her living room floor, too unsettled to sit.

“About to crawl into bed.” Cusack’s tone turned seductive. “Want to join me?”

“This isn’t a personal call, Sergeant.” She purposely used his rank, making it clear she hadn’t called him for a trip down memory lane or to rekindle what they once had.

“You called my personal line, Detective.”

Megan rolled her eyes. “Touché. Why wasn’t I notified?”

Jerry sighed into his phone. “I had a feeling you would be calling. You took longer than I expected.”

She wouldn’t have if Drake hadn’t showed up on her doorstep, but she didn’t tell Jerry that. “Why didn’t
you
call
me
?” She refused to let up on this. Damn it, he knew how much Paul had meant to her.

“It wasn’t a homicide, Megan.” His tone softened, his voice filling with compassion. “It was an accident. A horrible one that left no one at fault but the shark. I can’t very well take a fourteen-foot tiger shark into custody and neither could you.”

“Don’t make jokes, Jerry,” she snapped. “Not now.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that to be funny, nor did I mean to sound insensitive.” He paused for a heartbeat, and she heard the sounds of ice cubes hitting a glass in the background. “How did you hear?”

“The late-night news report.”

“I’m sorry about that, too. I thought about calling you, but I knew if I did, you would be up there in a flash.”

Megan ran out of space to pace, whirled around, and started again. “Damn right I would’ve been.”

“And there wouldn’t have been a reason for you to be. It wasn’t a pretty sight, Megan. Paul was a close friend to you, a father figure. I know that. I didn’t want you to remember him the way I’m going to.”

“I appreciate your concern,” she said through gritted teeth, “but it was the wrong choice.”

“It was as much an official choice as it was a personal one. There were no indications in that facility that led me to believe what happened to Paul was anything more than a terrible accident. I interrogated everyone at the scene then ordered the place sealed until morning.”

“The sharks—”

“Will be fine for now. Drake Allen informed me of an argument over the temperature of the shark tanks that occurred this afternoon, apparently shortly before Paul’s death. I had him check the gauges before I sent him home. I also checked it myself before I left. The temperature is holding at a steady seventy-five degrees.”

“The self-cleaning system on that tiger shark tank won’t be enough after something like this. The tank will have to be manually cleaned.”

“I’m aware of that.” Cusack’s tone rang with patience. “I also know that no harm will come to that shark or any of the other fish in that tank from swimming in bloody water for a few hours. Since I have you on the phone, you can tell me who would be in charge of that. I’m assuming before he was fired today, it would have been Robert Warren. Who is next in line?”

“Drake.”

Cusack made a sound that might have been laughter, but was full of derision. “Yeah, I figured that. I’ll get in touch with him first thing in the morning. He can get a small crew together, and I’ll let him in to take care of the tank.”

“I’ll be there, too.” Megan made the decision in a finger snap.

“Need I remind you that you are on vacation, Detective?” Warning cut through the patience in his voice.

“Need I remind you, Sergeant, that you told me use the week to get out, hit the water, spend some time with the marine life? I’ll be hitting the water in that tank tomorrow morning, spending time with the shark that took Paul’s life.”

“As part of the crew I intend to allow Allen to bring in,” Cusack guessed correctly, sounding none too pleased by the idea.

“With both Paul and Robert gone, he’ll need someone with the skill to handle that shark. I’ve got the skill, I’ve got the knowledge, and I’ll be there.”

“Are you seeing him now?” Though calmly asked, accusation laced his voice.

The question threw her for a loop. She knew he suspected Drake was the reason she had broken off their relationship. He had interrogated her more than once before they broke up about her involvement with Drake. She simply hadn’t expected him to bring that up tonight.

“No, nor have I ever been.” Her gaze flicked to the wall where a few scant minutes before Drake had her pinned there, kissing her breathless and sending her desires sailing to uncharted waters. That kiss didn’t mean they were seeing each other. Even if he hadn’t ended it where he had, when he had, whatever would’ve come next wouldn’t have changed the facts. It would have been a few hours of rumpled sheets, sweaty bodies, and mind-blowing fucking. Nothing more.

Would it have been enough?

Yes. No. Maybe.
She didn’t know. One night of explosive fucking with Drake Allen might be enough to get him out of her system for good. Then again, it could capitalize the
D
in her doom.

“Get some sleep, Megan.” Cusack sighed. “I guess I’ll see you in a few hours.”

Megan stared at the phone for a long moment after he cut the connection. Sleep. The word acted as a trigger for the wave of exhaustion that suddenly washed over her. She rolled her neck, feeing the stress already setting into her muscles, turned off the lights in the front of the apartment, and walked to her bedroom.

Her gaze immediately landed on her nightstand, on the partially opened drawer, and Drake’s parting words reverberated in her memory.

Go to bed, Megan. Take off those pajamas, get your vibrator out of your nightstand drawer, and masturbate for me. Think about me when you’re doing it. I’ll know if you don’t.

Will he?
Unless he had managed to plant a video camera in her bedroom, she didn’t see how.

She rolled her eyes. “Of course he won’t know.”

She turned off the light and crawled between the sheets, her body still burning from the kiss, from his touch. She turned her head, stared at that drawer, and contemplated relieving that burn. It wouldn’t help. The drawer was partially open because she hadn’t closed it completely last night when she had gone in search of a release that only left her wanting more.

Think about me when you’re doing it.

She always did, but her vibrator proved no match for the real thing. She wanted Drake’s cock inside her, wanted his hands and mouth all over her, and until she got that, she would never be satisfied.

Turning onto her side, she cuddled her spare pillow to her chest, and drifted into a restless sleep.

Chapter Three

The idea of a freshly brewed cup of coffee drew Megan out of bed at seven the next morning. She had barely managed four hours of sleep, all of which had been wrought with nightmares of Paul’s attack, of horrifying images of her friend’s last moments alive.

She stumbled into the kitchen, wrenched open the cabinet door, and cursed a blue streak when she remembered she had used the last of the coffee grounds yesterday morning. She placed her hands on the edge of the counter, bowed her head, and closed her eyes.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

The opening heavy metal bars of Iron Maiden’s
Sea of Madness
flowed through the apartment from her cell phone, and she lifted her head, a slow smile unfolding on her lips. She had forgotten she had set that ringtone for Drake’s calls. The man had only called her a handful of times over the years. The song was perfect, though, given that she felt like she was drowning in a sea of madness every time she got near him.

She walked quickly back to the bedroom, grabbed her phone off the nightstand, and answered it just before her voicemail kicked in.

“Morning,” she said in lieu of hello, leaving off the good because there was nothing good about this morning. The loss of a dead friend, little sleep, a head full of confusion and grief, and no caffeine, yeah, this was definitely shaping up to be the start of one hellacious day.

“I take it you weren’t able to sleep either.” Drake’s deep baritone caressed her ear, raining fiery embers of the promised seedy passion she had witnessed in his eyes last night through her body.

“Not a wink.”
My lust for you didn’t sleep either.
Damn, she felt out of control, unable to rebottle the emotions yesterday had set free.

“Yeah, me neither. I just got off the phone with Cusack. He wants me to get a crew together to go to the aquarium and clean the tiger shark tank. I don’t know how he will feel about you being there, but—”

“He doesn’t have a choice. I’m on vacation from the department, and I have a connection to that aquarium. What I do right now is my business.”

Drake chuckled. “Feisty first thing in the morning, aren’t you? Good. I could use your help today.”

Megan sat on the edge of her bed. “When are you going over?”

“I’m leaving my place as soon as we get off the phone.”

She glanced at her open bedroom door, down the hall to the kitchen she couldn’t see. “Got coffee?”

“I’ve got a cup in my hand and half a pot in the kitchen.”

“Bring an extra cup.” She got to her feet and walked to her closet. “I’ll meet you there in twenty.”

* * * *

Drake propped a foot on the bumper of his truck, leaned back against the grill, and sipped his coffee. The sun beat down from high in the cloudless sky, turning the temperature to an already soaring eighty degrees. By one o’clock the air would be blistering. Typical weather for a mid-July day on the Gulf Coast.

He scanned the parking lot as he waited for Megan. A police cruiser was parked at the front entrance along with an unmarked car he figured belonged to Cusack. Brandon’s Beemer was parked in his employee spot next to Tracey Mansfield’s Chevy Sonic and Mark Latemore’s Range Rover, two employees Drake had called in to help this morning. The rest of the parking lot was deserted.

Will it stay this way?

With Paul gone, the fate of the aquarium hung in the balance. He had heard the rumors of the offer from some casino honchos to buy the place and knew Paul had been fighting tooth and nail not to let it happen. Would anyone continue his fight or had last night not only been the end of Paul Colton, but also his legacy?

The sound of another car pulling in drew his attention across the parking lot to the sleek, red Mustang speeding toward him. Tongue in cheek, he watched as Megan parked in the slot next to his truck and got out of the car.

He turned slightly, snagging the extra cup of coffee he had brought for her off the hood of his truck, and held it out. “How many tickets do you get on a weekly basis from your fellow officers?”

She took the cup and flashed him a toothy grin. “None, my fellow officers know better.”

Drake chuckled and studied her as she tipped the cup back and took a long swallow. His gaze landed on the smooth column of her neck and traveled down her purple V-neck tank top, to her khaki cargo shorts, to her brown sandaled feet. He pulled his attention back up to her face as she lowered the cup, noted the slight puffiness around her eyes and the clouds of grief and something more in her return gaze.

“Didn’t do what I told you to do after I left last night, did you?” he asked conversationally.

She blinked at him, the only sign of her surprise that she let him see.

“I told you I would know.”

She drew her bottom lip between her teeth and gnawed on it thoughtfully. Damn if the sight didn’t send a razor-sharp blade of need slashing straight through his stiffening cock.

“How?”

He could’ve told her he could see it in her eyes, smell it in her scent. A woman who had found pleasure mere hours before would have a satisfied gleam in her eyes and her scent of desire wouldn’t be as strong.

Instead, he shrugged. “I just can.” He averted his attention, deciding to let her stew on that for a while, and tipped his chin toward the building. “It looks like everyone who is supposed to be here is already inside except us.”

“Then I guess we should join them.” She adjusted her bag on her shoulder and started walking.

Drake fell into step beside her, shortening his strides to keep pace with her. “I was standing out here waiting for you and wondering what would happen to this place now.”

Megan sighed. “Yeah, my thoughts were traveling the same course on the way over. The brightest one told me it may not turn out as badly as we think. Of course, it’s likely my hopefulness that’s turning on that brighter bulb.”

He shot her a glance. “And what is that brightness?”