Hot Seduction (10 page)

13

C
ODY
WASN
'
T
SURE
that coming back to the boardinghouse was a good idea. While he'd been worried about Serena, he had to consider that his very presence might put her in danger.

If the arsonist was fixated on him now...

Brady believed that the arsonist was obsessed with the Huron Hotshots team as a whole. He only set the fires when they were in town; he only set fires that could endanger them.

But what if it wasn't the whole team he was after? What if it was only Cody?

Then leaving would make everyone—including Serena—safer. But before he could go, he needed to make certain she was all right. So, the minute his small plane had landed in Northern Lakes, he'd borrowed a US Forest Service truck and headed to the boardinghouse. When he'd walked into her kitchen, he had unwittingly walked into a dangerous situation.

While she had looked relieved to see him, her friends had glared at him. If looks could kill...

Fortunately the other women hadn't stayed long. He watched as their taillights headed down the driveway.

“Did your friends warn you off me again?” Cody asked.

“It's a little late for that.”

His heart shifted in his chest. But she couldn't have fallen for him. Since they'd had sex, she'd barely talked to him. “What do you mean?”

“I already slept with you.”

“We didn't sleep,” he reminded her. But he had an urge to do that—to sleep with her in his arms. Just to keep her safe.

“No,” she agreed. “We didn't.”

“Did you tell them what happened?”

She arched a dark brow. “Do you think they would have left if I had?”

He chuckled. “Probably not.” He patted Annie's head as she nudged his legs. “So why were they glaring at me if they didn't know about us?”

“Because they don't know you.”

He chuckled again. “They know me. Everyone does.”

She shook her head. “Everyone thinks they do. But they don't have any idea who you really are.”

Despite the warm night, his blood chilled. “What do you mean?”

She touched his face, running her fingertips along his jaw. “Don't look so scared,” she said. “I won't tell anyone the truth.”

“Tell me,” he said. “Tell me what you think you know.”

“I know you're a good guy,” she said. “Even though you work really hard at keeping that fact from everyone.” She rose up on tiptoe and pressed her lips to his.

“What are you doing?” he asked, after her mouth slid away from his.

She stepped back and stared up at him, her eyes wide with feigned innocence—as if she hadn't just kissed him. “I'm taking Annie for a walk.”

The dog must have somehow understood her because she headed toward the back door.

“I thought that was Stanley's job,” he said.

“Stanley is bowling with Wyatt and Fiona's brother Matt. So I promised I'd take her.”

He wasn't sure if she'd promised Stanley or Annie. But he couldn't let her go off alone—not when it would be dark soon. Not with an arsonist potentially lurking around the house. He caught the screen door before it shut and followed Serena and the dog out.

“You don't have to walk with us,” she told him. But a little smile played around her mouth. After that kiss, she knew he would follow her. Hell, he would follow her anywhere.

“It's not safe for you to walk alone this close to night,” he told her.

She pointed at the overgrown puppy. “I'm not alone. And I know these woods like the back of my hand.” She moved sure-footedly over the branches littering the path that wound between trees. “Courtney and I used to play hide-and-seek in them, and flashlight tag.”

Most of the foster homes he'd lived in had been in the city, where they'd had to play in the street. That was part of why he'd joined the US Forest Service—for the nature. “It must have been fun growing up here,” he said.

“I thought so,” she said. “Courtney was bored. She would have rather hung out at the mall.”

“There's no mall in Northern Lakes.”

She uttered a rueful chuckle. “Exactly. But she was all about fashion and shopping...”

“And you?” he asked, wondering what she'd been like as a child. “What were you about?”

“Learning how to make tea ring like my grandmother.”

“Tea ring?”

“The cinnamon-roll thing.”

He groaned as he remembered the decadent treat she'd served for brunch. “Tea ring.”

“It took years for me to get it right and probably years of patience off her life, standing at the counter with me kneading the dough.” She smiled as if the memory touched her.

He had no such sentimental memories. He glanced back at the house behind them. Its windows aglow with lights, it radiated warmth. Like she did...

She slipped her hand into his, and he stared down at their entwined fingers. “This is a bad idea.”

Her lips pulled into a slight frown as she acknowledged, “I know.”

“Then why?”

“I keep thinking about that accident, about how you could have been hurt so much worse.”

He needed to tell her the truth—that it had been no accident. But he didn't want anyone else to overhear him, especially the arsonist. And he didn't know who might be in the woods besides them.

Annie's head was up, her floppy ears almost perked as if she heard something. Then she scampered off ahead of them.

If the arsonist was out there, he was about to be assaulted—by a hundred-plus pounds of affectionate puppy. The dog, her tail wagging, disappeared down the trail.

“So much for walking her,” Cody murmured. He stopped in order to turn back.

But Serena tightened her grasp on his hand and tugged him forward. “It's just a little farther,” she said.

“What is?”

“The lake.”

“There's a lake on your property?”

“This is Northern Lakes. There's a lake on pretty much everyone's property.”

“How much land do you own?” he wondered aloud.

“Thirty acres,” she said. But her mouth turned down at the corners with a worried frown. She must have been thinking that she might not own it much longer—thanks to her sister.

As a vice tightened around his heart with concern for her, he offered her hand a reassuring squeeze. He could give her more than that, though. He could give her a distraction from her worries for the moment.

“So you're dragging me off into the woods to have your way with me?” he teased.

Her lips curved upward again. “Like I'd have to drag you off into the woods to do that.”

“No,” he admitted. “No, you wouldn't.”

The trees parted at a clearing. And in the middle of the clearing was an expanse of water, the surface rippling and glistening as the sun began to set upon it. Although on their side of the lake the trees were lush and leafy, on the other side they were blackened trunks devoid of all branches.

His breath escaped in a gasp. “The fire came that close?”

She shuddered and nodded. “Yes. If not for the lake...”

It might have taken the house. She could have lost it even before her sister's vindictive lawsuit.

Then she looked up at him. “The lake and you—the Hotshots—stopped it.”

For now. But he suspected there would be more fires until they caught the arsonist. He forced a grin. “So how are you going to pay me back? More tea ring?”

She shook her head, her long hair swaying around her body. Then she reached for the bottom of her tank top and peeled it off. It dropped to the ground—followed by her shorts. She stood before him wearing another matching set of lace bra and panties. For such a serious, no-nonsense woman, she liked her sexy underwear, and so did he.

He liked it so much that he couldn't think of anything but getting her out of it. But before he could reach for her, she was reaching for him. She pulled his belt free and tugged down his zipper. His cock—already pulsating with desire for her—sprang free through the fly.

Her fingertips skimmed the tip of it, and he groaned. He wanted her too much to think about anything but having her. So he pulled his shirt over his head and kicked off his pants until he stood before her entirely naked.

But he didn't feel naked—really naked—until she looked at him that way she always looked at him. How could she see him when no one else ever had?

She dropped to her knees in front of him. Then she closed her hands around him, moving them up and down the length of his cock. As she stroked, she closed her lips around the tip and sucked.

“Serena!” her name tore from his throat as he struggled for control. He had never known a more generous or caring woman.

He clutched her hair—her long, silky hair. Then he tried to pull her to her feet. But she kept driving him crazy with her mouth and hands. Tension filled him, tearing at him. His tenuous grip on her—and on his control—broke. And he shouted her name again as he came.

She stared up at him, her dark eyes bright with passion, as she licked him from her lips. And even though he'd just had a powerful release, need overwhelmed him. He really had never wanted anyone so much that it was almost like a madness.

Was this the arsonist's issue? Was he obsessed with fire the way that Cody was beginning to believe he was obsessed with Serena?

* * *

S
ERENA
WATCHED
AS
Cody's green eyes dilated, turning as dark as hers with desire. He stared at her so intently—so deeply. There was something more in his gaze than attraction, something that had his brow furrowing almost as if he were confused or troubled.

“What?” she asked, wondering about that look. “What's wrong?”

He shook his head, like he couldn't find the words. “You,” he murmured.

It wasn't a compliment, but somehow the way he said it made it sound like one. She smiled. But when he reached for her, she stepped back.

“Serena...” He moved closer.

She turned and leaped into the water. It was too warm to cool her passion for him, which only burned hotter when she heard the splash. But she turned and saw only the wide ripples spreading across the surface of the water.

Where had he gone?

Fingers wrapped around her ankle. And she squealed—just before he tugged her under. Submerged, she blinked and focused on him; gloriously naked, his muscles rippling like the water, he looked like a merman. Some mythical creature sent to lure her to her doom.

But then he released her and she shot to the surface again. She sucked in a breath. And he joined her, tossing back his wet hair. His arms wrapped around her as he kicked his legs, keeping them both afloat. His wet skin pressed against hers.

Then he lowered his head and nipped gently at her bottom lip, catching and holding it between his teeth. His tongue lapped across the fullness, soothing it.

But she wasn't soothed. She was even more aroused, her body burning up with passion. She wanted him so much. She needed him—needed the release he could give her. She linked her arms around his wide shoulders and clung to him.

He moved his mouth from hers, down her throat. As he nibbled on her neck, his hands moved beneath the water. He pushed down the cups of her wet bra. He teased her nipples, rolling them between his fingertips.

She was surprised steam didn't rise from the water as heat flooded her. A moan burned in her throat. One of his hands trailed down her body. Pushing aside her panties he touched her intimately, his fingers moving in and out while his thumb teased her clit.

It wasn't enough; it was too much. The pressure in her body wound tighter—threatening to break her. “Cody...”

She needed more. Then he rocked the pad of his thumb back and forth against her, and she came, screaming his name.

But he wasn't done with her—wasn't done making love to her. He lifted and carried her from the water to the shore where they'd left their clothes. He lowered her down so that she knelt on the mound of garments. And he moved his hand between her legs, driving her into a frenzy again.

She heard foil tear—heard his grunt as he sheathed himself first in latex and then inside her. He thrust deeper, holding her hips against his. His hands moved over her body, cupping her breasts, stroking her clit.

She'd never been loved so thoroughly—so passionately. He nipped at her shoulder then moved his mouth over her cheek until his lips covered hers. She turned and kissed him back. Then she arched to meet his thrusts.

And she came again. Moments later his body shuddered and a guttural cry tore from his throat as he joined her in release. They both fell silent after that, saying nothing to each other as they cleaned up and dressed.

Was he as overwhelmed as she was? Or was he just tired? They linked hands again as they walked back—the lights of the house beckoning to them through the dark woods. When they neared the porch, the screen door pushed open and Annie greeted them. She'd found her way home again—as she always did.

Cody shut both doors and turned the lock. Serena shivered, maybe because her underwear was wet against her skin. Or maybe because of the way Cody had looked when he'd turned that lock, almost as if he thought there was something dangerous outside. Or someone... Was that why he followed her up to the attic?

To protect her? If he really wanted to do that, he would leave her alone so that she didn't get any more attached to him than she already was. Her voice husky, she asked, “How did your interview go?”

Did he get the job? Would he be leaving Northern Lakes soon?

Her question brought a strange look to his handsome face. It was so intense that it was almost frightening. He looked like he had after the accident—angry.

“It didn't go well?” she asked. But how could it have gone well after he'd been in an accident? She touched his head; the fresh wound had already scabbed over. “You should have let me take you to the hospital instead of the airport.”