In Bed With the Badge (12 page)

Sam stood in the room, watching her and feeling a little useless—but not enough to take over. “Aren’t you going to get her into her pajamas?” he asked, curious.

Riley shook her head, backing away from the canopied bed. Nice touch, she thought, admiring the frills that outlined the canopy.

“Lisa might wake up. It’s not worth the trouble,” she assured him. About to leave the room, Riley noticed that rather than turn them off, he lowered the overhead lights until they were very dim.

“Lisa’s afraid of the dark,” he explained.

She could certainly relate to that, she thought as she slipped out of the room. He eased the door closed behind him.

“So was I for the longest time.”

She didn’t add that right after Sanchez’s murder, her fears had revisited her and she’d gone back to sleeping with the lights on. She’d continued doing that until sometime last week. The need to have every corner illuminated had passed, disappearing as mysteriously as it had come.

“I wasn’t allowed to be afraid,” Sam told her simply.

Riley stopped just short of the front door to turn around and look at him. “Wasn’t ‘allowed’?” she repeated in disbelief. What did permission have to do with it?

He didn’t think of his father often. Unpleasant memories were best held at bay. He supposed that suddenly becoming one himself on such short notice had roused a great many incidents from his own childhood. He was determined to do the opposite of whatever had been done to him.

“My father told me leaving the light on in my room once I was in bed was a waste of electricity. He maintained that there was nothing in the dark that wasn’t there in the light.”

Thank God she’d had an understanding mother. “How did that work for you?”

One corner of his mouth lifted. “I spent ten years sleeping with my baseball bat.”

Amusement entered Riley’s eyes as she visualized him as a small boy in bed with his Louisville Slugger.
“Until you found that girls had more curves?” she guessed whimsically.

“And were a lot softer,” he added, playing along. In truth, it had taken him some time to get over his need to protect himself.

She was on dangerous ground and she knew it. Taking a breath, Riley told herself it was time to go home. She took a step toward the door, moving backward.

“Well, hope you had a good time,” she told him. Was that as inane as it sounded?

“We did,” he assured her. “Thanks for inviting us.” And then he hesitated.

Part of him would regret this, he thought. The other part would regret it if he didn’t at least try.

“You know, you don’t have to go just yet. Would you like something to drink?” he suggested.

“Why Detective Wyatt, are you trying to get me to take in spirits?” she teased. “If I do, I won’t be able to drive home for several hours.”

His smile was warm. Disarming. She felt herself sinking. “Maybe that’s part of the idea.”

Breathe, damn it, Riley, breathe.
“And what’s the rest of the idea?”

His eyes slid over her. She could almost feel their caress. “I thought that maybe that could work itself out slowly.”

Why did she suddenly feel as if she was standing on the edge of a precipice? One that was utterly unstable and threatened to give way beneath her feet at any second?

“No previews?” she questioned. “I always love seeing coming attractions when I go to the movies.”

“Previews you want, previews you’ll get,” he murmured softly. So softly that she inclined her head toward him in order to hear.

That was exactly when her lips were suddenly captured.

R
iley knew she should pull away.

Sooner or later, most likely sooner, there would be hell to pay for this huge transgression, this blurring of lines that separated her professional life from her private one.

But she didn’t care.

Logic and common sense didn’t stand a ghost of a chance in the face of the heat generated by the mere touch of his lips on hers. The heat that she now found consuming her body.

Giving in to the pleasure, Riley wrapped her arms around Sam’s neck. As she did so, she curved her body into his. The fact that he wanted her, really wanted her, registered instantly. And just as instantly, it created a yearning within her.

The kind of yearning that she hadn’t experienced in a very long time.

Maybe never.

His hands, which had initially framed her face when he first kissed her, now moved away, sliding along her sides. Encircling her body. Holding her closer than a heartbeat.

And all the while he deepened the kiss, silently making this moment an event to celebrate.

Riley desperately tried to hold up her part, kissing him back for all she was worth. Not just absorbing sensations but creating them, as well. Her pride demanded it.

She got caught in her own trap.

Riley’s head was spinning. Badly.

She wanted to attribute it to something common, like the lack of oxygen, but she knew better. Ever since she was a little girl, she could hold her breath an inordinate amount of time. This kiss went far beyond that.

Before she was fully conscious of her actions, she found that her fingers worked away at the buttons on Sam’s shirt, pushing them out of their holes, tugging out the ends of the shirt and swiftly moving it away from his chest.

As she slid the material from his shoulders, Sam caught her hands in his and forced himself to draw his head back. To draw his lips away from hers.

His eyes searched her face for his answer even as he asked, “Riley, are you sure?”

He’d called her Riley, which he’d never done before. This was the private woman, not the detective, he was
addressing. The private woman who was being seduced, who was melting. And the private woman was oh so sure she wanted this,
needed
this no matter what tomorrow would demand as payment for her involvement.

“I’m sure,” Riley whispered, her breath feathering along his mouth, along his skin.

Something flared in his eyes. Desire? Oh, God, she hoped so.

“Then far be it from me to say no,” he breathed, trying to sound as if he was teasing her.

“It better be far,” Riley warned.

The truth be known, she was ready to explode right here, right now. And would have if he had pulled away. To stop just as everything within her had been primed to continue.

She hadn’t realized just how much she wanted Sam until he’d kissed her. Now, she was fairly certain that the world would come to an abrupt, jarring end if he just stopped, even if he was trying to be chivalrous.

Riley splayed her hands over his chest. Hard muscles seemed to ripple beneath her palms. She could feel her excitement literally multiplying with each moment that passed.

“I had no idea you were so ripped,” she murmured, her eyes on his.

“Lots of things you have no idea about,” Sam told her, his voice rumbling low.

Exciting her.

He was right. There was a great deal she didn’t know about this man. But she knew she placed her life in his
hands every day, trusting him to have her back. Trusting him to be there for her.

How much more was there?

Trust was the most important ingredient in their relationship. In
every
relationship. The rest was minor in comparison.

Except that right now, it didn’t feel so minor, these things he was causing to happen inside her. His lips skimmed the sensitive skin just beneath her chin, just along her throat. The fire in her veins increased, raising to astonishing heights she wasn’t sure she could properly control.

His shirt stripped from his body, Sam began to return the favor. His lips pressed against hers, he undid the ends of her halter. The double knot stubbornly resisted, then finally came undone.

The two sides of the halter hung about her, tempting him. He could feel his breath catch in his throat.

His mouth curving against hers, he coaxed the material away from her body and discovered that, just as he’d suspected, Riley hadn’t worn a bra beneath the virgin white top.

With patient movements, he kneaded her skin, bringing his palms in closer with each agonizingly slow pass until he finally cupped her breasts.

When he heard her breath catch, felt the swell of her breasts beneath his hands, Sam was certain something had ignited inside his soul.

God, he wanted her.

But if this was going to go any further, it couldn’t be
here, out in the open in the living room. They were completely exposed here. If Lisa suddenly woke up and came in search of him, there was nowhere to hide.

Rather than launch into any explanations, he scooped a surprised Riley up into his arms and moved across the room, heading toward his bedroom.

Her heart pounded harder. “How did you know?” she breathed.

He hadn’t a clue what she was referring to. Was she talking about their kiss? About the fact that they were about to make love? Or was it something else? Riley was
not
a woman he could read like a book. He needed a translation.

“Know what?” he asked as he shouldered his door open, then closed it again, this time using his back.

She laced her arms around his neck. “That I’ve always had this Rhett Butler fantasy,” she whispered, “about being carried off to a bedroom.”

Sam knew he should capitalize on this stroke of blind luck, play it up to his advantage. Most men, he knew, would have done just that. But he wasn’t most men. Besides, lies had a way of backfiring and he wanted to take no chances.

“I didn’t,” he told her. “The moment just called for it.”

And that, in part, was true. Because if he had remained out there a moment longer, things like protecting his daughter from too much age-inappropriate education would have plummeted to the bottom of his list of things to do in the heat of his desire.

That meant, Riley thought as another surge of excite
ment shot through her, that Sam was a natural. He was a romantic without even having to think about it. And that was excellent. Because the last thing she wanted either one of them to do right now was think. This wasn’t the time for it, for detailed thoughts to wedge their way into what was happening.

All she wanted was to savor these sensations rushing through her. Savor the feel of his hands on her skin, his mouth on hers, doing wonderful, clever things and making her feel like a Roman candle about to go off at any second, illuminating the darkness.

She felt the mattress against her back as he laid her down, felt the impression of his body against hers as he sank to join her. And she felt her breath all but vanishing as his mouth began to work its way along her torso.

While his lips fueled the fire within her, she could feel his fingers working away at the snap on her shorts. The material parted as he slid the zipper down. Ever so slowly, Sam moved the material along her hips. The slower he moved, the more excited she felt, her flesh burning for the caress of his.

She raised her hips, allowing him to rid her of the last of her clothing as he tugged away both her shorts and white thong.

A frenzy assaulted her. Opening the snap on his jeans, she began to tug them off, trying to sweep them away with just a few well-placed movements.

Riley felt her heart pounding harder and harder as she struggled to divest him of the jeans while he all but held her captive with his magical mouth.

She could feel the eruption gathering, growing in volume and force.

Threatening to go off suddenly.

When Sam pressed the heel of his hand against her core, she climaxed for the first time. That had never happened to her before, not from the mere touch of a man’s hand.

The very sensation stole her breath away.

Arching so that she could feel his hand pressing harder against her, the desire for more filled her entire being. Raising her head, she caught his lips, pressing hers against them. A heated passion assaulted her in waves.

Their bodies mingled as their limbs tangled with one another and Riley moved on top of him. Their mouths slanted over and over again, unable to be satiated.

Demanding more.

Damn but this was different, Sam thought. He’d expected her to be hot, expected to enjoy her while creating a web of pleasure for her, but this went beyond anything he’d imagined. The intensity throbbing through his veins was something he’d never experienced before.

He could feel his pulse racing, his hunger increasing at a breathtaking rate, overpowering him and making it very, very difficult for him to hold himself in check as long as he had planned.

There were no plans anymore, no blueprints on how to proceed. They were caught up in the fire and had burned up.

He was being swept away by a woman he had seriously
underestimated. He had thought that making love with Riley would be a pleasant, pleasurable experience. This went so far beyond that that it couldn’t even be measured.

He wanted to reach that final moment, to crest and feel the last, breathtaking surge sweeping through his body. And yet, he still wanted to hold onto the promise of all that was to come, to extend this experience for as long as he could.

This wasn’t normal.

This wasn’t like him.

What the hell was she doing to him?

Still struggling for control, Sam flipped so that he got Riley onto her back again. He saw the surprise in her eyes, the signs of mounting anticipation vibrating throughout her being. Pleased, he began to work his way down her slick, supple body. Nipping at the tempting curves, gliding his tongue along her heated flesh. Priming her with his warm breath that skimmed against her skin.

He heard Riley moan as his mouth teased the center of her passion.

Empowered, imprisoned, he began to use his tongue to flirt with, then press against, her moist, heaving and more-than-willing flesh.

Oh, God, she couldn’t catch her breath. Sam had stolen it from her.

Feeling as if she was in the midst of an out-of-body experience, Riley raised her hips up higher, offering herself to him. Grasping a slice of paradise as the explosion racked her body. She didn’t care about equality,
about doing to him what he was doing to her. She just wanted this to go on and on.

And for a moment, it did.

Time seemed to stand still as the sensation swelled and continued.

And then she fell back, exhausted and spent beyond words. Or so she thought.

The next moment, Sam began to move his heated body along hers. Tantalizing her.

Her heart was already pounding hard enough to break through her rib cage. But when she felt him enter her, it sped up even more, beating double-time. The confinements of exhaustion fell away from her.

Riley wrapped her legs around his torso, the rhythm of her body echoing his as the pace heightened. Their movement became increasingly more frantic. She felt Sam wrap his arms about her, holding her to him as if he intended to absorb her wholly into himself.

That excited her. Everything
about
this man and the magic he wove excited her.

She held on tightly, desperate to keep pace, wanting to feel exactly what he felt at the final moment of impact.

And then it happened.

She reached the peak of the summit with him, felt the fireworks showering around her and prayed that somehow, it could go on forever. And even though it didn’t, even though she could feel the euphoria recede, the sense of contentment that overshadowed the wonder remained with her for far longer than she’d anticipated.

Gladdening her heart.

As she caught her breath, Riley went on holding him to her. Went on savoring everything about the coupling that had taken her by such storm. Slowly, ever so slowly, her breathing evened out.

This had to be what a person felt like when they were struck by lightning, Sam thought, his body still tingling all over. He struggled to get some kind of a grip on himself.

He succeeded only moderately.

Afraid of crushing Riley, he slowly slid off, moving to her side. He was surprised when she turned her body into his. Surprised and pleased more than words could possibly express.

He smiled into her eyes as he closed his arms around her and held her to him.

“You’re full of surprises, McIntyre,” he said, whispering the words against her hair.

McIntyre.

Not “Riley” but “McIntyre.” Was he trying to distance himself from what had just happened? Now that they had made love, did he want to reestablish the boundaries of their ongoing relationship? Did this make her sad, or provide her with the safety net she so badly needed?

Damn, but nothing made sense right now. She couldn’t think, couldn’t see her way clearly to any one sentiment yet.

“I like keeping you on your toes,” she finally answered. She felt him laugh and the sound rumbled against her chest. She turned her head to look at him. “What?”

Amusement curved the corners of his mouth. “Let’s just say it wasn’t my toes that were being called into action.”

She could almost feel his smile against her hair, against her forehead. “Sorry, anatomy wasn’t my best subject in school.”

He trailed his fingertips along her curves, stroking her ever so slowly. Excitement began to vibrate between them. “I would have never guessed. You seemed pretty knowledgeable to me.”

“Smoke and mirrors,” she quipped, though it was beginning to take considerable effort to remain focused on what he was saying.

“Felt a little more solid than smoke to me,” he told her.

She raised her head to look at him. She’d always disliked women who insisted on having a relationship mapped out for them at every conceivable turn. But Sam
was
her partner and she was pretty sure that they had just violated at least several very basic ground rules.