Nightmares from Within (15 page)

What the fuck was going on? I got the distinct impression that I had just missed something important.

She gave him a weak smile and removed his hands from her shoulders.

Well at least that made me feel a
little
better
.

“I’m okay, I promise. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay. Just remember, I’m around if you need me.”

“Thank you.”

He turned and headed for the door, but not before shooting me a death glare. I gave as good as I got, hoping he’d spontaneously combust as he walked through the door, closing it behind him.

When I turned back to look at Taylor she had her hip cocked—which was never a good thing to see on a woman—and her arms crossed over her chest. I wasn’t too proud to admit that the icy look she shot me had my balls shriveling up just a bit.

“What are you doing here, Jordan?”

“I needed to see you,” I answered pathetically.

She let out a humorless laugh. “You needed to see me? Wow, well you didn’t seem to need to see me this morning when you were sneaking off without saying a word, did you?”

That was a question I
knew
I shouldn’t answer.

I saw her eyes dart down to my hand that was holding the flowers. “And you thought bringing me flowers would make up for turning my first ever sexual experience into a one night stand?”

Whoa
, was that what she thought? “Taylor that is
not
what happened last night.”

“Oh, so you didn’t act like a typical guy and use me as a quick fuck?” The sarcasm in her voice was really starting to become irritating.

“Christ, woman. No! Where, in everything that I said to you last night, did you get the impression that I just used you as a quick fuck? Huh? You know that’s not true.”

“Then where’d you go?” she yelled.

“I got paged to a goddamn crime scene!” I yelled back. I could see her guard falling the second the words left my mouth.

I came to see her because I needed a little brightness in my day and all I’d received was more darkness. It was turning out to be one of the worst days ever. “It was two in the morning and you were sleeping. I got a call that they found a body and I didn’t want to wake you. You looked so peaceful. I just couldn’t lay that shit on you. I’m sorry I left without telling you, but I didn’t do it for the reasons you think. I tried to call you so many times today, I swear, but something always got in the way.”

I dropped the flowers on the coffee table and turned for the door. “I’m sorry,” she whispered as my hand hit the cold brass of the door knob causing me to pause before opening it. When I turned back to her she was messing with that damn locket again. “I’m sorry,” she repeated before taking a step toward me. “I…when I woke up this morning and you were gone…I didn’t even consider that it could have had something to do with your job.”

I made my way back over to her and cupped her face in my hands. “Crimson, that’s the
only
reason I’d ever leave a bed that you’re in.”

That blush I was coming to love crept up her neck and onto her cheeks. “Do you want to talk about it?”

I let out a groan and collapsed onto her couch, pulling her down with me. I laid my head on the arm before kicking off my shoes and propping my feet up on the other end. I maneuvered her little body so that it was lying on top of me with my arms wrapped around her delicate frame. When I finally had her in the position I wanted her in I let out a contented sigh.

“Comfy?” she asked with a laugh. She rested her palms on my chest, propping her chin on them so that she could look up at me with those beautiful copper eyes.

“I am now,” I said with a smile, making sure my dimples stood out. It wasn’t lost on me that Taylor melted a little every time she saw them, and sure enough, they had the desired effect when all of the rigidity left her body and she relaxed completely in my arms. “Now we can talk.”

“Tell me what happened.”

I thought back to the woman whose body we’d found early that morning and a sense of helplessness washed over me. She’d gone through more pain than the other victims had, which was another sign that the killer was escalating. Not only had he kept her for a shorter amount of time, but his attack was much more brutal than it had been with the others.

“Her name was Samantha Turner. She was young and beautiful and had so much life ahead of her.”

I heard Taylor’s gasp and something passed over her eyes but disappeared before I could name it. “You’re the detective on the Poet murders?”

“Yeah,” I muttered as I let her go to press the heels of my palms into my forehead in an attempt to offset the headache I knew was coming. “Four girls and we’re no closer to finding this guy than we were in the beginning. Days like this, I really hate my job.”

My eyes were squeezed shut so I missed the apprehensive look on her face, but then she trailed her fingers down my cheek and I knew I could have gotten lost in her touch forever.

“You look exhausted,” she whispered.

“I
am
exhausted.” I replied, still not opening my eyes.

I felt her body shift. I finally peeled my eyes open to see her sit up and straddle my lap. All of the sudden I wasn’t feeling so tired anymore.

“Tell you what, I’ve got that big, cozy bed back there that’s just calling my name. If you promise not to run out of here in the middle of the night without telling me, I might be inclined to let you join me.”

I pushed up onto my elbows and quirked a brow. “Is that so?”

“Yep,” she replied playfully. I’d never seen her playful side before, but when the full force of that smile hit me it became my favorite of all her looks.

“That’s a promise I’ll have no problem keeping, Crimson.”

The Poet

I despised night clubs. The heavy thump of the bass, the women who dressed like sluts and writhed on the men for attention, the disgusting smell of sweat and sin that stifled the air. There was nothing I liked about night clubs.

But shortly after Samantha had let me down, I was walking down the street, absorbed in my misery at having another woman disappoint me when a beautiful angel stumbled into my path as if she’d fallen from heaven. I was instantly enamored.

“I’m so sorry,” she said as she looked up at me. The moment our eyes connected I knew there was something special about her.

She wasn’t like the others.

“No worries,” I replied. “Are you all right?”

She smiled up at me and my heart melted. “Yeah. I’m just running a little late and tripped trying to rush inside.”

She pointed to the entrance of a nightclub I had just walked past and a twinge of disappointment shot through me at the thought of an angel working in such a despicable establishment.

“You should come inside and let me buy you a drink, handsome,” she offered, and with that, I knew she was the one for me.

I’d followed her for a while, getting a feel for her schedule and I made sure to visit her at the nightclub every time she worked, even though I despised it.

Relationships were based on compromise, after all.

But there was something different about her tonight. She didn’t look as happy to see me as she usually did.

When I made my way to the bar she didn’t greet me with the lovely endearment that was just for me.

“Hey there, what can I get you?”

I felt my dormant anger simmering at the fact she would talk to me like I was just any other patron. Didn’t she know who I was to her? Didn’t she know that we were meant to be together?

I tried to push away my negative thoughts and give her the benefit of the doubt.

“I’d be honored if you’d allow me to take you on a date tomorrow night.”

She turned her head to the side but not fast enough to hide the roll of her eyes. “Sorry, I’m spoken for,” she declared.

Lying bitch!

In all the times I watched her I’d never seen her with another man. I couldn’t let my disappointment crush me. There wasn’t time for that. She was another filthy whore that needed to pay for her sins.

And it was my job to make sure she did.

Taylor

Something woke me in the middle of the night but it wasn’t a nightmare. I opened my eyes and scanned the darkness around me trying to get my sleep-muddled brain to kick into gear. I felt something move behind me and I instantly became aware of what woke me.

“I know you’re awake,” Jordan whispered before pressing his lips to the sensitive spot between my ear and shoulder and nipping at the skin lightly.

I let out a sleepy moan when his hand trailed across my stomach, brushing along the bare skin between my shirt and shorts. “Mmm, I love the sounds you make when I touch you.”

His hand skimmed passed the waistband of my shorts and into my panties. He pushed a finger inside me and started thrusting quickly. There was desperation in him that wasn’t there the last time we made love.

“That feels so good.” I turned my head as far as I could and his lips met mine in a passionate kiss. He quickly added another finger and I had to wrench my mouth free from his on a gasp. “Oh, God, don’t stop,” I cried as my hips started chasing after his hand every time he pulled out.

“I want you to come for me, baby. I’m going to make you come on my hand right now, then again when I’m buried deep inside you.”

“Yes,” I hissed.

My hips bucked harder when he began to circle my clit with his thumb while his fingers did amazing things inside me. “You want me, Taylor?” he asked and I felt like I’d go insane if I didn’t have him. I nodded frantically as my climax built up but that wasn’t enough for him. “Say it, baby. I need to hear you say it.”

“Oh God, Jordan. I want you!” I was so close. I could feel my release creeping up and I was desperate for it.

“Tell me you need me,” he rasped in my ear.

I knew I’d tell him anything he wanted to hear at that point. I’d beg him if he asked me to. “I need you…please.”

He slammed his mouth down on mine and curled the two fingers inside me in a come hither motion as he pressed down hard on my sensitive clit. I went over the edge gasping and moaning uncontrollably.

“Jesus Christ!” He quickly shifted me to my back, and before I could register what was happening, he’d ripped my shorts and panties down my legs and whipped my shirt over my head. He reached for a condom on the bedside table and quickly rolled it on. He rested his hips between my thighs and I instinctively wrapped both of my legs around him. “Do you have any fucking clue how sexy you are when you come, Crimson? I’m never going to get enough of you.” With that, he thrust his hips and buried himself as far as he could go. I let out a loud cry at the overwhelming pleasure as he started to move. All of the pain I’d felt the last time was gone and the only thing on my mind was how absolutely perfect Jordan felt inside me.

For such a sweet man, I was surprised at the level of intensity he was taking me with. It wasn’t making love like some people would describe. It felt like more. It was a claiming…he was marking me as his with each powerful thrust and I loved every second of it. Another orgasm was building fast and I wanted so badly for Jordan to send me over the edge again but he had different plans.

“Not yet, baby.”

I looked at him with wide eyes. “What?”

“
Fuck,
” he hissed. “I can feel you squeezing the shit out of me but you can’t come yet.”

I clenched even tighter around him at his demand. “I’m so close. Oh God! Please, Jordan.”

“Not. Yet.” His teeth were clenched and I could see his jaw ticking at his effort to maintain control. He grabbed hold of both my hands and lifted them above my head, twining our finger together as he looked down at me with a fierce determination in his gorgeous hazel eyes. “You’re mine. You know that, right?”

“Yes. Jordan…please.”

“You have no clue how perfect you are,” he whispered. I felt tears sting the back of my eyes at the sincerity in his voice. He released one of my hands and wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling my body even closer to his and lifting my hips to the absolute perfect angle. “Let go, baby. I want to hear you.”

I came shouting his name until my voice went hoarse. I didn’t think it was humanly possible for anything to feel that good but Jordan just about killed me. Once I finally started coming back down, I was able feel how close he was. His thrusts were more erratic and his hold on me tightened to the point where I thought I might find bruises the next morning. “Holy shit. God, Taylor, you feel so fucking good. Nothing’s ever been this good.” He threw his head back with a bellow as he drove into me one last time before he stopped moving all together, keeping me pinned to him as tightly as possible the entire time he came.