Overheated (6 page)

His cock twitched, its hot length still semi-hard against her thigh. She squirmed a little, still aroused, still needing. Not knowing how to ask him.

But he recognized her involuntary movements, smelled the spicy scent of her aroused pussy infusing the air around them. The room smelled like sex, and he loved it.

“Now it’s your turn.” His voice rasped along her nerve endings, making her shiver in feminine appreciation. “Lie back and put your arms over your head. Keep them there, Sara.” His voice was warm and dark, but it was clearly an order.

Shivering, Sara complied, arching her back as her arms lifted, loving the feel of his burning gaze as it rested on her breasts. Her nipples were hard little points against the creamy mounds, and as Dash lowered his dark head, his tongue coming out to tease the very tip, Sara sighed and melted into the pillows. Her soft body twisted involuntarily, trying to coax him into a deeper intimacy.

The pleasure she loved was just out of reach, and she began to beg him softly, wildly for what she so desperately needed.

When Dash finally drew her nipple into his hot mouth and suckled, Sara jerked in his arms, crying out at the tiny climax. Her broken cries seemed to inflame him, and he pulled harder at her breast, hollowing his cheeks and tugging rhythmically at her other breast with his fingers. Her body convulsed, and he groaned deep in his throat.

He shifted above her, pushing down to run his tongue over her drenched slit, tasting the heat and spice of her release. He shoved his stiffened tongue inside her, drinking her essence as her cries escalated. He was everywhere, covering her, surrounding her. His fingers continued to tug on her nipples, his lips plucking at her clit. He nipped her tender, sensitive flesh with his teeth. Breathless, mindless, Sara didn’t know she was begging incoherently and writhing against the black satin.

He heaved himself up suddenly, sliding smoothly into position and thrusting heavily into her wet heat. His powerful movements forced tiny, rhythmic screams from her, pushing her higher and higher until she was riding one long, endless climax, and still he thrust.

Following some ancient instinct, she reached down between their bodies and brushed her cool fingertips against his tight balls.

Roaring, his whole body went rigid and she felt the strong blasts of his release as he poured his scalding seed inside her, setting off another long wave of blazing ecstasy for her. Their eyes locked and the intensity of the moment sent tears running down her face. He leaned in, sipping at them tenderly.

Lowering his head to taste her throat, he buried his sweaty face in her tangled hair. “God,” he muttered.

Sara giggled, still gasping for air. Dash was a heavy weight above her, pressing her into the mattress, but she didn’t mind not being able to breathe. The man was dangerously talented.

“Lethal,” she said softly. But she was smiling as she drifted off to sleep, secure in his strong arms.

* * * *

“We’ve had people watching her house, her entire neighborhood all weekend,” said Isaac. “Nothing. We’ve got every agent we can spare working this case and we know everything about Martin Brent, right down to his shoe size and the name of his therapist. We don’t know where he is yet, but we’ll find him.”

Dash turned away from the window where he was watching Sara and Carolyn set out food for the Sunday night barbecue that had become the custom on the ranch in summer. They were laughing like girls, faces flushed and eyes shining. Sharing some wicked secret, probably, he imagined. That Sara could still blush after their weekend descent into debauchery was charming to him. He felt a deep need to protect that beautiful innocence in her, and wanted just as strongly to devour it. She was turning him inside out.

“We know where the hell he is,” Dash said grimly. “He’s here, close enough to terrorize Sara, to see the results of his handiwork.”

“Well, he hasn’t surfaced yet, but he will. He wants her to be scared enough to jump back into his arms, so he needs to be reachable. Don’t growl at me. I’m trying to state facts.” Isaac held his hands up in surrender.

Dash checked himself. Damn it, he had been snarling softly at his friend. He raked impatient hands through his hair. “Christ, I’m a mess.”

“You’re nuts about her,” Grange said calmly from the doorway.

“He’s nuts, period. He always has been.” Isaac grinned.

Dash grimaced. “Don’t you two jokers have a job to do? Could we concentrate on finding this asshole bothering Sara, and then you can laugh at me all through the wedding.”

Grange straightened. “You asked her already?” His tone was disbelieving.

“No, I haven’t asked.”

“He doesn’t ask. He gives commands. He probably just ordered her to show up at a certain church at a certain time wearing a white dress and carrying flowers.” Isaac was still grinning, needling his friend.

Seeing that Dash was about to explode, Grange stepped forward. “I have a report on Martin Brent,” he stated, effectively distracting his friends and preventing an outright brawl in the living room. He didn’t mind them fighting, had happily joined them on occasion in bars and barracks, but he preferred that his friends didn’t fight each other.

“Martin Brent’s credit card secured a room for a Brent Martin at Hollywell’s Hotel in San Antonio, booked a week ago and registered for another two weeks. He’s a college guidance counselor, so he needs to finish this business with Sara before September, or give up his job. He’s got a month left of summer vacation, so he’s escalating right on schedule for that.”

One of the things that Sara had stressed about Martin Brent was his obsessive time-awareness and his down-to-the-minute planning.

“Did you see him?” Dash was a bottom-line man, always.

“No, looks like he hasn’t been there for a couple of days, but his stuff is still there. All clothes hung up, pressed and perfect. Sara didn’t say he was a neat freak,” Grange commented. “He had a couple of things that look like they might be hers there as well. Has it all in this little silver box with Sara’s initials on it. Probably the missing stuff from her apartment.”

“He’s a freak, period,” Dash said softly. The other men nodded.

Dash didn’t even ask how Grange had gotten a look inside the hotel room. Locks and alarms weren’t built to keep Grange out. He could finesse his way into any security set-up anywhere on the planet. The only factor was time. Most conventional locks were child’s play to him. He was through them almost without noticing they had even been there. Dash thought, not for the first time, that he was damn glad Grange had a conscience and a code because the world wasn’t ready for a criminal with that kind of eerie talent.

“We have three agents in rotating shifts at the hotel now. We have three agents in Sara’s neighborhood.” Grange’s voice was cool as he detailed the arrangements he had made. Only someone who had walked with him into some dangerous missions and some seedy bars after those missions would hear the slight shift in tone that indicated the level of his anger. He had perfected his control long ago, but he was not the emotionless man he allowed the world to see. He needed that iron control precisely because he felt so deeply. And Sara was rousing all his protective instincts.

Sara even resembled his younger sister a bit, which would hit Grange hard, Dash knew. Grange hadn’t seen his sister since he had been kicked out of the house as a teenager, and the only person who meant anything to him in that family was Lissa.

Dash turned to Isaac. “What did the team find at Sara’s?”

“Not a damn thing. Not a print of his, nothing but that bird.” Isaac seemed at a loss.

Dash frowned. Any normal person should have left some trace, something. “Is it possible he has training? What do we know about his history?”

Isaac spoke up. “We know everything on record, from the time he started school.”

“Is there any chance he has sealed criminal records from his youth? Aliases?” Dash was grasping at straws and he knew it.

“I’ll get somebody on it,” Grange said immediately. “You’re right, he seems too good for this to be his first time.”

“It’s not legal to go snooping for that kind of info,” Isaac said facetiously. “Better get the Sheriff to do it for you.”

“Ask Carolyn for her take,” Dash suggested. “She’s good with profiles.” Interesting how both Isaac and Grange came to attention when Carolyn’s name was mentioned. Dash thought maybe there was a chance...No, Grange and Isaac weren’t known for their patience. They didn’t need patience because when they expressed an interest, the women just fell at their feet. If there was enough chemistry there to draw them into an affair, there would have been an affair by now.

“I’ll bring Carolyn in when the background is complete. But right now, you’d better get to the grill, Dash, or the steaks won’t be cooked in time for the dinner, and the ladies will roast us instead.” Grange made his statement and walked out, leaving the other men to follow.

Chapter 7

Monday morning was explosive, simply because Sara insisted on going to work, even after Dash had asked her to take a few days off. She was so adamant that Dash finally gave in and took her in to the office with him, forgoing his morning run to keep her in sight. He also moved her from the central work area into a small, empty office right beside his, banging her last box of files down on the desk with visible ill will.

“The whole office will be gossiping about me now,” Sara protested again. “Only here four months, and she gets her own office? I wonder what, no, who she did to get that?” She knew her imitation of Nina’s cool, malicious voice was accurate when Dash smiled even through his obvious irritation.

“Sara, your work speaks for itself. You would have had this office already on the strength of that, if it hadn’t been too much temptation for one ordinary man to resist.” His blue eyes glinted down at her. “We do have a connecting door now, you’ll notice.”

“I noticed,” she said crisply.

“
I
noticed, and what’s more to the point, I fantasized about it day and night,” he said through his teeth. “Ever since Carolyn suggested this empty office for you weeks ago.”

Sara felt some of her displeasure fading at the knowledge that her supervisor and friend had already acknowledged her hard work.

“Carolyn thought I should have an office?” It was amazing how much that meant, Sara thought.

“Carolyn was pissed at me when I didn’t agree immediately,” Dash corrected with a sudden grin, “but I could hardly tell her why. It wouldn’t do for the boss to admit that one sexy little blonde could throw me off my stride so easily without even trying. I do have a reputation to maintain.” His comic leer diffused the tension between them.

Sara laughed softly, her face glowing at the outrageous compliment. She knew she was plain, knew that other men found her old fashioned and boring, but she was fiercely glad that Dash found something sexy about her. Lord, she certainly thought of sex enough around him. Perhaps his remarkable instincts had picked up on her deep awareness of him as a man. He was compelling to her on so many levels. It was a wonder she had managed to avoid her attraction to him for as long as she had.

She leaned against him and wrapped her arms around his back. She was just leaning up to kiss him when she happened to see movement.

That quickly, she was pushed behind his broad back as he faced down the intruder.

“Well, now, this is interesting,” Nina remarked, crossing her arms and leaning elegantly against the open door. Her voice was cool, but her eyes were hot with rage. “Are you getting a new job title to go with your new office, Sara? Something to indicate your new duties, perhaps?” Her tone was frankly insulting.

Sara stiffened at the insinuation, feeling her face flush with shame, but before she could say anything, Dash spoke.

“Close the door on your way out, Nina,” he said calmly. He kept his hold on Sara’s arm, making sure she stayed behind him and out of Nina’s line of sight.

“Dash, you can’t be serious about her,” Nina said with disdain. She moved closer, putting that extra little swivel in her slender hips. “She can’t give you what I gave you that night with your friends. Could she even take three men at once? I know she can’t. It’s more than obvious she has no experience with men.”

“She does now,” Sara mumbled from behind him as Dash kept himself firmly between her and Nina.

“Nina, if you have any doubts about Sara’s qualifications, or her work for this company, talk to Carolyn. Carolyn is her supervisor and it was Carolyn who recommended she be assigned an office. Anything beyond that is none of your business,” he stated. When Nina opened her mouth to speak again, he held up one powerful hand.