Protecting Rose (22 page)
He was lost to the rapture of her tight channel encasing him so pleasurably. The knowledge that he was her first sent a primal jolt of possessiveness and male satisfaction through him.
The thought of her with another man set his teeth on edge, and he was determined to be her only lover. Now that he knew she wasn’t taken, he wouldn’t give her up without a fight. She already trusted him enough to give him her body. Now he was determined to win her heart as well.
He grinned. But first he needed to rock her world, or he really would be a bastard. Nate reached down between their bodies to caress her pleasure point as he took her. Her body welcomed him and he drove deeper within her with each rhythmic thrust, until he was fully embedded inside her womanly warmth.
She felt like pure heaven and he surrendered himself over to the pleasurable sensation of making love to his woman. The sweet sound of Rose’s purring moans and the erotic taste of her essence lingering on his lips drove him near the edge.
Her body tensed, and the sound of her keening cries made him burn. She was nearing her peak. The knowledge drove him beyond coherent thought as his passion flamed. He delved into her like a parched man at an oasis, fully immersed in the sensual pleasure she offered. Next time, he would take things more slowly. But right now, Nate desperately needed to feel her sweet body tighten around him as she came.
Scooping her legs into the crook of his arms, he cradled them, rose onto his knees and plunged deeply. He was awed by the vision splayed before him and nearly exploded at the sight of her sprawled out, naked and wanton beneath him.
Her eyes closed, her head thrown back as she arched to meet each powerful thrust, her long wavy hair beautifully spread across the pillow. Soft keening moans of pleasure fell from her kiss-reddened lips. She was the most beautiful and erotic thing he’d ever seen, and a growl rose deep within him. Something ancient and primal overwhelmed him. He needed to see her eyes when she came, to witness the pleasure he gave her.
“Rose, baby. Open your eyes.”
Rose’s eyes popped open, her mouth parted on a sensual moan. Her chocolate eyes dark with desire as she reached the top of her peak. Nate watched with great satisfaction as she fell over the edge and flew apart. The sound of her high-pitched cry of pleasure as she called his name thrilled him, and he threw back his head with a roar.
Pumping, one, two, three deep thrusts, he followed her over the edge with the most incredible climax of his life. The feel of her body clenching around him was heaven’s gift. It seemed as though his soul flowed from his body to hers as he buried himself deeply within her sweetness.
With a final guttural cry, he collapsed on top of her. The power of his release left him weak and mindless. When his brain finally cleared from its sexual daze, he rolled to the side and gathered her into his arms, tucking her head against his shoulder. He held her close as their labored breathing slowed to normal.
The knowledge that he had indeed rocked her world made him smile, even as he once again began to feel like a bastard for having hurt her. Although he couldn’t deny the totally sexist and inappropriate satisfaction he felt at being her first.
He stroked her hair. “Are you okay, babe?”
“Mmmn,” she murmured.
He glanced down at her with a grin. “Is that a yes?”
Rose tilted her head up until their eyes met. “Yes, Nate. That is most definitely a yes.” She gave him a brilliant smile. “Can we do that again?”
Laughter burst from him, charmed by her adorability. “I think that can be arranged,” he said, wiggling his brows.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a sultry smile. “Can we do it again...now?”
His body was instantly hard at the playful remark. With a groan, Nate rolled on top of her, his erection pressed firmly at the center of paradise. Burying his hands into her hair, their tongues collided in passion as he proceeded to grant her request and they did it again...and again, until finally falling asleep wrapped tightly in each other’s arms.
Larsen was on the phone with a senator out of Nevada regarding a bill put forward on the unionization of prostitutes. Something he wasn’t in favor of. If successful, it could cut into the very profitable sex trade business in which he had holdings. In no uncertain terms, he reminded the
family values
senator of the dirty little video he had of him and a couple very,
very
young hookers. The senator assured him the bill would go nowhere.
He abruptly ended the conversation when there was a knock at the door. “Come in,” he barked. One of his men opened the door and walked over to his desk.
“Sir, we were able to locate Brett and had another
discussion
with him. He assured us he has a lead on Cassandra’s whereabouts, something about a shrink going to visit her at the new safe house. He swears he has the situation under control. We still have a couple of our men tailing him though. If he finds her, we’ll know.”
“Good. If he finds her, I want you to grab her and bring her to me. Alive. Understand.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And get rid of Brett after you have her,” he ordered.
“Yes, sir.”
“What about the Sheriff’s department contact, is there anything new there?”
“No, sir. But we’re prepared to move the instant they provide us with any information.”
“See that you do.” Larsen waved his hand toward the door in dismissal.
He turned back to stare out the window. They would have her soon. Now that she’d turned twenty-five, they needed her alive. Although it would have been cleaner and easier if they could have taken her out before her birthday, they could still pull this off if they could find her before her memory returned.
Rick frowned and hung up the phone. Sheila’s receptionist informed him that she was not yet at the office. He’d tried to call her earlier that morning at her home, but there had been no answer.
It was almost noon, and she still hadn’t called her office regarding her missed appointments. No one seemed to know where she was, something her concerned receptionist said was not like her. It had been late when they had gotten back from Montello the prior evening, but it did seem out of character for her not to reschedule her appointments if she was running late.
Rick turned toward the door, grabbed his keys off the desk, and tucked his gun into his side holster before heading to the parking garage. He had a bad feeling.
He had just pulled onto the freeway when his cell phone rang. He glanced down, disappointed to see J.D.’s name flash across the screen. It wasn’t Sheila calling.
Flipping his cell open, he said, “Rick here.”
“Rick, this is J.D. I thought you would like to know we found the leak.”
His heart thudded. Finally, some good news. “That’s great, J.D., so what do we know?”
“Well, nothing’s ever simple,” J.D. said with disgust. “It seems it was a case of pillow talk. One of our guys shared information with his new lady friend on a regular basis.
“Goddammit,” Rick barked. “This is all because some asshole was thinking with his dick.”
He turned into Sheila’s subdivision and headed down her street, concern gnawing at his gut when he saw her car still sitting in the driveway.
“I’m afraid so,” J.D. said grimly. “We just brought her in, but so far we’ve got nothing.”
“We need to know who she works for. Keep at it, and call me as soon as you know anything.” He flipped his cell phone shut in disgust, jumped from the car, and hurried to Sheila’s front door to ring the bell. No answer.
He reached out for the doorknob, his concern ratcheting up when the door swung open.
Shit!
This was not good. He quietly placed a call for backup. He took his gun from under his jacket and entered the house.
Rick worked his way down the hall, past the kitchen. He stepped into the living room. With a sinking feeling, he noticed the overturned coffee table and broken lamp. When he entered the dining area, his gut twisted. He saw more overturned furniture. A table and several chairs were scattered around the room, and blood covered the ceramic floor and walls. Sheila’s blood?
He was in the middle of the dining room before he noticed the trail of blood leading to the hallway. For a second, his vision blacked at the edges from the rush of anger and adrenaline that slammed into him. He neared the exit with apprehension at what he might find, then scanned the immediate area for danger before stepping into the hall.
That’s when he saw her. By the bloody marks on the floor, it appeared she had dragged herself down the hallway before collapsing. She lay face down on the floor in a pool of blood. Remaining on high alert for any danger, Rick knelt next to her and felt for a pulse. He was immensely relieved to find one, albeit weak. He grabbed his cell and called for an ambulance, praying it would arrive in time to save her.
He quickly searched the rest of the house. Empty. He hurried back to Sheila, and gently rolled her over. Fury hit him hard when he saw what the bastard had done to her.
Her face was a mask of bruises and cuts. He’d beaten her almost unrecognizable. Her blouse had been torn open, exposing her chest and stomach, which were a mass of contusions and bruises. Someone had pummeled her with their fists and left her for dead. His gut churned at the image of her being beaten that hit him and fury took his breath.
The sound of sirens drew near until they stopped in front of the house. Police and paramedics entered the home. Rick radiated an intense rage as he watched the paramedics put Sheila on a stretcher and carry her out the door. The young police officers on the scene eyed him warily.
He silently promised her that he would do whatever it took to get the bastard that had done this to her.
He grabbed his phone and punched in Stone’s number. He wasn’t sure exactly what had happened here, but his suspicion was that it had something to do with Rose.
Rose closed her eyes and Nate’s mouth went dry when she tilted her head back and moaned at the taste of her latte. Hungry for her again, he followed the flick of her tongue as she licked the cream off her upper lip. His groin twitched at the memory of the feel of her lush mouth wrapped around him, the shockingly sensual delight of her velvet tongue licking him like a favored lollypop. After running out of condoms, they’d improvised in the most satisfying ways until the early morning hours.
She met his gaze with a knowing smile. Bringing the cup up to her mouth, she licked the whipped cream off the rim.
Nate laughed. She was adorable. Under his tutelage, Rose had shown herself to be a very adept student. He reached across the table, wrapped his hand around the back of her neck, and leaned in to taste her lips. At this rate, they were never going to make it to town because he was seriously considering taking her back to bed for some more hands-on instructions. He groaned when his cell phone rang. Releasing her with reluctance, he leaned back in his chair and retrieved it from the table.
Rick’s number flashed across the screen. “Hey, Rick. This better be good.” He gave Rose a wink. She watched him like she wanted to have him for breakfast.
“Yeah, I think this qualifies,” Rick said darkly.
“What’s up, man?” At the sound of Rick’s fierce growl, Nate’s cop instincts took front and center.
“You should know there’s a possibility the safe house has been compromised.”
“What happened?”
Concern for Rose twisted his gut. He took her arm and steered her away from the window and into the living room. He guided her to the sofa, knelt down beside her, and held up a finger to mouth, ‘
one moment
.
’
She brought a hand to her chest and watched him with wide eyes. He briefly cupped her cheek and gave her a smile of reassurance before standing to pull his Glock from his waist.
