ThreeReasonsWhy (11 page)

“How often do you use that butt plug?”

Flames erupted in her face at the idea of him discovering
one of her most intimate, most guarded secret desires. “I—” She stumbled for words
as Wes’ soft laugh shook the bed.

“Never thought I’d see the day when I left Jill Harper
speechless. Come on, pixie, tell me.”

“I’ve only tried it a couple of times.”

“Did you like it?” he asked.

She sucked in a deep breath and decided, in for a penny, in
for a pound. “I loved it.”

“I want to fuck your ass,” he murmured into her ear.

“God, yes,” she breathed, trying to decide whether or not to
be pissed off when he chuckled. Until his next words.

“You are a dream come true. Here, lift up your hips.” As she
did so, he put a couple pillows underneath her. “Get on your knees,” he
directed. “But leave your head down.”

She followed his command, the first stirrings of an
unfamiliar but powerful need growing in her body. She’d never allowed a man to
take the lead in the bedroom. She was used to being in control of every aspect
of her life—her career and her relationships. Her mother had often referred to
her as a force to be reckoned with. She’d always taken that as a compliment,
even though she knew there were more than a few times when her mother hadn’t
meant it as such. She was a no-nonsense, grab-the-bull-by-the-horns kind of
girl and she preferred it that way. She directed her own course and determined
her own destiny, whether in life or in the bedroom. She took what she wanted.
Always had, always would.

As Wes ran his hands along her spine, she shivered with the
realization that tonight, with this man, she wanted someone else to take the
wheel. She wanted him to control their destiny, even if it was only for a
little while. She trusted him. Knew he would give her everything she wanted
without holding back.

When his hands reached her ass, she couldn’t conceal her
groan of delight.

She trusted Wes. Implicitly. She knew with every fiber of
her being that he would never hurt her, never betray her. Had she ever trusted
a man before? Her mind raced over the question and answered with a resounding
no
.

He picked something up from the bed, and she realized he’d
already helped himself to several items in her fun drawer.

Cool, slippery gel landed on her ass, surprising her, and
she jumped a bit.

“Shh,” Wes soothed as he slowly worked the slick lubrication
into her with one finger. She’d bought the butt plug out of curiosity several
years earlier, and she’d been shocked to discover how much she enjoyed the
sensations it evoked in her body. Before Wes, she’d never trusted any of her
lovers enough to try the dark, sensual act. It was too personal, too
private…too special.

As soon as she thought the words, an uneasy twinge nagged at
the edge of her conscience. What the hell was she doing? She’d said she would
keep him at a distance. Was this her idea of distance?

For a moment, she stiffened, determined to pull away, but
when Wes added more lubrication and another finger to his delicious torment,
she knew she was lost.

Over and over, Wes worked his fingers in her ass, and she
was touched by the care, the time he was taking to make sure she was ready for
him. Unfortunately, he was too cautious, too slow, and despite her thrusts against
his fingers and her demands that he take her, he refused to be rushed.

“Not yet,” he murmured as he pushed in a third finger. She
gasped at the fullness, the glorious vibrations rippling through her.

“Now,” she repeated. She wanted him, and damn it, she wasn’t
going to be denied. “Now, Wes.”

He pulled his fingers out and slowly replaced them with his
hard cock. She breathed a sigh of relief as he moved into her with delicate
care. He was answering her need, fulfilling her body’s desire for something she’d
long ago resigned herself to never having. Was there anything he wouldn’t give
her, do for her?

Inch by thick inch, he worked his way inside, his firm grip
on her hips proving once again that he was in charge. He would give her what
she wanted, but it would be on his terms. When at last he was seated to the
hilt, he paused, leaning forward, draping himself over her so he could place
his lips at her ear.

“Do you like this?”

“Do you have to ask?” she answered, trying unsuccessfully to
push back against him, trying to grasp one more millimeter of his beautiful
cock.

“I’m going to fuck you hard, pixie,” he said, the hands on
her hips tightening slightly, betraying his own overwhelming need. “Tell me if
you don’t want that.”

“Don’t hold back,” she said. “I’ll know if you do and I’ll
make you sorry.”

He chuckled lightly at her breathless threat before pushing
himself upright on his knees. He was true to his word. He took her with all the
desire she felt. With all the unrequited needs she had allowed to build up
during a lifetime of loveless affairs. In her quest to keep her lovers at arm’s
length, she’d failed to understand the true meaning of passion, of craving, of
love.

“I love you,” he said as he came.

Oh God.
The words crashed in on her heart as her
orgasm tore through her body. Hot streams of come filled her and she screamed
with the overpowering impulse as the brutal truth revealed itself. She’d let
things go way too far.

Fuck. Now what was she supposed to do?

Chapter Seven

“You want this last cup of coffee?” Wes yelled down the
hallway from the kitchen.

Jill appeared from the bathroom and pulled her toothbrush
out of her mouth. “No, you can have it. I’ll be drinking the stuff all day down
in the diner.” She returned to finish her morning toiletries and he emptied the
pot into his travel mug with a grin.

He couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. For five mornings
in a row, he’d woken up next to the woman he loved. Life didn’t get any better
than this. For all their bickering, they actually coexisted rather peacefully.
They enjoyed the same television shows and kept the same hours. He was an
early-to-bed, early-to-rise kind of guy and Jill followed suit on days when she
had to work. He suspected that was just because she worked herself into
exhaustion. She made up for it on her days off, often sleeping until early
afternoon without even rolling over. Problem was, her days off were few and far
between.

He planned to talk to her about her hours at the diner soon.
She simply couldn’t keep working every shift, every day of the week. She made
more than enough money to hire a couple extra people and he hoped to convince
her to do so. Several times over the past few days, he’d gotten a sense that he
was making progress in his campaign to claim the woman’s heart, only to have
her stubbornness kick back in.

It hadn’t even been a week. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and
he knew it would take a hell of a lot longer than a few days to defeat the
stubborn will of Jill Harper.

Despite his impatience in claiming his pixie once and for
all, everything else was falling into place. For the first time since he’d
graduated from college, he felt complete and utter contentment. His days had
fallen into a routine he would never have imagined for himself a year ago. For
years, he’d enjoyed a life lived on the road and on the edge. He and Rick had
often been assigned dangerous cases with the DEA that required they live
undercover and away from home for several months out of the year. Wes had loved
that fast-paced, erratic lifestyle for nearly a decade before reality struck.

During their last case, he realized he was sick of playing
roles that left him in the company of the dregs of society. He was tired of
constantly seeing the dark, depressing world of the mob, prostitutes and
junkies, and he hoped to hell he never saw another seedy hotel or fleabag
apartment building. Every time he came home to Madison after months away and
saw Jill, she refreshed and rejuvenated his soul. She took away some of the
pervasive loneliness that continually hung over him. In the past year, he’d
come to understand that he wasn’t merely living for himself anymore, he was
living for her.

A light knock on the door pulled him out of his thoughts.

“Hey, Wes, will you get that? It’s probably Kate.”

He unlocked and opened the door to see Jill’s baby sister
standing there smiling.

“Good morning,” he said as she stood on tiptoe to kiss his
cheek.

He wasn’t sure how much Jill had told her younger sister
about their living arrangements, but if he knew his pixie, he was sure she’d
skirted around the truth rather than admit what was really going on. For all
intents and purposes, they were living together, yet Jill insisted on saying
their cohabitation was merely temporary.

Kate narrowed her eyes and studied his face. “Cocky, self-satisfied
smirk, light scent of sex. I guess it
is
a good morning.”

Kate had served as house sitter for him and Rick when they
were away on their last case. When they returned, she and Rick hooked up and
she never moved out.

“Yeah,” he said, stretching. “I just made the bed, Kate, and
I can assure you it was no small feat. Your sister sure knows how to tangle the
sheets.”

Kate laughed and lightly punched him on the arm. “You better
be glad she didn’t hear you say that. She’d kick your ass.”

“She probably would. What brings you to town so early?”

“I’m working the breakfast and lunch shift with Jill. Cheryl
drove Lottie into Harrisburg last night for a girls’ night out. They aren’t due
back until this afternoon.”

“That’s right,” he said, “I forgot that was today. Jill must
have been desperate for help.”

“Ha ha,” Kate said. He and Rick often teased her about her
inability to boil water. She was a disaster in the kitchen, a detail he and his
partner had learned early on. Rick had taken on the duty of keeping them all
fed. Until he’d moved in with Jill, Wes struggled with the realization that he
was becoming a third wheel in their household, and he was grateful to be able
to give the new couple some time alone.

“Stop harassing the hired help. Besides, I’m doing the
cooking. She’s going to be my waitress.” Jill walked down the hallway.

He turned to look at her. Regardless of what she wore, she
took his breath away. Today she was sporting a short jeans skirt with tight
black leggings beneath, a red cotton blouse and her black Converse tennis
shoes. He’d laughed the first time he looked into her closet and discovered she
owned the high-top sneakers in nearly every color. She claimed they were the
most comfortable shoes around and considering she was on her feet all day, that
made the indulgence of owning so many pairs worth it.

“Hey, Jill, I gotta tell you, you may have to pay me
overtime for dragging me out of bed so early on a Saturday,” Kate said.

“Shit,” Jill deadpanned. “I’m paying you?”

“Very funny.”

Jill put her hands on her hips. “Besides, you aren’t fooling
anyone, Miss Mary Sunshine. You live for dawn. Only reason you’re pissed off is
because I dragged you away from Rick.”

Kate gave her a wicked grin. “It’s his day off. We usually
put Saturday mornings to very good use.”

“Ick. I’ll give you a thousand bucks not to give me any of
those details.”

Wes smiled at the two sisters. “I’ll leave you two to fight
out the issue of compensation. I’ve got to go out and keep these mean streets
of Madison safe for you law-abiding folk,” he said in a perfect imitation of
John Wayne. He bent down to brush a light kiss against Jill’s lips in farewell
and was surprised when she reached up and deepened the gesture. When he pulled
back, she smiled at him.

“Be careful, hotshot.”

She said the exact same thing to him every morning.

“I’m always careful. Besides, pixie, with Drake at my back,
what could go wrong?”

Jill rolled her eyes. “Drake can’t distinguish between his
ass and a hole in the ground. You might not want to lose sight of that.”

“Sad, but true. I’m starting to suspect the mayor hired me
to protect Drake while he attempts to protect Madison. I’ll check in during the
day. You girls behave.”

As Jill watched her handsome policeman close the door behind
him, she felt her sister’s accusatory glare land on her.

“You haven’t told him, have you?” Kate asked.

“No. The opportunity hasn’t presented itself yet. We’d
better get downstairs and start firing things up.”

Never one to let things lie, Kate didn’t budge. “Jill, you
need to tell him. Now.”

“I know, Kate. Jesus. Do you think you’re telling me
something I don’t know?”

“It’s not going to get easier with time.”

Jill turned her back on her sister, fighting down the
combination of fear and fury Kate’s words provoked. “I don’t need this right
now.”

Kate put her hand on her shoulder, and Jill fought the urge
to shrug it off. It wasn’t Kate’s fault she was fucking up her life.

“I’m sorry,” Kate said. “I’m nagging. Starting to sound like
Mom.”

Jill laughed, though there was no joy in it. Turning, she
faced Kate once more. “I know I have to tell him. It’s just not that easy.”

“I wish—” Kate closed her eyes and sighed. “Shit. I wish so
many things. I wish I could make this easier for you. I wish I could take some
of your pain away. Hell, I wish I could change it so that you could have a
baby. You’re my big sister and you’ve always helped me make things right in my
life. I wish I could do the same for you.”

Jill reached out and hugged her. “Oh hell, Angel May. You
do
make things better. You listen. You care. Shit, you even wait tables when I
need you. I’ll work this out. I promise. I just need more time.”

“He won’t let you down.”

There was so much assuredness in Kate’s declaration, Jill
wasn’t sure how to respond. “I hope you’re right.”