VANISHED, A Romantic Suspense Novel (Edgars Family Novel) (16 page)

Edgars cursed on the other end of the line, but eventually gave him an address. “It’s a federal safe house, so guard that information with your life.”

“I’ll call you when I’m near,” Aaron said, then disconnected. Now he had one hell of a problem. How was he going to explain this tip to his boss?

* * * * *

Luke followed Abby into the condo once more, his jaw hurting from all the clenching he’d been doing on the silent drive home. Good thing Abby wasn’t overly talkative and smart enough to realize he barely had a leash on his anger. The stench that had hit him when he opened those crates nearly made him hurl and his stomach still roiled from the lingering odor in his nose.

Once inside, he checked all the doors and set the alarm, then snagged his duffle bag from the couch and a bottle of whiskey from the dry bar. Thank God Castello kept it fully loaded. “I need a shower.”

“Okay. Do you want anything to eat?”

He swallowed hard, trying to keep his stomach contents in place. “No,” he said, heading to the bedroom. “And don’t open the door for anyone. Jeffers said he’d call before he gets here.”

Before she could ask any questions, he closed the door and leaned back against it, dropping his bag on the floor with a thud. For a moment he closed his eyes, the vision of those three burned bodies floating in front of him like images from some old horror movie. The idea that anyone could do that to those women…

Damn
. He couldn’t decide what he wanted to do more—go to a bar and get in a fight just so he could punch out his frustration or get drunk enough to obliterate the images from his mind. He pulled his holster off and looped it over the bedpost. Walking into the bathroom, he opened the whiskey and drank a long pull, letting the liquor burn a path down his throat.

Problem was, he didn’t have the luxury to really do either and the reason stood on the other side of the door.

Abby.

What if he hadn’t met her at her friend’s condo? What if she’d been early and walked in while they were grabbing Brianna? What if one of those bodies had been Abby?

His legs wobbled, then gave out and he sank to his knees.

Abby could’ve been in one of those boxes
.

He took another long drink of the whiskey, waiting for his nerves to settle. Then with a reserve he pulled deep from inside, he capped the bottle. It was his responsibility to keep Abby safe. Drunk wasn’t going to get the job done.

But he could wash the smell away.

For the first time he noticed the upgraded bathroom with the walk-in shower tiled from floor to ceiling in tumbled granite, with a bench to sit on and six showerheads, including the state-of-the-art rain shower one overhead. No curtain or sliding-glass door. No, this was the kind that had glass blocks on one side of the entrance and all the tiles drained toward the drain near the back.

Impressive.
Whoever Castello reserved this condo for, it must’ve been someone very important for the amenities to be so high-end. He turned on the shower and stripped out of all the odorous clothing.

Stepping into the shower, he adjusted the side jets to hit his back hard, almost like a liquid massage.

“Ah,” he said, giving into the pleasure, even enjoying the steady fall of warm water from overhead. This time, when he closed his eyes, he focused on the image that had been bothering him before they’d walked into that warehouse—Abby dressed in nothing but black lace bra and panties. The angry tension drained from his body, to be replaced by a more pleasurable one as the blood rushed to his cock, thickening it into a hard erection.

He reached for the soap and lathered it in his hands, scrubbing his face and neck first, then down his chest and abdomen until he cupped his balls to lather them with one hand, the other stroking the length of his cock, sliding slickly up and down the shaft, imagining the dark lingerie against all of Abby’s wonderful creamy skin.

Abby stood outside the bathroom staring at the closed door, popping a chocolate drop into her mouth to still her own anxiety. Chocolate usually helped, but this time she wasn’t worried about herself or the case. She was worried about Luke.

All the way back from the warehouse, he’d been silent, his barely restrained anger rolling off him like earthquake aftershocks. She’d wanted to say something to help him, only imagining the horror he’d had to see inside those crates, but the hard set of his jaw and the way he’d gripped the steering wheel so tight his knuckles blanched white in the darkness warned her how bad the idea was.

Instead, she’d kept quiet, hoping he’d open up once they’d gotten home.

No such luck.

She knew he was hurting. In all the time she’d known Luke, he’d never once been this silent and she’d never once seen him intentionally get drunk. But wasn’t that what he was doing? Trying to dull the images in his mind with alcohol? Images he’d seen just to save her from having them locked permanently in her head.

The urge to help him gnawed at her. But how?

Replace the image with something better. Something he’ll want to remember.

Could she? Would he be willing to accept what she offered this time? The kiss they’d shared earlier certainly suggested he’d welcome more from her.

If she did this it had to be with her eyes wide open. This wasn’t a fairy tale. Having sex with Luke Edgars wouldn’t mean a happily-ever-after. He was only here to help her find Brianna. Once the case was closed, he was back to being super-spy and she was headed back to her desk in DC.

Could she do this? Could she be so coolly sophisticated as the other women he’d been with?

All you have to do is open the door. Don’t be a coward.

Her hand landed on the knob. When she opened it the room was empty. The shower running sounded just beyond the bathroom door. Taking another deep breath, she eased it open on silent hinges. Steam rolled out of the shower turning the room into a sauna. It took her a moment to find him, but there he was.

Luke.

In the shower.

Naked.

The glass blocks blurred her vision, so she stepped around to the shower opening.

His back to her, she memorized every inch of his body.

The water sluiced down over his long, firm muscles and golden, tanned skin. His solid, strong shoulders and the muscles that bulged on the back of his arms. The angles of his shoulder blades and the V-shape of his upper torso. Between his trapezius muscles the line of his spine lead her down to the round, firm globes of his firm ass cheeks.

She swallowed hard. Her heart rate jumped, nipples tightening as a new kind of nervousness settled over her—a sensual awareness she’d never felt before.

Few times in her life had she reached out and taken what her heart desired. Once was joining the Treasury department as an analyst, the other insisting she get extra training as a field agent. This desire was something new. It wasn’t just a longing for something more. No, it was a need. A need to touch Luke, to hold him, to mate with him.

Before she could back out, she pulled her sweater over her head and wiggled out of her jeans, socks and shoes as quietly as possible. Finally, she lost her panties and bra. A shiver ran through her. Nerves or anticipation? She wasn’t sure, but for once she was going to sample what she’d always dreamed of—sex with Luke.

Nothing except his total rejection would deter her.

CHAPTER TEN

Letting the soap and water wash away the smell and memories of the warehouse, Luke flattened one forearm against the granite tile. Leaning over it, eyes closed, he continued stroking his cock. The image of Abby so strong in his mind, he swore he caught a whiff of the lemony scent she always seem to wear. Clean and fresh, just like her.

A warm body pressed against his back.

He froze. Recognizing the firm breasts and hard nipples pushing into his shoulder blades, he inhaled deeply to gather more of her wonderful scent and relax his body. She settled her hands on his hips, making him take in another deep breath.

“Abby?”

A short giggle escaped her. “You were expecting someone else?”

“I wasn’t expecting you.”

Shit.
That’s not what he’d meant to say
.

Silence came from behind him and she started to move away.

Snaking one hand behind him, he grabbed her ass and held her close. “Don’t go,” he said, his voice husky with his need and the remnants of the whiskey.

“You’re sure?” she asked, whispering into his ear as her body once again pressed against his.

He turned his head to stare into those beautiful eyes of her, now a deep forest color. The hot steam from the water floated about them. Wet tendrils of her hair clung to her face and neck, the deep, dark brown looking like chocolate. As he stared at her, she darted her pink tongue out to moisten her lips.

“I’m sure, if you are.” He punctuated his words by leaning in to kiss her, never breaking eye contact. He let his tongue slip in for a quick sample, then pulled back, taking her plump bottom lip in his teeth and giving it a gentle pull. His reward was her soft moan.

“Oh, yes. I’m very sure.”

As if to make very certain he understood exactly what she meant, she slipped her hands around the front of him. One to caress the wet hair on his chest and slide back and forth between his taut nipples, while the other she used to replace his own along his thick cock now straining up toward his abdomen.

“Oh, fuck.”

“Like that, do you?”

Her sultry chuckle in his ear sent shivers of lust coursing through his body.

“You have no idea,” he groaned when her fingers tweaked his nipple.

Bracing his free hand on the tiles in front of him, he leaned back slightly against her body as she lathered up and down the length of him. Of all the sexual fantasies he’d had about her since the day she’d bumped into him in the hallway at FLETC in Georgia, none could hold a candle to the sheer torturous pleasure she was raining down on his body at this moment.

When her lips latched onto the spot where his neck and shoulder met, he surged forward in her hand, begging for more. Her teeth grazed his skin, then her tongue lathed over his pulse.

If he didn’t stop her now, he’d be coming in her hands. While his cock might like the idea, he had other plans.

“Abby.” He grasped her hand, holding it around his cock while he took a few deep breaths.

“Did I do something wrong?”

The worry in her voice surprised and touched him, showing him just how inexperienced she was. He doubted in this day and age that she was still a virgin, but he’d bet she barely had more practice than that.

“No, sweetheart. You’re doing everything just right.”
And then some
.

“Why did you stop me?”

“Because I want this to last longer and if you keep that up, I won’t.”

“Oh.” She gave him a little grin and the blush that crept into her cheeks was…charming. Somehow that word described her, an old-fashioned word for a very special woman.

Slowly he turned, pulling her into his arms, crushing her against his body and capturing her lips in a deep, hard kiss. Parting her lips to give him access, she wrapped her arms around his neck, sliding her fingers into his hair, pulling him closer. Her invitation snapped him into another world of need. Pulling her hips in to grind his erection against her stomach at the same time he slid his tongue in between her parted lips, tasting the uniqueness of her—the spice of her arousal and the chocolate she must’ve eaten before coming in to join him.

The need to be inside her, connected at the core, clawed at him and he slid one hand down to lift her thigh, moving her moist slit to settle against his aching balls. Abby clutched at him, then wiggled her hips, letting her sex slide up to the base of his cock. Stumbling backwards, he came in contact with the tile bench.

God bless the guy who designed this shower.

He sat, pulling her with him. Without hesitating, she straddled his hips, impaling him deep inside her with one full thrust.

“Yes,” he groaned as they sat locked for a moment, her heat and tightness pulsing around his cock.

Then she moved, lifting her legs to wrap around behind him, driving him in deeper and tighter. The sensation was so overwhelming he dropped his head to her shoulder, clutching her to him as he sucked in air.

A whimper sounded in his ear. He lifted his head to see her biting her lip. Reality slipped through his haze of pleasure.

He knew he was big and she was little more than a novice. Had he hurt her?

“Abby? What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

“I need…” She stopped talking, shaking her head.

He slid his hands up into her hair, holding her head still until her gaze met his. “Tell me. Whatever you need I’ll do, even if it means stopping.”

God, please don’t let her say stop.
Because he would. The last thing he would do was force her to go further than she wanted, even if it killed him.

“No. I need…I need to move…to…” She lifted slowly and settled back down, showing him what she wanted. “Yes.”

The word literally purred out of her, sending his own pulse skyrocketing.

“You can move all you want, sweetheart.” He leaned his upper back against the tiles, gripping her by her hips to pull her up and back. “Ride me, Abby. Ride me as hard as you want.”

Releasing her hold on his neck, she slid her hands onto his shoulders, her fingers clenching him as she extended her slender arms to lift halfway off his shaft, then sink down completely, repeating the act. Her pussy clenched around him, her juices helping him slide in deeper each time. He focused on her, praying he’d last until she’d found her orgasm. In all his life he’d never seen a woman more beautiful or more erotic. He watched her face, her eyes closed and mouth open in pleasure as she worked her body on his.

“Oh, oh,” she moaned and shifted her rhythm, staying tightly impaled on him. His gaze flew down to the spot where they were joined as she moved forward and back, rubbing the hard nub of her clit against his pelvic bone.