When the Storm Breaks (27 page)

I love him.
It was that simple—independence and self-preservation be damned.

She felt shaky but better for having admitted her feelings to herself. Then she took a swallow of wine and wondered what to do next. Afton had been right. Claire should take whatever she could, for as long as she could, and be grateful for the opportunity to love a man like Sean. And maybe, just maybe, the maddening man could be persuaded to think the way she did.

From the suite came the sound of room service setting up dinner. Smiling, she drank the last of the wine for courage, grabbed a towel, and reached for her toiletries bag. She couldn’t do anything about the future right now. She couldn’t even be certain she would survive the next few days. But she had this moment, and she wasn’t going to waste it.

She smiled as she caught her own reflection in the steamy mirror. Detective Sean Richter didn’t know it yet, but he was in for the night of his life.

Washington, D.C.

Saturday night

S
ean impatiently paced the suite’s living room. He’d already told Claire their dinner had arrived, but she was still locked in the bathroom.

Easy. She had a hell of a scare tonight, so maybe she’s earned some alone time. Everything here can wait until she’s ready.

He thought about the box stashed in the room service cart and the whopping tip he’d given the bellman for rounding up some razor blades and such for Sean, who hadn’t expected to be spending the night away from home.

He splashed a bit more wine in his own glass, though he wasn’t planning on drinking any. Then he wiped a hand across his forehead. Even without his jacket and shoulder harness, his body felt hot, edgy. The dishes were all arranged and the wine was poured. He thought about the pale, distant expression on her face as they’d checked into the hotel and added another inch of wine to her glass. She needed to relax and not think about the man who could have killed her tonight.

Sean needed some reassurance, too, because he felt like he’d let her down. That son of a bitch never should have gotten within a Wyoming mile of her, but he had. Since Sean couldn’t take the killer out at this point, the only way he could think to comfort everyone tonight was to wrap Claire in a cocoon of warmth and security. A hot bath, good food, wine, and then he’d tuck her into bed and sit in a chair guarding her, or sit up with her on the couch and hold her hand all night if need be. Whatever it took to reassure her that the sun would come up tomorrow and she would be there to see it.

As for any more than hand-holding, after the clumsy way he’d handled things the night they’d made love, he didn’t blame her for watching him with wary black eyes. He’d really blown things by rushing her into sex, then pulling away afterward. He would have to be very careful not to place any demands on her physically at this point. If he was lucky and handled things right, maybe she would give him another chance when all this was over.

A cloud of steam and Claire’s delicate perfume fogged his brain. She was walking across the bedroom toward him, wrapped in an oversize robe and looking good enough to eat. He smiled at her and held a chair out at the table.

“I feel silly eating off fine china when I’m only wearing a bathrobe,” Claire said, picking at the plush collar and wondering if she should have changed into something more sexy. Well, outright seduction was new to her, and she would just have to learn it as she went along.

“It’s pretty chilly in here with the air-conditioning,” Sean said, looking away from her fingers touching the robe where it opened on flushed skin. “Dressing warm is a good idea.”

Sean’s prosaic answer set Claire back. She’d been fishing for a compliment, but he was more interested in serving baked chicken and rice than admiring the picture she made with her dark hair and eyes against the snowy white robe.

“This looks good. I guess I’m hungrier than I thought.” She picked up her fork and smiled shyly at Sean.

He stared at her for a moment before returning her smile. “I’m glad. There’s lots of good protein in that. Eat up.”

“Why, am I going to need energy for something tonight?” She actually twirled a curl around her finger as she spoke, then bit her lip, wondering if she had gone too far. This seduction thing was tricky, and subtlety was against her nature.

“A full stomach is the best way I can think of to ensure a good night’s sleep,” Sean said with forced cheer, telling himself that there was no way she was coming on to him. She was just relaxed and vulnerable and trusted him. He’d live up to that trust if it killed him. He turned to set the serving dishes back on the tray.

Claire rolled her eyes at his back and ate silently for a few minutes. Then she tried again, this time ditching the subtlety. “Could you pour me some more water, please? I’m feeling awfully warm.” She loosened the belt of her robe, allowing the fabric to gape at her neck and expose the top curves of her breasts. She fanned herself and looked at him with innocent black eyes.

Sean frowned at her. “How much wine have you had?”

“Just the one glass.”

“The bathwater wasn’t that hot. Maybe you’re coming down with something.” He reached across the table and felt her forehead like a nurse.

She slapped his hand away in exasperation. “Jesus, you
have to be the densest man on the planet. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m throwing myself at you!”

Sean looked like he’d been hit with a two-by-four. Then his expression hardened and he pushed his chair back from the table. He went to stand by the window with his back to her.

“I thought, given your reaction to seeing me earlier tonight, you’d be a little more receptive,” she said. “Is something wrong?”

“Oh, I don’t know, let me think. Maybe the fact that you could have died today?” Sean asked. “How’s that for wrong?”

“I realize that. It put a lot of things into perspective for me. It changed everything.”

He sighed. “Nothing has changed. Your life is pretty much the definition of fucked up right now. You’ve been scared shitless and you aren’t in any frame of mind to make decisions about anything. Your new ‘perspective’ is an adrenaline-induced hormonal rush.”

“Bullshit.”

He turned to face her. “There’s too much going on in your life right now, all of it bad. When—”

“That’s not true,” she interrupted. “What I’m feeling right now, what we had together before, these are the good things in my life. Being here with you tonight feels
right
. What really scares me is the thought of never feeling this way again.”

He didn’t trust himself to say anything as she stood and walked over to him.

“That was the most terrifying part of looking at the killer,” she said, “seeing my own death written in his face—knowing that I wouldn’t see you again. You were what I was thinking about at that moment, just you.”

“Sweetheart, don’t.” Sean touched her cheek, moved beyond words. “I’m trying to do the right thing here, but I want you so much and it’s so wrong.”

“Why? I’m alive, and I want to feel alive with you.”

He stared down at her, drowning in the black depths of her eyes, torn by a temptation he’d never known.

She saw this, smiled sadly, and moved back from him. “But it has to be your choice. I’m going into this with my eyes open. I need to know that you are, too.”

Sean thought about all the reasons he should take Claire to her room, tuck her in, and make his own bed alone on the couch.

For about a second and a half.

Then he pushed everything aside but the fact that she needed him as much as he needed her. He stepped forward, sank his fingers into her hair, and kissed her until the room began to spin around them both.

“My eyes are wide open, and all I can see is you, Claire.”

The smile she gave him said he was the only man in the world. He kissed the smile gently, took her hand, and led her to the couch. She hesitated when he motioned for her to sit. Instead, she pushed against his shoulders to send him tumbling to the cushions. Or she tried, but he outweighed her by about a hundred pounds. When she pushed again, he took the hint and sprawled back on the couch.

Trembling with a combination of nerves and anticipation, she stood in front of him and loosened the belt on her robe. Two shrugs of her shoulders, and it was sliding to the floor to puddle at her feet.

His nostrils flared as he breathed in her perfume, and his hands clenched at his sides. He sat silently, running his
eyes over her body as if it were their first time. It had been dark that night in his truck, and he was determined to glut himself on her beauty this time. He took in the paleness of her skin, the taut thrust of her breasts, the flare of her hips and the sleekly muscled line of her thighs.

Claire stood there, nipples erect and legs quivering, waiting for Sean to say something. Or do something. Anything.

“Um, I’m feeling a little self-conscious here. Could you give me some kind of sign?” She tried to joke, but her voice broke and a flush rose in her cheeks.

He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her hips, burying his face against her belly and rubbing against its soft curve. He smelled the scent of her perfumed skin, then plunged his tongue into her navel while he shaped her buttocks gently with his hands.

“Oh!”

“Ask and ye shall receive,” Sean said, nuzzling her again before lifting his head and pulling a breast into his mouth.

She slid her hands into his hair, letting the cool softness run through her fingers. Her eyes closed and her head tipped back as he wrapped her in sensation from front to back. She felt his fingers trail down to the sensitive under-curve of her buttocks, and drew a shaky breath when he lingered there.

She held that breath when those fingers slid to the insides of her thighs, trailing along the tender skin until they reached her knees. Before she knew it, he had nudged her legs apart and moved his knees between her own. She grew tense with anticipation as her most vulnerable flesh was laid bare before him.

He leaned forward and stopped an inch from her body,
drawing in the scent of her arousal, noting the way her thighs trembled and her belly had grown taut. Before she could say anything, he closed the distance and pressed his mouth between her legs. His tongue slid over her slick flesh.

She jumped at the lightning bolt of sensation. “Oh, God. Sean, no.”

“Mmmmm,” he said, licking her delicately. “Definitely yes.”

He grasped her legs and widened them further, opening her up to the most intimate kind of loving a man could give a woman. As his tongue and lips and teeth caressed her, she dug her hands in his hair and held on until she couldn’t stand up any longer.

“Let go, sweetheart. I’ve got you.” Sean wrapped his hands around her hips to hold her, then pressed his tongue inside her body in a caress that nearly sent her over the edge.

As if it belonged to someone else, she listened to her voice cry and moan, begging him to stop, then begging him to go faster, harder. When he sucked her most tender flesh into his mouth and stroked it with the tip of his tongue, she went taut and climaxed while she called out his name.

When she came back to herself, he was leaning against the cushions, holding her in his arms as she straddled his lap. Her bare skin was pressed to his fully dressed body, and her face was buried against his neck. She could feel his pulse beating underneath her lips, and kissed the spot before running her tongue across it. His heart rate kicked up a notch.

When she gently sank her teeth into his neck, his body jerked under hers. She felt his hands in her hair, pulling
her head back. She looked at him dreamily, then moved to kiss him. As their mouths pressed together and their tongues wrapped around each other, she could feel the tension vibrating through his body. She pulled away from his mouth, looked at him, and smiled at him in anticipation.

Sean felt his body grow even harder as he took in Claire’s positively lustful grin. She licked her lips and began to unbutton his shirt. He knew he was in serious trouble.

Without a word she undid his shirt, stopping for a sultry kiss between each button. Once she had his shirt off and his jeans undone, he remembered what he’d forgotten up to now.

“Wait. Don’t move a muscle,” he said.

Kissing her, he gently set her aside, went to the bag on the room service cart, and fished out a box of condoms. He pulled off his jeans and underwear on the way back to the couch, sat down, and lifted her over his lap again.

“You can go back to what you were doing,” he said, filling his hands with the curves of her hips.

She slanted a look at the box of condoms, then raised her eyebrow at him. “Pretty confident, huh?”

“More like resigned,” he answered with a playful nip at her mouth. Then he leaned back to look her in the eye. “I got them just in case my willpower gave out. You know I’ll always take care of you, sweetheart.”

She nodded and felt her throat grow tight as she pushed the hair back from his forehead. “And you do a wonderful job of it. Now why don’t you let me take care of you for a change?” She trailed her hand invitingly down the mid-line of his body as she spoke.

“I’ve never had any complaints,” he said. “Not one. But if you insist…” Smiling wickedly, he placed his arms
along the back of the couch. He lifted his head to receive her kiss, letting her explore his mouth with her tongue.

Within moments, he was no longer smiling. His face grew tense and sweat appeared on his forehead as Claire moved her mouth down to his chest, where she tested his strength with her teeth. Her hands trailed ahead of her lips, reaching to touch his erection with delicate butterfly strokes that concentrated on the throbbing tip.

He shook with the effort of enduring Claire’s loving, when what he really wanted to do was grab her and bury himself in the moist flesh that was rubbing against his thighs with her every movement. But this was her time, and the torture was too sweet to end so soon.

She slid to the floor and made her way down from his chest to his belly, then became distracted by the tantalizing line of hair that ran from there to his groin. She teased that soft arrow of hair with her open mouth and slow strokes of her tongue, ignoring the thrust of flesh that silently demanded the same treatment.

When she slid around his erection without so much as touching it, Sean lost control and groaned his frustration out loud. She smiled angelically at him before moving to nip the taut lines of his thighs, which were clenched with the force of his passion.

“Claire, please—”

“Please what? Please this?” Claire reached for him and enveloped his erection with both of her hands, sliding up and down with firm strokes that had him rolling his head on the back of the couch in mindless need. When she leaned forward and slid her tongue across the tip, his hips moved toward her and his hands clenched into fists.

She felt a feminine power and joy in giving him such pleasure that was unlike anything she had ever experienced.
She released him and blew across his wet flesh, calling his name softly.