Jared’s head lifted. “You want me here.”
“I want you everywhere.” She felt as if she no longer fit in her skin, as if she were trying to crawl out of it. Her hunger for him was raging through her, boiling through her veins and stealing every remaining shred of her sanity.
His thumb exerted the tiniest bit of pressure and she pushed out for him, flowering open and accepting his touch inside her. A violent tremor shook her, pushing her to the edge of cli**x. It had been a long time since she’d trusted a man to take her there. Too long. And even then, the relationship hadn’t been so raw and sexual. Jared’s unabashed carnality stripped her of her normal boundaries, violated her sensibilities, opened her to torment both physical and…otherwise.
Every time he touched her, she wanted more. More of him. More of who she was with him.
Squeezing her aching br**sts, she tightened around his thumb. “Eat me ’til I come. Then f**k my ass until you come.”
“Jesus.” His skin stretched tight over his cheekbones. “You don’t know what you do to me. How crazed you make me. I want to defile your body. Own it. Possess it…”
“Yes.”
“Beg me, Darcy. Beg me to do it all to you. Everything I want.”
“Now. All of it.”
He dove for the saturated flesh between her thighs, latching on with a greed that tore through her. His tongue f**ked her spasming p**sy hard and fast, his head angling to get deeper. His thumb thrust in and out of her rear, the dual shallow penetration making her mindless.
She begged as he’d demanded her to, pleaded with him to finish her, to make her come before she broke from the strain…
The moment his lips surrounded her clit, the cli**x hit her hard, bowing her back and blackening her vision. She cried out as he sucked her, drawing on her with rapid measured pulls. The orgasm barreled through her senses, building and building until she thought she might lose consciousness. Then it ebbed, taking her breath and energy with it. She melted into the bed, barely aware of the gentleness with which he lowered her.
“Darcy.”
Her breathing rasped in the semidarkness of the bedroom. She struggled to open her eyes, finding Jared kneeling between them, pushing his boxer briefs down to free his raging cock. His balls were hard and full, drawn up close to the base of his heavily veined shaft. The wide crest was purpled by the need to expend the sem*n dribbling from the tip and he fisted it with a harsh curse.
As he had in the shower, he rolled his scrotum in one hand and jacked himself off with the other.
She watched with a dry mouth as he stroked his c*ck with a brutality that pounded through her blood. It was a primitive demonstration of how wild she made him, soothing her with the proof that he was as lust crazed as she was.
Pinching and tugging on her n**ples, she urged him on. “I’m imagining you in me—how deep you get, how thick you are just before you come. You fill me so full the pleasure is almost pain. I don’t know how I’ll bear it when you take my ass, but I know I’ll love it. I’ll—”
“Fuck.” Semen exploded from him in a scorching stream across her torso. His fist flew, pumping the creamy fluid up the shaft to spurt over her n**ples, coating her skin with the evidence of his virility. He came long and hard, cursing as his powerful body was wracked by wrenching shudders.
But when he finished, he was still hard, and the gleam in his eye was as rapacious as she’d come to expect.
The blaring of her alarm was jolting, kicking her racing heartbeat into overdrive. Reaching down, Jared caught her by the nape of her neck and lifted her to his mouth. He kissed her hard and swift, his free hand kneading his cum into her br**sts.
“Saved by the bell,” he said roughly.
Darcy spoke with her lips against his. “Later. We’ll finish this later.”
“I’m counting the seconds.”
DARCY SET COFFEE to brewing while Jared showered, then turned her attention to the files on the arsons that lay on the dining room table. At some point during the night, he must have gone out to her car to retrieve them. She wondered what conclusions he’d drawn, if any, and if he had any theories or questions she might help him with.
The shower turned off, leaving a sudden void as the noisy pipes quieted. In the ensuing silence, she could almost hear her body humming. She felt strangely energized and exhausted, content and apprehensive. In less than a day, Jared had found a loose thread in her life and he was slowly pulling it, unraveling her at the seams. She didn’t see how she would be able to continue the searingly intimate sexual exploration they were engaging in without becoming attached to it.
Already she craved him. Picturing an addiction to him wasn’t that big of a leap.
“I’d kill to have some of that coffee I smell,” he said, entering the kitchen with damp hair and nothing but his jeans on.
She drank him in, resisting the urge to run her fingers through the light dusting of hair on his chest. Truth be told, she couldn’t stop her mind from imagining her tongue tracing the line of his happy trail from his navel to his c*ck below. Her mouth watered with the desire to lick and suck him to orgasm, to fully own his pleasure when he came. And her proprietary feelings extended beyond that to encompass the whole of him.
“Stop looking at me like that,” he said sharply. “You’re making my dick hard.”
“Stop teasing me with your rockin’ body,” she shot back, stung and frightened by the sting, which hinted that she might be in too deep with him already. “How would you like it if I walked around topless all the time?”
He scowled. “I’d love it and you know it, but we have shit to do besides f**k each other’s brains out. I need you to give me a break.”
“You’re one to talk,” she muttered under her breath, turning toward the coffeemaker. He was irascible, grumpy, and rude as a rule. But that was part of his charm. Even if his gruffness did rub her raw at times. “How do you take your coffee?”
“Black.”
Darcy pulled a mug out of the cupboard. She felt him come up behind her, then closed her eyes as he nuzzled his way past her ponytail to her nape. His arms came around her and she tensed, fighting to keep the tremors she felt on the inside from being discernible on the outside.
His embrace tightened and he spoke roughly. “I’m sorry.”
Reaching for the carafe, she took a deep slow breath. “Nothing to be sorry about.”
“Bullshit. I can’t take it out on you when it’s my own damn self I can’t seem to control. We’re on fire for each other. Keeping that in check is going to take work and some concessions. I hate putting clothes on when my skin’s damp, but I’ll get over it.”
“Okay.”
His teeth bit lightly into the muscle between her shoulder and neck, a primal possessive gesture that sent an unwanted thrill of awareness through her. “I love the way you look at me, Darcy. Like you want to eat me alive. It’s not a bad thing, it’s just inconvenient.”
She slid the full mug to the side. “I’ll work on looking elsewhere. Here you go.”
Jared didn’t move for a minute, then he released her with a muttered curse. He left the kitchen, and she took the breather to give herself a mental kick in the ass. She straightened when he returned, moving away and toward the living room as he passed her on his way toward the coffee she’d poured him.
They needed some distance from each other. They hadn’t had any since they’d met and that was a mistake.
“Don’t you dare walk out of this room,” he said in a voice too even to be anything but dangerous.
“It’s my house.”
“And if I’ve worn out my welcome, you’ll look me in the eye and say so.”
Pausing by the dining table, Darcy faced him, feeling grateful that she wore her uniform, which gave her the look of having her shit together even if she didn’t. Jared had put his shirt on. He was now leaning with his hip against the counter and his legs crossed at the ankle. The leisurely pose didn’t fool her for a minute. He was coiled tight. Watchful. Ready.
She hit him with something certain to give him pause. “I’m feeling fragile this morning.”
One arm crossed his chest; the other lifted his mug to his lips. He swallowed and nodded. “I’m a bit raw myself.”
His confession made her feel better and she managed a smile. “I was thinking maybe it would be a good idea for you to work with Jim today. I’ll see what I can do to help your partner and Miller. We can sleep off some of the hormones…pheromones…whatever, separately, and see how things look tomorrow.”
There was a long stretch of silence, then, “I’ll agree to the break, but it would be best for everyone if I didn’t see Ralston again.”
“He’s damn good at his job. He trained me.”
“He could be the best damn fire inspector in the country; that won’t stop me from laying him out cold if he tries that territorial bullshit again.”
“He had no way of knowing we’d made arrangements to hook up,” she argued. “He was just trying to be a good friend, which is all he’s been for the last couple of years.”
Jared took another sip, his gaze locked with hers over the lip of the mug. “I’m a trained observer, Darcy. So is he. We both got the measure of each other from the first. He knew I was stepping in, and he pushed a little to try and put me in my place. He pushes again and I’m pounding him back.”
Her anger spiked. “I don’t need this right now. I don’t have anything to give you. I’m all tapped out. You were just supposed to be a vibrator that didn’t need batteries.”
His eyes were as hard and beautiful as sapphires. “And you were just supposed to be a hot piece of ass. Instead, this is getting messy. Deal with it. I want you and I can’t turn it off. And when I’m touching you, I don’t want to turn it off, and you don’t want me to, either. If you’re hoping to shut us down with some distance, I’ll roll with it just to prove you wrong, but we’ll be back at each other in no time.”
“It won’t work out.”
“I’m not taking your word for it. I’ll see for myself.” He finished his coffee and refilled his mug. “I need to change into fresh clothes and grab some things from the motel. Then I want to head out to the other two scenes. I’d prefer it if you’d take me, but if you’re opposed to that, I’ll work something else out.”
“Opposed,” she repeated, laughing without humor. “If only.”
“We’re in the same boat. If it sinks, we go together.”
She stood and mentally dusted herself off. “Do you need to eat?”
“Not yet.”
“Okay, then. I’m ready to go when you are.”
Chapter seven
Trish was just leaving the motel when Darcy pulled her BMW into a spot in front of Jared’s ground-floor room. He climbed out and met his partner at the curb.
“Hey,” he greeted her, frowning at her obvious agitation. “What’s up?”
“Miller is champing at the bit to hold a press conference. He thinks if we put the heat on the arsonist, he’ll move on.”
“Genius,” Jared muttered. “Make our torch someone else’s problem.”
“I reminded him—firmly—that this is our case and we’ll decide how to proceed.” Her pretty face was hard and her choice of attire betrayed her determination to establish her control of the situation. Usually a jeans and blouse sort of gal, she was wearing slacks and a blazer today.
“How well does he listen?”
She shrugged with a wry smile. “Well, he called me to give me a heads-up. That’s something, at least. I’m going to head into the station and keep an eye on him. You heading out to the other two sites?”
“Yes. I’ve got the inspector’s files for you to run through while I’m out. You’ll find she’s very thorough.” He glanced at Darcy and gestured for her to join them. “We also need to follow up on the vacation homes. There’s a steady stream of seasonal residents and rental transients running through the town. The full-time residents aren’t the only ones who know the ins and outs of the area.”
“I like your jeans, by the way,” Trish said, as Darcy unfolded from behind the wheel. “They looked good on you yesterday, too.”
He shot her a withering glance, to which she laughed. When Darcy came up beside him, he introduced the two.
“Can you pass the files on to Morales while I get what I need?” He moved on without waiting for an answer.
Entering his room, Jared unzipped his as-yet unpacked suitcase and pulled out a change of clothes. When he was done, he grabbed his laptop case and the sunglasses he’d left on the dresser the day before, then headed back out to the parking lot. He found Darcy and Trish standing with their heads bent over the front end of the Marshals Service’s SUV he’d driven to Lion’s Bay, discussing a file they had spread open on the hood.
Darcy glanced up when his room door shut. The way she looked at him was like a physical caress, and his heartbeat quickened. Her feminine hunger was a drug he couldn’t quit. Even knowing it was f**king him up, he couldn’t stay away.
Trish straightened, frowning at him. “I’ll be interested in hearing your thoughts when you get through surveying all three scenes. On paper, I’m missing the connection. I find it odd that the subject would be so meticulous in his timing and the creation of the incendiary devices, and yet so random in his location choices.”
“Join the club.” Jared pushed his shades onto his face. “Once we find the connection, we’ll crack this case wide open.”
Darcy said good-bye and moved back to her car. He was right behind her. They headed to the fire station to change vehicles. It was just Jared’s luck that the guy he least wanted to see approached Darcy the moment they entered the building.