Hot Mess (An Iron Tornadoes MC Romance Book 5) Page 6
If Kristal sees the corpses in the morgue and the body of the one kid who miraculously survived the race, it should be easier for me to talk her into helping us with the case.
"Scare the crap out of her," I explain. "And if that doesn't work maybe the promise of some serious time in our state facilities should convince her that her best interest is to cooperate."
Cracker lets out a small whistle. "Good luck with that."
15
It's night again and it's drizzling. Kristal is behind me on my bike shivering. She holds on tight, tighter than she did when we drove out from the Styx to Point Lookout hospital. On the way out, I could tell she'd never been on a bike before. She was holding fast because she was scared. Now, she's holding on to me as if her life depended on it, but it has nothing to do with our means of transportation.
She's trembling in horror. I don't think she'd even seen a corpse before. Maybe I'm wrong, she could have seen the body of her recently deceased mother but that didn't prepare her for the horror I showed her.
None of the kids made it. The one they tore away from his machine earlier in the day didn't survive.
Kristal has a strong backbone. She trembled but didn't look away. When I was done talking with the employee of the morgue, she followed me silently, looking so devastated the only thing I wanted to do was to take her in my arm and tell her that everything was going to work out fine.
But I didn't. I acted as if I didn't give a crap about her. I just motioned for her to get behind me and she did.
We're back at our starting point and there are a few cars and bikes in the parking lot. Week nights are not the busiest but there's still some action. Out of season, everything but weekends used to be real quiet. It's changing now that Pat organizes special events. We've got "tied up Tuesdays" with Shibari classes and "flaming Thursdays" with fire play basics. Now the Styx draws a sufficient crowd to open five to six days a week.
Kristal follows me up to my studio. Only after I have switched on the lights and locked the door behind me does she find her voice again.
"Ernest, did I do that?" Her lower lip trembles.
I stand closer to her and look into her eyes. I stall looking for the proper answer to that question. How much guilt should I lay on her? I don't want to crush her, just to make her see that she needs to help me.
"The drug that killed them, it's the same one you were delivering," I tell her. She bites her lower lip and blinks. Fuck, I hate doing this to her. Even though I shouldn't, I can't help myself and attempt to soften the blow. "There's no way we'll ever know if it's the batch you delivered or another."
"What do you think?" She looks at me in earnest and something inside of me crumbles. I want to open my arms and be her shelter.
"There is only one way we'll ever find out," I answer, keeping my eyes locked on hers. "We'll know once we've arrested those bastards."
She looks away and turns her back to me. Silently she walks to the window and looks out in the garden. The tension in her shoulders tells the story of her inner struggle. A minute passes and the only sound in the room is the distant echo of the loud music on the lower floor.
I'm about to give up and take out the heavy artillery when Kristal asks, "Can I help?"
I let out a silent sigh of relief.
"Yes, you can," I tell her, coming to stand by her side. "I'll tell you how in the morning. For now, why don't you get some sleep."
Kristal looks up to me and then at the omnipresent California king-size bed. I smile and tease her, "I'll let you pick the side you want." She returns my smile, shyly. I push her gently away from the window. "Come on, get ready. I'll let you have the bathroom first."
While waiting for her to return, I switch on the nightstand lamp and pull out the heavy drapes that block the light from the patio lanterns. I put my weapon away in the drawer with my wallet and remove my jacket.
"It's all yours," she tells me coming out of the bathroom after a couple of minutes.
While brushing my teeth, I stare at myself in the mirror and wonder how I managed to become the king of blue balls.
Lately I got to kiss a couple of smart women I care for, but never had a chance to keep them.
I did kiss Lisa only to find out she had eyes for my brother. I also kissed Sally, just to make Slider realize he was going to miss out if he didn't do something about the girl.
I kissed this one too and now I'm wondering if I'll need to let her go as well.
When I get out of the bathroom, Kristal had turned off the light and pulled the drapes open a tiny bit, just enough create a tiny red ray of light from floor to ceiling. In the semi obscurity, I can make out her form. She's in bed already. Laying on her side, almost at the edge of the mattress, she doesn't even take a third of the surface. If she turns in her sleep, she's gonna fall off the bed.
I drop my clothes in the hamper by the bathroom door and enter the bed with my boxers on. Looking at the ceiling, arms folded under my head. How did I put myself in such an absurd situation? The minutes tick away and I'm still perfectly awake.
I close my eyes and wonder If I'm ever going to get some sleep. Kristal tosses and turns. She remains still for a few minutes and then turns around to face me. She whispers, "Are you asleep?"
I open my eyes and shake my head. "Nope."
She sighs and moves a little closer yet.
"I know you're mad at me and you probably think I'm an idiot," she says. If she's waiting for me to protest, she's knocked on the wrong door. I remain silent and wait for the rest of her sentence which I'm sure will start with a "but."
Sure enough she continues with "But could you please hold me?"
Now that one comes out of left field.
Without hesitation, I unfold one arm and reach out to her. Her head comes to rest on my shoulder and a few second later tears flow out. She draws in ragged breaths as the drops roll on my chest.
"I'm so sorry," she says. "I only wanted to help my father. I had no idea ... I am so, so stupid."
Unable to let her beat herself up like that, I pull her closer and shut her up with a kiss. She clings to me and kisses me back with passion.
I know it's a bad idea. The timing is all wrong, but I don't have the strength to push her away. I want her badly and I know she wants me too. She needs me as well.
The kiss lasts forever, she tastes like mint and surrender, a heady combination. When she pulls away, it takes all my willpower to let her go. She sits up on the bed and before returning to my arms, pulls her tee shirt away revealing white lace lingerie.
"Are you sure this is what you want?" I ask. My inner bastard is cursing. I want to punch myself in the face for giving her an out but I need to be certain. I would hate myself tomorrow for taking advantage of the situation. It has to be her decision.
She takes my face into her hands and I cannot detect a shadow of a doubt in her voice when she answers.
"Please make love to me, Ernest."
16
Well, it doesn't get much more obvious than that. I can't deny her the comfort--hell, I've been aching for her too. I've barely been able to think about anything else since the interruption to our first connection in the pool.
The feeling of her hands on my face, the sight of those beautiful eyes on mine is driving me absolutely wild. Damn near everything I've seen from her has been a signal of submission, little hints dropped everywhere that she's ready to be put under by a man like me. Not just ready--she needs it, and I'm more than happy to provide.
The mint still tingles on my tongue as I reach behind her to unfasten her bra, slide it off and toss it to the side. It's no surprise that rather than diving forward to meet my lips again, she rolls to her back and eases her hands up above her head, staring up at me. She knows exactly what I want, and I know exactly what she needs.
I'm not inexperienced or anything, but I've never seen this kind of submission right out of the gate, almost like she's been teasing me with it from the time I set eyes on her.
As I bring my lips down to her collarbone, she gasps and pushes up against me, hands opening and moving enough to grab the pillow beneath them tightly. Her voice is hardly there, a soft pleading whimper.
"Oh, please..."
I look up to her to find her eyes firmly fixed on me, and I keep her gaze as my kisses trail lower. Soon, her lip is between her teeth again, and her chest rises to meet my attention, urging me on. Once my lips slide around her nipple, she can't help but break the gaze, her head tilting back as her eyes drift closed.
There's nothing I love more than the feeling of that soft, ample warmth under me, and she's got plenty to explore. When I gather both of her wrists in one hand, she gives a soft whimper and tests my grip again, finding it to be just as iron clad as it was with both hands. I can't keep my hand away from her other breast, perky nipple highlighted in the dim light streaming through the window.
It's a gentle pinch and pull affair, but not for long. A soft sigh of "more" followed immediately by her breath being held in anticipation tells me all I need to know. My fingers pinch more firmly, and I pull down harder, causing her to release her breath in a hissing affirmative. Soon, my lips and tongue follow suit, drawing her nipple in almost roughly, a gentle bite causing her to cry out and press up harder against me.
Everything I do seems to send electric shocks through her, desperate and urgent, and it's more than obvious why--under me, she's helpless, just the way she wants it. Every increasingly weak struggle against my grip makes it more and more clear. When I pull back from her breast and my lips trail down her belly, she squirms and cries out.
She picks her head up, eyes locked on mine again. "Oh, God! Don't tease me. I... I need you, please!"
Just what I want to hear. I let her go just the time needed to slip out of my boxers and quickly grab a condom. The moment I do, her legs are apart and drawn up in anticipation. I press forward slowly to slide my cock along her slick, plump slit, drawing another desperate cry from her.
The more she begs me not to tease, the more desperate her whimpers and cries, the more I want to drag it out. She's a beautiful mess beneath me, hair in disarray and eyes wild, ruby red lips parted as she moans.
Soon, I'm just as eager as she is. Everything about her is urging me forward, and as I slip into her, she leans up enough to press those full lips to mine. From that moment on, nothing is calculated or purposeful, our bodies completely taking over. I'm not usually the type to lose control, but something about Kristal makes it impossible to keep my head straight.
Her tight heat draws me in as I pump into her, and her thick thighs wrap tightly around my waist to keep me inside her. The pleasure of kissing her is like nothing else, but finally feeling her around me is almost too much to take. Both are a wild, unbelievable release, as if we've been teasing and flitting around it for years, even though it's only been a little while since we met.
I couldn't say anything if I wanted to, even as I pull back from the kiss. The sight of her beneath me in the semi darkness, beautiful breasts moving and shaking with each hard thrust, makes it totally impossible. I'm wrapped up in her completely, and as she bucks up against me, I'm not sure I ever want to stop. She sure the hell doesn't. Even as she's driven over into a thrashing, screaming orgasm, her hips rise against me.
This isn't exactly what I had in mind when she said she wanted me to "make love to her" to say the least. We started gentle enough, but fell into the same groove quickly. Now, there's nothing I want more than to keep that beautiful body beneath me, to watch her hands pulling against mine, to see that hunger in her eyes.
Her climax ebbs as she stares up at me, an almost wicked grin pulling at the corners of her lips. "That was incredible. I ... I never had it like this." She closes her eyes gathering her courage to say more. "I will stay with you if you want me to."
"What do you mean?" I have to make her spell it out.
She opens her eyes again and says, "For as long as you want me, I am yours."
Mine.
At the thought, I feel the cascade swell and build inside, and I dive down to kiss her as I let myself go. Every muscle in my body draws up tightly, hardly able to keep pumping into her as the ecstasy washes over me. When she tightens around me, I'm pulled quickly into another hard wave of body-wracking orgasm, the kisses and bites at her lips and shoulder becoming more fervent.
The heavy fog clears from my mind as I roll to the side, panting just as hard as her. The moment I pick my arm up to wipe the sweat from my brow, she tucks up against me tightly, peppering my chest with almost adoring kisses. I let my arm drop behind her and squeeze her softly to me. I trail my fingertips over her back, and before I know it, she's out like a light. I feel it coming for me too, and there's no way to fight something that strong.
17
The drop location is now totally secured. Some of our guys have been studying the place ever since Eduardo gave the address to Kristal this morning.
It's a nondescript home in a residential part of town. Two to three bedrooms houses with above ground pools in the backyards. Not the easiest place to case, not the hardest either.
So far, we haven't seen anything out of the ordinary. A few kids are out, racing on their bicycles around the community. Their mothers are likely preparing dinner and glancing out their windows every so often. It's a quiet neighborhood that practices a form of collective supervision.
Yeah, it takes a village.
The kids have almost all gone back home when Kristal’s mini car reaches the designated house. She's a bit early on schedule, but that's not anything that should make her contact suspicious. After all, she's supposed to be a bit anxious. Early's not bad.
Kristal parks her car in front of the house and looks around her. Is she trying to see if she can spot her protection? There's an electrician’s van right across from her and unmarked patrol cars ready to block all nearby intersections if needed. Hopefully she can't see any of us. If she could, the contact would never come.
I'm two houses away, hidden in a duplex undergoing major renovation. Turned out the foreman is someone Captain Stevens knows and he's agreed to let his crew finish early and let us in.
Stevens is not a happy camper today. He's given me an earful about keeping Kristal tucked away without telling him about her. The storm of his anger has blown over and we now sit in silence on a rolled up carpet looking out the window at Kristal's car.
Her instructions are to wait until five and then give the large envelope that supposedly never left her car to the person who will come and claim it.
Five minutes drag on and I'm feeling edgy. Captain Stevens gives me a warning glance and I stop fidgeting. I usually don’t mind the waits. I actually enjoy them since I'm comfortable with long silences. It's a good time to think about the pending cases and reflect without any interruptions.
But not today.
Today, I can't stand it.
Despite the fact that I've done everything I could think of to protect Kristal, I'm feeling uneasy.
My initial idea was to hide one of the smallest of our officers in the back of Kristal's car. Stevens nixed it. The vehicle is way too tiny for that. He's right and I didn't fight him on that. Obviously, where she's concerned, I'm unable to think normally.
Kristal is becoming impatient too. She opens the door of her car and stands up looking at the building.
As far as we know it's empty. There's not been any observable movement since this morning. A quick check on county records revealed the house is owned by snowbirds from Canada. They most likely wo
n't get back before December.
Eduardo or someone from his group must know that and decided it would be a perfect meeting place.
Kristal starts pacing. Looks like it's her way to deal with stress. I can see her lips moving and I'm ready to bet dollars to pennies that she's repeating her mantra, the one she kept chanting Sunday night while digging a hole in the carpet of her room at the Styx, “Everything's gonna be all right.”
Has it only been two days? Two days and I'm done for. Never would I have believed it. Not in a million years. Not me, I couldn't possibly fall so hard so fast.
Yet, I did.
And now she says she's mine ... and I believe her.
How incredible is that?
The familiar roar of a Harley catches my ear. I look around searching for the origin of the sounds. A biker rides down the block. He's wearing a black leather jacket with no patches and a full helmet. The black visor is down efficiently hiding his face. His speed is down to a crawl as he rolls by Kristal’s car. She ceases to pace and looks at him expectantly, her hand on the car door, ready to reach out for the package she has to deliver. False alarm, he doesn't stop.
Okay, so he's here to check out the place.
That's a good sign.
It means they're coming.
As soon as he's passed her he speeds up again and rolls away. I sort of expect him to ride by again, just to make sure everything's on the level. I would do a second pass if I were in his boots, but no, the street is quiet again.
Kristal resumes her pacing and then freezes again staring in the direction opposite to the house we're hiding in. What is she looking at?
I pick up a pair of binoculars and search the street to figure it out.