Page 77 of Once a Killer

She did everything she normally did as she stepped into the yard, but she did it in the dark. Jameson’s skin prickled as he stood in the doorway and gazed at his darkened yard. Was someone watching him? Bree moved slowly, her head swiveling constantly, as if she felt it too. But he didn’t hear anything out of the ordinary. See anything unusual. By the time they reached his porch, every sense had expanded. But nothing moved in the yard below them.

He didn’t take a deep breath until they were in the kitchen, the door securely locked behind them. “Stay here,” she ordered, then went through his apartment for the second time tonight. Eventually she returned to the kitchen. “Nothing’s changed since we left. I think your locks defeated whoever tried to get inside.”

She slid her gun into the holster at her hip, then took a deep breath. “We have lots of things to figure out,” she said quietly. “First order of business is who’s targeting you. Since someone searched your office, it could be one of your engineers. Or it could be someone trying to make it look that way.”

She put her hands on his chest, and his heart sped up as if trying to beat its way through his ribs and muscles to get to Bree. “We’re not going to figure it out tonight, Jameson. We’re both tired. Worn out from the weekend.” She smiled up at him. “Flying first class is so tiring when you have to pretend you always fly that way.”

He answered her smile with one of his own, then it faded as he stared down at her. “So what are you suggesting, Bree?” He captured her hands and held them against his chest.

“I’m suggesting we go to bed. Get some sleep and come back to this tomorrow, when we’re both fresh.” Her palms pressed into the muscles of his chest, and her fingers danced over his small, tight nipples. Desire shuddered through him.

“Where are you going to sleep tonight?” he asked, his voice a dark rasp in the quiet apartment.

“Wherever you’re going to sleep,” she said immediately.

He raised one eyebrow. “Even though you’re back on the job? Even though we’re back in Chicago, where all the trouble is centered?”

“Yes.” She trailed her fingers up his arms, burrowed beneath his collar. Her eyes darkened when she felt his shiver. “My ears will work just fine, no matter where I sleep. So will my reflexes. My gun will be on the night table.” She smiled at him. “I’ll wear pajamas to bed. But this case is heating up. In order to protect you properly, I need to stay close.”

“Hmm,” he said, drawing her closer. “I like that argument. Why didn’t you use it before we went to New York?”

Draping her arms around his neck, pressing against him so that her breasts flattened on his chest, she whispered, “Because I didn’t know what… sex with you was like then.”

He wished she’d said ‘making love’, as he suspected she’d started to say. Because that’s what it had felt like in New York.

“My bed’s bigger than yours,” he said, nipping at her lower lip. “Lots more room. Why don’t you grab your pajamas and leave them in my room. Just in case.”

“I’ll do that,” she said, scraping her teeth over his neck. “Don’t want to chase down a bad guy while I’m naked.”

“I wouldn’t like that, either,” he said, burrowing beneath her blouse to run his fingers over her soft, warm skin. “Don’t want anyone besides me seeing you naked.”

“Same goes, Jameson,” she said, smoothing her finger over his ear.

She stepped out of his arms and turned toward her bedroom, and he caught her hand. “Don’t change your clothes,” he said. “I want to undress you.”

Her eyes darkened. “I want that, too. We’ll undress each other.”

He grabbed her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. He’d need to keep a tight rein on himself so he didn’t rip her clothes off. He bent and kissed her, and she opened to him. Their tongues mated and tasted. Danced together. Hunger swept through him, a powerful need he didn’t want to resist.

He drew her toward his bedroom, but she broke away. “My pajamas,” she said, her voice a breathy whisper in the darkness.

She vanished from his room, and for a moment, he worried that she wouldn’t return. But moments later she reappeared, fabric clutched in her hand. She draped it over the footboard of his bed, then reached for him.

She unbuttoned his shirt and drew it down his arms. Tossed it on the floor, then fumbled with his belt. When she got it unbuckled, she unbuttoned his jeans and tugged them down his legs. Squeezed the bulge in his shorts, then dropped to the floor, pulling the denim down. Slid his briefs down his thighs and took him in her mouth.

He groaned at the swipe of her tongue over him. Couldn’t prevent his hips from bucking. When he realized he was close to coming, he gently pulled her away. “Not going anywhere without you,” he said, his voice a guttural growl in the darkness.

He unbuttoned her blouse and let it gape as he fiddled with the front clasp of her bra. When it fell open, he knelt in front of her and brushed the cups to the side. Put his mouth on one nipple while he played with the other one.

She swallowed a soft moan. Tried to move closer to him. When he held her in place, she reached around him and grabbed his ass. Squeezed, then slid her hands beneath the cotton. Caressed the hard muscles until he groaned above her.

“We’ll play later,” he muttered. “I need you now.”

“And I need you, too,” she said. She shoved her jeans to the floor and kicked them off, then stripped her shirt and bra from her arms and dropped them on top of her jeans. She stood naked before him, the cool moonlight glimmering over every inch of her smooth skin.

“I could look at you all night.” The slide of his hands over her skin made her shiver. Moan. His fingers lingered between her legs, until she swallowed hard. Was she trying to suppress her moans?

Smiling, he shoved back the covers and lifted her onto the bed. Slid in beside her. “I want to hear you moan,” he said. “I want to hear you cry out. Scream, like you did in New York. Listening to you when you come is the focus of my life right now.”

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