Page 44 of Baited

His thumb moved to the bruise on her lip, gently stroking.

She lifted her gaze. Heat seared from her green orbs. She rose up on her tiptoes, which still left the top of her head below his chin. Her hand reached around to the back of his neck, her lips met his, warm and moist.

His body tightened and his nerve endings sizzled. His hand at her back pressed her into him, crushing her pelvis to his. His dick grew hard, pressing against the tight confines of his shorts. Her tongue glided through his teeth, wet and slick.

A growl rattled in his throat as he angled her head back, allowing him deep access to her mouth. Her teeth grazed his tongue as he delved into her. Christ. She moved out of his hold to grab the hem of her soaking wet shirt and pulled it over her head. Her fingers found the snap of her shorts and she shuffled them down her legs, revealing her soft pink panties and bra.

The breath left his lungs. His hands grasped her hips, her palms landed on his chest.

“Now you,” she wheezed.

He groaned. God, he loved this side of her. Hot, ready, and so damn sexy he could barely keep his thoughts straight. But she’d just been in an accident, and no matter how much he wanted to see where this moment went, he couldn’t risk her getting hurt.

His fingers flexed on her cheek. “Afraid not, honey. Let’s get you taken care of and fed, all right?” Every male atom in his body begged for her to refuse, for her to insist.

Instead, her eyes grew small and she made an audible swallow. “You’re right. I just…”

“Need a distraction?” he offered.

A smile touched her lips and she shook her head. “You’re more than that.”

He chuckled, god he liked hearing those words from her. But what did it mean? Something arced between them, and had the moment he’d laid eyes on her when he pulled up to the house he rented more than two weeks ago. Sleeping with her now would create all kinds of chaos and at the worst, would put that damn armor back around her and a brick wall between them.

He threaded his fingers back into her hair and worked out the rest of the glass. “I think you’re all clear now. Why don’t you finish and I’ll heat up some food?”

She nodded, but her hand went to the back of his neck, stopping him. “Thank you,” she whispered. Her lips sealed over his, wet from the water that coursed over her cheeks.

The faint tinge of saltiness tickled his senses. His muscles pulsed with the force of an electric current, his fingers ached to touch her, to peel away her wet bra, to drag his tongue over her skin and taste her. Her fingers curled into his sopping wet shirt and ever so slowly, she broke their connection and lowered to her feet.

He cleared his throat. “Don’t mention it.” He stepped out of the shower, secured the curtain closed, and peeled off his wet clothes, leaving his boxers on. He strode to the bedroom, his erection strained against the soaked, thin material, causing a deep ache and emptiness inside him. He tossed his clothes in the laundry room, and then scrubbed his hands over his face as he retraced his steps to the bedroom for dry clothes.

Riley was going to be the death of him.

CHAPTER 12

“You didn’t geta look at his face at all?” Joe sat at the kitchen table, his ankle crossed over his knee, pen poised to the paper and a mug of coffee steaming on the table.

Ethan had sent the police to the crash site last night, but had asked that Joe wait until morning to take Riley’s statement. And for that she was grateful. Her body ached from the accident, and despite being cuddled next to Ethan’s warm body all night, the crash had replayed over and over in her mind. The raging headache from last night remained as a dull throb. Morning light streamed in through the kitchen window, the sun bright and in such sharp contrast to the horrible event she’d survived.

She tightened her hands in her lap. Ethan’s palm smoothed over her shoulder for the tenth time since Joe had started asking her questions. Thankfully, Ethan had called Jenny early this morning and told her about the accident. She’d insisted Riley take the rest of the week off. If she’d had to go into work today, she’d have been a wreck.

She shook her head. Joe sighed and tucked the pen in his shirt pocket. “Well, we have a good vehicle description at least. He won’t be able to hide that kind of damage. Your car is in bad shape, Riley. You’ll need a rental until the insurance decides what to do.” He downed the rest of his coffee, and then stood. “If anything else comes to mind, give me a call. I’ll be in touch.”

Ethan stepped forward. “What about the DMV? Can’t you do a search and get a list of who owns that make and model of truck? There can’t be that many of them in town.” He crossed hisarms over his chest, which made his already wide form take up almost the entire damn kitchen.

Riley stood and slid her arm under his elbow. His hand closed around hers. She’d spent all night picturing the large hood of the truck, its headlights closing in on her. And for the life of her, she couldn’t pinpoint anyone in town with that exact vehicle.

“Yeah, that’s an option, but it’s not reliable. He could be from any town nearby or, hell, he could live hours away. If you had a plate number, that’d be different.”

She pierced her bottom lip with her teeth. He wasn’t from a neighboring town. He was a Beaufort resident—otherwise he wouldn’t have been stalking her. But Joe was keeping the option open of this being a random attack. God, why couldn’t she have had the sense to get a look at his plate?

“But it’s a start,” Ethan pressed.

Joe nodded. “That it is. I’ll see what we can do.” He slipped outside and shut the door behind him.

Ethan turned and rested his hands on her shoulders, gently kneading. “You okay?”

She swallowed. Reliving last night had set her nerves on edge. She clasped her hands tightly in front of her so he wouldn’t see them tremor. “I’m fine.”

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