Dash of Peril

Page 46

“I’ll worry about keeping it up later. Right now I’m more interested in getting it up.” Her palm slid over him, once, twice.
He stiffened his arms, breathed a little faster.
She measured his length...and purred. “There we go.”
Shit. He tried a deep breath but it didn’t help much. His heartbeat punched. “We’ll be there in under five minutes.”
“I’ll give you two to recover.” She pressed lower, cupping his balls gently. “That gives me three more to play.”
Oh, God. He shifted, but no matter what he did, she stayed with him.
“It’s so nice that I have two hands now. Reaching you with my right wouldn’t be easy. But my left?” She demonstrated, stroking over him as if the denim of his jeans didn’t exist.
He locked his jaw until he thought he could speak coherently. “Your elbow doesn’t hurt?”
As if to think about it she pursed her mouth...and continued the tantalizing movement of her hand on his cock. “No, not really. It’s stiff, and I think I’ve lost some mobility.”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t be—”
“The doc said I should use it as much as was comfortable. No heavy lifting or anything like that. But this?” She brought her curved hand up to the head, using her fingernails to graze him, then teased her way back down to the base again. “This isn’t uncomfortable at all. At least, not for me.”
Stringing words together wasn’t easy. “If that’s so, then why didn’t he clear you?”
“Who the hell knows?” Under her breath, she whispered, “I can’t wait to get you out of your pants so we can try this again.” And then, as if she hadn’t just said something guaranteed to finish him off, she said, “The doctor wants to see me again in a few weeks and he said he could probably clear me then.”
They were almost to the house, so Dash caught her wrist with utmost care. “That’s enough, baby. You promised me two minutes.”
She let out a sigh. “I suppose it’s only proper. Can’t very well interview a young lady with you sporting that.” She trailed one finger down his still-excited dick. “Then again, you could maybe wait in the car—”
“No.” Once more, he removed her hand. “Behave.”
“Or what?”
He did a quick double take, and caught on to her game. “Or I’ll have to do my own payback. And it’s guaranteed you can take a whole lot more than I can, so my payback would last longer than yours.”
She grew quiet as they pulled down the street and Dash started watching the addresses to find the right house.
“Dash?”
“Hmmm?” He was slowly recovering, but it took a lot of concentration. Knowing she wanted him was as stimulating as her touch had been.
He spotted the right house just as she whispered, “I really enjoy this.”
That got his attention. He slowed and pulled up in front of the curb. “This?”
“Playing around with you. Teasing. The sex.”
Damn, she knew how to throw him off guard. “You don’t say?”
She nodded. “Even talking with you. It’s all fun. And exciting.”
So she enjoyed being with him. He smiled. “I love it, too.”
She bit her lip, her gaze searching. He knew his repeated use of the L word kept her confused. Eventually, he hoped, she’d get used to it.
“Thank you for going to the doctor’s with me.”
“My pleasure.” He meant that.
“Now that I’m out of the splint, I can do my own driving.”
He didn’t like that idea worth a damn, but she didn’t give him a chance to say so.
“I know you have a job, your own life to live. But I wanted you to know...” She seemed to have a hard time coming up with the right words.
Dash just waited.
“I’m happy to keep seeing you. Even after this weekend, I mean. That is, if you—”
Dash leaned across the seat and took her mouth. He kept the kiss warm, firm, but not too consuming, considering they sat in front of a victim’s house. He opened her seat belt, cupped her waist in his hand and finally eased up. One more peck, and he moved back to his seat. “I do.” Definitely.
This weekend, he’d make sure she understood just how much.
* * *
YVETTE DIDN’T REMEMBER the rims. Or if she did, she didn’t want to say so. She and her grandfather were literally holed up, the front door locked and barricaded, all of the curtains drawn.
Tipton, her grandfather, rested in an easy chair, still trying to heal. He was a tough guy, doing his best to give a show of strength for his granddaughter, but anyone could see that Yvette was still terrified.
She was a very pretty girl, Margo thought. Long dark hair, a very pretty face and a slender body with noticeable curves. No doubt she had her fair share of boyfriends chasing after her.
But now, after what she’d endured, the awful threat of rape, death, burning...would she ever be the same?
During her questions, Margo tried to be brusque, impartial, but she didn’t have it in her. When Yvette said, yet again, that she didn’t remember anything else, Margo sat close to her.
Dash, showing a lot of consideration, moved closer to the grandfather, conversing quietly.
Margo took the younger woman’s hands. “I’m so very sorry for what happened, Yvette.”
The girl nodded, her gaze averted.
“I’m sure Detective Bareden told you that officers will be doing more frequent drive-bys until we catch the men who terrorized you.”
“Yes.”
Clearly Yvette also knew that didn’t assure her safety. And Margo, much as she’d like to, wouldn’t make guarantees to the girl that she couldn’t keep. “Detective Bareden is a man of his word. He and Detective Riske will be working very hard to get the animals who threatened you.”
Drawing a slow, deep breath, Yvette freed her hands—and faced Margo. “I know. They’re...nice men.”
“Yes, they are.” Folding her hands in her lap, Margo tried to put the girl at ease. “They’re also very honorable and excellent at what they do.”
Swallowing hard, Yvette dared a quick peek at Dash. “I wish there was something more I could tell you.”
“Oftentimes, after things have settled down, something will come to mind. It could be anything. No matter how insignificant, please share with us. You’d be amazed at what turns out to be important.”
That made Yvette thoughtful. Chewing her bottom lip, she again peeked at Dash. Clearly men now made her nervous. She had seen things no girl her age should have to see.
Things no one human should have to see.
When the knock sounded on the door, Yvette almost came out of her seat. She gasped and her eyes rounded. Margo put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay, Yvette. You aren’t alone.”
The grandfather narrowed his eyes and stared at the door as if he expected someone to break it in.
She nodded at Dash. He went to the front window, eased aside the curtain, and smiled. “It’s Cannon.”
The way Yvette reacted, going boneless with relief but also brightening, gave Margo pause. Maybe all men didn’t worry her after all.
They could hear a quiet conversation between Dash and Cannon before both men appeared in the living room. Margo realized she was staring as openly as Yvette. Either of the men alone made an impressive sight. Together...well, it was testosterone overload.
Cannon was too young for her to look at seriously, and with Dash next to him, well, Margo could appreciate him—but she wanted Dash, and only Dash.
Yvette, however, looked as if the sun had just come out and shone specifically on her.
Mr. Sweeny struggled to sit a little more upright in his chair before Cannon waved him back and came farther into the room.
Hands on his hips, Cannon looked at grandfather and then granddaughter. “Have you eaten?”
Yvette watched him with big adoring eyes. “He ate some canned soup.”
“And you?” Cannon came over and crouched down in front of her. “What did you eat?”
“Nothin’,” her grandfather said. “She’s still too upset to eat.”
“Grandpa!” Blushing, Yvette said to Cannon, “We didn’t know you were coming by.”
“I called,” Cannon told her with a frown. “Where’s your phone?”
“Oh.” She looked toward the kitchen. “I left it in there.”
“Excuse us a minute,” he said to Margo. He took Yvette’s hand, pulled her up from the couch and led her into the kitchen.
Slowly coming to her feet, Margo watched it all with raised brows and a little disbelief. With Cannon, Yvette seemed more like a love-struck young lady than a recovering victim.
She glanced at the grandpa, and saw him smiling after them.
Near her ear, in a low hush, Dash said, “I wonder if Cannon knows what he’s doing.”
She hoped so, and decided to leave him to it. “We’ll be on our way now.”
Cannon returned, now holding Yvette’s phone as he put in a number. “Speed dial,” he told her. “You hit number one and it’ll dial me. Got that?”
“Yes.”
He said to Mr. Sweeny, “If anything happens, if anything doesn’t seem right, call me.”
“Those detectives told us the same thing.”
Cannon nodded. “Sure, that’d work, too.”
Twisting her mouth, Margo tried not to snort. “Gee, thanks, Cannon.”
He still looked far too serious as he explained, “I mean, if someone actually bothers you, call the cops first.” He tipped up Yvette’s chin. “But if anything spooks you, even if you know it’s not a real threat, well, then I can be here in no time.”
“You’d do that?” Yvette asked.
His touch lingered. “Sure.”
Mr. Sweeny pressed a hand to his ribs and nodded. “I appreciate it, Cannon. It’s going to take a little while to stop watching shadows and jumping at every little sound.”
“You make me sound like a baby, Grandpa.”
Margo smiled. “Not so. Anyone would be jumpy after what you went through. I’d say you’re handling it remarkably well.”
“Especially,” Mr. Sweeny said, “with them swearin’ they’d be back.”
Yvette shuddered.
Knowing she should go, Margo reached out for Yvette’s hand. “Remember, anything at all, call. Okay?”
It took a minute, and then Yvette said, “There is one thing.”
Everyone became more alert.
“It’s probably nothing. And I...I’m not sure. But I think two of them were brothers.”
Brothers? “What makes you think so?”
“They... I don’t know. They looked a little alike, and the way they talked to each other. It was different from the other guy.”