The powerful biceps, the strength that seemed to infuse them. If she just had his arms around her, she sometimes thought, then she could sleep rather than toss and turn. She could think rather than fight the fear.
Alex was the embodiment of strength to Janey.
As they drove through town, her head pillowed on one of those hard arms, his hand holding her close to his side, she almost regretted the miles the truck ate so quickly. She wanted to be home, because she wanted to feel him over her, inside her. But she didn’t want to lose this. This feeling of security, of complete male power enveloping her.
It would end all too soon anyway. The night would be over, and come dawn, Alex would slip from the apartment, as he always did. She would put her mask back on and she would face the world again.
Could she do it, knowing everything she couldn’t have?
She would, because she had to. But she had a feeling it would be harder. Because she wanted to hold on to this feeling right now. The feeling that she was normal, plain Jane. Not the traitor’s daughter. Not a responsibility he had to look after. Just Janey, Alex’s lover.
“You’re quiet.” His voice was a stroke of midnight across her flesh.
“I’m coming down.” She grinned, a bit smugly perhaps, because her body was still humming with pleasure.
“Don’t come down too far,” he warned her. “I want you hot and ready for me, Janey. Trust me, sweetheart, once I get inside you, I’m not going to stop f**king you for a while.”
He called her sweetheart. He called her baby. And he said it gently. Like he meant it.
How immature of her, she thought. She was worse than a silly teenager, but the sound of those endearments had her heart clenching with pleasure.
“Who says you have to stop?” She watched him take the turn that led to the apartment. “I bet I can keep up with you.”
She looked up at him, watching his jaw tighten, the look of brooding lust he shot her from the corner of his eye.
“Oh, I have no doubt you’ll keep up,” he promised her with a wicked smile as he pulled into her driveway.
Pulling to a stop, he slid the truck into park and turned off the ignition. Then he surprised her. He didn’t just get out of the truck. He cupped her neck in that way that sent tingles of pleasure racing through her, made her feel feminine and sexy, and lowered his lips to hers.
His kiss wasn’t hard and deep. It was gentle, and hungry. His lips worked over hers, slanted over them, while his tongue pushed into her mouth and stroked against hers.
And oh God, it was so hot she felt blistered. She felt need shoot through her system like an intravenous drug, straight to her heart, then between her thighs, filling her sex with melting warmth.
“Christ, you make me hot,” he growled into the kiss. “If I make it up those stairs without f**king you, it’s going to be a damned miracle.”
Then he surprised her again. He moved from the truck, pulled her across the seat, and lifted her against his chest.
“Legs around me,” he groaned as he wrapped one arm beneath her ass and held her to him. “Hell. If I don’t at least feel you, I won’t make it.”
Her legs wrapped around his waist. His hard abs flexed between her thighs as he slammed the truck door closed and moved for the stairs.
“People will see your truck in the morning,” she reminded him.
“Fuck ’em.”
A surge of emotion at the words caught her off guard. He wasn’t worried that others would know . . .
“Zeke and his deputy are picking up the truck later anyway.” She crashed. Like a balloon slowly deflating, Janey felt the joy that had surged inside her recede.
She was so stupid. How insane to let herself believe anything but the truth. She buried her head against his neck, though, her lips moving on his flesh until, before she knew it, Alex pushed her against the side of the building, halfway up the steps, groaning.
Only then did she realize she was biting him. Biting his neck, sucking at it, marking him as the pain rose inside her like a tidal wave threatening to destroy her.
She marked him as he gripped her h*ps and thrust against her almost violently. The wedge of his c**k beneath his jeans was hard and thick, pressing into her as she cried out against the tough skin of his neck.
His hand held her head to him. His breathing was hard, fast, his h*ps grinding against her as she held on to him.
She couldn’t let him go. She had to hold him. Needed to draw a part of him into her, to leave a part of herself that he could never be rid of.
“You’re killing me.” He bent his neck for her, giving her what she needed for long moments before pulling her head back and glowering down at her. “If I end up f**king you on these stairs, I’ll spank your ass for pushing me that far.”
“Be careful, Alex. I might enjoy it.” She stared back at him fiercely. “We could try it and see.”
He turned, holding her against him, and moved up the stairs fast. He was one raging hard-on. His dick was the only thing that mattered at this point, and it was demanding, desperate.
If he didn’t get inside her, he just might end up coming in his jeans, and if that happened, then he was
definitely going to spank her.
He shoved the key into the lock, only barely noticing that the cat wasn’t around. It must have eaten its fill earlier. Then he pushed into the apartment and came to a hard stop.
Violent fury poured through him.
Turning, sheltering Janey, he ducked back out the door, slamming it behind them.
“Alex?” There was fear in her voice as he held her to him and all but ran back down the steps and to the truck.
“Get in.” He shoved her back into the truck as he tore his cell phone off his hip and dug into the backseat for the Glock he carried.
He checked the clip quickly before snapping it back in place.
“Zeke.” For the second time that night the sheriff answered his call.
“Get to Janey’s apartment. There’s been a break-in and there’s a note on her kitchen table. Nothing was touched by us. I walked in, then pulled back.”
“On my way,” Zeke informed him. “I’m calling the Mackays, Alex. Sorry, man, they’ll kill me if I don’t.”
“Hell,” he swore. “And they can’t seem to keep their wives at home. It’s like calling the farce squad.”
Zeke’s hard laugh was amused and dangerous at the same time. “I’m heading your way. Stay covered.