Checkmate (15 page)

“Go,” she invited.

Eli let out the breath he was holding and withdrew. Then she knew nothing but the pounding of his hips on her inner thighs and the drag and thrust of his cock in her pussy. He bent forward, bracing his hands on either side of her. In this position his pelvis struck her clit.

His lips covered a nipple and sucked it deep. She moaned at the dual sensations engaging her system.

It didn’t take long. A minute later, the beaded bud of her breast popped from his mouth and Eli stiffened above her. His hips shot forward, pushing her across the top so far her hair dangled off the other side. A couple more inches and it would be her head.

Long spurts of his hot come drenched her pussy. He held her to him with a bruising grip on her hips as every last drop was wrung from him.

Breathing heavy and still imbedded deep inside her, Eli collapsed onto her belly, his head beneath her chin. They lay there in silence until her tailbone protested the weight of his body and the wood beneath.

“Eli,” she whispered and nudged him with a weak hand. “Can’t breathe here.”

“Breathing is overrated,” he mumbled into her breast.

“Well then, my ass hurts. Get up.” She shoved but her noodly arms did nothing.

“Grr. Okay.” Finally he stood, pulling out of her sheath at the same time. The action rasped her inner tissues, wrestling another round of pleasant tingles from her core.

He swatted her thigh and helped her to a sitting position. His gaze never left hers.

Only a stupid, unfounded, lingering fear of his rejection kept her from blurting out, “I love you, Eli
.
”

Chapter Thirteen

“Do you recognize any of them, Ms. Taylor?”

Nikki’s entire body shook uncontrollably. Even with Eli standing behind her, grounding her and smoothing his hands up and down her arms, a shiver dominated her senses.

“Nikki?” Eli asked, leaning over to whisper in her ear.

Her heart hammered, she could barely take a breath.

“Breathe, Nikki-Raine.”

She could smell the stench of the second one in line’s breath, feel his calloused hand pressing against her mouth, his erection digging into her hip. His name was Marco. “Push her between the cars, Marco,” number four had said. Number five had to be the one who’d been leaning against the van. The one with the raspy voice who’d said, “Hell yeah, I wish I had me some ass like that.”

Cold glass slammed into her cheek. Her keys stabbed into her chest. Where was everyone? Why was no one coming to help her?

“Nikki.” Eli’s near shout jerked her out of the memories she’d lived with night after night in her dreams. Seeing them in the flesh brought it all back. She swallowed.

“Ms. Taylor?”

Nikki nodded. “Yes.” A tight, comforting squeeze on her shoulders followed her answer.

“Great. Can you tell me which ones?”

She turned and looked at the detective. How many times had she spoken to him all those months ago? How many times had he practically begged her for more information? Some of those times he had made her feel more like a suspect than the victim.

“What happened?” she asked.

He shifted his stance to one foot, a manila folder clutched across his chest. After a deep breath he said, “The same thing that happened to you, only this time, the victim died.”

“How did you catch them?”

He breathed out heavily again and she wondered why he didn’t want to tell her. She was the one going to help put them away, and had been their
victim
too, there wasn’t any reason to not give her the details.

“A witness saw the victim running from them about a half hour before the crashEvidence on the victim’s body.”

Nikki seethed. “What was her name?” Eli’s thumbs rubbed tiny circles on the muscles she knew were hard as knots in her shoulders. He was careful to stay away from the wound.

“What?” Clearly, the very easy question had flustered him. His cheeks puffed in and out and a dull red painted his cheeks.

Anger suffused Nikki. “What. Is. Her. Name?”

“Well, I don’t see how—”

“Nikki asked you an entirely reasonable question, Detective Starks.”

The detective’s lips formed a thin line and his nostrils flared. Almost huffy, he flicked the folder open in front of him and peered at the papers inside.

“How can you not know her name?” Nikki hissed. The thumbs moved to the base of her skull. “She’s not just a victim. She was a person, a woman, with a family. How can you help her if you don’t even get that involved?”

“Ms. Taylor,” he defended himself, “if I let myself get that involved I would take every case home with me.”

She closed her eyes. Part of her knew he was right, but it still rankled that he seemed to have no remorse or care for the woman these three men had taken the life away from. As a cop it was his job to protect. In her opinion he couldn’t do that well with such complete indifference. When she opened her eyes again, she didn’t see any remorse on his face. He still didn’t care.

“Her name.”

“Claire Simmons.”

Nikki turned back to the very bored-looking lineup of six men standing opposite the one-way glass. Three of them had attacked her then left her to die in the carnage of twisted metal that had been her Jeep. They deserved everything they had coming to them, and she would gladly do her part to put them away.

“Two, four and five,” she said.

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

“It’s been more than eight months, Ms. Taylor.”

Damn condescending man. “Were you a woman in a past life, Detective?”

“I fail to see how that’s relevant.”

“Were you a woman in a past life?”

“If I were you, I’d answer her.” Eli’s stark voice made the detective’s jaw tic.

Eli’s warm hands moved down to cradle her waist. Nikki wanted to lean into him, let him take her weight. She didn’t though. Any sign of weakness would let the detective think he’d won.

“No,” he gritted out.

“Then you’ve never been attacked by a group of men, forced to submit to something vile and then run off the road and left to die, have you?”

He looked down at the ground.

“Have you?” she asked again.

“No.”

“Then believe me when I say that you tend to remember things like facial features and smells and…and names. Penis sizes even. The way his hands felt smashed against your lips, or the pitch of his voice. You never forget the way number five laughed in the background like raping me would be the most fun thing to do in the world. Or how number two’s name is Marco, because that’s what his friends called him when they wanted him to push me between the cars. You never forget the rasp of a voice.”

Eli’s hands had tensed immeasurably on her hips as she spoke, and a low growl emanated from his chest. The detective probably couldn’t hear it but she was so in tune with Eli now, she could. His canines would most likely have descended in his mouth, growing longer and sharper in anticipation of a hunt. She’d learned so much about him and loved him more than ever before.

“You’ll probably never know the feeling of being trapped in a situation you can’t get out of. You’ll never face nightmares night after night of being attacked by three men twice your size. Trust me when I say, ‘I’m sure.’”

He stared at her for a long moment. The dead quiet in the room suffocated her. Her head spun and she thought, if it weren’t for Eli holding her up, she might sink to the floor.

“Fine. I’ll have some paperwork for you to sign and then you can meet with the DA. He’ll have some questions for you.”

“Then he’ll have to come out to the house. Nikki shouldn’t be here any longer,” Eli said over his shoulder as he took hold of her hand and led her to the door.

The detective spluttered. “But—”

“But nothing. I let her talk me into bringing her here thinking it might give her some closure on that part of her life. Staying here will only add to her exposure and I’m not willing to do that. In case you’ve forgotten, those thugs”—he stabbed a finger at the lineup—“aren’t the only thing she’s a witness to. And if history’s anything to go by, I’d say your killer is a hell of a lot more of a threat to her than those bastards.”

Detective Starks lifted his chin. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You wouldn’t,” Nikki said. The detective was so wrapped up in keeping himself from getting too close to the victims, he wouldn’t know one if they jumped up and bit him in the ass.

“Let’s go, sweetheart.” Eli yanked open the door and stepped into the hallway. They weren’t going to get far. Detective Morales stood against the opposite wall, waiting for them.

He smiled and pushed off the wall. “Ms. Taylor, Mr. Graham.” He held a hand out to shake.

Only Nikki’s fingers on his chest prevented Eli from howling into the air.

Fuck.

Morales retracted his hand and patted his thigh.

“Well. I heard you were going to be here today and I wanted to give you an update on the case.”

Nikki took an anxious step forward. “What is it?”

“We’re leaving,” Eli said at the same time.

Nikki swung around, hurt flooding her face. His shoulders sagged. She made him feel like he’d just flushed her favorite goldfish down the toilet. Alive.

“What?” he barked at Morales, never taking his gaze off her watery eyes. He only had to think about her sleepless nights trapped in dual nightmares and he’d relent to anything. His little minx smiled and turned back to the detective.

“You’ll have to excuse him. I had to pull his hair out by the roots to get him to let me come at all.”

Morales relaxed. “Totally understandable. If you were my wife I wouldn’t want to let you out of my sight either.” He started walking.

“Out of your sight is one thing, out of the house is another.” Nikki followed the man, leaving Eli to bring up the rear.

The detective glanced at Eli, an eyebrow perked.

“He’s the protective sort, I see that. You’re perfectly safe in the precinct though, you know that, don’t you?”

Nikki nodded. Eli grunted. “That’s what they say at post offices across the country.”

The statement earned him a glare from Morales and a backhand to the gut from his mate. His breath whooshed out.

What? Fucked-up people pulled guns and went on shooting sprees in some of the “safest” places on Earth. Churches, schools, courts. The fucking police station wasn’t immune just because cops could fire back. Eli wasn’t about to let the man who’d shot Nikki get off that easy.

“Have you remembered any more?” Morales asked.

“Detective, it isn’t a matter of remembering more. I’ve told you that a hundred times. I didn’t see anything but my…” She stumbled in her words. Eli wrapped her in a hug from behind.

He fucking hated this. Hated seeing her scared to death when she used to be the most carefree woman on the planet. Now simple little noises made her jumpy.

She inhaled. Her soft breasts rose above his arms. “There’s nothing but dark-colored hair and black clothes. His head was down so I didn’t see his face, and I didn’t take the time to look at him while I was running for my life.”

Morales searched her face for a moment then nodded. “Right.” He resumed walking.

When they reached his cubicle, he offered them both a seat. Eli gently pushed her into one as Morales spoke. “You mentioned a boyfriend before. Can you tell me anything else about him?”

Nikki’s head fell back. “No. Nothing more than what I’ve already told you. I hadn’t seen my friends in person in a long time. I had talked to them a few times and I know Amy and Kelly both thought he was strange, but that’s it. I can’t even tell you what he looks like because I’ve never met him.”

“Neither can we,” the detective said, exasperation clear in his tone. “Did you know your friend had absolutely no pictures of her boyfriend in her house? There’s nothing to even suggest she had a man in her life. It must not have been an exciting relationship.”

Eli watched Nikki bristle at the implication. Her best friend was dead. Not just dead but savagely murdered and the police were questioning the woman’s love life?

“Maybe they weren’t serious,” she hissed. “I. Don’t. Know.”

“Nikki, he’s only trying to find the guy. Any information you have might help,” Eli consoled. “Maybe one of your friends said something that stood out to you.”

She swallowed and her gaze searched his. “I think his name is Jim, or John. Something short with a J. And…”

Morales lifted an eyebrow and sat forward. “Yes?”

Nikki shook her head. “I don’t know. It might be…no, it’s probably nothing.”

“How about you let me decide that.”

Eli gripped her hand in his. He had a feeling in a minute she’d leap out of the chair and strangle the detective.

Her fingers squeezed his back. “Fine. I remember Lou telling me at some point about J-man leaving every once in a while.”

“Leaving how?”

Nikki shrugged. “You have to realize I was under a lot of different painkillers at the time. I think she talked about him being kind of flighty. Like he would ponder things, or his mind would just wander away sometimes. She also mentioned him leaving town on a couple of occasions. Wouldn’t tell her where or when he was coming back, just that he’d be gone a few days.”

Eli felt her palm begin to sweat against his. Her knee started to shake in a nervous twitch.

“That’s all I know, Detective, and like I said, I might be making it all up. I could have been hearing things.”

Morales nodded and made a notation in his notebook. “Gives us a starting point at least. Meanwhile we’ve got someone watching her house in case he returns.” He folded his hands on his desk. “Our profiler says the guy’s very precise. He’s working on determining what type of work he might do.” He shrugged. “Maybe that’ll help.”

Nikki stood, her bottom lip quivering. “Great. But I don’t give a flying fig if the man is a neurosurgeon or a janitor. He killed three of my good friends.” A fat tear rolled off her cheek to plop on Eli’s hand.

He stared at it as if it were burning him. In a way it did. Every tear she cried tore at his heart. It was his job as her mate to make sure she was happy. He was failing.