He responded at once, tightening his arm around her waist, leaning himself into her so that for the first time she could really feel the strength and hardness of his muscles. His mouth remained gentle, however, as he deepened his kiss, claiming her tongue with his as if it were his own.
She’d never experienced a kiss like this, as if he knew every sensitive nerve ending in her mouth and how to stroke them so that sensations exploded throughout her entire body. At first little rivulets, they turned into rivers of need, awakening her everywhere.
Expectancy began to pour through her, an almost hushed yet demanding hunger to learn more of what she was capable of feeling. The protection of blankets rapidly became a hindrance she longed to get rid of.
Yet he refused to hurry, even as she felt her body arch toward him in an ancient signal of passion.
“Easy,” he whispered, dropping another light kiss on her mouth, then traveling gently over her cheeks, chin and throat. “There’s no rush.”
No rush? Hunger was rapidly turning to heat, and heat to fire, as if the pent-up years of her inexperience were igniting all at once.
But he would not be hurried. Each brush of his lips caused another shiver to run through her, driving away the rest of the world, driving everything away except her awareness of this man.
God, she didn’t want to wait. She wanted to
know.
But he proved a master torturer, refusing to give in to her need, taking his own good time about every little thing.
It seemed almost forever before his mouth moved lower, to the open throat of her nightdress. There he found more exquisitely sensitive skin, and her focus zeroed in on her breasts, only a little lower. They began to ache fiercely, and swell with demands of their own.
It grew increasingly harder to catch her breath. Her hands clenched at his shoulders, her fingers dug in, but he resisted the plea.
Pulling aside the neck of her nightgown, he bathed her collarbones in little nips and kisses, and when he pulled his mouth away, she felt the chilly wake. The contrast between the heat of his mouth and the cool dampness it left behind only heightened her senses more.
Then she nearly froze. His hand had slipped beneath the blankets and was tugging up the hem of her nightgown. Oh, man, that drove her even crazier. Helpfully, she lifted her hips so he could pull it higher, then felt almost disappointed when his hand didn’t linger.
Regardless, she responded to the movements, first of the nightshirt moving upward, then to the blankets above. Helplessly she arched, seeking stronger sensations.
But still he denied her. The shirt crept upward, his fingers barely brushing her exposed skin, but they might as well have been brushes of fire.
Then, almost startling her, he pulled her nightdress over her head and tossed it away. The blankets covered her modesty, although she was long past caring about it. Something primal overrode her every inhibition.
One of his big, warm hands at last closed over her breast, squeezing it. The sensation rocketing through her made her clamp her legs together, not out of a need to protect herself, but out of a need for pressure, more pressure in places still unexplored.
He kneaded her breast, each gentle squeeze making every nerve ending more sensitive. The world ceased to exist except for his touches and the cells in her body that cried out for the next step on this journey.
Hardly aware of what she was doing, consumed by the fire he stoked in her, she grabbed the back of his head, demanding.
He obliged, closing his hot mouth over her nipple, sucking hard on it, lapping it with his tongue at the same time. A groan rose from her depths and escaped her as she arched into him, pleading.
“Easy,” he muttered again, but she was in no mood for easy. She might have no idea where this train was going, but she didn’t want it to stop. She wanted it to speed up. Had she ever guessed she could feel like this, she was sure she wouldn’t have waited so long.
The covers pulled down, and she opened her heavy-lidded eyes to see him looking at her breasts. For an instant, just an instant, she started to pull her hands away to cover them, an instinctive response.
He shook his head and caught her hands, smiling first into her eyes and then down at her breasts again. “You’re perfect,” he whispered. “Just perfect. Look at yourself, if you can. I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Excited and blushing all at once, she lowered her gaze, then watched transfixed as he began to brush his thumb over first one nipple than the other. They were hard now, bright as cherries, and sensitive beyond description. The sight of him touching her added to her pleasure, and she kept watching as he lowered his head again and sucked first one and then the other breast, lifting his head from time to time to flick his tongue over a nipple.
Each and every sensation arrowed straight to her center, making her throb more and more, until the ache of need almost hurt.
Then, taking her by surprise, he took her hands and placed one on each breast. “Pleasure yourself,” he said. “Whatever feels good. I have other things to give you.”
Shyness almost stopped her, coming out of nowhere to nearly frighten her out of passion’s haze, but he guided her himself, making her thumbs brush her nipples until she forgot to be shy because it felt so good.
Then he trailed his mouth lower, across her midriff, causing muscles deep within her to quiver. She could hear herself panting now, caught on a drawn bow of desire, wondering if he would ever let the arrow fly.
The covers moved lower with his head until he had sprinkled kisses across every bit of her abdomen. Until he had licked her hot skin and left a trail of coolness behind. Then he reached the point just above the apex of her thighs and she froze in anticipation.
A groan escaped her as his fingers parted her and stroked ever so lightly.
She caught her breath, almost unable to breathe as she waited, knowing there was more and so incredibly impatient to experience it.
His finger slipped between her folds and stroked almost gently. At once her thighs clamped around his hand, trying to hold him closer. That didn’t stop him. Those knowing fingers parted her, opening her, and one actually dived into her innermost depths. The sensation was electric. She arched and groaned and cried his name.
Then he found that nub of nerves. The first touch was almost painful in its intensity, but he didn’t stop. Instead he continued to rub it while one of his fingers moved in and out of her. Then he straightened a bit and brought his mouth back to her breast, sucking deep and hard.
She felt herself climbing, climbing, almost afraid she wouldn’t be able to make the pinnacle, that everything would suddenly collapse on her.
But she made it. The moment, when it arrived, felt like an explosion throughout her body, and her mind went utterly blank as completion, painful and exquisite all at once, silenced it.
* * *
Buck watched her crest and land, his gaze drinking in every inch of her beautiful body, his own aching so hard he thought it would bust.
God, she was gorgeous. Sexy. And so new to this. He managed to smile faintly, tried to congratulate himself on a nearly inhuman amount of self-control, then pulled the blanket back over her.
Propping his head on his hand, he laid his other arm across her waist and waited for the tremors to ease.
Finally she sighed, and he looked into violet pools.
“Wow,” she whispered.
He grinned. “Yeah.”
“But you...” A faint frown marred her brow.
“Shh,” he said, dropping a quick kiss on her lips. “I don’t have any way to protect you. There’ll be another time, if you want.”
“I want,” she admitted. Then she crawled into his heart by the simple expedient of turning into him and hugging him.
The absolute trust she had showed him reached places he’d been keeping on ice for a long time. He tried to resist it, but it was too late. He cared what happened to this woman, if nothing else.
He held her close, knowing time was limited one way or another. He had to get back to his job eventually. He had to try to solve a crime, or at least part of it, in the little time he had. And he had to do something to keep her safe until this matter was closed.
Sometimes he just wished the world could go away.
It never did, though. All too soon she sighed. “I have to get ready to go to work.”
“I know.” He squeezed her, one last bear hug, and reluctantly let go. “I’m going back to my motel if I can get out of here unseen. I’ll see you later when I come in for dinner.”
It wasn’t much of a promise, he thought, but it was the only one he could give her.
* * *
She saw the other truck driver that night, the one who had come in with Ray.
A warm glow had followed Haley all the way to work and stayed with her through the early hours. She was certain it must show on her face, but no one seemed to act any differently.
Then she saw the stocky, balding driver who had come in with Ray, and she recognized him. Her heart slammed, but she kept on working her tables, pretending she hadn’t noticed him.
He didn’t go to the counter for coffee, but instead took a table. She scanned the parking lot as quickly as she could through windows that didn’t cooperate, but saw no box truck.
“I’ve got him,” Claire said to her.
“Thanks.” Haley’s arms were full with a tray from a table of four she had just cleared. Even though her legs felt suddenly weak, she managed to walk past the other driver without even looking at him and to the back room, where she stacked the dishes for the dishwasher.
She had just emerged, thinking she’d slip into the ladies’ room and call Buck to tell him the other driver was here, when her name was called.
“Haley!”
She knew the voice instantly. Reluctantly she turned and saw Jim Liston standing at the counter.
“Hi, Jim,” she said, hoping he couldn’t hear the nerves in her voice. Did he have something to do with that other driver? She glanced that direction and saw the man was eating a burger. Already. She wondered if she’d be able to phone Buck before he left.
“Got a minute?” Jim asked.
“Just. We’re busy. What’s up?”
“I heard you were working here. I just wanted to see you.” He smiled, a very charming smile. “You’ve sure grown up nice.”
She didn’t know how to take that comment and wondered how to respond. Finally she settled on, “Thanks.”
“Really,” he said, his smile fading. “I also wanted to talk to you about Ray. Can’t you find a minute?”
She hesitated. The place
was
busy, but not that busy. Hasty looked up from his grill. “Take a minute,” he said. “But just a minute.”
On leaden legs she walked around until she faced Jim beside the counter. “I don’t know what I can tell you,” she said hesitantly.
“You were the last person to see him alive.”
Not quite, she thought, but caution held the words back. “I guess,” she said carefully. “But I don’t know anything else. I mean, I hadn’t seen him since high school, Jim.”
He nodded. “Dad and Mom say you said he was okay when he was in here.”
“He seemed to be. But what would I know?” She gave a little laugh. “I’m no expert, but he seemed fine. I only talked to him for a minute, if that.”
“They’re really worried about it because the cops asked them if he did drugs.”
“I wouldn’t know, but I told the cops he was fine. That’s all I said.” That and about the crates being moved. Come to think of it, she had already told his parents that Ray had seemed fine, so why would he come in to ask the same question?
“I appreciate it. There’s talk, you know.”
“I didn’t know. I can’t imagine why there’d be any talk. It was just a terrible accident.”
“Yes, it was,” he said firmly. Maybe too firmly.
She managed a nod. “It was awful. Sometimes we’ll never know how these things happened.”
“No, I guess we won’t.” He sighed. “It’s just crushing them. But I wanted to ask something else. Somebody said you saw something happen in the parking lot beforehand.”
“I did?” All of a sudden it was as if she had tunnel vision, and everything in the room except Jim seemed to recede as if she were looking through the wrong end of a telescope.
“Yeah. Someone said you saw cargo being moved from his truck? Haley, I need to know if something happened. It might be relevant. My little brother is dead.”
He seemed utterly sincere. Totally so. She wanted to believe him, but Buck’s warnings silenced her. Who had mentioned it to Jim? Claire? Hasty? One of the deputies? She scrambled for a way to answer as she felt the room try to come back to the here and now.
Finally an idea struck her. She pointed to the windows. “Look out there, Jim, and tell me just how much I could see of anything.”
He turned and looked. He and Haley and the diners around them were clearer than anything in the lot by far.
“It’s like a mirror,” he remarked. “But I still heard you saw something.” His gaze tracked back to her.
“I
heard
something,” she said firmly, gathering all her courage and a newfound ability to lie. “I’m not even sure what it was. I said it sounded like some banging, as if something was being moved.”
“Oh.” He studied her intently. “I guess somebody misunderstood.”
“I guess so. I don’t see that it would have anything to do with what happened to Ray anyway. Lots of things could bang out there. Lots of drivers adjust their loads. I’m sorry I can’t help, Jim, but I told you everything I know.”
He nodded, but still didn’t move away. Out of the corner of her vision, she saw the stocky driver stand, throw some bills on the table and head for the door. It took everything she had not to look at him.
“I guess it’s just hard to believe that it was just some random accident.”
Her eyes snapped back to his. “That’s always hard to believe. As hard, I imagine, as it was for me to believe my dad was killed in a hunting accident because he tripped. Or that my mother came down with cancer.”
“You’re right.” He touched her shoulder lightly, then withdrew his hand. “I’m going to be here a little longer. Would you like to have dinner some time?”