“So, you never did tell me why you came over tonight.”
“Right. I came to talk to you about the car—the one that witnesses reported seeing.”
She whirled around. “Does it belong to the guy from the wedding?”
His lips thinned into a tight line as he shook his head. “The only two vehicles registered to him are a blue SUV and a red Jeep.”
“I’m sure it’s him. I don’t know why Ava’s spirit would have appeared near him so often or why she would have looked so scared.”
“I don’t know. It’s possible he borrowed someone’s car, but it seems like someone would have reported it if they didn’t want to be connected to the crimes.”
“Unless they thought it couldn’t possibly be him,” she mused.
“Or…the person doesn’t know he used their car.”
“Can’t you bring him down to the station and question him?” she asked, frustration growing.
“Not without probable cause. I can’t go to the chief and say, the local witch has magical insight into this case.”
She flipped him off. “There has to be something.”
“I’ll review the notes tomorrow and see if there’s anything that might point in his direction. But it’s still possible it’s not him. Without proof…”
“I know.” She handed Eli his cup of tea, but when he moved to sit at the table, she said, “How about the living room? I think the table might be a distraction for me—at least, while you’re here.”
He looked confused for a moment, but her meaning sank in quickly enough, and he shrugged. “I told you I’m good with knots.”
Her belly fluttered in excitement at the low rumble of his voice. It was impossible not to imagine letting him tie her up like that. “Look, normally, I ask before getting into bed with a guy, but are you involved with anyone?”
They still hadn’t moved from the kitchen, and he set his cup back on the counter then stepped in front of her. “Do I really strike you as the kind of guy who’d be looking for something more than a one-night stand from you if I were involved with someone?” He lifted her mug from her suddenly nerveless fingers and set it next to his. “Do I seem like the kind of guy who would cheat?”
She slowly shook her head, unable to look away from the intensity of his gaze.
His lips lifted in the barest of smiles. “Good.”
He laid his hand over her chest, and she knew he had to be able to feel the wild pounding of her heart. Usually, she was more together than this, but tonight, after seeing this other side of Eli, she was a little unsure and a whole lot aroused.
He trailed his fingertip along her collarbone, and the need in the pit of her stomach intensified.
“The woman you saw was Ali. She and I had sort of a ‘friends with benefits’ arrangement for a few months. She liked getting tied up, and I liked tying her up.”
“Oh.” It was the only coherent word she could manage.
He smoothed his hands over her shoulders and down her arms until he reached her wrists. Circling them, he pinned her hands behind her back and pulled her against him. Her breath stalled in her chest as she came in contact with his rock-hard cock. She wanted him again. So badly. Her pussy was slick with need, and her nipples had tightened to almost painful peaks as they brushed against his chest.
Eli transferred both of her wrists to one hand and brought his free hand around to trail between her breasts. “I think you might like it if you give me a chance.”
She lifted her face to his and kissed him. If he kept talking, she’d come from just the sound of his voice. He quickly took control of the kiss and backed her against the counter, his erection grinding against her. She groaned at the sensation, and he did it again. There was something incredibly arousing about only being able to receive.
He trailed his lips to her ear. “You have no idea how much I want you.”
She squirmed against him. “I think I might have an inkling.”
His hand slipped beneath the hem of her shirt, and his rough fingertips trailed across the sensitive skin of her stomach. She shivered.
“You’re so soft,” he said as his fingers crept higher to stroke the sensitive skin beneath her breast.
“What I really am is wet,” she admitted.
Pleasure darkened his eyes, and he groaned as he kissed her again. She couldn’t get the image of him fucking Ali out of her head. She wanted that. She wanted to know what it felt like to be helpless to the pleasure he’d give her. She wanted her own memories of his body straining against hers while he bound her and bent her over.
When he lifted his head, she met his gaze. “I want you to fuck me like that.”
“Like what?”
Nervous anticipation made it hard to speak, but she forced out the words. “I want you to tie me up and bend me over the table.”
He stared at her, the silence between them growing until he finally spoke. “Tell me again why you’re not relationship-able?”
“Shut up, and make me come, Boy Scout.”
Keeping her pinned between his hard body and the counter, he released her wrists. She felt almost bereft without his strength and warmth around them.
“I should warn you,” he said, pulling her knit shirt over her head and dropping it on the floor. “I don’t have any rope with me, but I’m sure we can make do.”
“I thought you were always supposed to be prepared.”
All vestiges of teasing vanished, and she couldn’t look away from him if she wanted to.
“There’s no preparing for you.” His words hung between them until he unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans, slipping his hand inside to cup her mound. She canted her hips against his fingers, desperate for more contact. “You weren’t kidding. You’ve soaked these.”
She groaned as he slid his fingers through her cleft to circle her dripping opening. That small touch was almost enough to send her over the edge. She’d probably come the second he was inside her.
Freeing his hand, he dropped to his knees and removed her shoes before dragging her jeans and panties down her hips and off her body, leaving her in nothing but a lacy pink bra. He stood and, holding her gaze, unbuckled his belt and yanked it free of his pants.
“Turn around.”
The words were quietly spoken, but they were an order nonetheless. A fresh rush of moisture slicked her pussy and thighs as he spun her around and brought her arms behind her back. He crisscrossed the warm leather over her forearms a couple times before buckling the belt around her wrists. There was something exciting about being at his mercy.
Instead of turning her to face him, he placed open-mouthed kisses along the line of her spine, sending shivers of need racing through her. His lips skimmed the curve of her shoulder and neck until his cheek brushed hers.
“Look at how tight your nipples are.” He reached around and pinched them through the thin fabric of her bra. She cried out at the sensation and tried to rub against his hands, wanting more. “I love the way your back arches, the way it pushes your tits forward.”
He did turn her now. He spun her and pushed her back against the counter—her hands trapped between the warmth of her skin and the coldness of the cupboards. Eyes blazing, he yanked down the cups of her bra, baring her breasts. Lowering his head, he sucked one nipple hard into his mouth then the other. Back and forth, he tormented her, licking and biting until she was begging him to fuck her.
“Not yet.” He straightened and took a step back. Immediately, goose bumps rose on her skin at the loss of his warmth. He removed his T-shirt off and let it fall to the floor. Kicking off his shoes and socks, he unbuttoned his jeans, leaving them hanging loosely on his hips. The ridge of his hard cock was visible through his underwear, and a damp spot darkened the fabric. Good to know she wasn’t the only one affected by this.
Meaghan wanted to take him in her mouth. The fleeting taste she’d had the other night hadn’t been nearly enough. Lowering herself to her knees wasn’t easy with her hands trussed behind her back, but she managed and stared up at him. The need on his face was unmistakable, and his eyes had darkened with hunger. Leaning forward, she kissed his stomach, smoothing her lips along the silky hair that ran from his bellybutton to his underwear. His body stiffened as she nipped at his cock through the fabric.
“You gonna help a girl out here or what?”
Holding her gaze, he slid his thumbs under the waistband of his boxer briefs and tugged them and his jeans down his hips. His thickly veined shaft sprang forward. Hot to the touch and velvety soft, it brushed against her cheek. She’d never wanted to give head so badly in her life. Her pussy slickened further at the thought of taking him down her throat, but she wanted to draw this out. Make him suffer.
Turning her head, she chastely kissed the damp tip, licking his pre-cum off her lips as she pulled back.
He groaned. “Do it again.”
The desire in his voice sent butterflies slamming through her middle, and she complied, kissing the head first before trailing her mouth along the thick shaft down to the base and back up again. She stared up at his face, watching his reaction as she slowly parted her lips and circled the wide, flared head with the tip of her tongue. She loved the way his eyes fluttered closed at the sensation.
She leaned forward and engulfed as much of his cock as she could before sliding back. Before she could move, Eli fisted his hand in her hair, holding the back of her head still as he pumped in and out of her mouth. She tightened her lips, drawing on him the best she could while he thrust. He opened his eyes, spearing her with his heated stare. The brilliant blue of his irises had practically been swallowed by his pupils.
“You have no idea how many times I fantasized about this when we were younger.”
She whimpered around his cock and tried to swallow more of him. She’d never gone down on a guy without using her hands. It was harder than she would have thought…and hotter, too. Feeling almost helpless was an unexpected turn on—at least with Eli it was. She wanted him to come in her mouth. She wanted him to spill hot and thick across her tongue. She wanted to give him the fantasy he’d imagined.
Finally, he released her head and took a couple steps back, pulling out of her mouth and moving out of range, too. She almost toppled forward without his body there to brace her. “What happened to fulfilling your fantasy?” she asked.
He smiled, but there was more hunger than amusement there. “My fantasies have evolved quite a bit since then.” He reached out to cup her chin and brushed his thumb across her mouth. “Back then, I never would have thought to tie you up.”
“Well until I met you, I couldn’t imagine letting anyone tie me up,” she admitted. “So, I guess that makes us even. Or something.”
A wicked smile curved his lips. “Or something.”
She sat back on her heels and spread her thighs a little farther, arching her back and thrusting her breasts forward. “Are you going to share your more recent fantasies?”
He leaned forward and cupped his hands under her elbows then guided her to her feet. Splaying his fingers through her hair, he angled her face upward for a kiss. There were no preliminaries—just the melding of mouths and lips and the press of his hard, heated body to hers. Without warning, he broke the kiss and spun her to face the table, bending her over it. He leaned over and pressed her against the cold surface, his skin feverish against hers. The loose end of his belt tickled her ass as he pinned her hands between them.
His lips against her ear, he whispered, “Right now, my favorite thing to imagine is bending you over the hood of my patrol car and fucking you until come, screaming my name.”
“Oh, god,” she breathed. Her belly fluttered at the barely constrained need in his voice, and her juices dripped down the insides of her thighs. She had to have him inside her now. She’d die if she had to wait any longer. “You’d better have a condom.”
He stood. She heard him moving around behind her then the unmistakable crinkle of plastic. Just when she thought she couldn’t wait another second, he dragged his hard shaft along her cleft. Using his feet, he nudged hers farther apart before lining himself up at her slick opening.
Then he stopped.
Frustration twisted her middle, and she pushed back, eager to draw him inside her aching body. He gripped her hips, stopping her and holding her motionless against the table.
“Is this part of your fantasy?” she choked out. “Torturing me by barely touching me?”
Before she’d even finished speaking, he thrust hard, filling her with one sharp lunge. Her sentence ended on a harsh cry, and her hands clenched behind her, desperate for something to cling to.
“Better?” he murmured.
“Yes. God, yes.” There was nothing better in this world than having Eli fill her. Not just her body, she realized. He filled up all the empty places inside her. Meaghan froze at the thought before pushing it away. She couldn’t think like that. She needed to focus on the here and now, and the only thing that involved was the punishing grip of his fingers on her hips and the aching stretch of her pussy as he mercilessly shafted her.
Her thighs trembled, and she knew that without the table, without him holding her, she’d never be able to stand. Sensation coiled in her womb, tightening as he pounded into her. He shifted his hold on her, one hand finding its way to her pussy and the other sliding up her belly to cup a breast. His clever fingers parted her folds and danced over her clit, drawing her need higher and pushing her closer to the breaking point.
At least, in this position she could touch him. With her hands trapped against his belly, she stroked him, dragging her short nails across his skin. He shuddered, and she did it again. Groaning, he fucked her harder, his balls slapped wetly against her.
It was more than she could take. All at once, her release exploded through her, her internal muscles clamping down so tightly on his cock she was surprised he could move. Pleasure burned through her veins, and spots floated in front of her eyes as bliss rolled through her body like warm honey.
Eli’s forehead dropped to her back as he continued pushing into her, his breath harsh against her skin. With a final thrust, he emptied into her body, his hands convulsing on her flesh as his release shook him.