Mine Until Dawn (27 page)

“Beautiful,” he breathed out against her heated flesh, then he kissed her, right there at the apex of her thighs.

Raw sensations rocked her body, her anxieties forgotten. Moans escaped her mouth, body writhing. The feeling was beyond anything she’d ever felt. Within seconds, he’d taken control of her body, her mind, everything she’d ever known and flipped them. Nothing else mattered but him. His sexy mouth. His wicked tongue. The way he made her feel.

Jade gripped the bed spread, pressed against his mouth, seeking more. Nothing had prepared her for this. Not her romance books, not movies or popular sitcoms, not her faithful dildo. Nothing could have.

Her arm gave out and she flopped on her back. Not sure what to do with her hands, she reached for his head, her eyes closing in ecstasy. A deep hum escaped her mouth as the pleasure skyrocketed. It became a cry as light exploded behind her eyelids and blood roared in her ears.

The crest hurtled her into a vortex of sensations where nothing else mattered but pleasure, crashing, undulating, and endless. Her cries filled the room, her body jerking, almost pushing him off her, but he held firm. His strokes still bold, the mouth still thirsty for her.

Tears filled in her eyes and made it difficult to see Vince as he shifted. He stretched, yanked open his bedside drawer. He stood with the condom clenched between his teeth, his hands going to his belt. Lord, he was magnificent. Jade wanted to crawl all over him and swallow him whole.
   

She sat up, pushed his hands aside, and unzipped his pants with trembling fingers. She reached inside to find him. The feel of him, hard, long and thick, velvety soft yet ridged with veins was divine. She pushed his pants down to his thighs to reveal all of him.

Oh, my. He rose majestically from a tuft of ebony curly hair. So curious, it never crossed her mind to be embarrassed. He fascinated her, his powerful body, the scars, everything that made him Vince Knight. Her lover. Her fantasy.

Smiling, she stroked and squeezed him. When he groaned, she whispered, “I want to do it right. Tell me what to do.”

“Baby, any more right and my head will explode.” He ripped the condom and sheathed himself under her gaze.

The look in her eyes almost did him in. Vince had never seen such fascination, such uninhibited desire, as though she couldn’t wait to jump him. Yet he knew she was not that experienced. That he had to take it slow with her.

She scooted to the middle of the bed, pulled her dress off, and threw it aside. Her bra followed. When she reached for her high-heels, he caught her hand. “Leave them on.”
 

He joined her, knelt between her raised knees, his gaze sweeping her. Her hazel eyes sparkled with anticipation. Her scent, wild roses, mixed with the smell of her arousal. Dressed in the black garter belt and stalking that contrasted with her creamy thighs, those heels, and her emerald necklace, she was straight out of his fantasy. Much more than he’d imagined. Dang, he could come just looking at her.

“Glorious,” he murmured and dropped a kiss on her knee, his fingers skimming up her thigh, stroking her belly and ribcage before cupping her breast. His lips followed where his hand had primed, exploring, worshipping until they closed on one taut nipple. The taste of her was intoxicating.

Jade arched her back, her nails digging into his shoulders. Her unrestrained response, her shivers and moan, encouraged him. She was blossoming right before his eyes, and it felt right. Like he was meant to be her lover, to fulfill his and her fantasies. He nuzzled the valley between her breasts and shifted to the other nipple.

She held his head, writhing. When he lifted his head, she shimmied lower until she could kiss him—his forehead, his eyes, lower still until their lips met in a long, hot kiss. One hand caressed his cheek, the other traveled down his hot damp chest, past his belly to find him. Her hands closed on his erection. “I want to feel you inside me.”

“So do I, baby. So do I.” He sealed her trembling lips with his, slid a hand down her tummy to the damp nether hairs, and slid a finger inside her, checking and making sure she was ready.

She clenched around his finger, making him imagine how it would feel when he was inside her. When she jerked, her hips lifting to meet his hand, he thrust deeper, stroking and probing. A cry and she was over the edge, his name erupting from her lips.

“Look at me,” he ordered.

Jade forced her eyes to open, their gazes locking.
 
He folded her legs higher, supporting most of his weight with his arms, and entered her, slowly and carefully when he would have loved to plunge in.

“Vince…oh,” she moaned.

He froze. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”

“Oh, no. It’s perfect.”

Blood pounding on his temples, he pushed in to the tilt. She was tight. Hot. Wet. There was no other way to describe the way she hugged him. For once words failed him, his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. Yeah, perfect was close enough.

He began to move, thrusting and withdrawing, the pulse of her orgasm heightening his pleasure. He picked up speed, her hips jerking to meet his, her hands gripping any part of his sweat-drenched body she could reach. When she caressed his face and ran a thumb across his lips, he pulled it into his mouth, sucked on it as her nether muscles pulled him deeper and deeper. His movements picked up speed, his blood racing, his brain going numb.

Jade bucked and writhed, inciting him with every moan. As if that wasn’t enough, she pushed her legs higher and higher until they straddled his neck. Then she reached down to touch him, right where they’re joined.

Nothing had prepared him for the feel of her fingers touching him as he slid in and out of her. It drove him right over the edge. Vince flung his head back and let out a choked sound, the pleasure overwhelming him.

***

Vince wasn’t sure how long time had lapsed before reason returned. Jade’s stiletto-clad feet were wrapped around his waist, her arms around his shoulders, her beautiful face flushed and bathed in sweat. Her breathing was shallow and jerky, tears sipping through her closed eyelids.

He was squashing her.

He shifted, taking her with him until she was sprawled over him, her face burrowed in the hollow of his neck. He knew he should ask if she was all right, but his ears were still ringing, his heart galloping faster than a thoroughbred.

He had no idea what had just happened, and didn’t have the strength to analyze it or the panicky feeling twisting his gut. Nothing with Jade ever went according to plan. He’d set out to wow her with his sexual tricks, thought he’d succeeded, but in the end, she had…. He had no idea what she did. He was in deep trouble.

He ran a hand down her back, felt the little shudders coursing through her. Her raw response sent blood surging to his loins. He wanted her, again, his recovery time surprising him. His arms tightened around her as though she would disappear if he relaxed.

They stayed like that for a while, arms around each other, hearts beating in unison. Vince kissed her forehead and shifted.

“Where are you going?” Her voice sounded tired.

“To take care of things.” He looked at his crotch. When she followed his gaze, his mindless organ started to lift. Her gasp had him smiling. “You do that to me every time, baby. Don’t ever forget that.” He shuffled off the bed, pulled the covers from the foot of the bed, and tucked them around her. “Rest. We’ve just starting.”

Her gaze touched the clock on his side-bed table. “You know it is almost three in the morning?”

“Yeah, but sleep is overrated.” He disappeared into the bathroom, the sound of her laughter following him, working its way straight to his heart. Vince grinned. No point fretting over something he couldn’t control. He didn’t know what she did to him, but it felt good.

One look in the mirror and he grimaced. Even after the stitches and the bandages, he still looked like crap warmed over. He opened the shower door, turned on the faucet and stepped inside. He lathered a face cloth and washed his face, careful not to make his stitches wet.

He was almost done when the bathroom door open and Jade stepped inside. He couldn’t see her clearly through the opaque glass door. He opened it slightly to yell, “Hey, baby. Want to join me?”

Instead of answering him, her hand appeared in the opening, holding his cell phone. “Your cell phone keeps ringing. Do you want to answer it?”

No way. He didn’t want any interference from the outside world. Christ, now he was acting a fool. What if it was his uncle’s nurse? He turned off the water, stepped out of the shower, and accepted the phone and kissed her at the same time. “Thanks.”

The phone stopped ringing, but the number displayed wasn’t his island home number. It was Eddie Fitzgerald. Didn’t the man ever sleep? Jade’s reflection in the bathroom mirror distracted him. She was clenching the sheet around her luscious body, her gaze on his nude body. The unabashed hunger in her eyes shot his up a notch. He should be with her, indulging himself, not her cousin. When she caught his gaze, he winked.

“Show off.” Jade left the bathroom.

“I’ll be out in a sec.” Eddie had better have a very good reason for calling him at this late hour. Vince flipped his phone open and brought it to his ear. “This had better be good, detective?”

“We have a problem.”

Vince pulled the towel from a rack and wiped off the water on his chest and back. “What is it?”

“About five minutes ago, our cross-dresser clutched his left arm and keeled over the interrogation table.”

Blood drained from Vince’s head. “What happened?”

“Heart attack.”

Vince peeked into the bedroom and his gaze locked with Jade’s. She had piled pillows and tucked the comforter around her, and was leaning against the bed rest. He smiled at her, and she waved back. But from her expression, she knew something was up.

He stepped back, nudged the bathroom door close with his foot, and went back to his conversation with Eddie. “Are you saying he’s dead?”

“No, he was unconscious but the paramedic stabilized him on our way to the ER. He’s presently at the hospital, under observation and heavily guarded.”

It was hard to imagine a man in Yannick’s physical condition having a heart attack. Could he have faked it? Or had he attempted to kill himself and failed? Vince was familiar with
sepukku,
the ritualistic and honorable suicide practiced by samurai in the feudal period. Then it was a sword straight to the gut. Now, according to a Japanese friend he met at a dojo in Europe, they jumped in front of trains or popped cyanide pills at the foot of Mt. Fuji. There was resurgence in underground societies practicing the banned
bushido,
the unwritten code of the conduct of the samurai, which included death before dishonor. Could Yannick be a member of such a society? Even the way his moves when he fought were a mixture of
Bagua,
Chinese martial art, and
Aikido,
a strictly Japanese fighting style. But would he rather face death because he’d failed to carry Bouchard’s orders?

Okay, that would be taking things too far, especially in this day and age. “Were you in the room when it happened?” Vince asked.

“No. I’d been working him for two hours straight and had left to get a drink. The guys in the observation room said he grabbed his arm and gasped. Then he twisted, giving them his back, before he keeled over.”

 
Maybe the man hadn’t attempted suicide. Maybe he had deliberately hit a pressure point and self-induced unconsciousness? It could be done. Vince had seen an old master perform the trick. “Did the doctors confirm that he’d indeed had a heart attack?”

“Ah, you think he might have faked it. The thought crossed my mind, too, and I made sure I mentioned it to the doctor.” Eddie sounded tired. “He said they’d know for sure after the blood work. He mentioned checking elevated cardiac enzymes that damaged heart muscle cells release into the blood stream.”

“What about the ECG?”

“Abnormal, which means he either had an attack tonight or had one before today. The blood work should confirm if he had it today, though. You know what pisses me off? The department is paying for all this and the man knows it, which brings me to my next question. How safe is that kung-fu move you pulled on him?”

Vince scowled. “Are you implying…? Christ, Eddie. All I did was to squeeze his carotid artery and put him to sleep. Hardly dangerous.” Especially when done by someone with his training. On the other hand, he’d been pissed and was fighting for his life. Could he have fatally hurt Yannick? No way. He’d seen people use that technique here and abroad without casualties. “I’m telling you it is pretty safe.”

“I’ll let the doctor decide that. Sure, I’ve seen a few megalomaniacs from my precinct demonstrate that carotid artery move and use CPR to revive a person. Never saw anyone hurt, except their egos, but that doesn’t mean you’re in the clear, not until the doctor says so. I’ll let you know what they find out. Meanwhile, don’t go anywhere, Knight.” The line went dead.

Vince closed his cell and gripped the edge of the sink. He wanted to smash something. Just when he thought things were beginning to look up for him, he got blind-sided. The
dim mak
technique he’d used on Yannick wasn’t lethal.

He stepped out of the bathroom to find Jade waiting on the other side. “Hey.”