Vibrations (19 page)

As she felt Nick coming closer
she suddenly saw her life in a different light. Maybe she could be happy. It
wouldn’t change anyone else’s fate. Maybe it was okay for her to survive. And
if she continued to do her best to help others, maybe she could even do it
better with Nick by her side.

Nick drove around the area for
a few minutes to be sure he wasn’t being watched, and then he made his way to
the motel. He parked next to a white Dodge Dakota and saw Whitney watching him
from the window. His eyes closed in relief and he let out a sigh. She hadn’t
run. He hadn’t heard her voice on the short drive over and he thought maybe
she’d had a change of heart. Thank God she was still here. He eased himself out
of the car and strode up to the door. As soon as he closed the door he pulled
her close and buried his head in her neck. They held each other like that for a
full two minutes before he pulled back and looked into her eyes.

He could see the fear and
tension in those big brown portals. Her eyes darted away. She was waiting for
him to lash out at her for disappearing. A soft smile formed on his mouth as he
whispered her name. His lips tenderly joined to hers. She relaxed in his arms
and let out a sigh.

“You look a little worried. Did
ya think maybe I might still be angry with you?” Nick’s eyes were sparkling
with mischief and anticipation. Her eyes darted away again in a look of guilt
that brought him much satisfaction. “You should be afraid. Very, very afraid.”
He growled into her neck and gave her a teasing bite.

“I’m sorry Nick. I had to do
it.”

“Yeah, well I’ll think of a way
for you to make it up to me.” He tossed her back on the bed and crawled up next
to her. “I’ve been worried sick about you. My stomach’s such a mess I’ve been
living on Tums.”

“I’m so sorry.” She winced
thinking about all she had put him through and instinctively put her hand on
his stomach. She could feel him jump as she touched his well-formed abs.

He reached down and placed his
hand over hers.

“I can think of something to
help me forget the pain.”

“Does it hurt right here?” she
asked rubbing her hand over his navel.

“Nope, a little lower.”

She slid her hand under the top
edge of his jeans and rubbed in a slow circle. “Right here?”

“Uh, uh.”

She let her fingers dip a
little lower under the edge and she could feel him straining against the
fabric. She pulled back and returned to rubbing his belly.

“I think I have some Tums in my
bag. I’ll go check.” She was smiling sweetly as she turned to roll off the bed.

“Oh no you don’t! It’s not Tums
I need right now. It’s you!” He laughed and pinned her under his weight. His
mouth hungrily confirmed his words as he meshed against her lips. “This fire
can’t be quenched with anything in a bottle.” His hands found her breasts as
his tongue trailed down her neck.

Whitney’s hands unbuttoned his
jeans and slowly slid down the zipper. He wiggled out of his clothes as she
slid them off his body. She could see the fresh scars forming over the stab
wounds and she traced them with her fingertips.

“Are you sure you’re up to
this?”

“I’m up to it alright.” He
looked down toward his bulging boxers and she laughed.

“Matter of fact, the doctor
told me I needed to find something to take my mind off my misery.”

“He did not.”

“Well, if he did, you would be
the perfect prescription.”

She lifted her arms so he could
peel the tank top off over her head and then unhook the clasp in the front of
her bra. Whitney’s breathing was already ragged as he tugged her pants down
past her hips. When he had finally removed the last piece of clothing, he
stopped. His eyes devoured her smooth, tan skin and bountiful curves. She
shivered as he started exploring the hills and valleys with his tongue. Her
dark brown nipples twisted in expectation as he teased her by circling around
them. His hand began to stroke her sensitive places and she squirmed under his
touch. He finally kissed her peaks and she let out a murmur of pleasure.

She opened her eyes to see Nick
smiling up at her. How could he look so calm when she was ready to explode? He
began kissing his way down her body and over to her thigh. His warm breath
brushed across her mound and his hands traveled down the roundness of her hips.
She held her breath as he ran his tongue up from her thigh to the center of her
heat. The tension built until she exploded.

The moment it hit, they both
felt the wave of pleasure crashing around and inside of them. Nick could sense
the rhythm of her heart pulsing around them.

Nick wondered if he was feeling
something like the vibrations she felt. He could feel the ripples of her climax
flowing through his body. The feeling was so overpowering it was a struggle to
stay in control.

Whitney’s mind was reeling as
he turned his attention back to her breasts and then her lips. His hands
continued their seductive quest to touch every inch of her. As she felt the
pressure building again, she arched toward him in urgency. He answered back by
pressing the tip of his swollen member against her entrance. She arched again
and he thrust inside. Whitney had been yearning for that joining, but he wasn’t
ready to bring it to completion. He began a slow and lingering movement that
made her cry out in need.

“Nick, please…I need…uhhhhh.”
She could only moan, aware that he understood what she needed.

She felt his muscles tense as
he began to increase the pace. She could feel his need joining with hers as she
dug her fingers into his back. Nick let out a deep groan as he felt his release
and she arched up to meet him with her own climax. It felt like waves of heat
undulating around and through them as their minds absorbed the impact of their
union. Nick’s body sunk down onto hers as they gasped for breath.

When he finally tried to roll
off, his limbs were shaking as if he had just completed a marathon. Whitney’s
eyes were closed and she didn’t appear to be moving.

“Whitney…you okay?”

“I think so.”

He stroked her hair and face
waiting for his strength to return. Whitney finally turned to him and opened
her eyes. She let out a sigh and burst out laughing.

“Oh…my…God!” She was still
working to catch her breath. “That was incredible.”

Nick just nodded and grinned
back at her.

“I’m not sure I’ll be ready to
do that again for a long time. I thought some people had sex every day.”

Nick laughed and laid his head
on her arm. “Not with you they don’t. Other people don’t have your talent for
sharing every sensation in your body and linking to your lover with a mind
meld.”

“That was not a mind meld.”

“Really, what was it?”

“I have no idea. But I don’t do
mind melds. That’s something only Vulcans can do.”

Nick lifted his hand in the
Vulcan salute. “Live long and prosper.”

“You might not if you keep that
up.” She giggled and turned back in toward him. “Actually, I think I might be
ready to try that again.”

“Now you’re the one with the
sense of humor. It’ll take me at least an hour to be able to walk, and I’m
hoping my heartbeat will be back to normal by then.”

She snuggled into his chest.
“I’m not sure my heart could take it anyway.”

He could hear her breathing
turn regular as his mind began to wander. He drifted off to sleep thinking he
wouldn’t have to worry about any more aerobic workouts as long as they were
together.

The next day Nick was up before
Whitney. All night long he kept waking up in a panic thinking he still didn’t
know where she was. He would finally calm down and doze off and then she would
move and he would wake up again. He wasn’t about to let her slip away this
time.

They left the motel early and
kept an eye out for anyone following them. They rode together in the car to a
small café. Whitney knew Nick was trying to figure out how to make her stay. He
waited until they had almost finished breakfast to bring it up.

“Whitney, come back home with
me. Just for now. I’ll go crazy if I don’t know where you are.”

“I’ll think about it. But…then
what? I can’t come up with a way to make it work out with us. You can’t leave
the city. The department is your life. I’m not sure I’m ready move away from
Sedona.”

“We don’t have to work that out
right now. I just want you to stay close to me until this case is solved. And
then we can figure things out. I can be on the police force up in Sedona you
know. It might work out.”

“Yeah, you can write tickets
for jay walking and spitting on the sidewalk. You might even pull some long
days catching the pickpockets in tourist season.”

“I’d be damn good at it too.”

“I…just don’t know.” Whitney’s
eyes were brimming with tears. She didn’t know how to make this kind of
decision.

Nick slid out of the booth and
moved over next to Whitney. “I know it’s happened kind of fast…but I can’t
stand the thought of being without you. Whitney…I love you.” He cupped her chin
in his hand and kissed the tears rolling down her cheeks.

“I love you too. I just don’t
know how it happened, and what to do about it.”

“Be happy Whitney. It’s okay to
be happy. Let the rest work itself out in time.”

“I’ll give it a try.” She
placed her head on his shoulder and sniffed back the tears. This was what she
had been fighting all her life; allowing herself to be happy. Her mind knew she
had the right to be happy, but in her heart it still felt wrong. It wasn’t
really the logistics of who would live where that seemed so hard to work out,
it was the feeling that she should just say no. She finally agreed to move into
Nick’s house for a while on the condition that there would be extra police
protection for the both of them. They drove down to Casa Grande to collect her
things and later met up with Teddy at the station.

“Thank God you two got back together.
I was having a tough time figuring out the paper work to get Nick committed.”

“Very funny big man! I may have
been a bit over the edge, but I wasn’t that far gone,” Nick said gruffly.

“You didn’t see it yourself,
but don’t worry, I have pictures.” When Whitney laughed Teddy turned to her and
his face grew serious. “Worrying about you was driving me crazy woman! Don’t
ever do that again. Nick and I are partners. We depend on each other. You can
depend on us too. You drove my partner crazy, and had me sick with worry.”

Whitney leaned over and kissed
Teddy on his cheek.

“Thanks for caring so much
Teddy. I’m sorry. I promise I’ll be good. So, you want to know what I found out
so far?”

Nick’s head whipped around.

“You didn’t tell me you came up
with something.”

“That’s because I didn’t
really. But I did meet with Ann Marie and I don’t think she did it.”

“I don’t think anyone’s
convinced she did it, but they have no other suspects right now.” Nick pulled a
file off his desk and pulled out a sheet of paper.

“This is the list of people
that are allowed into Kevin’s room at the hospital. Hollerman told us to keep
an eye on his visitors. He’s been allowed a few more now, and you never know if
one could be the killer.

He handed the list to Whitney.
Nick and Teddy had already interviewed everyone that had been near Kevin in the
two weeks before he was abducted, but nothing stood out.

Whitney read the list out loud.
“Kevin’s Mom and Dad, his older brother Tom, four kids from his team, Ann Marie
and her sons, and Coach Hunter. What? Was Coach Hunter his coach?”

“No,” answered Teddy. He
befriended Kevin when he saw him playing a few years ago. Kevin was a great
baseball player and the coach took an interest in him. Teddy and I already
talked to him and he was out of town that day.”

“What about Ann Marie? Why is
she allowed on the list?”

Nick answered this time. “Ann
Marie was a mentor to many of the boys. Even after she was accused, Kevin’s
parents didn’t believe it. They kept her on the list to show their support.”

“Great, that doesn’t leave us
much. The rest are all kids. Ann Marie’s oldest boy is in a wheel chair, and
the rest are too young to be our suspect.” Whitney tossed the paper back on
Nick’s desk.

“Just because he’s in a
wheelchair doesn’t mean he isn’t involved,” Nick said, stuffing the paper back
into the file. “Maybe he was protecting his mother, or someone else.”

“Do you think he could have
been at those crime scenes in his wheelchair?” Whitney asked, not able to
imagine it.

“No, I’m not saying he was there.
I’m still concerned he knows who did it though. That would make him an
accomplice.”

“Derrick seemed genuinely devastated
when Kevin was found,” Teddy said, looking up from his computer. “He kept
asking about his condition even after his mom was put in jail. But,” he added,
“we’re not ruling him out as an accomplice yet.”

“I’m getting a headache.”
Whitney rubbed her temples and Nick reached over to massage her shoulders.

Teddy was busy shuffling
through a file. “We don’t know if the killer will go to the hospital. It’s just
something to think about. Kevin is a loose end.” He read over the paper in his
hand. “They dug up some information on Coach Hunter. Seems he was tried in Texas for manslaughter. He lost his temper and ended up killing someone. The captain wants
us to keep an eye on him and double check his alibi. If it’s not Anne Marie,
the killer is probably reaching the boiling point again. A person who starts
committing these crimes weekly will build up a need for release. Even if they
think what they’re doing is for a good reason, the need to act will become
overpowering. You and I need to get back to the coach’s house. Burns and
Hansburg are on him right now.”