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He chuckled as she stepped back. “I’m going to hold you to that, Murdoch.”
Thorn locked up the ledger, files, and computer they’d removed from Thompson’s office. They’d still not found his phone anywhere. They returned to the dining room where Sudie absolutely refused to join them for dinner, saying she and Tracer were going to her room to watch the Food Network.
“Like I said,” Jessica whispered as Sudie took Tracer and left them alone, “subtle.”
“How about we let Tracer and Sudie spend their evening the way they want, and we’ll spend ours the way we want. To each their own, as they say.”
“What do you think your bosses would say about this?” she asked as he helped her into her seat at the table.
“They wouldn’t be thrilled, but I’m not breaking any rules. That’s part of the reason I wanted everything on the record this afternoon, and I had one of the local cops confirm your alibi, which he did. Mac—the guy at the Catch—said he had his eye on you the whole time. Apparently, he worries when you sit up on that seawall that a rogue wave will get you, so he makes sure he knows where you are the whole time.”
They spent an enjoyable evening telling each other the stories of their pasts and how they’d both come to the point in their lives where they had now crossed paths. Some might have found their journeys wildly different, but neither of them saw it that way.
“What do you like best about being a successful novelist?” he asked over the roasted pear flan.
“Other than the money?” she laughed. “Sorry. I get accused on a regular basis of not being artsy fartsy enough. I see what I do as a business, not a calling. Don’t get me wrong, I love my books, my characters, and my readers, but if I couldn’t make a good living at this, I might write a book a year to satisfy my own need, but not three or four. Sudie would tell you I’m obsessed and most of the time I’m not really happy unless I’m lost in my writing. I would have no life/work balance at all if it weren’t for Sudie and Tracer. How about you? What do you like best about being one of the top investigators in the country?”
“I don’t know about that, but like you I get paid to do something I love and that I’m good at. For me, it’s about getting justice for the victims. Closure for those they leave behind is important, too, but for me it’s really more about being the one who takes up their banner and finds the victim what they need to truly rest in peace.”
She nodded. “I can see that, and I think that while all of my bassets who have gone before will be waiting for me when I cross to another plane of existence, I think that every victim whose murderer you brought to justice and probably most of their families will be waiting to welcome you home.”
He reached over and took her hand. “Let’s hope that’s a long time from now.”
Finally, their tongues were tired, and they seemed to have run out of things to say. That fateful decision, the one she had always hated, was now at hand, only this time there was no awkwardness, no decision to be made. It seemed as if her whole life had been building to this moment, culminating in what she wasn’t sure, but something.
She blew out the candles on the table and stood, never letting go of his hand. She led him around the house until all the candles were snuffed and fires were banked. Slowly, she led him into her bedroom and stopped before the fire.
“I guess it’s a unanimous vote,” she said softly.
“But only if you’re sure.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever been as sure of anything in my life.”
They stood in the glow of the flames from the fireplace in her bedroom, slowly undressing each other, kissing each piece of skin as it was revealed. When Thorn got to her breasts, she leaned away from him, arching her back, craning her neck and moaning as one hand came up to cup and squeeze her breast and his mouth covered the other nipple and suckled, his tongue flicking across her overly sensitized nipple.
When they were naked, he easily swept her off her feet—physically as well as emotionally—and laid her on the bed. “You’re so beautiful.”
She drew her legs apart, bending her knees and presenting her pussy to him. She could feel how wet and swollen her sex was. She was ripe and ready, and she wanted Thorn Wilder more than she’d ever wanted anything. He stared at her with primal lust, his gaze riveted to what she offered him.
He crawled up onto the bed to join her, positioning himself between her thighs, dragging in a deep breath as if he could suck her arousal right out of the air. Leaning down, he covered her sex with his mouth, letting his tongue slip past his teeth as he ran it up and down her labia, swirling it around her swollen nub until he speared her with his tongue as he settled between her legs, lifting her lower body up so he could taste her better. Jessica trembled in his arms, drinking in his very presence.
“Please, Thorn.”
A deep, masculine chuckle was his only response. He curled his finger up inside her, stroking that sweet spot deep inside. Her pussy clenched on his finger, wanting more. His nose found her clit, nuzzling her before he trailed his tongue all around her. She tossed her head back in pure rapture, her body arching up as her breathing became thready and fast. He sucked her clit between his lips, flicking his tongue across it before giving it a little nip.
That was all she needed to freefall over the abyss into ecstasy as she called his name. He reached into the back pocket of his trousers, which he’d conveniently left hanging on the bedpost. Even in the aftermath of her powerful orgasm, she could hear the distinctive tearing of the packaging and was aware he rolled on a condom.
He stretched out over her body, covering her with his as his cock zeroed in on its target and he pressed in with a heavy groan. She was so wet, so ready, and still he was a tight fit as he forced his way inside her. Her hands came up, clutching his biceps as he began to thrust in and out of her, reveling in the way her nails dug into his muscles.
Thorn held back; she could feel it. He wanted to make sure she came again. Over and over, he plunged in and out until her body began to fly alongside his. Together they soared in a place where neither time nor reality could touch them. He held off as long as he could, long enough for her to feel another orgasm rushing through her system as his climax overtook him. Thorn gave a final, strong thrust and let his own release wash over him.
When he’d given her everything he could, he lay there for a moment just allowing them both to bask in what had happened. He kissed her softly as he rolled from her.
“Let me take care of this,” he said, heading for the bath.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she called after him, and realized how true it was. By the time he returned, she was drifting off to sleep and only her body recognized his warmth as he gathered her close.
She had no idea where this would go or how it would end, and she didn’t care. For now, she could revel in Thorn’s embrace and help bring justice to a man nobody in Badger’s Drift cared about. Tomorrow would come and take care of itself.
