Angels and Outlaws Read online

  Mindful of the handcuffs, Sam bent and scooped Cass up off the rock.

  “Sammy, are you happy to see me?”

  “Hush, woman, and let me think.”

  To his amazement, she quieted.

  This was a well-visited state park. There should be other visitors, campers, park rangers, tents, outdoor restrooms, something, any kind of help or shelter. Sam turned in the direction where he believed the road might be, praying that he was correct in his assumption. He was cold, wet and already his arms were aching from carrying her, the handcuffs chafing his wrists.

  Lightning snapped like a lion tamer’s whip cracking behind them, exploding into a shock wave of reverberating sound. Rising heat scorched the air. His brain buzzed.

  “Sam, look out!” Cass cried.

  He jerked around to see the tree that they’d tried to climb cleaved in two by the arcing electrical discharge. As they watched dumbfounded, the top of the tree snapped off, the remaining naked wood jutting up like a spear.

  Cass leapt off Sam’s back and he pulled her clear just in the nick of time.

  The severed top of the tree smacked the ground, leaves and branches smoldering in spite of the driving rain.

  And at their feet landed the faux White Star amulet.

  “Omigosh,” Cass exclaimed, slapping a hand over her heart. “Just think if you didn’t have a fear of heights or if you’d taken me up on my offer to have sex on that rock, we’d be dead right now.”

  THIS WAS TWICE Sam had saved her life. Once from the window ledge and now from a falling tree.

  Cass clung to him, feeling guilty for being such a burden, the fake White Star on the red ribbon strung around her neck. She felt his powerful thighs move as he carried her in search of shelter and safety.

  They could have easily died.

  Still could, in fact. Although the lightning was moving away, the heavy rain remained. She struggled to keep her teeth from chattering. No matter how miserable she was, Sam had to feel worse.

  Cresting the rise with her in his arms, he staggered and Cass feared he was going to fall, but then he tightened his grip, pulled her closer against his chest. “Look, Cass.”

  She turned her head. Saw a paved asphalt road and a campground. Momentarily, her spirits soared.

  But the campground was empty. No tents, no trailers, no one.

  Except for two gray cement buildings.

  Ugh, outhouses.

  Okay, so it wasn’t the Waldorf, but it was shelter from the weather.

  “I told you I would take care of you,” he said. He looked so proud of himself. Cass was proud of him, too.

  “Thank you.”

  When they got closer, much to Cass’s happiness, only one of the buildings turned out to be bathroom facilities. The other structure was a Laundromat, complete with a large built-in table for folding clothes and vending machines. To top it off, someone had forgotten a blanket in one of the dryers. They explored, delighted with their shelter.

  “Can you believe someone forgot their blanket? It’s almost like fate left it behind for us to find.”

  “About time. I’d say fate owes us. And what have we here?” He bent and picked up something that had been wedged between two of the washing machines.

  “What is it?”

  Sam grinned. “A hairpin. I think I can use it to get these damned handcuffs off.”

  “Thank God. My wrist is raw.”

  “Put your wrist up here.” He indicated the top of a washing machine situated directly beneath the fluorescent lighting.

  For several minutes he worked on the handcuff with the hairpin and at last they were sprung free.

  Cass rubbed her sore wrist while Sam dug in his pocket, found several crumpled one-dollar bills and fed them into the change machine. Quarters spilled into the change cup—ching, ching, ching.

  “Slip out of your sweater and skirt and we’ll dry them.”

  “Can’t. They’re dry-clean only.”

  “Then we’ll lay them out to dry.”

  “You’re wet, too.”

  “So I am.”

  They looked at each other, the air between them sparking with sexual energy. She could smell his testosterone, knew he wanted to make love to her as much as she wanted him to, but something was holding him back. A sense of honor? His conscience? Who knew? But Cass was determined to find a way around his resistance.

  “I’m telling you it’s fated,” she said blithely. “Free blanket, dryers, a folding table, no more handcuffs.”

  She got no further.

  Sam had her in his embrace and he was kissing her as if he was a death row inmate with a miraculous conjugal visit just before his execution.

  Ah yeah, now this was more like it. No more of that sleeping naked in the bed next to her without touching her nonsense.

  Grabbing the hem of his polo shirt, she ripped it off over his head. Grabbing, she reached for his belt buckle while he unbuttoned her sweater, his damp fingers fumbling in haste. Grabbing for another kiss on the fly.

  “Wait, wait, wait,” she said.

  “What is it?” He looked harried, frustrated.

  She had to make sure he knew that this was just fun and games. Sam was a nice guy. The last thing she wanted was for him to get the wrong impression and get his heart hurt.

  “You’re cool with this being a casual fling, aren’t you?”

  He nibbled at her neck, the heat of his erection poking against his straining zipper. “Fine and dandy.”

  “Last night you said you were looking for a long-term relationship.”

  “I’ll look later. After this. After you.”

  That should have comforted Cass, but it didn’t. It wasn’t because she didn’t believe him, but rather it was the words “after you” that echoed so hollowly in the chamber of that empty laundry room.

  And in her heart.

  She didn’t want anyone to come after her. How selfish and unreasonable was that?

  It was the first time she’d ever felt this way. The sensation was very strange. It felt as if something in her bloodstream had been blocked up and suddenly broken loose. Like something inside her heart just popped open and flooded her body with energy and endorphins.

  What was wrong with her? She wasn’t a long-term kind of woman. She’d known it all her life. She liked having her own way. Having fun. Living the good life.

  And wondrous, unexpected encounters like this were part of that good life. Cass closed her eyes and did what she did best. Lived in the moment. Seized the adventure and breathed it in.

  Sam peeled off her wet sweater, lifted it off her shoulders and then carefully draped it over a nearby washing machine, smoothing it flat so it wouldn’t wrinkle as it dried. His actions touched her, the way he took care with her clothes.

  When he was finished, he straightened and came back to her, desire turning his gray eyes the color of gunpowder waiting to explode.

  His big hands settled around her waist, but over the top of her skirt so he still wasn’t touching her bare skin. She watched him lower his gaze and smile at the faint flush heating up her skin.

  He kissed her and their hot breaths mingled, steaming up the laundry room. She nibbled his bottom lip. He groaned softly.

  He unhooked her bra and once they were both bare-chested, except for the replica White Star around her neck, he shifted gears. Slowing things down even further.

  Cass understood why. Even though he wanted her as desperately as she wanted him—his body told her that clearly enough—he wanted this to last. Wanted to savor the memory of their first time.

  Ah, the joy of discovery.

  He cupped her face in his palms, dipped his head and kissed her again with a soul-stealing, grade A, world-class kiss that curled her toes.

  The moment was brilliant. He was brilliant. It was her most brilliant first time ever.

  She moaned. Loving, yet hating, the sweet torture. She wriggled against him, her breasts pressed flush against his muscled chest.
/>   He ran his fingers up and down her shoulders. She threw back her head and he trailed his kisses to the underside of her neck, nuzzling and nibbling.

  Experimentally he rubbed his thumbs over her nipples and they beaded so tight they ached.

  “Ah,” he said. “So you like that?”

  “It feels awesome.”

  A hazy hotness draped over her, thick with sexual urgency. She wanted him so badly that her need was a solid, unyielding mass in her throat.

  “What about this?” He laved his tongue along the underside of her throat.

  She shuddered against him.

  “And this?” Lightly, he tickled the skin on the inside of her upper arm.

  When his mouth found its way back to hers again, the laundry room disappeared and there was nothing except the tyranny of her heartbeat and the searing splendor of his taste on her tongue.

  “God,” he said. “I love how responsive you are. All I have to do is touch you here…” He touched her and she moaned. “And you unfurl. You make me feel like the best lover in the world. That’s a precious gift, Cass. Thank you.”

  His praise made her blush. His appreciation exhilarated her. She’d thought she was as turned on as she could get, but she’d been wrong. The look in his eyes, the way he held her, sent her blood into a searing boil.

  She arched into him, rubbed her pelvis against the front of his pants, the denim of his jeans abrading her flesh. He lifted his head, his marauding mouth going back to dominate her lips with another hungry kiss.

  The force of his desire caused her to tremble and sweat. Her knees quivered. Her heart pounded.

  He tunneled his fingers through her hair.

  She felt his presence in every cell of her body, in every breath she took, in every strum of the blood pumping through her veins.

  He was pushing her to the breaking point, pushing her over the edge of sanity, down into temporary madness. If she didn’t get him, she would lose her mind.

  She was going to snap in two like that lightning-struck tree if he didn’t do something soon and just as she was thinking it, just as her pelvis was raw and full and aching for him, he tugged her skirt down over her hips.

  And then he dropped to his knees.

  “Sam,” she gasped.

  “Cass,” he crooned.

  She braced her back against the heavy commercial grade washing machine behind her. He slid one finger into the strap of her panties and slowly teased them down off her hips, over her thighs, past her calves to her ankles. She stepped out of them.

  She surrendered completely, coming to him with her entire history. Vulnerable. Unprotected. Shaking in the naked revelation. Allowing herself to embark on this erotic journey with a partner whom she barely knew, a fantasy come true. Rich with chemistry and possibility.

  Danger, challenge, the unexpected, the unknown excited her nervous system, delighted her soul.

  “Open your legs,” he whispered gently, lovingly.

  She spread them.

  His wet tongue teased, slowly licking her outer lips.

  He buried his face in her. Inhaled her. Then caressed her with the sensuous sweep of his tongue.

  Ah, there were splendid benefits to an earthy man. None of her suave, sophisticated men had been inclined to pleasure her this way.

  Then he took her bottom in both his palms and lifted her up onto the washing machine until her shoulders rested against the back and her buttocks sat perched on the very edge, pelvis tilted upward.

  Blindly he searched for the coins in the change machine, fed them into the washer and turned it on. She heard the gush of water, felt her own body flood in response.

  Lowering his head again, he went back to pleasuring her with his sweet, inquisitive mouth until she was wet with his love.

  Gently, he suckled her twitching, hooded cleft. She was wild with ecstasy. Wild for him.

  Outside the storm lashed and groaned. Inside Cass trashed and moaned. She was so swollen and throbbing for him so ready and hot.

  Mewling, she grabbed for his hair and held on for dear life, never dreaming anyone could make her feel this good.

  He knew the way to make love to a woman, his mouth responding to a silent calling of her body.

  His fingers touched and tickled and tingled. Her butt, her inner thigh. Again, he slid one finger deep inside her wetness, while his tongue continued to strum the feminine head of her.

  “More, more,” she cried, writhing against his tongue, her bare butt bumping against the cool metal of the washing machine. It hit the spin cycle and began to vibrate beneath her.

  Lightning flashed outside the window. Thunder clapped in applause.

  The vibration, the storm, the noise, Sam’s red-hot mouth. It was all too much. More than she could stand.

  Her orgasm was sudden and powerful, blinding in its intensity.

  She cried out, rough and glorious. As she rode the crest of it, he held on and when she was finished, he helped her to sit up.

  Without speaking, he took the blanket she’d found, spread it out on the laundry table, then went back to get her, laying her down gently on the table.

  Drowsily, her eyes closed.

  “Oh, no, sweetheart,” he murmured. “No sleep for you. We’re just getting started.”

  10

  ALMOST DYING, SAM KNEW from being a cop, was one hell of an aphrodisiac. Nearly being killed by a lightning-felled tree charged him up, just as falling off the eighth-story window with Cass had amplified his sexual response the week before.

  The musky taste of her loitered against his tongue. Divinely sensual. Deliciously decadent. Her flavor was as expensive as caviar and truffles, her body luminous with the luscious perfume of rich, aromatic lust.

  His body responded to her siren’s call.

  He toed off his shoes, shucked off his jeans and climbed onto the table beside her.

  “Turn onto your stomach,” he commanded.

  “What are you going to do to me?”

  “Do you want me to make love to you?”

  “Yes.” The word was a sigh of longing on her breath.

  “Then you must trust me. Turn over.”

  She trembled, her gaze flying to his face. “I’m afraid.”

  “That’s what makes it so exciting.”

  She obeyed, tentatively rolling over until she was lying prone in front of him.

  His breath escaped in a harsh rasp as he reached out to stroke his fingertips along the supple curve of her spine until he reached the small of her back.

  There it was.

  The magnificent butt that had dominated his waking fantasies every single day for over a week.

  His rough fingers staked over her silky flower-petal soft skin. He watched the muscles of her buttocks tense, sensing her nervous thrilled as she waited to see what he would do to her.

  One lone finger went on a scouting mission, sliding down to the top of her graceful crevice. The heat of her body was hotter here.

  He massaged her with the utmost care. Tenderly exploring. He found her tight little circle and barely touched her there.

  She shuddered.

  He brought his lips to the fleshy part of her buttocks. Kissed her and then nibbled gently, adoringly. Admiring, tasting and revering her.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he said. “So gorgeous.”

  “No more,” she complained. “I have to see your face. I have to kiss you.” She flipped over and in her fierceness, threaded her arms around his neck and pulled him down flush against her.

  They stared into each other’s eyes for a long wordless moment and then they tore into each other again.

  Licking, nibbling, biting, caressing.

  Intoxicated on each other they staggered into bliss. They murmured dirty words, whispered sexy pillow talk. Taking them higher and higher, making themselves crazier and crazier.

  Sam teased her, transporting her to the brink again, but refusing to let her spill over.

  “Wait,” he whispered, ni
bbling her earlobe.

  “I must have you now.”

  “Not yet.”

  She groaned, loud and plaintive. “How much longer are you going to torture me?”

  But he was torturing himself as much as he was torturing her. When he trailed his fingers so wickedly over the curve of her hip to the secret place below, his own body quivered with a rush of testosterone as she shivered beneath his touch.

  The sight of her rapturous face sent his brain in a frenzy of excitement. The pressure inside him was so great, his head throbbed and his ears rang. His body’s stark craving for her catapulted him into uncharted emotional territory, flying him into a sea of all-consuming desire.

  He was euphoric, optimistic, rejuvenated, revitalized. He wanted it to last as much as he wanted to plunge his shaft deeply into her. It was a battle he was destined to lose.

  She arched against him, begging for release from her torment. Then abruptly Cass broke their kiss. He stared at her, glassy-eyed and confused.

  “Condom?” she rasped.

  Condom? He couldn’t even think. “No condom.”

  “Oh, no way!”

  “Wait, wait. We’ve both been tested and we know we’re clean. Besides I haven’t been with a woman in over a year. Are you using birth control?”

  “I’m on the pill,” she said.

  “Do you want to go ahead?”

  “Yes, yes, yes.”

  Thank God. He’d have gone insane if he had to stop now. He pressed her back against the table, cradling her head in his palm.

  What a woman.

  Wrapping her legs around his waist, she thrust her pelvis up to meet his and he slid into her deep. They locked into a tempo so easy it was scary. They were new to each other and yet their bodies were intimately attuned to some ancient rhythm.

  He gazed deeply into her eyes, his fingers threading through her long blond hair. Heat radiated from her body, suffusing him in warmth.