CHAPTER TWENTY
The afternoon had been filled with more paperwork than either Sawyer or Angela wanted to read. Folders held newspaper clippings and copies of every report Parker could find. Receipts and rental guest history began years before the night of the murders, starting when Mylene Hathaway had first been assigned to the DNI. Parker had scrounged every speeding ticket and toll booth payment between Mark Hathaway and Tabby Foster. The paper trail was never-ending.
Angela stretched and watched Sawyer fill his water glass and return to the table. “Should we take a break?” she asked.
“I can’t look at this anymore. My eyes are crossing.” He reached from behind her and pushed the papers away. “It can wait until later.”
Her eyes were probably crossing too. Somewhere in the records of phone conversations and bank transactions was the answer she needed. But she was so tired of reading through the piles of paper that she might miss the answer even if it were in front of her. She stood up and stretched. “You’re right.”
His warm hands rested on her shoulders, his thumbs pressing into the muscles that had tightened while she was hunched over the table. His fingers squeezed.
Angela’s eyes slipped shut. Shivers cascaded down her arms. “That feels so good.”
Sawyer massaged the base of her neck, slowly moving until his fingertips brushed the back of her hair pulled into a ponytail. He tugged the band out and threaded his hands into her loose hair. Tension dissolved from her body.
“That’s heavenly,” she said.
She turned around in his arms. His hands slid down and fell away.
Was he going to kiss her again? Was she ready for them to cross the line beyond all talk? Angela’s breath shook. She didn’t care if he saw her chest rise and fall like she’d never been touched by a man before. She hadn’t been. Not really. Nothing in her past rose to the level of this powerful man simply standing close. This was what desire felt like. She’d lived too long and not known.
Sawyer positioned his hand on her hip and secured her in place. “You are beautiful.”
The gravelly deepness of his voice rumbled through her nerves. Shivers cascaded from her chest to her toes.
His hand skimmed to the small of her back and pulled her close. The bulge of his arousal was a shock. She hadn’t touched him. She hadn’t tried to act sexy. Angela turned him on by merely existing.
“I like your hair like that.” He grinned. “Loose and a little crazy.”
“Well, I’m feeling a little crazy,” she admitted.
His free hand ran up her spine and into her hair, which he gave a tousle. “That makes two of us. I’m feeling a little crazy for you.”
She wrapped her hands behind his neck, and he brushed her hair off of hers. He nuzzled against her. Warm breath tickled under her ear. The stubble on his cheek scratched gently under the curtain of her hair. Angela prayed for his lips to touch her skin. She tilted her head. He bent closer, breathing her in.
Sawyer was awakening parts of her body that she didn’t know existed. A deep arousal swirled through her. “I didn’t know I could feel this alive.”
“Me either,” he whispered, lips barely touching her cheek.
A quiet moan escaped from her. Maybe she should’ve been embarrassed, but the same hungry groan sounded from him. It was more than she could stand.
The soft touch of his lips brushed over hers. The gentleness was almost too much to take from this muscled, massive man. His patience nearly made her cry—and then everything changed. Softness became starvation. Her hands knotted in his shirt, his in her hair.
His sweet mouth opened to hers and devoured. Their tongues teased and danced until need purred in her throat. Her body hummed. Angela needed this man so much she hurt.
And then he slowed again. He gave her gentle, careful attention, and it was just as good. Angela opened her eyes. Sawyer was staring down.
He stroked her cheek. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know how I’m still standing.”
His chest jerked with silent laughter. “Come out on the deck with me.”
A protest formed on her lips. But the sexy way his smile curved stole her dissent away. He led her out the sliding glass door to an oversized lounge chaise that faced the ocean. A flower-covered lattice blocked them from the neighbors’ sight. The view overlooked the rise of grass-covered dunes and the ocean. As long as they weren’t standing next to the deck rail, no one could see them. They were in an oceanside oasis.
The setting red-orange sun sank on the opposite side of their house. Pinks and grays reflected in the puffy white clouds over the ocean, and the waves crashed rhythmically. Sawyer sank onto the lounger and pulled her alongside him.
This was why couples honeymooned at the beach. She’d never thought about it before and would’ve guessed the allure was more like bathing suits and drinks. But she would’ve been wrong. Profound awe welled deep in her chest. They were just tiny specks in the great cosmos. Yet they had feelings as powerful as nature—and that was just how she felt before he kissed her.
The wind blew warm and salty. A sly grin hung on his chiseled face. Maybe he noticed that she’d been floating.
Angela could feel her own silly look curving on her kiss-swollen lips. “Why’d you drag me out here?”
Amusement danced in his eyes. “Because I needed fresh air.”
“I don’t know. I forgot to breathe and was still standing,” she teased. “Barely.”
“I was holding you up.”
“Okay, probably.”
“Who’s going to hold me up?” he joked.
She patted the lounger. “Now you don’t need to worry about that.”
“What about you?” Sawyer played with her hair. “What do you need?”
“That’s a big question, Sawyer.”
“That’s the way I roll.”
She pressed her forehead to his. “This.” From the inside out, she was shimmering. Confidence bubbled in her chest. Arousal pulsed. She was drunk on him and had barely had a taste. “You.”
He would give and take in ways she couldn’t conceive. That was the trust she had in Sawyer, and in return, she would give him everything he wanted.
He scooped her onto his lap, and their mouths met again. Sawyer rubbed his hand over her knee, rubbing her thigh. Her sex throbbed. A building ache deep in her core dropped lower and lower as his strong hand inched higher.
“I want more than that,” she whispered against his lips.
He nipped her bottom lip. His fingers slipped under her shorts. Her breaths raced as his touch crawled closer and closer to where she wanted him. Her legs shifted apart. His knuckles grazed the silk that covered her mound. The tease had just enough pressure. Again, Angela couldn’t breathe.
“Like that?”
Did he have to ask? “I might kill you if you stop.”
He laughed against her mouth. “That’s not the way I plan to go, sweetheart.” Still, he moved his hand. “Lift up.” Sawyer tugged her bottoms off. His fingertips fluttered over the triangle of hair between her legs. “Better?”
Lost for words, she nodded.
“Tell me what you like.”
Angela didn’t have the first clue. “I don’t know.”
He inched her legs apart and, this time, without the barrier of clothes, stroked the back of his knuckles against her again. His arm around her back held her in place. Her eyes pinched shut as his knuckles skimmed across her folds, playing against her slick skin.
“This?” Careful fingers teased and spread her until the cool ocean air danced with his rhythmic touch. The pads of his fingertips circled her clit with a delirious pressure. “That’s good?”
Her head dropped back. “Yeah.”
“Good.” Sawyer kissed her neck.
Angela squirmed and lifted her hips. The incoming climax would be too much. His fingers abandoned her throbbing clitoris.
“No, no, no…”
But he moved to her opening, and her mind changed instantly.
“God,” she gasped.
Sawyer retook her mouth. His tongue moved against hers. His fingers pressed into her tight entrance. The filling pressure brought needy gasping sounds from deep in her body. “Sawyer.”
He worked her into a frenzy. Angela couldn’t catch her breath. Her hips flexed. A desperate low cry roared through her as her climax exploded.
Angela floated in his arms. Her limp legs tangled with his, and Sawyer held her close. Inexplicable tears lodged at the back of her throat.
He stretched them both out on the loungers so they lay face to face. Sawyer stroked her hair. He didn’t hurry her along, didn’t rip off his clothes. He just held her as the sun dropped lower in the sky and the day fell into twilight.
Finally, she took a deep breath and raised her eyes to his. What did a person say after a world-shifting experience? She didn’t know.
But apparently Sawyer did. “That was fuckin’ amazing.” The corners of his mouth curved up as though he meant it.