Chapter 15
Pipe didn’t like how quiet Cora had gotten.
More often than not, she exuded a sense of relentlessness.
Of stubbornness. But after meeting with the arsehole who’d refused to let them see Lara, she seemed subdued.
Almost despondent. And he hated it. He much preferred the woman who wasn’t afraid to disagree with law enforcement and Lara’s parents.
Who stood up to him and his friends. Who did what she thought was necessary without hesitation.
He’d left her in their hotel room, which he was relieved she had no problem in sharing, to talk to Owl and Stone.
He’d originally wanted to go to the Blue Moon and investigate himself, but he’d easily let his friends talk him out of it.
He felt a bone-deep need to stay with Cora.
To make sure she was all right. It wasn’t as if he thought she’d do something rash, it was more that he couldn’t bear to watch her suffer and not be there to try to ease her pain.
When he returned, Cora was sitting in the exact same position as when he’d left half an hour ago, seemingly lost in thought. Pipe didn’t hesitate to walk over to the chair and crouch down in front of her.
“Cora?”
She brought her gaze to him. “Are you leaving soon?” she asked in a flat tone.
“No. Owl and Stone are going.”
She frowned slightly at that. “I thought you were.”
“I changed my mind. They’ll go, see what they can find out, then brief us in the morning.”
“Then what?”
“We’ll see what they discovered and go from there.”
Her gaze went distant again. “Right.”
“Look at me,” Pipe ordered.
Cora sighed, but complied.
“We’re going to get in there and find Lara.” He waited for a reaction, but didn’t get one. “I swear.”
“This sucks, Pipe. We’re so close, but just as far away as we’ve ever been in finding answers. I hate this. Hate it,” she said vehemently.
“We’re going to figure this out,” he told her, putting his hands on Cora’s shoulders.
She shrugged off his touch and stood, pacing the small area next to the bed. “We need to do something now! Not sit around waiting for that asshole to hurt her even more. To possibly kill her, if he hasn’t already!”
Pipe was surprised at the sudden change from despondency to anger…but he was also glad to see it. He much preferred this Cora to the shell of the person he’d walked in on.
Standing, he approached her carefully.
“Don’t touch me,” she warned, holding up a hand.
Pipe ignored her words and the hand and pulled her roughly into his embrace.
Cora struggled for just seconds before giving up and melting into him.
Her arms went around him and she clung to him so tightly, Pipe wasn’t sure she would ever let him go.
Which was perfectly all right with him. He walked backward toward the bed and managed to climb on with her still wrapped around him.
He rolled until she was under him and took her face in his palms. “She’s alive,” he said firmly.
“You don’t know that.”
“I do. If she wasn’t, why does Michaels have a bloody bodyguard answering the door for him? He needs her alive for some reason, probably to access her money. Tell me this—would her trust continue to pay out if she didn’t make contact with her family occasionally, or whoever is in charge of it?”
Cora frowned in surprise, as if she hadn’t considered that question before.
“Actually, no. I don’t think so. She’s complained on more than one occasion that it’s a pain in the ass to call the man who releases the money into her account every month.
Apparently, he’s a talker. She has a tough time getting off the phone. ”
“Right,” Pipe said. “And if she wasn’t alive, I have a feeling Ridge would have no problem meeting with you himself.
He’d simply tell you she left. He’d make up some story about how they got into a fight and she stormed off and he hasn’t seen her since.
That’s what murderers do to try to get away with what they’ve done.
She’s alive, Cora, I believe that with all my heart, and I’ll do whatever it takes to get her away from him. ”
Cora stared at him for what seemed like minutes, but in reality, was probably only a few seconds.
Then she lunged upward, locking her lips to his.
She kissed him almost desperately. Grunting, Pipe rolled until she was on top. Cora lifted her head and stared down at him, breathing in harsh pants.
“I want you,” she stated baldly.
Every muscle in Pipe’s body tightened. He wanted her too. So bloody much it scared him. But there was no way he was going to take advantage of the current situation.
As if she could read his mind, she frowned. “Don’t,” she ordered.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t think that I don’t know what I’m saying.
That I’m not in my right mind, or I’m influenced by grief or whatever.
Every time I do something that should turn you off, should make you think, ‘wow, this woman is crazy, I need to get away from her,’ you actually do everything in your power to pull me closer.
I’ve never known anyone like you, Pipe. And I’ve never felt this way before. ”
“What way?” he couldn’t help but ask.
“Like if I don’t get you inside me, I’m going to explode into a million pieces. Like being around you grounds me, makes me feel as if I’m actually worthy of affection. Of…of being loved.”
“There’s no doubt about that,” he said firmly.
Cora shook her head. “You don’t get it,” she whispered.
“My entire life, I’ve felt as if I’m on the outside looking in.
Watching people find love, connect, feeling as if I’m missing the gene that allows me to do the same.
But with you…from the second I saw you on that stage, something inside me just clicked. It was as if I was waiting for you.”
Pipe licked his lips. He’d felt exactly the same way. It was uncanny. He wasn’t a big believer in fate or love at first sight. But with this woman, everything he thought he knew was turned on its head. As if fate was laughing at him and saying, “See?”
“Are you sure?” He couldn’t deny this woman anything. And Lord knew he wanted her just as badly as she apparently wanted him.
In response, Cora reached for the hem of her shirt. She whipped it off over her head before he could blink. She sat astride him in her bra, and Pipe’s mouth went dry. She was so bloody beautiful, it almost hurt to look at her.
His Cora was a curvy woman. He supposed some people would call her fat, but all he saw were feminine curves that his palms literally itched to touch.
He didn’t know how long he lay frozen under her, but it was long enough for her brows to furrow and a look of uncertainty to cloud her expression.
He hated that he’d caused her one second of doubt.
He sat up suddenly, and Cora let out a small screech of surprise before he was kissing her.
His tongue plunged into her mouth, and he held her tightly against him with one hand at her neck and the other palming her back.
Without thought, he trailed the latter up until he fingered the clasp of her bra.
He deftly undid it, then tore his lips from hers and leaned back.
She smiled almost shyly at him, and dropped her arms, letting the straps of the bra fall down her biceps, the cups covering her tits following suit.
“Bloody hell!” he exclaimed as he saw her bare for the first time. She was perfect. Literally perfect. As he stared, her nipples began hardening, and he couldn’t stop himself from dipping his head.
She helped by arching her back and giving him room as he closed his lips around one of her nipples. He sucked. Hard. And was rewarded by the shimmy of her hips and a long groan from her mouth. The nipple hardened further, as if reaching for more of his touch.
And he gave her what she asked for without words. He devoured her. Sucking, biting, licking. And with every caress, she squirmed harder. His Cora wasn’t a passive lover. Her fingernails dug into his skin as she rocked into him, demanding more.
Abruptly, Pipe let go of her, causing her to fall onto her back on the bed.
His hands went to the button on her jeans and he roughly jerked the denim down her legs.
To his relief, he heard Cora giggle as she lifted her hips to help.
He’d forgotten she was still wearing shoes, and it took a moment for him to get those off, as well as her socks, before removing the jeans altogether.
She smiled up at him as she put her thumbs under the elastic of her underwear and shoved them down. Pipe helped by pulling them off her legs and throwing them aside. Then he lunged with a groan and shoved her legs apart.
“Yes, Pipe…please, yes.”
He needed to taste her more than he needed to breathe. He hadn’t expected this when he’d decided to stay at the hotel with her while Owl and Stone went out to investigate the Blue Moon. But now that she was under him, he couldn’t slow himself down.
Cora’s hands went to his head and gripped his too-long hair almost roughly as he licked up the seam of her pussy. She tasted like heaven. He’d never enjoyed this, had only gone down on women a small handful of times. But with Cora, he didn’t think he’d ever get enough of her taste.
She kept herself neatly trimmed and it was easy to find her clit. Using a finger to pull back the hood, exposing the small bud, Pipe lowered his head and sucked as hard as he had with her nipple.
In response, Cora shrieked and almost pulled the hair out of his head. “Pipe!”
He didn’t respond. He was too busy. He closed his eyes and lost himself in the feel and taste of Cora. Her thighs closed around his head and it became hard to breathe, but Pipe didn’t care.
Her pussy was soaking wet now, and he eased a finger inside her as he sucked and teased her clit. She jerked once more, then suddenly opened her legs as wide as she could. “More, Pipe. Harder!”