Chapter Thirty-One #2
“I did. I do.” But her expression registered conflict. “But Jimmy’s right. It’s worth exploring all avenues, and that’s what I’ve been doing.”
“And it’s hurting,” he said, “going back through your time spent with him.”
Something that looked like relief came into her expression.
At being understood? “Yes. Very much. But it’s good too.
It’s been a form of healing I didn’t know I needed.
And maybe I wouldn’t have forced myself to go there again in my mind if not for this situation.
Whenever I’ve started thinking about it in the past, it’s been my instinct to push it away, you know?
Self-preservation. And that was okay, before, because I didn’t believe there was a good reason to relive the details.
But…I can’t do that anymore. Not now. Not if something I remember might help some of the families grieving for their murdered daughters find closure.
And not if something I remember might help catch this guy. ”
Zach’s admiration for her swelled, making his chest feel full. “You’re incredible. You really are.”
She shook her head, denying his words, but the small, shy smile on her face told him his compliment had pleased her.
“Have you remembered anything that feels important?”
“Nothing momentous, but”—Josie set her fork down, meeting his eyes—“small things. Marshall spoke with a stutter. But sometimes, when he got upset or agitated, he didn’t.”
Zach frowned. “Could be the nature of his speech impediment. Maybe high emotions caused an increased speed of speech and sort of ‘fixed’ his stutter temporarily.”
“Could be. Again, none of the things that I recollected about him yesterday or today are groundbreaking. I’m just trying to bring forth things that help either prove or disprove Jimmy’s theory.
” She tapped her plate lightly with her fork.
“I want to help, Zach. I want to make sure what happened to me and the other victims doesn’t happen to any other woman. ”
They both ate in silence for a few minutes, the music providing low background noise. “I didn’t peg you for a country music fan,” Josie said, nodding to the radio sitting on the counter.
“No? What’d you have me pegged as?”
She grinned, and for a second, his heart nearly stopped. Fuck fuck fuck. “Definitely rock. Something loud and intense, but also deep and…poetic.”
Zach smiled as he stood, picking up his empty plate and nodding to hers.
She pushed it toward him. “I’m going to take that as a compliment.
And I can go for some rock,” he said, placing their plates in the sink as Josie picked up their glasses and brought those to the sink as well.
“But I gotta admit, some of this country is damn catchy.” He turned, catching her off guard and taking her in his arms as he spun her around, and she laughed in surprise.
God, that sound was so good. So damn welcome. Especially after her earlier sadness, the tears that had flowed so freely as he’d held her in his arms on the riverbank.
She tipped her head back. “On second thought, maybe I was wrong. There’s some cowboy in you after all, isn’t there, Detective?”
“I’ve been known to wrangle a bad player or two.” He grimaced and gave his head a shake as though his own cheesy line had offended him.
Josie laughed. “Is that your best cowboy lingo?”
“Apparently.” He spun her around again and let her go, grasping her hand and pulling her back.
Their bodies bumped gently, their smiles fading as Josie stared up at him.
Zach’s breath stalled. She was warm against him, warm and soft.
Her womanly curves molded perfectly to his body.
The song changed, something slow and crooning filling the air around them, mixing with the blood beginning to whoosh in Zach’s ears.
Josie’s eyes moved to his lips, and she licked her own.
Zach’s heart began pounding in his chest, muscles tensed, waiting.
And then as quick as that, her mouth was on his, and she was pressing herself more fully against him.
He let out a deep groan of need, their tongues meeting, tangling, as she angled her head so he could explore her mouth.
The taste of her went straight to his groin, and he swelled against his zipper.
They stumbled backward, Zach’s backside hitting the counter.
He brought his hands up, weaving his fingers through the silk of her hair, their mouths mating hungrily.
He was so damn hard, his erection pulsing hotly.
He attempted to press his hips back, worried he would frighten her, that the evidence of his arousal would make her draw away, but she seemed as desperate as him, her hips following the movement of his own.
When she pressed firmly against his erection, he hissed out a breath, their mouths breaking apart as their gazes met.
Josie’s eyes were half open, full of lust, her mouth red and wet from his kiss.
She was so beautiful, and an arrow of possession quivered through him, a deep throb of need that weakened his knees and took him off balance.
He tilted his head back, letting it fall against the upper cabinet.
Blood pumped swiftly through his veins, making him want to thrust and take.
God, he was turned on. Had he ever felt this hot for a woman?
He didn’t think so. But he wanted—needed—to give her a minute to change her mind about this, to slow things down if she needed to, because Lord knew, he could hardly think, and frankly, he was shocked she’d initiated this.
As she looked at him, something mixed with the lust in her expression…
a decisiveness, then a certainty. He might be half drunk on lust himself, but he was good at reading faces—it was what made him a good detective.
She brought her lips to his neck and pressed against him once more, and he groaned, bringing his head forward and finding her lips.
They kissed and touched, hands roaming, Josie leading him out of the kitchen as she walked them backward, their mouths still connected.
When they made it to the hall, she pulled away from him, their lips coming apart with a wet popping sound as she glanced from his room to hers, seeming to settle on her room as she led him there.
He paused outside it, kissing her slowly against the wall next to the door, once again giving her a second to let her head clear, to change her mind if she wanted to.
But she made a small sound of impatience, tearing her lips from his and leading him into the room where she pushed him onto the bed and climbed on top of him, leaning forward so they could kiss more.
Zach ran his hands over her ass, his hips circling instinctively, pressing upward, seeking relief.
Goddammit, he felt like he was going to come in his pants, lust pulsing so strongly through every pore of his body and flowing straight between his legs where his erection throbbed and ached.
Josie pulled her lips from his, scooting back slightly, so she could undo his jeans.
He attempted to make eye contact with her, but she seemed to be on a mission, and for a moment the lust fog cleared just enough that he could really look at her.
Her nipples were hard points beneath her shirt, her skin flushed with arousal, but the look on her face was intensely focused, something almost desperate in her gaze that he suspected had more to do with fulfilling this sex act than her enjoyment of it.
“Josie, wait—”
She ran her hand over his hard length, eliciting a groan. She met his eyes as her hand stroked him, bliss swirling, causing him to forget what he’d been about to say. “Do you want this?” she asked.
Wasn’t that his line? “Yes, God, yes, but—”
She swung a leg off him and maneuvered herself until she’d removed his pants. He sat up slightly, pulling his shirt off so he was lying underneath her, completely naked. “Condom,” he said, pointing to his pants. “Wallet.”
She removed his wallet from his back pocket and pulled the condom out, opening it quickly and sheathing him, her hands trembling as she did so.
She climbed back on top, her hand wrapping around his hot, throbbing dick and stroking once more.
He put his hand on top of hers, stilling her.
Despite the short pause and the condom over his skin, he was close.
“Josie, I’ll come if you keep doing that. ”
She smiled then, a small tilting of her lips as she climbed off him and removed her workout pants and her sweatshirt but left her bra on.
Her eyes moved to his erection, and nervousness skittered across her expression before she quickly schooled it, climbing back on top of him.
She took him in her hand, and he watched her as she lowered herself onto him, his vision blurring at the searing pleasure of her hot, wet body squeezing tightly around him.
“God, you feel good,” he said, pressing his head back into the mattress as she began moving, panting his name.
He brought his hands up and grasped her hips, his thumb finding the scarred skin on her thigh.
He circled it, raising his head to look at the place his hand had found by touch, his heart dipping when he realized it was the spot where the words casting blame had been written. Casus belli.
Oh, fuck. Josie.
She slapped his hand away from her scarred thigh, a kind of panic seizing her expression for a moment.
She let out a small gasping sound, part annoyance, part sob, as she grabbed his hands and held them down at his sides, her movements becoming jerky, uncoordinated.
Zach stilled, watching her as her expression crumbled and her fingers dug into the soft underside of his arms, bringing him solidly into the present.
“Josie, hey, it’s okay. We don’t have to—”
“No,” she said loudly, bouncing up and down on him, her movements frantic, expression slightly wild.