I raised my arm. ‘Give me a hand, would you?’
He pulled me to my feet, his eyes tracking slowly down my body.
I pinched my nose closed. ‘Anything strike you about your state of hygiene since you helped me upstairs?’
He glanced down at himself, half-grinned and scrunched up his nose.
‘I think you’d better add your clothes to the bag for the forensics team and step into the shower with me. That smell doesn’t work any better on you than it did on me.’
Really? Did I just say that? Since when am I so bold? What’s up with me? I must still be in shock.
His eyebrows shot up and then he shrugged. ‘How can I refuse such an enticing invitation?’ He sloughed off the fouled clothing and gingerly stepped into the tub, making sure he kept his back to me.
He had an astoundingly nice ass, firm, round, and begging to be palmed. I stood at the far end of the shower and watched the muscles in his back ripple as he soaped his arms.
After he’d washed everything he wanted to without turning around, he finally shifted his body and faced me, his compass enthusiastically pointing true north. My eyes feasted on the impressive erection and he stared at me as he lathered himself there.
I felt an earthquake.
‘Oh my,’ I uttered without thinking. I fought the urge to reach out and touch someone.
We admired each other in silence, eyes caressing where hands wished to be.
He turned off the water and ran his fingers through his wet hair, pushing the strands back from his face. His lovely purple-blue eyes sparkled mischievously and his cheeks were flushed. Moisture beaded on the muscles of his chest.
He stepped forwards, brushing my arm as he reached for the towels on the rack outside the shower. My skin tingled where he’d touched me and became the epicentre for waves of pleasure sensations. He handed me a towel, then slowly dried himself off and stepped out of the tub.
I stole another quick peek at his admirable erection and argued with myself about what I was thinking. I followed him, tucking the towel around me above my breasts, and moved over to the sink. I wiped off the mirror with my hand, leaned in and stared at my reflection. None the worse for wear, if you didn’t notice my spacey, glazed-over eyes. The normally clear-sky blue didn’t look so vibrant right then.
Alan made use of the extra toothbrush I produced and we stood side by side, silently gazing at each other in the mirror. I don’t let just anyone watch me take care of dental business.
I brushed my teeth, flossed and used every kind of mouth-wash I had in my medicine cabinet before I finally felt seminormal.
‘What do you need now?’ he asked.
Knowing exactly what I needed, I turned to him and met his kind eyes. ‘I want to curl up in my bed, under my covers, and I want you to hold me.’
The corners of his lips quirked up in an amused grin, which I interpreted as an affirmative. I grabbed his hand, led us into my bedroom, and pulled down the bed covers. I dropped my towel and slid between the sheets. Giving him my best ‘come hither’ smile, I patted the mattress next to me and sent a clear message. I wasn’t sure the Brazen Hussy part of my personality had ever had a chance to come out and play. She’d always been locked in the closet by Nerd Woman.
Wait. Do I have a Brazen Hussy part? Something has definitely juiced up my sexuality. Should I worry about that? Am I totally whacked? This is Devereux’s fault, I just know it.
He stood and gazed down at me, hesitating only a few seconds before he joined me.
Pushing thoughts of Devereux aside, I wrapped myself around Alan, finally feeling safe, and sighed. ‘Thank you for being here with me. You’re a good friend.’
‘A friend? You’re giving me way too much credit. I’m not having very friend-like thoughts at the moment.’
I met his eyes. ‘What kind of thoughts are you having?’ As if I didn’t know, even without the compass to point the way.
‘I’m-in-bed-with-a-beautiful-woman thoughts. But I know this isn’t the right time to be romantic because you need to rest and recuperate.’
‘It’s very sweet of you to take care of me.’
I didn’t want to think about where I’d been all night, or what might have happened, or the media frenzy that was waiting for me. I absolutely didn’t want to consider the probability that there really were vampires. And I especially didn’t want to think about what it meant for the world if there were hidden monsters everywhere. All I wanted was to be held, touched, connected to someone who wasn’t constantly probing my mind, without any expectations or rules or complications.
I brushed his lips lightly with mine and slid my hand down the muscled plane of his belly and along the warm, firm length of his erection. He moaned, grabbed a handful of my wet hair and pulled me tight against him as he closed his lips over mine with hungry need.
‘I haven’t even begun to take care of you yet,’ he breathed against my mouth.
Our bodies melted into each other as we took the kiss deeper, allowing all the emotions and tensions of the previous hours to find release through the firestorm of our mutual attraction. We kissed until every nerve in my body sizzled and burned.
He pulled away, his breathing ragged and his voice husky. ‘I don’t want to take advantage of this situation. Tell me to stop and I will.’
All I could think about was how good he felt next to me, how warm and sweet his mouth was on mine. And after the freak circus I’d experienced the night before, the pleasure of being with a normal male felt overwhelmingly right. Safe. Pure, primitive desire with no insanity attached to it. No fear.
‘Don’t stop.’ I ran my hands over his smooth chest.
He rolled me over onto my back and began to lick and suck my nipples as he trailed his hand down my stomach. His body was fever hot and his touch like liquid fire.
He brought his face up to mine. ‘Your body is beautiful. I’ve imagined this since the first moment I saw you.’
‘I’ve had some naughty thoughts about you, too.’
We kissed each other wildly, hands exploring. His erection rubbed against my leg rhythmically as he slid his finger into the hot wetness between my thighs. I arched my back and opened myself to him as a wave of ecstasy built inside me. He straddled me and licked his way down my body until his tongue finished what his finger had started. I screamed and dug my fingernails into his shoulders as he laved me over the edge. Quivering, I grabbed his hair and pulled him up onto me, aching for him to fill me, longing to be joined in that primal way. Wanting to give him what he’d given me.
Then there was loud pounding downstairs on my front door.
‘Dr Knight? Denver PD. Your door was unlocked. We heard a scream. Are you all right? Do you need help?’
Alan leaped up and ran into the bathroom.
I sat up in the bed and yelled, ‘No – everything’s fine. Stay where you are. I’ll be right down.’
Damn, damn, damn! That’s twice I’ve left my door unlocked in as many days, and both times I got interrupted in the middle of something delicious.
Still revelling in the spell cast by Alan’s magic mouth, the muscles between my legs contracted with desire as I breathed to recover myself. I heard the shower start in the bathroom and I was tempted to sneak in there so Alan wouldn’t have to finish without me. That thought provided an unexpected orgasmic aftershock and I forced myself to swing my legs over the side of the bed and stand up.
If only the cops had waited ten more minutes. Nothing about my world made sense any more.
I walked over to the closet, pulled on my pink terrycloth bathrobe, tied the sash and shuffled down the stairs.
CHAPTER 14
‘Dr Knight? I’m Detective Robles and this is my partner, Detective Nyland – we met at the station earlier. We have a few more questions for you, and the forensics team is sending someone by to pick up the clothes you were wearing last night. Do you have them bagged and ready?’