Against the Sky (22 page)

“You appreciate what I've done,” he said, repeating her words, “but you aren't interested in me as more than a friend.”

Mary's beautiful face filled with regret. “I wish it could be more than that. And I appreciate your friendship more than you could ever know. But all those things that happened to Cora, the way my father treated us, the men I dated over the years . . . I'm just not ready, Cord. Maybe someday I will be, but not yet.”

He just nodded. Almost from the start, he had known the way she felt. It didn't change the way he felt about her. It didn't mean he would let anything happen to her or to Jimmy.

For the second time in his life, he was deeply attracted to a woman who didn't return his feelings. Maybe he wasn't cut out for a serious relationship. He should have been more careful, shouldn't have let his emotions get involved.

It wouldn't happen again, Cord vowed. He was fine the way he was. Aside from sex, he didn't need a woman.

With any luck, he never would.

Samantha was exhausted. They both needed to get some rest, especially Nick. Deciding to sleep in one of his clean white T-shirts while he stripped down to a pair of briefs, Samantha surveyed the narrow beds in the room.

“I hate twin beds,” Nick grumbled, hauling her into his arms and kissing the side of her neck.

Warm shivers raced down her spine. It was crazy. Nick desperately needed sleep. They both did. How could she possibly be thinking of sex?

“I wonder how much trouble it would be to push the beds together?” she heard herself saying, and clamped her mouth shut in utter disbelief.

Nick grinned. In less than a minute, he had the beds rearranged and Samantha working to redo the covers. Nick pitched in to help, and as soon as they were finished, he flopped down on the now king-size bed and tugged her down on top of him.

“We probably should be sleeping,” she said, kissing the corners of his mouth. She could feel his heavy erection pressing against her thigh, and a soft ache started in the place between her legs.

“Yeah,” Nick said with a sleepy yawn. “Probably.” Samantha pressed her mouth against his chest, trailed soft kisses over a flat copper nipple. She'd started working her way down his torso when she realized his hand had quit moving up and down her back.

Raising her head to look at him, she saw his eyes were closed, his features slack, his body relaxed in sleep.

A soft pang slipped through her as she watched him. Thirty-plus hours of fighting bad guys and driving through a blizzard was a very long time, even for a tough guy like Nick. She gently kissed his mouth one last time and nestled against him, her own eyelids drooping. She'd only had a few hours of sleep herself.

Giving in to the fatigue dragging her under, she draped her arm over his powerful chest, snuggled against him and closed her eyes.

She wasn't sure how long she slept. At least three hours, she figured. She didn't know what had awakened her, but when her eyes cracked open, she was still spread over Nick's chest, her arms looped loosely around his neck. When something hard nudged her thigh, she realized he was as aroused as he had been when they had fallen asleep.

One of his big hands moved under her T-shirt, tracing the line of her spine, continuing down over her bottom. His warm touch made her skin feel hot and tight, made her nipples peak, and the ache return between her legs.

Two could play this game. Samantha took up where she'd left off before they'd fallen asleep, kissing the side of his neck, trailing tiny love bites over his amazing chest and shoulders. Moving lower.

Nick groaned.

When she shoved his briefs down, peeled them off, and started working over his powerful erection, he hissed in a breath. Moving restlessly beneath her, he let her have her fun for several long minutes. She loved the power she felt, the way his muscles tightened as the heat continued to build. But Nick was a man who liked to take control, and it wasn't long before she felt his hands around her waist.

“Okay, honey, you want to do the work. Here you go.” Samantha gasped as he lifted her up to straddle his hips. She could feel his heavy erection, braced her palms on his chest while he guided himself inside. His jaw clenched as she sank down on his rigid length.

“Damn, you feel good,” he growled at the feel of her wrapping around him. She adjusted herself to take him deeper, then slowly started to move.

It felt better than good. The fullness, the closeness, the two of them moving perfectly together. Sensation rushed through her, shivered across her skin. Until she'd met Nick, she had never known this kind of pleasure. Every little movement sent ripples of heat into her most sensitive places, then spread out over her skin. She started moving faster, taking him deeper, heard him hiss in a breath.

“Easy, baby, I can't take much more.”

But Samantha didn't want to wait. She wanted all Nick could give her. While his hands cupped her breasts, she rode him, didn't stop moving until the first climax struck, a hot wave that pulsed through her body and speared out through her limbs. With a soft sob, she gave in to it, let the rush of pleasure burn through her.

She barely noticed when Nick rolled both of them over, came up above her, and took control. Driving hard, his heavy weight pinning her to the mattress, in seconds he had her moaning, clinging to his shoulders as he carried her to a second stunning climax then followed her to release.

For long seconds they floated down, both of them lost in this brief respite from their troubles. Then Nick lifted himself away, settled next to her on the mattress and drew her snuggly against his side.

“I'm glad you're staying,” he said softly, before his eyes slid closed and he was once more sound asleep.

Samantha closed her eyes against a rush of emotion. Respect for the man he was, a man who had learned the skills to protect himself and others. Trust that he would keep her safe. Admiration for his sense of honor and justice.

For the first time she realized that the deep feelings she held for Nick added up to one simple thing.
Love.
She had fallen in love with Nick Brodie.

And dear God, leaving him was going to break her heart.

 

 

Two hours later, while Nick was still sleeping, Samantha quietly eased out of bed, grabbed her robe and headed down the hall to the bathroom. After a quick shower, she quietly returned to the room, got dressed, pulled her laptop out of the suitcase and made her way downstairs. Amazingly, she didn't wake up Nick.

Since her laptop was fully charged, she sat down on the sofa and set it up on the coffee table. Connecting to Cord's Wifi, she booted up and checked her e-mail, found a message from her mom and three from Abby.

How are you doing? her mother asked. Haven't heard from you in a while. Hope everything is okay. Her mother went on to tell her about the shopping trip she and her friend, Margaret, had recently made to Nordstrom's. The chatty note rattled on, mentioning all the little things her mom and dad had been doing around the house.

It all sounded so normal, Samantha had to fight back tears. Nothing for her had been normal since her trip to Las Vegas.

She made some inane reply, assured her mom she was perfectly fine, then went on to read and reply to Abby's worried e-mails.

She made no mention of the mayhem and murder surrounding her. She wasn't ready to go home, and once Abby knew the truth, she would insist Samantha leave.

Clicking off her e-mail, she brought up Google. She wasn't quite sure how to begin her research on porn sites, but there was no time like the present to start.

“What are you working on?”

Samantha paused and looked up to see Mary standing beside the computer. As lovely as she was, Samantha had never felt insecure around Mary. She seemed to have a way of putting people at ease.

“I've got a couple of things I need to check out. Did Jimmy come back?”

Mary nodded. “While you were napping. He has school on Monday, so we have another day before he starts missing classes.”

“Did he seem okay?”

“He asked me if I thought what Nick said about his father was true. I told him it didn't matter what Alex had done. The important thing was to remember that his father and mother both loved him.”

“And you love him, too,” Samantha said gently.

Mary glanced away. “I've never told him. I'm afraid he'll think I'm trying to be a substitute for his parents. But I love him very much. I loved him the moment I saw him in my sister's arms.”

A noise sounded behind them and they both turned to see Jimmy standing in the kitchen doorway.

“I love you, too, Aunt Mary.”

Mary made a small sound in her throat, walked over and wrapped the boy in a hug. “We'll get through this, Jimmy. We've got each other. That's more than a lot of people have.”

He nodded. A little embarrassed, he backed away and called for Duke, who scrambled to his side. Both of them headed upstairs.

Mary turned back to Samantha. “Why are you still here, Samantha? After all that's happened, you should go back to San Francisco. You'd be safe there. With people like these, anything could happen.”

“Maybe I should leave, but I'm not going to. It's a long story, Mary. And complicated.”

“We're stuck here. Nick's still asleep and Cord's outside cutting wood. I've got time to listen.”

“All right.” They went into the kitchen, where Mary poured each of them a cup of coffee, then they carried their cups back into the living room and sat down.

“I'm staying because of my sister,” Samantha said. “She died when she was twelve years old.” Samantha went on to tell Mary about Danielle and how she'd been abducted, raped, and murdered. How they had never found the man who killed her. “This is my chance to do something for girls like Danielle and that's what I'm going to do.”

“You lost a sister and so did I. I guess we have more in common than I thought.” Mary went on to tell Samantha about Cora, the story she had told Cord earlier. She said she felt free of the vow she had made, now that Alex Evans was dead.

“You mustn't tell Jimmy,” Mary cautioned. “He may find out someday, but he isn't ready to hear it now.”

“I won't say anything to anyone. I imagine Cord will tell Nick, though. It might be important to their investigation.”

“I trust Nick.”

Samantha smiled. “I do, too.”

“Are you in love with him?”

A hard knot settled in her chest. “I can't be. We're just too different to ever make it work.”

“I think he cares for you very much.”

“Nick's extremely protective. I think it's just part of his nature. I hope it doesn't go any deeper than that. Neither of us can afford to get more involved than we are already.” Ignoring the tightness that settled in her chest, she took a sip of her coffee. “What about you and Cord?”

Mary sighed. “I guess it's kind of a similar situation. Cord's a wonderful guy, but I'm not ready for a relationship. Not with him or anyone else.”

“Life can be hard sometimes.”

“I learned that a long time ago.” They talked a little longer, then Mary changed the subject, bringing an end to the intimate conversation. “Cord bought some pork chops on our way up here. They're in the fridge. Maybe you'd be willing to fry them for supper.”

“I'd love to. As soon as I'm finished with my research, I'll look around, see what I can find to go with them.”

“Great.” Mary rose from her chair. “I'd better let you get back to work.”

Samantha nodded. “I'd like to finish before Nick wakes up.” Since he probably wouldn't think digging into erotic websites was a very good idea.

Setting her coffee cup down on the table, Samantha rested her hands on the keyboard and started typing. She wanted to see if she could find any erotic websites that linked to the group of motels owned by the Northland Corporation.

She almost smiled. Good thing she was using her own computer to dig up information, not Cord's. It might not look good for a police detective to be snooping around on Internet porn sites.

Bringing up Google, she typed in
craigslist
, went to the personals, and clicked on Anchorage, Alaska. She read the warnings and agreed to the hold harmless clause. But something must have changed because she couldn't find an Erotic Services section. There were plenty of personals, people looking for every sort of relationship, and some had extremely graphic photos, but mostly it looked like a lot of sad, lonely people seeking companionship.

She tried another avenue, typed in Erotic Services Anchorage, and a list of sites popped up on the screen:
Socialsex.com
,
Localadultpages.com
, a website called
Naughty Reviews
. She clicked on the last one and her eyes nearly popped out as photos of a dozen naked women filled the screen. Some of them were even streaming live video.

Good Lord, it was like a giant shopping mall for sex! No wonder the police had trouble controlling it.

Resigned to viewing a lot of pictures she didn't want to see and would have trouble getting out of her head, she read the date of the posting, found the current ones, and started clicking on each photo, bringing up the woman's personal webpage. At the bottom of the page was a Contact Info section, giving a street address, city, and phone number.

Opening a software program on her computer, one that held the list of motels Northland owned and their addresses, she cross-checked the addresses of the women on the page.

Nothing matched the first group. Nothing matched on the additional pages on the site. She worked her way through the women's photos on the other two main websites, found nothing there. She was beginning to get discouraged when she pulled up NakedNaughties.com. Slogging through the photos, she was just about to give up—then bingo!

Finally, there it was! A near-naked photo of a woman using the name Ruby: black hair, smooth brown skin, attractive, somewhere in her twenties. She was offering her services as a masseuse, and the contact address matched an address for the Sunset Motel, one of the properties on Northland's list.

Her pulse kicked up. She took another, longer look at the photo. The woman was wearing a lot of makeup, but her almond eyes said she was probably Asian or Alaska Native. A map in the corner of the website marked her location by a red star on the Glenn Highway east of Eureka.