Somewhere in the swirls of passion, she realized. This was the moment. The second they’d been leading up to since they’d met. In this instant, nothing else mattered. What existed between them was propelled by some unknown entity. The attraction was much stronger, more powerful than either of them imagined. Their bodies, souls were meant to come together, if only for this one moment, this one time.
He broke the kiss and slightly rose above her. He urged her T-shirt up and slid his hand down the front of her sweatpants and under her panties. She caught a breath. The soft pressure of his thumb circling, stroking, and sliding between her thighs drove her to relinquish control. He understood exactly what to do and he did it very well. If anything described a feeling as too good, this would qualify.
A small tidal wave surged through her, the promise of bigger explosions on the way. Her need for him expanded beyond the plane of wanting more. Pure carnality detonated within her. She opened her legs wider, to invite him in. She wanted all of him.
He crawled over her, sank down on top of her, and growled in her ear, “We need to get these clothes off.”
He kissed her lips softly before he shoved her pants and underwear down at the same time, and tore off his boxers. The mere sight of him naked, made her hotter, the craving for him to be inside her amplified. He elevated over her, then lowered to cover her body with his and settled between her legs, his lips once more finding hers.
She froze, then put a hand on his chest to stop him.
He sucked in and stopped. “What?”
“You need to get off me,” she hissed.
“Why? What’d I do?”
“It’s not you,” she whispered. “I think I heard the front door open. Someone’s here.”
In a fluid motion, Eric rolled away from her. As Darla crawled out of bed, she yanked her shirt down, located her sweats, and slipped them over her hips.
“Stephanie sometimes stops by for coffee in the mornings,” she said in a low voice as she headed toward the door.
“Get rid of her.”
Darla walked into the next room and stopped her in her tracks. Her jaw dropped to the ground. Impossible. If she wasn’t seeing this with her own eyes, she wouldn’t believe it.
Finally she found her voice. “Um, Mr. and Mrs. Sunday?”
The owners of her house stood inside her living area. Mr. Sunday was at the bay windows, his back to her, while Mrs. Sunday was inspecting the new paint job on the walls with a sour expression. Both whipped around. The woman raked a scrutinized gaze over her, but Mr. Sunday grinned.
“Darla.”
She fleetingly met their eyes, but quickly dipped her chin to hide the blush coating her skin. She maybe should’ve re-adjusted her T-shirt better, except she hadn’t expected her uninvited visitors to be the proprietors of her home.
“Did we wake you?”
Darla raised her head, taken aback by the casual question. “Um, yes, I mean no, um,” She peeked at her bedroom door. “What are you doing here? I wasn’t expecting…”
“It’s obvious you weren’t anticipating company, dear,” Mrs. Sunday replied in a haughty tone.
Her husband glanced at his wife. “Under normal circumstances, we’d have called so you could make other arrangements for a place to stay, but we spoke with your boss, and he told us you were on your way to Texas. Did your plans change?”
“No, I had to postpone the trip. I’ll probably leave in the morning.”
“What are these brown stains on the floor?” Mrs. Sunday looked down then transferred her attention to the furniture. “Whatever it is, it’s spread over the sofa too.”
“Maids day off?” She gave a lame chuckle and did a quick scan at the stains.
She didn’t notice Eric was bleeding last night until she’d got him into bed, and she especially hadn’t realized he’d dripped on the hardwood or ruined the couch. “I’ll get it cleaned.”
Mrs. Sunday pointed to the fabric. “I don’t believe that’s going to come out.”
Darla was ready to explode, unsure how to handle the situation. Yes, they were the owners. But they needed to get out of here, pronto.
“I suppose we could find another place to stay for the night.” Mrs. Sunday suggested in a vague tone. “You’ll be leaving tomorrow then?”
“I can be ready tonight if necessary.”
Mrs. Sunday gave a nod as her inspection transferred from the ruined fabric to Shane’s coat across the arm of the chair. Darla seriously needed to return his jacket.
“Tomorrow will be fine.” Mr. Sunday hardly tore his eyes away from her. Even though she had on sweat pants, she was acutely mindful her underwear was in the other room. The lines in Mr. Sunday’s forehead deepened and he finally looked in a different direction. “What’s with all of the traffic in the neighborhood?”
“Oh, we’ve had some trouble in the area.”
“Trouble?” they both exclaimed, alarmed.
Darla opened her mouth to explain the situation, but halted. The couple simultaneously flinched and spun round to stare in the direction of the bedroom. Darla became still as a statue. Her heart rate plummeted; her mind prodded her to look. She slowly turned to her room.
Eric stood in the doorway. He leaned against the frame his arms folded with an angry expression over his face. “Everything okay, luv?”
Chapter 15
Mr. Sunday stuttered an awkward apology and his wife looked appalled as they hurried toward the door. The couple exited without a glimpse behind. They didn’t mention when they’d be back or if they planned on returning later. Darla watched them leave through narrowed eyes. Once her unwelcome company disappeared, she stomped to the front door, and gave it an extra shove, then twisted the lock with added force.
She whipped around to Eric. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? I don’t need you coming in here announcing your presence—” She stopped to process her thought.
“I didn’t announce anything. I hardly spoke a word.”
“You were standing in the bedroom door half naked.” With a thumb pointed to her chest, she stated, “This was my problem, and I can take care of myself.”
“Your problem?”
“I’m being very clear, here.”
“That old guy was practically slobbering all over himself. The perv kept staring at you, looking at your tits through that thin shirt, and the woman behaved like a first class snob.”
“They own this house and are friends of my boss. They also contribute large donations to the university where I work. Do you realize the position you put me in?”
He gave a disbelieving snort.
Darla glowered at him with tightened lips.
Eric hacked a soft cough. “If they were as highbrow as they projected, then they should be more considerate of personal space. You’re allowed a private life. What goes on during your time is no one’s business. If the boss doesn’t like it, well fuck him.”
“Some people don’t take to that kind of attitude. The Sundays clearly got the wrong idea about how I live. They may tell my supervisor they’d prefer someone else living here. I could lose my home and this might cause problems between me and my boss.”
“Sorry if my conduct gets you in trouble. Bottom line, I didn’t enjoy the way those assholes treated you. That’s why I made my”—he gestured over his lack of attire—“appearance.”
Darla’s scowl deepened as she studied him. He wasn’t happy with how they acted toward her.
This admission pleased her. And he was correct. Owners or not, those people were pretentious and warped. Their shocked expression over the sight of Eric emerging from her bedroom followed by their race to the door prompted a hint of a smile. Her grin slowly spread across her face before she burst into uncontrollable giggles.
The corner of Eric’s eyes crinkled as he joined in her laughter.
“Did you see them?” She couldn’t contain her amusement.
“They hurried out of here fast. Wheeew.” Eric made a flying motion with his hand. “I’m surprised they didn’t leave skid marks on the floor to go with the blood stains.”
They shared a smiling stare. Their amusement instantly died.
“Might be another reason I made my entrance.” Eric’s voice was low and rough. He stepped to her. “I didn’t appreciate the interruption.”
Darla’s heart gave a decisive thump as her mouth watered. The morning light shined onto the arch of his muscular shoulders. His chest was adorned with a dark strip of hair that trailed across the middle and stretched over his pecs. The red-hot vision made her forget everything except what stood in front of her.
He lowered his head, demanding her full attention. “Now where were we?”
His lips hovered over hers. A slight warmness from his breath tickled her skin. He slid an arm around her waist to draw her into him. She inhaled to savor his scent, an unmistakable reminder of his maleness. She tilted back to look into his indigo eyes. They revealed hunger, sparking her yearnings to surge. Neither spoke. No words were needed. He wanted her as much as she wanted him. Without thinking, she boldly pressed her mouth into his.
At first, he tensed, but his shock only lasted for a millisecond. He glided a hand around the back of her neck, his fingers intertwined into her curls to angle her head slightly. He deepened the pressure with his lips to take charge. Sexual currents sparked a tide of fiery intenseness scorching her inside and out.
Their kiss didn’t last long. The click of the lock forced them to jump apart. For the second time that morning, they had unwelcome guests. Stephanie and Blaine entered the house. Whatever they were discussing discontinued the instant they walked inside. Their surprised gazes bounced from Darla to Eric.
“Oh, you’re here.” Blaine grinned.
Eric directed his eyes upward and mumbled, “Is there anyone who doesn’t have a key to this place?”
Blaine’s smile widened. “Are we interrupting?”
“Not anymore.” Eric adjusted his boxers.
Blaine drifted closer to inspect Eric’s head. “Your bump looks better, but your disposition hasn’t improved much.” He gave Eric a quick once-over. “Nice outfit.”
Eric fixed an annoyed glance on his friend and turned away.
Stephanie pointed a forefinger toward the street. “Whose car was flying out of your drive as we were coming in?”
“Homeowners.” Darla smoothed her hair. “They got word I was leaving town and dropped in to check out their home.”
“They just stopped by?” Stephanie rolled her eyes.
Darla nodded. “They didn’t call first, so their visit was a
pleasant
surprise.”
“It’s like a revolving door around here today,” Eric chimed.
“Well, you might want to stay inside, regardless,” Stephanie told him. “We drove past your house. Reporters are everywhere.”
“Yeah, we found the same thing last night, which is why I’m here.”
Blaine sniggered. “I bet that’s the reason.”
Eric frowned at him and ignored his jab. “I assumed the gathering at our place is because of Finn’s death, unless someone else we know died and we’ve yet to be informed.”
“As far as I know, we’re all accounted for. Our discovery of Finn’s body is all over the news. I hear the police are looking for his brother to bring in for questioning,” Blaine warned. “He seems to have vanished, which is interesting.”
“Good. When they find him they can lock him up for being a bloodsucking leech.”
“The detectives called me this morning,” Blaine told Eric. “They are satisfied with us leaving town and suggested we do it immediately. They believe we’re in some deep shit.”
“I’m not feeling the idea anymore.”
“What? Drake’s dead. Mitchell is recovering with round the clock protection guarding his hospital room. We found Finn’s body. Someone shot you and conked you on the head hard enough to knock you out and fuck up your memory. A crazy nutcase has it in for our group. We need to disappear.”
“All the more reason to stay and figure things out before we go anywhere. Besides, we have a solid notion of who is behind all of this.”
“There’s a rumor going around he’s been sighted. Here. In the area.”
“Good. We should smoke him out.”
“Yeah.” Blaine grimaced. “Let’s hang here and be sitting ducks for a murdering maniac.”
“How do you know he won’t follow us?”
“I don’t. But the police said our best bet is to vanish until they can catch the guy.”
“And what if that doesn’t happen.” Eric’s voice rose. “People get away with shit all the time. How long are we supposed to hide? They expect us to run and put our lives on hold indefinitely.”
“Protecting ourselves only makes sense. Someone might want me dead and the thought of dying doesn’t thrill me much. If you view me as a coward, then so be it, but I’m scared.”
The two had closed in on each other and stood nose to nose. Darla’s intuition told her the men were tighter than brothers. This was one of those sibling type disagreements. She doubted the altercation would come to blows. Still, someone needed to intervene so they’d cool down to discuss their options in a more reasonable manner.
“Coffee.” She squeaked the interruption. “Who needs coffee? I do. I’m going to go make some.” She didn’t wait for any replies and hurried off toward the kitchen.
“I’ll help you.” Stephanie gave the guys a worried glance before she followed.
Darla retrieved the carafe and shifted to the sink to hold it under the faucet. She stared out the window, listening to the men quarrel from the other room while she filled the pot with water.
They’d lowered their voices. She was unable to make out what they said.
Stephanie spoke in a quiet tone. “We had no idea Eric was here and we certainly didn’t mean to interrupt.” She hesitated. “He seems to have improved nicely. Has he let you in on anything?”
Darla’s mouth leveled into a straight line. “Not much.” She poured the water into the coffeemaker. “Eric claims to be an aboveboard kind of guy. Although I’m getting the vibe he’s a lot more complex than he lets on.” She placed a dry filter into the coffeemaker’s basket. “This is only a feeling, though I’m guessing he has a handle on who put a bullet in him and the rest of the band, or at least he knows who’s behind it, but he’s not talking.”
“They’re both staying tightlipped about the whole thing. Blaine hasn’t mentioned a word to me either. I even asked. He ignored me and changed the subject.”