“I’m good,” he said. At her skeptical glance, he tried to smile without letting her see the want he knew flared in his eyes. “Promise. Just call.”
Emily glanced down, and her cheeks flushed. She’d seen his arousal.
Squirming in her own seat, she dialed the number. “No answer. Again. Either home or business. They open at ten tomorrow morning, though.”
“We get you to safety first,” Mitch said. “Then regroup.”
Emily was quiet for a moment. “I’m sorry I doubted you. I shouldn’t have.”
Yes, you should.
Mitch wanted to scream the words, wanted to tell her the truth, but he knew better. Emily was just stubborn enough, just brave enough, to try to figure this out without help from him or anyone else in the police department.
He didn’t speak, and she leaned toward him. “Can you forgive me?”
She whispered the words in his ear, her breath teasing his skin, making him shiver with awareness. Whether she intended the words to stroke him with sensuality or not, she’d awakened the fire burning just beneath the surface. He swallowed deeply as her unique scent wafted between them. He longed to touch her hair, turn her head to him for a kiss. His body tightened with arousal.
He sent her a sidelong glance. Her eyes widened, then flared in response to his need.
He could barely control himself before he waved at the guard and accelerated toward Noah’s drive. He pulled into the garage and switched off the key. The heat between them pulsed like an electrical storm. His pulse slammed against his throat. He should pull away from her, but he didn’t want to. They were safe. They were alone.
Mitch unbuckled her seat belt and she scooted toward him, resting her hand on his chest. His heart thudded to meet her touch. He clasped her hand. “I won’t stop this time,” he said, his voice gruff. He looked at her, and she swallowed and licked her lips to wet them, begging for his kiss.
“I don’t want you to.”
“So be it.” He opened his door and didn’t say a word. He didn’t have to. He pulled her out of the truck and slammed his mouth down onto hers.
Emily’s head spun as he plundered her lips. Demanding, insistent, strong. He pressed against them, and she opened for him willingly, groaning as his tongue invaded her, tasted her.
His hands held her head steady as Emily snaked her arms around his waist. Her nipples tingled as her breasts pressed against his chest. She let her hands wander up and down his back, and he ground his hips against her.
“Give me what we’ve been wanting for the past two days,” he said as he nipped her ear.
“Follow me.” The husky words caught in her throat. She held out her hand, and he took it. She gave him her best come-hither look. “First one into the hot tub gets a massage.”
Three steps and she stood in front of the door, waiting. Mitch pulled out the key, his smile more relaxed. “I’ve got the advantage.”
“Perhaps.” Emily eased toward him and let her fingertips toy with the waist of his jeans, releasing the button.
He sucked in his stomach and groaned. “You are a temptress.”
Her lips pressed against the corner of his mouth. “No. I’m a woman who knows what I want.”
She snagged the key from his hand and bolted through the front door, peeling off her clothes as she went. He followed, shucking his own. The muscles in his arms rippled as he tossed his shirt to the side. She wanted to memorize the lines and explore his hair-roughened chest all the way down to his narrow waist and beyond.
He obviously wanted her. He crossed the living room and grabbed her by the hips, pressing her against the wall. “I don’t want the hot tub. I want you.” His skin plastered against hers. She could feel every hard line of his body seeking hers out.
Mitch’s lips lowered to her shoulder and he tasted her. “Mmm…you are so sweet, so sexy.”
His leg pushed between hers, and Emily’s body trembled. She’d never felt this kind of raw sensuality before. She wanted to shove him to the ground and take him, but she melted as he rocked against her, and an ache built deep inside her belly.
He pulled her closer, and her knees went to jelly. She clung to him. She wanted to be whole again, to be filled by a man who didn’t keep secrets, who didn’t hide from her.
She held him tight and rubbed her breasts against his chest. Her nipples beaded in response, begging for his caress. “Touch me.” She leaned back, exposing her aching nipples to his gaze. “Kiss me.”
He didn’t deny them.
Still holding his body against hers, his hand traveled from her hip, past her waist and to cup her breast, kneading the soft flesh, teasing her.
Mitch grinned and kissed her cheek. “There?” His lips stroked her temple. “Or here?” Then he tested the corner of her mouth. “Or maybe here?”
Her mouth parted, and she tilted her lips to his, capturing him, her tongue tasting his, her hands holding his head to hers. A low rumble echoed in his chest. She couldn’t get enough of him.
She grabbed his hands and took them to her breasts. “Here.”
He lifted his head, and his smile vanished. He lowered his lips to her breast.
Her body soared as he wove his magic. She shivered and sighed against him. He lifted his head. “I want you.”
She nodded, but she didn’t stop touching him. She backed toward the bedrooms, and he followed, his arms still around her, his body pressing against her, then pulling away in rhythm with each step he took.
By the time the back of Emily’s knees touched the bed, she could barely stand. She fell onto the mattress and tugged him to her.
Unwilling to wait, she opened her legs in greeting. Mitch looked down on her and groaned. “Protection?”
She flushed and shook her head, biting her lip in pure frustration. She wanted him. Now.
“This is my brother’s house.” He kissed her hard and rose from the bed and smiled at the view of her sprawled and waiting for him.
She knew her breathing was quick, her pulse pounding, her body ready for him.
“Stay right where you are. Don’t move.”
Her body hummed with anticipation, hungry for a touch, for release. What if he didn’t find protection? There were ways to relieve the ache in their bodies, but she wanted him with her. She wanted him to be a part of her.
He walked through the door holding a large box.
“You expect we’ll need all those?” she asked with a seductive smile.
“A man can dream.” He stopped just inside the doorway and stared at her. “
You
are my dream.” Placing the box of condoms on the bedside table, he took a packet and stretched out beside her. “Help me,” he said, his voice shaking slightly.
Her hands trembling, she touched him, and he surged in her hand before covering her with his body. He stared into her eyes as his hips flexed. She accepted him, and her body thrummed with joy as he filled her.
She let out a long sigh, and he smiled. He lowered his head to her throat and kissed her neck. Her scar.
She tensed under him as his mouth explored the ridge of skin at her throat that had so changed her life.
He raised his head. “You’re beautiful.”
“Don’t kiss me there.”
“You survived the attack.” He moved his hips, and her world clouded over. “That makes you even more beautiful. I’ll keep saying it until you believe it.”
He drove into her again and again. The past melted away, and all she could feel was Mitch and his body as he worshipped her. He drove her higher and higher. His breathing grew ragged until finally she shuddered in completion.
When awareness returned, he was draped over her.
“Amazing,” he whispered and kissed her throat once more.
Her hand reached to cover her scar, but he held it back. “Don’t hide from me. You don’t need to.”
Tears burned behind her eyes at the intense satisfaction in his. She hadn’t thought she’d ever feel this way again. Good. At peace. If only for a moment.
Her phone ringing stopped Mitch’s caress from her throat toward her breasts.
“I don’t want to move,” she said.
“I’ll get it.” Mitch kissed the curve of her breast and rose, hurrying to find the phone tucked in her jacket pocket. “Blocked number,” he said. “Sales call?”
Emily took the phone and pressed the screen. “Hello?”
“Mrs....Mrs. Wentworth?” The whispering voice was urgent…and scared.
Emily’s hand gripped the phone tight while Mitch’s hand squeezed her shoulder. “Who is this?”
“It doesn’t matter. But I wanted you to know. Your son is alive.”
Chapter Nine
Emily’s face went milk-white. She dropped the phone, and fear slammed through Mitch. He picked up the instrument and wrapped his free arm around her waist. “Who is this? What do you want?”
Emily grabbed the phone from him, her fingers digging into his skin. “Please. Tell me where he is. I’ll do anything.”
The desperation in her voice twisted his heart. Only one person on earth would evoke that kind of response in Emily: Joshua.
Mitch pressed his cheek against hers so he could hear the call.
“Who was that? Who’s with you?” The woman’s voice trembled to a barely audible whisper.
“A…a friend,” Emily said, her voice shaking.
A shuddering breath escaped through the phone; then the slamming of a door sounded. “They’re back. I’ll call later. You get your son if I get enough money to escape them.”
“I’ll pay you anything!”
The phone went quiet, and Emily stared at it.
“She’s gone.” Emily tilted her head and met Mitch’s gaze. “She said Joshua is alive. He’s alive.”
Mitch wrapped her close as she shivered uncontrollably against him. “Emily—”
“I know what you’re thinking.” She clutched at him even harder. “That it’s probably a hoax. But no one’s ever called before. With everything happening to us, I have to take the call seriously. We’ve got to find out who she is.”
He kissed her forehead. “Do you still have the tracer the cops put on your phone?”
Emily moaned, sagged back into the bed and covered her eyes. “They stopped it after six months.”
Mitch gently removed her arm from her eyes. He took her hands in his. “We can find the number.”
“I don’t want the cops to know,” she said. “I don’t trust any of them.”
Mitch couldn’t stop the tension from entering his jaw. “Except me. And I have an alternative.”
He grabbed his phone off the nightstand and dialed his dad’s number.
“Mitch? You okay?” Paul Bradford’s voice was deep with worry.
“Until Noah gets a look at his SUV,” Mitch said drily. “Dad, I need your help. A blocked number traced. No cops. Can you do it?”
“Of course, but it’ll take a bit of time if I don’t go through the usual channels.”
“It’s more important to stay under the radar,” Mitch said then rattled off Emily’s cell number. “When can I have it?”
“Tomorrow?”
“Try to make it sooner. We may have a lead on Emily’s son. If not, I want to nail the person who called.”
The color drained from Emily’s face, and Mitch ended the call before hugging her to him. “I’m sorry, but she could be playing you.”
Emily shook her head. “I don’t think so. She asked for money, but she really sounded afraid. I believe her.”
Mitch leaned back against the pillows and folded her in his arms, tucking her under his chin. “We’ll assume she’s trying to get out of a bad situation. For now. I’ll let Dad do whatever electronic voodoo he’s been perfecting. Until then, we wait.”
As he cradled her in his arms, Emily rested her head against his chest. He listened to her breathing and lay still, amazed this woman had wrapped herself around his heart. He wanted to tell her the truth, longed to wash the lies from between them. But she was proud and strong. Those things he loved about her made him afraid for her.
“I’m so glad you’re the real deal, Mitch Bradford,” she said, snuggling closer.
No, he could never tell her.
E
MILY FELT WARM
AND
safe and protected, and he held her tightly, her back pressed against a strong chest. She wriggled against him, a pleasant soreness shifting through her legs and obvious desire pressing against her backside. He wanted her, even after they’d turned to each other twice more during the night. She felt better than she had in…forever.
Then she remembered.
She stiffened, her mind whirling. How could she feel this way when her son waited for her out there somewhere?
“Easy does it.” Mitch’s husky voice rumbled in her ear. “You’re okay.”
With a sigh, she faced the one man she could count on. She laid her hand against his cheek, his rough stubble scratching her palm. His hair was mussed, but his eyes were clear and concerned.
He drew a knuckle down her jaw. “What are you thinking?”
“That today could be the day I find Joshua.”
Mitch sighed. “It might not pan out. I don’t want you disappointed if she doesn’t call back.”