It was a long time later when she lifted her head and offered him a wet, wobbly smile.
“I’m sorry. I seem to be awfully good at blubbering all over you. First your shirt, and now your chest.”
She reached for a tissue and with gentle strokes, wiped the dampness off his skin. He tensed when she unintentionally caressed his nipple. His body came to instant attention. It didn’t take her long to notice.
Her eyes widened and she looked up at him. He held her gaze, hoping she could see in them how much she meant to him, how much he wanted her. Her hand stole up and touched his lips with her fingertips, feather soft and fleeting. He sucked in his breath as his heart hammered in his chest.
His eyes never left her face.
She reached up and pulled his head down to hers. As their lips met, heat exploded in his belly. Within minutes, his cock was rock hard, pressing with increasing urgency against his jeans.
Breathless, he broke off the kiss and gasped for air. Taking her face in his hands, he stared down at her and tried to get his breathing under control.
“We don’t have to do this, Ellie. I don’t have a condom and—”
“It’s all right. I remembered I have some in the bathroom cabinet. A friend of mine gave them to me over a year ago.” She offered him a wry grin. “I think she was trying to tell me it was time.” Her eyes burned into his. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
He frowned at her, still uncertain. “Don’t feel you have to—I mean, are you sure?”
“I want you, Clayton. I need you. I need you inside me, filling me. I’ve been so empty.”
She pulled his head down to hers again and kissed him long and hard. “I’ve never been surer.”
A few minutes later, Ellie returned from the bathroom with a handful of foil packets.
Clayton grinned. “Wow, that’s what I call a hint.”
Heat spread across Ellie’s cheeks, but she opened her hand and offered him the contents. With a growl from deep in his throat, he took them from her and stood. Within seconds, his jeans once again lay discarded on the carpet. He followed her back down on the narrow couch. He tried to manoeuvre his long frame over hers.
“How about we head for the bedroom?” she suggested.
Needing no further encouragement, he scooped her up in his arms, collected the condoms and strode out of the room.
“Second on the right,” she murmured, turning her head to press butterfly kisses over his chest. “Mm, you taste so good.”
Desire blazed through him. He tightened his hold and lengthened his stride. Less than a minute later, he laid her on top of the queen-sized bed that took up most of the small room.
A lamp on a low wooden table beside the bed had been left on and bathed her skin in a soft, yellow glow. Her hair had dried into a wild tangle of caramel-colored curls that moved with a life of their own. She smiled a little self-consciously up at him. He’d never seen her look more beautiful.
Joining her on the bed, he took her in his arms and reveled in the feeling of her naked warmth against him. Her generous breasts pressed against his chest and her satiny-smooth legs entwined with his.
He kissed her with all the passion that had been building since the first moment he’d seen her. His mouth moved lower, down her sternum and sideways, to capture one of her hard, rosy nipples.
She gasped. He tugged it into his mouth and began to suckle. Her hands gripped his hair, pulling at it almost painfully while he continued his onslaught.
“Clayton, stop,” she panted. “It’s too much.”
“It’s never too much,” he murmured against her heated skin and he made his way over to the other one.
Taking the nub into his mouth, he laved it with the same attention, swirling his tongue around the puckered peak before suckling at her breast like a baby.
She moved restlessly beneath him. “I need you inside me, Clayton. I need you,
now
.”
She didn’t have to ask him twice. He reached for a condom where he’d left them on the bedside table and sheathed himself. Positioning himself above her, he nudged open her thighs with his knee and pressed his engorged cock against her warm opening.
She was wet. So wet. He pressed a little harder and the head of his cock slipped inside her. His heart pumped. It was agony. It was ecstasy. The muscles throughout his body screamed for release.
She lifted her hips impatiently and he couldn’t resist any longer. With a guttural sound from deep inside him, he plunged all the way into her snug wetness.
So tight. So warm. So moist. So right.
He was home.
“Christ,” he moaned, beyond words.
Her arms tightened around him as he moved inside her. Slowly at first, his breathing quickened, along with his pace. Her breath came out interspersed with little moans and breathy pants as she drew closer to orgasm.
“Yes, Clayton. Oh, yes. That’s it. Don’t stop. Please, don’t stop.”
He couldn’t stop if she’d begged him to. His thrusts became harder, faster. Her legs tightened around his hips, pulling him even closer. He knew he couldn’t last much longer.
“Oh, oh, Clayton.
Yes!”
She shuddered beneath him, pulsing around his cock. His control snapped.
He plunged into her slick wetness time after time, faster and faster. She moved beneath him, thrusting her hips up to meet his demands. Her arms tightened around him as she urged him on.
His cock swelled even further and moments later, his release exploded through him. Time stood still. A groan of heart-felt relief escaped his tightly compressed lips.
With his breath coming in harsh gasps, he collapsed against her. His heart pounded against the wall of his chest and he struggled to slow it down. Her arms remained around him, holding him close. He shifted his weight so that she no longer bore the brunt of it, taking care to ensure they were still joined.
Possessiveness surged through him. His arms tightened around her and pulled her even closer. The guilt that had been his constant companion eased.
He loved her.
It was true.
She was his.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The sound of Ellie’s cell phone woke her. Pale shards of light filtered through the open curtains. She struggled to orientate herself and turned and saw Clayton, still asleep beside her. The blanket had slipped around his hips and his bare, broad chest filled her vision.
Memories of their night together bombarded her. She blushed, recalling her wantonness, her eagerness to have him inside her. Oh, but she felt so wonderful. So sated. So relaxed. Sex had never been so good.
The persistent ringing intruded once again and she scrambled out of bed and hurried into the kitchen where she’d left her phone. It stopped just as she reached it. A few moments later, it beeped to tell her there was a new message. Putting it up to her ear, she waited for the message bank to connect.
A movement out of the corner of her eye snagged her attention. She turned and spied Clayton, wearing nothing but a pair of striped cotton boxers and a wide grin, lounging against the doorframe of the kitchen. He gave her a slow and thorough once-over and his eyes sparkled with appreciation.
Heat burned through her. In her haste to get to the phone, she’d left the room without a stitch on. Her gaze swept frantically across the countertops. There was nothing but the tea towel that would provide any coverage and even it wasn’t really up to the job.
Squaring her shoulders, she kept her back to him and concentrated fiercely on her voice message. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t already seen her naked. But somehow, being naked during a passionate lovemaking session wasn’t quite the same as standing stark-bollocky in the kitchen with the morning sun streaming through the window.
He chuckled behind her and she immediately had thoughts of killing him slowly and painfully. His warm arms came around her and drew her back against his chest, eliciting a gasp of surprise. His hands found her breasts and kneaded their fullness. She tried again to concentrate on her message.
It was from Ben. They’d tracked down the witness who had seen Sally Batten get into the cab. She’d given them the name of the cab company. With another gasp, this time one of excitement, Ellie pulled out of Clayton’s arms and moved away.
He saw the look on her face. “What is it?”
Momentarily forgetting about her state of undress, she grinned with excitement.
“We’ve got a witness who’s given us the cab company Sally Batten rode home with. This could be it, Munro.” With trembling fingers, she dialed Ben’s number.
“Have they—?”
She held up her hand as the call connected. “Boss, I just got your message. What can you tell me?”
Ben sighed on the other end of the phone. “Colleen Mayger just called. She’s working an early shift. Luke and Cheryl spoke to her late yesterday about Sally.”
“You said she’s identified the cab company.”
“Yeah, she remembered this morning. It was an Orange Cab. They work mainly in the western suburbs.”
“Did she get a look at the driver? We might be able to interview him and find out where he dropped her off.”
“Sort of. Male, dark haired, dark beard. Slight build. Maybe fortyish. This kid’s only nineteen, so we’ve got to assume the age could be anywhere from about thirty on. Anyone over twenty-five looks old to a teenager.”
Ellie’s excitement continued to build. She grinned even wider into the phone. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”
“Anyway, I’ve got some people contacting the Orange Cab Company to check their records about drivers working during that time.”
“We may even be able to narrow it down further,” she added. “Sally was picked up outside the Westfield Mall. It was raining all day. There must have been a pile of cabs there. Someone might remember her.”
“Yeah, we’ll put the word out. I’ve already faxed a picture of Sally to the cab company’s head office. They’re going to circulate it around the staff. We’re also waiting on Colleen to come into the station and work with us in putting together a composite of the driver.”
“Sounds good.” She tried to keep the excitement out of her voice. “This might be the break we’re after.”
“Yeah. It can’t come soon enough,” Ben replied, his tone somber.
“I’ll see you at the office shortly,” glancing over her shoulder at Clayton.
“Yeah, no worries. Listen, get onto Clayton and fill him in, will you? It’ll save me another call. The phones are going off in here like you wouldn’t believe. I’ll see you shortly.”
Ellie ended the call and whooped as she turned to Clayton.
“We might be close to identifying the cab driver who picked up Sally. Ben’s got people doing the leg-work with the cab company as we speak.” Unable to contain her excitement, she leaped forward and threw herself against him. “This is it; I know it!”
His arms tightened around her and drew her close. She’d forgotten she was naked until she came in contact with his warm, hard chest. With a sigh of defeat, she melted into his embrace and savored the feeling of skin on skin. For about three seconds.
Pulling away, she strode out into the hallway and headed toward the bedroom. “I’m going to take a shower,” she threw over her shoulder. “I’ll fill you in on the way to the station.”
“So, I take it this means you’re going to continue to chauffeur me around, after all?”
She turned and caught his lazy smile. He gave her another slow once-over.
What the hell.
She’d just had the most amazing sex of her life. He was entitled to a little look. She sucked in her belly and thrust out her chest. His eyes darkened with desire. He reached her in three long strides.
His lips were liquid fire as they moved over hers. His tongue, warm and demanding, thrust its way inside her mouth and tasted her.
She shuddered when his hand cupped her bare bottom and pulled her into him, holding her still against the long, hard length of him. His erection pressed itself against the softness of her belly. Warmth spread through her and her clit tingled.
She pulled away, gasping. “Clayton, we can’t do this now. We have to get to work. I just told Ben…”
He silenced her with another mind-blowing kiss. Her limbs were weightless and she was grateful for the support of his strong, muscular body.
“Work can wait. You just told me he’s already got a team of people canvassing the cab company.” He pressed his cock against her, moving her hips across its hard length with unmistakable intent. “This can’t. Besides, I won’t take long.”
He picked her up and strode into the bedroom. Depositing her none too gently on the unmade bed, he shucked off his boxers and joined her, pressing his body against the length of hers.
Grasping her head in his hands, his lips devoured hers. She dragged air into her lungs each time his onslaught receded, trying desperately to regain a modicum of control over her pounding heart.
He released her head and moved his mouth lower to graze over the stiff peaks of her breasts. He nipped at the sensitive tips and she gasped. His voice was a low, panting murmur. “You like that, don’t you?”
All she could do was moan.