Manhunt Read online

  “And how have I done that?” she asked, half-breathless by the sensual ache that shot through her.

  “By wearing that flowery perfume that lingers in my head, by having lips that absolutely beg to be kissed, by filling my head with my own set of visions, visions of me making love to you.” His voice was low, seductive, even as he laughed. “Alyssa, you have no idea how you’ve complicated my job.”

  She was grateful she was sitting down. If she hadn’t been, she knew her knees would have buckled beneath her as his words stirred a liquid fire in her veins.

  “I feel like I’m being verbally seduced,” she murmured.

  “Good, because that’s what I was trying to do. Unfortunately, unless I remove my hands from the steering wheel, verbal seduction is all I’m capable of at the moment.”

  “I’d much prefer you keep your hands on the wheel as long as the car is in motion.”

  That sexy grin curved his lips. “Of course, I could always pull over.”

  “Just drive,” she said with mock sternness. The sexual energy between them filled the car and pounded inside her. It was a bridled energy that threatened to erupt into something wild and untamed.

  Although they continued to talk and banter back and forth for the remainder of the drive home, the tension between them never abated.

  Dusk was falling as they got out of his car and entered the bed-and-breakfast through the back door. “I guess I need to get right into the ice-cream parlor and relieve Mary,” she said.

  He caught her arm as she started to walk away from him. “She doesn’t have to know we’re back yet,” he said as he pulled her into his arms.

  Although Alyssa had had every intention of going back to work, the minute he pulled her against him and his lips covered hers in a hot, frantic kiss, she knew she wasn’t going into the parlor.

  She wasn’t going anywhere but up to Nick’s room to experience in reality the lovemaking that had merely been, until now, a vision in her mind.

  Chapter 9

  Nick’s kiss left her gasping and weak, and when he finished the kiss and took her by the hand, leading her up the stairs to his room, it didn’t enter her mind to protest or play coy. She wanted this…she’d wanted it even before she had met him.

  They entered his room, where the dusk light shimmered through the windows, painting the room in golden hues. He closed the door and locked it behind him, then drew her into his arms once again.

  She went eagerly, willingly, and felt a rightness in the moment with this man. She felt almost as if this time with Nick had been predecided by the winds of fate and nothing either of them could have done would have stopped this from happening.

  His mouth claimed hers hungrily and she responded with a hunger of her own. The kiss was all-consuming…tongue and teeth and breath mingling in erotic prelude.

  The kiss seemed to last an eternity. When he finally released her lips, it was merely to taste the hollow of her throat, to nibble the length of her neck. Shivers of pleasure whipped through her as his mouth swept over the sensitive skin.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck, molding herself to the hard length of his body as her fingers tangled in the crisp hair at the nape of his neck.

  He’d taken away her fear of this moment, had made her recognize how crazy it was to think that anything could make her hurt him. She couldn’t begin to understand the end of her vision where Nick was concerned, but she knew nothing in this life could ever make her plunge a knife into another human being, especially Nick. Without the worry, without the fear, she was free to experience their lovemaking without inhibitions.

  He framed her face with his hands and looked deep into her eyes. “You take my breath away, Alyssa Whitefeather.” His voice was deep, gravelly with want, and she reveled in the sound of it.

  She reached up and took hold of his wrists and gently removed his hands from her face, then she stepped back from him. Aware of his hot gaze watching her every movement, she walked over to the bed and pulled off the blue gingham comforter. It fell to the floor, exposing the pastel blue sheets beneath.

  “Now, that’s what I call turndown service,” he said gruffly. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and set it on the dresser, unfastened his ankle holster and placed it and his gun next to the phone. Then he joined her at the side of the bed.

  “When I first saw you wearing pink, I thought that was a great color on you.” His voice was low, sweetly seductive as his fingers worked to unfasten the top button of her sundress. “Then on the day of Clay’s wedding I saw you in that green and I thought that was definitely your color.”

  His fingers moved to the second button and Alyssa’s breath caught at his slow, methodical movements. In her vision they had already been in bed, had already been in the act itself.

  The vision had revealed nothing of their foreplay, had given her no indication of how mesmerizing his gaze would be, how achingly magnificent his simplest touch would be. Her vision hadn’t prepared her for his sensual assault on all her senses.

  As he undid each button, his fingertips brushed each inch of newly exposed skin. Her heart raced with a rhythm it had never felt before…a pounding she seemed to feel in every nerve in her body.

  “I love the way you look in red,” he murmured as he unfastened the button at her waist. “But I think I’m going to like you best of all dressed in those blue sheets and me.”

  New shivers of anticipation fluttered through her as he slid the dress off her shoulders and it tumbled to the floor around her feet.

  She wasn’t sure if it was the cool air in the room or the flames in Nick’s eyes that made her nipples harden against the thin silk of her bra.

  She reached up for his shirt buttons, her fingers slightly clumsy as she worked on unfastening the first one. “And I’d love to be wearing just those blue sheets…and you.” She leaned forward and pressed her lips against the bare skin of his hard-muscled chest. She heard the hiss as he drew a quick breath, and her fingers worked faster to undo the last of the buttons.

  When she was finished, he whipped the shirt off as if the fabric burned his skin. Then he quickly unfastened his slacks and stepped out of them.

  Alyssa had never known that simple men’s white briefs could be so sexy, but on Nick’s lean-muscled, highly aroused body, they were far more than sexy. She scarcely had time to admire him before he tumbled them both onto the bed.

  She was on her back as his mouth sought hers again. He leaned over her, his body warm…almost fevered against her own.

  When he lifted his mouth from hers, he smiled. “Just as I suspected. You look more beautiful now than ever.”

  The heat in his eyes simmered inside her. “When you look at me like that you make me feel more beautiful than I’ve ever felt in my life.”

  He kissed her again as one of his hands reached beneath her to unclasp her bra. When he’d accomplished his goal he pushed the bra up and covered one of her bare breasts with his hand.

  A soft moan escaped her at the intimate contact. His mouth left hers and blazed a trail down her throat, down to capture one of her nipples between his lips.

  She pulled her bra off and tossed it aside, wanting nothing to interfere with his pleasure…with her own pleasure.

  As his tongue lathed first one nipple then the other, she ran her hand across the broad expanse of his back, loving the way his muscled yet supple skin felt beneath her fingertips.

  She twined her legs with his and pressed her hips against his hardness. Even with the material of her panties and his briefs between them, she could feel him throbbing against her.

  She reached down, wanting to touch him, but he stopped her by grabbing her hand. He raised his head and looked at her. With the twilight shadows beginning to fill the room, his eyes appeared almost silver.

  “Alyssa, it’s been three years since I’ve been with any woman. I’m afraid if you touch me it will be over before either of us wants it to be.”

  “But I want to give you pleasur
e,” she protested breathlessly.

  “Oh, darlin’, you are, but at the moment I want to pleasure you before I take you completely.” He lowered his head to her breasts once again, and at the same time one of his hands smoothed down her stomach. His touch lingered for a moment at the band of her panties, caressing the skin just above the silk barrier.

  Alyssa’s entire body trembled with the onslaught of new sensations. She caught her breath as he touched her there…at her center, stroking her through the silk of her panties.

  She moaned again, this time louder as nerve endings responded to his intimate touch. It was impossible to remain still and just accept. Her hips moved without volition, in rhythm with his stroking fingers, as an unbearable tension rose inside her.

  As the pressure built, she was carried to a place in her mind where thought, either rational or irrational, was impossible. There was no room inside her for thoughts or visions or anything else but Nick.

  As he stroked her fast, the pressure inside her exploded. She cried out his name as ripples then thunderous waves of pleasure crashed through her.

  Nick’s hands shook as he slid the panties down her slender hips and to her knees. As she kicked them off, he fought to maintain his control. His desire to possess her was like a raging wild beast inside him. It clawed at his insides with a need he’d never believed he’d feel again.

  She looked so beautiful against the pale sheets, with her hair a spill of darkness, and her soft, dusky skin and her mysterious eyes appearing bluer than he’d ever seen them.

  From the moment he’d tumbled her onto the bed, his desire had raged almost beyond his control. He’d had to concentrate on maintaining his own control while coaxing her to lose all of her control. It had been like walking a tightrope.

  Pleasuring her had electrified him, and he knew if he didn’t make love to her at this moment it would be too late.

  He kicked off the briefs that had become not only irritating but constrictive, as well, then moved on top of her. She opened her legs to him, her eyes half-closed with obvious sensual joy. As he entered her wet tightness, a deep groan escaped him.

  Buried inside her, he remained completely still for a long moment, afraid that any movement at all would send him over the edge, and he wasn’t ready…not yet, for their lovemaking to be over so quickly.

  Her fingertips nipped into his back, not sharp enough to be painful, but hard enough to be erotic. Nick,” she said softly, and he covered her hot, sweet mouth with his as he moved his hips back to begin the dance of lovemaking.

  He could feel her heartbeat crashing against his own as he began to thrust into her. She met him thrust for thrust, and the intensity of sensation made his senses reel.

  Faster they moved as twilight deepened and shadows moved to usurp the last of day’s light. Nick was lost…lost in the splendor of her.

  It wasn’t until she cried out and stiffened beneath him that he realized he’d brought her to climax once again and it was then that he reached his own.

  It was as he spilled into her that he realized he hadn’t thought about birth control. He wasn’t concerned about disease issues, neither of them could be classified as promiscuous by any measure. But he also wasn’t prepared to become a daddy.

  He had grown to care about Alyssa, and certainly she had reawakened a part of him that had been dead for a very long time, but he was realistic enough to know that his time with her was not permanent. She had her work, her life here, and his was back in Tulsa.

  He remained unmoving for a long moment, allowing his heartbeat and breathing to return to a more normal rhythm. He raised onto one elbow and gazed down at her. It was amazing that even though he was spent and utterly sated, just looking at her renewed a touch of hunger inside him.

  With two fingers he brushed an errant strand of hair away from her eyes. “I’m not usually irresponsible,” he began.

  “I’ve been on birth control pills for the past year because of irregular periods. I’m assuming you were telling me the truth about not being with anyone for three years.”

  He smiled. “And I’m assuming you were telling me the truth when you said you’ve only had one lover before me.”

  “Now that we have that out of the way, I should get up and go relieve Mary.”

  He tightened his arms around her. “Not yet. Don’t you realize that the moments spent in the afterglow of lovemaking are just as important as the lovemaking itself?”

  “I can’t believe that sentiment is coming from a man,” she said teasingly. Her eyes sparkled and he was pleased that he’d been the man to put the sparkle there. “I thought men were always the first ones to jump out of bed or fall asleep to avoid any kind of emotional intimacy.”

  “That’s a myth. Men enjoy pillow talk as much as women do,” he protested. It was impossible to remain next to her and not touch her in some way. He ran a finger down her cheek, loving the feel of her soft skin.

  “I’ve never done pillow talk before… What do people talk about?” she asked curiously.

  Despite the fact that she was almost thirty years old and suffered from some sort of psychic visions of death and horror, Nick was struck by what an innocent she truly was. A surprising protectiveness welled up inside him for her.

  “They talk about lots of things…like how their day went, what they want for dinner, what they want in the future.”

  She laughed, a low, throaty laugh that made him recognize he’d want her again…soon. “So, what do you want for dinner?” she asked. “If you had to choose your most favorite dinner, what would it be?”

  “That’s easy. Thanksgiving Day dinner, although I’m not sure if it was the food or the family that always made that meal special.” He rolled over on his back and folded his arms beneath his head. “Turkey and corn-bread stuffing, mashed potatoes and giblet gravy…and laughter and old stories and new friends.”

  “You have a big family?” She propped herself up on one elbow, her dainty hand resting on his chest.

  “Not really. It’s just my parents and my sister, Judy. They all live in Chicago. Judy is a school-teacher, divorced and without children. Things were different when Dorrie was alive. She’d plan the holiday dinner and invite family and dozens of friends and co-workers.”

  He smiled, hoping he hadn’t offended her by bringing up Dorrie’s name. “What about you? Whatever made you decide to open a bed-and-breakfast?”

  There was just enough light left in the room for him to see her lovely features. She frowned and gently tangled her hand in his tuft of chest hair. “I don’t know, I guess because I decided early on that I didn’t really want to go to college. I loved to bake and didn’t mind cleaning and it seemed like a good way for me to make a living and be independent.”

  She untangled her hand from his chest hair and instead smoothed it over the expanse of his chest, her expression still thoughtful. “My aunt and uncle had invested my parents’ life insurance money for me, so I used that to buy this place and get it into shape.”

  “Are you happy doing this?”

  His question seemed to jar her. Her hand stopped its movement and her pretty, blue eyes appeared troubled. “I don’t know…I guess. I usually don’t have time to know if I’m happy or not.”

  “You must meet all kinds of people.” He was trying to keep focused on their conversation, but was finding it increasingly difficult. Her body was so warm against his and her hair fell just over his shoulder like a sensuous sweep of silk.

  “I’ve had all kinds of people stay here,” she agreed. “Nice people and some not-so-great people. The good thing is, most of them don’t stay long…usually a couple of days and then they’re gone.” She frowned again. “Of course, Tamara, Clay’s wife, tells me that’s why I went into this kind of business in the first place, so I wouldn’t have to deal with anything but superficial relationships.”

  “Is that true?” Despite being distracted by her physical nearness, this part of the conversation piqued his interest once again
.

  “I don’t know…maybe.” Her hand stopped moving altogether and instead reached up to grab a strand of her hair. She twisted it around her fingers as she continued. “I’ve always kept a certain amount of distance between myself and others.”

  “Because of your visions?”

  She nodded. “Nobody seems to understand the full effect the visions have on me and how afraid I am to open myself up completely to anyone.”

  “I can’t pretend to know what it’s like to suffer from visions,” Nick said. “But if you never open yourself up to anyone, then you’ll never know the full pleasure of friendship or true, mature love. All your relationships will be like the ones you have with your guests…brief and superficial.”

  She didn’t reply. She lay her head back on the pillow and released a small sigh. For a moment they remained like that, side by side and silent.

  He wondered what she was thinking, surprised to discover that he cared what thoughts worried her. He sensed her restlessness before she made a move. A moment later she sighed once again and sat up.

  “I’ve got to get dressed and go downstairs,” she said.

  “Why? Mary doesn’t know how to close up the ice-cream parlor?” He realized what he really wanted at this moment was to fall asleep with her in his bed, in his arms. He had a feeling that’s what she needed more than anything else in the world at the moment…for somebody to hold her through the dark and lonely night.

  “Of course she knows how to close up,” she replied.

  “Then stay.” He took her arm and pulled her back down next to him.

  “But there are things I need to do,” she protested, even as she snuggled up next to him.

  “What things do you need to do that can’t wait until morning?” he asked, smoothing her hair as she nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck.

  A sense of tranquillity stole through him as he realized she wasn’t going anywhere. Along with the tranquillity came a bone-deep weariness as the last couple of days of early mornings and late nights caught up with him.