GUILTY OR HOT Read online

  She stilled but her body remained stiff in their grasp. Tim was behind them, his eyes wide with confusion and worry for her. She yanked her arms and they let her go, blocking her view from the interrogation room.

  “She knows him,” she repeated. “She knows Simone. He’s involved! He’s trying to kill me, damn it!”

  “We know,” Sarge said, and Chris froze.

  “You what?” she snapped.

  “The stolen car. We found it abandoned a few hours after you chased it down. His prints were all over it.”

  “And you’re only now telling me this?”

  “Because I knew you’d go berserk like you’re doing right now. Jesus, Chris, you went off on a suspect who could sue our asses if she wanted and probably get released. She’s asked to call her lawyer and won’t say another word until he gets here. You might have just jeopardized our only lead.”

  “We can hold her for the hacking,” Chris muttered.

  “Can we? The only evidence we have is a log-in. Anyone could have used that and it’s exactly what her lawyer’s going to say.”

  Chris opened her mouth to argue, but he was right. Furious with herself, she yelled and kicked the desk closest to her. Her toes throbbed, but she didn’t care. After all this time, they finally had a lead on Jeff’s death.

  “I want in on this,” she demanded. “Sarge, I want in.”

  “No, you will stand down.”

  “You can’t do this to me!”

  “I can when you decide to go off halfcocked. You are removed from this case. The only thing I want you doing is sitting in your apartment safe under our protection and keeping an eye on Mr. Jones. Do I make myself clear, Detective Harrison?” he stormed, towering over her, using his full height to stare her down.

  Chris stared at him in disbelief. “You can’t do this.”

  “Yes, I can. Manny? Drive her and Tim home and make sure they do not leave.”

  “Sarge,” she started, but he lifted his hand, cutting her off.

  “I’m going to go clean up this mess you created. When and only when I have news, I will consider updating you, but if you step one foot out of your apartment, I will suspend you and you will never get your ass back on homicide.” He stalked away, leaving Chris reeling from the last few minutes.

  Manny rested a hand on her shoulder. “That bastard should’ve done us all a favor and died.”

  “We’re not that lucky,” she spat, shoving her hands into her pockets.

  Simone Dowell, the man they were after for three counts of murder, the man who’d shot and killed her partner, was out there, taunting her. And she had been thrown in the timeout corner, unable to go after him and get the revenge she’d craved for four long-ass years.

  “I’ll make sure to leave you with some whiskey,” Manny promised.

  “I think we’re both going to need it.”

  Tim caught her eye from across the bullpen, and from his stance, she wouldn’t be getting out of an explanation. He deserved one, really, since the bastard was after him, too. Not looking forward to how this night would go, she waited for Manny to be ready to leave, wondering if she could manage to get herself drunk enough first she might pass out and avoid what would be a painful conversation. Dragging up the past always was, but Tim was right. She liked the guy. He made her feel again, and the loneliness tearing at her night and day was subdued with him around.

  “All right,” Manny told her, holding her leather jacket. “Let’s get you kids home.”

  Chris stalked away, spying Maya being tended to by a paramedic. She winked at Chris as she passed, and Manny quickly stepped between them before she had a chance to go after the woman again and do some serious damage. If only it had been Simone’s face she’d smashed up and not Maya’s, it might have helped quell some of the rage building in her.

  No, that will only go away when you put a bullet through the man’s head.

  She smirked, dreaming of the moment, praying it was close.

  Chapter 10

  Tim thanked Manny and closed and locked Chris’ front door. One cop was stationed in the hall, and two more were parked in an unmarked car across the street. Manny told Tim to call if there was anything out of the ordinary, but reiterated at least twenty times he and Chris were not to leave the apartment. They were stuck with each other.

  For better or worse.

  He leaned his back against the front door, watching Chris throw her jacket over a kitchen chair and rub at her bruised and bloodied knuckles. When she’d gone after Maya in the interrogation room, Sarge and Manny had cursed, sprinting in to stop her, but Tim had been too shocked to move. That much rage trapped inside a single person seemed almost impossible, but he knew what she was going through. A pilot who had been high during their flight had caused the crash that killed his parents. The pilot had survived. The first chance Tim had, he had attacked the man, beating him until the cops broke up the fight. At least he’d been able to face the man who had taken everything away from him.

  Chris hadn’t had that chance yet, but Maya was pretty close, he guessed. Several facts were still missing from the story he wished she would tell him, if only so he could help her through this mess. Her shoulders slumped as she stared at the window, not opening the curtain. Manny told them to keep the blinds and curtains closed as well, just in case.

  Pushing off the door, Tim went to the kitchen, wet a washcloth, and reached her side. He waited for her to shove him away, but she didn’t move an inch. He picked up her left hand, wiping at the blood.

  “You don’t have to do that,” she whispered.

  “I know.” He cleaned her left hand then walked around her to do the same to her right. The knuckles on this hand were busted. “Do you have a first aid kit?”

  “Leave them, it’s fine,” she said, but he set down the washcloth and wandered into her bathroom anyway. Bringing the kit with him, he set it on the kitchen table and tugged her gently towards a chair. “Tim, seriously, I’m fine.”

  “Clearly, you’re not, since you tried to beat one of my employees to death.”

  “I wouldn’t have gone that far.”

  “No?” he questioned, dabbing the open wounds with anti-septic, his gut clenching seeing her hurt. “You looked pretty hell-bent on doing serious damage.”

  “She had it coming.”

  “And why is that?” He finished with her hand but continued to hold it. Her rage flowed off her body in waves and her body shook with it. As her right eye twitched, he squeezed her hand harder, willing her to look at him, to talk. “Chris.”

  “What?” she snapped and tore free of his hold. “I need a drink.”

  He watched her storm into the small kitchen and drag a bottle of whiskey out of the paper sack Manny had left on the counter. She opened it and took a swig from the bottle. Not wanting her to get trashed, Tim rose from his seat and tried to snatch the bottle away from her, but she held it out of his reach, taking another long gulp as she darted away from him.

  “Getting drunk isn’t going to make you feel better,” he argued.

  “Oh no? Says who?” She tipped the bottle up and drank again. “It feels pretty good right now.”

  Gritting his teeth, he stayed on her, not giving up so easily. She moved around the living room, taunting him with the bottle, spinning around with her arms out wide as her bitter laughter surrounded them. Tim lunged closer and grabbed the bottle. He held it over his head where she couldn’t reach it, even standing on her toes in front of him.

  “Do you see what you’re doing to yourself? Is this what Jeff would want you to do?” he yelled, at a loss for what to say to make her stop.

  The pain flooding her eyes was palpable, and he staggered back a step. Chris’ arms fell to her sides and tears formed in her eyes. He braced himself, unsure what she would do next but willing to take whatever she dished out. She raised her hands and shoved him hard, but he planted his left foot and didn’t move.

  “How dare you say his name?” she yelped and shov
ed him again. “You know nothing of what happened. You don’t understand what it’s like!”

  “You’re right, I don’t, but I know you loved him.”

  “I did, damn it!” She pushed him again, but not so hard this time. “I loved him and I never told him. He died in my arms, bled to death, and I did nothing to save him!” Tears streamed down her cheeks as she punched Tim’s chest. “He’s gone because I couldn’t save him and his murderer is still out there! Alive and breathing because I’m a failure!” She continued to beat against him until she tired and sagged. Tim caught her in one arm, holding her close as her tears wet his shirt.

  The truth of how horrible Jeff’s death was fell over him as he realized her loss was like nothing he could imagine. He reached over and set the whiskey bottle down so he could hold her securely as she cried.

  “You’re not a failure,” he whispered.

  “I should have found him by now,” she argued, not lifting her head so her words were muffled by his chest. “I should have stopped him that day.”

  “You’re not perfect, Chris. No one is. Shit happens. I don’t think Jeff blames you for what happened. He can’t, not if he loved you as much as you loved him.” The words cracked coming out as his hopes of winning this woman’s heart fell away. How could he ask her to set aside her feelings for that man simply to be with him?

  When her tears ceased and she stepped back, wiping her face with her hands, he smiled sadly and tried to pull away, but her hands grabbed his shirt, holding him there.

  “Look,” he started, “I know I said I liked you and I do. But, Chris, I don’t want you to feel obligated or anything. We had a few great moments, and if that’s all we get to share, that’s fine.”

  “No,” she whispered, shifting her icy gaze to his. The want in those depths made his breath catch. She pressed her body into his. “You were right about me liking you too.”

  “What do you want, Chris?” he asked, his heart pounding. “Tell me what you need.”

  “I need you,” she told him fiercely. “Stay with me, please. Make me forget, make me not feel anything but you. Please, Tim, I need…you.”

  She didn’t have to ask him again. He lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her with an insane urgency to chase away the pain and fear in her eyes. She scrambled to hold him closer, tugging his t-shirt over his head and throwing it aside. He fumbled for hers, grunting when it got caught between them before he could admire her full chest covered in a simple black bra. Grabbing her sexy ass, he crushed her to him and motioned her through the apartment towards her bedroom. She moaned against his lips as their tongues twisted and twined around one another.

  The desperation in her touch drove his need to new heights. Every place their skin met set a new fire in his chest, and when they reached the bed, he picked her up and laid her back on it. His mouth nipped and kissed down her neck, finding the hollow of her shoulder as she dragged her nails down his bare back. Her legs wrapped around his waist, and he pressed his throbbing cock so she could feel exactly how much he wanted her. She rolled her hips, rubbing against him, and even through two layers of denim, his swollen shaft twitched with the need to be buried in her depths. To plunder her until she screamed her release and he chased away the sadness from those icy eyes.

  His fingers dragged one bra strap down, followed by the other, his tongue tasting her flesh. He couldn’t get enough of her smooth skin and reached under her back to undo the hooks holding her breasts from his reach. The second they were free, he tore the fabric from her body and sucked a pert nipple into his mouth. She moaned, a shudder running through her body as he licked and sucked, kneading the soft flesh beneath his hand. She thrust her chest towards him, pressing his head even closer as her breathing grew ragged and her hips bucked with her hunger.

  The salty tang of her sensitive flesh only made him want more, and his mouth moved to her other breast as his hand reached up and rolled the other nipple, still moist from his attentions. He wondered how wet other places on her were, so he moved lower down her body, kissing and tickling along her ribs to her flat stomach and her well-defined abs. She tried to drag him back up, but he slipped from her reach as his fingers worked at the button on her jeans. She propped up on her elbows when he tugged on the zipper. She watched as he pulled it all the way down, slipped his hands into the top of her jeans, and dragged them languidly over her legs, revealing more of her perfectly soft skin and a black thong. Such a small, useless piece of fabric. Her jeans discarded, he considered slowing down, but the way she nibbled her lip and how her hands dug into the sheets when she rolled her hips closer to him said she was not in the mood for slow.

  She wanted him, needed his touch, and he would give it all to her.

  Gripping her ankles, he pulled her to the edge of the bed and she let out a pleasantly surprised yelp. He relieved her of the thong, spread her thighs wide, and went down on her. She cursed as his tongue flickered out and licked her from sheath to clit and back again. Her hips shifted, but he gripped them harder, holding her against his mouth. She was wet already, and he easily slipped two fingers inside, twisting and turning them.

  She was tight, so damn tight he hesitated, wondering if she’d had sex before. Then he remembered she’d said it had been a while. Four years a while, most likely.

  He worked at stretching her, searching for her one special spot as he sucked hard on her clit, driving her body to tremble beneath his touch. His hand pounded into her until she sat up, holding the back of his head to her. She rode his mouth, and Tim growled at how much he wanted this woman. He spread her legs even wider, ravaging her as her moan built into a cry ripping free of her body. Her legs shook and her hips bucked as he drove his tongue into her, her inner muscles clenching from the orgasm rippling over her. When she neared the end, Tim rolled her over and slipped his fingers back inside her body, massaging her clit with his other hand.

  “Fuck,” she cursed, her hands gripping the sheets hard. “Tim…I can’t…”

  “Yes, you can,” he argued, feeling her inner muscles tighten again in anticipation of another orgasm. He smoothed her wetness along her sheath, spreading her lips as he twisted three fingers within her. Each harsh breath caused his jeans to strain over his cock, which was throbbing so hard it nearly hurt, but he would make her come again. She needed this release, and he would give it to her.

  His hand smoothed down her back, and gently, he dragged her upright so her back pressed against his chest. He turned her face and kissed her over her shoulder as she moved against his hand. When she cried out, he swallowed the sound, plunging his tongue into her mouth as he wanted to plunge something else into her body. The second orgasm sent her tumbling to the bed, and as she rolled over to her back, he rushed to get free of his jeans. Kicking them aside, he worried for a moment that was all she would want, but her legs fell to the side and she held out a hand for his. Tim crawled onto the bed, and the moment their lips met, he pressed himself to her sheath. Her hand slipped between their bodies, gripping him hard. He sucked in a breath, his body crying out for her touch.

  She guided him to her cleft, and when he pressed, she lifted her hips and he slid inside with a sigh from them both. The fit was snug, but after a few slow thrusts, he seated himself completely within her. She squeezed his arms as he kissed her passionately. Each drive within her was hard and solid, moving her farther up the bed. She wrapped a leg around him, and they rolled on the bed, him never slipping free as she straddled him. Tim held her bouncing breasts, teasing and tugging her nipples as she moved over him. Their panting filled the room, and each time she glided along his cock, a new level of pleasure shot through his core.

  Her head fell back, and he ran his hands along her sides, holding her still so he could plunge upwards hard. She moaned, her body twitching as he rolled them over again and held her hands over her head. He kissed her hotly, his tongue penetrating her mouth as his cock filled her again and again until his shaft swelled and his release washed over him. His bellow mingl
ed with her cry, her back arching off the bed as she held him within her body until they were both spent. Gingerly, he slipped out. They lay on the bed, gasping for air, side by side. He found her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing each bruised knuckle.

  “I didn’t hurt you, did I?” he asked.

  She laughed the deep, throaty laugh he was falling in love with as she rolled to her side and stretched. “I haven’t felt this good in a long time. Thank you.”

  “Anytime,” he said seriously, and her smile widened.

  “You know, there’s a man currently stationed outside my front door,” she said, and Tim blanched. “I’m pretty sure we gave him one hell of a show.”

  “Shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about that.”

  “Eh, I’ll give him some donuts. It’s only Tony. He won’t care.”

  “At least it’s not Manny.”

  “Yeah, good thing. Manny has a thing for you.” She tugged playfully at his beard until he leaned over and kissed her, pushing her back into the bed as he covered her with his body. “Round two?”

  “As many rounds as you want me for,” he told her. His fingers trailed across her cheekbone then along her jaw. She bit gently on his thumb when he ran it over her bottom lip and he grinned. “You’re incredible, you know that?”

  “I have my moments,” she mused and sucked his thumb into her mouth.

  Tim groaned, his arousal growing again despite feeling so spent. “Damn, woman, how do you do this to me?”

  She shot him a wicked grin, still sucking hard on his thumb. His knee spread her legs, but she rolled him over onto his back, pinning him to the bed. She kissed her way down his body, teasing his nipples through his dusting of blond hair. Her nails tickled his flesh, and she licked around his belly button before she positioned herself between his legs. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but her taking him into her mouth in one try was not it.