Hardpressed (29 page)

“Blake.” My voice was a plea. “Are you close? I want to come with you.”

His cheeks bloomed with heat and he clenched his jaw as he pumped into me. “Now, baby. Feel me come inside you.”

His words did me in, the vision of him losing himself, buried in me. My whole body shook with the power of the orgasm that swept over me. My head fell back as he released with a cry and one final drive, pushing us both over the edge.

I woke up to Blake’s warm body curled around me. I stretched, and he pressed slow, lazy kisses along the length of my torso. Having sleep—actual restful, nightmare-free sleep—only to wake to Blake’s hands and mouth on me. This could be heaven.

He nuzzled my neck, sucking my skin softly.

“No more hickeys,” I warned.

He laughed into my neck. “I wasn’t sure I was actually going to see you again. I had to leave my mark.”

“Yes, you made yourself known.”

He stilled and turned me to face him. “James saw?”

I paused. “He noticed, yeah.”

His expression was impassive, but I saw emotion storming behind his eyes. “What exactly does he mean to you?”

I bit my lip, wondering what to say that wouldn’t send Blake flying into a jealous rage. “Think of him like my Sophia. He’s a friend who wants more, but a friend all the same.”

“If he wants you, then I want him gone. You can find someone else to do what he does.”

I rolled my eyes. “And I want Sophia gone. So we’re probably both going to be disappointed for a while.”

“This is completely different. Sophia lives in New York. You work with the man face-to-face nearly every day. If I had someone at my office trying to fuck me every day, you’d lose your mind.”

I sighed. “James and I don’t have a history, and he’s a good person. He’s not hatching a plot to get me away from you.” I didn’t think so anyway, though he certainly wasn’t a fan of Blake. “Can we drop it for now?”

“I can’t stand that he had his hands on you.”

“Then don’t think about it, because it doesn’t matter.”

I lifted my head to kiss him, praying he’d never know that James had had his mouth on me too. I lay back and traced his jaw. His face seemed softer, rested. Maybe he hadn’t been sleeping well without me, either.

“Speaking of work, I should meet with Risa at some point and get that mess cleared up.”

“Can’t it wait until Monday?”

“Maybe. She’ll probably wonder why she can’t get into her email account though, if she’s doing any work after hours.”

“Let her wonder. Your time is better spent in bed with me. We have to make up for lost time.”

“Oh?”

“I was thinking about kissing you from head to toe until you beg me to stop. And I need to block out at least an hour for licking your pussy.” He slid his hand to cover my mound. “Yeah, at least an hour. Let’s see, what else…?”

I laughed. “Okay, I get it, but I should go downstairs and get cleaned up.”

“Nonsense. You can shower here. No clothes necessary. I want you naked in my bed all day. I’ll tie you up if I have to. You know I will.” He looked serious but a ghost of a smile passed over his features.

“We’ll have to face reality eventually, you know.”

“Nah.” He lowered his mouth and circled my nipple with his tongue, flicking the tip until a familiar warmth simmered in my belly.

I sucked in a breath and arched into the motion, sliding my fingers through his hair. He slipped a finger into my sex, curling up to the spot that made me crazy.

“I haven’t even gotten to use any of my toys on you. And you’re in big trouble for all this shit you pulled.”

I moaned and lifted my hips to deepen his penetration. I’d wanted dominant Blake. Here he was.

My phone rang, interrupting our moment. Still in Blake’s clutches, I reached for it.
Sid.
Thank God.

“Hey.”

“Hey, uh, the police are at the apartment.”

“What?”

“They have questions about some guy, Mark MacLeod. They said you knew him?”

“Shit. Okay. I’ll be right down.”

Blake slipped another finger into me and closed his teeth gently around my nipple. My brain skidded, trying to decide which direction to move in. I tried to push him away, but he was firm and unmoving, his eyes twinkling mischievously.

“Oh, you’re here?” Sid asked.

My breath hitched. “Yeah, I’m at Blake’s. Give me a few minutes.”

I hung up and Blake took my other nipple in his mouth, his cheeks hollowing with a long, delicious pull on the tip.

I gave him a gentle shove. “Get up. I have to go.”

“Why? Who was that?”

He loosened his hold and I slipped away, throwing on my clothes from the previous night. My mind was racing. Daniel had implied that the investigation would be closed.
What the hell were they doing here?

“Sid. The police are downstairs. They want to talk to me.”

He sat up quickly. “Do you want me to come with you?”

“No.”

“Erica, this is one of those things that maybe I should be there for.”

“No, Blake. The answer is no. I will deal with this. I do not want you there. Please tell me that you’re hearing me on this.”

He hesitated. “What do you think they’re here for? They’re going to ask you about Daniel. What will you tell them?”

“I’ll figure it out, okay?”

*

I tried in vain to calm my nerves before I walked into the apartment. I looked a little worse for wear from the previous night, but surely they didn’t care about that. I prayed Blake would honor his promise to stay upstairs because I didn’t trust him not to say something he shouldn’t in front of the police.

I walked in, and two men greeted me. One was tall and thin, his hair a mousy brown, and the other was shorter and thicker around the middle, his hair almost completely gray. They both seemed friendly enough, which I was thankful for because I was petrified by the prospect of speaking with them.

The tall one spoke up first. “Sorry to stop in on you so early here. I’m Detective Carmody and this is Detective Washington. We were hoping to speak with you about your involvement with Mark MacLeod.”

My involvement? “What do you mean?”

Washington reached into his jacket and pulled out a handful of large photographs that appeared to have been taken at the gala. In them, Mark and I were dancing, his arm wrapped firmly around me. My back was to the camera. In another, his mouth was an inch from my ear, a smug smile on his face. That was the face I was glad to have missed when he was telling me how he wanted me again. I suppressed a grimace as I remembered his voice, his breath on my skin that night. Instead I looked up calmly, waiting for them to continue.

“These were taken by a journalist shortly before he died. Guests identified you with him here. Did you know him well?”

I shook my head. “No, I didn’t know him well at all. I’d met him a couple times through a business deal I was doing that involved his firm.”

“He looks like more than an acquaintance here,” Washington said.

“I can see that. He was flirting with me a lot. I humored him with a dance, but I didn’t see him after this. He seemed nice enough, but I wasn’t interested.”

“How was he acting that night?”

“He was coming on to me, like I said. He did seem drunk. I don’t know. We only talked for a few minutes before the dance, and then I left the gala early. I wasn’t feeling well.”

The pair glanced at each other. Carmody stuffed the photos back into the envelope and Washington sized me up again. I tried not to fidget or look nervous.

“I guess I’m confused. He killed himself, right? Are you trying to figure out why he did it?” The words left me in a rush, and my heart raced.

Carmody spoke. “When the son of a prominent figure dies suddenly, we have to do our due diligence. We’re trying to rule out all other possible causes of death.”

“Oh. I didn’t realize that. I thought I heard the investigation was closed.”

“Not yet, unfortunately.” Carmody shrugged.

“Is there anything else you might be able to tell us?”

“I don’t think so. I wish I could. Honestly, I was really shocked by the news.” That was the truth.

“You’re not the first person who’s said that, which is why we’re talking to anyone who might have known him well.”

I nodded. “I feel so bad for his parents. They must be devastated.” I tried to appear as sympathetic as I could. I couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of my mouth, or how easily I’d slipped into the role of an appropriately ignorant innocent bystander in this situation. Perhaps the weeks of trying to talk myself into being someone I wasn’t had done this to me.

“They are. It’s too bad. Sometimes there aren’t any answers for why people do this though. Anyway, thanks for your time and sorry for the bother.”

Washington reached into his pocket and retrieved a business card. “Here’s my card. Call us if you think of anything, all right?”

“I definitely will.”

They left, and I collapsed into a seat at the counter, grateful I’d survived their interrogation without a breakdown. I honestly didn’t think they suspected anything, and why would they? I had no ties to Mark that anyone outside of a few people close to me could ever find.

No sooner had they left, Blake appeared.

“What happened?”

“Nothing. They had photos of Mark and me dancing at the gala. They wanted to know how we knew each other. I explained that we were only acquaintances and he’d been flirting with me. They seemed satisfied and left.”

“So they don’t believe Mark’s death was a suicide?”

“I couldn’t say for sure. They didn’t seem too concerned that it wasn’t. Seemed like they were hitting a bunch of dead ends and about to pack it in. But I have no idea.”

“All right, come back up.”

“I’m here now. Let me get cleaned up, and I’ll come up there when I’m done.” As much as I wanted to be in my warm and safe Blake bubble after weeks of separation, I needed a minute with my thoughts.

He paused a second. “Okay, don’t be long.” He kissed me and left.

I stepped into the shower and washed. I thought about going back upstairs, where we’d be hiding. Sure, hanging out in bed with Blake all day wasn’t exactly an inconvenience, but I also knew why we were lying low. So far, the only solutions on the table were coming out as Daniel’s daughter, a saga I couldn’t begin to anticipate the complications of, or Blake could bring attention to the shady dealings that would undoubtedly ruin Daniel’s campaign, possibly his entire career. I had a hard time accepting either as a viable option.

I toweled off and glanced out the window. Connor was parked down the street, almost out of my view. A rush of emotion surged through me, and I knew what I needed to do.

I pulled on my blue jeans and a T-shirt and slipped on my sneakers. I scribbled a quick note and left it on the counter before I rushed downstairs. I stepped outside. Clay was standing guard against the Escalade.

“Ms. Hathaway.”

“Clay. Long time no see. Back on the clock, I see.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Well, good luck. I’m walking down to the store. I’ll be back in a bit.”

He nodded. I started a brisk walk down the street. I only had a few minutes to do what I needed to do. I crossed the street and knocked on Connor’s window. He rolled it down, giving me a hard stare.

“Take me to him.”

“Get in.”

I opened the back door and let him drive us away.

*

I had no idea where we were going until I saw the familiar Boston Sand and Gravel storage tanks come into view. We took several back roads under the tangle of highways until we were in a secluded area, cut off by train cars and warehouses that stood empty on the weekend.

Daniel leaned against his Lexus SUV, dressed in khakis and a white collared shirt. He was smoking again. He should probably stop smoking, I thought idly. He pushed off the car and walked toward me. I scoped out the surroundings. We were so very alone right now. With the bypass above us, no one would hear me if I screamed. I stepped out of the car, fighting the urge to run in the opposite direction. Despite every reason he’d given me not to, I was determined to meet him head-on.

He flicked his cigarette and stood before me with his arms crossed. His lips were set in a firm line.

“Connor tells me you’ve been all over creation with Landon. I’m pretty sure we covered that.”

“Did he tell you that the police stopped by this morning too?”

His eyes widened and shot to Connor. For the first time ever, I saw emotion in Connor’s face. He seemed…flustered.

“I didn’t see them, sir. I’m sorry.”

Daniel looked back to me.

“Must have been on a coffee run. No worries, I had a little chat with them.”

“What did you tell them?”

I waited, wanting the anticipation to burn in him.

His lips thinned. “You’d better start talking.”

“They had photos of Mark dancing with me at the gala.”

“What did you tell them?”

I stared hard into his eyes, keeping my face as steady and emotionless as I could.

“What did you tell them, goddamnit?” He grabbed my shoulders and shook me.

“Let me go.” I wrestled free from his grasp, breathless from the adrenaline that pumped through my veins. “Don’t touch me.
Ever
.”

I saw Connor moving from the corner of my eye. He had a wide stance, like he was ready to act on Daniel’s command.

“I lied, Daniel. I lied like a pro. You’d have been proud. And do you know why?”

“Indulge me.”

“Because as I’ve much as I’ve grown to hate you, for some inexplicable reason, I still care about you. I care about your life and your freedom, and I even care about your stupid fucking campaign. My finger’s on the trigger, and I can’t shoot.” I took a breath, trying to keep the tremble at bay. “Because that’s not who I am. I’m never going to be like you. I’m never going to play the game for the sick, greedy fun of it.”

“I’m sure that’s not the only reason.”

“It is the only reason. I’m not scared of you anymore.”

He shot me a chilling look, his lips curled into a snarl. “Maybe you should be.”