Molten Gold (5 page)

Her breath caught. Adelaide stared at Jared, ensnared by the
heat in his gaze. She was on fire for him and he looked to be at the end of his
patience.

“Then take me,” she urged him, widening her legs. She
reached a hand down and helped to guide him inside her. “Take everything you
need. I want you.”

Adelaide wrapped her arms around Jared’s shoulders and drew him
closer. He moved slowly within her, hesitantly. Once again he treated her like
some delicate, porcelain princess he was afraid would shatter.

He needed to learn that Southern ladies were tougher than
that, despite how they might appear sometimes. Adelaide ran her fingers through
his hair, loving the silky feel against her skin. Leaning up, she pressed her
lips to his ear in a secret kiss, then whispered so softly that no one except
him could possibly have heard her.

“I want you to fuck me,” she said. He gasped and she knew
she’d taken him by surprise. Ladies didn’t speak like that, but right then she
wasn’t a lady and she wanted him so badly she had to convey that to him. “I
want you to ram that hot prick of yours deep inside my body and take me over
the edge. I want your hands to grip my hips so hard I can feel it hours from
now. I want your cock so hard in my body, pounding away, that there’s no
question of what we’ve done together and I can feel it in my intimate muscles
each time I move the next day. Fuck me, Jared. Fuck me hard, now.”

“As the lady asks,” he panted.

Adelaide groaned as he took her hips in his hands. Fingers
clenched around her bones and although it wasn’t painful, she knew he was gripping
her as tightly as he dared. He tilted her hips up and thrust into her from a
slightly different angle. This time he penetrated her so deeply she wondered
how he didn’t reach her stomach. His cock was thick and long, and soon he
worked himself up into a fast, hard pace just as she’d pleaded.

They both gasped. Adelaide could feel sweat pricking her
skin, making her body slick as her need blossomed into more. She pressed her
hands into the mattress and grabbed the sheets, pushing her body up higher into
his, needing every inch of him. Jared sped up, and soon as she’d so naughtily
instructed he was pounding into her. Small inner muscles cried out, not used to
the workout and having grown complacent during her dry spell.

“Look at me,” Jared demanded. She obediently lifted her face
and stared into his eyes. His hair was plastered to his forehead, black against
his tanned skin.

“I can’t wait,” he panted, seeming to apologize.

Adelaide understood and brought a hand to her clit again.
She stroked herself and within seconds felt the detonation of her orgasm wash
through her. She closed her eyes in defense and pressed her head into the silky
sheets. Adelaide screamed and her body clenched hard and tight around the shaft
thrusting inside her.

Sparks flew and for a moment Adelaide had no knowledge of
anything around her. Only the bliss racking her body registered. As her senses
returned she heard Jared panting hard.

“You’re stunning. Watch me,” he pleaded. Adelaide opened her
eyes again and watched as he came. His face scrunched up and for a moment she
thought he might have pulled a muscle. He shouted, a harsh, unintelligible
sound and she felt his cock plunge deeper. Warmth filled her as he shot into
the condom. Jared jerked and spasmed. He seemed to force his eyes open before
he’d finished and watched her gazing at him. For a moment it was as if she saw
into his soul. She recognized his fierce pride and strength, the duty he felt
and the innate desire to protect and serve.

This was an honorable man. A good, decent man. A true
gentleman, despite their earlier teasing.

Adelaide had no doubt whatsoever that he’d take care of her,
protect her and do right by her. He’d never knowingly hurt her, that was for
sure. She was glad she’d trusted him.

Jared collapsed onto her, spent. She smiled, buried her face
in his shoulder and held him close. They were both breathing heavily and she
enjoyed the tender moment and the silence that seemed to encase them like a
bubble. She ran her fingers through his hair, relishing the silky-soft feeling.
The strands weren’t overly long but it was clear he was no longer required to
sport the usual military buzz cut.

“Are you growing your hair out?” she asked in a low tone,
not wanting to shatter the moment.

“Mmm,” he agreed. “After more than ten years of having short
hair, I wanted to see if I liked it a bit longer. I think I like it about this
length. I don‘t want trendy, collar-length hair—if it gets in my eyes it might
drive me nuts. But I could get used to it being long enough, like this, that
you can run your fingers through it. It feels nice.”

Jared lifted his head and she smiled dreamily at him,
imagining the possibility of a future for them. Adelaide had to force herself
to not think too much—that was a dangerous path for a girl to go down after
having sex. Things could get mixed up and hurt was almost always the outcome.
She closed the door on those fantasies and tried to enjoy the moment instead.

“You look beautiful like that,” Jared said. “Your hair all
mussed, your face flushed. Your lips are all red from my kisses. I like that
too.”

She chuckled, and before she could say anything he kissed
her again. His lips pressed hers, the intensity of his touch drugging to her
system. All rational thought fled and she just felt.

“I’ll protect you. No matter what,” he said after he pulled
away.

She sighed. “I know you will, but I don’t want to become
dependent on you. On that. Usually I’m strong enough to deal with whatever
comes my way.”

“But if someone is genuinely trying to hurt you, you’ll need
something extra,” he pressed.

She nodded. “I know. But I also don’t want my needing you to
be wrapped up in whatever we’ve done here. They’re separate things.”

“Not entirely separate,” he said. “But I see what you mean.
Addy, your strength is part of your appeal to me. I can see very well that
under normal circumstances you’re an independent, strong woman. I’m attracted
to that. But I’m also male enough to enjoy the fact that right now you need me.
It’s all wrapped up into one big ball of desire.”

Adelaide could see what he meant, but it worried her a bit. If
they started a relationship in such unusual circumstances, what if he grew
bored or complacent when it was over and they returned to their normal lives?
She shook her head again. She was overthinking the situation.

Cross that bridge when you come to it, girl,
she told
herself.

Jared withdrew his cock and she took advantage of his lack
of attention. She pressed his shoulder and rolled him onto his back. Grinning
widely, she straddled his hips.

“Maybe I’ll just keep you on your toes,” she teased saucily.
Bending down, she pressed a hot, quick kiss to his mouth, pulling away again
just as he softened and got into the tender caress. She wriggled her ass back
and giggled when his eyes widened.

Feeling powerful and far better, Adelaide flicked her hair
over her shoulder. She didn’t care if she looked rumpled and mussed. It was
from their bed play, and she liked his scent in the air. It turned her on.

“Come on, handsome.” She wriggled her butt back against his
cock again and then climbed off him. “I need a shower and to change. Then we
can brainstorm.”

“A shower?” he repeated. She held out a hand to stop him
before he could get up.

“If you join me we might both drown,” she said. “Besides, a
girl needs some secrets. I’ll only be a few minutes, I promise.”

Jared remained on his side, leaning on one arm on the
mattress as she hurried out into the hall and dug in her bag for a fresh change
of clothes. His gaze was hot and penetrating as she crossed the bedroom and
headed into the en suite.

“You have a couple of minutes,” he warned her in a low,
dangerously sexy tone. “I need to clean up too, and I’d be quite willing to
explore some of those girl-secrets you’re keeping.”

Knowing he was only partially teasing, Adelaide felt her
heart rate increase. He was giving her this but still laying out the rules. It
made her hot…and nervous. But mostly she wanted to test him and have him show
her just how powerful he really was.

The more she learned about this man, the more she wanted him
and the more complex he became. He was as addictive as a drug and as sexy as
sin.

She worried that he was exactly her kind of man. It had been
so long since her heart had been broken, she hoped she wasn’t getting in too
deep too fast.

Adelaide turned on the shower faucet and made a note to be
quick. While she longed to taste Jared again, they had bigger problems on the
horizon. She didn’t want them to be too distracted—they needed their brains
clear to think.

But the temptation just to give in to him, to hand over her
heart, body and soul was so strong. She knew she’d be safe, but at what cost?

She almost wanted to find out.

Jared had removed the condom and cleaned himself up with a
handful of tissues when he heard the shower stop. Part of him was disappointed.
If Adelaide had wanted to enjoy a second round, he figured she would have
lingered in the shower, taunting and inviting him in despite her earlier
insistence.

“Guess she wasn’t teasing,” he murmured to himself. “Or
maybe she’s not quite the vixen she sometimes appears to be.”

He straightened out the bed, making a mental note to change
the sheets later. Adelaide continued to surprise the hell out of him. Cool
Southern belle one minute, raunchy sex-kitten the next. She was a convoluted
woman. He looked forward to removing more of her layers and getting to know her
better. And not just in the biblical sense.

The way she’d pressed him into the bed earlier and taken him
into her mouth…damn, she was a firecracker, no doubt about it. Jared placed a
pair of well-worn jeans on the bedcovers and hunted around for clean underwear
and a new T-shirt. He looked up as he heard the bathroom door open.

Adelaide came out with a remarkably shy smile for a woman
who’d just blown his mind and burned up his sheets. He crossed over to her,
ignoring his naked state. He noticed that she flicked her eyes down over him
but quickly brought her gaze up to meet his. He gave her his best grin, a
little cheeky and a lot knowing.

“I’d hoped you might take me up on that offer,” he murmured.

Wrapping his arms around her waist, he admired her just as
much fully clothed as he had bare-ass naked in his bed. Crisp chinos and a
collared polo shirt made her look cool and collected. Her straight blonde hair
had only been finger-brushed, but still lightly grazed her shoulders. He
suspected she’d touch up her minimal makeup with the small cosmetics bag he’d
noticed in her handbag.

He’d never known a woman to travel outside her house without
one, and he wasn’t surprised that even in fear for her, life running out the
door, she’d had the presence of mind to grab her bag. Jared would also have
laid a year’s wages on her having a notebook and numerous pens with her. The
woman was organized and savvy, despite the fact that he knew she’d been scared
to her bones.

His respect for her only grew the better he came to know
her. Jared slowly dipped his head, giving her plenty of time to pull away if
she really had been struck by a sudden bout of shyness. Adelaide met his
expectations, though, and tilted her chin up, meeting his kiss.

They kissed passionately and Jared lowered his hands to cup
her ass through the thin material of the chinos. He drew her onto him and felt
his cock twitch in eager response. None of the earlier urgency burned in him,
but he knew that could change in a few minutes should she decided to work him
up.

Sadly, Adelaide pulled away when the kiss began to drag on.
“You need to clean up,” she whispered against his lips.

“Mmm, I’m an easily swayed man,” he replied, looking hotly
at her.

She smiled and pressed his shoulder, pushing herself back
slightly.

“Now that I don’t believe for a moment,” she chuckled. “I
bet you have a will of iron and are probably stubborn to boot.”

“I can be stubborn right now if you like,” he said with a
grin.

She shook her head. “No, go cool down a bit. We need to work
through this. Tempting as you are, I’ll feel better when we have a plan of
action and I know what we’re going to do to fix this.”

Jared was pleased to notice that her fingers no longer
trembled, her voice was strong and she had a determined look once more to her
face. Figuring she’d collected herself in the shower, and possibly even found
some strength in their lovemaking, he decided to follow orders for now. He
saluted her and headed into the bathroom.

Five minutes later he was dried and getting dressed again.
After getting his jeans on, he carried his T-shirt out into the hallway and
found her in the kitchen, finishing her drink. Relieved now he’d laid eyes on
her, Jared slipped his shirt on over his head and pulled it down.

“I’ll make you that sandwich now if you’d like,” he offered.
“Would you like another drink too?”

“I’ve never tried an Arnold Palmer, but it’s really
refreshing,” she said. “So yes please, to the top-up and the food.”

Jared opened the fridge, pulled out the pitcher and refilled
her glass. He grabbed some salad makings and a small package of shaved ham and
placed them near the cutting board. Putting the jug back in the fridge and
collecting the loaf of bread from its box, he started to make them something light
to eat.

“Ham and salad okay with you?” he asked.

“Sounds delicious—I’m starving,” she replied.

He caught her gaze and grinned, but decided not to say
anything and tease her further. Jared made them two sandwiches each and placed
them on plates. Handing Adelaide hers, he grabbed his food and glass and led
her through to the living room. They sat around the coffee table and ate in
silence.

By the time Jared had polished off his food and drunk most
of his tea, Adelaide had finished one sandwich and was chewing a very slow bite
of her second. Jared took his plate to the sink and refilled their glasses.
When he sat, Adelaide had shifted into a more comfortable position on the couch
and looked ready to begin.

He took a moment just to take her in. She seemed so
natural—so right—sitting there on his couch. Energy tingled along the edges of
his fingers and a warmth he hadn’t experienced much flushed his chest. Jared
knew he wanted to protect this woman, to keep her safe, but it ran deeper than
just that. He wanted to know what it was like to lie beside her in his bed at
night, to wake up next to her to start a fresh day with her in his arms. Jared
wondered what the morning sun would look like shining in that blonde hair of
hers, and whether it would change color in the moonlight.

Most surprising of all, he wanted to dance with her wrapped
up in his embrace. Would she be saucy and naughty? Or would they just press against
each other and sway to the music? Jared had never been the romantic, daydreamer
type, but there was something about Adelaide that had him breaking all his own
rules.

She looked perfect in his home and he knew he wanted her in
his life.

“Thank you for helping to calm me down,” she said.

Jared shrugged. “If there really is a leak somewhere in the
office, then I brought that to your door and I’m sorry. Helping you is the
least I can do, especially since it looks like we both want answers now.
Working together makes sense.”

“Of course,” she said with a small smile.

“Obviously I’m attracted to you,” he conceded. “But I’d have
helped you nevertheless. You need it. It’s not in my nature to turn my back on
someone.”

“So how do I convince this stranger we know nothing about
that I don’t have the gold?”

Jared tilted his head. He wasn’t surprised that Adelaide had
cut right to the point, but he didn’t have any answers yet.

“We don’t know of a way to communicate with them yet,” he
agreed. “But maybe we can feed them information. We’re both assuming someone in
my office is passing along data. So we can try that path, but I’m not certain
it will work.”

“Why not?” Adelaide said, confused. “That’s quite logical.
If you put it about your office that I know nothing, then surely that will
reach these people and they’ll leave me alone?”

“Not necessarily. I sent an inter-office memo to my boss
yesterday,” Jared explained. “It was after our talk, a sort of summary before
my official report. I said that I didn’t believe you had any knowledge of the
gold.”

“Then why didn’t these idiots pick up on it? Was it some
super-secret, hand-delivered, eyes-only memo?”

“No,” Jared said, thinking hard. “Indeed, it would have been
the perfect time for someone to get a jump-start on what would be included in
my report. It wasn’t as if we broadcasted what I was doing, but it certainly
wasn’t a secret that I was visiting the relatives of the men we think were
involved. Nor was it classified that I was searching for answers about these
trucks full of gold. Plenty of people knew I was meeting a relative, though we’d
kept your name quiet. I would have thought for sure the mole would have read
the memo.”

“Maybe they weren’t in yesterday?” Adelaide postulated.

Jared shrugged. “Possible, but unlikely. If it is someone in
my office, no one was off sick yesterday. Now it could easily be someone in one
of the other offices who frequents ours, that’s certainly possible, but again,
why wouldn’t they have made an effort yesterday?”

“You said you kept my name quiet—how did they figure out who
I was and where I lived if only a few people knew I might have been involved?”

Again Jared had to think hard. Adelaide was asking excellent
questions and he struggled to piece it all together.

“Well your name was mentioned in that memo,” he said after a
moment. “I can’t think of anywhere else where it’s currently written down.”

“What exactly did this message say?” Adelaide asked.

Jared had to think. “I can’t recite it verbatim,” he warned
her. “But I know I said that I didn’t think you had any knowledge about the
gold, an eighty-five percent certainty, so quite a strong belief on my part.
But I also said I felt confident that Mark
did
know about the gold, that
he possibly had a few bars and likely knew about the other members of his
team.”

“You still think my uncle had something to do with the theft
of the gold?” Adelaide said. She seemed sad but no longer shocked or outraged.

“I think something happened while they were on tour out
there, yes,” Jared replied as gently as he could. “That doesn’t make them bad
people—indeed Mark’s record is filled with commendations and positive reports
on his honor and bravery. It’s hard to explain, but you need to believe me—things
are different out there. Decisions are made when your priorities aren’t the
same as they are in safety here at home.”

“I thought about that a lot last night,” Adelaide admitted.
“And I reread some of Uncle Mark’s letters to me too. He didn’t bare his soul
or anything, but with that extra perspective I could see he was a different man
in some respects. He craved news of my parents and me. Even local gossip about
people he knew, anything to keep connected with us. And he expressed many times
how grateful he was for my letters and the small trinkets I sent him. Things
like socks or candy bars—really small things that were often overlooked.”

“It’s a different world and often we find it’s the small
things that we hold on to,” Jared agreed. “For me it was letters and photos.
We’d talk endlessly of our friends and family, experiences from our youth,
anything to pass time and keep our minds off what was going on around us. So
having those connections and even updates from back home meant so much.”

Adelaide looked at him, her eyes wide and knowing. Realizing
just how side-tracked he’d become, Jared cleared his throat and sat up
straight.

“Okay, well we know Steve had at least one gold bar and I
suspect Mark did too. That means the other two men in the team were probably
also exposed to whatever situation brought Steve and Mark into contact with the
truck of gold,” Jared hypothesized. When Adelaide nodded, he continued. “I
think a good starting point would be for me to check their records, maybe see
if we can speak to them and clear some of this up.”

“Do you have current addresses for them?” Adelaide asked.

Jared stood and went to collect his laptop from its case. “I
can log in remotely to work on the secure network. I won’t have access to
everything, nor any of the files on my computer hard drive in the office, but
we should be able to search the men’s records and see where communication and
checks are delivered. Hopefully something will pop up.”

Sitting next to Adelaide on the couch, he booted up his
laptop and signed in to the web-based server. In a few short minutes he was
doing a search for the names of the two other men in Mark’s Delta group.

“Here we go,” he murmured. “Mark Baker, Steven Graves,
Jerome Morrisey and Brett McLean.”

Adelaide got up and Jared split his attention between the
screen and her. She went into the hallway and he heard her rummaging in her
handbag. Jared returned his attention to the screen and started to open files
in various tabs. A minute later Adelaide returned with her notebook and paper
in hand.

“I wish I’d thought to grab my laptop,” she sighed.

“If you sit here you’ll be able to see everything,” Jared
said as he patted the couch cushion next to him. “If you want to start typing
something up, though, like an article, you’re welcome to use my laptop once
we’re done. Just remember your promise. No publishing until after this is settled.”

“I know—it’s not likely that I’ll forget such a
restriction,” Adelaide replied. Even though her words had an edge to them, she
smiled at him and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek as she sat down.

“So you said Steven Graves, Brett McLean and Jerome who?”

“Morrisey,” Jared replied. He frowned for a moment, thinking
about where his priorities lay, then saved a copy of Steven’s and Mark’s files
to his computer. Technically speaking it could be classified as a breach of
confidence, but Jared had no intention of letting Adelaide keep a copy for
herself, and he knew he’d delete it once they were done.

It just seemed sensible to have a copy in case they needed
it later in the investigation. And both Mark and Steve were dead, so he wasn’t
breaking their privacy either.

Once he had copies, he closed both files and focused on the
two remaining. He scanned his eyes down Jerome’s file. Almost immediately he
felt his attention catch. In the tab marked “Status” was the word “Deceased”.

“Hmm, Jerome’s passed away too,” Jared said.