Nice & Naughty (11 page)

“Maybe,” she agreed, giggling softly. “Did you know that a woman’s lingerie is more about her identity, her vision of herself, than it is about sex? What she wears under her clothes is like her secret self.”

“You mean this sexy lingerie isn’t all a show for the guys?” he teased.

“Oh, no. Guys are too easy. Lingerie is for women. To feel sexy about themselves, to prove to other women that they really are sexy. To make their secret self happy playing dress-up.”

“Your secret self is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen,” Diego decided, tracing his finger along the edge of her bra. Dipping it lower, he rubbed her nipple with the back of his fingernail.

“I’m glad you like it,” Jade murmured as she slipped her hands beneath his shirt. She gave a low moan when she pressed her palms to his abs. Diego grinned. He might not have lingerie, but thanks to no social life and an at-home gym, he had some pretty tight abs.

Then her hand slipped lower. Cupped his rock-hard erection through his jeans.

Diego’s grin faded. So did his thoughts. All he had left was sensation. And that was being commanded by the hand on his control lever.

Her hand squeezed. Barely aware of the sound of lace ripping, Diego tore her bra away. He filled his hands with her soft flesh, his mouth with the rosy tip of her pebbled nipple.

She gasped, her hand clenching. Diego almost came right there in his jeans. Needing her now. Desperate to bury himself in her delicious warmth, he grabbed the edge of her panties and tugged. She gave a delighted shudder, her fingers working his snap and zipper with the same clumsy, desperate impatience he was feeling.

“I’ll replace it,” he promised, shoving the tattered satin aside.

“Naked,” she demanded before he could reach the treasure his fingers sought. She gave up her quest to get his zipper past the rock-hard pressure of his dick. Instead, she scraped her fingernails lightly up his belly beneath his shirt. “Naked, now.”

“I like a woman who knows what she wants,” Diego said, his words as choppy as his breath. He forced himself to release her, stepping backward to tear his clothes off. He didn’t take his eyes off her. Nude now, her body was a work of art. Petite, delicate, all sexy cream with berry-tipped breasts and a golden thatch of hair that beckoned him home.

Diego barely remembered to grab a condom from his jeans before he tossed them across the room.

Before they hit the ground, he had his hands on her again. His mouth took hers. His fingers slid down, dipping into the hot, wet delight between her thighs.

He wasn’t going to last. He couldn’t, he wanted her so badly. Sheathing himself now, before he lost the awareness to do so, Diego pulled her tighter against his body.

His hands curved down her hips, grasping the soft flesh of her butt and squeezing. Jade gave a mewling sound. Then, her arms wrapped tight around his shoulders, she gave a little leap and wrapped her legs around his waist.

Diego groaned, not sure whether to be thrilled with the new position or upset that the shift put her breasts out of reach of his mouth.

“That way,” Jade instructed, tilting her head. He followed the tilt, noted the hallway, and, gripping her butt a little tighter so she wouldn’t hit the floor, headed that way.

Walking became a new, delicious form of torture. Every step slid the hard tip of his dick against her curls. Every step was a new lesson in sexual torture.

He barely got halfway down the hall.

“Can’t make it,” he declared, turning fast to press her body between his and the wall. Grabbing her feet, he angled her higher. Then plunged.

Jade cried out, her throat arched and her breath came in fast pants. Barely able to see through the haze of passion, Diego watched the flush climb her chest, up her throat, and coat her cheeks in a warm pink glow.

Her heels pressed against his butt, urging him to go deeper. To move faster. Her wish being his command, he did exactly that.

He plunged. She swirled. He pounded. She met him thrust for thrust. She might be little, but there was nothing fragile about the hellcat in his arms.

He shifted, just a little, to angle her higher. She gasped. Her back arched, bringing those yummy nipples back within tasting range. Unable—unwilling—to deny himself, Diego took one delicious morsel into his mouth and sucked.

Jade gave a keening sort of scream, her body so tense it felt as if she could snap in half. Then she ground herself against him, wet heat sucking him in deeper.

Ready to pass out, breathing heavily with no blood getting to his brain, Diego let go. He plunged, nailing her to the wall. Her fingernails dug into his shoulders. He plunged again. She cried out urgent pleas for him to go harder. Go faster.

He came.

Wave after wave after wave, the orgasm pounded out of him with an intensity he’d never felt before.

Barely aware, unable to stay upright, Diego slid to the floor. His arms wrapped tight around Jade, he took her right down with him.

* * *

I
T
MIGHT
HAVE
BEEN
ten minutes, it might have been an hour. Jade didn’t know how long it took for her to float back into her body.

So this was what love felt like. She shifted so her hips weren’t pressed so tight against the cool wood floor. Her emotions had taken on a rosy glow that only added to the incredible sensations still trembling through her so-satisfied-she-was-exhausted body.

“It’s too fast,” she mumbled, trying to lure her heart back to the same side.

Silly heart, what did it know? This had to be sexual infatuation. Her body and mind were totally gaga over him, so her emotions were trying to join the club. Which was just crazy. She couldn’t fall in love this quickly.

“You’re thinking too hard,” Diego muttered, his face still buried in her neck. Anchoring one hand on either side of her shoulders, he pressed himself into a push-up to get a look at her face. Not wanting to meet his eyes while all the crazy thoughts were still dancing through her head, she focused on the sculpted muscles of his biceps.

“You’re so strong. So hard,” she murmured, grazing her palm over his arm and purring in appreciation.

As distractions went, it worked pretty well.

“Hard, hmm?” He gave her a wickedly naughty grin just before he kissed her again. His mouth was ravenous. He’d just come with a power that had almost broken down her hallway wall. But she could feel him stirring back to life against her still-trembling thigh.

“Trying to prove something?” she teased.

“Let’s find out.”

His mouth trailed down her throat, kissing, nibbling. Delighting her with tiny shivers of pleasure.

Yeah, Jade sighed as she shifted her head to give him better access as he scraped his teeth over her collarbone. She was in love with him. It was too fast. Too soon. Too complicated.

“Way, way too fast,” she muttered just before her body arched in a shocked gasp of delight. He sucked her nipple into his mouth, swirling his tongue around the hard tip and sucking at the same time. Jade’s thighs quivered.

Who cared about time, though? She’d known Eric for twelve years before they’d gotten engaged. Look how that had turned out. With her secretly grateful that he’d saved her from a life of mediocre sex.

“Did you say you wanted it fast?” he asked, his voice an erotic rumble against her belly.

Tunneling her fingers into his hair, Jade gave a helpless laugh. “I don’t think I can go much faster.”

He lifted his head, his eyes slumberous and heavy with fulfilled passion. Slowly, like watching a fire take spark, the wicked gleam grew, intensified.

Jade’s own eyes widened. Her pulse tripped.

His fingers slid down her hip and over her still-trembling thigh.

“What are you doing?” she gasped.

“Seeing how fast you can go.”

His whiskers scraped a delicious path over her belly as he slid lower. His fingers combed through her damp curls, parting her. Exposing her. Making her tremble.

“Go...? Where?” Here, there, anywhere. She’d go wherever he wanted, just as long as he kept doing these sweet things to her body. Then he shifted again, scraping her thighs with his jaw as he settled in to feast.

His tongue dipped, swirled, dipped again. Jade’s gasps were pants now, her head thrown back in delight as the sensations pounded through her body at the speed of sound.

“Go over,” he demanded, adding his fingers to the dance.

Unable to do anything else, Jade flew. Faster and faster, the sensations swirled. Deeper and more intense, the orgasm quaked through her. Her legs shook. Her heart pounded.

“Oh,” she gasped, soaring along the crest of pleasure with a power she’d never felt in her life. “Oh, I love this.”

Unaware of anything but what was going on inside her body, Jade tried to think. Tried to focus. But she couldn’t. Like a storm-tossed ocean, she crashed. Wave upon wave, the orgasm just kept going.

Slowly, breathtakingly slowly, the waves smoothed, softened. As if she’d been drugged, her body sank into an exhausted state of barely-there awareness. She had a vague sense of Diego lifting her, carrying her to bed. When the cool pleasure of her own silk sheets slid against her back, she tried to surface.

But then he kissed her. And she dived under one more time.

10

“H
ELLO
,
SON
.”

Diego jumped. Actually jumped, like a strung-out meth fiend trying to lift a cop’s wallet. Four days in this town and look at him. It was pathetic.

“Sir,” he said, wiping his palms on his jeans and nodding to the mayor in greeting.

“You’re here for the meeting?”

“I thought I’d take it in.”

Diego glanced past the older man to the ornate arched opening to the town hall. For a small town, Diablo Glen was sure big on fancy architecture. It was also home to an extensive arts program that included music, dance and three gallery shows a year. It didn’t boast its own police department or newspaper, but it was home to a famous online bakery. And it was peopled with a lot of characters, some a little more out there than others. Only one, though, was unforgettably sexy, overwhelmingly sweet and pretty much the biggest mistake of Diego’s life.

“Thinking you’ll find some clues during our discussion over what color to paint the park benches this spring and which band should play at the New Year’s Eve Bash?”

Tension rippled across Diego’s shoulder blades as he shrugged. Better to focus on his failure to close this case than on Jade, he figured. With that in mind, he followed the mayor up the wide steps, waiting while the other man unlocked the ornate doors.

“I figure it can’t hurt. From what I’ve heard, pretty much everyone shows up for these things. Maybe I’ll catch a break.”

“Don’t be down on yourself, Sandoval. You’re doing everything right.”

“If I was doing everything right, I’d have solved the case,” Diego pointed out as he followed Applebaum into the cavernous foyer. His tone was matter-of-fact, but the look Applebaum gave him made it clear his frustration was coming through.

“Do you think all cases can be solved just like that?” Applebaum asked with a snap of his fingers. “Or is there a natural progression to investigating?”

“It depends. A case like this one, where the perp appears to have gone underground, it’s harder,” Diego admitted. At Applebaum’s arch look, he shoved his hands in his pockets, rocked back on his heels and considered the bigger question. “But yeah, I think there’s a natural progression. Except it’s never the same from case to case. Each one has to be looked at individually, and treated as priority. Big or small, a good cop never gets lazy and follows a checklist.”

Which was why Kinnison’s rules and protocols drove him nuts, Diego realized. The guy was all about the checklist.

“I like how you think,” Applebaum said slowly, with a look that made Diego want to squirm. It was as if the old guy was peering into his soul. What the hell he thought he’d find there was the big question, though.

Trying to shrug off the compliment, Diego looked around the room.

A large blue spruce decorated the corner, beribboned packages spilling out from under its boughs. It looked as if there were enough gifts for every family in town. What was that like, that sense of inclusion, of being a part of something that considered everyone so special, they all deserved presents? Diego could count on one hand the number of Christmas gifts he’d gotten in his entire life. It must be the effects of Diablo Glen’s familial warmth and close-knit community that were making him suddenly wish his name was on one of those shiny boxes.

“Do you think this case is different, being small-town, than one you’d face in the city?” Applebaum asked, pulling him back into focus.

“Yeah, but not in the way you’d think,” Diego said. “Crime is crime. Human nature doesn’t change according to zip code. But in the city, I’d have other cases to work on while I was chipping away for a break. Here, I’m spinning my wheels, looking like a failure and, no offense, sir, bored to death.”

Applebaum flicked a switch that lit the far rooms with a warm glow, then led the way into the main hall. Rows of chairs stood in neat lines, with cushioned benches along the walls. At the front of the room was a raised dais, ten chairs at the rear behind the polished mahogany podium. Directly behind the podium was yet another Christmas tree, this one decorated with cookies of all shapes and sizes.

“Then your problem isn’t failure, son. It’s that you don’t have enough to do.” Clearly a man of action, Applebaum gestured to the closet labeled Storage. “Go ahead and set up the refreshment tables, why don’t you.”

Diego squinted. He was kidding, right? Busy unlocking more doors, then wheeling out sound equipment, the old mayor didn’t look back. Maybe he wasn’t kidding. Clueless as to how a refreshment table should be set up, Diego squared his shoulders and dived into the supply closet, hauling out three folding tables. He and the mayor worked quickly, the companionable silence only broken by the mayor’s occasional instruction.

“So how did things go with Jade?” Applebaum asked after a while. His expression hidden under the podium as he hooked up the sound system, he sounded curious but nothing more.

Large stainless-steel coffeepot in his arms, Diego froze. Had Jade told someone about their night together? Not even a night, he swiftly corrected. More like a few hours. Hours of passion, power, sexual nirvana and an afterglow of terror.

“Jade?” he asked with an inward cringe. Just how much gossip did this small town have on tap?

She’d used the
L
word. Oh, sure, she hadn’t said she loved him, per se. But “love
this
” was close enough to scare the crap out of him. So much that he’d been halfway to the door under the guise of rescuing his leather jacket from the sleeping cat when he’d glanced back. Lying, naked and deliciously glowing, on the hall floor, Jade had offered a sultry smile and he’d been lost. He hadn’t been able to resist scooping her up and carrying her into her bedroom for one more bout of pleasure. But the minute she’d fallen asleep, he’d sneaked out.

The only thing he was proud of was the fact that he’d managed to keep the cat, who’d somehow decided he was the next best thing to catnip, from following him out into the decoration-filled world.

“I figured she’d open doors for you around town. Everyone loves her. And why wouldn’t they? The girl is a wonder,” Applebaum continued, as if he hadn’t noticed Diego’s lack of response. “She stepped right up when her daddy died. Gave up her dreams, moved back to town to take care of her momma. Not that Opal needs taking care of, now. But Jade promised Chris, so that’s what she did.”

“Her dad died when she lived in San Francisco?” Diego confirmed. Skilled in the art of interviewing unwilling suspects, he knew how to make it sound as if he didn’t care about the response.

“Yep. Moved back, got engaged, went to work at the library. That first year or so after Chris died, Opal was in a rough way. The MS kicked into high gear, and her grief was taking over.” There was something in the mayor’s voice that caught Diego’s attention. A sadness, mingled with a lot of admiration. For Jade’s mom? Interesting. Before Diego could wonder about it too much, Applebaum continued, “Jade? She kept Beryl in school, made it so Ruby could marry without guilt and guided her momma back to healthy living.”

“Jade was engaged?” Yes, he knew Applebaum had said other words besides those. But the rest were just blahblahblah in his head, unheard over the ringing of that announcement. “What happened?”

Applebaum peered around the podium, his arch stare making Diego hunch his shoulders. So much for his covert interview skills.

“Eric was her high-school beau. They’d split when she moved, but drifted back together when Jade came home. They were due to marry about four Christmas Eves ago. A week before the ceremony, Eric got cold feet. Apparently he couldn’t handle the responsibility.”

The responsibility of marrying a gorgeous, sexy woman who was as sweet as she was smart? One who had a body that wouldn’t quit, a personality so fun it practically glittered and a talent with her tongue that had made him want to weep in gratitude.

“Was the guy an idiot?”

Applebaum gave an appreciative smile. “Idiot, careless ass, too weak to do the right thing. They’re all the same in this case. I suppose he figured he did the right thing by taking total responsibility. He decided he wanted out of Diablo Glen, but Jade’s ties meant she couldn’t, or wouldn’t, go.”

Diego focused on settling the coffeepot onto the middle of the table, then instead of moving the table away from the wall to plug in the cord, chose to crouch underneath it instead. All he needed was a few seconds to process that info. A moment or two—without Applebaum’s eagle eye on him—to accept that Jade was here for good. Not that he’d thought about asking her to leave. Or considered what it would be like if she happened to move back to San Francisco after he was transferred there. It wasn’t as if he’d already come up with five or six different options for asking her out. Nope. That she and Diablo Glen were permanently attached didn’t matter to him at all.

Teeth clenched so tight his jaw ached, he rose, flicked the switch to make sure the coffeepot was juiced. Then, blank, he stared at the white table until Applebaum cleared his throat.

“Maybe grab the other coffeepot, and the big trays on the storage shelf?” the older man suggested gently. “I’d appreciate it.”

Get a grip,
Diego warned himself. And the speculative look in the mayor’s eye served as a solid warning. Asking meant caring about the answer. And he had way too many reasons not to care. So instead, he asked, “So what’s the deal? Does Jade’s history have something to do with my case?”

Applebaum’s face was tough to read. The speculation was still there, making Diego’s shoulder blades itch. There was a weird, fatherly sort of benevolence in his eyes, and a shrewd tilt to his chin.

“Probably not. But it never hurts to have as many details about the people you’re dealing with as possible.”

Almost as confused by the paternal affection Applebaum treated him with as he was wondering about Jade, Diego decided that a mental-health break was mandatory.

“I’ll be outside,” he told the mayor. “Gotta check in with Kinnison, follow up on a few loose ends back in Fresno.”

“Uh-huh.”

Shoulders stiff, he took his time sauntering out of the room. No point in confirming that knowing look on the old man’s face.

Forty minutes later, Diego deemed it safe enough to go back into the hall. He’d had enough time to check in with his boss, confirm that he’d be in court in January and give himself a nice long lecture on the need to live in the real world, how life in Podunk, Nowhere, was just fogging his brain and that sex was sex—not a golden ticket to the magical world of happiness.

Figuring he had himself lectured into shape, he stepped into the hall. And winced. It was like walking into the BART station when the train was pulling through. Crazy loud, he saw Applebaum hadn’t been kidding when he said everyone came to these meetings.

This was it. His chance to get a solid lead and solve this damn case. Before he ran out of lecture material.

“Detective.”

He returned the greeting with a nod. And the next one, and the ten after that. He turned down three offers to save him a seat, two plates of cookies and a chance to hold someone’s baby.

Still shuddering at the last offer, he approached the refreshment table.

“Coffee, black,” the woman behind the table said as she handed him a large mug. “And I saved you a slice of gingerbread. Fresh this afternoon and still warm.”

Nonplussed, he stared at the plate and mug for a second before taking them. “How’d you know—”

“Doesn’t take more than two visits before I figure out someone’s tastes,” Lorna said with a big laugh that made her round belly jiggle. “Since you’ve eaten in my diner every night for the last week, I figure I’ve got yours down pat.”

Not sure if that was a good thing, Diego muttered his thanks.

“Not that I’m trying to run business away,” she continued, talking as she laid cookies out on plates, her hands as dark as the chocolate filling. “But there are plenty of people who’d be happy to have you to dinner. To show appreciation, you know. And, of course, to pump you for information.”

Figured. Nine out of ten people who talked to Diego wanted something. Information on their case, something to fuel their gossip, dirty little secrets, tips on skirting the law. Or sometimes it was simple—they just wanted him to sign off on their traffic ticket.

“Appreciation for what?”

“Those obnoxious panty thefts have stopped since you came to town.” Before Diego could deny credit for that, she continued, “As for information, well, you’re the hottest catch in town, Detective. The married women want to know your romantic history and if you’d like to date their daughters, nieces or cute neighbor. The single women are wondering a whole lot more.”

His jaw dropped.

Before he could figure out how to process that image, someone jostled his elbow.

“Oops, sorry, Detective. Lorna, give me one of those snickerdoodles, please, before my boy gets here and tries to eat them all up.”

Mind still reeling, he stared blankly at Marion Kroger. The librarian frowned back, then gestured to Lorna for more cookies. “Well, this can’t be fun for you. I’ll bet you want to get home to your family, start celebrating the holidays. Have you given up on finding the silly pranksters yet?”

Brow creased, he watched her take a plate, piled high with a dozen glistening cookies. “I’ll be here until the case is solved,” he said.

“Oh, dear,” Lorna exclaimed. “Even through the holidays? Not that I don’t admire a man doing his job, but this is the time for family. Can’t you come back after the first of the year? I’m sure people will still have panties missing in January.”

“Nope. No family, so no problem seeing the case through. I’ll solve the case before January, no problem,” Diego assured Lorna.

Marion and Lorna both stared. Then, dark color washing her cheeks, the diner owner cleared her throat. “So, Marion. I see you have more family visiting. A whole truckload, from the looks of it. Are they all here for the holidays? Or to help you harvest your Clementine crop?”

“Oh, a little of both,” Marion said before eating two cookies in rapid succession. “I wish you’d share your recipe for these, Lorna. They’re about the best in the world. Detective, have you tried one?”