Rangers: Silver-Star Seductions: A Two-Book Box Set (8 page)

Week-old pizza left on the counter looked better than she felt when she parked her car in her designated space. Cia twisted the rearview mirror and grimaced at herself. Joe would have probably remarked that she couldn’t expect to drink herself stupid and look good the next day. Thank God he hadn’t hitched a ride with her this morning.

She’d barely taken a sip of the scalding hot, thick-as-syrup brew that passed for coffee before her superior was standing in front of her desk, giving her an assignment. Not one in D.C., but in a small town a couple of hours east of El Paso, Texas.

So less than fifteen minutes after arriving at work, she was on her way back home to pack. Her hangover had vanished. That was no surprise. The moment she’d been assigned the case, energy had burst inside her. That’s the way it always was.

This case was definitely intriguing, and if the initial assessment was correct, could be linked to a series of murders that had occurred across the country the last five years. She wouldn’t know for sure until she got there, but she was hopeful. She and every other member of state and federal law enforcement would love to nail the sick bastard that had killed over two dozen women in the last five years.

More importantly to her, this could be another chance to stop something far worse than a mere serial killer, if the case demonstrated characteristics only she would recognize.

It took her less than twenty minutes from the time she walked in her front door to be loading her things into the backseat of her car. She opened the driver’s door and slid in.

“No speedin’ this time.”

Cia blew out her breath and looked at Joe, all buckled up in the passenger’s seat, a bottle of Mountain Dew secured between his legs and a bag of Cheetos open and already leaving orange crumbs everywhere.

“Did I invite you?”

“Do you ever?”

“Joe.” The warning tone of her voice had been known to give pause to more than one man.

Not so with Joe. He smiled, lifted the Mountain Dew for a long swig, belched and smiled. “Well, what’re you waitin’ on? We got us a case to solve.”

This time the breath she blew out was flavored with several colorful expletives. Joe clucked his tongue and wagged his finger at her. “That kinda talk leads straight to hell, Gracie.”

Cia ignored the comment. The way she saw it, she already had an engraved invitation to hell. But before she got there, she was going to take down as many of the scumbags as possible. Including the one that had left a woman mutilated and dead in Bumfuck, Texas.

* * * * *

Kade had just finished going over the reports when one of the local detectives tapped on the doorframe. “Feds are here.”

It was lucky the guy looked behind him at that moment or he would have seen the frown that creased Kade’s forehead. As he had stated more than once since they’d received notice that the Bureau was sending an agent, with the Texas Rangers on the case, there was no need for Feds.

But since this case looked to be connected to a serial killer known as the Carver, the FBI was going to want to mark the territory as their own. As much as no one wanted to admit it, in times like these, despite the common goal, various organizations still went through pissing contests to see who was top dog.

Kade turned away from the computer screen and stood. A short woman with dark hair pulled back from her face in a long braid entered the room. She was dressed in faded, low-slung jeans, a tight black t-shirt with words in white printed across her breasts that read “Yet despite the look on my face, you’re still talking.” Obviously old motorcycle boots, and an equally worn short leather jacket completed her outfit. Surely, this wasn’t the federal agent?

“Can I help you?” Kade figured she had to have wandered into the wrong place.

“I’m looking for Officer Lawson.”

“You’ve found him. How can I help you, Miss…?”

“Agent Whitehorse. Cia Whitehorse.” She pulled her identification from her jacket.

He gave the identification a look as he rose. “Nice to meet you, Agent Whitehorse.” He came around the desk and extended his hand.

“Cia.” Her grip was firm and her gaze steady as she took his hand. Kade held on a moment longer than necessary, his eyes locked to hers. There was a lot you could figure out about a person by their eyes.

Like this one. Her gaze never wavered, her eyes never blinked. It was the stare of a predator as well as that of a person in hiding. There was defiance in her eyes, which probably explained the unconventional dress. Either she was out to make her mark by being one tough bitch, and daring the world to stand against her, or she was someone running from herself and using her job as a place to hide from her own demons.

He wasn’t sure which, but either way, when he added those observations to the sexual energy pouring off her, she spelled one thing. Trouble.

“You gonna let go and get down to it, or ask me to go steady?” The look in her eyes changed with the question. It was a clear message that he was crossing a line, but one delivered in a slightly offhand sexual manner.

He smiled and released her hand, watching the slow smile on her face. Funny, but it never reached her eyes. Another clue. This was definitely a woman with secrets. Damn bad thing for him because he was a total sucker for mysteries.

However right now, there were more important matters on the table. “We’ve got you set up over there.” He gestured to the desk adjacent to the one he’d been assigned. “Everything on the case has been loaded onto the computer. I’ll get you set up and after you’ve had time to—”

“I’ve already been over all of it on the way here. I’d like to see the scene and the body.”

“Where first?”

“The scene.”

He gestured toward the door. “After you.”

She pivoted and led the way. Kade followed, trying not to notice the enticing sway of her ass in her jeans. Of all the luck. He got assigned lead in one of the biggest cases of his career and was saddled to temptation in denim.

Well, he’d just have to resist temptation. How hard could it be? It wasn’t as if she was likely to jump his bones. Although, that thought did bring a few lascivious thoughts to mind that were likely to return in detail when he was alone in bed tonight.

Cia was angry and tired by the time she and Kade left the medical examiner’s office three days later. The final report was as bad as she had expected. The sick bastard they were hunting deserved far worse than the lethal injection that Kade advocated. The latest victim, eighteen-year-old Carmen Miller, had died horribly. Cia couldn’t imagine the physical agony she had suffered, or the overwhelming terror and utter hopelessness she had endured.

If only they had a lead. At this point, they had nothing and feeling ineffectual was driving her mad. There had to be some clue they’d missed, something they’d overlooked. She and Kade had gone over it for three straight days and they were no further than when they started.

It was enough to have her needing to lash out. To break something or someone. She knew that wasn’t going to change anything and in the long run wouldn’t ease her anger, but right now that didn’t matter. She needed some kind of diversion.

Lucky for her, diversion presented itself in a tantalizing package.

“So, you want me to drop you at the station to get your car, or you want to go grab something to eat and maybe a couple of beers?” Kade looked over the hood of the dark sedan. “I don’t know about you, but I think I could use an hour or two away from the case.”

“I could eat.”

“Or drink?”

She gave him a smile. “I can always drink.”

His smile was as pretty a temptation as she’d ever seen and she knew in that instant that she’d end the night in bed with him. She didn’t know why she was so certain or how it would come about, but she’d put good money on it.

And that brought a sense of excitement that helped dampen the dismal mood the afternoon had bestowed on her.

Kade was one fine-looking man. A couple of inches over six feet, he was lean but obviously fit with an ass and legs that made a woman want to stand up and applaud. His chiseled features, smoke-gray eyes added up to a bad-boy-lethal look that never failed to excite her.

And he was definitely one intense man. She’d watched him for the last three days, at the crime scene, the morgue, and scouring over the evidence. His attention was like a laser beam, totally focused and taking in every detail.

What was more interesting, he seemed to pick up on details that ordinarily wouldn’t be noticed. She wondered what gave him such keen and unique insight. If she was smart, she’d focus on those qualities, rather than the enticing way he filled out his pants, or how her legs threatened to turn to mush when he focused that laser-beam gaze on her.

But libido often overpowered reason, and right now, it had a good ten-second lead. Shrugging away thoughts of what would be wise, she slid into the passenger seat of his car. The bar he took her to was one she’d consider a local hangout. Small and not terribly crowded, it was the kind of place that attracted patrons who’d been coming for some time, a place to grab a beer after work, socialize with friends, or indulge in a friendly game of pool.

They found a table, ordered drinks, and for the next hour went through the dance of small talk about where they were from, what they were into, what they disliked, and what they loved. Everything but what was uppermost on her mind. Would he be good in bed?

Finally, after a bowl of good chili and a couple more drinks than she should have had, she decided it was time to up the game.

“So, you any good?”

His expression registered a moment of surprise before a slow smile rose on his face. “At what?”

“Sex.”

That did it. His eyes actually widened. She allowed herself a smile. “And pool.”

“Yes, to both. You?”

“I get by. You wanna play?”

“Pool?”

She shrugged. “It’s a start.”

He stood and gestured toward an empty table. “Ladies first.”

With a chuckle, she rose and made her way to the table. “Flip to break?” She pulled a quarter from her pocket.

“Tails.”

“Tail man, huh?” She grinned and flipped the coin. “Sorry, stud, heads it is. I break.”

“Have at it.”

She chalked up a cue and cut a look at him. “So what’re we playing for?”

“The fun of it? Bragging rights?”

“Kinda takes the thrill out of winning, don’t you think?”

“Okay, what do you want to play for?”

Cia propped one hand on the edge of the table, leaning in slightly with one hip cocked. “Hmmm, how about this? You win, you get me tied up and all yours for the night. I win, and I get you.”

The look he gave her told her quite clearly that he was interested. “Sounds like a win-win situation.”

She laughed and straightened. “You’ve never been tied up by me, cowboy.”

“Don’t reckon I’m about to either. Give it your best shot, slick. You’re going down.”

Cia leaned over, readying for the break, but looked up at him. “Oh, I plan on it, cowboy.”

Half an hour later, he admitted defeat. “Hustler,” he complained good-naturedly.

She laughed and placed her cue on the table. “Time to pony up, cowboy.”

He walked over to her, stepping up so close that she had to tilt her head back to look up at him. “Your place or mine, slick?”

“Let’s make it yours.”

“After you.”

Cia was just drunk enough not to let stray thoughts of right and wrong deter her. She was worked up enough to jump him in the parking lot. Neither of them spoke on the drive to the hotel or the short walk to the room she'd been assigned for the duration of the case.

He opened the door and held it for her. The moment he was inside she pushed it shut and closed in on him, pressing him back against it with her body. She ran her hands up his chest to take off his hat, toss it aside and then grabbed him by the hair to pull his face down to hers.

“You ready to ride, cowboy?” she whispered against his lips.

“You ready to be ridden, slick?”

“Thought I was the one doing the riding? I
did
win the bet.”

“Then I guess you better claim your prize.”

Their mouths joined in a clash of tongues and teeth. She couldn’t blame the alcohol for the sudden weakening of her knees or the fire that sprang to life in her groin. It was all him. His feel, his taste, and the way he took control of the kiss.

Impatience born of need had her breaking free of the kiss to tug off his jacket and work at the buttons of his shirt. She kissed, nipped and licked every inch of skin that was revealed as she parted the shirt and worked it over his shoulders and down his arms.

The more she licked his skin, she more she craved the taste of him. Kade helped her efforts by stripping off his shirt and tossing it aside. He gently pushed her back long enough to pull off his boots. When his hands moved to his belt, Cia’s eyes followed the motion of his fingers as he unfastened it, worked the button open then eased down the zipper.

Her pulse raced faster and her hands moved to her own belt, loosening it and then the zipper. When Kade eased his pants down over his lean hips, revealing his no-underwear status, she nearly groaned. Hunger stabbed strong and demanding inside her, prompting her to toe off her boots and shimmy out of her jeans.

Her hands pressed into the center of her belly and moved lower to the vee of her thighs as he stepped out of his pants.

Their eyes met and she saw an answering hunger in his; the gray had darkened to the color of storm clouds and narrowed slightly into a look of such intensity that it made her wet just looking at him.

He smiled and his gaze moved down her body to her fingers, fingers that had worked into the folds of her sex, stroking and rubbing.

Her throat felt thick and constricted as she allowed her eyes to roam his body. Good god was he beautiful. And that glorious length of male was too much temptation to ignore. She sank to her knees before him, gathering his erection in both hands.

A slight intake of breath and sudden tension in his body was all the response he gave when she ran her tongue over the head. It was enough to have her take him into her mouth. And enough to elicit a groan from him.

His fingers moved to her head, tightening in her hair and guiding her tempo as she laved and sucked.

His fuse must have been short because it wasn’t long before he pushed her back. Cia sat back on the floor, looking up at him. Damn was he fine. She lay back on the carpet and raised her hand to him.

Kade didn’t hesitate and she admired his economy of motion as he lowered himself down and spread her legs so that he could kneel between them. She shivered with impatient anticipation as his hands traced up the inside of her legs. When his fingers brushed the sides of her sex, she spread her legs wider, bending her knees to grant him better access.

With a touch that spelled practice, he stroked her outer lips. Her labia swelled and grew pliant, wet and ready. “More,” she encouraged, tilting her pelvis up against his hand.

He smiled and spread her wider, using one finger and working it with slow, steady pressure inside her. She bucked up as another finger joined the first and began to move rhythmically within her. A climax started to build, rumbling inside her like a hungry beast. When his thumb, slick with her juice, circled her clit, she exploded.

Kade didn’t speak but raised his eyebrows in question and she smiled up at him, the smile fading to be replaced with a look of desire as their eyes met. There was no more need for words. He pulled her to him and her arms instinctively went around his neck as their lips met, his tongue parting her lips to taste her.

Cia groaned and deepened the kiss, her tongue warring with his for dominance.

With his heart pounding in his chest and his body on fire, Kade’s mind went empty of every other thought than the feel and taste of her. When she wrapped her firm thighs around him and pressed her hot sex against him, madness swept through his mind. He sat back, put his hands on her hips, and pulled her down onto him. She released a sharp, excited breath as his erection pressed against her wet sex, and then growled something he didn’t understand, but responded to with a sharp stab of hunger that nearly blinded him.

Cia pulled herself tighter to him, heat from her sex radiating through his aching groin as she rotated her hips, fueling his flame as she ground against the length of his erection. Every rub and slide shredded his weakening control a little more. His fingers tightened on her hips, then clenched as he struggled to hold back the building need to ram insider her and fuck her like there was no tomorrow. Christ on a crutch, he had to get inside her. He captured both her breasts, thumbing the hard nipples. She hissed out a breath that spelled pleasure and he lowered himself down to cover one nipple with his mouth.

She moaned and arched against his mouth. Her hands traveled over his body, exploring the ridges of muscle beneath the skin of his abdomen. A shudder ran through him when her fingers traced the hair that ran from his navel and thickened into a dense forest around the base of his penis.

Her touch was like electricity, sending currents arcing through him.  His breath hitched in his throat when her warm hand closed on him and stroked. He groaned and closed his eyes, fighting to hold back while his body demanded that he plunge into her, pound hard and fast and sate his need.

His eyes met hers in a searing look that was so replete with hunger it had her breath catching in her throat. Her own need intensified to the point that the throb of her heart was matched by an echoing pulse in her sex.

With eager hands, she grabbed the back of his head and pulled him to her. Kade eased down on her, his erection sandwiched between them, pressing into her belly as he assumed the dominant position.

Cia explored his mouth with her tongue, tasting his lips, nipping at his full bottom lip before indulging herself in the warmth inside his mouth. Coupled with the fire that was dancing on her skin from his hand traveling down the side of her body to slide beneath her and tighten on her ass, she was breathing hard with desire.

A groan from him had her pulling away to stare into his eyes. There was fire burning in their depths, and something more, something raw and powerful. She traced her fingers over his face, feeling the strong bones that lay beneath the surface. A slow, sexy smile spread on his face.

She returned the smile and reached up to lick at his lips, feeling his alcohol-sweetened breath in her face. Like an addict drawn eager for the next high, she claimed his mouth in a devouring kiss.

Never breaking the contact of her body to his, she moved her lips from his mouth to his neck and rolled them over so that he was beneath her. His taste was like no other she had experienced, exotic and male. His natural smell made her hunger for more. Slithering lower, she explored his chest with her mouth, taking her time, lost in the feel and taste of him. Inch by slow inch, she worked her way down his body.

When she slid down his legs, spreading his thighs to kneel between them, she looked up the length of his body. Her eyes met his as both her small hands wrapped around his erection. His body arched at the contact, provoking a stab of powerful feminine satisfaction. She started to stroke him, but he suddenly grasped her wrists and sat up, pulling her arms behind her back.