"You feel incredible, Halley," he groaned as he pressed deeper. "Just hang onto that bed, honey."
She did. And boy, was she rewarded by feeling him deeper inside of her than ever before. When he started moving, shifting against her, she felt her fingers curl against the wood frame of her bed, her body already about to explode. "Mike?" she gasped, her eyes closed as she pressed herself against each of his thrusts, wanting so much more but not sure how to achieve it in this position.
Mike knew. He reached around, his hand gently curving towards her hip and he pressed his fingers against her. With each thrust, his hand was pressed against that nub and, within only a few minutes, she was screaming out, her body throbbing around his.
Mike felt her body tense up and then the climactic pulses of her orgasm. He wanted to hold out longer, to feel this incredible sensation, but she was clenching him too tightly and his body took over, his release upon him before he could slow it down. Everything inside of him drained into her and he felt like his life was being given over.
And it probably was!
Standing up, he tossed the condom into the trash, then lifted Halley into his arms. He'd meant to carry her to the bed, but it was too far away. His legs just wouldn't move that far. So he sat down in her reading chair and instantly, she curled into his arms, her nose snuggling against his neck and he could imagine holding her like this for the rest of his life.
"Halley," he whispered reverently as his hands tangled in her hair. "We need to talk."
Silence.
Looking down into her softly flushed features, he realized that she was sound asleep. Poor woman, he thought, looking at her swollen eyes and puffy cheeks. She'd really worked herself up into a temper, and it was all for nothing.
Well, not nothing in his mind. She'd finally revealed herself to him. Pulling her closer, he sat in the chair, thinking through all of the information he knew about Halley, her mystery, her secrets, and what might be going on.
At some point during the night, he carried her over to her bed, pulling the covers over both of them, but he still didn't sleep. His mind was restless, trying to figure out how to protect his woman when she wasn't ready to trust him with her secrets.
Somehow, he knew that her secrets were connected to the person invading her house. The timing of her disappearances and the break-ins couldn't be a coincidence. Whatever she was doing, it had triggered the break-ins.
Odd though. He'd known a lot of burglars in his time, but never one who broke into a person's home and cleaned it. That made him think that this was personal. More than a stalker, he suspected. And Halley had to know the person. She had to have run into the culprit at some point, talked with him – or her, but he was going with a male – which was how this guy knew where she lived, what foods she preferred, the flowers she liked …
It all added up.
Unfortunately, the prints hadn't revealed anything, especially when he couldn't get exclusionary prints from her family. There were too many prints that weren't in the system, which only meant that the person who had broken in hadn't gotten caught.
Yet.
He had to know what she was doing, where she was going. That was the key.
Once he had all the facts straight in his head, he pulled Halley closer and fell asleep, determined to question her tomorrow.
Chapter 10
"I'm here," he called out, shifting to get through the crowds of people lining up to get into the theatre. Mike maneuvered around several more groups of people, trying to suppress his fury. Halley hadn't been in bed when he'd woken up this morning. Just a note letting him know that she had things to do today. No details about what those things were, where she would be, or what time she would be back.
And the fool woman wasn't answering her phone again!
So here he was, a whole day lost because he'd been trying to get foot prints in the woods, contact Halley, and run more fingerprints, none of which turned up anything he could use.
"I'm here," he repeated and wrapped his arm around Sally for a hug. He then reached over and shook Don's hand. "Good to see you again. Good trip?"
Don cringed. "Bad flight. I'm just glad to be here to see the girls. They've been sending me videos of their dress rehearsals for the past few days. I'm thrilled to be back in time for the real thing."
Sally leaned over, leaning her head against her husband's shoulder. "I'm glad you're here too. They were so excited when I told them that you would be able to see their performance."