Loving Again(32)

                “No more. We had this discussion before and nothing’s changed since then. I need to take care of myself. Without being rescued like some stupid damsel in distress in a tower someplace.”

                He folded her in his arms and held her. “No one would ever mistake you for Rapunzel, baby. Just don’t lock me out. Talk to me. At least let me be a sympathetic ear. Promise?”

                “If you’ll promise not to try to solve my problems.”

                “If that’s what you want, sure.” Then he kissed her softly and sweetly, a gentle, almost imperceptible touch of his lips on hers. When he outlined her lips with his forefinger, a yearning washed over her. In spite of her brave words, she loved his strength, felt safe with him. She had to fight the urge to dump it all in his lap so she could run away, lose herself in her work, maybe.

                Instead, she tried to lose herself in his attention to her mouth as his warm breath feathered across her lips. Her breath stopped, the world stopped, while she waited for him to kiss her, really kiss her, as she knew he could. Finally, blessedly, he did. He tasted of chocolate and coffee and kissed like an angel. It was heaven to kiss him.

                He drew her closer, one hand at the small of her back, the other at the nape of her neck, his fingers tangled in her hair. Angling his head, he took her mouth with his. This time it was no angel who kissed her but a man who showed her how much he wanted her with his mouth, with his tongue, with his body as he turned her insides to liquid fire.

                His lips never moved from hers even when he adjusted his head to have better contact so he could steal the breath from her lungs with a gentle suction. Desire flamed over her as his tongue explored her mouth. At the same time his hands moved from the small of her back up her sides straying to her breasts, his thumbs grazing the hardening tips of her nipples.

                She drew her head back, trying to catch her breath but that only gave him access to her throat. He kissed down the side of her face to the rapidly beating pulse in her neck and sucked gently at it. She could feel heat swirl around her belly and moisture pool between her legs.

                “Let’s take this to bed,” he whispered.

                She didn’t answer, just moved to the stairs.

                • • •

                For a couple days, Sam chewed on the conversations they’d had about the basement and Eubie Kane. He didn’t know what to do about the push-back he was getting from her when he asked about either subject, didn’t know how to make her see that he wasn’t trying to run her life, just be part of it. Hell, more than that. He was falling in love with her. He wanted her safe, happy. Wanted to help her make that happen.

                But he’d been relegated to spectator, at least in the parts where she had any problems. He didn’t like being useless. So to shake off that feeling, he did a couple things. He ran a background check on Eubie Kane, just to see what he could find out, which was nothing, not even a traffic ticket.

                Then he asked around about the attorney Kane had hired. He was legit and high-priced, which led Sam to wonder where Kane was getting his money.

                He also called the alarm company and found out exactly how many times there had been a false alarm at Amanda’s. It was considerably more than he was comfortable with. He asked them to call him directly if it happened again after they notified her but without telling her. And he got a patrol car to swing by in the evenings just for good measure.

                She’d be pissed as hell if she knew what he’d done. He’d have to take that chance. Because he couldn’t just stand by and watch, even if she wanted him to.