Nora Roberts Land(79)
“Fuck! This used to be a sleepy, quiet little town. This could fuck up everything!”
“The reporter showed up today to get his oil changed. Stared me down good. I’ve seen the type. He won’t back down.”
“Fuck that!” Barlow replied. “There’s no proof. We’ll shut down for a while. If McBride’s a temporary professor, he’ll be leaving in a few weeks when the semester ends. We’ll weather this. I don’t want to start up again somewhere else. We’ve got a cozy set-up here, and our new stash is freaking genius.”
“But McBride’s…” The voice grew too muffled for Meredith to make out the rest of his words. A door slammed. Her body jerked, and her heartbeat sounded like it was being broadcast on loudspeakers. She focused on her breathing, while her ears strained to pick up any noises from outside.
“I think they’re gone,” Tanner whispered finally, “but we need to wait a while.”
“I’m pretty sure it was Kenny and Barlow.”
“Yep, and now we know the truth. That asshole tried to drive Ray out of town, and he got the kid so scared he went off the road. Fuck!”
She didn’t know what to say to comfort him.
“And they know a hell of a lot about me now. Not a bad thing. He’s right. I won’t back down. We’ve got them running scared. That’s when people make dumb mistakes.”
She thought of Ray. Chasing a kid out of town and accidentally driving him to his death was more than a dumb mistake. It was second degree murder.
The jumper cables were digging into her skin, so she shifted her arm to pull them out. Either that or there’d be a permanent impression of jagged teeth in her thigh.
“Please tell me you have a plan to get us out of here.”
“This model has a trunk release. Don’t worry. I wouldn’t have stuffed us inside otherwise.”
She squirmed. Tanner’s butt clenched when her hips thrust forward.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m laying on a jumper cable. It’s digging into my leg.”
“Jesus. Be quick about it.”
She became aware of his body heat, and she felt drawn to it in the cold trunk. She shifted, her hand trailing across his body. They were fitted together like two pieces of metal in a modern sculpture.
“I can’t reach it.”
His arm crossed her body, searching. “Where is it? I’ll help if you stop wiggling like a greased pig.”
Pig, indeed. “I can’t help it!” she hissed, rolling toward him.
“Oh Christ, stop.”
“What?”
The sound he made was something between a chuckle and a groan. “You really have no idea what you’re doing to me, do you?”
Her body went rigid. The car had felt too small before, but suddenly it was like all of the air had been sucked out. He was aroused.
Duh.
She almost pointed out the ludicrousness of the situation to her alter ego, but she stopped herself. Hell, she was getting aroused too. Maybe it was true what they said about adrenaline making you horny. They both should have their heads examined for getting hot in the trunk after almost being discovered by criminals. Still, she could control herself.
Meredith tried to push up, moving an inch.
“Let me do it. Where is it?”
She nearly gulped. “Under my thigh.” Her control wavered like smoke.
His breath released like a punctured tire. “This has to be bad karma, but I can’t imagine what I did to deserve it. Okay, hold still. I’ll get it. Tell me when I’m getting close.”
Her body nearly undulated with desire. Closer. Please.
He slid his arm behind her, clearly going by feel, tracing her body like she was some topographic map. His hand angled down her hip, making her leg jerk.
“Jesus, Meredith. Hold still.”
“I’m trying.” How could she be still when his hand was pressing under her thigh? “Higher.”
He swore in the dark, and she could feel him pulling on something.
She nearly moaned when his hand cruised her butt. “The metal part shifted, but it won’t move.”
He muttered something she couldn’t hear. “Lift your top leg over mine and roll toward me.”
Her eyelids fluttered, and a shot of pure lust tore through her from her toes to the top of her head. While the metal was putting a crater in her thigh, the rest of this situation was downright sinful. She hesitated. “Can’t we get out now?”
“Meredith, I have no idea how long it will take them to grab their stuff and clear out. We need to stay here a while longer. Throw your leg over, dammit, and stop wiggling.”
She draped her leg over his hip. She almost moaned. God, the pressure of his body felt incredible. Given how tall he was, his legs were angled even more sharply than hers. His deep-throated groan made her wet. She realized her nipples were tight.