Sworn to Be His(The Archer Family Book 3)(14)

"You know this makes sense," he said and she studied him for a long moment, her blue eyes clear and shrewd as she surveyed him.

"I know that you're jealous. What else it is, I don't know. Maybe you're  trying to make me feel like this isn't my fault like you did before."

"You think I told you all that because..."

"I don't know why you do anything, but I'm not buying it." She sniffed  and he gripped the steering wheel harder as she opened the passenger  side door.

Everything. He'd told her everything about his past, his secrets, and what had she done? Ignored it.

He gritted his teeth, and when the door had closed behind her, he backed out again and sped back onto the street.





Chapter 9





"I'm an idiot." Jade stared down at her cat, not bothering to scold the  tabby for jumping up onto the table for the third time that evening.

At this point, she was just glad to have someone to commiserate with.  Someone who, based on their indifference, knew exactly how colossally  she'd fucked up today. After everything Derrick had shared with her, why  couldn't she just put everything aside and tell him the one thing that  still hung between them, unspoken?

That it was him she wanted. That nobody mattered but him.

That she...cared for him.

She stirred her coffee lazily with her spoon and then took a long sip.  She'd have to come up with some way to make this up to Derrick. And she  would. Just as soon as she worked up the courage to see him again.

She glanced out the window, studying the droplets of rain careening down  her window panes. It was the perfect night for a good cup of coffee and  some well-deserved sleep. Maybe if she went to bed now, things would  seem slightly less fucked up in the morning.

Maybe-

The doorbell clanged in the front of the house and she got up from the  dining room table and shuffled into the adjacent room, careful not the  look at the spot where she'd made love to Derrick on her living room  floor.

Again the doorbell rang and she sprinted the last few feet before swinging the door open.

Then there he was, rain dripping down his nose and making his dark grey  shirt cling to his muscles. Derrick, his dark hair soaked through.

"Can I come in?" He asked, and she stepped aside wordlessly.

"I was just thinking about you. I-"

"No. You need to know something." He cut her off.

"Derrick," she said.

"Jade, I'm not jealous. I've never been a jealous man and I have to tell you and I'm still not."         

     



 

"I-"

He held up a hand to silence her, then took another step toward her  until his wet clothes began to dampen her own. "I can't be jealous  because I know you're mine and I can have you whenever I want you. I  know that you want me."

He cupped her chin in one hand and lifted her face to his. "I know you want me right now."

She couldn't deny it was the truth. The second he stepped into the room,  her heart had beat fast and her mouth had gone dry. She wanted to lick  the rain from his neck, to taste it on his lips. To feel his chilled  skin against her own warm flesh.

"I shouldn't have said you were jealous. And I shouldn't have-"

"I don't care about that, I don't regret telling you anything. I want you to know all there is to know about me."

"Then, what do you want? Why did you come here?"

"Because I want you and I'm going to have you." Without another word, he  wrapped an arm around her waist and hoisted her into a fireman's lift,  carrying her up the stairs, down the hall, and into the bedroom. Gently,  he laid her down on the bed and then closed the door.



The next morning Jade blinked awake, the world blurry as she shifted in  her bed. Or, at least, as she tried to shift. Something big and hard and  warm was curled around her, and as she raised her hand to touch it, she  felt a long gush of warm air against her hair and smelled the sweet  spice of aftershave.

Then she remembered.

Derrick.

He was still here in her bed, his arm wrapped protectively around her as  they slept. What was more, if her senses were anything to go by, he was  still naked from the night before, his hard length pressed to her back  as he slept.

Derrick.

She wanted to sigh just at the thought of his name-like a wistful  heroine thinking of their knight in shining armor. It was so strange, so  silly to think that for all this time she'd had him right in front of  her, only a few inches from her reach, and she'd never understood. Never  really saw him.

Not until now.

Gently, she clasped his wrist and ran her finger along the delicate  hairs on his forearm, closing her eyes as she studied the heat of his  body on hers. As she remembered the way he'd stormed into her house and  taken her.

Commanded her.

...Loved her.

But no, it was too soon to be thinking like that. Even if she did know  him inside and out, the Derrick she knew was her friend, her partner.  This new Derrick was her lover, her companion. Maybe even her knight in  shining armor.

A warm pair of lips pressed against the shell of her ear, and then she heard his low, deep groan.

"Did I wake you?" she whispered.

A scratching against the sheets let her know he was shaking his head. "No, it's Saturday. I'm on call this weekend."

"No," she moaned. "Can't you call in sick?" She twisted in the bed and  faced him. His mouth was pouty in the morning, his cheeks the slightest  bit red with sleep. His eyes were still half-closed but for some reason  that only made him look even sexier. Brought out the fullness of his  lashes.

"Yeah, I'm sure that would go over well. We've got serious issues on the  Scaglietti case, and I'm calling in sick to secretly bang my partner."

She curled a leg around him and pulled herself in tighter, until their  bodies were flush and the length of his still-hard erection was pressed  against her belly. "It does have its benefits, though." She smiled and  then he leaned down and kissed her, prising her lips apart to make way  for the slow, sinful teasing of his tongue.

She moaned against his mouth, willing him to roll on top of her and stay  there all day long. He didn't even have to make love to her. He just  had to be there.

A ringing sound hummed from the edge of the bed and then something  clanged against the metal footboard. She looked down at the white metal  scrollwork to see that it was shaking.

"Dammit," he mumbled. "My phone."

"But Derrick..." She groaned, not knowing what else to say. The truth of  the matter was she knew how important the call might be. Knew better  than to interfere.

He slid from the bed and she bit the inside of her cheek as he bent over in front of her to grab his phone.

Double Dammit. One more minute and I might have been screaming so loud we'd never have noticed the damned phone...

He checked the call screen, then thumbed the glass and held the little square to his ear.

"Detective Archer," he said, instantly all gruff professionalism.

She clutched a sheet to her chest and sat up in bed, waiting for some  clue or sign. He gave none. Instead, he answered in yeses and nos and  other vaguenesses until at last he said, "On my way," and tossed the  phone onto the bed.

Wordlessly, he pulled on his pants and scanned the room for his shirt.         

     



 

"What's going on?" she asked finally.

His face was grave when he met her gaze, his mouth a solid line of resignation. "All our notes are missing."

"Wha-what do you mean?" she asked, but she knew. She just couldn't believe it. Didn't want to.

"All the Scaglietti files have been combed through. They found some  documents in the shredder, but the rest are just plain gone. If our  intel gets into the wrong hands, they might know all about who was  working the case, who knows what-"

"But we're police officers. They wouldn't-"

"Kill us?" Derrick raised an eyebrow.

She didn't speak. She knew that answer, too.

"I have to go in and see what we can find on the security footage."

"They're smarter than to leave a trace there."

"Maybe, but if we can find out how Zac did this-"

"Zac?" She blinked.

"Jade, you have to know by now that there's someone on the inside. Zac  is the most logical choice. He'll know that, too. I'm betting there's  going to be some heavy-handed framing involved. I have to make sure we  get the right man."

"And what makes you so sure that man is Zac?" She shot back. She didn't  know why she felt so strongly about it. Maybe because she'd known Zac  for so long-had been around all his friends in school.

She couldn't have grown up alongside someone who worked with the mob.  Those sorts of people were raised in blackboard jungles or in the mean  streets of Brooklyn. Not here, not in a tiny hamlet on Oahu.

"Jade, we don't have time for this argument. My only concern is getting you someplace safe right now."

"Me?"

"You worked harder on this case than anyone else. If they're going after anyone, it's going to be you."

She blinked. This time, she hadn't seen that coming. Not from a mile away.