Midnight Heat Read online

  “I can’t imagine he was much help,” Dane broke in.

  “You’re right, he wasn’t. Actually, looking back on it, I think he was more relieved. I had been gently suggesting that he let me take flying lessons.” She grimaced. “Let, allow. I can’t believe how I used to think.” She shook her head. “I eventually gave up on talking him into it. Instead I signed up to take my controller test.”

  “I bet that went over well.”

  “I didn’t tell him, not until after I’d taken the test and passed. My dad helped me study. He was all for it. I don’t know what I’d have done without him.”

  “How did Tony take it?”

  “Saying ‘not well’ would be an understatement,” she answered. “But going to Oklahoma City, to school, well … I guess he really didn’t think I’d do it. He sure as hell worked on me and he knew what buttons to push. He had an incredible talent for making me feel selfish when I did anything for myself. He had a field day with this, pulling the ‘poor me’ act, saying he was hurt that he wasn’t enough for me, that I needed more. Breaking free of that mentality was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.”

  “Did you end it before or after you went to school?”

  That he knew she, not Tony, had been the one to end it pleased her. “I signed up and he put his foot down. Frankly, I was surprised he didn’t let me go more easily.”

  “He didn’t want to let you go. He wanted someone he could control. If you left, how would he define himself?”

  Adria was astonished by his insight.

  “What made you finally do it? Where did you get the strength?”

  “My father dying,” she said plainly. “He had a heart attack. Too many cigarettes and not enough exercise—the bane of many a controller.” Her gaze drifted back to their still-entwined fingers. She found strength there and, for the first time since her divorce, didn’t feel afraid to take a little of it. “But it was losing his job during a strike that really killed him.” Her eyes burned with unshed tears. “Just before he died, he apologized to me.”

  “For what?”

  Adria wiped her eyes and sniffed. “I never complained about taking care of my dad and Gramps, but I won’t deny that Tony’s main appeal was his insistence in taking complete care of me. I willingly let him make all the decisions, control every facet of our lives. It was a relief. My dad understood that better than I’d realized.

  “But the novelty wore off after a couple of years. Instead of feeling cosseted, I began to feel manipulated. But I learned very quickly that, for a lawyer, Tony was appallingly unwilling to compromise. Opposing lawyers were more successful at plea-bargaining with him than his own wife. My dad carried a lot of guilt because of that. I had no idea I’d let on how unhappy I was.” She paused and Dane squeezed her hand. She smiled at him. “That’s what he apologized for. And he made me promise that I’d do what I wanted. If Tony was the man he should have been, a man who really loved me, he’d understand, if not—” She shrugged. “Dad said I’d done enough for everyone else, it was time to do something for me.”

  “Sounds like a wise man. I wish I’d known him.”

  Adria smiled. “It would have been interesting, that’s for sure.”

  Dane lifted a brow. “I’m letting you pour your heart out, being the understanding, sensitive guy, and you’re insulting me?”

  Heat filled her cheeks and she tried to tug her hand away. Dane tightened his grip.

  “I give up,” he said. “I’ve obviously been an investigator way too long.”

  Baffled, Adria asked, “Give up what?”

  “Joking.” He sounded so morose, she almost laughed.

  “It’s not the joke,” she said seriously when she realized he was serious. “It’s the delivery. If you didn’t scowl, it would help.”

  “I don’t—” He broke off and a moment later his expression turned sheepish. This time she did laugh. He scowled and she laughed harder. “Okay already,” he grumbled. “Don’t rub it in.”

  “I’m not. It’s just that you’re actually cute when you’re embarrassed.”

  He opened his mouth, but shut it quickly. Heat climbed conspicuously into his cheeks. That just broke her up all over again.

  Dane dropped her hand and circled the table threateningly. Giggling, Adria scooted off the bench and began backing away from him.

  “Cute, huh?” he said, closing the distance between them with his long strides.

  Adria’s breath came in short gasps. The Predator was loose. And she loved it.

  “Extremely,” she taunted him. It was dangerous, she knew. But the thrill of it only spurred her on. “Not to mention sexy.”

  Her hips bumped up against another table and he stalked her, right up until he was standing between her legs.

  She couldn’t breathe at all now, much less speak. But talking was the last thing on her mind. And when he slid his palm around the back of her neck and dipped his head, his eyes told her it was the last thing on his as well.

  SEVEN

  The air reverberated with thunder, the table at her hips vibrated. Adria knew it was the effect of another jet roaring overhead, but as Dane subtly pressured her lips to open and slid his tongue inside, she knew she’d match his power to make her body vibrate against the thrusters of a jet any day.

  Trailing openmouthed kisses to the sensitive spot just below her ear, he groaned deep in his throat. “You taste so good.” He moved to her neck. “Remind me again why I’m not supposed to be doing this.”

  Adria slid her fingers into his hair as his tongue traced the line of her collarbone. She used her tongue to trace the shell of his ear.

  “On second thought, don’t,” he ordered. His hands moved to her waist and he stepped closer between her legs.

  Adria shifted her knees apart, welcoming his hard body against the ache that was tightening the muscles between her legs.

  “Dane.” Her voice was a harsh rasp. She sucked in her breath when he crowded even closer, moving his hips against hers. Warm air caressed her back and she realized he was pulling her shirt from her jeans.

  I should be stopping him. His hand, warm and a little rough, smoothed across her lower back and up her spine. But heaven help me, I’m not going to. Dane swallowed her moan of pleasure, taking her mouth harder this time.

  Adria gave right back. She gripped his hips, holding him tight against her, moving as he moved. Her fingers slid under his suit jacket and pulled at the cotton shirt.

  He sucked in a harsh breath when her fingers brushed his bare skin. His skin was hot, smooth, and tightly wrapped around hard muscle. He felt better than Adria could possibly have imagined. And she wanted more.

  But she was sidetracked from her mission when Dane shifted back, allowing his hands to move up between them. When he bent over her, Adria was forced to let go of him and brace her hands on the table behind her for support.

  Her shirt was already bunched up. Dane merely nudged it higher then dipped his head and captured a distended nipple between his teeth before closing his lips tightly around it, pulling it with gentle rhythmic suction. His mouth felt wetter and hotter than anything she’d ever experienced. And that was through the fabric of her bra, a small barrier that was suddenly too much.

  Dane lifted his head a fraction.

  “Please, don’t stop.” The words were out before she could stop them.

  He released the front catch on her bra, then lifted his gaze to hers. “I’m having a hard time not lifting you up on this table and crawling right up on top of you.”

  “Yes,” she said hoarsely. Had she ever thought making love to Dane Colbourne would be something less than universe altering? She swallowed hard when he shifted against her. She rotated her hips right back.

  With a sharp curse, Dane grabbed her hips and sat her down on the table. She wrapped her legs around his hips as he leaned her backward until her spine pressed against the time-worn wood.

  He said something against her neck, then again as he trai
led kisses down past her collarbone.

  “Hmm?” Adria questioned, only distantly caring. His mouth felt perfect on her; her skin felt electrified.

  “Splinters,” he murmured. He left her only long enough to pull off his jacket and slide it beneath her. She immediately reached for his shirt, but he was faster. He bared her skin, pushing her shirt up and off, followed quickly by her bra. He laced his fingers with hers and pushed their hands overhead as he leaned over her again.

  “Your shirt,” she managed between gasps.

  “What about it?” he said as his mouth trailed downward.

  “I want it off.”

  With a predatory gleam in his eyes, he release her hands but not her gaze. Mesmerized, she watched as he slowly yanked off his tie, undid the cuffs, then the top two buttons of his shirt. He reached behind to grab the back of the collar and pulled the garment over his head. It joined his tie on the bench.

  He was marble, from his shoulders and arms to a beautiful chest with just enough hair scattered across it, and a flat abdomen. Statues would be envious, she thought, licking her lips.

  She reached up to caress him as he leaned over her. Hard as marble, maybe, but not cold. “You’re so warm,” she murmured, then gasped when his belly rubbed hers.

  “Hot,” he corrected her, then ran his tongue along her shoulder. “Burning up.”

  The combination of the warm sun and his wet tongue laving her nipple at the same time made her thighs tighten convulsively on his hips. She crossed her ankles behind his back and smoothed her hands up to grip his shoulders.

  She bit down on a groan as he pulled one nipple into his mouth, but was unable to keep from crying out when he flicked his tongue over and around the engorged tip.

  He immediately lifted his head. “Did I hurt you?”

  She shook her head, beyond speech. She wove her fingers through his hair and pressed his head back to her breast. He understood.

  His rhythmic sucking on one nipple, then the other, soon had Adria rocking her hips against his. He matched the motion, then intensified it, sending a thundering sensation through her.

  Dane slid his hands to the waistband of her pants. “I should stop,” he said without the least bit of conviction. “But I want to feel you all over me, Adria. God, but I don’t think I’ve ever wanted so badly as I do now. What you do to me—” He broke off as she arched her back in response to his heated words, grinding her hips even more forcefully against his.

  The rigid length of him rubbed against her, right where the ache was deepest. “I know,” she panted. “I don’t want you to stop, Dane. Not now.”

  His hands paused over the snap to her jeans, and trembled. She reached for the snap herself, willing to rip it out if it would get him inside her faster. Never, never, had she felt this frenzy. And yet, as wild and chaotic as her need for him had become, she was perfectly aware of exactly what they were about to do. And where.

  And it just made it better.

  He closed his hand over hers and completed the task. He pulled her pants and underwear down to her knees, then gazed at her hungrily. “A picnic table laid with a very tempting feast.”

  Adria sucked in her breath and held it there when he dipped his head. He slid his tongue slowly over the heated flesh between her legs. Only when he had her writhing beneath his mouth did he slip his tongue inside her. Over and over again he repeated the sweet torture until she was clutching at his hair as her inner muscles clenched tremulously with her release.

  He kissed his way slowly up her abdomen, stopping at her breasts, which rose and fell sharply under his ministrations as she tried to regain her breath.

  She dimly heard a buckle being undone, and a zipper. His hands felt big and warm when he gripped her hips. He slid his tongue to just beneath her ear. “Do you know I almost came when you did?” he said roughly.

  She locked her legs around him and lifted her hips in response. He was biting her chin when he drove inside her.

  Adria moaned, long and low as he filled her again and again. His breath was coming in short grunts as he lifted away from her and slid her down—jacket and all—to the edge of the table. Hot tears of emotion slid from the corners of her eyes as she watched him hold her and thrust into her. There was a stark beauty in the way his hard body moved so gracefully, so perfectly against hers—into hers.

  She felt him tighten inside her and watched in awe as the sun gilded him when he lifted his face to the sky and climaxed.

  He looked back at her and held her gaze as the aftershocks rippled through him.

  “You’re beautiful,” she whispered, finally giving voice to the words that had echoed in her head almost from the moment he’d entered her.

  He looked down at himself, as if wondering what she possibly saw in him that would make her say that. She opened her mouth to convince him, but when he lifted his head, she forgot what she’d been about to say.

  There was the sexiest smile curving his mouth. She wanted him all over again. And the need went far deeper than the physical.

  “I’m standing here with my pants around my ankles, taking you like a rabid animal on a picnic table. That’s beautiful?”

  “No,” she said. “It’s perfect.” Hell, she was close to shouting with the joy of it. “But I was referring to you. All of you.”

  “All of me? And here I thought you only liked me for my—what did you call it? My tight ass?” The sexy smile turned to a bad-boy grin she’d have never thought him capable of.

  “That’s playing dirty. No man should be allowed to carry a concealed weapon like that.”

  He laughed, the rusty sound the most wondrous thing she’d ever heard. “What, like a label on my zipper saying ‘handle with caution’?”

  She reached up and grabbed his forearms, yanking him off balance until he collapsed down onto her. They were nose to nose when he caught his weight on his hands. “Your ego is almost as big as your—”

  He kissed her soundly, then said, “Are you complaining?”

  She couldn’t recall ever being this happy. “No. But the concealed weapon I was referring to was your smile.”

  Color crept into his cheeks. “And you blush real cute too,” she added.

  Dane gently bit her bottom lip. “Smartmouth,” he said, then sucked her lip.

  Just as Adria was contemplating whether or not he could possibly be ready to make love again so soon, he pulled her into his arms.

  “Hold on,” he ordered. She clamped her legs tightly around him as he lifted her, turned around, and sat down on the table, leaving her straddling his lap. When she tried to lean her head back, he cupped her head tightly to his chest. “No, not yet. Okay?”

  “Perfectly,” she answered. His heart beat a strong tattoo against her cheek, the rhythm exactly matching her own.

  They stayed that way in silence for several minutes. When he finally spoke, the teasing was gone. “This isn’t enough for me, Adria.”

  Alarm bells jangled inside her at the threat of losing what they wanted so badly to keep. She pulled back and looked up at him. “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

  He brushed the curve of her jaw with his thumb. “I want more. You make me want more. More than sex on a picnic table. But what I want isn’t the most important thing here.”

  No, she pleaded silently. Don’t do this. Not now. Not yet. Adria had an irrational urge to cover her ears. She didn’t want to hear this. Because he’s right, her inner voice said.

  What about what I want? she wanted to shout. Slowly, almost painfully, she withdrew from the comfort and warmth of Dane’s embrace.

  “Adria—”

  She slid awkwardly from his lap and began putting on her clothes. Funny, she thought. Knowing he watched, she found covering up more disconcerting than exposing herself to him.

  Maybe because she was covering up far more than her body. Each article of clothing she donned was like a piece of mental armor.

  “Adria.” This time it was a command, not a plea.<
br />
  She turned to see him getting dressed as well. “Don’t start telling me about wrong place, wrong time, wrong woman, wrong everything.”

  He moved so fast, he instantly had her hauled up to his chest, her face held hard with one hand, her hips cemented to his with the other. “Great place, the best time in my life, with the only woman.” He kissed her hard until she was gasping for breath and clinging to him. “You got that?”

  She managed to nod weakly.

  “But I can’t do a damn thing about any of it until I take care of the rest. And I can’t have you until I do.”

  “Yeah,” she whispered. “I guess I know that. But it doesn’t mean I don’t hate it.”

  “I just hope you don’t hate me when it’s all over.”

  “That’ll never happen,” she said with full confidence.

  He held her tightly in his arms. “Adria, I’m getting pressure to close this case. I have other more important cases to get back to.”

  “Dane, I don’t hold you responsible for reporting the facts. But I am innocent of negligence. The only negligent party was that third pilot. We just need time to find the proof.”

  “Forster expects this report Friday. If I don’t have anything concrete by then, I have to give him what I’ve got. But right now that’s not enough to buy more time. And once he turns it over to the FAA, I don’t think they’ll look any further for a ‘make everyone happy’ solution than having your job on a platter.”

  Excitement of a different nature coursed through Adria. “Then let me help you out. After Sarah Greene called me this morning, I searched the Post for a follow-up story on Indian Head. There was one, but the byline wasn’t hers. Which is very odd. So I went to the Post and had someone point her out to me.

  “Dane, the reason I called you today was to tell you that the Sarah Greene I met at the playground, the Sarah Greene who called me on the phone, is not the Sarah Greene who works at the Post.”

  EIGHT

  “Damn, damn, damn.” Dane didn’t care if Forster, who had just left his office, heard him.