“Shit.” He groaned, reaching behind him to grab her hands and pull them away. He crowded her, forcing her to lean back. Then he pinned her hands to the tile with his own and gave her a breathlessly perfect stroke with a practiced swing of his hips. “You’re not going to quit until I’m an idiot over you. A pussy-whipped, salivating piece of shit who can’t think about anything but nailing you everywhere and every way he can, no matter how often he has you.”

Darcy’s head fell back with a mewl as he began to shaft her aching pussy with smooth measured thrusts. She couldn’t speak for the pleasure, the fit of his thick, long cock so perfect it filled every centimeter of her. Eyes closed, she absorbed the rhythmic impact of his hips into hers and the arousing smack of his heavy balls against the wet curve of her buttocks. The push and pull of his erection was an erotic massage over her hypersensitive flesh, the wide crest rubbing over a spot that made her shake uncontrollably.

“I could do this all day,” he growled. “All night.”

“Don’t stop, Jared. Don’t. Stop.”

His tongue flickered over her nipple and she nearly climaxed.

“Oh, yeah.” His breath blew hot over her damp skin. “We’re doing that later. I’m going to slide my dick into you, then suck on your nipples until your hungry little cunt milks me dry.”

His lips surrounded the tip of her breast. He suckled her with drawing pulls that were perfectly timed with his plunges between her legs. His tongue lashed at the hardened nipple, flickering over it in a way that sent pulses of heated delight racing across her nerve endings. She heard herself whimpering, her body moving separately from her mind, her hips rocking to meet his and hold the incredible fullness of him deep inside her.

Jared released her wrists, his hands moving to cradle her spine and mold her body to his. It was the singularly most carnal experience of her life. And the most intimate.

“Yes,” she breathed, suspended in his arms. “I’m coming…”

The orgasm swept through her like a gentle wave, lapping at her senses, gaining strength until she quivered uncontrollably. All the while he continued the leisurely thrusting of his rigid penis, swelling with his own imminent release, spurring her to climax again.

Wrung out and on an emotional precipice she hadn’t expected, Darcy gave herself over to him. Let him pleasure her until she was certain she couldn’t take any more, until her legs hung limply in the cold water and her nipples throbbed.

Only then did he let go, holding her torso against his scorching-hot skin, his chest heaving as he jerked violently and came endlessly.

Chapter five

“They’ve actually made some good headway with the student list from the dance studio.” Trish’s voice came clearly through Jared’s cell phone speaker, accompanied by the rustle of papers in the background. “They’ve already confirmed alibis for most of the repeat students going back one year. Miller is territorial, but he’s got good instincts.”

Jared slid the phone aside to make room for a cutting board on the kitchen counter. “My concern is whether or not the town’s residents are a blind spot in his investigation.”

“I’m working him around to thinking more along those lines. At least considering them.”

“He lets you get a word in edgewise? You’re a miracle worker.” He deseeded a bell pepper, then chopped it quickly into small squares.

“He’s not that bad,” Trish said. “His only experience with federal law enforcement wasn’t a good one.”

“About that.” He worked on an onion next. “I’d like the name and contact information of whoever was the primary on that case.”

“You going to thank him or her for making our job so much easier?”

“Don’t give me ideas.” Using the knife, he scraped half the vegetables into a heated skillet. “It might be worth it to see if anyone in Lion’s Bay rubbed the Feds the wrong way. Aside from Sheriff Congeniality.”

“What time are you coming into the station tomorrow?”

“Not sure. I want to check out the other two locations in the morning. Why?”

“Wouldn’t want Miller to be out and miss you.”

Gripping the handle of the skillet, he jerked the pan to flip the sizzling vegetables. “I’ve requested courier manifests going back six months. While it’d be stupidly obvious to ship hazardous materials in and leave that trail—”

“We don’t want to be the ones who overlook the obvious.”

“Right. I’m hanging up now. Call if you need me.”

“What is that noise?”

“Dinner. I’m hungry. Good night.” Jared tapped the disconnect button on his phone and turned his attention to cracking eggs to finish up the omelets.

As he moved, he mentally cataloged the state of his body. His damned legs were jellied and there was an odd knotting in his gut that he told himself was hunger. He was having trouble staying focused, his thoughts drifting to the woman presently soaking in a fresh Epsom bath.

The sexpot fire inspector had fried his brain. A wild lay was not supposed to make a man feel strange. It was supposed to relieve stress, provide a workout, and clear a man’s head. Instead, he didn’t even hear Darcy enter the room until she spoke.

“Whatever you’re cooking,” she said, “smells delicious.”

He glanced at her, cursing inwardly for being caught unawares. “Omelets.”

“Awesome.” She maneuvered around him and opened a cupboard to pull out plates. Dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, her composure irritated him. He’d tugged his pants back on because they were about to eat, but he’d left the fly partially open, exposing the waistband of his boxer briefs. He was shirtless and barefoot, comfortable and relaxed, while she looked like she was ready to leave the house.

“Where are you going?” he asked, scrambling the yolk with enough vehemence to make it frothy.

“Excuse me?”

“You got dressed.” And her hair was damp and slicked back into a ponytail.

“I didn’t know I was supposed to eat naked. You’re not.”

He unclenched his jaw. “You could have put on a robe.”

Setting the plates on the dining table, Darcy returned to the kitchen. “I didn’t want—” She exhaled harshly. “I don’t want you to feel like I’m assuming anything or taking anything for granted. You made it very clear that things need to be simple.”

“No assumptions, but you assume I’ll get antsy if you follow the evidence that says I prepared to spend the night.” He poured the eggs into the pan with the veggies, then added the ham he’d chopped before he called Trish. “Unless what you’re not saying is that you’re ready for me to go.”

She straightened and approached him. “Sex doesn’t improve your humor, I see.”

“Maybe because I’m not done.”

“Okay, then.” She pulled silverware out of a drawer. “That’s settled.”

A moment later, Jared heard her moving the plastic shopping bag off the table. From the sounds of it, she was looking inside, perhaps noticing the toothbrush, antiperspirant, and razor sitting next to the two boxes of condoms. As far as he was concerned that wasn’t optimistic, that was practical. He flipped the omelet with a deft flick of his wrist.

“I wish I had a camera,” she said. “You look sexy as hell doing that.”

She looked sexy as hell when he was doing her, all soft and warm and flushed. The memory of her in the bathtub was going to haunt him for a while.

He jerked his chin toward the table. “Sit down.”

Darcy exhaled in a rush. “I wanted to put a robe on. Just so you know, I originally thought about ordering something in, answering any questions you might have about the case, and maybe watching TV if it wasn’t too late.”

“You should’ve gone with your instincts.” He tossed some shredded cheese into the omelet, then slid it onto her plate in a practiced fold. “Dig in. Don’t wait for me.”

“This looks as awesome as it smells. Thank you.”

Returning to the stove, he started cooking for himself.

She moaned, making his dick twitch with interest. “Jared. Wow. This is phenomenal. You’re as good in the kitchen as you are in bed.”

He watched her lift a second bite to her mouth, her eyes closing as she chewed and hummed her pleasure.

Swallowing, she went on. “Not that we’ve made it to the bed.”

“Yet.”

“Yet,” she agreed. “You know, I should get some credit for being concerned about scaring you off. I’m giving you credit for being offended at the possibility of a brush-off.”

Jared stared into the skillet. Simple would be taking the out she’d offered him and heading back to the motel to sleep in a solitary bed. Simple would be keeping his eye on the job he was here to do and his hands off the smoking-hot inspector who flooded his system with so much testosterone he couldn’t think straight.

Rubbing the back of his neck, he said gruffly, “Keeping things simple means not making things complicated. You’re overthinking.”

Of course, he was hardly thinking at all. He was running on pure animal instinct when it came to her.

Darcy laughed softly. “You can’t put this on me. I know how men work when they start off with the warning to keep it simple. That means don’t get clingy. Don’t expect me to be there for you when we’re not fucking. I get that, and it works for me. That said, I know all men have hot buttons, but I don’t know what yours are.”

He grunted. As far as he was concerned, everything about her was a hot button. And this conversation had veered into a direction certain to drive him crazier than she did.

“You know what I’m talking about.” She set her fork down. “Things that freak you into thinking the situation is becoming more involved than you want it to be.”