Blood and Roses Read online

  Her breath caught at the fiery look in his eyes.

  “And by the way,” he went on, “not a news flash that PI’s don’t toe the line. Cops switch to private investigative work because they find the line confining. I know that. At the end of the day, you’re still doing the right thing.”

  “What if I told you that I don’t care if the perps get caught? I just want the take. In fact, there are times when I’ve deliberately not pulled on a thread because I almost admire them for the guts it took to make the attempt and the brains to get away with it, if they do.” She sat back. “I may let these jewel thieves I’m chasing right now slip away, Jake, after I get the gems. What do you think about that? Think you can slide into bed at night with a woman who might be an accessory after the fact?”

  His gaze narrowed. “Ana—”

  “It doesn’t matter, Jake.” She hopped off the barstool and grabbed their plates. “I decided years ago that it’s a question you’re never going to have to answer.”

  Ana took the dishes to the sink and willed herself to relax. There was no need for them to fight and she was determined that they wouldn’t, not when they had so little time together.

  “You don’t get to make that decision by yourself, Anastasia,” Jake drawled dangerously, coming up behind her.

  She gripped the edge of the counter, knowing where the warning note in his voice would lead. “You can’t change my mind, Jake.”

  “No. Never was able to do that.” His hands wrapped around her wrists. “But I can remind you of what we’ve both been missing.”

  Gently, he pulled her hands away from the counter and brought them behind her, pinning them to the small of her back. A moment later she felt the chill of steel as one handcuff clicked shut around her wrist, then another.

  An instant calm settled over her.

  He turned her around and cupped her face in his hands, his mouth sealing over hers. Ana gasped at the first press of his firm lips, opening herself to the slow, smooth glide of his tongue. He licked deep and slow, savoring her with an easy, unhurried eroticism. She moaned and wriggled against him, impatient and greedy.

  His hands moved down to her throat, wrapping lightly around it. The feeling of being collared soothed her further.

  “You with me, baby?” he asked softly, the pads of his thumbs stroking over her fluttering pulse.

  “Yes.”

  “The first time is gonna be quick. I’ve been waiting too long.”

  Ana nodded, feeling the same way. She was so wet and swollen already, she was certain the slightest pressure on her clit would set her off.

  Tenderly, as if she was fragile, he squeezed her breasts through the cotton of her baby doll, hefting them lightly to judge how heavy and tender they’d become. He caught her nipples between his thumb and forefingers, rolling them, tugging with just the perfect amount of pressure. Her eyes closed, her body lost to him.

  Jake kissed her again, his tongue gliding over the curve of her lower lip. “I’ve missed you so damn much, Ana.”

  “I want to touch you.”

  “I know.” He hooked his fingers beneath her straps and pushed them off her shoulders. “If you’re good, I might let you.”

  “Jake...” She gasped as the scalloped edge of her bodice dragged over her hardened nipples.

  “So beautiful,” he breathed, stroking his thumbs over the furled tips. Lowering his head, he took one into the drenched heat of his mouth, swirling his tongue around it before his cheeks hallowed on a drawing pull.

  She moaned, her head falling back as the sensation of his sucking echoed in the saturated flesh between her legs. The gentle tugging rippled through her, making her shiver in delight. When he paid the same service to her other nipple, her knees weakened and he caught her up, his arms banding around her waist to lift her. Holding her aloft, he ravished her swollen breasts, fluttering his tongue over the tight tips and scraping the edge of his teeth across them.

  “Oh god, Jake...”

  “Shh,” he murmured. “I’ll give you what you need, sweetheart. And I’ll keep giving it to you until you can’t imagine getting by for more than a few hours without my dick inside you.”

  Jake carried her into the living room and set her down, turning her away from him. He urged her over the armrest of the leather couch with a gentle, but unyielding, grip at her nape. She folded, her buttocks thrust upward to accept the hard drives of his big, beautiful cock.

  His hands stroked over her, rubbing down her sides and thighs in soothing circles. Cool air caressed her back as her gown was pushed up beneath the handcuffs. Her fingers flexed with the need to touch him in return, to feel the skin she knew became feverishly hot when he first pushed inside her.

  “I love you, Anastasia,” Jake said gruffly, bending to press a kiss between her shoulder blades. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. I won’t ever believe that we can’t make it work, because we always do when we’re together. You can’t deny that.”

  “Jake, please...” The smell and feel of the leather stirred blazing memories from their past, reminding her of the needs only Jake could appease.

  His thumbs slid beneath the elastic of her panties and pulled them over her hips and down her legs. His lips followed, skimming over the curve of her buttocks and suckling along the back of her thigh. She began to shake, her body overloaded by need and desire she hadn’t felt in far too long. When he sank into a crouch behind her, her breath caught with expectation.

  “So pretty,” he murmured, his breath hot against the lips of her sex. “So soft and pink.”

  Leaving her panties around her knees, Jake parted her with his thumbs and paused. She could feel his gaze on her, the heat and hunger almost tangible.

  “And I know how sweet you taste, Ana mine.”

  Ana tensed in anticipation of the first lick, but when it came, she still wasn’t prepared. She cried out, her entire body shaking violently.

  “Easy, sweetheart,” he said hoarsely, anchoring her with his palm pressed flat to the small of her back. “I’ll take care of you.”

  The next stroke of his tongue was skillful, rubbing over the hard knot of her clit with the perfect amount of pressure. She came in a rush, her back bowing as the pleasure seared her senses and racked her over-sensitized body with shudders of delight. In the midst of an orgasm that darkened her vision, Jake’s tongue darted inside her, thrusting furiously. The soft velvet of his licking against the tender tissues of her core was too much, yet not nearly enough. Her hips churned into the shallow plunges, her body seeking a deeper, stronger penetration.

  “Now, Jake. Now. Now!”

  He stood in a rush. Ana heard the sound of his zipper lowering; then she felt the silky heat of his rigid erection brush against her. He teased her, gliding the plush head of his cock through the slick lips of her sex.

  She arched her spine, her fingers grasping at air, her cheeks flushed and damp from the strain of being bound and unable to reach out to him as she needed. Not just for the physical pleasure of touching him, but to satisfy the demands of her heart.

  “I love you,” she gasped, unable to hold the words back. “I love you, Jake.”

  With a low growl, his hips jerked and pushed him into her with one fierce, deep stroke.

  “Yes!” Tears filled Ana’s eyes and spilled over onto the cushion. She ached for this, the delicious burn of his possession and the sense of connection she’d felt with no one else.

  “I want to take you slow.” His voice was rough and raspy. “Slow and deep. But I can’t... It’s been too long.”

  He hitched against her, shoved the last little bit inside her that crammed her all the way full. “Damn, you’re like a fist, Ana. Squeezing me tight... rippling around me. I’m gonna come hard for you, baby.”

  Jake withdrew, then slid in to the ro
ot. He rolled his hips, screwing deep. The feel of his long, thick cock stroking inside her was perfect—the slight burn as he stretched her, the decadent feel of him rubbing and pushing, the maddening clenching in her core as her body tried to hold him deep...

  Gripping her hips, he pumped hard again, an expert stroke that lifted her to the tip of her toes. Ana panted with pleasure, spinning dizzily toward climax.

  “Don’t stop,” she begged, desperate for the friction that would set her off again.

  “Never, Ana mine,” he purred, lunging quick and hard, shafting her tender pussy. “I’ll never stop...”

  The erotic sound of flesh slapping mingled with the heated words that spilled from his lips—tender promises and sensual threats, loving praise and coarsely-voiced hunger—all of which made her crazy with lust. She was rocking back into his measured thrusts, moaning at the way they radiated through her, her mind fogged with the intensity of her pleasure.

  When Jake bent his knees and hit the perfect spot inside her, Ana unraveled with a muffled scream. She quaked with her release, struggling to breathe as her body seized in the throes of a powerful orgasm. Jake was right there with her, gasping as his body jerked with each scorching spurt of semen. He folded over her, clutching her close, the hard ridges of his abdomen slick with sweat against her palms.

  She sagged into the cushions as the tension left her, feeling wrung out and well-loved.

  “I need you.” Jake’s chest heaved against her and when he shifted slightly, Ana realized he was still hard and thick. “I’ll never stop needing you.”

  It took Ana the space of two heartbeats to figure out what had woken her.

  Her cell phone was vibrating beneath her pillow.

  She pulled it out and squinted against the bright light of the backlit screen. Seeing an East Coast area code, she hit the button to answer the call before it went to voicemail and slipped out of bed. She hurried out of Jake’s bedroom and quietly shut the door, then ran to the living room while answering with, “Miller.”

  “Ana! My god.” Frankie gasped with relief. “We’re in trouble, Ana. Eric and me... And Mom. Ah, god, Mom...”

  “Frankie.” Relief flowed through her, making her aware of just how worried she’d been. “Where are you?”

  “Newark. Jesus... it all went wrong. Rick went in hot. Fuck— You know how Mom had it planned. Like Cannes.”

  “I remember.” She remembered the famous Carlton heist, just as she remembered that Terence Parker had a brother named Richard. “Is Rick’s name Richard Parker?”

  “Yes. How did you know?” He barked out a laugh. “What am I saying? Of course you know. He shot his own fucking brother, Ana. Lit him up like... Fuck. Oh fuck... Rick shot his own brother in cold blood.”

  “Are you safe?”

  “Yes, but—”

  “Is Eric with you?” She snatched up her duffel bag and dug out a pair of jeans and a top.

  “Yes, yes—”

  “Do you have the take?”

  “Yes. Fuck. Will you listen to me, goddammit! He’s got Mom!”

  Ana froze, her heart thudding violently in her chest. “What?”

  “Rick knew Mom was the fence. Eric and I ditched him and took the stones, because he’s fucking crazy. Shot his own goddamn brother. Who does that, Ana? We ditched him and made off with the take and he got to Mom.”

  She activated the phone’s speaker and set it on the coffee table. “How do you know he’s got Mom?”

  “He just called and said he had her. Said he’d trade her for the stones. I tried calling the house but I keep getting the voicemail.”

  “Okay, okay.” Think, Ana. Damn it. She yanked on a pair of panties. “Where are you supposed to make the trade?”

  “He didn’t say. He’s supposed to call back.”

  “Listen, I’m here in Whisper Creek. I’ll head over to Mom’s now and make sure the bastard’s not bluffing.” She hopped from one foot to the other as she tugged on her jeans, becoming aware of the deep soreness between her legs. “Maybe she’s got the ringer off or her sound machine turned up loud. You know how she needs white noise to sleep.”

  “Ana... He’ll kill her. Rick must’ve planned all along to get rid of everyone who knew anything. He had to have looked her up before we ditched him. There’s no reason for him to keep her alive for a trade. We won’t know the difference until he’s got us face-to-face, then he’ll take us out, too.”

  “Shut up, Frankie.” She pulled a sports bra over her head, then grabbed her top. “You’re not going to think about anything but keeping your head down and your mind sharp. I’m gonna run by Mom’s.”

  “Okay but—”

  “You keep that burner phone on you at all times, you hear me? I want you and Eric to check in every thirty minutes. And find a safe place to hole up and stay there until I tell you otherwise. Don’t make a move without me, got it?”

  “Yes. I got it. Ana...” Frankie’s voice broke. “It’s all fucked up. It all fell apart.”

  “That’s usually what happens when you break the law, Frankie. You’ve just been really damned lucky so far.” She shoved her nightgown into her bag. “Be careful. Love you.”

  Ana was straightening from grabbing her heels off the floor when Jake stepped into the room fully dressed with his gun on his hip and his badge clipped to the waistband of his jeans.

  “You can’t come with me,” she snapped.

  “The hell I can’t.” His gaze bored into hers. “That’s my brother out there with yours. Christ, Ana. You’re here because you knew they’d pulled off that heist and you didn’t say a damn thing to me.”

  “Because they’re not going to jail, Jake!” She shoved her heels in her bag and slung it over her shoulder. “I can take care of this and you can keep your hands clean.”

  “Is that all you think I worry about?” He stared at her face, then cursed under his breath. “I’d break any law for you. Every law. There’s nothing I won’t do for you.”

  “I know.” She went to him and put her palm over his heart. “I know you would. I’m just not sure you could live with yourself afterward and I don’t want to put you in that position. I love you, Jake. Just the way you are.”

  Jake lifted her fingers to his mouth. “I have something for you.”

  “Not now!”

  He released her hand and shoved his own into his pocket. A moment later, he was sliding a diamond onto the ring finger of her left hand, a square cushion-cut that caught the light of the moon shining through the gap in the shutters on the windows.

  She swallowed hard, afraid to blink. “Jake—”

  “I’ve been holding on to that for years. Now it’s your turn.” He tugged her bag off her shoulder and dropped it on the couch. “Give me your keys. I want to drive the Jag.”

  Ana felt damn near giddy. Too much adrenaline, she told herself. Neither of them was thinking straight. It’d never work... unless it did.

  But they had to make it through the next few hours first.

  “You got a jacket?” he asked.

  “In the car. Let’s go.”

  Jake watched as Ana opened the trunk of her car and revealed body armor and a handgun safe. She selected one of three guns she had locked away and slid it into her shoulder holster, then shrugged on a windbreaker and relocked the box. Her movements were calm, practiced, and efficient. Jake marveled at the strong, sexy woman she’d become.

  “You okay?” he asked quietly.

  “No.” Shutting the trunk quietly, she studied the two-story house tucked into the woods. “But I’m really glad you’re here. Come on.”

  In the silver glow of moonlight, the old Victorian with its round, pointed rooftops and wraparound porch looked like something out of a fairytale—the kind where things went wrong.

  Ana
kept her cool even after they’d searched the house and confirmed that Tilly had been taken. There were signs of a struggle in the master bedroom, but mercifully no blood.

  “Rick Parker could’ve killed her here, if that was his plan,” she said flatly, picking up Tilly’s cell phone from the nightstand and searching through it. “Could’ve made it look like a burglary gone bad. She talked him out of it, maybe gave him information that made her valuable. She conned him. It’ll keep her alive for a while. Let’s go.”

  “Hey.” He caught her by the shoulders before she moved past him and looked down at her face. Recognizing her fierce determination to keep her emotions at bay, he settled for a soft kiss to her brow.

  “Jake—”

  “We both needed that. Now we can go.”

  They went downstairs and were almost out the front door, when Ana stepped on something that crunched beneath her black running shoes. Crouching, she examined the broken glass; then she found its source lying on the floor just inside the door.

  “This shouldn’t be here,” she said, straightening. “Mom has kept this photo on her side of the bed forever.”

  Jake took it from her, looking at the yellowed image through the cracked glass.

  Her mouth curved in a smile. “That photo was taken the day my dad proposed, after they left the bank and took a stroll on the boardwalk. It’s a message she knew I would understand. Mom’s leading Rick to Atlantic City.”

  His brows arched. “Isn’t that a big leap?”

  “Trust me,” Ana insisted. “The minute he went along with whatever story she sold him, it became her show. She’s running it. We just need to catch up with them, before he figures that out.”

  As they drove east on 422, Ana pulled out her laptop and began typing furiously. Jake watched her out of the corner of his eye. Reaching over, he slid his hand beneath her hair and stroked her nape with his fingers.