Part 14 (2/2)
”I like this,” she said.
”You'll like this better,” he a.s.sured her before his mouth descended. They went from tinder to flames in an instant. She met his tongue with hers, challenged him to keep up with her demand for more. Audra would accept no less than complete pa.s.sion, breaking down all inhibitions and hesitations. For once, Jesse knew he held a woman who'd not only meet any and all of his s.e.xual needs, but she'd encourage him to explore his limits.
As their mouths continued their sensual dance, Audra slid one hand down his chest, teasing his belly before those talented fingers moved to play with the snap of his jeans. Sensual antic.i.p.ation grabbed hold of him. He wanted to feel those clever hands everywhere, to experience the intense pleasure he knew they'd bring.
Jesse wanted her to feel the same exquisite wanting, the same desperate need he felt. Oddly enough, he wasn't intimidated by Audra's experience or her grasp on the art of s.e.xual pleasure. But he was was determined to make one h.e.l.l of an impression himself. determined to make one h.e.l.l of an impression himself.
With that in mind, using the lightest of touches, he brushed his fingers over the tip of her breast. He felt the intake of her breath against his mouth and, taking it as a good sign, continued his barely-there teasing. After ten seconds, she gave the slightest squirm on his lap and Jesse wanted to groan himself. He palmed her nipple until it pebbled beneath his hand. She left off playing with his snap to sc.r.a.pe her fingernails down the zipper of his jeans, making his already straining flesh burgeon with need.
Unable to deny the rus.h.i.+ng intensity of desire any longer, Jesse tweaked her nipple. Audra's fingers convulsed on his d.i.c.k, making him groan aloud and pull away from her mouth.
Jesse buried his face in her throat and tried to gather some control. d.a.m.n, she was incredible. He was about ready to come in his jeans, from just the simple pressure of her fingers. He hadn't seen the woman undressed yet, but he'd dedicated so many o.r.g.a.s.ms to her, he felt as if they were in a long-term relations.h.i.+p.
But they weren't. And they couldn't be. He needed to remember that. To remember why he was here, what his purpose in her life was. To save her, not to screw her. Maybe if he had it tattooed somewhere, he'd be able to remember that.
With a deep breath, Jesse pulled back and brushed a kiss over her forehead. He forced himself to meet her eyes as he tried to come up with an excuse to not go any further.
But when he looked into those wide, brown depths, there was no demand or expectation. All he saw was happy pleasure.
”Nice,” she murmured.
”Same to you.”
She grinned and patted his cheek before sliding off his lap.
”Play away, I'll just be a few minutes. Then we'll go, okay? I do have to be at this thing by eightish, so I'll hurry.”
Jesse refrained from asking what kind of thing, since he'd be there to find out himself. Besides, the sooner she got to cleaning, the sooner he could peek at her books.
”Are you one of those people who can't concentrate if someone is talking to you?” she asked as she started gathering bolts of fabric from around the room to stack by the door with the others. ”Or are you a social computer geek?”
”In between,” he admitted, keeping one eye on her as he pulled up her bookkeeping program. He frowned. It wasn't even pa.s.sword protected? She was such an innocent. That'd go in her favor when he was trying to plea-bargain a good deal for her.
”If I'm doing anything intense, programming or something, I'm better without conversation. But for games, most computer work, talking doesn't bother me.”
After that, Audra kept up a steady stream of chitchat. None of which required much response, but was fun to listen to all the same. She had a quirky way of relating a story, of describing clients and salespeople. It told him a lot about how much she liked the people she dealt with. This lingerie business was definitely a labor of love.
Jesse looked over to see her sorting beads and things into a plastic container and clicked on the recent list of deposits. And there it was. Ten thousand, cash. With the initials ”S.S.” and a notation of China loan China loan next to it. next to it.
S.S.? Jesse flipped through the files in his brain, but couldn't connect any names-or even nicknames-to S.S. What was the deal? Loan? Not payoff? Could it be to cover their criminal activities? That didn't makes sense. Not when there was a payment schedule outlined, complete with terms.
”Hey, what d'ya know? Natasha really does have a desk. I just had to clear enough stuff to find it,” Audra said with a laugh.
Jesse hit the Close b.u.t.ton and laughed too, albeit a little stiffly. His mind was going in a dozen directions, and none of them made sense.
”You about ready to go?” she asked.
”Sure. You want me to shut this down?”
”Thanks, yeah. I'll just grab my jacket and I'm ready.”
Jesse used the time she took to do that, turn off the lights and lock up the boutique to puzzle through what he'd found. By the time they'd reached their cars, he still hadn't figured it out. He'd have to do some further computer investigation after their date. Good thing he'd given her that good boy excuse; at least she wouldn't be expecting him to spend the night. Not that he wouldn't want to, but it was a h.e.l.l of a lot easier to fight one person's wants than two.
”Do you mind if I drive?” she asked. She gave a little shrug and glanced at her watch. ”You can follow me to my place and drop off your truck. It's on the way. We're running a little late and it'd be faster if I didn't have to give directions and all.”
”Um, sure,” he agreed. Jesse tried to hide his frown. It wasn't that he was uncomfortable with a woman driving. Just with a suspect driving him to a possible crime scene.
”Where are we going?” he asked after he'd followed her three blocks over to her apartment complex and dropped off his truck. He settled into the pa.s.senger seat, gripping the door as she zoomed out of the parking lot with barely a glance for traffic.
The woman drove like she did everything else. Wildly.
”There's this little place in Auburn I need to go to. I have to be there by eight, eight-fifteen.”
”Sure, no problem. Are we meeting someone?” he asked as they sped toward the freeway. Was it some kind of handoff? He flipped through his mental files, but nothing in Auburn sounded familiar. The triad tended to meet in clubs, Larson in nudie bars. But always in Sacramento. At least, not so far.
She took the on-ramp at high speed, zooming in and out of slower traffic with an ease that had the tension in Jesse's neck unknotting just a little. For all her wildness, she seemed to be in complete control.
”It's a nice place, a little bar I know. We'll be in and out before you know it. Call it a quickie.” Audra laughed and glanced over at him. Her scent, that sensual, musky rich perfume, filled the car's interior and Jesse's senses. His mouth watered, because he knew the scent was stronger right along her collarbone.
”Bar, huh? Not a club? That doesn't sound much like your speed.”
”You'd be surprised how much time I've spent in this particular bar,” she said.
She paused, and Jesse glanced over. Sadness tugged at the corners of her eyes and she sighed. Then, catching his gaze, she pasted her s.e.xy smile on and winked.
”But it is a nice place, and the people are great.”
”Okay. But there are plenty of nice places with great people here in Sacramento,” he teased.
”Sure there are, but not like this. Besides, I promised I'd be there. It's a matter of life or death, babe. I can't blow off a promise.”
Jesse raised a brow. He wasn't sure why the Auburn location, but something big must be going down. After all, it was life or death. life or death.
Fifteen minutes later, brows drawn together, Jesse watched Audra park in the reserved parking spot in front of the Home Run Sports Bar. This was, just like she had said, a nice place.
This was her brother's place. Jesse recognized the name from her files. Did she use it often for illegal activities? He'd have to check into it.
A middle-income neighborhood in the suburbs, there was a restaurant on one side of the bar and a flower shop on the other. Both looked to be frequented by families. The cars parked along the street and in the shared lot all looked middle-to upper-cla.s.s. It didn't look like he'd need to worry about calling for backup.
Not a strip joint in sight, so it was unlikely the person they met inside would be Dave Larson. Which left any of a dozen others, Jesse reminded himself as he came around the car.
”Nice neighborhood,” he commented as he opened Audra's door for her.
”It's picked up the last five years. The neighborhood was a little rougher, a little seedier before. But, yeah,” she gazed around with a fond, indulgent look on her face, ”it is nice, isn't it?”
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