He soaped her breasts and she flicked her nails over the soft soap coating his nipples. They quickly moved their hands lower, his sweeping erotically between her thighs, while she enjoyed scrubbing his erection and watched fascinated when it jumped in her hands.
He chuckled darkly and hurried to rinse them off. “You will be the death of me.”
“Seems appropriate since you wring out my emotions, too,” she said, kissing his throat.
But he didn’t comment, except to give her a smoldering smile, then lifted her against the tile shower wall, wrapped her legs around him, and thrust deeply into her slippery sheath.
“Adonis.” she moaned against his shower-kissed skin. He was so hot.
He smiled. “My redheaded goddess.”
The pleasurable assault of his kisses on her lips, her cheeks. her throat, drove her toward the peak of pleasure while he burled himself inside her. Plunging deep and slow and hard, the tension in his face eased, he let out a tired groan, and a wash of heat filled her. His hot kisses teased her mouth to open for him, his tongue tangled with hers, and her body exploded into a million earth shattering pieces of pleasure. She collapsed in his arms and wanted to cuddle with him in bed for all eternity. After drying and slipping into bed, they slept.
But their sleep was cut short when Jake hollered from downstairs. “Darien. Uncle Sheridan’s here and so is Chester McKinley.”
Chapter 21
NOT PLANNING ON REING LEFT OUT OF ANY MORE BUSINESS concerning her sister, Lelandi nearly leapt out of Darien’s arms and headed for her discarded clothes in the bedroom. “I’m sitting in on this, Darien.” But she wondered what had changed his mind about talking to Chester.
“I guess I have no say in the matter.” He yanked on his Jeans, his expression lightly teasing.
“Nope. I’m not a beta wolf.” Lelandi quickly buttoned her shirt.
Darien walked over and rested his hands on her shoulders, his lips pressing against hers. “You’re an alpha for sure. For now, I’ll allow it... as an alpha male.” He rebuttoned her shirt.
“Better put on a sweater or I’ll have to kick Chester McKinley’s butt out of here, because no doubt he’d take a longer look at you than I’d care for.”
She jerked on a pullover sweater and slipped into a pair of jeans. “Despite whatever anyone told you, he was a perfect gentleman.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.” Darien zipped her Jeans for her. He lifted her chin and gazed into her green eyes sparkling with fire. “I have no intention of keeping you out of the picture if you’re going to look into this by yourself and put your life in more danger. I understand as an alpha you can’t wait for others to do everything for you.” He leaned his forehead against hers. “Together, we’ll solve this.
She threw her arms around him and squeezed tight, her head pressed against his chest. “I love you, you big gray.
Cheered to see her feeling better, he tousled her hair, then led her downstairs to the living room.
Upon seeing Lelandi, Uncle Sheridan raised his brows in question.
“I’m staying for the meeting,” Lelandi said.
“When women start ruling things, that’ll be the end of life as we know it,” Uncle Sheridan said.
“We’ll improve it, I’m sure,” Lelandi said.
Uncle Sheridan gave her a disparaging look.
Darien couched a smile and sat down with her on a sofa, then motioned for Chester McKinley to get on with the news.
“I know you don’t want an outsider sticking his nose in your business, Darien, but I do this kind of work all the time and what I discover goes no farther than this room. If you want to reveal to your pack what we find, that’s up to you. Nobody will hear it from me.”
“Fair enough. So what’s your plan?”
“Make a list of everyone who would benefit from Larissa’s death and all who had grudges against her.”
Darien rubbed Lelandi’s hand. Although she seemed determined to be part of this, she shivered, and he thought she wasn’t holding up well. But he couldn’t blame her. “We’ve done this.”
Uncle Sheridan handed the paper to Chester.
He perused the checklist and nodded. “Normally a blackmailer continues to milk the victim for all it’s worth. So there wouldn’t be any reason to kill the victim and get rid of an easy source of income.”
“Unless the blackmailer feared getting caught. What If Larissa had recognized who the blackmailer was?” Lelandi asked.
“Bingo. Of course, it could be there was a killer and a blackmailer and neither had anything to do with the other, but I’m betting they’re one and the same.”
“Why?” Darien asked.
“Thirty years in the business.”
“I’d like more solid evidence than that,” Jake said.
“All right. So we have a shooter who kills the gunman so he can’t talk. And—”
“Silva, the waitress at Silver Town Tavern, says she shot him, although she was only protecting Sam, our bartender, and didn’t mean to kill the gunman,” Darien said.
Glancing down at the checklist, Chester rubbed his beard. “Is she on the suspect list?”
Lelandi frowned. “Of course not. She was friends with my sister and has been my friend ever since I first arrived.”
“Right. And oftentimes a perpetrator is the one you least suspect.”
“She’s not a suspect.”
“The thing is, Lelandi, even you are a suspect,” Chester said.
Lelandi’s mouth dropped open, then she snapped it shut. Darien shook his head. “Watch what you say, Chester McKinley.”
After a minute of silence, Lelandi said, “Of course, Chester. I see what you mean. I came here to chase after Darien, but I had to get rid of my sister first.”
“Exactly. My point being that even Darien’s brothers are suspect. Darien himself also, if you want to go that far. What about Sheriff Sheridan? He hasn’t taken a vacation in ten years and then he suddenly ups and goes on one?”
“Wait a blamed minute.” Uncle Sheridan said. “I earned that damned vacation.”
“Not to mention Uncle Sheridan wanted to get out of town before the second annual fair arrived,” Jake said.
Chester raised his hands in conciliation. “I’m saying we can’t look at only the ones we suspect, but those who appear to be above suspicion. Keep an open mind. I have to in this business. But it’s easier for me since I’m not connected to anyone in town.”
“I’m not investigating Lelandi, my brothers, or Uncle Sheridan and if this is the kind of bull—”
Chester raised his brows. “You want solid proof.” He dug around in his jeans pocket and pulled out a bullet and bullet casing. “I found the bullet casing up on the ridge.”
“The shooter’s,” Tom said.
“I found the bullet several feet short of where the dead gunman’s body had lain. Now, what if Silva’s bullet fell short, but someone else fired at the same time? Did anyone hear separate shots fired?”
“Yes. The gunman shot Sam in the arm first,” Darien said.
“But at least two more shots were fired. One that hit the gunman, fatally wounding him, and the other that missed its mark.”
Uncle Sheridan put the bullet and casing into a plastic evidence bag. “I’Il get these checked right away.”
“You might want to ask Silva if she heard another shot fired or anyone moving around near her. Smelled anyone, sensed she wasn’t alone.”
“I’ve already asked her and she said no,” Darien said. “What about Lelandi’s parents?”
Lelandi’s eyes widened.
“Sorry, I meant to mention that first. Her cousin Ural and I had a nice, long chat. He learned your parents were being targeted for termination so that your father couldn’t object to your mating Crassus. Ural moved them to Oregon, somewhere safe, then staged the car accident. When he came back for you, he discovered your pack leader had already posted a guard. So Ural waited until you escaped. He followed you here, discovered your sister had died, and wanted to take you with him to see your parents.”