Chapter Twenty-Three
Wheeler had gone out again for a second night without an explanation and that tweaked to life the investigator in Jess. Heck, it tweaked the woman in her. Although she and the sexy detective didn’t have a romantic connection, the idea of him rushing out for a booty call didn’t sit well. She’d jokingly offered him sex, and he hadn’t acted. Now he was going out to meet some mystery woman?
Before he could pull out of the driveway, she had Spike in the laundry room and the keys in her hand. Calvin was wandering around the house.
After tapping into the GPS on his phone with Summer’s help, Jess followed him in his old truck across town to an industrial area filled with dark buildings and questionable street lights.
Although the area was dark and empty at the late hour, there was a lot of activity in front of one of the businesses.
“Not exactly what I expected,” she said when she pulled into a crowded parking lot in front of a large block building that said “Manny’s” over the door. “Huh.” Jess had never heard of the place. Maybe it was a dance club?
She grabbed her ID and a fifty out of her tote, got out, locked the doors, and followed the crush of people heading inside. There was a buzz of energy in the air.
The smell of sweat and excitement hit her in the face as she saw posters tacked on the inside walls and quickly realized this was a gym of some sort, having an event that was clearly popular enough to draw a huge crowd. She paid the twenty-dollar cover fee and turned a corner into the main room. In the center was a boxing ring where two men were kickboxing.
Neither was Wheeler. He must be a fan.
She stepped to the side and scanned the huge and too warm room. On three sides, bleachers had been pulled out from the walls and were already three quarters filled. As she went to get a decent seat, she looked for Wheeler, but no luck.
If he was around, she’d see him eventually. The room was big, but not that big.
She took a seat in the middle of a row. The energy from the crowd filled her as she watched her first kickboxing match.
The two large men on either side of her—one tattooed and sporting blue tips on his dark hair—cheered on the fighters. She knew virtually nothing about the sport, but found herself cheering, too.
When the match ended, she relaxed back and searched the room for Wheeler. There was still no sign of him. Where could he be? Had he left?
Blue tips bumped her with his shoulder. “Would you like a beer, sweet thing?” She stared. “A beer?” he repeated.
“Um, no thanks.”
He got up and left. The next match was called. A cheer went up and drowned out the announcer. Two men climbed into the ring and walked the perimeter with upraised fists to the boisterous welcome. One man she knew very well.
Wheeler. Dressed in a tight tank and tight shorts, every inch of him was displayed for her viewing enjoyment. To her surprise, he had a tattoo on his upper left arm. Jess’s heart pounded while she watched him go to his corner and talk to a young man in a red T-shirt. This explained the bruise.
At least he wasn’t on a late night booty call. A sense of relief filled her. And a bit of sexual energy, too. Wheeler oozed sexy.
The match started.
In the dim light outside the ring, he became her sole focus as he fought his opponent with obvious skill. Kicks. Punches. Whenever he landed a blow, the crowd cheered. Obviously a fan favorite, he seemed not to notice the commotion around him. He was focused on winning.
But Jess noticed him. Sweaty and muscled, she couldn’t turn her eyes away. Her breath caught and her body hummed. His muscles bunched and the tattoo added an additional edge to the detective she hadn’t seen before.
All of the control she’d held on to since meeting him vanished in the loud and warm room and in the rawness of the fight. Sam was both dangerous and beautiful to watch.
And when the match ended with his win, and he walked to the corner of the ring to take a water bottle from someone, he looked out into the crowd and noticed her for the first time.
A sexual sizzle shot through her. This was better than a wedding to make her think naughty thoughts.
His serious expression changed to a grin and a head shake when she shrugged and smiled innocently. Jess Lucas. Stalker.
Tipping his head to the right, he indicated she follow him.
When she finally made it through the wave of bodies, he was standing near an opened door between two tall bouncers that led to a hallway behind them. An animated woman in a very tight and very short red dress was talking to Wheeler.
But his eyes were looking for Jess. When he spotted her, he excused himself and walked over, still wearing his gloves.
“Hi,” he said and ran his eyes down her body. Little tingles spread through her. Wearing jeans with holes on the knees and a midriff-bearing, old gray college sweat shirt cut off at the bottom, she wasn’t dressed for fight night. He didn’t seem to mind. Appreciation filled his eyes.
“Hi.”
“You followed me,” he said, stepped close, and placed a gloved hand on her shoulder. “GPS’d my phone?”
“I did.” Her breath was ragged. He was raw and gritty and very close. And his eyes were locked hard on hers. Her lips parted and her hand went out to touch his inked skin. “And I’m not sorry.”
He lowered his head until his mouth was by her ear and his warm breath tickled her skin. “I didn’t figure you would be.”
Pulling back just enough to make them face to face, he took her mouth in a deep and hard kiss. Heated from the rawness of the fight, she moaned and stepped in, uncaring that he was damp and that others would be watching. She needed that kiss.
Wheeler held her in place against his body, and kissed her with a hunger that stole her breath. Then he nudged her backward between the two men watching the door and into the hallway. Turning, he pressed her back against a wall and kissed her until she was weak in the knees.
Clichéd, maybe, but true.
Drat, she was so damned aroused.
* * *
Despite a lack of privacy, he couldn’t stop kissing her, didn’t want to stop kissing her. Her warm and pliable mouth drove him nuts as his erection strained the seams of the form-fitting shorts and threatened to turn him into the Naked Detective. She fit against his body like she was made for it and tasted of heat and want.
All of his reasons why he shouldn’t get involved didn’t seem important in this moment.
He dragged her off into the empty training room and locked the door behind them. One light over the door kept it from total darkness. “Take off my gloves.”
She clawed at them, unfamiliar with the process. He kissed her between quick instructions, until his hands were free. He slid his fingertips under her cropped shirt.
“I have to feel your skin.”
She moaned.
The shorts did nothing to hide his aching erection as he ground against her. Her hand slid up to cup his ass as she pressed back. “I want you,” she said.
Sam groaned. “Not here. Not for our first time.”
“Why not here?” She nipped his neck and hooked a leg around his. “We’re alone. Please, Sam.”
How could he refuse? He tore at her clothes, and quickly realized she wasn’t wearing a bra. “Shit.” He leaned in to admire her breasts and took a nipple in his mouth. He teased the peak as she shoved her hands in his hair and moaned again.
“Are you sure you don’t want wine and flowers? A bed?” he said and moved in for the other nipple.
“If you don’t get me naked soon, I’m leaving.”
Chuckling, Sam lifted her up and carried her to the massage table. Jeans removal took seconds. Her panties took longer as he dove in with his mouth to tease her through the thin fabric.
“Oh, God,” she said. And then the panties were gone. “Hurry!”
He lifted her to sit on the edge of the table and pulled off his clothes. She reached for him, running her hands down his chest. Sam stepped between her legs and kissed her.
With a gym full of people just outside the door, he knew that a long seduction was out. He paused to ask her one last time if she was sure about this, but she wasn’t about to let him back out. She took his cock and awkwardly took him inside her.
“Shit.” Jess was hot and tight. He slid deep.
Jess locked her legs around his waist and moved with him as he rocked in and out of her. He held her close, kissing her, nuzzling her, building friction between their bodies.
It was nearly impossible to hold back.
Like a teen on his first sexual encounter, he knew this wouldn’t last long, so he slipped his hand between their bodies and teased her clitoris.
“Mmmmm,” she said and watched him with those beautiful eyes as she came, gasping her release. He followed her with a groan and a final thrust. He kissed her softly, happier than he’d been in, well, forever. Jess was no ordinary woman. And he’d just made her his.
“That was amazing,” he said and frowned. “We forgot protection. I always use condoms.”
“Me, too. But I’m clean, and thankfully, I’m on the pill.”
“I am, too.” He nipped her neck.
“You’re also on the pill?”
Sam chuckled. “I’m clean.” He scraped his stubbled chin against her neck and she squirmed. “The pill shrinks my cock. That’s why I stopped taking it.”
Jess laughed.
This was the conversation to have before sex and not while their bodies were still locked together. But at least they were protected. They did not need a baby.
He nudged her back and climbed onto the padded table with her. He had to hold her close or they’d both fall off.
“This is my first time in a training room.” She looked around the sparse room. He played with her breasts. “Believe it or not, fornicating with football players was strongly discouraged both in college and after.”
Sam lifted his head. “Fornicating? Is that what this was?”
“There was no wine and flowers, so yes.”
“Should I apologize?”
Jess scowled playfully. “If you do, I’m pushing you off this table.” She kissed his chest and the puckered scar from the bullet he’d taken in Chicago. “Did you ever plan to tell me about the kickboxing?”
“Eventually.”
Full lips teased his skin. “Why do you do it?”
He kissed the top of her head. “For the kids. The money we raise goes to programs that supply backpacks, school clothes, coats, things like that for kids who can’t afford them. The bonus is that I get to beat up fellow cops for laughs.”
“The fighters were police officers?”
“Most of them. Firefighters, too. We like to give back to the community. And pound on each other. All in good fun.”
Jess pulled back. She was smiling. “Who knew you’re a good guy, Detective Wheeler? I thought you were just a cranky detective who liked to harass female PIs.”
He snorted. “If you tell anyone, I’ll Mace you.”
* * *
Jess got a stich in her side from laughing at the horror on his face that’s she’d discovered his secret soft side. Lying at a funky angle didn’t help. She tried to shift without breaking her hold on Sam. In the cool room he was like a yummy furnace. Unfortunately, he was also without a muffin top or double chin to use as a hand-hold as she rolled too far back.
She felt the table vanish from beneath her.