CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The incessant knocking didn’t ease up until after Brynn reached for her summer robe, still not totally dry from her shower. The silky material immediately soaked up the water drops, clinging to her like a second skin. She was still chilled by the much-needed cold shower.
She hadn’t joined Lance on his couch the way they’d both wanted her to early this morning. Instead, she made the sound decision to grab his keys and drive back to town. She’d called out over her shoulder that she’d pick him up around ten o’clock after the delivery of his new living room floor and before she had to open the bar for the day. She hadn’t given him a chance to stop her, either.
Brynn had needed her sleep, and she’d made the wisest decision she could under the circumstances. It had nothing to do with the irresistible temptation to join him on his couch.
Right?
The damn knocking started up again.
“Hold on,” Brynn called out, figuring it was Julie stopping by to give her an update on Whitney’s disappearance.
Brynn had actually driven past Calvin on her way home, both of them slowing down and stopping in the middle of the road to talk to one another through their rolled down windows. She thought he’d been driving toward the lake to fish, but he’d been on his way to talk to Rose and Tiny about Jeremy. He’d been taken to the hospital by ambulance after the stress had become too much on his heart. “I’m coming. Don’t get your panties in a wad.”
Brynn flipped the deadbolt and swung the door open.
“Sorry about that, but I was in the—”
Lance Kendall stood on her threshold looking as pissed off as the time he’d jumped off the pier at the lake and lost his swim trunks.
“You stole my truck and left me with no transportation,” Lance exclaimed through clenched teeth, advancing and forcing her to back up a step. She tightened the sash around her robe with trembling fingers, sensing the passion radiating underneath all his frustration. “You left your cell phone at my house, so I had no way to contact you or to see if you made it home alright.”
“You could have called the bar,” Brynn replied rather weakly upon realizing that heading into town had been somewhat of a rash decision on her part. She truly couldn’t justify her choice without coming across as callous, but she tried anyway. In her defense, though, she hardly ever used her cell phone. She preferred to talk to people in person, if possible. Shoot, everyone always knew where to find her. “Lance, it was five o’clock in the morning and I was running on zero sleep. We’d already established that my picture wasn’t included in that stack of photographs you found at your place, so it’s a bit of a stretch to believe I’d be some sort of target for this lunatic who just abducted another woman who was in the deck.”
Lance slammed the door closed behind him. From the fury lighting the blue flames within his eyes, she was doubtful he’d heard a word she’d said.
“For my own insurance, I took the sawed-off shotgun from behind the bar and brought it upstairs with me.” Brynn figured that was a compromise that even he couldn’t argue with, but that didn’t stall his advance. The back of her legs came up against her cream overstuffed chair that matched the rest of her living room furniture. See? They would have been a hell of a lot more comfortable here. “I wouldn’t have returned home if I thought for one second that it wasn’t safe.”
“The only reason I didn’t run the mile here was because Calvin called to tell me that you’d made it home without a scratch.”
Brynn had wondered why Calvin had turned around behind her and followed her back into town. She thought he’d forgotten something from home, but in actuality, he’d been seeing her safely home. She would have explained to Lance that those actions alone were the reason she felt safe enough to return to her apartment, but he surprised her when he took her firmly by the shoulders and pressed his forehead against hers and drew in a deep breath.
“Detective Kendrick called me when I was throwing on my jeans to come after you,” Lance explained, his gaze searching hers for some reason she couldn’t name. She wrapped her fingers around his wrists for some semblance of support as she braced herself for the news he was about to impart. “My prints were the only ones on those photographs. Not even smudges from any older prints. Nothing but mine.”
“There’s more,” Brynn whispered in concern, looking for the answers written on his features. She finally understood why he was angry about her leaving this morning. Some kind of evidence must have come to light that worried him. “I can see it in your eyes. Tell me.”
Lance exhaled slowly, acting as if touching her was enough to settle his nerves, but it clearly wasn’t nearly sufficient in the grand scheme of things. He pulled her close, turning them so that he was the one leaning up against the chair. He held her tightly against him with his lips now pressed against her forehead.
“I never thought to turn the pictures over,” Lance admitted after he’d rested his chin on her head. They’d fallen into an older intimacy that she’d thought had long ago faded, but being in his arms gave her a peace she hadn’t felt in years. It was as if everything happening outside this building couldn’t touch her anymore nor dull her belief in what this town represented to them. “There were dates written on the backs of the photographs.”
Brynn squeezed her eyes tightly shut, wishing she could block out what Lance was about to share with her.
“The date on Sophia’s picture was within the coroner’s estimated timeframe of her death.”
“Was there a date on Emma’s photograph?”
Brynn held her breath as she squeezed Lance a little tighter around the waist. She wrapped her right hand around her left wrist, gripping hard as she braced herself for the truth.
“The same date she went missing.”
Brynn bit down on her lip to prevent the lone sob from escaping her lips, having cried for her friend over and over again throughout the years. She realized now that her tears had never altered the outcome.
“There’s more.”
Brynn pulled away, wiping the moisture from her cheeks that had somehow managed to fall from her eyes. She shook her head in denial, wishing he’d just stop talking and destroying her faith in their neighbors and friends. He was basically telling her that someone they had known and trusted had committed vicious and terrible acts against his own neighbors. Who else would have had access to the properties around Blyth Lake, known where to go, and how to hide among them?
There was one way to stop Lance from making this situation worse with each word that fell from his lips…and she followed through with the picture that had manifested itself inside her mind.
And she did so without thinking.
She lifted her heels and stood on her tiptoes…and kissed him with as much passion as her body and soul could muster.
He tasted of cinnamon rolls and coffee, a unique flavor that she’d decided she could never get enough of in her lifetime. She didn’t hesitate when she lifted one leg to the side of him, knowing exactly what she wanted from him. She fell into him when he recognized her inherent need and wrapped one hand around her thigh. He lifted her up effortlessly so that both of her knees rested against the back of the chair.
“Oh!”
Brynn gasped as the intense sensation of her mound pressed against the buckle of his leather belt. She’d made herself vulnerable in this position, but her body was on fire. She wouldn’t have it any other way as she molded herself to his muscular frame.
She used her tongue to play with his, wanting more of his distinctive taste. The thin robe she was wearing allowed his radiant heat to penetrate every pore on her body. Whatever water drops remained from her shower evaporated into the air in the form of steam.
“I thought you wanted to take this a bit slower, blondie,” Lance murmured, slipping his fingers into her wet strands and pulling her head back so that he could have access to her neck. He left a trail of kisses down the sensitive cord before lightly sinking his teeth into her delicate flesh. Arousal broke over her as if he’d taken a hammer to the bell within her. She stopped breathing when he abruptly yanked her hair so that he could meet her gaze. His eyes were aflame. “Tell me you want this. That you want me.”
“I’ve always wanted this,” Brynn whispered, tightening her legs around his waist to prove her point. “I need you, Lance Kendall.”
Gravity forced Brynn close to his body when he abruptly stood to his full height and began walking through the apartment toward her bed. The explosive passion between them had been simmering below the surface for days, and now they were coming to a boil. She wanted to immerse herself in this overwhelming desire and never come up for air again.
Every part of her body was aching in yearning, and she didn’t want to wait a second longer than necessary. Her hands immediately went for his shirt, lifting it up and over his head with his assistance. His blue eyes darkened with longing as she then reached for her sash.
Lance stalled her by taking her wrists and leveraging her forward, securing her arms behind her back. Electricity sparked throughout the bedroom and her nipples hardened against the muscles of his bare chest.
“We need to slow down. This reunion deserves us taking our time.”
Lance made an attempt to even out his breathing, but she wasn’t going to make it easy for him. They had plenty of time to get to know one another again in an intimate manner, but right now…she needed him inside of her. She needed him filling her. She recalled something she’d done on instinct back in the day that had drawn an animalistic response from him in the cab of his truck over at Lookout Point.
Brynn closed the inch between them and kissed him slowly until he began to respond…and then trapped his lower lip in between her teeth. She bit a little harder before letting him go.
“I want it fast and hard, Lance.”
Brynn caught the laughter in her throat as she went flying backward, the soft comforter on the mattress catching her as Lance managed to undress in seconds. She hadn’t even had time to get the robe off her shoulders or enjoy the beautiful view of his manhood before he was crawling on top of her and taking her right nipple in his mouth.
Heat blossomed out from her core, shooting electrical current to every erogenous zone ever identified. She arched her body in response and only managed to make herself want him more when his shaft rubbed against her clitoris.
“Oh, my God,” Brynn whimpered, sliding her hands through his short hair for some leverage. She ended up sinking her fingers into his shoulders when he kept suckling her nipple until the urge to scream hit the back of her throat. “Lance, please…take me.”
Brynn hadn’t expected him to break the seal of his mouth on her breast, but it was so worth the short pause in contact when his lips trailed over her ribs and abdomen to ease the throbbing between her legs. Unfortunately, his talented tongue only made the ache that much worse to bear.
How was it possible to forget what this man could do with his mouth? Maybe it was because they’d been younger that she hadn’t treasured his aptitude to pleasure a woman, but she certainly appreciated it now that the drought was over.
Brynn had to grab the pillow positioned above her head when he went even lower, nibbling on the sensitive flesh of her inner thigh. He worked his way down to the inside of her knee. By the time he reached the arch of her foot, she’d pretty much worked her way into a frenzied ball of lust.
She certainly didn’t expect him to take a hold of each ankle and flip her over onto her stomach, but she used it to her advantage. In a brief moment of clarity, she pointed toward the nightstand.
“Bedside drawer.” Brynn closed her eyes to savor his body heat as he rested the front of his chest over her back. His hardened member rested in the crevice of her buttocks, promising her something so much more. She didn’t even bother to smother the moan that escaped her lips. “Please hurry.”
“You’re always in such a rush, blondie,” Lance whispered in her ear, triggering goosebumps to scatter over her shoulders. The hair on the back of her neck stood to attention in provocation as he brushed his lips against her ear. “Let’s try to slow this down a bit, shall we?”
*
Lance wanted more than anything to drive himself inside of her, but he would always put her needs above his own. The snug crevice of her ass was almost too much to resist, but he managed to lean over her and pull open the bedside drawer without sinking himself into her.
Patience was sometimes a virtue.
“Don’t you move,” Lance all but growled into her ear.
She was in the perfect spot for what he had in mind, but first came protection. He’d always protect her. That would never change, even when she made that task nearly impossible.
Lance didn’t waste time. In under thirty seconds, he’d covered himself and tossed the torn foiled package to the floor.
One of his favorite parts of a woman’s body was her lower back and the sensual arch that blended in with the curve of her buttocks. He took his time to stroke the hourglass shape of Brynn’s back before he brought her fully up on her hands and knees with a gentle tug on her hips.
“Perfection,” Lance muttered, caressing her lower back with the tips of his fingers. He let them slide over her butt and continued down the back of her leg. “Fucking perfection.”
Brynn’s brown eyes met his over her shoulder. He couldn’t contain his need for her any longer. He gripped both sides of her hips and eased himself into her inch after inch, causing them both to moan in gratification. The intense gratification was so overwhelming that he had to lean his head back and suck in a breath in an attempt to collect himself.
“I’m not made of glass, Kendall,” Brynn said, tossing the words over her shoulder. She was testing his resolve with her exclamation.
“It’s not you I’m worried about, blondie.”
Lance began to slowly pull out, never once releasing his hold on her. He gradually pulled her back against him, continuing to deliberately take his time in building up to their mutual release. This was the homecoming he’d envisioned without even knowing it…and it couldn’t have been sweeter as he gained momentum.
Brynn arched her back as he began to pick up the pace, allowing him to sink even deeper than before. Her wet strands were almost completely dry now and had fallen over her right shoulder as she kept peering back at him with parted lips.
Sexy didn’t even begin to describe the look of sheer pleasure that crossed her beautiful features.
“Harder,” Brynn whispered in need, letting him know that she was mere strokes away from her release. “Faster.”
Lance gave her what she wanted, and he was a goner the moment the first wave of her orgasm triggered her sheath to tighten around his shaft in a stranglehold. He cried out her nickname as he reached the pinnacle of their culmination.
Did she know what kind of power she held over him?
Did she understand that she was the one who’d fired the fatal bullet to his heart?