Chapter 16

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Even in sleep, Wayne carried the stress he was under on his face. Clara used the pad of her thumb to smooth out the lines on his forehead. Over the last four days, he'd worked, searched, and dropped into her bed to slip into a fitful sleep until the alarm on his phone woke him up to start the whole process over again.

He couldn't continue wearing himself down, or he'd break. She lowered her hand and rubbed his chest, letting the short hair tickle her palm. Five minutes ago, she'd shut off the alarm on his phone before it could go off. She had a better way to wake him up.

She sat up on the bed, facing him, then leaned over and kissed his mouth, licking the slight crack between his lips until he stirred. His jaw relaxed, and he reached over and grasped her waist, sitting her on top of him. She stretched, sliding her hand under his pillow, and grabbed the condom he'd put on the bed last night before he'd fallen asleep. Straightening, she fingered the package and groaned. It was an empty wrapper.

"Shit," she mumbled. "We're out."

She was hungry to have him back inside of her, to share that connection before a busy day tore them apart. Over the last week, her need for him rose. Scared that everything would end too soon. That the time to tell him what she needed him for would arrive and she'd lose him or be arrested. But, then when he was with her, she pushed the fear away and became selfish.

She thought of him all the time, wondering what he was doing. If he needed her, and how their lives could change for the better if they stayed together. He went out of his way to help others, strangers, those needier than her. Her desires had her holding on to him tightly, not wanting time away from him where her doubts crept in.

She caught herself on the mattress as Wayne slid out from under her and left the bed. What if he believed being with her was all about sex and comfort?

Wayne picked up his jeans off the top of her dresser and pulled a condom out of his wallet. Her stomach fluttered. Men always confused her. Some wanted a demanding woman to prove how much they were wanted, others hit the door at the first sign of a high maintenance woman. Wayne was a hard one to read.

He'd stepped into her life before she could set her plan in motion, and he never asked her for anything. Almost as if he wanted her to take their relationship for granted and yet, she felt like he gave her the security to know he wanted more and they only needed time to make things permanent.

She quite liked him taking control and leaving her to enjoy what was happening, considering she'd planted herself in his path and orchestrated meeting him.

He rolled the condom on and returned to the bed, pulling her to her feet in front of him. Standing, she sprawled her fingers on his thigh and ran her hand around to squeeze his ass. His hardness pressed against her stomach. She loved his extra height and yet found herself wishing she had on heels or was taller.

As if reading her mind, he picked her up and slid her down on his cock. She wound herself around his body, locking her ankles together behind his back. Her breath came back faster at the fullness of him, and her weight pushed her down completely until every single inch of his cock was buried inside of her.

It was the completeness that came over her that had her latching on to his neck and drawing hard on his skin with her mouth. Her teeth nipped him in her exuberance.

His cock pulsed, touching her from the inside.

She removed her mouth from him. "Let's stay here all day."

"Can't, sweetheart." He widened his stance and rocked her.

His hands cupped her ass, keeping her firmly planted on him. He neither pumped inside of her or stroked her. He simply rocked as she swayed back and forth in his arms. Impaled on him, in the early morning, did more for her than lazily coming as he fingered her awake the way he had yesterday.

The room warmed with Wayne's heated body. She panted through the tightening in her pussy. There was nothing she could do to slow the pleasure or speed up to the release. Wayne controlled the ride, the timing, the moment. Her feelings.

Wayne's skin glistened under the strain of going slow. Her body slid down an inch. A swift kick in her arousal left her breathless. She locked her arms behind his neck.

He walked with her in his arms and pressed her against the wall. She squirmed at the extra movement. "God, yes."

Pinned against the wall, she wasn't prepared. She wasn't expecting. She wasn't breathing.

Wayne pumped inside of her. The pressure between her legs intensified. She couldn't stop the spiraled explosion that started big and fluttered throughout her body.

She couldn't stop.

She couldn't.

She.

Her gasp filled the room. Her legs came undone. Her arms fell from Wayne. Her head hit the wall behind her. Suspended in air, she was only slightly aware of Wayne nailing her against the wall, holding her up, and his body hardening against her and his cock pulsating inside of her, soothing her orgasm down to a level where she could breathe.

That breath was a gift her body needed to feel alive, loved, wanted.

She opened her eyes and stared straight ahead into Wayne's warm, dark gaze. She shivered and leaned forward, hanging on to him and taking her weight off his arms.

Then, she jolted back to reality.

"Shit, you're late." She squirmed down off him, missing him inside of her when his cock slipped out. "The time. I shut your alarm off. You need to get to work." She flipped the light switch on and found her phone on the dresser. "You only have twenty minutes."

"No worries. I'll make it in time." He walked into the bathroom.

She watched his bare ass walk out of sight and sighed. He looked good in her room. Comfortable. Right.

Pulling on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, she hurried down to the kitchen and started the coffee maker. While she waited for the pot to fill, she made two turkey sandwiches with all the trimmings and wrapped them in foil.

The thump of Wayne's boots on the wooden floor forced her to hurry. She opened his thermos he'd brought into the house last night, rinsed it out, and filled it with fresh coffee.

She caught sight of him in the room. "All done. I made you two sandwiches since you don't have time to eat before you leave."

He walked over to her, kissed her hard, and grabbed his lunch and thermos. "I'll swing by the bar after work."

"Will everyone from Notus be with you? We can feed you all." She followed him to the front door.

"If we have time, we'll eat there. I don't know what will be going on until I check in with Gomez." He turned at the door, kissed her again, lingering on her lips. "Lock up behind me."

She lowered her chin. "Okay."

Standing in the open doorway, she watched him get on his motorcycle. The roar of the engine made her smile. Her neighbors probably hated her seeing Wayne. Most of the people in the neighborhood worked a nine to five job. They hadn't even woken up yet. Or, they hadn't until he'd started his bike.

She shut and locked the door, then went into the kitchen to pour herself a cup of coffee. Knowing she wouldn't be able to go right back to sleep, she carried the mug to the living room and sat on the couch. Once she finished, she'd take a shower, and hopefully, the hot water and steam would relax her. A nap before she had to head to work would be wonderful.

"Why couldn't you have picked a boyfriend who walked to work or even rode a bicycle." Gracie slid her feet across the floor, wrapping her robe tighter around her body. She plopped down on the couch. "My God, the noise from his motorcycle reaches inside of me and shakes my soul, and it's not a good thing, sis. It's a bad thing. A very bad, bad thing. I need my sleep."

"You're getting more sleep than me," said Clara.

Gracie snorted. "You're getting sex and big arms to sleep with each night. You're so far up the lucky tree, you can't even shake a stick at me."

Clara laughed and slouched down on the couch. "You like him, don't you?"

"Wayne?" Gracie paused and sighed. "He's a member of Notus."

That loaded statement spoke volumes. Not an hour went by when she wasn't aware of Wayne's lifestyle, his commitment to his club, and his close relationships with law enforcement.

Gracie looked at her. "How do you think he'll react when we finally ask him? Can we trust him?"

Deep in her heart, she believed Wayne would understand. "If we go slow like we planned, making sure we stay smart and look at every angle, we'll just know. I'll know when it's the right time."

"You need to start asking him questions." Gracie stood. "Not just getting to know him on a personal level."

"Like what?" Clara scooted to the edge of the couch. "Hey, Wayne, how do you feel about punishing people who do bad things?"

"That would be a start." Gracie planted her hands on her hips. "You can work your way up to asking him what he's going to do if he catches the killer of that young girl."

She groaned. "He only searches for missing persons. He hasn't mentioned what the police are doing to solve the murder of the little girl from a couple weeks ago. His focus is on finding Megan Hillard. If he has any feelings toward Annie Morgan's murderer, he hasn't said anything to me."

"But, you could ask him if he finds Megan and if she was kidnapped and he happens to meet the kidnapper during the rescue, would he kill him to save the girl?" Gracie tilted her chin and raised her eyebrows. "That's it. He won't think that's strange coming from you at all. Everyone in the community is keeping up on the information about the search and is wondering the same thing about what will become of the kidnapper. I've heard the talk at the bar. People want to kill the person who took her and string him up by the balls."

Clara pursed her lips. Her sister had a point. Wayne was tired, overworked, and stressed about finding the Hillard girl, he wouldn't think twice about her question. "Okay, I'll do it."

"Tonight." Gracie inhaled deeply. "It's the perfect timing."

Clara whispered, "Tonight."

She wandered back upstairs, stripped, and got into the shower. Every step forward with Wayne put more at risk. She didn't want to lose him.

Closing her eyes, she turned around and let her head fall back and the water run over her hair. Her whole body filled with tension at the thought of ruining things with Wayne. Not only would her happiness be taken away from her, but there was also a good chance that she could end up in prison.

Wayne was close to law enforcement. She'd viewed his tight working relationship with Lieutenant Gomez. One wrong move or saying the wrong thing, and it wouldn't be Wayne ringing her doorbell late at night. It'd be the police.