Even I could admit that was unfortunate, for all kinds of reasons. We hadn’t explicitly spoken about the current case she was working on, or how she’d picked it, but Allison Finch certainly hadn’t gotten the attention she deserved.
There was a spark between us; the attraction was clear, but we also realized we might not be so different after all. I had believed we were two people on opposite sides of a line, but that wasn’t the case. The gap wasn’t as wide as I had imagined.
“What I do is a huge part of who I am,” she said, gentlygiving a secretive look. “You don’t know anything about me.”
That sounded ominous, and it made me glad I still had that background coming because Hattie Harper had secrets.
From the other cabin, as the family spilled onto the porch, the woman raised her hand to me, and I waved back, getting to my feet. “I should let you enjoy your evening,” I said after a moment, even though I didn’t want to move. “Going to light the fire and get them started. You want me to bring you back a s’more?”
She smiled before nodding. “I sure do. Then afterwards you can come back for a nightcap.” The offer hung in the air like a brilliant burst of light.
CHAPTER 17
Kipp
The way she’d looked at me earlier, head tilted, all curiosity with that hair that I wanted to twist my hands into was driving me bananas. She had something burning under her skin, and I’d felt it from twenty feet away.
I’d brought her a s’more an hour ago and passed it off with sticky fingers, ignoring the thought of her mouth wrapped around it, but now that the fire was out and the lights were off in Cabin Three, I took the steps two at a time, my heavy boots hitting the wood solidly, and then knocked. She opened the door barefoot, hair loose, wearing that faded T-shirt that hung just wrong enough to make my thoughts go straight to all the places I’d been telling myself to stay away from.
“Kipp,” she said, a little breathless. “Couldn’t resist coming back?”
I shrugged. “I thought maybe you were up for a nightcap, and I brought the extra chocolate.” My voice came out lower than I intended. Holding up the whiskey bottle and the two chocolate bars I’d managed to salvage to show her I’d come prepared, I tried to keep my mind clear of the last time I had whiskey, but it didn’t quite work, and my dick jerked against my zipper.
Her eyes searched mine. “I could do a nightcap, and chocolate is always good. Wouldn’t want to leave the chocolate for the raccoons.”
“That’d be a damn shame.”
The door clicked shut behind me, and it was like the rest of the world blinked out. No forest. No distance. Just her, barefoot in those tiny ass sleep shorts and watching me, biting her lip like she was deciding whether to move forward a step or backwards.
Her hand brushed mine as she took the bottle, and I swear it felt like static shot straight to my chest. I could feel my self-control loosening, bit by bit, and the groan that I was holding back nearly slipped through my teeth.
“You a serial killer?” she asked, soft but not pulling away.
I shook my head. “Nope.” I’d tease a little, but I understood her caution. Women had to be careful on their own, and we were all the way out in the middle of nowhere.
I guessed she suspected everyone from the work she did. Hell, that was the smart way to go. People were pigs.
She was the sort of woman who’d burn through your life if you let her. She was nomadic for the most part, traveling the way she did. Her social media posts were from all over. Normally, I would think that’d be the perfect set-up for something casual, but I wasn’t so sure that was what I wanted when it came to her.
Her breath caught when I reached up and brushed my thumb along her jaw, tracing it down along her neck before laying it where her pulse hammered. She tilted her head into my hand like she’d been waiting for me to make a move.
She exhaled, shakily, the decision made in that breath, looking up at me beneath her lashes, maintaining hard eye contact with me for a beat. She closed the distance between us and rose on her toes as she met me in a hungry kiss, her hand fisted in my shirt.
Digging my hands into her hair, my tongue slid against hers, tasting the chocolate from earlier on her lips. Each pass turned me on even more, and every caress and squeeze brought a new whimper and moan as she pressed closer to me, until I could feel her nipples pebbling through her shirt.
Hell, yeah. Tossing her into my arms, I ignored her squeal as I picked her up and carried her to the bedroom.
“Kipp, I can walk.” Her soft curves squirmed against me, and it just made me harder.
“We’ll get there faster this way.”
She had no idea how much I liked the way she curved into my arms, the way she settled against my chest, and the way she smelled. Sweeping the comforter off, I lay her onto the sheets so I could admire all those valleys and divots, with her lush tits perking against the cotton just begging for my mouth.
“Goddamn, Hattie. You’re like a fucking fantasy.” She flushed a little but allowed me to lift her t-shirt and pull down her sleep shorts, leaving her in only a tiny pair of panties. “These tits.”
Groaning, I traced up along each breast, leaning on my elbows so my mouth could breathe her in as my fingers circled each puckered nipple. Sucking one into my mouth, I watched her face as her lips parted on a sigh and her eyes rolled a little in her head. Biting a little, she whimpered and squirmed as I scraped my teeth across her skin.
“Are you gushing in those panties for me? I’ll bet you are. Let’s see.” Her mouth formed a little ‘O’ shape as I pushed my fingers against the apex of her thighs through the fabric of her cotton panties. “Just like I thought,” I confirmed with a groan. “Wet.” Stroking her, her eyes popped open in surprise before she keened a moan, and a corresponding gush hit my fingers through the fabric.
