Page 96 of Floodgates

I could get used to being crushed against him very, very fast.

He let me go after a moment, but not without a kiss on the forehead. Everyone else slowly trickled in, until they were all there.

“You should probably bring us up to speed, Inspector,” John Alcott suggested.

“There’s nothing new to tell,” Cord informed him, taking my hand in his.

A knock on the door sent Officer Cumberland out to the foyer, and a moment later we were looking at the chief of police of Fieldcrest, Martin Riley. Cord got up to go speak to him, and then, when Chief Riley came to talk to Mr. Alcott, Cord gestured for me to come over.

I crossed the room to Cord, and when I was close enough, he grabbed my hand and yanked me forward into the foyer and into his arms.

“What are you doing?”

“The chief’s gonna talk to the Alcotts, but there’s no news.”

“Okay,” I said, waiting for more.

“So this is your point of no return.”

I smiled at him.

“No, don’t just jump in,” he cautioned me. “You need to really think about this. We’re moving really fast, and if it’s too—”

His protest was cut off when I leaped at him, wrapping my arms and legs around him tight.

“Tracy….” He was scolding me and smiling at the same time.

“You have a really odd idea about fast,” I said hoarsely, tightening my legs, wriggling against him. “And all I want to do is go upstairs and put you on your back.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes,” I said, uncoiling, regaining my feet before I took his hand in mine. When I turned to tug him after me, he didn’t move. “What’s the holdup?”

He cleared his throat. “We don’t—we could take—”

“Stop,” I whispered, lifting his hand to my lips and then kissing his knuckles. “You’re scared. I promise not to hurt you.”

“Don’t you think that should be my line?”

I studied his face. “I think you’re the one who’s worried.”

“How can you not be worried?” he groused.

“Because I’m not,” I said simply, drawing him after me to the stairs and up. At the door to my room, I told him to go to his, lock it, and then come through the adjoining bathroom and meet me in bed.

“Just like that.”

“Yeah,” I said as I slid a hand around the back of his neck and pulled him down to me. “Just like that.”

He kissed me, and I sucked his tongue into my mouth, stroking slowly, seductively, running my hands all over him, then tugging his shirt up and exposing all that warm, sleek skin. I mapped the rippling muscles in his chest and abdomen with my palms, missing nothing as I broke the kiss and pressed my open mouth to the base of his throat.

“Tracy,” he rasped, shoving his hand down the back of my jeans and then sliding his index finger over my crease.

“Go do what I said,” I croaked out as I pushed back and saw how ravished he looked with his lush swollen mouth, blown pupils, and bated breath. “Hurry up.”

I didn’t give him time to answer, instead leaving him alone in the hall as I went into my room and locked the door behind me.

In minutes he was there. He opened my bathroom door, then quietly shut it behind him and turned to face me.