Gemini Men: Caught Part 20

Embarra.s.sed heat flooded her cheeks. She'd never been with a lover who spoke so frankly about what they were doing.

"Say it, Toni," he murmured. "Tell me you liked sucking my c.o.c.k."

Her breath hissed out as his thumb skillfully swirled around her s.e.x, and the words tumbled out. "I loved sucking your c.o.c.k."

He groaned and thrust his hips against hers. "You like it even better when I f.u.c.k you, though, don't you, baby? You can't get enough."

"Yes," she whispered, moving her hips eagerly against his palm. She didn't like the way she was letting down her guard. She enjoyed s.e.x, but she'd always kept a certain distance, even during the most intimate acts. But Ethan broke down every last one of her defenses. If she hadn't been so turned on, the realization would have scared the h.e.l.l out of her.

As it was, she could barely think, her entire being focused on Ethan's hands, Ethan's body, the carnal things he whispered that made her blush even as they pushed her higher and higher.

Her s.e.x quivered in antic.i.p.ation when she felt his hand reach into the soap dish, heard the ripping of foil.

"And I can't get enough of you," he said, bending his knees until the tip of his c.o.c.k pressed against her folds. He hitched her leg over his hip. She could feel the large head pus.h.i.+ng, stretching her wide. "I wanted you from the moment I laid eyes on you." He pushed in another inch. Her body, sore and swollen from before, struggled to accept his invasion. "And now that I know how you taste"-he kissed her-"how it feels to be inside you"-he pushed in another inch-"I don't think I'll ever get enough."

He hooked her knee over his elbow and pushed in to the hilt. Toni m.u.f.fled a cry of mingled pleasure and pain against his shoulder.

He immediately froze. "Am I hurting you?"

"Yes, no," she said mindlessly. She was sore, yes, but so hungry for him it would take only a few deep thrusts to bring her to o.r.g.a.s.m.

"I'll be gentle," he said against her cheek as he pulled out with mind-bending slowness, "but I don't think I can stop."

"I think if you stop I'll have to kill you," she said, and rose up on the tiptoes of her standing leg, adjusting his angle until his c.o.c.k slid against her c.l.i.t as he pumped slowly in and out. "I've never been so glad to be tall," she said inanely as pleasure tightened low in her belly. "We fit."

He stopped, staring hard into her eyes and said," Yeah, we're just about perfect together."

She felt her whole world flipping as she realized he wasn't speaking in mere physical terms.

But she would worry about that later, because right now all that mattered was the feel of him, thick and hard inside her, as he braced his arms against the wall of the shower and his hips picked up speed.

Soon he was thrusting hard enough to lift her off her standing leg with every thrust. Her earlier tenderness forgotten, she wrapped her other leg around him, urging him on with her hands and lips. His head bent, and he took her nipple between his lips, sucking hard as he buried himself to the hilt. Her o.r.g.a.s.m burst through her, pulsing in waves through every fiber and sinew.

Vaguely she heard him shout, felt him stiffen against her, as his arms wrapped around her so tightly she could barely breathe. His c.o.c.k jerked hard as he came, sending aftershocks through her as she clung to his wet, shaking body. Her leg dropped from around his waist, and for a moment she wondered if her trembling legs could support her weight.

He leaned in to her, chest heaving, his face buried against her neck as he held them both up against the wall. She could feel his c.o.c.k inside her, still thick, still semihard. Her body involuntarily clenched around him as he slid out, as though protesting the loss.

When he could finally stand up straight, Ethan turned off the shower, dried them both off, and led Toni back to bed. He drew the sheet up over him and pulled her so she was lying half on top of him, her head tucked under his chin. He couldn't seem to stop touching her, running his hands up and down her back, bending his head to press a kiss to her dark head.

She lay silently against him, absently combing her fingers through his chest hair. But within minutes he could hear the gears in her head start to grind, feel the muscles of her back tighten under his stroking fingers.

"What's wrong?" he asked around a yawn.

She shook her head and stayed silent.

He jostled her softly. "I can't sleep with you lying there humming like a mainframe, so you might as well just out with it already."

Her sigh blew hot and soft over his chest. "It feels wrong, that's all."

Ethan's fingers tightened in her hair, echoing the tension knotting in his stomach. In the past, right about now was when a woman tried to get all mushy and tell him how amazing he was, talk about when they could see each other again, all the things that made him want to bolt. And here he was, wis.h.i.+ng Toni would say those exact things, and all she could talk about was how "wrong" it felt. Figured.

"Doesn't it feel weird to you?" Toni prodded.

He slid his hand down and squeezed her a.s.s cheek. "Feels pretty d.a.m.n good to me. I don't see what the problem is."

She rolled over and switched on the bedside lamp, then settled back against him, propped on her elbows so she could peer into his face. She looked cute without her gla.s.ses, her eyes a little squinty as she focused in on him. "That's not what I'm talking about. I mean it feels wrong to be fooling around like this when we still don't know where Kara is, what could be happening to her."

He knew guilt was eating at her, not just about Kara but about her sister. "You've been working nonstop since Sat.u.r.day. We're doing everything we can, following every lead."

"What if it's not enough?" She pushed away and swung her legs over the side of the bed. "I should go check on Jerry again."

He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back down to the bed. She struggled to get out of his hold, but he easily flipped her over onto her back, pinning her there with his hips between hers. "It's the middle of the night, Toni, nothing is happening."

"You don't know that."

"Forget about the s.e.x for a minute. You think it's unreasonable to take time to sleep, get something to eat? It's okay to live your life, Toni." As the words came out of his mouth, he knew he wasn't talking about Kara or even Mich.e.l.le anymore.

Toni stiffened and rocked her hips, trying to get out from under him. "You don't know what you're talking about. You don't understand what it's like."

Irritation built in his chest, tightened his jaw as he grabbed Toni's flailing hands and pinned them to the pillow, harder than he needed to. "What? I have no idea what it's like to lose someone? I have no idea what it's like to have my family break apart because of it? Is that what you were going to say?"

Her mouth flattened into a thin line. "If you did, you'd understand."

His fingers tightened around her wrists and pushed them deeper into the pillows. "Now, that's where you're wrong."

She froze, her struggles stopped as her eyes locked on his face. "What do you mean?"

"You know how I told you my parents split?"

She nodded.

"My mom didn't just leave. She disappeared."

Toni's mouth fell open in shock. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. "You haven't seen her in-"

"Eighteen years this October," he bit out. Old, dark anger bubbled like bile from the deep place he kept it hidden. Anger at his mom for taking off, anger at Toni for pulling all of this old s.h.i.+t out of him. s.h.i.+t he had no interest in discussing with anyone, especially not a woman. "She packed a bag and took off. No foul play and no clue where she'd gone. We never found any trace of her. "

Instead of saying something trite like how hard it must have been, Toni squinted up at him with her big hazel eyes. "You're sure she left on her own?"

He nodded. His fingers relaxed a little on her wrists, but he didn't let her go yet. "I'm surprised you don't know all this. There was a lot of press at the beginning. Someone like you could find it without digging too hard."

Toni's lips pulled into a sad sort of half smile. "I wouldn't let myself do a background check."

"Why's that?"

Her gaze flicked away from his. "Because then I would have had to admit to myself that I wanted to know about you."

Ethan released her wrists and lay down next to her, pulling her in to him again. The story of his mother's disappearance poured out, from G.o.d knew where. He told her things he'd never told anyone. Sure, anyone who'd lived in the San Francis...o...b..y Area at the time remembered the story of the wealthy investment banker's wife gone missing, but Ethan never talked about it, and as far as he knew, his brothers didn't either. "It destroyed my father. He's spent almost twenty years and hundreds of thousands of dollars chasing every half-baked lead in the world. I mean that literally. That car wreck my dad and older brother got into in Indonesia?"

Toni nodded.

"They were there because someone called my dad and said he thought he saw a woman matching my mother's description in central Bali." He combed his fingers through Toni's hair, focusing on the silky smoothness as he tried to send the ancient resentment back down to the hole where it lived.

"I take it that was a dead end?"

"Happens every year or so, someone comes up with information that, to Dad at least, seems halfway credible. So he pays a hefty reward and goes h.e.l.l-bent for leather chasing after her. By now you'd think he'd have learned his lesson. If a woman is that determined to get away from you, maybe you should stop chasing her."

After several moments of silence, Toni finally asked, "What do you think really happened?"

"I don't know. Danny thinks she took off with her boyfriend-we're pretty sure she was having an affair with someone when she left but were never sure who. Derek thinks she drank herself to death somewhere."

"And you?"

"I don't want to believe either of them. I mean, what's worse? She left us and was so determined never to come back that she'd rather hide than let us know she's okay? Or that she's been dead all this time and we don't even know it? But sometimes I wish we could just find a body and get on with it. I know how awful that sounds."

Toni's hand stroked his cheek, pus.h.i.+ng away the cold dark rising inside him. He wanted to purr like a big cat. "I understand," she whispered.

"Yeah, I guess you do." He swallowed past the unfamiliar, unwanted knot of emotion lodged in his throat and leaned down to kiss her. Her lips parted under his, heat surged through him. His c.o.c.k hardened against the soft skin of her thigh and he ground his hips against her, distracting himself with s.e.x.

s.e.x was simple. s.e.x was easy. So much easier than the complicated emotions boiling and swirling like a typhoon inside.

But even this wasn't as uncomplicated as he wanted, not with the way he responded to the tender strokes of her hand, the way her kiss sent heat and light pouring through him. He groaned and slipped his hand between her legs, wis.h.i.+ng he could feel the same nothing he had felt for all the other women, wis.h.i.+ng he didn't want to rip himself open and spill his guts to her. That the feel of her s.e.x, so soft and warm and slippery-wet from wanting him, didn't make him feel as though giving her pleasure was his higher purpose in life.

She rocked under his hand, threaded her fingers through his hair and kissed him, soft, wet, hungry kisses, hot and sweet, as if she knew exactly what he needed.

His BlackBerry emitted a shrill alarm, jerking him rudely from his sensual haze. He pushed Toni away and sat up. "That's the alarm on Kramer's security system," he said in response to Toni's look of confusion. "He keyed in his access code and is on his way out."

Within seconds his phone rang. It was Alex Novascelic, the Gemini security specialist who'd been a.s.signed to watch Kramer's house. "Kramer's vehicle just exited his driveway," Alex said.

"Stay on him," Ethan said. "No matter what, don't let him know he's got a tail." He made sure Alex could call up the tracking device they'd planted on Kramer's car so he wouldn't have to follow Kramer too closely. "Derek and I are on our way."

"What's going on?" Toni sat up and slid her gla.s.ses on.

"Kramer's on the move," he said, walking to the closet. "And at two-thirty on a Wednesday morning, it's a solid bet he's up to no good."

CHAPTER 14.

T ONI SCRAMBLED INTO her own clothes as Ethan pulled on a black T-s.h.i.+rt and black pants and laced up his black combat boots. Her stomach knotted as she watched him shove a semiautomatic handgun in his waistband and strap a mean-looking knife to his calf.

"You really think you'll need that?"

He gave her a look like she was on crack. "I hope not, but I'm sure as h.e.l.l not going out there unprepared." He slipped a leather shoulder harness on over his s.h.i.+rt and holstered the pistol he'd removed from a locked gun case. "I don't know how long this will take," he said as he slipped on a lightweight black jacket. "I'll call you and tell you what's going on as soon as I can."

Toni managed to slip on one sneaker and was struggling into the second, hopping on one foot as she chased him down the hall. "Wait a second."

He ignored her, swiping his keys off the console table as he hurried to the door. He punched the access code into the alarm system. "I'm arming the security system. Don't let anyone in, and stay away from the windows just to be safe."

She managed to hook the heavy canvas of her shoe over her heel. "You're not leaving me here."

He gave her a sharp look. "There's no reason for you to go."

"If you think I'm going to sit here doing nothing while I wait for you to call, you're seriously delusional. As soon as you walk out that door, I'm right behind you."

His mouth pulled into a smirk. "You can't unlock the dead-bolt without the access code."

She gave him an oh-please look. "Which I'm sure is accessible somewhere on the Gemini Securities system."

"You don't have a car," he said, opening the door but blocking it with his body so she couldn't slip past him.

"I'll call a cab," she said through gritted teeth. "Now, are you going to waste time arguing or are we going to find Jerry and figure out what the f.u.c.k is going on?"

A muscle pulsed in Ethan's jaw as he moved out of the way to let her out of his condo, but before she could take more than one step, he grabbed her and pinned her up against the wall. "You can go on one condition. You do exactly as I say."

"I-"

His big hand smothered her protest, and his laser-sharp blue eyes seemed to glow in the moonlit corridor. "Exactly as I say. I will not put you in danger, even if it means I have to handcuff you and throw you in my trunk. Do you understand?"

She nodded. He took his hand away and leaned down to give her a hard, fast kiss, then grabbed her arm and took off at a jog down the stairs to his parking garage. He handed Toni his BlackBerry so she could monitor the red dot that represented Jerry Kramer's car, currently headed north on Highway 101.

He docked his cell phone and clipped on an earpiece. "Call Derek." His phone dialed, and moments later Derek's low, clipped voice filled the interior of Ethan's BMW. Derek patched in Alex, who was tailing Kramer about five miles ahead.

"He's getting off at the Holly Street exit," Alex said. "I'm about a mile behind him."

Toni watched the dot of Jerry's car head east, toward an industrial park that sat on the bay. He pulled into a building complex and the dot stopped moving.

Ethan instructed Alex and Derek to park in a lot a quarter mile away. "Alex, as soon as you get there, head over to where Jerry is and give us the lay of the land. But don't engage. We're about five minutes behind. After we hang up, radios only."

"Got it," Alex said.

Derek was already waiting as they turned into the dark lot, a shadowy figure pulling gear from the trunk of his car. Ethan's radio crackled. "Kramer's still in his car, hasn't moved yet," Alex said. "I've got two cars approaching the southwest entrance. License plates 6XJS-626 and 8GHC-439. They're turning in now."

Toni keyed the plate numbers into her handheld and watched as Ethan slipped on what looked like night-vision goggles and Derek slipped extra ammunition into a pocket of his cargo pants.

She suddenly felt as though she'd fallen down a rabbit hole and ended up in a scene from Rambo.

"I've got an additional seven men exiting the cars. Six are armed."

Toni swallowed hard and felt a trickle of sweat snake down her inner arm. She'd suspected Jerry was into something bad, but she hadn't antic.i.p.ated this. G.o.d only knew what this might mean for Kara.

"Stay in your position," Ethan told Alex. "We're sixty seconds away."