Skeletons in the Mist (The McCall Twins) Read online

  “Not on a night like this one.” He took another long swallow. “You should go to bed,” he repeated, leaning back against the cushions. “I’m not going to be very good company tonight.”

  “Me neither.” She sat down next to him and reached for the whiskey bottle. “May I?”

  “I had you pegged more of a Cosmo type girl.”

  “Not on a night like this one,” she tossed back at him.

  She saw the corners of his mouth lift slightly, but he remained silent.

  She took a swig of whiskey and did her best to ignore the burn as the liquid slid down her throat. Then she wiped her mouth and looked at him. He was staring straight ahead at the television, obviously not caring that there was no sound. “You brushed me off this morning. It made me mad.”

  He let his head roll to the side so that their gazes met. “You know why I did what I did.”

  “Nothing happened, Chas.”

  He stared at her for a long time before he took another sip of his drink. “Maybe not. But I wanted it to.”

  His honesty surprised her. “Maybe I did too.”

  He exhaled deeply, then met her gaze again. “I don’t know what to think of you. One minute you make me so mad I want to throttle you and the next minute you make me want to…” His voice broke off and he swore.

  “Kiss me?” She said the words quietly.

  He looked over at her, his eyes softening now. “Yeah. But I can’t. I have a job to do here.”

  “What if I kiss you?” She leaned toward him slowly, waiting at the last minute to see if he would back away. He didn’t. He just watched her carefully.

  “It would be a bad idea.” He spoke the words when her lips were only a breath away from his mouth. Their noses bumped. They both inhaled. She shifted first, her mouth grazing his lightly.

  The first thing she noticed was that his lips were soft. They molded perfectly to hers. She started to back away. He stopped her when his hand snaked around out of nowhere and cupped the back of her head. He pulled her mouth back to his, this time using his tongue to part her lips. The minute she tasted him, her self-control evaporated. She melted, kissing him back as aggressively as he was kissing her. She heard something fall against the coffee table and realized it was his glass of whiskey.

  “God, you taste good.” His hand angled her mouth in the other direction and this time when he kissed her she got the full effect of what he could do with his tongue. It swept from one side of her mouth to the other, meshing with hers insistently.

  “I want more.” She said the words against his lips. Her hands were already sliding up under the t-shirt he wore.

  Not giving it a second thought, he pulled the shirt over his head and tossed it aside. She took a moment to admire his flat stomach and well-built chest. He really was a beautiful man—probably the most beautiful man she’d ever seen.

  “An eye for an eye,” he muttered against her neck, his tongue flicking at a sensitive spot just below her ear. She felt his fingers grasp the hem of her shirt. She helped him pull it up and over her head. When his mouth found her breasts, she shut her eyes, her senses shooting into overload. She pulled him toward her, leaning back and allowing him to slide his body on top of hers. The minute she felt him between her legs, she shuddered. Even though he still had jeans on and she her pajama pants, the contact was heavenly.

  “You’ve made me so hot for the past few days. The minute I saw you I knew I was in trouble.” He kissed her on the mouth again, his eyes locking with hers.

  Arching up against him, she let out a moan. She was completely losing control with him. In a way, it scared her. Before, sex had been just a physical thing for her. For some reason it felt like more this time. She wasn’t sure what to think about that.

  When his hands moved down her sides to the waistband of her pajamas, she found herself lifting involuntarily so he could slide the pants down her legs. They landed in a heap on the floor a second later.

  Reaching for his belt buckle, she met him halfway in another earth shattering kiss. She tugged on the buckle at the same time, suddenly desperate for more intimate contact.

  Reaching down, he brushed her hands aside and yanked the belt buckle free. Then he tugged on the buttons of his jeans, quickly undoing them.

  “I’m not on the pill.” The words came out breathlessly as his mouth covered one of her breasts. She felt him nod against her.

  “It’s okay, I’ve got something in my wallet. Back pocket.”

  She reached around to his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He took it from her and dug through it until he found what he was looking for. He pulled the condom out and handed it to her, before tossing his wallet onto the coffee table. Then he met her gaze. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  Somehow the words were a bit of a mood killer. “Are you?” she countered.

  He leaned over and rubbed his nose against hers, his breath hitching as their hips grinded together. “Oh yeah,” he finally growled, his fingers moving down between them. “I’m definitely sure.”

  The minute his fingers touched her intimately, any reservations she had dissolved. She wanted him and she wanted him now. She unwrapped the condom and reached down to shove at his jeans. It took her only a minute to situate the condom on him. And then he slid inside her in one long thrust.

  Swearing, he braced the majority of his weight on his forearms, his fingers tangling in her hair. Wrapping her legs around him, she met him thrust for thrust. Their mouths met frantically, as they continued to move together.

  Feeling the sensations building, she knew she wasn’t going to last long. She pulled him tighter against her, her fingernails digging into his shoulders. Without warning, she exploded, a moan that she didn’t even recognize as her own, echoing throughout the room. As she came down from the climax, she heard him groan against her neck. He held himself inside her, his body collapsing against hers.

  For several moments, they lay there like that. And she felt content. Rather than push at him to move, she let her fingers tangle in the short strands of his hair. She didn’t want to ruin the mood with words so she kept quiet.

  Catching his breath, he lifted his head from her shoulder, his eyes sweeping over hers with a look of deep satisfaction. “I’ve got to tell you, I had pretty high expectations for you—” He paused. “And you exceeded every one of them. That was amazing.”

  She felt her skin grow hot. No man had ever said anything like that to her. “It was,” she agreed softly.

  He gently disengaged himself and slid off of her, sitting up. “Are you upset?”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Do I look upset?”

  “No. I’m not a good mind reader though. I’m particularly bad at it with women.” He situated himself before he leaned back against the cushions. “I’ve never had an emotional connection with someone the way we just did.”

  So he had felt the connection too. Relief washed over her. “I haven’t either. I’ll be honest though. I haven’t had a lot of experience with men.” She reached down to the floor and grabbed the t-shirt she’d discarded earlier, slipping it quickly over her head. She noticed he was watching her and frowned. “What?”

  “You’re beautiful.”

  Her heart skipped a beat. “You don’t have to say that. I know I’m not like the other women you’ve probably been with.”

  His brow furrowed. “That’s true. You’re not. I’m sensing an underlying commentary here. I don’t sleep around, Roxy.”

  “I never said you do.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I just figure a guy like you has a lot of women to—choose from.”

  “Does this have something to do with the fact that I had that condom in my wallet? Because I’m not going to lie to you, I’m very careful all the time. I’ve never been with any woman without a condom.”

  “It has more to do with the way women look at you.” There, the words were out.

  He frowned. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

  “Let’s
start with Desk Sergeant Susie.” Once she’d said the words, she wanted them back. She knew how crass they sounded.

  He snorted. “Are you talking about Maddie?”

  “I don’t know. Is she the tall brunette that shoots me daggers every time I walk into the station?” She knew she sounded jealous and she quickly shook her head. “Never mind. This is stupid. So we had sex. We don’t need to have this conversation. It’s no big deal.” She started to get up and he grabbed her hand at the last minute, pulling her back down. She landed with a thud on his lap.

  “Maddie and I had a very short, very unpleasant thing last year. It’s been over for months. I was never in to her like that.”

  She avoided his gaze until he tipped her chin up so she had no choice but to look at him.

  “I’m sorry if she’s been giving you a hard time. Why didn’t you say something before now?”

  “Because I really had no reason to say something. I shouldn’t have said anything now either. It’s none of my business what you’ve done in your past with women.”

  “Some people would disagree with that.”

  “You said yourself that you’ve always been careful. I have too. That’s all we need to discuss.” She wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince more, him or herself.

  “Okay. If you say so.” His eyes studied hers for a long moment. “I have to say, I feel much better right now. When I first got home I was pretty wound up.”

  She found herself relaxing against him. “Me too. Seeing that man…” Her voice broke off and she shook her head. “I feel so bad about what happened to him.”

  He let out a weary sigh. “Yeah, me too. I had to pay a visit to his girlfriend tonight and give her the news. His brothers too, not that they did much more than grunt in response. Regardless, it wasn’t a great experience. Loretta’s daughter is missing in action and now her boyfriend’s dead. She has no other real family to lean on. It’s a sad situation.”

  “I’m sorry. That must have been tough.”

  “It was. She was hysterical. She’s had a rough time of things. I went to school with her. Tabby’s dad took off the minute he found out her mom was pregnant. Loretta’s managed to hook up with a string of losers since then—Abel being no exception.”

  “He didn’t deserve to die that way.”

  “No, he didn’t.” He straightened again. “Can we table this subject for now? I’ve had enough for one night. This will all become the center of our universe again first thing in the morning.”

  She figured that was true enough. She slid off of his lap and stood up. “So are you going to sleep in the bedroom with me?”

  He seemed to relax a little. “Do you want me to?” “Are you really asking me that?”

  He stood, shutting the television off with the remote control. “Let it be known that I’m not really all that tired anymore.”

  She tossed a look over her shoulder at him as she headed for the bedroom. “Let it be known that neither am I.”

  SIXTEEN

  When Chas woke up the next morning, he hesitated to open his eyes. He knew she was wrapped around him like a blanket again. And he liked the feeling. He liked it way too much. She was warm and soft and curvy in all the right places. Her breathing was soft and her hair smelled like strawberries. He was already worked up again just smelling her.

  Lifting his arms, he rubbed his hands over his stubbly face. He needed to get up. While it was Saturday, there was still work to be done. Tabitha Kennings and Dylan Tavish were still missing and Abel Flannigan and Myra Tavish were still dead.

  He felt her arms tighten around him and he instantly reacted to the movement.

  She lifted her head and gave him a sleepy smile. “I guess you’re happy to see me?”

  He rotated so their bodies were aligned, and shifted against her intimately. “I guess you could say that, yeah.”

  Their mouths met and his tongue tangled with hers immediately. It didn’t take long for things to heat up and soon she was underneath him. He slid into her easily. They moved together, hands and mouths everywhere. His cell phone was ringing but he ignored it. He felt the climax rock through her and his followed, coaxing a groan from his throat. God, she felt good. He’d been with a decent amount of women in his time but none of them even held a candle to her.

  “I think someone’s trying to call you,” she pointed out quietly, her hands smoothing down his back.

  “They can wait,” he said, out of breath. He lifted his head and braced his weight on his arms again as he looked at her. “I thought after all the times we did it last night it would start to be less explosive.” He shook his head. “I was wrong.”

  She smiled. “We do have chemistry.”

  “If we had any more chemistry we’d be on fire.”

  “Funny you should say that. Woody said the same thing about us.”

  Chas frowned. “Woody McClean? What the hell were you talking to him about us for?”

  “I wasn’t. He noticed that your friend Maddie was shooting daggers at me and he also obviously noticed the tension between you and me. He’s apparently very intuitive.”

  He scowled at that. “That kid’s a little shit. Seriously nothing but trouble. Stay away from him from now on. I don’t like the way he looks at you.”

  “He’s just a kid, Chas. He says things for shock value. I really don’t think he was the person who called me or the person who attacked me at the motel.”

  While he agreed with her on that matter—and so far, so did the evidence at the crime scenes—the kid still rubbed him wrong. “Regardless, keep your guard up around him.” He shifted and her legs tightened around him.

  “Do we have to get up?”

  His expression softened and he lifted a finger to slide a piece of her hair away from her face. “I’m afraid so, baby.” His mouth met hers softly. “You can sleep for a few more minutes if you want. I’ll make some coffee.”

  He untangled himself from her and made a quick trip to the bathroom, grabbing a pair of boxers and his cell phone on the way. He checked the missed call on his phone and grimaced. Trace. It was after nine now and his brother would be wondering where he was at.

  Deciding to let the call go until he and Roxy were on the road, he made quick work of splashing some water on his face and brushing his teeth. When he walked into the kitchen five minutes later, he was surprised to see Trace leaned against the counter, his ankles crossed and a cup of coffee already in his hands. He was fully dressed and ready for work. The coffee was already percolated.

  Chas froze for a moment. “How long have you been here?”

  “Long enough.”

  Chas reached a hand up and squeezed the back of his neck. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

  “I can see why.”

  Okay, so Trace wasn’t going to beat around the bush. “I didn’t plan on this, it just happened.”

  “I knew it was going to eventually.” Trace swallowed some coffee and met his brother’s gaze. “How far into this are you? I obviously have figured out that you’re sleeping with her. Is it the usual for you, or more than that?”

  Chas knew better than to try and bullshit his twin. They were too close and knew each other too well. “I don’t know yet. I like her. A lot.”

  “She’s a runner, Chas.”

  Chas had figured that out for himself. Roxy had spent the last ten years of her life running. “I’m not jumping in with both feet.”

  “Fair enough.” Trace backed off. “So I got some interesting information out of Woody McClean last night, who by the way, was at home the night of Roxy’s attack—and also yesterday morning when it’s likely that Abel Flannigan was placed in that Cadillac. I talked to Nelsa McClean. Everything Woody told us checks out. She says he left the house around eleven-thirty yesterday morning, when she left for work. The timing jives with when Roxy found Abel and ran into him. Not only that, Starks was at the junkyard earlier in the morning and he says he did a sweep and came up empty. Woody was definitely no
t there then, and neither was anyone else. Starks didn’t go out to the Cadillac though. He got another call and just did a quick visual from afar. It’s hard to say for absolute sure whether Abel’s body was in there at that point. We’ll have to wait and see what the M.E.’s conclusion is on that, but I’m guessing it probably was.”

  “What else did Woody McClean tell you?”

  “Apparently Abel Flannigan was a little too hands on with Tabitha.”

  Chas winced. “Are you sure he’s telling the truth?” He reached for the coffee pot and poured himself a cup.

  “As sure as I can be when I’m dealing with Woody McClean. He doesn’t usually care enough about anything to lie.”

  This was true. Chas sipped his coffee. “So where is Tabby?”

  “Woody says she was headed for home night before last. Apparently Loretta wasn’t lying when she said that Tabitha knows when she means business.”

  “So where is she then?”

  “Woody swears he hasn’t seen her. He says he never saw or talked to Abel either—not until Roxy came screaming across the junkyard yesterday. He did say that it wouldn’t surprise him if Tabby finally got tired of the abuse.”

  “He thinks she killed him?” Chas leaned back against the counter. He supposed it wasn’t impossible to picture Tabitha Kennings getting violent with someone—especially someone as vile as Abel Flannigan was if the accusations Woody McClean was throwing around were true.

  Trace shrugged. “He didn’t say that word for word. He just told me that Tabitha hated going home because Abel was always there. Loretta’s got various jobs going. She’s rarely at the house apparently. We all know Abel was a mooch. Abel and Tabitha were alone a lot. Apparently Abel took advantage of that situation more than once.”

  “Sick fuck,” Chas muttered. “She’s just a kid.”

  “She might possibly be a murderer now. It’s something we need to look into.”