Long, Lean and Lethal Read online

  Leaving the grill and the sordid memories, Noah slid the glass door open, deciding greasing it might make it open and close easier, and paused as he studied Rain.

  She leaned over the table, writing something on one of his charts. “I’m almost positive that I remember her calling him Butch,” she said, although she didn’t straighten when she spoke out loud. “Either way, until we get confirmation, ‘Butch’ is short for ‘butcher’ and it can help label him.”

  Noah came up behind her, focusing on her ass perfectly positioned for him and the way her shirt snuck up her waist, revealing her creamy skin and slender back. Her hair flowed down her back, like a river of black ink, shiny and enticing. His fingers itched as he stared at the smooth-looking strands, confined at her nape and then ending just where her shirt ended, adding to the view of her flesh exposed above her jeans. Noah got hard as a fucking rock just thinking about what it would be like to take her like this.

  Grabbing her hips, he leaned into her when she jumped.

  “Holy crap! Don’t do that,” she hissed, straightening quickly and jumping to the side of him.

  Her hair bounced at her nape and fought the constraint of the hair clasp that held it. Now wasn’t the right time to pull it out of her hair, although when he saw her briefly earlier today with it down he ached for the opportunity to watch all those thick dark wavy strands fan over her bare shoulders. Instead, he reached up and pushed her hair to the side while sliding his other hand around and pressing it against her belly.

  “How do you like your meat?” he whispered into the curve of her neck.

  Rain noticeably shivered but growled at the same time. “It’s going to be dismembered if you don’t watch yourself,” she threatened.

  Noah chuckled, hearing her gasp. Instead of fighting to make him let her go, she went still. Daring to push her just a bit further, he stretched his fingers over her stomach, until the tips of his fingers grazed the bottom of her breasts. It took more effort than he expected to keep the sudden rush of desire from exploding inside him.

  “You would hurt the man who offers to feed you?” he growled, his voice hoarse. He pressed his mouth over the silky smooth curve in her neck and tasted her, then scraped his teeth over her flesh.

  “God damn it,” she cried out, and then almost knocked the table over when she fought to jump out of his arms.

  Noah grabbed her arm and steadied the table at the same time. “Steady, girl. You can handle it.”

  “That’s not the point,” she wailed, and pulled free of him as she backed up another few steps and then ran her hands over her hair, causing several strands to fall free and curve around her flushed face.

  “What’s the point? You don’t like meat?” He straightened the stack of papers that was next to his chart and noticed her handwriting alongside one of the columns.

  “Yes, I like meat, medium rare. Go put yourself to use and cook it,” she said, her voice breathy, although the edge of irritation was as obvious as her aroused state.

  Her nipples were hard as stone and poked against her shirt. He guessed she wore one of those silky-type bras that offered some support but did little when it came to hiding her nipples harden. And damn, they were distracting as hell at the moment.

  Noah forced his attention to her face, willing himself to back off. It was hard finding arguments to substantiate doing so, though. What he had with Laurel was over, and it amazed him when he’d acknowledged how quickly he’d fallen out of love with her when she’d continually pressed him to agree to her fucking other men, believing if she allowed him to watch, or even partake, that would convince him to agree to the terms. After a monogamous three-year relationship with her, believing she was the one to the point where he’d bought the rings and popped the question, he never imagined anything she would say or do would make him quit loving her. He’d been wrong.

  Which today made him a free agent. Add to that the fact that he and Rain were supposed to be a married couple and his body insisted his mind accept the fact that coming on to Rain was okay to do.

  Rain didn’t look at him but instead focused on the table while combing her hair with her fingers and adjusting her clasp behind her neck.

  “Rain,” he said, and watched as her gaze shot to his. “Come here.”

  “No,” she answered quickly. “Why?”

  “It’s okay. Come here.”

  “I’m fine where I am.” Her baby blues sparked with that passion he was starting to see ran incredibly hot in her when she was challenged.

  “Come here,” he said again, keeping his voice calm, nonthreatening.

  Rain needed a challenge to feel stimulated. It showed off her intelligence, her craving to take on more than what life offered the normal soul. And when that stimulation kicked in, Noah saw the desire, the craving to touch and be touched. And he saw how she fought to keep her urges to respond to him hidden, as if somehow letting him see he made her hot would be showing a weakness in her.

  “Why?” Her eyes turned a deeper, darker shade, like rare, pure sapphires.

  “Please.” He didn’t move but held his ground, waiting, watching her ponder his request.

  Until finally she responded, slowly, first one step, and then another. Rain held her head high, almost looking him in the eye without having to tilt her head back too far at all.

  “Happy now?” she snapped, and pressed her lips together as if giving in to his request to move closer to him irritated the hell out of her.

  “Almost.” He moved his hand behind her neck.

  Rain didn’t flinch, didn’t move a muscle, and continued glaring at him. Try as she would to look put out by his actions, he didn’t miss her quickness of breath, the way her tongue darted out quickly to moisten her lips before she pressed them closed again. And then how she held her breath, waiting, watching, as he moved his fingers over her hair and took her hair clasp in his hand. It unsnapped easily and her dark hair flowed freely, swaying over her shoulders and falling in waves against her flushed cheeks.

  “Tell me, Rain,” he began, his voice a hoarse whisper. It was so damned hard not to tell her how beautiful she was. “Would it be better if we fucked now and got it out of our systems? Or should we continue to fight it and try simply to focus on this case?”

  “I don’t know,” she answered, her voice cracking, and then she swallowed and looked down at her hair clasp in his hand.

  Her hair fell in thick waves around her face, adding to her sultry sex appeal.

  “Let me know when you do.” Noah placed her hair clasp on the table and then left her standing there as he headed outside.

  A hot shower helped get some of the kinks out after sleeping on the couch. Noah was headed for the kitchen and coffee when his cell phone buzzed that following morning. He grabbed it on the second ring and then searched for the can of coffee Rain had bought the night before.

  “How’s it going, Kayne?” Brenda’s voice cracked, her usual hoarse tone first thing in the morning from too much coffee and cigarettes. “Married life treating you well?”

  He pulled the coffee can out of the freezer, where he finally found it, and then started searching for a can opener. “Pull a stunt like this on me again and I swear to God I’ll quit.”

  Struggling with the electric can opener and the large can, he ignored Brenda’s easy laughter and instead breathed in the fresh smell of coffee as the lid peeled away.

  “It was short notice when this case came in,” she explained, all business. “I’ve got Foreman in Kansas City and Roper in Dallas, each with a small team. You were my first choice to send to Lincoln. I hear it’s a thriving metropolis in the Midwest,” she added, as if making an effort to show her distaste for small towns would smooth over his frustration with being given the assignment without being told he would be “married” to a local cop.

  “I haven’t gotten out to see the sights yet,” he grumbled, digging the scoop out of the can and then searching until he spotted a coffeemaker next to the stove. Thankfu
lly the Lincoln Police Department understood what necessities had to be included in a kitchen for undercover work.

  “I hear you had another homicide there last night,” Brenda continued, obviously already dosed on her caffeine and ready to debrief him.

  “I’ve worked up a comparison chart on all of our victims,” he offered. “Didn’t find one damn similarity in the lot of them, but we might have something worth following up on today.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Rain had already learned a connection existed between several of the spouses who were killed. They knew each other. She obtained an invitation list to a party that more than one of the couples were invited to. But last night, Rain met the butcher at a grocery store near this house we’re staying in.” He finished setting up the coffeemaker and then left it to percolate while heading toward the back door. When he stepped out on the back deck, it looked worse in the daylight than it had last night. “Apparently he willingly talked to her and she confirmed he knew at least one of the couples whose spouse was murdered.”

  “Sounds like this could get interesting.”

  “We’ve got confirmation, we think, that these couples might have all had another connection,” he told her, walking along the edge of the deck and testing the durability of the wood. It appeared sturdy, just neglected. “We’re going to go visit this butcher today together. Rain already gave him the impression we might be interested in joining a group he mentioned to her that is for couples who share similar interests.”

  “They’re all swingers?” Brenda offered, although none of this was news. They already knew those being murdered were all swingers.

  “Sounds like it,” he added, knowing if she took this to a personal level, he had other things to do than spend the morning listening to his supervisor try to play counselor. “Sheila Lapthorne, the widow of George Lapthorne, is apparently attending swinging events that the butcher is part of. We’re going to look in on more of the details today.”

  Brenda didn’t say anything for a moment, and Noah stiffened, ready for any reference she might make to this case and his personal life, or what had been his personal life. Noah didn’t label many people in his world as personal friends. Brenda had been his supervisor for five years now. During the hardest moments with Laurel he’d shared some of the ugliness with Brenda, and he prayed now she wouldn’t make him regret confiding in her.

  “You know I need to ask how you’re handling all of this,” she said quietly.

  “You wouldn’t if you didn’t know anything,” he growled, making it clear he didn’t want to discuss any connection this particular case had with his personal life.

  “A good supervisor has to know everything about her agents. You know that as well as anyone,” Brenda said quickly, sounding defensive, as if suggesting he wouldn’t open up to her hurt her feelings. She was made of tougher stuff than that. “You’re going to enter into a lifestyle you recently denounced to the point you broke off your engagement.”

  “I’ll keep you posted once we learn anything,” Noah informed her, speaking before she could continue. “As with any case, you’ve got me one hundred percent. If you thought otherwise, you would have given this case to someone else.”

  “You were the first man who came to mind,” she said slowly.

  He didn’t want to hear why, and feared it wasn’t because of his impeccable track record. But the last thing he wanted was to pursue the direction of this conversation.

  “I’m going to get coffee.” He’d given his update; there wasn’t anything else to talk about.

  “So have you fucked her yet?”

  “Who says I’m trying to?”

  Brenda’s easy laugh didn’t surprise him. “I take it that’s a no. You must be slipping. I remember back in the day you were a damned slut.”

  “Maybe I was once,” he conceded, unwilling to defend his reputation from his younger days without caffeine in his system. “When it was one case after another, a diversion helped from time to time.”

  “And you don’t need a diversion now?”

  “Is that why you assigned me to this case?” He regretted asking as soon as the words were out. He really didn’t want to hear the answer.

  “I needed my best investigator. That’s why I assigned you to this case. But if the cop you’re now working with is bringing forward unpleasant memories,” Brenda said slowly, “I might be able to get you partnered with a better investigator.”

  “Rain is a good cop, Brenda. And given the fact that neither one of us wanted a partner, Rain is giving it her all to perform the best that she can. No cop likes being hitched to FBI; you know that.”

  He turned to check on his coffee and saw Rain leaning in the doorway to the kitchen, arms crossed, dressed in loose-fitting running pants and a small tank top that showed off her perfectly shaped breasts. Her cocked eyebrow and pursed lips showed she overheard him mention her and sing her praises.

  “Detective Huxtable should be honored to be on this case. You make sure she follows your leads and if in any way she starts hindering your progress, you let me know. We can put another agent in undercover with you,” Brenda offered. “I agreed at the time that a local cop would be best at your side since she knows the town, and since she was already familiar with the case. I need you to crack this one, but if she’s not working out as a partner …”

  “I never said she wasn’t.” Noah grabbed the pot of coffee, turning his back on Rain, and filled his cup.

  “I’ve done extensive research on all of these murders in all three cities. One of the strong factors is that these people are a very discreet group of people. We can’t get on the inside unless we send in a couple. And a happily married couple, who are carefree and appear, how shall I say it, very sexually active with each other?”

  “I get where you’re going with this,” Noah interrupted.

  Rain had moved in next to him with coffee cup in hand. “How far will it go for me when I tell your supervisor that she’s not my boss?” she asked, obviously having overheard Brenda’s voice through the phone.

  “What did she say?” Brenda wheezed at the other end of the line.

  “I’ll touch base with you later today.” Noah left Rain to get her coffee and moved to the kitchen table. “We’re hitting the streets today and I’m hoping to tie together some of these names. Once we do, hopefully we’ll be able to figure out a motive.”

  “That is, once we follow up on my lead,” she said louder than she needed to.

  “What did she say?” Brenda snapped. “If that little cop thinks she can mouth off at me—”

  “Enough!” Noah barked, returning to the coffeepot and taking Rain’s cup from her hand. He poured her coffee and handed it to her. “Brenda, I’ll call you later this afternoon. We need to follow up on the lead Rain rounded up last night with the butcher I mentioned to you.” He turned and glared at Rain and mouthed, Satisfied?

  “I’ll be in and out of meetings all day. Leave voice mail if you don’t reach me.”

  “I always do,” he said, and then hung up after she said good-bye. Tossing his phone on the counter, he turned and leaned against it and sipped at his coffee while watching Rain.

  She took a long drink of her coffee and then blessed him with an incredibly innocent look. “Was that your supervisor?” she asked.

  Noah drank more coffee even though it was hot and burned all the way down. “I need caffeine and a hot shower and then we’ll head out.”

  He walked past Rain and headed down the hallway. She was right on his heels. “You know, I’m a damned good cop. Maybe there weren’t any strong leads on this case before you came to town, but I am the one who rounded up our first break into this mess.”

  “I know.” He walked into the bathroom and checked the towel, decided it was fresh enough, and then turned to face her determined expression. “Don’t worry about Brenda. I’m sure she’s on to something else now and not even worried about you, or me.”

  “I could have
been FBI if I wanted to. I didn’t,” Rain continued, glaring at him like he’d been the one to chastise her. “I wanted to work in my community, help those around me.”

  “Sounds like a good reason to be a cop.”

  She kept going as if he hadn’t spoken. “There might be bad cops out there, but there’s bad FBI, too. And just because I’m a cop doesn’t mean I can’t do undercover work, or create a profile.” She sipped her coffee, watching him over the rim with bright blue eyes. “And you think I don’t know how we need to act around these couples in order to break into their little clique?” she demanded.

  “I’m sure you do.”

  “But I’ll tell you right now,” she snapped, barely letting him speak. Rain pointed her finger at him. “No one tells me I have to fuck someone. No one, do you understand?”

  She wasn’t going to shut up. Noah pulled off his shirt and tossed it to the floor. When Rain continued ranting about being insulted since she was just a lowly police officer, Noah figured there would be one way to make her quiet. He pulled down his jeans and boxers and tossed them with his shirt.

  “Crap, Noah!” Rain fell backward into the hallway. Rain’s baby blues got wider than round orbs glowing in the dark.

  Noah chuckled. “I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or an insult.”

  “Go to hell,” she yelled, and stormed down the hallway.

  Noah shut the door and then turned on the water in the tub, adjusted it, and pulled the tab for the shower. Her surprised and shocked expression was priceless. He climbed into the shower and wondered what thoughts ran through her head now that she’d seen him naked.

  FOUR

  Rain got out on the passenger side of the rental and straightened the mid-thigh-length dress she’d chosen to wear today. Noah came around the car in his relaxed-looking blue jeans and snug-fitting T-shirt. Corded muscle rippled underneath the cotton, showing off Noah’s well-developed body. Rain blinked to get the image of him standing naked in front of her and then saw the buns of steel she’d caught a glimpse of when he’d turned around earlier in the bathroom.