Edge of the Heat 4 Page 4

  Vivian watched Emma’s face, knowing exactly what emotions and questions were now swirling around in her head.

  A brother? Triplets? What now?

  Chapter 6

  Dinner and dancing were over, the grand exit was made, and the couples piled into the limousine, heading to the hotel for a night before they set off on their honeymoons.

  “What ever happened to Jerry?” Vivian asked, sounding far away to herself. She’d had a bit too much to drink, and didn’t feel quite in control.

  “He left. It was weird. His date disappeared on him and he sent me into the bathroom to look for her. She wasn’t there, and she wasn’t on the grounds so after about an hour he went to her apartment to see if she was OK. I haven’t heard back from him yet what happened,” Emma said.

  “That is weird. I hope she’s OK. I hope we didn’t scare her off.” Vivian said.

  “Scare her off? Never,” Hawk slurred, and pulled Vivian onto his lap, kissing her rather clumsily.

  “Ugh, Hawk, you had way too much to drink. I’ve never seen you like this before,” Vivian told him, pushing him back.

  “Blame it on the party baby, people kept bringing me drinks. I’m sorry. Give me some water or coffee. I’ll drink it.”

  “How drunk are you?” Vivian asked, opening a water bottle for him, and peering into his face.

  “Not so drunk. I’m good.”

  “Ok good, I had something I wanted to tell everybody, but you especially.”

  Hawk poured some water on his head, wetting his crewcut, then shook it all off like a dog, wetting Vivian. She shrieked and laughed.

  “Ok, all better. Tell me baby.” He held his arms out wide and Vivian fell into them, whispering something in his ear.

  As Vivian spoke, Emma watched them, thinking she probably knew what this was about. She’d known that Vivian had gone to the doctor yesterday. She was probably totally cancer free. Emma couldn’t wait to hear if she was right.

  Emma watched Hawk’s face, and knew she was right. A strain of pure joy strong enough to almost be unbearable settled in, and his eyes watered. Emma had never seen so many men cry so many times before. She laughed to herself a little.

  Hawk’s arms snaked around Vivian and hugged her tight, then his mouth found hers and they kissed. The kiss heated up and Emma turned her head towards Craig, giving them as much privacy as possible in the back of a limo.

  They finally broke the kiss, and Vivian leaned onto Hawk, snuggling in for the ride.

  “Did you want to tell Emma?” Hawk asked her.

  “Oh yeah!” She sat up. “Emma, the doctor says I’m totally cancer free.”

  Emma nodded and smiled.

  “And she cleared me to have a baby.”

  Emma shot straight forward off the seat. “Oh my God! Are you going to start trying?”

  Vivian looked at Hawk.

  Hawk looked out the window, trying to figure out where they were. “Yep, in about 15 minutes.”

  Vivian laughed and swatted Hawk on the chest, but looked pleased all the same.

  “Wow,” Emma breathed. “A baby. How exciting.”

  Craig leaned forward and shook Hawk’s hand, then sat back again.

  Questions bounced around in Emma’s brain. A baby? Did she want to have a baby? Did Craig want to have a baby? Vivian was going to have a baby.

  Craig read her mind and whispered in her ear, “We can talk about it whenever you want to.”

  She relaxed and snuggled in to his chest. Maybe they’d just see what happened.

  The limousine pulled up to the hotel and they all climbed out. They were all staying in the hotel for the night and then Vivian and Hawk were headed to Barbados for a week and Emma and Craig were headed to Hawaii. They were all planning on meeting in Vegas for a few days when they got back.

  “Come on guys, we’ll get you to your room,” Craig told Hawk and Vivian.

  Watching Hawk, Emma could see why. He was stumbling a bit and leaning on Vivian.

  They poured Hawk and Vivian into their room on the third floor and then Craig turned his full attention to Emma. He walked her down the hall to the elevator, holding her hand.

  The doors slid open, revealing an empty elevator. They entered and Craig pushed the button to floor 17, then backed Emma up into the mirrored wall. “So Mrs. Masterson, tell me,” he purred into her throat, kissing her collarbone and pulling the bobby pins out of her hair. “are you tired?”

  Mrs. Masterson. That’s me now.

  Emma watched him in the mirrors that surrounded them, delighting in the breadth of his back and the way his butt looked in his tuxedo pants. His movements sent shivers of heat through her skin.

  “Tired? No, I am a little hot though.”

  “Mmm, we’ll have to take care of that for you.” He reached around the dress and started pulling the zipper to the dress down.

  “Craig, there’s a camera in here.”

  He looked behind him and spotted the camera, then gave her a mischievous smile. He knelt down, startling her, and plunged his hands beneath her dress, his fingers sliding up her legs to her hips, grabbing her thong and tugging it down her legs.

  Emma gasped in surprise as her panties reached her feet. With that mischievous smile still on his face he slipped off first one shoe and then the other, taking the underwear too.

  “Isn’t that better?” he said, hooking the heels with his fingers, and shoving her underwear in his pocket.

  Before Emma could answer, the elevator stopped at their floor.

  “Darn, I should have pressed the emergency stop button,” Craig said.

  “So we could be rescued by the department? Or possibly caught? No thank you,” Emma laughed and pulled Craig down the corridor to their room. Suddenly she was elated that they had postponed sex for so long. She felt the thrill of anticipation building in her belly.

  In front of their door, Craig fumbled with the key and finally popped them inside. As soon as they were inside the door, he grabbed Emma and spun her towards him, finding her mouth with his own. Their first kiss alone as husband and wife, without hundreds of people watching them.

  Emma opened the floodgates to all her senses, wanting to drink in this kiss and remember it forever. The softness of his tongue and lips. The sweetness of his breath. The roughness of his stubble. The hardness of his body. His spicy-clean scent. Emma thought she could just kiss him like this forever, like teenagers on a second date. But then his intensity grew. His breath came in short, urgent gasps, and his strong hands kneaded her hips, then pulled her dress up to caress her backside. His fingers and tongue fought for her attention and she moaned quietly into his mouth.

  He broke the kiss, pressing her against the wall in the little doorway. “Tell me Mrs. Masterson, how would you like our first time as husband and wife to be? Soft or hard? Sweet or rough? Intense or romantic? Quick or leisurely? I’d do anything for you, you know.”

  Craig’s words thrilled her. She wanted it all. “Yes,” she said. “Soft and hard. Sweet and rough. Anything but quick.” Her head rolled against the wall as he kissed her neck.

  “Whatever you say.” He picked her up, still kissing her neck and placed her softly on the bed.

  “My zipper,” she fumbled her hands backwards trying to get the dress off.

  “Leave it on. I’ve been wanting to take you in it all night. If it had only been our wedding I would have done it too. I would have found a quiet corner and put you on my lap, nobody would have known.”

  He pushed up her dress and stood back, consuming her with his eyes.

  “My God you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. And you’re mine. All mine.”

  The words hit Emma like a freight train. She’d never considered herself beautiful. Cute, sure. But beautiful? No. But this man thought so. He couldn’t get enough of her. Suddenly, her need to have him inside her reached exquisite new heights.

  “Craig…please,” she pleaded, holding her arms to him.

  He kicked off
his shoes and rid himself of most of his clothes. He left the shirt and tie on and fell upon her.

  She felt the hardness of him nudging the softness of her as he kissed her neck again. She pushed him up a little and unbuttoned his shirt and untied his tie so she could see his chest, touch his skin.

  “How about one time hard and rough, then sweet and soft later,” she told him.

  “Anything for you, Emma.”

  He found her center, and plunged inside, hard and rough, just the way she sometimes wanted it. He watched her face as she squirmed underneath him, eyes closed, enjoying every sensation. Suddenly, just as quickly, he was gone. She whimpered and opened her eyes.

  “It’s been too long sweetheart. This is going to be over before you have any fun. And I don’t want that to happen.”

  He pushed her dress up and trailed kisses down to her waist, looking in her eyes as he gently secured his mouth over her most sensitive spot.

  “Oh,” she gasped, eyes fluttering shut, unable to keep them open. Her back arched against the bed, lifting her body. It was almost too much. She almost couldn’t take it. Almost.

  He found a groove and swirled his tongue around her sensitive bundle of nerves, occasionally flicking it lightly. When her hips began to buck he focused on it with the flat of his tongue, until she felt ready to burst open. She dug her fingers into his short hair and pulled at him as her world exploded in sensation and waves. He stayed perfectly still until she collapsed, limp upon the bed, and then he stood, entering her once more. She didn’t care what he did at this point. She was done. For now.

  He gathered her legs and her skirts and finished, straining against her, making her smile. Then he collapsed on the bed beside her. “I love you,” he whispered in her ear. She was too relaxed to respond anywhere but in her own head. I love you too, my hero.

  Chapter 7

  Emma finally got up and went to the bathroom to clean up and take care of her dress. As she was hanging it up, she heard Craig call from the room, “Do you mind if I turn the news on? I want to see if they are talking about our case again.”

  “No, I don’t mind.”

  Emma took her hair all the way down and washed off most of her makeup, then contemplated taking a bath. She eyed the tub, wishing they’d gotten a bigger one. In the back of her mind she thought idly about the fact that she had a brother and wondered if they would ever find him.

  She looked up at a thump from the other room. Craig called to her, sounding nervous. “Emma, oh my God! Jerry!”

  She rushed in, looking at the TV. The camera panned over an apartment building. “Jerry what?”

  He looked at her, eyes haunted. “They just showed Jerry in front of one of the apartments. His date tonight lives there. When he went to check on her, the door to her apartment was standing open. The place was ransacked and the walls are painted in red paint … or blood.”

  Emma’s eyes went wide and she grabbed for her phone.

  The End

  Jerry’s story will play out in his own book, Edge of the Heat 5, which I am writing right now. ♥ At this point, I do not know if Emma and Vivian will ever find their brother, but if they do, that will be the subject of another book.

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  About the Author

  I live in Idaho. I have been married for 18 years to the only man on this planet who will put up with me (I’m a handful) and we have two amazing boys (11 years old and 1 year old at the time of this writing). We have a 7 year old husky/golden retriever mix (dog) who is just awesome and gorgeous. I love computers and the internet. I love my facebook friends. I love books and I love my google nexus. I only buy ebooks these days - they are SO convenient! I like to walk for exercise as much as possible, which hasn’t been often since the baby was born. Hmmmm, what else do you want to know? :)

  I always, always, always wanted to write when I was a little girl. Stephen King was my favorite author. I stopped being able to read him when my first son was born though (too many kids getting hurt). These days you can probably find me reading Julie Ann Walker or H.M. Ward instead. I published my first book at 41 years old. I’m not sure how it took me so long to do what I really wanted to do since I was a kid. I love writing and I love interacting with my readers.

  Dedication/Acknowledgements

  Why are these books always dedicated to my husband? Because he’s a really great guy, and because he puts up with a lot from me. And because he’s the best dad I’ve ever known. I love watching him with our kids.

  Again, I must thank my beta readers, Nicki Small, Lisa Howard, and Joan Adams. My first readers who manage to make sure I don’t make a fool of myself :). Because I have an inability to see when I am sometimes. Thanks girls.

  As usual, cover design is by http://www.stunningbookcovers.com/

  Also by Lisa Ladew

  Edge of the Heat

  Edge of the Heat

  Edge of the Heat 4