RetroCog

Chapter Five

She lay naked on her bed, her wrists and ankles splayed and tied to the bedposts. Noah still wore his underwear, but the small bit of clothing only made him look that much more impressive.

“Noah, what—”

“Quiet.”

It was that voice, the commanding, sexy, deep tone of a man in charge, that had her wet and staying that way. Despite her orgasm, her entire body revved for more. She’d once had a lover try the dominant role, but he’d been ill-suited for it and killed the mood between them. Noah was the real deal. He turned her inside out. For the first time in forever, nothing but a man filled her world. No voices, no worries, no demands that she be anything but herself. Right now, with him, she could submit and wait for orders. Noah knew exactly how to handle her. She shivered, wanting to feel him inside her, flesh to flesh.

“You okay?”

She would be, once he lost the underwear and showed her that thick cock again. She needed to make every moment with him last. “When are you going to get naked too?”

He smiled, but the expression didn’t relieve her. The rational part of her mind told her to be wary, but instinct commanded her to wait, to trust. That if she gave in to his demands, she’d find more than sexual fulfillment—something deeper, something more.

Filled with menace, Noah’s smile threatened as much as it aroused. “When I feel like taking my briefs off, I will. I thought I’d made it clear that I’m in charge.”

Her heart raced. Would he punish her? Oh God, would he?

“Naughty girl.” As if reading her mind, he leaned closer to her breasts and closed his mouth over one nipple. And bit.

She would have yelled out, but he muffled her with his hand. He treated her other nipple to a bite, then sucked the sting away. The sweet contrast set her entire body aflame.

The hot suction of his mouth pulled at her womb. Sensations streaked from her breast to the rest of her body, need and anticipation coiled to take flight without much more provocation.

“That’s it. Beautiful. It doesn’t hurt, does it, baby?”

She loved him calling her that. Baby. His to cherish, to protect. A girly nickname that made her feel feminine and sexy surrounded by his much larger, imposing frame.

“No. Feels so good.” She arched up into his mouth.

Noah left her breast and kissed his way back to her other nipple, licking a trail of heat in his wake. He tongued her areola and sucked the taut bud between his lips, worrying the flesh with a gentler bite that made her clit throb.

She couldn’t help pleading with him for more. To her surprise, he gave it to her.

Noah straddled her neck and leaned closer, shoving his cotton-covered cock and balls into her face. “Suck me through the material. Get it nice and wet. Let me feel your mouth.”

She traced his size with her tongue and sucked his balls, wanting to feel him and not his clothing. Nuzzling his sac, she urged a groan out of him and continued to kiss and caress him until she felt him humping her face.

“Lick it.” He leaned back to better angle his groin toward her and exposed his flushed cockhead, his slit beaded with moisture. “I want to watch you tongue me.”

The little bits he uncovered were mouthwateringly close, and Lara leaned up to suck his crown, laving the spot under his head with her tongue.

He cradled her head and sighed her name, moving in a rhythm signaling his desire. “So good, baby. Your mouth is so hot.” He pushed down his underwear, freeing more of his cock. “Take me inside. Fuck, yeah.”

He pushed more of himself between her lips, and she gladly took him. Her pussy, slick with her body’s reaction to Noah, felt empty. Tied up, ordered to pleasure her man, Lara was beside herself in a fantasy made real.

Every time Noah thrust into her mouth—his pushes getting faster, deeper—she felt like a real woman. She made him hard; she aroused him. And all because she’d done what he ordered.

“Not yet, not yet,” Noah whispered and suddenly pulled away.

Before she could protest, he scooted down her body and settled between her legs. He latched on to her clit and sucked her into a near orgasm. Then he worked her with his tongue, licking and stroking until she grew mindless with desire.

She couldn’t handle so much stimulation. She needed to feel him inside her when she came. “Noah, please. In me.”

He groaned and lost his underwear. Then he shifted around and positioned his now naked cock at her mouth. So thick and hard, his shaft kissed his belly as his plump balls hung low. She sucked on his sac, loving him with her tongue, and felt his entire body jolt.

“Oh fuck.” He sucked her clit once more and inserted a finger, then two, into her pussy. He thrust them in and out as he sucked, and he spurred her to take more. “Now suck my cock. Suck the cum right out of it.” His rough voice and jerky motions enthralled her as he positioned his cock between her lips and surged.

She gagged once, and he eased up, but he didn’t stop fucking her mouth.

The closer she drew toward orgasm, the harder she sucked. Their race to the finish grew frenzied. Touches and moans, kisses and sighs. And then Lara couldn’t think as she came hard around his fingers and swallowed his answering rush of seed.

The salty essence gave her a heady sense of power. Knowing she’d pleased him, that she’d brought him to bliss, enhanced her own pleasure. Especially when he pulled out of her and turned around to hug her, showering her with praise.

“Damn, Lara. That was perfect. Those lips were made for sucking cock.” He planted kisses along her cheeks, her eyelashes, her nose. “My cock.”

The connection between them overwhelmed her. Noah was no stranger when they touched, when they kissed. A part of her, and not just physically, but in that mystical part of her where she heard voices, she could hear a whisper of truth. One she wasn’t ready to hear. Half of Lara wanted to respond to his claim. I’m all yours. Only yours. But she didn’t want to let something said in the heat of passion turn to regret later on. Instead she reveled in his possessiveness and nodded.

He kept his weight off her by leaning on his elbows, but they touched body to body all the same. Noah rubbed against her, kissing and caressing, until he was hard again. Insatiable, but then a man of his size surely had large appetites.

“Again?” she asked weakly.

“Baby, now that I don’t have to hold back, we can go all night long.” His wicked grin aroused her anew, though her body needed more time to recover. She tugged at her wrists and ankles. He tsked. “Now, now. We’re nowhere near ready to let you go.”

“We?”

“Me and my friend.” He nudged her with his semihard erection.

She couldn’t help but laugh.

Noah’s lighthearted teasing disappeared under an intense regard. “You are so pretty. Really, really beautiful.” He kissed her with a tenderness that scared her.

It was just sex. So she kept trying to convince herself.

“You’re strong, sexy, and not one to panic. I like that in a girl.”

“You’re not so bad yourself in a morgue,” she teased, trying to keep things light between them. Noah shouldn’t look at her like that. Like he could see to the very core of who she was inside. “But I’m not calling you master.”

He chuckled. “You’re no slave. Submissive, yeah. But just in bed, unfortunately.” He sighed. “It was too much to hope that you’d be this way all the time.”

“Ass.”

His grin widened. “Oh, you’re going to be punished for that. I can’t wait.”

Neither can I. And then she yawned.

Much as he wanted to continue where they’d left off, Noah decided to give them a break. After all, they did have a thief and murderer to catch. He meant it about keeping her safe. But after a taste of her, he knew he couldn’t go back to a platonic relationship. Not until he’d played this out. He’d never met a more fascinating woman in his life.

She had a psychic sense of the past, like him. She didn’t freak about him being psychic. And her body, that face—he didn’t think he’d ever tire of looking at her. The painting had intrigued him. But seeing her in the flesh, smelling the warm woman, tasting those ripe lips, watching her react in a crisis and respond to people with genuine warmth—he had a bad feeling he was falling for this woman he’d just met. He hugged her close and let the contentment wash over him.

Hours later, he awakened, aware something was different. A woman lay in his arms. Noah hadn’t slept with a woman in a very long time, not since Deirdre had kicked him out of her bed and out of her life. Since then, he hadn’t felt drawn enough to a woman to bother. The past normally intruded when his guard went down, and he had a hard enough time focusing on pleasure when his mind would drift to past decades during orgasmic bliss. And if the past didn’t distract him, those dark desires would find a way to intrude into his relationships. The need to control, to own and command with no room for argument.

With Lara, he’d been with her every step of the way. No odd visions, no sidelines into western expansion or Brownville’s sordid history. Even better, she’d responded to his need to dominate with a desire to submit. As if she’d been made for him. Hours later, his need for her had yet to abate. He cupped her breasts and rolled her nipples with a gentle touch. That sixty-nine had been fucking fantastic. Coming in her mouth was a dream come true, but he wanted to fill her up with his cum. To feel her pussy milking him of every drop while she cried out and tightened around him.

Just feeling her with his hands, he’d taken note of how tight and hot she’d been. He rubbed his thickening shaft against her smooth ass and wondered how’d she’d react to some anal. He had every intention of claiming her everywhere. But if she really hadn’t been into anal play before, he’d need to help her through it slowly. Maybe a few days of teasing, some plugs, lots of lube, and some…

Noah shook his head. He had a job to do. A painting to find, and now a killer to catch. He should have been catching up on sleep and focusing on his plan to recover Vala’s portrait. Instead he wanted nothing more than to sink inside Lara. He needed to figure out a way to extend his stay in Brownville until he could get her out of his system.

She murmured his name and sighed into her pillow, and he said to hell with everything but feeling her around him.

He continued to plump her breasts, pleased at how she sighed and trembled, slowly wakening. He rubbed against her ass, not penetrating, just loving the friction against his cock. But he wanted more, so he angled his shaft down and pushed between her slick thighs, wet with arousal.

“I’m hard for you, baby. Aching to fuck you again.”

She moaned and laid her head back, giving him room to leave more love bites over her neck. She liked it, his roughness. His dominance. Just one more way they fit. Too easily, he could imagine her in Bend with him, sharing a house filled with antiques and stories of their own unique pasts.

The idea of permanence and tomorrows with Lara unnerved him. Even with Deirdre, he’d taken it slow and easy, dating for a good year before opening up to make a permanent commitment. And look at how that had turned out.

Best to confine his focus to the here and now, to fucking Lara’s pussy and filling her with white-hot cum. “That’s it. Spread your thighs.” He reached around to flick her clit, gratified to find the bud hard and moist. He glided his thumb over her, nearly ready to thrust inside when she begged.

“Please.”

She shifted her hips, and the next thrust between her thighs ended up with his tip at the entrance to her pussy. Lara’s hips rocked over him, and Noah swore when she gloved him in one hot, hard motion.

“Noah, yes. You feel so good inside me.”

Hearing her moans and pleas as she flexed her hips and rode him, Noah let her have her way. This time. “You sexy little witch.” He gritted his teeth. The ecstatic pressure built in his balls and settled at the base of his spine. His orgasm readied to explode. “Shit, Lara. Baby, here it comes. All up in you.”

He pinched her clit and came, dimly aware that she whispered her pleasure as a blast of his cum jetted into her. The shocking rush sucked him dry, taking not only his sperm but his thoughts and sensations until he floated in a cloud of bliss.

She continued to ripple around him, the jerks of her body bringing him back to the present with a mind-tingling welcome.

“Noah. What a nice way to wake up.”

He laughed, his voice hoarse. “I’d say good morning, but it’s more like three or four.” He flexed when he started to slide out of her. But, softened and replete, Noah accepted the withdrawal.

“Oh, I like you in me,” she protested.

“Me too. But I need a short break.” More like a long nap. The woman had sucked the life out of him. Literally. The thought that he could have gotten her pregnant if she hadn’t been on birth control struck him as absurdly appealing. Lara round with child. A Madonna with mischievous eyes, a generous heart, and a mind that never stopped working. The image of that pioneer mother suckling her infant son came to mind. Lara would be like that. Loving. Accepting of any child with differences. So unlike his own mother…

“What are you thinking about?” she whispered and rolled on top of him.

Normally Noah would have been ultra-aware of cleaning up the mess, of extricating himself from a clingy female with haste. But he felt too drained to care. He liked that he’d messed her. His seed marked her, a reminder of their close tie.

“Not thinking about much of anything. You wore me out. I don’t think I can move.”

She gave a soft laugh. “Good. Then you’ll be too tired to give me any more orders.”

He blinked up at her. “You don’t like it?”

Her smile faded, and if he could see better, he’d have sworn she blushed. As it was, the dim glow of her alarm clock pasted a blue shine across her eyes.

“I like the way you touched me.”

“But did you like me in charge? Tell me.”

“Yes.” The soft sigh relieved him. “Now I know what’s been missing in all my relationships.” She huffed. “Though the one time I tried to get an old boyfriend to be a little bossier, it came across as fake. I had a hard time not laughing him out of my bed.”

“Nice.”

She cleared her throat. “It’s totally tacky to talk about other guys when I’m with you, huh? Not that there have been that many. Though I’m sure you’ve had a lot of past girlfriends. I don’t like to think of you with… I mean, sure, you have a past. But now you’re with me. Not with anyone else. Right?” She tapered off with a muffled groan. “I suck at post-sex talk.”

Once again, Noah felt himself smiling. A shift from his normal composure—stern, serious, and trapped in whatever past neared. “I told you before. I haven’t been with anyone in a long time. I don’t do relationships well. Always end up pissing off my partners without meaning to.”

“Oh?”

“I was in a long-term thing with a woman. But I couldn’t be me.”

“You?”

He felt uncomfortable explaining but felt like he owed it to her. “I was with a woman a long time ago, one who liked it rough, liked me to boss her around. It’s something that gets me off in a big way.”

“I noticed.”

“Yeah, well, things went south with her. Then I met Deirdre. I liked her a lot. She was different. We seemed to get along, but I could never be free with her. I worried she’d leave me if I freaked her out with my ‘perverted tendencies.’”

Lara stroked his arm. “I like your perverted tendencies.”

He smiled. “Good. Deirdre couldn’t have handled them. And when she found out about my other big secret, seeing the past, she threw me out before I knew what had hit me. And that was three years ago.”

“You haven’t dated since?” She looked at him in wide-eyed disbelief.

“There were women but nothing lasting.” Noah sighed. “I’m not the most charming guy.”

She coughed. “Gee, I hadn’t noticed.”

He smacked her on the butt. “Smart-ass. I don’t seem to do well with women. I’m too rough, too demanding. Or I’m afraid of hurting them. Either with my needs or words.”

They lay together quietly, and Noah hoped his touchy-feely commentary had put her to sleep. How embarrassing to blather about feelings he didn’t have.

“You weren’t too rough with me. Or too demanding. I liked it.”

Warmth unfurled in his breast. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” A soft kiss pressed his throat, and Noah suppressed an odd welling of emotion he didn’t know what to do with. “I think you were pretty perfect, Noah.”

Afraid she’d start to cling, he readied himself to tell her it was just sex when she laughed at him. “But don’t get a big head or anything. I was going through a dry spell.” She poked him in the ribs, startling a gasp that she’d hit him right where it tickled, before she darted away from the bed for the bathroom.

The door closed behind her, and he heard the sink running.

Noah clasped his hands behind his head and wondered if he’d dreamed the whole thing. A woman he’d met just a few days ago. The epitome of sexy, smart, and beautiful. A natural submissive who didn’t take their relationship too seriously and had given him the best sex he’d ever had.

Why didn’t she take the thought of them seriously?

Minutes later, she reemerged and crawled back into bed with him. After a quick kiss, she rolled on her side away from him. “Night, Noah. Hey, if you want to wake me up like that again in an hour or so, go for it. I have to be up at the crack of dawn, though. We offer breakfast at the inn. You don’t know heaven until you’ve tried my Belgian waffles.”

“Fine, but don’t leave the building without me.”

“Mmm hmm.” To his astonishment, the woman fell asleep in seconds.

What to make of that?

Hours later, the sun hit him right between the eyes, lighting up the back of his lids. Noah reached for Lara, only to find the bed empty. “Shit.” He opened his eyes and stretched.

The clock showed nine a.m. Later than he’d planned to sleep, but the little woman had worn him out. Little woman. He laughed at himself. Too much time spent in the past tended to wear on him, and he often found himself caught in the colloquialisms of yesteryear.

He ambled into the bathroom to take care of his needs. A half hour later, showered, shaved, and brushed, he dressed in fresh clothes from his duffel and made a circumspect exit from her room. He didn’t want to embarrass her, but he had no problem letting everyone and their mother know he’d staked a claim.

For now, he reminded himself. Only until this job is done. But for the life of him, he didn’t feel an urge to return to Bend by himself. He also felt no hurry to find the painting, despite the fact he’d probably annoy Jack. He’d never understood why his peers took such pride in aggravating their boss. He found Jack to be surly but pleasant. The man didn’t talk much, and when he did, he had a reason. For the most part, he left Noah alone, and Noah liked it that way.

Solitude comforted him, which didn’t explain why he now sought Lara’s company. Not to protect her, but to talk to her, to see her smile.

Confusing sex with dumb-ass affection equaled stupid. He cautioned himself to remember the job and intentionally let his shields slip to see the most recent past. There, on the steps, a shadowed figure. He knew that vibe. Death and destruction seemed to follow in its wake.

Psychically stimulated despite his reticence, Noah followed the figure, ignoring Frank’s greeting as well as another guest he nearly ran over in his haste to watch something unpleasant unfold.

He entered his unlocked room, which he’d left locked, and found nothing out of place. Except for a pair of rose-shaped silver earrings lying on his pillow along with a warning to leave Lara and Brownville before the angel of death came callin’. Noah took a deep breath, exhaled, and tunneled further into the psychic miasma of yesterday, closer to the intruder. He followed the hatred back, into a dark room with a sloped ceiling. In the center of what looked like an attic, the portrait of Cecilia Fine sat on an easel, illuminated by candlelight and surrounded by roses, their thorns covered in something dark. Covered in blood.

And then the woman he’d visited in the morgue just last night came into view. She lay tied, bleeding and bruised and crying, upon an antique poster bed as the shadow alternately whipped then cut her. The man’s flank turned from shadow to the pink tones of flesh, and he started to mount her…

Noah pulled away and threw up his shields. He quelled the urge to panic. He wasn’t scared for himself, but of what the bastard might have in mind for Lara. Time to call in the big guns. He took his cell phone from his pocket and punched in a number.

“Jack? I’ve got a major problem.”

After several minutes spent explaining himself and arguing with Jack’s choice of backup, Noah finally gave in. It wasn’t whom he would have chosen, but according to Jack, Avery had already seen this particular person in Brownville, at Noah’s side. Avery, their friggin’ clairvoyant. What could Noah do but accept Jack’s choice? Then a thought struck him, and he realized the benefits of having a psychic with those particular skills at his disposal. Time to get back to work.

Lara frowned. “He didn’t even say hello?”

“Nope.” Frank ran a hand through his hair. “That is one sullen heartthrob you have there. So tell me, how was he?”

Lara swallowed. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Frank tittered. “Please. I know you like the sister I never had. You, girlfriend, had sex. You’re never this chipper in the morning, especially not after the breakfast rush.”

“Frank, keep your voice down.” She flushed when Mike Buckman raised a brow in her direction. Trust the good deputy to show up this morning, of all mornings, on the pretext of visiting with Shelly—who should have been working but was instead flirting.

Bill Knowles stood with his aunt, concerned about something Ida had mentioned about the inn that he needed to check up on. And two of their guests had complaints about the plumbing. Everyone wanted a piece of her this morning, and Lara wanted nothing more than to rejoin Noah in bed.

After a rousing night of sex, Lara should have been in a better mood. But in addition to the sudden demands on her time, Cecilia’s ghost continued to whisper with agitation, warnings that made no sense. Lara couldn’t shake the feeling of doom that seemed to blanket the inn.

“Lara, this won’t take long, but I really need to talk some business with you. It’s official, I promise.” Bill nodded to her office.

“Sure. I’ll meet you two in there.” She turned to Frank. “Call Harold about the plumbing in 2B, and see if you can’t get Shelly moving. We have two rooms empty this morning with guests due this afternoon. And as slow as she moves, it might just take her a few hours to restore the rooms to rights.”

Frank nodded. Since check-in was after three, they had time to get all in order…if Shelly would move her lazy ass.

“Don’t worry. I’ll get our local strumpet moving.” He rubbed his chin. “You know, if you think about it, Shelly fits with the inn. This was a brothel at one time, you know.”

She crossed her eyes at him, making him laugh louder, and left to find out what Ida and Bill wanted. Joining them in her office, she nearly tripped over Bill’s legs.

He flushed and pulled his feet in close, sitting uncomfortably next to his aunt on the bench. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. This office is perfect for me, but it doesn’t afford much space with guests.”

Ida tsked. “I told you we should have made this bigger.”

Actually, Ida had balked at changing a thing in the inn. Then Lara had talked her into it, as well as into expanding their service to nightly coffee and treats. “But that would have taken away from the kitchen, and without that extra counter space, our nightly snack service might have been compromised. Just think, Ida. No more scones or sticky buns.”

“Oh, the horror.” Bill stifled his grin when his aunt glared at him.

“Boy would eat all day long if you’d let him. Now, Lara, the reason I’m here today. Bill’s been holding off on renewing our inspection.”

“I know.”

“But I can’t any longer. I’m sorry,” he apologized. “The town council is conducting their annual assessment. They’re demanding records and paperwork out the yin-yang. I need to show them official documentation on everything, including this place, but I can’t until I visibly check over the paneling code Isaac told me he fixed. You know, the one in your bedroom. It’s not that I don’t think he fixed it,” he said to forestall Lara’s objection. “I trust him. But I can’t just put a check in the block. It’s protocol I see it for myself.”

Ida patted his knee. “Just doing your job, dear. We don’t think any less of you for being so careful.”

Lara steepled her fingers on the desk. “I have no problem at all with you checking the box. But I have some stuff in front of it I need to move. Could you come back to see it later today?” That would give her time to straighten up and make sure Noah wasn’t lying naked in bed when Bill went through. She hoped she didn’t look as red as she felt. “I have a few proverbial fires here to put out, and I need to clean up my room before anyone looks in it.”

Ida stood with Bill’s help. “Oh honey, dust and dirty socks won’t put Bill off.”

No, but a naked man might. “Still—”

“Hey, it might not be just socks, Aunt Ida.” Bill raised a brow at Lara. “She might have pantyhose or slinky nighties on the floor.”

“William Knowles.” Ida blushed.

Bill laughed. “Just kidding. Lara, I’ll see you later tonight, okay? I’m filling in for one of our night-shift guys, but I can squeeze you in on my dinner break.”

Since he was doing her a favor, she wanted to offer the same. “Be here at six, and I’ll take you to dinner right after. No sense in the fire chief going hungry.”

Satisfaction blazed in his eyes. “Perfect. I’ll see you then.”

She followed them, wondering if Bill viewed their dinner as more than a thank-you for the inconvenience. How awkward. Would she need to explain to Bill she just wanted to remain friends? Or was she imagining more interest than he felt? Though he’d been after her for a date, lately he’d backed off. Rumor had it he had an on-again, off-again relationship with a woman who worked just outside of town.

And what the heck was she thinking to imagine she and Noah had a relationship? Please. She’d known the guy for all of a few days. Sure, according to Noah, she now belonged to him in the bedroom. She knew he’d be leaving in a few days at most, and once again, she told herself to accept their fling as casual and not get too attached. How long would it take to find that painting? How long to find the killer?

She shivered and forced a smile when Frank joined her to tell her about their plumbing issues. Whispers of warning feathered over her spine, and she glanced up to see Noah staring down at her from the upper balcony of the inn.

Beware the jealous lover.

She blinked, stunned to hear Cecilia so clearly in her mind. A vision in scarlet flickered to life by the front door. She glanced up and saw Noah’s eyes fixed on Cecilia as well.

Then Bill, chatting with his aunt and Mike Buckman, walked together out the door, right through her, and Cecilia disappeared on a shriek.