“I think we were supposed to be discussing the case,” Felicia whispered into his neck.
“Hmm. Right.”
Felicia gripped his shoulders for balance and slowly eased off of him. He was still magnificently hard. But no way was she ready again. A new occurrence for her. She stood. Her legs were a little shaky, as if she hadn’t walked on her own in months. She took the seat opposite him.
Mark still had on his shirt and his pants were down around his ankles. He bent and pulled his pants on and fastened them. Felicia sat with her legs crossed, naked as the day she was born, studying him. “You surprised me, Detective.”
“Is that good or bad?” he asked while he fastened his belt.
“I’m still trying to figure that out.”
Suddenly he grabbed her and pulled her to her feet. His mouth came down on hers and stole her breath away. “I wasn’t finished,” he breathed hot against her lips.
Felicia’s heart jumped in her chest.
Mark reached between her legs and toyed with her piercing.
She trembled. “Mark…”
“Where’s your bedroom?” He slid a finger inside of her, making her cry out. “Where?”
“Upstairs.”
Mark took her by the hand and headed upstairs. He pushed open the first door and pulled her in behind him.
“We’re going to do it right this time. Slow and long and easy.” He backed her up toward the bed.
Her bedroom had always been her domain, the place where she maintained complete control, but with Mark she didn’t want to. She wanted him to soften her, to make her want him. She wanted to feel open and vulnerable. He seemed to instinctively know this and he meticulously granted her every desire.
He tugged his tie from around his neck and looped it lightly around her wrists before easing her onto her back on the bed and stretching her arms above her head.
Mark kneeled above her. “Keep your hands above your head.”
Felicia swallowed and nodded in agreement.
Mark leaned down, tenderly kissed her mouth with more intensity by degrees, until her pulse sped up and her breathing grew ragged. He lifted his mouth from hers and let his tongue and lips trail down to her neck, across her collarbone, down between the deep valley of her breasts. Felicia writhed beneath him. He continued southward, stopping for a moment over the flutter in her belly.
He took one of her legs, lifted it and kissed the back of her thigh. He draped it over his shoulder then turned to pay homage to the other side. Now with both her legs over his shoulders and her hands high above her head she was at her most sexually vulnerable point. He suckled her there first, tasting her and himself. His tongue flicked in and out, slid across her wet opening, teased the piercing until her body shuddered from top to bottom. Her thighs tightened around him. Her hips rose and fell on the bed while her head thrashed back and forth on the pillow.
Mark gripped her hips tighter, making her immobile and totally at his mercy.
Her sighs and moans grew with intensity and when she was right on the brink he entered her in one long, deep thrust.
“Ahhhhhh!”
Mark covered her mouth with kisses, pinned her wrists to the bed and rode her until they both dissolved into a million pieces.
Felicia stared up at the dark ceiling with the sheet pulled up to her waist. What the hell? This was supposed to be a bang-bang just to get the whole sexual tension thing out of the air. That’s not what happened. She wanted to ask him what he was thinking, if he was all right? But she couldn’t. That would seem like she cared. And she didn’t. Or at least, she didn’t want to.
Mark sat on the side of the bed with his head lowered. He scrubbed his face with his hand. “Listen, uh…”
“Don’t start explaining and apologizing if that’s what you were going to do. I’m a big girl. I know what I’m doing. It’s just sex between consensual adults.” Her heart thundered.
Mark looked over his shoulder at her. “Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “Glad you feel this way. Look, one thing I have to say. I don’t get involved with co-workers and people in my investigations.”
“Works for me. I don’t get involved, period.”
Mark rocked his jaw and Felicia bit down on her lip to keep from whimpering.
She swung her legs over the side, got up, grabbed her robe from the foot of the bed and put it on. “Can I get you anything?” she asked and headed for the door.
“Uh, no. I probably should go.”
Her steps faltered for a second. “Okay. I’ll be downstairs.”
When Mark came down about five minutes later, Felicia was curled on the couch sipping on a glass of wine. Mark walked over to her and sat down.
“I’m going to say this once and then let it go.” He looked deep into her eyes. “You are beyond incredible and if we didn’t have these non-commitment rules…” He brushed his thumb across her bottom lip, then leaned in and kissed her sweet and slow.
Mark got to his feet. “Good night. I’ll be at the library in the morning to speak with Dr. Wallington.” He walked to the door. Felicia followed. Mark put on his coat and shoes. “Get some rest.”
“Drive safely.” She opened the door and Mark stepped out into the night without a backward glance.
Felicia closed and locked the door, turned off the lights and went to bed. She curled into her sheets and inhaled his scent.
* * * * *
On the drive over to the library Felicia continued to replay the evening with Mark in her mind. Clearly they crossed the line and if she’d thought that having sex with Mark would knock out the fire she was sorely mistaken. But the truth was neither of them was into commitment. She had more baggage than any man could deal with, more than she could deal with at times. So, the next time she saw him it would be back to business as usual. That’s the only way it could be.
As usual, Felicia was the first to arrive. Her morning ritual at the library, at one time, was the spark that lit her day. Now, it was a constant reminder of what had transpired. She began her quick tour of the aisles and booted up the computers in the reading rooms before returning to her office.
The first band of early arrivals was beginning to filter in. Within the next hour the library would be humming with activity. Felicia spotted Lucy and was in the midst of stopping her to give her a heads up about Mark coming to see Dr. Wallington, but instinct kicked in and she kept the information to herself. She didn’t want to explain how she knew and when. She waved and mouthed “good morning” instead.
Felicia was en route to her office when a blood-curdling scream echoed through the cavernous spaces and shot through her veins. She froze. Her heart hammered. The scream came again. Felicia ran in the direction of the wail—up the one flight of winding stairs, and down the corridor. She sensed others behind her but she didn’t turn to look.
She followed the sound and the closer she came the higher the hairs on the back of her neck and along her arms stood. No. Please no. She stepped through the open door of Dr. Wallington’s outer office and saw Lucy in a hysterical heap on the floor, staring at the very dead body of Dr. Henry Wallington.