This is fucking sexy as hell.
One more. One more for her then I’m getting her naked. I can’t stand it.
She motions for me to lean back on the counter, giving her access to my stomach, and proceeds to drive me out of my fucking mind with that sweet mouth of hers. When she takes the lime from my fingers, I lean in and pull it out of her mouth with my teeth and spit it in the nearby sink, then take her face in my hands and lower my mouth to hers, finally kissing her the way I’ve been needing to.
She tastes like lime and tequila and pure heaven, and the next thing I know, we’re stripping out of our clothes, leaving a trail to the bed. I lay her on her back. She’s only wearing a scrap of black underwear.
And a come-hither smile that would tempt any saint.
Rather than covering her body with mine, I drag my hands down her torso, from her shoulders, over her breasts, her ribs, and hips. And I grip onto her panties with my teeth and pull them down her legs, then toss them over my shoulder and spread her legs wide.
“Fuck, Lila. You are gorgeous.”
“You’re not so bad yourself,” she says breathlessly. “Can I touch you now? You’re really far away.”
“Not yet.”
“But I’m tingly.”
I smile up at her. “Tingly?”
“Mmm,” she nods and closes her eyes as my fingertips glide up and down her inner thighs. “Your lips on my neck made me all tingly.”
“Did the tequila help?” I ask dryly.
“Didn’t need the tequila.” She gasps as my fingertip finds her pink lips. She’s shaved clean and wet as fuck.
“I’m going to tease you a bit,” I murmur and push my finger inside her, then pull it out and push it through her folds, up to her clit and back down again, making a circle over and over. Her hands grip the sheets at her hips and the muscles in her thighs tighten.
“Asher,” she groans. “Seriously.”
“Seriously what?”
God, she is wet. And tight. And she’s going to feel like heaven when I finally slide inside her.
“Seriously, fuck me!”
I don’t need any further invitation. I lean in and latch on to her clit, pulling it into my mouth and sucking hard as I fuck her with my fingers. She jackknifes up, coming amazingly, crying out. Her hands latch onto my hair as she grinds her pussy against my mouth, riding out her orgasm.
Finally, she lets go, and I travel up her amazing body, leaving wet kisses on her torso, her nipples, her neck. I scoot her further up the bed and reach for a condom, quickly cover myself and kiss her hard as the head of my cock rests at her opening. She raises her legs, hitching them around my hips, but I pull them even higher, brace them on my shoulders, and push inside her, all the way.
“Oh. My. God.” Her eyes close. Her hands grip onto my arms.
“Open your eyes,” I command her and begin to move, slowly at first, as she watches me, her eyes glassy, not from the alcohol now, but from pure, unadulterated lust. My hips pick up speed. My pelvic bone hits her clit with every thrust, and I have to brace myself on the headboard for leverage.
She reaches down and presses her fingertips to her clit, making me almost fucking lose it. There is nothing hotter than watching a woman touch herself.
Unless you’re fucking her while she touches herself.
She clenches around me, hard, bites her lip, and I know she’s about to come. Jesus, I’m going to come with her.
“Harder,” she whispers, and I gladly comply, pushing and pulling faster, a bit harder, and suddenly, the bed… falls.
Our gazes collide, but I don’t stop.
A fucking tsunami couldn’t stop me now.
I simply shift so we don’t fall, holding her in place with my free arm.
“Oh my God,” she whispers. “Gonna come.”
“That’s right, Lila. Come for me,” I croon to her, on the edge myself. “Come with me.”
She comes apart, squeezing me so tight I have no choice but to follow her right over the edge. I collapse on top of her, panting, sweating, and already thinking about round two when she starts to giggle beneath me.
“We broke the bed,” she says and pushes her fingers into the hair at the back of my neck.
I grin and press my lips to her cheek. “We did.”
She starts to laugh in earnest now. “We seriously broke the bed.”
I push away from her and brush a piece of hair off her cheek. “Looks like it.”
“Right on.” She holds her fist up and I bump it with mine. “Good job.”
I smirk and roll us onto the floor, dragging the blankets with us. “Let’s try for amazing job.”
Chapter One
~Lila~
“Do you have a minute, Lila?”
I glance up from the essay on Harriet Tubman that has me riveted. The student who wrote this paper did her research and clearly loves the topic. Standing in the doorway of my office is the dean of my department at Tulane University, Rick Wilson.
“Of course.” I smile politely and gesture to the chair across from me. “Have a seat.”
Rick, who is usually a happy, cheerful man, is sober today as he lowers into the chair. He leans forward and takes a deep breath, and I’m afraid I already know what he’s going to say.
Don’t say it.
“I don’t think there’s an easy way to tell you this, Lila.”
I shake my head and close my eyes. “Who is it?”
He sighs, and I open my eyes to find him rubbing his mouth with his fingers in agitation. “Leslie Fisher.”
My heart sinks as I think of the sweet, blonde girl in my Women’s History class. “What happened to her?”
“The same as the other two.” He sighs again and stares at me with sad eyes. “She was raped and beaten, left for dead.”
My head whips up. “She’s not dead?”
“She wasn’t when they found her. She was taken to the hospital, but I don’t have an update.”
He didn’t kill her!
“Maybe she’ll be able to tell the police who did this.” Tears fill my eyes at the horror that my student must have gone through. “Three in one month, Rick.”
“I want to know what in the hell is happening on my campus,” he mutters in frustration.
“That’s what we would like to know as well.”
Our heads whip up at the sound of a woman’s voice in my doorway. She’s petite, with her blonde hair in a ponytail, dressed in jeans and a simple gray T-shirt. Her eyes are hard, mouth grim.
And standing right behind her is…Asher.
“Can I help you?”
How are the words even coming out of my mouth? How is Asher at my office? How did he find me here?
“I’m Detective Jordan,” the woman replies as she and Asher step into my office. “And this is—”
“Asher,” he says, interrupting her, earning a look of surprise from his partner.
“My lieutenant,” she adds. “We would like to ask you a few questions, Ms. Bailey.”
I frown, still watching Asher, whose dark eyes haven’t left my face. “I’m happy to answer any questions you have. Can you tell me how Leslie is?”
“No,” Asher answers, his eyes narrowing just a bit. “Mr. Wilson, may we speak with Ms. Bailey alone, please?”
“Are you okay?” Rick asks me softly.
“Of course.” I nod and smile reassuringly while my insides quake. No, I’m not okay! The man I had the most incredible one-night stand with in my life just walked through my door!
“If you’ll be in your office, we will stop in and speak with you when we’re done here,” Asher says.
“No problem.” Rick turns back to me. “Call me if you need me.”
Asher shuts the door behind Rick and takes a seat across from me while Jordan paces behind him.
“Obviously you know that young women are being murdered on campus,” Jordan says.
“Yes.” He’s looking at me like I’m a stranger. Maybe he doesn’t r
emember me. I mean, it was only one night. One fantastic, incredible night, but still. And we’d been drinking.
And why am I obsessing over this when young women are being killed at the university where I work? What kind of a horrible person am I?
“They’re all students in your US Women’s History class.” Asher leans forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. “And in your weekly study group.”
“Yes, they were students who were in the study group. We meet twice a week.”
“Do you lead the study group personally, or do you assign an aid to do it?” Jordan asks.
“I lead it,” I reply.
“Why?” she asks.
“I like working with the students. I like to be able to help them.” I shrug as I think about my group of lively, funny students, and my heart hurts all over again. “Is there any news on Leslie?”
“We can’t tell you that,” Jordan replies softly. “I’m sorry. I know it must be hard.”
“Do you know your students well?” Asher asks.
“Not all of them.” I tap my finger on the desk. “But I do get to know the ones in the study group fairly well because it’s such a small group. They’re good kids.”
“Kids who are failing your class,” Asher adds.
“Not all of them.” I frown. “Some of them just need the extra help. And just because they struggle doesn’t mean they deserve what’s happening to them.”
“Of course not,” Jordan agrees. “What do you know about what’s happening, Lila?”
“I’ve seen the news reports, of course, and heard rumors.”
“Okay, what do you think you know?”
“That the girls have been raped and beaten to death, in the evening, after study group.” I swallow hard and fight to keep tears at bay. “I wish I knew if Leslie was okay.”
“She’s not,” Asher replies abruptly. “I’m sorry. She passed away during the night.”
“Oh.” Now I can’t stop the tears. “Oh, she was just a kid.”
“They’re all kids,” Jordan says and walks around the desk to pat my shoulder. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Lila,” Asher says, leaning forward again. “I need you to think back over the past few months and try to remember if you’ve seen or heard anything unusual. A person or people hanging around after your study group that shouldn’t be there. Have the students mentioned anything?”
I’m shaking my head no as I try to think back. “There’s been nothing suspicious,” I reply. “We meet in the library, so there are always different people coming and going, but I haven’t noticed anything off.”
“We’d like for you to cancel the study group for the rest of the semester,” Jordan says.
“No way,” I reply immediately. “These kids need the help. Without it, they could fail, and I don’t want that for them.”
They’re such good kids. Beautiful, smart, with their whole lives ahead of them. They deserve everything wonderful in the world. They should be dating and eating pizza and stressing over finals.
They shouldn’t be lying in the damn morgue.
“People are being killed,” Asher says, looking at me like I’m being stupid. “Canceling the group makes sense.”
“We don’t know for sure that he’s targeting the kids in my group,” I insist. I can hear the ridiculousness in my own ears. “Do we?”
“No,” Jordan replies. “We don’t have evidence of that.”
“Well then, unless you do, I’m not canceling.” I hold Asher’s narrowed gaze with my own. “You can’t make me.”
“Oh, yes. I can.” He sighs and rubs the back of his neck. “But I won’t. For now. But come on, Lila. Be reasonable. Change the time or the place of the group.”
I sigh in relief as he pulls a card out of his pocket and passes it to me. “Okay,” I concede. “I’ll change the days of the week that we meet. And I’ll make sure they come and go in groups.”
Asher nods. “I’ll be in touch. But I want you to call if anything trips a red flag. I’m serious, Lila. Anything.”
“I will,” I promise.
“You look good,” Asher says softly and offers me half a smile. I raise a brow in surprise.
“I didn’t think you recognized me.”
“Of course I did.”
“You know each other?” Jordan asks with a jolt.
“It’s been about a year,” I reply.
“Nine months,” Asher corrects me.
“You’ve only lived here for six,” Jordan says to Asher, who just shrugs.
He moved to New Orleans?
“I’d like a list of everyone in your group,” Asher says, ignoring Jordan.
“It changes a lot, depending on who needs help and when. But I can get you a list of the regulars.”
“Good.” He stands and follows Jordan to the door, then turns back and smiles at me. “It’s good to see you, Lila.”
I nod, but before I can answer, he’s gone.
I immediately reach for my phone and call my best friend, Kate.
“If you’re canceling lunch today, I will punch you in the neck the next time I see you.”
“You know, hanging out with all those Boudreaux boys has made you really violent.” I smile as I lean back in my chair, thinking of my best friend and her new family. Kate hit the mother lode when she found her Eli and his family. “And I’m not canceling, I just needed to tell you something and it won’t wait for lunch.”
“Okay. Shoot.”
“First of all, there’s been another murder, Kate. Another girl from my class.”
“Oh no. Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry.” At the sound of my friend’s voice, I’m sad all over again. I didn’t know Leslie well, but she was a happy, sweet girl.
“Me too.”
“What else is going on?”
“Asher just left my office.”
Silence.
“Kate?”
“Asher, of the hottest sex in the history of the world, Asher?”
You have no fucking idea, sister.
“Yes, that Asher.”
“How did he find you?”
“He’s the lieutenant assigned to the case. He was here to ask me questions.”
“I didn’t think he lived here.” I can hear the frown in her voice, and the sound of her pen slapping against her desk.
“It seems he moved here about six months ago.”
“Please, for the love of God, tell me you got his number.”
I grin. “He gave me his card, yes.”
Kate squeals on the other end of the phone, making me laugh. “Right on!”
Not that I’ll ever get the guts up to call him.
Unless I get drunk again.
Maybe I should drink more often.
“It was weird. At first I didn’t think he recognized me, but then toward the end he said it was good to see me.”
“I like him.”
“You don’t know him,” I reply and roll my eyes.
“He’s hot. Sorry, babe,” she says to Eli, who must be in the room with her, “and he has a good job. You could do worse.”
“Gee, thanks.” I chuckle and glance at the time. “Okay, I’ll see you at lunch.”
“Oh, I can’t.”
“What? Throat punch, Kate.”
“I was actually going to cancel. I’m sorry. I had a meeting come up.”
“And by meeting do you mean hot office sex with your ridiculously sexy billionaire boyfriend?” I ask dryly and try like mad to shove away the jealousy that spears through me.
But, come on, Eli is hot. And rich. And so in love with Kate it’s disgusting.
“Well, there could be some of that, yes,” Kate confirms with a laugh.
“You’re ditching me for sex. What ever happened to sisters before misters?”
“Do you need me?” she asks soberly. “Because I can cancel the office sex, I mean, meeting, and still meet you.”
“No.” I laugh, so happy that I live close to my best friend
again. “I’m okay. A little sad, but okay.”
“Let’s reschedule for beignets tomorrow morning,” she suggests.
“Will you get out of bed early enough for that, or will Eli talk you into a meeting then too?”
“Well, I can’t make any promises,” she replies with a smile in her voice.
“You’re disgusting. Enjoy your meeting. I’ll see you in the morning.”
I hang up, and suddenly all of the events from that night nine months ago come flooding back and I have to bite my lip and cross my legs at the sudden burst of pure lust that shoots through me, even making my fingertips tingle. That one night with Asher was better than all of the other nights I’ve had with other men combined.
The man knows his way around a woman’s body.
And he lives in New Orleans now.
Chapter Two
~Asher~
“So, that was interesting,” Jordan says as we jog down the steps of Lila’s building on the Tulane University campus toward the parking lot.
“We didn’t really find out anything we don’t already know,” I reply, deliberately misunderstanding her.
“Right. That’s what I meant.” She rolls her eyes, making my lips twitch. “For someone who’s supposed to play the bad cop, you were sucking at it. And that’s not like you. You play bad cop really well.”
I’m not about to tell her that it took everything in me to not stalk around that desk and pull Lila into my arms and kiss the fuck out of her. Or that all I could think about while looking at her was the way she moved beneath me, the sounds she made, the way she smelled while I was deep inside her, losing my ever-loving mind.
Seeing her again was a punch in the gut. I’m surprised I was able to speak at all.
And now that I know that my Lila is this maniac’s focus, all I can think about is tucking her away and making sure she’s safe.
There’s no way in hell I’m telling my partner that. I’ll never live it down.
“I didn’t need to play bad cop,” I reply and slip my Ray-Bans on my face. “She’s not a suspect.”
“Not right now.”
I glance down at Jordan then shake my head as we climb in my car.