She licked his shaft, wetting him so he would be comfortable for what she intended to do next.
“Mindy.” He breathed out. “If that was all you did, it would be enough.”
She shook her head. “Just getting started.”
His little freak-out had shown her that Jonah had a flight instinct. If he fled her, she might never get a chance to be intimate with him again. The thought made her stomach clench and she pushed away the image.
Moving lower, she licked his balls. His whole body jerked. Jonah must be sensitive there. He tasted salty and she moaned when she licked him again. Her insides creamed. She didn’t need Jonah to touch her to get turned on by him.
His taste alone was addictive.
Jonah’s cock was like a beautiful ice cream cone. She approached it as such. Licking from head to balls, over and over again, she lengthened her strokes each time. Finally, she reached out and placed her fingers around the bottom of his erection.
She stared down at his head. He would be ultra-sensitive there.
Drawing out every second she could for no other reason than to torment him—which was fun, she got so few chances to do so with him—she lowered her head to just above his cock. She rolled her tongue over him, teasing him one more time.
He jerked beneath her. Yes, he’d grown big and a squirt of pre-cum released. He wanted her. If she kept playing with him, she might never actually get to put her lips on his penis.
She used her hands to support her and bobbed her head up and down on his shaft. He uttered a curse and she grinned. Where she couldn’t get down far enough on his cock, her hands did the work. He seemed to be most happy when she pressed against the tip and so she tried to hit it with the top of her mouth as much as she could.
The longer it went on—and she’d lost track of time, all of her focus on the guttural sounds of pleasure Jonah released—the faster her movements became. She wanted to get him off like never before. To remember this as the single best blowjob of his life and that she had given it to him.
That thought fueled her forward. Her skin felt uncomfortable, as if she wanted to rip it from her body. Getting him so turned on made her crave her own release. But this wasn’t about her. It was about him. She would wait, and if she had to, get herself off later.
However, she really thought Jonah would help her with that.
“Shit.” Jonah hissed his breath. “I’m going to come, sweetheart. If you want to pull back.”
She had no intention of doing that. What had all this effort been for if not to feel the sweetness of his explosion in her mouth? Of knowing she had brought him to the edge this way?
Mindy bobbed deeper, taking him as far down her throat as she could. With a shudder he exploded, shooting his juices into her mouth as he shouted her name to the heavens. She swallowed him down, loving the combination of salty maleness with Jonah’s indescribable taste that was somehow uniquely him. She closed her eyes, savoring the moment.
After a bit, she pulled away from his cock. Happiness made her sluggish. She’d done it.
Jonah pulled her against him, kissing her square on the lips. Stunned, for a second she didn’t respond but then she kissed him back. Hard. His tongue danced with hers before he pulled back.
“You are so fantastic.” He touched the side of her face.
“I know.” She grinned at him. “Unsatisfied but fantastic.”
Jonah raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?”
He pushed her back on the bed and moved over her. “It’s going to take me a few minutes to recover. But I intend to make good use of that time anyway.”
“How so?” She ran her hands over his chest, loving the feel of his hair under her hands.
Jonah winked at her before pushing up her T-shirt. One second later she gasped. His tongue pressed on her pussy and she forgot to breathe. She trembled, her shakes moving the bed.
She’d already been turned on from blowing him. He found her clit and pressed even farther. Swirling around in just the right motion, pretty soon she arched on the bed.
“You taste like heaven, Mindy. I’m going to make you come.”
“Please do.” She closed her eyes as he replaced his tongue with his fingers.
“I want to know your body, Mindy. I want to know it so well that I can play it like I once played piano.” When he spoke it was through clenched teeth. “Would you like that? Do you want me to know you that well?”
“Yes.” She could barely answer him. Her mouth had gone dry.
“Good.” Jonah pressed two fingers into her pussy while continuing to play with her clit.
Pressure built inside her and she knew she wouldn’t be able to handle it long. Grabbing the sheets, she held on until her body released, the need threatening to destroy her. With a shout, she let go, orgasming around his fingers harder than she could believe. Over and over her muscles clenched and released until, finally spent, she gasped for air.
When she could muster the energy, she opened her eyes. Jonah sat on his knees, staring down at her. His eyes met her gaze and he smiled, but she didn’t see joy in his eyes. Had she done something he didn’t like?
“Okay?”
“Yeah, gorgeous.” He kissed the top of her knee. “I’m better than okay.”
“You don’t seem that way.”
He shook his head. “I’m embarrassed about how I behaved earlier. When I freaked out.”
Mindy yawned and covered her mouth with her hand. “We all have bad moments. You think I don’t have them? It could be argued I’m endlessly having them. Hence my inability to change my hair.”
“Or maybe you just like how unique and unforgettable the white mane makes you seem.”
This Jonah was so easy to take. The banter. The smirks and smiles.
“Maybe you need glasses.”
He shook his head. “Nope. Anyway, can you forgive me?”
“For a minor panic attack? Sure. Why not?” She leaned up to kiss him. “I’m not done with you yet.”
* * * * *
Mindy put on her shoes and looked at herself in the mirror. Her outfit worked for poltergeist hunting or whatever they’d be doing. Jonah had said to dress casual, in something she could run in if need be. Sneakers, jeans and a pink T-shirt would have to do.
He’d left to go home and retrieve some things he needed. Whatever that meant. She hadn’t questioned him. He’d gotten the distant look in his eyes again and she’d decided this time to let him have the space he wanted.
Besides, she needed to think.
Mindy walked to the counter to pick up her cell phone. She’d made up her mind. No way, no how could she stay out of Jonah’s business. Not when every fiber in her being screamed to help him. Part of her knew she could love this man. If she could get past the barrier he’d erected around his heart to keep out the pain of losing his parents.
She’d been orphaned. She knew what familial pain looked like when she saw it. But she’d been certain of her parents’ love. She hadn’t been abandoned and never known why.
Her parents had died in a car wreck and there had been a loving aunt to go live with in their stead. It had never been the same—but she’d not been alone.
After she found the number she needed, she dialed it. Her best friend from college was now a married mother of two. Her husband happened to be a private detective. Maybe now was the time to ask for a favor.
Because people didn’t just get to abandon their children. Jonah’s parents couldn’t have been able to simply decide they didn’t want him when he was ten.
It didn’t work like that.
Betsy answered on the third ring and Mindy braced herself for a long conversation about toddlers and potty training. She didn’t mind. Betsy’s kids were great.
But she had an agenda. And she planned on finding out what she needed to know.
* * * * *
Jonah looked down at his iPad. The whole block was mapped out in front of him. Braxton leaned forward from the backseat and Mindy look
ed from the passenger side on the front. God, the woman smelled like heaven.
He shook his head. They had a job to do. Somehow, he had to concentrate. How on Earth could he still be so hot for her when they’d spent the whole afternoon exchanging bodily fluids? That thought just made him hotter. Her mouth on his cock.
“So this is the whole block?” Braxton pointed at the iPad. “Now what?”
“We split up.” Jonah actually hated the idea even as he said it. He wanted Mindy with him, where he could keep her safe. Even though her portion of the mission should be safe enough.
“And?” Mindy looked at him, her big eyes reflecting her eagerness for his response.
“We go door to door. Ring the bell.” He held coupons in his hand. Making them had been his project when he’d returned to the mansion. “Tell them that Foy is giving out scholarships for free classes. Ask if they have any children in the house who might want to take lessons.”
“That’s smart.” Braxton nodded. “If they say they’re not interested at least we now know they have kids in the house.”
“Exactly.” Pleasure surged through his veins that Braxton approved of his plan. It was always nice to have a colleague think highly of the job he’d done.
“Give me mine.” Braxton grabbed some from Jonah’s hand and exited the car, heading right.
“I guess he’s going that way.” Jonah laughed. Braxton never cared very much for explaining himself.
“It’s a good plan.” Mindy chewed her bottom lip. “And it really will at least allow us to narrow down some locations to search later.”
“That was my thought.” It would be highly inappropriate to suggest she get naked. Wouldn’t it? “But I do have one question.”
“What’s that?” He tried to concentrate.
“Does Foy know you’re giving away all of those free classes?”
“If Master Foy is going to go into such extreme meditative states that he can’t possibly talk for days and days then he is going to have to deal with how I choose to handle this investigation.” He laughed. “But leave it to you to point out the trouble I might be in.”
“Screw it.” Mindy shrugged. “It’s a good plan.”
“Thanks.” He had to ask even if it pissed her off. “I don’t suppose you’d consent to just hanging with me. Not doing this by yourself.”
“Give me my coupons for free lessons.” She held out her hand.
“Yeah. That’s what I thought.”
Damn it.
* * * * *
Jonah had given out ten cards. His idea, while still valid, was going to turn out to be an expensive venture for Foy. Almost every house on the block had children and most of them had several. Everyone had been interested in the coupons, even though it meant traveling across town.
He shook his head. They were going to have to break into a lot of different homes to find the kid making the poltergeist.
Jonah looked up at the next house and sighed. There was probably no point in ringing that bell. The Satan worshipers who had lived there days earlier would not be answering the bell.
Braxton and Foy had disposed of them when he’d been getting stitched at the hospital. Still, he couldn’t manage to look away.
Did they have children? What had happened to them if they had? Foy must have thought of that. The man always did. It was part of what made him so effective. His meditations always brought the Master that kind of clarity.
Jonah walked toward the door. He tried the handle and found it open. Someone hadn’t locked up. That was an error.
He stepped through the doorway and into the house. “Hello?”
No one answered. He hadn’t really anticipated that they would. So why had he called out? He groaned. What were the first signs of losing one’s mind? He’d need to Google it later.
A sound upstairs caught his attention and he raised his head to listen better. It had been a footstep.
Jonah’s side ached where he’d been stabbed but he forced the pain from his mind. There were probably a thousand possibilities for what creaked upstairs. In his mind, he could come up with three good reasons.
The first would be no big deal. An animal might have gotten upstairs. That would be the most likely explanation. A squirrel was loose in the house.
Only he doubted that immensely. In his life, the answer never was that a squirrel had gotten loose. That was for other people. Individuals who didn’t know the truth of what was actually out there in the world.
He knew it too well.
The floorboards creaked upstairs again. “Damn it.”
Jonah might be able to ignore one creak. The second one he couldn’t, which meant he had to acknowledge the second and third options. Someone was in the house or the poltergeist had made its way into this house. Either way he had to look. The goings-on in a home owned by Satan worshipers—even dead ones—warranted a close look.
“Hello,” he called up the stairs. “I’m coming up.”
A whimper sounded upstairs. That didn’t scream poltergeist to him. More like human, and frightened to boot.
“I’m not going to harm you.” He let out a breath. Hopefully whoever was up there didn’t have a gun. How many times could he get stuck in this situation in the same damn house?
Jonah made his way up the stairs and flipped on the lights. Two figures were huddled on the ground at the end of the hallway. They looked up as he approached. With the light on he could see them more clearly. No poltergeists. Just two children. A boy and a girl. The girl wouldn’t look up. She whimpered as she kept her head down on her knees.
But the boy stared at him unblinking. Jonah tried not to look away from the invasive stare. It was as if the kid was looking right into his soul. Jonah shook his head. How frickin’ ridiculous. There were two scared kids here probably wondering what the fuck happened to their parents.
And it looked as if Foy and Braxton hadn’t taken care of all the problems in this house.
Jonah walked to them slowly. Was one of these kids making the poltergeist? Stepping before them, he knelt down.
“Hi there.”
The girl looked up. “Where are our parents?”
It had been days. They must be starving. “That’s a long story.” Jonah pulled out his phone. “How does pizza sound?”
First, he would feed them. Then he’d work the rest of it out.
* * * * *
The kids were with Child Protective Services. Jonah watched them pull away from the house with the children—Mary and Damian, not very creative on their parents’ part but who was he to judge—down the block. Foy’s contacts had come through. Again. Mindy and Braxton stood on either side of him.
He supposed he should feel good that he’d found the kids, and that they hadn’t been left in there endlessly waiting for parents who were never going to come back home.
His stomach turned. They’d been in there for days. Without looking at Braxton, he addressed him. “And Foy never said anything about there being kids?”
“Like he discusses things with me?” Braxton ran a hand through his hair, drawing Jonah’s attention. “Listen, I feel awful. Not that I killed the fuckers, they were going to sacrifice some poor girl, but because those kids were left without help.”
“Could you not talk about killing them?” Mindy rubbed her arms. “I mean I get it. I’m not even sorry, believe me. But to just come out with it like that is so cold.”
“Whatever.” Braxton snorted and Jonah had to hold back the urge to punch him. It wouldn’t help anything but he did not like the way Braxton spoke to Mindy. She had every right to feel as she felt. “So you think it’s those kids making the poltergeist or what?”
“I have no idea. We won’t know until we ascertain whether the activity stops in the neighborhood. Even then it might be hard to tell. The kid could project the energy here from miles away.”
Mindy snorted. “Nothing like this being hard or anything.”
Braxton nodded. “Sorry about being short with
you. I don’t like that aspect of the job. I get a little defensive.”
“It’s no problem. I’m being a baby. I know it.”
So they’d made up. What was he supposed to do with his energy now? Pounding on Braxton had felt like a great idea.
“Then what do we do?” Mindy looked at him.
“We wait.”
His least favorite activity.
Chapter Seven
Maybe Jonah didn’t like to eat Chinese food at midnight the way she did. Maybe he was sleeping like a reasonable person.
“Shit.” She knocked on Jonah’s door before she could talk herself out of it. Mindy had driven across town with the damn takeout food. The least she could do was make the attempt to give it to Jonah.
He swung open the door. Shirtless. She gulped. Mindy had seen him much more naked, but still his bare skin made her achy with just a glance.
“You’re a sight for sore eyes.” He smiled before reaching out to tug her into the room with him by her shirt.
She shrieked and almost dropped the Chinese food. At least he wasn’t asleep and seemed really excited to see her. His cock pushed through his sweatpants into her stomach. Really excited.
“I brought food.”
“I see that.” He grinned. “I love noodles. Are there noodles in that white carton?”
“Um. Some of them have noodles.” She didn’t know what to make of the glint in his eyes.
“Good. Then I’m going to eat it off your naked body.” He ripped the carton from her hands and set it down next to the bed. “That is unless you have some weird skin allergy where you might break out into hives from lo mein?”
“No. I should be good.” She didn’t want to question why she had gotten so wet from the thought of him eating fast food from her body. In this case, she’d go with it and dwell on the whys of her new sexual desires later.
“Mindy, I’m so glad you’re here.” He laughed. “And I’m going to make you so happy you showed up.”
He pulled off her shirt and then rid her of her bra. “Lie down.”
She did as he asked. “The efficiency by which you do that is amazing. Lots of experience undressing women?”