Page 59 of Ultimate Justice

Did she mean how her body felt? Or how she felt. About him.

The soft panting sounds were coming from her—actually panting. The orgasm built steadily, and she hooked her legs around the backs of Evan’s thighs, relishing the escalating sensations and wanting them to go on forever.

A bright flash of white clouded her vision as the orgasm tore through her with so much force, she barely had time to clap a hand over her mouth before the high-pitched scream roared from her throat.

When she could see again, Evan held himself above her, his body as rigid as a knife. He sucked in air through gritted teeth, then threw his head back and groaned.

Still inside her, he lowered next to her, taking her in his arms. His chest rose and fell against hers. His heart beat rapidly at her breast. What they’d just done was a physical act driven by deep emotional wounds they both bore. In that moment, she felt sated and, dare she say, peaceful.

Content.

The past week had brought about changes she’d been resisting. Now she welcomed them. Like that plant in the desert getting its first drop of rain in months, her wilted emotions sparked to life, and she craved more. The question was whether Evan wanted more, too. It was both enticing and frightening.

Putting her grief behind her was the first step on the road to healing, and she was well on her way. That didn’t mean Evan would ever be on that road with her. He was a deeply wounded man, and as much as she could see herself falling for him, his grief had been there for so long he might never get free of it. It might always be there, dragging him down.

She took a deep, fortifying breath.

No matter what happened next between them, she had to be strong and stay on her own path. If Evan couldn’t find his way into the light, she had to be careful not to let him drag her down with him.

Back into the darkness.

Chapter Seventeen

Marlie’s scent was still in his lungs, her taste lingering on his tongue like a good thirteen-year-old bourbon. The soft curves of her body melding against his, coming inside her warm, wet body… Those moments were forever burned into his memory, and they weren’t solely about the amazing sex.

He and Marlie had some weird kind of connection he’d felt the day they’d met. Like he could say anything to her. Last night, he’d confided something he’d never told another living soul, not even his parents—what had gone down between him and Gracie that final day, and that, deep down, he’d felt like a coward for not telling anyone. Except Marlie. For a moment there, she’d actually had him rethinking that maybe it hadn’t been his fault, after all. There really was something special about her, so much more than she allowed the world to see.

She was not only a beautiful, sexy woman, but a kind, understanding person of more character than he could ever achieve himself. If only there was room for such personal and emotional luxuries in his life. But there wasn’t, and he was a jerk for taking her to his bed. Didn’t help that she was sitting less than two feet from him.

“Are you buckled in?” Marlie turned to Noah in the back seat.

Early morning sun blared through the window, glinting off the rearview mirror. Noah had his head glued to the tablet he’d loaned the kid to keep him occupied during the drive to Wyoming.

“Yes,” Noah answered without looking up.

Blue had lain down, taking up half the bench seat. His big tongue lolled from the side of his cracked jaw. Absently, Noah dug his fingers into Blue’s thick fur—fur Evan had gotten a mouthful of when he’d turned over in the morning to reach for Marlie and found a German shepherd instead.

Marlie adjusted the air vent and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, revealing the cute little lobe he distinctly recalled sucking into his mouth right before he’d fallen asleep. She wore jeans and a purple sweater he hadn’t seen before.

He couldn’t keep his lips from twitching. Last night, purple had swiftly risen to the top of his “favorite color” list.

He took the exit for I-25, making sure Brett’s SUV was behind him. At this hour, traffic heading north away from Denver was light, so he punched the Explorer up to sixty. He tapped a finger on the wheel, worried he and Marlie hadn’t had a few minutes alone this morning to have “the talk” that, in his experience, all women seemed to need after having sex with a guy for the first time.

She must have slipped from his bed after he’d fallen asleep, and this morning, with Noah sitting at the island counter chowing down on cereal, there hadn’t been an opportunity to exchange more than an awkward “good morning.” As awesome as it was, sex with Marlie had been reckless, but they’d both needed it.

Did he regret it? No way. Could he let it happen again? Again, no way.

The moment a sixty-five-mile-per-hour sign came into view, he stepped on the gas. Not having the sex talk wasn’t normally something he worried about. Not because he hadn’t cared about the women he’d slept with. It wasn’t about them—they’d all understood he wasn’t about to settle down.

His personal life was going nowhere. In fact, he had no life, only a job. Settling down wasn’t something he could allow himself to do. Not now. Not that he thought after all this time he’d find Gracie alive, but he was on the verge of at least finding out what happened to her. He had nothing to give, and Marlie deserved more.

That stupid organ inside his skull was going in two directions. The last thing he wanted was to hurt or disappoint her. Eventually, he’d do both. That didn’t stop him from wanting to be with her again.

The phone he’d locked into a dashboard cradle rang. Deck.

“Yo, you’re on speaker,” he said after answering. “Marlie and Noah are here. We’re headed up to Wyoming. Brett’s about a hundred feet behind me.”

“Actually,” came Brett’s voice, “I’m here, too.”