“It’s about time you got home.” Samantha grinned from beneath the bill of her low-profile baseball cap.
Dressed in men’s shorts and a T-shirt, the woman should have seemed oddly dressed, or far too male, yet neither was the case. Lyrica had decided that Samantha was so comfortable in her own skin that the confidence that came from it simply didn’t allow her to appear as anything but self-assured.
Her long, curling waves of multihued brown hair were gathered at the back of her head in a ponytail and pulled through the cap. The trailing waves and curls were then confined with several more elastic bands to keep them under control.
Dark sunglasses were perched over the cap on her head and white leather sneakers covered her sockless feet.
“Yeah, Dawg gets kind of territorial when someone shoots at his sisters.” Lyrica sighed theatrically, well aware that Samantha had been working the investigation for the Somerset Police Department at Lyrica’s cousin-in-law’s request. Alex Jansen had assigned the case to Samantha before he’d even arrived with Brogan and Jed to pick her up at Graham’s.
Samantha grinned at the comment. “I went through your apartment when Dawg called and said you were coming home. Everything’s fine, no unwanted visitors.” Her hazel eyes gleamed at the last comment.
“I’ll be sure to thank Dawg.” Lyrica rolled her eyes. “Like I said, territorial.”
“Door’s still unlocked for you,” Samantha laughed as Lyrica moved to push the keys into the lock.
“Sam, I’m hating you today.” Lyrica sighed.
“Most people have those days,” Sam retorted as she stood next to the building and waited.
Waited for her to enter the apartment?
Lyrica wasn’t certain what she was waiting on.
Opening the door, she picked up her luggage and stepped inside. Only to come to a stop once again.
“Are you totally mad at me, too?” Kye jumped up from her couch, her fingers lacing together as she watched Lyrica with painful intensity.
Placing her luggage to the side of the room, Lyrica shook her head uncertainly. “No. I thought you would be mad at me, though.”
Turning, she pulled the patio door closed before turning back to Graham’s sister.
Kye grimaced, her gray eyes darker than normal, her expression filled with mutiny. “Look, I knew when you first accepted my invitations to the afternoon pool parties and girls’ days out that you were hoping to see Graham.” She propped one hand on her denim-covered hip and brushed her long bangs back with the other. “But I thought we had things in common other than him. We’re good friends, aren’t we, Lyrica?”
There was a shadow of uncertainty in her gaze.
“We are good friends, Kye,” Lyrica agreed as she stepped to the other girl and gave her a quick, firm hug. “Despite the fact that you’re Graham’s sister. But Kye, if I have to hear about one more VS bra from those other dimwits you run around with, then I’m going to scream.”
“You and me both,” Kye agreed.
Well, at least she hadn’t lost her friend. And she hadn’t lost Graham, she reminded herself. He had never been hers to begin with.
For the next hour, the conversation centered on the investigation and resulting death of the other young woman. Lyrica was still torn, uncertain, and though she didn’t admit it to Kye, she was still scared.
When Kye rose to leave, Lyrica stepped outside to her patio, noticing her friend’s sudden nervousness as she glanced to the spare parking spot, where Graham’s tan pickup had just pulled in.
Nothing else existed as Lyrica’s eyes met his across the short distance.
Adrenaline.
There it was.
It was racing through her system, pounding through her heart and flushing her entire system with heated hunger. Her nipples hardened; her clitoris swelled and reminded her of the sweet release it now craved like a drug addict craved the next fix.
—
Graham felt trapped by the memories. The feel of her saturated intimate flesh parting at the touch of his tongue. The slick essence of her sweet juices spilling to his lips as he sat beneath her and feasted on her need for him.
It had been two lousy, miserable weeks since she’d been taken from him. Since he’d felt a sweet fire he’d never experienced with any other woman.