There were no more words after that. Just sighs and moans and...at the very end...wordless cries of satisfaction. From both of them.
* * *
Carly woke in the darkness. Alone. She reached out a hand for Shane, but the place where he’d lain beside her when she’d fallen asleep was empty, and the sheet was cold to the touch. So she knew he’d been gone a while. Long enough for his body heat to dissipate.
She sat up and turned on the bedside lamp, then glanced around the room, hoping to find her suitcases. No such luck. The clothes she’d worn earlier were lying in tidy piles across the arms of the chair in the corner, and they brought a smile to her face. Shane had taken his time undressing her earlier, she remembered. And she had been content to let him.
But for some reason she didn’t feel like donning her work clothes again. Especially since she had every intention of luring Shane back into bed with her. So she tugged the top sheet free from the comforter, wrapped it around herself sari-style and went in search of him.
She found him in the living room, standing naked except for his boxer shorts in front of the picture window. He’d cracked the blinds open slightly, and was staring out into the night lights of DC as he spoke into his cell phone.
Carly took a moment to admire the shadowy picture he made in the darkened room—muscle, bone and sinew backlit by the skyline behind him. Okay, I can’t really see his muscles, she admitted, but she’d felt them enough to know they were there. And she could see broad shoulders tapering down to a narrow waist and hips—obvious because his boxers rode low on his hips—a classic outline of male beauty.
She sighed soundlessly, remembering the way she’d clutched those hips earlier as he’d brought them both to completion...long and slow. Never rushed until the very end, when he—
Shane’s voice crashed into her consciousness. “No, Cody,” he said firmly. “I haven’t a scintilla of proof. It’s a theory, that’s all. But I thought you’d want to know.”
A long silence was followed by “I’ve already shared the theory with the FBI and the ATF, and they’re going to check into it. I figured the agency deserved a crack at it, too, given your long history with the New World Militia.”
He chuckled softly, obviously in response to what his brother-in-law was saying. “Yeah, and you’re very welcome. Always happy to be a target for a good cause.” He listened for a minute, then said, “Give Keira my love and tell her I’m sorry I called so late and woke you both up, okay? And give her a kiss from me. Not that you need an excuse to kiss your wife,” he joked. He laughed after another minute of silence. “Give Alyssa a kiss, as well. Tell her Uncle Shane plans to be back in Denver at the end of March, and can’t wait to see her on the two-wheeler she got for Christmas—if the snow has melted enough.”
Shane nodded in response to something said to him, then ended the call with “Thanks, Cody. I appreciate this. Let me know what you find out.”
He disconnected and turned. When he caught sight of Carly he froze for an instant, then relaxed. “I didn’t hear you come in,” he said. “How long have you been there?”
She padded barefoot toward him. “Long enough to know you’ve already notified the FBI and the ATF.” She touched his chest and found his skin cool beneath her fingertips. “You’re cold,” she chided. “You should have put more clothes on.” She was unwrapping the sheet as she spoke, then enclosing both of them in its enveloping folds.
“Mmm, this is nice,” he told her, sliding his hands around her waist. “I didn’t want to wake you,” he explained. “I just grabbed my boxers and my cell phone and left.” He kissed her lightly. “I got distracted earlier, but I didn’t want to wait until tomorrow to get the ball rolling on the investigation.”
“Let’s go back to bed where it’s warm.” She shivered slightly, because everywhere his skin touched hers was cold. “You can tell me the rest there.”
“Okay.” His hands moved and he lifted her up, even though his cell phone was still clutched in his left hand. “Wrap your legs—yes, like that,” he told her as her thighs automatically clasped around his hips. He began walking them back toward the bedroom. “Hold on tight.”