Page 15 of Shadows Redeemed
She sucked in a breath as she clenched her eyes against the image, unable to believe she had let him kiss her. He actually kissed her! It had awakened something deep inside her she couldn’t deny. Or ignore. But she needed to ignore it. He was Jacob’s brother, for crying out loud. That was wrong on so many levels.
But god, did he stir something inside of her. With her head on her pillow, her eyes closed, she pictured his mouth against hers once more, the taste of whiskey still on his lips, the feel of him as he pressed against her. She slid her hand under the sheet, gliding it over her breast, pulling at it, pinching her nipple, twisting it as she moaned, feeling the wetness growing between her legs.
Would it be so wrong to have a one-nighter with Parker? After all, she had done it with others. Hell, she saw Ryan Anderson every time she went back to Charleston. She even had a couple of regular hook-ups back in Biloxi for those emergencyhorny situations. So why would one night of in-the-sheets fun with Parker be so bad?
Imagining what he would feel like right then on top of her, she slid her hand over her belly to the valley between her thighs. She rubbed tiny circles around her clit, pressing harder with each spin of the dial. There was no way she could be with Parker. It would be too weird. He was Jacob’s brother. Herex’sbrother!
She rubbed harder, faster, her fingers moving in quick circles as she felt her breathing growing heavier. It was wrong, but she couldn’t help it. She pictured Parker on top of her, felt his hand between her legs, his finger rubbing her sensitive pearl. Soft mewling sounds of pleasure slipped past her lips, her back arching as ripples of euphoria washed over her. Clutching the bedspread with her other hand, she cried out as her orgasm took over, her body shuddering on the bed.
Collapsing on her pillows, her breathing coming out in heavy pants, she opened her eyes, staring up at the ceiling. All right, so she could at least use him for that. He’d never know. It’d be her little secret.
Closing her eyes, she had hoped that after getting herself off, she’d drift off to sweet slumber, but it didn’t work that way. She found herself tenser than when she first laid down. Finally, she gave up on sleep entirely and tossed the tangled sheets off her naked body, walked over to the bottle of vodka she brought with her, and poured herself a glass in one of the small plastic cups the hotel provided. Dragging the desk chair to the window, she opened the curtain and then plopped down, staring out at the twinkling city lights. Taking a sip of her drink, wincing slightly at the bitter bite, she ran a hand through her disheveled hair, scolding herself once more for allowing the kiss. However, she couldn’t deny the inexplicable pull she felt toward him. There was just something about Parker Franklin that…
She slammed the brakes on that line of thought as she took another sip of her vodka, allowing the alcohol to warm her insides against the chill her thoughts were giving her. How in the world would she focus on finding Jacob if Parker continued to distract her? She wouldn’t. She needed to get this out of her system, and there was only one way she could think of to do that. Go to Parker’s room and fuck him.
She downed the rest of her vodka for courage and then slipped into her robe. No sense getting dressed when she would simply take them off again if everything went right.
Less than a minute later, she took a deep breath as she raised her hand and knocked on Parker’s door. Her honey stirred as she felt her heart race, not believing she was actually standing outside of his room, ready to take him to bed. What the hell was she thinking?
She heard movement on the other side of the door seconds before it swung open. Parker stood there, staring at her with a blend of surprise and something else she couldn’t quite read.
“Sage. Hey. Um, what’s up? Everything all right?”
She opened her mouth to answer him, to tell him why she was there, when she realized he was still dressed. An awkward, nervous energy radiated off him as well as he darted his eyes up and down the hall, as if looking to see if anyone was watching them. He then glanced back at her, and he must have just realized she was only wearing her robe, because his eyes went wide and a different look crossed his face.
She stepped closer, pushing his odd behavior out of her mind. She was there for a reason, and she would not walk away unsatisfied. Leaning up on her toes, she snaked an arm around his neck and pulled him closer until their lips met.
At first, he stiffened, and then he actually pushed her away from him, holding her out at arm’s length as he stared into her eyes. “Sage, I need to?—”
“Get undressed,” she said, cutting him off as she pushed him back into the room, closing the door behind her. “You started something earlier that you’re going to finish.”
“But Sage…”
She reached for the tie on her rope, ripping it open, but just before she allowed it to slide down her shoulders, her gaze landed on someone seated at the foot of the bed. An extremely familiar figure. He stared at her, brow raised as he looked at her bare chest, a maddening grin creasing his face.
Sage yanked her robe closed again, clutching it to her as she stared at him. “Jacob!” She breathed out his name, equal parts confusion and anger swirling inside her chest. Now she knew why Parker acted so weird when he opened the door. How long had Jacob been there? “What the hell are you doing here?”
“By the looks of things, keeping my brother from getting lucky tonight.” Jacob cut his narrow eyes over at Parker. “What exactly did you start earlier? Something you failed to tell me?”
A slow sigh slipped out of Parker as he shook his head, hands on his hips. “Nothing’s happened. We kissed once but…”
“Stop!” Rage erupted inside of her, burning away any lingering passion she might have felt before that moment. “He doesn’t need to know what we did or didn’t do. Now, what the hell is going on here?” She swirled on Parker, pointing a finger at his brother. “How long has he been here? And why didn’t you call me? I mean, that’s why my team is here, right?”
Parker opened his mouth, but Jacob spoke before he could get any words out. “Team? You have a team now? You’ve stepped up your game.”
She turned on Jacob. “And you’ve remained the same jackass you’ve always been. What the hell have you gotten yourself into that the entire city of New Orleans is after you?”
Jacob shrugged. “What can I say? I’m popular.”
She glanced at his shoulder, the bandage red from his bleeding. “Looks like you need a doctor.”
He gave a slow swing of his head. “Not a good idea. The minute I walk through those doors, I’m arrested or dead. Neither choice particularly gets my excitement up.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Did you kill the cop? Because if you did, I’m out of here.”
He shook his head. “Nope. Nor did I steal Broussard’s drugs or money. But I’m fairly certain it was another cop.”
She walked over to him, peeling the bandage back to examine the wound. It looked like Parker did a decent job of patching his brother up at least. “You’re still going to need a doctor to look at this.” She stood back up. “Now, what can you tell me that’ll help us find who did this? Someone had to know about whatever went down. A drug trade. Buy. What?”
