Sin's Gift (Veiled Alliance Book 1) Read online

  “Can I help you?” said the man who finally arrived from the back room. He was short, wiry, his eyes appearing enormous behind thick, old-fashioned wire-rimmed glasses. “I’ve already told the detective everything I know—if this is about yesterday.”

  Sin nodded. “That’s okay. I was just curious. We were the officers who captured the suspect.”

  His magnified gaze sharpened on her. “You must be the woman who killed the other one.”

  She winced. “It was an accident. He hit the wall.”

  “Right,” he said, shrugging. “So, what can I do for you?”

  “I’m curious about what they stole.”

  “And you couldn’t find that out from the detective? I’ve already been over it with him.”

  She wondered at his defensiveness. “Which one? Ruiz or Petrakis?”

  “Petrakis. He came by earlier today.”

  Sin filed that away. “One guy went for the cash box. The dead guy wanted something else. What was it?”

  He shrugged again. “Something I picked up from an estate sale, along with a collection of old Mexican coins.”

  “Detective Ruiz called it a trinket. Was it jewelry?”

  “No. A silver sword handle. Didn’t get a chance to have it valued, but it looked Spanish.”

  “Spanish?”

  “Spanish steel anyway, but decorated with old Aztec gods. From the time of the Conquistadors. My guess, anyway. Not my area of expertise.”

  Sin frowned, trying to think. Trying to figure out what else she should ask, but she wasn’t the detective. Not her area of expertise. “Who will you take it to when you recover it from Evidence?”

  “Already talked to an auction house in Austin. I was supposed to bring it to them today. Any idea when I’ll get my property back?”

  Sin shook her head. “Thanks for answering my questions.” She turned, ignoring Jake’s expression, knowing he thought she didn’t have any business being here. He probably wondered if she was going to obsess over this because she’d killed the guy.

  When they stepped outside, the shopkeeper followed them, locking the door after them and turning the sign hanging on the glass door to “Closed.” He hustled away without looking at either of them again.

  “What are you doing, Sin?” Jake asked, quietly.

  She shrugged. “Nothing. Just curious.”

  “You know which detectives are working the case? Why?”

  “Like I said. I’m just curious.”

  “Why do I get the feeling you aren’t telling me something?”

  Because the dead guy didn’t look human and growled like a mountain lion? She wondered what he’d say if she just blurted it out.

  She turned from him and walked back to the squad car. She’d let him wonder if she was losing it. But Sin realized for the first time in months, that she didn’t feel crazy, didn’t doubt what she’d seen. Something had happened to her when she’d been shot. Maybe her brains had been rattled a little.

  However, now, she didn’t feel like she’d lost something. Maybe something rattled loose.

  Chapter 4

  Jake showered at the station house after their shift and changed into civilian clothes that he had stashed in his locker. Jeans and a Spurs T-shirt. Tennis shoes.

  He thought about hitting the San Antonio Slew, but he didn’t really want a cold beer. He wanted another long, hot sip of Sin.

  She’d been different today. Surly and quiet with him but focused on the job. The side trip to the coin shop had surprised him. They were street cops. They cleaned up the messes and let the detectives figure everything else out. Beyond canvassing neighborhoods at the direction of the higher ups, they didn’t step all over an open investigation.

  Something was up. Maybe she felt a little guilty because her suspect had ended up in a body bag.

  He stuffed his gun and utility belt into a duffel and headed out of the station. When he sat behind the wheel of his 4X4 and turned on the ignition, he had every intention of heading home and watching a game to unwind. Instead, he found himself turning onto Sin’s street and sliding into an empty parking space outside her building.

  She probably wouldn’t even open the door once she got a glimpse of who stood on her stoop.

  He rang the doorbell anyway, waiting long moments for her to answer it. Just when he decided it was a really bad idea to be here, the door swung open.

  Sin wore a thin robe that stuck to her wet skin. She’d been in the shower again.

  Goddamn.

  She gave him a fierce look, and he thought she was getting ready to slam the door in his face, but suddenly, she grabbed the collar of his tee and hauled him over the threshold.

  Her mouth slammed into his before he kicked the door shut.

  “This doesn’t mean I forgive you,” she said in a rush when she came up for air.

  “I’m not here to apologize.” He scraped the robe off her body and walked her backward toward the living room.

  “Not happening, again,” she said, after he shoved her onto the soft, maroon micro-suede sofa.

  “Never.” He lied just as well as she did.

  He jerked his belt open, pulled down his zipper, shoved his jeans over his ass, then crawled between her splayed thighs.

  Sitting at the edge of the sofa, she reached between them, grabbed his cock in both hands and centered it on her pussy, rubbing the head in the moisture seeping from between her folds.

  Jake pushed up her thighs, hooked his arms under her knees, and rammed home.

  “I don’t love you,” she said between clenched teeth, her arms sliding around him.

  “You still scare the shit out of me,” he said, beginning to stroke hard inside her.

  “This is just sex.”

  “Fine by me,” he bit out. Then to shut her up, he slammed his mouth over hers and fucked in and out of her tight, juicy cunt.

  Whatever this was, it was damn hot. Just what he’d been waiting for since he’d woken up alone in his own bed that morning.

  They jerked and ground against each other, pumping fast, at first, then slowly when they got breathless. It should have been over quick, but he gritted his teeth and held out, not wanting it to end.

  When her breaths grew ragged, edged with desperate, feminine moans, he lifted his body off hers and leaned forward on his palms to better leverage his thrusting hips.

  Sin’s eyelids dipped. Her swollen mouth gaped. Her head began to thrash. “God, Jake. Faster,” she gasped.

  He wished he’d taken the time to strip, that he had more room to maneuver than the edge of the plush sofa, but he decided this wouldn’t be the last time he loved her tonight.

  He just had to keep her mouth busy laying kisses on him, keep his own filled with her soft, round tits—so neither of them could take verbal slices of flesh.

  Her neck scrunched against the back of the couch, her legs high in the air, Sin held onto Jake’s solid body for support, grunting softly as he hammered her.

  After the day she’d had, not talking about what they’d done the night before, not wanting to rehash all the whys they shouldn’t be together, she’d come home edgy, angry…and so horny she’d stood in the shower, fingering her pussy when the doorbell rang.

  She’d known instantly who it had to be and hadn’t bothered drying off—slinging her bathrobe around her body and practically charging to the door.

  Thank God, he didn’t know that.

  Jake’s face grew reddened, his expression urgent. “Baby, this is damn awkward.”

  “Tell me about it. We should move it to the bedroom,” she said, clutching him tighter.

  “I don’t want to stop.”

  “Do, and I’ll have to kill you.”

  A smile curved his tight lips. “Think we’ll ever get this right?”

  She huffed a sharp breath. “What’s so wrong with it? I’m almost there.”

  His mouth stretched into a smug grin. “You look a little mashed.”

  “I am, and I’m looki
ng at the reason. Stop talking so much and fuck me like you mean it, will you?”

  His snort was so masculine her pussy tightened.

  “Always trying to be in charge,” he gritted out, giving her a salvo of sharp, fast stabs.

  “Baby, you know better. Not here. Never.”

  Jake slammed harder against her center, shoving the air from her lungs, bouncing her on the soft cushions beneath her. When her release began to wash over her, Sin widened her legs and arched her back, digging her head into the back of the sofa.

  Jake followed instantly, grunting hard, delivering a stinging round of furious thrusts until he had to slow to catch his breath. Still, his arms tugged her knees toward him as he rocked into her, the motion lulling yet possessive.

  At last, all movement stopped. She opened her eyes to find him staring down at where their bodies joined. He gave a slow stroke, pulled out and did it again, as though fascinated with the sight.

  Sin couldn’t get enough of watching his expression—taut, almost feral, wholly masculine. “Looks like everything works, huh?” she joked softly.

  “Perfect fit.” His head came up, and he captured her with a searing glance. “Your pussy’s a beautiful thing when it’s eating up my dick.”

  Her lips curved. “Oooh, Chappa! Never knew you were such a romantic.”

  The wildness leached away, leaving his expression solemn. “You don’t see what I see. You’re soft there, so wet it’s like sliding through—”

  “Say ‘apple pie’ and I’ll throttle you,” she blurted, wanting—no, needing—to keep the conversation light.

  His smile looked a little forced. “How about cherry Jell-O? All pink and quivery.”

  Grateful he’d let her set the tone, she admitted softly, “That’s aftershocks, baby.”

  “That good?”

  “Always.”

  His chest rose sharply. “God, Sin, I wanna fuck you slow.”

  “It’ll never happen.” She shrugged and ran a hand across his damp chest. “I mean, you always have good intentions, but then you go all caveman on me.”

  “Is it a problem?” he asked, lifting one dark eyebrow to give her a devilish look that had her heating up all over again.

  Sin plucked at his flat brown nipples and gave him a coy glance from beneath her eyelashes. “Do you think I’m one of those soft, prissy girls who needs it all tied up in little pink bows?”

  His eyebrows lowered. “You want me to tie you up in pink bows?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Guys take things so literally.”

  “Can’t help it,” he said, shrugging. “Pretty girls suck the blood right out of our brains. We think with our cojones.”

  She giggled, the sound surprising her and making him grin.

  “Really want me to tie you up in pink bows?” he asked, his tone soft and earnest. “I’ll do it.”

  Sin swallowed hard and traced the dark hair that arrowed down his abdomen. “All I want is you, fucking me like you mean it.”

  “This dick has never lied to you.”

  “Chappa,” she said, feeling a blush heat her cheeks. “I think that’s probably the most profound thing you’ve ever said to me.”

  “What? You think I’m not too bright?”

  “Course, not,” she said, running her fingers upward through his silky hair. “I know your vocabulary diminishes when you’re horny. No words longer than two syllables. Makes me feel pretty powerful.”

  “You should,” he growled. “You’re the only woman who makes me this way.”

  Her fingers pulled his chest hair. “Don’t try to tell me you haven’t screwed anyone else since we split.”

  “Baby, I didn’t say that. Fact is, I tried to fuck you out of my mind. Didn’t work.”

  Because she didn’t know how to respond to that, she changed the subject. “How come I’m the only one naked here?”

  “’Cause I’d have to come out of you, and I think I’ll cry if I do.”

  “I promise I’ll keep it warm.”

  Jake slowly withdrew, groaning until the last inch slipped free. He stood, backed up a step, then keeping his hot gaze on her, quickly stripped.

  Sin couldn’t help it. The more bronze skin he revealed, the hotter she got. Collapsed against the cushions, she didn’t have the energy or desire to close her legs. She liked that his glance remained glued to her pussy.

  She trailed two fingers in the moisture seeping from her pussy and brought them to her lips, making a show of licking them clean.

  “That’s it. Enough teasing.” Jake grabbed her hand and hauled her from the sofa, straight into his arms.

  Standing naked, skin-to-skin, Sin’s smile slid away.

  Jake leaned down, his lips hovering just over hers. “Baby, did you toss that vibrator?”

  “I did.” She bit her lip, and then added, “but I had second thoughts and fished it out this morning.”

  Jake stepped closer, pressing his cock against her belly. “My dick’s wrung out, but I’m thinking you could use another go.”

  “Why not let me get you ready?” she asked breathlessly. “I’d just as soon have you sliding inside me.”

  His gaze smoldered. “I might need a lot of encouragement.”

  Sin tilted her head and gave him as close to a kittenish look as she could manage. “You can always spank me if I don’t do you right.”

  Jake showed his appreciation with glide of hands that swept down her sides and cupped her butt. “Maybe I’ll spank you anyway, since your eyes went all sparkly at just the mention of it.” He knelt suddenly, wrapped an arm around her thighs and rose up, draping her body over his shoulder.

  Sin didn’t mind in the least, sighing as she bent over him. The sight of the top of his ass from this angle, flexing as he strode toward the bedroom, was too delicious for her to even consider complaining.

  Too soon, she found herself tilting, flying through the air to land in a whoosh across her soft bed. Jake eased down on top of her, trapping her legs beneath his, then reached up to capture her wrists.

  Out-maneuvered, and not the least put out by it, she struggled to catch her breath and concentrated on the feel of Jake blanketing her, head-to-toe, a broad wall of muscled chest and abs, thick, heavy thighs, and a cock nudging for room against her belly. She melted beneath him, her core softening, her pussy dampening.

  Why, oh why, did it have to be him?

  Jake noted the tinge of sadness that turned down the corners of her mouth and leaned down to brush her lips in a tender kiss. “I love your mouth,” he said when he broke the kiss. “Love kissing it. Love fucking it.”

  Her scowl was pure Sin. “I already told you, I’d do you.”

  Jake shook his head. If he let her service him, she might throw it back at him, later, when they fought. And they would. “I want to take you slow and easy. Your sexy mouth sucking my dick won’t help a bit.”

  The scowl relaxed, and heat darkened her gaze. “I love it when you talk dirty to me.”

  “I know.” Jake pressed a hard kiss to her lips then slid down her body, halting when his mouth hovered above one ripened, cinnamon-colored nipple. Still holding her hands, he pressed them into the pillow beside her head. “These stay here—unless you were serious about those pretty little bows.”

  “I’ll behave. Promise.” The way her eyes glittered and her breaths rasped, he had no doubts she’d at least try.

  Jake bent and lapped one well-sprung nipple, dragging the flat of his tongue across it, while she moved restlessly beneath him. He lapped it again, then swirled over the dimpling areola, wetting it thoroughly. “I ever tell you your nipples feel softer than puppy fur?”

  Sin gave a low, sultry chuckle. “If you had, you’d still be wearing the bruises.”

  Leaning up on one elbow, he shot her a glance. All the warning he intended to give before he lifted his hand and slapped the moist nipple with his fingers.

  “That’s different,” she gasped.

  He slapped it again, popping
it sharply, then again, watching as her chest rose and fell faster with her quickening breaths.

  When her soft, pale skin grew pink, he relented, switched elbows and popped the opposite breast, swooping in to give it soothing licks, and then slapping it again.

  Her nipples spiked harder, the tips lengthening, ripening. Her belly began to quiver beneath him.

  Jake nudged a knee between her legs, and Sin quickly opened, spreading wide beneath him. The feel of her wet pussy, pressing into his belly nearly had him groaning out loud, but he slowed his breaths and cupped one breast while he softly laved the other sensitized nipple over and over.

  Sin’s hips rocked beneath him, her head thrashed. She jutted her chest upwards, encouraging him to swallow more of her breast. He widened his jaws and sucked, circling his head to drag her breast with him, teasing the tip inside his mouth with his tongue until he felt stronger tremors begin to shake her.

  “Jake…Jake…” she chanted.

  He dragged his mouth off her breast, closing his lips as he drew away until he held only the distended nipple, then began to chew it with his teeth behind his lips, clamping tight then relaxing his bite, then clasping tighter.

  Sin’s legs wound tightly around his torso, and she pumped up and down. Jake caught her rhythm and began to suckle hard, teething, sucking, following the beat of her heart and rising hips.

  When one last unrelenting shudder swept through her trembling body, Jake gripped the backs of her thighs and curved her body into his, encouraging her to rub her pussy frantically against him until her cries grew choked.

  Long after she stopped moving, he softly kissed and licked her nipples then lay his head atop her chest, listening to her slowing heart.

  “I’m almost embarrassed,” Sin groused as she lowered her legs from where she’d been gripping his sides. Her legs were cramping, and her body ached in all the right places.

  “Almost?” Jake’s hand curved possessively around a breast as he leaned over her, braced on an elbow. His all-seeing stare seemed to burrow straight into her. “I think I heard a ‘but’.”