Chapter Nine

Damn man! Fallon thought as she walked through the night. She had gone from the prospect of having sex with one hot-ass man to walking through the rainy Seattle streets.

“At least he gave me some dessert.” She avoided a puddle and kept on her present course.

Her mind replayed the surprise in his voice as he asked about the slug. Could he have not known? Was it possible he could be an ally? He was born into a cop family. Some bonds were hard to break. Honestly, Fallon didn’t remember much about Ian. He and Shawn ran together and were on the same football team, but she never really spoke to him.

Maybe I should ask Shawn about him.

“I would have driven you home,” Ian’s voice reached her. “Get in the car.”

Fallon turned her head to the left and saw Ian’s Cobra Jet keeping pace with her. He leaned across the seat and opened the door. She walked toward him. “Sure you want a Maddox in your car?”

“Just get in the goddamn car.” He arched a brow at her.

Though it galled her to do so, Fallon climbed in and shut the door. He tossed a towel at her. She looked at the man behind the wheel and fought a shudder. She felt his anger rolling from him in waves.

“That was a stupid thing to do. Going off like that. I’ve been driving all over, looking for you.”

Fallon rolled her eyes. “You want me to apologize for you doing something I didn’t ask you to do?”

Ian whipped the car into a deserted parking lot, parked them in a dark corner, and faced her. “You are being insensitive. Did it occur to you I could have been worried?”

She snorted. Was this man for real? “Considering the scorn in your voice before I left your house, no, that wasn’t a thought going through my head.”

Fallon watched through the darkness as he clenched his jaw. The faint glow from the instrument panel highlighted the grim set of his face. He looked angry.

“Well it should’ve been. It’s night, it’s raining and you don’t have a car.” He sounded surly.

Wiping her hands off again on the towel, Fallon expanded her seatbelt and leaned across the interior of his car. She kissed him briefly and said, “Thank you for being worried enough to come find me.”

As she moved back, he grabbed her chin and held her against him. Fallon purred as the kiss grew deeper. Her nails dug into her palms as his tongue stroked along hers.

“You are infuriating, woman,” he groaned into her mouth.

“Likewise, Cavanaugh,” she growled back.

“I’d better take you home.” Ian righted himself in his seat, turned up the defrost, and stared out the windshield.

“Probably. I’m getting your seat wet. The towel helped, but didn’t take care of everything.”

His voice dropped a few octaves lower. “I want you wet.”

Her skin flushed and prickled as a wave of moisture pooled between her thighs. “Take me home before we mess up the interior of your vintage mustang.”

A throaty laugh erupted from him. “Yeah, we wouldn’t want that.”

Fallon watched him out of the corner of her eyes. Her nipples were tight, craving his touch. Her body wanted his with an intensity she hadn’t felt before...ever.

“Tell me something about you, Fallon.”

She stared at the Space Needle as they drove and licked her lips. “What do you want to know?”

His hands flexed on the wheel. “Tell me something, Fallon. Anything. Before I lose what control I have, park us somewhere, and fuck you like a goddamn horny teen.”

Fallon couldn’t help it. She grinned, although erotic shivers jolted through her. His admission made her long to giggle like a schoolgirl, and yet part of her wanted him to make good on his promise.

“What a proposition,” she teased. “Think you’d get written up for parking?”

“It’d be well worth it.”

Fallon heard the lightheartedness in his tone that didn’t quite hide the sexual desire. “Yes,” she muttered, wringing her hands in the towel. “Yes it would.”

Normal nerves of steel were shaking like a tree in a hurricane. What is it about him that makes my training and discipline vanish? She remained silent, unsure of the words that would come out of her mouth.

“Here you go, Ms. Maddox. Delivered home safely.” Ian put his car in neutral and set the brake.

“Thank you. For everything.” Fallon left the car and ran up the steps without a look back. She released a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. She slid through the shadows and entered her room as Dylan called her name.

Shit! I was so close, too.

***

Ian normally loved to drive his car. Tonight, however, was a different story all together. He drove back home with a raging hard-on and hormones running rampant.

He groaned as the touch of her lips on his flashed through his memory banks. “Damn it. Why’d I let her go?”

Ian shifted against the seat as he tried to find a comfortable position for the erection that pressed against the denim material of his pants.

Deep within Fallon would be comfortable.

He struggled to pay attention to the road. It was a long and uncomfortable ride home.

Once he was home, Ian took a long shower, hoping to ease the tension emanating from him. A bright white smile against medium brown skin kept popping into his mind.

How would she taste? Her thick cream. Her cries of pleasure as he drove home deep between her thighs until neither of them had energy to move. One hand curled around his throbbing erection. Ian closed his eyes and began to stroke himself. He conjured up images of him and Fallon Maddox.

His hand moved faster, fingers giving him increased snugness; Fallon’s sultry eyes seemed to encourage his release. She stared unblinkingly. He closed his eyes as his balls tightened. Faster and faster he fisted his engorged cock. With a low shout he erupted and shot a load of cum all over his shower wall.

Later, as he slid naked into bed, her big eyes still hovered in his mind’s eye. Watching him with endless patience.

***

“What happened, Spike?” Fallon asked the leader of The Rapiers. It was just the two of them in the room. A member of his crew had frisked her before even they allowed her into his house. She looked at the man who lounged in his chair. His olive skin, smooth jet-black hair, and suspicious eyes.

He stretched one linen clad leg out and looked dispassionately at her over the mahogany desk. “That’s what you have to say to me? What happened? You demand to see me, and when you get in that’s how you greet me?”

“Be happy I asked to see you, Bartholomew.” She shifted her weight and met his stare head-on. Bartholomew Lee Kim, aka, Spike, leader of The Rapiers.

A sardonic smile lifted half of his mouth. “Still not one to mince words, are you? I could just call for my men.” It sounded like a warning.

She didn’t like warnings. Fallon struggled to tap down the growl of anger that threatened to erupt. Keep your calm, Fallon. You know he’s just trying to goad you.

“You could,” she drawled, moving closer to the desk, “but you won’t.”

Understanding filled his gaze. Followed by sympathy. “None of my crew was there. That is a neutral zone. Perhaps the Double Z’s broke that code, but we didn’t.” He walked over to her side of the desk and sat on the solid wood. “No one in my crew would do your father anyway. You’re family.”

Fallon searched his face before nodding. The one thing she knew was that despite their unlikely and sometimes volatile relationship, Fallon could trust him not to lie to her. It was an unspoken pact between them. Never lie to the other.

“Have you heard anything about that night?” Fallon heard the desperation in her voice, but ignored it. She would walk through hell to find the truth.

Spike pushed up from the desk and walked to a wall safe. He spoke as he entered in the combination. “I’m sorry, no. I will have our ears out and let you know.” He pulled out some money and shut the safe. “What are you thinking?”

“The cops are lying. If they can blame it on the gangs, maybe there will be retribution.”

He sat down. “Okay, I could see that. Those damn pigs aren’t trustworthy.”

Her mind honed in on the ever-present image of Ian Cavanaugh. “Look, I should get going before my brothers come looking for me. Let me know if anything pops up on your radar.”

Spike rose from his chair again and walked to stand beside her. Fallon smiled as she met his black eyes.

“That’s right, they never liked me.”

Kissing his cheek, Fallon shook her head. “They never liked any man for me. But before I ruin your reputation, I’m outta here.”

He pulled her into his arms for a brief embrace. “Yeah, I don’t want that. I’ll call if I hear anything.”

“Peace.” Fallon returned the hug, headed for the door, and walked out.

A cold Saturday morning found Fallon sipping her peppermint hot chocolate as she waited for her brothers to meet her at Pike’s Market near the pig statue. As she glanced around at the people walking about, she recognized a face in the crowd.

I know him from somewhere.

The man strolled around, pretending to be a shopper, but he watched her all the time. A futile effort; once she spotted him, she kept him in sight.

“Hey, sis,” Shawn said as he and her other brothers walked up.

“Hey back.” She saw that Herschel’s whole family was with him. “Hello, Laura,” she said with a smile. “Good to see you.”

“Hi, Fallon,” she returned. “I’m so sorry about your father.”

“He was yours as well, but thank you.” Fallon looked at the twins and smiled at them. “Hello, Kaitlyn. Hello, Kylie.” She kept her smile even though they shied away from her. They didn’t really know their aunt, so there was no offense taken.

As her family moved through Pike’s Market, Fallon still saw the guy from earlier. He shadowed them everywhere they went. Fallon walked into African Treasures and perused the scarves, clothes, baskets, and other knickknacks that filled the small room.

This was one of her favorite shops at Pike’s Market. She picked some clothes she wanted and a basket for a friend. Happy, Fallon headed out of the store to catch up with her family.

Clay fell into step beside her as they strolled. “Are you sticking around?” he asked, taking her bag from her.

“For a while.” Fallon tucked her arm through his. “At least until I get this figured out.”

“What about Ian?”

She frowned. “Umm, what do you mean? What about him?”

“What’d he tell you?”

Relief washed over her. He didn’t know about her intimate exchange with Ian. “He didn’t know about the .45. I don’t know if he’s in on the cover-up. His surprise seemed genuine.”

A harsh laugh fell from her eldest brother. “Don’t let him fool you.”

“Don’t worry. I know he’s fishing for info. When I was at lunch with Jeremiah he saw the photo and said we needed to talk.”

“What happened?” Clay stopped to look at the t-shirts near him.

We kissed and I almost screwed him. “Not much. I told him I didn’t trust him and he got mad. So I left.”

A wry smile crossed his face. “Does he know it was you who put him on the floor?”

“Nope.” She laughed and her heart lightened as Clay joined in.

“Hey, I almost forgot. We got a match this afternoon, you in?”

Football with the guys. Fallon nodded. “I’m in.” She loved it.

The rest of the time at Pike’s Market was fun. A reprieve for all the Maddoxes from the devastation that struck their family.