Fatal Jeopardy Read online

  Especially when they were here, in the escape he’d created to take them back to the blissful days and nights of their honeymoon, it seemed that anything was possible. Before him, she’d always thought her breasts were too big, but watching him worship each one with his tongue and hands and teeth, she knew they were perfect in his eyes. He drove her crazy with the insistent tugging on her nipple that sent a live current all the way through her, settling into an insistent throb between her legs.

  “Nick...”

  “What, baby?”

  “I need you.”

  “I’m right here.” His lips were soft as they moved over her belly.

  “Come up here.”

  “In a minute. Or two.”

  When she realized his intention, Sam’s arms dropped to the cushion in surrender. “You shouldn’t be doing that. You’re injured.”

  “I’m fine.” His lips skimmed the sensitive skin on her inner thigh as her legs fell open to accommodate his broad shoulders. “We’re all alone, so make some noise for me, babe,” he said as dabbed at her with his tongue.

  Sam moaned and arched into him, trying to hurry things along, but he wouldn’t be rushed.

  Using his fingers to open her to his tongue, he focused on the pulsing heart of her desire as he slid two fingers deep inside her.

  She cried out from the dual sensations that rocked her and had her climbing quickly toward release.

  He knew just how to touch her, just where to kiss her. His fingers curled inside her, sending shock waves through her entire body. “Come for me, Samantha.” He sucked hard on her clit, pressed his fingers deeper into her and drove her to a scorching release that had her screaming from the sheer pleasure. And then he was poised between her legs, pressing into her insistently, sending her into a second wave of release that seemed to go on forever as he pounded into her.

  She curled her legs around his hips and grasped his ass, which she knew made him nuts.

  A low growl preceded a shout of pleasure as he came deep inside her. Every time she felt the heat of his release, she wondered if this might be the time their love created a new life. She clung to him, holding him as close as she could while she said a silent prayer that maybe this time... Maybe, just maybe...

  “I love you,” he whispered against her ear, his breath harsh and choppy from exertion.

  “I love you too.”

  “We didn’t decide anything.”

  “No, we didn’t, but we had awesome sex, so the night wasn’t a total loss.” She felt his laughter deep inside her where he remained, still hard and thick and pulsing with aftershocks. Combing her fingers through his hair, she caressed his back with her other hand and reveled in the sweetness of their love, the completeness he brought to her life and the utter perfection they created together.

  “You should do it,” she said softly, so softly she wondered for a second if she’d said the words out loud or merely thought them.

  When he raised his head to meet her gaze, she knew she’d actually said them. “What’re you saying?”

  “You should accept the president’s offer. We’ll figure it out the way we always do.”

  “Sam... You should be really sure before you say that.”

  “I’ll never be really sure. What I am sure of is my faith in you. I’ve always said you were destined for great things. This just proves that, as always, I was right.”

  He smiled and shook his head at her cheekiness.

  “Remember when they asked you to run for your seat in the election?” she asked. “We talked about what kind of people we wanted to be and whether we were willing to settle for ‘good enough’ or whether we wanted to strive to be more.”

  “I remember.”

  “If you don’t do this, we’ll always wonder what might’ve been. I’d rather not spend the rest of my life wondering.”

  “This is all your fault, you know.”

  Her mouth fell open in shock. “How in the hell have you managed to convince yourself of that?”

  “If I hadn’t fallen for the sexy, bad-ass homicide cop, no one would’ve cared about a lowly senator from Virginia.”

  “Is that what you think?”

  “That’s what I know. Ninety percent of the attention I’ve gotten in office has been because of you.”

  “All the attention you’ve gotten in office has been because of you. You have no idea how amazing and smart and dynamic and stunningly gorgeous you are, do you?”

  “Samantha,” he said with a scowl. “Shut up.”

  “You don’t even notice when all the moms at hockey are drooling over you! You’re the whole package, Nick. You’re smart and dedicated, and the fact that you’re movie-star good-looking certainly doesn’t hurt.”

  “I can’t listen to this or my head will swell.”

  She tilted her hips against his. “I love when your head swells.”

  He laughed as he attacked her neck with kisses and nibbles that had her squirming under him. “If we do this, you have to promise you won’t hate me when it totally sucks for you and gives you a huge pain in the ass.”

  “I promise I won’t hate you. I may withhold sex, but I’ll never actively hate you.”

  “Wait a minute. Withholding sex is a deal breaker.”

  Laughing at the horrified face he made, she kissed his cheeks and then his lips. “I’d only be hurting myself with that punishment. I’ll have to think of some other way to exact my revenge.”

  And then he was moving inside her again, and Sam couldn’t think of anything other than how amazing he always made her feel.

  Chapter Fourteen

  They’d moved downstairs by the time Scotty and Shelby returned. Cuddled up to Nick and dozing in front of the fireplace in the living room, Sam heard Shelby say goodnight and remind Scotty to go straight to bed so she didn’t get in trouble for keeping him out late on a school night.

  “I will. Thanks again, Shelby. I had a really good time.”

  “So did I, pal.”

  “Thanks, Shelby,” Nick called to her.

  “My pleasure. I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

  “That movie was so awesome!” Scotty said when he joined them on the sofa. “Is Sam asleep?”

  “Just resting my eyes,” Sam said. “Glad you enjoyed it.”

  “It was so cool, and Agent Hill said he’d take me on a tour of FBI headquarters during Christmas vacation. I can go, right?”

  Sam felt Nick’s muscles tighten under her. “Sure, you can. So he went to the movies with you?”

  “Uh-huh. I’m going to take a shower. I promised Shelby I’d get right to bed so we didn’t get in trouble.” He gave Nick a hug and kissed Sam’s forehead. “Night, guys.”

  “Love you, buddy,” Nick said.

  “Love you too!”

  “I adore that you guys are so free with the L word,” Sam said as she watched the flames dance in the fireplace.

  “I never heard that word growing up. I’m determined he’ll hear it every day for as long as he lives with us.”

  “And I just fell in love with you all over again.”

  He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Let’s go to bed.”

  “Thanks for tonight. I needed this time with you.”

  “So did I.” He got up to bank the fire and closed the glass doors that would contain any stray embers.

  “What are you going to tell the president?” Sam asked when he took her hand and led her upstairs, where they heard the shower running at the other end of the hallway.

  In the doorway to their bedroom, he turned to her. “You tell me what I’m going to say.”

  “You’re going to call him tomorrow and say, ‘Mr. President, I’d be honored to accept your kind offer to become your new vice president.
’”

  “Am I really? You’re sure.”

  “Hell, no. I’m not sure of anything other than you’d be crazy to turn down such an amazing opportunity. I’ll do everything in my power to make it work for you. That’s all I can do.”

  “It’s way more than I deserve in light of what I’m asking you to take on.”

  “Didn’t you promise me a rose garden?” she asked with a saucy grin, referring to his proposal in the White House rose garden.

  “I guess I did, didn’t I?”

  “You’d better get busy delivering.”

  “You promise we’ll be okay?”

  “I promise.”

  Sliding his arms around her waist, he leaned in to kiss her. “I’m going to hold you to it.”

  “Oh, jeez. Are you guys back to kissing again?” Scotty asked when he emerged from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. “I think I liked the fighting better.”

  “Go to bed, brat,” Sam said.

  He laughed all the way into his room, where the door shut with a thud.

  Nick smiled and shook his head. “I can’t wait until he falls for some girl and wants to be kissing her all the time. Payback will be a bitch.”

  “We so owe him some major abuse.” Sam brushed her teeth and slid into bed, meeting him in the middle where they slept wrapped up in each other every night. “Hey there.”

  “How’s it going?”

  “Did you hear my adorable husband is going to be the next vice president of the United States?”

  “I hadn’t gotten that memo. Is he nuts?”

  “No,” she said with a sigh as she kissed him. “He’s perfect.”

  * * *

  Nick was still asleep when Sam slid out of bed just after six the next morning, feeling energized by the evening they’d spent together. As long as they could have a night like that every so often they’d be able to stay on track no matter how crazy their lives became.

  She couldn’t deny the flutter of nerves that attacked her always-sensitive stomach at the thought of him being vice president. But he’d assured her that very little would change for her, and she’d decided to take him at his word. She was so ridiculously proud of him. After his austere upbringing with a grandmother who hadn’t wanted him around and two absent, teenage parents, he deserved every good thing that came his way.

  What he’d said about growing up without the word “love” in his home had broken her heart and furthered her resolve to make sure he heard it every day in their home. That wouldn’t be a hard promise to keep. Her love for him seemed to grow bigger and stronger with every day they spent together, every challenge they confronted and every new hurdle they faced.

  That was why she felt so strongly that they’d find a way to deal with his new role. Their foundation was strong enough to bear the weight of more responsibility.

  After a shower, she crossed the hall to the closet he’d had built to accommodate her vast wardrobe and pulled on jeans and a sweater. She pushed her feet into running shoes and grabbed a knit scarf to wrap around her neck, which bore a few marks from her husband’s teeth.

  While she knew she ought to be appalled that he’d marked her, she was secretly thrilled by the proof of how totally he lost himself in her. When she was dressed, she went into the bedroom to get her gun, badge and cuffs from the locked drawer in the bedside table, then leaned over to kiss him.

  He never stirred as she brushed her lips over the rough whiskers on his jaw. “Love you,” she whispered. She left him sleeping and went down the hall to wake Scotty. “Hey, buddy.”

  “Hey. What time is it?”

  “Just after six. Time to get moving.” He required a lot of time in the morning to get himself in gear, so they’d learned to wake him more than an hour before they had to leave for school.

  “Okay.”

  “Nick is still out cold, and I don’t think he set an alarm. Can I trust you not to go back to sleep?”

  “Yeah, I’m up.”

  “Give me a hug.”

  He complied with one of her favorite kinds of full-body hugs.

  “Sam?”

  “Hmm?”

  “What do you think of this vice president thing?”

  “I think it’s kind of cool. What do you think?”

  “It’s way cool. He’d be so awesome at it.”

  “Even if it means Secret Service guys trailing you around again?” Nick and Scotty had been under protection during Nick’s recent campaign after Arnie Patterson made threats against Sam’s family when she helped to arrest him for murder and other charges.

  “I didn’t mind that too much. The other guys at school thought it was pretty dope. Maybe I’ll get a girl agent again.”

  Sam laughed at that and mussed his hair. “Maybe we can request one.”

  “So he’s going to do it? He was worried about what you’d say.”

  “I think he is going to do it. He hasn’t decided for sure, but he knows I have no objection.”

  “It’s pretty crazy when you think about it.”

  “What is?”

  “A year ago I hadn’t even met you guys yet, and now I’m living with you, you’re adopting me and my new dad might be vice president of the whole country. That’s insane!”

  “It is pretty insane, but you know you’re the best thing to happen to us in our whole lives, right? Nothing else matters as much as you do.”

  “That’s pretty insane too,” he said softly. He sat up suddenly and gave her another hug.

  At times like this, Sam couldn’t imagine loving a child she’d given birth to any more than she loved this boy who had so thoroughly stolen her heart—and Nick’s.

  “I’ve got to get to work to hopefully sew up this case so I can get busy making pies.”

  “You’re going to actually make pies?” he asked with a skeptical look on his adorable face.

  “For your information, I’m an excellent baker.”

  “Um, okay. If you say so. I learned a few tricks with Laine last night. You’ll probably need my help.”

  She tickled him and made him squeal with laughter. “I don’t need your help, mister, but I’d love to have it anyway.” She kissed his forehead. “Have a fantastic, fantabulous day.”

  “You too. I hope you catch the person who killed those kids.”

  “Oh, I will, pal. You can count on that. See you later.” Sam pulled on her coat and stepped out the front door into a sea of photographers, a street lined with satellite trucks and reporters screaming questions about Nick.

  She turned right around, went back inside and straight upstairs to wake her husband.

  “Mmm, hey, babe. Are you leaving?”

  “I was leaving, but the entire DC press corps is camped out in the street, and they’re full of questions about you.”

  “Shit. What the hell?”

  “Does the White House have a leaker?”

  He sat up and ran his hand over the scruff on his chin. “Seems like it.”

  “I need to get out of here.”

  “I’ll walk you to your car.”

  “Normally, I’d scoff at such an offer, but there’re a lot of them.”

  He pulled on sweats. “I’m sorry to have brought them here.”

  “Not your fault.”

  “What’s going on?” Scotty asked from the doorway. “I thought you’d left.”

  “I tried to leave, but we’ve been taken over by reporters looking for the scoop on old what’s his name.” She used her thumb to point at Nick.

  “So you said yes to the president?” Scotty asked, his eyes widening with excitement.

  “Not officially.”

  “Then what’re the reporters doing here?”

  “That’s a
very good question. Let me get Sam out of here, and then we’ll figure it out.”

  “This is way cool,” Scotty declared.

  “Glad you think so,” Nick replied.

  Sam could tell he wasn’t happy about the press encamping outside their house when he hadn’t even officially decided anything. They both knew from the last year in the spotlight how intrusive the media could be at times. That was certainly not going to get better if he took on an even higher-profile position.

  Downstairs, he put on his coat and turned to her. “Ready?”

  “Let’s do it.”

  “Stay here, Scotty,” Nick said before he opened the door to mayhem.

  “Senator! Is it true you’re in line for a high-ranking position in the Nelson administration?”

  “What was your meeting about with the president?”

  “Why was the Secret Service director there?”

  “What does Nelson want you to do for him?”

  “Is it true Gooding is stepping down, and you’ve been tapped to take his place?”

  “Lieutenant, when do you expect an arrest in the MacArthur murders?”

  Nick shouldered his way through the crush and got Sam into her car. She waited until he was safely back inside before she drove away, creeping along so she wouldn’t hit anyone, as much as she’d love to mow down the whole lot of them.

  If this was what they were in for, Sam wasn’t so sure she was ready for a whole new wave of attention when the initial wave had only begun to die down. But she’d do it for him. Of course she would. Their entire relationship had revolved around her crazy job and her crazier cases. How could she not step up for him when he’d been given such a golden opportunity?

  Sam wasn’t surprised to find another crush of reporters gathered outside the main doors at HQ, so she drove around to the morgue entrance. She lived in mortal fear of the day they discovered her “secret” way into the building.

  “Oh my God, Sam.” Lindsey pounced the second Sam walked through the door and dragged her into the morgue office. “Terry told me what’s going on. Are you freaking out?”

  “Um, no,” Sam said, amused by her friend’s reaction. “Not as much as you are.”