Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

CONNOR

I waited until Neil and Wyatt had left and then sidled up towards Dr. Reese and Micah, who were talking in low voices. I didn't like how pale Micah looked or how Dr. Reese gesticulated at the hole in the ground.

"Connor," Micah shot me a glance, relieved. "Dr. Reese was summarizing," he said. I know he was thinking about the gun, but also the freaking hole on his land.

Dr. Reese gestured at the cave-in. "The falling walls have exposed the bedrock, which is now stable. However, the water flow has created channels beneath the soil, weakening it. We'll need to reinforce the area to prevent further erosion. This means installing retaining walls and proper drainage systems to divert water from the weakened spots."

Micah swallowed hard, clearly overwhelmed by the implications, although I knew that Quinn would dive in with his bottomless checkbook to get any work done. "We'll figure it out," he said, more to himself than Dr. Reese .

Dr. Reese gave a sympathetic nod. "I'll have a full report ready ASAP. In the meantime, keep everyone away from this area."

After that, the engineer and his team packed their gear and left, leaving Micah and me standing in the rain.

Micah stared at me; his shoulders tight. "And?"

I clapped a hand on his shoulder, trying to offer some reassurance. "No gun."

He relaxed, but there was still a tension in his gaze. "I need to tell… I need to…"

"Do nothing. Not yet, okay?"

"I'm telling Daniel everything."

"He's your husband, I get that."

"And Neil knows," he blurted.

I was startled. "Knows about the gun?"

"No, shit, I didn't tell him that." His eyes widened as voices reached us—Levi and Quinn walking our way—and his tone softened. "I tried to turn myself in, tried to get him to arrest me so that Rachel wouldn't…" He didn't seem to want to finish that sentence, but I filled in the blanks. Micah had offered himself up as Prince's killer to stop the authorities from turning their attention to her.

"And?"

"He said the case was closed, and I needed to walk away, but I didn't tell him I'd tossed the freaking gun down the well."

Good for Neil. But also, shit.

"Daniel knows what I did, but I haven't told him, Levi, or Rachel what I did with the gun, and if it's found … I need to be honest and get ahead of this with them because I never even thought about it after I got rid of it. "

I gripped his arm. "It will be okay."

By this time, Micah and Quinn had joined us, and Quinn hugged Micah, probably thinking he was anxious about the subsidence. I backed away and jogged down the hill as best I could in the gentle rain on the slippery surface. I bypassed Rachel's offer of a shower and clean-up. With a wave, I clambered into my car and headed into town.

Neil's house on the outskirts of Whisper Ridge was a classic mid-century weatherboard home with a small, tidy porch wrapping around the front. The land around it was open, giving a sense of seclusion with the nearest neighbor a few hundred feet away. I knew the next house was empty, and I had thought about putting down roots and buying the place. His sheriff's car was parked outside, a familiar sight that brought a strange sense of comfort.

I didn't know what made me drive there, but I pulled in and parked next to his car. I went around back but didn't let myself in even though the security would be easy to circumnavigate.

I'm not a stalker .

Much.

I could hear the shower running through a narrow window, and I stood right under the surveillance camera and waved.

The back door flew open, and I was face-to-face with a half-naked Neil, towel wrapped around his waist, dripping with water, and holding a gun on me.

"What the fuck are you doing here? I could have shot you!" he demanded .

I pointed to the intruder alarm in the bathroom. "You knew someone was here. I was waving," I said as I raised my hands.

"I was in the shower." Unspoken was that an alarm had sounded, and he'd reacted on instinct—hence the towel and the gun.

"What are you doing here?" His voice was edged with frustration.

I shrugged, trying to play it cool despite the adrenaline pumping through my veins. "I don't know. I just … needed to see you."

Neil's eyes narrowed the tension between us thick enough to cut with a knife. "I'm having a shower."

"I could wash your back," I offered and held out my hands. I was just as muddy as he'd been.

"Fuck off."

Okay, so humor wasn't working—maybe honesty would. "I couldn't stay away."

The porch was filled with the sound of the shower still running, the steam curling out of the window. Neil sighed, running a hand through his wet hair. "You can't just hang on my back porch, Connor."

"I need to talk."

Neil looked at me for a long moment, the anger in his eyes fading into something else. Exasperation maybe. "Fine. Stay here, let me get dressed. We'll talk."

"What if you don't get dressed?" I asked, pulling off my coat. The chill of the fall air gave me goosebumps as I yanked my T-shirt over my head.

"What are you doing! "

"I don't want to track mud in your house."

"You're not coming inside."

"I need a shower; you have a shower. Simple."

He blinked at me as if I wasn't making sense. "I'm using my shower."

I moved closer; he stepped back. "Is it a big shower?" I asked, toeing off my boots and putting my hand to my belt.

"What are you doing?" he snarled and shoved my chest.

I nearly tumbled off the porch but caught myself on the railing. "We need to talk. I'm muddy. I need a shower."

"Jesus, asshole!"

"My name is Connor," I gripped his wrist. "Call me Connor."

"I'll call you arrested," he snapped, and he took a final step into his house, and I went in with him, unbuckling my belt. "You need to leave."

I stopped a breath away. "We have all this adrenaline pumping through our veins, all this energy. Do you want me to leave? One word, and I'll go, and that's it."

It would be so damn hard to leave him, particularly now I had a soapy, wet, sexy man within touch. Worse, the soapy, sexy man was Neil, and yeah, I really had a thing for Neil.

"Connor, wait," he said, but he wasn't pushing me away.

"Tell me to leave, Neil. Tell me."

He closed his eyes as if not seeing me there would make this any easier as I held his wrist and rested my other hand on his hip .

"You're fucking everything up," he said, brokenly, and then he shook off my hold and trailed his touch from my chest to my chin, tilting it and then cradling my face. "This is fucked up."

"Uh-huh." I didn't want to say anything else because this moment was warmth and need, and I didn't want it to shatter like crystal.

He pushed my pants down, my underwear went with them, and then I was as naked as he was, only he had a towel. I tugged at the towel until we were on even footing.

"The things I want to do to you," he said, water beading on his skin.

Kiss me.

Neil cradled my face, his touch gentle. His thumb brushed my cheek, and then he leaned in, pressing the softest kiss to my lips. It was tentative, but it sent shivers down my spine.

I responded, my hands finding his hips as the kiss deepened. Neil's hesitation melted away, replaced by a growing urgency. He pulled me closer, our bodies pressing together as the heat ignited. Without breaking the kiss, he guided me into the large shower, the water cascading over us, warm and enveloping.

The kiss consumed us. The world outside the shower faded away, leaving us in a cocoon of steam and desire. Every touch and movement was charged, and nothing else mattered.

When he went to his knees, scrambling awkwardly, I wanted to tell him to stand up, that we'd take this to the bedroom where it was easier, but when he swallowed me, I lost the ability to string words together .

I moved the shower head, so the water was aimed at his back, not drowning him as he grasped my cock and sucked and licked, and fuck … this was only going to last seconds if I kept looking at him with his mouth stuffed full of my cock.

I turned off the shower and tried to ease away, but he sat back on his haunches, confused. I didn't want to give him time to think about this, to stop what he was doing.

"Bed! Please!" I forced out, and his confusion went straight back to lust.

We grabbed towels, but both of us were wet when we landed in the middle of his bed, scrabbling for touch, fighting for dominance, which was a battle I was happy to let him win.

For now.

He forced my hands over my head, held them there, kissing me wet and dirty, and slotted himself between my legs, pushing with his knee so I was wide open to him. When he rested for a second, our cocks hard against each other, he sighed before kissing me again.

He ground down on me, sucking and biting a path from my lips to my nipple, and then somehow, he slowed everything, almost as if he wanted this to last, and I took advantage, using my leg to topple him off me so then it was my turn to be in charge. He pulled me close, but it was less kissing and more exchanging breaths, as he stiffened beneath me and was coming hot and wet between us. I wasn't long after—his blissful expression was enough to push me over the edge, and then I swiped between us to clean us up, and he shuddered when my fingers brushed his cock .

"You can go now," he ordered.

"We need to talk."

He stared at me. "You need to go."

I chuckled and twisted myself around him. "Make me."

He didn't.

And we slept.