Telling Tales

Chapter Five

“Where was I?” she repeated, staring at him with flat, dark eyes. Della Bennett ran a hand through her dark, curly hair and lifted a cigarette to her mouth, puffing twice before blowing out a stream of smoke through her nostrils. “Here. In bed, with Max,” she said, shrugging. “Why, you think I killed Bryce? That worm?”

“I didn’t say anything of the sort, Della,” Kellan said, tapping his pen against his thigh.

“Mmm. Maybe not, but you’re trying to pin down my whereabouts for the night he was killed. Can’t think of any other reason why you might be asking,” she drawled. “Max is at work, but you’re welcome to check with him.”

“Oh, I will,” Kellan said.

She shrugged. Couldn’t care less…he read the body language, the look in her eyes, and even though he finished running through his questions, he added everything up to one simple fact. She couldn’t care less about Bryce.

She wasn’t his killer.

His killer had cared, maybe obsessively so.

“What about the day Carrie died?” he asked.

Her lips curled up in a wry smile. “Max can tell you about that, too. I was busy ripping him a new asshole for daring to mess with another woman,” she said, tapping her cigarette against the ashtray. “He told me I was crazy and he didn’t know what in the hell I was talking about.” An odd look passed through her eyes and she added softly, “He was telling the truth. I didn’t admit that to myself until just a few days ago. He wasn’t messing around on me, not with Darci, not with anybody.”

“So you know Carrie was lying? Mad about that?”

“Of course, she wasn’t lying.” Della frowned at him. “Hell, I don’t know who started the rumor. Carrie was just telling me what she thought was going on. I don’t know where she came up with the story. Can’t ask her, either,” she said sadly.

“You don’t think Carrie made it up, to cause trouble with you and Darci?”

“Hell, what’s the point in that?” Della asked.

Kellan shrugged. “Darci admired you. A lot. Liked you,” he said, watching as she flinched at his words. Losing that seemed to bother her some. “That’s changed now. Hurt you a little…but I think you hurt Darci a lot. And that’s what Carrie was after.”

“Why in the hell would Carrie want that? She likes…liked Darci. Damn it, it’s still too hard to believe,” she muttered, rubbing her temple. “But she liked her. She’d tell anybody that. Even if Darci did run her mouth a lot.”

Kellan laughed. “Della, I never thought you were naïve enough to believe everything somebody tells you. Now…I know people pretty well,” he said, tossing his pen on the table. “And I can assure you, Carrie didn’t have fond feelings for Darci. She hid it well, but she did not like Darci. At all.”

With a brittle laugh, Della demanded, “How in the hell do you know?”

He shrugged. “Same way I know Carrie didn’t like you either. You two women are things Carrie wasn’t…vibrant, passionate women. Everywhere you two go, people like you. People want to be like you. People flock to you,” Kellan said. “In order for Carrie to get people to like her, she had to lie, make them think she was something other than what she was. She was a tired, bitter old woman.”

Her hands started to shake. Minutely shaking her head, drawing on her cigarette. “That’s not true,” she finally snapped, her voice rising.

“Yes, it is,” he said, cocking a brow at her. “And you’ve suspected it for a long time. You just don’t want to admit it-because then you’d have to admit why Carrie went out of her way to befriend you from the get-go. She wanted to use you. Now, that, normally, wouldn’t be unusual-I think a lot of people have tried to use you-you’re famous, talented. But you’re also smart, and quick. Usually you can spot a user from ten miles away. But not with her-you let her use you. That must really burn.”

“Fuck. You,” Della said coldly, enunciating each word slowly and carefully. Smashing her cigarette down into the ashtray, she stood and stomped out of the room. “Let yourself out.”

Strike two, Kellan thought wearily, rubbing his eyes.

He headed down River Road, telling himself to stop getting so antsy.

Darci was fine.

She had a deputy there watching the house, and she’d call if anything seemed the slightest bit odd.

No reason for him to go by the house.

Except for the fact that he had to see her. Touch her.

It was close to seven-thirty, which meant the deputy would maybe want a bite to eat.

But Kellan hadn’t planned it that way. Well, not completely.

As he pulled into the driveway, he ran his tongue over his lips, remembering the way she tasted, how she felt. How she had burrowed against him and pressed her breasts up against his chest, so that he had felt the hard nubs of her nipples stabbing into his flesh. The way her belly had cuddled his cock. The hungry little moans in her throat.

He paused by the deputy’s car and knelt down. “I’ve got to talk to Miss Law some more. You want to go grab you a bite to eat, Hank?”

The older deputy slid Kellan a telling glance, but he didn’t say anything, just lifted his stooped shoulders in a shrug. Nodding at Kellan, he started the car and shoved it into reverse, an odd smile dancing on his mouth.

“I’m as transparent as glass,” he muttered, straightening back up and pushing his hand through his hair.

Kellan glanced down at his clothes and then scowled as he realized what he was doing. The button-down and blue jeans were standard work clothes for him, topped with a blazer when he absolutely had to. If it was good enough to wear to work, then it should be good enough to go and talk to somebody related to his case.

Related, my ass. You just want to get your hands on her body again. Well, yeah. He knocked on the door and tucked his hands into his pockets so that he wouldn’t grab her the second she opened the door.

Still, when she glanced through the window and he saw that smile bloom on her face, he still had to fight not to grab her. She was too damned adorable for words, so soft and sweet and sexy. All big eyes, kissable mouth, and soft skin.

All he wanted to do was bite her.

“Hey,” she said quietly, leaning against the doorjamb, folding her arms under her breasts. Kellan’s eyes lingered on the smooth swelling mounds, the little nubs of her nipples pressing against the thin, white fabric. His mouth was watering. And if he didn’t do something or say something, he was pretty sure he’d be drooling in a few more seconds.

“Hi. I let Hank go get a bite to eat. Mind if I come in?” he asked. He even managed to keep his voice halfway level.

“Sure. Don’t suppose you’ve got anything new, do you?” she asked, standing aside and letting him move past her. Heat sizzled up his arm as his biceps brushed against her breasts. Her eyes flew up and met his. Electricity flew between them.

Reaching behind him, Kellan closed the door, watching as she braced her back against the wall with her hands tucked behind her. His eyes dipped once more to her breasts and he swore roughly. “If I tell you that I’m not here about anything related to the case, are you going to kick me out?”

One black brow rose and she shrugged. “Well, that depends. On exactly why you came. If it’s because I didn’t pay a couple of speeding tickets, then yes, I’ll probably kick you out.”

He grinned at her as her lids drooped low over her eyes, a cat’s smile dancing on her lips. “A lawbreaker, huh? Always knew there was something shifty about you, Miss Law,” he murmured, bracing a hand on the wall beside her head and leaning down to stare into her eyes.

She widened her eyes and gave him an innocent stare. “I’m really sorry, officer. If I promise not to do it again, will you be gentle with me?” she teased, her pretty green eyes sparkling at him.

He smiled as he lowered his head, slanting his lips across hers and pushing his tongue into the sweet cavern of her mouth. As she moaned, he breathed the sound in, reveling in the soft female pleasure it implied.

Pulling her against him, he pivoted so that his back was braced against the wall and the soft weight of her body was leaning into his. Pulling back just a little, he whispered, “I don’t know. Hardened criminals emerge all the time because somebody decided to be gentle with them, instead of giving them their just punishment.”

Sharp little teeth nipped his lip. Kellan groaned as he buried his fingers in her hair and whispered, “I think that’s assaulting an officer of the law, Darci.” All playfulness left him then as he brought her mouth back to his and feasted on the soft silk of her lips, drowning in her sweet taste.

His cock throbbed like a bad tooth, aching and sore. The scent of her rose in the air, hot and female. Running his hands down her back, he cupped the round curve of her ass in his hands. She moaned-a broken, hungry little sound that echoed in his ears.

Moving his lips to her ear, he whispered, “I’ve been driving myself crazy, wanting you the way I do. I’m tired of fighting it.”

Darci laughed as she pulled back just a little, running her widespread palms down his chest, toying with the buckle of his belt. “Well, I’d hate to be responsible for driving anybody crazy.”

With a chuckle, he murmured, “Now why don’t I believe that? I think you enjoy knowing you drive people insane…” He caught the hem of her shirt and pulled upward slowly, keeping his eyes on hers, watching as he slowly bared the pale skin of her torso. That hot female smile lingered on her lips and she stepped back, lifting her arms over her head and letting him tug the shirt away.

Her breasts lifted and fell as she breathed, her hands hanging relaxed at her sides. Small, round little globes, topped with deep pink circles. Lowering his mouth, he traced his tongue over first one pink nipple and then the other, smiling against her flesh as she trembled.

“You taste good,” he whispered.

“So glad to hear that,” she said, her voice trembling as she reached up and cupped the back of his head in her hands, holding him against her.

He arched her back over his arm, suckling the beaded bud deep in his mouth as he swirled his tongue across it. Cupping one knee in his hand, he drew her leg up, opening the soft folds between her thighs. Through the soft cotton of her pants and the sturdy denim of his, he felt the heat of her pussy, hot enough to scald him.

“You’re hot,” he groaned, straightening up and spinning around, pinning her against the wall. He cupped her other leg and guided it around his hips, shuddering at the damp heat there between her thighs. “Are you planning on calling a stop to this? Because if you are, do it now. Wait much longer and I think I might have to arrest myself later.”

His teeth closed over her nipple and he heard her breathless laugh just before she asked, “Why would you have to do that?”

“Well, I just don’t know if I’m going to be able to stop.” He slid his hands inside her pants and cupped her ass, the naked skin feeling like silk in his palms. “You taste so fucking good.”

“Hmmm…I don’t want you to stop, so don’t worry,” she murmured.

“Fuck,” he groaned against her breast. Dropping to his knees, he tore her pants away, finding her naked underneath. Staring at the lips of her pussy, a soft growl escaped him and he pressed his mouth against the smooth, naked mound, stroking his tongue down the slit and groaning as the hot, spicy taste of her exploded on his tongue.

He pushed her thighs wider apart, angling his tongue so that he could fuck it in and out her tight sheath, feeling her hands bury in his hair as she screamed. Her knees buckled and he caught her against him, easing her down to the floor. Kellan wedged himself between her thighs, draping one thigh over his shoulder.

He stroked one finger down the dew-slicked flesh of her pussy, spreading the lips apart before he leaned back and studied the glistening pink folds with hungry eyes.

“Since you don’t plan on calling a stop to this, you don’t mind if I spend some time-right here.”

Darci sobbed out his name as he pumped two fingers in and out of her pussy while he teased her clit into aching readiness with his lips and teeth. Fisting her hands in his hair, she arched up against him, wrapping her thighs around his head and holding him against her.

Holy hell, his tongue was magic. Breath locked in her lungs and she fought to breathe past the fire that burned in her belly. She whimpered and finally the band around her lungs unlocked and she sucked in air. His fingers slid wetly over the flesh of her pussy and she shuddered. His hands cupped her ass and she shrieked as he pulled the cheeks of her ass apart, letting the cool kiss of air dance over her body.

As the orgasm ripped through her, he shifted lower, pressing his mouth against her as though he was drinking her up. Her back arched and she pumped her hips against his face, whimpering, feeling tears spill out of her eyes, leak down her cheeks.

Her eyes drifted closed as he lowered her hips back to the floor. She felt the cool tile of the foyer under her ass, her body feeling boneless and limp.

“Darci?”

She forced her lashes to lift, fighting the languid feeling that had saturated her entire body. “Hmmm. In a few more hours, I might be able to breathe and respond, Kellan,” she murmured, watching as he levered himself up over her. His mouth and chin were wet, his eyes hooded, hungry.

“Well, I’m not waiting a few hours,” he whispered, a devilish grin curving his lips up. “You can just lie there…and think of England.”

Her heart bumped against her chest as he straightened up, reaching for the buttons on his shirt. Her heart bumped again, slamming just a little harder as renewed lust stirred in her belly. She pushed up onto her elbow, interested in the broad wedge of muscled chest he was revealing.

She stroked her finger across the muscles of his belly, watching as they rippled under her touch. “I think I can find something more interesting than England,” she whispered, smiling as he hissed out a breath between his teeth.

His body crushed hers into the floor and she sucked air into her lungs, digging her fingers into the thick muscles of his shoulders. His hand moved between them and she whimpered as she felt him tugging at his belt, unbuttoning his jeans.

His cock brushing against her belly, and as he moved lower, brushing against the naked mound of her pussy. The broad head pushed against her and Darci groaned, arching up against him, feeling one large hand cup her ass, tilting her hips upward. Big, thick…she sucked air in as he pushed deep inside the tight clutch of her body, pulling back and surging deeper inside.

“Damn it, you’re tight as a fist,” he groaned.

Darci squeezed her eyes closed, feeling a burning pressure that bordered on pain arc through her as he flexed his hips and pushed deeper. Tears stung her eyes and she sobbed.

His mouth covered hers just as she started to push against his shoulders, certain she couldn’t take any more. His tongue stroked across hers, one hand coming up to cup her breast, rolling the nipple between his thumb and finger. At the same time, he shifted position, moving higher on her body so that he brushed against the swollen bud of her clit with each slow thrust.

The sensations had her gasping, making her body relax the tension that she hadn’t realized had flooded her. As that happened, he pushed deeper inside and the head of his cock stroked over the notch buried in her pussy by the mouth of her womb. Heat sizzled in her belly and she screamed against his mouth as he pulled out, pushed back in.

His hair felt cool and silky under her hands as she clutched greedy handfuls of it. Sweat slicked his flesh as he drove inside her, the thick pillar of his cock tunneling through her pussy as she clenched around him. Dizzying bursts of color exploded before her eyes as he raked his teeth down her neck. As his teeth closed around the swollen bud of her nipple, she threw her head back, not even fazed as it slammed into the hard tile beneath her.

“Kellan, oh, please…right there,” she whimpered as he shifted again, working a hand between them and circling his thumb over her clit.

It felt like a tight band had been strung between her clit and her nipples. Every stroke of his tongue on her nipples, and every circling caress of his thumb on her clit drew that band tighter and tighter, while the slow, purposeful strokes of his cock had her lifting up against him with each stroke.

“You like that?” he growled against her lips. “What else would you like?”

She shivered at his words, at the low, sexy growl, the sensual threat she heard in his voice. “Hmmm…from you? Just about anything,” she whispered.

His fingers dug into the soft flesh of her ass and she sobbed out his name as he traced his finger down the seam between the cheeks of her bottom. “Anything?”

The orgasm hit her with the force of a lightning bolt, setting every last nerve ending to sizzling as he circled one finger around the tight pucker of her ass.

“Kellan-”

His mouth covered hers and swallowed down the scream as he started to probe the small hole, pushing just the tip of his finger inside. The muscles in her pussy started to convulse around his cock and she cried out as the burning heat inside her swelled, pushing the air from her lungs, making dark pinwheels and rainbows flash behind her eyes.

The slow, thorough probing of his finger inside her ass had her arching against him, unable to decide if she liked it or not. Just as she was deciding that she did like it, though, he pulled away and she groaned in frustration, reaching for him.

His hands caught hers and she twined her fingers with his, trying to hold him to her as he pulled away. His hands went to her hips, guiding her over onto her hands and knees. Darci felt the punch of need explode through her as he jerked her hips back against him. She felt his cock cuddle between the cheeks of her ass, felt his hands stroke down the rounded flesh, and she whimpered as one broad palm smoothed over her rump. Her body tensed in anticipation as his hand left her flesh.

When it slapped down on her ass, Darci all but jumped out of her skin. She pushed back against him, and sobbed as he spanked her again. And again, until the flesh of her ass burned and she was so damned aroused-her clit aching, her pussy weeping.

“Such a pretty ass,” he purred roughly, stroking one hand down the curve of her rump, before slapping again with the flat of his hand. “Look at how pink your skin gets…you like that, Darci?”

Sobbing, she barely had the breath to answer. “Yes…” And then his hand landed on her butt again, striking first one cheek and then the other. He teased the sensitive folds of her pussy, stroking back and forth over her.

“Damn it, Kellan, please…” she whimpered.

“Please what?” he asked, his voice dark and low.

“Fuck me!” she wailed, pushing back against him, feeling just the tip of his cock breach her folds.

She heard a low, rough growl from Kellan and then he slammed into her with one long, bruising stroke and she arched up, ecstasy ripping through her with violent intensity. She threw back her head, screaming, the tissues of her pussy clutching at his cock as he pulled out and worked back inside, fighting the tense muscles of her sheath as she climaxed. Her hair fell into her eyes, wet with sweat, limp, as she lowered her head to the floor, gasping for air as he tunneled back inside of her.

“I’m not done yet,” he rasped, reaching down and taking her hands, guiding them into place at the small of her back. “You aren’t done yet, either, Darci. You’ve no idea how long I’ve wanted you, how many times I’ve dreamed of fucking you until you screamed yourself hoarse. No, it’s not done yet.”

Her wrists secured at her back, his big body crouched over hers, Darci shook her head. Every muscle in her body felt as limp as spaghetti. The hard, brutal digs of his cock in her pussy left her body shaking and tense, and she didn’t know whether she wanted to beg for more.

Or beg him to stop. “Kellan,” she whimpered. “Kellan, please…”

“Hmmm. You’re not screaming,” he teased, pulling gently on her arms, reaching around and brushing the sweaty hanks of hair away from her face. She felt his eyes on her-blood rushed to her cheeks.

Then his fingers trailed between the globes of her ass and she bucked. His hand came around her hip, gathering the slick cream from her pussy and then returning to smear it over her asshole. “I wasn’t planning on this,” he whispered. “Not exactly. But if I had…I think maybe I would have been more prepared. Fuck me, I’ve dreamed about burying my dick inside this sweet little ass of yours.”

His finger pushed inside and she keened, a low rough sound, her back arching, tension slamming into her. She wanted to brace her body on the floor, but he still held her hands. Tugging against the hold he had on her wrists, she whimpered, couldn’t decide whether she wanted to fight harder to get away from him or come just from how damned hot he was making her.

He started to fuck his finger inside the snug confines of her ass, letting go of her wrists with his other hand. He stroked that hand down her butt and she screamed as he spanked her again, that light slap on the flushed, tender flesh of her ass closing a fist of agonized pleasure around her that wouldn’t let go.

Kellan slammed into her, harder, harder. His hand went back to grip her hip, holding her steady for the double penetration of his cock in her pussy, and his finger in her ass. His strokes picked up and she pushed back, sucking air into her lungs past the tight fist of lust.

She exploded around him, her pussy clutching around his cock as she screamed out his name. Black dots exploded behind her eyes and she felt the hot splash of his seed deep inside her pussy.

His hands clutched at her hips as he pulled out and burrowed back inside with one final thrust.

With her arms sprawled limply beside her head, Darci groaned. “I think I’m dead,” she whispered hoarsely.

He bent over her and she felt his head come down and rest between her shoulder blades. “Ummm…no. Not dead. Most definitely alive,” he said. Little tremors rippled through her pussy as his cock jerked. “And when I can breathe again, I plan on enjoying…this…again.”

This was accompanied by his hand reaching around and cupping her pussy as he eased back and urged her to the ground, cuddling her up against him. His body was hot, damp, his heart slamming against her back where he held her tight against him.

Anger boiled in her belly as she lingered outside the window.

Bitch.

Whore.

Damn it, how could she be in there getting laid when Bryce was dead? His own fucking fault, calling her Darci again, but damn it, didn’t the bitch have any compassion?

She should be sobbing, crying, sad at least that Bryce was gone. The whole world should be mourning him.

But she wasn’t mourning. She was getting fucked within an inch of her life.

Darci’s screams were audible even through the windows. With her hand pressed against the glass, she listened, rage and a twisted form of greedy desire lurking in her belly as she watched.

He’d turned the light on. She watched as the sheriff rose up on his knees, looming over her as he cupped her slender hips in his hands.

She couldn’t see well enough. She wanted to see his cock, wanted to watch as he pushed inside Darci’s pussy.

With a whispered curse, she turned away, sliding through the bushes and the trees until she got down closer to the river. Then she headed west to Cole’s Landing where she’d parked her car.

Her feet moved silently over the ground, barely stirring the branches and the leaves as she passed.

Not right. The bitch shouldn’t be enjoying life so much when Bryce was dead, his body forever cold. She wanted to hurt Darci. So much she could taste it.

But damn it, this wasn’t about Darci.

Shame and grief rose in her belly as she remembered Bryce’s hands on her, his gruff voice in her ear as he barked out orders and insults, the feel of his hands on her flesh as he fucked her, as he punished her. Nobody had ever made her feel the way he had-hot, depraved, the humiliation and hunger twining inside of her until she couldn’t tell one from the other.

She’d never feel that again. But it was his fault. Damn it, his fault.

“You got distracted,” she muttered, digging her keys out of her pocket. “Distracted. And see what it did? Remember the plan. Keep the plan in mind.”