Deceived At Every Turn Read online

“Come for me, Harper,” he urged as the pressure in his balls sent heat surging through his groin, and an electric jolt shot up the length of his spine. “I’ve got you. Let go and give me all you got.”

  The spasming of her muscles around his dick made him freeze in mid-thrust as she rode her climax. Spellbound by the sight of Harper in the throes of orgasm, he shuddered, attempting to stave off his own release a few more seconds so he could continue watching her enjoy hers. He’d never seen anything more beautiful. Her lower lip quivered. Feminine perspiration glistened on her skin. The scent of her completion engulfed his senses as he inhaled. Her body trembled in his arms. Her eyes glassed over, filled with lust, fulfillment, love. Knowing he was the one to put the sated glint of passion on her face was all it took to push Riley over the edge to claim his own release. He slid home with one final thrust, losing himself in her hot, tight depths.

  Moments later when they came up for air, they were panting heavily, as if unable to suck enough oxygen into their lungs. Beads of their sweat mingled together as they held each other close, each relishing their culmination.

  Through the sexually induced haze fogging his brain, Riley decided if this were his last day on Earth, he’d die a happy man.

  “You are amazing.” His voice rasped. He rested his forehead against hers. “Now, I’m going to take you to bed and make love to you slowly, and in every imaginable way we can come up with. I intend to worship every inch of your beautiful body just as you deserve. Just like I’ve wanted to do every day for the past two weeks.”

  “But…the girls.”

  “Fred and Ginger moved into the tent when I got out. I propped the screen door open when I came in. I brought my monitor from home, the receiver’s already set up in the living room. I wasn’t planning on spending the whole night in the tent either. Making love with you tonight has been a hell of a bonus.”

  * * * *

  At his last remark, Harper became enraged.

  “I might strip to make ends meet, Riley,” she snapped and tried to squirm out of his tight grasp, tried to push his still hard cock from her body. “But I’m not a fucking whore.”

  The grip on her hips tightened, almost making her wince in discomfort as Riley thrust his hips forward, seating himself even deeper inside her.

  “I never thought you were a whore. Now, I’m taking you to bed where I will show you exactly what I do think of you.”

  With her still impaled on his shaft, Riley wrapped her legs around his waist, cupped her backside in his hands, and walked to her bedroom.

  True to his word, he spent the next several hours making love to her until they both fell asleep from sexual exhaustion.

  Chapter 10

  When Harper entered the kitchen the next morning after her shower, Riley was already serving the girls, and the dogs, breakfast. Scrambled eggs and bacon for all.

  “Is there something wrong with the doggie kibble?” she asked him with a grin.

  “Those dry chucks didn’t smell or look nearly as appetizing as my gourmet scrambled eggs.”

  “Uncle Riley puts cheese in the eggies,” Zandra announced.

  Harper’s breath caught as he winked and flashed her a seductive grin. Her cheeks heated.

  After retrieving a pitcher from the refrigerator, Harper poured four glasses of juice and passed them around.

  “Did you enjoy your sleepover?” she asked the girls, taking a swallow of her juice.

  Three ‘yeses’ cheered in answer.

  “Did you?” Riley’s breath caressed her ear as he set a plate of food in front of her.

  Her skin heated from her breasts up to her forehead. “Yes,” she admitted in a breathless rush.

  The four of them sat enjoying breakfast together and reminiscing about the sleepover. Olivia declared she couldn’t wait until they did it again. Riley started cleaning up the dishes as Olivia and Zandra began discussing the day’s activities.

  “When are we going to your boat, Riley? Can we go now?” Olivia piped up after finishing her juice and handing him her empty glass.

  “Boat?” Harper choked on her own juice.

  “Riley invited us to go for a ride and sleepover on his boat today,” she said. With childlike enthusiasm she and Zandra bounced in their chairs.

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Harper commented with hesitation.

  Last night with Riley was fantastic. It had been a long time since she’d been intimate with someone, and it had never before been like it was with Riley. She’d wanted to be with him since the night he’d kissed her in her kitchen and crashed on her couch.

  Riley was an attentive and passionate lover. Totally committed to giving her pleasure, making sure she was fulfilled before seeking release himself. She’d never been treated like that before. He was great with his niece and treated Olivia with the same attention and affection he bestowed upon Zandra. Olivia was falling for him too. It was obvious he’d won her over. Hell, though it pained her to admit it, he’d won Harper over as well.

  But a relationship was out of the question. It could never work.

  “Oh please, please, please!” both girls pleaded and now bounced around beside her.

  “Come on, that’s enough, girls. If Olivia’s mommy isn’t sure about going boating today, we’ll do it another day. It’s all right.”

  “Mommy?” Harper chirped.

  Olivia laughed. “Aunt Harper isn’t my mommy. She’s my Aunt Harper.”

  “You’re her aunt?”

  A wave of relief washed over Riley’s handsome face. Why would that declaration relieve him?

  “You thought I was her mother?”

  “Well, yeah. She’s a miniature version of you--the blond hair, the bright green eyes. I made the assumption since this house and bills are in Alex’s name. Then when I went to see him--”

  * * * *

  “You found Alex? You saw him?” Harper’s voice jumped several octaves.

  Her usual bright eyes darkened. Passion no longer flared in their green depths. He saw only anger.

  “Olivia, take Zandra and go to your room, please.”

  He could tell it took every ounce of her control to keep her voice even.

  “Are we going on the boat now?” Olivia asked.

  “I don’t know. Now go, please,” Harper said, her gaze locked with his.

  When the sound of Olivia’s bedroom door closing carried to the kitchen, Harper unloaded.

  “It all makes perfect sense. Now I know why you cops have been tailing me. Your sudden nicey-niceness toward me. The use of your car. Last night. God, I’m such an idiot. Fuck! All this time you were looking for him! And I lead you right to him. Why didn’t I see it sooner? I’m going to have to move him.” Harper paced her tiny kitchen, flailing her arms. The intense anger radiating from her made Riley take a step back. “Why in the hell did you have to go into the nursing home?” she shouted at him.

  “Whoa, back off, sweetheart.” Riley raised his hands defensively, and though it pained him, his voice as well. “Olivia called him ‘daddy,’ so I just assumed he was your husband--”

  Harper cut him off, yelling even louder. “My husband? You thought I was married? So you’re into seducing married women. Hopefully get some no-strings-attached casual fucking, eh? Good to know.”

  “No! That’s not it at all. And after last night you should know me a little better than that. I went to see him because I was pissed he left you so strapped for cash you had to resort to stripping to make ends meet for you and your daughter.” His voice was now as loud as hers.

  “I don’t need your pity,” Harper spat.

  “I don’t pity you, Harper,” he shouted. “When I saw him, my heart broke for you. Mary explained to me that he’s brain dead, and there’s no hope of recovery. She said you were paying for his private care--”

  Her expression turned icy, and Riley wondered if the sudden chill in the room actually happened, or if his mind was playing tricks.

  “Well, it sounds like you’ve done
your research, haven’t you, cop? Found me out.”

  Throwing his arms in the air, Riley rolled his eyes. “Ah shit, we’re back to that, are we? What the hell is it with you? Why do you have this intense hatred for the uniform?”

  Unshed tears welled in her eyes, threatening to fall. But she held them at bay.

  “Dirty cops, Riley!” she hollered back on the brink of a scream. “I hate dirty cops.”

  “No one likes a dirty cop,” he countered. “Jesus, Harper, you’re hurting. I’m sorry you’re hurting. Tell me why. Let me help you.”

  “Go to hell, cop.”

  Judging by the fire in her eyes, Riley knew he was about to be on the receiving end of a few more expletives when they were interrupted.

  “Aunt Harper?”

  “Uncle Riley?”

  Two tiny and frightened voices whispered from the doorway and broke through their hostile tension, making him and Harper compose themselves in quick fashion. At the same time, they snapped their gazes toward Olivia and Zandra, who were half dressed in their bathing suits and holding under-inflated water toys. They wore matching expressions of trepidation. Worry made their eyes wide. Their lower lips quivered as if it were taking all their power to hold back tears.

  * * * *

  “Yeah, sweetie?” Harper was embarrassed and irate she’d allowed the argument with Riley to get loud enough to startle the girls and bring them from the bedroom.

  “Why are you guys yelling?” Olivia’s voice crackled as she spoke. “And are we going to Riley’s boat now?”

  “I’m sorry Riley and I were talking so loudly. And no, we won’t be going on his boat today.” Or any other day for that matter.

  A deafening silence fell over the kitchen. Olivia and Zandra’s expressions dropped with disappointment.

  Her own heart broke. How had she let things get so out of control? Because Riley had blindsided her. Had broken through her carefully constructed barricades, that’s how. The night before she’d acted wanton, practically throwing herself at him, begging him to make her feel. Inviting him into her bed, her body, she’d allowed him a peek into her soul.

  For the past six months she’d been so careful, cautious, and then in one night, one damn night of incredible passion, she’d blown everything. She’d wanted him last night. Needed him desperately. Not just to assuage the desire he’d inflicted, that consumed her constantly these days. It was he himself, Riley Spence she’d had to have.

  Their sharing of each other the night before had been perfect.

  Except he’d been using her.

  She felt like such a fool.

  Now, two innocent kids were dragged into the mix. Olivia, lacking a male role model, and probably longing for one, had been easily persuaded by Riley’s charms. Zandra, whose only female influence was a woman who spent her time glued to the front of a television screen, had suddenly attached herself to Harper.

  How in the hell was she going to fix this mess before anyone got hurt? Well, more hurt.

  “Oh, yes, we’re going on the boat.” Riley’s calm voice split the silent tension hanging like a ten ton weight in the kitchen. He helped the girls fasten their bathing suit tops and walked them to the back door leading out to the yard. “You girls go on outside and play, and we’ll leave as soon as Harper and I get things ready. Okay?”

  The girls ran out the door and over to the jungle gym.

  “Fred, Ginger, outside.” After shooing the dogs out, Riley closed the screen door and the inside steel door and turned to face Harper.

  “How dare you undermine me with Olivia? Who in the hell do you think you are, cop?” she snarled through gritted teeth. Her face once again heated with anger.

  Exuding confidence--the same confidence she found stimulating last night, pissed her off this morning--Riley strode across the kitchen toward her. With his hands on either side of her face, he tipped her head back until she had no choice but to look at him, and he stared into her eyes.

  “Drop the ‘cop’ bit, honey,” he said, before pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. “It’s lost its zing.”

  Damn him for being so confident and self-assured. Double damn him for being so gorgeous. And triple-fucking damn him for being so all-of-a-sudden calm.

  That’s what irritated her the most.

  His slight smile and deep voice turned her legs to Jell-O. She thought of the way her body had melded with his. How easily she’d responded to his sensual touches as he made love to her over and over again the night before. How she’d lost herself in the comforting embrace of his strong, powerful, protective arms.

  Barely above a whisper, Riley’s voice once again broke through her defenses.

  “Talk to me. I want to help you through whatever it is you’re dealing with. Why do you have to move him? Tell me about Alex.”

  Chapter 11

  Several tense moments of silence passed between them before Harper gave in and wrapped her arms around Riley’s waist. Resting her cheek against his chest, she inhaled his rich, masculine scent. Warmth spread through her, making her relax into him.

  “Why do you care?” Although anger still laced her voice, she no longer possessed the energy to fight him.

  “Honestly, I don’t understand it myself. But what I do know is, I’m falling hard for you, Harper. I can’t fight needing to be with you. I want to make love with you again.” He stopped and inhaled against the top of her head, and tightened his arms around her. “I feel your pain, and I want to do everything in my power to take it away for you. Help me help you. Let me in, and help me to understand.”

  Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! He was saying all the right things, at just the right time. Why did he have to be so sensitive? Harper sighed. And cursed like a sailor inside. A tremor coursed through her body. She knew she’d have to tell him something, anything to squelch his curiosity, but she wouldn’t tell him everything. Couldn’t tell him the most important thing. Her darkest secret. He carried a badge, and for that reason alone, he couldn’t be trusted.

  One night of fantastic sex did not earn him that kind of trust.

  Though she wanted to stay in his arms and draw on his strength, she needed to put space between them. She withdrew from Riley’s embrace and sat down at the table.

  “Alex is my brother. He’s eight years older than me. We celebrated his thirty-second birthday last month. And unfortunately, once he left home, we grew apart. Didn’t get along anymore.

  “Six months ago I heard about the shooting on the news and rushed home to be with him. It wasn’t until I arrived at the hospital that I learned Olivia’s mother committed suicide six weeks before Alex was shot. I also found out after his wife’s death, Alex left me Power of Attorney in the event something happened to him, and he named me Olivia’s guardian.”

  Harper stopped to collect her thoughts and rubbed hard circles against the sudden throbbing in her temples as an uncomfortable silence grew between her and Riley. She wasn’t sure if she appreciated his silence, or resented it.

  Her mind flashed images of that night in the hospital. The first time she’d seen her brother in more than five years, lying dead in front of her. Well, technically he wasn’t dead. Life-support machines kept him among the living, but by all accounts of being alive, Alex was not.

  “Right from the beginning the doctors told me Alex would never recover. Never. The next morning I had his lawyer petition the courts for sole custody of Olivia. Seven months ago I was a carefree twenty-three year old, flying through life by the seat of my pants. One month later I took on the life of a responsible adult, playing house with a four year old. I don’t have any idea how to be a parent. I just hope I don’t ruin her.”

  “Olivia is thriving, Harper. She’s a terrific little girl. You’re doing a great job with her.”

  While it was nice to hear him say it, Harper still had her doubts. She thanked God every day for Melina. She couldn’t have done it without her.

  “So tell me about the private facility and why you’re paying for
it. Alex must have had insurance and a pension through the force. Why do you think you have to move him? Why do you feel he isn’t safe there? Who are you hiding him from?”

  She glanced up at him and raised her brow. Somehow she knew it wouldn’t be enough to suffice his curiosity.

  “Sorry.” He shrugged. “It’s the detect--cop in me. I’ve got questions.”

  Of course he did.

  “In the hospital the night he was shot, Chief Wade Marshall played the part of the concerned and sympathetic boss to the max. ‘The force is here to support you, Harper. I’ll do whatever I can to find the son of a bitch who did this to Alex, Harper. If you need anything at all you just come to me, Harper.’

  “Not even one week after the shooting Marshall called off the investigation. He said there weren’t any substantial leads to pursue, and he simply didn’t have the resources or the manpower to continue. Oh, he was so very sorry, but there just wasn’t anything more he could do.”

  As the memories flashed through her mind as if they’d only happened yesterday, her body stiffened. When she spoke, she didn’t bother to mask the venom in her voice or the contempt she held for the chief.

  “During that same conversation I asked him about Alex’s benefits, pension, insurance money. Was there anything available to help me out? He told me he’d already looked into it and filed all the necessary paperwork on my behalf, but nope, unfortunately there wasn’t any money available. According to the chief, Alex terminated his benefits and never paid into a pension. Which doesn’t make sense to me. Alex was a very responsible guy, Riley. He would have made sure Kate and Olivia were well provided for in case something happened to him. I searched the house when I got here, for paperwork, for anything, but found nothing. It was like, any files Alex had, simply vanished into thin air when he got shot. Alex was meticulous. It doesn’t make sense.”

  Even with the temperature increasing in the kitchen, she shivered.

  “Anyway, a couple of weeks after the shooting, I announced Alex had died and I had him moved to a private nursing home, quietly. I knew Marshall would never question it, and he didn’t, he didn’t care about us enough to bother. The doctors had said Alex was brain dead, and every day Marshall told me I had to accept the fact that my brother wouldn’t pull through, and get on with my life. It almost seemed like he hoped Alex would die or that he was happy, or relieved, he would never pull through.”