Maternal Instinct Read Free

contorted in agony. A faceless…
    No! She stopped dead and said carefully, "Maybe I need another beer."
    "We're going to the car," Hugh reminded her.
    "Oh." They were, weren't they? That's why they were standing in the middle of the parking lot. "Where's the car?" she asked.
    He frowned and turned in a slow circle. "Don't know."
    " I have a car," Nell said. She did remember that much. They'd returned to the station and left separately, in their own vehicles, they and a dozen others agreeing to meet at the Green Lantern after their debriefing to drown their hideous day.
    "Where?" Hugh asked.
    She thought. "Don't know. Let's jush … just look."
    They found his in the alley, next to the Dumpster. He produced keys from his pocket and unlocked the Explorer, boosting her into the passenger side. His hands lingered on her bottom, a pleasant sensation.
    Inside, he pushed the automatic lock. "Can't drive," he said, after gazing in apparent perplexity at the ignition and dashboard.
    "No," she agreed.
    "Got a blanket in back." He looked delighted at the recollection. "We could sleep."
    She was getting sleepy. Very sleepy. Only, every time her eyelids closed, she saw… She widened her eyes. "Maybe," Nell said doubtfully.
    "Or cuddle."
    Cuddling sounded nice. "You feel good," she told him.
    He hoisted her between the seats. Her hips got stuck, and while he was pushing his thumbs exerted delicious pressure between her legs. She almost pretended to stay stuck.
    He fell on her when he followed. Crushed on the seat, his weight on her, Nell contentedly wrapped her arms around him. After a while, his mouth moved on her cheek. "Feel good," he murmured.
    "Mm- hm ," she agreed.
    Somehow his lips found hers. Normally she didn't like the taste of beer on a man, but now she tasted of beer, too, so it was all right. This was a good kiss, slow, sweet, exploratory. She was able to close her eyes and think about the sensations his lips and tongue created in her instead of seeing those images she prayed she could forget.
    The tinted windows of his Explorer created a dark, private world, a bubble enclosing just the two of them.
    The kiss heated, and she tugged his shirt free from his pants and reveled in the sleek contours of his back. Muscles danced under her hands. She liked provoking a reaction. When she moved her hands around to his chest it was even better.
    He had unbuttoned her shirt, she discovered with approval. He was making pleased sounds at the sight of her bra, a tiny scrap of lace that helped her feel feminine even in the unbecoming uniform styled and cut for men. She worked at unbuttoning his shirt while he suckled her breasts.
    Nell was beginning to feel somewhat less fuzzy. A new urgency replaced the lazy abdication of responsibility. But when her hips pressed up against his, there was a clanking sound and she cried, "Ouch!" when something sharp-edged dug into her thigh.
    "Damn," he muttered, and pulled back. He looked down at her, his face taut in the faint streetlight coming through the windshield. "We have to take off our belts."
    Both wore the thick regulation leather belt that held an array of equipment: holster and handgun, pepper spray, flashlight, handcuff case, baton, radio and extra magazines.
    He unbuckled, then said hopefully, "We could just take off our pants."
    In answer, she reached for his zipper. He groaned as her fingers grazed him as she slowly worked it down.
    A cautious voice in her head tried to say, Wait! Nell refused to listen. Hugh was a good guy. They felt so close right now. She wanted to be closer yet. Her body was intensely alive, and she needed that to form a shield against the grisly images of death she couldn't will away.
    This was the right thing to do.
    His mouth sought hers again even as he eased her trousers off. Through half-closed eyelids she saw the two of them tangled, her legs long and pale, Hugh with his pants half-down, his dark hair tousled, his every breath a rasp.
    It seemed the most natural