Beverly Barton - Grace Under Fire

"I should never have agreed to help you four years ago, when Fortier sent you to make me an offer. You swore to me then that Grace wouldn't be hurt, that Fortier wanted to kill only Dean and Byram."

"We had no idea Ms. Beaumont was in the car that night. Even you didn't know."

"Tell Fortier that if he hurts Grace, I'll go to the police and confess everything. Do you hear me?"

"Yes, I hear you, you fool. Talk like that will get you killed. Is Grace Beaumont's life worth more to you than your own?"

He gasped. "Oh, God! Oh, God! He does plan to kill Grace, doesn't he?"

"Calm down. Booth will do whatever he has to do to stop Ms. Beaumont. If you can't persuade her to let matters drop, then I can't be held responsible for what Booth does."

"If I'd known how things would turn out, I'd never have helped you," he mumbled. "She wasn't supposed to get hurt. I thought she'd turn to me for comfort, but she didn't."

"Well, from what I hear, she's found all the comfort she needs from her bodyguard," Oliver said.

"That's a damn lie! Grace would never stoop that low. The man is an uncouth lout."

"Maybe her taste in men has changed."

"Shut your damn mouth."

"Pull yourself together," Oliver advised. "If you keep acting like this, yours will be the next body dumped on Grace Beaumont's doorstep."

Grace lay in bed, shamelessly naked, waiting eagerly for Jed. The steady, uninterrupted rhythm of her daily existence had blown up in her face when she'd received the letter from Jaron Vaden. Now, the man was dead. Brutally murdered and deposited at her front gate as a warning. Her life was out of control and she was reeling from the aftershocks. For four years she had clung to the memory of her husband, loving him, grieving for him, needing him every day. She had been empty inside for such a long time, the loss of her family leaving her adrift, emotionally unconnected to anything other than anguish. She had clung to Sheffield Media, Inc. as if it were her only lifeline. Indeed, it had been her one reason for living.

But everything had changed when Jed Tyree walked off the plane from Atlanta a few days ago. Had it really been less than week since his arrival? Odd that it seemed she'd known him for years. Laverna would say the feeling came from the fact that Grace and Jed had known each other in another life and were simply reconnecting in this one. Although a devout Christian all her life, Laverna dabbled in the supernatural, a trait not uncommon for many Louisiana natives whose roots went generations deep in bayou soil. Grace wasn't a believer in reincarnation, yet she couldn't truthfully say she was a disbeliever. She did know one thing for sure-Jed Tyree was no stranger to her heart.

When Jed emerged from the bathroom, his fist closed tightly over a couple of square packets, Grace suddenly felt shy, but she forced herself not to reach for the sheet to cover herself.

"Lady, you're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," he told her as he stopped in the middle of the bedroom and stared at her.

"You look pretty darn good yourself."

Oh, yes, pretty dam good, indeed. Drop-dead gorgeous might better describe the naked man standing before her. Tall, muscular, not an ounce of fat on his hard, lean torso. The type of man a woman dreamed of having for a lover.

"Like what you see?" he asked, a cocky grin curving his lips.

She stared directly at his rock-solid erection. "I like what I see very much."

"I'm thinking this time should be fast, to give us both some much-needed relief," Jed said as he walked over and laid one of the condom packets on the nightstand. "And then later, we'll take it slow and easy… and make it last." He ripped open the packet in his hand.

Flushed with excitement, Grace watched as he sheathed his sex. Her femininity tightened and released, throbbing, sending sexual longing through her whole body. What was it about Jed that made her want him all the time? She was aching so much she didn't think she could stand it another minute. Getting up on her knees, she crawled to the edge of the bed and reached out for him. She grasped his hands and tried to drag him into bed with her.

"Eager, aren't you, Blondie?" His voice was husky, exuding a mixture of amusement and desire.

"Didn't you say we'd do it fast this time?" She yanked on his hands. "Let's see some action, big boy." Her gaze settled on his impressive erection.

Jed grinned. "You want action?"

He reversed roles by grabbing her and flipping her around so that her back faced him.

When she yelped in surprise, he slid her to the edge of the bed and pressed his sex against her buttocks. His arms went around her waist, clenching her tightly. As she rested back against him, letting her body melt into his, he kissed her neck. One hand slid down her belly and covered her mound. She rubbed against him, slowly, sensuously. He groaned. She sighed. When he nudged her thighs apart, she cooperated fully, giving him full access. Two fingers glided inside her moist feminine lips and across her sensitive nub. She whimpered when he eased his fingers inside her and brought his thumb down to caress her intimately. She rode his hand, undulating against the friction as he petted her.

While she lay back against him, one of his hands worked magic between her legs and the other rose to her left breast, cupped it, lifted it, then stroked the tight, tender nipple. She cried out when hot, clawing sensation shot from her breast to her core, then rippled along her nerve endings. She was on the verge of climaxing. So close she could do nothing to prolong the pleasure. Giving her simultaneous attention above and below her waist, Jed bit her neck with tender passion. And Grace unraveled, coming apart like a tightly wound ball of yarn. She whimpered as Jed manipulated her body so that those orgasmic sensations continued… on and on, until finally he'd drained every ounce of sexual tension from her body.

Or so she thought…

Suddenly, Jed dragged her backward so her knees rested on the edge of the bed. Before she realized his intent, he positioned himself to align his body to hers, then he took her from behind, ramming himself to the hilt inside her wet, welcoming depths. When he jackhammered into her, she clutched the bedspread and braced herself for the onslaught. His big hands held her hips, keeping her in place. Unbelievably, her body responded, awakening anew to a hunger she had thought already appeased.

With one hand on Grace's hip, holding her steady as he thrust in and out, Jed slipped his other hand between her thighs. He increased the speed of his lunges and his fingers stroked repeatedly until she heard him groan and knew he had reached his limit. His release came quickly, wildly, and the last few thrusts jolted her with the force of a body slam. But what she felt-all she felt-was fulfillment claiming her once again. Within seconds after Jed came, she did, too. A second time.

He toppled her into bed, the two of them still joined, his sex still hard and hot between her legs. He nuzzled her neck.

"I'd like to stay this way until we fall asleep," he whispered hoarsely. "But…" He pulled out of her, got up, then leaned over to kiss her before he headed for the bathroom.

Grace felt lost without him. She wanted him back in her arms, back in her body. Now.

In the sweet, dark hours of predawn, it was easy to believe that nothing and no one existed outside this room. The whole world had shrunk to encompass this sixteen-by-sixteen bedroom, this big oak bed and the man who had given her unparalleled pleasure.

Gone only a couple of minutes, Jed came out of the bathroom carrying a damp washcloth. When he sat on the bed, he spread her legs apart and cleaned her, then planted a kiss just below her navel. Before she could say thank you, he left her again. But within seconds he reemerged from the bathroom.