The Heat Is On

was spreading hot, desperate kisses over his neck in tune to the hot, desperate words she was whispering, “Don’t stop, Jacob. Please, don’t stop loving me…”

“I won’t,” he swore, wrapping his good arm solidly around her back as he began to move, flexing his hips, doing his best to meet her thrust for thrust as he kissed, bit and sucked the skin of her neck and throat, all of it turning her on all the more, as if she needed to be any more turned on.

“God, Bella.” He paused to devour her mouth again, his tongue tangling with hers. “You’re so wet, so tight.” He was looking into her eyes, holding her gaze prisoner, and she couldn’t look away, didn’t want to.

“Mine,” she thought he whispered, but then she burst and could hear nothing but the blood rushing through her head and the faint guttural sound of Jacob’s rough groan as he came, his entire body contracting with hers, taking her over the edge yet again in a longer, protracted orgasm she wasn’t sure she’d survive. Then his mouth touched hers, sharing air, sharing everything he had, and there were no more thoughts.

FOR A WEEK NOTHING MORE happened on the case. No shootings, no notes, nothing out of the ordinary. The men on Bella’s date list were still watched and protected to the best of the P.D.’s ability, but every day that passed seemed to drain some of the urgency away.

Not Jacob. He remained frustrated and worried about Bella’s safety, especially given that his shooting arm was, well, shot.

But he was glad for the reprieve from more death and mayhem. It gave him time to obsess over whatever he’d done to make Bella pull back. Not physically.

Physically, they were still setting records for condom usage and the number of times they could drive each other insane in bed.

And out of it.

But emotionally…emotionally Bella had changed, albeit so slightly it was hard to be sure. Still, ever since that day after his shooting, when Austin had walked in on them, she hadn’t been quite as open, quite as…his.

And nothing he did seemed to bring her back. The only time she allowed any kind of connection with him was when they were making love. And that should have been enough.

But it wasn’t.

Another adjustment was the whole being off work. For the first time in years, he wasn’t working 24/7, and he…liked it.

He liked it a lot.

He liked having free time, which he did his best to spend with Bella. She and Willow were determined to reclaim Edible Bliss and get over the shootings, and their customer base was slowly returning, but when she wasn’t toiling away in the kitchen, she came out to be with him.

He’d played the injured-patient card for the first few days, and had indeed coaxed a Nurse Bella out of the deal. And then, though he was up and about, he managed to still need her help with as many tasks that involved dressing and undressing as possible.

She’d been game.

So maybe he’d imagined the other, the slight pulling back. Maybe it was just her way of keeping it “casual” like they’d agreed.

If so, he had to respect that.

And so it was that one week after getting shot, he’d conned Austin into bringing Shenanigans takeout for him and Bella. She was due off work any time, and had said she’d drive over.

He’d have preferred to take her out in person. Maybe for paddle boarding, or kayaking. Or a ride on his bike.

Something wild and fun and adventurous.

But he was still so limited. The shoulder was healing, but slowly, painfully slowly. He’d started physical therapy, except it would be a month yet before he had full movement.

At least his doctor had promised to clear him back to desk duty next week.

Woo hoo. Desk duty. He could hardly wait.

Austin let himself in and set down the bag in the kitchen. “Where’s the wife?”

“Funny.”

“No, what’s funny is that you think I’m kidding.”

Jacob pulled out the containers of food and…a couple of X-rated magazines. He slid a look at Austin.

“What? You’re married, not dead.”

“Will you stop with the married thing? We’re just…seeing each other.” Austin snorted.

“What?”

“Jacob, she has a drawer of her stuff in your bathroom.”

“So?”

“So when a woman has a drawer in a guy’s house, it’s not casual.”

“It’s just while I’m recuperating.”

“Really? So when you’re back to work, you’re going to tell her the license for the drawer is revoked?”

Jacob opened his mouth, and then shut it.

Shit.

He hadn’t thought of it like that. Hell, he’d not thought of it at all.

“Look,” Austin said, taking pity on him. “As a cop, you’re careful, methodical. It’s what makes you so great at the work. But you suck at the real-life shit.”

“I do not.”

“Real-life shit can’t be run off a careful, methodical plan of attack, man. Or by the book. Sometimes you have to wing it. Sometimes you have to go with the flow.”

“I can go with the flow as good as the next guy.”

Austin wasn’t buying it. “Going with the flow would mean accepting that Bella isn’t just a casual fling. That things have changed, and you want more with her.”

“More doesn’t work out for me, remember?”

“Yeah, but that was when you were with the wrong women, and when you were just a badass detective and nothing else.”

“What are you talking about? I’m still a detective.”

Austin eyed Jacob’s board shorts, which was all he was wearing. “No, now you’re also part beach bum apparently. Maybe that guy could go for more and keep it.”

“Would you quit it already. We’re just messing around.” There wasn’t more, there couldn’t be, even if he sometimes lately found himself wishing for it. No woman in her right mind would want more from a cop, and he knew this from personal experience. “Hey, guys.”

They both whipped around to find Bella in the doorway.

“Didn’t mean to startle you,” she said. “I knocked, but no one answered.”

As usual, she was a sight for sore eyes. She wore a knit top that crisscrossed her breasts and was the color of her eyes, with a short denim skirt that made the best of her mouthwatering legs. Jacob headed for her, pulling her in, pressing his mouth to her jaw, then her lips, and though she met his kiss, it seemed devoid of its usual wattage. “You okay?” he asked, running his good hand down her arm. “Always.”

“You kids enjoy,” Austin said, and pulled Jacob away from Bella in the guise of giving him a brotherly noogie. “You might want to explain that ‘just messing around’ comment to her,” he whispered.

But Jacob knew that no explanation was necessary, not for Bella, who’d set the rules herself. He shoved Austin out the door and smiled at Bella. “Hungry?”

Her gaze met his, a little too shuttered for his liking, but she was smiling warmly and was clearly happy to see him. “Starving,” she murmured.

WHEN BELLA OPENED HER EYES a few hours later, it was ten o’clock at night and the sun was long gone. Jacob was asleep beside her, both of them naked. They were sideways in his bed, blankets and sheets long ago tossed to the floor.

Jacob was on his back, his good arm being used as her pillow. She’d thrown a leg over him and had drooled on his chest. Carefully she untangled herself, rolled off the bed and began to search out the various articles of clothing that had been strewn around the room.