He moved to the door and locked it. As he turned back to look at her, she felt her pulse take off at a gallop. She ran to him, throwing herself into his arms as he pulled her close for another searing kiss. This was where she belonged. She’d yearned for his touch, for his kisses, for him without knowing it was going to be him. As if it had been written in the stars, her grandmother would have said.
As his mouth took possession of hers, she believed that with all her heart and soul.
When the kiss ended, they locked gazes. They needed no words. They both wanted this more than their next breaths.
Finn took her hand, weaving his fingers with hers as he drew her to him again. Her heart thundered like the storm. She could see desire burning hot in his eyes, hear his ragged breath now so like her own. Neither of them could wait the time it would take to get to a proper bed in this hotel full of them. His mouth was on hers, kissing her hungrily, his hands buried deep in her hair.
He pressed her against the door, melding his body to hers as she frantically pulled off the T-shirt he wore and pressed her palms against the hard contours of his chest, his skin hot with desire. He lifted her higher to bury his face in the hollow between her breasts. He held her there with his body as his fingers adeptly unbuttoned the top of her sundress to get to her already-hard nipples. She arched against his mouth as he laved each with his tongue, making her cry out with a burning need like hot lava at her center.
She worked at the buttons on his jeans as he lifted her sundress hem and drew down her panties. His fingers found her hot center. She arched against him. Her desire for him had reached a painful peak. She wanted him, wanted this.
Released from his jeans, he entered her, pressing her against the solid wooden door, and she nearly wept as she clung to him, rocking with his movements as he took her higher and higher until she felt the incredible release.
He drove into her, groaning in pleasure as he came. For a while, he held her there, eyes locked. Carrying her over to the Persian rug in the middle of the floor, he lay down with her. “Casey.” He said it all in that one word. She fell into his arms, her chest rising and falling as she tried to catch her breath. Never in her life. Never had she felt like this.
Finn pulled her closer, holding her as if he never wanted to let her go.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“I’M GLAD I SOLD the hotel to you,” Casey said later when their breathing had finally slowed and the heat of their bodies had cooled. The thunderstorm had moved on, leaving the air crisp with the scent of fresh rain. They lay on their backs on the rug staring up at the rain-dimpled glass overhead. Finn had never felt so at peace. The afternoon had faded away into evening with their lovemaking. But for a while, it was as if they had stopped time.
Finn drew back to look at her. He realized that there was nothing keeping her here now. Tomorrow morning, she’d leave along with the others. “Your grandmother’s list—”
“I have everything on it. Vi will be shipping the bigger things. The rest I’m taking back to California.”
He realized he was holding his breath. “Then there is nothing stopping you from leaving in the morning?”
She leaned back to look at him. “What?”
“I don’t want you to go.” The words were out before he could call them back. “I can’t bear the thought that now that I’ve found you... I don’t want to be away from you, even for a few days, let alone weeks, while I sort this all out.”
Casey smiled. “I don’t want to go. But I have a job.”
“A job you said you want to change.”
“I have to go back at least for a few weeks so they can find another hotelier.”
“I know.” He cupped her cheek and looked into her beautiful summer-blue eyes. He was still afraid for her. He had too many suspicions. Claude and Devlin were still missing. Until he heard that they’d returned home... He groaned. “I know you have to leave for so many reasons. But it won’t be the last you see of me.”
Her smile broadened, her eyes twinkling. “I’m glad to hear that. What will you do?”
He shook his head. “I’ll probably start making arrangements to salvage much of the furnishings before I see about having the hotel demolished, the debris hauled off and the land made ready to sell. I’m sure there are other developers out there who would be interested. Devlin’s contacts aren’t the only ones.”
He saw her reaction and drew her to him. “I thought it’s what you wanted.”
“I thought it was, too. It still is. I’m just feeling... sentimental.”
Finn held her closer, kissing the top of her head. “If you want the hotel—”
“No.” She drew back and met his gaze. “I don’t. It’s time to move on. Even my grandmother understood that. She just hoped...” She didn’t have to finish.
He knew. “She hoped that Megan’s murder would be solved first. I still think it will happen. I plan to talk to the marshal with the new evidence I’ve collected. I’m hoping he will be able to track down Devlin and Claude to make sure they aren’t...in some kind of trouble.”
CASEY FROWNED AS she saw the concern in his expression.
“It’s just a feeling,” he said quickly. “I’m more worried about what will happen before this reunion is officially over.”
“More ghost tricks?” she joked and saw that his concern ran deeper and
