"Ohhhhhhh," Copper Daly moaned as Jared sucked her nipple deep into his mouth. Warm wetness engulfed it. "Yes. More. Oh god, more." He shifted, and she smelled the acrid scent of his cigarettes clinging to him.
His mouth made a popping sound as he released it. He grasped her breast with his hand and kneaded. "You have such beautiful tits," he murmured.
She lifted her head, glaring at him. "You have such a way with words."
"I have a way with my mouth." He winked before suckling her other nipple, nipping the areola lightly.
"That's the only reason I keep you around--Ow, that hurt." She winced, pushing on his blond-streaked head because his teeth had clamped down too hard.
"Sorry."
"I don't want to be bitten, Jared. Tongue, not teeth."
"Geesh, Cop. You're such a bitch. I could use a lot less instruction here." His blue eyes gazed up at her, darkened, but not passion-hazed anymore. She'd pissed him off again. Funny how they kept doing that to each other. Tomorrow would be his turn.
"It hurt. I'm sorry I snapped." She wanted tonight to be a peaceful one. Wanted to get laid. If they argued again, they wouldn't have sex.
He kissed her mouth; she parted her lips for his tongue to twirl around hers. Tasted the bitter flavor of the beer he'd had after dinner. His cock slapped her thigh as he arched his hips against her.
She panted, and he swallowed the breaths like he was trying to eat them.
The phone rang.
"Don't answer it," he mumbled against her lips, arching against her again, stiff cock rubbing against her leg. His fingers trailed down the sensitive skin of her stomach, rough against the smoothness. Her breath quickened, her clit trembled as she clenched her thighs. She ached for his touch, his strumming with each digit until she poured out her climax. One area they had no trouble with at all, unlike the rest of their relationship.
"I wasn't..."
His fingers reached her mound. He played in the coarse hairs, and she sucked in a breath. Not quite where she wanted them, but close. The answering machine picked up. Her voice sounded.
"You need a wax."
She pressed her head back on the pillow with a long-suffering sigh. Why couldn't he keep that talented mouth closed once in a while?
Copper's voice finished, and the machine beeped.
"Copper..." The voice sounded breathless as if she'd been running. "Copper ... Oh god, pick up. Pick up..."
"Get off!" Copper shoved Jared, leaping up to race to the phone.
Crimson screamed on the speaker, and the line went dead before Copper could pick it up.
She stopped two paces from the phone. "No!" Yanking up the receiver, she heard the dial tone. "Shit." She checked caller ID. A number she didn't recognize. Why hadn't Crimson called from home? Or her cell phone? Her heart thumped in her chest.
"Come back to bed, Cop. We have things to finish."
She turned around, her eyes narrowing. "That was Crimson."
"I know who it was. Come back to bed." He patted a spot on the mattress.
"You little shit. It was Crimson. She screamed on my phone." She turned around, and dialed the number from caller ID. No one answered. Closing her eyes, she swallowed, the sound making a hollow noise in her ears.
"She probably was playing one of the games she likes to play. You know she likes that stuff."
Turning around so sharply she almost lost her balance, Copper growled, "I know the games she likes to play. This was different." Her breasts had bounced with the movement. She didn't miss Jared's eyes appreciating her jiggle. She crossed her arms over her chest. He frowned, his bushy eyebrows coming together. "Did you hear her voice? She was scared."
He snorted. "She was playing one of her games, Copper. That bitch doesn't get scared."
She ran a hand over her face. Jared didn't like her sister. Crimson telling him he was pussy-whipped on their first meeting probably had something to do with that. "She isn't a bitch. And this didn't sound like a game. She screamed!"
He shrugged. "I'm sure she screams a lot. Like you're going to before the night is over." He stalked toward her, heavy cock resting between his pale, hairy thighs. Usually it captivated her to see a man's hardened penis that way. Not now.
He reached a small hand out to her breast. She pushed at his shoulder. "No. Crimson is in trouble. I have to find her."
After dialing the number again, she tucked the phone alongside her ear and tugged on her bikini underwear. He slid hands over her ass, stroking, even as she smacked him, needing her full attention on the phone. He yelped and retreated out of reach. "Hello!" Crimson?"
"Who is this?" A deep, slightly accented voice answered.
"Where's Crimson, you son of a bitch? If you do anything to my sister..."
Click and a dial tone.
"Oh no!" She dialed again and then shrugged up her jeans. "You're not hanging up on me. Pick up the damn phone." She let it ring twenty times. No answer. She rang her sister's cell and home phone. No answer.
"What are you doing?"
Copper slammed the phone down. "What does it look like I'm doing?" She reached around her back to fasten her bra. Sliding the straps up her arms, she tried to ignore the fluttering in her belly. Crimson had to be all right. Copper shivered. Please let her be all right.
"Why are you getting dressed?"
She slid her T-shirt over her head before answering. "Why do you think I'm getting dressed?"
"We were going to fuck." He stuck out his lip, looking so much like a little boy who didn't get the pony he wanted. Had she not been so worried, she would have laughed.
"Key word: Were."
"What are you going to do? You don't even know where she was. I'm telling you she was playing one of her pervo sadistic games."
"Not this time. She doesn't play them with me, anyway. And I'll figure out something. But I have to find her."
She picked up the phone and dialed the caller ID number again.
A different voice picked up this time.
"Where's Crimson?" she demanded.
"Who?"
"Who is this?"
"Look, lady, I was going to make a call. You called as I picked up to dial."
"I got a call a while ago. From ... well, a redhead. Did you see her?"
"I told you, I just got here."
"Where is here?" She grabbed a pen and pad from the orderly desk by the phone.
"What?"
"Where is here?!" She tried to calm herself. Yelling wouldn't get her anywhere. "What city?"
"St. Louis. It's a pay phone."
Her hands shook. "Where in St. Louis?"
Silence.
"C'mon. Look at the street signs. Please? It's important."
He sighed. "The corner of Fox and Brisbane."
"Thank you." Copper placed the receiver back into the cradle, staring at what she'd scribbled down. If she remembered St. Louis right, that corner wasn't far from where Crimson lived.
She turned to face the bed. Jared sat on the coverlet, naked, with his lips drawn up into a tight frown. He looked pale against her dark purple cotton sheets and comforter.
Grabbing a ponytail holder, she brushed her long hair out and put it up.
"What the hell are you doing, Copper?" His pissed voice stroked her nerve endings with all the finesse of fingernails down a chalkboard.
"I'm going to find my sister."
His frown lengthened. "You're leaving?"
"That's the plan."
"You know I don't do well when you leave me."
Her mouth opened to say, You mean you do everyone else well when I leave, but somehow she managed to keep the words from rolling off her tongue. "I have to go, Jared. I have to find out what happened."
"Can't you call the police?"
She pulled an overnight bag out from under her bed. Looking at his abdomen, which was eye level, she noticed he had the start of a belly. He'd never had six-pack abs except for all the beer he packed in there. "You know I can't."
"Leaving me for the bitch. I can't believe this."
Copper picked up the bag and threw it at him, hitting him in the chest. She didn't have time for this.
"Hey! You threw that at me."
"Damn straight. Get out."
"What? You're leaving me and kicking me out because of your sick-assed sister? You have a screw loose."
"I may have one loose, but you're the one who likes to screw other people." His eyes narrowed; he hated it when she brought that up, but he never defended himself. "Get out. I have more important things to do than to argue with you." She grabbed the bag out of his hands, set it down, and tossed some underwear into it.
"If I leave now, Cop, I'm not coming back. I won't put up with this shit."
"Don't let the door hit you in the ass, then, Jared."
He grabbed his clothes off the floor. "Fucking bitch. Like your pussy is golden."
She snatched his jeans out of his hands, marched to the door, and threw them into the hallway. "Get out now."
He sauntered across the threshold. "Your loss, babe."
"And the titty club's gain. I hope it gets a disease and falls off." She slammed the door before he could reply.
Putting her head in her hands, she closed her eyes a minute. "Get a grip, Copper. You knew this was coming." She had. And she had more important things to focus on than losing her on-again, off-again boyfriend. Shit was too good a word for him. She hadn't even gotten laid.
She tossed clothes into her overnight bag, trying not to think about what could be happening to Crimson at this moment. The stuff her sister did for kicks scared her most days. Whatever had made her scream like that had to be bad. Very bad.
She picked up her keys and wallet, glancing around the one-room box she called home. Cleaning would have to wait. She shook her head with a worried smile. Crimson would say only she, with her neatness obsession, would think of that at a time like this. God, there better be a flight to St. Louis leaving tonight. One last look, and out she ran into the darkness.
)
