Page 46 of Baited

Oh god, she needed him.

He pulled away and pressed his forehead to hers. Her breath came out in throaty gasps as his finger continued to explore, taunting her clitoris, and finally sliding deep into her.

She cried out as he stretched and filled her with his finger.

Ring, Ring!

Her eyes snapped open and his finger stilled. Hot, starving blue eyes slammed into her. Her breath spiraled from her lips, mixing with his. She swallowed and wiggled against him.

“That’s my phone, I should get it.” Dammit, she didn’t want to stop.

But it could be the police…or Hanna’s parents.

His head dropped back and he groaned, but he pulled his hand out of her shorts. A low chuckle sounded in his chest. “You’re going to kill me,” he moaned. She laughed and hopped down from the counter and raced for the bedroom. The ringing stopped before she crossed the small house and the ding of a voicemail alerted her when she scooped her phone up from the nightstand.

Her pulse slammed into her throat. She closed her eyes and forced her heart rate to slow down. Fear dug its claws into her heart. It could be him… She sucked in a deep breath and unlocked the device. A new text from her sister Bailey flashed across the screen right above the missed call notification.

Shit. This morning she’d seen a missed call from Bailey last night, and a text this morning asking her to call. That had been hours ago.

Not bothering to read the text, she hit the call icon on Bailey’s contact name and waited. Bailey answered on the first ring.

“What the hell is going on?” she growled into the phone. Riley cringed at her sharpness. Bailey’s normally gentle nature rarely got riled. “I haven’t heard from you in over a week. I was worried sick when you didn’t get back to me this morning.”

“I’m sorry, a lot has been going on.” She ran her hand over Ethan’s comforter, his warm, musky scent flooded her nostrils, calming her.

“Yeah, I know, Rye. But—”

“No, you don’t,” Riley said slowly. She lifted her fingers to tangle in her hair and let out a slow breath. “Someone’s been after me. My car was run off the road last night. It’s totalled. I’m okay—”

Bailey’s sharp intake of breath pierced her ear. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me this.” Then after a breath, “Are you sure it wasn’t just an accident? Were the roads bad?”

“It was raining, but his intent was clear. He slammed into the side of my car repeatedly until I went off the road and hit a tree.”

“Oh my god,” she hissed. “Are you okay?” Concern weighed down her voice.

“I’m fine. The man had pulled over, but took off the moment a vehicle came down the road. Ethan found me minutes later.” She ground the heel of her palm into her eye socket. Maybe by some stroke of luck Bailey hadn’t caught that.

“Ethan? Who’s that?” Her voice raised an octave. Nothing got passed Bailey.

Riley massaged the bridge of her nose. “He’s a…friend. An ex-FBI agent, actually. He’s helping me with Hanna’s case.”

“You’re seeing someone?” Bailey’s disbelief rang through her ear.

“Is that all you heard?” She focused her gaze on the ceiling above her, Ethan’s voice droned on from the living room. He’d taken a call, but the last thing she needed was for him to come in and pick up on their conversation.

Bailey snorted. “Well, it’s the most shocking.”

Riley crossed her ankles beneath her. “Yes, I’m seeing someone, okay? But the man that’s been harassing me has been doing freaky shit, and we need to catch him.”

“Holy shit, you’ve been leading some kind of double life.” Bailey’s voice dropped to a whisper.

“I’d hardly call it a double life. I’m trying to find Hanna, that’s my only goal.”

A beat passed. “Wait a minute. You think the person who ran you off the road is the man who took Hanna?”

Riley explained the events that had happened over the last couple of weeks.

“Riley, you need to let the police do their job. Why didn’t you tell me this?”

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