Unthinkable Games (LIttlemoon Investigations Book 3) Read online

  Claire was going to have to write it off.

  She didn’t know how else to make him see.

  Crossing toward her, he wanted to offer her a million words to share what her simple act meant to him. No one had ever wanted to wrap him up in leather to protect him. No one had ever made him come undone quite like her.

  He just didn’t know how to tell her. Beckett wanted to show her and fix himself, but it was out of his reach.

  He was drowning in it.

  It was time to apologize. “You didn’t deserve this attack,” he finally said. “I let my skewed imagination run away with me. I shouldn’t have, Claire. I wanted to find something wrong, and I talked myself into it. I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”

  She would, because that’s how she lived her life. While she had to be tough on the outside, Claire Littlemoon wasn’t on the inside. None of the Littlemoons were. They all had a giant soft spot for those they cared about.

  “It’s okay, Beckett. I told you that I don’t get mad easily. It’s not a problem.”

  He knew she just lied.

  There was hurt in her eyes, and he didn’t know how to fix it. “Thank you for the gift. They will keep me safe. Thank you for thinking about me. You didn’t have to go out last night and do this.”

  Really, he wasn’t worthy, and Beckett had just proved it.

  “Yes, I did. You’re my partner, and we’re in this together. I wanted you to see that I won’t let you get hurt. I’m trying to prove that, but it’s falling on deaf ears.”

  He rested his hands on her shoulders as he stared down into her eyes. “It’s not, Claire. I just don’t know how to fix me. I’m trying. I swear to everything that’s holy in this world…I’m really trying.”

  She didn’t say a word.

  Beckett knew he screwed this up. Tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear, he stared down into her eyes. “I won’t let it happen again.”

  He had to start trusting her, or she was going to walk. He could see it in her face. At that moment, Beckett knew he needed to believe in her.

  At least try.

  “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”

  He took a chance. Leaning down, he dropped a kiss to her lips. She didn’t kiss him back, and that didn’t bode well for him. He wanted to back away, tucking his tail between his legs, but he couldn’t. Beckett owed her that much. Bringing his hand up, he slid it into the back of her hair to kiss her again. Using his palm, he held her mouth trapped to his.

  The kiss exploded around him, pulling her under with him. Instead of not responding to his apology, Claire gave in.

  It looked like he was forgiven.

  Leaning against the counter, he held her to his body. She was the one ‘thing’ in the house that he could feel safe with. Claire appeared to be his anchor.

  As he deepened the kiss, she clung to him. The warmth rolled through her, filling her body with heat and rekindled fire. She’d been mad, but now she was just drifting in the warmth.

  God, he had an amazing mouth.

  Claire could picture it roaming across her body, leaving a trail of lust filled kisses.

  Beckett didn’t want this feeling to stop. The woman pressed against him was deliciously tempting, but he knew this wasn’t the time or the place.

  As if to prove his point, his ears picked up the footsteps coming their way. Breaking free of her mouth, he stared into her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  Yeah, so was she, but somehow Claire didn’t think they were apologizing for the same thing.

  Beckett released her, right before he tucked the gloves into his back pocket for later. He’d wear them and always think of her. Plus, at that moment, the heated response from his body would fuel him for the rest of the day.

  Now, he didn’t need sleep. He was high on Claire and that sexy Native mouth of hers.

  Beckett was in too deep.

  “Are we interrupting something?” asked Julian as he entered the room.

  Claire went to say something, making an excuse for their bodies being pressed together, only Beckett stopped her.

  “No, I was just kissing your sister.”

  Tori choked on the laugher because obviously her husband didn’t expect the man to be so blunt. While Julian wasn’t shocked, he did look appalled that the visual of his sister locked in a kiss was now bouncing around in his head.

  “Great. Well, let’s try the work thing. Save the kissing for later when I’m not forced to watch it.”

  Beckett grinned down at Claire. “Okay.”

  Again, Julian made some sound showing his discomfort about the whole thing. Opting to move on, he let it all go.

  “Did anyone get any sleep last night?” Tori asked.

  The whole team looked tired, and it was only their first day on the job. This appeared to be a really bad sign.

  Claire went first. “I had no luck sleeping, so I decided to go through that old book. It’s an autobiography on the Carlsbad family. They moved to this country around seventeen ten. As they sought passage across the seas on a Spanish ship, they ‘sold’ their daughter off to marriage to the captain. In exchange, they received gold from the voyage.”

  Tori was appalled. “Sold?”

  “Yep. She was fifteen, and he was forty. Trust me, this is a pretty ugly story.”

  Beckett stayed close to Claire as she headed toward the island to finish her coffee.

  “What happened?”

  “Well, it seems that the family settled here once they arrived. Everything was good, except the daughter escaped the captain and came seeking her revenge. By now, she was twenty and had two babies with the lecherous older sea captain.”

  Tori was disgusted, but still wanted to hear the story. This was pirates, gold, and a mystery. It was a train wreck that she couldn’t stop listening to.

  “She allegedly arrived and killed her father. She wanted to take the ill begotten gold and throw it in the sea, but it was too heavy for her to carry it. So, she hid it.”

  “Here?” Beckett asked.

  “Yes, that’s what the book and legend says. Only, she intended to come back with her lover to reclaim it later.”

  Tori’s eyes got large. “I love this story. Was he a sexy Native lover that she picked up along the way? I bet he was really good in bed.”

  “VICTORIA!” her husband stated. Once more, things came out of her mouth that shouldn’t be said out loud.

  She snickered.

  “It didn’t say. Christabel hid the gold, leaving a scavenger hunt of sorts to find it. I think she left it behind for the man she loved.”

  Tori didn’t like that part. “Uh oh. If it’s still hidden, that means they never came back.”

  Claire shook her head. “She didn’t. Before she could hide her father’s body, she was found by the sea captain. He brought her back to the ship. When they got back, he wasn’t kind.”

  “What happened?” Beckett asked.

  “He allowed his men to deal with her.”

  Again, Tori was repulsed.

  “That’s not the ending I wanted,” she stated. “I wanted her to run off with her lover and live happily ever after.”

  “Yeah, well, needless to say, she didn’t. She died, and her lover never came forward, scared that he, too, would be killed. It seems that the gold was never found.”

  Tori needed to know. “What happened to the captain?”

  Claire loved a good story, and this was certainly one. “His ship went down during a hurricane in seventeen fifteen. It was a huge storm and took down ten to fifteen other vessels. Over one thousand men were lost.”

  “It seems just to me,” stated Tori. “I hope the captain is rotting in hell.”

  No one disagreed with her.

  “So, we have pirates, Spanish gold, and a mystery,” stated Julian.

  “Someone knew about this,” Beckett stated. “When was that book published?” he asked.

  Claire had to think about it. “I believe that it was the turn of the century. Why
?”

  “We know it’s not ghost pirates looking for this gold, so someone hid that first book, and then the rest of the items. If Christabel hid the gold in the seventeen hundreds, it was found once and re-hidden.”

  Beckett had a point. No one thought about that.

  “But why?” Tori asked.

  No one had a clue.

  “I guess we’ll have to figure that out,” he stated. “It looks like we have a mystery inside a mystery, wrapped in more mystery.”

  Yeah, they did.

  “We could probably find more out in town,” offered Tori. “We want to hit up the psychic and swing by the historian’s office, right?”

  Yeah, that was their plan.

  “We’ll pick up the flashlights for you both,” Julian offered. “We can drop them off if you want.”

  Claire replied, “I got them last night. I had to run out for something.”

  Julian lifted a brow. “Alone?”

  “It was of a personal nature, if you know what I mean,” she stated, hoping that would deter her brother. She wasn’t going to tell him that it was for gloves. That would bring up more and more questions.

  Julian Littlemoon was accustomed to women, but even he wasn’t going there with that implication. Yeah, that was too much information when it was his wife, but this was his sister.

  “Fine. Let’s go, Tori!”

  When they were gone, Beckett had to admit that his pulse was racing. Once more, Claire had covered for him, and he really appreciated it, more than words could ever say.

  “Are you ready to head down into the bowels of that secret passageway?” Claire asked.

  Beckett was more than ready. Reaching into his back pocket, he removed the present from his partner and pulled them on. “Yes, lead the way.”

  She couldn’t wait.

  This mystery was getting more and more intriguing, and Claire was compelled to do one thing.

  Solve it.

  ~ Chapter Eight ~

  It was definitely creepy.

  The tight passageway was anything but a picnic. As Beckett and Claire wiggled their way past the cobwebs, spiders, and other creepy crawlies, they finally found the end.

  If anything, it was disappointing. It appeared to be nothing but a dead end. Where they hoped it would lead them somewhere, it didn’t.

  The entire journey was frustrating, since each step into the darkness was a struggle for someone Beckett’s size.

  “It’s a freaking wall,” he muttered, placing his gloved hands on it.

  Behind him, Claire stood, her hand resting on his lower back. She could feel the irritation vibrating through him, and she couldn’t blame him.

  She was pissed too.

  “Are you sure there’s not some mechanism to pop a door?” she asked, hopefully.

  He shook his head, but considered it. Suddenly, he tried to move out of her way.

  “Feel free,” he stated.

  This wasn’t how her adventure was supposed to unfold. There was supposed to be another clue at the end of the tunnel, wasn’t there? Claire wanted to continue on with the mystery.

  When the man turned, leaving space for her to squeeze past him, suddenly, the situation brightened. Claire wouldn’t mind the body contact as she moved past him.

  Wiggling across his torso, she found herself wedged between Beckett and the wall.

  “Well, this is awkward,” he stated, feeling his lower body reacting to her being pressed against him.

  She grinned wickedly in the flashlight’s glow. “For you or me?” she asked. “Awkward wasn’t the word going through my head.”

  His mouth opened, and then closed without uttering a word.

  That simple action made her laugh. “I kind of like it. Since this whole adventure down here was a waste, at least I’m getting some sort of thrill out of it.”

  He felt his skin flush.

  Thankfully, it was fairly dark, or Claire would realize he was blushing like a fool.

  Then again, she was pressed against his lower body. If she felt what he felt, the woman was well aware.

  “Come here often, Mr. Rand?” she asked, trying to lighten the mood. Teasing was one thing, but she didn’t like to see him get embarrassed.

  He snorted. “No, no, I don’t.”

  “Want to?” she asked.

  “Are you always like this?” he inquired.

  She didn’t understand. “Like what?”

  “Pleasant.”

  “Wow, that’s really not a compliment. ‘Hey, you’re pleasant’,” she stated, trying not to let it bother her, but it did. She didn’t want that to be the man’s only impression of her. Claire wanted him to feel what she did for him.

  “Wait, I didn’t mean it to sound like that.”

  She didn’t speak.

  Crap!

  He’d jacked this up again.

  “It’s just that you’re easy to be around. Most women have ulterior motives.”

  She lifted a brow. “Wow, that’s a loaded sentence if I ever heard one,” she stated. “Where do I even begin with that?”

  He closed his eyes and rested his head against the dusty wall. “I’m screwing this up.”

  “Yeah, you really are.”

  He tried to figure out what to do next, but it eluded him. “We should head back.”

  Claire felt bad for him. Here was a really decent guy trapped in his past. If anything, she wanted to fix him. Claire wanted to show him that not every woman out there was going to hurt him.

  She wouldn’t.

  In fact, she’d bet her life on it.

  “Beckett?” she said softly, drawing his attention.

  He looked down. “What?”

  She attacked. Her mouth sought his, plundering, stealing, and taking all he had to offer. A low moan built deep in his chest, proving that her kiss could fire him up in seconds.

  Claire clung to him, hands buried in his hair as she devoured him in greedy little bites. With each taste of him, she craved him more.

  Her heart knew.

  She was wild about this man.

  In theory, she shouldn’t be. He was cold, broken, and tough to get close to, but that made her want him even more. He was like a mystery just waiting to be solved.

  God help her, but she loved him.

  When his hands came around her, bracing her against his body, Beckett wouldn’t let her free.

  Everything that hurt deep in him was set free, as if unlocked by this one small Native woman. She was the key to saving him. She set him on fire, while putting out the flames of never ending pain.

  Claire, unbeknownst to her, was healing him.

  “Jesus,” he muttered, his fingers grabbing a handful of her ass as she rubbed against him. “Claire,” he hissed as her hands wandered beneath his shirt to heated flesh.

  If he had more room, he’d be taking her.

  He wasn’t proud of it, but he would. Beckett was beyond control, and way out of practice when it came to the opposite sex. When it came to Claire, his body went on autopilot, ignoring all logic that his brain continually spouted.

  “Beck,” she practically purred, burying her tongue deeper in his mouth. She was starving and couldn’t get enough. As the leather stroked her flesh, she wanted so much more.

  “This just might kill me,” he muttered.

  Yeah, she was feeling it, too, but what a way to go.

  When her hand stroked him through the front of his jeans, he couldn’t take any more. “You have to stop, Claire. God, please stop.”

  She thought she went too far, and immediately, she struggled to get away from him. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have…”

  He stared at her in the darkened corridor. “Please don’t say that. I want you, but we can’t here. I can barely move. When I have you, I want it to mean more than the two of us stuck behind a wall.”

  Her heart pounded at his words. It seemed that she’d broken through the barrier of anger and ice.

  Neither spoke.

&nbs
p; Finally, he moved, lightly kissing her on the lips. “This isn’t the time or place. When it happens, I promise it’ll mean more. I need it to mean more.”

  He was taking a big risk, but she’d earned it. Part of him was still wary, but for some reason, she knew the truth and still wanted him.

  Why? He hadn’t a damn clue.

  “Okay, Beckett. I understand.”

  He hoped she did. What he was trusting her with was something he held back to stay safe. If she broke him, he knew he’d never be the same again.

  If she betrayed him, Claire would never earn that trust again. It’s just how it had to be with him. Here was her one and only shot. It was more than he ever let anyone else have.

  Beckett couldn’t change the past, but he could hope for a future.

  “We should head to the wine cellar,” she offered, trying to give him a little space. Her body ached with need, and he wasn’t ready. What she really wanted was an ice cold shower to cool off, but that wasn’t happening.

  For now, she would have to keep her hands to herself.

  Boy, that was going to be hard.

  “I’ll follow you,” he offered, letting her lead the way. Once her back was turned, he checked out her ass and moaned again. The way she felt in his arms was enough to make his body throb in need.

  “Claire?” he asked, hoping she didn’t turn around and look at him. If she did, he’d chicken out, but he needed the truth.

  “Yes?” she asked.

  “When this begins, are you going to hurt me?”

  It was said with so much pain that her heart staggered in her chest. In that moment, she would do anything to help him. Anything he wanted, he could have.

  “I can promise on my life that I won’t do that to you, Beckett.”

  That’s exactly what he needed to hear.

  “Let’s head to the wine cellar and get this search started,” he offered.

  For now, he needed to think and catch his breath.

  Beckett was in uncharted territory.

  * * *

  Town

  Psychic Shop

  As they arrived in town, they didn’t believe it would be so hectic. It was early on a Sunday morning, but everything was open, and people were hustling about.