Die Hard (Sue Thomas FBEye)

Chapter Five

The traffic cleared shortly after Tara's call, but the icy roads remained treacherous. As they headed west, the freezing rain was replaced with snow, which accumulated at an alarming rate the farther they drove.

Pontiac was about eight hours away according to the map Sue found hidden under the passenger seat. It was already late afternoon. In a few hours, they would need to stop for dinner. After that, Jack estimated he might be able to log in three maybe four more hours behind the wheel, assuming the weather didn't worsen.

A red neon sign flashing through the drifting snow caught Jack's attention. With the visibility reduced to the car in front of him and the skating stunts his car threatened to make, Jack decided it would be safer to stop for the night at a small motel along the highway and cover the rest of the distance in the morning.

Jack gawked in dismay at the simplistic room.

At $180 a night, he should have been entitled to the honeymoon suite. Randy was going to have a fieldtrip disallowing the expense.

The nasal voice resounded in Jack's mind. "$180 for a room at the Roadkill Motel, agent Hudson? Did you spend the week or did you also order massage and room service with it?"

"Jack?" Sue placed a hand over his forearm. "Is something wrong?"

The price, he almost blurted out. The owner was taking advantage of the snowstorm and some of the people in the lobby would have a hard time affording this night.

"No. I'll get the bags and walk Levi, you find the thermostat and turn on the heat."

"And here I thought you wanted me to warm you up," she murmured sassily to his ear. "That's too bad."

And she walked away from him to search the room.

He shook his head, a grin appearing on his lips. He wondered if he would get a rebate for messing up only one bed.

The door opened at street level, with the car parked right in front. Before taking Levi around the motel, Jack picked up the bags and gave them to her. On his return the room was warm and cosy, and Sue was in bed, writing.

After changing into his pyjama pants and undershirt, he sat on the edge of the bed. She paused from her task to look at him.

"Are you going to make room for me or relinquish me to the second bed?"

She studied him a long minute before slithering towards the middle of the bed.

"What are you doing?" he asked lying beside her, the blankets relegated at their feet.

"Writing everything I learned about Anna today before I forget any details."

Propped on her elbows, the pillow tucked under her chest, she kept writing. Soon his interest was diverted towards the small birthmark he discovered below her ear as he played with her hair. He traced it with his lips, then moved up to nibble on her lobe. She moaned softly, her concentration slipping as his hand travelled under her nightie to caress her back. She placed the pen and paper on the table and reached for the lamp.

"Don't..." He stopped her in time before rolling on his side. "Not yet."

With her hair spread over the white pillow, she was stunningly beautiful. Her eyes were open wide in anticipation... of what he could only imagine. Her smile formed tiny lines around her mouth he couldn't wait to kiss senselessly. His gaze dropped down to the same nightie she wore the previous night. The fabric was taut over her soft curves, creating crinkles around it. Her bare legs were long, muscular and very silky.

Her hands roamed his chest under his undershirt, generating tiny electric current through his body. The wind whistling ferociously outside the window was pale in compare to the sensations she awakened in him.