Dangerous Secrets: Callaghan Brothers, Book 1 (29 page)

“I can take the couch,” she said automatically, only fully realizing the ridiculousness of such a statement after the words left her mouth.

Jake made a sound – something like a cross between a grunt and a snort – and walked directly to his bedroom with her pack.  Taryn thinned her lips, fully aware that the others were watching her closely to see what she would do.  For a brief moment, she thought about turning around and walking out, just as she had when Jake tried to pull this stunt before.  Surrounded as she was by what she now knew were all “former” special-ops men, she probably wouldn’t make it to the first step, but it might be worth it for the sheer message it would convey.

As if he knew exactly what she was thinking, Ian pinned her with his icy blue eyes – now twinkling.  The corners of his lips twitched and he shook his head ever so slightly in warning.

With a sigh, she followed in Jake’s path, closing the door behind her.  It probably wouldn’t keep them from hearing, but at least it gave her some semblance of privacy.

“Don’t even start with me, Taryn,” Jake said before she had even opened her mouth.  “You are staying here, with me.  Your clothes will hang in my closet.  Your toothbrush will sit on my sink.  And you will sleep in my bed.”

She gave him a patient smile.  “And where will you be sleeping?”

He growled then, that same sound of masculine arrogance that both raised her hackles and melted her bones.  Except at that moment, her hackles were a bit slow on the uptake, and her bones all too likely to liquify.  She shrugged, unable to summon the energy to challenge him.

Especially since his bed was the only place she wanted to be.

He narrowed his eyes, obviously suspicious of her easy capitulation.  “Come here.”

The corners of her lips quirked a little, but she didn’t move.  She didn’t have to make it
too
easy for him.

His eyes narrowed further.  “I said, come here.”

“You’re not the boss of me,” she replied, right before she padded over and stood before him, close enough to feel the heat rolling off his body and smell that clean, spicy scent to which she seemed to have become so addicted.

She tilted her head up and looked pointedly at the underside of his chin.  If she looked him in the eye, he would read the truth far too easily.  Besides, Jake hadn’t taken the time to shave before they’d left the hospital.  As fine as he was, he looked even better with that dark shadow gracing his jawline.  It was a subtle reminder that he was all man, and she... wasn’t. 

She shifted her weight slightly, but it did little to quell the familiar ache deep inside of her.  God help her, she loved this man.  It was a constant struggle not to give herself over to him when he looked at her like that. 

Like she was
his
.

“Just so we’re clear,” she told him, “I came over to you because I wanted to, not because you told me to.”

“Even better.”  Jake pulled down one side of the covers, then rooted around in his drawer for one of his shirts, holding it out to her.  “Come on, now.  Mick says you need to take it easy for a few days.”

She took the shirt from him and nodded.  Just the trip from the hospital had worn her out, and she hadn’t even done anything. 

“Jake?”

“Yeah?”

“Will you... will you stay with me?  Just until I fall asleep?”

His eyes softened even as he toed off his boots.  “Like I’d be anywhere else.”

* * *

T
aryn’s movements were slow and stiff, so Jake helped her change into his XXL, gray US Navy T.  She hadn’t fussed at the hospital when he’d helped her earlier, and she didn’t fuss now.  He wasn’t sure what that meant, exactly, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to overanalyze it.

After ensuring that everything she might need or want – water, juice, pills, tissues, crackers – were within arm’s reach, he climbed into bed beside her, sighing in contentment when she snuggled against him.  She fit so perfectly there, tucked beneath this arm, tight against his body.  Like she had been made for it.

He expected her to fall asleep right away, but she didn’t.  “Jake, about what happened...”

He pulled her a little tighter against him, kissing the top of her head.  “We don’t need to talk about that, Taryn.”

“Yeah, we do.”

“Later.”

“No, now.”

He sighed.  He should have known this was too easy.  Nothing with this woman ever was.  Except, maybe, loving her so much he couldn’t envision his life without her in it.

“Alright.”  He felt her smile a little against his chest.  He would let her have this little victory.  She was cuddled up beside him, which he counted as a bigger W in his column.

“You know everything now.  Who I am – or was, rather.  What I saw.  What I endured.  Why I had to run.”

What was he supposed to say to that?  Yeah, he knew.  Most of it, anyway.  He had a horrible suspicion that there was more that they hadn’t been able to glean from the evidence, things that the sadistic bastard had taken to his grave and that Taryn would probably never share.  Truthfully, he wasn’t sure he could handle knowing any more.  Just thinking about what he did know was enough to send him into a killing rage. 

“That’s all over now, Taryn,” he said carefully, as much for his own benefit as hers.  Gavin Howard was dead, and no one would ever find what was left of him, not that anyone was looking.  His father, the Senator, had written him off years ago. 

According to Ian, Gavin had disappeared off the grid shortly after Taryn had escaped.  No one  thought much of it at the time, assuming that Gavin had gone off the deep end after failing in his duties and witnessing the horrible slayings of the Fitzpatrick family.  No one minded when he faded quietly into the background, never to be seen or heard from again - especially not his politically-motivated and highly-visible father.  And no one ever associated him with the string of seemingly natural deaths over the next few years of those that had been part of the original assassination team.

They had explained this to Taryn in the hospital, the gist of if anyway.  They didn’t get into all of the details, and thankfully, she hadn’t asked.

“Yeah, I know.  But what happens now?”

Excellent question, that.  He knew exactly what he wanted:  anything that put Taryn by his side for the rest of their lives.  But what did she want? 

“Now, you stay here and let me take care of you.”

He held his breath, waiting for the protest that didn’t come.  Her mouth remained closed, her relaxed little body didn’t stiffen in offense.  She remained quiet and pliant against him.  It worried him.  “What?  You’re not going to argue with me?”

She laughed softly against his chest, little puffs of air that permeated the cotton of his shirt and tickled his skin.  “Do you want to me argue with you?” 

“It is kind of what you do.” 

“Maybe I don’t want to argue with you,” she said softly, rubbing her cheek against him.  “Maybe, just this once, I want to let you take care of me.”

Just this once
, she said.  He’d take it, and use every opportunity to turn it into
now and forever
.  “Taryn Malone, in my bed, and agreeable?” he teased gently.  “Is this my Christmas present?  Or a Christmas miracle?”

“No,” she said, turning to kiss him.  “The miracle is that I’m here at all, thanks to you and your brothers.  And as for presents, well...”

Her hand trailed down over his stomach and began to stroke the length of him beneath the denim.  Heat seared through his body, a sharp reminder that he hadn’t been with anyone else since she’d walked into his life.  He couldn’t even conceive of it.  But she had just been through Hell and needed time to heal.  No matter how much he wanted her, he couldn’t.  He could wait.  For Taryn, he would wait forever.

He caught her wrist and stopped the torturous caress.  “You need to rest.”

“What I need, Jake Callaghan, is you.  I need to touch you.  To taste you.  To feel you.  To know that I am alive.  That’s what I need.”

Her words echoed through his brain, the message amplified and broadcast throughout every last cell in his body.  “Later,” he said, his voice already sounding husky.

“No, now.”

He laughed, then sucked in a breath through his teeth when she worked her hand under the waistband of his jeans and wrapped her slim fingers around him.  “So much for agreeable,” he mumbled.

“Oh, I think you’ll find I am very agreeable right now,” she said. 

He closed his eyes and let his head fall back, stricken with the rush of sensation just from that one simple touch.  Then she was undoing the clasp, releasing the zipper, and ... “Fuck!” he bit out.

His eyes snapped open and his head whipped forward to find Taryn kissing his cock. 

“Ssshhhh, they’ll hear you,” she chastised, the rush of air through her teeth erotic against his throbbing flesh.  Jake tangled his hands in her hair.  “Taryn, you don’t have to –“

“I know,” she said, planting another close-mouthed kiss against him before parting her lips and licking him.  “Do you know how many times I’ve imagined this, though?  Wondered what you tasted like?  Afraid that I would never know?”

Christ.  She thought about that shit?
  His entire body tensed as she tongued the length of him, scraped him with her teeth, then nuzzled the sensitive area beneath.  Two seconds was all it took for him to know two things:  1)  that this woman had complete and utter control over him, and 2) he wasn’t going to last two minutes if she kept doing
that
.

He hooked his hands beneath her arms and tugged her up his body, amused by the pout she gave him.  “Why did you make me stop?  Don’t you like it?”

“Christ, Taryn.  I like it too much.”

Her brow furrowed.  “Not seeing the problem.”

“The problem,” he said, rolling them both so that she was beneath him, “is that I’ve been doing some imagining of my own.”

He lifted the hem of his shirt, now warm and fragrant with her body heat, and sucked one pert breast into his mouth.  She arched beneath him, her hands gripping at his biceps.  “Yeah?” she gasped.  “Like what?”

Jake leaned back to pull the shirt over his head, hissing when he felt Taryn’s fingers eagerly expediting the process.  It took him only seconds to relieve himself of his jeans, but even that was far too long.  When he positioned himself over her, though, and felt the silky heat of her skin along the length of his body, it made the brief absence worth it. 

Careful to keep his weight on his elbows, he looked directly into her eyes and answered her question.  “I want to see your face when you come.”

With a slight roll of the hips, he rubbed his length against her slick folds, delighting in the way her eyes rolled backward.  “Well, pay attention,” she moaned, “because if you blink, you just might miss it.”

Shit
.  He knew he was on edge, but he hadn’t considered she might be this close, too.  His tip was already wet; she was soaked.  He needed to slow down, make this last - 

“Do it, Jake,” she pleaded.  “Now. Please.  I want to see your face, too.”

He had envisioned this so many times.  Being a man who firmly believed that preparedness was the key to any successful mission, he had devised a detailed plan so effective that it could have only one result:  her complete and utter surrender.  In his mind, he had mapped out her entire body into a series of erogenous zones; he had chosen a separate arsenal with which to conquer each one.  Jake knew exactly where he would lick, caress, bite, suckle, knead, and tweak for optimal results.

Except now that he was on the front line and looking into the double-barreled violet stare that threatened to annihilate him, he couldn’t remember a damn thing.

Infiltrate
.  Yeah, that would work.  Get on the inside and work from there.

Jake pushed inside of her, slowly, watching her face intently with every centimeter.  Thank God she was ready for him.  Slick and hot, she stretched around him, pulling him in with an invitation he was powerless to refuse.  The pure bliss he felt at being inside Taryn again was reflected in her face.

“Yes,” she said, opening her eyes. 

He didn’t stand a fucking chance.  She owned him, mind, body, and soul. 

Unlike last time, he would not ravage her.  This wasn’t sex.  This wasn’t just about seeing how much pleasure he could wring from her body (though he would put substantial effort into that later).  This was something far deeper, far more profound. 

Each stroke was long and thorough, a gentle, rhythmically-paced claiming.  She knew it, too.  Her fingers curled into his skin, tiny stabs that ramped up sensation everywhere else.  Beneath him, her body moved with his, rising and falling, pushing and pulling, squeezing and releasing.  Staring into her eyes increased the intensity ten-fold; he had to call upon every last reserve of self-control he possessed to hold on, just a little longer.

Taryn’s eyes widened.  Her breaths came a little faster and her nails dug into his biceps as her legs wrapped tighter around his waist and she clamped down around him. 

Jake got his wish, and she’d never been more beautiful.

Even if he had wanted to stop himself, he couldn’t.  He followed right along behind her, holding her gaze as he rode her through her climax with his own.  There was no fear this time, no panic.  Just raw, honest truth in the sheer perfection of it.

“Now I can rest,” she breathed softly, wrapping her arms around his neck.  Still inside of her, Jake rolled to the side and pulled her close.  “Now you can rest,” he agreed, kissing her forehead. 

She was already asleep.

“A
re you warm enough?”  Jake asked for the third time in the last hour. 

Tucked against his solid, warm body would have been quite enough, but Ian had draped one of those super-soft microfiber throws over her lap and legs as well.  The massive flat screen blared college football.  Everyone was there, sprawled on sofas, chairs, hassocks, the floor.  Pizza boxes were strewn everywhere.  Rolling coolers were strategically placed so no one would be forced to make the twenty foot journey into the kitchen and miss a crucial play.  None of them seemed to give Taryn’s presence a second thought.  Ironically, being ignored made her feel terribly special.  Like she belonged.