Defended & Desired (14 page)

He threaded his fingers with hers and rested their joined hands on his knees. He needed a distraction, and a bounty hunter story seemed like a good way to dispel the sexual tension. “Stop me if you’ve heard this one. Four bounty hunters walk into a gay bar…”

Her eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

“Yep. We’d been tracking a guy named Butch Cassidy—”

“Was that his real name?”

“Some people have sick senses of humor when it comes to naming their kids. Anyway, Butch skipped out on his bail. Four months went by before I got my hands on some intel.”

“Is four months typical?”

He scoffed. “Not for us. We usually pop ‘em and drop ‘em within a week or two.”

“How did you find him?” she asked.

“Get this. Butch, a former body builder with a long rap sheet, decided to trade in the hetero life and go underground as a drag queen.”

A peel of laughter left her lips. “No way.”

He nodded. “I had the whole thing set up ahead of time, had the exits guarded, a few of our guys waiting in the parking lot in case Butch made a break for it. But I didn’t tell Cade, Adam or Liam we were going to a gay bar. They walked in, scoped out the place, and I watched their realization dawn. I couldn’t help it, I started laughing. I choked on my drink and almost had vodka coming out my nose.
I thought Adam was going to race across the room and plant his fist in my face.”

“That’s hilarious.” Her eyes sparkled with amusement.

“Oh, you don’t know the half of it.” He grinned. “Some skinny guy with a faux-hawk came up to me and called me a ‘big mountain man,’ then asked if I wanted to go back to his place and do some climbing.”

She laughed with a snort. “What does that even mean?”

“Who knows?” He shook his head. “I didn’t ask. Hey, everyone has the right to their preferences. I have to say, though, it was priceless watching men try to flirt with my tattooed, badass cousins. My brother took it in stride, but even he was threatening to murder me by the time Butch took the stage.”

“Oh, poor Cade,” she whimpered in sympathy.

“Yeah, he got the brunt of it. I lost count how many times he was asked if he modeled for a living. He attracted plenty of bi-curious women, too. I swear, that night he could’ve had a dozen threesomes every which way, if he’d wanted.”

“I’m sure you all had plenty of opportunity.” She resumed caressing his chest, running her palms up and down his arms, stoking the flame that burned low in his gut. “Did you catch the guy?”

“Yeah, and he put up one hell of a fight. Adam and Liam tackled Butch in the parking lot, a sight I’ll never forget.” He grinned.

Since the water had cooled during their conversation, he stood, stepped from the suds and whipped a towel around his waist. Then he took her hand and helped her from the tub. He grabbed a fluffy white towel and knelt before her, patting her pretty painted toenails dry. Slowly, he dragged the towel up her slender legs and hips. He pressed a kiss to the small feminine swell of her abdomen, then the tops of her breasts, as he stood and finished drying her.

She lifted her mouth and caught him off guard with a sultry kiss. The impulsive kiss and the seductive taste of her lips made him hard beneath his towel.

Damn, he wanted to bend her over the sink and take her from behind. His erection throbbed as he pictured watching her expressions of pleasure in the mirror facing him. But staying the night didn’t involve him satisfying his needs. He willed himself to ignore the pressure pitching a tent in his towel, withdrew his tongue and released her lips.

Wrapping her towel around her, he tucked it under her arms. Then he grabbed the bottle of lotion from the bathroom counter and joined her in the bedroom.

With a swift yank, he threw back the layers of covers. He gestured to the bed. “Lie on your stomach.”

A sexy grin tugged her lips. “I like when you order me around in the bedroom.”

His towel bobbed at his groin, and he stifled a moan. Gripping the bottle of lotion, he warmed it between his palms.

When she dropped her towel, he salivated at the sight of her gorgeous body. She crawled to the center of the mattress and stretched out on the bed. Propped on her elbows, she sent him a come-hither look over her shoulder. “Well?”

He cleared his throat. “I’m admiring the view.”

She wiggled her ass in front of him. “I don’t like waiting for what I want.”

Without moving a muscle, he grinned. “I’ll make it worth your while.”

Seduction in her eyes, she ran the tip of her tongue over her lips. “I have no doubt.”

Hell.
She wasn’t making his self-restraint easy. He wanted to lift her hips, send her face into the pillow and shove himself into her heat.

Instead, he bit the insides of his cheeks and clasped her legs together. He popped the cap and drizzled lotion up her spine.

“Mmm.” She arched. “Your hidden talent is definitely foreplay.”

Without responding, he splayed his hands on her back, setting his thumbs along her spine. He rubbed in small, gradual circles. Eventually, he eased the knots of tension gathered there. He increased the pressure as he moved up her spine, circling, smoothing, caressing. The lotion heated under his hands, turning her skin slick and pliant beneath his touch. Her sighs and moans nearly undid him. Ignoring his own needs, he moved to the middle of her back. When his thumbs found twin stone-sized knots in her shoulder blades, she let out a groan that made him hard everywhere.

“Oh, my God,” she said on a moan. “You’re hired.”

A laugh rasped from his chest. Despite the sexual comebacks streaming through his mind, he didn’t reply. If he spoke right now, his words would turn into a heathen growl, and he’d be all over her in a heartbeat. He wanted her to feel relaxed and safe, not smothered.

Though his raging libido hated him for the effort.

Minutes later, the muscles along her spine released all tension, and her back rose and fell in steady, gentle motions. He paused and eventually smiled, realizing she was asleep.

Good. This was probably her first chance at restful sleep in days. He slid away from her, chucked towel to the floor and turned off the bedside lamp. Then he snuggled in beside her, pulling the covers around them. He gathered her in his arms and held her tight.

“Goodnight, beautiful,” he whispered, kissing her hair, amazed at the sense of
rightness
in his gut. He wanted this feeling to last tonight. All night.
Maybe forever. He closed his eyes to absorb the sweet perfection of holding her.

When she shifted against him, he woke with a start out of a sound sleep. His hips thrust forward instinctively, and he realized he was inside her.

He blinked in the darkness, attempting to shake himself from the hazy place between dreaming and waking. Her wet warmth encased him, and her back arched.

A tremor ran through him and he thrust again, unable to stop or get his bearings. She lifted her knee higher on the mattress, and he came on top of her fully, his chest rasping against her back as he shifted, moved, rocked over her.

Threading their hands, he dragged her arms above her head as he pumped his hard erection into her.  He kissed the backs of her shoulders, then set his chin into the crook of her neck, scraping her skin as he rocked into her, murmuring phrases that didn’t make sense, but made her moan in pleasure. His forearms bracketed hers. He lifted his hips, angling into her more deeply.

Their moans echoed through the room. His heavy heat coasted in and out of her slick channel. Her fingers tightened around his, and her cries were muted by the pillow as she clenched him deep inside her.

When she shivered under him from head to toe, he whispered, “That’s my girl.”

The darkness robbed his sense of time, but she came again twice again before he felt the surge at the base of his sack. He plunged rough and hard and tumbled into a soul-shaking orgasm.

Slowly sinking back into the present, he released his clenched grip on her hands. “Did I hurt you?”

“No.” She shook her head. “That was amazing.”

He pulled out and rolled onto his back, tucking her against his side. She was a perfect fit alongside him, in his arms. He nudged her chin up and found her lips in the blackness. He savored their long, lingering kiss. “Good. That was some hot sex.”

“Mm-hmm,” she agreed, resting her cheek on his chest. “You should wake me up like that more often.”

A grin of satisfaction spread over his face. “More often” meant more of her. More of them.
Together. Definitely a step in the direction he wanted. “I like the way you think.”

“My mind always in the gutter?” she replied in a teasing tone.

“Yep. You’re pretty much perfect.”

She gave a short laugh. “Hardly. But I’m glad you think so. Just keep taking whatever drug you’re on and we’ll be set.”

He almost said something stupid and cheesy like “you’re my drug.”

She’d already taken a big leap by suggesting she wanted what they had to continue. He wasn’t about to ruin that by getting too touchy-feely mushy. Although for the first time, he understood why poets wrote about romance and their fascination with the objects of their desire. He could fill a book talking about Devon.

Then he noticed she’d gone still against him. She murmured, “I can practically hear the wheels turning in your head. What are you thinking?”

“That this is good.”

He felt her smile on his skin, and the center of his chest warmed with hope. She nodded, and they drifted off into sleep.

Only to be awoken what seemed like minutes later by Peanut’s piercing yap.

What seemed like a few seconds later, Trey woke with a jerk. Peanut’s piercing yap was the most annoying alarm clock.

“Peanut, hush!” she hissed, scrambling from the bed to let him out of his cage, before hotel personnel noticed the unwelcomed overnight guest.

Trey sat up and scrubbed a hand down his face, noticing the rough scrape of beard growth against his palm. His gaze shot to the side of Devon’s neck, where patches of red marked her pristine skin.

A rush of primal satisfaction lit his veins. He’d left his mark on her. She was his.

The leftover caveman part of his brain didn’t care how that sounded.
She’s mine.

Sliding from the bed, he grabbed his formerly discarded towel, slung it around his waist, and lumbered over to the coffee maker on the kitchenette counter. When it finished brewing, he handed her a cup.

Dressed in a fuzzy robe from the hotel bathroom, Devon somehow made terrycloth sexy. Marveling, he shook his head. “So what’s on tap for today?”

Her dark eyes shuttered and looked away.

A flash of frustration ignited in his chest. What the hell? They’d spent an amazing night together in and out of the sheets, and she wanted to push him back at arm’s length?

With a heavy sigh, he told himself to be patient. But honestly, why didn’t she see he was all in? Wherever this ride took them?

Instead of letting his frustration show, he took a sip of fresh coffee, scalding the roof of his mouth. Still, he appreciated when the caffeine kicked in and his brain began functioning on all four cylinders. He reminded himself just because he wanted to dive into this great thing he’d found with her, she still had barriers that had been in place long before they met.

One amazing night—no matter how perfect—wasn’t going to fix or change her cautious nature like a car turning the corner. And he needed to stay steady, to build on this good thing, until she was as sure as he was that this type of chemistry came along only once in a lifetime.

After taking a minute to think things through, he realized how intense he could’ve come across if he’d pressed his point.

One more instance where he was glad he was the rational one in the family. If he’d gone into Adam-mode, he and Devon would’ve been over before they started. Though the temptation was there—his Viking blood demanded he storm and conquer her guarded heart—he wanted to do this right. Pushing her to make plans or leaving her to think he had to be glued to her side twenty-four/seven, wouldn’t accomplish anything. And he wasn’t the desperate type. Far from it. Even though he was secure enough in his manhood to admit he craved her presence until he saw her again.

Attempting to strike a balance between what he needed and what he wanted, he said, “I actually have a lot on my plate today.”

“Oh?” Her face softened with interest, and she moved closer to him.

“I have to review the plans I got back from my contractor this week. I’m gutting half my house to put on an addition.”

She arched her eyebrows. “Sounds like a big endeavor.”

He rolled his eyes. “You have no idea. I bought the place for a song, because most people who looked at it had no vision. When I scouted the edge of the property line, I knew I’d struck gold. I saw the promise waiting in the rafters. Back in April, I had the overgrown brush and trees cleared, and now I have a killer view of the Denver skyline surrounded by mountains.”

“That sounds stunning.” Her expression took on a dreamy look, and he wondered what she pictured in her mind. Whatever she imagined, he intended to show her his vision personally.