Hiding in Plain Sight (13 page)

He held her gorgeous, captivating legs open as he began to ease himself within her.  Inch by inch between the shuddering remains of her orgasm, he slid in carefully.  He released her mouth, concentrating on working to be fully enveloped within her.

"Oh, god.  Oh, Bay.  It feels…you feel so good," she groaned and he felt her insides flex as he moved.  "So big."

"Take me, Reese," he ground out as he drew himself out before flexing his hips to dip his length back in.  "So fucking wet… tight and hot."  He'd never felt sensations that sharp, that clearly before; not the wet heat, nor the form-fitting sheathe of another's body as he moved within her.

Propping himself on his elbows, she moved her legs up, crossing them over his lower back as her hips continued to lift to meet his.  Their eyes caught and held as he tilted his face to hers, although he could only see a bit of her face in the dimness of the room. 

"Can we turn on a light, Bay?" she asked softly in between the kisses and licks she'd been applying to his chest, neck and chin.

Without pausing, he reached a hand out and turned the small knob at the base of the nearest lamp, making them both blink deeply.  But their hips never stopped.

"Better?" he asked, pushing her hair off her forehead before dropping back down to her mouth.  It struck him that he couldn't kiss her deep enough.  Hell, hard enough.

Fuck!

The look on her face with that wet, swollen mouth.  The feel of her nipples brushing against his chest, and her delicious full thighs gripping him so tightly.

Her pussy, grasping as she stroked…

"Reese," he begged, using all that he had to hold back. The sweet stings of pressure were coiling in his spine, his balls pulled up firm against his body.

"Oh, god, Bayco!" she moaned, again causing a deep throb within him.  "Yes, baby."

That's all it took for his hips to move mindlessly, shoving and sinking hard and deep within her.  They were still glued eye to eye as he shuttled himself in and out of her, claiming her, caught up in to the storm, the hurricane of their heat.

"Talk to me, Bay," she breathed as she moved against him.

"You are so fucking hot, Reese," he gritted out, almost tongue-tied as he moved himself fast and deep within her.  "So wet and tight…so fucking good."

"Because you touched me, Bay.  God, yes," she again ground out.  "That feels so good.  There, right there!  Yes!"

He could feel her insides clench against him as his pulsating cock strove to go deeper.  He was going to hit it and hit it hard.

"Come with me, Nadia.  Don't stop," he urged as he felt the first of his come shoot up from his balls and out through his narrow opening.  Hard kicks that stole his breath, ramped his heartbeat to racing and created a white noise inside where even time was lost in the sexual paradise of his orgasm.

But with only a couple of beats afterward, he could tell things were not as they should be.

She'd pulled away from him, her arms releasing his shoulders and falling to cradle her breasts.  Her breaths measured instead of panting, like his were.

Wait, weren't they both…?

He dropped down and pressed his forehead against hers once again, recognizing that his orgasm had been one unparalleled in the history of the universe, his universe.

"Uhm," she breathed while she used her forearms to lever him off her torso.  "Can you, like, get off me?"

"Sorry," he replied, ashamed but not knowing why.  Embarrassed by her words and actions, which didn't make sense when he considered their movements in the moments before.  "Reese?"

"Uhm…just need a moment here, okay?" she said as she slid her amazing body away from his, turning from underneath him.

Something was wrong and on such a deep level he was uncertain about the best way to respond.

Once disconnected, she turned to her side, dragging the tangled sheet up with her moves.

Brand stilled.  This wasn't just wrong.  This was so beyond wrong he couldn't breathe.

"Reese?" he offered again.

"Yeah," he heard her soft reply.

"What happened?" he asked, his heart beating as hard as when he was going to come.  But there was no joy in this.  None at all.

"Guess you were too much for me," she whispered, her eyes were studiously still big but tilted away from him.

He'd done something wrong, something so wrong that she couldn't even turn to look at him.

He twisted away, letting his back hit the sheets.

What the fuck had he done?

Obviously the woman his heart wanted hadn't found same satisfaction with their joining as he had.

But he'd been so sure that they'd been…

Okay, she didn't want him.  Not like that. 

And, that thought caused a sharp barb of hurt within him in a place he'd once vowed no one would ever hurt him in again.

*.*.*.*.*

Oh, god.

Nadia
.

What had I done? 

Nadia
.

I'd just given it up to a man who didn't even know who I was and called out another woman's name when he was milli-seconds away from hitting it. 

Nadia.

Could I be more stupid?

Shit.

My life was such a fucking mess.

I was wanted by someone I couldn't stand yet was connected to someone I'd decided I wanted.  But who didn't want me.

Nadia
.

Who the fuck was the bitch and why had he said her name when we were, like, like…

All the furls of my anger were swept away as I recognized that it'd only been four days between us before I allowed him, uhm, welcomed him to, like…

I couldn't look at him and absolutely refused to look at myself in the mirrors that adorned the walls around our bed.

  I hurt.

Hurt from the assault of his turgid, thickness that had invaded me, which had originally been taken in, welcomed and begged for. That ache would heal.  But the hurt to my heart, the one caused by his cries for another woman who I didn't know, who I wasn't and would, probably never be, scored across my soul.  Deeply.

I wasn't
that
girl.  The one he really wanted to be with.

At the moment, though, I wanted him off of me.  His body separated from mine.

Truthfully?

I just wanted to cry.

Cry so deep, at such a depth that I could never be hurt again.  To pour every tear I was destined to shed into one long bawling session— just so I'd never have to feel a pain this deep, this horrible, again.

"So, hey.  Like, that was, like,  great and everything," I said, trying to keep my voice steady as my lungs stretched trying for even, steady breathing.  "But could you, like, get off?"

I felt, more than saw, him hovering over me.  At long last, I felt him pull his impressive length out, and I couldn't help my thoughts as his flesh grazed mine.

Nadia
.

I wanted more than ever to cry.  To cry and scream and shout.  To slap and punch. 

"Reese?" he asked and for some reason I got caught up in the other questions which were hovering just on the other side of his sole use of my name.  And, just like the time he'd said it before, in that quizzical voice, I didn't respond in word or in action.

Because, at that moment, I realized I was completely and totally alone. 

I'd thought I'd been broken before with the loss of mobility, the loss of myself due to other men's ideas of what I should wear, where I should be, and what I should think.  But all of that was nothing, not a fucking thing, in the breaking of me,

All with just Bayco's groan of a name.

A name that wasn't mine.

Nadia
.

Fuck me.  I never thought I'd be destroyed with just a word.

Then and there, I recognized I would never, ever, be free.

That I was well and truly done for; caught in the headlights of the man that chased me.  And captive in the brake lights of the man I'd wanted, but who'd used me as a substitute for someone else.

I wrapped the sheet around me and scooted to the edge of the bed.

"Where are you going?" he asked from his place on his side of the wide mattress.

"Bathroom," I muttered, heartsick.  "Be back in a sec'."

There wasn't any sound from behind me as I shuffled to the tiny enclosure, closing and locking the door.  Nor did any sound escape as I sat in the tub, allowing the spray of the shower to hit the top of my head as I screamed into the towel I held between my face and knees.

Nadia
.

Chapter Thirteen

It was awkward for me the next morning.

Maybe because it was I woke up plastered against him, glued to his side, one arm underneath his pillow.  The other hand was on his rippled abs, my thigh draped over his manly parts.

Or maybe it was because we were still nose to nose, our heads turned toward each other even as we'd slept.

So what I woke to was the feel and sight of a man beyond compare.  Beyond anything I'd ever experienced.  Ever, even in my damn daydreams.

Shit.

I tried to breathe but I couldn't take in enough air to fill my lungs.  And, at my breath's hitch, he opened his eyes and smiled.  Sleepy, sweet and achingly sexy in his own brand of honeyed goodness.

That one dimple was my undoing and at the sight whatever shoring up of my hurt I'd done in the shower fled.  I tucked my face into his neck.  I couldn't take the acceptance, the goddamn caring, in his light green gaze and was embarrassed.

He wasn't here for anything other than protecting me, but then we'd…and, then, he'd…

Oh, man.

"Bathroom," I muttered after dropping my eyes and peeling myself off the deliciousness of him.

Of Bay. 

Oh shit,
Bay
.

While I was planted on the porcelain perch in the bathroom, I allowed my mind to roam.  There was no way a girl could imagine a man like him.  No way in hell. 

Gorgeous to the point of taking your breath away. 

Riding a sweet bike like he fucking owned the road. 

A man who took charge when the occasion warranted after taking time to buy a girl, a person he didn't even know, products to hide herself. 

Then, gave her such pleasure she thought for a moment she'd seen God in all His glory.

Before sending her to hell with another woman's name.

Aw, damn.  Goddamn.

This was bad.  Very fucking bad.

I finished my business on the toilet and turned the knobs on the shower as my head still tried to make sense of what we'd done together last night.  Of the name he'd uttered that had shut my body down without any ifs, ands or buts.  I wasn't able push the hurt of the name he'd said away from me.  Every time my thoughts ventured down that particular road, I almost swayed with the pain. 

But.

That was something I was just gonna have to get over.  Having my heart ripped out wasn't going to change my plans in any way, shape or form.

I was escaping Louie and didn't have the time nor the need to fall for some kind of foreign sex-god who got off on performing some type of rescue or something.  Then sexing up his rescue before he dropped a hammer-blow of rejection with some other bitch's name.

My body locked into full shut-down mode as I listened again to what my thoughts had said.  Excuse me?  'Fall for'?  Oh, hell no.  I don't think so. 

Yeah, he was good-looking and all.  He was sweet, or rather, he
could
be sweet.  And he was excellent at protection.  Plus, he could work my body like nobody's business, but…

But.

Nadia.

I needed to get away as soon as physically possible. 

I couldn't stay here, not with him. 

No way could I stay, although my body was singing from a different hymn book. I needed to remember my goal, what and whom I was running
from
, not careening hell bent for leather
towards
.  Especially when he…

Forget it.  I needed to get over it.

And beyond all else, I needed to be on my way, like, right the fuck now.

Luckily, I'd taken that day's wardrobe selection into the bathroom with me and done the getting dress with make-up stuff before I exited.  But my heart was located somewhere around my knees as I left the security and privacy of the small room.

Bay was in a holding pattern, back to the head board with only the blanket to cover the wonderful bits of him as he used the remote to find something to intrigue himself.

"Uhm," I started as I shoved the stuff cradled in my arms into the remaining space of my backpack.  "I've really, really, appreciated your help so far.  But you know,. I've gotta go."  My hand closed the thick zip and threw the heavy sack up onto a shoulder as I snagged my purse.  "It's been fun, and I really thank you for…"

That was all I was able to get out, two measly steps away from the door before a firm, steel-like arm captured my waist.  He made no apologies for slinging me back onto the bed, my bag and purse thudding on the floor.

"You are not going anywhere," I heard him rumble from above me before I felt his weight pinned me to the bed.  I wasn't brave enough to watch as he'd lowered his body to mine.  But I did have the presence of mind to keep my legs together this time, although it was difficult.   

"We have unfinished business," he announced as I felt his hand capture my chin in order to turn my face to his.  I shut my eyes. 

"Reese!  Look at me," he demanded.

I shot him an immediate glance in response to his bark, much like I would've done if the demand had been from my father or my brothers. 

"And stop with the scared shit," he said, scornfully pressing me more firmly into the mattress.  "You know I will not hurt you."

Oh, but you already have
, my heart responded and I felt my eyes prickle, a lump form in my throat.

"There you are," he breathed as his peridot stare caught mine.  After those first few words, I saw his face soften as he looked at me.  He used a big hand and gently pushed my hair back from my face.  "You are feeling uncomfortable with what we did last night.  And the emotions this morning are, for you, running high."

That was an understatement if ever there was one.

"So you think, my beautiful draga, it would be better for you to go back to your original plan and run on your own.  Am I right?" he asked, bringing his eyes back to mine.

I turned my head away, but he caught my chin and brought my face straight back to his. He dropped his to press our foreheads together before he shifted his weight off me but kept an arm around my waist and a heavy muscled thigh over my legs.

"Do you remember our conversation from before about the Milosevics?" he asked with an elbow to the bed, his head propped in his hand.

I nodded.  Of course I remembered.  It was his 'no hope' speech.  I'd just kind of forgot it this morning when I realized things between me and Bay were… complicated.  As in, no hope to salvage whatever we'd built.

"Even though I have told you of them, of how you will never escape.  Even when I have shown I can protect you," he started, his eyes turning hard.  "You still want to leave me?"

I didn't say anything because looking at it from his point of view, me taking off on my own would be pretty stupid.  But something of my thoughts must have showed on my face because Bay's eyes went back to soft.

Nadia
.

"We shouldn't have done what we did,” I blurted without thinking.  There were sharp pains in my palms at my shout and I realized I'd fisted my hands so hard my nails were biting deep into my skin.  I released my hands with effort.

"Last night?" he asked and I shot him a glance to see if he was teasing.

"Well, yeah," I barked back, my tone in the 'no duh' range.  Couldn't he work it out for himself?  Shit, he'd said her name!  At the worst possible moment too.

Bay's head dropped until his mouth was next to my ear causing a full-body shiver.  "You did not enjoy last night, Reese?"

When I didn't answer right away, I felt the arm around my waist move.  His hand moved to my stomach and pushed the hem of my t-shirt up so his fingers could touch the bare skin of my belly.

"I enjoyed it.  But we can't do it again."  I wanted to get some rules in place, define our boundaries going forward.  I needed to lay down the law to ensure he knew last night was just a one- time thing.  Not to be repeated, like, ever.  There was no way I could take another hurt like that.

"Never?" He leaned down so that his mouth was again next to my ear, and I felt my hair stir as he spoke, causing more shivers.  His hand on my stomach began to make small circles.  It was, in light of the activity of the night before, an innocent touch, but my body lit up as if we were both naked and seconds away from doing the deed again.  It was like my body and the hurt of my heart, the oozing of the pain there, had never happened.

But it had, dammit!

He pulled back and I saw his eyes roam over me.

"You like my touch, my draga," he breathed.  "And I very much like touching you."

"I don't," I lied.  I loved the feel of his hands on me.  Too much.

"Then why are your nipples so beautifully hard?" he asked, his words causing a sharp, pleasurable spasm within me.

I had just opened my mouth to respond, when Bayco's head shot up, his body going still as a statue.   He turned his head towards the door, and I could feel tension in the parts of him touching me.  He did a half-roll and reached under his pillow, pulling out his gun.

We stayed frozen for more than a few minutes before I felt the tension leave him.  He sat up and looked back to where I laid sprawled on the mattress.  As his eyes did a slow roam, I saw his face flip from 'scary, badass Bay' back to the look of the man I'd come to know.

"Today we will go to my friend's house.  I need more information and he can obtain it," he said slowly.

I raised myself to a sitting position, pushing my t-shirt back into place.  "Was there someone outside?"

"My friend's name is Atin, and I have known him for many years.  We can trust him," Bay continued as if I hadn't spoken.  I saw him use his thumb to flip a little lever on the gun before he put it down and reached for his clothes draped over the chair.  "We will stay the night on his ranch and leave for Montana tomorrow morning."

"Okay," I said and he shot me a look.  My heart was still beating fast and my lips felt stiff, which I figured was my reaction to Bay's tension from before.  That old fight or flight thingie had kicked in, even though I hadn't been scared.  I thought back and realized I'd been waiting for his instructions on what he'd wanted me to do, where I was supposed to go, when he had reached for his gun. 

As he quickly dressed, I pondered what had just happened and my response to it.  I'd never had anyone to rely on before, except Mama, and never expected to.  Especially not a man; a man that had hurt me more with one word than anyone ever could with their hands or fists.  So I guess I could be forgiven for being blindsided by my faith in him, this stranger.  But then, he'd never done anything, not in word or deed, to let me know I wasn't his number one priority in protecting.  Even if he wanted to substitute me for someone else when we were naked.

I'd never been anyone's priority before.

Ever.

But I could damn-well make sure the naked stuff never happened again.

*.*.*.*.*

We were on the road for a lot of miles.  A
lot
of miles, with me even starting to do potty-wiggles as he continued to drive.

Neither one of us had a helmet.  Bay was only wearing goggles a t-shirt and his leather pants.  And the bugs, the bugs on that lonely Nebraska-to-Wyoming interstate, were hitting each of us.  Staining and stinging us as they collided with our exposed skin.