His Secretive Lover (The Thorpe Brothers) (16 page)

Well, she didn’t really mind when it came right down to it.  As long as he was going to actually act on those activities that made her blush.  And just thinking of that made her whole body heat up and she looked down at her plate.  She didn’t want to know if he was watching her this time.  It was too embarrassing how easily he could read her body language.

A
few hours later, once they’d dropped her parents off at their hotel, Cricket turned slightly in her seat so she could face Ryker while he drove.  He handled the powerful car expertly, not needing to weave in and out of traffic to prove his masculinity which made her much more comfortable.  She was impressed with his control and his ability to be so self-assured.  He wasn’t cocky or arrogant but there was an aura about him that just gave one a sense of confidence. 

Realizing that, she sat back and relaxed, enjoying
both the ride as well as the anticipation of him taking her into his arms.  At least, she hoped he was going to take her into his arms.  That thought had her stiffening and looking over at him.

“What just popped into your head?” he asked as he turned down his driveway.

She considered not answering him, afraid she might sound too seductive if she said the words out loud.  But then she remembered that she was trying hard to be honest with him and took a deep breath.  “I was just wondering what was going to happen when we get inside your house.” 

He chuckled.  “At this point, there shouldn’t be any doubt in your mind about what is going to happen,” he replied.
“I’ve been without you for over a week.  You do the math.”

Her face brightened and she relaxed back against the leather seat while he drove into his garage.  He didn’t even wait for the garage door to close before he was out of the driver’s seat and coming around the front of the car.  She thought perhaps she should wait until he reached her and opened the door for her, but she couldn’t wait, wanting him too desperately.  After the day she’d had, she needed his touch to reassure her that they were still okay, that he hadn’t changed his mind after everything he’d learned about her crazy, abnormal family. 

When he reached her, he did exactly that, lifting her up into his arms and pressing her back against the car while his body pinned her there, his mouth kissing her deeply until she was trembling against him.  She didn’t even realize that her legs were now wrapped around his waist until he growled, “You should always wear skirts!”

“Why?” and she gasped when his teeth nibbled along her neck and shoulder. 

He didn’t answer.  He didn’t have to speak, but the way his hips pressed against hers, his arousal extremely evident, she smiled against his mouth.

She gasped when he lifted her into his arms and carried her into his house, not even pausing to turn on lights as he strode up the stairs to his bedroom.  When he was finally there, he let her
feet drop to the floor and he expeditiously stripped off her clothes before taking her back into his arms and kissing her silly once again.  “Not fair,” she gasped when her hands only encountered fabric. 

“If you’re not going to take advantage of a situation, then don’t blame me,” he teased her as he laid her in the middle of the bed.  He then stood up and
looked down at her, his eyes on fire as he took in her naked beauty. 

She laughed but wasn’t going to take that lying down.
  “You’re a magnificent man, Ryker,” she whispered.

With that, he stripped off his own clothes and took her back into his arms.  With one thrust, he was inside her and she sighed with the happiness she felt as he took her higher than she ever thought possible. 

Cricket sighed as she snuggled her back up against him, enjoying his deep laughter as his large hand smoothed up her stomach, pulling her more closely against his chest.  “Do that again and we’ll have to start all over.”

She didn’t disagree with that idea, but smiled as she hugged his arm that was wrapped around her
waist.  “Why do you want to marry me?” she asked after a long silence.  She thought that he might be asleep, but his instant response contradicted that possibility.

She could feel him smile at her question in the darkness a moment before he kissed her hair. 
“For the past month, each morning I would see you across the courtyard and my day would be better.”  His hand stroked down her hip, resting against her bottom.  “And I would see you smile and everything looked more colorful.  Now that I know you and feel you, I can’t get enough of you.  I want to spend every waking moment being with you, making you smile and protecting you.” 

Her smile widened and she had to close her eyes so he couldn’t see the tears of happiness that welled up in them.  “Is that all?” she laughed softly, but it came out as more of a hiccup than a laugh and she felt his arm come back up to hug her closely. 

“Well, there’s also the fact that I love you.  I love your laugh and your smile.  I love talking to you and laughing with you.”  His hand moved up to cup her breast and she gasped with the intensity of desire that streaked through her whole body.  “And every time we make love, I need to do it again and again.  I can’t seem to get enough of your lovely, sexy body.”

She turned her head, looking over her shoulder at him in the dark. “What if I get fat?  Or if I get pregnant?”

He chuckled.  “I’m going to work very hard at ensuring that the second one happens because I want a big family.”  He kissed her shoulder and said, “Only girls though, please.” 

Cricket giggled at his reference to his three younger brothers. 
“But what about my family?”

He sighed and lifted himself up onto his elbow so she was laying on her back staring up at him.  “I wanted to talk to you about that until you distracted me tonight.”

She laughed and playfully punched his shoulder.  “I distracted you?  I was innocently sitting in the passenger seat and…”

“And you got out,” he stated firmly, as if all she had to do was stand up and he was ready for her. 

“I don’t think that actually counts as a seduction method,” she argued, but her hands slid up his muscular arms, enjoying the different texture of his skin under her fingertips. 

“The way you do it, it counts.”  And he kissed her to stop her from arguing. 

Cricket was really starting to get into the kiss when he pinned her hands over her head.  “We have to talk about something important though.” 

Her leg lifted against his thigh and she shifted slightly.  “I think this is very important,” she said, gasping when his hips shifted so they were right where she wanted him to be.  Well…almost.

“The video file,” he said and those three words were all that were needed before she was still once again, her eyes wide with fear as she looked up into his serious face. 

“The file,” she sighed. 

“You are just like your mother and father, aren’t you?”

She tried to pull away, not liking that question at all.  “I’m not like them in any way,” she countered, trying to pull her arms out of his but he held them gently
and she wasn’t able to break his hold. 

“You are.  You might not steal things, but I saw the look in your eyes on that video.  You enjoy breaking into places, don’t you?”

Cricket glared up at him, refusing to answer his question. 

Ryker laughed at her attempt at being angry when she was naked under his body.  “Admit it.  You enjoy the adrenaline rush, don’t you?”

Cricket shrugged her shoulder slightly.  “Yes.  Okay?  I admit it!  I like breaking into people’s offices and houses just to see if I can.  I like the thrill of not getting caught and escaping without anyone even knowing I was there.  Does that mean you’re out?  Are you running for the hills?”

He laughed and bent lower to kiss her but when she moved her face to the side, he simply bit her ear lobe as punishment.  Not hard, but enough to show her that he was still in command of her body and she shouldn’t even try to hide from him. 

“I think you should quit your job,” he said softly, nibbling on her neck once again.  “I have a friend in Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C. who owns a security firm.  I spoke to him earlier today, told him all about you.  He has a division that tests companies’ security systems.”

She was more than a little intrigued
and turned her face so she could see him in the dim light of the bedroom.  “What do you mean?  How does he do that?”  But she knew!  And her whole body was vibrating with excitement at the possibility. 

Ryker laughed and shifted again, causing her to gasp.  “
He has a team that breaks in to buildings and figures out what the company can do better to secure their intellectual or physical property.  They are a mix of ex-military and intelligence personnel, all of whom enjoy the challenge of overcoming any security system and figuring out how to make it better.”

With all of her strength, she shifted and rolled on top of him.  “And?” she asked, moving so she was sitting on top of him. 

Ryker took her hips in both of his large hands and moved her where he wanted her to be.  He loved watching her in the throes of passion. And when he filled her up, her head tilted backwards while her body adjusted to his invasion.  “And…” he said as he put on a condom a moment before he shifted her hips, lifting her against him, then slowly letting her move back down, “You have an interview with him the day after tomorrow.  He’s interested in hiring you.”

“Ryker!” she whispered with all the love and excitement she was feeling. 

Those were the last words she was able to speak until she fell against his chest, her whole body draped against him as she slowly came down from her climax.  “I love you,” she breathed as she fell into a deep sleep, a smile on her face and her world now perfect since she was in his arms.  With his job offer, she knew that he accepted all of her, quirks and craziness and everything in between.

Cricket raced through the airport, her mind frantically trying to make a list of everything she needed to do.  She was getting married in…well, soon, she thought because she wasn’t really sure what day it was.  But she couldn’t believe her new job and even her first assignment!  Mitch Hamilton had hired her during the interview, which wasn’t really an interview but more of a test to challenge her skills.  When she’d passed all of his tests, the man as well as several of the team members who she would be working with, stood by the “secure” building with their mouths hanging open in astonishment when she’d walked around from the back.  She had to giggle at the memory of the four men, all of them huge and brawny, two with weapons strapped to their thighs cowboy style but dressed more like SWAT team members with their black cargo pants and black, knit shirts that stretched across their muscles. 

All four of them were staring up at the building, waiting for her to exit from the top.  So when she came around from the back, actually sneaking up on all four of them with the file folder in her hand, they swung around, prepared to do battle but froze at the sight of her smiling up at them. 

The only words spoken were, “You’re hired,” by Mitch himself as the grins slowly evolved on
the other men’s faces. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent going through her first assignment.  She had the blueprints of the building tucked into her purse although she hadn’t fully worked out how she was going to get in.  Each assignment required her, or the team of personnel from Hamilton Securities, to break through a company’s security system and place a note on a specific person’s desk.  If they were able to do that, getting in and out without anyone knowing, the mission was complete.  An after-action report and security recommendations were written up and delivered to the client. 

Mitch charged a crazy fee for this service but he also paid his team extremely well.  He’d quoted a salary that was three times what she was earning from her accounting job.  She had to give Jason Moran her notice and he was going to be furious when she wasn’t able to give him the normal two week’s warning.  But how was a woman supposed to give two weeks notice when she had to put her house on the market, get all of her personal items moved over to her fiancée’s house, plan a wedding and figure out how to break into a Fort Knox-like museum all at the same time?  Something had to go and the first one was to get out of one job so she could start her new one. 

Oh, and she needed to ask her
new friends to be in her wedding.  Yes, that would be a pretty high priority too.  She sighed as she stepped out of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, about to hail a taxi to get her back to Ryker’s house.  She thought that maybe she could cook for him as well.  Dinner…

“Need a ride, gorgeous?” a deep voice said from behind her.

Cricket dropped her arm and grinned as she spun around and threw herself into Ryker’s arms.  “I got the job!” she exclaimed, so excited she could barely think about anything except marrying this man and making him as happy as he made her.  “I love you!” she said before standing on tip toe to kiss him. 

Ryker smiled down at her, thrilled with her enthusiasm.  Of course, he’d known that she’d gotten the job since Mitch had called him back earlier this morning, asking him where he’d found her.  When he’d explained that Cricket was his fiancée, Mitch laughed and Ryker could even see his friend shaking his head.  “You’re in for a long, interesting life, my friend,” he’d said.

Ryker wrapped his arm around his lovely fiancée as he walked her to his car.  He certainly hoped so!