Lora Leigh - Tempting Seals 01 (6 page)

"Are you trying to run me off, Raven?" She could hear the grin in his voice, see it when she glanced back at him.

"Yes," she snapped desperately. "I am. I can't deal with you this morning. Go torture Morganna."

Like she thought for a minute that he was going to do that. She should have known better, she told herself frantically. He had warned her that last time, when he woke her with a kiss, looming over her like a tide of passion, that her days were numbered. She had tried to convince herself he wasn't serious. She should have known better.

"I don't think so, baby. Do you think I'm going to let you run me off this soon?"

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Uh-oh.

She blinked back at him as his expression hardened, his gray eyes turning stormy. She knew that look, and it did not bode well for getting rid of him.

"How soon, then?" She slammed the cup to the counter and jerked the pot from under the small stream inching into it to rapidly fill the cup.

She brought the cup to her lips and sipped too quickly. The hot liquid burned her tongue, but it did nothing to erase the remembered feel of his touch.

"Damn, Clint was right, you're a grouch in the morning," he stated as he moved to the pot himself, causing her to back away quickly. If he touched her, she was a goner.

"I'm always a grouch." She frowned as he poured himself a cup of coffee. "And that's my coffee."

He lifted his brow mockingly. "I know a cure for your grouchiness."

The wicked smile playing about his mouth had her womb convulsing in arousal. Damn him. Damn him.

She could feel her body preparing for him, aching for him. Even more frightening was the fact that it felt right. His presence in her kitchen wasn't as upsetting as it should have been. It felt comfortable, impossibly natural. She hated having people around her first thing in the morning, but Reno was different.

Which meant he had to go.

"As soon as I finish my coffee, I'm throwing you out." There was just no other answer.

She moved to the table, cradling the cup lovingly as she inhaled the scent. Sanity resided there surely.

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"You'll have to grow quite a bit first, darlin'." He wasn't amused; he wasn't smiling. He was staring at her from determined, intense eyes.

"And don't call me darlin'."

He leaned against the counter, his bare ankles crossing as she glanced at his feet. Dammit, even his toes looked sexy.

She sipped the coffee, remaining silent. There had to be a way to get him out of her apartment, short of calling the police. And what was she supposed to tell the police? Excuse me, Officer, but I let him fuck me last night, so of course he thinks he has rights now.

She rolled her eyes at the thought. Of course he thought he did. She knew Reno. There wasn't a chance in hell he had even considered a one-night stand. He was her brother's best friend. Her best friend's brother. He was playing in earnest.

Panic flared at the thought of that. Oh hell. She looked up at him wildly, taking in the small grin quirking his lips and the way he watched her. As if she were his.

"It was just sex."

He laughed. Asshole. He sipped his coffee and grimaced.

"I'm definitely going to have to show you the fine art of preparing coffee," he drawled. "This stuff isn't going to help your attitude at all, Raven."

"My attitude is not the problem. You are," she informed him through gritted teeth.

"I invited you over to sleep. Not come in and take over," she said, feeling desperate as she got up from the table. "You weren't supposed to… to—" Her face flamed. "—do what you did."

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"What did I do?" His eyes widened, almost innocently. She could see the knowledge glowing there, even as the sweatpants he wore began to tent in the front from his erection.

She swallowed tightly at the sight of it. Her mouth was watering. Oh God, why was her mouth watering?

Why were images of going to her knees and pulling the waistband clear of that thick flesh suddenly torturing her? And her mouth was watering. Weak, Raven, she accused herself firmly. You are so weak.

"That," she said, her hand waving toward the erection. "That's what you did last night. You seduced me."

"Seduced you?" He was clearly laughing now as he glanced down at the tented material. "With my cock? That was seduction? Baby, all I did was kiss you. You kissed back."

"Well that was enough," she sniffed. "Now it's time for you to get dressed and leave."

He set his cup down on the counter, his eyes narrowing, and trepidation skated down her spine. She knew Reno. Knew his looks, his moods, and his stubbornness. She knew when he was about to do something he knew was going to piss her off. And he had that look now.

"Come here." His voice was deep and rich like black velvet.

"What?" she said, staring at him warily.

"I said, come here," he growled. Raven shivered in reaction. Her pussy was gushing at the sound of his voice. She was so easy.

"No." She crossed her arms over her breasts, hoping to hide the telltale rise of her nipples. Damn they ached for his touch, his mouth, his tongue flickering over them.

His brow arched.

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"You know," he said conversationally. "I'm dying to watch the bare flesh of that pretty little ass turn red.

Get over here, Raven, or I'm going to see just how fast my hand can make it blush."

Reno watched as Raven's eyes flared, the blue darkening, filling with arousal and heat as she stared at him with wild-eyed panic. He wanted to chuckle, but he had a feeling it would push her further into retreat. As though he was going to allow that.

He mentally shook his head, watching her trying to rebuild her defenses to keep him out.

Poor Raven. It didn't matter.

Nothing was going to diminish the heat and the hunger between them.

"You did not just threaten to spank me," she suddenly snapped, blinking in amazement as she watched him.

"Yes, I did," he said refuting her statement blandly. "Now come here." He pointed his finger directly in front of his feet.

Anger sizzled in the air. Pure feminine fury heated the room as her arms dropped slowly to her sides and her cheeks flushed with emotion.

"How dare you order me around!" She was seconds from stamping her foot. Damn, she made him hot when she flamed like that. "This is my house, Reno," she said, pointing at her chest, her own eyes narrowing. "My kitchen, my house, and you're leaving."

Reno studied her before quickly coming to a decision. She was trembling with anger… and panic. He didn't want to push so hard and fast that he lost her. So he'd leave, but he wouldn't be gone for long.

He'd give her a bit of time to miss him, but he would be back. Besides there wasn't a chance he could stay away long, not after having had her, feeling the heat of her pussy gripping his cock, the sweet tight
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muscles rippling around him as she came, holding her satisfied body next to his afterward.

He straightened, watching her closely. She stiffened, her foot moving back as though to retreat before she quickly checked the motion.

"Raven, come here," he said more gently.

If possible, her eyes widened even more in panic at his softer tone.

He was very well aware of the risk he was taking. Convincing Raven to open her heart was fraught with danger. Not the physical kind, but the emotional kind. She had seen the result of her mother's life with her Navy SEAL father. The long absences, the fights when he returned home, her mother's inability to accept the danger her father faced and her father's refusal to deal with the situation in any a way except to take more missions, to stay away longer, until finally he hadn't returned. He had been killed while on a mission, leaving her mother to deal with her guilt, and Raven to face the world without a father.

Her lips tightened defiantly before she stalked over to him.

"Now what?" she snarled up at him.

"This."

He lowered his head. He didn't touch her except with his lips. He gripped the counter behind him with both hands, itching to grip her instead. No force, no demand, nothing but the arousal whipping between them, making him crazy, making her hot enough to sear.

Her lips opened on a strangled gasp, her hands reaching for his waist, her fingers curling against his flesh as his tongue surged deep inside. Slanting his head, he pressed closer, groaning when his erection cushioned against her stomach as she rubbed against him, a whimper of lust escaping her throat as he nipped at her lips, stroked them with his tongue, then delved inside for the sweet nectar of her passion.

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When she was soft, pliant, molded to his body as her tongue tangled with his, he slowly drew back.

"Reno…"

Her soft gasp of protest had him gritting his teeth as he fought every instinct inside him screaming to take her to the floor, to convince her, to force her to admit what she was so obviously denying.

Instead, he drew in a hard breath and stepped away from the temptation of her sweet body. God, she had no idea how hard it was to step away from her, to leave her as aching as he ached for her. But he couldn't, wouldn't risk losing her. If he carried through now, took her to her bed as he wanted to so desperately, then it would weaken not just his resolve, but the inroads he had made into making her realize what they could be to each other.

"Now I'll go." He turned and walked out of the kitchen. "I'll see you in the morning, Raven. I'll bring the coffee."

Raven stomped around the house for hours, cleaning what didn't need cleaning, cursing men, their arrogance and their damned alpha, dominant, gung-ho, hero complexes.

She had cursed both Reno and her brother Clint for years for the very things that made them so special.

They were warriors, determined to protect, to make a difference. And they did make a difference. But he was still being arrogant. Relationships weren't war zones.

"There is no relationship, dammit," she muttered furiously, stepping out of the shower and drying off quickly before fluffing her hair.

She was not going to sit around tonight and wait for him. She had waited for him too many nights, pacing the floor with Morganna, chewing her fingernails if they knew he was on a mission, shedding tears when he was later returning home than he had told his sister he would be. She and Morganna both waited for that black government car that would bring the horrifying news of a death.

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Now, she was supposed to sit around the damned house and torture herself over feelings and emotions she knew she was never going to be rid of.

She loved him.

Dammit, she did love him but that didn't mean she had to like it.

She jerked the red silk and lace thong panties and bra from her drawer and pulled them on, knowing they looked good on her. Sexy and hot. They made her feel wicked and wild. Almost as wicked and wild as Reno made her feel.

Biting her lip, her hands moved slowly, cupping her swollen breasts as her thumbs rasped over her distended nipples. She closed her eyes, and could almost feel him touching her, making the heated burn ignite fiercely in the depths of her womb.

He wasn't supposed to do this to her. Make her miss him so desperately, make her wish she could accept as easily as he did. But he wasn't the one who would be left to pace the floors, to fill with anger.

And that was the part that terrified her. She didn't want to be like her mother, always angry or depressed, terrified when she heard the sound of a vehicle coming up the drive.

Reno and Morganna's parents had died six years before in a car accident. Together. There had been no government condolences, no questions were ever answered regarding how they died. Where they died.

The questions Raven's mother had asked every day until her death.

She plucked the sexy little black dress she loved so much out of her closet as the past ate at her soul with a hollow ache. It fell halfway down her thighs, the thin straps barely covering the bra straps as the bodice draped over her breasts. The shimmery black silk felt good on her, looked good on her.

She paired it with the high-heeled, black strappy sandals and drew in a deep breath before shoving keys, cash and ID into a minuscule purse and headed downstairs.

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She wasn't married. She didn't have to sit at home and pace the floors and she damned sure didn't have to worry about Reno Chavez or his perceptions and arrogance. Let him sit and brood if he wanted to.

She was going to play.

She was bored out of her ever-loving mind, but she wasn't going to admit it to Morganna, who had joined her on her little evening adventure.

"Reno's going to be pissed," was Morganna's only objection to the night's activities as they walked into the small club, the pulse of the music surrounding them, the smoky atmosphere dim and not nearly as appealing as Raven tried to pretend it was.

"He'll live," she snapped. "Your brother is entirely too dominant, Morganna. And I'm still pissed at you for letting your friends use his bed."

"Of course he's dominant," Morganna laughed as they made their way through the crowd to the back of the club and a lone empty table. "He wouldn't do what he does if he wasn't. Admit it, Raven, it's one of the things you love about him."

It was one of the things that terrified her about him.

"No, that's what you love about Clint." She took her chair and looked around impatiently for the waitress. "I like my men a little safer. You know, Morg, the 'stay at home and hearth' type of guy?"