Second Nature (When Seconds Count) (10 page)

“She’s beautiful
and funny. Whatever could she see in me?” She abandoned her quest for quick-witted reply when he plated the food and sat one in front of her, along with two white tablets and another glass of water. “Take those,” he said before he turned back for his own plate.

“What are they?”

“Antibiotics.” She was only marginally grateful he took the seat across from her instead of next to her. She knew she was about to be interrogated, but at least she didn’t have to feel his heat so close to her skin while he was doing it. “Two twice a day for a week. And no arguments.” He took the bottle from his pants pocket and set it on the counter next to her plate.

“Thanks.” She popped the pills to the back of her throat and took another swig of water.
When she caught his gaze over the rim of her glass she couldn’t ignore his confused expression. “What?

“I didn’t exactly expect you to buy into the
whole no argument bit so easily.”

He sat there, staring
at her expectantly. “What? You want me to hack them back up and start over with a
fuck-you
?” He laughed. A big, burly, carefree kind of laugh she’d never heard from him before. Something inside her turned all warm and fuzzy knowing she had made him let go enough to share that with her.

“N
o. No need to do that. I just thought I’d have to arm wrestle you into taking them.” He took a drink of water, licking his lips as he set the glass back down. Another lustful shard of arousal spiked in her belly as she watched the moisture bead on his lips. When he glanced back up, his wicked grin told her she’d been busted. “So does this mean you trust me?”

She shook her head and picked up her fork
. “Let’s just say there is something about you that makes me want to trust you.” Before she could bring the fork to her mouth he snatched it from her hand with another display of lightning speed. “Hey! I really want to eat that.”

“And I really want you to eat it, but I need you to clear something up for me first.” He set the for
k down on his plate and picked up his glass again, taking another small sip before he continued. “What happened in there?” He tilted his head towards the bedroom.

She should have known
he would stick around to snoop. She sat back in her seat and ran her fingertip along the edge of her plate.
What would he think if I just dug in with my hands?
“I don’t know what you mean.”

She jumped when he s
et his glass down with a loud bang, water sloshing over the sides. She watched in amazement as he subtly restrained his temper and repositioned himself in his seat. “I’m not asking for the hell of it, Thalia. Did I do something that sent you into that panic attack?” The hard look on his face relaxed with concern as his arms raked down the edge of the counter and fell into his lap. “I don’t know how, but I’ll find a way to keep my hands to myself if that’s it.”

A small hiccup of laughter bubbled up from Thalia’s chest at the dejected look on his face. “No,”
she said and shook her head, her shoulders relaxing despite the fact she had just lost the last shred of her pride. “It’s not you.” She found it hard to look at him so she focused on the beads of sweat running down the side of her glass instead. “I’ve had those for as long as I can remember. They’ve been worse lately, but it’s not you.”

“What’s the trigger?” She darted a glance toward him and her heart nearly melted. How was it possible that he cared? How did she tell h
im that he was the only man who had ever made her crave the closeness that usually brought them on? She sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him about the nightmares. Still avoiding eye contact, Thalia shrugged, as if the motion itself would toss off the weight of her embarrassment.

“Don’t be embarrassed, fossa.” Grant reached across the counter and tilted her chin so that she had to look a
t him. “I’m only asking so I don’t do something that will cause it. I know I can be demanding and pushy when it comes to sex, but I can dial it back a few clicks if it’s too much.”

She shook her head, dislodging his grip on her chin. “No, please.”
More heat crept into her cheeks and she reached for the glass of water, taking a long sip before setting the glass back down. God, how could she explain something she didn’t fully understand herself?  “It’s…I get this heavy, suffocating feeling in my chest when I’m close to someone that way. I mean, normally I can’t stand for a man to be…”

“On top?”

Thalia nodded, still unable to meet his gaze, his silence as unnerving as having his gun stuck in her face. “But it’s different with you. I don’t know what caused it this time.”

“Different how?”

Geeze, he was going to make her say it. “It just is, okay? I don’t know why or how. I just want you that way. I don’t want you to change anything.”

“Thalia, look at me.”

She straightened with the zing that ran along her spine in response to the command in his voice. She lifted her head to look at him, the gold in his eyes swirling with intent. “You will tell me if I do anything that makes you feel like that.” She hesitated at first, but couldn’t refuse him. She nodded and he shook his head. “Yes or no, fossa. I need to know that you understand.”

“Yes.”

“And you won’t hide it from me again. I want to know you, Thalia, all of you, for however long this lasts. Understand?”

“Yes
.” She nodded. Strangely enough, she didn’t feel like a child who had just been scolded. It went against her nature to give that much to him but she couldn’t deny him. Despite what she had told herself, she wanted to know him too.

“And you’
ll let me help you dress your wounds next time.”

Her hand cupped the
bandage she’d applied to her shoulder before she’d left the bathroom. “I can—”

“Yes, fossa. That’s all I need to hear.”

“Yes.”

She scoffed when
Grant cut a bite of food from his own plate and held the fork to her lips. “Indulge me.”

Just lik
e that, he shifted back into a playful, irresistible jerk, as if she hadn’t just had one of her darkest secrets ripped from her soul for all to see. She hesitated, wondering what kind of game he was playing, but thought
what the hell
. She could play, too. She let her eyelids droop as she leaned forward and slowly wrapped her lips around his fork. Any point to the game was lost on her when flavors she couldn’t describe exploded on her tongue. “Mmm.” Her jaw ached from the tangy spices and the meat was so rich and tender. “That’s fantastic. What is it?”

“Zebra.” Grant smiled and took a bite of his own.

Even if she had been lost in a desert for a week without food, if someone had offered her zebra she probably would have refused it. No. Not probably. She’d eaten some pretty strange foods in India, but never once had she imagined eating a Zebra. Simple fact was, it was delicious. “I’ve never had zebra before.”

Grant chuckle
d and cut another bite for her. “It’s socially unacceptable in the States, and illegal. Most people think they would rather starve than to eat something like this. Then again, most of those people have never known what it’s really like to be starved. They’re just talking out their asses. It’s actually quite a common food here.”

She had expected
him to jump right into the next interrogation phase of their evening, but it seemed he had different plans. As he continued to feed her, which she found more erotic and intimate than she ever thought it would be, he kept the conversation light. They talked about different places they’d been and their favorite foods and books. When he asked her about her musical tastes she couldn’t help but tease him about what she’d found on his iPod.

“Is it so terrible that I like the symphony and classical music?” His blush surprised her. She didn’t think Grant could be self-deprecating enough to be embarrassed.

“No,” she laughed.  “Issa listened to it all the time. He was a huge Tchaikovsky fanatic.”

Grant leaned back in his chair and studied her for a moment before he picked up his glass of water and took a drink. He moved his plate to the side and leaned his elbows on the counter, his eyes turning from playful to calculating ju
st before he spoke. “Tell me about Issa.”

He watched as she dabbed her plump lips with her napkin and pushed her plate away, all twelve layers of those damn iron shields she used to protect herself falling back into place. All his hard work using small talk to loosen her up swirled down the drain with a single question.

“What do you want to know?”

Grant settled back into his seat and shrugged. “Anything you want to tell me.” When she didn’t immediately answer he asked what seemed like the easiest questions to answer. “What did he do? What was he like?”

She shrugged, her eyes focused on a spot on the wall behind him.
“He owned a transport company in Mumbai. Regional trade mostly, some international exports.”

“You worked for him?”

“Yes.” She closed her eyes and let out a long, slow breath. “I scheduled the loads and managed the books. All behind the scenes stuff. It was difficult, given how young I was, but Issa taught me a lot.”

“Is that how you learne
d to shoot? Doesn’t seem like there’s much need for sharp shooting accountants these days.”

She giggled. Honest to God giggled, and it made him
want to wrap her up and keep her somewhere safe, where he could hear her laugh anytime he wanted. While it was tempting, he realized that doing so would be like trying to wrap a cactus in bubble wrap.

“No,” she said on another giggle
. “There isn’t, but…outside the fact that I’ve lived on the run the past year and a half…” A mischievous smile bloomed on her lips, lighting up her entire face. “I went through a really self-destructive phase during my first few years with Issa. When his bodyguard caught me trying to steal his gun, Issa thought it was a good idea to show me exactly what I was asking for. He took me out on one of his boats and let me target shoot at some offshore floats. I was hooked from that first shot. He taught me everything I know about guns and shooting. He was very strict about making sure I knew how to defend myself. Not that I minded. I loved it.”

“Did he teach you how to fight, too?”

She nodded. “Yes. Well, he hired instructors for some of the more traditional martial arts like Kalari and Judo, but he’s the one who taught me how to fight dirty.”

Grant let out a long whistle. “
Kalari, huh? That’s impressive.” Hell. He would have to remember to hide the brooms and mops. “So you can fight just as good with a stick as you can with a gun.” She laughed again, and the sound went straight to his heart and spread to his groin. With his hand under the table, he reached down and adjusted his jeans, cursing his lack of underwear as his zipper cut into his dick.

“No. If I’m going to use lethal force it’s easier to just shoot someone
. Besides, I didn’t stay with it long enough to really master it. Choreographed routines were boring. Instead I took to the streets and honed my skills in the real world.”

“You ran away?” Grant didn’t have a difficult time picturing her as a rebellious teenager, but he couldn’t see her running from the only person she knew.

“No.” She shook her head, her mischievous smile relaxing into a sad sort of grin. “I was just…unfocused, and a bit…self-destructive. I got into a lot of fights in school. Issa eventually took me out and hired private tutors. I couldn’t fight at home, so I would sneak out at night or on the weekends and pick fights with the local kids. I uh…yeah.” She blew out a shaky breath, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I gave Issa a hard time for a while. I had some things I had to figure out how to deal with. Issa understood and eventually helped me find better ways to find the answers. He helped me deal with a lot of things.”

“He meant a lot to you.”

Grant
watched as her thoughts turned inward. Unable to defend against the need to comfort her, he reached out and laid his hand, palm up, onto the bar. She hesitated, but eventually offered a sad smile and laced her fingers with his. “He was everything to me. When I woke up after the accident I was so confused.” She rested her other elbow on the edge of the bar and massaged her forehead. “You can’t imagine what it’s like waking up and you know your name, but you have no clue who you really are.”

No, he couldn’t imagine.
He thought
he
was having an identity crisis. Fuck, she had been just a kid. “How long were you in the hospital?”

“I don’t know. I woke up in
a bedroom in Issa’s house.” His jaw tensed as another anonymous piece of the puzzle was pulled into view. If his gut was right, and she wasn’t just a victim of some random car accident, they wouldn’t have wanted it reported. Not that the Indian authorities would have done much either way. They weren’t well known for prosecuting crimes against women.

“
Do you speak Hindi?”

She shook her head. “I mean, I can get by now
, but I didn’t then. Issa spoke English well enough.” She released his hand and reached for her glass, taking a long sip of water. “It’s strange. I speak English fluently, but I can’t remember learning it. I…sometimes…since Issa was killed I feel like I’m not really me, but I don’t know who I should be.” Grant was so focused on her expressions that he startled when she slammed the glass down onto the bar.

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore. We’re running out of time. I need to make that call to Jauhar and set up a new drop.”

“You’re not making that call.” He watched as her eyes widened at first, then narrowed as that familiar fire swirled within the dark silver depths. He wasn’t surprised when she rocketed from her chair and braced her hands on the counter in front of her.

“What
do you mean? I’ve told you everything!”

It took nearly every ounce of tested discipline
to keep his lips from twitching into a grin. He didn’t know what it was, but seeing her like this made him want to reach out and claim the passion in her eyes; to claim her and fuck her with a ferocity that completely unhinged him. The veins in his dick instantly filled to capacity and he had to stand up to relieve some of the pressure.

“You heard me. You aren’t making that call.” He scooped up the plates
and glasses before turning to the sink, more in an effort to hide his expressions than to tidy up. He knew it was shitty of him to push her buttons, but he couldn’t help himself.

“
I don’t need your permission.”

Dishes clanged in the sink
. Grant turned and leaned against the counter, his arms crossed over his chest. “No, you don’t. But you need my phone.”

“This is bullshit!”
Thalia turned and stomped toward the hallway.

“If you’re planning to leave then you’ll also need my helicopter. Or did you forget that we’re in the middle of Safari country?
” When she froze in place with her back to him, he moved to where she stood and leaned his shoulder against the wall in front of her. “Where’s the thumb drive?”

“
Fuck you,” she spat, her obvious outrage lacing her tone. Grant chuckled and pushed away from the wall.

“Been there, done that
. Quite thoroughly, I believe.” She dodged his hand when he reached up to caress her face, setting off a few of his own fuses. He wouldn’t force her, but he wouldn’t allow her to outright deny him either. “Don’t push me away, fossa.”

He crowded behind her and slowly ran his fingertips along the backs of her thighs, lifting her skirt when he reached the
full, tender globes of her ass. “Tell me.” He felt her shudder, but she didn’t pull away. The need to fill her nearly overwhelming, he watched over her shoulder as her chest heaved with each labored breath. Her arms folded beneath her breasts, pushing them up until they were nearly spilling out of the top of her little sundress. Drawn to them, his hands slid up and under the bodice of her dress, peeling her arms away as the soft, bare flesh of her breasts filled his hands with perfection. “Tell me,” he breathed into her ear, his tongue darting out to trace her delicate lobe.

Thalia couldn’t think. His hands were so hot against her skin. Her whole body ached for his touch
, his mouth, his cock. She knew she had to stand her ground, but damn she couldn’t remember why. “I don’t…” A flash of erotic pain zinged through her pebbled nipples when he trapped and pinched them between his splayed fingers. The muscles in her neck collapsed and her head fell back against his shoulder. “I hate that you do this to me.”

Grant
’s baritone hum vibrated against her over-sensitized skin, sending gooseflesh racing along her arms. “You have no idea how beautiful you are when you’re angry. It’s impossible to keep my hands off you when you’re like this.”

“
Why can’t I just make the call?” Grant nudged her forward. Her hands shook as she reached out and braced herself against the wall. One of his hands slipped from her breasts, and she could feel it moving against her ass as he flipped open the button on his jeans.

“Because you have the upper hand right now.” The sound of
his zipper made her pussy flutter with need as she remembered how well he filled her. How he controlled her completely as he was controlling her now. “You have what everyone wants, Thalia. No one knows where you are.” His hot breath rolled against her neck as he lifted her skirt and gripped her hip, grinding his cock between her bare cheeks. “Let them simmer a bit.”

Her breath seized in her chest as he positioned the head of his cock at her entrance
. He was right there.
So close.
She could almost feel the erotic burn as her flesh stretched around the overwhelming fullness of his first thrust. “We’ll make them wait while we get into position.”

Oh God.
Pushing her hips back, she clenched her teeth.
No waiting. I can’t wait any longer.
She hated begging, but couldn’t bite back the plea clawing its way past her lips. “Fuck me, Grant. Please.”

“
We’ll
push
them where we want them.” His shouted grunt drowned out her own cry as he pushed up and slammed into her, his body hard against her back, his cock even harder inside her. “You maintain the element of control at all times, fossa.” Her nails dug into the wall, her arms no longer able to hold her up as he withdrew and slammed back in time and time again. “Never…give…up…control.”

She loved giving
control to him this way. The weight of each thrust pinned her against the wall, each crushing slap of his hips pressing him deeper inside, and still it wasn’t enough. “Harder! Grant, please. I need more.”

Grant’s arms tightened around her
waist and her feet left the floor. With a growl he set her down and bent her over the kitchen bar. “Ah,” she hissed when his fingers dug into her already bruised hips. His grip immediately loosened as his body tensed behind her.

“Please don’t stop.” God, if he stopped now she would die.

His hands traveled up her back, pulling her dress up and over her head as he slid his lips along her spine. “You completely kill me, fossa. I’ve never wanted a woman the way I want you.”

“I
am
going to kill you if you don’t move.” She squeezed her inner muscles around his hard shaft, wordlessly begging him to take her back to that place where she felt more right than she ever had in her life.

His hips
snapped forward, his thighs slapping hard against her ass, his cock penetrating deeper. “Yes!” Her climax curled in her womb as his hands clamped over her shoulders. Each violent thrust reached deeper and deeper as he used his strength to pull her against him. The edge of the counter rubbed against her clit with just enough pressure, over and over until she was nearly out of her mind with need.

Sweaty skin slapped against sweaty skin. His harsh breaths, captured and expelled with panted grunts
, made her feel alive with power as he lost control and pumped inside her with abandon. One of his hands released her shoulder, slapping with a loud crack onto the counter beside her head. She watched, enraptured as the thick tendons and muscles rippled beneath his skin, his fingers flexing for purchase with every thrust. Her feet left the floor as his pace quickened. She grabbed for the edge of the counter to hold herself against him. Aching heat flooded her pussy as the first waves of her climax rippled through her.

“I’m coming. Oh,
God! Don’t stop.” Another brutal thrust, then another. “Ahh…yes…Grant!” Her entire body quaked beneath him. A harsh growl tore from his throat and he stilled deep inside her, his cock still throbbing as her inner muscles rippled around him. Heat rolled off his body in waves when he collapsed against her back, his forehead pressed to the back of her shoulder, panting for each breath.

T
ime ceased as they laid there still joined together, both unable and unwilling to sever the connection between them. This.
This
is what she wanted from him. She never imagined she could feel this alive. The power he possessed over her, over everything. It was like a drug. And like a greedy addict she wanted more. Grant peppered her skin with lazy kisses as their ragged breaths finally slowed. The skin on her back stuck to his chest when he peeled himself away and carefully pulled his spent cock from inside her. Gently, he lifted her legs and helped her further onto the counter before he pushed himself up to lay beside her, spooning her tight against his chest.