Warrior's Wife (10 page)

Once he was alone in the bathroom, he ran cold water, cupping it to his face then wetting a washcloth and applying it to the back of his neck. Maintaining discipline was much easier in theory. He’d hung on to his decision to give her time to heal by his fingertips. The struggle made him view Marcus’ and Horace’s excesses with empathy.

Tori’s protection was job one, improving and guarding her health was a close second. Clearly she was exhausted. God knew how long she’d been getting by with naps. If she’d rest, then her bots could get busy healing her damaged tissue. He stared at his mug in the bathroom mirror and wondered how to un-arouse her. Hell, he couldn’t get his cock to stay down. How was he going to cool her lust?

Day one of the mission and he’d already hit an unexpected challenge. He didn’t have the answer, but sure as hell hiding wasn’t going to cut it. Still clueless, he marched himself back into the bedroom.

Tori slept curled on her side with Rufus cuddled close and a light blanket covering both of them.

Okay, escaping into the bathroom hadn’t hurt anything. On a whim he turned on the droid. The pup opened his eyes, sniffed the air then snuggled back into Tori’s side.

Gideon picked up a stack of three empty foil candy cups from the nightstand and put them on the tray. Clearly, his truffles pleased her. He popped one of the remaining chocolates into his mouth. While the treat melted, he assessed the area he’d prepped for potential weaknesses.

Assured she slept peacefully, he made a quick tour of the house, checking windows and doors. From the kitchen he glimpsed Marcus patrolling. “Any problems?”

“Nah. Tori okay?”

“Sleeping.”

Marcus focused on the barn. “Guess Horace is working on a comm chip.”

“I better get back.”

“You gotta know we didn’t mean to hurt her.”

“Yeah, I know. I get that she’s a hard woman to turn down, pal.” Gideon clapped Marcus’ shoulder.

“We still taking turns?”

“Not until I get one,” Gideon snapped.

Marcus took a big step back. “Gotcha.”

When Gideon let himself into the bedroom, Tori still was still sleeping on the side of the bed closest to the door. Unwilling to chance disturbing her rest, he seated himself on the floor and set his disrupter within easy reach. The footboard worked as a backrest and he was positioned between her and the most probable point of entry.

A few times, he caught himself nodding off and jerked awake, furious with his lack of discipline. If they’d had a functioning mind link he would’ve given in to a nap. For now, face-to-face was it and he couldn’t chance sleeping. Horace had to be going nuts trying to fabricate a comm system with nothing more than his mind and a personal replicator. Maybe it couldn’t be done.

It had taken Gideon days to make the farmhouse livable and that was with Nigel handling material delivery.

If their boss were able to monitor the past and send provisions he would’ve. The absence of comm chips was a bad sign. Gideon needed to plan as if they were on their own indefinitely. He ran a hand over his smooth-shaved skull.

Tori would need real food soon, they all would. He’d stocked provisions for a couple of days. The supplies could stretch if necessary. The hazards of abandoned vehicles and structural failures plus driving only at night meant the twenty-four-hour trip to the founders’ compound in California would take a week, maybe more.

The sun set hours ago. Tomorrow was her birthday. The triad had plans for a special celebration. Imaging her reactions to each mech’s gift caused his lips to quirk. Once the party was over and she was fit to travel, they’d need to get back on the road.

She slept for several hours. His thoughts darkened with plenty of time to come up with worst-case scenarios.

“Gideon?” a drowsy murmur called.

He stretched, cracking the kinks out of his reinforced skeleton and opened his yap to answer.

“Gideon?” Her voice rose in alarm.

“Right here, cupcake.” He sank onto the bed and palmed her hip.

She sighed with relief. “Thank God. It’s already dark. How long did I sleep?”

He pretended to consider the question as if he hadn’t been counting the minutes until she woke. “About twelve hours.”

“Have you been sitting on the floor the whole time?”

“Nah, I checked on the guys a couple of times.”

She rose to her knees and began massaging his neck and shoulders. “Lie on your stomach. Your poor backside must be aching.”

My front has the real problem.
Most natural humans acted as if mechs didn’t have pain receptors, let alone emotions. When was the last time anyone had been concerned about his comfort? That was a big fat never. Moved by her wanting to care for him, he didn’t chastise her for touching without permission. Instead he followed directions.

Her fingers worked down his spine, loosening tension spots and amping his craving to lose himself in her liquid heat. He creaked out a rough query, “How are you?”

“Wonderful, actually. It’s been a long time since I’ve slept so deeply.” She finished with his lower spine and began kneading his ass. “Is this helping?”

His voice had deepened to black-hole territory. “It’d work so much better without the clothes.”

He tumbled them over until she was under him.

She laughed, a trill of feminine delight, tugging unsuspected tenderness from him.

Their fingers tangled as she tried to help him out of his clothes. He captured her hands and guided them to the headboard. “Grab wood and don’t let go.”

She ignored the command and nearly wrapped her fingers around his erection before he trapped her wayward hand.

“You’ve been begging for punishment for hours.”

“I’ve been asleep.”

He stretched her over his lap as if she weighed nothing. “Yeah, but you were dreaming about me paddling your sweet ass.”

Heat rose from her breasts, searing her cheeks. “Maybe.”

“Ten swats, count ’em.”

His hand thwacked her bottom much harder than she’d expected. She yipped a high-pitched, “One.”

The sting was still spreading when his palm slapped again, overlaying part of his first strike. ”Two.”

She whimpered when the third swat connected with his previous hits. “Three.”

Her whole butt felt as if it were on fire. Yet every slap sent new erotic jolts of pure sensation throughout her body. Her nipples contracted into pebbles. Her pussy rippled with each blow and her thighs grew slick with evidence of her desire.

She arched into his next strike with a moan. “Four.”

He landed a swat low enough that it reverberated through her cunt. “Five. May I touch myself, sir?”

The swats paused. His palm cupped her sex. “You want to touch my pussy?”

“Yes, please, sir.”

“Not happening.” His hand moved impossibly fast, landing another solid strike in the exactly the same spot at the last.

“Six,” she shrieked with frustration.

“You come when I say and you don’t touch anything of mine without permission.” He hit her butt again.

She whimpered. “Seven.”

Her butt burned, her clit throbbed and honey gushed from her slit.

Gideon slapped her ass.

“Eight.”

He delivered the next blow.

“Nine.” Every muscle tightened with anticipation. Her empty sheath clenched and released. She wanted to please him, so she bit her lip and pressed her thighs together to stave off an imminent release.

The last swat hit hard and fast, sending her over the edge. A powerful orgasm gripped her and she screamed, “Ten.”

When the world came back into focus, she was facedown on the mattress, her butt arched high and anchored in place by Gideon’s firm grasp as he plowed into her sex.

After the spanking and the record-setting climax she expected to be as limp as overdone pasta. But there was no ignoring the delicious burn from the handprints she was certain covered her ass or the amazing stretch from the huge cock completely filling her cunt.

Each long, hard stroke shook her core and amped the aftershocks of her recent release. Desire unfurled in her belly and rippled from her scalp to her curling toes. Her breaths became fast and shallow. Her back curved, her breasts scraped against the too-smooth quilted bedspread and her clit howled for his caress.

He reached between them, teasing her swollen folds then mashing her clit with the perfect firmness she needed. A second orgasm threatened to shatter her senses. Before she lost it, she gasped, “Permission to come, sir?”

Gideon stilled without moving his hand or the thick rod stretching her inner walls. After a nerve-stretching pause, he leaned over her back, forcing her deeper into the bedding. “Permission granted.”

His tone was rough, nearly a growl, but she sensed his pleasure that she’d asked. Knowing she’d pleased him lit her up from the inside out. Her pussy rippled around his cock as wave after wave of sheer bliss shuddered through her.

Hot blasts of his cum splashed against her cervix, extending and strengthening her climax until she literally saw stars.

She sagged beneath him, utterly spent.

For a second she felt the full impact of his crushing weight then he rolled off her and pulled her onto him.

When she caught her breath enough to speak she didn’t try to lift her head from the thickly muscled chest serving as her pillow. “Wow, that was amazing. It’s as if you read my mind.”

The comfortable pec stiffened under her heavy head. In fact all of him tightened and not in a good way. Her throat constricted. The words tumbled out faster and higher than usual. “What’s wrong? Are you reading my thoughts?”

“No.”

Okay then. Why did the idea of transparency bother her so much? It wasn’t as if she was hiding dark secrets or concealing her abandoned pleasure in his lovemaking.

“Remember the romance classes we took?”

Something in his mild tone made her breath catch. “Uh-huh.”

“There were seduction lessons too.”

“Bet you aced them.” Relief and another ripple of bliss rolled through her core. She was just too tired to do anything about it. She melted back against him.

“We didn’t just study theory.”

The catch was back in her throat. She really didn’t like the direction this conversation seemed headed.

“We studied you.”

“Just how did you manage that?” The tension eased back enough for her to bite back a smile at the flattering thought of them boning up on her.
Really? The three hot dudes from the future crammed for finals on me? Come on, he’s got to be kidding.

“Your letters, journals, phone conversations, emails, texts, every scrap of information from or about you has been preserved. We. Studied. You.”

Propping herself on an elbow, she searched his expression for the smirk of a coming punch line. There wasn’t one. He was utterly serious.

She found the strength to crawl off him and gather Rufus. Once again on her own feet, she locked her shaky knees to stay upright. They’d studied her. No, they’d invaded her privacy and put her life under some futuristic microscope. None of that was even a tiny bit romantic or remotely hot. She’d been played like the pathetic fool she was. Naturally they turned her on. They knew every fantasy, every button to push. She’d opened her legs way too eagerly, but they’d used her dreams to steal her heart.

How could she have swallowed the we’re-here-for-you line for a second? Three drop-dead gorgeous men and her? She should have known there was a huge catch.

While she’d been more than willing to fuck them, she knew next to nothing about any of them. She was ashamed of herself for being so stupid that she’d equated arousal with true passion. She’d jumped into intimacy and it hurt far more than it should to find out all she was to them was an objective, mission, whatever. Both sets of her cheeks burned. She scrubbed away humiliating tears and tilted her chin. “I’d appreciate some real clothes and privacy.”

Gideon rose from the bed with effortless masculine grace. She forced her gaze away from the sight of his magnificent backside as he yanked on his uniform. “Top drawer of the highboy has undergarments, a one piece and boots that should fit.”

Why did his matter-of-fact response make her feel so much worse? There were times when she absolutely hated being female and this was definitely one of them. She crossed her arms and blinked back more stupid tears while he dressed with efficient, economical movements and way too much ease in his flawless skin to suit her.

“I’ll be right outside.”

“You don’t need to wait.”

“Yes, I do.” He paused then continued in the calm reasonable tone she totally hated. “You’re still a target and we need to protect you.”

Right, how could I forget? I’m your mission. Getting me pregnant is probably on the to-do list as well. Good luck with that assignment. I haven’t had a period in months.
“Fine. If you’d hover from a distance it’d be freakin’ great.”

Gideon left, closing the door firmly behind him.