by Reina Torres
The older man gave her a knowing wink and reached for his keys. “She’s been lonely without you, honey.”
Adam followed behind the two as she went through the gallery and turned into a room with a sign shaped like an oversized 1851 Colt Navy Revolver. The polished brass lettering pronounced it the ‘Firearms Room.’
Following behind them, he was only mildly surprised when Uncle Joe opened a display case and reached in for a weapon. Something about Blake opened doors everywhere she went, including his heart.
He was a damn lucky man.
Joe pulled out a rifle and Adam had to smile. It was a beautiful weapon with custom grips.
“That’s something special.”
The look Blake gave him was filled with pride. “It is, isn’t it? They had this custom made for the show and Uncle Joe was the one who took me out to the shooting range and showed me how to use it.”
Joe gave her another fatherly look of pride. “It only made sense. If you’re gonna hold a weapon you should hold it like you know it. And then they decided it was just going to sit over her fireplace.”
Blake grinned. “Still, Joe taught me to shoot it and they put it here in the museum in the television section of the firearms room. They’ve blocked the barrel so it can’t be used to shoot without removing the plug, but the last time I was here I loaded something inside it for safekeeping.”
“So that’s why you came to see me all rushed and pawin’ at the dirt like a filly on the run.” Joe gave her a once over. “You could have been a hell of an outlaw in the old west.”
Laughing, Blake shook her head. “No thanks. I like the convenience of indoor toilets and air conditioning too much.” With an indrawn breath, Blake used her thumb to push down on the piece of metal that would normally have allowed a bullet to be loaded into the rifle. Instead, she held it down and turned the weapon over. Giving it a good shake.
All three of them watched as a little plastic chip fell and tumbled to a stop.
Adam stepped forward and picked up the tiny chip. He turned it over and then back again before looking up into Blake’s smiling eyes. “So, this is where you hid it.”
Blake handed the rifle back to Joe and gave him a big smacking kiss on his cheek before she looked back at Adam. “I knew if something bad happened to me, Joe would have gone looking in Betsy. He would have found the chip and taken it to the police. I also told Sadie’s lawyer the location just in case. He would have showed Joe a video message from me to retrieve the card. Otherwise, I knew it would be safe here. No one touches the firearms room except for Joe.”
Holding open his free arm, Adam wrapped his arm around Blake as she stepped in against his side. “You’re one smart lady. Seth Coleman certainly didn’t understand how wonderful you are.”
Joe agreed. “Or how dangerous.”
The three laughed at that and Joe returned the weapon to the case, locking it securely with his key.
“You two take your time in here. The museum is at your feet.”
Blake shook her head and gave a wistful smile to her old friend. “Maybe next time. Right now, we have to go and give this to the detective outside and then Adam and I are going back to Eagle Rock for a long, long time.”
The older man tipped his hat at the two. “Just be happy, honey. That’s all I ask.”
Blake wrapped her arms around Adam and he cuddled her close.
“I’ll make sure of it, sir.”
Joe walked away and disappeared around the corner.
Blake stopped short when they came to the elevators. She gently pulled her arm from his and sat down at one end of a bench. When she looked up at him, she gestured to the other side. He knew she wanted to talk and so did he.
Before he sat down beside her, she was already speaking. “Now that the rush is over, I need to say a few things.” She smiled at him, but it didn’t reach her eyes. It looked like she was barely able to force the smile onto her lips. “When I left the apartment to go to the diner, that was my fault. I don’t expect you to forgive me for putting Annalise in danger.”
He ached for her. If she really believed that he needed to set her straight. “Blake-”
“I did everything I could to make sure she was okay and when you told me that she was safe with Sadie at her ranch, I felt a huge rush of relief, but just because it ended well doesn’t mean that everything is okay.
“I left because I was feeling… stupid. I heard you talking to Hank. I heard you tell him that we weren’t going to work out. And it’s not that I didn’t already know that. Everything that happened between us could be explained as adrenaline and hormones and that’s fine. I can handle that. I’m not going to be that clingy woman who holds onto a guy that doesn’t want to be held on to.”
Setting her hands firmly in her lap, she let out a breath. He wanted to speak up but he also didn’t want to cut her off.
“I’m not going to be angry or… upset,” she continued to speak and he wondered how long her thoughts had been roiling around in her head, “I had a good time. I enjoyed meeting your family and your friends and now that it’s all over-”
“And that’s where I’m going to stop you.”
He saw both hope and fear in her eyes. “You don’t have to make me feel better, Adam. You don’t need to say-”
“The only thing I need to say, Blake, is the truth. So, if you’re done telling me why it’s okay that everything ends now. I’m going to tell you why I don’t want it to end.”
He could see that his words had affected her. He just wasn’t sure if she understood what he meant.
“As soon as I said those things to Hank, I felt this crazy twist inside of me. And the words tasted sour on my tongue, because they were a lie. Trouble was, I couldn’t figure that out until I said them in the first place.
“And when I figured out that you were gone, that someone had taken you, I knew that I’d been a fool to fight the way I was feeling in the first place.”
“No,” she shook her head, “what you said made sense. In a short amount of time I not only brought a whole bunch of crazy to you. I put Annalise and Ada in danger and then I dragged you all the way to Los Angeles so you could lead a full-on assault into a movie studio.” She shook with laughter and damn it, it felt so good to have her in his arms. “Why aren’t you running away from me?”
“Away from you?” He leaned in and claimed her mouth in a kiss. He tilted his head and felt her press tighter against him. A few moments later, he pulled back just enough to see down into her eyes. “Baby, I love you. If you had to go to the ends of the earth tomorrow, I’d follow you there. And then bring you back home.”
He felt her melt a little in his arms even when her eyes sparked with some humor. “You know I just might end up staying forever,” she bit into her bottom lip while her hands skimmed up his back, “are you ready for that?”
“I’m ready for anything if you’re there with me, Blake. You told me once that you knew I’d fix things for you, but you’ve done that for me too. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be ready to have someone… anyone in my life like that, but you’re the one I’ve needed and now I’m not going to give you up… ever.”
She rose up on her tiptoes and kissed him. “Let’s go,” she urged, “Detective Thurston is waiting.”
“Let’s go.”
Taking her hand again, they walked straight through the museum and outside to the waiting detective, dropping the disc into his outstretched hand.
“Thanks, Blake.” The detective gave her an approving nod. “You’re a quick thinker.”
Adam grinned as Blake blushed. “She’s brilliant and modest, so I get to give her all the credit.”
Paxton held the door open for them to climb in the back of the SUV. “Where to?”
Blake gave his hand a squeeze and she looked out the window on the opposite side of the car. “The hotel, please.”
Paxton met Adam’s eyes in the rear-view mirror. “I think we can handle that.”
Detectiv
e Thurston gave his old friend a pointed look. “We? I’m the one driving.”
Leaning back in the passenger seat, Paxton crossed his long legs and chuckled. “Take them to the hotel, Thurston, my good man, and step on it.”
It was all a dream to Blake from there. When they were finally back in their room, Adam couldn’t quite keep his hands off her. Blake had been happy to get back some of her clothes. Whatever Seth’s crew hadn’t ripped or dirtied had been boxed up and returned to her, so the one outfit that she’d managed to get on without dragging fabric over the bandage on her elbow had been her outfit of choice.
And now, she wanted it off.
She’d barely managed to pull it off her good arm when Adam’s hands tugged the fabric free of her fingers.
He removed the rest of her clothes, bra, and panties quickly and carefully and she had to admire the speed, ignoring the niggling thought of women he’d practiced on in the past. After all, she was the one standing there, bare and hungry before him, and the look in his eyes said that he was starving too.
When he lifted his hands and pulled his shirt up and over his head her breath caught in her throat. His bare chest, those beautiful muscles, she couldn’t resist them. Before his hands could work the button on his jeans loose, she brushed them away.
He covered her hands just as quickly. “Babe,” he hissed when her fingertip grazed the bare skin just above the waistband, “I don’t want to play right now.”
The button slipped free and she bit down into her bottom lip when the cool metal of the zipper pull touched her skin. “Who said I was playing?”
A whisper of sound and his zipper was down. Her hands worked their way free of his and reached around him to slip between his lower back and the denim.
She pressed against him and pushed the denim and his briefs down in the back as she brushed against his front. Blake sighed as the tips of her breasts tightened into hard points using the friction of their bodies. Touching him, having his skin touching her in so many ways, her brain was barely able to function.
All her thoughts were focused on one thing.
Okay, well two.
Bringing her hands around his sides, she pushed his clothes further down, her palms grazing the outsides of his thighs.
“Mmm,” she hummed, her eyes closing as she rubbed her body against his, “I love the way you feel.”
“You can touch me all you want.”
She felt him chuckle through their close contact, but the laughter stopped short when she leaned back and left enough space between them for his jeans to slip all the way down to the floor.
When she leaned into him, she felt the hard line of his cock between their bodies and her breath rushed out of her lungs on a groan.
“If I could get down on my knees…”
Blake heard him groan and felt his forehead touch hers.
“You’re trying to kill me, baby.” He leaned back to look into her eyes. “And I’d love every minute, but yeah, you’re all torn up from those stairs. I think I have an option that would give us both what we want.”
“And...” Oh, the dark promise of his voice. It felt like his fingertips were digging into the bottom curve of her ass, or his teeth gently scraping along the column of her throat. “What would that be?”
He lifted his hands and moved them over her body, her bare shoulders, the sensitive curves of her breasts and down to her hips. “Me, inside you. Over and over.”
She couldn’t help the way her breathing sped up or how each breath made her body move against him. “Yeah, that sounds like a great way to spend the rest of the morning.”
Before he could move again, she slipped a hand between their bodies and wrapped her fingers around the base of his cock. “Then again,” she slid her hand all the way up until her finger touched the underside of his head and worked her way back down again, “I’m game for staying in all day long.”
He nodded and his lips parted as he struggled to breathe.
“Looks like you agree with me.” Blake slid her hand back up again and swept the pad of her thumb over the head, smearing his pre-cum over his taut skin. “So, let’s-”
His hand closed over hers and squeezed as he swept their joined hands down between their bodies. When she felt the rasp of hair against the back of her hand, they both held still, breathing in the scent of their arousal.
“Get on the bed, baby.”
She nodded but didn’t move. How could she? Having her hand on him was like standing on the edge of a waterfall, waiting to topple over the edge.
His eyes darkened when he worked her hand free of his cock, bringing it to his mouth, and using his tongue to clean the tip of her finger.
“I feel like I’m always intending to take things slow with you and then a moment later all I want is to bury myself so deep inside you that we don’t come up for air until next week.”
She smiled at him. “I’m waiting for that to be a bad idea, Adam.”
He shook his head at her a moment before he pulled her thumb into his mouth and swept his tongue over the pad of her finger.
“Oh god,” her eyes closed and little pricks of light danced in the darkness. “Still waiting,” she drew in a breath, “for a bad idea here… because I’m all for everything you’re offering.”
He drew her hand further away from her and placed a kiss on the inside of her wrist.
Her thighs pressed tightly together and that only made the sensations more than they were, made her hotter, wetter than she had been.
Everything about her was more around Adam.
More confident. More loved.
“I love you, Blake, and if you ever go away again,” his eyes shone with the truth of his words, “I’m going with you.”
“I don’t know why you love me, Adam,” she blinked back the tears that threatened to fall, “but I’m so grateful that you do because I’m so head over heels for you I don’t know what I’d do if you didn’t feel the same way. And right now, you don’t have to worry about me going anywhere, but I’m hoping you’ll come with me.”
She moved toward the bed, drawing him along with her.
“Get up in the middle, baby,” he whispered the words into her ear, making her shiver. “Roll onto your good side and I’ll show you how this is going to work.”
“Not going to argue with that.”
Before she’d even settled on the bed, Adan had curled up behind her. His touch was heaven, his mouth made her sigh, and then he was moving against her, inside of her, with her, until they were soaring and falling deeper into each other’s lives and hearts.
Blake had never felt that way. She’d never felt so wholly outside of her own skin and full in the center of her soul.
Feeling this way about someone, about Adam, terrified her more than words could say, but as he pulled a pillow up and tucked it gently under her head, then pulled a light blanket over their heated bodies, Blake felt a kind of peace that only he had ever brought into her life.
She might be terrified, but she knew that Adam would be there to help her fix it, because he was the Mechanic.
About Reina Torres
Who would have thought that I'd start off as a painfully shy child writing stories and end up as a painfully shy adult writing books and publishing them for others to read? Crazy? That's me!!
When I was a little girl, I read every book I could get my hands on and if I didn't have one available to read, I'd get out my pencils and paper and write down stories and scenes. Waiting for my mom to finish working, I'd duck into the ladies' break room and use the typewriter. I'd feel like Jessica Fletcher, happily tap, tap, tapping away until I got to 'The End.' Couldn't quite get the flourish after that and end up tearing the paper, but it was cool and scary to sit down and read the book or give it to my friends to read.
Now my 'typewriter' doesn't clack the same way and the I don't even have paper to pull out of it with a nod of satisfaction, but I have the joy and excitement of sharing my characters and books with pe
ople all around the world!
I hope you'll enjoy reading my books, because I'm going to keep writing as long as the characters are feeling chatty!
Other Books by Reina Torres
Reina writes a variety of romance books from Heat to Sweet and back again…
**ALL of Reina’s books are available in KINDLE UNLIMITED**
Shifter Romance that will bring the Heat
The Orsino Security Series – Three Bears who find their fated mates (BBW)
Her UnBearable Protector
He may be the one hired to protect her, but she brought him to life.
His UnBearable Touch
Her music calmed the beast within him and he brought light into her darkness.
Their UnBearable Destiny
He may be the youngest, but he’s no baby bear, and she’ll make him earn his place at her side… and love every minute of the chase.
Sylvan City Alphas –
The Tiger’s Innocent Bride
When his mate’s life is in danger, Devlin has to make the choice between keeping his animal a secret or saving her life. To him there’s sonly one choice. Love.
Too Much to Bear
A single dad to a whole house of foster shifters, Boone asks for help from a Dating Agency to find his mate. How could he know that the first try would be the only one he’d need?
The Fighter
When Cage has a hard time understanding how to keep his teenage foster’s moods and asks for help. Who knew that the answer to his trouble was also the missing piece of his soul?
Bear His Mark
He’s looking for a mate to have and hold and she’s afraid she’s full of broken pieces. These two opposites might just make the perfect whole.
First Responders & Military Romance with Heat-
Justice for Sloane
When Sloane’s life is in danger, FBI Agent Vicente Bravo steps in to make sure she’s safe, but his heart isn’t safe from falling in love.
