He nudged her entrance, the blunt tip rubbing, coating himself in her juices. A slow thrust and he stretched her, filled her. The sublime pleasure of that first thrust blanked her mind, and all she could do was receive him.
Bottoming out with a grind against her clit, he groaned and kissed her deeply. On a slow glide, he pulled out and eased back inside. With long, indulgent strokes, he brought her more pleasure than she’d ever known. This wasn’t the frenzied sex of their previous joinings. This wasn’t fucking, not with her heart and soul completely entwined with his. She didn’t want to name it, but he’d already had. He loved her, and she couldn’t deny it anymore. She loved him. “Noah.”
“Right here, baby. Right here.” His hot breath on her neck, his cock sliding inside her.
This was perfection, and she’d found it in his arms. He wrapped his arms around her, fused them together.
She buried her head in his shoulder and held on as his tempo roughened. His strokes shortened, became aggressive as a shudder wracked his body or was that her shuddering uncontrollably? She couldn’t tell as he drove into her again and again.
“I love you, Noah.” Three simple, yet all-powerful words slipped out, freeing her. She loved him, completely, no reservation. God only knows where that love would take her, take them, but she was ready for the ride. Come what may.
Voice harsh, he gritted between his clenched jaw, “I love you too.”
Now, he rode her hard, going deep, bottoming out each time with a grunt. She moaned and clung to him, her fingernails digging into his flanks. Her climax was right there, just out of reach.
His head dropped to her nipple, and he pulled the puckered flesh into his mouth. Arching, she fed him her flesh, one nipple then the other. He nipped and licked, sucked and rolled his tongue across the peaks.
“Noah.” His name was little more than a whispered plea for mercy. She needed to come.
With a twist of his hips, her nerve endings exploded, sending currents across her skin, up to her head, and down to her toes, curling them as her mind unraveled and ecstasy flooded her system. She closed her eyes and let the beauty of it consume her as it went on and on, never-ending passion. Vaguely, she was aware of him shouting her name and pinning her knees to the bed while his cock kicked, and warmth flooded her core.
Spent, nothing more than a limp noodle, she let Noah take care of her. He cleaned her up, and when he was done with the intimate act, he returned to the bed and pulled her into his embrace.
Head pillowed on his chest, hand over his heart, now was a good a time to tell him. “When you go to Founder’s Day… I won’t be there. I can’t. But I will be with you in spirit. My love will be with you. I won’t.”
His lips brushed her temple, and his arm tightened around her body. A finger under her chin tipped her head back, and she met his eyes. “I know, and it’s okay. And I understand. I need you to be where you need to be.”
She’d be at the cemetery. It was time for a final goodbye to her brother.
Twenty-Six
The alarm was five years outdated and ridiculously easy to defeat. Within minutes, they were inside the house, breaching through the front door because visibility was less than one hundred feet. No one could see them, and they could see no one. GPS and luck were the only reasons they found the place, especially since they parked a mile away and trudged through the fucking woods.
Before embarking on this retrieval, Joseph hadn’t been in the woods since he was a boy scout. He hated it then as much as he hated it now. But with two hundred million on the line, stashed in untraceable accounts, he’d stroll through Hell dressed in six-inch heels and his winning personality.
“This place is huge,” Brandan muttered and removed his hat and gloves. The duffle bag he carried was dropped on the ground.
Joseph shucked off his coat and tossed it onto a sofa covered with a drop cloth. He’d been here before when he was ten with his mother, father, and Lonnie. His mother was pregnant with Brandan. A vacation on the lake with the mob. Damn, it was a lot of fun.
There were meetings, high level with members of the other families. As a child, he had no interest in what the parents were doing. Like any kid, he wanted to play. Now, he wished he’d appreciated the moment. Man, what he could’ve gleaned from eavesdropping.
“Where do we start?” Pauly asked while tossing his coat on a covered high back chair.
Standing in the middle of the large living room filled with furniture draped in dusty white clothes, that was a good question. Four bedroom lake house each with an en suite, living room, kitchen, game room, gym, mudroom, attic, boathouse. Furnished, the real estate listing stated.
The account ledgers were found buried in the floorboards of a bedroom of two different safe houses. But the ledgers with the passwords wouldn’t be in the same place. His uncle warned him about the safe. The bastard didn’t give him the passwords. He kept that secret and took it with him to the executioner.
“I’m gonna find a bedroom.” Brandan took off up the stairs to the second floor.
“This is it, man.” Pauly rubbed his hands together. “Cha-ching. We about to be paid.” He followed Brandan.
“A house this big will have a safe.” The two halted at Joseph’s voice. He hadn’t shared this information with his men. Parceled information was how he kept them in line. He was the only one who needed to know everything. “Find it.” He ordered and listened to his men move with purpose.
Joseph walked to the sliding door leading to the porch and a stunning view of the snow falling steadily. So quiet. So peaceful. The property had been divided. The guest house was now owned by some local backwoods inbred. Maybe he’d buy this house when everything was done and live how the bosses had lived decades ago.
Probably not. South America called. A place with no extradition treaties. A place he could live like the king he was meant to be.
It had been a long journey living in the shadow of his father, then his uncle. They thought he was too stupid, too weak to run the family. They weren’t wrong. He was that and more. But he never wanted to run the family and took glee in its demise. He was a simple man with simple needs. Two hundred million would go a long way in a country with no extradition treaty.
Two hundred million tax-free dollars. All he needed were the passwords.
Thirty minutes later. “Found it.”
Joseph joined Brandan and Pauly in the office on the ground floor. They all squeezed into a small closet hidden behind several shelves filled with hats and fishing gear. A diversion. If you weren’t looking for the safe, you would never have found it.
Clever.
Fuck. It wasn’t just a simple wall safe. The thing was a fucking mini-vault, and none of them could crack a safe.
“Get the duffle bag,” Joseph ordered, and Pauly went running.
“I hope we bought enough C-4,” Brandan murmured.
So did Joseph.
In the distance, a dog barked.
Twenty-Seven
Kensley’s warm, incredibly soft form used him as a body pillow. Noah didn’t mind. Not at all. She could use him all she wanted, any time she wanted. Threading his fingers through her hair, he marveled at the silky strands and the floral bouquet wafting with each stroke. He wasn’t one to lay around in bed for hours. Lying next to Kensley, time had no meaning.
Except, Bear scratched at the bedroom door, whining every few seconds. Having a dog was like having a permanent toddler. Not that he had first-hand experience. Though he wasn’t opposed to having a little hellion—he kissed Kensley’s forehead and felt her breath caress his chest—especially with her.
Just the thought of settling down, donating half of his DNA, he should be heading for the hills. Instead, he wanted to keep in her bed until she was pregnant with their child. Soon. The word whispered through his blood.
Regretfully, he released his hold on her body and eased Kensley onto the bed. Her eyes peeled open, and she smiled, then frowned. “Where are you going?” her voice groggy.
/> He kissed her, plied her mouth with his tongue, couldn’t help it, and murmured. “Bear’s whining. Gotta check on him. Keep my space warm for me. I’ll be back before it gets cold.”
He pulled on some clothes and a pair of boots. Bear was happy to see him, especially when he let him into the mudroom so he could scoot out the doggy door and play in the snow.
While his dog played and did his business, Noah grabbed a beer and stirred the embers in the fireplace. The sound of an engine caught his attention. He wasn’t expecting visitors, especially this time of night during a storm. Doubtful it was someone lost. The road to the house was obscure, particularly in a snowstorm. If someone was on the road, they wanted to be.
Bear barked, which didn’t mean shit. He barked at everyone, then became best friends. Noah got his HK from the safe and tucked it in the small of his back. It paid to be careful and prepared. Call him paranoid, but that didn’t stop him from stepping out of the house prepared to defend it.
A Jeep Cherokee rolled slowly into view. The headlights washed over the cabin as it made a hard turn and parked behind Kensley’s car. A sharp whistle brought Bear to his side instead of dancing around the vehicle. “Heel.” The single word kept his dog by his side.
Noah wasn’t concerned. This was a pretty bold criminal to park in his driveway. Still, he removed the gun and kept it by his side. The engine cut off, dousing the headlights. He waited for the identity of his guest.
“Polly want a cracker?”
Ah, hell. Tension bled right out of him, replaced by amused annoyance. “Gator?”
“In the flesh.” Tobias tramped over the snow and came closer. His dark hair was over-regulation, and his beard was a scraggy mess. Warily, Tobias eyed Noah, his gaze settling on the HK lowered to his side. “Paranoid?”
“Prepared, Marine.”
It was a good answer, but a smirk broke across Tobias’ face. They embraced with hard slaps on the back.
“Didn’t expect you tonight,” Noah said when they separated, noticing the clouds in Tobias’ hazel eyes. He wasn’t drunk, but he wasn’t locked and loaded either. At least he sought out a friend instead of doing something irreparable to himself, or others. Plus, he came a long way to find that friend.
“I was gonna stop, but… I don’t know. I kept driving.” He scowled, then his gaze darted to Kensley’s car. He dragged his hand through his hair. “Bad timing, huh.”
Noah thought of Kensley naked in his bed. “Somewhat. Come inside.” He whistled once and pointed to the mudroom. Bear obeyed though he didn’t like it.
Tobias shook his head. “Nah. Didn’t mean to step on your toes. I’ll come back tomorrow when you’re done.”
Noah laughed. “I won’t be done with her.”
Tobias’ brows rose, and he gave a slow nod. “So, it’s like that now?”
Noah grinned. “Yeah.”
Pain mixed with longing crossed Tobias’ features. “Finally got someone special. Good for you.” He hitched his thumb at his car. “I’m gonna head out and leave you and your lady alone.”
Noah opened the door and moved aside. “I’ll be digging your ass out of a drift in the morning. Get in here.”
“You sure?” Tobias stepped across the threshold and dragged his boots over the welcome mat. “Don’t want to interrupt the baby-making.”
Noah snorted as he watched Tobias take in the cabin. “I’d ask if you were passing through, but Sessory Corners isn’t on the way to anywhere else. You came to see me, and I’m glad for the visit, but…” He let the sentence linger and went to the refrigerator for two beers. “I have stronger if you need it.”
“Naw, beer is good.” Tobias shucked his coat and took a seat close to the fireplace.
They hadn’t talked about what happened either. Not before the debriefing or after. Also, they hadn’t seen each other since Kevin went into the ground. Noah, Tobias, and Dyson had scattered as soon as the private ceremony was over. Frankly, he was glad there wasn’t any pomp and circumstance, though he wore his uniform and stood at attention in front of the flag-draped coffin.
Noah passed Tobias a beer then shuffled across the room. He flicked the safety back on the HK and opened the gun safe beneath the stairs. He returned the weapon to its place on the shelf, then took a seat on the sofa. “How’s your wounds?” Tobias took a round to his chest that his bulletproof vest stopped, and a second round to his thigh. He was lucky. No major blood vessels were hit.
Tobias flexed his leg. “Works well enough for me to go back.”
That got Noah’s attention. “You’re going back in.” No surprise there. That would’ve been his destiny if he hadn’t taken a bullet to the shoulder. He would’ve gladly returned and served his country with honor. In the field. The amount of damage to the bone, muscles, and tendons, he’d never get through the physical. And he was too proud to ride a desk. He’d lose his mind trapped inside four walls five days a week.
His gaze flicked to the closed bedroom door. Fate takes you where it wants. Now, he was exactly where he wanted to be and with the person he wanted to be with. It felt right, him and her. Ying to her yang. When the fuck had he become a romantic?
The moment he walked into the clinic instead of going to the hospital or taking his ass home. He’d left her alone for months, which wasn’t easy in a town the size of Sessory Corners. Not a week passed without him seeing her at the grocery store, on Main Street, in the drive-thru at Starbucks. He turned the other way each time until a barroom brawl gave him plausible deniability. Now, nothing could keep him away from her.
Noah passed Tobias a beer.
“I really shouldn’t have come,” Tobias murmured.
This wasn’t the Tobias Noah served with. That Tobias was a cocky bastard who told a major to kiss his ass and fucked a general’s wife in the general’s house. From the moment they sat next to each other on the bus to Parris Island, he was irreverent and notorious and the best wingman to guard your back. “I’m not unhappy you’re here but showing up in the middle of the night… Want to tell me what’s going on?”
“Crisis of faith.”
That was understandable. Everyone had it from time to time. “It’s time for you to re-up, isn’t it?” Tobias nodded once, and Noah understood. “You’re thinking about civilian life?”
Tobias looked around at the cabin. “You seem to be enjoying it. House, car, woman.” Bear whined from the mudroom door. “Dog.”
Noah took pity on him and patted his thigh. “Come here, boy.” Bear ignored Noah in favor of circling Tobias.
“That’s a beautiful animal.”
“Bear, heel.” Noah pointed to the dog bed near the fireplace, and Bear obeyed. His obedience training was coming along. Still had lapses when he got overeager or curious, but he was young.
Tobias scratched the whiskers on his chin. “Yeah, I’m considering it. Thing is, I haven’t been a civilian in fifteen years. I don’t know how to do anything else.”
“Neither do I, but here I am.” Noah spread his arms.
“Yeah, you fucking penny pincher. I spent most of my money on beer, women, and cars.”
“And I warned you about two of those three.” Noah held up two fingers, then folded the pointed and left the middle finger in the air.
Tobias chuckled. “That you did, brother. And what did I do?”
“You went out, bought a new car, and eloped with that crazy bitch. The last of the two things I warned you about.”
Tobias shrugged as if no big deal. “I got it annulled two weeks later.”
The bedroom door opened, and Kensley emerged. She was dressed in one of Noah’s sweaters and her jeans. He loved seeing her in his clothes, the sweater down to her knees, the sleeves rolled up to her wrists. God, she was so beautiful and all his. A sense of pride and ownership possessed him. She smiled at him, and he basked in her warmth. A question furrowed her brow when her gaze cut to Tobias.
Both men stood as she made her way down the stairs to his side. He brought her in
to his body, pressed all that feminine warmth against him, and breathed her in. Without hesitation, she leaned in for a kiss he was happy to give. “Babe, meet Tobias. He was in—”
“The same unit with you and Kevin.” She completed the sentence and extended her hand. Tobias took it. “You were at the funeral, but I never acknowledged your presence. Please accept my apology.”
He took her hand, shook it once, and released it. “No apology necessary, Ma’am.”
She winced, and pink colored her cheeks. “Please, not ma’am. I’m too young for ma’am. Just Kensley, please.” She eased away from Noah. “Can I get you gentlemen anything to drink and eat?”
Both declined, and she curled next to Noah on the sofa. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, needing her closer. “Like I said, civilian life is great.”
A clap of thunder rolled through the heavens. Tobias jerked in his seat. “Was that thunder?”
Kensley laughed. “Thundersnow. Never heard of it?”
“He’s from Florida,” Noah smirked and rose. “Come see.” The three of them went out of the front door and peered at the storm. Large snowflakes swirled, creating a whiteout. “If it happened once, it’ll happen again.” Sure enough, lightning dissected the sky, followed by a sharp crack of thunder rolling across the lake. Even with the snow, a sliver of moonlight illuminated the lake and the winter wonderland landscape.
“Huh, never seen that in Florida.” Another flash of lightning and more thunder. “Mother nature putting on a show. Even with thunder, it’s so peaceful up here.” He caught some flakes in his palm. “A man could think up here.”
He certainly could. Noah inhaled a sweet, clean breath of pine-scented air and wrapped his arm around Kensley’s waist. She leaned into him as if she belonged. As if she were home. Contentment, something he never thought he’d ever have settled over him. This place, this woman, was home. Right here, he had everything he wanted.
“The lake is the best part of the town. And if you’re thinking about moving here, the main house is for sale. I know the realtor,” Kensley offered.
If I Love You Page 21
