Sincerity was an easy thing to recognize in his intense gaze. “I believe you.”
“Then what was that look for? Don’t tell me it’s nothing. What were you thinking about? I thought maybe my sudden movement scared you but that wasn’t it, was it? I’m pretty good at reading people.”
Inhaling, she took a deep breath. Indecision had her faltering but then she decided to go with the truth, at least partly. “I realized how much I like you. I don’t want to get attached to anyone, I’m so screwed up a relationship is the last thing I probably need, and you’re not the relationship type even if I were willing to give one a try.”
Understanding dawned. “I’m scaring the crap out of you, huh?” He chuckled. “I’m under your skin.”
“You don’t have to look so damn happy about it.”
“I am.” His leaned his face forward until their noses brushed. “You scare the crap out of me too, Fuck And Run.”
Her fingers squeezed his shoulders. “That’s not funny.” She still smiled.
“I love seeing that flare in your eyes when I call you that.”
“That’s anger.”
“No, it’s not. You think I’m cute.”
“I think you’re an ass.”
Another chuckle rumbled from him. “But a cute one you can’t resist.”
Brit wrapped her legs around his hips and rubbed her heels on the firm, rounded ass he spoke of. “It is the best one I’ve ever seen.”
“Let’s stop worrying about where we’re heading and just enjoy being together.”
Her fingers slid upward into his silky hair. “You make it sound so easy.”
“I know. It’s getting complicated but I don’t give a damn. We’re together, we’re happy when we are, and that’s all that matters.”
She nodded. “For now.”
“Yeah.” River shifted his hips and lifted them slightly. His cock had hardened and he pressed against her, slowly entering her pussy. “Speaking of now…”
Brit softly moaned, tilting her hips upward to help him slide deeper inside. The feeling of River sinking deep inside her body made nerve endings come alive. “You feel so good.”
“So do you. So wet, so welcoming and tight.” He withdrew a little and settled down more firmly between her spread thighs. “So right. So mine. You feel like heaven without the condom. Thank you, Brit. Damn, this feels amazing. You have no idea how much I wanted to know how it would feel with nothing between us.”
“Move faster.” She wiggled her hips to urge him on.
“Slow and easy.” His mouth lowered to hers and he brushed his full lips against her seeking ones. “I want to make love to you this time.”
He took possession of her mouth fully when his tongue slid past her lips, exploring her slowly, savoring each moment. He didn’t kiss her the way he had before. This time he took his time. His hips leisurely rocked, moving his cock inside her torturously with shallow motions that teased and made her ache for more.
When he broke the kiss, they stared deeply into each other’s eyes. The pleasure blurred as River heightened her passion until the smooth flow of their bodies rubbing together had her panting hard and bucking against him faster, trying frantically to reach release.
River lowered his head and his hair teased her shoulder as his hot breath fanned her neck. Brit’s eyes closed as his mouth parted and teeth bit down on the top of her shoulder where it met her neck. The nip he gave her was the last straw. The climax gripped her as she cried out his name, her nails digging into his skin. River groaned against her and his cock jerked inside her as he came.
“Heaven, Brit. That’s what you are to me.”
Brit knew she would be in a world of hurt when it was time to leave as she clung to him while trying to catch her breath. River was an unforgettable man, one who would haunt her after they parted and she only had the ghost of his memory to keep her company in bed. She wouldn’t admit it to him but she couldn’t lie to herself. The man had not only gotten her addicted to him physically but she had fallen hard for him emotionally.
* * * * *
A noise woke River. He opened his eyes to the darkness. Brit slept soundly in front of him—her slow breathing assured him of that—curled on her side in a ball with his body curved around hers. He lifted his head from the pillow, listening for the sound that had roused him. He figured it had to be Drake moving around since Ryder had gone fishing with Trip and Adam. Drake was known to be an insomniac.
One of the floorboards in the hallway creaked. He relaxed, knowing it was his brother walking around. His head barely touched pillow when his bedroom door swung open. He tensed. Drake would never just enter his room, especially not when he knew damn well there was a woman in his bed.
Light flooded the room and he blinked rapidly to adjust to the harshness of being momentarily blinded.
“You fucking bitch,” a slurred male voice accused.
River sat up fast, his arms untangling from Brit, and he stared in shock at the man standing just inside his bedroom. It had been years since he’d seen Kyle Marthum but that was definitely him holding a shotgun pointed directly at the bed.
Brit jerked awake and gasped, her body tensing next to River. “Kyle.” Brit’s voice shook with fear.
River didn’t even glance at her—he focused on the gun. The son of a bitch had come after Brit and he’d broken into the house somehow. Moving very slowly, he inched his hand toward the top of the bed, under the pillow. His heart raced and his eyes narrowed.
“You whore!” Kyle bumped the wall as he stumbled a foot forward. “You get out of that asshole’s bed right now and put something on. We’re leaving. You’re coming home with me.”
“Kyle, please put the gun down.” Brit’s voice broke. “Please? I’ll go. Just don’t hurt anyone.”
When hell freezes over, River thought. No way is Brit leaving with that lunatic. His fingers reached the curve of the mattress and slid around it, feeling between it and the bed frame. He touched metal and wrapped his fingers around it. He hoped Drake had heard Kyle yelling and had woken.
“Did you think I’d ever let you go?” Kyle trained the gun on Brit. “I’ll see you dead. How many damn times do I have to tell you that before you believe it?”
Brit tried to move away from River so he reached out, gripped her hip, and pulled her back, holding her where she lay. Her body felt so tense he worried that he’d hurt her when he forced her to hold still. She shook under his hand, letting him know just how terrified her ex made her.
“Let my wife go, you son of a bitch.” Kyle moved the gun toward River. “I’ll kill you. You fucked my wife.”
River eased out of bed slowly, using the pillow to hide his hand. He opened his mouth to distract Kyle. He needed to keep Kyle’s gun trained on him and not Brit. “I did. Best fuck ever, Kyle. She’s so damn hot I’ve probably got second degree burns from her mouth.”
From the corner of his vision, River saw Brit turn her head to gape at him but he didn’t spare her a glance. Kyle’s face turned red, anger making him jerk the gun higher. River hoped like hell the guy was drunk enough to affect his reflexes. He gauged the distance between the barrel and himself.
“What?” Kyle gasped.
“You heard me. Damn, man. She gives the best head I ever had in my life and she’s tighter than a damn fist. I guess with you locked up nobody has been tapping that ass until I did.” River stepped away from the bed, moving so Brit was further away and definitely safe from being shot. “I heard you have a thing for fucking her in front of people. Want to watch me screw your wife?”
“You’re dead,” Kyle screamed and raised the gun higher to shoot River.
River dived for the floor, putting even more space between him and Brit, and both arms went up. The sound of gunfire and the blast from the shotgun were deafening in the bedroom. River hit the floor hard, still firing, and watched as the other man jerked backward.
* * * * *
Brit screamed as Kyle fired the
shotgun at River. Explosive sounds ripped through her ears painfully and the muzzle of the gun flared brightly. Repeated loud blasts shattered through the room in rapid succession. She stared wide-eyed as Kyle was thrown back from the kick of the gun, his back hitting the wall by the door, and she saw him jerk a few times.
His mouth opened and the weapon he held clattered to the floor. His head turned and his stunned, drunken gaze met hers. She saw shock there, his green eyes unusually wide, and then she looked down. Red bloomed on his chest in four places. It spread quickly down his blue shirt to the waist of his dark-gray slacks. She saw more blood spreading on his thigh from another wound and it sank in then that somehow he’d been shot repeatedly.
He sank slowly to the floor. “Britney.”
She wasn’t sure how she moved, shock probably should have held her immobile, but she got to her feet. Kyle stared at her, one hand reaching out for her, and she inched closer, shaking badly. She bent when she got close. Her gaze flickered over his blood, which was spreading on the floor where he sat. Her shaking hand avoided his and instead grabbed the shotgun he’d dropped.
Brit backed away, straightened, and threw the gun at the bed where it landed harmlessly on the soft mattress. She turned, afraid to see River, and prayed at the same time that he wasn’t dying. He lay on the floor, his naked body stretched out, arms upward holding a handgun in both his hands. Their gazes met.
“River?” She whispered his name.
He cleared his throat and moved, struggling to push himself up while still holding the gun. “I’m okay.”
“River!” The male shout came from the hallway and heavy footfalls pounded on wood.
Brit jerked her head to the side and watched as a fully dressed Drake nearly skidded past the doorway. He was a little out of breath, his leather jacket snagged on the doorjamb, and then he stepped inside. He looked down at Kyle, saw the blood and his normally tan face paled drastically. His head lifted and he sought out his brother.
“I’m okay. His aim was high, he missed.” River climbed to his feet. “I didn’t.”
Brit swayed a little, seeing for herself that River’s body didn’t have any holes in it. His knees and elbows were a little red, so was his hipbone on one side, but he wasn’t bleeding. She stumbled toward him and he stepped forward, releasing the gun with one hand, stretching his other arm back so the gun was far from her, pointing at the floor.
“Brit? Are you all right?”
She lunged, wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, and clung. River was alive. She’d thought Kyle had shot him. The words he’d spoken to her ex-husband had stunned and horrified her but she’d known at that moment he’d done and said what he had to draw Kyle’s gun away from her.
She nodded, holding onto him tighter. “Yes.”
“H-help,” Kyle rasped, his voice gravelly with pain. “Call an ambulance. You shot me.”
River wrapped an arm tightly around Brit’s waist, holding her back. “Fuck you.”
Drake softly cursed. “I’ll call for help.”
“Let him bleed out.” River’s voice sounded stone cold. “He meant to kill me and he came here after Brit.”
The silence in the room was absolute until Kyle broke it.
“You can’t d-do that. You can’t let me…die. Do you know who—” He coughed, blood speckling his chin. “Who I am?”
“You’re an asshole who abused Brit.”
“Britney?” Kyle gasped. “Do something. C-call for help.”
She shivered from shock and feeling cold deep inside. Turning her head, she stared at her ex-husband. He’d stalked her, abused her, drugged her, and done horrible things to her. “Go to hell.”
Drake cursed. “I’m calling. Let’s keep this legal.”
“Let him die. It’s the only way she’ll ever be safe from that animal.” River gently released Brit and moved toward the dresser, limping slightly from his bad knee. “I’m getting you something to wear, baby.”
She stood there shaking and it only dawned then that she and River were totally naked. She didn’t feel embarrassment though, that being the least of her emotional turmoil. Her gaze turned to Drake and watched him stride across the room to the bedside table. He picked up the phone, punched in three numbers, and then took a deep breath.
“We had an intruder at the Raine Ranch. He came after his ex-wife who has been staying here and he tried to kill her and River Raine. He’s been shot. You need to send an ambulance and police officers.”
“Fuck,” River grumbled but then he stood in front of Brit.
The gun wasn’t in his hand anymore. She spotted it on top of the dresser. River helped her pull on one of his T-shirts and get her arms through it. It hung to her thighs. He spun away, yanked out two pairs of sweat pants, and jerked one of them up his legs. He returned to her as soon as they were on, wrapped his arms around her, and helped her put on the second pair of pants. He hugged her tightly.
Brit could feel River trembling. Adrenaline and shock had to be coursing through his body. She met his gaze, verifying that he was as shaken as she was over what had taken place. She worried about how he’d react to shooting a man to protect her once it sank in that he’d made the ultimate sacrifice for her. She only prayed he’d be okay and that it wouldn’t destroy what they had together. She hugged him tighter, trying to soothe him. She had no words to comfort him but River tried to do exactly that for her when he spoke softly against her ear.
“It’s going to be all right. You’re safe.”
Drake hung up the phone and turned.
River glared at him. “You shouldn’t have done that. As soon as he’s released from the hospital he’ll just come after her again. Next time I won’t miss his damn head.”
Brit watched as Drake smiled coldly and crossed his arms over his chest. “I taught you better than that when I used to make you practice with that gun, bro. You’re too good of a shot even half asleep and trying to avoid being shot. Take a closer look at asshole over there. He’s dead but just hasn’t taken his last breath. He’ll be gone before the ambulance ever arrives. You hit some major organs. The ambulance is at least fifteen minutes out but more like twenty-five. I just covered our asses with the law.”
“You can’t let me die,” Kyle rasped. “Britney?”
She had to twist a little in River’s arms to see her ex-husband. His complexion had turned paper white and blood soaked his clothes and the floor around him. Blood had also escaped his mouth, leaving a trail down his jaw and throat. She stared at him.
“I…love you,” Kyle rasped.
River cursed. “You don’t know what love is, you sick jerk. I’m taking her downstairs.”
“Go.” Drake stood as still as a statue.
“Britney? Did you hear me? I only came here because I love you.” Kyle coughed.
River shifted his hold on her, hooked an arm under her knees and cradled her in front of him. “Look at me, Brit.”
She locked gazes with River. “I’m taking you away from him.”
“She’s my wife,” Kyle coughed.
Brit turned her head. “You don’t know what love is.” She glanced back at River. “Please walk.”
She buried her face against River’s hot skin near his shoulder, wrapping her arms around his neck, and clung to him when he limped out of his bedroom and into the hallway. She heard Kyle coughing, her name coming from his lips, but she didn’t want to look at him again.
Chapter Twelve
Kyle died before the ambulance arrived, along with two police cars. Drake had come downstairs to let them know Kyle Marthum would never be a threat again just after he’d taken his last breath. The police had traipsed through the house asking questions and collecting evidence until nearly lunchtime.
Brit held the mug of tepid coffee to keep her hands occupied while she sat at the kitchen table. The blanket that River had wrapped around her kept her warm. Am I sad? No, she thought, I’m not. It’s finally over.
Someone moved into
her line of sight and she turned her head as Drake pulled out a chair and sat heavily at the table. He looked tired, worn, and his spiked hair had flattened a little on one side as though he’d run his hand through it there often.
“The last of them just left. River is walking them out.”
“They aren’t going to arrest River, are they?”
He shook his head. “It’s an open-and-shut case. Kyle broke into the house through a basement window. He brought a gun and he fired it at River. Luckily he put a hole in the wall instead of my little brother. River fired back in self-defense. This is Texas, darlin’. We don’t cotton to that shit. River saved the taxpayers some money when he used up some bullets to end this.”
Relief had her slumping and her body finally relaxed. “Thank God. I was worried.”
“No need. You had active restraining orders against Kyle. It was part of his probation to stay the hell away from you. He was even stupid enough to bring one of his own shotguns with the name Marthum engraved on the damn barrel. Your ex-husband wasn’t overly bright and there’s no doubt the shooting was justified.”
She couldn’t deny that. “It’s not over.”
“He’s dead.”
She stared into Drake’s stunning blue eyes. “His father will never let this go. I’m afraid for River. I told you before the police arrived that we should let me take the blame—say I shot Kyle.” Hot tears filled her eyes. “I’m afraid of Kevin hurting River.”
Drake smiled. “You’re in love with my brother.”
“Did you hear me?” She ignored his statement, not wanting to confirm it. “Kevin will come after River. Why didn’t you let me say I shot Kyle? Kevin is already going to come after me. I couldn’t live with it if anything happened to River because of me.”
“Let me rephrase that. You really are in love with my brother.”
She sighed. “Is it a family trait to totally ignore someone when they are trying to tell you something important?”
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