“Pax?” she whispered in his ear.
“Hm?” He glanced at the mirror, her face lax with pleasure.
Oh hell yes.
He had a good idea what she wanted and how she wanted it.
Coco was the fast results kind of woman who liked it a bit rough. Someday he wanted twenty-four hours to do all the slow, sensual things to her, but that was not today.
She cracked her eyes and stared at him in the mirror, burning want looking back at him.
God, did she have any idea what she did to him?
He bent his head and kissed the juncture where her head and shoulder met.
“Bottom drawer,” she muttered.
He gave her pussy one last stroke before he bent his knees and kissed a trail down her spine. As he sank to his knees, he palmed her ass, pressing his lips to both of the dimples there on either side.
Paxton opened the bottom drawer of the vanity and there was the unopened box of condoms she’d told him about. He opened it and ripped off a packet.
Coco turned and for a moment all he could do was kneel there looking up at her.
He didn’t know what celestial being had brought them together, but he was grateful.
Paxton leaned forward and kissed her thigh then her hip. He braced his hands on the vanity and rose, finding other places to worship her until they were nose to nose.
“Like what you see?” One side of her mouth quirked up.
“Very much.”
He stepped back and ripped the condom open then rolled it on, all while she watched.
He put one foot between hers and leaned in, kissing her mouth with all the pent-up desire from the last few days. Seeing her, being around her, but not getting to hold her the way he wanted did things to his head, leading to this moment when he could touch her in every way he wanted.
Her arms wound around his neck and he lifted her, sitting her on the vanity and stepping between her thighs.
“Very soon we’re going to do this my way,” he said against her mouth.
“Something wrong with this way?”
He chuckled, but it was strained. “Not enough damn time.”
“How much time do you need to get the job done?”
Paxton stared into her eyes. “A good job takes time.”
And they had less than two hours.
“I guess I’ll find us a day,” she whispered.
“You do that.”
“Come here.” She reached between him and grasped his cock, pulling him to her.
Paxton’s balls tightened. He loved her like this, confident, assured of what she wanted. He Held his breath as his erection pressed against her pussy. She tipped her chin up and groaned.
He wasn’t even inside of her yet.
She slid an arm around his shoulders and he hugged her to him, his cock sliding into her.
“Jesus,” he muttered, his voice drowned out by her moan.
It was like he was made to fit her.
He eased out a bit then thrust, sliding deep into her. Her head tipped back, and she hooked her leg around his hip, giving herself up to the pleasure they shared. Her breasts slid against him as he thrust, easing in and out of her.
“You feel so damn good,” she muttered.
He’d say something if he could, but he couldn’t.
Paxton bent his head, kissing her shoulder, her neck, her cheek. He turned and met him in an open-mouthed kiss, her hands tangled in his hair, holding him there.
Behind her something fell into the sink, but they ignored it, lost to the pleasure of their joined bodies.
He needed more of her.
Paxton lifted her off the vanity, turned and pressed Coco’s back to the door.
“Oh, God,” she groaned and blindly grasped for the hook over her head.
She settled on his cock, the new angle forcing him deeper.
“Fuck, yes,” he muttered.
He covered her mouth with his, drinking her in, loving the needy moans she couldn’t hold back on. Her nails dug into his shoulders. He could feel all of her like this, each tremor of her body.
Paxton drove into her. The door rattled with each thrust as he fucked her. Another day, he’d show her the pleasure of slow, but not right now.
Coco’s hand fisted in his hair and she tore her mouth from his letting out a keening cry, her pussy quivering around his cock.
So. Damn. Good.
He bent his knees and thrust into her tightness, needing more of her. Always more.
Paxton bent his head, burying his face in her hair, breathing in the scent of jojoba mixed with shampoo. He thrust deep, her slick channel tightening around him.
A tingling sensation started at the base of his spine. Paxton groaned and thrust again, driving into her as his orgasm rolled up through him, nearly robbing him of the ability to stand. He rocked into her, muttering words, kissing her.
If only these moments could last forever. He’d live in a world like this, just them, holding onto each other.
Paxton was fucked. This woman had gotten under his skin and now he didn’t know how to stop wanting her.
13.
Tuesday. Mlilo Animal Reserve, South Africa.
Paxton could have used seven more hours of sleep. Hell, he’d have taken seven more minutes in bed curled around a soft woman. She’d done that thing again, where she used him like a human blanket. Paxton hadn’t minded one bit. Too bad they had to get out of bed.
It was time to address why someone had set a trap and then waited days to spring it.
He opened the door to the former resort turned research facility and held it for Coco. Since the powers that be wanted to keep yesterday under wraps until they’d properly dug into it, they weren’t heading to the tent. No, they’d been instructed to report to the conference room. At least that meant cold water and air conditioning.
Coco led the way down a hall and to the spacious room with its long table and chairs. Several familiar faces were already seated, including Shane and Lacey, Zain, Daluxolo and his team, plus a woman at the head of the table Paxton had only seen in passing.
At a glance, he knew this was a person he didn’t want to tangle with. It was the way she carried herself, the air around her, that set her apart. She was a leader, one who didn’t suffer fools. Her dark hair was done in braids, with a scarf wrapped around her head. Her clothes were the same as Daluxolo’s except she wore a collection of pins on her shoulder.
“Pax.” Zain pushed to his feet, his calculated gaze dissecting and putting Paxton back together in a matter of moments. “Mandisa Rhoyi, this is my man, Paxton Mills. Ms. Rhoyi here runs Mlilo.”
“Nice to meet you, ma’am.” Paxton circled the table and gave the woman his hand.
“Glad you made it back safe.” Mandisa clasped his hands between hers. A slight smile curved her lips before it was gone.
This was all business.
“Sit?” Zain gestured to open seats across from him.
Mandisa leaned back in her chair, a pen clasped between her fingers, and stared at Coco, then Paxton. “Daluxolo filled us in on what he saw happen, but I want to hear from you two what happened.”
He glanced at Coco and found her staring at the wall across from her.
“If Daluxolo has briefed you, then you know about...?” Paxton didn’t want to breathe a word of Utata’s death in front of Lacey or Shane if they didn’t know.
Lacey leaned forward, her tone soft. “We know Utata was killed the morning of the wedding.”
Paxton nodded. At least Coco had been spared that responsibility. He launched into a bare bones account starting from when Daluxolo had delivered the news up until they returned to the reserve, just as he would in any debrief report.
“What’s your assessment of these events?” Zain asked once Paxton had related their hours in the field.
This was where Paxton hesitated. He had a lot of thoughts, but how biased was he? Did he see threats where there was only happenstance?
“My
assessment?” He leaned forward, elbows on the table. “Utata was targeted. We know based on the tags that there were other mature rhinos located farther out, less risk to get to. But they wanted Utata. To get to him and avoid the Mlilo security took research and planning. No one I’ve spoken to can identify the darts or drug used to bring him down, which makes me think this is something new. That means this was a sophisticated, calculated attack geared toward not just acquiring Utata’s horn, but sending a message and laying a trap.”
“For our security? Or who?” Mandisa’s tone was sweet, curious. It put Paxton on edge.
He had his theories after seeing Coco wield a tree branch like a bat, but was he seeing a threat to her when it was more generalized? “I can’t say who the target was without better understanding the circumstances and people involved.”
Mandisa’s gaze slid off Paxton and to his left. “Coco?”
“Hm?”
“What do you have to add to this?”
“Paxton’s the professional.”
“A few days after you threatened to beat a boy, you walk into a trap?” She leaned back in her chair.
“Ma’am?” Paxton didn’t need any kindling for his theories. “We can guess at their goal, but we’re never going to know anything for certain. I was thinking our best course of action is going to be sending out teams, looking for traps.”
Zain slid a pair of photographs to the middle of the table. “If those gunmen hadn’t been there, you’d have walked into this.”
Paxton took the images and studied them. He’d seen enough improvised explosives to recognize them on-sight.
Zain turned his attention toward Mandisa. “There were six of these buried out there. Our guys dismantled them and removed them, but Pax is right, there could be more. With your permission, I’d like to do what Pax suggested and send out a couple teams.”
Mandisa nodded and reached for the pictures.
“That’s not going to fix anything,” Coco said.
All eyes turned toward her, including Paxton’s.
Coco sat up, hands gripping the edge of the table. “Is anything we do really going to stop them? Every time we come up with a new way to deter poachers, they figure out something else. We need to confront them. Make them see the harm they’re doing... It still might not change their mind, but—we can’t keep doing the same thing.”
Mandisa’s eyes narrowed. “What would you propose we do? Hit them with a stick? Hm?”
Coco’s eyes flashed and Paxton could feel the heat of her temper. She inhaled a deep breath before answering in a calm voice with a simple, “No.”
“Then what? Sit them down with a slideshow presentation about the harm they’re doing?” Mandisa shook her head. “The only way poaching will go away is if people find a better way of making a living. That’s a bigger problem than we can fix on our own. If we make the job too hard, too expensive, too dangerous, they’ll do something else. We focus on keeping our charges safe and doing the research we set out to do. We won’t debase ourselves by going to their level. Our aim is research and conservation. That’s it.”
Zain cleared his throat. “And we’re here to help however we can. Pax, Shane, if you two will help me round up our guys, we can send some teams out immediately.”
Paxton could feel Coco’s anger coming off her in waves, but he didn’t know how to fix it. This was a problem bigger than any of them.
TUESDAY. MLILO ANIMAL Reserve, South Africa.
Coco shoved the conference room door open, keeping her head down, and made straight for the side entrance. Right now she wanted to avoid everyone. Except Paxton. She’d found his quiet presence comforting. But he had a job to do, unlike her.
Someone had no doubt done her rounds this morning. Coco hated when Mandisa noticed her. One of these days she was going to realize how superfluous Coco really was in the day-to-day activities and she’d be out of a job. Anyone could do the work she did. Sure, she had above average medical knowledge and would do in a pinch when an emergency cropped up, but that didn’t make Coco special enough to stay on.
She pushed open the side entrance and stepped out into the morning sun. She tipped her head back and drew in a deep breath.
Without an education and training, this was as good as Coco could hope for. She had a little money, but not enough for an expensive degree. Eventually Mlilo would fire her or she’d get moved to another position she didn’t enjoy as much. She’d move to another facility, then another, always chasing a dream.
“Coco, wait up!” Lacey called out.
Coco cringed and began walking.
Lacey was on the short list of people Coco really didn’t want to talk to. Lacey would ask about Utata, why Coco had kept the knowledge from her, the scholarship, Paxton or any number of topics Coco couldn’t handle right now.
“Hey.” Lacey huffed a few breaths as she caught up with Coco.
“Oh, hey,” she said lamely.
“Hey.” Lacey grabbed Coco’s hand and pulled her to a stop in the shade of a tree. Lacey peered at Coco’s face, her own lined with worry. “Are you okay? Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh my God. Coco.” Lacey wrapped her arms around her and squeezed. “I was so worried when Silas got back and...”
Emotion clogged Lacey’s throat. Coco felt her friend shudder. Here she was, so wrapped up in how she felt about things that she’d forgotten her friend would be worried, too.
“I’m okay,” Coco whispered.
“Really?” Lacey leaned back and stared at her. “That had to have been so scary.”
“Scary? Coming from you?” Coco had heard stories of the harrowing adventure that had brought Lacey and Shane together.
“Uh, yeah. Scary. Heading back to your place?” Lacey let go of her.
“Yeah, I guess.”
She slid her arm through Coco’s and laid her head on her shoulder. “I’m going to hug you at least a dozen times. I didn’t sleep at all last night. God, I was so worried.”
Emotion clogged Coco’s throat. Of all the things she’d been prepared for, her friend’s concern wasn’t one of them. It was touching.
They took the shortcut, cutting across paths to Coco’s home without saying much. She let them into the villa and went straight to her mini-fridge for some water.
“Wow, I guess Paxton’s been here.” Lacey crossed to the desk where Paxton had left his rifle.
“Oh... Yeah. He said...” Coco couldn’t remember, but he’d sounded reasonable.
“I guess that’s going well?” Lacey sank down on the sofa and accepted the water Coco offered her.
Coco shrugged. Paxton was easy to be around. He didn’t demand attention, even when he crowded her. He was just there, a comforting, strong presence at her back.
“You cannot clam up now.” Lacey tossed a throw pillow across the sofa at her. “You like him.”
Coco hugged the pillow to her chest. She did like Paxton, but saying as much felt dangerous. Reckless. So she bit her lip instead.
“Fine.” Lacey held up her hands. “Don’t say anything. But when you want to talk about him you have to promise I’m top of the list, deal?”
“Deal.” Coco sighed, grateful for the out.
“Okay. So. Change of topic.” Lacey kicked off her boots and took a moment situating herself cross-legged on the sofa facing Coco. “You’ve been avoiding me.”
She cringed. “I have not.”
Lacey pinned her with a flat stare.
Okay, so Coco had been avoiding Lacey. But what was she supposed to say? How did she begin to talk about it?
“Let me start with saying, Shane warned me you might not like the scholarship idea. You’ve always been the kind of person who does stuff on your own terms. I love that about you, and I think my excitement about getting to be around you more might have blinded me to your real feelings... I’m sorry.”
Coco opened and closed her mouth. Without a doubt, she knew that Lacey’s intentions were good. But how did C
oco roll a lifetime of struggling to be her own person into one sentence that Lacey would get?
“I really appreciate you, Lacey. I hope you know that? You’re the best friend a girl could ask for. School... I just don’t know what I want to do. After everything that happened with Cane, I’ve always meant to do it on my own. I know that’s an impossible dream for someone like me. I just don’t know if I’m ready to accept it.” Scholarship was a pretty word that felt like a handout. Maybe she was being too proud? Too something?
“Whatever you decide, I hope you know I support you.”
She swallowed. This conversation was going so very different from how it had played out in Coco’s mind. It just went to show that sometimes she didn’t give Lacey enough credit as a friend.
“I, um, I’m sorry, too.” Coco cleared her throat. “About not telling you about Utata.”
“I get it. After Shane talked me down, he pointed out that I would have blown the whole day. I’m sorry you had to go through it by yourself. Well, I guess not entirely by yourself. Paxton was there.” Lacey’s sly smile started a laugh out of Coco. Circling back was one of Lacey’s gifts. “I owe you. First, I ask you to give a speech in front of the whole wedding, then you had to keep this secret? I know it must have been tough on you. I’m sorry you had to go through that and I wish I would have realized something was up.”
“Well.” Coco’s cheeks heated. “As you said, Paxton was there. He’s very...supportive.”
“Supportive?” Lacey arched a brow. “I have so many questions.”
Coco covered her face with a hand and grinned, a dozen stolen moments with her blond haired, broken nosed action hero guy playing through her mind. Including several turns around the dance floor in his arms. He wasn’t a gifted dancer, but what he’d lacked in skill he’d made up for in effort. And that was all she could ask for.
Lacey reached over and grabbed Coco’s wrist, pulling her hand away from her face. “You have to tell me something. Please?”
“I, um...”
A knock at the door followed by the jostling of the doorknob stalled Lacey’s demand for an answer.
“Coco?” Paxton called out.
Dangerous Heat (Aegis Group, #8) Page 13
