by Sarah Andre
Pieces of the past week fell into place. The brothers’ irritable relationship over simple things, the long look that passed between them in Reeves’s kitchen when Leo realized the blackout really had been drug-induced. Even the over-reactive guilt just now when Lock fixated on his lifesaving tackle smashing his brother’s nose.
“Let’s review,” she said lightly. “You pulled me from a car accident on Tuesday. Wednesday you traded in your career to take me to the ER and hand out pretzels. Tonight you risked your own life to save the two of us. Three of us actually.” She jiggled his hand. “Sacrificing your life and your career. Sounds like you had a tough week, dude. Give yourself a break.”
He shook his head wearily. “I’m no hero, Jordan. Don’t make me into one. As for my career, I love skiing competitively, but I’m sick to death of who I’ve become. Feel free to print this whole conversation when you write your article—I’m done with Lock and Load.”
“What a great headline.” She grinned, teasingly. He didn’t respond with his own, just kept up the solemn eye contact.
“Are you writing an article?”
“No, Lock, I’m not.” She held up a palm, then crossed her heart. “I swear.”
He reached out and threaded his fingers through hers. “There’s one more thing.”
He let a couple of breaths go by, staring at their hands. The agony on his face kept her stock-still, heart thudding.
“I’ve spent every waking moment afraid that I did kill Tiff.”
Sympathy flooded through her, but she knew him well enough not to express it.
A muscle fluttered along his jawline. “We now know Vannini slipped her the roofie, but…we still don’t know it wasn’t me, drugged out of my mind, who stabbed her.”
She waited for him to make eye contact, but his thumbs kneaded her hands over and over, and he fixated on the task like when he’d shoveled snow.
“It wasn’t you,” she assured him in a whisper.
“But how do you know?” He lifted his eyes then, and the desperation and despair in them awoke every protective instinct.
“Because I know. It was Vannini. And I’m going to prove it to you.” When the pain in his face didn’t ease, she leaned in. “Would I do this if I thought you were a murderer?” She kissed him long and slow and deep. When she pulled away, his eyes were dark with desire. “Now snap out of all this self-pity. I may not like Lock and Load, but he’s fearless, and we need him right about now.”
A hint of a grin appeared on his handsome face. “You know, for all the crap I’ve done to you this week—and all the times you made me so damn mad I couldn’t think straight—I’m so glad you drove like a lunatic and crashed into that ravine.”
“You’re such a sweet talker.”
His cell phone rang, breaking their eye contact. Leo’s tinny voice sounded in the quiet room. He’d just wrapped things up at the ER, was treated for a bloody nose and mild abrasions, and now a cop was escorting him to the station to answer some questions about the hit and run.
Lock told him where they were, promised him the whole right side of the room service menu, and laughed at his brother’s quiet reply. He hung up and tossed the phone on the chair, his expression brighter from the exchange. “He’ll be another hour or so.”
She nodded and swallowed a yawn. “It’s only ten o’clock. Why don’t we go through Tiffany’s phone records and emails.”
“No.”
“What?”
He cocked his head, his gaze locking on her lips. A white-hot current sizzled through her. Holy Smokes! She knew that primal look very well by now and wanted to grip the cushions on either side of her.
For a long moment, neither moved. Tension crackled the air like lightning in an electrical storm. Then he bent slowly and with one-handed ease shoved the cocktail table aside. He knelt in front of her.
“We deserve this,” he said softly.
Chapter Thirty-Six
“My rib,” Jordan whispered.
“I have it all worked out. It requires those throw pillows.”
In her nervousness, she fingered the bolster closest to her.
“That one’ll do.” Lock slid his palms up the outsides of her thighs and around her butt, easing her gently toward him until she perched at the edge of the sofa. “See, I wedge it behind here,” he murmured. She felt the slide of the pillow, and then her lumbar area was solidly cushioned. “And two on each side here.” Feather softness lodged tightly around her upper waist until she found herself, in effect, luxuriously stuck in a partial recline position. Like on a beach chair.
“Does anything hurt?”
She gulped and shook her head.
Breaking into a crooked smile, he eased her knees apart. “Then we do this.” He settled his pelvis against the V of hers. “Only without clothes.”
“Holy Smokes.” She wanted this so badly it almost felt like a dream, but it wasn’t because there was that crisp airy scent that clung to him, always. She breathed deep.
Bracing his arms on either side of her, he hovered a breath away. “Kiss me, Jordan,” he murmured.
She met his warm, open mouth with a moan, tasting whiskey and hot-blooded male. He slanted his head and deepened the kiss, drawing in her tongue as she caressed the powerful forearms flanking her thighs. Just like this morning, his lips and tongue infused her with lust and longing. The snug fit of his hips inside her parted thighs let her feel his straining erection.
He slowly angled his head the other way, teasing her relentlessly with that supple tongue, completely unhurried in his thorough exploration of her mouth. She sucked his tongue and swirled hers around, wishing it was another part of his anatomy, and his groan vibrated through her.
He broke for air, whispering her name. “Seriously, where did you learn to kiss like that?”
“I’m just reacting to you.” She drew him back for more.
As their lips met again, he smoothed her hair back, tangling his fingers in the strands to cup her head, orchestrating the buildup of passion and pressure. The erotic kiss went on forever until they finally parted, gasping and laughing.
He began trailing licks and nips slowly down her neck, and she shivered with bliss. Blindly, she reached for the buttons of his old flannel shirt, which came apart easily, thank God, and in seconds his chest gleamed gold in the flickering light, shadowing stacked abs and powerful pecs. She gazed in whiskey-induced awe at the bare magnificence, trailing her fingers along each smooth hollow and hard ridge until she reached his jeans. She had to see the rest of him.
“Take your pants off,” she breathed.
“Ladies first.” His fingertips caught the hem of her turtleneck and skimmed up her torso. He littered each inch of exposed skin with gentle kisses as he peeled it off, then he sat on his haunches and surveyed her state of undress. “You’re beautiful, Jordan. Breathtaking.”
“Kiss me again.”
“There you go, bossing me around again.”
“All right.” She smiled. “What’s your plan?”
His heavy-lidded gaze zeroed in on her lacy bra. “This area needs work.” Leaning in he placed feather-light kisses where her nipples poked through, torturing a soft moan out of her.
“Christ,” he murmured, “I’ve wanted this for so long.”
“You’ve only known me since Tuesday,” she breathed.
“I know. But it seems like forever, believe me.”
They laughed until his lips descended again, this kiss urgent with need. She sighed into his mouth, stroking his cheekbones, dizzy with desire as his tongue ravished hers. It all felt so good with him. So right.
Shifting slightly, he trailed a wet path to the hollow of her throat and down again to the lace. His fingers encircled each breast, caressing and kneading them until soon the fabric grew itchy and tight.
“Let’s take it off,” she suggested, struggling against the pillows to unclasp the damn thing.
He caught her hands, planting kisses on the backs and palms. �
�Stop trying to take control.” He waited, eyebrows raised until she lay back. Nodding at her compliance, he bent and explored her bare stomach. “Your skin is like silk, Jo,” he muttered. “I want to taste you. Every inch.”
The anticipation stoked the fire within her. She sifted her hands through his lush hair as he kissed his way down, pausing to leisurely tongue her bellybutton. With an almost sleight-of-hand movement, the button on her jeans unclasped, and he tugged her zipper down.
“That’s just damn sexy,” he growled, planting kisses on the triangle of panty peeking through the open zipper. Seeing his golden head and broad shoulders between her thighs was so erotic she almost came.
“I can lie on the sofa,” she panted, gesturing to the entire length they weren’t using. “There’s more room that way.”
“Not for what I have planned.” He removed her walking boot then eased her jeans down, his actions achingly gentle and unhurried. After propping her swollen ankle on the last of the throw pillows, he nestled his jeaned pelvis between her thighs again, his bare torso like a Greek god’s, all unyielding muscle and tawny skin.
As his hand caressed her waist, his gaze swept up the length of her, eyelids heavy with pent-up lust, lips kiss-swollen. His fingers paused when his eyes met hers, as if requiring the final go ahead.
Quivering in expectation, she whispered, “Lock and load, baby.”
His smile was a flash of brilliant white teeth, sharply grooved cheeks, and laughter-filled eyes. Passion radiated from him, only for her, and she sucked in a breath of wonder.
“Tell me what you like,” he said, stroking her inner thighs, torturing her now hyper-sensitive flesh.
“Pretty much anything you do is going to send me over the edge. Fast.”
“Not fast. Never fast.” He bent and kissed her passionately, the force of his mouth pushing her deep into the cushion. Nimble fingers slid between her shoulder blades, and a second later the pressure of her bra released. Without breaking off the kiss, he slipped the straps from her shoulders and tugged the lace off. She sucked his tongue, flicking and plunging into his mouth until he jerked away panting. “Hold on,” he gasped, resting his face on her breasts, eyes squeezed tight to the taut peaks begging for his attention. “I’m seriously almost out of control. That tongue of yours is killer.”
The heat and wetness at her core became a persistent ache. “I’m ready,” she said as patiently as she could. “No need to make me beg.”
He straightened, wiping his damp forehead. “I’m seducing you, remember?” Then he caught sight of the soft mounds he’d rested on and licked his lips, already reaching out to tease the sensitive nipples.
“Come here, you,” he whispered to the left one, then opened his mouth wide and sucked as much of her as he could, his skilled tongue kneading and rolling her nipple until she whimpered. Even as his mouth traveled to the other, his fingers snagged her waistband and off went the panties. He managed to slip the garment off her good leg before giving up, and she felt scratchy lace encircle her other ankle, then chilly air as his mouth detached from her breast.
“Open your legs wider, Jo.” His fingertips stroked up the inside of her thighs as he gently applied pressure. “Wider. That’s it.”
“Lock—” She jolted against the pillows as his thumb brushed her nub. She bit her lip, barely feeling the tweak in her rib from the adrenalin of crushing desire. Every nerve ending peaked, and the heat churning inside her was enough to cause the fire alarm to go off. When his fingers slid into her, she uttered one long moan of relief.
“Oh, baby, you’re an inferno down here,” he said, thumbs spreading her, head bowing to explore. Sensations of his swirling tongue and supple lips confidently working her length forced a guttural cry from her throat.
She fisted his hair, pulling him in as she arched closer. The scratchy stubble tickled her inner thighs. His exhales were groans of contentment, the sound adding vibrations to an already overloaded pleasure point. One hand encircled her butt while two fingers stroked rhythmically in and out. She felt the peak from a long way off, and her panting turned into shudders.
“Oh God,” she whispered, and then the thundering orgasm crashed over her. She cried out as each new wave sent spasms of blissful shocks through her. Thrashing against the tightly packed pillows, she instinctively pushed his head away, but his mouth held firm and his tongue kept up the pressure. Her orgasm lengthened, and lights flashed behind her eyelids. Her cries grew hoarse as she trembled and quaked beneath him.
“Mercy,” she begged, bucking from the intense pleasure, vaguely aware of her rib’s screaming protest. His wicked mouth finally withdrew, and slowly the galaxy tilted back on its wobbly axis. Moments passed. Her jagged breathing slowed. She slitted her eyes open. His golden head still hovered between her thighs, as if reluctant to leave. She whispered his name in wonder as throbbing aftershocks Tasered through her.
He raised his head and grinned lazily, dropping soft kisses on her lower belly and shifting on rippling biceps to trail a path up her stomach. He reverently kissed each nipple and continued up until he reached her lips where he paused, eyes drugged and unfocused, mouth frowning.
“Did I hurt you?”
She smiled faintly. “Hurt isn’t the word that comes to mind.”
His thumb grazed across her cheek, and she realized her face was wet with tears. She blinked in amazement. “Take it as a compliment.”
He wiped them away with soft, sucking kisses. “I love the sounds you make. I could have gone on all night.”
“I want you,” she murmured, hooking fingers into his jeans.
He stood slowly, and a thumb flick released the top button. At the slow, metallic slide of his zipper, her breathing grew shallow again, and she couldn’t hide the fact that she ogled him impatiently, like a child on Christmas morning, waiting for the wondrous surprise within. In one shove his jeans and underwear were down around his ankles, and she swallowed hard at his thick, rigid erection. He kicked the clothes aside and knelt in front of her once more, muscular thighs and smooth hips sliding closer to her core.
“Let me stroke you.” She hummed in anticipation, arms outstretched, but he captured her hands.
“It’s been ten months, Jo. I won’t last if I even accidentally brush against you.”
“Then just kneel up here.” She yanked her hands back and patted the sofa on either side of her. The hot look he threw her held profound lust and utter understanding.
“Do it,” she urged. “Fuck my mouth.”
“Uhh.” He squeezed his eyes shut. The muscles along his jaw twitched.
She encircled his broad shoulders and yanked. “Come on.”
Instead he backed off until no part of him touched her. “That’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever heard come out of a woman’s mouth,” he sputtered. “Any other day I’d be all over it, but—I can’t handle even two seconds of that tonight.” The agony of need spread across his face. “I just want to be inside you. Now.”
“Okay,” she breathed. “Plan B’s good too. Got protection?”
He exhaled like he was blowing out candles and grabbed his jeans, digging in the pocket.
“Are you kidding?” She laughed. “You’ve been cooped up almost a year with a Lucky Condom in your pocket?”
“Naw.” He pulled the packet out, and although the corners were bent it did look fresh. “I put it in there after I tried to kiss you and you called me Leo.”
They burst out laughing, and maybe that’s why his fingers trembled as he tore the foil open and sheathed himself. She gripped his shoulders, and their foreheads touched as they gazed at the stiff shaft a centimeter away from her folds.
She laced her fingers around the back of his neck and kissed him slowly and methodically until his whole body shuddered. “I can’t take it, Jo.” He grabbed her hips and plunged, filling her in one thrust.
His husky moan mingled with her gasp, and he stilled within her, his smooth shoulders vibrating with sheer power under her p
alms. She felt stretched and desired and wholly feminine under his awed gaze.
Slowly he withdrew until just his tip nestled within her.
“Go faster,” she gasped.
“Stop bossing me around.” He grinned at her frustration. Reaching under her he spread her ass cheeks, holding her impossibly wide open for him. Then he thrust his hips forcefully, and she watched his thickness disappear inside her, felt the gloriously tight fit again.
She panted, trying to drive her pelvis forward too. Her rib twinged, and she gasped and stilled. Unable to meet him thrust for thrust, she could only focus on his increased rhythm as he plunged in and out, over and over. His thumb flicked her in tempo, and she felt a tightness growing inside her core again. She murmured his name in sweet agony. A log in the fire crumbled with a hiss amidst their ragged breathing and grunts and the soft slap of flesh.
“Oh Christ, I’m coming,” he muttered. His face grew crimson, and he arched his neck, the corded muscles straining against his flesh.
His groan was long and animalistic, filled with pain and relief. Even in his ecstasy his thumb still flicked her. The feel of it, the sight of him losing control and still thrusting so powerfully, catapulted her over the edge. She shouted his name as an even deeper, violent orgasm avalanched onto her. She clung to his forearms, gasping, until his gleaming torso fell against hers, pushing them both into the plush pillows. He emitted a softer groan then, one of utter contentment, and nuzzled his whiskered jaw into her neck.
She stroked his damp hair, sifting strands between her fingers and letting them drop as she sleepily watched the fire burn over his shoulder. Time and thought stood still, and all that mattered was Lock laying here, his soft lips burrowed in the hollow of her throat.
