by Tawny Weber
“I believe that Poseidon was the focus, and in order to take them down, you were targeted.”
She must have noted the insult on his face because she smiled just a little, enough to add fury to that insult. But before Nic could give in to the rarely felt emotion, she shook her head.
“Jealousy is the key. Jealousy, envy, resentment.” Seeing the skepticism in his eyes, she asked, “Why did Ramsey hate you?”
“Because he thought he was the best and my men proved him wrong.”
“Exactly. And because you wouldn’t let him into Poseidon.”
“He hated us. You said it yourself. So even if it were possible, why would he want to be on our team?”
“Because you were the best. Because you had the proven skills to ensure that everyone on your team was better than anyone else.”
“You’re trying to say that someone I know, someone I trust, did this.” Nic shook his head. “I refuse to consider that.”
“You need to consider it,” she snapped. “This isn’t being done by some unknown enemy, Nic. You’re being set up by someone who knows you. Someone you’ve worked with.”
“Bullshit.”
But he couldn’t ignore the ringing in his ears. The sick feeling in his gut. He wanted it to be bullshit. But he knew it wasn’t.
“Talk to your teammates. They’ve uncovered information that could help.” She bit her lip, reluctance clear in those big eyes. “But my advice is to take everything you’re told with a grain of salt. Consider every person you know. Every one you’ve served with. Because whoever is behind this, Nic, it’s someone you know. Someone who knows you.”
Nic banked the fury this time. There was no room for it. Not when he could see clear as glass that Darby was risking her own career to tell him this. Something she obviously believed based on intel she wasn’t sharing.
“You believe that I should toss aside my legal representative’s line of defense because the inside information my team found is stronger than the inside information your team found? But at the same time, I should consider that one of the men I’ve worked with for over a decade, the team I’ve bled with, the people I rely on to cover my back, might have set me up?”
She blinked, then shrugged.
“Sure.”
There was too much data coming at him, too many hypotheses and possibilities. Because they all carried more weight than he could hold alone, he set them aside and let his thoughts shift. The answer would come, he knew. He simply had to step away and distract himself while his gut worked it all out.
With that in mind, he dropped to the couch. He shot her a grimace.
“Do you ever sit on this? I’ve slept on metal cots that had more give than this couch.”
“Will you quit bitching about my damn furniture,” she snapped, shoving both hands through her hair this time as she scowled.
For some reason, her irritation erased his.
Which was fine, except now that he wasn’t pissed, watching her pace was turning him on.
He sucked in a long breath and tried to ignore the body walking back and forth in front of him.
Nic wouldn’t term himself paranoid. But he had spent his entire adult life studying strategy. He knew he was innocent. Which should mean that the opposing counsel was going to lose. If his legal rep was on the right track with his defense, a smart tactic would be to send them off on a wild-goose chase.
Did he trust her?
Or didn’t he?
His eyes locked on hers, he slowly got to his feet.
“If you’re bullshitting me, Darby—”
“What?” she snapped. “What are you going to do if I am?”
A dozen threats sped through his mind, each one more interesting than the last.
So he went with the last.
He grabbed her arms and yanked her against his body. God, the woman felt amazing. Almost as amazing as she looked. Her full lips were damp with invitation. Those giant doe eyes were filled with challenge, making him even harder.
“You play me, you’ll pay,” he muttered, his mouth an inch from hers.
“You call this payment?”
“I call this damn good.”
To prove his point, he took her mouth. And almost groaned, she tasted so good. Berry-sweet and just as tart, that sexy mouth parted under his.
Yeah. This was damn good.
* * *
THIS WAS SO not how she’d thought this evening would go.
But God, she was loving this direction.
She felt as if her senses were filled with Nic.
The scent of him, clean with a hint of mossy spice.
The taste of him, rich and addicting.
And the feel of him. Oh, yeah, he felt amazing.
His hard body molding against hers. His thigh thick between her legs. His chest heating her nipples into peak intensity. Those broad shoulders a rigid anchor for her to hold on tight for a wild ride.
She wanted more. So much more.
Still, her mind screamed at her to stop. She should pull her mouth from his, yank her body away and put a few safe yards between them.
But it felt so good. So, so good.
She’d been dreaming about this since the last time it’d happened. For weeks, all she’d thought about was feeling this way again.
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” she murmured, her lips sliding down his throat.
“Why not?” he asked as he yanked her shirt from the waistband of her jeans.
His hands delved under the fabric, fingers leaving a blazing trail of desire as they skimmed up her waist to cup her breasts. Her nipples pouted through the lace of her bra, wanting more. Needing more.
Darby tried to remember her argument.
“It’s wrong” was all she could come up with, though.
“It feels right to me.” His fingers found the front clasp of her bra, letting the fabric loose so her bare breasts fell into his hands.
“The case. Opposite sides. Careers,” she breathed between gasps.
“So it’s wrong. Hawaii was probably wrong, too. You know what that means?”
“Two wrongs make it right?”
“Exactly.” He pulled away long enough to whip her shirt over her head. She didn’t bother catching the straps of her bra as they slid down her arms. Instead, she let them drop, leaving her bare from the waist up.
“Damn,” he murmured. “You are so damn gorgeous. Seriously. You blow my mind.”
“Is that a euphemism?”
His eyes widened a second before he burst into laughter. He was still grinning when he ran his hands down her waist to cup her hips and pull her against him again.
His mouth took hers in a hot, wild kiss. Tongues danced, teeth nipped. Desperate for flesh, Darby made quick work of his shirt buttons. Shoving the fabric out of the way, she ran her palms over his chest.
Heaven.
He felt like heaven.
Clothes flew, damp flesh slid over damp flesh.
He combed through her damp curls, then slid his fingers deeper to tease her nether lips until they throbbed. One finger still circling, he slipped two others inside.
The heat in her belly coiled tighter. Her thighs trembled. Sparks shimmered behind her eyes as a tiny orgasm wrapped her tight.
“Oh, that’s good,” she moaned.
“Let’s make it better.”
Always the gentleman, he twisted just before they hit the floor so his body hit first. Darby wasn’t sure what stirred her up more—that he’d held her high enough that she didn’t even feel the impact, or that he didn’t release her mouth the whole way down.
“Wow,” she said against his lips. “Impressive.”
“You think that’s impressive? Babe, you ain�
��t seen nothing yet,” he joked.
For a brief second, desire’s intense demand loosened, letting Darby breathe freely. She sighed as emotions gripped her heart, need and love tangling in tight knots. He was so gorgeous. So sweet. And so appealing in ways she couldn’t even begin to list.
Terrified of what she might say aloud if she let these thoughts go unchecked, Darby pursed her lips and blew him a kiss.
“I’m waiting,” she teased. “Show me more.”
As if that was the signal, they both dived for their boots at the same time, racing to see who could bare their feet first. They stripped off the rest of their clothes, both turning to each other at the same time.
“I told myself my memories were an exaggeration,” she murmured. “That there was no way you were as hot as I remembered.”
She reached out to run one hand over the smooth heat of his chest, her fingers curling in the dusting of hair before following it down his rigid belly.
“I was wrong. You’re even better.” She looked into his eyes and realized that as stupid as this was for them to be together, she just didn’t care. She couldn’t. Whatever this was, it was too big. Too important.
“I didn’t forget. The image of you has tormented me every night since Hawaii,” he confessed. “Even when it pissed me off, I still couldn’t get you out of my head.”
Speaking of...
Darby’s gaze did a slow meander down his body, her own tightening at the sight of those hard muscles. Then her eyes latched on to the long, hard length of his erection jutting from ebony curls.
Her breath shuddered.
Her body needed.
So she took.
Bending at the waist, she leaned over to run her tongue over the velvet head of his cock. Before she could do more, Nic grabbed her and flipped their positions so he was on his back, her hips toward his face.
And that delicious erection just waiting for her to taste.
Her tongue swirled.
His tongue stabbed.
She gripped the base of his shaft, her fingers sliding up and down in rhythm with her mouth.
His fingers dipped and swirled, teasing in time with his tongue’s wild dance.
Darby’s body tightened, need coiling. Intense demand gripped her, even as the first wave of pleasure began its exquisite spiral.
“Now,” he ordered.
“Yes,” Darby breathed, her tongue sliding over the rock-hard silk of his penis before she gave it a gentle scrape with her teeth. “Do me now.”
Before he could shift their positions, Darby wiggled her way around so to face him.
“I want to be on top.”
“Babe, anything you want, I’m here to give it to you.”
Mmm, yeah. After giving his erection one more whispering caress, she poised over his rigid length and teased.
Moist flesh over velvety hardness.
“Damn, babe. You blow my mind.” Nic’s breath hissed, his chest heaving as he stared up at her with eyes glazed with pleasure.
“More,” she panted, taking his hands in her own and pressing his palms against her breasts. She squeezed, the feel of his fingers digging into her flesh, the heat of his palms teasing her nipples sending her even closer to sweet release.
Once she was sure he had that rhythm, she started a rhythm of her own. Knees digging into the carpet, she took the hard length of him into her body and thrust.
Up and down, each slide sending taking her higher and higher up the pleasure chain.
She rode him hard, hips pistoning in time with his hands on her breasts. Then he shifted, one hand sliding down her body while he spread the fingers of the other. His thumb worked one nipple, his middle finger swirling the other.
At the same time, he slipped his other hand between their bodies, working her already aching bud into a frenzy of desire.
“Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, oh, oh, God,” she panted, her breath raspy and shaking as it heaved from her labored lungs.
“Now,” he demanded again, his fingers digging deeper into her hips as he controlled her thrusts.
Harder.
Faster.
Deeper.
“Now,” Darby agreed on a long keening breath, her body shuddering as the coiling heat in her belly went off like a bottle rocket. Pleasure exploded, bursting in a million heart-shattering directions.
Deep in the grips of a mind-blowing climax, she felt the shuddering burst of his orgasms, wet heat pounding into her like exploding lava.
The feel of Nic coming sent Darby spiraling into pleasure again.
And again.
The only thought she could manage to grasp was how much she’d missed this.
How much she’d missed Nic.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
STILL A LITTLE BREATHLESS, his mind blown with pleasure, Nic wrapped his arms around Darby and held her tight against him so she couldn’t roll away. He settled comfortably between the delight of her slender body and the floor.
After a few moments, he couldn’t resist... “Did you know that your floor is softer than that couch?” he pointed out.
“Enough bitching about my couch,” Darby muttered, her words reverberating against his chest.
“Want to talk about how good this felt instead?” Never one to avoid the difficult, Nic was ready to take that conversation to the logical next level. As in, what they were going to do next.
“It doesn’t matter how good it felt,” Darby said, the mellow ease in her tone stiffening, along with her shoulders. “This isn’t why I called you.”
“You’re telling me you didn’t want this?” He was too much a gentleman to call the woman lying naked in his arms a liar. But he knew she’d been just as turned on and fully engaged as he had been.
“No.” Lifting her head, Darby crossed her hands over his chest, propped her chin on her fist and shot him a tremulous smile. “I enjoyed this. I enjoyed you.”
That’s what he liked to hear.
As much in appreciation as because he couldn’t resist, Nic wrapped one hand around the back of her neck and pulled her down to meet his lips. The kiss turned hot with just a slip of the tongue. Her flavor filled him with hunger again. A sharp, needy sort of hunger that Nic wondered if he’d ever get enough of.
His body was still reverberating from the power of his orgasm, and all it took was a kiss to get him hard again. He wanted her. He had a feeling he’d always want her.
At any age. In any place.
Something to think about.
Later, he decided as he slowly released her mouth. He’d think about it later.
Her eyes blurred with desire, he watched Darby run her tongue over her bottom lip as if relishing the taste of their kiss. This time her smile was sweet. Sweet enough that it made Nic’s heart ache in a way he didn’t understand.
“We should talk,” he said. He didn’t know what he wanted to say, though.
Thankfully, Darby seemed to have a handle on her end of that.
“About what?” she asked, her voice as strained as the worry in her eyes. “And I’m not denying that this felt great, but it’s not what I called you for.”
“So you said. It was something about knowing what needed to be done but not helping me, right?”
All of the languid pleasure fled from his body. Nic had to force himself not to tense as fury shot through him. He was a Lieutenant Commander in the US Navy. A fucking SEAL. He rescued people for a living.
And here he was, pissed off because a woman who weighed less than he bench-pressed wouldn’t help him.
“Look, I gave you information I thought you needed.” Even though her shrug was an erotic distraction, the way she bit her lip assured him that she wasn’t as comfortable as she pretended. “You should leave.”
“Not until we discuss this.”
“Discuss what?” She shifted, squirmed, then scowled down at him. “Let me go.”
“No. We’ll set the sex aside. For this moment. Instead, let’s focus on why you told me what you did.”
“You think you’re calling the shots here?”
Nic slid his hand down from the comfortable curve of her waist to her hip, then slipped it between their bodies. She was wet. Hot and wet. The feel of her silken bud throbbing between his fingers was pure temptation. The kind that made it difficult to focus on the matter at hand.
“Okay, fine,” she said in a breathless rush. “I focused on the shadows. That gray area between black and white.”
“Clarify,” he ordered.
“Fine. I can’t talk like this, though,” she protested, squirming a little. Since the move had his fingers sliding a little lower, a little deeper, he had to agree. A few more seconds like this and he’d be back inside of her.
Talk about needing to get a handle on his priorities.
“We’re not finished here,” he promised, slowly unclamping his hand from her waist. She scrambled away as if his body was on fire, but the look she gave him more than made up for it. Because there was passion in that gaze.
Passion and need.
Both of which he planned to fill later.
As soon as they settled this issue.
With that in mind, Nic grabbed his slacks and yanked them on. He didn’t bother with zipping or snapping. Neither would feel good right now.
“Excuse me.” Scooping her clothes and holding them like a shield, Darby hurried down the hallway into what he assumed was her bedroom.
He paced while he waited.
Her kitchen wasn’t as blandly pristine as the living room, he noted. The dish towel draped over the sink was deep blue, a sharp contrast to the gold-speckled red mug on the drainer. She obviously liked color. Which made the drabness of her living room all the more baffling.
“Okay, let’s clear this up,” Darby said as she came back into the room, tying the sash of a sweeping floor-length robe.
Oh, yeah, he noted, appreciating the way the deep burgundy silk brought out her golden eyes. The woman definitely knew color. She knew how to wear a robe, too. His gaze traveled down the length of that soft fabric to where it teased her bare feet, then back up again. The wide gold sash emphasized her slender waist, the deep lapels gave a peek at the shadowy temptation of her cleavage.
