Point Blank Range

by Em Petrova

  She strode back to the bathroom, brushed her teeth and turned off the lights and flopped into bed.

  It wasn’t as comfy as her own back in DC or Linc’s, just twenty minutes away.

  She stared up at the ceiling for long minutes. Some of her anger had just burned off, when her room phone rang, shooting the adrenaline through her body all over again.

  If this was Mitchum, she was going to throw the phone off the balcony.

  When she answered and heard the gritty, deep baritone of Linc’s voice in her ear, her insides froze.

  “Nealy. I’ve… got a problem.”

  “Linc, what’s wrong? Where are you?”

  “Home. I’m just… having an episode or something.”

  Oh God.

  Her heartrate rocketed through the atmosphere and shot across the sky like a meteor. She jerked upright and perched on the edge of the bed. “What kind of episode? What’s your address? I missed it when I was there the other night.”

  “I don’t know what’s wrong. I’m just… not right. Can you come?”

  The plea didn’t just tug her heartstrings—it ripped them right out of her chest. This big, rough Ranger Ops guy was asking her for help.

  She got the address, grabbed her purse and ran out of the hotel. Outside, she managed to get an Uber and while she sat in the cramped back seat, she clenched and unclenched her fists on her lap. She cracked all her knuckles, which earned her a glance from the driver.

  Her mind raced over scenarios. An episode? Was Linc depressed and facing down dark thoughts? She’d heard her share of sad stories with tragic endings.

  Maybe he was ill—an infection from his burns or even some aftereffects of the explosion they’d all lived through in Chihuahua. He had been closer to the blast, sheltering her with his body…

  The miles didn’t go by fast enough, and she was really losing it by the time the driver pulled up in front of the security gates. She told him what apartment to call, and he did. A second later, when Linc buzzed them through, relief made her cheeks and lips tingle.

  He still had enough faculties to allow her in.

  She hopped out and quickly paid the driver, and then she ran up to Linc’s front door.

  She knocked, and he called out, “It’s open.”

  As soon as she stepped inside, she felt the charge in the air. Then she set eyes on Linc, sitting in a leather armchair, elbows on his knees and head in his hands. She let out a rasp of relief.

  “What’s happened?” She rushed over to him and hit her knees, staring at him.

  When he suddenly jumped to his feet, she was forced backward, where she sat on her haunches, watching him pace the dark room.

  He wheeled around, not looking at her, and went to the window. The stiffness in the set of his shoulders urged her to stand, and she went to him. Wrapping her arms around him from behind, she released a low sigh at touching him again.

  “Linc.” She tried to turn him in her arms, but he didn’t budge. “Talk to me.”

  “It’s dumb. I’m dumb. It’s just all coming back to me, the walls are so close and… Fuck, I hated it. Hated them. I want to take them out, every goddamn last man who is part of that group.”

  A shiver ran through her. Realizing he wouldn’t turn to her, she slipped around him, between his big body and the window he was staring blankly out.

  “Linc.” She cupped his face, tracing the hard features on his face with her gaze. A muscle fluttered in his jaw. “Linc, you’ll get them. We’ll get them. I came back, because I can’t let it go either, and together we’ll see it through to the end. Can I get you some water? Maybe something stronger to take the edge off?”

  He let out a low breath and dropped his gaze to her. The instant their eyes met, something changed in him.

  A fierce expression burned over his face as he leaned in and slammed his mouth over hers.

  The taste of man and desire struck her full force, and she clung to his neck even as he lifted her and turned for his room.

  An unsettled force took hold low in her belly, and she wrapped her thighs around his waist and rubbed against his front.

  He issued a growl and kicked open the door to his room. The bed was a shadowed shape in the darkness, but he navigated to it in a step or two and laid her down on the neatly made mattress.

  “I knew you’d come,” he whispered.

  “I couldn’t have stayed away, Linc.”

  “Let me have you—all of you, babe. I need you.”

  She stared into his eyes, glittering with lust. “I’m yours.”

  And she was—not because he asked but because she wanted to give herself—she wanted him just as badly.

  Leaning up on her elbows, she captured his mouth again in a long, deep, tongue- tangling kiss that spiraled on for so long that she lost track of time. It might be midnight or three a.m. All she knew were the flavors he filled her head with and the low rumble coming from his chest as he slanted his mouth over hers with more and more insistence.

  She reached for his shirt and pulled it over his head. Until that moment when she touched hard, velvety steel, she hadn’t realized just how damn much she’d missed Linc.

  Drawing lines with her fingertips up and down his back was total pleasure for her. When he reared back to look into her eyes, the universe faded, leaving only the two of them.

  He tore off her clothes, and she went for his jeans. They tumbled over and over on the covers, until he poised at the root of her, his hard shaft solid between her legs.

  “Take me,” she rasped.

  He claimed her in one hard thrust. Stretching her inner walls, pulling a cry from her lips as he braced his muscular arms around her and began to thrust. The fire in his eyes built. Her insides flexed around him, and he jerked his hips upward.

  Clinging to his broad shoulders, she bucked against him, spearing herself with every sharp plunge he gave. The bed shook, and her mind emptied of anything but the haze of bliss.

  “There. Right there!”

  He dipped into her again. “Here?”

  “Yesss.” She caught his lower lip between her teeth, tugging him down for a kiss as her world melted with an explosive orgasm.

  He watched her come apart for him, gaze burning down at her. When she regained her wits enough to take charge, she did, pushing on him until he fell onto the mattress. She slung her leg over his hips and took his length right into her pussy in one slick glide.

  A groan left his lips. Feeling heady with power, she pushed onto her knees, withdrawing on all ten inches of him. Not that she’d measured, but whatever his length, it felt damn impressive.

  Reaching up, he cupped her bare breasts, strumming her nipples with his thumbs and tormenting her until she was right on the cusp of coming again.

  “Hold on.” He gripped her hips hard, keeping her from moving more.

  Her hair fell around her face, and she shook it away to look into his eyes. “What is it?”

  “Promise me something.”

  “What?”

  “You won’t get up and leave in the night.”

  Her heart somersaulted, flipping in a way she’d never experienced before, and that was saying something about the way she was beginning to feel about Linc.

  Easing forward, she held his gaze. “I won’t leave,” she whispered.

  His grip on her changed, and he lifted her off his cock. She felt herself moving up the mattress and then his wet tongue sinking into her folds.

  Oh no, she wasn’t leaving this bed, this man, anytime soon.

  * * * * *

  Linc had kicked himself a dozen times after calling Nealy and telling her he needed her. The bad-ass-never-say-die part of himself wasn’t happy that he’d shown any vulnerability.

  But with her in his arms, he felt more powerful and in control than he had all night.

  The memories plaguing him faded, leaving only raw desire and the taste of her sweet pussy on his lips.

  He thumbed her outer lips apart and sucked on he
r juicy clit. She rocked on his tongue, and he sank a finger into her sheath. Then two. And added a third, spreading her wide open for him.

  She went wild, tossing her head and crying out, shaking against his mouth as a massive release struck. Her cum soaked his fingers that he pumped into her in time to the sucking pulls of his mouth. His cock stood straight up at the musky taste of her on his lips, and he couldn’t hold back another second from filling her with his cock.

  His cum.

  She hung forward, panting, and he flipped her again, cradling her ass with one palm, and yanked her up and onto him. He slid home with a grunt and began to move.

  Fucking her hard and deep, his mind galloping faster than he’d driven Sully’s horse on earlier. The head of his cock hit the perfect sweet spot, and he stiffened as the tingle of ecstasy started at the base of his spine.

  He sank into her five times… six.

  His bellow echoed off the walls, and the enormous spurt of cum had to fill her entire pussy. On the second, she overflowed, and he reached down to catch a bead of their combined fluid on his fingertip and fed it to her.

  She parted her lips for a taste, eyes glazed and shiny with lust as he pumped out the final bit of his release.

  Seconds later, he found her snuggled into the crook of his neck, her damp body plastered against his.

  He enveloped her hand in his and closed his eyes, feeling calm at last.

  “Linc…”

  “Hm?”

  “What the hell was that?”

  A laugh bubbled up from him, unexpected and freeing at the same time. “That, babe, was the best sex you’ve ever had.”

  “What about you? Was it the best sex you’ve had?”

  “Hands fucking down.”

  She tipped her head, and he caught the smug smile spreading over her beautiful face. He couldn’t believe he’d ever thought her plain. After looking closer, what he saw was a woman meant for him and him alone.

  He pinched her backside, and she let out a small squawk.

  “You were coming to me anyway,” he said.

  She nodded. “I was. We’ve got lots of work to do.”

  He pinched her harder, and this time she batted his hand away. “Work can wait. We only have one ‘now.’”

  Her eyes grew serious. “We can make a lot more nows.”

  God, she was gorgeous, and he couldn’t get enough of her. He cupped her face and studied her eyes. “Is that what you want?” His voice took on a gritty edge.

  She nodded, but when she leaned into his hand, the action solidified her answer in his mind.

  In his heart.

  Chapter Seven

  Linc balanced the tray on one hand and smoothed the other over Nealy’s shoulder and down the length of one bare arm. It took her a moment to rouse from sleep, but when she opened her eyes, he smiled at her.

  “Mm. Is that eggs I smell?”

  “Yes. I cooked you breakfast.”

  “Will you be sharing it with me in bed?” she mumbled, still in the clutches of sleep.

  He sighed. “I’ve gotta head out, babe. But I wanted to wake you to say goodbye.”

  She rocketed into a sitting position, eyes wide now as she took in his black cargo pants and T-shirt. The rest of his gear was waiting for him—and so was the Ranger Ops SUV.

  “What do you mean you’re heading out? Where?”

  “I can’t tell you that.” The corner of his mouth tipped into a soft smile. He placed the tray on the bed next to her. “I didn’t know what kind of jam you liked, but I only had two, so I gave you one slice of toast with each.”

  She didn’t even glance at the food, which he knew she wouldn’t. “You’re not telling me what’s going on and you’re leaving right now?”

  “I have to,” he responded, feeling a little tug of the separation that awaited them. He never knew when he’d return.

  Or if.

  No, he’d come back from that fucking truck with pig shit and the crate. Not only did he need to fulfill his promise to see his momma soon but he had to finish what he started with Nealy. What exactly that entailed, he hadn’t quite figured out yet, but he would.

  “Take me with you.” She threw back the sheet covering her nudity. At the sight of her warm, freckled skin, his cock surged.

  “Babe, you can’t.”

  “Is it Operation X?”

  “No.” He got a slight pang at the bald-faced lie, but he didn’t want her in this shit. Sully hadn’t told him Nealy was to be part of it either.

  His voice came out gruffer, because dammit, he was feeling emotions that had no business in the life of a man like him.

  “You’re keeping me in the dark because I’m female.”

  He chuckled. “Why would you think that? You know I have hardcore respect for what you did with us back at the cliffs. Now, eat your breakfast. Hang out here and work if you need to. There’s no point in you staying at the hotel if my bed is open.”

  She eyed him, severe mistrust on her face. “Are you keeping me out of this because we slept together?”

  That was part of it, but no way was he telling her that either.

  “Nealy,” he said gently, taking her nipple between finger and thumb and easing her back against the pillow with his lips on hers. She sighed against his mouth but succumbed to his kiss.

  “At least tell me you’ll follow the rules so you don’t get yourself in more trouble,” she whispered.

  “I don’t always follow the rules, if it means I get what I want.” He arched a brow at her.

  “You’re too rebel for me, and that’s what I don’t like about you.”

  “I think the rebel in me is exactly what you like about me.” He slipped his hand down her body, between her thighs. The damp warmth of her almost made him groan out loud, but this was about her and leaving her with a smile on her face.

  She opened her mouth to argue her point again, when he thrust his fingers inside her pussy. She cried out, words dying on her lips. Stretching his pinky down over the seam between pussy and ass, he found her tight little pucker and sank his finger into her backside.

  Twisting on the bed, she said, “Linc!”

  He settled his thumb over her clit and drew circles over it as he finger-banged her. Watching her writhe, her nipples tightening into hard gumdrops, and the way she bit at her lower lip, plumping it up even more, had him rock-hard.

  But he didn’t have time to take away more than this moment—her cries, her flush of pleasure and the scent of her on his hand when he left.

  She trembled, belly dipping and breasts rising with her sharp breaths. When he angled his hand and breached her another millimeter, she went dead still. Her stare on his, her eyes alight with something he could only guess at.

  And hope for.

  He brought her over the edge. Her pussy tightened on his hand, her ass clenched and her clit hardened into a pearl as he stroked her into the final frenzy.

  She collapsed on the bed, and he leaned in to kiss her long and deep before pulling his fingers free and standing.

  “I’ll see you when I get back,” he said.

  “You can’t just leave after that.”

  “I have to live up to my reputation of being a rebel. Your eggs are gettin’ cold, babe.” With a supreme amount of willpower, he walked out.

  * * * * *

  What… the fuck… was that? Nealy heard the front door close and knew Linc had gone. Still breathing hard, she glanced over at the plate sitting on the bed. It looked like the man could cook a decent breakfast.

  And turn her into a puddle of desire in seconds. Her body still thrummed from the after effects of her orgasm. She reached for the plate. The eggs were already cold, so she just nibbled the toast, amused that he had given her two types of jam because he didn’t know her preference.

  Funny thing was, she knew just as little about him.

  Except how he looked as the last jet of cum pumped into her body.

  She swung her legs out of bed and looked
around for her clothes. She found something more comfortable—Linc’s shirt still crumpled on the floor. She picked it up and brought it to her nose automatically, catching a whiff of his musky scent on the cloth.

  Which sent her body into overdrive all over again.

  She had to think about this rationally.

  He revved her libido, that much was obvious. But she’d also realized he wasn’t the man she thought him to be, back in their hospital visit days when he clearly disliked her and she thought he was all testosterone and few brains.

  Now, she was embarrassed she’d even thought those things, but she knew he held similar opinions at one time.

  She was also humbled that at his low point, he’d called her to come over. Just him asking for her had her melting for him more.

  Then he’d pulled his macho act this morning, showing her who was boss in his bed.

  She grinned and slipped his shirt over her head. It hung loose on her frame and hit her midthigh, but she felt like a princess in it.

  Grabbing the plate, she strode to the kitchen. There she was stunned to find not a single dirty dish in the sink, as she’d expected from any man. She scraped her plate into the trash and looked into the dishwasher. There were the rest of the dirty dishes and he even had the detergent ready. She liked a man who cleaned up after himself. She stowed the dish inside and hit the start button.

  With a look around, she saw the whole apartment in a similar state of neatness. Mail stacked in a way that was almost OCD, with the corners lined up perfectly. The pillows on the sofa were plumped and lined along the back. And his boots were even neatly placed side-by-side at the door. A cowboy hat hung on coat rack above the shoes, and too easily she could picture it tugged low over his eyes as he squinted into the sunset.

  With nothing to do, she had only herself to worry about. He was gone and wanted her to stay here, but all her things were at the hotel.