Way of the Warrior

by Suzanne Brockmann

  She shattered apart the second his tongue flicked. But he grasped her hips and pushed her through her climax until she gasped his name and clawed at his shoulders, desperately trying to drag him back up into her arms. At last, he relented—if for no other reason than her gasps and moans of pleasure were making his cock weep with need, and he was hanging on by a very thin, very taut thread.

  He was panting with the effort to hold back, his voice strained and rough when he gasped, “I don’t have a condom with me.”

  But even as he said it, he was lowering himself between her legs, and she was guiding him to her sweet heat, arching into him. He’d always been safe—even when he was a stupid teenager who’d bang anything with a pulse. He always knew he’d only have unprotected sex with the woman he married. And there was only one woman he’d ever pictured in that role. And she was lying naked beneath him on the hallway floor, beautiful, sexy, and wanting him, too.

  He plunged deep, sheathing himself completely, making them both gasp.

  “Oh, God, Joe,” Sadie moaned, breathless as she rose to meet each thrust of his pelvis. “I love you.”

  He instantly went still, the words knocking the air from his lungs. He blinked down at her, hardly daring to believe what she’d said. “What?”

  • • •

  Sadie wrapped her legs over Joe’s ass, the look in his eyes making her fear he was about to bolt again. “I love you,” she whispered, rolling her hips against him, not wanting him to stop. Their bodies had been joined mere moments, and Sadie was already perilously close to coming again. “Every time I’ve said it… This is how I meant it.”

  He peered down at her for a long moment. “Sadie,” he breathed finally. “I don’t want you to say that because you think you have to…”

  She took his face in her hands, searching his gaze. “I do have to,” she insisted. “Because it’s the way I feel. I always have. And I don’t want you to stop making love to me. Not ever.”

  Joe held her gaze for a moment longer, but then something in his expression changed. And he claimed her mouth, savagely, hungry and demanding. And then he was thrusting hard, deep, claiming every ounce of pleasure that was theirs to share. Sadie rocked with each hard thrust, loving the way he filled her.

  And as her pleasure reached its climax, starting at the center of her and exploding outward, she cried out, curling into him, clinging to him as he continued to rock her through it. And then when she felt his muscles begin to tense, she slid her hands up the shirt he’d refused to remove, dug her fingernails into his back as another climax built, urging him on and screaming his name when the next one shook her even more than the first. And when he finally let go, she wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close, pressed kisses to his shoulder, his cheek, and then his lips.

  This time their kiss was slow, tender, unhurried. When it ended, she pulled on the edge of his shirt, pushing it up until, after a moment’s hesitation, he pulled back enough so that she could pull it over his head.

  “I want all of you, Joe Dawson,” she told him when his gaze shuttered and he seemed on the verge of closing down on her. “For always.”

  His expression softened then as he smoothed her hair. “Then I suppose I should get you off this floor and make love to you properly. Because I don’t plan on going anywhere.”

  His words filled her with joy so intense that it was all she could do not to break into tears. But she somehow managed to just lift a brow and give him a flirtatious grin. “You mean it gets better than that? I’m not sure how that’s even possible. Because—sweetheart—that was un-freaking-believable.”

  A smug smirk curled his lips. “Oh, baby… You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

  CHAPTER 4

  Sadie curled up on her side, watching the shadows play over Joe’s face as he slept on his back, arms over his head, only a sheet covering him from the waist down. They’d made love twice more that night before taking a long, steamy shower together that had ended up in yet another intimate tangle.

  She’d never considered herself a prude by any stretch of the imagination, but the level of pleasure and abandon she’d experienced with Joe far surpassed anything she’d experienced before. Whether that was more a testament to his mind-blowing skills in the bedroom or to the depth of her love was hard to say. She didn’t care. All that mattered was that he was there beside her, that they’d at last found their way into each other’s arms—and the result had been a level of bliss she’d never imagined possible.

  Sadie traced a fingertip down the center of his chest to the network of scars on his abdomen that she’d glimpsed earlier. He’d been self-conscious about them even in the shower—until she’d kissed her way down to them and then over to the erection that had swiftly risen in response. She was pretty sure at that point he wasn’t concerned about anything…

  A slow grin grew on Joe’s lips as if he were reading her thoughts, and his arm snaked around her, pulling her close. “Why aren’t you sleeping?” he murmured, rolling onto his side to face her.

  “Couldn’t.” She grinned, shifting a little so that her breasts were pressed against his chest. Then she snaked an arm around his neck and pulled him to her for a long, sultry kiss. God, she’d never get enough of him. Every touch, every kiss ignited a fire in her.

  Things were really starting to get interesting again when a loud crash brought Joe’s head up. Every muscle in his body went tense, on alert.

  “It’s probably just Jasper,” Sadie assured him. “We didn’t exactly get around to cleaning up the kitchen. Besides, Jasper would bark if there was something to worry about.”

  “Probably,” Joe said, slipping from the bed. “But I’m gonna take a look. Stay here.”

  Sadie threw off the covers and grabbed a pair of black yoga pants and a bright pink Butler University T-shirt from her dresser drawer, listening intently as Joe crept through the house. She heard a soft rustle—probably him pulling on his discarded clothes.

  She moved to the bedroom doorway, holding her breath as she waited. Joe’s cache of weapons was in a box under her bed, but, except for the box she’d gifted to Joe, she’d given all the bullets to his brother Tom for safekeeping. Aside from throwing one of the guns at an intruder, they weren’t going to do a whole lot of good.

  She waited, heart pounding for who knows how long, every second that ticked by ratcheting her anxiety for Joe’s safety a notch higher. She heard Joe opening and closing her front door. And then the back door. And for a long moment she held her breath, listening intently.

  Suddenly, a shuffle down the hall startled a gasp from her, but the shadowy figure’s loping gait made her heave a sigh of relief. “Jasper!” she scolded, shaking her head. “What have you been into this time?”

  Then she brought her gaze back up to see another hulking shadow at the end of the hall. “Oh, God, Joe!” she laughed. “You scared the crap out of me!”

  • • •

  Joe stuck to the shadows as he crept along the perimeter of the house. He was just making his way to the side yard, when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye and turned just in time to catch a glimpse of a tall figure booking it toward the meadow.

  Fury burned in Joe’s veins. He raced after the sick perv, glad he’d taken the last few months to work up his strength and endurance again after his recovery because the fucker was fast, especially given his size.

  “Stop!” Joe ordered, patting his pocket for his cell phone and finding it missing. Belatedly, he realized it must’ve fallen out on the floor of the hallway, either when he and Sadie had been ripping off each other’s clothes or in his mad scramble to pull them back on.

  Shit.

  The guy darted right, bolting toward the tree line. But Joe shifted direction just as quickly, his legs pumping, swiftly gaining ground in spite of the searing pain in his leg as the damned thing began to protest.

 
During his search of the house, he’d grabbed his gun from the dining room table where he’d left it earlier that night, but he couldn’t shoot at that asshole, no matter how tempted he was. Not unless his life or Sadie’s was in danger. “Stop!” he ordered again. “Police!”

  The guy surged forward with a sudden burst of speed, but then he began to slow. Joe was panting as he slowed his own pace and brought his gun up, aiming it at the guy’s center of mass. “Turn around. Slowly.”

  The guy held up his hands and did as he was told.

  Joe frowned when he realized who it was. “You?” he blurted. “You’re the one stalking Sadie?”

  “I can explain!” Sam said in a rush. “It’s not what you think!”

  “Says you,” Joe shot back. “You’re under arrest, you little bastard.”

  “Dude!” Sam pleaded, taking a step forward before halting again. “Okay, yeah, I was looking into Ms. Keaton’s windows.” He paused, his expression agonized in the moonlight as he glanced around as if expecting others to suddenly appear. He leaned forward a little and lowered his voice when he said, “I saw your car parked out front on my way home from my girlfriend’s house, okay? She lives about two miles down the road. And, you know—I was curious. I mean, Ms. Keaton is seriously hot, man. Why the hell do you think I keep forgetting my shit in her class? But I was just hoping to catch a glimpse of her tits or something. I’m not stalking her!”

  “Yeah?” Joe eyed the kid for a moment longer before gesturing at him to head back to the house. “We’ll see about that. Let’s go.”

  Sam started back toward Sadie’s house, his head hanging, his feet dragging with each step. “This is so messed up,” he muttered. “My dad’s going to have a total freak out if he finds out I was looking in somebody’s window. I swear to God I’ve never done that before…”

  Joe grunted. “Sure you haven’t.”

  “I’m telling the truth!” Sam insisted, speaking in such a rush Joe had to work to keep up with what he was saying. “I didn’t even see anything! It’s not like I climbed the tree to look in the upstairs windows or some shit. Hell, I was just getting ready to leave when I heard you knock over Ms. Keaton’s trash can and hid out in the bushes until the coast was clear. But you showed up again when I was coming out to head back to where I’d parked my car on the road, and—”

  Joe stopped dead, shaking his head. “I didn’t knock over the trash can.” Dread sucker-punched him in the gut, making his stomach heave. He bolted toward the house, yelling over his shoulder, “Call the police!”

  • • •

  “What the hell are you doing in my house?” Sadie demanded, moving a little closer to where Jasper sat at her side, panting merrily at seeing their visitor. Of course, maybe he’d have been a little more unsettled if he hadn’t known her intruder.

  “Well,” Sean drawled, strolling toward her, his broad shoulders slightly hunched over, “my present to you earlier this week didn’t seem to get my message across, so I figured it was time to deliver one in person. Little easier, this time around, though. Didn’t have to hide my car down the block like I had to do at your little boyfriend’s house—just parked in the neighbors’ driveway. I remembered you telling me once that they’re never home. Thanks for that info, babe.”

  Her eyes went wide. She remembered that conversation! It’d taken place months before they’d even started dating. She’d been lamenting her lack of neighbors at a staff cookout, wishing they could have neighborhood get-togethers like some of her colleagues described. He’d obviously tucked that info away for future reference. The arrogant asshole had been plotting even back then!

  “Get out of my house, you son of a bitch,” she hissed. She edged down the hall as she spoke, trying to put more distance between them as he continued to advance and wondering if she could make it to the bathroom and lock herself in, maybe crawl out the window, before the bastard could get to her. “We were through months ago. You weren’t even upset!”

  Sean smirked, continuing forward. “’Cause I knew you’d come around. It was just going to take some persuasion. But then that fucking gimp came home, and he was all you cared about. Well, don’t worry, babe.” He held up his hand, flashing the gun he held. “Soon, it’ll just be the two of us again.”

  Holy shit.

  Sadie swallowed past the growing panic, her mind racing. “So help me God, Sean, if you hurt Joe—”

  “You’ll what? Kick my ass?” Sean laughed derisively and flexed, growling, then cackled again, enjoying his own joke. “Yeah, I’d like to see that one. But you go ahead and fight me right up until I go balls deep. Make it more fun for me.”

  Sadie’s gaze flicked toward the open bathroom door, debating her odds. Deciding to take a chance, she pivoted and lunged, grabbing the door and trying to slam it shut, but Sean was already there. He shoved, sending her stumbling backward, her head striking the edge of the bathtub. She was laying on her back, fighting against the darkness that momentarily threatened to descend, when Sean’s face came into view, his cruel smirk chilling her to the bone.

  • • •

  Joe’s instinct was to barrel in when he reached the back door, take out the motherfucker, but his training quickly overrode his instinct. It wasn’t going to do Sadie a damned bit of good if he got them both killed. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, quietly turning the knob and throwing open the door. He sidestepped in a swift arc just outside the doorway, his Glock at the ready, clearing the kitchen in a glance.

  He’d just cleared the dining room, assuring the asshole wasn’t in there when he heard Jasper barking up a storm overhead.

  Gotcha.

  Joe moved quickly but quietly, his steps nearly silent as he crept along the wall. The initial panic he’d felt outside when he realized Sadie’s stalker was inside the house had settled to a deadly calm. The bastard was going down. It was up to that asshole if he left the house in handcuffs or a body bag.

  • • •

  Darkness threatened again as Sadie tried to push out of Sean’s chokehold, struggling for air and trying her damnedest to stay conscious. Jasper was snarling at Sean, barking furiously, the sound echoing strangely in her head. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear the blur from her vision to no avail. She just had to hang on a few more minutes. Joe would be there soon. But as soon as she thought it, her fear reared its ugly head, taunting, And would walk right into his death…

  She shoved the thought away. No. No way. Not Joe. He was her hero. Had been since they were children.

  “Shut the fuck up, you stupid mutt,” Sean spat. He swung his leg, catching Jasper in the head, then kicked him again. This time Jasper lunged forward, sinking his teeth into Sean’s leg and shaking his head, growling furiously. Sean yowled with pain. But the sound quickly morphed to rage. And too late Sadie saw him raise the gun and point it at her dog. She brought her fist down hard, nailing him in the nuts, her heart lifting a little when he cried out in pain, but her triumph was short-lived as the gun went off at the same instant. The sound of Jasper’s yelp brought tears to her eyes, but in the dim light she could see her dog as he scurried away into the shadows.

  He was wounded, but still alive, thank God! At least, he was for now.

  She renewed her struggle, tucking her chin into the chokehold to try to lessen Sean’s compression on her windpipe and would’ve cursed the asshole a blue streak for hurting her dog if she could’ve gotten any air in her lungs.

  Enraged, Sean shoved her away from him, slamming her into the wall. “You stupid bitch!” he growled. “I’ll fucking kill you!” He grabbed her by the hair, jerking her back to him and shoving the barrel of the gun up under her chin. “Is this what you want? Huh? You want me to blow your fucking head off?”

  Sadie ground her teeth together, fighting back the tears of anger and fear, not about to let him see how scared she was. “Go to hell.”

  He chu
ckled. “Later,” he said, his lips near her ear. “First, I think we need to have a little fun…”

  CHAPTER 5

  Joe’s heart was pounding as he silently made his way up the stairs. He winced as one of the stairs creaked, but the voices upstairs continued without interruption. His muscles ached from the tension; his head throbbed from the adrenaline rush that was pumping through his veins. And he felt that initial tingling at the back of his neck, the anxiety that clawed at his stomach, making its way up his esophagus, branching out into his lungs and making it impossible to breathe…

  He shook his head, fighting the panic attack that was threatening to overtake him. He had to soldier through it, stay frosty. Sadie’s life depended on him keeping his shit together, and there was no way he was gonna let her down. Not now. Not ever.

  Yeah, so he was damaged goods. He’d never be the same man he was before. But Sadie was right—he’d been born to protect and serve. And if that was as a soldier, or a deputy, or a man hell-bent on protecting the woman he loved, he’d do his duty until his final breath.

  Setting his jaw with a steely resolve, Joe adjusted his grip on the gun, steadied his shaking hands, ignored the perspiration on his forehead and the bead of sweat snaking down his back. And moved forward.

  • • •

  Sadie dug in her heels, trying unsuccessfully to prevent Sean from dragging her back to her bedroom. There was no question what he intended to do to her. The thought of him taking her on the very bed that she’d just shared with Joe infuriated her. She’d sooner die than let him defile the beautiful memories of making love to Joe, of his softly whispered endearments, her name on his lips while in the throes of passion.