Once she was in the car he slammed the door shut. Thinking about her behind and the view he had, combined with thinking about those legs, her mouth, her body, was putting him in a world of hurt in his southern region. How long had it been since he had been with a woman? Too long he would guess, but it hadn’t bothered him before now. Women had thrown themselves at him, they had definitely tried to bed him, but he had never wanted them. This woman hadn’t done more than exist and he wanted her without restraint. His lips quirked upward. No, he wanted to restrain her all right. He wanted to bind her to his bed and master her body, giving her pleasure at his own pace, at his own command, and having her scream his name as she came with him locked inside her. He wanted to put a baby in her—his baby and that thought scared the hell out of him. Did he even like kids? No, they were snotty brats that ran around grocery stores nearly knocking down old people. But his kids wouldn’t be like that. And the thought of him having kids yet again tore his sanity to shreds. This woman was like a dose of insanity waiting to happen because no matter how out of character it was for him to think about starting a family he wanted to with this woman. He wanted to take her to bed and give her more than one reason to stay with him. He wanted to mark her in every way as his. And then he wanted to see her belly swelling with his child growing inside of her.
God he was losing his mind. He looked over to her once more as she sat there looking like a scared rabbit getting ready to be lead to the slaughter. Yeah, be afraid because once I have a mission I don’t stop until I have what I’ve gone in for, doll.
He tried to put his mind back on work, back on why she was there with him in the first place. She was like a drug. She was the kind of woman a man could get addicted to before he even had a taste of her and Rhys was that man. She sat there not having any idea of the power she had over men. He could see it in her that she was completely oblivious to how strong her animal attraction was. Hell, he didn’t even know the woman and he wanted to bed her, impregnate her and keep her for the rest of their natural lives. He felt his erection straining against the confounds of his pants and he shook his head. He was a Marine, not some horn-dog fifteen year old with his first crush. He had a more important mission to handle here, two to be exact, and he was going to need to shelf his libido—for now anyway.
“Is that bag you’ve got back there all you’ve brought? Did you not realize this is long-term?”
She sighed. “They wouldn’t let me go back to pack. I have enough clothes in the bag to last a little over a week before I need to wash. I hope you have a washer to go with your Neanderthal ways.”
He growled. He saw her tense up. She had a mouth on her—one he wouldn’t mind exploring. “Don’t push me, Doll, because I can assure you the primal beast within won’t care how fragile you are.”
“Did you just threaten me?!”
“No, I don’t do threats. I make promises. You have no idea what you’re doing, who I am or what you’re doing to me. You want to see the primal instincts of a man I can assure you I have no trouble showing you mine. I can assure you that you won’t be walking when I’m done.” He could hear the sexual undertones in his voice and judging from the way her mouth gaped open he knew she had too. He hadn’t missed the way her eyes locked on him when she saw him, like she wanted him for more than just a protector but the moment he opened his mouth she clammed up as if she remembered she was angry she was in this mess in the first place.
“And you’re a Marshal,” she shook her head and put her attention back on the road.
“No. I’m a Marine.”
Her audible gasp nearly hurt his heart. Now she was afraid of him. He had been a glimmer of that primal beast with his words but he was a man who said what he meant and he couldn’t change that. He couldn’t tip toe around words like some people could—it was a waste of time to pussyfoot the situation and he always thought that. Once he was in control, in command and in a situation that was life or death he never even bothered to remind himself not everybody could handle who he was as a man. The jokes, the hard facts, all of that was him.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’m not the one trying to kill you.”
“Oh well that’s comforting,” she said sarcastically. “Look, I really don’t know anything. I mean this guy has to know that by now; right?”
“This guy,” he said staunchly. “Is on a mission—a paid one. He’s not going to stop. People like the ones who just threw you into the lion’s den don’t hire men who give up for any reason. There is no off once the hit is on. So no matter what this guy finds out you’re still on his kill list. Wake up to that, Doll, and you won’t be so snarky in the future.”
“My name is Abby, not doll. And I’m just…I’m scared,” she said softly. “My natural defense is sarcasm or fighting back and this guy has already shown me I can’t beat him.”
His heart leveled from man who wanted to conquer and claim and came back to a mix of a man who was doing a job, and a man who had an insatiable appetite to calm her justified fears. “Then sit back, don’t make this harder for either of us, and let me do the job I’m being paid to do here. Let me keep you safe.”
She nodded. “I miss my old life—the one I had before the guy who attacked me was anything more than just a neighbor who forgot to cover up his boxer whites before coming outside every morning—the life I had before I found out that a video game could get me killed.”
He understood her. This was like a lightning bolt jolt to her world. She didn’t have experiences like this; she didn’t have to worry if today would be the day she took her last breath. And now she had to worry about that. Now she had to let fear in, and if she didn’t find some solace fear would consume her sanity and burn her alive from within. He couldn’t save her from that, but he could save her from this hit man.
“I’m one of the best, Abby.”
She nodded. “I know,” she sighed as she laid her head back on the headrest. Well hell, he hadn’t expected that admission to come from her lips. He expected her to fight the entire time with those sarcastic tenors that actually fueled his hunger for her. She was his kind of woman and he knew that from the moment she opened her mouth. Strong, yet vulnerable. Soft yet a hint of an edge. Add all that to her definite beauty and he knew—this woman could rock his world into an earth moving change of circumstances. This woman could be his other, his match, the kind of woman that his father had found—the woman that made is life better than it was alone. Why did he want that now? Or had he always wanted it? Had he just suppressed it for his mission, for his quest for justice? Or maybe he just hadn’t wanted to put another person he loved into the ground. Not loving made it easier not to have to bury another piece of his heart. He told himself not to fall in anything with this woman—lust, love, any of it, but hell if he wasn’t taken at first sight for lust, and first sentence for love. God if he only could look at her as a job he wouldn’t feel anything, but he couldn’t look at her that way. In fact, he was sure his first lust moment is what tipped his mind into the chaos of saying yes to this detail. He should have said no and stuck by it. And if he hadn’t seen the softness in her eyes, the smile on her face, and that look of a woman who needed protection—his protection, then maybe he could of held his position. Since he hadn’t held it then he sure as hell better hold it now because he couldn’t get distracted. Distraction brought death and that was not an option—for either of them.
“So,” her sultry yet docile voice hit him hard yet again. He imagined hearing her scream his name as she hit orgasm and that alone told him he was in for a hard fight. He protector she woman in distress, and he needed to remember that Tarzan toned speech. Then again, Tarzan had still claimed his woman.
“So?”
“Are you…you know. Do you have a gun—with you now that is?”
“I’m always packing.” He wasn’t a man who went anywhere without a weapon, sometimes more than one actually. For all the crazy people harping on tossing out the second amendment he wasn’t going to s
acrifice his weaponry. He would be damned if he was going to get rid of his first line of defense and rely on some wet behind the ears cop to get to him in under thirty seconds to save his life. No, that wasn’t his thing. If people knew how unlikely it was for a cop to get to them in faster time then it would take for the bad guy to kill them maybe they wouldn’t get so piss poor out of shape because other people decided not to wait on somebody else to save them.
“You know how to fight? At least that’s what I think you were saying.”
“Yeah, my dad taught me. He always said though, “kid there is always somebody better than you. Don’t get too complacent with your knowledge or your skills,” and he had been right. There is always somebody better. I just hadn’t met that somebody in a life or death situation until yesterday.”
“I see,” he stated because he knew what she was saying. There was a huge difference between knowing somebody better could kill you on any given day and actually coming up against that somebody better. “You’ll be safe where I’m taking you. I hope you like Montana.”
“Never been,” she said.
“Well good, because you’re not going now either.” He laughed and she chuckled before shaking her head.
“Where are we going then?”
“You’ll see. Just wait for it.”
“It’s not like I can tell anybody you know.”
He shrugged one shoulder. “I know you can’t if I don’t tell you.”
“Oh brother,” she mumbled. “You’re going to be trouble; aren’t you?”
“You have no idea.” He switched on the radio so she could have something to keep her mind occupied—something other than conversation because the voice she had was making him want to pull over to the side of the rode and get to know the ins and outs of her body—right now his penis was more interested in getting to know the ins than the outs.
“I guess the radio means you want me to shut up now, huh?”
“Abby, if you keep talking I can’t guarantee I’m not going to stop being able to resist the urge to get you naked and get between your legs; so stop talking.”
He heard the gasp as he looked over at her blushing cheeks. The look in her eyes told him she was contemplating the same kind of getting to know each other even if she was trying to hide it. He was a good read of people, their emotions, their body language and everything about her now crossed legs told him he had just unleashed an urge in her that was setting her on fire from within. He had done this and quite frankly once they had a few days, at best, of getting each other situated in the private house he was taking her to, he planned very much to temporarily put that fire out with a special kind of liquid of his own. He wasn’t thinking temporary because he knew for what he had planned once would never be enough for either of them.
Chapter Three
“Trouble,” Abby mumbled to herself as she lie in bed looking up at nothing but the ceiling. She wasn’t just talking about the fact that somebody seriously wanted her dead over something she didn’t even know about either. She was talking about the man sleeping across the hall from her. Rhys was hotter than hot in her mind. All this time she had spent focusing on work, a little bit of school and pretty much making every possible effort to make sure she was not becoming the social butterfly, had also meant she avoided falling in lust with a man until now. God was testing her; that was all there was to it. She was being tested and she was failing miserably.
He had pulled out the contacts he wore when he picked her up and what she saw was a beautiful shade of emerald that had her knees going weak just looking in them. Somehow they seemed even more deadly than the blue he’d sported earlier. She also noticed his nose looked straighter now. If she thought he was cute before now was definitely the knocked on the floor effect because the man was gorgeous.
He had told her she was the first in a long time to really see what he looked like and that he didn’t go around working with his real aesthetics without making a few changes. Usually, he had said, he had more time to put a new look into effect with a world class facial mask that looked natural, but he got the call too close to the job.
He looked good—very good, and her body had most definitely realized what it had been missing with just another look at him. She couldn’t sleep now because she was thinking about how hot her protector was.
She groaned. “Tea,” she sighed as she pulled herself out of bed. Tea would make everything better. She slid her hands over her tank top and caught a glimpse of herself in the dresser mirror. Whoever packed for her had to be a man seeing as though they packed plenty of the lace panties and decorative bras but seemed to forget the pajamas she had right there in the drawer next to the underwear. Granted those pajamas had Tweety Bird and flowers on them, but they were comfortable to sleep in. It’s not like she had to impress anybody with sexy night clothes or anything like that.
She shook her head, padding on bare feet out to the hall. Well it wouldn’t be nice to just go start making tea in the man’s house without asking if he wanted any, she figured so instead of going down the hall she walked across it and right through the already opened door. He was sleeping in bed but somehow her mind had convinced her to get a little closer to the barely covered man. The sheets were tucked around his waist and leg, but his chest was exposed and that chest was muscular and golden tanned like a Latin man.
She walked softly closer to him. Her mind kept pushing her feet farther while another recess of her brain kept trying to tell her a sleeping man did not need tea.
She hadn’t even gotten her hand stretched out when he grabbed her and swiftly threw her onto the bed before straddling her body and pinning her down. Her heart raced like a jackrabbit on speed as she stared up at him. The only light coming into the room was from the moon cresting through the window, but she could still see the lethal look in his eyes.
“I…I was just going to ask if you wanted some tea.” She felt her breath coming in short pants. It wasn’t just the fear or the fact that his weight was pressing down on her. It was the fact that she now realized the man slept naked—completely naked and now, the only thing keeping certain intimate parts apart was her royal blue lace panties.
“You thought I was sleeping; correct?”
“I just—”
“Correct?” He bit out the word as he clutched her wrists above her head in one of his hands while leaving one hand palm down on the bed beside her head so that he could moderately support his weight.
“Correct,” she said sheepishly feeling her heart increase in the rapid staccato beat.
“Do you think a sleeping man wants tea?”
“I…I guess not.”
“Do you think a sleeping man—a Marine—wants a woman in her underwear to come calling in his bedroom in the middle of the night for tea?”
She bit her bottom lip as she felt him put more of his weight on her body. “I…I guess not.”
“Do you think a naked man with only flimsy fabric keeping him from taking a beautiful woman hard and deep really needs a woman coming in his room testing him?”
“But I wasn’t testing you.” But then again maybe some small part of her brain was. Did she not really believe the man wouldn’t be on high alert since he was the protector in this situation? Yes, she had to know trying to silently walk into his bedroom at night was not going to go unnoticed to a man like him.
She felt his weight come down on her completely as he moved his free hand from the bed beside her and stopped using it to decrease his body’s weight. Now he was using that hand to brush down her waist and to the waistband of her bikini cut panties that hugged her hips.
“I told you not to test me, Abby.” He slipped his fingers underneath the side of her panties and then one long finger brushed against her clitoris. She gasped and arched beneath him with a wave of heat, desire, and craving.
“Remember these words,” he said as he slid a finger into her while his thumb massaged her tiny button of an erogenous zone. “Do. Not. Test. Me. Because next
time you come into my bedroom I can guarantee you it’s going to be something larger than a finger I push inside you.” He gave one more thrust of his finger and stroke of his thumb before pulling back from her completely. She was so close to orgasm she whimpered at the lost of his heat and his touch.
“Go,” he said sternly. “Get your tea. I don’t want any.”
Right now she didn’t need tea. Right now she needed a cold shower. She let her eyes drift over his naked body and she realized she very much liked the package she saw. When he let out a primitive groan that had heat pooling between her legs again she looked up to his eyes. Realizing she was still sprawled out on his bed with her legs open she closed them swiftly and got up. “I’m…sorry.” She bolted out of his room and back into her own as she heard the frustrated groan come from him.
She closed her door behind her and rushed to her bed before sitting on it. “Oh, Abby,” she sighed as she sat there still shaking with need. She was contemplating finishing the job for herself when her bedroom door swung open and a still naked Rhys stood there looking at her.
“I thought I told you no closed doors in this house.”
“Unless I’m getting dressed…I know. I just…never mind,” she said as she realized she was still explaining and apologizing. The man had her brain all flustered. This wasn’t good. Nobody had ever had this level of impact on her and the fact that he did was both turning her on and pissing her off.
“Good night,” he turned and walked away. Her eyes followed his form and she realized the back of the package was even better naked than it was covered in cloth.
She sighed and shook her head at herself. She didn’t even know this man. He had picked her up just days ago seeing as though he had driven straight through without stopping for a night of sleep. She hadn’t known him long and to be honest she would say she didn’t know him very well at all—heck she didn’t know the man at all. But here she was wishing he had taken her and made good on his promise to put something other than his fingers inside her.
Code of Honor Page 4
