“He’s a respected military man, he’s gorgeous and he wants you. That’s obvious to anyone who has the least little ability to read cosmic karmic vibrations….”
“Point, please,” Rina said, waving her hand to motion Stella along before this turned into a lecture on how, if everyone in the world would just open themselves up to the possibility of their psychic power, the world would be a better place.
Stella sighed. “I don’t understand the problem—all the teeth-gnashing and the whining.”
“Because—”
“I know, I know, Mac and Cash and bad boys and blah, blah, blah.”
“Thanks for all your support.”
“I’m trying to support you. But I don’t get why you’re with me right now instead of Cash.”
“He doesn’t want to see me, Stella. It’s not like we’re dating or anything. And besides, I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Stella tried to shove the astrology book at her, but Rina refused to take it. Instead, she flopped down on the bed on Stella’s papers, hoping that would annoy her enough to distract her.
“But he’s got something you do want,” Stella said.
“Don’t be crude.”
“I was talking about the tape,” Stella protested, and when Rina gave her a look, she threw up her hands. “Okay, I was partly talking about the tape, but I don’t get your self-imposed sex exile.”
“I’m working.”
“So you can never fall for someone when you work?”
“I haven’t fallen for him,” she insisted, and gave up because her friend knew the truth. “Look, it’s not the best time in my life for any of this. I can’t go after him now—it’s too complicated.”
“There’s no best time. What’s wrong with going after what you want? When did it become a crime to fall in love, to let yourself get swept up in something bigger than you’ve ever imagined? When will you flat out, no holds barred, pull out all the stops, just let go and go with it?” Stella asked.
Rina crossed her arms and studied her friend’s face. What could be the reason for the sudden outburst? “You’ve got a date with the CO, don’t you?”
“He asked to have his cards read. I can’t turn down someone who wants to get in touch with his cosmic energy.” Stella sniffed. “And you didn’t answer my question—what’s really stopping you? Your practicality, again? Your mother?”
“Well, she’ll freak anyway. But really, it’s Cash. He’ll never touch me again because of Mac.”
Stella scoffed. “He’s a man, Rina. A hot-blooded, regular man who looks at you like you’re some sort of goddess. So what are you still doing here?” Her friend tossed her her car keys and pointed toward the door.
“But Stel, it’s not going to be that simple.”
“Nothing worth having ever is.”
RINA SLOWED the rental car when she went down Cash’s street. Thank goodness for Jenny’s description because Cash didn’t have a number on his house, and she never would’ve figured out otherwise. She didn’t even know what kind of car he drove, knew nothing about him, except he did dangerous things for fun and profit. And he had the scars to prove it.
She did know she wanted to find out more, but there was no way she’d admit to herself that she’d fallen for him. Sometimes, Stella read into things too deeply.There wasn’t a car parked in the driveway, and the freestanding garage was locked up. If there had been windows, she would’ve peeked in to check out his car, but instead, she summoned her courage and marched up to the front door. There were lights on upstairs and loud music floating out the windows, so if this was Cash’s house, it appeared he was home.
Home, and obviously in the shower, because after five minutes of her alternately ringing the doorbell and knocking, Cash stood in front of her, full-on commando and dripping in the opened doorway.
“Do you always answer the front door naked?” she asked, barely able to pull her eyes up to his face.
He wasn’t smiling. “Yes.”
“Most normal people would grab a towel before they answered the door.”
“I’m not most people and what the hell are you doing here?” he asked, and it came out more like a growl. Made her just want to touch him. All over.
“I’m using the interview you gave me today,” she said.
“Going to be hard to do, considering I have the tape.”
“You’re going to give it back to me.”
“No, I’m not,” he said.
“I’m not leaving until I get it.”
He looked behind her into the night sky. “It gets pretty chilly out here at night.”
“Aren’t you inviting me in so we can talk about this rationally?”
“Not a good idea. And why are you carrying all that equipment?” he asked, eyeing the camera and the laptop and the bag worth of film she’d slung over her shoulder.
“I’ve got work to do.”
“And you’re planning on doing that here?”
“You said you wanted final approval on the rough cut, and I don’t have a lot of time to screw around,” she said, and his eyebrows raised. “So, since you’ve confiscated part of today’s film, we can splice it up together. Then you can see that my work’s on the up-and-up, and that I’m not going to corrupt any young boy’s mind by making him think that you’re all adrenaline junkies.”
“Anything else?”
“Yes. You’re dripping on my camera.”
He ran a hand through his wet hair and frowned. “Three things. One, you screwed up today. Two, you’re not coming in here. Three, don’t make this any harder than it has to be.”
“I’m coming in, Cash. So move out of the way and neither one of us will get hurt. I don’t want to run from danger anymore. At least not tonight.”
That made him smile, a sweet, lazy grin that spread to his eyes when he threw out the challenge. “You want in? Then you’re way overdressed.”
“I can change that,” she assured him. “I want to change that.” She liked the look of surprise on his face, wondered if he’d back down. But, true to form, he stepped aside and she dropped her equipment inside the hallway.
Her shirt was off before he shut the door. Challenge met and answered, and it was obvious he hadn’t expected her to take it.
“I can’t do this,” he said.
“Sure you can. This is between consenting adults. No harm, no foul.”
She didn’t give him any other options, or give herself the chance to feel guilty about that. The slow burn that had been building all day caught fire, and she practically climbed on him, ignoring the bruises on his chest.
If she hurt him, he didn’t show it. He got them both over to a couch, but no farther before he was tugging off her jeans and mouthing her nipple through the silk of her bra.
Had it really only been two weeks since they’d been together like this? It seemed like yesterday as everything else melted away, including the rest of her clothes. He took her nipple back into his mouth and his tongue hit the sensitive nerve endings that made her toes curl and her mouth fall open in anticipation. It was almost too good, but she wasn’t about to stop him, couldn’t in fact, since he’d managed to pin her arms behind her while he held her to the couch. His body was damp against hers and the warm, heated friction threatened to swallow her whole.
Who cared? Especially when his mouth continued traveling downward, tracing slow, wet circles against her stomach, her hip, moving slowly inward to her thigh with such excruciating concentration, like he’d never wanted anyone but her.
“Cash,” she heard herself whisper, quickly drowned out by a long moan when he pushed her thighs apart and remained kneeling between them. Even as he pushed her so she was half-seated on the couch’s back. She pressed her palms down hard to keep herself steady, leaving him totally in control, practically spread eagled in front of him.
“Missed this,” he murmured, right before he used his tongue to touch her in all the places he had missed, buried his face against her where sh
e was hot and wet and so ready for him. She whimpered as he pushed his tongue inside of her, mimicked the way he was going to take her later. First, long and slow and then, hard and fast enough to make her see stars.
She was nearly incoherent when she came against his face, but he didn’t stop licking, sucking, teasing. He slowed the motion, but remained there, bringing her through her post-orgasmic haze, then gradually increasing his motions, adding his fingers until she felt herself begin to clamp down again and contract.
By the time he’d kissed his way up her body, she’d managed to control her breathing somewhat, but the burn that had started the second Cash opened the door hadn’t been quenched.
There was no place she’d rather be, no man she’d rather be with right now. She didn’t see the point in pretending anymore, the way she had for the past two weeks when she’d jumped every time her phone rang. No, this time, she was jumping in and letting the momentum take her along for the ride.
Cash had been watching her carefully as he got off his knees and steadied her with his hands on her hips until she was able to put her arms around him. She ran her fingers through his hair, streaked lighter by the Hawaiian sun, then touched his jawline, letting the day’s growth scrape her fingertips.
“You’re shaking,” he said roughly, as if he wasn’t used to caring. Then he wrapped his arms around her, and, with a small push, expertly rolled them onto the couch cushions, without breaking their embrace.
She landed half on top of him, used that to her advantage, sucked one of his nipples into a pebble. Her hand traced a path to that strong, male part of him that felt like steel and velvet combined, stroked him the way she’d done in her dreams, the way that made him roll his eyes back in his head and loudly call out her name unlike any man ever had.
He then reached into a drawer in the coffee table. Finding a condom, he opened the package with his teeth.
“Always prepared?” she asked.
“That’s my motto.”
She took the condom from him and slid it down over his hard length slowly because she could see it was driving him crazy. Her hand lingered between his legs.
“Put me inside you…need to be inside you now,” he told her, breathless. She loved knowing that she was in control at that moment. And when she spread her legs, she paused for a minute, moved back and forth over him enough to rush him to the edge. Finally, when she couldn’t stand it anymore, she slid him inside her and they both groaned at the same time.
“You’re so wet, so warm…all for me,” he said.
His words gave her the added incentive to push her hips up and down, taking him deep inside her and then she worked into a slow grind against him. Her skin began to tingle, her belly tightened with that familiar sensation and she arched back and cried out his name as she came.
His orgasm followed closely after hers. He moaned her name and she felt his long, deep shudder as she collapsed on top of him. They stayed like that for a while, as she tried to catch her breath, her cheek pressed to his chest.
He shifted under her, moved so he freed himself, and she wondered if this was the point where Cash would voice his regrets. She really, really hoped not because she had none. Especially after this.
“Hey, Rina?”
“Yes?” Her gaze met his. He’d pulled himself so he was half-sitting, while she remained tucked into the back of the couch. And the way he looked at her, his eyes following her body up and down…well, she didn’t think he planned on asking her to leave.
“There’s still one problem.”
She bit her bottom lip nervously, wanted to keep her tone light. “Only one?”
“One for now. I didn’t finish showering,” he said. Before she could respond, he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. He walked up the stairs with her easily, and the thrill that had fluttered in her belly earlier began anew, reached straight from her toes to the friction of her bare skin rubbing his.
He didn’t put her down until he’d started the shower and stepped in. He eased her off his shoulder, but held her tightly still, and she closed her eyes and let the water wash over her.
When she opened her eyes, he was staring at her. “Want me to wash your back?” she asked.
“You owe me more than that for interrupting me in the first place,” he said. “But don’t worry—I’ll let you make it up to me.”
“I’m sure you will,” she murmured, right before she kissed him again. She didn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.
10
CASH HADN’T LET Rina out of the shower until the water began to run cold, and even then he managed to convince her that playing around in the cold water was good experience for someone who wanted to know more about the SEALs. After, he’d wrapped her in a large towel and they finished up on the tiled floor.
Now, he was back in the living room, lounging on the couch, half-satiated, with the other half ready to go again. Rina had pulled on one of his T-shirts. She was so pretty, especially when she was all riled up about something. He was impressed that she’d held it together today after he’d confiscated the tape and she’d continued on with her work. Work she was excellent at. It took a lot to move him, but he could also tell when someone was doing a job they loved.Before she’d arrived, he’d spent the better part of the evening watching the confiscated tape, looking for what made Rina such an effective interviewer, because he’d given out more intel in that brief span of time than he’d ever thought possible.
Because you’ve fallen for her. He’d known it on some level, that night he’d paced the floor in Hawaii, not wanting her to think badly of him. That was the only plausible excuse, since he’d never deliberately put himself in this position with Mac—his mentor—if it didn’t mean something.
Stupidest thing he’d ever done, but then, why did it feel so right?
“So,” she began, as though he wasn’t completely naked in front of her. Like they’d crossed some mysterious line back into the realm of business professionals. “I thought today’s filming went well.”
She might be the only one, since the rest of the team alternated between wanting to strangle him and Rina, although they had no problem with Stella. Even after she told them she didn’t believe in war and weapons, and had offered to cleanse Justin’s aura so he could find his way back to his true love.
“I don’t know how they’ll make it through two weeks of this. Or how you will. Unless, of course, this visit is meant as some kind of insurance policy. Although I’m not the type who gives out special favors.” He motioned between their bodies and watched the slight blush appear on her cheeks.
He wasn’t sure if it was embarrassment or anger, and when she spoke, he realized it was a combination of the two. “I’m not sleeping with you to get special favors. I’m not asking for any special favors. When we’re in front of the camera and on base, it’s strictly a professional relationship.”
“Relationship?”
“You know what I mean. I said I’d changed my mind about wanting more than one night, but whatever this is, happening between us, is separate from the video and strictly for fun, just like you said. I’m not interested in any kind of long-term romance with you.”
“Well, that’s good. Very good,” he said. And he wondered why the hell it didn’t feel as good as it should have because this beautiful woman was offering him no-strings sex, and he already knew just how hot they were together. “But I’ve told you, this is the last time. It won’t happen again,” he said, and he meant it.
RINA DIDN’T BOTHER to take Cash’s proclamation seriously, because the way he looked at her told her it was going to happen again. And again.
“You said that two hours ago,” she pointed out, and he sighed and stared at the ceiling.“I can get into so much trouble for this.”
“I don’t want you to get into trouble,” she said, and moved to sit next to him on the couch.
“Then what do you want?”
“You,” she said, and he snorted. “Why don’t you b
elieve me? You act like no one’s ever told you that before.”
“They have.”
“So, what’s the problem?”
“I never believed them,” he said simply.
She didn’t want to dwell on that because she didn’t want to know about the other women Cash had been with. For now, she wanted to pretend that she was the only one. “And you don’t believe me, either.”
“Nothing personal,” he said. “I just don’t have any reason to trust you.”
“Because I wore a wire today?” she asked.
“People say a lot of things they don’t always mean. So I’ve always believed in actions.” He paused. “The wire—that was business. Getting your job done. I’ve been there. I was pissed, but I’m talking about trust on a more personal level.”
“I know I should be offended by that, but I’m going to move past it for a second. I don’t have any reason to trust you, but I do.”
“Why?”
“You haven’t given me any reason not to trust you.”
“I never told you what I do for a living,” he reminded her.
“I never pushed that. Not really. And you didn’t exactly lie—you just never answered.”
“Lie of omission. Don’t you know you shouldn’t trust people, especially right off the bat?”
She sighed. He sounded a lot like her Uncle Mac. It had to be a military thing. “I haven’t gone through the Navy SEAL school of paranoia. Has anyone ever told you that you’re impossible?”
“Yes. But you’re still here,” he said, smiling and relaxing.
She wondered if he would put some clothes on at any point that night, and hoped he decided against it because, as distracting as it was, there was also something extremely daring about it. She enjoyed watching the way his muscles rippled under his skin—liked viewing the strength apparent in his body, even when he wasn’t moving.
“I’m here for a while yet. And then I have to go and get some sleep. I have got a long day tomorrow.” She stood and stretched, then impulsively grabbed the hat off the side table, the kind she’d seen some of the SEALs wearing that morning. Brimmed, jungle-camouflaged, with a strap that hung under her chin, it was a perfect match with the cammy shirt she’d grabbed from the laundry basket next to the couch.
Risking It All Page 10
