Spliced

by Robin Leigh Miller

  He heard her stand, sensed the air shift slightly in the room as she walked up behind him. “We both lost him, Ridge,” she whispered. “I’m not naïve. I’ve always known it was a possibility.”

  Tears stung at his eyes so he closed them tightly, trying to keep them at bay. “No, it wasn’t a possibility,” he growled. “Not when we were watching each other’s backs, damn it. This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

  “Ridge, don’t do this to yourself.”

  Avery laid her hand on his back. He couldn’t bear her gentle touch. The anger, hurt and guilt were too much. She wasn’t going to scream at him like he’d expected or hoped. She wanted to console him and, damn it, he didn’t want consoling—he wanted her anger.

  Swinging around, he looked into her raw eyes. “Don’t you get it, Avery? We were supposed to keep each other alive. This should not have happened. I should not have let it happen,” he snapped. The last bit of his control was unraveling and he was helpless to stop it now.

  Jerking her chin high, she pinned him with her glare. “You kept him alive. You gave him a chance.”

  Frustrated that she couldn’t understand what he was trying to tell her, Ridge paced away and slammed his fists onto the dresser. “Stop it, Avery. I didn’t do anything. The medic and the doctors gave him his chance. I didn’t do anything. I couldn’t do anything except get three people killed.”

  Avery’s brow crinkled. “Three?”

  “Bender got torn in half and died in my arms. Sehr was scattered all over the fucking road and Cale…” He couldn’t finish. The words just wouldn’t move past his closed throat.

  “I know you want me to be angry with you, Ridge,” she snapped at him. “And right now I am, but not for the reasons you think.”

  “Well, you should be,” he shot back at her. “You should be scratching my eyes out, cutting me to pieces for getting your brother killed. I don’t know what they told you but they apparently didn’t give you all the information.”

  Avery crossed her arms under her breasts and cocked her hip to the side. Ridge silently groaned. Here he was trying to convince her she should despise him and he was getting turned on by her small show of anger.

  “Well, excuse me for believing you’re only human and incapable of plucking mortars out of the sky with your bare hands before they explode. I had no idea the great Ridge Gates could remove an entire village from harm with just the slightest swipe of his hand, and I really had no idea you were responsible for the actions of terrorists. Get over yourself, Ridge,” she shouted.

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he snarled, turning away from her. “You weren’t there. I was.” This really wasn’t going the way he’d expected. He needed to convince her to hate him.

  “You want me to blame you for something so bad,” Avery ground out between her teeth. Dropping her arms and fisting her hands, she stalked toward him. “How about I blame you for thinking so little of me that you made me go there tonight by myself,” she snapped, poking his shoulder with her finger. “Or maybe for making me feel like Cale’s death is my burden to carry alone.” She poked him again with enough force to make him step back.

  He knew she wasn’t aware of it but tears were streaming down her cheeks and each one was burning a hole inside him. He’d never seen her angry like this before and he had no idea she was so strong.

  “I’m his sister,” she choked out on a sob. “You and he were all I had in this world and it looks like I lost the both of you. You made me stand there tonight all alone while you hid in the fucking shadows. Do I disgust you that much that you couldn’t even bring yourself to stand beside me?”

  She might as well have slapped him. Her words stung like thousands of bee stings. Ridge could do nothing more than blink at her. If she only knew how much he wanted to be there for her.

  “I realize you’d rather wallow in your own self-pity but what about me, Ridge?”

  The tears were gushing now and her anger and pain boiled over and spewed red hot. She was breaking his heart and making him feel like the biggest fuck-off in the world.

  “I. Hurt. Too,” she shouted, poking at him to accentuate each word. “I hurt too.”

  Her last words came out broken and drenched in agony. Ridge grabbed her wrist and pulled her against his body, wrapped her in his arms and held tight. What the hell had he been thinking trying to stay away from her tonight?

  “I was so scared,” she said, pushing away from him.

  Ridge kept his arms clamped around her, refusing to let her go. Eventually the fight drained away and she sagged against him.

  “You were both hurt. I couldn’t talk to either one of you. I’ve never felt so alone in my life.”

  Why hadn’t he thought of this? He’d always seen her as so strong and independent. He hadn’t realized how much she needed her brother. Could he have been a bigger ass?

  “I was so scared I would lose both of you,” she said, lifting her head and looking into his eyes. “If I’d lost you both, I don’t how I’d have survive.”

  “Avery.” Her name was all he could manage. There was a pleading in her eyes that he didn’t understand, but he wanted so badly to do whatever it was she needed.

  She smoothed her palms up his chest. “I’ve drifted through the last few days detached and empty.”

  That he understood, along with the heat that spread throughout his system from her touch. He wanted to groan from her caress, a pleasure he didn’t deserve.

  “I don’t want to feel empty anymore.” Her fingers slipped the top button of his shirt free. “I need to feel alive.” The next two buttons were quickly released.

  “Avery,” he whispered, shaking his head and helpless to stop her. He couldn’t allow this. It wouldn’t be right. He didn’t have anything to offer her.

  “No more talking. No more hurt right now.”

  Ridge sucked in a deep breath as her warm hands pressed against his bare chest and pushed his shirt off his shoulders. He needed to stop this before it got out of hand. She didn’t really want him. She just wanted solace and he was the only one available to give it to her.

  “Stop thinking,” she told him softly as she unlatched his belt.

  This was what he’d dreamed of for so many years, what got him through those nights in Afghanistan. Thinking about Avery’s soft body and how mind-blowing it would be having her under him, and she was offering up that dream. Everything he’d ever wanted was right here in front of him and he’d be a bastard for taking it, or a bastard for refusing.

  Avery looked at him. “Pretend I’m someone else if you have to. Just give me this.”

  A single tear trickled from her eye, spilled down her cheek and erased every doubt he had about taking what she offered. Pretend? Dear God. He’d never have to pretend she was someone else.

  Grasping the back of her neck, he let his gaze settle on her plump lips and lowered his head. All those years of wondering what she’d taste like, how sensuous her silky lips would be against his, and he was about to find out.

  “No pretending.” He whispered the promise and then touched her lips with his.

  Just a brush. He didn’t want to scare her, or push her any faster than she was willing to go in her fragile state. With featherlight kisses he touched each corner of her mouth, lingered over her lips and tried to commit her softness to memory. If she changed her mind he wanted her to think she could pull back. God help him, he hoped like hell she didn’t change her mind.

  It was taking everything he had to keep his cool and not plunge his tongue deep inside her mouth and absorb her taste. Already his cock was hard and aching beneath his uniform trousers, throbbing for the woman he’d wanted for so long. Avery nibbled back at his mouth, a sweet, hesitant response that sent chills down his spine. Her breathing grew more rapid by the second and her hands, oh hell, her hands were sliding up and down his bare chest and setting him on fire.

  Taking a chance, Ridge leaned in and kissed her a little harder, lightly draw
ing her top lip between his before quickly releasing the soft flesh. He intended to pull away but to his surprise she followed, nipped at his bottom lip and then parted her lips and touched the slightly stinging spot with the tip of her tongue.

  Fireworks exploded inside his head and body. His grip tightened on the back of her neck and this time he groaned out loud. God, he hoped she wasn’t teasing him because there was no way in hell he could walk away from her now, not with his body raging and thrumming for more.

  Ridge touched his tongue to hers and then retreated, waiting for her response. He didn’t wait a single heartbeat. Avery fused her mouth to his, pushed her tongue between his lips and began a duel that took his breath. In an instant they’d gone from a timid exploration of lips to hot and needy demand. She tasted of rich whiskey that he couldn’t get enough of. Ridge angled his head to deepen the kiss and probed her mouth for every last drop of her essence and the liquor.

  While he licked and drowned in her intoxicating flavor, Avery brushed the pads of her thumbs over his nipples and sent shivers down his spine. His muscles bunched into rock-hard slabs as he reached for control. Avery didn’t want his control. That became obvious when she ended the kiss, looked him straight in the eye with a determination that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

  Her breasts heaved as she panted and licked her swollen lips. He was going to burn alive looking at her. Jesus, she was sexy as hell standing there, her face flushed, her eyes glinting with lust and her body almost vibrating with need. Glancing down he could see her erect nipples stabbing through her blouse and he nearly lost it in his uniform slacks. Closing his eyes, Ridge drew on all his military discipline to keep from tossing her to the floor, ripping away her clothes and burying himself inside her.

  That wasn’t the way he wanted this to go. No, he wanted it all to last. He wanted to bring her to her peak several times before letting go. This was a gift and he needed it all to be perfect.

  Once again, though, Avery took the reins. Her hot little mouth trailed kisses down over his shoulder, across his chest and when she reached his nipple she sucked it hard into her mouth. His head spun, a ragged cry of ecstasy exploded from his throat and he fisted his hands in her hair to hold her there.

  Avery flicked his nipple with her tongue and drew on him again. Bright white light detonated in his eyes and his cock jerked. There had to be a direct line between his nipple and his cock because with every hard suck he throbbed.

  “Avery,” he whimpered, almost sobbed. She was killing him. If he didn’t get inside her soon he’d blast off like a rocket.

  Unrelenting, Avery moved to his other nipple and continued to torture him at the same time unfastening his slacks and lowering his zipper. He could feel her tugging down his boxers and was helpless to stop her. Once she had his cock free from its painful confines, she released his nipple, lowered to her knees and stared at his painful rod. Her hot breath swept across his swollen head.

  Before she could continue with her torture he reached down and lifted her chin to look in her eyes. “I need to touch you, Avery. I need to see you.” God, he sounded so pathetic but he didn’t care.

  Avery’s eyes grew dark and hungry. Slowly she stood, pulled her blouse from her skirt and began to unbutton it. She was taking her time, teasing him, and God love her for it. Ridge grasped his cock at the base and stroked himself as she did away with the last button and opened her blouse.

  She slipped the material off her shoulders and let it fall to the floor before reaching behind her back and unbuttoning her skirt. The soft whoosh of the zipper made Ridge shiver with anticipation. A slight wiggle of her hips and the skirt pooled at her feet.

  The air in his lungs seized. There she stood in front of him in nothing but a black lacy bra and little black panties. A dream—a sexy, lusty angel was what she looked like. Never in his wildest imagination did he believe one woman could be so beautiful.

  “You’re exquisite,” Ridge said in a breathy voice.

  Avery shook her head and then gazed down at his erect penis. “You’re the exquisite one.”

  Her words set him aback. He’d never been told such a thing by a woman and frankly didn’t understand it. As he stared at her, a bit stunned, Avery stepped forward, placed her hands on his chest, curled her fingers and dragged her sharp little nails over his flesh as she lowered to the floor.

  The slight stinging pain drove his heart into overdrive and set his blood on fire. Before he could even gasp she flicked her tongue over his weeping slit, opened her mouth and wrapped her lips around his engorged head.

  “Fuck,” Ridge growled, fisting his hands in her hair. “You’re going to kill me, Avery.”

  She groaned, sucked hard and then drove him to the back of her throat and held him there. Every muscle, every fiber in his body tightened until he thought they’d snap. His balls drew up against his body and ached with the need to release. He’d never been brought to such an intense peak so quickly in his life.

  Her mouth worked around his shaft, milking him. Her tongue swirled and danced over his flesh, driving him insane. The incredible pleasure had him shaking his head, gritting his teeth and crying out.

  Very slowly Avery drew back, sucking and licking until he pulled all the way out. Her hot, wet mouth was a haven he’d never experienced before and likely never would again. Clearly Avery knew how to pleasure a man, but he didn’t want to think about how she’d got that experience. All he wanted was to be buried back inside her throat.

  “Suck me, honey,” he ground out between his teeth.

  Avery gripped his cock, lifted it and licked up his shaft like a lollipop. When she reached the thick ridge of his head she ran her tongue under it, caressing his nerve endings and taking him to new heights. His balls tightened so close to his body Ridge wasn’t sure they’d ever drop back down and who the hell cared if they didn’t?

  Fighting to draw breath into his lungs, he nudged his cock against her lips. He swore there wasn’t anything better than Avery’s mouth. She opened, took him in and gently sucked as she cupped his balls.

  “Oh God,” he groaned. Her hands were just as magical as her mouth. She worked his tight sac, rolling it in her palm and somehow relaxing him enough to let them drop slightly. All the while she sucked, licked and worshiped his cock.

  Ridge became aware of veins popping in his brain and boiling blood spreading through his skull. He’d end up a vegetable at this rate and, damn, what a way to go. If he’d known she was this talented, he might have reconsidered staying away from her.

  Avery took him deep into her mouth again, slowly this time, working her tongue, sucking with extreme pressure and with every inch she took he hardened further.

  “Avery, honey, you have to stop.” Ridge didn’t recognize his own gruff, gravely, pleading voice. “You’re so fucking good.”

  She groaned, the sound vibrating up his shaft and driving him further over the edge. “So hot,” he gasped.

  Ending his torture, she began rising, running her hot little tongue up his abdomen and letting his cock drag across her silky skin. Ridge kept his hands buried in her hair, afraid if he let go he’d grip her tender flesh and mark her. In all the years he’d been sexually active he’d never been so out of control. Avery Easton released a wild animal inside him and he didn’t know if he could contain it.

  She reached up, pried his hand from her hair and stepped back. When their gazes met her hunger floored him. When had he ever been looked at with such ferocity? Never, and probably never would again.

  Avery reached behind her back, unhooked her bra and slid the straps down her arms. When the flimsy material dropped away Ridge had the urge to fall to his knees and praise the good lord for creating her. Hard, pebbled, pink nipples pointed at him atop full round breasts that he wanted—needed—to hold in his hands before he could breathe again.

  In full control now, Avery stepped toward him, lifted his hands and placed them on her breasts. Ridge let their weight rest in his palms
and lightly squeezed as he brushed his thumbs across her nipples. Avery sighed, a little moan, and pressed herself further into his hands.

  “Harder,” she pleaded.

  He knew what she needed and was more than happy to give it to her. Leaning down he wrapped his tongue around one stiff nipple, flicked it and then sucked it hard inside his mouth before rolling the little pebble on his tongue. Avery tossed her head back, cried out and arched her back, offering him more.

  “Yes,” she whispered. “Harder.”

  Ridge obliged, tormenting the little nub, sucking, rolling and nipping with his teeth. Her nails dug into his scalp and her hips bucked. Fisting his hair she pulled him away, grabbed him by the hand and led him to the bed. In a sexy little wiggle she slipped her panties from her hips, let them drop down her legs and kicked them away.

  Her scent of arousal filled the room, making Ridge’s mouth water. Quicker than he thought he could move, Ridge shed his pants and boxers. Avery took his hand, placed it on her rounded tummy and then slid it down to her bare mound.

  “Please.”

  Why she thought she had to ask he wasn’t sure but he wouldn’t make her ask again. Sliding his hand down, he cupped her smooth mound and moaned as she ground against his palm.

  “Is this what you want, honey?” he asked, slipping a finger between her flushed lips. Hot, wet moisture coated his finger. “Oh God, Avery,” he moaned, burying his face in her neck. “So wet and hot.” Her swollen clit pulsed against his palm. “I need to taste you.”

  “Yes,” she gasped, shifting her hips and then sitting on the edge of the bed.

  Ridge lowered gingerly to his knees, ignoring the pain in his right leg. Avery scooted her ass to the very edge and opened wide for him. Her core glistened with sweet arousal, calling to him.

  “I swear, Avery, I’ve never seen anyone so beautiful in my life.”

  “Please, Ridge,” she whispered, looking away with a hint of embarrassment in her eyes.

  Placing his trembling hands on her thighs, he lowered his head, inhaled and moaned a second before giving her one slow, long lick from her weeping opening to her engorged clit. Her exotic, sweet taste exploded on his tongue and he instantly became addicted.