Rogue (Phoenix Rising)

by Brynley Blake

  Chapter Seven

  Noah

  “Perfect,” I say, coming back over to the wheel. “Well done.”

  McKenzie’s eyes are shining. “That was fun.”

  “You haven’t seen anything yet.” I can’t help but grin. I love sailing. Always have. Seeing the excitement I always feel reflected in her eyes is heady. Or maybe it’s just those bluer-than-blue eyes that make me feel like a fucking superhero.

  “Now what?”

  “Play your cards right, and I’ll teach you to sail. But there’s not much to do for a while except enjoy the ride. You can go below and change into your swimsuit if you want. Lie out on the deck, soak in some sun. Relax. I’ll keep an eye out for other boats and make sure we stay on course.”

  I show her where the cabin is, and she disappears down the steps, emerging fifteen minutes later wearing a tiny black bikini that reveals luscious curves worthy of a centerfold. I’m starting to think this was a mistake. Twenty-four-hour days in the Iraqi desert are going to look like a picnic compared to the torture of spending the next ten days in close proximity with McKenzie wearing next to nothing and me not being able to do a damned thing about it. I may have to sleep on the deck to keep away from that intoxicating skin of hers. If she were anyone else, I’d have already fucked her into next week and back again.

  “You have a nice boat.”

  “Thanks.” I nod toward the back of the boat where there’s a full-size cushioned chaise lounge. “Make yourself comfortable.”

  She thanks me, makes her way to the chaise, and stretches out on her back, closing her eyes against the sun. I stay where I am, taking advantage of the opportunity to study her unobserved. Uptight or not, the woman is sexy as hell. Her breasts are full and firm, her stomach flat, her skin the color of pale caramel and smooth as silk. I find myself imagining tracing the curve of her neck with my tongue as I cup her sex in my hand, my fingers buried in her wet heat as she arches up…

  Godfuckingdammit.

  I stuff the charts I’d been looking at into the cabinet beneath the wheel and slam the door closed harder than I intended. I’ve got to get my head out of my ass. McKenzie sits up abruptly, her eyes flying to mine. When she sees that everything’s okay, she relaxes a bit, but keeps her eyes on me. “Do you have to steer the whole time?” she asks curiously.

  “No.” I cross the deck to where she’s lying and sit down next to her on the edge of the boat, my feet dangling over the edge.

  We sit in companionable silence, the waves lapping against the hull as the wind carries us. After a while, she props herself up on one elbow and says, “Thank you for taking me. It means a lot. It’s important to me to do this for my brother.”

  “What happened to him?”

  “As I told you, he was a Navy SEAL.” She flashes a sidelong glance at me but I keep my face impassive, betraying nothing. She takes a deep breath. “He was shot in Pakistan on a mission. From what I’ve been told, there was an American hostage in Afghanistan who was in immediate danger. If he were to be taken across the border into Pakistan, it was doubtful he’d be seen again. Liam’s team was dropped by helicopter in a remote mountain area where intelligence said the hostage, an aid worker named Steven Morris, was being held. But the sound of the helicopters tipped off his captors, and they moved Dr. Morris before the SEALs could get to him.

  “Liam’s team tracked them into Pakistan. They weren’t authorized to leave Afghanistan, but Liam couldn’t leave the doctor behind to be killed, so in the middle of the night, under his command, his team infiltrated the house where Dr. Morris was being held. Apparently, the SEALs were fired on, and they fired back. Liam was shot and killed.”

  The pain in her eyes arouses every protective instinct I have, and it’s all I can do not to wrap her in my arms and tell her everything’s going to be okay. But it’s clearly not. Her brother is dead, and he’s left a hell of a mess behind that has put her smack in the middle of a shitload of trouble.

  I offer her the only consolation I can. “He died a hero.”

  “Yes,” she says, but I know it’s a cold comfort.

  “Did they save the doctor?”

  She nods. “They did. He returned to California, where the foundation he worked for is based. I don’t know a lot more. The Navy says it didn’t happen. They say no troops were in Pakistan. The official story is that Liam was shot during the initial rescue attempt in Afghanistan. And no one’s saying why an elite special forces team was sent in to rescue an aid worker in the first place. Not to imply that his life wasn’t valuable, but aid workers don’t typically command that sort of rescue.”

  “How do you know that’s what really happened?”

  “His best friend told me. He wanted me to know what kind of man Liam was.” Her voice wavers and she looks away, but not before I see the tears well up in her eyes. “But I already knew.”

  “I’m sure that was a consolation for your mom.”

  “My mom is dead,” she says quietly. “She was diagnosed with colon cancer when I was sixteen. There was nothing they could do. She died two years later.”

  Fuck.

  “So it’s just you and your dad? Do you have any other siblings?”

  “My dad died of a heart attack a year after my mom died. It was just me and Liam.”

  Damn. No wonder she’s so fucking anxious. Most people would be curled up in a ball at the nearest psych hospital after what she’s been through. Instead, she’s jumping off waterfalls and sailing around the Philippines. I misjudged her. She’s not timid at all. She’s a fucking warrior.

  “And now it’s just you.”

  “Well, not really,” she says with a small smile. “I have Gemma and Charlotte. You met them at the club. In Vegas.”

  I remember the two women she’d been with. A pretty, feisty-looking girl with auburn hair and a willowy dark-haired beauty. “Your friends.”

  “Yes. But they’re more than friends. They’re family. I don’t know what I would have done without them. And I also have my grandma.” She sits up, and I can see her creamy shoulders are turning pink.

  “You’re burning. You have any sunscreen?”

  “Sunscreen. Right.” I hadn’t seen her come up from the hatch with anything, but she frowns as she looks around the deck. “Um. I forgot to pack sunscreen,” she admits sheepishly.

  “Don’t worry. This is a full-service boat.” I get up and grab the bottle I brought. “I won’t even charge you extra for it.”

  “Gee, thanks.” She laughs softly, and my cock responds by standing at attention.

  She reaches for the bottle, but I ignore her outstretched hand. I have to feel her skin just one more time. “It’s your back and shoulders that are burning. I’ll do it.”

  “Okay.” The breathless sound sets my imagination racing.

  “Lie down.”

  She settles herself face down on the cushion. I sit down on the edge next to her, taking a moment to appreciate the sight of her lean body stretched out next to me before I gather her long hair in my hand and move it aside. The gesture is oddly intimate. I squirt some of the sun-warmed lotion into my hands and massage it onto her back. She stretches deliciously like a kitten being petted, and I wonder how long it’s been since a man has touched her. Stroked her. Taken her. Reminded her she’s a woman.

  I take my time, kneading her shoulders and back as I rub the lotion in, enjoying the exquisite feel of her skin as much as the way she begins to relax under my hands. Having this unlimited access to McKenzie is heady. The sexual awareness crackles between us with even more intensity now, although how the hell that’s possible is fucking beyond me. All I have to do is touch her and my cock turns into a rock. Hell, she walks into the room and I have a woody.

  “You know, you remind me of my brother somehow,” she murmurs. “I can’t quite put my finger on it.”

  “I wish you reminded me of my sister,” I growl.

  That makes her smile, and I realize I could get drunk on McKenzie Prescott’s s
mile.

  “Really?” She’s turned away and her voice is slightly muffled. “You could have fooled me. I thought there was something wrong with me after we went back to your room and you weren’t interested anymore.”

  “Oh, I was plenty interested.”

  I move to her lower back, my fingers slipping under the waist of her bikini bottom to rub lotion over the gentle rise of her ass, and she inhales sharply.

  “Then why did you stop?”

  “The phone rang. I realized it was three a.m., we were drunk on alcohol and each other, and I didn’t want to do anything you’d regret in the morning.”

  “I wouldn’t have regretted it.” Then, “But that’s sweet. You may look all tough and intimidating, but you’re really a closet nice guy.”

  My laugh sounds more like a bark. She has no idea how wrong she is. “Make no mistake, McKenzie. I’m not a nice guy. Far from it. You wouldn’t say that if you knew the things I wanted to do to you that night.” Or if she knew what I really want from her.

  She wriggles slightly, her pelvis pressing into the cushion. Her smooth skin is hot under my hands. God, but I want her. I want to feel her grinding into me. I want to hold her hips as I pull her down on my cock, sheathing myself in her wet heat as I watch her eyes darken with need. But she’s off-limits. I shouldn’t be touching her at all.

  “Tell me.” It’s a sultry request.

  Why not? The sooner she knows just how debased my thoughts are, the better. It will no doubt shock the shit out of a good girl like her. Maybe if I tell her exactly what I want to do to her and rid her of the notion that I’m a nice guy, she’ll stop seducing me with those big blue eyes and that body that won’t quit, and I can spend the rest of the trip sailing instead of wondering what she would feel like under me, wanting to know if she comes loudly or with soft little whimpers. “All right, sweetheart. Just remember, you asked.”

  A small smile plays across her lips. “I’ll take my chances.”

  I speak softly as I continue massaging the lotion into her sun-warmed skin. “I’d begin with a kiss. The kind that lets you know exactly how I intend to fuck you.” I slip my hand farther into her swimsuit bottom to caress her ass and then squeeze. There’s another quick little inhalation. I slide my hand out and take my time, squirting more lotion into my hands before moving to the top of her thighs.

  “I’d undress you. Slowly and deliberately, so you were completely naked. Exposed to me.”

  With my thumbs, I rub the sunscreen into the juncture where her thighs meet her delectable little ass, making small circles as I move closer and closer to her sex. I firmly press into the soft flesh just shy of her slit, then skim over it lightly before moving back to massage lotion into her inner thighs. She wiggles enticingly.

  “Then I’d make my way slowly down your body, kissing and tasting every inch of your skin. I might occasionally take a little bite.”

  I move down the length of her legs, kneading with firm strokes. I figured out a long time ago that for a woman, a massage can be almost as erotic as sex, and a powerful form of foreplay, and I’d made it my business to learn how to do it well. She sighs as I press into the instep of her delicate feet. Even her arches are sexy.

  “Roll over.”

  She wordlessly turns onto her back and closes her eyes.

  “Should I go on?”

  “Yes.” The word is barely a whisper.

  I pause for a moment, drinking in the sight of her before working some more of the lotion across her upper chest and onto her shoulders. “I’d lay you down in front of me. Like you are now.”

  Her hips twitch slightly.

  With firm hands, I rub lotion into her arms, moving them as I speak. “I’d lift your arms over your head, just like this, and then I’d tie them there so you were helpless, unable to stop me from anything I wanted to do.”

  I grip her wrists in one of my hands, holding her hands above her head as I dribble sunscreen straight from the bottle onto her skin, just above her belly button. She flinches slightly at the contact. Still holding her wrists, I smooth the lotion over her belly.

  “I’d add a blindfold,” I continue conversationally, noticing the way her skin is flushing from the effect of my words. “So every assault to your senses would be a surprise. All you’d know in the darkness is my heat, my touch, my smell.” My hand slides under the string of her bikini top between her breasts and she arches up slightly. “I’d take my time, enjoying every inch of you. With my hands, my fingers, my lips, my teeth, my tongue. Nothing would be safe from my exploration. Your mouth, your nipples…your clit. They’d all be mine for the taking.”

  She moans softly.

  “I’d tell you to open your legs…wide…and instruct you to keep them open for me while I inspected what was mine. And if your legs started to close, I’d lightly slap your pussy to remind you to keep them open.”

  Her thighs slam together. I have never wanted a woman like I want her. With lotion-slick hands, I gently part her legs again, rubbing the cream into her inner thighs. “Then I’d spread you wide and hold you open as I tasted you, licking that sweet pussy of yours until your excitement flowed onto my tongue. I’d slide my fingers into you and finger fuck you while I teased your clit with my tongue until you came with big shuddering sobs, and when you finally came down from the high of the most intense orgasm of your life and begged me to stop, I’d just do it some more. I’d force a few more orgasms out of you until your body was limp and your voice was hoarse from screaming my name. Then I’d replace my fingers with my hard cock, sliding it into you until I filled you completely. I’d fuck you, hard, so you’d know you were mine, until we both came together.”

  I slowly stroke over the column of her neck, feeling her throat move as she swallows hard.

  “Umm…God, that’s…really kinky,” she finally says, her voice strangled.

  I chuckle darkly. “Yes, sweetheart. It certainly is. And that’s just the beginning. The preface, if you will, for the darker and more depraved things I’d want to do to you. I like to be in control, in every situation,” I add deliberately, making sure she doesn’t mistake my meaning. “So now you know why you should stay away from me.”

  Her body is slick now, glowing with the sheen of sunscreen. I snap the top of the bottle closed, set it down on the deck next to her, and release her wrists. “If you burn now, it’s not going to be my fault.”

  She opens her eyes and locks her gaze with mine. She smells delicious. Like coconut oil and secrets and sex. It’s a fucking heady combination.

  “Show me the kiss,” she says softly.

  One taste. I tell myself that’s all. One kiss to satisfy the off-the-charts lust that’s been building between us since I first touched her that night in Vegas. Just one more kiss to get her out of my system.

  With one arm bracing my torso, I bend over her, cupping her cheek in my other hand as I press my lips gently to hers. They’re soft, softer than I remember, and I kiss her slowly, savoring the feel of her lips against mine. I dip my tongue languidly into the wet heat of her mouth, licking her leisurely. My God, she’s sweet. I pull back, determined to stop.

  But she threads her fingers in my hair, dragging me closer. With a growl, I take her mouth, biting her full bottom lip and thrusting my tongue greedily, desperate to possess her, but somehow I feel like the one possessed. I can’t get enough of this woman. She’s intoxicating. I’ve wanted women before. I’ve taken what I wanted, when I wanted. But McKenzie’s different. I want more than her body. I want to crawl into her mind and explore her thoughts, uncover her secrets, exploit her fantasies; I want to peel away the layers and know everything about her.

  She sucks on my tongue erotically as she arches into me, and suddenly I want nothing more than to make her shatter, to watch her come undone beneath my hand. With one hand on her oil-slicked belly, I stroke over her taut stomach, inching down. I slide my hand under the waistband of her bikini bottom, surprised and even more turned on when I encounter smoo
th, bare lips and wet heat. Very wet. How about that? She whimpers and pushes up into my hand.

  That’s all the invitation I need, and I sink a finger into her wet channel, thrusting several times before pulling out to rub the juices over her hard little clit. She moans and I kiss her again, devouring her cries as I alternate between plunging my finger into her and pulling it out to toy with her clit until she’s writhing on the cushion beneath me.

  She arches her back, her pelvis grinding into the heel of my hand, and I give her more, adding a second finger.

  “Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod.” She’s uttering the words like a mantra as she clutches at me. With my thumb on her clit, I press lightly, moving in the tiniest of circles as I continue to fuck her with my fingers. I need her orgasm, her surrender, like I need air. She gives it to me, coming with a keening cry, her body wracked with great shudders, and I’m totally fucked. I want to take her with more than my hand; I want to fill her with my cock, with my seed. She was made for me, and on some primordial level that defies logic, I want to claim what’s mine.

  She’s practically sobbing as the waves of pleasure finally subside, and I stretch out next to her, gathering her into my arms. She snuggles into me, her body molding itself to mine. My stiff cock throbs against her leg through my swim trunks.

  “I know what it is about you that reminds me of Liam,” she murmurs against my chest. “You make me feel safe.”

  Her words douse my lust like a bucket of cold water. What the hell was I thinking?

  I carefully extricate myself from her. “I’m not your brother. And you’re far from safe with me. You wanted to know what you’d get with me, and now you do. Now you know why you should stay away from me.” I get to my feet, eager to leave. “I should make sure we’re on course.”

  I turn and escape to the head, trying to ignore the hurt and confusion in her eyes.

  Chapter Eight

  McKenzie