by Becky McGraw
“My sport bike is at home in my garage, so yes, I have my endorsement and I’ve driven a bike. Just not in the last five years or so, because of work.”
Keegan stared at her for a moment, trying to get his mind together enough to make a decision, and he finally decided he really wasn’t in any shape to operate that motorcycle right now. With a sigh, he shoved his hand into his pocket and his stomach rolled when he dropped his keys into her hand.
Please don’t kill us, he prayed. You only live once, MacDonald. There were worse ways to die than with his arms wrapped around a badass woman who seemed as custom-made for him as his badass bike. Jules turned and her perfect ass, which was framed by studded leather chaps, grabbed his eyes and didn’t let go until they were standing beside the motorcycle.
She put on a helmet, then turned to hand him his. His eyes locked on the pink glitter words marking her as Bob’s Bitch on the front. A laugh rumbled up from deep inside him and escaped. In addition to the Louise’s leathers, she must’ve borrowed her helmet, too. But she was never wearing that helmet again after tonight.
Because he was buying her a helmet that said Keegan’s Bitch.
Too much, too fast, bud. You’ve known her less than two weeks. Then why did it feel like he’d been waiting for her a lifetime?
“Are you going to take your helmet or stand there staring at me all night?” she asked, and he dragged his eyes to hers.
“What if I choose staring?” he asked with a grin, as his eyes dropped to her perfect breasts before taking a slow ride down her S curves to the toes of her boots.
“Then you won’t get to sleep in my bed tonight,” she replied, and his eyes flew up to hers. “I have a lot of adrenaline to burn off, and you’re the man who’s going to help me get rid of it.”
Concussion? What concussion? Oh. Hell. Yes. He. Was. He’d have to be dead not to take that offer, and then he’d still try.
She shoved the helmet into his gut then turned to throw her leg over the bike. When she cranked it, Keegan smiled as he put on his helmet. He straddled the bike behind her and had no problem wrapping his arms around her waist.
He knew he looked like a fool riding behind her, but he also knew there were plenty of men who would do the same for this privilege. He knew of three men at least, who he would be calling when they got to her house.
Keegan had a feeling he was going to have to fight at least two of them on this cruise, once they met her. The third would have been in the mix too, if he wasn’t smarting from his divorce. But they could all get behind him, and his uncle could too, because Jules Lawson was his bitch.
Thirty minutes into their ride, Keegan finally relaxed and enjoyed the novelty of letting someone else have control. The fresh air cleansed the nasty bar smell from his senses and replaced it with her scent as the rushing wind forced it into his nostrils where his nose was buried near her neck.
If he didn’t think she’d wreck, he’d lick the smooth, hot skin, explore her body with his hands since they were free. Instead, he bided his time as his cock got harder and harder, the deeper it settled into the crevice of her ass checks.
Closing his eyes, he pictured his warrior princess in those leather chaps without the jeans underneath. That made his problem worse, but it hurt so good. He was so wrapped up in his fantasies, he didn’t realize they’d reached their destination until she stopped the bike in front of a neat little gingerbread farmhouse, which was framed by a copse of trees on a wide lot.
She killed the engine but it still rang in his ears as he got off of the motorcycle and removed his helmet and every ounce of tension left him as he studied the brightly lit wide front porch, which was home to a swing at one end and two rocking chairs at the other.
The house looked like it belonged in a Norman Rockwell painting, or on a postcard, but it was so much in contrast to the woman who lived here, he almost laughed.
“So this is home?” he asked as he placed his helmet on the seat after she got off the bike.
“It was my grandmother’s house, but yeah, it’s home,” she replied, as she set her helmet beside his on the seat.
But now it was hers because her grandmother was dead too. Compassion slammed into his gut like a fist as he stared down into her glassy eyes. This house represented even more grief that Jules Lawson had lived through in her nearly thirty years on this earth. If it was true that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, she must be made of steel by now.
She grabbed his hand and dragged him toward the porch where she stopped to pick up a rock beneath a bush. He watched while she twisted it and it opened to reveal a key and removed it before she dropped the gray plastic rock back where she found it. He followed her up onto the porch, waited while she opened the door, then pushed her inside and shut it behind him.
Jules took a step, but he grabbed her arm and spun her toward the door.
“About that adrenaline…” he whispered as he pushed her against the wall, tipped her chin, and up covered her mouth with his.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Jules’ moan sent fire through him as Keegan held her face to kiss her deeper. Her hands pulled at his jacket and without breaking the kiss, he managed to shed it. Jules let her jacket drop to the floor at her feet, then her hands immediately went to the button on his jeans as her hot tongue wrapped around his. She lowered his zipper, turned him to the wall and shoved him back into it to kiss him again.
This woman was his every fantasy come to life as she dragged her mouth from his to push his jeans and underwear down over his hips. Every muscle in his body seized when she dropped to her knees in front of him and took his cock in her hand.
He held his breath as she leaned in and her hot, quick breaths scorched the head of his erection. The wet heat of her mouth touched down on his skin and his knees buckled.
“Oh, God,” he groaned, his toes curling in his boots. Her fist tightened around him and she looked up at him with those gorgeous cat eyes and a sexy, snarky smile.
“Sorry, your boss isn’t here to save you, MacDonald,” she said with a laugh. “You’re at my mercy tonight.”
A tremor rocked him as his eyes fixed on her full, red lips. He didn’t want to be saved—he wanted that mouth to take him to his knees and finish him. And it almost did when she focused on her task, pursed her lips then lowered her head.
He hissed as red hot lightning sizzled through him when the wet heat of her mouth touched the sensitive tip of his engorged cock. She pursed her lips and slowly forced the mushroom-shaped head through the tight ring of her pursed lips and he groaned as she took her slow, sweet time squeezing him into her mouth.
A ragged sigh escaped him when he was finally inside the hot cavern, but his relief was short lived. She curled her tongue around him, sucked him harder as she pumped her hand and took more of him into her mouth. Keegan grabbed the sides of her head and roared as he rammed his head back into the wall and light flashed behind his eyelids.
Pain exploded inside his skull to mix with unbelievable pleasure when she sucked him deeper and her tongue dragged the underside of his length. Two more hard sucks and he was throbbing at the back of her fucking throat. Barely breathing, he fought to stop the orgasm that was so close he could taste it.
She moaned deep in her throat, the vibrations traveled through his balls and they tightened. The pressure of her lips lessened, but her teeth raked his skin as she eased him back out of her mouth. It was more than Keegan could bear. With a growl, he pushed her mouth away just as cum rushed up his cock in a hot wave. He fisted himself to finish it and endorphins made him dizzy as tension poured out of him, his knees collapsed and he melted down the wall like candle wax into a puddle on the floor.
Stunned, he sat there for a moment dragging in breaths then looked up at Jules, who wiped her mouth. He’d had many, many blow jobs in his life, but never one like that. This woman’s mouth should be classified as a lethal weapon, because he felt wrecked inside.
“Were you trying to kill me?�
� he croaked, feeling like she’d stolen his bones.
“Why would I want to do that when it’s my turn?” she volleyed, her talented, red-lipstick smeared lips curving into a smile that burned through him. He looked down and saw matching streaks on his cock.
“Wrong—it’s my turn, so you better put on your seat belt,” Keegan snarled, pushing up to his feet, his heart still bouncing off his ribs. He was about to give as good as he’d received and then some. Jules Lawson would be calling him God by the time he finished.
“Where’s the bedroom?” he growled, grabbing her hand.
“The sofa is closer,” she replied in a hot whisper, her pupils dilated and her nostrils flared.
***
Jules pried her eyes open and rubbed her face against the hot, smooth skin under her cheek. The delicious masculine morning smell woke her body up better than coffee ever could. She rubbed her leg against the lightly furred calf of a man she was quickly becoming addicted to.
He moaned and his tight muscles quivered under her palm as she skimmed her hand down his body to dive under the sheet. She closed her fingers around his thick erection, ran her thumb over the head and his entire body tensed.
“You’re asking for trouble, Natasha,” Keegan grumbled in a sleepy sexy morning voice.
She kissed his chest as she stroked him. “If you haven’t figured it out by now, Boris, I like trouble. Especially when it comes packaged in a body like yours.”
A tremor racked him as he shoved his hand under the sheet to cover hers. He flattened his palm to use her hand to stroke himself twice, then shuddered. “I’d definitely take you up on that, but we have too much to do this morning, baby. I have calls to make.”
“Who are you calling?” she mumbled against his skin.
“My buddies. They’re trying to get leave so they can go with us,” he replied.
“SEAL buddies?” Jules asked, kind of disappointed she’d have to share Keegan with them during the cruise. But she’d have to share him anyway—they were trying to find terrorists and she needed to keep that as her primary focus anyway. A luxury cruise was just their theatre of operations.
“Yeah, you’ll like them,” he replied as he sighed deeply, before throwing back the covers to sit up. He scrubbed his hands over his face then sucked in a sharp breath. “I forgot about my head. You made me forget last night.” He grabbed his phone off her nightstand and scrolled through it. “What the hell do you know? Bledsoe approved all of their chits—after midnight, even. Probably just to get rid of them.” His laugh as he texted his friends danced through her body to settle between her legs where that incredible mouth had been last night.
He dialed a number, then put the phone to his ear as he stood. Jules watched every delicious muscle flex as he bent to snatch up his underwear, before he walked toward the bedroom door.
“Good morning, Commander. I just wanted to make sure you got my message last night, because Ari needs to be taken into federal custody before he has time to talk to his friends. Yeah, the woman and man who were arrested with him, too.”
He walked out of the door and Jules stretched her arms over her head then released her breath in a rush. She threw back the covers and got up too, because it looked like she wouldn’t be getting a better good morning from her sexy SEAL. There would be plenty of time for that on the cruise, she reminded herself. But now they’d have his buddies with them. Probably in the suite with them.
Mission first, hot sex after, Jules.
If there was an after for them, she thought, and the lightness inside of her diminished some as she got out of bed and pulled on her t-shirt and shorts. This could just be a delicious short-term fantasy. Things didn’t usually work out long-term for her with men.
This one, who she’d only known a couple of weeks, could show his true colors suddenly and she’d have to sew him into her quilt of could-have-been-great-if-they-hadn’t-been-assholes. But damn she definitely didn’t want to, because he was so perfect. Keegan MacDonald was all the flavors she loved, scooped into the sexiest cone she’d ever had.
Right now she needed to pack, though, and didn’t think she had anything remotely resembling cruise clothes in her closet, much less a decent bathing suit. She might have to do some shopping onboard the ship, she thought, walking into her closet to pull out a suitcase.
Since she never spent money on herself and had plenty to spare from her inheritance, she could afford to splurge. No—she deserved to splurge to make this the fantasy of a lifetime. That brought to mind the cost of the cruise. She was going to write Keegan a check for her half of the suite. It was only fair. He’d probably fight her, and if he did, she’d give it to his uncle to make him accept it.
She heard him walk back into the room as he said goodbye to whoever he was talking to. Jules found her suitcase behind her snowshoes and other things at the back of her closet and tugged until it came out. When it did, she fell backwards into a solid brick wall.
“I don’t want to be ungentlemanly and steal all the hot water this morning, so you can just shower with me,” Keegan said, his hot breath raking the shell of her ear, before he kissed her cheek.
“I have a fifty-gallon tank,” Jules replied, and a shiver racked her.
“We’ll be able to take a longer shower, then. And we can both fit in this one,” he murmured, wrapping his arms around her neck to hug her back into his chest. Another, more vigorous, tremor shook her when he nipped her earlobe.
“We have to get ready.”
“We will be getting ready,” he countered, his tongue tracing the rim of her ear. “C’mon, Natasha, live a little. We’re going on the vacation of a lifetime, so we need to practice. Everything is set.”
This man was so bad—but so incredibly good. How could she resist an offer like that?
Jules added stopping at the drugstore on the way to the port to buy a gross of condoms to her packing list. They would have company in the suite, but they would also have a private bedroom. No dream vacation would be complete without incredible sex with a fantasy man she may have to let go once they got back to port. She had seven amazing days to get her fill of Keegan MacDonald before they got back and she discovered he was a frog.
Why are you so sure he will?
Because nothing in Jules life ever turned out the way she planned. Not her happy life growing up with her parents being there for her, or her fantasy job to avenge their deaths, and certainly not any of the relationships she’d tried to have with men.
Keegan MacDonald was too perfect to be believed, her parents were dead, and her fantasy job turned into a nightmare of sitting in a cubicle, pouring through the financial reports of white-collar criminals, which she would probably be relegated to doing again when she got back home. After not finding the leak at the bar, she knew Brand was in hot water, so there was no way in hell he was going to give her a permanent position. That meant she’d probably be looking for another job too, because ten years of struggling for that position was enough.
Jules hand opened and the suitcase fell on her foot. She turned in Mr. Perfect’s arms and his mouth found hers. Live a little is exactly what she was going to do—for ten glorious days with him on a fantasy cruise, which she would remember for the rest of her life. Because, like with her parents, memories might be all she had when she returned.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“Are you sure we’re okay getting on board with our weapons?” Jules mumbled to Keegan as she smoothed her loose top over her belly band holster.
“Don’t ask, don’t tell,” he replied, squeezing her shoulders as he smiled down at her. “But if the guys clank when they walk, it’s because they had to disassemble their weapons and tape the parts and ammo to their asses. Security has an X-ray for the bags, but not a metal detector.”
A laugh burst from her lips and Jules put her arm around his waist to squeeze him back. “I like your friends and I’m glad they’re going with us.”
“What are we, chopped liver?” Bob asked, glaring
down at her. She laughed again when she looked at his wild-flowered shirt. It just didn’t fit with his tats and attitude.
“No, you’re family and I’d have preferred you stay home so you’re safe,” Keegan replied and Jules’ insides melted. “You should’ve asked before you booked that cabin.”
“And you should know better than to try to tell me what to do,” Bob growled back. “I only answer to one person and she’s standing beside me. Who pulled your frog legs out of the fire last night, boy?”
Keegan sighed. “You did, Uncle Bob—and I thanked you, but it was stupid of you and her to be there. I’d have figured something out.”
“Before or after they dumped your dead body in a ditch somewhere?” Bob asked with a sharp laugh. “If that pretty lady beside you hadn’t warned me, that’s where you’d probably be this morning.”
“Can we please just keep our voices down until we’re in the suite?” Keegan growled, glancing at the throng of people around them.
“Good to go,” Pete Garrison said, as he got back in line and patted his lumpy chest.
“You need a windbreaker, dude,” Keegan said, dropping his go bag on the ground to kneel and unzip it. He pulled out a jacket, then handed it to him.
“You don’t think wearing a jacket in eighty-degree weather when boarding a cruise ship will be more obvious?” Pete asked with a harsh laugh, as he slid his arms into the sleeves.
Wilson walked up beside Loren. “I told you not to wear that clingy shirt, man. The girls will not be impressed with your man lumps, Baby Gap.”
Garrison pinned him with a hot glare. “I don’t give a flying fuck about women right now, remember? I had one too many, and now that I’m free? I’m going to have enough beer on this cruise to add a few natural lumps to my body so maybe they’ll leave me alone for good.”
“Bledsoe might have something to say about that,” Lawrence said as he joined them in line. He shook his leg and sighed. Keegan looked at him and frowned. “Damn firing pin is poking me in the sack,” he explained in a hot whisper out of the corner of his mouth.
