At Close Range (Ranger Ops Book 1)

by Em Petrova

  She nodded, growing warmer with happiness at how amazing and helpful Nash had been to her—her family. His spot in her heart had been there almost from the start, and now it was taking over, twining around the body part until there was no place left to go but burrow into her soul.

  She was fine with that.

  Antonio drew their mother to the sofa and made her sit. Then he crowded close to her, and Nevaeh took up the other side. Her mother was talking to him rapidly, firing questions about his health and wellbeing, was he safe and so on. Antonio answered them in a low, calm voice while Nevaeh and her mother took it all in.

  Nash drifted back into the room, catching her eye. She offered him a big smile and was rewarded with a wink. That gesture had her highly aware of her undressed state.

  The towel atop her head wobbled, and she pulled it off. He watched her with heavy-lidded eyes.

  “I don’t want to miss any of this, but I’ll be right back.” She got off the sofa, and holding the towel in her hands, made her way toward her room. On the way past Nash, she grabbed him by the arm and dragged him with her.

  Not that she had to do much dragging—the man seemed more than eager to get her alone.

  As soon as she entered her room, she turned to him. He spun his arms around her and pulled her onto tiptoe, crushing his mouth over hers. A moan of desire left her, but now was not the time. Still, she couldn’t resist kissing him back.

  When things began to get too heated, he withdrew. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be ravishing you. I shouldn’t want to push you down on that bed and sink my cock into your pussy, which I know is bare beneath this itty bitty bit of cloth.” He ran his hand over her spine, hitching the robe too high so her cheeks were exposed.

  She shivered. “We need to spend time together. But first, this—”

  “Is about family,” he finished with a nod.

  “Yes. I’ll just get dressed.”

  “Go ahead. I’ll watch.”

  She smacked at him and turned him to the door. “My momma can’t afford so many shocks in one day. Go out and wait for me.”

  He threaded his fingers into the wet, tangled hair over her ear. “You’re gorgeous. And I’ll do anything you ask of me... except walk away.” His dark eyes drilled into her with complete sincerity.

  “Nash.” His name hitched in her throat. “I won’t be asking that of you.”

  “Good.” He gave a nod.

  “Why don’t you let me tend to that cut?”

  “I’m good.” He grinned and left her room.

  It took her seconds to throw on shorts and a T-shirt and brush her hair but much longer to get that look he’d sent her way out of her mind. Why would he ever believe she’d ask him to walk away? They needed to have that talk, clearly soon.

  When she stepped into the living room again, she had to delight in the sight of her brother. He and their mother had their arms around each other. When they spotted her, they held out their arms to draw her in too. Then their father came through the door, and the reunion took on a whole other level of emotion as father and son set eyes on each other after a decade.

  Nevaeh saw Nash slip out the door and ran outside onto the stoop. “Nash!”

  He hadn’t left the porch but was standing like a sentry before the door, scanning the neighborhood.

  He turned to her. “Darlin’, it’s okay. I’m just checking things out.”

  A shudder ran over her. “Is he still in danger?”

  He didn’t need to say so—she was coming to know his expressions better than he probably wanted. A man like Nash was good at keeping everything set behind a mask, but Nevaeh looked at him with not only her eyes but her heart.

  Reaching up, she cupped his jaw. The scruff of beard rasping against her fingers had her nipples tightening and her stomach clenching, low. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for us, Nash.”

  His throat moved. “I hope you know it’s more than just duty that has me sticking around.”

  Her heart gave a leap. She ran her thumb over his jaw and up to the corner of his lips. She started to speak, but he stopped her. “Shh. Go back inside. There’s plenty of time for us, but right now it’s about your brother.” He squeezed her shoulders and turned her back to the door.

  Inside, while she sat and listened to Antonio’s tale alongside her parents, she realized just what Nash had really done—and continued to. He’d changed not only her and her parents’ lives but Antonio’s. After so many years in Mexico, her brother had stopped hoping. But Nash had plowed onto the scene and given him the means and desire to escape.

  And Antonio had done exactly that with the woman he loved, the woman who was carrying his child.

  When they all heard this news, their mother broke down all over again, and their father looked about to get up and dance a jig around the room. “This news alone is worth missing all the games this season for!”

  Antonio laughed. A haunted look still clung to him, and Nevaeh knew that would take some time to dissipate. She would help him in any way possible, and his loved one too. He promised to bring her here first thing in the morning and assured them she was safe, tucked in at a hotel in a bed finer than any she’d ever known.

  After long hours of talk, Nevaeh got up and went outside again. Sure enough, Nash was still here, their personal special ops protector.

  His gaze landed on her face. In the faint glow from the streetlights, she made out a smile curving his lips at one corner. “You’re happy,” he stated.

  She nodded, throat closing off for a brief moment. “So happy, Nash. You can’t imagine.”

  He searched her face. “I think I can.”

  Again, her heart juddered in her chest at his words.

  The timing couldn’t get any more perfect.

  Stepping up close, she eased her arms around his neck. He bent over her, filling her nose with his masculine scent. “Nash…” She breathed out his name.

  He dropped his forehead to hers. “Darlin’.” His throat clicked as he swallowed. “There’s something I want to tell you.”

  “I want to talk to you too.”

  He nuzzled her nose with his own. “You’re so damn perfect in my arms. I can’t imagine ever holding anybody else like this.”

  She went still, just listening to the croon of his low voice as he said all the things a woman longed to hear when it came to the man she loved.

  “Nash, I know we came together in an odd way. Under extreme circumstances.”

  “Yes. But that doesn’t mean what I feel isn’t real. It is, darlin’. Nevaeh,” he said with a new urgency, “I love you. You have driven me to the brink of insanity with wanting you—and not just your body.” As if defying his words, his hands slithered over her waist to cup her backside. Desire spiked through her pussy.

  “Nash, I can’t believe you beat me to telling you!”

  “Telling me what?”

  “That I love you. That I know it has happened quickly, but the things I’m feeling I don’t want to end.”

  Emotions cut across his shadowed features. Then he shook his head as if in disbelief. “You came out here to tell me you love me?”

  She nodded—and then punched his arm, making him laugh.

  “I didn’t know this was a competition, but if it is, I’m glad to have said the words first.”

  She cuddled closer to him. “Why is that?”

  “Because I don’t want you to ever think I was pushed into just saying it back. I love you, woman, and I’m never going to stop.”

  She yanked his head down and kissed him. The soft brushing of lips turned to a bruising, carnal demand that had them both shaking with need after only a few seconds.

  With a forefinger, he found the undercurve of her ass in her shorts and strummed nerve endings she didn’t know she had. “God, I fucking want you. If this wasn’t your parents’ house, I’d pin you to this wall with my cock buried inside you.”

  Her pussy flooded at the promise of his dirty talk. When they finall
y got alone and the timing was right, she knew this was going to be one hell of an explosion between the two of them.

  She just hoped he didn’t get called away before she could strip down his big, hard body and run her hands—and tongue—all over every muscle he owned.

  Chapter Eleven

  Nash folded his arms and stared out between the tiny cracks in the blinds. Behind him, the men at the table were completely silent as their task ahead weighed on them.

  How could it not? Nevaeh’s brother might be back on US soil, but he was far from safe. Lopez and his thugs were not going to give him up so easily

  “What are you thinkin’, Sully?” Woody’s voice came to him.

  He turned and stared at the five of them. “I think we fucked up by leaving even a single person alive. The mission was to get Vincent out at any cost. My mistake was backing down, but sometimes you can’t escape killing and it has nothing to do with anger management. When it comes to this team, we don’t back down. Ever.”

  “It’s the Texas Ranger in you,” Woody said, looking at his own capable fingers spread on the table. “You can’t help but spare lives when possible.”

  “Yeah, but now we’re Ranger Ops. We were chosen, because OFFSUS saw something ruthless enough in us to get shit done. We failed to get shit done, and that’s on me. But it’s ending right now too.”

  Woody looked up. All eyes fixed on Nash. “Does that mean we’re vacationing in Mexico again, boss man?”

  He gave a hard nod. “That’s exactly what this means. They’re going to keep coming for us. This time, we need to rack up the body count, because loyalty is how those guys operate. If one dies, the next in line picks up the battle sword, and we aren’t going to allow that to happen.”

  “I’m with ya, Sully. Point me in the right direction.” Cavanagh stood, elongating to his full height of six-four. The expression on his face was just what Nash wanted to see—that hungry, take-no-prisoners look that would get the job done.

  Everyone else stood, forming a solidarity that had pride swimming in Nash’s veins.

  “We roll out in an hour. Pack light, because we’ll be heavy on the ammo.”

  As the guys disbursed to collect their gear, Nash turned to the window again. The slits he could see through didn’t show him the scope of the world, but he had a good enough idea of what was going on out there that a view wasn’t necessary.

  It wasn’t as if he had given up watching Lopez after leaving Mexico. No, he had all the intel he needed to make this mission a go—those guys were coming for Vincent, and this time they didn’t have slavery on the mind. They wanted him and everyone he loved dead. The old way was to kill everyone, scourge the bloodline.

  Well, Nash intended to take it further and wipe out everyone associated with those fuckers, and he’d personally escort them to hell’s gates with a smile on his face.

  Soon enough, he told himself. Right now, he had the issue of Nevaeh on his mind. He hadn’t been able to spend enough time with her, and he was feeling that separation like a blow. This was how it would always be for them—him handling his business and Ranger Ops always coming first.

  He had to do something to show her how he felt.

  A minute later, he was on the phone with a florist, having half a dozen roses delivered to her house. It’s wasn’t fucking near enough, but it was a start. If this was going to be the norm, he’d better find a florist with better prices or he wouldn’t be able to afford rent.

  After he finished the transaction, he called Nevaeh. She answered on the second ring, her voice a little breathless.

  “Were you running?” he asked as soon as she picked up.

  “No.”

  “You sound a little out of breath.”

  She was silent a moment. “Just happy to hear from you.”

  All their unfinished kisses slammed into his mind, and he found himself growing hard at the thought of her. Dammit, he wanted her.

  “Nevaeh, darlin’, I’m sorry. I have to go away a while.”

  “How long is a while?”

  “Hopefully not long.”

  Silence again. He tightened his lips.

  “Nash.” Her voice came out as a whisper.

  “Yeah, darlin’?”

  “Say it to me. Tell me.”

  His heart filled his throat, and he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I love you, Nevaeh. And I’ll come back to you.”

  Those must have been the right words, because he heard her let out a breath. “I believe you. And I love you.”

  He smiled, shaking his head lightly in wonder. How had he come to this place in his life? Sure, it was early times in their relationship—hell, it was like a balloon just getting wind beneath it to sail into the sky. And times like these would make it tougher. In the end, they’d reach new heights together and then look back on this moment and be proud of fighting for what they believed in.

  They both believed in a them.

  * * * * *

  Nevaeh sat at her desk, a fingertip pressed to her lips as she stared at the cubicle wall before her. A few family photos were scattered there. Until recently, she hadn’t been able to place one of her brother there, but this morning she had printed one off her phone of him standing with their parents and pinned it to her wall.

  Staring at it, she just knew where Nash was headed. The fact that Antonio and his girlfriend were being protected and not allowed to leave their guarded hotel room besides that single visit together to the Vincents’ home said it all.

  Ranger Ops had taken off for Mexico to end it.

  A shiver of emotion ran through her—part fear and part arousal that her man could take care of business this way.

  She hadn’t spoken to him in two days now, but that was normal, right? He couldn’t very well call her in the thick of it. The extravagant roses filling her bedroom were his way of telling her he was still thinking of her, and that would have to be enough for now.

  “Nevaeh, some files for you.”

  She turned at the sound of the voice that was very out of place in this office.

  Prickles of happiness washed over her skin, and she leaped up, hurling herself at the man holding out yet another bouquet.

  “Oh my God!” She looped her arms around Nash’s neck and clung to him, inhaling his scent and reveling in the feel of his big body against hers.

  He brought his arms around her, lowering his face to her hair. “I never knew you’d be so happy to have some files.”

  She giggled and pulled back to look him over.

  He wasn’t harmed, was her first thought. But a deeper look into his eyes told her that he’d seen and done things that were still haunting him.

  Pulling one arm free of his neck, she laced her fingers with his. The calluses on his hand were enough to send a shock of need through her.

  His gaze intensified.

  “Let me tell my boss I’m taking some sick time.”

  His mouth twisted. “I’ll wait outside.”

  She couldn’t get out the door fast enough. As soon as she got into the open air, Nash grabbed her up and kissed her—right there outside her office building, and she didn’t care who saw.

  She angled her head and kissed him back with all the yearning burning inside of her.

  “Will you come home with me?” he asked, low.

  The rumble sent new shocks of want into her belly.

  “Nothing could hold me back,” she answered in that same breathy tone she’d answered his phone call with the other day.

  He took her hand and led her to his Jeep, opening the door for her and settling her inside before he walked around the vehicle and jumped behind the wheel.

  When he placed his heavy hand on her thigh, she wiggled in her seat. He shot her a look. “You want me. I can see your hard nipples through your top.”

  She didn’t bother to cover the evidence, not a bit embarrassed by what had given her away. To prove this, she reached up and unfastened the top two buttons of her blouse, showing him a
healthy amount of cleavage.

  He could barely keep his eyes on the road. “Damn.” He pulled his head away from her leg to adjust his cock. Then he reached over and dipped two fingers into her cleavage. Before she could arch into his touch, one long finger swiped into her bra cup, right over her taut nipple.

  She cried out, and he strummed his finger back and forth over the bud that was growing hard enough to throb.

  “How far is your place?”

  He chuckled. “Eager?”

  Instead of answering, she reached over and cupped his hard cock. He stretched his hips upward and groaned. She molded the cloth of his pants to his arousal, learning the ridges right up to the mushroomed tip, barely harnessed behind his fly.

  “Three blocks,” he ground out. “You keep that up and I might not make it that far.”

  “What will you do?” she asked with a coy tilt of her head.

  His dark eyes raked over her. “Pull over and throw you into the back seat.”

  She laughed, feeling more carefree than she had in her life. She had everything she wanted, at last. Thanks to Nash, her family was whole. And she had the man himself to love on her entire life.

  When they arrived in front of a small bungalow cut in between several larger houses, she could hardly hold back her excitement. Being alone with him, naked, rolling in his sheets… She wanted it with a fire she didn’t know possible until now.

  He parked swiftly and got out, taking her by the hand and towing her fast up the paver sidewalk.

  “How do you have time to mow your grass?” she asked as she was shuttled to the door.

  “I don’t. I hire the kid next door. Is that really what’s on your mind right this minute?” He tossed a look her way that was a flame licking over her skin.

  “No. The burning question in my mind is how long can you hold out while I suck your cock?”

  His chest inflated but he made no sound, only unlocked his door and hauled her inside. She didn’t even get a peek at the interior before he spun her, flattening her against the closed door with her arms pinned over her head.

  His rough hold on her wrists only raised her need another notch. She tipped her face up, and he swooped in to kiss her. The plunges of his tongue had her panties flooding with arousal, and she wriggled wantonly against his muscles.