by Lora Leigh
His security system was state-of-the-art. His bed was warm, his arms were secure. She stared up at him, knowing that was exactly where she wanted to be.
“I don’t like being ordered around,” she informed him firmly. “Ask me, Rick. Speak to me reasonably. Don’t order me.”
He frowned down at her before grimacing in regret, though his gaze never lost that commanding glitter. “You’ll be safer with me, Hannah.” He seemed to grit out the words. “Stay with me.”
The command was softer, but it was still there. She felt a grin tug at her lips as she shook her head at him in a gesture of helpless amusement.
“You’re definitely not used to asking for anything,” she told him, relaxing just enough so that he also relaxed a little.
“It’s not something I do often,” he agreed. “Let’s get you a bag packed. Whoever seems to want to get to you won’t be expecting the security system I have in place. We’ll catch him.”
He was taking over her protection, but she was smart enough to know that someone had to. She sure as hell had no idea what to do at this point.
“Fine,” she breathed out roughly as she turned and stared around her little house. “I’ll stay with you. For a while.”
No commitment yet. She wasn’t going to rush this. She wasn’t going to do anything to make him feel as though she were trying to.
They were lovers, that was enough for now, she told herself.
He followed her upstairs as she packed her bag, then accompanied her to her car.
“I need to stop by the office for a few minutes.” He leaned down to the window as she rolled it down. “Follow me there and you can visit with Mae until I’m done.”
Evidently he had no intention of letting her out of his sight. The thought of that sent a ray of hope winging through her.
She was already falling in love with him. She knew it, felt it inside her. He fascinated her as no man ever had. Pleasured her as she had never known pleasure in her life.
The chance to be with him, to know him, to love him, just for a little while was more than she had hoped for before now.
He kissed her quickly before striding to his truck, giving her another little edge of hope. As she followed him back to the sheriff’s office, she forced herself to pull back, not to make plans for a future that might not be. Enjoy the present, she warned herself. Enjoy what she had now.
It was more than she had expected.
Parking next to his truck at the sheriff’s office, she smiled as she locked her car, feeling him behind her.
His hand rode low on her back as they walked to his office and entered Mae Livingston’s domain.
“Mae, Hannah’s going to visit with you for a bit,” he told the other woman as he headed to his office door.
“I’ll make sure she’s taken care of, Rick.” Mae’s smile was welcoming and warm as Rick kissed Hannah, on the cheek this time, and disappeared into his office.
“My my my.” Mae lifted her brows as Hannah felt a light flush suffuse her face. “Now this is a development.”
“You’re no more surprised than I am,” Hannah told her with a light laugh.
“But happy as hell,” Mae mused, her gray eyes thoughtful as she stared back at Hannah. “And I do believe I saw our sheriff smile. Do you know how long it’s been since he smiled, Hannah?”
She shook her head, her heart racing in her chest at the next small reason to hope.
“I’d guess it’s been way too long.” Mae sighed. “Even years before Sienna’s death. They didn’t get along well at all in the last years before she was kidnapped.”
Hannah lowered her head before glancing at Rick’s office door.
“Yeah, he’d be pissed if he caught me talking about it.” Mae agreed with Hannah’s unspoken thought, her voice sober. “But it’s good to see him smile. And it’s nice to know he’s with you, Hannah. Sienna didn’t do much to make that man happy, no matter how faithful he was to her.” She shook her head sadly. “She was a strange one.”
“The detective on the case believes he’s the reason someone targeted me,” she told the secretary. “Because of Sienna or something she was involved in.”
Mae frowned at that. “There are a lot of rumors going around,” she finally said. “You know how crazy some people can be.”
“Unfortunately, I do,” Hannah admitted.
“Rick wouldn’t be happy if that were true,” Mae stated. “He’d be damned guilt-ridden, Hannah. You’ll have a hell of a time getting past that guilt if it’s true.”
In other words, she could lose him. Hannah started to ask the other woman’s advice on how to keep that from happening when the door to the hallway opened and another man entered.
Shawn Grayson. Hannah barely recognized Rick’s older brother. He was the same height as Rick, the same dark blond hair, but his eyes were blue rather than golden brown, and his body leaner, not as broad or as commanding as Rick’s. He was also not nearly as likable.
He came to a stop as he saw her, his gaze filling with amusement.
“Hannah Brookes,” he murmured as he moved closer to her chair. “It’s been a while.”
“Hello, Shawn.” She nodded as he sat on the corner of Mae’s desk and gazed down at her.
“I hear you’re seeing our good sheriff.” He grinned. “Are you having fun?”
“That bit of information traveled fast,” she stated.
“Good gossip usually does.” He chuckled, his full lips curling good-naturedly before turning somber. “I hear you’ve had some trouble at the house, too? Is Rick checking that out?”
“Talk about supersonic speed.” Mae’s tone was caustic. “That piece of gossip really traveled.”
Shawn turned back with a mocking glare toward the secretary. “I’ve been home three days and everyone just loves filling me in on my little brother’s news.” He chuckled. “Whether I want to hear about it or not.”
“No doubt,” Mae harrumphed. “Do you need to see Rick or you just here to see what’s true and what’s not?”
He laughed at that, rising to his feet. “I just need a minute of his time, but it can wait.”
“Good,” Mae muttered. “He’s never in a happy mood after you visit.”
“Yeah, well, it’s how we get along,” he said, laughing, before turning back to Hannah. “Rick’s not always the most easygoing person in the world, you know. He drove Sienna crazy with his possessiveness.”
Now that was a surprise, because it wasn’t what she had heard over the years. Sienna had driven Rick crazy with her possessiveness and her refusal to settle down. Sienna hadn’t been the home-and-hearth type.
“I’m sure I can handle him,” she assured him as Rick opened the door to his office and stepped out.
His expression lightened at the sight of his brother. “When did you get in?”
“A few days ago.” Shawn grinned back at him. “Just need a moment of your time if you don’t mind, bro. Then you can get back to your girlfriend.”
Rick nodded, winked at Hannah, and closed the door behind him after Shawn had gone in.
“Let’s hope he doesn’t piss Rick off.” Mae sighed. “Shawn has a habit of it.”
“Brothers.” Hannah laughed. “Mine manage to piss me off every chance they get.”
Mae smiled. “I have sisters, so I never had that problem.”
Despite Mae’s prediction, Rick was still smiling when he and his brother came out of Rick’s office. Shawn left with a final good-bye and Rick turned back to her, his brow lifting.
“Ready?”
Hannah nodded as she rose from her chair.
“See you later, Hannah.” Mae smiled in farewell as they took off.
“That’s the first time I’ve seen Shawn in years,” Hannah commented as they moved along the hallway.
“He comes here a few times a year.” Rick shrugged. “Manages to stir everyone up then he leaves again.”
She laughed at the statement. That sounded like Shawn.
<
br /> He escorted her to her car and within minutes Hannah was following his truck out of town and toward the small ranch he owned. It wasn’t a large working ranch. A few head of cattle, a couple of horses. The single-story ranch house sat beneath towering, sheltering trees and created an idyllic settling.
As they entered the house, Hannah found herself back in his arms, his lips on hers, his kiss fueling a fire that had begun simmering inside her when he had touched her in her bedroom.
There was something about Rick’s kiss that fueled a heady, sensual hunger inside her that she hadn’t known she possessed. A hunger that seemed to rise from the very core of her, and set fire to her senses, making her realize how little pleasure she had experienced before.
Her arms twined around his neck, her lips parted beneath his, and she melted into him, just as she had always dreamed of doing. There was a dominance, a strength, a sureness in each touch of his hands, each stroke of his tongue.
When he lifted her closer to him, there was a feeling of security in his arms that she had lacked. With him, she knew she would always be sheltered, always safe. He might prick at her independence, but if he loved her, then she had no doubt that she would never have to fear him or anyone else.
When he finally lifted his head, his gaze was somber, despite the arousal filling it.
“What if I don’t want to let you go when this is over, Hannah?” he suddenly asked her. “What if I don’t want you to leave?”
She reached up, touched his cheek, and let her lips curve into a smile that she knew held too much hope.
“What if I don’t want to leave?” she asked him instead. “When this is over, Rick, what if I want to stay?”
CHAPTER 7
HE WAS FALLING in love with her.
As they made a light dinner, shared the cooking, laughed, touched, Rick began realizing that there had been more missing in his marriage to Sienna than he had known.
The simple intimacies that he was already sharing with Hannah had never been present between himself and his wife. She hadn’t wanted to cook from the first week they had been together, and it was something Rick had never thought he would enjoy with her. He’d been used to cooking for himself, so he had never thought to ask her to cook until after Kent had been born. And by then, he’d known Sienna would never agree to it.
He and Hannah cleaned the kitchen together. Another small thing, and yet something else he hadn’t shared with woman.
It was simple things. Laughing when she flicked suds at him, kissing her cheek, or simply touching her as he put the dishes away.
There was a sense of companionship beneath the arousal, a knowledge that he could touch her as he pleased, that he could be comfortable with her.
He’d known last year. Two dates with her, a week of sporadic phone calls, and he’d known that she had already started to touch him. He’d run. Like a fucking coward, he’d forced himself out of her life because he knew he couldn’t face telling her the truth about his marriage to Sienna.
They’d lived a lie for over eight years. From the moment they were married until he’d realized that she’d been involved with the Black Collar Militia and the deaths that had plagued the area for years.
His wife had been the mole in the office. She had been the one who had given the militia the information when agents and investigations had been centered in the area.
Not that he’d ever told her, but she’d had access to his office, his computers, and his notes. And Sienna, despite the rest of her faults, had been perceptive. She had known what to look for in a person, their weaknesses and their strengths, and she’d known an agent when she saw one.
And she’d known how to fool him, despite the distrust that had built up between them.
He’d suspected for years that she was cheating on him, but he’d never caught her. It had simply been an intuition, something that he couldn’t put his finger on.
As Hannah went out to the barn with him to feed the horses, she worked beside him. She didn’t ask what she needed to do to help, she knew what to do. She didn’t care if she got her hands dirty, and she didn’t mind laughing at herself.
And Rick realized why he had run from her the year before. Because he had known that he was falling in love. He had known that resisting her was something he just couldn’t do.
And even now, that scared the hell out of him.
After they returned to the house, he locked up, set the alarm, while Hannah pulled her sneakers off and headed for the kitchen.
Night was falling. The soft muted colors of the setting sun blazed through the windows of the kitchen, bathing her in a golden hue.
He’d noticed that a lot over the past few days. Sunlight loved Hannah, it caressed her features, seemed to sink into her skin and light her from within.
Moving to her, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him. He was still hard for her. He’d taken her so many times that he knew the need should have eased by now. It hadn’t. It seemed to have settled into his guts to stay, and the wariness he had expected to feel wasn’t there.
“I need to shower,” she murmured as his lips caressed her neck.
Hannah wasn’t moving away from him, though. She never moved away from him. No matter how often he touched her, or how, she was always ready for him.
“I could wash your back.” He bit at her neck, loving the wild, sweet taste of her flesh.
“You could do that.” He heard the smile in her voice and he loved it.
Hell, she was sinking claws into his heart that he knew he was never going to be free of.
Taking her hand in his, he pulled her into the bedroom, then straight to the bathroom. The thought of having her in the shower was more than he could handle. His cock was already straining at his zipper, demanding action.
In the bathroom he adjusted the water to the shower before turning to her. He undressed her slowly, like unwrapping a present. His very own present. Just for him. Revealing each soft silky inch of her body as he dropped the clothes on the floor.
Once Hannah was naked he had to get her into the shower, beneath the spray of water, before he could strip his own clothes. He practically tore them off, tossed them aside, then stepped under the spray with her.
Steam collected in the enclosed space, filling it with an erotic sensuality that wrapped around them and nearly destroyed him with need.
“I’ve dreamed of having you here, just like this,” Rick told her, the words slipping unbidden from his lips.
“I’ve dreamed of being here with you,” Hannah admitted as he worked shampoo into her hair and washed it slowly.
Suds collected and rolled down her body as he spread the luxuriant shampoo through her hair before rinsing it and doing the same with a soft conditioner she had brought with her. When he was finished, Hannah pushed him away, then surprised him by doing the same for him. He bent to her, watching her as she washed his hair, her hands working the strands of hair as though she loved them.
They bathed each other. As Rick washed her, he kissed her. He worked the lather over her breasts, down her belly, and between her thighs. As he rubbed the tender folds of her pussy with the soft washcloth, he gloried in her moans.
Then he was moaning himself when she insisted on doing the same for him. The caressing motions were nearly his undoing when she moved to his dick and washed it as though she couldn’t afford to miss a single spot.
Showering with her was an adventure. It was one Rick knew he was going to want, to need, to repeat, over and again.
By the time they were scrubbed from head to toe the laughter had died to strangled moans, sudsy strokes were replaced by the soft spray of the water rinsing their bodies, and he had her in his arms.
His lips were devouring hers as though he had never kissed before, never caressed a woman’s body. He was so hungry for her that it could have been four lifetimes rather than four years since he had touched a woman.
But then, he had never touched Hannah’s body. The past
days had been like a dream he didn’t want to awaken from.
His lips moved to her swollen breasts, covered a hard nipple, and sucked it inside. He stared up at her as he drew on the tight little point, watching her face flush, her eyes darken.
He groped along the small shelf to the side, gripped the opened condom he had laid there earlier, and hurriedly rolled it over his erection. He wasn’t going to last long and he knew it. He needed her too bad now.
Hannah’s hands speared into his hair to hold him closer as she arched toward him, moaning as he lifted her so she could wrap her legs around his waist.
She was so sweet, so delicate in his arms. It was like holding a live fire, one that warmed him from the inside out.
As he licked at first one nipple, then the other, he lifted her, allowed the head of his cock to tuck against the soft folds between her thighs before stilling against her.
Lifting his head he stared into her dazed eyes.
“What’s wrong?” She was panting with pleasure as she stared back at him, her nails biting into his shoulders as her thighs tightened around him.
“I want to watch,” he whispered. “I want to see your eyes as I take you, Hannah. Don’t close them.”
She was breathing harshly, heavily, a little whimper breaking from her lips as he penetrated her the slightest degree, stretching the entrance open as her eyes darkened further.
“I love watching you,” Rick admitted. “Watching your face flush, your eyes growing drowsy and dark as I fuck you.”
Her long hair, slick and wet with water, spread around her shoulders like a dark cape that contrasted with the silky smoothness of her pale skin.
He pressed in further, feeling the muscles of her pussy clamp around the head of his cock. He felt the pressure of it wrap around his balls as the need to come nearly broke his will.
He’d barely remembered to slip a condom on, and wished he could take her without one. He wanted to feel her holding him, gripping him, flesh on flesh, and promised himself that one day soon he would do just that.
