She leaned into him so she could speak into his ear the way he spoke into hers. “Is everyone going to be all right? What about the judge? I saw her go down.”
“The hospital is going to be busy, but they will all survive. The judge is going to be down for a week or two but then should be back to her normal self.”
“What made you run to the cars? How did you know?”
“I saw the bullet rounds kick up dirt at our feet. I should have realized whoever was out there wanted to drive us toward the cars. They wanted maximum casualty.”
“There’s no way you could have known someone had put a bomb on the judge’s suburban. How’s everyone else? I saw Anya and Elena helping out the injured.”
“Yes. All three of you were a great help. Many people ran as far away as they could and didn’t look back until they were safe. What you did was very brave.”
“I just want all of us to make it back to the ranch safely without any other incidents. I was dreading today to begin with, and this has been the icing on the cake.”
She’d barely finished speaking before a loud crack of thunder sounded overhead and rain began to fall lightly out of the sky. Santo gave her a lopsided grin. “You just had to say something, didn’t you?”
Chapter 18
The only sound anyone could hear on the drive back to the ranch was the occasional loud cracks of thunder. Other than that, they rode in silence, all of them filthy, bloodied and bruised. Evie couldn’t wait to shed out of her ruined clothes and get the dirt and grime washed off her body.
By the time they reached the ranch, the ringing had started to fade for Evie. “Buzz, can you hear me now?” She decided to test the gentle giant.
Buzz turned in his seat, a horrified expression on his face. “Evie, I know I’m an attractive man, but how can you say such things in front of Santo?”
Evie couldn’t help herself. The stress of the day, the adrenaline rush when the bomb had gone off, the hysteria that followed… She started laughing. She couldn’t stop laughing. She laughed so hard tears slid out the sides of her eyes.
Buzz raised an eyebrow before casting a curious glance at Santo. “Maybe I should change my career to stand-up comedy.”
Evie felt her emotions teetering dangerously on the edge. At any moment her laughter could turn into a complete meltdown. She didn’t want Santo to witness her in such a state, but Anya and Elena would know how to get her through it.
By the time they’d parked at the ranch, her laughter had started to subside and her body shook with the tears she tried to keep suppressed. The other men left the truck and she tried to scramble out as quickly as they did, but her dress made a decent exit nearly impossible. Santo showed up at her door and stared at her face for several seconds as tears leaked out the corners of her eyes.
“It’s okay to grieve, Evie. It’s okay to be upset about today. What you just went through—”
“Was nothing compared to what you’ve been through. You found her dying. You watched her die. Then you have to deal with the chaos I’ve brought into your world and we’re almost blown up at her funeral. I don’t see you on the verge of a nervous breakdown.”
“Is that what this is? I always pictured them being far more dramatic.”
Evie let out a half sob, half laugh. “Why did this happen, Santo? Why did another judge get targeted? Could I have been looking at all of this the wrong way and it is potentially someone with a personal vendetta?”
Santo sighed and shook his head. “I don’t have answers for you, Evie. I don’t know what is going on. But I want you safe more than anything. Will you wait to return to Corpus until we have some answers?” He helped her out of the truck and wrapped an arm around her, gently guiding her into the house.
Evie shook her head and winced, pressing her fingers to her pounding temple. “I need to go now more than ever. There may be clues at that old courthouse about why all of this is happening.”
His arm tightened around her. “Is that why you want to go back? To continue with the game of super-sleuth? Or are you doing it for your job? They’re two very different things, and you need to figure out which one is more important.”
“I’m doing this for my job, Santo. I have bills that have to be paid and obligations to meet.”
“Then let me go with you to protect you.”
“What? Absolutely not! Yes, you may be big and strong, but what makes you think you’re qualified to protect anyone?”
Santo looked like he had swallowed his tongue. “I can protect you. I would never let anything happen to you.”
“That’s what scares me. I’ll never be able to live with myself if something happens to you because you are trying to protect me. No, Santo. No. I’m not going to discuss this. I’m a grown-as woman and I can make decisions for myself. I’m going back to Corpus tomorrow—alone.”
They stepped into his room and she could see the frustration on his face. “Can’t you wait for a couple of days? Just let us try to figure out who is behind all of this.”
“What exactly do you think you’re going to be able to do, Santo? The sheriff has all the information he needs. And I’d be shocked if judge Mitchell doesn’t have a bodyguard in place by tomorrow.”
Santo rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “There’s no way I can talk you out of returning to Corpus, is there?”
“No. I need to return to some sense of a normal life. Trust me, Santo. I’ll be just fine.”
She stared out the window at the storm that had started to drift away. It seemed as if it had only come to make a difficult day even harder. But she felt calmer and more in control of her emotions. “Thank you.” She turned to Santo and gave him one of the first genuine smiles she’d had since he’d called her about Judge O’Connor’s death. “I don’t know what I would have done without you through all of this.”
Santo took a few strides to the window and caught her face in his hands. “I wanted to be with you, Evie. In just a couple of weeks, you’ve turned my world upside down, and I love it. I just want more of you, however I can have it.”
Evie felt emboldened by his words. She felt like the woman he’d first started to date instead of the woman more interested in solving a murder. She wanted him. She needed him. “I need a shower to get all of this grime off me. Would you… Would you like to join me?”
Santo lifted an eyebrow in response before he began to unfasten the buttons on his shirt. Evie turned her back to him and pulled her hair over her shoulder, presenting him with the zipper to her ruined dress. His hands landed on her shoulder first, caressing and kneading her skin, soothing away tension in her muscles. Evie let out a pent-up breath and relaxed under his warm, gentle hands.
Her breath caught in her throat when he began to tug the zipper down, and moments later her ruined dress lay in scraps at her feet. She heard his deep intake of air and knew he stared at her practically bare ass with the delicate lace thong she wore. A shiver of excitement coursed through her body.
His warm fingers slid around her bare waist and she sighed with pleasure. His lips landed on the exposed side of her neck, kissing and nuzzling while his hands moved higher, skimming her ribs until he reached her bra. His fingers deftly unhooked it and his hands smoothed it down her arms.
She had to remind herself to breathe as his hands returned to her waist and slowly turned her to face him. He’d seen her like this before, only a couple of weeks prior in her apartment. Just remembering the pleasure he’d brought her then stirred her excitement higher.
He took a step back and locked his gaze with hers. “You’re gorgeous.”
She felt the heat of a blush and smiled. “You aren’t even looking at me.”
“I’m looking at your eyes and your smile and I know the heart you have. As I said, you’re gorgeous.”
She stepped back into the circle of his arms and pulled his head down for a deep kiss. She ran her tongue along his lips and moaned softly when his tongue touched hers. Without losing contact with his lip
s, she finished unbuttoning his shirt and pulled it off.
His hand ran up and down her ribs, with each pass, his thumbs touched more and more of her breasts but avoided her nipples. “I think I’m at a disadvantage here.” She chuckled against his lips and he sucked in a sharp breath when her fingers slid into his jeans. She unbuckled his belt and jeans, then slid them down his body.
She stood slowly, rubbing her body against his as she worked her way back to his lips, and trembled when she felt his excitement press firmly against her breasts and then her stomach. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him deeply. He returned the heat of the kiss. His hands cupped her ass and hauled her against his arousal and they both groaned with pleasure.
“If we keep going at this rate, we’re never going to make it to the shower.” She ran her hands through his hair and slowly swayed back and forth against him, brushing her breasts against the hard planes of his chest.
“I’m not the one trying to tease you out of your mind.” His hands tightened and brought her even closer to his arousal.
Evie gasped and let her head fall backward. He instantly began kissing her neck and nuzzling her ear. Evie groaned, “You accuse me of teasing…”
He chuckled against her throat and she could feel the vibration of his laughter against her breasts. “So is this shower really important to you?”
“The things I plan to do to you in there are.”
He straightened and turned her toward the restroom. “Then what are you stalling for?”
Evie smiled as he kept his hand on her hips, guiding her into the bathroom. He reached around her and turned on the shower, then lowered himself to his knees. He gazed up with her with hunger as he slid each shoe off. When he leaned forward and blew warm air over her mound, she would have fallen had he not been holding her hips so tight.
Her mouth went dry when he caught her lace underwear between his teeth and began to pull them down slowly. She felt certain she’d lose her mind with the lust coursing through her veins. He tossed her underwear to the side and nuzzled her inner thighs. I’m going to come apart before we even finish!
He blew another hot breath over her sensitive flesh as he moved his way back to standing. Before she could gather her breath, he pulled her into a kiss that made everything swirl around her. His tongue swiped against hers, his teeth nibbled on her lower lip, his kiss became her center of the universe.
Two can play this game. She pulled away from his lips, feeling dizzy, and kissed along his jaw to his ear and down his neck. His hands squeezed her hips and she smiled, liking that she could tease him the same way he teased her. She worked her way down his chest, licking and kissing and even giving a nipple a scrape with her teeth, earning her a groan of pleasure from deep inside his chest.
She felt his arousal pressing hard against her as she slid down his body and she almost gave up on the shower altogether in favor of moving more quickly to the pleasure she knew he could give her. But she wanted their first time to be incredibly memorable, and sex in the shower would certainly give them memories.
His hand clutched her hair when she came close to his crotch, and she looked up at him to find him watching her with a tense expression, his jaw clenched tight. With her gaze locked on him, she exhaled warm air onto his crotch, the same as he’d done to her. His hand tightened in her hair and she saw his throat move with a hard swallow.
She had him exactly where she wanted him. Using her teeth, she grabbed the band of his boxer briefs and began to pull them down, careful to pull them out so his shaft could be freed from the constraining cloth. As soon as she had him fully naked, she moved back up his body and ran her tongue along his shaft and swirled it around the head.
With a hoarse groan, he pulled her to her feet and guided her into the shower, directly into the spray of warm water as his mouth came crashing down on hers. They kissed as if they’d never kissed before. They feasted on each other’s mouths, hungry for more and more.
His hands ran from her hips to her breasts over and over again, using the slick water to generate a barely satisfying friction, and she squirmed against him, wanting more. When his hand dipped down between her legs, she gasped and arched her hips. But he barely touched her. His fingers only lightly played with her moist folds before returning to her hips.
She had been running her hands over his chest and shoulders, trying to encourage him to do more, but she realized she had to take matters into her own hands, literally. She ran her hand down his body to his erection and he gave a low growl of pleasure and forced restraint when her hand wrapped him.
Slowly, she began to stroke, and he cursed softly under his breath. His hand traveled to her mound again and, with no warning, penetrated her with one thick finger. She cried out and tried to move against him, but he pressed her back against the shower wall, sealing his lips to hers.
His finger stroked her the perfect way and she broke off the kiss to bury her face against his neck, moaning with pleasure. She squirmed against him, releasing her hold on his shaft and gripping his shoulders. “I’ve already experienced how wonderful your fingers can be. I want more today.”
He grinned. “Are you demanding I do something different? It wasn’t good enough before.”
“Oh, it was good. But I’ll never know what I’ve missed until we’ve… Experimented.” She leaned back slightly, allowing her body to naturally slip against his in the water.
He groaned. “Don’t lose that thought.” He backed away from her and leaned out of the shower stall for several seconds. When he rejoined her, he had a condom packed he had already started to tear open.
She took it from his hand and finished opening it and focused on his face as she slowly rolled it on him. Seeing the vein pulsing on the side of his forehead and his eyes nearly cross excited her even more. “I can’t wait to feel you inside me.” She nibbled at his ear as she spoke.
He pushed her against the wall again, his erection pressing firmly against her stomach. He dropped his head and slid a nipple into his mouth and suckled at it lightly. She clutched at his head, struggling to draw a deep breath. The steam building in the bathroom and the hot water showering down on them made everything more erotic.
She squeaked in surprise when he lifted her, hoisting her legs up and apart. She licked her lips, her heart racing in her chest with anticipation. “Please, Santo. Don’t make me wait any longer.”
He pressed against her and she gasped, clinging to his shoulders tightly. As he pushed further inside, she moaned and her head rolled against the shower wall. His hands slid up to cup her under her ass and he shoved the rest of the way inside.
His groan of pleasure echoed against the tile walls and he buried his face against her neck, breathing heavily. She stroked his back, wanting it to last as long as possible, but the delicious ache spiraling in her core from the feeling of fullness made her move, grinding against him. She arched her back, rubbing her nipples against his firm chest and gasped as her movements allowed him to penetrate even deeper.
“You feel amazing.” His husky voice against her ear made her shiver with intense pleasure.
“I’d say the same for you.” She attempted to rotate her hips but he held her firmly against the wall. Losing some of the control made her more desperate to feel him move. Finally, he did. And it stole her breath away.
His hips moved slowly at first, then picked up speed. Soon their soft moans of pleasure intermingled with gasps of ecstasy. “Don’t stop.” She clutched his head and tilted it back, kissing him deeply. “Don’t ever stop.” She spoke against his lips in a hoarse whisper.
He deepened the kiss as his movements became faster and harder. She wrapped her legs around his waist, clinging to him with a passion she’d never felt before. Her body climbed higher and higher toward a peak that made every nerve in her body tingle and her muscles tighten.
She didn’t expect to fall off the cliff so hard and so fast, and her startled cry could barely be muffled against Santo’s li
ps. Her body trembled and quivered around him and she shuddered with ecstasy.
The feeling of his hard staff still thrusting in and out increased her pleasure. She opened her eyes and saw him watching her intently. His hand cupped her breast and he took her hyper-sensitive nipple in-between his thumb and forefinger and pinched and twisted. Her jaw went slack and she arched into his hand.
He had moved her away from the wall slightly and her hips began moving against his hard and fast. “That’s it, Evie. That’s it. One more time. Let me feel you come apart one more time.” His fingers delved between their bodies and stroked her bundle of nerves into a frenzy.
“Santo! Oh, Santo…” She arched her head back, pressing her breast more firmly into his hand and the tremors shaking her body nearly consumed her. She heard her loud cry of pleasure echoing off the tile walls, and she didn’t care if anyone heard her. It had been powerful enough to be heard throughout the entire house.
Santo buried his hand in her hair, pulling her head back so he could nuzzle her neck. He growled as his entire body tensed. His growl turned to a low moan as he surged against her one last time, trembling against her. She ran her hands up and down his back and into his hair, thrilled to have him experiencing pleasure with her as intensely as she felt with him.
He groaned a couple more times, his hips flexing before he let out a shaky breath. She wanted to cry at the feeling of emptiness as he moved away from her. He kissed her tenderly, and she wished she didn’t have to leave the ranch soon. If she could she’d stay locked up with him for days, exploring each other and the many, many ways they could pleasure each other.
“I think we still need to shower, don’t we?” He had pressed his forehead to hers and she could hear the confusion in his voice.
She smiled. “If you want to be tempted again. I can’t make any promises about how I may behave around you.”
He pulled back to look at her and his fingers traced her smiling lips. “This is what I’ve missed so much the past few days. I’ve needed this smile. It’s like the fuel to power me through anything.”
Protected in His Arms: An Elite SEAL Rescue (Texas Elite Seals Book 3) Page 18
