“Hey, I’ve got incoming communication from the DEA. I’m gonna sign off,” Tully said. His video feed went blank.
Leland shut down all the windows since they were no longer actively surveilling the site. He swiveled toward Dawn. “You can take a sick day or two, if the DEA wants to keep things looking normal.” He laughed without humor. “If having an arsenal in the basement could be called normal.”
“Chad’s already suspicious of me. Wouldn’t that make him even more so?” She shook her head. “I’d almost rather be at the gym where there are lots of people around and Chad has to act like he’s just a personal trainer.”
“Then I’ll be there too.”
“We broke up and you quit the gym, remember?”
He smiled with an edge. “Ah, but I didn’t cancel my membership because you told Vicky not to give me a refund. Maybe I’m trying to win you back.” He lifted her hair away from her neck before he brushed a whisper of a kiss just under her earlobe.
A tingle of delight ran over her skin. “I like being won back. Do it again.”
He obliged and then moved his lips along her jawline with the same light pressure. The tingle turned into a full-body shiver of delicious sensation. It was probably the heightened tension of the evening, but her nerve endings felt ultrasensitive. She ran her fingertips over the slight scruff of late-night whiskers on Leland’s chin, testing the springy bristles and thinking how they would feel on the inside of her thighs. The tingling grew hot and migrated down between her legs.
“Do you still need to monitor the dark node?” she asked, an edge of huskiness in her voice.
His lips curled into a sensual smile of comprehension. “I can set up an alarm to alert me if it changes.”
“I’ll meet you in the bedroom.” She gave his denim-covered thigh a squeeze before she scooted off the stool.
She figured they might not have much time, so she stripped off her clothes, brushed her hair to a high gloss, and slipped under the covers. She’d barely settled back when Leland strode through the door and stopped dead, his smile turning so sexy it practically set her on fire. Without saying a word, he jerked his shirt up over his head so hard that his glasses went flying through the air.
“I think they went—” she started to point.
“I’ll find them later.” He stripped off his jeans and boxer briefs and stalked around to pull the covers down to her ankles. “How did you know that I had pictured you exactly like this?”
Just the way he gazed at her made her go hot with longing. “Well, being naked isn’t a stretch,” she said to cover her instant arousal.
He put one knee on the bed, making it sink under his weight before he stretched his hand out to splay it on her stomach. It felt almost like he was branding her as his. “In this room. On this bed. Naked and waiting for me with that hungry look in your eyes.”
“Oh. Oh!” He skimmed his hand down and slid one finger down between her legs to gently stroke her clit. She arched into his touch as sparks scattered through her belly. Two more strokes and he dipped his finger inside her.
“Oh,” he said in imitation of her. “You’re so wet already.” He slid his finger in deeper and she rocked her hips to welcome him. But he withdrew, bringing his finger to his mouth to suck it, his eyelids half-closed. “You taste like everything I want.”
“And I want you,” she said. “There’s a condom in the drawer right beside you.”
“Hey, darlin’, we’re not in a rush.” His accent was thick and smooth as he ran his palm over her thigh.
“I told you that watching you on the computer makes me hot. So I’m in a rush.”
“Well, okay, then,” he said with a slow-curving smile. “You just had to explain that.”
Opening the drawer, he pulled out the foil envelope and tossed it on the pillow before sliding onto the bed beside her, his long, hard body pressed against her side. He cupped a hand over her breast and gave her a lingering kiss. His erection was hard against her thigh, so she reached over to wrap her fingers around it and stroke. The motion pushed her breast harder into his palm, which wound her even tighter. She was ready to explode.
He started to roll onto his back but she braced her hand against his chest. “I want you on top,” she said.
“Are you sure?” He brushed her hair away, his gaze questioning as he scanned her face. “I’m happy with you anywhere you choose to be.”
“I want to be surrounded by you.” She yearned to open herself completely to Leland. She wanted to feel his weight anchoring her while trusting his strength to keep her safe. She craved the sense of being filled to the fullest. She ripped open the envelope and rolled the condom onto his cock. Then she kissed him deeply, tempting his tongue with hers, circling her thumb on his nipple, and hooking her leg over his. As he turned onto his side to meet her halfway, she used the leverage of her leg to roll them both so she was under him, her thighs spread on either side of his hips. She checked for any signs of a panic attack, but all she felt was aroused and aching.
He braced himself with his forearms on either side of her shoulders, once again checking on her reaction. “You tell me the second you feel uncomfortable. No matter what I’m doing.”
“I won’t need to. This feels very right.” She did her best to rock her hips but could barely move under the weight of muscle and bone that held her exactly where she should be. Without any fear.
He shifted so his cock nudged her clit, making her moan as an electric current of pleasure jolted through her. “More,” she begged. “More of you.”
He straightened his arms so he hovered above her as he eased himself slowly inside her, making her gasp at the exquisite sensation of being filled. “Yes, yes, yes!” she chanted, her insides turning molten with satisfaction and yearning at the same time.
She looked up at him, savoring the tautness of his jaw, the power of his braced arms, and the silk of his hair falling around his face. It was his eyes that nearly undid her, though. They blazed with desire but held a stunning tenderness. He understood what she was asking of him, what she was giving to him.
She planted her feet on the bed and tilted her hips. “Move!”
He laughed, a growling rumble of sheer exultation, and followed her command, sliding out and thrusting back in with a driving rhythm that brought her right to the edge.
For a moment every cell in her body seemed to go still, a suspension before the coming explosion. Then the cataclysm hit her, sending her into a mind-blowing, muscle-wrenching orgasm that seemed to go on forever.
When she finally relaxed into the mattress, she opened her eyes to see Leland staring down at her. “That was the most intense thing I’ve ever watched,” he said.
“You should have felt it,” she said.
“Oh, I did. That was incredible.”
But he was still fully hard inside her. The heft of him there sent tiny tremors vibrating through her. Tremors of pure pleasure.
“You didn’t come,” she said.
“Only by calling on every ounce of self-control I possess.” He lowered himself to his forearms again so their faces were only inches apart. “I wanted to make sure I could stop if you needed me to.”
His words burrowed into her chest, finding her heart and lodging there. His care for her, shown in so many ways this evening, left her breathless with longing for something she feared was out of her reach. She forced a breath into her lungs, but that only intensified her awareness as she caught the scent of clean, aroused man that was so distinctively his.
“Am I crushing you?” He started to straighten his arms.
Unable to push sound past the emotion clogging her throat, she shook her head and tugged him back down, loving the feel of his chest against her breasts. She coughed to clear her throat. “It’s your turn.”
“I’m in no hurry.” He kissed her shoulder. “I’d be happy to stay like this until my arm muscles give out.”
“All that swimming pays off.” She skimmed her palm over the
bulge of muscle in his shoulder and squeezed her internal muscles around his cock.
His eyelids slammed shut and he groaned, his hips rocking slightly. She squeezed again.
“Holy hell! I could come just from you doing that,” he rasped. But he started to move, his strokes slow and sensual.
He was being gentle, considerate, still worrying about her demons. But that wasn’t what she wanted from him now. She tightened her inner muscles one more time.
The sound that came from his throat was ragged and primitive. He picked up his rhythm, his thrusts powerful and deep. She wrapped her legs around his waist and dug her fingernails into the flexing muscles of his butt, feeling her own arousal coiling tight again.
“Oh my God, Dawn!” he panted, driving into her again and again. And then he plunged in and stopped, head thrown back, arms ramrod straight, hips wedged hard between her thighs. “Yes!” he shouted as she felt him pump inside her. “Yes! Darlin’! Yes!”
The slam of his climax set her off. Her voice joined his as she pulsed around the hard length of him, her insides molten with release.
After the last shudder shimmered through her, he let himself down and rolled them so that she came out on top, sprawling over him as his softening cock slipped out of her. She whimpered as the satisfying sense of fullness disappeared.
“You okay?” he asked between ragged breaths.
“Just missing you.” But it felt wonderful to be pressed skin to skin, trading body heat, their hearts pounding against each other.
Knowing that he cared for her. Knowing that she cared for him. She wouldn’t use the word “love,” but it hovered there.
She sighed and kissed his pectoral muscle because it was under her cheek. “Can we stay like this forever?”
“In a perfect world, we could,” he said, one of his hands stroking lazily up and down her back with an occasional detour down to her buttocks. “Unfortunately, we still have some arms dealers to reckon with. But for now, we’re golden.” His accent caressed like velvet, which meant he was relaxed.
She’d done that for him. For now that was enough.
Chapter 17
Dawn woke up to find the room in darkness and Leland gone. When she ran her hand over the pillow where his head had left an indentation, it was still warm. She pushed the covers off, pulled on a white cotton sleep shirt, and padded out of the bedroom, the wooden floor slightly chilly under her bare feet.
Leland sat at the kitchen counter, the glow of the laptop’s screen illuminating his face while his fingers pirouetted over the keyboard. The only lights he had turned on were her kitchen’s undercabinet fixtures so his black clothing faded into the dimness. He hadn’t bothered with shoes either, and one of his long, bare feet was hooked over the support bar at the bottom of the stool while the other was braced flat on the floor. She wanted to run her finger along his arch to see if he was ticklish.
“Did the data traffic change on the node?” Dawn asked as she came up to lay her body against his solid back while she ran her hands up and over the swell of his shoulders. She allowed herself to briefly bury her nose against the fabric of his T-shirt to inhale the scent of warm skin, clean cotton, and the crisp undertone of his soap. She felt like she would remember that aroma the rest of her life.
“No, it’s about the same.” He twisted his head to kiss one of her hands, his lips warm and firm.
The video monitoring laptop was dark, which meant nothing was happening with Tully. “So what are you working on”—she glanced at the microwave’s display—“at 4:07 in the morning?”
“A report for a client. I didn’t get a chance to finish it earlier today.” He continued to type as he talked.
She peeked around his shoulder to see words appearing on the screen at high speed. “Is it due tomorrow—er, today?”
“It’s due to Derek later today. He needs to incorporate it into his proposal.”
She pulled her hands back, edged around the stool, and tilted sideways to get her face between Leland and the computer. “Leland, Derek is your partner. You’re involved in a situation involving guns and drug dealers. He’s not going to expect you to hand in your report on time.”
He stopped typing to run one hand over his face. “I couldn’t sleep.”
“Why didn’t you wake me up? I’m pretty sure we could have found something more interesting to do than write a report.” He looked exhausted in the low light, not surprising given that he’d gotten about two hours of sleep so far.
He smiled and swiveled on the stool, pulling her in to stand between his thighs. “You needed to rest.” He set his hands on her hips and kissed her forehead.
“So do you.”
“Yeah, but I couldn’t, which is no excuse for keeping you awake.”
She thought of what Natalie had said about the demons driving Leland. Maybe the dead of night was when he could be persuaded to reveal what they were. She brushed her fingertips through his rumpled hair. “Why can’t you sleep, sweetheart?” Yup, she’d said “sweetheart.” It was just to lull him into confiding in her.
“Too wound up from chasing drug kingpins and arms dealers, I guess.” He gave her hips a playful squeeze.
She laid her palms on either side of his face without smiling. “Seriously, what makes you type reports in the middle of the night? I want to know.”
He skimmed his hands down to cup her butt and move her in closer as though he would kiss her. She braced her elbows against his shoulders so he had to meet her eyes. “What?” she demanded.
He closed his eyes as though weary. “Obligations.”
“To whom?”
He opened his eyes and the lines of his face tightened. “This isn’t the time for diving into my psyche. I have tasks to finish before tomorrow morning.”
“The middle of the night, when it’s quiet and dark and there’s no one but me to hear what you say, is the perfect time for diving into your psyche.”
He released his grip on her butt and moved his hands to rest on his thighs. “Did Derek and Tully put you up to this?” He gave his head a tiny shake between her palms. “Forget I said that.”
“It sounds like all three of us are worried about you.” She took one of his hands and tugged at it. He unfolded himself from the stool and stood, towering far enough above her that she couldn’t see the expression on his face in the minimal lighting. That wouldn’t work.
She interlaced her fingers with his and pulled him toward the sofa. For the briefest moment, he resisted. Then he let her settle him on the cushions. She grabbed the fake-fur throw draped over the back of the couch and wrapped it around herself before she sat sideways and curled her legs under her. She made sure her knees touched his thigh. The contact would provide a literal connection between them.
“Did they tell you?” he asked.
“I haven’t discussed your work habits with either of your partners. This is just me, wondering why you’re trying to drive yourself to exhaustion.”
“Huh.” He dropped his head into his hands and rubbed his face again. “They think it’s because my mother died three months ago.”
He stopped again, so she prompted, “Had she been ill?”
“That’s the hell of it. She was perfectly healthy except for the undiagnosed aneurysm in her brain.” He shook his head. “Jesus, I have all this money for the best possible medical care, but no doctor caught it. She died alone. Probably in pain.”
She laid a hand on his forearm. “No one can know whether she was in pain.”
“The doctor said she might have had a severe headache or nausea immediately before the aneurysm ruptured. But he said it was a blessing she died. If she’d survived, there would have been extensive neurological damage. She would have hated being less.” He turned away but she caught the glint of tears on his cheek. “She was such a strong woman.”
She understood one part of his sorrow. “You didn’t get to say goodbye. That must be hard.”
He gave her his profile again, after he wi
ped his cheek on the shoulder of his T-shirt. “Mama raised me single-handedly. We were a team, a unit, allies, as well as mother and son. We had each other’s backs. But I wasn’t there when she needed me. I didn’t have her back at the most important moment.”
She picked up his hand from his thigh and sandwiched it between both of hers. “Your love was with your mom. She knew that. I’m sure she felt wrapped in it when she died. Because I can feel it radiating from you.”
“I don’t believe in any of that woo-woo stuff about projecting energy through the universe.”
Stubborn man. “When you think of your mom, what do you feel?”
“Loss. Grief. Absence. Guilt.”
“What about love? You don’t remember being loved?”
“Of course I do.” He was almost angry. “My mother worked three jobs to put me through school. She encouraged me and supported me and told me I could do anything I put my mind to. She loved me deeply.”
“When she was dying, I guarantee she thought of you and felt your love in that same way.”
“It’s not the same as being there to hold her hand so she wasn’t alone when she faced death.”
His pain ripped at her heart like claws. “I get that, but you said she was a strong woman. I’m sure she faced death with courage.”
He was silent for a moment. “She was religious too. A Catholic. She believed in heaven and hell. God knows, she deserved to go to heaven.”
“She sounds extraordinary. I wish I could have met her.” The woman who had created this man whom Leland was must have been quite a force. She would have loved to see them together to watch the dynamic between them.
Finally, he curled his fingers around one of her hands and tilted his head to look at her. “You have a lot in common with her when it comes to strength. I think you would have gotten along well, the two of you.”
“That’s a lovely compliment.” She brought his hand to her lips for a brush of a kiss.
He turned on the sofa, crooking one knee flat on the cushion so he faced her full-on. “Derek and Tully think I work to bury my grief.” He shrugged. “That’s partially true. But I also do it to honor Mama. She gave up so much to make sure I had the tools to succeed. I owe it to her to use them.”
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