Don't Dare a Diamond (Must Love Diamonds Book 5)

by Stacey Joy Netzel

  A great offer, but if he lay with her without talking, he’d end up thinking of all the things he wanted to do with her.

  Talking might be safer.

  He disengaged their hands and stepped back, but didn’t go any farther.

  “Or…” she ventured, “you could tell me about what happened to you three years ago.”

  He’d rather think about all the things he wanted to do with her.

  Rustling noises told him she was doing something, but he couldn’t even see the shadows of her movement. His fingers clenched for a moment before he consciously relaxed them. Even if he could manage to scrape together every last little atom of willpower he possessed, it wouldn’t get him back out to the couch, so he sidestepped around her, felt for the edge of the bed, and then sat while toeing off his shoes. Then he swung his legs up on top the comforter and scooted back against the headboard.

  “I already told you what happened.”

  “I know, but—” The mattress dipped as she climbed up—right over him. “Oh. Sorry. I can’t see anything.”

  He sucked in a breath when her hand brushed over his groin. He quickly reached to help her over to the other side of the bed and encountered a whole palmful of warm, bare thigh.

  Holy shit—had she stripped down?

  Heat seared through his veins as he jerked his arm away and grabbed the top of the headboard to keep from reaching for her again.

  “What did you take off?” he asked before he could help himself.

  “My jeans were wet.”

  Which meant she was in his bed in just his shirt. He leaned his head back against the headboard as the semi he’d been trying to will away swelled to full mast.

  Yeah, he was totally fucked.

  She rustled around a bit more, adjusting the pillow by the sound of it. But then she scooted in close against his left side, and he stiffened when she tucked her shoulder under his arm, draped her arm across his stomach and pillowed her head on his chest. Her knee rested against his thigh—thank God, because if she’d draped it over him, he was pretty sure nothing could’ve stopped him from reaching down to haul her fully on top of him.

  Reyes stared across the room in the dark, the headboard biting into his fingers as he gripped it tight while his pulse roared in his ears. Like earlier in the barn—and any other time he got too close—the airy, floral scent of her filled his senses and had him wanting to bury his face in her hair.

  Talk about torture. Laying there on his bed with her pressed against him was worse than working with her with the thoroughbreds the past couple of weeks. He’d done his level best to keep everything strictly business, but in this moment—and if he was being honest, all the others before it—he was helpless against the tide of emotion he should resist at all costs.

  Raine slid her hand up his chest to his face, her touch ghosting over his lips before shifting down just a bit. His pulse stumbled when she traced the line of his scar with her fingertip.

  “Did this happen that day?”

  He swallowed hard at the question and managed a slight nod and strangled sound of confirmation. She didn’t press further, and after a long moment, he let out a pent up breath while lowering his arm to curve over her shoulder and arm. She snuggled closer, and his heart warmed, even as his gut tightened at the words rushing to the tip of his tongue.

  But what was that stellar advice he’d given her weeks ago?

  You gotta face what happened.

  “It was supposed to be a routine sweep of an isolated compound. Intel said the place had been deserted for weeks.” He paused as vivid memories flashed in his head like snippets from a movie trailer. “I led the way in initially, but we spread out to check the rooms, and one of my guys hit a trip wire.”

  Her palm flattened against his jaw, warm and comforting. Reaching up with his free hand, he pulled hers back down to his chest and held tight.

  “I have vague memories of screams and yelling and then nothing until I woke up on the plane to Landstuhl in Germany. I couldn’t see a damn thing.”

  “I can’t even imagine how terrifying that must’ve been.”

  He could only squeeze her hand in affirmation.

  “What about your team?”

  A lump formed in his throat from both her asking about the others, and what had happened. “Neider—the guy who tripped the wire—didn’t make it.”

  Her palm pressed over his heart. “I’m so sorry.”

  Reyes tightened his arm on her shoulder for a brief moment in acknowledgment of the husky emotion in her voice. “Hughes and Dice rode transport to Germany with me. They were both medically discharged because of their injuries.”

  “You weren’t?”

  He made a negative sound. “Once my vision came back, my injuries were all surface.”

  She shifted until he felt her rest her chin on the back of the hand she’d flattened against his chest. “Still, I don’t think it’s right they made you go back.”

  “I insisted on going back,” he corrected.

  “Why?”

  He smiled slightly at the astonishment in her voice. “My team was still there. No way was I going to go home when I was still physically able to serve with them.”

  “And mentally?”

  “Believe it or not, it was better there. After I came home is when things got worse.”

  “After you were away from your team?”

  “Yeah.”

  A change in pressure on his chest told him she’d tilted her head. “Have you talked to anyone?”

  “Dev. The horses. You.”

  The lamp on his nightstand clicked on.

  Reyes blinked at the unexpected light and found himself staring right into Raine’s hazel eyes. The hum of the refrigerator and other appliances seemed unusually loud in the suddenly awkward silence as their gazes held. He read sympathy in her eyes, not pity, and another raw, warm emotion that kick-started his pulse.

  “Hi,” she murmured softly.

  His lips twitched. “Hi.”

  Her gaze dropped to his mouth, and in the space of one heartbeat, desire hit with a dizzying rush. The sudden hitch of her breath told him she felt it, too.

  He lifted his hand to tuck her damp hair back and couldn’t seem to help but let his touch linger on the soft, delicate shell of her ear. Of their own accord, his fingers slipped into her hair, burying deep for an anchor in his losing battle against rising desire.

  She held his gaze steady as she pushed up and swung a leg over to straddle his thighs. He drew in a ragged breath, his body throbbing with need as he wished she’d settled a few inches higher.

  Clenching his fingers ever so slightly in her hair, he drew her forward, his gaze zeroed in on her lips. Even with the move, he made one last token effort at doing the right thing.

  “You know there are all kinds of reasons why this is a bad idea.”

  “Maybe.” Hands braced on his shoulders, she leaned in until her lips were less than an inch from his. “But in this exact moment, there isn’t a single one I give a damn about. You?”

  Reyes couldn’t even remember them, much less give a damn about them.

  He answered with a little tug to close the distance between them and melded his mouth with hers. When her lips parted on a sigh, he angled her head and deepened the kiss with a bold stroke of his tongue. Her soft moan only drove him deeper, until they were both desperate for air. He sucked in a lungful while trailing his lips down along her throat.

  He reached for the buttons on her shirt—his shirt—his heart thudding hard at the anticipation of revealing what lie underneath. Raine eased back, her hands lightly trailing over his forearms as he worked his way down. He caught her swift glance at the bedside lamp at the same time he realized earlier she’d removed her jeans and her bra.

  Sweet Jesus.

  “So, um, do you usually just leave the light on all the time then?” she asked.

  He was busy taking in the exposed curves of her breasts. “Usually.”

&nbs
p; “And no one’s minded?”

  Reyes stopped on the second to last button and looked up. “Do you mind?” She shook her head, but he noticed the corner of her lip caught between her teeth. “Raine, you can be honest.”

  “I don’t,” she insisted. Then she rolled her eyes with a slightly sheepish smile. “I guess I’m just curious if other women you’ve been with have been okay with sleeping with the light on. What do you tell them?”

  He tried to avoid answering by teasing, “Really? Right now, you’re curious about other women?”

  She frowned, and ducked her head. “I’m sorry. That was stupid to ask.”

  “No.” He tucked a knuckle under her chin and raised her gaze to his. His heart thumped hard as he admitted, “I don’t know if other women would be okay with it because I haven’t been with anyone since before it happened.”

  Her eyes widened. “In three years?”

  He lifted his shoulders, then let them droop as nerves rushed in. Until this moment, he hadn’t really thought about how long it had been. Well, he had, but now he was suddenly worried about how long he’d last.

  Raine palmed his face with a soft smile, then leaned in to gently press her lips to his. He started to lift up to deepen the kiss, but she eased back a couple inches.

  “Do you trust me, Reyes?”

  The suddenly serious question prompted his solemn nod—until she leaned over and switched off the lamp. His pulse revved like crazy, and three years of conditioning had him tensing beneath her.

  She leaned in again, her lips brushing his before raining soft kisses over his face. After a moment, his breathing eased, and he began to anticipate where the next one would fall.

  “You good?” she whispered.

  “Mm-hm.”

  “Good.” Left eye. “Don’t think of the dark.” Scar. “Just feel.” Forehead.

  By now, she had his full attention, and with her body against his, “Just feel,” was an easy order to follow.

  He parted the sides of her unbuttoned shirt and skimmed his hands up her rib cage to her breasts. He loved the weight of the firm globes filling his palms, and when he circled her hard nipples with his thumbs, her mouth settled over his again. A throaty hum vibrated her lips against his before he opened to the bold probe of her tongue.

  A moment later, she shifted so her breasts were right in his face, the movement an unapologetic demand for him to take her in his mouth. He loved that she wasn’t shy, and as she arched over him, her hips riding his as he sucked on one breast, then the other, he asked, “Tell me what you want, Raine. What do you like?”

  “I want you,” she breathed. Her fingers clenched in his hair, and she widened her legs, bearing down over his erection. “All of you.”

  His body pulsated in eager response, but if he buried himself in her right now, he’d likely be finished in a few desperate strokes.

  So he stripped off the shirt and her panties, then flipped their positions. As he bent his head to swirl his tongue around one nipple, she skimmed his T-shirt up his back, her light touch a torturous tickle. A quick reach dragged it over his head, and he tossed it aside.

  Her hands moved to his chest and he enjoyed the sensation of her exploring fingers before it became impossible to resist the temptation of her body laid out beneath him. Her muscles were firm and toned from years of riding, yet her skin seductively silky soft.

  He took his time worshiping her breasts, then kissed his way farther down, past her navel, to the sweet spot that had her moaning his name minutes later. He wished he could see her face as she came apart beneath him, but wouldn’t trade a moment of this with her for anything.

  She drew in a deep breath when he moved up to lie beside her. “I’m not complaining,” she said, “but I think you got that backwards.”

  Despite the smile in her voice, Reyes paused mid-reach for a condom in his night stand. “Things haven’t changed that much in three years, have they?”

  She laughed. “I was supposed to give you a good memory of the dark. Something to help after I…”

  His chest clenched at where that sentence had been going before she trailed off. “After you’re gone?”

  Her soft sigh was full of regret. “Yeah.”

  He took it back. He would trade this one night for a lifetime of forever with her.

  But that wasn’t an option. She had to get back to her life, and a career that included riding for Olympic gold. He would never ask her to give up her dream.

  Reyes brushed his knuckles over her cheek before kissing her with all the pent-up longing of the past few weeks and what was to come in his future. Somewhere in there they stripped off his sweats and boxer briefs, and she nearly killed him with the soft explorations of her hands.

  As her fingers circled his hard flesh and caressed up and down, his hips bucked in response. He reached down to close his hand around hers, applying torturous pressure before pulling her away.

  “I need to be inside you,” he rasped.

  He rolled on the condom, then positioned himself at her entrance. In the faintest of light filtering in from the outside yard lights, he saw her lips part on a soft gasp when he slid into her tight heat. A low groan of pure pleasure rumbled from deep in his chest as he buried his face in her hair.

  Holy fuck, I don’t remember it ever feeling this good.

  A soft laugh whispered over his ear. “I’d love to take the credit, but that’s just because it’s been a few years.”

  “Did I say that out loud?” he asked.

  “Yeah.” Raine arched beneath him, her hips urging him to move.

  After a few strokes, another moan left his lips when she matched his rhythm. “Take the credit—it’s truly all yours.”

  Her hands in his hair drew his mouth back to hers. “How about it’s ours?”

  He didn’t agree or disagree as a tingle started at the base of his spine, urging him faster. He fought hard to hold on until she came first—or with him—but his control slipped fast. “Raine…I…I can’t…”

  “It’s fine,” she bit out, her nails biting into his back. “I’m good. Oh, God, Reyes, so good.”

  Her inner muscles tightened around him. His climax barreled through him, and he let go as it carried him over the edge with her.

  His pulse still beat crazy fast as he tried shifting to the side moments later. With her arms wrapped around him, her fingers threading through his hair at the nape of his neck, she made a negative sound and kept his weight over her body.

  Emotion swelled in his chest, and he knew without a doubt he’d failed despite his best efforts. She’d given him this memory to hold onto in the dark, and in turn, she’d take his heart with her when she left. He wasn’t so sure the exchange was fair—but he wouldn’t take it back for anything.

  Now, he just had to figure out how to live with only the memory as she rode her way to gold.

  19

  Sunday morning, Raine woke briefly when Reyes murmured he was going to feed the horses, and then a short while later, he slid back under the covers with her. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d stayed in bed past eight, and certainly not with a man. But he’d woken her with a kiss that quickly turned into so much more.

  She wished she could spend the whole day with him right here, but reluctantly lifted her head from his chest to check the clock on the nightstand. “Brunch is in an hour. I should get back to the guest house to shower and get ready. You want to meet me up there?”

  There was a beat of silence before he pressed a kiss to her shoulder, then rolled over to sit up on the other side of the bed. “I’m not going to brunch.”

  Raine sat up, holding the sheet to her chest. “You’re not?”

  Back still to her, he shook his head as he pulled on his briefs and a pair of jeans. “I got other stuff to do.”

  Surprised by his short tone, she frowned in disappointment—and hurt—while reaching down for the button up shirt he’d given her in place of her wet top. As she slipped it on and secure
d the buttons, it took all her willpower to not demand exactly what stuff was more important than making the most of the time they had left?

  “You want coffee?” he asked on his way to the door.

  In what, a to-go cup?

  Biting back the snark, she said, “Sure. Thanks.” Then she sat dumbfounded after he left, wondering what the hell had happened in the past thirty seconds?

  Life had made a seismic shift last night and then settled into a new reality this morning. But maybe it had only been for her. Maybe he hadn’t felt the same connection when they made love, and she was the only one who wanted to use the rest of her stay to figure out how they could have a future together.

  Swallowing past the lump in her throat, she pulled on her panties, grabbed her bra and now dry jeans, and headed for the bathroom right next door to his bedroom. She shot Reyes a quick look in the kitchen. He had his back to her, his hands braced on the counter in front of the sink, his shoulders hunched as he stared out the window overlooking the white-fenced pastures. As if the weight of the world was suddenly resting on those broad shoulders.

  She wanted to ask what was wrong, but chickened out and turned back toward the bathroom—until she spotted her top from the night before draped over one of the island stools to dry. Probably better to wear that across the lawn, just in case any of her cousins arrived early and saw her crossing from the barn to the guest house.

  She was halfway across the living room to retrieve the shirt when footsteps pounded up the stairs from the barn. She jerked to a halt as a loud knock rattled the door.

  “Rey? You in there?”

  He spun around from the sink at the same time the door swung open. His brother pulled up short when he saw the both of them.

  “Geezus, Dev, you could wait for me to get the door,” Reyes grumbled as he came around to the other side of the counter.

  “We were looking for Raine,” he shot back, his gaze swinging from one to the other.

  Heat seared her face as he clearly took in the whole picture with Reyes in just jeans, and her in just his shirt.

  “You two really should answer your damn phones.”