“Good,” he murmured.
She frowned. “Are you going to tell Mattie at all about your run-in with Mark out there on that ambush?”
Wyatt looked up, seeing the concern in Tal’s green eyes. “I’ve tossed it around,” he admitted, moving his fingers tenderly across her slender ankle. “I waffle a lot on it, Tal. If I do tell Mattie, I wonder how she’ll take it. Will she want to go find Mark? Will she feel hurt because he disappeared from her life for so long? Will she expect him to show up at the kindergarten class as he did before? Will she think that there’s still something left unsaid or unfinished between them? Because you know my sister has never stopped loving Mark.” His mouth thinned. “How do you feel about it?”
“I have the same questions you do, Wyatt. And I don’t have any answers. This was the first time Mattie had seen Mark in four months, so I don’t think this is going to become standard operating procedure. I doubt he’ll show up again in her life soon, if ever.”
“That’s what I thought.” He smoothed the almond oil he used for her massages from midcalf all the way down into her delicate arch. Tal made a sound of pleasure in her throat, and his heart leaped with need of her. “If I tell her, she’ll probably expect or want Mark to show up again. And none of us know if that will happen.”
“Mark knew you’d be in that ambush.”
Giving a one-shouldered shrug, Wyatt said, “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that, too. I talked to Sage a day earlier, giving her a verbal warning, hoping she would get in touch with Mark. I think she did. I think he knew I’d be there. He was wearing NVGs. He could see me even though I wore greasepaint and my goggles. He knows my build, and he knows how I move. I’m pretty sure that’s how he ID’d me out there in the dark.”
“Wyatt, he was Marine Force Recon. Why wouldn’t he be thinking ahead like he did?”
“Yeah, I keep forgetting that,” he admitted, smoothing the oil now to those little toes of hers.
“I’m not surprised Mark figured things out ahead of time. And he must have spotted you.”
“Well, when I fired my SIG to blow the tires out on the vehicle, he’d have spotted the muzzle flash. Whether he knew it was me or not, I don’t know.”
She snorted. “Look, while the federal agencies are good, they are not military-trained or trained to anticipate ambushes like us. Don’t you think Mark probably figured out it was you, Wyatt? He could probably guess who you were by the muzzle suppressor on your SIG.”
“Could be,” he murmured. “Mark was always smart as a damned whip.”
She held his gaze, which showed consternation in its depths. “You know what else I think?”
“Tell me.”
“I think Mark expected you to be there from the beginning. I think he was counting on the fact that Mattie would pass his message on to your family. I think he knew we were here visiting your family, Wyatt. I think that Mark has one helluva communications network in this region. He could have eyes via another drug soldier who works as a mole around here.”
Wyatt frowned and kept working on her toes, hearing her groan with pleasure. “So, that would mean that one of the wranglers working for us has a real-time connection with Mark. Because we’ve been hardly anywhere else in Van Horn since we arrived here.”
“I’ve wondered about that angle, too,” Tal admitted, worried.
Wyatt didn’t like that answer at all. He concentrated on her toes and said nothing, thinking through what she saw and felt. Tal was a consummate sniper and knew strategy and tactics like few others ever would, so he respected her insights and ideas.
“My family has always hired vaqueros from Mexico to work for us. It’s been our family tradition for over a hundred years. The cooks for the wranglers’ barracks are also Hispanic. Damn, I wouldn’t like to think that we have a spy in our midst, Tal.”
“It’s just a supposition,” she said, trying to soothe him. “I could be wrong, Wyatt.”
“You’re rarely wrong. I’ve seen you in action way too many times not to know you’re a careful evaluator out in the field, in danger, and you’re good at what you do.”
She gave him a warm look. “I hope I’m wrong in this case, Wyatt. Have you asked yourself how Mark would know you and I were here? What if he wanted me to be present in that classroom? He knew if he showed up at Mattie’s class and gave her that information, she’d carry it back to you. And so would I. Why would he do that?”
“You make good points, and I don’t have answers.”
Reaching out as Wyatt finished her toes, she touched his arm. “Don’t get your knickers in a twist on this, will you? If anything, Mark was warning you, and he knew what you’d do. He was giving away the Cardona cartel incursion onto your family’s land. Further, he was protecting all those poor, kidnapped children found in that truck. He was present during the ambush, watching out for you. Protecting you, Wyatt. He must have been there for your family. All of you. He’s a dark angel, no question, but he still has morals, values, and integrity woven into him. It’s the only explanation I have for why Mark would have killed his own drug soldiers when you started firing at the tires on the Jeep. Don’t forget, Recons work with SEAL teams over in Afghanistan and Iraq all the time. Mark would know your strategy and tactics. He knew your mind. He knew your methods.”
Wyatt nodded, digesting her flawless logic. “I wasn’t thinking in that direction.”
“It took me a while to piece it together.” She smiled and tugged on his T-shirt sleeve. “Come to bed with me. I really need to be held by you tonight . . .”
It was the sweetest invitation that Wyatt had ever gotten. “I’m taking off my boxer shorts and T-shirt. I’ve had enough of wearing clothes to bed,” he told her, standing up.
“Me, too,” she said with a wicked smile, unbuttoning her flannel top. “I hate wearing pajamas. All they do is get knotted up into a lump.” She watched him strip out of the black T-shirt and shorts. Her lower body warmed as she looked at his thick erection. Getting out of her flannels, she dropped them on the floor next to the bed.
Wyatt felt a lot of his trepidation melting away. Tonight Tal was more like her old self. Maybe he hadn’t wounded her as badly as he’d first thought. At least, that’s what he hoped. But he wasn’t taking any chances, either. Assumptions killed people, and he wasn’t about to assume anything with Tal right now. Moving into bed next to her, he growled, “Come here,” and slid his hands around her waist once he lay on his back. Tal was no featherweight, but he easily lifted her up and over his hips, settling her wet core against his aching cock, which wanted to be deep within her.
“Now,” he growled, once she was comfortable on him, “lie over me like a blanket. We have to have a serious talk.” He coaxed her to lie down on him. Tal didn’t want to lay her breasts against his chest where that bullet bruise was located, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. “Darlin’, that little ol’ bitty bruise is just that. Let me look you in the eyes as you spread like a hot blanket across me.” This was one of Tal’s favorite positions on him because of her injured ankle. Wyatt was too big a man and would crush her beneath him. And he might do more damage to that healing ankle. So having her on top of him worked just fine for both of them. In the shadowy darkness, her hair a frame for her classically beautiful face, she smiled a little and finally relented, laying her breasts like soft cushions across that bruise. Wyatt was used to pain and working through it. The bruise was hot and swollen, and yes, it ached, but he didn’t care. He wanted—no, needed—Tal, languid, warm, sleek, and sensuous, pressed on top of him.
“Mmm, this feels really good,” she whispered, her chin resting on her hands as she looked into his heated, narrowed eyes. Moving her hips slightly, feeling his cock harden like warm steel beneath her wet core that was hungry to have him deep within her, she laughed softly. “You really want a serious conversation in this position, Lockwood?” She watched that boyish grin tug at his mouth as he slid his fingers through her hair, a look of contentment coming to hi
s eyes.
“Exactly like this. You feel so damn good on me, Tal.” He groaned as she twisted her hips just enough to slide from side to side, igniting fire through his cock.
“Well,” she whispered drily, her lips coming to rest against his smiling mouth, “I don’t know about you, but my mind is kinda shorting out, cowboy. I like that you’re built like a Texas stallion and my body is so hungry for you . . .”
He relished her wicked look and arched his hips, moving his cock into her sweet, welcoming entrance. The fluids were thick and hot, and he groaned. “I’m starving for you,” he admitted, his fingers tightening on her scalp. “You’re that sensual Anatolian leopard of mine disguised as a beautiful woman.” He felt her smile more against his mouth and he savored the lushness of her lips, opening his, inviting her to return their kiss. Wyatt decided to put his talking plan on hold and let their sexual chemistry rule right now. Which was okay with him, because he wanted to love Tal desperately, reestablish that solid connection that had always leaped and throbbed between them.
“Can,” she sighed, opening her lips, feeling the strength of his mouth cajoling hers, “our talk wait until afterward?”
“Yeah,” he said gruffly, “good idea . . . ,” and he took her mouth, crushing it against his, holding her captive while he thrust into her awaiting depths. The sound that caught in her throat as he began to pump into her, lavish her with ecstasy, feel the scalding fluids surrounding him, told Wyatt he was pleasuring Tal. That’s all he wanted to do: make Tal feel good, let her know just how damn much he loved her, to somehow, while loving her tonight, heal that wound he’d opened up in her heart. His tongue mated with hers, and he felt her melting in his arms, her fingers moving down across his rib cage, sensing, feeling him, luxuriating as his strength was matched against her own. She felt so damn good to him, the hidden power of her body, those long thighs of hers tight and firm against his narrow hips, her core moving against his cock, making him groan each time she stroked up and down with him, creating an intense, feverish pace. He felt her hunger and it matched his own as he drowned in her opening mouth, her breath turning ragged, her need of him paralleling his own.
He had fallen in love with Tal because of her feminine strength, her quiet courage, her flawless logic and intuition where people and life were concerned. She was a great observer of the human condition, and he knew Tal applied that to him as well. Wyatt sensed, as they melted deeper into one another, that she had already forgiven him for his mistake with her.
Wyatt liked the way her mouth moved against his, that primal animal hunger that always rose between them taking over; the mating heat that automatically sparked and burned them alive was intact, throbbing, starving, and aggressive. Her breath was harsh as he raised his hips, thrusting more deeply into her tight, welcoming confines, felt her unraveling, heard those delicious sounds coming from within her, telling him everything he ever needed to know. Their trust in one another had not been fractured. He’d have been able to tell as they made love if it had been. As always, Tal sank trustingly into his arms, letting him guide her with his powerful hips as he moved in and out of her, stroking those areas that sent quivers of delight through her entire tense, damp body.
As Wyatt eased his mouth from hers, both of them breathing heavily, he placed her hands against his chest, allowing her to sit up, allowing him to grasp her hips and move her back and forth upon him. Her juices were plentiful, sweet smelling to his flaring nostrils, making him want to taste her as well. Gripping her hips, he could feel her channel tightening, preparing for orgasm. It was an incredible, sensual, raw feeling to have those muscled walls of hers contract violently against him. And when she came—that hot rush of fluids encasing him, sliding around him, enclosing him as she cried out, her back arching deeply, her head thrown back, her slender throat exposed to the shadowy darkness shared between them—it was like floating in a dream. Wyatt kept up that pumping rhythm, milking her wild, primal body of everything it had, urging her on, holding her in place, not allowing her to escape him in any way. Her cry became hoarse, and he smiled. Then and only then did Wyatt allow himself to climax. Tal was shaking, the orgasm that powerful, her fingers trembling against his chest, little sounds of gratification escaping her curved lips, her eyes closed, lost in that galaxy of heat where she’d been hurled and was languishing.
Wyatt was going to prolong that orgasm of hers. He brought his hands down strongly upon her flared hips, placing direct pressure on her clit against his aching cock. With every glide, he groaned, feeling the firm pressure triggering his own climax. Gritting his teeth, he sucked air between them as the burning explosion rushed down his spine, tunneled down through him and into her awaiting wet body. And just as he allowed himself to fly apart, he heard her cry out, a second orgasm having been triggered. Moments fused together between them, and behind closed eyes, Wyatt felt his entire body flare into nothing but flames of pleasure as they locked into one another. It was the most incredible sensation of all when they managed to climax at the same time. The powerful ejection of heated fluids mixing, tangling, releasing, and running in thick, hot rivulets between their bodies was unlike anything he’d ever experienced in his life. Only with Tal had he been able to do this, and it warped him into another universe where only burning pleasure existed.
Tal fell against Wyatt’s body, their flesh slick and damp against one another. She groaned, completely weakened by the two incredible orgasms she’d had back-to-back with him. Never had she experienced such lush bliss and pleasure as she did with this man. She was so weak she couldn’t move, her breath harsh against the column of his neck; his roughened hands skimming her back, as if to soothe her fractious state, made Tal hum with more pleasure. Inhaling his scent made her smile. She leaned over, kissing his shoulder as she felt him graze her hair. Wyatt loved running his hands through her loose hair, and she absorbed his massaging fingertips as he moved deliciously against her scalp. She couldn’t help but purr like that Anatolian leopard she’d seen at seventeen at a national park in Turkey. They were supposed to be extinct, but she’d stumbled upon one lying on a rocky ledge, sunning himself. She would never forget the cat’s large gold eyes, his black and gold spotted fur, or the majesty around the apex predator as he regarded her through his half-open eyes.
“My beautiful leopard,” Wyatt growled against her hair, pressing a kiss to her brow. “So sleek, so powerful, and so damned beautiful inside and out . . .”
His gritty words made her channel contract and she moaned, once more feeling his cock begin to swell and grow within her. Wyatt was exactly like a stallion, able to come back from a climax in less than thirty minutes, ready to take her on again. Smiling, she nuzzled beneath his chin, licking his skin, feeling him growl like the wild animal, her mate, that he was in her imagination. Closing her eyes, Tal followed the skating motion of his large palm, callused and eliciting tiny fires along her flesh, as he moved it from her shoulder down to her ass. And when he cupped her cheeks, his fingers barely brushing against her sensitized entrance, her breath caught as more fire erupted in her throbbing, needy flesh. He knew how to bait her, how to get her body to sing a burning song that continued to grow louder and stronger as he held her tight against his cock, brushing and teasing her entrance. The man was a magician, bringing her to life in such an electric, sizzling way that all she could do was raggedly whisper his name.
“Like that, darlin’?” he rasped against her ear, nibbling on it, feeling her react in the sweetest of ways. Fluids were leaking around his fingers where he continued to lavish attention on her entrance, listening to those happy sounds in her throat, feeling her ass tighten, wanting more of what he was giving her. That deep purring sound made him smile against her hair as it tickled his jaw and chin. Tal was so damned sensitive, as solidly connected to the animal side of her nature as he was. That was the ground they trod together right now, those raw, living moments where there was nothing but intense sensation driving them more deeply into appreciating one anothe
r’s body and craving more of what they were giving to one another.
Tal moved her hand weakly, sliding it up his thick, corded neck, his flesh sleek with dampness, moving her fingertips into his short hair, engaging with his super-sensitive nape, hearing him growl just like the leopard that she imagined him to be. His whole chest reverberated against her breasts and her nipples stood out, aching to be touched and suckled by him.
As she regained her strength, she pushed upward, sitting upon him, staring down at him through half-closed eyes. The glint of the hunter was present in his gray gaze as he moved his hands from her shoulders down to her hands where they rested upon his chest. “I want you . . . again . . . ,” she whispered, her voice hoarse and low with need, feeling his cock engorge and swell thickly within her. That feral smile of his engulfed her and he began to rock her back and forth upon him. All she could do was moan out his name, her fingers digging into his chest, lost in the building heat once more.
Her love for Wyatt flowed through her just as her juices responded thickly, lavishing his cock with wetness as he thrust fully into her, engaging her, triggering that bundle of sensitized nerves high and deep within her contracting channel. She was lost! The heat built so rapidly, that throbbing turning into an animal intensity and need, and quickly exploded within her a third time as he skillfully maneuvered and played with her body, which she entrusted fully to him. Thrown out into space where galaxies spun and colors ran past her tightly closed eyes, Tal drowned in all the sensations that Wyatt had created for her and her only. If that wasn’t love, then nothing was.
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