by Reina Torres
“Well,” he sat down, “with an invitation like that, how can I refuse?”
Chapter 4
Miranda was starting to wonder if she was dreaming. Not one of those sexy romantic dreams, nope. More like one of those ‘show up to work and everything goes wrong and there’s nothing you can do about it’ dreams. Mainly because she’d finally managed to get Trace Carson into her bedroom and she was under the covers and he was sitting on the edge of her bed, fully dressed and looking really uncomfortable about it.
Yep, her own private ‘Get me outta here!’ dream.
“I wasn’t joking,” she told him, “I made dinner for you, Trace. You don’t have to sit up here. I don’t even know what really got to me.”
Tears pricked at the back of her eyes, but she tried to smile at him.
By the look on his face, she had a feeling he wasn’t fooled.
“I don’t blame you for being upset, I’m out of practice for something like this.”
Leaning her cheek on her hand she shrugged. “I wish I knew what ‘this’ was.”
He moved a little closer and she wasn’t sure if she was happy about it. Having him close was a mixed blessing.
“Hey,” he reached out and put his hand on her arm. The heat was drugging to her. When he smoothed the pad of his thumb against her skin, she couldn’t seem to look away from it. “Can you look at me?”
It took a whole breath, in and out, before she could manage it.
“There,” he smiled and she felt some of the tension in her shoulders fade, “I like looking at you when we talk. Maybe I can manage to get you to understand before I shove my boot in my mouth again.”
She started to lean over and before she did, he laughed and nodded his head with a wince.
“Yes, I forgot to take off my shoes.”
Miranda couldn’t help the knowing smile she gave him. He might not have been in her house before, but he’d been in her parents’ house and her mother still held with the Japanese traditions at home. Shoes off at the door.
Beyond his acknowledgement of the broken rule, she expected him to end it there. And was shocked to see him bend over and start to unlace his boots.
It was a gesture that spoke to her, touched her in an odd way that she hadn’t been expecting.
It was a sign of respect that went beyond whatever he was fighting. This, he could give into, and something they could build on.
When he placed the second boot on the ground, he raised his eyebrows expectantly. “You want me to take off the socks?”
She could read beyond the complacent tone of his voice and smiled. “No, that’s okay.”
When his shoulders sagged in relief, she knew she was right.
“I wouldn’t want you to feel naked.”
Miranda saw the shock on his face.
“I bet, if I made you take off your socks, you’d feel all cold and clammy and I’d be lucky if you didn’t climb the walls.”
He gave her a look that she recognized all too well.
Challenge accepted.
Reaching down, Trace pulled off one sock and tucked it in his boot. A moment later the other followed.
When that was done, he leaned back until he looked at her square in the face. He held onto the strictly business game warden look for all of a minute before he started to cringe.
She reached out a hand and laid it flat on top of the comforter brushing her fingers back and forth over the soft cover. “You’ve got the rug under your feet,” she reminded him, “rub your feet on that for a minute and it should feel better. Get your blood flowing.”
Miranda wasn’t sure if he’d done what she asked, but the look in his eyes said that something had changed. His grey eyes were storm-dark again and her uncovered skin tingled as he looked at her.
“I’m glad you called.”
His words startled both of them.
“When you came to the call tonight, I was happy to see you, even though it was distracting for me.”
She smiled, happy she hadn’t been the only one.
“And it felt like old times for a while. You working with me on night-decoy stakeouts.”
Miranda nodded. “After dark some hunters go a little stupid, eager to bag something to take home.” She stretched her neck a little. “And it was always easy with you. We’d talk while we were waiting and we never seemed to run out of topics.”
He nodded, agreeing. “We never did.”
“But now,” her voice softened, “it’s different.”
“I’m different,” he answered back. “The day I saw your paperwork on my desk I wanted to grab my keys and go find you.”
“So, you could shake me? Get me to change my mind?”
He smiled a little more. “No, not really. Both of us know that you’re born to work with animals. I just hoped you’d stay with the law enforcement side.”
“Because I disappointed you?”
“Whoa, hey.” He moved closer on the edge of the bed, close enough that he didn’t have to work to outstretch his hand to lay it over one of her feet, still covered by the comforter. “Where did you get that idea?”
It was hard enough to keep her thoughts straight when he was sitting on the foot of the bed, but touching her, even through a blanket, was doing all kinds of things to her composure.
How was she going to answer him?
She went with the truth.
“You and my dad are both company men. Game wardens to the bone. There isn’t another thing in the world that you would rather be. The badge? The work? It’s everything.
“When I told my dad that I was leaving to open the rehab center he got so quiet. Then he hugged me. Hugged me tight and rubbed my back. ‘It’s okay,’ he told me, ‘I get it.’”
Emotions and thoughts that she was sure she’d put away rushed up to the surface.
“He got it. I didn’t want to think about what that meant and it didn’t hit me until over a week later when I went to the house to have dinner with my parents. My mama mentioned that one of my cousins, however many removed, was applying to be a warden. And my dad picked up a plate of green beans, handed it to my mother and said. ‘He’ll stick with it.’”
And then she didn’t have any more words.
She felt Trace moving his hand over her foot, just a gentle soothing motion, but it meant so much more to her. He wasn’t trying to talk her ears off like her mother did when they’d seen each other later. Trace just let her go through her thoughts and kept touching her over and over.
“I decided to leave,” she told him when the silence became too much, “because I felt like I was only half-doing what I wanted to. What I was meant to do.”
She saw him watching her, carefully, but she didn’t see any judgement in his eyes.
“I know it’s not the same as carrying a badge, or wearing the uniform,” she sighed, “but even when I was on the job, I didn’t want to stop taking care of the animals when we dropped them off. And every time we couldn’t find a space for an animal at a rehab…”
“You took them in.”
She smiled, matching him. “I never minded the late nights. Never felt cheated when I sat there watching over the poor little fuzzies.”
“Poor creatures who could kill you or tear off your fingers.”
Miranda heard the exasperation in his voice.
“I’ve seen you get up close and personal with an angry stag in a hog trap. You were in more danger there than I’d ever been.”
“It’s different,” he shot back.
“Hmph,” she huffed at him. “Why? Because I’m a woman?”
“You really are stubborn.”
“Takes one to know one,” she gave him a pointed look.
“But it’s different,” he shook his head and moved closer, “because of one important thing.”
She didn’t know what it was, but her heart was suddenly pounding in her chest and she shifted on the bed, turning her legs to the side so that she wasn’t leaning against the wall anymore
.
“Once you left your job as a game warden, I started to worry.” Before she had a chance to get upset or question his words. “When you were on the job, I was a radio call away. Or better yet, we were partnered up enough that I could have your back if it came to that.
“When you were gone,” he sighed, “I missed you, more than I thought I would and it wasn’t about being my partner. At least not all of it.”
She wanted to give him back some of the comfort that he’d given her. Miranda moved a few inches closer, pushing her blanket off her legs so she could cover his hand with hers.
“The night of your party I stood outside trying to decide what to say or if I should say anything at all. Then, there you were. In a dress instead of your uniform, your hair loose around your face.”
“I look like a mess.”
His free hand covered hers. “I’d never seen anyone else as beautiful as you were, Miranda.”
Staggered. His words knocked her off balance and sent her spiraling.
“And I had to hold you.”
She remembered the feel of his lips against hers, the strength of his arms around her.
How much she wanted to get closer to him. Closer than they’d managed that night.
“And if Suzie hadn’t opened the door?”
She watched him pull his gaze from her lips and it felt like a physical touch along her skin.
“I can’t say for sure, ‘Randa.” His accent was thickening, his tone deeper in his chest. “But I’d guess that I might have lost more control. You tasted… like heaven.”
Heaven. She could almost taste him on her lips and she was sure that he had gotten it right.
“And when I stopped,” he sighed, “I wanted to kick myself, but I also knew that I didn’t want you to misunderstand.”
She raked her teeth over the full curve of her bottom lip. “What was there to misunderstand?” she wondered aloud. “Beyond the kiss, what I felt between us,” she heard her voice become barely a whisper, “I’ll never forget.”
When he didn’t speak, she tugged on the hand that she’d captured between hers.
“I felt you, Trace,” heat bathed her face and every inch of bare skin. “Felt you hard against me.”
He managed to breathe and with her own, she matched the rhythm.
“You felt so good against me,” she knelt down knee to knee with him, “so strong. I’ve dreamed of you before,” she admitted, “but since that night, I’ve had you beside me.”
His hand trembled slightly in hers and before she realized he was doing it, she felt his hand on her knee.
“I’ve tasted your lips before,” he seemed to fight the words as they fell from his lips, “but in the dark… in my dreams… I hunger for you. Draw in your scent like air for the drowning. My hands,” she let go of his hands and watched as his palms touched the smooth skin of her thighs just above her knees, “my hands have caressed every inch of your skin.”
Shivers rolled over her body, drawing her closer to his warmth.
He was up on his knees when he set his hands on the rise of each hip. “Pulled you to me.”
They were suddenly closer, almost nose to nose as well.
“And I’ve dreamed of being inside of you,” he told her on a whisper that sounded like a devout confession, “filling you over and over until I hear you scream my name.”
“Trace,” she sighed his name as her hands lifted to cup his face, drawing him closer to her. “Please, I need-”
“You need me to tell you why this isn’t going to work between us.”
Her heart ached in her chest. “No… no, you can’t. You just said that you wanted me.”
“I want you, sweetheart,” his throat sounded rough, scratched and suffering, “but I’m not sure I know what it’s like to be with someone.”
She felt the way his hands held her tight. Felt the way his breath feathered across her lips.
And when she got up on her knees, he matched her movement. It only took a moment for her to feel his rock-hard erection cradled against her belly. “I think you know, Trace. Just let me show you how much I want you too.”
She could see the tentative smile touching his lips.
“I’m talking about a relationship, woman. I could love you over and over with my body. Fill my mouth with your taste. Bury myself inside you over and over until we can’t move. But I need to know that I can be the man you deserve. Be the support and the partner that you and I can be proud of.
“And for that… I need time.”
She wanted to shake him and silence him with a kiss, but she could tell how much this was bothering him and she wanted to be that kind of partner for him too.
“And when I get near you,” he shook his head, “my mind struggles to work when my body needs you so much.”
“Then let me help.”
His eyes widened a bit.
She scolded him with a pert look. “Trust me, Trace. Just a little?”
Miranda knew when he’d given in. She could see it in his eyes, those amazing storm-grey eyes.
“How do you propose to do that?”
“Stay with me,” once she said the words, she smiled at him. “It doesn’t have to be tonight,” she explained. “Hold me while we sleep or let me hold you.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
She couldn’t help the smirk on her lips. “Too afraid you’re going to lose control and make love to me?”
His eyes darkened and his breaths came faster. “That’s exactly what I’m worried about. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“What if I promise,” Miranda smoothed her hands from his shoulders down to his elbows, “to drop you with a kick if you misbehave?”
Trace winced. “I don’t think it’ll come to that.”
“Me neither,” she giggled. “So, it’s already,” she looked at the old electronic alarm clock on the nightstand, “almost two in the morning. By the time you get those boots back on and head out on the road,” she shrugged, “you’ll get in bed just in time to get out of it again.”
His grin answered her own. “You’ve got all the answers, don’t you?”
She shook her head. “If I did,” she sighed, “I’d have you naked by now.”
Miranda saw the heat in his eyes and knew that if she pushed, he might give in, but she didn’t want a single night with him.
No, she wanted much more than that.
“So why don’t you get comfortable,” she told him as she turned and laid her head down on one of the pillows, “all if this has left me exhausted.”
She looked out the window at the distant moon and waited… somewhat patiently… as she heard him dress down for bed.
When he lay down behind her, she only had a moment to wait before she felt him set a hand down on her hip. It was a little tentative, but she relished it all the same. He was touching her. He was in bed with her.
She’d worry about everything else in the morning.
The silence lasted for mere moments, because curiosity was one of her weaker points.
“By the way,” she yawned and felt his hand move across her belly as he shifted closer, “how many tickets did you guys end up writing?”
“Do you really want to know?”
Another slow, indrawn breath made her feel like she was melting into him.
“I asked, didn’t I?”
“Yes,” he pressed a kiss on her shoulder just at the base of her neck and she barely held onto a groan, “you did.”
The scratch of Trace’s more than five o’clock shadow, feathered along the column of her neck as he tucked her closer to his warmth. “Okay. Between the charges we wrote up, Hayden and her new partner Jake had their own list. So, let’s start with ours.”
Miranda felt his hand tuck into the space between her waist and the bed and she rolled just a bit more. She fell asleep a few tickets into his answer.
Chapter 5
Two days later when Trace’s alarm went off, he rolled out
of bed, half mumbling under his breath, “Stay in bed, honey, I’ll get the coffee started before we feed the animals.”
And a moment later he was one step away from walking into his closet door.
If it hadn’t been for the hand he’d had up to grab the doorframe, he might have ended up with a bruise and a week’s worth of teasing from the others.
Turning a look back toward his empty bed, Trace sighed.
It had taken him all less than an hour to get used to the idea of holding Miranda in his arms.
He’d been the one worried that he wouldn’t be able to keep his hands to himself, but in the wee hours of the morning, after he’d gone downstairs and taken care of the dinner they’d abandoned, he’d crawled back in bed to fill his arms with the warm, floral scent of his woman.
He hadn’t even tried to deny it.
And when he’d woken up just before dawn, he’d found himself flat on his back with Miranda draped over him like a blanket.
There’d been no more sleep after that.
Not when she’d managed to slip her leg between his and twisted his boxers a bit. One more subtle shift of her body and she’d bared his cock to the air and it lay against her bare thigh soaking up her warmth.
So, while they’d had plenty of time to get used to each other, it hadn’t gained him any control.
Instead it had turned him into a world class masochist.
But missing her hadn’t even been the reason he’d gone to his own place the night before.
It was all because Conor had offered to pick him up for their training day, and it was just easier to start the day there than tell Conor what was going on.
Especially when he didn’t really understand it himself.
Heading for the shower, he peeled off what was left of his clothes from the night before, since he’d fallen into bed the night before half dressed.
Even if he wasn’t going to spend the night with Miranda, he still went by for dinner, bringing her something so she didn’t have to cook or clean any dishes. He wasn’t just thoughtful. He’d wanted a few minutes kissing her before he’d left a little after ten.
“Feeling old… feeling old,” he grumbled to himself.