“You know why—” Rick visibly wrestled his body back under control. “Look, this is between him and me. It’s not your concern.”
Andy refused to let that go. “If you really think that, you’re not as smart as everyone says you are.”
“You want to go at it?” Rick stepped back, showing off his two-inch height advantage and muscles honed by years of intense training. “Right now. We can have this out.”
Fighting wouldn’t move this argument one inch, so Andy didn’t even try. He held his hands up in the air. “You’ve got the wrong brother.”
“I will make this right with Gabe.”
Andy let his hands fall until his palms smacked against the table. “You know what you need to do to make that happen, and you won’t do it.”
“You can’t ask me to potentially walk away from the truth.”
The truth that would drive them all to the brink of emotional destruction. Andy couldn’t sit there. He shoved his chair back, letting it spin from the force of his push as he stood up. “You know what, Rick? I’m not asking you to do anything. Neither is Gabe. If someone needs to go out there and find him and report back, I’ll do it. You can pretty up your report and—”
“No.”
Andy exhaled, not holding back one bit of the frustration he held for the older brother he once idolized. “Oh, I see. You want Gabe to know you’re watching over him and be the one to rescue him.”
It made sense. Truth was, Rick could have turned down this job from the CIA and insisted someone else be sent out to check on Natalie. He acted now as if having his men lead on this protected her because his guys being out there might prevent a team of assassins from being sent. All true, but digging down to the core, Andy suspected this was really about Rick needing to ride in and be Gabe’s savior. As if that would somehow balance the books.
“He needs to know he’s not as safe as he thinks he is,” Rick said.
Oh, he got it. They all did. “You’ve already taught him that lesson.”
The red heat of fury stained Rick’s cheeks again. “Fuck you.”
“Good luck finding him. You’re on your own.” With that, Andy sat down and did what he’d been doing for months . . . pretended his oldest brother wasn’t there.
• • •
Natalie stood by the woodstove but her attention kept wandering back to Gabe. To last night. To his mouth. The scratch of his beard against her inner thighs had driven her wild until energy burst through her and she could not get close enough.
She’d suspected he could back up his sensual promises with real action, but she had underestimated the man. The combination of his big hands and that tongue had turned her insides to mush. She could only imagine what other skills he kept hidden behind his spare-talking façade.
At first she thought it was probably a good thing he ran from the bed as soon as her eyes opened again. Now she wasn’t so sure. The night had come and gone. So had most of today. If the man chopped any more wood, their location would be spotted because the stacks would be high enough to be seen from space.
As far as she could tell, while there were things in the cabin to keep their attention, they were running out of ways to stay away from each other. Not that she even wanted to anymore. Truth was she knew she could handle any attacker that came her way. With Gabe’s help, she’d be able to take down wave after wave of gunmen sent to her door. She didn’t need him for protection, but after weeks of him sniffing around and her following his every move she did need him for other things.
She glanced over to the sink and watched him play with the lid to an ancient stovetop coffeepot. Then her gaze traveled over those faded jeans and the way they highlighted his impressive ass.
Yeah, enough waiting.
“Did you actually bring condoms with you?” she asked into the quiet room.
“Shit.” The metal pot bounced as he juggled it from hand to hand and caught it right before it crashed to the floor.
Seemed those hands were good at everything. “Smooth.”
He stared at her a bit more wide-eyed than usual as he placed the pot on the small counter with a thud without ever breaking eye contact. “You certainly know how to open a conversation.”
Then the job he’d been concentrating on so hard hit her. “Why are you making coffee like that?”
“I can’t exactly go for a drive and get it.” He frowned as he reached down and scooped the dropped lid off the floor and slammed it on the counter.
“There’s an automatic coffeemaker in the bathroom.” An odd place to put it, but she saw it every time she stepped into the claustrophobic room, so she knew.
“That’s part of the homemade hot water heater.” His eyebrow lifted when she didn’t say anything. “It’s attached.”
She ignored the way he slowed down his words as if talking to a child. “Are you serious?”
“Almost always.” He held up a hand. “But go back to the condom question.”
Now she had his attention. Almost made her sorry the sexiest thing he’d packed for her was a thin white T-shirt and sturdy white cotton panties. She didn’t know who shopped for this trip, but clearly it was someone who wanted her to stay clothed. “It’s inevitable.”
His frown grew deeper and deeper. “And the ‘it’ is . . . ?”
Looked like he wanted her to say it. Fine with her. She was a big girl and she knew what she wanted—him all over her. “Sex.”
“We’re supposed to be riding out danger.” His words might sound tough but that look said he was turning over the infinite possibilities in his head. A small smile replaced his frown, and he took a step toward her.
“Maybe I’d rather ride you.”
He visibly exhaled. “Natalie . . . ”
“I’m a big girl, Gabe.”
His gaze swept over her. “No argument there.”
She could almost see his resistance crumble. “And I know what I want.”
“I’m listening.”
“Are you worried about anyone sneaking up on us or on the cabin?”
“No.” He stopped in front of her, and his hands went to her hips.
The warmth from his palms seeped through her shirt and sweater straight to her skin. “I know from your lecture—”
“I don’t lecture.”
“—you have traps and alarms all around this place.”
“Of course.”
Just as she expected from his training. He had contingency plans, and plans for whatever came next if those failed. She was half surprised he hadn’t figured out a way to throw a net on the whole area and hide them under it.
“I’m guessing, absent a drone flying over, we’d have warning.” Her hands went to the wide expanse of his chest. Played with the black buttons on his plaid shirt. She’d never cared for the whole mountain-man, lumberjack style . . . until now.
“Even then I’d try to shoot it down,” he said, in a tone so serious she almost laughed.
She forced her gaze away from his shoulders to his face. “With what?”
That small smile slipped into a full grin. “Do you really have to ask?”
“Right.” He probably would have a rocket launcher stored around here somewhere. The man was prepared for anything. At least she hoped that was true, which brought her back to the original question. “Well, my point is that we’re as safe here as we would be anywhere, so do you actually have condoms or was that some sort of guy smack talk?”
“Once you have one kid you didn’t exactly plan for, you’re really careful about this type of thing.”
Interesting. Another tiny window into the real man behind the carefully crafted image in her file on him. She’d take a bigger peek later. Right now she had other things on her mind. “I’m hoping that means yes.”
“I always bring condoms on a job.” His hands slid down and over her ass. With a hand over each cheek, he squeezed as he pulled her tighter against him.
Her breath hitched in her chest, but she fought to keep her
voice steady. “Even though you said you never have sex when you’re working?”
“Yes.”
“Interesting answer. You see why I’m confused, right?” She actually didn’t know what the hell she was talking about. Not when his hands massaged her like that.
“I believe I said I never fuck on a job, and that’s true. Doesn’t mean I tempt fate. When I travel, protection comes with me.” His head dipped and his mouth brushed over her cheek. “It’s part of the go bag.”
Standard operating procedure in the CIA. Apparently he followed the same rules in his security work. “Not sure if that makes you practical or something else.”
A beat of silence, then another. He didn’t say anything as he stood there. Watching, his breathing growing unsteady as the intensity ratcheted up.
Finally he broke the quiet, but his words only added to the growing tension. “Right now I’ll be whatever you want me to be.”
Right answer. Whatever silent battle he’d been waging inside him appeared to end, taking his denials along with it. “I’m willing to go into the bedroom . . . Why are you shaking your head?”
He pulled her toward the small couch. “Right here.”
The lumpy cushions. The small size. Admittedly her control had reached the snapping point, but they could at least try not to make this into an acrobatics show. “Wouldn’t a bed be easier?”
“I’m looking for hot, not easy.”
For some reason the comment settled her jumping nerves. “So much for your idea of waiting.”
“You blew past my defenses. My rules exploded the minute you mentioned condoms.” And he looked ticked off about that.
She wasn’t. “Good response.”
“And I plan to take you in every square inch of this cabin.” He let the silence play for a few beats. “Eventually.”
On some men the comment would sound like cockiness. On Gabe, the words issued a promise. “Maybe you should try getting through this first time, stud.”
“We’ll start here, where I can see the door.” He glanced from the couch to the front of the cabin. “Just in case.”
“You think you’re going to be in any condition to fire a gun?” She planned to have him as hot and bothered as she was.
“Is that a euphemism?”
Sometimes he said things she did not expect. “I hope you’re as good as you say you are.”
“I’m better.” He sank to the couch and turned her until she stood in front of him, between his legs. “Want me to show you?”
She ran a hand over his hair and down the side of his head. “Was I unclear about that?”
“I want your body to tell me.” With his resistance gone, his movements quickened. He pushed her sweater up past the band of her jeans and started unzipping. No fanfare or hesitating.
She loved the sure way he held his body and commanded a room. And the dirty talk. He could bring that back any time. “Then go faster.”
“Quick isn’t always better.” He proved his point by taking an eternity to draw the zipper down click by click.
By the time he slipped his hand inside her jeans her legs shook. This time he didn’t play around with touching her and waiting. His hand dipped past her underwear to her skin. His finger slipped along her, inside her.
“Your body is already talking.” He whispered the comment and his breath blew over her belly. “So fucking wet.”
He did that to her. The deep rumble of his voice. The intense stare. The mix of talk and touching that had her ready to go at all times. Her need for him was embarrassing, really, but she’d worry about that later. Now she concentrated on the slide of his thumb. The gentle back and forth.
The way he talked about sex she expected to be slammed against the wall and taken without much thought of what her body needed, but no. This guy was no amateur.
“Take my jeans off,” she said, because she’d been dreaming about just that for weeks.
“Everything is coming off.” His thumb kept brushing against her. “I want you naked when I take you the first time.”
A series of images ran through her mind, each one dirtier and more graphic than the one before. “And the next time?”
“We’ll have to see what we’re both in the mood for, but right now I think we know.”
That made one of them. She could barely think at all. “What?”
“For you to ride me.” He dipped his head and pressed a kiss on the front of her underwear.
The words, that mouth, set off a tingling sensation inside her. So did the stripping as he pushed her jeans and underwear down, past her knees to the floor. When he sat up again, she wore only socks from the waist down.
Before she could say anything, he pulled her onto his lap. Her thighs straddled his legs, and the rough material of his jeans rubbed against her skin. She kissed him then, full and deep as her fingers speared through his hair. Her mouth toured his. The firm chin, the forceful lips. She loved his boldness. Loved the feel of him under her.
Sitting back as far as his arms wrapped around her would allow, she skimmed her shirt and sweater up her body and over her head. Before she even lowered her arms, his hands were on her, cupping her breasts, massaging as he ran a thumb across one nipple.
Her breath left in a rush and a sigh hit the tip of her tongue. She bit it all back as he slipped the bra straps down her arms, letting them fall. Then his mouth was on her. His tongue sweeping over one nipple then the other. He sucked and licked, not sparing any inch of skin from his mind-blowing attention.
Her head tipped back as the sensations rippled through her. “God, yes.”
He mumbled something against the underside of her breast and she felt the deep voice rumble against her. She couldn’t make out the words. Didn’t care. Her hands pressed on the back of his head, holding him close as she rubbed her lower body up and down over the bulge in his jeans.
Minutes passed, and his clothes stayed on. But his hands moved. One swept down her body in a lazy trail. He held her hips still as a finger pushed up inside her. In and out, making her grow wet and restless with each pass. His mouth continued its massage. Every inch of her trembled from the touching and tasting.
“Everything off.” He mumbled the words as he unclipped her bra and dropped it to the floor.
Before she could shift or catch a breath, he unbuttoned his jeans. His hand slipped around behind him and he pulled a condom out of his back pocket.
For some reason him being ready both warmed and amused her. “You were carrying it on you?”
“Call me hopeful.”
His beard scratched her neck in the most delicious way. He turned her inside out. Made her feel raw and open, like there wasn’t an inch of her he didn’t intend to conquer. Not selfish. No, this was about mutual satisfaction. He primed her body until her hips bucked and she pushed down harder to feel his finger slide in deeper.
He had her wound up and ready. She plucked the condom out of his hand and ripped off the wrapper. Forget pulling those jeans off or rolling him to the floor. She did want to ride him. Hard and fast until the room shook.
The warm room kept the chill off her body. So did the big man underneath her. His finger shifted, and her breath caught. Then his mouth moved to her neck and he did it again. He touched a part of her that had her insides clenching with the need to release, and she wanted to be wrapped around him when that happened.
Unable to wait another second, she slipped his briefs down and released his impressive cock. Thick and long, just as she guessed from looking at the rest of him. She tightened her hand and slipped it up and down. Swirled her thumb over the tip before plunging her palm to the base again.
This close she could see his breathing tick faster. Feel his heavy breaths against her cheek and hair.
“Now, Nat.”
Something about hearing the nickname on his tongue, so casual and sweet, had her rushing. With the help of his hand on her hips, she lifted up on her knees. He rolled the condom on the second before she
sank down. His sigh sounded like a “yes,” but she couldn’t be sure because a haze had fallen over her and clouded her brain.
His tip pressed inside her, stretching her as her inner muscles pulsed. Tension pulled his shoulders tight as his hands gripped her back. A mix of excitement and need pounded off him. She could feel every nerve ending zap to life when she leaned down and kissed him.
“Ride me,” he whispered into her mouth. His hands guided her as she took him in deeper. She heard a groan, long and gruff, and realized it came from inside her.
His body moved in time with hers. She pressed and he pushed. The bounce of the cushion underneath him added to the friction. Her breath came out in pants with each plunge inside of her. Every cell went wild. She felt his body around her, in her. His mouth traveled over her. There wasn’t an inch of her he didn’t touch or caress. And when his tongue licked over the lump in her throat, she lost it.
The shaking started at her toes and worked its way through her to her head. Every part of her cried out for more as she leaned back and felt him reach even deeper inside her. Her body began to buck then. All the tightness unwound and her thighs clamped against his.
As the orgasm roared through her his hold tightened. He curled into her until his mouth touched her neck and his head tucked against her hair. It was as if the shaking transferred from her to him. The quake rocked his body as a harsh moan escaped his lips.
She didn’t even know he had them sitting straight up until he dropped back against the cushion, taking her with him. The move shifted his cock inside her. Already sensitive from the first round, her body thumped at the increased pressure. Every move was magnified, and intense pleasure washed through her. The trembling had stopped but tiny tremors still pulsed inside her.
“Damn.” He sounded more in awe than anything else.
She surrendered to the sudden weightlessness of her bones and cuddled against him. “You got that right.”
There she stayed. With other men, at other times, she’d get up, satisfied, and walk away. Not let the moment be a big deal or let it show if the sex touched her. With him, she couldn’t move. Since he didn’t seem ready to race around the forest either just yet, she didn’t bother to play the well-that-was-good-but-it’s-over game.
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