by Lori Foster
Standing there, dripping on the floor, Gray looked her over. There seemed to be a sort of leashed tension in her small body. He saw her hands shaking, the shallow way she breathed. “Any problems?”
“No.”
Hoping for the best, he asked, “Miss me?”
“Yes.”
He drew a breath and went for broke. “I want you, Lisa. Right now.”
As if that galvanized her, she rushed to the door, slammed and locked it.
Gray watched her, his heart racing, already getting hard.
Shooting to the window next, she turned the Open sign to Closed, then pulled the curtains so no one could see in.
“In a hurry?” he asked, so turned on he couldn’t draw a deep breath.
“Yes.” She headed past him for the door to the stairs. “Come on.”
Snagging her hand as she passed, Gray pulled her back. “Just a second.” Suffering his own urgency, he got his gun and keys from a drawer beneath the counter. Lisa didn’t balk at the gun. She didn’t even look all that surprised by it.
Stepping back, she let him unlock the stairs door and, after he relocked it with them on the other side, followed him at a more sedate pace up to his living area. Once there, Gray put the gun and keys on the table in the small kitchen, then stripped off his soaked shirt and draped it over a chair.
Lisa made a sound, stepped up against him, her hands on his chest, and a second later she went to her tiptoes to kiss him.
No longer caring that he was soaked through, Gray gathered her closer, his hands going down her slim back, cupping under her bottom, the backs of her thighs, back up again. Her hands were the same, sliding down his back to his shorts, then back up to curve over his shoulders.
He felt the sting of her nails and she practically tried to crawl into him.
He pressed her back enough to get the buttons on her blouse open, but he needed to kiss her, too, and soon they were tangled again. Once he got the top buttons undone, he managed to pull the blouse up and over her head.
No bra.
Breathing hard, he held her back and looked at her.
The frayed cutoffs fit low on her hips, showing off the slight curve of her belly, the dip of her waist, all that smooth, soft, pale peach skin. The shorts, faded and worn in spots, were about the sexiest thing he’d ever seen on a woman.
On this woman, they all but destroyed him.
Traveling upward, his hungry gaze took in her round, firm breasts. Excitement had drawn her nipples tight. His lungs constricted, his hands naturally lifting to cover her, to tease those stiffened nipples with his thumbs. A groan rumbled from deep in his chest.
At the same time, Lisa purred, her hands covering his.
“You’re as beautiful as I remember.”
When she started to kiss him, he whispered, “I want to see all of you,” and reluctantly pulled his hands away. Taking a step back, he reached for the snap of her shorts. It opened easily and, taunting himself and her, he slowly dragged down the zipper.
Lisa stood there shivering with need, her attention on his face, seeing everything he felt. And he felt a lot.
With her shorts open, he put both hands inside the back, cuddling her cheeks for a moment and then sliding both her panties and her shorts down. Once past her thighs they dropped to her feet.
So sweet. And so fucking pretty. All over.
“Gray?”
He smoothed her hair behind her shoulders and just looked at her. He could look at her for a lifetime. He knew it, had felt it almost from the moment they’d met. She was his, now and always. The trick would be in getting her to want the same thing.
“Your turn,” she said, lifting one hand to tease at the drawstrings to his shorts.
“No problem.” He shucked off his remaining clothes in record time, then made her squeal when he scooped her up and headed for his bedroom. “Kiss me.”
She did, and damn, but her kisses were hotter than sex with other women. She scorched him, especially with the hot way her tongue played with his, how her bare breasts felt on his chest, the way her fingers dug into his shoulders as she tried to hold him tighter.
At the side of the bed, he sank down with her small body tucked under his. She slid one leg up and around his hip, both her hands easing up to tangle in his hair while they indulged in a deep, eating kiss that left each of them panting.
Needing more, Gray nibbled a damp path down her throat to her breasts. He already knew she had extremely sensitive nipples, and he loved it. He started with a few licks, then sucked on her until she groaned. Carefully, he caught her pebbled nipple in his teeth and tugged.
“Gray.”
Taking turns at each breast, he enjoyed her until she was crying out, her head back, her body moving rhythmically against his.
Wanting to see her come, he stroked a hand down her side, over that cute belly and between her legs, where he found her hot and already wet.
“Yeah,” he rasped low, slicking his fingers over her, then in her to press deep.
She said his name on a high, thin cry.
Watching her, he brought his fingers out, up to her clitoris, then back in, pumping two or three times, then teasing her clit again. Over and over. She found his rhythm, her hips rolling, her throaty groans coming faster.
He licked over her already wet nipples, sucked insistently, and far too soon she started coming.
Gray held her, stayed with her, wrung her out until her hoarse cries faded and she went limp on the bed, eyes closed, lips parted.
Seeing her like that, sated by him, left protective, possessive urges surging through him. Even knowing it was too soon, he wanted to declare himself. Time wouldn’t change anything for him, but hopefully it would for her.
Odd, but now that he had her here in his bed, he no longer felt the churning rush to get inside her. Instead he took immense pleasure in cuddling her, kissing her, touching her in soft, easy strokes over her waist, her shoulder, along her hip and thigh.
After a time, she sighed deeply, smiled a little. “I needed that.”
“Mmm.” He nuzzled her shoulder, breathed in her scrumptious scent and took a lazy bite. “Me, too.”
With a husky laugh, she pressed at his chest. “That took the edge off, but I need more.”
“A lot more.” Sitting up, he snagged a condom from the bottom drawer of the nightstand. As he rolled it on, he felt her hand on his back, idly touching him. He turned, kneed her legs apart and settled over her. “Hi.”
Her eyes, all warm, dark and mysterious, smiled at him. “Hi.”
Adjusting, he moved against her, watched her face and sank in.
“Gray,” she moaned.
Doing his utmost to maintain control, he began rocking into her, deeper each time, until their bodies were in perfect tune. It was all familiar, irresistible and yet still new because now he knew her, really knew her. And loved everything about her. “I enjoy hearing you say my name.”
Opening her eyes and staring up at him, she whispered, “Gray.”
“Tease.” Her body squeezed around his cock, wetter and hotter. Ducking his face into her neck, he opened his mouth against her fragrant skin.
“I like teasing you.” Her legs lifted around him and she locked her ankles at the small of his back. Near his ear she whispered, “Harder.” And as he complied, she lifted into him, saying again, “Gray.”
Damn. Her teeth caught his shoulder, she cried out, and this time, unable to stop himself, Gray came with her.
Sometime later he became aware of Lisa toying with his chest hair. He hugged her, kissed her forehead and rolled to his back.
She immediately moved over him.
Liking that, he murmured, “Nice.”
“I don’t want you to get too far away.”
/> “Yeah?” Smiling, feeling more relaxed than he had in...well, a month, he settled a hand on her bottom. “Stay over and I promise to keep you within touching distance all night long.”
Surprise widened her eyes, then she flushed. “I wasn’t hinting.”
“I know. I want you here.” More than that, he needed her close. “Stay.”
For only a moment she thought about it. “Okay.” As she snuggled in, she said, “It’ll give us a chance to talk.”
Biting back his groan wasn’t easy, but Gray managed it and even sounded casual when he asked, “Talk about what?”
She rose up to her elbows. “You. Your partner.” Her hand went down his body to the top of his thigh—dangerously close to his junk—and settled over the scar. “And how you got this.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
TEN MINUTES LATER, Lisa found herself sitting at Gray’s kitchen table wearing one of his shirts and nothing else while he walked around in snug boxers and nothing else, making them sandwiches.
“I named the dog Shelby, after my partner, Vic Shelby.”
Lisa sipped a glass of sweet tea and watched Gray. Just looking at him was wonderful. Long, leanly muscled thighs sprinkled with dark hair. Flat abs sporting that incredibly sexy happy trail. And his chest and shoulders...
Looking at him melted her bones and made her skin too tight and stirred that insanely hot, sweet lust to life again.
It swelled her heart to know he would finally open up to her, and the combo of lust and tenderness nearly did her in.
“I like the name.”
“Good, because I’m keeping Shelby. I’d planned to get a dog after I got settled in anyway. She’s such a sweetheart, and some coward used her to send me that note.”
“And keeping her is the least you can do because you feel responsible?”
Turning his back to her as he sliced a tomato, he lifted a shoulder. “That covers it.”
His back was as amazing as the rest of him. And that tight butt...but it was his big heart that really got to her. “Aww.”
He scoffed at that. “Like I said, I wanted a dog anyway.” He glanced back at her. “You don’t mind?”
“One thing you should know about my family, we’re very pet friendly. I didn’t have a dog or cat because I traveled all the time. But I love animals.”
“And now that you’re here?”
She knew he deliberately left that open-ended. Unlike everyone else in her life right now, Gray didn’t push. He made his intentions known, and he was real up-front about wanting her. But that was as far as he took it. She appreciated that a lot. “Now that I’m here, I’d be happy to help with Shelby.” And maybe, if she ended up staying, she’d get a dog, too, a companion for Shelby. Or maybe a cat. She’d have to think about it.
“Now, about you and your partner and that wound that nearly unmanned you?”
“It was close, but luckily missed the vital parts.”
Very close. The scar, a jagged line, cut across the top of one thigh. Healed now, thank God, but what if it had been a few inches over? Worse, what if it had been a killing blow?
Gray studied her, then went back to the sandwich prep. “So one day Shelby—my partner—and I were checking out a domestic dispute. A neighbor had called about the noise, said she heard a lot of angry arguing. From the second we got there, I knew it was going to be bad. There were three men and one woman and tensions were already so high, no one was listening. Some scumbag had hit his wife, and her two brothers were there to defend her. The husband and one of the brothers had felony records, everyone was ramped up on adrenaline and rage, and before we could even ask any questions, shit went south in a big way.”
Gray had stopped moving. He had a butter knife in one hand, a piece of bread in the other, but he just...stood there. He seemed lost in the memory. A very ugly memory, given the strain in his broad shoulders.
Leaving her seat, Lisa walked over to him. She gently took the butter knife and bread and finished spreading the mayonnaise. “That’s when you got hit?”
He pinched the bridge of his nose and put his head down. “Shelby took one to the chest and went down fast. I tried to cover him, but it felt like everyone was shooting, me, the two brothers, the husband...”
She leaned into him but didn’t look right at him. She sensed how personal and painful this still was for him. “I can’t imagine how devastating that must’ve been.”
“We’re trained,” he said. “But there’d been no prior indication we were walking into a fucking war zone. The entire time we were shooting, the lady screamed—until she wasn’t anymore.”
Hurting for him, Lisa swallowed hard, tears clogging her throat.
“I was crouched over Shelby, covering him the best I could, and I got off some good shots. Hit one of the brothers and her husband, but the other dude ran off. The woman was already dead. Blood was literally everywhere, soaking Shelby, all over me...”
Suddenly he caught himself. She heard him taking deep breaths, saw his hands clench and unclench. After a low, nearly inaudible curse, he turned and leaned on the counter, watching her.
Lisa did her best to look...not devastated. But in her mind she saw it all and her heart wept for him. In a very short time, he’d come to mean a great deal to her. She couldn’t bear the thought of him hurting, and yet he’d almost died.
Quietly, she finished the sandwiches and cut them into halves.
“You’re pretty good at this,” he finally said.
The lump in her throat almost strangled her, but she managed to keep things light. “At finishing up almost-finished sandwiches?”
“At listening.” His warm, somber gaze went over her. “And looking good while doing it.”
She gestured at his shirt, which she wore. “What? This old thing? I just threw it on.”
Smiling, Gray pulled her in close for a kiss and then just held her, his arms around her, his chin on the top of her head.
“You’re okay?”
“Yeah.” He squeezed her. “The bullet to my thigh just grazed me. At the time I didn’t even feel it. It wasn’t until the paramedics showed up and told me I’d been hit that it started to hurt like a son of a bitch.” He quieted, and Lisa waited, her arms around him, her cheek to his chest, listening to the steady thump of his heart. “The woman and one of her brothers were dead. Her husband, wounded, didn’t put up much resistance after that. They found her other brother within ten minutes.”
“Your partner was already gone?”
“No.” Gray’s hands contracted on her. “He held on for three long weeks. Seeing his wife go through that—I think that might’ve been the hardest part. We all knew he wouldn’t make it, that we were leaning on false hope. But you can’t help yourself.”
“No.”
“I’d just left the funeral when I met you.”
She kissed his bare chest, then his shoulder, then went on tiptoe to reach his chin and finally his mouth. “I’m very, very glad you survived, Gray Neely.”
Smoothing back her hair, looking at her, really looking at her, Gray nodded. “Me, too. Though I spent a hell of a lot of time wallowing in guilt because of it.”
“I wish you wouldn’t.”
“That’s the thing.” He cupped her face, his expression serious. “I waffled between guilt and rage and being just plain numb. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, or where I wanted to do it. But that night with you, I finally felt again. Everything. All good stuff. I thought I’d never see you again, and I hated that, but I woke that next morning knowing I would start fresh.”
“In Buckhorn.”
“Random shot in the dark, babe. I was checking around for something different and saw the ad for the marina.”
“That’s certainly different.”
“But you know w
hat?”
Since he was smiling now, Lisa smiled, too. “What?”
“I think it was fate.” Scooping his hands under her bottom, he lifted her up and stepped to the wall, gently pinning her in place. His voice went husky and his lips almost touched hers. “I think we’re good together.”
Though she told herself that her plans were still up in the air, her heart tried to dance out of her chest. “I think so, too.” Until Gray, sex was something she could take or leave, and usually she left it in favor of other, more exciting things—like wrapping up a new deal or finishing a business project. Now, well, she was starving but she’d gladly forgo the sandwiches if he wanted to take her right now. She couldn’t imagine anything that could take her away.
In that moment, there was nothing she wanted more than Gray.
And from the look in his eyes, she thought he might be feeling the same.
“No pressure,” he whispered. “I want you. Just about every way there is.”
Wait—what was he saying?
“But if you decided tomorrow to go back to your old job, I’d still be here in Buckhorn.”
“Um...okay?”
He smiled. “I want you to understand. You don’t need to feel responsible for what we do or don’t do, or how it might turn out. I like it here. I like your family, seeing the people who fish or swim or ski, the rowdy kids everywhere, and I like the lake. The broiling sunshine. The damp wind. All the birds and the frogs and turtles. All of it. I’m guessing I’ll even like the winter, when everything is frozen and white and I’ll be able to loaf around and put my feet up.”
It wasn’t easy to think because, really, he’d pinned her with his hips, which meant she felt his very noticeable erection. And he’d said he wanted her in every way there is. Confusing, to say the least—like, did he mean he wanted her beyond the physical, or maybe long-term?
All that, along with the scent of his warm body and the way he watched her with those stormy gray eyes—well, none of it was conducive to clear thought.
So she nodded.
That made his smile widen. “You have enough pressure, honey. You won’t get it from me. Know that I want you, but if you want something different, I’ll deal with it. That’s all I’m saying.”