Tortoise Tango

by Mary Wine

  What mattered to him was the echo of her words that said she was sleeping in his bed. The rest of it could go hang itself.

  Chapter Eleven

  “This is Idaho, you’ll love it there.”

  Flamingo didn’t look at the computer screen. Instead the tortoise lowered his head to investigate Amber’s toes.

  “I am going to move us there but don’t worry about the snow, I’ll get you a nice garage to live in during the winter.”

  Snip smothered a laugh from the hallway and Amber glared at the SEAL.

  “Just as soon as this stupid trial is over, Flamingo, we are headed to Idaho!”

  The tortoise tried to eat her toes in response. Amber yelped and jumped out of her chair. More choking sounds came from the hallway as she hopped towards the kitchen.

  “But first I’ll make your salad.”

  “Are you making lunch for me?”

  Amber jumped at the voice. She knew there was a wide set of shoulders in the doorway but had assumed it was Snip or one of the other SEALs. She wasn’t quite ready to face Joe yet. He’d been thankfully absent when she woke up this morning. Doing that in his bed certainly didn’t help her ignore the collapse of her self-determination the night before but it was easier to bear when she wasn’t facing those dark eyes.

  “Amber, hon, that eggplant looks like it has seen better days. I can get you some fresh produce.”

  “Flamingo isn’t picky about his salad. In fact, he’s rather good at recycling old produce. I asked for the old stuff because feeding Flamingo can get costly. The grocer sometimes sells his trimmings for pet food.”

  “Yeah?” Joe looked at the large reptile as it sniffed at the air. Amber was chopping up a mountain of vegetables and had a stack of greens on the counter. She scraped the whole mess into a bowl and stacked the bundles of greens on top.

  Amber pushed the back door open with her hip and balanced her mound of tortoise chow in her arms. Joe suddenly found the sight charming. It was almost like the house lit up as she moved around it doing something as common as kitchen duty.

  The wind howled in the open door. Dirt and dry leaves tumbled across the floor before Amber hurried back inside as she rubbed her arms.

  His lips turned into a frown as he realized he’d been looking forward to coming home tonight. Anticipating the fact that Amber would be here, in his house, when he got there. The emotion went beyond sex. What he was looking forward to was Amber, the sexy and the spunky woman who seemed to have merged into his life in the last week.

  “I’ve got some good news for you.”

  Amber was almost afraid to discover just what Joe had on his mind. His face was a guarded mask that didn’t give her even a tiny hint. Instead his eyes were intensely sharp as they scrutinized her.

  “The judge will see you tomorrow morning. That should put an end to any problems from Dantrolp. It’s a official deposition to keep any further attempts on your life from happening.”

  Amber waited for relief to cross her mind. Instead she felt like her dream vacation was about to end. The last of the bees were gone and the little guesthouse would be perfectly safe for her to move back into.

  She could not do it. There was no way she could live there. Amber refused to name the reason why but she just knew that being around Joe and not touching him was going to be impossible to endure.

  The wind picked up and sent some tree branches against the kitchen window. Joe turned his head to consider the plane of glass. “Boy, it’s really picking up out there.” Dark rain clouds were being shoved together by the gusts of wind. The swollen purple mass promised a Texas-size thunderstorm within an hour.

  The lights flickered as the wind whistled under the door. There was an odd creaking sound from the roof a second before the sliding glass door shattered. Half an oak tree came through it as the wind whipped the broken tree around like a leaf. The power died as broken glass scattered on the kitchen floor.

  “Amber?” Heavy footfalls hit his ears as his men converged on the kitchen. “Clear!” Joe yelled the command as he watched his SEALs enter the scene, muzzle-first.

  Cussing filled the kitchen as they tried to pull the branch away from the wall. One slim hand was the only sign of Amber as Joe brutally lifted the mass of broken wood off her.

  “Amber?” Joe gently reached for her face to brush the hair back from it. She was slumped onto the tile floor like a marionette whose strings were cut. Snip knelt on a pile of broken glass and wood chips as he scanned her body for injury. Blood seeped from a cut on her hair as Joe smoothed the mess of tangled red hair and wood bark away from her eyes.

  “Flamingo, Mama wants to sleep. I’ll feed you later.” Amber brushed his hand aside and rubbed her forehead. She didn’t open her eyes but her forehead creased with pain as she rubbed it once more.

  “Amber? Wake up, honey.”

  “Hmm?” Amber tried to think but it hurt too much. She rubbed at the persistent pain before pushing Flamingo away again. “You are an animal with a one-track mind. Just a walking stomach.”

  Her slurred words still made Joe grin like an idiot. Her eyelashes fluttered as she opened them and stared at him. “Hi, honey.” Joe felt his relief drain away as she couldn’t seem to focus her eyes on him. Instead she looked past him as she rubbed her head once more. Her legs moved as she tried to push herself off the floor.

  “Whoa. Stay right there, Amber.”

  She hissed at him but Joe firmly pressed her to the kitchen floor. “Let me up before Flamingo sits on me.”

  Snip cussed and snickered at the same time. Flamingo had walked right in through the shattered door and was bearing down on his owner. Snip made a grab for the determined reptile and the giant tortoise dragged the man forward.

  “You are one big boy, all right!” Snip got his feet under him and began to pull the tortoise away from Amber. The heels of his boots skidded on the tile as he dug in to hold back her pet. Joe looked back to see her eyes focused on his and a harassed look on her face.

  “Told you to let me up. Flamingo goes wherever he wants to go.” There were a few grunts from Snip as his boots slipped on the floor while he wrestled with the animal.

  Amber slowly sat up and watched the world tilt as she did it. She blinked her eyes as she forced them to come back into focus. Snip was telling Flamingo to go on a diet as the SEAL half-dragged her unhappy pet into the yard. A heavy gust of wind whipped into the kitchen carrying the scent of rain.

  “He doesn’t like rain.”

  Joe let out a whistle that Snip immediately responded to. “Frank doesn’t like rain. Put him in the garage.”

  “Have you tried moving this animal, sir?”

  “Use a piece of cantaloupe.”

  “For what?” Amber got to her feet and Snip propped his hands on his hips as he glared at her.

  “Flamingo will follow a piece of cantaloupe almost anywhere.”

  A smile brightened the SEAL’s face before he picked up a freshly cut slice of melon from the pile of food that Amber had left for her pet. Flamingo lifted his nose and began following the offered treat.

  A blanket suddenly wrapped around her shoulders before Joe picked her up and carried her through the destroyed kitchen. Every step he took sent a ripple of pain through her skull.

  “Joe, where are we going?”

  “To a hospital.”

  “I don’t need a doctor. It’s just a knock on the head.” Amber was about to add that it happened rather regularly but decided Joe just might admit her to the psych ward if she made any comments about curses at the moment.

  She landed in the front seat of his truck in response. His eyes surveyed her face with critical movement before he buckled the seat belt for her.

  It was so tempting to just lean on him. When fate hiccupped, it was always her and Flamingo against the forces of nature. Joe and his strength shimmered like a mirage as her head ached and her scalp itched. Reaching for the one thing she could change, Amber sent her finger through her hair to
the annoying tingle.

  Her fingers found a wet mat instead. Pain was instant as she touched the injury and Joe pulled her hand away the second he slid in beside her. Amber stared at the bright red blood covering her fingers.

  “On the other hand, I shouldn’t let all those health care benefits go to waste.”

  “Amber honey, you are turning my hair grey.” She smiled at him. Joe couldn’t stop the little chuckle that rumbled out of his chest. Who else could manage to get knocked flat by a tree branch while standing in a kitchen? Just his Little Red.

  “You need a keeper.” And Joe was looking at the position more and more as the days went by. “And we need to have a talk about just what part of your mom cursing you was true. I know a good preacher and I’m open to negotiation with the woman. But I’m going to make her understand a thing or two about laying down bad karma on my woman.”

  “You won’t like the answer you get, Joe.”

  He slid her a sidelong glance as the truck covered the road in a smooth hum. “It really doesn’t matter to me beyond her accepting you for what you are. A parent should always be happy to see their kids spread their wings and fly. Your mom doesn’t have to like your life decisions but she can aim her negative energy someplace else. It’s that simple to me.”

  His face told her the subject was closed. Amber almost giggled and handed him her cell phone. Her mom wouldn’t find Joe as simple to bend as some of the other guys she’d dated. Amber liked that fact. She liked it a whole lot as she considered the rather relaxed attitude Joe had about a lot of things. She liked him far too much as his words set aside her fears.

  It was way too late to move to Idaho.

  * * * * *

  “You are going to be the death of me,” Joe muttered under his breath as Amber gave him a sleepy smile. She wiggled her bottom against him as she muttered in her sleep. Joe didn’t move away from her body. Tucking her into his bed had seemed vitally important to him. His arms were wrapped around her sleeping form as he continued to just absorb her presence in his bed.

  It had been intensely enjoyable to put her into his bed once he got her home from the emergency room. His cock burned as that sassy seat pressed against it. Joe enjoyed the burn of arousal as he resigned himself to going to sleep hungry. Well, going to bed. Sleep was miles away but he was staying right next to Amber. Why didn’t matter, in fact he didn’t care. Sometimes when you found something that made you happy, a man needed to be smart enough to run with it.

  Amber was burning alive. She couldn’t sleep. Instead something nagged her to wake up completely. Her body was completely happy and it seemed to promise her even better bliss if she would just wake up.

  Her eyelids lifted to show her a dark room. It wasn’t completely pitch-black. Light came from the bathroom where Joe liked to keep one of the closet lights on. That was just another one of the little details that defined the kind of harsher man that he was. Joe didn’t leave anything to chance. He was always thinking about defense and making certain he had angles covered. His gun had been tucked in between the mattress and the headboard when she’d woken up that morning and she was positive the black weapon was there right now.

  “Go back to sleep, honey.” A warm hand smoothed her eyes closed but her brain shook off any hint of slumber as her ears recognized the husky note in Joe’s voice. Hunger coated the dark rich male tone and her body erupted in response. It was that simple. Joe’s hard body was pressed along her back and all she could do was smell how incredibly male his skin was.

  Her hips gave a wiggle without her conscious thought. The cheeks of her bottom seemed determined to show her exactly how hard his cock was. Heat flowed down her passage as that thick rod pressed into her bottom.

  Joe clamped a hand onto her hip as sweat beaded on his forehead. He drew a harsh breath into his lungs and reminded himself that he’d just brought her home from the emergency room. His goddamn cock was just going to have to wait!

  “Go to sleep, baby.” Her body shivered as he caught the unmistakable scent of her hot arousal. Joe couldn’t ever remember knowing what any other woman smelled like but he knew Amber’s scent. His nostrils flared as his cock throbbed with the need to bury itself in her body. Pump his seed into the dark center of her womb and hold her while every last drop of his cum was emptied into this woman.

  “Make me.”

  “Amber…the doctor said rest.”

  She giggled before turning her head and looking over her shoulder at him. “All right, we won’t do the bent over the pillows thing tonight. You’ll just have to choose a different position.” His eyes narrowed at her but Amber didn’t care, his breath was still rasping in through his gritted teeth. Joe wasn’t mad, he was hungry and she suddenly clearly understood the difference. She wasn’t mad about him putting her into his bed either. Sure, there were plenty of emotions attached to the idea of sleeping with the man but she wasn’t angry about it.

  Passion appeared to bind them together in some ritual of burning need. Letting down your guard wasn’t something either of them did gracefully but right then it didn’t matter nearly as much as the hard cock pressing against her bottom.

  Joe grunted at her with stubborn male pride. Amber muttered under her breath at the man’s low opinion of her physical endurance.

  “Amber, don’t push, honey. That seat of yours drives me insane. I’d love to get inside you but I sure as hell won’t be gentle about it, so go to sleep.”

  “Fine, then I am going to sleep in the guestroom, because I can’t sleep next to you and not get…ideas. I don’t like this game,” Amber announced to her stubborn bed partner.

  “We are not playing a game, Amber. You are resting.”

  Joe was agitated and Amber giggled over the cause. Who might have guessed that she could find the calm to deal with a huge predator of a man like Joe when he was feeling ornery?

  “You are trying to play Simon Says and I broke the rules the last time you tried to get me to face off with you.”

  “If I was going to say something I thought you would do without question, you can bet it would be a whole lot more than sleep.”

  “Bring it on, big boy.” Amber wiggled against his cock again and smiled as Joe’s breath hissed through his teeth. His fingers dug into her hips but there was still a small thrust from his that pressed their lower bodies together. “That’s much better.”

  Amber almost purred the words and Joe felt his sanity crumbling. His nostrils caught the warm scent of arousal and his fingers changed their hold on her hips. Now he moved her into alignment with his body. Her bottom lifted for him as he nuzzled the warm skin of her neck.

  “I’m not that fragile, Joe. It’s just a few stitches. If you insist on putting me to bed every time I get a little bruised, I’m going to spend half my life in bed.”

  “Now I like the sound of that idea.” Joe nipped the spot where her shoulder and neck met as she purred once again. His hands gently cupped her breasts before slipping towards her hips again. She was right and Joe enjoyed discovering he was wrong for once. Amber wasn’t weak. She took things in stride, it was one of the things that made her so appealing to him.

  “Well, I don’t. I took care of myself just fine without you.”

  His eyes darkened as his lips thinned into a tight line. Joe smoothed a warm hand over each of her breasts before he caught her chin and captured her mouth with his. His kiss was hard and demanding. He pushed into her mouth and stroked her tongue with his. Desire snaked towards her belly as he thrust that tongue deeply into her before pulling his lips away.

  “Amber, you never took care of what I do to you. But I think I might just enjoy your appetite, baby.” His head disappeared over her shoulder again as he clamped her body to his.

  Amber listened to the little sounds coming through her lips like they belonged to a stranger. Joe slid one firm hand over her belly to the top of her mons. She quivered as she anticipated him slipping that hand under her nightgown and finding the little bundle of nerve
s at the top of her cleft. Her skin tightened as she felt the skin on skin contact as his fingers lifted the thin cotton fabric and found her bare thigh.

  “Slow and easy, baby. I wouldn’t want to put you to bed hungry.”

  His knee slipped between her thighs and her folds opened for that hand. His fingers gently parted the soft curls on her mons before slipping into her slit.

  Joe gritted his teeth as he felt the slick flesh waiting for him. It was a delicious torture to slip his finger down the length of her sex to the opening of her passage and back up to the little nub at the top of her slit. Feeling how wet she was drove him to the edge of reason as he moved his finger back to the opening of her passage. Her bottom wiggled as she whimpered and Joe gently rubbed around the opening.

  “Yeah honey, we are going to take a whole lot of time tonight.”

  Amber felt her belly tighten almost unbearably with tension. She wasn’t sure if it was excitement or fear but it combined into a heat that left her panting. His finger teased her. One firm tip moved through her folds. It was a slow journey that had the skin in its path begging for contact long before he touched it. The opening of her passage craved its turn to be stroked as she noticed how empty her body felt. The hard length of his cock burned against her bottom taunting her with its thick width.

  “I’m not going to fuck you tonight, Amber.” Joe whispered his words next to her ear. She trembled as she listened to his hard voice. The predator was awake and demanding to be in control of their intimacy. He wanted control and her body seemed desperate to yield it. “I’m going to screw you, baby, real slow and deep.”

  Amber felt heat engulf her body as his words repeated in her brain. She should have been angry. There should have been some protest from her pride but all she found was the growing hunger to submit to his demand. It would test his control and there was an almost primal surge of excitement attached to that idea.

  “If you think you can. I’d like to see you try.”

  He growled in her ear. Amber was half certain he knew what kind of primitive sound he made and did it on purpose for her to hear. That mixture of fear and excitement curled into her womb as she felt her hips lifting towards him.