“Ryder, slow down!” Isbet’s footfalls thudded behind him. “You’re going to tear open that wound again.”
He tightened his grip on her hand and brought her level with him on the top landing. “I don’t want to give you a chance to change your mind about showering together.” Scooping her up, he held her against his body and strode toward his bedroom and its attached bath. “Get the door, would you? My hands are full.”
“Ryder, put me down before you hurt yourself.” She looped an arm around his neck and clung to his shirt. “And I never said I’d shower with you.”
He buried his face in her hair and inhaled the faint traces of the green apple shampoo she used each morning—not that he’d noticed—along with a dusty scent from their hike. Perfume from the women who pursued him and his buddies in every town they visited could never compete. “The door? I am not putting you down until we are inside where we have a little privacy.”
After a short stalemate, during which his leg throbbed in an unpleasant rhythm, she opened the door and he stepped inside.
“Lock it behind us. We don’t want my nosy relations walking in on us again.”
This time, she obeyed without delay, and he smiled to himself. What else might he be able to convince her to do?
“I still didn’t agree to anything” Her sullen tone was belied by the hitch in her breath and the spark in her velvet-brown eyes.
No, she hadn’t agreed.
Yet.
“Baby, I won’t do anything you don’t agree to.” He let her slide down the door to her feet, giving her his most soulful look. “Will you help me get undressed and wrap my leg to keep it dry?”
Chapter Six
Isbet tilted her head back to meet his gaze. Ryder was the tallest man she’d ever stood this close to. Her palms flattened on his chest. Every cell of her body on full alert, she nodded. “Yes,” squeaked out then cleared her throat. “I can do that.”
He rubbed his nose against hers and spoke against her mouth, lips brushing hers with his words. “Thank you.”
His first kiss took her by surprise, and her eyes fluttered closed. The whiskey they’d shared flavored his lips and, when she opened to admit his tongue, the smoky taste deepened and the velvet stroking stole her breath. Her hands were pinned between them, but she didn’t care, focused on the sensual assault.
He drew back enough to murmur, “I should have asked first…okay if I kiss you?”
God. “I…yes.” She wasn’t even sure why she’d protested the shower except it had been a long time since she’d been in a man’s arms. She didn’t leap into bed quickly or often—it had to mean something. So, what did this mean? “Please.”
He chuckled, the vibration against her lips sending a shiver straight to her core. “Mmm.” He kissed her again, his hands on her hips, drawing her lower body tight against him, his erection firm against her lower abdomen. His heart thudded under her palms, hers pounded in her ears. What was she doing?
He’d be back with his unit soon, and she’d continue to try to make her own life while remaining a puppet to her former handler who felt he could call on her for the dirtiest, scariest jobs.
But if she could pull away from the organization…maybe she could make a life?
“You’re distracted.”
She blinked her eyes open to find him staring down at her, dissatisfaction in his expression. “No, that is I….”
Stepping back, he led her toward the bathroom door. “I don’t want to put too much pressure on you and I was teasing, but I would give a lot to get you in that shower with me. However, if you’d rather not, if you’d rather remain friends, colleagues for the duration of this operation, that’s fine.” He stopped and rested his hands on her shoulders. “I can shower all alone.”
She studied his face, finding nothing but sincerity and maybe a little dismay there. “Just a shower.”
“Baby, I cannot get into that shower naked with you and keep my hands to myself….”
“I mean, no commitments, just a shower and maybe a night in bed together blowing off steam.”
“How about just a shower and a night in bed together, blowing each other’s minds, and then we’ll take it from there?” He kissed her forehead. “I hope you won’t want to dump me then, but if you do, I’ll eat a lot of chocolate and cry for a while and get over it.”
His joke did not make her laugh. But she kissed him, a long, slow one. “You have a very dangerous job. You will likely be hurt again, and my one phobia is people I care about being hurt.”
“I get that.”
“So, I can promise you tonight.”
He gave her a soft, sad smile. “The way things are going, I don’t think either of us has a written guarantee past tonight. The people who left that little barbed demon on our property have a tendency to kill those who cross them.”
She hated to see the sadness, but he had a point. “I think Andrew had it right and we should maybe clear the ranch. Get the other guests, the hands, and your brother and Sarge away.”
“Nah,” he said, toying with her hair again. “It’s a long way into town, and I am afraid the Omega bosses are correct. If we did anything big, anyone still around might react. Viciously. But we saw no signs of anyone else, and we have the hands out on the ranch, the two in the pasture, as well as the others who are always out there anyway. If they see anything strange, they’ll let us know.”
“But tomorrow?”
He grasped the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head. His voice muffled in her ears, he whispered. “Let’s let tomorrow take care of itself. We’ll have plenty to deal with then.”
His hands skimmed down her sides and up her abdomen to the clasp between her breasts. The cups fell to the sides, and her breasts hung heavy in front of her. Stepping back, he palmed one and bent to press a kiss on its upper swell.
“For such a petite woman, you have more than a handful of sweetness here.”
She breathed, shallowly while he dragged his tongue over her nipple and sucked it into his mouth. Knees wobbling, Isbet rested her hands on his shoulders. He released her nipple and sucked on the other one for a long, mind-blowing moment before releasing it with a groan.
“I can’t bend like that for long. Maybe we’d better get undressed and in that warm water. I think I can get out of my clothes if you’ll help me wrap my leg?”
She shivered as the cooler breeze from the window wafted over her damp chest, but nodded. “Do you have something up here to wrap it in?” She’d never had a wound big enough to worry about while bathing.
“Saran Wrap, in the bedside table.”
She blinked at him. “The hospital didn’t send anything home with you?” The idea of using a kitchen wrap to protect such a serious injury was worrying.
He chuckled. “No, the doctor suggested a trash bag, but that’s bulky and awkward. Sarge brought up the roll of plastic. He’s dealt with enough medical emergencies to know what works best.”
“Are you sure you can manage?” She hesitated, but he waved her away.
“I think so, but if not, you’ll be right back.”
Isbet left him by the bathroom doorway and dashed over to the bed, the bra dropping to the floor along the way. She opened the top drawer in the table and rummaged through it. It held the usual array of bedside table items for a man recovering from an injury. Pain pills, tissues, the plastic water pitcher from the hospital, the plastic bracelet cut off his wrist. Why hadn’t he just thrown that away?
She found a box of gauze pads and some tape but no plastic wrap, so she shoved everything back inside and closed the overfull drawer. The one below it held a different array. Except for the roll of plastic, not one thing related to an injury.
At first glance, they were logical ranch items. Kerchiefs, a length of rope, a soft, leather-wrapped crop. A set of spurs and their leather holders, whatever those were called. Looked like he was more into the cattle business than he admitted. Some of these items could be fun in the bedroo
m, too, if he was willing. She’d often fantasized about a little light bondage and if the guy doing it was a real cowboy…. She shivered again, but not from cold. Lifting the box of wrap, she gaped at what she uncovered. Why would a rancher need handcuffs? Touching the cold steel with a fingertip, she jerked it back. Too real. Maybe he’d be the one suggesting kink. Am I up for it? The box of condoms and tube of flavored lube were down toward the bottom.
“Are you coming? I think I need help getting these damn jeans off.” He’d seemed far off for a moment, but the bathroom was only a few yards away. Slamming the drawer closed, Isbet grabbed the plastic and headed in his direction.
The man resting one hand on the sink was tall, tanned, and handsome, but nothing about him said kink. Of course, what had she expected? Piercings and full-sleeve tattoos? Leather pants? And with her limited experience—limited to novels, in fact—she couldn’t have told whether he was someone who belonged in a dungeon or just liked a little play in his bedroom.
In either case, she supposed she’d find out. “Be right there.”
She hurried to help him ease his pants over the injury. Isbet dropped to her knees and rolled his socks off his feet. He had long, straight toes with just a little hair on each, probably the sexiest feet she’d ever seen on a man. Especially one who spent a lot of time on them, training with his unit. Most of her team had blisters on their blisters no matter how careful they were to break in new boots. Rocking back to sit on her haunches, she waited while he kicked his jeans to the floor and eased them off.
She’d already become used to looking up at him, but from her position on the cold tiles, he loomed over her like a naked god. Nobody could be that gorgeous and be human. His ankles were as fine bones as a race horse’s, but the muscles rising from there were perfectly defined, each rising into the next. Light hair covered his legs leading to a neat nest in his groin.
He turned toward the shower and twisted the handles. “It can warm up while you do my leg. Takes plenty of time for the ancient pipes to send hot water our way.”
He faced her again, and she remained in position until he handed her the roll of plastic wrap. “I just roll this around your thigh?”
“Right. Six or seven times, kind of tight so the bandage stays dry.”
Isbet rose on her knees again, trying to ignore the fact that, as she bent close to bring the box around his leg, his very-happy-to-see-her erection brushed her nose. She wrapped around and around until the plastic covered his thigh for several inches above and below the gauze, and she felt sure no water would get through.
When she finished and wrangled the end over the steel teeth of the cutting blade, sweat trickled into her eyes, and she blinked at the sting and stared at his cock. A crystal bead of pre-cum glittered on its broad, dark-pink head, the shaft swollen with prominent veins. She’d never truly appreciated the beauty of the male reproductive organ before.
“Water’s warm.” He took her hand and drew her to her feet. On the way up, she admired his narrow waist and muscular chest. “If you’re quite done, it’s my turn.”
“What?” Startled, she met his gaze.
“You’ve had plenty of time to look me over—more than my brother would spend on stock he was bidding on in fact—so now it’s my turn. Take it all off, baby.”
The insecurity she never experienced while in the field held her in place. Topless, sure, but no matter how in shape she was, her body was a little curvier than had been fashionable in the last century. She’d almost not been accepted by the recruiter when her weight better suited a woman a couple of inches taller than the five-foot-two that nature determined to be her final height.
His smile encouraged her, and she toed off her socks and set aside the weapons then stripped away her jeans and panties.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said in a hushed tone. “Will you turn around so I can see all of you?”
Licking her dry lips, she obeyed, pivoting in a slow circle, encouraged by his words but knowing he’d see all her flaws. No man who paid as much attention to caring for his body as he did, who had not an ounce of visible fat, could fail to notice her junk in the trunk.
“I can’t believe I never tried to get you into bed before today.”
Isbet giggled at his ridiculous remark, and her tense shoulders relaxed. “You never even noticed me before today. Even though I’ve been hanging around the place for a couple of weeks. Maybe I should be crushed.”
In the wordplay, her spirits rose even more.
“I wasn’t downstairs much, myself, remember? Mostly just lying around trying to heal.
She sobered at the reminder. “Maybe we shouldn’t do anything. I don’t want to hurt you.”
Taking her hand, he led her under the warm spray. “The day I can’t show a pretty woman a good time in the shower is the day I…. Well, I don’t know what I’d do, but it would be a sad day.”
“But we’ll be careful,” she said, a hitch in her voice. “So we don’t increase your pain or healing time.”
“Yes, Nurse Isbet.” He drew her into his arms under the shower head. “So I probably shouldn’t do this, either.” Taking her lips, he devoured her mouth, plunging his tongue inside along with stray droplets to moisten their kiss. “Or this.” While she focused on the tangle of their tongues, he slid his hands down to cup her bottom and lifted her.”
She wanted to protest, she really did, but when she wrapped her legs around his body for balance, the head of his cock butted against her opening and her traitorous body welcomed him in, slick and hot and so ready for love.
Dammit!
Did he have to make it so easy to like him? To want him deeper? She threw her head back and moaned.
“You are going to hurt yourself.”
He buried his face in her neck and licked at the water droplets there. “It hurts now.”
Isbet planted her hands on his shoulders and pushed. “Then put me down. I…. Oh God, don’t stop!”
He chuckled. “Make up your mind.” Rocking his hips, he drove deeper, like fucking a tight, satin fist. “Because I prefer option B. Where I fuck you until we both come screaming in the shower.”
“Ohh, I….”
He drove in to the hilt and started a rhythm, their wet flesh slapping together, grunts and moans providing syncopations. It had been a while since he’d been with a woman but not long enough to explain his desire to hold her close. Make her see she never needed to leave.
That they could have a future.
God, sex made him insane.
Tonight, tonight only.
He absorbed everything about her. Her panting breaths against his shoulder, curly hair plastered to her flushed cheeks, the shudders that began in her core and rippled around his cock until his balls boiled and his cum shot straight out the top and into her tight, sweet cunt.
Bareback. Oh man….
Chapter Seven
Ryder eased Isbet to her feet, and they clung together, panting, for a few minutes. As the water started to cool around them—damn ancient plumbing—he quickly soaped her up and she did the same for him. Goose bumps rising on both their bodies, they rubbed shampoo into their hair and rinsed. They toweled off, ran together to the bed, and hopped under the covers.
“I may never be warm again!” She giggled and cuddled close to him. “You weren’t kidding about your plumbing problems.”
He wrapped his arm around her, loving the feel of her skin against his even if they were both chilled. The breeze fluttering the window curtains held the chill of a final burst of snow at the highest elevations. The pasture where the plane landed was almost high enough to get a dusting. Not so the cattle would suffer, but not conducive to airplanes. Also, any strangers who might have been left behind would likely head downhill toward the ranch.
It irked him to have Carson and Andrew, probably taking turns with Sarge, watching the house while he slept. He hadn’t trained to protect his country and his team members for so many years to lie down while trouble brewe
d. Usually, an injured soldier would be behind the lines, in the hospital, maybe even back home. But if they were still in the field? They were still on duty.
Beside him, Isbet sighed and her breathing evened out. If he hadn’t been injured, he’d never have let their evening end after only one relatively short encounter. He wanted to make her come over and over, to make her want to stay with him instead of just spending tonight together. Why couldn’t they get to know one another? She didn’t have to leave right away, did she? While it was too soon to use the word “love,” he liked her a lot. Desired her more. Hoped to convince her to hang out a while.
And he’d neglected to use a condom in the shower. What kind of irresponsible asshole did that? She might be on the pill or some other form of long-term birth control. She hadn’t asked about protection…. But what if Isbet had just been as carried away as he had? After a day with such excitement, such a serious problem to address, her mind might have, like his, been focused in another direction entirely.
Sex offered a great stress release.
What if their stress release led to a little soldier to call their own? Of course, he’d be there for a kid, whether they had a relationship or not, but he’d always imagined when he did have a child, it would be when he finished his military career and settled down to…ranch or run a hardware store in town.
Isbet rolled away from him, and he let her go. The breeze from the window continued, but they were warm enough under the quilts not to get up and deal with it yet.
He had the strangest fantasies. But they’d sounded so good when he was on a mission where he wasn’t sure he’d make it back. To see a time when he retired, a successful soldier ready to take on civilian life.
For now, he did not have the type of life, of job, that made for a happy home life, and, if his career was whipped away from him, he’d be left depressed, a sad semi-rancher with one leg and other health problems that did not scream out pater familia. Still, he reached out and brushed a soft, damp curl from Isbet’s cheek. He should close the window before she caught cold.
The Omega Team: Spurs (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 5