by JL Madore
CHAPTER TEN
Danel shuffled forward with his arms up and hand outstretched. Ronnie’s winter scarf doubled as a flannel blindfold as the soles of his boots squeaked on the concrete. The smell of rubber and motor oil hung rife in the cool air and he found the scent of the garage remarkably comforting. “I don’t get it. If it’s my car, why can’t I see it?”
“Austin said you love this car.” Ronnie guided his progress. “Like seriously man-crush luuurve her. I want you to see your beautiful lady with no distractions and no expectations. If she triggers a memory, great. If she doesn’t, that’s fine too, we’ll take her for a spin and see what happens out on the open road.”
Danel couldn’t help but chuckle at the excitement in Ronnie’s voice. “Are you ready?”
He nodded. “Ready and steady.”
“Keep them closed until I say.” She tugged on the tails of the scarf and he leaned over to make things easier. With his eyes uncovered, she positioned him by steering his hips and patted his sides when she was satisfied he stood in exactly the right spot.
The pop of the hood preceded the creak of it being raised and his smile grew. She was truly infectious.
“Okay, open your eyes.”
Danel breathed deep and hoped for the best. “Holy shit, she is beautiful.” His adrenaline gave him a rush as he studied the lines of the ’69 Mustang, Mach 1. Candy-apple red. V8, 428 Super Cobra Jet, 4-speed manual transmission, Paxton supercharger, and a pristine black pony interior.
Ronnie opened the driver’s side door and waved her arm to usher him in. He squeezed past and sank into the seat. “Austin was right. I am in love.”
Until he reached for the gearshift.
He sighed with his wrapped stump hovering over the stick. “I guess I haven’t driven this since last summer.”
Ronnie jingled the keys. “It just so happens that I learned to drive three on a tree on country roads. A four on the floor isn’t even a challenge. Let’s take her out for a spin.”
Danel gave the woman credit, Ronnie never ceased to surprise him. He got out, waited until she was seated and buckled, then he closed her door.
The passenger’s seat shot a pin into ego balloon, but he tried not to let his deflation show. The beefy rumble of the engine rattled around in his chest and soothed his disorientation more than anything had in days.
“Listen to her purr.” Ronnie gave the engine a couple good revs before she pulled out of the spot and headed to the far end of the underground garage. The double door opened at their approach, and she eased them up the ridged ramp to the racetrack property.
“Let’s see what old Danel listened to when he hit the streets, shall we? Oh . . . classic rock, what a shocker.”
Danel closed his eyes and let the pull of 335 horsepower and the heavy bass rhythm of Led Zeppelin take him away. With a pretty blonde at his side, and a full stomach—he couldn’t remember a time—he laughed at himself.
Yeah, he just plain couldn’t remember.
Didn’t matter, he’d bet the hand he had left that this moment stood out as a keeper anyway.
Ronnie couldn’t believe the twists in the road of life. From one moment to the next, you never knew what waited for you around the bend. She eased their way across the graveled drive, the crunch of pea-stone buckling beneath the weight of Danel’s dream car. She couldn’t disagree. His Mustang was sweeeet.
She cast a sideways glance. With his eyes closed and his head back, Danel radiated a simple joy he’d never shown her before. She would miss him. Even his brooding.
“Hey, why the sad face?”
Ronnie hit the indicator to leave the racetrack property and waited for a cab to pass by. Toronto’s streets were quiet at two in the morning, but not empty. She pulled onto the road and noticed a black Navigator fall in behind them.
“Ronnie has the luxury of pretending, but Veronica Rose Hennington knows what’s coming. With what happened, there’s no way my father will let me come back. The deal was, he’d let me live life as long as I was in no danger and took care of myself.”
Danel scrubbed his hand over his goatee and frowned. “I get that I don’t rank a vote but I gotta say, I’m disappointed.”
So was she. The way he kissed her was addictive. She craved that connection. Wasn’t ready for it to end. And even more than the prospect of a hot new boyfriend, she loved living outside her father’s power bubble.
She took the onramp to the expressway and pressed the pedal to the floor. The responding roar of the engine shot them forward and she slid over into the fast lane. Like everything in her life, she’d make the most of the time she had.
Eyeing the rearview, she wondered if that was the same massive black truck following? Austin mentioned that the men Danel killed had ties to a violent, local crime family who were out for vengeance. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to break curfew and wander off.
After her mother’s car blew up, she learned the importance of hedging on the side of safety. She never fought her father’s security teams after that.
Taking the next exit, she slowed to city speed and made her way to the address plugged into her phone. “Austin said you shared a place with another soldier, Tanek. Apparently, he was killed last summer around the same time you lost your hand in battle. She doesn’t know if you’ve been back since.”
“If I haven’t been back, where have I slept for the past five months?”
“Yeah, that. She said you stay in one of the spare rooms at Zander’s club. It’s a . . . sex club, by the way.”
He blinked at her. The ghost of a smile tugging at his mouth made her bristle. The quick stab of jealousy was unwelcome. She didn’t do jealous. It was a waste of emotion.
“A sex club,” he drawled, his amusement thick in his voice. “Well, that’s an interesting factoid about old Danel, isn’t it?”
She pulled into a parking spot and cut the engine. “Maybe for you. I don’t think much of it and I’m darn sure my daddy wouldn’t approve.”
Danel reached over and brushed the flare of heat warming her cheek. He studied her, his expression a mixture of subtle intrigue and definite amusement. “Should I really be in the dog house over something that may or may not have happened before . . . something I don’t even remember?”
She supposed that wasn’t fair.
He unbuckled his seatbelt and then released hers. “Come here for a sec.”
He patted his lap and helped her climb over the gearshift. Straddling him in the leather bucket seats was awkward but she wasn’t about to turn the invitation down. He gripped the lapels of her winter coat and pulled her close. She groaned as he tilted his head and sealed their mouths. His tongue dipped inside her, tasting her in long, leisurely strokes.
Danel’s kisses consumed her. As she sucked on his tongue, she thought she might overdose on his pheromones. He was aroused. There was no hiding his erection, given her position on his lap.
The lights of passing cars and voices of pedestrians on the sidewalk distantly registered. They were in a very public place. Yet . . . she couldn’t stop.
Too soon, he broke the contact. Thankfully, he looked as affected as she felt. “I can’t comment on old Danel’s habits, but I doubt I was some promiscuous player. I’m happy to take things slow. I’ve enjoyed getting to know you. I don’t imagine my other self as an entirely different breed of man. Do you?”
No. She didn’t suppose so. In fact, she’d never seen him in the company of a woman in all the nights he’d come in.
“Logically, both of us have serious life issues to deal with and you’ll be headed out in a matter of an hour or two. Who knows, I might regain my memory and change the landscape of whatever this is could have been anyway. We simply don’t know. Our wisest course is to stay in the moment.”
A predatory glimmer sparkled in his eyes and she suspected she’d never get over being dazzled by his looks.
“What does that look like—this moment you speak of?”
“That depend
s. Do we keep it simple or shall we carpe diem the shit out of this?”
“Definitely, door number two. Seize the day.”
He nipped her bottom lip and then kissed the sting. “Then, let’s seize it,” he whispered roughly against her lips. “The kissing is amazing, but right here—right now—I want inside you before you’re gone. Ride me, Ronnie. Give us both a much-needed release.”
“How forward of you,” she teased.
“If it’s too soon—”
“Too soon?” She ground against him, her nipples hard beneath her fleece. “I’ve fantasized about skin friction with you for almost a year. The moment we’ve got condoms in hand, you are my personal jungle gym.”
He laughed, the sound as beautiful and rich as she always imagined it would be. “Let’s get inside and see if I’ve got any.”
Danel took the keys from Ronnie and fumbled with the lock. Finding the right option while clinging to the woman on his arm was difficult one-handed, but he managed to open their way into the apartment. His cock was hard, his blood thrumming. Being hot-boxed in the Mustang, with her arousal filling the air and her hips grinding against him, had him nearly undone. The need to get her beneath him overwhelmed.
He’d been so preoccupied with his past that he’d missed what was right in front of him.
And now she was leaving.
Somehow, he knew he had never believed in happily-ever-after, but he’d take happy for tonight in a heartbeat. Surely, the living space of two single men would supply him condoms. If not, he’d hit every all-night drug store for blocks.
If Ronnie wanted to play jungle gym, he would oblige her.
“Lock the door and make yourself at home, I’ll be right back.” Danel vaguely took in the surroundings as he breezed through the apartment. The motorcycle in the living room was cool. He’d come back to that. Bathroom . . . he checked the vanity drawers, the medicine chest, and the cabinets on either side of the mirror. Nothing.
The first bedroom he checked was the master. As he rooted through the bedside tables, he decided this likely wasn’t his bedroom. It didn’t feel remotely familiar . . . but it delivered.
Yes. Thank you, roommate, Tanek.
He palmed three foil packets and headed back out. Ronnie had wandered her way into the living room and taken off her winter jacket. She stared out at Lake Ontario and the Toronto skyline. The simple beauty of the woman against the glittering colored lights of the skyline and distant islands stole his breath.
“Nice view.” She turned with a smile.
His attention remained locked on her. “Stunning.”
He slid the condoms into his pocket, his gentlemanly side winning out over the lusty warrior. “Can I get you a drink?”
He stepped over to the bar and she shook her head. “Can’t. Too many meds for alcohol . . . but thanks.”
His gaze skittered around the apartment. Instead of seeing things that sparked memory, all he saw were places he wanted to have sex. The leather sectional. The kitchen island. Table. Desk. Floor. Shit . . . so many choices.
Ronnie laughed. “Why do you look so tormented?”
Danel cleared his throat and flashed her the condoms he’d scored. “Vacillating between pouncing on you like a college frat boy and playing the cool seduction.”
She grabbed the hem of her fleece top and pulled it up and over her head. “Do I get a vote? Tick-tock, frat boy.”
A low rumble vibrated from his chest. It was a primitive sound, that no human male would make. Danel launched over the sectional and had Ronnie pulled against him in the next heartbeat. “Fuck, I wish I had more patience to do this right.”
Ronnie yanked his jacket open and pushed it off his broad shoulders. It hit the floor with a heavy thump and she went straight for the fly of his jeans. “No complaints here.”
He took her mouth with a raw edge. He was all over her. The seams of her stretch pants snapped as he shoved them down. He cupped the lace cup of her bra, licking the hollow of her collarbone. When her feet were free, he lifted her by the globes of her ass and pressed her back against the glass wall.
She squealed as her heated flesh hit the pain of glass.
“Cold?”
“Very. You better warm me up.”
“Done.” The rending of her cotton panties removed the last obstacle between him and the woman he wanted.
“Can you do the honors?”
Ronnie fished one of the condoms from his pants pocket and ripped the foil wrapper with her teeth. He hated to break the contact of chest to chest, but he eased back so she could get her hands on his cock.
He hissed as she rolled the latex over the crown and down his length. “Fuck, that feels good.”
As if for good measure, she gave him a couple extra strokes. His knees threatened to give out, but no way would he drop to the ground and miss what was up next.
Ronnie finished sheathing him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her condition didn’t hold her back; he doubted anything would. She crushed herself against him and sealed their mouths once more.
With all lights green, he pressed her to the glass once more and shifted his hips. His erection brushed the inside of her thighs until—fuck—the heat of her core nearly blew off the top of his head. A feminine sigh left her in a heated rush. He teased and slicked and played at the entrance to her body until he was certain he could penetrate her without discomfort.
She was tiny, and he was soooo very not.
“If I hurt you,” he gasped, his jaw clenched, “tell me and I’ll go slower.”
She gasped, arching her hips and working his shaft, taking more of him. “I don’t want slower. I want you . . . the raw, hungry you. The real you.”
Her nails dug into his shoulders and he cursed. There was a wildness in him. It pulsed in the beat of his heart and raced like thunder in his veins. It paced within, gauging his control. He didn’t trust himself to untether that hold.
She dug her heels into his ass and he got back in the game. He pressed so deep, he could hardly stand it. Either he hadn’t had sex in a very long time or Ronnie just rocked his cock to the point of no control.
Her core tightened around him, clenching, taking her own pleasure from his penetration. “Ah shit,” he bit out. “I’m going to come so hard.”
The dark promise seemed to excite them both. Her body temperature rose, as sweat broke across his brow. Her neck arched, her head resting against the glass. “I can’t wait. Lose it. Lose your mind.”
Danel spun from the window and levered her over the end of the sectional sofa. With her legs up, he loomed over her, his arms sinking into the seat cushions. She gazed up at him with a heavy-lidded ecstasy dancing in the blue pools of her eyes.
He lost his mind.
With a frantic need he couldn’t explain, he pounded inside her with a punishing rhythm. She felt so good. Soooo gooood.
His release shot straight from the base of his spine, his sight blacking out in spots. More animal than man, he spilled into her, a string of ancient worship rolling off his tongue.
Lost to the utter sensation of Ronnie, he sank over her and panted for breath.
The apartment spun around Ronnie’s head as she fought to catch her breath. At the frantic rate, her heart was pumping blood through her body, there was a possibility she might pass out from having sex with Danel.
“Shit, I’m sorry,” he said.
“For what? The sex? That was amazeballs.”
Maybe if she wasn’t shaken by the depths of sensation she was riding out, she might have managed to find her brain. As it was, she throbbed head to toe with the most glorious glow.
“You didn’t finish.”
She waved away the concern in his voice. “You were wonderful. That rocked my socks.”
Danel frowned and shook his head. “No way. Never let it be said that I’m a selfish lover. I want you completely sated.”
Before she could argue, Danel tugged her bottom to the edge of the sofa, dropped to his kne
es and lowered his head.
“You don’t need to—oh, my gawwwd—nevermind. Carry on.” Ronnie closed her eyes and let her legs fall wider, giving Danel full access to her core.
He chuckled against her heated flesh, his tongue circling the still clenching entrance to her body. Her muscles trembled, her eyelids heavy with illicit pleasure.
“All right?” he asked, his breath hot against her flesh.
“Never stop. Seriously. Never.” She ground shamelessly against his working mouth, her orgasm building. There was reverence in the way he tended to her. Greedy, yet devoted to his task. “I’ll take you home with me. Feed you. Let you out for air. You’ll live at my beck and call—my beck and call boy.”
He played in the moisture he’d drawn from her and slid two fingers inside. More with his tongue, his goatee brushing the sensitive flesh inside her thighs. The world exploded. Her body shattered with an erotic violence she’d never imagined.
Her orgasm washed over her in a scorching wave. She cried out, rocking her hips mindlessly into his mouth. She was lost in the primal possession of her dark and broody lover. Danel continued to play, tonguing her gently until the last quiver faded. She sagged, exhausted.
Her respite didn’t last.
The sound of a second foil packet tearing had her blinking down her exposed body. Danel was once again granite hard and standing at the ready like a proud soldier.
Yep. She would definitely pass out.
But man, what a way to go.
Phoenix flicked the radio station in the Navigator and smacked his brother on the shoulder. Parked across the street from Danel’s apartment, they had front row seats to the sexcapades of their brother-in-arms three stories up. D and his human had been going to town since they’d arrived, and good for them. The guy had suffered enough for ten lifetimes. He deserved a break.
Stop watching them, ya perv.
Seth laughed but didn’t turn his head. “Hey, if privacy is a concern, you don’t nail your female against a glass wall. Besides, I prefer voyeur.”
A call came in and the vehicle’s Bluetooth picked it up. “Hey boys,” Zander said. “What’s doing? Anything to report?”