by Paige Tyler
But when he reached the top of the stairs, it was to find Hardy bursting out of his bedroom, a gold-finished automatic in his hands. Before Hardy could pull the trigger, Gage closed the distance between them and wrapped his hand around the pistol, ripping it out of the man’s grasp. He shoved Hardy back into the bedroom with a growl.
Gage followed as the man stumbled back, continuing to push and shove until he’d moved Hardy all the way back to his bed and knocked him across it.
“You!” Hardy shouted. “I’ll have your fucking badge for this.”
He tried to get to his feet, but Gage pushed him back down. “That might be a bit difficult since I’m not wearing a badge at the moment.”
Hardy’s heart sped up as he suddenly realized there weren’t any other cops there shouting orders or waving warrants. There was just Gage—and the gun he’d taken from Hardy.
The fastest way to make his problems go away was to kill Hardy. And if Gage was smart, that’s what he’d do.
Hardy slowly inched toward the head of the bed. Did he have another gun in the nightstand? Gage hoped so. Because he couldn’t kill a defenseless man in cold blood. It just wasn’t in him.
He only hoped Hardy didn’t know that.
Gage found a chair and moved it closer to the bed, positioning it so that he could look Hardy in the eye while pointing the man’s own gun at him. Damn, a Desert Eagle Mark XIX, in titanium gold no less. He really hated it when scumbags carried such nice weapons.
“You tried to kill me and my team yesterday.”
Hardy eyed the gun as he shook his head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I was at a meeting with the mayor all day yesterday. As a matter of fact, we spent some of that time talking about your out-of-control SWAT team. And about how you killed my son.”
Gage leveled the gun at the space right between the man’s eyes. “Do you think I care that you had one of your people set that bomb, or make the call to lure us there? You made it happen, which is all that matters.”
Hardy’s gaze nervously darted to the gun again.
“And as for your son, you know as well as I do that he signed his own execution order the moment he decided to kill innocent people.”
Hardy didn’t respond to Gage’s statement, but he didn’t deny it, either.
“You won’t shoot me,” he finally said.
Gage could tell by the man’s erratic heartbeat Hardy didn’t really believe that.
“I just walked into your house all by myself, put down four guards like they weren’t even there, then took this thing away from you like you were a two-year-old.” Gage gestured with the Desert Eagle. “Tell me again why I won’t do exactly anything I want?”
Clearly, Hardy had been under the assumption that if he held out long enough and kept the conversation going just a little longer, his men would come running to the rescue. The man had spent most of his adult life scaring the hell out of people, but Gage wasn’t scared, and Hardy knew it.
“What do you want?” Hardy demanded. “If you wanted me dead, you would have done it already. So, what is it? Money?”
Typical. The bastard thought all he had to do was wave a wad of cash in someone’s face and all his problems would go away. Gage bit back a snarl. “I don’t want your money.”
“What then?”
Gage stood up and moved closer to the bed, keeping the pistol trained on the bull’s-eye he’d mentally painted on Hardy’s forehead. He didn’t want to kill Hardy. Even after what the man had tried to do to his pack, Gage couldn’t just execute him in cold blood. That would make him no better than Hardy. But he had to make Hardy believe he would kill him, so the man would be scared so shitless he’d back off.
“It’s simple really,” he said. “If you ever make a move against me or anyone close to me again, I’ll track you down, kill every one of your guards, then rip out your fucking heart.”
To make sure Hardy knew he meant every word, Gage jammed the bolt carrier back so hard he ripped it off the rails.
He tossed both pieces of the weapon on the bed beside Hardy. “Is that easy enough for you to understand?”
Hardy didn’t answer. He was too busy staring at the Desert Eagle Gage had just destroyed as easily as if it had been made of plastic.
Gage let out the same low-throated growl he used when he wanted to force a member of his pack to pay attention or behave. It had the same effect on Hardy.
“Do I make myself clear?” he asked.
Hardy swallowed hard. “Yes.”
“Then we’re done here.”
With that, Gage turned and walked out.
* * *
Gage walked back into Mackenzie’s apartment just before six a.m. Including the stop at the store for donuts and condoms—a purchase that had earned him one hell of a strange look from the cashier—he’d been gone for an hour and thirty-five minutes.
He didn’t hear any movement coming from the bedroom, so he left the donuts on the kitchen counter and silently made his way in that direction. The sun was peeking in the window at Mackenzie, who was huddled under the blanket fast asleep. She looked so beautiful it made his chest hurt.
Gage stripped off his clothes and set the economy-sized box of condoms on the nightstand, then climbed into bed. He pulled her into his arms and buried his face in her silky hair, breathing in her scent. God, she was like heaven.
Mackenzie mumbled something unintelligible and pressed herself back against him. He tightened his arm around her, holding her close. He hadn’t intended to do anything more than fall asleep with her, but she wiggled her bottom against his crotch, making his cock harden.
He stifled a groan and tried to put a little space between his hard-on and her very warm, very soft ass, but it was impossible. Even though she seemed to be completely zonked out, she scooted back even more and rotated her hips in a very sexy dance that made his cock poke her in certain places completely on its own.
Mackenzie stirred.
Ah, hell. He might be dead tired, but apparently certain parts of his anatomy weren’t. Reaching for the box of condoms, he couldn’t think of a better way to start the day.
* * *
Mac snuggled into the pillow with a sigh. Was that bacon and eggs she smelled? She inhaled deeply. Damn, it was. Gage was making breakfast for her. Which meant he must have run to the store because she hadn’t bought bacon and eggs in…forever. Normally, she didn’t eat stuff like that, but she was starving. Not surprising. She and Gage had worked up quite an appetite last night. Not to mention this morning. She smiled at the memory.
She had been awakened at an insanely early hour by Gage’s very hard cock slowly sliding into her very wet pussy. He’d made slow, teasing love to her as they spooned together in bed. He had moved in and out of her from behind while one hand caressed every inch of her body—her face, her neck, her breasts, her stomach, her thighs, her clit…oh yes, her clit. It was, without a doubt, the most romantic sex she’d ever had in her life. And afterward, all she could do was pull his arm around her and go back to sleep.
Now he was making breakfast for her? What had she done to deserve this man?
It was hard to leave the cozy nest of blankets, but she forced herself to climb out of bed. She washed her face and brushed her teeth, then pulled on the first piece of clothing at hand—Gage’s uniform T-shirt. But if she was wearing his T-shirt, what was Gage wearing? Eager to find out, she ran a brush through her hair and hurried out of the bedroom.
The sight that met her as she walked into the kitchen was even better than she’d imagined. Her big, strapping lover was at the stove wearing nothing but those really tight boxer briefs of his. Wow, he had a great butt.
Mac went up behind him and wrapped her arms around his stomach, pressing herself against him as she kissed the warm skin of his back.
He smiled over his shoulder at her. “
You could have stayed in bed. I was planning to bring this in to you.”
She ran her hands over the muscles of his chest and abs as she rested her cheek against his back. “As much as I like the idea of breakfast in bed, I don’t think we would have gotten to the bacon and eggs part if you served them to me dressed like this.”
He chuckled as he finished cooking the eggs—half a dozen over medium by the looks of them—and transferred them to plates where the bacon and toast were already waiting. She couldn’t help but shake her head as she watched him work. He moved with the quick grace of a person who’d been working a grill for years. She couldn’t flip an egg to save her life, which was why she always made scrambled, when she had them at all.
“I can go put some more clothes on, if you think you’ll be distracted,” he said as he carried the plates to the table. The coffee was already poured and steaming.
She shook her head as she sat down. “I don’t want to put you to any trouble. I’ll just have to control myself.”
He slanted her a sexy grin. “You can always give me back my T-shirt.”
“I could, but I prefer you the way you are.”
Gage attacked his food. It took her a little longer to get her eggs and bacon cut up, but when she finally took her first bite, she found herself eating almost as fast as he was.
“This is really good.”
“It’s just bacon and eggs.”
She took another forkful of both, then followed it with a bite of the toast he’d already buttered for her. “It’s better than anything I could make.”
Gage took a swallow of coffee. “I could give you a few lessons if you’re interested.”
She wouldn’t mind getting some lessons from him in the kitchen, just not the kind he was talking about. “I have a better idea. If you keep making breakfast for us, I’ll make sure you always wake up hungry. How’s that?”
The heat in his eyes almost made her swoon. “Deal.”
She took another bite of toast. “So, what’s on the agenda today? If we assume that you’re planning to follow your doctor’s order and get some rest?”
He wiped up his plate with the rest of his toast, then popped it in his mouth, devouring her with his eyes as he chewed. She wondered if he was envisioning all the different ways they could have sex together for the next two days.
If so, she liked the way he thought.
“I thought we might just hang out together. If that’s okay with you?” he said when he was done chewing. “Though I guess I need to run by my place and grab some clothes and stuff.”
She eyed him over the rim of her mug. “Seems like you have all the clothes you need, if you ask me.”
He chuckled. “While I don’t have a problem with that, I think we’ll have to leave your apartment at least once. You don’t have enough food in here to keep us both going for a whole weekend.”
Mac thought about how much he’d eaten last night, and this morning. He’d consumed about three days’ worth of food in less than twenty-four hours. Yeah, maybe they’d need to go out and shop some.
“Okay,” she agreed. “But I’m coming with you. I want to see where you live.”
“Sounds good. Just don’t hold what you see there against me. I don’t spend a lot of time at my place, so it’s not as nice as yours.”
She steeled herself. When a guy said something like that, it usually meant he hadn’t cleaned in a month.
It turned out that Gage’s place was nothing like what he’d described and a lot cleaner than she’d expected. It was a first-floor, one-bedroom apartment with a tiny eat-in kitchen, an equally small living room, and a guest bathroom. It was probably less than eight hundred square feet total. But while there wasn’t much in the place, what was there was neat, organized, and dust-free. She couldn’t say the same for her apartment.
“I’m going to pack a bag,” Gage said as he headed for the bedroom. “There’s some soda in the fridge if you want it.”
She didn’t really want a soda, but she did want to check out the fridge. You could learn a lot about a man from what he had in there.
Like the rest of his place, Gage’s refrigerator was clean and organized, and way better stocked than hers. In addition to soda, beer, and bottled water, there were a variety of lunch meats, cheeses, and condiments. Gage was obviously big into sandwiches. But a look in the freezer showed a distinct lack of TV dinners. There was plenty of meat, though. Maybe the two of them should hang out over here—they’d definitely eat better.
She grabbed one of the bottles of water and wandered into the living room. Gage’s apartment lacked that cozy feminine touch. It was sparely furnished with a utilitarian-looking sofa and matching chair. It was also sparsely decorated, with the exception of one wall that held a dozen framed photographs and a few military-themed knickknacks sitting on a shelf in the bookcase. She found herself smiling at the pictures of Gage in various military and police settings.
He was younger in the military ones, but she still recognized him. Most of them were of Gage with eight other men, usually hamming it up for the photo, with their arms around each other or with their various weapons held casually in their hands. Gage looked really happy in all the pictures.
The clothing had obviously changed in the more recent pictures, with Gage wearing the standard police uniform in some, civilian clothes in others, and his SWAT gear in the most recent. She couldn’t help noticing that while the poses were very similar in all the recent photos, Gage wasn’t smiling in any of them. It made her feel as if she was witnessing a loss of innocence one frame at a time.
She noticed something else, too. While Gage was easily the biggest man in any of the military photos, it didn’t compare to how much larger he seemed in the more recent pictures. She moved back and forth, comparing him over the years. It looked like he’d not only put on muscle after leaving the Army, but grown a few inches as well.
Running out of stuff to see in the living room, she meandered toward the bedroom. Gage was standing naked in front of a tall dresser, going through a drawer of underwear.
Mac stopped and let herself enjoy the view. Out of the corner of her eye, she took in several other facets of the room—a big bed, another dresser with its drawers hanging half-open, a wall closet holding mostly uniforms, and a black duffel bag sitting on the floor half-full of clothes and toiletries.
But mostly, she looked at Gage and that amazing naked body of his.
She bit her lip as heat pooled between her thighs. It shouldn’t be possible to be aroused. They’d made love so many times last night she should have been satisfied for the next month. But that wasn’t the case at all. As she enjoyed the play of muscles over his tight ass and broad back, she felt herself getting wet. She was definitely going to have to change her panties when they got back to her place.
How the hell did Gage do this to her?
He stopped, his head coming up sharply. Then he turned to her with a smoldering smile. The hungry expression only served to make her wetter, and left her wondering if he’d picked up on her arousal.
“I’m almost ready.”
Against her will, her eyes drifted down to the perfect, thick cock at the junction of his muscular thighs. His shaft pulsed slightly, then slowly hardened.
“You most certainly are,” she murmured, only realizing after the fact that she’d said it out loud.
He closed the distance between them in two strides, yanking her fully clothed body against his completely naked one and kissing her hard. It felt so wicked and so perfect, and it took her breath away. He tasted so good, and felt even better. Damn, she was practically vibrating with need. This must be what they meant when they said two people were sexually compatible because right now, she couldn’t imagine another man in the world who could make her feel like this.
The sensation of his now rock-hard cock pressing against her stomach was en
ough to almost drive her crazy, and she would have dropped to her knees in worship to it, but he wouldn’t let her. Instead he picked her up and carried her over to his bed. He yanked off her flip-flops and jeans and yet it still wasn’t fast enough to suit her.
A tiny part of her—the part that had nothing to do with helping Gage strip off her panties so he could flip her over on her hands and knees—wondered how she could possibly go from not even thinking about sex to wanting it so badly she didn’t care if he ripped her clothes to tatters. But one look at him as he took a condom packet out of the bedside table and rolled it on told her everything she needed to know.
Gage made it possible for her to act like this. She wanted him so badly because that was exactly the same way he wanted her. Like she was the only thing he could think about. Like she was as important to his survival as air.
When he pulled her ass closer toward the edge of the bed and plunged into her wetness, they both released groans of pure pleasure. His was a deeper—almost possessive—growl, but hers wasn’t any less animalistic. She wanted him to possess her completely, make her his in every way possible.
His hands firmly grasped her hips as he slowly moved inside her. With each thrust, he pumped harder and harder until he buried himself all the way to her very core. She was panting so hard she was almost dizzy.
The rush of her approaching orgasm didn’t surprise her. She’d learned last night that Gage could make her come almost anytime he wanted—and right now he wanted her to come right away.
Her teeth clamped down on the blanket covering his bed and she swore she could taste him on it. That thought, however crazy, only brought her climax on faster. She screamed into the bed, clutching the covers as her whole body shuddered violently. And when the first waves of orgasm passed, she got an even firmer grip. Because there was something else last night had taught her. Gage wouldn’t stop with making her come only once. He would take her like this until she was sure she’d pass out—then he’d make her come even harder.
* * *