by Lori Ryan
God, she was really doing this.
When they hit the bed and collapsed onto it, he took charge, dominating their kiss as his tongue danced with hers. He stole her breath, stole her sanity, stole any inhibitions she had.
She rocked her hips against him and he groaned, taking her wrists and moving them above her head where he trapped them in the grip of one hand.
She moaned. He was working his way down her neck with his tongue and every part of her body responded. She wanted to beg for more. To plead with him for release.
At the same time, she wanted it to last forever.
And that was a frightening thought. This was temporary. She needed to make sure her body, heart, and mind understood that.
His teeth grazed her ear and then he worked his way south, doing the same to her nipples. Then her stomach.
And then he was at the juncture of her legs and his hot mouth closed over her, sending her writhing as she gasped out his name.
He slid his finger into her and she knew then that she was done for. This man was going to take everything from her. He was going to demand everything and leave her helpless to resist him.
He sucked at her clitoris as he slipped another finger beside the first and she came hard and fast. He was moaning as she came and the fact he seemed to get off on her pleasure as much as she was getting off made it all the more intense.
He wrenched passion from her, the orgasm seeming to go on and on. And when he crawled up her body to meet her gaze she was surprised to see he’d already put the condom on when she had been melting on a wave of paradise.
He kissed her mouth, slow and long and then she felt him, his hard length pressing at her entrance. He teased her for a moment, the wicked look in his eyes showing her she was going to love every minute they would have together over the next week.
There was no doubt she would stay now. She couldn’t walk away from this.
And then he entered her in one smooth stroke and she cried out.
He cupped her face. “Okay?”
She loved that he was asking her but if he didn’t start moving she was going to lose her everloving mind.
She moved her hips. “Yes. So okay. All the okays. Now move.”
His laugh was sexy. But then he stilled her hips with one hand and kept her from rocking against him.
“If I don’t?” he asked, his eyes on her, amused arousal clear in them.
She might have whimpered. Okay, she did whimper. “Kaeden.”
“Yes?”
She turned her head and nipped his shoulder with her teeth.
He groaned and gave her what she wanted, beginning to move inside her.
Kaeden had to grit his teeth to hold himself back as he slid slowly out of Joy. It took all his control not to slam back into her and lose himself in the sensation of being inside this woman.
She was incredible. He didn’t know what scared him more. The way his cock seemed to get harder with each moan that slipped from her lips or the way he had zero restraint when it came to Joy Wilson.
Discipline and the ability to keep his distance from people were the two things that kept him sane. And she was chiseling away at them both.
He was an asshole but he pulled out, causing her eyes to go wide.
“Roll over,” he said, helping her to flip onto her stomach and then pulling her up onto her hands and knees.
Christ, he thought he could disconnect if he wasn’t looking into her eyes. But this was just as bad. The silky white skin and the supple curve of her back was intoxicating.
He ran a hand down her back and she whimpered, pushing back toward him.
“Please, Kaeden.”
His name on her lips shouldn’t sound so damned good. It should be nothing more than a word.
It wasn’t. It was somehow everything.
He pressed himself to her center and slowly entered her, tortuous inch by maddening inch. And then she wrested control from him, pushing herself back onto him and he lost the fight.
Ecstasy took over and he pounded into her again and again, fueled by her cries and the way she met each thrust of his hips with one of her own.
And when she tightened around him and cried out, he felt the telltale tightening of his balls and gave in, coming deep within her with a cry of his own.
And minutes later, when he’d cleaned them both up and they were laying in bed, he could think only one thing.
He shouldn’t be here. Shouldn’t be getting involved with this woman, even if it was only an involvement that went skin deep. He should have gone into town and met someone else to scratch this particular itch even though his body had been demanding her and no one else.
He should leave. Go back to his own cabin to sleep.
But he didn’t. He rolled them on their sides and pulled her flush against his body. She held herself taut in his arms for a moment before relaxing and damn if he didn’t lay there listening to the sound of her breath until it evened out and he was sure she’d drifted off into sleep.
He watched her in the pale light of the moon that streamed in through the cabin windows. There was something going on that she wasn’t willing to talk about. That or he was so damned suspicious after what happened with Alyssa in his final days in the military that he was seeing things that weren’t there.
That was possible. He knew he’d been keeping people at arm’s length. But when he’d walked in on his platoon leader and Alyssa, his whole world had shifted and he hadn’t ever been able to shift it back. Hadn’t been able to have the kind of faith he should have in people since then. It was like having an enormous granite boulder sitting on his chest pinning him in place with no hope of pushing it aside and rolling out anytime soon.
It wasn’t long before he felt himself begin to slip off into sleep as well. He didn’t fight it. Some part of him wanted to sleep tangled up in Joy. And more, to wake up with her beside him.
And he was a weak fucker for allowing himself that. Because come morning, he needed to distance himself.
Chapter 16
He didn’t leave in the middle of the night. Or in the morning.
Should have, but didn’t.
“You’re awake,” she said when he stirred.
He nodded against her shoulder. She’d stayed wrapped up in him throughout the night and somehow that did things to him that it shouldn’t.
“You been awake long?”
Now she nodded. “Yes. Listening to the sound of our breathing.”
He smiled. “That’s exciting.”
She elbowed him from her spot in front of him and the angle gave her a great shot to his ribs. He grunted.
“It was reminding me of scuba diving.”
“How’s that?” He actually thought he knew exactly what she meant but he wasn’t willing to tell her that.
“It’s weirdly quiet under the water. I mean, it’s not quiet because you hear your breathing and the sound of the bubbles coming through your regulator but everything else around you is quiet. That’s what it was like this morning. The world was silent around us, but I could hear our breathing.”
Our breathing. Not hers or his, but ours. He ignored that and asked the obvious question instead.
“You like scuba diving?”
She shrugged a shoulder, but he could see she was forcing the nonchalance.
“I did. I don’t have the money for that nowadays.”
“You did once?” He knew he shouldn’t ask the question. Not just because he knew it would probably force her to freeze up—and it did—but because he shouldn’t be trying to dig deeper with this woman. In fact, he should be up and dressed and gone.
She was stiff in his arms now and he put his head down to her shoulder and nuzzled her until she softened.
“I did,” she said and didn’t offer more than that. He didn’t push. He wanted to. Wanted to know what the hell had brought her to the point that she was driving a beat-up piece of shit car and working in a job that she was clearly overqualified for.
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This woman was sharp. She was personable and didn’t need to be told what to do to get a job done. Even if she didn’t have a degree, she should have worked her way up somewhere to something more than serving breakfast and helping with outings at a small lodge in Colorado.
And the way she’d answered Jack’s question about Commfarm told him she had likely once been in the tech industry. Or maybe in a support role like in advertising or something.
And something had pushed her to this. Pushed her out of that world and into this one and as much as he might damn himself for wanting it, he wanted to know what it was.
But this time, he was strong enough to ignore that drive to help her. He rolled her over and kissed her, only allowing himself to focus on what laying next to her had been doing to his body. She’d had him hard and ready to go from the minute he woke and he was only going to let himself think of that now.
He didn’t talk as he let her moans direct his quest over her body. And when he reached between her legs and found her just as ready for him as he was for her, he rolled them again. He took only a few seconds to get a condom and roll it onto himself before lifting her, helping her to fit herself over him. She lowered herself on his cock and he groaned as her slick heat surrounded him. It was a mistake to do this.
And a mistake to do it in this position. He couldn’t stop himself focusing on her eyes as she moved, drawing out her pleasure. He moved his gaze lower to focus on her breasts, the way her waist looked as she moved her hips, the soft silken skin of her belly. He kept his eyes there, moving his hands over her breasts and down to her waist to help her grind harder and harder against him.
He growled as she let him lift her higher and take her down harder as he pumped up into her. Fuck, she was so much more. Just more.
More than any other woman. More than he’d thought he deserved. More than he could hope for.
As she came, bucking against him as her body clenched tight around him, he hit that high of release. He made a crucial mistake then, of bringing his eyes back to hers. He could see she was shielding herself from him, trying to guard against whatever was happening here just as much as he had.
And he had a feeling she was failing just as miserably as he was. Because this was more than just sex. This was more than what he needed it to be. And it was scaring the shit out of him to admit that to himself.
She crumpled on top of him and he held her there, not at all wanting her to move. Not wanting to let her go yet.
He ran his hands slowly up and down her back. “Tell me your story, Joy.”
This time, she didn’t stiffen, but she did laugh. And her answer made it abundantly clear that he was right that there was more to what was happening with her than she was willing to admit.
“Why would I?” She asked.
He countered. “Why wouldn’t you? I’m only here for another week. I’m safe to talk to, to trust.”
She slid off him and laid by his side. “You’re going to talk to me about trust?”
Her retreat stung more than it should. “Yeah, so I have issues with trust, but we’re not talking about me.”
“I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours,” she said.
He wondered if she really would. But, still, he wasn’t about to talk to her about his shit. Sure, he had hang ups, he could admit that. But talking about them was another story.
“I can help if you’ll let me,” he said instead. The same couldn’t be said for him. Sharing his story wouldn’t help him. His story was over. There was nothing that could be done to fix it now.
Something told him she was right smack in the middle of something bad and as much as he didn’t want to let himself get sucked in, he wanted to protect this woman. Wanted to help end whatever it was that had her running.
Because that’s what she was doing. He could see it in every interaction. She was pulling within, getting ready to go.
He pulled her closer to him and this time, he met her eyes. “I’m here if you want to talk. For this week and then after by email or phone if you need anything.”
He was an idiot. He should walk away.
“Why?” she asked and he could see the mistrust there, the fear and caution.
He answered her the only way he could. Honestly. “I don’t know.”
Chapter 17
Evan leaned over his daughter’s bed and kissed her forehead. Her face didn’t even fully relax anymore in sleep and he mourned that. Her condition had gotten to the point that pain was a constant in her life.
If she were awake, she would manage a smile and tell him to hurry home to her. He hated leaving. Hated that the only way for him to make money was to get out there and do the jobs that required travel and nights of stake-outs to complete.
He stood and left the room, going across the small hall to kiss his wife goodbye again. They had already moved into a small apartment, selling their house to help with the mounting medical bills. Their daughter’s condition would never improve. They’d had to admit that long ago. She had such a cocktail of genetic abnormalities working against her that now her spine was degenerating as fast as her muscles were atrophying. At only eight, she wasn’t able to walk without assistance any longer and even that seemed like it wouldn’t last much longer.
Annabeth loved to draw, but he watched as her arms and hands grew weaker and weaker. He knew that gift would be stolen from her soon.
Doctors didn’t think she’d live past thirteen but he and his wife prayed for more than that. And he knew in his heart that was selfish of them. Annabeth was hurting more and more each day.
But she was his angel. He couldn’t let his Anna-angel go. Not yet.
He left the apartment, swallowing down the dread he felt anytime he had to leave Sara and Annabeth. He was hoping this trip would be fast.
He needed to fly to New Jersey to check out a home he was fairly sure Turner Carson’s wife was living in. He’d seen her on the home’s social media account, only she’d been in the background of the photo so he’d told Carson he’d go check it out and see if it was her.
He had half hoped Turner would say he’d go see if it was her, but it was better this way. He was able to charge a premium for traveling and working for three days in a row like this. It was a premium his daughter needed.
In fact, part of him hoped this wouldn’t turn out to be the Carson woman. If this case kept up a little longer, he’d have the month’s bills paid off ahead of time for once. Not something that ever happened.
Great, now he was hoping he’d be as much of a failure on this case as the last guy was. That was fantastic.
He sighed as he got into the car that would take him to the airport. He was lucky things like car rides and cab fare could also be charged to the client so he could let his wife sleep in and stay at home with Annabeth instead of getting a sitter to use their one car to drive him to the airport.
He looked at the apartment building as he pulled away. Three days. To most people it would be nothing to be away for three days.
To him, it was everything. His daughter’s days could probably be counted in the hundreds now instead of thousands. Three days out of that meant a hell of a lot.
Chapter 18
Turner had been wrong. He didn’t have much patience for sitting around a resort town while he waited for the bitch to show herself.
He’d spent the first two days at an outdoor table at a small café watching everyone who walked down the main street in town. Then he’d spent the next day looking for residential care homes in the area where Jane might have stashed his wife.
From what he could see the closest one that would really have the kind of facility his wife needed was an hour away. He was trying to decide if he should drive over there and stake that out instead of waiting for some miracle sighting that probably wouldn’t ever happen when he spotted her.
She was easily two blocks away and she was getting into a bus, but it was her. Long stringy hair and that too damned skinny body that thankfully she
hadn’t inherited from his wife.
He was up and headed that way, but the fucking bus was already pulling away from the curb. Dammit.
His car was in valet back at the hotel. He’d never get to it and catch up to the bus in time, would he?
He double timed it to the spot she’d gotten on and read the sign with the bus schedule, studying the small map.
It was a city bus that made a loop to several of the hotels and resorts. It covered a lot of territory, but maybe she was working at one of those places.
He started back toward his hotel to get his car. At least he had a direction to head in this time.
He sent a text to his assistant telling her he would be taking an extra week off. If he needed to go to every hotel and resort and lodge on that bus route to look for her, that’s what he’d do. And if that didn’t work, there was still the lead his PI was chasing down.
He’d waited two years for this. He was so damned close to having his wife back with him now, he could taste it. And there was no way in hell he’d let her little bitch of a daughter take her away from him again. No way in hell.
Chapter 19
“We have the perfect idea for a fun activity to close out the retreat,” Bethany said.
She and Callie stood side-by-side, matching grins on their faces. When they looked like that, Kaeden usually hated whatever it was they were going to say.
Still, he had to admit, they’d been an enormous help so far and Jack seemed to be happy with the work Kaeden was assigning to them.
Joy walked into the room, a slight blush hitting her cheeks when she saw him.
“Good, you’re here,” Callie said. “We were just about to tell Kaeden our idea for the last night of the retreat.”
Bethany bounced on the balls of her feet. “It’s perfect.”
Joy’s face lit with a smile, but this one was directed at him. It said she knew exactly how much he dreaded hearing this plan.