Explosive Forces

by D. D. Ayres

  He seemed to sense her problem, because he back-walked her until she came up against a thigh-high counter covered in a tarp. He didn’t stop there. He lifted her up onto it and then pushed her knees apart until they framed his hips. Then he cupped her butt and pulled her in tight against him so that she could feel the strength of his arousal.

  All the while raw need poured from his mouth into hers. He kissed with his whole body, every muscle straining in aching need. The tough man driven by desperation.

  A little desperate herself, she ran her hands up and down his back, seeking without asking for him to touch her more intimately.

  Finally his hands slid upward, under her sweater. She heard his soft intake of breath when he realized she wasn’t wearing a bra. Before she could register how that affected his already impressive arousal, his hands were sliding around to the front. Then his fingers were framing her breasts in a slow massage that pebbled her nipples in the center of his palms.

  She was reaching for his belt buckle when he lifted his head, gasping for breath as if the oxygen had left the room. Smiling to herself, she slid the tail of his belt back through the loop and pulled it loose.

  But his hands were there before she was done, warm hard palms embracing the backs of her hands. “Wait.”

  Carly froze. What did he say? Wait?! “No. No waiting.”

  Noah gripped harder as she went back to work on his buckle. Though, damn it all to hell, there was nothing he wanted more than to watch her lower his zipper, slip his jeans over his hips and—

  “Jesus.” His voice sounded as ragged as his grip on reality. To save himself, he reached over and switched on her flashlight. It the sudden arc of light he saw one very puzzled, or very pissed off, expression on her pretty face. He must’ve looked like an idiot to her.

  His body was vibrating with images of doing things with her he’d done without for so long, he’d been half-convinced his sexual nature would need a hit of Viagra to kick start it. Turns out, all he needed was a woman with Happy Hair. Even though she was no longer touching him in any way, his senses still drank her in. Every sensation registered as bright hot sexual attraction.

  But he was nothing if not practical. He had to be, a single father with job responsibilities that had no neat boundaries. And that was before last night. She needed to understand how little he had to offer her.

  He reached up, resting a hand on each of her shoulders. She tensed but didn’t shrug off his touch. Instead she regarded him with a wide dark gaze that still shimmered with desire. He’d done that. It made him proud, and ashamed. He had no right.

  “Carly, I’m battered goods. I’m also hemmed in by choices I’m happy to deal with, but which make any kind of relationship nearly impossible. You’re young, no entanglements. You could have any man. Do anything. Do whatever you want.”

  She held his gaze steadily. “What I want to do at the moment is you.”

  Noah thought he was beyond surprise after the events of last night. Christ. He wasn’t close. She wanted him.

  He didn’t have to answer. His dick was there. He could see in her eyes her understanding of his predicament. And she smiled and leaned in to kiss him again.

  He didn’t have the strength to deny her. Oh, but she tasted good. If happiness had a flavor, she was it. She had the kind of smile that made a man glad he was male. And when she’d looked at him with that directness that was her own, he could only answer, if only in his head,

  He sighed in gratefulness when she backed away, sensing, perhaps the dialogue going on in his head. So he went vocal. “I’m not a good bet for a relationship. I’m likely to be arrested any minute. If I’m found guilty of arson, I could go to prison.”

  She framed his face in tender fingers. “Sounds like we don’t have a lot of time to waste.”

  She was killing him. “I’m not—”

  She slipped her thumb over his lips and pressed. “You can’t talk me out of wanting you. Is that what you really want to do?”

  What he wanted was to take her now, on a tarp, on the filthy floor, against a wall, wherever and however he could find the best and fastest way into her. But she deserved better. She deserved a lot better than him. Yet he wasn’t strong enough to walk away. “My parents took Andy to Padre Island for a few days. We could go to my place.”

  She shook her head. “Someone wants you dead. That person may be looking for you.”

  Damn. She had enough presence of mind to think of that a beat ahead of him. Of course, his brain was in his pants at this point.

  She kissed him softly. “My place is just a few blocks away, over on Vickery.”

  “What about your property?” He glanced around in the dark. “I won’t be here to guard it.”

  She touched his shirtfront, making him aware that she could feel the too-rapid rise and fall of his chest. “I came tonight not knowing what I was looking for. Now I want what I’m holding onto.”

  He grinned. “That would be me.”

  * * *

  After a quick stop at a nearby pharmacy, both knew there’d be no preliminaries, just a rush to get through the door before they began undressing each other.

  They’d taken turns playing “touch me here” as they drove over. Mostly, he kept one eye on the scant traffic while discovering with one hand that she wasn’t wearing panties when he’d slid a hand down the front of her jeans and into the wet slick center of her. She was so ready for him her lids dropped closed as he softly stroked her. By the time they reached her apartment building, she had tightened her thighs to hold his hand in place.

  He stole a glimpse of her face, tight in concentration, and grinned. “Getting a little needy?”

  Her eyes popped open, her gaze throwing shade for days. “Just so you know, payback’s a B.” She smiled. Even when seen by the scant light of the dashboard, the lustful look she gave him had him ready to cream his shorts.

  Meanwhile, Harley made a few comments from the backseat, most of them whiney sounds of confusion. And one of his signature farts that had them rolling down the windows.

  Once parked, Noah set Harley up with partially rolled-down windows and locked him in. “I’ll be back for you in, hm, an hour.”

  Harley licked his hand and curled back into a ball to sleep. Noah wasn’t worried about his dog, who often spent hours in the truck when they were on a call. Certainly no one ever stole anything out of his truck—something flirted across his mind and then disappeared when Carly slid in beside him to pet his dog.

  “Be good,” she whispered. “I’ll take really good care of your handler. Promise.”

  She turned around so that she was facing Noah. “Ready?”

  More than she could ever understand.

  They ran like a pair of teenagers, arms tight around each other as they crossed the parking lot. They stopped in the shelter of a stairway to kiss and giggle.

  Noah shook his head as she grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him along toward her loft. What was it about her that made him feel lighthearted and free? He should be miserable. But all he could think about was getting her indoors where he could undress her like a Christmas package and then bring her all the pleasure she could handle. And then he’d help himself.

  Access to her place was controlled by a fob on her key ring, and then he was being led through an interior that was dark except for the light from the Fort Worth skyline streaming in though her open shades.

  She kicked off her shoes, pulled her sweater over her head, and shucked off her jeans. Then she paused and simply stood there for his benefit.

  Noah’s breath caught. She was a vision, all smooth satiny skin with small but perfectly shaped breasts with dark nipples he wanted to lick until she sighed.

  He took a step toward her, looking into her warm and welcoming gaze. “You’re—just the most beautiful…” That’s all he got out before she moved in on him.

  She reached for his shirt and pulled it over his head.

  She ran her hands through the light hair on
his chest, then twirled the curling hair over each nipple around her forefingers. “I’ve been wanting to do this since this morning at the hospital.” She leaned forward and licked each one. The action made his belly jump with desire.

  Lord. Had it only been this morning that they butted heads? This morning was a thousand hours ago. And, if she kept licking him like that, he was going to come in his pants.

  He reached out and skimmed the sides of her breasts with his fingers, bushing his thumbs back and forth until they stood at full attention. Then he leaned in and licked her, as she had done him.

  He heard her little catch of breath each time his tongue passed over those pebbled buds. She reached up and tightened her hands into fists in his hair, holding him to her chest so that he could lick his fill.

  He smiled as he nuzzled a breast. He was just getting started.

  Just as quickly, his dick did a hard jerk, reminding him that it might have been too long for everything he was thinking.

  One of her hands was at his belt while the other stroked hard along the length of his erection behind his jeans. As glorious as it felt, he made a grab to still her hand.

  “Whoa, Carly.” He sucked in a breath, struggling for control. “It’s been a while. There’s a limit to what I can handle at the moment.”

  She smiled at him, a womanly knowing in her expression as she again took his wrist. “In that case, we better get you some relief, so you can enjoy the rest of the evening.”

  An evening in her company. If she had offered him anything in the world, at the moment it would have been that. An evening in her bed, in her.

  She unfinished unbuckling his belt, unzipped him, and pushed his jeans off his hips. Then she plunged both hands into his shorts.

  “Oh,” she whispered in flattering tones. And then her cool fingers were wrapping around him, tightening even as they began to slide back in forth in a rhythm that nearly brought him to climax within seconds.

  He grabbed her wrist, a single word scraping out of his throat. “Please.”

  Laughing in sympathy, she pulled him past the sofa and pushed him gently into a nearby chair. And then she straddled him.

  Hands braced on his shoulders, she rocked her hips forward into him, pressed her warm wet core onto his erection. The sensation of her sex ready and weeping for him rocked his world to the foundation. And then she was kissing him again, slow deep kisses that melted into each other, until she felt him fiddling with his jeans.

  She lifted her head, a question in her eyes.

  “No glove. No love.” He jerked free a condom. As she slid back on his thighs, he quickly slipped it on.

  When their eyes met, she was gazing at him with her head rocked to one side. “Ready to ride, cowboy?”

  He grinned at her. “I’m just a city boy, ma’am, but I surely aim to please.” He took her by the waist and lifted her.

  Understanding what he wanted, she reached down between them and grabbed his erection, aiming it so that when she settled again onto his lap he slid into her.

  She gasped at the feeling of being filled. In fact, it took her a couple of breaths to adjust. Holding still for her was the hardest thing he’d ever done. And then she began to move. Using her feet she lifted up against him, her breasts pressing into his chest a moment before she dropped down on him, forcing him deeper and deeper with each stroke.

  He let her manage the rhythm until he knew he was as deep as possible, and then his hands came up to clamp her waist, and he took over.

  It was a hard fast ride. But she was with him all the way, stroke for stroke, rising up on tiptoe and allowing him to plunge her body down hard on his. The sensations were overwhelming, the rhythmic sound of their thighs slapping together, the liquid heat of her sex dampening his legs. She felt so right. More right than he had any right to expect. He was going to have to think about that. Later. Right now topping every other urge was the glorious sensation of pleasuring the woman in his arms.

  “Oh baby. Carly. Damn. So good.”

  He knew when she reached the peak. Her body went stiff as she called his name. She was gasping, bucking against him, her head thrown back. And then she erupted in little sweet cries as he felt her rippling orgasm clasp him tight.

  He came quickly after her, a thick hot eruption so violent his balls ached.

  For long moments there was only her harsh breathing and the endless roll of her second orgasm. And his voice thick and low saying her name over and over as he gathered her close.

  He held her for a long time in the silence as she lay collapsed over him. He even rocked her a little as he brushed curls away from her face. Her eyes were shut, her mouth a little open, as if she had lost connection with the world.

  He smiled to himself and kissed her nose. He’d been with plenty of women, but never one who came so easily, so effortlessly, and with such abandon.

  Carly Harrington-Reese was something special. But then he’d known that from the moment he’d opened his eyes and saw her bending over him. His guardian angel. He just didn’t know what he was going to do about it.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Noah walked Harley through the double-gated entry in the hurricane fence that surrounded Fort Woof. The park, located on Beach Street just north of I-30, was built especially for Fort Worth dogs and their owners. There were two fenced-in areas, one for larger dogs and one for small dogs under forty pounds. Small dogs could run in the large-dog area, but not vice versa. Each area had picnic tables—though food was forbidden—benches for humans, watering stations for humans and dogs, as well as poop disposal stations with plastic bags. The park opened at 5 a.m. and was usually busy. But early on this Sunday morning, only a few eager beavers were out on the large expanse of grass.

  Noah pulled the collar of his jacket up around his neck to block the chilly breeze. It would be in the mid-70s by noon, but just now winter was making a mild protest at being pushed aside.

  The 40-ish degree breeze didn’t bother Harley, who danced on the end of his leash in anticipation. The park was a familiar place where he could free play.

  They had an hour before reporting for a side job at the North Texas Speedway. It was obvious from Harley’s highly antsy attitude that the big shepherd needed to work off some edginess before they arrived to work the crowds. Make that both of them needed to blow off steam. Noah was feeling pretty torqued himself. With three hours of sleep under his belt, he should have been okay. But his mind was revving like a street racer before the beginning of a competition.

  He’d had to pick up most of the mess left by the police searching his home before he’d turned in. Maybe that’s what was wrong. He felt like he was living on borrowed time. Having sex with Carly was either the best or worst decision he’d made in years. His opinion on the subject changed each time it floated to mind. It had done so with every other thought before he fell asleep. He tried an old trick of tying a mental weight to the memory, in the hopes it wouldn’t float to the surface again until he had time for it.

  Noah looked around before unleashing Harley. The only other dog he saw in the main yard was a Yorkie tentatively climbing a brightly painted A-frame. The park had built an agility course for more-ambitious owners and their canines. Unfortunately, the Yorkie seemed anything but eager. The frightened pup paused before reaching the top of the A-frame and turned to yip at its owner.

  A tall man in a puff vest and knee-length shorts that were exactly the color of his untanned legs waved a hand at the dog. “Go on, Larchmont. I promised Mommy you’d get the hang of it today.” The man sounded as forlorn as the dog had.

  Larchmont glanced at the peak that was his goal, then turned back to his owner, his lower body shimmying in fright. Three yelps, and he was headed back down the way he had come.

  Noah turned away with a small smile. Clearly, “Mommy” was in for a disappointment. The little fellow wasn’t Dog Agility material.

  Harley, on the other hand, was born to run. As soon as he was off the leash, he barked repe
atedly as he jumped back and forth before Noah, waiting for the right word.

  “Release!” Noah’s voice was high with encouragement.

  That’s all the shepherd needed to hear. He turned and shot straight across the field, as if a big juicy bone lay unclaimed on the far side of the park green.

  Noah grinned as he watched his partner speed away like a shaggy arrow. Whoever had thought he’d make a good service dog had miscalculated Harley’s drive. He was a natural born seeker, with a nose so sensitive he’d scored in the ninety-fifth percentile on his final test for certification as an explosives K9. No small feat for a repurposed canine. Luckily, Harley had been sent by ATF for reschooling at the prestigious Harmonie Kennels. The kennel, located in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, was the top privately owned school for law enforcement, as well as for specialty government and military K9 training. When ATF decided to place Harley with the Fort Worth Fire Department, Noah had volunteered as a handler.

  He had been as intimidated as any police academy rookie when he’d been told he was being sent to Harmonie for three weeks to learn how to use an explosives detection dog. Harley was trained. It was all on him to prove that he had what it took to be the handler of such a gifted canine.

  He could still remember his first impression of the owner, Yardley Summers. Tall, flame-haired, and gorgeous, but as intimidating as a drill sergeant, she’d looked him up and down and then turned away, leaving him feeling inadequate. That feeling quickly turned into determination to prove her wrong in her assessment. He’d worked twice as hard, drilled after classes, kept Harley by his side 24-7 until it felt like they were joined at the hip. Harley liked him. And he liked the goofball German Shepherd who never saw a scrap of food he didn’t like. Of course, he’d been trained not to eat anything that didn’t come from his handler. But that snatched burger wouldn’t be the last of Harley’s indiscretions where food was concerned. It didn’t matter if it was kibble, French fries, or a bit of birthday cake. Harley was a see-food, eat-food dog.