In the Line of Fire: Hot Desert Heroes, Book 1

by Jett Munroe

  “Hey, babe.” Beck’s deep voice delighted her senses. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”

  Delaney wandered back to her bed and got on it to sit cross-legged. Absently rubbing her knee, she said softly, “No.” She propped an elbow on her lower thigh and rested her chin in her palm. “I just got to bed.”

  “You sounded out of breath when you answered the phone.”

  “I had to run to get my cell out of my purse before you went to voice mail.”

  He didn’t say anything for a few seconds, and she thought maybe the call had dropped. She pulled her phone away to look at it and saw it seemed to still be connected. Putting the cell back to her ear, she said, “Beck? Are you still there?”

  “I’m here.” His voice was even deeper and now held a husky tone that made her girly parts sit up and take notice. “You didn’t want to miss my call,” he murmured. The smile she could hear in his voice made her think he liked the idea she wanted to talk to him.

  She pressed her lips together. Was she being gauche, letting him see so soon how much she liked him? Well, there was no help for it. She was the one who’d nearly strangled herself in her own bedsheets to get to the phone. He was just the observant guy who once again hadn’t missed out on her being a dork. “No.” She swallowed and added, “Are you home? You made it back to town safely?”

  “Back in town safe, yeah. Not home yet.”

  Just then she heard the chime of her doorbell. “What the…” She got out of bed and started toward the living room. Who could be here this late? Her neighborhood was made up of decent people, as far as she knew, but you really never could tell.

  “Come to your door, babe.”

  Her pulse pounded a staccato beat behind her ribs, in her throat. Fright short-circuited her brain, so she didn’t understand what he was saying. It made her voice tremble when she said, “What? Why?”

  “Don’t be scared, baby,” he said. “Come to the door. It’s just me.”

  She reached the front door and said again, “What?” as she got up on her toes to look through the peephole.

  Sure enough, there he stood, illuminated by the light from the outdoor sconce. Delaney twisted the thumb turn on the deadbolt, turned the lock in the knob, and yanked open the door. He was back! “What’re you doing here?” She disconnected the call and clasped her phone in her fist.

  “Told you I’d stop by if it wasn’t too late.” He shoved his smartphone into the back pocket of his jeans. His gaze held hers before it swept down her body. His eyes had become like storm clouds by the time they met hers again, setting off lightning zings through her body. “Is it?” he asked.

  She was lost in his presence. “Is it what?”

  His lips twitched. “Too late. Is it too late?”

  She leaned toward him. “Is what too late?”

  The lip twitch became a full-blown smile. “Is it too late for me to be here?”

  Somehow his words managed to get through her Beck haze. “Oh, no. No! It’s not too late. Do you want to come in?” she asked, her voice soft with nerves.

  “Yeah.”

  If he came in, she knew he’d kiss her. Maybe they’d fool around a little.

  She wanted that. Actually, she wanted more.

  When she stepped back, he moved inside and closed the door, flipping the locks. Before she could ask if he wanted anything, his hand shot out and hooked her behind the neck. She found herself propelled toward him and up on her toes until she was pressed against him, breast to thigh. She kept her eyes glued to his until she had to close them when his mouth touched hers.

  One hard, brief, closemouthed kiss then he let her settle again on her feet, though he still held her with one hand at her waist and one gentle hand on her nape. “Missed you, baby,” he said in a voice rough as gravel.

  “I missed you too.” Delaney drew in a shaky breath. Being this close to him, having had those lips on hers, it hit her in a way it never had before just how sexy his mouth was. The top lip well formed, the bottom one full with a slight crease in the center.

  Somehow she found it within herself to muster up some hospitality. “Do you want something to drink?” she asked.

  He shook his head. His hand worked its way beneath her PJ top to rest warmly against the skin at the small of her back.

  Delaney licked her lips as his touch seemed to radiate heat to the rest of her body. “Did you have dinner? Can I fix you something to eat?”

  “Sweet.” The fingers at her nape tightened briefly and he tugged her forward to drop another kiss on her lips. “You wanna take care of me.”

  She frowned. He made it sound like she was being…she wasn’t even sure what. Silly? Clingy? Too nurturing, too soon? It was just good manners. “Don’t go and get all excited,” she muttered.

  He grinned. “I had dinner,” he said, answering her question. “Though…I could have a little something more.”

  The way his voice deepened and his smile fled there at the end, coupled with the heated silver of his eyes, gave her an excellent idea of just what that something more was. Tendrils of heat curled down to where her pulse beat out a slow, burgeoning need.

  She wanted him. She needed him.

  “Beck…”

  His mouth crashed onto hers. The hand at her nape moved, dived into her hair, and fisted, tilting her head to an angle. The slight sting from the strands being tugged fired her already smoldering libido. She pressed deeper into him, giving more.

  Wanting more.

  He took. He gave.

  Delaney slid her hands up his strong arms to his broad shoulders before she drifted her fingers across his collarbone and under his jacket. He let go of her long enough to shrug out of his suit coat, then his hand went back into her hair and the other one slid to her hip and yanked her lower body tight against his.

  Through their clothing, his hardness seared against the softness of her belly as his mouth devoured hers, hot and wet.

  Suddenly she was airborne, swept up into Beck’s arms. “Bedroom,” he muttered, and she pointed down the hallway.

  He covered the distance to her bedroom with long, swift strides. He placed her on the bed then flipped on the small lamp on the nightstand. His heavy body came down on top of her, a knee wedging her legs apart.

  “Tell me you want this, Laney. Tell me you want me.”

  “Yes,” she whimpered, looping her arms around his neck to draw him closer. “I want this. I want you.”

  “Thank God.” His mouth came down on hers again. Though she was expecting it to be bruising in force, it wasn’t. He nibbled; he teased.

  He made her want more.

  With a grumble, she thrust her tongue between his lips. He groaned and twisted his tongue around hers, pushing into her mouth. He dropped his hand to her breast, palming it, giving another groan when the nipple peaked beneath his hand.

  His mouth trailed over her jaw to the sweet spot at the curve of her neck and shoulder. She did a full-body shiver, and the heat and slickness between her thighs grew.

  “Wait,” Delaney moaned. She needed to get something straight with him.

  Beck immediately lifted up and stared down at her.

  “Don’t…” she licked her lips and made herself meet his eyes, “…don’t you think this is moving too fast? We’ve only had one date.”

  The response she got wasn’t the one she expected. She’d figured he would give her a gentle smile and even gentler words, assuring her with tenderness that the timing was right.

  What he did was better than that. It was, in fact, spectacular.

  He threw his head back and roared with laughter. The entirety of his body shook with it, blanketing her with warmth and humor.

  “Beck!” She slapped his shoulder. “I’m being serious. We’ve only had one date.”

  “B-babe,” he stuttered and went off again.


  Even while she enjoyed the show of this big, handsome man laughing his ass off, his eyes crinkled, his powerful body shaking on top of hers, she glared. She wasn’t trying to be funny.

  When he got himself under control, he dropped his head to meet her eyes. “We’ve been dancin’ around each other for a year, babe. That is not fast. That’s slow. As molasses.”

  He was right.

  “But I’ll do my best to show you slow.”

  Her stomach flip-flopped and her toes curled. “S-slow is good.”

  “Not sure I have it in me right now, though.” He leaned down and pressed a kiss to the hollow of her throat. “Missed you too much.” He shifted his weight. Even through his jeans and her flimsy PJs she felt the heat and rigidity of him against her belly. “Want you too much,” he rasped.

  “Um…” Shyly she met his gaze and stroked her hands from his shoulders down to curl her fingers over his biceps. She undulated her hips, driving her softness against his hardness. “Going slow later is also good,” she whispered. Even softer she added, “And…um… I bought some um…condoms yesterday. They’re in the nightstand.”

  The flare of heat in his eyes was her reward for overcoming her shyness in purchasing the prophylactics. He lifted her and whipped her pajama top off and came down over her again. The soft material of his shirt rubbed against her nipples, bringing them to tingling awareness. One broad hand slid up her thigh to delve beneath her pajama shorts and into the folds of her sex.

  “Fuck me,” he growled. “You’re soaked.”

  The words barely penetrated the haze of the building inferno he stoked within her. The tear of material as he ripped her shorts down her legs registered, though. “Hey!” she protested. “These are my favorite PJs.”

  “I’ll buy you another pair,” Beck muttered against her throat. “Buy you a dozen.” He reared up and dragged open the drawer of the nightstand, snagging a condom.

  Delaney sat up and started unbuttoning his shirt. Her hands were shaking so much she got frustrated after loosening only two. With a muttered imprecation, she grasped the placket and ripped his shirt apart. She managed to unfasten the buttons at his wrists and he shoved the shirt off.

  “Guess you owe me a shirt.” His grin was wide, feral, full of heated desire. He got off the bed long enough to ditch the rest of his clothes.

  She lay back against the bed and stared at him. Across one taut bicep was a black-and-red stylized tattoo of an eagle, wings lifted in flight. Black hair dusted his broad pecs, narrowing to a line bisecting his taut abdomen, circling his navel to continue down to one of the best parts of him. She wasn’t one to ordinarily wax poetic about man parts, but she loved Beck’s cock. Wide and thick and long, it was beautiful. She figured he knew what to do with it too, and if he didn’t do it well she’d be shocked.

  He was muscular but lean without an ounce of extra body fat. She fought the urge to glance down at her belly, knowing she’d see that little pooch no amount of crunches could get rid of. She kept telling herself that was what happened when a woman made it over the big 3-0, but maybe it would help if she laid off the carrot cake muffins. But if she couldn’t eat cream-cheese-laden carrot cake muffins, what was the point of life?

  He rolled the condom onto that luscious cock, and when his hand slid once again between her legs, she forgot about belly pooches, muffins, everything except Beck and how he made her feel.

  He surged forward, filling her, his mouth dropping to one of her breasts, drawing her nipple deep.

  “Ohmigod,” Delaney mewled. She drove her fingers into his thick, dark hair, arching her neck on a whimper. Then she had no breath because Beck began pounding into her, hands on her hips, pulling her up against each downward thrust of his pelvis. His mouth moved to her other nipple and she felt the drag of his tongue all the way to her core.

  “Twelve…fucking…months,” he growled in time to his hard thrusts. “Twelve fucking months I’ve wanted to do this.”

  She wrapped her legs around him, bare heels digging into the backs of his thighs, one hand fisting in his hair, the other clutching his back. She’d never had it as good before, until Beck.

  He went down on one elbow and moved a hand from her hip to her pussy. Two fingers pressed on her clit and circled. Her entire body tightened as her climax built.

  “Beck,” she gasped, her voice harsh with passion, peppered with desperation. She’d never built up so fast. And she wanted to get to the edge and fall off, so much. With Beck. Only with Beck.

  “Reach for it, baby,” he rasped, hips still driving into hers, fingers now pinching and tugging her slick, swollen bud.

  “I want…want you t-to…” She gasped as his cock slid over her sweet spot. “Oh God! You come too.”

  “I will.” Circling fingers and thrusting cock drove her higher and higher. “Come for me,” he urged against her lips.

  She had no choice. She flew apart on a scream. She scored her nails up his back. His hips punched against hers once, twice; then he pressed deep and held, back arched, a low growl coming from his throat as he came with her.

  Her climax rolled through her, on and on. Delaney moaned and panted through it, wrapping her arms around Beck, the only solid thing in her world. After a few moments, he moved, hips shifting, cock gliding in and out, softly. Gently. Then he dropped his head and planted an openmouthed kiss on her throat.

  “Knew it’d be like that,” he murmured. “Knew it.” He lifted his head and stared down at her, the warm, sated look on his face sending a swirl of contentment through her. “Thank you, baby.”

  She didn’t know how to respond because it hadn’t been her. It was Beck. All she did was hold on for the ride. “You’re welcome,” she finally whispered.

  “Don’t move,” he said and brushed his lips against hers. “Be right back.” He slid out of her, and she couldn’t hold back a soft moan at the loss.

  Grinning, he tapped her nose with a long index finger and rolled off her. With a gentleness that brought tears to her eyes, he drew the sheet up over her. As he headed away from the bed, she curled onto her side and watched the magnificent sight of his muscled backside disappear into the bathroom. She wondered about the dark spot she saw between his shoulder blades. She couldn’t tell if it was shadows or a bruise. She heard water run in the sink, then it shut off and a few seconds later he walked into the bedroom.

  The view of his front was just as breathtaking as the view from behind and distracted her from asking about his back. He had a six-pack, maybe even eight, and defined hip muscles that made her tongue tingle with the desire to spend a day or even two tracing those lean lines. Inevitably she made the comparison of his body to hers and she decided right then carrot cake muffins were no longer part of her eating regimen. In addition to the walking she tried to do every day, she was adding crunches and anything else in between.

  Though, honestly, cutting out the carrot cake muffins with cream cheese frosting, not to mention chocolate and ice cream, would probably do the trick.

  Delaney saw the heat in Beck’s eyes and realized something with a suddenness that made her go still for a second. If he had issues with her pooch he wouldn’t be wearing that carnal expression. So, maybe she was getting ready to fix something that didn’t need fixing. She’d have to think on it a little bit more, but it was a promising development. She might not have to give up her decadent treats after all.

  “You look like a kitten who’s been in the cream,” he murmured and got into bed behind her.

  Make that cream cheese and you’d be right, she thought with a small smile.

  One big hand came out and brushed wayward strands of hair from her cheek before moving to her middle and pulling her back against him. He cocked one leg and moved it between hers, raising her right leg with it. A contented sigh left him.

  Delaney drifted her palm across his forearm, enjoying the feel of hai
r-roughened skin against the sensitive pads of her fingers. She loved sex with Beck, but this… This might be even better, just lying here quietly while he held her.

  While he made her feel like they were the only two people on the planet.

  Who knew he was a cuddler?

  “How long can you stay?” she asked.

  “Came here without goin’ home, so my suitcase is still out in the trunk.” He placed a kiss on her shoulder then settled behind her.

  It was a good thing she kept her air-conditioning set to sixty-eight at night. She was rewarded for that with high electricity bills, but tonight especially she was glad she liked a cold house. Beck radiated heat like a human furnace. She wouldn’t even need to cover up with a sheet to ward off the chill like she normally did.

  “Plannin’ on stayin’ the night. Wanna sleep with my woman in my arms.”

  Oh, that was nice. Really, really nice. A different kind of heat spread through her.

  “Wake up and have her again,” he went on, his breath warm against her nape. “Get the day started right.”

  Oh, that was even nicer. She wiggled, rubbing her behind against his groin, smiling at the way his arm tightened around her.

  “Settle down there, babe.” His deep voice rumbled with humor. “Let’s catch some shut-eye first, right?”

  “Right,” she breathed. Her belly tumbled with desire, her nipples tightened. Restless, she turned to her back and curled her hand lightly around the brawny forearm draped over her stomach. He moved then and twined his fingers with hers, bending both their arms to rest their hands between her breasts.

  There was no way she’d be able to sleep like this. She wasn’t used to having a man in bed with her, hadn’t been for three years. But with Beck’s body beside her, bathing her in heat, she soon relaxed and drifted off, safe in the arms of her lover.

  * * * * *

  Beck woke and, without looking at his watch, knew it was 5:30 a.m. He always woke at 0530, but not always with a stiff erection and not usually with an armful of delightfully warm woman. Not for a long time.