ALWAYS YOURS

by Shiloh Walker

  Dylan shrugged. “Beats the hell out of me. Classified, that’s all he says, and I’m not Army anymore,” he said. And all without lying. Because he hadn’t had to ask Ethan Raintree a damn thing. He already knew.

  Nikki studied him through narrowed eyes, as though debating whether to believe him or not. Finally, she turned away.

  Through lowered lids, Dylan focused his eyes on his sister. “Is she seeing anybody?”

  With a lifted brow, Nikki asked, “Why? Do you ever plan on letting her know how crazy you are about her? I do know she isn’t sleeping with tall, dark and sexy. I know, because I already asked.

  “Who said I was crazy about her?” Dylan asked, returning her stare levelly.

  “Dylan, I may not know everything there is to know about you, but I do know you. You’ve been crazy about her for years.”

  His skin started to feel a size too small, and he could feel the dull rush of blood to his face. Turning his head away, he said, “Nikki, can you actually see her wasting her time on me?” The sour feeling in his gut intensified as he imagined the kind of man she did spend her time with.

  “Why wouldn’t she?” Nikki asked.

  “Why would she?” he countered.

  Lifting her brows, she said, “I dunno. Maybe because you’re a great guy, you treat a lady well. You-”

  “Spent the majority of my teen age years in and out of a detention center?” he asked bitterly, rising to his feet. “Could barely spell my name when I graduated? How about the fact that I have absolutely no clue what I’m going to do with myself now? Or that I’m going to be fighting a bum back the rest of my life?” He stalked up to the water’s edge, staring out at the boat barely a hundred feet from shore. That swim had exhausted him. “Or how-”

  “How about the fact that you got that injury defending your country?” Nikki interrupted. She marched up until she stood toe to toe with him, and jabbed him in the chest with her finger. “How about that fact that you not only figured out how to spell your damn name, but you made it into the Army Rangers? You think any idiot off the streets can do that?

  “There’s not a damn thing wrong with you, Dylan Jackson Kline. Not a damn thing. And you’re good enough for anybody. But if you can’t see that, fine. She’s not going to hang around waiting forever. You don’t wanna take a chance while she’s here? Fine. But don’t try to avoid it by calling her a snob. And damn it, her life hasn’t been a cakewalk. She went through hell a few months ago and she was in New York on 9/11. Then there was what happened…”

  Nikki’s words died away and she clammed up, turning away.

  Dylan narrowed his eyes. “What happened?”

  “Nothing. It’s not my place to be talking about,” she said, staring out of the river. “But she’s not had the rich and pampered life you seem to think. She was only a block away from Ground Zero, did you know that? One of her friends worked in one of the Towers, and another was a paramedic. Both of them died.” Nikki tried to bat away Dylan’s hand but finally glared up at him, her eyes bright and angry.

  “What happened?” he repeated. “And I can find out. So why don’t you just save me the trouble?”

  Nikki scowled. “She was kidnapped when she was a kid. I think she was eleven. They did it for money—her parents are loaded, you know that. But that wasn’t the bad part. One of the guys was a pedophile and while the head guy was out of the room, this guy came in, threw her on the floor and tried to rape her. He covered her mouth, tore her clothes off and almost got it done, but she bit his hand, and screamed. The guy who was running the thing came in and jerked the guy off, beat the hell out of him. She said he went ballistic. He was really sorry, begged her not to hate him, he just needed the money, he really had no intention of her getting hurt. He took her away from there and finished the deal on his own.

  “Her dad paid the guy and he wasn’t ever caught—I don’t think Kris really wanted him to be. After that, they moved away from California and settled in New York.”

  She jabbed Dylan again in the chest and said, “So don’t act like she’s never had it rough. She’s got money, but that doesn’t mean she’s had it easy. She’s perfect for you, damn it. And she’s always wanted you. But if you can’t see that, fine. You just sit on your ass in your little apartment in Fort Knox when you get there, and she’ll find somebody in Louisville and you can be miserable thinking about it. And it will be your own damn fault. Because you’re a damn coward.”

  Dylan stood there, rubbing the spot on his chest where her finger had damn near dug a hole, while Nikki stalked away. His mouth twisted into a sulk and he muttered, “Well, you sure as hell are batting a thousand right now, slick.”

  Chapter Five

  She’s not going to hang waiting forever.

  Nikki’s words were still echoing in his mind as he climbed out of the Blazer hours later, his body pleasantly tired, his lower back stiff but not on fire.

  A chance with her? Hell, he wanted more than a chance. He wanted everything and all of it with her. Dylan rarely slept a night when he didn’t dream of her, think of that long, pale body and ache to feel it against him. A single kiss with her, years earlier, had haunted him more than entire nights spent with other women. Hell, that one kiss was more fulfilling than any other encounter—up until last night.

  Sometimes he felt like he had spent his entire life just waiting to touch her again.

  But touching her wasn’t enough.

  He was flat out in love with her, and suspected he had been from the time he had looked into those cool green eyes when she had strolled up to their apartment when he had been all of fifteen years old. Although if anybody had ever told him that he would have snarled at him. Love at first sight was something that belonged in fairy tales, and happy ending wasn’t something he was looking for.

  That didn’t mean he didn’t secretly hope for one.

  Kris was out on the porch, her laptop on her lap, her long legs up, ankles propped on the railing, crossed neatly. She met his eyes over the distance and colored hotly before lowering her emerald eyes back to the screen.

  Raintree glanced up from his perch at the other end of the porch, took one look at Dylan and disappeared with a mischievous grin.

  Dylan didn’t even spare him a glance as he studied Kris’ face, as her eyes lifted and met his, a flush rising to her cheeks. He felt his cock swell and his lids drooped. The temperature of his blood seemed to shoot up about thirty degrees and his hands closed into fists. He could hardly think when he got this close to her, just barely able to keep her from seeing what was raging inside him.

  You’re good enough for anybody…damn it, he wanted that woman.

  And not just for one damn night.

  And it wasn’t just her body he wanted. He wanted her. He wanted the stubborn arrogant proud woman that was crazy enough to track down an unknown nineteen-year-old kid from Kentucky and turn her into one of the best selling fantasy writers in the country. He wanted the softhearted woman who stood by his sister as Nikki’s world fell apart around her.

  All of her. Dylan wanted all of Kris, from her long deep red hair to the soles of her feet and every smooth, pale inch in between all intricacies of her complicated soul and sweet heart that she hid behind that sophisticated exterior.

  He had wanted her since he was a mouthy punk running wild in west Louisville. Her cool smile and appraising green eyes had driven him crazy for years.

  He had seen all sorts of emotions in her eyes, everything from approval, to anger, to disdain, and disgust. But he hadn’t ever seen that disgust in her eyes when she looked at him. Usually there was no emotion, just a cool, blank wall of emerald green.

  Why?

  Her taste, the silk of her hair in his hands had haunted him for years. After last night, Dylan knew how she moaned and whimpered as she came, how wet the folds of her sex were under his fingertips while he touched her, and how easily she was primed once he started to touch her.

  Sweet hell…

  Behind
him, Nikki hummed under her breath and said, “Ah, so maybe there were two people up last night.”

  Wade chuckled and nudged Nikki and the kids around him, herding them inside. Dylan moved slower, still staring at Kris.

  Kris felt his eyes on her, the sultry hazel eyes that seemed to stare right through her. Why in the hell hadn’t she taken Nikki’s car and driven into town? The door closed behind the kids, Nikki and Wade—but Dylan was still out there. She could feel him, that overwhelming presence, that life that seemed to drown out everything and everyone else when he was in the area.

  His silent footsteps closed the distance between them—her skin prickled as he drew nearer, her nipples puckered and tightened, her breathing got shallower and shallower.

  Slowly, watching her hands to make sure they stayed steady, she shut down her laptop and closed it as he drew near, lifting her head, her eyes tracking over the bare tan belly, the rock hard muscle left bare by the sleeveless denim shirt he had pulled on over his denim cut offs. The light scattering of blonde hair on his chest did little to hide the ridged wall of muscle there. His dog tags rested between his flat nipples, rising and falling with each steady breath.

  She forced her eyes to meet his and saw he was watching her steadily, one sandy blonde brow cocked.

  “Any luck, hot shot?” she asked, sliding her lap top aside and propping one arm along the back of the chair, fisting her hand and resting her cheek on it, staring at him and hoping like hell her face was blank.

  He shrugged. “Didn’t bother trying much.” Straddling the chair, he sat down and stared at her. “Why didn’t you come?”

  His eyes were bland, and she couldn’t detect any double meaning there—but with Dylan, you could never tell. Her cheeks started to burn but she fought not to let him see or hear any sign of her discomposure. “I don’t like early mornings,” she said evasively.

  Bluntly he said, “Am I supposed to apologize for last night?”

  Her face went flame red and all attempts at remaining distant went out the door. Oh, hell…did he have to go and bring it up?

  “Why did you do it?” she asked slowly, forcing herself to meet his eyes.

  His eyes dropped to her mouth and Kris felt her heart skitter to a stop when he reached over and traced his thumb across her lower lip, his big rough palm cupping her cheek. She gasped when he reached for her, his hands grasping her hips and dragging her across the glider. “I’ve been dying for another taste of you for years,” he muttered, reaching up and burying one hand in her hair, the other arm going around her waist like a band. “That one kiss of you a couple of years ago wasn’t near enough. Last night wasn’t enough.”

  She arched a brow at him and coolly said, “Well, I have to say that your lines have improved.” Of course, it was hard to be as arrogant as she was trying to be when she was pretty damn certain her face was almost as red as her hair.

  Dylan’s lips quirked, curving his mouth up in a slow, rare smile. “Are you going to hold me accountable for what a punk kid said, over ten years ago?” he asked, laying his hand on her thigh slowly, pushing it higher, slowly, giving her a chance to resist.

  Her lids fluttered closed as the tips of his fingers breeched the edge of her shorts. “Ahh…” was about all she was able to articulate at that time. Forcing her eyes to open, she realized he had moved in closer and was staring down into her eyes, his mouth just a breath away.

  Taking a slow deep breath, Kris tried to calm her racing heart, but all it did was draw him closer, and his mouth. That sulky mouth…it had made her wonder and burn for years, and now it was on hers again, his tongue pushing past her lips, as one big warm hand settled on her side, the thumb rubbing the soft underside of her breast.

  The other hand left the hem of her shorts and she whimpered when she felt it grip the curve of her ass. A moan rose and died in her throat as he lifted her, positioning astride his lap and rocking his shaft against her cleft as his tongue stroked against her.

  Both hands gripped her butt now, rubbing her up and down, back and forth against his thick, throbbing sex and Kris cried out when his mouth left hers to trace a burning path of kisses down the line of her neck. “Dylan…we can’t…do this here,” she whispered as his mouth closed over the aching point of one nipple, drawing it into the wet cave of his mouth, suckling it through the fabric of her shirt and bra.

  “Hmmm,” he murmured under his breath.

  His hair curled around her fingers as she gripped his head and held it close against her. Oh, hell, that felt so good. He used his tongue and pushed her nipple against the roof of his mouth, sucking deep as he started to rock his hips against her as he pushed her down on him.

  “You’re sweet,” he whispered as he pulled his mouth away, staring up at her through a fringe of lashes. “I thought maybe I’d imagined how sweet you tasted. No woman could taste that good, feel as good as you did. I must have imagined it. But you really do feel as amazing as I remember. Damn it, you drive me crazy.”

  His hazel eyes were slumberous, heavy lidded, the heavy fringe of black lashes at half-mast as he stared at her, a small smile tugging at his mouth. Kris slid her hands down to rest them on his shoulders, her cheeks heating under his intense scrutiny. “I find it hard to believe that. You hardly speak two words to me.”

  A grin flashed like quicksilver across his lean, tanned face. “That’s because any time I look at you I lose about fifty IQ points. And why in the fuck would you want to talk to me? I didn’t exactly make the best first impression, did I?”

  Heat raced through her at his words, her eyes dropping to his mouth. “Fifty IQ points, huh?” Then she smiled slowly. “You made a lasting first impression, I’ll give you, that. You were a kid, Dylan. And what a sexy one you were, even then…” She lowered her hand, taking his dogs tags in her hand and playing with them. Through her lashes, she watched his face as she admitted, “Maybe if you had been just a little older, I just might have taken you up on it.”

  A groan rumbled out of his chest and before Kris realized what he was doing, she was sitting on her ass, and he was stalking to the railing. “Shit, baby, don’t go telling me things like that when we most likely have an audience.” He leaned his hands on it and stared up at the sky, breathing raggedly while Kris smiled with hot female satisfaction at his obvious discomfort.

  And all she had done was admit she had wanted him back then. Did he even realize, though, that back then his eyes had been every bit as haunted as Nikki’s had been? If he had been older…she would have done almost anything to get that wounded look out of his eyes.

  “What are we going to do about this?”

  His quiet voice floated in and disturbed her reverie and she turned to see him staring at her, his arms folded his chest, the powerful muscles in his arms bulging and catching her eye, distracting her. She traced her eyes over his body lingeringly, like she had wanted to for ages, before she met his eyes.

  He was talking about wanting her.

  She sure as hell wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to feel that sleek, powerful body moving over her, under her. “I can think of any number of things we can do. When should we get started?”

  His sudden bark of laughter caught her by surprise. “I’m not just talking about finding a place to get you naked, sweet. I lost my taste for quick meaningless sex pretty fast, and I lost it years ago. I’ve had feelings for you for years, been damn near obsessed with you for years. And just a quick romp in the sack might get rid of a temporary problem, but it will make it worse in the long run.”

  But Kris had lost track of what he was saying after the words…I’ve had feelings for you for years…

  Oh, boy. They really needed to learn to say things to each other from time to time, more than…Been up to much lately, hot shot? Broken any hearts, rich girl?

  Dylan’s lips were still moving but she couldn’t quite hear him as she slid from the seat and moved to face him, staring at him. “Shut up a minute, Army boy. Okay? Just shut up a minute?�
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  Shit, what in the hell did I say? That was why he didn’t talk much. Dylan always ended up saying the wrong damn thing. Something had her eyes glittering like wet emeralds as she moved away from the glider, standing in front of him, staring up at him with wide, sparkling eyes.

  But before he could ask her, she had thrown her arms around his neck, plunging her tongue deep inside his mouth, hungrily. Like she was ravenous, she arched her body against his and sucked his tongue deep inside her mouth, rubbing against him and whimpering deep in her throat. Kris’s fingers dipped into his hair, clenching there. Dylan released his hold on the railing and reached for her, wrapping his arms around that amazing, wonderful body, feeling those soft, lovely curves align against him, just like he had dreamed about a million times.

  “Obsessed?” she murmured, pulling her sweet mouth away, moving to nibble at his chin as her fingers grazed his waistline, teasing him into forgetting that there were people, and some of them were very very nosy. “Obsessed, you say? I’ve been obsessed, had to fight with myself not to ask about you every time I talked to Nik; I look for you every time I come down here and I’m sad every time I don’t see you. I hate not knowing where you are, and then I saw you in that damned chair and I hated myself. If I had tried, just a little harder, I could have stopped you, kept you from getting hurt, done something—”

  “Shhh…” he murmured, brushing her hair back from her face and kissing her back into silence as her body started to stiffen. “Don’t. Don’t think about it.” Somebody had worried for me… Pushing his tongue inside her mouth, he pivoted, bracing her back against a post, rocking his pelvis against the soft hollow between her thighs, shuddering as her body softened and relaxed, as though she had been waiting for him to touch her, just like this.

  A loud knock on the window caused him to pull his mouth back, though he didn’t release her. Peering over his shoulder, he scowled at the raised eyebrows on Shawn’s face as he started stroking his hands up and down Kris’s arms in gentle soothing motions.