Take Me Under (30 page)

She couldn’t help but smile right back at him. “You know I can never resist your dares.”

His expression was an insanely sexy mix of love and resolve. “Then say yes and let me fuck you.”

“Yes. Yeah. You betcha,” she whispered, her smile melting into a grin.

A deep, throaty laugh shook his chest. “God, woman. You don’t know how good it feels to hear you say that.”

Before she could even draw her next breath, his powerful thighs were wedged between hers and he was working himself inside her, their gazes locked together as he braced himself on his forearms and started to move. The rhythm was slow and thick and outrageously good. She gripped the strong, lean muscles in his back, loving the way they moved and flexed under her hands, his hips driving that beautiful cock into her hard and deep . . . but so achingly slow. She writhed, undone, able to feel every inch and ridge and pulse in perfect, explicit detail as he became a part of her. She started coming somewhere along the way, and then couldn’t stop, the lush waves of pleasure rolling through her again and again, like riding the surface of an ocean. She made sounds she’d never even heard before: low, breathless cries for more . . . for all of him . . . for everything that he had. And he gave it all to her. His body . . . his heart . . . his soul. She could see it in the dark, glittering depths of his eyes. Feel it through that charged, emotional current that connected them . . . binding them together.

“I want to fill you up, Reese. Give you every drop of cum burning inside me.”

Her eyes went wide. “I could get pregnant.”

“I know.” His voice got lower, rougher, sending a blistering rush of warmth through her veins. “But we’ve already wasted so much time. I feel like I’ve been waiting for this moment for years, and I don’t want to wait anymore. I know it might take some time, but I don’t want to put it off. So what do you think? You ready to start working on that family we talked about?”

“Yes,” she breathed out, clutching him to her. “I can’t think of anything that would be more incredible.”

She only caught a brief flash of his gorgeous smile before he claimed her mouth in another one of those deep, deliciously drugging kisses that made her dizzy with pleasure. The instant she fell into another pulsing orgasm, he started riding her harder, his muscles rippling with power as he slammed his hips against her faster . . . and faster, a guttural growl on his lips when it suddenly crashed down on him. He pumped himself inside her with a savageness that was as beautiful as it was shocking.

When he finally pulled out, he braced himself over her on straight arms, that dark, glittering gaze focused intently between her sprawled thighs. “You look so fucking sexy with my cum dripping out of that pink little pussy,” he groaned, moving one of his hands between her legs.

“What are you doing?” she asked, when she felt his finger pushing into her.

“I want to feel it inside you,” he rasped, his attention focused hard and tight on her sex. “I’ve never done that before.”

She blinked, more than a little surprised. “You haven’t?” she asked, loving that this was another first they’d been able to share together.

Shaking his head, he said, “I fucked in the raw a few times when I was too young to know better, but I always pulled out. Never saw it through to the end.”

“Well, you certainly saw it through to the end today,” she murmured, her eyes slipping closed as she stretched her arms up over her head and smiled with satisfaction.

His chest shook with a breathless laugh. “Don’t be falling asleep on me, sweetheart. I’m ready for round two.”

She cracked one eye open and laughed. “Are you kidding me?”

He took her hand and wrapped it around his rampant erection. “You tell me,” he said with one of those sexy smirks that made him look too gorgeous to be real.

“Hmm. You’re an awful lot to take on, Sheriff Hudson.”

His eyes burned with heat. “I know. But it’ll be worth it, because I’m going to fucking worship the ground you walk on. Now, tomorrow, forever.”

“You don’t have to sell it. I’ve already signed on for the permanent package.”

He gave another husky laugh, his deep-grooved grin the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. “You won’t be sorry, baby.”

“I know.”

“I promise I’ll make you happy.”

Reese pulled him close, and held on to him as tightly as she could. “You already do.”

Epilogue

Three months later . . .

R
EESE HAD NEVER THOUGHT HER LIFE COULD BE SO WONDERFUL, BUT
it was. She’d started her new job and loved it. There was a great camaraderie among the staff at the school, and her students were awesome. She’d had Ben come in and do some special safety presentations, and now all the kids kept begging for him to come back. They loved him, but she wasn’t surprised. She loved him so much she sometimes couldn’t believe that she’d gotten so lucky. After everything that had happened at the start of the summer, they’d come through even stronger than she’d thought was possible.

Thanks to Ryder, a lot of the questions they’d had about Lizzie and Rick Jennings had been answered in the weeks following that horrific night in Islamorada. The business dealings Lizzie had mentioned were con jobs she’d made her brother help her pull off. Most of them had involved tricking wealthy older men out of their money, though Ben and the deputy believed the two might also be responsible for some violent robberies that had taken place up in Vermont the previous year. When she’d talked to Brit about the pair, Brit had said that both of the siblings were so unbalanced, there was no telling what kind of past had shaped them. It was an upsetting thought, but Reese was just glad they were no longer a part of their lives.

After his release from hospital, Drew had gone back to Boston, which had been a huge relief. He’d asked to see her before he left, but she’d told him there was nothing left for them to say to each other. Despite how badly their marriage had ended, Reese knew he’d never intended for her to be in danger, and she wished him the best.

And that was exactly what she’d found in Ben. The absolute best, most incredible man in the world, and one who had so many fascinating sides to his character she was still in awe. He was so deliciously rough and rugged, and then at times so endearingly playful, tickling her until she begged for mercy. And he could be amazingly tender, just cuddling her in his lap as they curled up on the sofa to watch TV or a movie. At those times, he would stroke his hands over her legs and hips, or the back of her neck. Little intimate touches that let her know he was aware of her, and that he enjoyed having her so close. It put a warm feeling in the center of her chest that she knew made her look blissfully happy all the time. But that’s only because she was.

And tomorrow she was going to marry his fine ass.

Finishing with her mascara, Reese slipped on the slinky silver dress she’d bought especially for tonight. In an hour, they were having their rehearsal dinner at McClain’s, and all their family and friends were going to be there. The only one who would be missing was Rachel. After their lunch that day at Casa di Pico, Rachel had left town in a hurry, heading to Lafayette, Louisiana. Everyone who knew her hoped she was doing okay there and that she’d come back soon, even if it was only for a visit.

Reese had just put on a pair of strappy silver heels, and was checking her makeup in the mirror over their dresser when Ben came into the bedroom looking all studly and gorgeous. From his reflection in the mirror, she could see that he was dressed in black slacks and a gray silk shirt that’d been left open at the throat, the molten heat in his dark gaze as he looked her over nearly making her forget what she’d wanted to ask him.

“Is Ryder going to make it to the dinner?” She’d been growing increasingly worried about the deputy the last few times that she’d seen him. There’d been dark circles under his eyes, and he’d had those brackets that men sometimes got at the sides of their mouths when they were really stressed . . . or pissed about something. Whatever was going on in the deputy’s personal life, he hadn’t been acting like himself lately.

“He’ll be there, but I don’t want to talk about Ryder,” Ben drawled with a sharp smile, coming up behind her. “Not when I could be telling you how much I love your ass in this dress.” He leaned down, brushing his lips against her ear as he ran his hands over her silk-covered hips. “But then, I love it bare and covered in my handprints, as well.”

Locking her gaze with his in the mirror, Reese gave him a playfully suspicious look. “Did you ask me to marry you just so you can act out your perverted fantasies on my ass?”

His crooked grin was ridiculously sexy. “Not just your ass, sweetheart. The second you’re mine, I plan on debauching every beautiful little inch of you. So be warned.”

The laughter spilling from her lips was husky, and full of joy. “I thought you already did that.”

“Mmm, but just wait till we get home tonight.” With a wicked gleam in his gaze, he said, “I went shopping this morning for a few things to help us celebrate.”

Her eyes went wide. “Shopping where?”

“It’s a surprise,” Ben replied with a smile, imagining her face when he showed her the plug he planned on pushing inside her sweet little backside . . . and the nipple clamps for her beautiful breasts. “One I promise you’re going to enjoy.”

* * *

L
ATER TH
AT NIGHT,
R
EESE FOUND HERSELF HANDCUFFED TO THEIR
bed, Ben’s hard cock buried deep in her body. He’d already done the most shocking, explicit things to her, and she’d come more times than she could count. But it was the way he was staring down at her flushed face, his gaze smoky and dark and full of stunning emotion, that completely undid her.

“Do you know why I’m going to marry you?” he asked in a low voice.

Her eyes went heavy. “Tell me.”

“Because being inside you feels like my own little piece of heaven. Because you’re the most amazing, wonderful, beautiful, sweet, funny, courageous person that I’ve ever known.” His voice got rougher. “I’m marrying you because I love you, Reese. More than any man has ever loved a woman.” Those dark eyes burned with need. “I’m marrying you because I can’t fucking do without you.”

“You won’t have to, Ben. I promise.”

“You’re mine,” he growled, thrusting into her harder . . . deeper.

Knowing in her heart that it would always be true, she whispered,
“Forever
.
”

Read on for a sneak preview of

MAKE ME YOURS

A Dangerous Tides Novella appearing in the anthology
Wicked and Dangerous
by Shayla Black and Rhyannon Byrd
.

Coming soon from Berkley Sensation.

D
RIPPING WITH SWEAT AS HE TOOK A LATE-NIGHT RUN ON THE MOONLIT
beach, Scott Ryder had a strange feeling burning through his veins, twisting its way into his bones. One that didn’t have anything to do with his grueling pace or the miles of sand he’d already covered.

The feeling had been building inside him for weeks now, making him restless, leaving him in a generally shitty mood. He’d tried to shake it, but he couldn’t. Damn thing just kept growing, pissing him off even more. People were starting to go out of their way to avoid him at the station, which was just as well, seeing as how he hadn’t been in the mood for conversation. But tonight he’d been forced to attend the retirement party for one of the other deputies in the sheriff’s department, and his nerves were still scraped raw. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Dwight Jones. Dwight was an okay guy who was looking forward to spending his days either out on the golf course or on his new fishing boat, and Ryder wished him luck. But Ryder’s boss, Ben Hudson, had been at the party with his new wife, and for some unknown reason the sight of them had set his teeth on edge.

It wasn’t that Ryder wanted the sheriff’s wife for himself. Reese was more than easy on the eyes and had a killer smile, but Ben had staked his claim the moment she hit town at the beginning of the summer, so she and Ryder were friends and nothing more. But the way Ben kept looking at her during the party, as if marriage made him the luckiest bastard in the world, had made Ryder want to put his fucking fist through a wall.

He knew damn well that his reaction didn’t make any sense. Christ, he wanted Ben and Reese to be happy. After everything they’d been through, they deserved it. He just couldn’t stomach being near all that cozy, romantic bliss. Not when this itch in his veins wouldn’t let off, his instincts constantly twitching, as if he were missing something important and needed to open his damn eyes. He’d had the same kind of feeling before, when he’d worked black ops, and it’d saved his ass too many times to count. But he’d left that life behind. He no longer had to live in constant survival mode. There was no danger here. No one gunning for his life or the people he cared about. Which meant he needed to calm the hell down and learn to relax.

Heading into the last half-mile of his run, Ryder repeated a familiar phrase in his mind. His personal mantra now that he’d settled down in the cozy little town of Moss Beach.

Nothing to run from . . .

Nothing to run to . . .

There was a peace and perfection in those simple words. They meant freedom. A new beginning. A new life.

Unfortunately, they were nothing but lies. Because while he might not have anything to run to, he was sure as hell still running
from
something. He might have decided to stay put in this scenic little beach town on Florida’s Gulf Coast, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t fighting an internal battle every damn day of his life. He’d physically stopped, but his mind was still running at top speed, doing everything it could to forget about—

Shit. Don’t even go there,
he muttered to himself. And that thought was swiftly followed by a guttural,
Christ, I need a drink.

He spent a lot of time these days telling himself what he needed to fix his head. A drink, a woman, or
women
when he couldn’t be bothered to choose which one he wanted to take home for the night. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to develop a reputation in town as the lawman who could screw his way through hordes of women without ever losing his breath. At the age of thirty-three, it wasn’t a distinction to be proud of. It just meant that while all the other guys were getting on with their lives, he was still acting like an idiot who thought with his prick. Or one who would only touch a woman if she let him tie her—
No, damn it.
He wasn’t going
there
tonight either. In his current mood, those thoughts wouldn’t lead him to any place good.

Hitting the five-mile marker, Ryder finally slowed to a walk and pulled off his damp T-shirt, using it to wipe the sweat from his face. He headed across the sand toward the beachfront duplex he rented from an elderly couple who had retired there after living in New York for the past forty years. The house was designed with an entrance to each half at the sides of the duplex, bougainvillea-covered trellises creating two pathways that sheltered the entrances from the street, with matching archways in the back that you could walk through if coming up from the beach. The profusion of flowers was a little fanciful for Ryder’s taste, but his sister had gushed about them when she came for a visit last month, claiming the trellises gave the house “southern charm.”

Wondering if he’d finally be able to chill enough tonight that he could sleep, Ryder had nearly reached his front door when he sensed a slight movement to his left, in the shadows of the trellis, and he reacted before he’d even given conscious thought to the possible threat. That’s what over a decade of black ops training could do to you, and despite being out of the game for a few years now, his reflexes were as lightning quick as ever. Dropping his shirt, he reached into the shadows, snagged a feminine arm, and yanked the woman into the moonlight, the shrill scream coming from her lips quickly shifting to an outraged snarl as she brought her other arm around to strike him across the face. He quickly blocked the move, catching her wrist and pinning both arms behind her back, while she flailed in his hold, kicking at his shins with her sandal-covered feet.

“Who are you?” he growled, quickly assessing that she wasn’t a physical threat. Her hair covered her face as she struggled to free herself from his embrace. But despite her efforts, there wasn’t a chance in hell she could break free. He knew how to counteract every one of her defensive moves, which only infuriated her more.

Narrowing his eyes, Ryder carried out a quick visual check on the female. She had her head down so he couldn’t see her face—but what he
could
see of her made his mouth go dry. Waves of silky strawberry blond hair. Her miniskirt and short-sleeved, button-down shirt revealed creamy skin and a body that was slight but deliciously feminine. So familiar it was almost too good to be true. She had the right shade of hair. The right frame. The right shape. The right fucking everything, ripped right out of his goddamn memory to torment him.

He could hear a roaring in his ears, drowning out the rational voice in the back of his mind that was shouting for him to move away from her. Instead, he continued acting purely on instinct. On the raw, powerful lust that ripped up through his insides the instant he realized he had someone who reminded him of
her
in his arms. The very woman he never allowed himself to think about, let alone fantasize. But this was like a gift from fate. The bastard had never been kind to him in the past, but at the moment Ryder just didn’t give a damn. The only thing he had to worry about was convincing the little hellcat that there was something a whole lot better they could be doing together than fighting.

His breathing got deeper, nostrils flaring as he pulled in her light, purely feminine scent, the autumn night warm enough that the air was still sultry and damp from an earlier rainstorm. His body had already reacted to the feel of her wriggling against him, a serrated groan on his lips when her belly brushed against him, making her gasp. She went instantly still, but not with fear. It was more like . . . surprise, and he knew the exact instant her anger flared into lust—and he was done for. In that moment he couldn’t have walked away from her if his goddamn life depended on it.

For all Ryder knew, the woman was a thief who’d been getting ready to clear his house out, but he didn’t care. She smelled like Lily, had that same gorgeous hair and sexy figure, and he was too fucking starved to resist. One second they were standing on the walkway in front of his door, and in the next he had her plastered against it, wishing like hell that he’d replaced the blown bulb in the outside light so that he could get a better look at what he was tasting. His mouth had instantly settled against the base of her pale, slim throat, his tongue fluttering against her hammering pulse as he grabbed the front of her short-sleeved top and ripped. By the time Ryder could hear the shirt’s buttons pinging against the ground, he already had his mouth buried between her beautiful breasts. Any concerns he might have had that she wasn’t on exactly the same page as him were shattered by the low moan she gave when he ripped the silky cups of her bra down and curled his long fingers around the firm, delicate mounds, then covered one of the hardened tips with his mouth. She cried out as he suckled her, her short nails digging into the bunched muscles in his shoulders, and it was like losing himself in a fever dream, her wild response to his aggression only adding fuel to the fire.

The nipple in Ryder’s mouth was tight and sweet, the intoxicating taste of the woman’s skin cranking his lust up to a primitive level. That irritating voice was still shouting in the back of his mind, warning him to snap back to reality and think about what he was doing—but he was too far gone, and she was too damn hot and willing. Her hands were already fisted in his hair, holding him to her as he switched to the other breast, her thigh riding his hip as she arched against him, as if she were as desperate for this as he was. And he was beyond desperate, his dick so hard he could have hammered through the fucking door with it. The longer he touched her, the harder he got. Not that she was complaining. The woman was grinding herself against the front of his running shorts, riding the hard ridge of his cock, the husky sounds spilling from her lips the sexiest damn thing he’d ever heard.

He didn’t have a condom on him, which meant he couldn’t fuck her until he got her inside. He might be desperate, but he wasn’t stupid. He’d always been religious about suiting up with latex and had never screwed without it. But this hot little stranger made him damn tempted.

“We need to move this indoors,” he rasped against the soft skin just under her right breast. Gripping her hips, Ryder dropped to his knees and kissed his way down her flat belly, until he’d shoved her skirt up and had his face buried against the silky front of her panties . . . then lower, between her legs. A rough, guttural sound crawled its way up from his chest as he caught the hot, mouthwatering scent of her cunt, the sexy underwear already damp with her juices. And then she had to destroy the whole goddamn thing with the soft, whispered sound of his name.

“Scott.”

Ah, Christ. No one fucking called him that but
her
, and it hit him like a bucket of ice water in his face.

He should have listened to his gut, to that damn voice that had been shouting in the back of his mind, because this woman didn’t just
remind
him of Lily Heller. She
was
Lily Heller!

No. No way. Not her. Not Lily. Couldn’t be. She was just someone who reminded him of her. Someone he could still touch and get his fill of. Someone he could—

Damn it!
He tried, but he couldn’t do it. Couldn’t buy his own bullshit. The lie had been blasted into a million tiny fragments and now he was going to have to pay the fucking price for being an idiot. No doubt with his sanity.

Jerking back to his feet, Ryder gripped her shoulders as he locked his sharp gaze on her face for the first time in three years.
“Son of a bitch,”
he grated under his breath. Big green eyes with lashes that were long and thick stared back at him. Rosy lips parted for her panting breaths. Moonlight spilling down on those firm breasts, her pink little nipples still glistening from his mouth and tongue.

Oh, God.

He was shaking so hard she was jerking in his arms, but he couldn’t stop, unable to believe what was right in front of him. The girl he’d left his life and career for—the one who had been the object of his most dangerous obsession for far too long—was trapped between his body and his front door, blinking up at him with those big, bright eyes while she tried to catch her breath.

Lily Heller, daughter of his ex-boss and goddamn thorn in his side, in the flesh, staring back at him as if she could eat him alive, with her perfect tits out and her skirt hiked up around her waist.
Jesus.

Ryder rubbed a rough hand over his mouth, wondering how he could have let things go so far. What the hell had he been thinking?

He hadn’t. Which was the problem. He’d shoved rational thought to the back of his mind and focused on what he wanted. Instant gratification would screw you over every time. Damn it, he knew that. Had an IQ that said he was way too fucking smart to make that kind of mistake—but his dick had apparently failed to get the memo. And now, thanks to this royal little screwup, he would have to go through life knowing
exactly
how right it felt to have her under his hands and mouth.

“Fuck!” he ground out through his clenched teeth, shoving away from her. At six-three, he towered over her, even though she wasn’t a short woman. Maybe five-six or five-seven, though she seemed more petite because of her build. She was slim, but feminine as hell, and he wanted nothing more than to take her back into his arms and—

Shit
. He couldn’t do it. Because if he did, it was going to goddamn destroy him when he had to walk away. And he
would
walk. He didn’t have any other option. He never did where this girl was concerned. Yeah, she might be twenty-five now, but he still thought of her as the gangly teen she’d been when he first met her all those years ago.

Before he could get his mind wrapped around this new reality in which Lily Heller had suddenly popped back into his life, she shoved her skirt down, yanked the sides of her shirt closed and glared up at him. “Do you mind telling me why you attacked me?” she snapped.

His jaw tightened. “I didn’t attack you. You’re the one who tried to hit
me
.”

“Only after you yanked me in front of you,” she shot back, as if he’d been the one at fault.

His voice was raw. “News flash, woman. That’s what happens when I find someone lurking in the shadows outside my front door.”