Embraced (2 page)

One Month Later

“What are you doing here?” Marey leaned
against the doorframe, staring up at Sax as he stood on the stoop, looking too
damned sexy, too tempting for so early in the morning. “This habit of yours is
getting on my nerves, Sax. This is too early in the morning to be out of the
bed.”

In the past four weeks, if he had missed
half a dozen mornings showing up for coffee and trying to wheedle breakfast out
of her, then it would surprise her. And he was getting bolder. Touching her as
she moved around the kitchen, stealing kisses when she couldn’t avoid him,
laughing at her irate expressions and teasing her when the morning grumpiness
got the best of her.

“You should be used to it by now.” His
teeth flashed in a smile that made her pussy weep in loneliness as he stepped
into the house, pulling the door from her grip and closing it softly.

He was going to drive her to an asylum
before it was over with. The man was like an unstoppable force once he got
something in his head, and since her attack, he had appointed himself her
personal bodyguard whenever he deemed it necessary.

She sighed wearily. She was exhausted.
Sleep was a thing of the past and paranoia whipped through the night like the
rattle of ghostly chains.

“Vince call?” he asked as he moved into the
kitchen, heading straight for the automatic coffeepot. She had learned to time
it for his visits.

She stood still as the question filtered
through her morning grogginess, holding her still in shock.

“How did you know he was released?” She
frowned in irritation as she followed him. “And since when did you decide to
just make yourself at home here?”

He pulled one of the mugs from a hook under
the cabinet and poured the coffee with the ease of a man comfortable in his
surroundings.

“Stop trying to sidetrack the
conversation,” he retorted calmly. “Why didn’t you tell me when you found out
he was released? It’s been a week.”

She pushed her hands deep into the pockets
of her baggy flannel pajama bottoms and hunched her shoulders defensively.

“Because it was none of your business?” she
suggested mockingly. “I didn’t make his bail for him and I’m not taking his
calls. There’s nothing else I can do until the court date.”

“He’s been calling?” The cup lowered back
to the counter as his voice lowered dangerously.

Hell. It was too damned early to deal with
this crap.

“A few times,” she answered waspishly. “Let
it go, Sax. You’re not my father or my husband.”

His eyes narrowed. The deep chocolate
depths of his gaze sent a shiver of sensation through her. So far, he had been
gentleness itself as she healed from Vince’s attack. He hadn’t really pushed
her for anything other than breakfast, and though his sexuality was always
present, he kept it reined in for the most part. She had a feeling, based on
that look, it wouldn’t last for long.

“I’m not going to sit idly by while he
beats the hell out of you again, either,” he informed her, his voice cold, his
expression shuttered as he watched her. “And look at you, you aren’t even
sleeping anymore. Do you think I don’t know what those shadows under your eyes
mean, Marey? Why are you being so stubborn?”

She breathed out roughly as she stalked to
the coffeepot herself. No one should have to deal with this without that first
cup of coffee.

“Don’t start again, Sax,” she snapped. “I’m
not moving in with you. It’s not happening, noway, nohow.”

Especially not now. She poured her coffee,
reining in her own fury at the circumstances. To be honest, she had been giving
in, considering the offer he had made after she came out of the hospital,
tempted by the hot looks, the promise of passion and heat in his eyes. Vince’s
release from jail had canceled even the consideration of such a move. There was
no way she would dare to push him that far now. The instability she only
glimpsed during their marriage had become terrifying.

She poured the steaming liquid into her
cup, ignoring him as he crossed his arms over his chest, straining the white
silk shirt he wore and making him look impossibly strong. It was obvious he
hadn’t grown lax in the four years since he had left the Army and joined
Delacourte. His body looked just as tight and hard as it had when he came home.

A woman really,
really
shouldn’t
have to face this so early in the morning. This amount of sex appeal,
dominance, and pure male presence should be reserved for fantasies alone.

As she turned away, she stiffened as she
felt the whisper of a touch over the curve of her rear. Balancing the hot
coffee, she shot him an irritated glare.

“That was dirty and low,” she snarled as he
grinned back at her unrepentantly. “Keep your hands to yourself.”

He snorted at that, a male sound of
disbelief. “That’s not going to happen, Marey. And we’re not finished
discussing this Vince thing, either. If you won’t move in with me, then I’ll
park on your doorstep instead.”

“And I’ll have the sheriff drag you off.”
She sat down at the small breakfast table, her cup thunking on the glass top as
she flicked him another irate look. “Sit down and drink your coffee, Sax. It’s
too early in the morning to argue with you.”

“Add that to the fact that you haven’t
slept in weeks.” He frowned back at her. “Yes, I can see where your patience
would be wearing thin. Aren’t you sick of it yet? Being too damned scared to
reach out for what you want?”

“You being what I want, of course,” she
suggested sarcastically. “Don’t you get tired of running after women who don’t
want you?” Lord forgive her for that lie. It was a whopper.

He laughed at her then. A low, deep chuckle
that stroked over her senses and had her clit reminding her voraciously just
how much it longed for his touch. It was swollen, sensitive, just as her
nipples were, her breasts—hell, every cell in her body was aching for him.

“You’re almost awake enough this morning to
pull that lie off.” If his frown was anything to go by, he was less than
pleased. “Try getting some sleep tonight and maybe I’ll pay attention
tomorrow.”

Maybe pushing Sax at seven-thirty in the
morning wasn’t a good idea, she thought a second later as he pulled her from
the chair, one powerful arm hooking around her waist as he brought her flush
with his very hard, very aroused body.

“Sax…” She meant to protest. Really, she
assured herself. She was outraged that he would be so dominant, so sexually
determined at the drop of a hat.

Of course she was,
her conscience mocked her as her lips opened beneath his, a moan
shuddering from her chest as his tongue licked at her lips, possessive and
intent on claiming the territory beyond.

She was going to protest this. She was
going to tell him just how arrogant and completely, impossibly unfair he was
being and all the reasons why this was a really bad idea.

Sure she was,
she mocked herself as her hands gripped his shoulders, her lips
opening beneath his as she felt his hands moving slowly beneath the loose
material of her nightshirt, pressing against her stomach as he played with the
strings that tightened the waistband of her pajamas.

He felt so good. So good and warm, and
strong. All she wanted to do was immerse herself in it, let the sensations
whipping through her body carry her wherever he wanted her to go. Just this,
just for a brief time. Then she would make him stop. She would be strong again
and she would reset the boundaries she knew she had to have between her desire
and what she knew would protect them both.

For now, she was lost and she damned well
knew it. This was why she kept as far away from him as possible. This was the
reason she had fought the desire between them. Because of this, the pleasure,
the incredible fiery sensations that traveled not just through her body, but
through her soul as he lifted her closer, grinding her against him, the hard
wedge of his erection pressing firmly into the engorged nubbin of her clit.

“So sweet,” he whispered as his lips nipped
at hers then, his teeth tugging at the bottom curve, his tongue licking over it
as she fought for his kiss again. She didn’t want to think, didn’t want to let
go of the incredible pleasure consuming her.

It was happening too fast, a part of her
screamed. If she didn’t stop now, she wouldn’t be able to later.

Shut up
! The
aching core of her pussy wasn’t having it. It flared with renewed demand,
weeping its thick juices as he lifted her closer.

She sought his kiss again, her head
tilting, her tongue licking at his lips, a moan shuddering from her chest as he
gave her what she sought. Hot, moist, his tongue ravaging, his hands possessive
as he lifted her, settling her against the table as he pressed between her
thighs. Her bare thighs…

Oh God, she was so lost. How had he removed
the pajama bottoms without her even noticing?

“Come here, baby.” He moved back despite
her protest, his hands lifting the shirt, pulling it over her head before she
could form a protest.

“Sax… Not fair…” she cried out as he bent
her backwards, his lips covering the hard tip of her breast as the words echoed
around them.

She was going up in flames. She couldn’t
survive pleasure like this. It was too much. Too intense.

Her hands gripped his head, feeling the
slick, shaved contours beneath her fingertips as she held him to her, gasping,
crying out, fighting for breath as the intensity of his touch swirled through
her.

This was what she had gone to that damned
motel for. Because she couldn’t resist the allure, the fire, the cascade of
pleasure that infused every particle of her being.

“No, it’s not fair,” he growled, his lips
raking over the incredibly sensitive tip of her breast. “I’m at your breasts
when I’m dying to eat your pussy.”

Shock held her motionless as he jerked a
chair from under that table and pulled it to him. Sitting down, he spread her
thighs, his eyes on hers as his head lowered.

“Breakfast,” he whispered. “I always did
prefer sweets first thing in the morning.”

His tongue swiped through the
ultra-sensitive slit of her pussy. When his tongue reached her clit, he circled
with a hum of approval, licking around it, causing her to arch closer, a
strangled scream of pleasure tearing from her throat.

She wasn’t allowing this, she assured
herself. She wouldn’t allow it. It was dangerous. Not just for her peace of
mind and her own heart, but for him as well.

But she was, and she was glorying in it,
she realized distantly. Her thighs were spread for him, her hands gripping his
head, holding him to her as he devoured her with lustful greed.

His hands were just as busy as his lips,
and he was proving the rumor that he was definitely an ass man where a woman
was concerned. His fingers were caressing from her pussy to the small entrance
of her anus. And though Marey had been certain that particular fetish wouldn’t
infect her as it had her friends, as his fingers massaged, caressed, pressed,
she found her curiosity and arousal heightening.

His mouth kept her pussy from missing the
touch of his fingers, allowing his fingers to spread the slick cream that wept
from her vagina back to the small entrance to lubricate and prepare it for the
gentle impalement of his finger.

“Sax…” She was panting with the pleasure,
unable to focus, no longer able to think. She could only cry out his name,
lifting for him, poised on an edge of sensation she was certain would destroy
her.

“There, baby,” he crooned against her
pussy, his voice vibrating against her clit. “Just enjoy. Let me show you good
it can feel.”

Another finger joined the first. She wasn’t
certain if her strangled cry was one of protest or encouragement, but she knew
the slow, even thrusts of his fingers inside her—first one, then two—were
pushing her past any boundaries she could have conceived.

He moved, shifted as his tongue dipped into
the opening of her vagina, tracing the entrance, flickering over the sensitive
tissue as he licked at the juices easing past it. She was so wet, so hot, it
should have been humiliating.

Her eyes widened in shock as she felt his
finger move back, felt the tip of another joining it. Cool, slick gel eased his
fingers inside her, assuring her he was more than prepared for whatever his
desires were that morning. Desires that were quickly becoming her own.

He prepared her slowly, easily, keeping her
poised on pleasure so intense she was certain flames were going to begin
rolling over her. Perspiration dampened her skin, fingers of heat ran over her
repeatedly as the band of intensity tightened in her womb and the stretching
fire increased in her rear. Fire that burned with a pleasure so mind-consuming
there wasn’t a chance of denying it. So soul-destroying that when he rose to
his feet, releasing the straining length of his cock and pushing the waistband
of his slacks around his thighs, she never thought to protest, never thought to
consider that she was crossing a line she might never be able to return from.

“This is what you’re denying yourself,
Marey. Only a part of what you’re denying us both.”

He pressed the head of his cock against the
stretched opening of her anus, lifting her to him, his hands spreading the
cheeks of her buttocks apart as she felt the thick crest begin to penetrate the
little opening.

Pleasure and pain collided as his gaze
caught and held hers. She felt him enter her slowly, unbearably slowly,
stretching her impossibly, sending her senses screaming with the conflicting
sensations.

She had never believed that line between
pleasure and pain would tempt her, would draw her to the extent that nothing
mattered except pushing that boundary further.