Hidden Heat: Hauberk Protection, Book 4 (6 page)

Perhaps not, but it was exactly what she needed. Besides, if they had any chance at having a relationship, he needed to know from the beginning exactly what she expected.

Not caring that the door was open, she tossed her coat on the couch, disturbing the cat. She undid the remaining buttons on her blouse and shrugged out of it. Struck by the cool air, her nipples furled into hard buds beneath the lace of her bra. “I want you to stay. All night.”

His eyes closed and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. “I may want things you aren’t prepared to give.”

“I won’t know until you ask me, will I?” Before he could say no, she let the silk fall to the floor at her feet, then she captured his hand and pressed his warm palm against her breast. “This is what I want. Trust me.”

Well, this evening had turned out to be a bust
, Jazz thought as she nursed the last of her ginger ale. While Kris had been a promising diversion for the night, his phone had rung and he’d begged off. Now here she was, alone.

The bartender and owner of Rusty’s ambled over and hooked a thumb toward the front door. “If you’re looking for your friend, she hooked up with one of the Hauberk guys and left a while ago.”
 

Damn it, Sandy had waltzed off without letting her know? Was she coming back or was she finding her own way home? She dug out her cell phone and hit the speed dial for Sandy’s cell. Only to reach voice mail. Damn. Muttering under her breath, she composed a text message and hit send. “I guess all I can do is wait until she replies. You wouldn’t happen to have some coffee handy, would you?”

“Sure thing. I always make a fresh pot at this time of night for those people who need to sober up.” Rusty poured a cup and placed it in front of Jazz, his eyes sharp in their assessment. “Was she your ride? Do you need me to call you a cab?”

“No, she came with me but now I don’t know if I’m supposed to wait for her or assume she’s finding her own way home.” Jazz sighed and swivelled on her seat, assessing the nearly empty bar. Three couples lounged at the larger corner booth, but other than that the place had cleared out. The remaining guys at the bar eyed her with a voracity that left her queasy.

“If you want my opinion, all the good guys left long ago.” Jazz straightened when the men’s bathroom door opened and the guy Sandy had been talking to earlier appeared. “Or maybe not.” She caught the bartender’s eye and gestured to where the guy now sat. “Hey, Rusty? Do you know him?”

“He’s come in here fairly often the past couple weeks. Pays his tab, though he’s a little stingy with his tips. Seems to seek out the Hauberk guys—haven’t figured out if he’s looking to hire them, if he wants to join them or if he’s a guy version of a badge bunny. Haven’t had any complaints about him though, if that’s what you’re asking.”

The object of interest noticed them watching and settled on the stool beside Jazz.

“I saw you earlier, didn’t I?”

Before he’d zeroed in on Sandy, she reminded herself. “You were talking with my roommate earlier so maybe you saw me with her.”

“That’s right. You left before I had a chance to talk to you.” He rested an elbow on the bar, his eyes on her face instead of her boobs like most of the guys that night. “Why’d you take off?”

Wait. He’d been coming over to talk to her, not Sandy? Well, hell. This night was looking up.

He leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Tell me you’re in need of a bodyguard because I’d love to guard your body.”

Okay, for a pickup line it was way cheesy, but it still made her laugh. She stuck out her hand. “Hi, I’m Jazz.”

Shoot, she should have used her bar name. There was something comforting in knowing if the guy turned out to be a creep, he wouldn’t know her real name and be able to stalk her. But this guy didn’t seem like a loser. Besides, if he did start stalking her, she had an in with Hauberk Protection, didn’t she?

“Hi, Jazz. Nice to meet you. I’m Mitch. Mitch Young.”

After a brief hesitation, Troy’s mouth claimed hers, resuming the kiss they’d started in the elevator. One arm snuck around her waist, his hand molding her behind, pulling her against him. Yes, this was what she wanted. Craved. Yet she needed more. She wiggled her mound against his erection. A groan rumbled deep in his chest as he took control.

He walked her backward until her spine touched the wall. Her gasp at the coolness of the plaster against her bare skin let him break off the kiss. His mouth trailed kisses along her jaw and down her neck, his breath kindling a fire with each soft exhale. With an incomprehensible murmur that may or may not have been English, he pushed aside the lace of her bra and bent his head over her breast. His tongue swept a long stroke around her nipple. The heat was immediately followed by a cool breeze as he blew on the moist path he’d left.

When she attempted to reach between them and loosen his fly, he caught her wrist and stopped her, his eyes smoldering dark with heat. “No.”

The single word had her melting against the wall. This was a man who knew what he wanted, would give her what she needed.

He stepped closer again, his lips recapturing her mouth while one hand undid Sandy’s skirt until all she wore were her heels and the skimpiest pair of panties she owned.

His hand dipped beneath the fabric to part her folds. Sandy closed her eyes and concentrated on the sensations he aroused. Her cream coated his fingers as they slid over her clit and curled around the opening, dipping in to tease the tissues until her breath stuttered then skated away.

She held on to his biceps as if she would fall down if she didn’t, and from the way her legs trembled, perhaps she would. Beneath her fingers, his muscles were hard, the contours well defined from more than hours in the gym. He knew just what to do to make her body melt around him. That he was still fully clothed and she was nearly naked added a delicious naughtiness to the equation that heightened the entire experience.

He hooked his fingers in the side bands of her panties and drew them down her thighs, his body following their path until he knelt at her feet. With a single tap on her ankle, he signaled for her to lift first one foot then the other.

As soon as she was free of any restrictions, he nudged her legs farther apart and leaned in to bury his nose in the thin strip of curls covering her mound. She threaded her fingers in his hair as he ran his tongue through her folds, his beard rasping the tender skin of her inner thighs. Her low moan filled the room as pleasure assailed her.

“Tell me what you want, sunshine. Do you like this?” His fingers pressed deeper inside her then withdrew, coated with the musky scent of her arousal. “Yeah, look how wet you are. You do like this, don’t you?”

“Yes.” Oh God, it was better than anything she’d ever fantasized. Even his accent had thickened to that sexy Irish lilt. Pure unadulterated lust leapt in her belly, sent another wave of cream from her pussy.

When he sucked his fingers into his mouth, she couldn’t take her eyes off of his lips.
Put them back on me.
His lips curved, as if he knew what she was thinking.

Anyone out in the hall could probably have heard her gasp when he speared two fingers into her sheath but she couldn’t stay quiet. Nor did she try. He must have kicked the door shut because a part of Sandy’s brain heard it click shut. Then her brain shut off too. The passion he ignited scorched every part of her body as his tongue and fingers branded her in places that had slumbered for years, if they’d ever awoken before. He drove her higher, harder until she was shaking and breathless, unable to stand up unassisted. “Do you like that?”

“Yes.” At least that’s what she tried to say, but she could barely breathe.

“What else do you like, sunshine?” His voice was rough, rippling through her body, commanding without being oppressive. Despite his questions, he continued to stroke her both inside and out. He worked with a sense of purpose, finding the right spots the way no one else had.

“I like it hard. I like being stretched so full it hurts a little.” She rushed the last admission.

A third finger joined the other two and he rasped his teeth over her clit, nipping and biting. “You’re too tight for any more.”

“Then put your dick inside me.” She tilted her hips, pushing her pelvis into his face. She needed more. More teeth, more tongue, more fingers…more. “Please.”

She almost cried when he slid one finger along her crease and circled her anus then thrust past the tight ring of muscles. Both passages filled by his fingers, her brain overloaded by the cascading sensations. She rocked against him, urging him on, until she found the sharp edge she craved. Her body clamped around him when he nipped at her clit, her orgasm exploding like an expanding ball of liquid fire.

No breath left in her lungs, her head spinning, her legs weak, she slid down the wall.

Before her butt hit the floor, Troy lifted her easily, carrying her to her bedroom. After stretching languidly over the quilt her mother had given her for her eighteenth birthday, Sandy reached up to touch his cheek. “Your turn.”

A shadow flickered across his face as his gaze roamed down the length of her naked body. To her surprise, he shook his head. “Not tonight, sunshine.”

Instead, he pressed a kiss to her forehead and headed to the bathroom. She heard water running, then the light flicked off. Yet he didn’t return. Instead she heard the front door open then shut. “Troy?”

There was no answer.

Unable to believe he’d walk away like that, Sandy lifted herself up on her elbows and stared at the empty doorway.

What had just happened?

Chapter Five

A long, sleepless night later, Troy sat at his kitchen table and stared at the pre-dawn sky. What the hell had happened to the control he had over his life? Scott threatening to leave, Sandy asking him to stay. What should he be bracing himself for next?

Scott walked out of his bedroom and headed straight to the kitchen in search of his first hit of caffeine for the morning. “You look like shit.”

“Fuck you.”

One of Scott’s eyebrows arched but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he reached for a mug from the cupboard, letting the silence ask the questions Troy knew he had.

Before he could stop himself, he found himself saying, “I think I crossed a line.” Shit. “No, I know I crossed a line.”

Scott stopped filling his mug. “What did you do?”

“I stuck my nose in where I shouldn’t. I ended up taking Sandy to dinner and then back to her place last night and we…” He blew out his breath. “You’re right about the quiet ones. She’s not what I expected.” She was more. So much more.

The eyebrow arched higher. “Just how far did things go?”

“We didn’t…shit. I didn’t fuck her, all right? But I came damned close.”

Both eyebrows arched this time. “Damned close? That tells me a whole lot of nothing.” When Troy didn’t elaborate further, Scott frowned. “At any point, did she say no?”

“No. It’s just—”

“It’s that it’s Sandy we’re talking about here,” Scott finished for him. “And you have this crazy idea that she’s a virgin who’d be tainted by hanging around you.”

He snorted. “Oh, she’s no virgin.” Not from the way she’d dropped her blouse or her skirt. Christ, that had been so unexpected, and so freakin’ hot to see her strip down right there in front of God and country. He’d nearly come in his pants.

“So what’s the problem? Ask her out on another date. See what happens from there.”

He shook his head. He could imagine what would happen from there. She’d see who he really was, what he really liked. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“I do,” Scott said quietly. “I wonder if you’re selling Sandy short. I’m willing to bet she’s as responsive as hell and knows what she wants in the sack.”

She is, he wanted to respond but didn’t.

Scott didn’t need it to be voiced either. “So what’s your problem?”

Damned if he knew. But getting involved with Sandy was a bad idea, of that he was certain.

“If you’re worried she’ll wrap you around her little finger and have you sitting up and begging instead of the other way around, don’t be afraid to ask for help. You know I’m always happy to help a friend out.”

Why hadn’t Scott turned around, damn it? He couldn’t tell if he was sincere or not. “Are you? Still my friend?”

Even though I don’t want to send you out on active duty?

Scott faced him, his expression closed so Troy couldn’t read him. That Scott felt he needed to guard his reactions, to shut himself off, caused an ache deep in his gut. “Are you going to talk to Chad about transferring me to his group when he gets back?”

“Yeah. I promised, didn’t I?” Fuck it all.
Don’t go out there yet. Haven’t you been through enough?

“Then yes.” Scott nodded once before turning back to his coffee. “We’re good. But if I find that you’ve lied or gone behind my back to make him doubt me? Then all bets are off.”

“So he’s not asked you out yet? It’s been, what a week now? Hand me the ketchup, will you?”

“Four days.” Sandy handed Jazz the squeeze bottle. “And in all that time, he’s not said a thing that isn’t work related. You’d think the other night never happened.”