Chapter 11

Chapter

Eleven

PATCH

T he quirk of his lips sent a bolt of amusement through the lust in his eyes. For a precarious moment, he seemed balanced on the knife's edge between humor and desire. To my utter delight, he swooped down to kiss me and laughed against my lips.

Shivers radiated along my spine, sending goosebumps to ripple over my skin. Then my hands were on his chest and his shirt unbuttoned under my fumbling fingers. The thicker flannel was warm on my fingers, or maybe that was just him.

Then his shirt parted and I had my hands on his flesh and the heat of him scorched me. He licked, nipped, and sucked his way through the kiss as though determined to devour me. Still, when I pushed at the shirt it shoved off his shoulders and then I was able to study the acres of…

"Oh my god," I whispered, pulling away from the kiss to push at him.

"What?" Concern appeared in his eyes instantly. Until he glanced to where my fingers traced the watercolor tattoo of a white tiger all over his left pec. You could barely see his nipple for the intensity of the image that captured the attention.

More, I was adoring the vivid blue eyes that demanded your attention.

"It's beautiful," I continued, tracing my fingers over the illustration of rippling fur. The watercolor effect made it look like the tattoo had been splashed on. "Artistic and yet alive… I love it."

"I'm glad." His husky voice washed over me. "If I promise to tell you the story behind it later, can I go back to touching you?"

The wry note in the teasing pulled my attention back to him and heat flushed my face. "I didn't know you had a tattoo," I said by way of apology.

"Noted," he said in a low murmur. "I promise to bring you fully up to speed." Then his lips were on mine and my sudden preoccupation with his tattoo drowned in a wash of need. His hands were everywhere. He cupped a breast, teased my nipple, then stroked over a hip and lifted me until he was more firmly cradled between my legs.

The denim of his jeans rasped against my skin and left me shuddering. Another light bump and the fabric grazed over my clit, the friction too much and not enough at the same time. Then he mouthed another kiss to my jaw as I forgot how to think.

Somehow, we got the rest of his clothes off. As hungry as I was to see him, he drowned me in so much sensation that all I could do was dig in and hold on. The first nudge of his cock had me going stiff and he stilled. The bite of his fingers digging into my ass grounded me.

"Open your eyes, Fallon." The rough command demanded all my attention. I hadn't even realized I'd closed my eyes. Staring up at him, I shivered as the chill left me. "It's me…"

I flexed my hand on his shoulder and then forced my trembling fingers to move his face. The rasp of his stubble scraped at my palms. His kisses had marked up my face, the warmth of it served as another reminder of where I was and who I was with.

"Do you need me to stop?" The heavy growl underscoring the words held no judgment. I didn't mistake his need for anything else. The heavy weight of his cock pressed against my cunt, the tip barely inside of me. Intimately aware of him, I shivered again. They came in waves, trailing over me until goosebumps covered me.

I searched his eyes, the raw desire in them. The fatness of his pupils filled me with a kind of primitive delight. Madness invaded his blood every bit as much as it did mine. Yet, he held himself impossibly still. He wouldn't push deeper until I asked him for it. I ached for him on so many levels and at the same time, fear eddied out to tumble against the need in me. The resulting choppier sensations left me uncertain.

"No," I said slowly. "Fuck me, Justus… I need to feel you." It was so impossible to explain. The fear, the uncertainty, and the unease did not belong here. I wanted him, and these stolen moments. "I want you. Please…"

He searched my eyes. The light around us left nothing in shadows, nothing hidden and then he dipped his head slowly. It was like the world slowed down, or maybe it was him, and he nudged forward. His cock pushed into me as his mouth descended.

The stretch burned in all the best ways. The feel of him was incredible. I wanted to rush him, but his grip didn't allow me to surge up or to force him to go faster. If anything, it was agony and ecstasy.

His kiss this time was a gift. Slow, almost too gentle, and yet persuasive, he nibbled my lips apart. I damn near sighed as he thrust his tongue and cock in the same moment until he seated himself so deep inside, even as I drowned in the taste of him.

"Only me," he whispered against my lips and the words had me jerking my eyes wide. Oh, Justus stared down at me, his gaze fixed on mine. It was hypnotic, delightful, and just…

"Justus," I answered in a shaking voice. Tremors rioted through me and I dug my nails into his shoulder.

"I'm right here," he said in another rough whisper. "Right here, Fallon. Hold onto me."

I couldn't do anything else.

"You with me?" I couldn't explain the wild feeling rippling through me or why I couldn't seem to calm down.

"Yes," I promised him. I scraped my teeth over my lower lip, intimately aware of everywhere we touched. It filled me and left me desperate for more in equal measures. "I don't even know why I'm shaking. But this feels so good."

Then Locke did something I wasn't expecting. He shifted his rhythm, slow, then fast, then slow again. The whole time, he studied me with a tilted head. His hair fell over his forehead in the most adorable way as he studied me. He pulled back and then thrust deep again. This time the bump of his hips to mine rubbed my clit in a way that left me gasping.

"Still good?" I swore there was a devilish gleam in his eyes now.

"Yes," I said. He gave another thrust, this one a little lighter, then another that seemed to sink deeper. He varied his rhythm until I couldn't anticipate what he would do next.

My nipples scraped against his chest, it sent fresh waves of pleasure tingling along my nerves and then he rocked his hips and the need jolting through me demanded my attention.

I dug my nails into his back. As short as they'd been left, I needed them to anchor me into the moment. Locke seemed determined to drive me mad. I wanted that madness. Craved it.

His lips were curved into a smile so wicked that I ached to know what thoughts went through his head. Yet each time a question tried to form in my mind, he thrust deeper and those thoughts scattered.

There was his body, hot, firm, and filling mine. His scorching gaze seemed to radiate some undefinable emotion and I wanted to drown in them. His lips alternated between wicked smiles and drugging kisses.

Locke rolled onto his back and I found myself above him. My breasts were heavy and his cock was still thick between my legs.

"Ride me," he ordered and didn't wait for me to take the advice as he lifted my hips and then sank me down on him again. Oh, fuck…

I threw my head back as he repeated the motion and then I took over. Knees braced on the bed as I straddled him and with my hands balancing the rest of my weight with their grip on his shoulders.

"Oh…" I exhaled the single syllable as I found the rhythm and surged with it. He met me thrust for thrust. His hips surged upwards as I sank down and then he fisted my hair.

Our mouths locked in a vibrant duel that matched his body burying itself into mine. I even remembered how to twist my hips a little, to add to the sensations. Shudders danced through me as I dragged my head upward and then he mouthed one of my nipples as I ground down against him.

The pleasure expanded until I shook from it. I fisted both the bedsheets and his shoulder. It was too much, and not enough. When I would have backed off, he flipped us again. The pound of his body driving into mine pushed me further along the edge until I screamed.

Too much.

Too much.

And yet liquid heat expanded in a whirl that flooded all of me. I couldn't breathe for how good it felt. I thrashed but I couldn't escape it, Locke was inside me, filling me, and then his release set fire to me as the warmth spilled deep.

His gasps were like a symphony, matching mine almost beat for beat. My heart hammered and his breath was hot against my throat as he shuddered against me. I tried to move my fingers but I found my hands locked in his. His grip wasn't so tight that it hurt, but it kept me from flying apart into a billion pieces.

Gradually, the feel of his tongue tracing a light circle over my pulse point registered. I floated down from the wild crescendo I'd been riding. I could die happy from the drugging weight of Locke's fierce kisses. Then he was raining gentle kisses over my cheeks, and my eyes.

Inch by inch, I came back to earth and when I opened my eyes, I found him studying me with so much emotion I should have fled in that moment. It was raw, naked, and punched me with a fist so powerful I couldn't breathe.

No one looked at me like that.

No one.

"Justus…"

"I'm here," he said, his voice thick and lazy, infused with something that struck me almost like a purr. I'd have given everything I owned to record that sound so I could listen to it forever. It was beyond anything I'd ever imagined.

Not that I should have ever imagined being in his arms or feeling him fucking into me. Yet, here we were and I couldn't lie to myself. I wouldn't.

I'd had the occasional fantasy. Locke was a beautiful man and that one tumble already had me hungry for more.

"Hi," I whispered and his smile softened.

"Hey." He was still inside of me, his cock softened, but slowly. The heat and the dampness were there. He'd come inside of me and… "Oh, shit."

He raised his eyebrows.

"We didn't…" I could kick myself. "I have an implant. Or I did." Pregnancy wasn't an issue. "But I don't know if it was safe for you…"

"The doctor did panels," he soothed in the kindest of tones. "You are clean sweetheart, but frankly, I'd risk infection to be with you."

I wrinkled my nose until I saw the spark of laughter in his eyes. "That's gross."

"But funny," he teased and then he nibbled another kiss to my lips. "Don't worry, I'm clean too. I can get you my medical records if you need."

"Except you weren't…" Reality crushed the beautiful moment, and I groaned. Closing my eyes, I tried to shove it back out. The last thing I wanted to be talking about was this.

"I have you," he said again in that silky voice that demanded I believe him. "You aren't going to hurt me, and I won't hurt you."

I clung to him, tightening my arms around him. That—I needed to hear that. An unexpected sound penetrated the bliss and the rattle of something at the door had Locke jerking upward. I barely had time to register the door was unlocking then McQuade and Remington were just there.

They were alive and safe. That knowledge filled me with joy, right before it crashed headlong into the information that Locke and I were tangled together, naked, and you couldn't mistake it for anything else.

From the expressions on their faces, neither man seemed to make any other excuse for us. Their hooded, yet burning gazes raked over me as their lips compressed.

"You're here," I whispered, torn between embarrassment at being caught and thrilled that they were actually here.

Then they turned those heated glares on Locke.