Chapter 6

Chapter

Six

F inn watched Croft as he worked. There was an efficiency about the way he moved, combined with a sensual grace. He reminded her of a large predator stalking its prey. She had to stifle a nervous giggle—she had no doubt what he was after. He pulled off his boots and all of his clothing and stood—the firelight dancing all over his body.

He was glorious in his nudity—proud, strong, fierce—and his cock was a marvel. A broad, strong chest topped sculpted abs that tapered to a lean waist. A muscular V focused a woman’s attention on what he had to offer, and he had considerable skill in using it. Croft wasn’t a man who expected his size to do all the work. He knew just which buttons to push and the order to ensure her maximum pleasure. She wondered if he had any idea what just being in his presence did to her—her nipples got hard, her clit engorged, her pussy got wet, and her libido went into overdrive.

As Croft approached, she turned back the blanket in an unspoken invitation. A slow smile spread across his face as he joined her on the makeshift bed she’d made for them. She knew he could see how her nipples responded to his frank appraisal. Stretching out, he traced one with his callused fingers. Her body shivered as Croft lowered his head and enveloped her entire areola, sucking it deeply while gently nibbling on its center. Without lifting his head, he pushed forward, encouraging her onto her back. She sighed, complying with his unspoken command, then inhaled sharply as he nipped her peak before swirling his tongue around it. He kissed his way from one breast to the other before drawing her deep into his mouth to enjoy suckling her.

Croft’s hand skimmed down her rib cage and easily parted her legs. His thumb found her swollen clit as his fingers played with the rest of her vulva, causing her hips to undulate in rhythm to his fondling. Sliding his hand lower still, he reached back to play with her bottom hole.

“No, Croft.”

“Shh, Finn. You belong to me—all of you. I will take and give you pleasure when, where, and how I see fit. I told you I’m going to fuck your ass—not tonight but not in the too distant future. Get used to the idea.”

He caught her mouth with his in a possessive, disarming kiss that left her breathless, incredibly aroused, and willing to do whatever he wanted. He played with her labia, stroking her, getting her even wetter. Dipping his finger into her opening, he gently stroked the ceiling of her core.

Finn couldn’t remember ever coming for a man as easily or as quickly as she did for Croft. As each orgasm began to subside, there seemed to be another one right behind it, as though she was water, and he was the tide and current that ruled where she went. He fingered her, paying particular attention to her nipples, triggering an intense climax, stroking her gently as her body spasmed in response to him.

Croft rolled on top of her, using his muscular thighs to part her own. Lowering his pelvis so it rested on hers, his hard cock lined up to breach her wet heat. He leaned on his forearms, watching her face. Instead of shoving his cock in her pussy, he slowly sank into her, allowing her to feel him glide inch-by-inch, filling her to capacity. Even before he reached her cervix, she came again, reaching up to cling to him and calling his name.

“Good girl,” he whispered.

This was not the frenzied fucking of the night before, not his body demanding hers submit to him. This was his body, his soul, calling to hers, commanding it relinquish its care and control to the one who possessed it. She felt her entire being capitulate to his mastery.

Croft reached down and encouraged her legs to spread wider and wrap around him, clinging to him as she did so. His hands trailed down her back to cup the globes of her ass, steadying her and fucking her with long, deep, arduous strokes. Finn called to him again as she ascended to the pinnacle of desire and gloried in his skillful joining of his body to hers.

“Croft, please,” she cried as Croft reveled in her yielding.

“Tell me you belong to me,” he whispered in her ear, nuzzling and nipping it. “Tell me.”

“God, yes,” she sighed as her body answer his exacting demands.

“Say it, Finn. You’re mine.”

“Yes, I’m yours. I belong to you.” Finn clung desperately to him, willing to say anything he wanted if he’d just cease this exquisite torment and finish her.

“Croft, I need you.”

“You have me, Finn. As much as you are mine, I am yours.”

The rhythm and depth of his thrusts became more insistent. Croft groaned as she raked her nails down his back in a primal claiming of her own. The plunging rod which impaled her repeatedly seemed to grow in size, pumping his seed within her depths, bathing her walls with its hot, creamy essence. Finn screamed his name and orgasmed again, her pussy pulsing all along his length to support and encourage his release.

When he finished, he held her close and rolled onto his back, taking her with him and remaining lodged inside her. Before she could say a word, he clasped her head in his hands and brought her mouth down to his, so he could plunder in the same manner he had the place where she was still joined to him. Finally, he stilled and allowed her to raise her head and catch her breath.

“Say it.” He nudged her chin with his nose.

“I did…”

“Say it again,” he urged her.

“I’m yours. I belong to you as surely as you do to me.”

“Good girl,” he said, patting her derriere. “See that you don’t forget it.”

“Jackass.”

“Your jackass,” he chided her.

“Yes,” she sighed. “My jackass.” She rubbed her nipples across his finely furred chest. “You know this soft hair tickles.”

“Does it? So does yours.”

“I don’t have any hair on my chest,” she said a bit indignantly.

“No, but that lovely patch you keep between your legs feels like silk against the base of my cock when I’m stroking you with it.”

Finn could feel herself blush. “Do you want me to shave it?” she asked, knowing some men preferred it that way.

“No, I prefer my women more natural than not. If you want to, I’ll do it for you.”

“I’ve only done it once and didn’t care for it, but you could shave my legs for me. I tend to get in a hurry and carve them up like a Christmas goose.”

Croft laughed, the rise and fall of his chest and belly, causing her to move up and down with it. “Then I’ll take care of that for you. I can’t have you marking up my property.”

Suddenly, the pleasure she felt when he made love to her, the tenderness with which he treated her, and the emotions he so easily expressed all came raining down on her, causing her to catch her breath.

“It will be okay, Finn. Whatever happens, we’ll get through it together,” he reassured her.

“But you really believe we’ll get him back alive?”

“I like our odds now that we’re together a lot better than yours alone. I just need you to hang in there and have faith. We are really good at this kind of thing.”

“Is this the kind of thing you do for the firm?”

“Yeah, I’m one of the go-to guys. I think the cowboy hat throws them. They don’t seem to think an ex-SEAL would be a cowboy. Do you even know what your brother has on these guys?”

“Not a clue.” She felt him soften and easily slid her body off of his, cuddling against his side with her head on his shoulder.

“What does your brother do? I mean, I know your family is in international banking and finance.”

“My brother headed up the investment side of the family business, and he earned it. He’s smart, shrewd, and good at recognizing shifting markets, spotting patterns. I know he’s saved the firm millions if not hundreds of millions.”

“How’d you end up in photojournalism?”

She laughed. “I never really got the knack of balancing even my own checkbook, and frankly, I didn’t care. I am a complete and total embarrassment to my parents. Not only didn’t I want to go into the family business, I didn’t want to marry a doctor. What I did care about was bringing light to the darkness that evil demands to flourish. I thought if I could expose some of the corruption and iniquity that seems rampant, maybe I could make this world a little better place… if not for everyone, at least for some.”

“I think you have. I know the brass at my father’s level hates your guts,” he chuckled. “And I say that with nothing but admiration. It takes a lot to get under the skin of those guys. I think, though, those of us who serve on the front line appreciated your unwavering support of the truth and of those being used as cannon fodder, so to speak.”

“So, you’re saying family dinners on either side are going to be strained?”

“I’m saying our family is you, me, and whoever else we want to include. Seriously, Finn, I haven’t seen or spoken to anyone from my family since I walked away.”

“Except my brother, I haven’t spoken to mine in over a decade. He really does love me. I’m fairly certain he’s the only one who ever did.”

“Do you think he could be mixed up with whatever they’re doing? If he is, that’s okay… I just need to know to protect him.”

“I asked myself the same question, but I honestly don’t think so. If he, or anyone else at the firm, had a part in it, he wasn’t aware of it. It’s funny, but the last time we talked, he made some comment that made me wonder if he wasn’t rethinking his career choices.”

“Don’t worry, babe. Whatever it is, we’ll keep you both safe and get it sorted out.”

She yawned.

“Close your eyes, Finn, and go to sleep. We’ll get everything back on track tomorrow.”

“Good night, Croft. Thank you.”

“For what? Helping your brother? I haven’t done that yet. For loving you? I didn’t have any choice in that. Some bratty photojournalist from Boston who rides dressage… the boys will never let me hear the end of that. Finn?”

“Yes?”

“Do I need to handcuff you, or will you give me your word you’ll be here in the morning?” he asked only half teasingly.

“Jackass.”

“I’ll take that as you are giving me your word.”

He held her until he felt her fall asleep. What the hell had her brother gotten the both of them into? He closed his eyes and slumbered.

Croft woke and realized that, once again, Finn was not at his side. Swearing, he sat up.

“What is it?” she asked from near the campfire.

“I thought you’d snuck off again. I’m sorry, I should have known better,” he said, rolling onto his knees and joining her before kissing her.

“Would you like me to take care of that?” she said, nodding at his erection.

He glanced at his watch. “Much as I would, I don’t have time. I’m going to go down to the river and take a quick dip. The trout were running last night. It hasn’t gotten too hot yet, so I ought to be able to catch something for breakfast.”

“Okay, I’ll make something to go with it.”

Croft picked up his fishing rod.

“Croft?”

He turned back to her and smiled at the picture before him—a campfire in the beautiful Grand Canyon with the most gorgeous, sensuous woman he’d ever had underneath him, dressed only in his shirt.

“Be safe and come back to me.”

He knew she wasn’t only talking about going down to the river to catch their breakfast, and he answered in the same way.

“Always and forever, Finn.”

S he watched him walk away like an ancient god of the canyon—strong with a muscular physique and perhaps the best butt she’d ever seen… not that his front with his jutting cock wasn’t a sight to behold. Finn got up to fill the feedbags of the two mules.

She looked up to see him returning soaking wet but with a couple of trout. Again, he had taken the time to clean them and dispose of the parts they wouldn’t eat down at the river. Finn had finely diced several of the potatoes, an onion, and another bell pepper and had created a place to set one of the tin dishes in the fire as a sort of makeshift frying pan.

“I love that among the necessary things you bring when you’re traveling light is salsa.”

He laughed. “Not just any salsa. Willa’s. It’s the best. There should also be a hard-shelled container like the one for my rod…”

“I like your rod just the way it is,” she teased.

“You behave.” He shook his finger at her. “You have no idea how cold that fucking water had to be for my cock to decide, it was best to retreat. The container has several eggs.”

“You mean like real eggs and not powdered ones?”

“I may be a jackass, but I am not an uncouth beast.”

Finn dug through his things and found them.

“Heaven!” she exclaimed as she cracked them into the pan and added them to the mixture. She took the trout from him and flaked it in as well, cooking it all together until it was done. She divided the portions and added salsa to both, then took her first bite before handing the plate to him. “Yum!”

He laughed, then leaned down to kiss her and fondled her breast.

“Yum,” he whispered.

“Hey! No fair. If I don’t get to tease you, you don’t get to tease me.”

Croft set his plate down and pulled on his socks, jeans, and boots.

“Thanks for feeding the stock and for making this. It’s good. Why don’t you grill up the other fish and cook the last potato? That way, if they do have Christian, we can get him something to eat if he’s up to it.”

“You don’t have to give me false hope…”

He took her hand and kissed her fingers.

“I’m not. I’m not saying he isn’t dead, but it makes more sense for him not to be. At the level your brother operated, he’s most likely dealing with professionals, which means they’re going to be careful and cover all their bases. It also means once they know it’s not a matter of simply getting one other person out of the way, it makes more sense to make a deal.”

“At least, that’s what you’re going to tell them.”

“That and that once our business is concluded, I will hold them responsible for abiding by the terms of our agreement. As much as it may piss you off, I’m going to tell them you are now my woman, and the last thing on this earth they want to do is hurt you or cause you or your family harm.”

“You do know I took care of myself in some pretty chaotic and dangerous situations?”

“I do. I also know we’re going to have to figure out a way for you to pursue your career and not give me a heart attack every time you leave my sight.”

“You don’t expect me to just stay home waiting for you?”

He laughed. “I wish I thought that was even a remote possibility. Look, Finn, I know what’s happened between us is fast, and I can and will be a hard ass where your safety is concerned, but other than the two real non-negotiables of being with me and keeping safe, I’m pretty willing to negotiate a lot of things. I may expect to be the one who makes the final decisions in our life together, but it doesn’t mean I won’t listen to whatever you say and consider your needs and wants. Deal?”

She nodded. “I still think it’s better if I go with you.”

“Not a chance. That falls into that keeping-you-safe category. I know you can handle yourself, but if I have to worry about you and what might happen to you, I won’t be focused on getting Christian or at least setting up an exchange for him.” Croft seemed to measure his words before he continued. “I know you believe I’m being overprotective. If he’s there, and we can make the exchange, I’ll make it and bring Christian back, we’ll clean up our camp and move to another location. They’ll leave, and we’ll get topside tomorrow. If he’s not with them, which is what I’m expecting, I’ll get a place set for the exchange, we’ll get out of here tonight or tomorrow at the latest, and get everything set to get your brother back.”

He watched her face, trying to read her reaction.

“I’m going to leave my watch with you. The meeting place is about two hours from here. If I’m not back in five hours, you have to promise me you’ll either head back to Phantom Ranch or ford the river and go up the trail only a couple of miles away on the other side. You are not to wait here longer than five hours, and you are not to follow me. Clear?”

“Yes, but…”

“No buts, Finn. As it is, you’ve already got a trip over my knee coming to you. You deviate from our agreed-upon plan, and I’ll introduce you to having your backside welted. Trust me, you won’t like it. It hurts a hell of a lot more, and the effects last for days. I mean it, Finn.”

They locked eyes, and neither moved… they scarcely breathed. Finally, Finn dropped her head.

“Okay, Croft. We’ll do it your way. I promise.”

“One last thing. This camp is pretty well hidden until you’re right up on it. I need you to stay here with the rifle. If anybody who isn’t in a ranger’s uniform or doesn’t have ID tries to come in here, you shoot first, and we’ll sort it out later. Got it?”

She nodded. He walked over to the mules and saddled Sam.

“You can let Jasper stand, but in four hours, you get him saddled, break down the camp, and be ready to go. If I come back, we can decide whether or not to move out. If I don’t, the minute you hit five hours, you do as you’re told.” He crossed over to her, tilted her face to his, and kissed her with a depth of passion that took her breath away.

“I’m counting on you. I know what I’m asking isn’t easy and contrary to everything you’re thinking, but you have to trust me.”

“I do,” she whispered. “It’s not just Christian I’m worried about, it’s you. I need you to be okay, too. I need you to come back to me.”

He walked Sam out from under the overhang and swung up, then turned back and shot her a dazzling smile.

“Always and forever, Finn.”