Mastered By The Mavericks(22)

"That's a good way of putting it." He exhaled again, blinking hard,  rolling his shoulders as if attempting to shirk a huge weight. The broad  slabs remained as taut as before. Not stopping to let logic butt in,  Brynn reached for both of them, spreading fingers along the firm  muscles, gliding back and forth in hopes of helping him a little.

"You care for him a lot." Her soft words reflected how that truth moved  her … to feel it as a potent force on the air, so strong and vibrant,  despite the asshole behavior Rebel had dished out this afternoon. It  spoke volumes about Rhett's character. It was sexy as hell.

"Yeah." It husked fervently from him. "I do." While his words still  focused on Rebel, his eyes came alive with a different energy … feeding  directly from hers. He let her see every spark of it, too. "But that's  because I see all of him-even the parts that never grew up."

She continued rubbing his shoulders. He swayed yet closer. She breathed  in, filling her nostrils with his rich smell, all sage and wind and man.  With every inch he moved in, he consumed more of her vision … captivated  more of her attraction.

"You deserve more, sweetheart. So much more."

His shoulders filled her palms. His scent consumed her senses. And the rest of him …

Dear God, the rest of him.

His chest, proud and high, pecs carved into matching planes of steel.  His thighs, like a pair of fleshed-out Sequoias, making even her  dancer's muscles feel tiny by comparison. And the bulge of flesh that  sprung from between them …

Ohhhh, God.

His cock was firm and hot, burning her belly through his clothes and  hers, provoking her stunned gasp as he fit their bodies tighter. Rhett's  returning growl was so deep it barely ruffled the air, though the  tremors through his body spoke a different message. The quivers  permeated Brynn, no longer making it possible to ignore the obvious.  First, he'd awakened her emotionally, earning the Viking prince title  with his integrity to the mission and his loyalty to Rebel. That  weakened her resistance to the rest-to admitting a physical desire that  hit like a surprise storm … a force she hadn't endured in a long time.

Screw endurance.

And screw her damn dating diet.

For six months, five days, and almost twelve hours, she'd been a good  girl. No military hunks. No delicious G men. Barely any men,  period-certainly not the kind she wanted to twine her arms around,  stabbing her fingers through thick red-gold hair on the way, while her  leg wrapped around a torso that belonged on a Michelangelo statue in an  Italian alcove.

Cheat day, girlfriend.

Go big or go home.

Especially if a man is staring like his sunrise won't come unless you do.                       
       
           



       

She dragged one hand down his nape, the other through the dark gold  stubble along the bold line of his jaw … then lifted her face until their  lips were just inches apart. Into that tiny space, she whispered the  expression of heated need … the acknowledgement of growing desire.

"So what do I deserve?"





Chapter Six





‡


Rhett's lungs pumped. His blood burned. Every pore of his skin seemed to  pop open at once, flooding with the anticipation that thickened the air  like springtime fog over the Thames. Bloody hell. He hadn't even kissed  her yet. But fuck, how he longed to-

Which was why he purposely dragged away.

Not far. Just enough. Giving himself the space to turn his stare into a  caress-and a question of its own, too. Did she really want this? Did she  really want him after the "fun" she'd already had with Rebel today-or  was Moon's detached passion the only "connection" she really wanted from  a man? If that was the case, backing off was the best choice. Though  this might be only a no-strings stress reliever during a high stress  mission, it sure as hell wasn't going to be "detached". He didn't play  that cavalier game. Ever.

Once more, he blazed his stare over her face. Gave her no mercy with his  scrutiny, taking in every detail of her tawny brows, elegant eyes,  regal Renaissance nose … and at last, the lush berry sweeps of her lips …

The moment his gaze touched them, they parted a little.

A little more.

Damn.

Just one little move, nothing as intent as the question she'd just  blurted. But little moves were the things that made the hugest  differences. They moved plates beneath the Earth. Were the difference  between first and second place.

Could transform one question into an invitation for so much more.

A more he could no longer resist-and didn't want to. An offer he  accepted as every sexual instinct blazed to life, firing into his  muscles, sweeping his mouth down to claim hers with brutal force.

Fuck. Yes.

She was honey sweet and butter smooth, instantly opening up, letting him  plunge and stab, sample and savor, taste and drink every drop of her  mewling surrender. As he spread her jaw wider, a gorgeous yelp jumped up  her throat. Quite possibly, it was the hottest sound he'd ever heard;  the hurricane that ripped the moorings off his self-control. If she  still harbored any longings for Rebel, he was pretty damn sure he didn't  care.

No. He did care-about imprinting so much of himself on her, she'd wonder  who the hell Rebel Stafford was, let alone what he'd done to her during  the plane ride.

He pulled back to let her get some air. Probably a good idea, since he  needed a few hundred inhalations too. As their chests heaved together,  he reveled in the feel of her breasts against his sternum, and barely  repressed a groan when imagining how they'd feel without clothes, the  peaks pebbled and hot against his skin while he slid in and out of her …

That was enough of break time.

Rhett slid his hands away from her face and through her hair, before  searching for purchase against the wall. Once he'd planted a firm grip  on either side of her head, he lowered his own again-and claimed her  mouth with deeper force.

She exploded like fruit on his tongue, tangy and juicy, giving away her  rising arousal. He growled low, communicating how thoroughly that  pleased him, before wedging his crotch against hers and grinding with  purpose.

"Oh!" Her high cry shattered the air. If he had to give up kissing her,  that sound made the sacrifice worthwhile. He kicked up one side of his  mouth while sliding his bulge along her cleft once more, delighting in  the perfect circle of her lips as a result. "Rhett," she exclaimed. "Oh,  God … please!"

Did she know what that begging did to his dick? She sure as hell did  now. There was no way to disguise how every vein in his shaft pumped  with new blood, reacting to the sweet submission in her voice. Still, he  was a smart guy. He was damn sure he had her added up, though the  equation of her sexuality certainly wasn't two and two made four. She  was a goddamn algebra challenge; a submissive who didn't want to be one,  a lioness still seeking her lion, but looking in all the wrong jungles.

For now, it was a good option to let her call the shots. He proved it by  teasing a chaste little kiss across her forehead before responding,  "Please … what? Tell me, sweet peach. What can I do for you? Are you  hungry, perhaps? Should we order a pizza?"

She grabbed the back of his head, yanking him down for another kiss.  Rhett kept true to his pledge, letting her control every passionate  second of it, enduring the extra torture on his cock. "No pizza." Her  eyes matched the growl, wildcat bright with lust. She bared her teeth in  a gorgeous snarl. Her other hand stabbed between their bodies, reaching  for the snap on his pants.                       
       
           



       

That was enough of that.

He grabbed her wrist. "Don't think so, sweetheart."

Her brows knitted. "Huh? But-"

"You've had your fun. Now it's my turn to take the wheel on this op."

Just as fast, those tawny brows jumped. "That so, soldier? And what if-"

She cut herself off with her own shriek-as he leveraged his hold to  hoist her off her feet. When he continued folding her all the way over  his shoulder, a second scream followed.

"What. The. Hell?"

Rhett marched toward the wing with the bedrooms. "If this is happening, then it's happening right."

The ranch's master bedroom was at the end of the hall, accessed through  double dark wood doors in a dramatic stucco archway. Thick rugs  overlapped across the polished wood floor, surrounding a high bed formed  of walnut and accented with wrought iron. A glass-walled fireplace  faced the bedroom on one side, a sunken tub on the other.

Having played techno-geek throughout the ranch after arriving yesterday,  Rhett knew the fireplace was activated by a toggle switch located in  the room's lighting control panel, just inside the door. On his way to  the bed, he flipped that button and no other. As he'd promised, they  were going to do this right, and that included the textbook lighting  treatment. If this woman's body was half as exquisite as he imagined,  shadows and fire flickers were going to be juuuust fine.