No, the answer was no, of course. She had to say no. How could she go home with him, just like that? This was crazy, she’d never done anything like that in her life.
She’d had her share of lovers but she was incredibly picky. It took several evenings out and if there was a false note, if she was uncomfortable in any way with the idea, she just said no. She was good-looking, she got asked out a lot, but then a lot of men were jerks. She’d said no a lot since puberty. There were tons of reasons to say no right now to Sam, if only she could get her brain working again to think of them. Like her hand, like her breasts and between her thighs, it was hot, melting in a sudden surge of pulsing desire.
No, of course not, are you crazy?she said, only the words didn’t quite come out that way.
Somehow, what came out was, “Yes.”
FIVE
Yes!
Sam stood up abruptly, tilting his chair over. He barely heard the clatter as he reached into his pocket and pulled out two hundred-dollar bills. He threw them onto the table—it was more than enough, but even if it wasn’t, Bashir knew he’d be good for it later—and grabbed her hand.
Nicole was looking utterly shocked at what she’d said, big blue eyes wide in dismay, that luscious mouth a shockedO.
Sam couldn’t stop to think about that. He couldn’t think about anything, actually, except getting her into his bed. Or wherever. It didn’t have to be a bed. Against the door or the wall or on the floor or the couch would do just fine. He didn’t give a shit.
The important thing was to get into her as fast as possible and stay there as long as possible. Till next year, if what he was feeling was any indication.
It was as if he’d never had sex before, ever. He was so excited he could barely feel his hands and feet as he walked to his car, moving fast. Luckily, he had his arm around her waist when Nicole stumbled on the gravel.
Sam held her fast. She’d never fall when she was with him, but he was ashamed that he’d been half dragging her along.
“Sorry,” he mumbled and slowed his stride. He was a runner, and he was used to getting from A to B fast. He moved fast on principle and when he was aiming toward something he wanted, he picked up speed.
Had he been running? God only knew. His senses were so blasted he wasn’t getting any input except from his dick, which was communicating what it wanted loud and clear.
He tried to slow down, even out his stride, but damn, it was hard.
Later, he’d reflect on what it meant for him to be out of control of his body. It was unthinkable. He’d learned self-control in the hardest school possible—his early years. And then the Navy and SEAL training had taken those skills and honed them to machine-like perfection.
He was in charge of himself—always. Aware of his surroundings and his place in any given setting. He was rock steady. For a while he’d been a fuckingsniper, for God’s sake. Snipers could control their own heartbeats, certainly their breathing. And their hands never trembled.
Right now, he was barely aware of the outside world, only of the beautiful woman by his side. Everything else was fog. He was tunnel visioning, like untrained soldiers in battle, hands trembling.
Ten feet from his car, he took out his key fob and unlocked the doors. It took an effort not to simply throw Nicole into the passenger seat. A couple of seconds later, he was in the driver’s seat, hands curled whitely around the steering wheel. He was so excited, he was almost panting.
Sam looked over at Nicole and winced.
She was pale, eyes wide with what he recognized as dismay and not desire, hands in her lap clutching each other so hard she was white-knuckled. A vein pulsed in her neck.
Fuck.
She was scared of him.
He had an idea of what she was seeing. A large, very strong, very fit man with clenched jaws and narrowed eyes, emanating aggression.
Fighting and fucking are closely related, certainly for a man like him. He was dominant on the battlefield and dominant in the bedroom. That was his nature and he’d long since grown used to it.
But he didnotwant Nicole Pearce scared of him. Shit, no. She was the classiest lady he’d ever gone out with, bar none, and the most beautiful, too. And by some miracle, it turned out she was kindhearted. Women like that didn’t grow on trees. They were so rare, in fact, that he’d never met anyone even remotely like her.
She needed to be treated gently, like a lady, but goddamned if his blood wasn’t up. He recognized it, oh yeah. Now that he was in the car, ready to make it to his house and to his bed as fast as the law would allow, he realized he’d somehow gone into combat mode.
The slight panting was to pull in oxygen for a major effort. His body was preparing itself for something big—fighting or fucking, it didn’t care. It just knew that it had to be ready and that it was going to be rough.
At every level, Nicole was perceiving this, perceiving that he was a male with a broad streak of violence to him and a major case of almost out-of-control lust focused tightly on her.
She’d have to be crazy to go home with him in this state. But if she said no right now, he’d simply howl at the moon.
