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A small sob fell from her lips but she shook it off and cleared her throat before she spoke. “He, uh, he was shot in the head as he got into his car onemorning.”
Thirteen
She’d fallento sleep in his arms, the likeness of which Grant had never experienced before. He was sure he would never experience anything like it again, not like how it felt with her. Lying there in the dim moonlight, staring at the outdated swirl pattern on the ceiling as he listened to her deep, steady breaths, he pushed away the things she’d told him about her uncle and thought of all the reasons he didn’t deserve to feel socontent.
In a way it felt like he was cheating. He’d spent the better part of the last ten years as a cold, calculated killer. In the grand scheme of things, he knew he was technically the good guy. He didn’t regret his job, but it didn’t matter. As the bearer of death, he didn’t deserve this kind of life. The kind that made a man feel virtuous and clean, and…right. He’d thought this was the feeling he’d been searching for when he traded the world for isolation. Now that he’d found it, he knew it wasn’t meant for a man like him. Like the selfish prick he was though, he had no intention of letting it go until he hadto.
He hadn’t remembered falling asleep when he was suddenly jolted awake by a scream. His pulse raced as he grabbed Thalia’s wrists, holding her steady while she fought away an invisible force. Eventually the nightmare receded, only to repeat an hour or so later. Each time she stirred he was careful not to wake her, afraid she would pull away from him, determined to hide her weakness. She had no way of understanding that he didn’t see her nightmares as a weakness. It was only another sign of how screwed up he was. She wasn’t meant for this life of killing and revenge. Her subconscious, the part of her that was human and decent, rejected it wholly. He’d never been plagued by those qualities enough to give himnightmares.
Hours later, he watched her as her body slowly awakened. Her long hair splayed across the pillow like a black stallion’s mane. He couldn’t resist tracing the outline of her long fingers lying against the pale silky skin of her stomach. His lips soon fell prey to the same temptation, gliding along her naked torso. He peeled back the covers, revealing the delicate crease at the top of her inner thigh, his tongue tracing its path to the thin line of curls between herlegs.
Damn,she smelled incredible. He couldn’t believe he’d waited this long to taste her, but thankfuckthe wait was over. Her thighs parted on a sleepy moan, and he glanced up her body to see her thick lashes rise to reveal silver eyes staring back at him. Nothing in his life had prepared him for the kind of need he felt in that one moment of connection withher.
With a swift slide, he ducked under her leg and positioned himself between her thighs. The sunlight streamed into the room, illuminating the view before him, and making his dick swell and throb with anticipation. He’d been rough with her before, unable to control his need, but he wanted nothing more than to savor hernow.
A shiver danced over his scalp as her fingers slid through his hair. He turned his head and traced her inner thigh, tasting and nipping at the supple skin displayed before him. Her hips lifted from the bed in silent demand, but Grant was determined to take his time and give her the pleasure she deserved. He slid his hand around her hip and braced his forearm across the soft expanse of her lower belly, his fingers playing at the top of her pussy with teasingstrokes.
“Grant,please.”
He smiled against her skin, his lips trailing up her thigh. “Easy, fossa. I want to tasteyou.”
“I want that, too. Ah…” Air hissed through her teeth as his tongue traced along the crease of her upper thigh again and slid to the edge of her wet folds. Grant could see the silky evidence of her arousal lacing her slit. It called to him, and his mouth filled withsaliva.
Wicked, sadomasochistic urges pushed him to tease both of them a little further, nuzzling his nose into her slit. The combination of her scent and her mewling cry nearly sent him over the edge. He pulled back, blowing a cool stream of air over her swollen labia before moving on to give her other thigh the same treatment. Grant turned his head to glance up at her as he feasted on her sensitive skin, scraping his teeth along the inside of her knee. The impish grin on her face made himchuckle.
“You are so going to pay for this later.” Her head dropped back to the pillow on another moan when he lightly pressed his finger against herclit.
“I hope so.” He chuckled again and continued a slow torturous descent down her inner thigh. Her hand fisted into his hair as he nuzzled her folds again. It didn’t appear as though he would be allowed to wait much longer. That was fine with him. He was more than ready when he freed her from his restraining grip, using his thumbs to spread her tender, pinklips.
Her arousal glistened against a darker patch of flesh, pushing Grant’s control to the edges of his grasp. He started at the bottom with one long stroke and gathered it up with his tongue, her wild, sweet flavor erupting in his mouth as her cry rippled down his spine straight to his dick. When he looked back down at the spot he’d tasted he noticed an odd, almost purple raised mark on her skin in the shape of a slantedV. He tilted his head to view it from another angle, still unsure what to make ofit.
“It’s a birthmark.” He looked up to see Thalia staring back at him, her fist clenched in the sheets. “I’m dyinghere!”
“So impatient.” Grant smiled to hide the sudden sense of alarm that raced through his veins.Sonofabitch, she’s been branded!Could it be only a birthmark? No. There were too many coincidences. He remembered their conversation in the shower.Fuck! She truly doesn’tremember.
His heart pounded, pushing his anger to dick-numbing levels. He couldn’t leave her like this. He didn’t want to leave her, ever. Something snapped inside him. He needed to take away all the pain she’d been through. To give her pleasure and happiness and…hell, he didn’t know what love was, or if it even existed, but he wanted to give it to her. Anything to take this away fromher.
Closing his eyes, he shut everything out and devoured her. Feeding from her frenzied cries, he drank her in, kissing away the forgotten pain. With each loving stroke of his tongue he tried to erase her scars, hoping she would never remember anything but this. Anything but him and how she felt at this very moment, flying apart beneathhim.
“Oh, God. Grant that was…Ican’t…”
Cradling his cheek against her thigh as she panted through her release, Grant looked up over her heaving body to watch her descend from her high. She was incredible. He was drawn to her in a way he couldn’t explain. Pushing up, he crawled over her body, trailing whispered kisses up her side, under and around her breasts, and along her neck until he reached herlips.
“You heal my soul,” he breathed. The tears pooling in her eyes told him she understood. He let his lips linger against hers, breathing her in before he rolled to his side and snuggled her into his arms. Capturing her wrist when she reached for his cock, he shook his head. “No, fossa. This was only foryou.”
“But—”
“I will take that as a promise for later.” He wanted her, beyond words, but there was no way he could focus beyond the train wreck that had just happened inside his head. He would be lucky to mask his jumbled emotions until he could exercise them in private. Somewhere he could beat the life out of something without her seeing him lose it. He needed to get her out of there for a while and get himself back under control. “Let’s wait until after breakfast. We’ve got some strategizing to do, but I need to hop in the shower, and then touch base with my friend to let him know we’ll be keeping the chopper for another fewdays.”
He fought to make himself grin at the confused look on her face. “Well, I…” She shrugged and drew her hand back from his. “Okay. If you insist. And what is thisfossathing you keep calling me?” He forced a chuckle past his lips as he watched her slip from the bed, her limp amazingly lesspronounced.
Following her, he bent and plucked his t-shirt from the floor and handed it to her. “I do insist, and a fossa is a mongoose.” Tamping down the conflicting emotions swirling inside him, he laughed when her brows shot up and her lips twisted into a distasteful expression. “Not your typical mongoose. A fossa actually looks more like a jungle cat. It’s sleek, mean, and quick as lightning.” He shrugged and wrapped his arms around her. “That’s what you reminded me of that day at the cabin when you attacked me. It was quite impressive.” His brows furrowed at her dismissivesnort.
“I was pathetic,” she said as she twisted from his arms. “I haven’t beensleekorquickwith anything the last week. I need to get out and walk or something. Stretch out some and get back intoshape.”
Grant pulled her back into his arms, kissing her pert little nose. “I think you’re in fine shape,” he said, giving her backside a gentle squeeze. “But if you would like, there’s a ton of fruit trees out back. Maybe take a walk after breakfast and pick a bit offruit?”
“I’ll make the coffee.” She nodded and tried to pull away but Grant held her close for a momentlonger.
