AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The sound of a splash pulled her attention back to the boat. The moisture in her mouth instantly evaporated and her insides began to quake. Her instincts were screaming for her to run, but she didn’t. She couldn’t even if she’d wantedto.
The sunlight sparkled like diamonds against the drops of water that beaded across Grant’s broad chest and raced along the cuts and dips between his washboard abs. His dark blue board shorts, soaked and clinging to his equally muscled thighs, hung low on his hips. A thin trail of golden curls raced between the hard lines of his narrow hips, disappearing beneath his waistband. Only a blind woman would miss the outline of his perfectly defined erection.Holy sin on a stick, he ispacking.
His arms and legs moved with the grace of a jungle cat stalking its prey, the tight strands of muscles bunching and stretching beneath his skin with every step. His right hand was wrapped tight around the black grip of a pistol, the thick tendons in his wrist flexing as he tightened and loosened his grip. She followed the ripple of movement to his rounded shoulder, his neck, and then up to the chiseled lines of his face. Her lungs seized with feminine lust, mixed with a healthy dose of fear as she locked eyes with the lethal beast inside him.He’s going to killme.
The fire in Grant’s eyes blazed with a heat as tangible as the sun’s rays beating relentlessly against her skin. She didn’t know the first thing about this man, other than the fact that he was dangerous and locked onto her like a fast moving freight train. He hadn’t hurt her yet, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t kill her. Still, she couldn’t make herself move or even look away. Something inside her was drawn to the beast residing within the man; to the absolute power and strength that wrecked hersenses.
Paralyzed, she was powerless to resist as his hard, lean body crashed into hers, trapping her against his hot, wet skin. His hands tangled in her hair, his desperate grip holding her captive to his assault, his lips crushing against hers with franticneed.
She’s incredible.Grant was so damn pissed off and turned on at the same time, he didn’t know whether he wanted to kill her or fuck her. The moment his mouth landed on hers, her taste rushing over his tongue for the first time, his cock screamed for the latter. When she offered no resistance, he could feel the tight grip he kept on his control loosen a bit more than he was usually comfortablewith.
Damnherfor not following his orders. She could have gotten them killed. He would be a liar though if he’d said her cool-under-pressure attitude and deadly aim hadn’t impressed the hell out of him. She’d nailed the driver in the lung, the other guy in the neck, from at least sixty yards away with a .45 caliber handgun for Christ’s sake. Seeing her standing over that piece of shit excuse for a human being, his gun in her capable hand as she toed his head and studied his face, her own face camouflaged in dirt, Grant was donefor.
His dick, well past the screaming stage, was now fully engorged and reaching critical mass levels. His hand slid from her back to her ass, pulling her tight against his groin in an attempt to feed the hungry ache in his cock. Sliding his knee between her thighs, he ground his hips hard against hers, drawing out her answering moan as she rode the top of his thigh. The feel of her hot, wet tongue sliding and tangling with his, dueling for power, sent another wave of lusty hunger rushing through his veins. He needed to be inside this woman, to taste every available inch of her. Explore whatever this carnal attraction was between them before it fucking killed him.Just not now,dammit.
Like never before, his body rioted against his mind’s attempts at regaining control. They had a cluster of a mess to clean up before they left the island. They couldn’t stay. Whenever those assholes failed to check in, whoever sent them would send three more exactly like them. He planned to be long gone by the time they figured out whathappened.
Grant’s mouth lingered on hers, savoring her taste a moment longer before he let reality seep back in. There would be more time to explore. He’d make sure of that. When they got this mess cleaned up and her leg looked at by a damn doctor, he was going to set them up in one of his safe houses and have a nice, long chat with Ms. Thalia. Then he was going to fuck her on every available surface until neither of them couldwalk.
Before he could make himself release her, Thalia broke the kiss and pushed herself away from him. Catching her breath, her hand rose to her mouth and wiped away any trace of what they’d just shared. “Sorry, uh,that…”
“Will be continued later,” Grant growled. Hell would freeze over before he let her push this away like it never happened. When she looked away, he felt a prick of his earlier anger spike back to life. It only took a millisecond for his temper to flash-boil to the surface. “What the hell did you think you weredoing?”
Her eyes flared bright with indignation and he could almost feel her desire to slap him. If it wasn’t for the fact he needed her help to pack up, he would likely tempt her to do it so he would have an excuse to tie her to his bed again. Maybe. As her expression transformed from aroused and embarrassed to furious and lethal, he found himself second guessing thatfantasy.
“I was saving your damn ass! That’s what I wasdoing!”
“My ass didn’t needsaving!”
“Bullshit!” Thalia spat. “You had no chance in hell of taking out all three of them before they got off around.”
“Listen, sweetheart...” Grant liked riling her up, but he was quickly losing his patience. “You have no idea what I’m capable of. The next time I give you an order, you sure as hell better follow it! To. The.Letter.”
“Like hell!” Thalia grabbed her crutches and turned to stomp away; as well as one could stomp with a bum leg andcrutches.
Grant’s fingers closed around her arm. Mindful of her injuries, he stepped around in front of her instead of pulling her back to him. “I haven’t asked you one goddamn question. Not one! About who you are, or what the hell you’re mixed up in. That stops now. I’ve stitched you up, fed and clothed you. They were looking foryou,Thalia,and you didn’t have the courtesy, or the balls, to give me a heads up! Now I have to dump three bodies, clear every trace of our presence frommyisland, and burn down my own fucking house. All of which could have been avoided if you’d rolled over and played dead like a good little girl!” He released her arm and grabbed her wrist, cupping her hand against his stiff-as-hell prick. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to trek across this island with the mother of all hard-ons to get my boat so I can feed these bastards to thesharks.”
Thalia jerked her hand away. His lips curled into a smirk as he looked down at the incredulous look on her face. He couldn’t help it. She was so damn adorable, her mouth gaping in shock as she fought for something to say. He finally turned and left her standing in the surf, his thoughts already turning to the list of things they had to get done before they couldleave.
“As if that’s my fault!” He turned to see her scrambling to catch up with him, her limp no better than it had been earlier. Her stubborn, determined strides faster than she could coordinate, the crutches were dragged along at her sides, kicking up sand in every direction. “Youkissedme, you ass! I didn’t ask forthat!”
Grant stopped when he reached the open cabin door and turned back to see her struggling to catch up. “Woman, you’ve been asking for me to kiss you from the moment you opened youreyes.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry about that happening again,because—”
“Oh, I’m not worried, fossa. Not at all.” He tucked his gun into his waistband and slipped on his boots. “It will happen again, I assure you. Now start packing up the cabin.” He turned and headed for the tree line, not bothering to look back as he tossed his final words on the matter over his shoulder. “We’re leaving beforesundown.”
Seven
After trekkingacross the island to retrieve his boat, Grant had loaded the bodies into the other boat and left again to tow them to the eastern side of the island and set them adrift. Finally alone, Thalia worked herself into a sweat, which wasn’t hard to do considering the on again off again fever she was trying to ignore. She’d packed everything that wasn’t nailed down into the cargo sacks she’d found stuffed between the cot and cabinwall.
There wasn’t much to pack. Some fishing equipment, a soup pot, and one rusty cast iron skillet with some basic spices and utensils, along with a sack of clothes and towels, and a few books. There was a locked trunk in the corner and a few full water canteens that were too heavy for her to move, so she left them where they were and piled everything else on top. She took the time to run his brush through her hair, delightfully depositing whatever lice or vermin she’d picked up from his pain in the ass monkey, before stuffing it into the bag with the remaining first aidsupplies.
What the hell wasIdoing?The man was going to drive her crazy. “Here’s a gun, but don’t use it. Play dead like a good little girl.”Chauvinistic jerk!She ripped the sheets from the bed. The stale odor that drifted through the air had her throwing them in the corner instead of packing them up. “Those can burn in hell with Mr.I didn’t need my ass saved.”Conceitedprick!
She may have the agility of a slug at the moment, but she could handle a pistol in her sleep. The sooner he learned that, the better. With a groan she sunk down onto the bare mattress in defeat. He had a point, but he was still a jerk. A jerk who had kissed her senseless, but still a jerk…who had been right. What if he’d been hurt, or shot? She could barely take care of herself, much less a two hundred pound asshat. That wasifthey hadn’t taken her captive… again.Shit.It galled her that she needed his help. Now he was stuck in the middle of her personalhell.
Guilt was an emotion Thalia didn’t wear well. Her skin itched with the constant gnawing feeling. Up until the day her life fell apart and she woke up in hell, she hadn’t done much to feel guilty about. Since then she’d had to do what she needed to survive and learned quickly that guilt only slowed you down. She should have told him. He’d been right about that, too. At least a vague warning. Telling him, or anyone else, about her problems wasn’t in thecards.
