Desert Angel (Family Justice Book 2) (43 page)

Okay, now
THAT
was funny. She was struggling not to burst out laughing.

“A fucking riding crop? He’s a dead man if he touched you with it.”

A sudden vision of Alex and Parker doing unspeakable things to Ronaldo spurred her to ease him down off the ledge before he went off half-cocked.

“Actually, what he had in mind was the other way around.”

She said it plainly. No inflection. How long would it take him to . . .

He threw back his head and laughed deeply. Apparently, it hadn’t taken him any time at all.

“Oh, my god! For real? This is awesome!” He laughed. “Did he get you one of those leather and latex Dominatrix outfits as well?”

His laugh was infectious, and she had to admit, it
was
funny. That weekend it hadn’t been funny, though. Not when Aldo all but begged her to experiment with him. She couldn’t wrap her mind around any part of what he needed. The idea of paddling him, something he showed a particular interest in, just left her cold. There had to be a line somewhere. She was no sadist, any more than she was a masochist and if that was what he was looking for . . . well, they had a problem. One of many.

The laughter had broken the tension. All of a sudden, he unsnapped her seatbelt, reached, and hauled Angie half over the damn console and dove onto her mouth. It wasn’t a kiss of seduction. Nor was it one of passion. It was a marking. A brand on her ass couldn’t have been plainer.

Settling her back in her seat after the kiss ended, he leaned over her, one hand wrapped around her neck so she had no choice but to look straight at him.

“I want to be excited and challenged—outside the bedroom. I need a partner who is my equal. Not someone I control.
Dominate,
” he added for good measure. She was started to see where he was going.

“I won’t pretend that I’d be anything less than what you already know I am in a relationship. Arrogant? Of course. But a partner who yields to her master,” she saw the humor in his expression when he said it which was all that saved him from a punch in the gut, “gains more than she gives away.”

“How do you figure?” She really wanted to hear his answer.

“Because, Angel baby, we’ll both know that you’ll
choose
to yield. Such an honor can only be met with loyalty, protection, and affection. Your happiness would be foremost in my mind and present in every action.”

Hmmph.
Affection? She had to call him on it.

“Affection?” Her tone landed somewhere between
Are you fucking kidding
and
Please feel free to blow me anytime.

He caressed her cheek. “The word was carefully chosen because though you smirk, I don’t think you’re ready for the other discussion. The one with the L word.”

Well, he was right about that. A couple of weeks ago, they hadn’t spoken in years and just hearing his name sent her into an emotional freefall. Four months ago, she’d been engaged to another man although she’d admittedly used the term
man
as a reference. Aldo was a toddler in diapers compared to Parker’s panty-melting masculinity.

Did she want this man with a desire that was completely messing with her head? Yes. But that was sex. And she’d already thrown down the gauntlet that screwing around wasn’t enough.

Beyond that, though? Was she ready to take that risk? The leap of faith it took to put herself totally in someone else’s hands. Just the thought made her feel vulnerable and exposed so, no. She wasn’t really ready to call the L word out from the shadows. Oh, she knew it was there—hovering just out of sight, but for now, that particular emotion had to continue as an understudy a while longer. Wasn’t time for a starring role and it remained to be seen whether their admitted lust for each other was on life support or if it could flourish and grow into something deeper.

T
HEY MADE THE LAST LONG
drive to the Villa off the main road in loud silence. Parker glanced at the dashboard clock. Ten fifteen. Whew. For a second there he was worried they’d lingered beyond his self-imposed eleven P.M. curfew.

The wide circular driveway that curved around the front of the big house was always like a fucking parking lot and tonight was no different. Even when no one was really around, it seemed like there were a half dozen odd vehicles parked here and there. Betty’s distinctive surrey-fringed buggy cart was there next to Meghan’s green John Deere. He wondered briefly if she ever tired of the Irish green jokes and references.

He pulled alongside Alex’s ranch truck because it offered a sliver of cover and privacy.

Their conversation had gotten so serious and heavy that he half expected Angie to bolt from his vehicle the minute he cut the engine. He was relieved to answer her questions and concerns freely and openly. It felt damn good and was exactly what he referred to by wanting a partner who challenged but was his equal. He felt completely at ease with her. But he was having a hard time reading her reactions.

Reading people was in the first paragraph of his job description and was something he was known for. But with Angie? Yeah, sometimes he could follow her thoughts like a paint-by-number project but only to a point. She was being guarded and while he hoped he was right about what was happening in the hidden part of her heart and mind, he didn’t really know for sure.

To his astonishment, she did not leap from the SUV and run screaming from him. Was she making a statement by showing her fearlessness in the face of what they’d discussed? Heat rushed into his groin.

He heard a muffled click followed by the sound of her belt retracting. He unclicked his and let it reset as he pulled the keys from the ignition so the cab would go dark. Parker had every intention of kissing his Desert Angel to within seconds of an erotic meltdown and didn’t need the glare from the onboard lights to throw a spotlight on what they were doing in the front seat of his SUV.

Her soft hand reached down and rested on his thigh as she leaned on the console. “Thank you. I enjoyed tonight, Parker.”

“As did I,” he assured her warmly.

“You’ve given me a lot to think about.”

Huh.
No shit. Just the little matter of every fucking thing rested on what she decided was best for her.

How could he press his case without forcing her hand or come off like a control freak?

Tell her to get her ass onto your lap and be quick about it if she wants to be kissed properly,
his snarky inner voice quipped.

Okay.

“While you think,” he husked, his fingers having reached out to play with one of her silky curls. “Do it from my lap.”

“Um . . . your lap?” she asked, confused.

“Yep,” he ground out. “That spot where your magnificently sexy ass belongs if you want me to kiss you goodnight.”

“Oh.”

Not sure how they did it, but a combination of seat adjustments and sheer ingenuity ended with Angie sprawled across the console, her ass resting firmly on his erection and her legs and feet, with those sexy-as-fuck shoes, stretched out on the passenger side.

She had an arm about his shoulder as he leisurely ran his fingers up and down her leg. The higher he went near the fleshy part of her thigh, the more he could feel the heat coming from her center.

Parker touched her face and smiled into her wide-eyed gaze.

“You are so fucking beautiful.”

He traced her delicately arched brows and skidded a finger down the center of her nose then slowly outlined her lips with his hands like a blind man memorizing a lover’s face.

He took hold of her chin and stared at her mouth, which was open as she panted shallowly. When her tongue came out and swiped her lips leaving a sheen of moisture behind, he groaned.

“Tell me now if sucking your nipples is possible with what you have on.”

She blinked half a dozen times and he felt her head shake infinitesimally, confusion running riot on her face.

“I thought you were going to kiss me,” she purred as her free hand started toying with a button on his shirt.

Parker’s lip curled in a small lopsided grin. Kissing was his secret weapon with her. She surrendered so quickly once the kissing started that he knew withholding his mouth from hers, if only for moments, was driving her crazy.

Tilting her face up with a finger beneath her chin, when she was looking into his eyes, he casually took the same finger that had been on her chin and fed it slowly into her mouth.

She sucked on it and swirled her tongue all around as he lost himself in the image of her sultry lips closing around his sturdy finger.

In a deep, gruff voice he told her, “That’s right baby. Suck it. And then get ready to have your mouth fucked.”

Her eyes lit up.
Shit.
He said that wrong but knowing she took it like he intended to get off in her mouth and seeing her wanton reaction to the idea didn’t help him keep control.

“All I want to know is, do I have a shot at those wicked tits or are your goodies locked up with no access ‘cause once we start, shit’s going to get fucking real and fucking fast.”

“Oh, uh . . . it’s a corset. If you unlace it from behind it will be loose enough to fold over.”

He rolled his eyes. No guy should need an engineering degree to undress his woman.

“Sit up,” he grunted as he pushed her up and shoved her shoulders so he could eyeball these laces. T-shirt, no bra. That was what he wanted, not some Victorian bondage accessory.

Making quick work of loosening the laces, he didn’t bother with any sort of romantic gesture, just tugged on the cups of the bustier and freed her breasts.

Now, there was a sight to behold. The sweetly curved mounds were so damn perfect that he couldn’t look away. My god. He knew the pale, pink tipped heavy breasts would feel like heaven under his touch. So creamy and smooth, they looked full and soft with nipples that tightened into hard nubs before his eyes.

He concentrated on the feel of her succulent body, groaning when his hand cupped a full globe and his thumb swept across a tender peak. Angie’s corresponding whimper almost did him in.

Trapping her eyes with his, he squeezed her breast.

“Now we kiss and I tongue fuck your sexy mouth in between biting those badass nipples.”

And he did. With fervor. Until she was writhing on his lap and whimpering with need. When his mouth moved onto her tits, she gasped sharply as his tongue whisked the throbbing tips and he had to remind her to breathe.

“Come on, baby,” he murmured close to her ear. “I’m not finished yet. Big deep breaths. Feel my mouth on your tits.”

She groaned low and deep. “Ohhhhh.”

He nipped at one of her delectable nubs. Her fingers immediately went into his hair and the arm around his shoulder tightened as fingernails, sharp and insistent, dug into the skin at the base of his neck.

Aware that he was making greedy, sucking noises as he devoured her lush beauty, Parker made no effort to be someone or something he wasn’t. He wanted Angelina Marquez. In his bed. Underneath him so he could fuck her with all the fierceness running rampant through him. Fierceness she and only she inspired.

Never had going commando been such a fucking nightmare as it was right now. Parker’s cock felt like it was fighting to break free, desperate for the sweet release he would find in her body. If he didn’t reel it in now, he’d have her clothes in tatters and his shaft buried inside her within moments.

Fuck.

Fuck.

FUCK.

With a dose of aching regret, he laved one last smoldering stroke of his tongue against a delicate tip and eased back.

“When you are mine,” he growled lustfully, “you will bare your breasts to me whenever we are alone.”

Her quivering, “Okay,” was adorably sweet. Just then, she would have agreed to walk naked through the center of town if he’d asked her to. Did she even know what she said okay to? Probably not. All her attention seemed to be focused on the longing looks she gave his mouth.

She knew what she wanted. He had to give her that. “Kiss me again,” she begged.

He put his forehead to hers briefly then kissed her nose. “Can’t,” he ground out. “Date night’s over, honey. Have to get you inside before Big Daddy marches out here with his night vision goggles on and makes a scene.”

Parker had to cough back a chuckle when she began spouting nonsensical oaths of retribution and vengeance against her brother as she struggled awkwardly to untangle from their sprawling embrace

The more difficult it was to sit up and get re-situated, the fiercer her petulance became. Some part of him dug the shit out of knowing that she was going to make his friend’s life a living hell for being the impediment to what she wanted.

Not for the first and certainly not the last time, Parker considered what a relationship between him and Angie would do to the Sullivan-Marquez family dynamic. Alex would be forever able to bust his chops whenever he felt like it and would no doubt take enormous delight in fucking with him because he could. Asshole.

But really. Wasn’t this the way it was always supposed to be? He had his years of lording it over his friend and now it would be Alex’s turn to be top dog. Somehow it seemed so perfectly . . . karmic.