In Safe Arms (17 page)

He set her aside, chest rising and falling as he leaned down and pulled off his boots. It was then she noticed the square piece of gauze on his triceps. She frowned, positive it hadn’t been there when he’d taken a shower the other night.

‘What happened to your arm?’

Nate stilled. Josie was staring at the gauze patch, a puzzled expression on her face.

Reluctantly, he pulled back the dressing, watched the blood drain from her face at the Altar Boys crest inked into his arm. It looked nasty, inflamed and covered in dried blood where he’d inflicted pain on himself.

She turned shocked eyes on him, and suddenly he wished he’d been more up front before letting things go this far.

‘They marked you.’ Her lips trembled as she leaned closer and studied it in more detail. ‘Tell me they used a sterilised needle on that.’

He nodded, touched by her gentle concern. ‘One thing about the Altar Boys, they have the best tattoo artist in Sydney. I wasn’t conscious at the time, but he was there, and I know he did it.’

She breathed a sigh of relief, even as she cast a disappointed look toward the roman bath. ‘We can’t do this. A girlfriend of mine had a flower done on her ankle. She could have a shower, but no bath.’

And then she reached up and stroked his cheek. ‘You should have told me, Nate.’

Nate captured her hand and kissed her palm. ‘And turn down the offer of a lifetime? I’m not that crazy.’

The corners of her mouth curved, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes.

He slipped his arm around her waist. ‘Hey, I’m tall enough to keep my shoulder out of the water.’

She didn’t look convinced. ‘Is it very painful?’

He shook his head, and hoped his next words might make up for two years ago. ‘Compared to the pain I’ll be in if you turn me down — zero.’

She smiled again, and this time a light shone in her eyes. ‘That’s blackmail, detective.’

Desperate to reassure her, he rubbed his hand up and down her back. ‘If it makes you feel better, we’ll clean it up and apply a fresh dressing. I’ll be fine.’

‘I don’t know.’ She flashed him a dubious look. ‘You should take some paracetamol.’

‘I’ll walk over hot coals if I have to.’ He rested his forehead against hers. ‘Please, princess. I want to do this with you. I promise I’ll be careful.’

She kissed him then, moving her lips softly over his, though she kept her arms by her sides, as if fearful she might touch the wound. When she pulled away, the telltale glisten in her eyes slugged him right in the guts.

‘Josie, don’t be upset. When this is all over I’ll get it removed.’

‘
No!
’ Her eyes blazed as she glared at the tattoo. ‘You’ve earned that, probably more than most of the members of that outlaw motorcycle gang. It’s like — it’s like a battle scar.’

Josie’s strength and determination humbled Nate, her words cutting straight to his heart. She’d witnessed a murder, been run off the road and forced into protective custody, and he knew she was worried about her parents and other people dear to her. And despite Dickson holding her at gunpoint, and Simpson physically attacking her, somehow, she’d managed to find space in her heart for him.

He slipped his fingers under her hair and stroked the pad of his thumb across her cheek. She was worrying about him, and he had to do something to put things right.

‘Stay here, princess. I’ll go get the first aid kit.’

Fifteen minutes later, after cleaning and bathing the tattoo with antiseptic wash, Josie dabbed it dry and fixed a new adhesive square to Nate’s shoulder. Then, she took a long piece of cling wrap and wound it around his arm from shoulder to elbow.

‘There,’ she said, standing back and assessing her handiwork. ‘I’ve waterproofed it as best I can, but don’t submerge it.’

‘Thank you.’ He swooped in and kissed her on the lips. ‘Do you have any idea of the self-control I needed to exercise then, with you leaning all over me like that?’

Before she had a chance to reply, he whipped off the towel she’d reinstated when he’d gone out of the room.

‘Nate!’
She strived for indignation, though her protest failed in light of his delighted expression, and she couldn’t help laughing.

‘You’re always doing something for me in here.’ Nate leaned over the bath and turned off the hot water tap where they’d been topping up the bathwater. ‘You’ve cut my hair, cleaned my wound…’

Before she could guess his intention, he wheeled around and grabbed her, lifting her off her feet and swinging her high in the air. She squealed, threw her arms around his neck, warm, curly chest hair a delicious friction against her breasts.

‘It’s my turn to do something for you.’ He lowered her into the hot, fragrant water, biceps bulging as he let her find her footing. Heart pounding with excitement, Josie sank into the soothing water, eyes locked on Nate as he rid himself of his swimming trunks and joined her.

‘Come here.’ His good arm came around her waist, and he tugged her into his lap, injured arm stretched out along the back of the bath.

She sat with her back against his chest, skin turning to goose flesh as he massaged her neck with his free hand. Then he leaned forward and pressed a kiss between her shoulder blades.

She shivered despite the warmth, blood pressure spiking so high she feared she might have her own private heart attack. His hard length was pressed against her thigh, longer than she imagined, thicker than she imagined, and definitely ready.

‘Slide down a little, and lay back against me,’ he murmured, reaching around and fondling her breasts, which looked like two white orbs floating in the water. ‘Rest your head on my shoulder.’

Josie did as he asked, body a mass of sensation as he stretched out beneath her and hooked one long leg around her ankle. Keeping her in place, he slipped his hand between her thighs.

Josie sucked in a harsh breath, tensing as he touched the most intimate part of her. ‘It’s okay,’ he murmured, soothing her. ‘I won’t do anything you don’t like.’

Josie reclined against him, blinked once as the room tilted, Nate’s touch so exquisitely gentle she feared she couldn’t stand it. Closing her eyes, she relaxed, heard his murmur of approval, felt the brush of his lips against her temple.

Her breathing slowed, deepened, as she gave herself up to his practised touch. With great care, he lit the flame within, stoking it into a fire until her legs grew restless and she rotated her hips, craving a greater friction on the cluster of nerve endings at her core.

Head lounging on his shoulder, she gripped his thighs, heard him growl low in his throat as she arched her back. He hardened beneath her, used his injured arm for the first time to turn her face towards him and capture her mouth.

She moaned as his tongue licked over her lips, an ache between her thighs where he continued to rhythmically stroke her.

Heat surrounded her.

Fragrant water.

The steamed filled room.

The flickering candlelight.

Nate’s toned body beneath her.

Dizzy and desperate for oxygen, she dragged her mouth from his, breathing shallow as she opened her eyes and stared at their reflection. Nate’s left arm was braced on the back of the spa, elbow crooked, muscled forearm crushing her breasts and holding her in place. His dark head was next to her blonde one, his face turned into her neck, broad shoulders visible behind her narrower frame. The sensual image tipped her over the edge, and suddenly she was climbing, free of inhibitions, shamelessly seeking the pleasure so closely within her reach.

As if sensing her desperation, Nate chose that moment to stop. But as she cried out in protest, he made soothing sounds in her ear, took hold of one knee and parted her legs.

Suddenly, all she wanted was him, rising above her and sliding his long, hard length inside her. Never had she wanted anything so much.

But it wasn’t to be.

The moment he touched her again she came in his arms, crying out, arching her back and sending water cascading to the floor. He held her tight, lips pressed against her cheek as she surrendered to the vibrations of pleasure wracking her body.

After a while, she let go of her pent up breath, sighs of pleasure echoing around the bathroom. She turned over, seeking his lips, curling up on his chest like a satisfied cat that had just got the cream.

‘Thank you.’

‘You’re thanking
me
?’ he said, smiling against her lips.

She gripped his shoulders and pulled herself up, breasts soaked, taut nipples scraping against his chest.

‘That was beautiful.’ Heat suffused her face at the admission she was about to make. ‘I’ve only ever done that with one other guy, and it was a bit underwhelming. He hurt me too.’

‘What?’ Nate’s body went rigid, his expression turning harsh, the way it had when he’d dealt with Barry Simpson. ‘Give me his name, and I’ll fucking arrest him.’

‘Not physically.’ Josie rushed to reassure him. ‘Just my feelings.’

He continued to watch her, mouth pulled into a firm line, eyes brooding.

Josie shrugged, wishing she’d stayed quiet. ‘It was a competition among some of the boys, you know, who could pop the rich girls cherry.’

She watched him close his eyes for a few seconds, and when he opened them, the softness had returned. He raised his hand and stroked the pad of his thumb across her lips — smiled when she caught it between her teeth.

‘You shouldn’t talk like that about yourself.’ Then he lifted her off him and rose like Neptune, water pouring off his gloriously naked body.

Josie gripped the side of the bath, tried to keep the panic out of her voice as she pushed herself up on unsteady legs. ‘Are we finished? I thought…’

He reached for a towel, and when he turned around the harsh lines had disappeared from his face. Droplets of water trickled down his powerful chest as he wrapped her in a bath sheet and lifted her out of the tub.

‘At the risk of sounding like a Neanderthal, it’s time we adjourned to the bedroom.’

Not bothering with a towel himself, he opened the door and carried her from the room.

Nate kicked the door closed and laid Josie on the bed, watching as she lifted her hips and tugged the towel out from underneath her. Her eyes slanted towards his lower body, and he threw the towel aside, a little amused, a little guilty she was so youthful.

Her inexperience hadn’t really surprised him, though the depth of her feelings certainly had. She’d left Dickson’s side and flown into his arms, not caring what the other man thought. But that was Josie. She wore her heart on her sleeve and didn’t play games — had no pretensions, despite his earlier opinion of her.

She’d fussed over the tattoo, even though she hated him fussing over her, for reasons he didn’t understand. And she’d satisfied what little chauvinistic streak he had in him, by surrendering in the bath and allowing him to pleasure her.

But now it was time for the main act.

Was she ready?

Hoping his nakedness wasn’t too confronting, he dimmed the bedside light to a dull glow and stretched out beside her. Propping himself up on one elbow, he ran his gaze over the length of her body. The sooner she got used to his hungry eyes the better, because he planned on looking at her often.

‘You have faint tan lines.’ He used his forefinger to draw a triangle around one beautiful breast, following the line where white skin met golden. ‘I look forward to seeing you in that very brief bikini.’

She inhaled sharply, chest rising, and he chose that very moment to close his fingers over the luminous white flesh of her breast.

Her green eyes glazed over, her nipple pebble hard in his palm.

Christ!

Nate’s blood heated, headed south, hit by a primal urge to bury himself in the soft, moist place between her thighs.

Gritting his teeth, he composed himself. He wanted to love her properly, not in a “pop the rich girl’s cherry” kind of way either, but in a way that would get her so out of her mind she’d long for more of the same.

He moved his hand to her other breast, watching her face as he massaged the soft, silky flesh. She moaned, turned her cheek into the pillow.

‘Don’t close your eyes, princess.’ Mindful of her tender jaw, he captured her chin between his thumb and forefinger, the throb in his chest nothing compared to the one in his groin. ‘Look at me.’

Flushing, she opened her eyes.

‘I want to make up for two years ago.’ He parted her lips with his thumb and kissed her, hot and wet and with lava in his veins. She closed her fingers around his shoulders and he pushed her back into the pillows, a little more roughly than he’d intended, drunk on the sweet taste of her.

He took his time exploring her mouth, seeking out the hidden corners and running his tongue along the edge of her teeth. He raised a knee and slipped it between hers, mind hazing when she parted her legs, granting him permission to settle inside thighs still warm from the bath.

He tore his mouth away and moved lower, sliding down her body and kissing a trail from her chin to her breasts. He drew a nipple into his mouth, circling it with his tongue and sucking gently. Then her fingers speared into his hair, and she hooked her legs around the back of his knees and squeezed him with her thighs.

Holy mother…

Nate’s heart beat like an African drum as he kissed the sensitive undersides of her breasts. She said his name, and he answered with a low growl, pleased at her use of verbal cues to convey what she liked. And he was glad she liked this, because he was greedy — no, certifiably crazy for Josie’s breasts. Smooth, soft and sexy, covered or uncovered — they were heaven.

She whimpered, fingers clenching in his hair, and he knew she was close, primed as she would ever be to accept him inside her body. He took his weight on his forearms to give her a breather from the constant stimulation. She drew in a few deep breaths as he reached for a condom in the top drawer of his bedside table.

‘Can I do it?’ She smiled at his surprised expression and took the packet from his fingers. ‘I’ve only ever put one on a banana — in sex ed.’

Nate couldn’t help but burst out laughing. It was such a guileless thing to say, and he loved her for it, admired her daring attitude to life despite her inexperience. It may have lowered the sexual tension a notch, but her honest sharing made him feel closer to her. As if he, in turn, could tell her anything.