Rocky Retreat (10 page)

The chair beside her pulled back, and she took a deep breath, forcing a smile to her lips as she turned to face—

It wasn’t Lee.

“I thought I might find you here,” Gary said, resting his elbows on the table. He looked her over as if he had the right to look her over. “Are you moonlighting? Not enough work at the café?”

Rachel was sure her mouth was opening and closing as if she were a hand puppet the ventriloquist had forgotten to give a voice.

He wasn’t supposed to be here. He wasn’t supposed to be sitting next to her or talking to her. Heck, he wasn’t supposed to break her heart, or drive her crazy, or stir up all sorts of emotions she thought she’d gotten rid of.

Rachel made zero attempt at politeness. “Go away.”

She faced away from him, her gaze landing on the wall again, her gaze fixating on the teeny hole. The teeny flaw in the otherwise pristine paint job.

Gary chuckled, the sound more annoying than usual. “Well now,
that’s
not very friendly.”

Oh, no. That bullshit pushed her right out of her Zen-like numbness. She whirled on him. “I don’t usually try to be friendly with people who have proven themselves assholes.”

She rose to her feet and grabbed her purse, intending to track Lee down.

Gary caught her wrist in his hand. “Don’t run off. I need to talk to you. I’m serious, I came here to see you—”

“If you want to keep breathing without inhaling teeth, get your hand off her.” Lee’s deep voice was soft, but his anger clearly showed as he stepped beside her and glared daggers at Gary.

Maybe it was foolish, but having Lee there made a huge difference. She leaned against his chest, the warmth of his body and the power of his solid mass giving her an anchor.

Gary let her go the instant Lee spoke, but he too stood, glaring angrily, trying for some kind of face-saving move. “Don’t boss me around, boy.”

“Then I’ll do the bossing,” Rachel offered. “Don’t touch me again. Ever.”

“I was just—”

“Just nothing,” Rachel snapped. “You lost all right to just
anything
when you broke our vows. I don’t care what you want to ask me. Do it through my lawyer.”

She twisted her back on her ex-husband, glancing up into Lee’s face.

He responded with careful tenderness even while keeping an eye on the man standing beside them.

“You’re not welcome here,” Lee said pointedly.

“Don’t you dare try anything,” Gary barked even as he stepped back warily

“You’re not worth the energy.”

It made Rachel childishly happy to see Gary move well out of their way as Lee escorted her toward the door.

“Come on,” he told her as he helped her into her coat, and they headed into the parking lot. “I’ve had enough of Traders for the night.”

She was still mixed up. Still not sure what the sensation in her belly was telling her, but she completely agreed with one point. “He isn’t worth the energy. He’s really not. I was just surprised to see him. I’m not upset or anything. Not really.”

But she curled against Lee’s side and thought about it on the way home. Silence stretched between them while music—real music, thank God—beat through the truck cab. The entire trip she attempted to figure out what was bothering her so much.

Lee opened the driver’s door and slid out, pulling her after him.

“Was he there with someone?” she asked.

Lee gave her a strange look. “Not that I noticed.”

He followed her into the house as she tossed her purse on the side table. Kicking off her boots, she dropped her coat haphazardly on her way to the couch to collapse.

She stared at the ceiling and tried again to shed the sensation of impending doom. Damn her impulsive past, and damn Gary, and just…

Damn it
all
.

He wasn’t sure what was going on, but even confused he understood one thing. Rachel was in pain, and watching her hurt was killing him.

He dropped to his knees in front of where she sprawled on the couch, sliding his hands up her thighs. “You’re so tense.”

“That’s what happens when I get surprised, I guess.” She stared over his shoulder, shaking her head slightly. “It wasn’t supposed to bother me anymore. I’ve known since October we were over, and I’ve put it behind me, I’m moving forward,” she insisted.

“Gary.”

“He’s a jerk.”

“He’s an ass,” Lee agreed, “but he’s not here.”

She dropped her gaze to his, and his heart clenched. Her dark brown pupils were drowning in tears, liquid pooling along her lashes until it was too much to contain, and her grief spilled over to form a perfect drop that rolled down her cheek.

“I
want
it to be over.” She pressed a hand to her chest. “But it hurts in here, so much. Is it always going to be like that? Whenever he wants he just tugs at these strings he’s got looped around my heart, and I’ll have no choice but to break all over again?”

Lee lifted a hand to wipe away the tear, softening his touch as he leaned in to brush his words over the still-damp surface of her cheek. “No. It won’t keep happening. There are no strings on you.”

He slid his fingers around the back of her head, cradling her gently as he held her in place. “There’s no one here but you and me, and there’s nothing he can do to you ever again. Don’t give him any power,” Lee urged.

“It’s not that easy,” Rachel whispered, her words trembling as they slipped through her tight throat.

“I didn’t say it would be easy, I said it was important. And that it’s true—and if you need me to prove the strings don’t exist, I’m more than willing.”

She nodded, such a small move, as if she was afraid to fully commit to anything, and Lee wanted to go and beat the crap out of Gary again like he had last summer. Seeing his usually confident and strong woman so devastated made him livid.

But he realized as satisfying as beating Gary up would be, it wouldn’t solve their current problem, and it wouldn’t prove to this gorgeous woman how much she already meant to him. Even though it was only a short time since they’d been trapped in the storm, he wondered how he’d ever survived without her.

Her smiles gave him strength. Her laughter made him want to be a better man. And seeing her in pain made him want to tear apart the world and turn it upside down until he set things right.

Those were his goals. Not revenge, not justice, just the urgent desire to wipe away her tears and bring back more than a smile.

So he kissed her. Tender and sweet for the first two seconds before he let himself taste her fully. He listened to her breathing grow unsteady as she wrapped her arms around his neck and clung on tight. Moving closer as if soaking comfort from his touch.

Lee held her as he took a seat on the couch, settling with her in his lap. The entire time their mouths never parted. He didn’t need to breathe. He’d survive because their bodies were in contact, his lips touching hers. Like a life-support machine, she gave him everything as their tongues tangled and lips moved and the dance as old as time began.

Tonight? He wasn’t going to tell her no. Tonight was not about waiting, it was about letting her see how valuable she was. It was about making her forget her tears and replacing them with as much ecstasy as possible.

Lee nuzzled under her ear. “I want you,” he confessed.

She pulled back her hands until they rested on his shoulders, staring into his eyes as hints that her
what the fuck
attitude had returned. “Oh, so
now
we’re going to have sex?”

Lee brushed away the remnants of another tear. “Yes.”

“Your balls got purple enough you want to deal with them?”

He laughed, rearranging her across his lap so she was straddling his thighs. “Not about my balls, baby. This is all about you.”

Rachel hummed knowingly. “And you’re not going to enjoy it at all, is that what you’re saying?”

“We all have to make sacrifices in this life—” he started, teasing in his tone before he let it fall away. Let the hunger he felt inside show on his face as he tightened his grip on her shirt and tugged it free from her waistband. “And some things are no sacrifice at all. I want you, Rachel. I’ve wanted you for a long time, and this has nothing to do with my balls and everything to do with my brain. You are gorgeous, funny, and you don’t let me get away with any bullshit.”

As he spoke her expression changed. Anticipation rising as he offered his honest confession. “I want to have sex with you,” she admitted as well.

Lee nodded. “Condoms?”

Rachel didn’t hesitate. She’d told him she’d been tested after discovering Gary had cheated on her. Lee had gotten tested after their interlude at the cabin, slipping her his medical report casually, although she’d never said anything about it.

“Condoms, yes. I know you’re clean, but…”

He shook his head. “This is your choice, your body, and you
never
have to explain.”

He scooped her up, holding her close as he walked them toward the back of the house. It was time to give her some new memories and shred away Gary’s strings from around her heart.

And Lee wanted memories of his own. Not just the physical pleasure he looked forward to, but everything else that went along with it. If he happened to step a little quicker down the hall at the thought, Rachel didn’t complain. They were too busy kissing each other for her to notice.

Rachel alternated between desire and amusement as Lee found her room without bouncing them off the walls
too
many times. When he lowered her to the bed, she wiggled free, closing the blinds before facing him again.

The view that greeted her was mouthwatering. He was in the process of pulling off his shirt, the material bunching around his upper arms as he reached over his head and stripped the fabric from his broad shoulders. His lips tugged upward in the most intriguing way—like the Mona Lisa smile for men. She’d hate to call it
that cocky expression guys get when they’re about to get laid
, but if the shoe fit…

The way he looked at her made her tingle.

His solid chest took on a warm glow as he turned on the lamp beside the bed, the curves of his biceps and shoulders like carved granite—only hot instead of cold against her fingers.

He was still smiling as he straightened, undoing the top button of his jeans and lowering the zipper partway as she closed the space between them. Her hands reached out instinctively, driven by urges more animalistic than deliberate. “I can’t wait to touch you.”

She floated her fingers from his ribs to his pectoral muscles. Lee laid his hand over hers, briefly pinning her in place. “Tonight is yours. You get it all—and I’m ready to explode just thinking about what we’re gonna do.”

Rachel hummed as she stroked his skin, teasing his nipple and watching his entire body tighten under her caress. “Are you telling me you have a control issue? Because that’s the last thing I’d expect you to confess.”

She followed the intriguing trail of hair leading into his partially open jeans. Lee circled her wrists, stopping her exploration as he leaned down and offered a kiss.

His warm lips felt perfect as he pressed toward her, his eagerness turning to a demand. He adjusted position until she was trapped between him and the wall, and a slow, delicious shiver rolled through her body.

Lee nibbled his way along her jaw to her ear, nipping lightly before growling a response. “Control is one thing. What being near you does to me is another, but I promise no matter what, I’ll make it good.”

He pressed his mouth to the curve of her neck and sucked, and she rocked on her feet again. He’d released his grip, leaning his elbows on the wall as he teased and licked. Rachel rested her hands on his hips, the heat pouring off him mixing with her own rising need and creating an inferno that could rival any bonfire.

She slid her fingers along his waistline. “I want you naked.”

His jeans fell to the floor, and he stepped out of them, his cock snapping upward like a warning flag.

Rachel tightened her grip and straightened her arms to gain enough distance between them so she could admire him all over again. “Damn. You’re like an Adonis statue. Every perfect inch.”

She couldn’t resist exploring, tracing his tight abdominal muscles. Following the thick muscle running from his waist toward to his groin, like an arrow pointing to the magnificent arousal he unabashedly displayed.

Moisture had beaded on the tip of his cock.

“I hope you intend to do more than look,” Lee uttered in a deep rumble that sent a thrill up her spine.

“I don’t think this happens very often,” Rachel teased. “You, completely naked, beside a woman who’s fully dressed.”

Lee took his hands from the wall and guided her to the bed, crowding her as she scrambled toward the pillows. “What other women? There’s no one else, Rachel. You, and me. That’s it, and we’re all that matters.”

He pinned her in place, knees on either side of her thighs as he laid over her, his chest brushing hers as his lips came down in another mind-melting kiss.

She couldn’t move anything except her hands as their tongues tangled and her mind fogged. So she played her fingers over his shoulders, loving how soft his skin was in contrast to the powerful muscles he held in check.