Snatched (Coronado Series Book 2) (11 page)

“None of your damn business.” He straightened up and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “I’m under control.”

Gavin stared at him as he shook his head,
A sociopath on drugs, this will turn out well
. “Is her new boyfriend really a former SEAL?”

“Apparently, he’s retired now and owns a business.”

“I saw them kissing out in front of the building the other day. She shouldn’t be doing that. It’s not right.”

“Rory can kiss whoever she wants. The guy is the real deal.”

“No, she can’t kiss whoever she wants. Do you think everything they say about those guys is true?”

“You mean about SEALs? Yeah, those guys are elite warriors. I can’t believe she chose him.”

“Maybe she had no choice. Perhaps he made her.”

“I don’t think so. I think she wants to date him.” He started to walk out, “Remember to take everything off her computer.”
 

Gavin nodded and returned to his monitor. He knew Rory didn’t really like that man,
How could she
? He needed to speak with her and make her understand that he was the right man for her. He didn’t like her dating and kissing someone else.

Jackson stalked back to his office and slammed the door. He was so close to finalizing his plan and it was starting to fall apart. He needed a little pick me up, and then he could come up with an idea that would save the whole thing. Rory was not going to take this away from him.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Rory woke up in Max’s arms, her face was buried in his chest and his leg was thrown over hers.
What do I do now?
She felt so deeply attracted to him and didn’t know if she possessed the courage to let him in. Every man she’d ever dated had lost interest after the initial excitement passed. Maybe he was the same way. After all, his whole career was about risk. Maybe his personal relationships were the same. Round and round her mind went with no clear answer in sight.
 

“I can hear you thinking.” He ran his hand up her back kissed her head. “Are you trying to talk yourself out of how good this feels?”

“I’m doing no such thing. I’m lying here peacefully with a blank mind.”

“If only that were possible. You don’t strike me as a person who has many moments in which your mind is blank. I think it’s a fiercely moving machine. Probably the only time it rests is when your body takes over.”
 

She pulled away and was about to roll over but he caught her and rolled her underneath him. “Is that some sort of fancy SEAL move?”

“No, it’s my very own move. I’m trying to keep you under me. I want our bodies and hearts to become one. I want to breathe you in and bury myself so deep inside of you, that we can’t tell the difference between our bodies. I want to bring you so much pleasure that your mind stops. I want your heart to beat so hard that you think it may stop. I want to spill my soul into your body. That is what I want.”

“Oh Max….. how can you say things like that to me?”

“Because it’s true.” He dropped his mouth against hers and she felt every word he said. This was going to be the man to ruin her or save her.
 

As his lips touched hers, he was lost… just like. His body pinged to painful life as the desire roared down his spine. He lifted his head and slanted his mouth overs hers and ate at her mouth. His tongue stroked hers and every time their tongues met, heat flashed through him. His heart felt like it was going to explode along with another significant body part. How did she have the power to affect him this way?
 

As his tongue stroked hers, it felt like a small nuclear detonation went off inside her. She felt his hand slip her night gown off her shoulder and the fabric skimmed down her body. One big hand ran slowly up her rib cage and cupped her breast, his thumb gently circled her nipple. “Oh ….. Max.”

“You like that?” His thumb made another slow circle and she felt herself become liquid desire in his arms. “That too?” He could feel her nod into his shoulder, “What else?” Moving his mouth lower, he scraped his teeth along her neck as goose bumps broke out all over her body. He felt her run her hands up and down the hollow of his back as she arched into him. He ran his lips against the area behind her ear and was rewarded with a sigh. He returned his mouth to hers and placed several sweet kisses on her lips.
 

She was plastered against him and there wasn’t a breath between them. She suddenly wanted to stay like that for the rest of the day and possibly the week. To crawl up into this man and loose every thought in her mind would be such blessed relief. It was so tempting to let herself give into the craving. She knew they were not going to remain roommates for very much longer. The desire that existed between them was not going away. In fact, it was the elephant in the room - they just moved around it all day. What would happen when they finally gave into it?
 

He sat up and scraped his hand down his face, I’m not going to last very much longer. This is going to happen between us, I just hope there’s something left of our bodies after we’re done. I feel like it’s going to be a fucking wildfire.”

She sat up next to him and leaned her head against his shoulder, “I know. I’d better make sure to bring the fire extinguisher in. I don’t want the house to burn down.” She heard a deep rumble as he let out a huge laugh.
 

“Safety first, sweetheart. Safety first.”

She got up and her night gown dropped around her waist and she shimmied out of it and let it pool at her feet. Stepping out if, she walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. “That’s not fair, Rory! It’s happening tonight.” He looked into the bathroom and saw her face in the mirror. She smiled and waved to him as she stepped into the shower.
It was going to be a long day at the office.
 

He got up and painfully walked into the other bathroom and enjoyed a ten minute cold shower. For all of the good it did, he was at least able to get dressed. He went to make coffee and check his computer. He read the email from Derick and cursed under his breath. They were close, they had it narrowed down to two computers at the hotel corporate offices. It didn’t necessarily give them the person, but it helped. Whoever it was, they seemed to be getting impatient. They were getting sloppy when they hacked into her computer last night. They were not covering their trail in the same careful way. Maybe he and Rory should make an appearance there today and see if they could shake the guy. If they got lucky, it might be enough to cause him to do something stupid.
 

He went and poured two cups of coffee, and took them back to the bedroom. It was steamy from the shower and the smell of her soap floated into the room. The door was partially open and he could see slices of her body as she dried off. He wanted to take her back to bed and spend the day buried inside of her, but knew he had to wait until tonight. It was like torture standing there watching her yet he couldn’t make himself move. “Sweetheart, coffee is ready.”
 

He watched her poke her head out and smile, “Thank you. I could get used to having my coffee delivered every morning. There are definite advantages to having you in the house.”

“I’ll be showing you those advantages tonight, over and over again.” He watched her face get red and her eyes widen. “Get yourself mentally prepared, because it’s happening.” He turned and walked out the door.

She closed the door and sat down on the toilet.
What have I got myself into? I have a feeling that a man like Max is going to ruin me for all others. I’m not ready.
She pulled out her blow dryer, started on her hair and let her mind drift as she dried her hair.
Nothing to do about it now.
It was fait accompli, which in some ways was relief. It was out of her hands. There was nothing to fight anymore…. nothing to decide. At least that’s what she told herself. There was a big part of her that just wanted to give into the attraction, damn the consequences. The other part of her was afraid of being hurt and wanted to run away.
Why was there never a clear answer when you needed one?

She got dressed and sat at her table to do her face. Max walked in and she noticed that he’d made the bed. He silently watched her as she put on her makeup. “This is becoming a habit with you. Why do you like to watch me?”

“It feels intimate to me - I have no idea why. Maybe because you’ve never let another man see you do this. This small personal ritual is only seen by me. I want to be the only one that knows this about you. I look forward to being able to watch you every day.”

“I don’t want a boyfriend! Why do you ignore that?”

“I ignore it, because I don’t want to be your boyfriend. I want to be your husband. So what you say has nothing to do with me.”

“Yes it does. To become a husband, you need to become a boyfriend first.”

“Why?”

“Because, that’s how it works.”

“Not with us. I’m not saying we’re going to get married next week, but next year definitely.”

She stared at him for a moment and tried to determine if he was serious. “We haven’t slept together yet. What if it’s a disaster?”

“Do you really think that’s possible?”

 
“Not really. Are you going to bind me to you with sex?”

“Yes! I’m going to get you so addicted to me that you’re going to let go of every single one of those fears running through your brain. We’re going to burn every idea that you have about relationships and start with something new. It’s going to start tonight and then continue for every day after that. Be ready, because it begins today.” With that he got up, kissed her head and walked out of the room.

Think what you want - doesn’t make it true.
She finished with her make up and put her jewelry on and walked down the hall. “Bossy men don’t get breakfast. You can take me to out today. You’ve been so high handed this morning that I don’t feel like cooking.”
 

He watched her pack her briefcase and admired how pretty she looked in her dress. “I would love to take you to breakfast -you don’t have to cook for me.”

“I like to cook, but you’ve made me mad. So I’m not going to.”

“I understand. Let’s go start our day - I want it to be over quickly. I want to get to the evening as soon as possible.” He leaned over and whispered in her ear what he wanted to do first when they got home. “That’s the first thing, I’m doing when we get back.” He felt her shiver as he took her hand and led her out.
 

He was right, it was going to be a long day. Well two could play at this game. If she was going to suffer then so should he. As they settled into the car, Rory formulated a plan for the day. Yes indeed, Max was going to learn the power of her very creative mind. “You know that thing you said you wanted to do when we got home?”

“Yes….”

She leaned over and whispered in his ear what she thought she could do first. She leaned back in her seat, straightened her dress and waited for him to start the car. Finally, looking over she noticed a drop of sweat roll down the side of his face. “Are you feeling all right? You look flushed”
 

“No, I’m fine. I’m not sure how I’m going to make it through breakfast, though. Your suggestion keeps playing out in my mind in Technicolor. In fact, that’s all I can see.”

“Poor baby, I won’t make any more suggestions.” She mimed zipping her mouth shut and then started to laugh. “Don’t start something with me that you’re not willing to finish, Max Bishop.”

“Oh, I intend to finish it. In fact we are going to finish it several times and when we’re done - you are not going to be able to speak….. or walk.”

“Promises, promises.”

He leaned over and kissed her hard, “You may not remember your name when I’m finished with you.”

She kissed him back, “I can’t wait.”

He pulled out of the driveway and they headed out, “Where do you want to eat?”

“You choose.”

“I choose you.”

“Choose a breakfast place as well, because I’m hungry.” She grabbed his hand and held on to it. “I hope you don’t break my heart.”

He pulled her hand up to his mouth and brushed his lips over her knuckles, “I’m not going to break anything. I consider it my most precious possession, and I plan on taking very good care of it for the rest of my life.”

That was more information than her brain could process at the moment. She decided to focus on work instead. “Since I’m pretty much done with my work for the hotels, do you want me to get started on your office today?”

“That would be great. Maybe you could help Sean set up the new division.”

“I can try. I think I need to figure out how you do business first, though.”

“Think of it as a new business. You can set it up however you want. I can set up a call with Rorke in the Virginia office. They have taken a lot of contracts for security in the Middle East. We have never taken contracts for outside the country, because none of the guys wanted to go back to the sand box.”

“The sand box being the Middle East?”

“Yes, that’s what we call it. The men that are working for me now spent too much time over there and don’t want to go back. Several of them are married and they want to stay home and keep their family a priority. It could change as we add people. Let’s assume it’s going to be a small division for now.”