Wild Card (18 page)

crest, feeling the iron hardness, the silky flesh, the throb of lust beneath.

She looked up at him, saw his wild eyes, like an unearthly glow, and dark, primitive need

slashed through her. She needed to taste, needed to torment.

She licked beneath the head, rubbing her tongue over that spot that her Nathan had once loved

her to caress so well. Noah tightened, the muscles of his thighs bulging, his hips arching,

burying his cock deeper inside her mouth.

"Suck it, Sabella." There was an odd, lyrical quality to his rough, dark voice. "Take me."

She took him. His hands clenched in her hair, pulled at the strands as he moved her head,

fucked into her mouth, and filled her with the heated hard crest of his erection.

She was needy, hungry for him. She could feel that hunger raging inside her as she cupped her

own breast, her fingers plucking at her nipple, creating another burn, losing herself in the

pleasure.

"I'm going to come, baby." He was moving between her lips, fast, hard, almost bruising as he

strained beneath her, and she loved it.

He was wild. He was dark and earthy and she needed it.

She sucked him harder, deeper. She pulled at her nipple, tugged at it, cupped her breast and felt

the fever raging, building in her clit.

"Yes! There!" he growled.

Her tongue was tucked against the underside of his cock head, rubbing and caressing, rasping

against it as he moved over it, stroking past her lips, his hard flesh tightening further as she felt

his release building.

She stared up at him. Saw it moving in his face. The way it tightened, turning stark, forbidden.

Then she felt his release.

The first spurt exploded inside her mouth, the second had her moaning, her clit exploding as

she rubbed herself against his knee.

"Ah hell, yes, you little witch," he groaned.

Sabella froze. She felt, tasted, she existed. But she stared into his eyes and dropped back in

time.

Suck me, you little witch. My sweet, beautiful little witch.

When his hands eased in her hair, she moved back. She stared at him, shaking. Horror and guilt

rose inside her, flaying her soul with the consequences, the truth of what she had just done.

She could still taste him in her mouth. He was staring at her, dawning realization darkening his

eyes further as she jerked her bra and shirt down with trembling hands.

Noah sat up slowly, watching as she stumbled to the door.

"Don't you leave here, Sabella," he ordered her roughly.

She shook her head. "I can't do this."

"The hell you can't." He rose to his feet, tucking his still stiff flesh back into his jeans and zipping them carefully. "You're not leaving like this."

She gripped the doorknob. As fast as he knew he was, as powerful, she was still out that door

and running down the steps before he could get to her.

Cursing, he jerked his shirt from the floor, dragging it over his head as he raced down the stairs

after her, nearly tripping on the dragging strings of his boots.

"Damn it, Sabella," he yelled as he burst into the office to see her racing out of the garage.

Rory stared at him in shock, Toby's face tightened in anger. That damned kid was too

protective of Sabella by far.

Noah sat down, quickly tied his boots, and headed out of the garage to watch her running up

the hill to the house. She wasn't going far, he told himself, forcing back the lust, the demand

that he race after her, that he force her to acknowledge everything she was running from.

His hands clenched at his sides as he stared at the house. His home. His woman.

He forced himself to turn and stalk back to the garage. Forced himself to jerk up the roster and

go to work. He forced himself to concentrate. He knew how to do that. He had spent six years

doing just that. He could wait just a little bit longer. Just a little bit. And then she would learn

she was his. She had been his before, and now, she would be his again.

An hour later, he looked up from the engine he was tuning, twirling the wrench he held

absently as he watched Sabella's car pull out of the driveway and head into town.

His eyes narrowed, his lips thinned. She was running, and he hated that.

His gaze slid to his side as Rory moved in carefully then reached up and took the wrench.

"Told you once, the funny thing about this wrench," Rory said softly, making sure no one heard

but Noah. "My brother used to do the same thing." He slapped the wrench back in Noah's hand

and moved away again.

Sabella was pissed. Rory was pissed. And that was just too damned bad, because Noah was

home now, and he was set to reclaim everything he thought he had lost. Just as soon as he

cleared the garbage out of his town, and away from his wife.

Sabella had had enough. She pulled her car into Kira's driveway again that day and drew in a

deep, hard breath. Sienna was still there, which was unusual. Sienna didn't normally hang

around with Kira after Sabella left. Sometimes, she wondered if Sienna even liked Kira.

"Belle. Come on in." Kira's attractive face was lit with a smile as she opened the door and

waved her in.

She tugged at the hem of her T-shirt. She should have changed clothes. She tugged her braid

over her shoulder. Maybe she should have done something with her hair.

"Sienna's still here?" It was nearly three in the afternoon.

"She just showed up again perhaps an hour ago." Kira smiled. "We pulled out a bottle of wine and decided to trash men for the day."

Uh-oh. Obviously Sienna and Rick had had another fight after the other woman returned home.

She inhaled slowly and walked up to the porch where Kira stepped out and welcomed her into

the house again.

Dressed in jeans and a gaily striped shirt, her dark hair piled carelessly on her head, Sienna

looked like an overgrown teenager. In comparison, Kira Richards looked dark and mysterious.

With her black hair and friendly gray eyes.

Dressed in silk capris and a camisole. Kira looked cool, sophisticated, and yet still managed to

convey compassion.

"The planets are out of alignment," Kira said softly. "Let me guess, your Noah was acting like a man too?"

"Tell me that Ian at least is pretending to have some common sense." Sabella sighed as she

collapsed into a chair across from Sienna and glanced up at Kira.

"Ian is a man, darlin'. What do you think?" Kira laughed.

The wine was on the table. Kira detoured to the kitchen and a few seconds later returned,

another glass in hand, as Sabella glanced back up at her.

"Rick's pissed because I took the baby to his sister's again this morning." Sienna sighed. "Kent loves his aunt."

And Sienna loved her social life. Sabella agreed with Rick, Sienna needed more time with

Kent, but the aunt was possessive as well. Sabella could only imagine how difficult the

situation was.

"Sabella, I hate to tell you this, but the beard bum is worse on your chin. You need to have a

talk with that mechanic of yours," Kira said, laughing.

"Talking doesn't work," Sabella muttered.

"I think she likes it," Sienna accused with a laugh. "She hasn't been gone more than three or four hours and already she's back after he got another taste of her. She's hiding from him."

Sabella bit her lip and looked back at Sienna.

"I heard Rick had to respond to a call of harassment because of him?" Kira said then. "Was he harassing you?" She leaned forward and stared back at Sabella curiously. "I talked to Ian after you left. He seems to think he's a very odd man. Maybe you should fire him."

Sabella looked from Kira to Sienna with a frown.

"He's not odd," she finally muttered as Kira sat down slowly, filled Sabella's wine glass, and

pushed it to her with a faintly apologetic look.

Kira stared at the two women. As Ian's wife, and an operative herself, she knew the truth. She

would have been amused if she didn't feel so damned sorry for the widow who wasn't a widow.

She didn't like the fact that Nathan Malone hadn't come clean with his wife. She sure as hell

didn't like the fact that the girl looked so bewildered and lost. And the friendship they had

developed over the years had only increased Kira's worry. Sabella had never let go of her

husband, and now he was back again, tormenting her in another way.

"Ian's worried about you after this morning," she told Sabella, giving her a quiet, almost gentle smile. "He loved Nathan like a brother." And he still did. Though Kira would have preferred to

kick the other man's ass.

"I know he did." Sabella sighed then took a healthy drink of the wine and Kira watched as her

jaw clenched in anger.

Kira wasn't having any part of being pushed out of this particular conversation.

Sabella had been faithful to her dead husband for over six years. The memory of the love she

felt for him had tormented her. And for half that time, Nathan could have eased her pain.

Sabella licked her lips. She pressed her knees together and seemed to be trying to hold in

emotions that were only festering inside her.

"He's making me crazy," she muttered. "He just takes over everything, as though it's his right."

"But you still want him."

Silence descended.

"She doesn't need him," Sienna finally stated. "He's not the staying kind and she knows it."

"That's not what it is. I know the expression of a woman steeped in guilt and fear because she's

finally met a man threatening her husband's place in her heart," Kira stated gently. "This has

nothing to do with whether or not he's the staying kind. It has to do with Sabella letting Nathan

go."

Kira was nothing if not forward. Sabella had learned herself, long ago, that the worst thing a

woman can do is hide from herself.

"Yeah, well, that doesn't mean I have to do anything about it." Sabella frowned.

Kira leaned back in her chair and watched Sabella for long, sober moments. "No, it doesn't."

She shook her head. "Ian loved Nathan like a brother." She stared back at Sabella then. "When they told him Nathan was dead, he took it very hard, he told me. We've become good friends,

Sabella. I've watched you the last few years. You laugh, you go out with friends, sometimes

you date. But you haven't had a lover since Nathan died. Have you?"

"I've been fine."' Sabella shook her head. "I'd be better if men would stop getting in my way and acting as though I need someone to tell me what to do."

"Get a little drunk," Kira advised her, her brow wrinkling at the pain she could see in Sabella's eyes. "Get pissed off. Tell us what an asshole Nathan was because he left you."

"Kira!" Sienna snapped, anger brightening her green eyes then. "That's enough."

"And each time she's stepped away from Nathan's memory you've reminded her of the man she

lost, rather than the fact that there are other men out there, haven't you, Sienna?" Kira said

softly. "I've known the two of you for years now, and I've seen it. I'm just a neutral bystander

with too much gossip under my belt and married to the man who was the asshole's best friend."

"Nathan wasn't an asshole," Sabella snapped.

"He was a SEAL, sweetheart. I'm married to one. They're so dominant, fierce, and certain of

their own abilities and opinions that they can't help themselves," she stated, amused. "So in the kindest vein, yes, that's exactly what Nathan was. But he's gone. He doesn't exist any longer,

but here you are, years later, from all accounts incredibly attracted to another man and fighting

that attraction because of your guilt about your husband's memory."

"I don't have to just jump into bed with every man I meet," Sabella snapped.

"But neither were you buried when they told you your husband was dead."

Sabella stared back at her, seeing in the other woman's eyes sympathy, without the history she

had with Sienna. Without the memories of Nathan she and her friend shared.

And she was right. Sabella didn't have to like it, but she did have to acknowledge it.

"Duncan says he's like Nathan," she whispered. "And maybe in ways, he's right. He's taking over," she said harshly. "He's walked into my life and he's just taking over."

Kira leaned forward a bit more. "And he's darker and more dangerous than your husband was,

despite Nathan having been a SEAL. Ian says this man is harsher, more commanding. And

you're not the proper little SEAL wife any longer, are you?"

"What do you mean by that?" Sabella frowned.

"He went off to war and refused to let you cry when he left. Refused to let you worry while he

was gone. And because you didn't want him to worry, you held it all in. When he was home, it

was whatever Nathan wanted; you cherished him. But those days are gone now, aren't they,

Sabella? Because Nathan's gone. He went away, and you found out all kinds of interesting

things about yourself, didn't you? You found your independence and, despite your grief, you

grew up. And now, this man who would take over as Nathan once did doesn't have a chance of

pushing past that independence. Does he?"

"I found out being without Nathan was hell," she raged. "I want him back. I don't want that."

She jumped to her feet and flung her hand at the door, indicating the world outside. "I want my

husband."

And she didn't. Nathan was gone and she knew it, but she had no other excuse for the emotions

tearing through her, the rage building inside her. Noah Blake was twisting her world around.

He wasn't safe. He wasn't easy to handle and he wanted more than she was comfortable giving