Shelby's Secret (Once a Marine, Always a Marine Book 4) Page 12

  “I guess you deserve one last ride tonight.” He bent down, and she climbed on his back as if she’d been doing it her whole life. With a loud whinny and nicker, he cantered off toward her room, her giggles the best music in the world. He passed Shelby and she turned slightly away from them, but not before he saw the tears streaking down her face.

  Damn, he hadn’t meant to make her cry. He thought she’d be happy Rebecca was finally talking, and she probably was. Women cried at the oddest stuff. He’d witnessed the behavior over the years with Beth and Lily, and he was always amazed at how the guys handled it without losing their cool. But they never seemed to mind.

  The women he normally had contact with were all police personnel or Casey. And he couldn’t imagine anything other than being shot making those ladies cry. Maybe not even then. He could picture Casey cussing while simultaneously telling everyone around her how to process the evidence correctly.

  They tucked in Rebecca, and Mike left the girls alone to catch up with whatever girlie stuff that a mother and daughter normally did. Even if Rebecca called Shelby her Aunt, it was a mother/daughter type of relationship they had.

  He washed the few dishes they used and then went outside. Checking the perimeter was always a nightly ritual, even when a psychopath wasn’t on the loose. It was calming to walk in the woods, breathe in the fresh mountain air, and listen to a night devoid of all the city sounds. He took his time because he didn’t know when he’d be able to get back. This interlude had been more about safety than pleasure, although spending so much time with his friends and their families was always amazing.

  When he walked back into the house, he saw the lights were off and all the bedroom doors were closed. Part of him was disappointed Shelby wasn’t in some flimsy bit of nothing, lying in wait. But a bigger part of him was just relieved. His resistance to that woman was dangerously low.

  Mike checked the windows and doors and made sure the alarm was set, before heading down the hall to his bedroom. A nice, long, hot shower sounded good, even if it normally ended up ice cold, due to his over-heated imagination.

  He stayed in the shower longer than normal and when he stepped into his bedroom, he knew he wasn’t alone. His body knew it as well, and all that cold water didn’t mean a damn thing the minute she dropped her robe.

  “Shelby—”

  Her name was a plea. A groan. A prayer.

  “I want you, Mike. So much.”

  She moved like a dancer, gracefully gliding toward him and stopping with only a breath between their naked bodies.

  “Please don’t make me leave.” She reached for him.

  He cursed and caught her wrists in a light grip, keeping those nimble fingers away from his body. If she touched him, it was over and he knew this was a mistake. “We can’t.” He gritted his teeth. “I can’t.”

  “Why are you afraid of this? Of me?”

  Her gaze implored him, and then she pressed her warm soft body to his. The willpower he was holding onto so tightly cracked—which such force that he was surprised jolt didn’t rip him in two.

  “Please,” she whispered.

  “What you do to me,” he mumbled before he let go of her wrists. Willpower be damned. She was there in his arms and kissing him back as fiercely as he kissed her. The tidal wave of emotion and feeling he’d kept in check rushed over him and carried them both away.

  Good idea, bad idea—it didn’t matter anymore. Mike was done thinking. His body was in control. The woman he’d never gotten over was naked and wanting in his arms. No way he could refuse her and survive. And if she walked away again, he’d figure out how to live without her. He’d have to.

  “You do the same thing to me,” she said.

  Her hands roamed his body. Light butterfly touches that burned and branded his skin. She brushed those fingers over his chin, down his neck, shaping the muscles on his chest. He was hard and ready, but at the touch of her nails raking lightly down his stomach, he thought he would explode. He could not handle her touching him any longer until he calmed down.

  He picked her up, and she wrapped her arms and legs around him. She was so fucking wet that he almost went off just getting them to the bed. “Goddamn, you’re beautiful.”

  “Goddamn, you’re fucking hot.”

  He could hear the smile in her voice as she licked his neck and bit his earlobe. He’d always liked that she talked dirty in bed. “Such language.”

  “I learned everything from you.” Her voice was low and sultry. “Remember?”

  And he did. He was her first, and he’d been so horny for her that he’d had to stop a couple of times just to make sure she had the best first experience a man could give. He didn’t have to be so patient this time, thank God. She was wet, willing, and about to get all she could handle.

  Dumping her in the middle of the bed got her laugh—and he got an eyeful as her gorgeous breasts bounced and her legs spread to help keep her steady. “Spread your legs wider for me,” he demanded.

  Shelby sucked in a breath, all laughter gone as she obeyed his command. Her glittering gaze was on him as he reached toward his drawer and retrieved a handful of condoms. Once would not be enough. One night might never be enough.

  “You don’t have to use those,” she said, her voice catching. “I’ve been on the pill for years. I want to feel every bare inch of you.”

  “Jesus, Shel. You’re killing me.” But he threw the condoms back into the drawer.

  She held out her arms. “I want you to love me.”

  ***

  Shelby meant more than with his body, but he didn’t have to know that yet. He was finally naked and willing, instead of hiding. And dear God, he turned her on. She lay there completely open as he looked at her. Like some Viking raider eyeing his prize.

  “Touch yourself,” he commanded.

  “You too,” she replied, as her hands roamed her breasts. She kneaded the round globes and plucked at her hard nipples, the anticipation of the moment making every sensation spike. Leaving one hand on her breasts, she snaked the other down her belly toward the source of some sweet agony. Shelby was so hot she couldn’t even tease herself, instead she plunged two fingers inside to fill the emptiness.

  “Fuck,” he groaned as he stroked his shaft. “Take your fingers out of there, that’s mine.”

  And then he was on her, his weight pressing her down into the soft mattress as he took her mouth. His teeth scraped against hers in a battle of tongues and lips. Lacing their fingers, he moved her hands above her head. He kissed and nipped the corners of her mouth before moving down the side of her neck. Then he bit the skin that joined her neck and shoulder, she almost came.

  He remembered. She cried out, because that spot was a major erotic zone. Goose bumps broke out all over her body, and her back arched. God, she missed this—she missed him. No one had ever made her feel like a pure sexual being the way he did. He blasted through barriers to bombard her senses and overwhelm her. And she loved it. This was the most basic feeling, the primitive side that needed to mate. “I want you inside me,” she said. “Now.”

  “No.” He continued assaulting her body with kisses. Using one hand to keep hers above her head, he shifted slightly to uncover her body. But his thighs kept her pinned and unable to move. She writhed and thrashed as he played her body, and she couldn’t do anything but take his attention.

  Mike’s free hand shaped and molded her breasts, squeezing and plumping them so her nipples were rock hard and aching. Only then did he use his mouth. Sucking and licking, he drove her into a frenzy.

  Her hips bucked, and she tossed her head back and forth, moaning. He covered her mouth with his in a long drugging kiss. “Shhh, we don’t want to wake up anyone.”

  “I don’t think I care,” she said, breathlessly.

  His grin sparked her own and then he was back to her breasts. “Damn shame you have to put these into a bra.”

  Shelby sighed as he kissed the undersides of each breast and then moved lower. �
�Don’t I know it.”

  Her belly contracted as Mike’s mouth travelled over the slightly rounded curve there. He didn’t linger, but moved lower to the heat of her. “Hmmm, shaved.”

  Yesss. His mouth was on her. One long lick, and she came unglued. Shuddering and shaking, she was so fucking close. But she wanted him inside of her when she came. When she realized that her eyes were squeezed shut, she opened them wide. No way was she missing the erotic sight of this strong, sexy man feasting on her body.

  Belatedly, Shelby realized her hands were free, and she reached down to run her fingers into his hair. He lapped at her opening and sucked on her hidden bundle of nerves, making her arousal shoot up into the stratosphere. How was it possible to sustain it and survive? “Mike, I need you to fuck me, now.”

  He chuckled. “Yes, ma’am.”

  But he took his time, stroking her legs and kissing the insides of her thighs. He stopped at her ankles and bit the arch of her foot. The nip surprised a giggle out of her and then a sigh as he kissed her and moved slowly back the way he’d come. Climbing up her body, he rubbed himself over her skin, until they were chest to breast. The skin-to-skin contact showcased the differences in their bodies. Hers soft and his hard.

  His lips teased her and she opened on a sigh, just as he stroked into her wet depths. One long slide that stretched her in a way that she hadn’t felt in more than fifteen years. He was a big man, but she was more than ready for the invasion. She welcomed it. She needed it. “Yesss,” she moaned.

  “You’re so tight.”

  She thought it was praise but couldn’t say anything in return. Because he was moving, rocking in and out of her in a rhythm that had her digging her nails into his back. Her knees were bent as Shelby met him thrust for thrust. He was taking her his way, ignoring her impatience. “You feel so good. Why did you have to wait so long?” she moaned.

  But he didn’t answer, just kissed her as he picked up the pace. This was no gentle reconnection, this was pure animal lust and she loved every inch. Mike took her the way she’d been dreaming about. Slow and then harder. Slamming in and out of her as their passion rose.

  His muscles bunched in his arms as he adjusted his position. “Hold on,” he told her, his face a mask of passion. Sitting back on his heels, he had her legs over his forearms as he angled their bodies. After pulling out all the way, he pushed back inside and the penetration was so deep that her inner muscles started contracting. Her whole body was going to ignite in an explosion of pleasure. “Oh God, yes. Mike. Oh.”

  She threw back her head, no longer watching him, only taking what he gave her. In and out, hard and fast, he rocked the bed and her world. And she held onto him, because he was her anchor in this sea of carnality. The expression on his face was pure decadence, as if she were the finest wine he’d ever tasted and it drove her pleasure higher. “Mike!”

  “Come for me, Shel,” he gritted out.

  And then she did. The orgasm ripped through her so powerfully she saw stars and fireworks and every other thing that she wrote about in her songs that had never happened with anyone else but him. No other man had ever done what this man did to her body. To her heart.

  To her soul.

  A second later, he came, hoarsely shouting her name as he spilled himself inside of her.

  His head was thrown back in ecstasy, and he was everything to her. All male. Strong but caring and so passionate that it made her thighs quiver. Letting down her legs, he lay on top of her, holding his full weight off her with his elbows as he kissed her.

  Still inside her body, he touched her with a tenderness that made her heart swell with love. A love that he wouldn’t believe because he thought she would walk away again. Shelby had seen that in his eyes when he looked at her.

  She thought tonight was a victory of sorts. He finally gave in and made love to her. And oh Lordy was it something. A jackhammer was needed to get the smile off her face.

  “Wow,” she said. That was as eloquent as she could manage in her post multiple-climax glow.

  “We’re still pretty good together, huh?”

  Her eyebrows shot up into her hairline. “Pretty good? That was incredible.” She kissed his nose and scraped her nails in his hair before tugging it just hard enough to bring his lips to hers. “You’re still the master.”

  “And you’ll get more than you can handle if you keep kissing me like that.”

  Shelby grinned and contracted her inner muscles, squeezing him gently. “What do you mean?” she asked, interjecting as much innocence into her voice as she could manage without laughing.

  He growled at her and it started all over again. The magic, the wonder, the pleasure that was almost too much to bear. But she did, and she didn’t even care that she might not walk the next day.

  Mike was hers, and he was everything she’d been dreaming of.

  ***

  Dani Dupree looked at her husband over the file she’d been reading. “This will be a problem.”

  “This whole mess is a problem. How the hell was all this missed?” Damon said.

  They were in a plush hotel room in the heart of Nashville, both sitting on the king-size bed with a stack of files laid out around them. “Look what we had to go through to get all this. But we were looking for something that wasn’t quite right. Overworked detectives with enormous caseloads wouldn’t make these connections. And certainly not over multiple jurisdictions.”

  Damon smiled at her. “Always the champion for the underdog.”

  “Hey, with all the targets painted on officers’ backs lately, they need a break every now and then.”

  He held up a hand. “I’m on your side.”

  Dani smiled back. “I know. I’m just glad we’re getting all this together. Thank God, for all those military contacts you have.”

  “What do I always say?”

  “Once a Marine, always a Marine.” She answered immediately and with pride.

  “Damn skippy.”

  “Should we call Mike?”

  Damon shook his head. “He’s headed back to Phoenix with Shelby Lynn and the kid for those rehearsals tomorrow. Might as well let him get some sleep. I want to make contact with that retired case worker in the morning to see what she has to say. We’ll call Mike as soon as we can give him everything.”

  “I married such a smart man,” she teased.

  “Smart enough to marry a doctor.”

  Dani reached over and ran a finger down his naked chest. “We should probably get some sleep too.” She made her tone as sultry as she could manage.

  Damon immediately started moving files off the bed, dropping them into a pile on the floor. “Yes, we should.”

  The fact that the hour was well after midnight before they were sated enough to sleep didn’t bother Dani in the least. She couldn’t be happier. She patted her still-flat tummy in the dark while listening to her husband’s deep, even breathing. The little secret she was keeping could wait a little longer.

  After this concert, she would break the news to her husband and their friends. She was officially done traveling overseas with the CDC. Dani was staying home to open a practice of her own because in about seven months, she was going to have another Dupree in her life.

  Or maybe two.

  Twins did run in the family.

  Chapter 14

  Mike had the girls up and moving at dawn, which meant they hit Phoenix at the height of rush-hour traffic. Today was Thursday. Shelby was due at the arena mid-afternoon and would be there until late in the evening for rehearsal and sound checks. The concerts were completely sold out for the weekend.

  The truck rolled through the gate at the mansion on Camelback, the girls lying down in the back like before.

  Madge waited on the front steps. As soon as the truck stopped, Rebecca was out and running toward the older woman, who stooped down and swept up the little girl into her arms.

  “I missed you,” Madge said. “And what has you smiling so much?”

  �
�I got to ride a horse,” Rebecca said.

  Madge almost dropped her, looking at Mike in astonishment.

  Mike grinned and shrugged.

  To her credit, Madge never let the sudden flow of words faze her after the initial shock. She smiled and ruffled all that blond hair. “I bet that was fun. Are you hungry?”

  “Sure,” Rebecca said.

  “Cook has some chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream ready for you.”

  Rebecca waved and took off into the house.

  Madge turned back with an eyebrow raised. Then she looked Shelby up and down, and the other eyebrow flew up as well. She turned a very perceptive gaze back to Mike as he unloaded the two bags from the truck. “You’ve been busy.”

  “Protect and serve, ma’am.” And he wasn’t saying a damn thing about the curious look she was shooting them. She could speculate all she wanted. to the decision was Shelby’s if she wanted to say anything about the fantastic night she’d just spent in his bed.

  And their lovemaking didn’t change anything.

  Shelby was a famous singer and, while she said she was retiring, she was just too young to give all that up. Performing was in her blood. The same way being a detective was in his.

  Once the bags were inside, he turned to go. Time for him to get back to finding this killer. Nodding to Madge, he grabbed Shelby by the hand and walked with her back outside. “Extra police officers will be assigned to the arena while you’re rehearsing today. Stay within sight of either them or your personal security team the whole time.”

  “I will,” she said.

  Mike frowned down into her earnest face. “I mean it. I don’t care if you have to bring someone into the bathroom with you—you’re not alone for one moment.”

  “I’m sure it’ll be fine. You worry too much.”

  “And you don’t worry enough.”

  She reached up and cupped the side of his face, her smooth fingers rubbing the stubble there.