Savage Ice (Ice Breaker Cold Case #10)

Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

“Dammit. I meant to do that in the bed.”

Her breath heaved in and out. Her heartbeat pounded so hard that Avalon could feel it shaking her body. Sweat slickened her skin. And she was pretty sure she’d just left claw marks on Beau.

His head lifted. The room was mostly in shadows. Darkness. Some light spilled through the open doorway. At one point, Avalon vaguely remembered knocking over a lamp. She also remembered coming. Hard.

At least two times.

Maybe three.

And by hard, it hadn’t been some nice pop of release. It had been an orgasm that blasted through every cell of her body and left her quaking and shaking with aftershocks of pleasure. Left her wanting to say…More, more, more please. So much more.

Instead, she was trying to transform her still heaving pants into normal breaths and trying to make sense of what Beau had just said. Something about the bed?

“First time shouldn’t have been against a wall,” he muttered.

Her legs were still around him. Maybe she should let them fall? But, nope, he was moving her now. Carrying her back to the bed. And pulling out of her.

Dammit.

He covered her with a sheet. Then went to the bathroom to ditch the condom, and the condom ditching was important. His brief exit also allowed her to finally get control of her ragged breathing and racing heartbeat. Holy crap. That was the best sex of my life. Hands down. Not even close. More like…Leaving everything else in the dust, that’s how great it was. In the dust. No comparison.

And he was back.

“I should apologize.” He stood by the side of the bed. All naked and sexy and with muscles bulging. And speaking of bulging, his dick was fully erect. Again. Already. Wow.

“No…apology necessary.” She sat up. Did she sound normal? Or still way too breathless? “Who apologizes for mind-blowing orgasms?”

He reached out. His fingers skimmed over one nipple.

She hissed at the stab of pleasure.

“I wanted to explore all of you,” he said.

“Please, help yourself.” Like she was going to stop this ride anytime soon. Uh, no.

He sat on the edge of the bed. One hand pushed against the mattress on her left side. The other pushed down just past her right hip. Beau leaned over her. All intense and dark and brooding. “I need more condoms.”

“Ch-check the nightstand drawer. I…may have taken the liberty of getting a box from the gift shop earlier.” Another item on her to-do list.

He tensed.

“I knew I wanted you,” she said, voice soft. Husky. Sensual? She would have never, ever described her voice as sensual until that moment. But she totally sounded like she was trying to seduce him again. Because she was.

“You didn’t run.”

Back to that, was he? “No way I’m running.”

“Even if you find out things about me that scare you?”

Her hand lifted and pressed to his cheek. “I did my research on you.”

“A few hours on a computer isn’t going to tell you what you need to know.”

Definitely not. Because the stuff on the computer had hardly been reassuring. Her hand trailed down his cheek. Down…to his right shoulder. There was still only a little light spilling into the bedroom, so she couldn’t see the scars clearly. But she could feel them. Twisting marks left from the burns on the front of his shoulder and then curling around to the back.

“Avalon…”

She leaned forward. Her lips skimmed lightly over the old wounds. “I’m not scared of you.” She’d been looking for him, for years. He didn’t get that, did he?

And while she’d been looking…

He’d been watching over her.

Avalon had thought she was alone. But he’d still been there. And he wanted to find the man who’d taught her to fear years ago.

She pressed another kiss to one of his scars.

“Sweetheart, don’t.”

“I hate that you hurt.” A flash of a younger Beau filled her head. The handsome boy in the hospital bed. Battered. But with the most amazing eyes she’d ever seen in her life. So determined and dark.

“It doesn’t hurt anymore. Promise.”

Another kiss. “I can’t ever forget that night,” she confessed against his skin. “Sometimes when I try to sleep, I still wake up screaming for you. In my nightmares, we’re going through the window, and I’m afraid that we won’t survive.”

His hand slid down and curled under her chin. He tipped her head back. His lips took hers. Carefully. Tenderly. “You think that you’re the only one with nightmares?”

Her hand fluttered lightly across his scars.

“I wake up, and I can swear that I hear your screams,” he told her gruffly. “You’re in the fire, and I can’t get to you.”

“You did get to me.”

“Some sick sonofabitch is after you again.” Anger. “I am going to stop him.”

“We are.” Her vow. Because the sick sonofabitch wasn’t just after her. He’d targeted Beau, too.

Beau kissed her again. Harder. More need. Lust. Less care.

She didn’t need care. She wanted passion and pleasure. The heat they created together, not the memory of a fire that wanted to destroy them. Her hands shoved against the sheet so she could get it out of her way. Then she was straddling him. Her legs curled around him, and the head of his cock thrust toward her. It would be so easy to take that head inside.

“Condom,” he growled.

“Drawer,” she growled back even as she began to kiss his neck. His body was taut and so powerful against hers. She felt him stretch and knew he was snagging another condom.

Her mouth kept feathering over him. Her hips rocked against his cock. Then her fingers trailed down to grab his heavy dick. Long. Hard. Thick.

She stroked him. Pumped. And wanted to taste him.

But…

He’d lifted her up. Off him. Yanked on the condom and had her spread beneath him on the bed.

In basically a blink of time.

Avalon peered up at him. “You, ah, move fast.”

“I should go slow with you.”

Not exactly what she’d meant.

“But I can’t. It’s like I haven’t already had you once.” His hands had slammed into the mattress beside her. “I need in you again.”

She wanted him in. By all means, go in.

His cock pushed against her opening.

“Consider this your invitation.” She arched against him.

He slammed deep. And there was no more talking. Because he’d been right—it was like they hadn’t just had sex. Like pleasure hadn’t just rocked Avalon to her core. Her body was just as hungry and aching. She was just as desperate as before. A cry broke from her lips as he filled her, and there was no more control. She arched and twisted. They heaved together.

He caught her legs and lifted them over his powerful shoulders so that he could plunge in even deeper. She started to scream as the pleasure built, but his mouth swooped over hers, and he drank in the sound.

One of his hands had flown down between their bodies. He relentlessly thrummed her clit. Over and over as he thrust in and out. The bed slammed into the wall, and Avalon came so hard that she thought she might actually pass out.

“Fucking…perfect. I feel you squeezing me as you come.” His guttural snarl. And then he was coming, too. She felt the surge of his hips. Her eyes opened to see his shadowy form above her. Powerful. Dark.

“Finally…” Another hard thrust into her. “Mine.”

He had not been in control.

He had not played that cool.

More like, he’d been so desperate for her he’d fucked her up against a wall. The first time. The second time I actually used the bed. Even as he’d basically shouted that she was his.

But maybe she’d missed that part.

Darkness filled the room. Beau was pretty sure that Avalon slept beside him. Her breathing was nice and easy. Her silken body relaxed against his.

All he wanted to do was keep holding her. And never let go. But his freaking phone was vibrating with a text. He could hear the damn thing, and if he didn’t get his ass out of that bed soon, Avalon would hear the sound, too. She needed her rest.

And, he, hell, had it been twenty-four hours since he’d slept? Longer? He needed to crash, too. Especially since he now had an early morning appointment with a serial killer.

Without waking her, he slipped from bed. Naked, he scooped up his discarded jeans—and the phone that vibrated in the back pocket. He eased from the bedroom, shut the door behind him, and made his way into the sitting area connected to the suite. His gaze darted to the piano. Had she played it that day? She was really wonderful on the piano. He’d caught one of her recitals before she went to college.

His phone vibrated again.

Setting his back teeth, he hauled the phone out and swiped his finger over the screen. “Royal,” Beau muttered as he put the device to his ear. “What is it?” Better not be another fire.

“You want more guards on her tonight? The first shift is ending, and I’m checking in for new orders.”

He looked back toward the closed bedroom door. Extra guards had been at the hotel that day. Royal had stayed close, too. Because I thought the bastard might target her. “I’m staying the night. No one will get in her suite without going through me.” He’d like to see the bastard try.

A pause. Then, “Got to ask, is reality better than your fantasies?”

“Don’t be an asshole.”

“I’ll take that as a resounding yes.”

“Take it as me telling you to fuck off.”

Rough laughter. “Love you, too, man.” But the laughter faded. “I’m sorry about the bar. I know how much the place meant to you.”

“Just wood and booze. It can be replaced.” He turned to look at the bedroom door. She can’t.

“Guessing our extracurriculars are on hold for a bit?” A delicate cough from Royal, when he was far from a delicate man. “Until we put this particular bastard in the ground, that is.”

Beau’s spine straightened. “We’re gonna slap a fucking red bow around him and bury him so deep that no one will ever find him.”

Another pause. This one lasted a bit longer than the first. “You don’t…quite sound like yourself.”

Because he’d just admitted to planning to kill someone? “You know me best, Royal.” Better than so many others.

Even though the story they gave the world was a lie.

Royal wasn’t his brother—not by blood. Not a half-brother. Not even a stepbrother.

“I think you know,” Beau continued grimly, “that I sound exactly like who I really am.”

“Be careful.”

Ah, was that real worry in Royal’s voice? Sounded that way. “I know what I’m doing.”

“I don’t think you do.” Gruff. “I think you’re pissed as hell right now. I think this prick wants you that way. When rage blinds you, you can make mistakes. He is playing with you. Pushing all your buttons.”

“No, he’s fucking burning what belongs to me. Not pushing a damn button.” His gaze remained on the closed bedroom door. “No one fucks with what’s mine.”

And the door opened. Soundlessly. It swung open.

Avalon stood there, with the sheet wrapped around her. Her tousled hair fell over her shoulders. Her eyes locked on him.

You touch what belongs to me, and I will annihilate you. “Got to go, Royal. We’ll talk again soon. And, remember, no extracurriculars until I’m back at your side.” He hung up the phone. Dropped it on a nearby table and walked to Avalon.

She yawned. Sleepy. Sexy. “What extracurriculars?”

“Community service work.” He scooped her into his arms. “Royal just loves cleaning up this town. He’s a Boy Scout like that.”