Chapter 9 #2
He stilled, the fire in her eyes more than telling. “Neve. Sweetheart, this is supposed to be about you. Showing you I know how foolish I’ve been. That I won’t take what we have for granted, again.”
“And, once you’ve had another day or two to heal, you can spend an hour with your head wedged between my thighs. But tonight…” She smiled as her fingers loosened the ties at his waist. “Tonight, I get to bring you to your knees.”
She held his gaze as she grabbed his pants and boxers, easing them over his hips as she went to her knees, tossing them behind her once she’d helped him step out of them.
Her hands landed on his thighs, slowly smoothing up his legs as she snagged her lip, releasing a tight breath.
“Damn, I knew you were impressive, but…”
Coulter clenched his jaw as she traced the bands along his stomach, humming to herself in seeming satisfaction. He cupped her jaw, brushing his thumb across her mouth. “You don’t have to…”
“Have to? Do you know how many times I’ve dreamt of this? Pictured myself in this exact position.” She blew out a warm breath, the feathery soft caress making him jerk. “Trust me. This is for purely selfish reasons, so… Relax and enjoy the ride. You can get your revenge later.”
“Neve… Christ…”
His protest died as she wrapped one hand around his length, then eased him into her mouth, teasing the first few inches before sliding all the way down, nearly unhinging him with that singular motion.
She paused with him lodged deep, increasing the pressure as she slowly withdrew, lingered at the top, then dipped down again.
He speared one hand through her hair, held the mass of silky strands back from her face as she made another pass, his eyes rolling a bit when she swallowed with him damn near banging the back of her throat.
He clenched his muscles, thinking about some old hockey stats.
Anything to prolong the fire quickly burning down the base of his spine, threatening to end this before it had truly begun.
Neve didn’t look wrecked. As if she might fly apart at any given moment, her rhythm steady, her body still hidden behind that damn tee. He made a mental note to tear it off, tease her for the next hour when she faltered, her eyelids fluttering a few times before she moaned, picked up her pace.
He inhaled, a hint of warm, sweet arousal mixing with the heavy air, making it hard to breathe without drinking her in. He tightened his grip on her hair, hands shaking, his abs starting to cramp.
Neve paused, looking up at him through dark lashes, a suggestion of a smile lifting the corners of her mouth before she double downed — started up a rhythm designed to push him over the edge.
He grunted, his hand flexing in her hair, his control quickly fraying until he started thrusting his hips. Shallow at first, then deeper, meeting each pass until she froze, allowed him to set the pace. He tried to meter each stroke, maintain some semblance of composure, but it was useless.
Her scent, her touch, the way she hummed as if she couldn’t get enough of him.
Coulter bowed his head. All that heat and love he’d been holding back for far too long surged forward. He muttered a warning, gave her time to ease back.
Neve inched closer, daring him to pull away as the coil inside him snapped, his release shooting down her throat in long steady pulses.
He called out her name as he closed his eyes, his head tilting back, an explosion of white dots splintering behind his eyelids as everything froze, Neve’s presence the only tangible link keeping him from floating away.
Time drifted, his chest barely moving as he held his breath, the scenery still a wash of white light.
Neve eased him free, dropped a kiss on his hip, then stood, his hand still locked in her hair, every nerve on overload. He managed to pry open his eyes, relish the sheer beauty of her as she leaned into him, her breath feathering across his skin, her palms resting lightly on his pecs.
He wrapped his free arm around her, tugged her tightly against him, ignoring her protest about how she’d hurt his chest. Neve melted against him, her heart hammering in sync with his, her fingers tracing abstract patterns across his skin.
He really had been a fool.
All that time he’d wasted when he could have been loving her. Waking up with her every morning after holding her all night.
He swallowed, nearly blurted out the words he’d thought had been forever lost. “God, you… That…”
Neve smiled against his skin, dropping a quick kiss on his pec. “I’ll go out on a limb and say I definitely won the first battle.”
He laughed, cursing when it aggravated his ribs. “You did that on purpose. And I wasn’t aware we were at war.”
“Not the bad kind.” She eased back, stared up at him, all blue eyes and ruby lips. “But I do plan on winning.”
“Sounds like a challenge. And seeing as it’s my turn…”
She palmed his chest, took a healthy step away. “Your turn to hold me all night.”
He matched her movement, backing her up until her calves hit the bed. “Oh, I’ll be holding you. It’s just gonna be a bit more physical than what you’re picturing.”
“Next time.” She shook her head when he shoved her onto the mattress.
“Coulter, I mean it. I don’t want our first time to end with me racing down the hall to grab Darwin because you punctured a lung.
And yeah, that’s how physical I’m hoping it’ll be, so…
” She offered him her hand. “Come to bed. I’ve waited this long, I can last one more night as long as I get your good side as a pillow and you promise not to let go. ”
He sighed, tugged on his boxers in the hopes the flimsy material might help him maintain some measure of control, then climbed in, rearranging their positions until she curled against his least injured side, her head gently resting on the crook of his shoulder. “You can ride my thigh if it’ll help.”
She laughed. “God, I’ve missed you.” She kissed his chest. “And don’t be surprised when I’m humping your leg like a dog.”
“Just say the word, sweetheart, and I’ll take one for the team.” He pulled her closer, breathing her in. “And I still want all the details you left out from Bralorne. How those fuckers hurt you.”
She traced the bands across his abdomen, skirting the worst of the bruising. “It’s not that I won’t tell you, but it’s not going to change anything.”
“Trust me. It’ll directly affect my response when we run into them again. Especially Fraser.”
“Fraser’s mine.”
He smiled, dropped a kiss on her forehead. “I suppose I can throw you a bone. Now, sleep. I’ve got your six.”
She hummed, drifting for a moment before jerking back awake. “All night, Coulter.”
“Wild horses, sweetheart.”
She settled, faded a minute later, her breath evening out, body lax against his.
He stared at the ceiling, a comfortable silence falling over them.
No gunfire. No tangos hiding in the bushes, waiting to ambush them.
Just Neve’s head on his shoulder, the safety of the bunker allowing him to fully disengage.
He swore he’d only just dozed off when someone pounded on the door, easing it open a second later.
Zadie poked her head in, an amused smirk curling her lips. “Guess I’m lucky I didn’t bust in sooner.”
Neve grunted, slivering one eyelid open as she burrowed closer to Coulter. “The entire bunker better be under siege, Zadie, or I’m tossing my clock at the door.”
“Pretty sure you broke that last week tossing it at me. And it’s not a siege, but… I’ve intercepted another communiqué. You’re both gonna want to see this.” She backed up a step. “I made coffee. And Shepherd’s got muffins. I didn’t ask why. You might want to toss on some clothes, first, though.”
The door closed, the urgency in Zadie’s voice still lingering.
Neve looked up at him, her hair tousled about her head, her mouth still kiss-swollen. “Did you get any sleep?”
He shrugged. “I got something much better. You would have, too, if you weren’t so damn stubborn.”
“I believe the word you’re searching for is compassionate. And I plan on thoroughly wrecking you later, so…”
He palmed her jaw, kissed her. “I’m holding you to that.”
He slid out of the bed, ribs grinding a bit, though, not quite as red-hot as before. Even his thigh didn’t ache as deeply, though, he wasn’t sure if he’d healed in the past few hours, or if it was the aftermath of Neve giving him the best damn blowjob of his life.
He detoured into his room, tossed on cargo pants and a hoodie before offering her his hand.
She smiled, slid her palm over his, then leaned in. “We’ll move you over once we’ve dealt with whatever this is. Assuming you still want to share.”
“Considering I’m going to spend every available minute we’re not chasing Ramsey, inside you, it seems like a wise choice.
” He chuckled when she rolled her eyes. “I should have asked you a year ago. And I’ll be damned if I give you any more time to come to your senses. Realize you could do so much better.”
“Not a chance.”
They walked down the hallway, around the corner, then into the comms room. The others turned, gazes dropping to his and Neve’s joined hands before snapping back.
Neve stopped next to Zadie, still looking as if she’d been rolling around on the bed for the past hour. “This had better be earth-shattering.”
Scout snickered. “We didn’t interrupt something, did we?”
“Yeah, the best damn sleep I’ve had in years.” Neve nodded at the monitor. “What’s Ramsey up to now?”
Zadie tapped on the keyboard, bringing up the transmission she’d intercepted.
“I can only assume that after our interaction with him earlier, he’s upped his security.
Started sending out his orders in short bursts of highly encrypted texts, all of which erase after thirty seconds.
I was only able to grab one of a series of them that just went live. ”
“And…”
“He’s sanitizing everything to do with Bralorne, including all the vehicles he used to transport his men up there.”
Neve nodded, looking way too sexy with her hair still down, a healthy glow on her skin. “And we care because…”
“Because they’re not just your average four by four. They’re high-tech machines, each of which will have GPS hard drives and possibly EDRs.” She smiled when Neve frowned. “That’s a vehicle’s version of a black box. If we can grab either of those before Ramsey destroys them…”
“We’ll have more than just proof. We’ll have waypoints of every place that truck has been.”
“Might give up another location — allow us to plan an ambush — or even link Ramsey back to Finch and Hyperion.” She sighed. “There’s just one catch.”
“There always is.”
“The trucks are already on the move. They’re heading to Miller’s Metal and Salvage located in a dead-end industrial zone outside Chilliwack. Not nearly as remote as we’ve had in the past.”
“Which means, we need to be aware of possible civilian overlap, RCMP response if we use firearms or explosives. You got an ETA?”
“Let’s just say, if we don’t leave now, we’ll lose our window. And it doesn’t sound as if Ramsey will be there in person, this time. He sent the message to one of his lieutenants.”
Neve nodded. “Which actually works in our favor because this isn’t an assault. It’s a smash and grab. Zero contact. Zero shots fired unless it’s life and death.” She glanced up at him, tilted her head. “You up for this?”
“I didn’t put on my cargo pants for nothing.”
She smiled, then schooled her features when the rest of her team beamed.
“Shepherd? We could use a driver. Wynn and Zadie will stay in the vehicle with you. Run interference. Be ready if we encounter trouble or need medical support. The rest of us will infiltrate the yard, grab a unit, then bug out. Preferably without any of Ramsey’s men knowing we were there. ”
Her teammates nodded, filed out of the room, all heading for the rear door.
Coulter hooked her elbow before she could dart away. “I know you’re skilled, just be careful. I want my turn.”
“Then, I guess you’ll have to stay alive, too.” She tiptoed up, kissed him. “I’ll be careful. Promise.”
Coulter simply nodded and followed after her. Careful or not, he’d ensure she made it back in one piece because he hadn’t been joking. He never quit on a mission, and Neve had become his most dangerous op.