Chapter 17
I can’t look away from her face. She’s magic and grace, every second of her unraveling in real time across those gorgeous features. Lips parted. Brow furrowed. A single tear spilling down her cheek. Overwhelmed, overstimulated, and finally, finally, mine.
“River…” I breathe her name like a prayer, slamming up into her again, deeper this time.
“This is us,” I groan, shifting her hips to take me deeper, watching the way her mouth parts in shock.
I’m barely holding back. My body’s begging for release, but I need her to come first. Need to feel it. Watch it. Burn it into memory.
Her body tightens, breath stuttering.
She’s so damn close.
“That’s right. Let go, baby.” I lean in, pressing my open mouth to the rise of her breast. Licking, biting. “Let me take you there.”
She shatters with a gasp. Back arching. A strangled scream on her lips. Her body convulsing around my cock, locking me up tight.
A tsunami barrels through me. I follow her over the edge with a roar, burying myself as I fill her with my come until it’s dripping between us, my body shuddering, jerking until every last drop is spent.
We collapse, her falling onto my chest, my arms coming around her body, holding her to me as we gasp for air. Her face buried in my neck, sweat cooling on my chest.
Holy hell.
She’s still shaking. So am I.
Pleasure ripples through me when I cradle her head and with a soft moan, kiss her temple.
Christ, that happened.
Right fucking here.
“Dee Dee might have heard that,” I laugh, nuzzling her ear. “Hell, the whole fucking county might have heard us.”
She groans, rocks her face back and forth against my neck. “I’ve never done anything like that.”
“I should have waited until I had a bed and could take care of you properly.”
A laugh shakes her shoulders as she shifts on my lap. “That wasn’t proper?”
“That was hot as fuck, but no, proper takes time and leaves you boneless and in need of dinner in bed.”
“Ohhhkay. Well, then. But I might have to recover first.” Her hands are still shaky against me when she leans back.
I don’t want to let her go. Would rather tell the world to go fuck itself right now. But that isn’t the reality.
Guilt is creeping in, settling like cold rocks in my gut. River’s life is in danger. Caleb trusted me with her. I can’t be distracted when I’m protecting her. It’s fucked up that I let it get this far.
But, mother fuck. She’s impossible to resist. Whatever this is between us is inexplicable. Out of left field. Seismic.
“Hey.” I brush my thumbs over her cheeks, forcing her to look at me. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, are you?”
I nod. Fuck. No. I’m not okay. I’m choking on guilt and frustration. “Better than okay, but we should get going.”
The room is crawling with tension as River lets me clean the come off of her thighs. Her hand resting on my shoulder as I kneel in front of her. The warehouse break room feels cold and impersonal, and totally wrong for what we just did.
She shudders when I kiss the sensitive spot inside her knee. But she’s too quiet. And will barely meet my eyes as I tug her dress straight and put myself back in my pants.
Now’s a terrible time to be tongue-tied. So I do what I can without speaking. I drag her into a kiss, this time taking my time, letting her feel the power of the effect she has on me.
When I finally open the door, she skirts past me, avoiding the hand I was going to rest on her back.”Behave.”
“Good luck with that.”
Dee Dee pretends nothing happened. Mostly. There’s a devilish glint in her eyes. “So, the clothes are winners?”
“Definitely keeping these.”
River covers her laugh with a cough.
“What else do you have for her?” I ask, my tone is all business now. “She needs clothes for her riding events.”
I expect an argument from River, but she shakes her head and grumbles about this whole thing being too expensive.
What she doesn’t know is that I’d buy her a new truck today. But that’s a bridge we’ll cross later. She’s not going anywhere alone right now.
It’s the worst time ever to get the notice of an incoming video call from…Caleb.
Okay, maybe not the worst time. Five minutes ago would have been even more fucked up.
“What’s up, brother?” I answer as I hold the phone up so he can see my face. “You’re up late.”
He shakes his head, dropping into a chair at a long folding table. “You know how it goes. Round the clock ops here. How’s River holding up?”
“Fine. Annoyed. Stubborn.”
In my head, I’m thinking, that she just got fucked dizzy. And now she’s wearing my come with handprints on her ass.
Jesus, I can’t believe what we just did.
“Sounds right.” Caleb says. “Thanks again for taking the job, she’s going to be a handful.”
He laughs, sounding tired, as he looks down at my shirt. “What in the world are you wearing?”
“You won’t believe it if I told you.”
River appears at my elbow, the warm scent of her skin assaulting my brain, making my cock throb in my briefs.
“Is that Caleb’s voice?” she asks.
I move the camera so both of us are in the frame, which is hard with our height differences.
“Hey baby sis. You doing alright today? Diesel treating you right?”
“No.”
My gaze whips to hers in the image on the screen. “No?”
“He’s bossy as hell, and he’s making me spend too much of your money.”
“Uh...” I interrupt. “Not exactly. You know this is part of the protective detail.”
River points to her dress, then my shirt which is hanging open, my bare, tattooed chest on display. “Matching outfits. We look like a real couple.”
Caleb chokes for a few seconds, trying to swallow. Finally he grumbles, “I see that. Diesel, I need a word with you.”
Shit. Caleb knows his sister is beautiful, single, and in a vulnerable position.
It will be a miracle if he doesn’t notice her handprints on my chest, or the sheen of sweat on my upper lip.
River looks at me, looks at the phone again. “Why are you two acting so weird? What’s going on?”
“Nothing, why don’t you finish up with the designer, I’ll just talk to Caleb for a minute.”
She’s still standing there when I walk away. Thankfully Dee Dee calls River’s name, because I need to talk to her brother, and this isn’t going to be pretty.