Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
May stretched her neck, her body tired, her mind calm. She finished making tea in her toasty warm house. It had been a long night delivering the adorable baby girl, but both mother and child were perfectly healthy, so all was good.
A knock pounded through her front door.
She jumped and placed the cup on her counter, hustling out of the kitchen, her heart racing. Just as she opened the drawer of the cabinet next to the sofa to get her gun, Ace’s voice rang out.
“May?”
Relief caught her and she slammed the drawer shut. Shaking her head, she hurried to open the door. “Ace? It’s after two in the morning.”
“I know.” He brushed past her, his green eyes glittering. “What I don’t know is why the hell you’re here by yourself.”
She shut the door and turned to face him. “Huh?”
His chin lowered, giving him a predatory look. “You said you’d call me if and when you left the hospital.”
Oh yeah. “It’s almost three in the morning.”
His eyebrows lifted. With the scruff along his jaw and the flush across his face, he appeared dangerous. Deadly, even.
Flutters cascaded through her abdomen. She’d figure out why later. “Ace?”
His nostrils flared.
All right. He was definitely pissed. She licked her lips, gratified when his eyes flared even more. “I didn’t want to wake you.” Plus, she’d known she now had electricity, thanks to him.
His jaw clenched tight as if he were trying really hard to hold onto his temper.
Fascinating. She watched him, realizing belatedly that she wasn’t afraid of him in the slightest. But she knew not to grin. Right now, anyway. “Ace.”
He slowly drew off his leather jacket and tossed it to a hook near the door.
The jacket, predicably, hung in place. “There is a killer wandering Knife’s Edge who murdered a blonde woman much like yourself.
There is another killer that hunts and rips out eyeballs in the mountains of this state that even my brother Christian can’t find.
Finally, you have an asshole of an ex in town who came here specifically to find you. ”
Well, that was all true. “It isn’t even dark outside,” she said lamely.
“Even so, it’s the middle of the night,” he returned evenly. Way too evenly.
Her mind scrambled. “You didn’t ask about the baby.”
“I already know about the baby because I went by the hospital after making sure Amka got home all right,” he lumbered. “Found out that the baby is just fine at nine pounds, three ounces. What I didn’t find at the hospital as expected, was your very cute ass.”
Well. All right. “I figured it was too late to call you.” Truth be told, she’d been so tired that she hadn’t given it much thought.
“You said you’d call me.”
That was true. Even so, whatever. “I’m sorry, but if you think giving me a generator—one I still plan to pay for—and taking me on one date gives you the right to order me around, you’ve lost your ever-loving mind.”
He changed. Slightly. Just enough. A warm swell of heat rolled toward her, spiking her senses into full awareness. “I don’t give a shit about a generator.” He moved toward her like an angry bear stalking its prey for the night.
Her knees wobbled and she planted her feet. “I do.”
“Too bad.” He reached her, and warmth instantly cascaded across her front.
“It might’ve been one date, but the night before meant something.
You cried out my name. Several times.” His hand tangled in her hair and drew her head back with enough bite to spiral electricity down her entire back. “Tell me you get me.”
This was new.
Even her breath heated. She stared at him, not quite sure what she’d unleashed.
The edge had always been there, but he’d camouflaged it under humor and plenty of alcohol.
She’d bet her bottom dollar Ace was stone cold sober right now.
“This is silly,” she mumbled, not quite able to enunciate her words.
Need and want clashed inside her in a completely inappropriate reaction to his sudden hint of dominance.
But was it sudden? Ace had never hidden his true self from her. She just hadn’t looked closely until now. “You’re overreacting.” Yeah, she was pushing. Maybe just a bit.
His chin dropped, and that was the only warning before his mouth was on hers.
Hard and fast, no gentleness. Just pure, unchecked male. Ace Osprey in full force.
He kissed her with one hand fisted in her hair and the other gripping her hip, pulling her against solid muscle.
Her eyelids closed and she kissed him back, unable to do anything else.
Didn’t even consider stopping. Fire lashed through her, awakening every nerve, sharpening her nipples.
Her breasts ached against his hard chest. The kiss was fierce with a hint of punishment.
His thumb pressed into her jaw and she opened her mouth, allowing his tongue to sweep inside. He tasted like mint and good coffee. No alcohol. The hand at her hip grasped her sweater and tugged it up. He released her mouth, for a second, to free her.
Then his lips took control again.
The world tilted, and she was somehow in his arms, moving through her small home. Still, he kissed her, pouring fire inside her.
He shifted and planted her on her bed, and she had a fleeting thought she was glad she’d made it earlier the day before. Still working her mouth, shoving all other thoughts out of her head, he pulled down her scrubs and panties.
Had she ever needed somebody like this? No.
Her bra went flying across the room.
He wrenched his mouth free and pushed her back. Gasping, she fell, her head hitting the bedspread just before her shoulders. He wasn’t gentle as he pushed her thighs wide with his thick shoulders, and then his mouth really found her.
God, his mouth was inferno hot. She looked up at the darkened ceiling, since her blackout blinds were covering her windows. Warning bells clanged in the back of her head, but it was too late for caution.
His tongue was rough.
Harsh.
Talented.
He bit into the soft flesh above her clit and she stilled, her body jerking. He rubbed his whiskers along her tender thigh and chuckled, sending warm breath across her flesh. He slid both hands under her butt and lifted her to his mouth, now humming in what sounded like pleasure. Then he feasted.
He drove her to the edge all too quickly, and she curled her toes, needing relief.
Then he paused, his mouth above her clit. “So. Why didn’t you call me when you left the hospital?”
Call him? What did that even mean? Sweat slicked her back and she gyrated softly against him.
“May?” He turned and bit her thigh hard enough to leave a mark.
She jerked. “What?”
“Pay attention,” he said softly. She could actually hear the amusement in his tone. Well, amusement with an edge. A hard one. “Why didn’t you call me?”
She swallowed. His hands were still holding her ass off the bed. Right near his devastating mouth. “It was late.”
“Don’t care. You said you’d call.” He licked her clit, top to bottom, slowly and without enough pressure. On purpose. “Why didn’t you?”
She might kill him. Yeah. After the orgasm hovering right out of reach. There was no reason to do it beforehand. “It made more sense to come home and get some sleep and let you sleep,” she gasped, trying to keep still and totally failing.
“Does it feel like we need sleep?” His fingers dug into her buttocks.
“No,” she whispered.
He licked her again and had her whimpering. The man was way too good at this. “You’re lucky I’m not spanking you, Doc.”
Her eyelids flipped open. “Not my thing, Osprey.” Yeah, her tone was breathy.
“We’ll see about that,” he said mildly. “Another time since you now understand the parameters, right?”
Parameters? What the heck was he talking about? “Huh?”
He bit into her other thigh and had her yelping. Heat flowed through her veins with spikes, and her clit actually pounded. “When you say you’re gonna call, you call.”
That sounded fair. Right? Sure seemed fair. “Okay.”
“Good girl.”
That should bother her on some level. Definitely.
Yet his mouth took her again, and she forgot all about outrage.
Forgot all about everything. This time he drove her up, grip firm and rough tongue intense.
She fell over the cliff, crying out, her hands clenching her bedspread hard enough to cramp her fingers.
She was mumbling by the time she came down, her body still jerking.
He stopped and pressed a soft kiss to her oversensitive clit. “I’m glad we reached an agreement.” Then he flipped her over onto her hands and knees.
She barely caught herself before face-planting.
The sound of his zipper releasing was loud in the quiet room, although blood still rushed through her head with the pounding of a roaring waterfall.
He gripped her hips and slowly penetrated her.
Her head dropped forward as her body pushed back, wanting all of him. This was too much. But she wanted more. He shoved all the way in, and she could feel her body grip him. Tight.
“You okay, Doc?” His voice was a rough growl.
“Yes,” she panted.
He pulled out and powered back inside her. “Good.” Then his rhythm increased, his fingers digging into her hips. His thrusts were powerful and deep, taking her out of her mind again.
Somehow, and she’d never understand how, he drove her up again. Her thighs trembled and her knees went weak, but his grip was strong enough to keep her in place. So she let go and just allowed herself to feel.
His flesh slapped against hers, and warmth surrounded them both.
He pounded hard, yanking her back to meet his thrusts, so much male power in him that she found it hard to breathe.
And then she didn’t care. She climbed toward the pinnacle, her internal walls alive with firing nerve endings so fierce she felt burned.
He changed the angle of his thrusts and she exploded. The climax blew through her, clit to breasts, hitting every other nerve on the way. She cried out, arching her back, taking more of him.
The orgasm took forever. He kept hammering inside her until she finally went limp, her elbows giving out. She turned her face in the nick of time to keep from smashing her nose and breathed deep, panting wildly.
He pressed deep inside her, his grip firm, and jerked several times with his own release.
Her heart beat so rapidly that she had to take several breaths to calm it. This couldn’t be healthy.
He pulled out and lifted her, easily sliding her between the sheets before joining her. His large body spooned around her and she snuggled back, enjoying his groan when her butt met his penis. “You okay?” he asked.
“Yes.” She played with the hair on his arm, which was banded around her waist. Holding her in place. She was a doctor who understood every inch of the human body, and she couldn’t explain that. Couldn’t even comprehend the strength of those orgasms.
“Good. Are we clear on everything else?” he asked.
She rolled her eyes, too satiated to muster much outrage. “Yes.” If it made him feel better, she’d call him any time day or night.
“Good girl.”
He said it again, darn it. “Ace?” She tried to snap. “Stop being bossy.”
“Wrong answer.” He rolled and took her with him. “Guess we’re ready for round two. Hold on, baby. You’re gonna beg this time.”