Chapter 27 Kate
KATE
“Are you paying attention?”
I am paying attention but not to the hard steel in his hand. The veins in his forearms are what my eyes keep trailing over.
“Oh, yes, got it. Let me try now.”
Luke is wearing an old green T-shirt that is struggling to conceal his muscular shoulders. The color of his eyes has never been so vibrant as they narrow in on me. The morning light is pouring over his skin, creating an unfairly attractive tan color.
“You need to keep your finger off of the trigger until you’re ready to shoot.”
I nod, forcing my eyes to the metal. I raise it up, and he reaches over to wrap his hand around mine. I pray he can’t hear my heart racing at the contact.
“Your grip is too low. You won’t be able to keep it steady from the kickback.”
His deep voice is right above my ear, sending ripples down through my nervous system. He keeps his hand over mine while the other trails up to grip my other wrist.
“Normally, this hand needs to support the other.”
The fingers of his left hand curl around my trigger hand since I can’t raise my left arm yet. He’s standing behind me, but our bodies aren’t touching.
“You ready?”
I slowly nod, inhaling a deep breath. He adjusts the earmuffs on my head and his before returning to the stance around me.
My fingers squeeze the trigger, but nothing happens. I squeeze again, as hard as I can. The pistol fires and kicks back, my hand steady with his stronger one supporting me.
“That’s good, Kate,” he shouts through the earmuffs. “Go again.”
I repeat the motions, feeling a bit more confident with each bullet. The target still only shows his beginning shots that went dead in the center.
“I can’t hit it.”
“You will. Keep your eyes focused. Hold it steady.”
I square my shoulders, trying to keep my grip tight. I close my right eye, peering down the sight at the bull’s-eye.
The next bullet tears into the top right of the target, marking it with a small circle.
“Ah! Did you see that?”
I whirl around, grinning widely. He reaches out to push the gun in my hand down toward the ground as I wave it in the air.
“Oh shit, sorry.” I keep it trained on the ground as we pull off our earmuffs. “I wasn’t going to shoot you, I swear.”
He laughs, shaking his head. Up close, I can see the bruise on his eye starting to turn yellow, but he’s still handsome.
“You did great though. With consistent practice, you could hit it every time.”
He reaches out for the gun, and I hand it over to him.
“Watch.”
He pulls my earmuffs back into place, followed by his own.
I take a step back as he approaches the five targets.
I was shooting for the closest one, but there are four others spread around, each farther away than the last. He raises the handgun, muscles tensing up in his back.
Five shots in the next three seconds hit each mark dead in the center.
I try not to let my face show how impressed I am, but that was hot.
He shifts his body around, reloading the gun before he hands it to me. “Try a few more.”
I oblige, loving the feel of his arms encircling me again to support my one-armed shooting.
I hit the target twice more. He readjusts my shoulders and grip multiple times, and the heat from his skin is starting to drive me wild.
The sun is beginning to beat down on us, and I’m praying that the old stick of deodorant Linnet gave me is doing its job.
After another hour of shooting practice, we walk back to the old truck. The sun has risen higher, and it’s nearing noon.
“I need a dip in the river,” he says.
Sweat is beading on my forehead and his, so I nod eagerly.
He rolls the windows down after we hop in the pickup, driving us through the trees on a makeshift road.
The summer in North Carolina is hotter than I expected, especially with the humidity.
He parks under an enormous canopy of leaves from a tall tree, opening the door.
“I haven’t been here in a while. I hope it’s running.”
I follow him up to the break in the trees, hearing the water before I see it. When it comes into view, I’m surprised to see that it’s more of a small lake with a river pouring into it from a waterfall. It’s not huge, but surrounded by the trees and rock formation, it’s a private oasis.
“Wow. I can’t believe you own this.”
He pulls his sweat-dampened shirt off, and my eyes are presented with more rippling muscles. I gulp down the immediate desire to taste his salty skin. He drops his pants down next, keeping the form-fitting boxers on. He dives into the water headfirst, and I remember how at home he was in the ocean.
“It must be deep,” I mumble.
I pull off the oversize shirt I’m wearing—one of Luke’s.
Linnet washed my joggers, and I peel them off.
My underwear are an embarrassingly plain pink cotton thong and black sports bra, but it’s what I had on when I was attacked.
I make a mental note to try and start wearing fancier panties, considering you never know who might see them.
I’m not usually the jump into dark, unknown water type.
Luke’s black head of hair bobs above the water, and he turns around to face me with a grin. “You diving in, Cabernet?”
His eyes dip over me, darkening to an emerald shade. My skin is already heated, but the temperature is increasing, the longer I stand on the edge of the bank. The courage finds me, and I jump in feetfirst. Frigid water sucks me under, the delicious change sending shock waves through my body.
When I break through the surface, he’s treading water close by. I kick my feet, using one arm to try and stay up. He reaches out, encircling my waist.
“I’m right here.” His voice is low.
He easily supports us both, his Navy SEAL training over-qualifying him for the task. We’re inside a dome of perfection, separated from the world and its troubles. It chased us here against our wills, but I’m thankful for the reprieve.
He’s holding me close, skin on skin. I reach my good arm around his neck, rising up to level my face with his. My legs instinctively twist around his waist. His eyes don’t leave mine as he lets me use his body as a life raft.
Leaning into his ear, I boldly whisper, “What would you do if I did try to kill you?”
My fingers are scraping over his scalp, and his eyes drift closed.
“I’d tie you up . . . and make you tell me who you were working for,” he whispers back.
The girl I was the night at Divine Taste is back. She’s ready to have an out-of-body experience again.
Be sexy, Kate.
“How would you make me?”
“You’d have to stay put while I interrogated you.”
“What if I wouldn’t?”
“Then, I’d use enhanced methods.”
“What’s an enhanced method?”
“I can’t tell you. It’s classified.”
“Can you show me?”
His eyes open, and I’m in awe of the fact that he’s not even winded from treading water to hold us both up. I’m a limp sack of potatoes clinging to his body, which definitely doesn’t have enough fat on it to float. He should be sinking straight down to the muddy bottom.
His arms are free as I hold on, and he reaches into the water to cup some in his hands, bringing it up above my head to dump it over me. I see his shoulder muscles flex before a tiny bit of water streams into my eyes.
“Ooh, I’ve heard of that kind. I think I could take it.”
“Do you?”
“Absolutely. I have a decent pain tolerance.”
“Hmm.” He reaches his hand up to trace my jawline.
I’m tense with the anticipation of wondering what he’ll do next.
“Maybe I’ll seduce it out of you.”
Yes, yes, yes, please do . . .
He reads my mind, leaning forward to crush his lips on mine.
He’s not gentle, pulling me toward him with strong arms. The water laps around us, my legs still holding on to him tightly.
His tongue parts my lips to push further into my mouth, and he tastes like the fresh citrus juice Linnet sent with us.
My arm is encircling his neck, and I’m clinging to him.
He groans into my lips, the kiss growing slower but somehow more intense. I nibble his bottom lip, drawing my teeth over it. I can feel the cut from the fight, a taste of blood in my mouth. His erection presses into me. Arousal pools in my belly as his lips devour me.
“Feel like telling me your secrets yet?” he asks.
He pulls away slightly, lips red from my overly zealous nibbles. I want to keep going, but he’s probably getting tired from treading water.
“I’ll tell you whatever you want.”
“Why did you approach me at Divine Taste that night?”
“I was . . . acting out of character. I’d gotten fired and cheated on in one day. You seemed like a good distraction.”
He’s swimming us over toward the waterfall, and for a moment, we’re submerged underneath the downpour as he dips us under. Our heads poke up on the other side. It’s darker underneath with the water reflecting bits of light around us.
We aren’t floating anymore, and his knees come up as he seems to sit on a rock.
“And was I a good distraction?”
“Hmm, from what I can remember . . . yes.”
His gaze narrows on me. “What do you mean?”
“I was drunk, so the details are a bit fuzzy.”
He leans in to press another kiss to my lips, this one chaste and slow. “I guess maybe I should give you a rerun then?”
His hand curls around to the back of my neck, pulling me closer. The other reaches down between us, and I hitch in a breath at the contact his fingers make. He watches me, gauging my reactions as he explores my pussy. The water is the perfect temperature, a few degrees cooler than our bodies.
I’m ready for the constant tension between us to dissolve. He’s still my boss, but with everything we’ve been through, it’s difficult to even remember our office dynamic out here in this hidden paradise.
My muscles are tense as my orgasm nears with every brush of his finger. I want nothing more than to extend this moment. After a few more seconds, I back away from his touch, removing my underwear before I crawl over the top of him.
“What’s going to happen when we go back to the real world?” I ask.
I peel my sports bra off, lifting up on my knees so he can remove his boxers.
His gaze ravages me while his deep voice sends shivers over my damp skin. “I’m going to handle it. I don’t have a condom.”
“I don’t—I’m not the hook-up type, usually.”
He smirks. “Neither am I. I can pull out.”
I nod, positioning myself on top of him. I’m not exactly sure where I’ve suddenly gotten the nerve to sleep with this man, considering his authority over my employment. I can’t seem to make myself care about that at the moment.
I reach down and grab his dick by the base, sliding it over my slick lips a few times.
He groans at the contact, shoulder muscles straining.
He doesn’t touch me even as I sink on top of him.
I reach out to grab his shoulders to steady myself as I lift up and sink back down.
I whimper, the friction igniting so many delicious sensations in my body.
I feel powerful as I ride him, watching his gaze raking over my body.
He lets me take control, and I tilt my head down to kiss him again. It’s better this time because I’m sober and completely aware of every sensation. When I take a brief pause, he lifts up while still inside me, switching us around so that he’s on top.
Luke is always controlled. I’ve seen him at the office, in business meetings, and surfing the enormous waves of the South Pacific Ocean.
Aside from the fight with Garrison when he was drunk, he’s never lost his cool. Even when the masked man tried to kill me, he was every bit in power over his emotions.
With me, now, he’s letting it all go. He pounds into me mercilessly.
I’m the focus of his frustration, his anger, the uncertainty of the death threat, and even our current position of vulnerability in hiding.
I gladly let him. I can be what he needs right now.
His thumb reaches down to add pressure to my clit. The contact takes me where I need to be, sending shocks of ecstasy through my nervous system. The sensations ripple through us both as he moves faster.
My lips connect with his shoulder, and I taste his skin as we come down from the high.
He jerks back from me, keeping his promise to pull out.
He pulses beside me, holding me tight as he spills his come on the rock.
His breathing is heavy, and I smile at the fact that he finally seems to be somewhat human.
We take a few moments to stare at each other as our heart rates decelerate. He closes his eyes, reaching a thick, muscled arm over to run his hand through his hair. I’m not ready to go back to reality. The water mixed with sweat is glistening on his firm chest.
“What the hell kind of workouts do you do?”
“SEAL stuff,” is all he says, pulling off of me with a shudder. He inspects my arm with the wet bandage, fussing over the way it’s sliding down my skin.
“We need to get back and wrap this up.”
I nod, looking around in the water for my sports bra. It and his underwear seem to have floated downstream under the waterfall.
“Hopefully, no one’s around.”
He turns his back to me, and I climb on. He swims us both to shore, and we quickly get dressed. Our clothes stick to our skin.
“We need to leave tonight,” he tells me.
I heave a sigh as I nod, uncertain of what awaits us in Dallas.