Under Fire (22 page)
“Thank you for taking care of all this. I’ll settle the bill with the glass people, and pay you for the lights and paint job.”
“You’re letting me stay here, so it’s the least I can do. Besides, I get paid next Friday.”
“But—”
“Cori, let me do this for you.”
The flat line of his mouth, the stiff set of his spine, and the proud tilt of his head made her relent. He really wanted to feel useful, to assist her in any way he could. Something told her Zack hadn’t felt useful in a very long time, and that refusing would hurt him terribly.
“Then my triple thanks. Maybe I can repay you some
other
way?” He shot her a sharp look and she raised her eyebrows, which earned her a laugh.
other
way?” He shot her a sharp look and she raised her eyebrows, which earned her a laugh.
“Baby, I’m just a guy. What do you think?”
“That we’d better eat our pizza before we get into trouble.”
They dug in, then carried their plates and drinks to the breakfast nook. It hadn’t escaped Cori’s attention that the bullet hole in the wall had been filled with Spackle, the blood cleaned from the floor.
“Did you get any rest today at all?”
“I really didn’t do much, just directed the workers around. Slapped on a coat of paint, put up the motion-sensitive security lights on each corner of the house—my friend Clay brought those out. Tomorrow the glass guys are replacing the window over the kitchen sink, since they didn’t have the right size with them, and I’ll work on repairing the porch slats.” He hefted a slice of pizza. “God, this smells good. I’m starving. How was your day?”
“Nice deflection of my question.” He was hunched over his plate, elbows on the table, and she suspected the position was the only thing propping him upright. The outline of the bandage on his shoulder was visible under his shirt, and she knew he had to be in some pain, but wouldn’t admit it.
“You’re going to bed early. Alone,” she added at the hopeful gleam in his blue eyes.
“So much for my repayment.”
“Don’t pout. You couldn’t win an arm-wrestling match against me at the moment, much less anything more . . . stimulating.”
“Rain check?”
“I’m counting on it.”
He grinned and they resumed eating while she bored him with details of her day and nursing classes. Neither of them wanted to acknowledge the onset of evening and their fear of a repeat of last night. Even more frightening, they were both so tired she worried they’d sleep right through the monster breaking in to harm them—or worse.
After they finished eating, Cori ordered Zack to the living room to relax, and put the leftover pizza in the fridge. Just as she started to join him, the phone on the counter rang. She glanced at the caller ID and barely stifled a moan of aggravation as she picked up the receiver.
“Hello?”
“Hey, beautiful! It’s Tony.”
Cori bristled. “Beautiful” was Zack’s pet name for her, and she didn’t like the endearment oozing from Tony’s oh-so-elegant lips.
“Hi, Tony. What’s up?”
“Just making sure we’re still on for coffee after your class tomorrow. It’s only been three days and I’ve missed seeing you around,” he said smoothly, a hint of seduction in his voice.
Cori’s hand tightened on the phone. Damn, she’d totally forgotten. She certainly didn’t want to encourage him after their ill-advised kiss the other day, and was far from comfortable trying to extricate herself from this mess of her own making with Zack in the next room.
“Um, that’s really sweet of you to say. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to cancel for tomorrow.”
“Oh? How come?” His tone cooled.
None of your biz.
“I’m dealing with some personal issues,” she said, putting some chill into her response. “This week is bad. In fact, I don’t know when I’ll have time for my usual coffee break.”
“I’m dealing with some personal issues,” she said, putting some chill into her response. “This week is bad. In fact, I don’t know when I’ll have time for my usual coffee break.”
There. Any man with half a brain could interpret the clear message to back off.
“Dinner tomorrow night, then?”
Any man except, apparently, for Tony.
“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid not. Listen, Tony . . .” She sighed, hating the icky task of giving any guy, even one as self-absorbed as Tony, the brush-off. But honesty was only fair to everyone. “I’m seeing someone. He’s really special, and I’m not going to risk messing up what we’ve got going for a hot fling. And you know as well as I do that’s all there would be between you and me.”
A heavy silence. “I’m sorry you feel that way, Cori. Perhaps I can change your mind about us.”
A statement, almost as though he were talking to himself, not a heartfelt question. Weird. It sort of gave her the creeps and she was more convinced than ever she’d done the right thing. “No, you can’t. Good luck finding your someone special, okay? Good-bye, Tony.”
She hung up, blowing a strand of hair from her eyes. “Thank God that’s done.”
“Wow, I’m glad I’m not Tony.”
Startled, she spun to see Zack leaning lazily against the kitchen entry with his good shoulder. “Eavesdropping is rude, fireboy.”
“But informative.” His lips curved in a smug grin. “I’m special, huh?”
“And nosy.”
“Nope, just cautious.” He stalked toward her, all lean-hipped grace in motion. “A man has to protect what’s his.”
Goose bumps broke out on her arms and she crossed them over her chest. Not a trace of exhaustion showed in his feral expression, and the way he moved . . . God, he was downright sexy. “Careful, your alpha is showing.”
Reaching her, he curled one finger under her chin and tipped her face to his. His mouth took hers, tongue sweeping inside. Bold, demanding. She uncrossed her arms, sliding her palms up his chest. She loved this confident side of him, taking charge, so much potent male.
He reached around her, cupping her rear in his hands. Spreading his legs, he pulled her close, nestling her intimately against the pole in his jeans. Igniting a blaze only he could douse.
“Complaints?” he breathed against her lips.
“Not one.”
“Let’s go upstairs.”
“Oh, honey. Maybe we should wait until you’re better—”
“Corrine Shannon,” he said quietly, looking deeply into her eyes, “I’ve been waiting my whole life. For
you
.”
you
.”
Right then, she melted into a puddle at his feet. Sweet heaven, her man could give lessons in gallantry to every single one of his gender she’d ever known.
“Ditto,” she managed around the grapefruit stuck in her throat. Because there weren’t adequate words to express what she felt at the moment and even if there were, she wouldn’t have been able to voice them without bursting into tears.
He held out his hand in invitation and she took it, hyperaware of what this simple act of acceptance and trust meant to them. The contact sizzled from their linked fingers along her nerve endings, tightening her nipples and sending a jolt of desire through her body. She’d never wanted a man as much as she wanted Zack.
Beside her, he was throwing off heat like a furnace as they went upstairs. At the door to her room he tugged on her hand, giving her a half smile and bringing it to his lips to brush a light kiss behind her knuckles.
“Go ahead and give me about five minutes to clean up,” he said. “I smell like paint and sweat.”
She craved his naked body next to hers so badly she didn’t really care, but she sensed the nervousness he’d hidden so well. A hint of vulnerability, as though he wanted everything to be perfect for their first time actually making love—his first to slide deep inside a woman.
“I’ll be waiting, hot stuff.”
He grinned, ducking his head. “Yes, ma’am.”
Good Lord, she could eat him with a spoon.
Fortunately, the hands Mother Nature blessed her with would do just fine.
Zack wasn’t sure how he kept his cool as he took the world’s shortest shower. He was Mr. Suave on the outside, fat nerd boy on the inside. Some things never really changed, but Cori saw only the man who desired her above all others, not the dumpy kid who couldn’t have scored a date with Ugly Betty. In his book, that rated number one on his list of impossible miracles.
Angling the showerhead down and turning his left side into the thin spray, he managed to wash without wetting the bandage. Mostly. Finished, he shut off the water and toweled dry, torn whether to take a painkiller for his burning shoulder or stay awake to please his lady. Frankly, he preferred not to be comatose for their big night.
He wrapped the towel around his hips as best as he could, considering the tent his erection made in the front. Next he fetched the box of condoms from the drawer in the nightstand—another of Clay’s deliveries at Zack’s request. He wished he had his Mustang so he could’ve gone to buy them himself. As it was, the good-natured ribbing he’d taken from B-shift’s FAO was worth making Cori happy.
Fortifying himself, he strode for Cori’s room, squelching his nerves with an effort. She wanted him, and they’d already been intimate. He was a grown man with no reason to fear having what he’d dreamed of for so long.
A woman who accepted him completely . . . and might just come to love him.
He stopped inside the doorway, mouth watering at the sight of Cori lounging naked on her bed against a mound of plump pillows. Long legs stretched out and parted slightly, honey brown hair falling around her face and full breasts, lips curved upward, she looked very sexy and feline. Waiting to devour the canary.
She crooked a finger, motioning him forward. “I see you brought the team uniform.”
“What? Oh, these.” He walked to the side of the bed and laid the box on the nightstand. “Presumptuous of me?”
“Smart and considerate,” she corrected. “Though we don’t need them if you’d prefer to go natural.”
“W-we don’t?” Jeez, little Zack took that news happily, jerking behind the confines of the towel.
“You’ve never been with anyone, and it’s been ages for me. My most recent tests were clean as always, and I’m on the pill. It’s your call.”
He grinned. “I feel like I’ve won the lottery.”
She sat up and scooted to the side of the bed, grabbing his towel at the waist. “Yeah? Then hang on and I’ll make you feel like the president, too. Whoops, bad analogy.”
With a yank, she divested him of the towel and tossed it away. His shaft bobbed near her lips, curved and eager. Leaning forward, she wrapped her fingers around the base and gave the flushed head an experimental lick, gazing up at him, expectant.
“Tell me what you’d like for me to do, Zack.”
“Oh, God.” His balls drew up and pre-cum wept from the slit of his cock. He fumbled at voicing such wicked thoughts aloud.
“Come on, fireboy. Tell Cori what you need.” Another lick, just on the tip.
“Suck me,” he whispered. “Please.”
She shook her head. “Like you mean it.”
His heart was going to explode. “Suck me.” His low request, tempered with steel, crackled in the air between them as he buried one hand in her hair. Urged her forward. “Take my cock. Do it
now
.”
now
.”
With a hum of satisfaction, she brought the tip between her lips, suckling. Nibbling and licking. She began to work him deeper, one agonizing inch at a time, squeezing the base of his shaft. The other hand stroked up his inner thigh, seeking. He spread his legs wider and she kneaded his heavy sac, the dual stimulation of his balls and cock driving him mad.
“Oh, yeah,” he groaned, thrusting his hips toward her. “Swallow me, baby.”
He watched as his cock disappeared between her lips, sliding in until he hit the back of her throat. Her soft, hot little tongue laved his skin and she began to move, sucking with delicious pressure. Liquid fire spread outward from his groin through his belly, to his limbs.
Fingers tangled in her hair, he guided her motions, fucking her gorgeous mouth. He loved this element of control, he realized, dominating her, making her
his
. In return, her enjoyment was obvious. She consumed him with relish, driving him to the edge.
his
. In return, her enjoyment was obvious. She consumed him with relish, driving him to the edge.
His balls tightened, the fluttering low in his belly signaling a swift climax if they didn’t slow down. “Stop, baby. I don’t want to come yet.” She released him, looking very pleased with herself, so damned beautiful his heart ached. He gestured to the middle of the bed. “Get comfortable and let me taste you.”
Cori wiggled into place and smiled, letting her thighs fall open. Her slit, pink and wet, the tiny pearl nub peeking from sandy curls, beckoned to him. He crawled between her legs and lowered his head, flicking her clit with his tongue. Her quiet whimper bolstered his confidence another notch and he took the tender flesh between his lips, sucking gently.
“Ohh, Zack! God, yes . . .”
She arched her hips and he gave her what she asked for, eating her clit, licking in rhythmic precision until she bucked, pulling at his hair.
“I need you inside me,” she gasped. “Make love to me.”
Music for his battered soul. He inched up her body, careful to lever the brunt of his weight off her. Using one hand, he nestled the head of his cock between the lips of her moist opening, then braced his arms on either side of her head, taking his weight on his elbows. He framed her face with shaking hands, overwhelmed by the emotions surging through him. Words couldn’t express how much this union meant to him, but he hoped his actions spoke clearly enough.
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