Chapter Nineteen

Tori angled to face Deck, making no pretense whatsoever that she was staring at him. He ignored her, keeping his hands firmly on the wheel as he maneuvered the SUV along the dark twists and turns of Route 285. Behind them, Thor snored happily in his kennel.

“Are you ever going to tell me what you two talked about?”

Right before leaving the house, she’d been floored when her dad had shaken hands with Deck. For the last twenty-five minutes, she’d been interrogating him, employing every last weapon in her social skills arsenal to squeeze him for specifics about what he and her dad had discussed out in the yard. Each time, Deck skillfully avoided giving her any relevant information. All he’d said was that they’d “come to an understanding.” Must be another thing they taught in federal agent-school. How to be tight-lipped.

Instead of answering her, he grabbed her hand and laced their fingers together.

“You can’t distract me that easily,” Tori said.

His grin said otherwise, and he was right. Damn him.

Much as she tried to ignore them, tiny tendrils of steamy-hot awareness seeped from his hand to hers. She tried unlacing their fingers, but he only tugged her hand to his mouth. One by one, he began kissing her fingers, slowly, and with a tiny bit of tongue, as if each one of her fingers was a tasty chocolate morsel.

Oh, he was good at this duck-and-evade thing. Finally, she yanked her hand from his only to hear him chuckling in the darkness.

“You’re like a defense attorney,” he said, “but no matter how many different ways you ask me the same question, my answer won’t change.” He exited the highway and turned onto her road. “All you need to know is that your dad and I came to an understanding.”

“You already said that.” And she ought to be grateful for it. She’d actually expected there to be bloodshed. The call-911 kind of bloodshed. “But an understanding about what? What were you talking about the whole time?”

A few seconds later, he pulled into her driveway, cranked the gearshift in park, then turned to face her. “Mostly, we talked about you.”

“Me?” What could they have possibly discussed about her for that long?

“Yes, you. The rest of the time he explained what happened ten years ago.” He shoved a rough hand through his hair, leaving some of the strands askew. “You should have told me. It would have explained why you hated me on sight.”

“I didn’t hate you on sight.” He gave her a duh look, telling her he knew she was lying. “Okay, maybe I did.”

But she hadn’t, not really. What she hated was what had happened to her dad, her mom, and how it had impacted their entire family. She’d never actually hated Deck and now realized she never could because she cared about him too much. Somehow, her father had seen that. Somehow, he’d managed to call a truce with Deck, and he’d done it for her. Because he loved her. If her dad could set aside some of his animosity, maybe she should, too.

Deck traced her jawline with the pad of his thumb. “I’m sorry for what happened to your dad. To you, your family. Don’t say anything yet, but I’m going to look into getting your dad’s license restored.”

“You don’t have to do that.” Although it was an awfully kind offer.

“I want to,” he insisted. “I can’t change the past, but I can help now.”

He would help, she realized, because that was who he was. Beneath all his drug-warrior toughness, he was a kind, compassionate man who’d sat through an uncomfortable meal, knowing something was off, then tolerated her dad’s rant enough to listen and wind up with a handshake at the end of the night.

“I’m sorry,” she said, feeling about as low as a girl could get. “I owe you as much of an apology as I owe my dad.”

“The only part of your apology I’ll accept is that you didn’t tell me yourself. For the rest, you don’t owe anyone an apology.” He continued tracing her jaw, his touch gentle and tender. “Then again, there is one thing you could do to make it up to me.”

“Anything,” she answered, meaning it.

He leaned in closer, his breath warm on her face. “Put your money where your mouth is.” Then he kissed her, his lips gliding softly over hers.

Before she could blink, he’d unbuckled their seat belts and hauled her onto his lap. He kissed her again, his tongue invading her mouth with the same swift assuredness that he used to break in doors at search warrants.

His hard chest pressed against her breasts while his tongue swept her mouth, seeking and tasting. Demanding yet gentle. She ran her hands up his muscled arms to link them around his neck. If she’d been hooked up to a heart monitor, that green line would be jumping all over the screen.

Deck’s erection pushed hard against her bottom where she sat on his lap. Just when she was about to slip her hands beneath his shirt and tear it over his head, he ended the kiss, pulling away and breathing as heavily as she was.

“I should walk you to your door.” He landed another kiss on her lips, this one quick, as he shut off the engine.

Walk me to my door? Really? After lighting a fuse that was still sizzling and sparking like a live wire?

He eased from beneath her, getting out of the SUV then holding out his hand for her as she shimmied off the seat and exited out the driver’s side. He opened Thor’s door, waiting for his dog to jump out and do his business on a nearby tree.

Pine boughs rustled in the breeze as Deck and Thor walked Tori to her front door. With her nerve endings still sparking with need, she managed to insert the key into the lock. Waves of warmth emanated from Deck’s big body only inches behind her, washing over her bare arms and neck. She pushed open the door, hesitating a moment.

All it would take was one simple invitation. To a man she’d fully intended to keep a safe emotional distance from. But after the last few hours, her entire belief system had been turned upside down. If her father could at least try to accept Deck being in her life, maybe that was one roadblock she no longer had to brake for.

Her next thought was both shocking and frightening. Maybe it was time to ease up on the death grip she had on the past.

“Um, do you want to come in?” She held her breath, waiting to see if he’d finish what he started so she could drag him inside and ravish him. Yes, that’s exactly what she wanted to do.

“Sure,” was all he said, but enough moonlight filtered through the trees for her to glimpse the unmistakable hunger smoldering in the hooded darkness of his eyes.

Tori stepped inside and flipped on the lights. The leap she was about to take was huge. As she set her keys and bag on the hall table, Deck closed the door. Her belly vibrated with nervous energy she hadn’t experienced in a very long time. She wasn’t a virgin, but right now she felt like one.

Needing something to do with her hands, she went into the kitchen and filled a bowl with water. The moment she set it on the floor, Thor drank his fill then padded into the living room and lay down.

Taking a deep breath, she turned to find Deck leaning against the kitchen doorway, watching her. No, make that tracking her, like he was ready to pounce and eat her up. Oh. Yeah. As she moved toward him, the pulse at the side of his neck ticked faster. Not faster than mine. That imaginary cardiac monitor she was hooked up to had to be beeping like crazy.

Her mouth went drier than a piece of litmus paper. He was so handsome, so raw and virile. Where this relationship was destined to go was still a mystery. Right now, the only direction she wanted to take it was down the hall and straight into her bedroom.

“Are you hungry?” she asked. What a stupid question. Then again, none of them had eaten much after the confrontation with her dad, and Deck was a big man.

A muscle in his jaw flexed. “Yeah,” he answered, his voice low and husky. “But not for food.” Still, he remained motionless. This was her party. He was waiting for her to make the first move.

So make it.

As if in a dream, Tori watched her hands as she reached for him.

…

The second her hands contacted his chest, he moved, crashing his mouth down on hers and banding his arms around her back.

He tangled his tongue with hers, sweeping inside her mouth, trying to absorb her sweet scent and taste into his body.

She clung to him, their bodies pressed together from toe to head, and still, it wasn’t enough. He skimmed his hands up the side of her rib cage, grazing her beautiful breasts. A soft moan escaped her lips, the vibrations of which traveled straight to his groin. They were like two halves of a combustion engine, and he was about to explode.

She tugged his shirt from his jeans, running her hands up and down his bare back, scoring his skin with her nails, and damned if he wasn’t shaking.

Reluctantly, he tore his mouth from hers, dropping kisses along her jawline. “Bedroom,” he heard himself growl, only that wasn’t his voice. It was the voice of a barely contained animal.

“Um,” she sighed, dropping her head back and giving him better access to the soft, creamy skin of her neck. “Down the…hall.”

That was all the direction he needed.

He clasped her bottom, hauling her against him and feeling just how smooth the backs of her thighs were beneath that sexy little pink skirt.

She wrapped her legs tightly around his waist, putting his aching erection right where he wanted to be. He made it four strides when his mind blanked out and he spun, pressing her back against the wall and kissing her with everything he had as he ground himself against her.

“Ah, Tori,” he muttered then hiked her skirt up to her waist. When he slipped his hands beneath her wet panties, his fingers found the hot, silky wetness of her folds.

“Deck.” Her chest heaved, mounding her breasts beneath the thin pink fabric. “Touch me,” she moaned. “Please. More.”

He pushed two fingers into her and groaned from how wet she was. He’d bet she tasted just as sweet down there, too. As he pumped his fingers in and out, she undulated her hips, driving herself harder and harder against his hand until her breaths came in short gasps.

“That’s it, baby. Come for me. I want to feel you come around my fingers. Do it, baby. Do it now.”

She uttered a sharp cry, the back of her head banging against the wall as her body bucked and shuddered around him.

He caught her mouth again in a deep kiss, trying to extend her orgasm as much as possible. Watching her like this…he was about to come in his pants.

Breathing hard, she fumbled between them and unsnapped the button on his jeans and pulled down the zipper. When she slipped her hand beneath the snug cotton of his briefs, he threw back his head, gritting his teeth as his body tightened. Then she cupped him, squeezing gently.

Holy sh—

If she didn’t ease up and fast, he’d lose it in his jockey shorts. He backed away enough to lower her feet to the floor, but she only cupped him harder, moving her hand up and down as much as his jeans would allow.

“Tori, don’t! Stop!” He smacked his hands on the wall on either side of her shoulders, throwing his head back as his body shook with the Herculean effort it took not to come.

“No,” she whispered, pushing the waistband of his jeans and briefs lower and taking his cock in her hand.

Oh, man.

Sanity returned enough for him to grab his creds wallet from the rear pocket of his pants and whip out a condom that was old but not too old. He shoved the wallet back in his pocket and tore off the wrapper. With Tori still stroking him, his balls and cock tightened more than he thought possible. His fingers were clumsy, but somehow, he managed to roll the condom over his raging erection.

“Hurry,” she said in a throaty voice, digging her fingers into his scalp. “Hurry!”

Yes, ma’am.

He reached under her skirt and grabbed the edges of her panties, yanking them down then deciding for the more expeditious route and ripped the thing in half, tearing the fabric from her legs.

As he clasped the backs of her thighs, she hiked up her skirt again, practically jumping into his arms. In one long, smooth stroke, he entered her, pushing until he was balls-deep inside her hot, wet channel.

The sound he heard next was the two of them groaning in unison. Her arms came around his back, and he began pumping, slowly at first, but her tiny cries of arousal were quickly driving him to the edge. He wanted her to come first, but… Can’t. Hold. Out. Much longer.

He clasped her bare buttocks, driving into her faster, gritting his teeth with every thrust.

Deck fastened his mouth on the side of Tori’s neck, sucking gently as he inhaled the sweet scent of her perfume and sex that was spiraling upward from their joined bodies. She stiffened in his arms, her fingers clawing at his scalp. Her breaths came faster, louder, and he knew she was on the edge, ready to explode as violently as he was.

“That’s it. Let it go,” he gritted out, pumping furiously as her walls squeezed his cock. When she screamed his name, he lost it and shot his release so hard into the condom, he worried it might break.

As he rode the powerful waves, he shuddered, pressing his forehead to hers. Beneath him, she gasped for air, repeating the words. “Oh. Oh. Ohhh.”

Deck had to agree, it was oh. The kind of amazing, mind-blowing, earth-shattering oh.

They remained where they were, as intimately as two people could possibly be. Except for the clothes. He wanted to do this all over again but with nothing between them.

He kissed her forehead then pulled away to look down at her. Her lips were parted, her breathing slowed some. “You okay?” he asked hesitantly, because he’d taken her like a wild animal. When she’d touched his chest, he thought he’d lost control, but that had been nothing compared to when she’d palmed his raging hard-on. Holy hell, the woman knew how to drive him crazy in more ways than one.

When she tilted her head back, he tensed. Normally, her face was an open book. Now, it wasn’t, and he couldn’t tell if she was about to kiss him or smack him. Slowly, she blinked, as if in a mental fog.

“Tori, you okay?” he repeated, fear wedging its way in deeper when she still didn’t answer.

A slow grin curved her lips as she clasped the sides of his face and kissed him thoroughly, hotly, leaving no doubt whatsoever that she was more than okay. Especially when she drew back just enough to whisper, “The bedroom’s that way.”