Page 42 of Man of Honor
The look in his eyes was the only answer I needed.
I tightened my grip on his neck and tugged him down to press our foreheads together.“Listen to me, baby. You’ve lost your ever-lovin’ mind if you think you're one of those people.I'm going to prove it to you.Trust me, that was just a warm-up.We haven’t even gotten to the main event.”
“Good to hear." His laughter was a quick puff of breath against my face.“I wasn’t sure if you could handle a round two at your advanced age—mmf?—”
I smothered the rest of his sentence in a hard kiss, basking in the quiet laughter that poured into my mouth.“Come to the gym with me next time,” I grumbled, “and we’ll see how advanced my age is.”
“You need a spotter in case you throw your back out?” he asked innocently.
My answer was a light pinch to the firm globe of his ass.Gage's expression was more intrigued than hurt, but I rubbed out the sting, anyway, then dropped a kiss on his chin.“I’ll never get tired of that sound.”
“Yelps of pain?” he muttered, rubbing at the area I’d pinched.
“Your laughter,” I corrected.“I might not have looked at you romantically back then, but when you laughed, I could never make myself look away.You’d throw your head back and putyour whole body into it, like you were chasing it.Throwing yourself at joy before it could get away.”
He raised a surprised eyebrow.“You always acted like I was a nuisance."
“Oh, you were,” I said wryly.“You couldn’t stay out of trouble for two hot seconds.It drove me crazy. I’d try to catch every call that involved you, just to keep you from mouthing off to other deputies and talking your way into charges not even Boone could get dropped."
He chuckled. "You were the most fun to tease.I loved getting you all worked up and grouchy.I used to daydream about you snapping one day and bending me over your squad car.It was my favorite fantasy."
“I couldn’t.”
“I know.” His smile faded. “But dreaming about it got me through some hard times.”
I glanced thoughtfully toward mycruiser, sitting in the driveway, dull and unassuming beneath the porch light.Sexy as a toothache to me, but I understood the fantasy.I was keenly aware of the damp, sticky cotton cooling between our bodies and the high-pitched whine ofmosquitos.A hot shower and bed werecalling.The sensible choice, the aching-back, man-in-his-thirtieschoice.
But that wasn’t what Gageneeded.
All week, I'd been treating him with kid gloves, but I could sense how badly he wanted to get back on evenfooting.After everything he'd done to prove he was my equal, a man to be desired rather than protected, I owed himthat.He'd been braveenough to lay it all on the line forme.I wanted to reward that, give him what he needed, feed him his fantasies and watch him completely loseit.
Decided, I grabbed the hem of his t-shirt and peeled it over hishead.Then I stripped off my own and used the dry side to wipe usdown."Come on," I said, pressing a kiss to the side of his neck and nudging him off mylap.
“Oh. We done?” His grin was shaky, like he was bracing for me to call it a night, and damned if it didn’t almost breakme.
"Not even close," I whispered, tugging him into akiss."You want this? Then let's make sure it lives up to thosefantasies."
Chapter Twenty
GAGE
Sex had always been fun,light, and impersonal, but after a few years in sin city, it grew so hollow that I'd started opting toward celibacy instead.
Never, not once, had it made me shake like this.
I waited alone beside the fire pit while Wyatt disappeared inside the house, so jacked on anticipation that I couldn't calm down.Just as I was starting to wonder if I'd lost my mind, Wyatt came up behind me, tucking some packets and a bottle of lube into his back pocket.
A fine tremor hit my fingers as Wyatt threaded them with his own, tugging me toward the driveway.He bypassed a dirt bike and Jeep and headed for the cruiser tucked in the shadows.
My mouth went dry. I’d been in my fair share of cop cars—passenger seat, back seat, in cuffs and without—and it had never been anything but a grimy, uncomfortable hassle.This was different.Wewere different.Any power Wyatt had over me didn’t come from our complicated history, and it sure as hell didn't come from a badge.It was deeper than that, a connectionthat tugged at me like a physical leash no matter how far I wandered.
Wyatt wasn’t in uniform, but that just made it better.He was handsome on the job, but standing there shirtless, wearing only a pair of unzipped blue jeans, he was devastating.I wanted to be held by that strength, pinned by it, overtaken until I could finally just…let go.
He planted a hand flat on my chest, coaxing me back until my ass hit the hood, then stepped between my legs and cupped my chin.When he kissed me, it was gentle and languid, like he had all the time in the world.My hands settled on his waist, idly stroking a cut of hot, satin-smooth muscle.
"This isn't just some fling, Gage," he whispered, a breath that skimmed my lips along with his kisses."Not for us. I’m responsible, and I’m clean, but if you aren’t, we can work around it.You just need to tell me.”
His honesty humbled me. I gripped the edge of the hood in both hands and swallowed hard.