Way of the Warrior (Troubleshooters #17.5)(63)

CHAPTER 7


Vivi opened her apartment door and walked in, dodging her cat and throwing her keys on the table. It’d been two weeks. Two weeks with no calls from Rook and a level of diligence she’d not thought herself capable of. She hated looking over her shoulder and knew beyond a shadow of a doubt she wasn’t cut out for field operative work.

Her cat meowed loudly, and Vivi sighed, unbuttoning her dress shirt and shrugging it off. She flipped on her bedside lamp and a whisper of fear danced over her flesh, catching her off guard even though she’d damn well knew better than to let her mind wander.

Someone was in her room. She turned, and there he was, casually leaning against her bedroom door frame, hands in the pocket of his jeans, head cocked arrogantly to the side and a knowing smile on his face.

She lifted a hand to her chest and tried to catch her fleeing breath. “How’d you get in my apartment?”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Damn it, Rook Granger. You scared the shit out of me,” she whispered.

He grunted. “I can see that. So much for watching your back.”

She shrugged and let her shirt fall to the floor before unzipping her skirt and letting it fall too. His indrawn breath had her smiling. His “Goddamn, woman,” had her heart tripping.

“I need a shower. You gonna leave, or you here for a while?” She held her breath. What would it be? She’d been digging for two weeks, but she’d not heard from him. Not a peep, and she’d worried. But she’d never picked up that damn sat phone to call him. It was for emergencies, though she’d been tempted as hell.

“Oh, I’m here for a while, baby,” he said softly.

Chills danced along her skin.

“I really like you in red, Olivia.”

“Yeah. I kinda thought you might.” Then she went all in once more. “I’ve worn it every day since I left Oregon.”

He hissed in a breath, and she closed the bathroom door and proceeded to take the shortest shower in history. She wrapped her hair in a towel, wrapped another one around her body, and stepped out, right into Rook.

Her gaze rose, meeting his. His black eyes, normally filled with ice, were hot. So hot they singed her skin, their heat sinking deep and wrapping around her heart.

He traced the healing wound at her neck, face hard, mouth in a flat line. “You know I want you,” he said in a growl.

She nodded.

“I’m an all-in kinda guy, Vivi. It’ll be you for me and me for you as long as we’re together. You get me?”

Vivi got it. She got it so much she had to squeeze her legs together to ease the ache between them. “All in how?”

He smiled, that full-blown, sexier-than-hell curving of his lips that took her mind and scattered it. He reached for the towel on her head and tore it off. A shiver rocked her at the intent on his chiseled face. Her wet hair was cold against her quickly heating flesh. Then he reached for the towel covering her body, and she went liquid.

“Right here, right now, Vivi, all in you,” he murmured as he lowered his head.

She thought he’d kiss her, but he bypassed her mouth and stroked his lips over the healing mark on her flesh. Her hands rose of their own accord, sinking into his hair and tugging on the short strands. She sighed, and he chuckled.

“You taste really good, Vivi. I wonder how you’ll feel?”

She moaned as he licked over the shell of her ear, peppering kisses along her jaw until he hovered over her mouth. Their breaths mingled, and her lips parted. “I feel pretty good right now, Rook.”

“Just good?” he asked, and his thumbs stroked over her cheeks.

She smiled, feeling wanton and needy. “Well, yeah, right now I feel pretty good. But I’m sure, Sergeant, that once you go all in, I’ll be feeling much better than that.”

“Oh, Olivia.” He paused, dropping his lips even closer to hers. “I can guarantee it’ll be much, much better.”

Then he picked her up, turned, and deposited her gently on her bed. He stepped back, toeing off his boots, pulling off his black T-shirt, and very slowly lowering his jeans. That left him in a pair of black boxer briefs that lovingly cupped his impressive erection. The tip peeked out the waistband, and Vivi wondered what he tasted like. Spicy? Sweet?

Vivi licked her lips.

He groaned. She smiled.

“You’re going to take it all off, right?” she asked.

His body tensed, and his gaze narrowed on her. “I said all in, yeah?”

“Yes, you did. So get to it…yeah?”

He growled, and she giggled, but then he was on top of her, sucking all the energy out of the room and giving it back to her with his mouth. He poured his need for her down her throat, leaving nothing but the taste of him on her lips. Desire coiled inside of Vivi, flaring and burning everything it touched, leaving her brand new.

Rook took her higher with every touch, every kiss. Along her collarbone, between her breasts, over her nipples, and across her belly.

“Goddamn, Vivi, you’re so sweet,” he murmured against her flesh.

He whispered a kiss at the top of her pubis before he spread her legs and wedged his broad shoulders between them.

“Look at me,” he ordered.

She did. The sight of him there, at the entrance of her body, made her thighs quiver. His black eyes burned, and her hips lifted. He grinned, then spread her * open and sank inside with his tongue. He drank from her, teasing with nuzzles then dipping deeper as he stroked her clit with his thumb. She spiraled. Up, up, up she flew before the lights behind her eyelids coalesced and burst. He caressed her through her orgasm, wringing every drop from her until his hands became more purposeful once again. He slid up her body, palming her breasts and kissing her neck, her lips, her shoulders. Nowhere was safe. He was devouring her, and she burned for him.