Wrapped Up in You (Heartbreaker Bay, #8)(47)

At her touch, his head fell back. When she stroked, he groaned and kissed her hungrily before reaching to the floor for his pants, coming up with a condom. Watching him roll it on was a sexual act all in itself, so much so that she sat up and had to add her hands to the cause. He was just so beautiful. The cut of his body, the way he moved, the low timbre of his voice, how he looked at her, the feel of his hands as they caressed her into quite the state . . .

When he sank inside her, deep, her soft moan mingled in the air with his rough, heartfelt groan, and she thought it was maybe the best moment they’d ever shared.

He stuck to long, slow strokes at first, his body hard against hers, his mouth at her throat, then her ear, telling her how good she felt, the things he still wanted to do to her, the explicit words revving her up all over again.

As she lost herself in his arms, she felt it overtake him too. His eyes closed and he made a rough sound of pleasure that turned her on almost as much as the physical act itself. She knew the exact second he let go and surrendered, and she held on for all she was worth, stroking her hands over him, touching everything she could possibly reach.

After, he rolled to his side, bringing her with him to cuddle her close as he caught his breath. And that’s when she knew she’d been wrong before, because this, this in-between moment was her favorite moment they’d shared.



Ivy had no idea how much later she came awake. It was still dark, but Kel was on his side facing her, head propped up on a hand, watching her sleep.

“Was I snoring?” she asked.

“Yes.” He smiled when she gave him a shove, and not budging, he pulled her into his big warm body. He had her tucked beneath him, working his way down her body with his diabolically clever mouth when he suddenly froze and then quickly untangled himself from her.

“What is it?” she murmured, already missing his heat.

He put a finger to her lips.

Blinking to try to see him in the dark, it was her turn to freeze when she heard it.

The sound of someone rattling the knob of her front door.

Her heart knocked hard against her ribcage as old instincts kicked in. Rolling off the bed, she came up on the other side, her faithful baseball bat in hand, the one thing Brandon had ever given her, which she kept under her bed. “I’ve got this,” she said. And in that moment, she meant it. She was ticked, completely pissed off about being messed with, and entirely over it.

Kel held up his hand and gave her an accompanying hard look, both of which very seriously and intensely said stay. His gun glinted in his hand as he turned to the door.

Right. He was good at this. This is what he did for a living. But she was pretty sure he didn’t usually do it buck ass naked.





Chapter 17




Let’s do double time



Kel got to the door just as it slowly began to open. Grabbing the intruder, he yanked him inside and shoved him up against the wall. The guy was of average height and build, but with a better than average ability to fight.

Good thing Kel was trained and also pissed off, because both worked in his favor. He held the asshole still and realized he could feel Ivy breathing down his neck. “Seriously? I told you to stay put.”

“This is my apartment,” she said. “No one tells me what to do.”

Ignoring her, Kel held the guy face flat to the wall. “You picked the wrong place tonight.”

“I’m not here to pick the place. I’m looking for Ivy,” the guy managed to say.

Kel felt Ivy’s surprise. “Why?” he demanded.

“Hey, man, let go.”

Instead, Kel pushed him even closer to the wall. “Why.”

Ivy flipped on a lamp and went hands on hips. She’d put on a shirt.

His.

Kel was pretty sure that was all she was wearing, which was still a whole hell of a lot more than he was. “Brandon,” she said tightly. “The idiot’s name is Brandon.”

“Your brother?” he asked in stunned disbelief.

“The one and only.” She didn’t look happy at the reunion.

Which made two of them, because just as with Ivy’s tales of this guy, something wasn’t ringing true here. He turned Brandon from the wall. The guy had the same fiery red hair as Ivy, spiky on his head, as well as a scruffy beard, but it was his eyes that held Kel’s attention. One was the same startling blue as Ivy’s, the other green. He glanced at Ivy. “I thought he was in New York.”

She nodded. “Me too.”

“Hey, here’s an idea,” Brandon said, words muffled since his face was planted into the wall. “Maybe you could put on pants.”

Kel let go of him and strode past Ivy to the bed, where he retrieved his jeans from the floor and pulled them on. When he’d buttoned them up, he realized brother and sister were standing there, just staring at each other. Not exactly the loving greeting of siblings who hadn’t seen one other in a long time. Granted, his sister had smacked him upside the back of his head when she’d first seen him, but he’d deserved it.

Made him wonder exactly what Brandon had done to deserve that worried, wary expression on Ivy’s face. “Two a.m. is an odd time for a visit,” he said.

Brandon lifted a shoulder and went with an affable smile. One, by the way, that matched Ivy’s.

Which she wasn’t flashing now.