Close To Danger (Westen #4)(44)

“But don’t worry, he looks like his namesake and he’s just as tenacious with killer instincts and skills if necessary. He’ll keep her safe. In fact, we talked while you slept in the car and he reported she was snowed in at the hospital last night.”

Chloe relaxed back into the buttery soft cushions of the sofa and deliberated on all he’d just told her. “So the blizzard went as far south as Cinci?”

“According to Bulldog. By the way, he says your sister is a great surgeon.”

“She should be. She dissected every stuffed animal that came into our home. Bobby taught her how to sew and told her she’d have to be better at putting people back together if she wanted to be a doctor. She was tying surgeon’s knots before she finished middle school.” She took another sip of her drink, the warmth from the whiskey and the heat of the fire relaxing her more. “When can I talk to them?”

“I figure Gage might buy your power being out for at least twenty-four hours, so let’s leave your phone deactivated and tomorrow you can call them both,” he paused and she raised an eyebrow his direction. “You can use my phone.”

“Why did you do it?” she asked.

“Because you were tired and needed to sleep. I needed to be sure no one would find where we were going and track you—”

“No. Not that. I get the whole need to be off the grid thing.” And she did. Heck, she kind of liked not having anyone—no clients, no bosses, no junior associates—texting her non-stop. It was relaxing. “Why did you send Bulldog to protect Dylan?”

He shrugged, as if to say oh that. “I told you. You’re family.”

“Because you consider Gage and Bobby your family, and by extension Dylan and me. So that sort of makes us like what? Your sisters?”

Silently, Wes studied her, his blue eyes growing darker. The air around Chloe thickened and her pulse raced. Slowly he moved closer, taking the glass tumbler from her and setting it on the table behind the sofa.

“Trust me, Chloe,” he said, leaning in to cup her face in his big, warm hands. “No way in hell do I think of you as a sister.”

He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her in a decidedly non-brotherly fashion.





CHAPTER SIXTEEN


Chloe slid her hands up Wes’s arms to grip his shoulders as the kiss between them deepened. Heat, not from the fire, poured through her, creating a need she’d only ever felt when this man kissed her. A little moan escaped her. Then a growl of pure male satisfaction from Wes.

He gripped her by the shoulder, pulling her closer. With a quick turn, he had her lying across his lap, her chest pressed tight to his. And she wanted to get closer. As he angled his mouth to kiss her deeper, she slipped her hand between them to lay over his heart. It thudded rapidly, matching her own pulse. With a wiggle, she was rewarded with the thickness of his erection pressed against her hip.

And didn’t that make the woman in her stand up and pump her fists?

Wanting to feel more of him and the delicious heat of his body, she worked the buttons on his shirt through the buttonholes until she could slide her hand over his chest, the soft hairs teasing her palms. A deep moan from him, followed by “Yes,” delighted her.

Behind them came a whimper.

Chloe eased back to look into Wes’s blue eyes, darkened with desire. He leaned his head to the side and she slowly turned her head to follow his gaze.

W?den sat watching them, his head cocked to one side as if to say, What are the humans doing now?

Chloe giggled and let her head slump against Wes’s neck. “Does he always do that when you’re making love to a woman?”

“I don’t know.”

She raised up to study his face. “You’ve never heard him do that before when things got hot and heavy? Should we be worried if he might pounce on us?”

“I don’t know what he would do, because,” he paused, reaching up to brush a stray lock of hair back from her eyes, “I’ve never had another woman here before.”

“You’ve never had a woman in your home?” she asked, a little thrill that she was the one he let into his private world.

Slowly he eased her off his lap, stood, then took her hand to pull her up beside him. “You are the only woman who’s slept in my bed.” He punctuated the statement with a quick hard kiss that had her clutching his half-open shirt in her fists. “I’ve never made love to anyone in my cabin and certainly not with W?den playing chaperone.”

“And now?” she asked, taking his lower lip between hers for a playful nip.

“Now,” he said, scooping her up into his arms, “we try out my bed and leave the wolf-dog to listen in the other room.”

Chloe laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck. Even though she was a self-sufficient woman who could fix a flat tire, manage her finances and even repair a plumbing leak, she could really get used to this man going all caveman for her.

She closed the door behind them as they passed into the bedroom. Voyeurism was never her cup of tea, even if it was just a half-wolf, half-dog watching.



*



The deputy had the dark-haired woman draped over his lap and things were getting hot and heavy inside the cabin.

“Adjust the site a little, bring the target into focus. Breathe.”