Forbidden River (The Legionnaires #2.5)(24)

“You do that—disappear?”

“I like the peace. That’s what I didn’t like about the military—you don’t get much time alone.”

“I don’t mind that. My own head is not always the nicest place to hang out. So,” he added quickly, like he’d slipped into dangerous waters, “I’m good at running and you’re good at hiding. That could come in useful.” He tossed the tape into the kit. “Done,” he said, though he kept her leg on his lap, a hand on her knee. “When will you be missed?”

“Not for a couple of days, when I don’t show for my next job.”

For her sanity, she pushed up to sitting and retrieved her leg, pretending she was inspecting it. What would it be like to have someone looking out for her, missing her? Not Tane or Koro, who had better social lives in Wairoimata than she’d had in the city, but someone all hers, whose evening would be too quiet without her. She’d had casual boyfriends who treated her like one of the guys, who hadn’t felt the need to buy her flowers or dinner. But she’d never had someone waiting for her. She rubbed her right shoulder, rolling it back.

“You been doing that for an hour. Here, let me.” Cody shuffled behind her, kneeling, and clicked off the light. Before she could react he’d pulled her hair to the side and his fingers were digging into the muscle, into just the right spot. Wow. And her reaction was not limited to her shoulder. She wanted those hands everywhere, all at once. She wanted him.

She forced herself to pull away. “It’s okay. You don’t have to—”

“I don’t want you seizing up tomorrow.”

By the time he reached “tomorrow” her objections had melted into a warm bath of bliss. He sure knew what he was doing. But what was she doing? This wasn’t real intimacy. Just... TacMed. Silence fell—awkward, on her part, like when the hairdresser launched into a head massage and she nose-dived from small talk to swooning, aware she must look like an idiot, lying back with her tongue lolling while everyone around her was bustling on, but unable to pull herself together.

Except here no one was watching. There were just his warm hands and strong fingers rubbing and sweeping and digging. And there came the belly flips again... Her breathing should have been easing but it grew ragged. At least by making a conscious effort to still it, she was diverting attention from other parts of her body that were demanding it. She inhaled. Earth, decay, the metallic scent of stone, him. Okay, that didn’t help.

His hands stilled, one on each shoulder. Then he swept them up into her hair, lifting it. He coaxed her head to one side and something warm and soft touched her neck.

His lips.





CHAPTER NINE

TIA FROZE. SO DID CODY, as if it were just as much of a shock to him. His fast, warm breath caressed her skin, the heat fanning out in concentric circles, like the spread of aftershocks following an earthquake.

He released her and cleared his throat. She quickly steadied her head before it lolled.

“I don’t know why I did that,” he said, his voice clipped and gravelly.

Her stomach went into free fall. He’d got carried away and he was regretting it.

No, Tia. She wasn’t that girl anymore, the insecure teenager who didn’t think she was worth the popular boy’s attention. Cody was an attractive man and she was a strong woman who knew her own mind, knew that right now there was nothing she’d rather do than strip him naked and screw him, and why the hell not? He couldn’t be hers forever, but he could be hers tonight.

“I don’t know why you stopped,” she said, the words shakier than they’d sounded in her head.

Silence. Stillness. While he figured out how to let her down gently? Her breath was so shallow she could well flake out. Ball’s in your court, Cowboy. Her scalp prickled—in a good way—and then his fingertips touched her temple and combed through her hair, gently twisting it aside. She let her neck fall sideways. This had better not be him letting her down gently.

A shifting noise and he leaned over and touched the tip of his tongue to her collarbone. She gasped, and he slowly circled up her neck until he grazed her earlobe.

“I can feel your pulse,” he murmured. “Hot and fast.”

“Oh.”

This was really happening. She’d wanted this to happen and now it was, way out here where the real world didn’t exist. She spun, her hair tumbling onto her shoulders, and there he was, kneeling above her, his eyes veiled by shadow, one cheekbone cut by a shaft of moonlight. She propped her knees up on either side of him, her shin tight, and he leaned in and cupped her jaw with one hand. His breath coasted over her lips. Magic.

“This is crazy,” she whispered.

He pulled back slightly. “Depends what you compare it with.”

“True. My definition of crazy got a whole lot crazier today.”

“Definitely not where I thought my day would end.”

“I was going to do my taxes tonight. They’re overdue.”

His hand slipped from her face, making her skin tingle with cold, and he jumped into a crouch. His skull smacked on a jutting rock. He swore, rubbing it. Taxes? Really, Tia? So much for leaving the real world behind.

“It’s the stress,” she said, giving him an out, though her belly hollowed. It would be an awkward night. And no way would she be able to shake the feeling of his tongue and lips on her neck.