Defending Everly (Mountain Mercenaries, #5)(89)

Ball pulled her onto his lap and held her gently. He’d been afraid to do more than gingerly hug her for fear of hurting her for a long time after she’d gotten out of the hospital, but she’d been telling him for a while now that she felt fine. That she was fine.

Elise was currently at school. She’d hung out with him and her sister for the first week after the kidnapping, and Ball had been prepared to have her stay at home with them for at least one more, but she’d decided she was bored and wanted to go back. All things considered, she was doing extremely well, and Ball knew that was in part thanks to Allye’s quick thinking in getting her therapist to see her immediately, and partly because of how amazing she was.

The longer they sat on the couch cuddled up together, the more aroused Ball got. He’d been holding back from doing anything more than kissing Everly for weeks now, since she’d been released from the hospital, but last night had almost been his undoing. She’d walked out of the bathroom without a stitch of clothing on, her hair loose around her shoulders, and shimmied over to their bed.

It had almost killed him, but he’d gathered her into his arms and told her he was exhausted.

She’d been disgruntled, but hadn’t pressed him. Ball had spent the entire night with a hard-on, reminding himself that she’d almost died.

Remembering how beautiful she was the night before, and how she’d felt in his arms, wasn’t helping his arousal now. She smelled delicious, and it was taking everything in Ball to keep his hands from wandering.

Just as he resorted to reciting baseball stats to try to calm his dick down, Everly slipped out of his grasp. He thought she was going to get up and get something to eat or drink, and was about to insist he could get whatever she needed, when she went to her knees in front of him.

“What are you—” He inhaled deeply when her fingers undid the button on his jeans and drew down his zipper. “Everly, no.”

“Ball, yes,” she insisted. “You’ve been treating me like I’m a fragile piece of glass, and I’m sick of it. It was exactly what I needed those first few weeks, but it’s been way too long. My ribs are mostly healed. I love you, Ball. I need you.”

“Oh fuck,” Ball swore, and lifted his ass to shove his jeans down far enough that she could get his cock out.



She smiled and practically purred when she saw how thick and hard he was.

“All this for me?” she asked, but didn’t wait for him to answer. She didn’t tease, simply grabbed hold of the base of his cock and dropped her mouth over him.

Groaning, Ball brought his hands up behind his head, latching his fingers together so he didn’t grab her and force her down on him. Her mouth felt amazing, hot, wet, and when she sucked him, he couldn’t stop his hips from pressing upward.

She gagged a little, and Ball swore. Her throat had been bruised all to hell by Tuttle, and here he was just weeks later, trying to shove himself down her throat.

Nope. Wasn’t happening. He loved her too much to hurt her.

Everly cried out in surprise when Ball grabbed her around the waist and pulled her off his dick.

She’d had enough of him being worried about hurting her. She appreciated that he didn’t want to rush her. But fuck that. She needed him. Needed him to fuck her hard. Prove in the most carnal and basic way possible that she was alive and well. And the fastest way she could think to make that happen was to suck his dick.

It was obvious he wasn’t going to make the first move. She’d never been comfortable walking around naked, but she’d done it the night before in the hope that he wouldn’t be able to deny her.

But dammit, he was still trying to be noble. Fuck that.

Partly to banish the thoughts of the hell the poor woman Tylor Tuttle had kept prisoner and tortured for more than a decade had been through, and partly to assuage her own needs, she’d gone after what she wanted.

Everly loved going down on Ball. Loved the feeling of power it gave her. Loved hearing his moans and feeling his thighs tighten when he was trying to hold his orgasm back.

She’d barely gotten started, however, when he’d pulled her off him and picked her up.

“Ball!” she protested. “I was in the middle of something.”

“And now you’re not,” he told her, walking quickly toward his bedroom.

“If you think you’re going to put me to bed and walk away, you better think twice,” she threatened. It was all bluster, though. If he truly was able to put her down and walk away, she wasn’t sure what she’d do.

Ball didn’t answer. He kicked open his door and strode toward his bed. He didn’t drop her, but gently placed her on the mattress, crawling on top of her the second she was out of his arms. He straddled her and whipped his shirt off over his head. Then he shoved his hands under her own shirt, and Everly happily raised her arms to help him remove it. He unzipped her work cargos, and she lifted her ass to help him. He got them down to her thighs, and she kicked them off the rest of the way.

Everly smirked at his reaction when he saw her underwear. She’d been horny as hell that morning after sleeping naked in Ball’s arms all night and had planned on seducing him when she got home from work. She’d put on a lacy, sexy thong in the hope that he’d take one look at it and not be able to stop himself from taking her.

So far her plans were working out perfectly.