Mary Wine (10 page)

her body clenched and tightened ‘til it exploded. loren felt the walls of her passage grip his staff as she tried to hold him even closer during her climax. rourke didn’t resist. instead he plunged his penis deep inside her as he growled against her neck. she felt the deep spurting of his seed as it hit her womb.

his arms clenched as he held her beneath his body. the harsh rasp of his breathing matched her own as their bodies strained toward each other in the final moments of intimacy.

72

she should feel guilty. loren looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. she felt a lot

of things but guilt was not one of them. the room was lit only with moonlight. but the silvery cast was plenty to see with. the master bathroom was large with two sinks and

a double mirrored front closet.

her nipples were still beaded. loren shifted as her body ached. her clothes were scattered all around the bed. she watched the deep rise and fall of rourke’s chest before she reached for a towel and wrapped it around her body.

she needed to think. her body was still radiating with the remains of pleasure from

his touch. her passage ached but was still wet and sensitive. as she walked, the folds of her sex rubbed against her clitoris, reminding her of just how intense her climax had been.

loren set her feet down silently as she walked back into the room. nothing stirred

as she let her eyes linger over the man sleeping there. his chest and arms were sculpted

to perfection. temptation urged her to drop the towel and rub against that firm muscle. loren moved toward the door instead. she couldn’t listen to her impulses.

the doorknob turned silently. there was a tiny click as it opened and loren wrapped her fingers tighter around the knob to pull it open. rourke’s hand landed on the door right in front of her eyes and kept it closed. his breath hit her ear as she felt the very distinct touch of his staff against her bottom.

“i’m tired, rourke, i want to go to sleep.” a sharp tug sent her towel toward the floor. his large hands closed over her hips as

he lifted her feet off the floor and turned her to face him. loren frantically grabbed his shoulders as she was lifted like a child. rourke moved between her thighs as her back ended up against the door. her thighs eagerly wrapped around his hips as his hands cupped the cheeks of her bottom.

“you can sleep right here in my bedroom.” the hard head of his sex probed her body. loren gasped as she felt her body open for him. it was pure reaction. once again her body sent fluid sliding down the inside of her passage to welcome his body. his eyes watched her intently as he very slowly thrust the head of his sex into her. she hung there as her body closed around his. her breath rose from her chest in tiny pants as she yearned for him to fill her completely. his hands cupped her bottom and held her absolutely still while his eyes continued to watch her.

her body quivered but rourke waited. his staff was aching with the need to thrust into her body but he wanted her to demand it. she tried to tilt her hips but he held them firmly in place.

73

“say it, loren, tell me what you want.” his voice was rough with demand. his hands were ruthless as they gripped her and kept her from completing the possession. loren clenched her teeth together as she refused to surrender her will to him. his jaw tightened before he lifted her off his length. loren felt the loss keenly as her passage clenched painfully.

“all right, rourke.” the three words sounded like a surrender to her ears.

“all right, what?”

there wasn’t any kindness in his voice. loren shivered as she contemplated just how basic their attraction was. their bodies clashed against each other with a force that ripped away every hint of civilization. right here it was male and female drawn together by the need to mate.

wrapping her legs more firmly around his hips, loren leaned toward his neck. she nipped the firm skin that covered his body before she licked the spot and moved slightly further up his neck. her fingers were splayed across his shoulders, absorbing the immense strength of her companion. he issued a low grunt of approval before letting his sex probe hers again.

his thrust was smooth and slow this time. loren felt his body quiver as he controlled the possession. her body stretched around him as her hips encouraged deeper probing.

she felt too good, too hot, too tight. but rourke didn’t care.

his body demanded more and he thrust into her with a rhythm that made her body submit to his. her hips tipped forward with surrender. he growled approval as he listened to the tiny sounds of pleasure coming from her throat.

“look at me, loren.”

it was a final intimacy that she resisted. loren squeezed her eyes shut as she felt her climax peaking. his body stilled as his demand hung over her head. she needed to move but his hands held her captive.

“loren, let me see your pleasure. share it.” his voice was a dark whisper that drew her in like an addict. lifting her eyelids, loren gasped as he forcefully thrust his body into hers. sensation broke like a wave as his eyes sank straight into her soul. they became one person in that moment as she felt her body clench around his and the deep jerk of his sex as it pumped his seed into her.

his lips landed on hers in a delicate kiss. his tongue traced her bottom lip before he caught a deeper taste from her mouth. he turned away from the door and walked back toward his bed with her still joined to him. it didn’t matter. her body lingered in the ripples of pleasure that were born deep inside her satisfied body. feeling him wrap his frame around her felt so complete. his arm bound her across his chest as he arranged her head onto his shoulder. their legs twisted as rourke pulled one of the sheets over her body.

74

rourke watched her sleep. from somewhere inside him came the need to just watch her. his body was too aroused for slumber, his staff still hard. the sweet smell from her body kept his aroused even after taking her twice. he smoothed a hand over her back

as she shifted in her sleep. her head lifted and he pressed it back to the center of his chest. loren was exactly where he’d been picturing her since he’d first seen her. she was staying there.

lifting his eyes, rourke caught the stars and their position. he knew the night sky intimately. he could find his direction or the time just by looking up. right then, he noticed just how few hours there were between holding loren and daybreak.

sunrise would bring reality crashing down on his shoulders. taking loren to bed wasn’t going to win him any popularity points with his men. rourke didn’t care. there was always a degree of distance that a commander kept from his men. but that detachment wasn’t going to solve their murder.

his mountain was loaded with suspects—including the woman in his arms. smoothing his hand over her head, rourke considered her face. it would be very simple

to probe her mind, seek out any guilt that might be buried inside her. but the truth was,

he didn’t want to know.

so at sunrise, rourke campbell intended to find his murderer. he was going to spend the rest of the night hoping the trail didn’t lead him back to loren.

* * * * *

there were too many minutes in an hour. loren rubbed her forehead for the hundredth time and tried to find some diversion from her thoughts. nothing surfaced in her fatigued mind to rescue her. tension was knotted around her throat like a noose. she gave a dry laugh at that idea. there was more than one person who would love

to see a noose around her neck today. the cutting looks coming her way from chris’

buddies were enough to draw blood.

well, she hadn’t killed him. even if she wasn’t sorry he was dead. guilt did surface right then. loren felt her face flame with a blush as she considered her actions.

she was a complete idiot.

reckless and foolish just didn’t seem harsh enough to describe her actions. how could she finally be free from one man and fall into another’s bed on the same night?

it took stupid to a new level.

walking down the hallway, loren looked in on toby. her son was still sleeping and she knew he would be right there ‘til tomorrow morning.

well, at least someone was resting. her body ached with fatigue. but it was the soreness inside her that really bothered her today.

75

the small discomfort reminded her of exactly where rourke had been the night before. it was blunt evidence that she didn’t have a shred of willpower anymore. the attraction was too deeply rooted inside her to ignore.

loren hissed under her breath as she turned around. the master bedroom was right

in front of her. she hurried past it but the slight scent of its master still drifted across her nose.

there was nothing to do but wait. she’d awoken to an empty bed and a brief note. well, it wasn’t a note. rourke had left his orders right next to her head.

loren bristled again but she wasn’t foolish enough to disobey the man. she was restricted to the house. period. that included the porch. but the looks coming in the kitchen windows told her to steer clear of even those limited escapes from the walls of the house.

so, she turned in another circle before heading for the den. dread followed her as she considered the very real fact that there was going to be more death on the mountain. murder had joined disease as both tried to claim more victims.

* * * * *

sean loren knew how to handle a weapon. rourke watched the steady motion of the older man’s hands as he reassembled the automatic rifle he’d just oiled. no hesitation, not even the slightest tremble to the man’s motions. it was all done with whisper-smooth efficiency. “i didn’t kill the bastard.” loren’s father lifted blue eyes to look at rourke before he returned to polishing the rifle in his hands. “wish i had.”

rourke snorted. sean loren lifted a cocky grin to his frustrated face.

“i’ve wanted to kill that asshole for years. but i wanted to tear him apart with my bare hands. a bullet was too good for him.”

“so why didn’t you take chris for a walk when you had the chance?” sean tilted his head as he considered rourke from eyes that were sharp as a razor.

“i didn’t want my grandson to be ashamed of me. had to set a good example for the boy, seeing as how his father wasn’t going to do the job. but i would have taken care of

it if chris ever came back around my family.” rourke nodded with understanding. sometimes a man had to choose between what

he wanted and what his family needed. but rourke believed the man and that left him with one less suspect on his list.

sean shouldered his rifle and let the weapon rest across his body. his hand was wrapped around the trigger in the perfect position to be used. the position spoke volumes about the man’s familiarity with combat. he kept his weapon hot and his body ready. sean loren expected trouble and rourke agreed with him.

76

“watch your six.”

sean loren nodded in response, but raised a finger at rourke before issuing his own warning.

“i’m planning on watching yours, sir.” sean loren’s face set rock-hard as rourke lifted an eyebrow at him.

“i ain’t worth a kill. but it’s mighty hard for a man to prove himself innocent when he’s dead. wouldn’t be any too hard to pin that kill on you, major.”

rourke nodded and turned away. the older man was right. it would take about five minutes of investigation to determine that he had both the motive and the weapon

to fire the shot that killed his man.

the murder didn’t make sense. chris had been reasonably well-liked in his unit. the man was pure ranger, he lived for the next mission. that left rourke with only loren on his list of suspects with motive.

motive she had, but the facts didn’t support her guilt entirely either.

maybe if she’d given up her fight and yielded to his pursuit before her husband was dead, she’d have the reason. but she hadn’t committed adultery.

neither had she signed those divorce papers. rourke considered his house with hard eyes. the need to know was burning a hole in his mind.

the idea that someone could remove loren from his life made that flame burn higher. no one was going to get between them. loren was staying right were she was ‘til he figured out exactly why he was drawn to her so completely.

the sun was setting and rourke climbed further into the forest.

his senses were alive tonight. the rules of the quarantine didn’t seem to be keeping his brother away. rourke could feel jared as the man approached him.

propping his shoulders against a tree, rourke pulled his gun from its holster and checked the chamber. the forest was silent. rourke raised his head as jared slipped silently into view. his brother’s eyes ran down his body before he returned them to rourke’s face.

a small box came sailing through the air. rourke caught it with his left hand as he tucked his gun back into his holster with his right hand.

turning the box up to catch the first moonlight of the night, rourke read the label on it.

“you’ve got a lousy sense of humor, jared.” rourke tossed the box of condoms back

at his brother.

“i’m dead serious.” the box came back to rourke as he frowned at jared. so maybe

he hadn’t considered protection last night. that didn’t mean he needed jared to remind him.

“i remember the intensity, rourke. i’ll be surprised if you remember to use them even after i brought them to you.” rourke lowered his eyes to the box in question before he stuffed it into his pocket. jared had a point. his brother’s wife had conceived their child when suspicion still

77

clouded

their relationship.

he

and

loren didn’t

need any

more

immediate

complications.

“there’s nothing wrong with my brain, jared. my memory isn’t attached to my genitals.”

jared slowly grinned, and rourke snorted at the smug expression.

jared’s lips continued to rise until he was smiling like a smart-ass.

“you’ve got it bad, rourke. terminal unless i miss my guess.”

“shut up.”

jared shook his head, but clamped his mouth closed. the stress bleeding from his brother stole the humor from him. extreme emotions could never be completely hidden from each other. even if their true talent was in tracking, they were psychics.

ah hell. rourke cursed again as he felt his brother sifting across his mind. he was strong enough to throw a barrier up but jared wouldn’t tolerate that for long. suspicion was an evil demon. right then it was chewing on his thoughts as his brother tried to discover what caused it.

“leave it alone, jared.”

“i’d rather settle it.”

rourke pushed away from the tree. “i’ll deal with loren.”

“let me probe her mind. she doesn’t need to like me.” jared faced off with his brother. “besides, she can get around to forgiving me later.”

rourke hooked his hands into his belt. the offer was tempting for about three seconds. probing the mind was brutal on the subject. a single contact had sent loren into shock the first time. there was no way rourke would allow a repeat of the incident.

“she’s my woman, jared.”

the smile crawled back onto his brother’s face as rourke silently groaned. the words just slipped out. he wasn’t sure exactly where they’d come from, only that he meant them.

“definitely terminal.”