Redeeming Justice (13 page)

“Oh no!” she assured him. “I looked it up on Google.”

“For real?”

She squeezed his hand and leaned closer, telling him in a serious mock whisper, “It’s
a teacher thing. I Google just about everything.”

He led her to the rear of the stable, near the tack room where a stall was piled with
hay bales. Grabbing a horse blanket he threw it over a two bale stack at the foot
of a much higher stack and invited her to sit down. It was almost like a hay couch
made just for them.

“Comfortable?” he asked her as she wiggled that majestic ass of hers until she found
the perfect spot. When she was settled, she patted the empty space at her side for
him to join her. He practically dove on top of her right then and there.

The minute he sat beside her she raised her legs up straight and giggled. “Look! I’ve
got cowboy boots! Lacey leant them to me.”

“Very nice but you’ll need a pair of your own if you want to be a real cowgirl. There’s
a place not far from here where we can go to get you properly kitted out. Boots. Hat.
Gloves. You name it.”

Her gasp of delight wrapped around his heart a second before she threw herself onto
his chest and squeezed the living daylights out of him in a bear hug.

“Thank you sooooo much, Alex. This is much better than sitting in a hotel room and
watching things from the sidelines.”

He couldn’t breathe and not from the intensity of her hug. The moment she plastered
herself against him he caught a whiff of her sweet scent mixed with sweat and the
smell of horses, all of which blended perfectly into one huge wallop of sensory overload.

“Meghan,” he growled.

She loosened her embrace and looked at him with a question forming on her lips. “Wha…?”

He ground out an earthy swear word and grabbed her by the nape of her neck, aggressively
pulling her into him as his mouth crashed onto hers.

There was nothing gentle or persuasive about this kiss. It was one hundred percent
demand as he devoured her mouth, thrusting his tongue past her lips. She answered
a heartbeat later, clutching at the front of his shirt and moaning into his mouth.

She tasted like chocolate and coffee and something else he couldn’t quite pin down.
Sucking on her tongue he invited her to explore his mouth, grunting his approval when
she flicked her tongue quickly against his.

Still holding her by the nape of her neck, he shifted his hand to fist her ponytail
of curls and yanked her head back as his mouth backed off so she could catch her breath.
Not wanting to lose a second of opportunity to greedily consume everything she had
to offer, he latched onto her neck as he held her still. She responded with a surprised
yelp followed by a deep shudder as she arched her head back giving him total access.

With her hands crushed between them she grabbed at his shirt and held on tight as
he licked her delicious skin from ear to collarbone with the flat of his tongue, then
sank his teeth into the soft spot where her neck joined her shoulder. Pulling a hand
free she put it on his head, spearing her fingers into his hair and encouraged him
on.

Moving back to her mouth, Alex nipped and licked at her lips as she panted and quivered
against him. When her other arm slid around his back and dug her fingernails into
him he lost it.

Still fisting her hair, he pushed his free hand under her ass and pulled her forward
enough that he could press his body down into hers. God almighty, she fit his perfectly.
He kneaded her bottom through her jeans and thoroughly mapped every inch of her backside.

They were half reclining, as he let his desire for her have free reign, kissing her
voraciously, thrusting his tongue in an approximation of what he wanted to do with
another part of his anatomy. When she lifted one of her legs and wrapped it possessively
around his hips he was a goner.

She wasn’t going anywhere, not with his hard, muscular body pinning her to the hay
stack, so he released her hair and did the only thing he could with his free hand
– he reached for one of her voluptuous breasts and got lost in the exquisite sensation
of massaging the soft mound that was way more than a simple handful. He was groaning,
she was whimpering. It was magic.

Meghan was on fire. Like seriously, a ten-alarm blaze. He might be kissing her reluctantly
but that didn’t stop him from going deep. His wide tongue sweeping along hers and
exploring the recesses of her mouth produced not just a torrent of saliva but a different
kind of flood between her legs.

When she’d wrapped a leg around his thighs and pressed against him, her panties drenched
with arousal. It was wild, hot, and very, very sexy. If they hadn’t been in an awkward
position and in a spot where anyone could come upon them at any minute, she would
have been shamelessly grinding against the bulge she felt pressed against her core.

His lips feasted on her quivering mouth. She loved the way his beard scraped against
her skin but nothing prepared her for how it felt when he fondled her breast. Even
through her clothing she could sense the heat coming off his hands and the power of
his touch.

She knew they were quickly getting out of control but she didn’t want to stop. The
inferno they’d created with their desire was strong and powerful. Meghan shuddered
thinking about what it would be like to feel his naked body against her own. He was
demanding and aggressive, and she loved every second of it. She might be a Ball Busting
Boston Bitch but at this moment, she was putty in his hands. She felt shameless in
her greedy need for more. A hand on her ass, another molding her breast to his touch
and his tongue moving seductively in her mouth – she was lost.

A sound found its way into her consciousness that wasn’t her moaning or his earthy
grunts. He must have heard it too because they both started, coming back to reality
at the same moment. As the intensity of the response to what they were doing to each
other started to back off, Meghan wanted to scream in frustration that this perfect
moment was being forced to an end.

His mouth slowly pulled away from hers but his hand remained on her backside, holding
her firmly against him, as the other gradually released her breast. Still pinned together
he looked into her eyes for a long moment as they each struggled to catch their breath.

He didn’t push her away this time. Instead he stayed on top of her even after she
dropped her leg from around his thigh. She realized her nails had been digging into
his back and she’d again been energetically clutching at his hair so she reluctantly
eased both her hands but didn’t remove them.

In a voice made rough with arousal he told her, “You tempt me in ways that wreck my
resolve to keep away from you.”

She answered, surprised how husky and seductive she sounded. “But I don’t want you
to. Stay away that is.”

He looked almost pained by her words. “You should, Meghan. I swear to God that you
should.”

She didn’t understand. “Do you want to hurt me?” she asked. It was the only question
that made sense to her.

“No. Of course not.” Well, he did. But not in the way she meant.

“Then why should I want you to stay away, Alex
? Why
? Please tell me what’s going on.”

He laid his forehead against hers for a brief second and then sat up slowly, bringing
her shaking body with him. She didn’t like the look of bleak desolation that crossed
his face. It pained her to see him like that.

“Does this have something to do with David?” she whispered as he tried to right them
on the hay bale. “It does. I can feel it.” She bit down on her lip and struggled with
a truth she’d never spoken before. Maybe it was time.

He looked at her and nodded solemnly when she mentioned David’s name, then sighed
deeply and glanced away. “I’m not quite the war hero you think, sweetheart.”

Meghan melted a little bit at the term of endearment he used. She’d never been anyone’s
sweetheart before. Did he know how much he gave away with that one word? She doubted
it. He was trying too hard to fight what was happening between them. It told her a
lot about how affected he was by the way they went up in flames each time they touched.

“Alex,” she muttered slowly. “I think there’s something I should tell you about me
and David.”

The sound they heard moments earlier was getting louder. Their private interlude was
quickly coming to an end. He stood up holding out his hand to assist her from the
hay bale. Facing her as he was, she had a clear view of the massive bulge straining
against the front of his pants. She looked at it and then up at him with wide eyes.
When she wet her lips with her tongue he muttered darkly under his breath. “Shit.”

Hauling her unceremoniously to her feet, he grabbed her chin with strong fingers and
dove onto her mouth for a bruising kiss that left little doubt how turned on he was
or how completely unresisting she was. When the kiss ended, he lingered long enough
to run his tongue along her pulsing lips, making her groan aloud.

“We need to talk but not here and not now.”

She nodded and told him, “I’m having lunch with the ladies and then we’re going to
work out an exercise program that they can do for the rest of their pregnancies.”

“That’s nice of you. I’m sure they’ll get a kick out of it. Tori and Lacey are sort
of outnumbered around here so having another woman around is like a slice of heaven
for them.”

“Are you kidding? Helping is what I do best. I’m thrilled to share what I know and
coming from a testosterone-dominated environment myself, I know all to well how it
feels to be odd man out. Or woman out, actually.”

He smiled at her. The moment passing between them felt so achingly perfect.

“Will everyone be at the main house again for dinner?”

“Not if I don’t want them to be,” he answered quickly.

“Maybe we can talk later then.”

He leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. “Let’s just play this by ear and see
what happens.”

She might not have a shitload of experience with men, but she did have the benefit
of having lived her whole life with a crew of strong-willed brothers and a very opinionated
father—she knew a male-evasion when she heard one.

“You’re going to have to tell me sooner or later.”

“I know,” he said. “It’s not easy for me to talk about. Need some time to work it
out in my head.”

She reached up and feathered his messy hair away from his forehead then cupped her
hand against the side of his face. “Don’t push me away again, alright?”

“You may want to push
me
away, Meghan.”

“Oh, I seriously doubt that Major. You underestimate my tenacity. It’s an Irish thing.
We redheads don’t scare all that easily.”

After a light lunch with Tori and Lacey, Meghan hauled out her laptop and started
running them through a series of videos she had on her hard drive that specifically
addressed the benefits of yoga stretches for all types of physical conditions.

She was concerned about the edema Tori had but her mind was quickly eased when she
told her the doctor said it wouldn’t be so much of an issue if only she’d learn to
stay off her feet. He also told her some regular exercise would help alleviate the
swelling. As her belly gets bigger she might experience even more swelling so getting
into a simple yoga routine would actually be good to help keep the blood flowing properly
throughout her body.

Meghan enjoyed their time together. Both ladies were smart, funny, and clearly head
over heels in love with their husbands. They were also fiercely protective of all
things Justice, particularly Alex.

“May we ask you something, Meghan?” Lacey questioned as she and Tori exchanged a look.

“Uh. Okay,” she answered not sure where this was going.

“How is it that you know Alex? He didn’t say last night, and we’re curious. You two
seem to be pretty familiar with one another but…” She shrugged, letting the rest of
her comment hang in the ether.