Redeeming Justice (16 page)

He thought of his feisty Spanish grandmother who had been quite a beauty in her time.
One day he overheard her passing on some grandmotherly wisdom to his sisters that
had cracked him up. She’d told them that real men expected their women to be ladies
in public and harlots in private. The sentiment proved to be more than true in Alex’s
case.

Meghan eventually wandered over to him, scrolling through the pictures she’d taken
and showed him one that really was spectacular.

“I can’t get over all the colors in the landscape. Anyone who thinks the desert is
boring is either blind or dumb.”

He replied, “I love it here. No matter how many times I come to this spot, I see something
different.” Right then he was referring to how she looked against the desert backdrop
– committing everything about it to memory. “Could you send me that jpeg, Meghan?
I’d like to blow it up and hang it in my study.”

Looking surprised, she said, “Seriously?”

“Yeah. You have a photographer’s eye. It’s cool how you captured the saguaro cactus
in the foreground against the afternoon sun lighting up the rock formations.”

“Thanks,” she said, clearly pleased with his comment. “I’ve got thousands of pictures
from my adventures that I pick through and put in digital scrapbooking pages. I’m
glad you like this one. It’s definitely a keeper.”

It startled him when she sat on the tailgate and in one fluid move, tucked her legs
under her bottom and stood up.
Shit.
If he leaned a little to the left, he’d probably get a good view of what was under
her dress. Moving back a few paces she started clicking away, and then guilelessly
began snapping overhead shots that looked down at him where he leaned, feeding doggie
treats to Zeus.

“What the hell are you doing woman?” he teased.

She grinned mischievously. “Couldn’t help it. You’ve got the look of a cowboy dressed
in your jeans and boots with the desert in the background. Maybe I’ll Photoshop in
a hat and a horse on a tether later!’ she joked.

He snorted with amusement and flashed her a wry grin. “I look like a king size dork
in a Stetson, but I do have one if that’s what floats your boat.”

The image of him wearing nothing but a cowboy hat, slam fucking her from behind against
the side of the truck flared in her mind, making her blush beet red.

She nearly died of embarrassment when he noticed and chuckled. “I know a dirty thought
when I see one, Meghan. Care to share?”

“No, I do not!” She laughed primly as though naughty thoughts were something ladies
did not speak of. She shot him a pout when he threw back his head and laughed.

Perching precariously on a wheel well in the bed of the truck, she caught a flare
in his eyes. He quickly looked away, clearing his throat in the process, making her
wonder if she’d given him a panty flash when she sat down.

To her surprise, Zeus moved closer and leaned against her leg protectively. Girl power?
The thought was more than just a little amusing. While the female Lab had been accepting
of her presence, she suspected if the damn dog wanted to, she could really be a problem.
Alex and Zeus clearly adored each other.

Leaning down, she wrapped her arms around the dog’s neck and nuzzled into her shiny
coat, whispering, “We’re going to be good friends, you and I.” The dog responded with
a quick lick along the side of her face making her giggle as she sat back, muttering,
“Yay! Dog kisses!” Meghan was stunned when she looked at Alex and found him, iPhone
in hand, taking a picture of his own.

“What are you doing?” she barked with laughter.

“Are you kidding? That’s going up on Facebook! Bragging rights. Me and two beautiful
females, alone in the desert.” He wagged his eyebrows suggestively making her laugh
all the harder.

Putting out his hand, he said, “C’mon lady. Jump down and let’s hide in the truck
for a bit. It’s hotter than the lobby of hell right now and your shoulders are starting
to turn pink. Gotta get you out of the sun.”

God. He was so damn cute. When she took his hand, a tingle of excitement shot up her
arm making her nipples peak and rub against the smocking on her dress. The best part
though was how he put his hands on her waist and swung her out of the truck bed to
land at his feet. Some deliciously female contrivance made her wobble slightly so
she could put her hands on his shoulders for balance.

With him gripping her waist and her hands on his body, they were in perfect alignment
for a kiss. She was thrilled when he went for it. This time, unlike their previous
kisses, he took her lips tenderly, almost reverently, tasting and nibbling on her
mouth as if she were a gourmet delicacy. It was heaven.

It didn’t last long. He hadn’t been kidding about the sun and the heat. Shuffling
her along to the door of the truck, he opened it and held her camera while she shimmied
in. When he lifted into the driver’s seat and slammed the door, she welcomed the air
conditioning.

“Better get you some sunscreen,” he told her with a heavy, serious tone.

“Oh, I’m good. Slimed head to toe with some good old-fashioned SPF One Million. The
curse o’ the Emerald Isle,” she quipped in a dramatic Irish brogue.

He ran a finger along one of her straps and moved it enough to see a sunburn line
forming on her shoulders. The look he gave her suggested that even a million wasn’t
enough sun protection for her pale skin.

“I need a parasol,” she told him. She’d been looking for something suitable but hadn’t
found anything yet.

“A what?” he asked.

“You know – a parasol. Think umbrella, but not.”

“An umbrella but not an umbrella?”

“Exactly!” she laughed.

He chuckled. “And women wonder why men don’t understand them.”

She grinned at him. “Google it when you get a chance and all will become clear.”

He adjusted the flow on the air vents and asked, “Cooled off yet?”

“Uh, sure. Whatever.” Maybe her skin had cooled down but the simmering sexual excitement?
Not so much.

“Hmmm. Didn’t sound all that convincing. Wanna’ try again?”

Meghan knew her naughty side was pushing to the front of the line to answer but instead
of cutting it off before she did something stupid, she just went with it.

“My skin has cooled off nicely, Major.” She let the innuendo of more hang in the air.

He picked up on it. “But….?”

“
But
. Being this close to you, with nobody around for miles, makes me hot in other ways.”

His eyes literally bugged out of his head. “Meghan…” he growled, low and deep, the
red-flag apparent in his voice.

“Mmm,” she cut in. “I think we’ve been down this road before. First you growl a warning
and then I moan your name
because really, I’m dying for you to kiss me again.”

It almost killed her when he didn’t say anything. She could see that his respiration
picked up by the rapid rise and fall of his chest but other than that he was still
and silent.

“I’m being too pushy, aren’t I? God. I feel like such a tool,” she groaned hiding
her face in her hands. “Forget what I said. I can tell I’m making you uncomfortable,
but I can’t pretend I’m not wildly attracted to you, Major.”

“Dammit, Meghan. The feeling is mutual and you know it but it’s so fucking complicated
…”

“Why is it complicated? When do I get to know what the hell is going on in that mind
of yours? Telling me you fucked up my life one minute then kissing me like your salvation
depended on it…well, you’re putting out mixed signals.”

She caught his slight wince when she mentioned salvation and stored the impression
away for later consideration. Meghan wasn’t sure with her limited experience that
she was woman enough for such a complex man. He was fighting the attraction, and she
didn’t know why or what she should do about it, if anything. Maybe it just wasn’t
meant to be.

But if that was the case, why had the trajectory of her life brought her to this secluded
corner of the Sonoran Desert? To get her heart ripped out the first time she genuinely
felt drawn to someone? That didn’t seem quite fair. It wasn’t like she’d been on a
mission to seduce a man she only knew through letters. Far from it. What was happening
between them could not have been anticipated. When she arrived on his doorstep it
was to settle an old debt based on gratitude. That her feelings turned wickedly intimate
in supersonic time was a complete and total surprise.

He looked at her, his eyes piercing and haunted. She could see the conflict reflected
there. Her presence was causing him pain and though she still didn’t know why, she
liked him too much to ignore his suffering.

“Maybe we should call it a day,” she whispered as agony flooded her soul.

“No,” he grumbled. “Even if you left right now, it wouldn’t stop me from wanting you.
I don’t think anything could change that.”

Her mouth dropped open at his blunt honesty.

“I can’t help wanting to push you down on this seat, right now and rip your panties
off with my teeth so I can taste every inch of your magnificent body. From the second
you walked through my door I’ve thought of nothing but being inside you, Meghan. I
want to fuck you so hard that you won’t be able to walk afterward. Be so deep that
you’ll feel the imprint of my cock forever. Watching you come has become like an obsession
and I don’t know what to do about it.”

Her female core tightened with each word until the ache became almost unbearable.
She was practically panting and deeply aware of the arousal drenching the panties
he wanted to tear to shreds. If he felt that way, what was holding him back? It wasn’t
like she hadn’t willingly gone into his arms every chance she got.

Maybe she should tell him how turned on his words made her. Tell him that all those
feelings he was experiencing were mutual. “Alex,” she murmured, putting her hand on
his thigh.

“Oh Christ – don’t touch me,” he growled. “I can’t do this. It’s not right. For you.”

“Why don’t you let me decide what’s best for me?”

“Because you don’t know the truth. Because you don’t see the dark hole inside me.
Because every fucked up thing from my past would suck the light right out of you and
I’ve taken enough already. Because the things I want to do to you would make you run
for the hills.”

He was killing her with his torment and doubts. She wanted to take whatever it was
that ripped apart his soul and make it better. Did he think she would honestly run
away from him if the power of his need was unleashed? She wasn’t stupid, and she was
more than convinced that was part of why she was so drawn to him. Meghan wanted him
to take her. To pin her down and control her. Make her scream his name while he was
buried in her body. She knew without a doubt he’d be friggin’ glorious in his domination;
all primitive male and powerful. The thought gave her the chills.

Scooting closer, she put a hand against his cheek so he had to look at her. If it
was the last thing she ever did, Meghan was going to take away the look of utter despair
in his eyes.

Feeling that he needed her to give herself to him she whispered, “You haven’t taken
anything. I’m giving it to you. All of it. All of me.
Whatever
you need, I’m yours.”

She kissed him gently on the mouth. A lover’s kiss full of emotion—trusting, innocent—as
she meant it to be. Sensing he was a stranger to tenderness, Meghan responded with
an overdose of it as she put her hand on the nape of his neck and pressed wet, open
mouth kisses all over his face, telling him with her lips how much she wanted to be
with him. Give herself over to his passion.

“Let me love you, baby,” she purred in his ear as she felt a great shudder tear through
him that fired her up even more. Wrenching the t-shirt from his jeans, she wasted
no time putting her hands against his skin.

Sucking gently on the lobe of his ear she whispered, “I want to touch you Alex. Want
to feel your body pressed to mine.”

He was trembling, trying valiantly to stay in control. She wasn’t having it. He might
not realize it yet but this big man with the tortured soul belonged to her in every
way a man could. She was sure of it.

When his head fell back and a groan rumbled up from his chest, she put her mouth on
his neck and bit down hard as her hands swept under his t-shirt, greedily caressing
his hair covered, hard-muscled chest. It was Meghan’s turn to shudder when her fingers
found the hard nubs of his nipples. It wasn’t enough. She needed to see him too.

Mangling the t-shirt in desperate hands, she managed to push it over his head, forcing
him to pull his arms through the sleeves. Damn. He really was magnificent with his
huge muscular chest made so very appealing with a covering of dark body hair that
matched the beard on his face.

She crawled onto his lap, straddling him with ease as her sundress bunched around
her the top of thighs. His hands grabbed her hips and held on tight. The unmistakable
proof of the desire he was trying to avoid was pressed against her mound. Only her
damp panties and his jeans kept their bodies apart.

With her hands mapping every inch of his torso, she fell on his mouth in a ravenous
frenzy, nipping and biting at his full bottom lip, sucking it into her mouth as soft
moans of pleasure filled the truck. Kissing Alex was like exploring paradise. He tasted
like the sun, his breath hot as the Arizona desert. When their tongues mated he growled,
deep and low. And then the kiss became his.

A flare of want that reminded her how undeniably male he was overtook her senses.
As he deepened the kiss, Meghan fell into his powerful magnetism. Her fingers pinched
his nipples, earning a grunt of approval while he clutched at her hips as he ground
his erection against her heated center.

The air in the truck became heavy as they built a raging inferno of lust and desire.
There wasn’t enough air conditioning in the world to cool the heat coming off their
bodies. Meghan was raking her fingers through the hair on his chest, moving across
his abdomen on a beeline to the snap of his jeans when he grabbed a fistful of her
curls and jerked her head back. She cried out, not from the aggressive way he commanded
her but from the loss of his lips against hers. She struggled to get back at his mouth
but he wouldn’t allow it.