Taken by Lora Leigh
It was the danger of the job that some women couldn’t handle. And he would have worried that Raven couldn’t handle it, if he didn’t know for a fact that each mission Morganna knew he was on, she and Raven waited out together. Laughing, joking, calling him names, and insulting him to hell and back, as reported by his sister. But she handled it. Just as Morganna helped Raven handle Clint’s absences. They had a support system they had relied on most of their lives.
She was stronger than she thought was, Reno reflected, as he pulled into the driveway behind her car. He watched, eyes narrowed as she flounced out of the car, that little black dress flirting with her upper thighs as it whipped around her in a cloud of silk.
More slowly, Reno got out of the truck. Slow and careful, he cautioned himself. He had lost it at the club. Hell, he had nearly fucked her in that dark corner for everyone to see.
“Go away, Reno,” she snarled as she unlocked the front door. “I don’t want to see or talk to you.”
At least she didn’t try to slam the door in his face. She pushed into the house, leaving it wide open for him. Reno controlled the smile that wanted to touch his lips. She could yell until hell froze over, but he knew her. Inside out and upside down, he knew her, loved her, and he would be damned if he was going to let her find excuses to throw him out of her life.
“Aren’t you tired of being such a coward, Raven?” he said as he followed her inside, closing and locking the door behind him.
She whirled around, the long, sleek golden brown curls that made his hands itch fanning around her slender body.
“Me? A coward?” An imperious thumb pointed into her chest. “I’m a realist, Reno. Unlike you, I prefer to see the truth rather than the pretty lies you want to feed me.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, slowly. “When, Raven, did I ever lie to you?”
“Every time you touched me,” she yelled back at him, thinking of the past two years, the teasing kisses and flirtatious touching. “Pretending it was something light, something friendly. You want it all, don’t you, Reno?”
“Hell, yes!” he snapped, facing her across the room, knowing if he got too close, there was no way he could keep from touching her. “I never pretended any different, Raven. You were the one who kept running, who kept refusing to face facts. You’re the liar, Raven, not me.”
“I never lied to you.” Her hands swiped through her hair, frustration and pain evident on her face. “I told you I couldn’t handle you. I couldn’t handle the kind of relationship you want from me.”
“Fuck that,” he growled. “I don’t want just a damned relationship with you, Raven. I want forever. And you knew it all along.”
Raven stared at him wide-eyed.
“No…”
“Yes, by God, you did,” he bit out. “You’d flit around, teasing and flirting, a little kiss here and there, a pet and a pat, and you thought that would be enough to hold me off. Now you’re finding out otherwise and it scares the hell out of you.”
Determination straightened her shoulders and glittered in her eyes. “I want you to leave.” Her voice was rough, ragged with emotion. “Leave and don’t come back, Reno.”
A mocking smile twisted his lips. “Yeah, I guess you do.” He crossed his arms over his chest again, restraining the need to hold her, to promise that everything would be okay. “If I leave,” he continued, “you’ll keep hiding your head in the sand, pretending that somehow, some way, if I’m killed in action, then it won’t hurt. You’ll survive it without a bottle in your hand and your heart will remain intact.”
He watched her pale, the color leaching from her face as she stared back at him in shock.
“Do you really think you can do it, Raven?” he asked softly. “Do you think it won’t hurt? Do you think you have your heart packed away nice and tight where nothing or no one can break it?”
“Stop.” Her voice shook, breaking his heart. But her rejection hurt worse. It seared his soul.
He moved toward her then, gripping her shoulders before she could evade him, staring down at her as he fought his own raging emotions.
“Will it work?” He wanted to make her see the truth. “Look at me, Raven. If I die tomorrow, will it hurt any less than it would if we had a year or twenty together? Will you lay me in the ground any easier?”
“Oh God!” She shuddered, her eyes filling with tears as she stared up at him in misery. “I couldn’t stand it. Don’t you see, Reno? I couldn’t stand it if something happened to you.”
Those tears. He couldn’t handle her tears. God, don’t let her cry—it made him want to kill someone. And since he was the one causing the tears, that didn’t leave many options.
“You don’t understand,” she said, dashing away her tears. “What if I’m like my mother? I don’t have the courage to face that.”
“The hell you don’t,” he said, and swooped down, taking her lips, forcing her head back against the wall as he took the kiss, as he needed to take her heart. Fully. Completely. And her response was everything he knew it could be, everything he knew she kept hidden inside her soul.
Her lips opened, her tongue reaching out for his, suckling him inside the warmth of her mouth as she lifted to him, pressing the hard tips of her nipples into his chest as her arms wrapped tight around his neck, her hands gripping his head.
With a ragged growl, he pulled her closer, lifting her into his arms and turning for the staircase. If this was all he could have, then he would take it. But by God, he would show her. If it was the last thing he managed, he would show her exactly what she was throwing away.
chapter 7
the expression on his face was like none she had seen before. Powerful, dominant, the hard planes and angles tightened into sharp relief as he moved.
“Reno.” The protest was halted by the simple means of his lips covering hers again as his hands gripped the rounded curves of her buttocks, pulling her up and flush against the thick cock ridged behind the fly of his jeans.
Heat flared instantly, spreading from her pussy through the rest of her body as her hands gripped his shoulders and she arched closer. She couldn’t imagine never knowing this again, never being held by him, loved by him.
Twisting in his grip, she fought him for the kiss, as desperately hungry for him as he seemed to be for her. His hands clenched the flesh of her rear, pulling at the curves until an erotic, sharp little tingle pierced the small entrance of her anus at the separation of the flesh.
“Feel it, Raven. Feel how sweet and hot it is. That doesn’t just go away, baby; it haunts and eats at the soul and makes you so fucking hungry for it, you think you’ll go crazy without it. That’s how I’ve been. That’s what tears at me every minute we’re apart. Needing this. Your taste, your touch.”
She stared up at him, knowing she couldn’t refute his words. The memory of those brief, heated kisses in the past, his arms surrounding her, had tormented her. She needed him, needed him until it terrified her, but it made her aware of the weakness of her heart and the battle she was losing to hold it aloof.
Then the world spun around her as he lifted her in his arms, ignoring her instinctive protest as he strode across the room and quickly upstairs.
“Reno … you’re taking over again,” she gasped as he stepped into her bedroom, lowering her feet to the floor before pulling her back against him once again.
“I’m not taking you fast enough,” he growled, bending his head as he tilted hers back, catching her lips in a kiss that stole her objections, just as it stole her breath.
He chuckled, the sound rough and strained as she worked her hands between them, moving for the buttons that held his cock prisoner. She wasn’t going to stand there, allowing him to control her, to dominate her so easily. She couldn’t deny the pleasure, but she could make him just as crazy as he was making her.
“No, no. Bad girl.” His hands caught hers as he turned her around quickly, pulling her back against his chest as one hard arm locked around her waist. ?
She blinked at the image in the large mirror that sat atop the chest. Reno’s hand moved along her shoulder, lowering the strap of her dress down her arm until the draped bodice fell away from the swollen curve of her breast.
The red lace of her bra showed up clearly against her pale skin, the picture reflected back at her was one of a forbidden taste of sensual excitement. He stood head and shoulders above her, staring down at her as he stripped the dress from her upper body, his lips moving over her neck and shoulder as the material dropped to the floor.
Raven stared into the mirror, seeing him as he surrounded her, a broad, powerful male animal intent on possession. His gaze met hers in the mirror, his gray eyes nearly black, his expression tight, the skin stretched tight across his high cheekbones, the fight for control blatantly evident.
She felt the breath lock in her chest at the image he presented. Boldly, unapologetically male. Possessive. Dominant. He held her and meant it.
“Such a pretty little bad girl,” he whispered then. “Do you know what happens to bad girls, Raven? Bad little girls who refuse to admit what they see staring them in the face?”
She almost came from the sound of his voice alone. She felt her womb convulse, stealing her breath and her senses as his hands smoothed up her waist and cupped her engorged breasts in a firm, heated grip. Devilish thumbs rasped over the peaks, sending flares of brilliant heat washing through her.
The sight of those broad, darkly tanned hands cupping the swollen mounds of her breasts was highly erotic. He was so strong, yet his grip was firm, gentle. There was no pain, no sense of force, just pleasure and hunger and need that spread from those hands to her body and left her trembling in arousal.
“You really are a pervert.” Unfortunately, it was turning her on more than it should.
“Oh baby, you have no idea,” he whispered, his eyes, so filled with emotion and lust, meeting hers in the mirror as he loosened the catch of her bra. “But I intend to show you. I’m about to let you get very well acquainted with every perverted fantasy I’ve ever had about you.”
The bra dropped to the floor.
Raven gasped at the sight of the bare skin as his fingers, the backs of his fingers only, traced the curve of her breasts, rasped over the hard points of her nipples. Electric pleasure sizzled though her nerve endings, sending pulses of sensation whipping over flesh. She could feel her juices easing past her vagina, dampening the bare folds of her pussy as she pressed closer, rubbing her buttocks against his erection.
He wasn’t the only one who could tease. She might not have his experience, but her arousal made up for it. She needed him, needed his touch, his kiss, the flames of pleasure that surrounded her and struck into the core of her being as he held her.
“Vixen,” he growled roughly, pressing his cock tighter against her rear. “You keep teasing me with that little ass and you’ll get more than you bargained for.”
Her eyes widened as she blinked at his image in the mirror. He looked serious.
“You wouldn’t.” She arched against him as one hand slid down her stomach, his palm cupping the heated contours of her pussy through the lace and silk of the thong that seemed more a tease than any actual covering.
She stared at the image they made—sexual, hungry. His hand cupped her possessively, his fingers curving between her thighs, rasping against the material of the panties over her swollen flesh.
“Don’t bet on it,” he growled at her ear. “But first, I have to show you how I punish bad little girls.”
She had only a second to gasp in shock as he lifted her from her feet, backed to the bed, and sat down heavily before pressing her over his legs.
“You wouldn’t! Dammit, Reno!”
His hand landed on the upraised flesh of her butt, sending sensation shooting to her clit. She jerked, shocked, amazed. She had known, that first time he spanked her so long ago, that a little pain could be an incredible turn-on. But this was different. His bare hand applied to her naked ass sent her flesh blooming with heat, and her pussy spasming in pleasure.
“Beautiful.” His fingers trailed over the rounded flesh before his hand lifted, falling again on the opposite cheek with the same devastating effect.
“Reno, this isn’t a good idea.” Her pussy was creaming furiously as she shuddered in his grip.
He slid his fingers under the silken strap of material that ran between the cheeks of her rear. “Are you sure, Raven? I think it’s a very good idea.”
Raven groaned as she felt the silk of the thong rasping over her cunt, caressing the swollen nub of her clit as she writhed on his lap. Just when she thought he must have surely forgotten his previous intentions, his hand rose and landed on her bare butt again, causing her womb to convulse as she felt her juices flowing from her pussy.
She was quivering, shuddering with a fiery pleasure as he spanked her with an erotic precision that had her screaming out with each strike against her flesh. The pleasure whipping through her body seared her from the inside out and left her gasping, nearly screaming in arousal.
“Reno, this isn’t fair.” She moaned, jerking against him as one blow nearly threw her into orgasm, the pleasure-pain was so intense.
“No, Raven, what isn’t fair is your denial.” His hand landed again, making her burn as she screamed out beneath the fiery lash. “What isn’t fair is aching for you, loving you, and having to fight you every damned step of the way—” Smack! “—when we both—” Smack! “know—” Smack! “exactly how you feel.…”
She was arching back to his hand and begging for more, so close to climax, she could feel it shuddering through her, clenching in her womb as he suddenly lifted her, tossing her to the bed as he rose to his feet.
Rolling to her back, Raven came to her knees aggressively, baring her teeth in an arousal so deep, so hot, she knew it was burning her out of control. Before he could loosen the first metal button of his jeans, her fingers were there, pushing his out of the way, loosening his jeans until the rigid length of his cock jutted through the open fabric.
Thick and heavily veined, the flared head broad and ruddy, it was a treat Raven couldn’t refuse any longer. Her eyes lifted, meeting Reno’s stormy gaze as her head lowered, her tongue swiping over the small pearl of liquid that collected on the tip. His fingers threaded through her hair as her lips parted, covering the hot flesh with greedy hunger.
Her lips and mouth moved on him as her fingers enclosed the silken length. He was like iron encased in silk, hot and heavy, an erotic weapon of such sensual destruction that she was left helpless in the face of their combined needs.
Her mouth enclosed him, tightened as her tongue flickered over the sensitive head and she began a smooth, firm, sucking action that had a harsh groan ripping from his throat as his fingers tightened further in her hair.
A sense of power filled her, a heady feminine thrill that she held such a sensual, sexual force in the very palm of her hand. It was exhilarating, shattering, more arousing than anything she could have imagined.
Her mouth moved on him in ever increasing demand, feeling the hard throb of blood just under the flesh, feeling the thick erection pulse and throb as he groaned her name in a thick, guttural tone.
One hand moved to the heavy sac just below the straining shaft, her fingers cupping the taut flesh as her other hand stroked the length that her mouth couldn’t consume. She moaned around the fullness that thrust demandingly between her lips, hungry for the heat and taste of him.
“Enough,” he suddenly growled, his hands tightening in her hair as he pulled back.
But not before he spilled a few precious drops of semen on her tongue. Hot, salty, male, the taste sent her senses spiraling as she fought his hold, eager for more.
“That’s not fair,” she gasped as he held her out of reach, his hands catching her wrists to keep her from tempting him further.
“Of course it is.” He turned her quickly, pushing her
In one smooth, fierce stroke he filled her. Raven arched, a strangled scream escaping her lips as she felt his cock fill her to overflowing, powering into her with a force and pleasure that left her helpless.
He filled his hands with the smooth flesh of her rear, separating it as he began to move, creating a brilliant shaft of electric sensation as he parted the entrance to her anus. His thumbs smoothed down the crease until he reached the point where he filled her. There, his fingers slid in the slick cream that flowed easily from her body. He smoothed it back, dampening the little hole over and over again as she bucked beneath him, the pleasure so intense, she wondered if she could survive it.
One hand held her buttocks spread as the other began to spread more of her juices back along the crevice. Below, his cock thrust slow and deep inside the sensitive, hot depths of her pussy. He was making her crazy, moving so slowly, teasing her with alternate deep, fast strokes, then slow, easy ones. All the while his fingers played at the tiny entrance above, relaxing her, easing her.
“Do you want to throw this away, Raven?” The question was delivered in a hard, possessive voice. “This as well as everything else we’ve ever shared?”
“No!” She couldn’t stop the protest, the need that filled her. Not just sexual, not just the hunger for the biting pleasure of having his cock fill her. But something more, something that went deeper, that grew more intense each time he touched her. It wasn’t just sex, no matter how desperately she wished it were.
“Good girl,” he whispered, thrusting harder inside her, thrusting against delicate tissue and nerves as she cried out at the pleasure.
She was gasping, crying, begging for more when she felt his hand tighten on her hip. The thumb massaging her anus paused for just a second before it began to push inside with slow devastation.