“Okay. Open.”
Smoke’s eyes traveled down the length of my body. Feeling self-conscious again, I brought my hand to my hair.
“Come here,” he said, holding out his hand. I picked up the bra and let it dangle from my finger and raised a brow. “Later.”
By the time I got to the bed, Smoke had everything off but the joggers he must’ve changed into before coming into the house. I watched as he shimmied them over his arse and off his body.
“Closer,” he said, pulling me so I straddled his waist. He reached up with both hands and palmed my breasts. He toyed with one nipple and massaged the flesh around the other.
“I can feel how much you want me,” he said, reaching his hand between my legs, where my wetness dampened the skin of his stomach. He sat up and slowly lowered me so my back was flat on the bed but my legs were still around his waist.
He used his thumbs to spread my folds. “Magnificent,” he murmured, caressing my flesh with his fingertip. He brought that finger to his mouth, licked it clean, and then reached over to the nightstand.
He grabbed a foil packet from the drawer and handed it to me. “Go ahead.”
I tore it open and rolled the condom down his length. He took my hand and pulled me up. “Wrap your arms around my neck and hold on tight.”
He lifted my pelvis up far enough that he could ease into me. “We’re going to take this slow, Siren. I want you to watch as I go deeper.”
I was mesmerized by the sight of him entering me no more than an inch at a time until my body was flush with his. He put his hands under my bottom and moved my body back and forth. My fingernails dug into his shoulders when he increased the pace and thrust against me. He lay back, bringing me with him so I was in the same position as before, straddling his body, only this time, he was inside me. I slowly moved up and down, my eyes boring into his.
Smoke put his hands on my waist. “Be still,” he said, taking over the rhythm of our lovemaking. When I leaned back so I could feel him even deeper, he pulled me forward, grasped the back of my neck, and kissed me. He thrust once more and held my body as close to his as I could be. His mouth ravaged mine as I felt him pulsing inside me while the fingers of his other hand pressed against my clit.
I held my breath as my body pulsated, squeezing every last ounce of pleasure before I collapsed at his side.
“I can only sleep a few hours,” I heard him say as I felt myself sinking into a deep slumber. When I woke, it was still dark and I was alone.
A profound sadness settled over me as though, somewhere deep in my soul, I knew that, one day soon, Smoke would be gone from my bed forever.
15
Smoke
Two weeks ago, I’d called Decker Ashford to see if there was any way we could accelerate the installation of the ranch’s security system. He told me he’d see what he could do and get back to me. Today, he’d be arriving with a crew, and by the end of the week, the Blazing T should be close to as secure as King-Alexander Ranch.
Since the morning after we returned from Asheville, Zeke, the rest of the guys, and I worked around the clock, surveilling every part of the ranch. The breaks we took were few and far between, which meant I had very little time to spend with Siren.
Every minute I was away from her, I craved the feeling of her sweet body next to mine. More, I longed to keep my cock buried inside her wet heat as often as I could.
She’d left two days ago for Asheville, and once she finished her PT session today, followed by a session with Mansfield, she and Maureen would be on their way back here.
Siren’s nurse had insisted she was perfectly capable of making the drive from the ranch into the city, and when I balked, the woman who could be so sweet and loving when in my arms, turned into the hellcat I hardly remembered. Especially when I couldn’t contain my smile when she lectured me about being a misogynist.
I’d wound my arm around her waist, pulled her close, and told her the next time we had sex, I’d gladly let her be in charge.
“Maureen driving the car and you and I having sex are not the same thing, you feckin’ eejit.”
Today, I found myself hanging out near the barn, checking the time every few minutes, not in anticipation of Decker’s arrival, but of when I’d see my SUV drive through the gates and be able to feel Siren in my arms.
The last two nights, as I lay in bed alone, I reminded myself that my time with the woman who set my blood on fire was temporary. Even if her memory never came back, a woman like Siren would get bored with spending her days in the middle of nowhere on a ranch where there was little she could do.
In terms of her returning to work for Irish Military Intelligence, I would do everything in my power to make sure that never happened. Even if she wasn’t with me, I couldn’t fathom being able to live, knowing she was putting herself in danger without me being there to protect her.
I heard a vehicle pull in but was soon disappointed to see that while it was a big black SUV like mine, Decker Ashford was sitting in the front passenger seat.
“You’re like a puppy waiting for his master to come home and feed him,” said Zeke, clapping my shoulder.
“Fuck off,” I muttered as
