She wiggled out of his arms at the foot of the bed and toed off her shoes. “You showed me how to live, Tripp.”
The heated light in his green eyes told Ashley she was onto something. Slowly unzipping her jeans, she shimmied out of them and tossed them to the built-in dresser. “Because of you, I’ll never be the timid, little mouse I’ve been all my life.” Her voice turned hoarse, but when Tripp ran his tongue over his bottom lip, she did it again. “It’s true. You made me the woman I am today.” Off came her Henley shirt, over her head and onto the dresser.
He took a step closer, his pupils like full black moons.
Ashley traced a fingertip along the top line of her bra, watching him watching her. “I’m not a little girl who can be bullied and made to cry or made to hide. Not anymore. All because of Tripp McClane.”
Reaching both arms behind her back to unsnap her bra was Tripp’s undoing. Before she could reach the hook-and-eye, he clutched her waist and tossed her into the middle of the king-size bed. Ashley laughed, but she wasn’t done seducing Tripp. Rolling to her side, she crawled on her hands and knees to the edge of the bed where he’d come to a full stop. He might’ve carried her there, but she meant to show him just how empowered she was.
He looked down at her, still and silent, his hands on his hips, as if he didn’t know what to do.
Ashley lifted to her knees in front of him, loving the uncertainty playing across his handsome face. Was her big, mean, guardian angel frightened? Of her? How amazing was that?
She had to ask, “Are you afraid of me, Tripp?”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
“Ah, that would be a damned big no, ma’am,” Tripp replied gruffly, as he stared down at the woman he thought he knew. Until now. It’d only been maybe twenty minutes since he’d set Ashley inside his truck and fastened her seatbelt. She’d been compliant as hell—then. The drive to this hotel hadn’t taken long at all, but something had changed between there and here.
She’d said she loved him. Loved. That one little word. Not that he hadn’t heard it before, because, he sure as hell had. From high school cheerleaders and sometimes, from their moms. From Army-wife wannabes and tag chasers who hung around Army forts, taverns, strip clubs, and bars. But the honesty in the way Ashley said it made a man stop and think. And for once in his adult life, Tripp was really thinking, not just acting on impulse or marching out to do his duty to man and womankind.
Love… That’s what had been happening between them since Friday night. Incrementally, like an inch worm, it had opened his eyes, and he’d fallen for Ashley. It didn’t feel half-bad or contrived, not at all. If anything, this thing with her felt more real than anything he’d felt for any other woman.
Her eyes were glittering like a feline on the prowl tonight, a very sexy feline with a fat lip and a mark of courage taped under her chin. She might’ve taken a few licks, but she’d beaten that photographer like a pro. With a stick! While he had a knife! Tripp couldn’t have been prouder. He just hadn’t expected the sensual predator vibe coming from Ashley now. Confidence looked hot-damned-good on her.
He liked the jut of her shoulder blades as she stalked him. The sway of her barely clad hips and the way her full breasts filled her bra. He loved the clear view of those breasts cupped in purple, like an offering. Her hair drizzled over her shoulders and down her arms, like black silken fingers. Her dark lashes fluttered, and if she licked her lips one more time… Tripp ran the heel of his palm down his belly and over his zipper. God, help me.
Shrugging out of his holster, he called her bluff. If this woman wanted to play, then play it was. His pistols went on the nightstand, his holster to the floor beside it. He toed out of his boots, then unbuckled his belt while she watched. The boots and belt went beside the bed with his holster.
Ashley had settled cross-legged in the center of the duvet, her lips wet and glistening, her eyes wide-open, as she watched. Not in a million years had he planned to put on a strip show, but there he was, peeling his shirt off, her eyes following every move. He saw how she wiggled her butt, shifted, and crossed her legs when he tossed his shirt over his head. How she ran her fingers through her hair, then fluffed it off her shoulders and down her back. He loved how her pretty eyes widened, when they skated over his bare chest and down his belly, with what looked like sheer delight. How she licked her lips…
Like a damned teenager, every muscle in Tripp’s body flexed at the approval shining in her eyes that, right then, were more black than blue. Her being aroused like she was, damned near did him in.
Before he had the chance to make a move, she lunged and grabbed the waistband of his jeans. With her thumb, she flicked the brass snap open and arched up into him, her lips lush and glistening, ripe for the taking. Ashley rubbed her breasts, still encased in purple, up his belly to his chest.
Tripp tipped his forehead to hers, his hands cupping her shoulders. His nostrils flared,
