“Umm… Excuse us,” the man said with an amused hitch in his voice.
“My goodness,” the woman exclaimed, her tone more cheerful than his. More excited. “Looks like you two kids are going to have a good time tonight.”
Tripp didn’t reply, and Ashley was mortified that her butt was all of her they’d seen. “Put me down,” she ordered as soon as the elevator closed.
“No, ma’am,” he growled, his long strides eating up the distance to their room, his big hand still warm on her butt.
Electric sparks shivered up the back of her legs. Damn. He hadn’t really touched her yet, and she was coming undone, just from the terribly erotic display he’d made of her. What the heck?
“Hurry,” she mewed, needing more than just that hand on her ass.
That earned her another smack, only this one stung. And that was all it took. Her legs stiffened. Ashley grabbed hold of his belt, arched her back, and moaned like a cat in heat, as the craziest, hottest orgasm exploded up her spine. Like a fountain, it ripped through her and into the stars. What he did to her!
Tripp had the hotel door opened and closed, and her on her back on the mussed bed in no time. “Jesus Christ, you’re so—”
“Kiss me! Now!” She grabbed that big square head of his and all but chewed his lips to get at his tongue.
“Where? Kiss you where?” he mumbled around her determined mouth.
“Everywhere,” she breathed, her body on fire with scintillating aftershocks that threatened to morph into another orgasm if he didn’t hurry up and... “Do something!” She’d turned into a wanton alley cat that craved being petted, stroked, and tasted.
Tripp had her out of her clothes in a heartbeat, his face between her legs, and his hands behind her knees, pushing her open, making room for his broad shoulders, and…
Oh. My. He knew what to do with that tongue and those teeth. Ashley growled at the intense pleasure assaulting her body. She was rocket fuel, and he was the spark she’d needed to blast her into the universe. Into life. Her butt muscles clenched as it happened again. Ashley’s fingers delved into his hair as a blinding light roared through her. The heat! The rush of coming!
Suddenly, his hips were cradled between her legs, and he was inside her body. So, so deep. So big. His hands were on her breasts, his fingertips pulling and pinching her nipples. With every thrust of his hips, with every push and slap of their naked flesh together, her body clenched like a wild cat ready to pounce. And then… It got better.
“I can’t wait,” she ground out. “Come… come… with me.”
“Always,” he breathed, his body so big and heavy over hers that it blocked the lights and the world and—
“Yessss,” she hissed, then cried, “Tripp! Yes, yes, yes!”
“Ashley,” he breathed, and with one more deep, grinding thrust, he roared a few cuss words, then flew with her. And they really were starlight. Quick, bright meteors that burned together before they crashed softly to Earth.
She panted through her pursed lips, undressed and undone, so in love with this man that she fell apart and cried again. Tripp was everything, her springboard and her jumping off point, her beginning and her ending. He was her launchpad. Her tether and her anchor.
Tripp huffed in her face and asked, “You know Jameson?”
Ashley stared up at her wild, crazy man. “Really? You want to talk about him now?”
The sexiest, devil-may-care grin cracked Tripp’s rugged face. “Hell, no. Just wanted to tell you that he asked Maddie to marry him within days of meeting her.”
“Why’s that important?”
Tripp smoothed a hand over her cheek, wiping her tears away and tugging a strand of hair out of her mouth. Tipping forward, he closed the distance and pressed a warm, wet kiss to her sensitive lips. My gosh, they felt swollen.
“Because they’re getting married the first of the year. Crazy shit, love. It shows up when you least expect it, doesn’t it?”
“Like guardian angels?”
Tripp leaned his head back and roared. “Okay, okay. Like guardian angels. You’re right. I’m the guy who interrupted that losing fight you were in Friday night. That was me. Are you happy now?”
Ashley loved the strength in the cords of his neck. The whiskers he hadn’t shaved when he’d showered. The musky, male scent of his skin all over her. “I’m always happy when I’m with you. Especially after we make love.”
Her big mean guardian angel peered down at her with love shining in his bottle-green eyes. “Move in with me? I mean, after we buy our own house, which we should do as soon as we can. Like the first thing tomorrow.”
“Are you sure?”
“Never been more sure of anything in my life.”
“How long should we live together?”
“Long enough to grow old?” Tripp said with an endearing smile.
What else could Ashley say but, “Deal.”
Chapter Forty-Three
Alex could be damned formidable. Downright scary. The man wasn’t a big bruiser like Mark Houston, Zack Lennox, Beau Villanueva, or Tripp. He was more of a hard-as-nails, straight-up, in-your-face, wiry, street fighter. He wasn’t blustering thunder, but Tripp knew damned well he could bring the rain. Alex was the number one legend in The TEAM, and he knew how to lead from the front, instead of pushing his troops from the safety of the rear. The man had seen more combat than any other warrior in both the East or West Coast TEAM offices.
But after working with the guy to save Ashley from Driscoll, Tripp wasn’t intimidated. He settled his butt in the chair beside Alex’s tidy desk, kicked out one long leg, and made himself comfortable. “You wanted to see me?”
Staff meeting would follow what Tripp knew would be a one-on-one butt-chewing. But he’d been disciplined before, Army style. This couldn’t
