Page 57 of Only Her (K2 Team)
It was almost scary how attuned they were to each other without words between them. He hadn’t been searching forthe one, and maybe there was something in the water at K2. He no longer cared why Riley had walked into his life at a time when he’d thought he least needed that to happen, only that she had.
Without breaking the kiss, he stretched out alongside her, and because his fingers were itching to touch her, he allowed them free rein to roam. She sighed into his mouth when his hands slid over her skin, and she arched into his palm when he cupped a breast. It had been much too long since he’d been with a woman, and this one, Christ, this one brought him to the edge of losing control.
There were so many things he wanted to do with her, and he would, but if he wasn’t inside her in the next minute, he was going to embarrass himself. He reached for a condom, tore it open, and rose to his knees. It was a turn-on watching her watch him put it on, and although it seemed an impossible feat, he grew even harder.
Moving between her legs, he put his hands on the insides of her thighs, caressing his thumbs over her flesh, a little surprised at how firm her legs were. But she was a runner, so she would be fit, another thing he liked about her. He pushed her knees farther apart, and took himself in hand, rubbing the tip over her, teasing her. She moaned, and he could take no more. In teasing her, he was torturing himself. He slid into her, pausing to let her get used to him, moaning at how hot and wet she was.
The discipline he’d learned as a SEAL was the only thing keeping him from going caveman and pounding into her with the insatiable lust of a beast. He had the feeling she could take that side of him, and they’d get around to crazy monkey sex soon enough. Tonight, though, he wanted gentle and tender, not only for her, but for himself. That was a first. He didn’t do tender. Not until Riley, anyway.
When her eyes slid closed and she pressed her head back into the pillow, he covered her mouth with his, swallowing the little noises she made. She hooked her ankles behind him and dug her heels into his ass. Her hands were all over him, as if she wanted to touch and know each part of him. His SEAL discipline failed him. He grunted, giving into his need for her.
Sounds of sex filled the air, and he didn’t want it to end, wanted to listen all night to their bodies slapping against each other and the mix of their harsh breaths. She squeezed her core muscles around him as her climax hit, and he hissed when the pressure that had built up in his lower back and groin gave way. As he sucked in air, he wondered if his entire insides were pouring out.
“Riley,” he rasped. He fell over her, catching himself on his elbows, and stared down at her. What was it about this woman that had him thinking of forevers?
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Riley pressed a hand over her stomach in an attempt to calm the butterflies taking flight. She looked out the window of Cody’s truck, watching as the houses became grander the nearer to the beach they got. Although she’d met his K2 friends, other than Maria, she didn’t know any of their wives or girlfriends. In her entire adult life, she’d never attended a party with a group of grown-up couples.
As if making a good impression on his friends wasn’t enough to worry about, she wished she hadn’t let Cody talk her into wearing jeans. Wouldn’t a blouse paired with a skirt or slacks be more appropriate for a dinner party at a rich man’s house? She hoped Cody was right when he swore everyone would dress casual. She’d decided on a pair of black skinny jeans with a deep green turtleneck sweater, and black, flat-heeled boots. She’d left her hair down at Cody’s request, and her only jewelry was large hoop earrings.
At least he’d been impressed, if his wolf whistle when he’d come to her door to collect her was any indication. Did it matter what anyone else thought? He looked pretty darn hot himself wearing a pair of blue jeans that hugged his hips and a black turtleneck sweater.
“Did you find anything unusual this morning when you went through the files?”
Jerked away from her thoughts on how sexy her boyfriend looked—had they reached boyfriend-girlfriend status?—she glanced at Cody. Unable to help herself, she reached over and ran her palm over his stubble, her stomach fluttering when he leaned his face into her hand. “I love that day-old beard look on you. Makes you appear dangerous.”
He smiled, showing his sexy dimple. “But never to you, darlin’.”
No, he never would be to her. They’d made love last night, dozed off, made love again, slept some, and made love again. He’d stayed in her bed, waking up next to her this morning. But she’d had to beg him to not move to the couch, and she knew he hadn’t allowed himself to fall into a deep sleep. Her hope was that when he stayed over, she could eventually prove to him that even if he had a nightmare, he would never hurt her, even subconsciously.
“To answer your question, no, nothing struck me. I went through all the files from the first day I opened the clinic. Yes, I’ve had pets that I couldn’t save for one reason or another, but I just can’t see any of those owners gunning for me.”
“Damn, I was hoping we’d get some kind of lead. There was nothing unusual at all?”
She shrugged. “There was one thing, but the owner doesn’t fit the profile we got.” He raised a brow, and she laughed. “You do that so well.”
“What’s that?”
“That brow-raising thing men do.”
“Ah, that. We’re born with the talent.” He took her hand and put it on his thigh. “So what’s the unusual thing?”
“We accidently sent the wrong dog to be cremated.” Both of Cody’s brows rose, making her giggle. He grinned and waggled them. As each day passed that she spent with him, he seemed to grow happier, lighter in heart. She liked to think she had something to do with that.
“I felt so awful about it. It was Brooke’s first day, and we had two dogs die, one from old age, and the other from liver cancer. I had to euthanize both. The owner of the dog that was old wanted him cremated. The other owner wanted to take his dog home to bury him. He also accused me of not doing enough to cure the animal. Anyway, Brooke got the dogs mixed up. The man who wanted to take his dog home was furious about the mistake.”
“Let me guess. You took the blame, didn’t tell him it was Brooke who screwed up?”
“Of course. I wasn’t going to throw her to the wolves. It was an honest mistake, and believe me, she learned from it.”
“Was he married, the man who was mad?”
“I have no idea. He never had a woman with him, and we only get contact information from the owners. All our records are about the animals. I did check, but he didn’t list anyone else as a contact.”
“I agree he doesn’t fit the profile, but tomorrow, let’s go to the clinic and get the phone number. Call it, see who answers.”
She should have thought of doing that today. “We don’t have to. I can access the clinic files from my home computer. The profile could also be wrong, couldn’t it?”
