Blindsided (32 page)

I should go to her
. Yet his feet stayed rooted in place.

She shut off the faucet and stepped back, turning toward the cracked door in the cramped quarters. She twisted her good arm behind her back, found the zipper and pulled it down. Released, the material slid down her body, revealing a satiny corset and matching panties.

Ah hell. I should leave
. Instead he compromised with his conscious and averted his gaze.

“When is Garret going to want his room back so he can have a shot at the bed?” She raised her voice to be heard through the door that she probably believed to be closed.

“It’s yours for the night,” Teigan told her, thankful to have something to concentrate on besides the outline of her corseted figure which was now burned into the back of his retina. “Morris is on perimeter for the rest of the night, Garret’s in the control room. Nolan claimed the cot for a couple hours, so I get to fight with Carthridge over the couch.”

She opened the door, came into the room wrapped in a thick, white robe that practically swallowed her whole. Teigan knew Garret didn’t actually use the robe—like much of his living quarters, the robe that perpetually hung on the hook in the bathroom was for show—but the sight of her in another man’s garment still had him seeing red.

“Hardly seems fair.” Her fingers worked on pulling out the few remaining pearl pins stuck in the tangled mass hanging down her back. It reminded him that she wouldn’t be wearing her hair up again anytime soon. Not with the patch of hair missing from where they’d shaved her before sealing up the wound. “Especially given that I have a perfectly good bed at the mansion,” she went on.

What was this? Her bed in her mansion? Nuh-uh. Nope. No fucking way was he letting her out of his sight. He found himself shaking his head and forced himself to stop and explain. “I don’t have enough men to split the team. And you’re not going to be alone until Byron is caught.”

Her hands hesitated above her head as she drew in a sharp breath. She recovered quickly, giving a quick jerk of her chin as she dropped the pins on the nightstand. “So I’m one of your soldiers now to order about?”

“No. You’re a civilian that I’m in charge of protecting.” He waited, but when she didn’t say anything more he pressed on. “Don’t make my job any more difficult, Aria. This mission’s put enough shit on my conscience as it is.”

She tipped her head down toward the floor. “Still, doesn’t seem right that I’m hogging the bed.”

“You could invite me to join you, I wouldn’t mind,” he teased, telling himself that he was just trying to lighten the mood. He didn’t expect her to answer with anything other than a shake of the head and an order to leave, but she surprised him by nibbling on that damn lip again.

“Actually, um,” she rubbed her arms as if chilled, “I wondered if you’d stay, for a little while.”

He stilled. Stay with her. As in, in the bed with her? He must have heard her wrong. “Can you repeat that, please?”

“It’s just. I’m not used to this place and with all that happened and Willis—” her voice hitched. She planted a fist against her mouth, trying to hold back the sob he knew was there.

You’re a genius, Teigan. She’s worried and scared and you’re being an insensitive jerk by flirting with her.

He crossed the room, wrapping her slim body in his arms. She immediately turned her face into his shoulder and her body began to shake.
 

Damn
.

He lifted her up, pressed the panel to raise the bed out of the floor and settled on top of the covers, drawing her close. “Cry all you want, baby. I’ll be here.”

She did, soft tears seeping into the fabric of his shirt until it was completely soaked and she’d eventually cried herself to sleep.

Chapter Twenty-two

Teigan woke to the excruciating torture of slender fingers trailing down his naked navel towards his waist. Somehow the stiff, white shirt he’d worn under his tuxedo jacket had come unbuttoned and parted during the night. Outside the window a medley of songbirds greeted the day with a song of joy, and inside…well, if those fingers went any lower, he thought he might just join them.

What a way to start the morning.

For a good ten seconds he raged a battle with his conscience. Clear his throat, announce his waking state, or keep his eyes closed and let her explore. Oh the hard choices he had to make. He kept his eyes closed.

A gentle caress crossed the side of his chest where she breathed in and out through her nose. Soft lips parted, a tongue tentatively reached out, touched, tasted, and her hand drifted…
holy shit!
 

Out of sheer self-preservation, he snatched her wrist. She tensed, unmoving under his hold.

He cleared his throat. “Not that I’m objecting, but if you’d kept heading south you might have found an interesting surprise.”
And found out that I’d been awake all this time.

She shifted, her leg slipping up his thigh. “Sometimes surprises are fun.”

Oh yeah, surprises could be damn fun—at least this surprise was, for him. Who would’ve thought cool, collected Miss Idyllis could be such a seductress in bed?
 

He grabbed onto her shoulders and rolled, spreading her legs with his thigh as he took possession of her mouth. So sweet, so soft. All he wanted to do was sink into her and drown in the pleasure they could give each other. And from the way she was kissing him back, her hands slipped between them, working frantically on the hook and zipper of his tuxedo pants, he didn’t think she was that far off from him in thought.

Her hand slipped beneath his boxers, closing around the head of his erection. Damn! A guttural sound rose from his throat and she stilled, her hand barely touching the sensitive head.

“I’m sorry, should I not—”

“No. It’s fine, it’s just…”

Slow. Had to take this slow. Given what she’d told him about her ex-boyfriends, he doubted she had that much experience.

She blessedly drew her hand back, returning to the trail of hair that ran from his groin up his belly.

I have to see her, all of her
. The thought was completely at odds with the directive he’d just given himself, but didn’t care. He slipped a hand behind her head, his other trailing a line down her side, against the curve of her waist and over her belly. He found one fluffy white tie and pulled one end loose, then tugged the other free, too.
 

She drew in a breath. “You never did tell me if undressing me was strictly for practice…or because you had a desire to do so.”

“What do you think?” he asked, parting first one shoulder then the other of her robe.

She licked her lips slowly. “I think you don’t care what the excuse is, as long as you get me naked.”

“Damn straight.” He tugged the material further apart, exposing her lovely breasts for his hungry eyes. Dusky rose nipples peeked back at him from the middle of gently rounded mounds. Not overly large, just the perfect size for his large hands to cup. So he did, raking his thumb over the pointed tips. She gasped, her eyelids fluttering as she twisted up off the bed toward him.

He took it as an invitation and bent down to taste the pink nipples. Her hands immediately landed on his shoulders and grabbed on. He drew her left nipple into his mouth, suckled. The pressure turned into a hard grip, as if she was clinging to the edge of a cliff, and she moaned. Luscious. He moved to the other one, paying it equal attention. Her arms dropped to the side, fingernails digging into the sheets instead.

More! While his mouth continued its goal of pleasuring her breasts, he shifted enough to slip a hand down, past the loose tie, past the smooth belly that dipped slightly as she lay...
 

She stilled and he had to coax her legs apart to let his hand in, first pressing one thigh aside, then the other. Then he was there, his hand cupping her warm folds, the soft curls dewy with arousal. Because of him. The knowledge that he was the one doing this to her drove him mad. He slipped a finger past the swollen folds, following the path of creamy liquid into the welcoming slit.

“Teigan,” she whimpered, her body bucking against his hand. Her breath hitched and her head thrashed side to side, as if the presence of his thick finger parting her taut flesh was enough to send her over the edge.
 

Oh no, my little vixen. There’s so much more.
He drew his finger back, pulling the sweet juices with it, slicked the outside with her own moisture, tipped his head down and blew. She made the most adorable mewling sound and let her legs drop wide. Perfect. He could spend all morning just exploring her.
 

“You’re so beautiful,” he said, bending over to kiss her. His plan was to leave a trail of kisses from her mouth down to where his fingers were currently tormenting her. But he never got there. There was a crackle and a squeak that had him jerking his hand away and rolling on top of her to protect her from harm.

“You know how awkward this is, right?” Garret’s disembodied voice drifted through the ear bud sitting on the nightstand. Teigan had plucked it out sometime during the night when his ear started aching and tossed it there.

Fuck. Shit. He’d forgotten all about the bugs in the room. He took a deep breath, clearing the fog of lust from his brain and lifted his head.
 

“What’s that?” he asked, hoping Garret hadn’t
really
overhead all that, and would come back with something stupid like he wanted to take a shower, or something…else, stupider, because why wouldn’t he have just knocked?

“My big brother in my bed, getting it on with a gorgeous woman. Now if there is a gorgeous woman in my bed and someone is getting anywhere with her it
should
be me.”

Nope. No such luck on the hoping for a stupid request crap. Teigan swore and lunged to the side of the bed, his fingers fumbling around the underside of the nightstand. There was one here somewhere, and then there was the transmitter on her bra in the bathroom. “Use your hand, or find your own girl. This one is mine. All mine.”

“No sex. I draw the line at sex. Anyone has sex in my bed it’s going to be me.”

Teigan growled. Where was the damn thing? “Don’t you have something else to do?”

“Yeah, actually, I do. Some breakfast, a cat nap. Nolan’s coming on duty, thought you might like to know who was listening.” He paused. “I’m cooking up some eggs. You two are welcome to join.”

Teigan finally found the bug. He’d passed over it three times at least. Only the fact that he’d placed the stupid thing allowed him to find it at all. He almost crushed it between his thumb and index finger, but the thought of replacing the expensive little device stopped him.

Besides, a quick look at Aria told him he had plenty of time to dispose of it properly—like forever. She was lying still as stone in the center of the bed, the robe drawn tight around her once more, eyes closed, mouth drawn tight in humiliation.
 

His hand curled around the transmitter. “Mood lost?” he asked lightly, trying to make a joke of it all.

“Um, yeah, that was…” She was so pretty when she blushed.

“Awkward, yeah. I’m sorry. I totally forgot and things got carried away.”

She shook her head. “Not your fault.”
 

She pushed up on her elbows and placed her feet firmly on the floor, then stood and started toward the bathroom. She paused in the doorway, spun back around.
 

“What is it?” he asked when she didn’t say anything.

“Um, I don’t have any clothes.”

Yeah. Clothes would be a good idea. That robe, though overly large, would create all sorts of fantasy for the men. And after what had just happened, there was no way he was going to be able to deal with them ogling her. “Let’s see what we can find you.”

***

By the time Teigan got to the kitchen, Garret already had the warmer on and was heating up the bacon alternative. Teigan leaned against the counter, watching his brother deftly crack an egg in one hand, drain white and yolk onto the pan without breaking, and toss the shell into the disposal.

“One, two or three?” Garret asked, completely at ease, no signs of discomfort or guilt, as if the jackass hadn’t just been playing voyeur.

“I’m not sure whether to thank you or pound you.”

“Could do both, I suppose. But you’re only getting one egg if you pound me.”

Whatever. “Think you might have announced your presence a bit sooner?”

Garret mouth split into a wide grin. “And ruin your fun?”

Teigan pushed off the counter. Garret held up a hand. “I’m just jerking your chain. I was flipping through the channels and caught you two about the time that she said Teigan all whispery and breathless. Considering I’d been through the circuit less than five minutes before, I assumed you were still performing Act one, Scene one, Title: Foreplay.” Garret cast him a sidelong look. “At least I would hope you were…otherwise you need to learn some pacing, bro.”

“Prick.” Teigan let the subject drop and dug the OV8 out of the fridge. Grabbing three glasses from the sanitizer—they never seemed to make it back to the cabinet unit—he poured some for the three of them. “I never asked. Did your boss have a problem with you calling in last night?”