Defended & Desired (18 page)

The room’s scent reminded her of the lavender and thyme incense from the yoga studio, with an added earthy undertone that made her think of rain dripping from leaves in a forest. He took her to the mattress, his hands clutching her against him as if he couldn’t bring her close enough.

“I want you,” she whispered.

Lowering her onto his mattress, he spread her on moss-green silk sheets then scraped his polo shirt from his back up over his head. His gorgeous torso glistened in the moonlight slanting in silver shafts through the skylights above.
He came over her then, stripping her clothes as he kissed each body part he revealed. Taking hold of her waist, he lifted her with ease, positioning her where he wanted her. As if he’d pictured this moment a hundred times. She felt so desired, so treasured in this moment.

The infatuation was mutual. She scraped her nails across his shoulders, urging him closer. He kissed her deeply, as though trying to draw forth the part of her soul she’d never shown anyone. His breath came in hot bursts against her lips. She unfastened his pants while he slid two fingers into her channel. His thumb circled her clit and she shuddered with a sigh of pleasure.

“Please. I need you inside me.”

Kicking off his pants and boxers, he slid inside her and hugged her tight against his body. She sighed as their hands clasped together. All thoughts drifted into the heated atmosphere surrounding them.

Tonight, his lovemaking intensified. He lifted her easily from her back to her stomach, and continued his deep, insatiable drives. Then he moved them off the bed to take her against the wall. His mouth never left hers.

Her shoulder blades were slightly chafed when he decided to take her back to his bed. He fit perfectly between her thighs, in every position, and she couldn’t get enough of him. “God, you’re amazing,” she breathed.

He grabbed her wrists and slid them up over her head, clenching tight as he pumped into her with territorial force. “I wanted you in my bed the day I met you.”

Swirls of excitement echoed through her. “I didn’t know until last week.”

“You’ve haunted my dreams. You never left me alone. That’s why I had to pursue you.” He sent himself into her with renewed vigor. “I need you.”

As he thrust into her, she understood his admission. “I need you, too.”

She wrapped her legs around his waist, tossed her head back against his pillows, and let her orgasm rip through her in clenching waves.

“Yes!” she screamed.

“Fuck, yeah.” He growled low and sent himself deep inside her. He gripped her hands with punishing force then came with uncontrolled shudders.

Eventually, he released the tension in his muscular form. She welcomed his weight, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

He shifted to lean on his side, pulling her against his chest. “You’re amazing,” he said. “Thanks for spending the night with me.”

I think I love you.
The words were there, but her lips refused to say them.

“You have no idea what you mean to me.” His whisper stirred the hair behind her ear.

Fortunately, it was his pillow and not his arm that absorbed a rogue tear that fell from her lashes. This wasn’t all he wanted, but it was all she could hope for. Because he wanted children and she couldn’t have them, and these beautiful moments needed to last her long into the future, a time when eventually the thought of him made her smile instead of filling
her with barren regret.

She nuzzled against his chest. “Thank you,” she whispered, for everything he was, everything he could be, but all the things she’d never know.

His hold tightened around her. “Whatever you need, I’m here.”

Another tear almost dropped, but she clenched her eyes tight and refused to show her vulnerability. She wanted one perfect night. And he was giving that to her.

Whatever happened from this point on, she could live with it. Even losing him. But tonight, she had these moments to
cherish. Her heart expanded with love she couldn’t share but recognized as whole and true.

Soon, she’d tell him she wasn’t as perfect as he thought. That she was flawed and damaged, and she couldn’t give him what he wanted in his future.

But now, lying in the moonlight, he was hers. And she was his.

Completely.

Chapter 9

“Is this it?”

Trey glanced up as his brother waltzed into his office. “Is what it?” he questioned.

“Devon,” he replied. “She’s it. Love, marriage, babies. She’s the one.”

Grinning, Trey didn’t bother hiding his emotions or the truth from his brother. “Yeah, she’s it.”

Cade collapsed into the leather chair across from Trey’s desk. “God, it’s about time.”

Trey arched an eyebrow. “Why’s that?”

Uncrossing his arms, Cade sat forward. “Do you know how long we’ve waited for you to get over Jenna and find a girl who deserves you?”

“You…and who else?” he asked, disbelieving his cousins had any investment in his love life. They couldn’t even handle their own.

“Me, Adam and Liam. You had us worried. You’re the family guy, Trey. The one who’s supposed to find the girl, get married, pop out kids. Carry on the family bloodline and legacy.” His brother grinned. “That frees us up to stay bachelors for as long as we want.”

“Glad I could take one for the team,” Trey said dryly.

“Dad always knew you’d find the right woman and give him the grandkids he always wanted.”

Trey sobered. “You and I made some big promises at his deathbed.”

Nodding, Cade glanced at the floor, his forehead tightening. “Do you think he heard us, even in a coma?”

“I believe he did.” Trey stared down at his tightly folded hands. “After I vowed I’d get the family out of the business and give his grandchildren a safer future and you vowed to find the people who did this to him, he slipped away five minutes later.”

“With a son on either side of him, holding his hand,” Cade murmured, his eyes misting.

Cade blamed himself for their dad’s death. That fateful night, while he had dealt with Jenna’s overdose, Cade had declined to go with Dad on the bounty run that ultimately got him killed. Cade was also the one who had identified Dad’s bloody body for the police. While they both carried the burden of regret, he suspected Cade had internalized the blame and let it haunt him. Years later, that ghost still clung to him. A continuous dark presence beneath the surface of his easy grin and smooth debonair persona.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Cade blinked and shook his head slightly. “You know the girl I told you about, Kylie Cross?”

“Was she the law student you met with a month ago?”

Cade nodded. “I guess there’s a final argument she has to give in front of a panel of lawyers. She’d been looking into the case Dad was supposed to testify at, something about the Fourth Amendment. Well, she thinks she found a  new angle that might break the old case wide open.”

Trey rubbed his chin. “I remember you talking about new information, stuff that never made it to trial.”

“Kylie and I got off to rocky start. I didn’t want someone prying into Dad’s life, like it might disturb the dust finally settling on his memory, you know? But she re-interviewed a witness who was dismissed by the defense, and she thinks there’s more to the story and Dad’s death.”

Trey sat forward. “That’s incredible. Is she still in Vegas?”

“For now. I’ve asked Kylie to come out here, told her I’d pay for all her expenses, but she keeps avoiding me. Now she corresponds through email only. After I bit her head off the first time we met, I can’t blame her, but I’m anxious to find out the details.” A tortured expression twisted Cade’s features. “Since you’re following through on your promise to Dad, making plans for the future with Devon, I want to find some closure for him, too.”

Trey felt protective of his younger brother, distressed that Cade still carried that burden of guilt. “What happened to Dad isn’t your fault. I think we’ve both made him proud.”

“You especially, when you bought Logan’s company and moved us into the corporate world. Devon’s like icing on the cake. I wouldn’t have pictured you and her as a couple, but seeing you together, you make perfect sense. It works.”

“It better,” Trey murmured. “I don’t have any second choice or alternative options when it comes to her.”

Cade crossed his ankle over his knee and nodded. “It’s great to see you with a woman who makes you happy. Should I plan the bachelor party and order a tux for the wedding?”

“Not yet.” Trey wasn’t totally confident that if he popped the question, Devon would say yes. She might, but “might” was a far cry from diving into the rest of their lives together. They had both made that mistake once, but this time he knew he’d found the one. “We’re working on it.”

Cade’s sly smile told Trey he’d already expected the inevitable. “So I shouldn’t walk up to Devon and say congratulations?”

Trey’s eyes flew wide and he shot out of his chair. “Don’t you dare.”

“Whoa, okay. Got it, she’s not there yet, but you are. I’m glad you’re there, bro. Will I be the godfather of your first kid?”

Trey rolled his eyes. “Yeah, now for God’s sake, leave me alone so I can do actual work.”

Cade grinned and left, shutting the door behind him.

If Devon had been witness to this discussion, she might’ve run in the other direction. The Sorens were a rather proud, genetically territorial group.

Still, he didn’t want his family hounding her about when they’d get married and start replenishing the gene pool. He trusted Cade to keep the news of their advancing relationship to himself, since his brother would never sabotage something this important for him, but clearly his cousins knew the score. It was only a matter of time before Adam opened his big mouth and put Devon in an awkward situation.

Which meant, sooner rather than later, he needed to approach her with the option of making their relationship permanent. While that might shock her into a decision, maybe the two of them needed a boost of momentum. Something to propel them forward with his intention to take her as his woman, his wife, and the mother of his children.

Hopefully, she’d say yes.

Because he couldn’t imagine his life without her.

*

When a knock sounded on her office door Friday morning, Devon knew it wasn’t Trey. He would’ve strolled in without the formality of knocking.

“Yes?”

The last person she expected to see was Adam. They’d never exchanged more than a few words, and they weren’t on the friendliest terms. “Can I have a few minutes?” he asked.

Arching her eyebrows, she nodded, wary but curious. He wore his dark brooding personality like a shield that said
get back.
Before Trey, her own shield of sarcasm and calculated emotional distance had kept her heart safe. She wondered about the source of Adam’s conflict with the world and why he put up barriers, and if his trust or his heart had been as damaged as hers once was. Although she’d finally ventured beyond her barricades to meet Trey halfway, she recognized a kindred spirit. She’d never stopped to think about Adam in those terms. She suspected he had his reasons for his prickly characteristics, and her attitude toward him softened for the first time.

Having never seen him out of his leather jacket, she noticed the sleeve of tattoos on his left arm. She gestured to the impressive artistry. “Nice tats.”

He nodded. “Thanks. You got any ink?”

“Nah.” She shrugged. “I never found anything so profound I wanted to imprint it on my body for life.”

“Every mark I have tells part of my story.”

She found his statement rather philosophical for a muscle-bound biker and decided to extend the olive branch. “Someday, over beers, I’d like to hear those stories.”

Surprise registered on his face, though he nodded. “Sure.”

“But I’m guessing that’s not why you stopped by my office.”

“Right.” When he approached her desk and handed her a portable USB drive, he carried with him the scents of sun-warmed leather and summer wind.

She accepted his offering. “Um, thanks, but I have a million of these.”

His vivid green eyes sparkled. “Not like this one.”

Sitting back in her chair, she inspected the memory stick. “What’s so special about it?”

“Don’t know if Trey mentioned it, but I’m working with the bodyguards, matching their skills with clients’ personalities and experience. But I’m new at this. What do I know, right?”

“We all have to face a learning curve in the beginning,” she assured.

“Some take longer than others to come around,” he said wryly. “I had this idea for a tech gadget clients can use in emergencies. I don’t have an iPad or tablet or laptop attached to my hip, but a lot of people do. I went to Allen Guthrey and he made up some specs for what I wanted.”

That took serious initiative, forward thinking and intellectual investment. She realized Trey had a diamond in the rough with his cousin. The word specs caught her attention because she hadn’t heard anything about this experiment from Allen, but she encouraged her people to think outside the box. “What does it do?”

“I wanted a small device people could carry on them, in a coat pocket or purse. Something that wouldn’t look out of place or catch attention. And I wanted it to send a signal like an SOS, some kind of alert that goes straight to my phone, because I don’t read many emails.”

Unable to fathom her day without reading or responding to a single email, she tried not to gape at him. That would be like living without a toothbrush or coffee.

Apparently sensing her disbelief, he shrugged and stared at the floor. “Me and words never got along too well.”

Compassion filled her as she realized Adam had just admitted to having a learning disability. “I can’t drive a stick shift,” she blurted out to fill the awkward silence. “No one can be good at everything.”

The corner of his mouth lifted. “You can’t ride a motorcycle until you’ve learned how to shift.”

“No thanks.” She held up her palms in refusal. “I’ll leave motorcycle riding to the cool people.”

“I don’t know about that.” He rubbed his chin. “Hacking into computers is a pretty awesome skill if you ask me.”

Had she and Adam just bonded? Imagine that. She smiled. “Now that we’ve established our rank in the cool crowd, I want to know more about this thumb drive.”

“Sure. Allen brought me some of his ideas, and as of today we have the SOS prototype.” He started talking with his hands, more animated than she’d ever seen him. “It has a built in Wi-Fi signal. The instant the drive is plugged into a laptop or tablet, it sends a signal to me, Trey, Cade and Liam. Unless you’re in a third world jungle, your alert reaches us in seconds. Allen programmed my phone with a ringtone for only this device. It also sends an SOS text message. Using the same frequency as cell phone towers means we can track the client’s signal and estimate a GPS location.”

“That’s genius.” Why hadn’t she thought of anything this remarkable? “I’m serious. This adds a vital layer of protection for your clients. One more reason people should hire bodyguards from Soren Security instead of the competition.” She tilted her head in admiration. “You’ve given this company a huge boost to its bottom line. I’m totally impressed.”

“Really?” A tinge of red colored his sharp cheekbones. “You’re not just saying that.”

“I don’t give out compliments lightly. They have to be earned.” She snorted. “Just ask my team.”

His half smile transformed the sharp, rugged planes of his face. “Cool. Then we’ll start production next week.”

“Sounds good.
The sooner the better. In fact, you’ll want to think about sending a notice to your staff and clients describing the device and its uses. Get together with the marketing department and have them create some descriptions, pamphlets and literature for this special added security measure. A patent is probably your next step.”

“Yeah, I think I’ll leave that to people who know what they’re doing.”

“Nice work, Adam,” she said sincerely.

“You should’ve seen me testing this thing. I rode my Harley all over the city and into the mountains with a laptop bag strapped to my back. I got some strange looks.”

“Innovation is rarely trendy. Sometimes you have to go to extremes, and it’s always worth it in the end.”

Nodding, he seemed to take her words to heart. She handed him back the USB drive, but he waved away her gesture. “Keep it. We’ll have more soon. Besides, I know Trey would want you to have it.”

A perceptive glint stole into Adam’s emerald eyes. She curled her fingers around the thumb drive and slid it into her purse. “Thank you,” she said softly. “I appreciate that.”

“No problem.” Shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans, he shrugged. “Guess I should get this ball rolling in marketing. Good suggestion. I wasn’t sure what to do next.”

“Oh, and tell Mindy who’s in charge of PR, so she can connect with the marketing department to write up a press release. This is going to get a lot of attention. You should be proud.”

He turned to leave. “I’ll be proud when it saves someone’s life.”

“Thanks for coming by, Adam.”

He sent her a nod and left.

Mind spinning with possibilities, she grabbed a stack of sticky notes and jotted down ideas as they came to her about ways she could improve the SOS device by syncing it with their IT network. Creative juices flowing, she felt jazzed about the new technology feature. It truly was brilliant. Adam turned out to be full of surprises.