Guarding Valentina [Paladin Protection Agency 3] (Siren Publishing Classic) (7 page)

“I like the way you say my name.” He closed the last, small space between them and kissed her again. His lips tasted of peppermint, and she could smell the faint trace of soap on his skin. It was citrus and spice, very different from the musky cologne scent most men wore. She reached up and pressed her hands to his chest, her fingers curling into the soft fabric of his shirt as she tugged him even closer.

Her lips parted against his, and she took their kiss deeper. His mouth was warm and welcoming, and she teased him with her tongue. His hands tightened in her hair, holding her still as he took back the control she’d briefly stolen. He explored her mouth slowly, claiming it a piece at a time. Her blood roared in her ears, and she rubbed herself up against him, their lips still mated.

His heart was beating hard enough she could feel the tattoo beneath her fingers, and she knew it was racing as quickly as her own. It had been a long time since she’d felt like this, like her skin was too tight and her blood was blazing with erotic heat.

When he finally dragged his mouth from hers to lay a line of feather-soft kisses down her jaw to her ear, she groaned in protest.

“I know,” he murmured against her skin. “I feel it, too.”

His teeth teased and then nipped at her earlobe, and a spike of raw need went through her, followed immediately by a thought that acted like an ice-cold shower to her overheated libido.

“Dhampir don’t bite, do they?”

She felt him pause and then a rumble of laughter rose from his chest. “No, luv. At least not in the way I think you mean. If I bite you, it will be purely for pleasure.” He lifted his head and smiled broadly. “No fangs.”

“Sorry, dumb question.”

“Given what you’re going through, I think it was a reasonable thing to ask.” Aedan let one hand slip from her hair to cup her cheek, his thumb stroking over her lips. “I’ve wanted to do that since I saw you last night. You were standing in the rain, so brave and so beautiful.” He grinned a little. “I don’t even have to duck my head to kiss you. You’re a perfect fit.”

Val couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Is that your only dating criteria? Must be tall enough to kiss without stooping?”

Aedan just blinked at her, silent for once.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“No.” His fingers moved up to sweep her bangs back from her face. “It’s just that I don’t date, Val. I’m never in one place long enough.”

“Oh.” Val wasn’t sure how she felt about that announcement. On one hand, it meant this wasn’t going to be complicated or messy. She could enjoy Aedan’s company and not worry about things getting out of hand. But as she stared into his hazel eyes and felt his gentle caress, part of her was disappointed. For this guy, maybe the risk might have been worth it.

She shoved the stray thought down deep and stomped on it with a mental equivalent of a combat boot. She’d sworn off men,
all
men. Even hot vampire hunters, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy some smoking hot sex if it was offered with no strings attached. She turned her head to nuzzle into his hand, letting her tongue flick out over his palm. “Well, then. I guess I’ll just have to take what I can get.”

She heard his breath catch, and she stepped out of his arms. “But first, I should find us something for dinner. I hope you’re not a vegetarian.”

* * * *

As Aedan watched Val move purposefully around her kitchen, he found himself completely relaxed for the first time in ages. Not just taking a break, but a soul-deep decompression that made every breath feel a little easier than the one that had come before it. The last time anyone had cooked him a meal like this, he’d been a little boy. His grandmother had loved to cook. Whenever his da had pulled one of his disappearing acts or gotten himself tossed back into jail, his mother’s mother would come to fetch Aedan home with her. Those were the only happy recollections he had of his childhood. The scent of spices and the warm energy Val gave off as she prepared their dinner brought back those memories.

“Where did you learn to cook like this?” he asked as she finished stirring the cream sauce she’d made from scratch as he watched.

“The women of my family are all good cooks.” She wrinkled her nose slightly, as if she found the concept somehow distasteful. “Good cooks, good cleaners, good seamstresses. Good wives.” She grabbed a loaf of French bread and started cutting, using enough force that she nearly tore it apart with each sawing hack of the knife. “I’m a terrible disappointment to them all.”

“Why would they think you’re a disappointment? How could they be anything but proud of you? You’re a capable, confident woman and a veteran of the military, for God’s sake.”

She laughed, but there was no humor in the sound. “I’m too skinny and too tall. Oh yes, and I have too many muscles. They always asked me what sort of man could want a woman who has no curves and can beat him up. I’m thirty years old, unmarried, and childless. By my family’s measure, I’m a complete failure and an embarrassment.”

“We have that in common, then,” he muttered and stood up from the kitchen table. “Where do you keep the booze in this house? Suddenly I’m in need of a drink.”

“Beer is in the fridge. The good stuff is in the pantry.” She inclined her head toward a door at the far end of the kitchen.

“The good stuff it is.” He opened the door and whistled low as he took a quick inventory. There had to be nearly a thousand dollars in high-end whisky and scotch lined up neatly on the shelves.

“You’ve been holding out on me, luv.”

“There’s a twenty-five-year-old Middleton Irish whisky on the right, third shelf. If we’re going to discuss family, then I’m going to need it.”

As his hand closed around the bottle, he realized he was holding several hundred dollars’ worth of liquor in his hand, and revised his estimate of the liquor cabinet’s worth up by a few digits and a zero. “Just how well does Paladin pay you people?”

She laughed again, and this time her voice was full of amusement. “Remington doesn’t have my family’s issues about my true value. Paladin pays very well, which is only fair given that a goodly portion of it is danger pay. Some of the guys like fast cars. Some like electronics. I happen to like very good liquor.” He turned around to find her holding out two cut-crystal tumblers, a look of challenge in her brown eyes.

“From what I’ve seen, you’re all worth your weight in gold. Anyone brave enough to go up against the supernatural as a career choice is a rare sort indeed. Most people don’t even want to consider the possibility there’s more evil in this world than just what we human beings can create.” He took the glasses from her and poured them each a healthy portion. “If you’re looking for me to judge you, Val, it won’t happen. Glass houses and stones and all that.”

He handed her back one of the glasses, letting his fingers slide over hers in a brief caress. Then he raised his own glass in toast. “Here’s to those of us mad enough to try to save the world from ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night.”

She touched her glass to his, and he watched as she sipped the contents, a look of pure rapture crossing her face as she savored the liquor. His own drink might as well have been swamp water for all he enjoyed it because he was completely distracted by Val’s sensuous expression. He wanted to be the one to put that look in her eyes. Before he even realized he was moving, he had her back in his arms and his mouth was crushed against hers. Now he could taste the whisky, smoky and rich as it blended with the subtle sweetness that was all her own. His tongue teased against her lips, and she opened her mouth for him with a low groan that had his cock rock hard in seconds. He wanted her so badly it was a physical ache.

His free hand landed firmly on her ass, and he pulled her tight against his cock, needing something to ease the throbbing need that filled him. She straddled his thigh and ground herself against it, her tongue dueling with his. With his last few functioning brain cells, he managed to remember the drink in his hand, and he set it down on the nearest flat surface before turning all his attention to the woman in his arms. He shifted his body just enough to wrap both hands around the tight curve of her ass and lifted her off the ground, ignoring her squeal of surprise as her feet dangled. He couldn’t get enough of her. He needed her wrapped around him as he buried himself inside her. He had never wanted anything as much as he wanted her right now.

He carried Val to the nearest counter and settled her butt on the edge, groaning in encouragement as she wrapped her legs around his waist and squeezed. Her pussy ground over the hard ridge of his dick, and they both moaned in unison. Her fingers traced over his ear, and he couldn’t stop the shudder that raced through him. Two kisses and she’d already found his weak spot. He was in a world of trouble. His cock twitched in his jeans, and he knew that if any more blood headed south, he was going to end up light-headed.

She broke their kiss to nuzzle her way to his ear, blowing a soft puff of air across it as he bit back another groan. He heard her laugh very softly as she leaned in and ran her tongue along his ear’s outer curve, and all the breath left his lungs in one explosive burst.

“You like this?” she asked, her voice so soft and breathy that he knew she was teasing him on purpose.

Instead of answering, Aedan reached between them and pressed his thumb to the seam of her jeans where it lay over her pussy. He moved it in firm, tight circles and was rewarded by a moan of pleasure as he found her clit beneath the fabric.

She sucked his earlobe into his mouth in retaliation, and her low moans as he toyed with her clitoris made for a pleasurable buzzing that filled his head and made it hard to think.

“Dinner,” she murmured in a muffled voice, her tongue flicking over his flesh as she tried to talk.

“We’re going to burn dinner.”

“Forget dinner. The only thing I want to eat right now is you.”

She groaned in frustration and bucked her hips against his hand. “We should eat. It’s going to be a long night.”

“Yes, it will be, because if Christoph’s a good boy and stay’s clear of us, I intend to keep you awake most of it, making you scream my name.”

She nipped at his earlobe then leaned back so he could see her face. Her eyes were glowing with barely controlled desire, and her cheeks were flushed. Her arms went around his shoulders, and she grinned at him.

“If you intend to keep up with me, you’re going to need to eat.” She slid off the counter and let her full weight press into his groin as she held herself to his body by the strength of her legs alone. His hand was still pinned between them, and she arched her hips to grind her pussy against his fingers one last time.

“I don’t cook for just anyone.” She kissed him, giving him another taste of whisky and woman before pulling away again. “But since I made dinner, I will agree to letting you decide what’s for dessert.”

“Deal,” he growled and kissed her hard before finally lifting her off of him. She released her legs from around his hips and let her body ride his all the way down. She was teasing him so badly it was all he could do not to put her over his shoulder and carry her off to her bedroom. Fortunately for her, he still wasn’t sure where her bedroom was. Otherwise they’d already be heading for bed. He suspected he wasn’t going to be able to enjoy the home-cooked meal she’d made for him, not when all he could think about was making her moan while he explored every inch of her sweet body.

He shook his head to clear it of the dirty thoughts dancing around in there and looked around for his nearly untouched glass of whisky. Finding it back on the table, he grabbed it and took a long swallow. “I may be ruined now,” he muttered into his glass. “Every time I drink whisky, I’m going to remember that kiss and the way you tasted.”

“That might be the sexiest thing anyone has ever said to me.” She was already back at the stove, taking their dinner off the heat and adding the last few seasonings.

“If that’s the sexiest thing anyone has ever said to you, the men in your life have a lot to answer for.”

“I’ll be sure to tell them that, the next time I run into one of them.” Her tone was light, but he could sense something had changed. She’d distanced herself from him again, and gone back into hiding behind the armor she wore. He tried to touch her thoughts, but her shields were rock-solid. He couldn’t sense even a glimmer of what she was thinking.
I’ll just have to do this the hard way.

He sat back at the table and watched as she finished preparing dinner, his drink in his hand and the taste of her still on his tongue. He’d spent his life on the hunt. Val was one target he had no intention of letting get away from him.

She should have ordered them a pizza, Val thought to herself as she watched him enjoying the meal she’d cooked for them. She
never
cooked for anyone but herself or her adopted family at Paladin. She didn’t want to be seen as a homebody or wife material. She was a soldier, not a homemaker.
So why did I cook for Aedan?
Val wasn’t sure what the answer to that was. It hadn’t been a conscious decision. She’d just started cooking.

To Aedan’s credit, he’d been nothing but appreciative. He’d complimented her cooking several times, and when he’d asked for a third serving, she’d felt ridiculously pleased. She could have sworn that watching her cook had actually relaxed him. And then when he’d kissed her that second time…
Holy shit, that man can kiss.
Her toes curled at the memory, and she wondered if he’d meant what he said about making her scream his name all night. If he fucked the way he kissed, she sure hoped so.

And when this is over and he goes away, what are you going to do then? You already like him too much. You’re going to get hurt.
As the nagging voices of doubt tried to chime in, she firmly shoved them into a box and stuffed it into a quiet corner of her mind. She’d been hurt before and survived just fine. This time she’d just be sure to guard her heart.