Heroes In Uniform (307 page)

“Okay, sweetheart. Whatever you say.” She picked up her beer and, with a swirl of her skirt, she sauntered off without a backward glance.

Barely Dangerous: Chapter Ninety-Four

Sullenly, Cooper watched Maggie's retreat—along with every other man at the table. He could smell the sweat from the heat she had generated among them.

Sweetheart?
What the hell was
that
all about?

He was absolutely furious with her for flaunting their relationship in such a cheap way in front of the men. And her deliberate use of Dinny Phillip's endearment made it ten times worse.

He scowled ferociously. She had just demonstrated that she could have any man there tonight. Was she putting him in his place? Showing him how futile it was for him to hope for anything lasting with her? Had she already rejected his plea for more time, deciding he wasn't worth bothering with?

He eased up the pressure on his beer glass, realizing how close it was to shattering in his hand.

Justin let out a low whistle. “
Whew
. Somebody check me for scorch marks.”

“Oh, man,” Phil said. “Coop, what's your secret? She's a totally different person.”

“That was one red hot woman,” Pete agreed.

“She looked pissed off to me,” said Gus mildly.

Phil grinned. “If that was pissed off, I'd keep her mad all the time, if I were you, Coop.”

Coop forced himself to wipe his scowl away and grin back. “Maggie seemed pretty happy all day. But who can tell with women?”

Anxious to change the subject to the one he had come to discuss—so he could haul her ass back home—he pulled the bear ear tag from his pocket and tossed it on the table. “I found this fishing yesterday. Anybody know what it is?”

Everyone leaned in to get a look.

Gus reached over and picked it up. “Isn't this one of those bear tags Rollo Timmons uses in his project?” The battalion chief turned it over in his hand and examined it. “You see a tag on that poached bear you found, Justin?”

Lifting his beer, Justin gave it a cursory glance and shook his head. “Nope.”

“A bear tag,
eh
?” Coop said. “Maybe I should return it to Timmons.” He surreptitiously studied the men, hoping to catch someone looking nervous, or like he knew more than he was telling. No luck.

Phil leaned back. “If you do, don't take Maggie with you.”

Taking the tag from Gus, Pete looked at it, shrugged, then passed it on to Justin. “No worries, Coop's got an understanding with Rollo concerning the lovely Maggie, don't you, Coop?” Pete said.

“Along with any other man who values his hide.” Coop's lazy grin belied the dangerous edge to his voice.

“
Uh-oh
.” Phil's laugh broke the sudden tension. “Walk in peace, bro.”

Justin shook the tag next to his ear, then cracked it open and took a look at the empty battery compartment. After closing it, he tossed it back to Coop. “Sorry. No idea what it is.”

“Well, I'll ask Timmons if it's his,” Coop said.

One of the men started a discussion of the newest movie to hit the village theater. Coop darted an aggravated look over at Maggie, wishing he could leave right now and have it out with her. She was sitting at the table with Sally and Theresa, her back to him, twirling a finger in her blond hair.

How could she be so damn relaxed when he was ready to tear someone's head off?

Timmons walked into the bar just then, and strolled over to the women's table.

Just perfect
.

Maggie said something which made him laugh and glance over at Coop. The other man raised a hand in greeting, ignoring the glare that Coop shot back at him. That Timmons took the seat farthest away from Maggie was a small victory, but Coop still wanted to stalk over and punch the guy.

Maggie, of course, didn’t turn and look at him at all.

Sally, Theresa, and Timmons left the bar a short time later. Coop felt his bad mood approach critical mass when, instead of coming back to him, Maggie wandered over to the juke box and stood flipping through the selections. With her short jeans skirt and long, pretty legs, she was a target for every male who happened by with an enterprising comment. So far, she had brushed them all off. But for each one, Coop’s temperature skyrocketed even further.

What was
wrong
with her?

A man wearing a silver Raiders cap strolled up and started discussing the choice of music with her, leaning close to her side and oozing with smarm. Cooper's temper hit core meltdown.

He excused himself from the guys, and went over to claim his woman.

Barely Dangerous: Chapter Ninety-Five

Maggie flinched at the hand on her back, and spun around, ready to do battle. “Keep your— Oh! Wolf, it's you.” Her relief at seeing him was short-lived. Her lover’s cobalt eyes sparked with male ire.

“Get lost,” Cooper said to the man who was trying to pick her up, without taking those angry eyes off her. The stranger didn’t look happy, but he did leave.

Well, it looked like her stratagem had worked. She'd gotten Cooper's attention, all right. Now if she could just give it a push in the right direction. Make him want her enough to declare his intentions. So she knew where she stood with him. And could make some decisions of her own.

“Let's go,” he said.

She resisted. “Wouldn't you like to dance?” She tried to flirt him back to the juke box.

He leaned in and whispered, “I like to do my dancing naked.” His tongue swept into her ear.

Her body responded instantly with a bolt of desire that sent shivers straight to her center. She tried to uphold her unattainability in the face of overwhelming odds. “Part of your warrior heritage, I suppose?”

He stepped back and put his boot up on a nearby chair, draping an arm over his knee. “You claim to like my heritage.” His lips were a thin line.

She trailed a finger up the dusty toe of his boot, then rubbed her blackened fingertips together. “A bit rough around the edges, but not without appeal.” She smiled coquettishly. “Like that war paint last night. Kinky, but very sexy.” She brushed her gritty finger across his cheek, painting it with a black stripe. “You never told me why you had it on.”

He looked at her with hooded eyes. “I've heard white women like that sort of thing.”

An unwelcome shadow of jealousy crept over her. “From firsthand experience, no doubt.”

Dropping his boot to the floor, he raked over her with knowing eyes. “Yeah. You'd be amazed how many supposedly civilized women have a secret yen to be carried off by a savage warrior.”

Good
God
, he was arrogant. “And you saw it as your personal duty to fulfill that fantasy.” She stared at him glacially.

He caught her arm and reeled her to him, his lips almost touching hers. “It doesn't turn you on to be with a savage?” Without waiting for her response, he pulled her toward the exit. “Come on, baby. Let's take this outside.”

“I thought you said dragging women off to have your way with them went out with the buffalo.”

“Unless they ask real pretty.” A sinister smile etched itself over his lips. He crowded her toward the door. “And you've been asking for it since we got here.”

He propelled her outside.

“I don't know what you mean,” she said. She kept her distance as he stalked her backward toward her truck.

“Don't give me that. There wasn't a man in there tonight who didn't have a hard-on after your little whipped cream stunt. Any one of them was ready to take you right on the table if you'd just crooked your little finger.”

“Well, aren't you lucky I crooked my finger at
you
.”

“Is that your game?” His smile was dangerous. “You want me to take you inside on the bar?” He grabbed for her and she jumped away, bumping into the truck.

“Don’t be disgusting.”

“Maybe if I looked the part...?”

She watched in horror as he tore off his T-shirt and threw it into the truck bed, then pulled the tie off his ponytail, letting his hair fall wild around his face. He looked every bit the dangerous renegade, his smooth skin glowing blue in the light of Gina's neon sign. He looked predatory, like a wolf.

A dangerous, unpredictable, blue wolf.

She backed away from his relentless stalking. “Wolf, please—”

“No need to beg, baby. You can have every savage inch of me. How about a little
kinky
atmosphere?” Reaching down to the truck's tailpipe, he raked his fingers over the sooty metal, then brought them to his face, combing black stripes across his forehead and cheeks.

“Cooper, no.”

Damn it, she'd done it, now
. Somehow, she'd pushed him over the edge. He'd gone windigo.

A gray compact driven by the man in the Raiders cap pulled up, blocking her path back to Gina's door, so she fled toward the alley.

Cooper pursued her easily. “Don't tease me, lover. I told you once not to play games with a wolf. You can't give me twelve hours of paradise then jerk it away for no reason. I'm not ready to let you go yet.” He grasped the hem of her skirt and dragged her back to him.

Paradise
? She almost weakened. Only the word “yet” kept her from melting into his embrace.

Whirling around, she yanked her skirt from his grasp and struggled to free herself from his arm around her waist. “You may like playing the macho warrior, Cooper Blue Wolf, but I have no intention of being just another bead on your coup belt.”

He stopped in his tracks and stared at her long and hard. “Not much chance of that, little pup. You've been counting coup on me since we met. Besides, isn't it a little late for regrets?”

“I regret nothing. But I'm not like those other women you play cowboys and Indians with.”

“Damn straight.” He moved closer to her, backing her far into the dark recesses of the alley beside the bar. “They always let the Indian win.”

Barely Dangerous: Chapter Ninety-Six

Coop waited heatedly for her response. He wanted her to come at him in a fit of uncontrollable jealousy, kicking and scratching. He wanted to know she cared he'd had other women.

He wanted to know if he was being thrown to the dogs.

Adrenalin pounded through his veins, urging him to
take her
.
Take her
.
Take her
.

Her eyes narrowed. She didn't move, except to let herself fall back against the shadowy brick of the building.

He could hold back no longer. The primal being inside him took over. He clamped his fingers around her arms, crushing her to him, bending her backward to look into her eyes. She squeezed them shut.

“You going to let the Indian win, Maggie? Just one more time?” he said in a low, gravelly voice.

Her eyes opened, and he watched her swallow. “Wolf...” she whispered.

Snaking one arm around her, he caressed the back of her neck with his fingers. “Are you bored already? Now that you've had your warrior, are you tired of him, baby?”

A squeak of protest escaped her. “Don't ever think that,” she said. “I'll never be tired of you.”

The plaintive look in her eyes almost convinced him.

Almost
.

Slanting his face over hers, he painted her lips with his. “Show me.”

Her tongue traced lightly over his mouth. “How?”

He was instantly on fire, wanting to rock his rigid flesh right into her heat. He ground into her with his lips, his body. Pressing her up against the rough wall, kissing her mercilessly, he slid his hand under her skirt. Shock vibrated through him at what he discovered.

Pulling his mouth from hers he gaped at her in raw disbelief. “Do you not
own
a pair of underwear?”

On Maggie's face, a flush quickly dissolved into a knowing look, full of sensual, feminine power. “My man likes having access to me at all times.”

Her man
. God, he liked the sound of that.

That, and the erotic secret he'd just discovered, inflamed him almost to the breaking point. His arousal strained against his jeans. He glanced up and down the alley, then pulled her into the alcove of a bricked-up doorway. “Your man wants access to you right now,” he growled.

She moaned into his mouth. His fingers penetrating the drenched folds between her legs told him better than words how she felt. He wrenched down his zipper.

She gasped as he freed himself. “Someone will come!”

He grinned wickedly. “You catch on quick.”

Glancing at his pulsing cock, she licked her lips, then looked up, hunger burning in her eyes. “Hurry.”

He lifted her onto his hips, resting her against the back of the niche. “Wrap your legs around me, baby.”

He was beyond rational thought, only his singular, piercing need for the woman drove him.

Her legs came tight around him, her arms around his neck. He pushed up her skirt. Her hands grabbed bunches of his hair as she pulled his head back and kissed him. A scorching hot, lingering kiss.

“I won't share you, Wolf. I won't ever share you.”

She
wouldn't share? What about
him
?

His breath came hard and fast, a sheen of sweat on his forehead. “It's all right, pup, you won't have to.” He maneuvered her into position over his cock. “Just promise me you won't ever see Dinny Paxton again.”

Her mouth opened in surprise, inhaling sharply. He felt her grip around his neck tighten for a split second, and she suddenly dropped a couple of inches down the wall. The blunt end of his erection teased the silky opening of her cleft.

She looked away. “I can't do that.”

His body absorbed the pain like buckshot. “Why not?”

Her face went pale. “I...can't tell you.”

“
Damn you
!” He would have pushed away from her, had she not locked her arms and legs around him.

“Please, Wolf, don't leave me now. I need you.” Her gaze returned to implore him.

He felt the evil windigo take hold of his soul, plunging his reason and sanity into darkness, stripping away the polished veneer of civilization.

He grasped her hips, lifted her once, and impaled her to the hilt on his hard length.