Lora Leigh - Tempting Seals 01 (2 page)

The truck pulled from the curb as she sat nervously, staring out the window, calling herself every kind of fool she could think of. This was kind of like the lamb inviting the wolf into its pasture, she thought in disgust.

"Thanks for the bed, Raven," he said softly as he turned at the corner, his voice sending shivers down her spine.

That voice should be illegal. Someone should put duct tape over his lips and a sign on his body that declared him dangerous to the female sex, because that's exactly what he was.

"Not a problem." Liar, liar, she raged silently. There wasn't a chance in hell she was going to get any work done with him in her house.

She tugged at her skirt as his eyes strayed to the bare flesh of her lower thighs. Dammit, she knew this skirt was a bad idea. It was sexy and fun and showed her body off to its best advantage. AndReno was definitely taking advantage of all the bare skin flashing.

She could feel his gaze flickering over her legs, her profile, and though he kept both hands carefully on the wheel, she could almost feel them coasting over her body instead. Callused and warm, rasping against her flesh as she arched to him.

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She clenched her teeth, pushing the vivid fantasy back as she restrained the shiver that would have worked over her body. Flames licked just beneath her skin, sensitizing her flesh, reminding her why she didn't have a love life. Because she knew, clear to her soul, that no other man could make her want him as intensely asReno could. Without a touch, without a word. Hell, he didn't even have to be in the country.

Pathetic. Stupid.Reno was so far out of her league that they didn't even exist within the same reality. He was a warrior, a fighter; his world consisted of blood and death while hers existed within the security he helped create. And to be honest, he terrified her. The needs and desires she had when she thought of him, the fantasies that taunted her in the deepest part of the night and the sexual hunger she could feel building within her were too intense, too damned strong.

"Here we go." He pulled into the parking lot, swinging the truck into the empty space in front of the town house. "I really appreciate you letting me stay over."

She glanced up at him. Damn, he did look tired. But still sexy as hell. She was such a lost cause where he was concerned.

"Not a problem," she said again as she gripped the door handle and swung the door open. "Come on and get settled in. I have to work some tonight, but I'm pretty quiet on the computer."

She pulled her key from the minuscule purse she carried at her hip. Behind her, she was aware ofReno moving silently. How the hell did he do that? There wasn't even the sound of his shoes on the pavement.

She unlocked the door, flipping on the light to the small living room as she led the way in.

"Come on up. The bed is made and everything, so you can crash whenever you want to."

She moved up the stairs, uncomfortably aware of him following her. She could feel her butt burning. Oh God, was he looking at her butt? Unconsciously she clenched the cheeks of her ass then forced herself to relax. Dumb. Dumb. Dumb. He hadn't even touched her and she was ready to rape him. This was so pathetic.

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She opened the door to the spare bedroom, the one directly across from her own, and stood aside as he brushed past her. His arm slid over her breasts as her breath caught in her throat. She barely managed to throttle a hungry moan at the contact.

"Well. Good night." She had to get away from him. She had to close him up, get him out of sight.

He dropped his duffel bag to the floor and turned to face her, a slow, predatory move that reminded her of a wild animal or a hunter on the prowl. Why did she feel like the lamb?

He smiled then. A wry quirk of his lips, really, as the gunmetal color of his eyes gleamed with amusement.

"Good night, Raven," he said, his voice huskier, deeper.

The sound echoed in her pussy, her very wet, very aroused pussy. This was not good. Not good at all.

She escaped the room, now heavy with his male presence and the predatory lust she saw reflected in his gaze. Morganna had warned her thatReno wouldn't wait long before pushing for what he wanted. He had made his intentions clear to her, informing her in that brisk, no-nonsense voice of his that he wouldn't let her run from him much longer.

And she had most likely just played into his hand.

Raven gritted her teeth as she paced the living room, pushing her fingers through her hair and again calling herself every type of fool she could think of. She was no match for Reno, and she knew it. How was she supposed to fight him? Hell, he was every woman's fantasy come to life, and he was now flat in the middle of her home, right across the hall from her bedroom, his hard body aroused. Yes, she had seen that bulge pressing against his jeans, the way his eyes darkened as he watched her, the determination in his gaze.

Reno was through playing, and Raven had a very bad feeling she wasn't going to get far resisting him.

But what bothered her even more was the fact that she wasn't entirely certain she wanted to resist him.

And that scared her more than anything.

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It was her own fault, she reminded herself with harsh criticism. The day she had turned nineteen and learned that he wasn't staying home after his tour in the Navy was finished, that he was actually taking the BUDs training to become a SEAL, she had been enraged.

Not Reno. Not the man she had pinned all her dreams on. She couldn't lose him as her mother had lost her father. As she had lost her father.

"Don't go. I'll do anything," she remembered whispering tearfully, staring up at him, her hands on his chest, all her naive beliefs that her love for him would keep him with her, filling her.

He had smiled that crooked little grin she loved so well as he touched her cheek and lowered his head.

She knew he had meant the kiss to be light. To be comforting, rather than exploding out of control as it had.

"I'll be back," he had sworn. "I will, Raven. For you."

She had slowly backed away from him, shaking her head, as her lips throbbed from the kiss that had sent a swelling wave of hunger rushing through her.

"If you go. I won't be here." She had choked on her tears, her fears. "I won't be here for you."

"You'll be here," he had whispered then, his voice immeasurably gentle, confident. "Just as I'll be back, Raven. You'll be here. And once I have you, baby, I won't let you go."

She had made certain he never took her. That he gained no more than the stolen kisses he managed to get when he caught her unawares. That he took no more of her heart than he already possessed.

She was going to drive him insane.

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"Damn woman," he growled.

She had been running from him for years, and he had been aware of it.

But he had made up his mind on a cold winter's night as he lay alone in his bed, smiling like a fool over a teasing remark she had made one evening. He had made his mind up. Raven was his, and she was going to stay his.

She had been too young then, only seventeen, unaware of how sexual he was, of how dominant he could be. He wanted the woman he saw emerging within her, not the child she still was.

At the time, he was on leave from the navy and knew the course he wanted his life to take. As soon as possible, he was heading for SEALs training and a military career. It would be years before he could have her. Years, he knew, before she would be mature enough to accept loving him, despite the career he had chosen. But when he had told her his plans two years later, her reaction had only reinforced his belief that she needed to mature first.

She was mature now. And stubborn. Stubborn enough that he knew, if he waited any longer, she would slip out of his grasp forever. With each year, she set herself more firmly against him, more determined that he wasn't the man for her, simply because the career he had chosen was the same one that had made her parents so miserable.

He wasn't going to let her run any longer. She was stronger than her mother whether she knew it or not.

And he knew damned good and well that she loved him. Otherwise, he would have had a lover to deal with, rather than just her stubbornness. And dealing with her just might end up driving him over the edge of frustration.

His cock was throbbing and that flirty little black skirt she was wearing wasn't helping matters. It barely covered her ass, showing her long, beautiful legs to advantage, at the same time baring her lower stomach like a feast to a starving man.

Long, golden brown hair, thick and filled with riotous curls, fell down her back, while her blue eyes watched him with wary arousal. She tried to hide it, but it was there, just as clear as the press of her tight, hard nipples against the snug, matching top.

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The flush of her creamy cheeks, the soft part of her pink lips. She was a temptation he wasn't going to deny himself much longer. He had waited too long as it was. What good did it do a man to fight the endless wars, to survive the wounds and the loss of friends when there was no warmth left in his life?

Only fantasies. And it was time to make the fantasies come to life.

His dream of being a SEAL, a warrior, had been fulfilled. It eased that pit of fury he felt each time he heard of the injustices that plagued the world. Now he had his biggest dream to fulfill. That of possessing Raven, heart and soul.

He was in her home. That was the first step. Undermining the enemy's defenses was best done from inside, as SEALs had proved more than once. Slipping under the wire, undetected, silently setting up the explosion to come.

And she would explode.

He grinned at the thought. Of making Raven so hot, so wild, she went up in flames in his arms.

Damn, he could feel his balls drawing tight against the base of his shaft, his own release begging for freedom. He had a limited amount of time to make this work. For the time being, he was on leave, but that would end the minute his team was needed. He might have a few weeks, at the most, to work with.

And if he didn't touch Raven soon, feel her lips under his, her body pressed against him, then he was going to be a candidate for the asylum.

He shifted his shoulders in an effort to relieve the tension building there. He was exhausted. He had expected to come home and rest at least one day before putting his plan into motion. Instead, he found his bed occupied, his sister in a frenzy, and the object of his obsession standing before him like the most erotic fantasy he could have imagined. Damn, that skirt.

Reno was an ass man and he knew it, and Raven's ass had tempted him for years. Perfectly rounded, taut and tempting. Her breasts were his second favorite. Full, rounded globes, her nipples pressing hard against the material of her shirt.

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Son of a bitch. His cock was so damned hard, he would never manage to sleep tonight. He shook his head at the arousal beating through him and Raven's obvious determination to close him out of sight. He knew his sister's best friend better than she thought. She wasn't working, no matter what she said, so he had no problems whatsoever disturbing her. He was a man on a time limit, and he wasn't given to being wasteful with his time.

Anticipation surged through him as he strode to the bedroom door and opened it quickly. The stairs were just to his side as he turned the corner and started down them. He heard her voice, lowered, a feminine hiss of fury as she talked on the phone.

"Dammit, Morganna, the man is exhausted. He has shadows under his eyes and his face is almost dead gray. What the hell were you thinking? You knew he was coming home. He told you he was coming home."

Reno stopped halfway down the stairwell, his head tilting as something melted in his heart. He actually felt the muscles of his chest, his heart, expanding then relaxing at the realization that she was ripping his sister's ass over that party.

"I don't care how pissed off you were at Clinton. That's no reason to treat Reno like that. For God's sake, he needed to sleep and you let your friends take his bed. What kind of sister are you?… Well you shouldn't have had the party to begin with. Smack Clinton around. Having a party is not going to get his attention, you nitwit."

Actually, it would, but Reno saw no reason to point that out. Her brother Clint would make his move when he was ready and not a minute before. He was just as stubborn as Raven. Maybe more so.

"Get his bed replaced, Morganna. He cannot stay here…"

The hell he couldn't.

"Don't give me excuses. I want zero excuses. I want a phone call in the morning saying his bed is ready for him to occupy. Period. Or I swear to God I'm going to tell Clinton all about your lurid little fantasies
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that you force me to listen to."

Lurid fantasies? He grimaced. He did not want to know about his baby sister's lurid fantasies. It was time to cut this conversation short.

Sighing silently, he moved down to the next step heavily, allowing her to hear him practically stomp down the stairs. When he rounded the closed-in space to the small living room, she was off the phone and staring at him with wide eyes. It was the cutest sight.

Wariness and hunger reflecting in her deep blue eyes, her breasts moving hard and fast, peaked with hard little nipples as she watched him nervously.

"You're supposed to be sleeping," she snapped, a frown forming between her brows. "I hate to hurt your feelings, Reno, but you look like something the cat dragged in."