Outfoxed by Love (Kodiak Point Book 2) (13 page)

For some reason, he couldn’t reply, only nod. He’d expected she’d like the gift even as he couldn’t have explained why he got it. But the moment he saw it, all shiny and perfect, he’d known it would fit perfectly in her hand.

“Thank you.” She cradled the nine-millimeter and rubbed its smooth, polished edge. “I can’t believe the craftsmanship. The perfectly balanced lines. It’s beautiful.”

Just like you
.

Ever since Boris heard the story of the gun her dad gave her, a gun lost in the ambush on her truck, he’d felt bad. He knew what it was like to have a weapon that was special.
The perfect weapon you knew you could count on. The reminder of her loss came to mind when Boris happened upon the nine-millimeter as he browsed his weapons supplier catalogue.

Usually he would have just ignored it, the smaller
pistol not exactly his style—he preferred something that could stop a marauding grizzly in its tracks. But something about it made him think of Jan; the sleekness, and perfection, the fact he could so easily picture her slender fingers gripping it.

Just like she gripped me.

Before he knew it, he’d ordered it for her, but then when it arrived, he sat on it waiting for the right moment.

“Ooh pretty
shiny thing. Can I touch it?” a groggy Travis asked from the ground, his eyes slightly out of focus.

Their combined vehement “No!” settled that
. That and the fact Jan cradled the gun to her breasts—breasts that pillowed his head less than a day ago. Sigh. He really needed to stop reliving that glorious moment if he wanted to have any hope of returning to life as he knew it. Boring, Jan-free, dull, and annoying life.

Travis rolled to his side before getting to his feet.
He barely wobbled, and his eyes quickly regained their clarity. He rubbed his jaw and grinned. “Damn, Boris. You have got to teach me that left hook.”

Did nothing ever crack the cub’s cheerful
mien?

Tammy stuck her head out the door.
“Travis, your mother is on the phone. She said you needed to pick up milk on your way home.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s on my list.”

“She also said you were almost out of condoms and should pick up some more. And to not forget her special cream for her rash.”

Travis’
happy grin dissolved in the face of Boris’ mocking laughter. “It’s not funny.”

“
Better run, little cub. Mommy needs you.”

“What
I need is to get my own place,” grumbled Travis.

“S
o why don’t you?” Jan inquired. “There are a few vacant units across the street from my place.”

Travis sighed. “You really have to ask that. You have met my mother, right
?”

Boris couldn’t help but slap the cub companionably on the back. “Join the military, boy. It’s the only way to escape a determined woman.”

“And he would know,” Jan said saucily as she tucked the weapon into her pocket. “Well, nice as this has been, I should take off now. Things to do, other people to see.”

“Like who?” Boris asked. “And where?”

“None of your business.”

When she would have stepped around him, he moved to block her way. “It is my business if I’m going to ensure you r
emain safe. Or have you again conveniently forgotten the stalker?”

“I haven’t forgotten. Don’t worry. If he turns out to be crazy, then I’ll shoot him with my shiny new present.
But if he’s not, then I’ve got some sexy new lingerie that arrived in the mail a few days ago waiting for pickup at the postal office.”

Wait, she’d ordered lingerie
and planned on showing it to someone other than him? He could feel another rage coming on. Boris clenched his fists and pushed it down. Through gritted teeth, he said, “You still haven’t answered me. Where are you going to stay? You heard the fire marshal. The roof for the entire townhouse needs replacing. You can’t stay there.”

She shrugged. “So I’ll bunk with a girlfriend.
Or here with the boss.”

“
No, you’re not. You’re coming home with me.” Boris almost looked around to see who’d said it. Surely not him. Surely he’d not just invited the vixen into his home after all his grand speeches and reasons as to why he needed to stay away.

“No thank you.”

He was about to recant his invitation when her words penetrated his thick moose skull. “What did you say?”

“I said no thank you. I
am not staying with you. You’ve made it perfectly clear my presence is nothing but a hindrance. I wouldn’t want to contaminate your man cave with my girly clinginess.”

“I don’t live in a cave.”
And he liked it when she clung to him.

“Doesn’t matter.
I’m still not going with you.”

Never mind he’d not planned on bringing her home and was seconds away from uninviting her. As soon as she said she wouldn’t, he decided she had to.
What better place for him to keep an eye on her and make sure she stayed safe and out of trouble?

But she seemed determined to thwart him. She walked away, little ass swishing,
blonde hair swinging.
She’s leaving me.

Once again, Boris the man took a backseat as
Boris the cave moose trampled over. It took only a few strides to reach her and sling Jan over his shoulder.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she squealed.

“Taking you home.”

“I told you I wasn’t going.”

“And I’m saying you are.”

“You are really tempting me to shoot you,” she growled.

“Behave,” he ordered.

“Or else what?” she sassed.

The temptation proved too much to resist. His palm smacked the tempting butt, which, if he turned his head, he could have taken a bite out of.

Jan screeched. “I can’t believe you did that.”

“And I will do it again if you don’t start to listen. It’s not safe right now for you to be wandering around. You will come with me whether you like it or not.” He tossed her in the passenger seat, and when she crossed her arms and set her lips mutinously, he buckled her in—and yes, he took perverse pleasure in his arm brushing against her breasts. Then he went around and clambered in to the driver side.

“I don’t appreciate you manhandling me just because I’m not doing as you commanded.”

Funny, he truly enjoyed the manhandling part. Come to think of it, commanding her worked too. Of course, the kind of orders he’d prefer to give involved fewer clothes and her smiling around a mouthful.

“You weren’t listening
, so I took charge.”

Jan made a rude noise.
“I wasn’t obeying because you’re not the boss of me.”

“
No, but I am your protector.”

“And who appointed you that? Reid?”

No one. Boris had appointed himself, but he didn’t exactly mention that part. He remained silent and let her assume what she liked.

However
this new Jan, this feisty Jan, this Jan who liked guns and shooting things, didn’t want to leave things quiet. “Once we get to your place, I’m leaving.”

“No you’re not.”

“And how will you keep me there? Going to chain me to your bed?” she asked sarcastically.

“
If I have to.” Again, with a preference of naked, which given her annoyance level with him right now seemed less and less likely. Probably for the best.
I’m not supposed to get involved, remember?

“You know, for a guy who keeps repeating he doesn’t want a girlfriend in his life, you keep acting like an awfully possessive boyfriend.”

“Am not.”

“Whatever. Stay in denial.”

“I’m not in denial. I’m doing this purely for safety reasons. Since you won’t take precautions, I’ll take them for you.”

“So you’re not going to seduce my kidnapped body?”

“What are you yapping about now? I didn’t kidnap you.”

“Says the guy who threw me over his shoulder and ignored my protests.
And I didn’t hear you deny your plan to seduce me. Why, Boris, is this your sly way of getting me to your place and ravaging my body some more? You know, if you wanted me again so bad, you could have just asked.”

Asked? Ha.
Boris wouldn’t ask; he’d take. But she was wrong. He wasn’t doing this to seduce her—as tempting as it sounded. She’d soon see.

See fireworks apparently.

On the outside, Jan pretended indignation over Boris’s treatment.
But inside? Her fox was chasing its tail in giddy circles.

Boris could couch his actions in any excuse he liked
. Jan saw through them. Her moose was jealous, possessive, and feeling a mighty urge to protect her. Oh, and let her not forget he would seduce her.

Whether he wanted to or not.

As soon as his truck stopped, Jan hopped out and began to quickly strip, in a feigned charade she would shift into her fox. As hoped, he caught her, slung her over his shoulder, and once again slapped her bottom—which acted more as foreplay than a deterrent.

She
protested, a token protest of course. She’d always wanted to see where Boris lived, and where he slept.

He set her on her feet in his house, more of an open space with loft. She’d heard of minimalistic, but he truly defined it.

A simple kitchen lined the back wall, one long counter with pine cabinets below and above it. A white fridge and stove broke up the space as did the white, farmhouse sink with the window over it. A butcher block island with two stools acted as the only dining area. Not a man who entertained often.

A back corner was walled off with a single
door, which she assumed led to a bathroom, or so she hoped. Outhouses weren’t exactly high on her list of things she liked to use in the middle of winter.

When it came to furnishing, simple and sturdy seemed to rule.
A thick, woven, brown plaid couch faced the large picture window. A scarred wooden table with scuff marks implied taking your boots off was optional. A standing lamp just behind an armrest, a surprisingly plush shag carpet of a deep blue, and a battered leather armchair finished off the living room.

“No television?” she asked
, surprised at the lack.

“I hate falling asleep on the c
ouch, so I moved it to the loft where my bed is.”

The mention of his bed had her eyes traveling up the length of the open stairs, steeply inclined
, to the platform area, which hung over the kitchen area. She could see the foot of the bed, the blankets neatly tucked under the mattress with military corners. Not for long, if she had anything to say, or do, about it.

She glanced from the bed to the massive window without shades of any kind. “Sunrise must be a bitch.”

“I happen to like the light,” he admitted. “Nothing better than waking up, the sun warm on my face, to remind a man he’s alive.”

“What about those of us who like to sleep in?”

“Since your staying here is only temporary and, given this time of the year, sunlight is only a problem if you’re planning to get up late morning, I don’t really see it being an issue.”

Of course he wouldn’t because he still persisted in his foolish belief he could live without her. Ha. Given his craziness back at Reid’s house,
apparently it hadn’t occurred to him yet that he needed Jan.

Maybe I should try conking him in the head with a frying pan.
It worked, after all, for Tammy.

Patience.
She needed to slow down and exercise lots of patience. Boris was a stubborn moose. A man with mental wounds. The more she tried to force him, the more he pulled away. Her best results came when she denied him, when she let him think he’d lost her. Then the reluctant man turned demanding—and into an ardent lover.

“So how long are you planning to keep me prisoner here?”
she asked as she wandered the open space. It saddened her to see how few personal effects littered the area. On the contrary, if she didn’t know Boris owned this place since he settled here a few years back, she would have thought he rented it. No pictures on the walls. No knickknacks. Nothing personal to indicate a man of complexity and deep emotions—emotions he thought he hid—lived here. However, it did have one thing in abundance. Weapons.

Where most people would have hung a television, or some kind of art, he had a curved saber
on two black metal hooks, the metal of the blade polished and gleaming, the leather-wrapped hilt, oiled and still supple. In the magazine rack tucked between his issue of
PC Gamer
and
Tactile Life
was a matte black Glock.
Nice.

On a hunch, she flipped a couch cushion, and sure enough, there was a sheathed knife.
It seemed they shared some habits. “Expecting company?” she asked.

“You never know,” he replied, his hooded eyes tracking her every move.

“Personally, I like to have curtains in every room. Not only are they easier to keep clean than those mini blinds, which I swear are a magnet for dust, but my garrotes make great tie backs.”

His lips twitched. “I keep mine on the key
rack.” He inclined his head toward it, and sure enough, hiding in plain sight was a leather knotted strip, with a key hanging off it. “But I like your idea. Maybe you could help me select some for the kitchen.”

The import of his words struck them both silent. She
, because she heard his inadvertent admission that he expected her to make herself at home, and to stick around. He because he’d obviously said something he’d never meant to speak aloud.

She did
Boris a favor and didn’t call him on it. Instead, she wandered to the door at the back and prayed for a true bathroom.

“Good grief, do you bathe your moose in there?” she exclaimed
, opening the door.

“No, but I could, I guess. The shower is big enough.”

Big, modern, and tempting, those words described the bathroom space. Unexpected did as well too. The entire space gleamed, from the striated marble tile on the floor to the big white tiles on the walls. To complement all the white, there was a thick line of river stone running down one wall of the shower and covering the shower floor. A glass enclosure surrounded it, no fog on the glass, which meant if she finished stripping and stepped in, which she did, there was nothing to block his view.

He gaped. He didn’t drool, but only because he snapped his mouth shut.

But oh, how he stared as she turned the water on.

As she lifted her face into the spray
, which started out cold and pebbled her skin, especially her nipples, he said, in a low, rough voice, “What the hell are you doing?”

“
What’s it look like I’m doing? Washing. As you keep reminding me, someone set fire to my house, and I stink of smoke. Then I lugged your sorry butt to the clinic. Then I played with guns. Not to mention, I got real sweaty last night doing some hanky-panky. I think, after all that, I’m in need of a nice,” she turned to face him, “hot,” she trailed a finger in a line between her breasts, “shower.” She cupped both her breasts and aimed them into the spray.

He groaned.
With her face in the water, lest he see her grin, she said, “Are you all right? Is something bothering you? Your wound perhaps?”

“Something is bothering me, but it isn’t that bloody scratch,” he growled.
“I know you’re doing this on purpose.”

She let him see her smirk as she angled to peek at him through wet lashes. “Me? Would I do something like that? I thought we’d discussed the whole nudity thing before. And since that
talk, you’ve not only seen me naked, but you licked just about every inch of my body.” Again, she teased him, skimming her hands the length of her torso. His eyes tracked them, practically without blinking. “Given all that, you can’t tell me the sight of my body is that shocking.”

“
You know what you do to me.”

“No, Boris, I don’t, because you keep telling me I’m not important to you and that you don’t care.” She threw that at him
, and he reeled almost as if she’d physically shoved him.

“That’s not true
, and you know it.”

“Do I? Tell me enough times
, Boris, and true or not, I will start to believe it. You talk about being confused, well, welcome to my world. On the one hand, you say you don’t want me, and yet, the way you look at me…”

“How do I look at you?”

“Right now? Like you’d eat me all up.”

“Because I would,” he admitted
, so low she almost didn’t hear him over the sound of the water.

“
You look like you’d enjoy getting in here with me and pushing me up against this wall,” she flattened her palms against the cool ceramic, “and pushing your big body against mine. Spreading my thighs,” she placed her feet, shoulder width apart, “so you could thrust into me and claim me, take me, until I come, screaming your name.” Closing her eyes, she placed her cheek against the smooth tile and thrust her buttocks out, rolling them slightly as if he truly did—

Oh my. She didn’t even hear his clothes hit the floor, but he must have shed them because hard, hot flesh suddenly pressed against hers.

He growled against her lobe. “I might not be good for you. But god help me, I want you.”

“Then take me.”
She uttered the invitation then immediately moaned as he nipped at her ear lobe, the flat edge of his teeth tugging the flesh while his hands spanned her waist. Calloused thumbs and fingers stroked at her skin while the hot length of his cock pressed against the crevice of her buttocks. Boris was a big man, and her body having tasted him once, practically melted into a paroxysm of delight knowing what to expect.

But he didn’t immediately follow the course of her words. No, he had other ideas in mind. Decadent ones she approved of. He turned her so her back pressed against the tile wall. His lips left the shell of her ear and slid down the column of her neck, leaving a blaze of heat as he traveled. He ignored her aching breasts, his lips instead continuing their downward descent between their swell
s. Over her abdomen he kissed his way, lower still to the almost platinum thatch she kept short and trimmed over her mound.

A
nd then, his tongue found her.

Say what you would, a man who knew his way around a woman’s sex, how to tease it with the brief touch of a tongue, arouse it with warm breaths that raised anticipation, and a firm technique when it came to licking
a plumped pussy, was a man to keep.
And I intend to keep him. You’re mine, Boris. All mine, you and that decadent tongue of yours.

Leaning against the wall, she thanked its firm
support, else she would have melted into a puddle. Even then, she wasn’t too steady, and she grasped at Boris’ short hair, holding him as he ravaged her sex with his tongue.

She cried out, hips undulating in time to his wet strokes.
When he inserted a pair of fingers, her channel spasmed, a wave of pleasure that had her squeezing tight.

On and on, she crested, the flesh of her pussy throbbing, pulsing as if it possessed a mini rampaging heart of its own. She felt swollen and needy, but more than that, as she stared down at Boris on his knees, his eyes closed in pleasure, she wanted to return the favor.

“My turn.” She spoke softly, but he must have heard because he growled, “Not yet,” against her mound.

She tugged at his hair
, and he let go of her clit, which pulsed, and peered up at her with smoldering eyes.

She smiled
and repeated, “My turn.” She tugged his shoulders, urging him to stand, and he did, eyes locked with hers.

“What are you planning?” he asked.

Why tell when she could show him? She dropped to her knees and captured his bobbing cock. The flesh she gripped heated her palm, and it trembled. All of Boris trembled.

His eyes ablaze with tenderness
and heat, he reached out and stroked her cheek. Just calloused fingers brushing her lightly, but that gentleness combined with his gaze? She’d never seen or felt anything sexier.
It deserved a present. One he wouldn’t forget, but certainly enjoy.

Leaning forward, she
took him into her mouth.

“
Oh, sweet fuck.” Boris gasped as she deep throated him, her lips sliding smoothly back and forth, exploring the length of his shaft. Suctioning pulled him tight, and each time, his hips bucked forward. He twined his hands in her hair, still gentle, not rough and demanding as she’d expected. It surprised her because she could feel him holding back. Holding back his need.

S
he didn’t want him to exert control. For once, she wanted to see him let go. To fully embrace the moment. She started by letting him know how much she enjoyed the smooth feel of his velvety cock. Thick, long, and with silken steel for her to explore, she enjoyed the feel and taste of him. She made a sound similar to a purr but more rumbly, vibrating his shaft.

“Holy fuck, woman, you’re going to kill me,” Boris whispered.

“Not before you take me.”

As if that were
too much for him to ignore, he dragged her up and kissed her, his mouth hot and demanding against hers. “I’ll take all right.”

“Here.
Now. In this shower.”

“We’d never make it to a b
ed,” he said with a grin that caused a mini spasm in her sex. How she loved it when he let go for just a moment. Cherished these glimpses of the man she first met a long time ago, when he still knew how to smile.