Seduction's Dance (McKingley Series) (9 page)

His chest moved with his chuckle. “You have us figured out that well, do you?”

“Doesn’t take much to figure out what brothers would do. You love your sister.”

“You’re pretty smart,” he whispered into her hair.

“I have my moments.”

“All the time.”

She snuggled closer.

“What do you want to do tonight?”

Closing her eyes, she asked, “Do we have to do anything other than what we are right now?”

“Not at all,” he rumbled. “We can stay in bed all night. I just thought you might want a bite to eat.”

“Maybe later. I’m too content to move right now.” It was true. Her bones and muscles felt like they had melted, leaving her just a limp pile upon the impressive man beneath her.

“Sounds good to me. Tell me something, now, Shannon.”

“Hmm.” She was close to falling asleep all over again.

“Has the thing with Mario been taken care of?”

There went her relaxed state. “You need to let that go. I can handle it.”

“You’re my girl. I’m not going to let it go.”

“Listen to me,” she said as she got off him and sat up, dragging the sheet over her chest. “I’ll tell you like I told Leo. I can handle this. If, and I mean
if
I need any help on it, then I will ask. Until then, this is between the two of us. Myself and Mario. Not you. Not your brother. Not James. Myself and Mario.”

He sat up as well and she bit back her groan at seeing his totally naked state. Dimitri didn’t even bother hiding his thick cock and she had to tear her gaze from where it lay semi-hard against his thigh.

“A man like that is dangerous.”

She ground her teeth and prayed for strength. “I know that, Dimitri. I’m not an idiot. I’m a cop. I also know how to handle a man like him. However, your and Leo’s interference makes it harder. Trust me to know what I’m doing.”

She held his gaze and watched the indecisiveness flash through it. His phone rang and their connection was lost as he strode over to his pants and pulled it out.

“Yeah?” he snapped.

The moment he watched her again, she licked her lips and lowered the sheet giving him a tantalizing peek at her breasts. Dragging her finger between them, she bit her lower lip. His cock hardened and rose from his leg.

“What, Leo? Uh, let me see if we can come for dinner.”

She ripped the sheet to the side and continued with her finger, down her belly and between her legs to dip into her wet pussy.

His eyes flared with heat. “Nope. Sorry, Shannon and I can’t join you and Deyon tonight. We’re busy.”

Dimitri tossed his phone down on the chair and was on her in a flash, pressing her back into the mattress.

She laughed for the sheer joy of being with this man. “Are you sure you don’t want to go there for dinner?”

“I’m positive,” he stated.

He rolled them over so she was on top. She reached for the pile of condoms on her bedside table, ripped one open then sheathed his turgid length. She rose up over him and sank down, taking him completely inside her with one movement.

Lord, he felt good inside her. Thick and long. She leant forward and splayed her hands on his chest then began to move. Up and down, back and forth, she set her own slow pace.

“Shannon,” he croaked.

“Shh. No talking.” She closed her eyes and reclaimed the rhythm she wanted. The burn grew, in him as well for he tensed beneath her, but she still maintained the same torturous speed. This wasn’t something she wanted to end until she was good and ready. Her blood hummed and her skin tightened.

Dimitri gripped her hips and she opened her eyes just as he wrested control away from her. With a low growl, he began thrusting up into her, hard and fast. She dropped her head back and moaned as intense pleasure washed over her, sending her into a fierce orgasm. Inside her, she could feel his release as well.

Exhausted, she fell forward and lay on his sweaty chest, his thickness still buried deep within her.

Shannon had crashed immediately after they’d finished making love in bed, and he had taken that time to lie here and concentrate on her. He wasn’t tired, rather he was perfectly content to stare at her. She lay sleeping against him, soft snores emanating from her. Even that didn’t bother him. Dimitri stared at Shannon and felt that tug on his heart all over again. It’d been coming more and more often now, increasing with the time he spent with her.

It was two in the morning and he loved how the moonlight bathed her in a soft glow. Shannon gave her all when she did something. Lovemaking was no different. His cock stirred as he watched her, but he ignored it. She needed to get her sleep—she was exhausted having refused to sleep—she was adjusting back to days. She’d stayed up with him until tonight. Granted they’d been in bed, but there had been definitely no sleeping going on.

This woman had come to mean a lot to him and it scared him a bit. He’d never been this serious about anyone before. Part of him wanted to rush forward to deepen their relationship while the cautious part made him want to hesitate, slow it down. Protect himself. She and she alone had a power over him and he couldn’t let her know it. He realized that she could seriously hurt him.

Rolling his eyes at himself, he sighed.
I shouldn’t be so melodramatic.
Shannon didn’t strike him as a woman who would do anything like that. It happened though, women hurt men and played them, he knew that, and he didn’t want to be one of those men people talked about and whispered about how he’d been a fool.

Be honest,
his subconscious chided.

If he were truly honest with himself, he would reveal that lately he’d been thinking in terms of something much more permanent every time he thought of Shannon. Something like his siblings had. The promise of forever. He could admit—reluctantly—he was jealous of what they had with their partners.

He wanted it too. Living in the same house. Coming home to that person in the evenings. Falling asleep together and waking the same way. Yes, that was what he wanted. He wanted what his parents had.

He ran a hand over his face.
I’m so pathetic. Mooning like this.
Blowing out a breath, he shifted then stilled as Shannon moved.

After she didn’t wake, he breathed a bit easier. As sentimental as he was feeling at this moment, he didn’t know what he might just spit out. He held her tighter and nuzzled her temple. She burrowed closer and he closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of her lushness against his form.

* * * *

The next morning they got up early then saddled the horses. After riding out to where they’d watched many a sunset, they faced the other direction and watched the sun come up over the horizon. The sunrise was beautiful, but he honestly had a hard time keeping his eyes off the woman who sat easily on the horse next to him. He loved watching her ride. Her motions were so fluid, so in tune with the animal.

“What’s the plan for the day?” he asked as they slowly made their way back to the ranch.

“I don’t know. I have to do some chores around here, but other than that, I have no plans.” She readjusted in the saddle and looked at him. “Something you have planned there?”

“Not really. I was thinking we could grill out.”

He studied her expression, waiting for her response.

“I take it you’re planning on staying for my entire ninety-six?”

He blinked.
Is that a problem?
“Did you want me to go?” he questioned with reluctance.

“Didn’t say that. Had I wanted you gone, I would have told you to leave.”

That much was true, she would have done that. He gave a small smile. “Then what?”

“I wasn’t expecting to have to have plans for my entire days off to tell you about.”

He looked at it from her point of view. She’d pulled extra shifts at work on a totally different time so her sleeping schedule was messed up again and now he was expecting an itinerary from her on what she’d planned to do on her days off.

“Sorry.”

“Nothing to apologize for. I had planned on catching up on some things around here that have been neglected. But grilling out sounds like fun.”

He had been taking up a lot of her time and suddenly felt bad. Was he responsible for her falling behind on chores and work around here? Unlike at his house, this took a bit more work to keep up and running. It was older and as she pointed out, a ranch.

“How about you put me to work? I’ll help you get caught up, then we can grill.”

She nodded and gave her horse its head for the ride back to the ranch. Chatter was light and easy between them on the return ride. Once they’d arrived, she made a brief stop to wake her cousin then they went to the stable.

Not too much later, they were working, even James. However, Dimitri was having a hard time focusing on the job at hand. Continually distracted as he was by a pair of creamy brown legs in tight cut-off jeans, his painting was suffering.

“Thought you were here to work,” James said.

Tearing his gaze from Shannon’s ass for the umpteenth time, Dimitri looked at her cousin. James wore a pair of jeans and boots today while Sigmund, the demented rooster, walked around as if he hadn’t a care in the world.

“I am working.”

James stared at him, blinked, looked to the unpainted surface beside him then back to his face. “My mistake. I was under the impression you were painting. Hard to do that with a dry brush.”

Flustered, Dimitri glanced down and found he hadn’t even opened the can of paint yet.
Shit.
He shrugged. Really, what else could he do? He’d been caught and there was no excuse.

“You two are pathetic,” James said in a tone that was more amused than anything as he walked away.

I don’t run naked after a creature that likes to grab at dangly bits.
He opened the can, stirred it then truly got to work. They continued in the sun until close to five in the afternoon.

“You joining us for dinner, James?” he asked as he rinsed out the brushes. “We’re grilling out.”

“No. I have something to do.”

“Okay. Offer is there if you get back and we’re still eating.”

The man nodded and moved to Shannon’s side. Dimitri watched as they chatted together. It wasn’t hard to see the affection they had for one another. The other thing, which also wasn’t hard to see, was that Shannon was worried.

After James had left, she walked to his side, all sweaty in her spaghetti-strap tank and those damn frayed jean shorts. There was no sign of the cop right now—all he was faced with was pure woman, with a body to die for and who wasn’t afraid of some work. His groin stirred and he swallowed.

“Everything okay?” He shook the brushes to remove excess water.

“Yeah.”

Her nose flared the way it did when she was lying to him. He wouldn’t pry—it was family business and if she wanted to share with him, she would.

He pushed to his feet and smiled. “I’ll start on the grill.”

All thoughts about that vanished as she stepped flush to him and rested her palm on his bare chest. “Must have more of that water conservation first, don’t you think?”

He rumbled his agreement and drew her up for a kiss. “I’m all for it.”

She laid the brushes out before she jumped into his arms and latched her legs around him.

Kissing her as if it would satisfy the hunger he had for her, he carried her back inside her house straight to the bathroom where they shared a shower—one that didn’t conserve all that much water. After they were sated did they get around to firing up the grill. And he didn’t mind the delay in the least.

Chapter Seven

Shannon ran, feet pounding, after the perp who had decided it would be more fun to have her chase him, as opposed to doing the nice thing and stopping when she’d arrived on the scene. The other two had been cuffed and were by another squad car. But this wiry little bastard had opted to run.

He was fast, she’d give him that, but she’d be damned if she let him get away from her. Adding a bit more speed, she cursed her utility belt—always great to have, right up until she had to chase someone.

They hauled ass into an empty lot and she turned on even more speed, catching him and taking him down hard. She bit back her muttered curse as pain lanced through her right side.

“I told you not to run,” she snapped off as she cuffed the man.

“I didn’t do anything wrong,” he cried.

“Of course not. What was I thinking? It must have been a different young man in his early twenties wearing cargo pants and a black Metallica shirt with a beanie on his head who robbed the store.”

“Exactly. I was framed!”

Rolling her eyes, she climbed off him then jerked him up. “Tell it to the attorney I am going to advise you to get.” As they walked, she recited his rights to him.

Mario and two other officers were back by her squad car where they’d all parked. Hers however, had the driver’s door still open.

“Nice collar.” Mario opened the back door of her cruiser for her. “We found the gun he dropped.”

“Good.” She guided the still muttering man into the backseat. “Sit and don’t move.”

The moment he was there, she slammed the door, content he’d be fine since the window was partially down. She moved and winced.

“You okay?”

Do I really want Mario to know I’m hurt? Not really, no.
But the gasp that came from one of the others couldn’t be ignored.

“Hell, Conner, you’re bleeding.”

Shit.
She’d been afraid of that. “I’m fine.”

“No, you need to get that looked at.”

Over the radio, she heard them call for a medic. Dipping her head, she sighed heavily at the dark stain that spread out on the side her uniform shirt. There was a big tear in the middle of the new color.

“I’ll take him back to the station for you while you get that cleaned up,” Mario said.

She nodded, feeling grateful he wasn’t being an ass at the moment. It didn’t take long for the man to be moved from one car to the next. She kept her distance, what with her bleeding and all, there was no sense in taking unneeded risk.

She turned to view the ambulance pulling into the parking lot. The crowd, which had begun to gather earlier, had slowly faded bit by bit. Doors slammed and she caught sight of a tall man with bronze skin, chiseled features, black wavy hair and a firm body.