Teamwork (13 page)

“I think you’ve probably had enough to drink,” I said, pulling away. “Why don’t we chase up that water?”

“I don’t want water.” Even though I’d shifted away, he followed me deeper into the shadow our table was nestled in. His body leaned right over mine. “I want
you
.”

I gasped as he circled his hand around my upper arm and tugged me close. “No, please.” What the hell was going on? I tried to lean back but was trapped between him and the wall.

“Get your fucking hands off her before I rip your ugly head from your neck and drop-kick it into the ocean.”

Raven’s deep, grating voice reverberated around us and I was aware of his huge shoulders filling my peripheral vision.

Raven was here? Really? My mind swam as that new piece of information sank in.

Lud turned, his expression no longer leery but shocked and irritated. “What the hell did you just say?” He didn’t let go of my arm.

Raven’s nostrils flared. His eyes narrowed to thin slits and his spoke with his teeth gritted. “Get your fucking hands off her,
now
.” He leaned forward, his chest swelling as he sucked in a breath.

“This woman is with me,” Lud said, tipping his head up to glare at Raven.

I couldn’t help but wonder about the professor’s sanity. Raven looked about to blow, rage radiated from every pore and his cheeks had risen in color from their usual coffee-colored hue to a deep scarlet.

I tugged my arm, tried to pull away. But I was hemmed in, trapped, my yank was to no avail.

The air sizzled with anger.

I wanted out of the whole situation.

“Do you know who
I
am?” Lud asked, prodding Raven’s chest with his free hand and apparently unaware of what he was unleashing. “Do you, huh? Do you?”

If I’d thought I’d heard Raven growl before, I’d been mistaken. For the noise that rumbled up from his belly and vibrated in his throat now was the sound one of the wolves on his arm would make. Menacing and dangerous.

Professor Nordstrom didn’t take any notice of the warning. “I am the professor at this conference,” he said snootily, “and therapist to the stars. Fiona and I are having a very important, intellectual conversation about one of her seriously ill patients.”

A smoky glaze flooded Raven’s eyes. I was vaguely aware of the room falling silent, of my heart thumping and my breaths becoming ragged. Lud’s fingers on my upper arm were pinching and tight.

Then it all happened so fast. With electric speed, Raven reached out and circled his hand around Lud’s neck. He shoved him back so his head hit the wall with a dull clunk, then tugged him upward and lowered his face so their noses touched.

He was still making that growling noise.

Lud squealed and finally released my arm.

But I didn’t move away. Raven was pressing into the professor, his considerable weight pinning him to the wall. I was sure he would crush his ribs.

“Sir, step away.” A member of hotel security appeared on the opposite side of the two men.

“I will when I’ve finished here,” Raven rumbled.

“Fuck, is that you? Raven Starr? Orlando Vipers?”

Raven turned to the security man who’d switched in an instant from an authoritative figure in uniform to a fan. A sea of faces behind him looked equally stunned by the kerfuffle being played out.

“It
is
you. Look, it’s Raven Starr.” The security man nodded excitedly at the crowd and grinned.

“Raven,” I said, resting my hand on his upper arm. “Let him go, come on.”

“You know this thug?” Lud squeaked at me. His defiance was breathtakingly stupid given his current position.

Raven pushed into him all the harder. There was a crunch that sounded suspiciously like spectacles breaking. “Yeah, she knows me, because she’s
my
woman, got it?”

Lud groaned and threw me a withering look. “You could have told me you’d brought your boyfriend along.”

“I didn’t know I had.” I slid my hand up Raven’s arm. His muscles were bunched and solid beneath his t-shirt. There was no moving that arm unless he wanted to. It seemed my treatment of his shoulder had been pretty effective. “Forget it,” I said. “It’s not worth it.”

He still didn’t move.

Lud writhed and pulled frantically at Raven’s thick forearms.

“I should rip your eyeballs from your head just for looking at her,” Raven snarled. He sucked in a deep breath and his eyes seemed to focus again, the glazed look melted—a little. “But it seems it’s your lucky day. She doesn’t want me to.”

“Let him go,” I said, tugging frantically on his arm.

As quickly as he’d grabbed Lud he released him and stepped back. He stared at me, his forehead creasing into a frown and his loose hair hanging messily around his shoulders. “You okay, Pumpkin?” His voice was halfway toward its usual rumbling tenor again.

“Yes, I’m fine.” I smoothed my palms down my dress.

A muscle jumped in his cheek. “Watch yourself,” he said to Lud, “’cause one wrong look, one accidental brush of a sleeve and your head parts company with your body, got it?”

“You can’t threaten me like that, I am—”

Raven snarled and stepped forward, belligerence steaming from him.

I held my breath.

Shit.

Lud backed up, real fear finally flashing across his face. “Yes, yes, got it. Loud and clear.”

“Good.” Raven turned to me, reached for my hand. “You want to stay for a drink?”

I shook my head. “No, not at all.” The staring faces were oppressive, the heat claustrophobic. I noticed a camera flash.

“Right, come on then.”

“Raven, please, can I have your autograph?” the security guard asked.

“Later,” Raven grunted as he stepped past him, tugging me with him. “Later, okay?”

Chapter Eleven

Raven marched us through the restaurant and across the lobby. I had to walk quickly to keep up with him. My heels were loud, echoing on the hard floor.

“I need some air,” I said, snapping my hand from his and pointing at the huge revolving doors.

“Me too.”

Pushing outside, I relished the sea breeze that instantly coated my hot skin. But it could do nothing to dampen the anger inside me—anger that was bubbling up, sharp and mean like a knife prodding at my flesh.

With each step I took down the palm-tree-lined path, I felt more and more embarrassed by what had just happened. More and more indignant that Raven had felt the need to come to my rescue. Who did he think he was, a damn knight in shining armor?

I veered off the spotlit path toward a bench nestled by some acacia bushes. The sound of the ocean, only a few meters away, was loud and crashing, the constant push-pull of the waves a sizzling hiss.

I sat and dropped my head in my hands and was aware of Raven sitting next to me.

Silence stretched between us.

The urge to tumble out my annoyance tickled my tongue. But I didn’t want to let rip. I needed to think and not be my usual speak-first-think-later self.

“You better talk to me, ’cause I just wanna go back in there and mess that asshole up,” Raven said, suddenly standing. “I need distracting.”

I looked up at him. He was pacing with his fists clenched, his feet stomping on the grass.

“That
asshole
is a professor,” I said, “and actually very important in the world of reflexology.”

“Like I give a fuck about that. He’s just a creep who wasn’t going to take no for an answer.” He glared down at me.

“How do you know that?”

“Because I was watching from the bar. I saw him sidling up to you, touching you. Leaning in closer. I even lip-read you say no and he didn’t take the hint.”

“Exactly, I said no. I was about to get up and walk away.”

“He had hold of you.”

“Yes, but he would have let go and I’d have gotten us some water from the bar.” I stood and placed my hands on my hips. “I
could
still be in there discussing my patient.”

“Like fuck you could. He wasn’t interested in talking about your patient. He just wanted to get into your panties. Hell, his weasel eyes were as good as glued to your cleavage.”

I can’t deny that. But still. Decapitation?

My voice was louder now. “How the hell am I supposed to see him tomorrow, after you just threatened to rip his head off?”

“You’ll be fine. He knows not to step out of line now I’m here.”

“Which brings me to the point of what the hell
are
you doing here? I’m guessing it’s not just so you could abuse the professor.”

His lips tightened and he sucked in a breath. When he spoke, his voice was low and husky, the anger had left his tone. “I missed you. When you went this morning the house felt hollow… My bed looked empty.”

“I was only going to be away one night, for heaven’s sake.” A small part of me remembered how I’d felt earlier, in the elevator going for dinner. I’d missed him desperately, wished he was by my side and would be holding me all night.

He stepped up to me, touched my cheek with the knuckle of his index finger. “Sometimes one night can feel like a lifetime, Pumpkin.”

The inky blackness of his eyes was like a drug. Something I could fall into and get addicted to. But I didn’t, the simmering frustration in my gut wouldn’t let me. Not this time. “Well, consider this, Raven. Until now I’ve always managed to look after myself. I’ve traveled the world learning my trade. Met all kinds of people, mostly nice, a few not so nice. I don’t need a beefed-up brute of a bodyguard, thank you very much, one that thinks I’m weak and pathetic and needs to be taken care of.”

He opened his mouth as if to speak, but made no sound.

“And.” I was on a roll now. “I don’t appreciate being followed. It’s creepy, creepy and needy and, fucking hell, so what if another guy looks at me? You hardly care when Todd does considerably more than that.”

He stared down at me. His jaw was now so tight I half expected to hear the sound of cracking teeth. “First, I don’t think you’re weak and pathetic,” he said stiffly. “You’re one of the strongest, most caring, intelligent people I’ve ever met. Second, I wasn’t following you. I’d come to surprise you and was just waiting until you’d finished your conversation before coming over. And I’m sorry if you think I’m creepy and needy, it really wasn’t what I intended.” There was a sting of hurt in his voice. “And third, it’s different with Todd.”

I hated to see pain on his face, but I had to know more. “Why? How is it different with Todd?”

He shrugged. “It always has been. It’s him.”

My mind was spinning now. I cocked my head, frowned. “What
is
there between you two?”

Dropping his hand, he shook his head. “Nothing like what you’re thinking. We’re buddies, we work and play together. That’s all.”

The memory of him touching Todd’s balls came to mind. How could it not? It had been so fucking hot to be part of.

“I know what you thought I’d say.” He shook his head and lowered his voice. “That we’ve been lovers, or want to be in the future. But that’s not the case.”

“Isn’t it?” I raised my eyebrows.

He laughed gruffly. “No, it fucking isn’t. Well, not from my point of view anyway. I have no desire to go anywhere near his ass.”

“You think he wants you?”

“How would I know? It’s hardly the sort of thing to drop into conversation in the locker room—hey, buddy, do you want to fuck me or what?”

“Well, no, but…”

Raven sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Okay, so maybe there’s been some touching when we’ve been in threesomes and got carried away in the heat of the moment. But that’s it, nothing more than the odd fondle and only when there was a girl there.” His face creased. “Shit. What a fucking mess.”

“Why is it?”

“Because clearly it bothers you.”

I shook my head. “No, not at all.” It really didn’t.

“Liar. You told me you thought I was gay on the plane.”

“Jesus, I was teasing you, and I think you got me back for that.”

He huffed and turned away.

I stared at his broad back, at the way his gray t-shirt stretched over his wide shoulders. His loose hair hung thick and glossy and shone in the moonlight. I could make out the tail end of his tattoo poking out of his sleeve and ending on his elbow.

“I think it’s best if I go back to Orlando,” he said.

My heart sank at the thought of him leaving, but not nearly as much as it did to see him in distress. I stepped forward, wound my arms around his waist and pressed my cheek into his back. Hugged him tight. “I don’t want you to go.”

He grunted. “I think you do.”

Squeezing him all the closer, I inhaled his gorgeously sexy scent. “I think whatever bond you and Todd have is great. You clearly not only care about each other, but you also trust one another too. Plus he’s an amazingly good-looking guy. Charm and sex appeal literally ooze from him.”

Raven unpeeled my arms from his waist and stepped away, down the short bank leading to the beach. His silhouette stopped just before the ebbing waves. I’d never seen him look hunched before. He was hanging his neck down and his hands were shoved deep in his jeans pockets.

Something told me I’d just said the wrong thing.

I joined him on the shoreline, my heels sinking in the powdery sand. “What is it?” I asked, looking up at his angular profile.

The way his lips pursed made me nervous.

“Raven?”

“I know you’re in love with him.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut. “He’s your type. Hell, he’s every girl’s type.”

A wave frothed toward me and I stared at it unblinking, uncaring as it crashed over my shoes.

“I was a fool,” he said, “to ever think I stood a chance with you. Of you falling in love with me and not him.”

His words were like a kick to the stomach, hard and breath-stealing, but when the shock of hearing them dispersed, clarity hit me. It was beautiful, like a fog lifting or water rolling away and leaving a perfect stretch of sand. I stared at a mounting, cresting wave and let the joy of the new knowledge pour through my veins and settle in my soul.

I’m not in love with Todd.

“I’m never going to be handsome or a top goal scorer,” Raven was saying, “and I’m certainly never going to win any awards in the charm department.” He gave a resigned sigh. “But I can’t change, Fiona, it’s the way I am. How I’m feeling at any given moment is right there, undisguised. And I understand why you want to be with him and not me. Hell, you told me right from day one that he was your type and I wasn’t.”

“But Raven—”

“Please, don’t feel bad. I’ll go now. I shouldn’t have come.” He turned and stepped away, disturbing clouds of sand as he dragged his feet over the beach.

“But, Raven, I’m not in love with Todd.”

He carried on walking. Every step ripped my heartstrings and I had to wrap my arms around my waist to hold myself together. Watching him leave was the same as having my fingernails ripped out—slow, bitter torture. I could almost hear the cracking of my about-to-be-broken heart.

“Raven.” My breath caught in my throat. “I’m in love with you.”

He stopped.

A bigger wave rushed over my feet. I stumbled forward as it knocked me off balance—disoriented as to my place in the world for a few scary seconds.

Then he was next to me. Steady hands wrapping around my waist, firm arms holding me close.

My eyes filled and the tears pricked painfully, emotions battering me the same way the ocean just had.

“What did you say?” he asked, his face hovering over mine, his gaze scanning my eyes.

“I’m not in love with Todd,” I gasped, flailing to hold on to him.

A deep frown etched across his brow. “No, the next part. What did you say after that?”

I clung to his t-shirt, holding it in my fists. “I’m in love with
you
,” I said as a fat tear spilled over and a sob gurgled up from my throat.

His gaze was locked on mine, his eyes full of desperate hope. “Even if I’m a big, beefy brute who wants to protect you?”

“Yes, yes, especially if you are a big, beefy brute who wants to protect me.” I ran my hands up to the side of his thick neck, let my fingertips rest on his jawline. “And I think you’re handsome, so handsome. And just for the record, you are
totally
my type.”

He mashed his lips together, closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. Another wave crashed around our feet, the water cool and fizzing. I ignored it.

“Say it again,” he whispered.

“I think you’re handsome.” I threaded my hands into his hair, let my lips hover over his.

“No, not that.”

Pressing into him, I felt as if I couldn’t get close enough. He’d gotten into my heart with the same swiftness a puck flies across the ice. I wanted our bodies to merge, to get lost in each other, forever. “I love you,” I whispered, the words a joyful release of overwhelming feelings. “I love you.”

He swallowed tightly then opened his eyes. Love and desire seemed to pour from them like thick, luscious treacle. He tilted my chin and spoke onto my lips. “I love you too.”

We fell onto the mattress, our clothes a messy, tangled trail between the hotel room door and the bed.

The room was so dark I couldn’t see my hands in front of my face. It didn’t matter, it was as light and bright as a room could ever be simply because Raven was there. Raven was with me. Holding me, kissing me, about to find his way inside me.

“Make love to me,” I gasped as I clutched at his big, naked body. His skin was so smooth and warm beneath my palms. I couldn’t touch enough of him at once and ran my hands up and down the planes of his back, across his shoulders, into his hair.

“Only thing that’s going to happen,” he murmured, settling above me.

I spread my legs wide, drew up my knees and welcomed him prodding my entrance. Hot, hard, sheathed cock teased into me, making me feel complete and whole. There’d never been a more perfect sensation.

Our kisses were reverent yet at the same time urgent as he slowly tunneled to the hilt. “Oh yes, I need you so much,” I gasped, arching my spine and pressing my head into the pillow. As usual it took a few seconds to adjust to his size.

“I’m here,” he breathed, his lips sucking my chin. “Right here.”

“Don’t go anywhere,” I gasped, clutching his tensed butt cheeks and finding his mouth with mine. “Ever.”

“I won’t. Oh god, it’s never felt so good, Fiona.”

Ditto.

His taste, his smell, the heat and weight of him over me were all I ever needed. The feeling of being so adored and protected was exquisite. And although I already knew I was in love with him, I couldn’t help falling more so. How could I not? The way he was rocking his hips, filling me so wondrously, was like a personal trip to heaven.