Let It Ride

She’d been playing with fire by giving in to his suggestion last night, and she’d come close to letting him burn her resolve to a crisp. His hard body had fitted so rightly against hers, and his touch had sizzled along her skin.

She stopped in her tracks when she walked into Cole pacing by the break-room door clutching a paper bag. Her world filled with the fragrance of heated musky aftershave and old leather.

Oh, no. Her resistance was already weak. She didn’t know if she could fight her feelings tonight. It felt as if the coil inside her chest would snap at any moment. If only there was such a thing as an inoculation against sexual attraction.

She stepped back and flattened the empty tray against her chest like a shield. “Are you stalking me, Major?”

He gave her a skeptical look. “It’s Cole. And do stalkers usually bring their victims Oatmeal Cookie Chunk?” He held out the paper sack.

“What?” She set the tray on a nearby stool, then cautiously took the bag and peered inside. “It really is—” She looked up at him. “But where did you—” She stared into the bag again. How in the world…They only have this flavor at Christmas. How’d you find it in May?”

He grinned. “I’m a man of many talents.”

“I bet.” She didn’t try to hide the sarcasm in her tone. “Look, I’m not—” Oh man, she couldn’t be that rude. Dropping her gaze to the floor, she stalled by shifting her weight from foot to foot before looking up at him. “Thank you for the thought, but—” she shoved the bag against his chest “—I have to go.” She twisted away.

“Jordan.”

She stopped, but didn’t turn back.

“It’s just ice cream.”

For the first time she doubted her instincts. Was she being too cynical? Had she let the world change her into one of those bitter man-haters? Rather, experience had taught her a few valuable lessons. There was a difference between bitterness and discretion.

She spun on her heels and pinned him with an accusing eye. “You’re wasting my time, and yours, Major. I’m not interested.”

He scowled, his brows lowered to create a deep crease. Tossing the ice cream on the stool with the tray, he closed the distance between them, seized her shoulders, and lowered his head to take her lips.

Jordan stiffened at first, trying to fight the rush of heat assailing her, but his lips were so persuasive, so thorough in their lush assault, she quickly surrendered. The taste of him flooded her senses as he slid in just a touch of his tongue. Recklessly, she deepened the kiss, pressing her body to his. Her arms snaked around his neck, and her fingers curled into his thick hair.

No. She wouldn’t give in. She couldn’t allow herself to be ruled by her impulses again. She pulled away. “Stop.”

He dropped his hands from her back, his breathing deep and ragged. “I want you, Jordan. I’m only in Vegas for a week. I don’t know where I’ll end up after that. For me, there’s only now. And all I know is, I want you. No promises. No strings. No games.”

She searched his face, staring at him for any sign of duplicity. But all she could see in his deep-brown eyes was need. Intense and unvarnished.

Finally, she looked away. “I appreciate your honesty, Cole. But I’m not good at that kind of thing.” She brushed past him and darted into the break room.

THE FLUORESCENT LIGHTS cast a jaundiced glow as Jordan wound her way through the casino after her break. The rumble and beeping of slot machines echoed the feeling in her chest. Agitated. On edge. She was either the smartest single woman on the planet or the stupidest person to ever sell Keno cards. She caught herself searching the casino for the major, but he was gone.

The same frantic regret from the other night filled her. His kiss had burned all the way down her body. Why had she told him no? What was she saving herself for? She’d been careful for so long, trying not to repeat her mistakes. But choosing a man she thought was a nice guy hadn’t worked out, either. Banker Bob had still dumped her for a showgirl. So, why not have a fling with some guy who at least admitted he only wanted a one-time deal?

She’d assumed he’d been stationed at Nellis. But he’d said he was only in Vegas for a week. Maybe he was returning to combat? Maybe he wouldn’t make it back next time. The last thought made her chest hurt.

She was almost due to clock out. All she had to do was make it through tomorrow, then she’d be off work for two days. But, she had to spend every free moment studying. Even tonight when she got home. Failing was not an option. As she strolled around the slots, her headache sharpened, shooting down to the base of her skull.

She needed a clone. Just for this week. Just until she could get her degree. She dreaded going home and dealing with Mom. And what kind of ungrateful daughter did that make her? All her life her mother had been there for her. No matter what. She used to say, “You and me against the world, kiddo. We’ll make it as long as we stick together.” And she’d been right.

But it was Cole’s words that played in her head like a looped movie trailer…all I know is, I want you. The raspy hunger in his voice made her breathing hitch.

She missed sex. She bit her lip at how she’d almost told him she wanted him, too. To take her to his hotel room. Or his apartment on base, or whatever. Wherever. Anywhere. As long as he threw her on the bed and they went at it like horny teens. Just for a few wild, reckless hours.

Sherri was right. A hot bout of sex would release the stress and help her study. Sex didn’t always have to be about love and commitment. Sex was really just about sex. The tension inside her stretched so taut she’d snap if she didn’t relieve some of the pressure.

“Well, hi there, pretty thang,” a tall youngish guy grabbed her bottom.

She knocked his hand away. “Get lost!” She couldn’t take it anymore. Was this what she had to look forward to for the rest of her life if she flunked her finals?

“Jordan!” her boss came up behind her, soothing the guy with a card for a complimentary dinner before he took her arm and urged her toward the break room. “You know how it works. If someone gets handsy, call security. You never, ever yell at the customers. Now, clock out. Go home.” He gave her a serious glare. “Don’t ever let that happen again.”

Oh, my gosh. What had she done? She needed this job. And she’d been a model employee for years. Working double shifts, and filling in for absent or late co-workers. He wouldn’t fire her for this one infraction, would he?

A crazy rebellion boiled to the surface. So what if he did? Hadn’t she already been deserted in this unfamiliar city without a job? She’d survive somehow. Without even bothering to change, she threw her backpack over one shoulder and stalked out of the hotel.

Forget it. Just for tonight, she didn’t want to be responsible. She didn’t want to keep denying her needs. And she didn’t want to always wonder how hot the sex might have been with Major Cole Jackson.

Too bad she’d turned him down.

COLE CRUISED around Vegas, his mind mulling over new strategies to make Jordan give in to him.

Never mind the challenge, he needed her. It had nothing to do with proving himself to his buddies. He just…needed her.

And it didn’t take a brain surgeon to know she felt the same pull of desire he did. Their kiss had sparked every nerve ending he had, and he’d felt it igniting all through her and back into him.

But how to keep her from hitting the all-systems-off button again?

Winning was all about tactics. Tonight, he’d lost his cool and scared Jordan off. Bad habit. Leaping before he thought. Failing to curb his impulses. Same reason he’d gotten shot down.

As he pulled the Harley into the Grand’s parking garage, he heard a screech of tires and a car horn honking. From the corner of his eye he caught a flash of red sequins in front of the honking cab. What the hell? Jordan was flipping the driver the bird as she strode past, heading back toward the hotel from the bus stop. And she was staring right at him.

Their gazes met. Her eyes flared. A tense energy radiated from her. My God. He was completely captivated. Her blond hair flowed around her shoulders, reminding him of a proud lioness.

He U-turned his bike into the exit lane and pulled up next to her.

There was a wild look in her eyes. “I’ll take that ride now.”

Suddenly, he couldn’t think. Maybe it was all the blood rushing south. She wasn’t usually in her work clothes at the bus stop. And she wasn’t usually off this early. Something must have happened.

He shrugged out of his jacket, draped it over her shoulders and she slipped her arms in. Then he gestured for her to get on. “Where do you live?”

As she settled behind him, she wrapped her arms around his waist and her breasts pressed against his back. “I don’t want to go home.”

Her words socked him in the gut. “Where to, then?” He held his breath.

“Anywhere. Away from everything.” Her voice trembled.

He could take her there and beyond. But he’d have to be a world-class jerk to take advantage of her in this mood. “Look, maybe you should—”

“Just get me out of here. Please.” Her arms tightened and one hand roamed over his chest, the other down over his zipper.

His breathing hitched and his dick tried to jump into her palm. He clamped his jaw shut. “Zip the coat. The wind bites.”

Her arms left him and he heard the zip, and when she hugged him this time her hands spread across his stomach and chest. He checked the traffic, then roared out of the parking garage.

As Cole sped onto Las Vegas Boulevard, all he could think about was the heat, the slightest breath and movement, of her plastered against his back.

Once they passed the city limits she slid her hand under his belt and cupped his rock-hard cock through his briefs. And even though she hadn’t moved her hand except to accommodate his lengthening, he was the most turned-on he’d ever been in his life. He felt as if one wrong move could have him begging for mercy.

Why hadn’t he taken her straight up to his room? Because he’d heard the restlessness in her voice. She wanted to escape the hotel and everything it stood for. And so did he. Heading out into the desert night with her clinging tightly to him brought a primal urge to the surface—to haul his woman away from the world and keep her for himself.

With the eternal lights of Vegas only a glow on the horizon behind them, he slowed down, pulled off the road and into the dirt, and killed the engine. Beyond his headlight’s beam, the sand and scrub disappeared into black nothingness, as if the rest of the world didn’t exist. He could hear his ragged breathing, and hers. He could smell his desire. And hers.

He twisted to look at her, his hands squeezing the handlebars. Wondering if she’d leave him blue-balled, he searched her eyes.

She framed his face with her hands and pulled his mouth to hers. Her kiss tasted of desperate hunger as she slipped her tongue inside.

Fumbling to kick down the bike stand, he took control of the kiss, taking it deep and wet. But she pulled away.

“This is just for tonight, right? Like you said—no promises.”

“Uh…yeah, sure.” At this point, he would have signed a contract in blood.

She nodded and slowly unzipped the jacket.

He unbuckled his belt, gripped her around the waist and pulled her in front of him, onto his lap. While she thrust her tongue deep into his mouth, she somehow straddled the seat to face him and hooked her legs over his thighs.

After that, things got frantic. Dug through his wallet for a condom. Ran his hands through her silky hair the way he’d been dreaming of. And never stopped kissing her. He couldn’t get enough of her mouth and tongue, or her sweet, sexy whimpers.

Her hands were all over him, too. Her fingers combed through the hair at the back of his neck, and he shivered. She grabbed the edge of his T-shirt and lifted it to run her hands over his chest, tweaking his nipples until he wanted to squirm and beg. Then she roamed down to unbutton and unzip him and her fingers grazed his stiff, sensitive cock. Their mouths never breaking contact, she pulled down his briefs and encircled him. Sensations exploded. She stroked him with long, sensual pulls.

Oh, yes. His desire crested. He needed release. He needed to have her surrounding him.

Only vaguely aware that he’d moaned and growled like some crazed animal, he pushed into her caress. Then her hand and mouth were gone as she leaned back, yanked off his jacket and draped it over the handlebars. Closing her eyes, she pulled her top over her head, taking her bra with it. Thankful he’d left his headlight on, Cole licked his lips at the sight of her lush, round breasts. Blood pounded in his ears as he stared at her.

His cock twitching, he cupped her breasts and squeezed them, lifting one to his mouth. Her skin tasted sweet and salty and spicy all at once. Her nipples were perfect, large and dusky. He suckled and licked and buried his nose between the heavy mounds as he kissed their silken flesh.

He might never get enough of them. She was the ultimate high. One taste and he’d become a Jordan junkie.

As soon as the thought hit, his cock jumped and ached. He trailed kisses down to her quivering stomach, biting lightly, nibbling into her belly button and farther down to the edge of her panties. He wanted to be inside her now. “Take them off.” With both hands, he gripped her waist and lifted her while she reached beneath her skirt and peeled them off, one long leg at a time. “Grip the bars behind you, and put your feet on my thighs.” He cupped her butt and raised her warm pussy to his lips.

She was wet, so wet for him. He lapped at her sweet juice and licked her swollen clit, teasing it with gentle bites. He didn’t know how much longer he’d last.

As he plunged his tongue in and played with her soft folds, she made little moaning sounds and called out. He looked up to see her silhouetted against the light, her chest rising and falling, her hair blowing in the sandy breeze. Her eyes were squeezed closed, and the expression on her face as she opened them pierced him. He’d never had a woman come so fast.

He slid one hand up her damp back and she let go of the handlebars and wrapped her arms around his neck. Somehow he managed to slip the condom on before she slowly lowered herself onto his cock and he lost all reasonable thought.

She circled her legs around his hips and settled over him, wiggling into place.

“Don’t move!” He gripped her hips, unsure how long he’d last in her tight warmth. His boot heels dug into the gravel. In this position he was buried to the hilt, yet he couldn’t push up into her, couldn’t pump into her the way his body screamed for him to.

With a mischievous smile, she pressed her lips to his neck and trailed kisses up behind his ear, down his jaw and finally covered his mouth.

She made him frantic, mad for release. He lost control. He gripped her butt and raised and lowered her. Soon she caught the rhythm and braced her arms on his shoulders to rock her hips.

Indescribable pleasure washed over him, building stronger, faster, hitting him harder. He held on tight, and a strangled cry escaped as he shot deep into her core. Hits of ecstasy bombarded his groin and spread up his entire body.

Her fingers clenched on his scalp and scraped down his back as he tried to regain his breath. Echoes of the thrill still tingled and stung. He looked up and found Venus on the western horizon and Mars hanging just above the crescent moon. He picked out the Pleiades, Canis Captain and Orion. Anything to take his mind off the fact that he was squeezing Jordan to him as if his life depended on her and his eyes had come damn close to watering until he’d blinked a couple times.

Anything to forget that he didn’t want to let go.

4

THREE HOURS later Cole pulled his Harley into a parking space next to McCabe’s Jeep at Red Rocks National Conservation Area. The sun was inching its way over the canyons to the east, and Cole sat staring at the orange and purple streaks coloring the clouds.

He wished he was up there, above the stratosphere. He wished he’d never come to Vegas. After the hospital, he should have gone straight to Phoenix to visit his folks.

Why the hell did he feel as if he’d lost the bet instead of won it? He was supposed to relish the look on McCabe’s face when Cole told him he’d gotten lucky with the Keno girl.

But she wasn’t just a Keno girl. She was a woman. A woman who’d been upset enough to ride off with him on his bike and do something she’d told him only a few hours earlier that she couldn’t do. And he hadn’t even found out why. He’d just taken what she offered.

McCabe climbed out of his Jeep, sipping steaming coffee from a cup. “Why aren’t you dressed? You can’t wear—Wait a minute. Isn’t that the same shirt you had on last night?”

Cole glanced at his shirt. “So it is.” Swinging a leg off the bike, he ignored McCabe’s searching gaze, reached into the back of the Jeep and pulled out harnesses and ropes.

“You been out all night? Tell me you didn’t…”

Cole suppressed a smug grin. “All right. I didn’t.” He grabbed the backpack full of their climbing shoes and gloves from the Jeep and nodded to Grady, who’d just pulled up in his truck.

“Well, I’ll be. Grady, he did it! He nailed Ms. Crash-and-Burn.”

“Don’t call her that.”

McCabe grinned. “Guess we can’t anymore. From now on, we’ll have to call her Ms. For-a-Good-Ti—”

Cole jerked him up by his T-shirt. “Shut up.”

McCabe stared at him with a puzzled expression. “Okay, Jackson. One good screw and she’s got you pussy-whipped? Didn’t you learn anything from my mistake?”

“Just because you married a whore—”

McCabe broke Cole’s hold and slammed a fist into his jaw.

Cole stumbled back against his bike and pushed off again, fist swinging.

Grady stepped between them, caught Cole’s knuckles in his palm, and shoved the two buddies apart. “You want to fight, take it somewhere else.” He looked pointedly at the family scrambling out of a minivan with backpacks and hiking boots. “I’ll be on the western cliff.” He picked up his harness and rope and strode away.

Cole let his breathing slow, rubbing a hand over his stinging jaw.

“I got an extra pair of shorts in the Jeep,” McCabe mumbled.

Cole nodded. “Thanks.”

Turning to pull another backpack from the vehicle, McCabe shook his head. “What can I say? I’m an ass.” He grinned. “I was just pissed you made it with a woman who turned me down flat.”

A slow grin spread across Cole’s face as he unbuttoned his dress shirt. “No. You’re pissed because now you have to be a monk for the next thirty days.”

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