In Seconds
- Автор: Новак Бренда
- Серия: Bulletproof #2
- Год: 2011
- Язык: французский
- Жанр: Остросюжетные любовные романы
Электронная книга - «In Seconds». Краткое содержание книги:
Laurel Hodges has changed her identity twice. She's been on the run for the past four years, trying to outdistance the gang members who blame her for the death of one of their own. She's finally found peace and stability in the small town of Pineview, Montana. But just when Laurel thinks she and her children are safe...the nightmare starts all over again.
The Crew, a ruthless prison gang with ties to Laurel's brother, will never forget and they'll never forgive. And now that they've finally tracked her down, they'll stop at nothing.
Sheriff Myles King, who happens to live next door with his thirteen-year-old daughter, appoints himself Laurel's personal guardian. His growing attraction to her could change his life—Myles is beginning to picture marriage and family. But it could also end his life. If he can't save her, everything he's built, everything he wants, could be destroyed. In seconds...
Oh, hell. None of that mattered anymore. He was only human, and no single man he knew would be able to refuse Vivian, not with her hands up his shirt and her mouth on his. He was pretty sure he was harder than he’d ever been—
The memory of kissing Amber Rose for the first time suddenly rose up, and affected him almost like a physical shock. Surprised and shaken that such a vignette would appear in his mind now, he pulled back. Having sex with someone other than his late wife didn’t necessarily feel like a betrayal. He knew Amber Rose would want him to move on, to find someone else, to be happy. It’d been three years since she died. It was the amount of desire flooding through him that was the problem. He wanted Vivian with a desperation he’d never experienced before. She wasn’t just a stand-in because he couldn’t have Amber Rose, and that jolted everything he’d come to believe about himself and his marriage.
Vivian glared defiantly up at him. She knew, he realized. She’d felt him jerk, understood he was suffering from some kind of hesitancy or regret, but she had no idea why. And he wasn’t about to tell her. It gave her, basically an unknown entity and certainly an untrustworthy one with all her evasions and secrets, too much power over him. He wasn’t sure why his feelings were so disproportionate to what they should be, given how little he knew of her, but that was the reality. She appealed to him on such a basic level that logic had no control.
“Apparently you’re the one making promises you can’t keep.” Attempting to laugh off his withdrawal, she slipped out of his grasp and started for the door. He’d take her home if she insisted, but he caught her before she could leave the cabin.
“Don’t chicken out.”
She didn’t turn. “Myles, you don’t have to—”
Sliding his arms around her waist, he pulled her up against him and gently bit her neck. “I said don’t go.”
His voice sounded ragged even to his own ears. He pressed into her, making it obvious that he wanted her. But she didn’t relax and begin to respond to him again until he reached under her jacket and unsnapped her bra.
“Nice,” he whispered as her nipples hardened against his palms.
Although he hadn’t removed his clothes, as she’d told him to, she allowed him to dispense with her coat and T-shirt. Her bra went next. He could see her bare breasts from his vantage point, which was slightly above and behind her, and cupped them more gently, more reverently, because rushing this early contact would be a terrible waste.
She was larger than Amber Rose. Taller, bigger-boned, bigger-breasted. He didn’t want to make comparisons, had told himself he wouldn’t. But this one was inevitable. Her long legs put her ass almost even with his groin and although she was still wearing jeans, her backside was a soft cradle for his erection.
“You’re beautiful.” He was about to bend his head to nuzzle her ear when she turned to face him. Judging by her expression, he’d said something wrong.
“Don’t waste my time with meaningless remarks,” she said.
She thought his compliment was meaningless? That couldn’t have been farther from the truth. He found her stunning, gorgeous, which was going to be a problem. Forgetting about this afterward would be easier if he admired her less. He still wasn’t sure how that part of the deal was going to work. Whenever he caught sight of Vivian, he knew he’d remember this heart-stopping image of her standing in front of him with her wary blue eyes, boyish haircut and bare breasts.
But there’d be time enough to worry about tomorrow and all the days after. “I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t mean it.”
He reached for her, but she held him off. “So…you don’t hate my haircut?”
He almost laughed. Another challenge. And yet there was a hint of insecurity beneath her question that he found endearing, especially after all her rejections. “No, I don’t hate your haircut. I wasn’t sure at first, but…I like it.”
She remained skeptical. “They’ve done studies. Most guys aren’t attracted to women with short hair.”
Was that why she’d cut it? She was so contrary, so ready to dismiss the whole world, daring him or any other man to like her.
“Then maybe they asked the wrong guys, because I think what you’ve done is sexy as hell.” So was the rest of her. She was different, intriguing. She was also rebellious—but, oddly enough, that made him want to protect her. Convince her that she could trust him.
It also warned him that losing Amber Rose might not be the only painful thing he’d ever experience.
Myles eyed her as if he couldn’t quite figure out what was going through her head. “So…are we fine?” he asked. “Is everything okay?”
Vivian wasn’t sure. Rational thought was beginning to intrude, beginning to make her question why she was behaving so irresponsibly. “I’m reconsidering…”
“What?”
Everything, but she could only admit to part of it. “This. I’ve only been with two other men in my life. My husband and a steady boyfriend.” Who was currently missing. “This situation is so…different, so reckless, so—”
“You’re telling me you’re not as brave as you pretend to be?”
“I don’t want to make a mistake. I—”
Whatever she was about to say fled her mind as he took her face between his large hands and kissed her tenderly. “I’m going to take good care of you, Vivian. You believe that, don’t you?”
She did. He was a cop. Taking care of people wasn’t only his job, it was part of his nature. She liked that about him. The problem was that she wasn’t taking good care of him. If, after this was all over, she couldn’t replace the barricade she’d tried so hard to maintain between them, she could be putting him in harm’s way.
“I believe you’ll try,” she said. “But…we shouldn’t be doing this. You don’t…you need to pick someone else. You have a lot of options.”
His hands dropped to the curve of her waist and held her in place as he lowered his head. “I don’t want anyone else,” he whispered, and drew the tip of her breast into his mouth.
The sensation of his tongue caused darts of pleasure to race through Vivian’s blood, interfering with her ability to think. “You promise you won’t ever call me again?” she gasped, trying to stand firm.
He looked up at her as though he might change the rules or question why it had to be that way. But when she unzipped his fly and began running her fingers over him, his chest lifted as if the contact had just kicked his heart up into his throat. “I promise.”
His voice sounded strangled. She knew the way she’d exacted his agreement hadn’t been fair. But she planned to hold him to his word. She had no choice.
“Good. Kiss me again,” she whispered.
10
Vivian had never made love quite like this before. They stripped off his clothes and what was left of hers and joined instantly.
“Let’s…slow down,” Myles panted, his chest damp with sweat even though they’d moved from the wall, where he’d borne her weight, to the softest place in the vicinity—a bearskin rug. “I want…this to be good for you.”
He seemed intent on achieving come control. But she wouldn’t allow it. She believed she’d be able to forget him far more easily if they took a quick bow to lust and only lust. So she urged him to let himself go, told him she wanted it that way, and he obliged her. Hooking his arms beneath her knees, he drove into her with the abandon she craved, and the intensity and pleasure carried Vivian where she needed to be—to that place where thoughts don’t exist, just sensation.