Paying Up Read online

  “Me either, but I’m making a mental note to start having coffee there more often. She’s got legs that reach to her rib cage.”

  This time Roshelle felt that emotion turn into anger. Her eyes moved to Shane Jacobs without conscious thought. They went where her mind was centered. Shane was always around. He was her husband’s partner so she was comfortable with the man’s company now.

  Tonight, jealousy bled off him like a vapor. His face was a mask of military control but his eyes simmered with the heat her mind told her was nearing an explosive level.

  Roshelle pulled her eyes off Shane. Rourke knew exactly what his words were igniting in the man. Unless she missed her guess, he was baiting Shane with that comment about Christina’s legs. All of the men surrounding her were hard. They lived their life on the edge and played just as hard. Even something as common as friendly advice was handed out differently between them. In this case, Rourke was reaching for a piece of meat and daring Shane to claim it.

  A naughty little grin played with her lips as she considered just what would happen if Christina had any idea that she was being talked about between the men. Angelic looks aside, her friend would transform into Satan and make every last male hormone suffer.

  Boy, did she miss her friend!

  * * * * *

  “Are you off to The Pit again?” Tomas Faulkner wasn’t happy about her skirt—again. A daughter just knew her father’s eye. The urge to squirm was building as she watched her dad’s forehead crease into even deeper folds.

  “Daddy, it’s a sprained ankle, she can’t just get over it in one night. Mick needs the help and it’s not like I don’t know every person who comes into the place.”

  Her dad grunted but raised a finger at her. “We do get strangers, my girl. You tell Mick I said to have one of his boys take out the garbage. I don’t want you out back in the dark.”

  “Yes, Dad.” She rolled her eyes and her dad used his finger to tap his cheek. Rising onto her toes, she gave him his kiss before she felt the tug on her skirt hem again.

  “We are going shopping on Sunday. You’ve grown out of your skirts.”

  Her dad stood in the doorway and watched her walk down the block.

  “No, Dad, I grew into my skirts.” But how did you tell your father something like that?

  The Pit was two blocks from her father’s store. Up one and across the next. Turning the corner, she walked out of her father’s sight and The Pit came into view.

  A man stood in the barbershop doorway, leaning against the brick façade. He was facing toward her, his face masked by the shadows. Her feet froze as she considered him. Unless he was asleep on his feet he could see her but no greeting came from him.

  Her father’s warning was fresh in her mind. They did get strangers in Benton and any of the locals would have said hello by now. There was nothing open on the block of small shops, only The Pit at the end of the sidewalk. Music drifted on the night breeze from the open front door, along with laughter.

  Fear tingled along her spine as she recognized the perfect setting for another abduction. Her blood turned icy as every muscle she possessed tightened almost unbearably. Terror was trying to capture her completely and reduce her to a screaming animal that reacted instead of thought.

  She refused to do that! Clutching at her courage, she fought against the tide of remembered horror. She found her cell phone in her pocket and opened it without looking before using her sense of touch to slip up to the number five. That would speed-dial her dad in a second and he’d be grabbing his shotgun in another second.

  Her feet had already taken one step backward as she felt the number five under her fingertip. Headlights flashed over her as a truck came up the street, and its brakes squealed as it stopped next to her. The passenger window was already down, Web Nelson grinned at her across the front seat.

  “Care for a lift to the end of the block?”

  Christina sent Web a smile as she reached for the door handle. Relief hit her as she climbed into the truck and away from the stranger in the doorway. Her eyes flickered back to the shadow in the doorway and found it empty. Her fingers shook as she tried to control the fear eating away at her. It twisted her stomach with nausea as she climbed into the truck. Her head turned as they drove past the doorway.

  It was completely empty.

  * * * * *

  “I might have to kick your ass.” Rourke’s words were too quiet. Shane shrugged his shoulders as the man jumped from the limb of a tree.

  “You can try, but I’m betting on me tonight.”

  Shane felt the other man scan his thoughts lightly. It was a feeling he had grown up with. Tonight, he was sort of glad Rourke Campbell was a psychic—maybe he’d get the hell away from him before he had to explain to Colonel Jacobs, his father and superior, exactly why he felt the need to smash one of their operatives in the face.

  Shane didn’t want to talk about Christina with anyone and he wanted Rourke Campbell at least three states away from her, too. Rourke suddenly lifted his hands in surrender.

  “Fine, I get it. But…” His hands lowered and hooked into his belt. “You scared her, buddy. Bad.” A row of white enamel flashed at him in the night. “And if I didn’t think that fact was going to hurt you, I’d be happy to let my fist do the job.”

  Rourke dissipated into the night as Shane cussed. He hadn’t meant to frighten her. Training had a way of merging into instinct. Hiding his face was practically bred into him from a lifetime of military training.

  He looked down the street at The Pit and thought long and hard about a cold beer. That short little skirt just teasing her thighs made Shane forget about the beer. There wasn’t a red-blooded man in Benton who wouldn’t be enjoying the view and he just might end up in jail if he had to sit there and watch them looking at his woman.

  Potato sack dresses suddenly gained appeal.

  Chapter Two

  “Girl, something is eating you!”

  Sandra, the cook for The Pit, shook her head as she handed over another order of buffalo wings. She split her lips with a smile that displayed a silver crown, and shook her head again. A spatula was brandished at Christina like a wand.

  “You are too young to be so troubled.”

  “No troubles here.”

  “Shut your mouth, girl, I see it in those eyes.” Sandra looked back at her grill and Christina took her chance to escape. She caught herself looking around The Pit with suspicious eyes and almost screamed.

  That was it!

  Her temper arrived to banish her demons. Better late than never, she supposed! Delivering the appetizer to a couple of truckers, she cleared away their empty mugs. The Pit was quiet now, the people hanging around were shooting pool or just watching a replay of the game on the big screen television.

  She could go home. Mick didn’t promise service at all hours in his bar. Once the place quieted down for the night you had to grab your own order from the kitchen window. She had been inventing reasons to stay away from her walk home.

  Her temper simmered as she chewed on that fact. It was so easy to think you were over something until you had to face it. The more she thought about it, the madder she got.

  “Hey, Mick, I’m heading home.”

  “Thanks, Chrissy.” He sent her a wink over the bar and turned back to the man he was talking to. Half the town still called her Chrissy. Yeah, Shelly and Chrissy, the ponytail twins! Sometimes she wondered if Mick ever noticed that she traded in her hair ribbons for a bra.

  On second thought, maybe she didn’t need to know. She stepped out into the February night and shrugged into her coat. The chilly air slapped her cheeks making her smile.

  The expression faded as she neared the doorway of the barbershop. A shadow filled the doorway. Setting her teeth into her lip she forced her back straight and walked by it. Nothing moved or materialized from the spot. Whoever he was, the man was long gone now. Picking up her pace she headed around the corner toward home.

  “I didn
’t mean to scare you.”

  “You didn’t scare me.” Christina had to drag a huge lungful of air into her chest to make up for the acceleration of her heart. The muscle was beating frantically as she looked at the man standing in a doorway. He looked lazy and relaxed but the sheer size of him could easily overwhelm even the most confident of people.

  “I didn’t mean to.”

  Shane Jacob’s voice kept her heart racing as she looked at the moon-bathed features of his face. There was a surge of some emotion bubbling through her that made her frown. It felt like she was happy to see him.

  “That helicopter you fly has messed up your hearing.”

  His lips parted to show her an even row of teeth.

  Her little nipples were hard enough to cut glass. Shane couldn’t stop staring at the twin points of tattletale display. Fear was another form of stimulation—desire was almost its twin and the two were incredibly closely related. The breasts on a female were hooked into her sensory receptors, the nipples responding to any stimulus that was strong enough.

  His mouth suddenly watered at the idea of those little nipples responding to him stimulating her body. His body sent up a surge of need that made his skin itch to be bare. Watching wasn’t going to satisfy him anymore. Needs surfaced from his mind that he’d never allowed himself to examine too closely.

  Tonight it was crystal clear. His cock slowly stiffened as he looked at the pair of blue eyes that had been keeping him company.

  “So, your nipples get hard for any man you meet?”

  “What?”

  Shane pushed away from the doorway and moved closer to her. She stared at him in shock as her eyes tried to read his expression in the poor lighting. Raising a hand he gently stroked one little point and listened to her gasp of outrage.

  “These little points say you are experiencing a rush of sensation. Either that resulted from a shock, or you and I have been sharing the same dreams about each other.”

  Her palm hit his cheek. Shane turned his head with the blow to keep the energy from hurting her arm. He grabbed her hand and held it prisoner in his larger one.

  “Tsk tsk, what a temper.” Shane rubbed the flat of her hand as she tried to jerk it away.

  “Let go!”

  “I don’t think so.”

  He continued to rub her smarting hand. Christina jerked her arm again but he simply lifted an eyebrow at her and moved his grip up her arm one hand length.

  “Is that your idea of a warning?”

  He shook his head and stopped rubbing her hand. Two fingertips gently traced the delicate skin of her inner wrist. Pleasure raced up her arm making her shiver. The hand holding her arm in place tightened as his fingers made a second pass before he lifted her hand and pressed his lips onto her palm. Fire shot up her arm at the hot brush of his male lips. For some reason she was acutely aware of the fact that he was a man and she a woman. An insane desire to drop her eyes to the crotch of his pants made her heart double its pace again.

  “For every action, there is a reaction. When you touch me, Christina, I get to touch you back.”

  “You touched me first.” She yanked on her arm because she just couldn’t control the impulse. Her skin seemed to become one single point of sensation. It raced from her wrist to her nipples where the tight nubs contracted even further and began to ache. A slow flow of fluid eased down her passage as she battled against the idea of turning her hand to touch the solid muscles of the arm holding her.

  “Right after I scared you.”

  “You did not frighten me, Shane Jacobs!”

  “Then I aroused you.”

  His voice was rich and dark. It challenged her to admit to either emotion. Both put her at a disadvantage. Instinct warned her to run, but temptation begged her to stay. She licked her dry lips before pulling her brain into focus.

  “Well, I’ll remember not to make the mistake of touching you again. Now, let my arm go!”

  He did and her jaw fell open in response. Shane ground his teeth together as he held his body in position. The need to flee was racing across her eyes. The tip of her tongue passed over her bottom lip making him groan. He wanted to taste that lip, lick along its surface and find out what her mouth felt like under his.

  “Sure about that? I think you’ll be the one touching me first next time, Christina.”

  “When tarantulas are lovable.”

  He flashed those pearly white teeth at her and, lifting his huge hand, spread the fingers out and mimicked a large spider crawling. “You appeared to like the way these fingers felt on your delightfully soft skin.” His voice dipped even lower as the edge of it roughened. “I love the way you feel. I can’t wait for you to pay your debt.”

  His voice was pure temptation. Her body begged her with little jerks to move closer to that rich, deep sound of male promise. Her logic screamed to be heard over the clamoring of her skin. Both sets of impulses got mixed together as she just stood there trying to understand but her eyes dropped to the front of his pants. The thick bulge pushing against the fabric made her body ache. Her passage suddenly felt empty as it sent a rush of fluid down its walls. His cock was swollen and thick inside those pants and her body wanted to get much, much closer to its hard length.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Our bet. You look nice and healthy, so I won.” He stepped up next to her and tipped her chin up with his hand. The warm scent of his skin surrounded her, making her belly tremble with need. Her lungs deepened their next breath to pull even more of that male scent into her body. Heat erupted in her womb and bled down the walls of her passage. The hard muscle of his body bushed against her making her yearn for a tighter embrace that would bring that hard cock into contact with her. Her thoughts seemed centered on the idea that she had caused his arousal. Excitement poured from the thought that he had come to see her and his cock was hard in response to her.

  “That means you owe me a kiss.”

  His mouth captured hers as his arm snaked around her waist and held her against his body. Her hands landed on his shoulders to shove him away but instead sent her the realization of how delightfully powerful he felt beneath her fingertips. There was hard muscle packed onto his shoulders making her hands shake as they flattened and pressed against him.

  His kiss wasn’t soft. His mouth moved over her lips in a smooth conquest as the hand cupping her chin pulled her jaw open to admit his tongue. He thrust it deeply into her mouth as she moaned around the hard male taste of him. She was intently aware of how aggressive his body was. His strength seeped into her body setting off a wave of need so powerful she slumped against his frame and clung to his shoulders.

  The tip of his tongue traced the length of hers. Slow and deep, he stroked her tongue until hers twisted with his. The arm across her waist slipped down over her hips to her bottom. His fingers stroked each cheek before curling around one half and pressing her hips forward. Her hips thrust forward and found the hard bulge she’d admired. She was acutely aware of her mons and the passage inside her body heating and moistening for his hard cock.

  Fluid flowed down the walls of her passage as his tongue thrust deeply into her mouth. A whimper escaped her throat as her blood raced too quickly through her veins. It all moved too fast! Her body was too hot! She pushed frantically against the wall of male animal that held her. The need to escape made her tear their mouths apart as she twisted in his grasp.

  Shane spun her loose. His breathing was harsh as he looked at her nipples. Christina slowly backed away from the raw passion blazing from his face. The man was always so composed, his face a mask that never hinted at his emotions. Tonight it was harshly cut with the primitive need to take. His nostrils slightly flared as she stepped back even further. It wasn’t the look on his face that frightened her the most, it was the huge bulge under his fly that told her he was on the edge of control. The thick rod straining against his fatigues promised her that he wanted more than a kiss. The swollen folds of her sex screamed at her
to invite his need closer so that it could feed her own hunger.

  The animal in the man wanted to mate with her. Spread her body and thrust into the wet channel between her thighs. Leave his mark in the most basic and primitive of ways. She shook her head as she backed away. Shane forced his feet to stand in place. The sweet scent of her pussy drifted on the night air making him battle against the urge to capture her. Instead, he watched her struggle against the wave of desire flickering across her body. She would be his, just as soon as she got used to the idea.

  Her body was a jumble of impulses that slammed into a brain that frantically tried to sort them into understanding. The only idea that rang through her brain was the certain knowledge that once this man took her, she would belong to him. It would be irreversible and her surrender viewed as unconditional. Her pride rebelled against that truth even as her passage wept in agreement.

  “I am going home now.”

  He nodded his head as he crossed his arms over his chest. It made the muscles of his arms bulge out even more. Her eyes slipped over his strength and her lips softened with feminine need for that strength.

  “Then go, but I’ll be back for my kiss.”

  Her heart jumped as her eyes widened. “You just took it.”

  He shook his head and grinned at her. “You bet me a kiss and that means you still owe me one, freely given kiss. You’re welcome to come back over here and pay up right now.”

  She turned around and ran instead. Shane moved after her. He picked out the details of her bottom as she scurried away from him. The full, sultry shape of her hips that seemed to be swaying just for his eyes. They were like a neon sign that was aimed at his cock. The thing jerked and pulsed in his pants making him cuss as each step sent pain through his hard-on.

  He followed her until she shut her front door and turned the bolt. A harsh grunt of approval hit the night as he walked the perimeter of her dad’s shop. Everything was secure but his eyes picked out the weaknesses in the structure’s defenses. All the ways someone might gain unlawful entry.