being all over it, loved the reactions he got from it. From her. But even he knew this had bad idea written all over it.
She looked down at the bag she held and something in her expression narrowed his senses and made him curious enough to take the bag from her. He peeked inside and found a bottle of Jack Daniel’s and a box of…
Condoms.
She cleared her throat and shifted her weight, and he tore his eyes off the condoms to look at her. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes bright, pupils dilated. Yeah. She was absolutely thinking of sex.
Which meant he needed a shot of the whiskey. What stopped him from suggesting just that was his realization that she looked like she needed it even worse than he did.
Something had driven her here, to this. To him. “What happened?”
“What makes you think something’s happened?”
“Well,” he said, his gaze raking over her, “for starters, you’re wearing a fancy-ass dress with mud boots. Which, by the way, is sexy as hell.”
“The dress?”
“The boots.”
She looked down at herself. “Maybe I’m making a statement.”
“Which is?”
“Some things aren’t as they appear on the outside.”
He cocked his head. “Like?”
“Like…an onion, for example. The layers have to be peeled away one at a time to see the real heart and soul of what’s beneath, you know? Even a bruised onion, a damaged onion, is worth saving.”
He just stared at her. “You’re trying to tell me something.”
“Yes! Listen, once upon a time, you were the bad influence, right?”
“Yes,” he said slowly.
“Well, it’s my turn now, at least for tonight.”
This might have made him smile. If he didn’t want to both fuck her and strangle her at the same time. And he did want both of those things—badly. Then she leaned in, her body brushing his, and he flashed back to the other night on the mountain. When he’d been with her, his entire world had shrunk, pinpointed to nothing but sensations. The feel of her hot and wet around him, the way her fingers and thighs held him tight, the sound of her voice.
The heat of her skin.
It doesn’t have to be just a memory. Hell, her hands were on his chest right now and gliding lower. He caught them in his so he could think. His brothers seemed to think he was being a dumbass when it came to this, to her, that he should do the right thing and open up and let her in.
That she needed him every bit as much as he needed her.
He was still processing that, just as he wanted to know what had put the haunted shadows in her eyes. “What brought this on, Holly?”
She went still, then looked away.
He moved so she had no choice but to meet his gaze. “Tell me.”
“Derek’s appealing the divorce.”
“Why?”
She shrugged. “Turns out, he likes the shield of being married. Gives him an in with all the cute coeds.”
The fucker. “Where is he?”
“I don’t know,” she said, “but when I find him, I’m going to kick his ass.”
“Yeah?” He wouldn’t mind seeing that. “How about I hold him down for you?”
“Aw.” This made her smile. “That’s the sweetest thing anyone’s ever offered to do for me.”
He was a lot of things, but sweet most definitely wasn’t one of them. “You got your attorney on this?”
“Not yet. Derek just told me.”
And she’d obviously come straight to him. Adam didn’t know what to make of that. Truth be told, he’d always been a little jealous of Holly’s marriage. He could admit that now, at least to himself. Adam might not have been the right man for her, but he sure as hell wouldn’t have cheated on her or treated her like shit. He’d have—
Saving him from that ridiculous train of thought, she gave him a little push and pressed the advantage, stepping over the threshold and shutting the door behind her. Snatching the brown bag of goodies back from him, she pulled out the bottle of Jack and tossed the condoms to the bed.
He arched a brow.
She broke eye contact and struggled to open the bottle. “Dammit,” she muttered when she couldn’t get it. “This never happens in the seduction scenes in the stupid movies.”
If she’d come to seduce him, it wasn’t going to require much effort on her part. Hell, who was he kidding, it would take zero effort on her part. He really needed to stop this, now, but instead, he was just staring at her, his mind racing.
His usual MO was to avoid feeling, at all costs, but whenever it came to Holly, that resolve seemed to fly right out the window. He was feeling so many things, he didn’t know where to start. “You really shouldn’t be here.”
“Why not?”
Yeah, ace. Why not? “Earlier tonight, for starters.”
“When you were rude?” She was bent over the bottle now, which she’d shoved between her legs to get better leverage as she tried to open it.
“I wasn’t rude,” he said. Abrupt, maybe, he silently conceded. She was still fighting with the bottle, so he slid his hand between her legs and took it from her, absolutely not noticing how warm her inner thighs were or how they’d also warmed the bottle.
Much.
She sighed and straightened. “Thank you.”
He didn’t open the liquor. Instead, he set it on the coffee table.
She narrowed her eyes. “Problem?”
“Why did you protect me with the cave bullshit?”
She blinked. “Protect you?”
“You told Brady I went into the cave.”
“You did go into the cave.”
“No, you did.”
“You were right there with me, Adam.”
“For two feet, maybe. Before my complete mental breakdown.”
She studied him a moment, and he hated that enough to turn his back on her. But not before he grabbed the bottle of Jack. She’d been right, the top was tight, but he managed to get it opened and tossed back a healthy shot. It burned a path clear to his gut to match the burn in his chest.
“You went in,” she said softly behind him. “And you’d have gone in even farther if you’d had to, if my father had been in there. I know it.”
He decided another shot was in order. And Jesus Christ, it burned more than the first. “You don’t know that.”
“I do.” She took the bottle from him and tossed back her own shot, licking her lips afterward, as if she was trying to get a taste of him off the bottle.
It shouldn’t have done anything for him, but it did.
She did.
“I don’t need you to baby me,” he said, struggling to stay on track. “I don’t need to be protected.”
“Of course not,” she said. “Only a crazy person would try to baby or protect you.” She took another shot, as always, matching him step for step. Then she set the bottle on the coffee table and put her hands on his arms, backing him to the couch. “You do it all, Adam. Always, no matter what.”
“Stop.”
“You stop.” She gave him a little push and he went down to the cushions. Standing over him, she kicked off the boots. Then pulled off her sexy-as-hell dress.
Beneath she wore nothing but a sports bra and panties. Simple white.
“Um,” she said, looking down at herself for a beat. “Pretend I’m in black silk.”
He didn’t have to pretend. She was gorgeous in the white cotton. Hell, she’d be gorgeous in a potato sack.
Reaching behind her, she grabbed the whiskey and drank again. She missed a drop, it slid down her throat and over her collarbone, heading south.
“Oops,” she said, and leaned back, a movement that thrust out her breasts.
God, he loved her breasts. They were full, soft. Real. And, he knew from experience, extremely sensitive. But he was no longer a hormone- and testosterone-ruled teenager, driven by his sex drive—even if he did keep his eyes on the drop of whiskey…?
??This isn’t going to work, Holly.”
She glanced down at the obvious erection straining the front of his jeans and went brows up.
“Okay,” he said, standing, having to put his hands on her hips as he did, to push her away.
Or at least that’s what he meant to do, but his hands didn’t get the message from his brain and they tightened on her. “I’m not good for you.”
“I trust you, Adam.”
“You shouldn’t.”
“Are you kidding me?” She gave him another shove.
“What the hell, Holly.”
“What the hell is”—she punctuated this with yet another shove, even harder—“I needed help finding my dad. And did you say you couldn’t be bothered? No. You were willing to do whatever it took. You were injured and exhausted, and you still dropped your own work and responsibilities without hesitation and took me all over hell and back. You were, are, the one man I can trust. With anything.”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. Hell no. “I’m not up for that level of blind trust.”
She glowered at him and took another sip of the whiskey, until he removed it from her fingers. “Jesus,” he said, “what’s gotten into you tonight?”
“Well, not you,” she said, and made him choke on his own long pull of the Jack.
She was flushed, her eyes glossy. Half-baked from the alcohol and gorgeous with it, she pointed a finger in his face. “You, Adam Connelly, are a big, stupid…man.”
He choked back a laugh. “Is that the worst you’ve got?”
“No. I have lots more.” She crawled into his lap and kissed him.
He let her do it, kissing her as she wanted, catching her tongue with his like he wanted, rubbing up against her when he needed. He felt her tremble and held her close, letting go of his will to resist her, allowing his hunger for her to take over and pour out of him.
But then she shocked the hell out of him by gripping his arms and giving him a helluva shake for a willowy, partially drunk woman.
“You have it all wrong,” she said.
“What part?”
“The not-coming-into-my-cave part.”
He blinked. “Huh?”
She made a face and waved a hand. “No wait. Can’t say it like that, I’ll scare you away again.”
He had a feeling he was going to have to kill his brothers, but before he could move, she was in his face, her own deep and intent. He looked into her shiny blue eyes and saw…everything.
It was staggering.
“Who did I go to for help?” she asked. “You. Who has everyone always gone to? You.” She tossed up her hands. “Do you think it’s because you’re cute or something?”
He opened his mouth at that but she stabbed a finger into his chest again. Since that was starting to hurt, he grabbed her hand.
“Come on, Adam,” she said. “Even Thing One and Thing Two know the truth. When anyone needs someone to count on, you’re the one. You’re not magical, you’re no superhero, but you’re enough. More than enough. And…”
It took him a moment to find his voice through a throat that was thick with things he didn’t want to put a name to. “And…?”
“And…” She cupped his face and stared at him some more. Then she shook her head. “You know what? You’re not ready for this conversation.” And with that, she climbed off his lap and headed for the door.
Twenty-one
Holly got to Adam’s door just as he grabbed her, whipped her around, and pressed her back to the wood. She stared up at the tall, built, hot man holding her pinned, and shivered in anticipation. “Adam—”
“Hell no are you leaving now.”
She melted and cupped his jaw. “I wasn’t leaving.” And then, instead of fighting him as he’d clearly expected, she pressed up against him, nuzzling her face into his throat. “I was just making sure the door was locked.”
He went still at that revelation, still as the night, so she reached behind her and locked the door herself. Then she reversed their positions, pressing him to the wood, sliding her hands up his chest and into his hair.
He closed his eyes, as if just the touch was too much to take, and that one small tell squeezed her heart. Letting her thumbs trace his beautiful jawline, rough with at least a day’s growth, she sighed with pleasure. No, he wasn’t a superhero, but he was, she’d begun to fear, the man for her.
The only man for her.
Gliding her fingers into his hair, she tugged him down and kissed him. He got right with the program, no hesitation, taking over in his alpha way. This was no tentative kiss. It was demanding, full of pent-up passion and tension and years and years of emotion all tied into one.
She loved it.
She loved everything about it, and she was desperately afraid she loved everything about him as well. She’d loved the teen he’d been, the one who hadn’t left her for the military, or another woman, or for shits and giggles. He’d left her because he’d had to go to make something of himself.
He’d done that, in spades.
Clearly, he wasn’t sure if he’d succeeded, if he was good enough. But he was. That was something she could fight, and she would. She’d fight for him. For them. “Adam?”
“Yeah?”
“There’s something more I want to say. Okay?”
His laugh was soft, ruffling the hair along her heated temple. “Since when have I ever been able to stop you from doing what you wanted?”
It was all the invite she was going to get. “You always do whatever it takes to make things right,” she said quietly, using her hands on his face to tilt it down so that he was looking right into her eyes. No missing the point, not this time. She wanted him to know exactly how she felt, wanted him to get the meaning of every word. “You’d have gone to the ends of the earth to save my dad, and I want you to know you’re the bravest man I’ve ever known.”
“Holly,” he said, sounding staggered as he dropped his forehead to hers.
“It’s true, Adam. You’re a hero to me. You always were. Even when you left me, which you did out of some misguided, stupid attempt to protect me from you, of all people, you big, stupid man.”
“You’re repeating yourself.” But his arms came around her and he remained quiet. He was listening. He wasn’t necessarily buying what she was saying, but he was listening.
Usually it was the other way around. Usually he drove their conversations. Their fights. Their…everything. They were in uncharted waters without a navigational system now, and she didn’t have a clue as to what she was doing, she honestly didn’t. She just knew she had to make him understand how much he meant to her. She rocked up into him, giving him her best try-to-resist-me gaze as she slid her arms up around his neck. “I’m done talking now.”
“If only I could believe that.”
She smiled and smacked him in the chest. He caught her hand in his. “If we do this,” he said, “it’s going to last all night.”
She came undone. “Yes, please.” Up on tiptoes, she kissed first