Page 73 of Courting Gossip (Courting)
She shook her head.
Hemight have to replace them for her, but that little tidbit was important. He could feel it. With a glance at his mirror, he started driving again. His brain was tired, but it hadn’t needed caffeine. It had needed information. Once fed, it was revving up. It began sorting through the possibilities and how he could use them.
This shit had to stop.
He got them out of DC and crossed the Potomac into Virginia. He headed north along the George Washington Memorial Parkway. The normally busy road followed the Potomac and the further north they got, the more quiet and scenic it became. At night, the noise of the city was just a low hum, a constant vibration. Soon, they got away from even that until it was just the river, the trees and the few other vehicles on the road.
Genieve had gone quiet. She was tired, and he could feel her stress.
He was doing it again, focusing on how to fix the situation when that wasn’t what she needed. He reached out and caught her hand. ‘They made a mistake this time.’
‘How do you figure?’
‘They left us more to go on. They did it themselves.’ Rather than sending inept reporters, somebody had broken into her house. Somebody with a lot of knowledge.
She went quiet, and he stroked his thumb along the back of her hand.
‘I just want my life to return to normal,’ she whispered. ‘I want the cameras to go away, and all the gossip to stop.’
‘It will,’ he promised her. ‘Soon.’
‘How can you say that?’ She looked at him so quickly, her hair flipped around her shoulders. ‘It’s escalating. The gossip is going to go crazy tomorrow. I had a thousand pictures taken of me tonight, and I was doing exactly what the press wanted. I was crying.’
There was the fire he’d come to expect from her, but it was sparked by hurt.
Brody saw a scenic overlook ahead, just a bump off the main road, but he took it. The stop was an asphalt parking lot off the Parkway, but it was quiet and undisturbed. He pulled into one of the parking spots overlooking the west bank of the Potomac and killed the engine.
‘Why are you stopping?’ she asked.
There were no streetlights out here, just the moon and the river. He turned off the headlights and leaned over to her. He kissed her softly. ‘I’ll make them go away,’ he promised. ‘Even if I have to feed them Gunderson to do it.’
At first, she didn’t respond. He brushed his lips across her cheek and returned to her mouth. He could feel the tension in her, begging to get out. Finally, she turned in her seat and wrapped her arms around his neck.
‘Don’t sacrifice Samuel,’ she said.
Brody undid her seat belt and pulled her closer. ‘I’ll do whatever it takes.’
Gunderson might be paying his fee, but Brody knew now where his priorities lay. Everything inside him was screaming to protect her and take down the bastard who was playing tattle-tale with her life. It didn’t matter who it was or why. Her job, Gunderson, her personal life…her enemy was his enemy, and they were going down.
He kissed her more deeply and held her until her breasts plumped against his chest. The moon was a wide crescent in the sky, and it bathed her skin, making it look like velvet. He punched the controls for the moon roof and it slid back, letting more of the night rays in.
She was wound up too tight. He needed to make her fear and stress go away.
Their breaths turned heavy as he slid his hand between their tightly pressed bodies. He wanted her back in his bed and in his arms, but this couldn’t wait. He undid her jeans and caught the tab of her zipper. He pulled it down and worked his hand between her legs. She let out a soft, pleasured sound when he cupped her mound.
The fit was tight, but he twisted his wrist and reached with his fingers. She was warm and soft. Her hips twitched when he rubbed the ball of his hand against her clit. He spread her open and used his middle finger to explore deeper. He found her notch and rimmed it with firm pressure. He caught her cry with another kiss and let that finger burrow into her.
She pushed her hips towards him, and her whimper became sharper. She pushed her jeans down, along with the teeny tiny panties she wore. ‘I need you,’ she gasped.
He needed her, too. He hadn’t meant for it to go this far this fast, but his logical brain couldn’t find a reason to stop. The cars behind them were few and far between. He’d watched for reporters following them, but Morgan had done a good job losing them if they’d tried to keep up.
He focused on pumping his finger in and out of her tight, wet clasp, but his hips rolled when she cupped a hand over the front of his jeans. Things became urgent very quickly.
‘All right.’ He dealt with his jeans, ramming them down to his thighs. He fished protection out of his pocket, and she brought him to full erection just getting him prepared. He jacked the seat back as far as it would go and caught her by the waist. She banged her knee trying to climb over the centre console.
‘Ow,’ she muttered. Half down, her jeans hampered her, and she tilted clumsily. She grabbed the steering wheel and the horn accidentally blared. They both jumped, but no cars were around. They might have scared an owl or two, but nature should understand these things.
She let out a laugh and flounced back into her seat. She arched her hips to push off her jeans, but Brody saw a better, more efficient solution. He caught her from behind this time and lifted her over the console and onto his lap.
‘Oh!’ she gasped. The position was backwards to what she’d intended, but she caught on fast. Reaching between her legs, she lined his cock up.
Brody slowly let her drop onto his lap…and onto his erection. He pushed up into her until her bottom plumped against his belly. Her head dropped back when he shifted in the seat.
‘Ohhhhhhh,’ she groaned.
Oh, yeah. He pulled her close until her back was tight against his chest and pressed his mouth against her ear. ‘Trust me. I’m going to make it all better.’
