Page 40 of Ace
“Will you stop?” Savannah’s arms snaked around his neck. “You are not an ass.”
He found his head pulled down and his face pressed to her breasts, his mouth at one sweet nipple. Oh, yeah. She was talented like the rest of the Deuces Wild team. She could hear his thoughts. Damn. Distracted now, he licked at the lush pebbled berry within reach. Instant satisfaction melted on his tongue when his lips closed over her breast. Hollowing his cheeks, he sucked her in.This. Oh hell, yes, this…
One of her hands cupped the back of his head while the other massaged the spot between his shoulder blades where he’d taken a hit when he’d been on patrol in Slovenia years ago. There was no scar, just a bruise. It still ached like a mother most days, but like the superficial scrapes he’d gotten when her house exploded, he’d live with it. But how had she known? Or was she simply able to zero in on old wounds on old dogs?
“I don’t want you to have any regrets,” he admitted as he released her nipple with a wet pop, then inhaled the luscious scent between her sweat-slickened breasts. “We could’ve waited—” Her head tipped back as he breathed her in. Ahh, lilacs and sweet, salty woman. Nothing better in the world.
“Never wait, Keller,” she scolded into the top of his sweaty head. “Life doesn’t give second chances. I’m happier now than I’ve ever been. I feel complete. Isn’t that enough for you?”
He kissed his way up her neck. “You’d be happier if we’d done this right and, in a hotel, at least with you lying on your back on a soft mattress instead of sitting on me while I’m sitting on kibble.”
“Oh, is that what makes me happy? Soft beds? Fancy hotels?” she teased as she tipped her head back, giving him more access. “And here I thought it was you.”
“And you,” he breathed into her ear.
Savannah wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to his ear. “Of course. Happiness is a two-way street. Aren’t you happy, too?”
Tipping back to see her, Keller fell into two glowing pools of warm, rich fire. The warm rich hues of Savannah’s contentment could’ve dimmed the Northern lights. “I am,” he whispered, as if saying it out loud might jinx the mixed feelings of his heart.
Savannah was right. Carol Marie’s ghost did linger, and as much as he knew he needed to let his sweet wife go, he wasn’t sure how. He was that idiot with one foot in two boats headed in opposite directions. One to his future. One to his past. Him in the middle. Unsure. Undecided. And about to fall into something he hadn’t planned on and wasn’t ready to deal with. He’d only come to Louisiana to help Isaiah. So why couldn’t he make himself leave?
Chapter Nineteen
Between the extra wipes in her first-aid kit and an extra roll of paper towels, Savannah took care of her business, while Keller did whatever he did with the condom. Embarrassed at her lack of experience as much as her lack of decent clothes, she made quick work of dressing even as she watched him from the corner of her eye. The man’s thighs were thick and muscular. They made hers look like skinny twigs. But that chest...
Dusted with crisp, dark blond hairs, she couldn’t stop thinking how she’d felt pressed into those pecs when he’d held her tight. She’d never forget what his skin smelled like. How he tasted. Her tongue slid around the inside of her mouth before she licked her lips, still savoring the decadent man she’d just tasted.
She had a one man show all to herself. He’d already pulled his pants up, but his zipper was half down, his fly unbuttoned. He’d left his shirt off while he washed atthe utility sink in the corner. After a quick once-over his chest and arms with a handful of sudsy paper towels, he rinsed, then bent over and stuck his head under the gooseneck faucet.
Note to self: This barn needs a shower stall.That’d be a sight worth remembering, Keller naked in her shower. All that rugged bare muscle wet and on display, him hard and ready.
Savannah growled as her imagination took a delicious day trip. Fever swept over her. The fire between her legs was scorching hot. One look. One touch. And she’d climb that man’s body again.
The wounds on his back needed cleaning, but none were serious. Not another mark marred his tanned body, only that star shaped scar by his eye and those hashtags on his bicep. What on earth were they? Too evenly spaced to be normal workday wounds, she stored her question for another time. But she couldn’t make her eyesnot watchwhat her body craved.
Sputtering, water in his eyes and running down his chest, Keller tossed his head back. A tiny rooster tail of crystal droplets sailed over him, and Savannah’s pulse slowed at the gorgeous man in her barn. Forget the shower. This was a heart-pounding sight she’d never forget.
“Hey, you still with me?” Keller had yet to step away from the sink. He stood there holding paper towels out for her. “You want to wash up? Not that you need to, but we did land in the swamp today. It might feel good.” He’d caught her staring.
Oh. That.Savannah snapped out of her lust-fueled haze.Oh, yeah, I’m so with you… All. The. Way.
She’d forgotten how dirty she was. Most of that slimy swamp goo had probably sweated off on their mad dash to Sanctuary, but a shower wouldn’t hurt. She had landed on Keller, but then she’d nearly lost her mind at the scorching heat of his body between her legs and the strength of his arms crossed resolutely behind her back. Like her very own guardian angel. She’d known then she’d have to straddle him again—and soon.
But for the first time, Savannah worried how she must smell. Her hand went automatically to her hair, smoothing, checking for clots of mud, twigs, rats, and just generally ashamed that he looked so good, while she must look like a whore on Bourbon Street.
“Um, yeah, s-s-sure,” she stuttered like the total backwoods hick she was.
A no-kidding smile breached the sharp corners of his beautiful face. “Man, you’re something,” he murmured, shaking his head.
At last by his side, she turned the faucets to warm, and there she stopped. He hadn’t moved. Just leaned his hip to the edge of the counter beside the sink. He crossed his arms over that magnificent chest, the towels still in his hand. A small grin tweaked his sexy mouth. Was he just going to stand there and watch?Apparently so…
Trembling at the wicked thing she’d just done with this handsome man, Savannah took the towels, held them under the water enough to dampen them, andturned to face him. Keller’s crossed arms were no help. Her gaze dropped to the pecs he’d just framed. His biceps bulged tight and round and solid. If he were one of her dogs, she’d reach out and pet him, but her courage flagged. Apparently, lust was like adrenaline. It didn’t last long.
He touched her first, one hand cupping her shoulder. “May I?” he asked as he took the towels back.
“I can do it.”
“But I want to do it,” he murmured, his voice low and gravelly. Sexy.
