Page 37 of Honor-Bound SEAL

Vincent was nearly— although, of course, neverentirely— at a loss for words. “Well, ain’t this the quintessential double-whammy,” he muttered to himself. First, his three gorgeous companions had fucked, sucked and stroked him until his brain was fried. And now he was hearing news that left him damn near speechless.

“Curt, give me a moment to metabolize this particular tidbit of intelligence,” he said, downing a huge glass of ice water in a single pull. “You’re telling me that, having been pottering around in the boonies for a few days, Mr. Samuelson has now decided to take atraintoAustin?”

After a long day, and an overload of cocaine and whiskey, not to mention mind-blowing sex, Vincent had just about reached his limit. “Would it be prudent, perhaps, to follow him on this impromptu journey? You believe it would? Well, I’m glad we are of a mind on this point, Curt, I really am. I wish you an enjoyable trip.”

He thought for a second. “But before you go, I wonder if I could ask you a favor? ...Oh,anything, you say? Well, how helpful…here’s what I’d like you to do,” he spelled out with clinical savagery. “Turn up the fucking heat.”

Route 72,12:50 a.m.

The traffic was very light, so Corbett slowed to 40 mph and let a more relaxed Hank tell him — and the microphone by his knee — as much as he wanted to. Once he’d opened up about the bare-faced betrayal in Boston, Hank had become a veritable torrent of useful stuff, more than Corbett had ever expected.Thank God you had Ridge to keep you alive. You have no idea how lucky you’ve been.

“What about this asshole who’s been cruising around looking for you. What’s his name, Curt? Is he based in San Antonio?” Corbett asked.

“No idea. He just goes where there’s punishment to be dealt out. Drives everywhere, too, different car every week. He’s like a rent-a-henchman, ya know?”

Corbett nodded and gave Hank a reassuring laugh.Anything to keep you talking.“Think he might have been spending time down here before you arrived, maybe?”

“Not sure. Why do you ask?”

“Ah, just trying to get the timeline straight in my head.”And pin a couple of murders on Curt.

“With their focus really being on Corpus Christi and San Antonio; was it just bad luck you drove all that way and ended up in their back yard?”

Hank shook his head sadly. “Now you see how desperate I was, man. Raven was here, so here I came. If she’d been at the fuckin’ North Pole, I’d have gone there instead, man. Borrowed Santa’s sleigh and boogied on up there.”

Corbett gave another agreeable laugh and then felt his phone trying to get his attention:

The passenger is aboard.

“Anything about me?” Hank asked, his paranoia resurfacing.

“No, no. Just my girlfriend wanting to know what time I’m going to be home. But as I’m enjoying our little conversation, Hank, I think I’ll tell her not to wait up.”

Pendale, TX

1:15 a.m.

“Oh,God, yes... Right there... A little harder?”

“Harder?” Raven asked, surprised.

“Yeah, don’t be scared. Maybe just get your knuckle in there and really go for it?”

Raven smiled. “That won’t hurt too much?”

“No more than it already does...?” Ridge wasn’t someone to shy away from a little discomfort, especially if it had genuine, therapeutic value.

“You should get a massage right after you train,” Raven reminded him.

“I know, I know. And an ice bath too, but... I mean, have you ever tried one?” he asked.

She giggled. “Hell,no. I can think of much nicer ways of getting myself all perky.”Like doing this for you right now. Her nipples had become hard and erect, hot with electric arousal.

Ridge laughed but then winced as she found the exact spot, halfway down his back, just to the right of his spine, where the day’s tensions seemed to have their root. Aggressive lifting had made him incredibly sore; Raven had taken a massage course once. That had been, for them both, more than enough reason to peel off his shirt.

“Get comfortable,” she said encouragingly, gesturing for Ridge to lie chest-down on the sofa. Admiring the fine musculature of his back from above, Raven tied back her hair in a quick ponytail and hesitantly took her seat on the backs of his thighs, just south of The Perfect Ass. She caught her breath yet again as her hands glided over his well-toned back and powerful shoulders, pressing and circling the tired muscles. Massaging his neck muscles now in slow, deep patterns, she felt the unavoidable warmth between her legs press up against him, wondering if he felt it, too. The seam of her jeans was making firm and pleasing contact with her most sensitive spot; she bit down the urge to gasp, hiding her growing arousal.

Raven found her voice. “Do we know when...”

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