Spirit of Danger Read online

  She could touch him in a way she’d never been able to.

  Her hands ached from clenching his shirt too tightly. While he kept making love to her mouth she let go of the worn fabric with one hand and smoothed it down his chest, feeling the ridges of muscle she’d seen, but never touched.

  Finley’s hand squeezed her ass. It was a possessive, masculine touch that had her knees going weak.

  If this was a dream she didn’t want it to stop. If this was some weird reality where Finley was attracted to her she wanted to stay here.

  “Merida,” Finley said against her mouth.

  Inwardly she screamed. He could not start talking now. If he did, this would stop. She didn’t want that.

  “Sh.” She kissed him again, her mind racing to figure out how to stall talking.

  He leaned against her, and sweet Jesus she felt the hard line of his erection.

  This was the fantasy she’d always wanted. As shitty as her holiday was shaping up to be, she wanted this to continue.

  Finley eased away from her a bit. She kept her gaze on his mouth. Right then she couldn’t look at his eyes. She feared what she’d see.

  How did she get him to stop talking?

  He took a deep breath, as if fortifying himself. “I really think...”

  Merida reached down, grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it and her bralette off in one go. She let both drop to the floor.

  The sound of the fabric hitting the carpet was the loudest thing in the room.

  Her heated flesh pebbled with no barrier against the coolness of Finley’s house.

  She swallowed and tipped her chin up to look at him, unsure what she’d see looking back at her, but she’d blown way past any going back point.

  Finley stared at her breasts with wide eyes and parted lips. He looked both shocked and hungry. Her nipples tightened and her breasts felt heavy as they stood there, frozen in the moment.

  No going back.

  She’d taken control and she had to keep it.

  Merida reached out and grabbed a handful of his shirt. She yanked it, making him rock forward into her. His pale green eyes had deepened. He glanced up, their gazes locking and her breath caught.

  He was looking at her like a man who wanted to fuck. Like she was desirable. She’d always wanted him to look at her that way.

  She went up on tiptoes and kissed him, soaking up his warmth, the feel of him. His arms tightened on her, stroking up her back then down to her ass. Both of his hands gripped her, almost lifting her off her feet. He walked backwards, taking her with him all while his tongue thrust into her mouth.

  Merida had no choice but to hold onto him. The kiss from before was tame compared to this.

  All of a sudden Finley turned. She clung to his shoulders, her mind doing topsy-turvy things. One of his hands rose, pressing to the small of her back. Her calf hit the sofa and then she was falling.

  Falling wasn’t an accurate word.

  No, Finley eased her down on the sofa, the worn cushions cradling her. And then his weight pressed her down further, trapping her exactly where she wanted to be. She wound her fingers through his hair and kissed him deeper as he rocked against her.

  She needed so much more.

  Merida grasped his thin T-shirt and pulled it up to his shoulders. Finley broke the kiss long enough for her to pull it off one arm then the other. She would have pulled it off completely except he’d begun kissing her neck, scrambling her thoughts.

  She turned her head so the cushion would muffle the moans while his lips teased her.

  One hand cupped her breast and her spine arched. She gasped for breath and found herself staring up into Finley’s eyes. He grinned wolfishly before ducking his head and wrapping his lips around one nipple. She just about screamed when he sucked.

  Merida’s whole body needed him. She’d wanted and dreamed for so long, the reality of his mouth and hands on her was almost too much for her.

  His tongue flicked the nub of her nipple back and forth. Arousal dampened her panties as he continued to explore her. She touched everything in reach, but it wasn’t enough.

  They were still wearing far too many clothes.

  She grabbed the shirt around his neck and pulled him up her body. He came reluctantly, at his own pace, but eventually his lips met hers again.

  Merida needed him now. She couldn’t stand more touching or teasing, she was already wet for him.

  Finley nipped and suckled at her lips making her heart flutter. She’d always thought he’d be the type of guy who just dove in. She hadn’t been prepared for this, the teasing. It was far too much.

  She reached between them and stroked his cock through his jeans. His whole body tightened then shuddered. She grinned against his cheek and wiggled her hand past his jeans and boxers. It was a tight fit, but she palmed the velvety skin of his erection, luxuriating in how that touch affected him.

  He shuddered again and buried his face against her shoulder. His fingers brushed her wrist, but instead of pulling her away, he unfastened his jeans, allowing her to have more freedom.

  She wrapped her hand around him and stroked, mapping his length and girth, not the least bit disappointed with what she found. Like the rest of him, he was big.

  “God damn,” he muttered, barely audible.

  “Finley?” She turned her head so she spoke into his ear. “I think you should be naked.”

  He didn’t respond. At least not with words.

  Instead he pushed up, his eyes and hair wild, and pulled away from her.

  She let go of him and watched him straighten with a little difficulty.

  He wasn’t unaffected.

  Merida bit her lip, hooked her thumbs in the waistband of her yoga pants and pushed them down her hips.

  Finley’s cheeks sank in and he watched her expose her hip bones then a little more.

  With an inhuman growl he shoved his clothes off in a flurry of movement. She caught his energy, divesting herself of her clothes until she lay on his sofa naked.

  How many evenings had she spent on this sofa with him?

  Too many to count.

  She watched him, mesmerized by how the lights played across his skin. She’d never been more grateful that she’d bullied him into putting up the Christmas tree than she was right now.

  He rolled on a condom she hadn’t seen him get. Right about then she wasn’t terribly picky about the particulars.

  Finley glanced at her and his eyes widened.

  For a moment they just stared at each other.

  His body was honed and scared. Tattoos on his biceps and shoulders memorialized his life’s trials and people who’d passed. She knew there were more on his back and calves. He was so much more than what he appeared and right now he was everything she wanted.

  Merida sat up and took his hand, tugging him to her.

  He planted one knee on the cushion between her legs then leaned forward, bracing himself over her. His eyes searched her face. She could see his brain starting to catch up.

  She didn’t want words right now. What she wanted was him.

  Before Finley could say something, she grasped his hair and tugged him down for a hungry kiss. One nip and she felt the muscles in his body tighten. She almost grinned.

  Fingers stroked her. She gasped, not prepared for the touch. He thrust his tongue into her mouth and his fingers into her pussy effectively cutting off all intelligent thought. And then it wasn’t his fingers.

  The blunt head of his cock pressed against her. He broke the kiss, looking down at her as he eased into her. She knew it was her imagination, but she could have sworn looking into his eyes that he was feeling something, too. Something deeper than this pleasure.

  He thrust without warning. She gasped and clutched him, her vision going blurry for a moment. He didn’t give her a chance to catch her breath, he thrust again, his cock working deeper. It didn’t hurt. She was too aroused for that. But he was bigger and it had been an awfully long time since she
’d been with anyone except her vibrator.

  She held onto him, losing herself in the feel of his body against hers, the way he filled her, surrounded her. Even the way the wiry hair of his chest tickled her nipples. She kissed every bit of skin she could reach. His face, his neck and shoulders.

  Merida closed her eyes and lifted her hips. This was the fantasy, what she’d wanted, and it was everything she’d hoped for and more.

  Finley captured one of her hands, threaded their fingers together and held it up over her head. He pushed up and stared down at her, like she was his whole world, like this was where she belonged.

  That feeling of rightness hit her, causing her stomach to tighten.

  He groaned and his lids lowered. She gasped as he thrust harder, sending spirals of pleasure through her.

  She lifted her hips, meeting his thrusts, all too aware that she was rushing toward something when she wanted to savor it.

  Finley gripped her hand tighter and shifted, sliding into her at a different angle. His public bone rubbed hers just right and her vision went all blurry.

  She gripped his bicep and opened her mouth to say something, but he kissed her instead. She whimpered and held tight as her body felt as though it were drawn tight.

  Merida broke the kiss, tossed her head back and moaned as pleasure so deep rippled through her. Between the unintentional abstinence and pining for him, the orgasm felt ten thousand times more intense, wringing her senses dry.

  He shoved an arm under her back, holding her there as his movements became harder, needier. He kissed her mouth and held tight to her as he pumped into her, taking his own pleasure now.

  And then he froze, body tight, face buried in her hair.

  Merida held him close to her and watched the multicolored lights twinkling on the tree. This was the one thing she thought she’d never have.

  She didn’t really have Finley though. They’d had sex. Great sex, but it was just sex.

  No. Stop that.

  She shoved that thought aside and instead focused on him, committing the way he felt and smelled to memory, because after this she had no choice but to move.

  The idea made her eyes prickle with tears. She blinked rapidly, doing her best to dispel them. The last thing she needed was to cry again in front of him. Once was enough.

  Finley tuned his head, brushing her collarbone with a kiss. She shivered and stroked his shoulder.

  Now what? What were the post-sex rules for sleeping with your friend?

  So much for wallowing in the afterglow.

  Finley shifted a bit, but made no move away from her.

  Sweat cooled her to the point that she was a tad bit chilly despite his body heat.

  What the hell was she going to say to him after this?

  A chime sounded from across the room. A very important chime she almost cheered to hear.

  Her work notifications.

  Finley picked his head up and glanced over his shoulder with a scowl.

  “It’s work. I really have to get that,” she said, not as apologetic as she sounded.

  “Oh, yeah. I’ll, um, go clean up.”

  He pushed up, the loss of him sending goose bumps up and down her limbs. She hissed when he pulled out of her and shut her eyes, pressing her thighs together. By the time she opened her eyes, he was gone and she had point five seconds to make it to her phone.

  3.

  Wednesday. Finley’s Home, Seattle, Washington.

  Finley shut the door to the bathroom and stared at his reflection. His hair stuck up every which way and his eyes were wide, the pupils dilated. He blinked at the red lines on his shoulders then glanced down at them.

  Physical evidence what just happened really happened.

  Then there was the condom. Impossible to miss that.

  Holy shit.

  One moment he’d hugged Merida, steeling himself against touching her, the next he was...

  His head buzzed, unsure how the last half hour or so had happened.

  How many times had he puzzled over how to tell her he wanted more than just friendship from her?

  They’d had sex.

  He’d tried to stop kissing her, to say something, but she’d been so intent he hadn’t been able to withstand her need.

  Where did this leave them? How did they go forward?

  He could hear the sound of Merida’s voice through the door. Work was calling her again. He knew what that meant. She’d be up all night doing stuff she couldn’t talk about.

  It wasn’t the work that bothered him. He knew the Aegis Group guys. They were a good group and their mission statement clearly defined them as the good guys. He just wished Merida got a damn break every now and then.

  Finley straightened and began cleaning himself up.

  Was it his imagination or was it cold in here?

  He normally left the thermostat low during the day when he wasn’t there, but it was set to warm up around the time he came home. It should be much warmer in here. Had his heat gone, too?

  Merida.

  She had to be his focus.

  Maybe tonight was his chance to turn everything around. She was likely going through the same mental processing as he was. They should talk about it. They had a lot to discuss.

  Nerves and hope twisted in his gut.

  It was happening.

  He dried himself off. Now if only he’d remembered to grab some clothes.

  Finley steeled himself for the unknown and opened the bathroom door.

  Merida stood with her back to him. Her bra was on and she was shimmying into her yoga pants. Her purple polka dot panties with pale lace made him pause.

  Briefs.

  He’d always thought she’d be a boy short kind of girl.

  “Yes. Yes, I’ll be right there. Just tell them to wait.” Merida grumbled something as she turned.

  She was leaving.

  His stomach bottomed out at that realization.

  She couldn’t leave. They needed to talk.

  Finley crossed to the sofa and grabbed his underwear and jeans. He stepped into both while Merida wiggled into her sweatshirt, never once taking the phone away from her ear. She sighed and said something else to the person on the other end of the line, her frustration coming through loud and clear.

  There was nothing to be done. She was going into the office after sunset. With her car still in the shop that meant the bus because she wouldn’t splurge for a taxi.

  Well fuck that.

  “I’ll drive you,” Finley said, speaking louder than was necessary.

  Merida whirled to face him, eyes wide as if she hadn’t realized he was there.

  Was he that forgettable?

  No. Stop taking this personally.

  “You don’t have to do that,” she said.

  “It’s dark. It’s snowing. Your car is still in the shop. I’m not going to sit here while you walk or take a bus.” He grabbed his long-sleeved shirt and pulled it on over his head. Suddenly he felt the urge to be dressed.

  “Seriously, you don’t have to do that. I’m probably going to sleep at the office anyway with the water and heat being out here.”

  “Which is all the more reason why I should drive you.” He could be just as stubborn as her.

  “Fin, you don’t have to inconvenience yourself on my account.”

  Was she putting him off? Was she running away? Did this have anything to do with them at all?

  He shoved his feet in his socks then his boots. “Just get in the damn truck.”

  They’d talk now or later. They had to. He and Merida were friends. He wasn’t going to throw that away and he hoped she wasn’t either. Maybe they’d finally get the honesty he’d been wanting?

  She turned her back on him and kept talking, her voice low enough he couldn’t make out her words.

  In his mind, the first time he was intimate and shared his feelings with Merida, it should be a private thing. Something that allowed for feeling each other out and what came next.


  He knew that life was all about plans shifting as events unfolded. Still, some part of him thought Merida was hiding from him behind her phone and her job. That was damn annoying, especially considering everything they knew about each other and what they’d just done.

  Finley finished dressing. The Christmas ornament pressed against his hip. He’d give that to her later. Right now wasn’t the time.

  “Come on,” he said as he stalked past Merida to the front door.

  “What do you mean security is letting them in?” She followed practically growling under her breath.

  Finley held the door for her then locked it. She didn’t make a move to go back to her place for anything so he opened the passenger side door to the truck and waited for her to get in. She mouthed a, thank you, as she settled inside.

  Her brow had that crease, the really worried one.

  Something had to be very wrong.

  It didn’t make his irritation go away, but he did take a long, deep breath on his way around the truck.

  This wasn’t the way to start any conversation with her, even though everything in him wanted to demand answers. He needed to hold his tongue, say nothing and wait for a more opportune time.

  Finley climbed in the truck.

  “Hello? Eli? Hey, are you there? Elias?” She pulled the phone from her face and frowned at it. “God damn it.”

  “What’s wrong at the office?” he asked.

  “Some kind of building maintenance we weren’t told about.” She sighed. “We just need our own building.”

  “Don’t you have like two or three floors already?”

  “Yes,” Merida snapped. “There are six small suites on the ground floor and I swear every one of them insists they need to access something on our secure floor. They never clear it ahead of time. This is going to be one huge fight.”

  Guilt bit at Finley. But only for a moment.

  All Merida did was work. She never made time for herself. Was this what being with her might be like? He’d always focused on the good moments, the fun they had, but the reality would look a lot like this.