Rescue My Heart Read online

  He stretched and filled her so perfectly that she couldn’t figure out how she’d ever lived without this.

  Without him.

  Except she hadn’t chosen to live without him. He’d chosen that for her, all on his own, without giving her a say. At that thought, reality might have intruded, pulled her out of the moment, except…

  Except, braced above her, buried deep, Adam had gone perfectly still, eyes locked on hers, his usual stoic expression wiped clean, replaced with sheer unadulterated pleasure and need.

  For her.

  It was rare to see him so unguarded. Rare and…beautiful. “Adam,” she said, staggered by the emotion that swamped her.

  “I know.” Bending low, he kissed her slowly, until she moved restlessly against him, wanting to feel him move in and out of her, needing that more than she could remember needing anything.

  But Adam was right about one thing: somewhere along the way he’d learned patience. Lots of it. When she arched up for more, he merely held her still, gently nibbling her lip as she tried harder, clutching at him, crying out from the heat building between them.

  Soothing her with a wordless murmur, he finally began to move, filling her to bursting, and she nearly climbed up his body trying to get even closer, closer than was physically possible. Wrapping her legs around his hips, she did her best to ride him from the bottom, but he kept up his torturous pace, driving her right to the edge before slowing again.

  “Now who’s…playing?” she managed to grate out.

  “Still not playing.” His voice was thrillingly low and rough as he thrust again.

  And again.

  She could feel it now, the tease of an impending orgasm. Her toes curled, her inner muscles pulsed around him. Every inch of her was poised on the very edge and she didn’t know if she could survive it. “Please,” she begged against his lips. “Adam, please…”

  He groaned and broke the kiss to give her what she wanted. His head fell back, eyes closed, face tight with hunger and desire as he moved over her.

  They were both frantic now, but then his hand on her hip shifted so he could stroke a thumb over her center with gentle, deadly precision.

  She exploded.

  He followed right behind her, his eyes closed against the intensity, pushing so deep inside her, that for that one glorious moment they were one. There was only their rough, ragged breathing mingling with the late-night wind and rustling trees.

  And Milo’s left-out, put-upon sigh.

  Holly didn’t want to move. She didn’t want to shake off the delicious cloud of satisfaction and comfort. Not to mention she was warm for the first time since she’d gotten out of her own bed yesterday morning. Her body was still giving off little aftershocks of desire that made Adam groan, and he shifted as if to move off her.

  Needing his weight, loving the feel of his hands still gripping her tight, she clutched at him, then realized he probably wasn’t experiencing the same need to remain close that she was, so she reluctantly let him go.

  He rolled off her, dealt with the condom, then came back, pulling her in, pressing his lips to her temple. “Sleep.”

  Even in the dark, she could tell that the hard edge that had been there earlier, the hard edge that was always there whenever they had to deal with each other these days, was gone.

  The softer version of Adam was still with her.

  She liked seeing behind the tough-guy veneer and wondered what it meant that she was seeing the real man.

  And how long he’d stay.

  Eleven

  Adam woke instantly, heart still pounding. Not a full-on nightmare, thank God. He didn’t do that whole leap-up-screaming thing so much anymore, just occasionally woke in a pounding rush, the air stuck in his throat.

  Like now. And he knew why, too. Today, they were going to the Kaniksu Caves to look for Donald.

  Just thinking about it had him breaking out in a sweat. Forcing himself to relax, he felt Holly curl around him, and just like that, the icy tightness in his chest began to ease. He continued to will his strung out body to calm one muscle at a time, allowing himself the rare luxury of a woman’s welcoming warmth and softness. Holly’s welcoming warmth. The female scent of her skin was both arousing and comforting, and gradually the pressure in his lungs eased. Turning his head, he buried his face in her hair for a moment, just breathing her in.

  Then he felt a warm, wet nose in his ear. Opening his eyes, he met Milo’s.

  Dawn’s first pink light was just creeping in. Adam pushed the dog back a few feet and then looked down at the warm, sexy female in his arms. Her perfect little ass was spooned up against him. They were both naked, but basic chemistry had kept them warm. Hell, they could have kept all of Idaho warm with the heat they’d generated all night.

  Holly’s skin was scented with her usual enticing sexiness, though she also smelled a lot like him. It was erotic and…disturbingly intimate. He carefully rolled to his back.

  Holly murmured something, flopped over, and scooted in to once again plaster herself to him.

  Not him, he corrected. His heat. She was a heat-seeking missile. Her hair looked like an explosion in a mattress factory, flowing wildly over his arm and chest, tickling his nose. Before he’d even realized what he was doing, he stroked it back from her face.

  In her sleep she scowled, an expression he was well used to. There hadn’t been much to smile about between them.

  Until last night, anyway.

  At that uncomfortable thought, he began the tricky extraction process, pulling back, trying to disentangle himself from her. Not easy when she now had a grip on him with both fists, her thighs tight around one of his. Her breasts were pillowed against his chest, and when he shifted, her nipples puckered tight. He knew it was just a physical response to stimulation or maybe from the cold air around them, but it didn’t stop his mouth from watering with the need to take a taste.

  He resisted, barely, and only because he was already feeling like the biggest asshole on the planet for letting this happen between them.

  It shouldn’t have happened. Holly was hopes and dreams. She was…forever. Adam no longer had hopes and dreams; he was working on just getting through the moment. And forever? Forever was an f-word. He managed to move back another inch, and she actually made a soft little mewling protest that was both the sexiest and sweetest sound he’d ever heard.

  Aside from the sounds she’d made last night.

  All those years ago, she’d always responded to him with open eagerness. It had never failed to excite him then.

  Seemed nothing much had changed now, either.

  Of course, in those days she hadn’t had anyone to compare him to in the sack, and that had been a rush all on its own. But even without that element, she’d been different from other women. She’d roused a protective, possessive nature in him that he’d never felt before. Of course he’d been young, stupid, and completely ruled by his dick.

  He had no idea what his excuse was now.

  He gently pulled his legs free from hers and came up on his knees, getting his first good look at her in the ambient early dawn light. Creamy skin, warm, gorgeous curves, and…patches of whisker burns on her throat, breasts, and between her legs.

  You are a complete asshole, he thought, and spread the sleeping bag over her, forcing himself up.

  He pulled on his clothes and boots and moved outside where the icy cold air slapped him in the face.

  So did his moral compass.

  Overnight, the snowfall had coated the land with enough powder to give depth to its features. He could see for miles, a broad sweep of spiky, naked trees and vast, rambling land, beautiful in its simplicity. He eyed the sky. Dark and tumultuous. They’d be lucky to make it another hour without more snow. It was the sort of morning that called for crawling back into the bed that held a warm, sexy woman waiting for him.

  But that wouldn’t fly.

  He glanced back at her, where she lay curled up in his sleeping bag, only her b