Staking His Claim (Line of Duty 5)

“Watching your figure?”

No, I’m watching yours. He cleared his throat and opened the refrigerator, seeing that it was empty save a carton of orange juice and green grapes. She’d gone to the store and bought the materials to make s’mores and nothing else? He sighed, shutting the fridge door. “All right. Make me one.”

Her face lit up, cutting off the oxygen to his brain. “When Brent and I were kids—” She cut herself off, her pretty gaze flying to his when she realized she’d referred to the pink elephant in the room. Her brother. His best friend. Matt felt an uncomfortable churning in his gut but didn’t say anything and after a moment, she notched her chin up and continued. “When we were kids, my mom refused to take us camping. She hated bugs. Anything wildernessrelated, really. So once a year our dad moved the table out of the kitchen and pitched a tent. We made s’mores this way.”

The way she smiled fondly at the memory made him want to dive across the kitchen and drag her into his arms, but once again, he stayed put. “Camping, Queens-style,” he said, instead.

Her eyes twinkled. “Have you ever been camping?” When he only looked at her, she paled, obviously remembering the time he’d spent overseas living mostly outdoors. “Never mind. That was a stupid question.”

Matt felt the insistent need to make her feel better. “Extreme camping, maybe. Minus the s’mores.” He waited until she smiled again. The pressure in his chest eased. “We ate MREs. Field rations. Not as appetizing as what you’re cooking, but they got the job done.”

He watched as she very carefully placed a piece of chocolate on a graham cracker, then stacked a marshmallow and another graham cracker on top. Looking satisfied with herself, she handed the creation to him. When their fingers brushed, he felt it down to the soles of his feet. Judging from her intake of breath, she felt it, too. Her tongue danced along her lips. “What was your first meal when you came back?”

Such an odd question. Hell, this whole situation was odd. So why did he feel so at home? He bit into the s’more as he thought about her question, a grunt of approval escaping him before he could stop it. Damn, it tasted good. Not half as good as her, though. “A foot-long sub sandwich. Two, actually.”

“Not something your mom made?” Oblivious to how her question threw him, she stuck another marshmallow onto the end of the wire. “I would ask for meat loaf and mashed potatoes. And several kinds of pie. Let’s just say I’d be wearing sweatpants for a while.”

He decided she could use some extra weight. Maybe then he wouldn’t feel so guilty about manhandling her. Stop that line of thinking. You can’t continue to have her. Leave her alone. “My parents weren’t there to cook for me when I got back, but the sub did the trick.”

“Where were they?”

The s’more felt stuck in his throat. “My dad lost the use of his legs when I was young. They have a difficult time traveling.” Matt didn’t add that he hadn’t seen his parents since before his deployment and only spoke with them on holidays. His father had long ago become his mother’s full-time job, leaving very little time to travel. Or cook special meat loaf. Lucy didn’t need to be dragged down with that knowledge, though, nor did he know how he’d react to her sympathy. He was very much afraid he would like it and take advantage. Bask in all that light as long as he could. Quickly, he diverted the attention from himself. “What’s on your bucket list today?”

For long moments, she stared as if she wanted to question him further on his parents. He realized he was holding his breath, hoping for both of their sakes she’d let it drop. If she showed him an ounce of compassion, he’d be across the room buried in her before she could blink. He couldn’t explain it. Only knew it would undo him, and he’d never shown that side of himself to another person. What lay on the other side of exposing himself like that?

“Are you sure you want to know?” she asked hesitantly.

Now he did. Was it dangerous? It better not be. “Tell me,” he demanded.

She visibly shivered. Why? “Trapeze classes at Chelsea Pier.” Her gaze flew to the clock. “Actually, I better go. One should not be late to defy death. It’s bad luck.”

He frowned when she jumped off the counter and started to leave the room. “Forgetting something?”

Her expression was puzzled. Until he turned off the stove’s burner with a flick of his wrist. Looking sheepish, she rubbed her bare foot against the opposite leg. “Don’t tell Hayden?”

“I won’t, if you promise not to break your neck today.”

“I’ll give it my best shot, coach.”

“Jesus.” He scrubbed a hand down his face. “Go get dressed. I’m coming with you.”

Chapter Ten

Lucy stood with her arms raised as the trapeze instructor, Justin, harnessed her into the safety equipment. She actually worried for the poor guy’s life more than her own, thanks to Matt standing ten feet away watching every movement through dangerously narrowed eyes. It was obvious that he didn’t like the instructor having access to any part of her body, and based on Justin’s strained expression, he’d picked up on Matt’s not-so-subtle warning, too.

The trapeze school practiced outdoors during the summer, right on the Hudson River. A gentle summer breeze flitted across her skin, warm morning sun heating her neck and shoulders. It would be nice if she knew what the hell his possessive attitude meant. She’d been shocked when he offered to come with her today, but he’d just muttered something about it being his day off and having nothing else to do. Was he simply doing her brother a favor by looking out for her, or did he actually want to be here? Last night and this morning, he’d effectively scrambled her brain with extraordinary sex. Somewhere in Hayden’s town house, her panties were still smoking. Talking to him in the kitchen afterward had felt…natural. Well, as natural as possible when a big man-panther who dripped sensuality stood bare-chested licking chocolate off his fingers. She’d been silently begging for him to lose the pants and commence round two, but she’d sensed him holding back.

Talk about confusing. Any other time, she would poke him in the chest and demand answers. It’s how she operated. There was little sense in holding back and not speaking your mind. With Matt, however, she feared it would send him packing. It made her nervous. Set her off-balance. He sent mixed signals and she didn’t know how to receive them. He’d told her he didn’t tolerate liars, but he continued to show up, as if he couldn’t stay away. She liked having him around, even if his intentions were far from clear, so she kept all her confusing thoughts to herself.

She tuned back in to Justin’s safety spiel. “Your first jump, we’ll keep it very simple. You’ll swing back and forth a few times, just to get used to the bar. Then you’ll release and fall into the net. Once you know the net is there and you’ve experienced it, you’ll feel more confident about the next phase.”

Matt crossed his arms. “Next phase?”

“I-if she’s comfortable, we’ll attempt a knee-hang.”

Lucy did a little dance. “Swinging upside down? Boom, let’s do it.”

Justin nodded, shooting Matt an apprehensive look. “Only if you’re comfortable.”

/> Lucy didn’t know if he was reassuring her or Matt, who looked two seconds from pulling out his badge and shutting the entire operation down.

“Okay, your belt is secure. Once we’re on the platform, we’ll attach it to the very secure safety lines.” Justin looked as though he were embarking on a death march. “I’m going to take you up now.”

“Cool—”

“Wait,” Matt barked. Before she could decipher his intention, he strode toward them, looking incredibly determined. With one tug of her safety belt, she collided with his body and he was kissing her. Not a good-luck-I’ll-catch-you-on-the-flip-side kiss. It was a brain-melting, I-will-make-you-very-sorry-if-you-get-hurt kiss that nearly buckled her knees and sent her crashing to the ground. His tongue swept in and claimed every corner of her mouth, his hand curling around her ponytail to tilt her head back in a gesture of ownership. She moaned into his mouth, surrendering to him on every level possible, but he pulled back all too soon, steadying her with a firm hand on her elbow.

“Wow,” she breathed, immediately wanting to slap herself. Honestly, could she not take his lead and shroud herself in a little bit of mystery, too? Instead, she seemed bent on showing her hand at every opportunity. Perhaps that was the reason he showed up whenever he felt like it. She welcomed him with little urging on his part every time. The annoying realization caused her forehead to crease.

Matt frowned at her. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m too easy.”

“You’re forcing me to watch while you put your life in the hands of a man wearing purple spandex.” He shook his head. “You are anything but easy.”

She felt her mouth stretch into a grin. “Thank you.”

His jaw flexed as he moved closer, lowering his voice. “At the risk of distracting you, baby, you should know I’m dying to spank your ass right now until you scream.”