Highland Protector (MacCoinnich Time Travels #5)(47)
Author: Catherine Bybee

Jake’s eyes ran down her nearly naked torso with an appreciative smile.

Selma pulled the towel to cover herself. “What the hell are you doing here?” Her heart lodged in her throat. “How did you get in here?”

“I have my ways,” he told her with a grin.

“Touché.”

His eyes were still taking her in. He dressed in jeans and a tight fitting short-sleeved shirt. The stubble on his chin was shaved bare, and damn it, she could smell his clean skin from where she stood.

“W-why are you here?”

When he stepped closer and dropped his smile, she moved away. She didn’t have far to go before she felt the wall at her back.

“I didn’t kiss you because Lindsey watched us.”

He towered over her now, his expression unreadable.

“Temporary lack of good judgment then?”

He moved within an inch of her and slid his hand into her wet hair.

Selma sucked in a sharp breath.

“Maybe.”

He was going to kiss her again. She saw his dedication to the task in his eyes. Before she could remind him they didn’t like each other, the towel in her hand was yanked free and his lips covered hers.

Every reason to push him away churned through her mind, but she couldn’t do it. Jake had one hell of an intoxicating kiss and she forgot to breathe, forgot to think. That had never happened before.

I must be crazy horny.

From the bulge pressing into her stomach, she wasn’t the only one.

She considered saying no for half a breath, and then she reached up to his shoulders and hopped into his arms, her legs circled his waist. He chuckled under his kiss and pushed against the wall. She was wet, instantly, and her mouth opened to feel the length of his tongue aside hers.

Breathless, she motioned toward her bedroom with a nod.

Without words, he carried her inside and fell onto the bed with her.

Jake’s fingers made quick work of her bra, his mouth captured her breast in a near painful, but oh so enjoyable bite.

Selma rolled him over, tugged his shirt off and tossed it on the floor. He was not a doughnut-eating cop, or if he was, he worked out enough to keep himself in shape.

She found herself under him again, and her panties met his pants on the floor. With her heart racing in her chest, she couldn’t think beyond how amazing Jake felt pushed against her bare skin.

They rolled on the bed so many times she wondered if they were fighting for dominance.

There was no talk, no chatter between lovers. It was raw, urgent, and when he finally pushed into her, fully naked and completely focused on bringing them both pleasure. Selma felt a little part of her hard edge toward the man soften.

She came three times before he called out her name as his release gripped him.

Too stunned to speak, she sucked in one breath after the other.

Jake collapsed on top of her, his lips pressed against her neck as he struggled to suck air in his lungs.

She lifted her chin and felt him hold her closer. Talking to Jake about her feelings, emotions she couldn’t even name now, wasn’t in her. So she used the only weapon she had with him. Humor.

“That’s one seriously impressive concealed weapon you have there, officer.”

He laughed a gut laugh that reminded her he was still buried deep inside her.

She started to pull away, but he wouldn’t release her. Instead, he used his weapon on her repeatedly until she cried mercy.

When they fell in an exhausted heap, the sheets tangled, her skin raw, and her insides humming, he said. “God, I needed that.”

“You and me both.”

He lay sprawled in her bed and turned to look at her. He packed some serious guns under his hard-ass exterior. She wanted to tell him how much she liked the view but didn’t want him getting any squishy ideas about them. No, this was physical…incredible, but just a release. They hardly talked to each other, for God’s sake.

His gaze softened, and she tore her eyes away. “You’re not going to get over analytical about this, are you?”

“Guys don’t analyze sex. That would be the girl’s job.”

Good! She patted his hand and shoved off the bed. “I need caffeine to analyze anything. Think you can manage a pot?”

His eyes lingered on her bare ass as she left him in her bed and made her way to the shower.

“I can make coffee.”

She winked at him over her shoulder and ducked into the bathroom.

Alone, Selma looked at herself in the mirror, hardly recognizing her reflection. She lifted her chin and peered closer at her neck.

“The brat gave me a hickey.” The purple love-bite would be hard to hide in summer clothing. The last time someone had placed a mark on her like that was high school and back then, it was a badge of honor, now, not so much. She was so damned relaxed after her horizontal time with Jake that she couldn’t bring herself to care.

She showered quickly and slipped into a summer dress before following her nose to the kitchen.

Jake had fumbled through the cabinets and discovered the coffee cups. He’d found his pants, and left his shirt off as he padded around her space. It would be hard to look at him from across the room and not remember the expression of bliss as he moved over her.

Don’t go getting squishy, she warned herself.

“Find everything?” she asked him.

He poked into the refrigerator. “You take cream, right?”

The fact that he knew, made her smile. “Yeah, top shelf behind the milk.”

He pushed the milk aside, dug through some of her containers of chilled herbs, and removed the creamer. “What is all this stuff?”

“Office supplies,” she told him with a straight face.

“Witch’s brew?”

She laughed, not offended in the least. “You could say that.”

He closed the door with his hip, and poured her a cup, mixed in the cream, and handed it to her. Selma mumbled thanks and sipped. Not bad.

Jake leaned against a counter. “You really believe in all that stuff?”

“What’s surprising isn’t that I believe in it, but that you don’t. You’d think after everything we’ve seen, you’d be onboard by now.”

“Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see.”

She’d heard him say that line before, sipped her coffee and grinned. “Fine. About the half that you’ve seen?”

He ran a hand through his disheveled hair, his smile fell. “It’s hard to fight what you don’t know. I’m used to fighting bad guys with guns and bad breath, not Druids who turn into animals or pop in from nowhere. It’s damn unnerving.”