Had she not known better, she’d swear that thug was looking more and more wolf-like. And the cries coming from Bad Ass sounded feline, like a big cat howling a warning as his eyes narrowed, the color of his pupils reflecting an odd shine in the shadows of the alley.
A warm hand on her shoulder scared a mortifying squeak out of her, and Rachel spun around in a heartbeat. Seeing a badge, she breathed a sigh of relief.
“Easy, miss. I’ll take care of this.” The lawman tipped his hat at her and quietly spoke into his walkie-talkie, radioing for help. He walked toward the brawlers with an easy gait. Like the men in the alley, the sheriff had a feral quality about him. Something in the slant of his brows, the sharpness of his gaze and the readiness in his face. He sported denims and a work shirt, his hat worn from wear, but no gun belt that she could see.
Shorter than the men fighting by a few inches but no less muscular, the sheriff stopped a few feet in front of them. He said nothing, merely tapped his foot. When they continued to ignore him, spitting and knocking into one another, he crossed his arms and murmured something under his breath, and the two opponents sprang apart as if dashed with cold water.
“Burke, take Ms. Penny to see Gerald. He’s waiting on you two. And Hart, you come with me.”
The hairy brute grumbled but followed the sheriff without question, glaring over his shoulder at Bad Ass—at Burke. Four more men appeared at the mouth of the alley and dragged the two unconscious thugs from the scene. Deputies, maybe, though the four looked more like locals than lawmen. They spent an inordinate amount of time studying her, to her discomfort. And the strange, almost hungry looks on their faces had her taking a step back, only to bump into Burke.
Burke ignored her, however, and glared at the men moving the bodies. They hurried out of the alley, leaving Rachel and Burke alone. Together.
Not sure how she felt about being summarily dismissed by the sheriff, Rachel stared at Burke, her expression guarded as she wondered why she’d been left with such a dangerous man.
Burke scowled at her as he straightened his appearance. For a fight in which he’d been outnumbered three to one, he looked surprisingly none the worse for wear. Running his hands through his hair, he tugged the loose strands out of his eyes and tucked the denim shirt he wore back into his jeans.
Unable to stop herself, Rachel watched his long fingers inching under the waistband of his pants and couldn’t help wondering if his skin felt warm even through a layer of clothes. A burst of longing, of animal need, rippled through her body and left as suddenly as it had come. She shivered, confused, praying Burke assumed it was from the cooling temperature.
Seeing her distress, he shook his head and grumbled under his breath. But to her astonishment, he shrugged out of his shirt, leaving him clad in a thin white tee and denims.
“Before you shatter all your pretty white teeth from chattering, put this on.” He didn’t give her a chance to refuse and enfolded her in the large garment. Oh crap, it smelled like him. And her libido, which had gone dormant in the diner except for one brief flare just moments ago, rose again with a vicious slap.
Having helped her into his shirt, Burke began to take his arms from around her when he suddenly froze, then stepped even closer. This near to him, Rachel couldn’t miss the rising bulge pressing against her belly, or fail to note the quickening in his breath as she stared at his broad chest.
“Shit. I just knew you were going to be trouble,” he rumbled before swooping down on her.
“What—”
He interrupted her with a soul-shattering kiss. Not gentle or tepid, Burke kissed like a man used to taking what he wanted. He devoured her, plain and simple. An explosion of scents and tastes, Burke was like a drug that stole through her body with the intent to possess. What started as hot grew to inferno proportions. His hard lips commanded, his tongue invaded and his body pressed her closer, until she was nearly riding the erection straining between them.
Without realizing she’d moved, she felt her back against a brick wall, Burke shoving his tongue down her throat at her garbled insistence. Lust took control of everything as the protestations and denials she should have spouted vanished under his onslaught.
A large hand palmed her breast, kneading the taut flesh before pinching her nipple.
She arched into his mouth and cried out, her moans muffled by his kiss. Groaning, Burke lifted her in his hands, his strength a thing of beauty. Positioning her legs around his waist, he settled himself at the junction between her thighs and began thrusting against her, fully clothed.
Rachel shouldn’t have felt much with panties and two pairs of jeans between them.
But her strangely over-sensitized body didn’t know the difference. The ridge of Burke’s cock through his pants might as well have been touching her clit, since the nub spasmed with his every pressing graze.
Grunts and need poured from him as he catered to her every unspoken desire. He dominated, accepting nothing less than her complete submission as he pounded into her against the wall, his skilled fingers gripping her ass as he tried to get closer.
Common sense tried to reassert itself. Her ex-husband. Burke’s like-minded arrogance. The fight she still didn’t understand… All of it refused to surface as a ripping climax tore through her like a tsunami.
Obliterating everything, her orgasm took her into another state altogether. Colors and scents seemed sharper, sounds louder, and the feel of Burke against her like perfection made real. Rachel stiffened, twisting her ankles around his back, her thighs like a vise.
Burke rasped and rained kisses down her neck, sucking hard at her throat as she panted, trying to catch her breath. His thrusts increased and he bit her neck hard enough to draw blood. The pleasure in the start of pain shot her into another orgasm, this one peculiarly forced, and oddly like an out-of-body experience.
“Fuck.” Burke snarled, shuddering against her as he came, jerking while his gasps of pleasure warmed her all over again. His scent drifted to her from his shirt, and hell, from Burke himself. Surprisingly sweet and definitely sexy, he made her think of caramel corn and hot, naked sex on a stick. A circus of delights brought to her by a man she’d only minutes ago wanted to slap in the face.
As she gradually returned to reality, Rachel blushed with embarrassment. What the hell had she been thinking to have sex with a stranger? A man who seemed very much like her ex-husband, at least at first glance. A familiar anger returned at thoughts of Jesse.
But as much as Rachel wanted to blast Burke for taking advantage of her, the blissful look on his face held her tongue. That and the truth—that they’d both been helplessly ruled by lust. A first in Rachel’s life, to be sure.
Burke finally released her hips and allowed her to slide down his body. His eyes flamed at the short contact between them, and Rachel gasped when her desire spiked again. This is so not normal.
“I, ah…” Burke trailed, seeming at a loss for words. But he didn’t step back to give her any room. His gaze roamed her face, coming to rest on her mouth. The awkwardness she anticipated disappeared, and he grinned and nipped at her lips. “You are the sexiest thing I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
Flushed at the compliment, she couldn’t help wondering if she’d just made the next notch on his bedpost. Would he rush around to tell his buddies that he’d just dry humped Charlotte’s niece in the middle of an alley? He was a man, after all. She’d been married to one who’d turned into Mr. Hyde. What did she really know about Burke?