Prologue
It wasn’t a party she wanted to go to, but Raven had promised her best friend Morganna that she would be there. Being there meant she would, of course, run into Reno.
Reno, with the softest gray eyes she had ever seen, the most luscious buff body God had ever given a man. As she left the bathroom, her body washed, scrubbed, lotioned, and perfumed, she assured herself it wasn’t for Reno.
But she knew better.
Her body knew better.
She wanted to come up with an excuse to stay home, but she knew she wouldn’t. It had been weeks since she had seen him and she missed him.
They were friends, she told herself. She was allowed to miss him. It didn’t mean anything. Just because her heart hammered in her chest at the thought of seeing him, her breasts became swollen, her nipples hard and tight, it didn’t mean anything except he could turn her on.
That was all it meant.
She threw herself on the bed, turning on her back to stare at the ceiling overhead. It wasn’t the ceiling she saw, though. She closed her eyes and it was Reno she saw. His head lowering, his lips so full and sensual, taking hers.
She was shocked at the moan that passed her lips, the heaviness that filled her body, the liquid warmth she could feel between her thighs. His hands were broad, callused. How would they feel moving over her naked body, cupping her breasts as his fingers, then his tongue, rasped over her nipples?
She licked her finger and thumb, moving it to her nipple, mimicking what she thought he would do and had to bite her lip to keep from crying out at the pleasure.
“Yes,” she whispered instead. “That’s what I want, only better.”
And it would be better. His fingers would be hotter, rougher, more demanding.
Her legs shifted on the bed as her hand moved down her midriff.
Pathetic, her mind jeered.
She could fantasize, she told herself fiercely. That’s all it was, just a fantasy.
She touched the bare flesh between her thighs and a broken sigh fell from her lips.
God, she wanted him.
And she could have him. She knew she could. He had been chasing her for nearly two years now. Every time he came home, he watched her with a promise swirling in the stormy depths of his gaze. And that didn’t count the stolen kisses, the knowledge that one day soon, he was going to start chasing her in earnest. She knew it was coming. Knew she could fight him only so long.
If she fought him at all.
He made her hot, wet. Her fingers slid across the dewy flesh, gliding along the silken juices that eased their way until they rasped against her swollen clit.
“Reno,” she whispered his name, her breathless voice sounding as hungry as her body felt.
But it was Reno she saw. His touch, his fingers that stroked the sensitive little bud that kept her on the edge of pleasure, her release a strangled breath away as she imagined his lips covering hers, his tongue licking, stroking, probing. She gasped, her fingers moving faster, more firmly against her clit as she felt her release peaking.
“Yes, take me.” Her head tossed on the pillow, her fingers pushing her pleasure higher. “Now, Reno. Now.”
She imagined him moving over her, his cock, broad and engorged with lust, sliding through the wet folds, pushing forward, stretching her, taking her….
Her hips arched as the explosion tore through her, pleasure singing through her body as she whimpered in need. But it wasn’t enough. It was never enough. The release, despite the pleasure, was tinged with a hollow emptiness, a knowledge that nothing could match the real thing. That if Reno were with her, taking her, she wouldn’t be whispering—she would be screaming.
Her hand fell back to the bed as she took a deep, weary breath.
He was all she wanted in the world, had ever really needed.
And he was the one man she could never allow herself to have.
Chapter One
“Need a ride?”
Raven McIntire stiffened in shock at the raspy, dark voice behind her. She turned slowly, her breath halting in her throat at the sight that met her eyes.
Reno Chavez. Six feet three inches of tough, powerful muscle and finely honed strength. Thick, midnight black hair cut close to his head showed off the strong, harsh features of his face. Brooding gray eyes, high cheekbones, lips that drew the eye time and time again. He was a well-built, powerful male animal and he knew it. Even more, Raven knew it, and had been hopelessly drawn to him for years.
How did you fight the man your heart ached for? The one who had been your best friend, your confidant, your protection as a teenager? The first man you ever fantasized about, and the only one that made you hot enough to whisper his name in the dark safety of your bed?
It wasn’t easy, but she had been managing it. Well, sort of. He did manage to sneak the odd, knee-weakening-make-her-want-to-beg, kiss whenever he had the chance. She had sworn she wasn’t giving him any more chances after the last one. But she was still standing there, staring up at him like a lovesick fool.
He tipped the bottle of beer to his lips and drank, his eyes locked on hers as she stared up at him in fascination. A woman couldn’t help but be fascinated by him and she was no exception.
The only difference was, she liked to think she was smart enough to stay away from the bad boys and keep on the safe side of the emotional court.
“I called a cab.” She lifted the cell phone she held in her hand as she flashed him a bright smile.
Reno had always been a bad boy. A devil-may-care charmer who had stolen her heart when she was no more than a teenager and continued to hold it. Even now, after he entered the one career that made him off-limits to her. She knew the perils of loving a Navy SEAL, and was terrified of the cost of giving into the seductive war he had been waging on her for the past year.
He continued to watch her as her gaze flickered nervously to the street. She was standing on the porch of his sister, Morganna’s house, having ditched the party nearly a half-hour before. She wasn’t a party girl, no matter how she tried to pretend for her friend’s sake at these little get-togethers.
She wore the short, flirty black skirt with its low-rise waist and the matching, snug, sleeveless top with its high-rise hem. Her tanned belly was bare clear below her navel, the little diamond navel ring she wore glittering in the overhead light of the porch. And there was no mistaking the fact that he noticed. His gaze kept drifting down, his eyes heavy-lidded, making her belly tingle in response.
It reminded her too much of the touch of his lips, his hands moving over her back. The last few times he had been home after assignments, he hadn’t let a chance to touch her go by. He was trying to seduce her, and Raven knew it. Knew it and had no idea how to combat it.