Seizing Mack: A Contemporary Love Story (Covendale Book 3) Read online

  “Damn right you will,” he said with a crooked smile that hit her somewhere right around her solar plexus.

  Working side by side, they prepared a nice breakfast: egg white omelets with green peppers and tomatoes, fresh fruit, whole-grain bread, Greek yogurt.

  “Do you always eat like this, Detective?” Mack asked. The guy did take good care of his body, so he was obviously doing something right, but short of a chef, she’d never met a man who put that much effort into cooking, especially for himself. Even Jay, who was all about proper nutrition, limited the majority of his fuelings to pre-packaged, balanced meal supplements (except of course when she cooked).

  “Truthfully, no. I know it’s cliché, but I’m more of a coffee and donuts kind of guy.” He chuckled at her raised eyebrow. “I make sure I work it off, though.”

  “Then why go to all this trouble?”

  “I wanted to impress you,” he admitted. “I know you’re into healthy eating and all that. But I have to say, this is really good. I could get used to this.”

  Mack couldn’t have stopped the butterflies fluttering in her stomach if she wanted to. But Kent’s prank was still fresh in her mind. She searched for any sign on insincerity on Nick’s part and found none. A tiny thrill went through her at the thought that he had gone to all this trouble for her with no ulterior motive.

  She cleared her throat and toyed with her omelet. “Mission accomplished, Detective. I’m impressed. And grateful. Thanks. For everything.”

  “Call me Nick, please. When a woman spends the night in my bed, I think she’s earned the right to call me by my first name, don’t you?”

  Mack felt the heat rise into her cheeks. “Yes... Nick.”

  His resulting smile sent those butterflies into a frenzy. She cleared her throat. “Just so you know, about last night... that’s not typical behavior for me.”

  Nick nodded thoughtfully before he replied. “I didn’t think it was. Can I ask you something?”

  She figured he’d earned a few rights of his own. “Sure.”

  “Why would a smart, beautiful woman like you go out with a guy like Emerson anyway?”

  Mack got up and took her plate to the sink, carefully considering her response. It wasn’t that she didn’t have an answer, but rather that she didn’t like the ones she came up with when asking herself the same question. But, since this man had plucked her off the stage in the middle of an alcohol-fueled pole dance, she figured he was already clued in to the fact that she wasn’t Ms. Perfect.

  “Because he asked,” she said finally.

  Nick joined her at the sink, staring at her as if she’d grown three heads. “Seriously?”

  She shrugged. Unable to meet his eyes, she sipped her coffee and stared down at her plate.

  “Jesus,” he breathed. “Are all the men in this town fucking morons?”

  She scoffed softly, but deep in her chest, her heart beat a little faster. That didn’t stop the next words from crossing her lips. “The kind who prefer tall, svelte blondes.” Like Delilah.

  When he didn’t say anything more, Mack chanced a glance upward to find Nick looking directly into her eyes. “You know what men see when they look at a woman like that?”

  Yeah, she knew exactly what men saw when they looked at Delilah. Femininity. Desire. They experienced an immediate rise in testosterone and the urge to fall all over themselves to get her favor. But she said none of that, biting back the words and shaking her head.

  “They see guaranteed sex and bragging rights. But you know what they see when they look at you?”

  “A woman who can bench press three times their own weight?” she quipped, her mind and heart scrambling to re-build those crumbling shields around her heart.

  “They see a woman who is so beautiful, so damn smexy, it scares the crap out of them.”

  “Smexy?” Shocked and certain she’d heard wrong, she latched onto that. “You think I’m smexy?”

  “The perfect combination of smart and sexy? Yes,” he confirmed. “And they also know you are not the kind of woman who is going to give them what they want without a whole lot of serious time and effort, so they go for the low-hanging fruit, like Delilah. But you know what?”

  “What?” She held her breath.

  “I’m all about the time and effort, Mack.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  ~ Mack ~

  Her heart stopped, then began to jackhammer furiously against the walls of her chest. Surely, he wasn’t saying what she thought he was saying. She tilted her head and found him looking at her with a combination of heat and promise, a look that made her body tingle and her mind think crazy things. “You are?”

  He continued to hold her gaze — one of the few who could — and nodded. “I am.”

  “What exactly does that mean?” she whispered. She needed him to be very clear. No misconceptions or misunderstandings this time, because as the last few days had proven, she wasn’t particularly good at looking beyond what she wanted to see.

  His mouth curved slowly into a crooked, sexy grin. He really needed to stop doing that. It threatened to destroy every wall she’d been trying so hard to rebuild.

  “Little slow on the uptake this morning, are we? Fine. I’ll spell it out for you. I like you, Mack, and I think you and I... well, I think we’d be really good together.”

  She blinked. “You do?”

  “Yes. Having you in my bed — regrettably without me beside you — seeing you in my shirt, making breakfast with you... I like it. I want more. A whole lot more,” he said, his voice lowering suggestively.

  Mack sucked in a breath. Nick stepped closer, close enough to feel the heat radiating from his body. His large hands came to rest lightly on her hips, making her skin burn beneath them. “I’m even willing to give up donuts.” His eyes sparkled. “Coffee’s a deal breaker, though. I need my coffee.”

  A brief war raged within her as her desire rose quickly, flooding common sense and her ability to reason with need and want. The air sparked and popped and crackled between them, filled with possibility. She wanted this man, wanted him with a ferocity she wasn’t used to feeling, and why shouldn’t she have him?

  You barely know him. Her rational mind gave one last feeble protest.

  It caved immediately beneath the intensity of her passion. I know enough.

  Mack slipped her arms up around his neck, feeling the press of his arousal against her midsection. Another bolt of lust surged through her, overriding the last of her doubts. “Coffee’s good. I drink coffee.”

  “Do you?”

  “Yeah. Organic beans. Slow roasted.”

  He groaned. “You’re killing me, woman.”

  Being held in his arms felt so good, pressing up against all that warm, solid male flesh. It had been a long time since she’d allowed herself to get physically close to someone besides Jay, and even then, there was no comparison. Hugging Jay was platonic. Affectionate. Friendly. Hugging Nick was nothing like that. Her endorphins spiked and her hormones went into overdrive, and yet she still felt a sense of peace and comfort washing over her — along with a need to get even closer. Mack laid her head against his chest, the throb between her legs matching the powerful thump-thump-thump beating steadily beneath her ear.

  She didn’t want to let go.

  He pressed a light kiss on the top of her head. “Mmmm, I like smelling my soap on you.”

  She liked the fact that he liked smelling his soap on her. She wondered how he would feel if he knew what she’d done in his shower that morning. That needy ache in her core grew even stronger, wanting more.

  “Don’t you have to go to work today?” she asked, tilting her head upward and curling her fingers into his hair.

  He shamelessly used the opportunity to move his lips down over her ear, along her jaw, to her neck. He kissed her gently, running his tongue over her birthmark and making her shiver. “No. I took the day off. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  “You did?” she bre
athed, her eyes all but rolling back in her head. When was the last time a man had taken time off from anything for her? When was the last time a man had kissed her like this?

  “Yes. I’d like to spend the day with you, get to know you better. What about Seize?”

  “Jay’s got it covered.”

  “Hm.” Nick hummed against her skin, sending more shivers up and down her spine. Really, really good shivers. “Got any ideas on what we should do?”

  She pressed her body against his hard length. “A few.”

  Nick pulled away enough to rest his forehead against hers and exhaled. “I want you, Mack. So fucking bad I can taste it. But I’m willing to work for it. I’m willing to wait. Say no and this stops right here, right now. But if we go much farther, it’s going to get harder...”

  Her fingers tangled in his hair, grinding her body against one particularly stiff part of him. “I want it harder,” she breathed. “As hard as you can make it.”

  He groaned again, cupping her behind and pulling against his erection. “Most women want the candlelight dinners and romance. Candy. Flowers. Five-date rules.”

  “I don’t eat candy, and a gourmet breakfast you made yourself is infinitely preferable to some stuffy, overpriced restaurant. Five-date rules are for women who don’t already know what they want.”

  “Goddamn, Mack. I’ve been dreaming of getting my hands on this ass since the first time I saw you. It’s even better than I imagined. I want to see it naked. I want to grab onto your luscious hips with both hands and watch as I sink deep inside and make you come. You sure you’re up for this?”

  Mack caught her breath, shocked and highly aroused by his raw words. No one had ever spoken like that to her. There was only one truthful answer she could give him. “Yes.”

  She was in his arms a heartbeat later, being carried back into the bedroom and dropped onto the bed. “I have to warn you, Mack, it’s been a long time for me, and this is going to be quick.”

  “Quick is good,” she agreed, feeling a sense of urgency herself.

  Before she finished speaking he was looming over her, tugging his shirt over her head. He drew in a sharp breath when her breasts were revealed.

  “Damn,” he murmured in awe. “You are so fucking perfect...” He was on his knees, cupping her breasts in his large hands. Kneading them just right – not gently, just firmly enough to border on pain. His thumbs skated over her nipples, bringing them to instant, hard peaks. “Jesus,” he muttered again, and drew one eagerly into his mouth like a starving man.

  “Last chance to say no here, Mack.”

  Mack grabbed his head and arched into him, crying out as he lavished attention on first one breast, then the other. By the time he was finished, she was panting as if she’d just run a 5K. “Not a chance,” she said breathlessly.

  “Off,” he muttered against her skin as he kissed, her stomach and tugged at the sweats. “I want these off.”

  She lifted her hips without hesitation, and he yanked them down and over her feet. “You have the sexiest little feet,” he said, kissing her arches, sucking each one of her toes. Mack never knew she had a direct nerve travelling from her toes to her center before, but there it was, definite proof right there. She threw her head back and groaned.

  Nick kissed his way up her leg, tonguing her flesh and laving open-mouthed kisses as he went. He paused when he reached her molten core. “Damn, you’re sweet. Like honey.” A moment later he buried his face in her sex. She’d known it was coming, but nothing could have prepared her for the wholly possessive way he used his teeth and tongue and lips to give and take at the same time.

  The man had some serious skills.

  He growled something, a single word muffled against her folds as colored lights dotted her vision and earthquakes rocked her very core. She pulled his hair and cried his name as she fell apart. Before the last of the aftershocks faded away, she was vaguely aware of the telltale crinkling of a condom packet and then he was pushing into her. Still tingling, she felt the most wonderful stretching as he invaded her, filling her to capacity.

  “Oh, Mack,” he grunted with great effort. “You are the hottest fucking thing on earth when you come. I swear I’ll make the next one last longer, I promise.”

  Next one?

  He eased out and then pushed back in, deeper and farther than before. She was wet and slick, thanks to his expert preparation, easing the tight passage, her inner muscles gripping him, not wanting to release him for even a moment. Her powerful legs wrapped around his hips and pulled him in deeper even as her nails dug into his back.

  “That’s it,” he crooned, “take me. Take all of me.”

  He pumped into her like a man possessed. She loved the fact that he didn’t hold back, didn’t try to handle her as if she would break. Mack begged him in breathy moans to go deeper, harder, faster, encouraging him by digging her nails into his firm ass.

  As the tension coiled in her body, she felt him swell inside of her. “Come again for me, baby,” he rasped, his husky voice enough to send her over the edge. With a masculine grunt he pushed deep and stiffened. She felt him throb and pulse, the absence of wet heat assuring her that he’d been responsible. She was glad that at least one of them had been.

  “Jesus, Mack,” he moaned, rolling to the side and taking her with him. Hanging on, curling into his body felt like the most natural thing in the world.

  “I knew it,” he mumbled into her neck as he tucked her even closer.

  “What did you know?” she whispered, her body as limp as a wet noodle, eyes closed with bliss.

  “That you’d rock my world.”

  Certain she was dreaming, a gentle smile curved her lips as she closed her eyes and let herself bask in the afterglow.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  ~ Mack ~

  “I give,” she somehow managed with the last of her strength. Her entire body had been reduced to one quivering mass of gelatinous goo. Her sex throbbed with aftershocks powerful enough to have her twitching for long minutes after he’d made her shatter into thousands of tiny pieces of light... again. Letting herself go so wholly and completely felt wonderful.

  “Music to my ears,” he chuckled, pressing gentle kisses against her heated flesh. How he had the energy to do that was beyond her. She couldn’t even summon the strength to open her eyes, and he’d been doing most of the work. The man had been like a machine, ringing every last possible drop of pleasure from her eager, willing body. After hours of lovemaking, sometimes tender and slow, sometimes hot and fierce, he finally seemed content.

  “Are you always this... ardent?” she mused, wondering at the husky quality of her voice, most likely due to the screaming. And he had made her scream, which was really impressive, because she’d never had sex good enough to compel her to do so before.

  “No,” he admitted. “It’s you. I can’t get enough of you. I’m not sure I ever will.”

  She snorted softly. Even amidst the euphoria of post-coital bliss, she was afraid to believe that the “whole lot more” he’d mentioned earlier extended beyond their marathon sexy times. Doing so would just be opening herself up for all kinds of hurt. After the last twenty-four hours, she was pretty sure Nick Benning could be the one to really break her heart.

  But only if she allowed it.

  Instead, she began to rebuild those walls he’d already started breaking down — first with his gentlemanly charm, then with his very ungentlemanly ravishing. Those walls would have to remain in place for now, at least until she was convinced he wasn’t just blowing smoke up her ass.

  (To be fair, he really seemed to like her ass, and had spent a good portion of the last few hours letting her know that with words and touches that made all that glute work well worth it.)

  “You don’t have to keep saying stuff like that. I’m here, aren’t I?”

  His large hand flexed on her hip. “I meant what I said, Mack.”

  She curved her lips into a small smile. “You said you were all
about the time and the effort. Well, you certainly gave me both.”

  “Mack, look at me.”

  He coaxed her face toward his. Reluctantly, she opened her eyes and found him looking at her with concern. “What just happened?”

  “Uh, we had great sex?”

  His eyes flashed with heat. “After that. Just now.”

  She blinked, her gaze shifting slightly, away from his eyes and onto his forehead. She couldn’t look into his eyes and tell him the truth, that she was falling hard and fast and was scared shitless. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Detective, remember? And sweetheart, you’re lying.”

  Deflection was also a valid option. “Is that your professional opinion?”

  “Mack. Tell me what’s going through that beautiful head of yours.”

  “Enough, Nick.” She rolled away from him and planted her feet on the ground. Her legs felt like jelly. “Look, this was great. Really great, if I’m going to be completely honest. But you can stop with the hearts and flowers package. Clearly, it’s not necessary to get me to sleep with you.”

  He recoiled as if she’d slapped him. “Seriously, Mack? Is that what you think? That I only said those things to get you into my bed?”

  No, she didn’t, and that was part of the problem. Buying into the image of happily ever after with him was too easy. But it — he — seemed too good to be true; therefore, he probably was. Only time would tell.

  She shrugged. “You wouldn’t be the first man to say things to get laid.”

  His expression grew darker, at once both tender and fierce. She wanted to get back into his bed, wrap her arms around him, and tell him the truth: that he had rocked her world too.

  She didn’t.

  When he spoke, his voice was lower. Quieter. “Don’t you feel it, too? This thing, whatever it is, between us? Tell me I’m not the only one here.”

  “You’re not,” she admitted carefully.

  “Then what is it? Why is it so hard to accept that I want you for more than just your body, Mack?”