Rebecca Zanetti - Forgotten Sins

He tugged her into masculine hardness, into incredible heat.

His palm slid up her neck until his fingers tangled in her hair—slowly, deliberately. He tethered her in place, his eyelids dropping to half-mast.

Goosebumps rose on her skin. Caution warred with desire. She jerked her head back—or tried to. His hold tightened, holding her where he wanted her. She couldn’t move. Shock and then flames licked through her.

His lips took hers, firm and determined. Her thighs dampened. He groaned low, bending her back, his hunger igniting hers.

Josie’s mind spun. He wasn’t asking. Gone was the care with which he’d always treated her. Pure, raw passion replaced thought.

Everything inside her melted as desire lit her on fire. While he’d always been passionate, this was new. Intense and dangerous, his hold showed no mercy.

He slammed her against the desk, the hard length of his body sliding against hers. He cupped the back of her head, his mouth moving over hers. A sharp nip triggered her to open her lips in protest, and he dove in, his body pinning her in place.

Hunger ripped through her veins.

His tongue stroked hers. The desk pressed into her back and she stiffened. He lifted her and plopped her atop the desk, her knees on either side of his hard hips, the skirt pooling up. Heat filled her sex. Her core rubbed against his erection.

“See what you do to me,” he rumbled against her mouth, giving her a reprieve to breathe. “From the first second I saw you in that coffee shop, you’ve done this to me.”

She clutched on to his hard forearms to keep herself upright. A protest caught in her throat when his head rose so he could pin her with a look. Danger glinted in those dark gray eyes. Possession. Promise. A hard flush covered his rugged face. “Say yes, Josie.”

“Yes.” The word came out before she could think.

He didn’t wait for a qualifier, not that her mind was working fast enough to invent one. Reaching past her, he swept files and papers to the floor. Broad hands circled her wrists, and he lay her back. He flattened her knuckles on either side of her head, palms up. “Keep your hands here.”

Her fingers curled until nails bit into her palms.

His gaze slid to the buttons of her shirt. He quickly flipped them open, smoothing the shirt apart to reveal her plain cotton bra. Hunger flared in his eyes.

So much she couldn’t speak. She could barely think.

“Ah, Josie.” He flicked open the clasp and the material sprang apart. “Finally, something I remember. You and us. This. The prettiest pink nipples in the world.” His hands dropped onto hers, holding them against solid oak as he lowered his head toward her breasts.

Fire. He engulfed one nipple in the heat of his mouth. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she pressed up against him. She’d forgotten. How had she forgotten how warm he could be? The inferno in that dangerous mouth? So unreal. Enhanced like his strength? She lifted her legs to encircle him, pressing her feet into his ass. Pressing him harder against her. Her hands ached with the need to touch him, and she tried to tug loose.

He kept her in place.

His mouth wandered to the underside of her breast, where he nipped before taking the other nipple in his mouth. A low hum of appreciation echoed against her flesh.

“Shane,” she moaned, moving against him.

“Let me play.” He placed wet, open-mouthed kisses up her chest to her throat. “If I remember correctly… there’s a place right about here…” His tongue flicked at the base of her neck. The hollow near her shoulder. She shivered. “Yeah. I remember right.” Heated lips closed over her flesh and he suckled.

His idea of playing had always destroyed her. In a seriously good way. The Southern drawl he’d let loose flashed craving through every nerve she owned. “Please. Let go of my hands.” The plea came unbidden. She needed to touch.

“This time,” he mumbled against her neck, lifting his hands to quickly shift her and remove all clothing except her panties. His hands went to her breasts while his mouth found her earlobe.

She grabbed the bottom of his shirt and pulled it over his head, her palms spreading across the muscles in his chest. So much strength. She’d missed him. Missed this. She bit her lip. Power infused her. He wasn’t the only one remembering.

She traced a long scar along his abs, loving the way the skin shifted. Trembled. She wandered around to the base of his back to caress a spot just above his tailbone. He growled against her neck. Oh yeah. She remembered that spot. Her hands dove into his jeans. Commando. No boxers or briefs for her man. Some things never changed.

His boots were kicked off, and he yanked open the clasp on his jeans to drop them to the floor. The ties on the sides of her panties snapped in two. He grabbed one buttock and lifted her off the desk, positioning himself at her entrance. “Josie.” With a swift plunge, he impaled her, balls deep.

Her body clenched around him. Her back arched. Jesus. She’d forgotten how big he was.

His mouth dropped to hers, taking, plunging, overwhelming. His hands molded her breasts. He tweaked a nipple. Fire lanced through her to where they joined. She pressed her feet into his butt and started to writhe against him.

“Wait.” He hissed against her lips. “Wait a minute. You’re not ready.”

A craving filled every pore in her body. Her sex was wet, her clit throbbing with a need so great she wanted to cry. “I’m ready. God, I’m ready. Move or I’ll kill you.”

His hand manacled around her hip, lifting her into him. His other slid up her back, clasping her neck. Holding her in place. Taking her.

He pulled out, then pushed back in. Slowly, as if testing the waters. He plunged in hard. His name tumbled from her lips. Fire ripped along the nerves inside her. Tissue swelled. “Faster.”

He moved faster.

Harder.

Plunging in and out, consuming everything in the room, even oxygen. She couldn’t breathe. She didn’t care. Her feet pressed into his ass, her thighs tightened around him. Her nails dug into his shoulders, biting his skin until his mouth took hers again. His tongue thrusting in time with their bodies. So much. Definitely too much.

Her heart swelled. No, no, no, not her heart. She focused on the spiraling feeling deep inside. The physical. The overwhelming heat.

He angled his body up. His cock slid over her clit.

She exploded.

Her mouth opened on a rough scream, and he swooped in, taking the sound into his own body. From her breasts to her toes, she spasmed, riding the waves. While he rode her. Somehow harder and faster, his thrusts full of fury and need. With a hoarse growl against her mouth, he came. Heat filled her.

Memories threatened to suffocate her. The thought slid away as his climax triggered another one in her, and her entire body went rigid. She threw her head back, thighs tightening around him, the thrum of her bloodstream whooshing in her ears.

Pleasure. So deep and hard, it cut.

Her body went limp. A soft sigh escaped her as she relaxed, releasing his hips. Her feet slid from his body. She panted in air, trying to fill her lungs. An ache set up around her mouth.

Taken.

She licked her lips.

Swollen.

Her entire body was swollen.

Throbbing.

But man, she felt good.

Panic followed bliss. Kind of. She didn’t have the energy for full-on panic. So much for her heart. She’d loved him from the moment those unique gray eyes twinkled at her at that coffee shop. Shane had rescued her that day, just like in a romance novel. Just like members of a family did for each other. When she’d given her vows, she’d meant them. In her lonely, solitary life, she’d given her heart once and once only.

She’d never get it back.

Across the state, the ding of the phone awoke Matt from a dream where he finally found safety for his brothers. They only had three months left, and it was time to strike. “What?” he growled into the hand piece.

“Matt. We have a problem,” Nathan said, his voice falling into a Southern drawl that set Matt’s teeth on edge. They’d all worked hard to eliminate the tell, and the sound broke free only when something went wrong.

“You found the woman?” It was about fucking time.

“No. Have you?”

“No, but I’m closer.” He’d become a U.S. marshal for the sole purpose of finding one little witness who couldn’t be found. Matt swung out of bed, reaching for his jeans. The soft Seattle rain pattered against the window. He’d had a tickle at the base of his neck for almost a week now, warning him something was coming. “What’s going on?”

“It’s bad,” Nathan drawled, the sounds of his hands working a keyboard clacking over the line. “My alarms lit up last night with someone conducting an Internet search on you, Shane, me, and, uh, Jory, as well as military academies for kids.”

Who would be so fucking obvious? Matt yanked on his jeans, sliding open the nightstand for his gun. He ignored the pain that slammed into his gut at the mention of Jory’s name.

Nathan cleared his throat. “I think it was Shane.”

Matt paused. “Shane? Not a chance.” Shane was a genius. No way would he piss Matt off like this. “Where is he?”

“He broke cover a month ago apparently.”

“A month ago?” Why? Where the hell was his brother? Shane wouldn’t break cover. No way. “Where has he been?”

“I’m working on finding out. So far I’ve discovered he broke cover without alerting any of us—he wasn’t due to check in until next week. Instead, Shane headed to Snowville for some reason.”

“He’s in Snowville now?”

“According to the BOLO out on him, he’s in Snowville.”

Matt dropped back onto the bed. “BOLO?”

“Well, out on Shane Dean, anyway. For now, that’s him.” Nate cleared his throat. “Hospital records show a Shane Dean was admitted to Mercy Hospital with head injuries on Saturday, resulting in temporary amnesia.”

Dread ricocheted through Matt’s gut. “You’re telling me someone got close enough to injure Shane?” Shane had eyes in the back of his head. “And now, without a memory, he’s trying to find out who the hell he is?” This was beyond bad. “He’ll lead the commander right to him.”

“Without question,” Nathan said. “Shane kidnapped Josie Dean, which explains the BOLO.”

“Josie?” Oh, this was getting worse by the minute. “I’m going to fucking kill him.”

Nathan’s Southern drawl deepened. “I warned you he wasn’t finished with her. No way. No how.”

Matt shoved the anger down past the concern. He needed to think. “You’re flying to Snowville. Text me your flight information, and I’ll meet you at the airport—I’ll drive so we have transportation.” Matt grabbed a shirt to yank over his shoulders. His brothers. A ticking bomb hung over their heads, and time was counting down. “Ah, bring an identity as a lawyer, in case we need one.”

“Matt.” Nathan’s usually humorous voice turned serious. “Can you leave? We’ve had you in place for less than a year.”

“I have time. I’ll make up an emergency.” Which this fucking was. “You have your orders.”

He clicked off the phone. Anger and determination swirled in his gut until his breath caught. Would he get to Shane before the commander did?

He couldn’t lose another brother.

* * *

A wolf bayed in the far distance. Rain and wind clattered against the single-ply glass of the window. Josie snuggled farther beneath the threadbare covers in the cheap motel room. Heat enshrouded her from Shane’s body. For the love of everything holy, what had she been thinking? Sleeping with him again.

Sleeping? Make that fucking. Hard-core, balls to her ass, fucking. The man did it well. His mind may still be playing catch-up, but his body remembered her. Exactly what to do to her.

Good thing she was on the pill to deal with menstrual cramps.

They’d always used protection. Neither had wanted a baby during their brief marriage. Sure, someday she figured they’d have kids. But he’d left. No kids.

The idea of having a baby sent her into a spiral. She’d always planned on creating a large family… lots to love. But deep down, fear lived. What if she died? Leaving her babies alone in life scared the crap out of her. What if they ended up in foster care, too?

She wasn’t ready to make that decision.

The red numbers of the bedside clock illuminated the files sitting on the cheap table. Maybe she should get up and work.