“Hmph,” she said, leaning back enticingly against the counter. “Except for that one thing, I suppose there’s not so much wrong with you, either.”
My shock almost had me staggering backward. “You may as well admit we’re not different,” I teased. “We’re basically the same person.”
This made her laugh, and I joined in, my eyes roaming down the front of the clean t-shirt she put on. The jaunty way she leaned against the counter made it pull against her lush curves, and it was hard to bring my gaze back up when she spoke again.
“I might admit it if you ever read a single thing that’s not some kind of business report.” She waved her arm at the gun and the target full of bullet holes. “After all, look at how much I’ve changed. Shooting at things. And you still owe me stabbing lessons.”
Hearing the words ‘stabbing lesson’ out of her sweet and previously timid mouth had me laughing again. I reached for her and tugged her close. Her hands landed against my chest, and she tipped her head back to keep looking at me.
“You’ll get your stabbing lessons,” I promised, yanking her closer.
She gasped as my burgeoning hard-on met her. Her eyelids fluttered, and she licked her lips. It felt like an eternity since the last time I kissed her, and we had parted so angry at one another, I wondered if I ever would again.
Now her lips melted against mine as she stood on her toes at the same time, I dipped my head to claim her mouth. “More,” she whispered as my hands slid down her back.
I soon realized she meant more shooting, finally pulling away to smile up at me. “Every shot is going to be a kill shot this round,” she said.
I had created a monster. With a groan, I got back to business, coaching her and guiding her arm when a shot went astray. Three more paper targets later, she had managed to aim every bullet at the head or the heart.
“I think you might be a natural,” I said.
Her face glowed, not just with the concentration she’d been using to get every shot right, but with pride. Mine must have looked very much the same. We stared at one another for a second after she set her firearm aside, then she threw her arms around my neck.
“Thank you,” she said, her breath warm against my ear.
“Is that the only reason you’re holding onto me?” I asked gruffly, my hands resting loosely at her sides. “Or are you teasing me again?”
“I don’t tease,” she said, all dignity as her feet dangled off the floor while she clung to me.
“Then you must want more of this now.” Wrapping my arms fully around her, I dragged her flush against my already swelling cock.
Watching her slowly gain confidence and quickly excel at shooting was hot. Very hot. Just like the feel of her, so close. Where she belonged. Any hint of anger that might have lingered from the meeting, or frustration that she’d once again tried to escape, was gone.
It didn’t seem possible that the same woman could both cause all my troubles and then so easily erase them with only a soft sigh against my lips.
At the same time she sliced her fingers through my hair, I reached for her ponytail, tugging her head back so I could kiss my way down her throat. This morning seemed like a year ago, like I had never tasted her at all.
“I don’t know about this,” she murmured as I backed her against the counter.
When I lifted her, she wrapped her legs around me, tilting back so I could keep kissing lower. She shifted her hips back and forth, up and down, the heat of her making me growl against her soft flesh.
“You’re right,” I said, looking around at the range. It was utilitarian, ugly, and harshly lit. There wasn’t a soft surface in sight, and the only chairs were hard plastic, shoved up around a square metal table where my men and I could clean our weapons.
My Lilia was too beautiful and too soft for this place. I’d already taken her virginity on a wrestling mat in the gym. Lifting her up, I carried her outside and into the orange grove, where grass grew between the trees.
She sighed when I lay her down, the last of the sun filtering through the leaves swaying in a gentle breeze. She was bathed in golden light, like an angel who somehow got lost and decided to rest for a while here on earth.
Oh God, her movies were starting to rub off on me. Well, she did say I had a poetic nature despite never cracking a single poetry book. And when she reached for me, the devilish look in her bright blue eyes reminded me this woman was no angel. Not by a long shot.
But she was still mine, all mine.
I knelt beside her, brushing some wayward strands of hair out of her face. She grabbed my shirt and tugged me down on top of her, once again wrapping her legs around me. Shifting her hips beneath me, she ground against my stiff cock, moaning for more.
And this time she wasn’t talking about shooting.
Holding on tight, I rolled onto my back, bringing her with me so she was now lying spread along my body. With a delighted laugh that once again had me joining in, she sat up, planting her hands on my chest and looking at me like I was one of the cook’s specialties.
Throwing her head back, she pressed down hard, sliding sinuously down my body, unbuttoning my shirt, and dropping kisses on each inch of newly bared skin.
