I backed her against the door, the wood taking her weight as the lock clicked beside us. One window. Clear line to the hall. Safe. Not enough.
“Don’t make yourself another blind spot,” I said against her skin.
“Then look at me.”
So I did. Shirt over her head. Bra under my hand. Trousers down her legs. Her eyes stayed on mine the whole time. Juliette Wilder did not surrender. She chose, and that was worse.
The bed frame gave a low protest when I put her on it. I was over her, control already in pieces. She reached for me, fingers closing around my cock, and I had to shut my eyes for half a second. I caught her wrist and pinned it beside her head. Not hard. Final. “Hands there.”
Her eyes flashed. She tested the hold once. I didn’t move. Her arm went slack.
“Good girl.”
Her breath caught. I pressed in with one long stroke and felt her body take me, tight and slick and alive. No slow build. My hips drove into hers, hard enough to shift the bed against the wall. She wrapped her legs around me and pulled me deeper, nails biting into my back.
When my hand moved over her ribs, I caught myself checking. No bruising. No damage.
“If you treat me like a post-incident report,” she gasped, “I’m going to start editing.”
“You would.”
“With comments.”
I changed the angle, deeper, and her voice broke on my name. I slid my hand between us and found her clit, rubbing tight circles in time with every thrust. Her whole body seized.
“Come on,” I said against her ear. “I want to feel you come around me.”
She came hard, nails biting into my shoulders, her body body clamping down until I had nothing left to manage. I buriedmyself deep and came with my forehead pressed to hers, holding her hip like I could keep her there by force of will alone.
For a long moment, neither of us moved. The room held. The door stayed locked.
Afterward, I sat on the edge of the bed, pulling on my shirt. Juliette was wrapped in the thin lodge blanket, watching me. On the desk, the radio barked.
“Mercer, come in.” It was Daniel.
I grabbed the handset. “Mercer. Go.”
“We found where they pushed the crash, Nick. Western access, near the old salt lick. We’ve got fresh tracks. Human. They’re still inside the line.”
The reserve reclaimed the room in a single sentence. My feet were on the floor before the static cleared.
“Copy. I’m on my way. Tell Elias to meet me at the staging area.”
I stood up, reaching for my belt. I looked at Juliette. She was already sitting up, her expression steady. She didn't ask me to stay. She didn't ask if it was dangerous.
“Lock the door,” I said.
She looked at the door, then back at me. Her voice was calm, too steady for a woman sitting in a staff overflow room while men with rifles moved through the scrub.
“I’m inside the line, Nick.”
I closed my eyes for half a second.
Then I went back to work.
Chapter 26
A Crisis, With Amenities
