Page 60 of Armed ’N’ Ready

“Andi?” He heard the caged panic in his voice. “Andi.”

He flung back the sheet and leaped from the bed. His heart pounded as he shoved his legs into his jeans and grabbed his gun and his phone, clipping the phone to his belt. If anything had happened to her because he’d let himself fall asleep…

“Fuck,” he growled, then quietly padded down the stairs, gun extended. “Andi?” he called softly. No answer.

Leading with the gun, he did a quick search of the living room and the small office. Through a window, he glimpsed the patrol car outside on the street and two shadows in the front seats. Next, he cleared the kitchen. That’s when he saw her through the window, standing on the porch and peering through the telescope. Saxon and Stray snuggled together in a corner by the back steps. Stray’s eyes were closed while Saxon maintained a watchful eye on Andi. The only thing out of place was the air mattress he’d used for Saxon’s training, which he’d propped against the side of the house. It now lay on the porch in front of the door.

He exhaled a shaky breath, then waited a moment for his heart to slow before setting his gun and cell phone on the counter and opening the screen door. It creaked, and when she turned to him, his heart began thudding again, but not from panic or fear. Something else was wreaking total havoc with that muscle in his chest. He wasn’t prepared to acknowledge what it was, but his brain began flashing with images of his future. One filled with love and companionship. The other with darkness and solitude. Which way it would go was anybody’s guess.

Crickets chirped in the distance, and the air was still warm.

“Good morning,” she said, smiling.

He couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. Standing there in her bare feet, wearing his black T-shirt, she was the most beautiful, desirable woman he’d ever seen. And she’d scared the piss out of him.

“What are you doing out here?” His words came out unintentionally harsh.

“I didn’t want to wake you.” She turned back to the telescope and adjusted its position. “I’m looking for the Perseids.”

“The what?”

“Meteor showers,” she answered without turning around. “The Perseids are the most prolific meteor showers to hit the earth. The best time to view them is in mid-August, between midnight and dawn.”

“Do tell.” He sidestepped the air mattress and wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing his chest to her back and his lips to her ear. It took another few seconds for his racing heart to slow. “I didn’t think you needed a telescope to see meteors.”

“You don’t. They’re visible to the naked eye, but if you’re lucky enough to catch one through the scope, it’s even more exciting.” She angled the long metal tube in a different direction. “During peak activity, sixty or more come down every hour.”

He nipped at her earlobe, grazing it with his teeth. “Aren’t you afraid of getting hit in the head?”

“Um, no.” She lifted her head from the ocular, tilting it to give him better access to the soft curve of her neck. “Most burn up in the atmosphere…” He ran his tongue along the creases of her ear, loving how she shivered in response. “Long before they get close,” she continued in a breathy voice as he trailed his tongue farther down her neck.

He slipped his hands beneath the T-shirt, hiking it higher and stroking the flat planes of her belly, confirming what he suspected. Other than the shirt, she was totally naked.

Stroking higher, he cupped her breasts, rubbing his thumbs across her nipples until they hardened to tight little peaks. “It turns me on when you go all astronomical.” The erection straining at his zipper was proof of that, along with the blood racing at light speed through his veins.

“It does?” She released the telescope and leaned back against him.

He continued his ministrations, getting crazy turned on as she wriggled her buttocks against his erection.

“Yeah, it does,” he whispered against her ear, then stroked down her belly, moving his hands to cup the perfect, rounded globes of her ass and squeezing them lightly. “Keep talking.”

“I…can’t think straight,” she murmured, beginning to shiver, “when you…do that.”

“That’s the idea.” He pressed his lips to her ear again, loving that she found his touch so distracting. “Is Andromeda really the name on your birth certificate?”

“Yeesss,” she said on a breathy sigh. “I was thinking about having it tattooed on my ass.”

“Don’t. Your ass is perfect the way it is.” He gave her buttocks another gentle squeeze. “Raise your arms.” When she did as he ordered, he yanked the shirt over her head, then tossed it aside and began stroking her breasts. “Tell me more.”

“Well, uh…” She gave a deep sigh of pleasure that drove him crazy with the need to get inside her again. “Did you know that Andromeda is one of the largest constellations?”

“A beautiful name for a beautiful woman.” He gently pinched her nipples, and she groaned.

“You think I’m beautiful?” She covered his hands with hers, urging him on.

“I thought you were beautiful the first time I saw you. In the shower. Washing your dog and wearing about five square inches of bathing suit.” He chuckled. That vision was permanently seared into his memory. “Now, I think you’re the most stunning woman I’ve ever seen.”

Before she could respond, he clasped her hands, drawing them upward to link her arms around the back of his neck while he continued stroking her quivering body, pushing his erection against her backside. “Keep talking, sweetheart.” His fingers delved lower, seeking out the warm, moist folds between her thighs.