“I’m heading back to the hospital to check on Long,” Hawk said. “He should be out of surgery by now.”
“That Holiday Inn’s just a few blocks away.” Reese slid his key card out of his wallet and handed it to Hawk, who tucked it into his pocket.
“I’ll see you back in the room,” Hawk said.
Maddox headed in one direction and Reese and Kenzie went the other, making their way out of the casino to the parking lot, then heading back to the hotel. Kenzie also had a key card, so they went directly up to their third-floor suite.
Pistol in hand, Reese checked the interior, but the room was empty and nothing seemed out of place.
“Let’s get some sleep,” he said. “If something breaks tomorrow, we need to be ready.”
Kenzie said nothing, just wandered into the bedroom and started stripping off her clothes. There was just enough light coming through the crack in the curtains to illuminate her body in a pretty pink neon glow. She pulled on an oversize cotton T-shirt that shouldn’t have been sexy but was and climbed into bed.
Reese sighed into the darkness. No way was he getting any sleep tonight, not when he was already aroused. And with Hawk coming in later, he couldn’t sleep on the sofa. He always slept naked, but tonight he left on his boxer briefs, walked over, and slid beneath the covers, staying as far from Kenzie as possible.
“Get some sleep, baby.” Turning on his side, he faced away from her and willed himself to fall sleep, not that he actually thought he would.
“Aren’t...aren’t you going to kiss me good night?”
Reese closed his eyes and clenched his jaw, fighting for control. Rolling onto his back, he stared up at the ceiling. “I’m afraid to, honey. I’m already hard just watching you undress. I’ve wanted you for days. Even with everything that’s happened, that hasn’t changed.”
“I’m sorry I put you through all of this.” Her voice sounded shaky, vulnerable as she rarely let show.
Reese turned toward her. “It’s just life, baby. Sometimes it gets in the way.” He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Go to sleep.”
An hour passed. Reese was still wide-awake, and though she hadn’t made a sound, he knew Kenzie was awake, too.
“You can’t sleep, either?” he asked, breaking into the silence.
She sighed. “I wish I could. I feel like my body is plugged into an electric socket. My mind keeps spinning, replaying the scene in Griff’s room, seeing it in different ways. Was there something I could have done? Some way I could have saved him?” Her voice broke. “I don’t know.”
Reese came up over her. “You fought like a wild thing, honey. You did your best against two hardened men. There was nothing more you could have done.”
Her eyes glistened. Tears leaked from the corners and rolled down her cheeks. “I need you to kiss me, Reese. I need you to touch me, make love to me. Please, Reese. Make me forget what might be happening to my son.”
His chest clamped down. He knew it was selfish, knew he should find another way to help her sleep, but he wanted her, and tonight she needed him.
He leaned over and kissed her, softly at first, then deeper, drawing it out, nibbling and tasting until he felt her body soften and she started kissing him back with the same urgency he was feeling.
He nipped an earlobe, pressed his mouth against the side of her neck. “I’ll make you forget, baby. At least for tonight.” He kissed her temple, kissed the pulse throbbing at the base of her throat, moved lower, felt her body heating, responding as she gave herself over to him.
He shoved the covers aside and moved down to her beautiful breasts, suckling and tasting, trailing kisses over her soft skin, ringing her navel. He was hard and aching, his pulse pounding as need burned through him. But tonight was for Kenzie. As much as he wanted her, tonight her needs were more important than his.
He parted her legs and settled himself between them, kissed her abdomen and felt the brush of her fingers in his newly shorn hair. His arousal strengthened. He kissed the inside of her thighs and felt her tremble.
She cried out as he began to pleasure her, driving her up, keeping her on the edge until she was clutching the sheets. Her body quivered and tightened. He knew what to do, how to please her, knew she was near the brink. She cried his name as a powerful climax struck, and slowly she began to spiral down.
Relaxed at last, her eyes drifted closed and Reese kissed her softly. When he started to roll away, she clutched his shoulders.
“No...please, Reese. Not yet. I want to feel you inside me. I need more... I want you to finish this.”
He wanted to. Jesus God, he wanted to bury himself so deep he wouldn’t know where one of them stopped and the other started.
“Are you sure?”
When she leaned up and kissed him, he felt the wetness of tears on her cheeks. “Please.”
There was no turning back now and Reese didn’t want to. His mouth found hers and he savored the sweetness, a taste that belonged to Kenzie alone. He retrieved a condom and began to kiss her again, turned his attention to her pretty breasts, making them pucker and tighten.
He was a skillful lover and he used that skill to drive her toward the edge once more, then he buried himself deep and started moving, setting up a rhythm her body urgently matched. Kenzie arched beneath him, her fingers digging into his shoulders, a cry escaping as she reached release once more.
Reese’s iron control shattered. His mind shut down and pure male instinct took over. Thrusting hard and deep, taking what he so desperately needed, his body went rigid as he followed her to a wild, earth-shattering climax.
Long seconds passed. Easing off her, he settled down on the bed beside her and drew her into his arms, unexpected emotion moving through him. He felt as if she belonged to him, as if he had claimed her in some primal way. He had never felt that way about a woman before.
Shaking off the feeling, he rose to deal with the condom and returned to find Kenzie fighting to hold back tears.
Sliding into the bed beside her, Reese smoothed damp hair back from her forehead. “Don’t cry, honey. We’re going to find him. We’re going to bring him home.”
Kenzie looked up at him. “Thank you for being here. No matter what happens between us, I’ll never forget what you’ve done.”
Reese fell silent. No matter what happens. The words burned a hole in his chest. They hadn’t had time to think of the future. Until this was over, there was nothing he could say or do. All that mattered was finding a way to bring Griff safely back to his mother.
Reese vowed he would do whatever it took to see it done.
* * *
When Kenzie walked into the living room the next morning, she found two men standing at the counter in the open galley kitchen. Hawk was only a little taller than Reese, but he was brawny, with powerful arms, a thick neck and shoulders. Reese’s lean muscles were more sculpted, his biceps sinewy instead of bulky, but he was just as solidly built. Both of them were sex personified.