Up in Flames by Alice Brown Read Free Book Online Page B

erection to press up tight against her moist center.
    He controlled their kiss with dominance, knowing he had to stake his claim now. Otherwise, she would run roughshod over him on a constant basis. He nipped her bottom lip, anticipating her gasp at the sudden short-lived pain. He dove in and claimed her entire mouth, leaving no crevice untouched. He explored every part he could reach with his tongue.
    When he finally released her mouth, he brought one hand up to hold her head steady, lightly grasping her chin between his thumb and index finger. “Now, you are going to calm down and talk to me, and tell me why you are so pissed, mate.
    Her eyes flashed fire even as her body was still tightly pressed against his. “I don’t like being manhandled and I certainly don’t appreciate being told I need to obey you! I am not a child. I do not go off doing stupid things. And I don’t need a father, what I need is a mate!”
    Lucas stayed calm through her rant. He had prided himself on total self-control for a long time now. In a deceptively calm voice, he replied. “Baby, I am in no way manhandling you. But as your mate, it is my job to protect you. And, darling,” he paused and raked his eyes down her body. “It is blatantly obvious that you are not a child. What I see before me is all woman. My woman,” he growled out the last few words as he snatched her up. He reached around and squeezed her ass cheeks. “My woman,” he repeated.
    She cocked an eyebrow up at him, giving fair warning he was still skating on thin ice with her. He sighed deeply, loosening his hold just marginally. “Babe, look, I am worried about this situation with McDaniels. I have been a Ranger for several years now. If we get caught in a situation, I don’t want to worry about whether you will listen to me or not. I am going to protect you, babe. You might not agree with all of my decisions. That’s fine, I don’t expect you to. But, I do expect in a crisis, if I tell you to do something, just do it, okay? We can disagree, argue, and have all the makeup sex you want, but later,” he ended with a grin, hoping to salvage the situation.
    Meredith looked at him for a long moment. Now that he had softened his tone and had taken the time to explain things a bit, it didn’t sound too unreasonable. Maybe she had overreacted. She had been following Walter’s orders for almost a year now. The difference was Walter always made it sound like he was giving her a choice, even though she knew he didn’t.
    “You know, you could have phrased things a bit nicer the first time around.”
    “Yeah, well, I plan on keeping you around so you can keep me in line.” He chuckled, and then quickly added, “You know, I am trained to apprehend the bad guys, not sweet-talk them.”
    She frowned at him, but didn’t get any further than that. Holding onto her ass cheeks, he pulled their bodies tightly together. He nibbled on her chin, then trailed his tongue straight down her throat. “God, you taste good, baby.” He kissed the bottom of her throat, then laved the spot with his tongue. “At the risk of scaring the hell out of you,” he stopped and pressed his very hard, very large erection into her center, “if the beast doesn’t get released pretty soon, I think I’ll be pulling a Hulk trick and busting out of my britches.”
    She grinned as she reached between them, rubbing her hand down over his erection. He felt rock hard and hot; she could feel the heat through his jeans.
    “Now, you keep doing that and I am not going to last but a couple of minutes.” He moved away from her, effectively taking himself out of reach as he pulled his shirt over his head. Then, climbing off the bed completely, he gave her the best strip down show she had ever witnessed.
    He toed off his boots, then standing in front of her, unbuttoned the top button on his jeans. The head of his dick peeked through the top of his jeans, making Meredith swallow loudly. Then he slowly lowered the