Page 66 of Keeping a Warrior

In front of the building Matt was already stretching. He jogged impatiently in place while Rhys and Devon warmed up, too, then led them out the main gate toward the Silver Strand. The pace he set was punishing, like he’d promised, and soon he’d far outdistanced them both.

“You wanna try and catch up with him?” she panted. “I don’t mind.”

Rhys shook his head. “Nah. I think he wants to be alone, but also to know we’re here.”

Sure enough, Matt circled back occasionally to check on them before taking off again. At last he slowed, only to veer toward the beach. Devon and Rhys gamely followed, although Devon’s legs were jelly and the soft sand was torture to run in.

It was hard packed near the water and slightly better, but Devon was still sucking wind, her whole body struggling. When Matt finally stopped not far from the huge Imperial Beach pier, she was limp as a dishrag. Rhys was slick with sweat, too.

“Feel better?” she gasped. “I hope so because I’m gonna die now.”

“Let’s walk for a bit.”

They followed Matt from the sand to the sidewalk. At first Devon thought he was wandering aimlessly, but they ended up in a nearby neighborhood where Matt started pacing in front of a small, nondescript house.

She looked over at Rhys, who lifted his palms as if to say, “No clue.”

Matt led them in a circle around the block once, twice, until Devon heard the growl of an engine and saw the glow of headlights. A sleek black car turned into the driveway of the house Matt had been watching, and he suddenly charged up the sidewalk to confront the driver.

“So did you kiss him good-night?” he yelled at Shane, who froze halfway out of his car.

“What the hell, Matt? You crazy bastard.” Shane slammed his door closed and stalked toward the house. “I’m going to bed.”

“Did you?” Matt jogged after him and gave him a shove.

Without warning Shane whirled and took a swing at him, which Matt ducked just in time.

Devon started toward them in alarm, but Rhys grabbed her around the waist to hold her back. “Let them fight it out,” he murmured in her ear. “They’re all right.”

She stood tensely in the circle of Rhys’s arms as Matt rammed his shoulder into Shane’s midriff and took him down. They grappled, rolling over and over in the dusty, weed-choked front yard, their grunts and “oofs” loud in the still night air. Devon was about to beg Rhys to intervene when Shane finally got the upper hand and pinned Matt’s wrists to the ground over his head with a growl of triumph.

“The only one I wanna kiss,” he panted, “is you.”

The resulting kiss was rough, brutal, but Matt moaned under his mouth, one knee lifting to glide along Shane’s ribs as he arched underneath him. When Shane let go of his arms, he wrapped them around his neck, fingers digging into Shane’s upper back. “I love you. I’m sorry,” he chanted every time Shane broke their lip-lock.

Gradually, in increments, the kisses gentled, until each one was long, and slow. Matt had his legs wrapped around Shane’s hips now, his palms sweeping languorously up and down his back.

Finally Shane propped himself up on his elbows to gaze down at him. “You’re a complete asshole,” he said tenderly, “but I’ve always been in this for the long haul. What do I have to do to prove it to you, marry your dumb ass?”

Devon and Rhys caught their breaths, but Matt just laughed as he peppered Shane’s cheeks with kisses. “That’s gotta be the most clownish proposal in the history of proposals,” he murmured. “But no, I don’t need the piece of paper, baby. All I need is you.”

Shane got to his knees, then struggled to his feet, Matt still wrapped around him like a limpet. He carried him to the porch and fumbled with the door, Matt’s hands wandering teasingly, his lips fastened to Shane’s throat.

With a groan, Shane finally got the door open and they disappeared inside, the sound of the slam reverberating through the night air. Then all was quiet.

“Holy shit. That makeup sex is gonna be epic.”

Behind her, Rhys made a strangled noise, his heart thumping wildly against Devon’s back. One of his palms splayed low across her belly, the other wrapped around her ribs just below her breasts.

He was aroused. Whether from holding her, or watching Matt and Shane, or both, his erection was digging into her hip, and a rush of answering desire swept through Devon in a blaze of heat.

Slowly, she turned in his arms. Rhys gazed down at her, green eyes glittering, his pulse beating visibly in the hollow of his throat. Her own heart pounding, Devon ran her hands up his chest and over his shoulders, loving how his breathing roughened even more at the caress.

Standing on tiptoe, Devon lifted her face as she linked her arms around his neck. The first touch of his lips against hers wrenched a moan from deep inside her. His mouth was warm and eager, yet also tentative, clumsy. Devon pulled back slightly and ran her thumb along his cheekbone, then across his full lower lip.

“Relax. Kiss me,” she whispered, stretching up to nip him teasingly. When he gasped, she slipped her thumb inside and rubbed it against the rough silk of his tongue.

This time when he took her mouth, the kiss was deep, and carnal. Devon clutched him, opening to him, their tongues thrusting and parrying, hot and slick.