by Nikki Rose
He finally met my eye. “Just one kiss? Out of curiosity?”
“Yes.” I breathed, my heart racing at the thought of his lips on mine.
His jaw clenched, clearly fighting with himself.
“If I'm going to kiss you it's going to be a real kiss. I won't half-ass it,” he warned, but I took it as a promise. A delicious promise.
My face must have said it all because he didn't waste any more time. A growl erupted from deep in his chest. He grabbed me, backing me up until he pinned me to the wall, holding my wrists with one hand above my head. He pressed his body hard against mine and lingered there, not kissing me, just building the anticipation and making me ache for his kiss. I opened my mouth to speak, wanting to break the silence when his lips crashed into mine. Taking—claiming—his tongue coaxed its way passed my lips and began battling with mine with so much passion and need that my knees nearly gave out.
The kiss went on for several minutes, the heat between us only growing. I’d wanted to know what it was like to kiss him to prove to myself it wasn’t as great as I was imagining it in my head but it was better.
I knew we’d said only one kiss but I needed more. I hooked one leg over his hip and wrapped my arms around his neck.
“Caroline, we can’t.”
“Why not? Just once. I need to feel you inside me just one time.”
“We shouldn’t.”
I kissed him again, grinding myself against his already hard shaft. “Just once.”
“Like you said about the kiss?”
“Just one time. One night. We’re both adults. Can’t we give ourselves just that?”
He hesitated but I could see he wanted to. “Just a one-night stand? Two adults getting what they need from each other and nothing more.”
“Sounds perfect.” I rolled my hips against the bulge in his jeans.
“It’ll have to be quick. There’s a party going on. People will wonder where we went.”
“That’s all I need. Just one hard, fast f—”
Chris’s resolve finally disappeared. He kissed me again, hard. I unzipped his jeans and reached in to pull out his impressive length. He broke the kiss, reached into his wallet and pulled out a condom. He tore it open and rolled it on without missing a beat. His deep brown eyes met mine, searching and seeking for something.
“You’re sure?”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”
That was all he needed to hear, Chris didn’t even bother to undress me, just moved my panties to the side and thrust in hard. I cried out and he silenced my cries with his mouth, swallowing my screams of pleasure as he pounded into me. It was fast, desperate, and exactly what I needed.
The guys I’d dated in the past were all so proper. Most were hesitant to sleep with me because of who my dad was. When they did, there was a lot of fumbling, hesitant touches and timid kisses but not Chris. No, it was clear he knew exactly what he was doing. He took what he wanted and gave it back just as well.
I didn’t need a long work up. The weeks I’d been around Chris, letting the sexual tension build every day, every training session, every time we opened up to one another, it was all the foreplay I needed. From the time he’d pinned me to the wall I’d been on a steady climb, racing for the precipice I’d soon be thrown over. My insides clenched around him, trembling as my pleasure neared its peak. His grip on me tightened and he thrusted again harder than before. My body exploded like a million little fireworks bursting all at once. I muffled my cry in the crook of his neck. His thrusts turned frenzied, like he couldn’t get enough until he came in a loud roar. His body moved in violent rippling waves as we rode out the aftershocks together.
We stood there against the wall, panting and struggling to catch our breaths when we heard the creaky board from someone walking. Chris zipped up and I readjusted my clothing just as one of Chris’s guys came up.
“Hey, Chris. You up here? Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to—”
My heart pounded against my sternum and I was breathless when he pulled away. It stopped as fast as it had begun, leaving us both at a loss for words and desperate for air.
“Mason. Hey, yeah I'll be right down.” Chris played it so cool but I knew he had to be panicking on the inside just like I was.
I nearly slid down the wall as he removed his hold on me. So much for getting it out of our system. I wasn’t sure about him, but I knew for me, it only made me crave him more. I’d still be fantasizing about that night years from now.
“You okay?” Chris brushed a stray hair out of my face but I didn’t want him acting different because he felt obligated to me after what we had shared.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“I—uh. I should see what Mason needed and check in with the other guys. And you don't need to be missing out on anymore of the party.”
“Yeah, sure.” He left me standing against the wall of my bedroom.
“Chris.” I called back to him desperately as he stepped out of my bedroom door.
He stopped in his tracks, turning in the doorway to look back at me. I wanted to run to him, to be in his arms again. I’d never felt so safe and yet so excited in my whole life. I needed to say something to him but I didn’t know what.
“Caroline?”
I said the only thing I could come up with at the time. “You don’t think he’s going to tell my dad, do you?”
Chris smiled a genuine, caring smile that made my heart melt. “I’ll talk to him and make sure he doesn’t say anything. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”
I smiled, leaning against the wall, still not trusting my legs to be able to hold me up. As he walked out of the room, a wave of sadness washed over me. Why had I promised him only one time?
Chris
“Shit.” I murmured to myself as I made my way back to the safety of the party. I can’t believe how I’d let myself lose control. I broke my own rule. Never get involved with a client or an asset. It was my job to protect her, not to sleep with her. I wanted to protect her but, I also needed to protect her from me. Because after having one taste of her, I only wanted more. So much more.
It was everything I could do to pry myself off of her. If Mason hadn’t walked in, there would have been no way I could have found the strength to stop. We’d said only one time, but we didn’t say that one time couldn’t last forever. All I really wanted to do was to go back upstairs to find Caroline, rip off every piece of clothing between us and ravage her body again. I needed more but more would never be enough. I don’t think I could ever get tired of having my hands, lips, or tongue on her. I could only imagine the bliss I’d feel if I could really have her. I wanted to claim not only her body but her soul. But, I couldn’t. No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t. Her dad was my boss. The chances of him ever being okay with me and Caroline being together was so far from reality it was almost comical.
How the hell had I gotten myself into this mess?
I felt like I’d just run a marathon. My heart raced and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t regulate my breathing. Everything in me fought against the urge to go back upstairs and finish what I’d started.
I found Mason in the kitchen heading for the French doors that opened onto the back patio.
“Mason. Hey, man. Hold up a sec.”
Mason stopped and turned around before opening the door. He was younger than I was, newer to the unit too but we’d worked a couple jobs together and he seemed like a good guy from what I’d seen. That still didn’t tell me whether or not he’d keep what he saw to himself.
“Hey, man. I’m sorry about interrupting whatever that was earlier. I was looking for a bathroom since all the ones downstairs were taken.”
“It’s no big deal.”
“So, nothing’s going on there?”
“That was the first—and only time for that. The boss man would have my head for that.”
“I don’t see why. I mean, you obviously care about her so it's not like
just some random hookup kind of thing.”
“I somehow doubt he’d see it that way. He’s pretty protective of Caroline.”
“Well, don’t worry. It’s none of my business one way or another...you weren’t worried I was going to say something were you?”
“Nah.”
Mason raised his brow suspiciously.
“Okay, maybe slightly. I just wanted to make sure you understood. We aren’t sneaking around behind her dad’s back or anything like that. It was a one-time thing so there’s no need for him to know.”
“No worries man. Now, let’s get some grub. I’m starving.”
We walked back out into the backyard and found the end of the food line. Just a few minutes later, I spotted Caroline coming out of the house. She made a beeline for her friend Amanda, no doubt confiding in her what had transpired upstairs. I’d hoped it would relieve the mystery and get it out of my system but she was like a drug. One taste and all I could think of was how I could get my next fix that would never come—it couldn’t.
It was a job. It was a mission. Emotions and base desires couldn’t play a role in it. If I was going to be able to do this job right, I couldn’t go blurring the line between the two.
CHAPTER 11
Chris
One week. It had been one week since the Memorial Day party where Caroline and I had slept together and it had been the only thing on my mind since. I really thought the appeal was just in the mystery of not knowing—of the forbidden fruit. But, after that day, I only craved more. More was what I couldn’t allow myself to have. No matter how bad I wanted it. No matter how bad she wanted it, and she did want it. She made it clear in every little skimpy outfit she flaunted around me but I also made it clear that it wasn’t happening.
I pumped the weights furiously. The one good thing about all the built-up frustration was it made one hell of a work out motivation. I’d already clocked five miles on the treadmill before hitting the weights and it wasn’t even six-thirty in the morning yet.
I’d woke up before my five o’clock alarm after having a dream about Caroline that would make her beautiful creamy skin turn bright red with blush. There was no way I was going to get through the day without burning off some of that built up frustration. I needed to be focused on keeping her safe—even from me.
The timer on my phone chimed to let me know it was time to wrap up my workout. Caroline would be waking up before long and I wanted to grab a shower before breakfast. We’d worked out a pretty good routine even with the unspoken tension between us now. Luckily the Director hadn’t been around much to notice.
I finished my cooldown and headed upstairs to shower when the bathroom door swung open and Caroline emerged dripping wet in nothing but a plush, white towel.
Shit.
Her silky skin glistened with tiny droplets of water that covered her. A stray strand of her dark hair fell against her cheek, partially covering one eye and I froze, watching as a water drop rolled down between her cleavage before disappearing beneath the towel I wanted to rip from her body.
“It’s all yours.”
I cleared my throat and managed to look up into her face. “What?”
“The bathroom. It’s all yours.”
The victorious smirk told me she’d done that on purpose. The little vixen was playing with fire and I didn’t know how long I could contain it before it broke free.
“Thanks.” I fought to not show weakness but my gym shorts did little to hide the clear sign that she had my attention. I brushed past her and into the steamy bathroom.
Just like every other weekday, I stood in the back of Caroline’s class, watching as she listened to the professor’s lecture and took notes. I’d studied every micro-expression and could tell when she was bored, intrigued, confused. She was a smart woman, always asking good questions and making a contribution to the class.
This woman was nothing like who I thought she was when we first met. She was strong and struggling to be independent with an overprotective, overbearing father with only the best intentions.
I was fascinated with everything about her. The way she pursed her lips and pulled them to the side when she was trying to make a decision. The way she held the end of her pen against those same sexy lips when she was extra focused or tapped it against her notebook when she was bored.
Before that night, we’d been making good progress toward getting along but now there was a new distance between us that grew every day. I missed her, even though she was in the same room, I missed how we’d been and it was time to take steps toward getting that back.
After class, Caroline walked to the car without even looking back at me. Her moods the past week had ranged from sexy teasing to pissed off at me for ignoring those advances.
“Caroline, hold up.”
“What?” She whirled around and glared at me. “I’m ready to get home.”
“Let’s go for a walk in the park. Like we used to.”
“No thanks. I need to get home. I’m going out tonight.”
“Like hell you are. I didn’t approve that and I know for damn sure your dad didn’t either.”
“I don’t care. I need to get out of the house for a while. I’m going dancing.”
“You aren’t going anywhere unless I say so.”
“You may be my bodyguard, but you are not the boss of me. My dad is your boss so in a sense, you work for me.”
“In your dreams, princess.” I glanced around the parking lot where people were starting to stare. “We’re going for a walk. We need to talk and here is not the place.”
Caroline looked around, noticing the strangers staring at us, listening to our private conversation. The expression on her face slowly shifted. She was giving in.
“Fine.”
I waited to start talking until we’d been walking around the park for a good ten minutes. I wanted to give us both some time to cool off before starting what I hoped would be a conversation to reset us.
“Listen, about what happened at the party—”
“You don’t have to explain. We said one kiss to get it out of our system. I get it. You’re not interested in me.” It was like I could actually see those walls of hers going back up and I wasn’t going to let that happen after having a glimpse of the real Caroline.
I froze in place, gently grabbing hold of her bicep to keep her from walking on, and turned her to face me.
“Listen to me. That’s not it at all.”
“It’s not?” People were having to walk around us on the walkway. The last thing I wanted was to draw more attention to us, so I pulled her off the path to stand under a large oak.
“Of course not.” I hadn’t wanted to tell her how I felt about her. I was afraid it would only complicate things further but I couldn’t stand the idea of Caroline not knowing how I felt. At least part of it. I let out a loud sigh. I needed her to understand. “That kiss was...amazing. But, it’s not that simple. As great as that kiss was and as much as I’d love to do it again, we can’t. We can’t be together, Caroline. Your dad is my boss as you pointed out earlier and you are his little girl.”
“I’m not a little girl.”
I sat on the large exposed roots of the tree and guided her to sit beside me. “To him you are. To him, you always will be. That’s just how it is with fathers and their daughters. My job is to protect you and I can’t do that if I’m distracted by those damn sexy lips all the time, so I have to put that out of my mind and focus on what’s important.”
“You think my lips are sexy?” Of course, that would be the part she focused in on.
“Of course, I do. I think every part of you is sexy. I haven’t been able to get you off my mind since that kiss. It’s all I can think about.”
“So why does my father have to find out? We can keep it a secret.”
“For how long? Until I’m done with this assignment? Then what? We just move on with our lives like nothing ever happened?”
“I don’t know. All I kno
w is I want to be close to you again. I miss you.”
“I’ve missed you too.” I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and pulled her close. I knew it was probably a mistake but I couldn’t help myself. Caroline rested her head on my shoulder and we just sat there in comfortable silence. Neither of us had an answer for where this was going. We just needed that moment.
We’d sat under the old oak tree for over an hour and I knew I needed to get her home but I didn’t want to let her go. Once we went back to the house, we had to go back to the way things were. I didn’t want to let her out of my arms.
Our silence was interrupted by the shrill ring of my cell.
“Chris.”
“Chris, it’s Applegate. Listen, I’m going to be at the office all night handling this damn mission in Nampo.”
“Everything alright, sir?” Hearing the Director’s voice was like throwing a wet blanket on me and I slipped my arm from around Caroline. It just felt disrespectful to be so blatantly going against what I knew the Director would approve of while talking to him on the phone.
“Yeah, we just hit a snag. I want to make sure we get everyone out of there in one piece. You’ll let Caroline know for me?”
“Of course, sir. I’ll let her know.”
“You’re a good man, Chris. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow, sir.”
I hung up the phone and Caroline was looking up at me curiously.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah. Your dad has to work through the night dealing with a complicated mission.”
“So, nothing unusual.” Caroline gave a slight smile and leaned her head against me but I moved to get up.
“We should be getting you home.”
“Can’t we just stay here all day?”
“I wish we could, but we need to get back. Ms. James will be wondering where we are.”
Caroline sighed and gave me that cute little pout as I stood and offered her a hand up. As we began down the walkway, she suddenly stopped and I turned to look at her. Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears and I hurried to her side.
