Sour Cherry

by Nichole Severn

  I waited across the street a few minutes, searching the front door and side alleys for any sign of loiterers. I was sure my club had already searched the apartment, but they might still be hanging around, waiting for me to run home scared.

  As far as I could tell, the coast was clear.

  I dismounted Cooper’s bike, holding myself back from kicking the damn thing to the curb. Didn’t matter if he was CIA—he’d put a lot of cash and love into his ride. He might just be a biker at heart. I half-jogged across the street, my gaze darting back over my shoulder. My paranoia had reached an alarming level. Then again, apparently I had two clubs and the CIA after me.

  It took me less than two minutes to reach my apartment door. From the looks of it, the door hadn’t been kicked in. No forced entry. Which meant somebody had a key. If they’d searched my place, that is.

  I didn’t bother with my key, turning the doorknob and, finding it unlocked, pushed the door inward. Staying in the hallway, I surveyed first my kitchen then the living room beyond. Everything seemed to be exactly where’d I’d left it, but I wasn’t stupid enough to go in blind.

  I climbed back down the stairs, pleased to see Cooper’s bike hadn’t moved. That had to be a good sign. Taking a walk around the exterior of the apartment building, I made sure nobody could get up the fire escape. For some reason, it didn’t satisfy my paranoia. There were too many places an enemy could hide or keep an eye on me through my third-story window. Adjacent buildings, for example. I picked up a couple of rocks on my way back inside.

  My feet shuffled across the hardwood floor of my hallway a second time. Exhaustion pulled me down. A shower, a change of clothes and some sleep were in order before I began my little investigation. Only the possibility of someone waiting for me stood in the way. I pushed the door open once slowly again and fondled a rock in one hand.

  I threw it as hard as I could in the direction of the living room wall, but hit one of the windows instead. Glass dropped onto the carpet.

  No reaction.

  I did the same with the second rock, only this time, I threw it in the kitchen sink.

  Silence.

  Nobody waited to drag me back to headquarters or cut my throat. I exhaled in relief and slammed the door behind me. Nothing in the world sounded better than a shower.

  Chapter Eight

  I woke to utter darkness.

  The clock on my bedroom nightstand read two in the morning, but I felt as if I’d slept for two days straight. My body ached, my injuries pulsing in rhythm to my heart rate. I struggled to turn over, but something around my wrist prevented me from moving very far. I pulled against it, the sound of metal-on-metal echoing throughout the room.

  “What the—?”

  The light on my nightstand flipped on.

  Cooper stared back at me with a smile on his face, so comfortable lounging on the other side of my queen bed. “I think you need to see that doctor about your snoring or at least about the broken nose.”

  “What?” What was going on? I pulled on the handcuff around my wrist again. “Is this a dream? Because so far, I’m not okay with it.”

  His laugh rolled over me like the sexiest kind of silk, brushing the furthest reaches of my mind and the naughtiest places. I liked that laugh. I needed it.

  “Not a dream.” Cooper jumped up from the bed, the space he’d occupied growing cold with his retreat. He faced me as I laid my head back down and closed my eyes.

  I didn’t want to think about how much I missed him beside me or the fact I wanted him to stay there forever. After everything I’d been through in the past two days, I couldn’t handle another disappointment. Cooper had gotten under my skin the second we hooked up at the bar. Then I remembered that’s exactly what he’d wanted. I groaned in frustration. “If you’re leaving, shut the light off.”

  “I’m not leaving.”

  “Then shut up so I can sleep.” The weight of his gaze settled on me like a bundle of bricks on my chest. I couldn’t see him with my eyes closed, but I felt him all the same. I didn’t even care about the reason he’d cuffed me to my own bed. All I wanted was to sleep off the past two days like they’d never happened.

  “My superior has instructed me to turn you in to the Outriggers.” His words penetrated the thin veil of sleep I’d succumbed to.

  Exasperation tinted my words as I opened my eyes. “Listen, I don’t give a shit who you talked to or what you do. Please just let me sleep for a little while longer.” A sob built in my throat as the gravity of the situation slammed into the forefront of my conscience. “I’ve had a hell of a week and for just a little while, I’d like to feel safe, even if it’s only in my dreams. So either shut up and leave, or shut up and get back in the bed.”

  I didn’t wait for his response, and instead readjusted to a more comfortable position. The handcuff made it difficult, but just as I settled in, the other side of the bed dipped with Cooper’s weight.

  “I’m sorry this happened to you,” he whispered and snaked an arm around my middle.

  The apology warmed me from the inside out, but small embers of our fight waited in the back of my mind. He’d picked me out of that bar for a reason, but in turn, I’d stolen his bike and left him in the middle of the desert. I wanted to believe that made us even. He sounded sincere and I didn’t even have the strength to tell him “shut up” meant no talking. I let myself sink deeper into his hold and closed my eyes again. Heat penetrated the clothing separating our skin and added to the growing feeling of safety. If anything were to happen during the night, I felt confident Cooper would do what he could to protect me.

  “So are you going to do it?” I asked, my voice straining with emotion. How could I trust another person again? The brothers I’d sworn to protect wanted me dead and the one man I’d truly been myself around turned out to be a CIA agent, Public Enemy #1. Nothing in the world made sense anymore.

  His breath teased the back of my neck as he spoke, sending tiny shivers down my spine. “No.”

  Surprise made the butterflies in my stomach start attacking the lining in a crazed frenzy. I didn’t know what to say, didn’t even know what to think, but maybe words didn’t have to explain how grateful I was. Slowly turning onto my opposite side, I slid the handcuff across the main railing on my bed and faced Cooper.

  The nightstand light cast shadows across his jawline, making it more pronounced. I traced the curve of his face with my fingertips, his five o’clock shadow bristly under my touch. I kept my gaze steady with his as I used the pad of my thumb to do the same with his lower lip. The skin beneath was soft, kissable, and suddenly, I couldn’t hold myself back. I pressed my lips against his, tilting my head to the side slightly to avoid damaging my nose even further. My free hand wrapped around his neck in order to bring him closer and Cooper responded. Slowly, at first, but then more aggressively.

  He rolled me onto my back and settled his weight on me, keeping our lips in constant connection. His knees spread my legs and I longed to touch him fully. Breaking our kiss, I glanced up at my bound wrist and tugged on the handcuff for effect.

  “Do you mind?” I asked, a smile pulling at one corner of my mouth. “This isn’t exactly my kind of fun.”

  Cooper’s brown eyes glowed with delight. He placed a not-too-chaste kiss on my lips and pulled away. “But it is my kind of fun.”

  My insides tingled with the possibilities of that statement. “Really?”

  “You don’t believe me?” He nuzzled into my neck, kissing along the tendon connecting my neck and shoulder. A strong bite on the same tendon nearly sent me over the edge. I arched into him with pleasure and clutched his ass with my free hand for something to grip. Cooper held all the power, pulling a moan from my throat. “I have another set of cuffs in my bag. Want me to get ʼem?” His lips brushed my earlobe and I sucked in a sharp breath.

  “Don’t you dare leave me cuffed to this bed by myself,” I bit out.

  Cooper pulled away, straddling me atop my thighs. His weight d
idn’t bother me so much as his retreat did. Almost as if he was afraid to move too quickly, he slipped both hands beneath my thin tank top, pooling the material just under my breasts. His breathing deepened. “God, you’re beautiful.”

  In the dim light, I noted the awestruck expression on his features.

  With aggravating slowness, Cooper’s fingertips traced the tattooed designs along my sides and under my naval. They had no special meaning, just something pretty to look at, but his touch made them come to life. He invigorated every nerve in my body and for the second time in the last week, I felt alive as I touched him. “I forgot how soft your skin is,” he said.

  I strained against the handcuff, aching to feel him with just as much enthusiasm. My free hand rested on his thigh as he straddled me, but my grip increased in pressure as he lifted my tank top completely over my breasts, freeing them.

  Cooper lowered his mouth to one mound and sent warmth straight between my legs. Kneading the other with his free hand, he flicked a tongue over my sensitive nipple then blew it into a point. “And how good you taste.”

  Frustration bubbled to my lips and I groaned. While I enjoyed the sensuous foreplay, my nether regions wanted more. I wanted him to rock my world again, to make everything better if only for a night.

  “Just a little longer,” he soothed. Cooper planted kisses around my navel, working his way lower.

  “Don’t stop.” I closed my eyes, focusing on the feel of him rather than the visual. He pulled off my shorts in one lithe move. My free hand raked through his hair, clutching a patch as he parted my thighs. Cool air caressed my bared skin and Cooper added to it with his own breathing. The warm and cold mixture caused my body to tense automatically, but his fingertips rubbed the soft flesh located between my folds, and I relaxed further into the bed.

  I dug my nails into his shoulder as his mouth suddenly replaced his fingers. Kissing, stroking, and using his tongue to enter me, Cooper started a fire in my belly that consumed me little by little. With just the smallest amount of pressure on my clit, the ache built then sent me straight over the edge.

  I didn’t have the chance to scream my release as Cooper’s lips crashed into mine. His arousal pressed into me through his jeans and all I cared about at that moment was getting his pants off. I unfastened his jeans button with one hand, but needed his help to discard the denim since my other hand remained cuffed. He pulled away and knelt above me, his knees on either side of me. Slowly unbuttoning his shirt, Cooper smiled down at me.

  Using one of my many talents, I wedged my right foot under the edge of his shin and wrapped my other leg around his torso. With my one good hand, I forced Cooper onto his back and I straddled him just as he’d straddled me. My dad had taught me the move during our one disastrous self-defense lesson when I was a kid, but I’d remembered it well over the years, and never been more thankful for paying attention than right now. My wrist screamed in protest, the metal biting into my flesh, but I’d have my revenge. “Here’s where we get to have some fun.”

  “You mean that wasn’t fun for you?” he asked.

  I shot him a sarcastic smile then realized I’d have to undress him with one hand. He’d unbuttoned his shirt completely, the planes of his chest shadowed by the nightstand light. “You’re going to wish you’d let me go to sleep.”

  I leaned over him and pressed my breasts against his chest. My mouth hovered over his for more than two breaths and his chin tilted upward to receive my kiss. I wouldn’t give it to him, though. Not yet. I pulled away and nearly melted from the disappointment in his eyes. “I warned you.”

  I made my way down his chest, planting kisses through the dusting of hair on his pecs and followed the trail to his navel. And further. Once I reached the waistband of his cotton briefs, I licked a horizontal line across the skin just above them while keeping my gaze locked with his.

  Brown eyes followed my every move as I slipped my fingers underneath the waistband. I fingered the edge of curls just under his briefs, tickling the sensitive skin there, and smiled. His individual musk wafted off his skin, cinnamon and peppermint igniting my urge to lick him from head to toe just for a taste. I’d torture him as long as I could, but the pulsing of my heart stayed in rhythm with the ache between my legs. I wouldn’t last much longer. I thrust my upper body forward, my breasts skimming his chest as I pushed my hand completely inside his briefs.

  I gripped him, hard, and enjoyed the weight of him in my hand. A hiss escaped his lips as Cooper closed his eyes. Teasing, exploring, and sliding my fingertips up and down his shaft, I watched his expression as he grew even harder under my touch. For what seemed like minutes, but must have been only seconds, Cooper was in my control.

  I listened to his erratic breathing and experimented with different pressures as I worked him. When he reopened his eyes, lust and urgency filled his gaze. “I’m going to explode if you keep doing that.”

  I stopped, letting him regain his breath before the real torture began. I pulled at his jeans, but Cooper pushed my hand away and shoved his pants down his legs. Discarding his briefs, he gave me a full view of his masculinity and I forced myself to inhale slowly. I took hold of him again, despite his protests, and swept my tongue from base to head in one quick move. The combination of his deep, guttural moan and the tangy flavor of his skin swept my original plans aside in an instant. Unable to hold myself back any longer, I straddled him again.

  The expression on his face reminded me of a little matter we hadn’t really discussed before. The subject hadn’t come up during our time together, but now, it became crucial. “I’m clean and on birth control.”

  “Me, too,” he said between gritted teeth and latched onto my waist with both hands. Pulling me forward, Cooper positioned himself at my core. “Not the birth control part, of course.”

  The laugh rushing past my lips was replaced with a gasp as he plunged into me. A ripple of pleasure shot up through me as my body conformed to him. We melded into one as if two pieces of a puzzle had finally been reunited. I sighed, leveraging my free hand against his chest, and rocked back and forth on him. This. Us. It seemed right. Warmth began to spread from my core into my belly, a fire smoldering just beneath the surface of my skin as he thrust into me.

  Cooper picked up the pace, his arms and chest flexing with each push and retreat.

  A familiar pleasurable sting intensified in my core as he wrenched my upper body down onto his chest. As I lay pressed against him, I listened to his inconsistent gasps for breath. My orgasm lingered just on the edge and it seemed I’d never take that plunge as long as Cooper slowed his thrusts. I gripped his bicep with my free hand and pulled at the handcuff with the other to coax him faster. The pain only pushed me further into oblivion as I straightened.

  I let go of my anger, sinking further into Cooper’s control and loved every second of it. In the space of a few days, he’d become my life raft as the world crashed down around me and I never wanted to let him go.

  Without warning, he bolted upright, his chest smashing against mine as he wound his arms around my waist. With a sharp bite to my shoulder, Cooper sent me over the edge with a mixture of pleasure and pain. It’d never occurred to me that teeth could be used as a sexual instrument and stars appeared in my eyes as I screamed my release. Relief flooded my body as we collapsed together. The scent of sex and sweat mingled in my lungs, chasing away the weight of our external situation.

  A satisfied groan escaped his lips and I pulled back in time to see Cooper’s face relax after his completion. I didn’t know if he considered our time together as an entry in his Top 5 list, but I certainly wanted to help him with that.

  Chapter Nine

  “I liked these,” I said, looking up at Cooper as he unlocked the cuffs, “but not enough to use them again.”

  “Again?” He gave me a quick wink. “What makes you think we’ll have the chance to use them again?”

  I didn’t answer save for wrapping my legs around his waist as he bent over me. My c
ore brushed against his jeans and I pressed myself into him harder. I gave him the sexiest smile I could muster and pulled him in for a kiss. I absorbed his warmth, all the way down to my bones, and never wanted to let him go.

  The realization hit me hard.

  What I’d sworn would just be a one-night stand had, in fact, turned into two nights and a playful make-out session at the restaurant. I wanted Cooper, undercover CIA agent and liar, more than I’d wanted anything before. He might have picked me out of that bar for leverage, but he’d come back for me, not his organization or his mission. The evidence showed in his blatant defiance of his superior’s order. Cooper wasn’t going to turn me in. “Why don’t you come back to bed and we can figure it out?”

  After a quick peck on my cheek, he pulled away and dressed.

  I watched in mild fascination, snuggling beneath the covers. I hadn’t gotten much sleep due to his sudden appearance at my side, but I wasn’t going to complain in the least.

  Cooper tossed my jeans onto the bed. “Get dressed.”

  “Why?”

  The bed indented with his weight as he half-climbed on top of me. His lips remained a hair’s width away as he whispered, “Because I can’t talk to you while you’re naked.”

  “Talk is cheap.” Arching my back, I pulled Cooper down on top of me and encircled his waist with my bare skin. “Why don’t you show me what you got?”

  A moan escaped his lips and he thrust into me. His jeans scraped along my sensitive ladyparts, impossibly kicking my arousal higher. “I would love to, but my boss is expecting me to report back in an hour.” Cooper jumped out of bed then stared down at me with a sad expression. “I have to explain why I didn’t turn you in to the Outriggers.”

  His warm, brown eyes grew distant as he looked at me and I had sensed he didn’t really see me at all. “This is the first time I’ve disobeyed an order.” A humorless smile crept across his face. “Might lose my job.”