Valerie was back soon enough, carrying a box of condoms in her hand. She gave him a sultry look as she knelt between his legs. Her hands ran over his torso, making his body tingle, then his thighs as she took him into her mouth. Kavan’s head fell back and he let out a throaty groan. The sensations washed over him, making him forget everything else but how wonderfully wet and warm Valerie’s mouth was.
When he was on the edge of finishing, she stopped. Kavan twisted his hands in her hair, having to remind himself not to pull lest he hurt her.
“More,” he demanded thickly.
“Limits,” she gasped. Her cheeks were red, and he saw one of her hands between her thighs. Her lips glistened and he had to resist the urge to thrust himself back into her mouth.
“Limits,” he replied, easing his grip on her. “Don’t tell me to stop unless you mean it.”
Valerie nodded. “Don’t come inside of me unless you’re wearing a condom.”
“Agreed. I don’t like biting.”
“You don’t?” She looked disappointed. “Not getting bit or doing the biting?”
Kavan shook his head. “Either way. I don’t like it; it makes me feel like nothing more than an animal. And I know some of those sex books say that men like having fingers in their ass, but I don’t. Keep your hands away from my ass.”
“I can’t even hold it while you thrust deep inside of me?”
Kavan shivered with anticipation. “You can do that. Anything else?”
“Face to face only.”
“No doggy style?”
“Is that face to face?”
Kavan shrugged. “It’d be easier on the couch.”
“Tough.”
He wrapped his hands around her biceps and lifted her once more. Her skin was so white. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen skin that white before. He never used to think he’d want a woman so pale. Always thought that it just seemed unhealthy. But with her, it was something else. A natural creaminess to her skin that made him want to lick her all over. She was so delectable, so consumable.
He ripped open a condom and rolled it on, pleased that it was an extra-large size that fit.
“Sit on me,” he ordered her as he wrapped his arms around her waist. “I want to suck your tits while you ride my cock.”
Valerie frowned as she balanced on his knee, too far to be of any use to him. Kavan growled in frustration, trying to pull her closer, but she pressed her hands to his chest and shook her head.
“I don’t like that sort of dirty talk. It sounds too crude. I prefer the complimenting kind.”
Kavan arched a brow.
“Like, your eyes. They’re so deep. Such a rich brown.” Her hands caressed his face as she shifted forward, rubbing her clit against his cock. “They’re beautiful. Your eyes are so incredibly soulful. It’s like I can see everything in them. The secrets to the universe. So beautiful.”
Kavan was incredibly tongue-tied, not expecting that.
Valerie rocked her hips back and forth, the sensations sending shockwaves of pleasure through him. She cupped his face and pressed a lingering kiss to his forehead. “Those cheekbones are to die for. They’re sharp, chiseled. Strong. They give your face such distinction. And your jaw! It’s so strong, so square. From the first moment I saw you, I thought that you were the most handsome man I’d ever seen. And you are. Everything about you is beautiful. Your skin is so warm, so smooth…”
Her fingers traced down his chest. Kavan watched her as she took him into her hands. The heat and tightness of her welcomed him as she guided him in. Then she kissed him again, deeply, their tongues tangling. And the words she said roved over and over in his mind as their movement became more frantic.
Kavan pulled her close. He sucked hotly on one breast then the other while Valerie thrust herself up and down. He matched her rhythm while still thinking about what she said. Beautiful. Handsome. Strong. They were words that he had rarely heard applied to him…
They used the whole box of condoms and the sun was rising before they were sated. By that time, the couch was a mess, cushions everywhere and the coffee table had been swept clean. They lay in Valerie’s bed together, her heat nestled into his side. Kavan lay there with his arms around her, feeling more sated than he had been in a long, long time.
Valerie breathed softly beside him, and he stroked his fingers along her arm. The arm that she was laying on had fallen asleep about the same time that she had, but he didn’t want to disturb her. In the pale morning light that filtered through the window, she looked so soft and vulnerable that a well of protectiveness seared through his body.
Kavan’s wolf growled and snarled, as though responding to a possible threat. He knew it was just the endorphins of sex; he always became protective of the women he slept with. Usually, it passed within an hour or two. But right now, he was happy not thinking about what might happen in an hour or two. He was satisfied to have her in his arms.
It felt nice, to have someone to hold again. How long had it been since he had held a woman this long, rather than getting up and leaving right away?
The irony was that she was a judge. Not any judge, either, but the one that had sentenced him to life in prison. He chuckled, deciding that they could worry about that later. Right now, he just held her and let himself drift off to sleep.
***
Regret hit him hard before he even opened his eyes. Valerie was still in his arms, still soft and warm and wonderful. But he could feel the tension in her body and knew she was awake. And was thinking the same thing that he was—
What in God’s name had they done?
Valerie started to pull away from him, and he released her. He moved closer to his edge of the bed. Valerie’s fair cheeks turned bright pink as she clutched the blankets to her chest. They stared at each other in silence. Kavan could see the regret in her eyes but worse than that was the fear. He thought of every possible way that he could use this against her and could see those were the thoughts going through her mind, too.
“So,” he said awkwardly as he glanced around the room. Of course, his clothes weren’t here. They were out in the living room. “Were we more drunk than we thought?”
“Uh…” Valerie sucked in a ragged breath. “Maybe. I was drunk enough that I wasn’t thinking about… consequences.”
“Some of them at least.” Kavan pointed to the used condoms in the trash can. “You were at least thinking about pregnancy prevention.”
Valerie hid her face in her hands. Then she got out of the bed, still clutching the blanket around herself. “Not so drunk that we didn’t know what we were doing. And I’m pretty sure I remember everything, so… guess it’s not that bad.”
“Guess not…” Kavan cleared his throat before he got out of bed as well. He did not cover himself, though. “Can I take a shower before I leave?”
“Yeah. There are towels beneath the sink.”
Kavan nodded stiffly at her. He headed toward the bathroom, hoping that this wasn’t going to come back to bite him on the ass.
***
It was just a one-night stand. With a criminal she had sentenced to life in prison. Who was then released on shaky ground. And could possibly end her career. Oh, and he was probably going to go back to jail sooner rather than later. No biggie.
Valerie splashed water from the kitchen sink into her face. Her hands shook as she set the coffee maker to percolate. Her stomach churned as she thought of everything that was going to go wrong from this moment on. She might as well have walked out to the press and told them everything! Kavan could use this to blackmail her into doing anything he wanted. Had she been so drunk last night that she hadn’t even considered it?
Except, no. That thought had crossed her mind. She had thought that maybe he was trying to get something to hold over her head since he had made his confession earlier in her office. And she had decided that he wasn’t that kind of person, that his interest was genuine.
The coffee was ready, and she made herself a cu
p, trying to get herself to calm down and think rationally. There was nothing she could do to change what happened last night—and if she was honest, a primal part of her said that she wouldn’t even if she could. There had been something very… special about the previous night. Even though now she couldn’t say what it was, and she tried to say that it was just the Pina Coladas talking, there was still a part of her that thought there had been something else.
Still shaky but trying to reassure herself, Valerie turned on the TV. With any luck, Kavan would simply leave after he had showered, without trying to talk to her at all.
A scream echoed from her throat, and she dropped her mug. Hot coffee spilled over the linoleum as the handle cracked off.
There was a thump and a bang. Moments later, Kavan was in the kitchen. His muscles bulged as he looked around, as though looking for a threat.
“What is it?” he demanded, and Valerie noticed he had a knife in his hand.
“What do you have that for?”
But Kavan wasn’t listening. He had seen what she had seen. On the TV, large as day and plain for anybody to see, they were making out in the bar last night. Somebody must have seen them, recognized who they were and recorded it. Valerie felt sick to her stomach. What was she meant to do now? If her career was in trouble before…
She whirled on Kavan, humiliation and despair coloring her judgment. “You did this on purpose! You tricked me so you could get a video of it and release it to the press so that you could stay out of jail!”
“How is that supposed to keep me out of jail?” Kavan grabbed the remote and put the TV on mute as the clip returned to the news anchors, who would no doubt have a few things to say. His brow furrowed as he turned back to Valerie. “Well, at least it proves you don’t hate shifters, right?”
“Right because that is how people are going to read the situation!”
She wanted to keep yelling at him, blame him for this somehow, but she knew it was a futile effort. All the strength seemed to sap from her body, and she sank down to the kitchen table. She could just imagine what the muted TV was saying right now. She could read it all on the anchor’s smug faces.
Was there any coming back from this? As if her position wasn’t precarious enough… what had she been thinking, kissing Kavan McBride in a public place? Bringing him back to her house?
Her gaze fell on the knife in his hand again. “You planning on killing me?”
“No.” Kavan tucked the knife away, perfectly hidden. Probably violation of his release, but Valerie didn’t want to quibble about that right now. “If I was going to kill you, I wouldn’t have slept with you first. I’m not that kind of guy, you know.”
“How am I supposed to know that? I don’t know anything about you other than the fact that I sent you to jail. I’ve gotten death threats over a lot less.”
Kavan sighed as he sat at the table across from her. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I know this isn’t how you’d have liked this to go.”
“You think?” Valerie sucked in a deep breath and held it, trying to calm herself down. There was no use in getting all up in Kavan’s face about this. It was her own damn fault. She should have just left as soon as she saw him the previous night. Instead, she drank with him, made out with him and went home with him. What had she thought was going to happen?
This is a new low, even for someone as bad at picking guys as I am.
She considered a moment, then lifted her head to stare at him. There was only one thing that could possibly salvage some part of her reputation. Maybe not her career, but she could at least stop people from calling her a slut and whore for bringing him home.
“We have to pretend like we’re getting married.”
Kavan barked out a laugh. “What?”
“You heard me.” Valerie straightened, her mind churning over the possibility. “If we say that you’ve been coming to me because you don’t want this case to blow up and because you think someone is coming after me from within the system, and then we say that as we worked together to try to figure out what’s going on, I got to know you and found that you were very regretful and eager to change your life…”
“That will fall apart the moment it starts being questioned.”
“Not necessarily.”
“Okay… Then how do you propose we say that we ended up together last night?”
Valerie flinched. “We can say that you proposed to me. And that I agreed, even though we’re both certain you’ll be going back to jail. And we decided that we didn’t want to keep our relationship hidden anymore.”
“And people are going to say that you messed up the case on purpose just to get me out of jail.” Kavan rose a brow, then looked thoughtful. “But that’s why we say that I think someone is after you because of my release, then? Because it’s saying that I don’t think I should be out of jail and that the only way I was out was if someone was attacking you somehow.”
“Exactly.” Valerie nodded.
“It probably won’t work.”
“Probably. But at least I won’t be branded a slut.”
Kavan shrugged. “Fine. If that’s how you want to proceed, I guess that is how we can proceed. We’ll have to get all the little details down before we start talking about being engaged, though. Let me figure it out. Trust me, I know how to make a cover story.”
He winked at her. Valerie felt a flutter in her chest even as she wondered if she had just made the worst mistake of her life. She had made her choice, though, and she wasn’t going to back down. She couldn’t think of anything else to do. And besides, with Kavan playing at being her fiancé, she could keep her eye on him. Make sure he didn’t do anything terribly illegal. If he did, then she could play the heartbroken fiancée…
How in blazes were they going to break up?
It didn’t matter. Right now, she had to deal with the fires that were already nipping at her ass. She stood and ran her fingers through her hair. “I have to get to work. I have to try to deal with this. Poor Camille must be going crazy! Where’s my cellphone?”
Kavan shrugged.
“I bet she’s called me a dozen times.” Valerie let out a groan. There could be police on their way right now to check to make sure she wasn’t dead. “Do you have a phone?”
“Yeah but—"
“Let me have it, I need to call Camille.”
Kavan handed his phone over. Valerie quickly called her PA. As expected, Camille was beside herself with worry. Apparently, the governor was at her office, looking for someone to scream at, and Camille was the only person there. Valerie apologized profusely and promised to get there as quickly as she could. When she handed Kavan his phone back, he passed her hers.
“It was in your purse. And you should probably shower before you leave. You look like you were up all night.” Kavan stepped back as she glowered at him, and a smirk played across his lips as he held up his hands. “I’ll make you a cup of coffee.”
Valerie showered as quickly as she could and took the mug from Kavan as she was headed out the door. This was going to be an absolute disaster! Should she start planning on how to accept the governor firing her right away? Or was he going to want to put her on trial for this?
“Don’t tell them anything about the details,” Kavan said as he followed her to her car. “We need to make sure that we’re on the same page. Just tell them that your private life is private and keep going with that. Ask for a lawyer if you need to.”
“I am a lawyer. At least, I was.”
“Right.” Kavan caught the car door as she made to close it. “I’ll stick around here if you need to get hold of me. And I’ll bring you lunch so we can talk.”
Valerie nodded once to show she agreed, then was off.
She hadn’t gotten far when her phone started to ring. It was from an unlisted number and she knew it was going to be the governor. She felt sick to her stomach but pressed a button on her steering wheel so that the Bluetooth would answer.
To her surp
rise, it wasn’t the governor at all.
It was Carl Lancaster.
His voice was smooth, rich and deep. It was also sharp, cutting, anger clear in every word he spoke. “Hello, Judge Gilson.”
Valerie’s stomach coiled. Was he angry at her for sleeping with Kavan? But she thought he’d be happy… it was another thing to hold over her. Unless I’ve just ruined his meal ticket because I’m not going to be in a position to blackmail anymore. “What do you want?”
“I just thought you’d be interested to know that the police stopped by my house yesterday. We were having a lovely dinner for my mother’s birthday; my wife had spent the whole day cooking. And my son, he was just getting ready to give a toast to his beloved grandmother when the police came to our door. They claim that my boy has been kidnapping underage boys and selling them into the sex trade.”
Valerie gripped the wheel tighter. She hadn’t kept abreast of what happened with that warrant she had signed. Now she knew why Lancaster was angry with her. “I wasn’t going to let children be enslaved and raped. If you had been keeping an eye on things as you should have, he’d never have gotten involved in it in the first place.”
“My son is not a trafficker,” Lancaster snarled back. “Whatever games you and your pet detective are playing, it’s not going to work. I want him out of jail. Right now.”
“Then you should find someone else to blackmail because I might not even be a judge anymore,” she spat back, too wound up from the whole situation to care whether or not he’d release the information he had just to spite her. “Just check the news, I’m sure you’ll figure out why that is.”
She hung up before Lancaster could say anything else. And then, with worry and anger and a good deal of regret and hatred swirling in her chest, she stepped on the gas, hoping to get to her office a little sooner. Best to get this damn thing over with.
Chapter Five
As soon as she walked into her office, Camille brought her a cup of coffee, with extra cream, extra sugar and a shot of peppermint. Valerie already knew this was going to be bad, but the coffee only confirmed that it was going to be even worse than she suspected.
The Shifter's Fake Fiancé Page 5
