“Hush, Tiger, people are still asleep. I just wanted to hear you purr. If you make too much noise, I’ll have to stop.” It was barely a whisper, but it made heat rush to my center. His fingers brushed against me again, and I bit my lip.
His hand ran up my body, under my hoodie, his big rough hand cupping my breast, rolling my nipple between his thumb and forefinger. I sucked in a breath but kept quiet against his hand. When he squeezed my nipple roughly, I let out an involuntary moan, and I could feel his sexy chuckle vibrate against my back. His hand roamed back down my body, beneath the waistband of both my yoga pants and my panties, until he slid his fingers through my already wet folds. Oh god.
He stroked me gently, his thumb brushing over my clit, making me buck back against him. His thumb rubbed little circles, and I pressed against his hand. He slid one finger into my pussy, then two and I moaned again. I couldn't help it, as his fingers stroked inside me just right, finding my G-spot with unerring accuracy. I closed my eyes and threw my head back, consumed by his hands stroking me higher and higher. He added another of his big, rough fingers, and I desperately tried to hold back the moan, but it was no use. I let out the moan, and it was caught by soft lips on mine. My eyes flew open, and I saw Charlie kissing me, his eyes open, watching my face.
I kissed him back, all the feverish energy in my body trying to escape from my body into his. I kissed him harder as the orgasm built in my body, swelling, and my moans escaped between us. Charlie's hands came up under my hoodie, pushing it up under my chin, tracing the lines of my body with his strong fingers. He cupped my breasts and lowered his mouth to my nipple, sucking it between his lips.
I wrapped my hands in Charlie's soft, gold curls, and moaned. His mouth switched to the other nipple, and Rouen’s fingers began to pound me hard, the heel of his hand rubbing my clit mercilessly. I was going to come, and I wasn’t sure I could be quiet about it. Rouen’s hand wrapped around my mouth again, muffling my cries against his palm as Charlie scraped his teeth along my aching nipple. In a rush, I came all over Rouen’s fingers, squeezing tight around him and he groaned against my hair. I panted against Rouen’s hand, and Charlie popped my nipple from his mouth.
As Rouen moved his hand away, Charlie leaned forward, his eyes running all over my face like he was memorizing this moment. Then he looked at me, so much emotion in his eyes, and kissed me tenderly. That kiss said so many things, and my heart thumped so hard in my chest that I was sure he could feel it against his own. He gave me a lopsided grin, his dimple winking at me, then rolled over and pretended to go back to sleep.
Rouen took his hand from my pants and pulled my hoodie back down over my body. He licked my juices from his fingers, his body rumbling in a low, almost inaudible way that shook the bed.
He kissed the back of my neck, his arm banding across my stomach, pulling me tight against his chest.
“You taste like heaven,” he whispered. “Go back to sleep, my Queen.”
My eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and I could see Romanus sitting across from us, keeping watch. The hard bulge in his pants was visible in the darkness.
I tilted my head toward the single bed, where Nazir slept. Hopefully slept.
“Asleep?” I mouthed. I knew he could see me in the dark. Gargoyles were naturally nocturnal creatures and had the night vision to match.
Romanus shook his head, and a breath whooshed out of me. Fuck. Naz had seen my little pleasure party with Rouen and Charlie. Tomorrow was going to be a whole new level of awkward.
Chapter Six
Surveillance sucked. We’d been sitting here so long my ass was numb. Luckily, Volchek had bought a penthouse apartment across from Central Park, so our cover was easy to maintain. We were dressed casually, pretending to be tourists sitting in the park. I was with Romanus, and we were cuddled together like a couple honeymooning in the bright lights of NYC. My bright red hair was pushed up under a cap and oversized sunglasses protected my eyes.
Rouen had the back of the building, and Naz had the employee entrance. Charlie was back at our hotel, his fingers flying across the keyboards of his computer, doing whatever it was that Charlie did.
This morning Naz had just ordered to watch and remember. We noted who came and went, times, if we saw Volchek, that kind thing. Charlie had found us his mugshot from an assault and battery case from a few years ago that had been mysteriously dropped when the girl just disappeared. The guy’s face was burned in to my brain now. I’d be able to pick him in a crowd easily.
No one had spoken about what had happened in the darkness last night, not even Charlie. I'd think the whole thing had just been an amazing, dirty dream, except for Rouen’s smug grin.
“We’ve got movement,” Romanus said, his voice pitched low.
The huge double doors opened, and a powerfully built man with close shaved head and a face that looked like it’d been hacked with an icepick, stepped from the building. Following him was an older man, equally as tall with light gray hair and a handsome face. Volchek. The first guy must be his guard.
“Selfie!” I said to Romanus, my voice perky and my smile genuine. Romanus turned and smiled, showing way too much fang, and we took a picture. I made sure to get Volchek and Ugly in the background. A black SUV pulled up, and our prey hopped in.
“Getting into a black Range Rover, plates Alpha Delta Zulu Six Three Nine.”
“Can you get him on the traffic cameras, Charlie?” Naz’s voice came over the earpiece.
Charlie let out a disgusted noise. “Child's play.”
“Okay, keep an eye where he goes. Even a direction will help. The rest of you, regroup at the hotel. Leave subtly.”
Rouen agreed, and Romanus confirmed.
Then there was silence.
I sat against Romanus’ side, his arm curled around my shoulders. It was a beautiful day, and I wasn’t in a hurry to get back to our roach motel.
“Rouen called me Queen last night,” I said casually. “Does that mean something?”
Romanus looked down at me, but his face betrayed nothing. “Everything means something.”
I rolled my eyes. “Get that from a fortune cookie? I meant to you, to Gargoyles.”
Romanus sucked in a breath. “Yes. It means he’s bonding to you, we’re bonding to you, the way we would to a female mate. Like a Queen. If that isn't something you want, you better say so quickly. Mating isn’t something that can be taken back easily.”
I was silent for a bit, watching two little girls chase a big yellow dog through the park. “That's a big decision to make about two people who were strangers less than a week ago. Humans don’t rush headlong into things like that.”
Romanus didn’t say anything, just inclined his head.
“Plus, there is Charlie. He already holds a piece of my heart; I’m just figuring out how big of a piece. It complicates things, you know? I didn’t necessarily want to follow in my family's footsteps. I thought I’d settle down, probably with another cop, and maybe get a dog. Make Detective and try not to burn out too young. And when I was done, I’d go work with Hope. This,” I pointed between the two of us, “wasn’t in my grand plan.”
Romanus made a sympathetic noise, which just seemed totally abnormal coming from a large scowling demon. “In our culture, it was said that some Queens just had too much emotion, and the only way for them to survive was to give it as many willing hearts as she needed to hold it. Probably romanticized bullshit to explain an evolutionary need. But I understand it's different for humans. It is more complicated for you with your conservative mating rituals. You will get no pressure from us. I will make sure Rouen knows.”
“No.” The word was out before I could swallow it back down. “I’m not saying no. I’m just saying let’s take it slow. The most I’ve ever committed to anyone that wasn't family was my goldfish, and I’ve killed two this year. I’m not good at this whole feelings thing. That's Hope's deal.” I tried to read his face but got nothing. “What about you, Rom? Do you want whatev
er it is that Rouen wants?”
This time, he looked away. He was silent, and I couldn't deny the disappointment that felt like lead in my stomach. Finally, he turned to me and caught my eye, holding it. I couldn’t have looked away if I tried.
“I do. We weren’t always demons, you know? Once, we were just a well-hidden race of people who hid in the shadows and lived the happiest lives we could. But when our pack died, my former queen as well, it broke us. They were slaughtered by humans in their sleep, and Rouen and I only escaped because we weren’t in camp. The pain of losing my whole pack was…” he trailed off. “And we went feral. For a long time, we were completely without remorse. We tore through towns and left nothing but fire and blood in our wake. When we were finally killed, we went straight to hell, to Luc, who saw our thirst for vengeance and used it as a tool. It took Rouen a long time to get over it, he’d been so young when it happened, and seeing him smile again makes me happy too. And you, Rella, you smell like everything we should no longer hope for, and that makes you dangerous to us. To Rouen, who I would kill for. If Luc doesn't kill us for sleeping with his precious offspring, then you yourself are a danger to our very souls. But I can’t deny that I want you so much that my dick aches and my heart longs for things that I can no longer have.”
I’d never heard him string so many words together, or speak with such emotion. I didn’t know what to say. I just reached over and twined my fingers in his. I needed to think, but I had to put it off until we’d dealt with Volchek. I needed my head in that game. I would deal with my heart later.
“Let's go home, Romanus. Rouen is waiting for us.”
I heard a faint click in my earpiece and realized that comms had been open that whole time. Shit. I can only hope that no one was listening, but I wouldn’t bet my trust fund on it.
That night, I was on night watch, as was Rouen, which meant that I got the single bed and Naz, Romanus and Charlie were in the big bed. It was a tight fit and watching them try not to touch each other in a double bed was hilarious. Someone was going to be on the floor by the end of the night, and my money was on Naz. He did not look comfortable. Everyone was trying to do their best to sleep, and Charlie's snores told me that he could probably sleep through the apocalypse. But apparently not me getting fingerbanged by a badass gargoyle.
I yawned and looked at my watch. Three more hours. I was not made for night watch. I was a solid eight hours kind of girl, and I hadn’t gotten even close to that last night.
“Would you like me to take over?” Naz asked, and I felt bad that I got caught yawning.
“No, I’m good. You should sleep. I’m pretty sure no one is going to bust in here, even if I fall asleep. We should be good.”
Naz slid out of bed and came over to sit on the coffee table beside me. “I don’t need much sleep. Hazard of the profession. Go lay down if you want. I know your sleep was interrupted last night.”
He said it completely without inflection, and I couldn't tell if he was reprimanding me or teasing me. I narrowed my eyes. I wish I could smell like Romanus, so I could get a hint on what was going on behind that mask.
“I'm going to pull my weight,” I said, ignoring the innuendo. “I’m not a burden.”
We sat in the darkness, the silence hanging between us. I took the opportunity to study him in the dark, while he couldn't see my blatant perusal. He didn’t have a shirt on, and I noticed that the dark tattoos moved up his arm and down his shoulder and left pec, but they covered the entirety of his back. I couldn't make out what they were, I hadn’t seen him without his shirt on in the daylight, but I could tell that a lot of time and pain went into inking that much of his skin. I couldn't help but admire his body, the solid curve of his muscles, the hard lines of his abs, one long scar puckering over his gut.
“That looked like it could have been bad,” I said inanely, pointing at the scar.
“Very nearly a permanent trip to the sands. An extraction gone bad in Egypt.”
“Must have been scary.”
He shrugged. “Another hazard of the job. They become a little like a resume. Proof you’ve done something good and lived to tell nosey redheads the tale in dingy hotel rooms.”
A shock laugh burst from my chest, and I smothered it down before I woke any of the other guys. I catalogued the puckered scars on his body, testaments to a life lived hard. “Managed to keep the pretty face though,” I joked back.
He leaned in closer, so I could see his eyes, even though they just looked like an abyss you could drown in. “Do you think I’m pretty, Estrella?” His voice was low, husky in a way that made my nerves tingle, though I didn’t know if it was arousal or some kind of acknowledgement that he was a predator just as much as the Gargoyles.
“Yes,” I breathed out.
His lip curled, and then he straightened, his eyes scanning the room lazily. “Don’t worry, kid. There’s only one more day of surveillance, and then you can have your blood.” My mind spun trying to keep up with the conversation shifts.
“It’s not all about revenge, you know. How many women have they hurt like that? How many just end up dead in the ocean on the way to wherever they are shipping them? How many die once sold, their deaths covered up? I can’t end it, but maybe I can make a little difference while I claim retribution.” He said nothing, and we fell into silence again.
“What are you going to do about your demons?” he asked finally.
“You were listening?”
I saw his teeth glint in the moonlight as he smiled. “Everyone heard, Estrella. Both times. You aren’t very stealthy. You wouldn’t make much of a spy.”
I buried my face in my hands. Maybe I should just join a convent or something. I’m sure Luc would get my retribution and my life would be way less embarrassing.
“So?” he asked again.
“Why do you want to know?” I looked at him through narrowed eyes.
“Human curiosity? Because I care about Charlie?”
I sucked in a deep breath, letting it whistle out through my teeth. “I don’t know. It’s all too much, too soon. I’ll figure it out later. After this op. After Hope is back on her feet. After I work out where I went wrong and why my life has become a cross between the Bourne Identity and Jerry Springer.” He let out a little chuckle, and I liked how it sounded. “What do you think I should do?”
“Are you asking my opinion, or do you want me to tell you what to do?” He raised an eyebrow.
I grinned back this time. “Both? Or either. I’ll take what I can get.”
He turned so his body was facing mine, and stared down at me in the chair of grossness. “I can’t tell you what to do, but I can tell you what I’d do. I’ve seen so many things, terrible things. But I saw how Charlie looked at you when you were a kid, and how he looks at you now. You are buried under that kid's skin deep, and he loves you in a way people can only dream of being loved. I’m not even going to pretend to understand what is going with the other two, but they seem pretty intense. I’d wanna make really sure that I knew exactly how I felt before I did anything drastic, because heartbreak hurts way more than this.” He pointed to the scar on his stomach.
I frowned at him. “Real helpful.”
He held up a hand. “Not finished. But, don’t wait too long. Because despite what the movies tell you, happiness doesn’t happen for everyone, and for some it never appears. Take it where you can get it and if it feels right, grab on with both hands and don’t let go. Doesn’t matter what that happiness looks like, or how other people will perceive it. Trust your gut. It will rarely lead you down the wrong path.”
He gave me an intense look, then thumped me on the back. “Go sleep. I’ll take your shift. I need you on your A-Game.”
Sick of fighting the yawns, I nodded and walked over to the bed. I slid in beside Charlie, who curled his body around mine in his sleep. I smiled and breathed in the scent of him, the steady thump of his heart lulling me to sleep.
Surveillance the next day went much t
he same as the day before, although we swapped positions. Romanus and I were watching the employee door, which led to the kitchens of a ground floor cafe. It smelled like garbage and grease, and the scent was making me queasy as hell. We sat in the shadow of the dumpster, but so far all was quiet. Not nearly as interesting as the park yesterday.
We sat on two crates, dirty aprons wrapped around our waists so we looked like a waitress and kitchen hand sneaking out for a cigarette. It was boring.
I started out counting rats, but I was just grossing myself out. So I switched to counting muscle bulges that showed under Romanus’ tight black shirt. I was up to twenty-five and beginning to think I was just torturing myself, because goddamn that man, uh demon, was built. He definitely wasn’t made for stealth missions, because beside his height and his golden skin, the guy looked like he’d be able to bench press a Buick. His shoulders were broad and muscular, tapering down into a slim waist and an ass that was basically sculpted by gods. He looked like heaven in leather.
“You gotta stop, Red.”
“Stop what?”
“Smelling like that. Seriously, I’m moments away from pushing you up against the dirty wall and fucking you senseless in this disgusting back alley.” His words were gruff, his voice so deep it sounded like those few moments before an avalanche and it made my pussy throb. I was turning into a sex addict in the middle of staking out a human trafficker. That was all sorts of messed up. He took a deep breath and growled.
“Fuck it.”
He picked me up and pressed me against the wall as if I weighed nothing. His heavy body pinned me as his mouth found mine, and he kissed me punishingly hard. I wrapped my legs around his waist, my hands clinging to his shoulders. His hands slid under my ass and squeezed.
Hell's Redemption- The Complete Series Boxset Page 38
