Checkmate (The Cassano Series Book 5)

by Scarlet Wolfe

  My hand wraps around his wrist that’s near my face.

  “You’re helping to sequester some of that pain. This new life I’m trying to create, it’s good having you in it.”

  Hands slide behind my neck and into my hair. His lips press to my forehead as he massages the back of my head. His mouth stays still, his fingers circling languidly, the careful movements tender and relaxing.

  Aside from his dangerous job, which holds him captive most days, Reggie is free and light, maybe even an open book.

  The only darkness I imagine him possessing is his memories of war, and if he’s anything like Adrian, those images are locked away, the key to them buried even deeper.

  He has to have done or witnessed the unspeakable on his job, but it doesn’t show. His face isn’t owned by hard lines of fear and resistance.

  Kruse possesses more of those sharp edges. Fear and hesitation at times snuff out his lust for me, but I’m a hot burner he can’t help but touch.

  I can’t grasp why, but it’s more than obvious by his brazen behavior and eager hands groping and taking. My office has become a sanctuary of passion and pleasure.

  He thinks it’s right; then it’s wrong.

  Touch–don’t touch.

  His reservations have led him out of my office time and time again. Then, a voracious and dire longing drives him right back to me.

  But Kruse’s fear sparks mine, and I have felt it enough in my lifetime; the Twin Towers collapsing, knowing my father was inside; Adrian shipped off to war and the angst over whether he would return or not. That worry was responsible for countless sleepless nights.

  The fear of him never forgiving me for betraying him ate at me daily, and the lifelong worry that my mother would go off the deep end hung around me like a blinding fog in the air.

  The harsh reality that it could swallow her up and I’d never get another moment with the mother I once knew often overshadowed the good.

  But none of those fears could hold a candle to the terrifying thought of how I would survive without her. Somehow, though, I’m doing it.

  Right now, I’m in the midst of survival, and the last thing I need is someone or some situation threatening the strength I’ve collected to go on in a world that seldom cuts breaks. With every touch from Kruse, it feels more like he’s threatening that strength.

  Reggie’s lips dip to my cheek, bringing me back to the present. They skim to the corner of my mouth, testing the water, before they brush across my lips.

  His fingers that are in my hair grip hold of some of the strands. He braces my head as his tongue pushes inside my mouth, and the bliss I was floating in is replaced by crashing waves of excitement and confusion.

  Shit, another man is kissing me.

  The doorbell rings, and I jerk away. The movers are here. Without a word, I sidestep Reggie and hurry to the door.

  A handsome young man gives me a charming smile.

  “Are you Ms. Cassano?”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “We have your belongings.” He winks and brandishes his pearly whites. Good grief, the men in this city are too much for me to handle. They’re bolder, braver and ravenous.

  Who knew I was in need of an online course in seduction before I moved to this city of sin?

  To stay out of the way, Reggie sits on a stool at the island in my kitchen. I feel his eyes on me the entire time I direct the movers with where to place my belongings.

  It’s not long before they leave, and I scrunch my nose as I stand in my living room. “My brothers were right. They said I would want new furniture once I saw the old stuff in this shiny new place, but I couldn’t part with it so soon. Maybe it’s time.”

  Reggie approaches me as I bite on my fingernail.

  “Do what you feel is right and only when you’re ready.”

  “Until I get a new one, where do you think the couch should go?”

  Reggie and I spend the next couple of hours arranging the furniture in my living room and putting away stuff in my kitchen. There isn’t much else he can do, so we both plop down onto my couch.

  “I’ll finish the rest a little at a time. Thank you for being here today. It was comforting not to be alone with the creepy movers.”

  “No shit. I saw the way that one kept eyeballing you.”

  Grinning at Reg, I twirl a piece of my hair.

  “You mean the way you kept eyeballing me?” Crimson overlays his dark skin, covering all but his pretty teeth.

  “Yeah, but you know me. You know I’m safe to be around.”

  Safe …

  His smile disappears, and he moves in for another kiss. It’s soft and gentle, an inviting safe place to get lost in, and I’m either losing my way or finding it. I can’t tell, and the confusion of that has me hesitating, pulling back.

  With my lips free from his, I gaze at his dark irises. Long lashes hang over them, a canopy to shield, but they’re unable to dim the longing his eyes possess, his long-held stare proving the fire is burning brightly.

  He smiles, signaling that he liked where we had been and where we might be going.

  A smile to make me feel safe.

  There’s that word again.

  His arm circles my waist, and he lays me back against the arm of my couch. I let him because I want this exploration. Safe is familiar. Safe is nice, but I also yearn to know how close to the edge Reg can take me. Could he excite me the way Kruse has time and time again?

  Reggie and I don’t share the instant enigmatic bond that keeps Kruse and I stuck in a pool of syrup. It’s sticky, sweet and forbidden, but god it tastes so good.

  Realizing where I’m at and who I’m with, I pull Reggie closer to me, grounding me to the present. I explore his mouth, and he does the same with mine. We’re slow and methodical, getting acquainted the mature way.

  The safe way.

  My fingers trace the lines framing the muscles of his back as he kisses his way down my neck. I arch my body, giving him more room to explore.

  His wet mouth dips inside the V of my snug purple t-shirt, inciting a whimper that means don’t stop.

  In that moment, I feel his hardness against my thigh and the frenzy taking over him. He pulls down my shirt and the cup of my bra until my nipple pops free.

  A groan of sheer want rumbles above me before his tongue darts out for a taste. As if afraid he might lose control, he slows, his tongue delicately tracing a circle around the stiff bud.

  Bumps rise to the surface, meeting his tongue that’s not in a rush as it taunts me with care. I buck beneath him, knowing damn well that I shouldn’t, but my body thinks otherwise.

  Burying his face in the crook of my neck, he breathes me in before basking my skin with an exhale of control.

  “You have no idea how bad I want you right now, but I’m doing this right. I haven’t even taken you on a date.”

  Leaning up, I faintly press my lips to his.

  “You’re thoughtful and have more control than I do at the moment.”

  “I’ll be honest, Aggie; if you weren’t Adrian’s sister, I’d be buried inside you right here–right now, but I can’t do him like that. If you’re not mine, then I don’t get to have you that way.”

  I bite on my lip and dwell on the stark contrast between him and Kruse. In this moment, while I’m thinking of two very different men, I realize the trouble I’ve created for myself in the city I was to make a fresh start.

  I should get out of this rabbit hole before they both follow me in. Someone is surely going to get left there.

  “Are you going to allow me to take you on a date?” Reggie is all white teeth against the shimmer of his tan skin. His smile is genuine and hopeful.

  Safe …

  Reggie is security. He’s marriage and babies, promises for the future.

  But is that what I want?

  “Yes, please take me on a date.” The words topple out before I have a chance to think about the soul I’m shackled to and the certain displeasure he would exhibit
if he were aware of my plans with Reg.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Aggie

  “Are you alone?” Kruse asks after I answer his call at my desk on Monday. He doesn’t have to tell me his name. I recognize the voice engraved with dominance and mystery, a want so heavily projected in my chest that it shoves the air right out of my lungs.

  “Yes,” I barely get out.

  “Don’t move.” He hangs up and I heave. The desperation for his touch is as urgent as my need for oxygen. It’s not the comforting feeling I get when I’m with Reggie.

  Shoveling in the last bite of my slice of chocolate cake, I retrieve my compact from my purse and study my face in the mirror.

  My hazel eyes are leaning toward glass-bottle green today, a match to the green dress I’m wearing. It’s silky, flowing and draping off one shoulder.

  Tara said it was striking against my auburn hair, so I bought it, thinking of Kruse the entire time. I shake my head, wondering how a man could get me this flustered.

  Once I check that my scarlet lipstick still has a home, I drop my compact back in my purse and fidget in my chair.

  Kruse hasn’t seen me since my outing with Tara. He hasn’t spotted my shorter hair or eyed this amount of my exposed skin.

  Before today, I would’ve described my work attire as boring/professional. Today, I would call it sophisticated/sexy.

  Without even a knock, he slips inside my office and locks the door behind him. Turning back to face me, he stills. I move around my desk to stand at the front of it.

  “Hi. Why are you here so early?” I ask this since it’s only two in the afternoon.

  “I came in to see you.”

  “You mean before Zev arrives?”

  His eyes begin at my face and hair and start a slow perusal. They cascade over my bare shoulder and across my chest. A slight curve of his mouth reveals his approval, and it’s an imperative approval as my need to hang onto his interest mounts with each passing day.

  Eyes narrow, the inspection growing more intense. He even spots my scarlet painted nails before his gaze washes over my belly and down to my bare thighs, where my short dress ends and more skin begins.

  He doesn’t stop there, and I feel the tremble coming on, my mouth becoming dryer the longer he takes. Once he examines my painted toes in nude heels, he treks toward me.

  There are no spoken words, only the silent message of what’s to come. It travels across the electric current that has naturally flowed between us since the first time our fingers touched.

  His steps come leisurely as his eyes roam upward, stealing a second look at me. His shoes brush against my toes. He’s that close when I breathe in his minty breath.

  A pointer finger starts at the corner of my mouth and feathers outward along my cheek until it meets my earlobe.

  “Why did you cut your hair?”

  “I’m all about change these days.”

  “I see that. I like it.”

  “You do?”

  His finger wraps itself inside a wave of my hair, and he studies it. “You were already sexy–unforgettable. You didn’t need to change a damn thing, but this look,” his eyes flicker to mine, “it says ‘come and get me,’ and baby I’m here. No more cat and mouse.”

  His free hand brushes up my thigh. My toes curl, and I suck in a puff of air and hold it. He cups me where I’m wet for him, and I close my eyes, the shudder ripping right through me.

  “You’re tense. Are you not comfortable with your body?”

  I don’t reply or open my eyes. I’m not sure what I feel other than a thrill of anticipation.

  “We need to test your vocabulary,” he says. “I want you comfortable with me.” Slipping his fingers inside my panties, he strokes right down the seam of me, causing me to gasp.

  “This is your pussy, and I want it. I want to touch it, stroke it and taste it. I need to sink my cock right into it.” His open mouth meets my bare shoulder and grazes down my upper arm.

  “What do I have in my hand, Aggie? Say the word.”

  He cups me harder.

  Makes me wetter.

  “I can’t say it. I’ve never said it.” Releasing my hair, he clutches my chin. My eyes open to his pointed stare.

  “It’s time for change, remember? Have firsts with me, Princess. I’ll take as many as you’re willing to give. I have a feeling if you haven’t used that word, then there are plenty of firsts left.”

  “It’s embarrassing.”

  His forehead scrunches as if I’ve completely baffled him.

  “But you’re perfection. This …,” he slips a finger inside of me, “you own it but I want to.”

  “I worry you already do.”

  The wrinkle between his eyes deepens, shoving down a flash of surprise, maybe even panic. He sinks two more fingers into me. My chest caves in as he plunges them deeper. In and out … in and out.

  “Say it. What am I finger-fucking, Aggie?”

  My eyes close again, and he squeezes my chin harder.

  “You’re going to say it because you find this thrilling. You moved here because you’re through with boring.”

  Realizing my hands are fisted and nails are digging into my palms, I spread them wide.

  I search through that fraction of me I’ve never known. It’s a side Kruse has uncovered and is more in tune with. This is thrilling, and never in my life have I wanted to please a man more by giving him what he yearns for.

  “I’m not going to ask you again. I’ll stop this if you don’t say it.”

  “God, no, don’t stop.”

  My eyes flip open, and I grip his broad shoulders.

  “My pussy.”

  The taboo words are served from my tongue in a whisper, their taste forbidden, yet Kruse devours them. The libidinous smile secure at his lips unveils how luscious he perceives them.

  “Fuck, you did it, baby, and I plan on hearing it from those juicy lips again and again.” With an arm now around my back, he pulls me against him and pumps harder.

  Giving in to the pleasure, my body relaxes against his hand. I brace myself with a tighter grasp of his shoulders as the sensation builds in intensity.

  His cock is rigid against my skin, and his growls sing with my moans the most erotic, spellbinding song I’ve ever heard. “Come on my fingers. Come now.”

  As if he knew I was there, his command pushes me over the threshold, the pleasure wild and wicked. My legs give, and my face buries against his hard chest.

  “I have to taste you, Aggie. I have to. I don’t think I’ve ever craved anything more. Please, let me.”

  “OK,” I murmur against the fabric of his suit before I breathe in his earthy scent. He picks me up, and I wrap my arms around his neck. Carrying me over to the brown leather love seat, which sits to the left of my desk, he gracefully lays me along it.

  His suit jacket is stripped off and tossed to the carpet. My legs spread open wide as he drops to his knees. My eyes close from feeling sated, and it’s as if I’m in a dream where everything happens chaotically and doesn’t make sense.

  He slips my nude bikini panties over my knees and out from under my heels. I smell my arousal from his fingers dragging over my entrance.

  “You’re soaked, and damn I want to bury my dick inside you. I’ve never been a begging man, Aggie, but I’m pleading with you. Let me have all of you right here and now.”

  My eyes open, and his face is poised over my–my pussy. He’s breathing in the scent of me, his long fingers squeezing over my thighs as his gaze flutters to mine, his eyes crazed.

  Starving.

  Most of all, they’re pleading, as if his life depends on the red light turning green. The unexplainable bond between us leaves his desperation and headiness burning in my gut, his want so powerful it thunders in my chest.

  How did this happen? Why? And when did I lose all control?

  He slithers his hand up my stomach and chest until his fingers reach my lips. The fingers he’s had inside of me.


  “Open, Aggie.” My subdued being knows there’s no other option, so I respond to his command. As if he’s giving me a taste of all the stimulating places he could take me, his fingers circle my lips before he pushes them inside. “Taste them. Taste what I can do to you repeatedly if you’ll only let me.”

  The overwhelming urgency to please him has me nodding an obedient yes. Our eyes are locked while he lets out the loudest growl. It vibrates against my skin as he buries his face against me.

  The pleasure from his tongue is almost too much for the sensitive nerves already lit ablaze from his previous intrusion. A moan sails from my lips before they clamp down over his fingers.

  As he licks and sucks, I drag my mouth upward, absorbing the taste of myself the way I was instructed to. He groans like his fingers in my mouth are his cock, and I can’t help but imagine it there.

  Needing to breathe, I let his digits fall from my mouth. He yanks me closer, licking faster, rougher and greedier.

  It pays off, and I convulse, snapping my thighs together against his head as an orgasm wrecks me inside and out, white light exploding behind my sealed eyes.

  No longer feeling his touch, I whimper. The sensations subside, and once I reopen my eyes, his cock is in front of me, outside of his unzipped pants. It’s long, hard and thick, and like the rest of his arresting features, it commands attention.

  He works a condom over it and squeezes his body onto the loveseat. His long arms lift me, and the whimper I exhale tells him I’m spent.

  “Baby, climb onto me. I’ll do all the work.”

  And I do. I straddle him, sinking onto his hard cock ever so slowly. His head flies back, and he bites the shit out of his bottom lip. A drop of blood bubbles from it, but it doesn’t faze him.

  This has to be a dream. Chaotic, unreal, sinful and glorious. Where do we go from here?

  I don’t want to wake up. This magnificent chaos is better than the unknown.

  He pulls me to his chest and lifts his hips over and over, driving up into me. A hand holds the back of my head as he breathes harshly toward the heavens.

  One violent thrust leaves him pulsating inside of me, his release palpable. Final.