by Vivien Dean
''I don't play as nice as I did when you first knew me,'' Tomas warned.
She smiled. Her dimple had him fully hard. ''I'm counting on that.''
Rana's fingers flickered and the ice loosened around Tomas' leg. As she turned to lead him back into the house, displaying her heart-shaped ass to perfection, one thought permeated his brain.
God bless chemistry.
* * * *
The house's interior was unexpectedly warm, a fire blazing in the fireplace that licked long, dancing shadows across the hardwood floor. A thin blanket lay twisted on the beige couch stretched in front of the hearth, evidence of Rana sleeping in front of the fire. As he stepped into the living room, Tomas sent out careful feelers to probe for other occupants in the building, but the only life sign other than his and hers was the low thud of Jett's somewhere beyond the walls. So far, so good.
He peeled off his coat and tossed it aside, watching Rana cross the room and set the broken amulet on the mantle. ''Weapons, too,'' she said without looking back. Tomas did as he was told, removing the knives and gun he'd only just strapped to his body and dropping them in an unceremonious heap atop his coat. They would get left behind when it came time to run, along with his jacket, but that had been planned for. Almost everything was disposable on this assignment. The other sentinels hadn't started calling him Trojan Tomas for nothing.
The orange glow from the fire shone through her gown, burnishing the outline of her skin. ''So when did sentinels start teaming up with the Regency?'' she asked. ''They've never cared about elemental politics before.''
He toed off his shoes, then bent and peeled off his wet socks. ''Since you decided to fuck around with the weather in stealing the butterfly,'' he replied. ''You'd be surprised how pissed off we can get when we're in the middle of a job and a freak snowstorm lets the bad guy get away. Shoves politics right out the window.''
Rana turned to look at him, standing in profile so that he had full appreciation for both front and rear views. In spite of the nerves that still turned his stomach into a barroom brawl, his mouth watered at the sight of the taut peak of her nipple.
''And you? How angry are you, Tomas?''
''I'm here, aren't I?''
''That doesn't answer my question, and you know it.''
It didn't. He didn't care. He wasn't about to admit to how much she got to him even now, a decade later.
When he didn't speak or move from where he stood, Rana smiled and shook her head. ''You used to be a lot more fun,'' she said. ''Please don't tell me the years have turned you into an old man. These negotiations are going to be dry as toast if that's the case.''
She was flirting. Damn if she wasn't playing coy and trying to get under his skin like he was some kind of twenty-year-old kid who hadn't been around the block more than a few hundred times with women just as experienced as she. It might have worked in Mexico when a whirlwind redhead stampeded past every other female in a five-mile radius into his attentions, but now, it only served to make him more determined.
Without saying a word, Tomas strode over to the fireplace, his gaze heavy and direct on his target. Rana didn't flinch, didn't break, didn't do anything until he wrapped his long, callused fingers around her slim wrist and yanked her against him, and even then, it was only a short, sharp gasp. There was a second--infinitesimal and pounding--when he felt the flutter of her pulse against his skin and wondered if maybe there wasn't a better way to distract her from the theft about to take place.
But then she looked up at him. Lips parted. Pupils blown with desire.
His mouth crashed down against hers, stabbing past her nonexistent defenses to sweep his tongue inside, and his arm scooped so tightly around her waist to press her against his aching cock that he had a sudden flash of fear that he might actually hurt Rana. That vanished when she responded to his kiss with a curl of nails into his shoulder, pulling Tomas even closer, with only the thin cotton of his sweater preventing her from drawing blood. She was a big girl, an elemental by birth, a seductress by nature. She could take whatever he dished out.
Of all the memories that he'd relived since getting the assignment, the one Tomas had forgotten was the sweet tang of Rana's kisses. She tasted of frozen juniper as it was just about to thaw, a heady elixir that had crashed his entire world when he'd first experienced it. Now, it was tempered by time, each caress a pinprick reminder of what he had to lose if this failed. It was bittersweet and mouth-watering, and he had to close his eyes against the temptation of forgetting himself once again.
Her hands flattened against his chest, pushing until the back of his knees hit the couch. Tomas fell along its length, her warm body sprawled atop his, but not even that was enough to break the seal of their kisses. If anything, it made it easier to deepen them. Lips parting, tongues exploring, hands roaming now that there was no fear of retreat from either of them. By the time Rana pulled away to gasp for air, Tomas was ready to tear the gown from her ripe curves and fuck her right then.
The tip of her tongue appeared as she swiped it across her swollen lower lip. ''You still kiss like tomorrow is the end of the world,'' she breathed. ''I always loved that about you.''
His chest tightened. Just because she had left a huge crater in his life didn't mean he'd assumed he'd made any sort of impact at all on hers, let alone be important enough to bear remembering a simple kiss. ''And you still talk too much,'' Tomas replied. His large hand curled around the back of her head to pull her back until her mouth ghosted over his. ''I only want to hear you scream.''
''Keep that up and--''
He didn't let her finish. He wasn't interested in platitudes or pretty words. He didn't want to hear lies about what might come or what had been. When it came to what she might have to say, all Tomas wanted was pleas for more. Anything else wouldn't make a difference.
He kissed her until his lungs burned, and then he kissed her for endless minutes longer. Every time Rana attempted to tear away, Tomas tightened his grip and held her closer, fingertips molding to her skull, muscles taut where his forearm clamped around her waist. She writhed and squirmed and ground against his erection and always her hands moved. On his shoulders. At his hips. Beneath his sweater. When they reached for his belt buckle, he finally abandoned her mouth.
''Stand up,'' he ordered.
Rana seemed grateful to be released, peeling away to rise, swaying as she stood next to the couch. Sitting up, Tomas grabbed the skirt of her nightgown, ready to strip it from her ready body, when a better idea presented itself. He was level with her hips, the dark hair covering her mound visible through the gossamer fabric, her pussy only inches away. A slow smile curved his mouth, and he let the material fall, sliding his hands around to the back of her thighs and up to her ass in order to pull her closer between his legs.
Her breath hitched as he leaned forward and sucked at her hip, uncaring of the barrier between his tongue and her skin. Tomas tasted only the faintest hint of salt, but there was no denying the scent of her arousal, not at this proximity. It made his cock throb, his fingers dig into the soft flesh of her ass. When her hands came to rest on his shoulders, he encouraged her to hold on by biting into the top of her thigh.
Rana cried out. Her nails sank into his skin.
He soothed over the spot with the flat of his tongue, closing his eyes as he took a moment to inhale deeply. He wasn't normally this rough. Then again, normally, he wasn't trying to seduce the elemental who had hijacked the start of his career. Keeping Rana on edge did more than give Jett the time and chance he needed to get the butterfly. It made Tomas feel fucking good.
Her soft moan filled the room as he licked a path toward the junction of her thighs. The nearer he got, the more she fought against his hands to spread her legs further apart, but he held her still until his nose hovered over the dark hair. Then he helped her move, coaxing the separation of thigh from thigh. It bared the tender skin, shiny from her juices, and Tomas paused, his heavy breaths making the transparent fabric flutter bef
ore his face as he savored the sight.
''I remember that night on top of the hotel,'' he said softly, unable to stop the memories. ''When we snuck up because you wanted to see the city. You let me eat you out while you stood on the edge of the roof and I thought you were the bravest woman I had ever known.''
She laughed, a low, musical sound. ''That's not what you said.''
No. He'd called her crazy. And then proceeded to hold onto her for dear life while he buried his face between her legs.
Leaning forward, Tomas ran the tip of his tongue over the soft flesh of her mound and down between her outer lips. It drove the fabric against her clit, into her wetness, and Rana moaned again as her fingers clawed through his sweater, but that didn't stop him. It only incited him to suck at the nightgown, tasting her arousal for the first time in a decade. It only made him more determined to turn her moans into screams.
Without breaking his hold on her ass, his fingers pulled the skirt of her gown up inch by excruciating inch, until it was bunched in his hands and had his skin against hers for the first time without barrier. Tomas released the suction of his mouth to sit back and finish the job, and when her pussy was finally naked before him, he licked his lips.
''Wish all my negotiations could be like this,'' he muttered.
Seconds passed. When his mouth didn't return, Rana fidgeted in his grasp. ''What are you waiting for?''
He wasn't waiting for anything. This was one of his favorite parts about oral sex, though she wouldn't know that. It was a preference developed in the time since he'd first known her.
Tomas loved the way women looked when they were aroused. Soft flesh swollen and glistening with the fluids of their desire. Sweet little clits poking through the folds, deceptively fragile-looking yet firm against his tongue when he finally stopped his gazing.
But as much as he loved to look, there was little on this earth as tantalizing as losing his tongue and teeth and cock in the secret dips and valley a pussy concealed. No matter what had transpired between them, Rana was no different.
She grew impatient and reached down to grab the hem of her nightgown. The fabric tore from his fingers as she stripped it over her head, and it landed in a flutter on the floor nearby, distracting him for precious seconds from the treat he still held. ''Do it,'' she said. She threaded her fingers through the thick hair at his nape and tugged his mouth closer. ''Please, Tomas. You can't leave me hanging here.''
He could, but he didn't want to, not any longer. Her scent was growing too thick in his nose, his cock aching inside his jeans. Letting Rana pull him toward her, Tomas licked a path along her outer folds, enjoying the texture against his tongue. When that was no longer enough, he dipped lower, slipping between her lips to trace around her opening, catching the juices and swallowing them down as a soft groan of satisfaction escaped his throat. He didn't know how long he could keep this up. He only hoped Jett didn't find the butterfly until he had a chance to come himself. If the little guy interrupted during the good stuff, Tomas just might have to kill him. Slowly.
He avoided her clit as long as he could, dragging the flat of his tongue across her opening in a broad sweep before shallowly fucking her with it. Rana began to grind against his face, her inner thighs warm along his cheeks, her ass even warmer beneath his fingers, and the small noises she made went straight to his cock. There were breathy sighs and small gasps, little mews and unintelligible mutterings. Each rained down around his head, saturating his senses until all he could feel and taste and smell and hear was her.
When he couldn't stand it any more, Tomas released his hold to slide his hands to the front, withdrawing his tongue as he sank both thumbs deep inside her tight passage. His fingers splayed across her hips, absorbing as much heat as possible while keeping her open and exposed, and he glanced up through his lashes to see how she was taking it. Rana was oblivious. Her head was thrown back and her eyes were squeezed shut and she was too busy riding his broad hands to be aware of anything more than how she was being touched and where.
''Not so much the old man now, am I,'' he commented softly, his mouth quirked into a twisted smile.
''Remind me to send the sentinels a thank you note for making you the negotiator,'' she breathed.
He could've gone without the reminder of his lies, but Tomas dismissed the faint stirrings of guilt low in his gut. Rana was getting exactly what she deserved, if not for what she'd done to him, then for these delusions of grandeur she seemed to have acquired over the years. In fact, she would have gotten much worse if he hadn't stepped in and asked for responsibility.
But he didn't want to think about that. Banishing the thoughts, he bent back in and flicked his tongue over her unsuspecting clit, hard and fleeting. Rana cried out, arching towards his mouth, but he kept his lips purposefully away from her skin, settling for fucking her with his thumbs while he nibbled on her clit. Tiny bites that caught the very tip. Long strokes that felt every flutter of her inner walls. And when he finally sank his teeth hard into the sensitive flesh, she came so swiftly and so violently, Tomas had to pull her onto the couch with him for fear of her legs giving out beneath her.
She straddled his hips, her thighs quaking, her body a living flame to match that of the hearth behind her. The sound of her ragged breath beat against his skin, and inwardly he cursed the fact that he wasn't already naked with her, so that he could feel every inch of that soft skin when she collapsed down the length of his body. As it was, he had to satisfy himself with burying his mouth in her pussy again and catching every drop he could find.
''Is this your strategy?'' Rana slid down so that she sat on his lap, knees on either side of his body, her hard nipples pressed to his chest. Looping her arms loosely around his shoulders, she licked along his chin where he knew his skin was shiny and wet from eating her. ''Make my body useless and hope that my brain will follow so that you can get your way in the negotiations?''
He regarded her silently.
She skimmed over his lower lip. ''It's going to take more than one orgasm to get me to that point, you know.''
''I know. Trust me, I know.''
''And you don't have some sort of schedule?''
Tomas shook his head. Grabbing her hips, he situated her more comfortably across his thighs, arranging the hard line of his cock right against her pussy. Feeling her trembling still in his arms dispelled the worst of his nerves. Regardless of how fearful he was about her control over him, there was no denying he still got to her, at least a little bit. It helped, in more ways than one.
''We don't have to worry about being interrupted?'' he asked. A lazy hand tickled across her stomach, finding a path up to the lower swell of her breast. ''I'd rather not have to spend the next few hours looking over my shoulder for the angry boyfriend to come storming in and cut my dick off.''
Rana chuckled. ''No, no interruptions. It's just me here.''
''Good.''
''I followed your career, you know,'' she said. He had to tear his attention away from the heat seeping through his jeans to meet her dark eyes. ''You've made quite the splash, Tomas Dalmau. I was particularly impressed with how you managed to blow up the Argentine consulate when you went after that necromancer a few years ago.''
''That was an accident,'' he argued automatically, but his gut twisted, both at the memory and the fact that Rana even knew about it.
He didn't want to think that she'd been interested enough after their parting to care what happened to him.
''Really? It didn't sound like that to me.'' She slithered a hand between their bodies and slipped it between their hips, curling lithe fingers around his erection. ''You don't like playing by the rules. We both know that.''
''Ever think about why that might be?'' Bitterness laced his tone. He chastised himself for letting her get to him.
''I like to think I gave you permission to let you be yourself,'' Rana replied. Never letting go of his cock, she bent to nibble at his long neck. ''I unlocked all that potential you had inside
you.''
His eyes squeezed shut, the conflicting sensations washing over Tomas in a deluge. This was Rana's true weapon, not the fact that she was an elemental with winter at her command or that she was wilier than half of Congress. Lies sounded like truth when they fell from her lips, and it was difficult not to believe her.
There was only one way to both ignore her gentle persuasions and stop any more from coming.
Letting go of her hips, Tomas leaned back in the couch in order to separate their upper bodies. He grabbed the hem of his sweater and pulled it over his head, then lifted his hips from the cushion in an obvious show that he wanted his jeans to come off next. Rana's eyes lit up, some of the sluggishness dissipating from her muscles as she got up on her knees and worked deftly on his buckle and zipper. As soon as his legs were free of the denim, Tomas crushed her back against his chest and silenced her with a ferocious kiss.
His head spun. His cock ached. His flesh burned. It was all easier to take than listening to Rana's lies.
He let her break away for breath and took the opportunity to move them to the floor. As he stretched out on his back, his erection was heavy between their bodies, but he refused to yield to the urge to sink into her yet, not even when she parted her legs and rocked her hips so that his cock glided between her wet folds. Instead, he kissed a course down her neck to the upper slope of her full breast, pulling her up his body enough so that the pert nipple was easily within reach.
Tomas traced around the rosy aureole, feeling it tighten even further under his tongue. Her breath caught as he made another swirl, circling in smaller sweeps around and around until he ended at the hard tip, but he didn't catch it between his teeth as she might have expected. He started over on the other breast, losing himself in the growing heat.
