by Elisa Adams
But his icy gaze cooled the burn. She hugged her arms around her to warm her chilled blood.
He ran his free hand through his thick, unruly hair, scrubbed his palm down his face. The lust, the need in his gaze hit her like a punch in the stomach, sucked the breath from her lungs. But something else hovered in those green eyes. Something darker, far more sinister than lust could ever be. She took a stumbling step back, instinct warning her to run, yet forcing her to stay at the same time.
“Sam?”
He shook his head. “No. This is a bad idea.” He started to walk away.
Panic struck, sharp and deep. She couldn’t let him walk away from her. Not yet, not when she hadn’t done her best to convince him to help. “Wait!”
He froze, but didn’t turn back to her. “What is it?” he asked, his deep voice rumbling through her as if he still stood right in front of her.
“I told you. I need your help.”
“There’s nothing I can do for you. Go home, Faith. I’m sure you can find the way to the door on your own.”
No! He couldn’t push her aside. She wouldn’t let him. “Stop, Sam. I want to make a deal with you. I can offer you something other than money, if you’re interested.”
He spun around, his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “Go on.”
She gulped, nearly losing her nerve. But the thought of the men who’d broken into her house forced the words from her mouth. “I need your protection.”
“Like a bodyguard?”
She nodded.
“I’m not interested.” He stepped further away, disappearing into the shadows in the corner near the table. She followed. No way in hell are you going to just walk away without hearing me out.
She put her hand on his arm. The muscles tensed under her touch, but he didn’t pull away. She swallowed hard. “Please. You don’t understand. My life is in danger. I need your help. No one else will do.”
A rusty laugh escaped him. “As much as that inflates my ego, sweetheart, you have no idea what you’re dealing with.”
“And neither do you. Please. I’ll do anything.”
He grasped her wrist, moved her hand away from his body, stepped deeper into the shadows. Endless seconds passed before he spoke. “Anything?”
His tone told her he understood what she offered. She’d sparked his interest. Is this what it’s going to take to get you to help me?
“Anything at all. It’s yours. Whatever you want.” Allowing him the use of her body for a little while far outweighed the possibility of ending up in a ditch with a bullet in her head. Or worse. She’d rather give herself willingly to Sam than have the choice be taken out of her hands by the two burly strangers who’d come after her tonight. “Please, Sam. I’m serious. Anything.”
He stepped out of the shadows then, stood over her, even more dark and dangerous than before. Her breath caught in her throat. A flood of moisture filled her cunt as her inner muscles quivered, just from the heated look in his eyes.
When he spoke, his voice poured over her like warm honey. “Sweetheart, you’ve just made a very big mistake.”
“I don’t make mistakes.” Though coming to beg him for help was starting to feel like one.
“Oh no?” His brow rose again, this time in blatant challenge. “We’ll see about that.”
She met his glare with one of her own. “There’s nothing to see. I don’t want to die.”
“But you know what I’m going to ask for. You know what I want.”
Her legs shook. “Yes.”
“You aren’t afraid?”
Her stomach clenched. Another wave of heat washed over her. “Should I be?”
“Yes, you should.” The corners of his mouth lifted in a smile that did nothing to ease her fears. “If this is what you want, you’ve got it. We start now.”
“Excuse me?” Her question came out as a squeal. She cleared her throat. This soon? In the middle of his kitchen? She shook her head.
“I said we’ll start now. You know what you offered me, even if you didn’t say the words. Your body. And you know that I want it too. So badly I’ve been going out of my mind. I’m not going to wait any longer for what should have been mine from the start.”
His words sent a shock of heat through her. Oh God. Her nipples pebbled against the thin material of her t-shirt. “Do you…um…want me to take my clothes off?”
“Oh yeah.” His low, deep voice rumbled like a purr, a predatory smile spread across his lips. “But not yet. There’s something I need you to do for me first.”
She gulped. Please don’t let him be into anything too kinky or demeaning. If she hadn’t been running for her life, she never would have agreed to any of this.
Liar. You’ve wanted him since the first time you saw him.
She dipped her head, closed her eyes. Yes. She had. Part of her had been waiting for a moment like this for a long time. A sweet ache filled her cunt. Touch me, Sam.
She let her eyelids flutter open and she met his gaze. “What do you need?”
“That’s a good girl.” He patted her cheek. Moved his hands to his waist.
Her gaze dropped to his fly as he toyed with the open button. Her breath stuck in her throat, her body frozen in place while she waited to see what he’d do. He dragged the zipper down, his fingers working as if in slow motion, and pulled out his cock. Hard, huge. Beautiful. Every part of him fascinated her. She wet her lips. With his thumb, he lifted her chin until her gaze met his again. Pure fire flashed in his eyes, burning so hot that her legs almost gave out.
“Sam?” Her voice shook, her body trembled. Want and need and fear warred within her, struggled to break free, pushed her arousal to a fevered pitch.
“Shh.” He brushed the pad of his thumb over her lips. His feral smile faded, his expression hardened once again. “I get whatever I want, right? Well, I want you on your knees.”
Her heart thumped to a stop. “Excuse me?”
“I can’t make it any more plain than that, Faith. On your knees, sweetheart, and wrap those luscious lips around my cock.”
Chapter Two
Myriad emotions played across Faith’s big brown eyes. Anger and disbelief. Shock and fear. Lust. Oh yeah. Plenty of that. Sam almost smiled. He hardened his gaze, forced the thoughts away. She glanced from his throbbing cock to his eyes and back down again, gnawing on her lower lip. Go on. Run away like you know you want to. You shouldn’t be here, Faith. Coming to me was a big mistake.
Her simple plea, her outrageous offer nearly undid him. She asked too much. Protecting her should be a job for the Council. He had no business involving himself in the Council’s affairs. His part in this—the part they’d paid him for—had been finished when Richardson’s body hit the ground. But if she stayed, he would do it. Despite his internal warnings to keep his distance, he would do everything she asked, and more. That thought scared him more than it should. He’d been walking a fine line between attraction and obsession for weeks, and the bargain she wanted to strike was enough to push him over the line into dangerous territory. He had to find a way to get her away from him, one that wouldn’t involve revealing his true self to her, or else he risked his job—and maybe their lives.
Cold indifference hadn’t worked, and neither had refusing. So he’d done the next thing that had come to mind. He’d tried to scare her away. If the deer-in-the-headlights look in her eyes counted for anything, she was about two seconds from bolting out the door. Good. His life was complex enough without adding her to the mix. And yet, his body ached for the caress of her full lips, her soft pink tongue against his cock. He kept his gaze on hers, pleaded with his eyes for her to turn and run.
But she didn’t.
She hardened her expression to an unreadable mask and dropped to her knees in front of him.
A strangled groan escaped his lips before he could bite it back. Did she realize how close he was to losing control? If she didn’t do something soon—either walk away or take him into her mouth—h
e couldn’t be held responsible for his actions. And though tonight she didn’t look like the polished trophy wife he knew her to be, the air of sophistication still surrounded her. She wouldn’t appreciate being tackled to the floor and having her clothes ripped off, as much as he would enjoy that.
Or would she?
What did she like in bed, this enigma of a woman who knelt before him? Did she like to be fucked slow and steady? Gentle? The fire in her eyes hinted at deeper, darker desires. Did she like to control? No. His command had only sharpened the desire in her gaze, parted her lips and made her breaths come in ragged gasps.
Her hot breath blew across the head of his cock, forcing a groan from his lips. It had been too long since he’d had a woman before him this way. His body reacted like a man who’d been lost in the desert for months and had finally found water—tensing, tightening, hovering on the edge of sanity. He’d started this little game of wills to scare her off, but now he’d do anything to get her to stay.
His already erect cock surged toward her and he bit back another groan. He should drag her back to her feet, dust her off, and send her on her way. If she really needed protection, he could point her toward a few people who’d be more than willing to help her. Eric and Ellie. Merida. She didn’t need to be in the middle of his world. The job he did…it wasn’t the place for a woman, at least not a human one.
Remaining still while she studied him proved to be hell on earth. His sensibility hung by a thin thread. The beast inside him roared to break free, to claim the human as his. The chains that held the animal back threatened to snap. Leave, Faith. Leave before I do something that might hurt you.
“Faith?” He cursed himself for the unemotional tone he forced into his voice. She didn’t deserve this. Any of it. But now that he’d started it, he refused to back down.
She shot her gaze up to his, her eyes nearly black with determination and arousal. “As long as you keep me alive, you can have whatever you want.”
She reached her small hand out and encircled his cock. He hissed out a breath. Her cool fingers did nothing to ease the fire burning inside him. Her strokes were featherlight. Too soft. Too subtle. He needed so much more. Scaring her off became second priority as his selfish pleasure moved to the top of the list. Decades…centuries of wasted life took a backseat to the little human woman, those soft hands and full lips. And where his body ached for them. This is madness. Stop it before it goes too far.
Never.
“Scared yet?”
A wicked gleam lit her eyes. “Is that what this is about? I should have realized that. You want me to be scared, don’t you? You wish it were that simple to get rid of me.”
Yes.
But his body begged to get her closer. To feel the head of his cock bump the back of her throat as she sucked him deep, her cunt muscles clench around him when he pounded into her. “No. You belong to me.”
“For now.”
Forever. The single word formed in his mind, pushed aside all thoughts of chasing her away, of finding someone else to do what she asked of him. Forever. His mind, his body told him the truth he’d tried so long to ignore. She’s the one. The one he’d spent a lifetime searching for.
He’d do anything for her. If it cost him his job, his way of life, fine. None of that mattered. Faith needed him. He could no more turn her away than he could deny them what they both wanted. His hands went to her hair, tangling in the silky strands as he pulled her closer. Her lips hovered only inches from the head of his cock. “Do it, then.”
“Believe me, Sam. I plan to.”
She parted her lips and sucked him deep inside her hot, moist mouth.
Just like that, he felt ready to come apart at the seams. Keeping himself detached and unemotional wouldn’t be possible with her mouth on him, her tongue swirling over the head of his cock and down his length, her lips wrapping around him with their full softness. Tingles danced the length of his shaft. She knew just where to touch him, where to stroke with that warm, moist tongue to make his stomach tighten in knots.
His head flopped back, a moan slipped from his lips. He tightened his fingers in her hair as she moved up and down on his length, sucking and licking and nibbling until his head threatened to explode. It took all of two seconds for his body to reach the breaking point. But she pushed him further, squeezing her lips tighter around his cock and sucking him down as far as she could. His knees threatened to buckle. His legs no longer wanted to support his weight, and he would have sunk to the floor if not for sheer force of will.
“Jesus, Faith. You’re killing me.”
He felt her smile against his flesh.
When had he ever thought her innocent? She worked him like a pro, her expert strokes driving him to the brink of ecstasy in mere minutes. Though, if he had to admit the truth, he’d been damned nearly there since he’d opened the door and found her standing in front of him, trembling with fear and her brown eyes dark with lust.
She pulled her head back and glanced up at him, fire and triumph in her gaze. How had she managed to turn the tables on him so easily? He’d wanted to chase her away, but now he was the one ready to run scared. Scared of the strength of what he felt for her, a woman he barely knew. Scared of the emotions attached to the most intimate physical act. His body shook with the intensity of it all. Intensity he couldn’t share with her. Not if he wanted her to stay and finish what they’d started.
She kissed the head of his cock, rendering him speechless. Helpless. Unable to tell her to stop like he knew he should, despite the guilt that welled in him as he let her continue. Her tongue played along the slit, probing, sending little shocks of electricity through him before she sucked him so deep he bumped the back of her throat. Shit. Did she even understand what she was doing to him? It had been so long since he’d been with a woman who mattered at all to him. For as long as he could remember, they’d all been fillers—something to pass the time before he moved on to the next woman, the next job. But this… She was different. Important. And if he let her keep going he was bound to screw it up.
Her intimate kisses became a brutal sensual assault, taking him places he didn’t think possible for a human woman. Perfection. Absolute perfection. He ached everywhere for her. His balls tightened, drew close to his body. Every nerve he had tingled, his blood heated to a point somewhere past boiling. It wouldn’t be long now. His body rushed toward the release her mouth promised. But not here. Not in the middle of his kitchen floor. He had plans for her tonight—plans she deserved to have a mattress under her back for. It took all his willpower to fight off the urge to come, but he managed it. Barely. He tugged at her hair.
She blinked up at him, her lips red and swollen and her eyes glazed with passion. And anger. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No. Fuck no. You did everything right.” He grabbed her arms and hauled her to her feet. He’d be damned if he waited another minute to get right where he needed to be—in his bed, on top of her, thrusting deep inside her waiting cunt. His cock twitched at the visual, his gut clenching tighter. “Another second and I would have come in your mouth.”
She took a step back. “Forgive my ignorance, but wasn’t that the point of your little demand?”
“No.” Not even close. Though it would have been a nice bonus, she deserved better than that.
She shook her head. “Would you care to explain to me, then, what just happened?”
“Sweetheart, from the way you worked my cock I think you know exactly what just happened. Come with me.”
Her expression darkened, his cold words having their desired effect. “Bastard.”
Don’t get involved. No emotions. No feelings. No trappings of humanity. He raked a hand through his hair, pushed aside the denials racing through his mind and tried to calm the blood raging through his veins. “Nobody’s ever accused me of being anything else, sweetheart.”
He took her arm, pulled her across the room to the small bedroom. He hadn’t planned on taking her to bed, had
n’t expected it to go this far, but after her performance his body refused to give him a choice. He’d wanted her for weeks, an eternity, with every fiber of his being. Wanted, needed. Ached. Tonight he would take her. Show her everything he’d longed to show her since the first day he saw her.
She wanted him too, bargain or no. He’d fully expected her to deny it, but she hadn’t spoken a word of protest. Every emotion she felt played across her melted chocolate gaze. He didn’t deserve her, had no right to take such liberties with an innocent human. But need overrode common sense. He pulled her into the bedroom and kicked the door shut behind them.
He left her in the middle of the floor, shivering, as he strode to the single window next to the bed and pulled the drapes, shrouding the room in near-total darkness. Just how he needed it. He let out a relieved breath. She wouldn’t be able to see…there were things about him she wouldn’t want to know. The darkness would help conceal secrets better left alone. And it would help swing things again in his favor. Being what he was, a mix of many things straight out of a human’s nightmares, he preferred darkness to the light.
“What are you doing?” she asked. He heard a soft thump, followed by a softer curse. He grinned, glad for the advantage of excellent night vision. He glanced over his shoulder to find her stumbling around the room, her hands in front of her and a grimace on her face. “Sam? Where the hell are you and what the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Such language, Faith.” The rough language didn’t fit the woman, at least not the woman he’d assumed her to be before tonight. Now he wasn’t sure of anything.
She huffed, the sound tinged with anxiety. “I’ll give you worse than a couple of swears if you don’t tell me what’s going on.”
“We need to seal the bargain. That is, if you’re still interested in the deal you offered.”
Liar. The truth was a lot simpler than that. Basic, uncomplicated. He needed her. He’d been waiting long enough, and he refused to wait any longer. She’d come to him with an offer she wouldn’t have made if she didn’t want the same thing he did. And even before tonight, he’d caught interest sparking in her eyes on more than one occasion. In truth, this had been a long time in coming. The only thing standing in his way before had been the fact that she was a married woman, but now… He pushed the thought out of his mind. The reason she was no longer married was his fault, and if she found out about it she’d never want to see him again. He wouldn’t be able to make her understand the reason behind what he’d done, not without giving away too much of himself.
