by Tina Reber
Something lightly thumped on the other side of the door and then I heard his voice in conversation with someone but I could only hear his side. I turned out the light and cracked the door ever so slightly, giving a furtive glance. The last thing I wanted to do was to walk into the middle of an awkward situation in his bedroom.
His incredible muscular back was facing me, glistening with a golden hue from the last of the day’s setting sun that was peeking through the opened curtains. One hand was stuck roughly in his hair. The top edge of his boxer briefs was exposed underneath his hanging blue jeans. He was on his cell.
I glanced around the doorframe once more before taking another step.
“That’s the thing, Turk, none of the cars have resurfaced. I’ve been investigating this for the last nine months,” Adam said to the caller. “We had another ten boosted in the last four weeks. No, no GM products. They were all high-end taken right from the dealerships and a few right from the owners’ homes. No, I’m lead on this investigation down here.”
Adam glanced back and motioned for me. He put his hand around my hip and gave me a soft kiss, locking me under his arm.
“Can you email me the list that you’ve compiled up there? We’re looking for new rentals of warehouses along the Delaware that might have access to shipping and rail but that’s like finding a needle in a haystack. And now our search area just got a hell of a lot wider.
“Check EZ Pass tolls; see if there’s a connection. Yeah, I think they’re shipping them in containers and right out of the country because not one of them is showing back up on the streets in the States. No, GPS devices have all been deactivated, so we’re looking for some high-tech hackers here, too. Yeah, of course we’ll keep in touch with NYPD. I’ll be making a few calls Monday to some of the task forces in Jersey, see if anyone has any leads on the drivers. We’ve got some leads we’re following here, but nothing solid. Few nights ago, twenty cars parked at a local hospital all had their plates switched. Yep. Bogies. We actually got a call on one that we ended up pitting, but it was just a distraction. Yeah, same night two hundred grand of new vehicles disappeared. Word on the street is that this all goes back to Mancuso. I’ve compiled a list of all his known associates here so I’m getting very familiar with his players but if you have more intel than that send it my way. Yep. Now we just need to catch one and convince him to flip on the rest. No, no, not today,” he laughed lightly.
Adam glanced down at me; his dark eyes smoldered. How he managed to render me immobile was both intriguing and disturbing. His tongue slid over his bottom lip. “I have other pressing engagements I need to attend to. I’ll send you files on Monday. Yep, talk to you then.”
He didn’t even say goodbye to whomever he was talking to. He tossed his phone over onto the rustic leather chair by his dresser and pulled me into his chest.
“Police work?”
He nodded. “We’re very similar, you and me. Sometimes it’s hard to shut the job off.” He combed a few strands of my hair back. “But right now, you have all of my attention. You are so beautiful, Doc. Not sure how I got so lucky.”
Funny, I was just thinking the same thing about him. His words, though, made me slightly uncomfortable. It had been a long time since someone complimented me, especially when I was mostly naked. “I don’t think you got lucky, yet.”
Adam tipped my chin back up. His smile was devastating. “I think I have. The rest? Well, I’m crossing my fingers.”
Thoughts of being an easy lay warred with my desire. My eyes darted to the ominous bed and then back to the intricate tribal tattoos outlining his incredible body. “Guess it’s too soon to wonder if you’ll call me tomorrow.”
He gave me a sardonic grin and an admonishing sigh while he palmed my ass with both hands. “How about I just cook you breakfast tomorrow? Then you don’t need to worry about anything. We can talk over coffee instead.”
Adam pivoted me, herding me backwards.
“Oh, you’re good. Do you practice these lines or do they just come naturally?” I felt the mattress touch the back of my thighs.
And then I was sitting.
“Don’t think you’re going home tonight, Doc. It’s not looking good for you.”
He loomed over me, urging me to scuttle back on his king-sized bed. His hands slid under my shoulders, his forearms holding most of his weight. The look on his face was so serene, so loving and full of emotion, taking my apprehensions completely away.
“I’m serious about breakfast,” he said, adjusting himself to move a thick lock of hair off my neck. He followed his statement with a kiss so powerful I felt welded to the bed, my heart running its own marathon in its wake. Adam’s kisses turned soft, playful, taunting even, with little nips of his teeth on my lip, but his face was very serious. I felt cherished just seeing how he looked at me.
I raked my fingers into his hair, our union taking on a new passion, filled with a level of intenseness I’d never felt before. Adam wasn’t in a hurry, taking his time to stroke my body with his hands, making a meal out of just kissing me.
He slid down my body and rolled my shirt up, one kiss at a time. I raised my hands above me while he shimmied the shirt over my chest and over my head, leaving the tee binding my arms. His flat tongue licked right up between my breasts, and then he took my mouth.
His bare chest rubbed over mine, sending wave after wave of tingles throughout my body, driving my need to exponential levels. I wanted to touch him but his forearms had me pinned while his tongue made agonizing circles around my nipple.
I thought the feeling couldn’t get any better until he sucked—hard.
I tried to get an arm free but he wouldn’t relent, taking his time to explore every inch while slowly driving me insane. By the time he was done with my right breast, I was more than ready. His mouth continued to assault my body, gliding over my ribs, placing kisses and sensual bites along the way.
Adam circled back up, and just when I thought he was going to kiss me again, he didn’t. He just hovered over me, gazing at me so adoringly, and for a moment I thought he was about to tell me he was falling in love.
I pulled an arm free, desperately needing to touch him. Sometimes in the throes of passion it’s easy to mistake lust for love, but the softness in his gaze, the way it seemed he was looking beyond what was visible on the outside, spoke of far deeper things than simple desire.
I hoped I wasn’t misreading him because I was feeling it too, but it was far too soon to entertain those notions or utter such things aloud.
The sensations of his mouth, of his tongue weaving its way and commanding mine to follow, conveyed emotions that words alone were incapable of saying. It consumed me.
Adam made his way down my body, leaving no place unattended. Between tender kisses, soft bites, and the rasp of his shadowed jaw line, he was discovering erogenous zones I never knew I had.
When he lifted my leg and his lips reached my ankle, those smoldering eyes met mine, silently informing—not asking—his intentions. I knew I could say no and stop him, but he’d awakened my deepest desires, leaving me dying for more.
He didn’t need to ask permission; I was his for the taking.
Strong forearms slipped under my thighs, lifting me from the bedding, as he adjusted my hips to his liking. I felt his warm breath tingle over me as he spread me open and then instantly bowed when he let me experience his tongue.
Hearing his throaty moans while he devoured me was all the reassurance I needed. I had just closed my eyes to enjoy his attentions when I heard my name being called out.
“Look at me,” he ordered, his tongue still on my flesh. His bandaged hand slid over my ribs and covered my breast, staking his claim and owning me. I brought his wounded hand to my mouth, knowing he had to be hurting, needing to worship and heal him, too.
Feeling his finger enter me was my undoing. A second finger followed and I was lost in the abyss. His commanding strokes and expert tongue worked in tandem, taking me to the edge and
beyond to the stars. Air stuttered in my lungs while his bandaged hand clenched onto my thigh. My hand flew to the top of his head, scoring his hair with my fingernails, wanting to ride this incredible wave to the ends of the earth, but fearing I couldn’t take much more of it.
When he was satisfied he’d gotten every last quake out of me, Adam swiped his chin and crawled back over me, letting me taste myself on his mouth. I gazed into his open eyes, seeing and feeling only him. Nothing else existed.
I opened the top button of his jeans and carefully lowered his zipper, needing to feel all of him.
Watching him rise to leave the bed and remove his jeans was akin to having a front-row seat to the best show in town. He was wearing black boxer briefs and a sly smile.
He retrieved a foil packet from his nightstand drawer, pulled his boxers off, and crawled back onto the bed.
Seeing Adam partially naked was a delectable feast for the eyes. Seeing Adam completely naked was enticing beyond all comprehension. His erection stood long and heavy, almost touching his bellybutton when he rested next to me. The smatter of hair that lightly dusted his chest and blazed a thin trail to his groin beckoned to be touched. I wanted to pleasure him, to ruin his thoughts of ever looking elsewhere for satisfaction. I placed slow, languid kisses on his neck, using his soft moans to map out his erogenous zones, adding each subtle nuance to my memory.
Adam combed my hair away, watching me draw the tip of my tongue around braided rope tattoos that decorated the edges of his chest. He let out a small hiss when I sucked his nipple into my mouth.
Adam rested on his back and let me explore at my own pace. I hadn’t been with someone in a while and the newness and unfamiliarity made me uncomfortable and hesitant. His hips curled in when my hand neared his cock, silently urging me to touch.
My fingers tentatively drifted, feeling the smooth skin of the plump head and down the full length. His hand tensed, tangled within my hair. Our kiss became breathy and aggressive. The desire—irrefutable. He sighed in my mouth when I wrapped my fingers around him, stroking him up and down with growing confidence.
“God, that feels so good,” he groaned. Hearing his throaty moans, watching him watch me, it was a heady combination.
“I need to be inside you,” he said on my lips. “You on birth control?”
I nodded. “I have an IUD, but…”
He paused and then grabbed the condom off his nightstand. My eyes followed his reach, relieved I wouldn’t have to ask him to wear one. He probably had a hell of a lot more lovers than I did, and the last thing I needed or wanted was a sexually transmitted disease.
Adam positioned himself between my thighs while kissing me fervently. He stared at me with such intense reverence while he rolled the condom on. My breath hitched from the slight pinch as he entered me.
Adam stilled, bracing himself above me. “You okay?”
I nodded, pulling him in tighter.
He lowered over me, wrapping me in the protective hold of his arms. Nose to nose, he kissed me, breathing hard with me, making his mark on my body and my heart with each stroke.
“You feel so fucking good,” he whispered on my throat, his hand lifting my rear to angle in deeper. I wrapped my legs around his hips, gripping his muscular shoulders to keep him buried within me.
I’d had other lovers before but none of them compared to what I was feeling for Adam. He gazed at me so intently, making every stroke, every grind of his hips, every sensual touch and languid kiss seem like an unbreakable promise. He stilled inside me, making love to my mouth instead.
This wasn’t just sex.
I’d had plenty of just sex over the years with a few select men who made me feel more like a receptacle than a counterpart. The way Adam was constantly gazing directly in my eyes, the way he poured his entire existence into being with me, was so vastly different from anything I’d experienced before.
No, this wasn’t just sex.
This was the physical manifestation of an unspoken vow.
Adam kissed me one last time and then slowly withdrew, leaving an aching void in more places than I cared to admit. He moved next to me and onto his back, urging me to straddle him, and pulled my mouth back to his.
In one move, he’d surrendered and given me all of the control, to take whatever I wanted, whatever I needed from him on my own terms. He met me beat for beat, going slow or pounding into me, grinding deep while he worked my hips back and forth. Whatever I asked for, he gave it to me.
Adam’s hand cinched around my wrists, binding me like an iron shackle. He pressed my hands flat to his chest, holding me in place, while his thumb rubbed me. Within moments, the quickening accelerated, taking my breath away as the pressure built. I gasped. “Adam.”
“Not yet, babe,” he uttered, sitting up abruptly, taking me with him.
He rolled us over, adjusted us onto our sides, pressing my spine to his chest. Strong, thick arms with killer braided-rope tattoos wrapped around me, holding me fast, while tender lips made their way up and down my neck.
And then he was back inside me, wrapping his arm under my knee, taking his fill and filling me all at the same time.
“Look at me,” he ordered, drifting his command over the shell of my ear. I turned my head, wrapped my hand around his neck, and he took my mouth and my heart all in one swoop.
Adam’s large hand fanned over my pubic bone, pressing down, tilting my pelvis while the tips of his fingers played a perfect melody.
He was everywhere all at once. Lips, tongue, fingers, weaving his way around my soul, touching me in places inside where I’d never been touched before. New sensations struck me, seizing all the oxygen in my lungs. I grasped his shoulder, at every part of him I could hold on to, unable to breathe, unable to think. I felt split apart and slammed back together as the massive orgasm struck and rolled throughout my body.
“That’s it, baby,” he said, railing into me with everything he had.
Adam let out a lengthy groan, stuttering into me, following me over the edge. His warm breath fanned over my neck, up over my cheek, cooling wherever it touched the trickles of sweat beading on my skin.
I held on, clutching his damp head to me. Our breathing came out in labored, winded pants, while the final tremors rippled throughout our bodies.
His fingers drifted over my cheek and tangled up into my hair. His adoring gaze and loving expression gave way to the possibility of having a future with someone—something I hadn’t dared to hope for in a very long time.
In that moment, hope didn’t seem so out of reach. Neither did the possibility of falling in love.
His hips pressed up one more time, a final message that he was still very much in me, owning me. His mouth quirked up into a pleased smile. I couldn’t help but relish how gentle he was with me. Even his kisses were sweet. “You good?”
I swallowed the dryness forming in my throat and drifted my fingers over the tiny birthmark near the corner of his eye, up through his tousled hair, trying to find the words that could encompass all that I was feeling. I opted for a simple, “I’m very good. And you?”
“I’m definitely good.” He placed another tender kiss on my lips and shifted, slipping out of me.
I rolled to face him, needing to cuddle up with him and share this incredibly intimate moment. We lay there in silence for a long time, drifting, smiling, Adam softly stroking my cheek. Then his eyes narrowed, seeming to concentrate on the spot under his fingertips. His breathing changed and his lips drew together and something that resembled sadness or frustration etched his demeanor.
And then he rolled out of bed.
The sudden loss of his body heat caused a chill to snake over my skin. Being this exposed, all sprawled out in the middle of his bed, was also causing self-conscious discomfort. I searched the floor and snagged up his T-shirt, trying not to gawk at his incredible shape while he discarded the used condom in his bathroom.
I sat on the edge of his bed, waiting for what felt like ten minutes
, slowly morphing from post-coital bliss to confused concern, watching his head hang down as he leaned hard on his bathroom vanity in the dark. Body language usually spoke truths that the mouth was unwilling to admit and something equally as dark had just taken him over.
My worry was confirmed when Adam walked past me, avoiding making eye contact, and tagged his boxers off the floor.
I took a deep breath and threw self-preservation out the window, tired of walking on eggshells around moody men. “Everything okay?”
His deep breath was answer enough as he pulled his boxer briefs up. It was the sound of inhaled regret. I felt stupid.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
As much as I’d hoped otherwise, I did misread our entire encounter. It was just sex, passionate, mind-blowing, life-altering sex, but regrettable sex for him, apparently. I heard the snap of his elastic waistband and then the bed dipped next to me.
He rolled his forlorn gaze over at me, that adoration I’d lost myself in was gone. “Listen,” he said hesitantly, “there’s something I need to tell you.”
I could tell whatever he was about to say wasn’t going to be something I’d want to hear.
He took a deep breath, obviously searching for the best way to let me down gently. “I know I owe you an explanation.” He rubbed his face, wiping his fingers over his lips. “God, this is hard. I should have been truthful with you before we…” His eyes flashed between us to the rumpled sheets, to me, then the floor. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
I waved a dismissive hand and braced for the worst, wishing I had my keys and coat and an exit strategy. Just admitting he didn’t want to hurt me was hurting me. Anger welled, hating him for ruining the best love-making encounter of my entire life. Disappointment scorched on top of that. I should have known better. Someone as gorgeous as Adam was probably a fantastic lay with whomever he was fucking. That incredible experience wasn’t meant for me to take personally. “You don’t owe me anything, Adam.”
