by Katie Reus
In the bedroom, she was sitting on the edge of the bed, her body bowstring tight. She looked at him once, then glanced away, the annoyance in her expression clear.
“Karen—”
“Please, don’t. I’m just . . . I don’t want to talk,” she muttered, before lying on the bed, curled on her side, facing away from him.
He told himself to walk away, to head downstairs and get his clothes out of the dryer, or get a midnight snack. Hell, just sleep on the floor. Anything other than what he desperately wanted to do. Instead he stalked to the bed, and made the likely stupid decision to ignore the voice in his head telling him to walk away from her.
She rolled onto her back, staring at him as he crawled over her. Surprise was in her gaze, but she wasn’t pushing him away. It would be so much easier if she did. Because if she said stop, they would. Instead she was looking up at him as though she wanted him as much as he wanted her. His hands were propped on either side of her head as he looked down at her, his body caging her in. There was no fear in her eyes, just a raw, simmering heat.
It floored him that she felt the same attraction. She’d seen his file, she knew what kind of man he was, and she still wanted him. His cock was heavy between his legs and all he could think about was being buried inside her, hearing her say his name as she climaxed.
As he looked down at her, all his previous reasons for keeping his distance seemed pathetic. Maybe in a few hours he’d regret this, but no, he knew he wouldn’t. He could never regret being with this woman. The only thing he hoped was that she didn’t regret being with him.
“Tell me if you want to stop,” he murmured, watching her eyes as he spoke. He wasn’t strong enough to walk away from her. And he knew he wasn’t going to want to stop, so whenever she put the brakes on, he’d stop.
Her lips pulled up into a sensual smile. “You sure? I don’t want to pressure you into anything.” The teasing note in her voice made him laugh.
This woman seriously made him come undone and she wasn’t even trying. As he bent his head, she met him halfway, her lips brushing over his at first, sweet and teasing. He tried to keep it light, but one taste of her and he was consumed with the need to taste all of her.
Fisting a hand in her hair, he held on to the back of her head as he stroked his tongue against hers.
Arching her body into his, she wrapped her legs around his waist and slid her arms down his back, trailing her fingers over his bare skin. He loved the feel of her hands on his body. Her touch was so damn gentle, but he could feel how much she needed him, and that she was holding back. He didn’t want her to ever do that.
Since he knew this might be the only chance he ever got with Karen, the only chance to run his lips and fingers over every inch of her body, this had to be perfect for her. He wanted her to remember this, to burn for him whenever she thought about him. He wasn’t good with words, but he could show her exactly how amazing she was without them.
Reaching between their bodies, he started unbuttoning her pajama top, moving at a frantic speed he knew was probably pathetic, but the need to see her bared to him eclipsed everything else.
He wished he could turn on the lights or see her in the bright daylight, but as he peeled the top open, his mouth watered at the sight of her breasts. Full with hard-tipped nipples. She was definitely more than a handful. For such a lean woman, she had some serious curves and he planned to kiss and stroke every inch of her.
Feeling possessed, he helped her strip it completely off, then tugged her pants down her legs. She was completely bare, a surprise, and it was fucking hot. Though he felt almost desperate with the need to taste her, he gently ran his finger along her wet slit. Her thighs immediately fell open wider, the sight of her spread open for him almost enough to make him lose control.
“I want to taste you,” he managed to get out, his words hoarse.
Her fingers slid through his hair and she arched her hips up in a silent invitation. It was quite possibly the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. He told himself to work up to it, to tease and lick, but he needed to taste all of her so badly he shook with it. There was no way he could reject what she was offering.
Inhaling her sweet scent, he flicked his tongue along the length of her wet slit. She jerked against his face, an erotic moan tearing from her lips as she rolled her hips in that insanely sensual way.
He stroked again and again, avoiding her clit and just using his tongue.
“Tucker,” she moaned, and he knew how much he was teasing her. From the slickness he tasted, he had no doubt how turned on she was, but he wanted more. Wanted her trembling with the need to climax. Some primal part of him wanted to imprint himself in her mind so that she’d never forget him or this night.
Unable to hold out any longer, he slid a finger down her slit as he continued stroking. When he pressed it inside her she nearly vaulted off the bed, her fingers digging into his head as she groaned again. She was so damn tight and all he could think about was how she’d feel around his cock.
“Lick my clit,” she half begged, half ordered.
The demand was the hottest part of it. His erection pressed insistently against his pants, but he ignored the ache. Now all that mattered was Karen.
The sharpest sense of protectiveness and possessiveness welled up inside him as she made herself completely vulnerable with him. He sure as hell didn’t deserve it, but the fact that she’d given herself over to him like this, after everything he’d put her through, floored him.
Narrowing in on her clit, he wrapped his lips around it and sucked on the small bud.
“Tucker . . .” His name came out as a strangled moan, her fingers digging into his head, then moving to his shoulders. Her short fingernails pressed into his skin as he flicked his tongue over her sensitive bundle of nerves.
When she started to close her legs around his head, he pressed against her inner thigh with his other hand.
With each flick, she rolled her hips against his face. He slid another finger into her and groaned as he felt more proof of how turned on she was. Her inner walls clamped around his fingers impossibly tight.
He began stroking them in and out as he teased her clit. The faster he moved, the more erratic her breathing grew. She made little gasping, moaning sounds, clearly beyond words at this point. Her body was strung taut, every part of her tense.
He increased the pressure of his tongue, taking cues from her responsiveness. When she let go of his shoulders and clutched the sheets beneath her, he knew how close she was.
As soon as he had the thought, she surged into orgasm, her climax coating his fingers as her body trembled and she continued rolling her hips against his face. She moaned his name over and over, the sound of her pleasure ricocheting through him.
Knowing he was the one who’d made her come, that it was his name she was crying out, he felt a sharp sense of triumph surge through him.
The unabashed way she just let go had his dick pushing even harder against his pants. He couldn’t ever remember being this turned on. Hell, over the last four years he’d only had a couple of one-night stands. After being betrayed he hadn’t wanted to be with anyone else, not emotionally anyway. So a couple of quick fucks had held him over when he needed release. He’d been on so many undercover jobs he hadn’t been able to fuck anyway.
Karen wasn’t just an easy lay and she was anything but a one-night stand. It was stupid to think they could have something real, but he didn’t want to let this thing between them go. Didn’t want to settle for only tonight.
But if it was all they could have, he was going to make damn sure she remembered it.
As her breathing steadied and her legs loosened around his head, he slowly withdrew his fingers from her. Watching her while he did, he took pleasure in the way her eyes widened when he slid his fingers into his mouth.
It was impossible to tell in the dimness, but he would bet her cheeks had turned red if her surprised expression was anything to go by. He loved seeing her b
lush.
Shifting slightly, he dropped a kiss on top of her mound, then moved up to her lower abdomen.
“That was amazing,” she murmured. She sounded almost lethargic as he continued a path to one of her breasts.
“We’re not even close to done,” he whispered, feathering kisses around one of her hardened nipples, but not quite touching it yet.
Her fingers slid over his head, her touch gentle. “There are condoms in the nightstand. I looked,” she said in a rush.
It took a moment for her words to register. He looked up to find her watching him, that simmering lust in her gaze. Sliding a hand up her smooth hip and over her ribs, he stopped only when he reached her other breast. Gently he cupped it, surprised by how heavy it was. He loved the feel of her skin and the way her eyes went heavy-lidded at his touch.
“We don’t have to go that far.” God, was that actually him talking? The words scraped out against his throat. He desperately wanted to sink into her, to feel her tight body clenching around his hard length, but he didn’t want her to feel any kind of pressure.
“I want to.” She dug her fingers into his head, her gaze going hot. “I feel like I’ll regret it if we don’t.” There was a hint of something in her tone he couldn’t quite define.
Whatever it was, he agreed with her. He felt as if he’d regret it for the rest of his damn life if he didn’t completely claim this sensual woman. “Me too. I . . . for the record, I’ve been with two women in the last four years, no one in the last nine months, and I’ve been tested.” Anyone who went on undercover jobs was tested regularly. “I’m clean.” He needed her to know, especially since she was aware of the undercover jobs he’d been part of.
Her eyebrows lifted, clear surprise in her gaze. “She really did a number on you,” she said quietly, stroking her fingers down to his neck, then upper back.
Her insight made him glad he’d opened up to her. Keeping that shit bottled up for so long had worn on him. Nodding, he said, “I didn’t love her, but I thought we stood for the same thing.” That had been the hardest part to deal with, that someone he’d thought he knew, trusted with his life, had completely betrayed not only him, but everyone attached to the op. Looking back, he knew the signs had been there; he just hadn’t wanted to piece them all together, to see the truth. Maybe he’d been undercover for too long at that point—who knew?
What he knew now without a doubt was that Karen was someone he could trust with his life. To be with her, someone the complete opposite of the woman who’d betrayed him, someone who’d put her own ass on the line for him when she had no reason to, seriously humbled him. She had every reason to hate him, to turn him over for being a terrorist, but she somehow saw past all the bullshit.
“I’m clean too. My last lover was about two years ago,” she muttered, seeming embarrassed.
Something told him Karen was the kind of woman who only slept with someone she trusted explicitly. She’d have to not only trust someone, but care for him. She’d need that emotional connection. A boyfriend or someone she’d gone on at least half a dozen dates with. With the kind of job she had and the little she’d opened up to him about herself, it made sense. The primitive caveman part of him was glad it had been so long for her, and he wasn’t going to let her regret this.
Wordlessly he dropped his head to her breast and sucked her nipple into his mouth. Hard.
She gasped and arched into him, simultaneously wrapping her legs around his waist. His pants did nothing to hide his reaction from her. Not that he wanted to.
Rolling his hips against her, he shuddered, wishing there was nothing between them. But he needed to work her up more first, needed her panting even harder for him. One orgasm wasn’t enough. Never before had he felt so fucking obsessed, but the need to give Karen pure pleasure was all-consuming. He didn’t want her to forget him.
Karen felt as if all her nerve endings had been stimulated. She also felt as if she’d probably lost a little bit of her sanity. Sex wasn’t a big deal to a lot of people, but for her it was. Always had been. She’d never bothered dating when she was in high school because she’d refused to end up another statistic stuck in that small town. Like her mother. She’d heard from the small-town grapevine that her mom had gotten pregnant with Clint, then married a loser because of it. Karen had sworn that would never happen to her.
In college she’d had a couple of boyfriends, but she’d cared more about keeping her scholarships than anything or anyone, so her relationships had been short-lived. After her last boyfriend couldn’t handle her work schedule—and he’d been with another government agency and should have understood—she’d sworn off dating for a while.
She hadn’t thought she’d been missing anything. Of course she’d never had a man as talented as Tucker teasing her body. Having all that raw male focus on her was intense. She’d already orgasmed once and it surprised her how quickly she had.
Maybe he was just that attuned to her. Now he seemed determined to give her another climax. Which was more than fine with her. She was desperate to touch him everywhere, loved sliding her fingers over all the hard muscles of his back and arms. She wanted to demand he strip off his pants but wasn’t quite bold enough to do that just yet.
He moved his mouth to her other breast, gently biting her nipple between his teeth. Not painfully, but with enough pressure that she was very aware of her body.
Cool air rushed over her other nipple, the sensation making it tighten even harder now that he wasn’t kissing it any longer. Her heart pounded an erratic beat in her chest, her breathing unsteady as she stroked her hands down his chest and ripped abdomen.
She tightened her legs around him as he continued his slow, maddening foreplay. Her inner walls clenched, needing to be filled by him. She’d never felt so needy before, but the hunger to have him inside her was making her crazy.
Reaching between them, she slid her hand down the cut ridges of his abdomen. He shuddered under her touch. When she dipped her hand under the waistband of his pants, skating lower and lower, his big body trembled, making a smile touch her lips.
Fisting his thick length, she wasn’t surprised by his size or that he was commando. The man was big all over. She couldn’t wait for him to push inside her. She stroked him once, loving the way he trembled under her touch. He was solid and hot and his reaction was all for her.
“Tucker,” she rasped out, not sure what she wanted to say and unable to formulate much anyway.
His head lifted, his breathing erratic. The dark look in his eyes had another shot of lust punching through her. Oh yeah, he wanted her as much as she wanted him.
Thankfully she didn’t have to say anything; he just leaned over to the bedside table and found a condom. She felt a little bad about using her friend’s stash and bed, but not bad enough to stop what they were doing.
Nothing could do that, short of a freaking explosion in the house.
She yanked the condom from his hand, taking him off guard. “Strip,” she demanded softly. As she tore the wrapper open, Tucker sat up and shimmied off his pants.
She sucked in a sharp breath at the sight of him. Feeling him and seeing him were two different beasts. The man was truly stunning. Thick and long, his cock jutted up against his lower abdomen. She wished it was brighter in here so she could see every inch of him.
Beautiful would never work as a description for Tucker. He was far too masculine, too . . . Her brain short-circuited as he bent forward again, crawling up her body. As he moved, she reached for him, stroking him again, once, twice, three times—
“Condom,” he rasped out, plucking it from her other hand.
She’d wanted to put it on him, but he moved quickly, rolling it over his erection before he covered her body with his.
His mouth descended on hers, hungry and demanding. She wrapped herself around him as her lips met his. Digging her feet into his butt, she shuddered as his cock nudged her entrance. She couldn’t ever remember being so turned on before, so wet.
Everything about Tucker had her questioning her sanity, but she knew without a doubt that she’d regret not doing this, not experiencing every second of pleasure with this incredible man.
She tugged his bottom lip between her teeth and arched into him, rubbing her breasts against his chest. The friction had her shuddering, but she completely lost all thought when he pushed inside her.
Her inner walls clamped around him as he thrust fully into her. She sucked in a breath as he stretched her. He paused a moment, seeming to understand she needed to adjust. Pleasure spiraled through her when he began moving inside her. She dug her fingers into his back and rolled her hips against his, meeting him stroke for stroke as he started thrusting into her.
He tore his mouth from hers, nibbling a path along her jawline, using his teeth and tongue.
“Tucker.” His name was pretty much all she was capable of saying at this point. She raked her fingers down his back, only stopping at his muscled ass.
Each time he thrust inside her, the muscles clenched, the action making her even wetter. The man’s body was like a work of art, all perfect lines and striations. She could just imagine how he’d look under her as she rode him. Something she definitely wanted to try.
Just the thought made her tighten around him.
He groaned, burying his face against her neck. All his muscles were pulled tight and his breathing was hard, ragged. Raking his teeth against her sensitive skin, he nipped at her when he reached where her neck and shoulder met. “Touch yourself,” he murmured, the order in his voice spiraling right through her, hitting all her nerve endings.
She reached between their bodies and touched her clit. She hadn’t thought she’d be able to climax again, but it didn’t take much stimulation until she was shuddering beneath him.
Pleasure poured through her when another orgasm hit, the combination of his strokes, talented mouth, hands, and her own touch too much. As soon as she let go, he did too.
