by Tara Quan
“There’s a chance Madame Eve is a randomized computer algorithm.” Not a good chance, but the possibility existed.
Grinning, he settled into the corner between the door and his seat. “Will you admit it already? I’ll even say it first.”
She glanced at him and remained silent.
“So?” he prompted.
Did he really think she’d fall for that trick? “I’m waiting on you.”
“Fine. I want to fuck you—like all the time. So much that I’ve practically had a permanent boner since I got back. Clear enough?”
The corners of her lips lifted before she could suppress the smug smile. She’d always known, of course, but hearing his confession gave her the warm fuzzies. “Me, too. By the way, you had a weird way of showing it tonight.”
“I can be mad and horny at the same time, which reminds me—you aren’t off the hook.”
Huffing out a breath, she unlatched her belt and mirrored his position. “You’re wasting gas.”
He pressed a button to open the sunroof before shutting off the engine. Despite the glacial winds outside, the car’s internal temperature remained balmy with a steady circulating breeze. She’d bet he saved a ton by never using the heater or air conditioner. Why couldn’t Shelley have this power? They needed the cash more than he did, damn it.
Counting off the concurrences between her premonition and reality, she looked up through the open roof and embraced the inevitable. She’d fought change tooth and nail for the past three years. It hadn’t hit her until this instant, but she might be ready for it. “So, how do I get off the hook?” Without conscious effort, her voice turned all husky. She might as well wear a neon sign saying, Fuck me.
Leaning into the corner, he shifted his seat back all the way and straightened his legs. Though her limbs were much shorter, she followed suit. “Let’s start with a confession. Why did you do it?”
She tried to self-analyze, but it had never been her forte. “I don’t know why. It felt right each time, I guess.”
His gaze drifted to her chest. A gust of wind sliced over it, tearing off the top-most button. She jumped in her seat. “What the hell?”
“Welcome to Strip Interrogation. The rules are simple.” Her toes curled at the playful yet predatory gleam in his stormy eyes. Yup, he got her invitation loud and clear. “Whenever you give me a crap answer, I take away a stitch. Any questions?”
She licked her lips. “Is this how Enforcement trained you to question helpless witches?”
He crossed his arms and put on a mockery of a stern expression. “You’re the city’s vigilante. The gloves come off when there’s a badass in the car.”
Her cheeks warmed at the backhanded compliment. Placing her hands primly on her lap, she squeezed her upper arms together to better showcase what little boobage she had. When she heard his warning growl, she batted her eyelashes. “What’s your question, Detective?”
He bared his teeth at her, but his breath had turned shallow. “Was I right about Times Square?”
She canted her head. “Maybe.”
Her next button snapped in half, which meant she’d have to replace all of them. She hated sewing. “Fine. Yes, I did.”
“What would have happened between us?”
“I rewrite the future all the time, you know.” She lifted her eyebrows in silent challenge. “Always for the better. I wasn’t ready for this three years ago. You weren’t either.”
His narrowed gaze drifted down her torso. The rest of her shirt’s fastenings fell victim to his invisible blade in a single swoop.
“Hey, that’s cheating.” The cotton shifted to reveal her simple black bra. Being pretty-much flat chested, she never bothered with padded underwear. A thin layer of cotton covered her nipples—which had poked out quite a bit. They tingled, too. She glanced at his large hands, imagined them palming her, and released a ragged breath.
He shifted in his seat. Sneaking a peek at his crotch, she grinned. She knew a boner when she saw one. “You might be right. But I still want to know what you changed.”
Lifting one hand, she trailed her fingers down her neck. The tenting around his zipper grew even more pronounced. Interesting—very interesting. “Or what?”
A languid breeze circled her waist and blew upward, its progress tugging her shirttails out from under her waistband. “Be a good girl and do as you’re told.”
She kept her eyes glued to his. “The crowd counted back from ten.” She drew a line along the top of her bra, lingering over her shallow cleavage. “You aimed for my cheek. I turned my head at the same moment.” She brought her index finger to her mouth. “Our lips touched.” She lashed out her tongue and circled it over the tip. “And you looked at me the way you are now.”
If eyes could burn, she’d already be smoke. His chest heaved, the gaps between each breath growing shorter with every intake. “So, why did you pour ice down my shirt?”
She’d asked herself that question countless times. “It was a split-second decision. That version of you seemed so certain…so sure.” Dropping her hand, she tried to give him a truthful explanation. “I felt like a cage was about to drop from the sky. I didn’t think. I acted.”
“Fine. But it’s been three years. If I had to guess, you pulled one over on me this morning. You’ve got to have a theory.”
She opened her mouth but didn’t manage to get a word out.
“If you try the airhead act, I swear that skirt’s turning to scrap. You’re flaky, I’ll give you that, but most of the ditziness is fake.”
Since she had a limited supply of silk-lined wool-blend bottoms, she erred on the side of caution. “Look, by the time today rolled around, botching these visions had become muscle memory. I did it because it’s what I always do. If I had to guess….” Uneasy with the confession, she fibbed. “Shelley’s my best friend. I didn’t want to mess things up by locking lips with her brother.”
“Liar.”
In a quicksilver move, he lunged forward and captured her nape with one hand. Holding her shoulder in place, he looped his free arm around her waist, splayed his fingers against her lower back, and yanked her toward him. The motion tipped her off balance. With a yelp, she placed her hands on the seat and straightened her arms. The position arched her back, lifting her breasts like an offering. The ends of her shirt drifted down, leaving her exposed from the hips up.
He settled his thumb between her collarbones. “I warned you about the skirt.”
The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Damn, was that menacing tone sexy. “Any chance we can work this out? I’m running low on winter clothes.”
With his free hand, he explored her abs, his fingers lingering on each groove long enough to send a tingle down her spine. His hungry expression more than paid for the hours she’d spent doing crunches. “What do you have in mind?”
Having devoured plenty of inspiring reading material, she had a long list of things she wanted to try. “I’m all stocked up on underwear.”
“Fine. But it’ll cost you extra.” He bent his head and pressed his mouth over the swell of her left breast. With him gripping her nape, she couldn’t move away, not even when he sucked hard enough to leave a gleaming coral mark. When he repeated his claim on the other side, she bit back a moan. A fire smoldered at the pit of her stomach and spread to sensitize her skin. Her panties grew damp as he explored her cleavage with teeth and tongue.
He slid his palm along her thigh and under her skirt. Inserting the tip of his finger beneath the side seam of her panties, he flicked it up. With a soft tearing sound, a chilled blade of air sliced the cotton. After repeating the motion along her other hip, he yanked off her shorn underwear and shoved it in his jacket pocket. “I’ll keep these.”
Covered in a light sheen of sweat, her skin blazed. Her breasts felt heavy, her bra too tight, her parted shirt too restrictive. Her skirt fell over her crotch, the silky brush prompting her to squirm. Part of her wanted him to slice up the rest of her clothing, practicalities
be damned.
He traced the underside of her bra with his index finger. Beneath the black cotton, her nipples throbbed. “Last chance, kitty cat. Why did you do it?”
She met his gaze through hooded eyes. “I care about you as much as I care about Shelley. We’re too important. I didn’t want to mess things up. No kiss is worth two friendships.”
“Wanna bet?” Wrapping an arm around her waist, he pulled her against him and fused his mouth with hers. Before she had time to think—before she had time to breathe—he pushed his tongue inside.
She’d foreseen countless variations of this moment. Different times, different places, but always the same man. His hard body surrounded her, his strong fingers circling her nape and spreading over her lower back. She looped her arms around his neck, tilted her head, and let him take over.
His spicy cologne melded with minty aftershave, the intoxicating combination filling her lungs and overloading her senses. Hot, punishing, and relentless, the torment seemed to continue for an eternity. His lips muddled her thoughts; his hands held her prisoner. Again and again, his teeth scraped over her lips, his tongue luring hers into an intimate dance. Weakened and dizzy, she arched her spine as his assault dragged on.
When he relinquished her mouth, she sagged into his hold, her vision blurred and her mind engulfed in a languid haze. “Okay. That was totally worth it.”
Chuckling, he brushed his thumb over her cheek, his expression a dichotomy of masculine superiority and shattering tenderness. “Want to do it again?”
She grabbed his collar and yanked hard. “A couple hundred times.”
Chapter Five
Dulcina’s breathy invitation intensified the red haze obliterating Mikal’s sanity. Threading his fingers through her silky hair, he kept her head immobile so he could kiss her the way he wanted. He sucked on her full, luscious lips, drove his tongue into her mouth, and explored every crevice. He repeated the caress over and over, hoping to sate his unquenchable need to touch and taste. They should stop. He should drive her home. A parked car by the river hadn’t been where he wanted their first time to be.
But the hunger within him knew no bounds, had no limits. They’d already gone further than he’d planned, with her bottom bare beneath that short skirt, her shirt shorn to reveal smooth, tantalizing skin. He cupped her breast, molding his palm over the thin bra as he drank her moans. With teeth and tongue, she mirrored his every move with eager curiosity, sending his arousal into overdrive. He’d meant for this make-out session to be slow and easy—a teasing dance to give her a taste of what the future had in store—not an inferno that threatened to burn away his control.
Clenching her fingers over the sides of his jacket, she pushed the leather down his shoulders. Surrendering to the madness, he pulled his arms out of the sleeves and tossed the restraining garment to the backseat.
“Hold on.” Placing his hands under her knees and back, he scooped her up and swung his legs over the divider, sliding into the passenger seat. Supporting her nape with one arm, he draped her legs across his lap before shoving his hand under her skirt. Fusing his mouth with hers, he cupped the apex of her legs and ground the heel of his hand over her mound. He continued the motion even after he broke the kiss.
Her eyelids fluttered, her head lolled back. “Oh God….”
Pausing to flick on the internal lights, he hiked her skirt up, baring her to his gaze. She writhed on his lap, a blush staining her cheeks as he marveled at the neat, clean-shaven folds. Her shimmying butt pressed his zipper into the ridge of his cock. He groaned. “You’re going to kill me.”
Ignoring the pain at his crotch, he tortured himself further by parting her plump lower lips. Once he’d exposed her clit, he stimulated the small pink nub with a miniature circling storm of warm wind. Her eyes widened, her pupils dilating until nothing but a rim of light brown remained. When he kept the magical vibration on her, she arched her back, her long, slim legs stretching out to hit the door. One hand clawing at his T-shirt, she bit his chest—hard enough to leave a bruise. A muffled cry filled the car.
“Easy, kitty cat. We’re just getting started.”
Continuing to hit her clit with a steady current of wind, he yanked down her bra cups to expose her breasts. Though on the small side, the firm golden globes were perfect in their symmetry, their copper tips already poking out to beg for his touch.
Lowering his head, he took one nipple into his mouth, swirling his tongue as he trailed his free hand once more up her thigh. Her shallow pants echoed around him when he intensified the stimulation between her legs, increasing and relenting the pressure in synchrony with his nibbling sucks. He pushed into her tight slit, drawing his finger in and out. Finding plenty of moisture to ease his invasion, he added a second digit.
As he switched over to torment her neglected breast, he spread his fingers. Her pained yelp prompted him to alter the wind currents so it morphed into a steady, heated pulse over her bundle of nerves, distracting her from his penetration. With her so tight, he’d make damn sure to get her ready. Sucking her swollen nipple past his teeth, he shifted his hand in a languid rhythm. When her inner muscles squeezed, he flicked his thumb over her clit.
“Shit…. I…. ” The hand on his shirt clenching into a tight fist, she spasmed. Her spine went stiff. Her bare feet kicked out at the door. Her wet channel clenched and unclenched around his fingers as he continued to stimulate her through the orgasm’s aftermath.
When her writhing subsided, she curled into his chest, squeezing her thighs together as he pulled out. Shaking her head as if to clear it, she frowned and muttered, “Fuck me already.”
He grabbed her heaving shoulders and pulled her into a seated position. “Not yet.”
With an impatient glare, she shifted to straddle him, placing her shaking knees on either side of his denim-clad thighs. Her sweet cinnamon breath grazed over his beard before she kissed his cheek, his jaw, and then the back of his ear. When she drew a circle with her tongue, his breath came out in an audible hiss.
He grabbed her waist with both hands as her lips traced a wet path down his neck. His collar hindered her progress, and she made a frustrated sound before pulling his T-shirt over his head and dropping it on the driver’s seat.
Her fingers curling over the hairs on his chest, she licked and bit her way to his pecs, shifting on his thighs so she could swirl her tongue around his nipple. His hard-on turning his jeans into an instrument of torture, he slid his palms up her back and unhooked her bra. Smoothing her shirtsleeves off her shoulders, he wrapped the crisp cotton around his hand until the remaining fabric cuffed her arms. When he pulled, the motion lifted her ass off his lap, making her balance above him on her knees. With her elbows restrained, he guided her backward until her shoulder blades met the dashboard.
Nudging her bra down to band around her ribs, he bent his head and feasted on her breasts, his beard leaving red marks on her dusky skin as he shifted from one delectable mound to the other. Shoving her legs farther apart, he pushed his fingers into her, circling her clit with his thumb until she went limp, her pliant surrender freeing the hand holding her captive. Flashes of red, white, and blue colored her toned abs as he moved down, sucking and biting her flat belly to mark his progress. When he hit her waistband, he bunched her skirt up and shifted to settle his head between her thighs.
“Wait…. It’s too….”
Ignoring her whimpered protest, he lapped at her clit, savoring her salty-sweet taste as he continued to finger her. She squirmed against the dash, her thighs quivering when he alternated between gentle sucks and swirling licks, his breath hot against the hard little nub. When he detected the telltale clamping around his digits, he drew his hand back.
Watching her hips undulate in an urgent invitation, a smile curved his lips. He chuckled when he heard her beg. “Damn it. Please…. I’m so close….”
Reclaiming the spot between her legs, he slid his tongue into her, shifting his hand so he could stimulate her cli
t. She jerked at the sudden switch. A few stabbing licks later, her thighs locked. She screamed.
Wiping his mouth with her skirt, he took advantage of the trembling aftermath of her release to unzip his pants and free his erection. Reaching into the divider to grab his wallet, he unearthed a condom. By the time she opened her eyes, he’d ripped the packet and smoothed it on.
She didn’t make a sound as he closed his hands over her hips and pulled her forward. Her inky hair fanned over her shoulders. She shrugged off her shirt and bra. Across the river, more fireworks went off, the bursts of color reflecting over the rippling water. Cradling his face with shaking fingers, she gave him a slow kiss laced with invitation. “Any chance we can finish this before I pass out?”
With a laugh, the last of his concerns dissipated. Splaying his hands over her ass, he shifted her so the head of his cock pressed against her opening. “This might hurt.”
She lifted an eyebrow and grinned. “Ya think? You’re freaking huge. Come on. Any longer and I’ll chicken out.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Tightening his grip, he lifted his hips and surged into her.
With a gasp, she squeezed her eyes shut. Her teeth clamped over her lower lip. A lone tear fell down her cheek. Moving his hands to cup her face, he wiped the drop of liquid with his thumb. Not moving was one of the hardest things he’d ever done.
She gripped him tighter than any fist. Her naked breasts quivered when she shifted over his length, her hips circling as if in search of a more comfortable angle. As he scrutinized her face for any further signs of pain, her cheeks puffed out, her full lips firming into a stubborn line. With a deep breath, she bent her knees and let her ass drop. Gravity took her all the way down, burying him to the hilt.
“Fuck.” His head hit the backrest. All his muscles corded with the effort it took to keep his instincts in check. Twining her arms around his nape, she nuzzled his neck and plastered her naked torso against his chest. When she bit his earlobe, his control snapped. Grabbing her ribcage with both hands, he slid her up his length before pounding into her in hard, pumping thrusts.
