“I know exactly what Ted is. That’s why I know I have to do this. And I know how to do it, too. I can work it all out, trap him, get enough evidence to bring down all these fuckers at once. It’ll work,” Sam responded calmly.
“I’m not going to let you do anything!” she shrieked, forgetting about John in the front seat, or anything other than this stubborn fool before her.
“You can’t stop me!” Sam said, an edge of irritation present in his voice.
Kat glared at him. “Well, then I’m going, too!”
Sam roared. “Like hell you are! You’re gonna stay in that hotel safely until we can take care of this!”
Kat was stunned. Sam had never yelled at her before. She looked down at her hands. They were shaking in her lap. She had, without realizing it, wedged herself against the door of the car, as far as she could get from Sam.
Sam saw, sighed, and took her hand. “I’m so sorry for yelling at you, Kat. But this stuff is personal to me.”
“Personal to you? You aren’t the one who was kidnapped by him,” she snapped.
“You’re right, but it’s still personal. I... I need to tell you what happened to my fiancée.”
Sam told her about Lauren then. He kept his story as brief as he could make it. Kat listened quietly, stunned by what she was hearing.
“I didn’t expect to find you out there when I went out to my winter cabin. I didn’t expect to even see another human being. Then I found you and, well, it sort of seemed like Lauren was guiding me to you, you know?”
Kat smiled, her green eyes shining through the tears. This man was something else, all right.
“She must have been guiding you. You saved me, Sam,” she said softly.
“Well, now you can see why I have to take Ted down. I hate human traffickers. They’re trash. I have to kill him.”
“We,” Kat replied instantly.
“What?”
“I’m going with you,” Kat said. Her moss green eyes flashed fire, daring him to refuse.
“No way!” Sam said. “I didn’t save you from Ted just to risk your life!”
“Well,” Kat replied, “if you’re risking yours, and I’m assuming Hakim is risking his, and the guys, too, then I’m risking mine. Besides, how did you plan to get to Ted anyway?”
“I’m gonna go to his house and kill him,” Sam said curtly.
“So you’re just going to fight your way in? You know he has armed guards all around, right? And he’s always got some scumbag losers inside, and they’re probably armed, too. What you need is bait, so you can get to him. I’m the best bait possible. Besides, I have more reason than almost anyone to want him dead. What he did…” she shuddered, then continued. “I should get to be part of it too, Sam.”
Before they could continue the discussion, John announced quietly that they had arrived. Kat looked out of the window at the bland, nondescript hotel in front of them. It looked like a thousand other hotels in a thousand other towns, which made her feel safer somehow. She guessed they’d been driving for about two hours, but she hadn’t paid a lot of attention to which direction they’d gone in.
They thanked John, who wished them good luck, doffed his hat nobly at Kat, and drove away.
“I think he’s earned a raise this year,” Sam joked as they watched John drive off.
Kat smiled at him. “I’ll say!”
Giving fake names, Sam paid for a room using Amal’s cash. They went up to their room. It was a standard hotel room with the typical hotel furniture, coffeemaker, bland wall art, and a boring view of the parking lot. Sam walked around for a while, checking the windows and doors. He walked into the bathroom and splashed some water on his face. Then he sat on the bed, where Kat was lying down, staring into space. Her golden hair was tousled, her green eyes like emeralds against her clear skin.
“What are you thinking about?” Sam asked her. He reached for a clean shirt in his duffel bag, shucked off the one he was wearing, and pulled it on. Kat had a brief glimpse of the hard, strong muscles in his arms and chest.
Kat didn’t want Sam to know that she’d been thinking about him. Their interrupted morning session had left her longing and unsatisfied, and oddly enough, the danger of everything, plus this anonymous, shared hotel room was turning her on. “I’m thinking about how ugly that painting is,” she said, gesturing at a painting on the wall that had a series of yellow and red slashes on it. “It looks like somebody threw ketchup and mustard on it,” she added. He chuckled.
“It’s pretty ugly, all right. Look, Kat, I’ve been thinking about it, and you’re right,” he said to her. “You should be able to help. You deserve to get revenge as much as anyone.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” he said, “but we’re going to do it right. Safely, with a plan. I don’t want you exposed to any harm.”
Excited, Kat jumped up and impulsively pulled Sam to her for a kiss. For a moment, he didn’t respond, but then he pulled her closer to him and deepened the kiss. Kat ran her hands through his hair, moaning a little as she fitted her body against his. “You feel so good,” she murmured as she kissed him.
He smells so good, too, she thought, as she inhaled his spicy, undoubtedly expensive cologne. She just wanted this kiss to keep going on and on. Kat ran her hands under his shirt and across his muscled chest, needing to feel more of him than what she could feel through their clothes. He shivered and groaned at her touch. “I want more of you, Sam,” Kat whispered.
Suddenly, Sam pulled away. He sat awkwardly on the bed next to her, avoiding Kat’s puzzled eyes.
“Why did you stop?” Kat asked him, hurt.
Sam stared at his hands as he spoke. “I, uh, look, Kat, it’s only been a week since you got free, and you’re so beautiful, but I just... I’m sorry, but I don’t want to pressure you.”
“You’re not pressuring me! I started it!” she cried out, exasperated. “Sam, it’s been four years since anyone has made me feel like this, and you feel so good… I can tell you want what I want.” She stroked his arm. “So why not?”
Sam’s jaw tensed. He started to speak, then closed his mouth, pulled out of her grasp, and stalked out of the hotel room. Kat sat on the bed and stared at the door. She couldn’t believe he’d just walked out like that! Maybe she was wrong about their chemistry? But no, she wasn’t wrong, she thought triumphantly, remembering the way he’d responded to her touch, the little groans of pleasure he’d made.
Kat hadn’t been exaggerating. Nobody had touched her in a way that made her feel turned on in years. Most of her experience with men was off-putting, to say the least, but with Sam, it felt different. She’d never been this attracted to anyone before. Every time they got close, though, he seemed to freak out.
She rolled over, frustrated, and burrowed under the covers. She flipped on the TV, but turned it off after a few minutes, too tired and distracted to watch anything. She was exhausted, again, but it felt like a blessing right now, as the sleep overtook her thoughts and worries. Sam would come back eventually, she thought, as she drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 12
Late that night Kat opened her eyes to find the bedroom door opening to admit Sam. She stirred, sitting up in the bed.
“Sam?” she asked sleepily.
“I’m here,” he promised, coming over to sit on the side of the bed.
He was dangerously close to her, his clean masculine smell tickling her nose. She looked at him for a long moment, then moved to turn on the lamp on the bedside table. Sam stopped her, instead drawing her into his arms. He tilted her face up with one hand, cupping her cheek.
Her breath hitched as she watched his eyes blaze bright blue with passion. He took his time, leaning close and pressing a light kiss to her lips. She surprised herself by moaning, which he seemed to take as encouragement, sealing his lips over hers.
She kissed him back, the kiss soon turning open-mouthed, a fierce exploration of tongues in mouths. When he finally pulled away, leaning his foreh
ead against hers, they were both breathing hard.
“I haven’t… I’ve only…” she whispered, unable to get the words out. She was utterly out of her depth here, but she certainly desired him. “I’ve only been with someone once.”
He kissed her lips.
“I haven’t been with anyone since Lauren,” he said, his brow puckering.
“What?” she said, linking his fingers with her own.
“I just… I want it to be right,” he said.
“So, let’s make it right,” she said. “Don’t let the ghosts of the past stand in your way.”
“What about our future, though?”
She took a deep breath, trying to find the right words to say.
“What about it? A week ago, you found me, starving and beaten. The future wasn’t something that even existed for me until now.”
“I want you too, Kat.”
“So… what’s stopping you?” she asked, biting her lower lip.
“Nothing,” he said, as if realizing it for the first time. “Nothing at all.”
Kat’s breath caught in her chest as they stared at each other. Sam's gaze dropped to her lips, and her heartbeat sped up to a gallop. When he leaned in to brush his lips over hers, she accepted him without a moment's thought.
The mere touch of their lips was like putting a match to flame. Suddenly, she couldn't get close enough to him. Suddenly, her panties and t-shirt were stifling; she wanted to feel his skin against her own, wanted to feel his heart beat in time with hers.
"Ah, Kat..." he murmured, laying back on the bed.
He took her with him, laying her out atop his body. Letting Kat feel every inch of his muscular body, feel his heavy erection pressed against her belly. She shivered with the sensation, at once new and as old as time.
She felt like they were meant to be in some way. From the second she escaped from Ted’s country house, she set in motion a chain of events that couldn’t be denied. Since then, there was no other outcome than this meeting of souls.
And Kat was starving for him, burning alive with the need for his hands on her skin, his lips and tongue driving her wild. She had spent so long as a slave for one man, a man who barely noticed or cared that she was alive. Now she was starting a new chapter of her life, and she was going to begin it by having sex with Sam.
He looked at her with such passion and desire, as if she were the only woman in the world. At this moment, right here and now, she'd never wanted anyone like she needed Sam.
He tugged her shirt up over her head, baring her too-warm skin to the moonlight. His hands gripped her hips, skated up her ribs, shaped her breasts. He surged upward, his lips leaving her mouth to explore her neck, her collarbone, her already aching nipple.
The wet heat of his mouth was almost more than she could handle. Kat cried out when his teeth scraped her sensitive flesh, her hips grinding against his in response.
"Sam, yes," she moaned. "I need you..."
He froze for a moment, a low growl rattling in his chest. Then Sam spread his big hands around her waist, covering her with his big body.
Her hands fell to his waist, pulling up the hem of his t-shirt so she could get it over his head. Once she got it off, she couldn’t help but run her hands over his body, pure perfect muscle awaiting her touch.
He pulled back for a second, unbuttoning his pants and shoving them down. As he kicked them away, his erect cock jutted out, letting her know exactly what he was working with.
His sheer perfection took her breath away. Kat didn’t know that much about penises, but she was shocked by the sheer size of his, thick and long and veiny.
Kat was desperate to touch him, running a hand from his back down to his taut backside. Pure muscle, not an ounce wasted. Sam took her lips once more, gently thrusting against her through her panties.
They kissed, breathing hard. Kat explored the rigid vee of muscles at his hip, then shifted to put a little space between them. Just enough to trail her fingers down until she circled her fingers around his cock.
Her sound of surprise was involuntary. Long, thick, and hot as fire, the feel of him in her hand made heat pool low in her body. Images flashed in her mind, images of Kat on her knees, trying to take all of him in her mouth. Images of Sam taking her hard from behind, of the look on his face when he sank deep inside her for the first time.
"Yes," she moaned.
Sam captured her hands, pulling them up over her head, and kissed her deeply. He pulled her panties off in a single smooth motion, raising her anticipation another notch.
He cupped her breast, slid his hand down to tease her hip, then trailed his touch down to her knee. He parted her thighs and she opened for him, feeling herself blush even as her breath caught.
The brush of a single fingertip against her wetness made her moan. His thumb found her clit, rubbing in slow circles, and Kat thought she might die right then and there.
“You’re so wet for me already,” Sam said, leaning down to kiss the hollow of her throat, the slope of her neck.
She shivered, reaching for him, pulling him closer. “Please, Sam. Don’t make me wait.”
“Mmmm,” he murmured, giving her another deep kiss on the lips. “Come here.”
He rolled onto his back again, pulling her atop him so that she straddled him boldly. She gasped as her heat met the length of his cock, making her ache for him, ache to be stretched and filled completely.
“Take what you want, Kat,” Sam growled, looking up at her with passion-darkened eyes.
Kat bit her lip, grasping his cock and rising to settle against him. Throwing her head back, she moaned as she slid down onto him, taking him slow, inch by inch.
“You’re so big,” she said, working her hips to take his whole length.
Sam gripped her hips and thrust up into her in one rough movement, making them both cry out.
“So good,” Kat moaned, setting a slow rhythm, rocking up and down.
He pulled her down for a kiss, cupped one of her breasts, and ran his hands all over her body.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said. “I’ve never wanted anyone so much.”
Kat moved faster, her heart thrumming. Sam moved with her, keeping things quick and light.
“I want more,” Kat groaned. “Harder and deeper.”
She gasped as Sam flipped her onto her back, pressing one of her knees up to her chest while keeping the other leg flat against the bed. He began to fill her in quick, hard thrusts, making her entire body tense and tighten.
“Yes, yes,” she whispered, raking her nails over his shoulders, his back. Rocking up to meet his every movement.
Sam put a hand under her lower back, lifting her the barest inch, but it was just enough to drive Kat wild. He stroked in and out, hitting the same wonderful spot deep inside her, making her feel as though wildfire spread through her veins.
“Oh, oh, I’m going to…” she started, then shattered with a loud cry.
Pulsing and clenching tightly, Kat clung to Sam.
“Fuck, you’re so good,” he told her, moving his hands to her hips again, lifting her, his fingers digging into her flesh. “Kat, yes.”
He tensed and came with a low groan, filling her in long, rough strokes.
Floating on the heady high, Kat pulled him down beside her and kissed him, pressing her forehead against his sweat-dampened chest. She let out a pent-up breath and felt her eyes drift closed.
Sam wrapped an arm around her, cradling her against his chest as he moved to lay on his side. Pulling the blankets up around them, he kissed her forehead.
Silence reigned, but it was comfortable. Kat let it lull her, soothe her, and soon she drifted off…
Chapter 13
Sam looked over at Kat, who was sleeping peacefully, her beautiful face calm under the influence of what he assumed were happy dreams. He wished he could sleep that easily. After their lovemaking, he’d fallen asleep, but then awoken later in the night, tormented by worries and fears.
Second, Sam was having a problem completely unrelated to the small issue of tracking down and killing a human trafficker with extensive political connections. His problem was Kat.
They barely knew each other, had only come to know each other through the strangest of circumstances, and had only slept together once. Why, then, was he feeling so incredibly attached to this woman? No, attached wasn’t the right word. Possessive. That was it. He wanted to scoop Kat up in his arms right now, carry her to the safest place in the world, and keep her there, away from harm. Keep her for himself.
Sam was aware how insane that sounded. It didn’t change his feelings. Earlier, one word kept going through his mind, over and over, as they’d shattered in ecstasy together: mine, mine, mine. She’s mine. Maybe it was time he admitted to himself that he was in way over his head with this woman. Something about her just clicked with him, like two magnets snapping together, and he’d felt it deep in his soul earlier.
His thoughts were interrupted when Kat sighed and opened her eyes. Sam tried to look normal; he worried for a crazy second that she could read his thoughts. But she just smiled at him and stretched out contentedly.
“Mmmn, that was a great nap,” she said.
“I’m glad. Hey, look, about the plan…”
Kat beamed. “Oh, I have so many ideas!”
Sam’s heart sank. She still wanted to be part of it. He’d been hoping against hope that she’d change her mind.
“Uh, Kat, look... about that...” Sam trailed off in mid-sentence, distracted by Kat, who’d stood up fully naked, stared at him pointedly, and walked off to the bathroom casually. He tried to focus on his points, but it was useless. His brain had simply shut off.
Begging for Bad Boys Page 55
