And fingers touched her where they were connected and an incoherent cry rose from her lips, only to become a wail when he did exactly what he warned her he would do.
He stopped.
“No…!”
“You have to be quiet.” He touched her again.
“Yes,” she moaned back. Anything. Just...don’t...stop.
“I won’t. No screaming.”
She didn’t know she’d spoken aloud. She felt her legs being moved even higher, against his shoulders, and he was so deep, every stroke was a statement of possession.
“I don’t like it when you turn away from me, babe. It makes me want to turn you around and do this. Make you want me as much as I want you.”
His fingers came back to torture her as she bit down to stop from crying out loud. She was so close.
“Not yet,” he told her, and took his fingers away.
There was nothing she could do. She discovered she was utterly powerless. She didn’t want him to stop. Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t push him away, in her position. And he was still stroking into her, slow and hard, nudging her inside until she whimpered at every thrust.
His breathing was faster now, but he was still ruthlessly in control of her body, as he started to play with her eager flesh again, rubbing as he pushed, teasing with the rhythm of his body. She followed his lead, letting him take her closer to release. But he seemed determine to prolong the torture.
“Please, darling,” she finally pleaded, her voice breathless, after the third time he denied her.
“Don’t turn away from me again,” he told her, his voice raspy and thick. “You drive me crazy when you do that. Crazy. Crazy.” He leaned forward, going even deeper. She gasped. “Don’t scream, baby.”
Engulfed in sensations, she couldn’t answer him. The darkness shimmered with flashes of light. A heady heaviness built into a crescendo from her gut, and she tried to control it, fearing he would stop again, just to torture her. If she could just keep it quiet, he wouldn’t know, and she would get what she wanted so desperately. Her head rolled back, her body arched, and she bit down on her lower lip as she tried not to clench down on him, or he would know.
He seemed to know anyway, slowing down until she felt like dying, each thrust in making her moan, each stroke out a silken torture. She didn’t think she was even breathing any more. A part of her understood he was punishing her for trying to walk away. He was making a statement, showing her no mercy at all this time.
“Now.” He choked out her name and slammed into her, one hand on her mouth, the other pressing down hard where she was wet and needy.
Maybe she did scream. She couldn’t tell. Darkness swallowed her as pleasure exploded behind her eyelids, and she plunged into an endless free fall that went on and on. She held on to the only thing that mattered.
Nick. He was her everything.
***
Darling. It was the first time Jaymee had ever called him an endearment. Nick wanted her to say it over and over. She was the sunshine in his shadowy world, and he wanted her, needed to take her, completely. When she’d started to turn away, something inside him snapped, but he’d hung on to his control, trying hard not to pull her into his arms. Until she called him darling. And dared him by touching him.
He gave in to his desire. He needed to take her the way a male took a mate, staking a claim. He wanted her so desperately, it angered him, because he couldn’t stop this need to have her. She wanted truth. She wanted to know how much he really wanted her. So he took her the way the Programmer was best—with unswerving concentration, obliterating any defenses standimg in the way, and achieving total understanding of every part of the thought process.
Except Jaymee took him along with her. She wasn’t one of the problems in the programs he tackled, nor was she another assignment whose mind he sought to probe. She gave him everything without his asking, offering him more than he dared take. And the more he possessed her, the more she owned him, because he wanted, needed, her softness.
This delicious oblivion with a woman was something new. She made him think of no one else. And he dared not take what she was offering, not with this new danger, of close ones being taken out one by one. He trusted her, but he couldn’t put her at risk, as Jed’s daughter was. As his friend, Emma, had been, and for which she’d paid the ultimate price. Not Jaymee. Not ever.
She stirred under him. “Are you all right?” he asked, unsure whether he had been too rough, knowing very well how much loss of control frightened her. He moved, positioning her more comfortably back onto the sofa.
Jaymee wrapped her arms around Nick’s waist. “You may do this all night, but you’re still not going to get out of answering my questions.”
Her voice sounded husky. She felt weak as a newborn baby. What was it about this man made her give in to him like that?
Nick looked down at her and then swallowed the urge to laugh out loud. His body shook with silent amusement. Did he think he ever could anticipate her every move? She had managed to provoke him at every turn, surprise him with every twist of this relationship. And her bullish determination only made him want her more. He’d never met a woman so intent on getting what she wanted once she set her mind to it, be it settling a hundred-thousand dollar debt, or getting to the bottom of a mystery. Details, it seemed, were her forte. He almost wished he could get Command to recruit her, so he could get her into his world.
Tired of his silence and his amusement, Jaymee dug her nails into his back. “Well?”
“You won’t succeed if you tire a man out with wild sex, sweetheart.”
He was back, the lazy, indolent Nick with the mocking drawl, propped over her satiated body, looking down at her through the darkness. “Wild sex part of your evasive tactics?” she asked sweetly.
“Invasive,” he countered with devilish mockery.
Jaymee was glad he couldn’t see her blush. His invasion had been a thorough victory. “Invade all you want,” she invited, her voice low, “but don’t evade me.”
He was quiet for a moment. “I do work for the government,” he finally admitted.
Relief flowed through her. He was letting her in, a little. “I gather that.” She kissed his chin, his jawline. “I had visions of CIA and FBI, and all those agencies with acronyms.”
“It isn’t that simple. We are linked to them, in a way.”
“You mean, you do their dirty work,” Jaymee said dryly. “I do read the newspapers, you know.”
He sighed, resigned to the fact it wouldn’t be an easy task to hide anything from her. “That’s all I can tell you,” he told her.
He hadn’t denied her guess. She smiled in the dark, suddenly liking his inability to see her. This was the way it had to be then. She would take what he would give. “What, no acronym?” she teased. “None of those fancy-schmancy Soldier of Fortune names like Delta Force, Night Hawk, or something macho sounding?”
Nick smothered another laugh. It was her talent, this ability to make him relax his guard. He growled when her teeth nipped a sensitive spot on his neck. He relented. “It’s CCC,” he murmured, “short for Covert-Subversive Command Center. They call us COS Commandos when they’re being nice.”
“Oooh, macho,” Jaymee whispered into his ear, then blew into it. He nipped up her neck till he found her ear and returned the favor. She shivered at the sensual flicks of his tongue. “I gather Jed is also one of these commandos? Or am I forbidden to ask?”
“He showed himself to you. It means he likes you, Jaymee.” Nick nuzzled deeper into her neck. “Yes, he is one of my unit.”
“Unit?”
“Yes. There are different units trained for different jobs, just like any company.”
“And Grace is being trained for a job in this company? She mentioned being in training.”
Nick sighed again. “Sometimes I wish you’d miss or forget something, sweetheart.”
He could only admire her skill, even as he saw right through her. She was
attempting to get more information about him by changing the subject and focusing on his cousin and Grace. Like he’d known from the beginning, Jaymee was a worthy opponent.
“If he didn’t want me to know, Grace wouldn’t have mentioned it,” Jaymee pointed out with cheeky logic. “Maybe they were both testing me, to see whether I would remember.”
She was reminding him of what he’d said earlier, that his cousins liked to put people through some kind of test. Nick chuckled, reluctantly easing off her so he could sit up. He had better weigh his words carefully. At the rate her mind was working, he’d be telling her everything while she seduced him with that delightful body.
“You’re an incorrigible imp,” he accused, becoming more somber. “OK. He’s training her because of what happened to certain members in our unit. My…boat was rigged with an explosive.”
Jaymee jerked up. “What?” She hadn’t expected that.
“You wanted the truth,” Nick gently reminded her.
She swallowed. “I do.” She repeated the words firmly. “I do. I want to know what you do, so when you leave me, I’ll understand.”
That was why he couldn’t resist her. She never beat around the bush. He could waste time diverting her again and again, and each time, she’d find a way to get her answers. That was how she was, and he wouldn’t have her any other way.
“I was on assignment, and I escaped.” He kept it as simple as he could. “They still think they got to me, and now they are after the others who were on the same assignment. Because we’re evasive experts, Jed thinks their easiest targets are our families. My friend’s wife was recently killed, and that’s why you see Jed training Grace, so she can take care of herself in case something happens to him.”
“Evasive expert,” Jaymee muttered. “That’s really a job description, like construction worker?”
“Nothing I can state on a resume,” said Nick, a grin forming. “We have lots of fancy names like that.” Like trackers, he silently added. Mind probes. Assimilators. All living in darkness and shadow.
“It isn’t so bad,” she consoled, a trace of mockery creeping into her voice. “I’ve to explain what a leak expert is.” She moved restlessly against him. “All right, Nick, you don’t need to tell me any more. Your truth is as close to my idea of it as it can ever be. I just wanted you to tell me without fudging around.”
Nick realized that had always been all she’d ever asked of him—to tell her the truth, not of what he did, but of what he was. And having gotten that from him, she was content not to need further details.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you before,” he told her.
“I can only imagine the kind of life it must be, to always be afraid of people betraying you.” Jaymee touched his face. She wanted him to know she understood and accepted what he was. “To have to be careful all the time.”
Visions of an exploding boat filled her mind, and she shivered. That was a close call. She might have never met him, if he hadn’t been able to….
Nick felt her shiver and understood her fear. What was second nature to him was unfathomable to normal people, and he sought to comfort Jaymee. “It isn’t so bad. I get to play with lots of neat toys.” He kept his voice light, soothing her with slow caresses. After all, the Programmer did have fun dismantling some of the world’s most sophisticated satellite systems. “Besides, it isn’t that different from your job.”
Jaymee laughed in astonishment. “Right. I have relatives zinging weapons at me while I nail shingles.”
“You have your back stabbers, Chuck and Rich,” he pointed out, “and you have to be careful all the time while you’re on the job. One misstep, and you might fall and break your neck. A careless backward step, and you might fall through a skylight hole.”
“Nicholas Killian Langley, you aren’t seriously trying to convince me what we both do is equal?” She didn’t know whether to laugh or get angry with him. Here she was, worried about his safety, fearing for his life, and he mocked her with comparisons of the dangerous aspects of roofing.
Nick was only too happy to get her to laugh again. “You even have a gun,” he pointed out, “and the bad guys all know you as Jay the Boss. Pretty dandy nickname.”
They both laughed.
“I don’t know what to do with you,” Jaymee chided in between chuckles. “You’re never serious when you’re supposed to be.”
Nick shrugged, smiling. Getting up from the couch, he pulled her up with him. He slipped her hand into his unzipped jeans. “I can show you what you can do with me in your bed,” he invited naughtily.
“I’m going to have to deduct room and board from your pay,” she teased.
“What?”
“Yup. Also, the torn shirt and pants. The hairpins you keep throwing away. And…two dirty tee-shirts. At least. Let’s see, that leaves…why, you owe me money on your next paycheck!”
“Oh, yeah?”
She should have heeded the tone of his voice, but she was busy putting her pants back on. As soon as she straightened up, she found herself lifted over his shoulder. As he made his way out of the study and to her room with unerring ease, he told her softly, “I’m going to pay you back my way, sweetheart, with compound interest for any extra charges, of course.”
When Nick finally allowed her to curl up and fall asleep on top of him, she’d tallied up an exorbitant account of extra charges.
Big Bad Wolf: Chapter Eleven
Saturday. Jaymee mentally ticked off each day, hoping it wouldn’t be the last day Nick—it took too much effort to call him Killian in private and Nick when they were around the others—spent with her. It wasn’t difficult to conclude, with the appearance of his cousin, part of his “unit,” Nick needn’t stay with her much longer. They would be gone soon, off to straighten out whatever they were straightening out. A heavy feeling settled in her stomach whenever she imagined Nick dying in that explosion about which he’d told her. He led such a different life from hers. He’d seen so much, done so much, and all she’d ever done was dreamed. She wondered what he saw in her that made him want her so.
Not because of this mop, that was for certain, she grimaced wryly, as she pulled the wide-toothed pick through her hair. Securing it into one thick braid, she considered whether to put any make-up on, then frowned. Why bother? She would sweat it all off in an hour, and Nick would still see her the way she always was—sweaty and untidy. Not this evening, she vowed. This evening, she would show him Jaymee Barrows cleaned up good.
“Got a tee-shirt?” His crooked smile was bland, his eyes innocent.
Jaymee met his gaze in the mirror. She still couldn’t get over him walking around her half-naked, in her room. She watched him sauntered toward her dressing table, still wet from the shower, a towel wrapped casually around his waist. “I thought you brought a change of clothes in that little bag,” she said to the moving image.
“That’s for later. I need something to work in.”
“I think you’re just sleeping with me for my tee-shirts,” she said, wrinkling her nose at his reflection.
Nick played with her thick braid of hair. The urge to mess up her work and just watch the strands curl out rebelliously tempted him, as it always did. He was fascinated by its softness and rebellious nature; in fact, he was fascinated with the whole package standing in front of him.
“No, sweetheart, I prefer you without them on,” he teased.
Color warmed her cheeks as she recalled the night before. She flicked at his outreaching fingers. “Don’t mess up my braid up,” she warned lightly.
“I don’t know why you always tie it up. I’m just going to loosen it later.” He bent down to kiss her exposed neck, nibbling lightly. “Well, there’s at least something I like when you do it.”
Jaymee shrugged her shoulder to nudge him off. “Nick, didn’t you tell me you were a good carpenter?”
“Besides being so good in bed, you mean?” He was in a great mood today, having gotten his planned night after all.
“Big head,” she said good-naturedly.
“Big appetite,” he came back, a sexy smile on his lips. “You were insatiable.”
She stuck her tongue out at him. “You’re a big liar too,” she accused.
“Oh, are you telling me you we didn’t finish up a whole box of…”
Jaymee felt the heat on her cheeks again. “About the carpenter skills…” she hastily cut in. “Are you really going to help me out?”
Nick pulled her up and turned her to face him. “Still shy?” She looked adorable when she blushed and he enjoyed teasing her so. He could always tell when she was thinking about their intimate moments. The green flecks in her eyes heated up to an intense glow that made him hot all over. Like now. He sighed. “OK, I’ll earn my keep. Give me a shirt, some breakfast, and I’ll get to work…boss.”
He was really as good a carpenter as he’d boasted to be, Jaymee thought later, as she admired the muscles playing on Nick’s bare back. He was leaning over the saw while cutting the two-by-fours to be used to repair the rotten back porch. She had been working inside the house, and decided to take a break at half-past ten, to see what he was up to.
Jed and Grace showed up at that moment, coming up the overgrown unpaved driveway. Jaymee wondered how they managed to get there. Jed had taken time to shave and Grace looked less like a wild child, even with that green hair.
She studied Nick’s cousin. The man’s likeness to Nick was even more pronounced without the heavy stubble he had. He had a leaner face, with a stubborn looking cleft under his generous lower lip. His hair had the same unruly lock, like Nick, except it was a dark polished bronze color. His mouth was harder-looking too, unlike Nick’s lazy quirk, some might even described it cruel-looking, with lines bracketing both sides, emphasizing the deep indentation below. Same thickly lashed eyes, except that they were so cold. He was a good-looking man in a rugged sort of way, if he would just smile more. And if his strange, light eyes wouldn’t stare with such deadly intensity at their target. There was something very ruthless about Nick’s cousin, and she still wasn't certain how to talk to him whenever they were together. She had a feeling those odd little pauses between them were somehow deliberate. They sure made her feel awkward and uncomfortable.
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