Out of the Light, Into the Shadows

by Lori Foster

  They had reached the elevators and she was fishing around in her purse.

  “Oh, I’m not going to work tonight.” Nick faked a cough. “I’m sick.”

  Her tongue slid across her bottom lip as she looked up at him in amusement. “Shame on you. Shirking responsibility.”

  “I never do.” Not in a hundred years. “Tonight I am.” Nick stuck his hands out in front of him, wrists together. “And I’m not going to feel the least bit guilty.”

  JORDAN couldn’t believe Nick had made the offer for her to cuff him, but she wasn’t going to say no. With his hands mostly unavailable, she knew she wasn’t in any real danger from him should he prove to be something other than the nice guy she thought he was.

  It was good to take the precaution, and hell, a little bit sexy. But she trusted her gut—he was lonely, like she was, and burdened by responsibility. It was in his eyes, a mirror image of hers, though his were laced with a sadness she didn’t think she had. Tonight, it was clear they both just wanted to forget. To talk, to kiss, to enjoy themselves, wherever that might lead.

  “Shouldn’t you make sure Peter isn’t home? I’d hate to scare him by having his father walk in wearing handcuffs.”

  “Yeah, I should, though I suspect Kelsey is running around with him. They talked about going to the movies, too. But I also need to call off work.”

  He fished his phone out and made the quick calls while Jordan checked her own phone to make sure no one was trying to contact her.

  “Done,” he said. “I never call off work, so they were fine with it. And Peter isn’t home—Kelsey is letting him look at the fountains outside.” He smiled at her. “We’re good. Cuff me.”

  A shiver raced up Jordan’s spine at the sound of his voice. “I hope no one gets on the elevator with us,” she told him as she clicked the metal rings around his wrists. “They’ll assume you’re a criminal and be terrified.”

  “They’d probably be more terrified if we told them the truth.”

  Jordan laughed. “You’re probably right. I’m not sure how normal this is,” she said as they both stepped onto the thankfully empty elevator.

  “I don’t suppose that either one of us has a normal life in the strictest sense,” Nick told her, giving her a small, rueful smile. “You spend your days with dead bodies and chasing down killers. I have, well, not exactly a white-picket-fence lifestyle either.”

  “We belong on the Island of Misfit Toys, don’t we?”

  Confusion clouded his face. “What is that?”

  “Oh, it’s from a Christmas cartoon, an island where all the toys that don’t fit into a standard of perfection go to live since they won’t be given as gifts to children for Christmas. Like a wagon with a square wheel.”

  With a soft laugh he said, “I imagine that is a fairly good description of me and my life. A wagon with a square wheel.”

  They stared at each other briefly before he leaned forward and kissed her. Jordan knew he was going to and she welcomed it. As the elevator shot up, she gave in to the gentle yet passionate kiss and slipped her hand around the back of his neck. She had to go way up on her toes to reach his mouth, and his confined hands were trapped between their bodies, brushing at her abdomen.

  God, he could kiss. And she had missed this, the right to touch someone, the invasion of her personal space, the hardness of a man’s body pressed close up against the softness of hers.

  The elevator dinged and the door opened. Nick stepped out and grinned at her. “My room key is in my back pocket. I think you’re going to have to get it out since I’m, uh, helpless here.” He held his bound hands up in the air.

  Oh, darn. She was going to have to dig in the denim back pocket of his jeans. “I’m a professional,” she told him briskly. “I can handle it.”

  Since it was more fun to do it from the front, she reached around his hips and patted both pockets. One was smooth while the other was lumpy. Tempted to linger on the smooth one, she resisted and slid her fingers into the other pocket. Of course, the position meant that her whole body was brushing against his chest and thighs, and it was a pleasant side effect. The bump in the one pocket was obviously his wallet and she extracted it, pulled out his room key, then tucked it back in, efficiently and without squeezing his backside like she really, really wanted to.

  She held the key up. “Told you I was a professional.”

  Nick’s eyes were jet black. “That’s a little disappointing.”

  “Good things come to those who wait.”

  “You don’t really believe that, do you?” Nick asked, his voice low, sexy. “I think I’ve learned that the only thing that comes to those who wait is more of the same. If you want something, you have to go for it.”

  Jordan had never articulated it herself, but she did feel the same way. Passivity got you nothing in life, not even peace or contentment. You had to reach out with both hands for what you wanted and take it with gusto. She hadn’t been doing that; she’d been drowning under dead bodies and paperwork. “Trust me, I’m going to go for it.”

  “Yeah? I can’t wait.”

  Neither could she. “Guess that means neither one of us gets a gold star for patience.”

  “A gold star or you? I think only a fool would choose the star.”

  Jordan laughed and opened the door to Nick’s suite. “After you.”

  He strolled in, shooting her a smoldering look over his shoulder as he went into the living room. “Do you want a drink or anything? I’m not sure what I have in the room but I can order from downstairs.”

  “No, thanks. I don’t want a drink.” What she wanted was him, naked, not on a platter, but on a bed. She wanted to climb onto his strong, broad body and fill herself with his hard erection. The intensity of the thought shocked her, but not enough to dissuade her.

  She took a step toward him and her intent must have been clear on her face, because Nick’s eyes widened.

  “Come here, Jordan,” he said, slowly, carefully, his hands dangling uselessly in front of him in the handcuffs.

  She did, reaching her hands out as she approached to wrap them around his neck, kissing him hot and hard and with all the pent-up passion she felt. Nick kissed her back, using the tips of his fingers to tug on her shirt and pull her closer, then undo her pants.

  That was skill, taking down a zipper with handcuffs on while sliding his tongue inside her mouth. Then he was walking her backward, hands on her opened waistband, legs on either side of hers, his mouth doing seriously wonderful things. Her back hit the wall of the entryway, knocking a gasp out of her at impact. He was strong, even without real use of his hands, and damn it, that was so sexy.

  Moisture flooded between her thighs, and her nipples were tight and aching, so Jordan wrapped her thigh around his in an open invitation to do whatever he wanted.

  He did, yanking at the neckline of her shirt, exposing her flesh to her bra. Nick bent forward and kissed her neck, the cleavage, the rise of each breast, while Jordan gripped his impressive biceps and enjoyed the pleasure surging through her.

  “I don’t know how good I’ll be at this under the constraints,” he said as he maneuvered two fingers inside her jeans. “But I’m damn well going to try.”

  He stroked along the slickness and Jordan moaned quietly.

  Nick’s dark eyes bore into her. “You’re very wet.”

  “It’s been very long,” she told him, letting her eyes flutter closed and her head loll against the wall as he moved inside her, hooking his finger in a way that had her groaning softly. “The restraints don’t seem to be holding you back. My God, that feels good.”

  His lips were on her chest again, kissing and licking and sucking. With his tongue, he had managed to shove one of her bra cups down and he was flicking the tip of his tongue over her nipple. “You taste so wonderful,” he said. “And I have to warn you … I’m a biter. I can’t help it. It turns me on.”

  “Oh, yeah?” In the past it had never done much for Jordan but the idea of
Nick taking a little nip at her sounded exciting. “Where are you going to bite me?”

  “Here,” he said, scraping his teeth lightly across the swell of her breast.

  “Really?” she asked, not sure if she would like that or not but distracted by his finger stroking deliciously inside of her.

  “Yes.”

  Then his teeth put pressure on her flesh and Jordan gasped at the sharp sting of pain. But before she could protest or pull away, the shock of discomfort gave way to a flood of ecstasy. The squeeze of his mouth on her shot through her entire body like an electrical current, causing her muscles and limbs to tremble and squirm and pulse like she was having an entire-body orgasm.

  Jordan couldn’t breathe or make a sound, her eyes rolling back into her head, fingers fluttering uselessly at the back of Nick’s neck. She had never felt anything so amazing in her entire life. When the pressure increased just a little on her breast, Nick also pinched her clitoris, and Jordan let out a cry and came in the most explosive orgasm she’d ever experienced.

  Wow.

  She clutched at him, bit her lip, and sank into the pleasure.

  SIX

  NICK continued to stroke Jordan through her powerful orgasm, but he forced himself to extract his fangs from her flesh. If he pushed it, let too much of her sweet, juicy blood roll over his tongue and down his throat, he would lose control and do things he shouldn’t do. Like take her harder than a vampire ever should a mortal. Or drain too much of her blood, leaving her weak and disoriented.

  He didn’t want to do either of those things to Jordan, and he wanted to be as close to normal with her as possible. But he hadn’t been able to resist tasting her, and it had met every expectation, satisfied every one of his taste buds, every inch of his body. Licking his fangs to taste the lingering tangy sweetness, Nick watched Jordan’s explosive pleasure.

  He had done that to her.

  He had made her come like that, her eyes dilated, breathing frantic, legs spread, inner thighs slick and juicy from her desire, and that satisfied him as profoundly as the taste of her lifeblood. Most vampires had mind-reading skills, but Nick had always been lacking in that particular talent. For him, it was like a dull buzz, random words or thoughts that were so disjointed he couldn’t even determine the person who was having them, but when Jordan had walked into his suite, he had heard and almost seen her thoughts like she had broadcast them in high definition. She wanted him inside her, and knowing that had been all he needed to push her against the wall and sink his fangs into her flesh.

  Now he wanted to feel the completion she had craved as well, so he pulled back, running the tip of his fingers across her bottom lip as she trembled and panted, her green eyes wide and glassy.

  “Come to my bedroom,” he said.

  “I would love to.” Her tone so emphatic that he groaned.

  The honesty of her passion was very pleasing to him, very arousing. It was probably a good thing that he was wearing the cuffs. He was feeling rough and raw, and the restriction would force him to maintain control.

  Nick gave her a deep, probing kiss, then said, “Follow me.”

  In his room, he closed the door and pushed the button in to lock it. Then he lay down on his bed, with his hands over his head. “Be gentle with me.”

  Jordan gave a soft laugh as she came toward the bed, peeling her shirt off and tossing it on the floor. She wiggled out of her jeans, giving him a fabulous view of soft flesh and womanly curves before she crawled onto the bed. “Should I turn the light on?”

  “It’s up to you,” he told her. He didn’t need the artificial light to see in the dark. He could see fairly well without it. Just another side benefit of being undead, and at the moment, he could even see the goose bumps on her chest as she leaned over him, one leg on either side of his.

  “Then I’m not going to bother. It will take too long.”

  Jordan’s thin and nimble fingers were already on the fly of his jeans, and then she had them undone and his erection out and in her warm hand with an efficiency Nick fully appreciated. She stroked him with just the right speed, just the right pressure, and he relaxed, enjoying the lazy pleasure the movement gave him.

  “There’s a condom in my pocket,” he told her before he could become so distracted he totally forgot. He had no need for the latex to combat either disease or pregnancy, but it would reassure her since he couldn’t tell her the truth.

  Jordan kissed his jaw, her hand still moving over him, her breasts brushing over his chest. “Good idea.”

  Wishing he could feel her bare flesh completely on his, he said, “And once you have that, take off my clothes.”

  “Even better idea.”

  It had been far too long since he’d felt a woman’s touch, and Jordan unrolling the condom over his erection had him wanting to sigh. She gave a little squeeze and he did expel air, his desire acute and aggressive.

  “Take my pants off,” he told her, his voice rougher than he intended, but he was feeling the impatience of not having his hands free. Without the cuffs, he could have already disposed of his clothes and been buried deep inside her wet warmth.

  “In a hurry?” she asked with a smile as she tugged down his jeans, her breasts brushing against his thighs, hair tickling his abdomen.

  “Fuck yes.”

  She laughed, a sweet, delightful, sexy sound, and Nick felt a vulnerable tug of emotion. He had missed these things—intimacy, laughing in bed, sharing hot passion with a woman. Then again, he had never met a woman like Jordan, a woman who said exactly what she was thinking and exactly what she wanted, and he was very attracted to that. It was the reason, aside from her beauty, that he had noticed her after ignoring women for so long, and he wasn’t surprised when she shoved his T-shirt up to expose his chest.

  “I just had to see it,” she said. “Touch it.” Her fingers ran all over his flesh, tracing the definition of his muscles, her thighs straddling his, her soft inner thighs resting teasingly on his erection.

  Nick kissed her, nipping lightly at her bottom lip. “Does it meet your expectations?”

  “Oh, it surpasses them,” she assured him, her head bobbing in the dark room. “You’re a rock from head to toe.”

  “Especially below the waist,” he told her, lifting his hips to drive home the point. “Ride me, Jordan.”

  “With pleasure.” She shifted, then thrust herself down onto him.

  They both groaned, Nick squeezing his eyes shut at the feeling of her, tight and slick, wrapped around him. She moved slowly up, then down the length of him, resting her hands on his chest. It was delicious, exquisite, painful in its slowness. Nick was caught between wanting to savor her, wanting to draw out the delight, and wanting to pound himself into her with staccato thrusts.

  She moved on and on, in a slow erotic tease, her breathing a series of pants and sighs, her breasts just out of his reach.

  Nick tried to grip her waist, tried to move her up and down on him faster, but he couldn’t get enough of a palm spread with the handcuffs, and he wound up even more frustrated. He slid his finger down her clitoris, hoping to encourage her to pick up the pace, but she only pushed his finger away.

  “Too much,” she said. “I don’t want to come yet.”

  Lifting his hips only resulted in her coming to a complete stop. “Are you doing this or am I?” she asked, her eyes languid with desire.

  “I am.” Nick jerked his wrists apart, breaking the steel handcuffs with his vampiric strength and gripping her hips firmly.

  “How the hell?” she asked, looking at him in astonishment. “Those are impossible to—”

  Her shocked words were cut off when Nick pulled her down onto him at the same time he lifted his hips. The erotic collision had her saying, “Oh! Oh, wow.”

  Nick did it again, harder, and again, building a rhythm that within seconds had Jordan yelling in ecstasy. He loved that sound, loved the feel of her soft flesh within his fingers, loved the impact of their bodies together, the way she
slammed down onto him each time he dropped her hips. Twisting his head, he bit the flesh above her knee and sucked hard, drawing a mouthful of blood past his lips.

  Jordan screamed, her body pulsing on his as she had another orgasm, just as intense as the first. Her fingers squeezed his chest, her inner muscles milking his cock, and Nick joined her, letting go with his own shout as he came with her.

  He probably had a dozen or so years of sexual release in that orgasm, and he throbbed into her, locking eyes with her in the dark, not sure if she could see him or not, but wanting that connection.

  She collapsed against his chest, breathing hard. “Oh, my God. That was …”

  “I hope you’re going to say amazing.” Nick swallowed hard. “Because it was for me.”

  “Definitely.” She stroked his chest, her hair soft on his shoulder. “And I cannot believe you broke those cuffs. I don’t know whether to be flattered or freaked.”

  “A man who wants a woman can break just about anything,” he told her, hoping she wouldn’t reflect too long on the fact. It hadn’t been wise to do that, but he hadn’t been rational at the time. Hell, he still wasn’t feeling rational, because he was thinking that he would do anything to have a real, honest-to-goodness relationship with Jordan, which he knew was impossible.

  Yet he suddenly really very much wanted to try.

  “And maybe you could unlock me now,” he said, kissing the top of her head gently. “If you don’t mind.”

  “I don’t mind,” she said, peeling herself off his chest. “Do you want me to leave, then? I don’t want to make things awkward with Peter.”

  “No, I want you to stay.” He did, desperately. “Please stay. I want to make love to you again after a quick nap.” Nick reached out and drew his finger down her cheek. “Please say you’ll stay.”

  Looking down at him from under her long, mink-colored eyelashes, Jordan didn’t hesitate. “Okay. I’d love to stay.”

  A minute later she had him uncuffed and was settling in alongside him on the bed. In another sixty seconds she was asleep, her naked body snug beside his, her foot draped across his leg. Nick pulled the covers over both of them.