One Last Kiss: A Second Chance Romance

by Lauren Wood

  “Damn Cassie,” he murmured. “I bet I could make you come just from this.”

  She had no doubt that he could, but she wasn’t patient enough to find out. She pushed him down and slid her hips over him. “Enough. You still have entirely too many clothes on.”

  He pushed his hips up and ground himself against her. “Feel free to rectify the situation,” he said with a smirk.

  Cassie leaned over and pulled at his bottom lip with her teeth. “I think I’ll do just that,” she whispered, and she slid down his body.

  Max felt the tug of his pants, and he cocked his head forward to watch. She made eye contact, and she stared at him while she slowly slipped the button out of its loop. There was something so erotic about that half smile on her face, but then she dipped her head.

  God was she? Yes. She lowered the zipper of her pants with her teeth, and he inhaled sharply as her nose brushed along his boxers.

  “Damn,” he whispered.

  He watched as she wiggled her ass in the air, and when the zipper was down, she looked up and grin. “Liked that, didn’t you?” she said mockingly. He lifted his hips, and she slid his pants down the rest of the way. Before he could react, she hooked her fingers under the waistband of his boxers and slid those down to. He sprung up, rock hard and in desperate need of attention.

  She wasted no time.

  As she crawled back up to him, she ran her hands on the inner parts of his thighs and slid her tongue up his base. His hips jumped involuntarily, and his breath escaped him. Christ. His body was on edge from the way he’d teased her, and if he didn’t stop her, it would be over before it began.

  “Cassie,” he moaned as she wrapped her lips around him and slid down. He was big, and most women had to stop halfway down, but Cassie was something special. He cried out as he felt her throat muscles relax, and she practically slid all the way down. He hit the back of her throat and moaned. “Fuck, baby, you’ve got to stop,” he panted.

  He wrapped his hands in her dark hair as she pulled back up, and while he meant to force her off his cock, he couldn’t help but thrust his hips just a few times. She moaned, and it was nearly his undoing.

  The woman clearly loved to suck cock.

  Gritting his teeth, he managed to regain his senses and tug on her air until he fell out of her mouth. Before she could saw anything, he hauled her up and flipped her over. “Keep pulling tricks like that out of your hat, and it’s going to be over before you know it,” he grunted.

  He pushed at the under side of her knees while he settled in between her legs, and she grinned, straightened, her legs and pulled them all the way up.

  Flexible. Max moaned. The damn woman was flexible. He was going to lose all control.

  He slid a finger inside her, pulled it out, and tasted her. Her mouth dropped open as she watched him slide the finger inside his mouth. “Sweet,” he muttered. Wanting more, he dropped down and slowly licked her slip.

  “Max,” she cried out. “I thought you were going to…” her voice trailed off as he circled his tongue around her clit.

  “All in good time,” he murmured. “I feel like I’ve been waiting for a lifetime for this, and I don’t want to rush it. I want to do everything I dreamed about last night.”

  “What…” she moaned as he buried his tongue inside her. God, he loved the way her legs were shaking. “What else did you dream about?”

  He smiled. He’d dreamed about having her straddling him and riding. He dreamed about having her bent over a kitchen table. He’d dreamed about tying her to the bed and blindfolding her, and, just now, he was picturing how she’d look under the flow of the showerhead as he pressed her up against the shower and made her scream.

  “We’ll get to that,” he promised as he went back to loving her.

  She panted and moaned, and when he added a couple of fingers, she stopped breathing altogether. When he finally stopped teasing her and started running his tongue over her with determination, she squeezed his head between her legs and squealed as the orgasm rocked through her.

  God, he couldn’t take anymore. She barely opened her eyes when he was nudging at her entrance with her erection. “I wanted to give you more time,” he muttered as he tried to still himself. “I should give you more time.”

  She planted her feet on the floor and lifted her hips to take more of him in, and as he slid the first few inches in her warmth, he couldn’t control himself anymore. With a shout, he drove himself home.

  Cassie arched her back as he stretched her. “Yes,” she hissed. “God, yes.” He leaned over her and pumped his hips just a little, and her eyes widened. “There’s more?”

  He laughed shortly. “Yes, but I won’t give you more than you can take,” he muttered. She could see the veins in his neck strain as he tried to control himself.

  She drew her legs up, and he settled even deeper. “More,” she said hungrily. “I want more.”

  He moaned and slid just a little more in. Her eyes popped open as she tried to adjust herself. She’d never had anyone reach that deeply, and she’d never imagined that it could feel like that. He satisfied a deep ache that she didn’t even know existed. The more he threatened the scratch, he more she itched. “Fuck,” she whimpered. “Can you give me more?”

  He closed his eyes and finally sank all the way in. She immediately scissored her legs around him. “Don’t move,” she ordered. She wiggled her hips around in delight. “Max. That’s so good. Right there. That’s my new spot. That’s it.”

  He grunted. “Cassie, I love that you want to play, but I’m about to lose my mind here.”

  She licked her lips in anticipation. With a wicked grin, she managed to pulse her muscles around him, and he lost it. At the first full thrust of his hips, she knew that playtime was over.

  He slid all the way in and hit that spot that made her toes curls. Slow at first, and then faster, and soon she was digging her nails into him. As pleasure coursed through her in waves, she could barely hang on.

  “Don’t stop,” she cried out. She knocked her head on the floor and tried to keep up. He grabbed her legs and pulled them up. Balancing himself on his arms, he pumped faster, and she moaned. “Oh God. I think I’m going to die.”

  “Look at me,” he demanded. “I want to hear you scream my name when you come.”

  She locked eyes with him, and as he buried himself in her, she could take no more. “Max,” she panted. “Max. MAX!” She convulsed around him and gripped his hips.

  He dropped to rest his forehead on hers. “Mine,” he roared, and slid in as far as he could go before he emptied himself inside her. For just a moment, she saw the lion come out and join them.

  She dropped her legs, limp, and he rolled them over so she could rest on him.

  “Can’t do anymore,” she whispered.

  He chuckled. “I’d need a few minutes anyways.” He paused. “I own a woodworking business. I make furniture and cabinets and such.”

  She stilled. She usually hated when the guy got personal afterwards, but she knew that fighting it was futile. He tensed under her, waiting for her response. Even if she wanted to get up and walk away, her legs wouldn’t let her.

  “I’m a reporter. But I guess you already knew that,” she muttered as she nuzzled her face in the crook of his neck. He relaxed.

  “I still have both my parents. I have three sisters, and I’m the alpha of the local pride.”

  She propped her head on his shoulder and shuddered as he stroked a finger down her back. How was it that she was still responding to him? “I have an overbearing mother and no siblings.”

  “My favorite color is blue, I like classical music, and I try to spend as much time outdoor as possible.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Black. Hard rock. And I’m a big fan of central heating and air conditioning.”

  “Action movies, football, and red meat.”

  She smiled. “Action movies, football, and red meat,” she echoed.

  “At least three kids
.”

  She bit her lip. “In the future?”

  “Whenever you’re ready.”

  She wiggled on top of him. “Practice first, and then I think three kids might be in your future.”

  “And a wedding. I’m a traditional man.”

  She raised her eyebrows. This was getting serious quick, but what did she expect? There was no skirting around the truth. She belonged to him. And he belonged to her.”

  “Fall. I like the colors better,” she said with a smile.

  He laughed and reached up to kiss her. “Mine,” he said aggressively.

  “Mine,” she countered and wiggled her hips.

  “God,” he moaned. “You’re going to drive me insane for the rest of my life, aren’t you?”

  She was delighted to find that he was already hard again, and she slid her hips over him, inch by inch. “That’s my plan,” she agreed.

  It was slow and unhurried, and as he did things to her body that she never thought possible, she realized that some things really were meant to be. She had no doubt that he would love and treasure her for the rest of her life.

  And she would do the same to him. “Cassie Torrents,” she whispered out loud.

  His eyes widened, and as he gripped her hips, their lovemaking was no longer slow. As he pounded her, she gasped. “Like that, don’t you,” she managed just before she lost all capability to form words.

  And for the fourth time in just a few hours, he made her fall apart.

  And he was there to catch her.

  THE END

  UNSEALED DESIRE

  Chapter 1

  “I know exactly your price and the client has given us 50% down with the rest to be delivered upon completion of the assignment. Shelley, I’ll have everything prepared for you. Your passport has already been updated and new identification issued in the name of Kelly Walker. You just need to remember that you’re there for a teaching symposium. All your credentials will be in order and you’ll have an ironclad story that I’ve already updated to your laptop.” “Jackson has always been the one that has kept me going all this time. This is not the type of business that I can get into with someone that doesn’t have my back. He knows that eventually my clock will be punched, but until then he has decided to ride the gravy train with me.

  “Jackson, we both know that anything can happen on any given day. Life is full of surprises and you never know what’s going to be waiting for you around the corner. I will say that I’m glad to have you on my side. If you weren’t, I would be very worried that you were working against me in some way. There have been several organizations that have been trying to track me down without success. I’ve been very careful, my disguises are impeccable and I live by a moral code that I follow every day.”

  Shelley had been working in the field of problem solver for quite some time. It’s been years and even today, she can barely remember how she got started. It came when she was at her lowest point, drug addicted and looking for her next fix. She came across a young man that wanted his wife taken care of. She found that problem solving was something that she was good at and she decided to make a drastic jump in her career choice. She never had anything to tie her down and didn’t have the social skills to really keep a friendship alive for more than a couple of weeks.

  “Shelley, we’ve been playing cat and mouse for some time and eventually we’re going to have to see each other face to face. I know that you’ve been hesitant to do that and I understand that you wanna keep this strictly professional. I’m just saying that I would like to have a face to go with the name.” Jackson was a little worried that things were getting too high profile for his liking. He had heard some stories and he knew just from listening that this was one of her targets that had met their final last breath. “As always, be careful and don’t trust anybody.” As he turned off the microphone to his laptop, he immediately wired the $10,000,000 into her account. It was 11,000,000, but he got that extra 1,000,000 for himself. It would be the same way when the second part of payment came in after the job was completed.

  “This business can be taxing on the best of us, but I recently learned that maybe life has been passing me by. I try to make the best of a bad situation by going to fancy restaurants and enjoying culture, but there seems to be something missing. Some profound puzzle piece that has not permanently made me content and happy is still out there waiting for me to find it. I know that I’ve never been good at relationships, but maybe it’s time to finally find someone to share my life with.” Shelley was packing her clothing, making sure that the attire matched up with the story of somebody that was an educational professional. She wore her hair dark down over her shoulders and with a slight wave. She had a pair of nondescript glasses and her eye color was now permanently changed to that of green. That came courtesy of well placed contacts. It was also a twofold reason, as she did have one eye that was stronger than the other. With these contacts, she could have that 20/20 vision and still do her job without worrying about age creeping up and tapping her on the shoulder.

  She worked alone, never bothering with a partner in the field, because she learned from past indiscretions that things like that can get ugly in a hurry. Everybody has their own agenda and that included herself.

  She had this dream in the back her mind that she wanted to retire on a secluded island or maybe on a sailboat. Shelley knew that it was only a pipe dream and that her life was pretty much dictated by a bullet with her name on it

  She had bought her clothing at the boutique that catered to those of a more sophisticated taste. It wasn’t expensive, but was something that she felt was choking off her air supply. The black blazer, the white blouse and the knee length black skirt really didn’t suit her. She looked in the mirror, making herself believe the story that she was about to tell those at customs. She could immerse herself into a fitting role like getting into a warm bath on a sunny afternoon. Sometimes, she felt like she was losing a part of herself, but that only came with the need to separate her feelings from what she did.

  Before long, she was on board a plane that was soon taxiing into the Washington State. It was said to be a hot spot for political activists and back dealings in alleys that most likely were in offices. She never did like this city, but she was going to force herself to walk through streets that had haunted her for years. Each step outside of the concourse made her a little lightheaded and memories that had long been buried came flooding back in a hurry.

  She remembered the fire, burning her skin and that permanent reminder of that scar up her left arm that indicated that she had been in the fight of her life.

  She picked up the Manila envelope, perused the contents one more time and then tossed the whole thing into the trash. She had ripped it up into tiny pieces, making sure that there was really no way for anybody to know what exactly she was doing. They would need many hours to put it all together again and by then, her business here would be over and she would be long gone, before they even realized that she was the suspect that they were looking for.

  “I need you to drive me around for the next three days. I’m willing to pay you $10,000, but only if you keep your mouth shut and not say anything to anybody. If you can do that, then there’ll be a bonus of another 10,000 dollars at the end of this transaction. That would give you $20,000 for three days work. I think that you would be a damn fool to turn that down.” “I had already walked by several other taxi drivers and I didn’t get a good feeling from them. This one named Nicholas looked to be ready and available for just about anything. I could see the hardened eyes, the way that he shifted nervously in his seat like he knew that somebody was going to come looking for him any day. It didn’t hurt that he was quite good looking, but I never mix business with pleasure.” Shelley watched his eyes and saw them light up like the 4th of July with dollar signs dancing in his eyes.

  He had thinning brown hair, which he was constantly combing over to make it look like that premature balding was not something that was heredita
ry in his family.

  He looked at this Asian tempest, her dark hair and short petite figure and had immediate visions of what it would be like to have her wrapped around his waist. She was offering a good deal and something that his gambling habit had predicated him working two jobs. That $15,000 debt would be wiped out and there would be no need for those that were shady to come to his house and give him a reminder.

  “I do believe that you have a deal.” Shelley told him where her hotel was located and there was not even a word spoken the entire trip. Her mind was this steel trap and she was going over the pertinent details of who this Brent person was. From everything that she read, he was a dedicated officer with the navy. He joined when he was 18 and now turning 25, he had already had several medals. One was for bravery and most of his missions were redacted, so that nobody knew exactly what they entailed. She was a little leery about the man himself. He seemed cloistered, willing to do whatever it took for his country and not having anything to keep him from risking his life.

  This was a man that had nothing to lose and was willing to throw it all on the line for the chance to impress those that were higher up.

  The mission was pretty easy and she was to eliminate the target and make sure that he was not able to deliver the package. The package was to be taken and sent by courier to a P.O Box in Missouri. After she had taken care of that, her job would be done and she could move on to the next one without complications or anything to stand in her way.

  “I’ll be back down here tomorrow morning at 6:00 AM and I expect you to be here. Punctuality is very important to me and I have a schedule to meet and I expect you to adhere to my wishes.” She knew his name, but did not want to say it, in case he decided that gave him an opening to idle chitchat. “I’m only getting him to do this for me, because I need somebody that I can at least control like a puppet on a string. Whatever his money woes are, will be more than enough to make him my loyal lapdog. He’ll come when he calls, panting and begging for attention and if he misbehaves, then he will get more than a rolled up newspaper on the top of his nose.”