Taking Root (The Eros Tales Book 1)

by Katherine McIntyre

  The friction of skin against skin had her mind reeling, and she couldn’t get enough. Danny fumbled for his belt again, dragging it open, and a second later she flicked the button of his jeans open. He nudged them off along with his boxer briefs, his cock hanging heavy between his legs. Her mouth watered at the sight, and she didn’t wait. Danny sank to her knees in front of him.

  She wrapped her hand around his length and glanced to him. The hooded look in his eyes had her core thrumming, and she ached to have him fill her to completion. Danny leaned forward to place her lips around his cock, taking in the tip. Once she touched him, his thighs tensed, and he wove his fingers through her hair, his touch sparking through her. She took him into her mouth, starting to find a rhythm as she sucked him down.

  His grip tightened in her hair, the tug sending a thrill through her. The salt and sweat scent of him ratcheted her desire, and as she moved her mouth up and down his length, the low moan that came from deep in his throat made her wetter. He let out a ragged breath and a second later pulled her back by her hair.

  “Any more and I’m going to blow, babe,” he managed to gasp out. Danny’s lips curved in a grin, reveling in the way he responded to her.

  “Who says that’s a bad thing?” she purred, so turned on right now. She ran her tongue over her lips, and Adrian let out a groan.

  “You’re going to be the death of me,” he muttered, sweeping his arms underneath her legs to scoop her up. A surprised laugh flew from her as he carried her over to the utilitarian bed she’d tossed and turned in since she arrived here. The feel of his hot skin against hers shut any rational thought off. If he didn’t thrust his cock inside her and soon, she would come apart at the seams.

  He lowered her onto the mattress like she was some precious, gorgeous thing, and Danny bit her lip. She didn’t want to feel treasured right now. She wanted to be fucked in the raw, real way she could understand.

  Before she could say anything, Adrian’s demeanor changed. His gaze scorched, and he flicked open the button of her jeans, nearly tearing them off her legs. Her breath caught in her throat as the fabric smacked the ground.

  “Time for some payback, darlin’,” he said, his voice raspy with desire. Danny’s core squeezed at the sound, and her own breaths came out ragged. His fingers slipped beneath her panties, and a second later, they flew to the floor as well. The air against her bare pussy had her sucking in a threadbare breath, but then Adrian spread open her legs and she forgot everything else.

  He knelt on the ground in front of her, those careful fingers digging into her thighs as he lowered to deliver the first lick. The moment his tongue slid across her clit, her thighs tensed, and she let out a gasp. The shock of pleasure rolled through her like the crest of wave. Adrian didn’t take long to find a rhythm, and once he did, his mouth moved with some sort of hypnotic magic. She moaned out his name as his tongue sent her to a sinful surrender.

  Everything else melted away while she leaned back, her head on the twisted sheets and her legs around his shoulders as he thrummed her clit like he’d been doing this for years. The way he gripped her and the speed at which he moved held a savagery to the movements that undid her. Her back arched, and her mind blanked of everything but those euphoric highs. Her palms began to sweat as she dug her heels into his shoulders and fisted the sheets.

  “God, Adrian, I need you,” she gasped out. She needed him inside her like she needed to breathe, the ache growing so intense she couldn’t stand it.

  “Not until you come for me,” he murmured against her pussy, his hot breath almost sending her over the edge.

  He descended again, his tongue moving with an increasing intensity. She was a balloon expanding, expanding, so close to popping as he brought her closer and closer. Danny panted, so turned on by the sight of him eating her out and the heated look in his gorgeous blues. Sweat pricked on her forehead as the sensations pushed her higher. She blinked white, and quick as a snap, she crashed over the edge.

  Danny let out a loud cry, her heels digging in as she bucked up in her orgasm. Her core clenched in response, the aftershocks rocking through her like a current. Her chest heaved up and down, the sweat on her palms imprinting on the sheets. Hell, her whole body flushed in response as she coasted on sheer ecstasy.

  Adrian prowled overtop her, his palms sinking into the bed on either side. Even with the satisfaction he gave her, the sight of those powerful muscles and the sweat glistening on his olive skin had her panting. Danny always knew he’d be memorable, but she never would’ve anticipated the next level incredible all his attention to detail would be put to direct use. They were both driven by the same desperate need, but damn if it didn’t look hot as hell on him.

  Danny wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him in for a long, lingering kiss. His lips were wet with her as she licked her own juices off him. She sank her teeth into his bottom lip, causing him to nudge the head of his erection across her soaked core. The feel of his hard length got her motor revving all over again.

  “That all you got, Romeo?” she teased, grinding against his cock. He let out a low moan in response as his hands landed on her hips.

  “Let me grab a condom,” he murmured.

  “Or we could just go for it now,” she responded, a glint in her eyes. “I’m on the pill.”

  Adrian leaned down to nip and suck at her neck, and her eyes rolled back in response as the pulse between her legs kicked up anew. She needed to feel him inside her and wanted him to drive his thick length into her until she couldn’t feel her legs anymore.

  He leaned in, his lips brushing her ear. “Don’t worry, darlin’. We’re just getting started.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Danny sprawled out on the bed before Adrian like his every fantasy come to life.

  Her hair lit like a bonfire against the white sheets she tangled in, and her cream skin betrayed everything with how she flushed. And holy hell, those freckles would be his undoing, the way they trailed down her entire body from the sheer amount of time she spent in the sun. The taste of her lingered on his lips, a sweet nectar he’d be happy to keep licking up just to feel her hips buck.

  His cock throbbed at the sight of her beneath him, and he held on by a thread. The need to bury himself to the hilt inside her mounted every time she ground herself against him, her wet folds brushing his length. Adrian looked into her eyes, which were heavy-lidded and filled with the same lust driving him to the edge. Need rammed into him, and he leaned down to capture her mouth.

  He drank her in as lazy and luxurious quickly turned into something frantic. They inhaled each other, their lips crashing together, teeth sinking in, and tongues twining. Adrian gripped her hips, his nails digging into her skin as his head brushed across her drenched pussy. She shuddered with pleasure against him, and the sensation had his balls tightening in response. Adrian nudged his cock inside, lowering himself inch by inch inside of her.

  Danny wrapped her legs around his hips, digging her heels into him as she bucked forward, trying to push him in faster. The furrowed-brow determination in her gaze sparked a grin on his face, and he edged back.

  “Fuck me,” she growled, wrapping her arms around his neck as she tried to seize control.

  He couldn’t help his smirk when he continued to move at an agonizing pace despite the insistent pulse begging him to move fast and hard. Every time he’d lower an inch or two, he’d pull away again, and her nails bit into his shoulders in protest. Danny tilted her hips up to greet his, gaining ground until he tugged away. He leaned in to bite her neck, sucking at the lily soft skin. She let out a low moan, stopping her protest, and Adrian seized the chance.

  He thrust all the way in, causing her to scream his name as her back arched.

  Danny’s sultry heat enveloped him, and a groan escaped him. She was so tight, so perfect, and he slid inside her like he belonged there. Drops of sweat broke out on his forehead as he began to shift inside her until they found their back and forth, like the chas
e that had always been their relationship. He leaned down to press a kiss to her swollen lips, tasting her sweetness as he rocked into her. Her hips thrust against his again and again as she let out the sort of carnal moans that made him want to blow his load on the spot.

  Her nipples brushed across his chest, and her thighs squeezed against his hips, the lush feel of skin to skin contact traveling straight to his head. The dance between them became this quixotic, living thing, and he surrendered to the pleasure rolling through him every time he crashed into her. Her green eyes glowed with lust, and strands of her hair glued to her forehead as a gorgeous flush crept across her cheeks. He breathed in her scent, lavender and earth, an immediate turn-on every time he encountered her.

  His knees dug further into the mattress as he increased his speed until the entire bed rocked against the wall, a symphony of creaks. Adrian rammed into Danny like a man possessed, need ratcheting inside him with every pass. Her cries fueled his fervor, the moans turning his blood to fire in his veins.

  The pressure in him mounted as he came closer and closer to spilling over, a kettle ready to boil. Danny rocked into him, her hips greeting his in their race to finish. Her nails bit into his skin in a delicious way, the sting bringing him nearer. Ragged pants came from her, the way her breath kept hitching telling him she was just as close. They needed this completion like they needed to breathe.

  The sight of her beneath him caused his chest to tighten, as if something tangible existed there at last. Sweat dripped down his back as his palms imprinted into the mattress on either side of her. She clung to him like she held on for dear life, the cries growing louder and louder each time her clit brushed against him. Danny bit her lower lip, a gesture that always, always undid him.

  He slammed into her, right on the edge. She let out a piercing cry, and he gasped as he spilled into her. His mind seared from the intense bliss rocking through him like a shock of electricity. Her insides squeezed tight, the aftershocks of her orgasm milking him dry. In the following quiet, their ragged breaths circulated around the room. Adrian stared into Danny’s eyes, lost to her. He’d fallen from the moment she walked back into his life, and those feelings intensified with every moment they spent together.

  A satisfied smile curled Danny’s lips, and he reached down to kiss the side of her mouth. She was the stunning of an early spring morning, blue skies and dew gliding down the blades of grass. Buried in her like this, he couldn’t imagine how he’d once thought her remote or unreachable. Their bodies communicated in ways their words never could. Sweat slithered down his back, and he could see the same sheen glistening across her body, their limbs tangled together like the roots of a tree.

  Danny reached up and ran her fingers through his sweat-soaked strands, the gesture so tender his chest ached in response.

  “That was long overdue.” She stared at him, her expressive eyes filled with the same yearning he’d always had for her.

  “Over a decade, I’d say,” he responded, brushing his lips across her forehead. “We’ve got a lot of time to make up for.”

  Slowly, he pulled out and then leaned on his elbow, soaking the sight of her in like he might never get to see it again. As the frenzy died, his head throbbed anew with the nasty bruise. Running into the older guy in her apartment, getting knocked out and tied up felt like ages ago even when it happened mere hours ago. He’d been so relieved to see Danny again that all thoughts of the shake up before vanished. The way they’d crashed together was sudden, fierce, and inevitable.

  He reached up to touch the bruise, still hot, and winced in response. Danny’s gaze darkened, and she sat up, bringing the sheets along. A shaky breath came from her.

  “I owe you an explanation,” she said, her tone turning grim.

  Adrian’s brows furrowed. As much as he wanted to know, he needed her more. “Only if you’re ready.”

  She shook her head. “You have no idea. I’ve been ready from the beginning, but I wasn’t allowed. Hell, I’m still not, but now that he’s seen you, I can’t risk you wandering around without knowing.”

  Adrian hopped up from the bed. “Let’s clean ourselves up and have a real conversation then,” he said, making his way toward her bathroom. She followed him in and popped her shower on, the hiss of the spray inviting. As much as he wanted to run his hands down her body, she brimmed with the same tension that descended every time she’d bolted before. They’d been waiting to have this discussion for far too long, and even though she was alluring to the point of distraction, he’d stay on point.

  They settled down in her bed with a creak, and he had to admit washing the sweat off him felt far too good. Neither bothered with their crumpled clothes though, and as Adrian sat, he opened his arms, welcoming her there. She shook her head, hands on her knees as she faced him, draped with her creased sheets.

  “This conversation’s going to zap everything out of me,” she explained. Her half-smile didn’t reach her eyes. “You’re the first person who isn’t a Fed to hear it.”

  Well, there went all the mafia princess rumors. Adrian settled against the wall, his leg propped up as he tilted toward her.

  Danny tossed some of the sheet toward him. “Cover up, stud. You’re making me want to jump your bones all over again.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said, pulling a bit of the sheet over. Not like it helped his libido in the slightest. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and go for a round two, but he settled in instead.

  “The man you saw is my father. He’s also the reason my mother and I have been separated in witness protection all these years. Kyle Peterson is a serial killer who’s been on the run for too many years to count.” Danny’s tone was closed off and perfunctory, like she recited a rehearsed speech.

  Adrian swallowed hard, cold slithering through his veins. So, the man who’d knocked him out had stained his hands in blood? He could’ve ended up on the body count and never would’ve known. “When you disappeared in high school,” he said instead. “Was that after his first kill?”

  Danny shook her head, those eyes distant, like she existed on a different plane. “I found his room,” was all she said. She sucked in a shaky breath and seemed to snap out of whatever memories held her prisoner. “But ever since then, the Feds have been chasing him, and he’s remained out of reach. I’ve been hopping from city to city, identity to identity.”

  Everything crystallized in his mind. The loneliness in her gaze, the scrape of sadness in her tone. She had pushed him away even when her tone and actions made it clear she wanted him as much as he did her, but now it made sense. Once her cover got compromised, the Feds would move her to a different city. Danny was the same girl he’d known, but she’d been forced into a life of tumbling from town to town like dandelion fluff in the breeze.

  Adrian reached out, threading his fingers through hers. She looked down at their joined hands, and a sad smile reached her lips. The sight shredded his heart to pieces that Danny would carry such a heavy burden alone all these years.

  “If your father’s showing up here, is he close to getting taken in by the Feds?” Adrian asked. The unspoken “can you stay” weighted the air, evident in the shared glance between them. After knowing the truth, Adrian couldn’t ever forget Danny. He’d never been able to let those loose threads go before, and if they moved her to another city, all the shattered potential would devastate him.

  “That’s what they say,” she murmured, her tone so dejected he squeezed her hand tight. “I think the protocol now would be to hop in my car this moment and head to the next town on my stateside tour. Except technically, they never called me with the command.”

  A lump formed in Adrian’s throat. She couldn’t go. Not after he’d discovered she’d always burned with the same feelings. “You don’t think they’ll catch your dad?”

  Danny heaved out a sigh and let go of his hand. She hopped up, walking barefoot across the room to where the shattered planter lay and a note had been left discarded on the floor. She sc
ooped it up to brandish the paper in front of him. “Mom and I are the last on his hit list, so he means business. He left this note with you after he tied you up.”

  He scanned the words, the perfunctory note turning his blood to ice. “Why would he go after you both now?”

  “Why not?” She shrugged, a corrosiveness to her tone. “He has no compulsion when it comes to killing, so why not his own family?”

  Fuck. He couldn’t imagine the terror she lived with all these years, the fear that her father might be coming for her at any point. As much as it would kill him to let her go, he’d rather her be alive and out there than to become another one of her father’s victims.

  Danny shook her head. “No, don’t say it.” She leaned forward and pressed a finger to his lips. “You’ve got the same serious, resigned look on your face my handlers do. The ‘let’s pull you out for your protection’ look. I’m sick of it. All I’ve been doing my entire life is running from this man, and every time I’ve left it to the Feds, they play it safe and let him get away. I can’t do this anymore.”

  She sat on the mattress beside him, still not wearing a stitch. This time when he reached out to bring his arm around her, she leaned against him. The way she sank into him, the sigh of relief that caused her entire body to shudder, tore him to pieces. She’d never had friends or family to rely on from the sounds of it—he couldn’t even imagine a solitary life like that. The loneliness shattered him.

  Adrian sucked in a breath. In her shoes, he wouldn’t have survived. He’d built an entire life around control when she had hers stolen from her at such an early age. As much as he wanted to protect, and as much as the words of safety rose to his lips, instead, he found himself asking a different question.