by Zoe Dawson
“Why?”
“Some data he needs for a presentation. A phone call should be fine since you have an untraceable phone.”
“She wants her laptop. I could drive to DC to pick it up if it’s that important. I know the minute I tell Sky about her boss’s call, she’s going to insist.”
“No. Don’t come to the Navy Yard. I’ll have Beau meet you somewhere. Let me know when you can get away. It’ll be safer that way.”
“All right.”
“Vin, are you sure about this? I’ll speak with the director and get him off your back, but he’s going to want answers.”
“That’s up to you guys. I’m doing the heavy lifting here. Get to pulling your weight.”
Chris chuckled. “I’m going to kick your ass when you get back here. Make sure you’re in one piece.”
“Yes, sir,” Vin said, grinning. “I’ll let you trounce me at darts.”
“Let me…”
“Good night, Chris.” He disconnected the call as his boss was sputtering about Vin throwing a game or two.
He looked around for Sky, but she’d cleaned up the kitchen and was nowhere to be found. He went looking for her.
She wasn’t in the bedroom, and it suddenly occurred to him that they really hadn’t discussed the…sleeping arrangements.
Yeah, right, like he was thinking about sleeping.
He heard the water running in the bathroom and walked up to the open doorway, words on his lips. He never uttered them. Couldn’t get them out as he just stared. She was facing away from him, her back toward the door. The long fall of her hair pinned on top of her head. Her back was a delicate expanse of creamy skin. A pink lacy nothing did a poor job of covering her lower half.
He must have made some kind of noise, or she felt his presence. She turned her head and looked at him, and her eyes went sultry in response to his gaze. She inhaled softly, her breathing suddenly uneven.
His was downright ragged.
Chapter Eleven
She stared at him, her body going hot and liquid, her breasts bared to his raking gaze. She leaned back and thrust them out, daring him to take what he wanted from her. What she wanted from him.
As the seconds passed her core ached and throbbed with the beat of her heart, and she cried out when he burst into motion that was deliberate and full out.
Like a heat seeking missile, he was on her in an explosion of fire and concussion.
He groaned and growled, the sound of him choking out her name was full of so much fire, it was like a knife in her chest. Her arms locked around him, silently pleading with her body, desperation taking over.
He clenched his jaw, turning his head against hers. His face contorting from the surge of desire between them. He caught her around the hips, welding her roughly against him. She needed this, the heat of him, his demanding touch.
Sky made a low sound, then she inhaled raggedly and reacted to his hard erection beneath his fly, her voice breaking on a low sob of relief, “Vin. Please.” She moved against him again, and Vin tightened his hold even more, unable to stop as he responded to her plea. Hot body to hot body.
Shifting her head, he covered her mouth in a sizzling, deep kiss, and she opened to him, her mouth moving against his with an urgent hunger. It wasn’t enough, and Vin lifted her higher and caught her behind the knee, dragging her leg around his hip. With one twisting motion, his hard heat was flush against hers. Grasping her buttocks, he thrust against her over and over, a low groan wrenched from him as she moved with him, riding him, riding the hard, thick ridge jammed against her. But that wasn’t enough, either. Sky thought she would die if he didn’t get inside her.
Making incoherent sounds against his mouth, Sky twisted free, and a shudder coursed through Vin when her hands fumbled with the snap, then the zipper, on his pants. The instant she touched his hard, throbbing flesh, he groaned out her name and let go of her, desperate to free himself.
He shucked off his clothes in seconds, and he ripped her panties from her as she closed her hand around him, stroking him, guiding him. He resisted and reached for a condom, and she waited in agony as he rolled it on. Losing it completely, he hauled her up against him, then backed her against the sink, thrusting into her, unable to hold back one second longer. The feel of him, hard and hot, entering her drove the air right out of her, the sensation so intense she was immobilized.
Sky sobbed out his name and locked her legs around him, her movements urging him on, and Vin crushed her against him, white-hot desire rolling over her. Angling his arm across her back, he drove into her again and again and again, pressure building and building. A low rasping groan was torn from him as he found her center with his thumb and worked her over until the sensation coalesced into one hot wave of release. She cried out and clutched at his back, then went rigid in his arms, and she finally convulsed around him, wringing him dry.
Her heart hammering, his breathing labored, they rested against the sink still clutching each other.
She was in deep trouble here, more than she had ever imagined she could be emotionally compromised. Unable to stop the inevitable, she had been foolish in thinking this could be nothing but temporary. It was fixed and buried in her heart that she had given it without even realizing it. He had her soul and it was too late to even think about reclaiming it as only hers.
He took care of the condom. Then he picked her up in his arms.
“Wait—”
But it was too late; he was already moving them out of the bathroom and toward the bed. Yes, she wanted to sleep with him, feel the heat of his body against hers. She wanted all the precious minutes she could get with this man before she actually came to her senses.
He folded down on to the bed, rolling to his side and dragging her with him.
She tucked her body against him, her legs tangling easily with his, her head coming to rest atop the beat of his heart, as if she’d always slept with him like that. And despite the wonder of what she’d just experienced with him, the anxiety over where this would lead them, compounding the fears about what else lay in store for her in the next days or weeks…the sweet drowsiness of such complete satiation threatened to claim her swiftly. She felt him press a kiss on the top of her head and pressed one against his heart. His arm tightened around her, and she smiled…then let sleep take her.
The first thing that registered in her foggy morning brain was the warmth. So deliciously warm, the tactile feel of hot skin against her—thick, deliciously muscled, perfectly male skin.
She opened her eyes and was rewarded with the sight of Vin. God, he was the most beautiful man. The harsh angles of his face were softened by sleep and the morning’s pale light. His hair was thick and the color of midnight. Beard stubble darkened his jaw, his thick lashes lush against his burnished skin.
The sheet was pooled low around his hips, revealing the hard-packed thickness of his chest and the tantalizing sight of the ridged muscles of his abdomen and hips.
He had symmetrical features, the appealing combination of genes and sex appeal that he’d been born with.
She let her gaze drift over him again, wondering what in the world she was supposed to do now. Hiding was what she usually did, what she’d been doing all her life, and it still seemed like the logical answer, but somehow, she didn’t have the heart to hide from him.
She reached out and gently ruffled the hair on his forehead, hair that was normally brushed to the side. The scent of him filled her senses, and she breathed in deep. Watched the gentle rise and fall of his chest. His even breathing was a soft cadence as she did something she never did.
She just lived the moment, absorbed the experience of lying next to him while he slept and dreamed. She greedily captured the memory, holding it in her heart as her eyes went over him again, her fingers played with the ends of his soft hair.
She thought back to her previous one and only sexual encounter. She’d barely had a chance to feel anything before it was over. Now she realized that she hadn
’t been the only inexperienced person in the room back then. Was Vin experienced or was it just a natural extension of his personality? His confidence and take-charge attitude were both arousing and annoying.
He shifted, and he took a deep breath. His hand came up and captured hers without even opening his eyes.
He brought her hand to his mouth, kissing her palm. Then his eyes fluttered open, the green of them potent and penetrating.
“Hey there,” she said as her heart fluttered.
“What’re you doing?” he asked his voice rough with sleep.
“Staring at you.”
He smiled. “You working out some kind of experiment, Doctor? Going to use me as a lab rat?”
“No…well, maybe, but any testing I would want to do with you would require that you be fully conscious.”
He smiled again, wider. “Oh, Doctor, usually in the morning, I’m fully up.” He drew her hand down his body to settle on his thick, hard erection.
She gasped at the deep visceral reaction she had to touching him. He closed his eyes when she wrapped her hand around him, making a soft strangled sound in his throat. The power of his response settled inside her, and she wanted to see how everything she did to him affected him. She pushed the sheet aside so that she could immerse herself in him. He was so powerfully built, so male, she reveled in the differences between them. She moved then, straddling his hips, and his eyes popped open as the soft heat of her settled against his raging hard-on.
She kissed his temple, burying her nose in his hair, rubbing her cheek against all that sexy stubble. One hand gloved him, and her other hand braced her upper body over him. When she stroked him, he arched his back, his eyes glazing, opening his legs wider, his hips shifting restlessly.
“Oh, yeah, baby,” he said softly, his tongue wetting his lips, the look on his face tight with desire. “Use me.”
She kissed her way down to his jaw. “Would that be an order, Mr. Special Agent?” she whispered into his neck, the scent of him charging her up.
He groaned softly when she rubbed her thumb over the head of his shaft at the same time she sucked gently on his nipple.
“Looks to me like you have the control stick this time, sweetheart.”
She giggled, flushing at his teasing words. The man was so much fun. She drew the tip of her tongue down his torso, pressing hot kisses against all that thick muscle.
“You in the palm of my hand sounds so good. But I’ve wanted to try something else.” She lowered herself down the length of his body and took the crown of him into her mouth and sucked. Not really sure she even knew what she was doing, but she remembered what he’d said. Do what felt natural. Chances were he’d like it.
“Oh, damn,” he rasped as she took more of him into her mouth. “Sky,” he moaned, burying his hands in her hair, tugging gently against her scalp. His chest heaving, his hips lifting, he grabbed her under the arms and dragged her up his body, flipping her on to her back. He made quick work of the protection.
After he slipped inside her in one stroke, she wrapped her legs around him, momentarily worried about his shoulder. He didn’t seem to be in any pain, so she let it go.
He covered her mouth as he thrust deep over and over again, the frenzy in them out of control. His breathing harsh in her ears, she cried out at the thick penetration, his need for her in every harsh breath he took.
She scored his back with her fingernails, and he groaned, pumping harder, faster until he came, stiffening above her, his back arched, his eyes closed, and he looked so magnificent in his release, she couldn’t stop looking at him.
Then he collapsed against her for a few moments. With a soft sigh, he dragged her out of bed and into the bathroom, where he turned on the water to the shower. Stepping inside under the warm spray, they lathered each other up, and he tenderly washed her hair.
When they were rinsed off, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her gently on the mouth. “So, do you like studying me?”
She sighed deeply and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Yes, I very much like…um…analyzing all that data. I want to become an expert.”
“I’d say the experiment was a success.” He grinned.
She looked up at him and couldn’t look away. She should keep this on a casual level. It should be casual, but it wasn’t. It just wasn’t.
“You’re staring again.” He rubbed his thumb over her moist mouth.
She kissed the pad of his thumb. “I like looking at you. But I bet you get stared at a lot, especially by women.”
“I haven’t really noticed,” he said, pulling back the curtain and grabbing towels.
As she stepped out, he wrapped a towel around her from behind, just as she had for him. He tied the other around his waist. “It’s because your face is symmetrical.”
She grabbed another towel and started to dry her hair, but he took it out of her hands and started doing it himself. “That’s a good thing, huh?” he said as he squeezed the water out.
She wrapped her hair up in the towel and turned to face him. “It’s a scientific explanation of beauty, attractiveness, sex appeal. Movie stars, models and performers usually have symmetrical features.”
He snorted.
She moved behind him and grabbed a smaller towel and started to dry his back; interacting with him like this was so far out of her comfort zone, she was surprised it was so easy. “Oh, come on. You’ve seen yourself. You know what I’m talking about.”
He shrugged his broad shoulders and turned to give her a grin. “I just see myself. I don’t go posing for the mirror. It’s just my face.”
She wiped at his damp face and moved back around to his front to dry his hair, saving him having to use his shoulder.
“It’s a very attractive face, science aside. And it’s much more than your looks.” She finished and draped the towel around his neck. “Women, on average, tend to be attracted to men who are taller than they are, display a high degree of facial symmetry, and who have broad shoulders, a relatively narrow waist, and a V-shaped torso.”
He smiled indulgently, and she found that she liked that. She felt it was supportive of the way she viewed the world.
“I know a lot of useless information. When I get nervous. I kind of blurt it out as a buffer, I guess.”
He bent his head and kissed her. “You don’t have to be nervous with me, Sky. Although, I really enjoy the useless information. You can let go of that buffer. You don’t need it.”
He stood in front of the mirror and grabbed some shaving cream. Lathering up his face, he picked up his razor and started to shave.
“That’s good, because I’m not sure I could control it anyway. I like the way you are comfortable with my intelligence. Many men get antsy around me, as if I’m going to belittle them or something. I’m not like that. At least, I hope I’m not.”
“You stimulate me,” he said with a wicked grin, and she couldn’t help but smile back.
The buffer was all about self-preservation.
After getting dressed, she mulled over his words and wondered if she didn’t need a bigger buffer against him. They ate breakfast, and Vin went outside, telling her that he would call her when he was finished with his project. She literally didn’t have a thing to do other than clean up after breakfast. She flipped on the TV and let it play in the background. She found some yarn and a set of knitting needles behind one of the chairs in the living room. There was a pattern for a scarf. She wondered if Vin’s buddy knitted or it was some other acquaintance.
She hoped the person wouldn’t mind, but she desperately needed something to do. She took up the knitting needles and read the preliminary directions. She practiced working with them. It was at first awkward, as it was learning any new task.
It helped to take her mind off Vin and where this relationship could go.
She’d made a choice a long time ago. Her heart squeezed at her limited memory of her mother and father. They were shadows of her past now. The only thing she had o
f her father was his words. Stay strong, my sweet child. Make your life have meaning and live up to the potential you have in you, so that our sacrifice isn’t lost. So much had been taken from her at such a young age. The endless expectations that she harbored deep inside her were all generated by her need to honor her parents’ deaths. For her.
But did that mean she couldn’t be happy? Would she lose something—respect? Value? Herself? Who she had planned to be for all of her life? But that was before she even realized that there was a man like Vin out there. She hadn’t known it could be like this, and now her world felt so cold and empty.
No, not empty. She had her honor for her parents and their sacrifice. She’d made a choice.
And yet, despite all of that, or perhaps because that was what she’d been born to bear, she’d always believed that immersing herself in a career that could give something back to her adopted country and honor her parents’ sacrifice at the same time would be enough.
Shockingly, she felt a sudden burn behind her eyes and immediately squeezed them tightly shut to ward off any ridiculous tears that might form.
Her mind whispered it wasn’t enough; she shut down those mutterings.
Pursuing anything beyond this casual sex with Vin was out of her reach. Completely.
Sacrificing meant exactly that. Heartbreaking, difficult sacrifice.
Dry-eyed, her jaw set, she started to get the hang of the knitting after a while and settled in, determined she would make something. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough yarn to make one uniform scarf, but bits and pieces of skeins that would work.
As the morning flowed into the lunch hour, she found herself looking at the somewhat crooked rows of her half-finished scarf.
When she heard the door handle turn, she quickly put it away, not wanting Vin to see it until she was done.
“Hey, come outside. I want to show you something. We need to talk.”
“All right. I’ll be right there.” She rose as he retreated and closed the door. She bundled up and slipped on boots.
As she closed the door, she saw him moving in the trees on the side of the house. The air was crisp and cold, her breath fogging the air. She went down the steps and walked off the path, the snow crunching beneath her feet. As she approached, he was looking off into the distance. The river rushed past with a soft gurgling sound. It seemed so peaceful here, and she could imagine why he wanted to come here for a break from DC
