A surprise, but he wouldn’t question fate. Not then.
Gage kicked the hotel room door closed and carried Kayla to the bed. He’d been wanting to get her naked and beneath him since the first night they met. Now that he had her in that room with him, nothing was going to stop him from claiming her.
Except . . .
Kayla put her hand on his chest when he closed in on her. Gage was leaning over the bed, more than ready to taste her, when her small hand slammed into his chest.
“I . . . ah . . . need a minute.”
Seriously? She’d put him off for weeks. Tempting him with that sweet ass and those curving breasts, and now that she was legally his, the woman was still putting the brakes on things?
He barely bit back a growl. A man’s control could last only so long.
But he pulled away. Stood. Began to strip.
Her eyes widened as she looked at his chest, and her pink tongue slipped out to lick along her plump lower lip. He had plans for that tongue. And for her.
Sexy little Kayla Kincaid. The first time he’d seen her, he’d gotten hard and territorial. One look, and he’d thought . . . mine.
Sometimes, you knew what you wanted with one glance.
She eased onto her feet. Stood beside him a moment. The top of her head barely skimmed his shoulders. Her dark hair, silky, curling lightly, drifted down her back as she tilted her head to stare up at him. “I’ll be right back,” she promised.
His gaze dropped to her lips. Full, red. Bitable. Just like the rest of her.
He did like to bite.
Kayla turned away and darted into the bathroom. Hurry back, sweetheart.
His control wasn’t lasting much longer.
He wanted her in that bed. Wanted her spread wide. And he wanted to hear her scream his name.
For almost two months, he’d played her game. Done the whirlwind courtship bit. Acted like the gentleman for her. Wore a mask to hide the real way he felt. The real way he was.
Playtime was over.
Kayla had her secrets. So did he. The time for a big reveal would come later. The time for fucking—yeah, that was now.
The bathroom door squeaked open. Gage turned to face her, still clad in his jeans. His eyes went to her face first. Heart-shaped, delicate—deceptively so. Her eyes were shining, her high cheeks flushed, and she looked . . .
Excited. Gorgeous.
And naked.
His gaze swept down her body and the cock that was already up for her hardened even more against the zipper of his jeans.
Her breasts were small, but rounded perfectly with light pink nipples that he couldn’t wait to have against his tongue. Her hips curved, flaring, and the bare V of her sex had his mouth going dry.
Take her.
He’d waited long enough.
“Why are you still dressed?” Kayla wanted to know. He managed to drag his gaze away—okay, on the third attempt, he dragged it away from that V—and back up to her face. “I thought you were supposed to be stripping.”
He nearly ripped his jeans off. Then in one lunge, he was at her side. Gage lifted her up, holding her easily, and he thrust his tongue into her mouth. Her arms wrapped around him—and so did her legs. The soft flesh of her sex brushed against his cock even as her tight nipples pushed against his chest.
He was gonna go freaking insane. Gage wasn’t a man accustomed to waiting, but for her, he’d tried. Can’t wait longer. Because he could smell the lush scent of her arousal. She wanted him. He was on fire for her.
His tongue met hers. Tasted. She was always a blend of sweet and spicy on his tongue. Innocence and sin. Such a mixed combination. One that fit her too well.
He pulled his mouth from hers and began to kiss a path down her neck. He was strong. Gage doubted that she understood just how powerful he really was, and he easily kept her lifted against him.
When his tongue licked over her skin, down low where her shoulder curved into her neck, Kayla shivered.
He’d make her do more than that.
His teeth scored her flesh. Bit lightly. Marked her. That was the way of his kind.
Her nails dug into his shoulders. Her breath came in ragged pants, and Gage could feel the slick wetness of her sex against him. More.
He’d known she’d be like this. White-hot to the touch. Able to burn a man straight to the soul.
He lifted her higher and her soft gasp would have made him smile, if he hadn’t been so damn hungry for her. But there were no smiles now. No soft touches or kisses. There was only lust, blazing out of control.
He held her in the perfect position for his mouth, and he took her breast between his lips. He licked, sucked, and her breaths came even faster. His cock was so swollen it hurt, and he wanted to drive into her more than he’d ever wanted anything else.
“Gage . . . ”
No, actually, he did want something else. He wanted her to come for him.
Still holding her, he headed for the bed. He lowered her onto the covers and rose petals slid beneath her. Their light fragrance mixed with the sweet scent that was just . . . Kayla.
She was making him crazy.
Gage took his time licking and tasting her other breast. Her hands were on him. Her fingers slid over his back and urged him closer.
Not yet.
Kayla’s legs were parted, and he stood between them at the side of the bed. The perfect position to thrust deep, if he’d wanted to thrust.
Not yet.
He wanted another taste. A far more intimate one.
His gaze dipped to her sex and her legs widened even more. “Do you know . . .”—his voice was so dark he knew it sounded more like a growl than anything else—“how long I’ve wanted to put my mouth on you?”
Her lashes lifted. She stared back at him with glinting eyes and flushed cheeks. Then Kayla shook her head. He saw the flash of hesitation in her gaze, the innocence that he’d learned could appear and vanish in an instant. She tried to come off so tough and assured, but that innocence kept slipping out.
His knees brushed the carpet as he lowered his body between her splayed legs. Gage wrapped his hands around her hips and pulled her to the edge of the mattress so that her thighs brushed against either side of his shoulders. “Since the first night, you came into the bar”—his bar—“wearing that short black skirt, and I kept wondering what you were wearing underneath it.” He’d looked at her and gotten hard. Wanted. Craved. “And I wanted to shove that skirt up . . .”—he put his hands between her thighs and loved her gasp—“and find out.”
Her eyes were on him. So wide. So deep.
He’d been insane for her. The need always pulsing in his body, but Kayla hadn’t let him get close enough to fuck. Not that first night. Not all the nights since. They’d danced around each other for weeks, becoming closer and closer, but deep kisses and heavy petting had been all that he’d gotten from her.
Until tonight. Until they’d drank until one a.m. at his bar, then slipped out to find a chapel.
Now he had her. There’d be no escape for her. Or him.
His fingers slid into her. She was wet and tight. Perfect.
But he didn’t just want to touch with his fingers. He licked his lips, then Gage put his mouth on her. Her hips bucked up against him as she gasped out his name, but his left hand just rose again and locked around her hips, holding her easily in place.
He let his tongue slide over her sex. Sweet, slick flesh. Hot. He used the fingers of his right hand to open her to him. To press lightly into her even as his tongue slid over her clit.
She wasn’t trying to pull away anymore. Kayla was pushing against him and her body was eager for more. Fair enough, he was more than eager, too.
He devoured her. Gage’s mouth took and tasted even as his fingers thrust. She moaned and shivered and her body tightened beneath him.
He wanted her to come against his mouth. Then she’d be ready for him. He didn’t want to hurt her the first time, so he had to make sure she
was ready for him.
And her taste . . . sweet and rich. Better than chocolate. And chocolate had always been his vice.
One of them, anyway. He had quite a few.
He pulled his fingers back and thrust his tongue into her. His thumb pushed down on the center of her need and she came, jerking beneath him.
Gage pulled back, savored her taste on his tongue, and knew that he now had a new vice. Her. The lady was at the top of his list.
He’d have more of her. All of her. Now. He reached over and yanked out one of the condoms that waited inside the nightstand. Part of the romance package. The hotel knew how to please its guests. He was about to be pretty fucking pleased.
Because he was finally having her.
He donned the condom, and two seconds later, his cock pushed against the entrance to her body. Her eyes were on him. He couldn’t go easy anymore. He’d used the last of his control. But she was ready now. She had to be—
Kayla arched against him, and Gage thrust balls-deep into her core. A ragged groan ripped from him because she felt so good. Tight. Wet. Hot.
He pulled back, but her sex clamped around him, gripping like a fist along the length of his cock.
So good.
Her eyes were open and on him. “Give me more,” she whispered.
And he did. Gage drove into her, deep and hard, and the bed squeaked beneath them. Rose petals were going everywhere, and he didn’t give a damn. All that mattered was taking her. Claiming her.
In and out. He thrust again and again. Her legs wrapped round him, holding him tightly. Her nipples stabbed up into the air, and he just had to taste one again. He leaned forward and took one pebbled nipple into his mouth.
Her fingers sank into his hair. “Gage!” Her sex tightened even more around him as her body stiffened. Her second climax was close. Hell, yes.
His head lifted because he wanted to watch her come. One thrust. Another. Then her lips parted as she called out his name. Pleasure flooded over her features. Her eyes lit with golden fire. Her cheeks flushed an even darker pink.
And she came around his cock.
Gage exploded inside of her, letting his own release pump through him. The pleasure damn near ripped him apart, pulsing in his blood and giving him a heady rush that had Gage clenching his teeth and holding her even tighter.
This, this was beyond just sex. Beyond the fleeting pleasure he’d known with other women. This was fucking fantastic.
Gage leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to her lips.
Kayla jumped, as if she was startled by that gentle touch, and her eyes widened as she looked at him. “That was . . .” She licked her lips. “It—”
“It was the start,” he told her, smiling, and getting hard within her again. Need another condom. Good thing that box in the drawer was full. “And, sweetheart, the pleasure is only gonna get better.” He’d guarantee it.
He’d finally gotten Kayla exactly where he wanted her—and Gage wasn’t going to let her go.
So he put his mouth back on her. This time, he skimmed his lips over the raised scars that slid over her shoulder, and he knew that the night was going to be incredible.
The faint light of dawn slipped through the curtains when Kayla eased from the bed. Gage still lay tangled amid the covers, and his dark lashes cast shadows on his cheeks. Unable to help herself, she paused and just stared down at him for a moment.
He looked so . . . peaceful. The lines were smoothed from his face. The wild power of his eyes was shielded by his lowered lids.
Just a man. That was what he looked like then. With his tanned flesh appearing even darker against the crisp, white sheets, with a rose petal in his hair—he just looked like a man.
Not a monster.
She turned away and crept toward the bathroom.
He was a man, and she was supposed to just be a woman.
If only. Life sure had a way of sucking.
Kayla shut the door behind herself. After taking a deep breath, she glanced up and stared at the reflection in the mirror. Her lips were swollen. Her eyes glittering. Her hair was an insane tangle around her face. She didn’t know how many times she’d climaxed, but she did know that Gage was the best lover she’d ever had.
Yep, he was at the top of her big list of four men. She figured he’d be staying there a while.
She straightened her shoulders. There were some faint red marks on her neck. Marks Gage had left. She’d left her own share of marks, too. They’d been wild. Fierce.
Happy.
Just like a real honeymooning couple.
She glanced away from the mirror, almost hating the sight of her own reflection. Why couldn’t it have all been true?
Because her life wasn’t a fairy tale. She wasn’t some princess who got to live happily freaking after in a castle.
I’ve always been more the wicked queen type.
And Gage wasn’t Prince Charming, no matter how tempting he appeared to be.
Kayla reached for the handbag she’d put in the bathroom hours before. The bag, her clothes, and her weapons. It was almost six a.m. Just minutes away. That meant her call would be coming in three, two, one—
Kayla answered the phone before it could even ring. “The job is done,” she told her boss. The job. Her marriage. Getting close to Gage Riley. She’d done everything she was supposed to—
“Not quite,” came the rumble of Lyle McKennis’s voice. “But you’re real close, Kincaid.”
Her hands tightened around the phone. Close wasn’t good enough. Close wasn’t—
“Actually, you’re killing close,” he continued, voice cold and flat in her ear. “You’re the only hunter who’s ever been able to slide under Riley’s radar.”
Because when Gage Riley saw her, he saw just a woman. Not a hunter.
“You know what he’s done,” Lyle said. “You know what he is.”
Yes. She looked up and forced herself to stare into the mirror again. She stared past her own reflection. Gazed at those marks on her neck.
“He’s sleeping now, isn’t he?” Lyle murmured.
“Yes.” Why was her body starting to feel so cold? Numb?
“Then it’s time.” Satisfaction purred through Lyle’s words. “Make sure you use silver.”
What other weapon would she use? Nothing else would work, not on Gage.
“Go kill your new husband,” Lyle ordered, “and give the world one less monster to fear.”
CHAPTER TWO
The knife was a light weight in her hand. She’d killed before with a weapon like this one, and Kayla had no doubt that she’d do so again. But . . .
Killing Gage? Ice seemed to fill her veins.
Yes, she knew that had been Lyle’s plan all along. From the first moment, when he’d told her to head into Gage’s bar and to seduce, but not touch. She’d known Lyle wanted her to take out Gage. Another target. Another mission.
She’d always been such a good soldier. No, hunter.
Only the plan had changed for her. Gage was supposed to be a monster, she knew that. Lyle had told her all about Gage’s crimes. She’d read his file. Read it over a dozen times.
But when she looked at him, she didn’t see the monster. She just saw the man.
A man who’d wanted to marry her.
So on her thirty-fourth birthday, she’d headed to the chapel with him. And now, with dawn coming, the game was supposed to be over.
She was killing close. Lyle had that bit right. Gage trusted her. This was the time her group had been waiting for. They’d planned this attack for months.
Carefully, she opened the bathroom door. The door made just the softest of creaks as it slid over the carpet. Gage still slept in bed, but he’d rolled so that his back was to her. Such a strong, muscled back. There were faint scars on his back. She’d touched them in the dark. Just as he’d touched her scars.
He’d kissed her scars. The lines that sliced over her flesh. He hadn’t asked her about them. Hadn’t questioned li
ke her other lovers had done. He’d just stroked them with his fingers and his tongue and made her feel perfect.
She’d never been that.
Kayla glanced at the knife. Was she really supposed to just shove it into his heart? Then walk away while he bled out?
You know what he is. Don’t be fooled. Gage’s kind was so good at deception. She had to remember that. He’d been born to lie. To deceive.
She’d met others like him before. So many over the years. More than most people realized.
Her own family had been attacked by someone like Gage. A man, hiding a beast inside. One dark night, he’d killed her mother and father. Left her brother in a pool of blood, struggling to breathe. Attacked her.
Monsters lived and breathed in this world. Most folks didn’t know that truth. They thought the world was all happy and shiny and full of birthday parties, play dates, and football games.
She knew better. Monsters are real. And her handsome husband, with his slow smile and strong hands—he was a monster.
Kayla took a step forward. One foot in front of the other. The mantra was the same one she’d used when she’d walked down the aisle. Only no minister waited for her this time.
The robe she wore rustled around her feet as she took another slow step. Another.
When she felt something wet on her cheek, Kayla stopped. What the hell? Her left hand lifted and swiped across her face. Was she crying? She never cried. She hadn’t, not since the men at the cemetery had put her parents in the ground.
“Come back to bed,” Gage said, his voice rumbling out and making her jump. He faced the window, not her as he added, “I miss you.”
He wouldn’t miss her for long.
Kayla took a deep breath and forced herself to keep walking. A few more steps, and her legs brushed against the edge of the bed. “Th-there’s something you should know about me . . .” His back was still to her. Why did he have to make such an easy target?
This should be better for you. You don’t have to look him in the eyes when you attack.
But stabbing a man in the back had never been her style.
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