Bad Attitude

by Sherrilyn Kenyon

  Her body was on fire as he moved with a slowness that was as aggravating as it was thorough and pleasing. He began to gently rub himself against her while his hand stroked her inner thigh. Syd held her breath as he slid his hand up to cup her breasts while he plunged his tongue into her ear.

  She moaned in pleasure as his hands worked magic on her body. He left one hand to play on her left breast while he slid the other one slowly back down her body.

  Steele was past thinking as he touched her silken inner thigh. He was truly grateful that she didn't have on panty hose under her short skirt. Her skin was completely bare for him, and all he wanted was to feel closer to her. He let his hand slide over her flesh from her knee up high on her thigh, working his way in ever closer to what he really wanted.

  He paused at the band of her panties, waiting for her to tell him no.

  She didn't.

  Smiling in satisfaction, he slowly slid two fingers underneath the satin so that he could feel her crisp hairs tease his hungry fingers.

  But that wasn't what he wanted.

  As he moved his hand over her, she parted her thighs so that he could have access to the part of her he was dying for. She turned her head and captured his lips with hers as he slid his fingers down her soft, wet cleft.

  He growled at the feel of her as he pumped his swollen cock against her buttocks. He wanted inside her so badly that it was all he could do to keep from it. But the last thing he needed was to take a chance on making her pregnant.

  Relegating himself to this small pleasure, he toyed with her before he plunged his fingers deep inside her wet heat. She shivered in his arms.

  No, there was nothing frigid about this woman.

  He lifted his legs between hers so that he held her open for even more exploration.

  Syd couldn't breathe as Steele teased her mercilessly. She rubbed herself shamelessly against his hand as he pleasured her. It'd been so long since a man had touched her like this. She hated how much she enjoyed the feel of his hands on her, the feeling of her body burning and aching for more of his touch.

  "That's it, baby," he breathed in her ear while she rode his fingers.

  Her throat suddenly dry, she reached around her hip to find his erection so that she could cup him tight. He growled in her ear, letting her know just how much he enjoyed having her hold him too. He was incredibly large and thick.

  "See what you do to me, Sydney. I haven't been this hard for a woman in a long time."

  She wanted to believe that.

  "Think of me deep inside you." He plunged his fingers in even deeper, wringing a cry of pleasure from her. His thumb pressed and teased her even while his fingers tormented her. "Now come for me, baby. Let me feel you."

  Suddenly her body exploded in pleasure. Throwing her head back, she cried out as wave after wave of ecstasy tore through her.

  Steele smiled in satisfaction as she shuddered above him. And still he toyed with her. He wanted to wring every last bit of pleasure out of her body.

  And then he felt his own orgasm coming. Holding her close, he moved even faster against her hand until he exploded. He growled as he finally found what he'd been needing in the worst sort of way.

  Sydney lay against Steele as her body slowly came back under her control. Heat exploded across her face as she looked to see his legs holding hers open. His hand was still buried underneath her dark green panties, while her hand was under the blanket between their bodies, covered with his warm release.

  Steele slid his legs down and pulled his hand up so that he could hold her. "Thanks, Syd. I really needed that."

  In a weird way, she felt the same way. "You ever tell anyone about this, and I'll cut your balls off."

  He laughed warmly in her ear. "I don't do that, baby. What's between us stays between us. It's nobody else's business." He moved his hands underneath her blouse to the catch of her bra.

  "What are you doing?"

  He opened her bra to spill her breasts into his hands. "I just want to feel you for a little bit longer."

  She knew she should get up, yet she couldn't seem to make her body cooperate. All it wanted was to feel more of him.

  He moved his callused hands over her breasts in a rhythm that actually started another fire inside her. He had an incredibly hot touch that was strangely gentle and firm as he kneaded her breasts. He teased her nipples with his fingertips, making her stomach contract with wave after wave of pleasure.

  "You feel so good, Syd."

  Syd bit her lip as he toyed with her. No man had ever derived this much pleasure from her body before. He rolled over with her until he had her pinned to the couch's mattress. His eyes flashed hunger at her before he lifted her blouse up so that he could capture her right breast in his mouth.

  His rough tongue lapped and teased, making her stomach contract even more with each erotic lick he delivered.

  Syd squirmed as her body started throbbing and humming again. Steele grinned at her as he pulled back to stare into her eyes. There was something so charming and sweet about him. It was at total odds with what she knew about him, and yet there was no denying that this tender side of him was there.

  She brushed the hair back from his eyes.

  "You are beautiful with your hair loose like that."

  His compliment warmed her.

  His eyes continued to burn her while he tugged at her panties until he had them off. He pushed her skirt higher over her hips as he slowly kissed his way down her body. A part of her was completely embarrassed by his actions, but another, foreign part of her was thrilled as she watched him make his way down her stomach and over her thighs.

  Slower and slower he moved while he nudged her thighs farther apart. His warm breath tickled her thigh as he nipped her flesh with his teeth.

  He moved his hand to gently separate the tender folds of her body so that he could look at her. Syd shivered at the sight of him studying the most intimate part of her body. He ran one long finger down her before he shifted his weight and took her into his mouth.

  Moaning aloud, Syd sank her hand into his hair as he pleased her. He was absolutely incredible, and she wanted to feel more of him.

  Steele moaned deep in his throat as he finally tasted her. This was what he'd dreamt of all night long, and now that he had it...

  He wanted to keep her like this. Warm and supple. No harsh words or feelings. Just the two of them lost in a moment of profound pleasure.

  Closing his eyes, he savored her.

  In the back of her mind, Syd knew she should be getting him dressed and out of here. But she couldn't think straight with his mouth teasing her so. All she really wanted was to feel him deep inside her.

  As if he could hear her silent plea, he sank his fingers deep into her body while his tongue probed and teased. She bit her lip as more and more pleasure built until she couldn't take it anymore.

  She screamed out his name as she came again, even more fiercely than the first time. Hissing, she arched her back, unable to stand the pleasure he was giving to her.

  Still he continued to lick and tease until she begged him for mercy.

  He pulled back with a triumphant grin. "Now that was worth getting up for." He kissed her soundly before he pulled away. "So what's on the agenda for the day?"

  Syd pulled her shirt down as her body continued to pulse. Unlike him, she wasn't comfortable with her nudity. And she was having a hard time remembering what they were supposed to do today.

  D.C....

  Jake. Andre. Helicopter. Yeah, that was it. They had to go to APS.

  "We have a flight to catch."

  He stretched like a languid cat. "What about calling Dillon?"

  "You can do it from the chopper."

  He placed a quick kiss on her cheek before he rose from the couch. Sunlight cut across his naked body, highlighting the ripped perfection of it.

  "Have you no modesty?"

  His grin was absolutely wicked. "Not a bit." He dipped his head down to capture
her lips.

  Syd didn't want to be as affected by that kiss as she was. Something about him was completely addictive, even though she wanted to hate him. "You are the devil, aren't you?"

  His laugh was warm and deep. "Horny to the end."

  She rolled her eyes at him. "Get dressed, hotshot. We have a lot to do, and Andre and Jake are already waiting for us."

  Syd put herself back in order while he sauntered to the bathroom to shower. She heard the water come on as she gathered the blanket up. Her actions dislodged his pillow, showing her a Glock that was under it.

  She frowned as she recognized Carlos's weapon. Why did Steele have it? How did he have it? Carlos was about as paranoid as anyone could get. It wasn't like him to leave a weapon lying about. Syd unloaded it, then left it in the kitchen drawer before she went back to the sofa bed to make it up.

  Deciding the blanket should be washed lest Carlos figure out what they'd done in his place, she went back into the kitchen to search out Carlos's washer and dryer.

  As the water came on, she heard Steele curse in the bathroom. "Sorry!" she called, but even so she didn't turn the washer off. She was too afraid she'd forget and leave evidence behind.

  She still couldn't believe that she'd allowed Steele do that to her. "I have to be the dumbest human to ever live and breathe," she whispered to herself. "When am I going to learn?"

  But maybe it had been a good thing. Steele no doubt needed the release. Now he should be able to focus.

  And maybe she could too.

  Maybe.

  She jumped as her cell phone rang. Answering it, she found Andre on the other end.

  "Where are you?"

  "We're still in Carlo's apartment. Steele was asleep when I got here, and now he's getting dressed."

  "Well, shake a leg. We can't stay here all day."

  "I know. We'll be there shortly." As she hung up the phone, Steele left the bathroom...still completely naked. Now he was dripping wet and looking way too choice.

  She ground her teeth at the damp perfection of that body. "That was Andre, telling us to hurry."

  "I'm hurrying," he said with a wink. "Can't you tell?"

  "No. You look like you're crawling from here."

  Tsking playfully at her, he walked past to grab his clothes from the floor by the couch.

  Syd frowned as she realized he didn't have anything else to wear. "Remind me, we need to get you some clothes later."

  He snorted. "I'd much rather you get me naked again later."

  Her stomach shrank at his teasing tone. "Look, Steele, this didn't happen, okay? We didn't do anything here as far as I'm concerned."

  A hurt look flashed across his face before he concealed it. "Don't worry, Syd. I've had enough one-night stands in my life to know how to behave afterward."

  Now it was her turn to be stung. "I'll bet you have. You're probably one of those guys who promises to call and then never does."

  He tugged his shirt over his head. "I've never in my life made a promise I didn't keep. Never."

  "Then promise me that you'll forget all about this and never mention it to anyone."

  "Done. Didn't happen. It's forgotten already." He turned his back on her and folded up the bed back into the couch.

  Even though those words should thrill her, they didn't. Instead, it left a hole in her stomach that ached.

  It's for the best.

  Still, that hole was there. Burning. Empty. Consuming. Swallowing against the pain of it, she nodded as she led him toward the door.

  As she opened the door, Steele caught her and pulled her to a stop. "But answer me one thing, Syd."

  "What?"

  "Can you forget about it?"

  Syd didn't answer him. As he'd pointed out, she wasn't that good a liar. "We have people waiting on us."

  The look on his face was harsh and condemning. "One day, Sydney, you're going to have to face me."

  She lifted her chin until their gazes were locked. "I have no trouble facing you. But tell me something, Steele. Why is it you never use your given name? Could it be you're even more afraid of intimacy than I am?"

  By the expression on his face, she knew she'd struck the truth.

  "Yeah," she said in a meaningful tone. "We can talk about what happened here today when you let me call you something other than Steele."

  But even as she walked out the door, she didn't feel any satisfaction at being right. She was sad that their encounter hadn't been a tender interlude between lovers. It'd been a hurried encounter between two lonely people who only wanted to keep the world at a distance.

  And that made her want to cry, but she was long past tears. This was the way her life had to be. She knew it. She understood it. There was no place in her world for a boyfriend or lover.

  Like Steele, she was alone in the world, and that was all there was to it. Yet even as the thought went through her, a tiny, buried part screamed out in denial. It wanted more than this.

  It wanted...

  The impossible. There was no use in pining for something she couldn't allow herself to have. Her heart had been trampled one time too many.

  They had a job to do, and that's all she was concerned with. He was out of her system. Her curiosity was appeased, and he'd scratched his itch.

  End of story.

  It wasn't until they were in the elevator that Steele approached her again. He moved to stand so close to her that she could feel the heat of him. The intensity.

  "There's just one thing about this morning that you probably don't want to forget."

  "And what is that?" she asked irritably.

  His look turned scorching as a wry grin twisted his lips. He leaned down so that he could whisper in her ear. "You forgot to get your panties back, and I have to say that the thought of you standing there with nothing underneath that short skirt is seriously turning me on again."

  Eight

  S teele wasn't amused, as he had to move covertly from the apartment to the street where a group of three cops were chatting together. They stood only a few feet from Syd's Honda.

  She cursed at the sight of them.

  "Good call," Steele said sarcastically.

  She glared at him as she pulled a pair of sunglasses out of her handbag, then handed them to him. "Put these on and keep your head down. Hopefully they won't even glance at us."

  He was disgusted by it, but even so, he put the sunglasses on. "If you hadn't told people I was an escaped murderer, it would help. I ought to let them capture me just to get me out of this."

  "Fine," she said, stepping away from him. "There's the door." She indicated the glass double doors that separated him from the police.

  He growled. "I really hate you people."

  "Yeah well, you should have paid attention to the small print on your contract. Use any means necessary."

  "The means suck, Syd."

  She paused to look up at him. "How were you ever in the military? You have been resistant to my plans from the beginning."

  "The Army taught me well what happens when you blindly follow someone else's orders. All it gets you is a bullet in the head and a lame letter sent to your family saying you died during a training exercise."

  "Fine," she said, opening the door. "Get yourself caught then. I'm tired of fighting you."

  She paused just outside the doors to look up at him with those gut-wrenchingly green eyes. "Besides, we can't call them off you until after you complete this mission. We need you to be a fugitive to give legitimacy as to how it is you've turned up to work for APS when you're supposed to be serving a twenty-five-year sentence."

  He narrowed his eyes on her, something that was less than effective since she couldn't see his eyes for the sunglasses.

  What he hated most was the fact that she knew as well as he did that he wasn't about to go back to jail if he could help it. "So how do you propose getting me through airport security later?" he asked before they started toward her car.

  "We're not going through th
e airport. The chopper's waiting a few blocks over at the stadium, but we need to get a move on it. Jake can't stay there long before he gets a crowd gathering."

  Steele followed her to the car. The cops stopped talking as they approached.

  "Hi, officers," Syd said cheerfully.

  Two of them greeted her in kind, but the one who was equal in height to Steele frowned. "Do I know you?" he asked.

  Steele shook his head. "I don't think so. Ever been to North Carolina?"

  The cop didn't look convinced. "Nah. But I swear I know you from somewhere."

  "I just have one of those faces. Good day, gentlemen." Steele moved with a nonchalance he didn't feel as he got into the car and tried not to tell Syd to floor it out of there. They couldn't afford to raise the cop's suspicions any more.

  But he could feel Syd's tenseness. He had to give her credit though. She didn't show it. She was remarkably cool and calm as she pulled away from the curb and headed down the street.

  Meanwhile, he expected the cops to recognize him at any moment and give chase.

  It wasn't until they were out of sight that he began to breathe a little easier. "That was too close."

  "Yeah," Syd agreed. "You work well under pressure."

  He snorted at that. "You haven't seen pressure, little girl. Trust me. That was easy."

  She cast a sideways glance at him. "Kill the arrogance, Steele. I wasn't that impressed."

  "Trust me. You will be."

  She shook her head as she turned a corner toward the stadium. "We'll see."

  It only took them a few short minutes to reach the stadium where the helicopter that had brought Steele in was waiting. Syd parked in an empty space nearby, then turned the car off.

  They got out and headed for the chopper. Jake and Tony were arguing as they climbed on board.

  "Oh, wait," Tony said as he saw them. "They're here. Guess we can't leave them after all."

  "Go to sleep, Tone," Jake said.

  Syd ignored them as she moved to sit beside Andre, who was already strapped in and waiting for them as well. "Nice of you two to finally join us."

  Steele didn't respond as he strapped himself in, but he noticed the sudden flush that came to Syd's skin. She gave him a furtive look, which he ignored, as she pulled the hem of her skirt lower. He had yet to return her panties to her--something he refused to do until she got that stick out of her butt and learned to treat him like a human being.