by Cynthia Eden
She didn’t back away.
“I want you.” This was the truth. “More than I can remember wanting anyone. As you just found out, it’s been a long fucking time since I’ve been with a lover, and having you right here…let’s just say you’re a big temptation and I am trying helluva hard to keep my hands off you.”
“Yes, your dry spell is longer than mine. Guess it’s hard to find lovers when you’re out playing puppet master. If you’re not careful, you’ll let some sort of secret spy into your bed and then all kinds of drama will ensue.”
Was she mocking him? When he was about to go insane for her? “Lacey…”
She tugged on her hand. He let her go. What else could he do?
“It’s been a long night.” Her words sighed out.
Getting longer by the moment. Wait. Was that the night or his dick?
Voice low, she continued, “We did the ex talk. We survived a shooting. Got the adrenaline all pumping.”
Was she about to push off their attraction as being due to the adrenaline? If so, I’ll call bullshit.
“I’ve wanted you from the beginning. I haven’t always liked that attraction,” Lacey confessed carefully. “It wasn’t…convenient.”
Her word choice drew a startled laugh from him. “I am not a convenient man.”
Her gaze lingered on his smile. “No, you’re not.” She released a quick breath. “I realized something tonight. You know, when the lights went out, the gun fired, and I found myself straddling you in the middle of that ballroom.”
His chest tightened. “What big revelation did you have?”
“I realized that I don’t want you hurt.”
Surprise rushed through him. “You don’t have to worry about me, I’m—”
“I find I am worrying. I find I’m…caring. I didn’t expect that.”
He couldn’t breathe because the tightness in his chest had expanded so much.
“So, having said all that…let’s skip the dirty talk about blackmail. This isn’t about blackmail any longer. I’m here with you because someone has to watch your ass, and I’m the best one for the job.”
“Lacey—”
She bent toward him. Put her lips close to his ear. “But I have other dirty talk. Like this…I want you.”
Fuck, yes.
“I want you right now. I want to see if things between us will be as good as I can imagine, and I can imagine a whole lot.” Her fingers trailed over his chest, and she undid a few more buttons on his shirt. “I want you naked. I want to be naked with you. And for tonight, I just want us. No holding back. No lying. No scheming. Just two lovers coming together in the dark.”
Her scent was all around him.
“Think you can handle that?” The tip of her tongue slipped over the shell of his ear.
He broke. There was only so much a man could handle, and when he’d been fantasizing about a woman for this long…
He grabbed her by the waist and hauled her into the chair with him. The fabric of her dressed bunched up as she straddled him. She stared into his eyes, her breath panting, her lips parted, and her hand was still on his chest. Right over his racing heart.
“I can handle that,” he rasped.
Her head lowered toward his.
His mouth jerked up to meet hers. This kiss wasn’t slow or careful. It was as if a wall had been shattered between them—no, a dam, and the need was rushing free. Thundering between them like a river out of control. He thrust his tongue past her lips and tasted. He was a fucking starving man, and all he wanted to do was feast on her. She gave a little moan that he greedily drank up even as his right hand slid down her waist, down to her legs, and he yanked up the soft fabric of her dress even higher.
Then he was touching her thigh. So smooth and soft. His fingers trailed up more, moving slowly toward the one spot he wanted to touch the absolute most and—
He tore his mouth from hers. Stared into her eyes. Felt everything in his world center only on her. “You’re not wearing panties.”
A smile curved her lips. “Good of you to notice. I—”
She didn’t get to finish. He took her mouth again. Harder, rougher. His control was gone. She’d been in the ballroom, dancing in his arms, her body so tight to his, and she hadn’t been wearing underwear. If he’d known that, they never would have gotten out of the suite.
His fingers slid over her bare flesh. Bare. She was hot and wet already, and he eased a finger into her and nearly lost his mind because she was so wonderfully tight.
Lacey arched toward him.
He thrust a second finger into her even as his thumb worked over her clit. His touch was demanding and worshipping at the same time. He could touch her for hours. Days. He wanted to learn every single detail about her body. What she liked. What made her moan—
She moaned.
That. She likes that. So he did it again. Stroked the way she wanted. Had her riding his hand in a fast rhythm as he rubbed her clit again and again with his thumb and drove his fingers into her.
This time, she tore her mouth from his. “Dex!” Need throbbed in her voice. She was on the cusp of pleasure. He could feel it in the tightening of her delicate inner muscles around him. He’d never seen a more beautiful woman.
His mouth pressed to her throat. He licked. Sucked. Kissed his way down to the bodice of her gown even as he kept working her with his fingers. As if he’d stop touching her. Hell, no. He wanted to feel her come against his fingers. Then against his mouth. Then around his dick.
Oh, the plans he had for her.
The bodice was in the way. He wanted it gone so he could see her breasts. Lick them. Touch them.
“Dex!” She jerked against him as the pleasure hit her. A hard, hot climax that was sexy as hell. Her hips bucked and her head tipped back, sending her hair tumbling over her shoulders.
His cock was long and thick. So eager to dive into her silken heat.
But I get to taste first.
His fingers kept stroking her as she rode out her climax. Until she was giving soft moans and the eyes she’d squeezed closed slowly opened.
He couldn’t speak. He was far, far past the point of speaking.
“Dex?”
He stood and held her easily in his arms. He carried her straight to the bedroom. Lowered her onto the bed. The dress’s fabric pooled around her waist. The lights were on and for a moment, he just stared at her sex.
He’d touched her. Made her come around his fingers.
Her thighs were spread, but as he stared at her, she began to slowly pull them together.
“No.” Dex shook his head. That one word had been savage. He didn’t look away from her sex. He couldn’t. He caught one of her legs. Then the other. He pulled Lacey toward the edge of the bed. Bent between her spread thighs.
And tasted her.
Chapter Eight
Dexter Ryan was going down on her.
And it felt…amazing.
Lacey’s nails scored over Dex’s broad shoulders as his tongue slid over her clit. She bit her lower lip to hold back the frantic cry that wanted to erupt. She was so sensitive from her orgasm, and every lick of his tongue was making her hips surge toward him.
In part of her mind, she was thinking…This can’t be happening. I know how bad he is. This can’t…
But a much, much louder part of her mind was screaming…This is finally happening. He’s so good. Better than good. OhmyGod, I’m about to come again!
He drove his tongue into her. The orgasm hit, and pleasure swept her away. A surging blast that blew through every single cell of her body. No way should sex be this good. Sex this good was addictive. Insane.
Once-in-a-lifetime.
She shoved the thought away as quickly as she could. Aftershocks were still riding through her body. Aftershocks from her second orgasm, and he hadn’t even taken off his pants yet. What was he waiting for?
Her eyes opened. She hadn’t realized that she’d closed them again. But when her lashes
lifted, she saw him slowly raise his head.
Never in her whole life had a man looked at her that way. His gaze glittered with desire. With a need that wouldn’t be denied. He licked his lips as if he had to taste her one more time. His jaw was clenched. His expression fierce.
For a moment, her heart seemed to skip a beat. Then she heard herself say, in a husky, sensual voice she barely recognized, “If we’re going to the next step, those pants have to go.” Bam. Bam. Bam. Her heart pounded.
His eyes narrowed. Without looking away from her, he stripped.
Wow. Dex had been hot with clothes on. His shoulders had been broad. His muscled build apparent. Without clothes…
Sex god. The man could have made one hell of a living as a stripper. He had abs for days. Strength that made her stomach quiver. Power was evident in every long, muscled line of his body. And when it came to another long part of his body…
Big deal. Very, very big deal. “Uh, Dex…”
He reached for the nightstand drawer. Yanked a condom from a box there. The suite came equipped with condoms? That was awfully convenient.
He rolled the condom on and reached for her.
Having sex with the ball gown on. No way was she slowing down to take the thing off. She wanted him right then. And he wanted her that way, too. Her hips were at the edge of the bed, her legs dangling over the side. He lifted her hips up now, as he stood beside the bed, and he put his cock at the entrance to her body. The thick head stretched her as he pushed in…
She shoved up with her hips.
And took in every long, wonderful inch of him.
He sank fully into her, and her sex clamped greedily around him. Thick, hard, full. Perfect. The pleasure bordered on pain because she was so sensitive from her releases and because he was so big, but there was no way that she’d stop. She wanted more, so much more and—
He was stroking her clit again. Making her body open up and yearn and soon she wasn’t bordering on pain. There was only pleasure. He thrust in and out. Her body met him in perfect rhythm. Their breaths panted. Their hearts raced. They drove toward release with feverish intensity. Her hands clamped around his shoulders. Her nails raked down his arms.
“Harder…faster…Dex, yes!”
He yanked her off the bed. Pulled her all the way up into his arms and she gave a cry of surprise. He was so strong. She hadn’t realized just how powerful he was.
He spun around. Put her back against the wall. Upright this way, she was fully open to him. Her legs locked around his hips as he pounded into her, and she loved every single thrust. Loved it so much that she bent forward and pressed a kiss to his neck. Then a bite.
“Lacey!” Dex roared her name.
But she was coming again, and everything but pleasure seemed distant. The release was so powerful that her vision dimmed. She clung to him and rode it out. An endless wave. Not a pop of pleasure. Bliss that stole her breath and swept her into some kind of mindless, pleasure-soaked oblivion. She shuddered and trembled and held on tight, and when the aftershocks rippled through her, she enjoyed the hell out of those, too.
Then he held her even tighter. Thrust deeper. Harder. Came with another rough cry of her name. She looked up, blinking to clear her vision, and saw the pleasure wash across Dex’s face. The primitive satisfaction made him savagely beautiful, and she couldn’t look away.
His breath shuddered out.
Reality crept back to her. One slow moment at a time. She became aware of the feel of her dress as it bunched at her waist, trapped between their bodies. She felt the hard wall behind her. The aches in her muscles. The dryness in her throat that told her she’d been moaning—and maybe even screaming a whole lot. And she saw his eyes—the expression in them changed. Warmed.
Pleasure. Possession.
She couldn’t help but wonder….was she looking at him the same way?
And, oh, dear God, had Dex just made her come three times?
***
You weren’t supposed to fall asleep in the arms of your enemy. But she had.
Lacey’s eyes flew open with a start, and she realized that, nope, she hadn’t dreamed the sensual activities from the night before. The whole amazing-sex-with-Dex scene hadn’t been some feverish fantasy that slipped into her head while she slept. Obviously not, because a warm, strong arm was wrapped around her, and when she turned her head a little bit, she found herself staring right at Dex’s face.
His very handsome face. A face that looked a little softer in sleep.
Three times. I came three times with him last night. Then he’d stripped off her dress. Taken her to the shower and…
Okay, fine. Four times. I came four times with him. By the time they’d made it back to the bed, they’d both collapsed from exhaustion.
She’d slept with the man she considered to be her enemy. And her fiancé.
And she had no idea what the heck she was doing.
But he looked really peaceful when he slept. Without the blinding power of his gaze, he was softer. Easier and—
From the nightstand, she heard the vibration and quick peal of sound that told her a text had just come through on Dex’s phone. Instantly, his thick lashes shot up. His gaze settled straight on her. And, of course, he didn’t slowly wake up. No gradual return of awareness in his gaze, no sir. Just a fully aware, fully focused stare. Right on her.
“Were you watching me sleep?” Dex asked, voice rumbly and quiet.
“I…what?” Her voice rose on the what question. “I just woke up,” she mumbled.
The phone vibrated again.
Without breaking eye contact with her, he stretched out one hand and grabbed his phone. He didn’t look down at the phone as he asked her again, “Were you watching me sleep?”
She could feel herself blushing. How embarrassing. “Look, it’s not my fault you look so freaking cute when you sleep.”
His brow scrunched. “Say that again.”
She would not. “You’re the one who slept in my bed.”
“Our bed. Our suite, remember?”
She prayed for patience and an easy way out of the haze of embarrassment that surrounded her. “I woke up, opened my eyes, and found your face about two inches from my own. I mean, where else was I supposed to look?”
A slow smile teased his lips.
“Why don’t you check your text?” She rolled away from him and yanked the sheet with her. Lacey wrapped that sheet around her body, toga-style, so that she didn’t flash him.
Seemingly unconcerned with the fact that he had on zero clothes, Dex sat up. He frowned at her. “Why are you covering up? I love your body. Didn’t you get that clue last night when I kissed every single inch of you in the shower?”
Her cheeks burned even hotter. She had gotten that clue, yes.
His expression tensed. “Are you having regrets? Is that what this is about? You woke up, saw who you were in bed with, and had a change of heart?”
Now her own eyes turned to slits. “Are you crazy?”
He rose from the bed. One hand gripped his phone, and he still acted as if he wasn’t naked. He was naked, though. Naked and turned on and her gaze kept dip-dip-dipping down to peek at him.
“Not crazy at all,” he rasped. “Just trying to figure out what you’re thinking.”
“I’m thinking…” Eyes up. Eyes up. She pulled her eyes up. “I don’t regret four orgasms.” Oh, shit.
He quirked an eyebrow. Started to smile once more.
“What I meant was…” Who the hell would regret four orgasms? “I think we need to take a step back and focus on the case. It’s not the middle of the night any longer. We have a job to do.” The weight of the ring felt heavy on her finger. “You just got a text that you haven’t even looked at yet. Surely having this conversation with me can’t be more important than the mission you’re supposed to be running.”
His smile froze. Then…“What if it was?”
He was losing her. “Dex?”
Swallowing, he g
lanced down at the phone. His shoulders straightened as he read the text. And… “Fuck me.”
“I did. Last night.” In the interest of total honesty… “I’ll probably do it again, but this isn’t the time.”
His head whipped up.
The look in his eyes was making her all hot. “What’s in the text?”
“A morning meeting.” His voice had gone guttural. Dex cleared his throat. “Roman is asking for a chat.”
“Is that good news? Or bad?”
“Could be either. Or both.” He hadn’t replied to the text. “He knows about my skiing plans today.”
“You mean the fake skiing plans.” Better be fake. “Remember, I told you that I can’t actually ski.”
“There’s a cabin not too far from the ski lift. He wants me to meet him there.”
Her toes curled against the carpeting. “This whole scene reeks of being some kind of setup. When someone asks you to meet in a remote cabin, typically, the best response is to immediately say—”
“Yes.” He fired out a quick text.
“Uh, no.” She hurried around the bed and moved toward him. She paused long enough to pick up his pants and toss them at him.
He caught the pants with his left hand.
“When someone invites you into a trap, you don’t reply yes. You reply no. They should have taught you this in spy school.” She huffed out a breath. “Did you forget that he may have tried to kill you last night?”
“Roman said he didn’t, and like I told you, I think the shot was aimed at you.”
Which made zero sense. “Me and my long list of enemies.”
His eyelids flickered. “You’ll go with me. I’ll enter the cabin. You’ll stay outside to make sure we don’t have any unwelcome guests.”
She wanted to grab the man and shake sense into him. So she did. Her hands curled around his muscled arms. “That’s not smart! You could walk in there and get blown to hell! This screams trap. Trap, trap—” The sheet fell.
Of course, the sheet fell. Just slithered right on down to the floor.