by Lara Adrian
She swallowed hard, knowing he wasn’t talking about food. And suddenly she didn’t care about dinner anymore.
Nick took her by surprise when he stepped back and reached for her hand. “Let’s go and have that first date, shall we?”
Almost disappointed that he hadn’t thrown her down on the nearest flat surface, she followed him to the door. He took the small backpack that he’d tossed there upon entering her place and opened the door. Turning to the side table, Michelle grabbed her keys and shoved them into her handbag, then slung it diagonally across her torso, following Nick out and letting the door slide shut behind her.
Muggy air greeted her when she stepped outside and walked along the sidewalk next to Nick. Though it was still light, and would remain so for another few hours, dark clouds hung in the sky and she could almost smell the coming thunderstorm.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked, giving him a sideways glance.
Nick pointed in the distance. “It’s only three blocks. Are you okay walking in those shoes or would you rather take a cab?”
She was touched by his concern. “I can walk, no worries.”
“Good.” He paused. “Tell me a little about yourself, Michelle. I’m curious about your life. Are you from D.C.?”
Hesitant to reveal anything about herself, she asked, “Are we doing twenty questions?”
“No, but we are on our first date, and from what I recall about first dates, people tell each other stuff like where they’re from, what their favorite color is, things like that.”
“From what you recall?”
“It’s been a while since I’ve been on a date,” he admitted, sounding almost embarrassed about it.
“How long?”
“Too long I guess, since it appears that the rules have changed since I last had one.”
“The rules haven’t changed,” she admitted. “I just don’t go on many dates.”
“Well, we’re a pair, aren’t we?” He squeezed her hand and pulled it to his mouth, pressing a quick kiss on her knuckles. “So how about I start with something to break the ice?”
“I think we already broke the ice earlier.”
Nick let out a belly laugh. “You’re something, Michelle. I’m surprised no guy has snatched you up yet. Girls like you don’t stay unattached for long.”
She shrugged. “I’m not really the kind of girl who’s looking for something permanent.” It was a lie, of course, one she’d had to tell herself for a while now. Her life was way too chaotic to be thinking of settling down anytime soon.
“Mmm.” Nick looked at her from the side.
To bridge the awkward pause that was building between them, Michelle asked casually, “So, what were you gonna tell me about yourself to break the ice?”
“What I do for a living. But if you’re not interested, we can talk about something else.”
“No, no, please. Tell me what you do.”
“It’ll probably sound boring. Maybe I should just make something up instead.”
She stopped walking and turned to face him. “No, please don’t. It can’t possibly be all that boring. Besides, you don’t have to impress me. You already got me into bed, remember?”
“How could I forget?” He winked and took her hand again to continue walking. “I work with computers.”
“Doing what?”
“I make websites for people. You know, small businesses mostly. It’s not a bad job, and I’m pretty good at it.”
“That’s great. You work for yourself, then?”
He nodded. “Independent contractor. I prefer that to being shackled to some company and having to be accountable to a boss.”
“Yeah.” Like she had to be accountable to Mr. Smith. And she hated that, hated that he was blackmailing her.
“How about you? What do you do?”
“Consulting,” she shot back. “But I’m looking to make a change.”
Like flee the country and disappear just as soon as she could set everything up and make sure Mr. Smith couldn’t track her down. Until then, she had to play by his rules and execute his orders.
10
Nick felt the flash drive burn a hole in his pants pocket during the entire dinner at the cozy Italian neighborhood restaurant he’d taken Michelle to. Somehow he had to find a way to look at the contents of the flash drive, copy them, and put the memory stick back onto Michelle’s key ring before she noticed it missing. Which meant that he had to continue being his charming self so Michelle would invite him back to her place after dinner.
It wasn’t a hardship at all. Michelle was fun to be around. She had a quick wit and a sharp tongue, a wicked sense of humor, and an infectious laugh. Yet with every laugh they shared, with every eye contact they made, his guilty conscience grew. However, he had no choice but to continue his deception. Michelle could be the key to the information he needed, information that might save not only him and his fellow Phoenix agents, but maybe thousands—if not millions—of people. He couldn’t let his own feelings get in the way of the greater good.
If Michelle was the person who was trying to prevent him from accessing the CIA’s secret servers, then she knew something and would be able to lead him to the person who’d destroyed the Phoenix program and killed Henry Sheppard.
“Dessert?” Nick now asked, looking across the table at Michelle.
She shook her dark blond locks. “I’m too full.”
“You sure?”
“Absolutely. How about we get out of here?”
He leaned over the table, lowering his voice to a seductive murmur. “I don’t want the evening to end yet.”
Her eyelashes fluttered. “It doesn’t have to.”
Her words sent a thrill through his core, and he snapped his head to the side, catching the waiter’s eye. “Check, please.”
When the waiter placed the tab in front of him, Nick pulled several bills from his wallet and placed them on the little tray.
“Do you always pay cash?” Michelle asked.
“My credit card got stolen last week. I’m waiting for the bank to send me a replacement,” he lied.
In reality, he didn’t use credit cards when he could avoid it. Cash was much harder to trace and safer if one wanted to stay off the grid.
“Ready?” he prompted Michelle and stood, offering her his hand to help her up.
“Ready.”
As they walked to the exit, Nick eyed the signs to the restrooms. Now was the time, or things could get dicey for him later. He stopped.
“Sorry, do you mind if I stop at the restroom?”
“No, go ahead. Actually, I’ll go, too.”
Nick headed for the men’s room and dove into the first stall. He sat down on the toilet, pulled his laptop from the bag and booted it up, while he pulled the flash drive from his pocket. The moment his computer started up, he unlocked it with his password, shoved the memory stick into the port, and copied the entire contents onto his hard drive. He had no time to look at what he’d copied, didn’t even bother to shut down the computer properly or eject the stick safely, just slapped the lid shut and pulled the flash drive from the port.
A few seconds later, he left the stall and walked out of the restroom.
Michelle was already waiting for him. She smiled. “Beat you to it.”
Nick shook his head in disbelief. “You can give a guy complexes, you know that?” He put his arm around her waist and guided her to the door of the restaurant.
The hostess opened it for them. “Thank you for your visit.”
“Good night,” Nick responded and walked out the moment a lightning bolt split the sky. Only a second later, thunder sounded above him, and the clouds opened up, unloading raindrops as thick as peas.
“Damn!” Michelle cursed, stopping under the awning in front of the restaurant.
Nick looked at her thin summer dress, which would most likely become transparent once soaked. And while he wouldn’t mind that particular kind of view, he was sure she wo
uldn’t appreciate it.
“I think we’d better try to get a cab.”
“You’ve obviously never tried to get a cab during a D.C. downpour.” She shook her head. “We’ll be standing here all night. I say we make a run for it.”
He looked at her with a newfound appreciation for her no-frills attitude. “You sure?”
“You chicken?”
“No, just a gentleman.” He grinned and took her hand. “But since you clearly don’t care about gentlemanly manners, I’ll submit to your wishes.”
Michelle winked at him. “Submit, huh?”
He rolled his eyes. “Don’t get any ideas!”
He tugged at her hand, and they dashed out from underneath the protective canopy, running along the sidewalk. Instantly they were doused from above as if they’d stepped into a shower stall, while passing cars splashed them from the side. There was no escaping the water.
Luckily, Nick knew that his computer was well protected in its water- and shockproof cover inside his backpack.
It didn’t take them more than four minutes to bridge the distance from the restaurant to Michelle’s apartment. When Michelle opened her handbag to dig for her keys upon reaching the main entrance of her apartment building, Nick stretched out his hand and took them from her.
“Allow me, milady!” he said gallantly and bowed in an effort to distract her.
“Playing knight now, are you?”
He turned toward the door, hiding what he needed to do by showing Michelle his back. “Knight in shining armor actually,” he said jokingly, buying himself more time to hook the flash drive back onto the key ring. He turned the key in the lock an instant later and opened the door.
Michelle rushed inside and he followed, shaking off the excess water from his hair and body while the door fell shut behind him. Michelle was already climbing the stairs, eager to get to her apartment, and he hurried after her. Her wet dress showed every curve of her body, clinging to her like a second skin. Through it, he could see that all she wore beneath was a thong, no bra. The sight made him hard in an instant.
Arrived at the door to her apartment, Nick pulled Michelle into his arms, unable to hold back his desire for her a moment longer.
“Do you know how sexy you look just now?”
“I look like a drowned rat,” she claimed, laughing.
“A very sexy drowned rat,” he conceded and pressed her against the door, sinking his lips onto her hot mouth. Her lips parted immediately, allowing him to kiss her without restraint. Lust boiled up in him. Collecting all his remaining self control, he severed the kiss, breathing hard.
“We’d better get inside before we give your neighbors a show they’ll never forget.” He reached past her and inserted the key into the lock.
“You’re a bad influence,” Michelle said, but the sparkle in her eyes confirmed that she didn’t consider this to be a bad thing.
Nick pushed the door open and nudged her inside. He tossed the keys onto the side table and kicked the door shut, before setting his backpack down. Then he pressed her against the wall beside the bathroom door.
“Yeah, a really bad influence,” he mumbled and crushed her lips with his.
11
Her clothes were clinging to her, and Michelle knew she looked terrible, but it didn’t matter, because Nick made her feel beautiful. His mouth was hungry on hers, his hands eager to free her of her wet clothes, his pelvis rocking against her with an urgency and rhythm that left nothing to her imagination.
With trembling hands she tugged on his shirt, pushed it up, so she could slide her hands along his naked skin and caress him. He shuddered under her touch, sending a thrill through her at the knowledge that she could bring this man to his knees.
For a brief instant, Nick released her lips and pulled his shirt over his head, revealing his muscled torso. Lust surged inside her, making liquid heat pool at her sex. Nick’s hands were on her dress then, unzipping it in the back and pushing the fabric down to her waist. Another shove and the dress slid past her hips and pooled around her feet.
Her nipples were hard peaks, exposed to his view now because she didn’t wear a bra. His eyes turned molten when he stared at her, his hands already reaching for her breasts, touching them, his knuckles sliding over her damp skin, making her shiver all over.
“Fuck, baby!”
Then his mouth was back on hers, his hands kneading her breasts, teasing her nipples, while farther below, he rubbed his erection against her center. But there was still too much fabric between them. She wanted all those barriers gone. She needed a skin-on-skin contact, needed to feel him as close as was humanly possible.
She pushed against him, made him step back a little so she could reach the button of his pants. She flipped it open then went for the zipper.
“Damn it, Michelle,” he cursed when she pushed his pants and boxer briefs down to his thighs and freed his eager shaft. “I’m not gonna last.”
“I don’t care.”
She pushed his pants down to his ankles and followed in the same direction, until her head was level with his cock. God, he was beautiful. Pumped full with blood, thick veins snaking up its sides, his hard-on demanded all her attention. Eagerly, she wrapped her hand around the root, gripping him firmly so he couldn’t escape.
Nick groaned. She looked up and saw him bracing himself against the wall behind her with both hands, his eyes pinning her.
“If you’re gonna do that,” he said hoarsely, “then do it quickly while I still have an ounce of control left.”
By the looks of his straining neck muscles, it wouldn’t be long until he lost that self control. Already now Nick seemed like putty in her hands—rock-hard putty. And she rather liked that feeling. In fact, loved the power it gave her. The power to make a man surrender.
“Mmm.” Michelle licked her tongue over the purple head of his glorious shaft and gathered up the moisture that had collected there. The salty taste spread in her mouth, making her hungry for more.
Nick let out a shuddering breath, while his hips jerked toward her. “I need… I need to…”
She knew what he needed and gave it to him. Her lips wrapped around the tip of his erection. Slowly, with her tongue along the underside of his cock, she descended on him, taking him as deep into her mouth as she could.
A loud moan bounced off the walls of her small hallway.
Gently, Michelle let his cock withdraw from her, before sliding down on him again. Her hand remained at his root, guiding him in and out. With every descent and every withdrawal she increased the speed and pressure. Nick’s hips flexed in the opposite direction to hers, his cock thrusting into her mouth as she sucked him deeper.
“Fuck! Michelle!” he cried out, throwing his head back. “You’ve gotta stop.”
But despite his impassioned plea, Nick continued moving his hips back and forth, fucking her mouth frantically. Eagerly, she licked and sucked him, moved her hand up and down the long stalk, ready to take what he was willing to give her, when he suddenly pulled back.
Her gaze shot up to him and she saw him breathe heavily. “I need a condom. Now!” He reached for her, pulled her up. “Do you have any?”
She motioned to the bathroom door. Before he could move—impeded by the pants around his ankles—she was already in the bathroom, rummaging through a drawer. When she turned around, condom in hand, he was behind her, fully naked now, stalking toward her.
He took the condom from her hand, ripped the package open with his teeth and rolled the latex over his cock, closing his eyes briefly and clenching his jaw as he did so. Then he pinned her with his eyes.
“Turn around,” he ordered gruffly, motioning to the sink.
Without protesting, she pivoted. His hands were on her an instant later, bending her over the bathroom countertop.
Michelle lifted her head and watched in the mirror, how his passion-clouded eyes roamed over her backside. With a harsh exhale, he hooked his thumbs into the waistband of her thong a
nd pulled it down to her thighs.
Then their eyes met in the mirror.
She felt the tip of his cock at her wet entrance, nudging her nether lips apart. His jaw tightened a moment before he plunged into her, seating himself balls-deep.
Michelle shuddered under the impact, but Nick’s hands on her hips were holding her so tightly that she wouldn’t slam into the counter despite his forceful move.
“See what you do to me?” he murmured and withdrew, only to thrust back into her with even more force.
“I thought you liked it,” she teased, loving the knowledge that she was driving him wild. She liked this side of him, just as much as she liked his quiet, boy-next-door side.
“I love it,” he confessed, meeting her eyes in the mirror. “Too much, in fact. Now you’re gonna pay the price, baby.”
It was a price she had no trouble paying. She loved the way he took her, like a man who knew what he wanted and didn’t take no for an answer. Like a man who was used to his orders being followed. His gruff command to turn around hadn’t turned her off in the least. On the contrary, it aroused her. To be dominated like this turned her on, made her wild, and awakened something primal in her, something entirely female.
“Yes, take me!” she cried out, not caring if that made her sound desperate or submissive. All she wanted was to be taken by him, to feel him pound into her with his cock until neither of them could move any longer.
“Yeah, I’ll take you,” he promised, bringing one hand around her hip to slide it to her front.
A wet finger on her clit made her gasp with pleasure. His hot breath at her ear, whispering to her made her close her eyes in anticipation.
“I’ll fuck you until you come, and then I’ll do it again, and again, and again. Is that what you want, Michelle, me taking you like this?”
“Yes,” she choked out on a shallow breath. “Oh God, yes!”
She lost her ability to form a coherent thought after that. All she felt was Nick’s cock sliding into her from behind, while his fingers strummed her clit as if it were a string instrument he wanted to tease a sound from.