by Anthology
“You’re not sucking me,” he growled, slapping my cheek to get my attention. “I’m going to come down your throat, and then maybe we’ll take this into the bedroom. So make me come.”
Like I could do anything when he was choking me with his huge erection. However, the prospect of having him fuck me was plenty of motivation, and I did my best to lick and suck him in between his aggressive thrusts.
Deep inside my throat, he suddenly went still. His cock pulsed inside my mouth, but he wasn’t coming. “I want you to taste me, so I’m going to come on your tongue.”
He slowly pulled back until only his engorged tip rested between my lips. The hand cupping the back of my head slipped down and around to gently stroke my throat, his gesture tender. “I want to feel you swallow me,” he said.
I swallowed. It was nothing but a reflex because he’d mentioned the word, much like hearing someone say the word sneeze could make my nose tickle.
“Grab my cock,” he said. “Suck the head.”
I wrapped my fingers around his base, which was already quickly drying. I tightened my grip and felt his cock kick in response. Clenching my fist harder made Corbin groan in appreciation, and I continued to squeeze until my entire arm trembled from the effort.
His fingers tangled more tightly in my hair as he began moving my head in a shallow bobbing motion. My breasts bounced.
“Suck, baby.”
I sucked the plump tip. His shaft grew bigger, forcing my fingers apart, and I groaned. My pussy had drenched the thong, and the insides of my thighs were wet.
Corbin growled, and his cock jumped under my touch. It rippled almost violently as he orgasmed, shooting a staggering amount of come into my mouth. It was sweetish and a little salty.
I swallowed greedily, and Corbin groaned, his fingers stroking my throat even faster as he continued to unload every last drop of come from his balls.
Then he was still, and I was still. Hopefully sex would be coming soon, or as soon as Corbin recovered, and I didn’t want to say or do anything that might inspire him to teach me a lesson by withholding the hard fucking that I very much needed.
So I waited for him to finish, and when he did pull back, I remained on my knees and made myself look calmly at the door. There wasn’t much I could do about the little smile of triumph playing on my lips.
“Stand up and remove your clothes,” he said hoarsely, and I scrambled to my feet and began yanking down the ripped dress. It puddled around my feet, and I kicked it away along with my sopping wet panties.
Corbin pulled up his pajamas.
“No,” I moaned. I stared in frustration as he knotted the bow. “You’re joking, right?”
“Do I look like I’m joking?”
Unfortunately, he didn’t. “Corbin…” I trailed off as he walked closer, and I became painfully aware of my nudity.
He grabbed my wrists and pushed me backward until I couldn’t go any farther, until his hands were pressing my knuckles against the wall, pinning me there. His expression impassive, he shoved a muscular thigh between my legs. Heat raced through my veins.
“Fuck me,” I begged, my hips pulsing as I tried to satisfy the ache deep inside me.
Corbin took his leg away but instead covered my mouth with his, a scorching kiss that ended far too quickly. “No,” he said, his voice a rumbling whisper. “Not tonight.” He smoothed my hair away from my face. “Let’s watch a movie, baby. That’ll help you calm down.”
Was he insane? “I don’t want a movie,” I said. “I need to come.”
I must have looked especially pathetic because Corbin started laughing. Usually I found his laugh sexy. Irritated, I tried to push him away.
Corbin held me easily, locking me into a cage of muscle. Being restrained shot my arousal even higher. “You need to come?” he asked, his deep voice still thick with amusement.
“Obviously,” I hissed.
One of his eyebrows went up in surprise.
I was about to apologize, to beg, but to my astonishment, Corbin pushed two fingers into my mouth. Immediately I began licking. If I could get him hard again, maybe—
There was a wet sucking sound as he pulled them free, then he shoved them into my pussy.
All my breath rushed out as my vision swam. I couldn’t believe he was doing this after I’d been rude. I’d always thought he was too dominant to overlook my misdeeds.
Corbin’s thumb traced over my clit. “Go ahead, my little addict. Come for me.”
Almost instantly, pleasure exploded through my body, but Corbin took his hand away. I bent forward, my hands over my pussy, but it was too late; the convulsions were already weakening.
“You ruined it,” I gasped.
“Did I?” Corbin didn’t sound the least bit apologetic. “Maybe I’ll get it right next time.” He disappeared into the bedroom and returned with one of his shirts, which he pulled over my head. “Movie, then bed,” he said, swatting my ass, driving me in front of him.
He let me choose the movie, which was small comfort after all the torture. But curled up on the sofa and nestled against his hard body, I could almost forgive him for the ruined orgasm.
Chapter Seven
“Audrey. Baby, wake up.” Corbin shook my shoulder, and I struggled toward the sound of his voice.
He released me. A few seconds later, a light softly clicked on, throwing a warm glow across Corbin’s side of the bed.
“What is it?” As soon as the words had left my mouth, I flopped onto my stomach, turning toward the darkness. My eyes closed as I allowed myself to be seduced by the promise of the dream I’d been having—a rooftop pool, Corbin astride an enormous horse that jumped the width of the pool while I floated lazily underneath, eating pomegranate ice cream…
“It’s Rob,” he said, jolting me back to awareness. “I guess you left your phone in the living room, because he called mine.” Corbin placed the phone on my ear, but I was awake now, already sitting up, kicking away the warm, comforting sheets.
“Rob?”
“Good news. I just got a call from Martin. Guess who showed up to visit Anise?”
It took me half a second to remember who Anise was. Chaew’s girlfriend. “Thank fucking goodness. Tell Martin to stay put, and I’ll meet you there.”
“I already did. See you soon.”
I flipped on my light and jumped out of bed. Even though I felt jittery, my brain was still sluggish to focus. I wanted to go left, my lower body wanted to go right. I was aware of Corbin watching, amused.
Finally I got my limbs moving in the same direction, toward the closet. I grabbed clothing almost at random—my casual stuff was all grouped together, and it wasn’t like I was going to accidentally put on a cocktail dress.
“What can I do to help?” Corbin asked.
“Nothing,” I said as I pulled the sweater over my head. I yanked on panties and jeans, stuffed my socks into my pocket, then stood there, trying to catalogue what else I needed to do.
“Don’t forget your phone,” Corbin said.
We exchanged a glance, and understanding passed between us: he wasn’t going to insist on helping. We’d been through a lot together, because of who he was, because of who I was. Our story could have been a disaster, and in a lot of ways, I supposed it was. But in the most important ways? It was the greatest success story of my life.
Corbin got out of bed and approached with long, certain steps. God, he was gorgeous even first thing in the morning. Well, the middle of the night, rather. Catching my face, he teased my lips with a gentle kiss.
My heart, already pounding in anticipation of apprehending Chaew, beat even faster as heat swirled through my body.
“Not that you’ll need it, but good luck,” Corbin said softly. Even at a whisper, his deep voice was too seductive, too distracting.
“You, too,” I said, and he laughed.
“Only good things happen when I’m in bed,” he said. “No worries there.”
I couldn’t help glancing
down, and yeah, his cock was hard. Damn my job. Biting my lip, I grabbed my shoes and headed into the hall.
“Wait, good things happen when I’m not in bed with you?” I tossed over my shoulder as I slipped my bare feet into sneakers.
“Guess you’d better hurry back to find out,” he said, though we both knew that by the time I got back, he’d likely be out, busy with his own problems.
The car’s seat was cold through my jeans, and cool air nipped at my ankles, making me shiver. I turned the heat up. After the longest, hottest summer ever, winter was slowly returning, and I hoped it wouldn’t be as brutal as last year’s.
I dialed Rob.
“Everything is going smoothly so far,” he said. “Martin figures the lights were on for about fifteen minutes, and now they’re out. I’m parked around the corner.”
“Perfect. I’ll be there soon.”
I joined Rob at the top of the street. “Any change?” My sentence puffed out in little white clouds.
“Nope,” he said on a long breath. “I’m thinking you and I cover the back exit while Martin rings Anise’s doorbell.”
I nodded. People could be counted on to run out the back whenever trouble came knocking at the front. “Let’s get this bastard.”
The homes on the street were quiet, sleeping. The trees outnumbered the streetlights, providing plenty of cover.
As Rob and I briskly walked toward the house, Martin came toward us, melting into and out of the shadows. His long dark hair was pulled back into its customary ponytail. He smelled faintly of cigarette smoke.
“Give us sixty seconds, then knock on the door,” Rob told him.
“That’s fine.” Martin partially turned to gesture at the house. “She’s got a motion detector floodlight on the porch. I tried to scout things out earlier, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s got them all around the exterior. You might want to access from the neighbor’s back yard.”
Rob spit the gum he’d been chewing into a wrapper, rolled it between his fingers and shoved it into a pocket of his hoody. “Between six and seven tonight, I saw plenty of people walking dogs.”
The three of us digested that. Dogs tended to bark.
“We have time,” Rob said. “We’ll look for a back way. When we’re in position, I’ll text.”
“I gotta tell you, Chaew was plenty circumspect when he entered the house,” Martin said. “A bunch of dogs start yapping, he might take off before you can get in place.”
A churning, nagging feeling clawed in my stomach. I felt like I’d forgotten something, but maybe that was because I’d been yanked out of sleep, wasn’t wearing a bra or socks, and still felt slightly groggy.
I held up a hand while I tried to pinpoint the source of my discomfort. No, it wasn’t something I was forgetting that bothered me. It was external… the sounds of approaching cars.
They were coming too fast.
A rival?
I looked at Rob. The expression on his face said he was wondering the same thing.
“We’ll have to take our chances with the lights,” I said. “Let’s move. Thirty seconds, Martin.”
Rob and I ran straight back, along the side of the building. Blindingly bright floodlights poured over us, just as Martin had predicted. If a neighbor was looking out the window, we wouldn’t be missed.
But the neighbors didn’t matter. In a few moments we would have Chaew.
In the rear, we were greeted with more lights, enough to illuminate an entire football stadium. Anyone this paranoid would have a reliable alarm system in place.
Rob tapped my arm, pointed up. I followed and saw that a light had gone on inside the house. There was a flicker—someone walking in front of it.
We waited. The approaching cars went quiet all at once, which was even worse. I imagined a large group of bounty hunters assembling a block away. The adrenaline settled to a roar that turned me jittery with pent-up energy.
Then we waited some more.
Rob jumped, startled. His reaction set my own pulse to racing even faster.
“Just my phone vibrating,” he said as he yanked it out of his pocket.
I glanced up again. The lights were still on. As I watched, curtains moved back and an oval face pressed against the glass, hands cupped so he could better see outside.
It was the kid, worry pinching his features.
“Damn it,” Rob and I both said at the same time, but Rob was looking at his phone.
“What happened?” I asked, terrified, thinking that someone else had gotten our target.
“The bastard split. Anise let Martin in the house, but she says Chaew’s gone. Martin’s still in there. He wants one of us to go check to see if Chaew’s car is parked out front. I know where it was.” He slipped away, and I thought it was a waste that he was so perfectly quiet; he tiptoed through spotlights.
I looked up again and was happy to see that the kid had moved away from the window.
A slight creaking sound caught my attention, and my gaze snapped to the door.
I reacted immediately, jumping forward.
There was a partially uttered curse, and Chaew shot past me.
I pivoted to sprint after him. He zigged to the right, then went straight.
The lights didn’t illuminate anything far back from the house, and within moments we were in the dark. All I could do was follow the occasional pale flashes of Chaew’s pumping arms as he ran.
He dodged to the right again. So did I.
Apparently I didn’t go far enough—I tripped over something.
Burning pain shot through my shin as I crashed to the ground.
I pulled my leg in, sucking air between my teeth. I panted, my fingers running up and down the bone as I searched for the nasty break.
Other than the sound of a spinning wheel—I’d fallen over a kid’s bike lying on the grass—everything was quiet.
My phone buzzed. It was Rob, wondering where I’d gone. I didn’t respond, and I didn’t get up.
Sometimes I really hated my job.
Chapter Eight
By the time I returned to the condo, it was just starting to get light.
I didn’t see Corbin’s big SUV in the parking lot—a surprise because I was back much earlier than I’d expected. Too bad, because he was probably the only person who could have consoled me.
The only positive note was that no rival bounty hunters had ever shown up. Then again, that was small comfort considering competition wasn’t a concern twenty-four hours ago.
I limped through the front door. The air smelled slightly of coffee, and at the end of the long hallway, I could see that the shades covering the skylights and large windows had been rolled up.
“Corbin?”
No answer.
I kicked off my sneakers, pulled the rolled-up socks out of my pocket and dropped them onto the floor. They bounced and rolled into the middle of the walkway. If Corbin were home, I would have at least kicked them to the side, but he was gone.
Anyway, I was injured.
My leg throbbed with every beat of my heart as I made my way into the master bathroom and peeled off my jeans.
“Ooh.” A fresh, four-inch bruise stretched down my shin. I sat on the edge of the whirlpool tub and extended my leg across the top.
Gingerly, I probed the bruise with my fingertips. It hurt like hell, but I was able to determine that the bone was most definitely not broken.
I found some ibuprofen in the medicine cabinet, swallowed the maximum dose and turned on the shower. As I shampooed my thick hair, I considered that it had been a long time since I’d sustained any significant injury while chasing a fugitive.
Of all the ways to get a war injury. It was embarrassing. At least the weather meant no one would think twice when I wore jeans. Of course Corbin would notice, and then he’d give me a lecture about being careful.
That wasn’t going to be fun.
I conditioned my hair twice, rinsed it, and toweled off. The ibuprofen had already
kicked in, or maybe I was finally getting over the shock.
Even though I didn’t need to be at the office until eight, I knew I’d never be able to fall asleep again. The exhaustion would probably hit me in the middle of the day, but lucky me, my temporary office had that big, comfortable sofa… The one that wasn’t being used for midday fucking.
I dressed in the same clothes I’d thrown on earlier, this time adding a bra, and wandered into the enormous, top-of-the-line kitchen to find something to eat.
A piece of paper was sitting on the counter.
Baby,
Got a call about some work. Breakfast is in the oven. Let me know that you got this.
Corbin
New work? I wondered what it was. I opened the oven and found a bagel sandwich, extra cheese melted over the sides, just how I liked it.
I sent him a text, poured myself an orange juice—freshly squeezed, thanks to Corbin—and carried my breakfast into the living room. After eating, I played a video game (bunnies, not cannibal zombies) until it was time to open up the office.
The temporary offices weren’t very close to the Stroop Finders building, and that made quite a drive for Erin. Rob and I were responsible for turning off the alarm and opening everything up.
Today was my turn.
So I was surprised to discover that the only car in the lot belonged to my brother.
I found him in his office, the door open.
“Should I be alarmed by how often you show up early?” I asked.
“Early?” He turned to his computer, clicked, clicked again. “I’m scheduled,” he said.
I groaned. Coming in early just meant a longer day. Even though we opened at eight, the fact was that bounty hunting was a business conducted mostly on nights and weekends. If you wanted to question a bounty’s friends and family, you had to go by when they were at home as very few people appreciated being disturbed at work. Of course, very few appreciated being disturbed at home, either, but it was the lesser of two evils.
“How’s your leg?” Rob asked.