by Alison Aimes
She tried to jerk free of his hold. But he was ready. Pressing into her, he used his far greater weight to keep her pinned beneath him. “But it was Council, not you, who did those things.”
“Enough.”
“No. I like you right here. I’ll like it even more when I’m deep inside you and you scream my name. Then it will be very clear to both of us you know exactly who’s fucking you.” He pinched her clit, gently squeezing the swollen nub between his thumb and pointer until he heard that tiny, sexy gasp and felt her resistance melt away.
“Felon.” A sweet mewling sound. One he’d never heard her make before. It made him crazy to hear it again.
She was shaking now. And, fuck him, but so was he. The image of her breaking apart—because of him—sending a drop of pre-cum sliding down his rock-hard cock.
Almost gone himself, he sucked at hollow of her neck. Worked her faster.
“I need you now,” she all but moaned. “P-please.”
That’s all he needed to hear.
He dropped to his knees.
“What are you doing?” She jerked against him as if to turn, but he held firm.
That was the benefit of his strength. She could move him, but she’d have to damage him to do so—and right now, despite her protesting growl, she was frozen in place. Her eyes wide as she struggled to see him over her shoulder.
“Slow.” He allowed himself a nice long lick. Back to front, her taste even better than he’d imagined. Sweet and salty. Just like her.
“Oh, Janus.” Tilting her hips, she spread her legs wider. Gave him greater access. “That’s—that’s good.”
He hid a smile. “You sound surprised.”
“I am.” A low moan. “Never had it done to me before.”
Another tug at his chest. Along with the pure satisfaction that he was her first. That she trusted him at least enough to let herself be vulnerable like this.
He gripped her hips tighter. Moved his tongue faster. Delving into every hollow. Craving every shadow, every secret. Her light and her dark. Reveling in her taste, frost-covered honey, sweet and warm beneath a layer of perfect ice.
And in this bare-bones hovel, with nothing but castoffs and twisted, burnt-out scavenged trash around them, it suddenly felt like more than enough.
“Ryker, now.” Her thighs trembled against his jaw.
“Nice and slow, remember?” Backing off, he glided his tongue along her sensitive inner thigh. Heard her soft groan. “You think it’s only one or the other. Either fierce or soft. Black or white. Logical or not. But sometimes it’s both.”
She shook her head, even as her body moved in time with his. “I…I don’t know how to do both.”
“You’ll learn.” He kissed his way along her pussy, sucking, nipping, dragging out the pleasure, putting every bit of respect and admiration into his touch until she was crying out and begging.
Then, and only then, did he take her clit in his mouth once more and, as she shuddered and groaned, work the flat of his tongue over the swollen nub. “Come for me, Jade. In the light.”
“Yes! Oh, yes.” She came apart, her body shuddering and bucking as her first climax hit hard and she rode his tongue with the same sexy, ruthless determination as she did everything.
Only when she went limp, her body sagging against his, did he stand up and unleash his dick.
“You ready for round two, Jade?” He rubbed himself against her pussy, letting his cock get nice and wet. He knew from the last time that she was tight, and he was so worked up he’d need all the help he could get. “Slow’s over.”
“Thank Janus.”
With a chuckle, he turned her. Lifted her. His gaze locked with hers as he carried her over to the table. The instant he set her down, his cock was at her entrance. Wordlessly, he worked himself in inch by inch. His fingers digging into her hips as he held her still, until he was seated all the way inside. His balls pressed to her exquisite ass.
He’d had so little beauty in his life lately. So little good. But the warm, wet grip of her around his cock was all of that and more. He never wanted it to end.
“That feels so good. I…I’m not sure how long I’ll last before I come again,” she whispered. A rare admission from a woman who was always in control.
“Take what you need.”
He sucked in a breath as she circled her hips, grinding harder against him. Taking it all. Fearless and ruthless as ever.
With a growl, he sucked harder at her neck, his hand slipping to her pussy. His fingers playing once more with her clit.
“Yes, just like that.” Her hand found his, her palm pressing into the one working her clit. And, fuck, if that didn’t make him hotter, harder.
The way she met any challenge head-on drove him wild. Her boldness and her fire and her frost like no one he’d ever met.
How could she think he could ever imagine her as someone else?
With a roar, he bent his knees, and thrust upward, snapping his hips as he took deep, long strokes, the table rocking wildly beneath her. One hand rubbing her pretty, swollen clit while the other glided upward to tease her nipple, pinching and flicking and squeezing.
“Yes, Ryker, yes.” Her hips jerked and her breath caught.
He didn’t think he’d ever get enough of hearing her lost like this. Hearing his name on her lips.
“You want to come again?” Pistoning his ass faster, he dragged her down onto his cock as he thrust upward.
“Yes!”
Grabbing her chin, he lifted her mouth toward his, claimed her lips once more. “Eyes on me,” he growled. “I want to make damn sure you’re as clear as I am, about who you’re with here and now.” He thrust again.
She shuddered. Moaned. Her eyes sunk shut.
He nipped at her ear. Her eyes snapped wide. “I know exactly who I’m fucking, Jade Lakotesh. There’s no one who makes me feel what you do.”
She shattered, her body thrashing as she screamed and her inner walls squeezed his cock.
“Fuck, yes. That’s so good.” White-hot lust blinded him to everything but the primal need to pin her to the table and fuck, her moans toppling him over the edge, as raw pleasure slammed though his shaft, liquid need spurting from him as her climax milked him into the longest, hardest orgasm he’d ever had.
Holy fucking Janus.
Forget who he was with? No damn way. It just kept getting better and better with this woman.
They didn’t even like each other.
But even as he thought it, he knew it was a lie.
He liked her. A lot. Even more troubling, he felt with her. More than he should. A whole lot more than was wise.
20
“You good?” Unable to resist, Ryker tucked a sweat-soaked strand of hair behind Jade’s ear, doing his best to read her.
Like always, it was proving next to impossible. Especially since she wouldn’t look at him. Which was damn hard to do considering they were still hunkered down in the small room, waiting for the storm to give them an opening.
Even more troubling, she hadn’t spoken. Not even when he’d slipped out of her, found a rag, and wiped them both down. Not even when he’d helped her down from the table and they’d both done their best to stand on shaky legs. Not even in the long stretch of minutes afterward when she’d retreated to the doorway to stare out at nothing and he’d let her.
Until he couldn’t take it anymore and gone to stand by her side.
“Jade?” His gut churned. If he’d pushed her too far, he’d never forgive himself. “Are you okay?”
For the first time since he’d pulled out of her, her gaze connected with his. The look in her eyes—naked vulnerability—stole his breath.
She took a slow breath, her thumb tracing the dark outline of the dagger on the inside of her wrist. “I find that I am not so cavalier about dying as I once was.”
His chest squeezed. Her admission making him want to bang on his chest like a caveman. Even as it terrified the hell out of him. He’d be
en so intent on getting her to fight her employers’ plans—and on getting inside her—he hadn’t thought of the cost.
“I’m far from cavalier about it myself.” He should say more—far more about the depth of what he was feeling—but the words clogged in his throat. Too soon. Too much.
Especially over something that was always supposed to be temporary.
Even after they figured out a way to retrieve the weapon and save her, whatever this was between them would have to end. She would be going on to do whatever it was ex-assassins did when they finally had their freedom. And he’d squirrel back inside himself and snap at his teammates. He wasn’t built for long-term caring anymore.
Already he was sweating, the pit in his stomach deepening as he realized the depth of what he’d committed to when he vowed they’d find a way to save her. He’d broken his promise to the people that matter most. If he failed Jade, too—
“I would miss Rafi. Rufus.” Her composed voice jerked him from his dark thoughts. “Even you.”
He blinked. Blinked again, his ego smarting.
Then, a pleased smirk tilted her full lips upward, hanging there for a full two stunning heartbeats. His heart contracted. She was teasing him.
He thought he’d gotten used to the kick to the gut every time those dark lashes and green eyes locked on him, but when she smiled and teased…his stupid heart—which should have known better—rattled in his chest. Reaching toward her.
“I appreciate,” she continued, unaware she’d almost knocked him on his ass with a simple look, “what you said before about me not deserving to die for my employers’ sins. I’m touched, too, by your anger over my own fate. And, I mean it when I say I have begun to enjoy life far more than I did before.” Her gaze locked with his as if she could see to the heart of his fears. “But I am still not looking for you to save me.”
He swallowed hard.
She brushed her thumb over her dagger tattoo once more. “I have no memory of a family. Was given no chance to cultivate friends. My one pleasure has been my effort to aid others. The universe is by and large ugly and there are, for the most part, few things worth dying for, but there are some.” Their eyes met. “You know that as well as I.”
He knew she was thinking of his wife and child, his crew. He was surprised to feel comforted by the shared moment.
He’d always held his pain close to himself, a cold, bitter bone of rage he guarded like a feral dog. But with Jade it felt okay to share, because if there was anyone who understood pain, regret, the kind of agony that clawed at you from the inside out, it was her.
“I will never regret it if my life ends while trying to save New Earth,” she insisted. “I know it is not enough to redeem my actions as a tool of the Council, but it is a step in the right direction. So, don’t get so focused on the nanotechnology beneath my skin that you forget our primary objective: acquiring 223’s weapon. If you want to worry over something, worry over that.”
Her courage awed him. “You don’t place enough importance on your survival. You need to be more selfish. Your life is not going to end saving New Earth.”
“Some people are not meant to be remembered.”
“That’s bullshit.” He couldn’t seem to make himself shut up. “Everything about you is memorable.”
She dismissed his words with a wave of her hand. “The face they gave me is meant to dazzle. A brief flash meant to lure and mesmerize so the predator beneath can strike.” She shook her head. “It isn’t meant to last.”
“You matter, damn it.” He stepped closer, determined that before whatever was between them came to its natural conclusion, she would understand her worth. “We’ll find a way. My Commander’s woman will come up with a serum. Or we’ll fry it without setting it off. You just hold on and, once we get you 223’s weapon, we’ll figure something out.”
“We’ll see,” she whispered back.
“You matter,” he repeated, looming close, his mouth a whisper away from molding to hers once more.
A loud bang echoed just outside.
Their heads whipped up and around in unison.
A near skeletal blur—much smaller than the tigos—streaked by the propped door and sprinted down the corridor as if its life depended on it.
Which it might.
They were off and running, weapons out, in the next instant.
21
Ryker dodged a head butt and squeezed Tyson tighter.
Their runaway had been sadly easy to catch. His exhausted state no match for them.
As if they’d been partners forever, Jade had used her speed to cut off their target while he stayed behind, sheathing his weapon and seizing the man as he’d skittered to a stop to avoid her. No muss. No fuss.
Damn, if he didn’t like working with her. Almost as much as he liked fucking her.
“Let go!” Tyson thrashed and kicked, the acrid scent of terror burning Ryker’s nose.
They’d caught him in an alley, but with the memory of the tigos still fresh, dragged him to the hut where they’d been staying. The absence of wind was another plus.
“Did you plan to tell 223 about us?” Jade’s questions came fast and hard. “Ingratiate yourself and earn your way out of your current position? At the expense of the others?”
“No!” Agitation had the man’s spine snapping straight, the top of his head narrowly missing Ryker’s chin.
“Then why come back here?”
Silence.
She changed tactics. “Why the supplies?”
Tyson had dumped the packets the moment he’d seen them, the units of food and water spilling from his arms as he fled. More units than one runaway needed.
“I…I’m not telling you a damn thing. Kill me if you have to.”
Surprise had Ryker’s brows rising. He’d been sure the man would fold.
As usual, Jade’s expression gave nothing away, though the flat of her blade tapped more quickly against her thigh.
Why make a stand over supplies? But there was something in Tyson’s stance, in the way he held himself, as if he’d die here and now before saying anything, that struck a chord.
Realization dawned. “He’s protecting someone.”
“No.” Tyson thrashed in earnest, a bucking wild creature.
Ryker tightened his hold. “Calm down. We’re not here to harm you or them.”
“She’s a fucking Council assassin,” the man screamed. “We’ve had enough of that kind of help to last a lifetime.”
We. He’d been right. He scanned the doorway, but saw no one approaching. Whoever Tyson was protecting, Ryker doubted they were coming to his rescue.
But that didn’t stop their runaway from spiraling into sheer panic. Twisting and biting. Bringing them closer to the edge of a confrontation that would only end badly for the man.
Jade sheathed her knife. “Release him.”
Ryker shot her a questioning glance. Was she worried for him? He’d handled far worse.
She gave him a confident, assuring nod that told him nothing.
Fuck it. Answer or not, he let the man go. It might not be easy to admit, but he trusted her.
Freed, their runaway stumbled away, his eyes bright with fevered panic and the clear belief he had nothing left to lose.
Sometimes those were the most dangerous of opponents.
“It’s alright.” Jade raised her palms in a gesture of calm.
“Watch yourself,” growled Ryker. The guy was no match for her, but even an unskilled fighter could get in a hard strike or two.
As usual, she ignored him, taking a step closer.
“Stay back,” shrieked the guy.
Her knife flashed in her hand and Ryker had only a heartbeat to wonder if she was about to bury it in the guy’s chest when, lightning fast, she rolled it over her knuckles and grasped the blade.
The handle pointed directly at the man’s chest. “Take it.”
Floored, the man simply stood there. “Wh-what are you doing?”
> She thrust the handle toward Tyson again. “Take it. Now you’ll have the weapon and all the control.”
The urge to leap in front of her ate at him, but Ryker stayed where he was. Reminded himself she knew what she was doing.
Still, the woman messed with his head. No question.
“If this is some kind of trick…” Tyson grasped the handle. He skittered back until his spine hit the wall, his arm trembling so badly Ryker feared the man might cut himself.
But even an amateur could get lucky once in a while.
On that thought, Ryker stepped forward to stand at Jade’s side. “Okay, now you have the weapon. It’s time to relax. All we want to do is talk.”
Hopefully, Jade felt the same way. You never knew with her. The woman was a handful, that’s for sure. Whoever had to deal with her long-term—and he refused to allow for any other scenario—would never be bored. Or sane.
So why did the thought of some other bastard in that role make him want to unsheathe his ax and kill something?
“Let’s try this again,” said Jade. “We’ve already established that was an awful lot of supplies for one person.”
“I’m not talking.”
“You’re protecting someone you love.” Ryker was certain.
The man’s skin bleached white. “No. I—”
“Don’t bother to deny it. I recognize that look. You’re willing to do whatever it takes to guard them, even at the cost of your own life.”
The other man’s eyes grew wider as the truth arced between them.
“I know,” Ryker continued, “because I’ve seen that expression before.” He took a small step closer. “I had a pregnant wife and I looked just like you when I thought of them. I would have done anything to keep them alive.”
A stretch of silence.
Then, his voice a near whisper, Tyson asked, “What—what happened to them?”
Ryker swallowed hard, never more aware of the silent woman at his side. She might not have looked away from the knife in the other man’s hand, but her cool composure helped him keep his own.
“They died.” He ignored the man’s soft gasp and the sharp clutch of pain the admission always wrought. “Don’t let that happen to whomever you’re protecting.”