Light Me Up

by McKenna, Shannon

  “What a shame.”

  She glanced at the last text. “So, um…Asa says to expect a call from a guy named Stefano Morelli. He’s with the security team. He’ll get us in, no problem. Asa says he’s an AISE agent, whatever that is.”

  “It’s the Italian version of the CIA,” he said grimly. “The guy’s a fucking spy.”

  At that precise moment, Noah’s phone buzzed, jangling his every last nerve.

  Shit. Ambushed. Asa had timed this carefully. Manipulative bastard.

  The display showed an unknown Italian number. Rome area code. He yielded to the inevitable and tapped the screen. “Yes?”

  “Buona sera. Am I speaking with Mr. Noah Gallagher?” The voice on the other end was deep, resonant, and faintly accented.

  “You are,” Noah said. “Who are you?”

  “My name is Stefano Morelli. I am with the foreign intelligence service. My friend Asa Stone requested that I put you and your wife on the guest list for the unveiling ceremony of the Cross of Orazio at the Palazzo Bellocchio tomorrow night.”

  Tomorrow? Shit. Noah didn’t even have time to wrap his head around this, to prepare, regroup, find some ironclad reason to get out of it. “Yeah? And?”

  Morelli paused, taken aback by the surly tone of Noah’s voice. “Before I can clear you to enter the event, I wish to meet with you and Mrs. Gallagher.”

  “Why is that?”

  A brief silence. “The background check revealed your wife’s recent adventures,” he said slowly.

  “They weren’t her fault. What about them?”

  “A charge of murder, a year spent running from the law—”

  “She was cleared of everything.”

  “Of course,” Morelli agreed smoothly. “But still—”

  “So what do you want from us?”

  “I thought this invitation was something that you wanted.” Morelli’s voice was ice cold, not that Noah blamed the guy. “Am I mistaken?”

  Noah didn’t answer.

  Morelli made an impatient sound. “This was not my idea, Mr. Gallagher. I owe Asa a favor, that is all. Nonetheless, I must meet you first. If you wish to attend, come early tomorrow evening, well before the event. Asa has vouched for you, but I must vouch for you as well.”

  “Understood,” Noah said grudgingly.

  “Did Asa not explain?”

  “Not really. If you’re so uneasy, maybe you should nix the whole idea.”

  Caro’s phone thudded to the couch cushion as her hands went up into a what-in-the-fuck-are-you-saying gesture.

  “Perhaps so.” Morelli’s voice was stiff. “Asa told me that Mrs. Gallagher had a particular interest in the cross. My guess would be that you do not. But that changes nothing for me. I must vet everyone who attends.”

  “Gotcha.” Noah was about to tell the guy to go blow himself, but remembering the look in Caro’s eyes, bright with excitement while she read Asa’s texts, stopped him.

  He didn’t want to be the hard-ass who put that light out.

  That did not, however, change the fact that appearing at a media-saturated public event was a really bad idea.

  “Text me the details,” he heard himself say. “Where and when. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

  He turned away and set his smartphone down on a small marble table.

  “So…we’re in?” Caro’s voice from behind him was hushed and hopeful.

  “Don’t get excited yet,” he growled.

  “Are you joking? I’d do anything to see that cross! I spent months of serious research on Orazio di Coronna in college. I feel like I know the man personally.”

  He turned back to her, bracing himself. “Caro, I’m sorry, but it’s too risky. The guest list alone is insane. Politicians, celebrities? We can’t have that kind of visibility.”

  Caro bit her lip as she thought it through. “Well … actually, it’s you who can’t have the visibility, Noah, not me,” she pointed out. “There’s no reason anybody would notice me. I’m not a Midlands rebel.”

  “Stefano Morelli seemed to know a whole hell of a lot about you from the background check,” he said.

  “Yes, but that’s not relevant to Obsidian. It wouldn’t send up any red flags for them. I’m just some random woman who got into trouble and then got out of it. I could go to the ceremony on my own, and you could—”

  “No,” he cut in, his voice harsh. “No fucking way.”

  “OK, so come with me, but stay out of the main room where the cross is being displayed,” she suggested, warming to her idea. “Avoid the cameras as much as you can. You don’t have to be physically stuck to me to be—”

  “Who the fuck do you think you’re dealing with?”

  She rocked backwards against the couch cushions where she sat, knocking a few of them to the floor. Eyes big and shocked.

  Long seconds of charged silence followed.

  Caro was the first to find words again. “OK,” she said, her voice tight. “Let’s talk about this when you’ve cooled down.”

  Noah’s phone vibrated on the table. He suppressed the urge to fling it down at the floor tiles just to make it shut the fuck up.

  It was a text from Asa. did u talk to Stefano

  He texted back. wtf? u trying to paint a bullseye on us?

  Asa came back swiftly. dont b such a gdmned chickenshit

  fuck u man u rnt the 1 who has 2 keep her safe, he responded.

  Asa’s reply was philosophical. grow a pair. u only live once

  4 how long with u around?

  unless u fuck it up, bro—4ever. love 2 caro. enjoy the party, Asa shot back.

  Mouthy bastard. Noah dropped the phone on the table again like it burned him.

  “Noah,” Caro began. “I think you’re overreacting—”

  “Nope. Not at all. If he was here, I’d punch him.”

  Caro was silent for a moment, tightlipped. Then she rose from the couch, tugging the bodice of the dress higher over her breasts. “He’s already lying in a hospital bed,” she said, as she headed toward the bedroom. “You’re too late.”

  Her bare back was turned to him, elegantly straight. Her long mop of ringlets swung and bounced with every step. He followed her with his eyes through the door and from there right on into the bathroom. The light in there flicked on.

  The silence was deafening. He followed her into the bedroom, pausing for a moment. She hadn’t shut the bathroom door yet. A bar of light sliced out into the room.

  This shit was unacceptable. He couldn’t take another second of it.

  Noah pulled off his shirt, tossed it onto a chair, and pushed on the bathroom door until it swung open. Caro stood in front of the big marble sink, reflected in the mirror. He tried to keep his eyes from dropping down to ogle her curves. She was too pissed at him.

  “Sorry,” he said roughly.

  She tilted her chin up and gave him a long, appraising glance without turning around. The open challenge in her eyes made him throb with sexual readiness.

  She knew her power over him. Weird, but fuck it. He knew when he was owned.

  “You’re planning to revisit this conversation after I get some of what I gave, right?” He knew that would get her attention. For all the wrong reasons. So be it.

  “Get some of what I…oh. You mean making you come?” Fresh anger narrowed her eyes. “Like I owe you something? Or use sex to manage you?”

  “No to both,” he said. “I’m just saying—nothing. Never mind.”

  “Hmmph.” She sniffed, running her hands over her slender, bare arms as if she were chilled. “Noah,” she said slowly. “We don’t have to talk about this. Not right now, anyway. But in the meantime? Don’t use your AVP to read my mind.”

  “I don’t,” he said swiftly. “I just know what you’re thinking because I know you.” The look o
n her face made him hasten to amend that statement. “Not as well as I want to, though. Not as well as I’m going to.”

  “Going to,” she murmured, frowning. “That makes me feel…naked.”

  His dick throbbed enthusiastically at her word choice. Things were looking up. Along with his dick. “I love you naked,” he announced.

  She rolled her eyes. “You always default to sex.”

  “Well, yeah,” he said, a little defensively. “You’re gorgeous. Hotter than hell. And sex with you is un-fucking-believable, every time. Who could resist defaulting to that?”

  “I don’t want you to resist,” she said forcefully. “I just want to make you chill out! With a whip and a chair, if I have to!”

  He considered that, and shrugged.

  She gave him a narrow look. “Come on, Noah. Act scared, OK? Just to make me happy.”

  “I am. Can’t you tell?” He reached out for her, but dropped his hands when she pressed herself up against the sink, still keeping her back to him. “Being with you is as good as it gets,” he told her. “It’s so good it scares me.”

  “Hmm. Keep talking. Scared why?” Her voice was still cool. She would not meet his eyes.

  “There’s Obsidian, for starters,” he continued. “They turned me into a paranoid mutant freak before I ever met you. I’m afraid of them finding you. You should be, too.”

  Caro met his gaze in the mirror. “I am,” she said. “But we still need to live our lives. We don’t have to take crazy risks, sure. But we do need to breathe.”

  His pulse thudded in his groin. That direct, piercing look in her eyes was such a buzz. Even when she was breaking his balls.

  “Look,” he said carefully. “You’re as tough as nails. I know that. But I just want you to be safe. For me, understand? I need you. Without you, I’m toast.”

  “That’s nice.” Her voice had taken on a crystalline ring. “But it’s not always about what you want or need.”

  “OK,” he said. “Then tell me what you want. Lay down the law.”

  “I don’t know why I should bother,” she said. “You never follow any rules but your own.”

  “Nope,” he agreed. He brushed her hair aside and leaned down to kiss the nape of her neck. Her body was so sleek and lithe. Everywhere they touched made pleasure flash through him. His heart thundered.

  She stiffened as his arms slid around her. “You can’t distract me with sex.”

  “I can try,” he offered.

  “You think I’m so easy?”

  Whoa, danger ahead. “Nothing about you is easy. But I like a challenge.”

  “I’m not challenging you. I’m talking to you.” Caro twisted around and put her hand on his face. “I appreciate that you want to protect me. I’m confident you can do it. No one could ever get the drop on you.”

  He stared back at her, wishing he shared her conviction, but he knew Obsidian a hell of a lot better than she did, or ever would.

  He started to shake his head, but she held it, refusing to let him move.

  “You’re a hero,” she said. “I hate that it has to be such a big secret. I wish more people knew the truth about you.”

  “Well, they can’t,” he said. “And I’m glad. That’s one clusterfuck I can skip. Stop calling me a hero. I just wanted to save my girlfriend, my family, and my own skin. All of which is in my own best interests. What’s heroic about that?”

  She waved her hand in frustration. “Stop playing dumb.”

  “That’s just how I see it,” he told her.

  He dropped his lips to her shoulder, and he felt her tension release as she leaned into him. He loved it when he hit those spots that made her shiver and gasp. He sought them out with slow, dragging kisses up the length of her hot, velvet-smooth neck.

  He nipped her earlobe, letting go of it to whisper, “I want to pet your beautiful little pink clit with the tip of my cock. Like a tongue, licking it. Just slide it up and down and all around, until you’re pushing up against me. Because you want more…and more.”

  She bit her lower lip. “Oh yeah? And then what will you do?”

  “When you’re totally out of your mind, I’ll finally push my cock inside. Real slow. Feeling every inch of me squeezed by your pussy, until I’m balls deep inside you, and you’re loving it. Like you are right now.”

  She shot him a heavy-lidded glance. Swallowed. Licked her lips. “And then?”

  “Then I’ll fuck you. Real slow. Stroking all the sweet spots. Feeling you take me deeper, hugging me with your legs. That shiny pink pussy, taking me in, like a kiss. So fucking sweet.” His voice roughened. “I’ll stir you around with my cock until you’re bucking and grabbing my ass.”

  She licked her lips once more, making them gleam. “Mmmm. Reading my mind again?”

  “Nah, just talking dirty. My new second-favorite hobby.” He leaned down, inhaling her scent, helping her ease out of the dress that clung to her body like it didn’t want to leave and dropping it to the floor. He stroked her cheek, then kissed her again. Savoring the heat, the wet.

  He knew Caro liked the sexual tension long and strong and controlled. A bow drawn back, gathering the force to get her where she needed to be.

  Sometimes he pushed too hard, but he kept on chasing down her pleasure like the relentless predator that he was. A guy had to do what a guy had to do.

  Risky, but the orgasms were worth it.

  He still couldn’t believe she was real. He was privileged to touch her, lick her, fuck her every night. He pressed her up against the wall tiles, lifting her so she straddled him. Her arms twined around his neck, her legs around his waist as he gave into the raging hunger for her soft lips, her sweet mouth, her lithe, flexible warm body. For those secret places that made her shiver and melt when he kissed and licked and sucked them. The base of her throat, the sweet downy curls at the nape of her neck. Her suckable little pearly pink clit. He wanted to stroke every hollow and curve. He wanted inside all her secret places. Wanted to tongue-fuck her all night. Make her come against his face.

  Almost there. One little push would put her over the top. He could tell by the sounds she made. And the fiery colors of her sig rising up, painting the ceiling.

  She strained against him as pleasure wrenched through her. Every pulse of her orgasm echoed through his own body.

  They stayed locked together for a long time. Damp and panting.

  Finally Caro reached down to caress his hard, aching cock, still trapped in his pants. “Enough power games from you,” she said. “If you don’t take me over to that bed and fuck me right now, I’m going to tear you to pieces.”

  He shucked his pants, kicking them aside. “Could be fun.”

  Noah was wound tight with crazed lust he could barely control. He wanted her slick and soft. Primed for hard, relentless fucking.

  He kissed her again as he slid his fingers inside her slick folds. Tight and hot around his fingers. So juicy and sweet. His cock pulsed.

  She made a sound against his mouth. “I can’t wait one more second.”

  “Sure you can,” he said, kissing down her jaw. He worked her clit, probing, stroking.

  “Oh no. Not yet…not—”

  “Yes,” he whispered. “Wait for it…oh…yes…”

  Caro went rigid, making a breathless keening sound. He drank it up. Every scent and sensation, every pulse of her pussy as she came around his hand. So fucking good.

  He carried her into the bedroom and laid her gently down on the bed, not bothering with the lights. He could see in the dark. And besides, the whole room glowed with the shifting colors of her sig.

  He lowered himself onto her, caressing her inner thighs, breathing in her hot sweet scent. For all his macho posturing, the raw emotion in her eyes humbled him.

  Caro drew him down to her and got him right where she needed him. Legs
high and open. Nails digging into his forearms. Kitten claws.

  She reached down to grip his cock and slid the head of it over and around her clit, making him wet. Looking at him as he pressed inside, letting her snug heat envelop him.

  Her gaze went soul-deep. Only Caro could do that. Until her, he’d never even known he had a soul.

  Then her head tilted back, lost in her own pleasure. The arch of her pale throat was painted with velvet shadows as he forged into the hot clasp of her body. So beautiful.

  Keep it slow. He worked her clit with his thumb and she moved with him, keening softly with pleasure at the deep, heavy strokes. Bathing his stiff cock with every slick thrust, surrendering to expert fucking that turned her molten, helpless.

  She was getting closer. Moving frantically. Demanding what she needed. So…fucking…hot.

  He wanted to make it last even longer, but he lost the fight, swept along by the torrent. He just clung to her, fucking madly, until the world exploded. Tore him apart.

  Just Caro. Her, and only her.

  As soon as he drifted back from that magic space, tension gripped again. It never let go for long. A few deep breaths, and snap, the trap sprang shut on him.

  Caro stroked his face. His eyes were shut tightly. He left them that way.

  She tugged him down on top of her, and he lowered himself, careful not to crush her with his hard-muscled bulk, settling on his side, gathering her close.

  Pleasure from the fresh shock of contact blasted through him. Skin to skin. Her smooth leg resting over his thigh. Her warm lips, pressing his damp forehead. Her fingers trailing through his sweat-soaked hair.

  Her shiver was as good an excuse as any to flinch away from the feeling of absolute nakedness. He reached for the bedspread. “It’s cold, babe. Get under the covers.”

  It was better, cuddled up in bed. He tucked her head under his chin, enjoying the sensual warmth of her body. Lying like this, she couldn’t see his eyes. Or the shadow looming over him.

  A shadow kept getting longer. Darker than the night that enfolded them both.