by Lea Griffith
She watched as he cocked his head and very deliberately ran his tongue over his bottom lip. The he followed each drop of water as it dripped down her neck, sipping the droplets from the tips of her breasts and drying her with his mouth. She moaned, couldn’t have stopped it if she tried. There was no shame. Her body was trembling for this man.
Slowly, so slowly, her pussy clenched in demand as he unbuttoned his cargoes, revealing the silky trail of hair from his belly button down. He toed off his boots, then pushed his pants and black boxer briefs down, stepping out of them and then just standing there, gloriously nude.
His cock stood out from his body, thick and hard, the rounded head glistening. “I wonder if you want me as much as I want you?”
“I do, maybe more,” he said harshly.
He fried her synapses consistently, reducing her to a blubbering, stuttering mess. “Not more. It just isn’t possible. There’s no backing out for me, King.”
He reached for her, one of his large, warm hands cupping her shoulder before he stepped close and ran that hand down her chest. He caressed the valley between her breasts, flaring out his fingers to grip one before tugging on the nipple.
Her hands wrapped in the softness of his hair, tugging.
“Show me what you like, Allie. Show me, baby,” he pleaded in a voice so gravelly that she could barely make out the words.
“I’m sure with you, I’ll like it all,” she returned in a breathy voice.
He pressed on her shoulders, and she lowered to the bed. He came over her then, and she pushed back on the bed, letting his big body cover hers the way she’d wanted for what seemed like forever.
“You’re beautiful,” he said reverently as he lifted up on an arm, using his hips to spread her legs.
“Show me,” she whispered, parroting his earlier comment.
He settled his head against her core, and her hips rolled against his, a plea for the action she hoped he’d agreed to.
King’s gaze rose to meet hers, and in his eyes, she saw his promise. Felt it notch in her soul as surely as his cock nestled against her pussy. She wasn’t cold anymore; he’d warmed her completely.
“I need you to say it,” he demanded, his voice gravelly.
“Fuck me.”
His hips flexed, and she laughed softly. He growled.
“Yes.”
And then Kingston McNally took over.
He kissed down her body, licking her collarbone again before he lavished his attention on her breasts, moving lower to bite the skin of her navel. He lightly kissed over her wound, the bandage hanging on for dear life. His tongue was wicked clever, dipping into the hollow of her belly button and shooting sparks of heat through her abdomen. They centered in her clit, and then he was there.
He hissed in a breath as he stared at her. “Goddamn, Allie, you make me want to come, and I’m not even inside you.”
Her hips shifted restlessly. “Stop teasing, King.”
“Tell me you want this,” he said gruffly.
She looked down her body, meeting his green-fire gaze. “I want you.”
He held her gaze as he lowered his mouth to her. A swipe along her cleft, his tongue rimming her opening, and then he found her clit.
And when he found it, he gave it his undivided attention. She grabbed his hair, directing him, showing him what she wanted and where.
“I wanted to do this yesterday. Take my time and lick you, taste you, drink you in and never stop.” He kissed her like he was worshipping her body, and then he bit lightly on her clit and she exploded, stars coalescing behind her eyes, breath locking in her chest.
She might have screamed his name, but all she heard as she floated back to earth was his throaty chuckle.
He let her catch her breath, and he was there once again, sliding up her body and leaning on a single arm. King brushed a strand of hair from her eyes.
“You are delicious, Allie Redding,” he said matter-of-factly. “My very favorite food.”
The long, slow slide she’d been taking into him ended with her heart firmly in his hands. It was too soon. She didn’t know this man in all the ways she wanted to, but she’d taken his measure the first time she’d seen him.
No matter how rash her decision might be. No matter that he could be using her for his own ends. She’d just given him the biggest piece of herself.
Wonder sifted through her, making her drunk on her brand-new feelings for this warrior. He watched her and smiled as if he knew exactly what she was thinking.
But he didn’t. If he did, he’d run screaming for the hills. Four days, and he’d stolen her heart.
“It’s your turn,” she whispered, pushing those feelings down deep, concentrating instead on the heat in her body, the desire to feel him deeply seated inside her.
“Are you hurting?” he asked as he motioned to her side.
She shook her head. Nope, absolutely zero pain—he’d given her too much pleasure. Then another thought struck her. It was something she’d never even thought of yesterday. “We should have talked about playing safe sooner.”
“This is no game, woman. But I know where you’re headed. I’m clean. Last checkup was over a year ago, and I haven’t had sex since then,” he told her.
His cock was a brand on her thigh, teasing, delighting her with all the possibilities.
“It’s, um, been a while, and I’ve got an implant,” she said, pointing to her arm, “that prevents pregnancy. I’m clean though, last checkup two years ago, before I took the Cameroon position. Definitely no sex since then.” She laughed nervously.
“How many?” he asked, and the question seemed to be pulled from him.
“Not that it’s a bit of your business, but you will be number two,” she told him and winced.
Did he really need to know that? From the small smile on his face, she guessed so.
“It damn well is my business,” he responded in a low tone.
That was his you’re-about-to-get-mad-crazy-sex-from-me tone. Well, that was a nice change, she thought. “Carry on.”
He pulled away slightly, and the cool air moved in. She shivered in response, nipples tightening even further, and he watched it all like a predator.
“I’ve already had you, but this feels like the first time. It’ll be a slow ride at first because I want to give us both time to feel me deep inside you. You’re tight, your taste is in my mouth, and your moans are ringing in my ears. It could get real rough, real fast, so tell me if I do something you don’t want or like. Make sure I hear you,” he demanded.
She nodded.
“Say my name,” he ordered. “Tell me you want me.”
“I want you, Kingston McNally.”
He glanced down her body, and fire was everywhere his gaze touched. He took his cock in his hand and ran it along her cleft, and his eyes closed.
She breathed in sharply—so good. Just that fleeting touch was so good.
He pushed into her, his thick, broad cock breaching her walls and bringing fullness and heat.
“Look at me,” he urged.
She hadn’t realized her eyes were closed, but when she opened them, she went liquid. The sight of him above her, his large, tanned body covering hers, was foreplay all its own.
Her body softened, and he sank in deep. She hissed, he moaned. He found her mouth while sinking into her another way, pulling all of her inner desires up from hiding, and demanding she take the ride with him.
He withdrew, and she felt every inch of him, then mourned the loss a scant second before he sank back inside her and rotated his hips. Her eyes crossed. His pubis rubbed against her clit, and the feel of his cock buried inside her almost tripped her into another orgasm.
“Not yet,” he murmured at her neck.
“Not a weapon,” she said in return.
He rose up on
both hands, and she glanced down where their bodies were joined. It was perfection. Nothing else mattered but right here, right now with this man.
“Never a weapon with you, Allie,” he ground out.
“Take me,” she demanded.
He pulled out again, hovering at her precipice before he dove back in, a little harder this time, his action making her breasts bounce. His eyes keyed on them, and he licked his lips. He leaned down enough to swipe his tongue over both nipples before he lifted away without withdrawing his cock.
She couldn’t say anything. His actions had buried him so deep inside her that he’d taken her voice. So good. So full.
He shifted his hips, finding all the places inside and out that needed him, and rubbing against her clit while he flexed his cock deep within her. Then he took her.
Over and over he sank into her, pulling out slowly, then coming back quickly to repeat it again and again. She spiraled, seeing the blaze of her orgasm hovering so close, and he would slow. She sobbed for him to finish her, but he just laughed, letting her ease down so he could take her higher the next time.
“Please!” She was a madwoman, needing release, reduced to begging. Sweat covered her flesh. He licked it away, feasting on her with everything in his arsenal—mouth, hands, and cock.
“Give me everything, Allie,” he snarled.
“You already have it,” she said.
Her voice deserted her because he pushed as she lifted her hips, and he hit the spot she needed to reach climax. Her vision went black, hazing as the pleasure coursed through her, ripping her apart at the seams and piecing her back together.
He shouted, and she experienced continued ripples of her climax as he came inside her, his cock pulsing, his hips bucking.
She didn’t know how long they stayed that way. It could have been a minute or an hour. Allie came back from the edge of ecstasy slowly. King lowered her legs but remained inside her. She felt him slide her back up fully on the bed, and then he was lying on top of her, making sure not to put all his weight on her but definitely staking a claim.
He was warm. She was sated. Sleep called to her, but there was something she needed to say.
Allie cleared her throat, trying to find the words he kept stealing with the small kisses and tongue flicks he was placing on her face and neck. “Never would have believed it, but you’re better than fries for sure,” she murmured.
Chapter 26
Allie closed her word search book and placed it on the bedside table. It was in Spanish, but hell, beggars couldn’t be choosers. When she’d seen it at the store where she’d purchased her medical stuff, she’d snagged it. Engaging her brain kept her mind off her current dangerous situation.
Between her legs was sore, but it was a nice kind of ache. She wasn’t complaining. Cold air tickled her back and she lay down, squirming to get closer to the heat at her front.
King grunted and pulled her closer. She closed her eyes and breathed him into her lungs.
She lay there, quiet and introspective, taking it all in. His bare chest rose and fell steadily under her cheek, the firm skin like heated silk against her.
“You awake?” he asked, and his voice rumbled through her body.
She lifted her head and rested her chin on his breastbone. “I am.”
“How do you feel?”
“Hmmm, I feel pretty damn good, all things considered,” she murmured.
He smiled, that panty-melting smile, and she couldn’t help but smile in return. “Yeah?” he asked.
She raised an eyebrow at him. “Seriously? You need me to tell you how good you are?”
He laughed, and the motion almost shook her off his chest. His arms wrapped around her, and his hips rolled up. He was hard. “Nah, you said I was better than fries. That’s enough of an endorsement. Not that the ‘Please’ and ‘So good’ weren’t enough of an indication.”
She bit his pec, and he laughed again. “You were doing your fair share of moaning and groaning, if I remember correctly.”
“Touché,” he whispered. “Why were you crying?”
She took a deep breath and met his gaze. “I can’t cry?”
He shook his head, and his eyes glittered in the low light from the lamp. “Obviously you can. I just don’t want you doing it.”
She snorted. “I’m a woman. I reserve the right to cry. Besides, I’ve had a rough few days. Not sure if you remember.”
He palmed her face and rubbed beneath her eye. “I don’t like it when you cry, Allie. You’re too strong for that.”
“Look, McNally—”
He put his thumb over her lips. “King.”
“Look, King, I can cry if I want to,” she said, beginning to push up and off his body.
He locked his legs around hers and refused to let her budge.
“You’ve been through a lot. I get it. But no more tears, Allie. They rip me up.”
She laid her cheek on his chest again, unwilling to look in his eyes when she admitted her weakness. “I only cry when I hurt.”
“Damn, baby,” he said as he shifted until she was on her back with him leaning over her.
“I killed two men, King. Two. I’ve never killed anyone before.”
“It was them or you. I’m personally pretty happy it was them,” he bit out. “If I could raise them from the dead to kill them again, I would.”
His response sent a shiver through her. Her alpha, hear-me-roar male. And when exactly had he become hers?
Silence reigned for several long, comfortable minutes. They hadn’t had this at the house on a hill—the time to relax into each other. She had no idea how long they had now, but she was going to enjoy every moment with him and catalog every word and touch so when he left, as she knew he probably would, she could pull out the memories and keep warm.
“You need to rest,” he said.
She yawned, lending validity to his claim.
He smirked. “I knocked you out with one shot for the rest of the night, didn’t I?”
“You know what I like best about you, McNally?” she asked as she rolled away from him before he anticipated the action. She really had to use the bathroom.
He grunted as he lay back, watching her. “No idea.”
“Me either, but it’s absolutely not your humility,” she said with a groan as she stood.
She made her way to the bathroom, handled her business, took a quick shower, and came back out wrapped in a towel. He was on his stomach, facing the bathroom, asleep. Not asleep like he’d been in Belgrade. She doubted he’d allow himself that luxury again with her around.
Allie covered him with the sheet more for her sanity than his comfort. The man had a delectable ass—taut, muscled, and just mouthwatering. Her stomach rumbled, and she followed her nose to the table where he’d set out the food.
Cold burger and fries, but it was one of the best meals she’d ever had. Apparently, great sex made everything better. She gazed out over the city of Bilbao, Spain, and wondered what their next move would be.
She wanted to go home. She wanted King to go with her. It was bizarre how quickly she’d grown attached to the man. But it wasn’t something she was going to question. Not right now.
She towel-dried her hair and got lost in her thoughts.
King shifted on the bed, and she heard him get up and pad over to her. He took the seat across from her and, butt-assed naked, began to dig into a burger. The fries, he left alone.
“We’ll have to move soon. Within the next few hours. You need to grab some sleep because I need you alert and ready to move, Allie,” he said between bites.
“Where are we going?”
He eyeballed her, and though his face was completely blank, she knew what he was thinking.
“I’m taking you home.”
“And then what?” she asked. She couldn�
��t keep the hope from her voice.
His brows lowered. “What do you mean?”
“What happens then?”
“Then I go back to my business, and you go back to being safe.”
She jumped in. “What about us?”
He grimaced, and her heart sank. “What about us?”
“Seriously? That’s all you’ve got, McNally?” She bit out her question.
“There can’t be an ‘us’ if you aren’t alive,” he returned in a hard voice.
“So you want there to be an ‘us’?” She didn’t care much for this vulnerability.
“I want you safe” was his response.
“Again, didn’t have you pegged as a coward. Since you’re such a wimp, I’ll step out on the limb. I’ve never been much for hiding from the truth anyway. What happened in the house on a hill? What just happened there?” She pointed to the bed for emphasis. “Made me want more. Not just of your body, but you. You’ve got the goods, McNally, and I’ve seen your heart now. You might think you can hide it, but I’ve touched it, tasted it in your kiss. You want me safe, but I have a sneaky suspicion neither you nor I will feel that way unless you’re with me.”
“Don’t—”
She held up her hand, cutting him off. “Just tell me you feel it.”
He met her gaze, the hard green of his eyes shredding her.
“Tell me, McNally. Give me something,” she pleaded.
“I feel it. But it doesn’t matter. What does matter,” he said bitterly, “is that you’re safe.”
For some crazy reason, she wanted to refute that. She didn’t want safe. Okay, she did. But what she really wanted was King.
Insanity. She was a lightweight at running from the baddies. She should be jumping for joy that he was taking her someplace safe. Instead, she went cold at the thought.
“Thank you,” she responded inanely. “Now, what’s the plan?”
“This is a mess. Savidge is a dog with a bone. I need you someplace safe so I can get to him before he gets to you.” King threw his napkin down and ran a hand over his head. She noticed he did that when he was frustrated. He had tells and probably wouldn’t be happy to know she knew them. “I’m going to get you home, Allie. I don’t want to play Fifty Questions while we do it, okay?”