Limit

by McAdams, Molly

  She sagged against me and let her head fall to my shoulder. Her hand raced up my chest until it was clinging to my neck, holding me in place.

  “Okay?”

  She nodded, and her nails lightly trailed against my skin in response.

  “All right, fucking finally,” Diggs said with a hard clap. “Let’s go huntin’.”

  I pressed a kiss to Sutton’s jaw as I leaned back but kept ahold of one of her hands.

  “We need to decide where to go and when,” Maverick said. “Which houses should we for sure hit?”

  “All of them,” Diggs said with a scoff.

  “The younger ones first,” Kieran said softly. “Then their parents’. I have a feeling if they’re anywhere, they’re in Aaron Thornton’s bunker.”

  Sutton started. “Wait, he has one too?”

  “Every core family does,” I said, carefully watching her expression out of instinct. “Including your parents.”

  Emotion after emotion slammed into her.

  After a minute, she shook her head slowly, sadly. “One of these times, I’ll stop being surprised.”

  I tightened my grip on her hand and looked to Kieran. “Thornton hasn’t been involved at all. Is that why?”

  He gave a confirming grunt before kicking Maverick’s chair. “After what they came up with on our soil, we have to be expecting something worse here.”

  Maverick looked from Einstein to Kieran. “If we’re going with that mindset, why wouldn’t he hide from us in plain sight?”

  “All right,” Kieran reluctantly conceded. “Larson, Vaughn, then Thornton and Woods. If they aren’t there, we’ll sweep the rest tomorrow night, starting with their parents and Sutton’s.”

  “Agreed. When do we leave?”

  “In a few hours. If they aren’t there, I want enough time to move through all four houses before sunrise. Do what you have to do to prepare.”

  “Hell yes, go team,” Diggs called out, already pumped, bouncing in his seat as he studied the blueprints.

  Maverick’s stare flashed to me.

  His jaw ticked.

  “Nothing happens to Einstein.”

  Before I could respond, Kieran said, “Jessica isn’t going either.”

  An amused breath left Jess. “Funny, it almost sounded like you said I wasn’t going.”

  “You aren’t.” Low, direct, final.

  She sucked in a breath so quickly it sounded like a hiss. “You can’t stop me.”

  He got in her face and growled, “I’ll chain you to the wall if you try.”

  Jess’s reaction was instant. Eyes widened. Mouth curled into a sensual grin. Chest hitched with uneven breaths.

  The air around us shifted.

  “Jesus Christ,” I groaned at the same time Einstein said, “And here we go again.”

  I looked away just as Kieran pulled her against him and slammed his mouth onto hers.

  Sutton blinked quickly before she was able to force her stare away.

  “Always completely inappropriate,” Einstein said, her voice raised. “People are around you.”

  “I don’t understand what just happened,” Sutton whispered.

  “It’s Kieran and Jess,” I said as if that was all the explanation that was needed.

  “Okay, I’m not going,” Jess said once she and Kieran broke apart, her face flushed and smile lazy.

  “I can tell you’re really torn up about that,” Einstein said sarcastically.

  A low, wild laugh built in Jess’s throat. “I have a feeling I’m gonna get over it.”

  Einstein mock-gagged. “Gross.”

  Diggs was the only one trying not to laugh.

  “Now that Sutton’s probably scarred”—I stood, bringing her with me—“I’m taking her to bed before it can get worse.”

  Diggs slammed a hand on the table. “Dude, you aren’t coming with us?”

  I raked a hand through my hair.

  I wanted to.

  This was what I lived for.

  And this fight was mine just as much as it was theirs.

  But I’d been given a job, and I’d promised Sutton and Lexi I wouldn’t let anything happen to them.

  I glanced to Kieran, but there was nothing in his expression that gave any indication of what he thought. He was waiting for what I would say next, and there was a very strong possibility that anything I said would be the wrong thing.

  So, I forced a smile and led Sutton out of the kitchen and through the suite.

  After stopping to make sure Lexi was still asleep, we continued to her room.

  “You want to go,” she said as I closed the door behind us.

  I wanted to deny it, but the lie caught on my tongue as I took a seat on the bed. She followed, letting me wrap my arms around her hips and pull her close so she was standing between my legs.

  “I could see it as soon as they started talking about it,” she whispered, her fingers moving in light, teasing trails over my shoulders and up my neck to play with my hair.

  “I’m needed here,” I said, finally voicing the words I’d been pushing down. “You, Lex . . . Einstein. Jess can handle herself.” I tried to laugh, but it fell flat. “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to you because I left.”

  “You want to go,” she said again, making me think that somehow she understood.

  But she couldn’t.

  I watched her for a while, telling myself to deny it. Trying to memorize the supportive look in her eyes. I knew the second I told her the truth or lied that would change. Because with the truth came my disturbing reason.

  A weighted breath dragged from my lungs, and I lowered my head to press it to her stomach. “Yes. I have this deep-rooted need to go. To be the one who finds him.”

  I tightened my grip on her, pleading with my touch for her to understand.

  Not to look at me like I was a monster.

  “After what he did to Einstein, we all have a claim in this kill. With what he did to you? I want to drag mine out. Make it slow. Painful. To make sure he knows exactly why it’s happening.”

  Other than her even breaths, she was still, and the room was silent for the next minute, but then she lifted my head.

  Her lips parted as she slowly lowered her mouth to mine.

  Those first brushes were soft, tentative, but when her tongue teased mine, it lit a fire, consuming me.

  In this girl and this kiss . . .

  She crawled onto my lap, but as soon as she was seated, I turned us. Easing her onto the bed and lowering myself between her legs.

  “Your mind scares me,” she breathed against the kiss, arching against me and trying to get closer. “But I know you.”

  Her head fell back with a soft moan when I ground my hardened cock against her.

  “I know you would do anything to keep us safe.” She whimpered when I captured her bottom lip between my teeth. Her eyelids fluttered, heavy and slow as her eyes filled with desire. “Even this.”

  “Always.”

  Then her hands were gripping my hair and her mouth was on mine, the kiss hard and fast and broken by our rough breaths and when she removed my shirt.

  I lifted hers as I moved down her body, tracing her subtle curves with my hands and focusing on her breasts with my lips and tongue and teeth.

  Every hitched breath and moan had me straining harder and harder as I removed our clothes until she was stretched out on the bed.

  Wet.

  Bare.

  Perfect.

  I slanted my mouth over hers and trailed my hand between her legs, teasing her until she was writhing in frustration.

  I swallowed her moan when I dipped two fingers into her heat, loving the way she trembled around me. As if just that touch was nearly enough to set her off.

  I moved my fingers slowly, pulling them in and out and teasing her clit before pushing back inside and fucking her until she was shaking.

  Only to repeat the same path over and over again until she was beggin
g for a release.

  The next time I pulled them out, I trailed them down, down, down until I hit that tight hole.

  Sutton moved. Tensing and twisting away and shoving me back.

  “What—what are you doing?”

  I stilled, trying to take in her reaction and worrying I had triggered something when all I could see was her and everything I wanted to make her feel. “Touching you.”

  “Not, no.” Her head shook tightly. “That isn’t—that is not normal. People don’t do that.”

  My brows lifted, and a slow, wicked smile crossed my face. “Is that right?”

  Her chest’s movements grew more pronounced as her stare bounced over my face.

  A shiver rolled through her body when I teased her clit with barely there brushes, and soon, she was lowering herself back onto the bed and reaching for me.

  I passed my mouth across hers and waited until she was kissing me before dipping my fingers inside her again.

  “Never claimed to be normal.” My tone was rough with my need to claim her. “Let me show you what happens when you take someone the likes of me to bed.”

  Her hazel eyes were wide with apprehension, but there was so much trust there.

  Mine.

  This girl was fucking mine.

  “Don’t think,” I whispered as I trailed my fingers down again. “Just feel.”

  A ragged breath ripped from her when I pressed a finger in slowly, just enough to tease, before easing back out.

  Again.

  And again.

  Then next time I pushed in, her eyes rolled back and a whimper raked up her throat.

  And, fuck, if I didn’t almost abandon my slow exploration right then to bury myself inside her.

  I pushed deeper and deeper and then slipped two fingers into her warmth, fucking her slowly until she was trembling and gripping the bed.

  As soon as I pressed my thumb to her clit, she fell apart.

  Her mouth opened on a muted cry.

  Her body stretched tight before crashing down with a violent shudder.

  Each aftershock that rolled through her body had her gripping my fingers tighter and tighter as I pushed her through.

  Her movements were both relaxed and frantic as she reached for the button on my jeans, jerking and tugging until they were on the floor and she had my cock in her hand, guiding me to her.

  I wanted to go slow. I wanted to take my time.

  But slow was going to have to come later.

  I needed her too badly to restrain myself.

  I slammed in, groaning when she cried out and shook around me.

  Each movement was harder than the last, and I knew this was going to be over before it began.

  Curling my arm under her back, I lifted her from the bed and set her on my lap, savoring each breathless moan and whimper.

  Our kiss matched my movements.

  Hard.

  Fast.

  Filled with passion and sensual bites and teasing tongues.

  Trailing my hand down her back, I played with the crease of her ass. My lips curved into a smile when, instead of shying away, she gasped and arched against my hand.

  Fuck.

  I pressed a finger into that tight hole and almost came right then because she was gripping me so damn tight, vibrating in a way I knew meant she was close.

  She held on to me as I fucked her, breathing pleas for more and begging me not to stop. And that vibrating grew and grew and grew, driving me out of my damn mind in the best way until she shattered.

  Head pressed to my shoulder and nails digging into my back.

  My name on her tongue in a breathless moan I would never forget.

  Forcing me into my own release.

  I held her tight as we came down, my heart beating so damn loudly it was all I could hear.

  Mine, mine, mine.

  Lowering her to the bed with our bodies still joined, I shifted so my forearms were on either side of her head and slowly began moving inside her.

  An exhausted laugh worked up her throat. “What are you doing?”

  I bent to nip at her lips. “Taking my time.”

  Zachary

  I stared straight ahead, chest rising and falling in harsh jerks as I listened to sounds I could pick out of a crowd.

  Sounds no other man should ever hear.

  My blood boiled as betrayal and denial burned deep and fast.

  I pulled my gun from my waistband.

  The feel of the metal in my palm only served to make the sounds louder and louder until they were ringing in my head and bouncing off my skull.

  “The fuck is this?”

  No sooner had I opened my mouth than had the nerds flinched and hurried to mute the bugs they’d been listening in on.

  My eyelids slowly shut when Garret walked into the room. “What’s going on here?”

  I didn’t respond, just forced open my eyes and snapped, “Have a spine and face me.”

  The three nerds stopped whispering to each other long enough for them to turn, one at a time.

  And each one went pale when they saw the gun I had aimed at them.

  “I was just—we were just doing our jobs,” the one on the right said. “I’m sorry, Mr. Larson, I don’t—”

  “Tell me what the hell you were listening to, and think very carefully before you answer.”

  “There’s news. Uh, we heard things,” the one in the middle said, taking deep, gulping breaths as he did. “Things you might want to know.” Another disgusting breath, as if he’d just come up from under water. “But what you heard isn’t what you think it is.”

  “And what do I think it is?”

  “Th-th-there are couples in the room your wife has transferred to.” He almost choked on his next breath.

  Jesus.

  “It was one of them.”

  I lowered the gun and let an easy smile cross my face. “That right?”

  The disgusting one nodded, but the other two just stared.

  Not that I needed any of them to confirm what I’d heard.

  I lifted a shoulder. “Never know what you’ll catch on those things, I guess.”

  He laughed.

  Even his laugh was revolting.

  I took a step forward, keeping my smile in place. “If you think I don’t know what my wife sounds like when she’s being fucked, you’re sadly mistaken.”

  Before he had a chance to absorb my words, I lifted my gun and pulled the trigger.

  Looking to the other two, I demanded, “Tell me what I was hearing.”

  They both started yelling over each other, stumbling over their words, trying to get them out before the other.

  Sutton.

  My Sutton.

  Having sex with one of those goddamn ARCK people.

  “And it—” The one on the right coughed, as if he were choking over his words, and it was then I realized I had my gun aimed right at him.

  “Keep talking or I shoot.”

  “Well, I-I-I don’t think it was the first time. Earlier—”

  “Yeah, earlier,” the other said loudly, “on a different bug . . . but it was far away. Still them.”

  That denial and betrayal built until it was suffocating me.

  “I want everything we have on this guy, and I want him brought to me. Dead.”

  The remaining nerds looked at each other, hissing something I couldn’t hear because I was so consumed by the need to keep shooting until everyone around me stopped breathing.

  “Uh, well, he did say he was coming. To kill you.” This from the ever helpful one on the right. “We were waiting on more information before we brought it to your attention.”

  A real smile crossed my face. “Good. If he finds me, then I’ll have what I want.”

  I turned to leave, only to come face to face with a smirking Garret.

  “Looks like it is that world,” he said. “And there aren’t just worries of her being unfaithful, she’s moved right on from you. Funny how that turned out.”


  “I’m holding a gun and have wanted nothing more than to kill you for eight years. If you want to keep breathing, don’t test me.”

  “Kill me because you stole my girl?” That smirk widened as he took a step, bringing us closer. “Or is it that I’ve had a taste of her and you can’t stand knowing that?” An amused huff left him when I pressed the gun to his stomach. Before he turned to leave, he looked pointedly at the setup behind me. “I’m going to love reminding you that I’m not the only one.”

  Dead.

  At my feet.

  I could see it, and I fucking craved it.

  “One of these days, I’m going to conveniently forget that I’m not allowed to pull the trigger.” The words were a low warning wrapped in a tremor of excitement.

  A soft, mocking laugh echoed down the hall in response.

  Conor

  Sutton and I stilled when there was a hard knock on the door, but I’d told her when I had her again, I was keeping her in bed for the entire night.

  I planned to hold true to that.

  I teased her lips with a slow kiss and then continued in my lazy movements.

  A minute later, there was another knock, harder than before. “Conor.”

  Kieran.

  I bit back a growl and yelled, “Not the time.”

  “Five seconds before I open the door.”

  I didn’t have to wonder if he meant it.

  Kieran usually didn’t knock at all.

  I bit out a curse and snapped, “Hold on.” I looked to Sutton, an apology on the tip of my tongue.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” she assured me before I could speak.

  I dropped my head into the crook of her neck, breathing her in and passing a kiss across her collarbone. “Thank you.”

  I climbed off the bed and shrugged into my jeans, every step emphasizing that this was the last thing I wanted to be doing.

  It felt wrong.

  So damn wrong.

  Pulling away from her and leaving.

  I wanted to go back and wrap her in my arms. I wanted to hold her and worship her and take my goddamn time with her.

  But that was the nature of my life, and Kieran wouldn’t be pulling me from this room if it weren’t important.