Blood & Lace

by Trinity Scott

  This time it was Chloe’s eyebrows that rose. “Liar.”

  “What’d you call me?” Gage set his coffee on the side table before taking hers and setting it down as well.

  “Liar, liar pants on fire,” Chloe taunted him while waving a hand in front of her current outfit. “No way you’re as attracted to me with my ratty T-shirt, messy hair, and gross no-makeup skin as you were that night.”

  Gage made a scoffing sound. “There is not one single inch of you that is gross. Trust me. I would know.”

  Chloe felt a flush creeping up her neck.

  “That blush. That right there. That’s what got me the other night. Not the outfit. Not the heels. Not even the dirty talk.” Gage moved closer. “It was that blush that lit up your beautiful face when that pretty mouth told me to lick you. Call me a liar again.”

  “Liar,” Chloe whispered.

  He moved so fast she never saw it coming. She went from sitting upright to being on her back, pinned beneath him. Her chest heaved between them as she caught her breath.

  “You, Chloe Sterling, are the sexiest—” He paused to place a firm kiss against her throat. “Most appealing—” Another pause and a kiss between her breasts. “Most irresistible woman—” A kiss on her clavicle. “I’ve ever met.”

  Chloe’s legs widened to accommodate his body between them. “Gage.” His name was a plea. An admission to her desperate need for more.

  “I’m a lot of things. But a liar isn’t one of them. Unless it’s work-related. But not to you. Never to you. I promise.”

  Chloe lifted her head to kiss him and he obliged, sinking his tongue deep inside her mouth. Her head spun. It felt as if he was setting her body on fire from the inside out.

  The other night had been amazing. The old Chloe could have mediocre sex once every six months and call it good. But he was different. He’d made her insatiable.

  “Tell me what you want, Chloe. Tell me and I’ll make it happen.” He kissed her deeply on the mouth once more, his tongue caressing hers as his hands wandered down her body.

  “Ever since we did what we did, I can’t stop thinking about it. When I look at your mouth and hands, I want them on me. Even at the most inopportune times. Like some sort of Pavlovian reaction.”

  Gage’s lips curved upward as he dipped his head.

  “Good to know I’m not the only one. I’ve been craving the taste of you. Every second since.”

  His words elicited a moan and he swallowed it with his mouth.

  She arched her back and he yanked her pants off with one swift pull. They interrupted their fused mouths only long enough to discard their shirts.

  Gage pulled back and admired her body. His eyes swept over her appreciatively and her skin warmed at the perusal.

  “That costume, the yoga pants, it doesn’t matter, Chloe.” He leaned in to lick her throat from its base to the lower part of her ear. “It’s knowing what’s underneath that’s killing me.”

  She moaned again while he entered her with his fingers, relishing in the way it felt like everything in the world fell away once they were naked and pressed against each other.

  “Does this feel like a lie?” Gage removed his hand and thrust his thick shaft deep inside her, his length filling every inch of her perfectly.

  “No,” Chloe admitted with a pleasure-filled cry. “No. It feels amazing.”

  “You feel amazing,” he said into her ear. “Hot and wet and tight. So fucking ready for me.”

  He raised her arms above her head and laced his fingers with hers while he dove deeper inside.

  She cried out, calling his name, and God’s name, and she didn’t even know what else while he took her higher and higher. When his mouth sought her breasts and sucked her right nipple hard enough to pinch, she fell from her peak, coming sooner than she’d anticipated.

  “God, Gage, you’re so . . .” Her body bowed as his tongue continued lavishing attention on her breasts—one then the other then back again.

  “Tenacious? Charming? Handsome? Orally gifted?”

  She grinned at him and shook her head. “All of the above.”

  “Flattery will get you everywhere.” Gage pulled her up so he was sitting and she was astride him.

  “When I imagined us, before, it was just like this,” she admitted.

  Gage squeezed her ass with both hands. “Is that right? Well let’s hope I live up to the fantasy.”

  She lifted and lowered her hips, impaling herself on him again and again. “You’ve way surpassed the fantasy.”

  “So have you, Chloe,” he said, stilling for a moment before kissing her once more. “So have you.”

  After they’d made love for the second time, Chloe found out where she’d be staying.

  Gage’s apartment.

  He said thinking that someone had been watching her made him insane, so he wasn’t letting her out of his sight if he could help it.

  They rode to his place in compatible silence that held an undercurrent of electricity.

  She’d only been there once, when he’d demanded she come by after she’d followed him to Red Light’s warehouse. But this was different. This was an invitation to stay. Not just an invitation. And order. From a federal agent.

  Chloe’s relationships had been few and far between. They’d always started out exciting, fun, flirty. Never really passionate, but she thought maybe that type of thing was fictional, reserved for romance novels and movies. By the time they were at the point of deciding if she should leave a toothbrush at his place or if he should have a key to hers, it typically fizzled out before a decision was made. She buried herself in work and forgot about it before it could bother her much.

  If she were being honest with herself, she was typically relieved when relationships ended. It had felt like another thing to work in, to schedule around her job. There was freedom in not having to consider another person’s preferences, schedule, or feelings when making decisions.

  When Gage led her up the stairs to his door, she couldn’t imagine anything fizzling out where he was concerned. Or ever forgetting a single second they’d spent together. Everything felt like it was on fire when it came to him.

  The way he looked at her, touched her, spoke to her, held her, fucked her. All of it. It felt as if he were imprinting himself onto her in a way that made being near him feel necessary, and not at all like an obligation.

  Gage switched on the foyer light before placing his keys on a hook by the kitchen.

  “What?” he asked when he caught Chloe watching him move through his home.

  “It looks different than I remember. Or maybe you do.” She shrugged.

  One corner of his mouth lifted. “Circumstances were a little different that night, I suppose.”

  She stepped closer to him, closing the distance between her body and his. “You suppose?”

  His strong, warm hands encircled her waist and pulled her to his chest. “Actually they’re not all that different.” He kissed her forehead firmly. “I wanted you then. I want you now.”

  She tilted her chin upward to look him in the eyes. “Yes, but you’ve had me now.”

  His stare heated her, warming her skin. “Had?”

  “You’ve had sex with me, I mean.”

  Gage smirked. “I know what you meant. Just wanted to hear you say it.”

  She laughed. “You’re such a—”

  “Ah, ah, ah, sweet Chloe. Be nice.” He placed a finger over her lips.

  She kissed it before sliding her hands into the waistband of his jeans. “I can be nice.”

  A small groan escaped his lips as she ventured lowered. “Can you now?”

  “I can be very nice.” She lifted onto her toes and fused her mouth to his. “Thank you for letting me stay here, and for the record, I was going to say you’re such a guy.”

  He kissed her back, slowly, sensually, dragging his tongue against hers, then pulling firmly at her bottom lip.

  “Can’t argue with that.” As if to reitera
te this truth, he splayed his hand across her backside and brought her closer so she could feel his solid arousal.

  Chloe felt her body opening for him already. But she was a little sore and hadn’t had time to clean up after the last time they’d made love.

  She groaned in protest of her own actions, but forced herself to pull back. “I need a shower.”

  “Me too.”

  She bit the bottom lip he enjoyed so much. “Want to save some water?”

  Gage’s eyes gleamed, reflecting the lights that hung above the bar between his kitchen and living room.

  “Thought you’d never ask.”

  25

  Gage watched as the last of Chloe’s clothes fell to his bathroom floor. He wanted to drop to his knees and fully demonstrate his appreciation for every single inch of her perfect body. But before he got the chance, she pulled him into the shower stall and closed the glass door.

  The water always took a few seconds to warm up, so he pulled her to the side at first.

  “Takes a minute to warm up,” he mumbled with his mouth against her bare shoulder.

  She reached down and took hold of his length. “Not quite a minute.”

  He grinned against her skin. “Not when you’re naked and in my shower.”

  She smiled, releasing him and stepping under the showerhead once it had warmed.

  “I like these,” she said, tracing her fingers along the swirling black and bruise-blue tattoos that covered his back and shoulders. He’d gotten his SEAL team’s emblem on top of his left shoulder. Every guy in his unit had that one. But then he had some that were all his own.

  A swirling flame blazed across his upper right arm beneath a torn and tattered, but still standing, US flag. The SEALs’ prayer in script covered the left side of his rib cage. And a symbolic tribal pattern connected the area in between. Holt’s brother Jaxon had designed it years ago. The outline was an eagle with its wings spread, but the pattern was actually a map of where he’d traveled during his time in the military. He didn’t spend a lot of time dwelling on the darkness he’d seen, but he was determined not to forget it either.

  Times like that made him appreciate times like this even more.

  He watched as Chloe let the water saturate her long hair. Looking like a goddess, she ran her fingers through it. Part of him wanted to ravage her and part of him wanted to embrace his inner voyeur and just stare at the perfection that was Chloe Sterling. But it was wet, naked Chloe Sterling, so keeping his hands to himself was out of the question.

  While she washed her hair, he rubbed her back, neck, and shoulders. Understandably, she was tense as hell. He pressed his fingers deep into her muscles until she relaxed enough to let moans escape. When the moaning got to be too much for him, he let his hands drift lower and slicked his fingers through the delicate folds between her legs.

  Chloe leaned back against him, letting his body take on the weight of hers. He continued stroking, entering her with two fingers when she spread her legs farther apart.

  A pained whimper gave him pause. “You okay?”

  She nodded against him. “Just a little sore. From earlier. It had, um, been a while.”

  He retracted his fingers slowly. “I’m sorry, baby. Here. Let me kiss it better.”

  Before she could argue, Gage did what he’d wanted to do the minute she’d undressed.

  He licked, nipped, and kissed his way down her body until he was on his knees. Water splashed the top of his head, creating a rhythmic sound that dulled out every other noise in his brain.

  There was just this.

  Him. Chloe. Their bodies and the water.

  The purity of the moment almost overwhelmed him.

  The scent of her arousal was faint beneath the soap and shampoo, but he could detect it. His tongue darted out to taste her, and he was rewarded with her fingers in his hair.

  He circled her clit with his tongue until her legs began shaking. Gripping her ass with both hands, digging his fingers into her soaked flesh, he sucked her clit into his mouth. Alternating firm pulls with a gentle release, he suckled her tight bundle of nerves in a quick succession of vibration-like patterns.

  Chloe came quickly, tugging his hair harder and clamping her legs tightly on either side of his head. When she finished, he licked her one last time from opening to clit, then stood to hold her now-limp body upright. It was a good thing she’d already bathed because he suspected she was running out of the stamina needed to remain standing.

  But he should’ve known better. Chloe always surprised him.

  Just as he leaned in to kiss her, she disappeared. Dropping to her own knees, she pushed him firmly so his back was pressed against the opposite wall.

  “My turn,” she said softly, looking up at him with water droplets falling onto her face.

  “Baby, it’s late. You don’t have to—”

  Before he could finish, she’d taken the head of his cock into the warm, wet cavern of her mouth and rendered him speechless.

  “Chloe. Holy fuck,” he managed to utter as she pulled him inside one inch at a time. Maybe it was one centimeter at a time. He wasn’t sure, but her languid movements were the best type of torture.

  His head fell back against the wall when she hollowed her cheeks to suck him harder.

  Blow jobs had never really been his favorite because as good as they felt, giving up control was not his thing. But this woman, here and now, was completely changing his perspective.

  On everything.

  He’d never really been in control with Chloe. He couldn’t even control himself around her, much less control her.

  Strangely enough, he was growing attached to the out-of-control feeling. And to her.

  He fisted her hair in his hand and used it to move her head a tiny bit faster. Thankfully she allowed him that, so he could have just a modicum of the control he craved. But when she added her hand, stroking him then sucking, then stroking, any ounce of control he’d imagined having went out the window. Within seconds he felt the pressure build to an unbearable level.

  “Chloe,” he warned, “I’m close, baby. Real close.”

  He tugged her hair to let her know she might want to ease up if she didn’t want a mouth full of him.

  Ignoring his warning, she took him harder, deeper, and faster. After a solid minute of alternating the deep pull of her mouth with the tight stroke of her fist, she joined the two, placing her mouth at the edge of her fist so at the end of each stroke he was drawn into her mouth.

  He felt like Alice going down the rabbit hole—falling deeper and deeper into her.

  “Chloe. Fuck, Chloe.” His hips jerked upward so hard he feared he’d injure her, but she didn’t even slow down. Before he could say her name again, his cock twitched, then released his cum straight down the back of her throat. He felt the sides of her mouth massaging his cock while she swallowed him, withdrawing the last drops of his pleasure until he was completely spent.

  When he could open his eyes, he looked down and stared at the most beautiful woman in the world on her knees for him.

  Her lips were swollen. Her eyes were glazed over. She had this confident little smirk curving her lips that made it look like she’d enjoyed that as much as he had—but he knew there was no way that was possible. He couldn’t figure out what he’d done to deserve this.

  A wicked angel with a heart of gold encased in a body built for sin.

  The only word he could think of when he looked at her was mine.

  Over and over.

  When she stood and pressed her full bee-stung lips to his mouth, he heard her whisper, “I love the way you taste,” and he figured he’d died and gone to heaven.

  But this had to be hell, because that’s where he was headed.

  There was punishment coming for this pleasure.

  There had to be.

  After they’d cleaned up and dried off, Gage pulled Chloe into his bed.

  “My hair’s still wet.”

  He grinned. “Among
other things.”

  She curled her legs around his and he tightened his grip on her body. Relishing in how good the warmth of her skin felt on his, he kissed her on top of her head before switching the bedside lamp off.

  “Get some rest, baby. Big day tomorrow.”

  She sighed softly and her breath tickled his bare chest. “I wish I could be there.”

  Gage tightened his grip even further.

  He didn’t want her at the raid on Red Light. He didn’t want her anywhere near Ulrich or any of his scumbag associates. But it didn’t feel like the right thing to say, so he just said, “I know you do.”

  “I have a request,” she said quietly into the darkness.

  “Well, now is a great time to make one,” he admitted. “I don’t know if I’m even capable of saying no to you right now.”

  He prayed silently that she wouldn’t ask to come with him tomorrow. It was definitely the worst possible timing to have “bring the girl you’re falling in love with to work” day.

  “Would it be okay if I went to Brian’s while you and the others do your thing at Red Light?”

  Gage felt his muscles constrict, even though he wasn’t entirely sure why. He wasn’t threatened by the audio-visual guy. And Chloe wasn’t the type to go after her sister’s boyfriend. Or to cheat.

  He didn’t have time to decide if it was technically cheating, since they hadn’t had an official discussion to determine their exclusivity. But he knew she’d be worried and vulnerable tomorrow, and something about another man comforting her during that didn’t sit right with him. Doing his best to ignore his unease, he stroked her bare back.

  “I guess that’d be okay. If that’s where you want to be.”

  “Well I want to be with you and the rest of the team at Red Light. But I know that’s not the best idea.” She exhaled slowly. “So this is my second choice. Brian asked if I wanted to come wait with him and I told him I’d let him know. If not, that’s okay. I can be wherever I need to be. At the field office or wherever. I just thought, since he and I are both going to be on pins and needles, we might as well be on pins and needles together.”