God!
He was handsome.
“I lied to you.”
“What?” he asked. “About?”
“I think sex is perfectly acceptable on the second date,” she stated.
“Uh…”
She pointed at the cookies and ice cream. “Welcome to our second date,” she offered, knowing he would likely never ask her out again. He wasn’t freaked-out now, but it would get the best of him.
Max felt the heat move up his chest and to his neck. The flush caught him off guard.
No.
She caught him off guard.
“What are you saying, Harmony? I’m really bad at this male-female thing.”
She kissed him again, and as she was pulling away, she whispered to him.
“Make me forget, Maximus. Make me forget for a little while.”
His whole body reacted to that offer. Those words were music to his ears. He wasn’t a saint. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t thinking about her that way.
She’d been in his lap.
She was showing peeks of leg and breasts in her kitty robe. Max was a man.
Truthfully, he’d wanted her from the first time he’d seen her. That was why he was a disaster on their date.
“Are you sure?” he asked. “I need you to be sure, Harmony,” and he did. With what she’d been through, he didn’t want her to make a mistake.
Could he stop?
Yes.
Would it likely kill him?
Oh, yeah, it would.
She pulled him toward her, and they fell back onto her couch. Max was above her.
“I’m very sure, Maximus,” she promised. While her heart hurt over her past, her body ached for him. No one made her feel like this.
Ever.
“Harmony,” he whispered, staring down into her eyes.
If she was sure, then so was he.
He found her mouth again, and the kiss exploded around them. His hands wandered. Gone was the shy guy, and in his place was the curious man.
Curious about her.
What was beneath the cat robe?
Where was this going?
His hands found soft, smooth skin as he pulled the robe belt open, so he could feel more. While his eyes were closed, as their mouths met in kiss after steamy kiss, his fingers memorized her body.
She was strong.
She was lean.
She was perfect.
Pressing her into the couch, her leg found his hip.
“Gun,” she whispered. “Lose the gun,” she said, her fingers sliding through his hair.
Max couldn’t get it off his belt.
When he pulled away, she was still there, robe open, baring herself to him.
His heart skipped, and he stared at her.
“Max? Are you okay?” she asked when he didn’t move for a good ten seconds.
“Jesus. You’re amazing.”
She blinked and then smiled. This man was so good-natured, honest, and wholesome. It amazed her that there were still decent guys out there.
“So are you, Maximus. Trust me. So are you.”
After his gun was off, she pulled him down by his tie, and he didn’t fight it. Instead, his body went back over hers, and he began trailing kisses across her collarbone, down her chest, and even lower.
He moved between her breasts, around her belly button, and to the sweet spot that he knew would make her forget.
She opened for him.
While he was a wreck as a date, this was something he knew instinctually. He wanted to make her forget and feel everything that he could offer her by way of pleasure.
He wanted to heal Harmony.
With the tip of his tongue, he teased that sensitive bud. She gasped, and it urged him on. Diving in, he found, tormented, and devoured.
She tasted like a summer day.
Sweet.
Lovely.
Calm.
As he worked her up, her hands had found their way back into his hair, anchoring him to her. When she begged, whispered his name, and then shouted in release, he glanced up at her.
She was an angel.
Radiant.
Perfect.
That blonde hair sat like a halo around her head, and he’d always see her just like that. While she was badass at work, here, now…that was how he chose to see her. Harmony was fragile, breakable, and precious.
Running his fingers up her thighs, he gave her a second to regroup. When she opened her eyes, he knew he wanted more.
He wanted all.
“What do you want, Harmony?”
She already knew.
“You, Max. I want you.”
“Bed?” he asked. “Or here?”
He knew what he wanted, but he’d do anything she needed. This was about her. He was only there for the ride.
“Bed.”
He scooped her up into his arms, and he carried her toward the stairs. His mouth found hers again, and he once more, fell into the kiss.
Upstairs, she mumbled directions while they kissed, and he headed that way.
At the room, he carried her to the bed.
They tumbled onto it.
His hands went to work, freeing her from the robe as he kicked off his shoes.
The entire time, she was pulling him from his clothes. His tie was gone. His shirt was open, and now his pants were all that were left.
Max was rock-hard, and he wanted her.
God!
He wanted Harmony in the worst way.
“Maximus,” she whispered, as her fingers worked on the button and zipper of his dress pants.
His heart skipped.
“Harmony,” he said, finding her mouth again.
They rode out the storm, the heat in the room shooting up. As soon as she got him unzipped, he popped out into her warm hand.
“Oh God!” he muttered, as she stroked him.
“Get naked, Max,” she said, watching his eyes dilate in pleasure.
It took him a second.
Then he understood.
Max was off of her, pulled off his open shirt, and dropped his pants and boxers. If the lady wanted him naked, then she was going to get exactly that.
“Oh, Maximus,” she whispered, checking him out. He was amazing. His body was perfect. He wasn’t muscular, but he was built.
He blushed as he stood there in front of her. She had that effect on him.
“And that is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen,” she admitted, as the red flush covered his chest as she ogled his body.
Okay.
His dick.
She was staring at it.
He moved toward her, finding her mouth all over again. They rolled on the bed, touching, stroking, and learning their way around each other’s bodies. His hands were buried in her hair, and he couldn’t stop.
God!
Max was going up in flames.
The blonde softness was enough to make him burn up in that bed. He never knew he had a type, but apparently, he did.
Her.
She was his type.
“So hot,” he muttered, as she wrapped her legs around his hips, locking her to him. The wetness from her was touching his erection as she slid across him.
Max moaned.
Harmony couldn’t think.
All she wanted was to feel him in her. Harmony wanted to be whole again.
“Take me, Max,” she whispered, causing his whole body to tremble.
“This may kill me,” he muttered. “You may be the death of me,” he vowed.
God!
She hoped not. Harmony wasn’t going to be satiated after this. She knew she’d want more and more of this man.
She laughed, stroking his erection.
“It’s been nice knowing you. Let’s go out with one hell of a bang.”
He found that amusing.
Staring down at her, he balanced his body over hers using his arms to brace him.
“Harmony, I don’t have a condom. When I w
as at the store, this is NOT what I saw happening. Please tell me you have one, or you’re on the pill.”
He held his breath.
“Neither.”
His face said it all.
“Jesus! This is going to hurt. We shouldn’t have sex. I had better get dressed,” he said, pulling away from her.
She stared up and stopped him.
“Why?”
He didn’t understand what she was asking.
“Why can’t we have sex?”
“Yes.”
To him, that was a no-brainer.
“I have to protect you. I never want you to hurt. You come first.”
And there it was.
Her heart opened, and at his words, that icy wall shattered into a million pieces. He was definitely one of the good guys.
“Max, I’m on the shot.”
“Yippee?” he asked, his dick throbbing in need of her and release.
She laughed.
“Thank you, Max. Thank you.”
He still didn’t move. Harmony got it. After today, he was waiting for her to give him permission.
He was like no man she’d ever met.
“Take the plunge, Maximus.”
“Thank you, God!”
Gently, even though he was fraught with need, he slid into her with delicacy and finesse. He wanted her to feel joy, pleasure, and never pain.
She gasped at the invasion.
“Are you okay?” he asked, perspiration beading on his brow. “Did I hurt you?”
She smiled.
“No. You healed me.”
His heart kicked.
“Now, Harmony?” he asked, waiting for her to be ready for what was to come.
Them.
“Now, Maximus.”
He began moving. The whole sensation was so very overwhelming. His body shook, and hers quaked. He moved in and out of the heat, falling into that pleasure-filled rhythm.
The entire time, his eyes never left hers.
There was that connection.
That tie that bound them together.
It had changed.
Her nipples pebbled, and her body betrayed her. Harmony was flushed with need, want, and desire. Max had brought her back to life, and she wanted to fall with him.
Only with him.
As he hit that one spot, over and over again, she was helpless to stop him.
“I’m going to cum,” she whispered.
Oh, he was right there. Max could feel her body reacting to his. It was luring him over the edge. Next time, if there was one, he’d go slow.
Now…
He needed this release.
With three long, hard strokes, he shoved her over the edge, falling with her.
They tumbled.
Fell.
And then they floated as one.
Through the pleasure, they drifted up, finding themselves wound together with hair, hands, and body.
Their hearts skipped, and then beat normally again.
Max nuzzled her cheek and rolled to his side, taking Harmony with him.
Without an iota of hesitation, she curled into him to share his warmth.
There was silence.
Then peace.
“Um, Max…?” she said, after a few minutes.
He didn’t like the tone. It was that one that told him something was wrong. He hoped she didn’t plan on crushing him with a few meaningless words.
This had mattered to him.
This had been so very special.
In worry, he lifted his head to look into her eyes.
“What?” he asked. “My dick is still in you. Please don’t tell me this was a mistake.”
God!
She could never do that. This was anything but a mistake. It had been a miracle. Harmony had never been happier. Like his therapist said, find the happy and hold on.
Well, she did.
She found him.
“I feel bad about something,” Harmony admitted.
That worried him.
“About?”
“I made you an ice cream cookie, and it’s going to be melted by now.”
He laughed in relief. If that was her only issue with what had happened, he could live with that.
Seriously.
That was nothing.
“I’m not worried, Harmony. I actually had something better than a cookie.”
She stared at him.
“Sex?” she asked.
Max looked at her like she was insane.
“Uh, no.”
“Then what did you have that was better than a cookie, but not sex?” Harmony asked. “What did I miss?”
“I got to know the real you, and she’s amazing,” he said, being honest.
She deserved it.
Her heart skipped.
Max knew it did because his hand was on her chest, and he could feel the thump.
That made him happy.
“Max?” she asked.
“Hmmmm?”
“Can you stay with me tonight?” she asked. “You don’t have to go back to the office, do you? I don’t want to be alone. I don’t think I can be alone.”
That gave him hope.
Max didn’t want to leave.
Ever.
He’d found his happy place.
He pulled a blanket over them, and then cuddled her into his bigger body.
“I’m here as long as you need me.”
And that helped her heal even more.
Harmony had found a good, decent man.
For a change.
Chapter Nine
Autopsy One
Tuesday
Two P.M.
W hen Callen tried to talk to her about Ethan, once more, playing mediator, his wife really didn’t want to hear it. She wasn’t angry with him—per say, but she was irritated about the whole situation. With Marcus Hunter getting involved, she knew it was going to be a horrible mess, and she was already walking a very precarious line.
As in all of their jobs were riding on it.
This was hard enough without her husband asking her to cut the man a break.
What she didn’t need was him adding more restrictions. It was a bitch working beneath your husband. Don’t get her wrong, she loved him and how hard he worked, but there were days…
Today was it.
So, as Callen tried to calm her down, she refused to address it while she was still pissed. Nothing good would come from it. What they all needed to do was work.
So, they did.
Heading into the morgue, she found a smaller team. The two techs were gone. Elizabeth looked at her watch. There was no way they’d finished working for the day.
What the hell?
“Uh, where are they?” she asked, looking around. Elizabeth knew they had to have a really good reason.
“I sent them home,” Christina stated. “We don’t have a lot of trace, and I may have to dig into the medical records and dental records they sent over. I don’t trust that they redacted all of the personal information. Once I personally go through it, I can ensure that the data won’t be compromised.”
That was why she loved her team. When she wasn’t thinking, they were. It made her life so much easier to be able to rely on them when she was focused on her work.
Did she trust the vice president’s ability to protect the intel they were sending over?
Yeah, no.
The White House had fucked this up plenty, and she didn’t need anyone interfering and making it worse. A leak would be a huge disaster—not that she didn’t trust her team.
She did, but accidents happened, and she was cutting that off to the best of her ability. There was enough on her shoulders as it was.
“Did you find anything else?” she asked, getting down to business with work.
“Just that the thread, which Chris found, was definitely cotton. Mass spec just spit out the deets,” Chrissy stated. “We have Egyptian cotton, and it was pricey.”
“
Like hotel pricey, or the First Lady’s clothing pricey?” she asked. “Designer duds, perhaps?”
Christina wished.
They didn’t get that lucky. Her boss wasn’t going to like this one.
“Sorry, boss lady. There are no ties to the First Lady. We’re talking pillowcase pricey, so give the ME a prize. As always, Chris knocked it out of the park.”
“I’ll take a kiss instead,” he offered. “Or better yet…?”
“What?”
“Chocolate. You have to have some on you. I know you. You are always packing candy.”
“I pack a gun. You pack the candy. I like to be able to protect myself. Caramel and nougat doesn’t get the job done, Christopher.”
He sighed.
Elizabeth headed his way and gave him a kiss. She wrapped her arms around his waist and smiled at him when she finished the kiss.
“Better?”
How could it not be?
“It wasn’t candy, but it was pretty damn sweet,” he offered her.
“Well, since you put it that way…”
Elizabeth pulled a small bite-sized candy bar from her blazer jacket. Expecting the man to give up sugar all together was not realistic. He had a two-candy bar a day addiction prior to his diagnosis.
Baby steps.
“I have never loved you more, sweetness,” he said, taking it. Then he broke the small candy bar in half and gave her some, despite it being barely enough for one.
That was love.
They both popped it into their mouths.
“What’s on your agenda?” he asked, curiously now that she was there.
“I’m going to beat on the two agents,” she said, pointing at Noah and Alex. “I hope someone has a hooker’s address for me or there is going to be a boning, and not the fun kind.”
She stared at them.
“HINT. HINT,” Chris said, laughing.
Chris kept his arm around her waist, ignoring that the new ME was studying them. It was clear she was unsure what to think. Chris wasn’t surprised.
Alex knew that he had better deliver. No one wanted to have their face chewed off by the boss. While they knew she was just tough, they had to perform their jobs to stay on the Violent Crimes team.
“We have one out of two, Elizabeth, and don’t worry, Doctor, we got the hint,” he said, focusing on their boss. “We have your hooker, or who we think is your hooker. Ginger Snap is no longer using that street name, so it took a little longer to find her. About a month ago, she opted to change it to Sugar Baby.”
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