Her fingers stilled on the zipper to his dress pants. “Would you rather we have sex with our clothes on?”
He’d rather she wrapped her body in a blanket and stopped touching him. Keeping a vow when she acted like this was not easy. “Mallory.”
“Come on, Walker.” A screech of his zipper echoed through the quiet studio.
“This is a bad idea.” But only because of the terms she put on the sex. Her hand diving into his boxer briefs worked just fine.
She slid her hand up and down. “It’s never been bad before.”
He had trouble putting a sentence together. “You know what I mean.”
“You’ve set the rules. I’m being a good little follower.” She kissed him through the tee under his white oxford.
The heat of her mouth burned through the cotton. But he wanted more. Skin on skin. Her hands flat against the mattress as he entered her. The moaning and pleading. The way she said his name.
He rested his forehead against hers as he tried to push out all those seductive memories and the feel of her hand. He’d made a vow but he’d be damned if he could remember what it was at the moment.
“I didn’t—” Her second hand slipped into his underwear and started tugging them down. He bit back a groan. “Damn it.”
Her tongue skimmed his earlobe. “I want you to hold me down.”
The last of his control shattered. She’d named his favorite thing, or one of them. There were a lot of things he liked to do to her. Some with his mouth. Others with his hands. Maybe a toy.
If she wanted to play, he would play.
His hands slid down to her ass and brought her middle tight against his. Energy bounced off her and sparked life into him. “The wooing is not over and we are still not done working through whatever exists between us.”
He trailed his tongue down her neck. When he hit the base of her neck he started kissing. Tiny presses against her skin as he nuzzled the deep V-neck to the side.
“You heard my terms.” Her breath rushed out of her and her voice took on an even huskier edge than usual.
She would not win this round. She could push him away, but he would come back. The attraction that kicked between them gave him an advantage. He knew she loved being with him as much as he loved being with her.
He kissed across the tops of her soft breasts. “You forget one thing.”
She inhaled as her whole body rocked against him. “What?”
“I’m in charge in the bedroom.” He walked her backwards until her ass hit the wall. With his fingers speared through hers, he dragged her arms up the wall and pinned her there. “I decide.”
“Sometimes.”
“Every time.” He stretched her arms higher. “Your body is mine.”
“Yes.”
Right answer. He lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist. The move balanced her back against the wall. He slipped his hand up and under her sweater. He hit cotton panties. Those high-cut ones she liked to wear. Other men might find them plain. Seeing her in them made him stupid.
“Walker?”
He fingers eased beneath the elastic band of her underwear. “What?”
“Get inside of me.” She pushed her lower half tighter against him. “Now.”
Chapter Ten
The guy made her crazed.
Mallory fought to breathe normally. She inhaled and tried to clear her mind but Walker’s scent slipped through her senses and her control went down for the count.
So much for the idea of being in charge. Of setting ground rules. One touch from him, one kiss, and her panties got wet. Her weakness for him bordered on embarrassing. It was primal and overwhelming.
Her current position didn’t help to tip the scales in her favor. He had her wedged against the wall with his finger lodged inside her. She fidgeted and squirmed, trying to draw him in deeper. She wanted her clothes off and his pants down. Need thundered through her and she had to grab on to his forearms to keep from wrapping her body around his.
“Bedroom or wall?” he asked.
The question rumbled against her neck. That deep voice tickled down her spine. “You choose.”
She felt him tremble right before the room spun. One minute she braced her body against his. The next she clung as he took the few steps to her bed.
Her back hit the mattress and he climbed over her. At some point he’d lost his blazer and his dress shirt became untucked and hung open. All that separated them was a bit of material and he closed that gap when he peeled her sweater off and threw it on the floor.
Before she could gather her thoughts or even reach for him, he started kissing her. Not her mouth. No, he kissed and licked his way down her body. The stop at her breasts had her heels digging into the mattress. He sucked and caressed, bringing her nipples to tight peaks.
When she thought she couldn’t live through the barrage of sensations for one more second he started moving again. His lips skimmed her stomach and continued to the top of her underwear. Sliding his hands inside the leg holes, he scooped her lower half off the bed and dragged the panties down. She kicked them off, not wanting one second of his body away from hers.
He brushed his thumb over her as he opened her thighs even wider to fit in between. “You are so beautiful.”
With him she always felt that way. Not fat or chunky but possessed of a sort of feminine strength that came with knowing her body had the power to make his hard. Her hands and mouth turned him on. With him, she was fierce.
She pressed her knees against the side of his head and tightened those tiny internal muscles. The clenching added to all the touching that came before. She loved the waiting, the anticipation as he treated her body to kiss after kiss, but she needed him inside her. It had been too long after those months when they were all over each other every night.
“Walker, please.” Her fingernails dug into his shoulders. She wanted to drag him up and over her.
“Tell me what you want.” He didn’t move. Instead, he opened her and slipped his tongue inside in a long sensuous lick. When her body jumped, he did it again.
“You.” The combination of his mouth on her and fingers inside her had her hips lifting off the bed. “In me.”
He trailed a line of kisses up her inner thigh as his fingers continued their magic work. “Who’s in charge?”
Her head fell back as waves of pleasure washed over her. “I am.”
“No.”
The spiraling inside her grew and tightened. “Walker.”
He blew a puff of air over her and followed it with one more long, dragging lick. “Tell me.”
She tipped her head from side to side on her pillow. “I can’t.”
“Then I’ll have to keep up this slow torture until I exhaust you.”
And he would do it. He had before.
“But first.” He dropped a kiss on the fleshy part of her thigh and sat up.
Her body nearly jackknifed in response. “What are you doing?”
“Getting naked.”
He never broke eye contact with her as he did a slow striptease. The shirt hit the floor. Then he ripped his tee up his body, revealing inch after inch of muscular torso.
The mattress bounced as he stood the whole way up and walked around to her nightstand. He didn’t have to ask about protection or where she kept anything. He knew. She’d been tempted to throw it all away as some symbolic gesture. When he pulled out a handful of condoms and threw them on the bed she was happy she hadn’t given in to that impulse.
As he walked back to the end of the mattress he lowered his pants. With each step they fell until he stripped them off along with his underwear and he stepped right out of them.
Her heart skipped as her gaze traveled over him. His body fascinated her. So fit with bulges everywhere a guy would want them. Lean muscles and a few scars from a life hard-lived. One knife wound hearkened back to a case gone wrong. Another came from a double-cross that ended up with Grace injured.
Mallory lo
ved every imperfect inch.
Her gaze dipped. Yeah, no question he was as primed as she was.
With her feet flat against the bed, she let her thighs fall open wide to give him a view of what was to come. If he didn’t understand that as a green light she gave up.
He didn’t disappoint. He crawled up her body until his mouth met hers. The kiss burned through her, lighting every nerve ending on fire. Her skin so sensitive and her body so ready.
She wanted to grab him and pull him in closer. She settled for brushing her hands down his sides until they landed on his ass. He even had firm muscles there.
“Mallory, baby.” He balanced his upper body over her on his elbows. “Who’s in charge?”
No surprise he didn’t drop the question. He was a man who craved control. Thrived on it in and out of the bedroom. She loved it when he laser-focused it on her and brought it into their intimacy. Not so much when he tried to boss her around in everyday life.
“We can both be.”
He reached back and took her hands away from his body. Dragged her arms until the backs of her hands lay beside her head and his fingers clamped over her wrists. “That’s not how this works.”
When he held her down her body revved. Every inhibition fell away. “You have to earn it.”
“I thought you’d never ask.” His mouth went to her exposed neck and he did that thing with his tongue that drove her wild.
She gulped in air. “I meant outside of the bedroom.”
“I prefer to earn it this way.”
His erection nudged against her. She tried to focus enough to mention the condom but he was already reaching for it. Foil ripped and he lifted his body away from her for a second. When he lowered his body again he rubbed against her. The friction had her insides jumping around and her heartbeat racing.
Not able to handle one more second of being apart, she reached down and curled her fingers around him. Her thumb brushed over his tip before trailing down to massage his balls. His body started moving over her then. Heavy breaths punched out of him and his mouth covered hers.
When she guided him inside her they both stilled. The feel of him pushing and stretching her. The determined expression on his face as he locked gazes with her and plunged in deep. The real thing beat every memory. Nothing compared to the fullness.
“I never stopped wanting you. Not for one second.” He said the phrase between heated kisses.
There was nothing gentle or sweet about the lovemaking. He pumped into her, deep and smooth. Her body clenched at him and her fingers tightened over his. She couldn’t get close enough or feel enough no matter how hard the sensations bombarded her.
She brought her legs closer to his body and balanced her ankles against his back. The move pushed him deeper and made him wild. He went from the slow torture of seductive strokes to frantic. He pushed in and pulled out, faster with each pass. Sweat gathered on his skin and the tiny noises they made filled the room.
She ignored the squeak of the bed and the brush of her chest against hers. Every ounce of energy went to holding back, to savoring the moment and making it last. She wanted to remember every gasp and moan. But when her muscles tightened and the clenching inside her made her hips buck, she forgot about the world outside and the past. She focused on him and how he made her feel. How he held her down.
“Say it, baby,” he whispered right into her ear.
The rhythm mesmerized her. So did the husky edge to his voice.
“I’m yours.” The words barely left her mouth when her body let go.
Her neck strained and shoulders dug deeper into the pillow. She felt the wetness of her body and slickness of his as the orgasm ripped through every sensitized inch of her. It choked off her breath and tightened her leg muscles to the point of cramping.
As the pulses rumbled through her, his body sped up. He pushed faster but his hands never left hers. When his head dropped and his hips strained, she knew he was about to come. She kissed the underside of his chin and down his chest as his body shuddered.
One minute he balanced over her. The next his shoulder gave out and he dipped down on top of her.
She loved the weight over her. Loved how every cell reacted to him. She lay there drained and satisfied . . . and right on the edge of terrified.
She didn’t just love the way he touched her or the way he kissed. He looked great in a suit and even better naked. But none of that mattered because how he dressed had nothing to do with the depth of her feelings. Those same feelings that had grown and sprung out of control despite her vows to keep her emotions in check.
She loved him. Not that she wanted to, because she definitely didn’t. She had no rational means of protection against him. No filter. He took her for granted and she let him. That part made her hate both of them a little.
The need that pounded through clued her in as to just how much trouble she had ahead. She hadn’t gotten upset when he’d left. She’d been broken. Torn in two. And she feared another round.
Every thought and sensation magnified with him. She couldn’t get him out of her head even when he pushed her away. It was as if she had a torture complex. But she didn’t. She’d never been the type to go after bad boys or seek out boys who would do her wrong.
She liked the buttoned-up-hot-in-public-and-an-animal-in-the-bedroom type. Walker had filled that better than any other man she’d ever known. Even now as she trailed her fingertips across his back she wanted more.
That meant one thing: he had to go. The vulnerability made her twitchy. She’d had this plan about seducing him without any emotional ties. She needed to get back there. If she let him think an hour together changed everything, she would never get the upper hand.
He lifted up and stared down at her. “You okay?”
Before she could stop, she touched a finger to his lips. “Sure, why?”
“I can almost hear you thinking.” His head dipped and he nuzzled her cheek. “It’s as if your mind is clicking.”
Staying detached took all of her strength. It didn’t help that he was still lodged inside her. “That would be weird.”
He frowned as he studied her face. “Did you eat?”
Time to hold the line. This is where she had to dig in, no matter what he said or did. No matter how pillow-tossed and adorable. “I’ll grab something later.”
His frown deepened. “What does that mean?”
“You’re leaving.” She put her hands on his biceps and gave a little push.
He didn’t budge. “I thought we settled this.”
Of course. He issued an order and just expected her to comply. Amazing how realizing that confirmed her position. This is why she had to fight so hard right now. If she kept letting him push, he’d push her right over the edge.
“We had sex. It’s time you learned the difference between hot sex and winning an argument.”
“Mallory, what are we—”
“If you want a real relationship with me, one where we share things and open up to each other, I’m all in.” She stayed awake some nights hoping for that. “But until then you get sex. That’s it. Amazing sex but no intimacy beyond the act.”
He pulled out of her and lifted his body even higher until he loomed over her. “We can’t even have dinner?”
Sounded kind of pathetic, which could mean he was finally getting this.
“I told you the rules before,” she pointed out, feeling better about this plan every second. Maybe this would get through. If not, it could give her a small degree of emotional protection.
“Those were ridiculous.”
The guy needed some work on how to win over women, because every syllable he uttered made it easier for her not to cave. A few more minutes and she might take sex off the table . . . even though that would punish her.
That’s what he didn’t understand. They both suffered here. She wanted more with him. She loved cuddling on the couch and making dinner. He was the one preventing all of that.
“Y
ou got sex.” The words scratched her throat as she said them. She wasn’t a prude, but sex for the sake of sex rang hollow when what you wanted was a true relationship.
“I’m prepared to give you more.” He sounded sincere but just saying the words and not backing them up was what landed them here.
“You keep saying that but I need you to show me.”
“I don’t know what you want.”
The man was crazy stubborn. “When you do, we’ll share a pizza.”
“And until then?”
She balanced on her elbows. “Have good night at Shadow Hill.”
Chapter Eleven
Callen hated bad news and he sensed his baby brother was about to dump a load of it.
“Everything is in order.” Beck came out from behind the desk in the library he used as a home office. He had a folder in hand and a resigned expression on his usually open and friendly face. “Which is good, since Sophie and I have to leave tomorrow.”
“Is that supposed to be a good thing?” Callen actually hated when they were separated. Never mind that they spent most of their adulthood apart. They didn’t have to now.
Beck just smiled. “It is for me, under the circumstances.”
The conversation centered on Shadow Hill and Walker. About his interest in the house. Callen could not think of a less interesting topic. Beck bailing on them only made it worse.
Knowing he should sit down for this, Callen balanced on the arm of the couch and jumped right to the bad news. “In other words you’re going to leave the shitty job to us while you dance around the country pretending to work.”
“That about sums it up.” Beck tapped the edge of the folder against his palm, making an annoying thwap thwap sound.
“Is that smart?” Declan sat on the middle couch cushion as his gaze went from one brother to another. “You’re the lawyer. This might come best from you.”
Callen nodded. “Since you share the lawyer arguing gene with Walker. You guys probably have a special language you can use to communicate.”
Beck leaned against the front of the desk. “Ever notice how when you guys need something done you bring up my law degree as if it’s a good thing, but the rest of the time my career choice is an embarrassment to you?”
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