Stripped Away: Shadow Destroyers Book 2

by Sydney Somers

  She stopped in front of her locker, opened it then slammed it again when she saw him there. “You know, maybe it’s better if things just remain professional between us.”

  “Better for who?” He ignored the idiotic reminder in his brain that weeks ago that had been his thinking too. She was all but handing him the opportunity to backtrack and avoid the gray areas that always came with being involved with someone you worked with. Part of him reasoned that he’d be a fool not to let her end things here.

  Then again, he’d been a damn fool for so long it seemed stupid to go against the grain now. “Let’s just take a second here.”

  “Do not talk to me like I’m being irrational, Braxton.”

  He ground his jaw. “I just want to slow down for a second and figure things out.”

  “What’s to figure out? You decided it was more important to be my superior than…”

  “Than what?”

  “Forget it.” She yanked her bag out of her locker and tossed it onto the bench behind her. Her hands caught the hem of her shirt and she speared him with an icy glare. “Do you mind?”

  He crossed his arms and leaned against the row of lockers. “Not really, go ahead.”

  As though to prove she wouldn’t let his presence dictate her actions, she tugged her shirt over her head. He was mature and kept his eyes fixed on hers.

  Right until she reached down to retrieve a clean T-shirt from her bag, and his gaze followed the soft slope of her neck down to the full swells of her breasts. He damned the bra that obstructed a perfect view.

  It didn’t matter that he was her least favorite person right now, or that she would probably clock him if he even thought of touching her. His body hungered for her, his mind efficiently tucking away all the details they hadn’t worked out as though they weren’t important.

  And where the big picture was concerned, he was beginning to think they really weren’t. Not when being with her righted something in his world he hadn’t realized was off balance.

  He sidled closer.

  Quinn planted one clenched fist on her hip. “What are you doing?”

  “Nothing,” he answered innocently, not stopping until only a few inches separated them.

  “Aren’t you worried Rae will walk in here and see you staring at me like that and assume something?”

  “And how am I staring at you?”

  She shrugged, but the nervous glimmer in her eye didn’t escape his notice.

  Braxton edged closer. “Maybe I don’t care what Rae thinks.”

  Quinn scoffed. “Whatever you say, Boy Scout.”

  He turned his body, crowding her against the lockers.

  She jammed her chin in the air. “You make another move and I’ll have serious grounds for sexual harassment.”

  “You think so?”

  “I’m pissed off at you right now.”

  He planted a hand next to her head. “That still doesn’t mean you stop wanting me.”

  Her lower lip trembled before she smashed them into a firm line. “If you think you can pour on the charm and turn me into proverbial putty in your hands, you’re as mentally unstable as I am.”

  “I don’t think you’re mentally unstable, Quinn.” He meant it even if she didn’t believe him.

  “Convenient response when you want to get in my pants, don’t you think?”

  Recognizing the barb as her attempt to put distance between them, Braxton ignored it. “There’s nothing convenient about wanting in your pants.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “Then you need to try harder to be clear.”

  He dipped his head down to tease the soft curve of her neck, surprised when she didn’t push him away the second he opened his mouth over the sensitive flesh.

  “You’re a pod person aren’t you? Because the real Braxton Murphy would never try feeling me up at work.”

  He splayed his hand along the side of her hip, slipping up to caress her abdomen. “If this is the only way I can get through to you, I’m willing to take a few risks.” He moved higher to palm her breast.

  “Get through to me?” She sounded just a tiny bit breathless now.

  He tugged her bra down enough to brush his thumb across her hardening nipple. “Whatever works,” he breathed.

  Quinn shoved him back a step. “I may have wanted to jump you for months, but I’m not that easy.”

  He tucked the part about her wanting to jump him away for later. “Damn it. I was worried about you. I am worried about you. Don’t ask me to be sorry that I was honest with Rae.”

  She shook her head. “No, you just have more faith in Rae to make the right call than you do me. I’m not stupid, Braxton. I know the nightmares are wearing on me, but I can still do my job.”

  “For how long?” How long until another mimic demon pulled something she didn’t anticipate, something that would end with a dagger buried in her chest?

  “So I’m just supposed to stay home until this blows over? What if it doesn’t? What then?”

  The door to the locker room flew open and Jordan’s voice rang out. “You ready, Quinn?” She came to a stop when she saw them. “Bad time?”

  “It really isn’t.” She gave Braxton a pointed look, dismissing him.

  Without a word he turned and walked out.

  “Are you gonna tell me what that was all about or just take it out on me?”

  Quinn ducked to avoid Jordan’s kick, slipping around behind the fast-healing agent to use her staff to knock Jordan off her feet.

  Jordan went down, but not without ratcheting her staff back to catch the side of Quinn’s ankle, taking her to the floor too.

  Both of them lay motionless on the mat, chests heaving.

  Quinn dragged in a deep breath that did nothing to unlock the tension embedded in every muscle. She turned her head in Jordan’s direction, aware of the growing aches in her body. “I’ve been having nightmares.”

  “Not the ones where you show up to work naked I hope.” Jordan shuddered.

  She smiled. “No. They started a couple months ago. I couldn’t remember much about them for a long time, but I knew they were bad.”

  “And now you’re remembering them?”

  “Sort of. It’s still hazy. Some have been about my parents.”

  “So what does this have to do with Braxton?” Jordan was far too perceptive.

  “The other night in Cass’s house a mimic demon managed to make itself look like my mom. The same way she’d looked in my dreams. Terrified and crying.”

  “Sick fucker.”

  Quinn slowly sat up. “Yeah. Anyway, it sort of threw me for a second and then I was fine, but the damn thing managed to get me pinned.” She still couldn’t decide if it was worse that the demon had been an inch from stabbing her or that it had looked like her mother while doing it. “Anyway, Braxton told Rae he thought I needed a break.”

  “Do you?”

  “No.”

  Jordan jumped to her feet but didn’t reach down to pick up her staff. “For what it’s worth, if you’re looking for the poster child for those who don’t know when they need a breather, then you’ve found her. At least I used to be. And believe me, I know what it’s like to have someone want to protect you.”

  “That’s not it.”

  Jordan arched a brow. “Is it just sex with you and Brax?”

  “I haven’t had time to—”

  “Just sex?” Jordan repeated.

  “Not to me.”

  As much of a relief as it was to say it out loud, admitting that she had serious feelings for Braxton felt like she was all but inviting him to come into the room and stomp on her exposed heart. For so long she’d felt the attraction simmering between them, wishing he’d take her up on her occasional offer of grabbing a beer after work. As grateful as she was that he’d stopped holding back, she couldn’t help but fear he would pull away before things even got rolling between them. Aside from her anger earlier, it had seemed smarter to give him the
chance to stick with just being coworkers than to be blindsided later.

  “So then Braxton going to Rae was about protecting you.”

  “You say that like you’re certain it’s not just sex to Braxton?”

  Jordan laughed. “Trust me, it’s not.”

  “How do you know?” Quinn crossed her arms waiting to know what her friend was aware of that she wasn’t.

  Jordan held out a hand and yanked Quinn to her feet. “Don’t you ever see the way the man looks at you?”

  “And what if sleeping with him only makes him more protective?” Not that she was completely sold on that being the primary reason he went to Rae in the first place.

  “Then you do with him what I did with Gage.”

  “And what’s that?”

  Jordan grinned devilishly. “Kick his ass in the training room.”

  * * *

  Quinn got out of her car but didn’t move more than a foot away from it. She stared up at the old house trying to decide if she thought it fit Braxton or not. It was a lot bigger than anything she would have bought for herself, and she couldn’t help but wonder why he’d wanted so much space.

  She drew in a soft breath, the fragrant scent of the late evening air soothing her jumbled nerves. In the distance she could hear the sound of water running through a brook. Another time she’d have to explore a little to find the source. The longer she stood there, the more appealing the house and location became. The crickets didn’t seem half as annoying as she’d figured.

  From the end of the driveway she heard Bon Jovi blaring out of a speaker in the open garage. She knew Gage and Drew had helped Braxton build it over the course of the last couple of months. The rest of the house had also been repainted in recent weeks, the dark green trim a sharp contrast against the traditional white clapboard siding.

  Quinn kicked at a rock, questioned coming here, then reached in through her window to retrieve the file she’d brought along. Gravel crunched under her feet as she followed the long drive up to the house. She stepped into the garage and eyed the two long legs stretched out from beneath Braxton’s Mustang.

  It wasn’t surprising to find the inside of the garage as orderly as Braxton seemed to be in every other area of his life. All his tools were neatly arranged on the workbench or laid out in the drawers of the metal tool chest hauled over close to the car.

  “Damn it.” His hand shot out, fumbling for the rag at his thigh. Something banged beneath the car, then, “Fuck.”

  She bit her lip and waited while he shimmied out from beneath the car, instantly spotting the stain of oil that seeped through his T-shirt.

  He noticed her the second he stood up. Surprise flickered across his face.

  “Hi,” she said hesitantly.

  He smiled at her, a lethal curving of his lips that made her stomach tug. “Figured you’d be hunting down something to slay tonight.”

  She shrugged, watching as he peeled off his ruined shirt. He tossed it on the workbench.

  “I have a favor to ask.”

  “Ah.”

  “That’s not the only reason I came,” she hastened to add, setting the folder she’d carried in with her on the tool chest. “About earlier—”

  That was as far as she got. He snaked an arm out, and catching her around the wrist, yanked her toward him. His chest was warm against the palms she’d brought up instinctively. She tilted her head back, sliding her arms around to his back. A soft grunt of approval rumbled in his throat, and then he bent to slowly devour her mouth.

  Slick and hot, his tongue pushed into her mouth, making her forget everything but how much she craved this man’s touch. Braxton loosened the fierce grip on her waist, his thumb edging under her shirt to whisper over her skin in tantalizing circles. The sluggish sweep of his thumb, combined with the possessive kiss that was equal parts tender and ravishing, turned her legs to a mutinous gel that wanted to dump her to the floor.

  She clung to him, taking from the kiss everything he offered, her chest aching with how much she wanted to give in return. Firm hands cupped her bottom, nestling her against the thick erection that nudged her lower abdomen. With small swivels of her hips, she ground into him. Between her thighs heated to a throbbing simmer, eased only by the thigh he jutted forward to press against her sex.

  He broke from her mouth, his lips sliding like lava down her throat. He tugged at the tender muscle beneath her skin, dragging it between his teeth and lips to suck gently.

  Quinn whimpered at the hot, wet pulls of his mouth. Then, impatient with the need pounding fast and hard through her bloodstream, she stepped back and wrenched her shirt over her head.

  She grinned wickedly. “It’s getting hot in here, isn’t it?”

  “Not even close,” he growled, turning to pin her between him and his car.

  Chapter Ten

  The uncompromising cold metal at her back and warm, male chest cushioned at Quinn’s front made for a delicious difference in sensation. One made all the more delectable when Braxton pressed his body into hers, solid and steady.

  One hand lay along the roof of the car, his arm boxing her in on one side. His other hand trailed lazily up her abdomen, tracing the contours as she sucked in a breath at the contact. Quinn shifted in place, the pressure building deep in her core thumping fiercely. She rocked up on the balls of her feet, rubbing against the thigh tucked between hers.

  She felt Braxton smile against her throat. “You drive me crazy.” A scrape of teeth and lash of his tongue followed.

  “I can relate.”

  His hand slipped between them to take the place of his leg, the heel of his palm rotating ever so slightly between her thighs. Although the touch was no more than a promise, she moaned as though his hand was already down her pants, his thick fingers filling her.

  Braxton stopped, his breathing fast and uneven. “I know we need to talk…”

  “Talk later,” she demanded, finding the hard length of his cock and closing her fingers around him.

  His teeth snapped together and his eyes slid shut. She pushed him back a step to give her more room to undo his pants. The sight of the impressive erection that sprang free when she worked his pants down yanked her nerve endings into a scorching knot.

  “Quinn,” he murmured, his hand closing over hers. A note of desperation clung to the throaty plea.

  At first she thought he intended to pull her away, then his fingers curled down, tightening her hold on him. Like satin over steel, his arousal pulsed in her grip, and she drew both their hands down to the base and back up. His palm tensed over hers, tugging her harder along his length in the next stroke. Faster.

  Quinn dropped to her knees. Cupping his sac in one hand, her other guided him forward to meet her mouth. She swept her tongue across the head, her insides clenching at the feel of his smooth shaft under her tongue. She explored every inch of him, drawing one strained groan from him after another until she closed her lips around the head and pulled his cock into her mouth.

  He drove his hands into her hair, anchoring himself to her, but made no move to increase the pace as she took him deeper, sucking slowly before letting him slide free only to repeat the process again. And again. Each time she probed a little harder with her tongue, deepened the suction and pulled away more quickly.

  She did her best to coax more from him. One hand pumped at a short, brisk pace at the base of his shaft, her other palm cupping and tugging gently on his sac until his hips worked to thrust into her mouth with small swift digs.

  Muscles bunched and squeezed deep in her sex, and more than anything, ached for release.

  Braxton pulled Quinn to her feet, spinning her around until her back was plastered to his front. With his cock nestled against her jean-clad ass he stood motionless, absorbing the shape of her pressed along the length of his body. The hands at her waist ached to wrench her pants down and give him full access.

  But not yet.

  He lifted her breasts into his palms. Her nipples were hard an
d flushed a deep red. Irresistible. Preoccupying himself with the slope of her neck, he tugged at the tips of her breasts, loving the feel of her arching into him, driving her bottom back against his arousal. The soft whimpers that echoed from Quinn between breaths were like long hot fingers curled around his cock. He pumped against her behind, wanting to slip into her opening and hammer deep.

  Quinn raked her fingers up his thighs, a moan of satisfaction breaking past her lips when he undid her pants and tunneled through the curls, plunging a finger into her. She’d only rocked her hips once before he withdrew, dragging the moisture up her cleft to circle her clit.

  She cried out, and her guard dropped, letting him see just how close to release she already was. In no condition to draw it out, he was ruthless in thrusting his fingers into her over and over, sliding out of her tight sheath long enough to rub at her clit. Within seconds she came against his hand, her ass grinding so sweetly at his aching cock.

  And then he couldn’t wait a moment longer. He fumbled to jerk her pants and underwear past her knees. He pushed her forward until her upper body lay across the hood of his car, the head of his cock nestled against her wet folds.

  She lifted her bottom, pushing up until he pressed into her opening. Before she could open her mouth, he gripped her hips and thrust into her. Hot, silky muscles rippled the length of his shaft and he couldn’t move for a minute. Her tight walls clenched greedily around him, and he could only rock slowly in and out. The exquisite torture lasted only seconds before he withdrew and drove back in, fucking her harder.

  It didn’t matter that the garage door was open, that music still blared, that they were still half dressed or that he still hadn’t told her the truth. All he wanted was for her to shatter in his arms again, to ride over the edge with her, his cock buried deep in her sex. It was so easy to lose himself to her, to how much he wanted her. Needed her.

  So easy to lean over until he could feel her back heat his chest, until their fingers were laced together on the hood of the car, until he pumped into her while her slick muscles spasmed around him, and he came with a deep shout that echoed into the night.