by Hagen, Casey
He shifted beneath her, his gaze landing on hers, “Blair,” he whispered as his hands drifted lower, his pinky disappearing under the low collar of the sweetheart neckline of her dress.
Curling her hands around his forearm, she dragged her fingers along his skin, over his elbow, and squeezed this thick biceps, holding him to her.
His hand froze, the muscle ticked in his cheek, and he stared down at his hand pressed against her fevered skin.
She sucked in a breath, waiting, wanting, praying to God he wouldn’t pull back.
Not now.
Not yet.
Did God even answer prayers like that?
The skin bunched around his eyes as he gave her a pained look, but despite the anguish, the fear, his fingers slid into her dress, his warm palm cupping her breast.
She gasped, the sound mixing with his labored breathing as they crossed an invisible line he’d put between them.
Bowing her back, she sought more of him only to have him answer with a rough laugh. “I thought I was taking advantage of you, but now I have to wonder,” he rasped with a tender squeeze that was everything she wanted, and not nearly enough.
“You have this strange image of me in your head. Virtuous and innocent. I should tell you, I stole a pack of gum when I was seven,” she said, her confession husky and strained.
“Delinquent.”
“Exactly.”
He dragged his hand under the fabric and covered her other breast with his fingers. The rough pads sent sensations shooting through her, straight to the needy space nestled between her thighs.
He stared at his hand and cleared his throat. “You have this way about you. You radiate positive energy. You glow with it. Your infectious smile,” he shook his head. “It’s almost hard to look at it, at you, yet I’m powerless to glance away. I wanted to be the one to put the smile in your heart.”
“No one has ever seen in me the things you do,” she murmured.
“I don’t know how anyone could miss it.”
Biting his lip, he pinched her nipple and rolled it between his fingers, sending delicious shivers through her.
She reached over her head and stretched like a cat lying in the sun, memorizing every single sensation. “Don’t stop,” she sighed the words, tension coiling tight inside her.
Everything he said emboldened her to risk her heart. He didn’t know it, but he’d just shown his…and it wanted her.
Now to make his head believe it.
He shifted, his hand moving lower over her belly, his thumb grazing over her bottom lip as he leaned down and curled over her—
His phone vibrated in his pocket, under her head.
He groaned and slumped against the couch.
The retreat of his hand left her longing and desperate to finish what they started.
“I have to check that.”
“It’s okay. It’s probably important.” He’d been hired to help. She had no right being disappointed that he was doing the exact thing he’d been brought in to do.
He squeezed her hand and gave her an absent smile filled with regret as he lifted the phone to his ear. “Evan here,” he said.
The heat drained out of her as she scrambled upright and fixed her dress. “I’m going to take a shower,” she mouthed the words and made her escape.
If she didn’t get some sort of relief, she’d never sleep, and if Evan’s capable hands couldn’t do it, she’d do the job herself.
* * *
Evan didn’t miss the disappointment in Blair’s eyes. If she only knew how much he wanted to ignore the call and see where they ended up.
Likely in her bed, with him buried deep inside her.
If they even made it to the bedroom.
“Report’s in from Melvin. Blair’s brake line had also been melted. Not completely through, but close. Looks like the asshole weakened it just enough that after the sparks ignited the gas tank, she would have not only been roasting, but she would have been panicking at the loss of brakes,” Dylan said.
“Sick fuck,” Evan ground out as he shoved the image out of his mind of smoke filling her vehicle and terror in her pretty eyes.
“Yeah. There’s something else though. He’s a sloppy son of a bitch. Melvin spotted a partial fingerprint. He called a buddy from the precinct in. That’s why it took so long to get the report. Now we just have to hope for a match.”
He’d hope, but he’d push through in the meantime because partial fingerprints only helped if the person had a criminal record or ever had to register fingerprints for a job. “I need someone to do me a favor. Get over to the school tonight and clean that camera up. I want all eyes on the school working.”
“Already done. Dude ran over on the way back to the hotel,’ Dylan confirmed.
“I owe you guys,” Evan said.
“You’ve gone above and beyond for all of us at one point or another. Glad to return the favor. So, how are things with Blair?” Dylan asked.
Evan snorted and stretched out his legs. “We going to talk relationships now?” Evan asked.
“Is it a relationship?”
“Dylan, you’ve been hanging around with the women for too long. It’s starting to worm its way into your brain,” Evan said with a laugh.
The truth was, Evan didn’t know. He’d promised himself he wouldn’t cross the line.
And then, right there in front of his friends, she took control and issued a challenge.
Damned if she didn’t manage to sucker him into crossing right on over to her side.
“Don’t I know it,” Dylan said with a rough laugh. “I like her. She’s good for you.”
Too good for him. “That’s never been the debate. It’s my being good for her that’s in question.”
“You’re a protector, but you seem to forget that we’re human. We make mistakes.”
“And when those mistakes cost lives?”
“We work our hardest to make sure we don’t make those mistakes again. Five people died because you couldn’t be in two places at once. That’s all it was. You decided to go after the enemy, just like we would have. You couldn’t have known that two radical groups reached a tentative truce until they eliminated your unit. You’re not God.”
No, he wasn’t, but he had looked in their eyes and promised them that he’d be back and they’d be okay. Their deaths hadn’t been quick. How long did they hold out hope he’d get there in time? Did they scream out in terror for him? “I’m tired, Dylan. So fucking tired of the guilt.”
“Who isn’t? Look at Harlow. What her brother forced her to do is a part of her now. She thinks about it every day. She wishes for a do-over, not for her, but for him. She gives herself a minute, maybe two, and then she lets it go. It’s time for you to do the same,” Dylan said quietly.
He hadn’t thought of that. Hadn’t considered. He’d always respected what Harlow had to do and the bravery it took to do it. He’d never considered the guilt because her actions had been necessary. “Maybe,” Evan said.
“Trust Blair to know what’s good for her. We all have shit we carry. Nebraska, Harlow, Josie, and they live with it. You’re not letting yourself fully live.”
He dropped his head to the back of the sofa and stared at the pattern in the ceiling. “I’ll think about it, Dylan. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll let you get to work.”
“Really? You’re not going to tell me to make my move tonight?”
“I know you, you’re chomping at the bit to go over the evidence again. So go do it. Let the poor woman sleep. She’s had a long day.”
Evan hung up the phone and headed for the kitchen. He rinsed the dishes and filled the dishwasher, but waited to turn it on until after Blair finished in the shower.
What little leftovers remained, he tossed in storage containers he’d found while rummaging through her cabinets. He collected all the takeout containers and pitched them in the trash.
Blair stepped into the kitchen as he swiped the counter one last time befo
re rinsing the dishcloth and hanging it over the partition of the sink to dry.
“Feel better?” he asked, unsure of what to say or do after the way they had left things.
“Yes, and tired,” she said, tipping her damp curls against the wall. The tank top and shorts set she’d put on did little to hide the woman beneath them.
Thin, baby blue cotton shimmied over her skin, the fabric catching on her tight nipples as she moved.
His cocked jumped to attention for the millionth time that day. His skin prickled with awareness as his blood surged. Tearing his gaze from her breasts, he forced himself to meet her eyes. “You should go get some rest. I still have some things to do,” he said, shoving the words past his parched throat.
“I guess you know where the guest room is since you searched the place earlier,” she said with a faint smile, lines of exhaustion marring her youthful face.
“I do.”
“Good night, then,” she whispered before turning away.
He gulped the lump of raw sexual need that shot into his throat. He’d never seen her out of a dress. A dress that concealed the round, heart-shaped ass hidden beneath her flouncy skirts.
He swiped his palm over his face, “Good night,” he choked out the words.
Not that she heard them.
She was already gone.
Chapter 8
Blair stumbled out of bed after hitting the snooze button three times. Until that day, she’d always been quick to rise and would swear she didn’t even know where to find the snooze button.
Problem solved.
All it took was a long night of longing for the man in the next room to suck her dry of her usual spunk.
She scrubbed her face, pinned up her hair, this time in a loose ponytail she knew she’d regret by lunch, but hey, at least no headache, and slid a black dress adorned with blue and lavender hydrangeas over her head.
She’d made up ten of the minutes she’d lost by skipping the bit of makeup and defaulting to her lax hairstyle, the extra minutes gained easing her anxiety at running late.
The scent of strong coffee drifted in the air, and she smiled.
Evan.
Following her nose, she found him in the kitchen, his sheer size dwarfing her drop-leaf table. “Good morning.”
He glanced up and did a double take. “Hey.” The sound of his chair scraping back echoed in the room as he hopped up to pour her a cup of coffee.
“Thanks,” she murmured, taking the mug from him and tipping the first sip to her lips.
“You sleep okay?” he asked.
“Tossed and turned. You?”
“Up until three. At that point, exhaustion took over for the next three hours,” he said.
His hair gleamed, the dark strands still damp and brushed back away from his face in thick waves. He’d shed the dressier clothes for blue jeans and a black T-shirt that hugged the thick muscles in his arms and across his chest.
“I’ve never seen you dressed in casual clothes,” she said. “Not bad.”
He leaned against the counter, his own cup in hand. “I prefer dressier, but if your kids are going to use me as a human jungle gym, I figured this would be better.”
Her jaw fell open, and she snapped it shut. “You’re not going to be in my classroom.”
“Yes. I am.” His tone warned her not to argue.
Too bad.
She set aside her mug and faced him. “Evan, first of all, I don’t even know if I can get something like that approved. It has to be cleared with the principal, and she’s not going to like the nature of why you’re there.”
“I can sway her,” he said with a wink.
“You’re easy on the eyes, yes, but she didn’t get in her position at twenty-nine years old by being a flighty twit.”
“Easy on the eyes, huh?” he said with a swift grin.
“You know you’re a work of art. Stop it.” She reached for the cell phone tucked in her purse.
“A work of art? Hmmm…high praise. You really should go easy with the compliments. Wouldn’t want me to get too cocky.” His sultry words vibrated along the shell of her ear, making the fine hairs on her neck stand to attention.
Thick arms wrapped around her waist, his hand splaying low over her abdomen, that exploring pinky of his twitching along the top of the bikini underwear she wore under her dress.
“Evan,” she whispered.
“I think you might be biased in your assessment,” he said as his soft lips grazed her ear.
She scoffed. “I doubt that. Panties will go up in flames the minute you walk through those doors.”
She thumbed through her contacts and brought up Kate Reynold’s cell number, not an easy feat when he massaged her with his capable hands. She’d never once asked for a favor from her principal and hated that she had to now, and she’d never admit it to Evan, but she’d be relieved to have him keeping an eye on her.
What she didn’t tell him is what kept her tossing and turning. Sure, the unsatisfied fires stoked between them hadn’t helped, but the nightmares were the real culprit.
They’d started as dreams filled with friends and family, then the images twisted and the people she’d loved and respected turned on her.
Hunted her.
Sought pleasure from her terrified screams as they threatened her with scorching flames.
“There’s only one pair I care about. You want to know what I did until three in the morning?” he asked, obliterating the trajectory of her mind.
“No,” she said in a whisper of breath.
“I fought the urge to crawl into your bed and make you mine. All mine.” He bit down gently on her earlobe, his thick length growing and pressing against her.
Her eyes drifted shut. She reached her fingers behind his head and threaded them into his damp hair. “You should have, it would have saved me from having to pleasure myself,” she admitted, her chest bursting with excitement.
He froze. His lips disappeared from her ear, leaving the cold sting of disappointment behind. “You touched…”
She turned her head and let loose on a giddy laugh at the way his eyes shot open in surprise. “It’s not like I robbed a bank. I’m sure you’ve done the same a time or two,” she said as she turned in his arms and laid her palms on his chest.
The muscles danced under her fingers, tempting her to call in for the first time in her life so she could stay home and explore him.
His eyelids shuttered low, narrowing his eyes into slits, those liquid amber depths scorching a trail from her lips, neck, to her aroused breasts and hard nipples that strained against the padded fabric of her bodice. “You made yourself come?” he asked.
“Yes,” she whispered as her lungs heaved.
He bent his head down, his lips hovering over hers. “The next fingers inside you will be mine. And they’ll be just the beginning,” he promised.
He slanted his mouth over hers and took her with a bruising kiss, stealing air from her lungs, leaving her reeling and aroused worse than the night before.
Sinking her short nails into his shoulders, she reached for more, sliding her tongue alongside his, and delighted in the growl of sheer frustration that rose from within him.
“Shit. We have to go,” he said, pulling back.
“Yeah,” she said as her heart pounded from want.
“We’re going to settle this. Later,” he promised as he slid the padded strap of his laptop bag over his shoulder, his heated gaze now a frustrated glare.
“I won’t let you forget it,” she promised with a smile.
She’d make sure he didn’t slip away from her this time. He’d have time to think, to come up with a thousand reasons why they shouldn’t.
She’d be ready.
She’d use his words against him.
And he might finally understand that she wasn’t the lily-white innocent he so desperately tried to believe her to be.
* * *
“You can’t be serious,” Kate Reynold’s sa
id from behind her desk, shooting a hard look between the two of them.
Okay, so maybe Blair had been right.
Evan flashed Kate a reassuring smile and slid forward in his seat. He’d taken on missions where he’d had to face down the barrel of a gun in the hands of the enemy sweating profusely with a twitchy trigger finger.
He could face the pint-sized principal with the honey-blonde hair who looked barely old enough to be in high school let alone the principal of one. “Nothing will happen. I assure you. The chief of police agreed to station extra officers around the campus; I spotted three on the way in. This is just a precaution, nothing more.”
“Even so, at the very least, in order for you to be in a classroom of kids, you need to be vetted. Fingerprints, background checks, the works. Unless you can produce that information in say,” she glanced up at the clock on the wall, “ten minutes, there’s not a chance in the world I’m going to let this fly.”
“I’ll have it all to you in five,” he promised, sliding his phone from his pocket.
“I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“Get ready,” he said before directing his attention back to the phone where Tex had answered on the other end. “Tex. I need a favor. I need every security clearance you’ve got for me at your fingertips and my prints sent to Frederick Elementary.”
“Hi to you, too,” Tex said, the sound of keys already clicking in the background.
“Sorry, hi. Can you get me what I need?” Evan asked.
“Sure, you want it faxed somewhere or emailed?”
He glanced at Kate. “Fax or email?”
She inclined her head, and her lips twitched. “Fax, please,” she said as she clasped her necklace. “Who is this guy?” Kate asked Blair with a nod in his direction.
Blair smiled at her, the tension finally easing. “Every last action hero you could imagine in real-life form.”
Ten minutes later, Blair led him to her classroom. Kate, while impressed, remained skeptical so she’d issued a pass for two days only. She wanted to meet with them after the weekend and determine how to proceed.
She’d been sure to warn Blair that she might just have to take some time off.