“You thought wrong.” She had to see him – never mind how quickly she developed a desire for the man that bordered on obsessive. She was in deep trouble.
His gaze took in her robe before landing on her bare knee. His voice dropped an octave. “I can’t tell you how much it pleases me to hear you say that. Although I gathered as much when you begged me so prettily not to stop…on the sofa in the study.”
Visions of his heated expression flashed through her mind. His kisses. His intimate touch. The woman in her gave the agent a shove out the window.
“Kiss me,” she whispered.
He sent fingers into her damp curls and cupped her ear while pulling her close. He stared into her eyes for the longest moment. In his gaze, she read sweet need and bare honesty. It was like staring into the sun – she didn’t think she could withstand it. But then he blinked and took her lips in a kiss.
Jaeda’s heart tugged, and she whimpered. Why did he have to be the bad guy? And why did she have the assignment to take him down?
Withdrawing, she put a staying hand on his chest and immediately wished she hadn’t. Warm skin and soft hairs made her want to press her lips to the unyielding wall of muscle.
“No, wait.” She panted and ducked her head to gather her flitting thoughts. “I need to know…” What? Was she losing it?
“I understand.”
“You do?” How could he understand when she didn’t?
“I see your vulnerability.”
Damn it!
“You know nothing about me,” he said, lowering the robe enough to expose the round of her shoulder.
She made to stop him, but he bent and placed licking, sucking kisses to her skin. She went weak. It felt so good. “I know a little, but not enough.”
Teague traveled to her throat, but instead of moving up, he tilted his head and worked his way across her chest where the V in the robe exposed skin. “I’m an only child,” he said between kisses. “My father worked in finance. I learned a great deal from him. He’s retired. My parents live on an estate in Yorkshire.” Leaning across her now, he nuzzled her neck before gently sucking.
Jaeda gasped with pleasure and combed her fingers into his hair. Her gaze went to the bed where the curtains on this side stood open. The corner of a brown damask comforter with a curlicue design in gold thread folded over, offering a peek at tan sheets. “Tell me more,” she whispered.
“My best friend in the world since we were boys grew up down the road from me – Mrs. Wilson’s son, Benjamin. He’s a filmmaker now.” He lowered the robe from her other shoulder and made his way toward it.
Cool air breezed across her nape. “First love?”
“Lenora Leffel. We were thirteen. She was my first kiss – behind the village bakery when I was on holiday from school.” He chuckled.
“Education?” Was that her breathless voice?
“I attended the village school to learn my primary rules. I went to a private boy’s school when I was eight, then Cambridge.”
Aha! She’d gotten the accent right. “Have you ever had your heart broken?”
He froze. “Yes.” Stopping his kisses, he sat straight. “At University. There was a young widow who lived nearby. She befriended me. The more time we spent together, the more we grew attached. I think she thought I would marry her when I graduated, and maybe I entertained the idea myself on occasion. But she had two young boys, you see, and I wasn’t ready for that. I couldn’t give her what she wanted. I had to leave her, and it broke my heart to tears.”
His story moved her more than she cared to admit. “I’m sorry.”
“It was a long time ago, and I’m quite over her. She married a nice bloke who manages a pub there in Cambridge. Now, I told you something very personal I’ve never shared with anyone. I would adore it if you’d afford me the same courtesy.”
“Share something profoundly personal?”
“Yes, please.” Teague entwined his fingers in his lap and waited.
Shrugging the robe onto her shoulders, Jaeda let her mind wonder to the only event in her life that could compare. She didn’t want to share it, but he was right. How could she capture his heart if she refused to bare her soul? She sighed.
“It was summer in Virginia and I was sixteen. I took a job watching two young girls, and we spent a lot of our days at a swimming pool at their father’s apartment complex. A boy came from Tennessee to visit with his mother at the same apartment community, and he was a competitive diver, so he spent most of his days at the pool, too.” She swallowed against the memory of the heartache. “He was the most beautiful boy I’d ever seen. And he was the most interesting, too. He was athletic, smart, drove a motorcycle, and his Tennessee accent made him exotic to me. I was so young.” She shook her head.
“And very beautiful, if your looks were anything like now.”
She liked that he considered her beautiful. Hearing him say so actually took some of the discomfort from the telling of her tale. “The attraction was mutual. Strange thing was, we never got physical beyond playing in the pool. Never even kissed.”
Teague arched his brows but didn’t interrupt.
“The first time he ever expressed an interest in seeing me away from the pool, he asked me to take a ride with him on his motorcycle. He came to my house like a gentleman and met my parents. Then he took me on a scenic ride before parking next to a wooded area overlooking the Roanoke River. He kissed me there. I thought it was the start of something big. But then he told me was going back to Tennessee the next day.”
“It crushed you.”
She whispered, “It was awful. I never saw him again.”
“And you still feel the pain?”
“No. I remember how it felt, but I’m a different person now. It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
He grinned. “Good. Thank you for trusting me. And I can make you a promise.”
“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”
“I promise we’ll get physical. Seriously physical.”
Chapter Ten
Jaeda didn’t wait for Teague to make the first move. Cupping his jaw, she leaned her shoulder against his chest. She tipped her chin and touched her lips to his. At the contact, her stomach fluttered. What was it about this man that turned her inside out?
Urging her to open under the pressure of his mouth, he slid a hand into the V of her robe. His fingers skimmed the upper curve of her breast. She inhaled sharply through her nostrils as a thrill of goose bumps raced down her arms. His tongue, smooth, soft and minty, tempted hers into a dance that sent her senses reeling.
His hand went lower and his thumb grazed her nipple. A bolt of electric pleasure shot through her abdomen and caused an explosion of need between her thighs, making her spine arch. Back and forth, he brushed the hardened crest until her pulse throbbed within the swelling folds of her crease.
As she had wanted to since seeing him without a shirt, she rubbed his chest. Taut skin stretched over hard muscle. His widely swirling chest hair tickled between her fingers. She enjoyed the fact that she could touch this sublime man anywhere she preferred, as if he were hers.
He released her lips and pressed expert kisses along her jaw then down her throat. His passion lit her skin on fire, and suddenly, she couldn’t get out of the robe fast enough. She hooked fingers on the collar and pulled while he untied the belt at her waist. Opening it, he stared at her.
“You’re lovely,” he said so low she had to strain to hear. He skimmed his hand from between her breasts to her bellybutton.
A heavy heat centered deep within her, below his hand. She hadn’t felt this in such a long time. With relief in reach, Jaeda enjoyed the caress of his gaze. His eyes raked her from face to knees and back, as potent as any touch.
“I love the way you look at me,” she said. The throbbing between her legs grew stronger.
“I love the way you look.” Standing, he unzipped his trousers and undressed in a single move.
He took her breath away. Though not a
s defined or as large as a bodybuilder, he obviously worked out and played hard. And she wanted him to play hard with her. Right now.
She reached for him, but he shook his head. With an arm behind her knees and the other around her back, he lifted her from the loveseat. Her arms slid free of the robe and left it behind as he carried her to the bed.
“You like carrying me, don’t you?”
He grinned and lowered her hips to the exposed sheet. He pressed her against piled pillows while flipping the thick comforter out of the way. The linens cooled her hot skin. Teague didn’t give her time to catch a chill, however.
Kneeling between her ankles, he grasped her hips and hauled her to him. “Seduction becomes you, gorgeous. You’re magnificent, with your blushing skin and shining eyes.”
“Seduction?” She wanted to worry, but he began stroking her thighs. “Are you seducing me?” Whatever he called it, she needed him to keep doing it.
“You’re seducing me, Jaeda. You’ve been at it all evening – since the club. But I like it.” He tipped forward and planted a kiss to the gentle rise of her belly.
It occurred to her that she ought to deny it. Turn it around on him. With his hands learning her body, though, she couldn’t think. She wanted simply to feel – pleasure, joy, connection. Anything but the loneliness and distrust that had consumed her life since her recruitment into the agency. She bent her knees and hugged her inner thighs to his hips, urging him closer.
He trailed lips and tongue along a searing path up her abdomen. At her breasts, he kissed one then moved to the other and proceeded to manipulate the nipple into aching hardness. Jaeda encouraged him with massaging fingers on his shoulders. His readiness rested against her, but he didn’t hurry. On the contrary, his leisurely pace ensured her a rapid plunge into yearning insanity. Increasing her massage didn’t help.
“Please,” she begged. Only he could relieve the pressure in her loins.
Moving to her other breast and employing his teeth on the straining nipple, he caressed a hand down her stomach then eased a finger into her slick folds. She sighed. She rolled her hips and arched. Although it didn’t meet her ultimate desire, he provided some alleviation.
He stroked her cleft and abandoned her breast. Hovering above her, he stared into her eyes a long moment. In his gaze, he bared his soul – his determination and a glimmer of insecurity. Did he doubt his ability to pleasure her? A miserable sadness washed over her. His generosity astounded her. He was real, and strong, and from what she could tell, faithful to everyone dear to him.
She inserted her fingers into his hair and drew his lips to hers while swallowing a sob. How could she spend four hours on target and not catch one wicked glint? One iota of body language to indicate he hid something? One sign of illegal or dubious activity? Granted, they'd had merely one evening, and perhaps he showed her his best face, but she began to wonder if the agency had made a mistake.
Tomorrow, in the light of day, maybe she would renew her watchful stance and wait for him to show his true self. For tonight, however, she would trust him. She would bare her soul as he had, and give him everything within her.
Anticipation tightened in her womb. His finger no longer assuaged her need. She wanted him inside her. With his tongue in her mouth, she closed her lips around it and gently sucked. At the same time, she reached between them and grasped his jutting staff. He stiffened – in a good way.
“Now, Teague. I can’t wait.”
“Thank God,” he breathed in her ear, sweeping his cheek against hers. Leaning across her, he reached into his nightstand drawer then reared up and tore open an aluminum condom pack with his teeth.
Jaeda took it from him and rolled the protection over his steely erection. With her entire body on edge with need, she felt like she would come out of her skin if she didn’t have him inside her immediately.
She fitted his tip to her opening, and he took it from there. Bracing his palms on the mattress, he entered her in short strokes. She would have melted with relief if not for his size. As he inched forward, he stretched her, and she had to concentrate on relaxing her muscles to allow him entry. One final thrust had him filling her completely.
“Are you okay?” he whispered.
“More than okay.” She wrapped her legs over his back and crossed her ankles. “Make me scream.”
“Your wish is my command, milady.” Teague withdrew to his tip then thrust hard.
He went so deep she practically felt him in her throat. Jaeda cried out and threw her arms around him. Clinging to him, she concentrated on the building tide within her as he found his beat. His rhythm became hers, and she rocked her hips to meet his thrusts.
Never once did he close his eyes, and never once did she look away. She let him see her pleasure, her susceptibility, her reliance on him to help her reach fulfillment. His features grew pained and the skin stretched tightly across his cheekbones as his thrusts turned urgent. The urgency communicated a straining tension within her, and she began to ride the wave to climax.
Each stroke took her higher until she couldn’t hold on any longer. Screaming her release, she shut her eyes and let the orgasm wash over her, pull her into its undertow, drown her. When it relinquished its hold, she surfaced and sucked a breath through her mouth with a gasp.
Above her, Teague braced, his body shuddering and his head back like a wolf howling at the moon. Every muscle in his chest and arms bulged. Every vein stood at attention. Then he yelled – a low, rough, anguished cry that touched her heart.
Tears welled in her eyes. When he relaxed and looked at her, she didn’t try to hide it. She offered him a watery smile and held out her arms. Accepting her invitation, he sank until his weight pressed her into the bedding. It comforted her. Somehow made her feel whole.
“I made you scream,” he said against her neck, sounding proud.
She chuckled and wiped wetness from the corner of her eye. “Yes, you did.”
* * * *
Jaeda woke in the quiet of the night. She didn’t remember Teague withdrawing from her body or leaving the bed, yet he now slept with his back to her and the bathroom light had been turned off. Across the room, a gas fireplace gave off orange light. She used the glow to see her way as she rolled from the bed and snatched her robe from the loveseat.
Her bare feet made no noise on the carpet, but she glanced over her shoulder, just the same, to make sure he still slept before she entered the sitting area. The curtain on this side of the bed remained closed. She had forgotten. It disappointed her that she wouldn’t get a last glimpse of him before she went to prowl his house. She shrugged into the cozy robe and snuck from his suite then proceeded cautiously toward the stairs.
The house's quiet unnerved her. She wanted to turn around and crawl into bed with Teague. Snuggle against him and perhaps persuade him to play. But she had a job to do.
At the bottom of the stairs, she went slowly as her heart pounded. She could hardly make out a thing in the huge space. She retraced her steps from memory and hoped she wouldn’t trip or stub a toe. When she reached the door to the foyer, she released a breath she hadn’t realized she held.
A nightlight near the foyer table offered a soft white glow. Pausing for a moment, she listened for any noise. Silence met her ears. Jogging on tiptoes, Jaeda found the study and shut herself in.
The fire, burning low now, still sent flames dancing around the last log. Yellow-orange light flickered on the walls, making the study the brightest room in the house. Heat from the fireplace also made it the warmest.
She scampered across the chill hardwood floor to the desk. Tucking her legs under her on the chair, she gave the mouse a wiggle to see if his computer was running. The screen blinked to life and the CPU whirred awake. She clicked on the globe icon at the upper left corner of the desktop and received a reward of instant internet.
Nibbling at her bottom lip, she quickly accessed her favorite weather website and checked the weather at a glance. She used memorized cod
e to hack the website’s server, and buried her query in their high-powered computer. The weather website spun like a piece of paper and revealed a hidden page behind. Typing the site given to her by the agency earlier, she glanced at the study door. It remained closed.
A security screen blocked her, but she bypassed it by entering the op code name and then her own. An email page formed, and she smiled. She was in.
“Am stranded at target’s country manor. Snowbound. Need further instruction.”
The response came immediately. “Have you completed your assignment?”
“Soon.” What else could she say? If she did capture Teague’s heart, how would she know? Did she have to wait until he told her?
A movement in her peripheral vision caught her attention, and she glanced past the monitor. The study door stood open, and Teague watched her from the doorway. Panic seized her heart, which didn’t seem to want to beat anymore. Forcing a smile to her lips, she gave him a little wave.
In the text box, a message appeared. “Your deadline is moved up. You must meet your objective tomorrow.”
Tomorrow! “Why?” she typed.
Teague stepped inside. “I rolled over and you were gone. Couldn’t sleep?”
Lifting her fingertips from the keyboard, she cocked her head to the side in what she hoped looked like charming playfulness. “I must have passed out on you earlier,” she hedged. “I’m sorry about that.”
He came closer, a glance at the falling snow out the window blessedly slowing his progress. “Don’t worry about it. I can’t believe they didn’t predict this snow. So, what are you doing back there?”
“Just checking the weather.” Where was the response? Come on, already, she screamed in her mind.
The response popped into the box. “Do not leave. Danger is imminent. Watch your back and don’t let the target out of your sight.”
Code Name Desire Page 6