The Last Detail

by Melissa Schroeder

  He pulled her from the stall and continued to kiss her as he lifted her into his arms. His cock was throbbing, eager, needy. He couldn’t wait to slide into her, feel that clasp of her muscles on him. He shuddered as he walked down the hall, blindly looking for a room.

  She pulled away. “Down the hall and to the right.”

  It was as if she knew what he was thinking before he was. It was uncanny how well they already seemed to know each other. He didn’t question it, just followed her directions and walked into the room. Without looking at the surroundings, he made it to the bed and practically threw her down on it. She laughed when she hit it, a sound so young and feminine it had him stopping for a moment. It was completely against the image she projected, the one everyone bought into.

  Her hair was dripping wet and it reached down almost to her waist. She sat there in the middle of the bed, her body glistening from her shower and waited for him. For him. He couldn’t stop the strange sense of inevitability that stole over him. He brushed it aside and pulled off his clothes in record time. He joined her on the bed and immediately covered her body with his own. Damn her skin was soft. He kissed his way down to her breasts and sighed as he took a hardened nipple into his mouth.

  Then he moved his way down to her pussy.

  “Sam?” Her voice was uncertain, but he didn’t think a lot of it. Instead, he settled between her legs and pulled her closer to his mouth. She was wet and hot, the scent of her arousal filling his senses. As he slipped his tongue between her pussy lips, she tensed. It was odd that she seemed so innocent in bed. She was a woman with a history, a woman of the streets. He didn’t know a lot of retrieval agents who didn’t have crazy sex drives from the amount of adrenalin they pumped out. He forgot about the contradiction when he felt her relax against him. He slipped his finger into her and moaned when her muscles clamped down on his digit. As he added another finger, he pulled her hardened clit between his teeth. She screamed, the sound filled with surprise and pleasure, as she convulsed beneath him.

  Sam pulled back and then kissed his way back up her body. He gripped her hips in his hands and entered her in one fast, hard thrust. She stiffened and he realized just how tight she was then. She was aroused, wet, like a wet glove gripping his cock, but she definitely wasn’t that experienced. He gripped her hips as he moved to his knees and he rode. With each thrust, her muscles clamped down harder on his cock. He looked down at her, reveled in the way she arched her back up, offering her breasts to him. He bent down and took a nipple into his mouth. She let loose a throaty moan as he grazed his teeth over it.

  Increasing his thrusts, he pulled back from her luscious breasts to move his hand down to press against her clit. She screamed again, her muscles fastened hard on his cock, pulling him deeper into her warm, wet passage. He couldn’t hold back anymore. He thrust into her one more time and followed her into ecstasy.

  Long moments later, he pulled out of her and then collapsed on the bed, pulling her into his arms. She shivered against him but said nothing. He felt a little disappointed, but then what had he expected. It was just sex, a way to let off steam. Her body started to relax against him and he could almost sense the moment she drifted off to sleep.

  He trailed his fingers up and down her arm and stared at the darkened shadows of the ceiling. The spring winds whipped through the trees outside as his mind drifted back to another lover, one that made him do stupid things like he had just done with Lou. She was a risk. She wanted to arrest him for a crime someone was framing him for. For what reasons, he had no idea. He had some enemies, but most of them didn’t have the brains to come up with a frame job like this one. Hell, most of them were probably lost in the nether regions of the universe. This took someone with not only the knowledge, but also the connections to do it. An all-out man hunt, with that many credits attached to it, that cost money just to post in more than one quadrant.

  Sam continued to stare up into the shadows of the room while he contemplated who hated him enough to plan something this clusterfucked.

  Lou woke up and was immediately aware of another body in the bed. It took her a second to remember who was with her. It was odd enough that she was in bed with another person. Then the last day’s events came back to her in a flash. Going for Sam in the club, teasing him, arresting him, stepping in front of that bullet.

  “Do you always think so much right after you wake up?” he asked, his voice gravelly from sleep, and of course that just made him sexier.

  She opened her eyes and turned her head. He was propped up on his elbow watching her with those gray eyes of his.

  “Not always. But this is odd enough.”

  He said nothing for a moment. “So, you really aren’t involved with your boss.”

  “I told you I wasn’t.”

  “No, you told me it wasn’t any of my business. That’s different.”

  “Still not sure it is.”

  He touched her chin with his finger, then skimmed it down to her breasts. “I have to disagree with you there, Lou. I find that it is my business.”

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  “Now that I’ve had you, I’m feeling a bit territorial.” He frowned when he said it, as if he wasn’t happy about the fact.

  She shook her head as she tried to push away the heat and comfort his behavior brought to her. “Get over it.”

  He brushed his thumb over her nipple and she felt it to the toes of her feet. Damn, the man was lethal. From the sleepy bedroom eyes, those magnificent hands and that wicked smile, he had her reduced to a puddle of lust.

  “I don’t know if I want to.” He fingered the scar between her breasts. “This is a nasty wound but it’s nothing compared to the ones on your back.”

  She shook her head, not wanting to talk about the past, or even the future. Like always, she liked living in the now.

  “Nothing compared to the nasty scar you have on your shoulder.”

  He shrugged and she could tell from the look in his eyes that he was disappointed that she wouldn’t share. But she couldn’t—wouldn’t—lay herself on the line for a man who was just using her for pleasure.

  He moved his hand to her belly. She could feel her body stirring. Liquid heat pooled into her belly then slipped lower, wetting her sex. Even now she was ready, wanted to feel the thrust of his cock, his body over hers, the primal mating that had completely undone her. She hadn’t ever thought she would like sex, but right now, she would do anything to feel him inside of her again.

  Damned if she would let him know it though.

  “In fact,” he said as he leaned down and brushed his mouth over hers, “I have a feeling I am about to exert some possession over you right now.”

  She shouldn’t feel this way, shouldn’t want to be owned, to be possessed by this big hulk of a man. He had no scruples, no country, wasn’t any better a person than she was. But dammit, she did want him, needed him to make her feel again. It scared her to death, more than even her first time out with a john, than the night she almost died, or the first time she had to kill a retrieval. In that same instant though, she was thrilled. She wanted to get lost, to forget everything around them.

  She sighed as he slipped his tongue over her mouth and she opened it willingly. He moved and she thought he would cover her body with his. Instead, he pulled her over and rolled onto his back. She found herself straddled on top of him. She sat up and felt his hard cock twitch beneath her pussy.

  He looked up at her with his eyes barely open, but she could see that fire there again, the one that burned deep in her soul. She knew she was just another woman, one of many from what she knew about him. At this moment, it didn’t matter. Right now all that mattered was that he wanted her.

  She leaned down, rubbed her breasts against his chest and smiled when his cock twitched again. She rotated her hips and he moaned.

  She kissed him then, long, slow, wet and reveled in the feelings it sent reeling through her. Heat, need, lust, but there was something
else there, something that had stirred the moment she had touched him in that apartment. By the time she pulled back, they were both panting heavily.

  She sat, lifting herself up to her knees, and took his cock into her hand. As slowly as she could, she slid down on his penis, enjoying the way he watched her as each inch entered her. She was still sore from their earlier lovemaking, but it didn’t matter. The fullness of having him in her, stretching her to the limit, made her feel complete.

  Soon he was in her all the way and she started to move. Up and down, enjoying the fact that she was the one in charge, the one who was pacing their lovemaking. He rose to a sitting position and she thought he would take control. Instead, he took her nipple into his mouth, allowing her to stay on top. The brush of his tongue sent a bolt of lightning racing through her blood. She increased her speed but couldn’t find satisfaction. It was there shimmering just out of her reach, but Sam apparently knew what she needed. He slipped his hand down her torso and pressed his finger against her clit. In that next instant, she went hurtling over the edge into her orgasm. It crashed through her with such force that she screamed his name as she came. He fell back, gripped her hips and thrust up into her one last time, shouting as he came. She collapsed on top of him, breathing heavily, her mind now completely oblivious to everything but the fading pleasure.

  “Wow,” Sam said, as he trailed his fingers up and down her spine.

  “That about sums it up,” she said, as she let her lips curve into a smile. She could question what she was doing, but right now she just didn’t give a damn. For once, she was going to just enjoy the pleasure he was willing to give her and decide what to do about it tomorrow.

  Sam pushed the button on the instant juvenator and waited for the pancakes to cook. The bell dinged a moment later and he pulled the food from the oven. As he walked over to the table, he worked over the problems he faced. He had been framed and he had to figure out why and how. There was a long list of bastards who would like to see him locked away…or worse. It was going to take a while to figure it out.

  That didn’t worry him as much as the woman he’d left sleeping in bed. He didn’t like the feelings he was starting to have for her. It was tangling up the mission of saving his ass and getting the hell out of Dodge once he did. But he couldn’t seem to figure Lou out. She was a contradiction. On one hand, she was a hard-ass retrieval agent who wouldn’t think twice about killing him. But in the next instant, she was vulnerable. It bothered him that he wanted to know more, wanted to know how the hell someone like her ended up in the work she did.

  When he had asked her about the scars on her chest, she had shied away from it. He didn’t even begin to question her about the marks on her back. They looked like raised welts from a long time ago. Whatever brought her to the place she was, there was one thing it told him. She was a survivor. And he admired her even more for that. His own background wasn’t that bad. He had entered the Space Corps at eighteen, out at thirty, and now working jobs for a security agency.

  A sound outside brought him out of his thoughts, and he frowned. The alarms should have gone off. He had checked them out earlier and Flores definitely knew how to arm a place. If he didn’t know better, he would have thought he was former military. He grabbed his weapon just in case and aimed it at the door. It opened slowly, revealing a man just about a year or two younger than him and a familiar smile. He remembered the last time he had seen it. It had been in a hotel room they had shared.

  “Jared?” he asked. Even to his own ears his voice was hoarse. He shook his head, trying to straighten out the picture before him. It was Jared, but not the one he had known about fifteen years earlier. He was heavier, filled out, his hair longer, not the military cut Sam was used to. There were even flecks of gray layered throughout. His eyes were the same though. Dark green with just a touch of blue.

  Jared came to a stop in the middle of the hall. “Sam. I was afraid I would find you here.”

  “Don’t tell me you’re her boss? The one who owns the cabin?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, I am.” A look of regret moved over his face. “I didn’t know it was you when I sent her out. When did you start going by a different last name?”

  “Probably about the same time you did. Nothing like two rich kids trying to run away from their families.”

  Jared stepped into the room. His long legs carried him easily through the kitchen. Sam lowered his weapon as Jared set his on the counter. Sam felt the sharp tug of arousal. He couldn’t help it, hadn’t been able to help it since they’d met in school. “Ain’t that the truth? I wouldn’t have sent Lou after you if I had known it was you.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. She’s my best, and I knew if anyone could have found you it was her. She’s been doing this for years, and I don’t know a better agent.”

  He didn’t like the warmth that filled his old friend’s voice when he talked about Lou. This went beyond friendly admiration and it was an odd twist to the gut. He didn’t know at the moment which bothered him more. The fact that his old lover was interested in his new one, or that Jared wasn’t interested in him.

  “And now you’re here.”

  He nodded as he pressed the button for cafecocoa. He took a sip before he said, “I knew when she didn’t check in there was something wrong. Lou is always dependable, always follows the rules.”

  “You have rules?”

  Jared chuckled and the sound of it grated on Sam’s nerves at the same time it aroused him. From the moment they had met years ago, there had been an uncontrollable attraction on both their parts. It had been hard to keep their hands off each other. Now he was standing here, fifteen years older, even more attractive than before. And fuck, he still had a growing lust for the woman who worked for Jared. This definitely threw a wrench in his day.

  Sam reined in his emotions as he tried to project a cool façade. He wasn’t comfortable about his feelings for Lou at the moment. She was like an addiction he couldn’t seem to keep from tasting. Hell, he had known her less than forty-eight hours and he’d spent most of that as her captive. The woman that caused him to break more rules than he should and the man he had never forgotten under the same roof? Sam was sure he’d pissed someone off in Hades to have this happen.

  “Is she okay? I heard there was a report of gunfire in the twentieth sector.”

  Yep, Jared was more than just a little involved with Lou. He could hear the edge of possession in Jared’s voice. Again, he didn’t know which part of the equation bothered him more.

  “Sam?”

  He shook his head trying to ignore the emotions twisting in his gut. “She’s fine. She got hit.”

  “Lou was shot? Why the hell didn’t you tell me?” Jared asked. His voice had risen to a pitch that had Sam’s brows arching. Not the cool competitor that he remembered from school. “Where is she?”

  “I’m fine, Jared.”

  They both looked over at her at the same time. Jared started to her. She was gorgeous. She was wearing some kind of big shirt, probably one of Jared’s, and nothing else. Her hair was a rumbled mess and she looked just like what she was. A woman who had been ravished.

  Jared stopped, his whole body going rigid with anger. He whipped around and came rushing at Sam. “You fucking bastard, I’ll kill you.”

  Chapter Six

  Lou watched in horror as the man she had come to respect, who always kept his temper under control, tackled Sam. The brutal attack took Sam by surprise and he stumbled back against the cabinets. In the next instant, Sam gained his balance and started fighting back. Jared hit him square on the nose and Sam answered with a punch to the gut.

  By the time she gained her senses, blood was dripping from Sam’s nose.

  “Stop it.”

  They ignored her as the fists continued to fly. Irritated and embarrassed, Lou did the only thing she could do. She grabbed the weapon Jared had apparently set on the counter when he arrived, and cocked it.

  “Stop or I w
ill shoot you both.”

  They both looked over at her, breathing heavily, anger pouring off them in waves so strong she was amazed it didn’t knock her over. Sam’s nose was definitely broken and Jared was going to have a black eye.

  “Step away.” They didn’t follow her directions right away, so she gripped the weapon with both hands and took aim. “I’m not joking around. Do it.”

  With a disgusted snarl, Jared threw Sam against the cabinets and then stepped away. Sam moved to tackle him again, but Lou said, “I’m not kidding, Sam. I’ll shoot you where you stand.”

  His glare was her answer, but he did as she ordered. She slowly released the breath she had been holding.

  “Now what the hell is this about?”

  Neither of them answered her.

  “I don’t have time to deal with both of you acting like little boys out of control.”

  “I need to talk to you alone,” Jared said. She studied Jared, then glanced at Sam. He was still breathing heavily. The silence that filled the small room ratcheted up the tension about fifteen gigabytes.

  “Fine. Sam, leave us alone.”

  Sam stared at her and then at Jared. She could tell he wasn’t happy about it. For a second or two she thought he might disagree. The internal conflict was easy to see in his eyes. But he nodded and started to walk toward the doorway. He stopped in front of her and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. The action was so tender it surprised her.

  “Call if he gives you shit.”

  He brushed his mouth over hers, tossed Jared a nasty look and then left them alone finally.

  “You want to explain what the fuck that was about, Jared?”

  “Sam and I go way back,” he said as he turned toward the sink to rinse off the blood from his split lip. She set the weapon on the table and approached him.

  “Here, let me help you with that.”

  He ignored her and continued to work on his injury by himself.