The man sniffed at Cory. “Frankly, cousin, I am disappointed in you, as I’m sure your parents, rest their souls, would concur.”
Cory’s eyebrows arched above her eyes in a mocking display of incredulity. “Frankly, cousin, I am surprised you don’t remember that I forever disappointed my parents—from my choice of clothes to my choice of medical residency. I distinctly remember my father sipping his brandy and enjoying his Cuban cigar while he lambasted me for wanting to be a pediatrician. As for my mother?” She lifted one shoulder in an elegant display of disdain. “She was far too inebriated and involved with social obligations and her paramours—much like your own mother—to care.”
Dalton nudged Duke and whispered, “Dude, don’t ever piss her off. She’ll flay your skin off with those hundred-dollar words.
Duke grinned and whispered back. “Yeah. Sexy as hell, ain’t it?”
Rob finished reading the long sheet of paper then passed it along to a man who’d sauntered up. He wore a tropical shirt of impossible colors and plaid Bermuda shorts. With a cigar stuck in the corner of his mouth, a bottle of beer in one hand, and a battered baseball cap that read “The Conch Republic” pushed back to reveal a broad forehead and sparse hair, he skimmed the order.
“Huh.” The man handed the document back to Rob. “Which one of these sumbitches is causing all the trouble?” Everyone pointed at Gerald. “Damn tourists. Son, you have about fifteen minutes to get in this damn rental car and get your ass pedaling up Route One before I take a serious dislike to your aforementioned ass.”
“But,” Gerald sputtered.
“But nothin’. That order’s not valid. You didn’t attempt a Baker Act and frankly, you jackass, that action would not fly given Dr. Prince’s very firm grasp of reality and her obvious intelligence. What you tried to do is prove incompetence, and since the defendant was neither notified nor present to present a defense, the order is invalid and there’s not a judge—unless you’re paying his retirement fund in toto—who would enforce what’s typed on that paper.” He glanced at his watch. “You now have approximately ten minutes. Officers, I leave it in your capable hands to deal with this matter. I have a winning hand and lots of chips on the table.”
Rob touched the brim of his cap in a salute. “Sorry to bother you, Judge Rouse.”
Gerald snatched the order from Rob’s hand and stuffed it into his briefcase. He hesitated before getting into the driver’s seat, but was careful to keep the door between him and the others. “This isn’t over, Coreen.”
“Is this about the money, Gerald? Because I don’t care about it. I never have. You want it? Have the trust lawyers draw up an agreement. I’ll consider signing the bloody thing just to put an end to your ridiculous attempts on my life.”
“Yeah, about that.” Duke growled from behind her. “We still have a score to settle, asshole.”
“What the—” Gerald jerked and shook his foot. Moshe, rudely interrupted by the man’s reaction, moved to the rear tire and lifted his leg again.
Cory slapped her palm over her mouth while the men all laughed.
“Damn, Uri. That dog is pretty damn smart.” Dalton bent over at the waist as he laughed harder.
“He is, yes.” The Israeli snapped his fingers, and the dog moved to his side, anticipating the ear ruffle Uri dispensed.
They all watched Gerald pull away. Rob and Patti jumped on their bikes to follow, Rob reporting the incident into his radio. A patrol car would intercept Gerald and escort him off the key.
“Come. I will buy the first round to celebrate Moshe’s intelligence.” Uri laughed and slapped Duke on the back. “You, my friend, may have a rain check.”
Oh, yeah. Definitely a rain check. Duke’s plans did not include chugging beers with the boys. He had every intention of getting Cory naked and in his bed. Immediately. If not sooner.
Chapter 21
DUKE COULDN’T get back to the house they nicknamed “The Barracks” fast enough. He kept a bruising grip on Cory’s arm, all but dragging her through and around the pedestrians clogging the sidewalks. At one point, he even steered her into the street, dodging traffic with reckless dependence on his reflexes. Breathless, she jogged at his side, too winded to speak.
He palmed the security panel, shouldered the door open as the lock released, and barely took the time to close the door and reset the security system.
“Duke, please. Slow down.”
“No.”
“Please? We should talk.”
“No we shouldn’t.”
“But—”
“Shut up, princess.” He hauled her up against the wall and wrapped her braid around his hand. “While this makes a nice leash to control you with, I want your hair loose. Understood?”
She nodded mutely, eyes wide. Air rushed in and out of her lungs, swelling her breasts so they brushed his chest.
“Damn, babe. I’ve been dreaming about this.” He watched her throat work as she gulped. “Look at me.” She raised her eyes. She reminded him of a doe, soft and shy and ready to run. “Don’t close your eyes. Do you understand? I want you to see me as I break you apart. I want to watch you when I put you back together.”
Her pupils dilated, and she stopped breathing for a moment. Damn but that was sexy. And he read her acceptance in her expression. “Let’s go.”
Duke kept her braid wrapped around his fist, and he marched her in front of him. His room was draped in shadows. He’d lived with the dark so long he was used to it, but tonight? Tonight he wanted to see every moment. He pressed a switch just inside the door and lights blazed. Cory blinked and squinted against the brightness. He ripped off the band holding the ends of her braid and dug his fingers through the woven strands, loosening them. He leaned in and rubbed his cheek against the back of her head. “Magnificent.”
He dropped his hands to her shoulders, surprised when his fingers trembled slightly. With utmost gentleness, he turned her to face him. “Strip.”
The fingers that gripped the hem of her shirt shook. She managed to peel off the blouse. Her hands fumbled with the ties cinching her skirt around her waist. Impatient, Duke brushed them away and untied the knot. The loosened material slid over her hips and pooled at her feet. He stepped back so he could see all of her.
“Fuck me.” His voice was as unsteady as his hands had been earlier. “You’re so damn beautiful, princess.” Hell. She was blushing and wasn’t that just…cute. He had to clear his throat before he spoke again. “Get on the bed, Cory.”
Cory backed away from him, torn between thrill and fear. Duke wouldn’t hurt her. She was inherently positive of that. He might be rough. He might command her, but he would never do anything she didn’t want. “Yes, all right,” she murmured as the back of her knees hit the end of the bed. She lowered her hips to sit then squirmed her way to the center.
Duke toed off his boots and stalked her across the bed. He almost groaned when her tongue flicked out to moisten her bottom lip. His dick was so fucking hard it felt like it would break off if her hands didn’t touch him soon.
“Who do you belong to?” He demanded an answer from her, but craving the connection, he locked her in his arms. Crushed her mouth to his.
“You,” she cried against his lips. “Only you. I want you.”
“You have me.” He swept her up. “Now.” Always a voice whispered in his mind. “Fast,” he said, ripping his shirt over his head. “I’m gonna take you fast and rough. This is real, princess. No lies, no pretense. Just you and me.”
A wave of doubt washed through her eyes and he hesitated. “What?”
“Is there? A you and me?”
He clamped his hands around her ribs and lifted her higher on the bed then skimmed up her arms, pinning them. “You’re here. I’m here. So yeah. There is.” He placed her fingers against the headboard. “Grip the bars. Don’t let go. You will take everything I give you.”
His mouth covered her breast above her bra, teeth nipping the swell. She gasped and arched i
nto him, her action sending heat stabbing through him, like light filling all the cold, dark corners of his life. He ground his erection against her mound.
Cory reared up, rubbed against him, overpowered and overwhelmed but instinctively wanting more. For a moment—for a long, shuddering moment—desperation flooded her. She wanted Duke buried deep inside her, needed this—his commanding presence to wash away her fears, her doubts, the worries each day brought. Whatever this was between them defied definition. Her body, soft, compliant. His, hard and strong. The desperation won. She let go of the headboard. Reached for him.
“No.” Duke jerked away. He cuffed her wrists in one hand, forced them above her head. “I’ll tie you if you let go again. Do you understand?”
She shook her head. She didn’t understand. She wanted—needed to touch him as he was touching her.
“Don’t move.” He rolled away and Cory almost cried. “Please,” she whispered.
He stood beside the bed, staring at her, his eyes devouring every inch of her, his gaze heating her skin as surely as his touch did.
“Oh, you’ll be begging before we’re done, princess. That’s a promise.”
He opened the drawer in the bedside table and snatched the two silk scarves he’d stashed there. He had her hands secured in moments. Duke stripped then knelt beside her on the bed. He pulled the cups of her bra down, freeing her breasts and framing them at the same time. A moment later, her panties disappeared with a quick lift of her hips and a whisk down her legs and over her feet.
“Spread your legs.”
She did without hesitation. Duke settled between her thighs. She tensed as he dropped his head and ran his tongue through her slick folds. “Fuck, baby. You’re so damn wet already. For me. Just for me.”
Duke used his tongue, fingers, teeth to whip her into a frenzy as he devoured her pussy. He had to grip her hips to keep her bouncing hips still. Her panting breaths were like music, her low, pleading moans a prayer to his soul. He left her quivering, on the very brink of climax. Climbing her body, he positioned above her.
“Open your mouth.” She followed his order immediately. Duke teased the head of his dick across her lips before he pushed through them into the wet heat of her mouth. “Suck me.”
She clamped her lips around him and fire built in his balls, traveling to the base of his spine. Fuck. He wasn’t going to last long. He wanted her too much. He pulled out of her mouth, grinning as she lifted her head trying to take him back between her lips. “Later,” her growled. “I’m going to fuck you right now.”
Duke moved back between her legs. “Spread wider. Yeah. Like that. Just like that, baby.” He guided his dick to her opening and suddenly realized he didn’t want her bound for this. When he freed her hands, she tangled her fingers in his hair and lifted her head so that her mouth could fix urgently to his.
She tasted him, her tongue tangling with his. Firm, full lips feasted on her before retreating. The scrape of his teeth, small nips and erotic bites that stopped just short of pain brought new urgency to her lovemaking. Cory didn’t need Duke’s orders to keep her eyes open. She wanted to watch him, see his eyes cloud with lust, with need for her. The sensation was heady. Feel me, taste me, take me. Love me, she implored silently. I see you, Duke. I see you always.
Her hands were greedier now, more impatient as they pulled at his hair, as her nails sank into the skin of his shoulders. He buried one hand in her hair, pulled her head back to bare her throat. Her skin was hot, like she had a fever. Her heart thundered beneath his lips as he nipped and suckled her nipple. The demon that haunted him, lurking in the dark where he’d existed for too long, was conquered by their passion. For now. This wouldn’t last. Couldn’t last, but for as long as he had her, as they had each other, he’d survive.
The ferocity of her need inflamed his own, burning like phosphorus in his bloodstream. He plunged into her, all attempts at any sort of finesse far beyond his capabilities. This wasn’t making love. This was fucking in its purest, most primal form.
He dragged her hips up, changing the angle of his thrusts. She bucked beneath him, and he fixed his teeth on the soft skin of her shoulder. He wanted—no, he needed to mark her. To show every male around that she belonged to him. His hips pumped relentlessly. A thought formed, a nebulous idea that shocked him when it took form, but it felt so fucking right. He knew in that moment of perfect clarity, with the two of them perched on the edge of infinity, that he would give anything, give everything he had—life and soul—to keep her looking at him as she was now, with hope, acceptance, just maybe with love.
She cried out and clutched him, pulling his thoughts back to her, to them. She locked her legs around him, locked those clear, blue eyes on his. “Now,” she begged. “Yes, oh, God, now please.”
“Hard and fast, princess.”
He drove into her, felt her muscles squeeze around him, a wet, silky fist throbbing in time with his pulse as she came. Felt that warm, curvy body tremble and shudder as he plunged again and again. Even in the midst of her orgasm, her hips pistoned, taking him in deeper, driving him eternally on.
“Don’t shut your eyes. Don’t.” His voice was thick. “God, princess.”
She lifted her hands, and though they trembled, her palms cupped his jaw, his cheeks, holding his face so he had to look at her. “I see you, Duke. I see you.”
And her eyes were open, focused on his, when he took her over the edge again, and being anchored to her on some soul-deep level, he followed her.
CORY SLEPT warm and slack in his arms. Though exhausted, Duke couldn’t follow her into oblivion. Thoughts whirled through his brain, giving no rest or peace. He didn’t deserve her, but he couldn’t give her up. God but she pushed all his buttons, wormed her way into his life so that he felt her buried beneath his very skin. He needed to get up. Walk away. But he couldn’t. He traced his fingers over the bite mark on her shoulder. He’d put it there. He’d bruised her during their rough sex, too. He didn’t want to hurt her, but at the same time, thoughts of spanking her sweet ass before he sank into her, of seeing her splayed before him, head down, hips up, her pussy dripping for him…
His dick jerked, immediately hard and aching with wanting her again. He recalled the memory of her crouched at his feet in the helicopter, hurt. It pissed him off that she’d been injured, but the vision of her kneeling between his knees, his hand tangled in that magnificent red hair of hers filled him with such lust he could barely breathe. Was he some kind of sick fuck? What they did together felt right, but—
“You’re thinking too hard.” Her quiet words whispered across his skin as she spoke.
“You okay, princess?”
He felt her smile before she murmured, “Mmmm.”
“Why are you here?”
She pushed her hair out of her face and rose up on one elbow to look at him, her expression quizzical. “Because this is where I want to be. With you. Always.”
“Always, huh. Why?”
“I don’t understand.” Her brow furrowed, but he resisted the urge to kiss the wrinkles away.
“It’s not a hard question.” He didn’t mean to sound so gruff.
“It is if I don’t know what it is you’re asking for, Duke. What do you want me to say? I want to be here. With you. I care about you.”
He shoved her away and sat up, putting space between them. He fumbled for a light, discovered a candle and lighter on the bedside table. That would work. He needed to see her, but wanted to remain in the shadows. The candle flared in the darkness as he lit it. Settling back against the headboard, he stared at her.
“Why, Cory? Why do you care? I’m a gawddamn mess.”
“Not from where I’m sitting.”
“You don’t even know me. Dammit, I’m so broken you’ll never fit the pieces back together.”
“I don’t believe that. I won’t believe it.”
Candlelight flickered across tears scattered like colored glass on her lashes. “Fuck, princess. Don’t
cry. I can’t fuckin’ stand your tears. They rip me to shreds.” He scrubbed at his forehead, tried again. “You just don’t get it.”
“Get what? That you’re the man I love? Because you are. Just you, Duke. Only you. I love you. I can’t make it any plainer.” She reached for him, but he jerked away. “Is that what you need to hear? It’s the truth.”
“Truth? How do you know it’s love?” He threw back the covers and got up to pace. “Love? I don’t even know what the hell love is, princess. You’re asking for something I’m not sure I can give. You want forever. I can’t even promise next week.”
He stalked from one side of his room to the other and back, over and over. Cory shifted, sitting up and pulling her knees to her chest, then wrapped her arms around them. She watched, saying nothing for a long time.
After a soft sigh, she spoke. “What do you want, Duke?”
Duke stopped, turned to face her. “I want you warm and naked and compliant in my bed. I don’t want any other sonavabich to touch you in any way, shape, or form.” He scrubbed his jaw. “But that’s not love. That’s sex. Maybe even obsession. But that’s all it is.”
He turned away again, unable to stand the pain etched in her expression. He was incapable of tenderness, of giving her what she deserved. He could dominate her in bed. He could hold her afterward while she spiraled down from the orgasms he gave her. But he couldn’t love her. Not here. Not now.
Or could he? He was a selfish bastard. He wanted Cory to surrender to him, to hand over her heart and soul to him and him alone. But that came with a price. Was he prepared to pay it?
Sheets rustled before arms slipped around his waist, and Cory pressed against his back. A moment later, she stepped away, and he immediately missed her warmth. He heard the bed creak and then her voice. “Come to bed, Duke.”
He glanced over his shoulder. She knelt, naked, in the center of his bed, her head lowered in submission. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever laid eyes on.
SHE WAS warm and naked and still soft from the night. In the dark, morning just a whispered promise outside the window, she moved over him like a dream, all scent and touch and shadow. Her lips and fingers stroked over him, stirring needs that were never quite still, never quite sated.
Double Cross (Hard Target Book 1) Page 16