by C. A. Szarek
Butterflies took flight from her stomach and clogged her throat. Her voice abandoned her, but it was just as well. She might order him to hurry up, or bark that she could undress herself.
Wanting Shannon and having the guts to see it through were two different things. Her body needed him inside her.
What about her heart?
This wasn’t about emotion, let alone love. It was about need.
Taylor told her worries to go to hell and kissed him when he reached for her. Holman and Baker had both told her to relax. So she would.
Shannon broke their lip-lock and cupped her face. “Are we on the same page?” His chest rose and fell as he struggled for normal breath.
She nodded.
His amber gaze darted to her throat. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” The word was breathy.
He smiled and her heart flipped. “I told you in Dallas I wanted you, but I’ve pretty much wanted you from the first time I saw you. Even though Manning warned me about you. He said you were a piece of work.” His thumb roved back and forth over her cheekbone and sent shivers darting all over.
Taylor leaned into his touch and rested her hand over his. “I remember when you opened the door for me at that cop bar.” Months that felt like years ago.
“Me too.”
Their eyes stayed locked for two more breaths.
“Do you think Manning was right?” she whispered.
Shannon started unbuttoning her gray shirt. “Probably.” He flashed a lopsided smile that faded as soon as it was born, but he didn’t stop moving his fingers. “Does that bother you? What he thinks about you?”
Taylor’s heart skipped for a reason other than the man undressing her. She shook her head. Jared Manning hated her—with good reason. It was a canyon she couldn’t build a bridge over. She wasn’t about to admit that—or the guilt about Pompa. Although she hadn’t had a nightmare in some time. Not since she’d interviewed Joe Pompa, and she didn’t want to examine what that meant.
“It’d only bother me if you thought badly of me.” Truth.
She cared about what he thought about her. The notion bounced around in her brain. She tried not to fidget as his gaze came back to hers.
He gathered her close, with her open blouse hanging off one shoulder. Even through his shirt, she felt the heat of his body and craved more. Somehow she hated admitting that, even to herself.
Shannon dipped down and kissed her collarbone, revving her up even more. “I wouldn’t be trying to get you naked if I thought badly of you.”
“Don’t try.”
“No?”
“Do.”
He smirked and shoved her shirt away in answer. It fell to the carpet at their feet. “You can put your gun on my trunk.”
“Okay.” She shivered, but it wasn’t from the sudden air brushing her bare flesh. Shannon’s gaze devoured her as hungrily as his kiss did. Taylor pushed the haze of passion away and reached for coherent thought. “That means a lot to me, you know.” Another truth.
“What?”
“That I have your respect.”
“You have a lot more than my respect. I think you’re a hell of an investigator. But I don’t want to talk about that now.”
It was her turn to smirk. “No?”
“Hell no. Get naked.”
“You too, Sergeant.”
His answering smile was easy and oh-so sexy.
Taylor did some visual devouring of her own when Shannon tugged his tee off and tossed it to the floor. He was just as built as he felt through all that material. She gulped. She’d not gotten a chance to see any of this at her apartment, because she’d run away. Kicked him out.
She shut down those thoughts and focused on Shannon.
Here. Now.
His pecs were dusted with springy dark curls her fingers itched to touch. His six-pack was divided by a line of hair that disappeared into the waist of his jeans.
She wanted to trace it, then follow each defined line with her hands and tongue. Her body prickled and she jolted. Her nipples hardened.
There were two round puckered scars on his torso. Shannon had been shot. Taylor had heard that before, but didn’t want to pry for details. At least, not right now.
She just wanted to be with him.
“What’re you lookin’ at?” he teased. “I don’t see naked yet.”
Taylor blinked and heat kissed her cheeks. “I’d rather watch you,” she confessed.
He paused, fingers on his zipper. “Yeah?”
“I like what I see,” she whispered.
One corner of Shannon’s mouth shot up and she wanted to lick him there. “Special Agent, are you shy? That’s not a word I’d have associated with you.”
She cleared her throat and shook her head. “No. Carry on.” Taylor covered her embarrassment by tugging on her ponytail holder. She rammed her fingers into her hair, pulling her waves loose and down, until they tickled her shoulders and back.
Sucking in a breath, she reached for the hooks on her bra and slipped it off. Her nipples tingled and she fought the urge to cover herself. Her self-confidence had packed bags and moved out, and it was ridiculous. Shannon was about to see a lot more of her than bare boobs, which he’d seen and touched before.
Taylor avoided his gaze, although she could feel his eyes on her. She undid her belt, slid her holster off, and shimmied out of her slacks, but left her plain black bikini panties on. She set her gun down where Shannon had indicated, at the end of his bed.
When she mustered the courage to look at her soon-to-be lover, he stood in nothing but light gray boxers about five feet away.
“You’re gorgeous,” he breathed.
She made herself look at him as directly as he was her. Ignored the ludicrous shyness inching up from her gut. She hadn’t been a virgin for a long time, so she needed to lose the sudden emotional baggage.
Shannon closed the distance between them and settled his hands on her shoulders. “Are you okay? Still with me?”
Taylor forced a nod. “Just… Been a while for me.”
“For me, too.” His expression was serious.
“Yeah?” she whispered.
His Adam’s apple bobbed. “Yeah.” His delectable mouth curved slightly. “I’m glad it’s you.”
“Me?”
“To end my drought.”
A small laugh slipped out, surprising her. She should want to smack him, but she didn’t. Taylor smiled. Her neck and her cheeks burned. “I’m glad it’s you, too. For me.”
He cupped her cheek. “You’re even more beautiful when you smile, Special Agent.”
She trembled until he pulled her into his arms. Taylor’s voice took a hike, but she didn’t know what to say, anyway. She slid her arms around his neck and urged him down for a kiss.
It got heated in warp speed. He lifted her and they both groaned when their naked skin came together. She rubbed her breasts into him. His chest hair tickled, arousing her even more. Taylor’s nipples hardened to the point of pain.
Shannon slanted for a deeper kiss and hauled her closer, higher.
She wrapped her legs around him, her sex hitting his with a tease of friction that made her ache all over again. They were still separated by fabric, and it needed to go away.
Her thighs tremored with the effort to hold on to him, but she didn’t have to maintain her grip. He laid her on his bed, following her down, resting in the cradle of her body, his pelvis against hers. His kisses became torment as Shannon left her mouth to trail his lips over her chin, following her jaw line and nibbling her earlobe.
His hands roamed, cupping her, circling her nipples with his thumbs.
Taylor wiggled and writhed, demanding more without words.
Shannon moved downward, lavishing licks and touches on her breasts.
She yelped when he sucked a nipple into the warmth of his mouth, and she buried her hands in his dark hair. It was soft, distracting her from what he was doing, because she needed to caress
him, too.
He pushed her thighs wider, settling down, kissing and nipping her belly as he went. “You’re perfect, your skin tastes made to eat,” Shannon murmured. “Like I knew you’d be.”
Taylor whimpered when he ran his fingertip inside the waistband of her panties but didn’t pull them down.
He inhaled deeply, licking his lips. “You smell fantastic.”
She wriggled and pushed at his shoulder. “You’re a tease.”
Shannon grinned. The dimple in his right cheek was as appealing as he was. “I am?” He slid his hand inside her panties, his fingers brushing her swollen, ready flesh.
Taylor groaned, but his touch was gone as quickly as it’d come. Her body screamed a protest and she tensed. “Noooooo.”
“No?” He arched a dark eyebrow. “In these situations, that’s usually a bad word.” He made like he would lift off her.
She growled and wrapped her legs around his torso. “Don’t you go anywhere. Take my underwear off me and get inside me.”
Shannon bit his bottom lip as if it was the only way he could fight a smile. He lifted her panties away from her body, then stilled. “You sure?”
Taylor narrowed her eyes and lifted her hips—as much as she could with his weight on her. “Take them off.”
He kissed her inner thigh. “If you insist.”
“At this point, I don’t care if you rip them off.”
Laughter filled her ears. “That only works in the movies, or so I’m told.”
Taylor giggled—she couldn’t help it. What is this man doing to me?
“Whatever works. While you’re at it, take yours off, too.”
“Yes, ma’am. I kinda like it when you’re bossy.” Shannon wore a playful expression. He was even more gorgeous.
Taylor’s heart skipped and her stomach fluttered.
Their eyes locked for a hundredth time and she had to swallow again when he grabbed her bikinis with both hands. He was serious now—his face held an intensity that made her want him even more. Her temples throbbed with her roaring pulse.
Shannon didn’t need help to slide the black cotton off one hip, then the other. He seemed as if he would tease, lowering them slowly, but after an audible intake of breath, her hot cop yanked them down and off.
Then stared at her.
Until she wiggled in his bed.
“Damn.”
“Good damn?” She cursed her cracked voice. Taylor shouldn’t care what he thought, but she did. Her body was leanly muscled, shouting her love of running. But because of her chosen form of exercise, her thighs were on the thick side. Muscle, of course, but what if Shannon—
“Great damn. You’re beautiful.” He reached up to tug on her earlobe. “I already told you that, Special Agent.”
“Taylor,” she whispered. “I don’t like feeling distant from you.” The words slipped out unbidden, and panic seized her.
Shannon was too quiet.
When she had the guts to glance back into his handsome face, he wore a soft smile. She read tenderness in those amber eyes. Her insides swarmed.
He hovered over her, taking her mouth with the same gentleness of that smile. The kiss went on, melting into something languorous and meaningful.
It scared the shit out of Taylor, as much as it made her burn for him. She tried to control the flow of unwanted emotion and failed to shut it down. Her body ignored her mind’s commands to move away from him, get up. Get dressed. Leave.
She’d made a reservation at The Covington, after all. She had a place to go.
Shannon started to rock, his boxer-clad erection grinding into her, distracting her from the chaos.
Physical demand asserted itself—Taylor needed this. Needed him.
His movement wasn’t enough. She broke their kiss. “I want you and you’re still not naked.”
He caressed her cheek and flashed a grin, dimple and all. “I’ll be right back. Condoms are in the bathroom.” He popped up and she shivered, suddenly cold.
Taylor missed him with an intensity that didn’t make sense. “Are they still good?” she called. “You said you were…um…having a drought.”
Shannon came back to her laughing, holding up a blue plastic strip and waving it around. “They’re still good. I checked the date on the box.”
Taylor arched an eyebrow. “And we need…six?”
His gaze burned when it landed on her. “Yes.”
She sat up, cocking her head to one side. “We’ll see. I haven’t seen the goods just yet, let alone taken a ride.”
Shock rolled over his expression. He threw his head back and chuckled.
Taylor grinned. Weight lifted off her chest, but her heart sped into overdrive.
Shannon stalked to his bed. “I didn’t know you had a sense of humor, sweets.”
She pushed to her knees to meet him. Took the condoms and dropped them to his dark brown comforter. Taylor rested her hands on his hips, glaring at his boxers. “First of all, take these off.” She tugged. “Secondly, don’t tell anyone I don’t always have a stick up my ass.”
He smirked and slipped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest. His mouth landed hard on hers.
The same rush of desire hit, more intense as his pecs flattened her breasts and his large hands claimed her bare back.
Her everything somersaulted. Thoughts scattered and Taylor pushed her tongue into his mouth.
Damn, the man can kiss.
She’d never been this overheated for someone. Combustible. Incendiary. Taylor pushed her hands inside his boxers, caressing toned upper thighs on her way to the curve of his ass. It was toned, too. Firm, but his skin was soft.
Shannon flexed as she squeezed, and he leaned forward, kissing her harder.
Taylor shoved his underwear down to his knees just as he pushed her backward, not giving her a choice but to land on his bed again.
His erection brushed her thigh and her sex answered with a rush of new warmth and a jolt of awareness for good measure. She was wet, overheated and wanting in a way she hadn’t ever before. The ache made her feel empty.
He broke the seal of their mouths and his whiskey gaze bored into her. “I want to taste every inch of you, but…now…I need you.”
Shannon’s movements were frantic as he tossed his boxers away. He snatched the strip of condoms from beside her, ripped the top one off with his teeth and leaned back.
Taylor stared, running her eyes up and down every inch of his glorious frame.
He knelt on the bed, perching his ass on his heels. His thighs were thick and tight, sparsely covered in dark hair. His erection jutted proudly, and watching him grip himself to roll the condom on did something to her insides.
His sac hung heavy and she wanted to cup him there, stroke his shaft.
Shannon was beyond hot.
She opened her arms when he was done, needing to have him against her. Every inch of him over every inch of her.
Their gazes brushed when he descended, then slid a hand down to join them. There was no hesitation—he filled her with one stroke.
Taylor gasped when he was seated deep inside her. The feeling of fullness wasn’t unusual—she’d had lovers before—but the perfection, the rightness marched her off to war between hauling him closer and shoving him away. Nerves stole her voice and her breath. Her heart thundered when she felt Shannon’s doing the same.
They were completely in sync, even their labored breaths.
“Are you all right?” His deep voice was strained.
He was holding himself back, and she hated it. Taylor wanted everything from Sergeant Shannon Michael Crowley.
“Move. I need you to move.”
Shannon groaned and buried his face against her neck with the first thrust.
Pleasure jolted. She moaned, and lifted her ass to meet his second. Taylor wrapped her legs around his waist and tilted her hips to take him deeper.
She regretted the condom he wore. Regretted they weren’t fully skin-to-skin, as dange
rous as that could be, despite her birth control.
“God, Taylor.” His breath was warm on her damp skin, and tremors made her hold him tighter. “You’re tight. So beautiful…” His last word was a groan when she undulated, demanding more from him.
Shannon gave it to her, answering her every unspoken command as if he was inside her head as well as her body. He kissed and touched her into oblivion, shooting ecstasy all over her form as he moved in and out.
It was almost too much. Orgasm built and receded, teasing, hovering on the edge. Taylor moved with him, against him, until they were both covered in sweat and panting. Rhythm fell to the wayside but it didn’t matter, because it was so good.
She gasped when he pulled back only to slam forward again. Pleasure sharpened, and her vision danced. Her head spun as the hard jolt pitched her over the canyon. Taylor’s thighs quivered and her body tightened. She flexed her hands on Shannon’s slippery biceps—she needed to hold on to something.
He groaned and broke their latest kiss. His spine stiffened and he stilled above her. Shannon tilted his head back and whispered her name. His erection jerked inside her as he found release, too.
Shivers raced all over her body, aftershocks of ecstasy that made Taylor swallow hard and pray for control.
“Taylor, Taylor.” He repeated her name, a chant that told her Shannon was as affected by her as she was by him.
Was that good or bad?
She made herself look at him instead of averting her gaze like her cowardice demanded.
When he gazed down at her, he smiled. Then he kissed her until she clung to him, despite her post-climax boneless form.
Taylor had never experienced anything close to being with Shannon.
That’s not right. Is it?
He broke the kiss and pulled back. Concern darted across his handsome face. “What’s wrong, sweets?”
“Nothing.” She forced a small smile.
Shannon slipped from her body and kissed her cheek. If he didn’t believe her, he didn’t say so. “Be right back. Gonna clean up. I’ll get something for you, too.”
She watched him head to the bathroom. His naked form was graceful…and delicious. Especially the curve of his perfect ass.
He shut the door, and Taylor’s gaze darted to the carpet, cataloging the locations of her clothes. Then she glanced at the clock on his nightstand.