Courting Danger

by Kimberly Dean

Her glance flicked upwards. ‘It’s a safe house?’

  The questions in her eyes only grew.

  ‘My turn.’ He refilled their glasses. If they were sharing, they were going to get into her stuff, too. ‘How can teaching third grade be dangerous?’

  She watched him for a long moment. Her foot was circling round and round, and he couldn’t help but notice the length of her legs as her dress pulled high on her thighs.

  ‘When you start dating a student’s uncle, and he likes you more than you like him.’

  ‘Hamilton?’

  She nodded.

  Darien’s fingers tightened around his drink. ‘How bad was it?’

  ‘Not bad, at first. We only dated for a month. It was when I decided to end it that he suddenly got…fixated.’

  ‘Did he hurt you?’

  ‘No, it was more like…this. He likes mind games. Although there was an incident with the class gerbil.’

  Darien took another swift drink and felt it bite back. ‘I don’t like where this is going.’

  ‘I didn’t either. I made Eddie stop so I could pick up some food for it one night when we were out. He didn’t like that a rodent was more important than him or our bowling date.’

  ‘Let me guess, Mr Gerbil met an untimely death.’

  She took another sip, this one smaller and slower. ‘I could never prove it.’

  She squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them and fixed her gaze on him. ‘Are you military?’

  His chin snapped back. ‘No.’ He shook his head in wonder. ‘But I used to be. How did you figure that out?’

  ‘Your tattoos.’

  ‘What the hell?’ They weren’t identifying. They’d specifically been chosen because they couldn’t be traced back to his unit or his buddies. Yet she’d somehow made the connection.

  Her doe eyes glittered with success.

  He rubbed his chest. With her looking at him like that, he could almost feel her lips against it. She’d been fascinated with his tattoos, just like he’d been fascinated by every inch of her body.

  He felt the stirring below the belt. He might have given her some relief last night, but it had been over two weeks for him. He’d had one night of those long legs wrapped around him, and it had left him addicted.

  Damn, but he wanted to touch her.

  Delving into her mind was a close second.

  ‘How did you end up working at an escort service?’ he asked.

  She shrugged.

  ‘Nina found me. She does a lot of fundraising for charities, and I ran into her at an event collecting money for education.’ She sipped some more whiskey. ‘She took one look at me and knew I was in trouble. She offered me an out, and I took it.’

  ‘Do you miss it? Teaching?’

  ‘No.’ She frowned as if she hadn’t thought about it much before. ‘There’s never enough funding or supplies, and the administrators can be a nightmare. I like what I do now.’

  Even if respectability had gone out of the window. Darien rolled the tumbler in his hand. He’d heard of prostitution being a way out, but this was a new twist. Maybe he shouldn’t be so hard on Nina. She’d done good by Rielle, but it was still a risky business.

  ‘What if Morgan shuts you down?’

  ‘The detective? He won’t arrest Nina.’

  ‘He seems like a pretty solid cop.’

  She frowned. ‘You checked him out?’

  Damn it, why did his tongue get so loose around her? There were so many better things he could do with it.

  Especially with her.

  ‘You said that Morgan and Nina don’t get along.’

  ‘They rub each other the wrong way.’ She took another drink. The whiskey was starting to have an effect. Her eyes glittered as she looked over the top of her glass, and she smiled conspiratorially. ‘They’d feel better if they just did it.’

  His drink sloshed. ‘Would we?’

  She licked her lips and held out her glass. He refilled it, half as full this time.

  ‘I don’t even know what to call you. Darien? Scott?’

  ‘You can call me anything you want, Beautiful.’

  She lifted her hair off her neck as if she was feeling warm. ‘Are you a bad guy, Scotty, or a good one?’

  ‘I’m probably bad for you.’ He set down his drink slowly and rounded the bar. ‘Does that make you want to stay away?’

  ‘Yes.’ Her hair fell back when she lifted her face to him. ‘But I can’t seem to do it.’

  He ran his knuckles gently across her cheekbone. ‘Do you want to have sex with me?’

  She trembled. ‘Yes.’

  ‘Good.’ He caught her by the waist and pulled her to him. ‘Because Twenty Questions is over.’

  Rielle moaned when Darien’s mouth came down on hers, hot and firm. She tasted the whiskey they’d both drunk. She could feel it swimming through her veins.

  The liquid courage wasn’t steadying her nerves, but his touch was. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed against him. His hard chest made her breasts plump up, and sensation pinched in her nipples.

  He’d made her oversleep this morning, but she’d woken up feeling better than she could remember. Then she’d gotten to work and her whole life had been upended. He and Nina had sprung the whole escort idea upon her, but then he’d left.

  Her thoughts had been spinning in circles ever since.

  His hands spread over her bottom, and he slid her forward on the stool. Her pencil skirt kept her legs pressed together too tightly to let him in. He solved that problem by sliding his hands up her outer thighs. He pushed her skirt to her waist, and she quickly spread her legs.

  His hips swung forward, and she moaned when he ground against the crotch of her panties. She rolled her hips under to get the hot friction where she needed it most, and her head fell back.

  ‘Oh, I’ve been nervous about this all day.’

  ‘It’s that damn contract.’ He pressed an open-mouthed kiss upon her neck. ‘It’s had me wound up, too. Forget about it.’

  She hadn’t been able to forget about it all day long. She’d watched clients coming and escorts going, and she hadn’t been able to get his words out of her head. She worked in the sex industry.

  She watched wide-eyed as he unbuttoned his dress shirt. She was about to be in the sex industry.

  She spread her hands against his muscled chest. When he kissed her again, his tongue swept through her mouth. It made her toes curl.

  She liked to paint pretty pictures about what happened when a couple left their office, but this was the reality. Strangers touching where strangers shouldn’t touch…dirty kisses…intimate penetration…sweaty bodies slapping together…

  Her blouse loosened, and he unhooked her bra, reached inside and caught her breast. ‘This has nothing to do with a contract.’

  He flicked his thumbnail over her nipple, making it stand up hard. When his mouth clamped over it and began to suck, Rielle cried out. She cupped the back of his head and reached between them to find his zipper.

  ‘Shit,’ he swore when his pants loosened. ‘Hold on a moment.’

  She stiffened when he removed a gun from the small of his back and put it on the breakfast bar beside them.

  ‘You were armed?’ Her eyes were so wide as she stared at the weapon that they got dry.

  ‘Yes.’ Catching her hand, he guided it down the front of his pants.

  ‘Ooooh.’ She wrapped her fingers around his big cock. Armed and dangerous.

  A shiver went through her. She didn’t know how to deal with his type. He was a true badass. The violent edges around him made her want to hide, but the strength of him was like a sexual magnet. The driven masculinity. The unrelenting protectiveness.

  She wanted him. She wanted him all over her.

  Her panties got wet as she rubbed against the hard stool beneath her. She pumped her hand in the same rhythm, and his hand pushed between her legs.

  There was tugging, and then the sound of material rending.
She felt the air hit her between the legs before he shoved down his clothes and slid her forward again.

  Rielle’s breaths went ragged as she looked down at the sight of his big erection in her hand. She knew what he wanted. Still, it felt naughty to guide him to her like this, to tuck the thick head of his cock against her sensitive opening. When he pushed hard, she saw him go inside her.

  Her neck arched back. ‘Darien!’

  Feeling him inside her was even more overwhelming.

  ‘Fuck.’ His hips began thrusting, fast and hard.

  Rielle clamped her legs around his hips. ‘Where were you while you were gone?’ she asked, her voice high.

  ‘No…more…questions…’ he panted.

  Her body twisted. The pleasure was intense. Their bodies were working together hotly. He was thrusting in rapid-fire motion, stiff and deep.

  He was fucking her.

  She’d never been fucked before him. She’d always been the type who’d made love, but this…with him…It was so more raw and intimate.

  He wrapped one arm around her hips, and his other hand clamped onto the back of the barstool behind her. Their bodies slapped together until Rielle couldn’t take the sensation any more. It swamped her and she went under.

  ‘Darien,’ she cried hoarsely.

  His hips jerked, and then his hot come was spilling into her.

  He was rigid for a long moment before his arm buckled. His head dropped to her shoulder, and his harsh breaths blew against her neck. He pushed her back onto the stool she was in danger of falling off of, and she clung to him. He wasn’t much steadier than she was.

  ‘Well, I think we’ve worked through that problem,’ he said gruffly.

  He pulled back to look at her. His face was flushed, his pupils were dilated and his short hair was spiky. ‘Think we can forget about that stupid contract now and get back to what we do best?’

  She let out a puff of air. ‘That wasn’t our best?’

  He grinned, and her stomach dropped. ‘Want to finally get in a bed with me?’

  If he smiled at her like that, she’d do anything with him, contract or not. ‘Yes.’

  They stripped off what clothes they still wore and, together, found the bedroom. Rielle crawled under the covers, and Darien turned on the bedside lamp before lying down at her side.

  ‘You’re going to tell me more about this slimy ex of yours.’

  She put her hand on his chest. ‘Not now I’m not.’

  She just wanted to block out everything except him. She’d worked herself into a knot over the course of the day. She’d even stopped Sienna to ask some rather awkward and intimate questions. She didn’t want to think any more tonight.

  He rolled his head towards her on the pillow. ‘How do you think he tracked you down?’

  She sighed. He was the determined sort.

  She lowered her lashes and ran her fingertips along the line of his pec. She was enthralled by his body, the way it was honed and sculpted, scars and all. ‘I think he saw the picture of us in the newspaper.’

  The mattress shifted as he rolled onto his side. ‘Outside the White House? Shit. I tried to block you from the paparazzi.’

  ‘I know. It’s not your fault. I don’t know why they used that picture anyway. You were barely in it.’

  ‘But you were – you and that dress.’ He ran his finger down the bridge of her nose. ‘It’s kind of unforgettable.’

  She bit her lip. ‘Nina gave it to me.’

  His eyebrows lifted, and she could see the thoughts clicking inside his head. ‘Were the cleaners able to get the wrinkles out of it?’

  She’d known it hadn’t been him. She’d known he hadn’t left her that note.

  ‘It’s good as new,’ she said, her voice thick. Ready for the next time they needed it.

  She refused to let Eddie darken the private memories that dress held for them.

  Darien’s blue eyes darkened. ‘You have no idea how hard it was for me to keep my hands off you that first night.’

  As hard as it was for her to keep her hands off him now? His muscles were hard, yet his skin was soft. The contrast made her mouth water. She traced the line of his rib and saw where that smooth skin darkened.

  She pulled her touch away. ‘That’s new.’

  It was a bruise the size of a grapefruit along his ribcage. It was just starting to change colour from yellow to darker hues of black and purple. She pushed against his shoulders to make him roll onto his back. The light from the nightstand wasn’t bright, but it brought everything into stark relief. Rielle sat up on her haunches.

  She didn’t know where he’d been, but she didn’t like it. What had happened to him?

  She carefully ran her finger along the outline. ‘Who did this to you?’

  He glanced down to where she touched him. ‘What? That?’

  ‘Yes, this.’ She straddled him and cupped her hand over the bruise protectively. ‘Who hurt you?’

  He settled his hands over her thighs. ‘It’s not important.’

  ‘Yes, it is.’ She felt the rough scrape of the calluses on his hands, and she finally recognised them for what they were. Signs of battle. Martial arts. He might not be military any more, but what he did was dangerous.

  ‘Tell me.’

  His lips curved upwards. ‘I like tigress mode.’

  ‘Darien,’ she warned.

  He sighed. ‘You did it, baby.’

  She gasped. ‘Under the cherry blossoms? After I got that call?’

  She pulled her hand away as if she was touching fire. She could see the impact point now, where her elbow had dug in. ‘Oh, my God. I’m sorry.’

  ‘It’s all right.’ He rubbed his hands in circular patterns on her hips. ‘It looks worse than it is. I can barely feel it now.’

  ‘Liar.’ She felt terrible. She hadn’t known. He’d barely flinched when she’d made contact. What kind of training had he gone through for him to be so tough? So hardened?

  ‘You stopped me pretty easily,’ she said.

  He’d been so fast. He’d blocked her moves and had gotten her into a clinch without hurting her. That should scare her more than anything. Control like that was rare. It was like a big lion wrestling with you instead of attacking. ‘Can you show me how you got me in that hold?’

  His gaze steadied on her face. ‘I can. When’s your class?’

  She bit her lip. ‘It was supposed to be tonight. All this happened instead.’

  His expression darkened, and the hands at her hips stopped moving. ‘Next time, tell me. I want your life as normal as possible.’

  She looked at him lying beneath her. He was a man who kept to the shadows. He was calculating, secretive, in top physical form and trained in skills she didn’t want to know about. He’d schemed his way into protecting her. She didn’t think normal was possible any more.

  ‘We’ll go to the gym later this week,’ he promised.

  ‘OK.’ Maybe normal was overrated.

  Because cuddling up to his kind of wildness was as much of a thrill as it was a danger.

  She swept her hair to the side and bent down to kiss the bruise she’d left on his body. ‘Maybe I can make it feel better.’

  His long groan filled the room. ‘Yeah, you should try that.’

  She smiled against his skin. She was getting to him too. She’d learned more about him tonight than she had in all the days since she’d met him.

  She braced her hands on either side of his head and kissed his neck, his chest and his stomach. It sucked in tight, and she dipped her tongue into his belly button. His fingers tightened in her hair. It fell like a curtain around him as she returned to minister to the bruise.

  ‘God.’ His hands slid around to cup her breasts. ‘By better, I think you mean fantastic.’

  She closed her eyes in pleasure. She forgot to be shy or self-conscious when she was with him this way. He wouldn’t allow it, and it felt good to take control back. To push away the fear and the threats trying
to intrude on her life.

  She kissed his mouth and nipped his lower lip. He played with her nipples, and warm arousal seeped through her system.

  For a moment in time, she wanted to lie down with the lion.

  She spread her hands over his ripped abdomen and sat back on her haunches. His gaze was heavy as it moved over her nakedness. The dim bulb cast light over both of them, turning the vacant room in the no-name apartment erotic. Sensual.

  ‘God, you’re beautiful,’ he whispered.

  And he was a gorgeous man who aroused her like no other.

  She rose like a wave when his hand slipped between her legs. His middle finger parted her slit and massaged her intimately.

  ‘Mmm,’ she hummed.

  Rising over him, she let him position his cock at her opening. The tight ring of muscle resisted the blunt width of him, but she sank down determinedly. Her slickness eased his way, and he filled her as she descended inch by inch.

  Her head fell back and her hair tickled the curves of her bottom. It felt sexy, wicked.

  His hands took possession of her breasts, and she began to pump up and down.

  ‘Christ, Rielle,’ he hissed.

  She kept the rhythm slow and easy. As easy as he let her. His hips were starting to rise, catching her on her way down. His hands were becoming more impatient. They stroked and grabbed at her when the sensation got to be too much.

  His urgency soon worked its way into her.

  She spread her hands wide on his chest as the ride became bumpier. Her thigh muscles burned, and the arc of her thrusts shortened. She held him deep inside her, and she loved the harsh rapid strokes. Her breasts bounced in his hands, but she watched him.

  ‘Darien,’ she said, her voice tight.

  The muscles in his neck were rigid, and his heels were digging into the mattress.

  Rielle felt herself begin to spiral, and she reached between them to cup him tenderly.

  Her touch set him off. His hips jackknifed upwards, and she let out a cry of pleasure. Wet heat spurted deep inside her. Her inner walls squeezed and her thighs clenched. The orgasm rushed through her from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.

  It seeped away gradually, and then let go.

  Erin was right, she thought mistily. Exclusive contracts could be fun.

  He tugged her towards him, and she folded down on top of him. His breaths were harsh as he stroked her hair and her back.