He nuzzled her hair. “You never wrote back.”
How could she have when she hadn’t known what to say? That she still loved him so much that each time she’d read his letter she’d fallen apart all over again? That she missed him so much that when she was alone in bed, she had sometimes imagined him there with her, wrapping the ends of her hair around his fingers the way he used to when she was trying to fall asleep?
That she couldn’t ever let herself be that powerless again?
Voicing it now was as impossible as it had been then.
He touched his forehead to hers. “Just tell me you know that I’ll never hurt you like that again, not even if you decide to go back to your room alone and leave me harder and hotter than I have ever been in my life.”
She knew he added the last part to keep her fixating on the other stuff. “Are you trying to guilt trip me?”
“Is it working?”
Her eyes slid shut. “Kiss me again and I’ll let you know.”
Groaning, he slanted his mouth across hers. One drag of his teeth across her lips and she knew he’d been holding back before. This time he pressed her into the vending machine until the Plexiglas creaked from the added pressure, his body solid and strong and making her itch to get her hands beneath his clothes.
Parker evidently had the same idea, and was a lot faster. He had the buttons on her pants undone and his hand inside to cup her sex before she drew her next breath.
She arched her hips, hungry for the slick friction.
He laughed softly. “Believe me, nobody wants to touch you as much as I do.” His finger slipped beneath the elastic on her panties and stroked up through her folds.
She didn’t need to hear him say that she was wet for him, but he did anyway, dragging his finger higher as he murmured it against her ear. He stopped when he almost reached her clit, and she instinctively rocked against him to be sure the angle wasn’t stopping him from touching her there.
He drew lazy circles around her sex. “You haven’t said yes yet.”
Delicious tension curled along her nerve endings. “Yes to what?”
“Stay with me tonight.” He swirled across the sensitive knot, coaxing a soft moan from her.
Afraid she’d moan too loud if he did that while she was trying to speak, she nodded.
Her answer seemed to please him, and he tightened his hold on her. “The things I want to do to you are probably illegal in some countries.”
“Oh yeah? Which ones?”
“Which countries or which things?”
“Both. Neither.” She didn’t care as long as he kept touching her like that, each tease of his fingers undoing her from the inside out.
A door opened and closed down the hall. They really needed to get back to her room before they gave someone one hell of a show.
Parker must have realized it too, though the wicked expression on his face said he wouldn’t care if anyone watched what he was doing to her.
Nudging him back before he got her thinking the same thing, she fixed her pants. She’d barely snapped the top button before he caught her hand and led her back down the hall.
Halfway down, a couple lingered in the hall talking. The moment an overly friendly smile blossomed on the woman’s face, Rae knew they weren’t getting past without having to say something. They might have gotten away with a nod if they had kept moving—and if the woman hadn’t planted herself between her husband and the opposite wall, blocking their path.
Surprisingly Parker only let it slow them down a little, crowding the woman more than was polite in an effort to squeeze by her.
Instead of being annoyed, the woman’s smile widened as she undoubtedly felt the instinctive draw to Parker. “I don’t suppose either of you could recommend some place close by that might still be open for dinner?”
As though he needed something to do while waiting for the woman to get her butt over on her own side of the hall, Parker trailed his index finger across Rae’s palm. She shivered at the feather-light touch, oblivious to anyone in the hall but him. As if he wasn’t already driving her crazy without turning an innocent caress into something sinfully intimate and suggestive.
The husband said something Rae didn’t catch, but she suspected Parker’s response about being ready to eat himself was actually directed at her.
“Goodnight.” Parker didn’t wait for the woman to move completely out of the way before ushering Rae ahead.
Thankfully the couple headed in the opposite direction.
She stopped in front of her door, still so distracted by what he was doing to her hand that it took a minute to remember she’d left her keycard inside. Realizing the problem, Parker tugged her down to his door and dug his key out of his pocket.
He shoved it into the slot and dragged her into the room when the light blinked green. His mouth came down on hers before the door was all the way shut, stealing her breath, and the next one and the one after that.
Breathing didn’t seem half as important as riding the sensual charge that being with him like this set off inside her.
Pulling away just long enough to strip out of his shirt, Parker moved on to hers next. He barely got it over her head before his mouth found hers again, his hands sinking into her hair with equal enthusiasm.
She locked her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. Close enough that being crushed against the warm wall of his chest as his arms spanned her back unleashed a wave of need that flooded her system.
He indulged her for a second, then turned her around, his mouth on her neck.
Anticipation curled through her as he cupped her breast, circling her nipples over her bra. She leaned against him, his warmth and strength at her back arousing all on their own. Needing to touch him, she ran her hands up his thighs, but before she could reach the hard arousal pushing at her lower back, he caught her wrists.
“Don’t rush me.”
The rough threat was laced with just enough heat to keep her from pulling free.
“Didn’t realize I was.”
His knowing laugh whispered across her jaw. “Of course you did.”
She smiled then whimpered in pleasure when he nipped her shoulder. “Is this where you tell me to be good or else?”
Her bra gave way and he pushed the straps off her shoulders. “I’d rather you be very, very bad.” He cupped her breasts, his fingers tugging gently on her nipples.
Dropping her head back against his shoulder, she rocked her ass against him. The ache deep in her sex clenched and warmed.
When he had her halfway to orgasm just by rolling her nipples between his thumb and forefinger, he gripped her hips and guided her closer to the bed.
Starting at her shoulder, he kissed his way down her spine, all soft tongue and hot mouth, making her think of him doing that between her legs.
He undid her pants and tugged them down, sinking to his knees behind her. She lifted her feet as he pulled them down and added another open-mouthed kiss to the back of each knee.
A push from behind made her lean forward on the bed, her palms on the mattress.
She glanced over her shoulder, waiting for him to get up. His eyes were bright silver and laced with wicked intent. He leaned in and ran his tongue along her sex.
A rush of lust slammed through Parker’s system at the carnal sound Rae made in her throat. Eager to hear it again, he delved deeper, parting her slick folds until he flicked the tip of his tongue across her clit.
Rae shuddered and pushed up on the balls of her feet, away from him.
Tightening his grip on her legs, he held her still as he licked and sucked at her sex. The hotter and wetter she got, the more aroused he became, his heart thundering and the hunger for release—his, hers—rose inside him.
He’d lied to her before. There was so much more than sexual chemistry between them, but he’d known that saying as much would put them in a bad place. And here, with her breath coming faster and tugging against his hold one minute and rocking back t
o meet his mouth the next, was a much better place to be.
His own arousal hummed under his skin, stoked by the fever raging inside him. He’d meant what he said about not losing himself to it, but he was fully prepared to use every bit of it to make her go wild in his arms as release claimed her.
Pushing two fingers against her slick entrance, he thrust inside slow and easy, dragging out the sexy sound she made when her head dropped forward. He did it again and again, loving the feel of her closing around him, clenching even tighter as he nipped the inside of her thigh.
“Parker,” she breathed.
He grinned, but waited until her hips began to buck in time with the plunge of his fingers pumping into her sex before he stopped and rose to his feet.
“No.” She straightened and turned, watching him, her gaze lingering on his cock as he stripped off the rest of his clothes.
When she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, releasing it like she wasn’t sure what part of him she wanted to start with, the feral need to fuck her until she admitted she hadn’t gotten over him nearly knocked him sideways.
He stood perfectly still, clamping down on every instinct screaming to take her. He wouldn’t let it take him over, but there was no stopping it from pushing him right to the edge.
Something on his face must have given him away because she edged back just a fraction. It took everything inside him not to reach out and drag her against him. He needed to prove to her that he wasn’t sacrificing the reins on this. That she could trust him.
So he sat, crooking a finger at her. His eyes were drawn to the sway of her hips as she stepped in front of him. He knew she wasn’t aware that even the way she walked aroused him, let alone when she stood boldly before him, her hair spilling down over her naked shoulders.
One thick strand curled across her breast, stopping just shy of her nipple. The dark pink tip made him eager to run his tongue over it before sucking it between his lips. He hadn’t been kidding about not rushing, and he had every intention of giving her gorgeous breasts his full attention.
Rae stepped between his parted thighs, closing her eyes as he nuzzled her chest. The sweet scent of her filled his head, and he palmed one of her breasts.
“Closer,” he demanded hoarsely, only able to control so much.
Obeying him in ways she never did outside the bedroom, Rae moved until her nipple brushed his lips. He opened his mouth instinctively, loving the way she gripped his shoulders as he sucked at her. Slowly.
Pulling her with him, he stretched back on the bed, loving the feel of her sprawled across him. She squirmed on top of him and he sucked harder.
Rae moaned, the sound much closer to release than he’d imagined.
“So perfect.” He dragged his teeth across her flesh, then licked before grasping her hips.
“Sit up and turn around.”
It took her a second to catch his meaning, and she hesitated. As confidant as Rae was when facing a demon, she’d confessed that being on top of him with her thighs spread on each side of his face made her feel vulnerable.
The fact that she turned around at all made him that much crazier to make it worth it for her.
She straddled his abdomen, but didn’t move until he gripped her thighs to guide her back to him. Her muscles locked on contact, but he didn’t let that stop him from getting her where he wanted her, where he needed her to be.
Keeping her legs parted, he tested her with his tongue.
Rae’s nails scraped his abdomen. “Oh God.”
Groaning in satisfaction, he licked deeper. She inched backward, encouraging him to take a longer taste. So he did, catching her clit between his lips and pulling until she rocked against him.
Then her mouth grazed the head of his cock and he nearly expired on the spot. Holding his breath, he flexed his hips, willing her to do it again. Her fingers closed around the base of his cock, her grip warm and perfect. So fucking perfect.
Christ, he loved the feel of her hands on him.
She traced the head of his arousal with her tongue, and he groaned against her sex. For ten seconds he didn’t move, stuck just this side of heaven as she took him into her mouth. He couldn’t help but thrust his hips, sinking a little deeper between her lips as she sucked him.
The pleasure that ripped through his body had him pulling her harder against his mouth.
Neither of them stopped after that, feasting on each other, slowly at first, then faster, each lick a little shorter, each sweet pull a little deeper. Each taste, each bounce of her hips, each breathy moan around his cock twisted his arousal higher and higher.
There were no words for how good it felt when she sucked him harder and a little harder. This time he didn’t pull back but dug his fingers into her thighs and pressed his mouth deeper inside her.
She cried out, rocking her hips a little faster. Catching her clit between his lips, he pulled at her greedily and plunged his tongue inside her a moment before she came hard. The feel of it racing over him, sinking beneath his skin was almost too much to handle.
Catching her around the waist, he lifted her beside him, then rolled to snag a condom from the bag he’d left unpacked on the floor next to the bed. In record him he’d sheathed himself and had her beneath him the way he’d been fantasizing about forever.
But despite the fever high from her orgasm, he hovered over her, waiting. Seeing the flicker of uncertainty cross her face, he knew his eyes were dark. Fighting the instinct to drive his cock into her sex for a moment longer, he captured her mouth with his, the kiss slow and sweet and as far from the feral hunger brewing inside him as he could manage.
And it was the only way to let her know that whatever he’d said, it was never, ever, just about the sex.
She cupped his face, her touch both triggering the eye of the storm, quieting the lust long enough to let him feel her free of its drugging influence, and at the same time, ushering it in tenfold.
He thrust into her, sinking deep as the hot walls of her sex clenched him tight. Dropping his forehead to hers, he pumped his hips, fast…faster. Each thrust rocked her up the bed, and he tightened his hold, trapping her.
She didn’t seem to mind, curling her legs around him and keeping him from pulling out of her entirely.
“Harder, please.”
Her words echoed in his head, driving him closer and closer to his own release.
It heated his blood, threatening to envelope him in flames until he buried himself so deep inside her he feared he’d hurt her. Then she dug her fingers into his shoulders, her hiss of pleasure whispering across his lips. “More.”
Possessed by the need to give her more, give her everything, he slid his arms under her knees, drawing her higher and getting so fucking deep. The slick fit of her sex gripped him so damn tight, he almost lost it right there.
Rae’s stunning blue eyes were open, watching him, entrancing him. He laced his fingers through hers, pressing them into the bed for leverage.
He couldn’t hold off any longer, couldn’t fight his own need to come. Rae arched beneath him, and he slanted his mouth across hers, drowning out the sound of her yell.
Watching her come again, her body going rigid and then softening beneath him, the power of her release gave him just enough to hold on, thrusting harder…harder.
He buried his face against her throat, the ferocity of his climax slamming into him. He groaned low and deep, the sound dragging on as he pumped his hips until completely spent.
“Fuck,” he breathed, unsure if he could move long enough to roll off her.
“My thoughts exactly.” Rae didn’t seem to mind his weight, though, since she looped her arms around him, holding him tight. That was fine with him. He’d try moving again when he was sure he was still alive.
Chapter Twelve
“Not a good idea, shortcake.”Rae glanced up, sliding her cell phone down the side of her chair before he spotted her holding on to it. He hadn’t taken it from her earlier, but he’d looked r
eady to try the last couple of times.
The only light in the dark hotel room came from the lamp behind Parker. If she was still stretched out beside him, instead of curled up on the chair a few feet away, his face wouldn’t be as lost to the shadows.
He hadn’t moved a muscle when she’d wiggled out of his arms after they’d fallen asleep. Only briefly had she contemplated returning to her room, but changed her mind, knowing he’d only come looking for her. And if she were being perfectly honest with herself, she would have wanted him to.
God, years later and she wasn’t any closer to figuring out the hold he had on her.
In the end, it had been easier to drag on his T-shirt and sink into the chair, far enough away she could think without being distracted by his body wrapped around hers, but close enough she could watch him sleep. She’d just assumed that after such intense sex he would have slept longer.
He sat up, the sheet pooling around his waist. One of them had kicked off the rest of the covers earlier.
“I know you, Rae. And I know that look on your face.”
She stilled, telling herself to move because whatever he was going to say next was going to be something she didn’t want to hear. Heart pounding, she willed her phone to ring, which she’d been doing for the last half an hour.
“I saw that look every time you’d come home after one of your team was badly injured or when you weren’t fast enough to save someone from a hostile. Mostly though, I remember seeing the same look on your face every morning. Like if you held on just a little longer, a little tighter it would be enough.”
Her stomach clenched, and she had to look away. She didn’t want to be reminded of how things had ended between them right now.
“You can only do so much, take on so much. We’ll find him.”
“Before or after he takes more kids?” She closed her eyes, fisting her hands so tight her knuckles hurt.
None of it should be happening again. No child should have to go through that. Now that they knew what was going on, they should have something, know something. Instead they had to wait. She had to wait knowing what those kids were being exposed to.
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