by Cynthia Eden
Maisey and Odin had given Jinx a fast run-through of events. But what mattered most to Odin… “Look, if you really want to help on this one, then I could use you. Nothing can happen to her.”
Jinx slapped a hand on his shoulder. “It won’t. We got this.” His hand tightened. “You want me checking out her neighbor? The guy Maisey seemed so certain was guilty? I can tail him while you stay close to her.”
“That would be great. Thanks.” He could sure use another set of eyes. “Guess it was lucky you were in that bar.” His head tilted as he came back to a point that bugged him. “Exactly why were you in that bar? I get that you came down here after you got the invitation—hell of a wedding you missed, by the way, because War had an open bar—but why go to that dive?” Though Odin had a suspicion.
“What can I say? I was bored. Looking for something to amuse me.”
The amusements in that place weren’t exactly safe. And that was Jinx’s secret. The man had always been pulled to the dark. Safe and easy—not in his vocabulary. “Something illegal?” Now he was even more suspicious. “You are done with the freelance work for the government, aren’t you?” Jinx was good at undercover ops. Too good. Especially with those tricky hands of his.
“At the moment, I’m working with you. Your case is my priority.”
That wasn’t exactly a clear answer, but Odin decided not to push for more. “You got a place to crash?”
“Well, I was intending to stay at War’s place. You know how he said his guest room was always open…”
War had said that, numerous times. Until recently, Odin had been crashing in that guest room, too. But then War had gotten married and War’s new bride, Rose, had wanted to sell her condo. Since Odin had decided to stay in the area, he’d jumped in and purchased the place from her.
The condo wasn’t exactly Odin’s style, but he’d fix it. Eventually. At the moment, it was just filled with boxes he’d finally had moved in and furniture that had recently been delivered. He reached into his pocket. Pulled out—
“Those had better not be panties you are handing me.”
“Shut the fuck up.” He pulled War’s spare key off the ring. “I’m taking Maisey with me tonight. You can have War’s place.”
“Yeah, so…first, I think I’ll get started with a little digging.” He did a quick maneuver with his fingers—one of those sleight-of-hand magic tricks that he was always showing off with—and made the key vanish in a blink. “I won’t be back until later. You know, as in much, much later. Plenty of time for you and Maisey to finish up what…” He ahemed. “Whatever you started earlier.”
He didn’t want plenty of time. Odin wanted the whole freaking night. “Maisey will be at my place tonight.” His place. In his brand new bed. “And don’t worry, I absolutely intend to finish what we started.”
“Oversharing.” Jinx jumped on his motorcycle. He started the engine, but didn’t leave. “Be careful with her.”
Odin’s eyes narrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?” He would never physically hurt her. He’d never hurt any woman.
“She likes you. I mean, really likes you. It’s not one of those things when we get the women who just want to screw around because they think we have a dangerous edge, and they like that freaky thrill.” His head turned toward Odin. “She was ready to tear into me because she thought I wasn’t being a good friend to you.”
About that… “You need to stop testing people.”
Jinx revved the engine. “When people fail you often enough, you can’t help but test them.” His voice roughened as he added, “You never failed me. So know that I’ll always have your back. If things go dark, call me. I’ll be there in an instant.” Another rev of the engine before Jinx drove away.
For a moment, Odin just watched him go. Then he turned back to the cabin. His steps were slow and certain as he headed back to Maisey. He found her waiting for him on the screened porch. The waves were thundering and he and Jinx had kept their voices low, so he didn’t worry that she’d overheard them.
He did worry about what the hell he was supposed to say to her.
I want to fuck you and I’m barely keeping my hands off you. We need to get to my place, or I will take you right where you stand.
“So…Jinx, huh? Is that his real name?” A pause. Her arms had wrapped around her stomach. “Is Odin your real name? Because I just realized that maybe it’s a code name. Maybe I almost had sex with a guy and I don’t even know his real name, and you should know the real name of your lover. That’s important information.”
He closed the distance between them. “Odin is my real name. My parents are Scandinavian, and my dad was big into the Norse myths.”
“Good to know,” she murmured. “Because if your real name was something like Burt, then I’d need to make sure I called it out at the right ah, moment.”
His lips were pulling up. She was doing it again. Making him want to smile. To laugh. His chest warmed as he gazed down at her.
See, Jinx, I do have a fucking sense of humor.
“Odin? You’re looking at me oddly. Is something wrong?”
He shook his head. “Jinx isn’t his real name. But we don’t use his real name. Ever. The last two guys who tried? Jinx made sure they didn’t repeat that mistake.” He wouldn’t go into specifics. “We should go.”
“Go?” She looked back over her shoulder. “I thought we were…” Her words trailed away. “We should go.” Her shoulders straightened. “Long day. Long night. Definitely time to go home and—”
“Fuck.”
She sucked in a sharp breath. “Excuse me?”
Yeah, way too blunt. And it had been a one-word response. He could do better. “I want you to come home…with me.” Was that any better? He sounded rough and demanding as hell. He cleared his throat. “If you want me…if you want to be with me—”
“Yes.”
Had she spoken? Or had he just wanted so badly for her response to be yes that he’d just imagined it?
“Yes,” Maisey said again. She stopped hugging herself. The bracelets on her wrist jingled as she pressed her hand to his chest. “I want you. More than I have ever wanted anyone else.”
“Then give me tonight.” Because he needed her too much. Couldn’t hold back. He wanted to take and take… and have her break apart with pleasure beneath him.
“I’ll give you anything you want.”
His hands fisted. “Keep saying things like that, and I will take you right here.”
“Promises, promises…”
“Maisey—”
She stepped back. “How far away is your place? And just how fast can you get us there?”
***
Maisey wasn’t home. Clay cast a quick glance at her parked car. Her car was there, had been there all night, but the house was dark. Quiet.
He’d gone to the door. Knocked a few times. Not received any response.
He knew she must be gone with the guy who’d been skulking around her. Odin. The man with the gaze that was unnerving. Odin had seemed like trouble to Clay.
Maisey was good. Sweet. The innocent type. She wouldn’t have anything in common with a guy like that.
Surely, she’d be home soon.
He’d just keep watch on her place. When she returned, they needed to talk. He was worried about her. And after the attack on campus, he figured that Maisey could use a friend…
She could use me.
He would be there for her.
***
“Ignore the boxes,” Odin said as he locked the door behind them. “Just getting moved in. Was supposed to unpack last weekend, but then a new case came up.” Maisey had come along and changed everything.
Maisey stood in the middle of the boxes. She had been quiet on the drive over. He hadn’t said much. He’d been too busy keeping his hands on the wheel and off her. He’d found his gaze sliding to her legs. He’d imagined parting her thighs. Putting his hand on her and stroking her through the denim of her jeans.
“I didn’t expect you to be the condo type.” Maisey glanced around. “I mean this place—it’s really fancy.”
Was she trying to say he wasn’t fancy? Odin considered the matter. Guilty. He wasn’t. “I needed a place to stay. It became available so I took it. I liked the view.” Money wasn’t an issue for him. He didn’t mention that. Maisey didn’t care what he had or what he didn’t, so he didn’t see the point in telling her about the money he had piled away.
Maisey crept toward the glass balcony doors. It was dark out, so he knew that she couldn’t see the stretch of beach and the waves that pounded below.
As if reading his thoughts, she said, “During the day,” Maisey motioned toward the door, “I’m sure the view is beautiful.”
“Beautiful,” Odin echoed, but he wasn’t talking about the view of the beach, and he’d pretty much reached his limit on small talk. He’d gotten them to his place. They were locked in. The alarm was on. No one would be bothering them. For the rest of the night, he had Maisey all to himself.
She glanced over her shoulder to look back at him. “I’m nervous.”
He’d been stalking toward her. At those words, he froze.
“I shouldn’t be. I mean, not after what we did at War’s place, but, ah—” Her hand lifted. Waved vaguely toward him. “I am.”
He wanted to rush to her, but her words had stopped him cold. “You’re afraid of me?” Shit. He should have thought of this. After the way things had gone down in the bar, of course, she was afraid of him. She’d had time to think on the car ride over—that silent, tense ride—and now she wanted to back away. To put some distance between them, and what the hell was he supposed to do about that?
His stomach twisted. “I would never hurt you.”
“What?” Her eyes widened. “I know that! Why would you say…” She rushed toward him. Reached for him. Curled those soft hands of hers around his arms. “I’m nervous. Nervous. As in…having sex is a big deal and you obviously have way more experience than I do. Sex has never been that good for me—not like it was when you were, ah…” She sucked in a breath and said, “Going down on me. So if it was that good when you were using your mouth, I am pretty sure I will go absolutely crazy when, you know, another part of your body is in me. And I just want you to know that this is all…” She blew out a breath. “I don’t want to disappoint you.”
He squinted at her.
She squinted back. “What is it?” Her fingers let him go.
“Making sure you didn’t hit your head.” His hand lifted and curled under her delicate chin. He tipped her head back so the light slid over her face. “Don’t see any new injuries. Still don’t like that damn scratch.” The sight of it on her cheek pissed him off. “Didn’t think you were hurt at the bar.” If someone had hurt her…
“I wasn’t hurt. Why would you suspect that?”
He kept right on cupping her chin because he liked touching her. “Because you’re saying crazy shit.” He made sure he was staring straight into her eyes. “You could never, ever disappoint me. That doesn’t need to be a worry that ever whispers through your mind.”
She smiled at him.
Those dimples would be the end of him one day.
“I don’t have a lot of experience,” she told him in a voice that wobbled in an oddly sweet way. “I just—I want you to enjoy it as much as I did. I mean as I will. As I did and I will.”
She was so damn cute. “I’ll be with you. I’ll enjoy the hell out of it.” He had no doubt she would be the best lover he’d ever had. How did he know that? Because he couldn’t remember wanting anyone as badly as he wanted Maisey. “But you have to be honest with me.” He kissed her. A quick press of his lips against hers. “If I get too rough, tell me.”
“Odin…”
“I’m big, Maisey. You’re fucking breakable next to me. If I scare you, if I’m pushing too much, tell me.”
She inched closer. “On one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“That if I’m too rough,” she whispered, “you tell me. If I push too much, tell me.”
Yeah, that was never gonna happen. She could push and be as damn rough as she wanted. She was teasing, but Maisey didn’t get it. He wanted to pounce on her. His dick was still just as hard as it had been when he’d been back at War’s place. When he’d been so close to having what he wanted most. When he’d tasted her. Gone crazy because she was so delicious.
Her hands slid to his waist. “I think I remember where we left off.” She undid the button, reached for the zipper.
But he caught her hands and stopped her. “No.” A growl.
Her eyebrows lifted. “Odin?”
“Baby, I am hanging on by a thread. You touch my dick, and I slam into you two seconds later.”
Her tongue slid over her lower lip. “That’s, ah…”
He kissed her. Took her mouth because her sexy tongue was driving him insane. Maisey had no idea how close to the limit he was. Hell, he wasn’t even sure how much longer he could hold on. It had never been like this for him. He’d never wanted someone so intently. So completely.
He kissed her with a frantic lust and when she gave that sweet little moan in the back of her throat, the sound just urged him on all the more. He wanted to yank her jeans off. She wasn’t wearing panties—he still had those—so all he had to do was get rid of the jeans. Then he could plunge into her. Drive them both straight to oblivion.
But she has to be ready.
Maisey was tiny compared to him. He didn’t want to hurt her. Couldn’t hurt her. He had to make it good for Maisey because he didn’t just want one fast fuck with her.
Odin needed so much more.
He forced his mouth to tear away from hers. Forced himself to take a step back. “My bedroom…” A rumble. “Down the hallway, to the left.” He wanted their first time to be in a bed. Not up against a wall. That could be the second time. Or the third. Whatever she wanted. The first time, he had to use care.
Have to make her ready.
“Go,” he urged her when Maisey stared up at him with eyes that had gone even more golden than normal. He could see the desire shining in her stare. “Go in there.” He swallowed. “Strip. I’ll be right behind you.”
“You want me to strip without you?” She didn’t move.
“Baby, if I touch your clothes, I’ll rip them off you.” He was that far gone. The rest of her clothes would wind up as torn as her panties.
Maisey didn’t look intimidated. She tipped back her head and murmured, “Promises, promises…”
Maisey!
“But if you want me to go, I’ll go.” She turned away. Paused just long enough to kick off her heels. Then she began walking toward his bedroom.
Only…she lifted up her shirt as she strolled down that hallway. Strolled as if she didn’t have a fucking care in the world. Then she let the shirt fall.
She’d told him that she was nervous just moments before. Now she was walking away with a sexy sway of her hips and dropping her shirt. Teasing him. He’d been trying to hold back, and she was doing this to him?
She unhooked her bra. Let it fall.
He stalked behind her. He saw the beautiful, bare curves of her back. “I thought you were nervous.”
She paused at his bedroom door. Her thick hair tumbled over her shoulders as she angled her head and looked back at him. “I was. Then I realized that when you touch me, nothing else matters.”
Yes, no doubt about it, Maisey was trying to destroy him.
She turned back to the front. But she didn’t enter his bedroom. He was five steps behind her. Watching. Transfixed. Obsessed.
With a soft rustle, her jeans slid to the floor. She kicked them away. Not that he was looking at her feet. His gaze was on her ass. Her perfect, round ass. An ass that he wanted to feel against his hands, just as he wanted to feel every single inch of her body.
Maisey walked into his bedroom. Slow and easy. Still moving as if she didn’t ha
ve a care in the world.
His breath was ragged. His body felt too big. Too rough. He jerked off his own shirt and threw it. Kicked off his boots. Yanked away his socks. When he got to the bedroom door, his hands were reaching for his zipper.
Maisey was in his bed. A big bed, the biggest he could special order. She waited in the middle of the bed, lying on the crisp sheets with her body completely uncovered. Her breasts were full, her nipples tight, dusky peaks. She’d turned on the lamp, and the light drifted over her body.
He’d wanted to be careful with her.
Not gonna happen.
I will take and take and—
He didn’t move. Make sure she’s ready. Make sure she’s fucking ready.
“Odin?” Her head tilted as she pushed up on her elbows. “What are you waiting for?”
He ditched his jeans.
Her gaze dropped. She sucked in a quick breath. The gold of her eyes gleamed even more.
“Spread your legs,” he ordered as he stalked forward.
Slowly, she did.
So pretty and perfect. And…was she wet? He slid onto the bed. Caught her legs. Spread them more and put his fingers to her core.
Wet.
“You’re…really big.” A hint of worry.
“And you’re absolutely perfect.”
“Like, not saying this to flatter you or anything, but you are seriously bigger than the other guys I have been with—”
His growl cut through her words. The last thing he wanted to hear about was any other guy she’d ever been with. His head bent and he took her sex with his mouth. His tongue slid over her clit.
She heaved against him. “Odin!”
His hands clamped around her thighs. He tasted. Licked her clit over and over, then drove his tongue into her sex. She twisted against him, not to back away, but to get closer.
He lifted his head. Replaced his mouth with his fingers and stroked her. First one finger, then a second. He stretched her. Made sure she was open and ready to take him.
“If you don’t fuck me, right now, I will go crazy!”
He couldn’t have that. He also couldn’t hold back, not another moment. Not with her sensual taste on his tongue and not with the hot, tight way her sex squeezed his fingers. She was going to feel like heaven around his dick.