I'd had a suspicion something like this was going to happen to me. I didn’t think it would be quite like this, though.

The party was still in full swing, and I had lasted longer than I thought. But the man who owned this house didn’t employ fools; no matter how good I was, I was bound to be noticed. So, of course, I came prepared for that eventuality.

Purposefully, I left my purse, with my gun inside of it, taped under a table. I'd only sat down for a moment when I came in, under the excuse of taking a short rest before I began to mingle—plenty of ladies were part of that group, in fact—and I'd known not to walk around with it. If the man in front of me had seen me with it in the beginning of the evening, I would have worried, but I didn’t think he had.

Luke.

An ordinary name for someone that was anything but. I hadn't seen this man when I walked in, even with all the security around, either inconspicuous in glasses, black suits, and earpieces or moving as part of the crowd. He stood out.

And he was suspicious of me.

I felt the edges of my lips curve up just a bit more.

"You're being especially thorough," I murmured.

His lips curled into a smile. "It's part of my job."

Right. That was why he was running his hands up and down each of my legs, meeting skin instead of satin when he worked his way up my right leg, hand going under the slit in the dress. I bit my lip at the sensation of calloused hands running up the soft skin of my leg, up my thigh, getting close to my panties and running back down.

I was suddenly glad I'd opted for not wearing any pantyhose.

Even expected, this was a definite wrench in my plans. It had all been going so well, but it was better to get this out of the way. But I found myself getting distracted from the goal. I had no doubt I could get myself out of this situation, without causing a scene. But even though I could tell the man was interested in me, there was no reason for him to be quite so handsy, or for a simple frisk to be taking this long. Not that I could place all the blame on him.

I didn’t try to stop him.

I had plans for the day, and that was where my focus was; where my focus should be. But this man, Luke, was turning me on, surprisingly.

My men were few and far in between. Usually, my head was too full of the job, and part of that meant being immersed in normal society when I felt the term no longer quite defined me anymore. Normal men were a bore. But I knew, just looking at him, the man who was going to his knees in front of me, I knew there was nothing normal about him.

I looked out of the corner of my eye, felt the corner of my lip twitch upward. How convenient, I mused to myself. And he was moving his hands and sliding them up my sides, making my body shiver. I couldn’t help myself. I took a quick glance around the room, saw no one was paying attention to us, so I pulled open a nearby closet door and shoved him inside. I moved my hand around until I hit a light switch by pure luck. The room was surprisingly spacious, and I shoved some coats aside and pinned him to the wall.

He looked surprised, and I grinned. "You're not needed anywhere for the moment, I hope," I murmured, sidling closer, curling my hands into the lapels of his coat.

He was still for a moment, and then his hands reached for mine. Instead of pulling me off him, his hands curled around mine and rested there, his eyes dropping to my mouth.

"Not for the moment, no." His voice was even quieter than mine, and I inched close enough that my breasts brushed against his chest with every breath, making my body shiver more. Then his lips curved up in a lazy smirk. "What are you going to do with me, now that you have me alone, Elda?"

My body shuddered.

I was a tall woman to begin with, at five foot ten, but he had maybe five inches on me that were cut down by the four-inch heels I wore. Still, I knew I couldn't have moved him if he hadn't wanted me to, even if I'd taken him by surprise.

Realizing that only made me hotter for him.

I slammed my mouth against his, pushing the jacket off his shoulders. I was surprised he didn’t have a shoulder holster on, the way he pulled me aside for a frisk I assumed he was security. It didn’t last long as he reacted to the kiss, arms wrapping tight around my waist, holding my body to his, ravaging my mouth and making me moan.

Damn, I couldn’t remember the last time I'd gotten this hot just from a frisking—with clothes on—and a kiss that was admittedly impressive.

He didn’t let me have the upper hand for long. Or rather more like he was done pretending I had it at all. His arms tensed, then he was shifting us around so I was against the wall, pushing his body against mine, trapping me between his hard body and the wall. Then his hips met mine and I broke the kiss off with a gasp, my body shuddering as I felt him hard against me.

I laughed, a little breathless, but then I happened to look up and meet his eyes, and the laugh cut off, nearly choking me. His dark eyes were darker, the brown completely swallowed by his pupils. This was what lust looked like; his eyes practically burning with it, his face twisted in it.

"Do you have any idea what you do to me," he growled, and I could hear it in the roughness of his voice, and it made my body shiver with more want.

"And what about what you do to me," I shot back with no heat, breathless. "You better take responsibility for this, Luke Bable."

His grin was feral. "With pleasure, Elda."

Then he was kissing me again, and I could no longer think or do anything other to keep up with his ferocity. The kiss was wet and messy, I could feel spit dribble down my chin, but then he was pulling back and licking it up, then kissing me again, one hand going to my chin, holding my mouth open for his tongue.

I panted for breath as he pulled back again, trying to catch my breath. It was difficult, moans pouring out of me as his lips slid down my throat, kissing and nipping as he went. Then one of his hands was sliding the strap of my dress off one shoulder. I didn’t have a bra on, and he reached a hand inside the gap in the dress, palming my breast and lifting it from the confines of my dress, I whimpered and arched my back, thrusting my breast into his hand. He growled, wrapping his lips around my nipple, teasing it with his tongue and sucking hard, causing me to throb between my thighs with every suck of his lips.

I reached for his hand, the one that hadn't gone back around my waist, and slid it into the slit of my dress. I parted my legs wider, bringing his hand between my thighs. He froze for a second, then his mouth gentled around my nipple, and his fingers felt the wetness of my panties.

"Please, Luke," I whispered in his ear, pressing his hand harder against me, the throbbing becoming unbearable. "Do something—anything—just make me feel good."

He released me, making me gasp and want to protest, but then he was dropping to his knees again. His hands pushed my dress aside, pushing the inside of my thighs apart so I would widen my stance, shoving the dress up around my hips so he had free access. He buried his face between my legs, and I watched, fascinated, as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he was pushing my legs wider, and I felt his tongue nudge against my clit through the soft silk.

I whimpered, slapping my hand against my mouth so I muffled any noise. His hands moved up to my hips, then dragged back down, holding onto the sides of my underwear, pulling away to slide it off my legs. I had to concentrate on standing on one foot as he pulled it off one leg, then the other. I laughed a little as he stuffed it into one of his pockets, breathless.

My body shivered, and I was biting into my palm as his head went back between my thighs, and he used his tongue to slowly drive me crazy, licking my clit, all over my sex, then firming his tongue and thrusting it inside my body over and over. Then he replaced it with a finger, his tongue back to licking at my clit. Two more fingers soon joined the first, and I threw my head back against the wall because watching him wasn’t helping me keep my voice down at all.

My legs trembled in my heels as they worked to hold me up. I could feel the pleasure growing, little sparks of electricity flying under my skin. I whimpered again, trying not to cry out, and the fingers of my free hand moved to his hair. It was a little on the short side, but it was long enough for my fingers to grab hold of. I held his face to me, feeling my breath catch as he swirled his tongue against me. Then his fingers thrust just a little faster, just a little harder, his mouth closing around my clit and sucking, hard, like he had moments before on my nipple.

I thought I screamed as I came, my orgasm taking me by surprise, but I muffled the sound with my hand again. My body shuddered, but he didn’t stop, and I kept coming until my body sagged against the wall in exhaustion.

Luke gentled his touch, and then he stood up. I couldn’t do more than look up at him from under droopy lids, gasping for every breath. Then his arms were wrapping around me again, and he was kissing me, hard and strong.

I moaned, melting into him, feeling some strength returning to me, my body growing hot again. But this time, it was his turn.