Molly

Joshua’s eyes are heated as he stands with his back to the closed door of our hotel room. He looks at me like I’m a steak dinner, and he’s ravenous, his erection a tempting lump in his jeans.

It’s thrilling and hot and sends tingles through my stomach.

I’m loose and relaxed from the alcohol, but contrary to what Roland said, I’m not drunk. Standing at the window, I open the blinds so I’m silhouetted by the streetlight.

I slip off my sweater then quickly unfasten my jeans, taking my panties off with them. When I straighten, I’m left in only a push-up bra. I arch my back, knowing how much he loves this profile.

Our eyes meet, and his burn my skin.

I slide a finger from my lips to the center of my breasts and lower, desire thick in my voice. “Like what you see?”

“Yes.” Lust is heavy in his.

“Take off your shirt.”

He unbuttons the top three buttons then grabs the back and pulls it over his head. His dark hair is a sexy mess, and the dim light deepens the shadows on his torso, the ripples of muscle when he moves. He’s delicious, and I’m so wet.

I thought it would bother me as his body grew more muscular, bigger with every passing month.

It didn’t.

It made me want him more.

He’s gorgeous—my big, strong man with the heart I can’t resist just below the surface.

Stepping carefully across the room, I stop in front of him, tracing my fingers lightly up the lines in his arms. I touch his stomach and feel him tense.

“What would you like me to do?”

Large hands cover my waist then slide down to my bare ass. “Trust me.”

“I trust you more than anyone in my life.”

Our voices are hushed, and I rise on tiptoes, stretching to meet his mouth. He leans down and kisses me, parting my lips and sweeping his tongue inside, curling and claiming me. I’m so hot, my core aches for him.

I’ve never ached for anyone.

I didn’t think I could.

“Come.” My fingers curl in the waist of his jeans, pulling him with me as I walk backwards. The mattress hits my calves, and I climb onto it. I’m in the center of the king-sized bed on my knees, waiting.

He pauses long enough to shove his jeans down, to allow his erection to spring free. It’s thick and pointing straight at me, a clear drop on the tip.

He climbs up, crossing to me on his knees, and I stop him, pushing him into a sitting position. I want to straddle his lap. I want to ride him until he groans, low and deep, curling my toes. I want to come all over him as he fills me, hot and wet.

It takes less than a second to position him under me and drop with a deep sigh onto his straining cock. “Yes…”

“Molly…” He catches my waist, and that sound in his voice clenches my stomach.

He wants me here with him, and I want him to know he’s the only man I want to be with.

Holding his broad shoulders, I rise up on my knees, letting his cock slide all the way to the edge, then dropping down, sheathing him, balls deep inside me.

“Oh, yeah,” he groans, and I do it again, rising high and dropping low, feeling every ridge of him as he massages me in the most erotic way.

I cup his cheeks with my hands and kiss his mouth as I move. I taste him slow and easy, like he’s the most delicious forbidden fruit in the garden. Because he is. He’s something I shouldn’t want, yet my body craves.

Every hard muscle, every sharp edge heightens my desire.

My clit slides against his pelvis, and flashes of orgasm snake up my thighs. I ride him faster, irresistible pressure tightening low in my pelvis, blooming through my legs. My movements are more focused, faster… deeper… It tightens until I think it’s too much to stand.

And then it breaks.

“Oh, yes,” I gasp, my head falling back as I’m taken by the crashing wave of pleasure.

Joshua’s mouth covers my breasts as my body breaks. He teases and bites my tingling nipples, and my insides break into another wave orgasm.

Then he comes with a shout, pulsing and holding me as my nails tighten against his skin.

I fall forward, hugging his warm body, my hair spilling around us. His lips touch my neck, my shoulder, tasting and biting, scuffing my sensitive skin with his beard. Then he kisses me again as his arms circle my waist. We drift down together, sated and happy.

We’re sweaty and panting and joined by invisible bonds that grow tighter every time we connect this way. It’s quietly terrifying, because I know time is running out.

He wants more.

He wants me to let him in, and I have to make a decision.

The room is dark, and my cheek is on his chest. I can hear his heart beating steadily, slowing with his breath.

“That’s how I want you to be.” His deep voice vibrates against my skin. “Here with me.”

I trace a finger along his stomach. “I’m always with you.”

“Not always.”

I can’t answer, because it’s true.

One time I came close to telling him everything, right after Gavin was killed. I was healing and vulnerable, and I remembered how I felt thinking Gavin might have killed him. I wanted to let Joshua in, and I almost told him why I’d gone after Gavin, what I knew about Dennis, what Brittanie had told me, and what I was planning to do.

Then he’d said he couldn’t believe he’d thought Gavin was a friend. He was so angry. He thought he knew the guy…

“I could never be around someone who hurt others intentionally,” he’d said. “I wouldn’t even want them in my life.”

It hit me in the stomach like a medicine ball, and just like that, I retreated back behind my walls.

He doesn’t press for more, and I wait, listening until I know he’s asleep. I wait for the minutes to pass, tracing my finger along his arm, following the lines to his shoulder as his sleep deepens.

“Joshua,” I whisper. He doesn’t respond. “I wish I could give you what you want.”

He only breathes heavily, fast asleep.

Moving out of his arms, I linger to kiss his scruffy cheek before I leave the bed and go into the bathroom, shutting the door silently.

Inside, I use the toilet, run some water on a cloth, and clean myself. I do my best not to make loud noises.

I need this time to think about what happens now.

Lara doesn’t know about Dennis, but she’s suspicious.

Mark knows about Esterhaus. He also knows about what happened to me, what happened to Lara, and even though he’s a cop, he walked away from my vigilante justice once before.

He thought it was the last time.

When Lara shot Gavin, it was easily excused as self-defense, and technically it was. She was protecting me from being killed. When Gavin’s illegal sex ring was uncovered, the authorities were even less concerned with punishing us.

Joshua knows about that incident in Seattle, and it was somewhat easy for him to understand. Maybe he didn’t completely understand my need to infiltrate Gavin’s crime ring, but in the end, he let it go.

He doesn’t know about Dennis.

He doesn’t know what happened here.

He doesn’t know what’s behind my scars.

At some point, I’ve got to tell him something.

I shut off the bathroom light before opening the door, and I’m momentarily blinded in the darkness. Feeling my way to the bed, I kick his shirt on the floor. I pick it up and use it to cover my naked body, leaving the buttons undone.

The blinds are still open, and with a heavy heart, I walk over to the window to look out. Foot traffic is nonstop at this time of year with all the tourists in the city. I stand for a little while watching them, wondering what it must be like to have a normal, easy, uncomplicated life.

No fear of the hammer of justice waiting just around the corner.

I’m about to pull the string to shut them out when I notice something.

My heart jumps, then flies like a hummingbird in my chest. The shadow on the ground doesn’t move, and I follow it with my eyes up the pavement to the wall, to the man in the suit, leaning against it, lighting a cigar.

The light from the match illuminates his features just long enough for me to recognize him. He inhales, and his chin lifts as he surveys the hotel, looking up and around the perimeter.

My lips part, and I’m breathing fast.

How did he find me? What does he want?

I remember tonight at the theater, the sound of shoes on pavement. Was it him?

A noise from the bed makes me jump, and I clutch my mouth to silence my squeal. I’m frozen in place, waiting, but Joshua doesn’t wake up.

Reaching down, I grab my jeans off the floor and quickly pull them over my hips. I fasten the center three buttons on Joshua’s shirt and shove the tail into my pants, then I snatch his blazer off the back of the chair. It’s too big for me, but I’m not worried about fashion. I’m worried about getting down there before the man disappears.

I’m pushing an arm into the sleeve when I spot a sheet of paper on the floor. It’s been shoved under our door, and I drop the blazer to go and pick it up.

Joshua makes a noise from the bed, and I crumple the paper in my hand. I pick up his blazer and return it to the chair before dashing to the window again. It only takes a moment to see he’s gone. My shoulders drop, and I look to the door once more.

I’m sure he gave the note to the front desk clerk and had him deliver it. I’m certain he already knows my room number, but he wouldn’t risk coming up here and encountering hotel security.

He doesn’t need to.

He knows I’ll meet him at the Napoleon House tomorrow.

I unfasten my jeans and slip them off again, going to the bed and climbing in beside Joshua. Curling my chest against his back, I wrap my arm around his waist and kiss his shoulder. He makes a noise in his sleep and covers my hand with his.

My eyes close, and my mind is far away, years ago, on the other side of the globe…