Tess

I don’t say goodbye to Spencer and never bother to find my father, even though I know he’s here. Instead I hold tight to Curran’s hand as he leads me out of the ballroom, both of us laughing as we cross the street and reach his truck.

He opens the door for me and helps me inside. I can’t stop smiling, especially when he slides into the driver’s seat and gives me a quick kiss. “Thank you,” I whisper against his mouth.

Curran returns my grin, stroking the side of my face. “You’re welcome, angel face,” he tells me.

I lean against his shoulder. This awful evening is now behind me, thanks to this man I can’t stop thinking about. But our night together? Well, that’s only just begun.

“Is Lu on watch tonight?” I ask.

Curran laughs, but it lacks some of its humor. “Yup. She’s on.”

He cranks the engine and pulls out of the lot. I place my hand on his leg. “I don’t want to get you in trouble,” I tell him truthfully.

He rolls to a stop at the first light. “And I don’t want to pretend like there’s nothing between us when there obviously is.”

“There’s something between us?” I muse.

He shrugs. “Considering we’ve been miserable apart, I’m guessing there might be.”

“Oh, hell,” I say, trying my best to imitate him. “We’re not going to have the ‘are you my boyfriend’ talk, are we?” I lift my arms and drop them like they weigh a ton. “Oh, we are, aren’t we?”

He throws back his head, laughing as he steps on the gas, but then his good nature fades. “That Spencer guy, your date.”

The name alone erases my grin. “What about him?”

“I didn’t like you with him.”

“I don’t like him with me, either,” I mutter.

“Good,” he says, sounding satisfied. He taps the screen to his Bluetooth. “Hey, Lu,” he says when she answers.

“I’ll be at the hotel in thirty,” she says by way of a greeting.

“Don’t. Tess is headed back to her place.”

There’s a pause before she says, “I take it you’re headed back with her?”

Curran doesn’t hesitate. “Yup.”

“You sweeping her apartment?”

“Right again, Lu. She’s safe. We’ve got no tails. If anything changes I’ll call you back. Otherwise, I’ll meet you in the parking lot of her building.”

She mumbles a few curses, most of which I’ve never said. “This is your damn signoff. Isn’t it, O’Brien?”

Curran steals a glance my way. “Right again, Lu.”

“Christ,” she mutters, and disconnects.

We don’t say much once his “cop” face returns and he resumes his vigilant guard, checking for anyone who might be following us. Thirty minutes later, he pulls into the lot of my building, his eyes sweeping the area for any unfamiliar cars or potential threats.

He backs into a spot beside Lu. “Wait till I come for you,” he says.

He hops out and marches to Lu’s vehicle. She lowers her window and says something to which he immediately responds. Whatever he tells her earns him a stiff middle finger.

I clasp my hand over my mouth, laughing. Curran opens my door and helps me out, grinning when he sees me. “Come on, angel face.”

I smile at Lu and lean into Curran when he puts his arm around me, my way of assuring her that I want him with me. The last thing I want is Curran getting into trouble with his superiors, especially knowing I’m already in trouble myself.

Yet I don’t think about my father now. He’s not here. Curran is. And he’s all that matters.

Curran keeps his cop persona until he emerges from my bedroom, following a thorough sweep of my apartment. In the time he took to conduct his search, I removed my coat and placed two glasses of water on the coffee table.

He walks to me slowly, taking each of my hands, one at a time, his light blue eyes sizzling with desire. “You still want me to help you out of that dress?” he asks.

I move in closer, barely managing a nod when he hauls me to him.

Curran doesn’t help me out of my dress.

He tears it off me.

I fumble with the buttons of his dress shirt, and then the zipper of his pants.

My hands reach for his erection in time for him to pull off my panties and drag me to the floor. He angles our bodies, shoving my hips down to his face and granting me the perfect view of what I long to taste. My head dips down, my lips eager and my throat already moaning from the motions of Curran’s tongue.

It’s not a race. We have all night, but the speed with which we’re working each other up tells a different tale, as does the way my hips rock against his suckling lips. I break my seal when Curran’s fingers join the frantic efforts of his tongue.

“I want you,” I whimper. “God, I want you so much.”

My words mark the start of a long night. Curran rolls me on my back, reaching for something near his abandoned jacket. I grip his shoulder, yanking him in for a long kiss while my hand continues to rile him. Something I do lures a particularly hard groan. So I do it again, and again, and again.

“Fuck,” he says, using his teeth to rip open the small foil package. He lifts off me, breathing hard as he takes in my face. “Are you ready for me?”

I reach for the condom and curl forward, giving him one last slow pull with my mouth. He gasps when my fingers roll the condom in place, releasing my hair to fall along my face. It’s then that he cradles me, spreading me parallel to the couch and tossing my leg over his shoulder.

This time, he doesn’t kiss me. Instead he fastens his eyes onto mine as he eases his way inside. My spine arches, tilting my breasts upward with each of his presses. The wait, along with each subtle stretch of my body, is almost too much to take. But Curran takes his time filling me, using care and going deep. He’s quiet. I’m not. As I receive his full length and thickness, I’m the one swearing, and shaking with desire.

His right arm slips behind my lower back, keeping me in position, while his other hand holds my face so I can’t escape his stare.

But I don’t want to escape. Not from him.

He withdraws slowly, then returns fast, repeating the motion. Each thrust is harder, faster, until his body slaps against me and I’m screaming from lust and the sensual agony overtaking me.

One massive orgasm overpowers the other until Curran falls forward, his throaty moans cutting through his clenched teeth.

My extended leg is lowered. Curran pants above me, smiling playfully as he bends to kiss me. I can’t move; my heart is beating out of control and my legs are quivering as if seizing. Every part of me throbs and tingles, but his fingers and teeth aren’t done with their exploration. They want to know my body and learn it well.

My head lolls to the side when he nibbles the curve of my neck, his silky breath further tantalizing my heated skin. My hips begin to sway, inviting more of him. He complies, hardening again while his nips to my neck grow aggressively sexy.

His fingers pass over my lips until I open my mouth and draw two in, licking, sucking, and sliding them in and out. He groans and pulls out, stirring my moans.

As I reach for him, he withdraws further, fumbling between our bodies and quickly replacing the condom while I continue to suck and moisten his fingers. My hands slap against the wood floor as Curran pushes back inside of me.

He pumps his hips against mine, slipping his wet fingers between my legs and circling, knowing where to go and how hard to rub.

Good heavens. It’s as if every nerve ending along my skin can sense his touch, his warmth, his need. His motions send me into a tailspin of desire. I’m no longer simply writhing or screaming, I’m clawing at the floor.

This time he lasts longer, his steady thrusts coming quicker, the movements of his hands faster. I thrash, losing all control—screaming, swearing, trembling.

And I could give a damn.

Curran soon follows, his throaty growls joining my cries. He slumps forward, gripping the edge of the couch to keep from landing on top of me. Gradually he slows to a halt.

“Jesus,” I whimper, so consumed with want I can barely speak.

He leans against me, chuckling against my ear. “You can just call me Curran,” he whispers.