Chapter Fourteen
Diana heard the door slam from the living room. She left Lucia with JJ and went to see what was wrong. She immediately knew something was up when she saw Noah and a few of the other guys watching her from the hallway with blank expressions. She eventually found Rafe in their bedroom, pacing.
She watched him for a long moment before speaking. “You want to talk about what’s going on?”
“No.”
Diana folded her arms and leaned against the doorframe. “Hey, I’m just trying to help you. Obviously something is going on.” She swallowed. “Is it my brothers? Have you found them?”
He turned and met her gaze, shaking his head slowly. “No, we haven’t. I’m just frustrated with the whole thing, that’s all.”
She nodded as she rocked back and forth on her heels. “I just wish I could help in some way. I wish that none of you were in danger because of me.”
Rafe stalked toward her, then wrapped his arms around her, enveloping her in his warmth. “None of this is your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
She wasn’t willing to dismiss what she was feeling that easily. “But this is my family. In so many ways my ignorance makes me complicit. I saw what I wanted. So maybe I need to help stop it. I need to do something.”
He searched her face. “Did Oskar say something to you?”
Diana frowned. “Why would Oskar say something to me?”
Rafe shook his head. “Never mind.”
“Rafe, we can’t keep doing this. This is no way to live, looking over our shoulders and keeping us under lock and key. It’s time to go on the offensive, or it’s time to put some distance between me and the rest of you. I’m the one they want. The smart choice is to have me leave.”
He scowled at her. “There’s nothing smart about it. This penthouse is a fortress. You’re safest here. Even clients are only ever shown the conference room. There is no way I’m letting you out of my sight, so you’re just going to have to deal with it.”
She narrowed her gaze. “Do I have to remind you that I researched you for over a year and none of you were any the wiser? I am a fighter. I know how to take care of myself. You can take your damsel-in-distress-protection shit and shove it. I am your partner. Stop trying to protect me.”
His chuckle was harsh. “Things are different now, Diana. You’re pregnant. They can hurt you.”
She hated that he was right, but she didn’t want to concede that point. “They got the jump on me last time. I admit that.”
“I know, baby. That’s why staying here is for the best. Noah and the others can help me protect you. Leaving doesn’t make them any safer. Your brothers already know you’re connected to me, so everyone here is still in danger even if you leave.”
She buried her face in his chest. “I feel terrible. Even if I’m not directly responsible, I feel like I need to do something.”
“You’re doing everything you can. We’ve already talked to the FBI. You’ve given them all the information you have. It’s up to them to take action.”
“Yeah, but still. My brothers are after me. Maybe you guys could use me.”
He grabbed her shoulders. “I am not using you as bait. No more talking to Oskar. He was the one who came up with this stupid bait idea.”
“So that's why you look so pissed. Oskar didn't say anything to me but it’s not the worst idea in the world. If you won’t let me draw them away from everyone, then let me do this. They want me. And they’ll take me any way they can get me. If you know they are going to keep coming, it’s much better if it’s on our terms, don’t you think?”
His thumb slid over her bare skin. “You truly have no idea how much you mean to me, do you? I can’t lose you.”
Diana stepped into his space and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m just saying we need to try to do something.”
“And we will. We’ll brainstorm some ideas. Right now I just need to be close to you. The idea of losing you terrifies me.”
“You’re not going to lose me. We’re going to find a way to end this.”
Rafe kissed her. As always, his lips were expert over hers. His hands gently held and caressed her face as they kissed, and the tender action made her melt from the inside out. Diana tugged his head back down and fused her lips with his, raising her hips to meet the hard length of him.
A growl bubbled up from deep in his throat. He tugged at the hem of her tank top, untucking it from her jeans and exposing her belly. The moment his hands met with skin, her breath caught.
Every time he touched her, it sent a zing of pleasure to her core. She wondered if that would ever end. His roving hands traveled up her rib cage. He muttered something that was part epithet, part homage as his thumb came into contact with the bare flesh of her breast.
When he didn’t continue, she squirmed under him, and he chuckled. When his thumb traced a circle over her nipple, Diana arched her back in an attempt to get closer. The peak stiffened in response as her core pulsed. When she groaned, he repeated the action.
Desperate to get closer, Diana pressed into him. With a low growl, he picked her up and kicked the door shut behind them. He wasted no time once he deposited her on the bed, going right back to driving her crazy by teasing her nipples.
She gasped out his name. On his third pass, he tugged the nub between his thumb and forefinger, and she moaned his name as her hips rode his thigh.
With a curse, he yanked her tank over her head. When her heavy breasts spilled free, Rafe’s muttered “fuck” made her blush.
“You are so beautiful,” he muttered and kissed her belly button. As he traced kisses from her stomach up her rib cage, Diana arched her back as each kiss drifted closer to her breasts. When his hot mouth closed over a nipple, her core contracted and released. Moist heat dampened her panties, and she rolled her hips into his as he suckled one breast, his palm closed over the other.
Diana pulled at his T-shirt and dragged the material over his head, exposing an expanse of bare torso.
Her hands tentatively roamed over the nape of his neck and his back, exploring the muscles of his deltoids. With each stroke she could feel him shiver.
Wrapping his arms around her, Rafe rolled them both over so that she sat on top. God, he was big. Broad shoulders and a wingspan like a swimmer. Thick muscles corded his neck and his broad chest. They rippled with every intake of breath as her fingertips glided over his skin. When her hands shifted down to his abs, he sucked in a breath and held it. Would she ever get used to the fact that he was hers?
Rafe stared up at the beautiful creature on top of him with breasts worth paying homage to. Her skin glowed in the dim light of the room. With every glance from under her lashes and every tentative touch of her fingertips, his whole body felt like it was being stroked to full blaze. Vaguely he wondered if spontaneous combustion was a myth. Add in the euphoric feeling that surged through his blood every time she touched him, and he was likely to come in his jeans.
But was he going to stop her? Hell no. Her breasts swayed as she shifted her straddle farther down his legs. Her hands came into contact with the button on his jeans, and his cock throbbed and strained against the zipper. Involuntarily his hips rose, and he tried to school his breathing.
Since the hotel, he’d been terrified of the possibility of never seeing her again. He’d suddenly understood why they pulled agents off active duty if they got married. All he’d been able to think about was her.
The zzzpt sound of his zipper going down made Rafe wish he practiced some kind of Zen Buddhist religion. If he could find his center, he might have a chance of lasting long enough to make love to her. But it seemed Diana was in the mood to torture him.
Slim-fingered, delicate hands grabbed on to the top of his pants and boxers and tugged them down. Scooting back, she pulled them down past his ankles, and he lay before her, naked as the day he was born. Diana’s eyes traveled from his toes up his shins, to his thighs, and fixated on his dick.
His cock jerked as if to say hello. She shimmied back up his body, straddling him again at the knees. She supported her hands on either side of him.
“You’re very big.”
He grinned. “I love a woman who appreciates what she sees.”
When she leaned directly over his straining cock, her long hair brushed against his skin, and her breath floated over the rigid length of him. It only took too puffs of breath from her, and his control snapped.
His hands banded around her biceps, and he hauled her up against him so he could kiss her. Flipping her onto her back, his hands flew to the waistband of her jeans, and he all but ripped off the button in an effort to get to her skin.
Yanking down the denim, he slid back up her body and wedged a knee between her thighs.
Against him, he could feel the moisture of her slick core through her panties. He tried not to think about how soft she was. He needed to go slow with her. His cock, on the other hand, had a mind of its own and pulsed against her thigh.
He gave her a peck on the lips before tracing featherlight kisses along her jaw. When he nuzzled her neck, Diana giggled. When he went from nuzzling to nibbling, she moaned. His hands enjoyed free rein of her breasts, testing the weight of the full globes, teasing the tight buds to pucker. Her hips rose to meet his every time he tugged on one of the rose-colored tips.
His lips continued a path down her ribs to her belly button. When the tip of his tongue dipped into the tiny crevice, she parted her thighs on an exhale.
Lifting his head, he watched her expression as he stroked her slick folds with his thumb. She widened her legs and transferred her hands to dig at the sheets. Gently circling the nub of her clitoris with his thumb, he eased one finger into her slick, dewy channel.
Immediately her muscles clenched around his finger, and a tingle started at the base of his spine. Shit. All he was doing was touching her, and he was already about to blow.
Slowly his finger retreated, then entered her again. When she exhaled, she whispered his name. The soft “Rafe” filled the silence in the room.
All he wanted was to hear her say it again. He slid his finger inside her again, followed by an achingly slow retreat, and she whispered, “Oh God.”
Diana rotated her hips under his hands, coating his fingers with her juices. “Rafe, please—”
With her hips doing half the work, Rafe began moving his fingers again. Gently making love to her while his thumb stroked her clit. Her hips began to move in time with increasing tempo. She rode his fingers, and Rafe was mesmerized by her soft flesh. Gently he removed his fingers, ignoring the protest from her, and instead replaced them with his tongue.
Diana gasped and sat up in the bed, but he didn’t stop, just held her legs wide, splaying her softness to him. While his thumbs parted her folds, he lapped at the sensitive flesh as she quivered around his tongue. The more he lapped at her, the wetter she became.
Rafe could tell the moment she gave in to the sensations. She lay back against the sheets and held his head in place while trying to widen her thighs. Tracing circles around her clit with his tongue, he drove her higher and higher until her whole body tensed.
Her inner walls quivered against his questing tongue, and her breathing came out in labored puffs. Placing a gentle kiss on the sensitive button, he drew himself back up her body, using his elbows as support. She blinked up at him with wide eyes. “You’re very good at that, Mr. DeMarco.”
“You sure do know how to stroke a guy’s ego, don’t you?” he drawled.
Diana reached between them, and her delicate fingers closed around the rigid length of him. His vision blurred, and that tingle started at the base of his spine again. He’d known it from the moment he first saw her—Diana was trouble.
“I’m pretty sure this isn’t your ego.”
He dropped his forehead to hers. “Jesus, Diana.”
She pumped him again but this time brought his cock to her dewy center. Rafe hissed a breath and squeezed his eyes shut. Why did she feel so fucking good?
Diana’s nails scored his back, and he groaned. “Fuck. Diana.” He pushed in to the hilt, and she hissed beneath him. He tried not to move, to let her get accustomed to him and breathe for a minute. But that voice in his head wouldn’t stop. Rush. Take. Brand. He withdrew by increments, and she hissed again.
Her breathing still ragged, she slowly smiled up at him. “Yes. Rafe, please don’t stop.”
That was all the invitation he needed. Withdrawing to the tip of his cock, he surged forward, keeping up that slow and steady tempo until she started to claw at his back. Her hips pumped against his, her velvet sheath swallowing the length of him.
The walls of her slick lining started to convulse against him once more. He knew what was coming now. “That’s it, sweetheart, come for me.” He kissed her deep, one hand tugging at the tip of her breast. The other reached between them, his thumb finding the dew-slick button and circling it.
Diana threw her head back, arching her back and giving him unfettered access to her breast. “Rafe!” She called his name on a breath as her body shook beneath him.
As she rode the wave, he continued to drive into her, longing to keep her ride going as long as he could. Wishing he could stay in that bubble of bliss forever.
“Goddamn, Diana, you are so beautiful.”
“You make me feel beautiful.”
Rafe canted his hips again. He needed to come. But her velvet walls still clung to him, gently milking him, still driving him insane.
Flipping her over onto her stomach, he glided a hand down her smooth back to her perfect round ass. God, her ass was a thing of beauty. Even though she was slender, it was high and carved to fit his palms.
He drew her limp body up onto her knees. Leaning into her, he whispered, “Hold on to the headboard.”
She flicked him a cocked eyebrow over her shoulder, but she complied.
“That’s a good girl. Now spread your knees for me.” When she parted her legs, he bit back a groan. That angle gave him the world’s most perfect view of her ass. Shifting behind her, he covered her body with his again. “Are you sore, baby?” As he asked, he inserted one finger in her still slick center, and she moaned.
“A… a little.”
But that didn’t stop her from moving her hips in time with his questing finger. When he added another finger, she sucked in a quick breath of air but then moaned as his fingers retreated.
“Rafe, please, I just need—”
He lined his cock up with her sweet opening and whispered as he slid home. “I know. I need you too.”
From this angle, he knew he wouldn’t last long. As he held her hips tight and rode her, she called his name. Leaning over her as their hips locked in rhythm, he played with her breasts, relishing their sweet response to his touch. Just by hovering over the sensitive skin of the full globes, her nipples puckered, inviting him to touch, to tease, to pinch.
He also couldn’t resist playing with her ass as he stroked her. He filled both palms with her cheeks, molding them as he filled her.
She let her head hang between her braced shoulders as she pushed her hips back to meet his every stroke. “God, that feels, so—”
Rafe knew the instant she started to come again. Her pussy began to milk his cock, and she threw her head back. Digging his hand into her hair, he gave her ass a quick tap. On contact, she broke apart. Her whole body shook, and he could only hold on for the ride.
As she shattered around him, his vision started to gray at the edges. The tingle that had started in his spine felt more like someone had hooked him up to thousand-volt electrodes as he pumped inside her. So close to heaven.
And then Diana reached back for him, digging her hands in his hair. “Yes, Rafe. I love you.”
As blinding light exploded his vision, his whole body erupted in electric bliss.