Devin

 

When Devin opened his eyes and found himself staring at the water-stained ceiling panels of his basement, the first thought that entered his head was how many times Amber had asked him to replace them.

 

They look tacky. I’d rather take them down and just have the pipes exposed. At least that would make a statement. We’d be industrial and chic. Now we look leaky and poor.

 

She’d go on tangents about the ceiling tiles for a day or two and then forget about it for months, allowing Devin to forget about it, too. He rarely found himself staring at the ceiling, so he didn’t see why it mattered so much. Now, though, lying on his back—which was extraordinarily tight for some reason—and seeing the tiles, he thought that it was about time he replaced them.

 

The second thought that entered his head was how he’d come to be lying on his basement floor.

 

Then, he remembered Cara.

 

He shot up. Or, did his best at shooting up, at least.

 

When he tried to sit up, his back screamed in pain, and it felt as though his hips were made of glass. A burning sensation tore through his shoulder and down his arm into his fingertips, making them feel tingly. He probed at the tender spot on the back of his head and wondered how long he’d been lying in the same position. It felt as though he had a bruise on his skull.

 

Then, he looked down and noticed his clothes. Or lack thereof. His most comfortable pair of jeans were in a bloody, mangled mess on the floor next to him, a pair of scissors not far away. He then noticed the towels and strips of sheet wrapped around his arm and his leg.

 

Cara had been taking care of him. He’d come back to the house hoping she cared enough about him to at least not let him die, and the makeshift bandages covering his body told him that she did. He turned his stiff body around and glanced through the open door of the guest room, but didn’t see anybody inside. Then he listened for the sound of footsteps upstairs and didn’t hear anything.

 

Gingerly, he brought himself to his knees, trying to ignore the throbbing in his thigh, and then to a standing point, wobbling slightly at first, but quickly regaining his land legs. The stairs were a challenge, but nowhere near as difficult as they’d been the night he’d come back from the botched job.

 

What had that been about anyway? He was attacked by the man he was meant to kill. How did Trevor know to expect him? It was almost like he’d been tipped off. In his very long career, Devin had never had more than the slightest complications when taking out his targets, but the last two jobs he’d been on had been almost complete disasters. It didn’t make any sense, and his head still felt too fuzzy to think about it.

 

When he got upstairs, the first order of business was to go to the restroom. Then, he removed his bandages, washed himself off, and got dressed. The entire process was painful from start to finish, but he felt increasingly more human afterward.

 

He went to the kitchen and downed several too many painkillers, hoping to numb his body into complacency. The entire time he was upstairs, he couldn’t help but notice that there was very little sign of Cara. A few things in the kitchen and living room were rearranged, and a blanket on the couch told him she’d been sleeping there, but otherwise, it was as if she’d never existed.

 

He went to the window and saw his car missing from the driveway, which confirmed his suspicions. She’d bailed. He collapsed into an armchair in the living room. He couldn’t blame her. She’d been kidnapped. Of course, she would run the first chance she got.

 

A few days ago, she had been his biggest concern, but now her disappearance was barely a blip on his radar. Devin felt pretty confident he’d been set up. Whether by the Morettis or the Bianchis or someone else. Regardless of who, someone had tipped off Trevor that Devin was coming to make the hit that night, and it had almost cost Devin his life.

 

Just then, the doorknob to his front door rattled, and Devin jumped up from his chair, relieved to notice the painkillers had begun to take effect. Was this someone sent to take him out for good? He looked around his immediate area for a weapon but saw nothing bigger than a remote control. He would have to try to fight them off with his hands.

 

Then, Cara came through the door.

 

A mixture of shock and relief flowed through Devin’s system, and he let out a loud sigh.

 

“You’re back,” he said, about to sit back down in his chair when he noticed the blood splattered across Cara’s neck. “Where have you—”

 

“I took him out,” she said. Her eyes were wide and perfectly round, her pupils dilated.

 

“Took who out?”

 

“The second target.” She waved the folder in the air between them.

 

Devin couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He stepped towards her, scanning her face and body for signs of injury. “Are you alright?”

 

She nodded, her lips pulling up into a smile. “Perfectly fine.”

 

For some reason, Devin became angry. His hands were fists, shaking at his side. “That was foolish. You saw what happened to me after the last hit. Why would you go and do this alone? What could you have possibly been thinking?”

 

“I was thinking that you’d been unconscious for days, and someone had to take out the next target before your boss became suspicious. My freedom was on the line!”

 

Devin nodded slowly, realizing she was right. Of course, she thought the Morettis were after her, which wasn’t exactly true—or true at all—but still, what she’d said about the boss becoming suspicious was legitimate. With the second target out of the way, it looked as though Devin was moving through his assignment with ease, and despite his frustration that he’d lost another opportunity to get rid of Cara, and now only had one shot left, he was grateful to her.

 

“We should clean you up.”

 

Cara followed Devin into the kitchen where he wetted a rag and began wiping at the blood on her neck.

 

“This feels a little ironic or something,” she said, laughing a bit. “I’ve been taking care of you for days, and now you’re taking care of me.”

 

Devin smiled. “It’s the least I can do. Thank you, by the way.”

 

Cara nodded, and then immediately launched into the story of how she took out the second target. As she spoke, her voice growing more and more animated by the second, Devin couldn’t help but be impressed with her. Her strength and perseverance. The lengths she was willing to go to survive. It was admirable.

 

When she finished, she looked to Devin as if waiting for his praise, and though Devin was impressed, he also couldn’t get the idea of her getting hurt out of his head. The fact that things could have gone wrong and she could have been killed.

 

“You could have been seriously hurt,” he said. The words tumbled out of his mouth before he had time to think about them. Before he could remind himself that, had Cara actually been killed during the hit, it would have tied up his remaining loose end. It would have completed his plan. He couldn’t understand, then, why the idea bothered him so much.

 

Before he knew what was happening, Cara’s lips were on his. It happened so quickly that it took Devin a few seconds to register what was happening, and once he did, he pushed her away.

 

Her face fell, the light in her eyes going suddenly dark.

 

Devin watched as her cheeks began to flame with embarrassment and rejection, and suddenly, everything inside of him wanted to keep that expression from ever crossing her face again. He wanted to protect her, to save her.

 

In one move he wrapped his hand around her neck and pulled her back against his lips.

 

# # #

 

Cara

 

Cara didn’t know why she’d decided to kiss Devin, but she had. Perhaps it had been the adrenaline still pumping through her veins from taking out her target. Or perhaps it had been the way Devin seemed genuinely concerned for her safety. Either way, she’d kissed him, and for the second their lips touched, before he pushed her away, she felt fire. Fire in her bones and in her lips and in her lungs. A hunger she didn’t recognize.

 

Then, it was gone. He pushed her away, and a deep shame filled her. She’d just killed a man, and here she was kissing a professional killer. Kissing the man who had kidnapped her. What was she thinking? Of course, he pushed her away. He didn’t care about her.

 

As these thoughts raced through her head, Devin’s face changed. All of a sudden, he grabbed her and kissed her, shattering each and every one of the negative thoughts into a million pieces until all Cara could think about was the warmth of his body against hers, the softness of his lips, the smoky, fiery smell of his skin.

 

His hands felt rough and calloused as they slid underneath her shirt and up the sides of her body, hesitating over every rib. Then, in one deft move, the shirt was over her head and on the floor, and his fingers were pulling at the clasp of her bra.

 

He seemed to be having trouble, so Cara went to help him, but he gave a sharp tug, and Cara heard the fabric rip. Although she didn’t know where she’d find another bra, as she didn’t have any other clothes with her, the power of the act, the way he seemed to need her so badly, sent a warm, tingly feeling down her midsection and into her pelvis.

 

Devin threw the bra into the same pile as her shirt and then brought his mouth down to her breasts. He planted rough kisses down her cleavage and then around each breast before taking one of them in his mouth, causing Cara to throw her head back and moan. She arched her back, giving him better access, and felt her knees practically give out when he flicked at her nipple with his tongue.

 

He switched to the other breast and brought his hand up to play with the first. In all the years she’d been married to Daniel, Cara had never been pleasured like this. There had never been time made for only her, and she was already on the verge of a climax, simply because of the attention he was paying her.

 

Suddenly his hand was sliding down her stomach further and further until his fingers slipped beneath the waistband of her shorts and into her underwear. Cara gasped as his fingers caressed and massaged her, as a sensual pressure built in her abdomen and made her legs quake.

 

Just as she thought her body couldn’t handle any more sensations, he inserted two of his fingers into her and began pumping them. She screamed with pleasure and slammed her hands down on the countertop behind her as muscles she didn’t even know existed flexed and contracted and released. Her entire body seemed to be sighing with pleasure.

 

When her breathing began to return to some semblance of normal, Devin withdrew his fingers and pulled her shorts and underwear down around her legs. Quickly, Cara stepped out of them and made quick work of undoing his jeans, sliding them over his huge bulge and down his legs.

 

Cara could see him straining against the thin fabric of his boxers, and as he pushed his boxers down his legs, he popped out, standing at full attention, and Cara almost gasped. She didn’t know they could get that big. Finally, he took off his shirt and threw it in the same pile as her clothes.

 

Cara had only a second to take him in, the contoured lines of his chest, his abs, and his ribs, before he was grabbing her around the waist and lifting her onto the countertop. Then, he was inside of her. Her body felt unbelievably full as he began to thrust, but she wanted more.

 

She wrapped her legs around his waist, and buried her face in his neck, kissing the smooth skin behind his ear, sucking on his earlobe. It seemed to encourage him, and he pounded into her harder until their skin slapped together with each thrust. It felt as though their rhythm had replaced her heartbeat; had become vital to her existence. Pleasure rippled up her body with every thrust, but still, she wanted more.

 

She licked his earlobe, and then whispered, “Harder.”

 

Devin shuddered at the word but quickly regained his composure. He pulled out of her, slid her towards him until her feet were on the floor, and then turned her around and bent her forward over the counter. Then, with both hands grabbing at the flesh of her hips, he pushed inside of her once again.

 

Cara gasped at the new sensation. Somehow, she felt even fuller than before, as if she were being stretched to breaking point. He pushed in and out of her slowly a few times, readjusting to the new angle, and then, without warning, he began jackhammering into her.

 

Cara felt as if her body was vibrating apart but in the best way possible. His hands were rough and needy on her hips, pulling her towards him as he slammed into her. Everything on the countertop was shaking and vibrating along with them, and Cara stretched her arms forward, placing her hands on the tile backsplash to gain some traction.

 

Devin reached one of his hands around her midsection and began massaging her again, and Cara felt tears welling up in her eyes. Her body was being overloaded with pleasure, and she cried out, “Harder, harder.”

 

As if kicking into an even higher gear, which Cara thought was impossible, Devin slowed down his pace, but increased in power, slamming into her and then holding it for a second, allowing her to savor the feeling of him filling her up. That along with his fingers was enough.

 

Her legs began to quiver, the muscles shaking and threatening to give out, as ripples of pleasure moved through her body. The weight in her abdomen released, spreading warmth in waves to her furthest extremities. Cara’s pleasure seemed to push Devin over the edge, as well. His thrusting sped up, and then slowed dramatically, until he pushed into her once every few seconds, groaning each time their bodies made contact.

 

Cara reached back and held onto his thighs, feeling the large muscles flex with the effort, and moaned as the last surges of her orgasm slowed down, and she melted into the countertop. Devin, too, sighed and fell on top of her, trailing kisses up her spine.

 

Cara tried to remember the last time she’d orgasmed like that. Certainly, never with Daniel. She’d taken to pleasuring herself over the years, but it had never been that good or as big a release. Cara felt pretty certain Devin had just given her the best sex she’d ever had in her life, and she wanted to thank him, but she still felt limp and lazy.

 

Devin pulled out of her, and Cara turned around until they were chest to chest. She ran a hand along his shoulder, careful to avoid his injuries, and looked up at him. “That was amazing.”

 

His face and neck were red with exertion, but immediately they began to drain, and his eyes narrowed. He stepped back out of her reach, and then, with one last look up and down her body, turned and walked into his bedroom, the door slamming behind him.