CHAPTER NINE
Winters’s plan wasn’t perfect, but it was a solid start. Mia padded barefoot with her hands clasped tight in his grip. The soft slap against the tile floor took him away from the dirty reception area. The sound was pure, echoing against the seedy undertones of the motel. It was a complete contradiction, just like her genuine presence in his less than stable life.
They walked outside to a starless night. The faraway sounds of cars were almost drowned out by the thump of tunes pouring from the nearby bar. Winters made a beeline for their car and idled them to the darkest corner of the motel.
“You ready?” he asked. Man, did he not want to put her in this position.
“Not much choice.”
“True. Let’s get this shit over with.” He opened the door, and she did the same.
He scoped out their locale. Shadows noted. Vehicles cataloged. Nothing out of place. She stood by the hood ornament, bending it down and letting it bounce back up. She was nervous. He couldn’t blame her. This was an offensive attack. Her first with him. Probably her first ever.
“Mia, you ready?”
“You already asked me that.” Her voice was tense. He wished he could wash it away.
“This is going down easy. I don’t want you to worry. You got me?”
She put her hand on his belt buckle. “Yeah, got you.”
That wasn’t what he meant it, nor how she probably meant it, but it was fine by him. Hold on to me anytime. “Let’s move boots, babe.”
Winters brought them to a vacant corner of the motel and drew her in front of him. He pressed against the brick wall, pulling her close to his chest and could see all entry points here. The driveway. Front and rear entrances of the bar.
She laid her weight against him and let out a long, tired breath. Nothing left to do except wait. And breathe in her vanilla and butterscotch. Their enemy could roll up anytime, and he’d fight fast and furious, but right now, he needed this. Mia leaned against his hooked arm and looked up, tilting her chin.
“You okay?” he asked. Peppering her with the same questions was pointless, but he couldn’t stop.
“Tired. That’s all.”
“I’m sorry I’ve had to push you so hard.” Soon as this was over, he’d make sure she had anything she needed. The woman would be pampered. No doubt.
“I didn’t mean to complain. I hate… All of this. You wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for me.”
That was her concern? “Hell, Mia. It’s not like that.”
What was it like? Oh, man. He had a thing for her in a bad way. Winters bent his head toward her. Their foreheads kissed, and there was no question. While she was with him, she was his. His to protect. His to savor. A woman like Mia was rare. At least he had brains enough to notice.
He never should’ve put her in this position. He could’ve packed her off in a plane, back toward the East Coast. Someone from Titan could’ve kept her safe while he finished his original job. But selfishness and curiosity made it so he wouldn’t push her away. He couldn’t, because an irrepressible desire consumed him, powering lust through his veins.
“Colby.” Her hushed whisper tickled his skin. “What are we going to do?”
His pulse thumped in his neck, and he tightened the forearm wrapped around her waist, melding her onto him.
I’m on the job. Serious danger ahead.
He’d missed it before and couldn’t let that happen again. No time for arousal. No time for fantasies.
Images flooded his brain, searing his senses. He remembered the taste of her tongue. Red-hot cinnamon. A sweet, delicious burn of aphrodisia.
What were they going to do? Where to begin... A million ideas popped to mind, starting with making good use of the wall behind him.
No woman had pressed against him like this, so pliable, supple, and luscious. They had always draped him like sex kittens on steroids. Those other women were as over-sexed and one-dimensional as they were obvious, all self-fulfilling prophecies, and they were the definitive opposite of Mia Kensington.
Before Mia’s hands explored him, before her beautiful body had even disrobed, she toyed with his mind like it was the first of many playgrounds. And he wanted to play so bad.
“I’ve started a list.” His lips flitted over hers. “Want me to share?”
Her eyelashes fluttered. “What kind of list?”
“I have you thirty feet from a bed. What kind of list do you—” A drunken couple stumbled out of the bar. Actually, more likely a john and a pro. He should have seen them before he heard them. “More on the list later, doll.”
Men were coming to hurt her, and his hard-on could pick another time for games.
“Okay, Mia, here’s what we’re going to do. When they pull up, act like we let loose. We had too many drinks.” He motioned to the karaoke bar with a tip of his head, then dipped his lips to her neck, lingering under her ear. “I’m convincing you to come to my room. You’re not putting up too much of a fight. Just enough to keep it fun.”
He nipped her earlobe, and she took a tiny gasp. It made his gut jump. Her taste drugged him, intoxicated him. Temptation was a cruel mistress. Giving him a little and making him wait.
“That’s your plan?”
“Not my whole plan, no. But that’s the part you have to play.” He traced the slide of her neck. “Think you can act mildly interested?”
“You’re crazy.” Her voice was husky. “Men are trying to kill us. How can you think about sex?”
“You’re not?”
“I’m… I’m—”
“You’re what? I’m getting into character. You should give it a try.”
“You’re rubbing your hard-on against me, is what you’re doing.”
“All part of my cover. Believable, huh?” Her innocent act was toast. She was far more like Jessica Rabbit than Snow White. “If I tried to drag you off to bed right this second, you wouldn’t join me?”
There was only one answer. He knew it. Felt it as sure as he felt her body mold against him. She couldn’t fight their hunger either.
Her breaths escalated. The quick rise and fall of her breasts fueled him. Winters cupped her chin in his hands, palms caressing her cheeks. Sweet Mia. If he could freeze this moment, it’d be one he’d put on repeat.
“I would,” she whispered. “But…”
“Forget everything else. It’s just you and me.” He thumbed her lips, dragging the bottom one down.
Slowly, his hands drifted into her hair. Lust hung heavy in the cool night air. Her dark lashes fluttered, and her hard nipples pressed against his chest.
How beautiful would she be naked? How would she feel? Impossibly smooth. He would whisk across her sensitive spots, watching those succulent breasts rise and fall in anticipation. He would make sure she ached for him. As much as he ached now.
His fingers tangled into her hair, and Mia leaned her head back, heavy lidded and heady breaths.
“Shouldn’t you watch for the bad guys instead of torturing me?” Her eyes were sealed shut, defenseless.
His lips grazed her neck, and she purred, the sinful sound acting as a deft stroke to his already engorged shaft.
“You don’t think I can multi-task?” He kissed behind her ear, dancing his mouth down her neck. It was a tease. A simple promise of what was to come. When he had a moment to concentrate on her, he’d do whatever it took—lick, kiss, caress, and suck—to make her cry out for him.
His fingers slid to her nape, trailing to the front of her shirt. The fabric felt fragile under his palms. He was losing a battle to a ripped shirt on a pretty girl, but revenge would be amazing.
“How can you do this,” she nudged her head down to where he nuzzled his erection, “and pay attention to anything else?”
“Can you imagine what it’s going to be like between us when I don’t have to worry about anyone but you?”
A smile bloomed but before Mia could respond, the faraway sound of tires crushing gravel flittered through the parking lot. She tensed in his arms. Her body now rigid as the brick wall he leaned against.
“Did you hear that?” she asked, all arousal siphoned away.
“I’ve got it. Don’t you worry about a thing.”
He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Time for his game face. He would fight and maim, whatever the hell it took to end up in that motel room alone with her.
A vehicle moved to the far side of the lot and idle. “That’s our guy. Just relax and stay with me.”
“I can’t relax. I don’t know what to do.”
“Yes, you do.”
Her eyes darted toward the night sky, panicked, and her muscles morphed into cement slabs.
“You handled yourself just fine earlier.” He watched their enemy over her shoulder and gave her a squeeze. It’s in you to pull this off. “You were a fighter. Just do what you did before.”
“Tell me what’s going on, Colby.”
“You want a line by line?” Knowledge was control. That made sense. He fingered the tear in the fabric at the top of her shirt, playing his part as a distracted drunk. The shirt was toast very soon.
She nodded. His ears strained to hear an engine cut off.
“Two guys. They see us.”
She tensed again.
“Come on, girl. Relax with me. They can’t know we see them.”
His hands ran down her back, massaging her not-so-imaginary knots. Her tense muscles began to relax, melting all over again.
“There you go. We’re going to walk around the corner soon and disappear from their line of sight after they get out of their car. I need you to play it up. Remember. I’m seducing you. You’re caving. When we round the corner, I’ll have to let you go to take care of this.”
“Don’t get hurt.” She locked eyes with him, complete seriousness clouding her face.
Really? She didn’t mean to lob insults, right? He choked out a harsh laugh and shook his head. “Mia, I’m taking offense to that, so you know. You need to say something like go get ’em, killer or my, your muscles are big.”
She moved her palms over his arms. “My your muscles are so big.”
Her nervous laughter electrified him, making him want to prove she was protected. Nothing would harm her. Ever.
“Now you’re getting the idea.”
“Just don’t forget you’re not invincible.” Her smile faltered. “Okay?”
What was up with the challenges? Her timing wasn’t spectacular. He’d have to bring that up when a better moment presented itself.
“I’m a lot of things, doll. But worried about getting hurt ain’t one of them. Now, if you don’t mind, feed me macho shit or shut that pretty trap of yours.”
Crazy woman. Worrying about him. Questioning him.
“All right, here we go.” He pushed them from the wall. “Time to convince our audience we’re headed to bed.”
She took a step back, pulling from him, batting at his bicep. He mirrored her dance, tugged on her shirt, and tried to close the distance toward the corner of the motel.
It wasn’t a hard role to play. He wanted in that motel room more than he’d ever wanted a woman in a bed.
Her head dropped back. Fake, flirtatious laughter floated in the air as she played her role well. Their game ignited Winters’s contempt for the men watching them. Watching her. She was a sight to see, and he’d hurt them for their mere enjoyment.
He lifted her in one fluid motion, her bare feet fluttering inches over the ground, and he walked backwards, one slow step at a time, nuzzling the rasp of his cheek against her skin.
Training was his savior as she moaned for him. If he didn’t have a pinpoint focus on the enemy, he’d be out of control, attempting anything and everything to hear that sound again and again and again.
They rounded the corner, and Winters pinned Mia against the wall, caging her. She had nowhere to go, yet his breath caught in his throat at the sheer power she held over him.
“You’re sexy as sin.” He placed a finger over her mouth in a show of silence.
His rough finger looked harsh against her lips. He wished her tongue would flick out and run the length of his finger onto his palm. He imagined the wet heat wicking across his skin, and it shot all the way to his cock. Talk about inappropriate timing for a dirty fantasy.
Mia untangled herself from his hold without complaint and without any more ludicrous questions about his safety. She had no idea what thoughts crossed his mind. He had to laugh, then turned toward the corner.
Winters heard enemy footsteps fast approaching. He held his hand up to her, reissuing the order to stay put and mum.
The first man came broadside. Winters struck out at him, fist balled with lightning-like wrath. Like a shot of caffeine, it rushed through him with energizing satisfaction.
The second man rushed into the fight, uncoordinated. Winters’s punch plowed into doughy flesh. It gave a dull thud as the man stumbled back and dropped.
Man number one reappeared, and Winters grabbed his throat, forcing his carotid artery closed. He needed another ten seconds until the man would go limp. It’d be great if man number two would take longer than that to rebound. Trying to keep the other man down, Winters heeled number two’s face onto the pavement. Just a little more time.
Five. Four. Three. Go to sleep, fucker.
Man one gasped against Winters’s hold, eyes bulging and veins popping. Sweat poured off him, strings of saliva running out the side of his open mouth. Shit. Man number two rolled loose and jumped back to his feet, jabbing with a knife.
Winters kept his hand on the man’s throat. Waiting for lights out. He evaded a stab, jumping to the side in this game of Swiss Army hopscotch. The need to kill crawled through him. He wanted them to pay but didn’t need the overkill. Mia shouldn’t witness the aftereffects of it.
And goodnight. Man one was definitely out. His legs stopped flailing. His arms hung limp. Winters dropped him onto the ground. One down, one to go.
Man number two tried for another stab. Winters snagged the offending hand, twisting an arm back and up. The knife clattered to the parking lot. The man’s shoulder popped. He howled. Winters landed a punch to his head, knocking him silent, then dropped him on top of the other. Assholes. You shouldn’t have fucked with my girl.