Chapter Five
“I’ve got to get Athena back to the safe house. She’s dead on her feet.”
Athena paused outside the office door at the sound of Dylan’s words as he spoke on the phone. He gave an answering grunt to the person on the other end of the line.
She held her breath, listening. Her parents had taught her not to eavesdrop, but she was pretty sure if they were alive, they’d make a contingency clause that said if she was being held against her will, she was allowed to listen in about what would happen to her next.
Her body felt weighted and her eyes grainy. She couldn’t argue part of what Dylan had said—she felt about to hit the floor and pass out from exhaustion. At her busiest time of year, she’d served all those clients on no sleep.
But she would fight about going to the safe house. If he didn’t realize she wasn’t a threat by now, then his skull was thicker than she’d guessed.
“I’ll keep you posted,” Dylan said as he wrapped up.
Taking a deep breath, Athena popped around the doorframe and her hand fluttered to her chest.
Her office was no longer hers but a high-tech military surveillance station.
All words died on her lips as she gazed around her. “What have you done to my office?” She scrubbed a hand over her face, feeling the skin stretch in unflattering ways.
Dylan stood and rounded the desk, dismissing her question. “Are you ready to go? All finished here for the day?”
She shook her head. “Can’t I just go home? Surely you saw what you came here to see.” Standing amidst the monitors and listening devices and God knew what else Dylan was using, she felt like she’d been dropped into a TV spy show. That left her feeling more unreal.
He rested a warm hand on her shoulder, and she twitched under his touch. The contact was doing unspeakable things to her insides.
“Athena, do you have anybody close to you that would be placed in danger if the suspects found out about them?”
Her jaw fell open. “You mean you don’t already know the name of the clerk at the convenience store that rang out my order? And that I bought a sweet tea and some potato chips to satisfy a salt craving?”
He let go of her shoulder as if singed by her words. Good, let him know the worst side of her, this sleep-deprived, frightened part of her that was furious at feeling she had absolutely no control or say in her life anymore.
“Athena, we can’t know everything. Besides, I figured you for a sweet cravings girl.”
“I’m having a nightmare and can’t wake up.” She scrubbed at her face again, about to topple forward and sleep face-down on the carpet under her desk.
“Please answer me.” Why were his eyes so warm? Better yet, why did she even notice?
“No, I don’t have anyone special. Now that you know I’m a sad thirty-something who’s all alone in the world and lives to create and sell clothes to people with too much money, are you happy with yourself?”
“No.” He pitched his voice low, and her insides, already mush, flowed with honey.
“Well, I’m going home now. Same time tomorrow?” She started past him.
He caught her elbow, swinging her back. So close. Why was he looming over her this way, like he was going to kiss her again?
“I can’t let you leave alone. You know you have to come with me to the safe house for another night.”
Another hot, sticky night filled with storms and him sitting outside her door, waiting to catch her in his solid arms when she tripped over him? Or to make her a snack to take her mind off the situation?
Or to pin her to the wall and capture her lips with such dark passion that she still hadn’t fully recovered?
She felt her jaw lift a notch as she looked at him. He stared back, some of the concern etched around his eyes replaced by amusement.
“Are you laughing at me?”
“Not at all, Athena. You’re a very strong woman, and that pleases me.”
“I—” She snapped her mouth shut. What did she say to that?
A shivery sigh left her, and a warmth she didn’t want to acknowledge lodged low in her belly.
He kneaded her shoulder, sending sparks down through her torso that somehow tugged hard on her nipples.
She should step back.
She couldn’t step back—she was pinned in his intense stare, the same stare that held her in place right before he’d kissed her.
His chest heaved and she felt a shudder move through him.
Suddenly, he let her go, and she rocked on her heels. “I need to take you to the safe house,” he said gruffly.
She wanted to argue, but was there any point? She hadn’t gotten her way at any time with this hardened special ops man and likely never would.
She sighed. “Fine.” At least there was a bed.
He studied her closer as if her agreement stunned him. But he nodded and waved a hand for her to exit the office first. She set about the motions to close her boutique, shutting off lights, locking the register and stuffing all the cash into an envelope she slipped into her purse.
“Stuffing them in your pantyhose would be safer. That’s how you transport your cash?” He looked about to have a stroke.
“Yes, why?”
“In this city? Hell, in any city?”
“I’ve never had a problem, Dylan.”
“Until you’re mugged or worse for a few thousand in cash.”
Ignoring his dark warnings, she tightened her hold on her purse and walked to the back door. When she opened it, a scream bubbled in her throat at the sight of a huge man dressed in all black.
“Sorry, Miss Athena. It’s just me.” Roades gave her what seemed to be a nod trademarked among all the Knight Ops men. They must practice it in front of a mirror to perfect the move.
“Any updates?” Dylan asked his brother.
“Nada. We good here?”
It was Dylan’s turn to give that nod. Only on him, it was sooo much sexier. She twisted her gaze away.
“See ya at O-500 then,” Roades said.
Five? Who was getting up at five and whatever for? She had no intention of peeling her eyes open before seven and still having plenty of time to open her boutique at eight-thirty.
She started to step out the door, but Dylan grabbed her by the shoulder and shoved her behind him. She glared at his muscled back while he scouted the alley as if ISIS was lying in wait for them.
She followed the line of his arm down to his hand which rested at the waistband at his back. With the thick muscles on either side of his spine, she couldn’t detect the bulge of a weapon but knew he had his hand on it.
“Is this really necessary? Isn’t Roades out here to keep anybody from being in the alley waiting to attack us?” She went on tiptoe to see over his shoulder, but all she did was bring her nose closer to the cotton of his shirt. The pine-and-musk-scented cotton.
He relaxed. “Sorry, it’s habit.”
Finding no Kung Fu fighters, men with chains or snipers in the alley behind her boutique, he stepped outside. He reached back and clasped his fingers over her forearm, and she gulped at the heat penetrating her flesh. Too well she recalled the feel of him pinned to her as they kissed.
This was insanity. She had to find a way to disentangle her confused emotions from this man who was nothing more than a glorified bodyguard trained by the US military.
When he drew her outside, he positioned his body in a way that spoke of taking bullets for her. And damn if that wasn’t sexy as hell too.
No, no, no. She had to shut down these thoughts. Her mind was too hazy, not working right without a solid eight hours of rest.
Taking her to the vehicle parked at the end of the alley, his head swiveled right and left as he put her inside.
“With all these security measures, I might as well be the First Lady.”
He didn’t even crack a smile, his expression as stern as ever. The man really had no sense of humor. He got behind the wheel and started the car. They rolled out of the alley and into the street.
They didn’t go two blocks before they hit the heart of the Mardi Gras celebrations. She blinked at the bright lights and fireworks being set off. People swarmed the sidewalk and streets, and heavy security barely held them in check.
She gave a sigh.
“What is it?” he asked, eyes darker in the dimness of the car.
“I love this time of year. From my apartment, I have access to so many festivities.” A deep longing for her own sacred space rose up in her.
“I can’t take you there, Athena.”
She turned her head to look at him, a challenge in her voice. “Why? If you’re so great at your job, shouldn’t you have realized by now that I’m not the person you’re looking for and have no connection to terrorism?”
He had to draw to a stop to allow a throng of people to cross the street, each dressed in feathers, hats or wearing glow in the dark necklaces.
“My only job right now is to watch over you.”
“You mean watch me.”
“Watch over,” he repeated, lips hardened.
“I don’t understand why you’d believe I’m in danger if that’s the story you’re sticking with.” She folded her arms across her chest, suddenly chilled.
“Have you considered that anybody can find out your apartment address just by doing a little digging, Athena? Or follow you on the bus or in a cab? It isn’t safe, and I won’t risk you.”
His deep voice threaded through her body, leaving her coated in a dew of perspiration. Great, now her body was premenopausal, cold one minute and hot the next. It had nothing to do with the hunk of a man beside her, steering them expertly through the crowded streets and willing to whip out his gun and have a shootout to protect her.
She crossed her legs, and he glanced over, tracking the movement. She squeezed her thighs together harder and tried not to think of that kiss.
Soon, though, exhaustion crept over her, and lulled by the movement of the car, she drifted off. When a touch on her shoulder startled her awake, she looked up into Dylan’s face.
Something moved behind his eyes. “We’re here. Come on.”
She climbed out, foggy-brained and wanting nothing but a bed. Hell, at this point, she’d take a blanket on the floor. She just needed sleep.
He opened the front door using a passcode and a key card. Then he switched on a light and paced through the house, probably checking it for intruders.
When he returned, she took one look at his serious expression and let out a giggle.
He cocked his head, his own smile playing around the corners of his hard lips. “What’s funny?”
“We’re in a safe house yet you’re checking for dangers.”
He grunted his amusement. “Can’t be too safe. Can I fix you some dinner or—?
She waved him away. “Bed. That’s all I want.”
The thunder was already rolling in, the humidity bringing the storms all week. It made for unhappy Mardi Gras revelers and street vendors who made most of their year’s income off this one celebration.
She hardly registered her own footsteps as she headed to the bedroom. She pushed open the door, walked straight to the bed and collapsed face down. Her eyes slammed shut, and she was already breathing the deep inhalations of sleep.
Seconds later, she felt Dylan removing her shoes and then a light blanket covering her. She snuggled down and everything vanished except the knowledge of his presence.
* * * * *
He woke immediately, heart jerking against his ribs as the click of a door opening hit his senses. He was on his feet, hand on his weapon, when he realized Athena stood over him, eyes wide and blurred from sleep.
He rubbed his hand over his face. “You all right?”
“The storm woke me.”
“How about that hot chocolate again?”
She nodded, and his heart gave a new kind of lurch. One that told him he was getting in over his head with this woman.
Feeling rumpled from sleeping in front of her door, he made his way to the kitchen. When he reached into the fridge for milk, he saw it was restocked after Knight Ops had looted it earlier. As he retrieved a small cooking pot and the ingredients he needed, Athena took a seat on the stool again.
Lightning streaked outside, brightening the room enough that he could see her watching him.
“The storm will have driven all the festivities indoors,” she said softly.
“Lots to do indoors to celebrate.” He poured milk into the pot and added sugar, cocoa powder and a dash of vanilla and then set the pot on the gas burner.
“That’s my mother’s recipe too.”
He smiled. “Probably the recipe of mothers everywhere, considering it’s written on the back of the cocoa can.” He held it up and she gave a soft laugh. Everything about her was soft and feminine to the extreme. She still wore the red dress, and he wished to hell he’d thought to have clothes brought for her.
He’d have to figure something out because they were in it for the long haul. Knight Ops was staked out on the boutique until they pinpointed the suspect. They had the contacts of Athena’s regular clients and were digging into their backgrounds. But Dylan secretly hoped nothing was unearthed right away—he was enjoying being close to this woman far too much.
He set a mug of cocoa in front of her, and she wrapped her fingers around it. “I have a request, Dylan.”
His heart picked up at her use of his name.
She went on, “I’d like a shower—in my own shower with my own things. And I want to wear my own clothes, not inventory from my store.”
Lightning streaked down again, bringing her into sharper focus. Her face was calm, but he saw how tightly she held her mug, as if anticipating his refusal.
He stared at her for a long moment. “We’ll go after we finish this.” He lifted his own mug and sipped. The chocolate hit his tongue, but his mind was so fixated on Athena that he could only taste her.
She took three sips and then hopped off the stool. “I’ll get my shoes.”
He watched her hips twitch out of the kitchen and set the mug down a bit too hard. Dammit, he needed to get his mind off having her and stick to the mission.
But his body was telling him that his full-time job should be running his hands up and down her body, slanting his mouth across hers and then sliding his cock deep inside her just to hear her soft sighs of pleasure.
After only a minute, she returned. “The rain’s slowed down. If we hurry, we can run through the raindrops.”
He smiled at her expression, something his maman used.
“I’m ready,” he said.
In the car, she started to give him directions to her place, but he knew where she lived—knew everything about her.
Everything except how she liked to be made love to.
He bit off a groan as he drew up in front of her apartment building. The streets were empty of crowds, all driven inside by the storm, and the pavement was inky black with rain, reflecting streetlights. He looked to her. “Stay here while I check things out.”
He expected her argument, but she only nodded.
Thrown off balance by her lack of sass on the matter, he got out of the car and scanned the surroundings. He didn’t trust her not to leave the car while he went inside and looked around, so he opened her door.
She slipped out and followed him to the front door. He unlocked it, and she let out a soft gasp, a rasp that shot need through his groin.
“You took my key.”
“This is a universal key. Works on every lock I’ve ever encountered.”
“Well, that isn’t unnerving,” she muttered.
He smiled as he entered first, keeping a hand on her arm and blocking her with his body. “Stay here.” He went into stealth mode. In a minute flat, he’d searched every closet and corner of her apartment. He came back to stand before her. “All clear.”
She gave him an are-you-kidding-me stare.
“Why didn’t you just turn on the lights and look around instead of skulking through the dark? You’re your biggest fan, aren’t you?” She leaned over and switched on a lamp on a table next to the door.
In the ring of light, he studied her, taken aback once again by her beauty. That little mark above her lip made him burn to drag her close and kiss her until she melted under his touch.
She moved into the space, turning on another lamp, and he turned to watch her. Her place was filled with ethnic details—a South American hand-loomed rug, embroidered pillows from Istanbul, a piece of hand-thrown pottery from Morocco.
“You travel,” he said.
Her gaze flew to his. She nodded. “Once a year I travel to a new destination to find new and special fashions and textiles.”
He stepped up to the sofa and touched a pillow. “I was in Turkey and saw fabrics just like this in the marketplace.”
She moved to stand next to him. “You travel too then.”
His gaze landed on her, and damn if his heart didn’t kick into an erratic beat. His breath came faster too, but he was a sniper and knew how to control his responses.
“Go take your shower and pack. I’ll wait here.”
She seemed to hesitate a moment longer before turning and disappearing into the bedroom.
He dropped like a stone to the sofa, head in hands. Visions of her bed, plush with extravagant findings from around the world and inviting as hell, loomed behind his eyes. Fuck, how was he ever going to keep from walking into that bathroom and stripping down to shower with her? Soaping her all over?
Damn. He had to do something to distract himself from thoughts of her completely naked in the other room.
He texted Chaz. What’s up tonight?
No reply came and after ten minutes, Dylan gave up. His brother was probably getting lucky while he sat here in torment.
The shower shut off and that launched him into another level of torture. He pushed to his feet and started pacing, counting each step. When that didn’t distract him enough, he counted in Spanish, French and Russian. Then did it backward.
A curse sounded from the bedroom, and he stopped mid-pace, the hackles on his neck standing up.
Athena let out another curse, and he rushed to the bedroom. At the door, he froze, taking in the situation.
She sat on the edge of the bed in nothing but a thick white towel, her hair wrapped in a smaller white towel. And she was holding a tissue to her leg.
“Blood. I smell blood.” He hit his knees before her and grabbed the tissue. When he drew it away, he saw a simple shaving cut trickling with blood.
“It’s nothing—I just cut myself shaving and didn’t notice until now. H-how do you smell blood?”
He gently swabbed at the cut, applying pressure just like he did to his jaw when he sliced himself. “I’ll stop the bleeding and then you can tell me where the bandages are.”
God, her calf was perfectly formed, the muscle toned. Under his hand, her skin was scorching hot and moist from her shower.
His cock bulged.
“Dylan?”
He looked up her body, tearing his gaze from her terrycloth-covered thighs and what was beneath. He swallowed hard. “Yes?”
“How can you smell blood?” Her eyes were luminous. It was the middle of the night, and she was still working on little sleep. He shouldn’t be thinking of why his cock twitching at the look she was giving him.
“When you’ve seen battle, you learn the smell pretty quick.”
She bit down on her lower lip, depressing all that plump flesh.
He couldn’t take it anymore.
He cupped her face and surged upward to claim her mouth. The soft gasp she made spiked his need higher, and he took control. Plunging his tongue deeper, tasting fresh toothpaste and pure woman. She shivered and then touched her tongue tentatively to his.
Oh fuck. I’m a goner.
The shaving cut forgotten, he closed his hands over her waist, learning how small she felt all over again as he plundered her mouth.
“Dylan.” Her whisper seared through him, and it took everything he had to pull away. Panting, he tried to form an apology, but all that filled his mind was a series of commands.
Lie back. Pull down that towel so I can look at your beautiful body.
Spread your thighs.
He jammed his fingers into his hair.
“What is it, cher?” His voice was so gritty, he might as well be in the thick of chemical warfare.
“I…” She stopped, chewing her plump lower lip again.
He was a patient man, but hell if he wanted to wait for her to tell him to leave her alone and to find someone who had better control to watch over her.
She lifted her fingers to the top of her towel, snug over her breasts, and tugged out the corner. When she parted the cloth to reveal her very curvy, very bare body, she watched his face.
A rough noise escaped him. “Jesus, Athena.”
She glanced up at him shyly. “I want you, Dylan. I like how you kiss me, and you make me feel…” She struggled to finish the sentence.
“I know how you feel.” He growled as he laid hands on her. Bare shoulders, across her collarbones and down to her breasts. Strumming each perky nipple with a forefinger before circling and making them pucker.
She tossed her head back, and the towel fell off. Her wet hair tumbled down.
He watched her face as he continued to explore, cupping each breast in a palm, dizzied by the soft weights. His cock throbbed in time to his racing heart.
As he skimmed his hands down her torso to the flare of her hips, she moaned. His gaze latched on to the trim patch of dark hair on her mound. He groaned—fuck, he’d wanted to thrust his tongue into her slick folds since first setting eyes on her. All Knights loved eating pussy, or so his brothers claimed, and Dylan was no different.
Athena lay back on the bed, arms flung upward in surrender. Was she really going to give herself to him this way? Fuck, he didn’t deserve her.
He stretched his fingers across her round thighs and caressed all the way down to her knees. He checked the cut with a glance and found it had stopped bleeding. Then he was moving his hands up her body once more, touching every spot he’d missed while her breaths came in small pants.
He hovered over her, gazing deep into her eyes. “You’re certain?”
She nodded and slipped a hand around his nape to draw him down for a kiss. The moment their mouths connected, his body took over. Hands roving, plucking at her nipples before he eased his lips down to close around the hard tip.
She cried out, hooking one ankle around his body. The move brought the rich scents of her arousal and clean woman to him, and that was it.
He jerked his head up to meet her stare. “I have to taste you, cher. Now.”
* * * * *
She barely registered what Dylan meant before he scraped his stubbled jaw down her belly and spread her thighs wide. Without hesitating, he buried his face in her pussy.
“Oh my God!” Her voice wobbled as he parted his mouth over her slick sex. Extreme warmth claimed her. He kissed her pussy gently, up and down the seam and then across her clit once, twice…
She stiffened with each pass. At this rate, she’d be coming apart in seconds, but she wanted it to last so long.
“Mmm. You taste like heaven.” His eyes flashed before he thumbed apart her folds and he sank his tongue into her pussy.
Liquid need flowed through her like lava, and she lifted her hips off the bed to meet each tongue thrust. Passion took hold. He tongued her in and out until her inner thighs shook and then he moved up to close his lips around her aching nubbin.
Electricity rained down on her, and she felt she was part of the electrical storm from earlier—or maybe it was still going on outside, she had no clue. She was too deep in Dylan to even care if the whole building exploded around them.
He sucked on her clit until she stopped breathing. Then he sank one finger inside her channel. Her inner muscles clamped on the digit, and he gave a moan.
“I need to touch you. Take off your clothes,” she pleaded.
“Not yet.” His words whispered across her wet pussy. “I’m not finished with you.” With that, he dived back in, licking, lapping and caressing until her hips bucked and she thrashed her head.
“I’m close. Please.” She dug her fingers into his shoulders.
He doubled his efforts, swirling his tongue around her clit and thrusting two fingers inside her. Stars burst behind her eyes, and she quivered, hanging on the edge of an abyss. When the first contraction hit, she screamed. Waves pounded her hard and fast, and she couldn’t even suck in enough air as he teased more pulsations out of her.
Long minutes passed, and he slowed his movements, pulling more moans from her lips. Then he sucked her clit hard and stretched her pussy with three fingers, leaving her aching for more.
For his cock.
“Dylan.” Her voice was a plea.
He moved up her body, kissing each inch of skin in his path. When he reached her lips, he looked down into her eyes. “I’m going to share your flavors with you.” He kissed her. The wetness on his mouth was salty-sweet, and she’d never tasted anything so hot before. Thrusting her tongue between his lips, she tugged at his T-shirt. Big, warm muscles were too good to ignore. She ran her hands over his shoulders, chest and back. Each cut and dip tightened that knot of need in her core.
Skating her hand down his washboard abs only left her shaking with need. She went for his belt.
He stayed her hand, holding it in place. Under the cloth, the bulge of his erection told her just how big he was.
“I need your cock inside me.”
A grunt that was near pain left him, and he dropped his forehead to hers. “I need to know you want this for real, Athena. Not just because the situation is frightening.”
What situation? All she could think of was how much she wanted this man.
She nodded. “I want you.”
He paused another heartbeat. “I can’t stop once I get inside you.”
A shudder of pleasure ran through her. “I don’t want you to stop. Hurry, Dylan.”
“Jesus.” His blasphemy was almost a prayer as he got to his feet and stripped down his cargo pants followed by his briefs. When his thick length bobbed against his hard abs, she stared at the delicious outline. Mushroomed head, swollen to purple and glazed with juices. She wondered if he tasted as good as she tasted to him.
Reaching out, she wrapped her fingers around the base. He stood at the edge of the bed, letting her jack him three times, four. Then he gripped her wrist hard enough to stop her.
“I can’t let you touch me.” He sounded as if he’d run a marathon carrying three of the men of the Knight Ops team.
“You’re so beautiful.” She ran her gaze over his muscled body to his thick cock nestled in a patch of hair centered between steely thighs.
“You’re the one who’s beautiful.” He produced a condom from somewhere in his pants and tore it open. Watching him roll it on shouldn’t be one of the most erotic things she’d ever seen, but she had a feeling everything this man did took a new height.
When he slid back into bed, he rolled her atop him, planting his hands on her ass and kissing her until she started to wiggle with impatience again.
“Come up here and sit on my face.” His rough order made her stomach bottom out with a thrill.
“I’ve never…”
“Then it’s time.” He guided her up until her thighs were settled around his ears. He closed his eyes and began to lick her.
* * * * *
Fuck, she was so responsive that he didn’t think he’d live through the moment. But he couldn’t stop dipping his tongue into her sweet pussy either. Using short flicks across her clit and then pulling her forward so he could plunge his tongue deep again. Need spread through him as she climbed higher toward her release.
Rocking on his face, taking what she needed, she was the most stunning creature he could ever imagine. When the first pulsations struck, his instinct was to hold her there and draw the biggest orgasm of her life from her. But he lifted her off his face, moved her down his body and sank into her still-quivering channel.
She cried out and rocked harder. A grunt left him. Her scorching heat surrounded him, hugged him tight. She slid up and down his shaft, milking him until he felt that deep pressure building at the base of his spine.
Cradling her head, he brought her down to his mouth, and their kiss spiraled on and on. In the distance, a rumble of thunder shook the city. Then another.
She broke the kiss to stare down into his eyes. “Dylan.”
She was so close, so tight, so hot, soooo wet.
“Let it come, cher. Come for me.”
She withdrew on his cock once more time, pure bliss crossing her beautiful features as her release hit.
He couldn’t watch her pleasure for more than two strokes before his own claimed his senses, ripping a roar from his mouth. Jets of hot cum seared up out of him, and her pussy clenched and released rhythmically.
Oh Jesus, was his first thought.
Then, Fucking hell.
He’d had her and too late he realized once would never be enough.
Nothing would be enough—not one long, meaningful look, one stolen kiss, one night.
Athena must have channeled some old voodoo powers of the region because she’d completely, utterly stolen his soul.
* * * * *
It was impossible to feel regret for taking what she wanted from Dylan when her body still felt like warm pudding.
She stretched, nudging his shoulder as she did. With a hand on her back, he drew her against him, and she found a spot on his chest that fit her head perfectly. Under her ear, his heart thundered.
Looking down his body, she drank in the sculpted beauty of muscle stacked on by years of hard physical training. Dark hair sprinkled his chest and ran in a trail down his abs to his cock before spattering his thighs and calves. His feet were long and as manly as the rest of him.
“What’s that for?” he rumbled.
“What?”
“You sighed.”
“Did I?” She’d have to watch it with this one—she was prone to girly habits she’d avoided before. Even as a teenager, she’d never been boy crazy. Maybe because she’d been holding out for the opportunity to go man crazy.
She sighed.
“You did it again.”
She giggled. “I can’t seem to help it.” She tilted her head to look up at him, and he smiled, smoothing her wild hair with one hand.
“I hope that’s the sound of complete pleasure,” he said.
“Duh. Did you feel me come three times?”
He stuck out his tongue and wagged it, shooting liquid need between her thighs again. “Definitely felt it.” He stopped stroking her hair and walked his fingers down her spine. The soft touch had her squirming for more, and judging by the hardness of his cock, he could go for another round himself.
Flattening her hand on his abs, she smiled when he sucked in sharply. She slipped her hand downward to wrap her fingers around his cock.
“Fuck, Athena.”
“That’s my intention.” Where had all this boldness come from? She wasn’t a virgin by any means, but her business had taken up so much of her life in the past few years that she’d forgotten how to be a woman. With Dylan it was easy to remember.
Pushing onto one elbow to watch his face, she gave a test stroke of his cock.
With a groan, he jerked his hips. Every hard inch of his body turned her on. The creases of muscle and tendon in his thighs tugged as he stretched under her hand-strokes. She watched his face shudder with pleasure and a heady thrill ran through her that she could give this to him.
Her own pussy was slick with need, her inner thighs damp.
“Kiss me,” he grated out, cupping her nape.
She leaned in to capture his lips, controlling the tempo until she couldn’t stand it another minute and moaned. When she parted her lips, he plunged his tongue inside and rolled her so she was pinned beneath him.
Staring up into his eyes, she had another moment where she wondered if any of this was real. Then again, the whole week was turning out to be a confusing mess, and this… This felt like the only thing that was real since Knight Ops had crashed through her back door.
She looped her arms around his neck, tugging him atop her. Loving the feel of his weight, she kissed back with all the passion he roused inside her. Finally, he tore from the kiss and stared down at her, chest working.
“Cher, we have a problem.”
“What’s that?” Her clouded mind took a second to clear.
“I’m out of condoms.”
“Oh. Drawer.” She waved at her nightstand.
His eyes narrowed so minutely that she might have missed it if she hadn’t been looking closely. “You keep condoms in your nightstand?”
He didn’t sound as though he liked the thought of her being prepared to sleep with someone. Or maybe he didn’t like the idea of her sleeping with someone besides him.
“Modern women take care of ourselves.”
He considered her a minute. “Good thing you do because we special ops guys don’t have room to carry more than one.” He shot her a crooked grin and leaned to the side to pull open the drawer.
When he pushed to his knees to jerk the rubber over his swollen length, she ran her hands up to her throbbing nipples. He went dead still, watching her.
“You touch yourself?”
“I thought we established I’m a modern woman.” She circled each nipple twice before he issued a growl and took over. Clamping his mouth over one breast while pinching the other with a skill that had her on edge.
An invisible knot in her stomach tightened, and her pussy squeezed. He hovered over her, weight braced on his elbows, bathing her breasts with his tongue and grazing the tips with his teeth until she couldn’t stand it another second.
She wrapped her thighs around him and jerked him down and into her. He filled her with one quick glide, and they both fell still. His cock stretched her, the head skimming a place so deep, she didn’t think any man had found it before.
“Move,” she pleaded, rocking into him.
The cords on his neck stood out as he withdrew with insane slowness. His eyes seemed to darken with each inch he pulled out. When he slammed home again, they shared a cry. The room lit with another flash of lightning. Heat enveloped Athena as he tongue-fucked her mouth to the same pace of his cock thrusts.
Her insides gripped at him, never wanting this moment to end. In the light of day, she didn’t know how she’d feel about what she’d done. But for now, she was going to tuck away every minute of their coupling and think about Dylan when she was alone later. And she would be alone, because no way would this continue after Knight Ops ended their mission.
He did an erotic pushup over her, sinking deep and holding her captive with his gaze. She dug her nails into his shoulders and rose to meet him. The bed shook, and the Indonesian cutwork-style headboard tapped the wall lightly.
“Fuck, you’re beautiful.” His rough words shouldn’t fill her with extreme warmth, but they did. She’d been told this before by family, friends and many others. But somehow, it was different coming from Dylan’s hard lips.
She arched up to kiss him, feeding him her moans as the rhythm of his movements began to grow more disjointed. His cock swelled within her, and her pussy clenched. A pulse began deep in her core.
“Oh God, I’m so close.” She threw her head back, and he latched onto her neck, kissing and nibbling as he ground his cock into her.
He slid his hand between their bodies and using a callused fingertip, pressed down on her clit.
She exploded in a wave of ecstasy, stars bursting behind her closed eyes—or maybe that was the lightning. Her own breaths sobbed in her hearing.
“Open your eyes. Look at me, cher.”
His command made her eyes pop open. She stared up into the glassy depths of his gaze. He grimaced in pleasure and stiffened. When he growled out his release, fucking her furiously, she held onto him, riding out the last of her own orgasm.
She came to her senses to find the covers over her and Dylan gone. Quickly, she pushed to her elbows and saw the glimmer of the bathroom light. She collapsed back to the pillow—her own fluffy cloud of a pillow, feeling the effects of little sleep over the past few days.
Her eyes slipped shut but her mind worked too fast for rest.
When the bed dipped under her, she opened her eyes. Dylan stood there in the buff, his muscled form outlined by the dim glow of streetlights outside the bedroom windows. He climbed into bed, his weight causing her to roll into his arms.
Okay, maybe she wanted to as well.
He tucked her against his chest, one hand protectively on the back of her head. He brushed a kiss between her brows. “That’s some bathroom.”
She felt herself smile against him. She was really proud of what she’d done in there with paint and updates that went against her rental agreement. But she didn’t care.
“I visited—”
“The baths in Budapest?” he filled in.
She started, looking at him hard. “Why, yes. Have you been there?”
He grinned, the corner of his lips tipping in that bad-boy way that started a low flutter in her belly again. “I travel when I get leave.”
“I’m impressed.”
“The golden walls and stone really capture the feeling of the baths.”
“Thank you.”
“Your taste in everything is exquisite.”
Shyness came over her. Again, people had complimented her this way before but when Dylan said it, she felt like he was peeling back a layer of her skin and seeing things others did not.
“Tell me about those wedding rings you had in your wall safe.”
His question took her by surprise. Leaning away to look at him, she said, “What do you want to know? They were my parents’.”
“I guess I’m wondering why a shoe with gems worth a quarter million dollars would be in a locked file drawer while rings worth about fifty bucks in gold is kept in a safe.”
She stiffened and sat up. “I don’t know if I like your tone or your question.”
He watched her. “Athena—”
“It sounds as if you’re accusing me of something. I thought we were beyond that, but I guess not.” She swung her legs over the side of the mattress and her toes grazed the thick Persian carpet. She dragged the sheet off the bed, off Dylan, and shielded her nudity from him.
He sat up, unfazed by his nakedness or her anger.
“Yes, Dylan,” sarcasm dripped from her, “those wedding bands belong to the head of ISIS and his wife. He’s coming back for them at the end of the week and didn’t you know that there’s a button melted into the gold that when pressed, will blow Louisiana off the map?”
Dylan sat up, an expression on his face that she couldn’t understand and at the moment, didn’t want to. She just wanted him to leave her apartment and get out of her life.
He ran a hand over his face and up to his hair. Dammit, now he looked like a lost little boy with that sadness in his eyes.
He got up and came to her. “Athena, I’m not accusing you of anything.”
“You didn’t sleep with me to make me tell you my secrets? Secrets I don’t have?”
He jerked as if she’d slapped him. “My God, you think I’d do that?”
“I don’t know what you’d do. You’re a stranger to me.”
“I think we’re a hell of a lot more than strangers after what we shared.” His tone rang with irritation.
She could cave in and cuddle against his broad chest like she wanted to. Or she could stand her ground and force him to see reason when it came to the situation—or get out.
Clutching the sheet to her chest, she stared at him. “I wish I knew what to believe when it comes to you, Dylan. But the fact is, you’re either investigating me or protecting me and—”
He gripped her shoulders, pulling her onto tiptoe, his mouth hovering over hers. His heated breath washed over her lips and his eyes burned with intensity. “This world is complicated, Athena. There’s a lot I can’t tell you, about people who’d try to use you or set you up to take the fall for them.” His throat worked as if he choked on the words he wanted to spew. “Fuck it—those shoes with the gems? They’re a key piece to what we’re after.”
“How so?”
He stared into her eyes and finally gave a shake of his head. “I’ve said too much already. But just know that I’m here for you—to keep you safe and to…” He trailed off, his grip on her changing, softening.
He pulled her against him, molding her to fit his hard chest, her hips nestled to his. A soft noise left her, and she rested her head against his pec.
She must be more exhausted than she thought.
He held her a long minute and then pushed out a sigh. “I’ve gotta take you back to the safe house. Hell… what I wouldn’t do to stay the night here with you.”