by M. S. Parker
Abruptly, I went to my knees, and grabbed her hips. “I want to taste you.”
I barely heard her harsh intake of breath before I brushed my nose against the inside of her thigh. Fuck, she smelled amazing. She caught my hair and tugged, but I ignored it, leaning in to lick across the front of the skimpy underwear she was wearing.
She jolted. I sensed the surprise, but I didn’t care. I needed to have my mouth on her. A ragged noise escaped her.
She started to squeeze her thighs together, and I caught her behind one thigh, lifting it until her knee rested on my shoulder. It threw her balance off, and I steadied her, murmuring to her absently as I leaned in closer, fully intending to get to skin this time.
Then I heard a choked noise. It might have been my name. Whatever it was, it got my attention. Slowly, I lifted my head and stared up at her. She was watching me with a mix of hesitation, nerves and...reluctance. Without her saying a word, I knew she didn’t want me to go down on her.
I pressed a kiss to her hipbone, the silk of her nightgown almost as soft as her skin. As I got back to my feet, her hands raked through my hair and, for a moment, I wished I hadn’t let them cut my hair so short. Then her nails scraped against my scalp in the next second, and that made me forget about my hair, and just about everything else.
She muttered something against my lips.
“Huh?”
Her husky laugh made my heart stutter, and then she said it again. This time, it made sense. “Condom.”
I stilled. Shit. “I don’t have one.”
“I do.” Carly smiled, her mouth soft against my cheek. “Table next to my bed...handy, huh?”
“Handy...that pretty much covers it.” I boosted her up and the silk nightshirt she wore rode up over her hips. The only barriers were the thin pants I wore, and a pair of impossible sheer panties. The feel of her rubbing against me through my pants was the sweetest torture ever. The skin beneath my hands was impossibly smooth, the muscles firm.
The walk from the bed was nothing but a blur, and I tumbled down onto it, twisting as I fell so that she came down on top of me. She pressed kisses to my mouth, chin and neck, her hands moving up and down my arms, touching every part of me that she could reach. All the right parts, yet not enough of them.
“Off.” I pulled at her nightgown, unable to articulate anything more than that single word.
She grinned as she arched back, pulling the nightgown over her head. I caught my breath as she exposed her full breasts, and then it was her turn to gasp as my fingers teased at her already-hard nipples. I sat up, catching a nipple between my lips. She swore as I sucked on her sensitive flesh, and then she was tugging at my shirt.
“Want to see you.” She ground down against me until I was almost ready to explode right there.
“Condom,” I said as I bit her lower lip.
She made a soft purring sound in her throat, so I did it again. When she pulled away, I caught her hand and tugged her back.
“You want the condom, right?” she asked, laughter lurking in her voice.
I’d never known this much laughter. Not until her. Reluctantly, I loosened my grip on her hand so she could sit up and lean away, but I kept my hand on her thigh, unwilling to break the connection completely.
Seconds, moments, ticked away in a blur of haze and heat as we stripped off the rest of our clothes. She took her time ripping the foil packet open, and then she took even longer to roll it on, her fingers were torturously slow as they slid over my shaft. Finally, I took over, rolling the last couple inches before catching her about the waist and spilling her onto her back. I settled between her thighs, resting on my elbows as I hovered above her.
She caught her breath as I leaned down and scraped my teeth along her jaw. I put my mouth against her ear. I wanted her so badly that it hurt, but I wasn’t going to take what wasn’t mine. At least mine for tonight. I wasn’t fool enough to think it was anything other than tonight.
“Do you want me?”
Her response was to tug my head towards her until her mouth was against mine.
Kissing her was one of the sweetest things I’d done in a long time, so it didn’t take much to entice me into doing it. Just the invitation was enough.
Brushing my lips against hers, I settled the head of my cock against the wet heat of her pussy. As I pushed my tongue into her mouth, I pushed my cock inside the heat of her.
And I realized, then and there, I was in trouble.
It felt like...heaven. Better than anything had ever felt in my life, and pulling out was practically torture, but I had to feel it again, so I did. And as I slid back into her, it was just as perfect the second time.
Again, again...
She was whimpering beneath me, her hands clutching at my ribs, her tongue sliding against mine, her body growing slick with sweat. Her hips rose to meet mine, pulling me deeper, taking all of me, fitting around me like a glove.
I’d told her it would be short and not very sweet.
I lied.
Maybe it didn’t last all that long, but it was the sweetest night of my entire life.
* * *
Morning came. Too early. Too harsh. Too bright. But aside from the fact that the sun was shining directly into my eyes, and aside from the fact that it was the last day I’d be here in a beautiful suite of rooms with cloud-like beds and coffee that must have been brewed by angels, it had to be one of the best mornings of my life.
Better than the morning I’d known I was being paroled. Better than my first day of freedom. Better, even, than the morning after I’d lost my virginity.
And all because of her.
I could feel the soft caress of her breath along my side, and I shifted my head to look at her. And there she was. Carly Prince was sighing softly in her sleep, and she was perfectly, gloriously naked, the sheets tangled just below her lush, round ass while a tumble of curls hid her face. Those curls were completely natural, and they’d exploded into a crazy mess during the night. They were just as perfect as the rest of her. I wanted nothing more than to muss them up even more as I covered her body and drove inside her. I shifted on the bed, listening as she made a low grumble under her breath. Nothing else, though.
I leaned over her, straining to grab one of the last remaining condoms on the table. Once I got one, I tore open the packet and rolled it on quickly. Even if I hadn’t already had a hard-on simply from waking up, being near her would’ve done it.
I rolled on top of her, putting my knees on either side of her ass. Bending down, I pressed a kiss to the small of her back, then moved lower, listening as her breathing started to speed up.
“If this is your idea of a wake-up call...” Her voice was thick with sleep.
“Yeah?”
She craned her head around to look up at me and smile. “Then I haven’t gotten the message.”
Coming down on her, I tucked my cock against her butt and started to rock. She shivered and parted her legs as she pushed up against me. She was warm and soft, still sleepy, and I wanted nothing more than to spend the next ten or twelve hours wrapped around her.
I knew, however, that I didn’t have that much time. I was determined to make the best of what I did have though. And part of that meant making her come...hard.
After shifting us slightly onto our sides, I cupped her breast in my hand. Her breathing hitched and I felt her spine arch. It drove her breast more fully into my palm, even as it had her ass tucked completely against my hips and my cock. It jerked demandingly, but I was going to make it wait. She came first.
Soft, throaty moans escaped her as I teased her nipple. My other hand slid down her stomach and parted the thin golden curls between her legs. The need to drive into her rode me, but I didn’t want to rush this. Just like that, it would be over and she would be gone.
I watched as she slid her hand down her stomach toward the thin layer of golden curls between her legs. Levering up onto my elbow, I watched as she reached her goal and whimpered. I coul
d barely make out what she was doing, but my imagination worked just fine.
I rocked against her, and she slid back. She worked herself closer and closer, and then, when she started to come, I reached around her, and pushed two fingers inside the hot, wet glove of her vagina.
She came, hard and fast after just two strokes.
She was still trembling when I slowly withdrew my fingers and slid them into my mouth.
Her taste was pure sex.
I would have flipped her over onto her back and pushed her thighs wide, gone down on her until she was a writhing, screaming mess, except I didn’t think she wanted that. She hadn’t last night. I didn’t go where I wasn’t wanted, and I didn’t want to waste what time I had trying to convince her.
So I savored the taste of her on my fingers for a moment, and then lifted her leg to slide slowly inside. I forced myself to hold back against the instincts clamoring for me to drive in hard and fast. I wanted to make this last. Her spine bent and she wiggled, trying to get me deeper. I gripped her hips, forcing her to go at my pace.
It was lazy and slow and she came with a low, keening noise that she muffled into the mattress.
I gritted my teeth together and rode it out in silence. I was determined to make her come at least once more before I let go.
It was lazy and slow, and I made her come twice before I finally buried my face in the side of her neck and groaned her name.
The second time in the shower was anything but slow. Hard, fast, dirty, desperate...yeah, all of the above. But mostly desperate, because it was the last time.
By the time we finally made our way out into the kitchen, both Ryan and Jake pinned us with a hard look.
Carly looked unfazed.
Me, on the other hand, I probably looked like I’d been caught with my hand in the cookie jar.
Although it hadn’t really been my hands that had been where they weren’t supposed to be. Or, at least, not only my hands.
Carly wagged a finger at Jake, then Ryan. “Leave him alone. He wasn’t flying solo in there.”
Ryan sighed and smoothed down a grass-green tie.
Jake continued to stare at me. I wasn’t surprised that he spoke first. “You serious about this job, Bobby? Do you want to do it or not?”
“I think I held up my end of the bargain well enough.” I leveled a glare at him as I moved into the dining room. “It’s over today, but if I fucked up last night, I’m sorry.”
And I was...sort of. I was sorry that I’d disappointed Jake and Ryan, but I couldn’t bring myself to regret having one night with Carly, not when I knew I’d never see her again after today.
As Jake continued to watch me, I shifted my gaze elsewhere. Heat was burning its way up my neck. There was no if here. Even I knew bodyguards weren’t supposed to fuck the body they were guarding.
But...hell.
Carly wasn’t just some job.
The long narrow table – Ryan had told me it was a serving board, I think – was filled with plenty of food and this time, I was a little less reluctant to dig in. Who knew when I’d get to eat a full meal again? Sure, I had five grand now, but I wasn’t about to waste it.
“That wasn’t the question you were asked,” Jake said, voice level. “Are you taking this job serious or not?”
“I’m serious about it.” Still not looking at Jake, I moved over to the sideboard and grabbed a plate, taking eggs and bacon. I also grabbed some juice and took a few seconds to crunch down a piece of bacon, then a few more to wash it down with orange juice before I turned to look at him. “But if y’all would take some time to remember, I kept telling you I wasn’t the ideal guy for this job.”
Ryan grunted something under his breath. I wasn’t the only one who chose to ignore him.
“Regardless, you took it.” Jake braced his uninjured hand on his hip as he blew out a hard breath.
“Yeah, for five days. Today is day five.”
“Well...”
The soft sound of Carly’s voice had me pausing. I’d been moving to sit down, but instead, I put the plate on the table and then turned to focus on the three of them. Unconsciously, I echoed Ryan’s stance as I crossed my arms over my chest.
“What is it?”
“Carly’s going to need a new full-time man on her team soon,” Jake said quietly. “She said the other day she thought maybe you’d be a good fit.”
I snorted.
“You would,” she said. She slanted a look at Jake. “And I still think he would. He was looking out for me before he even knew me, Jake. When he had no reason to care. I don’t think sleeping with me will change that.”
“I think sleeping with you is going to make him more easily distracted,” Ryan said.
“I’d step in front of a bullet for her.” The words left me before I’d even realized I was going to say them.
One by one, they all turned their heads to look at me.
Suddenly feeling out of place and stupid, I moved back to the table and threw myself down in the seat. It was a miserable, ladder-back affair, the kind they put at a formal dining set and it had about as much bend as Jake’s rigid spine. For a minute, I was able to focus on eating and ignore them. Or I at least pretended to ignore them.
“So...”
Carly’s voice was soft.
I looked up at her and saw that she’d settled down in front of me, her gaze speculative.
I scowled. Shit. “Look, don’t go thinking I’m ready to pick out wedding rings. You...” I jerked my shoulder. “All of y’all...well, it’s been a while since anybody has...” Now my face was really burning up. “Shit.”
I kicked back from the table and moved over to the window. I’d always hated talking about anything of substance, avoided it as much as I could. Hell, I’d never even let Leah that close and she’d had my kid. Now I was about to talk about how I felt to three people who I barely knew.
But they deserved to hear it.
“There was no reason for any of you to offer me this job. No reason for any of you to do anything except let the cops haul me away after I broke Jake’s arm. But you gave me a job...” I snorted, then added, “Bought me clothes I’m not ever really going to need again, but hell. I can sell them. EBay, right? Anyway. You gave me a chance, and I got enough money now that I have some breathing room while I try to find another job. You’re decent people. I won’t forget it.”
Miserable now, and self-conscious to boot, I continued to stare outside.
There was the faintest noise behind me and I turned. I wasn’t surprised to see it was Ryan standing there. Everybody else was louder when they moved.
“You know, I think you just might be willing to step in front of a bullet for her. Another reason why you’ve done so well at this.” He shrugged, a faint smile on his face. “Some people are just good at this sort of thing. You’re one of them. Although, the idea of you two being in a relationship does present a problem.”
“We don’t have a relationship,” I said quickly. I wasn’t about to saddle her with the baggage that’d come with a relationship with me. I wouldn’t do that to anyone.
Carly was at the table, and from the corner of my eye, I saw her stiffen.
Then she eased back in her chair, a sunny smile on her face. “Hear that, Ryan?”
He shot her a look.
There were undertones going on here that I just couldn’t wrap my head around. “What’s going on?”
“We already told you.” Jake pushed back from the table and went to pour himself some coffee. His gaze came to mine, held it for just a moment. “We need a new man on the team. Somebody permanent.”
I frowned at him.
For some reason, the solemn look in his eyes made my skin go cold.
“I’m dying,” he said quietly. “I’ve got pancreatic cancer.”
Fuck.
I felt like all of the air had been sucked out of my body.
This man who loved Carly like a daughter was dying and he was taking the time to make
sure she was taken care of.
And he wanted me.
“You heard what he said, Ryan.” Carly’s voice was pithy. “There’s no relationship.”
The words felt like a slap, but I didn’t let myself react to her. I was too busy trying to figure out how in the hell to respond to all of it.
They wanted me to do this for real. For permanent. As in leave Louisville. Leave Kentucky. Leave home and move to California to be one of Carly’s bodyguards.
Because Jake was dying.
“Yeah, I heard what he said.” Ryan’s voice was dry. “But I’ve been around you two all week. Sparks fly any time you two are within ten feet of each other.”
“We’re de-sparked now, Ry. Got it out of our system.” She stared out the window. We had another fund-raising dinner today, but she didn’t look like she wanted to go. She looked like she wanted to curl up and cry.
She kept shooting Jake looks and I wondered how long she’d known. Then she’d look at me, and I’d have to wonder just how much of her flirting with me had been a distraction. Probably all of it.
It explained how someone like her could be with someone like me.
Ryan looked at me and lifted an eyebrow.
I lifted a shoulder. “Don’t look at me for answers. I’m still trying to figure out if I should do this or not.”
“You should take the job, Bobby,” Carly said softly. “Get out of this place.”
I looked out the window, trying to imagine being somewhere else. Then I had to smile. I’d been someplace else...only that place had bars.
“I still can’t figure out why y’all think this is a fit.” I glanced at her, then at Ryan. “I’m an ex-con. I fix cars.”
There was a whole lot of other shit I knew how to do, at least in theory, thanks to all the classes I’d taken while in prison, but it wasn’t like I’d ever have a chance to put that knowledge to use. No one would hire me for anything other than manual labor.
“It’s a fit because it is. You’re good at this, kid.” Ryan shrugged, although his eyes were far less casual.
The kid had me frowning. Ryan wasn’t that much older than me, and I was pretty sure the things in my past had knocked the shine off me a long time ago.