Chapter 15
L ust rumbled through Ghost like thunder. Mila’s warm, soft lips on his stirred his cock. He grasped her hips, anchoring her in place and stopping her from getting on top of him.
Which was exactly where he wanted her.
Goddamn, he shouldn’t be doing this. He couldn’t have normal. Sex, yeah. He could do that. But there was nowhere to go. If things went south after, it’d be awkward as hell in the cabin.
He inched her back, separating their mouths. “We shouldn’t do this.” Even as he spoke the words, he wanted to draw them back in.
Her heavy-lidded eyes blinked. Her blue irises lit with liquid fire. Her lips were plump and full. Her chest rose and fell. “Oh. Right.” Her hands slid away from him.
He caught her fingers. “What?”
She tilted her head with an air of humor. “I won’t beg, don’t worry.”
His earlier words rang through his mind: I wouldn’t fuck you if you begged.
He cupped her neck, forcing her to look at him and wanting to kick his idiot self in the ass. “That’s not what I mean.”
She moved out of his hold. “It’s fine.”
He muttered a curse and seized her biceps. “I want you. I fucking wanted you the minute I saw your face.”
She wet her lips. “Then why don’t you want me now?”
The basic question shook him. He’d never been speechless. Never been so fucking torn or stuck. But the fact remained: he couldn’t have something so sweet.
Mila’s hand slid to his neck. Her soft floral scent mixed with his shampoo filled his brain.
“I do,” he rasped.
Fuck it.
He anchored his arm around her waist and pulled her to straddle his lap.
A breathy squeak escaped from her throat, exciting him more. Diving his hand through the strands at her nape, he took her mouth in his.
Every muscle in his body spasmed. Need spiraled through him, stealing his common sense. She responded like someone without air suddenly being infused with oxygen. Her tongue danced with his, her hot flavor tempting his tastebuds. She thrust her hips, grinding her sex over his throbbing cock.
All the blood in his brain rushed south. Pounding, urgent need drove him wild. Her hands roamed across his chest and down his waist, making every cell respond in the process. He slid his palms over her ass. So damn perfect.
She moaned, pressing the heat between her legs against his shaft.
He let out a guttural groan. Sweeping his hand to the front of her pants, he slipped his fingers into her panties. She tensed and gripped his shoulders while panting against his tongue.
He touched her folds. Slick, wet, and fucking ready.
But he wasn’t. Not yet.
He needed to feel her. To drive her as out of her mind as he was right now. He plunged two fingers inside her and she spasmed.
Mila’s lips broke away, and she pressed her forehead to his. “Oh my god,” she wheezed, as he worked his fingers in and out.
Her flesh throbbed and clenched around his digits, her walls tight and beautifully ridged. She’d feel like heaven once his dick was balls deep.
“Wait,” she hissed. “I’m going to come if you don’t stop.”
“Come, Mila.” He sunk deeper, cupping her clit with his palm and grinding there.
She gasped. Her pelvis jolted forward and back, fucking his hand. He gave her what she wanted, more pressure, more speed.
She cried out, bucking wildly on top of him. His cock stretched to the max watching her, listening to her throaty moans.
“More, Ghost,” she pleaded.
He pumped his hand harder.
She came undone. Her thrusts stopped and her legs clamped on either side of his thighs as she let him finish her. Her mouth landed on his as her pussy pulsed and squeezed. Wet heat filled his palm and she collapsed against him.
Her face slipped to his shoulder and he rolled forward, lowering her back to lie on the sofa with him on top of her.
His need nearly blinded him. Easing his hand from her panties, he stared down at her.
Mila’s hair fanned out on the cushion. Her eyes were sexy and sated. He placed his fists on either side of her shoulders.
She sank further into the couch and a hesitant smile flitted over her lips. “Come here,” she whispered. She dragged her fingers over the seam of his zipper. Urgency shot through his core. She caught his belt buckle and eased it open.
He didn’t move. Fire kindled in his abdomen.
And dammit, so did hesitation. She’d been through so much. How could he be with anyone who’d suffered like this? He didn’t have what it took to be gentle. To wash away her pain. He couldn’t even deal with his own shit. Yet he needed her more than anything he’d ever needed in his life.
“You’re stopping?” she almost whimpered.
“Hell no.”
He framed her face with his hands. “I want to hear you say this is okay.”
She brushed her fingers from his elbow to his wrist. “It’s more than okay. I want this. I want you.”
Relief surged through him. It was as if chains had been broken.
He grasped the waistband of her leggings and pulled her panties down with them.
Her cheeks flushed as her lean, toned legs slid free.
He wanted to bury is face in every inch of her.
To lick, touch, and fuck until neither of them could walk.
He needed all of her on display first.
“Sit up,” he commanded.
Without pause, she shifted. He grabbed the hem of her hoodie, but she was already lifting the sweater over her head. In seconds, she was completely bare. She was lithe and toned, her skin satiny.
“Your turn.” She grabbed his T-shirt.
In one swift movement he had the condom out of his wallet and his shirt, pants, and boxer briefs on the ground.
The air wrapped around his cock, and the sight of Mila’s naked body on his couch, wet and waiting, made his heart beat ferociously.
He ripped the foil with his teeth but kept the rubber in the packaging.
She circled her arms around his neck and pulled him down on top of her. Her lips crashed into his. Every inch of her was so soft, so damn womanly, he was already lost.
His hips settled between her legs. He’d only have to adjust slightly and he’d be inside her.
She hiked her pelvis, thrusting forward. “Ghost, now.”
“Mmm. Not yet.” He kissed the softness beneath her ear.
Her fingernails dug into his shoulders. He held her waist as he left a trail to her breast. Seizing her nipple in his mouth, he sucked.
“Ohmigod.” She withered as he flitted his tongue over her nub, turning it hard and pebbly.
“Ghost, I can’t take it. I need to come again.” She wiggled her sex closer to his cock.
He slipped down, leaving her nipple and kissing beneath her belly button. “I promise you’ll come. We’ve got nothing but time.”
She let out a frustrated groan. A glance revealed her face tipped back, her mouth slightly parted, her eyes closed. Tension creased her face.
“Mila, look at me.”
She lifted her lashes and blue heat slammed into him. His mouth hovered right above her slick folds.
“Please, Ghost,” she said, panting his name. So much raw need and desperation.
His palms grew damp as he pressed them into the insides of her thighs, forcing her knees up and her legs apart.
“Uhm,” she sputtered, her muscles shaking.
“You want it or not, babe?”
Her legs were wide open. A gasp came from her lips—either an affirmation or a rebuttal.
“Yes or no?” he demanded.
“Yes!” The word came out sharp, insistent. And fuck, he loved it.
He brought his mouth over her hood and she cried out. Her hands fisted the material of the couch. Her legs were unable to do anything but shake. She jolted her hips and he fought a chuckle as he devoured her.
Sliding his tongue from folds to tip, he worked over every glistening part of her sex. Rough gasps came from her chest, but he didn’t give her enough pressure or speed to make her bust.
“Oh, oh, I’m so close.” She gripped his arm. “Ghost, I want you .”
He slid the condom from its wrapper, rolled it down his shaft, and guided his head to her opening. She cried out again as he entered. Her muscles clenched his dick, so fucking tight.
She wrapped her arms around him and he burrowed his face into her neck. He pumped in and out, every withdrawal making him drive back in with desperation.
Mila screamed, her body gyrating with his, matching each thrust. His mind spiraled into fucking bliss. All he could smell was Mila. All he could hear was her song of pleasure.
All he wanted was to stay here forever.
She clung to him, riding every penetration. His vision flickered. He closed his eyes and rocked into her. An explosion of ecstasy rushed through his veins. He let go. For those moments, he was no one but who Mila needed him to be.
Her body went loose, but she kept her hand on the nape of his neck. Her heart beat against his chest. Her breath warmed his cheek. He nuzzled her neck as his pulse slowly returned to a normal speed.
She dragged her fingers down his spine and then back up. Her touch tamped down the rage he walked with. She brought warmth into his cold life.
He’d never wanted a woman for more than sex.
Maybe because he’d needed a woman as deadly as him.
***
Mila stepped out of the shower. It was late afternoon and Ghost was cooking dinner. Fog covered the inside of the window. Steam hung in the air.
She’d slept with Ghost.
Holy shit had she ever.
She swiped her hand over the mirror and stared at her reflection. Her cheeks were still flushed, partly because of the hot shower, but also because of the sex. Raw, primal, dirty sex.
It was more than that.
She’d been with other men, but not a single one knew who she truly was. What she’d done. What she’d been through. He was the only person in her life outside of Irinia and Alexei who knew her past and didn’t run from her.
She finished drying off and knotted the towel between her breasts. Her body still hummed from Ghost’s attention. God, he’d strummed her nerve endings like a musical genius, giving her everything she’d wanted right when she’d needed it.
Which was kind of shocking. She didn’t have to know him to see how he kept himself closed off from the rest of the world. He might be harsh and ruthless and capable of brutality, but he had gentleness, too.
She went to the window and wiped away the moisture. The snowflakes fluttering down had lost their aggression. The storm was tapering off and with any luck, the roads would be clear tomorrow.
And she could start over.
Her stomach fluttered. She didn’t just have to tell Irinia’s brother and sister-in-law that she was leaving the business. She had to tell Irinia, too.
And find a job. She had money saved. A lot, actually. With the right investments, she could probably be comfortable for the rest of her life without having to work. But she’d be bored. Other than fitness and training, she wasn’t passionate about anything.
An unfamiliar sensation tugged at her gut. Was she doing the right thing?
Geez. She was having second thoughts about quitting her career as an assassin—what kind of person did that make her?
She huffed an irritated breath, grabbed her hair elastic from the counter, and wrapped her locks in a braid. She quickly dressed and made her way downstairs.
Ghost stood at the island packing ground beef into patties.
“Can I help with anything?” She needed to keep her hands busy.
“Sure. Can you throw some potatoes in the oven?” He nodded at the bag on the counter, beside his phone.
“No problem.” She fished out a few potatoes to prep.
Ghost’s phone rang. He cursed, his hands hovering over the bowl and coated with meat. “Can you answer that on speaker?”
“Yup.” She reached over and tapped the icon to answer then put the call on speaker.
“Hey, Rami. Thanks for calling.”
Mila meandered toward the living room. She didn’t want to interfere with Ghost’s conversation with his boss. Ghost caught her eye and jerked his head toward the kitchen. “Stay.” His tone was reassuring, but she couldn’t help but feel she was intruding.
“Yeah,” Rami said. “Got your text to call. Sounds like I’m on speaker, though. You going to continue being a douche or should I introduce myself?”
Ghost snorted. “No one’s douchier than you, but I’ll do the honors. Mila, this is Rami. I mentioned him. He and Toth own Backcountry Protection Services.”
“Hi, I’m Mila. I tried to kill your employee a couple days ago.”
Rami roared with laughter.
Ghost grinned, and his eyes lit with amusement.
“I’m sorry to hear you failed,” Rami retorted. “Kidding. I’m sure things are working out just fine over there.” His comment was loaded with innuendo.
“Fuck you,” Ghost said, but his tone lacked bite. “Believe it or not, I wanted to talk to you about something, not just hear your stupid voice.”
“Go ahead. Some of us have work to do.”
“I know who hired Mila.”
“Who?” Rami barked.
Seeing another side of Ghost was... interesting. He was short with his friend, but also funny. He didn’t mince words, nor did he sugarcoat how abrasive he was.
She’d always been intrigued by friendships.
Probably because she’d never really had any.
Well, not since she was nine anyway. Once upon a time, she’d been social, although when she wasn’t at the studio, she’d been happiest at home.
But she’d played with the kids in the neighborhood and had had several close friends at the studio.
For so long, it’d just been her.
“Hunter Emmett. Trident Securities.”
“No,” Rami said, his voice rising an octave. “How the fuck’s that possible unless he rose from the dead? You shot him in the head.”
Ghost chortled. “Taschen got shot in the head, too, and that fucker’s fine.”
Mila cocked her head with interest. She remembered the name from earlier. Taschen was one of the guys who worked with Ghost.
“So what you’re telling me is I’ve gotta find Hunter.”
“’Preciate if you could do it quickly. I’m driving back tomorrow if the roads are clear.”
“All right, leave it with me. You got any info on where I should start?”
Ghost locked gazes with her. “Did your guy say anything else?”
She shook her head. “No, sorry.”
“It’s fine. Now that we know he’s alive, he can’t hide,” he said, to both Rami and her. The guys said their goodbyes and Ghost ended the call.
Some of the moisture left Mila’s mouth. Anxiety bunched in her belly for the hulking man in front of her.
Two days ago, she’d wanted him dead. Now she couldn’t bear the thought.