Chapter Thirteen
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
THE ROOM FELT like a pressure cooker quickly rising to the blowing point.
They were attracted to each other and had been since they met.
Talia was his club’s attorney.
She was the only person who knew about his history with the DEA and the current mess that history brought to his life.
There were so many complicated factors to sort through and organize. It would be better for all involved to ignore their attraction and move on.
But then there was that kiss.
Goddamn, she’d taken him by surprise with that kiss. There’d been a desperation to it. An underlying hunger that led him to believe she was starved for the things he could give her. The things he could do to her. He was just as greedy for it. Hell, if she hadn’t come to her senses, he might have fucked her right there in the hallway against the clubhouse wall.
It’d been a long time since he’d had some action from anyone besides his own hand, and now that he’d tasted her, he couldn’t think of anything else. He’d spent the entire night hard and imagined how she’d look coming on his fingers, his tongue, his cock. He’d jerked off three times and still could have pounded a nail through a two-by-four.
One glimpse of her this morning, even hungover and awkward, and his cock was back at attention. This woman went to his head faster than any drug.
He unpacked the muffins he’d picked up on his way over and set them on the table. One giant cinnamon crumble, and an equally colossal chocolate chip muffin sat side by side. Talia could choose. He’d eat either with a smile. Thanks to Brooke, who’d visited Talia multiple times while she’d been home recovering, he’d learned she loved oat milk brown sugar lattes, whatever the hell all that meant. Thankfully, the barista knew because he’d have been out of luck if they needed clarification.
Talia emerged a few moments later, wearing soft olive-green sweatpants and a beige ACDC T-shirt. She still had a stiffness about her, but with last night’s makeup gone and her hair in a high ponytail, she looked fresh and fuckable.
Goddammit, his cock couldn’t catch a break. Not that it mattered what she wore. She’d need a damn hazmat suit to keep from turning him on.
Squaring her shoulders, she walked straight to him. Her lips compressed, and her eyes sharpened in a look of determination that could only mean one thing.
“Look, Pulse,” she said as she reached him. “I want to apologize for my behav—”
Nope, he wasn’t having any of that bullshit.
He grabbed the back of her neck and yanked her to him, crashing his mouth to hers. She let out a muffled squeak, allowing him to slide his tongue between her lips.
Her minty-clean flavor invaded his taste buds. Fucking addicting.
She went rigid, arms hanging at her sides for about five seconds, and then she melted into him.
Fuck yes.
He kept his hand clasping her neck and splayed the other across her lower back as he plundered her mouth. Her soft moans made his cock ache. Strong hands gripped his cut at his sides. She clung to him, letting him have his way with her mouth. Imagining her grasping his bare skin the same way had him pulling her even closer. As soon as his rock-hard cock made contact with her stomach, she whimpered.
Shit, this was about to get out of hand.
He released her and ended the kiss. Talia still clutched his cut as she stared up at him. Her eyes were wide, pupils blown, and cheeks flushed.
He groaned. That kiss was a mistake because that sample taste wasn’t close to being enough. He’d spend the day as hard and unsatisfied as he’d spent his night.
“Wha—”
“Don’t ever fucking apologize for kissing me.”
It shouldn’t have been possible, but her eyes flared even wider. She licked her lower lip, drawing his attention. God, that lip had tasted good. It would look good, too, spread wide for his cock.
“O-okay.” Her voice trembled, and she panted as though having been interrupted mid-workout.
“You might have acted out of character because you were drunk, but I fucking loved it. I get it’s complicated as fuck right now, but I just want it out there that I had no problem with it.”
Talia blew out a breath. “Phew. Wow. Okay, that’s, uh… that’s pretty damn hot,” she muttered as though he wasn’t standing right there.
He chuckled. “Come on. Sit. Eat a muffin and drink some coffee. I’ll fill you in on the shit I should have called you about a few days ago.”
“Why didn’t you?” she asked as she moved to sit at the table before the cinnamon muffin.
His gaze locked back on her mouth.
“Oh,” she said on an exhale. She ran an unsteady hand over the top of her head and down her ponytail. After blowing out a breath, she picked up her coffee. “Thanks for bringing breakfast.” She took a sip, and her face lit with pleasure. “Oh my gosh. This is my favorite drink ever. How did you know?” A pleased smile replaced her nervous expression.
“That would be Brooke.”
“Ah, right,” she said with a nod. “We had coffee a few times this week. Well, thanks. Please sit.”
He did, then grabbed his coffee—black and a lot of it—the only way he could ever drink it. Nothing against Talia’s sweet beverage, but he just wanted as big of a caffeine hit as possible and as fast, which plain black coffee delivered.
“Mm… this is good, too,” she said as she broke off a piece of muffin and popped it in her mouth. “Yum.”
Pulse groaned. He was helpless to do anything but stare at her lips as she licked a rogue crumb.
“I had no idea you had such a one-track mind.” Her cheeks pinked, and she cleared her throat.
“Well, if you could see what I see, you’d be the same way. You gotta stop drawing attention to your mouth. Maybe face the other way while you’re eating.” It was time to get to the real reason he’d stopped by, and he never would if she kept doing sexy things like chewing.
She burst out laughing and slapped a hand over her mouth. “Chewing does it for you? Seriously?”
She continued chuckling, sparking a fire inside him, but different than the fire that burned when she’d kissed him. This one grew, smoldering at a low flame, and he wanted to keep it burning forever. Keep her laughing, smiling, showing a side of herself he guessed she didn’t let others see often. How amazing would it be to know he was the man who could draw those expressions from her whenever he wanted?
Maybe even the only man.
It’d be incredible—a pleasure that would run deep and wide.
He shrugged. “What can I say? I like your mouth.”
“All right.” She pointed at him with a smirk. “That’s enough outta you. I had no idea you were so much trouble.”
He tilted his head, studying her amused expression. “Really? You met me in an interrogation room, and you didn’t think I was trouble?” The banter was almost as much fun as kissing her.
“Not what I meant, and you know it. Now focus. You owe me some explanations, so start talking.”
If only an explanation were all he owed her. She was in this whole mess because of him.
“I have a contact I’ve used for years. I helped him out of a bad situation when we were just kids, and he’s been loyal to me ever since. This guy has some special skills he’s been able to use to find out information I couldn’t obtain otherwise.”
“Wow.” Talia snorted. “As an attorney, I’ve gotta tell you, there are more than a few holes in that story.”
“I know.” He set his coffee down and scooted his chair closer to her. “Talia, I’ve landed you smack in the middle of a clusterfuck you don’t deserve to be involved in. The more details you have, the bigger the risk to you.”
She pressed her lips together. Her brow wrinkled as she processed his words. “Is that the reason you went radio silent this week?”
Of course, it was. The thought of putting her in more danger enraged him. “It is.” That and he wanted to rip her clothes off every time he looked at her. His club had enough reasons to hate him. Fucking their attorney would only make things worse.
“Hmm.” She tilted her head as her spine straightened. “You know I don’t need you to decide what risks I should take?”
“I do.”
If the situation weren’t so volatile, he’d have laughed. Leave it to her to get spicy when he tried to keep her safe.
“This isn’t my first go around, Pulse. I’ve been at my job for years and am privy to plenty of sensitive information. If I didn’t know how to be discreet, I’d have been out of a job two days in.”
“This has nothing to do with whether or not I trust you to keep your mouth shut. I trust you implicitly. It’s about your safety.”
“You do realize I’m a grown woman who is perfectly capable of taking care of myself?” Any trace of flirtation vanished, leaving the fierce attorney he’d trust to defend him any day.
“I do.”
“And you realize I don’t need some man making any decisions for me, no matter how they might affect me?”
“Yep.”
“And yet, you’re deciding what I do and do not need to know.”
“That’s correct.”
Oh, man, her eyes were spitting fire now. His cock twitched. The bastard had never learned good timing.
She huffed. “Why?”
“Because fuck your reasons.”
“Excuse me?” Her voice rose, and she hopped up, fury flying all over the room. “What gives you the right—”
He stood, too, snagged her around the waist, and yanked her to him, kissing her with all the pent-up fear, anger, and desire he’d been growing over the past week. It only lasted a few seconds but was a hard, fierce kiss, not another frenzied exploration. This was a claiming.
“That gives me the fucking right,” he said as he ripped his mouth away.
“Pulse…”
“No, Talia. This is not about independence or what I think you can or can’t handle. This is about your goddamn safety, and I’ll be fucked before I let someone hurt you again because of me. If that means I act like a Neanderthal, so fucking be it.”
He shoved away from her and stalked across the apartment. This place was too damn small, and he reached the opposite wall in under twenty steps. He should have gone out the door.
“Pulse, I…”
He whipped around so fast that she stumbled back a step even though fifteen feet of space separated them. Her eyes were wide and radiating a mixture of anger and sympathy. She held her hands wide as though approaching a wild animal.
“I’m not scared.”
“You should be. You really should be.” Memories of Camila’s lifeless body lying in a pool of her blood assaulted him. She hadn’t been afraid either, and look where he’d gotten her. “These people want revenge, and they don’t care about who they have to destroy to get it.” It was as much an admission of the cartel having infiltrated the DEA as he could give her right then. Even that was too much.
“If we work together, we can figure this out.”
“They’re monsters, Talia. I will not have someone take you away before I’ve even had the chance to taste your pussy.”