Chapter 4 #2
She gasped as he went in her even deeper.
His thrusts were fierce and fast. Uncontrolled. He pounded into her again and again, and she caught the tangled covers and her hands fisted on them.
This wasn’t nice sex. Not easy. Not gentle.
It was body-churning. Soul-stealing. Heart-racing fucking.
He fucked her hard, and she shoved her hips back up against him with every maddened thrust because she absolutely loved it. She didn’t need to think about the future or the past. It was just their bodies, colliding together. Insane sex. Earth-shattering pleasure.
He erupted into her again.
And she was right there with him, riding that blast of pleasure as the storm raged around them.
“You need to stay out of my bar.”
Oh, yes, that was hardly the…You’re the best lover I’ve ever had and please, please stay with me plea that Agnes had maybe, sorta, kinda hoped she’d get when morning dawned.
Her eyes opened.
Surprise, surprise, Cass was fully awake. Fully dressed. Standing beside the bed, glowering at her while she was naked and tousled and probably looking super, super scary. Mornings were never her best time. Especially when she hadn’t gotten her coffee. So she squinted at him.
“Do not come slumming on my side of town. Stay out of all the bars I frequent. Out,” he emphasized. “I won’t be able to save that gorgeous ass again. You don’t jump into a brawl. That should be, like FBI 101.”
“Coffee,” she croaked. She’d done a fair amount of screaming during the night. His fault, one hundred percent. The man should not have been so incredible.
His dark brows shot together. His hands were on his jean-clad hips. He wore a faded gray shirt, and he looked almost disgustingly good with the hard stubble on his jaw.
Someone is gorgeous and all chatty in the mornings. A mental note she made about him.
“Coffee before conversation,” she rasped. “Pretty…ah, please.” Because her mother had taught her manners. Granted, her mother never needed to know about this awesome one-night stand, but…still.
Manners.
Her mother and her brothers. They should never know.
Some things would just stress them out unnecessarily.
“I don’t have coffee here. I never drink it.”
She gasped. The sound held utter shock. Maybe some betrayal, too. “You monster.”
He frowned at her. “What?”
“Mon…ster.” So her manners had gone out the window.
“Agnes, I’m being serious.”
She was, too. She was also increasingly awake, aware, and realizing…
I have no idea how to handle a morning after with him.
She’d been way too open and vulnerable with him during the hours of darkness.
She hadn’t slept with anyone—like, actually slept in a bed with another human being—in years. And as far as the sex was concerned…
Years. It had been years.
Apparently, when she decided to jump back in the sex pool, she went straight for the deep end. Without any sort of floatation device.
She glanced down at herself. At least she was covered up. Mostly. “Is this the walk of shame portion of the event?”
“Agnes.”
“In the bright light of day…” Her voice wasn’t quite as husky, but she could seriously have used some coffee. “I don’t quite want to prance around naked in front of you.”
“Why the hell not?” Cass demanded. “I had my mouth on every inch of you last night.”
As if she needed the reminder.
She held out her hand. “Would you please pass my shirt to me?”
He did not. He did put a big sweatshirt in her extended hand. Big, black, soft.
“It’s cold outside,” he said gruffly. “That’s better than the thin shirt you wore last night. It will give you way more coverage.”
“Fine. I’ll, ah, bring it back to you.”
“Keep it.”
She sat up in bed, still clutching the shirt in her grasp. “Have you seen my panties?” Her voice was prim. How could she be prim when she asked about her panties? Yet, she was.
“They were ripped to pieces, sweetness.”
Oh, right, they had been. “And my bra?”
He dangled it from his fingertips. She snatched it from him and nearly fell from the bed.
A ghost of a smile lingered on his handsome lips. “I wish I was a different person,” he said.
Wait, what?
“Because in another life, I’d never, ever let you the hell out of my bed, Agnes Quinn.”
Had she just imagined those words?
“I’ll give you privacy to dress since you don’t want to be prancing around naked in front of me.
” With that, he turned on his heel and marched for the door.
“By the way, your purse is on the chair over here. Thought you might want it, so I got it out of the saddlebag for you this morning.” Cass shut the door after he exited.
She dressed. Quickly. With knees that shook and thighs that trembled.
She put on her skirt, her bra, her shirt, and then his sweatshirt.
His sweatshirt swallowed her, falling past the hem of her skirt.
It was warm and carried a crisp, masculine scent.
His scent. Wearing it was like being wrapped in him.
Nope. Stop the thought.
She put on her heels. Used his toothpaste on her finger for a quick brush and then tried to smooth down her wild hair.
An utterly failed effort. Agnes grabbed her bag.
Checked inside it. Yep, her gun and ID were there.
Her phone, too. She used the phone to schedule a pickup with a rideshare driver, and then she dumped the phone back into her bag.
After inhaling a few deep, steadying breaths, she hung the purse strap over one shoulder.
When she could hesitate no longer, she opened his door. She strode very purposely down his hallway. He was waiting in the kitchen. A very modern and gorgeous kitchen. One that had no sign of coffee. How did one even function without caffeine in the morning? What was he, superhuman?
He stared at her. She stared at him. She had to bite back the words, “Thank you for a very good time.” That was her wanting to be polite again, but she didn’t know if you were supposed to actually thank your one-night stand for all the orgasms that he’d given to you.
Someone should write an etiquette book on the matter.
She also didn’t think that she should ask him about a partnership. Not right then. It would just look as if she’d tried to seduce him into cooperating with her. She hadn’t. The seduction-slash-sex had been its own thing. Its own truly glorious thing.
“Stay out of my bars,” Cass told her, voice grim. “Stay away from my MC. You will get hurt in my world.”
Oh, he was back to singing that tune. As far as getting hurt, he’d been the one in danger the previous night, not her. “If I see you in danger, I will have to step forward,” she said. “Whether it’s in your world or mine, I’d help you when you were in trouble.”
His eyes narrowed. Those eyes were so deep and dark and consuming. “You offering to bend the law for me, Agnes?”
Whenever he said her name, it made butterflies swirl inside of her. Growing up, she’d hated her old-fashioned name. But now…
I love the way it sounds coming from him.
“I’m not bending anything. I’m just saying that if you’re in trouble, I’ll step in.
I’m not going to let someone drive a knife into your back.
I helped you last night, and I’m pretty sure that you never even gave me a thank you for my outstanding effort with that flying beer bottle. ”
He stalked toward her. No shoes. Still way too tall. “You don’t consider the six orgasms a thank you?”
Had it been six? “You thanked me by fucking me?” She shook her head. “I don’t think I like that idea.” She grimaced.
“I fucked you because I wanted you. End of story.”
Fair. She liked that far better. “That’s the reason I fucked you, too.” Not because she wanted a partnership with him. Just because need had swept through her and destroyed every other thought.
What could have been regret flashed for the briefest of moments on his face. “This is the end of our story, sweetness. Stay out of my world.”
She put a hand to her heart. “You’re so very charming. How do you keep the women away?” Her hand fell. “I mean, jeez. Why don’t you just say I should hurry up before the door hits me in the ass?”
His eyes narrowed.
“You think we have to be enemies?” Now she was truly curious. And more than a little sad. “Because I’m a Fed and you’re…”
“The villain?”
“I don’t think that’s what you are.”
“Then you would be wrong. Better go back to the profiling board and see what you can come up with on your second try.”
“Are you trying to piss me off?”
“I don’t know. Are you getting pissed off?”
Yes, she was.
“I like you in my sweatshirt.” A roll of one big shoulder. “I like you better in nothing at all.”
“I like you better that way, too.” Her chin lifted.
His hand reached out. Curled under her chin. An oddly careful touch. “Watch your back, FBI Agent Quinn.” A soft rumble. “I’d hate like hell for anything bad to happen to you.”
No way. No way could he be… “Are you threatening me?”
“Hell, no. Just saying…no one had better ever fucking hurt you.”
That was sweet of the man who claimed to be the villain. “Guess what you’re saying is…if you see me in danger, you’d step forward too, huh?”
A faint incline of his head. His touch lingered.
“Maybe we’re more alike than you realize.
” She needed to get out of there. Because this wasn’t just about hot sex.
Something else was stirring within her the longer she stayed with this man.
“For the record, I’d hate like hell for anything bad to happen to you.
” Then, unable to help herself, she rose onto her toes.
Her mouth brushed against his. “Goodbye, bad guy.” She stepped back, turned from him, and blinked quickly.
Those are not tears in my eyes. They can’t be.
Weird, though, because they certainly felt like tears.
She hurried through the monstrosity that was his house.
He trailed after her. “I’ll take you wherever you need to go.”
“Nope. I already arranged for a ride to come and pick me up. Don’t worry, the pickup location is a few blocks from here. Not like I’d leave a trail that led straight to your door. I get that I can’t be seen getting picked up from your place.”
“I can take you—”
She spun around. “I’m good.” Her purse was still over her shoulder. “I have a gun in my bag, and believe me, I know how to use it.”
“You are good.” He nodded. His hands fisted at his sides. “Thanks for some truly stellar fucking.”
Oh. Maybe you were supposed to thank someone for orgasms. Her head inclined toward him. “Thank you for the best climaxes I’ve ever had.” Way better than the ones she got with her vibrator.
His jaw dropped.
“See you in another life, Cass.” She left him. Deliberate steps. With her shoulders thrown back. Her head up. Her high heels clicking. She walked out of his place. Careful, unhurried steps. She crossed the street. The sidewalk. She dipped between buildings.
After a short walk, she found her ride waiting.
She got inside and when she glanced over to the right, just before the car pulled away…
Cass was watching her from the side of the road. Hands shoved in his pockets. Dark sunglasses over his eyes. But she felt his stare. He’d followed her. Watched over her until she got into the car. Such a protective thing for a bad guy to do.
Her hand lifted toward the glass of her window.
And she left him.
He’d followed her. Fuck, yeah, call him a stalker, but he had. Not like it was the best neighborhood in Atlanta, and she’d been wearing those too high heels and the short skirt, and so what if it was barely six a.m. and most people weren’t out?
He’d wanted to make sure she got to her ride safely.
Even villains could do a random good deed every now and again. And it wasn’t even that good of a deed. He’d just shadowed the woman a bit. After all, when a lady gave you the best fucking of your life, you at least made sure she got to her car safely.
You held onto her. You didn’t let her go. You chained her to your bed, and you kept her there.
He swallowed. FBI Agent Agnes Quinn was not for him. He wasn’t looking for commitment. Not forever. Nothing permanent.
She was gone. He’d get back to business.
And…
Who the hell took a knife to her? The scars on her bothered the hell out of him. Seven times. Seven stabs with a knife. He’d kissed each scar during the night.
She hadn’t told him who’d hurt her. She also hadn’t told him if the prick was in the ground.
Not his concern. Check, but…
Would doing a small bit of digging hurt anything? He didn’t think so.
The car was gone. Time for him to move on. He had deals to make. Payback to dish out. Rivals to trample. The same old, same old.
And yet…
He could still smell her on his skin.
He would not be forgetting his night with Agnes anytime soon.