Chapter Six #2
My turn. He let go. Became absolutely fierce. His mouth was on her body. Licking. Kissing. Marking her. He released the sheets. Grabbed her legs and pushed them over his shoulders so that he could have full access to her. So that he could have everything.
He wanted to mark her inside and out. He wanted her to mark him. He needed to brand this moment in his mind so that he could never forget it. So that no one could ever take it from him.
Never take her from me.
His climax hit him. The pleasure poured through his whole body as he stiffened. John held her tight, too tight, as the release burst from him. The pleasure seemed endless, wringing him out, blasting through every nerve and cell.
He stared into her eyes as he came. Saw the same wild pleasure in her gaze.
Slowly, so slowly, his heartbeat settled. He lowered her legs. Knew that he had to withdraw from her, but he didn’t want to leave. He wanted to stay inside of her—hell, forever would be good.
But he worried he’d hurt her. John slid out of her body, moving carefully, and then he rose from the bed.
He padded to her bathroom and ditched the condom.
He looked around, grabbed a cloth for her, and warmed it beneath the water.
When he came back into the bedroom, Shelly had pulled the covers up over herself.
He hesitated. Maybe she wanted him to go.
He didn’t exactly have a lot of knowledge about after-sex-etiquette, and for a moment, he floundered.
Take care of her.
He didn’t have memories. He just had his instincts, and John’s instincts pushed him across the room. He slid into bed beside her, slid his hands under the covers. Reached for her.
“John, wait, what are you—”
He carefully placed the warm cloth between her legs. “I’m sorry I was so rough.”
Her breath hitched. “Told you…I don’t mind.”
“I was desperate for you. Desperation came make a man wild.” He stared into her eyes. “I’ll be more in control next time.” He really hoped those words weren’t a lie.
She didn’t speak when he returned the cloth to the bathroom. Then he was back in the bedroom. And…
Maybe he was supposed to go downstairs. Go back to his guest room. Was that what a gentleman would do? He didn’t know if he’d ever been a gentleman, but Shelly mattered to him, and he just didn’t want to screw this up.
He turned for the door.
“You can stay, if you want.”
Her words were low, but they still pierced right through him. He immediately headed toward the bed, and he eased beneath the covers with her. His body was stiff, and yeah, his eager dick was already twitching again. Just being near her turned him on, so that was nothing new.
Shelly moved toward him, and her fingers slid over his chest. “You might not remember having sex before, but I’ve got to tell you…you’re really good at it.”
John laughed. The sound escaped him before he realized it. Deep, a bit too hard but, it felt good. Being with her felt good. No, being with her felt right. “Sweetheart,” he murmured as he picked up her hand and brought it to his mouth. His lips pressed to her knuckles. “You’re fucking fantastic.”
And she laughed, too. A soft chime that was absolutely beautiful. Her laugh made him feel warm. Made some of the darkness that clung to him ease a bit, and John realized…
This must be what it’s like to be happy.
He hadn’t been happy, not since he’d woken in that lab. He’d known pain, he’d known rage. But happiness? That had only come with Shelly.
She pressed closer to him. She snuggled against him. And he found himself putting his arm around her. She was warm and soft, and better than any dream he’d ever had.
“I don’t do this,” she whispered, and he could hear a faint slur in her husky words, as if she were just about to drift off to sleep.
“Do what?”
“Have sex with men that I’ve just met.”
But I’ve known you for a long time. The thought pushed, unbidden, through his mind. She’d said they’d never met, but he knew her so well. “Why did you have sex with me?” John asked quietly.
Silence. Her breathing was easier, deeper, but he didn’t think she’d slipped away to sleep, not yet. No, not just yet. “Shelly?”
“I wanted something good.” Her breath brushed over his shoulder.
“Baby…” I’m not good.
“I saw how you saved that mom and her son…and you’ve saved me…” Her lips pressed to his shoulder. “I think you’d make a really good hero, and I could use one of those.”
He sucked in a breath, but it felt cold in his lungs.
He wasn’t a hero. He was some kind of monster.
Didn’t she get that? He was a dead man who couldn’t stay dead.
A man with no past. But she’d let him into her bed.
She’d let him into her body. And she was holding him as she slipped off to sleep. So trusting. So open.
His hold tightened on her. She was wrong about him, very wrong, but there was no way he could give her up. He needed her far too much.
***
“Watch her. Day and night. Do you understand me?”
John gazed out at the city below him. The lights were bright, shining in the darkness. The city was so fucking busy. Sometimes, he just wanted to escape the city. Escape his whole life. There was so much death and danger around him. Always had been.
“She doesn’t make a move without you knowing, got it?”
He rolled back his shoulders. Felt the reassuring weight of his gun in the holster beneath his arm.
“This is the target.”
He turned away from the window. John had a fast impression of a fancy office. Heavy, wooden furniture. Leather couch. Then he was staring at a photograph.
“Beautiful,” he murmured. She was. All of that long, dark hair. Those gorgeous, fuck-me eyes. Deep and mysterious.
“Hunt her. Keep her in your sights at all times. And when it’s time to act, I’ll let you know.”
He took the photo. “What’s her name?” This new prey of his, who was she?
“Shelly. She’s—”
***
John jerked upright, the images—memories?—fading from his mind. His breath heaved in and out of his lungs as he cast a quick glance at Shelly.
Still sleeping.
He slipped from the bed and rubbed a hard hand over his jaw. What in the hell had just happened? For a time there, he’d been back in some office, hearing some guy’s voice so clearly, and then seeing Shelly’s face.
Hunt her. Keep her in your sights at all times.
It had all been so clear. He paced to the window, pushing aside the curtains to stare into the darkness outside and then—
A faint flash of light. There one moment, gone the next, but that flash was all he needed to send his instincts into overdrive.
He stared into the dark, and he let his senses rip wide open.
He’d been trained at the lab—trained by the folks in the white coats to use his enhanced senses.
They’d taught him how to tone down his senses when necessary so that all of the sounds and scents and smells didn’t overwhelm him.
But they’d also taught him how to use his newly acquired bonuses to his advantage.
He ramped up his power right then, and he heard…
The shuffle of steps.
Someone was out there. Watching the cabin. Watching Shelly.
Without any hesitation, John grabbed his jeans. He yanked them on and then he was running out of the bedroom, down the stairs, and bursting out of her front door. A light dusting of snow fell on him as he raced outside.