18. Chapter 18
eighteen
C urtis stumbled into the apartment, sweating under his coat. He quickly shed the outer layer of his clothes as his body, still running on adrenaline, burned like a furnace. Behind him, Lina locked and bolted the door.
She fished out her phone and pressed a button as she threw her light jacket on a nearby chair. She went to the window and watched the street outside.
“Two Stilettos’ men found us a few blocks away,” she said to the phone. “They’re down.”
Curtis went to the kitchen and splashed cold water on his face. He then grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and downed half of it in one go.
“They must’ve seen us by the market and followed at a distance,” she said, her face grim. “I missed them.
“I think the threat is eliminated for now, but we can’t stay here. It’s a matter of time until they send someone else,” she added.
Lina nodded to whatever Marcus was saying. “Got it. I’ll get him out tonight.”
She disconnected and for a second, her body went limp as she let her head and arms hang loose. Her eyes closed as she breathed in deeply.
His body was still buzzing with energy mixed with fear, even if they were safe. For now. He wondered how she looked so collected.
“Lina,” he said her name.
She snapped up and turned to him. The burning heat in her eyes contradicted the calm of her body. It should be his warning when she suddenly stormed at him.
“Do not ever put yourself in danger again!” Lina enunciated each word forcefully as she backed him into a wall. Her finger poked him at the shoulder.
“You do not put yourself between me and a threat! Do you understand me?” she demanded.
Curtis’ brows crashed at the bridge of his nose. “What was I supposed to do? Let him stab you in the back?”
“I could handle him.” Lina glared at him.
“You couldn’t have seen him!” He fired back. “I acted out of instinct.”
“It was stupid. You could’ve been hurt.”
“If I did nothing, you would’ve been hurt.”
They glared at each other as their anger filled the air.
“Never risk your life for me again,” she warned in a more level voice.
“Can’t promise you that, Lina.” Curtis’ gaze softened on hers.
Lina’s eyes were a pool of turmoil as she digested his words. She blew a breath of irritation, grabbed his shirt, and pulled him to her for a searing hard kiss that sent lightning straight to Curtis’ cock.
“You’re so fucking frustrating,” she said against his mouth.
Turning the table on her, Curtis spun and pushed her against the wall, sucking her lower lips with his teeth.
“Ditto, lady. But gosh, you’re such a badass.” He kissed her rebuttal away as he pushed his tongue to clash with hers in a silent battle.
Lina wrapped a hand around his nape, pulling for more as he invaded her mouth. Her other hand roamed straight down his back and dove under his jeans and did the same to his lower body, as if she needed him flush against her.
If Curtis had been hot before, he was ablaze now.
Running his hands over her taut body, he felt the strength in her, the tight coil ready to release. Between him and her, they could set the building on fire.
His hand slipped under her shirt and cupped a breast and squeezed as his thumb ran over her nipple, still covered in her bra. She gasped into his mouth and bowed her back, offering her chest to his touch.
“Tell me what you want, Lina.” Curtis pulled away from her mouth and ran his lips over her jaw to her ear.
“I want you to fucking do what I say,” she hissed. A leftover of their argument still colored her words.
Curtis’ lips spread in a grin over the sensitive point of her neck. “What do you want me to do?” He nipped at her neck and pulled his head away from her so he could press his groin against her lower region.
Lina’s eyes blinked open and met his. The turmoil was still there—a battle against control and passion.
“Tell me what you want me to do to you,” he challenged her tight grip on herself—the proper, disciplined, restrained woman—and rubbed his hardness against her mound.
Passion won.
“Fuck me,” she ordered. And it was an order, not a request.
With a little upturn at the corner of his lips, Curtis replied, “Yes, ma’am.”
He dove back into her mouth with all the pent-up desire he’d stored for this woman for the past four years. There was no delicacy in the way he kissed her. It was not the time for it. It wasn’t what she wanted. She proved it by frantically unbuttoning his jeans and pushing them past his hips to wrap her hand around him.
Her hand felt exquisite as she made a quick exploration from the tip down along the shaft to cup his balls and squeeze lightly, making him even more rigid.
The Untouchable knows how to touch a man.
Before he forgot—and with Lina stroking him the way she was, he could easily forget—his trained fingers fished a condom out of his wallet.
Pulling away from her kiss, Curtis ripped the foil with his teeth and donned the protection over his cock in a practiced move. The whole time, Lina’s eyes followed his every action.
Suddenly, she pushed him off her. “Strip.”
No question asked. He pulled the long-sleeved T-shirt off his body, kicked off his boots, and let his jeans and underwear fall all the way to the floor.
Lina studied him with roaming eyes in silence as she herself undressed efficiently. It was the sexiest thing Curtis had ever seen. It was the need in her usually stoic face that made him just want to make this the best fuck she’d ever had. Then he’d make love to her.
The last item of clothing slid to the floor, and Lina stood naked in front of Curtis. He almost hurt himself for her tonight, and that had scared the hell out of her.
You should take him out of town, Lina.
Her logic banged on the door she’d locked in her brain for now. At this moment, she’d let a part of her—the part that yearned for Curtis—free.
Just tonight.
Her eyes feasted on Curtis’ long and lean body. After being in the service, she was used to the heavily trained body of a man. She could appreciate a man with bulging biceps, pecs, and thighs that could crack a watermelon, but she’d always preferred the slick and toned body like Curtis, whose muscles were well-defined without being in your face.
“What do you want me to do next?” Curtis asked, waiting with that shadow of a smile on his lips.
Breathe, Lina .
“Everything,” she answered.
That answer sent Curtis into action. He took one big step and kissed any logic left out of her brain. She threw every bit of her repressed lust for him into the kiss. When she wrapped her arms around his neck, he scooped her up by her bottom.
Seconds later, he pinned her back high against the wall so he could lavish his attention on her breasts. Locking her strong thighs around his waist, Lina pressed her shoulders to the wall so she could offer her nipples up to his eager mouth.
“Yes,” she breathed out when Curtis took one nipple into his hot mouth and sucked, while his hand worked the other as if he didn’t want it to be jealous of the attention.
“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do this to you,” he said under his breath as he switched his mouth to the next.
Lina didn’t respond—couldn’t really—as every brain cell focused on the sensation he’d incited in her. With her legs spread open, she could feel the tip of Curtis’ erection rubbing against her clitoris as if he’d planned that all along.
He ran his other hand down her lower back, following the divot of her spine to where her cheeks spread. Her nether region tightened as his fingers brushed lightly around an area she’d never thought was erogenous.
“God, you’re so hot,” he ran two finger tips along her lower lips and spread her wetness to where her already sensitized nub was.
Lina bucked slightly against his hand as she moaned at the delicious feeling of him stroking her. Seeking his mouth so she wouldn’t embarrass herself with a scream, she lowered herself onto the tip of his cock, leaving him no guesswork at what she wanted.
Curtis didn’t need another hint, and to Lina’s delight, he didn’t hesitate. Well-lubricated, he entered her in one smooth thrust. This time, her moan was echoed by his groan.
Finally .
Lina opened her eyes and found Curtis staring back into hers.
His lust was clear. But there was something else there that left a heavy lump in her chest.
Lina. Finally, Lina.
Curtis felt himself go harder inside her, as if it was physically possible. Or maybe she was just that snug. He let out a guttural groan from his throat when her velvety channel tightened around him. He almost spilled himself.
He looked at her sinful-angel face—flat expression gone, swollen lips rounded in a moan at their joining. Curtis wasn’t poetic with words, but at that moment, she looked beatific.
Curtis stopped breathing, and his heart swelled.
When her eyes opened and their gazes locked, he couldn’t move. He realized, at that moment, he was content. Never mind the psycho who was after him or any other trouble plaguing him. At that second, he knew bliss.
He closed the distance between them and kissed her gently. In a dance that was as old as time, he moved inside her with a rhythm that rocked both his and her world. Just like how he approached his music, there was a time to accelerate slowly, and there was a time when you started with a bang.
This time around, their music sheet was calling for an allegro—fast and bright. Good thing, too, because he didn’t think he could last this time around.
Curtis pumped into her hard and swift, making her gasp, eyes rolling back in ecstasy.
Driving into her deep, thrusting like his life was depending on her orgasm, Curtis held on as his climax built. But Lina…
Lina’s legs could barely held on to Curtis as he rammed into her if she didn’t have the wall supporting her. Gasps and moans escaped from her throat, and she didn’t even care if the entire building heard her.
Oh god, more, more, more, she chanted silently inside her head. And as if he read her mind, Curtis abruptly pulled out, twisted her so she faced the wall, and in one quick stroke was back inside her from behind.
“Curtis,” she cried out his name as he drove into her in that same fast rhythm, except now his right hand looped around her hip and his fingertips found her clit and pinched the sensitive button.
And Lina exploded even as he continued to thrust into her deeper. Her body jerked so hard that her knees buckled under her. If not for Curtis and the wall holding her up, she’d melt onto the floor.
Curtis wrapped his arms tightly around her and buried his face at the base of her neck, drowning his own guttural groan as he climaxed. She could feel him vibrate all the way into her core, making her shiver with an exquisite aftershake.
Slowly, they slid onto the floor, loose, weak limbs entangled.
“Lina Cheung,” he whispered. “I think you killed me.”