Chapter 14
BASTIAN
Stirring, I opened my eyes. I wondered why I was asleep on top of the covers on my bed.
Sunlight was trying valiantly to peak around the blinds. I reached for the remote on the bedside table and hit the buttons.
At that moment, the faint scent of a thunderstorm caught my nose.
Lark.
I rolled over…
To discover the bed was empty. The handcuffs were dangling from the headboard.
Fuck.
I leaped up.
How long ago had she left? She’d told me that there was no way she could sleep, then she’d drifted off a few minutes later. How the fuck had she escaped without me realizing?
Because she’s good, Thorne.
Dammit. She’d be long gone by now.
I strode down the hall, the marble cool under my bare feet, urgency riding me. Then I smelled sizzling bacon. My steps slowed.
I stepped into the living area and spotted Lark in my kitchen. Her white shirt was a pop of color against the dark cabinets.
She spotted me. “Hey.”
“You’re…cooking breakfast.” I walked closer.
She expertly whipped a pan off the stove. The bacon was cooked to perfect crispiness. There were plates on the island filled with poached eggs and toast, as well.
“Since it’s ten o’clock in the morning, I think it’s brunch,” she said tartly. “And I can cook bacon. My repertoire isn’t huge, but I learned that if I wanted to eat well, I needed to know how to cook a few things.” She cocked her head. “You can’t cook?”
“I can order in.”
She made a humming sound and headed for the fridge.
The white shirt she was wearing was mine. She hadn’t put her jeans back on. The shirt hit her at mid-thigh, and the sleeves were rolled up. My gaze ran down her toned legs, stopping at her toenails, which were surprisingly painted a soft pink.
That shirt had been against my skin, and now it was against hers.
And now I was as hard as a rock.
Fuck.
I sat on one of the stools. “I figured you’d be long gone.”
She pushed a plate in front of me. Next, she turned to the coffee machine and poured two mugs. She set them down, then circled the island and sat beside me.
“I thought about it, but I slept really well. Even with one hand cuffed. You have an excellent mattress.” She pulled a face, then took a sip of her coffee. “You were right. I needed some rest. I have you to thank for that, even if you were extremely bossy about it.”
I picked up a piece of toast and bit into it. “I just wanted to take care of you.”
She glanced at me, like she was looking for a double meaning. “I’m guess I’m not very good at letting anyone do that.”
She’d get used to it. I’d see to that.
We ate. I discovered that she liked her coffee milky, with half ton of sugar in it.
“I want to dig up everything we can on this second Red Ribbon Killer,” she said. “I feel…I don’t know, responsible in some way.”
I didn’t like the idea of someone running around carrying on Ed’s sick legacy, either.
“All right, but someone being a sadistic fuck is not your fault. I’ve had my security team monitoring for any other RRK murders and gathering all the intel they could find.
This guy and Ed killed all across the country, spread over separate jurisdictions. ”
“Who the hell is this guy? I’ve wracked my brain for anyone Ed mentioned, or seemed close with. I’ve got nothing. Ed wasn’t close to anyone. Other than us.”
Her dark hair was loose, and I couldn’t stop myself reaching out, and tucking it behind her ear.
She looked at me. God, that face. Sharp features, pretty lips, those big eyes. She wasn’t beautiful in any standard sense, but there was something arresting about her. Combined with her wit, intelligence, and attitude, it was a hell of a combination.
Not to mention the petite, fit body. My gaze dropped to her lips, then ran along her delicate collarbones, down to her bare legs, then to her feet tucked under the stool.
“Bastian?”
I looked up.
She licked her lips. “Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“You know exactly what.”
“Like I want you?”
She shivered. That chin—the one I wanted to bite—lifted. “I have no desire to be one of your pussy parade.”
My eyebrows went up. “Pussy parade?”
“I’m not some leggy airhead who’s happy to jump into your bed for a night.”
“I’ve always been upfront and honest with the women I fuck. One night, just a good time, no strings. I’ve never wanted anything more than that.”
“Well, I don’t want that at all.” Her mouth flattened. “I’m no one’s notch on a bedpost.”
Reaching out, I gripped her stool and pulled her closer. “I know that. And that’s not what I want from you.”
Her chin lifted another defiant inch. “I don’t care. I don’t like things messy, and good assassins never get too close. No—”
“Connections. Fuck Ed’s rules, Lark. You know we’re already connected.” I reached out and touched the hem of her shirt, fiddling with it.
She sniffed. “Sex isn’t worth it.”
Now I tilted my head and looked at her. Anger fired in my chest. “Did someone hurt you?”
“What?” She stared at me, face blank. “No. I just find sex isn’t worth the effort.”
I leaned closer. “Then you haven’t been doing it right. Or rather, you haven’t been doing it with the right person.”
She scoffed. “And you’d recommend a man who clicks his fingers and women fall over themselves to jump on his cock? That kind of guy doesn’t seem like a great candidate.”
“How about a man who’s wanted to know for a long time how a certain little hellcat tastes?”
She froze, her lips parting.
My hand pressed on her thigh, and I stroked my fingers over her smooth skin. “A man who wants to explore every part of you. Make you come, over and over again. Make you scream my name.”
She pulled in an unsteady breath. “Those sound like some big promises.”
I leaned even closer. I loved the rainstorm scent of her, mixed with the sweet musk of her arousal. “I always keep my promises, Lark.”
She licked her lips and that made me imagine kissing them, feeding my cock between them.
“Aren’t you curious?” I murmured.
She shifted on the stool. “Maybe.”
“Then let me make you come. Right here.”
Her eyes widened. “Here?”
“Yes. I don’t need a bedroom, or silk sheets and fancy candles.”
She made a sound. “We haven’t even kissed.”
I cupped her cheek. “Then let’s change that.”
She licked her lips. “Okay.”
The rush of hot anticipation was huge. All because Lark was letting me kiss her.
I lowered my head, felt the puff of her breath on my cheek. Then I softly grazed my lips against her plump ones. She made a little sound, one I felt all the way to my gut. Then her lips opened.
My tongue swept in and hers stroked it. Her fingers gripped my arms, digging in. I could feel my pulse moving faster, the blood moving thicker in my veins. Just from a damn kiss.
Need exploded inside me. The need to claim. I thrust my tongue deeper into her mouth.
She made a sound and suddenly, she was plastered against me. I slid my hands under her ass, tilted my head, and deepened the kiss.
The kiss turned hungry, greedy. I devoured her until we were both writhing against each other.
When I lifted my head, reluctantly breaking the kiss, we were both breathing hard. “Now, we’ve kissed.”
She nodded, her cheeks flushed pink.
“Can I make you come now?”
She licked her swollen lips. “Okay.”
Fierce satisfaction rocketed through me. Sex had always been a pleasurable release, but in this moment, desire, need, and something else twisted inside me. Something different.
And it was urgent. It sank its claws into me. Touch her. Take her.
My hand slid up her thigh and under the shirt, up to the delicate skin of her inner thigh.
“I want your panties off,” I growled.
“I’m not wearing any.”
I groaned and my cock throbbed. I slid my fingers higher, and she jerked, her thighs trapping my hand between them. I stroked her pussy and found her waxed bare, except for a tiny strip of hair above her sex.
“Lark.” I stroked. “So soft, so wet.”
Her hips tilted and she gripped the edge of the stool. “I’m not screaming yet.”
I smiled. I loved a challenge. Most of the women I bedded were not a challenge at all. They hurried to give me everything I wanted. Not Lark. I explored, rubbing my thumb in smooth circles. I thumbed her clit.
She bit her lip, her breaths coming in hard pants.
God, my own desire was twisting my gut into knots.
But this was for her.
Rising, I gripped her hips and lifted her off the stool. She gasped, and then I set her on the kitchen counter, shoving the shirt out of my way.
I bared her pretty, pink pussy. “So pretty, little bird. I bet it tastes good, too.”
She made a choked sound.
I also saw the white bandage on her side. I took a second to press my lips over it gently. Her lips parted. Then I pushed her back until she was flat on the countertop. I shoved her thighs apart and pressed my mouth to her.
Taking my time, I licked and sucked. She writhed for me, her husky cries filling the kitchen.
I pressed my palm to her belly to hold her still.
I slid a finger inside her tight warmth.
She was tight as hell. My erection throbbed, hard and painful.
I dug deep for some control. I’d promised to make her come.
“Wider, Lark.”
She did as I asked, and this time, I slid two fingers inside her as my tongue still lapped at her. Her breaths were just broken pants.
Sliding my fingers in a faster rhythm, my mouth found her swollen clit. I sucked.
Her body arched and she came on a choked scream. Then she was gasping out my name.
For the first time in years, I almost came in my pants.
She lay there, breathing hard. I kissed her thigh and she jolted.
I looked at her, into her shining eyes. She’d never looked prettier.
“Still curious?” I asked.
She nodded.
“Still think sex isn’t worth it?”
“I need more data to decide,” she said breathlessly.
“Good.” I lowered my head again, running my nose up her thigh.
My cellphone rang and I cursed.
I slid my hands up and gripped her hips, then pulled in a breath. “That’s the ringtone for my head of security. I have to take this.”