Chapter 15
B eth adjusted the towel wrapped around her naked torso. “Dumbass,” she muttered. Her argument with Kane had left her blood pounding so hard she forgot to bring her toiletry bag into the bathroom. She couldn’t discern the difference between exasperation and desire right now. Hopefully, a shower would drown the latter so they stopped mingling like reunited lovers and she could think clearly.
Stop thinking about lovers.
He followed me.
Watched me.
Made sure I was safe.
The more she thought about it, the more chivalrous his possessiveness, obsession, or whatever morally gray emotion he thought entitled him to watch her like a stalker sounded, and that was insane. So was the relief she’d felt when he said he hadn’t been with another woman since they’d met.
As she grabbed the toiletry bag from her desk, the bedroom door banged open. Kane stalked into the room like it was his. His menacing growl sounded over the running water from the shower as he pulled her into the bathroom.
A half squeak, half moan jumped from her throat as she dropped the bag. It hit the tile floor with a thud. The heat in his protective gaze added to the steam wafting from the shower. Desire roared through her as she zeroed in on his bare chest and the VIPER logo inked over his heart.
She’d heard about the tattoo from Scarlett. All the guys on the team had one, but seeing it in person stole her breath.
Or maybe his washboard abs and the intricate tribal-like ink on his right arm extending from his shoulder to his wrist had something to do with her inability to function.
Her gaze snapped back to the VIPER logo. She reached out to trace the black circular snake with the ominous-looking fangs inlaid over a triangle. The tattoo, designed in shades of gray and black, seemed to writhe with the rise and fall of his chest like it sat coiled and ready to strike at the first hint of danger. Once, twice, she ran the pad of her finger over the inky line. She did it a third time, mesmerized by the contrast of the hard muscle underneath his soft skin.
Her eyes flew to his face. Any concern she had for bad guys watching her swirled down the drain. The only person she wanted to see her naked stood before her in glorious, warrior form. The contrast of tension and excitement—like stopping himself from acting on whatever base instincts pulsed in his mind—took monumental effort, compelling her to take control of the situation. She couldn’t go by the window. Couldn’t go outside. Couldn’t make her own decisions about her safety, but she could experience Kane and his fierce beauty.
Just this once.
Flattening her other palm over his tattoo, she pressed against his heart. It sped as fast as hers. She was still mad at him, but her anger at his self-appointed protector, bodyguard, keeper, or whatever status made her want to flip their dynamic. Touching him may be as slippery as the shower floor, but she wouldn’t let her heart tumble. Chavez and her curse may have stolen her hard-won independence, but right now, they wouldn’t deter her from claiming what she wanted.
He gathered her hands in his. “Beth, stop.” He squared his shoulders as if reminding himself of his purpose. The movement tugged her against him. “We have confirmation someone watched you through the city’s surveillance cameras at the liquor store. And someone is trying to hack into the cameras in this house.”
Steam from the shower fogged the mirror and warmed the windowless room, but she shivered anyway. The information chilled her to the core, but he was here to guard her in all his super soldier glory. While she balked at his overzealous protection sometimes, she couldn’t deny he made her feel safe, even with the threat of her stalker, Chavez, or perhaps both watching her. But being watched was an old story that didn’t scare her as much as it used to, especially not with Kane standing before her looking as enticing as a new book she hadn’t ordered but couldn’t help reading a chapter before she returned it.
She pulled away from his grip and skipped to the good part. Sliding her fingers down his torso, she outlined each hard ridge. Delighted in each string of soft, sultry moans and harsh inhales. Relished the ache his reaction ignited in her body until she reached the delectable indent at the waistband of his jeans.
He hissed and grabbed her hand. “Get in the shower. When you come out, get changed in here. I don’t want you naked in any rooms where there are windows or cameras.”
The protective edge in his gaze and the hint of jealousy darkened to predatory. The brutal intensity of the metamorphosis flamed her need for control .
And him.
He let her go and stepped back. Swallowing, he raked his gaze over her nearly-naked form. “Listen to me, Beth.”
Oh, she was listening to every nerve in her body screaming to be touched.
Licked.
Fucked.
That’s all she could have with him. No strings, no attachments. And no feelings beyond the white-hot lust coursing through her veins. She could do that. She’d been doing it for two years. Kane was no different than the other men she’d been with. A willing, temporary lover.
He nudged her toward the shower. “Be reasonable and do as I ask. Please.”
His gritty, impatient demand, tempered by his plea, skimmed down her belly and settled between her legs. An ache to be unreasonable , to push him until he gave her what she craved, streamed through her veins in time with the water pounding the shower floor.
She speared her hands into her scalp and yanked at the frustration she felt from the depths of her core to the tips of her hair. “Don’t you understand, Kane? I’ve been painfully aware of every move I’ve made for a long time. I don’t do anything without thinking about it. Preparing for it. I’m so freaking tired of being reasonable, but at least I’m in control. After Danny was killed, I cowered in my house, crying and terrified for weeks, but I forced myself to be a functioning member of society. I made decisions as though there wasn’t a psycho at large who could return at any time and terrorize me.”
He opened his mouth, but she held up her hand.
The towel at her breasts loosened. She didn’t make a move to tighten it. “And then my cake was stolen and now you and your super alpha buddies, hell, even Scarlett, keep making decisions about my life without my input.”
“Because you are in danger.”
The truth rumbled between his gritted teeth, low and frustrated, like she was a child that didn’t understand consequences. She understood repercussions all too well, but his rules didn’t apply to this room. “Look around, Kane. No windows to spy through. No cameras to hack. Just steam and…” The towel slipped lower. She grazed her knuckles along his steel thigh. “The strongest man I’ve ever met.”
His gaze didn’t leave hers. The primal look in his eyes receded as he shook his head. “Not as strong as I should be when it comes to you.” He turned to go.
She fingered the knot at her breasts. “Not so fast, cowboy.”
As he spun back, she let the towel fall to the floor.
Kane didn’t say a word. The charged silence skimmed over her breasts and settled between her legs. An ache to feel his hands, his lips, on her body consumed the reasons she couldn’t, shouldn’t drop her defenses.
She reached for him. He held up his hand and stared as if contemplating whether to bolt or pounce.
“Beth, we…we can’t. You’re my responsibility. And I promised Chris and Scarlett I wouldn’t touch…” He laced his hands on top of his head. “You should tell me to get the hell out.”
She should. All the way out, like out of town and out of her life, yet she couldn’t ignore the powerful hum in her veins. “Shut up and touch me, Kane.”
Indecision flashed in his eyes. He backed up a step. “You’re killing me, sugarplum.”
She rubbed a bead of perspiration pooling between her breasts, caught in the most exhilarating moment of her life .
It only took a split second for the predatory glint in his gaze to flare hotter than before.
“Fuck it.” He snaked his hand around her waist and yanked her against his chest. His earlier hesitation seeped into the steam as he slammed his mouth on hers, hard and insistent. With just the right amount of pressure to make her lips part on a whisper-soft gasp, he angled her head and melded his mouth with hers. A gasp escalated to a moan as he slipped his tongue between her lips with the cockiness of a cowboy and the determination of a warrior.
As she pressed into his hard chest, sensations from their post-nightmare kiss rushed in with crystal clarity.
How he tasted.
His soft lips.
Now, he tasted like sugarplums, excitement and anticipation. She’d been desperate to lose herself in everything Kane did that night. To get as close to him as possible to counter the nightmare. But this…this kiss bordered on possession. So did the way his hands slid up and down her torso like he was unwrapping a treat he couldn’t wait to relish and would unleash hell if anyone tried to take it away.
He felt that desperate.
So did she.
“Perfect.” He trailed his teeth along the underside of her jaw as he captured a nipple between his fingers and squeezed.
A low moan skittered from her mouth as she pressed her lips to the base of his throat. Everything she associated with Kane—sunshine, the outdoors, and hardworking male— met her lips. Hungering for more, she arched into his hand.
He groaned low in his throat as he squeezed her nipple harder. His other hand slid down her hip and grazed the dampness between her thighs. “Fuck, Beth.”
Fuck was right. She was supposed to be taking back control, not breathing heavily enough to create more steam than the shower. “Kane, please.”
“Please what? More of this?” He tweaked her nipple again.
Tendrils of pleasure and pain intertwined in her belly and spiraled to the spot he’d barely touched. “Yes, that and…”
“This?” He slid his finger down her slit a centimeter at a time as he cupped her breast in his palm. “Is that what you want, sugarplum? Cause this is one of those dirty fantasies I’ve been thinking about since we met.”
“Yes.” She grabbed his biceps and squirmed beneath his touch.
More. She needed more of him, especially his steel leg. She’d witnessed how he could use it in a fight. Now she needed to see it. To feel it. To cement in her mind that he was a warrior who could survive the threats he battled on her behalf. To convince herself he could survive her.
It didn’t matter any longer who was in control of this steamy encounter as long as her heart stayed out of the show.
She fumbled with the button on his jeans. He picked her up and laughed, the sound devilish, and sat her on the top step of the sunk-in tub and dropped to his knees in front of her.
She tracked the lines of his tattoo again, unable to keep her hands and eyes off the breathtaking ink. “This is beautiful.”
“No, you’re beautiful. Let me see the rest of you.”
She bit her lip. “Show me your leg.”
“Me first.” He tapped her knees. “Open for me.”
“Stalker-hole,” she moaned but didn’t hesitate.
He stared for a heartbeat, then two. Holding her breath, she spread her thighs wider, laid herself bare. She didn’t breathe again until his dimple made an appearance. Grasping her hips, he pulled her to the edge of the wide step. She yelped as her heated skin slid on the cool, smooth tile.
“Hold on to the ledge.” He licked his lips. “Don’t let go until I say so.”
She reached behind her and found the lip of the tub, sure she’d never followed a command so quickly. As he hooked her knees over his wide shoulders, she gasped but held on tight.
“Looks like you can listen when you want to.” With a wicked grin, he dove in to gorge on her like a Christmas feast.
Beth held the tub so hard she thought the tile might crack. She was about to crack under Kane’s greedy tongue that licked her from the crest of her pussy, down to the bottom and back up again. With each swipe, desire built hotter and heavier until her bones liquefied to molten lava.
His gaze never left hers as he speared his tongue between her folds and sucked. She cried out his name under the exquisite pressure. Sobbed it when he sucked harder. With each pull of his lips, the soul-sapping tension she’d been living with seeped from her body and into the ether until the only thing that scared her was never experiencing Kane between her legs again.
Cold air hit her heated core as he lifted his head. “Stay there.”
She didn’t move save for her muscles clenching with the promise of a spectacular orgasm.
He backed up on his knees and reached into her toiletry bag, where she’d dropped it.
Beth bolted upright. “Kane, no.”
“Oh yes.” Smiling, he held up her purple bullet-shaped vibrator. “I saw this peeking out of your bag when I searched your house last night. ”
His salacious grin and the toy in his hand pulled a low moan from her throat.
He scooted on his knees in front of her again. “Tell me, sugarplum, were you planning to use this pretty purple thing all alone in that pretty purple bed of yours?”
“Maybe.” Yes. Multiple times.
He dipped his finger into her wet heat. “Do you think about me when you use it here?”
She slid closer, angling her hips and begging for friction he refused to allow.
“Who do you think of when you use this?” He eased his finger out of her and spread her juices on the toy.
God, that was hot. “You. I think of you.”
“Every night since we’ve met?” He hovered the toy near her clit.
“Yes. Every freaking night. Now stop torturing me and turn the damn thing on.” She reached for the vibrator.
He grabbed her wrist. “I didn’t tell you to let go of the tub.”
She grabbed the edge of the tile. The vibrator’s buzz filled her head like a siren’s song. “Now, Kane, please.”
She screamed as the tip touched her sensitive clit. She tried to close her legs against the intense pain-laced pleasure, but his hips braced her knees.
“Damn, sugarplum. Purple looks fucking fantastic on you.” He slid the vibrator from her clit to her pussy and tucked it inside of her. “It looks good in you too.”
She held on for dear life as his finger followed and curled against her sweet spot. “Kane, please.” She’d listen to every one of his demands to stay away from windows and stay put if it meant being treated like this.
“But you know what will look even better on you?” Dipping his head, his gaze still on her, he slid his hands under her ass and lifted her hips. “My mouth. ”
With a devilish grin, he dropped his head and clamped his teeth on her clit. She detonated, his name on her lips, as man and machine pleasured her in perfect unison, and she soared to a place of wild, glorious wonder. And Kane, her flesh-and-blood, strong-as-steel warrior, milked every contraction until her release ebbed and cathartic tears seeped from her eyes.
Before she could catch a breath, Kane pulled her up and crushed her into his chest. The toy slid from her pussy onto the floor. With aftershocks still sparking in her core, he touched his mouth to hers in a featherlight kiss.
“You okay?”
The question vibrated against her lips as she brushed her knuckles against the bulge straining against denim. “More than okay. Jeans off. Now.”
Chest heaving, his gaze on her flushed face, he hissed a breath and stepped back. “Oh no. You’re not getting all of me until you finish telling me what gives you nightmares.”
His words jerked her head like she’d been slapped in the face. “What? No.”
“One secret for another, sugarplum.” And with that dimpled smile she couldn’t resist, he turned to go.
“Bastard,” she yelled as she picked up the still buzzing vibrator and flung it at his back.
He didn’t flinch, only laughed as he walked away.