Chapter 10
Xavier lost himself in Lissette, the weight of his failure easing in her arms. How had this woman, with as much, if not more, trauma in her life, summed him up in such a short time? He didn’t know. What he did know was that she felt right in his arms.
Lissette wrapped her hands around the back of his neck and rose onto her toes, giving as good as she got and opening to him.
Xavier swept in to caress her tongue with his. His hands glided over her shoulders and down to the small of her back where the T-shirt rode up, exposing warm, silky skin. He spread his fingers across her back, the warmth making him draw her closer.
Lissette’s hands lowered to the hem of his T-shirt and slid beneath, smoothing across his skin. Then she pushed the shirt upward and lowered her head to press a kiss to his bare skin.
Xavier stiffened. “We shouldn’t,” he blurted and regretted his words as soon as they left his mouth. He’d fantasized about her being naked when he’d been in the shower and had nearly lost it during that kiss. Now, the woman was coming on to him.
“Shouldn’t?” she asked, her mouth finding one of his hard brown nipples.
Sparks of desire shot straight to his groin.
“Why...” she flicked the nipple, “not?”
God, she was making it impossible to maintain his control. “Because I’m leaving soon.”
“All the more reason to do this now,” she said and rolled the nipple between her teeth.
A moment later, she stilled and looked up at him, her eyes widening.
“Oh. Unless you don’t want to.” She blinked, her brow dipping.
“I mean, I’d completely understand if you don’t want to have sex with an ex-con.
” She dropped her hands to her sides, her cheeks turning pink.
His shirt slid down to cover his torso. When he opened his mouth to tell her another reason why it was a bad idea, he could only think of a dozen reasons why he wanted to make love.
She nodded, her lips forming a tight line.
“You have to be in Bayou Mambaloa a few more days. People will start shunning you for hanging out with me.” She gave him a weak smile.
“I just thought... that kiss...” Lissette flung her hand in the air.
“Of course. It makes sense. I’ll just be going and save your embarrassment and my humiliation.
” She turned toward the door. “I still owe you a meal. I’ll have Mimi make one to go and have it delivered here. ”
Xavier’s control broke. He reached out, grabbed her hand and pulled her into his arms.
She opened her mouth to protest.
Xavier covered it with his, kissing her as if his life depended on it. He kept kissing her until her stiff body melted into him, then he kissed her some more.
When breathing became a necessity, he reached for the knot on her shirt and untied it while pressing more kisses to her cheek, neck, and collarbone.
With the knot free, she lifted her arms over her head.
“Just for the record,” he said as he drew his T-shirt up over her head, “I’ve wanted to do this since I buckled your seatbelt.” He tossed the T-shirt over a box and pulled her against him. Her lacy bra brushed against his skin, igniting a fire that wouldn’t be easily quenched.
“I’ve wanted this since you saved me from that dissatisfied customer at the Annual Frog Leg Festival. No one ever tried to save me from anything until you. I just didn’t think I had a chance.” She reached behind her back and unhooked her bra. “You could have anyone. Why choose me?”
He slowly slid the straps of her bra from her shoulders. “You’re beautiful.” He pressed a kiss to her right shoulder. “You’re sassy.” He pressed a kiss to her left shoulder. “You know when to fight back.”
“A lot of good it does when it’s two to one.” Her breath hitched as her bra slid to the floor.
“You got away from them.”
“Not the first time. You saved me then.”
“You would’ve saved yourself.” Xavier bent to kiss the swell of her breast. “And you know when to be patient and kind.”
“I haven’t always.” She wrapped her hands around the back of his head as he moved to take her nipple between his teeth. “Oh, sweet Jesus, that feels...so...good.”
He slid his hands inside the elastic waistband of the sweatpants and eased them over her hips. They were so loose on her that they dropped to the floor. She stepped out of them, leaving her standing in front of him in a pair of silky, black thong panties and her ankle monitor.
He stood back far enough to take all of her in, his cock hardening, unconcerned about the hardware attached to her ankle. If anything, it made her sexier, a little on the dangerous side.
“Aren’t you a little overdressed?” she asked, a single eyebrow winging upward.
Xavier swept her up in his arms and carried her to the bed, where he eased her onto the mattress, bending to capture her lips in a long, satisfying kiss.
Then he straightened, pulled off his T-shirt and shucked his jeans, kicking them to the side. He was halfway on the bed when he froze. “Don’t move.”
He launched himself into the bathroom and dug through his shaving kit until he found what he was looking for. Back at her side, he tossed the packets of condoms onto the nightstand.
She laughed and moved over, giving him room to join her. “Are you always this prepared?”
“Always.” He said and eased onto the mattress. “Just don’t look at the expiration date. I can’t vouch for how old they are.”
He gathered her into his arms and stared down into her eyes. “I want you, Lissette—all of you. But if we’re going too far too fast, say so now. You have to want—”
She reached up, cupped the back of his head and brought him down to her. “I want you, too. That patience you seem to think I have…? I don’t. Make it fast and make it hard.”
Fire burst through Xavier’s veins as he took her in his arms. He wouldn’t start out fast. He wanted her to feel what he was feeling. She deserved to be made love to, not just have sex.
Lissette thought she’d made herself clear. She wanted him...all of him...inside her. Immediately. Her body was on fire, desperate for what only he could provide.
Instead of ripping her panties off and plunging into her, he kissed her again, taking his time to caress her tongue while his hand trailed down her neck. When he abandoned her mouth, she thought for sure he’d get down to business and fill what was empty with that hard, thick cock of his.
Xavier obviously had other plans as he followed his hand down her neck to the swell of her breasts.
He took one plump nipple into his mouth at the same time as he captured the other between his thumb and forefinger.
Pinching, nipping and flicking each, he worked her until she moaned, her blood thundering through her veins.
When she couldn’t stand it anymore, she reached for his head, laced her hands into his hair and urged him lower.
He obliged, taking an agonizingly slow path across her torso, kissing and flicking each rib along the way. When he finally arrived at the juncture of her thighs, Lissette wanted to die of frustration.
She wanted him. Inside. Stretching her channel, pumping in and out.
Xavier hooked his thumb into the elastic band of her panties and slid them over her hips and down her thighs, easing them all the way down her legs until the scrap of fabric cleared her ankle monitor and feet.
Lissette’s breath caught in her throat as he worked his way back up her legs, his tongue and lips leaving a tantalizing trail of sensations all the way up to the juncture of her thighs where moisture slicked her channel in anticipation.
She spread her legs wider as he settled between them.
Xavier slid his hands under her ass, using his thumbs to part her folds. He blew a warm breath across her sex.
Her breath caught and held, her body tensing, anticipating, craving.
The tip of his tongue tapped her clit.
Her back arched. She drew her knees up and planted her heels in the mattress.
He flicked her there, sending waves of sensation through her.
She clutched the comforter in her hands, unable to breathe.
When he sucked her clit into his mouth, she dug in her heels and lifted her hips, wanting more.
“Please,” she breathed out, barely able to draw in more air as he swirled his tongue, increasing the intensity, speed and pressure until her hips rocked up and down.
She threw back her head as the tension throughout her body built and deepened, pushing her to the very edge.
He paused, leaving her hanging by a thread on the precipice.
“Don’t—” she sucked in a shallow breath, “stop. Please.”
When he touched her there again, her release shot through her like a barrage of fireworks, bursting throughout her body, sending red-hot sparks to the very tips of her extremities in wave after wave.
She rode her orgasm, milking it to the very last, collapsing against the mattress, physically spent, but needing more.
Needing him.
Once more he flicked her clit, then slid his finger into her channel. “So wet,” he murmured.
She dug her fingers into his hair. “Need you,” she moaned. “Now.”
He chuckled as he climbed up her body, settled his hips between her legs and bent to kiss her, his mouth tasting of her.
Lissette flung her arm toward the nightstand, snagged the packets of condoms, and tore one open.
Xavier rose and knelt between her legs. “Do you want me—”
Without a word, she leaned up, fit the protection over his cock and rolled it down the length. Once it was in place, she took a moment to fondle his balls and then gave them a gentle tug.
He grinned. “In a hurry?”
“Let’s see.” She tilted her head to one side as she massaged him down there.
“My family’s protection is compromised. The mafia wants me dead.
There’s a hurricane bearing down on Bayou Mambaloa.
You’re leaving in a few days, never to return.
” She released his balls, gripped his cock, and brought it to her entrance.
“And it’s been a while since I’ve had sex.
Don’t make me wait a second longer. A girl can get a little cranky with those stats. ”
Xavier bent to claim her mouth as he slowly slid into her, his girth stretching her channel. The friction reignited the flames of her desire into an inferno that raged through her. She clutched his buttocks in her hands and pulled him in, fast, hard, and deep.
Once he was fully seated, he paused for a moment, letting her adjust to his length and thickness. Then he moved in and out, starting slow and easy, but increasing his speed with every thrust.
Lissette guided his movements with her hands, urging him to go faster, lifting her hips to make his drives deeper.
The tingling began again at her core, spreading through her like lightning.
Xavier moved faster and faster until his body stiffened, his breathing grew ragged, and he gave one more, deep, hard thrust.
As Xavier buried himself inside her, Lissette fell back against the mattress, reveling in the psychedelic waves of the orgasm rippling through her.
Xavier’s cock spasmed against the walls of her channel as he leaned over her, barely breathing through his release.
Minutes later, he lowered himself onto her, briefly crushing the air from her lungs. Then he wrapped his arms around her and rolled onto his side, taking her with him, their connection intact, his erection still thick and hard inside her.
Lissette pressed her cheek into his chest. She felt as if she didn’t need to breathe, to think or to consider anything outside his arms, the bed and the room. She’d had sex before, but she’d never felt as complete as she had with Xavier.
As good as she felt, sadness threatened to steal the joy.
Xavier had another job in another state. He wasn’t sticking around. She’d known that going into their lovemaking. He’d told her he wasn’t staying. She’d accepted that.
Then why did her eyes sting and her chest hurt?
For the first time in her life, she’d felt something…a wholeness…as if all her broken pieces had come together. He’d made her feel cherished, even worthy of love, despite all the damage she’d done, the people she’d hurt and the life she could have ended.
She wanted to keep that feeling, to hold onto it with all her might.
Alas, the man who’d inspired it would be gone soon.
Her jaw tightened. So, he was leaving.
She couldn’t make him stay, and she couldn’t go with him, even if he asked.
But she sure as hell could make the most out of the next few days, assuming he was willing, the mafia didn’t succeed in capturing her and the hurricane didn’t pick up speed.
All while searching for, finding and returning reliquaries to where they belonged, restoring the protections the people of Bayou Mambaloa needed.
Lissette rested her arm across Xavier’s chest. For the moment, she could pretend they weren’t fighting a battle on multiple fronts, that she wasn’t wearing an ankle monitor that confined her to a narrow geographic area and that she hadn’t spent a year in prison.
Tomorrow would come soon enough. She’d face the truth then.
They had the night and one more condom. She wasn’t going to waste a second of it.