Bounty's End (Bounty for Hire) (7 page)

He watched his brother take a deep breath in and look him in the eye while he released the pent-up worry Thomas knew that Jefferson had within.

Thomas walked to the kitchen and called Alek. After several explosive choice words, Alek informed Thomas he would get back to him.

Thomas relayed the message to Jefferson and then watched as his brother nodded his head and walked out the front door.

He waited a few minutes before he let out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding. He watched as Wen got up from the couch and made her way to his location. She wrapped her arms around his waist and lifted her head up to kiss his chin.

“Wen…”

“I don’t know what happened, but I can tell it’s bad. I’m having a shitty day and you’re having a shitty day. Let’s change the night to something that both of us will enjoy.”

Thomas heard her say those words just before she bit her bottom lip, her gaze staying on his. He flexed his fingers, fighting the urge to pull her into his body to ease the pain she brought him. All it took was just a moment, a single solitary moment, to pull her up against his body, walk up the stairs to his room and slam the door shut and take her, claim her for his. Yet, that was not going to happen. There was a time and a place. He laughed to himself, thinking if she called him a Neanderthal at his insistence to leave her parents’ shop, what would she call him if he did just pick her up and carry her to his bed.

Thomas watched as she looked at him from head to toe. There was no mistaking the awareness in her eyes nor could she hide the reservation.

“Head upstairs to my room, will you? I’m just going to make sure everything is locked up. Okay?”

“Sure,” she murmured back as she kissed him one more time before walking up the steps.

* * *

Wen went upstairs and could not believe that she just kissed him like that. That was completely out of character for her.

Damn.

This was exactly why she worked so hard to stay away from him. She knew that if he got close, she would not be able to resist him. Yet, how could she after she saw the hurt and pain in his eyes since he took that call from his sister. What was harder was watching Jefferson.

Through Keylee, she knew that Jefferson was older, but it was Thomas that acted like the elder child. Keylee often commented that if something needed done, everyone went to Thomas. He was the go-to person in their family.

Wen could understand it all now. He took charge at her house, at her parents’ shop and again here tonight. What would it be like to have him take charge with her? Granted, she wasn’t big on dominance, but there was something very arousing about having a man tell you what to do during sex. The authoritative words didn’t have to ‘commands’, per se. It’s the words that he gives you, such as touch yourself, suck me, tell me what you want—those she loved, and she blamed it all on romance books as a teenager. Those books did her in, until Greg.

The piece of shit, Greg, ruined all that pleasure for her.
But
, Wen could easily see Thomas being that type of male that commanded you to the height of full pleasure. Pleasure she was in desperate need of.

No matter how she was feeling, tonight was not
the
night, but that didn’t mean the morning could not bring them both pleasure and release, she thought with a happy smile. She walked into the bathroom, shut the door, and went about washing her face and brushing her teeth.

As she came out, she saw that Thomas was already in bed with the covers pulled up to his waist, and his chest bare.

Hot
, her mind screamed.

She knew he’d said he would be upstairs shortly, but to actually see him in bed, his bed with her about to get in… Wow, was she excited. Heck, she was surprised, and oh so thankful. It was crazy. She didn’t even know him. Well, she knew him and of him through all the stories that Keylee, his sister, shared on their Wednesday girl’s night out. Which seemed they rarely went on now, because Keylee, also a bounty hunter, was out catching bad guys more often than not. But still, Keylee would call on those Wednesday nights to talk. If Wen was honest, after her date tonight with Thomas, she knew him better. She liked the stories he told.

But Thomas and her…it was crazy. The awareness she felt when he was just feet away from her was like an abyss of the unknown grabbing and pulling her forward.

She knew people considered her elegant, yet, despite her efforts, she didn’t feel all that elegant. She accepted long ago that she was different from her parents. She had to accept it at an early age. Wen even accepted that she had darker skin than them, accepted that her hair and eyes would always be different. That wasn’t what bothered her. The love her parents gave her was enough to allow her to do anything she wanted.

What held her back, was all the lies that Greg told her. The lies of love and commitment. To find him screwing the waiter at their rehearsal dinner. Yeah, that was enough to send her flying back to California from New York that very night. Greg had done that to her.

Wen lived with her parents for eight months before moving to her current place. Five months of sulking, two months of pulling herself together, and after that, it was about getting back out there. She’d even indulged in the short term, physical relationship. Friends with benefits, a couple of one-night stands here and there. However, when Thomas helped her move in, all her desire for sex turned to dreams of him.

Was it wrong to have one-night stands? Maybe, but what was a girl to do when you find the guy you supposedly love giving it to another man against the wall? Her eyes burned with that memory. Heck, it also explained why Greg loved to dominate. She didn’t hold that dominance against all men, but it was Greg that showed her the power of words in bed.

Fucker.

She should not be thinking about Greg as she slipped into Thomas’s bed, curling herself on her side laying her head against his bare chest.

She didn’t even realize she said his name aloud.

* * *

“Wen, who is Greg?”

Damn
.

“What?” she responded back, not looking at him from her position on his chest. “Greg?”

“Is that your boyfriend?”

“What?” she nearly shouted. “You think I am some two-bit slut that has a boyfriend and goes out with her neighbor for the hell of it? Oh my God, Thomas, seriously?”

* * *

“Take it easy there, killer.” Thomas laughed as he pulled Wen back down against his body. He didn’t expect the feel of her there against his naked chest, in his bed, to feel this good.

“I’m sorry, Wen. I didn’t mean it like that.” He knew he hurt her, but what the hell was he supposed to think when she blurts out ‘Greg’, and nothing else? Just Greg. If that was her boyfriend, then he was going to back off. If not, then yes, he was planning on making his move, because her eyes held massive warning flags that he was not going to be able to penetrate again.

“Right.”

He heard the sarcasm in her voice. Deciding to make his move, he then turned the front of his body against hers, placing both arms on each of hers. He pinned her in place for a much-needed conversation.

“Thomas,” Wen growled.

“Yeah, baby,” he whispered in her ear.

“What are you doing?”

Thomas knew what she was asking, but he was too consumed with the feel of her next to him. “Greg?”

“Ex,” she whispered.

Awe, she was getting excited. He could hear it in the hitches of her breath.

“Sure?”

“Yes.”

With the yes just off her lips, Thomas took the moment to kiss her. She smelled like cinnamon. Taking a chance, he moved one hand to her breast. He massaged it in small, slow sensual strokes, while his other hand kept him up and from falling on the floor from want and need.

“Wen, please say yes,” he groaned out, as his hand left her breast and traveled down the path to her shorts.

“What happens if I say no?”

“I will tell you that you are full of shit and your wants and needs are rising by the second. However, if that is what you truly want, I will stop right now, turn over, taking you with me and go to sleep.”

Chapter 10

She gasped as the cool air rippled over her exposed body. There was a storm coming. She could hear the thunder rolling against the flashes of lightning that rippled behind the curtain in his room, illuminating the room for brief seconds. Not only was there a storm outside, but there was a storm inside. The electricity was rolling off of both of their bodies; she moaned at the kisses Thomas was placing on her body. She needed him. Although she’d had one-night stands before, this desire, this need, clawed at her with Thomas. She knew that this would not be a one-nighter because of the desire in his eyes, the desire Thomas allowed her to see. This could be ‘ever after’ if they both allowed it.

It was not often that you could find ‘ever after’ just by one single touch, but that was what she’d found. For six months, she had been denying herself this. Denying him the feel of their bodies. Enough was enough.

“Yes,” she moaned as she felt his fingers seep into her wet folds. It was heaven; it was hot chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream on the top. It was bliss.

She could feel him working his one finger in and out, as she placed her head against his shoulder.

“Please,” escaped her mouth.

“I am keeping you, Wen, my little lotus flower.” She heard the growl that held a promise, as her cami was yanked up over her head. She should be scared, but she wasn’t. All men weren’t Greg and she knew this. Still, the love and the betrayal she felt with Greg, hit her to the core. She looked up at this handsome man and the promise of everything and more. She could let it go, would let it go, because she knew, deep down to the soul of her body, that if he meant forever, then forever is what she would get. This promise would not be broken.

“I think I just might get lucky tonight,” he murmured as he bent and kissed her stomach, darting his tongue out and circling her bellybutton.

“Ummm…you might, if you just shut up and get busy, buddy. I’m dying here…”

She could see his eyes roll.

“Are you in desperate need, baby?” He went back to kissing her stomach, slowly making a trail to the hem of her shorts. She held her breath to see what he would do next. Seeing his eyes on her face, she nodded slowly.

The feel of his large hands skimming her hips ever so softly in the attempt to pull her shorts down her body created rapid tingles of fire coursing throughout her body. Her body bucked as she felt him blow on her now exposed flesh. The need was overwhelming. Nothing had ever felt like this. It was almost too much. Wen closed her eyes, avoiding his intense gaze. She could hear his chuckle as she felt the bed dip low and there it was.

He gripped her hips, opening her thighs, kissing the soft flesh, slipping his tongue between her tender folds, tasting her. This was the bliss she was crying for. She threw her head back letting, “Oh god, yes!” escape her mouth.

She wanted to put her legs back together, pull him up to her body. She wanted to feel his smooth chest against hers.

“You’re perfect, Wen. So absolutely, fucking perfect.” The voice that reached her was deep, and hungry.

She shivered. There were no words to express what that meant to her. All she could give him now was her moans, letting him know just how much she wanted this, wanted him.

When he abruptly sat up, she opened her eyes in shock. She saw it then. His perfectly sculpted body, a clean shaved chest that rippled with testosterone. He was all man. Sliding her glance lower, she saw a massive bulge making its first naked appearance.

“Nice.”

The smirk that met her was enough to make her cream herself. She watched him as his hand slowly made its way to his hard cock.

Oh, sweet Mary, mother of God. Was it possible to get even more turned on? Lifting herself up on her elbows, Wen enjoyed watching as he slowly caressed himself, letting his hand work up and down in slow motion. A groan escaped her lips. Smiling back up at him, she lifted her hand toward him.

His hand engulfed hers as they both worked his dick up and down. She moved her gaze from his eyes to the head of his penis to see that the first drop was there for the taking. Ever slowly, she moved her head forward, allowing herself to get close enough to flick her tongue against the drop of wetness that graced his cock.

In a flash, she found herself on her back with dark eyes on her face.

Curving her finger, she signaled him to come to her. She waited as he bent forward. Only to surprise her when he stopped just mere inches away from her. His body leaned over to the table next to the bed. She heard the drawer open and then close. Foil ripping and then…

Oh, my god.

The opening of her legs grew wider as she felt him slide his body perfectly between her thighs. Full penetration. This feeling of him inside of her was nothing to what she felt when she was with Greg. It was as if the heavens opened up and were letting her know she was home.

In the background, the rain had picked up; it was a soothing sound against the racing of her heart. Thomas could kiss, she would give him that. His kisses were soft and teasing until she arched up, pressing them even closer. It was then that his kisses became hungry and wild. His eyes were heavy lidded, total bedroom eyes, as he slowly lowered himself back against her body once more, allowing himself to penetrate her deeper. She met him with every thrust he gave her.

* * *

“Please,” Wen begged.

It was the sweetest sound next to her moans of pleasure that he had ever heard.

“With pleasure, baby. With pleasure.” Holding her hips tight, he growled and pushed forward, her heat and wetness welcoming him as he slipped inside after pulling out. Teasing her. Thomas was beyond euphoric as he slid back to the hilt. As their bodies joined, he opened his eyes, smiling down at Wen, who was wearing a welcoming grin.