DarkestSin (8 page)

“Fuck, Xan. I’m gonna come if you don’t stop.”

His words were a plea she ignored. She eased back a bit to
breathe and slipped her finger into her mouth to wet it, then trailed it down
to his ass, rimming the entrance. She swallowed him again as she probed for
entry.

He shouted a litany of curses, trying to hold back, but his
attempt was futile. Within seconds his whole body stiffened, his cock growing
impossibly hard. “I’m coming,” he groaned. “Swallow me, baby. Take it all.
Fuck!”

The first splash down her throat startled her, but she
worked her throat, swallowing his seed, milking him and taking everything he
had to give. She continued sucking until he softened and relaxed his hold on
her hair, but his dick was still harder than she figured it’d be.

He grabbed her sides and pulled her up to his lap. He kissed
her with such intensity that she wondered where he found the energy. He’d come,
so their sexual escapade was over. She should be relieved by this, but she
couldn’t help but feel a little regret that it was ending with this sensual
kiss. She figured her subconscious utilized the blowjob as a self-preservation
mechanism to keep from fucking him. But right now she didn’t want logical.

The kiss built, intensifying, as she heard a soft rustling,
her world tilting, swaying.

“Hold on, baby,” he whispered into her mouth, and she opened
her eyes as she clutched his shoulders, realizing they were moving, already in
a hallway when Brody shouldered his way into a room.

He deposited her on a bed, and she saw he was nude, a
gloriously naked body before her. The rustling she’d heard must’ve been him
shucking his jeans. He reached down to pull her shorts off her, and she
stiffened. Lying here in only her lacy boy-short panties, she felt too exposed,
too vulnerable. It was one thing to suck him off, keeping the control. It was a
completely different thing to let him have his fill of her. Sensing her sudden
discomfort, he caressed her legs, easing her as he pressed gentle kisses above
her knees.

“God, you’re so beautiful,” he murmured against her skin as
he worked his way up her body. He kissed her lace-covered pussy, and instead of
relaxing and enjoying the attention, she trembled. The idea of sex was so far
removed from her understanding that having a man touch her like this was too
foreign to her. In theory she didn’t have a problem with the mechanics of the
act.

In reality, she was petrified.

“Easy, baby,” he mumbled when her tummy jumped. He gently
clutched the lace and tugged, pulling her panties off.

“It’s, um, been a while for me.” Shit, her voice was shaking
too. How embarrassing.

He hummed his acknowledgement against her thigh as he kissed
his way back to her core, his long hair tickling her overly sensitive skin.

At least she’d waxed recently, she thought. It being summer
and all, she did that for swimsuit season. The last two summers she’d waxed it
all off, not worrying about any man seeing her. Now she wondered if that was a
mistake. She had no idea what men liked, but she found herself wanting to
please him, which made no sense since she was also freaking out about him
touching her like this. God, her emotions were all over the place.

Then his tongue sneaked out of his full lips and licked her
from her ass to her clit. Her moan of surrender was mixed with his groan, their
sounds renting the air.

And her resistance was gone. Her legs fell numbly open,
giving him greater access. She shut her eyes and lost herself in the pleasure
his mouth provided. He licked and sucked her lips, and as he tongued her, she
creamed profusely, drowning him in her honey. Her hips shot up when he sucked
her clit into his mouth. She moaned and clutched his head, begging him not to
stop, and he grabbed her, pushing her back down, holding her still as he
circled her clit, teasing her.

She was dying. This was so good she knew she wouldn’t
survive him eating her. Then he shoved one finger into her pussy, and she had
to redefine the definition of dying. Her pussy latched on to that lone finger,
hoping it’d take up residence and never leave.

“God, you’re fucking tight.”

She couldn’t hold out. She felt fire lick her spine as her
pussy fluttered around his finger in anticipation of the orgasm that was
imminent.

“Oh God.” She didn’t want this to end, but she couldn’t take
any more. “I’m coming,” she yelled as he fucked her with his finger and sucked
her clit into his mouth again.

She rode out her climax until she was utterly spent. Then he
eased his finger from her and placed a chaste kiss atop her mound. Her eyes
were shut, her arm thrown over her face. She was panting when he shifted, so
she peeked to see him fumbling with his nightstand drawer. He pulled a foil
packet and donned the condom in what had to be some kind of record. He hovered
over her, lifting her leg, his cock poised at her entrance. He eased in, but
she didn’t want easy. She grabbed his ass and pulled him to her, forcing him to
thrust harder.

“No, baby. Let me take you slowly. At least until I get in.”

She thrashed her head on the pillow, enduring the agony of
his slow possession.

“Ahh, you’re so tight,” he breathed. “You’re like a vise,
squeezing the life out of me.”

“Hurry, please. Please!” she begged. She didn’t care if she
sounded desperate. She just wanted him in already. She pulled him to her on his
next thrust, forcing him in halfway.

“Fuck, Xan.” His hips bucked, seemingly involuntarily as he
buried himself to the hilt.

She screamed and clutched his shoulders, her nails biting
into his skin. His lips sought hers in a powerful kiss as he fucked her hard.
She was beyond understanding sensations. He was so big and hard that the
pleasure bordered on pain, but she met him thrust for thrust, seeking the
deepest contact possible.

Out of nowhere, she climaxed again, screaming into his
mouth. He grabbed her ass and angled her differently, pounding into her almost
recklessly. His lips ripped from hers as his head fell back and he roared his
release.

They held each other, bodies sweating, hers shaking. She
tingled everywhere, so much so that her lips felt numb. She didn’t think she
could speak even if she wanted to, which she didn’t right at this moment. He
eased back, staring down at her. His eyes were soft as he caressed her face,
and she realized she could get used to having him around.

If only she could tell him her secrets and trust him with
her life, but she knew that would never happen. Still, she reached up and
traced the bruises on his face, feeling him lean into her touch. But then he
sighed and pulled free, groaning at the drag of flesh against latex-covered
flesh. He left the room to dispose of the condom, and Xan wondered what she was
supposed to do now. It wasn’t as if she did this. Ever. She didn’t know the
protocol once the deed was done.
Thanks for the fuck? See you around?
Neither
option sounded good. At least she had a reason to go. It wasn’t as if she could
leave her son at home overnight. Well, technically she could if they were a
normal family, and she was comfortable with the idea of spending the night with
a man, but neither scenario applied, so she wasn’t going to stay.

He strolled back in, the softness of his eyes gone, and she
got a sickening feeling. She didn’t resist the urge to pull the sheet over her,
covering her nakedness, her vulnerability.

“This shouldn’t have happened. You should leave,” he said
with no emotion, staring right into her eyes.

Humiliation washed over her. She had wanted to leave, but
not like this. Oh God, not like this. It was all she could do to leave his
house without crying in front of him.

She wasn’t as lucky hiding her shame.

Brody revved up his motorcycle as he pulled out of his
driveway to go to Gage’s house the following morning. He didn’t sleep worth a
shit last night. After tossing Xan out, his fucking conscience ate away at him
until all he could do was replay the entire encounter.

He didn’t know what it was about her, but she got to him,
dug deep and touched him in places no other person—let alone, woman—had ever
before. After getting the hottest blowjob he’d ever received, he’d tasted and sank
into the sweetest pussy he’d ever experienced. She’d been timid at first, as if
she weren’t sure she wanted to fuck him, but her body had responded with
intense want that his body refused to ignore. And she’d been tight, so fucking
tight that he believed her about her apparent sexual dry spell. How long she’d
gone without taking a man, he didn’t even want to guess. One the one hand, he
felt elated that she’d let him be the one to end it for her. On the other hand,
he felt paranoid. That paranoia drove him to be the biggest asshole he could be
and kick her out.

He felt connected to her and so fiercely protective that it
shamed him to push her away like he had. It’d gone against his basic instinct
to do it, but he knew he had no other choice. He knew her from somewhere, and
they both had questionable pasts they wanted left buried. He needed to stay on
the ball and not get distracted again. Having her hate him hurt like hell, but
it was better than making either of them face something that should stay
buried.

He pulled into Gage’s driveway and killed the engine. He
stalked up the stairs and banged on the door. It didn’t take long for Gage to
answer.

“Dude, what the fuck? It’s not even seven yet.” His curly
brown hair was mussed and hazel eyes narrowed as he stepped aside to let Brody
in.

“Didn’t take you long to get the door. You must’ve been up
already.” He could smell the coffee from where he was standing, which was a
good sign Gage had either already been up or had set the coffee, expecting
Brody to show up early.

“I’m a light sleeper, though I wouldn’t have to be by the
way you were beatin’ down my door,” he growled, stomping off to the kitchen.
“You should drive your truck more. It’s a hell of a lot quieter too.”

“Don’t knock the hog,” Brody said, grabbing a cup and
pouring some coffee. “Did you have any luck finding anything out last night?”

Gage elbowed him away from the coffeepot to fix his own cup,
then sat at the table. Brody sat across from him, toying with his cup as he
watched the other man, waiting for his answer.

“Yeah.” He shook his head as he sipped. “You’re not gonna
like it, either.”

“Well, don’t beat around the fuckin’ bush. Spit it out.”

“I called in some favors with some of our FBI contacts.
Seems our little Miss Bradley got herself into some trouble with her
ex-husband.”

Brody suppressed a growl. “Tell me somethin’ I don’t already
know.”

“He had a friend. On the inside. Someone either with the FBI
or someone close enough to an agent to tip him off. I’m bettin’ a dirty agent
myself.”

“Shit,” Brody breathed. “That could explain why her husband
attacked her. It’s amazing she got out alive.”

Gage shook his head. “He shot her pointblank in the head. He
had no intention of her gettin’ away.”

Brody couldn’t stop the panic building in him. She could’ve
already been killed, and she wasn’t safe now. “We need to find that dirty
agent. He could still be with the bureau.”

“Agreed. I’m looking into it. I do know her handler is Jack
Parsons. He took over after Dave Simmons retired.”

“How long has Parsons been her agent?”

“About ten years from what I’ve gathered. Simmons handled
her around the time of the trial and got her settled with her first identity.
He retired about two years later.”

Brody finished his coffee and leaned back in his chair,
rubbing his hands on his face. This wasn’t much to go on, but it was a start.
“If Parsons wanted her dead, he could’ve done it by now. He’s had ten years to
make it happen.”

“True, but if he’s working for Collins, his assignment could
be to keep tabs on her, so Marco could do the deed himself.”

“But why? Why not ice her and be done with it? She’s the
reason he’s in jail.”

“I don’t know, man. The kid maybe?”

Shit. That was possible. “Okay, but why did Simmons retire?
Maybe he was the one on the take and got out when Collins got sent away.”

Gage leaned into the table, pointing his finger. “That’s a
good theory, but I also found out that when she went to the FBI, they were
salivating so much at the idea of taking down Collins that they put a mess of
agents on her case. It could’ve been any of them.”

That still wasn’t a lot to go on, but it was more than what
he had. “Okay. You find out what you can about the agents assigned to her case
before he attacked her. I think we’re dealing with an agent who had earlier
contact with her. But Parsons and Simmons ain’t in the clear. One of ’em
could’ve been assigned to her case before or close enough to the case to push
for reassignment after her attack. I’ll check them out.”

Gage eyed him, and Brody didn’t like that look. “Why are you
doin’ this, man? You’re supposed to tail her, befriend her. You don’t have to
go diggin’ in her past to do that.”

What could Brody tell him? That he was concerned about her
safety?
Not gonna happen.
That he needed the distraction?
No way.
“We’re supposed to protect her. Knowledge is power and all that.” He shrugged
as he stood and headed for the door.

“I get that, but, umm, I think we should keep this little
research to ourselves.”

Brody turned, facing him. “Why?”

“Because I think you have a thing for her, and Colonel will
go ape-shit crazy if he discovers you’re packin’ wood for her.”

“I don’t have a fuckin’
thing
for her.” Uh-oh, he
said that just a little too quickly to be believable. And Gage smiled. Fuck.

“I know all about denying feelings.” Something dark, haunted
crossed his eyes but was gone just as quickly. “You can’t bullshit me, Brutus.
I won’t rat you out. But I think we need to keep quiet about this. At least
until we find somethin’ concrete that Colonel could use or go to his contacts
with.”

He had a point. Besides, he really didn’t want the other
guys knowing…
thinking
he had a thing for Xan. If they found something
useful, they’d pull in the other guys. “Fine. Er, thanks.” He stuck his hand
out and Gage shook it.

“Just doin’ my job, man. Just doin’ my job.”

* * * * *

Xan bustled around the doctor’s office all day, trying to
keep her mind on work and off one sorry-ass mechanic. Oh no, he wasn’t a Viking
to her anymore. He was a jackass. Or an asshole. Or, or…ugh! He didn’t even
deserve the brain power she was exerting to come up with terms, that sorry son
of ass-cheese.

What the hell had happened yesterday? She’d gone to his
house to tell him off, and she’d ended up getting him off instead. Yeah, real
smooth, idiot. And what did she get for her trouble? A swift kick in the rear.
He practically tossed her out of his warm bed and into the cold. Okay, so it
was ninety degrees last night, but it was the principle, damn it. She had never
felt more mortified in all her life. He’d treated her like a paid whore, but at
least hookers understood the score—and actually got something for their
troubles. Plus, there was no love lost once the deed was done and they parted
their bodies. No, she wasn’t even treated as nicely as that. No date beforehand
and no cuddling after. She got shafted all around.

But wasn’t that what she wanted? Once she realized it was
going to happen, she knew she couldn’t allow a repeat. But she hadn’t expected
him to treat her so shitty right after. Her pussy was still practically
fluttering with after-spasms when he ordered her out. No matter what she
thought she wanted, having him treat her the way he had hurt her more than she
could’ve imagined.

Thankfully, she hadn’t cried in front of him, but that’d
been a monumental feat. The floodgates opened before she’d even pulled out of
his driveway. She was so upset she couldn’t drive straight home and face her
son, so she’d driven around town until the waterworks had dried enough for her
to make a hasty entrance and dart into her room.

Twelve years, three months, four days. Last night, she’d
counted the time since her last sexual encounter. She would’ve counted the
hours and minutes too, if she’d looked at the clock.

And for what? A wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am encounter. Only she
hadn’t gotten a thank you. Or a compliment of any kind. She didn’t need him to
stroke her ego—she knew it’d been a long time since she’d had sex and would be
rusty—but demanding she leave? That was low. Lower than low. And she felt like
scum, dirty.

She stormed out of the office and was still brewing on her
drive home after work. She pulled into her driveway and tried to make her way
in her house when she heard Roxie call out her name. She turned and saw her
neighbor practically running across the street over to her.

“Hey, girl. How’d it go last night?”

Xan took a deep breath to keep from throttling her. She knew
it wasn’t Roxie’s fault, that she only encouraged Xan to embrace her inner
feminine power, but it was really hard to remember that.

“Like shit,” she sighed.

“Oh no. What happened?” Roxie asked, grabbing her arm, her
eyes growing.

“He…we…I…ugh.” Xan shook her head. “We fucked, and he threw
me out.”

Roxie gasped, but her shocked expression didn’t stay that
way for long. “How did it happen?”

Xan explained all the gory details because she knew she
wouldn’t be getting away from Roxie without spilling everything. And as she
spoke, her partner-in-feminine-power’s eyes got narrower and narrower.

“That punk! Don’t you worry, girl. We’ll find you a
different man. A better man.” She looked genuinely pissed, and Xan couldn’t
help but feel a little vindicated, but she was already shaking her head before
Roxie could finish. The last thing she wanted to do was invite more humiliation
like last night. Nope, her vibrator never kicked her out. She’d stick with what
she knew.

“No thanks. Last night was enough to do me in for another
decade or so.”

“Why? C’mon. I’m not sayin’ you have to screw a new guy, but
you could let a man take you out. Show you a good time. Or we could just go to
the bar and hang. Let guys buy us drinks all night.” She wagged her eyebrows,
smiling at Xan.

“I don’t think so.” Before she could say more, her phone
rang. Xan cursed under her breath as she pulled it out, hoping it wasn’t that
ass-wipe with the stringy blond hair. Okay, so his hair wasn’t stringy, but
she’d call it that if it made her feel better. When she saw it was from Agent
Parsons, she sighed in relief, accepted the call, and looked at Roxie. “I have
to take this. I’ll talk to you later.” She turned to walk into the house.

“Think about what I said. Nothin’ wrong with getting drunk
on a hunk’s dime.”

Xan waved her off as she went into the house. A bar meant
men hitting on her. She’d pass on that. She’d have to embrace her inner bitch
before she could even think of doing something that dangerous.

Once she was safely away, she put the phone up to her ear
and said, “Hello?”

“Hi, Miss Bradley. It’s Agent Parsons”

“Hi, Jack. I’ve told you to call me Xan.” It was their
little game. One would be formal and the other would insist on casual
references. She couldn’t remember when it’d started, but it was one of the few
constants in her life. She chuckled, but he didn’t jump in and join in their
usual bantering, causing a sense of dread to creep down her spine.

“I’ve got bad news. Marco Collins just got paroled.”

* * * * *

Brody worked diligently on Xan’s late 70s model Ford Pinto,
replacing the radiator. This thing was on its last leg, and fixing it cost more
than the damn thing was worth. As crazy as her life was, she needed a more
reliable vehicle. She sure as hell wouldn’t be using this piece of shit as a
getaway car if she found herself in trouble and had to get away from Collins’
men. She’d have better luck running barefoot across hot asphalt.

“How’s it coming?” Colonel asked, walking up to him.

“Slow. But I should have her ready in a day or two.”

“Good.” Colonel turned toward the other bays, eyeing the
rest of the crew. “Gather around. We need to have a quick meeting.”

Brody cleaned his hands on the rag that was draped on the
side of the car, then followed the guys into the meeting room, sitting down
while Blade turned on the fan, trying to circulate the stifling air in this
sauna.

“I’ll get right to it since we’re still open and it’s hot as
hell in this room,” Colonel said, squatting on the corner of his desk. “Marco
Collins got paroled.”

Brody schooled his expression, but inside he was raging.
This was the last thing they needed, the last thing Xan and Scott needed. With
Marco out, he’d surely be on the hunt for his former family.

“Sources tell us that he’ll head to Flint, but once he
touches base with his pop, there’s no telling where he’ll go.”

“We know where he’ll try to end up,” Bear mumbled, shaking
his head. “You know he’s comin’ for the lady and her kid. It’s only a matter of
time before he finds them.”

“Agreed.” Colonel nodded. “But we haven’t gotten any new
orders. We’re still the eyes on this.”

“Shouldn’t the feds just pull them out?” Blade asked.

“And do what?” Roc sounded disgusted at Blade’s question.
“He doesn’t know where they are now. They should sit still. If they start
running, they’ll raise red flags all over the fucking place.”

“He’s right,” Hunter agreed. “And you know I don’t like
agreeing with that asshole.” He chuckled as he shoved his thumb in Roc’s
direction.