Guard (The Underground Book 3) (9 page)

She didn’t realize it, and she couldn’t have known something like this about herself before he came on the scene, but she was crying out for a firm hand to step up to the plate and erase her fears by taking charge. His only hesitation was wondering if she would have seen him in the same light a month ago before she was abducted.

And did it matter? People changed. Evolved. Became more authentically aware of themselves.

Perhaps she had been a little lost for several years, fighting forward every day without understanding her inner needs. He’d seen it happen. It had happened to Lauren after she met Dmitry. And Katie after she met Leo. Both strong women whom he knew were submissive behind closed doors.

He didn’t need anyone to tell him that. He knew his friends.

But Haley was different.

He’d never dominated a woman except in bed. He’d never met a woman who would permit him to extend his dominance outside the bedroom. This woman? She needed more. At least in the short term, maybe longer.

Could he do it?

He needed to tread cautiously so he didn’t frighten her. Feel her out. Baby steps. She was fragile.

The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her.

She wiggled against him as he watched her face, a soft moan escaping her lips. When she rolled onto her side and snuggled closer against his chest, he sucked in a sharp breath and froze.

Jesus.

She was so tempting.

All her perfect curves. The rise and fall of her chest lifting her breast against his side. He could see the outline of her nipple beneath the thin, tight cotton of her barely existent shirt.

He pursed his lips to stifle a groan.

Her leg landed over his, the swell of her bottom almost more than he could bear. The way her hip hitched against him was unfair. No one should be that tempted.

He closed his eyes, trying to rein in the driving need to consume her.

And then her hand landed on his chest and smoothed up to his neck.

Jesus. Mother of God.

The temptation…

But she wasn’t even awake.

A soft mewl escaped her lips, and suddenly she stiffened. One second later, she bolted upright, releasing him as if he were fire and she was getting burnt. She took several deep breaths, staring down at him with wide eyes. And then her gaze lowered to her lap where she fiddled with her fingers. “Sorry, I…”

“No need to apologize. I was trying to be still so I wouldn’t wake you.” Her nipples. Damn. Stiff peaks of arousal poking forward at the tips of swollen breasts he wanted to cup with both hands and mold. She was filling out more. Eating did that to a person.

“You didn’t. Wake me, I mean. I was dreaming.”

He couldn’t stop the chuckle. “It must have been good.”

Her face flushed a deep shade of red he’d grown to understand was a sure sign of her embarrassment. She licked her dry lips and turned away from him to scurry off the side of the sofa sleeper.

Two seconds later, she was across the room, down the hall, and behind the bathroom door.

He flopped onto his back and stared at the ceiling. “God, give me strength.”

The shower came on, doing nothing to lessen his libido. His cock grew thicker at the thought of her shrugging out of those pajama bottoms and slipping under a cascade of warm water.

He’d been tortured by thoughts of her naked body in that bathroom many times in the last three weeks, but today was worse. Today he’d tasted her. Felt her curves. The wetness that leaked through her panties and PJs from her pussy.

He tossed an arm across his eyes, attempting to shut out the visions. To no avail.

He needed to talk to her. Clear the air. Let her know he was interested but wouldn’t do anything to her except on her terms.

If he wasn’t mistaken, she would submit to him. The two of them would light the room on fire with their passion as soon as she realized her growing need. But the decision needed to be hers. She would come to it on her timeline. Not his.

He heaved himself off the sofa, making the entire flimsy structure squeak. He quickly folded it back into place and put the cushions back on. Until then, there would be no room to walk around the apartment at all. He sauntered down the hallway, past the bathroom, and into her bedroom where he kept his duffle bag of clothes in the corner.

As he was rifling through his dwindling clean choices, he heard her gasp behind him and turned around to find her standing just inside the doorway.

She had one towel wrapped around her hair and one around her small frame. Drops of moisture dotted her chest. “Sorry. Didn’t see you there. You startled me.” She held the towel tightly around her with one arm across her breasts and her fingers wrapped around the spot where the two ends of the towel met.

He let his gaze wander up and down her body. He couldn’t stop himself. Her pale sexy legs were bare up to above her knees, her feet planted firmly, her toes curled under.

He smiled. “Didn’t mean to surprise you. Just grabbing some clothes.”

She glanced at the alarm clock next to her rumpled bed—the one he knew she hadn’t slept a single minute in. “It’s late. I can’t believe I slept that long. Don’t you need to be at the gym?”

He stepped closer to her. “No. I fight tonight. I don’t work out on days I’m competing.”

“Right. Of course.” She shuffled her feet.

“But we do need to run a few errands. We’re meeting with the guys at my apartment this morning. Nikolav and Sergei will be there.”

“Okay. You sure it’s okay if I tag along? Sounds…like a guy thing.”

He smiled, dropped the items in his hands, and finished crossing the room until he stood so close she had to tip her head back.

She didn’t know it, but it forced her to open up a bit, elongating her neck. She even stepped out with one leg to widen her stance. She chewed on a corner of her lower lip.

He reached for her head, unwound the towel, and released her damp hair. There was no way to explain his actions. Instinct told him to invade her space subtly and take charge.

She shook out the curls.

Sexiest gesture ever.

“It’s not a guy thing.” His voice was lower than usual and soft. “Alena will be there. And Katie. She’s taking an hour off work to meet with us. We need to be careful that everyone understands what we’re up against. It’s imperative no one speak of this outside our circles.”

“Of course.” She frowned. “I know that better than anyone.”

“I know you do. I’m referring to the seriousness of bringing the last two guys in.”

“Okay.”

He set his hand on her exposed shoulder, brushing her curls out of the way. “We good?”

“Yes.” She tipped her head, her gaze darting toward the floor where she leaned her weight back and forth from one foot to the other. But she didn’t flinch out of his hand.

“I’m here for you.”

“I know. And I appreciate it.”

“I didn’t mean to make you feel pressured earlier.”

“It’s okay. My fault. I shouldn’t have—”

He gripped her chin with two fingers and lifted her face, still holding her shoulder with his other hand. “Don’t even think of placing blame anywhere for that kiss. It was hot. Smoldering. And I enjoyed every second of it. Same as you. We’re two consenting adults.”

“Yeah, well, what choice did you have when I all but threw myself at you?” Her cheeks turned a deep red again.

God, what he would give to see what sort of splotches she had on her breasts. Fighting the image, he chuckled.

“What’s so funny?”

“I’m like four times larger than you and significantly stronger. I hardly think you’re capable of taking advantage of me. I’m a big boy. If I didn’t want to kiss you, I wouldn’t.” She was cute.

“Nevertheless, I feel a little embarrassed in the light of day. You’re doing me a huge favor here, and I don’t want to jeopardize it.”

“And you didn’t. Nothing concerning your welfare has changed. And nothing will change. No matter what.” Could she read his meaning?

“I might be a little confused still.”

He smiled. “You aren’t confused. Katie drew a blood sample again just two days ago and said you were totally clear of any mind-altering substances.”

“Well, maybe I’m not thinking straight from being in such close quarters with you twenty-four seven.”

He knew what she meant, but he took the opportunity to twist her words and tease her. He smirked. “You saying I’m not all that attractive and you wouldn’t kiss me again if you had the opportunity?”

“No.” Her eyes widened. “Of course not. I’d kiss you—” She slapped a hand over her mouth.

His smile deepened as he shifted his hand on top of hers and drew it down. Clasping her fingers against her chest, and still holding her other shoulder, he lowered his face and took her lips again.

She opened for him instantly, proving what he already knew. She was hot for him, she just didn’t want to admit it out loud.

He inched closer, letting his hand slide from her shoulder to her lower back so she couldn’t step out of his embrace. And then he tipped his head to one side and licked the seam of her lips back and forth, stroking her tongue with the merest of touches, forcing her to come to him first.

And she didn’t disappoint. She moaned into his mouth as she let her tongue enter him to tangle with his.

He spread his fingers against the towel covering her ass and held her tighter, closing the last inches of space so her body pressed against his throbbing cock between them. Only her precarious towel and his boxers separated them.

He wouldn’t let this go any further—at least not now—but she didn’t know it. What he would do was kiss her senseless until she was writhing with the need for more. It was a double-edged sword, of course. Because he too would suffer from the need to seal the deal.

Haley could kiss. She didn’t mess around. Had she kissed other men with this same level of passion? He shook the thought from his head, preferring to believe it wasn’t possible.

The longer they remained in that position, the deeper their tongues tangled. He waited. He was a patient man. The best way to get all the chips in his corner was to keep this kiss going until she was so aroused she would do anything to get him to fuck her.

It might have been mean. Perhaps he wasn’t playing fair, but he wanted her to see him differently. And the best way he knew how to do it was to leave her a ball of frustration for the rest of the day.

When she finally yanked her hand out of his grasp at her chest and smoothed it down his chest, inching lower, he had to call it quits. Hell, she wasn’t even holding the towel securely anymore.

He righted his head and eased out of the kiss until he nibbled her lower lip and kissed a path to her ear. “Yeah, I hate it when you do that,” he muttered. “It makes me so uncomfortable,” he teased.

She gasped, dipping her face to set her forehead against his chest. She clutched at the closure of the towel between them and closed her legs together tightly.

Yes
.

He could smell her arousal.

Of course his cock screamed in protest. But the small head would have to wait. Now was not the right time.

Haley took deep breaths, her hand fisting against his abs. “Holy shit,” she mumbled.

“Yeah. You pack a powerful punch.”

“Me?” She jerked her gaze up to his. “What about you? I’m…uh… I’m…” she stammered.

He grinned. “What?”

She slammed her lips closed and released him. “I’m gonna make coffee. You can have the shower.” As she spoke, a knock sounded at the door.

No. It was the neighbor’s door. He quickly realized it wasn’t quite loud enough to be her own.

But Haley still jumped out of her skin, twisting around to face the bedroom door and stepping backward into his chest. She ran a hand over her head, grasping the closure of her towel with the other. “Jesus. I’m so jumpy.”

He wrapped an arm around her middle, instantly realizing how high her heart rate was. “Relax. Just a neighbor.” He had to let her go. His dick was nestled at the small of her back. It couldn’t take this sort of abuse. As he eased away, he lowered his lips to her ear and whispered, “Gonna take a shower. Will you make coffee?”

She sucked in a breath, her body shaking. “Yes.” The one word was weak.

Oh yeah, he affected her.

It took Herculean strength to leave that woman standing in a towel and enter the steamy bathroom. He left the door ajar in case she needed him and so he could hear if anyone actually came to the door. He’d done the same thing every day since he’d essentially moved in with her. Today was no different.

Except it was. Very different. Because this time he was going to immediately take himself in hand and put his cock out of its misery in her shower. He didn’t give a fuck if she walked into the room and watched. In fact, he intended to pretend exactly that. Visions of her standing outside the small enclosure while he thrust his dick through his fingers made him even harder.

He shed his boxers and flipped on the shower at the same time he stepped inside. It couldn’t have cooled down yet.

And he was right. Warm water heated quickly, pounding on his back as he set one hand against the tile and wrapped his other around his length. He had to bite his lower lip to keep from moaning out loud. It wouldn’t take long, but he didn’t want to scream out when he came.

With his eyes closed, he tipped his face back and let the water fall on the back of his head. He pumped fast and hard, clenching his dick with just the right pressure—the way he always got off when he was in a hurry.

And it didn’t take long. In less than a minute he slid his hand to the base, gripped himself, and thrust his hips forward while jets of come squirted out to run down the drain.

He even managed to stifle the long sigh that escaped his lips. When he thought he could stand straight and control his arms, he righted himself and reached for the bar of soap. His arms shook.

Jesus. Even when she wasn’t in the room, she packed a punch to the gut.

»»•««

Anton lifted his gaze when his newly hired epidemiologist stepped into his office. “Jorge, tell me something good.” He’d hired this man from Colombia and paid a fortune to get him into the US. This time his medical professional worked solely for him.