Hot Secrets (12 page)

“It’s business.”

“It’s family.”

Her chest tightened. “Not everyone has the kind of
bond with their family you seem to have.”

He studied her a long moment and then pushed the
table away from them. He scooted back to sit beside her, his back
against the couch before pulling her legs over his lap. Awareness
rushed through her, and something else, something warm and right,
like she’d never felt with another man.

“I owe you an apology,” he confessed, his hands
settling on her legs.

“An apology?” She laughed. “For eating my sandwich?
For being bossy by nature? Because I can’t imagine what else you
have to apologize about at this point in our short
relationship.”

“I judged you by a stereotype before I met you. I
thought you were the pretty, spoiled senator’s daughter. And now,
more than ever, I not only know how unfair that was, I know how
much it eats you alive.”

“
Thank you,” she said, moved by his honesty. “I appreciate
that more than you can know, but if you’re apologizing for your
assumption, then I have to apologize for mine. I thought you were
an arrogant ladies’ man. Single, good looking, in your thirties,
with two different women at two different functions I saw you
at.”

His chest expanded with an inhalation before he exhaled. “I
haven’t been much on serious relationships but I was engaged once,
right when I joined the agency. It was the wrong time, the wrong
situation, and I was the wrong man for her. I was high on my job,
and she wanted me home, when I wanted to catch the next bad guy.
The deeper and more dangerous my work became, the more I saw the
writing on the wall. You put bad guys behind bars, they become your
enemies and you become dangerous cargo to the people you
love.”

“Well, I guess I’ve proven I’m dangerous cargo,” she
said, a shiver chasing a path up her spine. “And I guess being
alone is a small price for fighting for the innocent.”

“You’re not alone now,” he said softly, brushing his
fingers down her cheek, sending a tingle of electricity through her
body. “I’m here and no one is going to scare me away.”

“Have you met my father?”

He laughed. “Not even your father.”

“We’ll see about that one.”

“Yeah,” he said. “We will. I’m not going anywhere
unless you make me.” He turned to his side to face her. “I know I
said this before, but I’m going to say it again. I’m not here
because of the threats. If they didn’t exist, I’d still be here, if
you’d have me. I’m here for you, Lauren. I’m here because there is
something about you I can’t escape, and I don’t even want to
try.”

The rain pelted against the windows, the fire crackled in
the fireplace. Electricity sparked in the air, intimacy thickening
with it. “I’m glad you’re here, and not because of the threats.”
She hesitated. “Okay, maybe I’m a little glad you’re here because
of the threats. I’m rattled, Royce. I don’t know why; it’s not like
me, but I am. And I wouldn’t tell anyone else that, but I am. And I
feel like I can tell you that without it becoming everyone else’s
knowledge.”

“You know what I think?” he asked, lowering his head
slowly, his breath warm, teasing her with the promise of intimacy.
“I think you need something else to think about.” His lips touched
hers, a soft caress that traveled her nerve endings. Her nipples
tightened, and heat pooled low in her belly.

Nerves fluttered in her stomach, with the awareness of
where this was going, but his tongue, his hands, his touch, drew
her deeper into the fog of desire. She lost herself in the moment,
savoring the feel on him, a soft sound of pleasure escaping her
lips as his tongue swept against hers. He deepened the contact and
she wrapped her arms around his neck. His hand traveled her back,
scorching her with heat, melding her closer. She could feel the
desire expand between them, consume them, and leave her with only
him.

Chapter Ten

Royce pulled Lauren into his lap to straddle him, the V of
her body pressing against the thick ridge of his erection. He
wanted this woman, wanted her like he had not wanted in a very long
time. Wanted in a way like he’d never wanted. Her hair was soft on
his face, and that damn vanilla and honey scent was driving him
wild. So much of what she had told him had twisted him in knots.
Her ex cheating on her explained the insecurity he’d seen in her,
the fear of intimacy.

He drank her in, kissing her, making love to her
with his tongue, and vowing to be the man who showed her just how
sexy she truly was.

“You’re beautiful,” he murmured against her mouth.
“And your ex was a fool.”

“Royce, I”

He swallowed her words, working his hands under her shirt
to her soft skin, not allowing her to reject his words, showing her
how much he meant them. She reached behind him and tugged loose his
hair, twining her fingers into it. Her touch was like silk and fire
at the same time, soothing him even as she ignited his hunger. He
touched her, filled his hands with her high, full breasts and
shoved down her bra to tease her plump nipples.

She shifted on top of him, arching against his cock,
and he moaned with the ache and pleasure that crashed into him. He
tugged at her shirt. “Take it off.”

She leaned back and stared down at him, and he saw
vulnerability wash over her face. He wrapped his fingers around her
neck and pulled her mouth to his. “You. Are. Beautiful. And I want
to feel you next to me.” He reached over his head and tugged his
shirt off, trying to make her feel more comfortable by undressing
first.

Her gaze swept his chest, her teeth sinking into her
bottom lip. “You’re beautiful,” she said, her hands spraying over
his pecs, his arms.

He kissed her, hard and fast, caressing her sides,
her breasts, before easing her shirt up again. “Take it off. Let me
feel you next to me.”

She pulled it over her head and tossed it and he
cupped her breasts, teasing her nipples even as he unhooked the
front clasp of her bra.

Her lashes fluttered, her hands covering his. He
rolled her to the ground and eased her legs apart, settling his
hips between her legs and going down on top of her.

Their eyes locked and held, the connection, the
desire he felt with Lauren, expanding inside him, feeding a
possessive need to pleasure her, to protect her, to hold her. He
kissed her, trailed lips down her neck, taking his time until he
lapped at one perky nipple, and suckled.

The soft sound she made, the twine of her fingers in his
hair, worked a number on him. His zipper stretched, his cock
throbbing uncomfortably. He lapped at the other nipple, scraped it
lightly with his teeth, and then began a downward path to dip his
tongue into her belly button, skimming her pants down her legs. He
raised to his knees and pulled them off.

He smiled as he traced the dark triangle of hair, dipping
his fingers between her thighs, and caressing the silky wet proof
of how aroused she was. “No panties?”

She lifted up on her elbows, her cheeks flushed,
pleasure etched on her face as he dipped a finger inside her,
stroked her. “I don’t like panty lines,” she murmured.

“I hear ya,” he said. “Panty lines are a bitch.”

She laughed, her breasts jiggling with the action.
Damn, she had nice breasts. High and full with pretty pink nipples.
He pulled her sweats off her feet and took her socks with them. And
why the hell her pink painted toenails seem to make him hotter and
harder, he didn’t know. It was just Lauren. Everything about her
turned him on.

He leaned in and kissed her clit. “Be right
back.”

Royce sat up and yanked off his boots, then stood
and made quick work of getting rid of the rest of his clothes, but
not before he yanked a package of 3 condoms from his pocket.

She stared at it and he knew immediately what she was
thinking. “I don’t walk around with condoms for easy access.” He
tore one free from the package, reached down, and pulled her to her
feet. “Blake shoved it in my hand as I was leaving the building.
He’s a smart-ass, but for once I’m glad.” He tugged her to her
feet. “You don’t want the floor. Carpet burn is a bigger bitch than
panty lines.”

She laughed, and the soft, silky feminine sound was
music to his ears. He settled onto the couch with her straddling
him, his cock between them. He grabbed the condom. She covered his
hand with hers. “Let me.” Her other hand wrapped his shaft,
tightening around it, and her gaze dropped.

He let go of the package. “As much as I’m a guy who
enjoys a woman’s attention to his cock, if you keep staring at me
like that, I’m going to forget why I need that condom.” He wrapped
his hand around the back of her head and kissed her. “I need to be
inside you.”

She tore open the package and glanced up at him
before rolling it over his cock. “Now, come here,” he said, the
instant it was in place. He framed her hips with his hands and
lifted her. She guided his cock to the slick heat of her sex, and
pressed him inside her.

White-hot burn rushed over him, at the feel of her
taking him, sliding down his length and taking all of him. When
she’d taken him all, he fought the urge to move, to thrust, to
take.

He kissed her, tasted her, devoured her, inhaled
her. She tangled her hands back into his hair, her tongue dancing
with his, and he felt her give herself to him. Felt the moment when
she forgot everything but this, now, them.

Royce pressed her down against him and then thrust. She
gasped into his mouth and arched into him. Slowly, they began to
pump until wildness exploded in him, in her. They were moving
faster, harder, hands everywhere, anywhere, and he still couldn’t
get enough of her.

“Lean back, baby,” he said, wrapping an arm around
her back and flattening his hand on her chest. “I got you.” The
angle tightened her grip on his shaft and let him see her body, her
face. “That’s it.” He caressed her breast, suckled her nipple, and
then thrust hard into her. She moaned and held onto his hand as he
began a steady, hard pump in and out of her, watching her breasts
bounce, her expression shift with the pleasure, the need.

She gasped and leaned forward, stiffening in his
arms a moment before her tight, little sex grabbed hold of him and
spasmed, milking him right to release. A low hot throb expanded in
his cock and then shot his release from his body.

They collapsed together, skin slicked with sweat, her face
buried in his neck. Long seconds passed and she didn’t move. He
knew she was feeling shy, or embarrassed. Damn, he was going to
have to fix that. He rolled her to her back on the couch and leaned
over her. “I don’t know if three condoms are going to be enough. We
might need a store run because if you think I even came close to
getting enough of you, you’re wrong. But for now, I’m going to get
rid of this one.” He snatched his shirt from the floor. “And
because I know you are about to scramble to get dressed, put my
shirt on. It’s less effort for me to take off of you later.” He
leaned in and kissed her. “And
that
was an order you won’t get an apology for.”

***

Lauren awoke naked, on the floor with a comforter
underneath her and a heavy arm over her back. She inhaled the spicy
male scent of Royce and smiled to herself. She was on her stomach,
and she was pretty sure that was because Royce had refused to let
her get dressed, so he’d trapped her there.

You need to be as comfortable with you being naked
as I am
, he’d told
her.

I’m very comfortable with you being naked,
she’d replied.

Her gaze fixed on the red glow of a fire not tended
for a good while. The darkness of the room was lightening, as if
the sun was replacing the moon. And unfortunately, as much as she
wanted to savor this moment, Mother Nature called.

She tried to inch out from under Royce’s arm.

Royce pulled her back against him, rolling them both
to their sides. “We aren’t ready to get up.”

“I have to go to the bathroom.”

“Close your eyes and you’ll forget.”

She laughed. “No. No. That’s not going to
happen.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“Well, damn,” he said. “I guess I have to let you up
then.” He released her and she crawled and grabbed his shirt. He
smacked her in the backside and she yelped, drawing a low, sexy
chuckle from him.

Lauren stumbled groggily to the bedroom, surprised to see
the clock read ten in the morning, until she heard a rumble of
thunder. It was still storming. She went to the bathroom and her
phone beeped in her purse. Five missed calls from Julie. It rang
again in her hand. Lauren shoved down the toilet seat and sat
down.

“Yes, my diva darlin’,” she said. “I am alive.”

“You can’t not answer your phone when you have this
big case going on and all kinds of public anger. I worry about
you.”

“Royce is here. I’m fine.”

“Rewind. What? He’s still there?”

Lauren laughed. “Pretty sure the answer is
‘yes’.”

“Honey, you know how to make up for lost time and
bad exes. I so will not keep you from your play toy but I expect
gossip and lots of it. Lunch. We are so going to lunch on
Monday.”

“Lunch.”

They ended the call and Lauren sat there a moment,
thinking about how easily she’d said ‘Royce is here. I’m fine.’ The
truth was she was better than fine. Or maybe she wasn’t. She pushed
to her feet and stared at herself in the mirror.

“
Don’t fall for him,” she murmured. “You can’t fall for
him.” She was vulnerable right now, recovering from the past, and
perhaps in danger, and she knew it. She was turning Royce into her
knight in shining armor, and she knew all too well, that was a
fairy tale that didn’t exist. She inhaled and let it out. Royce was
all man, all sex, and hard masculine beauty. He made her feel sexy
and empowered. This had to be about sex and nothing else, or she’d
get hurt. She pushed off the sink and nodded, heading towards the
living room with one thing on her mind. She was going to have more
sex. No. She was going to fuck.