Revenge for Hire (The Get Even Agency) (16 page)

“What makes you say that?”

“Because if I’d had sex with you all night I wouldn’t be so
wound up over the thought of tonight.”

A smile played on her lips. “Are you so sure about that?”

She saw the flash of surprise, the wonder in his eyes.

His mouth touched hers, gentle, caressing, sucking her lower
lip into his mouth, and teasing her between his teeth.

Avery twined her arms around him, arched into his body.

“You’re right,” he trailed kisses along her jaw, at her ear,
“I’m not sure.”

She shivered. From the inside out.

The elevator door dinged open. Without checking to see if the
car was full, Jude pushed her inside, never breaking their embrace.

Fortunately the car was empty.

He slammed her against the elevator wall and ground against her.
Avery lifted her chin, giving him free access to her throat, which he took full
advantage of and tasted.

“Jude,” she whispered, rotating her hips against him, relishing
that she was pinned between a wall and a hard man.

“Hmm?” He kissed her collarbone, ran his hands down her sides
to cup her bottom. He jerked her tight to his pelvis.

“Yes,” she mouthed, embracing his head between her fingers. Was
the plunging sensation in her belly from the elevator’s descent? “Oh yes.”

They ground against each other. Jude’s fingers worked up her
skirt. Since she wore no underwear to impede him, he immediately stroked his
finger across her dampness.

She whimpered and arched deeper.

“You like that?” He spread her and stroked the moisture over
her. “Tell me what you want, and it’s yours.”

Was he kidding?

Avery hiked her leg to wrap it around his waist. “Kiss me.”

Jude’s eyes bore into her. “Where?”

“You know where.”

“Tell me.”

“There.” She shifted her pelvis. “Right there.”

Jude kissed her mouth, hard, then lowered to his knees, angled
her thigh over his shoulder, pushed her skirt all the way up, and kissed her. A
deep passionate kiss that had Avery’s head spinning back and forth against the
advertisement board on the elevator wall.

His tongue danced over her, lapping at the moisture he’d
caused, driving her insane with need and memories of his making her come this
way just the night before.

The elevator dinged, indicating they’d reached the main floor. Jude
planted a quick kiss on her mound, stood, and tugged her skirt down.

The door slid open.

True to form, he bent, whispered in her ear. “It’s not often I
get dessert before dinner.”

Dinner? Avery didn’t care if she ever ate again. Just so long
as she had Jude inside her soon.

She walked across the lobby, how she wasn’t sure because her
legs were jelly and her knees so weak they threatened to buckle. Perhaps Jude’s
firm grasp on her hand, pulling her along kept her moving.

He hailed a cab, opened the door, and helped her slide inside. The
second he’d given the cab driver his address, his mouth covered Avery’s.

He kissed her. Deep and tender and reverent and to where Avery
forgot everything except the man holding and kissing her.

When the cab pulled up in front of Jude’s apartment building,
Avery blinked.

Either they’d amazingly missed every Manhattan traffic jam or
she’d totally phased out the entire trip, because this had been the quickest
trip ever.

Jude paid the driver and rushed Avery to his building. In
seconds, he entered the codes to get them inside and back into the elevator. Unfortunately,
this time they weren’t alone.

No matter. Jude made love to her with his eyes on the trip up. Undressing
her, telling her that he was mentally on his knees tasting her, pushing her
further and further. That soon he’d be inside her.

Her hands gripped around the hand bars to keep her on her feet,
Avery’s gaze remained locked with Jude’s.

When the elevator dinged at their floor, Avery felt frenzied with
need. Like a shark in blood-filled waters she craved to sink her teeth into
Jude. Desperately.

Without looking at her, Jude bee-lined for his apartment,
unlocked the door, and jerked her inside.

He shoved the door to and bumped her against it.

“This first time is going to be a fast, hard ride. If that’s
not what you want, say so now, so I can slow things down.”

“Slow things down? How?” she teased, knowing she wanted him as
fast and hard as he’d deliver.

“A cold shower. Dunking my head in ice water. Both. Something.”
He stared down at her. “Is that what you want?”

Slowly, she shook her head. “I want you. Inside me.”

That’s all it took. Her shirt disappeared somewhere in the
foyer. Her bra quickly followed. Jude’s shirt was tossed to the floor in the
hallway. Step-by-step, clothes disappearing, they made their way to his bedroom.

Avery kicked off her heels, shucked her skirt.

Jude pulled back to stare at her naked body. “Beautiful,” he
whispered.

Avery resisted the urge to laugh. She wasn’t beautiful, but
when he looked at her that way, she felt as if she was.

She wanted Jude to feel beautiful, too, because he was. So
beautiful. More beautiful than any man had a right to be.

With trembling fingers she undid his buttons, slid her hands
inside his pants and pushed them down his lean hips.

He lifted one foot, then the other to allow her to remove his
pants. Naked they stood before each other and stared.

A wave of awkwardness washed over Avery.

What was she doing?

“Don’t.”

Her gaze lifted to his. “What?”

“Whatever it is you’re thinking. Don’t.”

“I-I,” she closed her eyes. “I want you now.” Before logic set
in and started arguing all the reasons why this was a bad idea. Randi knew
where she was, approved even. Avery was true blue TGEA. She could sleep with a
mark and walk away.

She shouldn’t, but she could.

Jude picked up his pants long enough to grab a condom and
lowered her to the bed. Avery scooted back on the pillow and watched while Jude
rolled the rubber over himself.

Her eyes met his as he came to her, rested above her.

He took her mouth, worshipping her lips, her tongue. Avery burned
with need to be closer. What was he waiting for? They’d had four days of
foreplay. She wanted him inside her.
Now
.

Feeling him nudge her, she lifted her hips.

Jude thrust. Deep. All the way. To heaven.

Avery met him, enjoying the slap of his flesh against her. He
pounded her body hard, driving toward a goal that swirled to life within her
and trickled outward from her belly, building in heat and intensity.

He cursed, groaned and rammed hard, then collapsed.

His forehead dropped to roll back and forth over hers.

Avery held back a disappointed cry. Almost. Almost she’d came
with a man inside her. What was that old saying? Almost was but to fail?

She bit the inside of her lip, not wanting it to be over. Not
satisfied. Sure, it had been better than anything Scott ever did, but she’d
expected more. After all, Jude made her come through her blue jeans; she’d
expected great things with him inside her.

Great things that hadn’t happened.

“I’m sorry.”

She met his gaze. He looked sorry.

“I’ve never, well, you know, had this problem before. It’s been
so long, I couldn’t hold back.”

There was his answer to his questions regarding the night
before. Did he realize?

She’d given him an allergy pill, just in case his reaction was
really trying to come back. So she’d not felt free to act on his desire. Not
even when his dreams turned vivid, and he called out her name.

“It’s okay.”

“The hell it is.” He rolled over, removed the condom and tossed
it onto the open foil package on the night stand. “Give me a minute.”

Feeling more awkward than she could recall having ever felt, Avery
stared at the ceiling. What was she supposed to do, just lie here and wait for
him to recharge?

She’d been on the edge of something great when he’d come. Something
amazing. She wanted
amazing
.

“No,” she informed, rolling on top of him to stare down into
his startled eyes. “I’m not done yet.”

His look of surprise quickly morphed into one of amused desire.
“What is it you expect of me, Angel?”

“Make me come, Jude. I know you can and I want it. Don’t hold
back.”

He laughed. “You think I was holding back? You felt so good I
responded like a kid on his first go around.”

Avery frowned and squeezed his hips with her thighs. “Quit
talking and love me.”

He strained off the bed and kissed her. Avery met his kiss,
sighing with pleasure when he placed his hands on her hips and guided her onto
him.

Her eyes widened. He was still so…hard, big, aroused.

“A condom,” he said, reaching for another foil packet.

He felt so good inside her. So right. A perfect fit. She moved
back and forth, finding a rhythm that rubbed just right and rekindled that
magical heat. Rekindled the warmth and burst her insides into open flames.

“Oh,” she cried, riding the wave of her orgasm.

Jude grasped her hips and lifted her, guiding her movements
when she shuddered above him, keeping the fire stoked until she collapsed on
him.

“Yes,” she praised, pressing kisses to his cheek. “Yes, yes,
yes, that’s what I wanted.”

“Only guess what?” he breathed into her ear, his warm breath a caress
all its own. “I’m not done.”

Chapter Thirteen

Avery lay in the crook of Jude’s arms and knew exactly what her
friends meant about wanting to stand up and sing hallelujah. She wanted to
scream at the top of her lungs.

Jude was amazing. Okay, she’d gotten short changed the first
time, but oh my, had he made up for it since.

Up being the key word.

If she didn’t know better she’d swear a magic pill flowed
through his system.

That last time had been mind-numbing. Her brain had turned to
total mush and she was pretty sure she would have promised the moon had he
asked it of her.

“I think I’m falling in love with you.”

Jude’s words startled Avery to the point her blood froze in her
veins.

He couldn’t love her.

He was just saying it because of the amazing sex—-the utterly
amazing sex—-they’d just shared.

He rolled onto his side to look at her, but Avery didn’t budge,
just pretended to be asleep.

“I’ve never felt this way before. Like nothing else matters
except being with you.”

He probably said that to all the girls. That’s why women like
Mandy Sims and Sara Brown had trouble letting go. They believed his words of
love.

Good thing Avery didn’t.
 

She swallowed and opened her eyes. “You know nothing about me.”

“I know you have the most remarkable smile, you never bore me,
and when I look at you my heart beats so wild it bruises my ribcage.”

“That’s lust.”

“Is it?” He brushed his fingers over her lips. “I’ve been in
lust before, Angel. This is different.”

Angel. He didn’t even know her name.

“Different because you prematurely ejaculated?”

He winced.

Okay, so she was being defensive, but he deserved her cattiness.
How dare he spout words of love? No wonder women wanted revenge once he slipped
out of their life.

“You can lie there and analyze us all you want,” he said. “But there’s
something out of the ordinary going on here. I know you feel it, too.”

She scowled at his cockiness. “How would you know that?”

“It’s in the way you look at me.” He dropped a kiss onto the
tip of her nose. “The way you touch me.” A kiss on the corner of her mouth. “The
way you held on to me after we made love.”

“Sex,” she corrected. “We had sex.”

He shook his head. “We made love.”

Enough of this garbage. She didn’t need his false platitudes,
and he didn’t need to say them.

“I don’t love you, Jude.”

Her words didn’t faze him. “Yes, you do.”

Avery couldn’t believe his arrogance. Someone really should pop
his bubble. Wait, that was her job. To destroy Jude’s cockiness.

“No, I don’t.”

His eyes glittered with danger. He lowered his head to her
chest, pressing his ear against her heart. For a few pulse pounding moments he
listened. When he rose up and looked at her, he nodded, but this time without
smiling. “Yes, you do.”

Avery rolled her eyes and fought the urge to hit him. “You’re trying
to tell me you think I love you by listening to my heartbeat? That’s
ridiculous.”

“You should try it.”

She frowned. “Try what?”

“Listening to what your heart’s telling you.”

No, she couldn’t do that. The past couple of days her heart had
been saying some off-the-wall stuff. Things that might inflate that over-sized
ego of his even more.

“You’re insane.”

“Am I?”

“Yes.” She sat up and dizziness washed over her. She glanced at
the clock. Almost eleven and nothing to eat since the sandwich she’d picked at
while lunching with Randi. “No more of this nonsense talk. I’m hungry.”

“Again?” he teased, slipping back into playful mode as quickly
as he’d left it.

She glanced at him, grateful he didn’t persist on hanging onto
the previous topic. Because not for one minute did she buy that Jude loved her.

Of course, his loving her was what she’d set out to do. To make
him fall in love with her so she could walk away from him and break his heart.

Honestly, she’d not expected him to fall for her. Not really. Not
that he had, but that he would say he had tripped up her mind. Made her wonder
at the possibility of what if.

These days, men desired her, but they didn’t love her. Not
really. These days? Ha, when had a man ever loved her?

Scott had told her point blank that he liked screwing her, but
she’d never be good enough to marry.

Which was fine. Better than fine, because she’d done so much
better than if she’d settled for marriage. She had TGEA.

No man had ever said he loved her. Not ever.

Not until Jude.

Why did he have to go and make this even harder than evening
the score with him already was? Did he know what a fool he was playing her for?
Possibly, and that’s why he said such crazy things.

“For food,” she clarified a bit brusquely. “All this exercise
and no sustenance is catching up.”

He watched her beneath shaded eyes. “You want me to make you
something or you want to do delivery?”

Him make her something? First, he spouted words of love, now he
planned to cook for her? That she had to see.

“Let’s raid your kitchen and make do with whatever we can find.”

“Okay, but I have to warn you, I don’t eat in much.”

Why didn’t that surprise her?

* * *

The cold tile of Jude’s kitchen floor chilled his bare feet
while he dug through his refrigerator and cabinets looking for something fit to
feed an angel.

Rather than put on her office clothes, she’d opted to wear one
of his t-shirts—-a
well worn
Atlanta Braves one—-and
a pair of sweats with the drawstring pulled tied. Her make-up was a bit smudged
and her hair was mussed. Every time she caught him looking at her she’d give
him a “what” glare.

She’d never looked more beautiful.

Only a fool would look at her and not weaken with desire. Jude
wasn’t a fool.

She leaned against the counter and chewed on her bottom lip,
sending another glare his way when their eyes met.

Maybe he was a fool. Of all the women he’d ever been with, he
fell for the one who’d crawled from his bed while he slept. For the one who
admitted she just wanted him for sex. For the one who told him outright she
didn’t love him.

Pretty damn foolish.

So why did he keep having to wipe off his grin?

He hadn’t been looking for love, hadn’t wanted love, but now
that he was experiencing the emotion firsthand he found the euphoria damned
addictive.

His parents loved like that. If he’d thought about love Jude
would have admitted that he’d hoped to someday find something similar, but
some time
in the way off future rather than during his sexual
prime because he liked being single and playing the field.

He’d been a fool thinking he wanted to permanently remain
single and living the life of a playboy bachelor, though. Sex was sex and
making love was—-Jude grinned and fought the urge to whistle a tune.

“I can’t stand it
any more
,” she
announced, pushing off the counter. “Why do you keep smiling like that?”

He started to tell her, but she held up her hand.

“No more of that stupid crap about love.
Jeeze
,
surely you don’t go around thinking you fall in love with every woman you bed?”

Jude straightened from where he pulled a carton of eggs and a
half-eaten package of bacon from a refrigerator drawer.

Her gaze flickered over his abdomen visible through his opened
button-down shirt, quickly averting after pausing at where his top jean button
was undone at his waist.

He bit back one of the smiles that were obviously annoying her.
Hell, if he believed for one second that she didn’t return his feelings, he’d
be annoyed, too.

But he did believe.

Perhaps she didn’t realize how she felt yet or perhaps she did
and was afraid to admit to her feelings due to past hurts, but Angel loved him.

With time she’d come around.

He’d give her time.

“I find it amusing that I want to serve you a feast and am
stuck offering you an omelet, bacon, and cinnamon toast. Seems a bit cliché,
don’t you think?”

She regarded him suspiciously, eyed the food, then shrugged. “Actually,
it sounds delicious.”

His stomach growled in response, reminding him he’d skipped
lunch and burned a hell of a lot of calories in the past few hours.

He took a stack of bread and began slathering butter on one
side. “For the record, the answer to your question is no.”

She looked confused. “What question?”

“I’ve never told any woman I love her except for my mom,” he
admitted. “Not until tonight.”

She gulped. A panicky look filled her eyes. A look that said
she’d like nothing more than to run as far away as she could. Probably a look
similar to the one that had lit his eyes when Sara Brown started in on wanting
to have his babies.

Only this was different because Angela loved him. He knew she
did.

“You need me to help?” she asked, ignoring his comment and
pulling her panic under control except for scraping her toe across the tile in
a nervous gesture. Seeing her bright red toenail polish reminded him that he’d
kissed that foot, kissed every single inch of her body. Staked a claim, really.
Angel was his.

Or more accurately, he should say he was hers.

If she stayed in the kitchen he’d end up burning the food and
himself. Besides, he needed a couple of minutes to think. Something he couldn’t
do with her near and looking so sexy.

“Nah, go prop your feet up and rest.” He winked, determined not
to let her reticence get to him. “I want to save your energy for later.”

She met his gaze, but didn’t smile like he’d hoped for, just
nodded. “I need to make a phone call, anyway.”

A phone call? Jude frowned at her backside as she left the
kitchen. Who the hell would she be calling this late at night? And why?

As tempted as he was to eavesdrop, that wasn’t his style. He
wouldn’t start a relationship as important as this one by using subterfuge. Instead,
he pulled out a Teflon-coated skillet, dabbed some butter in the center, and
placed the cookware on the stove eye.

He peeled the slices of bacon apart and placed them in a
skillet of their own. He hadn’t asked her how she wanted her eggs. Omelet or
scrambled or maybe over easy?
 

He poked his head out the kitchen door in time to hear her say,
“Love you, too.”

That’s why he hadn’t wanted to eavesdrop. Because eavesdroppers
heard things they didn’t want to hear.

She glanced at him, realized he’d heard what she said. Guilt
blared from her face and that’s when the lighthearted sureness in him tilted.

He knew she loved him, but that didn’t mean she was free to
love him. What if there was someone else in her life? Someone she also loved?

The thought mind-boggled.

His gaze dropped to her bare left hand. It was impossible. No
way did his Angel belong to another man. Not when she so clearly belonged with
him and vice versa.

His gut clenched similar to how it had on Monday prior to his
visit to Dr. Reinhold’s.

“You need something?” she asked, when he just stood in the
doorway without speaking.

The truth. He needed the truth, but she was already running
scared. If he pressed her, she might run for real. He’d said he’d give her
time, so time he’d give.

“How do you want your egg?”

Her forehead crinkled. “I thought you were making omelets?”

“If that’s what you want.”

She swallowed, her gaze not quite meeting his. “An omelet would
be lovely.”

Lovely?

Jude nodded and stepped back into the kitchen before he made a
bigger ass of himself by demanding to know who she’d been talking to. If she
wanted him to know, she’d tell him.

Apparently, she didn’t want him to know.

Damn it.

Methodically, he prepared their food while his brain shot in a
thousand different directions. All thousand centering around the fact that
Angela Greene might belong to another man.

His heart said no, but his mind argued that it was possible. Women
cheated all the time. None with him that he was aware of, but it happened all
the time. Just look at Joy Long.

If he really believed Angela was married, what did that make
him? An adulterer?

The term left a bitter taste in his mouth that threatened to
kill his ravenous appetite.