Tanner's Scheme (4 page)

Her lips quirked wryly. “I think, Tanner, that you could acquire just about anything you wanted, if you wanted it bad enough.”

He frowned, his brow furrowing with a hint of frustration as his fingers tightened on her hips.

“You’re so confident of escaping Breed Law,” he said softly. “You should know better. Your father has headed the training branch of the Council for decades, and for the past ten years, we know you’ve been involved. Proving a definite isn’t all that hard to do.”

Breed Law. The statutes that were made into law years before gave the Breeds not just the right to govern themselves, but the right to seek vengeance. Not that vengeance was easily sought. It first had to be approved by the Breed Cabinet, comprised of twelve Breed elected members, it would then go to the Oversight Committee in D.C., which was comprised of eight humans and four Breeds.

So far, there had been only a few executions of high-level Council members, and many incarcerations. But the pressure against the Breed Cabinet as well as the Oversight Committee to execute those found guilty of the attempted slaughters of the Breeds was becoming overwhelming.

“So prove it.” She shrugged.

It would never happen. No one would dare betray her father in such a way, except her of course, and even if someone did, she had the agreement she had signed with Jonas years before.

It was too bad Jonas trusted no one at Sanctuary. Having a fallback position was always important. In this case, there was no safety net other than the place she had found to hide the agreement they signed. And until she knew for certain who her father’s spy was, then she could give her information to one person only.

“You could come clean.” He lowered his head further, his teeth rasping over her shoulder, followed by his tongue.

Scheme forced herself to breathe normally, and nearly failed. That should not be erotic. She shouldn’t be creaming helplessly in response to something so simple.

“I just showered,” she whispered at his ear. “I promise you, I’m very clean.”

He nipped her shoulder. The sensual little pain brought a gasp from her lips and sent weakness shuddering through her body.

“I smell you,” he growled then. “You’re wet. So wet the scent of your arousal is like a drug.”

Scheme tried to force herself to focus—she really did try. Her lashes fluttered against her cheeks, though, as his lips were suddenly on hers.

Sweet heaven. She hated kissing. She really did. But this kiss. Her hands tangled in his hair immediately, holding him to her as his lips slanted over hers and his tongue took immediate possession of her mouth. This kiss, hot, blistering with sexual intent and lustful demand, literally swept through her senses.

His arms wrapped around her as he dragged her from the rail only to turn and press her into the wall of the balcony. He surrounded her. He was around her, inside her, heating her, warming her. Sending shards of brilliant heat to explode around her clitoris as her hips arched against him.

Damn, he needed to bottle this kiss. He could make a fortune.

One big hand moved to tangle in her hair, pulling at it, causing her scalp to sting erotically as he pulled her head back, breaking the kiss before his lips singed her neck.

Scheme’s eyes drifted open, not that she could see much; her vision was hazy, dazed.

Lifting to the tips of her toes, she sought to push the aching flesh between her thighs against the stiff length of his erection beneath his slacks.

Oh, that was good. A whispering moan fell from her lips as she finally managed to rub the aching center of her body against him.

Then his hips thrust back to her, one hand gripping her ass to lift her.

“Put your legs around my waist,” he panted at her ear, doing that growly thing again. It made her want to lick his lips, to feel the vibration of it against her own.

Her legs moved around his waist, and then she saw stars.

Oh my. This was dangerous. She whimpered—and she never whimpered—when his cock pressed fully against her thighs and his hips rotated against her.

“I’ve been dying to shove my dick inside you.” Explicit. He did not mince words in the slightest.

“Oh geez, you’re such a romantic,” she gasped, in no way turned off by the dangerously erotic statement.

“Did you want romance?” He nipped the line of her jaw. “Pretty lies to soften this?”

This
being his teeth raking over her desperate nipple above the velvet before he drew the hard point, material and all, into his mouth.

The tight, muffled scream that left her lips shocked her. Oh shit. She was going to orgasm. Right here, pressed against the wall, from nothing but his teeth working the tight bud of her nipple.

And she wasn’t even embarrassed.

Then he purred.

CHAPTER 3

She orgasmed.

Tanner felt it ripple through her, felt her breath catch and smelled the excitement and shock that poured from every pore of her body.

Son of a bitch. She was hotter than dynamite. The smell of her need clouded his senses; the sweetness of the syrup he knew gathered between her thighs nearly made him drunk from the smell alone.

“Naughty, naughty Schemer.” He pressed his dick tighter against her pussy, feeling the heat and wild wetness gathering there.

“Don’t let it go to your head,” she panted. “Been a while.”

And she was lying. Unlike other liars, the scent of her little deceit wasn’t nauseating. It was soft, with a hint of mockery and a soft undercurrent of surprise. He liked the smell of her lies. That didn’t mean he was going to let her get away with it.

“Liar,” he accused her softly.

“We won’t go there.” Her head fell back against the rough wall behind her as her eyes glittered behind her lashes.

“Where do you want to go then?” he asked her instead, rolling his hips against her heated pussy.

“Where you’re about ten feet away from me.”

She flexed, her knees tightening on his hips as though to hold him in place.

“Ten feet?” he mused. “It’s going to be damned hard to turn that little ripple of release into a burning orgasm that far away, pretty girl. You sure that’s what you want?”

He could smell her need for more. It was burning inside her, taunting both of them with a hunger he could barely resist.

“It would be a very good idea.” She licked her lips. He wanted to lick them.

Before he could cover them again, she was pushing at his shoulders, her legs dropping from his hips. He was a fool to let her go. Giving her time to rebuild her defenses against him wasn’t a good idea. But the challenge it presented called to him, had him smiling in anticipation as he released her.

“Impressive.” She smoothed her hands over the soft velvet top before adjusting the hem and turning to stalk back into the room. “You can leave now.”

He chuckled at that. “I don’t think so.”

Her hair whirled around her like a silken cape, thick, falling nearly to her hips as her eyes sparkled back at him in anger and desire.

“Play time is over, Bengal.”

Rather than arguing with her, he closed the balcony door and pulled the curtains together.

“Play time has only begun.”

Turning back to her, Tanner hid his smile as he sensed the sudden insecurity running through her. Scheme was said to be without vulnerabilities, without weaknesses. He had always known better. What he knew about her and what he sensed from her wasn’t meshing. Until it did, there wasn’t a chance in hell he was letting her go.

For years he had plotted to kidnap Tallant’s little darling. First, because he wanted Tallant to suffer. Now, he didn’t give a fuck what the general felt; he wanted the woman. The secrets. And now he wanted the hot kisses and shuddering releases. And until now, Jonas had always managed to foil his plans for one reason or another. Tonight, he would die before he released her.

And that thought brought a shadow of discomfort. Nothing should be this imperative. He shouldn’t need any woman this desperately.

He checked his tongue again. Nope, no swollen glands. It might not be mating time, but it was definitely play time. And Tanner did like to play.

Her lips parted, her lashes drifting over her eyes as he stalked toward her, moving slowly around her.

“Tanner.”

He could hear the warning in her voice, but he also heard the excitement. And that was good. Real good. Because the next time that sweet pussy clenched in climax, he intended to have his dick buried so deep inside it that he felt every luscious ripple.

“I smell you.” He nipped her ear, his hands tightening on her waist as he pushed her against the wall.

“I said no,” she panted.

“No, you didn’t.” He chuckled against her neck. “You’re not a coward, Schemer. Or are you?”

His fingers spread open just below her breasts before sliding down slowly, burrowing beneath the soft elastic at her hips.

Her fingers curled against the wall as she rolled her forehead against it with a moan.

“I think I hate you.”

“That’s not hatred, that’s hunger. Admit it, you’re as hot for me right now as I’m hard for you.” He pressed his erection against her ass.

Damn, he loved that curvy, rounded ass. A bubble butt. It lifted against him, grinding against his cock as his fingers slid into soft, drenched curls.

“Stay put.” He held her to the wall as she tried to turn. “I just want to touch you.”

If she turned to him, he was going to fuck her where she stood.

“This is insane.” Her cheek pressed to the wall now, her lashes lowering over her flushed cheeks.

“Just let me feel,” he crooned, pressing a kiss to her cheek, holding her steady as his fingers grazed her swollen clit.

It was still sensitive. The light orgasm moments before had affected only that tight little bud. He could feel the needy clenching of her pussy even now as his fingers rimmed the small opening.

“Do you want me?” he whispered at the corner of her lips. “Tell me, Scheme, do you want my fingers inside you?”

“I want…” She bit her lower lip, a grimace crossing her expression as her breath caught.

“What do you want?”

She shook her head.

“Tell me, pretty girl.” He needed the words. Needed them with a ferocity he couldn’t have imagined before.

“I want you. To fuck me.”

He caught her as she tried to turn, held her steady, and thrust two fingers into a silky heat so tight, so fucking incredible, he nearly came in his pants.

———

Scheme went on her tiptoes, her head slamming back against his shoulder as her eyes burst open, colors and heat shimmering in front of her gaze as he filled her.

And he stroked.

She tried not to scream, not to beg. Her thighs clamped on his hand, holding him in place, his fingers inside her, his palm cupping her, rasping her clit.

“There, pretty girl.” That growly thing again.

She shuddered, pleasure swamping her as a whimper left her throat.

“Come for me now,” he purred. “All over my hand, Scheme. Come for me.”

Wicked, carnal, his fingers reached deeper inside her, finding a nerve ending she didn’t know she possessed, stroked, thrust and sent her senses careening.

She came with a cry. She never cried from something so tame as this. She cried in arousal when being spanked. She cried at the carnality of anal sex, but rarely, rarely in orgasm.

This one shook her. There was nothing forbidden in the act. Nothing to tempt the most depraved senses. But it rocked through her until she was gasping, whimpering, her nails biting into the arm crossed beneath her breasts, holding her against him.

And she wanted more.

“Enough.” She was surprised when he allowed her to push away from him, his fingers sliding slowly from the clenching depths of her pussy, stroking over her clit before he let her jerk his hand from her pants and stumble away.

“You need to leave. Now.” Her voice quavered. She could feel her nostrils flaring, the tight jerk of her lips as she fought to push back needs she had never known before.

Sex was a sport. A hobby. A manipulation. External pleasure was all she desired. A good hard orgasm was all she needed. She didn’t need
this
, this clawing desperation she could feel building inside her.

Then she shook, shuddered as he brought his still-damp fingers to his mouth and licked. His expression tightening, gold eyes gleaming with a brilliant, fierce hunger.

“You taste like sunshine,” he rasped, clearly enjoying the taste of her, relishing it. God, had any man ever done such a thing?

“It’s the soap,” she snarled. She had to fist her hands at her sides to keep from reaching for him. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t handle it. Not now.

His lips curled in satisfaction. “It’s sweet, hot pussy. I want my lips there next, Scheme. I want to go down on you so bad my teeth ache.”

Her knees went weak.

“Stop that,” she hissed, hating the hunger on his face, the open, wicked gleam in his eyes. This wasn’t a game anymore. For the first time in her life something inside was responding, a part of herself she kept hidden, even from herself. “I want you to leave, Tanner.”

“It’s not going to happen, pretty girl.”

“Then I’ll call Security.” Yeah, right, she was going to let the tabloids have this one.

“No, you won’t.” He was openly, clearly laughing at her. “Daddy might not be pleased that you’re cavorting with Breeds, sweetheart.”

No shit. If her head weren’t already on the chopping block here, it would be then.

She had opened her lips to at least try to bluff her way out of this one, when a sharp knock sounded on the door. Her eyes widened as alarm skittered through her. Dammit.

———

Tanner winked. Grabbing his jacket from the couch, he pointed to the bathroom. There, he slipped inside, leaving the door carefully cracked as he pulled the silencer-equipped handgun from the inside pocket of the jacket.

He didn’t have a good feeling about this. He could feel something odd, smell it—cold, yet tinged with regret.

“Chaz.” There was a note of fear in her voice, almost undetectable except for the scent of it suddenly whipping in the air.