The Runner's Enticement (Men of Circumstance Book 2) (12 page)

Spurred by her sensual kiss, he grasped her hips and pulled her closer, his cock already at full attention, on the brink of exploding like a randy youth at the feel of her body close to his.

“You are so sweet,” he murmured against her lips. “One day I’m going to taste all of you.” He refused to think of what his words meant. Of what his desire-filled mind was planning. Their time together was only supposed to be about tonight. There wouldn’t be another interlude. He had no place in her life.

Anna’s wandering hand brought him to some semblance of sense. While he’d been contemplating her honeyed taste, she’d managed to slide her fingers between their bodies and was a touch away from encircling his cock. Aware he’d lose control the moment she touched him, he navigated her onto her back.

Settled between her thighs with the tip of his shaft inches from heaven, he focused on her dreamy gaze, peering at him. Rocked by the sight, he slipped his hand over her mound. Recalling how amazing she’d felt, he glided a finger into her tight, wet heat.

Her back arched from the bed. “Nate, I need more.”

Preparing her for his size, he brought another finger into play and nearly died at how easily her body accepted him. He needed to have her now.

“I’ll take this as carefully as I can but it might hurt at first.” He’d never been with a virgin so he could only assume the pain she’d endure, and hope he didn’t do anything to taint the moment for her.

The faith shining in her eyes speared him before she answered, “I trust you.”

Now
he
was nervous. He knew the moment would be amazing for him, her tight wetness guaranteed it. But for once in his life, he wasn’t concerned with his pleasure. He
needed
everything to be perfect for Anna.

Intent on just that, he drew the rigid peak of her breast into his mouth while he continued to stroke her.

“Please, Nate. Now.”

The longing woven through her words broke his resolve. Moving fully over her body, he kissed her lips as the head of his cock brushed against her entrance. He nearly wept at the sensation. Everything about her was perfection. Their eyes connected as he slowly took her, each time withdrawing slightly before working himself deeper.

“Anna,” he whispered as he reached her maidenhead. Fixated on her turquoise eyes, he pushed through the barrier, eliciting a hiss from her throat. He kissed her mouth tenderly, holding still. “I’m sorry.”

Heartbeats passed before her lips came alive beneath his, all the encouragement he needed. When her hips met his every thrust, he wanted to shout his gratitude.

He groaned, “You are perfect. Don’t stop.”

Surrendering, he pressed his cheek alongside hers as he lost himself in her body. She clawed at his back, trying to clutch him closer. Reining in his release, he dragged his mouth over the curve between her shoulder and neck and gave a gentle bite, quickly soothing it with the pressure of his mouth.

“Yes. Oh, Nate, yes.”

He sucked harder and thrust deeper right as her orgasm clenched her body around his cock and sent him over the edge.

Their bodies stilled.

The sweat on his back started to cool before he recognized his blunder. He’d released his seed in her. Buried in her warmth, he failed to dredge up the proper amount of guilt at the possible repercussions.

Instead, he focused on Anna.

His body remained poised above hers, and he felt her fingers sketch tiny patterns over his back. Intermittent sighs brushed against his hair.

Preparing to relieve her of his weight, he started to push up on his arms when she prevented his departure.

“Just a moment longer.”

He chuckled. “I’m going to crush you.”

Her light laugh joined his. “If you didn’t manage to squash me during all that, I doubt another minute or two will bring my demise.”

Enjoying the feel of her delicate curves beneath him, he didn’t argue. Not when it allowed him time to savor her.

When her fingers finally slowed, he skimmed his lips over hers before slipping from the bed. Knowing what needed to be done next might be uncomfortable for her, Nate quietly retrieved a cloth and dipped it into the basin of water at her washstand.

Her eyes steady on him when he returned to the bed, he sat next to her and softly asked, “May I?”

Without speaking, she slowly opened her legs. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d attended to one of his partners with such care. Then again, never before had he deflowered a lady. Something about the act of cleansing her was more intimate than the act of love itself.

The task completed, he laid the cloth in the basin and returned to her side. Once in bed, he tugged the blankets over their naked bodies and pulled her against his side. Through it all, she remained silent. He didn’t need her words as she nestled close and rested her head on his chest.

As perfect as she felt, he couldn’t ignore one small, but important fact. The night hadn’t gone as he’d intended.

Even with her softness molded against him, his body refused to relax. He’d ruined the daughter of an earl. Honor demanded he right the situation. Marriage to the bastard brother of a duke was no future for a lady, even if Anna would have him.

Hell, half the time she didn’t even like him.

Her breathing slowed, indicating she’d fallen asleep. Unready to face the situation or the possible regret in her eyes, he took a page from her book and decided to escape while he could. It was time he prioritized and finished what Lawson had sent him to do.

Without waking her, Nate slipped from the bed. As she snuggled into the pillow he’d vacated, a sharp stab of longing slammed in to his chest. At one time, a life with someone like Anna was all he’d wanted. Before life had taught him he had little to offer as the by-blow of the sixth Duke of Wesbrook.

He didn’t want just
any
woman. He wanted Anna. She might be a lofty society miss but he’d also witnessed how she cared for her students, her dedication to the school, and her patience with her father. Combined with how her delectable body stirred his loins, he knew he’d found something incredible.

Dressed, he stood by the bed, regret pulsing through him. Not for the night of loving her body. For the future he could never give her.

More determined than ever to finish the case so he could return to the life he wasn’t sure he wanted anymore, Nate extinguished the candle and slipped from her room.

Chapter 22

It was mid-afternoon before Anna realized their roles had reversed. Nate had become the elusive one. Every day, without fail, she hadn’t been able to step sideways without colliding with him. Today, the day after their lovemaking, Nate had finally done what she’d wanted.

He’d made himself scarce.

Only she wasn’t sure she desired his absence any longer.

Anna tossed the school ledger she’d been unsuccessfully attempting to study back into her secretary.

“Foolish men and foolish wandering feelings,” she muttered to herself.

Her mind had been absorbed by thoughts of Nate, and the wonderfully wicked things he’d done to her. To the point she couldn’t focus on Mr. Rollins and his unreasonable demand.

It had to stop. Especially since Nate and their night together was something she didn’t know how to qualify. And when she tried not to picture him in all his naked glory, sprawled in her bed, she knew it was time to vacate her bedchamber.

Needing to find something to quiet Mr. Rollins, Anna had elected to forego traveling to the school. It was too late to change her decision when, without the distraction of the students, her mind had betrayed her and kept Nate firmly in her thoughts.

Without contemplating her destination, Anna descended the stairs and headed straight to her father’s collection. Personal conflict aside, if she was going to save the school—and herself—she needed to do what had to be done.

If she had any sense left, she would consider Nate’s absence a blessing. Without him hovering, she might have a chance of actually meeting Mr. Rollins’ order.

At the sight of her father sitting behind his desk, carefully cleaning a statue, pain grabbed hold of her heart. How could she continue to do this to him? If only she could go back to the beginning and find a different way to fund the changes at the school.

But regret wouldn’t change the situation. She was already beholden to Mr. Rollins and if she stopped now, he would not only expose her deceit, he would take her school.

Forcing a smile on her face, Anna crossed the room to stand before the desk. “Hello, Papa.”

Easy affection shone from his eyes when he lifted his head.
I’m a wretched human being.

“Annabel, dear. I’m glad you are here. I need your opinion.” He turned the statue around so she could view the front. “Do you think this would be fitting for the dining room? Such a striking piece should be on display.”

She couldn’t contain her genuine smile. At least he hadn’t asked for her professional opinion on the rather ugly statue of a long dead Egyptian ruler.

“I’m sure the dining room will be perfect.”

He stood so fast his chair wobbled on two legs before righting itself. “I knew you would agree.”

Statue in hand, he didn’t pause on his way out the door. Instead of being insulted by his wordless departure, his simple easygoing nature warmed her the same time she cursed herself for being the eventual reason he would come to hate her.

A nervous lump lodged in her throat as Anna forced herself to accept the opportunity presented. With no time to study each item, she quickly found a trinket she could hide in the folds of her skirt, hoping it would be enough to pay off Mr. Rollins’ obvious extortion.

Despair at what she’d lowered herself to burned her eyes. Through unshed tears, she ran blindly from the room. She didn’t make it two steps past the door before she plowed into a wall of muscle. Muscles each of her fingers had traced hours before.

“Steady, princess.”

Nate caught her upper arms and righted her. Instead of removing his hands, his fingers tightened when he noticed the misery written on her face.

“Anna? What is it? What happened?”

His concern—not to mention the weight of the stolen relic still in her hand—almost undid her. All she wanted was to throw herself in his arms and have him make it all go away.

Except that would never happen. She couldn’t forget Nate was a Runner. The very person who
couldn’t
help her out of the predicament she’d created.

Blinking the tears away and plastering what she hoped resembled a smile on her face, she freed herself from his hold and answered, “Oh, it is nothing. I simply stubbed my toe on the bottom of a chair. I really need to watch where I’m going.”

His eyes narrowed, his disbelief evident. “Where were you headed in such a hurry, and injured as well, I might add?”

She tucked her hand, holding the hidden object, further into her skirt. If pressed, she could probably think of a plausible excuse as to why she had it, but if he became aware of the item, she’d have to return it. She didn’t have the time to pilfer something else.

“If you must know, unwilling to be found crying over my bruised toe, I was in a hurry to return to my room so I could wallow in private.”

His scrutiny eased, though she doubted he trusted her story. Without outright calling her a liar, there wasn’t much he could do about it. By the look on his face, he knew it.

Her tears under control and his questioning exhausted, the air around them shifted. It seemed their nightly deed now stood between them. She recognized the very moment his thoughts had returned to their lovemaking. The blue of his eyes deepened and a muscle in his jaw flexed.

His reaction wasn’t what startled her. It was
hers
. Of its own will, her body swayed toward him. She had to fight the urge to move closer.

Last night may have taught her feelings she thought forever lost to her, but apparently it hadn’t satisfied her curiosity. Every inch of her—outside of her common sense—still wanted him. If only her body would listen to reason and understand.

What had happened could never happen again.

Nate was a very real threat to her future. Anna wasn’t sure he even
liked
her all that much. She was hardly her best with him. Discounting when her naked body was writhing against his and he had her moaning with pleasure, getting close to him was too dangerous.

He seemed to come to the same conclusion as his eyes cleared and he took a step back. “You didn’t go to the school today.”

Considering he’d never cared for her trips to the school, she couldn’t fathom why he’d point out the obvious. “I had other things to attend to,” she replied.

Such as saving myself from a villainous crook I chose to do business with. Oh, and not to mention, trying to understand exactly how I ended up in bed with you, then wished for nothing more than to return.

The last point twisted her insides . . . and not in an unwanted way. Nate had always stirred her emotions. Today the ones he churned up the most centered on recreating the pleasure he’d taught her.

“We still need to talk.”

She froze at his command. She couldn’t talk to him about the time spent in his arms. Mostly because she had no valid explanation. Not one she’d be willing to give him anyway. There could be nothing worse.

“You owe me some answers. Don’t think you can evade them this time.”

She’d been wrong. There was something worse. She should have known better. He’d returned his attention to the thefts. The dull corner of the relic she’d just
borrowed
from her father, digging into her palm, reinforced how dire the situation was.

There would be no way to escape him. As much as she’d enjoyed their intimacy and secretly craved more, she didn’t need him reappearing in her room uninvited. There she had no power to resist him . . . and resist him she must.

His steady gaze remained on her and there was no mistaking his thoughts. He expected her to elude him again.

As much as she desired to, she couldn’t avoid him forever. It was time to get it over with. As soon as she unburdened herself of the evidence in her hand.

“Very well. Allow for me to attend to my throbbing toe and then I shall answer your questions. Meet me on the south lawn under the largest tree in an hour.”

His eyes narrowed, hiding the light blue. She couldn’t decipher if it was in response to her continued lie about her injury, or if he didn’t believe she was ready to answer his questions.

Truly, she couldn’t fault him. At times, the truth was murky even for her.

He stalked closer. “This had better not be a trick, Anna. Need I remind you I know where to locate you?”

Her body tingled at the heated promise of his words. She fought the urge to provoke him to see where it would lead. As much as she wanted to explore these emotions further, until she could make sense of everything, formality would have to be paramount with Nate.

That didn’t mean she’d relent. “I will be there. If not, you’ll just have to employ your so-called Runner skills and find me.”

With her parting shot she turned, and with a slight limp to simulate her aforementioned wounded toe, retreated to her room.