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Hope
Hope found herself unable to breathe as she met Danny’s gaze and the fire that burned in those hazel depths. His eyes held so much emotion, so much desire. It felt so good to finally be able to connect to him like this. Cripes, he could probably make her come just from sitting there and staring at her. The muscles of his forearms flexed as he placed his hands on either side of her and leaned closer. The warm scent of his cologne filled her senses and she breathed deep.
“Do you want me to touch you?”
Her body burst into flames and the needy ache between her legs doubled. “Yes.”
“Then put your hands on the counter, and don’t move them until I tell you to.”
She blinked in surprise and studied his face. He was serious. Savageness had entered his expression, a chill so cold it burned. She could still see echoes of the young man she knew and her heart trusted him completely.
Always had, always would.
“Dr. Walker,” he said in a low tone. “Either you put your hands on the counter or we end this right here, right now.”
This new, more dominant side of Danny was something she hadn’t experienced before, but she rather liked it. Anything was better than the wall he kept trying to build between them. If getting through to his heart meant following his rules, so be it.
Besides, if she didn’t come soon she’d be forced to lock herself in the bathroom with her vibrator for a couple days. The cool, smooth granite met her palms as she leaned back on her hands. The position thrust her breasts out and she liked how his gaze locked on her stiff nipples.
“Open your legs.”
His voice had deepened and he licked his lower lip again, brushing the neat goatee. Without a doubt, he was the most sinfully sexual man she’d ever met.
“Wider.”
She started to frown, and he arched an eyebrow. There was a definite challenge in his eyes as he crossed his arms, the muscles of his biceps bulging. Her hips moved easily as she spread her legs as far as she could. He lowered his hand to his pants and rearranged his erection, giving her a glimpse of its girth. An almost dizzying wave of excitement merged with her desire. He was really here and he was going to touch her, not in her dreams, not in her fantasies, but really, truly here.
He moved forward and she tensed in anticipation, aching for his touch. To her surprise he placed an almost chaste kiss on her lips before whispering, “I cannot wait to taste the sweetest pussy in the world again.”
Embarrassment mixed with arousal as he crouched before her. The first touch of his mouth against her cloth-covered sex had her crying out and almost slipping to her elbows.
“Easy,” he murmured and kissed her inner thigh.
She tried to wiggle her hips to get his mouth where she wanted it, but he laughed and pulled away.
“Stay still. Let me enjoy you.” He nibbled his way down her thigh as he slowly removed her pants, one leg at a time.
Well, she wasn’t going to argue with him, especially not when the pants were gone and she now sat on the counter in her thong.
“Sweet Jesus,” he said as he held her legs open and stared at her from head to feet. “You have the most amazing body I’ve ever seen.”
She flushed and went to reach out to touch him, and he looked up and frowned. “Hands on the countertop, Dr. Walker.” A low bass tone had entered his voice, turning it almost into a growl.
So fucking sexy.
He murmured something against her leg and placed a soft kiss on the inside of her thighs right above her knees. The sensation of his smooth shaved head brushing against her was an erotic thrill, but nothing compared to that little bit of facial hair tickling her skin. The gentle glide of his lips working steadily upwards at a slow, torturous pace had her squirming before he came anywhere near her soaking wet thong.
His nostrils flared as he took a deep breath before sliding his tongue beneath the edge of her yellow panties, caressing the swollen flesh barely hidden behind the cloth. Using the tip of his nose he nudged the edge of her thong over and sat back on his heels in surprise.
“Well, that’s new.”
“What?” Her voice came out thick with desire. She’d gotten waxed last week so everything was neat and clean down there. She struggled to clear her head enough to think, something that became impossible when he slowly, gently lifted the small gold hoop piercing the hood of her clitoris. “Oh, that. Got it while I was in college.” She shifted her hips and tried to get him back down to business.
He grinned up at her and gave the hoop a gentle tug, pulling on her clit and eliciting a deep moan in response. “Just when I thought your pussy couldn’t get any prettier.” The stiff hair of his goatee brushed over the bare lips of her labia as he whispered against her moist flesh. “So damn beautiful.”
“Danny...”
His placed his hands on either side of her aching sex as if framing it. “You won’t rush me, not with this.” He leaned closer and worried the little gold hoop with his tongue. His next words were spoken so quietly she didn’t think he intended her to hear them. “I’ve missed you so much.”
She wanted to tell him how she felt, how she’d been heartbroken when she received his message that he blamed her for what happened and never wanted to see her again. She wanted to shake him and demand to know why he’d gone away where she couldn’t find him. Why he’d stopped loving her. Hurt, joy, pain, and pleasure clouded her brain until she fairly shook with emotion.
“Let me take care of you,” he whispered and laved her pussy with a long lick from the bottom all the way to the top.
All she could manage was an inarticulate sound of need. He explored her sex, kissing and sucking on her as if he was kissing her mouth, licking with hungry growls of his own. Then he zeroed in on her clit and everything else, all her worries, all her heartache, were washed away in bliss.
Unlike most men, Danny kept up a steady rhythm with his tongue. He’d lick one side or her swollen bud, then the other, each pass of his mouth tightening things low in her body. The ring seemed to fascinate him and he suckled on it, hard. Her whole body arched and her butt left the counter as she cried out her pleasure. He teased the entrance to her sheath with one finger, barely entering her and pressing down, giving her the oddest feeling of being filled and yet still achingly empty. A second finger joined the first and he thrust them into her, earning another passion-filled cry.
The combination of his steady licks on her painfully erect clit and the stroke of his fingers inside of her pushed her ruthlessly towards her orgasm. Unable to help herself, she hooked her legs over his shoulders and used her heels to hold onto him. Hovering on the edge of her release she became wanton, abandoning herself to the pleasure of his touch, reveling in the fact that this was Danny, her Danny Boy, doing this to her.
He hooked his fingers and rubbed the dense nerves of her g-spot. A quiver started in the pit of her stomach, her muscles clenching harder and harder until she shook. With a low groan he suckled directly on her clit and she exploded.
The incredibly intense orgasm filled her with such pleasure, such joy that she couldn’t help but scream out her release. Her body gripped his fingers, squeezing hard with each contraction. Danny continued to tease her, to place gentle licks along the edges of her labia. When the last wave of pleasure swept through her she felt almost giddy with happiness. The intense rush of hormones from her orgasm blanketed her in a warm cocoon, enhanced by the man slowly removing his fingers from inside of her. With a low murmur he pulled her thong back into place and gave her pussy a soft pat.
He stood up with a very satisfied smile and placed one hand on her lower back, supporting her. “You can move your hands now.”
She giggled and lay her head against his chest, wrapping her shaking arms around him. His heart thundered against her ear and she realized that while she was as satisfied as a woman could be without having died and gone to heaven, his cock was a steel bar between her thighs. With a wiggle of her hips she scooted forward a bit and pressed her still tender core against him, earning a groan of her own. “I’ve missed you so much.”
He froze against her, his arms tightening briefly before he released and stepping away. Wiping at his mouth, he shook his head and avoided her gaze. “I might have thought about you a time or two.”
“Did you ever try to find me?”
He stiffened, but held her closer. “I did once. Your dad told me you were married and to leave you the hell alone.”
All of her post-orgasm pleasure died as hurt filled its place. “He what?”
“Hope, I don’t really want to talk with you about this right now.”
He moved to step away but she hooked her legs around his waist. “Are you saying you tried to see me after I got out of the hospital?”
“Yeah. A few years later I came back when I was on leave from boot camp. I was hoping you would have forgiven me by then.” His hands dug into her waist. “Your dad answered the door and told me you were getting married to a wonderful young man you’d met at college.”
Something inside of her snapped and she shoved at Danny, suddenly finding his presence suffocating. “Why did he do that! God, when I think about it now I feel so stupid for believing him. I knew that you would never do that to me.” She let out a shuddering breath and said in a low whisper, “I really hate him right now.”
“Hey, no, you don’t mean that.” He tried to get her to look at him but she turned away. Then he gripped her by the back of the neck with his big hand, securing her like an errant puppy. “Hope, I’m begging you, don’t let this ruin your relationship with your dad. Thanks to my grandparents and extended family I finally know what it’s like to have that kind of love.”
“But he hurt me so much.” Sorrow choked off her voice.
“I know, baby.”
The fight left her as quickly as it had come and she placed her hand over his on the back of her neck. When he tugged her closer, she gladly closed the distance between them. This kiss was something she’d always dreamed of. His lips were so incredibly soft and giving, yet firm at the same time. She could taste herself on his tongue and a primal part of her loved it.
He kissed so gently it felt almost reverent. She never would have thought a kiss could be almost spiritual, but this one was. It felt like her whole body opened to receive him, to drink in his warmth and fill her soul with him. When his tongue traced the seam of her lips she groaned and scooted closer, undulating her hips against his still stiff dick. They both groaned and a hard shudder worked through his heavily muscled frame.
A strange male voice came from the front of the house, echoing down the hallway from the foyer to the kitchen. “Knock, knock. Escobar? You in here?”
She let out a yelp of surprise and Danny swore under his breath. “Boden’s here. Hurry, let’s get you off the counter and put your pants on.”
“Oh, shit.”
“Escobar? Where you at, man?”
The voice sounded closer now and she scrambled off the counter, frantically trying to find her pants. It was Boden, from the Agency. He’d met her briefly yesterday when she had her preliminary interview. If he saw her bare-assed except for her tiny, fuck-me-now-Danny thong, she would die. Thankfully, the large granite island in the middle of the kitchen blocked her, and Danny quickly moved to stand beside her as she struggled to pull the legs of her pajama pants out of the tangled wad they were in. She hadn’t worn a bra when she came down, part of her plan to seduce Danny, and now she wished she had a jacket or something to put over her breasts.
“One second,” Danny yelled out and shot her a panicked look.
She tried to shove her feet into her pants, but in her rushed state she somehow ended up trying to put both of her legs into the same side.
Boden’s voice filled the kitchen. “Escobar, are you okay? I rang the bell a couple times. Didn’t you hear me? Where is Dr. Walker?”
She wasn’t sure, but she swore she could hear an undertone of laughter in his deep voice.
Oh God, please, please, please say he didn’t hear me!
Giving up on her pants, she stood up, praying the island and her shirt hid her from the other man’s line of site. She let out a silent whistle as she caught a glimpse of the man standing on the other side. Tall, with dark blond hair pulled back into a braid, he reminded her instantly of a Viking raider. A very hot, very sexy Viking raider dressed in a black suit that brought out his tan. She had no idea where Milton found his men, but if Danny and Boden were any indication he could easily open up a male modeling agency if the protection business didn’t pan out.
He’d placed grocery bags with the items for Slasher on the counter. His ice blue eyes sparkled but he gave her a completely polite smile. “Dr. Walker, there you are.”
“I dropped my earring,” she said and plastered a grin on her face. The smile he gave her would have been enough to send a little tingle through her body if she hadn’t been so enthralled by Danny who made a choked noise that sounded suspiciously like a smothered laugh. She glared at him and he winked.
Boden strolled around the granite island and she tried to walk away nonchalantly. Danny quickly moved around to Boden and picked up a bag of kitty litter and shoved it onto his arms. “Follow me. We need to get that cat set up ASAP before he shits all over the laundry room.”
She noticed a scar bisecting Boden’s lower lip as he smiled wider. “What’s the rush? I thought you might want to introduce me to our client. After all, I’m your backup.”
Even with her dark skin tone, she was sure Boden could see the blush burning her face. “Nice to meet you. Uh, Dan...I mean Escobar is right. You better get that stuff in there. Slasher’s had a plate of grilled chicken Escobar made him.”
Boden laughed and shook his head, the edge of his long braid flipping over his shoulder. “You grilled chicken for the cat, Danny?”
Danny practically shoved him towards the closed door to the laundry room. “Shut up. It’s easier to explain after you meet the beast in question.”
She kept a fake, polite smile plastered on her face but she didn’t think it fooled anyone. “I need to find that earring. Just don’t get too close to him and you should be okay.”
The moment the door to the laundry room opened, both men yelled as Slasher no doubt lunged at them. She dropped behind the island and pulled her pants on, not caring if they were on inside out as long as she was no longer standing around in her underwear in a kitchen that smelled like her arousal.
“Watch out!” Danny hollered a second before Slasher’s hiss sliced through the air like a broken water heater.
She sprinted across the kitchen, slid through the door, forgetting that she wore socks and barreled into Danny’s back.
“Don’t move!” she shouted and pushed her way past the men.
“Roger that,” Boden said in a low voice. He held his hand to his chest and five thin red lines showed he’d already made the mistake of getting too close. Another set of lines sliced across his shirt and she winced at the sight of blood welling in his cuts. But, before she could tend to Boden, she needed to take care of her totally panicked, very angry cat.
Slasher stood in the middle of the counter, a low, ugly growl coming from his half-open mouth. His fur had puffed out, making him look twice as big as usual. But for all his snarling he was shaking with fear. She moved slowly and stood in front of the men. The cat hissed and swiped at the air in front of her. Danny tried to pull her back but she shook his hand off her shoulder. Leaning down slightly, she blew gently in the cat’s face. He immediately settled down and made a plaintive meow that broke her heart.
“Easy there, baby,” she said in a low, soothing voice. “I know this is a weird place, and these two gorillas behind me would scare anyone, but it’s going to be okay.” She glanced over her shoulder, “Could one of you put the litter box down and fill it up please.”
“Got it,” Danny said in an equally low voice.
She ran her hand along her cat’s cheeks, pausing to scratch the stump of his ear. “I’m so sorry you got scratched, Boden.”
“No worries. ‘Tis nothing but a flesh wound.”
She grinned at his Monty Python reference and stroked her hand down the cat’s back. “Slasher was horribly abused before I got him. I think it was by men because he isn’t this way around women, only guys.”
“Should have taken your hair down before you came in,” Danny said as he set a metal bowl on top of the washing machine and filled it with dry cat food. “You know you’re such a pretty thing with all those flowing blond locks.”
Boden moved to the doorway and watched her cuddle Slasher. “The ladies love it.” He gave her a teasing wink that Danny couldn’t see. “I think you’re just jealous that I have hair.”
“It is rather pretty,” she said and gave the cat one more scratch before joining Boden in the doorway. She picked up his braid and ran it through her fingers before dropping it. “And very soft.”
Danny made a low, growling sound that was so similar to Slasher’s she had to turn her back on him to hide her smile. Boden’s eyes twinkled with mischief. “I’ve been told it feels like silk against a woman’s skin.”
Intrigued by Danny’s jealous reaction, and Boden’s obviously good natured teasing, she decided to play along. She picked up his braid again and trailed the tips over her neck. “You’re right. I can imagine how nice this would feel over more...exposed skin.”
“Time to go,” Danny said in a loud voice and brushed past her to grab Boden by the arm, forcing her to release his hair or run the risk of scalping him.
The blond man laughed and shook Danny off. “But I just got here.”
“This is my wom...er...client.”
“Funny, you’ve never been so possessive of a client before.” He gave her a flirtatious smile, but she had a feeling he enjoyed tweaking Danny’s temper more than he was actually interested in her. “I can see why you would be. She is very beautiful, and brave. Any man would be honored to have her on his arm. Don’t you agree?”
Danny’s voice came out in a deep growl. “Go. Now.”
Hope grabbed Boden’s hand and studied it, slightly icked out by the blood. “Danny, is there a first aid kit around here?”
“Why? He’s fine.”
She frowned at him. “Daniel, I don’t want him to get an infection.”
Danny walked away with one last threatening glare thrown in Boden’s direction. Hope followed Boden out into the kitchen and stood at the counter while he went to wash his hands. She glanced over to where Danny had just given her an amazing amount of pleasure and she flushed.
Boden rolled up the sleeve of his torn, blood-stained shirt, revealing an elaborate, colorful tattoo. She couldn’t make out what it was, only that it looked like the beginning of a full sleeve with its precise line. He turned on the water and looked over at her.
“Are you okay? You seem a little flushed.”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry he got you that bad.”
He soaped up and ran his hands under the hot water. “Don’t worry about it. Animals usually love me so I wasn’t expecting him to get so riled.”
Danny’s growl interrupted them. “If you’re done trying to get Hope to kiss your boo-boo and make it better, get your ass over here.”
Boden grabbed a clean paper towel and held it to his arm before wandering over to Danny. Hope tried to hide her smile as an obviously jealous Danny gave Boden a quick swipe of disinfectant before starting to move him towards the front door.
Ignoring the man glowering at him, Boden bowed to her from the waist. “Dr. Walker, it has been a pleasure. If you get tired of old, decrepit, bald men, I do hope you’ll give me a ring.”
Danny looked to be one heartbeat away from jumping on his co-worker. “Leave.”
She could barely hold back her laughter as she said, “Bye, Boden. It was a pleasure meeting you.”
Now it was her turn to be on the receiving end of Danny’s glare. Their gazes met and a little shiver went through her at the pure possessiveness in his expression. Electricity seemed to fill the air between them and her heartbeat sped up.
Boden’s voice came from the hallway as he said, “Pleasure meeting you as well, Dr. Walker. By the way, you have an absolutely world class ass and I love that tiny yellow thong you’re wearing. The blue bow on the back is too cute.”
She covered her face and wished the floor beneath her feet would open up and swallow her whole.
“I’m going to kill him,” Danny muttered.
“Good,” she replied and grabbed her glass of wine while he ran to catch up with Boden.
Taking a bracing swallow of the still chilled wine, she blew out a low breath and let the stillness settle over her and calm her. The silence of the kitchen filled her head and, before she knew it, she was pulling out her cell phone again to call her dad. Maybe she could forgive him in the future, but right now he needed to know how she felt about him meddling in her life to such an extreme extent. The phone rang and she stared unseeing out the dark windows of the kitchen, waiting for him to pick up.