“My hand was already there. You were taking too long and I was about to rip it out of your teeth,” Erika said, trying to play off her mistake and hoping like hell Jace bought it. No woman would react that quickly unless she’d been trained. Erika had been so careful about making sure she hid her…talents up to now. To distract him, she placed the condom on the pink tip of his cock and rolled it down his shaft, stroking him.
Luckily, he didn’t stay interested in her freakish ability to snatch a falling object out of thin air for long. But, damn, that mistake pretty much ensured that Erika needed to get the hell out of there. There’d be no encore to this sex no matter how badly her body would crave it.
As Erika pulled Jace on top of her, he seemed to forget all about her little slip. Being caught up in the moment had its benefits.
He might put two and two together later, but she intended to be long gone by then.
With his body on top of hers, his weight pressing her against the mattress, Erika didn’t care about anything but the sweet feel of his cock against her wet heat. A little part of her wished this could last for more than one night. But she’d always lived in the moment. And even if Jace weren’t a high-value target, there was no way they could be in a relationship. Her life didn’t work that way. And neither did his.
His fingers stroked the tender inside skin of her leg on the way to her clit. He repositioned himself in between her thighs, cock to pussy, and she encircled her fingers around his thick shaft as she guided him, quivering as he dipped his tip inside and then pulled out.
He teased his cock inside again, and her whole body cried out for more.
“Don’t stop, Jace.”
“You want more?”
“I want it all.” Truer words had never been spoken and she meant more than just sex with him. And yet, she had no right to expect anything close. Not in her line of work.
He thrust his hips, in and out, and she matched his stride, his intensity, his pitch. He plunged slowly at first, shallow little strokes, and her body burned for more until she thought her mind might explode from ecstasy.
Quickening the pace, deepening the penetration sent electricity rocketing through her, leaving her craving more. Deeper. Faster.
Erika reached the edge and tried like hell not to tip over. Not yet. She wanted to stay in the moment. All his muscles tightened and she knew he was on the brink, too.
She dug her fingernails into his back, begging him to ride her harder. Oh. God. This. Felt. So. Fuckin’. Amazing. She bucked her hips faster, harder, matching the fervor in his strokes.
On the edge, she craved the release that Jace could give her. God, she wanted, no needed, to soar.
Her mind began to spin, her body rocketed into orbit. She felt his body tense as he made the climb with her. Pushing. Faster. Harder.
More.
With a feral, sexy-as-hell groan, he detonated at the same time as her muscles exploded, tensing and releasing around his shaft.
He stayed on top of her, inside her, moving slowly as he drained every last spasm from her.
Breath ragged, heart pounding, Erika didn’t move.
Jace dipped his head and kissed her, his tongue sweeping her mouth.
The steady hum of a cell phone vibrated on the table next to them. He ignored it, deepening the kiss.
It had barely stopped when it started buzzing again, which didn’t seem to bother Jace. Erika’s pulse, on the other hand, kicked up a notch. Had she made another mistake? Was it the satellite phone in her boot making that noise and not his cell? She’d never doubted herself before. Her carefully constructed wall was being chipped away being this close to him. She was getting too comfortable. Yet another reason to get out no matter how much her heart protested.
“Ignore it. I am,” Jace said, after pulling back from the kiss, and settling onto the bed beside her. He hauled her into the crook of his arm, and she noticed, maybe for the last time, the way her body liquefied this close to him, molding to fit his.
He pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose.
The phone buzzed a third time.
“Fuck,” Jace muttered. “Hold that thought, baby-doll. I’ll be right back.”
He moved to the edge of the bed, naked and glorious as sunlight streamed in from the partially opened blinds, and reached for his phone.
“This better be important.” He paused, rubbing the scruff on his chin. “Right now?” Another pause. “Okay, okay. Just let me grab a shower and I’ll be right there.”
He said a few uh-huhs into the phone before ending the call and tossing his cell onto the nightstand. “Knew I shouldn’t have answered it. Buddy of mine needs a favor. Stay here. I’ll be back in time for lunch.”
“That’s a shame. I wasn’t finished with you.” She drew circles on the tattoo on his wrist. A couple of hours was all she needed to find what she was looking for. She couldn’t help but wonder if he knew she’d be gone—as in forever—by the time he got back, if he would still go?
Erika definitely needed her screwed-up head examined later because she was losing her grip on reality. Bag the elephant, get an MRI, go back to a normal life.
He kissed her, hard, and she kissed him back even harder. Next thing she knew, his body was against hers, her back flat on the bed, and she felt his weight on top of her again. Damned if everything in the screwed-up world seemed right in that moment. She wrote the sentiment off as the afterglow from great sex.
The cell buzzed again. “Dammit.”
He checked the screen, denied the call and then whispered, “Wait here for me.”
Maybe it was because it came out so soft, like a plea, or that he’d taken such good care of her the night before, but she agreed.
He made a move to get up. She caught his elbow and tugged him back down for one last kiss.
Jace pulled back first, looked her dead in the eye and said, “I meant it when I said I wanted you to stay. Eat breakfast. Check your email. I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”
Erika smiled up at him, hiding the raw sinking feeling in her stomach, and nodded.
Jace moved to the bathroom and started the shower.
With any luck, she could be out of there before he finished. She’d given a piece of her heart to him and there was no taking it back now. There was no reason to stick around. Besides, she didn’t do goodbyes. And if she had to look into those blues one more time, she might just change her mind and stay. That could be a deadly mistake. At some point, he’d remember her little slip from earlier. His subconscious was already working out the problem—a problem he would solve. The truth would eventually surface that she was a spy and he’d kill her.
Erika’s heart beat in painful stabs as she moved to the desk and opened his laptop. Her limbs were heavy. The air thinned and breathing hurt. Her pain had nothing to do with the aftershocks of her migraine and everything to do with the thought of leaving Jace.
She fisted her hands, took a deep serrated breath and booted the laptop. She entered his password and waited. He’d started whistling in the shower a few feet away.
After connecting the external hard drive via USB port, she punched a few keys and then his hard drive was being copied—a copy she was making for herself. The files she was about to transmit to Sanctuary would need decryption but that would be done by the tech team. Certain the data Murdock needed had to be on Jace’s computer, Erika dressed and pulled together her belongings. This was it. Her assignment was almost over.
Certain pain was coming and Erika needed to face it head on.
This should feel like she’d just struck gold. Another slam dunk on the most difficult tracking case she’d ever encountered. Transmitting this data would be another notch on her professional belt.
Instead, she felt like a traitor.
She snagged her satellite phone from her purse, and texted her boss to let him know the data was about to be on its way. Murdock would be thrilled. He’d been showing the signs of stress from this case more than usual lately. He needed this closed and she wanted to give her boss and mentor peace of mind. This data was the ticket. Murdock deserved the win. He’d been too good to her since her father died to let him down.
Erika took a deep breath, and then uploaded the files to a secure Sanctuary server.
After, she tucked the thumb drive in her handbag. She told herself it was for backup, but even she knew it was a flimsy lie. She needed to analyze the data herself even though Murdock had strictly forbidden it. Her orders were clear: transmit only.
Murdock would tell her she’d gotten too involved, wanting to know more than her pay grade allowed. He always told her she thought too much for an officer. Maybe that was true, at least partly. The real keep-her-awake-at-night reason was that she had fallen for Jace and needed to know just how screwed up he was.
Her phone buzzed in her hand.
“Trash the new coat.”
The order was clear.
Kill Jace.