04 - Born to be Wilde.txt (20 page)

No, at the moment she had other things on her mind, and they included taking advantage of Joel's magnificent body. She wanted him again, ached to lose herself in his sensual kisses, the knowing stroke of his hands, and the heat of his mouth tempting her beyond thought or reason. And judging by the dark desire sparking to life in his gaze, he craved the same things.

Emboldened by that knowledge, she closed the distance between them. Sliding her fingers into the waistband of his sweatpants, she tugged them down and off, then pushed his knees apart and knelt between his spread legs. He was already hard and thick, his erection curving up from his body as if begging for her touch.

That she could arouse him so quickly was a heady notion that made her want to please him all the more. Earlier, he'd given her exactly what she'd needed, generously, intimately, and unselfishly. This time, she wanted to be the one to seduce him, just as indulgently.

Flattening her hands on his strong thighs, she slid her palms upward. Her fingers traced the long scar on his left leg that he refused to talk about, then moved higher, until her thumbs brushed across the heavy sacks beneath his shaft, until the fingers of one hand were wrapped snugly around the base of his heated flesh.

She glanced up the length of his torso, watched the rapid rise and fall of his chest, and finally met his gaze. His eyes were dark and intense and hypnotic, and when she stroked him all the way to the tip of his cock then glided her thumb over the swollen head, she felt him shudder and jolt against her erotic caress.

Smiling, she lowered her head and teased him with slow, languid licks and wet swirls of her tongue. Tempted him with the promise of a deeper, moister heat. His fingers slid into her hair and cupped the back of her head, gently urging her to take more of him, all of him. Parting her lips, she drew his cock into her warm, wet mouth, as far as she could, loving the taste of him. She gradually withdrew, adding just enough suction and friction to rip a helpless groan from his throat.

Her own arousal pitched higher, and because she wanted him inside her when he came, she moved up and over him, until she was kneeling above his hips, poised less than an inch away from his jutting erection. His hands settled on her thighs as she began unfastening the buttons on the shirt she wore. She made him suffer through her slow, seductive strip tease, made him watch as the flannel material parted and she caressed her bared breasts with her hands and grazed her rigid nipples with her thumbs.

Feeling shamelessly uninhibited, and encouraged by the lust and need chiseling his features, Lora skimmed her palms down her ribs, over her belly, and let her fingers dip between her legs. She was already slick and wet, her flesh incredibly sensitive to the touch, and she couldn't hold back the moan that escaped her lips.

Joel's fingers dug into her thighs, and his breathing grew ragged. She knew she was pushing his restraint, and making him lose complete control became her ultimate goal. She inched downward, until just the swollen head of his erection glided along the weeping folds of her sex, and shivered at the delicious, erotic sensation of him sliding rhythmically against her cleft. Letting her lashes fall half-mast, she bit her bottom lip and rocked sinuously against that smooth, hard column of flesh once, twice, three times… and felt the beginnings of an orgasm start to unravel deep inside her.

She heard Joel swear as his control finally shattered, a dark, ripe curse that was raw, primal, and wholly sexual. Grabbing her hips firmly in his hands, he jerked her body down onto his engorged cock at the same time he thrust upward, impaling her to the hilt in one long, hard, driving stroke. She gasped in shock, and her head spun at the sudden, unexpected invasion, but he didn't give her time to think. Didn't give her time to react or adjust before he was bucking into her, grinding against her, repeatedly, impatiently, relentlessly.

She might have been on top and in the dominant position, but the man beneath her was far more powerful, far more demanding, and there was nothing she could do but match him stroke for stroke and ride out the sensual storm.

His hands tugged at the shirt she wore, shoving it down her arms and off so that she was as naked as he was. His splayed palms slid around to her back, moved firmly up the slope of her spine. Long, warm, insistent fingers curled around the nape of her neck, and he pulled her down toward him to fuse their mouths together, even as their lower bodies continued to mate and strain for release.

The kiss was deep. Hot. Bold and aggressive and ultimately possessive—a ravenous clash of lips and tongues that imitated the unbridled way he moved against her, inside of her. Then his hands were gripping her bottom, dragging her closer, increasing the heated friction between their bodies. Intense pleasure saturated her senses, and she clenched around his shaft as the beginnings of a climax rippled through her.

She groaned raggedly against his mouth, and unable to hold back, she let her orgasm wash over her. The release was strong and overwhelming, tearing a soft cry from her lips as she rode out the exquisite sensation.

Even as she was still convulsing from the aftermath and trying to catch her breath, Joel's body tightened beneath hers and he came, shuddering hard against her.

Chapter Ten

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JOEL had always been a light sleeper, made more so by military training and the living conditions he'd endured during his time in Iraq. He'd learned to always be alert, anticipate danger, and react to the slightest sounds, even while sleeping. Especially while sleeping. Because that's when you were most vulnerable to the enemy.

So, before the first vibrating sound against his night-stand ended, Joel jolted awake, had his cell phone in hand, and was checking the caller ID. He saw private caller flash across the display, which automatically ruled out his partners at ESS, and cursed softly beneath his breath even as his stomach twisted with dread. It was never a good thing when someone got a call at three in the morning, and Joel instinctively knew that this one was going to be a hellish wake-up call.

He managed to move off the bed quickly and without disturbing Lora, who was sound asleep on the other side of the mattress, then grabbed his sweatpants from the floor and headed down the hall to the living room. The unit in his hand buzzed again, and he flipped open the cell phone and tucked it between his ear and shoulder as he pulled on his pants.

"Hello?" he said, keeping his voice low.

"Jesus Fucking Christ, Joel!" came the loud, pissed-off voice he'd been anticipating since Lora's attack. "What the hell is going on with my sister? I just got a few snapshots of her sent to my cell phone and she's got a goddamn knife pressed against her neck. Is she okay?"

Beneath the justified fury in Zach's tone, there was a trace of panic Joel couldn't ignore. "She's okay," he reassured Zach. "She's here with me at my place."

"What the hell happened?" Zach demanded heatedly. "How did these guys get her alone when you were supposed to watch over her twenty-four/seven?"

Joel pressed his thumb and forefinger against the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut. The question prompted a fresh surge of guilt to rise to the surface, now compounded by the fact that he'd slept with Lora. Twice. He was beginning to think he was in way over his head when it came to Lora, and he wasn't quite sure what to do about that realization.

Still, he'd been responsible for her safety, and he'd failed to keep her out of harm's way, and that was something he couldn't deny to his friend. "They caught her when she went outside to throw away some trash at The Electric Blue."

"Jesus, Joel. They could have really hurt her, or worse, and I have no doubt that the next time they'll do more than just threaten her," he bit out furiously. "I trusted you to protect Lora, and if that's too much to ask, then let me know and I'll find someone else who can do the job."

Despite his own remorse, Joel felt his anger toward Zach spike. "You're the one who got her in this fucking mess in the first place, Zach," he said as he paced restlessly across the living room floor. "How about you take some responsibility for that, huh?"

"I'm doing what I can to get the money," Zach replied, backing down a fraction.

But Joel was fired up, and he wasn't about to let his friend off so easy. "If you would have been honest and up front with your sister about what you did, this never would have happened. She would have known to be careful and to watch her back. It's not easy to protect someone when they have no idea that their life is in danger."

Zach had no response, and Joel had no problem filling up the silence. "When is this going to be over, Zach?" he asked in a low, harsh tone. "How long are you going to string these guys out for the money you owe them?"

"Luck hasn't exactly been on my side lately," Zach said cynically. "I need a few more weeks."

Joel jammed his fingers through his hair in frustration, because he knew what kind of "luck" his friend was referring to. The kind of big break that compulsive gamblers prayed for as they tossed borrowed money into a poker pot. "This is bullshit, Zach. You're throwing good money after bad. When are you going to wake up and face the truth that you have a gambling problem?"

"The only problem I seem to have is finding someone to keep my sister safe," Zach replied in an attempt to deflect the focus off of him and his personal issues.

"Fuck you, Zach," Joel hissed into the phone, feeling unduly provoked.

"Yeah, well, I already am fucked," Zach said, unable to disguise the thread of fear in his voice. "But that doesn't mean my sister has to be. Can I trust you to keep her safe from here on out, or is that too much to expect?"

Joel hadn't forgotten the fact that he owed Zach his own life, that all his friend had asked in exchange was this one small favor, "I won't let her out of my sight again," he promised, and meant it. "But this situation is bigger and more dangerous than you want to admit. Call your sister and tell her the truth, man. She deserves to hear it from you."

"I… can't. I just can't. She'll never forgive me for what I've done, and I don't want her to ever find out about what I did with that damn insurance policy." Zach's voice cracked with shame and desperation. "Now that you know how serious these guys are, please do whatever it takes to keep her safe."

"Zach—" The line disconnected before Joel could say anything more. "Goddamnit," he growled beneath his breath as he snapped his cell phone shut. Irritation over the whole situation flowed hot and fast through his veins, and it was all he could do not to crush the phone in his hand to ease some of his frustration. Instead, he hung his head and released a slow, taut breath.

"Tell me the truth about what?"

The sound of Lora's soft voice drifting from behind where he stood in the living room, along with the realization that she'd woken up and had overheard a good part of his conversation with Zach, had Joel's stomach dropping out.

Shit.

Reluctantly, he turned around and found her standing a few feet away, wearing his flannel shirt once again and looking all warm and soft and sleep-tousled. In that moment, all he wanted to do was take her back to his bedroom, strip off their clothes, and make love to her again. To lose himself, mind and body and soul, in her giving body, in her sweet, drugging kisses, and forget about Zach and his lies, and Joel's own deceit.

But that wasn't going to happen. In fact, it wouldn't happen again, couldn't happen again, because Joel was forced to admit that Lora had become more than just a job or temporary assignment to him. More than just a client he could watch over dispassionately and without any kind of involvement other than whatever the job entailed.

No, somewhere along the way the entire situation had gotten emotionally complicated, and so fucking personal. And as a result he'd lost his edge and his ability to remain focused. Lost those instincts that kept his senses sharp and honed and enabled him to keep his client out of danger. It was obvious to him that his desire for Lora had become too damned distracting, to the point that he'd grown lax. Too comfortable. So caught up in the awareness and sexual tension between them that he'd let his guard drop long enough for Zach's thugs to get their hands on her.

Knowing that the next time could be deadly, he couldn't afford to make that kind of mistake again. Which meant he had to distance himself from his attraction to Lora, and keep his lust in check. Had to keep his head in the game and make her safety a priority, and he couldn't do that if he was constantly thinking about getting Lora naked again.

"You were talking to Zach, and he is obviously keeping something from me that you know about," Lora said, bringing his thoughts back to the discussion at hand. "What's going on, Joel?"

He watched as she approached him, her gaze searching his for answers in the still dim, shadowed room. He'd prefer that she heard the full story from her brother, but Zach hadn't given Joel that option, and he was done lying, done pretending to be someone he wasn't, and done covering Zach's ass.

He switched on a nearby lamp, set his cell phone on the coffee table, and released a deep sigh before facing her again, "Zach's in trouble, Lora. Big trouble. And it involves you."

She crossed her arms over her chest, drawing his gaze to the full swells of her breasts peeking from the low V where she'd buttoned his shirt. "I think I've figured out that part already," she said wryly. "Why and how does Zach's situation involve me?"