Crave (The MacKenzie Family #11) (12 page)

Something in his face must have given away how pissed off he was at her. She looked wary for a moment before she finally said, “Yes.”

“Take off the panties and get up on the island.”

Her hands trembled as her thumbs went to the elastic.

“Wait,” he said. “I’ve changed my mind. Turn around first.”

She did as he asked and turned her back to him, and he squeezed tighter at the base of his cock at the site of that perfectly formed ass. He could only imagine what it would look like, reddened with his handprints.

“Spread your legs and take them off slowly. I want to see all of you.”

Her thumbs went to the elastic waist of the panties again and she pushed them down, bending over as she did, until her folds opened to him like the petals of a flower. They were drenched with her need.

“God, baby. You have no idea how fucking sexy that is.” She started to raise up, but he stopped her. “Bend over the island,” he ordered. “And reach out with your arms until you can grasp the other side.”

She looked over her shoulder at him once, nerves visible, and did as he asked.

“Good, now spread your legs a little wider. Are you on the pill?” He knew she was. He had access to her doctor’s reports. She was about to learn what fucking really was. The cold, hard reality of it. Empty pleasure.

He took his place behind her, waiting for her to answer, and rubbed the plump head of his up and down her drenched slit. She whimpered and he pulled back, teasing.

“Answer me, Evangeline. Are you on the pill?”

Her breathing was ragged and her knuckles white as she gripped the edge of the island. She stood on her toes, pushing her hips back, searching for him.

“Yes, I’m on the pill. Now fuck me.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said. He placed his hands flat on the island on either side of her body, careful not to touch her. And then he lined up his cock and slid deep insider her with one thrust. Even as wet as she was the fit was snug, and she gasped at the invasion.

“Ohmigod,” she moaned.

Her head came up and her back bowed. And then she pushed against him and he was lost. His thrusts were quick and deep and powerful, each stroke lifting her up on the tips of her toes. Mewls of pleasure escaped her lips and her pussy suctioned him in, squeezing around him like a hot little fist. She was close to coming. Her pussy was wetter. Getting tighter. Practically vibrating around his cock. But she couldn’t quite achieve what she was looking for.

He knew what was missing. A connection. He didn’t touch her other than where they joined. His thrusts were steady, as if he were a machine instead of a man, and sweat dampened his brow and chest.

Her hands let go of the island to reach back but he stopped her. “No, leave them there. You wanted to fuck. That’s what we’re going to do.”

“I can’t—” she sobbed out as his cock pushed deep inside her, hitting a spot that made her body tremble. “I can’t come if you don’t touch me.”

“Sure you can, sugar. Give it a try. You’re right there on the edge, drenching my cock.”

“Goddammit, Cal,” she begged. “Touch me. Please.”

He slowed his pace and pulled out of her until only the head of his cock was buried. And then he pushed as slow as he could all the way to the hilt. Until his balls touched her pussy lips. She tightened around him, and then he just pressed harder, circulating his hips, massaging her from the inside with his cock. But never touching her other than where they were literally joined.

It was heaven.

It was hell.

And then her breathing changed and he felt the slow, liquid undulations around his cock, tightening and clamping around him like a vise, milking him. Her head was thrown back and he could see the rapture on her face as her mouth opened on a silent scream.

Only then did he let himself go. He pulled back and slammed into her—one, two, three times—and then he growled as hot jets of semen coated the walls of her pussy. He didn’t know how long the orgasm lasted. Only that it was the most powerful he’d ever had. And he had to fight the urge to slump down on top of her, to kiss the delicate curve of where her neck met her back.

Instead, he forced himself to stand on shaking legs and pull out of her. Come dripped down the inside of her thighs, but she didn’t make a move to cover herself or use a shirt to clean up. Her body lay prone across the island, the only movement the up and down motion of her torso as she sucked in air.

He bent down and picked up his clothes, pulling them on as efficiently as his trembling body would allow.

“Go ahead and start moving some of your things into the bedroom I’m in across the hall. Yours isn’t secure near the balcony. And we’re going to practice that whole sticking together like glue thing.”

She turned her head to the side and stared at him, the sadness there almost his undoing, and then she closed her eyes and nodded.

“I need to do a final check of the house before we go to bed. I’ll be up in about twenty minutes.”

He walked out of the room wondering what the hell kind of person he was. And then it came to him very clearly. He was the kind of person who didn’t want to get his heart broken.

T
he storm broke sometime during the night. Rain and wind and thunder.

But Evangeline slept peacefully beside him. In her sleep, at least, she trusted him. She was wrapped around him, her lush body pressed against him, and the oversized t-shirt she wore bunched around her waist. He’d given up on sleep. Hard-ons weren’t really conducive to a good night’s rest.

They were in the room he always used when he stayed at the house, not that he spent a great deal of time there, but Robert and Anna had always made it a point to make him feel at home and like he was part of the family wherever they were. It was done in shades of brown, from the ivory to dark chocolate, and the fabrics were soft and comfortable.

His windows faced the ocean, but there was no balcony outside. And where Evangeline left her windows open so she could see the view, he was always adamant about drawing the curtains closed at night.

The fan whirred lazily overhead, and only a thin sheet covered them. His senses were primed, every scrape of a palm tree against a window amplified. The wind howled with fury and flashes of lightning peaked from the edges of the curtains.

There’d been no updates from Declan or any of the agents on lookout. Not that he’d expected there to be. Taber had to get from Dallas to Florida. That was going to take a little time, depending on what mode of transportation he used. But he could be there as early as sometime that day or as late as tomorrow or the next day if there were no more stops to make along the way.

A crack of thunder followed by a flash of lightning so bright he thought it hit the house sounded, and a loud crash and glass breaking came from somewhere close by.

He rolled out of bed, grabbing the weapon he’d had under his pillow, and he shook Evangeline awake, keeping a hand over her mouth so she wouldn’t make any noise. The whites of her eyes were bright as she stared at him in sleepy confusion.

“Ssh,” he said, putting a finger to his lips.

She nodded and he let her go, and he gestured for her to get low on the ground. She nodded and then pulled open the drawer of the bedside table, pulling out a Glock in matte black. He raised his eyebrows because he hadn’t seen her put it there, but he knew she could shoot as well as any agent. One of the perks of being Robert Lockwood’s daughter.

His footsteps were silent as he went to the door and listened, but there was nothing so he stood to the side of the door and unlocked it, opening it slowly so he could peek into the hallway.

There was a repetitive banging sound somewhere in the distance and the whistle of wind, and he slipped into the hall, padding carefully as he went to Evie’s door. The sound was coming from inside, and he looked back once to make sure she was still in the room, and then he turned the knob and threw the door open.

He did a quick check of the room and the restroom, but it was pretty obvious what had happened. Wind and rain soaked the rug and the bedding and a large palm branch lay half in and half out of the broken window, banging against the sill as the wind continued to pummel them.

“Holy shit,” Evie said, from behind him.

He swore and turned to face her. “I don’t remember giving you the all clear.”

“You were gone and quiet for too long. What if you needed help?”

“Five minutes is too long?”

“It is when you’re crouched under the bed in the dark.” She stared at her ruined bed instead of him. “The whole thing is ruined she said. That’s a pain in the ass.”

“It’d be more of a pain in the ass if you’d been sleeping there and sliced and diced in your sleep.”

“I’m trying not to think about that part.”

“Then I’ll refrain from saying I told you so.”

“Good, because I’m armed and I’m kind of in a pissy mood considering what just happened.”

Cal rolled his eyes and moved to where she was standing. “We’re going to need plastic bags and duct tape.”

“The housekeepers have a supply closet at the end of the hall.”

Before she could blink he squeezed the pressure points in her wrist and her gun was in his hand. “Be right back,” he said, releasing the magazine and the bullet that was chambered into his hand. He handed her the unloaded gun and then went to get the supplies.

“You have control issues,” she said when he came back.

“Nope. I just have issues with giving orders and not having them followed. You’ll get used to it.”

“No, I don’t think I will. You should know me better than that, Cal. I’m stubborn. Giving me orders is the same as begging me to go ahead and do as I damn well please.”

He’d stopped by his room to pull on pants and get shoes so his feet wouldn’t get cut, and he waded into the mess with the trash bags and duct tape. The storm hadn’t lessened, so he was soaked to the skin in a matter of seconds.

“If I have control issues then you have common sense issues. Good Lord, Evie, stop trying to fight me on every damned issue and start working with me.”

He worked in silence for several minutes until he’d gotten the limb pushed back through the window and the broken window covered. Evie came in with towels to soak up the wet, but it was going to take professionals to clean up the mess.

“Say I start working with you,” she said. “Then what? Do I wait and wonder whether or not you’re going to use what you know against me? That seems like a fun way to live.”

“Nope. You’d have to learn to trust me. Plain and simple. Just like I’d have to trust you not to ever go back to the old ways. Seems like a pretty even trade from where I stand.”

“Except your trust or lack thereof won’t send you to prison for the rest of your life. I don’t have that luxury.”

“You’re saying you’re not good enough to ferret out that kind of information about me? I thought you were a better hacker than that.”

She smiled for the first time, seeing the trap for what it was. He’d erased every sign that Cypher had ever existed. The name was nothing more than a legend whispered among those who were old enough to know better than to whisper. But she’d only know that information if she’d broken the promise she’d made to him.

“I’m not allowed to do things like that anymore,” she said straight faced. “But if I was I’m sure I could ferret out any kind of information you wanted.”

“You seem pretty confident for someone who’s been out of the game as long as you have.”

“I’m confident in my ability to do anything you can do. Only better. Now if you’re done playing in the water maybe we can go back to sleep. We’ve got work to do.”

“We?” he asked.

“I came to the realization that I’m not exactly in the best of predicaments.” She shrugged. “On one hand, I could go to prison. On the other, I could end up dead by Taber’s hands. Neither is a prospect I’m fond of. So I might as well do what I enjoy doing and live what life I can before it’s too late.”

“A fucked up way to look at it, but I’m not going to argue.”

“That’s a nice change of pace.”

“Watch it, Lockwood. I still have your bullets.”

“No worries. I grabbed an extra clip while you were putting on your shoes. I’m fully loaded.”

He couldn’t help but laugh. She was one of a kind.

T
he storm was still going strong two days later and Cal was going stir crazy. Or maybe it was just Evangeline who was driving him crazy. He wanted his hands on her in a bad way. But he’d decided there’d be no intimacy between them again until she wanted something more than a quick fuck.

But damned if she wasn’t trying to tempt him at every turn.

He’d woken up with her for the second morning with her wrapped around him. He’d been on the verge of rolling her to her back and sliding deep inside her before his eyes had really opened and his brain was functioning. But instead he’d gotten out of bed and into the shower as fast as he could.

Not that it had been much of an escape. She’d walked in a few minutes later, brushed her teeth, and then stripped down to nothing and gotten into the shower with him. She wasn’t pushing him for sex, and there was no talk of their negotiations or what had happened between them two nights before. It was as if the entire event hadn’t existed at all.

Except it had existed. Because he could remember the way she unraveled around him, and the memory alone kept him in a constant state of arousal.

He mumbled something about making coffee—which he didn’t drink—toweled off and dressed, and hightailed it down to the kitchen after checking to make sure the house was as secure as it had been before they’d gone to sleep.

He was dressed for a workout, thinking that pounding something might work off the sexual frustration when
Master of Puppets
blared from his phone. He answered in relief, glad to have the distraction.

“Colter,” he said into the phone.

“A tip came into one of the hotlines early this morning,” Declan said. “A witness recognized Taber at a gas station and called it in.”

“I’m sure millions of people are calling in tips since the reward is upwards of twenty-five thousand dollars.”