For the Sake of Sin (3 page)

“
It was irrelevant.”

He paused just behind her and his breath whispered across her bare shoulder. “It was very relevant, Sin.”

She turned to stare at him over one shoulder. “Why?”

“
Because it puts my client — you — in the line of fire.”

Ava stiffened. “If you’re worried I won’t pay you, then let me do so now.”

The click of her slippers on the red terracotta tile as she walked away split the silence. He seized her wrist and pulled her around. A strand of dark hair fell from its restraints across her shoulder like another caress. Only it lacked his heat while his palm burned a brand across her flesh. “I am not interested in the money.”

Her gaze collided with heated green orbs. “Then what do you want?”

Sheer sparks ebbed from his touch through her arm. Her heart hammered against her chest. The atmosphere between them seemed to come alive and breathe. An ebb and flow of power neither could deny.

“
Is there double meaning to your question,
mi princesa
?”

She smiled. “I am no princess. Just a courtesan. There is always double meaning in everything I say, Mr. Stone. The question is how will you answer me?”

“
What do you prefer, truth or fantasy?”

“
There is always room for fantasy. What do you enjoy more?”

“
Normally I enjoy truth.” He took a deep breath. His hand still clasped her wrist gently and he twined their fingers together, easing her hand to his mouth in a slow, sensual ascent. A thrill fluttered in her stomach. His nearness ceased every breath as she experienced pure pleasure at his touch.

“
And what do you prefer tonight?”

His mouth lingered over the back of her hand. Warm breath tickled her skin as he placed the slightest kiss on her knuckles. “Tonight, I prefer fantasy as well as Sin.”

~*~

Ava didn’t resist him. Gabriel drew her closer by the hand. Her breath quickened, and his gaze settled on her mouth. She had a delectable, full mouth. Lips he could kiss for eternity. Her tiny tongue snaked out to trace their shape as he placed her soft palm on his shoulder.

“
What have you done to me?”

“
Brought you to life,” she whispered.

She had. Years had passed since the death of his family, when the dead weight of guilt had entered his heart, blotting out everything else. Pleasure, joy and ecstasy had simply vanished.

Not even sex left him satisfied anymore. A darkness left a void in his life he could no longer fill. And so he’d simply survived each day. He’d lost all feeling, until he’d met Sin.

Excitement surged through him and his erection filled to the brim with a power he hadn’t experienced in years. “I should leave,” he whispered.

“
But you won’t.”

He shook his head as his hands wrapped her into his embrace, her arms twining around his neck. “I don’t think I can.”

“
I don’t want you to.”

He seized her mouth in a searing kiss and she surrendered easily under his assault. Her fingers twined through the strands of his hair and every thought scattered.

He broke the kiss. “I came to talk you out of it.”

“
What?”

“
Killing Marco. Seeking revenge.”

She nibbled at his lower lip. “No one can sway me from my goal. Not even you.” Her hands splayed and flattened over his chest muscles. “Do you really wish to discuss this now?”

He exhaled. “No.”

The sweetest hint of jasmine and almond oil intoxicated him, lured him closer, disregarding every goal save one: getting her naked and under his hands.

His arms wrapped around her and he kissed her lips, sucking at the soft flesh. She parted her lips and he plunged inside to taste her. His tongue delved deeply and twined with hers. Every ounce of his flesh burned in the sweetest agony.

Her soft sigh escaped and he drank it in, deepening the kiss. His lips trailed a gentle path to her chin, across her jaw and into the sweetest spot beneath her ear. Ava inhaled deeply.

Pressing against her, he lifted her legs around his waist and carried her back through the door she’d exited earlier. Without stopping, he tumbled them across the bed, wrapping them amongst the sheer coverings.

She laughed softly as she untangled them but he seized her mouth once again, plundering her depths. He couldn’t wait. He couldn’t slow down. He needed her.

His hands slid up her sides to the edge of her breasts, their fullness begging for his touch. The thin cotton of her camisole was little barrier from his gaze and he soaked in the vision she created. An ethereal being in white. Her exotic eyes and the cream of her flesh beckoned his mouth.

Her chest rose and fell with every breath, teasing him, taunting him. Cupping her breasts, his palms filled with their weight and the pads of his thumbs grazed her erect nipples.

She moaned softly against his ear. Thrusting against her body, he ground his hardness into her soft belly. Good God. Had it been so long since he’d enjoyed sex so much?

What made it so different this time?

Soft fingers sank into his hair and urged him closer. Hot breath fanned one nipple before he sucked it between his lips. She shivered against him. Male possession surged through his veins. By God, he’d make her scream.

She tossed her head back, exposing every delicious inch of her skin and he couldn’t wait any longer. Gabriel yanked the front ties of her gown open to reveal perfect, round globes. He worshiped them as they were meant to be worshiped, giving each delicious ounce of flesh his full attention until she panted under his mouth.

“
You’re beautiful,” he whispered. And he meant it.

Those words hadn’t passed his lips since the day he’d buried his wife.

Gabriel reared upright, away from her, and sat back on his haunches. He panted and attempted to catch his breath. An image of his wife eradicated every sense of lust in a cold splash of memories. He gasped. What had made him stop? This was just sex. He’d had sex plenty of times with women since Elizabeth’s death. Why was this time so different?

Because I enjoyed it
.

Chills traced his spine. He had enjoyed every second. This woman created something inside him he couldn’t define. Something he wasn’t ready to name. And he wasn’t ready to let go of his past.

“
What is wrong?” she questioned, confusion marring her brow.

He leapt from the bed. Her tousled look acted as a reminder of his surrender. “I can’t do this.”

“
Why not?”

“
If I take this job, our relationship must remain platonic,” he lied. How could he admit to someone, even a courtesan, he still grieved for his dead wife even a decade after her death?

She sat on her elbows. Her look clearly erotic, a temptation his throbbing cock didn’t miss as it reared against the fabric of his jeans. “I don’t mix business with pleasure.”

“
Neither do I, Mr. Stone.”

“
It’s not the same. Your business is pleasure. I must keep my head or else I’ll wind up dead.”

Sin rose in sultry slow motion, her camisole sliding off one shoulder revealing one beautiful breast. “You mistake me, Stone. I remain aloof from my clients for the simple reason I cannot afford to lose my heart. So let me remind you of this, I have not hired you...yet.”

Her hands splayed across his chest and yanked open his shirt to reveal his naked flesh to her eyes. She drank him in. Gabriel couldn’t remember a more erotic moment in his life. Her sheer pleasure just from gazing at him showed in every detail of her face. The soft “Oh,” she whispered and the widening eyes all said she liked what she saw.

She stepped forward, gingerly, testing the waters. Her hesitation was a lure in and of itself. She lowered and placed a soft kiss under his chin and then trailed her tongue to his collar bone. Fire heated his veins.

A slow heat grew inside him as her fingers drifted up his arms to his shoulders. Chills traced their path.

Slowly, she kissed her way down his chest to his stomach. Gabriel’s body was set aflame. His erection strained against the fabric of his pants as her eager mouth crept closer. No, his mind argued but his body didn’t listen.

Sin settled on her knees and tugged the jeans open, freeing his cock from its restraints. Her gaze widened at his size, and he throbbed painfully.

He should leave. He should tell her no.

But his hands slipped into her hair as her mouth brushed a breath across his head, and he groaned in surrender. Her mouth slid down his length and sucked him inside. How could he possibly resist this woman?

Tender, gentle ministrations turned into longer, stronger suction until he near burst inside her mouth. When her hands joined the fray and stroked him with both her mouth and palm, he almost lost himself.

Ducking down, he lifted her onto the bed and shed her camisole from her body. He looked his fill, her legs dropping open to reveal the treasure he sought without shame, and her boldness drove him to distraction.

“
I can’t resist anymore.”

“
I never wanted you to, Gabriel.”

His name on her lips sent a thrill through him. “I haven’t taken the case yet, and I’m making no promises.”

Her hand clasped his member and stroked him until he gasped. “The only thing I want from you right now, Gabriel, is you inside me.” Whatever thoughts he’d had scattered and his surrender to Sin was the sweetest he’d ever experienced.

~*~

Desire spiked her temperature as he drove Ava back atop the bed, spread her legs and ground his erection against her. Coherent thought fled as she clawed at his back, silently urging him on. He lavished attention on every square inch of her body until he reached the apex of her thighs.

His hot breath brushed her thigh and she arched upward, seeking relief. Their gazes locked for seconds as his mouth descended with agonizing slowness. The first touch of his tongue shot her off the bed as it slid over her swollen nub.

Pleasure wracked her body and swirled through her veins. His tongue plunged inside her, licking, sucking and nibbling until she exploded in a frenzy of need. His finger joined his mouth, rubbing the pad across her sensitive core. Ava lifted her hips and spread her legs wider, giving him better access.

Sensation built inside her once again as he worked his mouth in a rapid pace. She sobbed, needing another release. Her hands gripped the bed sheets and her head tossed back as the tension coiled tighter and tighter.

A breeze wafted through the open doorway, cooling her heated flesh and brushing her sensitive nipples just as she burst into a thousand shivers. Convulsing shudders wracked her body again and again as she plummeted back to reality.

And then he rose over her, like a Greek god, shedding his clothing as he moved. Powerful, hungry and demanding, he entered her, filling her with his flesh. Another hot sensation cascaded into liquid fire around him, easing his entry.

Gabriel ground his teeth above her as he seemingly attempted to control the pleasure. But she didn’t want his control. She wanted his complete release. Ava lifted her legs onto his shoulders and he gasped. All restraint fled as he pounded into her depths. The muscles in his neck and shoulders expanded with his fierce grip and struggle to maintain control.

“
God you’re so wet.”

No one had ever brought her to climax so quickly. As his rhythm increased, she felt the stirring of another on the brink. She clawed at his arms as blinding hot desire raked her body. Gabriel’s howl of pleasure mixed with her own high pitched whimpers.

His hard body collapsed atop her, their breathing ragged and shared. He rolled to her side and gathered her close. Hot breath fanned her shoulder before he dropped a quick kiss to her bare shoulder. She peered over at him. Their gazes met.

Reaching up to brush his sweaty hair off his brow, she gave him a quick smile. He captured her hand and eased it to his mouth kissing each knuckle. “Thank you,” he whispered.

Her brow furrowed. “For what?”

Murky green eyes studied her. “For bringing me back to life.”

Words left her, and she rolled onto her side to face him. “I didn’t do anything.”

He kissed her fingertips. “You did more than you know.” Gabriel then placed her hand over his heart. “I’ve been dead for years. I lost my wife and my son ten years ago because a criminal robbed a bank.” He shrugged. “They were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

His voice choked. “I died the day I buried my four-year-old son. I forgot what it was like to feel pleasure or pain. And you’ve given it back to me.”

“
You give me too much credit.”

He shook his head and cupped her cheeks. “No, I’m certain I’ll never love another woman the way I loved Elizabeth, but for the first time in years I can feel my heart beat.”

Tears burned her eyes, filled them, and then trickled down her cheeks. His own eyes shimmered with emotion. “I’m not sure where to go from here and I know I’ll never forget them.” He ducked his head. “But it’s time to start living again...”

“
Call me Ava, Gabriel.”

He smiled gently. “Ava. That’s a beautiful name.” Releasing her cheeks he crawled from the bed and held a hand out to her. “Come on, I’m famished. Let’s go find something to eat.”