Guard (The Underground Book 3) (18 page)

She was panting, but he was panting also. Their noises mixed until he couldn’t tell whose moans belonged to whom. Did it matter?

He lowered his face and took her lips in a heated kiss, thrusting his tongue into her mouth in rhythm with his cock inside her pussy.

She lifted her ass to meet him with every thrust. Her legs would be sore from the effort. She was out of shape from two weeks being held hostage and three weeks under his tyrannical rule.

Why did he have to let his fear for her safety leak in while he was inside her slice of heaven? He lowered his body to get closer to her, holding himself off her enough to keep from smashing her. He wanted all of her. He wanted to touch her everywhere at once and feel her heart racing in tandem with his. He wanted to be inside her. More than the obvious.

He wanted to protect her, and the only way he knew to do that at the moment was to shroud her with his body. Every thrust of his cock drove him higher. He had to grit his teeth to keep from coming, though it was a wonder he’d lasted as long as he had.

And then he was there. On the edge. He wiggled one hand down her body and between them to stroke her clit.

She hitched her hips higher and moaned louder. “I’m gonna come.”

“That’s it, baby. Come for me. Do it. Now.”

When she shattered, he let himself go, following her over the edge into oblivion. His cock pulsed so hard and so long it became almost painful. But so totally worth it.

Totally spent, he released her clit and held himself slightly aloft with his elbows. He brushed a lock of red hair from her cheek. His arms shook. All his blood was in the little head. “You’re mine.”

Maybe the words weren’t quite polite or appropriate or politically correct or any of those things, but his heart soared when she nodded.

He exhaled slowly, setting his forehead against hers as he repeated the words, just to make sure she was clear. “You’re mine, Haley.”

“I know, Mikhail. Now undo my hands so I can touch you.”

He smiled at her demand and reached up with one hand to rip the Velcro away from her wrists. As soon as she was free, she grabbed onto his shoulder blades, pressing her fingertips into his muscles.

Her breathing was still ragged, and her gaze darted all over his face and chest. Everywhere in her line of vision. And then she drew her hands around to his chest and pushed on him.

As if her small frame had any effect whatsoever, he lifted a few inches off her.

She pressed harder. “Flip onto your back, you brute. It’s my turn.”

He lifted one eyebrow in question, but did as she told him, landing on his back so hard he bounced.

She climbed over him, straddling his wide torso with her legs and trailing her fingertips all down his chest and abdomen. She cupped his face, his shoulders, his biceps, his pecs, her hands in constant motion as if she needed to memorize him as quickly as possible before he disappeared.

Suddenly a tear leaked down her face.

He grabbed her hands in his and stopped her. “Hey. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she mumbled. “Everything’s perfect.”

“Then why the tears?”

She lifted her gaze. “How long will it stay this way? How much time do we have?”

He wasn’t sure what she meant.

“One of us could be killed tomorrow. Or die from whatever they injected us with.” Her gaze darted over his body frantically.

“Hey, baby. Look at me.”

It took her a moment to comply.

“No one’s going to die tomorrow.”

She tugged one hand free of his grip to wipe her tears away. “You don’t know that.”

“Well, no one knows that for sure. But I’m going to do everything in my power to keep us both alive.”

She nodded, swallowing. “Right. Of course.”

“But?”

“It was easier before.”

“Before what?”

She met his gaze dead on. “Before I knew what it felt like to be truly alive.”

Haley was finally asleep, her chest rising and falling in a deep slumber. It was still hot in the room, so she wasn’t covered at all.

He watched the rise and fall of her breasts with every breath, marveling at how perfect she was in every way. He’d never dreamed of meeting someone who could submit to him the way she had. But then she’d rocked his world by giving as good as she received, tipping the Earth on its axis to get the upper hand.

And he’d let her. At least he’d let her believe he’d allowed it.

Damn she was fine.

Better than fine.

If he was honest with himself. With Haley. He would admit he felt all of the same fear he’d seen in her eyes. He wasn’t worried so much about himself. Whatever injections he’d received had probably been as a toddler in Russia. But Haley had been shot up with something unknown less than a month ago. What would it do to her?

With a sigh, he lowered onto his side, not wanting to wake her. She hadn’t slept well in over a month. He didn’t want to disrupt her.

Not that he’d slept more than a few hours at a time since they met, either. For one thing, it was true the couch was less than ideal. And for another thing, her middle-of-the-night pacing caught his attention at least once a night.

Hopefully he’d worn her out this time. He smiled, still admiring her breasts. Her nipples were the perfect shade of pink, small round disks with erect tips. He wanted to lean over and suckle one, but restrained himself.

He shook with the realization she was so perfect for him. He’d suspected. Hoped. But until tonight, he hadn’t known with such certainty.

And she was scared. He hated her jumping out of her skin every time there was even the smallest noise, but he did like that she was aware and not flippant about the danger.

It was true she was probably in more danger than anyone else. Yenin did something to her. And she escaped. He would want her back.

What niggled in the back of Mikhail’s mind, however, was what Anton Yenin had intended to do with her after he moved her to Ted Christianson’s house. After he raped her, what next? Would he have taken her back to the lab? Killed her?

Mikhail closed his eyes and let out a long breath. He needed a few hours of sleep. The sun would be up soon…

»»•««

The scent of coffee was the next thing filtering into Mikhail’s mind. He blinked awake, finding himself on his back with one arm over his belly and one above his head. In Haley’s room…

He smiled as memories of the night before flooded back into place.

A faint humming grew louder as he propped himself on his elbows to glance around. The bedroom curtains were open. They’d probably never bothered to shut them last night. So the room was filled with light.

And then Haley appeared in the doorway wearing far too many clothes, her lips together—the source of the humming—and her hips swaying. But the best part was the smile on her face. It was the first time he’d seen her that calm, relaxed. At ease.

She had earbuds in.
Ah
, so that explained the humming. And she held a steaming mug in her hands. When she met his gaze, she jerked to a stop, her face growing more serious and her humming abruptly over. She yanked out the earbuds with one hand. “Sorry. Did I wake you?”

“No. Though I can’t believe I slept this late. What time is it?”

“Eight. Not exactly late.”

“Late for me.” He sat all the way up and reached out a hand. “Come here.”

She padded toward him without hesitation and rounded to his side of the bed.

The first thing he did was reach for the coffee mug. And then, noticing it was black, took a long sip.

She smirked. “Did you want some coffee?”

“Nope. Yours is fine.” Instead of returning it to her, he set it on the bedside table. “Now, tell me why you looked like the world was a perfect place until you noticed I was awake?” That fact was causing a tight ball of stress in his stomach.

She frowned. “I did not.”

“You
did
.”

She glanced down and leaned against the side of the mattress with one hip. “Guess I just felt a little silly being caught singing.”

He grinned and then reached out and grabbed her by the waist to lift her onto his lap.

She yelped, her hands going to his shoulders. “Geez, Mikhail. A little warning.”

“Singing? That was more like humming, and I have no idea what you were listening to, so you might be right to be embarrassed. But what about the dancing? That was sexy,” he teased.

Her eyes widened. “I was
not
dancing.”

“Okay swaying. And smiling. And humming. A good combo. You looked…relaxed.”

She sighed. “I guess I was. I sometimes listen to music to escape.”

“Ah, so it
was
music.”

She swatted at his shoulder with one hand, her smile returning.

“There. That’s what I like to see.” He leaned forward and kissed her lips gently. And then without warning, he tossed her on her back, forcing her to sprawl out diagonal across the mattress. He climbed over her to straddle her waist and then grabbed both her hands and lifted them over her head.

She gasped, her face going pink.

He hoped she never lost that hint of embarrassment. It was so sexy. “You have on so many clothes, I can’t see an inch of skin.” He glance down at where her chest should be, but her glorious breasts were covered with a thick bulky sweatshirt. Pink. The color and the brand. It was worn and fit her perfectly, the word “pink” running down one side of her chest in embroidered white letters that were frayed from many washings.

“I was cold. I woke up naked.”

He grinned. “I like you naked.”

She scrunched up her nose. “Yeah. Okay. Whatever.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s fine in the heat of the moment when we’re about to have sex. But I’m not going to waltz around the apartment that way.”

“Why the hell not?” he teased. He pulled her wrists together and tucked them under one hand, lowering the other down the side of her body until he could ease it under her sweatshirt and touch her soft skin.

When he smoothed his palm up to her breast and found her naked under the bulk, his cock stiffened.

Haley moaned when he cupped her breast and flicked his thumb over her nipple. She arched her chest into his touch. “Mikhail…” His name rolled off her tongue as her eyes fluttered shut.

“I love that you’re not wearing a bra. It’s sexy as hell.”

She licked her lips and met his gaze as he stroked her nipple over and over, the tip growing tight and erect. Her eyes were glazed. “I haven’t even showered. I’m not dressed. Don’t get any ideas.”

“Oh, baby. I have ideas out the wazoo. And you’ll like them.”

“Why do I doubt that?” she asked, her mouth falling open wider on the last word as he pinched her nipple between his thumb and pointer.

“You’re so responsive…”

“Mmm. You’re so distracting.”

He chuckled. “Are you sore? I need to fuck you again.”

“Mmm,” she repeated. “Been a while.”

“How long?”

She met his gaze, blinking. “A while.”

Huh. She was non-committal. But he’d let it go, for now. “Okay, then I’ll just have to tease you mercilessly until you come.”

“What?” She jerked her attention fully to his. “No. Don’t you dare.” She squirmed, but where did she think she was going to go with someone three times her size straddling her hips and holding her hands down?

“Don’t worry. If your pussy’s sore, I’ll find another way to get you off.” He was tormenting her. On purpose. He knew perfectly well he could get her off so many other ways. But talking about it was spreading a lovely pink tinge on her cheeks out toward her ears.

He let go of her hands, but only long enough to reach down and haul her sweatshirt over her head, leaving her in loose gray drawstring pants.

She didn’t have time to react before he had her hands back above her head and was staring down at her chest as it rose and fell, goose bumps popping up all over her skin.

“You cold?”

“No,” she muttered, biting her lower lip as soon as she spoke.

He shot her a look, and she released that lip. “Oh, don’t stop on my account. I loved the way you reacted to me slapping a few fingers over your clit. It made my cock stiff. I’d be happy to do it again. Any time.”

She shook her head. “It’s…daylight.”

He chuckled. “So?”

“So, we should get up. Eat breakfast. Don’t you need to go to the gym or something?”

“Nope. Not after a fight. I’m taking the day off.”

She bit her lip again and then released it. “We should—”

“Enjoy a lazy morning in bed?” he interrupted. “What time is your friend Belinda coming over?”

“Not until tonight. Seven.”

“Then we have hours and hours to kill.”

Her eyes widened again.

It was so fun teasing her. Did she think they should only have sex in the dark? At night?

∙
•
∙

Haley squirmed underneath him. Already she was fully aroused, though she couldn’t imagine how it was possible after how many orgasms she’d had last night. She’d lost count, but any more than one was a record for her anyway.

Her chest rose and fell as she breathed heavily, her nipples hard points jutting out toward Mikhail.

He lowered his gaze again to look at them and stared for long moments that made her flush until he smiled. “Yeah, that’s what I like to see.”

She bit her lower lip. He liked to see her skin turn pink?

Oh yeah, he did.

Mikhail glanced at her lips and then leaned forward to pluck her bottom one from between her teeth and nibble it himself.

She parted her lips and arched her chest toward him. She needed him to touch her nipples. Since when did she find such a thing necessary?

When he released her lip, he stared into her eyes from inches away. “I’m gonna spank you now.”

Her gaze widened. “What? Why?”

A slow smile spread across his face. “So many reasons, the last of which is you biting that lip when I told you not to several times.”

She closed her mouth, swallowing. “Not sure I like the idea of you spanking me.” She also wasn’t sure she liked how wet she got at the suggestion, and not for the first time. She wasn’t wearing panties. When she’d slid from the bed earlier, she’d grabbed her favorite comfy sweatshirt and pants and tiptoed from the room, trying to avoid waking Mikhail. Now, moisture gathered between her lower lips, and no amount of clenching could hold it back.