Midnight Action (9 page)

For fuck’s sake, this was total insanity, he decided as the cold water had him breaking out in shivers.

Noelle’s squeal made him grin.

“God, Jim, it’s so cold!” But the temperature didn’t stop her from running through the spraying arches.

Her feet kicked up water, arms raised high above her head, and her hair grew darker the wetter it got. But her eyes remained as pale as ever, sparkling ice blue, full of joy and laughter and
life
.

Morgan halted in his tracks. He could hardly breathe, barely move. He simply stood there, gazing at her with wonder.

She was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen, but there was so much more to her than just looks. She was smart, exciting, so quick to laugh despite the hardships she’d faced. The fact that she could even smile after what she’d suffered at the hands of Laurent was utterly astonishing.

As her carefree smile and laughing eyes ensnared his gaze, Morgan suddenly realized that Noelle Phillips was a helluva lot stronger than he could ever hope to be.

“Come here!” she called out, holding her hands out to him.

Like a lovesick fool, he went to her. He felt dazed, confused, and more contented than he’d ever been in his life. The sensation of soothing satisfaction only heightened as Noelle twined her arms around his neck, and then she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him, and a moan of longing slipped from his throat.

“Told you this would be fun,” she murmured. “Now dance with me.”

“I don’t like to dance,” he murmured back.

“Tough, because I love it.” Her tone brooked no argument, her grip forceful as she grabbed his hands and dragged them down to her hips.

“There’s no music.” He gulped uneasily, feeling completely out of his element.

“We don’t need music.”

And then she started to sway, and he had no choice but to follow suit.

He held her close as they danced beneath the arches of water, and when she peered up at him with so much trust in her eyes, his heart squeezed painfully in his chest.

Oh God.

He was a terrible man. He deserved to rot in hell for what he was doing.

“Kiss me,” she whispered.

Despite his misgivings, despite the shards of self-loathing slicing his heart, he lowered his head and captured her lips, kissing her so passionately he caught not just her, but
himself
, off guard.

When they breathlessly broke apart, she looked stunned.

“Wow,” she gasped

He swallowed hard. “Noelle—”

“Hey, you two! Get out of there!”

Their heads swiveled in alarm just as a uniformed security guard appeared by the row of benches behind them.

They looked at each other for a beat.

And took off running.

They stopped only to swipe their clothing from the bench, and then they were streaking down the path that led to the street like a pair of convicts escaping from prison.

It was hard to run when you were overcome with laughter, but somehow Morgan managed to get one foot in front of the other. He was laughing so hard his side hurt. Noelle’s melodic laughter mingled with his, and he reached for her hand as they emerged onto the sidewalk, where they nearly plowed down a group of late-night pedestrians.

“Oh my God, do you think he’s chasing us?” Noelle asked as she frantically slipped into her shirt.

Morgan donned his own shirt. Inside out, but he didn’t care at that moment. “Do you really want to wait around and find out?”

“No, thanks.”

They kept moving, stopping every few feet in order to put on another item of clothing.

When they burst into the Lancaster five minutes later, soaking wet and with their clothing in total disarray, they drew startled looks from every single person in the lobby.

Swallowing a laugh, Morgan greeted the night clerk with a brisk nod, then strode toward the elevator bank, still clutching Noelle’s hand. He knew the hotel staff wouldn’t throw a hissy fit—he was paying an arm and a leg for his lavish suite, and there was no way the Lancaster would be willing to lose his business over a minor infraction like wet hair and inside-out clothes.

Two minutes later, he and Noelle entered the suite, and he turned to her with a grin. “Let me grab you a towel so you can dry your hair.”

He made a beeline for the private bath in the bedroom and popped inside to grab a couple of fluffy white towels from the rack. He tucked them under his arm and strode out, intending on going back to the living room.

Except Noelle wasn’t in the living room.

She was on the bed.

Naked.

The sight stopped him cold. Or maybe
hot
was the more accurate description. Flames engulfed his body, a red haze of lust clouding his vision as nothing but endless curves and golden skin assaulted his gaze. His breath came out in a fast swoosh as he focused on her bare breasts, round and perky and tipped by the palest pink nipples he’d ever seen.

Her sex was also bare.

Sweet Jesus
.

Morgan’s brain quit working. All he could do was stare at the goddess lying on his bed.

“Don’t you dare tell me to get dressed,” she said in a warning tone. “We’ve waited long enough.”

Okay, now his heart wasn’t working either. It had stopped beating, lodged itself in his throat so he couldn’t get a single word out.

“Take off your clothes, Jim.” Her expression turned fierce.

He must have entered a hypnotic trance. There was no other explanation for why he was unbuttoning his pants.

One by one, pieces of clothing dropped to the carpet, until he was standing there totally nude and fully erect.

Noelle’s eyes roamed his naked flesh, approval and heat burning in those beautiful blue orbs.

“Come here,” she ordered.

As he approached the bed, he found that his hands were trembling. Desire continued to wreak havoc on his motor functions, and he felt like an awkward oaf as he stretched out on the mattress beside her, his muscles and limbs unable to remember their individual roles.

Noelle took pity on him by grasping his hand and placing it directly over one full breast.

His heart abruptly started beating again, a fast, pounding rhythm that drummed in his ears and surged through his blood. He squeezed that perfect breast, groaning when her rigid nipple brushed the center of his palm. God, he didn’t even know where to begin. Which gorgeous part of her to kiss first. To touch. Lick. Devour.

In the back of his mind, he knew he should stop this before it was too late.

But who was he kidding?

It was already too late.

He’d been a goner from the moment he’d laid eyes on her.

Those big blue eyes peered up at him, shining with trust, anticipation, and need. “Make love to me, Jim.”

His pulse kicked up another notch.

His hands started shaking again.

And then he did exactly what she asked.

Present day

They pored over Girard’s client list for more than an hour, flagging names and calling up their respective contacts to gather information. But by the time Noelle closed the laptop, they were no closer to narrowing in on the mystery man who’d hired her.

Being in such close quarters with Jim was unbearable. She couldn’t remember the last time they’d shared the same space for more than ten minutes, and she’d been so infuriatingly aware of him this past hour.

His crisp masculine aftershave, with a hint of sage and leather, had suffocated her lungs. The roped muscles of his arms, bare beneath his white T-shirt, had captured her gaze more than once. Equally captivating was the bristly stubble that shadowed his jaw, and the long callused fingers moving over the computer keyboard, and the faded white scar at the side of his neck...

He was one of those annoying men who only got better-looking with age, which made her want to slug him. But they’d called a cease-fire, so going violent on him was no longer an option.

Still, it was definitely time to wrap this up and take a much-needed break from the man.

“All right, I say we focus on the six names you didn’t recognize,” she said in an authoritative voice, rising from the bed. “I’ll get Paige to do a more thorough background search.”

“We might be able to vet at least one of them ourselves.” Jim spoke absently as he studied the tablet. “I’m looking at the appointment calendar your girl copied when she hacked into Girard’s office computer. It says there’s a shareholders function at Maurice Durand’s house tonight. Girard made a note to send his regrets about not being able to attend.”

Noelle frowned. Durand was one of the clients they hadn’t been able to get much intelligence on. All they’d managed to find was that he owned a major pharmaceutical company and was somewhat of a recluse. He rarely left his country estate, which might have seemed suspicious if not for the fact that the other five wild cards on their list were equally reclusive.

“Feel like crashing a party?” Jim arched his dark eyebrows at her.

“Why not?” she said with a shrug. “I’ll make some calls and see if I can get us in the proper way. Otherwise we’ll have to be creative.”

She tossed her long braid over her shoulder and headed for the door, only to stop when Jim said her name.

“What?” Irritable, she glanced over at him.

His eyes locked with hers.

And then he said, “Wanna fuck?”

A genuine laugh flew out, but it died in her throat when she saw the look on his face.

Noelle’s mouth fell open. “You’re serious.”

With a tired breath, he dragged a hand over his close-cropped hair before crossing his arms over his broad chest. “I figure it might benefit both of us if we just get it out of our systems.”

Noelle wasn’t speechless often, but at the moment, she couldn’t think of a solitary thing to say.

Her gaze stayed glued to Jim’s, while her brain sped through every implication, ran through every detail in order to determine whether this was a test. A trap. A joke.

Nothing about his expression or body language corroborated her suspicions. He just stood there watching her, waiting for a response. Cold and emotionless, like a damn robot.

Her gaze lowered to his groin. To the bulge beneath his pants, the proof of his arousal. Clearly he was as defeated by the physical attraction between them as she was, and that only made her angrier.

Gritting her teeth, she got up into his personal space and stared into his veiled blue eyes. “I don’t want this,” she snapped.

Only her hands were already fisted in the front of his shirt, pulling the material from his pants.

“Neither do I.” His voice was equally tense.

Her jaw tightened.

So did his.

“This won’t change how I feel about you,” he muttered.

“Never,” she muttered back.

There was a beat of silence. For a moment she thought he’d back down. Walk away, end the insanity.

For a moment
she
nearly walked away. Ended the insanity.

But then their eyes collided again.

And the knot of awareness sizzling between them detonated the air and unleashed a firestorm.

Noelle gasped as she suddenly found herself up against the dresser. Jim thrust his thigh between her legs and ground against her, so violently the dresser shook and smacked the wall, and the decorative candles sitting on the chest of drawers clattered to the hardwood. The glass candleholders shattered, sharp pieces littering the floor beneath their feet, but Noelle paid them no attention.

She yanked his shirt over his head, leaving his chest bare to her touch, his skin prey to her fingernails as she gouged them into his sinewy back. He jerked from the assault, growling with pain, and then his mouth came crashing down on her neck and sharp teeth sank into her flesh.

Noelle flinched from the sting, but she didn’t slap his head away. She simply raked her nails down his back, so hard she knew she’d drawn blood.

“Fucking
hell
,” Jim rasped, his voice tinged with anger and thick with passion.

His mouth closed in on hers, but she wrenched her head to the side at the last second, denying him her lips.

The rejection didn’t faze him. He simply kissed her everywhere but on her mouth. Her jaw, her earlobes, the column of her throat. Those wicked lips devoured every available inch of skin, and when he’d run out of exposed places, he stripped off her clothes and hauled her naked body into his arms.

Noelle swore when he unceremoniously dumped her on the bed, but the curse turned into a greedy moan when the wet heat of his mouth surrounded her nipple. He sucked hard, the pressure so intense that her hips shot off the bed.

“This. Changes. Nothing.” He squeezed out the words even as he feasted on her breasts, his breath warming her already feverish skin.

“Nothing,” she retorted in angry, breathless agreement.

He pushed her breasts together and flicked his tongue over her nipples, alternating between each one, licking and sucking and tormenting her with his lips.

God, she didn’t want to feel any pleasure. She didn’t want to bring
him
pleasure, yet she couldn’t stop herself from unzipping his pants. From shoving her hand inside his boxer-briefs and wrapping her fist around his shaft. His cock was massive, as long and thick as she remembered, and harder than steel.

She gave it a lazy stroke, and the groan that escaped his lips was like a knife to the chest. When she pumped him faster and saw the fiery lust in his eyes, she fought a wave of self-loathing.

“I hate you,” she whispered.

Jim snaked his hand between her legs. “Hate me all you want, baby.”

Then he pushed one long finger inside her sopping wet channel and she moaned so loudly that everyone in a five-mile radius must have heard her.

Jim let out a dark, satisfied laugh. “You like that?”

“Go to hell,” she spat out. “Just go to hell and fuck me already.”

He shoved his pants and boxers down his trim hips, using only one hand because his other one was busy cupping her breast, squeezing to the point of pain.

Noelle lay there on her back, her heart pounding, her gaze eating up Jim’s magnificent chest and washboard abs. And his cock. He was hung like a stallion, so big and hard that her mouth watered and her core clenched with anticipation.

She spread her legs wider, her lips forming a smirk when she saw the flare of heat in his eyes.

“You like that?” she mocked.

He didn’t answer. Just whipped his clothing aside, covered her with his heavy naked body, and drove his cock inside her.

The penetration was deep and unexpected, summoning a wild cry from both their throats.

Son of a bitch. Fuck. Hell.
Shit
.

She’d hoped it would be different.

Prayed if they ever slept together again, that feeling of completion would have vanished.

But they still fit together so goddamn perfectly and it made her want to scream. It brought the sting of tears to her eyes, the crushing, hopeless realization that she might never be free of this man.

She shut her eyes, hoping that if she didn’t see his face, she might be able to pretend he was someone else, anyone else, but Jim forcibly grabbed her chin and hissed in disapproval.

“Open your eyes, Noelle,” he commanded. “I want you to look at me while I fuck you.”

When she didn’t obey, he curled his fingers around her thick braid and yanked hard. “Look. At. Me.”

Anger jolted through her, but not enough to stop the encounter, and not nearly enough to quell the electric shocks of pleasure crackling in her system. She reluctantly opened her eyes, and a gleam of triumph joined the inferno of need lighting Jim’s gaze.

“Now wrap your legs around my ass,” he said thickly.

Her legs followed his order of their own volition, deepening the contact between them.

Jim drew his hips back, then plunged in again. He set a brutal rhythm. Hard, fast, and deep. So goddamn deep.

And Noelle’s body betrayed her. Her pelvis rose off the mattress to meet each punishing thrust; her fingers dug into his shoulders; her inner muscles bore down on his cock to intensify the friction.

She’d never felt more helpless in her life, and she would have been more furious about it, if Jim’s expression hadn’t revealed that same powerless emotion.

“Why...How is it still so...” He trailed off with a groan, then snaked his hands under her ass and lifted her up so he could drive his cock even deeper.

His desperation fascinated her. He was coming undone right in front of her. The cords of muscle in his neck popped out from the strain. His warm, male flesh took on a sheen of sweat. The pistoning of his hips grew erratic, frenzied.

The mattress squeaked in protest and the headboard whacked against the wall, but Jim didn’t slow down. Didn’t show mercy. He pummeled into her, over and over again, flesh slapping flesh, his slick chest crushing her breasts.

Noelle couldn’t breathe. She felt the telltale signs of orgasm tingling in her core, but coming felt like another betrayal. If she let this man bring her to climax, that was something she’d never be able to undo. It would be a permanent show of weakness.

“I know you’re close,” he taunted. “I can feel your pussy throbbing around my cock.”

She inhaled deeply, hoping to curb the impending orgasm, but all she succeeded in doing was breathing in his addictive scent, which only sent another jolt of desire straight to her core.

“You don’t get to avoid this, Noelle,” he said hoarsely. “If I come, then you come.”

She clamped her teeth over her lower lip, fighting the rising waves of release, desperately trying to stop that coil of pressure from blowing apart.

“Damn it,
come
,” Jim ground out.

Then he stole her choice in the matter by shoving his hand to where their bodies were joined and pressing his thumb directly on her clit.

And Noelle exploded.

“That’s it, baby,” he muttered. “There you go.”

A cry flew out of her mouth as the orgasm ripped through her body. Wave after wave of pleasure crashed into her, tingling in her breasts, pounding in her core. Her body shook so hard she had no option but to cling to Jim’s broad shoulders. If she hadn’t been lying down, she would have toppled right over, and she hated him for having this power over her.

Except...well, she had the same power over
him
, a realization that became evident as she caught her breath and watched him orgasm. His powerful body shuddered from the force of it and the surrender in his eyes was both thrilling and terrifying. He went still, his cock jerking inside her, flooding her channel with hot jets of release. That was when another dose of comprehension dawned on her.

No condom. Damn it. She’d just realized it now, but she wasn’t worried about pregnancy or diseases. One, she was on the pill, and two, she knew without a doubt that Jim was clean as a whistle—and not just because she’d been spying on him for years and had gotten her hands on all his medical reports. Jim Morgan considered himself a man of honor; she knew he’d never keep something as important as a sexually transmitted disease from the woman in his bed.

With a low groan, he withdrew from her core and rolled onto his back. Crooked his arm and rested it on his forehead, almost as if he were trying to shield himself from her view.

Noelle stared up at the ceiling and waited for her heartbeat to regulate. Her thighs were sticky, her sex still throbbing from the mind-shattering orgasm.

It took a while to find her voice, and once she did, it came out as dejected as ever. “Did this get me out of your system?”

He didn’t speak for one long beat, until finally he muttered, “No.” Another pause. “Did it get me out of yours?”

She kept her gaze on the ceiling. “No.”

The mattress shifted as Jim sat up. He didn’t try to touch her. Didn’t try to kiss her. He simply slid off the bed and stood at the foot of it, still naked, still impressively erect.

After a moment, Noelle shifted her head and looked at him.

He looked back, his cheeks hollowing as his stubble-covered jaw went rigid. “Then I guess we’ll just have to try again later.”