Asa (Marked Men #6) (8 page)

I ran my fingers through my hair trying to untangle it, kicked off my sneakers, and hit the lights. The tiny apartment was immediately lost in pitch blackness and the only thing I could see was the glint of Asa’s blond hair, and I could swear his eyes shimmered in the dark even though I knew that was impossible. Maybe because there was no light, maybe because I knew I had to be all in this time with him or I would never get another chance, but instinct told me that if I wanted to prove to him that the line didn’t exist for either of us anymore, being as naked as he was when I crawled into bed with him was a surefire way to do it.

I pulled my Under Armour shirt off over my head, wiggled out of my sports bra, and left my pants and underwear in a pile on the floor. It was oddly liberating, I thought as I moved toward the bed. I wasn’t shy or reserved, but this was bolder than anything I had ever done. Everything where this guy was concerned had forced me to be the aggressor, the pursuer, and I kind of liked the idea of finally winning the reward for not being afraid of going after something forbidden and oh so enticing.

His long legs shifted as I hit the edge of the bed and reached out a hand to feel my way in the blackness. I felt his calf muscles contract at the first brush of my fingertips and I couldn’t help but grin at the reaction. The bed wasn’t big enough for me to slither up alongside him, so I had to literally crawl up and over him, which had naked skin dragging and brushing against both of us. There was no way he was going to miss the invitation. It also had my hands shaking, my nipples getting hard, and I didn’t miss the way his breathing hitched and shuddered at the contact. His hands landed on my waist as I straddled him in the dark. His thighs tensed under my bare backside and his cock was stirring and rising between us. His thumbs ran along the ridge of my rib cage and he told me gruffly, “This might be the worst crime I ever committed.”

He couldn’t see my expression, but I scowled and leaned forward with my hands on his chest. I liked how smooth and hard his sculpted muscles felt under my palms. He really was like an artfully carved statue created for generations to enjoy and admire.

“What do you mean?”

His hands moved up farther until he was cupping each of my full breasts in his hands. I jerked at the sensation and then gasped when he ran his thumbs over the distended peaks on each side. It felt so good I started to quiver from the inside out. He wasn’t exactly gentle or reverent in the way he touched me and I think that made it even better.

“When a girl that looks like you takes her clothes off, it should be a crime to have the lights out. The idea of you naked is enough to get most guys off, Royal. Having the reality right in front of me and not being able to see it should be illegal.” It was a crude compliment, but it was a sweet sentiment nonetheless. I had heard similar things before, but coming from him, they didn’t seem like throwaway words meant simply as a way to get into my pants. Not like he needed words to do that anyways; my pants were clear across the room already.

I was going to tell him that I felt the same way, he was too beautiful to go to bed with in the dark, but all thought spiraled into nothingness when his stroking thumbs suddenly turned into a light pinching grasp that had my back bowing and my head falling back as sharp pleasure worked from the point of his touch to my core. He hadn’t even kissed me, hadn’t done anything romantic or passionate, and I was already wanting to climb onto the jutting erection that had come to life between us and assuage the ache that was building low in my belly.

He let go of one nipple and reached up to tunnel his fingers in the thick hair at the back of my head. He pulled me down over him until our lips touched. I sighed when his trapped dick twitched eagerly against my belly as he devoured my mouth, a skill that should be considered a weapon. No one kissed like Asa. At least no one I had ever kissed before. He kissed in a way that really felt like he was trying to make it the best kiss I ever had. He kissed like he wanted to make sure I knew whoever I kissed after him would never compare. He kissed me like he wanted to tell me things with his lips and tongue that he couldn’t say with words. It made my head fuzzy and my heart start to pound. It was also enough to have me unconsciously moving against him in need.

Sex wasn’t exactly something I had sought out before Asa. I mean, I was by no means a virgin, but I had learned pretty early on that sex tended to be way more about the guy than it ever was about me, and that never made me overly eager to strip down to get busy. I had dated a really nice guy for almost a full year while I was at the Police Academy, but somewhere along the line it had occurred to me that nice wasn’t enough to keep a relationship together, and even with him, sex had been pleasant at best. This wasn’t pleasant. This was hot, shiver-inducing, body-breaking levels of feeling, and not just the reactions from my body. My heart was racing. My mind was frantically trying to take in every single sensation and my lungs were burning from lack of oxygen as Asa continued to bite and suck at my mouth. He was trying to get me off just by kissing me and he was talented enough that he just might make it happen, but I had waited too long for this, had been thinking about being with him like this for too long, to not have him inside of me.

I pulled back, leaving us both panting and gasping in the dark. I reached out and found the edge of his nose and ran my finger along it, then up across one of his arched brows. “You were thinking about me in the shower?” My voice sounded wistful to my own ears.

He made a noise low in his throat, wrapped his arm around my back, and flipped us over so that I was sprawled out underneath his big body. He reached over me, which drove our hips together and had his cock pressing right where I wanted it between my legs. I heard a drawer open and then slam closed and the crinkle of foil as he tossed what had to be a condom on the pillow next to my head. He couldn’t really be as bad as he kept trying to tell me. Protection hadn’t even crossed my mind, and yet there he was once again looking out for my best interests without me asking him to.

“I’ve been thinking about you since the first time I saw you. I think about your eyes and your hair. I think about those long-ass legs and the fact that you have the nicest rack I have ever seen in my life.” I snorted at him but he wasn’t done. “I think about the way your ass looks in those tight skinny jeans you wear when you’re trying to get my attention. Then I remind myself that all of that comes with a badge and a gun, and remember why jerking off in the shower instead of taking you to bed is a far safer course of action for both of us.”

I stiffened automatically but he took one of the condoms, handing it to me while dropping his head so he could lick all across my collarbone. He nuzzled his nose against my cheek and then put his lips to my ear and whispered, “And yet here we are.”

I gulped a little as he lifted himself off of me by bracing his forearms on either side of my head. I opened the condom packet with my teeth and somehow managed to get it where it was supposed to go even though my hands were shaking like crazy. Suddenly I was wondering what I was going to do if this ended up being as lackluster as all the other times I had done it. It seemed really stupid to walk into the lion’s cage and tug on his tail without knowing the risk was worth it. Where was all that clarity up to this point?

I wrapped an arm across the broad expanse of his shoulder and another one right above his sculpted backside and whispered back, “Here we are.”

He left one arm arched over my head and lowered his other one until his fingers curled tightly around my thigh. He pulled my leg up high along his side and I felt just the tip of him prod at my entrance.

I saw his teeth flash in the dark right before he lowered his mouth back to mine. Against my lips he muttered, “Let’s hope we both make it out alive,” and then he kissed me in that soul-stealing way he had as he sank all the way into my welcoming body.

It was anything but lackluster.

I felt him everywhere, inside and out. His fingers dug into my flesh as his mouth moved, insistent and demanding against mine. It was almost too much. Too many sensations, too much feeling, too much anticipation. I felt my body respond with minimal effort on his part. All he had to do was touch me, slide in and out in the steady, strong rhythm he had set. I was already writhing, already feeling my insides quake as they tightened with contractions around him. I dropped a hand to one of the firm globes of his ass and dug my fingers in just to get a good grasp on something because reality was spinning away. This was most assuredly sex that was all about me. He was kissing me everywhere. My mouth, my neck, behind my ear, and all along where my pulse was racing at the curve of my neck. His hand that had been holding my leg up where he wanted it, left when it was clear I was going to stay splayed and arched just where he wanted me. It detoured to that hot spot right between my legs. At the first press of his fingertips on that sensitive nub I screamed his name. It was so loud it hurt my head, but it just made him chuckle into my damp skin, where he was nibbling hard enough to leave marks.

His fingers wiggled and brought me dangerously close to going over the edge. I could feel my reaction to his touch and to his thrusts get all liquid and hot between us. There was no hiding how effectively he knew how to touch me in order to get the most dynamic reaction. I pressed up even harder against him. I wanted closer and that wasn’t even possible. It all felt so good that it almost hurt. I felt the brink of an orgasm racing up and over me. I wanted to tell him to slow down, that it was going to be over too fast after such a long wait, but then his mouth was by my ear again and that voice that was all honey and smoke whispered, “I can’t see you but I can feel you, Royal, and you feel beautiful.”

Holy shit he was good. Between his words and what he was doing with his fingers, along with the relentless drag and pull of his body inside mine, I was done for. I tossed my head to the side and he kissed me on the cheek as I broke apart underneath him. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced before and definitely worth the work I had put into getting it. My eyes slid closed. His breath hitched and he said my name on a sigh. Then his body jerked against mine and his chest settled down against my own as he collapsed on top of me. His heart was just as unsteady as mine where they beat wildly against each other. I was feeling too much, exposed in a way I hadn’t anticipated, and I wasn’t sure I could handle whatever it was that would be looking back at me in his amber gaze. I was suddenly really glad there were no lights on.

He shifted so he could pull out of my limp and spent body. He squeezed my butt and rolled off the side of the bed. I heard him banging around in the bathroom, rolled to my side, and put my hands under my cheek. For some reason I really felt like I was going to cry. Destruction and heartbreak really didn’t sound as fun as they had before I had gone to bed with him.

The mattress dipped under his weight when he returned and I thought he was going to just roll to the opposite side and go to sleep. Asa didn’t strike me as a cuddler, and in all honesty I could’ve used a minute to get my shit together, only he didn’t give it to me. Instead he curled around my back, wrapped one of his strong arms around my front, and pulled me into his chest so that we were pressed tightly together. His voice was all thick southern drawl and sleepy, warning me, “Trouble is always a whole lot of fun … until it isn’t anymore.”

I was finally starting to believe him. All I could do was close my eyes and let his even breathing lull me to sleep even though I felt like I hadn’t just crossed the line. I had blown it up and tap-danced all over it.

Waking up wrapped around a warm body was nothing new. Waking up wrapped around a body that I wanted to snuggle into, lose myself in over and over again, and not let go of ever—well, that was a first.

We were facing each other in the narrow bed, and Royal had her head tucked under my chin and her breath was tickling my throat. Her arm was resting across my ribs and one of her long legs had situated itself between my own. We were pressed as tightly together as two people could be without having sex, and my morning erection was pretty much insisting that I take advantage of the situation. It throbbed between us where her hips were practically locked against my own. It was entirely too intimate for my peace of mind.

I liked sex—a lot—and I wasn’t averse to having whoever shared my bed for the night sleep over. I was a pro at getting my own way and defusing awkward situations with pretty words and a clever grin, so I typically never had to worry about morning-after catastrophes. In fact, I usually could look forward to a repeat performance when the sun came up, but somehow I knew if I went there with Royal in the bright light of day, it would change things.

I already felt it in the way my hands wanted to linger at the delicate curve of her waist. In the way my skin tingled and felt alive where it touched hers. In the way I wanted to simply look at her in all her naked and fiery beauty while she held on to me. I absolutely couldn’t get serious about this girl, we were beyond wrong for each other … not that I was ever going to be right for anyone, but especially not right for her. Too bad my body and my mind didn’t agree on that fact.

Everything inside of me tightened and coiled, ready to strike when she muttered my name in her sleep and wiggled her body even closer to mine. She was seriously going to make me come just by breathing on me, so I sighed and extracted myself from her sleepy hands as delicately as I could. I needed some space, both physically and mentally. She was far too easy to get lost in, and the fact that she was strong enough, secure enough, to come after what she wanted even though I told her what the inevitable outcome was going to be was a turn-on like no other. I had been chased by women before, often because I led them on for my own reasons. But I had never been chased and then caught by a woman that knew all the rules going in. I both loved and loathed her fearlessness. It made it impossible to say no to her.

I had no clue if she needed to be up for work or not, so I decided to take a quick shower and then call Nash to see if he could rescue her trapped purse from her car. That was a call I wasn’t eager to make. I could already see the wild fire of concern and worry that would burn through our group of friends when it was made clear that Royal and I had spent the night together.

Sure, we were consenting adults and it was no secret she had been after me for more than a minute, but now that I had broken the seal, taken what was offered, it would be a whole different ball game of subtle hints and more obvious warnings that I better treat her right and better not do anything to hurt her. Of course I didn’t want to hurt her, that’s why I had avoided this inevitable hookup for as long as was humanly possible. But now there was no choice. The line had officially been crossed and I knew there was a crash-and-burn hovering somewhere down the line for both of us on this side of it. That’s just the way things in my world worked and it was better to accept them than be blindsided and devastated by it when the crash happened.

I took a second to brush my teeth, then turned the water in the shower on as hot as it would go and stepped underneath the spray. This was early for me to be up and about, but my insistent dick and whirling mind weren’t going to let me crawl back into my occupied bed without either a fuck or a fight. The water was enough to jar me fully awake and aware as I bit back a groan when I realized every time I stepped into this shower stall I was now going to have the image of Royal watching me, with those wide, chocolate-colored eyes forever imprinted on my brain.

She should have been offended and embarrassed. Instead she was pissed, and rightfully so. I had known all along what I was doing, had felt the burn and want for her pressing hard at the base of my spine. I also knew she wasn’t going to sit idly by while I disappeared into the bathroom. Her nature was to be curious and a problem solver, so I’d known she was going to get a show when she eventually came looking for me. What I hadn’t planned on was her staying to watch, or how ridiculously hot her doing so had made me. I was just trying to prove a point, trying to get her to see what I was really all about and how little regard I could have for her feelings. Only she had turned the tables, made it about something more; between her melted-candy-colored eyes and her furious pout, she had made it something more. Of course I said her name on a curse when I came and I also knew she wasn’t leaving the apartment until I took her to bed. But then she had curled so innocently and so trustingly into me while she slept, and just like that she had turned sex into something more as well. She was making all of it into something more, including me, and that felt beyond dangerous.

The water almost scalded as it poured over the top of my head and down across my shoulders, but it felt good and released some of the tension that was riding me hard. I turned my head and couldn’t say I was surprised when she stepped between me and the spray. The water turned her hair from burnished mahogany to almost jet black and her eyebrows nearly touched her hairline as she gazed up at me.

“Everything okay?”

I should be asking her that. Instead I reached out and caged her in between my arms and the tiled wall while the hot water continued to cascade down around us.

“I was just envisioning the lecture that is bound to be headed my way when we call Nash to get you into your car.”

Her slick hands moved up and down my ribs in a caress that I’m sure was designed to soothe but instead made my already hard cock even harder. She couldn’t miss it the way it was pointed straight up between the two of us.

“It won’t be any worse than the one I’m sure Saint is going to give me.” Her voice was still soft with sleep and heavy with something I didn’t want to try and dissect.

I bent my head down just a little and the water ran off my nose and dripped across her parted lips, and told her quietly, “You should listen to her. Whatever she has to say.”

I was going to kiss her, because I had to. She was just too much temptation all wet and shiny before me. She looked better than most when she was dressed down and without makeup. Dripping wet and naked as she was, there was nothing more beautiful than this woman. It was impossible not to feel incredibly lucky she was here with me for no other reason than she wanted to be. Not because there had been tricks or subterfuge on my end. I scowled at her when she turned her head away at the last minute and leaned forward to press her lips against the center of my chest.

“Listen to her tell me to be careful, to watch my step with you, because you’re unpredictable? You’ve been telling me that yourself for weeks. I’ve heard the warnings and I’ve decided to proceed at my own risk.” She lifted her head up to look at me, and I think I might have loved her just a little bit when she blinked water out of her eyes and smiled up at me. “But I didn’t brush my teeth this morning and I don’t think I’m willing to scare you off with morning breath after I finally got you where I want you.”

That made me laugh. There was no way something like morning breath could ever distract me from her overall amazingness, but it was cute that she had basic insecurities like everyone else. She could so easily be one of those girls that knew she could get away with murder based on her looks alone, so it was refreshing and adorable that she wasn’t like that at all.

“I think it would take more than some funky breath to scare anyone off of you, Red.” My voice got all husky against my will. She just did something to me that made me want to fight against all the normal asshole tendencies that I had.

She laughed a little and then her tongue was licking over my nipple, which made me gasp, while her fingers were tracing the lines of my abs where they tensed and flexed under her touch. I really wanted to kiss her, but before I could snatch her up, she was on her knees in front of me and my cock was in her mouth. There was no way in hell I was able to form a coherent thought after that.

Between the hot water, her even hotter mouth, and the way she looked all sexy and wet on her knees in front of me, this wasn’t going to last very long. I threaded my fingers through her heavy hair, closed my eyes, and tried to remember anything in my life ever being as good as this. The way she rolled her tongue over the tip and across every single ridge had my heart thundering in my ears. When she added her hands and sent them exploring between my legs, I had to really concentrate to stay upright because the pleasure was so much it nearly knocked me down. She made a satisfied sound at the back of her throat that vibrated all along my entire length where it was trapped between her plump lips.

I pulled lightly on the long tresses that I had wrapped around my fingers and told her gruffly, “You need to let up if you want a turn with that.”

I felt her mouth quirk around my dick and then she was using her hands along with her mouth in a way that was meant to render a man absolutely useless. My knees shook because I came with her name on my lips once again. She rose to her feet in one elegant move, the water running down her naked form making her look like some kind of satisfied sea siren that knew good and well how thoroughly she had just ruined me. I was struggling to breathe, to get my head out of the clouds, when she turned her back to me and picked up the shampoo bottle I had resting on a caddy under the showerhead.

“I have to get my car and head home. I have to work tonight and I want to go see Dom before my shift. I don’t have time for a turn, but I’ll take a rain check.” Her point was clear. Last night had been all about her, this morning was all about me. “You should consider that some games are always more fun when they are played with two people.”

She lathered up her long hair either unaware of or purposely ignoring the fact that I was a boneless, shaking mess behind her. I had never had anyone offer something up without expecting something, usually more, in return. I couldn’t get my erratic heartbeat under control so I could put all that emotion her selfless actions had awoken in someplace safe.

I rallied enough to help her scrub her extraordinary head of hair. I almost shored up the reserves enough to help her soap up, which really just meant I ran my hands over every slippery inch of her until she was breathing heavy and looking at me with desire-glazed eyes. I was all for moving her to the bed and returning her early-morning attention and then some, but she just shook her head at me and stepped out of the shower. She snagged the only towel I had hanging on the rod and gave me a pointed look.

“Next time you’re in there and thinking about me, think of that instead.”

She swept out of the bathroom with far more dignity than a girl that was clad in only a threadbare towel should be able to muster.

Now that the water had turned lukewarm and my raging lust had been quelled, I actually showered. She hollered across the tiny apartment asking for the unlock code on my cell. I didn’t even hesitate to shout out the numbers to her. I was long since past the point where I had things to hide in my life and I had never been stupid enough to keep incriminating evidence on something that was as easy to misplace as a cell phone. I heard her talking to whomever it was she called for rescue, and sighed, as I had to stand on the bathroom rug to drip dry for a few minutes before making my way over to the single closet in the room to find something to wear.

She was perched on the arm of the recliner, back in her gym clothes with her hair in a long braid. She looked so fresh and so clean if I hadn’t just been there I never would’ve believed all the dirty, sexy things she could do with her mouth.

I pulled on a pair of jeans sans underwear. I never wore them. I didn’t see the need even though it was cold in Denver and I often cursed myself for not having a layer of something between my dick and the chilly metal of my zipper. I found a black thermal and a hoodie that I tossed to her after I pulled my shirt on over my head. She caught it with a smirk and tossed the phone at me as I sat on the edge of the bed to pull on my black boots.

“You call Nash?” She nodded in answer to my question as she glanced around the bedraggled apartment that looked a hundred times worse during the day.

“This isn’t where I would’ve pictured you living.”

It wasn’t where I ever thought I was going to live either, but shit happened. “I stayed with Cora and Ayden when I first moved here. It was cool for a little while because Jet was gone so much, but then Ayden was on my ass about everything. Then she thought I had something to do with the Bar getting robbed and I knew I had to move out or we would kill each other.”

I rubbed my hands over my damp hair, making it stick straight up and sending water dancing every direction.

“I was laid up, couldn’t work because I had a broken leg and all kinds of other broken junk inside of me. All I could do was limp around the house and mess around on the Internet. I’m dangerous when I don’t have something to focus on.” I couldn’t believe I was about to disclose this to her, not because I was worried about how it would make her think about me, but because she was a cop and I was about to admit to some straight-up illegal activity.

“I started gambling online. I was messing around on Internet poker sites, winning and losing money like crazy. I had no idea how I was going to support myself now that I was determined to stay on the straight and narrow, and at the time it felt like an easy score that wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

I let out a bitter laugh and climbed to my feet as she watched me carefully. “Cora walked in on me more than once and asked what I was up to. I always just shut the computer down or shuffled away before she could see what I was doing, but I think she knew I was up to no good. I made enough to pay off a huge chunk of my medical bills, but instead of doing that …” I made sure she was paying attention, that she really understood how seriously fucked up I was. “Instead of doing that, I bet it all on one hand because I was on a hot streak. I lost it all.” I waved a hand around the barren room and lackluster decor. “I think that’s why I lost it when Ayden thought I had something to do with the robbery at the Bar. Weeks before I was actually fucking shit up, but as soon as Rome threw me a lifeline, I took it and realized the only way to stop drowning in my own mistakes was to start living within my actual means.”