Assassin's Kiss (4 page)

“Ah,” he said softly, amused triumph dancing in his voice as he continued to tease at her breasts. “How does that feel, my little lady? Good?”

To call his touch merely good would be the greatest of understatements. It was scintillating, the lust she felt for him powerful enough to drive aside all thoughts of anything but him. Outside the bedsit the world was falling to pieces, but so long as the assassin kept her in his bed she could not spare it even the briefest of thoughts. Arching into him once more in desperation, she buried her face in the pillow and battled for the control that had abandoned her the moment their eyes met.

“Still silent, Esther?” His low laughter rippled through their joined bodies and she shivered against him, all too aware that her silence could not mask her body’s reaction to these stolen caresses. “Then I shall continue, for it seems very clear to me you are enjoying this intimacy as much as I am revelling in forcing it upon you.”

Despite his words, though, the assassin relinquished his hold on her breasts and instead followed the flare of her waist down to her hips. Her breath hitched as his hand drifted steadily lower, barely brushing her skin now yet unshakeable in its intent. Sure enough, as she tensed against him he skimmed the top of her thigh and let his hand come to rest between her legs as he propped himself up on one elbow. His lips quirked back when she stole a wide-eyed glance up at him, and the arch of his brow told her how much he was enjoying the way she seemed so powerless to resist him.

“Do you think you will come for me if I do all I intend to do to you, sweetheart?” he murmured. “I can take you there if you want; indeed, until I hear that little word that will stop me, I will not cease my efforts to do so.”

As the assassin whispered those words into her ear, his warm breath inflaming her beyond all earthly comprehension, his thumb brushed across her clitoris in perfect illustration of the promise in his words. Esther gasped, painfully aware she stood on the precipice of something forbidden and glorious; something she had long since lost any compulsion to resist.

“I cannot hear that one little word I feared,” the assassin said, his triumph tangible in his voice. “I rather thought it would be so, sweetheart, for I know you want this as much as I do. Relax, then, and let me find the proof of just how aroused I make you.”

He shifted slightly, bringing his mouth to rest against her throat once more to coax her arousal to a dizzying peak even before he stroked her clitoris again and stretched out his index finger to slip inside her with an ease that betrayed how very much she wanted this. She felt his lips curve back against her skin, and though she tensed he pushed another finger inside her and delivered one more gentle kiss to her throat, touching her with a tantalising lack of urgency that defied the way her body was silently screaming out for far more from him.

“Relax,” he said again, his low voice utterly mesmeric. “We both know you need this, Esther, and the sooner you relax and surrender to me, the sooner I can make you come – and I promise, I won’t stop until I do. I can keep this up all night if I need to.”

That mingled threat and promise stripped away the very last of Esther’s inhibitions. With a strangled cry, she rocked against his hand and twisted her head towards his, craving the taste of his kiss, but still he denied her. Pulling his head back, he propped himself up on one elbow, the taut muscles of his chest rippling under the strain as he stroked her both inside and out, allowing her to set a frantic rhythm that already sent her feverish body soaring towards the climax it sought.

This was far more than simple physical attraction. She had felt that before, and enjoyable though it was it had never been able to cripple her to this extent before now. The assassin had barely touched her, yet already her body was slave to his every command, quivering on the very precipice of the orgasm he intended to give her. She was on fire, and he was revelling in it.

The assassin gazed down at her, that same unnerving intensity blazing in his eyes once more as she finally let loose a loud, desperate moan and let the sensations he delivered fill her. He deftly worked her clit as his fingers thrust deep inside her, and when she threw her head back he inhaled sharply.

“Already?”

She knew precisely what that solitary, rasping word was meant to convey. Amusement now battled with the triumph and arousal in his dark eyes, but she could not deny him, not when she burned with need. Giving herself over to the inevitable, she nodded urgently and bore down hard against his hand, shameless in her need for him.

Still staring at her without even blinking, he followed her wordless demand and thrust hard into her again, mercilessly rolling her aching clit against his thumb until her entire body tensed in a desperate spasm of lust. Esther cried out loud, and in that instant the dam burst.

She was lost to him. Fierce, explosive lust consumed every last inch of her body as she jerked wildly against the bed, throwing her head back and sobbing out the full height of her pleasure with no thought of anything that was not him.

The assassin crooned in delight, repeating her name over and over again like a mantra to hold onto as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close, riding out the tide of her climax with her as she buried her face in his shoulder and allowed him to surround her. He was all she knew, and in that moment she never wanted that to change.

As the final burning throes of her orgasm throbbed and faded away, she closed her eyes and nestled deep into the heat of his body, but his cock pushed up against the soft curve of her stomach in a demand she knew would not be ignored.

Esther swallowed hard as the assassin’s hand came to rest against her jaw, gently but insistently turning her head up towards his. She flinched and glanced away as her heavy-lidded eyes battled to drift closed again, but she could not stop herself from hearing his next words.

“Time to change the rules, sweetheart. This is far too easy for you.”

She froze. Whetting her dry lips, she twisted her head to look back up at him in a mute appeal, but he simply shook his head as he caught hold of her hand and guided it towards his cock.

“Do you want this, Esther?” he said, his voice barely more than a hoarse whisper now. “It is yours for the taking if you want it. All you have to do is ask out loud.”

But still she could give him nothing but the tiniest jerk of her head. Terrified yet aflame with anticipation all at once, she held her breath while she waited to see what he would do next; but he only smiled as he let loose her hand and pressed her lips against her ear to speak one last time.

“Then this is good night, Esther. Sleep well.”

The assassin’s words were laced with a smug triumph that told Esther he was just as certain as she was that her defences would not hold out for long. She might have choked back her pleas tonight, but if he persisted in waiting for her spoken consent, then before she left these rooms she feared she would be on her knees begging him for all he yearned to give her.

Seth woke with the sunrise as always, cursing under his breath when his senses screamed out a warning that he was not alone in his bed. It was not until he registered the heat of Esther’s soft curves pressed into him that the events of the night before came flooding back, and with a crooked smile he relaxed again and stretched out against her.

She had seemingly sought out the warmth of his body while they slept; unconsciously, no doubt, but he revelled in that small triumph nonetheless. Shifting back slightly, he buried his face in her hair, breathing in deeply as he touched the nape of her neck then followed the curve of her spine down, gently tracing every vertebrae before his hand came to rest against the tantalising curve of her ass. She was special, this one – and what was more, she was dangerous. His defences had come tumbling down, for even sleeping alongside another person was something he had not done for far too long. Now he had, he feared he would be powerless to give up this privilege. Waking up next to her offered far too many tantalising possibilities to relinquish it after just one night.

Delicious inspiration struck him, and a fresh smile broke out on his lips as he cautiously slipped out of the bed, not wanting her to wake until he was ready for her. Tempting though it was to linger beside her a little longer, her continued slumber gave him all the chance he needed to tighten his control of the situation.

Pausing only to gather up all of her scattered clothing from the floor of his bedroom, Seth retreated to the parlour room and left her clothes in a pile outside the rooms with a neat note for the chambermaid. As the amber rays of sunlight began to streak through the morning sky outside, he sparked up a cigar and took the much-needed chance to regain his composure away from Esther’s intoxicating presence.

The lust he felt for her badly unnerved him, for it was more than strong enough to overpower all the self-control and caution he had learned in the long years plying his trade. Growing too close to another person, physically or emotionally, was far too dangerous for the both of them for him to have ever risked it before. Esther, though, made him forget the fact that death lurked no more than a heartbeat away. Taking a deep drag on the cigar, he shook his head ruefully as he reflected on the fact that for him, that seemed a risk worth taking.

Even this brief separation from her side had his body tense from head to toe. He craved her, and the titillating performance she gave him last night only increased the fervour with which he yearned to bury his cock inside her. The ease with which he made her climax when they finally retreated to the bed was the unneeded proof that she needed this as badly as he did, and the memory of her cries of pleasure and the feel of her bare body beneath his hands was too much to bear.

Seth jabbed the cigar into the ashtray, unable to wait even a moment longer to put his plan into action. His hands shook as he cautiously opened the bedroom door, willing it not to creak and wake Esther from her continued sleep, and he clenched his fists triumphantly when he saw her still tangled in his sheets, a flush creeping across her face and the curve of her breasts emerging from the sheets with every rise and fall of her chest, a temptation he was powerless to defy.

Easing himself onto the edge of the bed, he slipped one hand beneath her head to lift it towards his, unable to resist the calling of her full lips even a moment longer. Before her eyes could open, he swooped and lay claim to her mouth, covering it with his in a kiss carefully crafted to coax her from sleep straight into a state of such feverish lust she would be unable to defy him.

Seth groaned in desperate, frenzied desire, the taste of Esther’s mouth on his lips even more spectacular than he hoped it would be. Still half-asleep, she gave a tiny, breathless moan and opened her mouth in answer to his wordless demand, reaching up to wind her hands through his hair as his tongue thrust triumphantly between her lips.

All grip on his self-control was rapidly receding. Kissing her was a prize beyond anything he had dreamed before, and he knew without a doubt that there was so much more to come for them. That briefest of thoughts sent a fresh explosion of lust bursting through his veins as he leaned over her, intending to push her back down into the waiting bed, but it seemed that Esther had now realised his intentions.

She pushed her hands against his bare chest and twisted to the side to break the kiss, fury now mingling with the lust in her wide eyes and no trace of sleep upon her flushed face any longer. “Damn it, sir, what do you think you are doing?!” she said hotly, snatching for a blanket to hold up to her breasts. Crimson burned her skin, the tide of colour rapidly spreading down towards the breasts that the blanket barely covered.

“Waking you up in the most pleasurable of ways, sweetheart,” Seth said with a smile he knew would only drive her fury higher. He wanted to enrage her, for he had no doubt he could channel that anger into something far more enjoyable; and the angrier she became, the sooner her defences would crumble. With that thought foremost in his mind, he reached out and closed his fist around the top of the blanket, meeting her eyes in a direct challenge as he wrenched it away despite her best efforts.

“
Sir
-”

“Why try and hide yourself from me, Esther?” he said as his smile widened. “You were more than happy for me to both admire and enjoy you last night – I confess it was difficult to discern the words you sobbed as you came for me, but I am confident you enjoyed the feel of my hands all over your body.”

Esther whitened. “You are a bastard!”

“Indeed I am,” Seth said calmly. “If you want to offend me, you will have to try much harder than that. Now, are we going to return to all the delights I had in mind for us this morning, or are you still intending to resist this?”

He stared at her without blinking, even though the sight of her bare body seared itself into his mind the very first moment he saw it. He would never be able to get enough of her, and that should have badly unnerved him – but in that moment, all he could think of was making her his. He yearned to reach out and touch her again, to revel in having every inch of her beneath his hands, but though he knew he had the strength to take her now despite her protests, still he wanted the ultimate triumph of having her surrender herself completely to him. Seth watched, and he waited.

Finally Esther broke the tense silence. “I cannot give myself to you, sir, and you need to let me leave here now morning has come.”

A tight knot twisted in his stomach when she warily reached for the sheets again, but this time he did not stop her. “And I cannot let you go, Esther, for you have seen far too much. So, as we seem to be at something of an impasse, would you care for breakfast first?”

She tilted her head to the side, seemingly afraid to take her eyes from him for even a moment for fear of what he would do given half the chance. “I am hungry, yes.”

“As am I,” Seth said, making no effort to disguise the true meaning of his hunger. “I shall send for a tray, then. Come through and join me in the parlour room when you are ready.”

He left the bed and began to swiftly redress, deliberately leaving his white shirt unbuttoned and still watching her out of the corner of his eye as her own eyes darted around the room and widened. “Sir, where are
my
clothes?” she said under her breath.

His thin lips curved back as he saw her fear spark anew in those compelling blue eyes. “I sent them down to the chambermaid to be washed and mended, Esther. You shall not need them whilst you are alone with me, after all.”

Seth did not wait for the furious protest he knew was to come. Instead he turned on his heel and left the room, knowing she had nowhere to go but into his arms. Not even a minute passed before he heard the bedroom door open again and sensed the tiny ripple in the air that told him she had come to him once more. The faint scent of her perfume still clung tenaciously to her bare skin, and even as he bent over the table to scribble a note for the chambermaid then pushed it under the door, his breath grew shallow and the temptation to force her hand became too much to bear. For a man so used to exercising the utmost of control in every situation, the foreign sensation of losing control was at once both a thrill and a terror. He had to do something to wrest back the upper hand, but when he turned to face her down it seemed she had the same thought in mind.

Facing him directly with not even the barest scrap of material covering the curves he so lusted after, Esther tossed her tousled hair out of her face and looked directly into his widening eyes. “I want to know something, and I want the truth,” she said. “What do you want, sir?”

He was powerless to look away from her, and something snapped deep inside him as he rapidly closed the distance between them. “You
know
what I want!”

“Perhaps I should rephrase my question,” she said curtly. “I want to know your motivation in bringing me here besides the carnal desires you have evidently fallen prey to. I cannot and will not stay in this room forever, and knowing what I do of you, I suspect you must soon depart as well.”

Seth inhaled sharply as he came to a halt, her words an unwelcome reminder of the world outside his lodgings. He had thought of nothing beyond bringing her back here and making her his. The truth, of course, was that he only had these lodgings until the end of the week and there was no need to stay once his client had settled the account – and if he wanted to keep living in the manner he enjoyed, he had no choice but to move onto the next contract as soon as possible. Esther was a distraction he could ill afford, yet one he could not bear to let go.

“The rephrased question is one which deserves an answer,” he said slowly. “However, I am afraid that all I am capable of at the moment is answering the original question in every manner I am able to.”

 Esther whetted her lips. “I...I do not understand...”

His patience gave way entirely, the unintended eroticism of her tongue on her lips causing his cock to twitch as he dragged a wooden chair into the centre of the room. “Very well then, I shall elaborate! Right now I want nothing more than to tie you to this chair, take my cock in my hand and coax from it the climax I have barely been holding back since you put on such a spectacular show of disrobing in my bedchamber, Esther! I would spill my seed all over your breasts, and then when that particular joy was through...”

“Then?”

Seth was certain her voice now carried the same undercurrent of desperate, burning lust that had consumed him since the first moment he caught sight of her. Emboldened by it, he allowed a slow smile to break out on his face as he lifted one brow. “Then? Why, then, my lady, I would fall to my knees before your beauty and part your thighs to milk the treasure I found there. My tongue would savour the sweet taste of your arousal, and then I would assail that same spot that brought you such pleasure last night, not ceasing until I had carried you away to the precise same height of ecstasy once more!”

Esther did not answer him with words. She simply turned her back on him, and then to his stunned elation seated herself in the waiting chair.