Gage (Contract Killers Book 1) (8 page)

Their breathing became erratic as their kiss became more intense. His other hand speared into her hair, gripping the strands tightly as he leaned over her. She rubbed her legs against his, the rough material of his pants seeming to make her even more aroused.

She was so wet for him. Her nipples stabbed against the material of her shirt, rubbing against his chest as they pressed as close together as possible.

“We should stop,” he said against her mouth, but he was still kissing her.

“Do you want to?” she asked back.

He broke the kiss, his breathing ragged. Gage didn’t answer her, but instead brought his mouth to her neck and slowly sucked her flesh.

“No, I don’t want to stop,” he said after a few seconds. She arched her back, scissoring her legs and causing friction to start between her legs.

Gage had his big body on top of hers now, and she spread her thighs, allowing him to fit in the space. He pressed his hips against her, his cock hard and big against her mound. He slowly started to thrust it against her, mimicking what she wanted to do so badly. It felt so right, so good, to have him like this with her. Maybe this was all so extreme, but she didn’t care. She wanted more. He’d saved her life, and because of that they were linked. At least, that’s what she told herself, how she felt.

He groaned and pulled away. “No, Neeka, we have to stop.” He looked down at her. “This is crossing lines.”

She wanted to tell him she didn’t care about crossing any lines, that she wanted this, but maybe he was right.

“Let me just hold you and keep you safe, okay?”

She looked into his shadow-covered face, knowing he was right, but wishing he wasn’t. She nodded, and he lay back down beside her, pulling her close so that her head rested on his chest. Even if they didn’t go further, she couldn’t lie and say this didn’t feel incredible, as well.

Chapter Ten

              Gage drove down a barren, paved road, most of the asphalt cracked, dirt covering patches of it, which told of how often the road was actually used. Neeka sat beside him in the passenger seat wearing the same sweats and oversized shirt he’d given her last night. They were about five hours into their trip, and even though he would have preferred to drive straight through, he knew that wasn’t the best course of action. No doubt her captor was scouting the area, so Gage kept to the deserted roads and off the main ones. It would take him twice as long to reach his destination, but his first priority was to keep Neeka healthy and safe.

He gripped the steering wheel tighter, clenching his jaw and shifting when his cock started to harden at the thought of their kiss last night, of how she felt under him. His shaft had been hard all night, and every time she’d moved, she had somehow pressed against his dick, rubbing sensuously and making him ache. His cock throbbed with the need to be buried inside of her pussy, to feel her long legs wrapped around his waist as he thrust into her, licking and biting her neck, her hands tugging at his hair as she screamed out her orgasm. Gage nearly groaned from the image he conjured up, knowing he needed to rein in his desires or they would both be in trouble.

They’d left the motel before the sun had risen, because he’d wanted to eat up as much distance as he could. After letting his organization know he’d gotten Neeka and they’d stopped for the night, he’d let her call her father. There had been a lot of emotion in her voice, and she’d even cried. He hadn’t gotten much sleep last night, keeping his focus on making sure she was okay. She was his priority, and even if he had been hired to rescue her and take out anyone that meant to harm her, he still felt the need to make sure she was safe above all else.

“I’m not feeling so well,” she said softly, her face looking ashen.

“What’s wrong?”

She shook her head. “I think the car ride, and the fact everything is still crashing through me, is taking its toll.” She rested her head back on the seat and closed her eyes. “I think you might need to pull over.” She sat up and covered her mouth, her eyes wide, her face looking even paler.

He pulled over and came to a stop just as she opened the door and jumped out. He heard her throwing up, but before he could get out to see if she was okay she was climbing back in the car. Gage handed her a bottle of water, his feelings for Neeka making him sloppy in his resolve to get her back. He wanted her safe above all else, but he wasn’t sticking to the plan of just getting her home.

The shock of what she’d been through, and of speaking with her father, igniting all of those emotions, was obviously wearing down her body.

“I’m fine now.” She closed her eyes and rested her head on the back of the seat again.

He didn’t say anything for several seconds, contemplating on whether to keep going straight through. But looking at her told him he had to think about her welfare, as well.

“Do you want to stop so you can rest a little more?” Normally he would have kept going, but whatever was happening between him and Neeka was having him far from rational.

“I think I’ll be okay,” she said softer this time, but he could see she was uncomfortable. She was shifting on the seat, a light sheen of sweat covering her forehead.

Deciding he couldn’t continue the long drive with her in the state she was in, he pulled back on the road and started looking for a motel.

Half an hour later he was pulling into the parking lot of an off the road motel. They could rest here for an hour or so, just enough for her to get settled, and maybe feel better, but he wanted back on the road.

The motel’s name was The Wild Thistle,
and it looked rundown as fuck. The small, one-story building was situated out in the middle of nowhere, but Gage liked that, because it meant there wasn’t so much activity that he wouldn’t miss something important.

“Stay here. I’ll check us in and you can rest for an hour or so, maybe sleep in a bed to help.”

She nodded, her eyes still closed, her breathing picking up as she clearly wasn’t feeling the best.

Once out of the SUV he grabbed his cell and sent a message to the main compound that he was stopping to let Neeka rest. He’d get shit for it, would get flack for last night as well, but they could fuck off. He knew what was best, and that was making sure he didn’t push Neeka too hard. Was it stupid to go out of his rational thinking because he felt things for her? Yeah, it was really fucking stupid, but he was confident in knowing he could protect her no matter what.

  He walked into the front office, the feel of the fifties era surrounding him. An ancient-looking air conditioner sat in one of the windows, rattling and chugging as frigid air blew out of it. Burnt-orange carpet lay beneath him, numerous stains sporadically dotting it. The walls and ceiling were also covered in brown stains. A few chairs were pushed against the wall, the velvety-looking fabric on the seats printed with a hideous brown and mint green paisley design. A scuffed and chipped coffee table sat between the chairs, a few dog-eared and stained magazines scattered on it. The place smelled musty, like it hadn’t been aired out in years.

He stopped at the front desk, the yellow counter with gold flecks looking worn and abused in several places. Gage pressed his finger down on the silver bell that sat on the counter, the
ding
loud in the small office. A second later a middle-aged woman shuffled out, her feet covered in what used to be white fuzzy slippers, but now looked more brown and tattered. A bandana was wrapped around her hair, a cigarette hanging out of her mouth.

“Yeah?” she asked in a scratchy, smoker’s voice. She popped her hip against the corner, eyeing him.

“I need a room for a few hours.”

The woman looked out the window, presumably seeing Neeka. “We don’t do pay by the hour. We aren’t that type of establishment.”

“I’ll pay for the whole night. I just need to let my companion rest.”

She looked him up and down and then out the window again. She reached under the counter and pulled out a sign-in book, laying it on the counter and flipping to the day’s date.

“And the room at the end.”

She eyed him again and then shrugged.

“I only have a single bed.”

“That’s fine.” He didn’t need to sleep anyway.

She pulled out another book, ash from her cigarette that hung from her lip falling on the counter.

“I’ll give you room twenty-six. It’s the farthest one down.”

She handed him a key, and he took it, and turned and walked back toward the door. Once he was back in the SUV he pulled up to the room. He left the vehicle idling and got out. He grabbed the duffle bag he packed earlier and unlocked the door. He threw the bag on the floor, checking the room and making sure it was secure before going to the passenger side door and helping Neeka out. He shut the door and got back in the car, pulling it around to the back of the building and shutting it off. There was no dumpster to hide the vehicle behind like the last motel, but there was also no access road where vehicles could easily see the SUV in the rear of the building.

These off the road motels were a dime a dozen every so often, pretty much built the same, as well.

He examined the back of the building, noticing that small windows were placed in perfect intervals running alongside the brick wall, bathroom windows he surmised. He walked around to the front and entered the room. Neeka was already on the bed, her eyes sleepy.

Gage set his keys and one of his guns on the bedside table and went over to the window air conditioner. He cranked it on full blast and shut the blinds.

“I’m so tired all of a sudden.”

“Car rides, the heat, and getting your life fucked over will do that to a person.”

She rolled onto her back and closed her eyes, stretching her arms out.

He swallowed, letting his eyes roam over her exposed flesh, her shirt riding up so her tiny belly button showed. She looked like an offering … like
his
offering. He started to sweat, definitely not from the heat. His dick was pressed uncomfortably against the zipper of his pants, pulsing and aching with the need to be buried inside of her.

The one person that fueled his desire was only a few short feet away, lying on the bed, her glorious body laid out like she was waiting for him. She maddened him, inflamed him, and drove him crazy.

And he knew what he wanted to do, what he probably wouldn’t be able to stop himself from doing, was be with her.

Chapter Eleven

Neeka opened her eyes. She didn’t know how long she’d been sleeping, but she felt better, exponentially better in fact. She sat up and reached for the bottle of water Gage had set on the bedside table when they’d first arrived, and drank half the bottle. After setting it back down she scanned the room, her gaze landing on Gage. He sat in a chair in the corner of the room, his gun on his lap, his hand covering it.

“Gage?” she said his name quietly. As the second ticked by she swore the heat in the room climbed. They continued to stare at each other, a sliver of light coming through a crack in the thick, closed curtains.

What’s happening?

“Neeka,” he said her name softly, deeply, and she found herself heating, her body coming alive with arousal.

She licked her suddenly dry lips. “I don’t know what’s happening,” she breathed out. Even from the short distance the scent of him invaded her. He smelled like a man, like he was violence, masculinity and rawness, all wrapped into one. And it turned her on. They were in danger, so much danger, yet here she was thinking about being with him.

He stood and took a step toward her, but instead of staying where she was, she stood and moved to the side, away from the bed. She didn’t want to feel vulnerable to her emotions. He moved closer still, and she felt the wall stop her. She wasn’t running from him.

He placed his hands on the wall, one on either side of her head and leaned forward. She let her eyes travel down his thickly corded neck, over his rippling muscles only covered in a dark t-shirt, and stopped on the bulge she could see pressed against his pants.

“Do you like what you see, Neeka?” His voice was deep and gravelly, so sexually laced that her whole body heated with awareness. Against her better judgment she nodded, licking her lips again and noticing how his gaze dropped down to her mouth.

“I should be a professional and keep my distance,” he murmured.

“Maybe I don’t want that.”

He groaned, and in the next instant crushed his lips against hers, speared his hand through her hair, and pulled her even closer. Her body molded to his, and she was very aware of how soft hers was compared to the hardness of his. She tilted her head and opened her mouth, moaning when his tongue slid inside and tangled with hers.

He ground his shaft into her, his cock like steel, monstrous and ready to take her. She spread her legs wider, Gage using the opportunity to move closer and press his erection against her mound. Despite the clothing they wore she felt everything. He broke away from her mouth, breathing heavily as he kissed a trail down her throat.

“Fuck, Neeka. What you do to me.”

She let her head fall back against the wall and closed her eyes, loving the feel of his tongue dancing along her flesh. His other hand gripped her waist, clenching and unclenching as he slowly moved it up. She thrust her breasts out, needing him to touch her, aching for him to caress her throbbing nipples. He took the hint, cupping the heavy mound and running his thumb over the engorged tip. She should have been embarrassed at how the nubs stabbed through the material of her shirt, as if seeking Gage’s mouth, needing that hot cavern or they wouldn’t be satisfied.

He took his other hand and reached around, cupping her ass and lifting her slightly. She teetered on her toes, gasping as his cock nudged her clit. He slid his hand over the globes of her bottom, slipping between her cheeks, and running his fingers up and down the center of her body.

“I can feel how wet and hot you are for me, Neeka.” He ran his tongue along the shell of her ear, and she shivered. “Tell me we need to stop. Tell me right now, and this will end.”

She had no intention of doing any such thing, not when her body was more alive than it ever had been. She opened her eyes and was surprised to see him staring at her, his expression fierce and serious.

“No, I want this just as much as you do.” She moved her hand between their bodies and gripped his cock through his pants, her eyes widening at his size. He hissed between his teeth and then groaned, dropping his head slightly so that he was looking at her with half-lidded eyes. He kissed her again, his tongue sliding along her lips, his teeth nipping at the sensitive skin.

Both of his hands were now on her ass. He lifted her, and she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist. His mouth was pressed hard to her, working her over as he clenched his hands on her ass. Gage set her on the floor, her body sliding down his in a sensual way. She moved to the side and felt the bed bump against the back of her thighs, the reality of what they were about to do finally taking root. He stepped away from her, and she took a deep breath, her body primed and ready for him.