Hard to Handle (4 page)

Kaylee nodded. “Thank you.” Her voice was just above a whisper. “I know I'm the last person you wanted to see again, so I really appreciate your help.”

“It sounds like a pretty simple job, Mikayla, so hardly a big effort. And we both know that Evan would kick my arse if I didn't take the case.”

She smiled sadly at the dry attempt at humor. Then she closed her eyes and said the words that needed to be spoken.

“I never meant to deceive you, Sam.”

He stepped back, and Kaylee reached out and grabbed his wrist, trying to stop him from walking away. Sam froze, his whole body stiff and his eyes fixed over her shoulder.

“Let go of me.”

“Please. Just let me explain.”

“There is nothing more to explain!” he roared, low and deep, pulling his arm away so she was forced to release her grip. “Because of you, I did the most dishonorable thing a man could do, Kaylee. Evan is my business partner. My mate. One of two men that I respect the most. And I slept with his fiancée! There is no coming back from that. There is no explanation that makes that right! Not then and not now.”

“But we didn't know. It wasn't intentional, Sam.”

“You think that matters? That it changes anything?”

“Yes!” she yelled, stepping in front of him so he was forced to meet her eyes. “Yes, it matters. I'm the only one to blame. I was engaged to him and I let myself get . . . caught up with someone else. I didn't know who you were, but it was still my mistake. Not yours. Evan would have understood that.”

“Don't you think I thought about that at the time, Kaylee? Do you think I've wanted to keep this secret? But do you know what's even worse than sleeping with Evan's fiancée just weeks before his wedding?” he demanded in a low growl as he took hold of her shoulders, pulling her so close their bodies were only a hairbreadth apart. “The fact I still wanted you. Even knowing who you were and what you had done, I still wanted you for myself. That, sweetheart, is unforgivable.”

Kaylee didn't have time to react before Sam lowered his mouth onto hers in a deep, punishing kiss.

CHAPTER 4

After four years, Sam had Kaylee in his arms again, with his lips sweeping over her and his tongue delving into her warm, wet recess. He was vibrating from the sensation she created within him. Hot, sweet arousal and unrelenting need for the intoxicating flavor of forbidden fruit. She sighed and relaxed into the embrace, opening her mouth wider to him. God, he wanted her, just like before. Maybe even more.

His hunger for her was natural, right? Any man who tasted something insanely good only once, then was forbidden from accessing it again for years after, would crave that thing like a drug. He would dream about it, recall its color, scent, texture with absolute clarity until he was certain he had created it with his imagination. Then, if that thing was put in reach again, any man would have a greedy, uncontrollable urge to consume it. It was instinct, biology, and Sam Mackenzie was not immune to it.

Sam took her head in his hands to kiss her deeper, demanding access and controlling her response. He sucked on her lips, nibbled roughly on their edges, and pulled at her tongue. Every caress sent fresh tendrils of arousal down his back until his legs tingled. Only Kaylee made him feel like this.

He pulled back to look down at her face, with her skin flush red-brown and her eyes closed. Her full lips were swollen and pouty, glistening from the wetness of his own. Then her lids slowly folded back until she looked back at him and his urgent need was clearly reflected in the brown depths of her eyes. His heart pounded harder.

With deliberate slowness, Sam reached down between them to hook his fingers into the edge of her yoga pants and tug them down her hips. Kaylee wiggled a little and helped push them lower until they pooled on the floor. Then she reached her arms up and placed them on the tops of his shoulders, steadying herself to step out of the pants. Their eyes were still locked. Sam reached around and gripped the curves of her ass in both hands squeezing their full firmness and pulling her up against his semi-hardness. Kaylee gasped, and ran her tongue along her top lip.

She was tempting him. Purposely trying to break his control. Sam clenched his teeth and rubbed his length against the base of her stomach, but resisted kissing her again. If this was going to happen, it would be on his terms, the way he wanted it.

Kaylee looked down at his lips and slid her hands farther up his neck and along his jawline. She brushed one of her thumbs across his lower lip, swiping just inside and stroking it back and forth. Sam's cock pulsed and hardened further against her body, and Kaylee sighed loudly. He stroked his tongue along her finger, sucking it into his mouth and biting on the pad. Hard. She gasped in surprise, and her eyes widened dramatically, but she didn't pull it back out. Sam bathed the spot with his tongue in tiny circles, and her breathing deepened. He watched her intently, soaking up every sign of her building arousal and almost forgetting that this was his show. Almost.

Sam pulled back his head and looked down between them. Her nipples were hard and peaked beneath her clothes. He quickly pulled off the light sweater so she was left in only the loose tank top and her underwear. Her body was almost as he remembered. Petite with lean lines and soft curves, though now a little fuller than before. Silky soft, russet-brown skin with a golden undertone. Feminine features that were still incredibly responsive to his touch. Sam just knew that she was now dewy and slick between her thighs. Just the thought brought him to full, impatient hardness.

God, he wanted to kiss her again. Her lips looked deliciously sweet. But he held back, trying to hold on to his control in the situation. Letting go of her ass, he quickly undid his belt, unsnapped the waist of his jeans, and lowered the zipper. As though clearly reading his mind, Kaylee trailed her fingers down his stomach and slid one of them right under the band of his underwear. She took hold of his cock in her small, soft hand, pushing down the cotton boxer briefs with the other. His thick length sprung free, stretching upward, and Sam could only watch breathlessly as she stroked over it with a tight hold. Jesus Christ, it felt insanely good. She added her other hand, using both to stroke him up and down with just the right speed and grip to drive him nuts.

Sam let out a low hiss as his balls tightened unbearably. Any moment now, she was going to make him come, way too fast. He could already feel it building hard, gripping his spine with its intensity. A few more strokes and he'd be a goner. He threw back his head to hold in a deep, carnal groan. But then she released her hold, and Sam wasn't sure if he was relieved or about to die from frustration. He took a deep breath and looked back down at her. The little minx was grinning, fully aware of the torture she was creating. It was such a pretty smile. And for the first time in a long time, Sam wanted to laugh out loud for no real reason at all.

“Kaylee,” he whispered, despite his vow to keep this purely physical. But then she was lowering herself down onto her knees in front of him, and Sam forgot whatever he was going to say anyway.
No, no, no,
his brain screamed, but his cock was pleading,
yes, yes, yes,
much more loudly. Kaylee took hold of his length at the base and slowly sucked the thick tip into that beautiful mouth. He could not hold back a deep groan. She lowered over him until he hit the back of her throat, though she was still a couple of inches from the base. Then she pulled back all the way and did it again. And again. Sam was transfixed. It was the most purely perfect blowjob he'd ever witnessed. Then she sucked hard on his head, teasing the underside, and scraping lightly over the sensitive top with her teeth.

“Blimey!” Sam swore as sweat broke out on his forehead.

She was back to the long, sucking strokes, this time faster, purposeful. Sam couldn't take his eyes off her as he added this moment to the small repository of memories that he could draw on later. But the force of his impending orgasm was back, harder and more urgent than before. Way too soon to satisfy all his cravings. Sam reached down to cup the back of her head, and eased himself out of her mouth. He groaned from the loss of contact, but then watched unblinking as she stroked her hands over the long length, still slick and wet from her saliva.

Sam was convinced she was trying to break him.

“Stand up,” he demanded, sounding rougher than he intended.

Kaylee closed her eyes, but allowed him to help her off the floor. He then led her up the stairs to the second floor. On the landing there were two equal-sized bedrooms with a full bathroom in the middle. Sam went into one of the rooms and opened the closet. There was a packed duffel bag on the floor with three or four days' worth of clothes, toiletries, and other emergency essentials. He opened a side pocket and took out an unopened box of condoms.

When he stood back up, Kaylee was standing beside the bed watching him. She suddenly looked so small and vulnerable in her oversized top and bare feet.

Sam paused, remembering the incident that had brought them together. It should have made him stop or at least slow things down dramatically. But it didn't. He was still rock hard, and there was a dark hunger driving him—a primal need to take her, on his terms. Possess her in the most carnal way, and her look of fragility in the sterile bedroom only fanned the flames.

Sam tore open the condom packet as he walked to her and effortlessly rolled the thin membrane on. She watched. He quickly unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it aside, pulled her into a tight embrace, and bent low to bite at her neck. Kaylee gasped, running her hand over his shoulder, gripping the thick bulge of his biceps. She moaned appreciatively. His cock pulsed against her abdomen.

“Sam,” she whispered, but he didn't want her words.

He gripped her hips and turned her around. She cried out softly in surprise as he pushed forward until she bent at the waist with her arms braced on the bed. Her legs were closed and that round ass was perfectly displayed. Sam gripped both curves to lift her higher, aligned with his thrust. He knew he was being rough, callous, selfish, but he didn't stop. He just pulled aside her obviously expensive lace panties, gripped them like a handle, and stroked deep. She was so wet and tight.

Kaylee moaned deep. Or maybe it was Sam, he didn't care. He was too buried in her silken sheath to know the difference. Every inch of his body was alive with the sole focus of taking her hard and fast so that he couldn't tell where his flesh ended and hers began. It didn't last long.

Sam came in minutes with adolescent gracelessness. He roared with it, bucking his hips from the force of the shudders. It was both insanely good, and horribly unsettling. The intensity left him boneless in his wake. He wrapped his arms around Kaylee as they both fell onto the bed, then rolled them over so she wasn't crushed by his considerable weight. They lay there, breathing hard for several minutes.

The remorse came soon after. It tasted pretty bitter. He hadn't even taken off his pants.

Sam got up and went to the bathroom next door to discard the protection and clean up. He returned a couple of minutes later to sit on the bed beside her, his legs wide, hands clasped between them, head bowed.

“I'm sorry,” he finally stated into the silence. “That was unacceptable and uncalled for.”

Sam heard what sounded like a sniffle and his heart cracked. He looked over to see that she was lying on her back, arms straight by her side, staring widely up at the ceiling.

“Kaylee.” A thin river of wetness trailed from the corner of her eye and into her tousled hair.

Uncertain of how to handle this, he lay down on his side, wrapped his arm across her waist and pulled her closer, draping one of his denim-clad legs across her naked ones until she was buried in the cocoon of his body. “I'm sorry,” he repeated softly.

She let out a deep sigh with just a hint of sorrow.

“Did I hurt you?” he asked, hoping desperately that he hadn't.

“No. No,” she assured him. “It was just—”

“I know. I had no right to take you like that,” Sam acknowledged, swallowing around the awkward knot in his throat.

“No, it was fine,” she told him, still looking up at nothing. “It was . . .”

“Rough,” Sam muttered when she seemed to struggle with the right word.

“Yes. And I think I needed it like that.” She let out a light, nervous laugh. “Sorry, I didn't mean to get so emotional. But it's been a long day, and I think that's exactly what I needed.”

Sam let out a breath, caught off guard by her words. Kaylee never seemed to react to things the way he expected.

Finally, she turned her head and looked up at him, her eyes clear and honest.

“And I know that this doesn't change anything between us,” she added softly.

He looked back at her for a few long moments. No, this didn't change anything. But it did give them a little more time to enjoy this unique physical connection, even though there was no possibility for more. He brushed his fingers across her cheek and traced the line at the edge of her face, along the jaw. She bit her lip, and Sam leaned down to taste their fullness.

They kissed slowly, tenderly, taking their time to explore a softer connection. They helped each other remove the rest of their clothes, then kissed some more exploring the swells and contours of each other's bodies. When she was flushed and slick, Sam lay her back down, slipped on a condom and slowly penetrated her heat. Their eyes locked, and they rocked gently, slowly increasing speed and urgency. Sam lifted her legs higher on his waist, deepening his thrust, and entwined her fingers with his above her head. They raced together in a rhythmic gait until Kaylee crested, gripping his length so tight in her sheath that he orgasmed moments later.

He held her close until her breath deepened and she was asleep. Then Sam carefully climbed out of the bed and took a shower. Back downstairs, wearing only a towel, he did a quick security check, then called Lucas on his cell phone. It was almost ten-thirty.

“What's the verdict?” his friend asked as soon as he picked up the phone.

“Sounds like your garden variety of coercion,” Sam confirmed, then relayed a summary of what Kaylee had told him earlier in the evening. “I'll take her back to New York tomorrow and look into it. But with one complication. Looks like I'll be spending my vacation doing this pro bono.”

Lucas laughed. “Really? And why is that?”

“Evan,” he replied simply. “She's convinced that if he knew about the threats, he would feel obligated to tell her father. And since she doesn't know that Evan can keep a secret like a professional spy, I couldn't exactly convince her otherwise. She wouldn't leave the hotel with me until I agreed to her terms, so I told her what she wanted to hear.”

“So, that's your plan? Work for free?” Lucas asked, clearly not supportive.

“Seems like the best solution. I only have to follow her direction and accept her terms if she's a client. And she's only a client if she's paying our fees. Otherwise, I'm doing her a favor during my time off,” Sam reasoned.

“And when she finds out that you've lied to her?”

“Then she'll hardly be in the position to be vexed, now will she?”

“Geez, Mac, you really don't know anything about women, do you?”

“I know enough to be dangerous,” Sam quipped, and listened to Lucas laugh. “I'll need Renee to stay on the case. Nothing physical right away, just eyes and ears for me when needed. Can we afford it?”

“Yeah, sure. I was going to keep her on desk duty for another couple of weeks. So now I can blame you for the lack of field work.”

Sam shrugged. “She would have taken it out on me anyway.”

“What about Evan?”

“I'll bring him up to speed next week, when I know more about the extent of this threat,” Sam confirmed. “But with any luck, we'll have this thing sewn up tight in a few days.”