Lace and Bullets: A Hitman Romance (8 page)

H
e’d ground
his teeth for so many miles, his jaw ached. Mia had been a knockout in itty-bitty shorts and a tank top. She’d been gorgeous in second-hand clothes three sizes too big.

But in skin-tight jeans and a T-shirt that clung to her breasts, she was a damn goddess. Falling for her was a terrible mistake. They could never be more than they were right then. A pair of criminals on borrowed time.

It didn’t change the way he burned inside. His heart twisted in his chest when she batted her black lashes. His cock throbbed in his jeans when she propped her toes on the dash.
Christ
. The woman was temptation served up on a platter.

He wanted to gorge himself on her body, make her come so hard she cried. He wanted…
Fuck
. He wanted to be the man she needed. A man who deserved her.

It was a fool’s dream.

His knuckles turned white on the wheel. As soon as they turned the car around or Marcelo caught up with them, Mia would see him for what he was. A criminal. A killer.

But as long as their past stayed in the rear view mirror, they could pretend. Mia’s words from that first night still echoed in his brain. She might have grown up with a nice house and fancy cars, but no one had ever given a damn about her.

Damien didn’t have a pot to piss in growing up, but he’d had Melanie. Even at his lowest moments, his sister had been there, trying to protect him. Mia deserved a glimpse of that life. A few days of something better.

He glanced at her as she leaned back in the passenger’s seat. He couldn’t give her diamonds or pearls or fancy dinners. But he could do more than force a moan past her lips.

For the first time since Melanie died, he would try to make a girl smile.

They pulled into the parking lot an hour later and Mia turned to him with a question. “What are we doing?”

“You’ll see.” Damien pushed his door open and shoved the keys in his pocket. As soon as the first sign for the place caught his eye, he knew it would be perfect. He loped around the back of the car and pulled Mia’s door open.

She stepped out with raised eyebrows. “I thought we weren’t stopping until the next town. Do you need a break?”

Damien bit his lip to keep from grinning. “Something like that. Come on.” He laced his fingers through hers and tugged her toward the entrance.

“I’m sure there’s a rest stop or a gas station just down the road.” Mia slowed and Damien pulled on her to keep moving.

“Trust me.”

Five minutes later Damien held two putters and matching golf balls in his hand.

Mia palmed her hip. “You want to go mini-golfing? Right now?”

“Yep. Right now. You need to get your mind off everything that’s happened, I need a break from driving.” He held out the red putter and ball. “What do you say?”

“I think you’re suffering latent effects from a concussion.”

“Take them.”

She hesitated before reaching for the ball and club in his other hand. “If we’re doing this, I’m blue.” She pointed the club at him. “I’ll warn you, I’ve got a mean putt.”

“I’m sure you do.” Damien smiled and watched Mia’s ass sway as she sauntered toward the first hole.

It had been a risk, taking her somewhere so public. But to see her smile? To hear her laugh not tinged with fear or regret?
So fucking worth it.

By the fourth hole, Mia got into it. By the tenth, she’d lost the hunted look in her eyes. Now that they were onto the second course, she was practically giddy.

Her eyes shimmered as she lined up her shot. She wiggled her ass at him and he groaned. The woman must beat off men with a stick. There’s no way she hadn’t had a line out the door just trying to score a date with her.

Damien waited until she started her swing. “So why are you single?”

The ball ricocheted off the side wall and whizzed past the hole.

“Hey! That’s not fair!”

He shrugged. “Sorry?”

“No, you’re not.” She elbowed him in the ribs and skipped down to her ball. “To answer your question, I don’t really know. Guys don’t usually approach me.”

“You’re lying.”

She shook her head. “No, I’m not. I guess I’m pretty focused at school. I’m about to start my last year, then the bar exam, and a real job. I don’t have time to date.”

“Do you really want to be a lawyer?”

Mia took a swing. She missed and looked up at him with a put-on frown. “To be honest? I don’t know. My parents were lawyers. It’s what I’ve been groomed to be.”

“You’re a grown woman, you can make your own choices.”

She shook her head. “You don’t understand the power my father used to hold. I’m twenty-four years old and until the other night, I was still terrified of disappointing him.”

Damien steeled himself. They were almost the same age. Somehow it hadn’t clicked until then. What different lives they’d led. “He can’t hurt you now.”

“I know. It’s just going to take me a while to get used to it.” She swung the putter and the ball rolled into the hole. “Your turn.”

A little while later, they finished the last course. The sun dipped low on the horizon and Damien checked his watch. Time to go.

Mia excused herself to run to the restroom and Damien jogged to the car. He needed to change the license plate before anyone noticed. The car next to him would do fine.

By the time Mia got back, he was leaning on the hood, waiting for her.

She smiled and the whole world lit up. “Thanks for taking me on a date.”

“It’s not over yet.” Damien reached for her hand. “I was wrong about you.” He smoothed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “When I opened that closet door, all I saw was a spoiled little rich girl. But that’s not who you are.”

Mia stepped forward and slipped her arms around his waist like she belonged there. He swallowed. “You’re sweet and kind and you have this light about you.” His jaw ticked. “I’ll never be the man you deserve.”

“Shh.” She reached up and put her fingers on his lips. “Stop that. Don’t sell yourself short. You could have killed me a million times since that night. You saved me instead. I know you didn’t come here because you needed a break. You came here to make me happy.”

She let her hand rest on his chest. “And I am happy, right here with you.”

“You don’t under—”

“Let me finish.” She frowned at him until he gave in. “I know you think running is the best thing, but what if it’s not? What if we could find a way to fix everything? Marcelo can’t be invincible. We could work together. Bring him down.”

“I can’t put you in danger.”

“It’s my choice to make.”

Damien reached up and took her face in his hands. “No, it’s not. You’re not getting hurt because of me. Not tonight.” His lips landed on hers and Damien couldn’t hold back. He couldn’t pretend to be that nice guy who played games and laughed and let the world roll off his shoulders.

He was a killer. A brute. A violent man only kept in check by his sanity and need to survive. Mia didn’t deserve to be tied up with him, but if she weren’t running…he’d take all she could give.

“There’s a hotel at the next exit.”

She looked up into his eyes and all he saw was a future he couldn’t have. Her words hit him like a bullet to the heart. “What are you waiting for?”

The drive to the hotel passed in a blur. Marcelo could have been standing right in front of the entrance, and Damien wouldn’t have noticed. The whole place could have been buzzing with cops or thugs and all he’d have seen was the front desk and the promise of a room upstairs.

The key card ended up in his hand and somehow they found the room. They tumbled inside, arms and legs tangled up together.

He growled as he planted kisses down her neck. “You’re wearing too many clothes.” He grabbed her shirt in fistfuls, tugging it up and over her head before throwing it on the floor.

Damn
.

As he stared, Mia shimmied out of her jeans. “Like them?”

She spun around in a slow circle, the black lace of her bra and panties turning the twitch in his dick into a full-on throb. “When did you…”

“Turns out big-box stores have a pretty good selection.”

“Damn straight.” Damien grabbed her by the hips, his fingers running over the skimpy fabric hiding her pussy from view.
Mmm
. He couldn’t wait to dive in and get lost.

He ran his hands down her hips and thighs, up the middle until she quivered. “Fuck, I love your body.” She arched into him and Damien couldn’t resist.

He had wanted tonight to be gentle. A chance to show her he could be more than a hard man in a cold world. But she broke something free inside him. Something uncontrolled and dangerous.

She made him want. Not just her body or her orgasm. She made him want tomorrow and the day after. A future.

Damien grabbed her bra strap and yanked it down. Her breast bounced, nipple already hard and begging for his touch. He teased her, flicking and twisting the little knob until Mia whimpered and clawed at his shirt.

She could beg him all he wanted, but she’d lose. He wasn’t stopping until she cried out his name. His knees hit the carpet and shoved her panties to the floor.

His appreciation came out in a groan. The woman was a piece of heaven. The closest he would ever get.

He grabbed her leg with one hand and hooked it over his shoulder.
Fuck, yes
.

Slicked and swollen and so damn ready for him, her pussy begged to be licked. Suckled. Fucking adored. He leaned in and lapped across her clit. Her hands flew over his short hair.

Gorging himself on her sweet cream, Damien came undone. He wasn’t a hitman on the run anymore. She wasn’t the good girl he’d tried to sell. They were more than themselves in that moment. They were bliss and magic.

Over and around he swirled her clit, teasing her higher, drawing an orgasm out of her with every stroke and swipe and lap of his tongue.

Mia shuddered into his mouth, her body pleading with him for more. He slipped a finger inside her.
Christ
. Her body gripped him as she moaned.

Her fingers tugged on his scalp. “Please, Damien. I need you inside me.” Her voice was breathless and raspy, but he couldn’t say yes.

He spoke through laps of her clit. “Come for me, Mia. Come right now.”

As he sucked her clit into his mouth, Mia obeyed. Her whole body convulsed, her fingers jumped across his head, and she sagged against him.

Nothing could ever be better than this moment. Mia fell into his arms and he lifted her as he stood. A beautiful woman was in his arms, delirious with pleasure he’d given. They were safe, alone, and had all night to drown in ecstasy.

Damien laid her on the bed and kissed her still-quivering stomach.

“Tell me this is going to work out.”

He stilled.

She tugged at his arms. “Tell me we’ll find a way back to the light.”

Damien kissed the spot between her breasts. “I live in the dark, Mia. It’s who I am.”

She gripped his face and pulled him up. What he saw in her eyes was more deadly than any of his bullets. “Promise me you won’t give up. Promise me you’ll fight for a future.”

“Dead men make promises.”

He wrapped her up in his inked arms, his tats disappearing beneath her perfect flesh. He wanted to give her everything she asked for. Promises, hope, even love. But love got you killed. Love got you hurt.

Love took your soul and shredded it.

He couldn’t let her go down that road. When a bullet took his life, Mia wouldn’t be there to see it. He was man enough to go it alone.

W
hy can’t
I break through? Why won’t he let me in?
She saw it in Damien’s eyes. The feelings he had for her simmered just below the surface.

But he fought it every step of the way.

Every time she found a way in, Damien shoved her back out.
Damn it.
Didn’t he see what he did to her? Didn’t he feel it, too?

His hands tore up her skin. His fingers dug into the lace of her bra. Hell yes, he felt it.

Every touch of his lips. Every flick of his tongue. They proved it. He wanted more of Mia than her body, but if that’s all he could give her in return, she’d take it. She would surrender to Damien’s rough hands and hard thrusts and show him what they could have.

Together.

Her hands tangled up in his shirt and he tugged it off. She scrambled for his jeans and they landed on the floor. He unhooked her bra and threw it somewhere.

No barriers. No space. Nothing between them but sweat and sin and this feeling she didn’t dare name.

It couldn’t be love. Not now. Not with him.

She slid to the floor. Just the sight of his cock, thick and hard and pointing straight at her lips, sent another wave of pleasure through her body. She licked her lips and opened wide.

Damien shuddered as Mia raked her tongue along the underside of his shaft. She could drown in his taste, smother herself in his body. She wanted him to know what he did to her. How he shattered her with every orgasm. How he wedged himself in her heart with every thrust.

He wove his fingers through her hair as she slid down, her lips tight around his cock. His velvet head bumped the back of her throat and she tilted her head to take him deeper.
Oh, God.

Mia’s whole sex throbbed with need.

Never in her life had giving head been this sexy, this empowering. But there she was on her knees in a hotel room feeling ten feet tall. Damien groaned as she lapped at his shaft and toyed with his ridge.

They might be opposites when it came to the outside world, but inside a hotel room, they were made for each other. If only they could stay inside this fantasy land forever.

Mia moaned as she bobbed her head and Damien’s hands twisted in her hair. His thighs shook and she dug her fingers into the taut muscle.

“Mia, you don’t…I’m…” Damien gritted out his warning, but Mia wasn’t stopping. Not now.

He’d just made her delirious with pleasure, knocked the air right out of her lungs with his tongue. She was damn well going to return the favor.

With another flick of her tongue, she took him deeper, ramming his spongy tip against the back of her throat over and over. Damn, it felt good. Right.

She didn’t know what it all meant or what would happen to them in the morning, but she couldn’t imagine her life without him. It would be so empty. So…barren.

Mia lapped at his shaft, adding her hand to stroke what she couldn’t lick, and sucked with all her might. A groan tumbled from Damien’s lips and his cock hardened inside her mouth.
Mmm, that’s it. Come for me
.

Another stroke of her hand and a tremor cascaded up his shaft. Mia moaned as the first burst of salty goodness hit her tongue. She swallowed as Damien thrust in shallow bursts into her mouth and rode his orgasm all the way out.

At last, he staggered back and Mia wiped her mouth with her hand.

“Damn, Mia. I’ve never…you’re…”

She smiled. “That’s good, right?”

He groaned and bent down to scoop her up in his arms. “Way better than good.” He walked them over to the bed and laid her down on the soft mattress.

It could have been a dingy motel with never washed sheets or a car on the side of the road. Mia wouldn’t have cared. She would have gone with him anywhere right then. He reached beneath her and tugged the comforter down.

“I don’t know who I am when I’m with you.” His words slid through her haze of pleasure and Mia smiled.

“Don’t think about it. Just live it.” She pulled him toward her and he paused to lick a nipple into his mouth.

He cupped her other breast in his hand and stroked until she whimpered. “You have beautiful tits, Mia. I could play with them for days.”

His fingers flicked back and forth and Mia squirmed. “But there’s something else you want, am I right?”

How did he know her so well? How did he get inside her head and inside her heart? Damn it to hell, but Mia couldn’t deny it. She could run from his body and try and escape a million different ways, but it was too late.

His ropes were already wrapped around her heart.

Before she could say a word, Damien rose up, hooking his arm beneath her leg. He crushed her thigh to her chest and his cock nudged at her entrance.
Oh, yes. Take me right now.

She would never get enough of this high. His lips landed on hers and she arched her body, begging him to fuck her. But he held back, his cock toying with her slick heat, the velvet head bumping against her clit as he thrust his tongue inside her mouth.

Mia reached to run her hands over his body, but Damien grabbed them and pulled them high over her head. She was trapped. Between his arm holding her leg and his hand holding her wrists, she couldn’t move.

But she was done running away from this man. She was done fighting. He wanted her pinned beneath him? He wanted to hold her down as he broke their kiss to lap at her breast?

She’d arch her back and give it to him. Damien moaned around her nipple, flicking and lapping at the tight bud until it stood high and proud. God, she’d go with him straight to the depths of hell if it meant they could be like this.

He let her wrists go to fondle her other breast and Mia reached between their bodies. Her hands found his cock, still tacky with her spit. It throbbed in her hand and need hit her like a drug. Guiding him to her aching sex, she lifted her hips and begged. “Take me, Damien. Please.”

He moaned in response, crushing her body and nudging against her entrance. The weight of him sent all her senses into overdrive. His musky scent. His muscles bulging against her warm skin. His gray eyes so bright as he stared at her.

As Damien’s cock finally claimed her, Mia cried out. He filled her up, stretched her taut, made her come alive. The cold, sterile world of her old life was gone. Damien was fire and heat. Darkness and sin. The worst kind of man.

And she loved him.

He worked into a rhythm. Harder, faster, deeper. His hips slammed into hers and she sank into the mattress. Over and over he thrust, his cock going deeper than ever before. His arm bulged against her thigh and sweat broke out on his forehead.

She rose to meet him as best she could. Angling her hips, digging her fingers into his ass as he ravaged her. She needed everything he could give. Every last drop.

As his lips landed on hers, another orgasm built inside her. It rose with every lap of his tongue and crush of his body on top of her. She moaned into his lips and he let her leg go to shove his hand between their bodies.

His thumb hit her clit and Mia exploded. Blinding light and Technicolor flashes. Shooting arcs of pleasure and so much more. Her body gripped Damien in a vise and he came with her, groaning and shuddering above her as he emptied himself inside her.

At last, he collapsed on top of her, his arms wrapping around her head like a shield. Mia hooked her legs around his waist and her arms around his back and held on as sleep threatened to overwhelm her.

She never wanted to let go of this moment.

It was right there, in a hotel room with nothing but a handful of clothes and a wanted man, that Mia touched heaven.