Right Through Me (The Obsidian Files #1) (18 page)

She drew in a sharp breath. Noah stopped, and slowly sank two of his fingers between her labia to stimulate that sweet spot deeper inside. Never forgetting her clit. Circling that with his tongue, around . . . and around . . . ahhh. Big reaction. Yes.

Hang on, girl. More coming.

He loved the taste and feel of her. So sweet and slick and responsive, reacting so intensely to every caress. Opening more and more as she slowly relaxed.

He held her hips in place, licking up her juice. Suckling that taut bud with tender care. He drew back whenever she got too close to finishing, then started again. Over and over, until she lost her patience and just grabbed his head and kept him exactly where she wanted him. Insisting that he finish what he started. Exactly when she said so.

He did, delighted. She gasped with shocked pleasure as her orgasm racked her.

Noah caught her quickly in his arms and held her very tight so that she wouldn’t bruise herself on the rim of the tub.

Afterwards, he settled her on his lap, her head cradled against his chest. Her loose knot of hair had unraveled. It trailed out in the water, clinging to him. He loved it. He wanted to make her come again. Take her away from the violence in her past. Make her fears for the future disappear. Just float here together untroubled. So close.

The minute she opened her eyes, he
knew he hadn’t entirely succeeded
.

“Don’t panic,” he urged. “Everything’s the same as before.”

“No, not the same. That wasn’t normal. Not my normal.”

“Give it time,” he said. “You’ll get used to it.”

Mistake. She went instantly tense in his arms.

Time for a fresh distraction. He stood up. “Let’s get you warmed up.”

He helped her out of the tub and toweled her gorgeous body off slowly and lovingly before drying himself. Then he took her hand, pulling her back to the bedroom.

The room was chilly in contrast to the steamy bathroom. Caro stretched herself out on the bed, displaying himself, arching and stretching with a sensual smile as she scooped up her wet hair and arrayed it behind herself, spread over the pillow. He flipped on the bedside light and rolled on another condom. In case she wanted to watch.

Apparently not.

“Hey,” she said. “The light?”

He forced himself to subdue a flash of anger. “Really? You still can’t bear to look at me?”

“That’s not it.”

“No? Then what’s the problem?” He slid under the sheets, and slowly rolled on top of her slender body. “Do you need to pretend that I’m someone else to get off?”

She pushed him up with both hands. He went along with it, lifting his upper body and stayed like that, poised over her. “Is this better?”

She gave him a slap that wasn’t playful. “No.”

He went still. “Do you want me to stop?”

“No,” she whispered. “I’ve never wanted anyone like I want—” She stopped herself. “Never mind.”

He’d have to be satisfied with that. “Doing it from behind is great,” he said. “Doing in the dark is fine. But I want more. I want you to know who’s inside you. Who’s making you come. I want you to see me. And know me.”

“I don’t know you,” she said wildly.

“Yes you do. You know me better than anyone ever has.” The words tumbled out without a second thought.

“Noah,” she said nervously. “That’s a scary statement. We met today.”

“Can’t argue with that. ” He shrugged. “But so what? We’re doing fine. Why stop now?”

She closed her eyes. “All right. Face to face,” she conceded. “But lights off.”

He twisted around promptly to snap the light off. Good thing she didn’t know about his night vision. But this game they were playing was more about her perceptions than his. Besides. The dark brought out the colors of her sig that much more strongly.

He pushed her legs wider, settling between them. Her hands lifted to brace against his chest. Her nails dug in, a little more than he would have thought necessary to keep him at bay. He liked it. A lot.

“You’re angry,” she said.

Damn. There was no masking anything from her. “I guess I am,” he admitted. “Happens. But not often.”

“I’m angry too. And I’m not sorry.” Her nails sank in more. Then she relented . . . but not really. They dug in again. Scratching him even harder.

He didn’t flinch. It excited him. She felt it, and was faintly annoyed by it.

“Guess I had that coming,” he said. “Do it again.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Would be nice if it actually hurt,” she said tartly.

She rested her hands on his shoulders, pulling on him. He took that as an invitation to lower himself. Slowly and carefully. Bad kitty took no prisoners.

“Oh, it did hurt,” he assured her. “Hurt just right.” He caressed her slick folds with his stiff, aching dick. Slow, voluptuous up-and-down strokes.

She could see nothing besides the outline of his body looming over her, whereas he saw every detail of her. Lithe and luminous, offering herself at last. Caressing his chest.

She cried out as he sank his thick, throbbing shaft into her tight slickness.

“Close your eyes,” he muttered. “If you can’t stand me looking at you.”

She shook her head. “It’s like you can see in the dark. I can feel your eyes.”

“Keep feeling it,” he said roughly, thrusting again. Balls deep in her hot, quivering clasp. “Feel all of me.”

“I do.” Her hands slid down his sides to his butt. Holding his hips. Digging her nails into the driving muscle, taking him deeper and deeper.

He struggled to master himself. The pleasure was so intense, he wanted to throw himself into it headlong.
No.
He couldn’t lose control completely.

He preferred to think about Caro. Experience Caro. She lifted her hips eagerly to meet each stroke. He let his own energy break loose when she was right at the brink.

They both went for it, full force . . . and exploded together.

They stayed like that for a long time afterwards. Twined and motionless, their hearts still thundering. Wet with sweat. He kept his hand on her ass, to keep them joined . . . until she stretched and shrugged him off.

OK. He had to take care of the condom anyway. He got rid of it fast, as if she’d vanish like smoke if he turned his back. But she was there when he returned, sitting up.

“Your smartphone’s doing the strangest thing,” she said. “It’s glittering.”

He glanced at it where it sat on the chest of drawers, startled. He’d programmed it to give him a visual signal when Sisko messaged him using their private code. But he’d set it to light frequencies that unmods shouldn’t be able to see.

He grabbed the phone and tapped in the password. “This is a work thing. Mind if I deal with it now?”

“No,” she murmured.

Sisko’s message was brief.

Asa Stone. Specializes in darknet datamining. Auctions illicit information in secret to highest bidders. Big enemies.

The message was followed by several links.

So his brother was active on the darknet in some sort of criminal way. Not that Noah would expect anything else with their background and training. Or from a kid thrown out on the streets at fifteen.

“Are you OK?” Caro asked.

He had a swift, red-tinged data scroll going now.
Damn.
He exited from the message and quickly put the phone down. “Fine. Why?”

“Your vibe. Seems like you got some bad news.”

He shook his head. “Just some old stuff.” He slid back under the covers, pulling her jealously into his arms again. She felt so good.

“I should go now,” she said.

His whole body contracted. His heart thumped hard and the combat program data flickered and scrolled in blurred stripes of light.

“No way,” he said. “You said you’d spend the night. We’re not even at the half-way point. You’re safe here. You can sleep.”

She gave him a sidelong glance. “That’s not why I came here, Noah.”

“I’ll fuck you as many more times as you want,” he said. “I stand ready to serve. Until then, get some rest.” He was working the masterful, steely-alpha vibe again.

Successfully, this time. She was too exhausted to object. Her colors shifted along with her brain waves, colors muting as she sank into a deep, heavy sleep.

He didn’t follow her there. Couldn’t anymore, not really. He never slept, just rested one brain hemisphere while the other stayed razor sharp. Sentinel sleep, they’d called it. After the their escape, he’d never seen any good reason to unlearn it.

Sentinel sleep was perfect for lying around for hours in bed, looking at a beautiful sleeping woman. Soaking it all in. Not missing a single goddamn second.

He could look at her forever. Time was racing by. He listened to the slow thud of her heart, wishing he could slow time down. Make their night last forever. He liked it, that he could always stay sharp and vigilant for her. Her shelter and her shield.

But dawn kept getting closer. The nearer it got, the more intense his feelings became. His AVP started revving in random, intermittent spurts. The damn data scroll was bugging him, making him restless and distracted. He didn’t want to share the screen of his vision with the fucking processor display when Caro was on it.

Sometimes kung fu workouts helped chill the AVP. Worth a try. He reluctantly disentangled himself from her slender limbs. She murmured, rolling onto her side, but didn’t wake. He pulled on his sweat pants and padded noiselessly to the practice room.

It was a big glassed-in veranda with tatami mats and a floor to ceiling view of the lake. Cold. He stood in the middle of the room. Observed his body. Stilled his mind.

Time to begin.

He usually spent two or three hours a night in here. The night was so fucking long when you didn’t sleep. Not tonight. He’d do just enough to take the edge off his AVP buzz and then it was back to bed to wrap himself around that amazing, mysterious woman. Be ready to serve her when she woke up. In any capacity she wanted.

Though a guy could hope for his favorites.

* * *

Caro snapped awake out of a nasty dream. A standard nightmare mix of dread, violence, pursuit. For a moment she looked wildly around the room, disoriented.

It rushed back. Noah. That incredible night.

She was alone in the rumpled bed. She slid out from between the sheets and retrieved Noah’s fleece robe from where it had been tossed on the bathroom floor.

She padded around the house in search of him, then saw the glass veranda through another window, and the shadowy flash of movement.

When she found the door to the veranda, it was slightly ajar. She pushed it a little further open, and gazed at him, awestruck.

He was naked to the waist, doing a martial art form. His rapid, fluid moves were so beautiful. Sweeping and precise. Full of explosive energy.

He sank down into a deep, wide-legged crouch . . . and sprang upward in a sudden flurry of whip-quick kicks, so fast they seemed like a blur.

He turned to her, put his hands together and bowed slowly.

“I didn’t know you saw me,” she said. “Didn’t mean to interrupt you.”

“I was finished,” he said. She could barely make out his face in the dimness. He seemed to be smiling.

Caro stepped into the room, which was cold. “That was beautiful,” she said. “What is it?”

“A grab bag of disciplines,” he said. “Mostly kung fu. It’s my favorite.”

“Wish I’d studied that, instead of dance,” she said, meaning it with all her heart.

He grinned. “I love the way you dance. But it’s never too late to start learning. I’ll teach you, if you want. Stick around.”

Right. As if she could. She shivered as she gazed out the window. “Do you work out at this hour all the time?”

“Whenever I can’t sleep, if I don’t feel like carving wood or staring at screens. I was just about to come back to bed.”

She imagined it so vividly, she could feel the sensations. That long, strong beautiful man sliding into bed with her, making the mattress dip under his weight. The excited delight rippling through her at the contact with his skin as he rolled onto her. His hands, his lips, his smoldering eyes, his big hard cock. Everything.

There was just enough light to admire the lines and curves and cuts of his naked torso. She wanted to run her hands over him, slowly memorizing him by feel. To slide her hand in the front of those low-slung sweat pants and cup him in her hand, stroking until he was stiff and hard and ready.

She could tell by the quality of his energy that he read her thoughts and would be eager to oblige her. But dawn was almost breaking. The deeper she went into this, the harder it was going to be to drag herself away.

She forced herself to turn around and march back to the bedroom.

* * *

Noah followed her, a pace behind, not allowing himself to touch her. She was too tense. Again, after that sensual flare of colors he’d seen back in his practice room. So near, yet so far. Oh, well. Maybe he could cuddle her in bed until she relaxed again.

But once there, she looked at the clock. “I have to go, Noah.”

Another flare of irrational rage activated the AVP again and he was right back where he’d started an hour before. He walked a tightrope of self-control to keep his voice even and mild as he responded. “Sun’s not up. Have to go where?”

She gave him a stern look. “That’s my business.” She perched on the edge of the bed. “I can’t believe I slept so long.”

“You could use more of that,” he said.
Weeks of it.
Right here. In this bed. With me holding you the whole time.

“Maybe so.” She smiled, but it faded quickly. “But not here.”

Another AVP surge, stronger than before. The data feed started to scroll.
Shit.

“Why?” he demanded, his voice harsh. “Stay with me. I’ll drive you where you want to go. Unless you were planning to walk.”

“No, but—”

“So I’ll drive and I’ll wait. Then I’ll bring you back here for breakfast.”

She frowned. “A cab’s fine.”

“No. Just no,” he told her, exasperated. “Like you could even get one this early in the morning. Listen, Caro—”