StrategicLust (2 page)

“Kiera decided that if we had to make the drive into the
city again, we might as well share what little we’ve learned with you privately
first, then brainstorm with our mutual friends,” Hayden finished. The dark-haired
wizard seemed—as always—faintly amused with Josh. Josh looked forward to this
all being over for a number of reasons, but one of them he could admit to
himself was that he was intrigued by the Special Operative wizard and could
sense they would become good friends one day, when they’d got to know each
other a little better in easier circumstances.

“I’ll bring Josh in my car,” Kate replied, her face, body
and voice right back to where they had begun—in full Guardian mode. There was
very little emotion or inflection in her tone, but now Josh had seen it for
himself, he not only knew it was there to be tapped, he craved it like a potent
drug. All he needed to do was work out how to access that secretive, hidden,
lusty witch who lay dormant beneath the surface.

Now he’d seen that side to Kate, he wanted more. Everything.
Her professionalism and myriad rules be damned.

Kiera smiled slightly at Kate as she stood, then turned her
attention to Josh and her grin grew and deepened. Finding it contagious, Josh
snickered and reflected his amusement back at his coworker. He stood and hugged
Kiera tightly. Hayden and Kate also stood as they readied to leave.

“We’ll be right behind you,” he assured his best friend.
“You know that nothing could make me miss an iced coffee from the Round Tree
Café.”

Instantly Kate’s eyes sharpened and she looked assessingly from
Josh to Kiera, something having obviously set off her Guardian radar.

“This is a common haunt for you?” Kate queried. “I didn’t
recognize the name so I assumed it was a nondescript, out-of-the-way café. I
wouldn’t recommend going anywhere you‘re known to spend time. It’s the first place
any decent crew out for blood money will keep a watch on.”

“It’s a human café Josh and I have kept very quiet,” Kiera
insisted. “It’s a few blocks from the Enforcer headquarters, so close enough that
we can duck out when we want a bit of a break, but it’s not used by other
wizards and witches at all, that we know of.”

“We always considered it our secret,” Josh agreed. “There
are plenty of cafés around the inner city—this is just one of many. We should
be fine there. Not to mention that there are a bunch of different escape routes
and so far the crew has been at least attempting to avoid drawing attention to
themselves. Besides, I think this meeting and brainstorming session is
imperative. Kate, we could do with all the help we can get.”

Josh turned to face his Guardian and, even though she
clearly still thought it a great risk, eventually she nodded. Hayden and Kiera
said their farewells, hands were shaken and a moment later Kate closed the
motel door behind the two mages.

“I still think there’s too much risk inherent in this, but
you’re right—we need to get as much help on this as possible. Should we contact
Morgan, do you think?” Kate asked in a faintly brisk tone that Josh knew meant
she was thinking hard and trying to weigh their options in terms of how
dangerous each might be.

Morgan Kingsburg was Joshua and Kiera’s mentor and a member
of the wizarding Tribunal. A Strategist just like Kiera and Josh, he had not
felt it would be right to take a dark magic ritual showing how to create rifts
in time to the Tribunal for all to read and study.

He had supported Hayden, Josh and Kiera when they had
decided to destroy the manuscript, able to see that it had been the only way to
keep it from falling into the wrong hands. Morgan had even understood to a
degree when Kiera and Josh had admitted to each having read a small section of
the ritual to placate the Tribunal and keep from being severely punished should
their elders decide upon the unwise course of re-creating the ritual.

Such an action, while stemming the Tribunal’s anger, had
resulted directly in the mess they now found themselves in—with a bounty on
their head and every dark wizard desperate to steal their memories of the evil
ritual. Josh thought about the implications of bringing Morgan further into the
mess of their own creating. Finally he shook his head at Kate.

“I think we should hold out a bit longer on contacting
Morgan if we can,” Josh insisted gently. “He’s already in enough hot water with
the Tribunal because of our actions. Bringing him to the attention of all these
Assassins, murderers and dark magic crews is only going to cause him more
trouble.”

Reluctantly Kate nodded. She crossed over to her kit and
jacket, and Josh decided that if he didn’t make a move right now the strange,
delicate intimacy created by her earlier teasing and laughing manner would be
lost—and buried too deeply to quickly recreate. Josh moved slightly to gain
Kate’s attention and he captured her gaze with his.

“Kate, about earlier…” Josh trailed off, flummoxed for the
first time ever. Kate tilted her head, her soft rosy lips pursed slightly.
While she offered no assistance, neither had she cut him off at the knees as
she had every other time he’d probed her emotions in the last few days.

Josh took this as a good sign.

“I like bantering with you,” he said in a rush, knowing that
at any second now her walls would come down once again and they would be back
to Guardian and protectee. “I enjoyed seeing that side to you—an aspect of
yourself you’ve not shared with me before. I really want to see more of it.”

“Josh…” Kate seemed to think twice about whatever she was
going to say and shook her head dismissively. Realizing he was about to lose
what little ground he had gained, he decided in a snap instant to act rashly.

Closing the distance between them, he cupped Kate’s jaw,
satisfaction rushing through him as his fingers discovered that her skin was
indeed as soft and delicate as he had imagined. He ran the pad of his thumb
gently over her full lower lip and stroked it tenderly. Their breaths were
coming hard and fast—Josh felt his heart would soon break through his chest and
explode. At the same time, though, he knew it would be worth it—a small price
to pay for tasting this intoxicating, intriguing, unnerving witch.

Bending his head, Josh brushed his lips softly across
Kate’s. She sucked in a hasty breath and Josh took the opportunity to taste her
more fully. He angled his head, deepening the kiss. As her lips parted, he
flicked his tongue into her mouth and tasted her.

Heat rolled through his body as arousal blossomed. Curiosity
flared into need and Josh felt the deep thrill of knowing now that this was not
some ordinary seduction. Something more was at play here—something deeper that
he had never fathomed. This kiss, instead of assuaging his curiosity, answering
his questions and closing off his desire for the redheaded witch, seemed only to
make him need more and more.

Josh moaned, his body closing the distance between them. He
pressed their lean lengths against each other until Kate backed up against the
thin wood of the motel room door. Her slim, supple curves pressed against his
hardness and Josh ignited, a fire ravaging through his system as his senses
exploded. He lifted his hand to cup one of her small, firm breasts. Just a
perfect handful, its soft, supple feel proved she was all real and all witch.

Gone was the fear of being assassinated—all thoughts of
safety, the dark ritual or a potential traitor evaporated from Joshua’s
consciousness. Only Kate—the perfect way she fit against his body and the
thought of how amazing the sex between them would be—soaked his lust-addled
brain.

Josh grazed the pad of this thumb over her nipple, the thin
material of her shirt rasping against his sensitive skin. Kate moaned—a deep,
decadent sound that he licked from her lips as she arched farther into his
touch. Small shivers shook her and no matter how cool and calm she might appear
to be, regardless of the iron-strong control she always appeared to hold over
her luscious body, Josh knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she wanted him
right then, at that very moment.

“Kate,” he whispered softly, need thick in his tone as he
pressed his thigh between her open legs, desperate to be as close to her as
possible. His erection strained behind his slacks, thick, heavy and leaking
copiously.

His Guardian looked at him with lust-filled blue-green eyes.
Her pale, pale creamy skin was delicately flushed a becoming light pink and
nothing on Earth could convince him the gorgeous redhead didn’t desire him. For
the first time Josh paused, uncertain. A part of him simply
burned
to
take this witch, make her his.

But highly unusually for him, he also wanted this first time
to be special between them. He wanted it to be the beginning of something new
and exciting, not just another one- or two-night fling, quickly over and easily
forgotten. During their enforced captivity together, he had not discovered a
hidden secret romantic inside Kate. While a woman and not immune to softness
and romance, neither did she appear to be the kind of witch who needed rose
petals, candles and a long courtship. She was a decisive witch who, when she
knew her own mind and had made a decision, was prone to acting upon it.

“
Now
you stop and grow a sense of self-preservation?”
Kate moaned, obviously annoyed by his hesitation. Josh moaned as Kate wrapped a
leg around his waist, drawing her pussy flush with his cock, and rubbed herself
along him. His hands fell to tear at her jeans, every doubt burned away as if
it never had been there.

“Circe, that’s better!” Kate groaned as her nimble fingers
easily began to remove his clothes.

Josh knew it would not be so simple later, and knew they
could not take hours upon hours to explore each other, as Kiera and Hayden were
expecting them at the café. But he just didn’t care. His body burned and ached.
Kate’s fingers felt like heaven stroking along his skin, removing his shirt and
everything else until they were naked and pressed against each other, the door
and wall the only thing keeping them from falling flat on the floor.

Josh pushed Kate’s shirt over her shoulders and the soft
linen pooled into a heap. He had known her body was lithe and supple, and the
sleek muscles under her smooth, creamy, pale skin proved that knowledge
accurate. Gently, Josh ran the palm of his hand over her skin, loving the feel
of her softness contrasting with her hard muscles.

This was not a witch who dieted to keep herself slender or
starved herself—this was a working woman who used her body and kept herself in
peak physical condition.

“You’re beautiful,” Josh murmured, surprising himself with
the words that slipped out of his brain and through his lips. Kate dipped her
head and strung a small series of kisses along his jaw. The intimate press of
her lips against his skin sent fire running along his every nerve ending.

A ridiculous feeling of bashfulness came over him for a
second and Josh busied himself with stripping Kate bare. When her full body was
exposed to him, his strange reticence melted away. Kate truly
was
beautiful, and he couldn’t feel embarrassed or awkward for having stated such a
blindingly obvious point.

Josh wrapped an arm around Kate’s waist and lifted his other
hand to stroke tenderly through her smooth, wavy red hair. Silky and soft, the
strands grazed over his digits like a lover’s caress. Kate tilted her head
slightly, giving him the perfect angle to lean down and capture her lips with
his once again.

As they tasted each other intimately, Josh’s heart beat
erratically fast within his chest. He couldn’t help but think this was the most
beautiful, perfect prelude to an encounter he could have possibly imagined. The
hand at his lover’s waist slowly caressed her skin, ambling down her body until
he could cup Kate’s round, pert ass.

She moaned in appreciation, canting her hips closer into his
embrace until his slick cock head grazed over her cleanly shaven pussy lips.
They danced together in the most erotic, intimate rhythm possible—the decadent
opening rounds of an age-old dance men and women had been performing for eons.

Josh dipped a finger between her slick lips, his thumb
grazing over her clit. He drank down the erotic sound Kate made as his heart
hammered wildly. He had begun this dance with countless women—he knew the parry
and thrust, the rhythm of the intimate embrace so well—yet something about Kate
drew him unlike any other he had experienced. She was intoxicating and a
challenge he had never believed possible. An enigma, she perplexed him on many
levels and dared him to get closer to her.

He could not wait any longer to see if he was up to the erotic
challenge she posed.

Kate’s body felt as if it were burning from the inside out.
She had never done this before, never indulged in an affair—or even a
fling—with someone she was supposed to be protecting, guarding. As a Guardian,
she knew others made snide comments, thinking that anyone prepared to be a
Guardian was an automaton with no feelings, no emotions, none of the gentler
aspects that made them all human.

The truth was, Kate believed, that to a degree many
Guardians felt these emotions more deeply than many others could. By holding
themselves so strongly in control, when they finally released that focus,
everything became heightened. And just because they did not outwardly show
their feelings didn’t mean they could not or would not experience them.

Yet even so, the cardinal rule when it came to Guardianship,
the first iron-clad never-to-be-broken rule, was not to become intimately, sexually
or emotionally involved with the client. That was how mistakes were made, and
how a Guardian’s judgment could be irretrievably compromised.

Obviously whoever had created the rulebook had never met
Joshua Delamere.

Josh’s hands were like trained missiles. They uncovered
every one of the secret sensitive places all over her body. Fingers sought
hidden spots. His palms glided smoothly over her flesh and discovered brand new
erotic zones. Kate heard herself making intimate, sensual sounds she had never
even known she
could
create.

When the slick head of his cock ran between her moist,
dripping pussy lips, Kate found her back arching against the smooth wood of the
motel room door. Her stance altered, her thighs parting to give Josh all the
access he could possibly need. Kate’s fingers had been pressing against the
sleekly muscled line of Josh’s back, but as he bit gently into her full bottom
lip, the electric thrill of passion that seared through her system seemed to
set her nipples and clit alight.

Kate’s head fell back, knocking slightly against the door as
her whole body tightened in erotic torment.

“My nipples,” she panted, half pleading, half ordering.

A strangely masculine, totally eager sound fell from Josh’s
lips as he bent his head and let his mouth capture one of the tightly peaked
nipples on her small breasts. The faint scrape of teeth heightened her arousal
and when Josh suckled her strongly, Kate shrieked in astonished pleasure. The
pressure, heat and wetness of his mouth had her enjoyment skyrocketing—even the
tiny sting from his teeth only added to the erotic mix.

Kate’s hands fell to help to guide Josh’s slick cock. She
rubbed his thick length up and down her dripping lips, her fingers copiously
drenched in their mingled juices. Then, feeling supremely wicked, Kate let her
hand move around to cup Josh’s ass. When he suckled her nipple particularly
hard, she cried out, her fingers reflexively digging into his soft flesh. Josh
grunted, his face slightly flushed with the pleasure, and Kate felt a thrill of
power soar through her.

He likes that
, she realized with a start.
Josh
really enjoys that.

Curious and tempted to discover more about this complex,
multi-layered wizard, Kate stroked her fingers over his ass, finally dipping
between the tightly muscled cheeks.

“Kate,” Josh panted as he lifted his head to capture her
gaze with his amber eyes. With a wicked, decadent grin Kate held her lover’s
gaze as she stroked the soft pad of her index finger over the highly sensitive
skin that ran from Josh’s scrotum along to his tightly puckered anus.

“Fuck me,” Kate whispered breathlessly. The plea sounded
sexy, but she was unable to articulate her desire in stronger terms as oxygen
seemed to desert her. Heat flared across her cheeks and she could feel the
prickle of desire mingling with the raise in her body temperature.

“My pleasure, sweetheart,” Josh grunted. The slightly erotic
grinding of his ass back onto her thin finger had Kate wondering for a second
if he was going to penetrate himself on her digit, but instead he pressed the
large, warm head of his cock deeply into her slick lips.

“Yes!” Kate hissed as she felt her body contract tightly and
then expand to envelop Josh’s long, thick cock deeply inside her. He paused
halfway in, then panted hard as sweat slicked his brow. Kate lifted the hand
that had been gripping his waist to brush the damp tendrils of fringe out of
his eyes.

Tenderly she stroked Josh’s cheek as her other hand wickedly
mimicked the sensual motion around the tiny hole of his ass. Josh’s eyes blazed
hungrily at her, and Kate met his glance boldly, letting her lover see her
desire for him but also her arousal at his acceptance of her incredibly
intimate touch.

“Stroke me,” Josh demanded. Instinctively Kate wanted to
rebel at the command, but the thickness of his tone, the flush of arousal all
over Josh’s lightly tanned body and his obvious desire all showed her that he
was not being macho or arrogant, just forthright.

She obeyed, her fingers moving wickedly along their course.
Kate’s nimble fingers teased Josh’s ass as he began to thrust deeply inside
her. Kate could feel her nerves singing happily, the thick penetration of her
lover’s cock awakening her body and bringing each of her senses to life.

“Josh,” Kate panted heavily as her body struggled to draw
enough air into her lungs. Her heart pounded a fast, hard tattoo against her ribs
as her body embraced the dark-haired man as intimately as anyone could. Sweat
ran slickly down her back and as Josh thrust particularly deeply inside her,
Kate heard her naked skin squeal faintly against the wood of the door.

“Need to be deeper inside you,” Josh panted, his pupils
blown wide and his amber gaze feral with his out-of-control desire. Kate
understood exactly how he felt as they burned together, her gaze likely
appearing just as desperate and hungry as his.

Kate lifted her other leg slightly, her hips canting
enticingly as she silently urged Josh to take her weight. Josh eagerly assisted
her in wrapping her slender legs around his waist, easily holding her between
his strong body and the door.

Ankles locked around Josh’s back, Kate flexed her thigh
muscles to lift herself slightly then thrust down upon Josh’s cock. The both
cried out as she slowly fucked herself on him, drawing each movement out with a
wicked grin and shining eyes.

“Circe, but you are the most beautiful thing I have ever
seen.” Josh panted hard. “Fucking yourself on my shaft, taking your pleasure.
Damn, witch, you make me hot.”

Kate continued to let her finger play around Josh’s anus as she
wrapped her other arm around his neck, drawing their chests closely together.
Kissing him hungrily, she licked her tongue over his lips until they were soft
and moist, then she bit gently into them, sucking him until he took over the
kiss.

Josh’s tongue rhythmically penetrated her mouth, in synch
with his hips as they pistoned up and down. His cock thrust deeply into her wet
pussy and Kate could feel the tingling in her belly signaling that her climax
was imminent. Kate’s legs tightened around Joshua’s waist, the squeezing
sensation heightening her arousal as her lover’s pubic hair grazed her clit,
gently stimulating her further as they writhed passionately together.

“Josh,” she panted wantonly. Kate surprised herself by just
how deep, husky and sensual her voice sounded mid-coitus. She cleared her
throat and tried again.

“Josh, harder. Please. I promise you I won’t break,” Kate
managed to grind out as their bodies came together harder and faster. Kate
moaned decadently as Joshua pressed her harder back against the door, the thin
wood rattling with the force as he took her at her word.

“Circe, Kate,” Josh replied breathlessly, clearly unable to
articulate himself any further. Kate gently bit her bottom lip as she debated
for a brief second with herself, then cast caution to the wind. She eased the
very tip of her index finger into the tightly furled opening of Josh’s ass.

Her finger was still slick with their mingled juices but
even so it penetrated less than an inch into his incredibly tight passage. For
the first time ever, Kate felt the tiniest of tastes of what it might feel like
to be a man plunging deeply inside a woman. Josh’s ass was hot, tight and
incredibly narrow.

Kate wriggled her finger slightly, surprised to feel the
thin membrane that made up the lining of his ass. Josh moaned decadently and
shifted his body, pistoning his hips faster and faster as he thrust his cock
balls-deep inside her, possessing her passionately. Feeling almost intoxicated
from the arousal and ever-nearing climax growing inside her, Kate struggled to
keep her breath.

They breathed heavily, their faces and bodies flushed and
sweating as they came together over and over again. The moment drew out and
even though Kate knew it could not have been more than a second or so since she
had penetrated Josh’s ass, she felt her body seize up as her orgasm washed over
her.

Kate screamed and her eyes closed instinctively as her head
fell back against the battered wooden door. Joshua roared, a loud, masculine
sound of approval and joy. Kate felt his ass contracting tightly around the tip
of her finger and a moment later hot seed gushed from his prick and soaked
deeply into her cunt, filling her with his essence.

Kate clung to her lover, her hair a mess, her body sweating
and slick. She sucked in deep, rattling breaths as pleasure shot all over her
body, from her nipples through her breasts, down into her stomach and lower
still to pulse at her clit. Satiation and arousal warred with each other as
Kate felt her body wringing Joshua’s dry, milking him for every inch of
pleasure he could give her.

Finally, with hot cum leaking down her thighs, Kate felt
Josh shudder a little and then lean them heavily against the door, spent. Kate
slowly lowered her legs, even though she wobbled uncertainly. Josh’s large,
warm hand held her steady at her hip and they struggled to catch their breaths.

“That was amazing,” he finally said, breaking the tender
silence between them. Kate stole a quick kiss from her lover’s soft lips.

“I find myself completely in agreement with you,” she
replied with a lazy, utterly satisfied smile.

Kate stroked her fingers up and down Josh’s arm, enjoying
the simple pleasure of being able to touch the wizard. A small part of her
brain reminded her that he was in her care—her charge, whom she was supposed to
be protecting—but Kate pushed the voice to the back of her head. Some things she
didn’t want to think about right then.

“You realize I broke practically every rule in the book just
now?” Kate mused, more to herself than actually expecting Joshua to reply. She
waited for the crushing sense of defeat to swamp her or for guilt to assail
her. Even though physically she felt sated, as if she had drunk a cool glass of
water after a long run on a hot day, she knew her impulsive action would have
serious ramifications.

“A distracted Guardian is a dead one” wasn’t just some
trite, catchy phrase. It was a fact. So too was the knowledge that an
emotionally attached Guardian usually ended up with a dead client.

What many people didn’t realize was that it took an enormous
focus of will to be open to every minute detail in one’s surroundings. Guardians
were able to assess the bombardment of information and signals most regular
people were completely oblivious to. Having her senses inundated by Josh’s
scent, his witty banter, his laugh and the sizzling chemistry of his touch were
not just frustrating distractions, but could literally cost them both their
lives.

She didn’t feel their deepening intimacy was a mistake, nor
was she naïve enough to believe she’d just needed to get him out of her system.
Kate knew she’d been selfish and self-indulgent. She just wasn’t quite sure
what to do about it.

Her lover surprised her with his insight, however. Josh
tilted her chin with two fingers so their gazes could meet. His soft amber eyes
stared at her and Kate felt her belly flutter in a girlish manner that hadn’t
occurred since her teens. Josh held her gaze and, curious what he was about to
say, Kate gave him her full attention.

“Are you going to get into trouble for this?” Josh asked her
seriously, his demeanor more somber than she had ever seen it. Kate shook her
head.

“No,” she replied.

“Do you regret sharing yourself with me?” Josh continued in
the same vein. Kate smiled at this—a hungry, lusty grin she could no more
conceal than the color of her hair.

“Definitely not,” she insisted firmly. Josh’s face finally broke
into a grin and they shared a happy, intimate moment.

“Well then, I don’t see the problem,” he finished. Kate
shook her head. Reluctantly she bent to collect her clothes. Pulling on a dirty
T-shirt and stepping into a pair of shorts, she didn’t want to analyze why
having some clothes on was absolutely necessary for her to speak about this.

“I know you make fun of what I say are our rules, of the
rigidity of my work, but think about it seriously for a moment, Josh. If I’m
focusing on the way your touch makes me feel, or on how nice that scent you
wear is, or wondering if you’re going to grab my ass or whatever… If I’m not
looking out for you, assessing the risks and threats and keeping my magic open
to our surroundings, I’m not a very effective Guardian, am I?”

“Well, no. But—”

She didn’t let him continue, but ploughed on.

“Most of the time rules are present for a reason. I need my
attention on keeping my client safe. Not fantasizing about how much I want him
thrusting his hard cock into my every orifice, or picking out which lacy teddy
I want to surprise him with.”

Kate huffed out an angry laugh as Joshua tilted his head,
his eyes getting a faraway look to them as he seemed to become distracted.