She laughed as he grabbed for a condom but she still tried to grasp and hold onto him. He grabbed her wayward hands and yanked them above her head, holding her wrists with one hand. With the other, he eased himself inside her, trying like hell to keep in mind it had been a long time for her.
Considering how perfect the fit, how intense the emotion she drew from him, this was a first for him as well. Kane held on to rational thought long enough to recognize he’d never felt like this before. Seconds before he climaxed in her arms, he knew he’d never feel like this again.
* * *
Kane woke to the sound of rustling clothing. Rolling onto his back, he saw Kayla slipping into her clothes. Last night came back to him in a rush of memory and sensation—because his cock was rock-hard. Despite that he’d slept with her twice, and that the sheets still carried their scent, he wanted her again. Wanted her more than he had the first time.
One glance and he knew she’d planned on sneaking out before he awoke. Something he’d done himself and only now, being on the receiving end, did he realize how low a maneuver that actually was.
She was leaving. Because she was sorry for what happened? Embarrassed and couldn’t face him? Or because, God help him, he’d been nothing more to her than a one-night stand?
He couldn’t take the possibility, and in that fleeting second, he wanted more. “Going somewhere?”
She glanced up from buttoning her jeans. Her hair fell around her face in easy waves, surrounding guilt-ridden, embarrassed eyes. “I was just…”
“Leaving?”
“Getting dressed. I would have woken you.”
“Bullshit.” He rose from the bed naked and her gaze followed him from across the room.
She lifted one shoulder. “I thought a clean break would be best. You’re going back to New Hampshire later today anyway, so I figured, this way, no messy goodbyes.” She turned a bright, fake smile his way.
Instead of reassuring him, that forced grin pissed him off. As fucking stupid as it was, he’d thought they’d shared something special, yet she’d been about to sneak out without a word.
What was he to her, he wondered. The man who’d slept with her disappeared and the cop he was surfaced as he ran through his agenda and their night together. She hadn’t accepted his date until he’d pressured her into it with the lesson pretense. She’d been so hesitant to be with him until he’d reassured her. Had he been her way of breaking her dry spell? Had she used him like he’d used many women before?
He knew he was being an ass but she was the only woman who’d ever slipped past his walls. No one had ever gotten that close before. If anything would kill the edge Reid was so worried about him keeping, the one that kept him alert and alive, she was it.
And now he was pissed at both himself and at her.
Kane drew a deep breath. It didn’t matter why he’d come into her life. The fact remained that he had, and in the process, he’d compromised himself, his principles, his case, and his job. Not bad for a night’s work, McDermott.
The same part of him that wanted to kick himself for getting in too deep also needed to know. Could it all have been one-sided?
What was he to her? The question resurfaced along with the reason he was supposed to have gone out with her. Find out if her business was a front.
He’d been a quick fuck for her. She’d been a job to him. That was the way it had to be.
He shoved his hand into his pants pockets and fished through his wallet, then turned toward her. “We never agreed on a price, but I’m sure this will cover last night’s…lessons.” Lessons they hadn’t discussed even once.
Still, she might not think she’d taught him anything. But she had. A very expensive and painful lesson. He tossed the wad of bills onto the bed.
Don’t take the money. His heart seemed to hammer out the words in rapid beats. Furious with himself, he still needed to see her reaction, needed to know what he’d meant to her.
She paused mid-pulling the jean jacket onto her shoulders.
“What…is…that?” she asked, her voice hoarse, her pretty eyes wide in disbelief.
He shrugged. “Before we went out, you said we’d see how things go before we discuss payment.” He thrust his hand toward the bed where the money lay on the mattress.
Glaring.
Harsh.
Wrong.
“That’s for services rendered,” he said, wanting to take back the words as soon as they escaped. Before he’d seen the hurt look cross her face.