Lifeline

Her soft scent wraps around me like a cloud, her warm breaths against my skin making my cock harden in a second flat.

Then she fucking gasps, and losing control becomes a bigger problem than the Albanians walking toward us.

Chapter 4

JJ

When O’Brien yanks me to him, his fingers burning an imprint on my skin, my mind short circuits, and there’s nothing but a buzz.

Then his head lowers, and his mouth takes mine like it’s always belonged to him.

God.

Oh, God.

I’m instantly overwhelmed by his cologne, his dominating presence, his manliness. Somewhere in the chaos buzzing in my mind, I’m aware of the threat of the Albanians heading toward us, but then O’Brien’s lips nip mine. He tilts my head to where he wants it, and all I can do is struggle for air as he starts to kiss me as if we’re lovers.

When his tongue drives into my mouth, I’m once again stunned out of my ever-loving mind. Desire explodes in my veins, ripping a needy sound from me, which I stop just in time from escaping. My blood rushing through my veins creates a whooshing sound in my ears.

The kiss is heated, filled with bad decisions and tension. God, so much tension.

I can’t keep my tongue from brushing against his, tasting the mints he has after he’s smoked. My mind clouds over, and I struggle to remind myself this is just pretending. It doesn’t mean anything.

O’Brien’s thumb skims over my skin, making a tremble shoot straight down my spine and into my abdomen. Unable to keep control over my hands, they lift to his jaw. My nails scrape over the dark stubble, our tongues war, our breaths mingle.

I fall so hard for him while his lips knead mine, molding them to fit his perfectly. It’s dominating, claiming, and hot, making flames lick at my insides and creating a violent need for more.

His teeth tug at my bottom lip, then he pulls back a couple of inches. I suck in desperate breaths, realizing my heart is nothing but a fluttering mess in my chest.

Our eyes lock, his irises dark as night, causing another wave of need to hit me hard.

A tense couple of seconds pass, then O’Brien moves entirely away from me, muttering, “Put on your seat belt.”

My body slumps back into my seat, and I quickly tug the belt over me, clipping it in. My tongue darts out, swiping greedily over my lips as I try to gather the taste of him that was left behind.

I think to check our surroundings and not seeing any of the Albanians, I ask, “Did they go inside?” Crap, my voice sounds like it’s been put through a shredder.

“No.” O’Brien starts the engine, and pulling away, he mutters, “Black town car at the traffic lights.”

My eyebrows draw together when I realize he was completely aware of our surroundings while we were kissing, where I was utterly consumed by him.

Shit.

Worry bleeds through me, scared O’Brien’s now aware I’m attracted to him after I practically melted in his arms.

He gestures to his binoculars lying at my feet. “Button on the left lens is to zoom. On the right is to take a photo. Get the license plate.”

With my hands still trembling, I do as he says, taking a couple of shots of the car.

We keep a safe distance until the town car stops at a diner, and I use the time to gather my senses and calm my racing heart. O’Brien drives past while I snap pictures of the men getting out.

“Dobroshi’s diner,” he informs me, not one bit affected by the kiss we shared. Disappointment sinks into my gut, and it has me chastising myself, ‘You have to work together, and things are already tense. Shove your emotions way down before you make a mistake there’s no coming back from.’

O’Brien keeps driving, and it has me asking, “You don’t want to get photos of them meeting with Dobroshi?”

“We’ve already been spotted. They’ll recognize the car.”

True.

I tuck the binoculars back into the bag, and not thinking, I take the notebook and pen off O’Brien’s lap. My fingers brush against his thigh, way too close to a particular bulge that looks bigger than the norm.

Way bigger. He’s probably hung like a horse.

Almost touching his cock makes my nerves unravel until they’re nothing but frayed strings.

I shove the items into the bag, then sit still and stare out of the window, my heart once again a hammering mess. Knowing how quickly O’Brien picks up on things, I force myself to relax, focusing on keeping my breaths even.

If he’s an empath, like I think he is, then he can probably read every single emotion on my face. I’ll have to be careful around him.

I must be doing a good job because he asks, “You okay?”

“Yeah.” I shoot a smile his way. “So that’s it for tonight?”