She marched right up to the rundown registration desk, explained that she was an adulteress looking for a quiet place to cheat on her insanely jealous husband with her poor but handsome lover, and she was willing to pay to keep her name out of the records.
The clerk sighed with utter disinterest, took her hundred bucks, and handed her the key to room number four.
Maybe she hadn’t needed her well-crafted fiction after all. Lara shrugged.
Once she exited the office, Connor hustled to the room, hauling her with him. He took the keycard and dragged her in before he turned, shut the door, and dead bolted it. She’d noticed he’d parked the motorcycle on the other side of the lot, so no one traveling the freeway could spot it.
Now that they were safely inside, she looked at Connor, ready to have it out with him. His dark blond hair was mussed, making him look disheveled and even sexier than usual. The urge to smooth his hair back almost overwhelmed her, but she doubted he would accept the affectionate gesture from her now. She had to make him understand that while she loved him, she also had a job to do.
Oh god, she loved him. She really, really loved him.
And then she was a little afraid of him. He shot her a narrow-eyed glare, his expression dark and predatory as he stalked across the room, closing the distance between them. Lara backed up until she couldn’t anymore, until her back hit the wall. That didn’t stop Connor from closing in. He pressed his palms flat beside her head, caging her against his body and invading her space. She couldn’t breathe. Intimidation flowed from him like charisma off a really good politician.
“D-don’t you want me to look at your arm?”
“Fuck that.” He glowered. “Why?”
She couldn’t possibly misunderstand his question. She found herself stuttering not out of fear but arousal. The desire she’d felt as they’d fled the Mall came back like a tidal wave. “Y-you wouldn’t have let me meet him otherwise.”
“You don’t know that.”
He hovered so close. Heat poured from his body. Her arousal picked up. Lara found herself breathing hard.
“I do. I know you. You would have locked me away. I would have missed the meeting and that source would have dried up.”
His stare pierced her. “At least you would have been safe. You would have been out of this mess.”
She wasn’t so sure about that. That text she’d received at the end of her meeting seemed awfully personal. Why wouldn’t the Russians simply demand that she give over the information or that she stay out of the situation? Instead, they had chastised her because she hadn’t gotten rid of “him.” The message hadn’t even mentioned the information, just an unnamed “him.” Connor?
Maybe the Russians hadn’t sent the text at all . . .
Her CI knew most everything, and he hadn’t seemed terribly worried about Connor. Sure, he’d given her warnings but nothing dire. Was this how the informant intended to keep her on her toes? Did he want to isolate her? Play good cop in real life and bad cop via text?
None of that mattered now because Connor was so close that her breasts brushed against his chest.
“I won’t leave this story alone.” Maybe it was time to be painfully honest with him and figure out where she stood. She’d been a coward with Tom, hiding her feelings and not letting him go when she should have. If she didn’t tell Connor how she felt now, she’d only be a coward again. “I love you, but I can’t give up everything I am because you want me to be safe.”
He froze and she was almost certain she’d made a mistake. “What did you say?”
Coward it was, then. “I can’t give up everything I am because you want me to be safe.”
When she ducked her head, he snagged her chin in his grip and forced her to look at him. “That is not what I meant and you know it. Say it again.”
That gruff command hadn’t exactly been the response she was looking for, but she hoped the fact that he wanted to hear her confession again was a good sign. “I love you.”
He pressed his body close, pinning her to the wall. His hard cock nudged her belly. “Say it again.”
Connor had told her in the beginning what he wanted—warmth and affection. She could give him all she had. She rose up on her toes until her mouth rested bare inches from his. She wanted to breathe the words into his skin so he soaked them up. She suspected he hadn’t had a lot of love in his life. She wanted him to know that had officially changed.
“I love you,” she murmured.
She’d barely spoken the words before he slammed his mouth down on hers and pinned her to the wall with his big body, holding her beneath him to take his onslaught. He dragged his tongue over her lower lip, demanding entry. She didn’t deny him. No, she opened herself up fully to the crazy, heady experience of being loved by this man. And it was love, she felt sure.
He devoured her like a starving man at a feast, holding her so tight she swore he’d never let go. The sizzling ache for him consumed Lara. When Connor made love to her, he sank himself in to the core of her being, and she felt as if they were the only two people in the world. Two who had merged to become one.
He tugged at the zipper of her jacket. “Take it off or I’ll rip it off. Anything you want to keep better hit the floor in ten seconds or less because that’s how long it’s going to take me to get inside you.”
Her hands shook as she quickly unzipped the jacket and tossed it away. He gave her just enough room to kick aside her sneakers then wriggle out of her pants and undies.
He shoved at his jeans, pushing them down to his thighs and setting his cock free. “Turn around. Hands against the wall.”
“Connor?” She felt ridiculously vulnerable wearing nothing but a shirt and a bra.
He turned her. “Hands against the wall.”
She pressed her palms flat and had to force herself to breathe when his fingers slid across her bare backside, traced the line between her cheeks, and ran along her swollen slit.
“You’re wet.” He groaned as he parted her labia, sliding a finger deep. “Is that why you rubbed against me on the bike? Were you wet and trying to steal an orgasm from me like a cat in heat?”
She knew she should be offended, but when his voice went guttural and his words turned to filth it just made her hotter. If any other man talked to her like that, she would slap him and leave. With Connor, she spread her legs so he could have more access. “I liked the bike.”
“That’s not all you like.” He nuzzled her neck, his lips blazing a trail of fire to her ear. “That’s right. Spread those legs wide for me. Get that pussy ready because I’m not waiting. You put me through hell tonight and I can take it out by punching something or by filling you so full of cock you can’t see straight. Which would you like?”
She’d pushed him to the edge, and he wasn’t a man who liked to be out of control. If her surrender to him would help right his world, Lara was all too happy to give in.
“I want your cock, Connor. Please. I’ll do anything. Give it to me.”
When he caressed her folds and nipped at her shoulder, the rest of the world dropped away. The fear
that had plagued her all day melted under his onslaught. She shivered.
“Tell me this belongs to me.” He plunged two fingers inside her while his thumb worked her clit.
She was already so close to the edge. Pleasure shimmered right in front of her, but she held still because she’d forced him to