Hot Target

“Luke,” she panted, her breath hitching, stealing her thoughts, or maybe that was his breath, intimately warming her. She tried again. “I…” want you inside me. But she couldn’t say it. She couldn’t say anything. She could only feel. She could only need. Her fingers stretched, reaching for his head, even as his fingers stretched inside her, taking her further into that place of no return. But, damn it, she wanted to push him away and make him undress, to feel his body above her, around her. At the same time, her body was making a desperate appeal for him to continue, humming in response to the sinful play of his mouth, tongue and fingers.

In some distant place she heard her own moans, her own breathing. She tried to hold his head exactly where he was, all thought of stopping him gone, but she couldn’t quite touch him. Not with her leg up over his shoulder. She lifted her hips farther. She wanted her other leg up there, too, but it was stiff; it wouldn’t move.

Her head twisted from side to side, her hand molding her breasts, pinching her nipples. The other resorted to the blanket again, curling her fingers in the cloth as tension coiled in her core. Tighter, tighter. Every muscle in her body tensed, and then it happened. The spasms exploded low in her belly, and then it was as if a gate opened and a flood of pleasure washed over her—her body clenched around his fingers, her breath exploded from her lungs in a gasp. And then another. Luke rocked his mouth and fingers with her, lapped at her with his tongue, fast and then slower, and slower, until he brought her down, eased her to completion.

Katie collapsed with the final moment of release, every bit of energy she possessed gone. Every ounce of her sated, satisfied in a way that consumed her as much as the pleasure had. Luke carefully put her leg down, then kissed her stomach. Her fingers went to his hair as he stared up at her, his eyes tender rather than demanding.

“Luke, that was… I am—”

“Luke! Katie!” It was Ron’s voice, and all that sated, wonderful, amazing pleasure was gone.

“Oh, no!” Kate whispered, trying to sit up.

“How the hell did Ron get into my house?” Luke murmured. “Unless Maria showed up and let him in.” His hand settled on her shoulder. “Easy. Don’t hurt your leg.”

“The door!” she whispered fiercely, holding herself up on her hands. “Luke, I’m naked here. Please. Shut the door.”

“Easy, sweetheart,” he said. “Everything is going to be fine.” He slid off the bed and shut the door, locking it, as well.

It was not fine, she thought, nor was it going to be fine. In a matter of hours, she’d gone from a professional who’d landed a job that would get her sister out of hot water, to being injured, drugged, seduced and now humiliated.

Door secure, Luke scrubbed his heavily shadowed jaw and snagged his shirt, slipping it over his head. Katie scrambled for her clothes. Luke found her shorts on the floor and handed them to her.

She struggled to find her shirt, frustrated when she couldn’t move well enough to find anything, which only served to remind her that her crazy libido had landed her in this hot water. She threw her hands in the air. “Where did you put my bra?”

Luke arched a brow. “Where did I put your bra?” he challenged. “I seem to remember you were involved in disposing of it, as well.” He scooped up her bra and shirt and tossed them at her, frustration in the hard set of his jaw.

Katie glared at him, catching her things, wishing like hell he wasn’t watching her as she attempted to get the bra over her arms. The act of putting on the damn undergarment made her feel somehow far more exposed than when he’d taken it off, and she couldn’t get it hooked.

Suddenly, Luke was sitting beside her. “Let me help.”

“No, I—” Her words lodged in her throat as he turned her and hooked her bra. It was such a small thing, but so large—an act of intimacy a couple would share. They weren’t a couple. He was a job. She should have remembered that.

Luke offered her shirt to her, and she fumbled around and managed to get it on. Immediately, she started for the edge of the bed. She didn’t look at Luke. She couldn’t deal with him now. First, she had to deal with Ron.

“You did nothing wrong,” Luke said softly. “We did nothing wrong. If Ron says otherwise, I’ll damn sure tell him so, too.”

“No. Please don’t. You’ve done enough. Just let me handle it.”

Luke was on his feet in an instant, facing her. “You’re obviously upset, so I’m not going to take that remark like the slap it felt like.” He stared at her, his gaze fixed, steady, assessing. He read through her tension. He knew what she was feeling. And his words proved it. “No regrets. That was the agreement.”