With that, they were once again transported in discreet black vehicles to a small hotel. When they entered the lobby, it was clear it was specifically reserved for them. No one else was on site. Then he felt her. It was like a pressure in his whole body.
He turned to find her slipping through the front door, and to his surprise, she was without her shadow again. Volk was nowhere to be seen. Didn’t mean the big man wasn’t around, he just wasn’t visible.
Damn, she looked like hell. Her hair was a mess of matted hair and several braids she was fond of wearing, the dark circles under her eyes told him she’d had some sleepless nights since they’d last hung out. But she was more hard than soft, no surprise there. The woman was a honed blade and fuck him if he didn’t like her sharp. He always responded to her taut, toned lines. She was both grace and power, and he wanted, badly, to learn more of what all that grace and power would feel like wrapped around him. And her mouth, the contrary, almost voluptuous softness of her mouth turned him on.
She tensed and looked away, but not before he saw the pain in her expression, the blame she shouldered that he didn’t understand, but he was damn well going to understand everything about her before he was satisfied.
Women, no matter who they were, were ruled by their hearts, and Karasu’s was worn down. All he wanted to do was a hand in lifting it back up. Maybe if he helped to make her whole, she would do the same for him.
He looked back up to find Karasu already moving, heading for the elevator. He didn’t like that one damn bit. Karasu’s actions told him that she was determined to end what they had between them and the big, bad SEAL almost panicked. Dammit, why did life have to be so complicated? He wasn’t going down without a fight, and with Karasu, there was always a fight. His cell chimed along with everyone in the lobby. He looked at it to find his electronic key and room number listed.
He didn’t want to go one more minute without talking to her.
Still carrying his shit, he went after her and got into the elevator just as the doors started to close. She made no attempt to hold it for him. His mouth tightened and he turned to insert himself between the doors, causing them to open. He turned around to find GQ, Kodiak, and Boomer right behind him. He glared at them until GQ cleared his throat and said, “Uh, we’ll wait for the next one.”
Karasu huffed out a heated breath and shifted, her annoyance showing in her bleak expression. Even when she didn’t mean to, her thick, gorgeous hair and exotic brown eyes distracted him. She slanted him a narrow glance filled with only her brand of sensual torment.
The doors closed.
Into the crackling silence, her voice as annoyed as her face, she bit out, “You’re unbelievable.” She refused to look at him again. The number four on the panel was lit up. His room was on three, but he made no move to press the button.
“I want to talk to you.”
The elevator bell chimed, and the doors opened. “In case it’s not clear, I don’t want to talk to you.” She met his gaze unflinchingly, the instantaneous sparks of awareness between the two of them nearly tangible.
Christ. While he admired her assertive personality and her ability to speak her mind no matter the consequences, at least when she was in a communicating mood. He was well aware Karasu was keeping secrets from him, and he was damn well keeping things from her. She might be a badass, but she had met her match in him. She was always in black most of the time, and now wasn’t any different. The jeans she wore were ripped in several places and cupped her amazing ass as she retreated from him. The white halter top showed off the toned muscles of her back, flexing as she stalked away from him.
His determination clamped down and he crashed out of the elevator and flew down the hall. She unlocked her room and pushed through. He slammed his fist against the door, which did nothing to dissolve the reckless frustration gripping him. He had always been in control until this sexy, ninja warrior whirled into his life.
Karasu was deep under his skin, and his mind was saturated with her, his seductive dreams, his life, no matter how hard he tried. And whenever he felt the passion between them, which was whenever they were together, it wrecked his senses and devastated his self-control.
“Karasu. I need to talk to you.”
His tone got her attention. Her head lifted and her eyes flashed. She closed the space between them and picked up his bag and shoved it against his torso, making him grunt.
Then in desperation, he uttered the words he thought would help their roadblock and a line she hadn’t seemed willing to cross. “I’m no longer celibate.”
9
Before he could reactor realize her intent, she rushed him and knocked the duffel out of his arms, crowding his back against the door. His dick hardened, blood rushing, and he went into overdrive. She captured his mouth with hers. Her lips parting as she sucked in a quick, startled breath, and she shoved her fingers into his hair, grasping the strands so hard, his scalp prickled. She held him immobile as she delivered a demanding, opened-mouthed, tongue-tangling kiss he couldn’t or had no interest in escaping.
Knowing how tough and obstinate she was, he reveled in the fact that she wasn’t gentle with him, determined to have her way with him, and he was okay with that. She could have no doubtsthis,thiswoman with her hang-ups, her emotions, her anger, her hunger, her everything was what he wanted.
He was also hell-bent on making sure she knew what he wanted from her, what he intended to greedily take—her body, her heart, her soul. He shifted closer and poured everything into the hot, ruthless kiss—aggression, dominance, and the desperate need to absorb her into his body, his heart, his soul.
Fire pooled in his belly and lower, his determination coalescing into an undeniable need to possess her in every way imaginable. It felt like she wanted to climb inside him as she continued to consume his mouth the same way he wanted to ravish her body, with his lips, teeth, and tongue, and the craving for her grew stronger, a ravenous heat and hunger he was hard-pressed to keep under his control.
His thick erection nudged her sex, and he slid a muscular thigh up between her legs until his knee pressed against her core, forcing her to straddle him. God, he’d never, ever needed a woman as badly as he ached for Karasu. Despite how standoffish she’d been only moments ago, he wanted to worship her with his hands, taste her everywhere with his tongue until she begged him to let her come. Then he wanted to fuck her until she screamed with the pleasure of it, and he finally gave in to the hot, pounding release he’d denied himself for too long.
She shuddered and moaned and started pulling at his pants like she’d forgotten how to do simple things like zippers and buttons.
He wanted them both naked, so he released her to get them out of their clothes. She reeled away, wrapping her arms around herself, like she needed to keep herself together.
It was called coming to one’s senses, and he wanted to howl at the moon.
Before the first sob broke free from her lips, he was there, holding her.
“No,” she said, covering her face with her hand. “Don’t touch me.”