“Five years ago. The night before I offered you my virginity.”
The pressure built behind his sternum. He opened his mouth, but words refused to budge loose. Fingers stroking her skin, he leaned down and placed a tender kiss in the center of the design. The tension dissolved from her.
Straightening, he carried her into the bathroom. After setting her on her feet, he dialed the jets in the enormous glass-block cubicle, quickly filling the enclosed space with steam.
She slid her arms around him from behind and rubbed her cheek along his spine. The gesture was in no way meant to be erotic, but hell, all she had to do was breathe and he got an instant hard-on. She nipped his shoulder blade. “We should probably go over the plans for tonight.”
Yeah, they should. Right after he made her come another dozen times this morning.
Pivoting, he pressed her into the glass, his mouth capturing hers. His tongue delved deep, mimicking what he longed to do with his cock. He traced the lush flare of her hips, worshipping the flamboyant femininity of her before he hiked her higher on the slick block tiles. Positioning himself, he let her glide down onto his rigid shaft, her pussy enveloping him in velvet heat. Shuddering, he buried his face in her neck.
She chuckled. “What happened to the blow job?”
“This scenario sounded better.” That fact was driven home when she squeezed her inner muscles around him. Groaning, he pumped his hips. “Do that again.”
She did. Over and over until he thought he’d lose his mind courtesy of the wet heaven rippling around him.
“I can’t get enough of you.” He was inside her, but not deep enough. He wanted to crawl beneath her skin, burrow into her heat. Her heart and soul. Until she permanently banished all of the filthy darkness from his.
Tunneling his hands in her hair, he ravaged her mouth. Hammered her with his cock. The sting of her nails digging into his back encouraged him to take her pleasure to the limits. Sinking his teeth into the tender spot beneath her ear, he sent her over the edge, his own white-hot release barreling close behind. She convulsed around him, gasping his name. With a final slam of his hips, he emptied himself inside her, his bones liquefying.
It wasn’t until he pulled out that he realized he hadn’t woven the necessary protection in place. “Bloody fuck.”
“What is it?”
Feeling like the worst kind of bastard, he met Avi’s concerned gaze. “I forgot the condom.”
She blinked. “Oh. Well…” Her dusky lashes lowering, she gnawed her kiss-swollen bottom lip. “I mean, I’m okay with it if you are.”
“Avi, I might have gotten you pregnant.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, I know how it works. My mother did explain the birds and the bees to me.”
Shit. She would have to bring up her mother at a time like this.
She patted his cheek. “Relax. I know for a fact that I’m not ovulating. Chances of me getting pregnant are pretty slim.”
A strange twinge of disappointment lanced him. He shook it off with a stern reminder to himself not to be any bigger of a selfish bastard than he already was. “Good. At least we don’t have that to worry about.”
Because gods knew they already had a shitload of worries on their plate.
If not for the nerve-wracking magnitude of the job ahead of them, Avily could have easily counted the day as the most blissful in history. Did it get any better than spending all morning wrapped in Jerrick’s arms, the subject of his deliciously decadent lovemaking? Not freakin’ likely. Too bad they couldn’t lounge in bed for the rest of eternity. Sighing in wistful regret, she let him hug her to his side and lead the way to the hotel elevator.
Moments later, they reached the main promenade. A delivery boy from the Glasstisserie rushed past them, wheeling a cart of savory-scented trays of food. An image of Thane’s bemused face the night before flashed through her head, and she let loose a groan. “Oh gods. Thane. I have no idea how I’m going to explain my ditching him, much less make it up to him.”
A warning growl broke from Jerrick. “There will be no making up where he’s concerned.”
“Oh for Pete’s sake, would you get your mind out of the gutter? That isn’t how I meant it at all.”
“Not on your end, but that sneaky son of a bitch would love nothing more than to get in your pants.”
Not about to trigger him into another round of territorial relationship rules, she decided to let the subject drop and instead focused on the task ahead of them. “I still have some concerns about the heist.”
Jerrick’s expression hinted that he’d seen through her distraction maneuver, but amazingly he didn’t call her on it. “Now’s the time to go over them.”
“Well, assuming not all of Casper’s files are hard-wired, what are we going to use to transport them from the club? Because I’m thinking we’d look damn suspicious strolling out of there with a bunch of compu-tronics and file folders.”
“During our tour, I noticed a dolly outside the kitchen. That’ll be your station. Second you hear that alarm and everyone’s evacuated, haul yourself up to the penthouse. Hopefully by that time I’ll already have the lab cleared and ready to go.”
His fingers stroked her nape as they began walking in the direction of her apartment. He’d been touching her a lot in the last sixteen hours. Recalling in vivid detail the sexiness in some of those touches, she shivered. She held no doubt that he desired her. And they’d already gone over the whole growly and possessive part of the equation. But she still had no sense of whether his feelings for her extended beyond lust and responsibility.
Her heart heavy, she pushed her uncertainty aside. Now wasn’t the time to brood over their future. Not when she wasn’t certain what the immediate here and now held. “What’s our exit plan?”
“There’s a side door on the lower west wing that leads directly into the alley. Odds are no one will be evacuating through there, which means it’s our best shot.”
“Okay, I like that strategy.”
He gave her a familiar look she’d seen countless times in the past. Although it’d been at least five years since she’d last been graced with it, it still managed to flare an ember of dread since she knew all too well the speech soon forthcoming.
“Avi, if anything goes wrong, you have to get the hell out of there and hunker down somewhere safe. Don’t make any stupid moves if we get separated.”
“It’s never happened.”
“Just because it hasn’t yet doesn’t mean it can’t. I need to know you’ll take care of yourself first and foremost.”
“Would you do the same?”
He averted his gaze, all the answer she required.
“It’s hypocritical to expect me not to be concerned for you when all you do is watch me like a hawk.”
“It’s my job to protect you. Now more than ever.”
She squinted at him. “Because you slept with me?”
“No, damn it. Because I tied you to me. You damn well know the ramifications that come with that.”
“Hot sex every night and morning?” she suggested in jest and valid hope.
He grunted. “That’s the consolation prize for the other bullshit that isn’t so pretty.”
“Like what?”
His gaze flicked to her, the dark solemness in its depths unmistakable. “My existence is steeped in a criminal stew. You were there. You know the nastiness that I can’t merely wash off at the end of the workday. It was never my intention to bring you back into it, but I’ve been doing a piss-poor job of it, haven’t I?”
“I don’t care about that.”