Author: Jaci Burton

But he was sleeping with her . . . or at least he had some kind of relationship with her. Sex, anyway. Hell, he didn’t know. This was foreign territory, this caring for a woman. He knew it was going to cloud his judgment, and it had. He didn’t want Shadoe to take on DeLaud, even if she was a trained federal agent.

But that was the man in him talking. He was a trained agent, too, and he had to do his job, which meant letting Shadoe do hers.

“Okay, how do you want to handle it?”

She arched a brow as if she hadn’t expected it to be that easy. “Tomorrow night at the club we’ll have a public breakup.”

“What if DeLaud isn’t there?” AJ asked.

“Word travels fast at a place like that,” Spence said. “Even if he isn’t there, the fact that Shadoe is now available will be known throughout the club within minutes.”

“Especially if I make it known that this had been a long time coming, and that I’m not that broken up about it.”

“Ouch,” Pax said, shooting Spence a sympathetic look. “She’s breaking your heart, man.”

Spence rolled his eyes. “Just make sure it isn’t the two of you trying to pick her up.”

Pax slanted a look at AJ. “See how he ruins all our fun?”

Shadoe giggled. Spence shuffled the guys out of there and locked the door, then turned to face her.

“So, you’re dumping me, huh?”

She stood and came over, leaned into him. God, he loved the way she smelled. She twined her arms around his neck. “Well, I’m breaking up with you at the club, but when we get back here I’ll still fuck you.”

He grinned. “You slut.”

She batted her lashes. “Sweet talker.”

He slid his arms around her waist. “Technically, you should get a separate room. That way in case he checks up on you, he’ll know we’re not still in the same room.”

Her smile died. “Is it wrong that I don’t like it?”

“No. I don’t like it either.” In a few short days he’d grown accustomed to having her around, to having her in his bed at night. That spelled the kind of trouble he didn’t want to think about. Not when there were other things to think about, like the case.

She sighed. “Okay. When should I get a separate room?”

“Tomorrow after you leave the club. That’ll make the most sense since we’re going to stage our fight and break up then.”

She laid her head against his chest. “I’m getting used to sleeping with you, Spence. I’m keeping my key to this room. Don’t be surprised if I sneak in here and crawl in bed with you.”

“If you do, you won’t be sleeping.”

She tilted her head back and smiled. “Sleep is overrated.”

“Good, because you won’t be doing much of it tonight, either.”

“I thought you’d never ask.” She lifted up on her toes, cupped the back of his neck, drew his head down, and pulled his mouth to hers.

He dipped and took her lips in a kiss that started off soft, but didn’t stay that way for long. He was hungry for her. Watching her strip turned him on. Thinking of her with DeLaud, knowing what was going to happen, tripped possessive switches he didn’t know he had.

He lifted her into his arms, carried her into the bedroom, and laid her on the bed. She kicked off her shoes. He toed off his boots and pulled off his shirt, then undid the button on his jeans. That was as far as he got before Shadoe pulled him down onto the bed with her.

“Kiss me. I need you.”

He put his mouth on hers, slid his tongue inside, felt the heat ignite throughout his body. His cock was hard, throbbing, and he rubbed it against her. Even through denim he had to hiss at the contact, wished they were already naked so he could be inside her.

She made him feel like an anxious teenager, and he hadn’t been anxious in a damn long time.

She lifted her hips, ground against his erection, and without saying a word told him she wanted him.

He lifted, pulled off her tank top and jeans, and looked down at her. She wore a lacy white bra and matching panties that were damn sexier on her than those black leather outfits she wore to strip. She lifted one leg and planted her foot flat on the mattress, kept her gaze firmly focused on his.

He laid his palm flat on her belly, roamed up over her rib cage, felt the pounding of her heart. Good to know it wasn’t just his that slammed repeatedly against his chest.

He tired of women fast, especially after they had sex. With Shadoe, each time was a new adventure, each uncovering of her body like Christmas morning—a gift to open and enjoy.

In the back of his mind, warning bells clanged loud and clear—back off. He knew he was getting involved.

But he could handle it. He knew this was temporary. They’d both agreed, knew what they were doing. So he’d found a woman he enjoyed. That didn’t mean he couldn’t walk away when this was over.

He could.

He would.

SHADOE ALWAYS THOUGHT MEN WERE MINDLESS DURING SEX, BUT watching the play of emotions on Spence’s face as he stared down at her, she knew that wasn’t true.

Not for him, anyway. He was thinking. About what, she didn’t know, but his mind was definitely working on something.

So was hers. Like on the way he looked, the intensity of his furrowed brow as he studied her body, then swept his gaze back up to her face. A mix of emotions, from desire to almost anger.

She understood his conflict. He had feelings for her and he didn’t want to. Still, she couldn’t help but be thrilled that he did, even though she knew as well as he did that it was for nothing. They weren’t going anywhere beyond this mission.

But for now she was going to enjoy his hands on her, his lips on hers, and the hunger in his eyes.

She’d never felt so desired, wasn’t sure she’d ever meet a man like Spence again. She wanted to savor every moment while she had it.

He leaned over her and pressed his lips to her belly, right above her panties. Her stomach quivered and heat pooled low and steady, flaming hotter as he moved lower, drawing her panties down as he kissed the top of her sex.

She shivered but she wasn’t cold. Her skin felt on fire from the touch of his lips, the maddening sensation of his teasing tongue darting out to circle her hip bone, then slide along the crevice where her sex met her inner thigh.

Her clit trembled in anticipation, all nerve endings knotted up and waiting for the touch of his mouth, his tongue, desperate for that hot, wet heat that would send her over the edge.

She lifted her hips, slid her hand down to tangle her fingers in his hair. He raised his head.

“Please.”

He smiled. “Okay.”

He leaned in and pressed his mouth to her sex, and her head fell back against the mattress. She was lost in the oblivion he created with his oh-so-talented lips and tongue. He devoured her senseless until she couldn’t breathe, until she arched her hips off the bed and fed her pussy to him, until her juices poured as she came in wild abandon, bucking like a madwoman and not caring at all that he had to hold her down to suck at her clit while she climaxed on his face.

That he loved her body like this was phenomenal. That he could give so much to her blew her mind. That she wanted to give so much in return made her heart ache.

And when he stripped her completely, then himself, and slid his body along hers, put on a condom and thrust inside her, she welcomed him inside with complete abandon, her body bowing with the need to fit more of him inside her—deeper than any man had ever been.

As he moved in firm, even strokes, she raked his arms with her nails and searched his face, desperate that he give her everything. “More.”

He pulled back, thrust harder.

Still, it wasn’t enough. She felt restless, needy, wanted to give him as much as he gave her. “More.”

He dropped down against her, their sweat-slickened bodies gliding against each other. “Tell me what you want.”

His voice made her quiver. So dark, so dangerous, it was all the things she never thought she’d wanted. With Spence, she did. “I want it all.”

He stilled, dug his fingers into her hip. “You sure?”

“Yes.”

He dragged her to the edge of the bed, flipped her over onto her belly, and drew her hair aside. He pressed his lips to the back of her neck and bit down. Goose bumps raised up on her skin; her nipples hardened to tight, aching points. She jerked her head up and reached behind her to pull at his hair.

“More.”

He smoothed his hand down her back, over her butt cheeks, and slid his finger down between the crack. She shuddered.

Yes, she wanted that.

“Ever done it?”

“No.”

“You sure this is what you want?”

“Yes.” She’d moaned out the word because he’d cupped her sex and began to move his hand back and forth, splintering her into a million pieces, teasing her by bringing her close to orgasm, then pulling away from her center.

He dropped to his knees, pulled her legs down farther, and spread her ass cheeks apart.

“Do you have lube?”

“Bedside drawer.”

She was shaking, but not from fear. Excitement drilled her. She wanted this, both for her and for Spence. It was dark and thrilling and she’d never done it but always wanted to.

And, it occurred to her, she trusted Spence.

He spread her again, this time sliding his lubed fingertip between her cheeks, then circling her anus. The cool liquid made her shiver in anticipation, his finger driving wicked sensation through her. She gripped the sheets and held on while he continued to tease her, using one hand to play with her sex, the other to tease the puckered hole.

When he slid his finger partially inside, her lips parted and she moaned at the exquisite pleasure. She had no idea it would feel so good. He tucked his fingers inside her pussy and slid his other finger fully in her anus.

She tossed her head back and cried out in delight. To be touched front and back at the same time—her mind shot to AJ and Pax—the thought of two men pleasuring a woman simultaneously.

This was what it would feel like.

The sensations were incredible. Hot, tight balls of nerve endings exploding inside her.

“Yes. Oh, yes, that feels good.” Unbearable pleasure shot through her like pulses of lightning. Spence had fingers buried in her everywhere, and his thumb circled her clit. She was so damn close to an orgasm she tightened all around his fingers.

But not like this. She wanted him inside her.

She reached behind her to grab his wrist. “Spence. Stop. Fuck me now.”

Spence withdrew and she quivered, exposed, needy, and raw. He left her for only a few seconds, then returned, lubed up his condom, and settled in behind her. He cupped her sex again, slid his hand back and forth and drove her near to the brink of insanity.

“Breathe for me, baby,” he said, his cock nestled at the entrance to her anus. “My dick is bigger than my fingers. Breathe out when I slide in.”

She did as he asked. He pushed. It burned. It hurt. He thrust slow and easy, but it still hurt. And, oh, God it felt so good even as the pain seemed to set her on fire. He kept swirling his hand over her pussy while he buried his cock in her ass.

Then the pain dissipated, and his cock filled her. Never had she felt this full, this intimate.

“Christ,” he whispered against her back, then began to move, and she just wanted to die, it was so good. He kept his hand pressed to her sex, his fingers inside her while he fucked her ass.

She was filled, going mad with sensation, and she began to move with him, rising up to buck against him as he met her stroke for stroke.

“Tight. So tight.”

“More” was all she could say, blinded by this wild sensation.

“Fuck, Shadoe.” His tone was sand and gravel. “Take it.”

He pulled back and thrust hard, powering her with punishing strokes, using his fingers to push her over the edge. She teetered there for a fraction of a second, then toppled, screaming as she was blindsided by an incredible orgasm. She felt it everywhere, gripping Spence’s cock, his fingers, and sending her sailing into mind-numbing oblivion.