Heart Shot (11 page)

Had he reached for her then, she’d have thrown caution to the wind and indulged in the intoxicating chemistry she found with him—to hell with good sense. They’d have both been arrested by the first policeman to come around the corner. Emily wondered who she’d be able to call to bail her out.

With a strangled groan, she realized just how very isolated she’d been.

Was this what it had all come to?

“Hey, you’ll be okay.” Fin rubbed the palm of his hand up and down her back in a soothing and oddly chaste gesture.

“I just realized I have maybe a dozen friends, people who until now I thought I could call on if I needed help. But if I was arrested right now for public indecency, for jumping you and fucking you like crazy right here and now, there is no one to whom I could explain that.”

For the first time since she’d met him, Fin appeared struck dumb.

Blinking back tears that threatened, she turned to him with a sad laugh.

“Do you know you’re the first person I’ve ever told what I do?” she said. “You’re the only one who knows my real work, and somehow, miraculously, understands? You don’t judge me. And now Preston, who somehow thinks I might be useful. Even Keyton—the man doesn’t even seem to know a thing about me, but he gets the situation. I completely understand what he means by having friends like that, their value. He’d suffer torture before turning his back on that.”

“Everyone has a weak point,” Fin pointed out.

She nodded. “Of course, and I bet if someone took his wife, or children, he’d be forced to make that decision. But it would break him and forcing him that ruthlessly would destroy the power and use he holds. But that’s not my point. I believe him. He’d never willingly deal under the table. So that leaves me with a larger problem.”

“James.”

“Exactly. He knows my standards, knows I take them seriously.”

“Have you turned jobs down from him in the past?”

“Yes, twice. Both times he had faulty intel. The first time was my fourth contract. I always thought he was testing me, wanting to see for himself if I’d turn him down. The other was only a year ago and I think that was a genuine mistake—he’d been given bad information and acted rashly.”

“Mistakes can happen, but they’re extremely costly in this business,” Fin said in a soft tone.

Emily couldn’t meet his eyes, staring instead at his bright slacks and running her hand idly up and down his thigh.

“I know. That’s why I take my part in it seriously. Not questioning orders can be soul-crushing. I’ve never let James think otherwise. But I’ve always assumed for the less clear-cut contracts, he’d have others on hand. Why call me when he knows it’s a real possibility I’ll refuse to do what he wants?”

Fin was silent for a moment. Emily lifted her gaze and watched him. Shaking his long fringe from his eyes, he made a puzzled face and shrugged.

“I can’t answer that. I really don’t know,” he confessed.

“What possible reason would James have to kill me?” she demanded, hurt and confused. “There’s nothing special about me, no risk that I can be to him. Hell, he didn’t even know where I was. He couldn’t have arranged it. I’m clearly becoming too paranoid.”

“He knew you’d be following Marshall, right?” Fin said.

Emily paused, then nodded. “Sure, it was a safe assumption. He knows I follow my targets. That’s never been a secret.”

“So if James had access to Marshall’s whereabouts, it would be simple for him to know your position. Marshall and his mates had been lingering over their coffee, we’d been at that café, what? Twenty minutes?”

Emily thought. A nasty, crawling sensation over her skin made her feel sick as too many pieces of the puzzle fit together. She wasn’t liking the picture she saw.

“Okay, but he’d need to know where Keyton was.”

“Those rumors have been circulating for weeks,” Fin added in a gentle tone. “The whispers are still quiet, but ears have been listening. Keyton’s reputation is solid, practically above reproach. But that doesn’t mean others don’t want to jockey for his position. He’s been under scrutiny—delicately, subtly, discreetly, but still under close watch. I bet there’d be many people who had access to his schedule, who made note of when he leaves and enters the building. If James really has the connections you believe, I’m sure there’d be any number of palms he could grease. It isn’t a stretch to imagine he could know where you’d both be and set something like this in motion.”

Betrayal cramped in her heart like a physical pain. Fin seemed to read the realization on her face. He cupped the back of her head, tangled his fingers in her hair and caressed her scalp. Pulling her close to him, he then kissed her hard, as if to heal the wound she felt.

“I’ll kill the bastard,” he whispered. He licked his tongue along her lower lip, heat from his mouth soothing as much as the scattered kisses they strung together. “I don’t know why he’d do something like this, but I’ll gladly shoot him for it.”

“I thought you were a terrible shot?”

“I’ll practice, I have incentive now.”

She chuckled, the feminine part of her pleased for his protective nature.

“We don’t know for sure he’s behind it,” she reminded him. “And I like to be certain of these things. Come back to my place, I need time to think and mull this over.”

Fin gazed steadily at her, his look searching.

“We can get something to eat around here,” he suggested. “There are plenty of decent places for brunch. I’ll pay.”

Emily shook her head and glanced around them.

“No. I feel more secure here, but…I’m not sure if my instincts have been altered from my heightened paranoia or if perhaps I really am losing my edge. I’d rather be behind closed doors.”

Fin stood and held a hand out to help her up. She twined their fingers together, leaned against his chest and pressed their bodies flush as she whispered against his lips.

“Besides, there are things I can do to you back home that a good girl would never dream of doing right here in the middle of the park. Naughty things.”

“Naughty things? Really?” he repeated, clearly intrigued. “Well then, lead the way, sweetheart.”

* * * *

Steam filled the room, billowing in the draft created by the open bathroom door. Emily ducked her head under the hot spray and imagined washing her troubled thoughts down the drain with the water as it sluiced down her body. Tilting her head to the side, she strained to listen above the hiss of the shower.

“Are you coming?” she raised her voice, startled as Fin’s lanky shadow filled the doorway.

“Not yet, but I hope to,” he replied as he opened the door and stepped into the stall.

Emily looked down the long length of his body, licked her lips at the delicious sight he made. Moving to the side, she shared the hot water with him, pleased she’d invited him in. Fin placed a foil square onto the small shelf where she kept various products, then winced a little at the temperature she’d set the spray to. He reached out to catch some water, then moved away quickly. Testing the temperature again, then again. His actions were timid, like a kid dipping his toe into the ocean, needing to gird himself to fully committing.

She threw her arms around him and laughed as she pivoted, dunking him beneath the faucet. He shouted in protest, but then let the water pound against his head and drip down his body.

“It’s always easier to jump right in,” she teased. “Like ripping off a bandage. Going slow only increases the pain.”

“I was acclimatizing,” he insisted.

She grimaced. “You were dithering.”

Fin pushed them both forward, pressing her back against the cool, slick tiles. They fused their lips together and passionately kissed. Emily lifted her leg, wrapped herself around his hip and clung, her body and soul opened to this amazing man.

Water poured over them, steam filling the small cubicle and making it seem as if they were on their own plane of existence. Fin stroked the side of her face. He traced the pad of his index finger in a slow circle at the base of her collarbone where she was sensitive. She shivered in delight. Gaze narrowed, heat flared in his pupils. It made his eyes appear darker.

He brought his free hand around to cup her arse. He kneaded the globe and pulled her cheeks apart lightly and ran his fingers over her puckered hole. She squirmed, excited but also hesitant. That wasn’t an activity she’d ever indulged in.

“Shh,” he whispered, kissing down her neck. “Later. Not now.”

She relaxed, her body arching into him. Emily tightened her leg around his waist and canted her hips up. She could feel Fin stroke over the thin, tender skin that ran from her anus down the curve of her buttock. Wandering his fingers around, he made a slow progression to her labia. He pried with his index and middle fingers, then opened her fully to his touch.

Sensitized, she moaned as the pad of his digit woke her clit. Sweet energy raced over her, heightening her pleasure and blossoming through her blood. Need hummed through her like the tune of a well-loved song. Emily lowered her head and pressed a hot kiss to Fin’s chest. His brown nipples were erect. She flicked her tongue over them before capturing them and sucking him. He hissed out a breath, caught by surprise. She drew on the tender flesh, licking him and sucking again.

She knew it wasn’t the same experience she felt, but just as many nerves were present on a man’s chest as a woman’s.

Caught up in the erotic moment, she enjoyed watching Fin stretch, then arch his spine. Power rushed to her head, intoxicating and potent. She recalled her earlier promise to herself. She lowered her leg and grabbed a hold of each side of his waist. Emily knelt on the slick, wet tiles then kissed a languid, meandering trail down his torso, over his left hip-bone until her lips parted at the delicious discovery of his large, wet cock-head.

Opening wide, she encompassed his tip, licking along the slit and tasting his salty essence. Fin groaned. He fisted his hand in her wet hair. She shifted on the base of the stall to give herself better balance. Emily nudged him with her thigh, urged Fin’s back against the wall. He spread and bent his legs to the perfect height for her.

She circled her fingers around the base of his shaft, then twisted with a screwing motion. Sucking his tip she then licked him and bobbed her head. She palmed his balls with her other hand, then stroked against the tender skin.

“Oh fuck, yes. Just like that, sweetheart.”

She enjoyed caressing him and the fullness of sucking him deep into her mouth. Water mingled with his salty flavor and her hair clung to her back and neck. She hummed, wanting the vibration to add to his pleasure, then sucked harder as she continued to move her head up and down. Fin tightened his fingers and a small gush of thin pre-cum splattered against her tongue.

Encouraged, she pumped her hand up and down his shaft, pressing against his warm skin and stimulating his cock. She played with his head, sucking the tip. Emily relaxed her jaw and lowered herself as far onto him as she could manage without choking.

“Oh yeah, oh hell yeah,” Fin groaned, his shouts louder this time as his pleasure grew. She mumbled, her own body hot and aching with need. Fin’s thigh trembled near her head. He clasped his hands into her hair, urging her to move down lower. She could taste the fluid as his cock prepared for climax.

Her heart sped up, racing as she readied for him to come pouring down her throat any second now. Then Fin took her completely by surprise.

“No, I want to be inside you,” he groaned. Emily had barely heard the words when Fin tilted her chin, then pulled her under the arms, lifting her up onto her feet.

“Fin,” she panted, still in a state of shock.

Quick as lightning he turned her around. Her breasts and torso pushed into the slick, wet tiles. She heard a crinkling sound and managed to throw a look over her shoulder to see him sheath himself. When Fin reached between her legs, she knew she was wet and more than ready for him.

“I want you just like this,” he whispered in her ear. He pressed his chest into her back, then aligned his hips with hers. His crotch pushed into her arse and she instinctively ground back onto him. He closed his large, masculine hands over her hips, tilting her pelvis just so. In a long, smooth motion he dipped and his dick slid straight into her pussy.

“Oh,” she moaned, her voice wobbling as a million nerves ignited into life. He penetrated her more deeply from behind, his thick cock running over every sensitive place inside her body. They groaned and he withdrew. When he pushed back in, harder this time and faster, it was as if the world imploded.

Emily lifted her hands, rested them against the slick wall and pushed her hips back into his possession. Fin tightened his grip around her pelvis, but she didn’t care. He canted her hips higher, moving with more force inside her. She cried out, both in pleasure and awe, the exquisite sensation bombarding her now.

“More. More. Please,” she shouted, incoherent with lust.

Fin pounded into her. Water sprayed everywhere and the wet slapping of their flesh filled the small bathroom. Emily flexed her fingers, grabbing for her climax as it hovered just beyond her reach.

“Almost, almost,” she panted, strain in her tone tinged with frustration.

She was so close, but she couldn’t quite make it.

Fin reached down, sliding between her stomach and the wall. Lower he moved, until he came between her splayed legs. When he rubbed his finger over her clit, it sparked a new fire, stealing her breath and sending her over the edge.

She screamed, instantly catapulted into orgasm. Her body tightened, her pussy contracted, squeezing around his driving shaft. Wave after wave buffeted her, pleasure shooting through her body. She shuddered and closed her eyes to better feel the sweet release.