Master of the Game (Rush Series Book 3) (25 page)

Devon’s
eyes flashed open, her heart pounding,
a sheen
of
sweat coating her skin. It took her a moment to realize she was lying on a soft
bed in a motel instead of lying beneath
Lex
with his
hand wrapped around her throat. She lifted a hand to touch the tender, bruised
area of her neck. It really had happened and Roman was really dead. Tears
immediately filled her eyes and slid down from the corners of her eyes. She
tensed when gentle fingers brushed them away.

She
turned her head and stared into fathomless green eyes. It was then she became
aware of being snuggled against his warmth. She blinked
slowly,
scared to close her eyes for very long in case he disappeared.

“Hey,”
he said softly. “Bad dream?”

She
gave a small shake of her head, not wanting to dislodge his hand from her face.
“No,” she whispered.
“Bad reality.”

His
lips grimaced at her words. “That’s a fact.”

“Any
word from your contact?” she asked him.

Slowly,
he shook his head, “Not yet.”

The
soft Southern drawl of his voice was more pronounced now in the stage of waking
up. The feel of his hard body pressed up against her own caused desire once
more to rush over her. She wanted him so much. She wanted to lose herself in
him… wanted to feel his lips brush against her skin.

Her
heart was pounding nearly out of her chest and her breathing felt shallow,
causing her to feel nearly lightheaded. With hands that shook with the fear that
he’d rebuff her again, she took his hand and placed it on her breast. “Please,
Alex,” she begged breathily.

His
fingers clutched around her T-shirt covered orb nearly involuntarily. He
exhaled shakily. “Devon… I,” he began before she cut him off.

“Please,”
she whispered more urgently.

He stared
into her face for a long moment, indecision flanking his regard. Swallowing
hard once more, and as if he couldn’t stop himself, he grasped her hip and
pulled her onto her side. He placed a knee between her knees so that she
basically straddled him. He slid his hands up to her face and lowered his lips
to kiss her softly. He ran his tongue over her lips in a soft caress. When she
opened them to emit a gasp, he took advantage and slipped his tongue into her
mouth, the slippery slide of tongue on tongue was nearly his undoing.

He
groaned into the kiss and pressed his body more solidly against her. God, he
wanted this woman. He slid his hands up under her shirt, and lifted it over her
head, before running his hands over her shoulders and down her back as he ground
his engorged erection into her soft core. He nearly lost it when she wiggled
her heat against him.

He
placed his lips carefully back over hers before moving his hands down to the
waistband of the boxers she wore. He hardened painfully when she whimpered as
his fingers found her heated center. Gently, he laid her back and broke the
kiss to snatch his T-shirt up over his head and throw it to the floor. He
shucked his pants before moving to hover over her.

She
took in his beauty and cringed again at how she must look to him, all beaten
and battered. His muscular torso narrowed perfectly down to a trim waist before
flaring slightly at the junction where his now fully-erect shaft stood,
pulsating and needful. She swallowed at the remembered feel of that member
plunging deep within her. She nearly came from that memory alone.

He
kissed down her jaw, avoiding the bruising on her neck. He kissed across her
shoulders as she clutched her hands in his hair. She groaned when he sucked the
tip of her breast into his mouth and sucked rhythmically. “Cowboy,” she
murmured.

He
moved to the other side and lapped at the hardening pebble until she arched her
body into his. He kissed and sucked across the smooth, soap-scented plane of
her belly until he lay between her thighs. He slid her boxers down and away
before placing an intimate kiss against her heated center and she whimpered.
When he flicked his tongue between her feminine lips, she cried out and grasped
his head once more within her hands. “Yes, yes, yes,” she muttered.

The
sensual slide of his lips and tongue against her over-stimulated flesh was
overpowering and her heart began to pound. She struggled to get enough air into
her lungs, small pants was all she managed. When he slipped a finger… then two
inside her while continuing to run his tongue over her clit, she nearly bucked
off the bed. Desire ran hot through her, and her once-cooled flesh now burned.
“Alex,” she mumbled incoherently over and over.

Her
sighs and cries of passion were nearly his undoing. He longed to slip inside
her, but knew he’d only last a minute. He needed her closer to a climax before
he ever entered her. He worked her body with practiced skill, lapping his
tongue over and over her throbbing core of nerves, alternating with hard
suction, until she cried out as she reached her climax.

He
continued to lick and thrust his fingers inside her until her body quieted
against him. With one last kiss, he glided up to hover over her. His intent was
to plunge himself into her hard and deep, but as he came up and looked down
into her sated eyes, his heart clutched in his chest. He was falling in love
with this woman. In his eyes, he no longer saw the swelling or the bruising. He
didn’t see the cuts and abrasions, all he saw was her beautiful face and her indomitable
spirit that while battered, was not beaten.

He
framed her face with his hands and brushed his lips gently against hers. She
gave him a small smile as she brushed her hands up and down his sweat-coated
skin. “Alex… I… I…” she trailed off wanting… no, needing to tell him about the
overwhelming sensations flooding her, but words escaped her passion-soaked
mind.

“I
know,” he murmured against her lips. Slipping his hands down her thighs, he
lifted them up to cradle his hips. While holding her gaze, he slid smoothly and
slickly into her still quivering body. The feel of her body molding his was
like hot wax. They both groaned when he was finally buried to the hilt. He
stayed deep without moving as he licked his way into her mouth for a lush kiss.
“God, you feel so amazing,” he mumbled against her ear.

Slowly,
he slid almost all the way out before sliding slowly back in. Over and over he
slid in and out… in and out. This time with her was different. In the past,
their need had been like an explosion, this time it felt more like an
implosion
. The feelings didn’t involve
outside stimuli, it was all about what was happening internally. The power and
weight of it nearly crushed his chest. The tension and pressure of his body
grew into an almost uncontainable need. “God, baby, I won’t last much longer.
Are you with me?” he gasped against her neck.

In
answer, she wrapped her legs around his hips, enjoying the play of his muscles
against her calves as he withdrew and rocked back in her. “Faster…” she
murmured, “I need you faster…
por
favor
,” the
last words a gasping plea.

He
studied her with her head thrown back and her eyes closed as need took over
her. Taking her at her word, he plunged into her harder and faster. Desire
burned his belly and his thighs quivered with the need to come. “Come on, baby,
I’m there, I’m there.” With a garbled curse he came long and hard within her.
Still he continued to plunge, the slickness of his passion making his erection
so hypersensitive he thought he’d never be able to endure it. He didn’t stop
until she cried out, clutching his hips within her fingers.

Sucking
in great amounts of needed air, he rolled away from her body, but kept his arms
wrapped around her so she rolled with him to end up lying across his chest. She
pressed her lips absentmindedly against his skin, his chest-hair tickling her
nose.

“God, I
needed that,” he said against hair.

She
snuggled against him and closed her eyes without answering. She swallowed hard
at the overwhelming need she had for this man. She’d almost told him she loved
him, but was glad she’d held back. This was a mission for him, by this time –
if not by tomorrow, soon – he’d be gone. Besides that, even though their
secrets had been revealed, their lives were vastly different.

So, she
lay not saying the words that desperately wanted to come out of her mouth.
Instead she asked with a thin laugh. “So,
Alex
…”
his name coming in a near mocking tone, “
tell
me a
little about yourself.”

He
paused in his gasping of breath to take in her question. Laughter rumbled in
his chest. “I was born and raised in Savannah, Georgia, where I still live. My
parents both died of cancer, within seven years of each other. I graduated from
Harvard then was with Special Forces. From there, I was picked up by the CIA.”

She lay
drawing idle finger-patterns against his chest.
“Marriage?
Children?”

He
rolled his head away from her as Addison’s face filled his mind’s eye. He
paused, cleared his throat, then said, “No, no wife... no kids.” Pulling her up
until her face was nestled in the crook of his neck, he asked, “So what about
you?
Any marriages?
Children?
Old loves?
New loves?”

She
tensed against him before swallowing hard and sitting up, pulling the sheets up
to cover her nakedness. She glanced at him before darting her eyes away. She
shook her head sadly, “Nope… not even any fake ones anymore.”

His
eyes followed the curve of her golden-brown spine as it curved forward. The
lines of her body were beautiful and graceful. He felt himself harden again. He
pulled her stiff, slightly resisting body back down so they lay side by side,
facing each other, and pressed his lips against her head. “Well… I, for one, am
glad you don’t have a pesky husband lying around somewhere,” he said softly as
he tenderly ran his hands over her shoulders to her back. She lay still against
him quietly for a long moment as he brushed his roughened hands over her skin.

So many
thoughts bounced around her head. Finally, she lifted her eyes to his and he
smiled. In a now-familiar gesture, he lifted a hand to gently trace a line
along her jaw-line. Nervously, she caught her lip between her teeth, winched at
the pain of her split lip, and released it immediately.

He
brushed his lips against hers softly. “Careful,” he admonished.

She
blinked as she tried to quiet the turbulent emotions racking her insides.
“Ben,” realizing she’d used the wrong
name,
she gave a
small shake of her head, frustration welling up inside her. She was in love
with this man and yet she struggled to call him by his real name. Her chest
heaved as it burned.

He
watched the myriad of emotions cross over her face. He understood those
emotions, he had the same confusing, conflicting ones. He’d not intended to end
up in bed with her, but he was weak where she was concerned. That weakness had
him leaning forward for the hundredth time to place his lips lightly against
hers. Against her lips, he whispered, “I don’t care what you call me.”

She
gasped at both his touch and his words, desperation over everything clawing at
her. She clutched his head between her hands and deepened the kiss. She felt
his arousal brush against her feminine curls. Desire, mixed with her need to
forget everything else, had her climbing over him, until she straddled him. She
lay against him, chest to chest, and rubbed herself against him.

With a
groan, he captured her hips within his firm grip. He moved one hand down
between them so he could guide his rigid shaft into her scorching depths. She
slid down his length, just as he bucked up into her, filling her so full she didn’t
think she would be able to contain him. She whimpered into his mouth, unmindful
of the cuts on her lips, only the need to free the frenzy of sensations
plaguing her body.

“God,
oh God, baby,” he murmured as he slowly sat up, burying himself even deeper.
She groaned and rocked her hips. The feel of him inside her drove her crazy.
Placing her hand on his shoulders, she slid up his length then let her body
fall back down. “Yes, like that,” he encouraged her. So she did it again and
again until he grabbed her hips and began to plunge up even harder.

Alex
panted as he struggled to maintain. He’d never had sex like this before. It was
so overwhelming. The feel of her body wrapped around his made him so hard it
was nearly painful. His need made him selfish, and all he could think of was
pounding into her until he exploded. She threw her head back and her long,
brown tresses cascaded down her back and whipped against his legs like a
handful of silky ribbons. He leaned forward and sucked a nipple into his mouth.
He felt her body clench around him and before he could stop it, he burst forth
inside her, hard and fast. He struggled to breathe at the unexpectedness of it.
He continued to move and blessedly, she cried out and snatched at the short
hair on his head. He liked the pain of her pulling his hair; it intensified the
climax in some way.

When he
was finally motionless, still buried within her, he kissed her shoulder as she
clung to him. “You can definitely call me anything you want,” he said with a
grin in his voice.