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She reached for his sunglasses, but he snatched her wrists. “No, brown eyes. ” He lifted his hips, pressing against her sensitive flesh, distracting her as he no doubt intended. “Undress me, Delaney. ”
For a moment longer, she looked at his face, always half-closed to her. He didn’t fully trust her. And why should he, any more than she trusted him? They were on opposite sides of the law. From opposite worlds.
What was she even doing with him? She knew virtually nothing about him. She didn’t even know his full name!
He rocked against her again, sending pleasure cascading through her body. Reminding her where she was. And what she wanted. At this moment, at least.
Theirs wasn’t a relationship so much as an encounter. And it wouldn’t last. It couldn’t last. But for this short time, he was hers, and she intended to enjoy every moment of it.
She bent her head to trail her lips over the hard planes of his body, then reached for the zipper of his pants.
He groaned. “D. ”
She pulled his pants off him as he had hers. Beneath the soft jeans she found green silk boxers and slid her palm against the ridge beneath.
Tighe sucked his breath in hard. “Take them off,” he groaned. And she did, sliding the silky fabric down his hips, revealing the largest, thickest erection she’d ever seen. Not that she’d seen that many. All of two. Still, Tighe’s was…extraordinary.
“You’re huge,” she breathed.
Even through his sunglasses, she could feel his gaze on her. His fingers slid between her legs. “That’s why you’re going to be ready, sweetheart. Wet and open and crying for me to take you before I enter you. ”
His words sent the heat inside her flaring as she groaned from his touch. “What makes you think I’m not already?” She pulled his boxers all the way off, but as she turned to toss them onto the floor, Tighe rose and grabbed her around the waist, turning her until she was on her hands and knees on the bed.
“Tighe. ”
He knelt beside her, one hand cupping her breast while the other traced her spine to her tailbone and lower, sliding into the crease of her buttocks. His finger found her wet, ready heat and slid inside.
Fire shot through her, and she arched, hissing with pleasure as his finger dove deep inside her. She pressed against his hand, wanting more. Needing more.
“Easy, brown eyes. ” He added a second finger, then a third. While his fingers probed her depths, his other hand played with her breast, twirling her nipple until she was gasping with desire.
“Tighe. ”
By the time his fingers left her, her breathing was labored, her pulse thick, desire pounding through her body. She rose onto her knees and faced him, pushing at his shoulders. “I either want you inside me, or I want to taste you, as you tasted me. Your choice. ”
His mouth widened, not quite a smile, but definitely a satisfied look. Then he pulled her against him, chest to chest, and kissed her, sweeping his tongue inside her mouth.
Without warning, he fell back onto the pillow, pulling her down on top of him. “You can taste me. For as long as I can stand it. Goddess, but I want your lips on me. ”
He released her, and she smiled, pushing herself off his chest and turning, her gaze caressing that long thickness. With a single finger, she traced the throbbing vein running from the base of his shaft all the way to the head, delighting in the sharp intake of his breath.
Her fingers slid down the satin flesh, reveling in the feel of him. Clasping him gently, she bent and ran her tongue over the slit at the tip, tasting the drop of moisture clinging there. She twirled her tongue around the head and was just about to pull him fully into her mouth when his hands grabbed her hips.
“Lift your leg, D. ”
“I’m not through. ”
He moaned. “I hope not. But I want my mouth on you, too. ”
Her eyes widened, and she grabbed hold of his thighs, bracing herself as he pulled her hips back and situated her knees on either side of his face.
Then…oh God. At the exact moment he thrust his shaft into her mouth, his tongue dove into her core. Sensations exploded throughout her body as she sucked on the flesh in her mouth, giving him pleasure even as she took it from him in return. His lovemaking was a heady mix of gentleness and aggression, his hands on her hips shaking, gripping her tightly, telling her clearly of his own barely restrained passion.
He began to suck on her sensitive nub until her hips were rocking of their own volition, desperate for the release that was almost there. Almost there. The closer she came to completion, the harder she sucked on him, until he suddenly pulled her away and flipped her onto her back.
Then he was over her, spreading her legs with his knee. “I have to be inside you, brown eyes. ” His voice was taut. Pained.
“Yes. ”
“Look at me, Delaney. Look at me. ”
But when she tried, all she saw was herself reflected in those damned sunglasses. Her spurt of annoyance disappeared as he pushed that thick head against her opening. She gasped as he pressed into her, stretching her. Her body was wet and ready, and the feel of him exquisite. Beyond pleasure. Beyond anything she’d ever dreamed she could feel.
“Okay?” he asked.
“Ah,” she groaned, wrapping her arms around his sweat-slicked back. “Yes. Oh, yes. Better than okay. Better than…Oh, Tighe,” she moaned, as he pushed all the way inside, pulled nearly out of her, then thrust back inside, faster than before. Her eyes rolled back, her eyelids dropping as incredible pleasure became her entire world.
“Delaney, look at me. ”
She forced her eyes open as he thrust inside her again and again, his rhythm hard and demanding, at once rough and infinitely gentle.
Again, she stared at herself in the reflection of his sunglasses. Blast it. Here they were as intimate as they could possibly be, and she couldn’t even see his eyes. On a spurt of annoyance, she reached up and grabbed the sunglasses, yanked them off his face, and tossed them onto the floor.
“D, no. ” His eyes snapped closed before she could see so much as a hint of the green eyes she’d seen on his twin. “Damn it. ”
“I want to see you. ”
Eyes closed, he thrust into her, his face a hard mask of concentration. “Your timing sucks, brown eyes. ” His mouth came down on hers, and he kissed her hard, almost punishingly, driving home just how little she knew him.
Just how many secrets lay between them.
A lump formed in her throat, mired in anger, even as her body rose, swept away by the desire that flared within her whenever he was close. When the orgasm finally swept over her, she gave herself to it, soaring briefly before crashing back to reality.
She’d given herself to a man in a mask. A man who, even in lovemaking, kept a solid wall between them. What an idiot she was for thinking she could trust him. How could she forget she knew virtually nothing about him. Good grief, she didn’t even know his full name.
She’d never even seen his eyes!
Tighe finished on a satisfied groan, then almost immediately pulled out of her and vaulted to the floor to fetch his sunglasses.
Angry with him and disgusted with herself, she rolled off the bed on the other side, gathered up her clothes, and strode to the bathroom visible on the other side of the room.
“D?”
She slammed the door and locked it behind her. Then she dropped her clothes on the cushioned stool and leaned back against the door.
Sex with a stranger. That’s all it had been. A man she didn’t even know. A man who wouldn’t even look her in the eye. When she’d first woken up and seen him, she’d felt a rush of joy, a need to be in his arms, as if that were the only place she truly belonged. For a short while, she’d allowed herself to be swept away by the fantasy that he was a good man. A man who’d come after her because he cared about her. A fantasy that she was falling just a littl
e bit in love with him.
Ludicrous.
For him she was only a means to an end. A way to catch his brother. And she was an FBI agent with the same mission. It was time she remembered that.
With a growl of frustration, she pushed away from the door to start the shower. He was her captor, plain and simple. Forgetting that small fact and deluding herself into thinking she was developing feelings for him could well get her killed.
Tighe stared at the closed bathroom door, Delaney’s bitter unhappiness lingering on his tongue. He’d known there could never be anything real between them. There were too many lies. Too much she must never know.
And she was beginning to understand that he would never let her in. He’d hoped he could at least finish making love to her before the truth came crashing down on him, but even that wasn’t meant to be.
He locked the bedroom door from the outside, then went upstairs to take a shower and change.
“No wonder you were so keen on getting your hands on this one again,” Jag drawled as he walked through the upstairs living room. “I heard her screaming from here. ”
Tighe whirled on him. “Do you want to see my claws?” he bit out.
Jag lifted his hands, palms out. “Nope. Don’t mind me. ”
Tighe took a quick shower and was back in the basement apartment, waiting for her, when Delaney came out of the bathroom.
Her gaze met his only briefly as she stepped into the bedroom, dressed once more in the white shirt and navy pants, her hair wet and slicked back from her face.
“Where are my guns?”
“Safe. And out of your reach. ”
She crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her chin in challenge. “You said once that if you could get rid of my memories of you, you’d let me go. Is that still true?”
Inside, the tiger shook its head in denial.
“Yes. ” He met that challenging gaze, his chest seizing. “If I can get into your mind, I can free you. Then I can absolutely let you go. ”
“I won’t remember anything? I won’t remember you?”
“No. ”
She nodded once with hard satisfaction. “Do it. ”
No. Not yet. He wasn’t ready to send her back. Yet if he could get inside her head, he knew what had to be done to free her from those visions. Which meant he’d almost certainly succeed in stealing her memories, too. He’d succeed in wiping himself from her mind. And her life.
“Delaney. ”
That was what he wanted, wasn’t it? Of course it was. No attachments, especially to a human. Her back in her own world. Him free to fight the battles he had to fight without worrying about her.
Without her calming touch.
Without those wide, dark eyes questioning his every move. Filling with heat whenever he touched her. Shining with courage and fire and life.
“Now, Tighe. I’m tired of being your captive. I want my life back. I want you to get into my mind so I can be rid of you once and for all. ”
Her anger washed over him, a hot, biting rush that set off an ache deep in his chest. When he was through with her, she wouldn’t remember him, not a thing about him. And he had a terrible feeling he would never forget her.
Tighe grabbed her face and kissed her hard, marking her, daring her to push him away. Daring her to prove she only wanted to be rid of him. Her resistance lasted all of five seconds, then she melted in his arms and kissed him back fiercely, her arms sliding around his neck, her tongue twisting and twining with his. Desire flared, and the next thing he knew, his hands were in her hair, and he was thinking of nothing but stripping her of the clothes she’d just put on and sliding into her all over again.
What am I doing?
He wasn’t thinking. He couldn’t think when she was close, let alone touching him, kissing him. Forcing himself to pull back, he stared down into her dazed eyes.
An odd mix of protectiveness and tenderness welled inside him, the ache in his chest intensifying as he raised his hand and stroked her cheek.
She was right. As much as he hated the prospect of wiping himself from her life, the sooner he did it the better. If he hadn’t freed her by the time his soul splintered, her life was over. Lyon would see to it.
He traced her high cheekbone with his thumb.
“Are you going to do it?” she asked.
Tighe nodded slowly, pulling his scattered thoughts to the task at hand. Never before had he had any trouble clouding the thoughts of a human. But never before had he tried to breach the formidable barriers of Delaney Randall. And maybe that was the problem.
“Why don’t you try helping me this time, D? When you feel me pressing against your mind, let me in. Don’t fight me. ”
“I’m not fighting you. ”
“Yeah, you are, though maybe not consciously. This time, I want you to think about wanting me to come in. Do you remember when I pulled you out of the darkness?”
“Is this the same?”
“In a way, yes. But you weren’t at the gates that night. You weren’t there at all. I had to go deep to find you and pull you back. ”
“Could you have captured my mind then?”
“Probably. If I’d had time. Once I get in there, I have to disentangle you from the clone. ”
She watched him warily. “From the what?”
“From the…never mind. If it gets bad, tell me, and I’ll quit. Are you ready?”
“Yes. ”
He pushed her damp hair back from her face with his fingers. “Think of that night, D, of how I came for you. Think of how you needed me. How you could need me again. Then let me in. Right now, right here. Let me in, Delaney. ”
His thumbs moved to her temples, and he rubbed gently, staring deep into her eyes. “I won’t hurt you, brown eyes. Let me in. ” He didn’t push this time, but still, he tasted her desire on his tongue, rising more slowly, but rising all the same.