In For the Kill (McClouds & Friends #11)(54)

She brushed aside his invitation to keep it light and playful. “I can handle myself, Sam. Val can get me a weapon once I’m there. I have combat training. I’m not helpless. I learned to shoot from Tam and Nick; I studied martial arts with Davy and Sean and all the rest. And I know more about drugs and poisons from Tam than you ever want to hear.”

“Right,” he said. “You can repeat that for days on end, and I’ll still keep seeing you with your head and shoulders in a tub of ice water.”

She waved that away. “I was off my guard yesterday. I won’t be ever again. Plus, I’ll be less of a spectacle by myself. I just need to fall off the face of the earth for a while, let everyone forget that I—”

“Do not insult my intelligence,” Sam said. “A girl who looks like you will always attract attention. When you start doing your thing, you’ll attract even more. You’ll be splashed all over every media that exists. Schoolgirls will write essays about how you inspire them. You’re doing the opposite of going into hiding. Don’t bullshit me, Sveti. Ever.”

“But I can’t make it worth your while, Sam,” she said, desperately. “I swear. I just can’t.”

He gazed at her. A level, appraising glance that made her knees go wobbly and her face get hot. “No,” she said quickly. “If that’s what you have in mind, forget it. I would never trade sex for—”

“Shhh. Not at all. I never said that. You came up with it yourself, because you’re all wound up. I would never think that of you.”

“Sam, I . . . I’m just afraid that it will go bad. Really bad.”

“Don’t sweat it. Just do your thing,” he urged. “Save the world, and I’ll watch your back. Don’t worry about my poor tender feelings or my unrealistic expectations. Those are my problems. I’ll deal with them.”

She took a nervous step backward as he advanced on her. “And why this great act of self-sacrifice?”

“Who said anything about sacrifice?” Another step flattened her against the window. The glass was cold through the loose weave of her sweater. “Of course, I’ll come on to you. I’ll be all over you, every chance I get. But it won’t be payment for services rendered. Don’t slap a crass label on it, Sveti. Just let it be whatever it is. Let it breathe. Let it exist.”

She laughed, shakily. “Oh, you smooth, sneaky bastard.”

“That’s me.” He put his hands on either side of her head, against the glass. “Granted, I stand ready. Give me the nod, and I’ll be all over you. My tongue in your mouth, or sucking on your tits, or trailing down your spine, or between your * lips, lapping up your lube. I’ll f*ck you into sweaty exhaustion every night and every morning. But when we go to breakfast, I’ll morph from abject sex slave into the perfect bodyguard. Not a hair out of place. Completely focused. We’ll all get what we need. It could work, Sveti. Really.”

Sveti’s mouth shook, from proximity to his sensual lips, but he didn’t kiss her. He just danced around it, teasing her. Leaning to inhale the scent of her hair, to nuzzle the nape of her neck.

“After a long day of saving the world, I’ll bathe you, shampoo you, rub you down with scented body oil,” he rasped into her ear. “Mmm.”

“Don’t make fun of me,” she whispered.

“I’m dead serious. I’ll blow-dry your hair and steam your suits. I’ll pick out your lingerie. I’ll carry your bags, and keep your cell phone charged, and screen your calls, and solve your computer problems. And go down on you. For hours. You’ll lie there legs spread, writhing with pleasure while I lick your *. My payoff is your sweet elixir. Yum.”

She shook her head. “A guy like you will get bored out of his mind really fast, playing lady’s maid and charging up my cell phone.”

“You know what, Sveti? I am totally willing to cross that bridge when I come to it. When I’m with you, the very last thing I have to fear is boredom.” He suckled her earlobe. “I’m not asking for love or gratitude or promises. All I want is to keep you safe. And make you come. Let me give you a sample taste right now. See how you like it.”

“You don’t have to, ah . . . I already know—”

“Sample it again. You might have forgotten. It’s been well over an hour.” He kissed her hungrily. His lips were so hot. Soft and hungry, demanding and insisting. He slid his hand down to the small of her back, pressing her mound against the hard bulge in his crotch.

Her jeans were low rise, and loose enough for him to just slide his hand inside, over her ass. His fingers stroked tenderly into her sensitive cleft. Barely touching her labia with his fingertips from behind.

Her thighs contracted at the delicate touch.

He jerked her belt buckle loose and tugged her jeans halfway down her thighs. He sank to his knees. “Hold up your sweater and watch while I lick your clit,” he said. “Watch every detail.”

Sveti clutched the wadded sweater against her breasts. Her thighs quivered, trapped by the jeans that were snarled around her knees, but Sam didn’t pull them down. He seized her ass cheeks in his big, warm hands, clutching tenderly as he pressed his mouth to her mound.

The sound that came out of her was unrecognizable as his tongue probed boldly between her folds, swirling up around her clit. Kissing it, suckling it, trilling. Thrusting his tongue hungrily up inside her *.