Heart-Shaped Hack(63)
“Will you have to go to headquarters again?”
“No. I can work on it from here.”
“Did you figure out how to solve it?”
“Yeah. I just wish I knew if it was the right solution.”
Half an hour later he silenced his phone, powered off his laptop, and set his glasses down on the coffee table. Kate walked out of the bedroom as he swallowed the last of the bourbon. She was wearing a thin camisole without a bra and a pair of boy shorts, her long legs on full display.
His eyes tracked her as she walked toward him. “Remind me to buy you some more of that underwear.”
She gave him a pointed look. “You like boy shorts?”
“I like them on you.”
When she reached the couch, she started to sit sideways on his lap the way she always did, but he said, “No. Straddle me.”
She obliged, and he held her face tightly and kissed her.
“I love the way you taste when you drink bourbon.” She placed her hands underneath his jaw, running her thumbs along his scruff and kissing him again.
“You are mine.” He said it with conviction while looking into her eyes.
“Yes,” she said with equal conviction. “And you’re mine.”
He put his hands on her hips and pulled her closer. She felt his hardness between her legs and pressed down on it, making him groan. He kissed her, gently at first and then slowly progressing to a rougher, almost bruising, meeting of their lips. There was something possessive about the way he claimed her mouth, and she responded with equal fervor as their tongues collided. He wound his fingers in her hair, tugged hard on it, and left a searing trail from her mouth to her throat. The pain and pleasure left behind by the scrape of his teeth made Kate ache. The next kiss was slow and whisper soft, and he lightly brushed her cheeks with his thumbs. The back-and-forth between rough and gentle, taking and giving, set Kate on fire.
He fluttered kisses along her collarbone, her shoulder. With agonizing slowness, he reached for the hem of her camisole and then pulled it over her head, baring her to the waist. He nuzzled his face in her breasts, cupping their soft weight and licking them until she was writhing under his touch. He began to suck, gently at first, but then Kate felt a stab of exquisite pain as he increased the pressure, sealing his mouth around her nipple in a way that would surely leave visual proof he’d been there. Only rarely did he mark her, and the few times it had happened had been accidental. But Kate thought he’d meant to do it this time and was shocked by how much she liked it.
He put his hand down the front of her boy shorts, groaning when he discovered how aroused she was. As he stroked her, she arched into his hand, inhaling sharply and then sighing softly. His touch was light, teasing, and Kate thought she might fall apart right there on the couch.
“I love watching you, listening to the sounds you make.” He took his hand out of her shorts, and without removing her from his lap, he stood.
She was never more aware of his size and strength than when he picked her up like that, as if she weighed nothing. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he walked toward the bedroom, his hands gripping her backside. After laying her down, he stripped off his clothes and dragged the boy shorts down her legs. Lying between them, he braced one of his elbows against her thigh, holding her open as his tongue traced a pattern and his fingers stroked her. She writhed underneath him, holding him in place, taking what she wanted, what she needed.
Kate was glad they’d taken the time to get tested and no longer needed condoms because as soon as she came, he entered her as if he couldn’t possibly wait another second. His thrusts were urgent, relentless, and there was something about the way he covered her body with his, pinning her underneath him without worrying he’d break her, that she loved.
His groans and his ragged breathing told her it wouldn’t be long for him. Another minute or two and she’d be able to get there again herself.
“Harder,” she gasped, and it was like throwing gasoline on an already raging fire as he complied.
“Kate,” he said, and she knew he was barely hanging on.
She answered him with her cries, and seconds later he joined her. It was the closest they’d ever come to finding their release at the same time, and she felt every pulse of his as the aftershocks of her own washed over her.
“I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you,” Ian said.
“Neither have I,” Kate said, trying to catch her breath.
He clung to her tightly. “Don’t ever lose faith in me.”
“I won’t,” she promised.
Why was he mentioning that now? He’d won her over, and she believed in him wholeheartedly. He was nothing like the man he’d seemed when she’d met him, and she understood it now. Knew why he’d come on so strong. It would take a certain kind of woman to be with him. Strong, fearless. Tolerant. Just like he’d told her in the beginning.
She was that woman.
And he was the man she hadn’t known she’d needed until the day she’d crashed into him on the sidewalk.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Kate received a text from Ian shortly before she left work on Monday.
Ian: I’m going to take the Shelby for a spin. I hope she starts and that those boneheads at the storage facility haven’t been joyriding in her all winter.
Kate: Better do it soon. It’s supposed to snow. Again.