The Dangerous Thief (Stolen Hearts #3)(34)

She let him hold her down and use her body the same way she was using his. For those few minutes, she didn’t feel as if she was heiress to a criminal empire, and the man in her arms didn’t feel like some shady figure who should terrify instead of entice her. All she felt was him.

And when she came, he caught her scream in his kiss. He only let her hands go when his own orgasm hit. She held him tight and tucked her forehead into the crook of his shoulder as he shuddered on top of her.

Then all that was left to do was contemplate how her life would never be the same again.

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James had never been good with regrets. Not that he didn’t make mistakes. He’d made plenty of those in his time. But when it came time to look back and think about what he wished could have been changed, not much came to mind.

So as Willa stretched out next to him, her naked skin just touching him, it was damned hard to feel bad about what just happened, considering how much of a massive mistake it was that he was even here.

She let out a soft moan as she adjusted herself once more and his stupid cock had to go and get hard again. He should get used to that. That was just what his life was going to be like now. Willa was nearby? Instant erection. Screw self-control. Screw discipline. From now on, this was it.

“You’re not sleeping.” She rolled over to rest her head on her hands and look at him. It was mostly dark in her bedroom, but the lights of the city gave the room a soft glow. Even though he couldn’t make out every detail of her, he was always aware on some level of what she was doing.

“I’m protecting you.”

She let out a little scoff as she reached out to set a hand on his chest. “Even fearless protectors need sleep. But I guess you’re not the type to talk about problems.”

“Talking doesn’t solve my kind of problems.”

“I talk a lot.” She traced patterns against his skin. The touch should be annoying him, but it was strangely endearing.

“I’ve noticed.” He adjusted his arm and opened it up for Willa to use his bicep as a pillow and he pulled her in closer.

“My mouth just goes faster than my mind sometimes. But if I spit out enough nonsense, the brain eventually catches up. Usually.”

He smiled as he thought of the rambling tangents Willa would go on when she was nervous. “I like your mouth.”

She laughed. “And you haven’t even seen all it can do.”

His cock sprang to alert. Down, boy.... “I didn’t realize that was on the table.”

She lifted her head just an inch to get a better look at him through the dark. “Come on, James. I don’t know how to say this in a way that doesn’t sound slutty, so I’m just going to spit it out. Everything is on the table with you.”

Wow. But as happy as he was about just all the things he could do to her, he couldn’t help thinking.... “Why?”

“You’re not protecting me forever. Might as well take advantage while we can.”

He would’ve expected someone like her to be clingy or needy. Not so... accepting. Which should be a good thing. This was the best possible way for this to play out. A beautiful woman who was more than willing to pass the time with him in bed and part ways once their business was done.

Maybe he was just overthinking it. It had been a long fucking day and he couldn’t think straight when he was around her sometimes. Now that he was working her out of his system, this would all work itself out.

“So if you like me talking, that means I can ask you questions, right?”

Well, this was a can of worms he didn’t want to open. “What did you want to know?”

“Umm... everything.”

“Well, my name is James Weston.”

“You’re hilarious. Tell me about your family. You know everything about my dysfunctions. It’s only fair.”

“You don’t want to hear about them.” And he really didn’t want to talk about it either.

She drummed her fingers on his chest. “Come on. Fair’s fair.”

“It’s nothing new. Dad was a deadbeat. Mom was nice enough but could never stand up to him. I took off when I was eighteen and never looked back. I served overseas for a while. I started in the Marines and eventually was recruited into a black cell group which I’m not going to say anything else about. And I never went back home.”

“You aren’t curious about what they’re up to?”

“I know. My dad is six feet underground thanks to a drunk driving accident—he was the drunk. Mom remarried a meek banker and my little sister is a marketing major at a state university.”

She stiffened in his arms and he could feel the hint of disapproval. He already knew what she wanted to say, but he didn’t need to defend himself. When he left, everything was a mess. He’d faced years of guilt for abandoning his mother and sister, but when he came back, they’d worked everything out. Everyone was better off without him.

But Willa didn’t dig for any more personal details. Instead, she asked, “So what are you?”

“Human.”

“Smart ass. But seriously, what is your job title? Fixer? Mercenary? Assassin?”

“There isn’t really a name for what I am.”