Into the Night(41)

His hand was holding on to the wooden banister and as she stared at him, Macey saw his grip tighten around the wood. “I should stay away.”

She shook her head. His staying away was the last thing she wanted.

“We know what’s going to happen if I touch you.”

Yes, exactly what she wanted to happen.

Bowen took a step away from the stairs. Another. Then he was reaching for the light switch. The loft plunged into the darkness she’d dreaded—only, the dark didn’t seem so bad, not right then. There was no sound as he crossed to her side, but her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she could just make out his form.

Broad shoulders. Strong chest. Dangerous. Powerful.

Bowen.

His hand lifted and once more his fingers slid against her throat. A shiver worked over her at his touch. He bent his head toward her. His mouth replaced his hand as he pressed a soft, openmouthed kiss to her throat. One, two...

Her head tipped back so he could have better access.

“Didn’t like him touching you... Wanted to fucking destroy him when he put the knife to your throat.” His hands slid around her waist and he lifted her up, moving her easily, and set her on the edge of the pool table. Her legs were spread and he stepped between them. His hands stayed at her waist, seeming to burn right through the cotton T-shirt that she wore.

“He was right about me,” Bowen said. “The damn perp on the phone... You shouldn’t let me touch you, Macey. You shouldn’t want me near you.”

He started to back away. Her hands flew out and held tight to his shoulders. “You’re the only man I do want close.” Didn’t he get that? “I feel better when I’m with you.” Not scared, not weak. She could just let go when she was with Bowen, and Macey knew that he’d catch her long before she could ever fall. “I trust you.” That confession was whispered. She didn’t trust many people. Wouldn’t let herself, not with her past.

“Maybe you shouldn’t. I killed a man today.”

“In self-defense.”

He didn’t speak, and tension stretched between them. The kind that made a knot form in her stomach. “Bowen?”

“He was a dead man when he put the knife to your throat.”

She shook her head. No, no, that wasn’t the way the FBI worked. That wasn’t Bowen—

“You don’t know all my past, Mace. It’s twisted and bloody, and I never wanted you to know it all.”

She didn’t understand. “Bowen—”

He kissed her. A deep, hot, hard kiss that was just what she wanted. Macey met him with equal need—equal fury. Wanting everything from him. Pleasure. Oblivion.

“Tell me to back away,” he groaned against her mouth.

Her hands slid down his back. “Come closer.”

He kissed her again. His hands rose to cover her breasts. Her nipples were tight, aching, and she arched toward him. He squeezed her, stroked her, and then—

“Tell me not to touch you.”

“Touch me everywhere.”

He yanked her shirt out of the way. She wasn’t wearing a bra, hadn’t bothered with one after the shower. He took her breast into his mouth and Macey’s hands flew back to brace on top of the pool table. He sucked her, licked her. The stubble on his jaw scraped against her skin.

“Tell me... Mace, tell me to get the fuck away from you.”

Macey kept one hand braced on the pool table. Her other hand sank into the thickness of his hair and she pulled his head up. “Get the fuck...in me.” Then she kissed him, stroking with her tongue, tasting him, seducing, showing him that she wanted him, that she wasn’t holding back and that he shouldn’t, either.

Bowen gave a low, animalistic growl in his throat, and then his hands were yanking at her shorts. He stepped back and pulled the shorts and her panties off her legs, tossing them aside.

“Tell me you have a condom on you,” she said, her voice hitching a bit.

Instead of speaking, his hands pushed her thighs even farther apart, and then his fingers were sliding up against her sex. Sliding into her. Thrusting and stroking and making her squirm and arch against him. His thumb pressed to her clit, right there, just the way that made her whole body go bow tight. His mouth came toward her and he licked the lobe of her ear. “Yes, sweetheart, I have a condom... I just need you ready.”

“Now.” She was past ready. She wasn’t afraid. Didn’t doubt him. She just wanted Bowen.

He pulled the condom from his pocket. Had it on, and then he tossed his sweatpants who the hell knew where. He thrust into her, sinking deep, just the way she wanted. He took her while he was standing up, while she was arching against him on the pool table. Her nails raked down his back. She bit his shoulder. She held on tight. She pushed the demons of the day out of her mind and she only thought about him.

She came fast, exploding around him, and her cry was muffled against his shoulder. When she climaxed, he picked her up and held her tight against him. Her hands clung to his shoulders, holding tight as he began to move her, up and down. She’d always known he was strong, but Macey hadn’t fully realized just how strong. Not until that moment. Not until right then.

Her release kept going, pulsing through her on waves that wouldn’t end. She couldn’t draw in a deep breath. Her heart was about to burst out of her chest and nothing, nothing had ever felt so good.