Mine To Protect (Mine #6)(13)

Hell, yes.

He rose back over her. Barely took time to ditch his jeans and grab the condom from his wallet—thank f*ck it was still there. He rolled on the condom then put his cock right at the entrance to her body.

But he didn’t thrust into her. Not yet.

Her breath was still heaving in and out. Her lashes had lowered but when he paused, those long lashes lifted and her gaze locked on his.

“Ready to cross some lines?” Victor asked her.

She gave a quick nod.

His hands caught hers. Their fingers threaded together, then he pushed her hands back against the pillow.

He thrust into her. Balls-freaking-deep. A groan tore from him because she felt like heaven. Hot. Tight. Perfect.

I crossed the line, and I will never go back.

He withdrew, then thrust into her again. He was too rough, too hard, and the bed was squeaking beneath him. Her legs wrapped around his hips, squeezing him and pulling him so close. She was whispering his name, urging him on, and all he wanted—

He wanted to feel her come with his cock buried deep inside of her.

He angled his hips. Made sure that his length slid over her clit when he drove into her. The pace was frantic, the urge to reach that wild blast of release consuming him.

“Victor!” Not a scream. Her whisper. A cry of satisfaction and he saw the pleasure wash across her face. Her green eyes widened and her cheeks flushed. Her delicate inner muscles clamped along his length, squeezing him as the orgasm rocked through her.

And then he was exploding. His release hit him with the force of a freaking truck. He emptied into her, pleasure shaking his whole body. The climax went on and on, and he kept thrusting, never wanting that moment to end.

Even as the pleasure lashed him, Victor knew he’d made a serious mistake. The worst of his life, probably.

He’d wanted Zoe. He’d needed her. But he hadn’t realized…

He hadn’t just f*cked her. It had been…more.

He’d had sex with other women. Good sex.

This was different. Zoe was different.

She was making everything different for him.

Her lips curled—that slow smile—and that sweet smile of hers that was meant just for him.

It wasn’t just f*cking. Not with her.

And he was screwed.

But in that moment, Victor couldn’t care. He leaned toward her. Kissed her lips. Softly. Lightly. With care.

Emotions were choking him, but his body was more replete than it had ever been. He eased from her. Kissed her once more. Then he padded to the bathroom. While he ditched the condom, he didn’t look in the mirror. He didn’t want to look at himself, not right then. He turned off all the lights and went back to Zoe.

When he climbed onto the bed, she immediately turned toward him. Taking her into his arms seemed like the most natural thing in the whole world. She put her head on his chest, right over his heart, and his arms closed around her.

He shouldn’t have been able to sleep that way. Not so easily. Not to just close his eyes and drift off. He never let down his guard. And cuddling after sex wasn’t his usual MO but…

His eyes drifted closed and his hands stayed curled around Zoe as Victor fell asleep.

***

It was the creak of the door that woke Victor, hours later. The little motel room was still dark—no light at all sliding through the thin blinds. His eyes opened when he heard that creak and Victor lunged up in bed.

A bed that only he occupied.

Zoe!

Was she seriously trying to give him the slip? After what they’d done together? Had she just been trying to lure him into some false sense of security with the mind-melting sex so that she could escape from him the second his guard dropped? And it sure as hell had dropped.

He leapt from the bed, naked, and rushed toward the motel room door.

Before he could reach it, Zoe opened the bathroom door—it gave a long creak—and when she stepped out, Victor grabbed her arms as he tried to stop from running her down.

“Victor!”

Yeah, they both almost hit the floor with that collision, but he did some fast and frantic footwork, and he managed to keep them upright—barely.

She gave a quick, nervous laugh. “Do you have some sort of issue you need to tell me about? Not sleep walking but like…sleep tackling?”

He didn’t laugh. “I thought you’d left.”

“Um, no.”

His hold tightened on her arms. “I don’t want you to leave me.” The way she’d ditched the other agents.

Her hair slid over his fingers as she tilted back her head. “I’m not planning to leave you. We have a deal, remember?”

At her soft words, guilt twisted within him.

“Besides, I don’t make a habit of leaving a lover without a word in the middle of the night.”

Lover.

“And I sure hope,” Zoe added a bit darkly, “that you don’t, either.”

He wished he could see her expression. But she was just a shadow to him and he knew he appeared the same way to her. “Is that what we are now? Lovers?”

“I would think so.” She paused. “Lovers and partners.”

His hands slowly slid away from her shoulders. From all of that wonderful, smooth skin. “I shouldn’t have crossed that line.” He backed up. Turned away from her. Tried to figure out how he was supposed to fix things with her. The heat of the moment was one thing, but the aftermath—sanity comes back.