From fights.
Battles.
A life Cadence didn’t know about.
She never has to know.
He’d left the darkness behind.
Hadn’t he?
His hand flattened on the wooden surface.
“Good night, Kyle,” came her voice. Whispering.
Her footsteps eased away.
She was leaving him.
No. He yanked open the door.
She spun back toward him, eyes wide. She wore an old FBI T-shirt, one that slipped to the tops of her thighs.
Her bare thighs. Those long, perfect legs. How many times had he imagined having those legs wrapped around him?
“I—I thought you’d changed your mind,” she said.
The faint stutter threw him off. This wasn’t the confident woman who’d said I’ll have you.
There was hesitation in her eyes as she studied him. The faintest edge of fear.
She can see who you really are.
But it was too late to turn away, too late for either of them. The sensual promise was there, and the lust pushing all sane thought from his head wasn’t going to let him walk away from her.
“Get on the bed,” he ordered, voice guttural. So much for suave. But he was pretty much just lucky to be managing speech right then.
She should tell him to f**k off.
Heat flashed in her golden gaze, making her stare molten.
She turned away from him and headed for the bed. When she climbed on the mattress, her ass tilted in the air—fucking sexy, heart-shaped ass—and he saw the silken edge of her black panties.
He was on her in the next instant.
The mattress sagged beneath their weight. He caught her in his arms, twisted her, then trapped her on the bed beneath him.
“I wanted…to be different…with you…” He barely managed to growl out the words. They were the truth. In his fantasies, he’d seduced her. Spent hours enjoying her body and the sounds of pleasure that came from her lips.
But his control was nonexistent. All he knew was raw lust. A desperate craving for her that was driving through him.
Black silk. That was what he’d seen. He wanted to rip the silk away and find wet, hot, pink flesh.
Wanted to taste that flesh.
He would.
“I don’t want you to be different.” Her wrists were held by his.
He kissed her. Let the hunger rage out of control as his mouth took hers. He’d thought she tasted good before. He’d been wrong. Her taste was phenomenal. Sweet, hot, better than any wine he’d ever had. Making him drunker than any wine.
Making him crave more.
“Next time.” His words were whispered against her lips. “I’ll…go easy…” He’d try to. He’d seduce. He’d—
“Why?” Her head tilted back. Her hips surged against him, riding the hard arousal thrusting against her. “I like you this way.”
His control shattered.
If she liked this…
He’d make her love what came next.
His hand pushed between her spread legs. Felt the dampness already coating her panties. Then he ripped them away. The rip of fabric seemed too loud in the darkness.
It made him even wilder for her.
Kyle pushed his way down her body. Spread her legs wide. Knew he had to taste before he took.
When he put his mouth on her, Cadence’s body arched. He locked a hand around her hips, stilling her and forcing her closer to his mouth.
He’d thought her mouth was heaven. Her sex—yes. Even better. Even. Better.
He licked and wanted more. She was gasping now, pushing her hips against him, and he wasn’t stopping. He wanted deeper. Wanted more.
Wanted everything Cadence had. Everything she’d ever have.
Her nails sank into his shoulders. He liked the sting of pain.
He liked it even better when she came against his mouth, gasping his name.
Tasting her pleasure was the best rush he’d had in years.
When the trembles eased from her body, he pulled back. Gazed up at her.
Her eyes were wide, gleaming. Still hungry.
Staring at him, she lifted her shirt. Tossed it aside.
Her ni**les were tight. Pink. So perfect.
He slid between her legs. He still had on his jeans, the fabric stopping him from sliding deep into her.
She reached for him.
He caught her hands. Pinned them on the bed.
He liked the faster pants of her breath.
He hadn’t expected this from her. Cadence liked it when he took her control away. It turned her on. Anything that turned her on—
He loved it.
His mouth took her breast. He let her feel the score of his teeth. The blood seemed to be boiling in his veins, and he knew he couldn’t wait longer to take her.
He’d waited too long already. His tongue licked. Sucked.
“Kyle!”
His name was breathless, desperate.
He yanked for the protection he’d shoved in his back pocket after he’d jumped from the shower. He ditched his jeans and had his c**k at the entrance of her body in seconds.
All that wet heat. Just waiting for him.
He held his body still, even though all he wanted was so close. “No going back,” he told her. The words were a promise. A warning.
He thrust into her and was lost.
Control was gone. Thought was gone. There was only Cadence. Beneath him. Around him.
He grabbed her silken legs, opened her wider. Thrust deeper.
His heart thundered. In and out, in and out.
Her sex squeezed him. Tight. Heaven. Too good.
He couldn’t last.
Couldn’t—
Cadence cried out beneath him.
He wanted to roar.
Instead, his mouth took hers as he erupted, a flood of release stronger than anything he’d ever felt before.
A release that left him gasping, desperate—and ready for f**king more.
More was what he’d have.
Kyle wasn’t going to stop, not until he’d taken everything Cadence had to give him.
Every. Damn. Thing.
The ringing of a phone woke Kyle. He stretched and realized he wasn’t alone.
Cadence was curled next to him.
Naked, tangled in the sheets with him. Exactly where she was supposed to be.
The phone rang again. The sound was faint, drifting to him through the connecting door he’d left open.
Carefully, he slid from the bed. Cadence kept sleeping.
He stalked toward his room. Found the phone he’d left on the bed. A quick glance showed that the call’s ID had been blocked. What the hell?
Maybe it was James. Had to be.
Who else would be calling at four thirty in the morning?
“McKenzie,” he said, answering the call even as his body tensed. He knew a call at this hour couldn’t be bringing good news.