Black and Blue

to the trunk and forced her legs to spread and cage his hips. With his hands on her lower back, he yanked her against him and directed her into a hard, fast grind against his erection.

Hell yeah!

She groaned, and it was the most delicious sound.

The pleasure of her . . . it was almost too much. . . . Her breasts rubbed against his chest, and he could feel the stiff peaks of her nipples. All the while, he continued to feed her a down-and-dirty kiss that mimicked exactly what he wanted to do to the rest of her. Hard, almost punishing. Taking. Demanding.

He couldn’t get enough of her. The honey of her taste was a drug. Beyond addictive.

Necessary to sustain life.

Power seeped from his pores, and he suspected Evie could feel it, because little moans kept rising from deep in her throat, and her fingers kept brushing up and down the exposed skin on his arms . . . until her hands were tangled in his hair, her nails digging into his scalp; she angled his head just the way she wanted it. He liked that. Liked that she demanded and took with the same fervency he used.

She sucked the piercing in his bottom lip, and a low growl reverberated from him.

More. He needed more. He needed all. He needed her naked, and open. He needed to graze her nipples with his teeth. Needed to devour her between her legs, then pound inside her, deep, so deep she would feel him for days afterward. He needed to hear her cries of rapture.

Yes. He reached for the hem of her shirt, ready to tear the thing off her.

A siren wailed in the background, and Evie stiffened.

“Wait. Stop.” She drew in a deep breath and shoved at him. She wouldn’t meet his gaze. “This is wrong.”

Wrong? No. He—

Wasn’t kissing his fiancee.

Yes. This was wrong.

A tide of disgust rolled through him, and with a step back—physically and emotionally—he increased the distance between them.

Evie stood and did the same, then wiped her mouth with the back of her hand as if she couldn’t bear to deal with his taste a second longer. “That shouldn’t have happened.”

“I know.” He wasn’t in love with Pagan, true, but he’d given her a ring. He had rules. Rules he should have followed.

He was ashamed.

He had just betrayed Michael in the worst possible way. Michael, who had done so much for him throughout the years but had only ever asked for one thing in return. That he leave his daughter alone.

I’m scum.

Correction, I’m worse than scum.

Blue had disrespected the man, and for what? Momentary pleasure.

Perfect phrase. Momentary pleasure. That was all Evie could ever be.

She wasn’t like Pagan. She would never accept the fact that he had to be with other women, no matter the reason for his actions. She would murder him, and perhaps even murder the female, totally unwilling to concede that what he did was a necessary evil of the job.

He—

Liked that, he realized, a little dazed. Wanted a woman to fight for him. To desire him, and him alone. To crave his unerring devotion and insist upon it.

Who are you?

“It was the moment,” Evie said, her voice hollow. “The rush of surviving the chase and explosion.”

Was it? “I know,” he repeated, his own voice just as hollow.

He didn’t know.

He’d been attracted to this girl from the beginning. Maybe she’d been attracted to him just as long. Maybe it had happened only recently for her. But the fact remained. They were into each other, no matter how wrong it was.

They’d have to be careful.

“Are you good now?” she asked.

Was he? The leash on his power was reinforced, but his mind was in turmoil. Never again taste that honey? Never again feel those teacup breasts smashed against his chest? Never again rub between her legs?

Never thrust his fingers deep?

Impossible.

“I’ll be fine,” he gritted. “Let’s go before the cops arrive.”

They returned to the car, settled inside.

As he reprogrammed the GPS, he said, “As soon as I rise from the dead, I’m telling Pagan it’s over.” He’d just cheated on her for real. Yeah, he’d told her there would be other women, but this was different.

This had been of his own volition.

He really was a he-slut.

There was no way to make this right. No way to reclaim his honor, but he could do an honorable thing. He could set Pagan free, allowing her to find someone else. Someone deserving of her.

“I hope you’re not doing that on my account,” Evie said, peering out the window, hiding her expression. “That was our first and last kiss. It’s never going to happen again.”

He’d just thought the same thing—and yet, it still irritated him to hear her say it. “Don’t worry, flower petal. Getting involved with you is the last thing I want to do.”

Nine

I’M IN SO MUCH trouble.

Before, Evie had only been able to speculate about Blue’s sexual prowess. She’d told herself that all the women flocking to him were fools, and his skill completely overrated.

Now she knew better.

His skills were seriously underrated. He hadn’t just kissed her. He’d screwed the hell out of her mouth. And all the while, waves of his power had cascaded over her, heating her, making it feel like a thousand hands were concentrated on her naughty bits.

She’d never been so swept up in a moment, or so lost in sensation.

How close she’d come to letting him take her in public, out in the open, for anyone and everyone to see. How close she’d come to being used—and discarded.

I’m not going to be another conquest. I’m not!

From now on, she would be more careful around him. Although . . . maybe she wouldn’t have to be.

Getting involved with you is the last thing I want to do, he’d said, and even though she’d agreed with the sentiment, the words had still managed to cut at her.

How pathetic am I? she thought. I can’t even get the world’s most promiscuous man to want me unless he’s desperate to release a little power.

Whatever. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except Michael, John, and Solo. She wouldn’t forget again. And if she did, she might just give herself a lobotomy.

* * *

While Evie set up an external perimeter around the rubble of Michael’s decimated house, creating invisible walls that would keep everyone and everything out, including prying eyes, Blue tossed charred boards out of the way by using his power, clearing the biggest pieces of debris before picking through the section where Fry Guy had tried to cook him for dinner.

He wished he could use his favorite ability. Or rather, he wished he could use a tweaked version of his