He took her to the cusp of orgasm, then stopped. Of course he did. She growled at him, and he bent to flick his tongue against her again.
It felt so good.
He caressed her and kissed her and drove her crazy, over and over and over again, tormenting her until she was incoherent with desire—stopping each time right before she came.
“I surrender,” she whispered when she couldn’t stand it anymore. “But not alone, Pierce.” She reached down and gripped his shoulder.
“Ladies first,” he insisted. Jacquie might have argued, but that vibrator was against her nipple again, his mouth locked over her. He took her high again, then pinched her clitoris with the vibrator on his finger. Jacquie’s release swept through her like a tidal wave. She came and came and came, shouting in her release, certain it would never end.
When she thought her heart had exploded and she’d never catch her breath again, Pierce moved up beside her, as graceful as a jungle cat. She felt him wipe his mouth, then his lips were on her cheek again. “Something else you want tonight?” he asked, humor in his tone.
Jacquie reached down and closed her hand over him, giving him a stroke that made him catch his breath. “You really are the man of steel,” she teased, then pushed off the blindfold with her other hand.
He was smiling at her, looking very proud of himself, but his eyes were glittering like shards of green glass. Jacquie stroked him and watched his nostrils flare as his gaze brightened. “Wasn’t there something else in that box?”
The condoms and the rabbit-eared ring were on the nightstand. “Great minds think alike,” he said and she pushed him to his back. She teased him and caressed him as she put on the condom, watching him get harder and more taut. He bared his teeth when she added the ring. “Good?”
“Good,” he agreed and reached for her. Jacquie straddled him, glancing down before taking him inside her. He was bigger than she’d anticipated, but he was all male and he wanted her. His hands locked around her waist, guiding her closer and Jacquie took him inside her, inhaling sharply at the size of him.
“We’d better do this really slowly,” she said and saw him grit his teeth.
“I expect you want to get even.”
“I need a little recovery time,” she teased. “And it only seems fair that you have just as massive an orgasm as me.”
“I was hoping for more than one.”
“Me, too,” she said and took another increment of him inside her. Pierce arched his head back and closed his eyes. She could feel the tension in him as she slowly moved down, and saw the pulse at his throat. She was the one who caught her breath when those rabbit ears collided with her clitoris, then she rolled her hips, liking how they softly nudged against her. Pierce’s grip tightened on her waist and he drew her down even more. His eyes were dark and his gaze intense, and Jacquie couldn’t resist. She leaned down and locked her mouth over his in a fierce kiss, her own heart skipping a beat as they began to move together in the most seductive dance of all.
Jacquie just might kill him.
Pierce didn’t have an issue with that. If this was going to be his last night among the living, he had no complaints. They came together with the help of the rabbit ears, then dozed off together, wrapped around each other. When he woke up, the candles on the nightstand were sputtering and the music was repeating itself. Jacquie was still asleep beside him. He eased away from her and put out all the candles in the suite. He turned off the music, too, welcoming the quiet. The suite still felt like a private refuge from the world, and he wondered how long she’d stay.
He considered the fact that he was staying. Of course, he’d made the arrangements, but in the past, one-and-done meant that he would have been gone by now. Pierce didn’t want to leave, though. He didn’t want this interval to end.
Because it wasn’t just about sex. Jacquie was slowly changing him, making him question his assumptions and challenging him to make different choices. Part of it was her fearlessness in asking questions of him, questions few people dared to ask him. Part of it was her obvious interest in his replies. He trusted her, in a way he hadn’t trusted anyone in a long time. It didn’t hurt that he couldn’t always anticipate her, and that she surprised him. She was smart. She was tough. She pushed him.
And that was interesting. It was worth exploring. Pierce wanted to know where this path led. He wanted to know what it would be like to spend more time with Jacquie. He found himself reviewing her questions and comments, appreciating them again.
It’s too bad you can’t do just the parts you liked from your old job.
That was the one that stuck. Jacquie’s comment provoked Pierce into thinking about possibilities. He’d assumed that there were two paths: doing what he’d done as a bodyguard, the way he’d previously done it, or retiring. Black or white. What if there was a third option? What if he could set up his own company?
The part that bothered him was being jerked around by employers. If he was the employer and an independent contractor, he could avoid that.
Pierce wondered what would happen if he did contact his old team. Would they be glad to hear from him? It wouldn’t be all bad to hear Lisa MacAvoy’s bubbling laughter again, or to know for sure that she was okay in civilian life.
He was a lone wolf by habit, secure in his own fortress of solitude, but maybe he could reach out. Maybe he could learn a new trick.
When Pierce returned to the bedroom, Jacquie was sitting up, knees pulled up and her arms folded across them. There was a
