Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 107096 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 535(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107096 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 535(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
I was looking right at it. He was half hard and the shaft curved down between his thighs, weighty and thick. God, it was as big as the rest of him. I stared at the bulbous, plum-shaped head, imagining how it would swell, glossy and smooth. The tan skin of the shaft looked silky soft and I could almost feel how hot he’d be, throbbing inside me...
His cock twitched, as if reacting to my thoughts. My gaze darted away like a startled bird and found his eyes. And despite all his gruff authority, in that second he looked...helpless. Staring at me as hard as I was staring at him.
He hung his shorts matter-of-factly on a branch, then squatted down by the fire. His damp skin gleamed in the firelight, making him look like an immense statue cast in bronze: we were eye-to-eye but he just dwarfed me. Strip someone of their clothes and they normally look less powerful but this man was a beast set free. I stared at the huge, hard spheres of his shoulders, rising and falling as he breathed.
He turned away to get another log for the fire and, for the first time, I saw his naked back. I’d been right, the tattoos on his arms connected but I wasn’t ready for how they connected. Across his back was a scene straight from a heavy metal album cover. A huge dragon was crouched, its wings and tail thrown back, its head lowered. It roared at the prey it was about to attack, a handful of tiny figures an inch high. The flickering firelight seemed to bring the dragon to life, the wings twitching, the scales gleaming. The tattoo was intimidating as hell: even in the roughest biker bar, people would shy away. But...
It’s my job to notice little details. Just to the right of the cluster of people the dragon was snarling at, there was another tiny person, this one lying on the ground. And the cluster of people all had weapons in their hands.
The dragon wasn’t attacking innocent people. It was protecting the weak.
He turned to face me and my eyes tracked down over the broad curves of his chest and the deep ridges of his abdominals. His groin was hidden in shadow but I could see his naked thighs...God, so thick, the muscles coiled as if he was ready to spring. He rested his elbows on his knees and I stared at his chiseled forearms and those brutish, powerful hands. The raw strength of him was overwhelming. Strong enough to just pick me up...or pin me down. The thought sank down through my body and detonated in my groin.
And before I could recover, he raised one of those brooding, dark brows. I did my part…
I swallowed. I’d almost forgotten that I’d have to get naked, too. I reached behind me to the clasp of my bra and found my hands were shaking. What’s the matter with me? Letting a man see me naked had never bothered me before. Seduction is part of being a spy and it might surprise you how big a part. And not just the female spies, either. We like to think that only men would be dumb enough to let a spy slide into their bed but plenty of smart, savvy women have given up their country’s secrets to a hot guy who whispers the right words. And that’s without even getting into all the other combinations of sexes. The truth is, we’re all vulnerable. Everyone needs to be loved.
Everyone except me. I don’t love. I don’t need to be loved. And getting naked for someone is just a way for me to control them. Right?
I unhooked my bra and stripped it off my arms, laying it over a rock. I told myself that my breasts throbbed because of the heat of the fire, that my nipples tightened from the shock of the air. I tried to look at him...and couldn’t. What’s wrong?! What had happened to the strutting, vampish woman who’d let her dress fall to the floor in the Italian ambassador’s office? Where was the woman who’d gasped and moaned and arched her back until the traitorous Russian general she was riding hissed the names of his co-conspirators?
Then I realized what was different. With those men, my body had been a weapon, perfumed and perfectly presented. I’d hoped it would work but if it didn’t, I’d just have tried something else: blackmail, bribery, or stroking their ego. But tonight, with this man...it was my body. It was me. And for some reason, I wanted him to like me.
I took two quick breaths...and looked at him.
He was gazing at me, his eyes tracing a path from my face down to my breasts and back again. When some men look at you, it’s like they’re taking, stealing little slices of you so they can violate you in their mind when they’re alone. But this man gave. His lust broke over me like a scalding wave, making every inch of skin sing and glow, making me feel more, not less. A tight little ball of hesitant, awkward pride throbbed in my chest. What are you doing, screamed a little voice inside me. He’s the enemy!