Page 32 of Devil
As if sensing her discomfort, Darius leaned forward and captured one of her nipples with his mouth. The sudden move sent a shock of lust through her, wiping out all thoughts of her parents. Arching into him, her fingers slipped through his short hair, and she held him against her.
He released her breast, then trailed kisses across her chest until his attention focused on the other. One hand reached up and replaced the spot where his lips had been, and the other dragged up her thigh all the way to her hip. When his thumb dipped down and traced the crease of her pelvis, he drew back.
Her body felt the loss of his heat, but if the look in his eye was anything to go by, it was a temporary situation. His thumb continued to stroke her skin, then he smiled. “You really aren’t wearing anything underneath this, are you?” As he spoke, he slid his hand around her body and splayed it across her bare ass.
She smiled. “I think you know the answer to that, but maybe it’s worth a little more research.”
He barked out a laugh, but less than a minute later, her dress lay on his floor. Completely nude, she straddled his lap as his gaze drank her in. “I am a lucky bastard,” he muttered. Again, she had that fleeting sense of disappointment. Her body was what it was. Did he feel lucky because he saw it as now his to play with? Shewantedhim to play with it, but for the first time, she also wanted more; she wanted him to want more than just her beauty.
“There’s always been chemistry between us, Lily,” he said, touching her chin with a finger and drawing her attention to him. “And once I got over being a little bit of an asshole, I hoped that we might end up here, like this, some day.” She smiled at that. Hehadbeen a little bit of an asshole. Not that she’d been exactly friendly.
“This,” he said, gesturing to her naked form, “is stunning. But you have to know that there are so many more reasons why I feel lucky to be here. And if you don’t, I’d be happy to list them for you.”
He was holding nothing back, and his expression was open and sincere, though it carried a touch of a challenge. She’d know if he was lying to her, and he was trusting that she’d remember that. He was trusting her to see, and hear, the truth of his words.
For the third time that night, she experienced another first…insecurity. She wasn’t invincible and had certainly been unsure about things more than once in her life. But with his words, she realized how much she needed him to seeher. And not just see her, want her. And he did. They may not know each other well, but theysaweach other.
Slowly, her mouth curved into a smile, then she leaned forward and brushed her lips against his. “I don’t need a list, Commander. I’m more of a show-don’t-tell kind of woman.”
CHAPTERFIFTEEN
“Thanks, Stella. I appreciate it,”Lily said before ending the call. She was curled up on the couch, but she had one long leg stretched out and resting on his lap. Darius had a hand wrapped around her foot and every now and then, he dug his fingers into the arch, and she let out a little moan of appreciation. She might be able to walk a couple of miles in heels, but Lily liked her feet pampered.
“What did she say?” he asked, setting his cup down. He’d run out earlier that morning and picked up some bagels and coffee as well as clothes for Lily from the Smith House. Now they were lounging around his apartment checking in with everyone. They’d head to Cos Cob in an hour or so, but for now, he was enjoying the quiet. And the fact that Lily hadn’t run from his bed in the early-morning hours. Sure, she’d only had her dress and heels, but had she wanted to leave, that wouldn’t have stopped her.
“Amy and Tina Lam are back in DC and at their parents’ house. Stella’s people picked up the tail in New Jersey. They stopped for gas once and made a second stop at an internet café. Stella doesn’t know what they looked up, but she has people working on it and will let us know what they find.”
“Did Sonia or Nadia do anything interesting yesterday when Joe and Gavin were following them?”
Lily shifted so her back was resting against the arm of the couch, and she swung her other leg up. She wiggled her toes and grinned at him. With a chuckle and a shake of his head, he started to massage her foot.
“Not really,” she answered. “Sonia went to Amherst to visit her son, who goes to university there. They had lunch, wandered around town for an hour or so, then she came home. Nadia took a drive into Boston and poked around a few shops before visiting the Gardner Museum. It appears she’s a season pass holder, so I assume that’s a fairly regular thing.”
“And it would be too much to hope that they met up with Dr. Pritchard or some other obviously nefarious person?”
Lily smiled. “It’s always good to hope, but no.”
“And any updates on Dr. Gerard Pritchard? Do I want to know if Cyn has done her thing?”
Lily reached behind her and snagged her coffee. “He was admitted to Mass General last night. She hasn’t dug into his records yet, but he’s being kept for observation. Apparently, because he’d just flown in, and he tends to travel to high-risk areas, they want to keep an eye on him.”
“But he’s fine?”
“He’s not in critical care, but other than that, I don’t have the specifics. I was thinking I’d go visit him today. I also asked Cyn to see if anyone else at the conference has reported being sick. I doubt they have, or the event organizers probably would have reached out to all the attendees to let us know, but it’s worth checking.”
“Your friends the Goldsteins were closest to him, at least on one side. Have you checked in with them?”
She shook her head. “No, but that’s a good idea. Maybe I’ll swing by the hospital, see how Dr. Pritchard is doing, then give them a call on the way home. What are your plans for the day?”
“I have this woman I’m supposed to be providing backup to, so whatever she wants me to do is what I’ll be doing.” In truth, he didn’t love being her second-in-command, so to speak. Not because he had a problem following her, though. He’d be happy to do that all the time. But the intelligence world she lived and operated in was different enough from his military experience that he questioned whether he was much help at all. And not being useful was frustrating. Yes, he’d done his best when Lab 14 had been broken into, and he’d finally tracked down the document Pritchard had printed. But now he was just waiting and didn’t know what he was waiting for. Despite his unease, though, he’d raised an eyebrow and smiled at her as he’d made the comment.
“Does that extend to non-op-related things, too?” she asked, swinging her legs down and moving over him, putting her in much the same position she’d been in the night before.
He slipped a hand under her hair and rested it on her neck while the other inched under the hem of her shirt. “I could be convinced. I’m pretty sure those aren’t the orders my commanding officer had in mind when he sent me here, but I don’t think they’ll court-martial me.”
“Good,” she said with a smile. “Because visiting hours at the hospital don’t start for another hour.”
* * *
