He patted me on the shoulder. “Let’s get some rest and come back to it tomorrow, okay? With fresh eyes, maybe you’ll be able to see it.”
“Right.” I turned off the screen, grabbed my coat, and followed Bron out of the building. It felt good to be leaving work with him at the end of a long day, even if my knee was complaining loudly about being used again.
Was this what it would have been like if we’d gone through the academy together? Despite what he said, he certainly had a talent for detective work. A part of me wondered if we would've grown up together, if I could've convinced him that joining me in this career was the best way to honor his parents.
How different would our lives have been if the two of us had become FBI agents together? If this walk would've been a normal part of our day.
A walk back to an apartment shared, not because he was a criminal in my custody, but because we were the couple we'd always been meant to be.
Chapter Six
Karis
We picked up burgers on the way home, but I'd learned my lesson yesterday, and we just picked up the food and took it back to the apartment. Benita had been right to be mad at me for being careless. I'd convinced myself that Bron wasn't dangerous – and I still believed that – but the life he'd lived meant he'd always be looking over his shoulder. Immunity would take care of the authorities, but Bron would always have former clients, people he'd worked with, and rivals he'd made. And because of what happened with Uaine, there was a good chance now that word would get around that Bron was working with the FBI.
My job was to keep him safe so that he could help us find Uaine, not go to galleries and restaurants like we were some sort of couple. As confused as I was about whatever this was between us, keeping him safe was a clear priority. I couldn't let my emotions get in the way of that again. He was here to help us catch a killer.
When we arrived back at my apartment, I shrugged off my coat and slid off my shoes with a sigh of relief. I'd bought them for comfort rather than style, but my knee was still protesting. I had a feeling it would be a couple days before it completely healed.
“I have to ask,” Bron said as he kicked off his shoes. “Is that what work's like most of the time?”
I laughed as I headed for my bedroom. “Yeah, most of the time, it's paperwork and hitting dead ends, especially in white collar. Sometimes we get something interesting, but more often, it's day after day of the same old thing.”
I changed into a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, swapped my up-do for a ponytail, and then headed back into the living room. Bron was already sitting on the couch, beer in hand. Another beer sat next to our food on the coffee table.
“Sitting in an office doing that all day would drive me crazy,” he continued our conversation. “I have to be able to get up and move around. I’ve got to get out more than that.”
“I remember you were like that as a kid,” I said as I sat next to him. I picked up the beer and one of the burgers before leaning back. With a sigh, I put my foot up on the table and stretched out my sore leg. “I do get a bit stir-crazy sometimes, but it's all part of the job. I have to take the bad with the good.”
“I hope you don’t mind my saying so, but your life seems...confining,” he said with his mouth full of hamburger.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” I chided him good-naturedly. The relief of being home was magnified by the rough day we'd had. “And I guess it's all relative. You say confining, but for me, it's comforting. The stability of having a home, a solid job that offers a bit of excitement every now and then.” I glanced at him. “After what happened with my parents, I vowed that I'd never let myself be in a place like that again.”
“You never did get to visit any of the places we'd talked about as kids,” Bron made it a statement rather than a question.
I shrugged. “I'd planned on going to London for two weeks after I graduated from high school, but then my aunt got sick. I spent the next four years juggling taking care of her with work and school. When she was gone, I had enough debt that it didn't make much sense to try to travel.”
I felt his eyes on me but kept my attention on the last of my hamburger.
“It's funny,” he said. “How we started off in the same place, but ended up on opposite sides of things.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” I said quietly. I hadn't thought about it before, but my choice to go into the FBI must've seemed almost as strange to him as his decisions did to me.
I wasn't quite ready to talk about any of it though. I needed time to unwind. Time for my food to settle and the alcohol to take the edge off.
I nodded at the TV. “What are we watching?”
“I don’t know,” he said with a shrug. “I just felt like having some background noise.”
“That’s fine.”
As I started on my fries, I watched the television without really seeing what was on the screen. Most of my attention was focused on the glimpses of what I could see of Bron.
For someone who thought my life was confining, it sure seemed like he was enjoying the more domestic pace. Sure, he'd gotten a bit antsy at work, but he'd always been high energy. I remembered more than one occasion when he'd gotten in trouble in school for not being able to sit still. But he'd never been the sort of kid who'd despised being at home. When boys his age pulled away from their families, Bron had never had a problem saying that he was spending time with his parents.
My heart twisted at the memory of holding him in my arms while he cried. That moment in time was the true loss of our innocence. We'd known violence existed, but that had been the first time it had ever truly touched us. It was when I realized that nothing would ever be the same again. Even so, I'd never imagined just how far Bron and I would be from where I'd always imagined.
We'd both lost the safety of home and family in violent ways, and I knew how badly I longed to find those things again. And despite anything he said, I knew that he wanted those things too. What I didn't know was if he wanted them badly enough to change.
He caught me staring at him as he finished his burger. “What?”
I smiled. “Nothing. I’ve just been thinking.”
“You have half a thing of fries left. Must've be some heavy thoughts.”
I smiled and grabbed one. “I’m just distracted, I guess.”
“I can go in the bedroom if you’d like. That way I’m not keeping you from being able to eat.” His eyes danced as he teased me.
“Cute.” I rolled my eyes – the expected response – and then added, “That’ll just make me sad.”
His expression sobered. “Why would that make you sad, Karis?”
I swallowed around the lump in my throat. I'd started it, and I knew that whatever I said next would set the tone. I could keep it flippant and stick with the physical attraction between the two of us, or I could tell the truth and risk it all.
I decided on the truth.
“Because I’d miss you.”
He picked up the remote for the TV and hit the power button, killing the images on the screen. He turned and looked at me, his eyes searching my face for something. “I have a confession to make.”
I instinctively took a deep breath to brace myself. With all the negativity that seemed to surround us, I wasn’t sure what to expect from him, so I figured I needed to be prepared for anything that might come out of his mouth. Maybe I'd been right at the beginning, that it was only sex and a remembered childhood crush. Maybe this was something fun to do in a difficult situation.
He ran his hand through his hair. “I'm not entirely sure how to say this.”
“You just say it,” I said with a tight smile. “I’m pretty sure that’s how confessions work.”
He took a deep breath. “Okay, then, here it goes.” He took my hand in his, electricity jolting through me at the unexpected contact. “Look, Karis, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about all of this and where my life is going.”
The nerves in my stomach balled up. It sounded like t
he typical break up speech. It didn't matter that we weren't actually in a relationship. This was the way he'd tell me that there wasn't anything more than sex and friendship between us.
“I’ve really enjoyed spending time with you. I’ve enjoyed being here, going to work with you, sharing your life, getting to know the person you've become. But I know this can't last. We're so different.”
The knot in my stomach twisted, and I started to regret what I'd eaten. “Get to the point, please.”
A determined expression settled on his face. “I thought I’d lost you, Karis. When I lost my parents and was taken from my home, I thought that was it. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again. I certainly never imagined sitting here with you as an adult all these years later. I never thought I’d get the chance to tell you how I’ve always felt about you.” His fingers tightened around mine. “I've been in love with you since before I even knew what that meant, and seeing you again brought all of that back, stronger than ever.”
The air rushed from my lungs. Of all the things I'd imagined him saying, that wasn’t one of them. That he wanted me, found me attractive, wanted to sleep with me – all of those made sense. That he'd been in love with me since we were kids...my brain couldn't process it.
“Did you really not know?” he asked me. “I mean, you had to have seen it at some point. There’s no way I’d been able to hide it from you that well.”
But he had hidden it, hadn't he? Or had I always just ignored what was right in front of me? On some level, I supposed I must have known. We’d always had a special connection, and I knew how I'd always felt about him, but I'd assumed that it had all been one-sided, that he'd felt only friendship for me. A part of me had taken his disappearance as proof. If he'd been in love with me, he would've found me. Now, I knew what'd really happened, but I hadn't let it sink in how that changed everything.
“Say something, please,” he begged.
“Is that why you hit Colman?” I blurted out the question. It was such a dumb thing to say, but it was the first thing that came to mind.
He laughed, his expression softer than I'd ever seen it. “Yes, that’s why I hit him. That's why I shoved you out of the way when Uaine shot at you. Why I wanted a deal and tried to warn you away from him.” He put his hand on my cheek. “I can't lose you, Karis. It nearly killed me the first time. I couldn't bear it a second time. Even if you don't feel the same way, I will always protect you.”
I didn't know what to say. I'd dreamed of him saying something like this since I was a girl, but now that it was here, I couldn't find the words to express what he meant to me.
I stood. If I didn't have the words, I at least had actions to show it. I held out my hand, and when he took it, I pulled him to his feet and led him down the hallway and into my bedroom.
Chapter Seven
Bron
From the moment she took my hand and pulled me to her room, I felt like something had changed between us. Maybe it had been my confession to her or the unspoken words I'd seen in her eyes. Whatever it was, there seemed to be something more between us than had been there before.
The frantic nature of our previous couplings had disappeared. I still wanted her just as much as I ever had, and I knew she wanted me, but the desire was...softer. Not less, but different.
She turned around as we entered her room, pulling me until our mouths met. The kiss started off soft, lips casually parting as her hands moved between us, fingers working open one button at a time. Her tongue slid into my mouth, and she slid my shirt back over my shoulders, pushing it down my arms.
Her teeth scraped against my bottom lip, and I yanked at her shirt, needing it off, needing to feel her skin. I heard buttons popping free and then her soft-as-silk skin. Some women were soft, even if they were thin, but Karis wasn't. Her body was toned, muscles firm under my palms.
My arms went around her as we tumbled back onto the bed. What followed were several seconds of frantic movement as we scrambled out of the rest of our clothes, but then things slowed down again, and I took a moment to drink in the sight of her.
Those long, gorgeous legs. Her high, firm breasts, topped with tight nipples the color of ripe peaches. The thin layer of dark curls between her legs, covering a place I wanted to know even more intimately than I already did.
“You have the most amazing body,” I said as I lightly ran my fingertips over her calf.
“Not so bad yourself.” She smiled at me, her eyes darkening as they moved over my chest and down my body.
I moved between her legs, spreading them wide so I could admire the delicate pink folds. Her entire body flushed, but she didn't protest. When I leaned forward to trace the tip of my tongue up her slit, she shivered. That was all the encouragement I needed.
I took my time with her, licking and teasing until her breath came in sharp bursts.
“I’m going to come,” she panted.
I felt the tension in her body as I looked up at her. “Come on my mouth, baby.”
I wrapped my lips around her clit, scraped it with my teeth, and she cried out my name. It was the most beautiful sound I'd ever heard. I raised my head so I could watch her as she came, see the expression on her face, the way her back arched.
When she came down, I was still watching her. She reached down, tangling her fingers in my hair.
“Want you.”
I shook my head. “Touch yourself.”
Her eyes widened slightly.
I reached up and took her hand, laid it between her legs. “I want to see you touch yourself.” When she still looked doubtful, I gave her the rest of the truth. “I've spent years imagining what it would be like seeing you do that. Seeing how you pleasured yourself.”
I could see that my words embarrassed her, but I could also see the arousal in her eyes. It made me wonder if the men she'd been with before hadn't been very...imaginative. I pushed the thought from my mind as quickly as it'd come. I didn't want to think about her with other men. With any other man. Ever.
She was mine.
She kept her eyes on mine, but as soon as I realized she was slipping her fingers between her still-slick folds, I had to look down, had to see.
My erection instantly became painfully hard.
“Make yourself come.”
Her fingers slid inside as her other hand moved to one of her breasts. As I watched, she writhed, fingers working her nipple, her clit, twisting inside her. I wrapped my hand around my aching cock, stroked it slowly, imagined what it would feel like once I was back inside her. How she would grip me tight, make me a part of her.
“Come for me again,” I said.
“Want you inside me.” She pressed the heel of her hand against her clit.
“Come first,” I countered.
She whimpered but didn't argue. Her hips moved against her hand and then she was crying out, her back arching as she came again.
I couldn't wait. I pulled her hand away even as her muscles were still contracting, and moved up over her. My mouth covered her, swallowing the sound she made as I buried myself deep inside. I held myself there while her nails dug into my shoulders, clawing at my skin until I knew I'd have marks. My tongue tangled with hers as I rocked against her, withdrew and then pushed back inside.
I groaned as she tightened around me. I wouldn't last long.
This time.
I planned to have her again, and again, until neither one of us could move.
But first...
I drove into her hard and deep, setting a brutal rhythm that Karis quickly matched. Her hips came up to meet mine, our bodies moving together in that sort of dance that every couple tries to find. She and I had always been like that though, knowing how the other one thought. We'd always moved like two parts of the same organism, and now, we were in sync in an even deeper way.
“Bron,” she gasped my name. “Please, baby. I need to come. I can't...I can't...”
I was close, but held back, determined to have her quaking around my co
ck before I came.
I felt her growing wetter and wetter around me as I slowed, each stroke drawing a cry of pleasure from her. I rolled my hips, enjoying the sensation of having Karis wrapped around my shaft, enjoying the way she whimpered when my cock pressed against that spot inside her.
Her eyes were closed, her head was tilted back in ecstasy. She clutched the sheets as each stroke continued to send her closer and closer to the edge. This was what sex was supposed to feel like. It wasn’t just an empty physical need we were satisfying. I wanted to give myself to her, please her, show her that she was everything to me.
I was hers, and she was mine. She’d always been mine. The only one I’d ever even wanted. Everyone else I’d ever been with had just been unworthy substitutes for the real thing. This was the real thing.
Her.
My breath became jagged as I drove into her harder, deeper, faster, my cock growing more and more sensitive with the approaching climax. I put my arms around her and pulled her against me. She grabbed my shoulders and cried out as I slammed into her hard enough to bruise us both. I slipped one hand between us and brushed my thumb over her swollen clit. She buried her face in my shoulder and whimpered as another wave of ecstasy rolled through her body. I pressed my lips to her ear.
“Come for me, my Karis. Come for me and let that delicious pussy of yours squeeze me, make me come too. Make me spill it all inside you.”
Her teeth sank into my shoulder, and my entire body jerked as my orgasm ripped through me. Her pussy tightened around my pulsing shaft, milking out every last drop as we came together.
I put a hand behind her head and pulled her up to me, kissing her deeply as her hungry fingers gripped the back of my head. I held her there as we rode out the pleasure, waiting until our bodies were wrung out before we slumped down to the bed, still in each other's arms.
It was nearly a quarter of an hour later before I slid off the bed and grabbed a towel from her bathroom, cleaning us both up the best I could. When I started to get up to go back out to the couch, she reached out for me.