Page 31

"We shouldn't do this anymore…" she said, sniffling with it. "We shouldn't."

"Do you want to stop?" I asked, my fingers brushing her throbbing pussy from behind.

She shook her head, drawing in a shuddering breath. "No."

"Tell me what you want," I said, leaning her back so that she'd look at me again.

She gazed down at me, cupping my face in her palms.

"You always look at me so…" She seemed to struggle for the words while brushing her fingers over the curls of my hair. She tugged a ringlet before releasing it to bounce back. "I don't know. So good… And I want to kiss you," she said, sniffling when the tears pooled in her eyes. "I want to."

"No." I gripped her ass, squeezing firm enough to bring a whimper to her lips. "No kissing."

"I want to," she choked, sucking in a shaky breath.

"Not yet," I said, closing my eyes when she rested her forehead against mine.

"Let me touch you…" She ran her hands down the front of me, letting her fingers linger around my breasts. The firm bars of my piercings caught against her knuckles.

"No." I grabbed her wrists, holding her hands firmly between us.

"Caroline." She sobbed out my name and writhed in my lap. "I don't understand."

"You do understand. No strings." I jerked her hands, my gaze locking on hers when my emotions got the better of me. "You said no strings and with that, this is what you get."

She conceded, settling against me again without struggle. She slipped her arms around my middle, hugging me to her when she embraced me again.

I quieted, leaning my chin on her shoulder when the heaviness of the situation seemed to fall over both of us.

"We can't do this anymore," she whispered, trembling with it. "We can't."

"We say that every time. Either you or me," I said, rubbing her back in slow circles.

"I can't lose my job. I have to think of Maya." Nora swiped at her eyes then, sitting up right again. "I can't just…maybe I can ask for a transfer." Her nerves rattled around in her, setting her hands to trembling again.

"To where, Nora? You're a forensic psychologist specifically trained by the FBI for the FBI to work in the B.A.U. They won't reassign you to any B.A.U. team in Seattle, and unless you're prepared to move out of state—"

"I can't. I can't do that—"

"I'm aware." I held my hand up to her. "Neither can I." I held my breath for a moment, attempting to avoid disclosing the reality of our situation. "And I'm your superior. There's no transfer for me. I'm done." My heart pounded in my chest, and I knew, the blood-thirsty words that demanded to slice open my lips and release their silence would tear at her, but maybe it needed to. "I'm sorry that I ever gave in to you," I said, stroking her thighs in gentle revolutions. "And I'm sorry that I wanted to."

"Don't be sorry about it…" She swiped at her eyes then let her hands fall to my shoulders. "I wanted you to… More than anything, I wanted you to."

"I know." I drew in a slow breath, my gaze flickering to her chest before brushing my thumbs over her breasts. "Want to help me finish up my playroom since neither one of us will be sleeping much?"

"Playroom?" she asked, her brow furrowing. The way she clenched her thighs told me just the mention of it rekindled something.

"I've decided to turn the storage room into a playroom and the guestroom back into a guestroom."

"What for?"

"I'm getting tired of running scenes at the club. I'd rather do it here," I confessed. "At least sometimes."

"Oh… I thought you hadn't in a while…" Nora's expression fell, as if I dashed her hopes yet again.

"I haven't, but I will." I lifted her then, standing up from our place on the sofa. "You weigh nothing, Nora."

"I'm a bird. Hollow bones," she said with a smirk, then hugged me tighter before setting her feet on the ground.