Page 16 of Hunted Hearts (Black Heart Security #6)

J uliette’s eyes blazed at him with an unspoken heat, and Theo felt his control snap like a thread pulled too tight.

The quiet of the library—lit only by the soft glow of the late-fall sun streaming through the windows and the last notes of Mussorgsky still echoing faintly from the speakers—was suddenly electrified.

Her gaze didn’t waver from his.

He didn’t even remember closing the small gap on the sofa between them, just the rush of his pulse and the warmth of her skin when he cupped her jaw.

When he captured her lips, he didn’t ask permission. The hungry look in her eyes was enough.

Her lips parted on a soft gasp before she curled her fingers into the collar of his flannel and pulled him closer. The scent of her—something faintly floral, warm, undeniably her —made thought impossible.

He did what he’d been longing to do since she walked out onto the porch—he buried his fingers in her hair as he angled the kiss deeper, his tongue sweeping against hers.

A quiet moan broke from her. Her nails grazed the back of his neck, a featherlight scrape that sent a shiver racing down his spine.

Without realizing what he was doing, he cupped the back of her head, thinking to guide her down on the sofa and feel her thighs wrap around him again. To shimmy that long shirt up her leg and hear her sigh as he found her soaking—

But they weren’t alone, not really. Not as long as he could still hear the clanking of pots and pans in the kitchen and voices carrying across the house.

He broke away and stared down into her beautiful eyes. They were both breathing harder than they should’ve been. Her lips were swollen, her cheeks flushed. The sight alone made his gut tighten.

“This is…” She trailed off, her voice strained, eyes searching his face like she might find her answer there.

“Yeah,” he muttered, thumb stroking along her jaw before he inched back, just enough to keep his head clear. He glanced toward the door, listening for any sound right outside the door. When he didn’t pick up on any, he tugged her hand. “Come on.”

Juliette hesitated a heartbeat before nodding, her lips curving in a faint smile more dangerous to his restraint than anything yet.

They slipped through the house like teenagers sneaking out after curfew, their footsteps light on the hardwood floor. When they reached the hall leading to several of the bedrooms, he guided her closer to the wall because he remembered the old floorboards creaked in the middle.

Every distant sound—the engine of a vehicle on the ranch, the faint rattle of a window in the breeze—seemed amplified in the stillness. Theo couldn’t shake the strange mix of heat and mischief twisting in his chest, like he was a kid again, doing something reckless behind his family’s backs.

Halfway to her room, he leaned close, his lips caressing her ear just enough to make her shiver. “You look tired,” he murmured, his voice low, teasing. “Guess I’ll have to tuck you in.”

Her quick inhale was answer enough. She tilted her head just slightly, her lips grazing his jaw in the faintest tease before they kept walking.

By the time they reached the guest room, Theo didn’t bother with subtlety. He caught her by the waist and spun her gently so her back hit the door, his mouth finding hers again as he nudged it closed with his foot. The soft click of the latch might as well have been a starter’s pistol.

Juliette melted against him, her arms winding around his neck as the kiss deepened, hotter, hungrier. The attraction that had been simmering between them—since they met, if he had any read on it—boiled over, spilling out in every press of their mouths, every brush of fingertips over heated skin.

He slid his hands to her hips, flexing his fingers against the silk of her robe before slipping beneath, finding the edge of her nightshirt. He groaned into her mouth when his palms met the bare, warm skin of her thighs.

As he plundered her sweet mouth, he dragged his thumbs upward, under the nightshirt, stroking the curve of her waist.

She broke the kiss just long enough to whisper, “Bed.” Her voice was soft but commanding, threaded with the same need coiling in his gut.

Theo didn’t take orders from just anybody, but this was one order he’d gladly take.

With a growl, he backed her toward the mattress with steady steps.

When the back of her knees hit the edge, she sat, her fingers already finding the buttons of his flannel.

He stood over her, watching the determined way she worked each one, his chest rising and falling faster with every second. And his cock battering his fly.

When she pushed the shirt off his shoulders, she raked her gaze over his chest, issuing a soft puff of a sigh.

“You’re…so…hot.”

His ego liked the stroke it got from her words. She deserved some in return…and so much more.

He tugged the sash of her robe. “You’re overdressed.”

Slowly, he peeled the robe down her arms and then yanked her nightshirt over her head. The instant her breasts were bared to him, he cradled them in his hands, learning the weight of them, the shape of them…how she moaned when he strummed his thumbs over her nipples.

A shiver rippled up and down her body. She reached for his waistband, yanking with more boldness than he expected from her. But Juliette knew what she wanted and how to get it.

And he let her.

When she unzipped his fly and skated her fingertips over the swell of his erection, his eyelids drooped as he watched her draw her bottom lip between her teeth. She curled her fingers around his length through his boxers.

He wouldn’t last if he let her continue.

He eased her down on the bed, linked only by their mouths. When she was gasping for air and small moans burst from her lips, he hooked a finger in the tiny string of her panties arching high on her hip.

The fragile fabric snapped.

“Theo!”

Her sweet scent drew him in. He nudged the ruined silk aside, exposing her slick, bare pussy.

He dipped his head, mouth open. She stifled a cry and dug her fingers into his scalp.

For a beat, he let her feel the heat of his mouth. Then he delivered a slow lick, from bottom to top.

Her cry was gasoline on the flames of his desire. He planted his hands on her knees and pressed them up and back, spreading her for his questing tongue.

Her sweet juices made his head spin with want. His eyes slipped shut but only for moments because he had to see her face when she shook apart for him.

* * * * *

Theo’s mouth was burning her alive. With sucking pulls on her clit, he commanded her body.

She arched off the bed, her insides clenching tight, tighter. Like a string about to snap.

No man ever took her this way.

Without apology.

Like he owned her.

Her eyes were wide, fixed on his. While she watched him suck her clit between his lips once more, she cried out. Her pussy flooded.

Theo’s eyes darkened.

Her body pushed into his lips and tongue with a will she had no control over. His rough fingers traced over her inner thigh, moving downward. When he skimmed one longer digit over her entrance, she bit back a cry.

In one smooth glide, he filled her with his finger. With juicy thrusts, he began to fuck her over and over, curling his finger to press into her G-spot.

“More!”

He rumbled against her pussy, shooting sparks through her whole body, and plunged two fingers inside.

She began to climb the steep ridge of ecstasy. It was like the sun out there hovering over the mountain, within view but out of reach.

As she writhed against his mouth and fingers, she watched that intensity claim his rugged features again. His focus seemed to tune into her every moan, every twitch of her hips.

“Thee-oo!” Her voice broke on his name as her body took the leap.

And he was right there, guiding her through the turbulent chasm. Her release struck hard and fast, stealing her oxygen and her mind along with it. Pulsations melded with the throb of her heart until she had no clue of where she was in time or space anymore, only that she was in Theo’s control.

A harsh shudder tore through her, and then he was hovering over her again, lips gleaming with the juices of her orgasm.

Gasping and shaking, she met his dark gray stare.

He swept his thumb along her cheekbone.

“You sure about this?” His voice was gravel.

She forced her boneless arms to move and wrapped them around his neck.

He leaned in and claimed her mouth in a soft sweep of lips that was so far from the kisses that got them to the place that her mind was tumbling to understand the shift in him.

Then he suddenly broke the kiss. With slow, deliberate twitches of his hands—forearms bulging with each move—he stripped off his clothes. She drank in the way he closed his fist around the base of his cock until the head swelled purple with need.

His jaw flexed. The condom in his other hand trembled as he brought it to the tip of his throbbing cock.

“Hands shaking, Malone?” she teased again, her lips curving despite the catch in her voice.

His wicked grin felt like a slash across her senses. “Still not nerves. Just…impatience.”

In one quick jerk of his hand, he rolled it over his shaft.

She reached for him, pulling him down on top of her, her lips meeting his neck.

Theo’s restraint shattered. He claimed her mouth again, his kiss deeper, harder. She arched beneath him, curling her fingers into his shoulders as their bodies aligned. Heat sparked everywhere they touched.

Nothing stood between them but the heady warmth of skin on skin.

She issued a soft moan as his mouth traced the line of her collarbone and his hands moved over her sides, mapping every curve and hollow like he intended to memorize her.

The mix of teasing and hunger between them only made it hotter, every stroke of lips and fingertips pulling them deeper into the storm.

When he finally eased into her, her thoughts stuttered. She grazed the broad muscles of his back with her short nails, and Theo buried his face against her shoulder for a beat as if steadying himself before lifting his head to meet her gaze.

The connection that surged between them was almost overwhelming, sparking like a live wire as he began to move.

Their rhythm built slowly at first, a steady cadence of breath and touch, teasing waves pulling them higher. Juliette’s soft gasps mixed with his low groans, their mouths finding each other between every shift, every brush of skin.

He rolled his hips, and she rose to meet him. The dark pressure deep inside her seemed to flood higher, moving up from her belly to some small space in her chest.

The teasing gave way to desperation. The need coiled tighter, every movement driving them closer to the edge. Theo slid a hand to the small of her back, lifting her just enough to bring them even closer, his mouth catching her cry as she arched beneath him.

His whispered “Juliette!” was what undid her. The sound was raw and vulnerable, gritty with need. It tipped her over the edge.

Her insides gripped. His cock thrust deep, urging the need inside her to a fury. The feel of his muscled body wrapped around her lifted her higher until the tight string of lust reached a snapping point.

Their release came like a wave, all-consuming. She clung to him, riding him with a cry that he swallowed with his kiss. She flipped her tongue over his and gathered his groan of answer.

For long heartbeats, they continued to rock against each other. When they collapsed, they were both trembling and panting. It seemed to take an eternity before her mind drifted back into her body, and she grew aware that she was tangled in the heat of him and soft sheets.

Neither spoke, but his gaze penetrated, deep and powerful. Theo rolled just enough to keep his weight off her but left his arm draped around her waist, their legs still entwined.

Juliette rested her hand on his chest, tracing idle patterns over his skin as their breathing slowly evened out.

Lying against Theo, with the slow, steady beat of his heart beneath her cheek, she was so aware of just how rare this was. Like opening up an old trunk and finding a priceless Stradivarius violin inside, just waiting for someone to bring it to life.

She struggled to wrap her brain around that thought. Her life was filled with creativity but she also analyzed every small move of her fingers on the strings, each note before it was played. Practicing pushed her creativity and made it blossom in new ways.

With Theo, she let the questions pounding at the back door of her mind fade away, leaving only the whisper of feeling between them.

He stroked a smooth path from the base of her spine to her nape, making her skin ripple under his touch. She turned her lips against his chest and reveled in the glow spreading through her.

Right now, in this very minute, she didn’t have to worry about schedules or threats or even how to pick up where her tour left off.

Chaos churned just beyond the walls of the ranch—threats she could almost feel pressing closer but didn’t want to admit to sensing.

Theo’s strong arms made her believe, if only for a short spell, that she was untouchable.