Page 37 of Sweet Deception (Irish Kings #4)
Chapter Thirty-Three
The minute we enter the door of my suite, she starts shedding her clothes. Takes everything in me not to rip them right off her body as we stumble backward in the dark, me pushing her toward the California king bed tucked into the far corner.
Nika grabs at my clothes, too, and I help her yank them off my body, discarding them along the way. By the time we reach the mattress, we’re naked and clawing at each other like a pair of wild animals in the dead of night.
“Come here.” She jumps at my command, thrusting her legs around my waist as I pull her body snug against my chest. My dick isn’t mad about it either.
I tumble us down into my sheets while our tongues tangle in an erotic dance.
Seems like forever since we touched each other like this.
Why does a few days apart feel so long?
Nika arches into my chest, tightening her arms around my neck while I kiss her for dear life. My dick slides through her slickness, and she moans against my mouth.
“Yeah?”
She nods eagerly. “I want you.” She returns her lips to mine.
Something intense and victorious reverberates through my whole body, just from those three little words.
“Tonight, you’re going to get me.” I balance my forehead against hers as I sink inside her. Her head drops back against the sheets when I push all the way inside, wildfire blazing through my chest.
Heat consumes me as I rock us back and forth, plunging into her as far as I can go.
Nika doesn’t utter a sound while I move inside her.
Instead, she stares up into my eyes, her arms still locked around my shoulders.
She takes it all in silence, damp-eyed and wordless, gazing at me like I’m a star in the night sky.
Her intensity sears my blood, building pressure at the base of my spine, but I’m not ready to come just yet.
I roll us both over until she’s on top of me, bracing her hands against my chest while she rides me at her own pace, sweet and raw. My hands trace up and down her thighs and sides while she goes at it.
In the darkness, her eyes once again find mine. She peers down at me while she rolls her hips against my waist, taking every inch of me inside her wet pussy.
Fucking hell. She’s going to make me?—
“I missed you,” she moans in a tiny, infuriatingly sexy voice, just before my vision dims and I paint the depths of her body with my cum.
I’m still twitching when she sprawls her upper half over me and crushes her mouth to mine.
With my hands still digging into her hips, I guide her body twice more down the length of my cock, just getting the last of my load out, when her hips buck.
Panting against me, she starts to quiver.
My hands snake around her back, anchoring her to me while climax seizes her.
Then it dawns on me.
When this is all over, I’ll have no idea how to let this woman go.
But whatever we have…it can’t last. Nothing good lasts. Not for me.
The moment stretches between us.
When Nika reaches up to caress my face, tracing the tension in my jaw, my inner control finally cracks, and I can no longer lie to myself.
I don’t just want her now…I’m pretty sure I want her forever.
In the darkness, my fingertips rub her up and down, memorizing every inch of her. Despite all the reasons that Veronika Kotova and I should stay away from each other, I know I’m going to fight to keep us together.
The way she embraces me, the way I’m embracing her… It’s intense. Meaningful. Purposeful. Too tender to explain.
For the first time, I allow myself to imagine a future where keeping her close doesn’t mean putting her in danger.
No matter how I think about it, though, a future like that would require leaving the family behind. Nika could never be safe here.
More importantly, she’d never agree to be part of all this, no matter how wonderfully she fit in tonight with my family, my friends…
I’d also never leave the family behind. I’m nothing without them.
My mind drifts up to the heavens high above us.
My ceiling’s in the way, but behind my eyelids, I can picture the cosmos unfolding.
I don’t know how many nights I’ve spent on my balcony, gazing up at the sky through the telescope my mother gave me another lifetime ago.
She called me her curious boy, said I was always stargazing and searching for… more.
Jupiter and Venus have shined especially bright this fall.
I appreciate the precise orbital mechanics that bring these planets into view. The organized chaos of it all is what I’m in awe of. But now, in my mind, their appearance together takes on a new meaning in my mind.
Our night sky can look like a mess of random lights in the dark, but the truth is that everything follows exact patterns and precise orbits. Even things that seem wildly different can align perfectly.
Maybe Nika and I are like that…two impossible things that somehow fit together.
We’re only moments into our cooldown when a fist bangs on the door, bursting the bubble of our perfect moment.
As gently and quickly as we can, we untangle from each other so I can slide out of bed. I have no idea where I kicked off my sweats, so I yank the top sheet off the edge of the bed and wrap it around my waist.
Then I stalk to the door, expecting one of my friend’s faces, but when I swing it open, I find my father staring back at me instead.
His eyes drop from my face to the rest of me, absorbing my state of undress with a raised eyebrow. Even in the dim hallway, his features appear to exhibit both pride and concern.
“Get dressed.” He hesitates. “ Both of you .” My father’s unreadable gaze shifts away from me. “Rory’s found something.”
“Fine.” This is awkward as ass. “We’re on our way.”
I try not to slam the door in his face.
By clicking on the lights in my suite, I temporarily blind us both. Blinking rapidly, I start to gather up our clothes from the floor.
She sits straight up in my bed, covering herself with the duvet. “What’s going on?”
“Rory’s discovered something about the summit.” I keep my gaze averted. Otherwise, I’m afraid I’ll tackle her all over again. Such terrible fucking timing.
“What?” Nika hops out of bed.
I toss her clothes at her, and we both dress in haste.
“Come on.” She accepts my extended hand, which feels more right than I care to admit.
We hurry to my door, but when I open it again, I’m mortified to find my father still standing there, waiting to escort us to Rory’s office.
What the fuck…
Silence encompasses our grim procession as we walk down this hallway. My father’s eyes remain glued on me, concern deepening the lines on his face. And even though I know that, I can’t stop watching Nika, some strange protective intensity gathering strength inside me with every step we take.
I thought we were headed to Rory’s office, but instead, he leads us to the war room, where Rory’s already begun outlining his plan for infiltrating the summit Red Hill is hosting.
When we step inside, heads briefly swivel in our direction before refocusing on the front of the room.
Rory pauses mid-sentence to address us. “Just the two I wanted to see.”
Well, I don’t like the sound of that.
“What is it?” Instinctively, I step in front of Nika, but she just scoots around me and settles into a seat at the table, eyes intent on Rory’s presentation. Jesus, this woman doesn’t know when to be afraid.
“I found the Red Hill operations base that seems to be communicating about the summit. If we can sneak into the facility and bug their server, we’ll have all the information we need on Troy and the event itself.”
Rory launches into the plan, and the next thing he says causes my stomach to sink. “For this to work, we’re going to need a team of two.”