Chasing Silver (7 page)

Her disorientation lasted only for a moment. Turning on her heel, Remy took off after them.

*   *   *

Nathan leaned against his car, checking his watch every minute. As soon as Remy left, he regretted sending her. Not because he thought she would fail. If anybody could lead Tian out of the club, she could. But he shouldn’t have involved her in the job at all. Shouldn’t have involved her in his life. She wasn’t his partner, and though she thought she owed him something for helping her the night before, he didn’t want anything more from her.

Nathan couldn’t stop thinking of what she had said. He couldn’t stop hearing her husky, honest words. They were the sort that were too good to be true. And what had he learned about words too good to be true? They never were. But he was beginning to think Remy didn’t have an insincere bone in her body. She told the truth and damned the consequences.

Or she was a convincing liar. One of the best he had ever seen.

He needed to focus. Tian would be out of the club any minute, and he wouldn’t have a second chance. No hesitation. No distraction. He needed to neutralize Tian before he had the opportunity to analyze Remy’s role in his capture.

Straightening, Nathan paced to the edge of the parking lot, then back to his car, marking the seconds with each impatient step. She should be back. A woman skirted the lot, but she was too tall, the man with her too short. They laughed as they got in their car. Their headlights illuminated the darkness, flashing across another couple attached at the mouth. The second pair fell into the backseat of an old Cadillac, oblivious to the world.

“Come on,” he murmured. “Come on.”

The lot was silent once again. Silent enough to hear footsteps approaching from the north end. From the wrong direction. Remy would approach from the club. But the back of his neck tingled, and chills spread down his arm to his fingertips. Nathan reached for his gun without thought, but his fingers were still inches from the holster when the footsteps stopped.

“I want to see your hands, Officer Pierce,” Tian said, in his familiar, mocking tone.

Nathan raised his hands slowly. Tian had known just where to find him.
She told him.
The thought was immediate and heavy and undeniable.
She told him.

“What are you going to do, Tian?”

“Turn around. I don’t shoot people in the back.”

“I do,” a second voice drawled.

“Cesar does,” Tian agreed. “But I promise, Cesar won’t be shooting you. Turn around.”

Careful to keep his face a mask of cool composure, Nathan turned toward the two men. “Are you going to kill me right here? You’re surrounded by witnesses. You won’t get down the block before the police swarm the area.”

Cesar smirked, looking left then right. “I don’t see anybody around.”

But Nathan did.

She slipped between the parked cars, silent as a shadow as she crept ever closer. The blade he’d demanded she take was poised expertly in her palm, but Remy’s solemn gaze wasn’t on Nathan. It was on Tian and Cesar. Neither man seemed aware of her approach.

Nathan focused on Tian, careful to keep his eyes away from her. Both men had their guns pointed at his head, and he knew the threat of one hundred witnesses wouldn’t stop them. Men like Tian came and went in Los Angeles, each thinking they were invincible until time or the law caught up. “How’s your arm? I’d like my knife back.”

“Yeah, I’ve got it right here in my pocket.”

The only reason Nathan knew Remy had thrown her knife at all was because the streetlight caught the blade and sent slivered reflections dancing across the lot.

Cesar’s scream of pain shocked Tian. His head whipped around to see the knife protruding from the other man’s back.

Nathan took advantage of Tian’s distraction, yanking his gun free. His finger was slick against the trigger, and no obstacles stood between the bullet and his target’s chest. But Tian wasn’t even looking at Nathan. All his attention was on his fallen friend. Nathan had lost sight of Remy, but he hoped Tian hadn’t caught a glimpse of her. Just as Nathan was about to fire, somebody shouted, “Look out!”

Whether the warning was meant for him, or for Tian, Nathan didn’t know. He dove on instinct, shooting as he rolled behind a nearby car. Tian threw himself to the ground, his body covering Cesar’s. The Cadillac roared by, its headlights like angry eyes, its tires only an inch from Nathan’s feet.

The driver braked hard just as the car’s bumper loomed over Tian. Tian didn’t hesitate. He jumped to his feet, shooting in Nathan’s direction as he dragged Cesar’s body with one arm to the open passenger door. Nathan stayed low as the bullets whizzed by and shattered the windows of the BMW to his right. He looked up as the barrage ended, in time to catch the red taillights of the Cadillac disappearing down the road.

Pounding footsteps grew louder, and then warm hands tugged at his jacket. They pulled him back and upright, revealing Remy’s frantic features.

“Are you okay? Did he get you?” Her fingers slid beneath his coat, seemingly everywhere at once as they searched for signs of blood. “The bastard took off as soon as Cesar came up to him. I didn’t even get a chance to talk to Tian. He didn’t hit you, did he?”

Nathan caught her wrists, holding her against him. “No, no, I’m fine.”

His first impulse was to doubt her story. Tian even had backup in the car. It felt more like a trap they’d sprung instead of his plan. But she regarded him with genuine concern, her gaze still jumping around in search of imaginary blood. More, he wanted to believe her. He didn’t want to push her away, didn’t want to walk away from her.

“Did Tian see you at all?”

She shook her head. At least she wasn’t fighting him. “I only wish I’d had two knives.” Something caught in her voice. “I would’ve taken them both down for you.”

“You did enough. If you weren’t there…” He didn’t need to finish the sentence. They both knew. And he knew she hadn’t betrayed him. Or he wanted to believe that enough that he convinced himself it was true. The end effect was the same.

They needed to get out of the area, in case Tian came back with his entire gang, but at the moment, the danger didn’t matter. Nathan held the back of her head, guided her mouth to his, and kissed her without hesitation.

Remy’s legs were tight around his waist, her hands buried in his hair, her mouth hungry on his. Nathan stabbed his keys at the general area of the doorknob, but he couldn’t pull away from her to find the lock, resenting even the bare seconds it took to breathe. He had never tasted anything like her, never tasted anything so sweet, never felt anything as soft as her lips.

Her nails raked down the back of his neck before one hand disappeared entirely. Slipping between their bodies, it scratched down his stomach until it found the hard outline of his cock wedged against her pussy. One squeeze was all it took for him to gasp and break away from her mouth.

Her eyes were black with desire as her tongue skated over her lower lip. “I think you’re hard for me again,” she murmured.

“I think you’re right.” Despite his trembling fingers he fitted the key into the lock on the first attempt, but without the latch holding the door in place, the weight of Remy leaning against it made it fly open.

They fell into the apartment, her laughter pealing through the silent room. Kneeling, Nathan kicked backward to close the door while his hands moved to the waistband of her pants. “How do you get these off?”

With a wicked grin, Remy pushed him away and rolled onto her stomach, exposing the nearly hidden zipper running down the middle of her ass. Her hair spilled into a soft curtain over her shoulder when she looked back at him, but she didn’t say a word as she bent her knee and ran her foot along the inside of his thigh.

Nathan moaned at the novel contact, his muscles tightening. It burned everywhere she touched him, either deliberately or incidentally, until all lingering doubts drifted away like smoke. He didn’t hesitate to cup her ass with both hands, flexing his fingers around her tight flesh, feeling the heat of her skin through the thin material. She pushed against him as he found the zipper glittering in the dim light. He pulled it down, revealing her firm, round cheeks.

Nathan skimmed his fingers over the curve and up to the small of her back, coming to a stop at the band of her shirt. He unsnapped the material with a flick of his wrist, and, unable to resist the urge to taste her skin, ran his tongue down the smoothness of her spine, along the top edge of her briefs, and down to the sensitive skin of her inner thigh.

The faintest of tremors in her leg accompanied Remy’s sigh of satisfaction. “You have no idea how badly I wanted you to do this last night. When I woke up this morning, and you were still asleep—” she shuddered when he nibbled along the swell of her ass, “—I almost said to hell with it and climbed on right then.”

Nathan thought climbing on sounded like an exceptionally good idea. Possibly, the best idea in human history. He tugged off her boots before dragging her pants and underwear down her legs, leaving them in a pile at her feet, before focusing on his own pants. He sighed with relief as he freed his erection and stretched out on the floor beside Remy, pulling her onto him. She straddled him without hesitation, their mouths coming together once again.

Nathan didn’t know what he was doing. He didn’t understand the raw hunger running through his body like bolts of electricity. He couldn’t think. Somehow, it would all make sense once he was inside of her.

“Can’t wait,” Nathan said against her mouth. “Can’t…”

“Then don’t.” Without abandoning their searing kisses, she lifted enough to allow the tip of his cock to slide down her wet slit, then sheathed him in one long, drowning stroke.

Nathan pulled on the string keeping her flimsy camisole clinging to her body, whisking it away as soon as the knot was untied. Her hard nipples scraped against his chest, sending a low thrill through his blood, and her hair fell around him, tickling his shoulders. Beneath the lingering smell of sweat and alcohol from the club was the tantalizing scent of her arousal and skin, the same soft smell that had haunted his dreams.

But the reality was better than his fevered fantasies. The reality of her hot skin, her tight flesh, her pounding pulse was beyond his imagination. Remy felt so right. Like they fit each other.

He didn’t know why, but she kept slowing, hips rocking in longer slides, hands skimming over his shoulders, until the only thing moving was the deliberate sweep of her tongue. Then her tongue stopped as well, and she sat up, leaving him stripped of everything she’d given him. Everything but the fierce heat of her pussy around his cock.

Her fingers traced the line of buttons down the middle of his shirt. Even in the dusky light, he saw the high color in her cheeks. “I don’t get this,” she whispered. The bottom button came free, and her hands began to slide upward, undoing each as she spoke. “Us. You. Why I look at you, and…”

She stopped. The delicate line of her throat rose and fell as she swallowed, but her fingers continued to peel his shirt away until the cool air tightened his exposed nipples.

It relieved Nathan to know he wasn’t the only one who felt out of control. Her behavior might be out of the ordinary, but his was so far out of character he wasn’t even sure he recognized himself. Placing his hand against her back, he forced her down until their upper bodies molded against each other again. The sultry fire of her flesh still astonished him, her warmth seeping from her body to spread through his skin.
Is it always like this?
Nathan couldn’t remember. It had been too long. He moved his hand down her body to her hip, encouraging her to rock against him.

“I don’t get this either,” Nathan murmured, drawing his mouth along her jaw and down her neck. “But I know I…”
Need this. Need you.
“Never had a chance.”

“Maybe that’s what this is for us. A chance.”

She squeezed around his aching shaft before accommodating his urge for more, keeping her torso still as she began to slide up and down his length. Her tongue dragged along the rough edge on his neck where stubble met skin before coming to a stop at his ear. When her breath hitched, Nathan’s fingers dug into the soft flesh of her hips, guiding her, holding on, keeping her steady when a tremor rippled through the muscles beneath his palms. The seconds stretched longer and longer while he waited for Remy to speak.

Her whisper came on an exhalation. “A fresh start.”

The promise behind her words sent something hot and sharp through his chest, like an electrified dagger. A fresh start was not something he had ever considered, or hoped for. His life had been in limbo, stuck in the gray, shapeless place before the end. A fresh start. Her madness must have been contagious, because he almost believed it.

The echo thrummed through him, pulsing to the rhythm she set. Nathan needed more, needed her to move faster, needed to feel the glorious burn of her body as they broke and came together again. He was sure she saw the desperation in his eyes, and if he had the energy, he would have tried to mask it. She sat up, her back arching, her breasts thrusting forward. Her flesh trembled beneath his hand as she clenched, moving harder, moving faster, drawing him deeper into her body.

“God…” The rest of it was lost in a breathy stream as Remy braced her hands against his chest, clinging to his sweat-slicked skin as her hips slammed against his. Nathan couldn’t discern the individual words, but he didn’t need to. All he needed was to see her fiery hunger, feel the ever-quickening strokes along his cock.

When her fingernails curled into his skin, he gasped, but the ensuing cry ripped from her throat distracted him from the momentary sting. With a single, violent drive, Remy buried him inside her quivering heat, her spine bowing impossibly back, her inner muscles fluttering around him. The word falling from her lips then was more than understandable.
Nate
.

Nathan’s skin felt tight and hot, his balls ached, and his heart thundered in his ears. Each convulsion sent a series of tremors though his flesh, pushing him closer to the edge. He struggled to hold the last threads of his control, prolonging the moment, because he didn’t know what was on the other side. But he couldn’t resist the swell of physical need mingled with unfamiliar and confusing emotions burning through him.

Remy fell forward, capturing his lips just as he groaned. He thrust his tongue into her mouth as he pushed forward one final time. His muscles constricted and then everything seemed to expand for a scant moment before collapsing. Nathan relaxed against the rough carpet, Remy’s weight pushing him into the floor.

“Oh, god…”

“I thought that was my line.” A faint note of laughter undercoated her words, but when she lifted her head to look down at him, there was nothing mocking in her eyes. “Is it redundant to say that was fucking unbelievable?” She smiled. “Or unbelievable fucking. Take your pick.”

“I don’t think it needs to be said.” His fingers slid down her spine, and her soft sigh of pleasure made his cock twitch. It wouldn’t be long until he was ready for her again, but he’d rather the second round be in his bed.

*   *   *

It was hard not to stare at him.

Sweat gleamed on Nathan’s brow, and his eyes were impossibly blue in the dim light. Beyond his heavy lids, though, lurked something darker, deeper. Remy thought if she only watched long enough, she’d understand what it was. If she asked, he wouldn’t tell her; of that, she was certain. What she wasn’t so sure about was whether he would even know what it was she meant.

Though his cock was still inside her, he had gone half-soft in the aftermath of his orgasm. If she moved, their contact would be broken, but the prospect of spending the night on the floor was far from appealing.

“I don’t want to sleep on the lounger again,” she blurted.

Nathan chuckled. “I’m sure something else can be arranged.” He brushed the hair away from her face. “If you let me up, we can arrange something else now.”

A playful smile curved her lips. “Don’t tell me the big bad bounty hunter is pinned by a girl.” She tightened her thighs around his hips. “Maybe all those muscles I saw this morning were just for show.”

“Maybe.” Nathan rolled and pinned her shoulders to the floor. “Or maybe not.” Dipping his head, he licked the swell of her breast, his mouth falling over her nipple. She moaned as he pulled it between his teeth, and his cock responded, growing hard inside her once again. He moved back, as if he were pulling away, then thrust forward, driving into her even more deeply. “What were we talking about?”

Between his teeth and the fresh grind against her clit, Remy wasn’t sure what they had been talking about, either. But then another thrust slid her back against the carpet, and a sharp sting made her cry out in pain.

Immediately, Nathan froze, his eyes clearing. “Oh, shit. I forgot.” He pulled out of her and sat up, kneeling between her legs. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” She couldn’t curb a small wince as the knife wound on her back pulled as she sat up. “But maybe I should be on top for a while.”

Remy took his hand when he offered it, allowing him to help her stand. Her legs felt like rubber, and it took a moment of unsteadiness to feel like she could walk again, but she flashed him a reassuring smile. “Just have to get my sea legs again.”

He gripped her waist and lifted her off the floor. “Let me help with that.”

She wrapped around him, the tip of his cock nudging against her wet folds. His mouth was all over the place, moving over her lips, along her jaw, and down her neck.

“You’ve got to stop doing this,” she said, though she tilted her head to allow him better access. “At this rate, we’re never going to make it to the bedroom.”

He didn’t answer, too busy tasting as much of her as he could reach. Remy whimpered when he nibbled at her breast, but when he began to slide her back down onto his cock, she tightened around his hips, stopping the motion.

“Bed,” she prompted, her voice a rough whisper. “And I can satisfy all those naughty thoughts I had about eating you up this morning.”

Nathan navigated down the dark hallway to his bedroom without pausing to turn on any lights. She felt the tension under his skin, felt the muscles tremble beneath her fingers. Nathan sat on the bed without releasing her, holding her against his chest as he fell back onto his single blanket. “You were having those sorts of thoughts too?”

Every time he gave voice to his own desires, Remy relaxed a little bit more. It was hard enough coming to grips with the intensity of her attraction to him; knowing he was as much awash in confusion as she was gave her an anchor to grasp.

“Yeah.” Fighting against the power in his arms, she pushed herself up to see his features shadowed in the dark. “My head was a pretty interesting place last night. I had all these dreams, and I think every one of them had my mouth on you in some way.”

As if to prove her point, Remy bent her head to run the flat of her tongue along his shoulder, dragging it up to his neck. When she felt the texture change, going from smooth to rough and back to smooth again, she stopped, pulling back far enough to notice the thin scar running across the base of his throat.

Her fingers were gentle as she reached up and skimmed them along the raised skin. “Someone got a piece of you.” Beneath her, Nathan stiffened, and her gaze flew to his face, fearful she’d said something wrong.

He frowned, but she didn’t think anger marred his features. Catching her fingers, he pulled them away from the scar and brought them to his lips. He kissed her knuckles before placing her hand over his heart, covering it with his own. “It happened a long time ago,” he murmured.

The slight melancholy in his voice kindled the sudden desire to find out more, to hear the story of who he would allow to get so close and then hurt him so viciously. But just as suddenly as the want appeared, Remy tamped it down. That kind of probing went beyond a simple physical attraction. Better to focus on the here and now, on the sinuous muscles stretched out beneath her, on the fact he wanted her.

And she wanted him.

Beneath her palm, his heart battered to escape. Slowly, she lowered her tongue back to his neck, skating past the scar to the hollow at the base of his throat. His skin was salty and sleek from their coupling on the floor, and the combination of taste and memory made her groan as her mouth watered.