Dangerously Broken (Aegis Group Lepta Team Book 4) Read online

  Well damn.

  She leaned in a bit more and whispered, “I won’t hold it against you if you do. Now, stop staring and do something with those hands of yours.”

  The corner of his mouth quirked. He pressed a quick, hard kiss to her lips then bent, pulling her pants and panties down, much like what she’d done to him. Only he didn’t stop at her hips, he pushed them all the way off until she was standing there naked, her every fiber attuned to the man now not touching her.

  They reached for each other in the same moment. He wrapped his arms around her waist. She went for his shoulders. Brenden lifted her up again, and she locked her legs around him. His erection pressed against her, the smooth skin sliding between her folds. She found his mouth, kissing him with urgency while his hand dipped between them. He grasped his cock, guiding it to her entrance.

  “Yes,” she moaned.

  Brenden groaned then muttered. “Fuck, are you...?”

  “Get inside me now.”

  It was his turn to chuckle.

  He rocked into her. Her vision blurred.

  She was not prepared.

  Priscilla let her head drop back against the wall and shut her eyes, giving herself over to the feel of his thick cock stretching her. Brenden kept a tight grip on her hips, lifting her, rocking deeper. She curled her arms around his neck and held on, luxuriating in the feel of flesh on flesh, the slow glide, his heat, the way their bodies fit.

  “Too much?” he said against her ear.

  She shivered and wound her fingers through his hair. “Hell no.”

  He lifted her and thrust, driving deeper. Her insides tightened, and she gasped for air. The stretched sensation was both uncomfortable and delicious.

  “God, yes. More of that. Fuck.” She was talking too much, but she couldn’t stop her mouth.

  Brenden’s lips found hers and he kissed her even while he pounded into her. She shifted her hips, moving with him, but he was in control while she hung on for the ride of her life. She was vaguely aware of things like the wallpaper’s texture, that the air had come on again, but mostly it was Brenden filling her body and thoughts.

  He held onto her, his lips coasting from her lips to her neck and chest. As he moved her, her breasts rubbed against him, the wry hairs creating just enough sensation on the aching points that she needed more.

  Priscilla dropped one hand to her breasts and squeezed a nipple, desperate for something. She threw her head back and moaned, lost to the pleasure of his cock and how he fucked her. Their joining was hard. She felt it deep in her bones. And yet the way he held her was tender, careful. It allowed her to let go, to feel, to get lost in the act of being with him.

  “Pris,” Brenden half growled, half panted her name. It was laced with both need and warning.

  “Yes. Yes, fucking come.”

  Priscilla chanted words, incoherent sounds poured from her mouth. She arched her back as he drove deep, joining their bodies again and again. He buried his face in her hair, his mouth next to her ear.

  “Brenden...” She didn’t mean to, but she fisted his hair tight, her legs clamping down around him as her body reached the pinnacle of pleasure.

  It was all downhill from there, a rolling, growing maelstrom of pleasure she felt from her toes to her hair. Her body rippled with it, stealing coherent thought until all she wanted to do was hold on to and kiss this man.

  She remained wrapped around him, holding tight to the one thing she could trust in the rush of feeling.

  Brenden was one hell of a man.

  Priscilla still didn’t understand how he’d gotten under her skin and she no longer cared. What she realized was that this moment was special, and she’d be damned if she ruined it by over thinking a good thing. She’d done that enough in life to learn that sometimes she just needed to accept what was.

  He gently turned his head back and forth, his nose caressing her ear and then her cheek. She eased her death grip on his hair and cupped his cheek, guiding his face to hers for a sensual kiss.

  Without breaking contact he lifted her away from the wall and turned. She was rather impressed when he used just one hand to keep her in place and walked them into the bathroom. He set her on the vanity then cupped her face, his kiss so tender she was tempted to open her eyes and make sure it was the same man.

  Brenden eased away from her and they both hissed as his cock slid from her body.

  She was going to feel that tomorrow and relish every memory of it.

  “Want to check out the tub?” His hand slid up and down her thigh.

  She glanced at the massive, oval shaped tub. It occupied nearly half the bathroom with an excellent view of the bedroom through a wall of glass overlooking the bed.

  Priscilla crossed her ankles and braced her hands on the vanity. “I think mine has a better view, but yours is better because it’s here.”

  Brenden reached over and turned on the water. The man had an ass. Probably from the hours of working out he did. Hulk wasn’t a bad word for him. Not at all.

  “I’m going to order us that dinner. Any requests?” He glanced over his shoulder at her.

  She didn’t stop looking. Hell, she didn’t much care that he’d caught her. “Lots of food. Steak. Hell, if I’m not paying, get dessert, too.”

  He shook his head and stoppered the tub. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  Priscilla slid to her feet. “Is room service even an option? What time is it?”

  “It’s almost two.”

  “In the morning?” Priscilla shook her head. “No wonder I’m starving. And wasn’t it supposed to be me getting you dinner?”

  Brenden stopped so close to her if she took a deep breath her nipples would draw lines on him. He lifted his hand and touched her chin.

  “Semantics. Get in.” He backed toward the door without kissing her, then turned and strode into the room beyond.

  He hadn’t kissed her.

  Why did that bother her?

  Priscilla did a quick post-sex clean up before getting sliding into the warm water, her thoughts mulling things over. She wasn’t big on cuddling after. Hell, she’d been accused a few times of running out after the act, but maybe that was more a reflection on the men than her?

  She sank into the thigh deep water and leaned back, watching a very naked Brenden talking on the room phone.

  That was the single most satisfying sexual encounter of her life. Her brain wanted to immediately begin dissecting it. Why this time? Was it him? Her? The moment? What? But she couldn’t focus on those questions so long as she kept watching him.

  He turned his head, his lips still moving and looked back at her. His face didn’t change. There was no smile, no visible tell, and yet she felt the heat of his gaze. She grinned. Hell, the man deserved to be celebrated as far as she was concerned.

  Brenden finished his phone call without glancing away from her. He tilted his head to the left.

  Asking permission?

  She crooked her finger at him.

  This was so not like her, and she was just going with it for now.

  Brenden entered the bathroom and stopped next to the tub, his gaze sweeping down her body.

  “Admiring the view or trying to decide how to tell me you aren’t a bath kind of guy?” she asked.

  His lips quirked. “The view.”

  Her heart did a little leap.

  He climbed into the tub facing her, his legs on either side of hers. He reached into the water and cupped both of her feet in his hands, lifting them to his thigh. Curious where this was going, Priscilla lay back, committed to simply enjoying this.

  Tomorrow she’d think it to death. That was her way, but for tonight she’d just be here.

  Brenden’s thumbs slid down the arch of either foot. It was a firm touch, finding all those little feel good points that made her bones want to melt. “What were you thinking?”

  “Hm? Thinking?”

  “You had that thinking look going on again.”

  She si
ghed and sank a little lower in the water. “I’m really trying to stop thinking. When are we talking about?”

  He let go of her right foot and focused on her left, both thumbs massaging her sole. “When I was on the phone.”

  “Oh.” She swallowed. What the hell? His ego deserved a little stroking as far as she was concerned. “I was thinking that was just the best sex of my life and instead of trying to dissect why it was I wanted to enjoy this. Oh my God, whatever you’re doing don’t stop.”

  Her eyes nearly rolled back into her head and she slid even further down. He had her heel against her sternum, his thumbs working magic.

  “If that was the best I’m going to question your taste in men.”

  “You shut your whore mouth and accept the damn compliment.”

  Brenden hunched forward and a real laugh rippled out of him. The sound was rough, as if he were unused to it. He tipped his head back, lips curved into the first true smile she’d seen from him.

  Dear God, the man was devastating.

  BRENDEN ROLLED THE room service cart toward the bed. Exhaustion had finally hit Priscilla, and she lay sprawled on his bed wearing the white, fluffy robe from the closet, but it didn’t cover near enough for his liking to allow a strange man into the room at almost three in the morning. He paused, taking her in.

  One arm was thrown over her face. Her hair was up in a messy bun thing. The robe gaped open, exposing her sternum and lower ribs, but nothing more. One thigh peaked from between the folds of fabric, her long, lean legs caught in a frozen dance against the bedspread.

  “Is that food I smell?” she mumbled.

  “Think you can sit up to eat?” He picked up her tray. He’d managed to get her a nice, steak dinner with simple sides. Given what she’d gone through, he wouldn’t doubt that her stomach was all kinds of knotted up from stress.

  “Yup.” She levered up into a sitting position then pushed up to the headboard. “Your phone went off again.”

  Brenden wasn’t particularly keen on looking at it. These were his off hours. If someone needed him, they would call. He set the tray on her lap then turned back to get his meal.

  Priscilla held up her hands and cringed. “Not that I meant to look, but I did see part of a text...”

  Fuck.

  What had she seen?

  He set his meal on the edge of the bed then snatched his phone up trying to think of anything that would give her that guilty expression.

  Nearly a dozen texts, and the first one previewed on his lock screen was from Vaughn.

  Dude is that you? Are you killing someone in there?

  Brenden glanced at Priscilla. Her shoulders were up around her ears and her mouth was scrunched up.

  Was this what she’d seen?

  Fucking Vaughn.

  “Sorry?” she said.

  He glanced through the other texts. The last one made Brenden roll his eyes.

  I don’t know if I should be worried or proud.

  Vaughn wasn’t the only one who’d texted. Had the whole team heard?

  Brenden tapped Nolan’s message.

  Hey, no one cares if you two bang, but for security reasons she needs to sleep in the suite.

  “I just made things weird, didn’t I?” Priscilla held a bite of mashed potatoes on her fork, shoulders slumped.

  “No.” He turned the volume off then set the phone aside. The way he saw it, Vaughn had little room to talk. Nolan’s request was reasonable. The rest could be ignored.

  “I’m sorry,” she mumbled.

  Brenden twisted to face her. “Sorry for the—and I quote—best sex of your life?”

  That got a startled laugh out of her. The ensuing smile was full of light and all the good things. “Okay, so not really sorry we had sex. Just, sorry your coworkers heard.”

  He shrugged. While he wasn’t as public about his partners as the other men had been over the years, he also wasn’t going to hide it or be the least bit embarrassed that his performance had garnered a vocal response. How could he be?

  For the first time in a long time he’d had a full body and mind reaction to a woman. That wasn’t something he was going to regret.

  They tucked into their meal, the only sound that of forks and knives on the stoneware plates. The silence wasn’t awkward. It was content. So often people seemed to need to fill the quiet with conversation or commentary. It was nice to share space with someone and not have to talk.

  “Did you call me Pris?” she asked.

  Brenden chewed slower, the question catching him off guard. Had he? He couldn’t remember.

  “Huh.” She took another bite.

  “Is that a bad thing?”

  She shrugged and swallowed. Her nose wrinkled. “My friends in high school and college did, a few still do, but in professional settings I heavily discourage it. It just seems like the people who do it eventually start calling me Prissy instead and they’re always the assholes.”

  “My bad.”

  “I’m not saying that about you.” She brushed his forearm. “I’m just thinking about this.”

  She gestured to him then herself.

  “And?” he was curious now. His thoughts hadn’t been anywhere near as deep.

  “And I’m done analyzing it.” She flicked her fingers and met his gaze. “I trust you for no reason. You’re at least a halfway decent guy, probably even a great one. I think you’re hot as hell. What else really matters?”

  “Do you usually analyze everything?” Hadn’t she talked about not over-analyzing sex earlier?

  She nodded. “Yes. I want to know how everything ticks, why I do things, why you do things. I want to understand. I’m told it’s a coping mechanism, a way for my brain to be in control because of when I wasn’t in control.”

  Brenden stopped with a bite halfway to his mouth, her words hitting him square in the forehead. “I brainstorm exit strategies for any building I’m in. I always want to know how I’m getting out.”

  “Really?” She twisted to fully face him, her tray balanced on her crossed legs. “How would you get us out of here?”

  “In what instance? Fire? Earth quake? Is the power on? Are we running from hostiles? Or—”

  “You’ve thought through each one?” she asked.

  “Yes.” He set down his fork. He knew her story, but she knew very little of his. “When I was taken, we were acting on bad intel. My unit was sent into this place to try to capture a guy and we walked into a trap. We didn’t know much about the layout of the place and as I was trying to get out of there I ran into a dead end.”

  There was more to it, like his buddy he’d been carrying at the time, the shit storm going on via comms as the whole op came apart. But he couldn’t share that with her. It was all classified.

  Priscilla’s hand closed around his and she squeezed him once, then let go. “Dead ends. That’s, yeah...”

  He focused on her face, the faraway look in her eye.

  Shit.

  “Hey?” Now it was his turn to reach for her hand.

  She took it and they each held on tight for a few moments.

  “After they realized I wasn’t who they thought I was, the guys started being real assholes. These two thought it was so damn funny to let me go, turn out the lights then pop out at me. God, they were dicks. I hope they got scrotal cancer and died painfully.”

  That pronouncement caught him off guard. Once more he found himself choking down a laugh.

  She glanced up at him and grinned. “You never told me how we were getting out of here?”

  “In any instance, if we have forewarning, the ideal exit strategy is down the stairwell and into the west parking lot. Not many ambush points and it’s hard to sneak up on someone on these stairs.” He swiped his thumb over her knuckles before he realized what he was doing.

  “And if it’s a pick up and go now thing?”

  “The balcony. With the rope in my gear bag I could secure you to me and though it would leave us open to a sniper or outsid
e attack, I am confident I could get you down to the ground using the balconies.”

  “The balconies? How? Are you a super climbing hero or something?”

  “No. All you’re doing is dropping from the balcony to the lower railing. Climb down a bit, lower, keep going.”

  “You’re nuts. I’d never make it down that way.”

  “If you had to, I bet you could.”

  They ate and debated his method for exiting the building via the balcony. He knew he could do it. With her level of physical fitness he was fairly confident she’d manage it just fine. By the time their plates were clear her eyes were drooping, and he knew their evening was up.

  It was one hell of a memory.

  “I think I’m going to pass out on you.” She sat up and hid a yawn behind her hand.

  “You should get some sleep.”

  She braced her hands on the bed and studied him for a moment. “Is it going to offend you if I go back to my room?”

  He was surprised by the pang of disappointment.

  Talk about new.

  “No. In the interest of your safety, it’s best if you do.” He resisted the urge to rub his chest in the vicinity of his heart. What the hell was happening to him?

  “Think anyone will be awake?”

  “Just Vaughn.” Brenden grimaced. “He’s on night surveillance duty.”

  “Oh, fun.”

  “I’ll walk you to your room.” He was fairly certain Vaughn would know to keep his comments to himself, but just in case.

  “How sweet.” She grabbed her pants from the foot of the bed. “Mind if I borrow your robe?”

  “Please.”

  Now that Brenden had been intimate with that body, he wasn’t keen on anyone else looking at her. Even the rest of the team.

  She finished getting dressed while he only bothered with a pair of flip-flops besides his shorts.

  Priscilla gave him a fleeting smile as they left his room and made the short walk to the suite. He used his keycard to let them in. Sure enough, Vaughn was the only one awake. He sat on the sofa, most of the lights off, his laptop open and the TV on.

  To Vaughn’s credit, he didn’t even glance at them. Brenden walked Priscilla through the living area and on to the master suite. He paused at the door, a strange urge to follow her in taking over his mind.