(Elemental Assassin 01) Spider's Bite (36 page)

Caine stared at me. “Not a good idea, Gin. We’re here for a reason, remember? To get the James sisters to back off. Nothing else. They could be looking for us.”

Wild desperation colored his eyes. Caine was trying to save himself, but I wasn’t going to let him.

“A poor excuse. Haley and Alexis are too busy arguing about what to do right now. Even if they weren’t, they wouldn’t find us. They probably think we left the club already to go somewhere and wait for their call. Until then, we’ve got nothing but time.”

I leaned up and put my mouth beside his ear. Caine’s shoulders jerked underneath my hands. He was on the edge.

“If you’re worried about protection, well, I take my little white pills, so there won’t be any unwanted consequences. And I assume you have a condom or two in your wallet like most men.” I drew in a deep breath. “As for the issues between us, I don’t care that we’ll be on opposite sides again tomorrow. After everything that’s happened, I want what I can have today. I want you, detective. Right here, right now.”

I pressed my lips to his.

It was like I’d shocked him with a live wire. He just—exploded. Donovan Caine let out a growl and yanked me to him. He turned me around and backed me against the wall, his hands bunching up the soft fabric of my dress. The detective crushed his lips against mine. This time, I didn’t have to tease his mouth open. His tongue was already thrusting against mine. I welcomed the sensation.

His smell—that intoxicating, sharp scent of soap—filled my nose. Shredding my own control. My hands were everywhere. His face, neck, chest. Kneading, clutching, wanting more. Wanting to feel every inch of him at once. Trying to hang on to something that would be gone the second we left this room.

Once he had my dress out of the way, Donovan Caine reached for my panties. He ripped them off in one motion and plunged two fingers inside me. I moaned, already wet and aching for him. I hooked one leg around his waist, giving him better access. Caine pumped his fingers inside me in a quick, steady rhythm, going deeper every time. He groaned with me.

“I’ve wanted to do that since the first moment I saw you on that balcony,” he whispered against my lips. “Wanted to feel you.”

“Then don’t stop.” My voice was husky with desire. “Don’t stop.”

Our mouths and tongues came together again, even as Donovan stroked me.

There was too much tension, too much feeling, too much need, between us to wait any longer. Donovan’s free hand fumbled with his pants, getting his wallet out of them before the fabric whispered to the floor. I tried to push down his boxers, but the black silk snagged on his jutting erection. Frustrated, I ripped open the flap, freeing him, while he tore open the foil packet with his teeth and covered himself with the condom.

“Now,” I rasped. “
Now
.”

Caine picked me up, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. He pushed me back against the wall and slammed his cock into me, thrusting into me as hard and fast as he could. In a frenzy now. We both were.

I moaned again at the slick feel of him moving deeper and deeper inside me. My nails dug into his shoulders. Every time, he thrust in, I clenched myself around him, tighter every time, getting closer to the orgasm I so desperately craved. To that sweet release. Caine buried his head against my neck. The metal rack next to us shook and rattled with our movements.

It all felt so damn good it hurt.

But it was over too quick. Less then a minute later, Caine jerked a final time and shuddered against me, finding his release. I felt him deflate and slip out. So much for stamina. I’d pushed him too hard, too fast. He was done, but I still ached with hot, throbbing need. And it wasn’t going to go unfulfilled.

“I’m—I’m sorry.” Caine lowered me to the floor and stepped back. “That was too rough.”

“It wasn’t too rough,” I said. “But we’re not finished yet.”

I put my hands on Caine’s shoulders and maneuvered him over to the love seat. His knees hit the back of it, and he plopped down on the spring-filled cushions. I straddled him, getting rid of the used condom and then taking his thick length in my hands. His breath quickened against my neck.

“Come on, detective. Rise back to the occasion.” I teased his wet tip with the sharp point of my fingernail.

“Is that a challenge?” His voice was thick and husky with sex. His hands moved to my waist, drawing me closer.

I got up on my knees and rubbed his cock against my core. “More like an incentive.”

It didn’t take long for the detective to spring back to life and produce another condom from his wallet. This time, it was my turn to be on top. I set the pace, riding him long and slow, going up, then grinding down on him, a little deeper, a little quicker every time until he was muttering my name over and over.
Gin, Gin, Gin
. Like it was some sort of prayer—or a curse. Sexiest damn thing I’d ever heard.

Caine groaned. His hands went to my breasts, massaging them through the fabric of my dress and bra, making me ache that much more. His lips were against my neck, and he teased me with quick nips of his teeth. I braced my hands on his shoulders, urging him on. The lean, ropy muscles there bunched and coiled just like he did inside me. My own muscles clenched and quickened in response. The pressure inside me built and built.

I threw back my head and let the orgasm rip me away from myself.

 * * * 

After we finished, we sat there on the love seat. Shoulders touching, one of my bare legs just on top of his. Not entwined exactly, but not distant from each other either. I would have liked to put my head on his shoulder, close my eyes, and relax. Let myself fully enjoy this brief moment of peaceful pleasure. But I couldn’t do that. The sex had been personal enough already. We hadn’t made love, but we hadn’t just fucked either. The beginning of a warm softness for the detective had blossomed in my chest. But I didn’t want to think too much about that right now.

I’d been right about one thing, though. Donovan Caine was an excellent lover. I felt more sated than I had in a long time. There was something to be said about the experience of an older man, rather than the college boys I usually slept with. The young ones were just grateful they were getting laid—they weren’t too interested in doing anything to scare me off. Like fucking me hard and fast the way Donovan had. Or letting me do the same to them.

The detective started laughing. Sharp chortles of laughter tumbled from his lips until the force of it bent him over double, his chest touching his knees.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“This. Us. You. Me. Together.”

I arched an eyebrow. “I didn’t think it was so much funny as satisfying. Was I wrong?”

Caine wiped tears of hysterical mirth from his flushed face. “Oh, no. It was definitely satisfying. But you’re an assassin, you kill people, you killed my partner. I’m a detective, a cop, supposedly one of the good guys, and I just fucked you. Twice.”

“So what’s the problem?”

Donovan Caine eyed me. “You really are cold, aren’t you? With nothing but ice in your veins and a slab of stone for a heart.”

Cliché alert. But the detective’s well-worn words described me—more than he’d ever realize.

“Don’t you understand what I’ve done?” Caine asked. “I’ve gone against everything I believe in. And for what? You?”

He was pulling away from me. I’d known it was coming, but it still pricked me like a needle. I willed the softness in my chest to harden, and my cold mask settled over my face once more.

“You don’t believe in fucking women?” I kept my tone light, trying to salvage something from this. A little bit of happiness I could remember later.

He ran his hand through his short, black hair, rumpling it even further. “That’s not the point. I should be arresting you, turning you in for your crimes, not wondering if I have enough juice left in me for round three.”

I shrugged. “We both had a good time. Why are you bringing morals into it? Because there was nothing very saintly and upstanding about the way you were moaning my name five minutes ago.”

Caine stiffened, but he couldn’t argue with the truth. Still, the aching need, the hot pleasure, the sweet release, was wearing off, and the old doubts were filling his eyes, along with one emotion he just couldn’t quite shake—guilt about fucking his partner’s killer. The detective wasn’t going to get over it. Not today, maybe not ever.

I suppose I could have told him about Cliff Ingles and how dirty the other cop had been. But I didn’t know that it would change things between us. Donovan’s partner would still be dead, and I would still be the one who’d killed him.

All of which meant that the honeymoon was over already. A shame, really.

I swung my leg off his and got to my feet.

“What are you doing?” Donovan asked, his eyes fixed on my bare legs.

“Getting dressed,” I said in a cold voice. “It’s almost time for the sisters to call. I suggest you do the same.”

I shoved my ripped panties into my purse and pulled my dress back down into the appropriate position. Beside me, Donovan Caine zipped up his pants. We didn’t speak to each other. I grabbed my cell phone and slid it back into my purse. Then I cautiously opened the door to the supply closet. Nobody lingered in the hall. Mab must have called her giant back to her side. Good.

We left the cramped closet, walked around the second-floor balcony, and took a different set of stairs down to the ballroom floor. The crowd had grown during the better part of the hour we’d been gone, and now the people and conversation buzzed like horseflies. It took me a moment, but I spotted Finn still sitting at the bar. His companion had changed, though. Instead of the old dwarf, a young, attractive Asian woman smiled and let him ply her with drinks. I jerked my head at Finn. Donovan nodded, and we headed that way.

“Do you see the sisters?” Donovan Caine murmured.

I glanced at him. A hard mask had settled over the detective’s face, pushing the guilt from his eyes. The detective was putting aside his conflicting feelings long enough to get the job done. What a professional.

I started to say no, when a flash of gold caught my eye. Haley James. The petite woman’s eyes were fixed on the ballroom exit. Her mouth hung open as though she was gasping for breath as she power-walked in that direction. She was moving so fast I didn’t see how she was keeping her feet in her strappy sandals. Her actions made it seem almost like someone was chasing her. One moment she was there, the next, she had disappeared. I scanned the crowd looking for Alexis.

There the bitch was, about a hundred feet behind her sister and closing fast. Tight mouth. Narrowed eyes. Hard features. Alexis was storming after her sister. I wouldn’t want to be Haley when she caught up. Captain Wayne Stephenson was right behind Alexis. So were the two goons. The four of them approached the ballroom exit—

“Finn! Finnegan Lane!” a sultry voice called out.

Damn and double damn.

I was a couple hundred feet and several dozen people away from the bar, but I still heard her yell his name. So did Alexis James. The Air elemental stopped right where she was, as if she’d been struck by lightning. Stephenson had to pull up to keep from slamming into her. The goons hit his broad back and bounced off like Ping-Pong balls. They managed to stay upright.

Roslyn Phillips smiled, murmured an apology, and stepped around Alexis James. The vampire’s eyes focused on Finn, and she was oblivious to the Air elemental’s sudden interest in her. Alexis followed Roslyn’s gaze. Her mouth curved up into a grim smile as she spotted Finn, who’d half-raised his hand in greeting to Roslyn. Grabbing Roslyn’s arm, Alexis yanked her back, then barked a command at Stephenson. He grabbed Roslyn around the waist and started carrying her out of the ballroom. The two goons flanked him. A few people gave the group curious stares, but nobody moved to intervene. The folks might be richer in Northtown, but they didn’t like to get involved in other people’s problems any more than those in Southtown did.

Roslyn didn’t know what the hell was going on, but she started struggling. A giant dragging you anywhere was never a good thing. The vampire sank her fangs into Stephenson’s forearm before he got her out of the room. Finn bolted out of his seat after them.

Oh,
fuck
.

I’d started moving as soon as I’d heard Roslyn call Finn’s name. So had Donovan Caine. Our footsteps pounded into the carpet as we ran for the exit. But there were too many people for us to move in a straight line. Zigzag, zigzag, zigzag. That was all we were able to do.

I’d just spotted some daylight, a hole through the crowd, when someone stepped in front of me, blocking my path. I glanced up. The giant Mab had sent after me before.

“There you are,” he rumbled. “Ms. Monroe wants a word with you.”

No time to be subtle. I drove my knee into his groin. He yelped and bent over. I’d already palmed one of my silverstone knives, so I popped him in the windpipe with the hilt of it. Choking, he stumbled back. The giant’s ass hit a table, and it flipped over. Drinks and food spilled everywhere. Shouts and curses rose up, but I was already on my way out the door.

It was a straight shot from the ballroom to the front entrance of the country club, but I didn’t see Alexis James, Stephenson, or Finn in the hallway. They had to be outside already. Getting past the giant had cost me precious seconds.

I ran down the hall toward the front door. Donovan Caine’s footsteps scuffed the carpet behind me. The outside door was open, letting the afternoon sun stream in through the entrance. But it didn’t warm me. Not one damn bit.

I raced outside. My head swiveled left, then right. There. A limo sat at the curb halfway down the steep hill that led up to the front of the club. Wayne Stephenson smashed his fist into Finn’s chest. His body immediately sagged. Unconscious. Stephenson shoved him in the back of the limo, then got in after him. Alexis James, Roslyn Phillips, and the other two goons must have already been inside because there was no sign of them.

“Finn!” I screamed, running in that direction. “Finn!”

Too late.