Slow Heat (27 page)

“What the hell?” he complained, dodging almost all of her swings although she managed to make contact once or twice. Maggie had a good arm on her. “You’re hitting a man who got shot?”

She froze, took one look at his face, and made a fist. “How dare you make fun of me, Micah Jones!” she cried out and the fist came at his jaw.

Micah cut her off mid-aim and held her fist in his. “Sweetheart, I wasn’t making fun of you, and taking a bullet is never a laughing matter.” There were quite a few exceptions to that rule but in Maggie’s life there never would be.

“Don’t change your tune now, mister. A second ago you were doing your best not to bust a gut when I asked if you were shot with a gun.”

Now wasn’t the time to ask her what else she thought he might have been shot with. Maggie had been through a day she probably never dreamed would happen in her lifetime. And by all odds, it shouldn’t have. In Maggie’s world, the only gun might be the one her father had stashed away to protect the family. It would never be loaded, and her mother would never allow bullets in the house because of the children.

His life as Micah Jones was more than Maggie could handle. It should have been his wake-up call. He shouldn’t have pulled her into his arms and cradled her until she calmed down.

“Forgive me for worrying,” she mumbled once she’d relaxed against him.

“Nothing wrong with worrying.”

“It only means I care.” She added quickly, “as a friend.”

Micah put her at arm’s length. “I like you caring as a friend.”

Maggie’s smile lit up his world. She shouldn’t be affecting him this way. After all, she’d just given him firsthand knowledge of what she’d think if she knew what he really did. More than likely, she’d turn tail and run.

Showering not only invigorated his body, but cleared his head as well. His fears before Maggie had arrived might have come close to paranoid, but they’d also been accurate. The way she looked at him, her comfort level around him naked, and her desire to see to his needs right down to soaping and rinsing his back, and washing him very carefully around his wound, were all indications that she was falling for him. If he allowed it, he would fall hard for her, too.

Maggie would never love you if she knew who you really were.

What if he retired? He had a fair amount of cash on him. There were bank accounts with enough money in them to set him up for life. Micah could give Maggie anything and everything she had ever dreamed of having. She would never have to know about his past.

“I’ll grab a second towel.” Micah stepped out of the shower after they’d both rinsed and wrapped the only towel in the bathroom around his waist. He didn’t have to go far to the small closet outside his bathroom door, where there were a couple more folded towels.

Maggie turned off the water and moved the shower curtain. He held the towel but just stared at her.

“I almost hate to dry you off,” he growled.

“You brute.” She laughed.

The wholesome glow in her eyes and her cheeks and her easy smile made his heart constrict. There wasn’t any denying it. He was another Mulligan, gone hook, line, and sinker. Maggie had stolen his heart and she didn’t even know whose heart she’d stolen.

He wasn’t just another Mulligan, though. Micah had surpassed every Mulligan before him. He’d accomplished what each of them had yearned for but never succeeded in doing. Micah was the ultimate killer, respected for who he was and what he did.

His heart constricted even farther when he realized what he had to do. He might hurt Maggie but hopefully she wasn’t as far gone as he was and she’d simply be grateful for the wake-up call. Micah had to chase her away. Which he would figure out how to do—tomorrow.

Micah took his time loving her body while Maggie lay stretched out on his bed. He kissed every inch of her, enjoying the odd patterns of freckles scattered across her arms, legs, and belly. She was soft yet firm in the right places. When he settled between her legs and breathed in her rich, enticing scent, her smooth shaved flesh was a vision of perfection.

He stroked his finger down the creases of her entrance. She was instantly wet again. “You’re absolutely perfect, darling,” he rumbled, his voice rough with need.

“That feels so good.” Maggie’s eyes were closed and her head on one of his pillows. Her hair was straight silky strands falling away from her face. The worry and uncertainty were gone. Instead her face glowed. Her lips were puckered and her breath came quickly in short, tight pants.

Micah stretched her legs apart and moved closer to taste her.

“Oh God!” she cried out, her body jerking.

Micah chuckled and held her where he wanted her as he began feasting. This was going to be harder than he thought. He’d killed people when others hadn’t been able to do the job. Micah had maneuvered positions in order to keep his presence a secret during a hit. He’d pulled the trigger and ended lives of young and old alike. Micah had made a hell of a lot of money killing people others didn’t want around. Having done all of that, it should be child’s play to get a little rough, push Maggie into submission, and demand she adhere to his sexual desires. She would never know who he truly was, but he could be what she didn’t want so she’d push him away.

There weren’t many people on the planet capable of doing what Micah did. He had skill levels far beyond any trained military specialist. Once those few elite were trained, the government seldom wanted to let them go. No one would ever control or have any power over him. He was capable of killing anyone on the planet then disappearing without a trace. He was more than a mechanical killer. He was a monster. He had lived his life without any deep emotions or concerns for anyone. If he allowed his feelings for Maggie to grow, they would destroy who he was.

Micah had always accepted the dark side in him, the monster as he’d labeled it. That monster wasn’t worthy of a woman like Maggie. Once this mess with Club Paradise and the assholes creating hell in her life were gone, she might want to settle down with a good man. They would have a family, raise them in a warm, cozy house, and be incredibly happy. That life would never be for him. He was honor-bound to the Mulligan tradition.

Maggie’s breathing grew more ragged and her perfectly shaped breasts moved as she inhaled and exhaled. This was what he had to do. He would push her sexually, demanding what she’d probably never given to a man. He would make her give it to him, and later she’d hate him for it.

His tongue dipped inside her pussy, moved lower, and ran circles around her tight, puckered ass. She jerked when he pressed into her asshole. His stomach tightened and he forced all remorse over what he was about to do to her out of his mind. All he had to do was clear his head. Stay grounded and his movements mechanical. Micah kept feelings out of actions all the time. That’s all he had to do here.

“Have you ever been fucked here?” he whispered.

Micah watched for her reaction. For a moment she didn’t move or respond. It was as if he’d sent her into some erotic trance. He circled her tight ass again with his tongue, drew moisture from her pussy lower and dipped her cream from the tip of his tongue into her ass. All the while he kept his eyes on her face.

“Maggie,” he whispered.

“Umm.”

“Open your eyes. Look at me. Feel what I’m doing.”

“I’m feeling what you’re doing,” she said as a sly grin crossed her face.

Micah moved his hand and pressed his finger against her tight entrance. Maggie’s eyes flew open and she came almost to a sitting position.

“Mother Mary, Christ!” she exploded.

Micah couldn’t stop himself. He broke out laughing. Maggie’s expression stilled and she watched him, not appearing offended or put out.

“I swear sparks just shot through my entire body,” she gasped. “I’m soaked,” she added and moved her fingers between her legs then stroked her pussy. “That was definitely different,” she told him. Her focus on him was hidden by her eyelashes stuck at half-mast.

“I guess that answers my question.” But it definitely wasn’t the reaction he’d expected from her. Micah watched Maggie closely, making sure he understood. No lady enjoyed anal sex. They endured it for the man, and most men only ever had it when they paid dearly for it.

What if what he had just done to her truly got Maggie off? He’d barely pressed against the entrance of her ass. That was a lot different from penetration. Micah was still staring at her when she finally focused on him and smiled.

“I didn’t realize you’d asked me a question,” she said and fell back with a sigh.

Maggie had lost herself in fantasies of Micah adoring her as he promised his never-ending love. She’d imagined him bringing her to orgasm after orgasm as he whispered all the right words she needed to hear.

Micah might not ever have a chivalrous nature. But he had one hell of a skilled tongue. He knew how to touch her. And he most definitely could make her come.

There were no promises or commitment between them. The only agreement they did have was Micah saying he’d try to find out who’d allowed her to take the rap over the money-laundering deal at Club Paradise. Maggie saw interest in his eyes, though. Maybe she didn’t want something to build between them. But whatever was simmering, it was doing so in him as well as her. He didn’t have to open his door for her when she’d first come over. Hell, with those thick, heavy dark curtains in his living room, Maggie never would have known if he had been awake or asleep.

This was exactly where she wanted to be. No one had ever made her feel as good as Micah did right now. He took control of her body and made her feel he was the only one who truly knew how to give her the perfect orgasm. But was it the fantasy of forbidden sex that had just gotten her off so much? After all, she was damn near having erotic, kinky sex with a complete stranger.

She was growing more concerned about the “complete stranger” part. Micah had been so indifferent about his gunshot wound, she’d thought he was making fun of her. After the day she’d had—some stranger trying to run her over, then her sister pulling out a gun and acting as if she were a super-cop or something—she didn’t need Micah flipping her shit. So she’d lost it on him. Once her temper had cooled she’d seen that he hadn’t been teasing her after all.

When he’d pulled off his shirt in the bathroom, he’d acted as if he’d forgotten about the bandage on his upper arm. More than likely he really had forgotten about it. That should have been her wake-up call. Micah lived a life where he was shot at on a regular basis. That would never be a life for her.

Maggie tried raising her head. Every inch of her was relaxed—but then without notice Micah would do something to create tingles of pleasure rushing over her body. She fought to clear her blurry vision and stared at dark tousled hair that fell around Micah’s focused, brooding expression. Knotted muscles bulged in his shoulders, and corded roped muscle stretched down his arms. Micah was ripped. Every inch of him perfect beyond belief. His body was so beautiful, she could damn near cry at the sight of such intense masculinity.

But then there were the puckered scars. At first when she’d noticed them on his body, she’d thought they had added to his bad boy good looks. That just showed how naive she’d been. The cut under his bandage had scabbed over but was red compared to the other scars. Soon it would be another war wound on his body. She began imagining where he might have received the other wounds that were now scar tissue puckered against his otherwise smooth, taut flesh.

Then he did it again. This time Maggie managed not to leap off the bed and blurt out her aunt’s favorite form of cursing. Micah pressed his finger into her ass. Sensations she’d never known before tripped over one another. This wasn’t the same as an orgasm after mind-blowing sex. It was different, more eruptive, definitely taboo and dangerous. Micah looked up at her, pushing his finger just inside her. He was watching for her reaction and making some determination accordingly. Did he want to know how much kink she would indulge in?

Maggie had spent the entire evening listening to Aiden berate Micah. It was so incredibly fitting that Micah would silently suggest, with the slightest pressure from his finger, that they indulge in something more extreme than she’d ever done before. Aiden had run several searches and had announced the results he found loud enough that the entire family heard. Micah Jones didn’t exist. Aiden wouldn’t let it go and had continually questioned her judgment on how she was handling matters. This was how she was handling matters. She was managing not to come flying off his bed and crying out every saint’s name she could think of as he pushed her toward a sexual peak she hadn’t known existed before tonight.

Aiden had convinced the entire O’Malley household that Maggie was mixed up with a man who was more than likely not who he said he was and had a questionable past. Correction, according to Aiden, no past. Maggie had finally lost it once again in front of her family. She’d yelled at Aiden, telling him in no uncertain terms that his searches could very well be wrong and that she knew for a fact he worked for KFA. Micah Jones most definitely existed.

Aiden had been able to confirm Micah worked for KFA, the bounty hunters. But there wasn’t any other information on the man. Aiden had made it very clear, using each family member as an example as he’d plugged her parents, himself, and even Maggie into his different search programs, that normal people had a history, many often going back more than a decade. Sometimes they only went back five years or so, as Maggie’s did, since she’d signed for her first loan, put her name on a lease, and had bank accounts as most adults did.

Micah had nothing. There were no credit cards under his name. His name had never appeared on a lease. He had no bank accounts, lines of credits or loans, outstanding or paid off. Micah Jones didn’t exist.

“Hey, sweetheart, are you lost in a fantasy world?” Micah asked, kissing the inside of her thigh.

“Oh, yes.” She raised her head and stared at the good-looking man between her legs. “Most definitely a fantasy world,” she purred and made a humming sound. Micah was making her feel so damn good and it just pissed her off that her family would think the worst of him. So what if he got shot at on a regular basis.