Page 45 of Hollow Code
She stared at him as he lifted her knee over his shoulder and licked her. A deep, guttural groan escaped her lips.
The first sweep of his tongue knocked the breath from her. Heat flashed through her like a live wire, and her fingers scrambled for anything to hold. Cool concrete bit her palms.
"Gideon," she managed.
He flattened his tongue and dragged it up to circle her with maddening precision, that felt as if he’d learned it specifically for her. Like he’d been studying. Like he’d been waiting. She bucked, knee tightening around his shoulder as he pressed closer. His hands pinned her hips to the wall, holding her there as if he planned to take his time and ruin her, anyway.
"Yes—God—yes." The noises coming out of her were not fit for neighbors or thin walls. But she didn’t care. The world narrowed to the wet slide of him and the rough scrape of his jaw against her thigh. He sucked, gently then not. Heat coiled so tightly, her lashes fluttered with the effort of keeping her eyes open—because she wanted to watch.
Reaching for him, she caught his hair and tugged needing more. He answered her with pressure that stole the ground out from under her, two fingers easing into her with patient strokes. Her muscles clenched around him, a desperate grip she couldn’t control. He exhaled against her.
She rolled with his rhythm, hips lifting to meet him. He found the spot that made her squirm and stayed there, hitting it on every stroke, like he'd cracked the code and was running it back. Her toes curled. The tension gathered low with each slick stroke of his tongue and deep curl of his fingers.
"I’m—" Her climax built too fast to be tidy, tearing through her like a circuit overloading. She came with a cry she couldn’t swallow. Her thighs shook, and she dug her nails into his scalp like a helpless animal clinging to the thing destroying her. He didn’t stop until her tremors eased. He groaned against her again, the sound ragged and dark, and the aftershocks rolled like thunder.
Her body went soft and boneless against the wall. She gasped. The room steadied. He kissed the inside of her knee, then then her calf, and each press left an invisible brand that made her shiver and laugh—breathless, shaky, borderline delirious.
He rose along her like a tide, mouth trailing heat over her stomach, her ribs, the underside of her breast. She captured his face in both hands when he finally made it up to her lips, tasting herself on him.
He backed her into the wall—all firm muscle with a hard ridge against her hip that made her knees go liquid.
"I need you," she said.
"Tell me how." The grit in his voice made everything inside her clench.
"In me." Her hand slid down between them, the metal button scraping her knuckles as she worked it free. Once she’d pushed past the denim, he was thick in her palm. He swore softly, forehead dropping to hers as if he needed the contact to keep it together.
"I have a condom in the nightstand." He kissed her temple. "Actually three. New pack when I hit the road two months ago. Unopened. It’s been a while."
"We’ll have to get Scout to buy more," she said. "Problem for a different day."
This was where she should hit pause. She should ask him what his plans were. Was he going to hang in the bunker for a while? Or was he going to hit the road as soon as he could?
But not only would that be a mood killer, it might end whatever they'd started before it truly began, and Zadie at least wanted a taste. No matter how hard it would be to let him go, she wanted to know what it was like to be with… him.
He chuckled. "Bed?" He cupped her chin in his palm. "Or right here? I’m not opposed to either."
"Bed," she said, because her legs still trembled, and she wanted him spread out under her hands. She wanted to crawl over him and take everything he kept offering. "Now." It was selfish. But she wanted to experience all of Gideon so she could file this moment away in her mind forever.
"That works." He lifted her as if she weighed nothing. He set her down, and she caught the mattress with the backs of her knees, then fell backward, the sheets cool against her spine. He followed, big and solid, bracing his forearms to keep most of his weight off her and still somehow pinned her to the bed like he wanted to keep her there.
Crazy as the thought was, she'd gladly stay in this spot for as long as he'd have her.
"Nightstand," she reminded, breathless.
He reached for the drawer.
She heard the quiet rattle of wood. Her pulse hopped in anticipation.
She'd probably never be able to confess to him that she'd fantasized about him when she'd first joined the military. When she'd been working on any project that involved learning and studying systems that Gideon Rhodes had created. He'd been her late night companion.
She shoved his jeans lower, the hard line of him nudging her palm again and wrecking the last of her composure. He hissed through his teeth and tore the packet. The soft scent of latex cut through the air, clean and inevitable. He dragged his jeans the rest of the way off with a clumsy kick that made the mattress bounce.
"Give it to me," she said, holding out her hand.
He handed her the rolled condom into her palm, his knuckles brushing her nipple as he did.
This was better than anything she’d imagined.
