Page 4 of Catch Me
There was no malice or question in his voice. It was a simple statement of fact. I tried to think around the sensation of his thumb dragging slowly over my lip, his other hand finding its way under the edge of my t-shirt to curl against my waist, pinning me to him. I didn’t realize he was moving me away from my kitchen until I felt the press of wood from my bookshelves against my back.
“I did.”
His body radiated heat, but everywhere he touched, my skin pebbled. It felt like I was trapped in a spell he was creating and when he leaned down to run his lips against the side of my jaw and down my neck, all of my nerve endings suddenly came alive. I let my head fall back against the shelves, giving him more access.
His lips moved against my skin, teeth barely grazing the sensitive area between my neck and collarbone. “And then you risked yourself to get me free.” He paused, pulling away, and my eyes flew open in protest at the loss of contact. “Again.” There was a glint in the depth of his gaze that made my heart race. It was the same dark look he’d given me in the courtroom.
I frowned and tried to control the pounding of my heart and the flood of desire he’d ignited with just a few touches. “I had a plan.”
One dark brow arched in a look I was becoming familiar with. “Aye, that you did.” He stepped back in close to me again, both his hands coming up to cup my face. “And it was brilliant. Thank you, Hannah.”
I was speechless again. Had Simon Gallagher just thanked me? A small smile played on his lips, as if he could read my thoughts. “Aye, lass, thank you. But not for what you think. Thank you for Rue. For what you did for her. It was something, even with all my connections, I could never get done.” He frowned then, suddenly serious. “But the other part? Calling in Abrams? Risking your career that way? You didn’t have to do that. I would have eventually been released.”
I shook my head, “Abrams was Michaels idea. And I’m glad I did it. Didn’t you hear Reed? They wanted to send you to an Agency black site, Simon.” My hands came up to grip the leather collar of his jacket as I tried not to let the fear of him being sent to a place like that overwhelm me. “I couldn’t let that happen. You don’t deserve that.”
He leaned down, his forehead pressing to mine, and my heart flipped inside my chest. “Hannah, love, don’t you think I’ve had my fair share of experience in a place like that? I told you, this is my world and I understand the risks in every choice I make. But I did not mean you to be a part of this.”
I breathed him in. “What if I wanted to be?” He stilled and pulled away to look down at me, his eyes searching mine.
“Do you want to be?” He didn’t give away anything in his words or his gaze.
Did I? A big part of me screamed yes. The part of me that had never wanted to settle in one place. The part of me that craved the rush, the chaos, and ultimately, freedom. The part that relished seeing monsters like my sister and Sergei brought to justice. But the other part of me knew what he was asking. To step away from this life meant disconnecting from everything, and everyone, I knew. And then there was the bigger question I needed to answer. Did I want this because of the man standing in front of me? Or did I want it for myself?
CHAPTERFOUR
Simon
“What if I wanted to be?”
Just like every time I was near Hannah, all my self-control went out the window and I was at the mercy of the vixen in front of me. She’d hurled the ice cream in the trash and I’d immediately wanted to strip her naked and take her there on the kitchen floor. To have her writhing in pleasure beneath me until she’d let go of the fear, anger, and sadness. In the cries of her release and the taste of it on my tongue and fingers.
Then she’d pointed her gun at me, again, and any shred of hope I’d had of just thanking her and leaving had gone up in smoke. Who was I kidding? Hannah drew me in like a moth to a flame. I’d spent hours trying to convince myself it was best just to disappear and leave the country. We’d already received our next assignment, no thanks to Colonel Abrams, and Michael and Rue were en route to link up with me. I’d told myself it was better for Hannah and for me to accept this for what it was and to let her go, even while I was speeding down the highway to her apartment. Even while I was slipping the key I’d had made into her door when she hadn’t heard me knock. Even as I was standing in front of her, drowning in the emerald green color of her eyes. I was a fool.
“Do you want to be?”
Her question lit something inside of me I thought had died out a long time ago. Hope flared, and it took every effort to push it back down into the dark depths of my heart. I didn’t want her involved in this messy business, not because I didn’t think she couldn’t handle it, or because of some misogynistic idea that she shouldn’t be in my line of work. No, if anything, I’d thought time and time again that Hannah was born for this life. Her actions in Estonia and the way she’d tracked down Sergei proved she was more than capable. But it had to be her choice.
I’d taken that choice away when I’d tricked her into being my asset and bait. Sybil had taken away her choice when she’d manipulated her into staying with the bureau in Atlanta. Even her boss had taken away her choice when he’d forced her to betray us in order to satisfy his own vendetta against me. I watched as indecision warred across her face and knew the answer to my question, but didn’t wait for her response. Hope was a delicate thing to crush, and I didn’t know if my heart could handle hearing her say it out loud.
Instead, my lips found hers, and I growled at her little gasp of surprise. “Never mind. Tell me how you figured out that Reed was the one who had been assigned to Rue’s case. I never told you.”
I couldn’t stop touching her and with every caress of her soft skin under the palm of my hands, the need to rip her yoga pants off her body burned through me. The woman should be banned from ever wearing yoga pants in my presence. She rocked her hips into mine and moaned as my fingers found their way from her ribcage to cup her breast, skimming across a nipple. No bra. She was going to be the death of me.
“It wasn’t hard.” Her casual confidence made me smirk against the skin of her exposed shoulder where I was placing soft kisses, tasting her.
“Not hard? I’ve spent years trying to get those files unsealed. You did it in a matter of days.” I sucked in a breath as her hands wandered under my shirt, tracing a path down to the waistband of my pants where they dropped lower, and she palmed my hardness through my jeans. “Careful, lass.” I growled into her ear. “You’re not going to distract me from getting the information I want.”
“Is that what this is?” She turned her face towards me and caught my bottom lip in her teeth, biting down with just enough force to sting. “Am I being interrogated now, Mr. Gallagher?” Humor laced the huskiness in her voice.
“No, love, if I was interrogating you, you’d be screaming by now.” To prove my point, I slipped one hand between her thighs, feeling the wetness that pooled between them and pressed against her sweet spot hidden by the thin fabric of her pants. I was rewarded with a whimper of pleasure, her body rocking against my hand on its own. “Now, are you going to tell me? Or do I have to get more inventive with my techniques?”
She moaned, her hips rolling against my fingers as I continued to apply pressure against the sensitive nerves, but didn’t move them to give her the relief she wanted. “I don’t like games, Simon.”
“Too bad. Looks like I need to be more direct in my tactics.” I dropped to my knees, removing my hand from between her thighs, hooking my thumbs into the waistband of her pants and rolling them down her hips. Once I had a leg free, I hooked it over my shoulder and leaned in, breathing in her intoxicating scent, and zeroed in on the sight of her swollen and dripping for me. I looked up. She was staring, her face flushed, eyes glazed and her kiss-swollen, lips parted with desire. “Last warning, love. Are you going to give me the information I need?”
A mischievous smirk twisted her lips and flashed in her eyes. She moved her hand down to her glistening core and pulled back the folds, exposing her clit and creamy channel. “Do your worst.”
Need slammed through me, the part of my brain that defined me as a man going dark. This was no longer a game, this was a claiming. My tongue lashed at her pussy, teeth grazing her sensitive nub and not stopping at the hiss of pain or the rake of nails on my scalp. Because even as I devoured her like some sort of beast, her juices were flooding my mouth, her body shaking.
