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She smiled at him, a heady, seductive curve of her lips that told him she wasn’t done teasing him yet. “You’re so cute when trying to establish boundaries,” she said as she leaned in close and skimmed the tips of her fingers along his tensed jaw. “Boundaries I have no intention of letting you resurrect. Let’s keep them down and vulnerable to me.”
“Goddammit,” he cursed under his breath, wanting to take her by the arm and shake her, or kiss the hell out of her, or read her the riot act, or sink his dick so far into her, he could fucking lose himself.
“I think you’re being too uptight about this…sexual thing between us. Why can’t we just have a good?—”
He yanked her into a dark part of the warehouse behind some stacked boxes. “Do you know why I’m here?”
“Yes, of course.”
He could feel himself getting too deep, emotionally complicated, and so fucking personal. “It’s not for a good time. I’m on the edge, Maddy. If I lose that or my focus as a result, become lax and miss something…I would never forgive myself. So, can it…for now until I assess the situation.” There was no way to couch the ugly, disturbing truth, so he didn’t even try. “There are people who would kill you in a heartbeat just because you're American. You, the embassy, your parents are all sitting on a powder keg that could blow any minute. If things turn ugly, you’ll be thankful I have that focus.”
She stared at him, swallowing hard. She was quiet for a long moment, and Shark gave her the time to process everything he’d just told her. He’d always known she was a strong, capable woman, but her relatively low-key reaction to what he’d said proved it. Most women would have been frantic, hysterical, and emotionally distraught, yet here Maddy stood, trying to sort out the facts. He couldn’t help but admire her for that internal fortitude and her ability to remain calm. Then she said something so unexpected, he again lost his mind.
“But in the face of all that. Isn’t it a good idea to have fun when you can, take what you want before it all goes to hell?” Her eyes were bright with a desire that didn’t bode well for his good intentions. “There are always two sides to a coin. Bale…” she whispered, the one word filled with a wealth of emotion that struck a chord deep inside him. Eyes closing, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. Her mouth was soft and yielding, a heavenly temptation he couldn’t resist, helpless against her sweet onslaught. Her lips parted, and he accepted the invitation to deepen the connection, to slide his tongue inside and battle hers, giving into his hunger so dark and hot he burned with the intensity of it.
Something metallic hit concrete, and he pulled away, his chest heaving and his heart hammering. If he stood here in the dark with her, he didn’t know what he would do.
Exhaling a low, harsh breath, and putting his desires on the back burner for the time being, he took her arm and dragged her toward an official. “Talk to him. I need to find a restroom,” he said.
Once inside the room, he closed and locked the door, unzipped his pants, his erection jutting out. He grasped himself, the sensation almost unbearable. He let loose all the pent-up hunger, need, and lust clawing at him. He stroked himself hard, relentlessly, making his head spin and his dick throb and pulse. He could see her and feel her as he took her like he wanted, no boundaries like she said, and he was terrified that it was true. He had no defenses against her.
He growled deep in his throat as he jacked off every hard, solid inch of him. The pleasure built, so intense he shuddered, pumped harder. His overly aroused body demanded his release, and he increased his long, hard strokes, that built-in power, and strength. He was lost in his fantasy of her, losing himself, a culmination of every desire he’d suppressed, every seductive tease between them, every erotic fantasy he’d had of possessing her. It didn’t take long for the heat coiling low in his belly to spiral down. He thought of how he would take her, and the image triggered his hard climax, scorching hot, and unbridled surrender of his body that left him shaken.
There was some truth to her words, and he couldn’t seem to come up with a rebuttal.
5
Maddy stood in the middle of the bustling warehouse and watched Shark walk away. She had brain and body overload right now, because…wowzah, she could barely catch her breath. That man…the way he kissed, the way it felt was more real to her than anything she’d ever experienced with the myriad of men who had come and gone from her life. She felt like she needed to make a list and go over everything.
Because…what the hell had she been thinking and doing with her love life? Not that she was in love with Shark, she’d just met him. But every time she looked at him, it was as if someone had struck her in the head with a brick.
“Can I help you?” a man with salt and pepper hair said.
She didn’t think, even in his advanced years of wisdom, that he could.
“I’m here for my equipment.” She pulled out her shipping statement and the man took it from her hands. He read through it and started toward a desk. Behind the computer, he typed in some information and smiled.
“Okay, let me get that for you.” He eyed her. Do you have someone who can help you with the boxes?”
“I’ve got her,” Shark’s deep voice said from behind her, and actual shivers went down her spine. She turned around and although the feverish look in his eyes was still there, it was banked. She turned back around and closed her eyes. Had he…handled himself? Oh, God, don’t get that image in your head. Too late. It was there and she was finding it very difficult to breathe.
“Ma’am? Did you want to bring your vehicle around? We can get this loaded for you.”
“Of course,” she managed. Shark placed his hand on her shoulder, and she turned toward him. He held out the key fob and she took it.
“I’m sorry about my outburst,” he murmured. “We should and will talk some more about it, okay?”
She thought he was irresistible when he was fighting his own needs, but the way he was consoling her only made her want him more. Not to mention, she had questions about that whole conversation about him not high-fiving his friends regarding her. That also made her heart melt.
She realized that she had given in to her cravings for pleasure, and now she needed to figure out what had fueled her addictive behavior, and was she doing it again? Was Shark just another steppingstone to pleasure because she was trying to…what, avoid something? Or was his behavior, his authentic behavior toward her causing her to react this way toward him? Confused, jumbled emotions tangled up in her head. He was right. There needed to be more talking and less kissing, dammit. She really needed to figure this out for her own edification.
She took the fob and smiled at him, started for the door, then stopped and turned back around. “You really are quite a beautiful man,” she said, meaning every word. In just the short time she’d known him, he’d exceeded expectations, true they were low mostly because she’d set the bar too low for herself.
“Maddy, go get the car,” he said softly.
She nodded and left the warehouse. When she got back to the SUV, Brawler and Twister were there with a gorgeous dog. He was medium-sized, but solid with a wide chest and was thickly muscled. He had a red coat that accentuated the dark masking from his black nose to the tips of his large, pointed ears with a swath of black down his barrel chest.
His ears pricked and his eyes laser-focused on her. Brawler had him on a leash, but he looked ready for anything. Seemed like his flight didn’t faze him a bit.
