Chapter 23

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

February 5 th

4:21 P.M.

That had been … amazing, wonderful, freeing, exciting, arousing … take your pick.

It had made Cassie feel both powerful and sensual to watch what she could do to Luis' body with just her hand. That she could make him come, bring him such pleasure, and the way he was looking at her through heavy-lidded eyes made her feel so incredibly sexy.

He looked at her like he couldn't wait to devour her.

No one had ever made her feel beautiful before.

Just him.

Just this one man who had shown her so many things about life and about herself. A man who looked at her with so much love that it warmed her from the inside out.

They hadn't said the words yet, maybe neither of them was ready, especially given how quickly this thing between them had exploded, but it didn't mean she wasn't feeling the first tendrils of love blooming inside her.

"Thank you, princess," he whispered as he brushed his lips to hers.

Then he did the craziest thing and turned and walked out of the room. Just a few days ago, Cassie knew she would have completely freaked out, panicked about what she had said or done wrong. Worried that she wasn't enough, that her lack of experience made her undesirable.

But not today.

Today she knew that Luis cared deeply for her, was falling in love with her just like she was falling in love with him.

It was more curiosity and surprise that rooted her to the spot for the minute it took him to return to the room with a washcloth in his hand. His dark eyes were tender as he crossed to her and gently took her hand, cleaning away the remnants of his orgasm. Likewise, he wiped her sweatshirt, and even though she knew he was taking care of her, she felt a little lost as his semen was cleaned away.

She kind of liked having it on her.

It was like some sort of primitive marking that hit her somewhere deep and primal.

When he was done, he walked the washcloth out of the room, and when he returned, he headed over to grab an empty canvas from the stack on the floor by her desk. "Can I draw you, princess?"

"You were serious about that?" At first, she hadn't gotten where he was going with his comments, and then when he'd all but spelled it out for her, she thought it was just flirting.

"Dead serious."

"You want to paint me naked?"

"Doesn't have to be naked. Today," he clarified. "But yeah, I'd love to draw you, clothes on or off. It won't be as good as yours, I haven't drawn anything since kindergarten, but it's something that's important to you and I'd like to share it with you."

That was so sweet it had her eyes growing misty. "I'll pose for you, and whatever you draw will be the most beautiful picture ever," she gushed.

Luis chuckled and the sound seemed to settle straight between her legs. After the other day, she'd been pretty sure she would never be able to think about orgasming again without feeling ill.

Only it was different when she thought of it in connection with Luis.

Because he would never steal her power and consent away from her.

"Naked," she blurted out before she could talk herself out of it.

"Are you sure, princess? You're gorgeous either way."

And that was why she was sure.

Luis was all about making sure she knew she was in control. Without her having to outright ask him or tell him anything, he had sensed that was her biggest issue with her ordeal and he was making sure that at every opportunity he reminded her that she was safe by reminding her that she had control.

"I'm sure," she promised even as she blushed. Just because he'd seen her naked when they spent the night together didn't mean this was the same. That was sex and this was … she wasn't quite sure, maybe flirting, maybe some sort of foreplay, maybe just them sharing an experience, but it was something and it felt like a big something.

Making quick work of it, Cassie stripped off her leggings and sweatshirt. Since she hadn't been in the mood to dress sexy when she threw on clothes this morning, she wasn't wearing a matching set of lacy underwear, just a simple pair of white cotton panties and no bra.

There was no way to miss the fire in Luis' eyes as he took in her bare breasts, and when she shimmied out of her panties leaving her completely naked before him, she could feel his desire for her like another being in the room.

But there was no fear.

No trepidation.

Nothing but an echoing hunger.

Nervous, but in a good way, an exciting way, Cassie let her arms hang awkwardly by her sides. "How do you want me to pose?"

Stalking across the room toward her, making her feel very much like prey that couldn't wait to be caught, his large hands circled her wrists and he moved her right arm so her wrist snuggled between her breasts and her palm settled above her heart. The other arm he moved until her left hand rested low on her stomach, her fingers brushing just above the apex of her thighs.

"How's this? Can you stay like this while I paint your gorgeous body?" Luis asked as his hands trailed along her skin until they rested on her hips.

It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him to stay and touch her instead, to make her body come alive in a good way this time. But instead, she managed a shaky nod, and watched as he returned to the easel she'd just been using. Luis removed her almost complete portrait of him and set it aside, then set the blank canvas in its place.

Watching him draw her was a weird experience.

Every stroke of his pencil on the paper Cassie could almost feel as a caress of her body. And each time his eyes raked over her they seemed to leave a trail of fire in their wake.

With each second that ticked by, Cassie found herself thinking less and feeling more. For someone like her, whose whole life had been about thinking, about using her brain, about banishing feelings in preference to studying and working, it was an odd sensation.

Odd but wonderful.

The more time passed, the less she found herself fighting against it, instead allowing instinct to take over.

Luis was safe.

He would never hurt her.

Any pleasure he gave her would be because it was what she wanted.

"I'm finished, princess, want to see?" Luis asked.

All she could do was nod, feeling like she was in some sort of trance, her body going haywire as need and desire warred with fear and anxiety.

When he lifted the canvas and turned it around so she could see a huge smile lit her face. "It's so good," she gushed truthfully.

While she wasn't positive, Cassie thought Luis may have blushed slightly. "Not too bad for a first try, but then again, I had the most perfect subject."

"Touch me, Luis," she pleaded.

That fire in his eyes flared. "Are you sure, princess?"

"Yes." In fact, she'd never been surer of anything in her life. "If you don't touch me soon, I think I'm going to explode."

"Can't have that." Luis chuckled as he set the picture down and moved toward her. "Together. We do this together, princess," he told her as he grasped the hand that was so close to the part of her throbbing for his touch.

When she nodded, he moved their joined hands between her legs where she was already wet and ready for him. With him guiding their movements, their fingers stroked across her center, pausing to trace small circles on her trembling bundle of nerves, and then they slipped inside her.

Immediately she felt full. Perfectly filled, like a missing piece had just been returned to her.

Content to let Luis be in control, she let him thrust their fingers in and out as his thumb found its way to her bud. "Watch me, princess. Know who's touching you," he commanded. "Know you're safe."

"Always safe with you," she whispered as she felt something building low in her belly.

"Always," he agreed. "Let yourself go, let yourself fall, I'll be here to catch you."

His softly spoken words erased a tiny piece of the pain and humiliation she'd felt on that boat, and she didn't fight against the orgasm as it began to build inside her. It seemed to grow slowly, in no hurry to reach its peak, but it grew steadily.

Bigger and bigger.

Stronger and stronger.

Then like a hurricane, it picked her up and tossed her about, sending pleasure cascading through her body in a powerful stream that felt like it ripped her bare and then rebuilt her all over again.

By the time it began to ebb, Cassie found herself cradled in Luis' strong arms. "Ready to get some rest now, my sweet, genius princess?"

Ready to face anything in this moment, including her fear of nightmares, she nodded and snuggled closer as Luis carried her into the bedroom and tucked them both into bed. With her cheek pillowed on his chest, and his arms locked around her, Cassie was able to drift away, content and secure in the knowledge that she was right where she belonged.

When the ringing of her phone woke her hours later it was dark out, and she blinked away sleep as Luis reached over her to grab her phone from the nightstand and pass it to her.

"It's Scarlett," he said as she took the phone.

"Scar? What's going on?" she asked as she accepted the call. She'd checked in with her friends, let them know she was hanging in there, so the only reason Scarlett would be calling now was if something else had happened.

Something bad.

"Cass, it's Ella," Scarlett said, voice strained, something in it that she'd never heard before.

"Is she hurt?" Cassie asked, unable to ask what she really wanted to know. Was their friend dead?

"Worse," Scarlett said, and her voice wobbled.

What could be worse than hurt?

"Ella stole the only vial we have of the Reactivator and disappeared," Scarlett told her.

In that second it felt like the world stopped spinning. The mole worked at Prey. The mole was a woman. Was the one they'd been looking for all along, the one who had sold them all out, gotten Scarlett, Lucy, and herself abducted and tortured, one of them?

Was Ella the mole?

Did Ella betray her team and sell the drug they created to their enemies? Find out in the fourth and final book in the action packed and emotionally charged Prey Security: Athena Team series!