Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
I was doing a piss poor job of hiding my irrational jealousy. Aria wasn't mine, she'd never be mine, but for some insane reason I didn't like the way Delivery Guy Philip demanded Aria call him if she was working late. Not only was my reaction absurd, it was asinine. The more eyes on Aria the better. But I still couldn't stop the emotion from sitting on my chest like a lead weight.
"Smith?" Aria's uneasy voice hit me and that weight amplified.
"Sat down with Zane this morning," I launched in. "Kira Cain is my team's lead tech specialist. She's already working on getting the plate information from the toll plaza. Once she has a tag number she'll run it through some fancy software she developed and confirm it was the same red Tesla you saw in Philly. Once we have confirmation, we'll run that lead down."
"Okay," she mumbled.
"Kira's husband was a cop in California before he joined Z Corps. He's not on my team, but we read him in. I want his opinion on the break-in and the letters. He'll also have better insight into stalking."
Aria's brows pinched together.
"All right."
"Zane also called one of my teammates, Jonas, back to Maryland to help. He'll be back tonight then he'll take over looking into the old owner and his children."
"That seems like a lot," she noted.
"Does it?" I asked. "You've got someone mailing strange letters to the house. Someone broke in—not to have a party, not to pull some jacked-up shit and vandalize for no other reason than to be a punk, and you were followed home from Philly. Which means, you were followed there. And all you got is me, Kira, Cooper, and Jonas when he arrives. That's not a lot, Aria, that's a skeleton crew with three of my teammates on assignment."
Aria added a nose scrunch to the brow thing she was doing, and asked, "Is that why you're in a mood? Your team's on assignment and you're stuck here babysitting me?"
The smart thing would've been to lie and allow her to believe me being in Maryland while my team was chasing down an informant in Virginia made me feel slighted.
The informant had some potential intel on an outline for a terrorist attack a former CIA officer sold to the Chinese. The ‘former' in former CIA was only due to the fact the man was dead. He'd still worked for the Agency when he sold his plan. Nebraska Michaels, the newest member of Silver, didn't know exactly what that plan entailed. But Maddon had been with the CIA for a long time—who better to plan an attack? The man knew our country's weaknesses. He knew the perfect order in which to hit the US for maximum chaos and confusion, making us vulnerable for an invasion. We needed to find the outline or as much of it as we could. It was important work. My team was all-in to find the plan. I was all-in.
Yet, I didn't feel slighted that I'd stayed back to help Aria. If I was being honest, and I wasn't, I was actively ignoring how I felt when I was around Aria in an effort not to contemplate why I felt anything at all beyond physical attraction. Then I'd have to admit I'd rather be here, with her, than with my team. Something I also wasn't considering—why that was.
"I'm not in a mood," I said, evading the truth.
She gave that a moment to settle before she called me out.
"You're not?"
Fucking hell .
"If you have time now I can help you with the lights."
Aria's gaze went to the front door. Then when it traveled back to me she had a smug grin. No, I wasn't hiding my jealousy and she'd clearly picked up on it.
"Philip's just being cool," she reported.
I said nothing. Mainly because she was probably right, but mostly because I had no call to be jealous.
With a sigh, Aria went on. "If you have something else to do I don't need help installing the light. But just to say, it won't be functional until I run electric to it."
I had about a hundred other things I was supposed to be doing, however none of them constituted as ‘better.'
"I'll handle the cameras for the back of the house," I reluctantly told her.
The reluctance in that was I much preferred holding the ladder for her, getting an up-close view of her fine ass. Which was precisely why I wasn't going to hold the ladder. I needed to stop this back and forth. She was a client. My boss had warned me to keep my hands off her. His message this morning after the briefing was more specific. Zane Lewis had a way with words—they might be coarse, but they'd been clear when he outlined exactly what I was not to do with my hands or my dick, and for good measure just because he was thorough, he'd included my mouth and tongue. If he hadn't been talking about Aria or he'd laid out his commands to one of my teammates I would've laughed my ass off. Yet I wasn't laughing when I left the office. I also hadn't planned on listening to him. But now, feeling what I was feeling on top of what I'd felt the other times I'd been around Aria, I unequivocally knew I was in over my head and it was time to back off.
So I wouldn't be holding the ladder to get a glimpse of her ass. I wouldn't be going out to dinner with her again. I wouldn't be teasing or flirting with her no matter how much I got off on it. I was man enough to know when to retreat and pivot.
"Smith?"
I felt my neck get tight at her soft call. That tightness didn't ease until she shook her head and muttered, "Never mind."
With effort, I kept my gaze firmly on the back of her head as she walked away from me. It wasn't until she turned back when she'd made it to the front door did I realize I'd been fantasizing about hands tangled in all that hair while I drove my cock into her from behind.
Christ. I had a problem.
"When you snap out of your mood let me know and I'll order us lunch. Unless you're planning on keeping the bear-with-a-thorn-in-his-ass attitude all day. Then I rescind my offer to share a meal with you."
Not that I needed more confirmation but there it was. I had serious problems—the latest in the ever-growing list, her attitude turned me right the fuck on.
The kind of attraction that was so irrational, so foolish, so ill-advised that it made my dick throb. There were mistakes, then there was Aria. Giving in to my body's reaction to her, the allure of her, the temptation would be catastrophic.
Life altering.
World bending.
Soul crushing.
Yet, there I was reconsidering my self-imposed retreat. The only pivoting I wanted to do was pivot her so she faced the door with my hard dick pressing against that glorious ass while I worked her up to take me.
"You should get to work, Aria."
The woman just couldn't help herself, and to that end she wasn't helping the throbbing in my pants when her face changed and lit with mischief.
With a raised brow, Aria took us back to the schoolyard when she taunted, "Or what?"
"Aria…" I cautioned by drawling out her name.
"Now you're growling like a bear."
"Baby, in about two seconds you're gonna learn I can in fact eat you better than a bear."
Her nose crinkled and I braced for more playful banter.
"That sounds… messy."
She had no idea. Before I was done I'd make a meal out of her and have her excitement running down my chin.
"It will be," I confirmed.
When her lips twitched up into a smile I was fucked.
But it wasn't until her brow winged up, all my good intentions went to shit.
"You sure do talk a big game," she taunted.
It wasn't her pretty face, or her beautiful eyes, or her tight ass, or her long ass legs…it was the wicked taunt in her gaze and her smart mouth that broke me. The rest was a bonus—the icing I was going to savor as soon as I got her naked.
"We're doing this?" I inquired with a fair amount of warning interjected.
"Oh, yeah, we're so doing this."
Her answer wasn't surprising, nor was the glimmer in her eyes when her smile turned downright provoking.
"Then get your ass over here, Aria."
She got her ass across the room and didn't stop until her tits were pressed against my chest, chin tipped back, eyes locked with mine. The sexy grin she sported faded. But only so she could state, "Your move, Sailor."
This was a risky game we were playing and it was about to level up to the danger zone.
"We're good?" I asked.
"If you mean, am I clear about what this is and what this isn't then yes, we're good. Though I'd be better if your mouth was on mine and your hands were on my ass, or alternately?—"
I didn't need her to instruct me where to put my hands. Instead of informing her, I wrapped one arm around her waist and the other went low to palm her ass. After that, I used my mouth to silence her.
Electric.
That was my first thought and only thought.
Not only the kiss but the way her hands on my chest spiked the electrical current running through me. She tasted like mint and broken dreams. And for the first time in many years I wished I was the kind of man who could commit, who could keep a woman and make her safe and happy. With every stroke of her tongue against mine I felt the regret of my past. The kiss went from desperate to frantic and demanding. Hands tugged at clothes, buttons were snapped open—hers and mine. It was a frenzied rush to see who could get who undressed first. I gave up on getting her jeans down and just shoved my hand down and in. Hers stilled on my hips.
Slick.
Hot.
Tight.
Aria groaned down my throat and born down. She needed no encouragement to fuck herself on my fingers. When she moaned again, I gave her more, adding my thumb to her clit.
Good Christ, she was perfect.
Wanting to see her come more than I wanted my next breath, I broke the kiss. Her cheeks were tinged a pretty pink, her eyes were unfocused, and her lips were wet and puffy from our kiss. She'd never looked more beautiful.
"Smith," she breathed, and rocked her hips, taking herself closer.
"Beautiful, Aria. Ride those, baby. Get there."
In the worst possible timing, my phone vibrated in my pocket. Aria's eyes widened, some of the lust fading.
"Don't—"
I rolled her clit harder and shook my head.
"Shirt up, tits out."
Aria swayed back enough to follow my demand, pulling her tank top up, exposing a hot pink bra. I had half a second to contemplate how sexy the pink lace looked against the creamy swell of her breasts before she yanked the cups down. I bent deep, pulled a puckered nipple into my mouth, and drew in hard before pulling back to use the tip of my tongue to tease the tight bud.
She arched back and groaned her approval.
I shifted to move to the other side but paused when her hand slid down my pants and wrapped around my dick, tight and possessive like she owned it. My cock twitched, liking the idea too much.
"I'm gonna…" she let that hang.
Her hips jolted before she tensed and mewled her orgasm. I tilted my head, my gaze lifted to watch her face and I found her staring down at me. Eyes half-mast, pleasure stark, satisfaction leaked in as she rode out her climax.
I was instantly addicted. I wanted more—more breathy groans, more of her confidence, more of her smart-ass mouth. I wanted to sink inside her, taste her, watch her take my cock and listen to her moans turn into screams. I wanted to watch her tits bounce while she rode me. I wanted to mark her as mine.
My phone vibrating in my pocket pulled me from my insanity.
"Not yet," she purred.
I didn't have time to comprehend what she meant before she dropped to her knees. Unfortunately, this meant I lost her pussy. Not so unfortunately, she freed my dick as she went.
Time stood still as she started stroking. But it wasn't until the tip of her tongue darted out and licked the bead of come from the tip of my cock that the outside world ceased to exist.
"Mmm," she hummed and tipped her eyes up.
Fucking hell .
The sight nearly knocked me on my ass. Aria on her knees, tits still out, cheeks flushed, mischief dancing in her eyes. My addiction grew, catapulting straight to destructive.
I don't know which was more alarming—the affection I felt or the savage, unadulterated possessiveness.
Neither was good.
In an effort to break her spell, I brought us back to what we had—the only thing we could have. A mutual exchange of pleasing.
"You gonna stare at me or suck me off?"
My question was met with a slow, sly smile that had my control slipping. Just as slowly as her grin had appeared she leaned forward, sliding her fist from root to tip, holding my rock hard erection out of her way as she laved my balls before she licked her way up, wetting my shaft. Without breaking eye contact, Aria replaced her hand with her mouth and with one pull sucked me deep.
Nirvana.
I held back as long as I could, watching my dick slide in and out of her mouth. The sight, the feel of her tongue, her lips curled tight giving me absolute perfection, I lost it. My hands went to her head, tangled in her hair, and I halted her progress.
"Do you swallow?"
Gratefully, Aria nodded.
I tightened my grip and gave her hair a tug. "This okay?"
She hummed her answer. The vibration shot straight to my balls, reminding me I was close.
"Stop me if I get too rough."
Wicked didn't describe the glimmer in her eyes—it was straight up lascivious.
Jesus fuck, could this woman get any more perfect?
The answer was yes.
Yes, she could, and did as I fucked her mouth. Gently at first, working her up to take more. Until the noises she was making matched my desire.
"Can you take more?" I grunted, too close to care what I sounded like, knowing the woman on her knees in front of me was getting off on my lack of control.
Without words at her disposal to convey her affirmative, Aria took my dick to the back of her throat and swallowed.
Fuck .
Fuck.
Fuck .
"Christ, baby, your mouth," I growled and pulled back, allowing her to breathe.
Without delay I drove deep, using my hands in her hair to hold her steady as I tunneled in and out rougher and faster until tears leaked from the corner of her eyes.
Oh, yeah, she was goddamned hot as fuck on her knees taking my dick.
"I'm gonna come, Aria." My groan sounded unnatural.
My ass clenched, my balls drew up, and pleasure raced up my spine, tightening my muscles in its wake until it finally exploded from my cock and spilled into Aria's mouth.
"Fuck, baby, fuck ."
My vision hazed but still I could see the bliss on Aria's face. So damn confident on her knees with the evidence of what she'd wrought escaping from the corner of her mouth and she did her best to swallow every drop of my come. Some women would find this position one of submission, but not Aria—she understood her power. It was clearly written on her face. She knew when she'd snapped my control, she then owned it. And she'd wielded it under my dominance, taking me exactly where she wanted me to go.
And my addiction grew.
This was problematic.
Not only for me, but for her.
Aria's lips drew back. I waited until she only had the head of my dick before I slid one hand out of her hair and cupped her cheek, forcing her to halt her progress.
"Best head I ever had, Aria," I told her as I used my thumb to gather my come at the corner of her lips. "But you missed some, baby." I pulled my dick free and pushed my thumb into her mouth.
She smiled around my thumb and I felt that in my chest. A clear indication it was time to get her on her feet and end this before I did something stupid like tell her I was never letting her go.
"Up, baby."
The little minx didn't get to her feet. She took her time curling her tongue around my thumb, making a show of sucking it clean before she released the digit and licked her lips.
Two could play that game.
"Next time you do that, I want one hand between your legs fingering your clit while the other plays with those gorgeous nipples."
I didn't miss the shiver that wracked her shoulders.
"No fair," she whispered.
"What's not?"
"You're turning me on again and I suspect this is when you're gonna tell me playtime is over because you need to get back to work."
She wasn't wrong, but it wasn't because of work I was halting the festivities. It was because I was feeling shit I shouldn't be feeling.
Retreat and pivot.
Only now, I was retreating from the emotions I had no business harboring. The pivot was mental, and would happen naturally when Aria wasn't in front of me with her tits still trussed up by her pink bra and the visions of her swallowing my cock weren't fresh in my mind. It would take no time at all before I remembered the kind of man I was.
Not that I ever forgot, but if there was ever a woman who could make me ignore my past it was Aria.