Tricks Read online

  I kept the blinds on my windows drawn at all times. We stood just to the side of the front door, a windowless piece, save for the minute peephole. Still, it felt insanely risky as I dragged her jeans halfway down her hips. I would have gone farther, but she caught my hands.

  Acknowledging it, I slid my fingers up and traced the softness of her thighs above the worn denim. “Too much?”

  “Just…no more,” she said. She swallowed, and I could see her throat working with the movement.

  “What about this then?” I teased her through the material of her panties, and her hips shot forward, a ragged gasp escaping her.

  “Um…yes. Allowed.”

  She gasped as I slid a finger inside the edge and found her already wet. The feel of her slickness against my fingers was almost enough to drive me insane.

  I circled her entrance and skimmed my fingers up her neck. “Is this allowed?”

  She caught my face in her hands and dragged my mouth to hers. “Shut up and kiss me already,” she demanded.

  I laughed, but the sound died as our mouths connected.

  Hunger tore through us, vicious, relentless.

  I slid one finger inside her, and she clamped around me, tight as a fist. “Ahhh…” she cried out against my mouth.

  I swallowed that sound down – then almost swallowed my tongue as she slid her hand between us and cupped my crotch. “I think this should be allowed too.”

  I was surprised my pants didn’t tear in my haste to get them open.

  Of course, that meant I had to stop touching her, and those few seconds away from the wet, slick warmth of her cunt was torture. She was so tight, and the second I had my trousers undone, she slid her hand inside, freeing me to return to the very pleasant task of sliding my finger back inside her pussy.

  Tight…so slick, so tight.

  She groaned into my mouth, her tissues clamping down around my fingers, and I shuddered at the thought of having her grip me like that, so wet and snug.

  Against her lips, I said, “Unless you tell me now, I’m going to make you come, just like this. Tell me to stop.”

  “If you do, I’m hurting you,” she replied, shoving her hand inside my shorts and wrapping her fingers around my cock.

  She began to pump her wrist, and I lifted my head to stare down at her. I was already panting for air, all but dying as I struggled to get enough oxygen into my lungs to breathe, and she had done nothing more than palm my cock and move her wrist once.

  I wanted to come all over her – in her and have her come all over me.

  I added a second finger, and she cried out, rocking her hips faster. “That’s it,” I muttered, biting her lower lip. “Fuck yourself on my hand…just like that.”

  Ravenna’s eyes widened just the slightest, then a faint smile curled her lips.

  She moved faster – both her hips and her hand.

  I sought her clit out with my thumb and circled it.

  She stiffened, her sleek body going tight.

  I recognized the signal and pulled back, going to my knees in front of her as a moan ripped from her throat. I pressed my mouth to her cunt, and she exploded, shoving her hands into my hair and pulling as she rocked herself against my face, demanding more.

  I gave her as much as I could, considering her pants were still trapped around her thighs, limiting how easily I could reach that sweet, sweet pussy.

  It ended with her gasping for air and kneading my scalp with her fingers like a satisfied cat.

  The image made me smile, my lips pressed to her hip bone.

  She wiggled a little, and I eased back, letting her slide down so that she knelt between my thighs. But she didn’t cuddle up against me and wrap her arms around my neck as I half expected.

  “Your turn,” she said, her voice raspy.

  I stiffened as she closed her fingers around my cock.

  “Ravenna…” I grunted as she stroked me from base to tip and then back, each stroke faster, harder.

  I looked down, watching as she jerked me off, and it was the hottest damn thing I’d ever seen in my life, her hand working me, the head of my cock disappearing inside her fist only to pop back out at the end of each stroke.

  “I’m going to come if you keep it up,” I warned her.

  “Promises, promises…” She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to my mouth.

  I caught her wrist. “I don’t do it all nice and pretty like you. I’ll make a fucking mess.”

  “I can handle it if you can.” She met my gaze with a bold, level one of her own, and I had to amend an earlier thought – this was the hottest thing I’d ever seen, her holding my dick in her hand and my gaze with hers while daring me to come, right then and there, almost completely dressed.

  “Fuck,” I muttered.

  Leaning back from her, I tore out of my coat, then stripped out of my shirt and undershirt. Bared from the waist up, I caught her behind the neck and pulled her back to me. “Do your worst.”

  She laughed against my lips and began to stroke me once more. “Oh, this isn’t even close to my worst, babe,” she purred.

  Then she did that thing where she licked at my lips, and I was almost ready to whimper, ready to beg.

  She pumped my cock once more.

  Pre-cum seeped out, and she smeared it all over the head before resuming the taunting, teasing strokes.

  Pressure built at the base of my spine as my climax started to build. Ravenna bit my lower lip, then drove her tongue into my mouth, groaning hungrily.

  It was the sort of hunger that only made mine rage higher, hotter, and my cock swelled, almost to the point of pain.

  She tightened her fist and squeezed the head of my cock, twisting her wrist.

  I came.

  Semen pumped from the head of my cock to coat my belly and her hand, and still she moved, although she broke the kiss…and my cock pulsed hungrily, still, because she stopped kissing me to watch me come.

  She opened her mouth, her tongue coming out to touch the full lower curve of her bottom lip.

  I almost grabbed her then and there, needing that mouth under mine again, but if she wanted to watch…

  Ravenna milked and pumped my cock until I was utterly empty. And my cock, determined, dumb thing that it was jerked in her fist, wanting more.

  Any more, just then, might kill me.

  Twelve

  Ravenna

  He gave me a look that was sleepy-eyed and sexy, and it made me want to bite him. Want panged in my belly and part of me was appalled, while the other part wanted to shove him onto his back and get myself naked, then climb atop him.

  Sure, the office floor of a place I’d never been before wasn’t exactly how I planned on losing my virginity, but right now, it sounded appealing.

  And because it did, I forced myself to get up. He handed me the white undershirt he’d pulled off, and I stared at it a moment before realizing what it was for. I hurriedly wiped my hands off, then asked, “Is there a bathroom?”

  He pointed down the hall, accepting the shirt back, although, in retrospect, I wasn’t sure if handing it to him was the proper etiquette or not. Should I have kept it? Washed it? What the hell?

  As he went to wipe his belly off, I realized he must be fine with taking the shirt back, so I hitched up my pants and hurried in the direction he’d pointed.

  I needed to get out of there and straighten my brain up. Like, now.

  With that thought in my mind, I drew myself in during those few seconds I had in the bathroom and focused.

  Go out there, grab my bag, and go.

  That was all I had to do.

  I could freak out once I got to my place and it was only a block or two. If it was still raining, I could run it. My bag was weatherproof, so I didn’t have to worry about that.

  Go out there, grab my bag, and go.

  “Just do it,” I said, staring at my reflection. My face was flushed, and my eyes glittered too brightly. Was this what I looked like when I was aching for se
x –

  Go, the still-thinking part of my brain shouted.

  Ten minutes later, I was in my house, back pressed to the door and breathing like I’d run a marathon. Or like Nicco had chased me all the way home.

  He hadn’t.

  He’d barely gotten up off the floor before I waggled my fingers at him and told him I’d see him around.

  He’d said my name, but I hadn’t waited to see what might follow.

  Now, with the familiarity of my own home around me, I felt a little bit like a moron.

  I’d totally made out with that guy. A near stranger. No, I hadn’t made out with him – we’d gotten each other off, and he’d had his face buried in my crotch as I came.

  That went a little past making out.

  Just thinking about him and what we’d done was enough to turn my skin all tight and itchy and make me want more. All sorts of more.

  Damn, if any of the guys I’d dated had made me feel like this, my virginity would be a thing of the past.

  “Shit, girl. Focus.” I scrubbed my hands over my face and decided to take a shower. It would be hard to think about anything until I did that simple chore because right then, I smelled of him. His scent was all over me, and it was just another reminder of everything we’d done.

  Twenty minutes later, clad in a dry pair of jeans and t-shirt, I sat down on the couch with a beer and the remote.

  Nicco Alexander had gotten under my skin, bad enough that I’d considered going back to his office. That wasn’t happening. I mean, I barely knew the guy.

  So what if he was a forensic accountant who might have been called in to do something with the department? All that meant was that his background was fairly solid.

  It didn’t say much about him.

  “Stop thinking about him,” I told myself. Thumbing through the channels, I sipped on the brew from a local brewery and tried to distract myself.

  But his face, his eyes, his mouth, his everything kept swarming back up to haunt me.

  It wasn’t much of a surprise when I ended up caving and grabbed my laptop. I wasn’t supposed to use department resources for personal gain, but I wanted to know more about this guy. And there were ways to find out about him without using department resources.

  It just took a little longer.

  The truth of the matter was, a person could find out almost anything about almost anybody if they knew where to look and knew what questions to ask.

  Those were the sorts of things I’d been learning for the past few years, so within a few short searches, I knew where he’d gone to college. I knew his mother’s name. I knew where he lived.

  I dug deeper and found he’d never been in any trouble, save for a few parking and speeding tickets he always paid.

  His credit score was good.

  It was like he was just a model citizen.

  No reason to freak out at all about the fact that I wanted to drop my panties at the mere thought of him.

  And I probably would drop them…for him, if he showed any more interest in proceeding.

  I was too honest with myself to pretend otherwise. There was just no point.

  Sipping the dregs of the beer, I did another search and found a few of the jobs he’d acted as an expert consultant on and made a humming sound of approval. He knew his shit.

  No wonder the department had decided to go with him.

  I knew enough about the theatrics that went along with court to know that his good looks would play very well into the favor of whatever side hired him. So far though, he seemed to prefer working on the side of the good guys.

  “Good for you,” I murmured. I would have been a little disgusted with him and with myself if he was one of those guys who’d say whatever and help get a few bad guys off.

  I clicked away from that search window and found myself staring at a scan of his birth certificate.

  It was from one of the first searches I’d done. I didn’t even remember downloading it. Going to the window, I went to close it out, but out of habit, I skimmed it over with a look.

  My gaze landed on the father’s name.

  I stared at it for probably a full thirty seconds, hand hovering above the mouse.

  Just as I went to click closed, something clicked…inside my head.

  “What the hell?” I whispered.

  Instead of closing the scan, I enlarged it, certain I misread.

  There was no way. There was just no way. My life couldn’t suck that much.

  But enlarging the scan didn’t change the man’s name. All it did was make the typed-out text a little bit easier to read.

  Swallowing, I leaned back and rubbed my eyes, but it didn’t make the image disappear from my mind.

  Nothing would.

  The name of Nicco’s father was now permanently embedded in my brain matter.

  Gabriel Marks.

  Thirteen

  Nicco

  I spent a long night filled with erotic, demanding dreams where Ravenna hadn’t left, and the two of us finished what we started.

  After the second – maybe the third – dream woke me on a razor’s edge, I gave up trying to sleep and retreated into the shower where I turned up the water until it felt like warm silk against my skin.

  Then I leaned back up against the wall and wrapped my hand around my cock, pretending it was hers as she fisted me the way she had just hours earlier.

  I pretended her mouth was on mine, that I was gorging on her taste the way I’d been dreaming about half the night.

  One thing was certain.

  I was never going to walk into my office without thinking about Ravenna again.

  It was a full day later, and if I drew a deep breath, I could almost imagine I smelled her. I knew it was just my head playing tricks on me, but it was enough to make my dick go hard and interrupt my line of thought every time it happened.

  I was reviewing some files for an ongoing client of mine, and the last thing I needed to be doing was thinking about Ravenna and how she tasted, wishing I’d taken the time to get her naked.

  The phone wouldn’t quit ringing either.

  Granted it only rang maybe four times, but when you had a job that required concentration and when you preferred silence when you were concentrating, that ringing phone was a nuisance I didn’t need.

  One of the phone calls was from Joelle, and I felt like a heel after I hung up because she had sensed my impatience to get off the phone and get back to work. She didn’t say anything, but I could sense her withdrawal and knew I’d have to make it up to her when I saw her that evening.

  She and Suria were still staying with my mother – in addition to her place being than my condo, she had top-notch security. I think it was good for them to be around her too. Mom loved taking care of people, and they needed somebody to mother them a little. Especially Suria. She’d been taking care of everybody for far too long.

  “Shit, man…” I threw my pen down on the desk and muttered to myself. First, I was caught up in thinking about Ravenna and her sweet mouth and her hot pussy.

  Then I was thinking about my sisters.

  “How about you pay attention to your work, yeah?”

  With a colossal effort, I finally managed to focus on the file in front of me and log a couple of hours, jotting notes in the margins and sending several emails as questions came up. Once, I had to call my contact with the firm and leave a voicemail. The numbers weren’t adding up, but that was why I was called in. When numbers were fine, they never called a guy like me.

  I had yet to hear from anybody at the police department, but I expected it might take a few days. A few weeks even.

  When the door to my office opened, I had just finished up saving my data and notes, shredding any hard copies I’d made and pass-protecting everything. Security was key in a job like mine, and I took it seriously.

  Pasting a polite smile in place, I looked up.

  But the person standing in the doorway was the last person I expected to see.

&n
bsp; “Ravenna.”

  After the way she’d taken off running the other day, I hadn’t known if I would see her again, yet here she was in my office, looking around nervously like she wasn’t sure if she should be there at all.

  She looked absolutely beautiful. She wore a pair of jeans and a simple, navy blue t-shirt, but I suspected I’d find her beautiful whether she wore sackcloth or silk. The navy blue enhanced the warm golden glow of her skin, and the jeans clung to the long, lean lines of her legs, reminding me of how I wanted to feel those legs wrapped around my waist.

  And she was watching me like she wasn’t sure if she should be here or not.

  Before she could decide she didn’t want to be here, I rushed out from behind the desk.

  “Hey. How are you doing?”

  It was the first thing that came to mind that wasn’t Why the hell did you take off running like that?

  “I’m fine. Great. Good.” She smiled at me, and I didn’t think it was my imagination that the smile looked a little strained around the edges. “How are you?”

  “Good. I’m good.” Shoving my hands into my pockets, I looked around. “Do you want to have a seat?”

  As nervous as she was, I figured she had to be here to talk about the other day.

  I mean, it had been pretty crazy. I’d never had anything like that happen. Well, sure, things like that had happened, but not within twenty-four hours of first laying eyes on a woman.

  She nodded and moved over to sit in the chair in front of my desk.

  Not exactly what I had in mind.

  The couch would have been…

  What, more intimate? The sardonic voice in my head laughed at me. That’s probably why she avoided it.

  Wanting to silence that voice, I settled in position in front of my desk, rather than behind it, not wanting this to come off as any sort of professional thing. Leaning my hips against the mahogany, I said, “I should probably apologize. Yesterday, things got pretty…intense.”

  Her cheeks flamed brilliant red. “Oh, no. That’s fine.”

  “I…” Frowning, I studied her, but she wouldn’t look at me, and that made it a lot harder to understand just what might be going on behind those sea-green eyes. “It’s fine? I mean, I’m not saying it wasn’t amazing, but we kind of rushed everything and I just wanted you to know I wasn’t…I’m not…”