Page 43 of Fast Justice

Her bare feet were almost silent on the hardwood floor as she walked toward him, her steps slow, measured. Without breaking eye contact he slowly set his holster on the kitchen counter. His posture was tense, his expression unreadable as he watched her.

She walked right up to him, ignoring the quiver of uncertainty in her gut. It was time to be bold, take what she wanted, and go from there.

“Rowan…” he began in a warning tone.

She ignored that too, reaching up to curl a hand around his nape as she lifted on tiptoe and pressed her mouth to his, the need to restore their connection obliterating everything else. His lips were smooth and firm beneath hers, the shape of them so familiar as she poured her feelings into the kiss.

Malcolm resisted for a second, then made a deep, dark sound and plunged his hands into her hair, his mouth slanting over hers as he took control of the kiss.

Rowan moaned in combined pleasure and relief, letting the sensations cascade through her. At least he wanted her as much as she wanted him.

The kiss was all heat and hunger, his tongue stroking hers with urgent need. He was hot and hard all over, the unmistakable ridge of his erection stretching the front of his jeans. No more waiting. She was finally going to do all the things she’d fantasized about him over the past year. Explore the kind of intimacy she’d craved but had been too afraid to risk.

Her free hand curled around the sculpted contour of his muscled shoulder, the coiled strength beneath her fingers making her dizzy with arousal. She’d meant to turn him, flip their positions and press him back against the island to take control back, but her brain short-circuited the moment he fisted a hand in her hair and pulled her head back, his wicked mouth sliding over the sensitive skin at the side of her neck.

Before she could gather a single coherent thought, he locked an arm around her hips and popped her off her feet, carrying her a few steps to the nearest wall where he pinned her with the strength and weight of his body.

A shaky, startled moan bubbled out of her at the raw show of dominance. Before, he’d kept this side of him tempered, hiding it beneath a hot tenderness that she’d enjoyed, but ultimately had left her frustrated.Thiswas what she’d sensed beneath the surface. This forceful and passionate side of him was what she’d been craving all along.

Now she couldn’t get close enough. Rowan grabbed hold of his wide shoulders for balance, frustrated by her snug skirt as she fought to wind her legs around his hips.

Malcolm captured her jaw in one hand, bringing her eyes to his. His burned with a primal light that made her shiver. “I didn’t want to want you anymore,” he rasped out, his jaw taut with residual anger or resentment.

Her heart stuttered, the fear of rejection rising sharply, but then immediately covered her mouth with his, his tongue plunging between her lips in a claiming that sent a hot bolt of arousal through her. The fear receded.

She met him stroke for stroke, arching into his body, every nerve ending fizzing like champagne. She was already wet, aching for him, her breasts swollen and sensitive, rubbing her hips against him to ease the ache between her thighs.

Breathing hard, Malcolm lifted his head a moment later to stare down at her with molten chocolate eyes. “But I can’t keep my hands off you,” he half-growled, his voice laced with accusation.

“Good.” It was a start. Something she could use to crack through his defenses. He stilled, his body going rigid as she slid one hand down his chest, over his clenched abdomen, watching his eyes. Then lower, to the thick bulge in his jeans. She had to reach him, had to touch his heart, and if this was the only way he’d allow it to happen, then she would take it.

He sucked in a sharp breath that sounded almost tortured. “Fuck. Rowan.” He dropped his head to the side of her neck, his ragged breaths hot against her skin. Fighting his need.

She wouldn’t allow it. Wouldn’t allow him to shut her out or turn away now.

Unwinding her legs, she let her feet slide to the floor to give her more room, her mouth busy nipping at the edge of his taut jaw, the pulse hammering in his throat. A low, warning growl rumbled up from his chest when she slid the button at the top of his fly undone. But he made no move to stop her.

Emboldened, she slid her hand beneath the denim, inside the cotton of his underwear to grasp his hard, thick length. He was hot in her hand, swollen to bursting.

His breath halted, his hips surging forward when she squeezed him, dragging a helpless moan from somewhere deep in his chest. She’d imagined this moment so many times, couldn’t wait to feel him inside her, filling her, taking away the empty feeling and replacing it with pleasure.

The sound of their quickened breathing filled the air. He pulsed in her grip, triggering an answering empty ache between her legs. She continued kissing his neck, dragging her tongue up the side as she stroked him with her fist, remembering how he liked it. They’d done this before, a long time ago in a heated rush in the front seat of his truck, but there were so many other things she’d wanted to do to him and never gotten the chance. Tonight, she wasn’t stopping until she had all of him.

Malcolm stood stock still before her, his chest rising and falling with each rapid breath while she worked him, her other hand shoving his T-shirt up so that her mouth could slide over the flexed power of his pecs. She paused to dart her tongue across one tight nipple, dragging another groan out of him, sucked lightly before trailing down, down, sinking to her knees in front of him, her back and hips bolstered by the wall.

Nipping at the tense muscles in his abdomen, she glanced up at his face. He stared down at her with an expression of pure masculine hunger, his flexed forearms braced on the wall, hands knotted into fists.

He wanted this. So badly that he couldn’t pull away now. Clearly fighting the need to shove his pants down, grab her head and bring her mouth to him. She didn’t want him to fight it.

Her heart thundered against her ribs as she held his gaze and reached up to grasp his left arm, pulling it down. When it was level with her head she turned her face into his hand and nuzzled him, rubbing her hot cheek against his palm.

Telling him without words what she wanted, she set his hand on her hair and tugged the denim and cotton down, freeing the thick length of his erection to her ravenous gaze.

Malcolm hissed in a breath and tangled his fingers in her hair, tugging at her scalp, the slight burn increasing the tension humming between them. Breaking his gaze at last, she curled her fingers around the wide base and parted her lips as she bent to him, determined to mark him, drive him out of his mind with pleasure.

Slowly, slowly she closed her lips around the swollen crown of his cock. His fist clenched in her hair, the muscles in his thighs and belly locking tight. A heady wave of feminine power and arousal sizzled under her skin.

He let out a low, strangled groan, the feel of her hot mouth engulfing him making that powerful body shudder. The scent of his soap, the salty taste of his arousal filled her senses.

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