Page 3 of A Deceitful Pact

I shouldn’t be jealous of Jack, he’s a hard worker and a great agent. He deserves the promotion, but so do I. The fact I wasn’t even considered for it is as hard to swallow as this cheap whiskey.

“Tastes like shit, don’t it?” A husky voice comes from the end of the bar, and when I look up and see the muscular guy sitting on a barstool, with a toothpick hanging out the side of his mouth, I instantly notice how handsome he is.

Handsome in a very different way from Jack.

“I’ve had better.” I swish what's left of it around in my glass and focus on that, rather than the fact that this guy’s eyes are crystal blue.

“So, what brings an attractive...” I hear his stool scrape against the floor as he gets up and moves closer to me, “...sophisticated woman like yourself to a dive like this?” The way those crystal blue eyes look me up and down makes my skin shiver and my pussy throb. I can’t think of a time when a man has done so little and had such an effect on me.

“Well, it sure ain’t the whiskey.” I shake my head and snigger. I’m not about to admit to this guy that I’m avoiding going to the celebratory meal with my boyfriend and his family. It makes me sound cruel.

“How about you?” I turn the question onto him, this handsome stranger has me curious, and so far, he’s proving to be a great distraction.

“Just passing through, had some business to take care of.” He takes the toothpick from his lips, and I can tell by the hint of a smirk on his face that his business wasn’t legal.

I’ve always been a good judge of character. It’s what secured me my job in the FBI, but I’m not about to admit that to him. I’ve just spent three weeks undercover, pretending to be someone else. Tonight, I get to make up my own character, and it beats being a bitter, twisted girlfriend.

“What kind of business?” I hear my cell vibrate in my bag and know it will be Jack. He’ll be wondering where I am, worried about me like the kind, considerate guy that he is. He said he wanted us to talk after dinner, and I’m certain I already know what that conversation will be about. Jack wants more. He wants us to live together, he wants us to get married and have two point four children. He wants to buy a nice house in the suburbs with a white picket fence and have BBQs on weekends

“I can’t tell ya that, darlin’.” The guy rolls his tongue around the toothpick when he places it back between his lips, and it makes the clothes I’m wearing suddenly feel tight and constricting.

My phone vibrates again. I should pick it up. I should leave this bar and go to the restaurant where Jack and his family are celebrating his success. This guy, whose pretty, blue eyes feel like they are undressing me, is trouble. I can sense it, but at the same time, I’m drawn to it.

“You wanna get outta here?” The words come out of my mouth before my brain can clear them, and they seem to shock the guy just as much as they shock me.

“Well, Iwasgonna offer to buy you another shit shot of whiskey, but…” He shrugs his shoulders, then looks me up and down in that same way that makes me want to forget who I really am and just be his.

“Come on.” I grab my bag and his arm, so I can drag him outside. A few bikers are hanging out the front and I ignore their whistles and cheers when I push this rough, rugged stranger against the wall and kiss him like a needy slut. Life's about to get real serious for me, and I feel the need to be spontaneous. I’ve spent my entire life being sensible. I studied hard at school, never let boys be a distraction. When my parents died, I didn’t go off the rails like Sasha did. I made my best effort to take care of her. To be her mother and her father. I joined the force and I worked my ass off. Special Agent Riley Hale doesn’t do slutty kisses with hot strangers that look as if they could ruin your life and steal all your senses. But Special Agent Riley Hale is off duty tonight.

“Steady, darlin’.” He pulls his lips from mine and grips hold of my shoulders. “Just how much have you had to drink tonight?” He furrows his brow at me, and the concern I see only makes him more appealing.

“You don’t need to be a gentleman. In fact, I need you to be the opposite. I’m not drunk and this isnotmy standard behavior, but I…” I feel my cheeks start to flush as I look to my right at our audience of burly bikers. “Do you ever feel like the world is spinning and you're just standing still?” I decide to ignore them and look back at the hot-as-fuck stranger who I want to kiss all over again. “I don’t want to stand still tonight,” I admit through wobbly lips. Tears prickle behind my eyes because I know what I’m about to do is wrong. Me and Jack are good, we’ve been dating for almost a year, and I love him. At least, I think I do…

“I got a room.” His voice comes out growly as he gestures his head toward the motel next door, and I grip my bag in one hand and touch the other over his solid, muscular chest. I can feel his heart beating, and I swear it’s thumping just as fast as my own.

“No names, no questions, just…” Fuck, I can’t even say the word. I’m a grown-ass woman who just played a vital role in taking down a human trafficking ring, and I can’t say the word ‘sex’.

“Just sex.” He says the word for me. “But I’m gonna warn ya, it’ll be the best ya ever had.” His lips hitch up into a cocky smirk and just as I’m about to start walking toward the dingy motel where he’s staying, he takes me off guard and lifts me off my feet. Hauling me over his shoulder as if I’m weightless, he slaps me hard on the ass and makes me squeal. One of the bikers looks up from rolling a cigarette, and he shakes his head and laughs as he watches me get carried across the parking lot toward sin.

I hang helplessly over his shoulder while he unlocks his door, steps through it, and kicks it shut behind him. Placing me back on my feet, he gives me no time to take in my surroundings before his mouth is on mine. His tongue feels like it’s possessing me as it rolls around mine, his huge, rough hands slide into my hair and hold me firm, ensuring I can’t get away, and the desperate way he attacks me causes heat to pool in my stomach. I soak through the cotton of my panties as he forces me against the wall, devouring me like I’m his last meal. This isn’t a pace I’m used to, but I like it. I like it a whole lot.

“You ever been fucked, sweetheart?” He looks down at me, staring at my lips. I can feel how swollen they are from the way he kissed me.

“I’m not a vir?—”

“That’s not what I asked.” He lowers his head and laughs at me. “I asked if you’ve ever been fucked?” he whispers in my ear.

I shake my head slowly because I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything like what’s about to happen in this room.

“It sounds to me like you want out of your own head for a little while.” His raspy voice speaks against my skin and causes it to shiver.

“Yes.” I swallow thickly. I’m fully aware that this man could be anyone. I know I should run for the door and get the hell out of here, but some invisible force has me rooted to the floor. I need this. I need to experience this man and everything he has to offer me.

I just can’t understand why.

“Okay.” He sinks to his knees and when he looks up at me, he’s wearing that cocky smirk again.

“You look nervous.” He tilts his head like he’s trying to read my mind.

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