Page 69 of Instinct & New Identity

“Maybe try asking nicely, mister bossy-pants.”Sheput her hands to her hips, full of attitude that turned me way the hell on.

I stalked her, and she backed up against the door.ThenIlifted her up and carried her the ten feet to the bed and dropped her onto it.Beforeshe could open that sassy mouth to say anything else,Icovered it with my own mouth.Myhands gripped her shirt and pulled it up and over her head.Ibrought my mouth back down to her neck and kissed my way down her body.Iput my mouth over the thin lace covering her nipple and sucked hard.

“God, your body is beautiful,Cat.Icould spend hours just worshipping your breasts.”

Every timeItouched her, she mewled.Shewas so sensitive to my touch and responded right away.Imoved to unbutton her pants and slid my hand inside her panties to find she was soaked.Normally,Iwould have spent my time playing with her, building her up before taking her, butIcouldn’t wait.Isensed we both needed this.

I removed my clothes quickly, but took my time asIremoved hers, enjoying every moment.AsIlooked down at her naked frame in front of me,Irealized how damn luckyIwas to have her.

I reached over to the nightstand, snatched the condom up, and put it on in record time.

I slid inside her slowly, taking in how amazing she felt wrapped around me.WhenIkissed her, it was more likeIravaged her mouth asIplunged deep inside her, only to pull back out and thrust in even deeper.

“V…”Herbreath hitched as she murmured the letter.

I felt her orgasm was close, soIkissed her deep, absorbing her moans in my mouth as she came, convulsing around me, harder and tighter than she ever had before.Shortlyafter, my own release rolled through me.

I kept her close, stroking her face and hair, not wanting to remove myself from her.

After we were done and all cleaned up,Iwatched her walk back into the bathroom with a glow thatIput on her face.Iknew at that moment,Iwanted to put that look on her face every day for the rest of my life.Shewas it for me.

27

CAT

It had been two weeks since our trip up to the cabin in the mountains.Nothingmore had happened in terms of threats or even suspicious activity.Valnever moved back into the loft, insisting she didn’t need a front-row seat to the two of us making out every time she turned a corner.

I also never moved back to my own room.I’dstayed inVince’severy night since we got back.Myrelationship withVincejust felt right.Andwe were definitely making up for lost time.

In a few days,Vince’sparents were going on aEuropeancruise for the rest of the month to see all the variousChristmasmarkets along theDanubeRiver, so they were hostingChristmascelebrations two weeks early.Theyhad invited everyone from the security business over as well.DiegoandDanehad plans, but just about everyone else had come over.

Val andIhad spent all morning and afternoon cooking traditionalPuertoRicanholiday food to bring over.Imadepasteles—a family specialty of seasoned pork, marinated with sofrito, olives, and garbanzo beans, cooked inside a dough made of plantains, green bananas, and yucca root.Wewrapped them in banana leaves, and they were boiled to perfection.Thankfully, we’d done most of the prep work the day before becausepastelesmay be delicious, but they were quite labor intensive.Wealso madecoquito, thePuertoRicanversion of eggnog which, in my opinion, was far superior.

In addition to eating,Ellieinsisted we do a combo white elephantSecretSantagift exchange so that there was no need to get gifts for everyone.We’dkept it simple and pulled names out of a hat two weeks before.ValandIhad never done a white elephant gift exchange before, nor had we doneSecretSanta.Ithad been the two of us for so long, ourChristmaseswere usually just a simple event.

The food was done, andIwas back inVince’sbedroom putting my earrings in before we left.Hewas saying goodbye to someone on the phone when he walked into the room.

“Was that your mom?”Iasked since she had already called twice to remind us to bringHarry.

“No, it wasParker.Hewanted to know ifIcould meet up with him to go over some possible bounty cases, butItold him we were headed to my folks’ house.”

I nodded, then finished putting the second earring in.

“I’m giving this to you early because my sister is a pain in my ass and will likely ruin the surprise tonight anyway,” he said, handing me a wrapped box that he pulled from behind his back.

“I haven’t finished with your present yet,”Iinformed him, feeling bad becauseIdidn’t know we were doing our personal gifts early.

“It’s okay.Youcan give me my gift onChristmasDay.I’monly giving you this so my sister doesn’t ruin it,” he repeated.

I took the box from him and opened it to find two envelopes inside.Ablue one that said “Openme first” and a white one marked “Openme second”.Curiousby nature,Ismiled as excitement raced through me, wondering what was inside.Iripped open the first envelope to find it contained a piece of paper with what appeared to be plane reservations.

“Tickets…toBarcelona…inApril?”Iquestioned out loud.

He knew thatIhad always wanted to travel but couldn’t.Orwas too afraid to, given our circumstances.ButI’dnever mentionedBarcelonaspecifically.

“Kill two birds with one stone,”Vincereplied conspiratorially.

The confused look on my face must have been obvious.

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