Cold as Ice, page 31
Warmth entered her cheeks. “It seemed like the best place as I rarely leave it behind.”
He smiled and everything inside her went from warm to red-hot. “I like that you are prepared but wait here two seconds. I think I have some in my bag.”
He went over to his kit bag and unzipped a pocket.
She lay on top of the covers almost afraid to move. He was back quickly, lying on his side staring at her, holding the foil square between them.
Chapter Thirty-One
“Before you start wondering why I carry condoms in my go bag, I need to tell you something.” His voice was thick and low with the import of what he was trying to communicate to her. “I haven’t been with anyone since before you were kidnapped.”
She blinked at him in surprise. “What?”
It was time he admitted a few uncomfortable truths. “Ever since you propositioned me last summer, I’ve known there was a good chance if I found myself anywhere in your vicinity, we would end up naked if that was still what you wanted.”
Those jewel green eyes of hers glowed. “I never expected you to be faithful to me when we weren’t actually in a relationship.”
“Weren’t we?” he asked, feeling irritated with himself for his lack of honesty. “It felt a lot like a relationship to me and the fact I wasn’t brave enough to call it that was slowly driving me crazy.”
“I thought it was all one sided. I thought it was a case of me seeing something that wasn’t there. I thought you felt sorry for me.”
He swore and rested his forehead against hers. “I tried to do the right thing, but I couldn’t keep away from you. It’s why I didn’t visit even though I wanted to.” He’d known he wouldn’t be able to resist her. “I’m sorry I was such an inconsistent ass.”
“You weren’t inconsistent. You were very consistent that we should only be friends. You never led me on to pretend otherwise but I could never quite give up hope.”
“Then I’m a lucky man.” The thought of losing her, of letting her slip from his life…
She stroked his bottom lip. “Will you get into a lot of trouble because of me?”
He gave a humorless smile. “Enough time has passed that the suits in HQ will probably let it slide, but I will have to inform them.” He grimaced. “Quentin though…”
“Haley already knows.”
He pulled back in surprise. “She does?”
“Who do you think gave me all the condoms?”
Eban laughed. “I take it she approves?”
“I honestly think that will depend on how many orgasms you deliver.”
“That sounds like Haley.” Haley’s frank sex talk was refreshing even if it made his boss blush. “I guess I better start work on gaining Haley’s approval.”
Eban leaned in and kissed her again. Starting the sexual dance all over again. The touching, kissing, stroking, finding her pleasure points and pushing them, but not too hard.
Darby had no problem discovering his. When her fingers wrapped around him and squeezed, he thought he would die a happy man.
Darby was trembling and her breathing was ragged by the time he ripped the condom open. He was relieved he could make her feel good. He rolled the slippery latex over himself and hoped to hell he didn’t fuck this up.
He cupped the back of her head and eased her on top of him, letting her straddle him. Giving her control.
She recognized what he was doing, and he could see from the look in her eyes she appreciated it. The thought of frightening her ate at him. He started to tell her to go slow, even though it was killing him, but she positioned herself over him and lowered herself over his erection, so their bodies were tightly joined.
He lay there stunned by the amazing feeling of her surrounding him. He stared up at her, totally turned on and completely terrified. “You okay?”
She raised herself up and tilted her hips slightly, as if getting used to the feel of him inside her.
“Fantastic.”
He watched her as she shifted, finding her way, moving slowly up and down, languorously destroying every thread of control he possessed. She rode him gently, carefully, clearly enjoying each slow slide of her body over his.
“You ready for a little more?” His voice cracked.
“More?”
“There’s a lot more but today, I’m going to show you a little more.”
She nodded, looking like the most erotic creature he’d ever seen.
“Ready?”
She nodded again, a little uncertainly.
He bared her clit with his fingers and pressed his thumb against her. Her eyes rolled as she started to quiver and clench around him. He anchored her hip with his other hand, thrusting deeper and harder. Rather than frightening her, she met each thrust with her own, looking as if she reveled in the sensation the same way he did.
He moved from her clit to her nipple and pinched hard enough to have her crying out in release.
The sound made his entire body react and the tightening of his balls warned him he was about to lose it. He tipped his head back and closed his eyes as his climax ripped through him, filling his mind with a bright light and a million sparks of pleasure.
He opened his eyes to make sure Darby was still okay and she had her eyes closed, mouth open, with a look of stunned wonder on her features. She was truly the most magnificent women he’d ever known.
Then she opened those bright, keen, green eyes of hers and held his gaze. “Thank you.”
That she was thanking him made him want to weep at what had been stolen from her. Her sexuality. Her joy. But she’d reclaimed them both and he was happy to have helped. Happy they’d managed to make something together that had been beautiful and right.
“Thank you.” His voice was rough with something akin to sorrow. He would give everything he owned to have saved her from what she’d gone through last summer, but he couldn’t change the past. He could be part of her present and future, if she let him. If they could figure out a way forward.
For now, this was enough.
She collapsed on top of him and he carefully maneuvered them so he could remove the condom. Then he pulled up the covers and she snuggled against him, naked in the dim light.
“Eban?”
“Hmm.”
“Most experiments require more than one data point you know.”
He smiled into her hair. “Give me a little recovery time. In the meantime, get some sleep.”
She drifted off slowly, her breathing gradually becoming deeper and more regular. He wasn’t sure how she’d react to sleeping with someone. He wouldn’t take it personally if she woke up screaming, but he hoped for her sake she didn’t.
Even though she was amazing he wanted her to feel normal because that was what she wanted.
He climbed carefully out of bed, got rid of the condom and put a few logs on the fire.
He moved the curtain aside and stared out into the snow-filled night, wondering where this killer was hiding. Did they still have Darby in their sights, or had they moved on?
Outside the blizzard intensified. Snow blew horizontally outside the window and the tops of the trees submitted to the wailing wind.
The killer was probably trapped in this town the same way everyone else was trapped. A shiver made him turn around and climb back into bed beside Darby. Pulling her against his chest and absorbing the quiet pleasure of her skin next to his.
He wouldn’t let anyone else hurt her. Not him, not anyone. Not ever again.
* * *
Darby jerked awake and instantly froze at the dark shadows dancing over the ceiling. Then she became aware of the chill in the air and the comforting warmth of the man beside her and everything shifted back into focus. She immediately relaxed. She wasn’t in the hut. She wasn’t scared and alone, or worse, scared and not alone.
She slid out from beneath the covers and used the bathroom, filling the wood stove on the way back to bed.
Euphoria filled her. Memories of what she and Eban had done together made her grin like a loon as she snuggled back under the sheets, pressing her now cold skin against his heat.
His hand snuck around her waist and pulled her close.
“You’re not getting away from me that easily,” he growled.
“I don’t want to get away from you.” She stretched her naked body against his and felt his erection growing along her hip.
“The first thing a trained negotiator learns is to assume nothing. Keep an open mind and seek out as much intelligence as possible.”
He rolled her onto her back but didn’t put any of his weight on her. Her night vision had adapted enough to make out his features. He was smiling at her.
She knew he was going to ask if she was okay, and she didn’t want him to.
She placed her palm on the smooth skin of his sternum. “What else do you learn in negotiator school?”
He leaned down to kiss her forehead, her eyes, her lips. Along the length of her jaw, skipping over her injured throat to trace his tongue over her collarbone. He pinched her nipple firmly between his finger and thumb. Making her back arch in pleasant but unexpected wonder.
“Always be ready for surprises.”
She laughed.
His hand stroked lazily down her front and dipped inside her wet heat. He stroked her languorously and relentlessly. “And to slow everything down.”
It was torture and she never wanted it to end. She widened her thighs, silently begging for more.
“Negotiators should keep their tone of voice low and reassuring. Calm.” He kissed her breast and then suckled her nipple into his mouth as he shifted a little lower down the bed.
“What else?” She could barely breathe let alone think.
“Start sentences with ‘I’m sorry’ to remove any confrontation. ‘I’m sorry, but you want me to stop kissing you to answer your questions?’ Keep the slight querying upward inflection at the end of the sentence to subconsciously ask ‘are you sure that you want me to stop kissing you?’”
“That would be a hard no.”
“Exactly. I made you rethink the options for a better solution.” He ran his tongue over the second peaked tip. “And getting you to say ‘no,’ despite popular misconception about getting to ‘yes,’ brings you to a safe place where you are much more likely to negotiate with me.”
“I would happily negotiate with you like this all day long.”
“I may never be able to teach a class again without thinking inappropriate thoughts.” He grinned and slid a little lower, kissing her navel, her stomach.
Her heart banged erratically. Everything they did here in this bed washed away some of the pain from her past.
“What else?” she whispered breathlessly.
“Isopraxism.”
She blinked in confusion and cried out when his tongue dragged through the creases of her labia.
He pulled back and blew on the wet flesh. She shuddered in reaction.
“People basically like those who are similar to them. It’s a non-learned behavior where a species tends to act in a like manner—one person starts clapping at a theater and everyone joins in. It’s lizard-brain stuff. We build more rapport with people who look and act like us and building rapport is key to influencing someone’s behavior.”
Darby bit her lip as he gently sucked her clit. Her bones melted even though every nerve was on fire. Her breathing became hoarse. Then his tongue dipped lower, and he lifted her knees over his shoulders and wrapped his arms around her waist.
“Because my job is usually conducted over the phone, I concentrate mainly on the verbal cues.”
“So, you’re good with your mouth?” She groaned as he licked her again. Slowly. Deeply.
“Mirroring the last one to three words or the most important word in a sentence is a shortcut negotiators use all the time. It’s a mimicry trick that builds that connection while drawing out more information.”
“More information?” she sighed.
He smiled. “You are a fast learner.”
“I have a really excellent teacher.”
He urged her to the end of the mattress and knelt on the floor. She should have felt cold, but she was burning up.
“Negotiation is just a conversation that builds rapport and trust leading people toward the best outcome.” His tongue sank deep inside her, and she writhed.
“Okay.” She was all for it. She grabbed his hair and brought the scrape of his beard against the sensitive flesh of her sex. “What else?”
“You want more details?” He laughed as he licked his lips.
“Teach me everything.”
“The most important skill a negotiator needs to employ is active listening. Not only the words being spoken, but what are the real needs and fears of the person you’re dealing with?”
“I have real needs that need dealing with.”
“Do you like this?” he asked.
“Hmmm.”
She could see him grinning in the dim light from the fire. “Excellent use of minimal encouragers to let the other person know you’re still engaged but not to interrupt the flow of…information.”
“Uh huh.”
His mouth feasted on her and tension built and built.
But he slowed it down again and she was about ready to scream in frustration.
“Basically, what we do, what I do, is put myself into the other person’s shoes and think about the fears that drive them. Then I direct it back at them. ‘It seems like you’re scared of being arrested.’ ‘It seems as if you’re afraid of disappointing your family.’ Open-ended questions that draw out information. Not accusations or statements that will get people to shore up their defenses. Avoid questions that can be answered with a yes-no response.”
She went to open her mouth and he reached up and pressed a finger to her lips. “And let the silence do the work. The other side will usually fill it.”
Her whole body shook with need. “What else?”
“Paraphrasing whatever complaints or viewpoint they have so they know you understand them.”
“That feels good. Don’t stop.”
“You don’t want me to stop because it feels so good?” he whispered against her skin.
“Don’t stop. What else?” she demanded.
“Putting a label on the most negative emotions. Hanging their fear out on a banner and waving it around diffuses a lot of the anxiety associated with it.”
His tongue speared her clit and his fingers eased inside her, driving her up and up until her body went taut, straining against him, exploding with pleasure, crying out into the night.
Her heart pounded as she came back into herself. Eban crawled up the bed, kissed her and pulled her so she lay on his chest. Her eyes popped wide and met the black of his when she realized he wasn’t going to do anything else.
She knew why too. He was still keeping everything slow and sedate so as not to scare her. And she appreciated that. She knew there would be missteps. But she had an active role in what they did. She wasn’t a passive player anymore.
She kissed his mouth then straddled his hips. “Tell me if I do anything you don’t like.”
“Darby, you don’t have to—”
“Hush.” She kissed his mouth and then worked her way slowly down his body.
“What are you doing?” he asked, sinking his fingers into her hair.
“Doing?” She held him firmly and ran her tongue over the hot length of his erection. “Isopraxism. It’s a behavioral thing that helps establish rapport.”
She took him in her mouth and his whole body went rigid and then relaxed. She didn’t know exactly what to do but he showed her what he liked. He told her what to do. She stopped before he climaxed, and they found another condom before she took him inside her again. And this time was even better than last time and she rolled him over, so his solid weight pressed against her hips and spread her thighs. And they moved together blindly, not worrying about the past but completely in the moment and when release shot through her once more, she thought she would shatter from the ecstasy of finally knowing the joy of sex, the beauty of making love.
* * *
Eban woke early the next morning and it was still dark. The air was chilly. The fire had gone out sometime during the night. He checked his wristwatch. Six AM.
Darby moaned and cuddled into his side. As much as he treasured the time alone with her, cocooned in this cabin, he needed to check his messages. See if any progress had been made on the case. See if this nightmare had ended while they’d slept.
The scent of her hair teased his nostrils and reminded him of what they’d done last night. It had been better than he’d ever imagined and once again her bravery humbled him. She wasn’t a coward the way he was. He’d been terrified of hurting her and she’d been determined to overcome her past. He didn’t deserve her, and he didn’t know if he could let her go if she didn’t want the same things he did.
Sure, he could wait to have kids. And he was prepared to help however he could, but the burden of childbearing fell on the person who was pregnant, and Darby had dreams to chase.
He wouldn’t pressure her or rush her, that wouldn’t be fair, but if they weren’t on the same page about the idea of having kids he’d rather know now. He’d always craved being part of a loving family. Had dreamed about it his entire life.
But would a family replace the hole left if he didn’t have Darby in his world? He didn’t think so.
He edged out of bed to avoid waking her and headed into the lounge. There were embers in the fireplace, and he added crumpled paper and birch bark which quickly caught. He added small pieces of wood and let it slowly start to burn.
He could worry about their relationship and his life’s path when this killer was caught and Darby was safe.
He had a ton of messages and emails. Charlotte Blood told him Quentin had been called to a crisis situation on a Navy vessel in a Virginia Naval Base that sounded serious. Eban was obviously needed back at CNU but no way he was leaving Darby here unprotected.
Hopefully, if they hadn’t found this killer in the next twenty-four hours and the weather cleared enough to land the jet here, she’d agree to accompany him to Quantico and the decoy agent could take her place.
