Roxanne St. Claire - Make Her Pay

His fingertip grazed her jaw, a whisper of a touch, barely a caress. She breathed in a little, and that seemed to pull him deeper into the kiss, the tip of his tongue softly, slowly circling the opening of her mouth.

Her eyes heavy, her hands achy, she finally closed her lids and lifted her arms to rest on his shoulders, turn her torso toward him, and pull closer. He met her halfway, his chest against hers, their thighs pressed on the bed.

The instant they had body contact, he slid his tongue into her mouth, stealing more breath and sending more heat through her. A soft moan vibrated her mouth, and she wasn’t sure if it was him or her or both, but the sensation just made her want more.

As natural as the next breath, he guided her on her back, the move so sweet and easy, she just let it happen, falling on the unmade bed like it was a cloud.

“You’re seducing me.”

He smiled into the kiss. “Man, I hate to be so obvious.”

She broke the kiss, but he just added some body pressure, gently rolling against her hips, taking his lips from her mouth to her jaw and down her throat.

“Why are you doing this?”

This time, he laughed. “You really don’t get out much, do you?”

Still, the sense that there was an ulterior motive lingered. “I mean why… me and not Alita?”

Lifting a little, he frowned. “Dumb question. Bad timing. But I’ll answer it if I have to.”

“You have to.”

“You’re cute and sexy and funny and…” He kissed her again, with a quick stroke of his tongue. “I like you.”

As if that was all that needed to be said, he returned to kissing her so completely she couldn’t stop the twisting ache low in her belly, the fiery sparks making her want to slide her leg over his hips and pull him into her.

Her heart hammered and he lowered his head, dragging that tongue over her, as if he were going straight to the source of all the noise in her chest and could simply… lick it.

Her fingers tightened on his head, tunneling into thick, soft hair, lifting his head before he reached his destination and she was gone for good.

“You like this, or you like me?”

A soft puff of air escaped with his frustrated chuckle. “Both. I like you. I like this.” He rocked his hips against her. “But honey, if you just want to talk for a while…” His tone left no doubt he didn’t want to, but the offer stood.

Did she? Too much time, and she’d tell him everything. And she still couldn’t be sure he was trustworthy. So why was she horizontal on her bed, when she was supposed to be calling Brianna for an update…

“You’re thinking too hard,” he said, inching his hand up her waist, perilously close to the breast that had just escaped his mouth. “Don’t think, Lizzie.”

“I don’t just… do this with anybody.”

“Good to know.” One more inch. His thumb grazed the underside of her breast, the thin fabric of her shirt somehow making the contact positively incendiary. “ ’Cause I’m not anybody.”

He fooled her, lowering his head before his fingers moved again, closing his lips right over the hardened tip of her nipple, the cotton no match for his tongue.

The room spun, and her body went boneless and helpless and lost.

He pressed his lower half against her, that beautiful manhood she’d admired in the shower fully erect now, pulsing with each move of his hips, finding her center as he shifted so their bodies met.

The concept of stopping faded with every suspended second of sweetness, her lower half completely melted, her brain just as mushy, and all she could do was clench his shoulders and let it happen.

Just as he glided his hand around her breast, circling it with certainty, the fog started to lift. How far was she going to let this little session go? Far.

His other hand slipped under her shirt, sliding toward the bottom of her bra. He timed the next roll of his hips perfectly, just as he dipped his fingers under her satin bra and closed over her breast.

The shock of his hand on her flesh exploded through all her senses.

Then he jerked upright, almost completely off her.

“Con.” She slipped her hand behind his neck, pulling him back.

“Someone’s out there,” he said in a harsh whisper. “Outside your cabin. Listening.”

“How do you- I didn’t hear anything.” Except the Niagara Falls of blood rushing in her ears.

He put a finger on her mouth and shook his head.

She forced herself to be perfectly still, to concentrate on the sounds outside her bunk and not on the shadow of whiskers right in front of her, or the pressure of his hard-on, or the bare chest she was surely going to feel against her about-to-be-bare chest.

The knock was hard and swift. He gave her an “I told you so” look and flipped off the bunk in one easy move.

“Lizzie!” Oh God- Flynn Paxton . “We need to find Con! Do you know where he is?”

Before she could formulate a cover for him, Con had the cabin door open.

“I’m right here. What’s the matter?”

“The medallion is missing.”

Lizzie’s heart stopped slamming as she sucked in a breath.

“I hid it,” Con said, blocking the entrance and giving her time to sit up, straighten her clothes, and check her top, soaking wet from his mouth. “It’s in a locked cabinet in the lab.”

She scanned the bed and desk, desperate for anything to pull over when her gaze fell on the cell phone he’d dropped on the table.

“No, it’s not,” Flynn Paxton insisted. “That cabinet is hanging by a hinge and the medallion is gone. Nice work.”

As Con swore under his breath and bolted into the hall, she launched up and made a grab for the phone. The second she slipped it in her pocket, Paxton stepped into her cabin, his glare as dark as anything she’d ever seen.

“I knew he was in here.”

“Good for you, Flynn,” she said.

“So if the medallion’s really missing, we have you to blame.” His gaze dropped over her kiss-dampened T-shirt and he made a smirk, then followed Con down the hall.

With a sigh, she sank on the bed.

If Paxton hadn’t shown up, there was no telling how far that would have gone. Yes, there was-it would have gone all the way.

So if she trusted the man enough to give him her body, shouldn’t she trust him enough to give him her secrets?

It was time to find out.

Con stared at the hole where his padlock had been. Gone . It couldn’t have been shot off-he’d have heard it. Someone just picked it. Totally outsmarted him. He marched to the metal cabinet, which hung from a hinge, having been ingeniously unscrewed from the outside. A trick he’d used many times.

“Fuck!” He slammed his hand on the counter with a thud.

“Perhaps if you hadn’t been trying to do just that, this wouldn’t have happened.”

He spun at the sound of Alita’s voice, her flirtatious smile reduced to an unattractive smirk.

“You’re the only person who knew it was in this cabinet,” he ground out.

“Thank you for the compliment, Con, but I’m not capable of that.” She nodded toward the destroyed cabinet. “Anyway, I told the entire crew where you had it when I went upstairs.”

“Why?”

She shrugged, and he took a few steps forward, using his size and fury to threaten her.

“Why?” he demanded again, in her face.

She met his gaze, unintimidated. “I knew you went to her room.”

“So, what? You were jealous?”

“Of Lizzie Dare? She wouldn’t know what to do with a man if one bit her.”

She obviously didn’t know the power of her competition. Or maybe she did.

“That’s why you advertised the hiding place of the most valuable item on board?” He couldn’t keep the disgust out of his voice.