Declan had loved her long hair. Yeah, maybe it was time for a cut.
As though she had conjured him up with a thought, he stepped out of the door into the alley. Unsurprised, she realized she'd been expecting him in a weird, subconscious sort of way.
He came to a halt directly in front of her, his gaze fixed on her face. "I thought we should talk. I'm sure we both have questions."
"Maybe we should." She tilted her head and returned his scrutiny. Her heart hitched; he was so beautiful, just looking at him started an ache in her chest. She pushed the feeling aside. He was right; she had questions. "I'll go first. Why did your father throw the two of us together?"
His lips curved in a small smile. "He's matchmaking."
"What?" She shook her head. "But he hates me."
"Desperate times call for desperate measures. He thinks I'm a robot and need to get a life outside the business. He's been dangling just about every fuckable woman in London under my nose since I got here. Today he came right out and admitted it."
She didn't like the thought of that. "And did you … fuck any of them I mean?"
He grinned. "Only you."
Shit, she shouldn't like that, but it made her feel all warm and fuzzy.
"My turn," he said. "Why did you really come back yesterday? Why take this job?"
She sighed and tugged on her ponytail. "You already know. I told you, I want to move on, and right now you seem to be a stumbling block. So I'm facing up to my issues. Head-on. If you'd stayed, I would no doubt have realized you were a prick back then and dumped you myself. But you walked away. I'll never forgive you, but I want to forget you."
His lips tightened for a second, and then he shrugged. "Fair enough."
"Plus, I really do have to prove myself with this job if I want my promotion."
"So, we spend some time together, hopefully my dad will back off the matchmaking, you'll get me out of your system, and you'll do it so nicely that you'll get a promotion."
"It's a win-win situation," she said. At least in theory.
He swiped his tongue over his lower lip and regarded her for long seconds. "You know I want you?"
She gave a jerky nod.
"And are you going to let me have you. Is that part of the deal? It's really the only way you'll get me out of your system. I suggest we fuck often and long until we're both sated and you can crawl away."
He took a step closer, and her every nerve went on alert, her skin tingling. Part of her hated that he made her feel so alive, but at the same time she reveled in the sensations. There was a sense of inevitability as his head lowered to hers and he took her mouth in a deep, wet kiss. She opened beneath him and his tongue pushed inside, filling her. He tasted of scotch, and the smoky flavor invoked memories that heated her body. Without thinking, she raised her hands, her fingers sinking in the short silky hair at the back of his neck and holding him against her. He deepened the kiss, so she thought he might devour her, pushing her back against the rough wall, his body hard, his erection obvious. He was breathing fast as he raised his head and stared down into her face.
"Tell me you weren't sitting at that table, remembering the feel of my cock inside you." He emphasized the words with a shift of his hips, pushing against her belly so a pulse started between her thighs, and she pressed up against him, unable to stop the movement.
It started to rain, the drops almost hissing against her heated skin. She didn't want to think anymore, and she pulled him down to her. He buried his face in the curve of her neck, his teeth nipping the skin where her shoulder met her throat, then soothing the bite with slow strokes of his tongue.
"You wanted me to be jealous in there. Maybe I need to mark you as mine." He sucked the skin of her throat between his lips. He was giving her a goddamned love bite and she couldn't stir herself to do anything about it. Hell, she liked it.
"You always loved fucking outside. Anywhere and everywhere."
"You didn't," she said. He'd liked to make love in bed, where he could take his time. But she had loved the added edge, the fear of being found. Now that didn't factor into it at all, she just loved the feel of his mouth on her skin, his big hands tugging her shirt out of her pants, his palm hot against her belly, smoothing up over the sensitive skin, then cupping one breast in his palm, rubbing over the nipple. He reached between them with his other hand, flicking open the buttons so the material parted. Leaning back slightly, his hand slipped inside her bra to free one breast. He took the nipple into his mouth and suckled hard so flashes of pleasure shot to her groin, flooding her sex. He nipped with his teeth while his knee rode up between her thighs, pushing against her core.
The sensations were spiraling inside her, and she didn't protest as his hand pushed inside her pants, down beneath the cotton of her panties.
"Christ, you're wet. You want to come, baby. Here, outside, while your friends wait for you?"
She didn't care. She needed this. She rested her head back against the wall, eyes closed, the rain falling on her upturned face as one finger pushed inside, then spread the moisture up over her clit. As he found the tight, swollen nub, she let out a gasp. He rubbed over it with his hard finger, massaging, as the pleasure built.
"You like? Next time I'm going to kiss you here, suck you and lick you until you come all over my face." His murmured words, and the image they evoked, tipped her over the edge, and she came hard, pushing against his hand. He pinched her clit, and her knees nearly gave way as she came again.
Finally, he withdrew his hand. Her lids flickered and she found him watching her, beads of moisture glistening on his skin. He raised his hand to his mouth, licked his fingers, and she nearly came again.
"Holy shit," she muttered.
"Yeah. Well, one of us is sorted. My turn now." He reached out, took her hand where it hung limp at her side, and pressed it against his groin. He was hard, huge, pressing against his fly. A car passed the end of the alley, and she had a moment of awareness as to where they were. Down an alley, in central London, in broad daylight. But before sanity could totally take over, she tightened her hand around him through the soft material and he groaned. She loved the sound.
She rubbed up and down the length of his shaft, then hesitated, her fingers on the fastener, just a moment.
"Come on, Jess, you're killing me here." She'd always loved the power she had over him, how she could make him beg. Outside of sex, he'd always been the one in control. But in these moments, he'd been hers.
She flicked open the button, put her hands to the zipper-
"Jess?" The voice came from inside the building, and she went still.
"Fuck," Declan cursed under his breath. He looked around as if there was someplace to disappear, but apart from the main street there was nowhere. "I don't suppose you'd tell them to piss off?" he asked.
Jess shook her head; she didn't trust herself to speak just then. She took a shaky step back and glanced down at herself. Her jacket and shirt were open, her breasts spilling out of the white cotton bra. She shoved herself back in, wincing as her sensitive nipples scraped across the material, then dragged her shirt together and fastened the buttons, tucked the ends into her waistband and was decent as the door opened.
She cast a quick look at Declan. He was leaning, one shoulder against the wall, ignoring the now steady rain, his legs crossed at the ankles.
Dave stepped through the door, eying up the two of them, although they were nowhere even close to each other. "We're ready to go."
"Good." Her voice sounded firm. At least she thought it had, but Dave's brows drew together.
"You okay? Do we have a problem?"
"No problem."
Declan pushed himself away from the wall and faced the other man. "We were just ironing out the finer details of Jess's role."
"Really?"
Steve entered the alley behind Dave. "You found her then?"
"As you see." Dave waved a hand in her direction, and she got the distinct impression he wasn't happy. Maybe it was the tic in his cheek.
"Well, I'll let you go then," Declan said. "I'll be at my office if you need me."
"You're not going anywhere yet," Dave said. "We have another man on his way. He'll be on duty with Steve until we get the roster organized. But until he gets here, you stay put."
For a moment, she thought he was going to tell Dave to bugger off. Then he glanced at her and shrugged. "Okay." He turned to Steve. "Let me know when you're ready to leave."
Steve nodded but didn't speak.
As he passed her, Declan leaned in close. "You owe me, baby girl. And I'll be collecting."
Chapter Seven
She'd thought she'd gotten away with it. Dave said nothing as the taxi took them back to the office. But as the entered the building, he steered her into one of the small conference rooms they used for meeting clients.
"You have a hickey," he said, his tone tinged with disgust. He shook his head. "How the fucking mighty have fallen. The 'Ice Queen' giving it out in an alley in broad daylight in the middle of London."
"We were just … talking about old times. No big deal." She sat herself down on one of the upright chairs around the table, rested her chin in her hand, and waited for Dave to get over it.