Dead Ink(Karma Series Book 4)(29)

She knew it was stupid. Her life was already so messy; this was the very  last thing she needed to add to it. And yet her hands slowly moved up  his body, because right now she felt like she needed this more than  anything else. The more her life spun out of control, the more she found  herself clinging to him as if he was the last anchor, or the only one  she cared to have.

As if he sensed her acquiescence, his kiss deepened and his hold tightened, forcing her body to arch closer into his.

He walked forward, moving her along with him, as his lips never broke  contact with hers. She felt her calves hit the back of the bed. They  fell upon it together but she feared when it came to her heart, she was  falling alone. But this wasn't the time for regrets. She had him in this  moment, every ounce of his attention and desire focused on her, and  she'd keep it as long as she could.

His legs moved in between hers as his erection pressed into the heart of  her, and she arched upward, needing more. His hands were on her jeans  as he moved back, yanking them off along with her panties.                       
       
           



       

He stood before her, shedding his own clothes and staring at her the  whole time. Everywhere she looked, he was male perfection, from his  thick muscled arms to his ridged stomach to the large erection that  jutted forward.

"Take off your shirt and bra," he said, his eyes not moving from her, his voice husky.

She did as he asked while he watched her, and his erection seemed to  grow even larger. He came down on one knee on the bed and with his hands  on her waist, shifted her to the center of it.

As he kneeled beside her, tan skin over muscled abdomen and black inked  tattoos curving this way and that, she realized that no man would ever  live up to him and she hadn't even slept with him yet.

He leaned over her, his fingers following the line of her collarbone  before trailing farther down to the mound of her breast and cupping it,  his thumb flicking over the tightened bud.

His mouth moved to her breast, licking and nipping at it while his hand  reached in between her thighs, his fingers slipping inside. His mouth  moved lower until his tongue flicked over her clitoris before sucking on  it softly, all the while his fingers keeping pace.

She cried out as he played her body like someone who'd had plenty of  practice, bringing her to the peak but not setting her free.

When he moved upward, she reached for him, wanting to bring him to the  same fevered pitch as she, but he covered her body instead.

"It's too late for that. I want to feel my cock inside of you."

He moved over her and she felt his erection pressing into her. He was so  large he was stretching her as he went, and her body still couldn't get  enough.

Her fingers clawed into him, trying to drive him in faster and closer,  but he moved at his own pace until he was fully inside her. He hooked  her leg over his arm, as if wanting to plant himself as deeply in her as  possible, and then he started the most beautiful rhythm. So slowly at  first, it was almost an unbearable tease, and then faster, as if he  needed it just as much as she did. It didn't take much before her body  was clenching around him as she rode wave after wave of pleasure and  heard him groaning above her.

He rolled off her and they both lay there on their backs, still sweaty.  She'd never felt so tranquil in her life, a small smile on her lips as  she turned her head towards him, then lifted her fingers to trail over  his chest.

She looked at his profile, where he was staring up at the ceiling and the force of her smile dwindled a bit.

"Everything okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, fine," he said without looking at her. "You want a water or something?"

There was a strange formality to the question. As if some switch had  been flipped and they'd gone from the comfort of twilight to a blaring  harsh desert sun. "No. Thanks."

"I'm going to take a shower." She watched as he got up and went into the  bathroom and tried to figure out where all the heat of a minute ago had  gone, because he'd become cold as ice.

She'd been afraid she'd regret this. But she thought she'd at least have  until dawn before the feelings came hammering down upon her.



***



Lars blasted the radio in the bathroom so Faith couldn't hear his  curses. Good advice, Cutty. Just fuck her. He couldn't lay it all on his  shoulders, though. He'd thought the same thing. Fuck her and get it out  of your system. He'd known as soon as he'd finished that it was worse.  Much worse.

This was supposed to be a one and done. Less than a minute had passed  before he had wanted to get inside of her again. He'd barely managed to  keep his dick soft before he made it out of the room. He wasn't letting  some chick, even if she was like him, make him go all soft and domestic.

He should never have had her move in here. Now she had nowhere else to  go. What if he never got her out again? He wasn't cut out for a  relationship. She needed to understand that. He stood under the steaming  hot water, deciding he was going to stay in there until she'd probably  have fallen asleep.

He crept out into his own apartment like he was doing the walk of shame.  She was lying still on the bed. Her eyes were closed but she was awake.  He headed toward the couch. If she asked in the morning, he'd tell her  he hadn't wanted to wake her up. She'd know he was lying but it was  better than the truth-that he was afraid to go near her again because he  might spend the next ten hours banging her and then how fucked would  both their heads be?





Chapter 26





When Faith woke, there was a note on the pillow next to her.



Had to start early. Call me if you want me to walk you downstairs.



Lars



If you want, not I'd like to. He slept with her last night and this is  the first morning she woke to an empty apartment without the smells of  cooking. She guessed he didn't think it was necessary anymore?                       
       
           



       

She stared at the stupid note and told herself it wasn't a big deal. It  wasn't like he'd moved out of state. He'd only gone downstairs. It  shouldn't bother her that when he'd left the bathroom last night, he'd  gone and slept on the couch. It was his place. He could sleep wherever  he chose.

But it did bother her. She wasn't an idiot. He'd slept with her, and now  he was done with her. She crumpled the note and tossed it in the trash  before she went to get ready.

She showered and then dug through the bag she was living out of for the  cutest outfit she could find. As she did, it struck her that he'd never  even offered her the loan of a drawer. She dug her stuff out of a bag  each day while he looked on. That might have been a good thing to have  pondered last night before she'd slept with him.

She pushed away the thought of coveted drawers in off-limit bureaus as  she continued to try and find something suitable to wear. He might be  discarding her but damn if she wouldn't try and make him regret it.

She finished getting ready and stopped to stare at herself in the mirror  and wondered if maybe she was overreacting. So he slept on the couch?  Was it that big of a deal? Maybe he didn't like sleeping next to  someone. He'd given her a place to live, and a job to earn money at, so  that she didn't feel like she was a beggar. That showed caring. Maybe  all he needed a little time.

Either way, she didn't call him when she was ready to go downstairs. She  knew this place was safeguarded up to the sidewalk. How was she  planning on moving out if she was going to be too scared to walk out the  door by herself?

She grabbed her phone and her purse and stiffened her spine. A couple of  minutes later she walked into Dead Ink, determined to be pleasant, no  matter what. She might feel like a discarded ragdoll but she refused to  act like one.





***



Lars glanced up in acknowledgment when Faith walked into the room,  expecting hell to follow. Faith smiled his way and when their eyes met,  he nodded in greeting then looked back down at his client. She was  smiling, like nothing was wrong. As if he hadn't abandoned the bed last  night or left without saying a word this morning.

It was a good thing. She wasn't a teary eyed mess. She realized it was  just sex and wasn't going to make a big thing about it. It was exactly  what he wanted. It was. He was positive it was.

"Ow," the client he was working on said.

"Toughen up, you wuss," Lars said but did lighten up the pressure of the  tattoo gun, realizing he'd drawn a sizable amount of blood with the  force he'd just applied.

He kept sneaking glances at her as she moved about the place. She pulled  a stool over to the counter and appeared to be settling in. She flipped  open the books, which had been left there from the other day, and  started tapping away at the calculator.