Code Name: Genesis Read online

  Kynan’s voice is gentle but chiding with a hint of amusement. “If I was trying to seduce you, Jos, you’d know it. You wouldn’t have to ask.”

  I’m immediately disappointed.

  Damn it all to hell, I want him to seduce me.

  “For example,” he says lightly, and he touches the bare skin revealed by the opened zipper. He slowly drags a knuckle down my spine. “I would perhaps touch you like this.”

  My breath seems to freeze in my lungs. I hold absolutely still, even as I can feel goose bumps breaking free in the path of his grazing touch.

  “Or,” he continues, his tone a little lower. Rougher. “I might do this.”

  And then his lips are on my neck. I feel a waft of hot breath before his teeth graze over my skin, down along the slope of my shoulder. He bites me gently, then drags his tongue over the spot.

  My body isn’t my own. I push my hips backward into him, needing to feel his body.

  And I do.

  Big and hard.

  Extremely hard in some places.

  Kynan lifts his face, rubs his bearded cheek over mine, and whispers, “I want inside you, Joslyn.”

  Part of me is relieved by his words, because they’re carnal and rooted in the need for release. There’s nothing wrong with that. I want it, too, and we can keep this purely sexual. Love doesn’t need to be part of this. It’s not what made our chemistry great.

  “I want that, too,” I say on one long exhale of contained breath.

  “But the risk, Jos,” he says, and it’s taunting. “What about the risk?”

  I can’t help myself. My body wants more than my mind is willing to engage in, and I rotate my hips against the hard length of him.

  Kynan hisses, his hands dropping to my waist. His grip is tight, and he holds me still. “Are you going to risk it, Joslyn?”

  My mind is spinning. I want him inside of me, and I have no clue what he’s talking about. “Risk what?”

  “Risk falling,” he growls, then bites my neck again. “You know we’re both on the edge. It will be so easy to tumble back again.”

  I blink furiously, trying to process what he’s saying. Is he telling me that feelings are involved for him, too?

  I pull slightly away, turning my neck so I can see him. “You’re at risk?”

  He doesn’t answer, but his eyes bore deep into mine. “I’m a different man than I was when you knew me twelve years ago, Jos. I’m harder. Rougher. My… appetites are a bit different. You might fall into something you’re not ready for.”

  “But what about you?” I press, needing to know this isn’t a one-sided thing. “If it’s just sex, let’s agree on it. But if there’s a chance it’s more… I need to know the stakes.”

  Kynan’s eyes close slowly, but stay that way only a moment. When they open, they’re determined. “There’s never been a woman like you, Joslyn. In twelve bloody years, no one’s ever come close. You’re fucking right I’m at risk.”

  Relief fills me as well as an overwhelming urgency to discover exactly what he means. A thrill of expectations rush up my spine as wetness floods my panties.

  Becoming emboldened, I move my hand backward to see just how different, cupping his hardness through his jeans. I squeeze him roughly. Kynan groans, thrusts his hips forward, then chuckles darkly in my ear. “Do you want that?”

  “Yes,” I rasp. God, do I want it.

  “You’re going to have to work for it.”

  It takes a moment to process what he says, and I turn around to face him. It isn’t lost on me that I have no clue how to proceed. I am the same nineteen-year-old girl who apparently hasn’t led a very imaginative sex life since Kynan and I split twelve years ago.

  But I do have something that has always been a part of my makeup, and I remember when there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t have done for this man had he asked. He definitely has something I want, and I’m willing to do what it takes to get it.

  Another realization.

  There’s power in that as a woman.

  I smile as I place my hands on his belt buckle. “Tell me what you want me to do, and I’ll do it.”

  Fire flashes in Kynan’s eyes as he bares his teeth in challenge. In a flash, he’s pulling me hard into him for a kiss. His mouth covers mine. Consumes me from the inside out. One of his hands goes to the back of my head, the other to my ass to pull me flush against his hard cock.

  He rips his mouth from mine, biting at my lower lip along the way. The sting of it makes me ache with need.

  Rubbing a thumb roughly over my lower lip, Kynan’s dark words thrill me beyond anything I could imagine. “I want something from you, Joslyn.”

  My chest is heaving, and it’s hard to formulate words. “What’s that?”

  “Your mouth on me,” he growls before flashing me a feral grin as he starts to take his belt off.

  I want to fall to my knees right this second, because he’s asking me to. I’d gladly do it. I remember the taste of him from so long ago, and I want it on my tongue again. I loved the power of having him in my mouth.

  “Turn around,” he orders gruffly. The hair on the nape up my neck prickles when his belt makes a hissing sound as he pulls it free from the loops.

  My legs start shaking, and I can feel how embarrassingly wet I am just from what little bit of foreplay we’ve had—mostly from his words and dark promises.

  I turn slowly away from him, staring blankly at the interior of my closet.

  “Hands behind your back.”

  “Kynan,” I murmur, not in defiance but in total supplication.

  “Now, kitten,” he replies with a low chuckle.

  Kitten.

  He used to call me that.

  My hands go behind my back. Almost immediately, he’s looping the thick leather of his belt around them. He cinches it tight to where I can’t free myself, but there’s not an ounce of pain with it.

  Kynan comes around to my front. I lower my gaze automatically, instinctually submissive although I’ve never been tied up in my life.

  “Oh, no you don’t,” he chides, putting his finger under my chin. He forces my eyes up to meet his. “You keep your eyes on me at all times. I promise you, Jos… you’re in charge here.”

  I shiver.

  “For now, that is,” he amends.

  Shivers turn into full-body shudders.

  “Eyes on me,” he says in reminder, then levels me with a rakish grin. “And get on your knees.”

  CHAPTER 19

  Kynan

  I’d love to be able to tell Joslyn when she wakes up it’s been twelve long years since I’ve stayed all night in bed with a woman, but I can’t.

  There have been others.

  Would she understand the countless women who have warmed my bed through the night were mainly due to over-consumption of alcohol? Or plain indifference? Laziness?

  Would it matter?

  What if I told her it has been twelve long years since I’ve held a woman all night? The last woman was Joslyn.

  The night before she dumped me as a matter of fact.

  There’s no surge of anger or resentment. As I hold her warm body to mine, the feeling of her breath fanning across my chest divine, I can’t even feel sadness for what was lost. I’ve always been an “in the moment” kind of man anyway.

  Christ, I’m tired, which gives me the perfect excuse to just lay here and hold her. We were up all night going at each other.

  And this Joslyn is a grown woman now—one who does as she pleases and takes what she wants. I like it a lot.

  I was in control at first. With her hands tied behind her back, her knees pressed into the carpet, and those blue eyes pinned onto mine, I fucked her mouth. It felt better than I could have imagined, and I had to stop practically as soon as it got started. Her throat wasn’t where I wanted to empty myself.

  I often will fuck a woman from behind because it negates the intimacy of sex. It gives me a barrier by which I can pull totally into myself without ha
ving to look upon the beauty of a woman’s face. Selfish, I know, but I’d never feel that way about Joslyn.

  So when I saw the full-length mirror in that sodden big-ass closet of hers, I knew I could have the best of both words.

  It was torture pulling out of her mouth and not being able to slide right home between her legs, but I’m still painfully aware of how much I hurt her the last time we were together. I hadn’t even bothered getting undressed, so it was important I showed her in every action that this was different.

  Sadly, I untied her hands, promising myself the belt would go back on at some point in the night. There was a lot of kissing and touching as we disrobed. She was dripping wet by the time I put her back on her knees in front of the mirror and bent her forward. When her palms hit the carpet and her fingers dug into the pile, I drove into her in one long, sweeping invasion that caused her to cry out and tighten around me.

  It was the absolute best thing I’d ever felt in my life—our eyes locked through the mirror’s reflection. While her face twisted and morphed through phases of pleasure, I fucked her from behind slowly and as deeply as I could. She came once, then a second time just as I had, and I thought if I died right then, my life would be complete.

  I’d picked Joslyn up, carried her to the bed, and the rest of the evening was a combination of touching, whispering, talking, and fucking. Over and over again.

  I shift slightly, rotating my shoulder just a bit. Joslyn’s been dead weight, most of her body on mine. Stroking her hip, I relish the velvety softness of her skin. She’s filled out over the years in all the right places. Gone is the lean body of youth. In its place is a gentle fullness in her curves.

  Joslyn stirs. If I lay still, she could easily fall back into deep sleep, but we do have things to do today. I move my hand from her hip, slide it over an ass cheek, then I push a single finger into the valley between.

  Joslyn groans and pushes against me, her voice rough with sleep. “Not again. I can’t anymore.”

  Chuckling, I pull my hand back. Four times over the course of the night has probably left her a little sore.

  Her body moves, adjusts, and I peer down. When she tilts her face, our eyes meet.

  “Good morning,” she says, and I hate the tentative tone.

  “Morning,” I reply with a smile, leaning enough so my lips can graze against her forehead.

  “You stayed.” There’s too much wonder and awe in her statement.

  “Why wouldn’t I?” I tease.

  She cocks a perfectly arched but highly skeptical eyebrow. “You didn’t the last time.”

  I grin. “Touché, kitten. But truth is, you broke me last night. I didn’t even have the strength to leave your bed.”

  For that, I get a sharp elbow in my ribs while she laughs, but then she snuggles in tighter than ever. I move from my back to my side so we’re facing each other, wrapping both arms around her. Our faces are so close it makes staring difficult as she goes all blurry around the edges.

  “Last night was intense,” she murmurs.

  Loosening my hold, I put enough distance between us that I can focus on her face. Her cheeks are pink, hair all messy and tangled. She looks like she got fucked four times last night… and not once was she held back upon.

  “Which part?” I ask, curious as to what stands out in her mind the most.

  “All of it,” she admits, bringing a fingertip up to trace my collarbone. “So different than how we used to be.”

  “We’re different people, Jos.”

  “I suppose,” she murmurs thoughtfully, her gaze now going to her finger that has started to trace patterns on my chest.

  When she doesn’t say anymore, I push a bit. “You’ve become an adventurous woman, kitten. You took everything I gave you. Hell, half the time you were begging me for more.”

  Joslyn snorts, eyes sparkling with amusement. “Half the time, you didn’t give me a choice as to what I would or wouldn’t take. You just did what you wanted.”

  “And you loved it,” I assert boldly.

  She doesn’t deny it, merely lets her lips tip upward in a very private smile that only she understands the meaning of. But I think I am starting to.

  “Tell me about that sex club you were going to,” she asks out of the blue.

  I blink a moment. “Pardon?”

  “When I went to your house last week in Vegas.” She looks me dead in the eye, not a trace of jealousy in her tone, only curiosity. “You were with that woman. You said you met her in a sex club.”

  “The Wicked Horse,” I murmur, stunned she’s asking me about it.

  “What’s it like?” Her eyes are wide, her voice filled with awe, and I think some of the things I did to her last night have her wondering.

  “It’s absolute freedom,” I state, not doubting the first words that come to mind. “It’s an environment where you can push all your limits with likeminded people.”

  “You couldn’t be more vague if you tried,” she censures.

  “What do you want to know?” I ask, not sure I really want to reveal anything about The Wicked Horse. For the last three years, I’ve been a member there and I have done nothing but enjoy it to the utmost. It’s been my escape several nights a week—a place where I can let go of everything.

  And yet… here I find myself fearful Joslyn will disapprove if she knows more about it.

  “Well,” she drawls as her forehead scrunches in consideration. “I mean… like do you go there and sleep with a different person each time?”

  “Most of the time.” I shrug. “Sometimes, I’ll be with a person more than once.”

  “And you just… have sex in front of others?”

  “Always. There’s no privacy there.”

  “It’s what? A big orgy?” She blinks with wide, curious eyes. “Are you friends with the people there? Do you have long-term relationships—”

  I put my hand to her jaw and grip it lightly, but firmly so she can’t look away. “It’s a place I went to, Joslyn, because it allowed me to have release without any commitment. It wasn’t necessary for my pleasure or happiness, yet I did enjoy my times there. I’ll never lie about that.”

  “Will you miss it when you move to Pittsburgh?” she asks, and that sets me back as I have to think about that.

  And I determine… no. I won’t miss it.

  I’ll miss this, though. Lying next to her all night. Having ridiculous conversations in the morning.

  “No, I won’t miss it.”

  She opens her mouth, another burning question to ask, but I’m saved by my phone ringing. The high-powered notes of Heart’s “Barracuda” cut over her and I smile. “That’s Rachel. I better get it.”

  Reluctantly, I let Joslyn go and roll toward the nightstand. I’d fished my phone out of my discarded jeans in her closet at some point in the night and put it within reach. I nab it, connect the call, and roll toward Joslyn as I say to Rachel, “What’s up?”

  I catch sight of Joslyn’s beautifully perfect ass—that I’d done very naughty things to last night—as she attempts to roll out of bed. My arm shoots out, wraps around her middle, and I haul her into me. “I’m not quite finished with you.”

  “Finished with me what?” Rachel asks through the phone line.

  “Nothing,” I reply with a smirk as Joslyn settles into me with no argument as I come to my side. She wiggles that luscious ass, and my dick instantly responds. “I’m talking to Joslyn. So the call better be important.”

  Joslyn snickers, and Rachel does the same thing before saying, “It’s important. Just wanted to let you know, Bebe checked all the city street cameras around the flower shop to see if she could follow our stalker to his car and perhaps get a license plate number.”

  I have a moment of intense pride for Bebe and her criminality, as well as her fearlessness in breaking the rules. It’s exactly what I want from her. I go ahead and put the phone on speaker so Joslyn can listen in. She shifts in my arms, then flips to her back so she can see m
e. “What did she find?”

  “Sadly, nothing so far,” Rachel says with a sigh. “She was able to follow him for a few blocks, but he parked his car down a side alley.”

  “Shit,” I mutter.

  “She checked the back entrances for the businesses there. One had a security camera, but it wasn’t working.”

  Double shit.

  “And get this,” Rachel continues. “She hacked the camera on the other side of the block that would point toward the other end of the one-way alley where he’d parked.”

  “But it was broken, too,” I hazard a guess.

  “Actually, no… it was working. But it was turned off for a very defined period of time. From about half an hour before the guy pulled his car into the alley until about an hour after he left.”

  “So for an hour and a half, the camera facing the alley where the stalker parked was turned off,” I repeat thoughtfully. “Coincidence?”

  “I doubt it,” she replies. I don’t believe in coincidence either, so I concur.

  “We have a guy who is sophisticated enough to cover any tracks that could lead to his identification.”

  “With special emphasis in hacking,” Rachel adds. “He’s got to have skills to breach the city’s database. Bebe’s not giving up, though. She’s actually going to broaden the search. She’s going to access footage of nearby cameras and the vehicles that go by.”

  “That’s pretty labor intensive,” I remark.

  “We’ve got nothing better to do,” Rachel replies with a knowing chuckle. “And before I forget… everything is set for Bebe next week.”

  “She have any clue?” I ask.

  “None,” Rachel assures me. “It will be epic.”

  “Yes, it will. Now, I’ve got better things to do than chitchat with you, so if you don’t mind—”

  “Later, boss,” Rachel chirps before hanging up the phone.

  Tossing mine over my shoulder, I give Joslyn a lascivious smile. “Now,” I drawl as I bring my hand to her belly and start to slide it downward. “I passionately believe you should start every day with a mind-blowing orgasm. But since you were a good girl last night, I’ll give you two.”