He backs me towards the bed. I go willingly. Fall back onto the mattress and pull him down with me.
His weight presses me into the bed. Solid muscle and warm skin. I wrap my legs around his hips, feel him hard pressed to my thigh. The weight of him grounds me. Makes everything real.
My breath catches. His name comes out rough. "Marc."
His mouth travels to my breast. Tongue circles my nipple while he palms the other. I gasp, nails digging into his shoulders.He's not gentle. Neither am I. This isn't tender. It's raw and desperate and exactly what we both need.
He takes his time anyway. Kissing down my body. Teeth on my ribs. Tongue tracing the curve of my hip. Paying attention to every reaction, every sound. His fingers slide between my legs and I nearly come apart.
I'm slick with want. No hiding how much I need this. Need him. Need to feel something other than fear and adrenaline.
He makes a rough sound low in his throat. Then his mouth is on me and I stop thinking entirely.
His tongue circles and strokes. Building pressure until I'm writhing beneath him. My thighs shake. Air comes in gasps. One hand fisted in the sheets. The other in his hair.
"Marc—" I can barely get his name out. "I need?—"
He doesn't make me finish the sentence. Just shifts up, settles between my thighs. The head of his cock presses where I'm aching for him and I tilt my hips up. Urging him on.
He enters me in one slow thrust that steals my breath. The stretch is perfect. Full. Right. Exactly what I needed.
I wrap my legs tighter around his hips, pull him deeper. He makes a low sound into my neck.
He starts to thrust with strokes that hit something inside me that makes me see stars. I rock with him, meeting each movement. His breathing is harsh in my ear. Mine matches. The rhythm builds between us. Finding what works. What we both need.
The pace builds. What started controlled becomes frantic. His hips snap harder, faster. I claw at his back. Bite down on his shoulder when the pressure climbs too high. Tasting salt and skin. He responds with a harder thrust.
His fingers slide between us, working my clit. The dual sensation of him inside me and his touch pushes me to the edge. Everything tightens.
"Marc—" My voice breaks. "Close?—"
His rhythm stays steady. Fingers press harder. Circle faster.
Orgasm crashes through me. I clench around him. Cry out into his shoulder. He thrusts through it, prolonging every wave, until I'm gasping and trembling beneath him.
His rhythm stutters. Becomes erratic. He buries himself deep one last time and I feel him pulse inside me. A low rough sound is torn from his throat. He goes rigid before collapsing.
We collapse together, hearts racing. Sweat slicks our skin. He shifts his weight so I can breathe but doesn't pull out. Doesn't pull away. Just holds me while our bodies settle and reality seeps back in. His forehead pressed to mine. Both of us breathing hard.
Eventually he pulls out. He draws me against him. His arm around me. His fingers trace lazy patterns on my hip. Gentle now. Careful.
I turn my head to look at him. He kisses my forehead.
I close my eyes. Let exhaustion pull me under.
Sleep comes in fragments. Marc gets up at some point, checking the perimeter. Low voices drift in from outside. Later he returns to the bed and I feel the warmth of his arm around me. The wood stove crackles. Outside, wind stirs through trees. Inside, safety and the solid presence of someone who won't let anything happen to me.
8
MARC
Iwake to gray light filtering through the guest cabin's window and the immediate knowledge that I've fucked up.
Sela sleeps beside me, her breathing soft and even, dark hair spread across the pillow, one arm curled under her head. She looks younger like this, vulnerable in a way she never is when awake.
I slept with a civilian under my protection.
Less than a day after pulling her out of a kill zone, I crossed every professional line that matters. Deputy sheriffs don't fuck witnesses. CID investigators don't compromise cases by sleeping with people involved in ongoing investigations. The rules exist for good reasons, and I know better.
