MY BOSS IS A LION Page 5

  He sighed. “I… I can’t. I can’t fire you.”

  “Because I know too much?” she asked bitterly.

  Unexpectedly, he closed the gap between them, he was over a head taller than her, and Rose felt her face go beet-red as his strong hands gripped her curvy hips. “Because,” he said in a low rumble, “you’re absolutely irresistible, Rose.” He pulled her in against his chest, pressing his lips into hers, kissing her hard.

  She froze. His kiss was rough, forceful and dominating and took her breath away and it was more wonderful than anything she’d imagined. As she let out a breathy, low-pitched moan into the kiss, she melted in his arms and her knees weakened. She wanted to say something but she found herself returning his kiss. Her world swam around her as the impossibly hard-muscled man towering over her pressed her back onto the bed, forcing her to sit as he put one knee on the bedside. Her hands went up to his chest, groping at his exquisitely chiseled body, loathing the shirt that kept her from feeling it firsthand. She reveled in the sensation of his hands exploring her, and with a gasp, she realized that he was pulling her shirt off, tossing it aside and leaving her exposed.

  It had been so long since she’d been exposed to a man. Her reflexes told her to cover up, to wrap her arms around herself.

  She wasn’t made for this rough-and-tumble world of espionage and intrigue. She was totally out of her element. What was she doing here, in front of him of all people, this obscenely gorgeous man?

  “What am I going to do with you, Rose?” he whispered between kisses, his voice thick with lust. “I shouldn’t have let you into my life in the first place and you wouldn’t be dragged into this mess. You have kids. You should have lived a normal, safe life. But I’m so selfish. I want you for myself…”

  “It’s not for you to decide what best for me,” she countered. “I’m an adult and I’ve decided I want to meddle in your mess.”

  “You’ve made a bad choice.”

  “Maybe. You don’t know that. I followed my heart this time and I’m content with that.”

  He watched her hungrily. She had never been so turned on in her life.

  Don’t you dare change your mind, she screamed inside. I want you.

  Joe seemed to be restraining himself. She realized she was like prey before him, his eyes holding her paralyzed for a moment as he waited. Rose knew he was waiting for her to make the move—she had to invite him to claim her.

  “If I let you go, would you leave this room this instant? Run. Flee. As far as you can. I’m not who you think I am, Rose. You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.” His question was a mere whisper, but she heard him loud and clear.

  “No.”

  “I’m giving you one last chance. There’s no going back after this. We still could go back to … normal, like it used to be. We won’t talk about it anymore.”

  “I don’t want to!” Her eyes flared. “And don’t you dare pretend that this never happened.” We’ve gone this far…

  “Oh, Rose.” His whole body was tense, though, and oh, how he wanted her! There was no mistaking that look.

  But Rose wanted this. She needed this. With a trembling hand, she reached behind her back and unhooked her bra, letting it fall to the side.

  He moved in, swift and fluid, looming over her on the bed and bringing his mouth close to her ear. “You’re a naughty girl, Rose,” he remarked out, his voice husky. “You should have run from me.”

  What came next was a storm of sensation. His mouth went to her neck, teeth grazing the sensitive skin as he mouthed her, her jaw hanging open as he explored the sensitive, exposed flesh. A greedy hand tightened around her breast, a thumb toying with her stiff, hard nipple while he savored the feel of her, of every part of her exposed body as he climbed further onto the bed, pressing her onto her back as he ravaged from the small angle of her neck to where it met her jaw. He yanked aside the rest of her clothes, leaving her bare under his predatory gaze.

  “I’ve thought about you, Rose. A lot. Fuck, day and night, even,” he told her, and it sent a shiver of delight up her spine, “from the moment you walked into my office, I wanted to claim you. I wanted to push you against those walls, bend you over my desk, rip your panties and take you from the beginning. You have no idea how much I fantasized on having you like this…”

  “You bastard,” Rose whimpered. Her body burned hot. Delicious aches thrummed from her naked sex. “You know you could have had me any time you wanted. You know I like you.”

  Love you.

  “You’ve been more than a handful,” he growled, hands grabbing at her harder and greedier as his mouth moved to her breasts, “I wanted to see just how far you could go.”

  “What, this isn’t far enough?” she half-laughed, half-gasped as his breath reached her sensitive nipples, “or did you get off on drawing out this game of cat and mo—aaaAAH!”

  Her words were cut off as Joe lowered himself to her pussy and gave her a long lick. He slid two fingers inside her and stroked her expertly, sending ripples of ecstasy all over her lust-fevered body.

  “Just two fingers,” he mused in a deep, thoughtful tone, “and you’re all mine.”

  “Bastard,” Rose whimpered, even as she moved her hips in tune with his precise, mind-bending strokes. “You arrogant bastard.”

  “But it’s true, is it?”

  She would never admit that. No freaking way. She’d wanted him too long, the moment he touched her, she practically melted into a puddle of goo.

  He stroked her deeply and curved his fingers upward, stopping just shy of her G-spot. Her body was lit on fire. The pleasure hovered just beyond the ultimate ecstasy and it drove her crazy. He knew what he was doing, the bastard. Just a few strokes, and she’d come but he wouldn’t give it to her. He just teased.

  “Joe,” she begged unconsciously. “Please…”

  The bastard only smirked.

  She squirmed under him, but it was to no avail. No matter how she pressed her hips into him or twisted to move herself around his hand, his fingers struck the same spots, teasing her deliciously while his other hand held her breast, thumb roving around her nipple.

  Then he jerked a gasp from her as he changed his pace suddenly. He moved his thumb up to that sensitive nub at the crown of her nether lips—her swollen, needy clit. Jolts of sharp pleasure raked over her. She gripped the bed sheets, her body twisted, and her toes clenched. She just wanted to punch that gorgeous man for denying her what she needed.

  “Please, Joe…”

  “Good girl,” he whispered, “that’s it now, just a little further.”

  “I want you, Joe,” she whispered. “Fuck, I know how hard you are. Take me. Take me now…”

  “Not yet,” he teased, “you might not be able to follow instructions at work, but here… I hold all the cards.”

  He finger-fucked her with such mastery but kept her from coming. His rhythm was getting harder, longer, and faster. Rose’s senses were in a daze as he toyed with her.

  “Do you?” she managed to squeak out between his blissfully torturous strokes. “You can’t tell me you aren’t dying to have your dick in my pussy.

  To her delight, the sharp breath he drew in told her she was right. He licked his lips, glaring at her with an ominous smile.

  “You’re something special, Rose,” he rumbled, and he pressed his thumb into Rose’s clit just as a long, powerful stroke of those two strong fingers touched her G-spot, and Rose cried out as the orgasm she’d been waiting on so long shocked her whole system.

  Fuck!

  Blinding sparks of fireworks burst before her as pure pleasure blazed through her from head to toe.

  She had expected to feel good.

  She had never expected to feel quite like this. There were parts of her, muscles deep within her that felt like they were uncoiling and tensing all at once, getting worked out and massaged at the same time in a way she never knew she needed, but now she knew she needed it more than anything in the world. Her
eyes were shut tightly, and she had to force herself to release the sheets she’d balled into her firsts for fear that she’d tear into them with her nails.

  The feeling was like her body had never been truly awake until now, never reached its full potential in bed before that touch. The height of the ecstasy seemed to last forever, but even as it waned, Joe slowed his motions, becoming gentler and gentler with his hand as he eased her down from the body-wracking orgasm.

  “Oh my god,” Rose breathed, as it was all that could come to mind.

  “I warned you,” he said with a wicked smile, “you didn’t know what you were getting into.”

  As Rose lay there breathing heavily, glowing with her orgasm, her eyes flitted down to see him stripping his shirt off, and the sight of his bare skin filled her with needy warmth all over again. Her eyes were almost as hungry as his as she watched him lick the fingers that glistened with her juices like a cat enjoyed cream.

  He slipped his shoes off, and unzipped his jeans. He pushed down his briefs, revealing his massive, erect cock.

  Rose’s eyes widened. She’d had thoughts about what he might look like naked, but what she saw before her surprised her a bit. He was long, and his cock’s girth was even more impressive. She couldn’t begin to imagine how it would feel inside her.

  The aches in her pussy intensified.

  She giddily braced herself as he climbed over her and positioned himself at her entrance. She gasped when his flesh made contact. Her pussy fluttered. Joe kissed her and thrust in.

  A silent scream evaporated in her throat.

  She gripped his broad shoulders as he sheathed his whole length inside her. Jesus. The sensation was wickedly amazing.

  “Fuck, Rose,” he voiced as he slowly fucked her, placing a hand on her stomach and running it up and down her smooth skin, looking upon her ravenously. “I wanted you before, but this is just insane.”

  She let out a slow breath through her teeth, agreeing in silence. He rocked her, thrusting in and out. His gentleness replaced with urgency as if it would kill him if he didn’t. He was moving in for the kill, and she was his prey. His gruff, rumbling groan seemed to reverberate into her system. He fucked her faster, bucking harder and harder. The ultimate pleasure edged closer. Her body tensed. He dug his fingers into her skin as his pounding became erratic. Skin to skin, breath laboring, fevered bodies sheened in perspiration.

  A blinding climax seized her unmercifully. She gasped. Panted. Her body quaked as a powerful tide of climax washed over her. God. Joe didn’t stop. He kept fucking her across the bed, as brutal as a man who had been deprived from his primal need for a long time, until her head hit the headboard. A second orgasm tore through her. Everything blackened momentarily.

  When she floated to reality, she found him climaxed, emptying his seed into her.

  He gave her a loving kiss and withdrew. He pulled her close in his embrace.

  She rested her head against his chest, basking in the afterglow.

  “I think…” Rose whispered, smiling, “you can’t be just a man who wants me, Joe.”

  “Oh?” he mused with a smile.

  “No,” she gave her head a playful shake as she spoke softly. “You must be something more altogether.

  Chapter Four

  Less than an hour after the most passionate, amazing sex Joe had ever had in his life, he could hardly bring himself to misguide Rose the way he was now. But he did it nonetheless.

  “If you really want to get into this world of mine,” he said, stroking her chin while holding her suspicious gaze. “I have a few leads for you to start with. The hitman I dealt with earlier may not have been the only professional hired to go after my client. I suspect there’s another one meeting with other executives at this address,” he said, writing down the address of a hotel on a scrap of paper and folding it into Rose’s hand.

  “Stake the place out tonight. If they haven’t left already, you’ll see two gentlemen dressed like the ones we saw tonight leaving, probably separately, and the other hitman who I suspect they’ll hire is a young blonde man with a tight goatee. Watch for them, and call me if you notice them—don’t pursue.”

  It was all bogus information.

  As Rose gave Joe an uncertain look and nodded slowly, she gave a soft moan into the deep kiss Joe gave her next.

  “Fine,” she said at last, but Joe knew by the glance around the room she cast she didn’t fully believe what he was giving her. “But Joe… don’t do anything stupid tonight, alright?”

  Joe smiled, his eyes evaluating her. “The only stupid thing I’m doing tonight is letting you walk away from this room, Rose.”

  Her face blushed prettily. She cast him one last sidelong glance before heading out the door.

  When the door closed behind her, Joe let out a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck.

  She’s too good to be misled, and you know it.

  Fuck.

  So why was he even trying? Joe moved back to the bed, pulling his clothes back on and trying to set the room into some semblance of order again. In fifteen minutes, his old work associates would be showing up, and they’d put to rest a matter that had been haunting them all for far too long.

  He couldn’t expose Rose to that world. He had to protect her—from the enemies he had, from the very nature of his work… and from himself.

  Joe looked at his hands, flexing them thoughtfully. His heightened strength, his senses, his uncanny instincts, they seemed inhuman because they truly were. Joe was more than a man. Much more.

  With clockwork punctuality, there was a knock at the hotel door. Joe checked the peephole before letting in three other men, all of them every bit as tall as he and wearing similar clothing. Their builds were all alike, but most strikingly of all, they shared the same golden eyes.

  These men shared more than work history.

  They would only acknowledge each other by the codenames they’d carried long ago. Joe’s was Blue. The other three were Red, Green, and Yellow.

  “Gentlemen,” Joe greeted them all as they filed into the room, “you all made it without a hitch, I see.”

  “My car’s been bugged three times in the past week,” said Yellow resentfully. “They know we’re looking for them, at the very least.”

  “Let ‘em know,” Red spat, pacing around the room. “We sacrifice the best fucking years of our goddamn lives for this country, and what does it do for us? It sends fucking assassins after us to take us down like animals. I don’t care if they’ve got an army waiting for us at that research facility, I want blood, Blue.”

  “You’ll have it,” Joe said calmly but sternly. He had to walk a fine line to both appease and restrain his kindred.

  His pride.

  “Our information is fresh,” Green said patiently, hands folded in front of him. “The assassins know we’re in Cleveland, but they don’t know we’re after them yet. The information I fed them has them thinking we’re taking a flight out of the country tomorrow. I assume they plan to follow us on board and kill us after we land.” He grinned. “Which is why we’ll be dealing with them tonight, instead.”

  Everyone nodded, in perfect agreement with each other. This was a night Joe had been looking forward to for a very long time. Hell, all four of them had.

  They’d met less than a decade ago, but it felt like it was more than a lifetime. They knew how to act as one. To think as one. Most importantly for tonight, to fight as one.

  “We have no time to waste,” said Yellow, “every second that passes is another that they could get tipped off about our plan. Let’s get moving.”

  The group nodded in unison, and silently, they slipped out of the hotel. There would be no car tonight, no getaway planned, and if all went well, no loose ends to tie up. Joe was going to lead these four men to do what they and only they could, using what the government did to them against its own agents.

  ***

  The four men slinked around the compound, undetected. They had arrived quickly and
silently, and that was precisely how they meant to execute this plan and make their exit. Either that, or none of them were coming out of the abandoned chemical plant alive.

  Of course this is where they’re staying. It was in Joe’s mind as they saw the faded, rusty logo on the side of the building, and he knew the exact same thing was in the thoughts of every one of his squad members.

  ArisCorp.

  In truth, there had been another reason he’d been so willing to take the environmentalists’ job for such a discounted price. ArisCorp was more than just a greedy, increasingly clumsy corporation. A few years back, it worked with the military, hiring the finest geneticists the Ivy League had to offer on a regular basis. Everything ArisCorp did was classified, and everything they produced was golden.

  Including Joe.

  The company had fallen from grace and into ruin since then, but the logo still held bitter memories for all four of the men who made up the former special operations unit the military volunteered for, what was to be a cutting-edge development in biological warfare. And at the time, ArisCorp had delivered. God almighty, did they deliver.

  The military had funded ArisCorp to develop and implement recombinant DNA into soldiers. And they succeeded.

  They didn’t make a sound as they moved up to a back door and exchanged glances, and Joe counted down on his fingers.

  3… 2… 1.

  Red kicked the door open and tossed a small metal object into the room, and all four men averted their eyes as the flash grenade went off. The shouts from inside told them they had the advantage.

  They were armed only with pistols and the knives they’d kept from the old days. It would be all they needed. As one unit, all four of them moved in, keeping low and their eyes forward.

  It was dark inside, and they knew they had caught the assassins off-guard. And the dark was no obstacle to them. Their vision was as clear as day.

  Joe saw Yellow and Green head right while he and Red took left. Immediately, his senses picked up on those familiar smells nearby him—fear, surprise, confusion. The smell of startled prey. It was just around the corner they were approaching.