He pulled back, thrust harder.

Still, it wasn’t enough. She felt restless, needy, wanted to give him as much as he gave her. “More.”

He dropped down against her, their sweat-slickened bodies gliding against each other. “Tell me what you want.”

His voice made her quiver. So dark, so dangerous, it was all the things she never thought she’d wanted. With Spence, she did. “I want it all.”

He stilled, dug his fingers into her hip. “You sure?”

“Yes.”

He dragged her to the edge of the bed, flipped her over onto her belly, and drew her hair aside. He pressed his lips to the back of her neck and bit down. Goose bumps raised up on her skin; her ni**les hardened to tight, aching points. She jerked her head up and reached behind her to pull at his hair.

“More.”

He smoothed his hand down her back, over her butt cheeks, and slid his finger down between the crack. She shuddered.

Yes, she wanted that.

“Ever done it?”

“No.”

“You sure this is what you want?”

“Yes.” She’d moaned out the word because he’d cupped her sex and began to move his hand back and forth, splintering her into a million pieces, teasing her by bringing her close to orgasm, then pulling away from her center.

He dropped to his knees, pulled her legs down farther, and spread her ass cheeks apart.

“Do you have lube?”

“Bedside drawer.”

She was shaking, but not from fear. Excitement drilled her. She wanted this, both for her and for Spence. It was dark and thrilling and she’d never done it but always wanted to.

And, it occurred to her, she trusted Spence.

He spread her again, this time sliding his lubed fingertip between her cheeks, then circling her anus. The cool liquid made her shiver in anticipation, his finger driving wicked sensation through her. She gripped the sheets and held on while he continued to tease her, using one hand to play with her sex, the other to tease the puckered hole.

When he slid his finger partially inside, her lips parted and she moaned at the exquisite pleasure. She had no idea it would feel so good. He tucked his fingers inside her pu**y and slid his other finger fully in her anus.

She tossed her head back and cried out in delight. To be touched front and back at the same time—her mind shot to AJ and Pax—the thought of two men pleasuring a woman simultaneously.

This was what it would feel like.

The sensations were incredible. Hot, tight balls of nerve endings exploding inside her.

“Yes. Oh, yes, that feels good.” Unbearable pleasure shot through her like pulses of lightning. Spence had fingers buried in her everywhere, and his thumb circled her clit. She was so damn close to an orgasm she tightened all around his fingers.

But not like this. She wanted him inside her.

She reached behind her to grab his wrist. “Spence. Stop. Fuck me now.”

Spence withdrew and she quivered, exposed, needy, and raw. He left her for only a few seconds, then returned, lubed up his condom, and settled in behind her. He cupped her sex again, slid his hand back and forth and drove her near to the brink of insanity.

“Breathe for me, baby,” he said, his c**k nestled at the entrance to her anus. “My dick is bigger than my fingers. Breathe out when I slide in.”

She did as he asked. He pushed. It burned. It hurt. He thrust slow and easy, but it still hurt. And, oh, God it felt so good even as the pain seemed to set her on fire. He kept swirling his hand over her pu**y while he buried his c**k in her ass.

Then the pain dissipated, and his c**k filled her. Never had she felt this full, this intimate.

“Christ,” he whispered against her back, then began to move, and she just wanted to die, it was so good. He kept his hand pressed to her sex, his fingers inside her while he f**ked her ass.

She was filled, going mad with sensation, and she began to move with him, rising up to buck against him as he met her stroke for stroke.

“Tight. So tight.”

“More” was all she could say, blinded by this wild sensation.

“Fuck, Shadoe.” His tone was sand and gravel. “Take it.”

He pulled back and thrust hard, powering her with punishing strokes, using his fingers to push her over the edge. She teetered there for a fraction of a second, then toppled, screaming as she was blindsided by an incredible orgasm. She felt it everywhere, gripping Spence’s cock, his fingers, and sending her sailing into mind-numbing oblivion.

Wave after wave shattered her, grabbed her by the throat and cut off her breath. She was seized with spasms so strong she couldn’t see, could only feel Spence everywhere as he pummeled her with the sweetest sensations she’d ever experienced.

Spence pushed deep, groaned, and shuddered, then fell forward across her back, panting out deep, hot breaths against her neck while he rode out his orgasm.

She struggled for sanity, for breath. She had never imagined sex could be like this, that it could be this good. She’d known passion, but not so intense. She’d never in her life wanted to give herself so completely to a man.

Long, silent moments passed in which all she heard was the sound of each of them breathing. Through all that time Spence touched her, ran his hands over her legs, her arms, and kissed her neck. She never once felt like this was just sex for him.

Maybe that’s what was so different—the way he touched her, connected to her. She didn’t understand it, she just knew it meant something.

He finally withdrew and took them both into the bathroom, turned on the shower, and drew her in there with him. He washed her, held her, and kissed her. His actions were so tender it nearly moved her to tears.

He was so incongruous, this tough guy who had a heart he didn’t want to expose, didn’t want to share. But he had, just enough to give her a glimpse into the hurt little boy who longed for someone to love, and tried to mask his needs under a shield of armor. She knew all about those kinds of needs.

He needed her. Just like she needed him.

And she knew, deep down, that neither of them was going to get what they needed out of this relationship at the end.

FIFTEEN

SPENCE LEFT SHADOE TO HERSELF IN THE MORNING. HE GOT UP early and went to meet with AJ and Pax. AJ had texted him saying the bellman told him DeLaud was on the move.

He caught up with them at a restaurant off the docks. They sat in a corner booth. Spence slid in next to Pax, his back to the door.

“Where is he?”

AJ motioned with his head to the window. “Eating breakfast in the restaurant across the street. You can see him if you look through the window. First booth near the door.”

Spence took a look, spotted DeLaud talking to a waitress. He was alone.

“Has he met anyone?”

Pax shook his head. “No. As soon as we got the heads-up from the bellman we hauled ass and followed him. He was on foot since this place is just a couple blocks, so he was easy to follow. He slid into that place and took a booth, so we came in here, figured we’d have a good vantage point to do surveillance without him making us. That way we can still hang out at the club tonight and watch him there, too.”

Spence ordered breakfast, downed his first cup of coffee, and watched DeLaud eat and read the paper. By the time their food had arrived, DeLaud had finished eating but continued to drink coffee.

“I think he’s doing the crossword puzzle,” AJ said.

“Maybe we’ll do it, too.” Pax motioned to the newspaper sitting at the end of their table. “And if we come up with a word we can’t figure out, we can run across the street and ask him to help.”

Spence rolled his eyes, but perked up when a couple of guys who looked to be dockworkers came through the door of the restaurant and slid into the booth with DeLaud.

“We need a tail on those two,” he said.

AJ nodded. “We’ll split up when those two leave. I’ll follow them. Pax can keep an eye on DeLaud.”

Frustration ate at Spence as he watched the three across the street engaged in conversation. “This would be a lot easier if we could bug him.”

“Hard to do unless you can shove a bug up his ass,” Pax mumbled.

AJ grinned. “Maybe Shadoe can snuggle up to him and manage to get one up there.”

Spence glared at him.

“Or, maybe not,” AJ said, holding his hands up, then exchanged another knowing glance with Pax.

Spence knew what they were thinking.

“Be careful,” Pax said. “We’re kind of broke right now and we can’t afford wedding gifts.”

AJ snickered.

“Very funny. We’re not getting married. We’re not even dating.”

“No, you’re just f**king her. That’s even worse, because it’s obvious you’re falling in love with her.” AJ had a look of horror on his face that almost made Spence laugh, because it was the same look he used to give when he thought about relationships with women.

“I’m not in love with her. I hardly know her.”

“You know her enough to be jealous at the thought of her being with someone else.”

“We’re on a mission.”

AJ shrugged. “So? You’ve f**ked women on missions before and never gave a shit what they did. Why is this one different?”

Why was she different? For a lot of reasons. For no reason. She wasn’t different. It was just being here—New Orleans—that brought out all his damned emotions, something he normally kept well under control. And Shadoe bore the brunt of his rare display of feeling, that was all. It had nothing to do with her. She was just the bystander.

He took a long swallow of coffee. “It’s nothing. We’re not involved.”

AJ exchanged another look with Pax.

“Would you two knock that off? It’s f**king weird. You’re like a hive mind or something.”

Pax snorted. “You’re just jealous.”

Spence rolled his eyes. “Of what? The fact that the two of you have to share a woman all the time? That you can’t manage to f**k one on your own? No thanks. I don’t share. And what’s that about anyway?”

AJ shrugged. “Something that just happened, and turns out we like it that way. It works for us.”

“Why?”

“You don’t get involved if you keep it fun. And doing a three-way is never serious,” Pax said.

“You’re that afraid of commitment?”

AJ laughed. “And you aren’t?”

“I don’t need to have another guy f**k a woman with me as a way to avoid being alone with her.” Spence knew it had to be something more than that. Pax and AJ always did three-ways. Always. For as long as he could remember.

“You find something you enjoy, you stick with it,” AJ said, then leaned back with his coffee cup in his hand.

“Whatever gets you off,” Spence said, glad he’d managed to turn the conversation away from Shadoe and him.

Pax grinned. “It does.”

DeLaud stood, dragging Spence’s attention away from Pax and AJ. They all stared out the window and watched as DeLaud and the two other guys exited the restaurant, then went around to the alley. DeLaud’s gaze roamed around as if he were looking for someone. Or maybe he wanted to make sure he wasn’t being watched.

Once inside the alley, the three huddled close together, with DeLaud’s back to them.

“Did you see that?” AJ asked.

“Yeah,” Spence said, frowning. “Something exchanged hands.”

“I didn’t see what it was,” Pax said. “Could be drugs.”

“It might not be, though. We can’t be sure.”

“We’re public and it’s not like we could set up surveillance equipment here.” Spence wished it were that easy, but it wasn’t that kind of assignment.

DeLaud exited the alley and headed south. The other two guys went back toward the docks.

“I’ll follow the guys,” Pax said, standing. “If they’re selling drugs, I might just be in the market for some. It should be easy enough to get a hit there. Drug dealers are always easy to spot. Maybe we can follow them up the food chain.”

AJ stood, too. “I’m on DeLaud. I’ll keep you posted.”

Both of them shot out the front door and disappeared into the crowd of tourists, leaving Spence at the table with his coffee, and the check. He shook his head, smiled, and took the bill to the counter to pay.

SHADOE WAS NERVOUS. SHE KNEW UNDERCOVER WORK WAS AN integral part of her job, and she was about as undercover as an agent could get. After all, she was taking her clothes off every night.

But tonight, she was going to be required to put on an award-winning performance. She was going to have to act as if she hated someone she was growing to care deeply about. And she was going to have to walk away from him.

Then again, she might as well get used to it, since that’s exactly what was going to happen when this assignment was over. She was going to walk away. So this would be good practice for the real thing, right?

Not even close, Shadoe. This was playacting. It wasn’t time to leave Spence. Yet even the thought of that day—which was coming, all too soon—made her stomach clench. And that wasn’t good. Because it meant she was growing attached, that she’d developed feelings for Spence, something she’d sworn she wouldn’t do.

This was all supposed to be fun and games, no strings, just sex. It was turning into a lot more than that, at least for her. And no matter how she tried to talk herself out of feeling anything for him, she couldn’t. She was going to have to figure out how to deal with that.

But not tonight. Tonight was performance night. And she didn’t mean stripping.