Free Delta: Rescue: A MacKenzie Family Novella (The MacKenzie Family) by Cristin Harber

time she thought she couldn’t feel more explosive, he ramped her up again.
    He laughed quietly as though he could read the desperation in her soul. “You’re something.” He bent, still not kissing her, but she could feel the heat from his lips hovering over her hip bone. “What do you like?”
    Her eyes sank shut again, out of her control. “ That. ”
    “Specific, baby.”
    “I don’t know. Please.”
    His hands trailed up her thighs. “You want me here?”
    She nodded, nearly moaning. “Yes.”
    His hands skipped to her stomach, smoothing over her breast. “Or here?”
    “There too.” Her skin was on fire, needling her to the point of insanity.
    His black eyes burned into her skin. The look smoldered as much as it scared her. “Fuck, you’re gorgeous. You wanna take my cock, you’re gonna learn it’s the best you’ve ever had.”
    His lips hit her neck, making her gasp, making her insane. She lost her mind, lost her censor. “It’ll be the only I’ve ever had.”
    He froze and inched over her face. All of the emotion that had heated his cheeks and fired his gaze went flat. “ What? ”
    “I…”
    His face twisted. “What kind of game is that?”
    “Uh, never mind. I—I don’t know—”
    “I’m not one of your sickos wanting a fucking virgin. I am not your clients.” He pushed away. “I can’t believe this.”
    She sat up, embarrassed and angry at who she was. “It’s not what you think.”
    “Un-fucking-believable. I don’t need this crap.” Luke turned from her coldly and grabbed his shorts, stepping into them and complaining about the evils of traffickers before he left her alone on the bed.
    Devastated, she twisted to watch him walk out. Words to stop him wouldn’t come as unfurling desolation twisted her into the fetal position. Hot tears slid over her cheeks, the first time she’d cried over how screwed up she was.
     
    * * * *
     
    Luke’s heart slammed in his chest as he reached the elevator. A virgin? Bullshit. That was the biggest load of crap. He punched the button and wanted to cling to the wall for fear he’d run back to Maddy’s suite, strip her thong, and fuck her until they both came, screaming to the heavens that nothing could be better. Because she was a liar.
    What the hell was his problem? She was the very definition of what he despised, and he’d almost…almost done everything she asked for because he couldn’t say no. She held a power over him like nothing he’d ever experienced. He hated her for the attraction as much as for her past. Never had cock before? Bullshit! What level of screwed up was she?
    The elevator chimed, and as he jumped in, his mind raced to the team. Cade knew he’d gone out to get his fighting fix, but if he heard Luke left with her, that’d be problematic.
    Still bare chested and looking like he did—angry, dangerous, and horny as all hell—he earned his fair share of second glances from hotel guests. Surely someone was going to send security up to the penthouse to make sure Maddy was still kicking. He laughed. It’d take quite the man to fuck up that woman. She was ice cold, a total lunatic. A stabbing sensation hit his chest— if someone did hurt her, or if she hadn’t been lying… He shook his head. If someone hurt her, one fewer trafficker would exist. That was his goal in life, so what did he care if this one was a pretty face who had never been touched?
    Her words haunted his memory. What was her promise—she wasn’t like what she seemed? That she had more than a surface-level need to retaliate. Who bought women only to save them? No one. Except Madeleine Mercier.
    Luke ran his hands over his face as he exited the hotel. He had miles to his crash pad, and rolling his shoulders once, he took off at a run. He’d push himself again, hoping to feel a burn in his muscles, and maybe that ache would draw out the sweet sound of her voice trying to explain how she’d never been with a man before.
     

CHAPTER EIGHT
    The