Absolution: The Hunter Mercenary Series (Book Two) Read online

  Well, that wasn’t happening.

  He was done.

  Rogue knew if she was gone, he’d never get the chance to be near her. He knew it would be over.

  So, he went with stupid.

  When in doubt, be a man.

  He grabbed her arm and spun her around. When he did, she swung out, trying to take his head off his shoulders. Fortunately for him, he was faster than she was, and he managed to duck beneath her arm.

  Oh, and lift her handcuffs from the back of her pants. When she swung again, he grabbed her arm, turned her, and quickly snapped the cuffs onto her wrists to be able to control her.

  Hands were NOT for hitting.

  “Are you insane? Get these off me or I’m going to arrest you!” she said, glaring at him and then her cuffed wrists.

  “No.”

  She tried to footsweep him, but instead, she stumbled. Rogue caught her, and then pushed her against the wall to keep her safe.

  The feel of her body vibrating against his drove him to the edge, and he teetered there.

  “You will NOT get involved in my business, Cordy,” he warned, holding her by the shoulders.

  She bristled at the use of her nickname.

  HIS use of it.

  Well, she had news for the playboy. The game was over. She was going to kick his ass.

  “Oh, well, then you have a problem. Are you going to kill me to stop me?”

  He blinked.

  Jesus.

  All he could see was her messed up blonde hair, the fire in her eyes, and her lips.

  “That’s the ONLY way you’ll stop me. Maybe you killed Charlotte Shaw too. Did she threaten you and get up in your business?” she blurted.

  Oh, this cop had no clue.

  Rogue was trying to be a good person. He was trying to ignore that she was squirming against him as she struggled to get free from the cuffs.

  It was run from her or try and battle into the storm.

  Well, he wasn’t a coward, but he was an idiot.

  “I have a better idea.”

  His mouth found hers. It covered hers with such hunger and need. Rogue pressed himself to her, shoving his leg between hers to trap her to the wall.

  She whimpered, and it drove him wild.

  That heat exploded from him as his hands held her head in place as his mouth devoured.

  He held nothing back.

  Years of pent-up frustration in combination with the lust he felt for her, ruptured from him in one hell of a wave.

  It swamped them both.

  The kiss was astronomical.

  He’d never felt anything like it in all of his life, and he was no stranger to sex. This feeling was so new, so foreign, so powerful, that it emotionally took him to his knees.

  He was lost.

  “Cordy,” he whispered, as he dove back in, refusing to let her free herself from him. If he could just battle on, he might have a chance.

  She heard her name.

  Only, Cordelia couldn’t think. All she knew was she was going up in flames. The man pressed to her should piss her off. She was trapped, her hands were cuffed in front of her, and she should shoot him.

  But he was bare-chested.

  He was covered in ink.

  He was…

  God!

  He was amazing.

  Instead of fighting him, like she should, and instead of fearing where it was heading, she let go of all of her thoughts. In that minute, she owned it. This was all her fault.

  She’d kissed him last night.

  She’d showed up at his place today all stirred up and an emotional time bomb.

  Now, she’d pay.

  Now, they’d both pay.

  Rogue set her mouth free, and they were both breathing heavily.

  “Stay out of my business, Cordelia. Stay out of it or else,” he warned.

  “NO.”

  He kissed her, again, seeking her compliance. He kissed her again, seeking some control—of her—of him—he didn’t know. All he did know was he was insane for kissing this cop.

  She would take him down.

  He knew it.

  Her hands were trapped between them, and when they ran against his flesh, nails leaving marks, he had to have more. God help him, but he wanted more.

  Rogue wanted to feel.

  For the first time in his life, he wanted it more than his money, his businesses, or his thievery.

  He wanted her.

  His mouth set hers free. It traveled across her jaw, across her throat, and to her ear.

  “I want you,” he whispered. “God help me, but I want you more than I want to live.”

  His words staggered her.

  Her heart quickened.

  Rogue felt her hands moving up his chest, and finally, she dropped them over his head so they anchored her to him.

  He took that as his sign.

  Picking her up, he was giddy when her legs went around his hips. He carried her toward his living room as they were trapped together. Later he’d find the humor. Now all he could find was the lust.

  The kiss that happened nearly melted them both together.

  It was a battle of two strong-willed people. A part of him wasn’t surprised. As they fell onto the couch, she was beneath him. His mouth was claiming ownership.

  She fought the need. In her head, she kept telling herself that he’d lied to her. Only, it was so damn hard.

  This man smelled like richness wrapped in seduction, and she’d never felt this before. No one wanted her like this. She was, after all, the child of a criminal and a whore.

  Yet, here he was.

  Cordelia was allowed to feel.

  The whole time, he was on top of her, and she wanted him like a fire burning through a forest. It was eating away at her. Rogue was hard. She could feel his erection through his workout pants.

  She wanted that.

  God!

  She wanted him in her.

  Then she felt it. Somehow, during the kiss, the cuffs were off. The man had fast fingers, and that should worry her. Only, it didn’t.

  At that moment, nothing mattered to her but the way he felt against her body.

  Instead, she let him lead. The man she didn’t trust, one she shouldn’t be near, was taking her down.

  Her shirt was gone.

  Then her shoes.

  When he flicked open her jeans, and his elegant, long fingers stroked her, she nearly came. Before she could say anything, her pants, and his, were non-existent.

  And it began.

  The battle raged.

  They exchanged kisses.

  She was on the bottom, and he was on top. Then they were on the floor.

  Then she was in his lap.

  All the while, he didn’t take her. It was this wild, sweet seduction that drove the heat up around them, and nearly burnt the house down.

  They pulled, tugged, and fought until they were naked and so hot that neither could focus on anything but quenching that need.

  He bit her on the shoulder.

  She ran her nails down his chest.

  They kissed, memorizing this moment forever. Neither would forget.

  How could they?

  Then, it was time.

  “I have to have you,” he muttered, pulling her down onto his throbbing erection. When he filled her, he nearly exploded. She felt that damn good.

  “Rogue,” she whispered.

  He struggled to focus. Her face, her scent, everything about this cop had him tied up in knots. He was lost to her.

  He was lost to everything.

  He regained some control.

  SOME.

  It wasn’t lost on him that they fit together like no one ever had before. She was tight, and he was perfect for her. It was that one second where everything stopped and they both held their breath.

  “Jesus,” he muttered, barely able to breathe. Rogue had never felt anything so complete. That lock opened—the one he’d been trying to pick for years. It was the only
lock the thief couldn’t break into, and here she had.

  The cop.

  She unlocked his heart.

  It popped open, and he felt things that he knew were all kinds of wrong.

  He was going to suffer for this.

  “Cordy,” he murmured, as his hands found her hips. She began moving, her breasts bouncing in front of him. His peculiar eyes taking in the sight of something so foreign to him.

  Perfection.

  “Rogue,” she answered back, as he drove her up, to the peak, and then into one hell of an orgasm. It rocked her body, and her world.

  She came riding his dick.

  And he wasn’t done.

  Rolling, he pushed her beneath him so he could drive himself into that heat. She smelled like sexy Southern gardenias, and her lean, strong body fit with his.

  Yin and Yang.

  He’d found that part of him in a woman who would never be able to love him because of who her parents were. He was a criminal.

  He was her enemy.

  Her hand touched his cheek as he stared intently into her eyes. Their souls kissed.

  They both felt it.

  Their hearts seemed to line up, beating in time.

  As his body slid in and out of hers, they were one, and neither saw it coming.

  His quickening of breath signaled he was close. She caught up, wanting that one fall with him. When it was over, this was over. It had to be done.

  She couldn’t do this with him. Cordelia couldn’t die of heartbreak.

  “God! Cordy! Cum with me!” he begged.

  Oh, she was there.

  His body tightened, and together, they fell from the edge, each other’s names on the other’s lips. It started wild, but in the end, the fall was easy.

  Too easy.

  As he came, pouring into a woman he had no business touching, there was that flutter in his heart.

  It horrified him.

  He’d found what he sought, but at what cost? He’d found love.

  Rogue rested on her, afraid to look. For the first time in his life, he was afraid of the ‘after’. When he built the courage, he opened his eyes.

  She didn’t speak.

  Neither did he.

  Instead, she untangled herself from his body, from his warmth, and began pulling on her clothes.

  He watched…helpless.

  He watched, wanting to say so many things.

  And yet he couldn’t.

  He was afraid.

  Where he expected the fight, the fire, the threats of her interfering with his life, there was nothing.

  Rogue saw her retreat.

  Physically.

  Emotionally.

  All those emotions were slowly ebbing away, lost once more to a man who couldn’t figure out who he was, or why he was there.

  As she pulled on her boots, Cordelia couldn’t look at him—she didn’t dare.

  Her heart ached.

  God.

  She was stupid.

  She pulled on the boots and stood. For a second, she waited, trying to find something, anything, to say, but she couldn’t.

  She was broken.

  Instead, she headed toward the door to escape the shame of what she’d let out. She was the whore.

  GOD!

  She was just like her mother.

  “Cordelia,” he whispered, unsure if he’d actually said it out loud, or if it was in his head.

  She stopped in the doorway.

  Cordelia wanted to tell him so much, but she couldn’t. This wasn’t her world. Instead, she escaped, doing the walk of shame.

  She was her mother’s child.

  Loose.

  Moral-less.

  This was her fear.

  The sexy rich man brought it out in her, and away went all of her control. One dick, and she was done.

  At the door, she pulled it open, hid the tears and raced for her car. She headed out, having to enter the code at the gate twice as her fingers wouldn’t work.

  She headed home.

  Cordelia headed to a place where she could hide from that shame. She’d fucked the most amazing man in the world, and she came away with one thing.

  She’d made a huge mistake.

  It wasn’t the sex that shamed her. It was the fact that she’d fallen for him. Cordelia was smart enough to know she’d let herself hope.

  She’d let herself feel.

  And now she’d pay the piper.

  For the rest of her life.

  As he watched her leave, from the big window overlooking the grounds, he didn’t know what to think.

  What they’d done…

  He’d never felt anything like it.

  Rogue never thought that feeling really existed. When people spoke of lust and passion, it had never been there. With Charlotte, he only wanted to have someone love him.

  With Cordelia…

  God!

  He wanted to feel that every second of every day for the rest of his thievery-filled life.

  Only that was the problem.

  He was a criminal.

  Yeah, he was an idiot. Here, he’d mocked Dakota when he watched Sarah with eyes filled with wonder and love.

  He’d mocked Zayn when the big man fell for a stranger in a day.

  And now he was a victim himself.

  In that moment, Rogue Ravenscroft knew one thing.

  He was in love.

  With a woman who couldn’t, and wouldn’t, possibly ever understand him—or forgive him of his many sins.

  * * * H U N T E R * * *

  Sarah wandered the French Quarter, wondering what she was going to do now that she’d basically walked away from the reason she was in the city.

  She was scared.

  On top of that, she was wracked with bone-crushing terror of what she’d just done. For Christ’s sake, she handed back her ring in anger.

  Well, she was miserable.

  Her finger felt naked.

  Her soul felt empty.

  In her heart, she knew she should have told Dakota her plans, and she knew he had to be angry about her going to Rogue with them first.

  Sarah knew Dakota was a man’s man, but she was so tired of him overlooking her role on the team. For months, he slept with her but told her it was nothing.

  He told her each time was a mistake.

  Then, if that wasn’t horrible enough, he left her behind, making her feel like she was broken inside.

  Now she was spreading her wings, and he’d pretty much said she wasn’t part of him.

  She wasn’t his better half.

  Worse half.

  She was just part of a team that he had the burden of carrying to catch Bonnie.

  She got it.

  His life revolved around another woman, and it was all kinds of wrong. Dakota was in love with the chase when he should be in love with her.

  That’s why she did it.

  Purgatory…it was her backup plan for when he broke her heart again. This fight was her bailing to save some of her dignity. Now she had to walk the path alone.

  Yeah, this sucked.

  The tears filled her eyes as she sat on some deserted park bench not far from their base. A part of her hoped he’d come for her, but that wasn’t the case.

  He didn’t chase her.

  Well, she got what she wanted.

  It was over.

  Pulling out her phone, she called the one man who would understand. She called the one man who would have her back in all of this without any type of judgment.

  When he answered, she began crying.

  “Daddy?”

  “Sarah, baby, what’s wrong?” he asked in a panic.

  “Oh, Daddy,” she said, not knowing how to get through this. She’d been ballsy in the moment, and now she was afraid she’d crawl back on her knees and beg for anything he’d give her.

  If she did that, they’d never be okay. Sarah would resent him for the rest of her life.

  They needed this.

  It s
till stung that he didn’t follow—or didn’t care to follow—did it matter?

  Well, it didn’t shock her. She was always the one who chased him, and she couldn’t do it anymore.

  Sarah Valley was empty.

  “Sarah, you’re scaring me. What’s wrong?” her father asked, trying to get her to talk.

  “I’ve done something, and I don’t know what to do. I’m alone, and I need you.”

  “What happened, baby?”

  She told him everything.

  Sarah told him everything from when Dakota left, to how he proposed likely out of guilt, and how she’d handed his ring back.

  It gushed from her like a fountain. She told him about how she loved a man who hurt her. She told him about waiting for his love when she knew it wouldn’t work.

  Sarah even told him about the case, the mess, and walking away from the only man she’d love.

  “Oh, sweetheart.”

  “I don’t know what to do, Daddy. I’m lost. I’m not sure what to do now.”

  “Give me ten minutes, and I’ll book you a room. I’ll take care of this, Sarah. I’ll fix it for you. Your dad will always have your back.”

  She sobbed.

  “My heart hurts.”

  “I have you, baby. I’ll be there.”

  There was a click.

  Five minutes later, her phone chimed. In it, she found the name of the hotel. She stood, stared at the house in the distance—the one she’d likely never see again, and she headed out of the park.

  She couldn’t go back.

  Not now.

  Sarah Valley, ex-Fed, lost soul, and bar owner could only go forward.

  Wherever it led.

  Sarah walked toward the nearest cab and told him the hotel name. Then she sat in the back and wept.

  Maybe coming to New Orleans was a bad idea.

  And now she was going to pay.

  With her heart.

  * * * H U N T E R * * *

  Boone and Merry didn’t move.

  How could they?

  Honestly, as a detective, cop, and husband, he hadn’t seen this coming. Yeah, he knew the man holding him at gunpoint was an ex-marshal, but he definitely wasn’t happy to see them.

  Clearly.

  “What are you doing here?” Dakota asked the man.

  “Elizabeth sent us,” he stated, very cognizant that he, and his wife, were in some serious shit if this went bad.