Second Nature (When Seconds Count) by D.L. Roan Page A

yet you just sucked my cock and let me fuck you without a condom.” She tensed when he let one of his hands trail down between her thighs. A flash of lust flooded his cock and he ground it hard against her ass as he slipped his fingers through her wet folds. They glistened with the combination of her arousal and his seed as he held them up in front of her. “You enjoyed it. You can’t deny this thing between us anymore than you can say that Thalia is your real name.”
    “It is my real name.”
    It was a nickname. Not a complete lie, or he would have pushed her further. Looking down over her shoulder, he felt her rapid heartbeat against his chest as he swirled the pearly fluids around her nipple. “It doesn’t matter. I am a lot of things to a lot of different people. I’ll be glad to play twenty questions with you later and give you as many answers as I can, but right now…” He lifted her breast, trailing his hand up and over the ripe swell to the long line of her neck. With his thumb he turned her head to meet his gaze and lightly pressed his lips to hers in a lingering kiss. “Right now, I am the only one who can help you. I need to know what I’m dealing with.”
    He r body relaxed against his, the feel of her in his arms felt better than anything he had ever known. God, please don’t let her be on the wrong side. He wasn’t a religious man, but he would promise anything to any deity to know she wasn’t one of those he’d spent his life fighting to destroy.
    “Jauhar murdered the only family I had, and I plan to kill him.” Her confession was made in such a quiet whisper Grant nearly missed it.
    “So this is personal. Not business?” He held back the hope in his heart for just a breath until she nodded, her head falling back against his shoulder as she blew out a breath of relief.
    “He wants the thumb drive . He won’t stop until he has it.”
    “So you were just going to hand it over.” He could see where this was leading and he didn’t like it.
    “Yes .” She turned in his arms and pressed her forehead to his bare chest.
    “What then? You think he will just let you walk away?
    “No. I don’t know how, but I’ll find a way to kill him once I get close enough to do it.”
    Gr ant let his head fall forward, pressing his lips into her hair as his hands idly caressed the skin on her back. “What’s on the thumb drive?”
    Thalia shrugged. “ Shipping data, I think. None of it makes very much sense to me. It’s full of codes and numbers, but I recognize some of the dates and locations.” His arms instinctively tightened around her when another chill ran through her and she shivered against him. “Jauhar killed my uncle. If I have something he wants, I have to use it to get to him. He’s going to kill me anyway. I just want the chance to take him to hell with me.”
    “He’s not going to kill you.” He wouldn’t let that happen. There was more to it, he was sure, but she had said enough for now. He got the picture.
    As his fingers played along her spine, tracing the raised lines of skin that crisscrossed in a telling pattern beneath his fingertips, he knew there was one more question he had to ask. His blood raced through his veins when he pictured her shackled and bleeding as her uncle , or any other man, marred her skin and tried to break her fierce spirit. He could just as easily picture himself putting a bullet between the sick fuck’s eyes, whoever he was. He wasn’t sure if he could handle the truth, but he forced the question out anyway. “Is your uncle the one who did this to you?” He purposefully traced his finger over the most prominent lash mark.
    She drew back from his embrace, her brows furrowed in confusion. “What?”
    Grant loosened his grip and let his fingers trail down her arms. “The scars on your back. You were beaten. Is he the one who took you from your family?” It was possible, would even be twistedly normal, for her to call her captor uncle. Some