Page 59 of Xavier

Lissette rested her arm across Xavier’s chest. For the moment, she could pretend they weren’t fighting a battle on multiple fronts, that she wasn’t wearing an ankle monitor that confined her to a narrow geographic area and that she hadn’t spent a year in prison.

Tomorrow would come soon enough. She’d face the truth then.

They had the night and one more condom. She wasn’t going to waste a second of it.

Chapter 11

Xavier woke with Lissette in his arms, her naked body lying against his, her leg draped over his thigh. Immediately hard, he lay still, absorbing the warmth and the delicious scent and softness of her skin pressed to his.

He’d make love to her again if he had a packet of protection, but they’d made good use of the second condom before midnight, and he was fresh out.

Willing control over his desire, he studied her face, soft and content in sleep, a vast contrast to the perpetually creased brow of the most hated woman in Bayou Mambaloa.

He couldn’t condone her attempt to murder Shelby Taylor, but he could understand what had led her to take on the mission. She’d paid the price in prison and in the contempt of the residents of the small town.

He could imagine the hurt and anger of the ten-year-old who’d been abandoned by a mother who hadn’t given a damn about her. That alone had destroyed her self-worth. Bullies among her peers and the adults she’d been subjected to in school had only taken her self-esteem to an even lower level. The lure of fitting in had been a temptation she hadn’t been able to ignore when the mafia had tapped into her insecurities.

* * *

He wished he could have been there for her when everyone had seemed to be against her. Wished he could have helped her build her confidence without resorting to crime.

The fact that she’d shielded the young mother in the correctional facility showed that she did care and had empathy for others, especially those who were bullied and couldn’t stand up for themselves.

She’d powered through the previous day despite having doors slammed in her face, being yelled at and being called names. He’d been impressed with her patience for the woman who’d fallen on the sidewalk while she’d berated her for her crime against Shelby.

He believed she truly regretted her attempt on Shelby’s life. He’d bet that, like him, she wished she could undo the decision that had changed her life so completely.

And like him, she knew there were no do-overs.

Her eyes blinked open, and a smile curled her lips.

“Hey,” he said and brushed a strand of her hair away from her cheek.

“Hey,” she said, her voice gravelly from sleep. “Did we sleep?”

He chuckled. “I did. Better than I have in a long time.”

“Me too.” She ran her hand over his arm. “No dreams. Must be all that exercise that wore us out.” Her fingers moved lower, across his hip and down to capture his cock. “Mmm. I hear military types like to perform calisthenics in the morning.”

“I’d put you through your paces, but we’re out of protection, and I’m hungry.” He smacked her bare ass, the sound louder than the impact.

“I owe you a meal.” Lissette yawned, rolled onto her back, and stretched her arms over her head, her breasts rising as her back arched.

Xavier couldn’t resist and bent to capture one soft, rosy, brown nipple between his lips.

“Don’t start something you’re not going to finish,” she warned while cupping her hand to the back of his head and urging him to take more.

“I finish what I start,” he said and took the other nipple in his mouth, sucking and licking, until it hardened into a tight, round bud.

“How are you going to finish without protection?” she asked, spreading her legs to let him slide between.

“You don’t need protection where I’m going,” he said and moved down her torso, kissing a path to the juncture of her thighs. There, he parted her folds and swept his tongue across her clit.

She moaned, and her hips rose.

Xavier draped her legs over his shoulders, settling in to feast on her sex with every intention of making her come apart in a spectacular orgasm she wouldn’t soon forget.

As he tongued and flicked her clit, he slid a finger into her already slick channel and swirled around. A second finger joined the first, followed by a third.