Web of Lies

by Jennifer Estep

  “We need to get out of here,” I said. “Now.”

  if anyone tampered with the granite. I’d done the same We scurried down the hallway and into the front of the thing to protect myself on more than one occasion. Even building. I turned my flashlight off and peered through used the same rune as the dwarf.

  the thin slats in the blinds. Two flashlights bobbed in our Estep_Web of Lies_1P EP.indd 214-215

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  direction. Giants, considering the fact the lights were feet. Solid, heavy, pounding. Shouts drifted through the about even with my head. Beside me, Donovan turned rain.

  off his own flashlight and drew his gun.

  “Do you see anything?”

  “Put that away,” I said. “open the door and head

  “No. You?”

  straight toward the back of the basin, where we climbed

  “Hey! The front door’s wide open!”

  down. outrunning them is our best chance. Not engagI peeked around the side of the building just in time ing in a firefight.”

  to see two giants run into the front office. A few sec“What are you going to do?”

  onds later, lights flared in the front room, then spread

  “Make sure they don’t follow us.”

  down the hallway like a wildfire, before erupting in ToDonovan shook his head. “No, Gin. Let me stay and bias Dawson’s office. I stood off to one side of the winhelp you—”

  dows and watched. It was the same two men Dawson

  “This isn’t a fucking discussion,” I said. “It won’t much had brought to the Country Daze store earlier this aftermatter if they capture me, but you? It’ll ruin you, detecnoon. The two giants still had on the same grimy work tive. So go. Now. I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself. clothes they’d sported then, and they both carried long, Been doing it for years.”

  heavy flashlights that could easily be used to break bones Donovan stared at me. I could see the gold glint of his or crush someone’s skull. They had to be the dwarf’s top eyes even in the darkness and the emotions sparking in two enforcers.

  their depths. Worry. Concern. Resignation. After a few I watched them sweep into Dawson’s office. They seconds, the detective reluctantly holstered his gun. He didn’t bother with anything on the desk, but went straight moved toward the door and opened it.

  to the glass case that housed the dwarf’s rock collection. By the time I stepped outside behind him, Donovan

  “The lock’s been picked,” one of the giants rumbled, had already taken off back the way we’d come in. Twenty swinging open the case. “But it doesn’t look like anysteps later, the rain and night and shadows swallowed thing’s been taken.”

  him, just the way I’d known they would.

  The second giant came to stand beside him. “NothI palmed my silverstone knives. But instead of sprinting obvious anyway. But somebody was messing with ing after the detective, I slid around the side of the buildthe safe, with the diamond. That’s why the alarm went ing and moved all the way to the back, where Tobias off inside the guardhouse. Because somebody other than Dawson’s office was. Ten . . . twenty . . . thirty . . . I Dawson opened the safe.”

  counted off the seconds in my head.

  Well, that confirmed my suspicion the dwarf had used I didn’t have long to wait. Despite the rain and mud, his Stone magic to craft the alarm on his safe. I could do their footsteps reverberated through the stone under my the same thing, although I was usually more interested in Estep_Web of Lies_1P EP.indd 216-217

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  keeping people out of whatever building I was sleeping killing the dwarf just morphed from a pleasant idea into a in rather than trapping them inside. That’s what would cold, hard necessity. The sooner the better. have happened here. If I hadn’t been a Stone, hadn’t been The first giant finished his phone call and turned back an elemental, I wouldn’t even have heard the alarm. Both to his buddy. “They’re on their way. But I still don’t see Donovan Caine and I would have still been sitting in how anyone besides Dawson could even open the safe. All Dawson’s office when the giants came calling. Some defithe silverstone in it is keyed to his magic.”

  nite pain, perhaps even death, would have ensued.

  “For a rock like that? Somebody would find a way,” the Sneaky dwarf, using an elemental alarm like that. second guy replied.

  Something to keep in mind next time, when I went in As they stood there talking, I crept away from the winto kill him. dow and slipped off into the dark, rainy night.

  “But it doesn’t look like the safe’s been opened,” the first giant rumbled. “Maybe it’s just a false alarm. I jogged back to the far end of the basin away from the

  “No way,” the second guy replied. “The case is open. mine office. I didn’t sprint full out, but I didn’t dawdle Somebody touched that safe.”

  either. I kept my pace just quick enough so I’d still be

  “Maybe. But you know how sensitive that rune alarm able to hear the giants behind me when their friends arDawson created is. I had to come up here twice last week rived and they decided to investigate the area outside the because the cleaning crew jiggled it while they were dustoffice. But I didn’t worry about them finding anything. ing. Remember?”

  The drizzling rain would wash away any trace evidence

  “I remember,” the second man said. “But you know the detective or I might have left behind, including our how obsessed Dawson is with that diamond and the othfootprints. ers he found. We’d still better call him, just to cover our I reached the back slope of the basin where we’d come own asses. And get Stan and Donny up here too. They down, rounded the rock outcropping—and found myself can help us look around.”

  on the business end of Donovan Caine’s gun. The first giant sighed and picked up the telephone on

  “Nice to see you too,” I drawled.

  the dwarf’s desk.

  Donovan let out a breath and lowered his weapon. I stood outside, still processing what I’d just learned.

  “Sorry. I heard footsteps.”

  others? There were more diamonds like the one in the

  “Don’t worry. That’s not the first gun I’ve had pointed safe? I began to get a bad, bad feeling about why Tobias at me.” Probably wouldn’t be the last one, either, but I Dawson wanted Warren T. Fox’s land so badly. If my susdidn’t mention that to the detective. picion was correct, Dawson wouldn’t stop harassing the Donovan holstered his weapon. Then he stepped out Foxes until he was dead. Which meant the thought of from behind the rock and looked toward the mine offices. Estep_Web of Lies_1P EP.indd 218-219

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  By now, more lights burned there, like fireflies that had been grounded by the rain. Faint shouts drifted through the night air.

  “Did you kill the guards?” Donovan Caine asked in a low voice.

  20

  “No.”

  Surprise and relief flashed in his golden eyes. “Why not?”

  I shrugged. “Because a possible break-in is one thing. Dead guards are another. I don’t want Tobias Dawson to realize I’m coming for him. Not until it’s too late.”

  Donovan’s relief melted into stubborn consternation, and I half-expected him to start lecturing me about the sanctity of life. To tell me it was just plain wrong to go around planning someone’s assassination, even if it would Even using our rope and gloves, it took twice as long for save two innocent people in the end. Donovan stared at Donovan and me to climb back up the ridge as it had me like he wanted to do that very thing, give me the good taken to come down. The drizzle made everything slick, lecture. Then another emotion crept into his golden gaze. slimy, sloppy. By the time we crested the rim of the ridge, The detective almost looked . . . sad.

  we were both wet to the bone and covered with mud
, What did he have to be sad about? It wasn’t like I was burrs, briars, dead leaves, and other woodsy debris. It going to kill him or even one of his friends. I didn’t untook us several more minutes to reach Donovan’s sedan, derstand Donovan’s sudden mood swing, and I didn’t which was just enough time for the warm exertion from care to stand out here in the dark to try to puzzle it out. climbing up the ridge to wear off. The rain had picked up Not with Tobias Dawson’s men lurking around. and was now a downpour. Despite the Ice magic in my

  “Come on,” I said. “Let’s get out of here before the veins, I still shivered with cold. Besides our squish-squish guards head this way.”

  footsteps, the only other sound was the plop-plop-plop of the rain coming down.

  Donovan reached inside the sedan and turned on the interior lights so we could see what we were doing. Then he hit another button, which opened the trunk. “I’ve got some towels and spare clothes in the back.”

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  I nodded. While the detective dug around in the sighed as I looked at the cotton. I’d bought the pink Ttrunk, I pulled out my cell phone and called Finn. He shirt covered with bright green limes when I went to Key answered on the third ring.

  West after Fletcher’s funeral. It was one of my favorites. I

  “Yeah?”

  picked a couple of briars off the bottom of the tail, folded

  “We’re clear of Dawson’s office,” I said.

  it, and put it on top of my jacket.

  A slurping sound came through the phone. Finn I was just about to unhook my bra when I realized the drinking another cup of coffee. Sometimes I wondered detective was staring at me. Donovan Caine’s eyes burned why his brain didn’t explode from all the caffeine. “Find like liquid gold in his rugged face.

  anything interesting?”

  “What—what are you doing?” he asked in a hoarse

  “I think so,” I said. “We’ll talk about it when we get voice

  back. Might be awhile, because of the rain. The road

  “I thought I’d be nice and not get my wet, muddy we’re on isn’t exactly the best in the world.”

  shoes and clothes all over your car,” I replied. “Is that a

  “We’ve moved over to the house. We’ll be waiting for problem?”

  you there,” Finn said.

  Donovan didn’t answer me. He was too busy devourWe both hung up. ing me with his eyes. The rain ran down my mostly bare Donovan closed the trunk and came around the car to chest in cool, glistening drops. I’d only had my shirt off me. He opened the front passenger’s side door and tossed a few seconds, but the moisture had already soaked into the dry clothes inside so they wouldn’t get wet while we my pale pink lace bra. The cold night air had long ago changed. Then he handed me a thick towel. I lifted it to hardened my nipples. But instead of covering myself up, my face and breathed in. It smelled like the detective—

  my own eyes traced over Donovan. The detective had clean and soapy. Mmm.

  removed his suit jacket and starched shirt. All he wore The detective grabbed another towel out of the pile from the waist up was a white, sleeveless undershirt. The of clothes. He used it to wipe off his face and soak up rain had made it transparent too, and I could see the some of the water in his hair. I did the same with my ropy muscles of his chest through the thin fabric. Mmm. towel, then opened the back door of the car and slung the Despite the rain flicking against my skin, a low, steady towel over the seat. Mud caked my boots an inch thick warmth spread through my stomach. This was the closest in places, so I pulled them off and set them on the floorI’d been to Donovan Caine in two months, and I decided board, along with my ruined socks. Cold mud squished to take advantage of the situation.

  between my toes, but I’d wipe them off with the towel

  “See something you like, detective?” I said in a soft later. Then I stripped off my fleece jacket and put it on voice. “Because I sure do.”

  top of my boots. My long-sleeved T-shirt came next. I The detective raised his gaze to my face. Emotions Estep_Web of Lies_1P EP.indd 222-223

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  flickered in his golden eyes, like lightning dancing across come by the fire roaring through my body. A fire I wanted the sky during a thunderstorm. Guilt. Heat. Desire. But to embrace again and again and again.

  he didn’t move toward me. So I decided to up the stakes, Donovan’s hand worked at the clasp of my bra. When so to speak.

  it popped open, he stepped back long enough to yank the I looked at him as I slowly unbuttoned my muddy straps off my shoulders and drop the whole thing in the jeans. It took me a few seconds to slide the stiff, heavy, mud. He moved me back, and something cold and metal wet fabric down my legs and over my feet. Not the most bumped against my hip. The hood of the sedan. graceful striptease, but the golden sparks in Donovan’s That would do for now. I leaned back against the eyes told me he appreciated the view. By the time I’d metal and pulled the detective down to me. The car hood tossed my wet jeans into the front seat, the rain had felt like ice against my back, but I didn’t care because I turned my pink panties—also decorated with limes—as was burning on the inside. Burning for Donovan. transparent as my bra.

  our tongues crashed together again. Donovan’s Donovan’s gaze was even hotter now, and those same hands closed over my bare breasts. He squeezed the two three emotions kept flashing in his eyes, one after another, mounds—hard—then dug his thumbs into my nipples. faster and faster, as though his brain were overloaded by I moaned into his mouth. Pressure built between my the feelings. Guilt. Heat. Desire. Guilt. Heat. Desire. thighs. My panties were soaked—and it had nothing to We stood there, a few feet apart, frozen in the modo with the rain. ment, as the cool rain cascaded down on us . . . Donovan put his mouth over first one nipple, then the Donovan let out a low growl, moved forward, and other. Licking, sucking, nipping at them with his teeth jerked me toward him. His lips crushed against mine, until they were so hard they ached. The detective pulled even as his tongue drove inside my mouth. Mmm. Just back long enough to catch his breath. I yanked his unwhat I wanted. I tangled my fingers in his damp, black dershirt up over his head and threw it away. My fingers hair and pulled him closer.

  splayed over his chest, and I marveled at the lean strength In a moment, the kiss morphed into one of raging heat of his body. I ran my nails down his chest, and my hands and raw need. our lips, our tongues, lashed against each went to his crotch, rubbing his erection through the slick other in punishment and pleasure. We spun around and fabric of his pants. Donovan hissed, then raked his teeth around in a tight circle in the rain. Mud covered my feet down my ear lobe. He leaned forward and sucked on my and rocks dug into my heels, but I didn’t care. Heat, pasneck like a vampire, as his fingers continued to work their sion, lust, desire. It all filled me until there was nothing magic on my breasts. I bit the edge of his jaw, more than else—and nothing I wouldn’t do to slake my need. The ready for him.

  mud, the cold, the rain. Everything else vanished, overI breathed in. Despite the mud, he still smelled clean, Estep_Web of Lies_1P EP.indd 224-225

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  like soap and fresh laundry. Mmm. “You smell so good,”

  Waiting. Aching. A moment later, Donovan followed me I murmured against his jaw.

  inside, a foil packet in his fingers, which he laid in the

  “Not as good as you feel under me,” he growled back. floorboard. I took my little white pills to be on the safe We kissed again—long and hard enough to make me side and avoid any unwanted consequences, but I still appant for breath. My fingers found his leather belt, which preciated his thoughtfulness.

  I loosened. His pants unzipped a second later. He leaned forward and kissed m
e again before moving

  “Take them off,” I murmured. “Your shoes too. I want down my damp body. Donovan lowered his lips to the to feel you this time. All of you.”

  curls between my thighs. I parted my legs, and he slid Donovan stepped back. Now, it was my turn to watch his tongue inside me, making quick, thrusting motions, as he kicked off his shoes and socks and stepped out of then slow, lazy circles. Teasing me. I moaned and dug my his pants. He wore a pair of black boxers underneath that fingers into his scalp, urging him on.

  made his skin glisten like bronze.

  Donovan’s tongue flicked over me again, and he eased

  “Boxers too,” I said in a husky voice. “Take ’em off.”

  a finger deep inside.

  Donovan stepped toward me. “In a minute.”

  “So sweet,” he whispered against my thigh. “Like hot He leaned me back against the car hood and teased my honey.”

  nipples with his mouth and hands again before his fingers Donovan continued his ministrations a few more modipped inside my panties. He moved his fingers back and ments. That’s all I could take. I wanted him inside me. forth against me, before slipping two inside and stroking Right now.

  me there, rubbing his fingers faster, harder, ratcheting up I grabbed Donovan’s shoulders, pulling him up even my pressure, my need, that much more. My turn to hiss. as I wiggled underneath him and turned him over. Now, My searching fingers skimmed past the open flap in he was lying on the seat. There wasn’t a lot of room to his boxers. I took him in my hand, and Donovan bucked maneuver in the car, but I was very determined. Now it against me. I lightly ran my nails down his length and was my turn to tease.

  across the rounded tip of his hard cock. He was as ready I trailed my tongue down his chest and put my mouth for me as I was for him. Donovan growled again, took his on him, sucking and licking his straining shaft until it fingers out of me, and pulled me up off the car. pulsed and quivered with every touch of my hot, heavy