Caballo Security Box Set

by Camilla Blake

  I think I made a few noises as he buried his face in my chest, as he moved slowly down the length of me, as I buried my fingers in his wet hair, guiding him to all these places that intensified that sense of complete pleasure. I closed my eyes and arched my back, holding him hard against one breast as he did something incredible with his lips, his teeth, something both painful and so completely pleasurable that I know a moan slipped from between my lips. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me toward him, our bodies touching in places that I knew logically could work, but had never really managed to imagine in reality. It was so much simpler than I ever could have pictured with my overly analytical mind.

  So simple. So basic. So perfect.

  This man knew what he was doing. He knew where to touch me, knew what would make me moan, what would make me arch my back, what would cause my knees to fall apart. He knew so much more than I would ever know. And I… how disappointed would he be when he realized I knew nothing about pleasing him, that I had no clue where to put my legs, where to touch him, how to touch him? How frustrated would he be when he learned that all I knew about this sort of intimacy was what I’d learned from bad romance novels hidden in my desk drawer back at Caballo?

  “Prescott,” I whispered, the sound more like a moan than a word. I untangled my fingers from his hair and pushed at his shoulder, trying again. “Prescott!”

  “Oh! Oh, my God!”

  I jumped, not expecting a woman’s voice to respond to my plea. Prescott groaned, pulling back in such a way that he was able to block the majority of my body from view as he glanced over his shoulder. Hannah, her face pale, stood in the doorway. She turned sideways as she met his eye, clearly embarrassed. Prescott just nonchalantly slid onto his knees and pulled his robe across his body before tugging at my robe to help me cover my own exposed flesh.

  “I saw the light on and thought… I didn’t realize…”

  “We had a bit of an accident by the pool and thought we’d come in here to clean up,” Prescott politely informed her. “We were about to leave.”

  “I should go.”

  “No.” Prescott stood and held out his hand to me. “We should all go. It’s getting late.”

  “It is,” I agreed. “Sorry we worried you, Hannah.”

  “It’s not a problem.”

  We walked past her, our heads held high like a couple of teenagers caught doing things they shouldn’t have been doing by the nanny. Prescott burst into laughter when we were halfway to the house, suddenly falling into a quick sprint, pulling me along beside him. When we were alone in our bedroom, he pulled me into his arms and laughed. I couldn’t help but join in.

  We fell onto the bed after a while, both exhausted and completely spent. I lay my head on his shoulder and curled my body against his, barely able to keep my eyes open a moment longer.

  As I drifted to sleep, I thought I heard… but I didn’t. Prescott was not the kind of man who would declare his feelings to anyone, not even his wife.

  Chapter 10

  Cheryl

  “Garth, my friend. How are you today?”

  His warm voice filled my ear thanks to the earbud I had attached to my phone. I liked using the earbud because it made him feel closer, almost like we were in the same room together. A woman with a job like mine… it was a way of passing the time to fantasize about people I knew I’d never meet. Garth was at the top of that list.

  “Quiet in this part of the state. How about you? Anything interesting happening down there?”

  “I work for Ox Winn. Life is always exciting!”

  “I’ve seen pictures of him. I suppose one might call that ‘exciting.’ But he’s not really my type.”

  “Funny. You’re simply hilarious.”

  “Yes, well, my jokes usually kill around here.”

  “You must work with a dull set of people.”

  “Come visit me and you’ll find out for yourself.”

  “You know that’s never going to happen, don’t you? Why would I want to ruin the fantasy?”

  “Then you do fantasize about me! I always kind of suspected.”

  I cleared my throat, glad he couldn’t see the heat that suddenly covered my face in a bright-red blush. I’d given myself away. That was the dumbest thing I’d done all week!

  “Listen, I was wondering if you’d identified that pill I asked you about last night.”

  “I’m curious as to why you thought this particular pill was a beta blocker.”

  “That’s what was written on the bottle it came from.”

  “Well, it was grossly mislabeled.”

  “You figured it out, then?”

  Cheryl frowned, looking down at the picture she’d printed from the text she’d gotten from Prescott. She and her team had been able to identify all but this one pill from the list. This one pill didn’t have a representative pic in any drug database she had access to. But that was why she was talking to Garth. The man worked for a company that gave him access to databases that she didn’t even know about, let alone have access to.

  “It’s a street drug called ice. It causes extreme lethargy, confusion, and can induce a mild form of amnesia on its users.”

  “A street drug? How hard is it to get access to?”

  “It’s not a widely known drug at the moment. Law enforcement have seen it pop up in a few West Coast areas, a couple of places in California, and here in Texas. But that’s about it at the moment—but a source tells me they expect it to be more available soon.”

  “Lovely. Why would someone want to intentionally make themselves tired and confused?”

  “Because the high that comes with it is said to be epic.”

  “I’d rather stick to a more natural high.”

  “Yeah? Do you skydive? That’s my kind of high.”

  “No. I was thinking more along the lines of a glass of wine in a hot bath with a good book.”

  Garth groaned softly. “Now, that’s something I could wrap my head around.”

  And he wondered why she might fantasize about him!

  “You shouldn’t talk like that. You never know who might be listening.”

  “There’s always someone listening. But I’m not ashamed of my infatuations. Are you?”

  “Is that what this is? An infatuation?”

  “Come visit me and we’ll see if we can turn it into something even better.”

  I groaned, wishing I could believe that this man with his deep, masculine voice was really as handsome as my imagination made him. But I knew that the moment I let myself believe that this could ever become something more, I would discover something disappointing about him. If not his looks, then his honesty. For all I knew, he was married and had five kids waiting for him at home.

  “If you could just email me your report…”

  “Oh, Cheryl, one of these days you will realize I am the man of your dreams and you’ll actually allow yourself a little happiness!” He sighed. “The email’s on its way.”

  I disconnected the call with a little regret weighing on my shoulders. Back to work.

  I wrote up a report for Prescott and emailed it to him, wondering briefly where the man was vacationing that required him to investigate someone’s medications. I hoped it wasn’t a personal matter. Not only would that suck, but Ox would be pissed if he found out we’d used company resources on a private matter. Ox was having enough trouble keeping his father’s personal stuff out of company business; he didn’t need the rest of us dragging Caballo into some unpaid, independent mess.

  I set Prescott’s stuff aside and opened the folder Ox had laid on my desk before I’d come in this morning. It was something about human trafficking and prostitution. Now, there was a moneymaker!

  Chapter 11

  Skylar

  I could feel his eyes on me as I dressed that morning. It made me wonder if my choice of a dark minidress with a torn concert tee over it was a bad choice. Was he embarrassed to go out in public with me? Or was it my hairstyle? I�
��d curled it and put it up in a single ponytail, one of the more tame styles I’d chosen in a while. Did he think I looked like a little girl?

  He was still watching me as I filled my plate at the small buffet Hannah had prepared. I chose too much bacon. He must think I was a junk-food junky! He’d only taken a couple of pieces of toast, sipping coffee as he ate the jelly-smeared squares. And he sat so close to me… Was that because he wanted to, or was it because he thought it was something I wanted?

  This whole romance thing was so illogical! How was I supposed to understand it all when there were so many questions, so many little nuances that made no sense to me?

  “What time are we supposed to be at the lawyer’s office?”

  I jumped. “Shit! I’d almost forgotten about that!”

  “Good thing I didn’t.” Prescott slid close to me and kissed the side of my neck. “What would you do without me?”

  “I have no idea.”

  He chuckled softly. Zander chose that moment to come into the room, followed by Nolan. I watched as they filled their plates and took seats across from us. As usual, Nolan propped his phone up and continued to watch whatever show he was always watching. Zander glared at Prescott before his eyes fell on me.

  “I heard you went for a little swim last night.”

  I shrugged. “It was a good night for it.”

  “In your dress?”

  Prescott’s hand slipped over my thigh. “It started out as a sort of accident, but turned into a good time.”

  “I’m sure it did.”

  Zander’s expression was dark as his eyes once again traveled over Prescott. Was he jealous? I couldn’t imagine Zander being jealous of anyone, but he had been particularly annoying around Prescott since we’d arrived. Was it possible? Had he really thought that he and I would one day… I couldn’t even imagine it! Zander was more like a brother to me than anything else!

  “What are you up to today, Zander?”

  He took a bite of his toast, the crumbs sprinkling his chin. He brushed them away, the movement angry. “Work. What do I usually do?”

  “Are you going to be in the garden? I thought I’d take Great-Gran for a walk there when I get back from this errand I need to run.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  “Good. You can help us gather some roses for her room. I think it would cheer her immensely.”

  Zander lowered his head slightly. “I’m happy to help.”

  “How is she this morning?” I asked, turning my focus to Nolan. The man had his earbuds in and didn’t hear me, but saw me staring at him. He removed one and cocked an eyebrow. “How is she?” I repeated.

  “Good. She woke up in a lovely mood. I bathed her and helped her dress. She’s sitting in the sunroom now.”

  “Has she eaten?”

  “Bright and early, like always.”

  That was a relief. I was a little worried that she’d fall back into the fatigue she’d been suffering when I arrived. It seemed possible, but I wanted to be optimistic. A cautious optimism, maybe.

  “We should go,” Prescott suddenly said, patting my knee before rising from his seat. I shoved a piece of bacon into my mouth before he stole my plate and took it to the sideboard. I watched him, admiring his backside even more now that I’d had a taste of it without clothing to obscure it.

  “Where are you headed?”

  “Hmm?” I had to force myself to focus on Zander. “We have a meeting with Tamara Olen.”

  Nolan looked sharply at Zander almost as if he’d heard what I said and was concerned about it. Zander didn’t react. He just bit into his toast again.

  “You should stop at the post office. Ms. Gains keeps asking about you.”

  “I just might do that.”

  Prescott came back and offered me his hand. I stood, and he pulled me into him, kissing the tip of my nose before leading the way out of the room. I slowed my step a little, walking behind Prescott as far as I could with my hand caught in his. The view was… hmm!

  “You’ve got to stop doing that,” he suddenly said, pulling me around in front of him and slipping his arms around my waist. “You’re driving me a little crazy.”

  “How?” I asked, honestly not sure what he meant.

  He groaned, resting his forehead against mine for a moment, then stealing a kiss that had a lot more heat behind it than his touch suggested. “If you only knew the things I’d like to do to you right now!”

  “Really?”

  He groaned again, our eyes meeting for a long moment. “Are you really this innocent? Can you be for real?” He kissed me again, his lips lingering for a moment. “I’ve never known anyone quite like you!”

  “You leave me so lost,” I said softly, running my hand slowly over the side of his face. “I wish I knew what was happening here.”

  “You’re not the only one, darling.”

  He pulled me close and we kissed again, a deep kiss that made promises I wasn’t sure I could fulfill. And then he groaned for a third time and pulled away, practically dragging me out of the house. The cool air of the early morning washed some of the heat away, but not a lot. The Hummer was parked in the circle drive, a monster waiting to swallow us whole. Prescott produced the keys and lifted me into the passenger seat before crossing around to take control of the massive vehicle. It roared to life like a living being, the vibrations of that powerful engine making me think of the same sorts of sensations that had rushed through my body in the pool house the night before.

  Such thoughts!

  We drove in silence, but it was one of those silences that was more companionable than alienating. I kept stealing glances at Prescott, catching him doing the same to me from time to time. At one point, he reached over and took my hand, drawing me across my massive seat so that he could hold my hand against his thick thighs. I could feel his muscles vibrating with the power of the engine and the movement of his foot. I’d never known a man doing something as simple as driving could be quite this sexy!

  “Thank you for coming to this thing with me.”

  Prescott glanced at me. “Anything you need.”

  I smiled, more pleased by that simple statement than I could express.

  He slowed the Hummer as we came into town. I found myself wondering what it would be like to live in this town as a permanent resident. I’d have to shop at these little stores, get my mail at that post office, have my meals out at the diner. The people who occupied these places were all people I’d grown up with, a month or two out of the year. Some I genuinely liked; some I didn’t. And they all knew me, knew who I was and where I came from. They knew all my dark secrets. Would I be able to live in a place like this?

  The answer had been a resounding no a few years ago, but now it wasn’t so clear-cut. My great-gran was growing older. She needed me.

  “What was your hometown like?” I asked Prescott.

  “Hereford is a fair-sized city, not like San Antonio, but bigger than this.” He slowed and stopped for the only stoplight in town, smiling at me as though this illustrated his statement. “Most of the families knew everyone, one of those things where we all moved in similar social circles, went to the same churches and the same schools. There was a definite sense of community there.”

  “Were you well liked?” I kind of laughed, realizing I knew the answer to that. “Of course you were.”

  He rolled his head a little. “If you think I’m a charming chap, you should meet my father. Everyone loved him. It was damn difficult growing up in the shadow of a man who could never do any wrong.”

  “I bet.”

  He glanced at me. “I’m sorry. That was a little heartless.”

  “No, it’s fine. Besides, I sort of know what you mean. Everyone here knows and loves my great-gran. It was a little tough living up to the standard everyone expected of me because of her. I think maybe that’s why Miranda was always so happy to have some bad gossip to spread about me.”

  “Perhaps.”

  Prescott drove t
hrough the green light and guided the Hummer toward the highway. Tamara Olen’s office was in another little town a few miles away, a bigger town that was more suited to a lawyer’s office. It was the same place where Great-Gran’s doctor had his office.

  “Do you think you could ever live in a place like this?”

  Prescott glanced into the rearview mirror. “Small towns have their charms.”

  “There’s not much to do here. You’d almost have to drive into Seattle for work. And there’s no social life, just the diner and a few parties at private homes from time to time.”

  “Sounds like a nice, quiet sort of life.”

  “I always thought it was more exciting to stay in the city, to have access to movie theaters and big chain stores. Not that I spend a lot of time watching movies or shopping anywhere other than the Internet, but it seemed better.”

  “Is that why you stayed in San Antonio?”

  I wasn’t sure, to be honest. “I wanted to go to school.”

  “You still do, don’t you?”

  I glanced at him. “What makes you think that?”

  “We live together. I’ve seen the school catalogs coming in the mail every spring and fall.”