I closed my eyes and leaned back, wrapping my hand around the base and giving it a few rough pumps. It jerked in response, and with thoughts of her still fresh in my mind, I knew it wouldn’t take much.
My face twisted as the image of Adriana in that tight lace dress filled my head. I pumped harder, taking my frustration out on the traitorous appendage that couldn’t seem to grasp the fact that she was trying to get both of us killed.
Thoughts of her flashed through my mind. I imagined her walking in and finding me like this, that wicked grin creeping along that plush mouth of hers as she stalked toward me.
I could hear her sultry voice begging me to forgive her, the conversation playing out in my head as I stroked.
“I came here to apologize.”
“Say that again; I think I’m hearing things.”
“Don’t be an ass. After you left last night, I realized how wrong it was to hold something so personal over your head. That was low, even for me.”
“What’s the catch?”
“No catch. I want to make it up to you.”
“Is that right?”
“We may be enemies, but our bodies don’t care. I saw the look in your eyes when you pushed me against the wall.”
“So, what are you waiting for? Apologize.”
Without another word, Adriana crossed the room and dropped to her knees in front of me. Holding my stare, she swirled a red nail around my wet tip, then slowly dragged the rest of them down the length of my shaft. My body responded like a ball being shot out of a cannon. My back arched, and my ass levitated off the chair.
“Christ!” I growled, sucking air between my teeth. Grabbing her long, dark hair, I twisted it in my hand. “You want my forgiveness?”
She nodded. “More than anything.”
“Then fucking earn it.” Tightening my fist, I shoved her head down. “And don’t disappoint me.” She opened her mouth, taking me in until my cock hit the back of her throat.
I threw my head back, my hips already thrusting. “Oh fuuuuck!”
“Oh fuuuuck,” I groaned out loud, the fantasy egging me on. I squeezed my eyes tighter and pumped harder, pretending my hand was her wet mouth. The line between fantasy and reality blurred so fast I didn’t hear the door open or the sharp gasp that followed.
“Holy shit! I—mean…that Rafael guy told me it was okay to come in. I—uh, he said you were just playing with your balls…I mean paying your bills.”
My eyes popped open, and for a moment, I thought I was still trapped in my fantasy, but the horrified look on Adriana’s face told me otherwise. She widened her eyes and clamped her lips together in a bizarre expression somewhere between mortified shame and hysterical laughter.
I wasn’t sure which one was worse.
“Jesus!” I scrambled to tuck my dick back in my pants before I did something to make the situation worse. “Don’t you know how to knock?”
Adriana’s lips pulled back in a dazzling grin. “Yes, but to be fair, most bar owners aren’t jerking off in their offices at nine-thirty in the morning.”
Smartass.
I cupped my balls and smirked, nodding to the floor between my legs. “Maybe if you’d gotten here at nine-twenty-five, I wouldn’t have had to jerk off.”
“Interesting. And what would we have done with the other four minutes and forty-five seconds?”
Damn.
It was physically impossible to one-up this woman. Not like there was a good comeback for being called a one-pump chump. And for that matter, why couldn’t she have walked in here looking like the rest of my men’s sisters?
I didn’t want to fuck them. Hose them down, maybe, but definitely not fuck them.
But Adriana was a woman who knew her value and had no problem using it to her advantage. From yesterday’s tantalizing corporate secretary look to the sex-kitten dress she tried to distract me with last night, clothes were just the window dressing to her inner chameleon. I wasn’t sure what today’s outfit was supposed to portray, but at the moment, I really didn’t care.
The tight black skirt she wore was short enough to drive a man to his knees but modest enough to allow her to bend over in mixed company. Long bronze legs extended from the edge, leading down to the same black heels. However, had my dick not already been hard enough to chop wood, her shirt would’ve given it a standing ovation.
Her shoulders were bare, that thick dark hair pulled back in a high ponytail. My gaze trailed down to where two full sleeves covered the length of her arms, which was good because combined, they probably contained more material than the rest of the shirt. Two white bands of spandex crisscrossed over each breast, attaching to the upper part of each sleeve, exposing miles of cleavage.
I swallowed hard. Somewhere in the past twenty-four hours, she stopped being Val’s sister and started being a woman. That was a dangerous park to play in, so I needed to calm down before I did something stupid.
“What do you want, Adriana? I’m busy.”
Her dark eyes crinkled at the corners. “Yes, I see that.”
Like I said, impossible.
She should’ve been shocked and embarrassed, or at the very least, profusely apologetic for barging in unannounced to a private area. Instead, she leaned against the doorway of my office with her hip cocked and arms crossed, wearing the unmistakable look of triumph.
“We need to talk.”
“I’m pretty sure we said all there was to say to each other last night.”
“No, you said all you had to say, and then you ran out like a little bitch.” Her lips quirked, trailing a pointed gaze down to where my erection still tried to break free from the confines of my pants. “I’m here to finish what we started last night.”
My dick leaped at her words, beating against my zipper like a provoked gorilla. Instinct riddled my mind with images of bending her over my desk, jerking up that tiny black skirt and pounding into her from behind until we both collapsed from exhaustion.
What the hell was wrong with me?
Pulling the folder from my desk, I dragged it onto my lap and opened it, studying the stack of invoices to try and force my body into submission. “Maybe some other time. I’m swamped today, Miss Carrera.”
Undeterred, Adriana pushed off the doorframe, sauntering over until she hovered directly above me and placed a hand on each arm of my chair. My brows dove together as I forced myself to focus on the blurry numbers in my lap while swimming in the intoxicating sweet and spicy aroma of licorice.
“Brody…” she purred.
Lust.
Pure, unadulterated lust.
That’s all this was. It had been way too long since I’d gotten laid. I should take bar bitch up on one of her many offers. Maybe if I had empty balls, I could handle this damn woman with a clear head and get myself back on track.
Then I reminded myself she was a master of deceit.
Don’t be an idiot.
“Like I said,” I repeated, clearing my throat, “I’m busy with these invoices, so make sure not to let the door hit you in your ass on the way out.”
She cocked her head, her heart-shaped mouth puckering into a luscious pout that did nothing for my waning self-control. “Yes, I can see how stressful that might be. Allow me.” Without waiting for a confirmation, she grabbed the end of the folder and flipped it around in a complete one-eighty. “There. That should speed things along.”
It was only then I realized I’d been staring at the damn thing upside down. I fought the urge to smirk. I already struggled with wanting to fuck my enemy, but here I was dangerously close to actually liking the woman?
Hell, no.
Slamming the folder closed, I threw it across my desk. “Get out.”
The smirk faded from Adriana’s face, quickly replaced by something far more deadly. Something I knew too well. A fusion of a silent predator and a raging storm. A dichotomy born by blood and cultivated by power. It surfaced on impulse and flipped on a dime.
It was something I’
d witnessed firsthand from her brother the two times I chose to disregard the proper chain of command. The first time Val was too concerned with rescuing the woman we both loved to bother with me. The second time would’ve guaranteed my death had he not owed me for finding her.
She leaned in closer. “I indulged your tantrum last night because let’s be honest, I beat you at your own game. I figured you needed some time to cool off and lick your wounds.” She paused, the flecks in her midnight eyes flashing like streaks of gold-plated lightning. “I came here this morning to offer you a chance to apologize and reconsider my offer.”
The heat boiling inside me turned to stone. “You want me to apologize for getting pissed at being insulted and threatened with blackmail? Are you kidding me?”
“You put a hole through my wall.”
“You’re lucky I didn’t put a hole through your head.”
“I’ll chalk that one up to the hangover. Regardless, my offer has an expiration date. I’m not a patient woman, Brody, and contrary to the lenience I’ve given you, I don’t tolerate being jerked around.”
“And this offer would be?”
Smiling, she toyed with the loose threads on my shirt where the buttons used to be and trailed that damn red painted fingernail down my chest. I held in a groan, the fantasy of where the nail swirled earlier dancing around in my head and causing beads of sweat to break out across my upper lip.
My brain sent flares up, screaming for my cock to stand down.
It’s a trap. It’s a trap. It’s a trap.
“Either you call Val and tell him we’re coming, or I call him and tell him the only reason he’s married is because your plan backfired.”
My cock sighed as my brain took a bow.
Told ya so.
God, I needed space. I needed to think. Wrapping my fingers around her upper arms, I gave enough of a push that she released her grip on my chair and stumbled backward. Breathing in gulps of air instead of just her, blood finally rerouted to my brain.
“You don’t have any proof.”
“I don’t need proof.” She punctuated each word with a dramatic pause.
“I don’t think you have the balls.”
Adriana let out a husky laugh. “Oh, counselor, I have them, and they’re way more than you could ever handle.” Perching her ass right on my desk, she grabbed my cell phone.
I lunged. “Give me that!”
Bad move.
My close proximity gave her perfect positioning. She quickly turned my phone around, holding it just long enough for the facial recognition to unlock the damn thing before jumping off the table. “I’ll put it on speaker just so you can hear it for yourself.”
“I swear, Adriana, if you—”
“Brody, is everything okay?”
I froze as I heard the familiar voice. The one that still made my stomach flip.
“Good morning,” Adriana said, in a sing-song voice, her accent heavier than usual. “I’d like to speak to Valentin Carrera.”
“Who is this? Why do you have Brody’s phone?”
“I’m a friend of Brody’s.”
There was a long pause, and my heart slammed against my chest so hard, it might have broken a couple ribs. A door closed in the background, and the voice on the line hardened. “I’m a friend of Brody’s too. I’m also Valentin Carrera’s wife. Anything you have to say you can say to me.”
“Eden Lachey.” A catlike smile spread across Adriana’s lips. “I don’t think so.”
“Eden Carrera.”
“How traditional of you.”
“Look, lady, I don’t know who you think you are—”
Adriana held my stare. “Trust me, he’ll take my call when you tell him who’s on the line.”
“And who is it?”
“Adr—”
I knocked the phone out of her hand, lunging for it before she could drive the final nail in my coffin. Luckily, my reflexes weren’t as sluggish as my brain, and I grabbed it seconds before she did, ending the call with a glare. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
She shrugged. “You forced my hand.”
“I thought you wanted my death to be slow and drawn out, not over in the next five minutes!”
Adriana cocked her head. “You still love her.”
“Eden is married to Val, and Val is the head of the cartel I’ve sworn a life oath to. For fuck’s sake, they have a baby.”
“Thanks for the biography. However, you didn’t deny it which tells me I’m right.”
The headache that had been pounding behind my eyes suddenly became a full-blown explosion. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I closed my eyes as a heated conversation from over a year ago broke through the incessant hammering in my head.
I shed my suit jacket and raced to catch up with him. “You need me, Carrera. I know where she is, and I need you. I can’t go in there alone. I’ll never make it out.”
“You’ve got that right.”
“Look,” I said, placing a hand on his shoulder and stopping our movement. “She doesn’t want me, man. I don’t know what you’ve got going on with Eden, but it’s obvious you care about her. I may not like you, but that’s enough for me. I just want her safe.”
“She’s mine.”
“Fine, she’s yours. Can we go get her now?”
His eyes narrowed in suspicion. “If you have no interest in her, why are you so dead set on walking into a massacre? You do understand this isn’t the movies, right? These men are real. They have real guns with real bullets, and a lot of people will die. I can’t guarantee you won’t be one of them. My only concern will be Eden.”
I didn’t flinch despite his warning. “Let’s just say, I’m hoping if I do this, you’ll owe me one.”
I was right. I may have lost Eden to Val, but I gained something almost as valuable.
An owed favor.
A favor that I cashed in trying to protect my sister. Now my safety net was gone. I didn’t have anything to shield me from Val’s wrath should Adriana follow through with her threat. Our relationship was already shaky due to my history with his wife. If Adriana told him I exposed her identity just to sever his hold on Eden, he’d happily gut me himself.
I might be reckless, but I wasn’t suicidal.
I squeezed my phone so hard, I was surprised it didn’t crack. “Fine.”
Adriana cupped a hand behind her ear. “What was that?”
I ground out the words as if I were chewing sand. “I said, fine.”
“Well?”
“Well what?”
She pointed at the phone in my hand. “Aren’t you going to call him?”
“With you here? I don’t think so.”
“You’re seriously taking all the fun out of this for me,” she huffed, crossing her arms.
“I thought this was about family and saving the Carrera siblings from impending doom?”
“It is. Watching you squirm is just a fringe benefit.”
I lowered my head into my hands, rubbing my forehead. “I can’t believe I’m even considering this. He’s not going to be happy I’m leaving Houston unmanned.”
She nodded toward the bar area where Rafael was probably fending off bar bitch. “Your boy seems more than capable of handling things. Arrange a flight for tomorrow afternoon. I’m sure there are washed funds tucked away somewhere in this office.”
I swore, the woman lived to make my life hell. “Get out of here before I change my mind.”
She dropped her arms by her side, her sulky attitude fading. “Fine. I have to pack, anyway. Pick me up in an hour?”
Rolling my chair against my desk, I stared at spreadsheets I didn’t give a shit about. “Meet me here in two.”
One hour. Two hours. Who cared? Timing meant nothing. Not letting her get her way meant everything.
“So bossy,” she chided, swaying her hips as she made her way toward the door. I almost let out a breath when she glanced back over her shoulder. “Oh, and Brody?
T
urning my head, I glared at her between two fingers.
“Don’t ever fuck me over again. Sometimes I forgive, but I never forget.”
Chapter Ten
Adriana
After throwing what little I owned into the tattered bag I carted across the border, I walked in the door of Caliente exactly fifty-nine minutes after walking out of it. Brody demanded I wait two hours, but I’d lived long enough to know anything could be a trap. Sometimes the element of surprise was the sole difference between survival and ambush.
Setting my bag on a nearby table, I surveyed the scene. It was too quiet. Granted, it was still only eleven o’clock in the morning. The lunch crowd probably wouldn’t swarm in for another half hour, but I didn’t like the unnatural silence.
“You’re early.”
I yelped and spun around with my hand shoved in my bag, in position to knee somebody in the balls then blow them off. Luckily, I recognized that steel cut jaw from earlier and punched him in the shoulder instead.
It was like punching a brick wall.
“Jesus!” I hissed, glaring at Brody’s lapdog as I shook my injured hand by my side. “Don’t you know you’re never supposed to sneak up on someone who could blow your dick off?” I glanced down to find my knuckles red as hellfire. “Dios mío, do you have concrete under that T-shirt?”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Brody told you not to be here for another hour.”
“Aw, that’s cute. Do you wipe his ass for him too?”
“Look, lady, I don’t know who you think you are, but when Brody Harcourt gives an order around here, you listen.”
He was like an obedient little Rottweiler.
If Rottweilers were ten seconds away from stabbing you in the face.
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t get your panties in a twist, puppy. I had to check out of the motel by eleven, or I would’ve had to pay for an extra night. Let’s be real here. If he had to choose between having me show up a little early or having $65.60 charged on his credit card, I think we both know what he’d prefer.”
“I don’t know if…” His voice trailed off, and those dark eyes gave me a few slow blinks. “Wait, how do you have his credit card number?”
Drawn Blue Lines: A Carrera Cartel Novel Page 8