Tied and True

by Marie Harte

  Lindsay laughed, a throaty sound that was all she could manage. “Me neither.”

  Chuckling, he lowered himself to lean on his elbows. “I know I have to cut you loose, but give me a minute to revel in my macho fantasy. After all, you had your time with my helpless little body.”

  “Jared, as I’m sure you know, there’s nothing little about you.”

  “Ah, a woman after my own heart. One who can’t lie.”

  She rolled her eyes but didn’t have the energy to tease him. All seemed right with the world, and she wished, for just a moment, this day would never end.

  “We have a long way to go, Lindsay.” Jared stared, his expression inscrutable. “And don’t think a little thing like Monday is going to stop us. I have an investigation to solve, one

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  now circling around you.” The hope inside her shriveled, but before it could die, he added,

  “And I’m not through with you yet, not by a long shot.

  “You, Lindsay Riordan, are mine.”

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  Chapter Six

  Breakfast, then lunch, came and went Sunday, and Jared sat with Lindsay on the couch.

  Relaxed, they watched a movie like a normal couple.

  She’d brought in a stash of clothes and shower gear she said she normally kept inside her car for gym workouts. And now some of her toiletries sat next to his in the bathroom, looking like they belonged there. The contentment inside him continued to grow, as did the warm feeling in his heart when she leaned closer to him.

  Never in his life had he been as happy as he now was with Lindsay, and he could only pray things between them deepened. A woman like Lindsay didn’t do casual sex, and despite the fact she’d explained she was on birth control, he surprised himself by realizing he didn’t care if she got pregnant. His entire adult, sexual life, he’d been a stickler for protection; he was not an irresponsible man by any means. Yet with Lindsay, all thoughts but those about her faded in importance. Hell, he almost wanted a child with her so they’d be tied together forever…

  Wanted a child? Jared froze at the thought, forcing himself to smile and nod at the movie when she glanced at him. Kids? He wasn’t ready for kids yet, was he? Though his

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  mother constantly prodded her oldest child to marry and reproduce, he’d always thought of himself as too young. But hell, he’d reached his thirty-fourth birthday last month.

  Jared glanced at Lindsay and wondered what their kids would be like. No doubt beautiful, with her light hair and bright blue eyes, intelligent, and introspective. Or maybe they’d be dark-haired, like him? A blond boy with his green eyes. A dark-haired girl with her mother’s baby-blue gaze.

  Fantasies began to build around a life in Seattle, two kids, a blonde bombshell for a wife, a successful career, maybe a dog…

  “Hello? Earth to Jared?” Lindsay frowned. “Or should I call you Zachary?”

  He made a face. “It’s Jared. Only my mother calls me Zachary, and that’s when she’s ticked at something I did.”

  Lindsay grinned, a full-mouthed smile that made his heart flip. “You know a lot about me, but I know nothing about you. Tell me about yourself.”

  “What do you want to know?”

  “Don’t be deliberately dense, Zachary. Tell me about your family, your job. No girlfriends, I take it?” she asked lightly, though he heard an underlying vulnerability.

  “Lindsay, how can you ask me that after yesterday? Dumb question,” he said bluntly, frowning. “I’m a single, unattached thirty-four-year-old with a mother, father, and three sisters -- all three of whom spell ‘trouble’ with a capital ‘T’ -- on the West Coast.”

  “So you live where?”

  “Currently in Seattle, where Ethan, my partner, and I base our business, though I’m originally from Spokane. Ethan and I met in the Marine Corps and have known each other for years.”

  “Marine Corps?” Lindsay’s eyes grew wide, and he recalled, from the files he’d read on her, that her father and brothers had all served. Pleased they had that in common, he nodded with pride.

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  “I was Force Recon and left the Corps after ten years.” If only he could have stayed a naïve young corporal forever… But with promotion came the distasteful political posturing, and he was old school. In Jared’s opinion, getting the job done was more important than kissing some officer’s ass. Unfortunately, he and his last commanding officer hadn’t seen eye to eye. “Don’t get me wrong, I’ll always love the Corps, but I needed to get out when I did.”

  She nodded, her eyes bright as she watched him, and stroked his arm gently.

  Damn, but that felt good.

  “So you and Ethan decided to open a business yourselves?”

  “Actually, Ethan had gotten out a few years before me and worked for a security firm for a while. He knew he could do a better job, so when I left the Corps he brought the idea to me. We both invested money and time, and before we knew it, we had a working, successful firm. Of course, neither of us suffer fools or bullsh -- ah, BS, so we take what clients we want and refer the others.”

  “And Tron Corp? How did two guys from the West Coast get interested in a logistics firm on the East Coast?” She bit her lip in thought.

  Jared could almost see the wheels in her mind turning, and his cock swelled. Smart and sexy, a killer combination. He silently groaned and shifted next to her.

  “Not that Tron Corp isn’t great,” she continued, “but it’s just one of many logistics firms, and we’re not that big.”

  “Ethan’s cousin married your CEO a few years back. This is more a favor than a true business venture.”

  “Ah.” She toyed with the neckline of his T-shirt, and his body reacted. Every nerve in his cock jumped to attention. “So it’s for your friend’s family that you’re trying to help Tron Corp.”

  “Yeah.” His voice sounded gritty, but damn it, she made him hard with very little effort. How did she do it? He’d been trying not to think about sex and just be with her, to

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  enjoy their time together. But his body didn’t want to forget hers -- not when he’d just found her, so to speak.

  “You’re a very loyal man, aren’t you, Jared?”

  Her hand trailed lightly over his chest, ran over his sensitive nipples, and down the thin, soft cotton of his T-shirt to his belly. Christ, but she was killing him. Trying hard to be good was never so…hard.

  “I try to be.”

  “And you say you’re going to help me, because you believe in me.”

  “I do.” He swallowed and couldn’t help staring at her breasts straining against her thin, cotton shirt. She wore it over a pair of panties. That she hadn’t donned a bra made him a very, very happy man.

  “Then I should be able to tell you something in confidence and know you’d never share it with anyone aside from us.”

  He frowned. This sounded serious, but her constant petting distracted him. “Lindsay?”

  She leaned up on her knees to whisper in his ear. “I’ve spent the last half hour staring at the television, wondering why anyone would want to frame me. And the entire time, visions of you naked kept interfering. The way your body tenses right before you come. I love the way you taste, Jared.”

  Her hand fell to his lap and unsnapped his jeans. Working her fingers under the denim, she clasped his cock and stroked him.

  His eyes crossed, and he leaned back against the couch, grateful when she finally unzipped him, giving her better access.

  “I should be too tired to make love with you again.” She licked her lips, as though unsure of herself, an odd contradiction considering she had her hand wrapped around his shaft. “But I can’t stop wanting you. And you’re so big, so hard,” she marveled, making him even harder.

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  “You little tease,” he growled, utterly arouse
d. After a few moments tolerating her petting, he knew he couldn’t take much more before he exploded.

  Pinning her to the couch, he kissed her, licking at her lips and tongue until she gave him what he wanted. Angling a hand between them, he ran his fingers under the large shirt she wore and delved into her panties. Sweet, slick need covered his fingers as he stroked her clit.

  Moaning, Lindsay reached for him, but he shook his head.

  “On the floor, on your hands and knees.”

  Excitement flared in her eyes as she quickly positioned herself. Not taking the time to undress, Jared quickly joined her and stripped her underwear from her legs. Pushing his jeans off his hips, he lifted the shirt she wore to bare her ass, palming the soft, white flesh.

  “Lindsay, baby,” he groaned, fixated on her pale cheeks. “You are so hot.”

  Nudging her knees apart, he fitted himself between her legs and positioned his cock at her folds. Pressing slowly, he held her hips and watched with satisfaction as she pushed back, urging him deeper.

  “That’s it, take all of me.” He rubbed her ass as he thrust further, wanting to take her in ways that would most likely shock her. “I want you, Lindsay,” he rasped, loving the feel of possession that consumed him as he took her from behind.

  “Jared, more.”

  She rubbed against him, and he pulled out, only to thrust harder into her.

  “Oh, yeah.” He squeezed her ass cheeks, groaning at the tight feel of her pussy gripping him. Over and over he pounded, as if to mark her as his own. Lust consumed him as he noted how wet she was, how much she wanted him.

  “Jared,” she groaned, arching back. “Harder.”

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  He gave her what she wanted, dimly aware of a sudden banging at the door. But he was on fire, unable to stop, and even as he heard the knob twisting, he plunged deep and came, filling her as she milked him dry.

  Sated but aware she had yet to come, he reached around for her clit.

  “Jared, someone’s at the door,” she whispered, pressing back against his fingers.

  “They can wait.” He had locked the doors and closed all the drapes this morning, wanting his privacy with Lindsay before the real world intruded. “Now be very quiet when you come, or they’ll know what we’re doing.”

  Still bent over, she held him inside her, and his touch on her clit made her walls clench him tight. Shuddering, he withdrew, pleased at the semen running down her legs. He loved that he was all over her -- in her womb, on her skin.

  Turning her onto her back, Jared lifted the hem of her shirt to expose her groin. Her golden curls were wet with her desire and his, and he found the sight unbearably arousing.

  “Come for me, baby,” he murmured and eased her folds apart with his fingers. He loved looking at her, loved seeing her this way, naked and vulnerable to him. Playing with her clit, he increased the pressure of his strokes, loving the way she gasped his name.

  She moaned quietly, gripping at the carpet as if to hold on before she flew apart.

  Unable to resist, Jared lowered his mouth to her sweet pussy and thrust two fingers deep, covering her clit while he pumped her vagina. She tasted so sexy, so right. And the thought of taking her ass, as he’d wanted to do earlier, stirred him. He continued thrusting his fingers and sucking at her taut flesh. And when he added just the tip of his pinky to her tight little anus, she flew apart. Screaming his name, she came hard, coating his tongue with cum.

  Lapping it up, he continued to pump, shoving his pinky in further until she begged him to stop.

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  “Oh, God, oh, Jared. Stop, I --” She drew a deep breath. “Too sensitive. But -- oh, my God!”

  He grinned, thrilled with her response. Hell, he wanted to fuck her again. His cock was actually beginning to get sore from so much use, yet he still wanted her.

  The banging on the door came again, this time followed by a voice.

  “Hunt? You in there? Sounds like some real good pussy being had.” Maclearn’s muffled chuckle froze Jared and Lindsay at once.

  “Shit! Lindsay, go back to my bedroom and wait until I can get rid of him, and probably Simmons, too. Don’t come out no matter what you hear,” Jared urged quietly.

  She looked nervous. “But Jared --”

  “No buts. Maclearn and Simmons are assholes, and there’s no way I’ll let them drag you into their twisted games, let alone see you like this.” Not to mention they could be dangerous. Where Maclearn went, Simmons was sure to follow. They’d never before visited him at home, and he wondered what had brought them here today.

  She glanced down at herself and blushed.

  “Yeah,” he whispered with satisfaction, “that’s me all over you.”

  As they stood, she couldn’t help staring at his erection. “Better cover that up, or the idiot twins might think that’s for them.”

  “Very funny. The thought they might be gay crossed my mind, but they’re too much into women for that. Not to mention what they told me they want to do to you.”

  “You never know.” She gave him a cryptic look before clutching her panties and hurrying into his bedroom.

  Wondering what she knew that he didn’t, Jared grimaced and tucked himself back into his jeans. Looking around him, he saw nothing to indicate Lindsay’s presence. Unfortunately, it smelled of sex in the room, something he would have found arousing but for the arrival of Maclearn and Simmons.

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  Taking a deep breath, Jared strode to the door and opened it. Sure enough, Dale Maclearn and Ken Simmons stood waiting, trying to stare over him to see who might be behind him.

  “Damn, Hunt. I heard a woman screaming your name. Guess you weren’t lying about Riordan, hmm?” Maclearn chuckled and shoved past him into the living room. “Oh, yeah, definitely smells like pussy to me.”

  Simmons joined him, and Jared closed the door behind them with a sigh. So much for the real world not intruding until Monday.

  Turning to the idiot twins -- he loved that name -- Jared shrugged. “Who said it was Riordan?”

  Maclearn and Simmons looked at each other, and then back at him.

  “No shit?” Simmons glanced casually around him. His mean brown eyes settled on Jared, and Jared felt a small tingle of discomfort. Something about the man seemed off. “So who were you banging if not her?”

  Maclearn looked puzzled by his friend’s less-than-friendly behavior, but when he opened his mouth, Simmons shook his head. Surprised by the apparent role reversal, Jared stared at the two, realizing there was more to Simmons than he’d first thought.

  Ken Simmons had a slight build. Obviously no weightlifter, the twenty-nine-year-old had a wiry toughness to him that only added to the incongruity of his geeky, yet arrogant, persona. From his initial meeting with the two, Jared had seen Dale Maclearn take charge time and time again, yet if Jared were honest with himself, he’d always felt something not quite right between Maclearn and Simmons. Something in their relationship felt odd, a small detail in the way they looked at each other, despite their seeming fascination with the opposite sex, and with Lindsay in particular.

  “You never know,” Lindsay had said about the idiot twins’ sexuality. As he stared at them, Jared suddenly realized he’d missed a vital clue to understanding Ken Simmons, and

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  his unease grew as he sensed he’d greatly underestimated the pair. Whether gay, straight, or bisexual, Ken Simmons was the leader, not the follower he’d appeared to be.

  “Who was I banging?” Jared repeated, deliberately looking confused. “What does it matter? One woman’s as good as the next, right?”

  Maclearn grinned, his mouth tight and his watery blue eyes…nervous?

  Simmons merely stared. “Women are all the same, to a degree.” He shifted and stepped closer to Jared, who forced himself to remain at ease. Simmons eyeballed Jared up and down, disturbingly resting his gaze on Jared’s crot
ch. “You said you wanted to hang out with us sometime. Well, sometime is now. Why don’t you go find the bitch you’ve got stashed in your quaint little home? I bet she’d love to play with us.” Simmons sneered and grabbed his own dick, taking Jared aback at the total about-face in his personality.

  Jared’s instincts told him Simmons had discovered his real identity and the reason why he’d been sent to Tron Corp. Always before the quiet, seemingly submissive one in the Maclearn-Simmons pairing, Simmons now projected an arrogant challenge.

  Suddenly, Maclearn shifted, and his jacket opened. And Jared glimpsed the handle of a small pistol.

  The stakes had just been raised.

  The idiot twins apparently knew all about him. And the one person they wanted most out of the way was in his back room.

  Lindsay.

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  Chapter Seven

  Lindsay stood with her ear pressed to the door. She could hear the three talking and wished Jared hadn’t insisted she remain holed up in his bedroom. After spending so much time with him and learning about him, she had decided to hell with the rumors at work.

  Lindsay wanted to be linked to Jared, and who better to spread the gossip than Dale Maclearn and Ken Simmons?

  Maybe finally getting even with Jared had pushed that sense of empowerment always lacking in her before. But she no longer intended to play the “victim.” She’d previously left two jobs she really liked in order to avoid confrontation and an unpleasant work environment. But she refused to leave this job. More importantly, she refused to leave Jared alone to deal with a problem she should have fixed long ago.

  Simmons and Maclearn were assholes. Plain and simple. Yet, they were also the men Jared believed behind the scheme to send her to jail. And all because they couldn’t have her?

  That didn’t make sense. She’d never before told anyone this, but she’d once caught Simmons and Maclearn in a liplock at work. Though she knew the two men would have sex with her in a heartbeat, they also seemed to have no problems satisfying each other -- and at work, no less.