by Cynthia Eden
His half-smile was gone. “Good. Because I want you again. Right now.”
“Now?” As in…again? Again—now?
“Tell me, what do you think is the most popular sexual position out there?”
“I-I read a survey once that said, um, ahem…” She could feel her face flushing. How was she blushing after what they’d done? “How about I just show you?”
“That would be good.” He bent his head. Kissed her. His tongue dipped into her mouth. He seemed to savor her. She was certainly savoring him. She leaned into him before he let her go and rasped, “Very, very good.”
Her heart was racing again as she stepped away from him and hurried into the bedroom. All of the curtains were drawn over the windows to block out the rising sun, but the lamp still glowed, giving the light that she needed, and Vivian went straight to the bed. She climbed onto the mattress. Oh, it was nice and soft. Not too soft, though. Perfect for what they needed. She moved toward the pillows. Vivian rose onto her knees and her hands grabbed for the wood of the tall headboard.
“Fuck me.”
Her head turned toward the sound of Chase’s voice. He stood a few feet away and his face was locked into those hard, tight lines of need again.
“I was about to do just that,” she responded seriously. “Um, this position, with you coming in from behind, is rated as the most popular among—”
He pounced. Chase climbed onto the bed behind her, and his hands curled around her hips. “I’m in love with your ass.”
Oh. Well, that was nice.
His fingers slid over her ass. Her head was still turned toward him, and from that angle, he could kiss her, and he did. Or she kissed him. Sort of hard to tell for certain. Their mouths met even as her hands tightened on the headboard. Then his right hand was moving. Curling around her body. Going between her legs.
Chase’s long, slightly rough fingers were sliding over her clit. Stroking her. Dipping into her. Her hips surged back against him. She could feel the long, thick length of his cock shoving against her.
She was more than ready for another round, too. She was—
His hand slid away from her sex.
“Chase!”
“Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere.” Then he was angling her hips up. The head of his cock pushed right at the entrance to her body.
She didn’t wait for him to thrust. Vivian surged back and took him inside. Her inner muscles were hyper sensitive from before, and when he filled her, she let out a moan. For a moment, she just enjoyed the feeling of having him inside of her.
“You are making me insane,” Chase grated. “You feel fucking fantastic.” His fingers had clamped tightly around her hips. No, the fingers of his left hand were clamped around her hip. His right hand—
His fingers strummed her clit.
She jerked against him.
And that was it—
There was no control. There was no holding back. This time, it was all about a fierce, wild race toward release. They both knew what the pleasure would feel like. The consuming avalanche, and they wanted it.
His fingers stroked her even as his cock surged in and out. In and out. Her hands gripped the headboard as every single muscle in her body seemed to strain and tighten. The release was close. Already, so close.
His thrusts became harder, nearly lifting her off her knees as she strained to meet him. Harder. Rougher. Deeper.
Her head tipped back. His mouth moved to her throat. He kissed her. Licked her. Bit—
“Chase!” The orgasm was even stronger than before. So strong that her whole body bowed up.
“Dammit, yes. Yes!” He kept thrusting. Each thrust just drew out her orgasm because the pleasure wasn’t stopping. It barreled through her, and she could only hold desperately to that headboard as she shuddered and came. His fingers were still working her clit and pushing her orgasm higher and higher.
“Can’t wait,” Chase panted out. “You’re…too…good.”
He erupted into her. She felt him coming and slammed her hips back against him. Her inner muscles clamped greedily around him.
“Viv!”
***
She didn’t want to move. She should move. There was something that Vivian felt like she needed to do, but she was currently content to just be a puddle.
Then the bed—the mattress—shifted.
“I’ll be right back. Get some rest, okay, baby?”
Her right eye cracked open. For a moment, she was disoriented. Had she fallen asleep? The last thing she remembered…
Holding tight to the headboard. Moaning out Chase’s name. Check. That was what she remembered. Now she was tucked under the covers. Soft pillows were under her head, and she was watching Chase as he padded toward the bedroom door. “You have a tattoo on your ass.”
He stopped. “Almost forgot that you like tats.” He glanced back at her. Gave a faint smile. “First time you saw Merik, you complimented his ink.”
Merik. At the sound of his name, guilt and fear surged through her. Guilt because she’d been having sex while he’d been taken. Tortured? Killed? Please, no. And fear hit her because, well, same reason. She feared Merik was being hurt, and it was her fault.
“We’re going to get him back,” Chase said as if he’d just read her mind.
“I don’t want him dying because of me.”
“It’s not because of you.” He turned to face her. “It’s because of the bastards who took him. You didn’t do anything wrong. They are the ones who are trying to unmask agents. They are the ones who want to hurt and destroy. Not you.”
But Merik was the one being hurt.
“Eric is searching for him. I trust Eric completely, and he will not lose an agent. He will get him back.” Chase lifted his hand, and she saw the small phone that he gripped. “This is a burner phone that Eric gave me. I’m going to check in with him before I crash with you.” A long exhale. “We both need to rest because we don’t know what the hell will happen in the next twenty-four hours.”
The last twenty-four hours had been pure madness, but one thing stood out in that nightmare. “I’m glad you were with me.”
She caught the flash of uncertainty in his gaze before Chase asked, “Does this mean you forgive me for lying?”
“It means I understand.” He’d had a job to do. She’d been that job. Vivian pushed up in bed even as weariness pulled at her. “Why haven’t you asked me about him?”
His posture didn’t change, but she could suddenly feel Chase’s alertness. “Him?”
Her hand rose, and she rubbed her finger against her left eyebrow.
Chase’s gaze followed the movement.
“I know you have your suspicions about him. He’s not exactly a good man. At least, not to most people.” Maybe it was the weariness causing her to share this part of her life. She never talked about it—him—with anyone. That had been one of the rules she’d made for herself. Not to talk about him. To keep that part of herself buried but she wanted to share this with Chase. “Another one of my thirteen secrets,” she whispered.
Chase waited. The tension grew.
“But you know this secret, don’t you?” The way he’d known so much already. Because he probably had a dossier on her. Because he’d seen the background collected by the CIA. Or maybe Wilde had just dug deep and hard on her. “You know that my stepfather is a criminal.” That was wrong. Too tame of a description. “No, not just any criminal. You know he’s a Russian mob boss.”
Chase inclined his head toward her.
“That’s another reason why I was a prime suspect, isn’t it? Because he could broker the names and identities of all the agents. He’d be able to get me the most money for the intel.” She could connect all the dots, too. She knew that she’d been the perfect fall guy—woman—in this mess. “That’s the kind of thing that the world thinks he does. He cheats. He betrays. He kills.” The same way… “Just like he killed my real father.” Her hold tightened on the sheets. “Does that last
part count as another of my secrets? I think it does. I’m not so sure it’s common knowledge. I mean, it wasn’t to me, anyway. I didn’t learn the truth about my real father’s death until I was seventeen years old.” She hadn’t learned the truth about her beloved stepfather until then.
And that was when her world had come crashing down.
Chapter Seventeen
“Tell me there is news.” Over three hours had passed since Chase had last checked in with Eric. Before he’d crashed with Vivian, he’d called his boss and friend, but there had been nothing to report. He was checking in again because Chase needed good news. He needed a lead that they could use in order to find Merik.
“Still nothing.” Weariness roughened Eric’s voice. “Believe me, I am using every asset I have, and I am not giving up.”
No, Eric wouldn’t give up.
“But so far, he’s hidden.”
Because the men who took him wanted Merik to stay that way. “There will be a demand,” Chase said. He glanced toward the closed bedroom door. Vivian had been sleeping when he’d quickly dressed and slipped out to make the call. He never slept heavily, and fear for Merik had plagued him. “We both know what they’ll want in exchange for him.”
“Vivian.”
“They aren’t getting her.” They will touch her only if I’m dead. “But we will make an exchange.”
“What do you mean?”
“I want you to put the word out—hell, get that SOB Dex to put the word out—that Vivian told me all of her secrets.”
The bedroom door opened. Vivian stood in the doorway. A lush, white robe was wrapped around her body, and her tousled curls fell to her shoulders.
Just the sight of her caused his whole body to tense.
I had her. I want her again. I will always want her.
“She told me all of her secrets,” Chase continued flatly as he stared into her eyes. “I seduced them out of her.”
“Uh, what are you saying—”
“I know how to unscramble the code. I know the key.”
Vivian took a step forward.
“You know it?” Eric asked.
“Damn straight. I convinced her to trust me completely. While we’ve been alone here, she revealed every secret she has to me.”
Vivian shook her head. Her eyes were huge as she pleaded softly, “Stop.”
He didn’t stop. He couldn’t. “She’s not the tool the perps need. I am. If they want a trade, it’s going to be me, not Vivian.”
“Knew you’d pull some shit like this,” Eric groused. “That hero complex will get your ass killed.”
Or it will save my friend’s life. “Vivian is due for a vacation,” he added. He knew Eric would understand exactly what he meant and get to work arranging transport. “The sooner, the better.” Which was code for…Get her to one of your secure islands. I want her away from here before the shit hits the fan. The bad guys aren’t touching her. They want to unscramble their data? Then they can take me.
“I’ll be in touch,” Eric promised him. “Don’t do anything crazy until you hear back from me, got it?”
“Can’t make any promises.” Not when he felt crazy as hell. Chase ended the call. Tossed the phone onto the couch and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
Then he waited for the explosion to come.
“You lied.” She rushed toward him. Stopped right in front of him. Glared. “You said you wouldn’t. You promised—”
Damn but she was gorgeous. He caught her hand. Lifted it to his lips. “Ah, sweetheart. That’s where you’re wrong.”
“Do not sweetheart me—”
“I promised not to lie to you. I didn’t say a damn word about lying to others.” So he’d just lied to Eric. It had been necessary.
Tears gleamed in her eyes. “You think I’ll let you do this?”
He kissed her knuckles again. “You hungry? Because I’m fucking starving.” He let her hand go and turned away. “I ordered room service a few minutes ago. They’re doing brunch now. Got some traditional croissants, scrambled eggs, bacon and whatever else was included on the platter. Should be arriving soon.”
“Chase.”
His shoulders stiffened. “I’m guessing you’re mad.”
“Mad doesn’t cover it. I think you’ve lost your mind!”
“Nah. Just my heart.” He casually strolled toward the window and stared out at the city.
The silence behind him was loud. Then… “What?”
“Oh, I think you heard me.” He crossed his arms over his chest and turned back to face her. “Come on, as clever as you are, I know you’ve figured this out.”
“I am lost right now.”
“Huh.”
“You’re not lost. You figured something else out. That’s what you mean every single time that you say, ‘Huh’ that way.” She bounded toward him. “And you’re trying to distract me. You’re playing mind games.”
“I am playing no game with you.” With her, he was dead serious.
“You lied to Eric. He was the one on the phone, wasn’t he?”
“I didn’t lie. You did share secrets with me.”
“You already knew about my stepfather—”
“But it’s different when you tell me. Reading something in a typed-up dossier is far, far different than hearing the truth from your lips.”
Her lips pressed together.
“You want to tell me more.” He knew there was more. After her reveal about being seventeen years old when Vivian learned the truth about her stepfather, she’d stopped talking. Fallen asleep. He’d known she was exhausted, so he hadn’t pushed.
But she was awake now. Merik was still gone, and time was running out. “Do you think your stepfather is involved in this?”
“No.” She shook her head. Glanced away. “I haven’t spoken to him in ten years.”
Yes, that was what the dossier had said. “Just because you haven’t spoken to him, it doesn’t mean he isn’t watching you.” Chase would bet money on the man keeping tabs on Vivian.
But she gave a broken laugh even as she started to pace. “I wasn’t important to Sergei. I was just…there.”
I don’t believe that.
“He fell for my mother. I once heard him tell a story where he said that he took one look at her, and he was hooked.” She turned at the edge of the room. Paced back. “Love at first sight. Crazy, isn’t it?”
“Not so crazy.” He’d seen it happen.
“He fell for her, and what Sergei wanted, I learned that he got.” She paused. Glanced down at the floor. “My mother was still married when they met. Sergei…God, I didn’t learn any of this until later. Until I was seventeen and standing over my mother’s grave.” Her breath shuddered out.
He could feel her pain, and Chase hated it. “Why don’t you tell me who you thought he was…until you were seventeen years old?”
Her head lifted. “I thought he was a man who knew my father. A friend who came to pay his condolences to my mother after my father was put to rest. A man who brought us gifts. A man who got a crew to help my mom with repairs to the house. A man who was kind. He…showed up at holidays. Birthdays. My mother—she thought he was good. Even called him her dream man once.”
Sergei the Savage? Huh.
“She married him two years after my father died. Sergei spent half of his time in Russia and half here in the US. When he was with us, he acted as if we were the most important people in his world. He’d take my mom dancing. To the movies. He bought her a huge house, and he sent me to a fancy school, and he made sure that I had all the computers and tech and everything that I—” She stopped. “I don’t like lies.”
Yeah, he got that, and Chase understood how very much he’d screwed up with her.
“Everything he did and said during those years was a lie. My mother had a heart attack when I was seventeen. It was sudden and she’d never had a history of heart issues and, in a blink, she was gone.” Her shoulders curled forward. “I was a
t the gravesite—I’d gone back after the service because I just couldn’t say good-bye, and I heard Sergei talking. He’d come back, too.”
Chase slowly headed toward her. He wanted to pull Vivian into his arms and hold her tight. But he didn’t reach for her. Not yet.
So many secrets. So many lies.
“A man was yelling at him. Saying it was a good thing my mother had never learned the truth about who he was. That she wouldn’t have loved a monster. That she would have hated Sergei for what he’d done.” Her head lifted. She stared into Chase’s eyes. “Sergei told the stranger that he had no regrets. That he didn’t feel an ounce of remorse for the murder of my father. My real dad. Sergei said some people needed to die, and that he’d been one of them.”
“Fuck.” That had been cold.
“I must have made a sound. I don’t remember, but I must have. I’d been crouched down near the flowers. I’d been on my knees because I was crying and I’d wanted to be close to my mother—”
God, the scene she painted in his mind was wrecking him. “Baby…” He had to touch her.
“Sergei found me. He knew I’d heard everything, and I knew he wasn’t my mother’s dream man.” A tear slid down her cheek. “I thought he might kill me that day.”
Sergei the Savage had killed a whole lot of people.
“He didn’t. He just stared at me. The next day, he sent me away.”
“Boarding school.” That part had been easy to discover.
“I haven’t seen him since. He went back to Russia, and I learned to live on my own.”
So she’d lost her entire family. “You loved him.”
Her lower lip trembled even as she swiped away the tear on her cheek. “I learned the truth about him. I mean the full truth. Hacking has always been easy for me. As a teen, I never thought that he might be hiding things from me. He was a businessman. Respected. I never even considered using my skills on him.”
“But after that day in the cemetery, you started digging into his life.”
“Yes.” Her lashes flickered. “But you know the rest. You know who he is. What he is.”
He couldn’t hold back any longer. His arms curled around her as Chase pulled Vivian against his body. “Yeah.” Yeah, he knew.