He held her hand. “Don’t answer it.”
She cringed. “What if it’s Shadow?”
Shit, he had no argument against that, and he nodded.
“Hello?” Her eyebrows rose. Then she shook her head, pressed a button on the phone, and dropped it. “No one again.”
“Wait a minute.” He reached for the phone, his senses firing as much with worry as with arousal.
“It wasn’t Shadow. It won’t be Matt. Just you and me.” She brushed her lips across his skin and let her hands roam until she had the weight of him in her hold. “I need this, us.”
And thank heaven for that. He didn’t just need her; he had to connect with her, to feel her in every way, because his exploding heart and emo-drunk mind were almost more than he could survive. He pulled her to him, needing to be inside her to alleviate the deep ache that threatened his sanity.
Lexi lifted her legs, hooking them over his thighs, and with that little gesture, the head of his cock was dangerously close to her center. Hot and wet, he throbbed to push inside her. His eyes sank shut as he inched in. Bliss. Fucking heaven. Her tight pussy on his bare cock was out of this world.
She sucked in a breath as he pushed deeper. On their sides, he kissed her, thrusting gently, waking her body up with his. Tangled in the sheets, they were hidden from the world, and the deeper he reached into her, the longer he wanted to stay there. There was no letting go of Lexi. He couldn’t dream of this with another woman and didn’t want it anyway.
Her mouth gaped, her breathing escalated. Their eyes locked, his dark blues to her icy ones, and just the same as last night, he fucked her in a way that made love, that made him reach past everything that made sense of his world. This wasn’t about him giving a woman some gigantic climax, him getting his in the process and everything as it should be. It was just so them…so fucking catastrophic.
He flipped them, powering into her as they rolled. He didn’t only want her today, tomorrow, whenever. He wanted her. Period.
Lexi met his every move, her fingernails tearing into his back. “God, yes.”
Buried bare in her, her mouth open and moaning his name, her legs wrapped tight around his hips, he lost himself, living for the moment that she came. Her core clenched, her eyes pinched shut, cries and pleas fell from her lips, and everything she asked for, he gave. She came hard, rippling her most intimate muscles over his throbbing shaft, sinking her nails into him. Parker stilled and strained, releasing his climax as she spasmed with him.
He stared at the most important thing he’d ever held. His mind spun as he fell onto her, rolling them, still connected and locked in every way. “I love you too, sweetheart.”
Her smile reached her eyes, which slipped shut as he kissed her. “We should wake up like this again and again.”
“We should—” Her phone rang again. What the motherfuck? As he slid from her, he grabbed it. “Who has this number?”
“No one really. You, Shadow, my sister, um…”
“Matt.”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
Buzz kill. But that wasn’t what bothered him. His senses itched, and as he pulled from Lexi, now that he was momentarily sated, his brain went into overdrive. “He’s been calling and hanging up?”
She shook her head. “Unknown number.”
The hour didn’t sit right. Matt was a party guy, and it was seven fifteen in the morning. So either he hadn’t gone to sleep yet or… it wasn’t Matt.
“Get up. Get dressed.”
“What? Why?”
“No idea. We’re compromised. Let’s go.” He tugged her hand, dragging her from the warm sheets.
“Parker!”
“Someone’s tracking you down. Pinging closer to your location every time you answer.” His mind raced. “Have you talked to Shadow at all since he ran after the laptop guy?”
She shook her head, realization that they were being hunted clouding in her eyes. “I am not cut out for all this real-life BS.” She sat upright. “But what about Shadow? What about him?”
Now wasn’t the time to explain that Shadow’s phone likely wasn’t in his possession anymore, and if neither of them had heard from him through alternative methods, he also likely wasn’t breathing. “Get dressed, Lex.”
She tugged on her clothes as he did the same. For as talented of a hacker as she was, as much of the underground as she was aware of, she still couldn’t see criminal activity. It wasn’t in her training to sense, wasn’t in her mind to search out. It should have been in his mind, but he was too stuck on the woman to see what was happening around them.
The doorbell rang.
“Fuckin’ hell. Are you kidding me?” Guess they’d learned from trying to pick his lock last time. He ducked under the bed, running his hand around the frame until he found a Glock. He pulled the magazine, checked his count, and snapped it back in. “Let’s go.”
“Could just be Girl Scouts? Jehovah’s Witness folks? Right?” But her face said she didn’t buy it. Nervous energy radiated from her as she clung to his hand.
“It’s seven in the morning.”
Her worried face pinched. “Crap.”
“Just in case, stick close and duck the windows.” He held her against the wall then rounded a corner. All clear.
Parker held her again and snagged the keys for his bike as she grabbed her jacket. He followed, doing the same, and picked up their helmets. He opened a closet and snagged two Kevlar vests.
“We don’t really need that, do we?”
“Better to be safe…” He pulled one over her head and cinched it tight then did the same for himself. If someone was at the front door, they couldn’t see the garage, and they’d have to round the house to get to them. Parker and Lexi had a few seconds of head start if they rolled out on his R1.
“Helmet.”
She took it and slipped it on.
“Now stay put. Just give me a second.” He took her hand and pressed the Glock to her palm. “Anyone comes in here not me, just shoot.”
She nodded, and he ran back into the house from the garage. Parker reached the room farthest from Lexi as the doorbell rang again. Just in case it was some pushy-ass cookie seller macking her entrepreneurial skills at the crack of morning, he peeked. Nope, just a guy in his twenties. Parker snapped a picture with his cell then ransacked the linen closet, finding a couple of cherry bombs amongst the stash of weapons and ammo. He took them and slipped into the front room again.
“Thanks for stopping by, asshole,” he mumbled then slid the window open enough to toss lit cherry bombs outside for a loud, smoky, snap-crackle-pop distraction.
He beat feet back to Lexi as the cherry bombs detonated. Surely the mini-explosion turned the attention of the man at the door away from the ultra-silent garage. With the garage door opening, he pulled Lexi onto the motorcycle and waited for as long as he could.
“Duck, sweetheart.” He switched the ignition, throttled down, and burned out of the garage, cutting off the driveway, heading down a sidewalk, and exiting onto the street from someone else’s driveway.
A high-pitched squeal came from behind him, and his gut churned until he realized she wasn’t screaming in terror. Lexi Dare had just enjoyed the hell out of their little escape. He’d laugh if he wasn’t terrified of her getting shot in the back. Parker wove down side streets, swooping down a maze of two-ways. He was certain no one had eyes on them when he hit the interstate to head to the belly of the beast. Time to bring Lexi to Titan.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Phiber climbed from the bush he’d ducked in then checked his surroundings to make sure no one had seen him dive like a coward. Only then did he pull the gun from his waistband and run to the garage. It had closed. While it looked like a harmless garage door, his fingers still had burn marks from when he’d tried to pick the lock at the last place Silver had been hiding.
Who was that woman? More importantly, why did she live like a commando? Maybe he hadn’t given her enough credit. Then a
gain, she had stupidly let him track her to this place.
Phiber circled the house, unable to see in anywhere. A window on the side of the second floor was cracked a few inches. While he might be able to get a ladder or something and crawl in, he was wary of entering that way. Maybe she had electrified windows.
His phone buzzed with a text message, and without looking, he knew who it was.
Taskmaster: Complete?
With a slightly bruised ego, Phiber scrolled up to see his previous message that he’d found Silver and it would be a sure thing this time. His fingers hovered before he responded.
Phiber: Almost.
All he needed was a plan, because they wouldn’t send him another bank transfer until they had her. His greedy heart wanted that payday in a bad way.
Taskmaster: New task at the incoming location. All you’ll need to move forward will be in there. Consider it a thank you gift.
Well, fuck him running. Maybe he wasn’t as off today as he thought. A second later, a text buzzed through with an address. Phiber hopped back into his car and punched the location into his GPS. Less than a mile away. It took a few turns, and he found nothing but yellow-lined do-not-park curbs in a sea of driveways. At the fire lane, he threw his car in park anyway and jumped out. His phone buzzed again. Another address with one accompanying command. Walk there.
He got his bearings and headed down the suburban street until he found the address. The garage door was up, and a Mercedes sat inside. Holy shit. He pulled out his phone to ask if what he was thinking was what was happening, but the Taskmaster beat him to it.
Taskmaster: Key in the ignition center console. Consider it a gift for the job done.
Well, shit. He hadn’t even finished yet, and maybe they didn’t get that it was turning out to be harder than he expected, but what the fuck. A new ride ten times better than his current one? That he’d take. Phiber ran his hand over the frame from the trunk until he pulled the driver’s door open and sat in leather-covered heaven. This ride was sick. Not really his style, but it was crazy high end and would sell quickly. But not before he checked out how this baby could burn rubber.
He ran his hands over the steering wheel and saw the keyless key waiting for him. All he had to do was press his foot to the brake and push the button that said IGNITION. He took a deep breath of new car smell as he rested his foot on the brake pedal.
The snap of the interior locks surprised him. “What the—”
The garage door began to close.
“Hey!” He reached for the unlock button and jabbed it several times, but nothing. His fingers pried at the locks, but they were small and barely peeping out of the door console. He couldn’t get enough traction on the nub of plastic sticking out.
The car’s engine ignited even though his foot hadn’t moved, and he hadn’t pressed it to start.
“Shit!” Phiber tried the windows and sun roof. Neither opened. Then he jumped to the other side of the car and tried that lock. No luck. Panic made him perspire.
He pressed the button above him that should connect him to an operator. But music blared in the car instead.
Then a robotic voice filled the speakers, repeating, “Three strikes, you’re out.”
The car’s engine raced, and the scent of exhaust seeped inside. He put his foot on the brake and tried to shift into reverse, but the slap-stick gear shifter wouldn’t budge.
“Fuck!” He slammed the steering wheel with his balled fists, then he grabbed his cell phone and called the Taskmaster. It rang until a robot-generated voicemail message told him to speak after the beep. “Let me go, you fuckers.”
But nothing changed except the noise.
Phiber hung up and dialed 9-1-1. The phone clanged to a busy tone no matter how many times he redialed.
The engine still revved, the tachometer redlining. His fingertips bled from tearing at the doors and windows, all unbudging. The garage slowly filled with carbon monoxide, and a foggy, tired feeling ate at his mind.
He pulled his shirt over his mouth and nose, panicking, and leaned back to gain leverage. With his feet, he bashed at the windows to no avail. They didn’t shatter. He coughed and hacked, growing weaker with every wheezy breath. What was this, bulletproof glass or some shit? With each kick to the unyielding glass, he grew more tired, coughing, until his fight was zapped.
Unable to do anything more, Phiber lay back, his mind swimming, his lungs burning. He couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore…
***
Lexi leaned against Parker as they came to a stoplight. Riding like that after spending the night with him, every time he throttled, she felt it.
He turned his head and looked dead sexy. “We just have to make a quick stop.”
They were dangerously close to her old house, but that also meant that they were very close to Parker’s place. They hadn’t had a chance to talk about what their next move was, but she thought his house, where she’d first known that she was falling for him, was the perfect location after their night together.
“Sounds good.”
They rolled into his driveway as his garage door lifted. She swung off the bike and watched him do the same. Some men were born to ride motorcycles, fewer created to master that speed racer. As Parker removed his helmet and ran his fingers into his hair, with two days’ stubble on his cheeks and his blue eyes aflame, she almost couldn’t contain the need to kiss him.
Oh, screw it. She pushed onto her toes and placed her hands on his scratchy cheeks, pulling his face to hers, and she took the kiss she wanted.
A grin curled on his face, and he laughed quietly. “What was that for?”
“Just because.”
“I think I could get used to this.”
She giggled. “This?”
“Yeah, this. You and me, running around on an adrenaline-sex high.”
Heat crawled up her neck. “Well, good. I’m glad.”
He hooked his arm around her as they walked into his house. She hadn’t had time to analyze his declaration of love in bed, but she was certain of one thing. A man who said “I love you” while having sex might not say it again. Except he was Parker. She trusted him. She was in love with him, and if he said he loved her too, then maybe he really did.
“What’s that look?” he asked as they shed their jackets.
She shrugged, not ready to bare every single thought that moved through her mind. “I just haven’t had a moment since this morning to think about, I don’t know… us. And kissing you for the hell of it, just like a random, for-no-reason kiss, that was awesome. Just kind of makes everything feel real when the last few days, really the last few weeks of my life, have been absurd.”
“Good.” He crossed his arms. “So we’ll hang here for a while. I have a couple of things to do, phone calls to make. You okay if I jump in the shower for a minute?”
“Yeah, yeah, sure. No problem.”
“Okay. You’ve been here before, you know the lay of the land. Anything you want is yours. Got it?”
Everything she wanted was standing before her. Even though she’d had him that morning and last night, it was as if he’d tapped a hunger she couldn’t stymie.
He snagged her close, laid his lips on hers, and made her senses explode before he set her free. “Alright, there’s an untraceable tablet on the coffee table, and the remote’s gotta be somewhere close to that. Be back in a few.”
She padded to his living room and sat on the couch. Everything was very Parker. Straight lines and hard edges, as if he’d found a black-and-white rule book for how a room should be decorated to look like a man’s place. But honestly, he’d nailed it. Thick, rich furniture, all of it dark. The walls were deep blues, the hardwood floor seemed more manly than elegant, and half a dozen techy magazines were tossed in a pile—well, there were military ones too. Ones named Tactical this, and Strategic that…
She sat down to Google Titan. The site immediately popped on the screen, and she paged through until she came to an executive
staff bio page. Parker Black. What she read blew her mind. His career. His history. Where he’d been. What he’d done. And that was only what was public. She tried to hack past all of the safeguards in place but couldn’t. No reason to do it really, except that was how she passed the time. But it was locked down, impenetrable. Primarily, she assumed, because Parker—or rather BlackDawn—had run point on the site. The man knew what he was doing, she couldn’t fault him for that.
But after what she had read, if she’d been impressed before, she had a newfound respect for him. The guy just kept amazing her. Down the hall, she heard the shower running. Odd how that casual and intimate act made her swoon inside. A man showering, leaving her to roam his domain, was simple enough, yet it wasn’t—especially given everything she continued to learn about him.
She could spend the next twenty minutes staring toward the bathroom, imagining how he looked showering, or she could search for breakfast. Or for ice cream. That cured all ills. What were the chances that Mister Muscles had ice cream? She opened the freezer and smiled when she found a pint of vanilla. Not bad, BlackDawn.
Then she went in search of a bowl and maybe some toppings. Nothing said life on the run like dessert for breakfast. After opening cabinet after cabinet, taking in the stock of boxed, non-perishable, open-and-eat foods like granola bars, rice pouches, and instant potatoes, she realized that he had nothing perishable or confectionary-focused, so she moved to the fridge. Nothing but condiments, protein shakes, and beer. This place really was a bachelor’s pad.
With another quick search of the drawers, she found a spoon—
“There’s fudge in the pantry.”
Lexi jumped and spun. “Parker! You scared the—”
But as she took him in, tight T-shirt stretched and stuck across his semi-wet chest, jeans that hung low but were somehow molded to his hips and thighs, she lost her words. His hair was damp and the light scent of soap surrounded him, making her mouth water.
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