by Alyssa Cole
There was silence as Alexi grunted at his task, and then Bardhyn remembered something Linda was always getting on his case about: showing employees appreciation. Supposedly it bred loyalty, although he thought not wanting to end up dead on Long Island was a better incentive.
“It was very smart of you to point out this betrayal to me, Alexi,” he said. “I appreciate it.”
Alexi was lugging Eltjon out from the car when he paused to look at Bardhyn, the corners of his flat blue eyes crinkling as he grinned.
“It’s the least I could do after you took care of that teacher for me,” he said, dragging Eltjon’s body to the high grass. “And the girl. Little bitch and her mom are both nothing but trouble.”
“The girl is a bonus for me. Zero investment, so anything I make off her will be a profit,” Bardhyn said, pausing to take a drag. “But let’s be clear: you didn’t do me a favor by telling me about Eltjon. You did your fucking job. Don’t go getting any ideas about who does what for whom around here.”
“Of course, boss!” Alexi said, gazing at Bardhyn with such a pained look that he almost regretted his sharp words. The man was too stupid to enjoy belittling. And he was devoted, which meant a lot at critical points likes this.
“It’s all right, Alexi,” Bardhyn finally said. “But you were right about the girl’s mother being nothing but trouble. Make sure you get rid of this Kaslinko broad soon.”
Bardhyn expected at least a little resistance, but Alexi nodded obediently as if he’d been asked to dispose of garbage and not the woman he was dating.
Bardhyn smiled.
Chapter Nine
Julian awoke well after the sun had risen, startled into consciousness by the presence of a soft, warm body curved against his.
He looked down at Salomeh snuggled up to him, her long fingers splayed across his stomach and her face nestled into his chest. He gingerly ran his hand over her dark curls, a smile touching his lips as he thought about how completely she had opened to him a scant few hours ago.
It didn’t make sense. She of all people should have been wary, should have been able to see through his veneer. But in retrospect, apart from not telling her he worked for the FBI and knew who she was and that he wanted information from her, he hadn’t hidden that much from her. He had been more open with her than he had with virtually anyone. Usually when he spoke to people, he put on his Agent Tamali mask and charmed the hell out of them. He had put on the works for Salomeh, he couldn’t dispute that, but he had been himself. In fact the more he had spoken to her, the more like himself he had felt.
Over the years he’d had coworkers and acquaintances and lovers. Many had tried to scale his walls, to chip away at his hard exterior to find his soft underbelly—not with malicious intent, but because curiosity was an intrinsic human trait. He’d rebuffed them all, subtly but firmly. It was different this time with this woman who seemed to want nothing from him but gave him something he hadn’t known was missing from his life.
Salomeh stirred, turning onto her back to expose the curve of her neck, the lovely features of her face.
Julian stared. This might be his last chance to be with her like this, and he wanted to commit it to memory.
No point in getting attached, he thought grimly after gazing at her for a long moment. Where was he supposed to go from here? Oh, mind telling me about the child abuse details and your involvement with a man named Bardhyn? In detail? Sorry I didn’t mention this before I carted you off to bed.
Salomeh moved again, and Julian gently rolled her onto her side as he eased himself out of the bed. He grabbed a pair of sweatpants from the drawer of a small dresser near the door, slipped them on, and padded out of the bedroom and toward the kitchen.
As he pulled down a pan and some bowls from the cabinet, he thought of how she had looked when he first approached her. She had seemed so comfortless and alone he thought there would be no way to reach her. But when her eyes met his, deep brown and flashing with annoyance, he had felt an instant connection. He knew he would be able to break through her barriers and, worse, that he very badly wanted to. And not for the reasons he should.
Again Julian forced himself back to reality instead of delving into the treacherous feelings trying to take root in his brain.
Romance isn’t in the cards, buddy, he thought, so stick to breakfast.
He rooted around in the fridge, pulling out the ingredients he’d need for breakfast. It was the most he could offer her right now.
Before getting into the work of chopping and scrambling and frying, he retrieved his phone from the coffee table to punch out a text message. I talked to Jones. She doesn’t appear to have any intel, but I’ll try to find out more. Text me when you wake up.
How was he going to explain what had happened last night? And the fact that he wanted to use their classified information to help a woman he had slept with? Yates was going to have a field day with this.
He tried to shut down his mind, focusing only on the mechanics of cooking. Overthinking the situation wasn’t going to change a thing.
When he was done, he carefully piled the herb-scrambled eggs and bacon onto a large plate and carried it into the bedroom along with two cups of coffee.
He could see her waking up as he approached, the sunlight filtering through the standard-issue blinds and highlighting her in a golden grid as she stretched luxuriously. She let out an incredulous laugh and shook her head.
“What’s so funny?” Julian said as he placed the food and coffee onto the dresser and approached the bed. The food would stay warm for a moment. He needed to touch her. He lowered himself over her, resting his weight on his elbows so as not to crush her.
For a second, she looked up at him with that same startled skittishness that had marked his first encounter with her. He traced his finger lightly down her cheek, hoping to ease her anxiety, and she turned her head and placed a quick peck on his palm, sighing against his hand.
“How is it you managed to be so loud in the kitchen, but then creep in here without a sound?” she asked, smiling at him, her apprehension gone for the moment.
“I’m used to sneaking up on unsuspecting women,” he said before returning her kiss. “But I’m glad that you’re awake. I have a surprise.”
“It’s too early for surprises,” she said, pulling him close as she snuggled deeper into the mattress. Her stomach growled loudly, and they both laughed.
“I believe you’ve been overruled,” he said, reluctantly rolling out of her embrace to retrieve their food and coffee. She sat up in bed, tucking the sheet under her arms protectively as she followed him with her eyes.
“You made me breakfast?” she asked softly, and he thought he heard the slightest tremor in her voice.
“Well, you have to share with me, unless you want this whole pile for yourself. That would be rather greedy of you, though,” he said as he settled the plate between them and handed her a mug of coffee. She took a sip and placed the mug beside the bed, and then grabbed a fork and dug in to her food.
She tilted her head back and closed her eyes after taking her first bite, emitting soft murmurs of appreciation as she ate. She savored each forkful, her tongue darting out to lick her lips, which glistened from the greasy goodness of the bacon. Her reaction to the simple meal had his dick hard faster than he had thought humanly possible.
“This is delicious, Julian, thank you,” she said finally. “What did you put into these eggs? Mine never taste this good.”
“Just some fresh herbs,” he said, thankful for the little mixed herb plant he had gotten from the supermarket to add some greenery to the apartment
She took another bite, looking completely content.
“I’m thinking I should give you some alone time with this food,” he said.
“Take it as a compliment to your excellent cooking skills,” she said and then caught herself midsigh. “Sorry, I know I’m being ridiculous, but when you’ve been living off of ramen and misery for a few weeks, you
really do appreciate the small things in life.”
“What do you mean? That sounds like a delicious combination,” he said, glancing at her. “I prefer schadenfreude with my ramen, but to each her own.”
The corners of Salomeh’s lips tilted up, but it wasn’t the full, wide smile that had hooked him last night. It was small and tinged with sadness, and he found himself asking her a question he already knew the answer to. He needed to know if she knew anything about Bardhyn. And maybe, just maybe, there was some way he could spin this so she didn’t end up hating him.
“What happened to you, Salomeh? What is it that makes you so sad?”
He saw her stiffen, the way her chewing became mechanical as she tried to think of something to tell him other than the truth.
“I won’t judge you,” he said quietly. “I’ve done things I’m not proud of.”
“I didn’t do anything,” she said testily. “I tried to help someone, and it bit me in the ass, big-time.”
Julian didn’t press her, just let her words hang in the air as he grabbed a slice of bacon and chewed thoughtfully.
“Have you ever felt what it’s like to be betrayed?” she asked, and Julian held in the dark laugh that rose in his throat.
He held his arm out between them, turning it slightly so that the scars stood out in pale relief against his olive skin.
“Viscerally,” he deadpanned and then shrugged at her. “But the scars that can’t be seen are much worse and don’t heal nearly as quickly. I imagine it’s the same for you.”
“I…” She paused and leaned back on the pillows, arms crossed against her chest protectively. Julian moved the plate from between them, placing it on the floor beside the bed so there were no barriers between them. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close to his chest. She allowed it, but she was rigid in his embrace.
“I can’t tell you,” she said eventually. “I know I’m naked in your bed, eating your food, but to say I have some trust issues right now is an understatement.”
Julian was surprised that her words actually stung. Not because he needed any information she had, but because he wanted her to trust him enough to confide in him. He knew it was the definition of hypocrisy given their situation, but something intangible drove the words out of his mouth.
“Did I tell you my parents were teachers too?” he asked, shocking himself. This wasn’t something he talked about with anyone, but he felt he owed it to her in a way, even if she didn’t tell him about Bardhyn.
“No,” she said, shifting in his arms to look up at him apprehensively.
“My parents were in love with languages,” he began. “It’s how they met, how they fell for each other.”
A memory came back to him: the morning he had finally been able to translate what his father always whispered to his mother in French. “Sans toi je ne suis rien. Without you, I am nothing.”
“Even though I hated doing any kind of schoolwork, and the schools were falling apart then, they made sure I learned. Arabic, Latin, English, Russian, French, Spanish… I owe my current situation in life to them.”
“They must have been excellent teachers,” Salomeh said.
“My little sister, Ryli, wanted to be a teacher too. She couldn’t wait to be old enough to leave home and go to school in another country so she could experience the world,” he said. A memory ambushed him then. How Rylinda had always followed him and Bardhyn around, trying to join their gang and embarrassing him. She had even made a game of it: “Kush mendoni ju zgjidhni, vëlla?” she would call out to him in her sweet voice, jostling Bardhyn out of the way. Who do you choose, brother? He had chosen Bardhyn every time. He was a stupid teenage boy who couldn’t have known just what a terrible choice he was making, but the memory still pained him.
He recovered himself. “Now there’s just me.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, clearly at a loss for words.
Julian nearly kicked himself. Now was the time he chose to get all sentimental about his family? He should have just ignored his urge to overshare and charmed Salomeh like he would have anyone else.
“I haven’t spoken about them to anyone in a very long time,” Julian said, more to himself than to her.
“Why are you telling me?” she asked. “Is this a ‘you show me yours, I’ll show you mine’ situation?”
The words were said gently enough that he knew she wasn’t trying to hurt him.
“You want the truth?” he asked, looking down at her.
“Always,” she said, her eyes wide and unblinking.
It was too late for that, but he could try to give her some semblance of it.
“I don’t know why I told you that,” he admitted. “There’s something about you that short-circuits my brain. I find myself saying things I shouldn’t be saying and doing things I shouldn’t be doing.”
Her brow creased in confusion. “Like what?” she asked.
“Like this.”
He angled his mouth down over hers then. Her lips parted in shock, and he slid in his tongue, hungry for her taste, needing to savor it one more time. For a moment, she was stock-still in his arms, as though unsure of how she should react to this sudden change in the conversation. Then her arms dropped away from her chest, and she grabbed at his shoulders, moaning into his mouth as she returned his fervent kiss.
He inched his free hand up between them, pulling at the sheet that hid her breasts from his view. She shivered against him as the material dragged over her skin, and he felt the tremor pass through him as well, making his cock jump with need.
“My behavior hasn’t exactly been typical either,” she murmured between kisses as she pushed him back into the pillows and straddled him, her face never more than a few inches away from his.
“Thank goodness for small mercies,” he said, running his hands down her sides and encircling her waist, holding her in place as he rocked up against her. He could feel the heat of her through his sweatpants, and he pumped against her again in a fruitless endeavor.
She kissed him hard as she met his motion, the small kisses that she placed on his brow pulsing through him like an erotic benediction. Julian clenched his teeth when she wrenched herself free from his hold and moved down his body, kissing his neck and then his chest. He closed his eyes against the jolt caused by her warm tongue running over his nipple. Her lips grazed over the raised skin on his arm, and he shuddered. The nerves there had been deadened to most sensation, but Salomeh’s soft kisses still triggered an intense pleasure. She was now moving in a steady line across his hipbone. She inched his sweatpants down, and he raised his hips to help her, leaning forward and impatiently tugging at the material standing between him and Salomeh’s luscious mouth. She glanced up at him as his cock sprang free, the heat in her eyes nearly undoing him.
“Eager, aren’t we?” she said, her words breathed on an exhale that caressed his cock only slightly before the tip of her tongue did. She swirled her tongue around his head once, twice, three times before taking as much of him as she could into her mouth. She sucked deeply as she moved up and down his shaft, and the twin sensations of tight suction and his cock meeting the back of her throat had Julian whimpering. His response seemed to spur her on. Once again his earlier fantasy had failed to live up to reality. Salomeh’s mouth was slick, her tongue agile, and she pleasured him with fervor as if it turned her on as much as it did him.
Julian bucked, trying not to forcibly fuck her mouth, which was an actual struggle given how amazing the warm suction felt. Her tongue stroked at the underside of his shaft as she fed more of his length into her mouth with each downward motion, unfurling a desperate lack of control in Julian, one he hadn’t felt since his first experiences with women. She looked up at him as her head bobbed on his cock, her cheeks hollowing out as she tried to drain him dry.
He threaded his fingers through her hair, gently pulling her away from his cock.
She looked up at him in consternation.
“Take it as a com
pliment to your excellent skill,” he said, panting. “But I need to be inside you right now.”
He handed her a condom from the bedside table, watching her as she struggled with the foil, loving the wanton desire in the way her hands shook. He leaned back on his elbows, staring at her over his painfully erect member and then bucking beneath her hands as she rolled it down over him.
She chuckled, the sound low and resonant, before retracing her path up his body, positioning her opening above his cock, and slowly taking him in.
They both cried out, Julian reveling in her smooth tightness. He had wondered if he had overblown their first rendezvous in his mind, but somehow she felt even better now, moving above him, her hands splayed on his chest as she choked back wild sounds of pleasure. He thrust up hard into her, wanting to hear that sweet wail he’d encountered the previous night.
She threw back her head, whispering his name as she stretched her arms behind her, placed her hands on his thighs, and rode him even harder, the new position giving him deeper access and causing her pussy to sheath him even more tightly. Tingles ran up and down his spine and through his hands and feet, pleasure building up, gaining power from the ever tightening vise of Salomeh’s pussy as she neared her own orgasm.
“Salomeh,” he gritted out, his voice desperate with need. He grasped at her hip with one hand and ran the other over her breasts and stomach, all exposed to his ministrations by the arch of her back.
His touch spurred her on, and she rolled her hips, swiveling over his groin in a serpentine pattern that milked his dick even harder as she sought to bring them release. The rapid clamping of her inner muscles shot him through with shards of bliss, and just like that he lost control, pumping madly into her as his orgasm overtook him. Salomeh followed him over the ledge with a surprised shout that sounded distant, drowned out by the clamor of Julian’s own rapid heartbeat.
She collapsed forward onto his chest, and he held her there, both of them breathing heavily, lost in their thoughts.
He placed a lingering kiss on her temple, completely unprepared for the fierce possessiveness that surged through him when she dropped a kiss on his scarred shoulder in return. He wondered what she was thinking as she lay against him, her legs still trembling slightly from her exertion.