by Diane Leyne
“You look good, Candy. Really good.”
“You, too, Aaron. How did the weeding go?”
“You heard?”
“Of course. Did you think you could keep things a secret from me for long? I’m dying hear all the details. I’ve never seen you two in action, so to speak. What’s the case?”
Tait groaned again, trying to bring the attention back to him and his painful nuts.
“Go. Get the ice. I’ll look after your injured partner.” When the door closed, she turned back to him. “Here, let me get those pants off you and see what damage you’ve got.” She stroked lightly down the front of his pants and he could feel his cock starting to harden beneath the feel of her hand. Damn, her touch was too light. He put his hand over hers and pressed it down against his dick which was now straining against his zipper. It hurt, yet he didn’t want her to stop touching him.
“Tait, you have to let my hand go. This has got to be hurting you. The zipper…”
“Yes, Candy. The zipper. Can you please help me out of my pants? Please.” He tried hard to look helpless as she looked down at him. Smiling kindly, she started by removing his track shoes and then his socks. Then she sat down on the edge of the bed and undid his belt. He groaned.
“Poor baby. You really are hurt. Well, Aaron should be back soon with the ice and we’ll get that swelling down in no time.”
“Oh, no need for ice. I’m sure I’ll be fine once you get my pants off and my dick’s not pressing against my zipper anymore.”
“If you are sure?”
He nodded with what he hoped was a stoic expression and was rewarded when she unfastened his pants and lowered the zipper. He lifted his hips as she pushed his pants down past his hips. He bit back another groan as his cock was freed from the first level of confinement. Now to convince her to help him out of his underwear, too.
* * * *
Candy had to bite back a grin. He really was so transparent. That was okay. She’d play along. She reached down and carefully pulled his pants further down his hips so they were around his knees. She reached up and stroked his straining cock. It really was a beautiful sight when it was erect and free. She looked up at Tait as she gently stoked it.
“Is this better?”
“Oh, yes. But, Candy. I hate to be a bother, but maybe you can pull down my shorts too. I think if you stroked the bare skin, it would be even more soothing.”
“Are you sure?”
“Oh, yes.”
“Lie back and close your eyes and I’ll give you what you need.” She reached down. “Lift up,” she commanded as she tugged the boxer briefs down and watched as his cock sprang to attention. “Tell me where it hurts!” She reached down and stroked the length gently. “Here? Or maybe here?”
She watched him struggle for control and she stroked slightly harder. What a faker. She shifted position and leaned over and licked his length. His eyes flew open and she pulled back. “I said close your eyes. Lie back and let me make you feel better.”
She waited until he complied, subsiding back onto the pillow and closing his eyes tightly. She looked down and could see a drop of pre-cum forming at the head of his penis. She licked it off, running her tongue delicately along the length of the slit. He groaned and she pulled back.
“I’m sorry. Did I hurt you? Maybe I should wait for Aaron?”
“No, dear god, no! I mean, please continue. That felt good. Really.”
“Well, if you are sure?”
“I am.”
Men. Always thinking with their little heads. She leaned down and licked again. Then she opened her mouth and took the head inside and sucked gently, not trying to make him come, just giving him pleasure.
“Tell me where it hurts?”
“Well, it did hurt on the head, but when you use your mouth, it feels much better.”
“Does it hurt anyplace else? What about here?” She cupped his balls.
“Oh, yes. There. My balls hurt, too. Maybe you can soothe them with your tongue as well?”
Smiling, she leaned down and give them a lick before drawing one gently into her mouth, laving it with her tongue before moving on to the other one.
A moment later, she could hear the sound of a key at the door.
“Don’t move a muscle, Tait. And keep your eyes closed. I’ll be back in a second to make sure you get what you need.”
She moved to the door just as it swung open. She put her finger to her lips to silence Aaron. Then she held out her hand and took the ice. He’d brought it in a bucket. She saw him taking in the sight of his partner lying half-naked and erect on the bed. He glanced back at her and she again signaled him to be quiet. Then she headed into the bathroom to get a small towel. Moving quickly, she poured some of the ice out onto the towel and wrapped it up.
Returning to the bed, she resumed her position beside Tait.
“I’m back, sweetheart. Are you ready for me to continue?”
“God yes.”
Smiling sweetly, she stroked his cock with one hand and then moved down to his balls, giving them a light squeeze before setting the towel-wrapped ice directly on top of his whole package.
“Argh!” Tait screamed and tried to jump up and out of the bed.
“Aaron, a little help, please! Tait, the ice will take down the swelling!”
“I know something else that will take down the swelling.”
“Yes, but I don’t think ejaculating is the solution. I can see a bruise developing from where the doorknob hit you. You need the ice to minimize the bruising and prevent swelling. Now you hold that in place for five minutes while we all discuss what’s going on.”
“Going on?”
“Your case or whatever you call it. Clearly by some crazy coincidence, we ended up in the same place. And I wasn’t following you, I promise. It’s just one of those crazy things. I promise I won’t blow your cover. Just tell me what I can do to help?”
“Help?” She saw Aaron and Tait exchanging glances.
“Yes. Help. You two are always running off doing one of your cases. Well, now we are all on the same private island and I want to help. Now, who is it you are investigating and how can I help?”
* * * *
Aaron locked eyes with Tait. Crap. They should have spent more time working on their cover story and less talking about how they would punish her for running away from them. He saw Tait open his mouth to reply when Candy shifted the ice and his eyes just seemed to roll back in his head as he whimpered from the feeling on his cock. Aaron felt his own balls draw up in sympathy.
“Look, Candy. You know we can’t really talk about our work.”
“That’s what you always say. And I’ve always let you keep your secrets. But that was before you stashed Noah in my diner. I was actually getting to help you out. Oh, I know. It was just a small thing, but I felt useful, like I was helping you.”
“You were. I mean, you are. But first, baby, why did you run off like you did? You didn’t even contact us.”
“That’s not important now, guys. You have a case to solve and bad guys to put away. And I want to help. As the head chef while Carter is gone, I’ll be able to get close to people. Or maybe you want me to slip a little something into their meal. No problem!”
“Candy!” the men shouted in unison. Aaron looked over at Tait, who was sitting bolt upright in bed, the ice temporarily forgotten. “No. Absolutely not!” he commanded.
“You’re no fun, Tait,” she pouted. “I’m sure Aaron will let me help, won’t you, Aaron?”
“I, uh…” He looked over at Tait, who was glaring.
“Suddenly, I’m filled with energy. Why don’t we go to the dungeon and have a look around. I can pretend to be your submissive, Aaron. We can even do a scene if you like.”
“Not without me!” Tait thundered.
“Oh, baby. Besides the fact that you are injured, remember, you are undercover as a submissive.”
“She’s right, Tait. Better not blow your cover. Do
n’t worry. I’ll take good care of her.”
“I’ll bet you will!” Tait threw himself back against the pillows. Aaron grinned and guided Candy toward the door. “Don’t wait up.”
* * * *
They walked in silence for a few minutes but stopped just short of the main building. Aaron steered her toward a bench and sat down beside her.
“First things first,” she began, waiting until a glint came into his eye and he started to lean down toward her. “Hey, no monkey business. You two are on assignment, and I’m going to be a junior G-man or whatever the appropriate term is.”
She paused and looked at him. He looked back at her, a slightly bemused look on his face. Good. She was keeping them off balance.
“Well, what is the correct term?”
“For what?”
“For people who help you out on a case. A civilian contractor? An amateur agent? What?”
“There is no term because there’s no such thing!”
Candy jumped at the sound of Tait’s voice. He sounded angry as he took a seat on the bench beside her. He’s fastened his pants, and there seemed to be a bit on a damp spot on the front from the ice. She wasn’t sure if she should point it out.
“Well, I’m not going to stand by and watch you risk your lives without trying to help. What is the case, anyway? Drug smuggling? Maybe some other type of smuggling? Maybe a criminal on the run, hiding out on the staff of Libertine Island?”
She saw them exchange glances. The two putzes hadn’t even bothered to work up a story. How dumb did they think she was? Why didn’t they just feed her some kind of line about national security so they couldn’t talk about it? She’d probably have bought that if Carter hadn’t tipped her off.
She decided to take pity on them.
“Oh, I know. Is it something to do with national security and you can’t talk about it? Am I right?”
She saw the relief on Tait’s face as she felt Aaron’s body relax against hers.
“That’s right, Candy. Aaron and I are undercover on a matter of national security, so we can’t actually talk about why we are here.”
“Do Mac and Sean know you are here anyway? Because if they don’t, they should. And Sean can help. He has all sorts of contacts.” She beamed at them.
“Uh, yes. They know. They’ve approved of our mission. But I don’t think they’d approve of us getting our girlfriend involved.”
“But it’s not like I followed you here or something. I honestly didn’t know you were here when I decided to come. In fact, I was on the fence about coming at first. I was going to ask you guys if this might be a nice way for Noah to get a break from Satisfaction. He and Tanner could come and enjoy a little fun in the sun. But you never showed, so I asked your colleague Rodgers.”
“Shit, Aaron. We have to tell her. Sweetie, Rodgers in currently in custody for the attempted murder of Noah and Tanner.”
* * * *
Candy felt the blood draining out of her face. She’d had a bad feeling about Rodgers, but murder? She abruptly stood up and turned toward them.
“You two didn’t feel the need to tell me this before now?”
She looked down at them, the fear and rage warring inside her.
“You first, Candy!”
“Excuse me, Tait?”
“Please, sweets. Just tell us how you met Rodgers and we’ll tell you everything.”
“Everything, everything? Not this stupid fairy tale that you guys are here on some sort of case and didn’t follow me here. Just how stupid do you think I am?”
“You knew?” Aaron looked at her in shock. “You were just playing along.”
“I’m not a moron, Aaron. I played along, but hell, guys. Attempted murder? When were you going to tell me? Crap. I have to call Noah.” She reached for her purse out of habit before realizing that she’d left it in her room. There was no need to carry it on the island.
She turned and hurried to her cabin, the men close behind her. She flung the door open and rushed over to the night table and grabbed her purse.
“Slow down, baby.” Aaron sat warily down at the end of the bed as Tait sat down in the chair. “Candy, you are right. We should have been up front. Everyone back home is okay and we didn’t want to worry you. And we were selfish. We wanted your focus on us.”
“Yes, you were. Now tell me what happened.”
“You first. Please! What does Rodgers have to do with your coming here?”
She looked at the two men and sighed. Their faces showed love and concern. She sat down on the bed and waited.
“Sunday morning. Carter had called me early Sunday to tell me that their temp chef had bailed and ask me if I had any recommendations. He was panicked that their babymoon would have to be cancelled. I was going to ask Noah, but then you two never showed and I thought about going myself. And then I went into the diner early still unsure what to do.
“And when I got there, Rodgers was already there, waiting. I didn’t like him, but I knew he was one of your team.”
“He was one of our team. Turns out he’s dirty.”
“Dirty?” Candy looked up.
“Yeah. He was on the take. His other bosses ordered him to kill Noah. Tell us, did he hurt you? Did he even touch you?” Tait’s voice was urgent. “I’ll kill him if he did.”
“No, no. I’m fine. He made me nervous and I babbled about the job down here. He told me that I should take it. In fact, he insisted I pack a bag and leave immediately. I didn’t understand the urgency, but I guess he wanted to get me out of the way before Noah came, so I wouldn’t see anything.” She suddenly felt faint. “Oh, god. If I’d been there when Noah came, he might have…Do you think I’m in danger?”
“Don’t worry, baby.” Aaron pulled her into his arms. “You are fine. In fact, it sounds like Rodgers was trying to get you out of the way so he wouldn’t have to hurt you. It sounds like you weren’t the target and he didn’t want to have to hurt you. And everyone’s fine back home.”
“But you said that he tried to kill Noah.”
“Rodgers did go after Noah, but Tanner and Buttercup saved the day.”
“Buttercup?”
“Yeah, she didn’t like a gun going off in her stable. According to Tanner, Rodgers is lucky she didn’t stomp him into the ground.”
“Rodgers is behind bars now, babe,” Tait added. “You don’t have to worry about him ever again.”
“How’s Noah? Is he okay? I should be back in Satisfaction, but I can’t leave the island without wrecking Carter’s babymoon.”
“He’s fine, babe. A bit shaken up, but otherwise good. We called him Monday and he told me and Aaron to tell you not to rush back. He was fine and keeping busy was just what he needed.”
“But Tanner asked if you minded if they shut the diner down for a couple of days so they can elope. I hope you don’t mind that we answered on your behalf and told him it would be okay.”
“Holy crap! They’re getting married. That’s so exciting. Tell them they can close it down the whole time I’m gone and they should enjoy their honeymoon. Hell, I’ll tell them myself.” She grabbed her purse and dug around for her cell phone. There was so much junk in her purse. And her urgency was making her clumsy and impatient, so she tipped her back upside down and emptied it on the bed. There was some much damned stuff, some of which, like the four pens, the packet of mints in a flavor she hated, and the USB key, she didn’t even remember putting in her purse. Finding the phone, she stuffed her wallet, a packet of tissues, and some lipstick back in and dumped the rest in the drawer of the night table. She’d sort it out later.
Chapter Seven
Tait looked closely at Candy. She was definitely shaking as she dialed the phone but it looked like her color was better. It took her three tries, but he knew that she needed to talk to Noah and assure herself that he was okay. It ended up being a short conversation, but she seemed calmer when she hung up.
He reached out and took her hand, giving it what he hoped
was a comforting squeeze. Candy stood up pulling out of Aaron’s embrace. Tait tried to hug her but she pulled away.
“I’ve got a lot to think about.” She grabbed her bag and walked away from them. Tait got up and hurried out the door behind her, followed quickly by Aaron. They kept their distance, sure they looked silly following ten paces behind her, but they knew she needed space.
As she approached the main building, a man exited. Of course it would be Leo.
“Hey, Candy!” He looked delighted to see her and pulled her into his arms for a quick kiss. His hands weren’t any place technically offensive, but Tait still wanted to knock his head off for touching Tait and Aaron’s woman. The only thing stopping him was the fact that the kid didn’t know she was theirs and the expression on her face. He was pretty certain she would not be happy if he punched Leo in his perfect fucking nose.
“Hey, Leo. You heading over to the dungeon?”
“Yeah, but what are you doing out here? I thought you were tired from your trip. These two keeping you up? Bothering you?” His voice hardened as he looked from Tait to Aaron and back again, seeming to focus at a spot below the belt. Maybe he was gay?
“Leo, Tait had a little accident earlier…”
“Yes, I can see. Maybe you need help finding the laundry?” He laughed as Candy punched him in the arm. Tait turned red.
“Not that kind of accident, silly! I opened a door quickly and nailed him in the…well, I nailed him with the doorknob. The wet spot is from the ice pack. We were just chatting before they head back to their room.”
“Oh…I see. You two are together? How great that you were both able to get jobs together here. You’ll find Libertine Island welcomes everyone, regardless of sexual preference.” Then he turned to Aaron and held his hand out. “Hi, I’m Leo Lawrence. I met Tait earlier as we both worked a kitchen shift under the delectable Candy, and I do mean under. She’s quite the Domme in the kitchen. Good thing Tait and I are subs.” He grinned broadly at Candy, who laughed and gave him a hug while Tait silently fumed.