by Naomi West
“I left a message with Damien,” I told her. “He'll take care of you if something happens to me.”
“I don't even know him.”
“You don't have to,” I said. “I made it clear to him ... what you mean to me.”
“What do I mean to you?” Liv asked curiously.
I pinched the bridge of my nose, regretting that choice of words. Not that I didn't have feelings for Liv. Somehow, for some reason, despite the fact that I knew better than to fall for someone who was from such a different world as me.
“I feel responsible for dragging you into this,” I told her. “Your safety is my concern because of that.”
Was that a look of disappointment on her face there? I filed that away.
“I just wish there were some way for me to know that you were safe,” she told me, stroking her hand down my leg.
I raised an eyebrow at her as her hand came to rest between my legs, dangerously close to my member, which was twitching and hardening already with even that slightest amount of attention paid to it.
“Come here,” Liv said, her voice barely audible.
I complied, crawling over and covering her body with my own. It felt as though there were something there, hanging in the air between us — those words that neither of us wanted to say to the other.
I kissed her before either of us could make the mistake of saying something that should have remained left unsaid. Our unspoken feelings boiled over into the kiss, though, making it feel desperate and needy. Our teeth clashed a little; there was almost too much pressure between our lips. But with the way our hands roamed restlessly against one another's forms, everything seemed just about perfect.
“I'm nervous about all of this,” Liv admitted as we broke apart. It was the first bout of nervousness that she had admitted to, and I realized I wanted nothing more than to soothe her worries. But there was no way to really do that. We were still in the thick of this mission, and we wouldn't be safe again until Cat had everything that she wanted.
I kissed her again, more gently this time, cupping her cheeks in my palms. Slowly, I lifted her shirt, kissing along each bit of skin that I uncovered.
She moved restlessly beneath me, hands fluttering at my own shirt in a weak attempt to remove it. I pulled the offending garment off and tossed it to the side. I could make time for this before I went over to the headquarters and had a look around. I'd be a bit late to meet Johnny, but that didn't bother me now.
Liv made a soft noise as I settled between her legs, nipping lightly at the soft skin of her inner thighs. I moved closer towards her core, running my tongue over her clit and making her arch against the sheets. “That's...” She trailed off, though, too overcome with pleasure to finish that sentence. I got the idea, though.
I grinned up at her, continuing to lave her folds with my tongue. I dipped my tongue inside of her, stroking my fingers along her velvety skin as well. “Think I can make you come just like this?” I asked her, my voice gone husky with my own desire.
Liv blinked down at me, seeming as though she barely understood what I was saying. In fact, it seemed almost as though she barely processed the fact that I had said something to her. But finally, she blinked herself back into awareness and nodded her head enthusiastically. “Please,” she said.
I stepped up my game a little, scissoring my fingers inside of her as I continued to stab into her with my tongue, swirling it around and finding all the sensitive bits, making her cry out with need.
“Rip,” she said breathlessly, urging me back up into her arms using her foot at the small of my back. “Rip, please.”
“I thought you wanted me to make you come using just my mouth,” I told her teasingly.
She blinked at me and shook her head a little. “I can't… I need...” She was blushing. No matter how many times we did this, she still acting like a desperate, nervous virgin. It was endearing, and I couldn't help but smile as I traced the line of pinked skin with my mouth.
I finally stripped out of my jeans, sighing in soft relief as I freed my erection from the tight confines of the material. My cock was already thick and red, ready to plunge into her warm, slick heat. But when I lined it up, I paused for a moment, wanting to tease her a little more.
She made a quiet noise, writhing a little against the sheets. “Please, please, please,” she whimpered, reaching down between us to try to guide me inside of her.
I pushed her hand away and then decided to pin both her hands up above her head. I grinned down at her. “I'm in control here,” I growled. “And don't you forget it.”
She practically sobbed. “Rip, I need you,” she said.
I paused, cocking my head to the side as though I was considering it. But then, I pushed swiftly inside of her, not stopping until I was fully inside her, all the way up my shaft. She groaned long and low, and I couldn't help but give an answering groan.
“So tight...” I muttered.
She grinned at me, but the smile quickly slipped off her face. “Move, Rip,” she said, trying desperately to find purchase against the sheets so that she could move against me.
I finally began moving, setting a punishing pace. Three thrusts later, she cried out loudly, eyes rolling back in her head as she came, convulsing against me. I could feel the walls of her pussy fluttering around my length, and I groaned, feeling my orgasm creep up as well. Normally I had more stamina than this, but something about sleeping with Liv had me feeling like a giddy and overeager teenager again, at least in terms of how long I could last.
My hips stuttered against hers as I spilled thick and hot inside of her folds.
As I pulled out and rolled away from Liv, she reached out and caught my arm, curling into me. “Rip, I—” she started, and then snapped her mouth shut.
I frowned down at her and then turned my gaze back towards the ceiling. More of those words we weren't supposed to say to one another.
“Be careful,” she finally said quietly, rolling away from me and pulling the sheets up over her form.
I took that as my dismissal and said nothing in response, dressing in silence and going out to my bike. I had to focus on what I was doing; there was no more time to dwell on what I might or might not be feeling for my partner in crime.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Liv
Cherri tossed a bag towards me when she entered the hotel room. “Here,” she said. “I picked up a new outfit for you to wear when you and Rip go to the national headquarters.”
I blinked down at the bag, looking back and forth between it and her. “Why?” I asked.
She rolled her eyes a little. “Because you still want to look sexy, of course, but you also don't want to look like a whore. You need to look like someone that Rip would be interested in...”
“Good point.” I bent down and grabbed the bag, moving with it into the bathroom to get changed.
“How did the package delivery go yesterday?” Rip asked as I retreated.
I flicked on the bathroom fan so I wouldn't have to hear the rest of that conversation. The less I knew about the package delivery, the better, I figured. I pulled on the gauzy, button-down white shirt and the skimpy black skirt and stared at myself in the mirror. Even without the hair and makeup, I was practically unrecognizable. But I looked good. I was actually pretty happy with the way I looked in my reflection, and it made me think that maybe when I got back home, it would be time for a bit of a makeover. Maybe that would introduce a little spontaneity into my life, without it being so much spontaneity that my life was in danger like it was now.
“Give me one last run-down of the plan so I can make sure we're on the same page,” Rip demanded as I walked out of the bathroom. I felt a little disappointed at his lack of reaction to my clothes, but I dutifully opened my mouth to recite the plan for the umpteenth time.
“We're going to watch the place until we see Castor and Rosetta, and then you and I are going to walk in together. Once we get past all the security mechanisms, we'll s
plit up—you'll leave me in the lounge while you go looking around. Castor will leave Rosetta in one of the lounges while he goes into one of the other lounges to talk with his guys. I'll find him there and ask to talk to him in private. I'll keep him distracted while you find Rosetta and get her out of there. She'll go with Cherri in Cherri's car. I'll break off my meeting with Castor and meet you back in the second room from the entrance. We'll get on your bike, and off we'll go.”
Rip nodded approvingly. “Just make sure that when you're talking to Castor–”
“Rip,” I interrupted, giving him a look, “I know. You have to trust me when I say I know.”
Rip smiled a little sheepishly at me. “I know you know,” he said. “I just want to make sure that–”
“I know,” I interrupted again, shaking my head. I sat down on the edge of the bed. “Well, Cherri? You going to do my makeup or what?”
It was all false bravado, though. This had kind of been my plan — the whole idea of distracting Castor with his sexuality and all of that. But that didn't mean it wasn't nerve-wracking to put the plan into action.
As we walked into the national headquarters — which honestly looked just like any other office building, just with more security measures at the entrance — my grip on Rip's arm was tight, and not just because Cherri had put me in spiky heeled shoes for this excursion. I swallowed and looked around.
“Relax,” Rip muttered under his breath. “You look suspicious, turning your head left and right like that.”
I blushed a little and obediently calmed down my gaze a little bit. Rip greeted a few people, clearly having met them the previous day when he'd come to do reconnaissance. When we reached the lounge where we would split up, he leaned in and kissed me, his lips lingering against my skin.
“I'll meet you soon,” he murmured. I watched him leave the room, walking casually as though he had every right to be there. Which I supposed he did; I was the only non-biker here.
I rocked back and forth on my toes and heels a few times, counting to ten in my head so that Rip would have ample time to get away from there. Then, I started off down the hall, peeking into room after room in an attempt to spot Castor's dark head.
Finally, I found him in a heated conversation with two other people. I took a deep breath and then strode into the room, trying to emulate Rip's careless nonchalance.
All three of them turned to stare at me as I walked in. I feigned embarrassment and back towards the door again. “I'm sorry,” I said, putting a hand over my mouth. “I didn't mean to interrupt.”
“Yes, you did,” Castor said, grinning dangerously at me. He came towards me, eyeing me from head to toe. “But you're a pretty little thing, so I guess I can forgive you. What can I help you with?”
I blushed and ducked my head when he called me 'pretty', doing my best to act the naïve and demure female. It wasn't too difficult since it was basically how I normally acted. “I was looking for you, actually. You're Castor, right?” I slid my eyes over to the others, as though I didn't want to be overheard by them. I bit my lower lip.
“Gentlemen, would you leave us alone for a minute?” Castor asked his lackeys. The others exchanged a glance, but they were grinning, and they didn't seem to think this behavior was abnormal.
After a moment, it was just Castor and I alone in there. I boldly walked closer to him, making sure to sway my hips a little as I went. “I've heard things,” I told him. “I've heard that you're absolutely ... domineering in bed. And I need someone who's going to take charge of me, someone who can discipline me. I'm a very naughty girl.”
Castor raised an eyebrow at me, but I could tell that I had piqued his interest. Indeed, he grabbed me and pulled me close to him, a hand coming around to squeeze my ass. I fought down an indignant squeak and reminded myself that this was what I wanted from him right now.
“I work down on Sierra Street sometimes,” I lied. “The girls down there said that you sometimes go down there looking for companionship—but no one's seen you lately.”
“I've been busy,” Castor said, shrugging a little. His eyes narrowed. “I haven't seen you down there before. And how did you manage to get in here?”
“I've got a friend with the Gemini Riders,” I said, shrugging a little. “And I was just so desperate to meet you, to let you have me...” The words were sickening as they fell from my mouth, but I could tell he was buying every line of it, and I was grateful for that.
Or at least, his hands were still roaming interestedly over my skin, grabbing and pinching at will.
The thing was, I could tell that his hands were talented, and as the callused fingers smoothed across my bare skin, I couldn't help shuddering a little. He certainly wasn't an unpleasant man to have to try to seduce. He was definitely easy on the eyes…
“I want you to take me right here,” I whispered boldly, leaning in to say the words against the skin of his jawline. “I'm so wet for you, I'm so—”
“Uh, sir?” a man said at the doorway.
Castor pulled away from me with a growl, fixing an angry look on the man. “What?” he snapped.
The man cleared his throat. “Rosetta—”
“What has that dumb girl done now?”
“Well, she's… She's gone, sir. Someone has broken into your personal harem and...”
Castor's face began to purple. He looked positively livid, and it was lucky for me that looks couldn't kill. Otherwise, I would have been dead on the floor already. I watched him with bated breath, hoping beyond hope that he would just decide he needed to look into this and leave me there on my own. I could only hope that I had bought Rip and Rosetta enough time that they had managed to get themselves out of there. Maybe I should stall longer…?
I put a hand on Castor's chest, pouting a little. “Baby, I've waited so long to meet you, and—”
Castor pushed my hands off him, giving me a withering look. “I have more important things to do right now,” he said. “I—” But then suddenly, something in his look changed, and he grabbed my hair, pulling my face in close to his. “Did you have something to do with this?” he growled. “It seems too perfect for you to arrive here and come to distract me just when someone else is breaking into my harem and stealing one of my women...”
“I don't know what you're talking about,” I lied, but I knew that my erratic breathing was probably giving it all away.
Castor scowled down at me, tightening his grip on my hair. “Oh really?” he asked.
I swallowed hard, feeling tears prick the corners of my eyes. I was beginning to get the sinking feeling that I probably would not be meeting Rip at our arranged meeting point on time. And I had no idea what I was supposed to do then.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Rip
I still didn't like the idea of leaving Liv on her own in the national headquarters, but I couldn't really see any other way of doing this. And she was proving to be a smart girl; I shouldn't worry about her. She would figure out some way to get out of there; I had faith in that.
Rosetta was surprisingly easy to find. Easy enough to find, actually, that at first I thought there must be some sort of a trap.
“Come on,” I muttered to her under my breath, holding out my hand to help her to her feet. “Cherri sent me to help you.”
Rosetta's eyes got wide, and she followed me trustingly and without a word. “You're going to need a disguise,” I told her, pushing her sideways into one of the stock closets. I held out the backpack that Cherri had prepared for her. “Get dressed.” I turned my back on her, giving her some semblance of privacy.
She dressed quickly, and I saw that Cherri had arranged for her to dress up as a dude, of all things. But with the girl's short hair and athletic build, there was actually a lot that was hidden by a thick beanie and an oversized flannel shirt. I nodded approvingly at her and then led her back out into the maze of hallways.
We made it out of the compound easily. Again, it was so easy that I wondered just what I was missi
ng. I paused before going through the last of the security measures, looking around to see if Liv might have beaten us down there. But she was still nowhere to be seen.
“Cherri is waiting for you out front,” I murmured, pushing Rosetta forwards with a hand at her lower back. “This is as far as I'm going with you. I have to wait for my partner; she was distracting Castor.”
Rosetta nodded at me. “Thank you,” she said, her voice hardly even a whisper.
I nodded at her and turned back towards where Liv should be coming from. I wondered for a moment if I should go looking for her, but that seemed like a recipe for disaster. The last thing I needed was to walk in on her and Castor engaged in… Well, I could only hope that things hadn't gone that far, but if they had and he had made a quick move on her, I didn't need to see that. I would probably end up picking a fight with the man if I did, and the last thing I needed was to be picking a fist fight with Cat Zodiac's right-hand man.