After I’d added the requisite amount of cream and sugar, Rick motioned for me to follow him outside.
“Let’s take a walk.”
I fought against the feeling I was being led to a gallows of sorts.
“After we lost Ricky, I took a long, hard look at my life. As you’re probably aware, within six months of his death, I retired.”
“Yes,” I murmured. That information was included in the report Decker gave me.
“I like you, Lynx. In fact, I told Emme I thought you were a decent-enough guy.”
“What was her response?”
He smiled. “She likened you to a used-car salesman.”
“Not surprising.”
“My daughter is brilliant. She’s one of the most intelligent people I’ve ever known, and in my line of work, I dealt with geniuses every day.”
“I would concur.”
“She’s also a bit of an eccentric.”
Interesting word choice. I preferred it over Irish’s quirky.
“I know the two of you share a past, and that’s only part of the reason I wanted to talk to you.”
I could write tomes filled with accounts of different situations and predicaments I’d found myself in. However, this would rank among the most awkward.
“She cares about you.”
“And I, her,” I admitted.
Rick stopped walking and turned to face me. “I’m going to ask you straight out to assign someone else to her detail.”
Rather than looking at him, I turned toward the water. “Would you be able to do the same if it were Rebecca?”
“I love my wife, Lynx. I also love my daughter. I don’t want to see her hurt. I know I can’t prevent it from happening, but I can step in and ask you not to make it worse.”
“Decker Ashford put a tail on Warrick yesterday. Irish spent the day at MIT.”
“I see.”
“Until I figure out why, I’m not willing to do what you’re asking.”
“Fair enough.”
Rick continued walking down the beach, and I returned to the house. When I got there, Emerson was in the kitchen.
“There’s something I need to ask you.”
“Okay.”
“What is your personal relationship with Paxon Warrick?”
Her cheeks flushed; there was something she didn’t want me to know.
“Emerson?”
She cleared her throat. “After you and my father returned from D.C., I was really angry at both of you. I called Paxon and told him I wanted to return to work. He told me I couldn’t.”
I nodded. “Did he say why not?”
“He said there was something more in the brush pass. A warning. When I asked him what it was, he told me to talk to you or my father.”
That wasn’t a reason for Irish to say she shouldn’t return. There had to be another reason he didn’t want her there.
“Anything else?”
Rather than at me, Emerson looked out the window.
“The day I asked Mario to bring me here, when I was leaving, Paxon asked if he could accompany me downstairs.”
“Go on.”
“While we were in the elevator, he told me that he’d planned to ask me out.”
“He shared that with me.”
“That wasn’t all. He told me that when you broke my heart, he’d pick up the pieces.”
I was processing the information she’d shared when I realized Emerson was staring at me.
“It’s okay, Lynx,” she said when my eyes met hers. “We both know that once you find Tommy, everything will change.”
“You said you weren’t seeing each other.”
Emerson shook her head. “That isn’t what I meant, Lynx.”
24
Emerson
“What did you mean?”
“It isn’t about Tommy, it’s about you and me. We both know that you’ll leave and I’ll…stay. There’s an end date, Lynx. Just like summer, this thing between us will end too.”
Lynx grabbed my hand and pulled me into him. “I can’t do this anymore.”
“Do what?”
“Pretend I don’t want to spend every minute kissing the fuck out of you.”
His mouth crashed into mine as he backed me against the kitchen island. He lifted me up and set me on the counter, pulled me forward so I was balancing on the edge, and then pushed my legs apart—all the while kissing me so hard I could barely breathe.
I wrapped my arms around him and then slid them down, gripping his ass and pulling him closer so his hot, hard cock rubbed against my wetness.
He gripped the side of my face. “Tell me, Emerson, has it ever been as good with anyone else?”
“Lynx…”
“Tell me,” he demanded.
“Never.”
“Then why are you so anxious to give it up?”
Before I could answer, he thrust his tongue into my mouth while we ground our bodies against each other.
I was so lost in him that I couldn’t figure out what that sound was, until my father stopped clearing his throat and coughed.
I pulled away and buried my face in Lynx’s chest.
“Sorry to interrupt, you two. I just wanted you to know that we have tickets to a play in the city tonight. Your mom and I are going to head out now.”
“Rick, did you tell them we aren’t coming back tonight?” I heard my mother holler from upstairs.
“Not yet, sweetheart.”
“Okay, well, we won’t be, and since we have plans with Buster and Annie two days later, I don’t think we’ll return until the end of the week.”
Lynx stepped away but not far enough that I could jump down from the counter.
“Have a good time,” I murmured, half-hiding my heated face.
“You too,” my mom said with a wave as she walked from the staircase straight outside. “We’ll lock the door on our way out.”
When I heard the car leave, I faced him.
“I want you naked, Emerson.”
He settled between my legs, but I couldn’t get close enough. I wanted every inch of my body touching his—skin on skin.
“Hold on,” he said, putting his hands under my ass.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking you…somewhere. I don’t know where.”
More than anything, I wanted him to carry me out to the daybed on the back porch. But it was the middle of the day, there were people on the beach, probably the same families who’d heard me screaming at Paxon over the phone a few days ago.
“Put me down.”
“I don’t want to.”
“If you do, I’ll take you someplace I think you might like.”
“If you’re there, I’ll like it.” He slid me down his body, so I could feel every hard edge of it against my softness.
I took his hand and led him out to the pool, closed the gate behind us, and walked over to the pool house. It was really more like an oversized cabana with two separate sides. One side had a changing room, a small kitchen, even a television, and big, fluffy, terry-cloth-covered chairs to sit in. But the opposite side was where I was taking Lynx.
I flung the double door open and waved my hand for him to come inside.
“Clothes off, Emerson.”
Once I was naked, he pushed me down on the bed, spread my legs, and then spread the lips of my pussy.
“Lynx…please…”
“Tell me what you need, Emerson.”
I grabbed one of his hands and pushed it between my legs. When he thrust two fingers inside me and his tongue pressed against my clit, my entire body arched as an orgasm seized through me.
I quivered in his arms. “Please,” I begged again. My pussy clenched with the need for him to fill me with his cock. When Lynx was inside me, it was as though I felt whole, complete, that our bodies were made to be the perfect fit. “I need you,” I begged, urging him up my body.
25
Lynx
As she came apart in
my arms, every ounce of possessiveness in me roared to life. I wanted this woman to be mine and only mine. I wanted to spend hours with my head between her tits, sucking, kneading, licking, loving, but I needed something more. I needed her mouth, and when I got it, I didn’t want to let it go.
I moved up her body and made love to her mouth with mine like I had her pussy. Her scent, her taste lingered, and I wanted her to know how much I fucking loved it.
Emerson’s body writhed beneath mine as I thrust my tongue in her mouth like I planned to thrust my rock-hard cock into her pussy.
I pulled away. If I didn’t, I’d spend the next hour just kissing her, and Emerson wanted more. “Spread your legs,” I demanded, and she shuddered. Damn, I loved that.
I lined my cock up at her entrance; her eyes were wide as I eased into her. When I was buried as far as I could go, something in me broke loose. Letting myself off the leash, I pounded into her, my pubic bone crashing into her clit with every thrust. I ground myself deeper until I felt her pussy clench on me like a vice.
I moved her hair from her face. “Look at me,” I demanded. “Keep your eyes open and look at me.”
She did, and a scream broke from her lips. “Lynx, Lynx…” It was a mantra, a cry, all the while, her pussy maintained its strangle-hold on my cock.
When her trembling eased, I pulled away and flipped her over. Emerson groaned. “On all fours.” Now that I knew my demands made her crazy with need, I wouldn’t stop. When I drove my cock back inside her, she cried out.
“Tell me how good you feel, Emerson.”
“I’m going to come again, Lynx.”
“Wait,” I said, slowing and pulling almost all the way out. I wrapped my arm around her middle and surged into her, driving punctuated thrusts into her drenched pussy. I pounded harder and harder, driving in so deep I was afraid I might hurt her, but when she picked up the pace I’d slowed, I let myself go.
“Emerson,” I growled as the most powerful orgasm I’d ever had continued to pulse from within me.
I pulled out and flipped her over, hating how cold and alone I felt when I did. I needed Emerson—to be with her, inside her, to never let her go.
What I felt was so profound, so amazing, I felt myself ready to lay it all out at her feet. “Did I hurt you?” I asked, pushing away feelings that could only be described as inappropriate.
Emerson had a faraway look in her eyes. “Only in the best way.”
“What are you thinking?”
She sighed. “I live in Boston. You live…somewhere else…I don’t know where you live.”
“I live in London.” There was no sense attempting to skirt the issue. We had two very different lives, led in two very different places, but I didn’t want to dwell on it. Not when the woman I’d fantasized about for three years was naked in my arms.
She pulled away, sat up, and put her legs over the side of the bed.
“Where you going?”
She walked out of the cabana and over to the edge of the pool. Before diving in, she looked over her shoulder. “Swimming,” she said with a luscious smile on her face.
26
Emerson
I dove deep, willing the saltwater to wash away the tears that filled my eyes when I thought about Lynx leaving.
I’d known he would. There was never any question that he would return to England or wherever his job took him next.
We spent one night together years ago, and now we’d spent one week. I told myself we’d gotten to know each other, but that was silly. We hadn’t scratched the surface. I swam to the other end of the pool, came up for air, and then swam the length back.
As I swam, I felt the ache of my need for physical activity. My body needed to move; I needed to sweat. Even when I worked fourteen- or fifteen-hour days, I found time to run.
When I reached the other end and came up for air again, Lynx was sitting on the edge, his legs dangling in the water.
“Coming in?”
“Watching your naked body glide through the water is mesmerizing.”
“Yeah?” I said, pushing my feet from the wall so I floated on my back.
“Holy Mother of God,” I heard him mutter. It made me think of something else I didn’t know about him.
“Lynx, are you religious?”
He jumped in, swam over to me, and parted my legs; he was tall enough to stand in the water between them. I had wrapped them around his body and paddled with my arms to stay afloat. Instead, he put his arms around my waist and pulled me upright so my breasts were against his chest. I could feel his hardness poking me.
“To answer your question, not in a traditional sense.” He angled his head and kissed me. “Right now, it’s only at your altar I want to worship.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “What about you?”
“No.” I don’t know why I brought it up. I wanted to ask him everything I didn’t know, but not in such a serious way. “Any broken bones?”
“Collarbone. You?”
“Tibial plateau.”
“How did you do that?”
“Skiing. What’s your favorite color?”
“I’ve two. Tawny port and ocean blue.”
I scrunched my eyes. “That’s so specific.”
“Yes, it is.”
I leaned back and floated with my legs still around Lynx’s waist. The light reflected in the water in such a way that I couldn’t see his face, but I let my eyes wander down his torso. “How do you stay in such good shape?”
He reached out and tweaked one of my nipples. “I haven’t been this week. My regular workouts have fallen by the wayside, I regret to admit.”
“I was thinking the same thing earlier.”
The next morning when I got out of bed after spending most of the night having orgasm after orgasm rung out of me, I regretted my suggestion that we go for a run on the beach. I regretted stopping at the local gym afterwards even more.
By the time Lynx went through what he referred to as a light workout, I was ready for a massage and a glass of wine followed by twenty-four hours of sleep.
I got the massage and the wine, but sleep? Not so much.
—:—
My parents ended up staying in the city until Friday, and then my mother called to ask if I wanted them to stay longer.
“This is your house,” I said when she asked if I was absolutely sure it was okay for them to return to the Cape.
“We wanted to give you and Lynx some privacy.”
“Mom, please.”
“I might’ve been able to talk your father into staying away, but I think there’s something he wants to discuss with Lynx. After our dinner with Buster and Annie, the two have been talking more frequently. Oh, wait. What did you say, Rick?” It sounded like my mom put her hand over the phone. “Honey, your dad wants to talk with you. Hold on.”
“Emme?”
“Hi, Dad.”
“Listen, there’s been a slight change of circumstance since your mom’s been on the phone with you. I’m going to need you and Lynx to come into the city.”
“Is everything okay?”
“I hope so.” Dad cleared his throat. “We’ll talk about it when you get here.”
After I’d hung up and gone to look for Lynx, I could tell he’d just ended a conversation similar to mine.
“My dad wants us to come into the city.”
Lynx eyes were hooded. “Yes.”
“What’s going on?”
“I’m not exactly certain.”
It looked more like he did know, but didn’t want to tell me.
“Lynx?”
“I’ve arranged for helicopter transport. It will arrive in approximately twenty minutes.”
“I’ll get my things together.”
When the helicopter landed in the same place it had before, Lynx took my bags and pulled me toward it even though the blades hadn’t stopped turning. “Keep your head down,” he shouted.
He climbed in and then held his hand out for me to do the sa
me.
“Emerson, this is Angel.” He motioned to the woman sitting in the pilot’s seat. I put on the headset she handed me.
“Nice to meet you, Emerson,” she said. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Nice to meet you too,” I said, turning in my seat to glare at Lynx.
“What?” he mouthed, holding up both of his hands.
I wouldn’t say anything now when she could hear me, but Angel wasn’t just pretty, she was fucking gorgeous. Model gorgeous. Like Tommy, she was so ridiculously beautiful, they could be featured in an underwear ad together.
When we landed, Mario was waiting to transport us by car to my building.
Once we were on our way, I folded my arms and looked out the side window.
“What’s bothering you?” Lynx asked.
“Why did you talk to her about me?”
“It isn’t what you think.”
“If it isn’t what I think, what is it?”
“It wasn’t me. It was Saint.”
“Is she his girlfriend?”
He looked confused. “Angel?”
I nodded.
“No.”
“Is she your girlfriend?”
“That isn’t worthy of a response.”
“What did Tommy tell her about me?”
He shook his head. “It isn’t important.”
“It is to me.”
We were in front of my building, and Lynx hadn’t said anything more.
“Tell me,” I repeated.
“Emerson…”
“I need to know.”
“Very well. He told her that one day he’d marry you.”
27
Lynx
“That’s not logical.”
No, it wasn’t. Nor did it make sense that Saint had told me they’d been seeing each other prior to his disappearance. But my concern now had little to do with my missing agent, at least on the surface.
Undercover Agent Page 14