Hidden Heat: Hauberk Protection, Book 4

by Leah Braemel

  “Fuck yeah.” His snarl caused her pussy to pulse, wanting to be filled instead of her mouth.

  Breathing through her nose, she swallowed each pulsing jet. Once it eased, he released his hold on her. She stayed in place, her tongue gently stroking the sensitive tissues around the softening head, catching the last drops and swallowing them too before she sat back on her heels.

  Sweat beaded his forehead and upper lip, his lids heavy as he stared at her. “You have two choices, Sandy. You either stand up and walk out of this office right now and never come near me again, or you accept that you will never date another man while you’re with me.”

  “I told you,” she said softly. “I don’t casually invite men to stay the night with me. I knew what I wanted when I walked in here. But you should know I’m not looking for a wedding ring or any sort of commitment. And other than in the bedroom, you don’t control me.”

  “You want me to believe you want a relationship based just upon sex? Tell me another one, sunshine.” A muscle along his jaw twitched, a sign she knew betrayed his agitation.

  “No, I like to be friends with my lovers too. To watch movies on the couch. Or football games, though I warn you I am a die-hard Vikings fan. And yeah, I like good sex, and what you did the other night? That was fantastic. Incomplete, but fantastic.”

  “Sandy…”

  “I’m not joking here, Troy. No commitment. When this is over, we’re both free to walk away, no questions asked.”

  What the hell was her game? Troy tried to wrap his head around what had just happened. Sandy had surprised him by kneeling in front of him, but when she’d reached for his zipper, she’d knocked him for a loop. She’d given him one of the best—and most unexpected—blowjobs of his life and then that little speech about not wanting a long-term relationship? What the hell was he supposed to think?

  A week ago, he’d have bet big money that she’d never go down on her knees for a man she barely knew. Disappointment rippled through him. It took him a moment to realize its source. All those times he’d faced gunfire, or assigned others to face bullets and bombs to protect clients, it had been her image he’d imagined they were protecting. He’d liked that image. Knowing there were things in life worth protecting. Pure. Good. Wholesome.

  Now she knelt there, looking up at him like a fallen Madonna. Or perhaps the proverbial cat who had gotten into the cream. As if to punctuate that thought, her tongue darted out and licked a lingering drop of his come from the head of his cock.

  I don’t casually invite men to stay the night with me.

  Before he could say another word, there was a knock on the door that opened immediately afterward and Sam stuck his head in the door. “Hey, Troy, have you…”

  His question trailed off, his gaze fixing on Sandy and where she was in relation to Troy. Aw, shit.

  Sam’s eyes narrowed and he shot him a hard look. “When you get a moment, you want to come into my office.” Not a question but a command. For an ass-chewing most likely.

  “Be right there.”

  Troy waited until the door closed behind Sam before daring to look at Sandy. The blush filling her face told him that she’d realized Sam knew exactly what they’d been doing.

  “Was it worth it?” He couldn’t stop the sharpness of his tone. Nor did he want to. “Was it worth losing your dignity?”

  Sandy pushed herself to a stand and stared back at him, the blush fading, her gaze calm. “I suppose that depends on you, doesn’t it?”

  Without another word, she walked out of his office and sat at her desk. While his brain scrambled to keep up, she booted up her computer and calmly pulled out her notebook.

  Would he ever figure out what had just happened? Was this something she’d done before? Shit, who else’s office had she… Oh, hell, no! Troy pushed himself out of his chair, tucked his dick back into his briefs and stomped into Sam’s office.

  He slammed Sam’s door shut and advanced on his boss. “Swear to me that you’ve never fucked her.”

  Sam leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers over his chest. “Strange, that was gonna be my first question for you. Now plant your ass before I knock you on it.”

  His fingers curled into fists as he stared down at the other man. “Have you ever fucked her? Or had her go down on you?”

  “Nope. Sandy’s not my type—she’s too damned innocent and trusting.”

  “So you’ve appointed yourself her guardian? Is she down with that?”

  “So I look out for her. The same way I do with any woman I like when a hound dog is sniffing around her. But more to the point she’s my employee. Which means hands off. For both of us.”

  “Rosie works for you but that didn’t stop you from fucking her, did it?”

  Sam launched himself from his chair. He planted his fists in the middle of the desk. “You better watch your mouth when it comes to trash talking Rosie. Because I will break your fuckin’ jaw if you disrespect her. Now sit your ass down and shut the fuck up. And goddamn it, zip up your fuckin’ fly, will ya?”

  Mother fucker. At least his dick wasn’t hanging out in the wind. He jerked up the zipper then sat in the chair opposite Sam with a thump. “There. You happy?”

  “Not hardly. I want to know what the fuck is going on between you and Sandy. Before you tell me it’s none of my fuckin’ business, I’ll remind you that it will be my fuckin’ company that gets sued if Sandy decides to hit us with a fuckin’ sexual harassment suit.”

  “I’ll bet you worried about that when you hit on Rosie.”

  Sam’s upper lip curled. “I did. Now answer my fuckin’ question.”

  “With all due respect, considering what you and Rosie were doing in this office last Thursday night, you don’t have the right to tell me, or Sandy, what to do.” He sneered at Sam’s sharp look. “What? You think that door blocked out the sound of you two getting your rocks off? From the sounds of it, you were fuckin’ her right up against the door. So excuse me if I can’t take your rules too seriously when you can’t follow them yourself.”

  “I told you before, and I ain’t gonna tell you again.” Sam’s voice got very quiet, his body completely still. “Keep your dick zipped when you’re in the office. If you have to, use some fuckin’ epoxy. And stay the hell away from Sandy.”

  “Fine. For office hours. What goes on after hours is none of your fucking business. Sir.”

  “Damned straight it’s my business. This is Sandy we’re talking about, not some goddamned faceless woman at the club.”

  “Fuck you and the horse you rode in on.”

  “Listen to me, son. Sandy ain’t your type. She’s straight-up wholesome and deserves someone better than you. Hell, she deserves someone better than me.”

  If she were so wholesome she wouldn’t have gone down on her knees voluntarily, but he’d be damned if he’d say that to Sam. “As I said, what goes on outside of the office between Sandy and me is none of your business.”

  “Yeah. It is. And this is the only warnin’ you’re getting’. Leave her the fuck alone.” Sam’s jaw locked down hard from the way the muscles in his neck strained. He picked up the phone and punched in a number. “John, you want to come in now?”

  Moments later the IT manager walked in, sliding Troy a glance as he sat down. It’s not like he or Sandy had made any noise so there was no way he could have known what they’d been doing. Had he and Sam been yelling loudly enough they could hear what was being said in the office beyond?

  Bloody hell, maybe he was imagining things.

  John took his seat across from Troy. From the shadows under his eyes, he’d had little sleep in the last twenty-four hours. “We had another hacker try to get in last night.”

  As he listened to the details of the attempt to break into the company’s computers, Troy rubbed his temples in an effort to ease the headache gradually building strength. “What’s that make this, the third attack this month?”

  “Fourth.” John plugged his laptop into the v
iewer and launched into an outline of the procedures the IT geeks were taking to prevent a breach of their security.

  Lost by all the geek speak, Troy stared at the screens of data the IT geeks had captured of the hackers’ attempts to penetrate Hauberk security. Yeah, like that helped clarify things for him at all. Show him a blueprint or a timeline of who did what, that he could follow. Even if it were in Russian or Arabic. But this coding gobbledygook? Might as well have been in Martian.

  Thankfully Sam looked just as confused and interrupted John’s lecture. “Yeah, you’re tracking them. Great. What I want to know is do you have any clue of what they’re looking for?”

  “Not so far. They’re testing the firewalls and trying various permutations of passwords and user IDs. It could be a teenager who stumbled upon our system and is poking around to see what damage he can do, or it could be someone attempting to find information on our safe houses or our procedures, but at this stage, it’s anyone’s guess.”

  Frustration gnawed at him. The Sig Sauer in his holster wasn’t a threat to a hacker hidden behind firewalls and proxies. Nor was the knife strapped to his ankle. Give him a hard target to take out. A building to breach. A person or people to hit or defend others against. Tangibles. Those he could fight.

  Chapter Six

  And then Sam walked in. With me kneeling right in front of Troy. Sandy typed in her response to the messenger box she’d opened with Jazz almost as soon as she got home.

  MayB he wanted 2 watch or was pissed he’d missed out.

  Sandy snorted. Especially since Sam/Rosie were obviously going at it—loudly— in his office last week. She hit Send and then continued immediately with a second message. Anyway, he hauled Troy into his office. Rest of day Troy wouldn’t even look at me.

  He might be playing it slo 2 try 2 fool Sam. Don’t read things in2 it. Yet. Jazz responded.

  Easier said than done. Hey, how are things going with Mitch?

  *fans self* popped up on her screen along with an icon of a blushing happy face. Great. Oh, BTW, did you look at those videos he helped me edit yet?

  Shit. Where the heck had Jazz put that thumbdrive? It took ten minutes but she finally found it beneath three days’ worth of junk mail piled on the corner of the desk. She popped the drive into her USB port and loaded the file.

  Oooh, they’re great. Good job.

  Thx. Gotta go. BTW hooking up w/ Mitch l8r, don’t head to bathroom naked 2nite n case he’s still there.

  She clicked on the icon to open the email program to find she had four emails waiting, one from her mother with the details of the party she’d missed and how Ernie’s cousin had been disappointed to miss her—sheesh, would she never give up?—two were jokes, and one was a chain letter an acquaintance insisted on sending her. While she was here, she might as well check her work email too. She opened the VPN program that would let her access the Hauberk private network and typed in her password. When she hit Enter the screen cleared then returned with the password screen. That was weird. She typed in her password again and this time she got into the network.

  She’d finished clearing Chad’s inbox when there was a knock on her door. She peered out the peep hole. Troy. Oh shit, and here she was in her PJs. After a brief debate about whether to change first, she removed the chain and unlocked the door.

  His expression heated as his gaze fell to her pajamas. “Funny. I pictured you wearing skimpy teddies around your apartment.”

  “Sorry to smash that fantasy. I’m all about warmth and comfort.” Damn it, why couldn’t she have been wearing that sexy little teddy she’d bought at Victoria’s Secret a couple months ago? Because her apartment was too freaking chilly to wander around in that type of outfit.

  “To be honest, I find this effin’ sexy.” He toyed with her collar, rubbing the cloth between his fingers. The heat of his hand flowed through the fabric and revived a memory of when he’d touched her skin-to-skin. “I like the glasses too. They’re sexy. Gives you a sort of wanton librarian look.”

  “My contacts were bothering me. How’d your dinner with Senator Brannally go?” Next she’d be showing him the retainer she’d worn. She led him inside her apartment and closed the door.

  “Fine.” He curled his fingers beneath her jaw, his thumb stroking her bottom lip. “I figured we needed to talk without an audience.”

  “Just talk?” She sucked his thumb into her mouth, in an obvious imitation of what she’d done for him earlier.

  “Yes, just talk. You are a cheeky monkey, aren’t you?” He pulled his thumb from her mouth and shook his head, but he couldn’t hide the smile tugging at the edges of his mouth.

  She wrapped her arms around his waist, enjoying the strength of him beneath her cheek, the lingering remnants of his aftershave and a hint of one of Sam’s cigars filling her nostrils. “I was going for sex kitten or siren or something better than monkey, to be honest.”

  His laugh rumbled deep in his chest. “All right, sex kitten it is.” His smile dimmed. “Did Sam give you any grief today?”

  “Other than giving me the stink eye when he came out to refill his coffee cup a couple times, he didn’t say anything directly if that’s what you’re worried about. What about you? Did he ream you out?”

  “He tried. But I told him given his and Rosie’s antics in his office lately, he can’t say much.”

  “I guess we need to be more discreet. Next time I’ll remember to lock your door.” Though most of the thrill had come from knowing someone might walk in on them.

  “That’s why I came over. We need to talk about if there should be a next time.”

  Damn it. “I want there to be, don’t you?”

  “Things could get complicated.” He swept her bangs to the side. Instead of dropping his hand, he toyed with her earring, his fingers occasionally brushing the sensitive skin behind her ear. He might as well have been playing with her pussy from the way it pulsed with each touch.

  “I told you. I’m not looking for a long-term relationship, if that’s what you’re concerned about.”

  His expression confirmed he doubted her assertion.

  “Look, I’m serious,” she continued. “That’s one of the reasons why I moved to D.C. If I’d stayed in Minnesota, I would have died of boredom. Nothing exciting ever happened there. I don’t see myself as settling down anytime soon. So if you think I’m going to tie you down, I won’t.”

  The doubt in his face didn’t recede. “What do you want, sunshine?”

  “I want to explore sides of me I wouldn’t have had a chance to back in Minnesota. I’m tired of people thinking I’m nice, quiet Sandy. That I’m looking for the white picket fence and two point five kids. So if you picture a relationship of missionary position with the lights out, then I’m not your girl. I want to live my life on the edge. I want excitement. I don’t want to look back when I’m Mom’s age and regret anything. Is that too real for you?”

  His smile returned, softening the sharp planes of his face. “Getting on your knees and blowing me shouldn’t rank very high on the excitement meter. You might want to try skydiving or running a marathon. Maybe running with the bulls in Pamplona.”

  “I found this afternoon exciting.” Apparently he didn’t feel the same way. “As for skydiving and marathons, maybe one day I’d like to try skydiving, but running? That’s not something I’m into. But you, I could definitely get into you.” And she’d prefer he get into her too.

  He dropped his hand with a sigh. “So you’re just looking for sex.”

  “Not just sex, but yeah, that’ll be a start.”

  Was that disappointment on his face? Weren’t all guys looking for the scenario she’d laid out for him? Well, not all guys. Glen hadn’t been.

  “I travel a lot, sunshine. Which means I may break a lot of dates, and I may not be around for your birthday or when your family’s visiting. So if that’s going to be a problem…”

  “No. It won’t be any problem. Believe me.”

  “If w
e’re going to date, I expect you to date only me, no one else at the same time.”

  “I can live with that as long as that restriction goes both ways.”

  “Of course.”

  “Look, I don’t want you to think I’m some sort of skank who sleeps around a lot. I just…” How the hell did she explain? “I have certain expectations. Like I expect you to get me off whenever we have sex, and we don’t have to have sex every single night, or have sex be the only reason we’re together, but I don’t want to be Suzy Homemaker—”

  “—like your mother. I get it. And if your experience with sex is that the guy doesn’t get you off every single time? Then you’ve been dating some real losers.”

  Ouch. True, but still. “Not everyone has been bad. It’s not like I’ve never had an orgasm before. A couple guys—”

  He pressed his fingers against her lips, stopping her. “I do not want to know about my predecessors, sunshine. But while we’re on the subject, I will want to see your health records. I’ll let you see mine so all’s fair. But we don’t take any chances. Life’s too dangerous to play that type of sexual roulette.”

  His intensity overwhelmed her. In an effort to shake it off, she forced a laugh. “I guess that means a threesome is out?”

  His jaw dropped for a second before he snapped it shut. “I beg your pardon?”

  “You don’t have to sound so surprised.” Sandy shrugged, glad to have him off balance again. “I told you I was into excitement.”

  “Have you really had a threesome before or are you yanking my chain?” She could have spit nails at the suspicion in his voice.

  “I had one once.” She shrugged. Why was it guys could have threesomes, usually with two girls, with no repercussions but girls—women—were immediately considered sluts for the same behavior? “But it was a double wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am where I was basically a guy’s version of a vibrator, you know?”

  “You—You did it with two guys, not with another woman? You had a frickin’ devil’s triangle?” His phantom Irish accent returned in full strength. Obviously she’d totally thrown him.