by Taylor Lee
Ruby put her arm around Francis. “I know how upsetting this must be, Francis. But we can’t discuss it here. Let’s leave now. Come, we’ll go out the side door.”
At that moment Ian returned and reached for the older woman’s hand. His concern was apparent.
“Ruby is right, Francis. Noah is with Senator Walker. Noah told me he thought it was better if he dealt with his father alone. He’s going to take him to a bar where he can calm down. Perhaps Noah will get John to tell him what is upsetting him.”
Ruby chimed in. “Francis, if anyone beside Ian can get through to his father, Noah can. There’s nothing we can do here. I’ll let our driver know we’re ready to leave.”
She turned to Diamond, including her in the arrangements.
“Why don’t you come with us, Diamond? The Walkers have a number of guest rooms. I’m sure that Francis would love to have you join us.”
Francis quickly agreed.
“By all means, my dear. You are always welcome in our home.”
Ian stepped forward and took hold of Diamond’s arm and pulled her next to him. His voice was crisp, authoritative.
“Thank you, Francis. But that won’t be necessary. Diamond is staying with me.”
Chapter 18
Diamond waited until they got into the elevator to give Ian an overview of her encounter with the Club 69 women.
Clearly impressed, Ian whistled. “Damn, Sweetheart. You hit a home run. Not only by connecting with the Club 69 women, but by identifying the specific woman involved with John Walker.”
At that moment, they reached the twelfth floor. Ian held onto her arm as he led her down the hallway to their suite. His firm grip didn’t surprise her. He’d reached for her when they were leaving the ballroom and hadn’t let go of her since. Even when they were riding up in the elevator he’d held her snugly next to him. When he informed Ruby and Francis Walker that rather than going with them, Diamond would be staying with him, she wasn’t sure who was more taken back by his surprising declaration, Ruby or herself.
Diamond didn’t know how to react to Ian’s sudden possessiveness. She admitted that it was flattering, but his attentiveness also made her uneasy. As they ate up the distance from the elevator to their suite, her nervousness changed to trepidation. Thinking about being alone with Ian for the whole night in the king-bed suite, she panicked. For a moment she wondered what would happen if she made a run for it. The stairway to the exit was only steps away. If she ran like hell…. She sniffed at the ridiculous thought. Knowing Ian’s strength and incredible physical agility, he’d probably be on top of her in seconds, not minutes. The image of him pressing her against the staircase wall shot a blast of sensation though her throbbing body—confirmation that this powerful man held all the cards. Ian must have sensed her intent because he tightened his grip and held her close to him as he juggled with the key card to the door.
Once they stepped inside, he actually let go of her and made a production of locking the door behind him. Sliding the various safety locks and chains into place, he held up the key card and slipped it into his jacket pocket.
Reaching out, he pinched her cheek, a lazy grin flickering across his face. His voice was taunting, playful.
“No running, Tiger. I’ve got you penned in my lair. Consider yourself captured, baby.”
Ian laughed when Riley pushed his hand away and strode into the room, determined to put distance between them. Diamond breathed a sigh of relief when, rather than following her, he headed for the well-stocked bar in the corner. That small distance helped her to regain her composure. Or at least a smidgen of it. Even from across the room she caught a whiff of his tempting fragrance. It was a mixture of sandalwood, expensive cologne and his unique masculine scent. The provocative fragrance had been haunting her throughout the evening. Added to the taut muscles she felt in his arms and chest when he insisted on anchoring her next to him, Diamond knew her only hope to survive the night was to stay physically as far away from the overwhelming man him as she could.
Standing next to the bar, Ian slipped off his dinner jacket and tossed it onto a nearby chair. He tugged his necktie loose and threw it on top of the jacket. Sliding his fingers around his collar, he undid the top buttons of his shirt releasing the restrictive bindings and breathed an audible sigh.
As he reached into the liquor cabinet and removed several bottles, he murmured, “God, I’ve been thinking all night how good it would feel to get out of this monkey suit.”
Glancing at her over his shoulder, he swept his gaze over her fully clothed body and chuckled. “However, my lovely whorish-looking woman, do know this is not an equal opportunity disrobing adventure. I insist that you leave that provocative dress in place.” His grin widened. “At least until I’m ready to take it off of you, piece by piece.”
He held up his hand to stop her outraged diatribe.
“Hang on, Tiger. We both deserve a stiff jolt of the highest octane booze I can find in this collection, before we attempt to make sense of this evening.”
He poured them each a tumbler full of Bushmills and handed one to her.
“To you my lovely whore—and incredibly competent agent.”
Diamond managed to ignore his provocative taunt and focused instead on his praise of her accomplishments. She couldn’t help but be pleased when he didn’t hold back.
“You really were masterful tonight, Diamond. I still can’t believe in such a short time you were able to find the woman John Walker is involved with.”
He ran his hand through his tousled hair and frowned, not able to hide his distress. “Not that I wanted confirmation that our client is seeing a prostitute, but at least now we know what we’re up against.”
Maybe it was his casual description of her as his “whorish woman” or the memory of the crowd of elite men and women looking at her in shock certain that she truly was Ian’s paramour. Remembering her embarrassment, Diamond’s fragile reserve snapped. She settled on her need to focus on Marjorie. The memory of the haughty woman who’d looked at her as if she was the worst kind of slut exploded what slippery grip Diamond had on her sanity.
“Tell me, Ian. What was the real purpose of the dress? Were you trying to get back at Marjorie? You didn’t have the courage to tell the witch you didn’t want a committed relationship, so you brought in your trashed-up whore to say it for you? Not a very nice thing to do to your partner, by the way? Ya think? Or was your goal to taunt her and at the same time make me a laughing stock of the party? A twofer of sorts?”
The lump in her throat threatened to choke her making it impossible for her to continue. She turned away from him, struggling to keep her tears at bay.
Clearly surprised by her emotional accusation, Ian made an obvious attempt to placate her.
“I thought I have been clear about my expectations of you tonight, Agent Davis.” He couldn’t hide the smile that flitted across his face. “Although getting rid of Marjorie was a side benefit. One I hadn’t planned on—or at least not exactly.”
At Riley’s angry gasp, he reached for her arm and turned her toward him. His frown confirmed that he was serious, no longer teasing her.
“Listen up, Diamond. I bought that sensational dress for you for a number of purposes. The first was to signal to the Club 69 women that you were one of them, to give you the opportunity to connect with them. From what you told me in the elevator, you were successful.”
She pushed his arm away and stepped back putting distance between them. Raising her chin, she glared at him determined to claim her victory and get their conversation back to a professional level.
“Yes, Ian, I was more than successful. I’ve confirmed in no uncertain terms that the woman who calls herself Tiffany had a promiscuous relationship with Senator Walker. More important, she indicated that the relationship is over and that she’s angry as hell that it is. You should’ve heard her. The ‘woman scorned’ doesn’t begin to describe her.”
Ian nodded and huffed a hard s
igh. “Yes, Diamond, thanks to you, we have compelling evidence that John Walker has his dick in a vise and he’s infuriated a very dangerous woman.”
He quaffed a hearty swallow of his drink then leaned back against the liquor cabinet. Scrubbing at his chin, Ian frowned thoughtfully.
“Our challenge now is to determine if Tiffany is sending the emails to our beleaguered client. Or, God forbid, that Deacon Brunson has discovered their illicit relationship and is threatening to make it public.”
Diamond shrugged. “Or that they both are sending the emails.”
Ian snorted in disgust. “You’re right, my perceptive partner. The worst of all options is that they are working together with the express purpose of bringing John Walker to his knees.”
They were silent for a long moment considering the very likely possibility that their friend and client was in an impossible situation. Unfortunately, one that he had brought on himself.
Diamond wasn’t sure why she did it, but she needed to go back to the damn dress that he had made her wear. She couldn’t let go of her anger or frankly her embarrassment that he had insisted on dressing her like the prostitute they were seeking.
Taking a bracing swallow of the potent alcohol, she screwed up her courage and faced Ian.
“If you don’t mind, Col. Ross, I’d like to go back to this dress. You said that connecting with Club 69 was only one of the reasons you made me wear it. As for the second reason? Let me guess. Admit it. You think I’m uptight which makes it even more enjoyable to make fun of me.”
His lip quirked up at the corner and he shrugged.
“Can you blame me, Tiger? You have to concede, you’re immensely fun to tease.”
He reached for the Bushmills bottle and refilled his glass. Keeping his gaze on her, he moved toward her and held up the bottle.
“I think a refill might help take the edge off this this conversation, don’t you agree?”
When she shook her head and refused to hold out her glass, his expression hardened.
“Hmm, apparently my prickly partner doesn’t agree.”
Gazing at her through narrowed eyes, his voice was cool with a hint of anger.
“Let me once again be clear. And this time I will tell you the real reason I bought that dress for you, okay? I bought it because I knew how it would look on you.”
He reached out and took her glass from her hand and placed it on the cabinet next to his. His voice was firm, commanding.
“Come here, Diamond.”
When she jumped back in surprise, he shook his head.
“Uh uh, baby. I told you when we came in here that there is no running tonight. We’re going to deal with this issue and deal with it now.”
Diamond stammered, “What…issue?”
He gave a soft snort and reached for her hand. Tugging her over to the floor to ceiling windows, he held her in front of him.
The scene playing out below them was a magnificent display of light and dark. The panoply of city lights refused to be outdone by a glittering shower of stars lighting the dark midnight sky. The sliver of a crescent moon darted playfully from behind filmy clouds. The interplay of natural and artificial light against the windows provided a nearly perfect reflective mirror. Diamond gazed at herself and the imposing man standing behind her.
Leaning down, Ian put his lips against her ear and murmured, “Look at you, Diamond. Do you see what I see? Do you see the most beautiful, most provocative, most desirable woman in the world? Do you, baby?”
Stunned at the wave of sensation flooding her, Diamond couldn’t hold back a soft moan. She slammed her eyes shut not able to meet his impassioned gaze.
“Oh no you don’t, darling. You don’t get to look away. You need to see what I see. Christ, Diamond, when I saw when you walk out of that dressing room wearing this cock-teasing concoction, my prick shot out like a thoroughbred leaving the starting gate. It’s been a rigid steel rod since. Admit it, baby, you have to feel it hard against your back.”
Pulling her more firmly against him, Ian pressed his fierce arousal against her ass, wringing a tortured groan from her lips.
“You can feel that, can’t you, sweetheart? How could you not? And, honey, just so you know, I’m not an aberration. There wasn’t a man in that ballroom tonight who wasn’t struggling to find a way to hide his reaction to you.” He barked a short laugh. “I can tell you, Tiger, a lot of napkins on men’s laps did double duty tonight.”
He ran his hand over the front of the dress, tracing the lace covering her lush breasts, and shook his head. His voice was filled with wonder.
“Look at your beautiful breasts, Diamond. This dress can barely contain them.” He smiled and said, “It’s a good thing this lace is as strong as it is, because your hard nipples are begging to be free.”
Diamond gasped when he tweaked her nipples, feeling them tighten and swell.
“No, no, Ian, don’t. I don’t want you to do that.”
His voice was low, raspy. “You’re right, I shouldn’t do that. Because if I do, there’s no way that I can finish telling you why I gave you this dress.”
He stroked his hand over her hip and dragged his fingertips across her belly, chuckling at her sharp intake of air. Before she could push his hand away, he reached behind her and ran his fingers over her bottom lightly pinching one firm cheek.
At her startled cry, he laughed hoarsely. “Oh baby, that’s the least I want to do with that sweetheart ass of yours. But more on that later, much more. First I need to focus on your gorgeous legs. Those long, firm, toned beauties take my breath away. And Christ, as if they aren’t sexy enough, those ‘fuck me’ shoes are enough to make me lose every bit of restraint I have. Of course, it doesn’t help knowing that under that skin tight dress you are wearing a miniscule thong.”
She startled, not knowing how he could possibly know that. As if to prove the point, he slid his hand up under her dress and pinched the tender skin of her bare inner thigh.
Diamond couldn’t hold back a low moan. Which would have been bad enough, if she hadn’t arched her hips to his probing fingers, her shameless body begging him for more.
In response, Ian held her tightly against his firm body with one arm, and with the other hand he stroked her cheek. His low crooning murmur sent a shower of electric sparks along the inside of her thighs. Diamond squeezed her legs together praying Ian wouldn’t pick up on the tell-tale dampness moistening her ‘barely there’ thong.
“Ah yes, that sexy little moan is what I like to hear. Admit it, Tiger. You know you look and feel sexy as hell in this dress. Don’t deny it, love. That giveaway flush on your cheeks says what you refuse to say in words.”
Knowing how close she was to succumbing to his overwhelming sexual prowess, Diamond tried desperately to push him away. But his low chuckle and the fact that he was parked solidly behind her confirmed the futility of her resistance. Trying to take charge of her rapidly diminishing control, she turned to her tried and true way of keeping men at a distance—her viperous tongue.
“Stop, Ian. Why the ‘we’re going to be lovers’ pretense? Why didn’t you just ask me to be your whore?” She added bitterly, “After all, that’s the part I play on 90% of the missions, and what you obviously wanted from me. Be honest with yourself, Ian. You want a whore, not a lover.”
In response, Ian threaded his hand through her hair and tugged on it. The mix of pain and pleasure at the aggressive move sent a firestorm of sensation raging up her spine. Diamond knew she might fall to the floor if Ian hadn’t been holding her as tightly as he was. Weaving his fingers more firmly in her hair, he pulled her head back forcing her to meet his gaze. His eyes were bright with barely suppressed lust.
He grasped her chin between his thumb and forefinger, his voice was thick with a combination of arrogance and desire. “You’re dead wrong, Tiger. I want both.”
Chapter 19
Struggling to free herself, Diamond twisted against him but his grip was too firm. She cried
out, “Damn you, Ian, what…what are you doing?”
Ian’s voice was raspy but tinged with amusement. “Since for some reason I haven’t made myself clear, let me explain. I’m doing what a lover does, Tiger. I’m preparing to make love to you.”
“Ian, don’t…don’t make fun of me.”
“Oh darling, I intend to do many things to you tonight but making fun of you isn’t one of them. Au contraire, my lovely woman. By the time I am finished savoring every part of your luscious body, you will truly know what it means to be loved.”
Still not believing that Ian wasn’t teasing her, Diamond tried not to give into the feverish need racing through her. But his strong body pressing against her weakened her resistance. Unable to do more than whimper, she pleaded with him to understand.
“Ian, please, don’t. I can’t….”
“Can’t what, darling? Can’t let me hold you like I’m doing? You already are. Can’t let me touch you, revel in you?”
Diamond fought the urge to press against him, instinctively craving the weight of his arousal hard against her ass.
He laughed, a raspy sound. “Yeah, Tiger keep doing that. Press up against me. Feel how hard I am for you. Christ, baby, this afternoon when you were fighting me and I held you against the wall, do you have any idea how close I came to stripping off those sexy jeans and fucking you then and there?!”
Shocked at his explicit language, Diamond dug her fingernails into his arms, anything to still his roving hands. But even as she pushed his hands away, she felt her breasts swell, her nipples tighten. From his low laugh she was sure that he could see that her nipples were hard pointed nubs aching for his touch.
“I’m glad I didn’t take you then, Diamond. Because the first time I make love to you, darling, it isn’t going to be a quickie against the wall. Hell no.”
“Stop. I…I can’t.”
Ignoring her plaintive plea, Ian loosened the clip on her hair and letting it cascade over her shoulders. When he buried his face in it, she tried to pull away but only succeeded in exposing more of her throat to his teasing lips.