by Marie Harte
She glanced down to see him half-hard. “Again?”
“Yeah. But this time we do it on the bed, after I’ve made a meal of you… Right after you tell me why you’re acting so bitchy with me.”
“I am not.”
“Liar.” He kissed her again, and the anger felt good.
She gripped his cock, and he froze. Pumping him, she stared into his eyes, saw his labored breathing, the dilated pupils. “Why don’t you tell me the truth? Are you working me for some reason? Using me to get something? Because you don’t need to. I’m happy fucking you. Orgasms aplenty,” she mocked, wishing she could tell if the anger in his eyes was from being found out or because she’d read him so wrong.
“Blow me and I’ll tell you,” he said, watching her.
She grabbed the soap and washed him thoroughly, getting him nice and hard in the process.
“Yeah, get on your knees,” he said in a thick voice, looking better wet than any man had a right to. “Open that smart mouth. Let’s watch you gag on some cock.”
She knelt and opened her mouth, taking refuge in their shared anger, blotting out the emotional quickening of her heart. His hand fisted in her hair, and he pulled her closer, fucking her mouth instead of allowing her to take him.
The loss of control nearly shot her into orbit. Holy…she’d never been so turned on before.
“Eat me,” he growled, surging in and out of her mouth. “That’s right. Act the bitch all you want, but you need me. You feel something more than anger, don’t you, Blondie?” His breath hitched as she grazed her teeth down his shaft.
She cupped his balls, and he jerked, shoving farther down her throat.
She gagged, then took more of him.
“Gotta get deeper. Fuck, yeah. Suck me, baby. Suck me harder.” He continued to pump in her mouth, holding her tight by the hair. Grunting, groaning, he strained to reach his end, and her powerful response to his desire confused her. Because getting him off aroused her as much as if he’d touched her in the same way.
“Gonna come,” he warned.
She sucked harder.
He swore and released, filling her mouth with warmth. She swallowed him down, loving the fact he’d lost his control with her. But before she could bask in it, he dragged her to her feet, shut off the water, then pushed her, wet and cold, out of the shower.
“Now let’s finish talking about what happened on the ferry and what this fuckfest is really about.”
* * *
The woman grated against his last fucking nerve. What the hell kind of blowjob had that been? Angry, possessive, and so damn hot he’d seen black for a moment. Fucking her mouth had been a thing of beauty. Watching her swallow him, seeing the frustrated need in her eyes, soothed a bit of his own confusing emotions.
He had little control around her to begin with, but he thought he’d done much to earn her trust. One careless, lying comment from the enemy and Solene was doubting him all over again.
Well, hell.
Solene glared at him, and he glared back, then hefted her over his shoulder in an undignified fireman’s carry and hauled her and two towels into the bedroom.
He dumped her on her feet, then briskly dried her off despite her protests and slapping hands. He grabbed a robe from behind the bathroom door and forced her into it, then tossed her on the bed. “Shut up and stay put.”
She gaped, and he nearly laughed at the shock holding her mute.
Hurriedly drying off, he then wrapped the towel around his waist. No sense in waving his “flag” if she had no intention of blowing him a salute him again. And he had such plans for her fine ass…
“From the beginning. Tell me what you remember from the ferry. All of it.” He placed his hands on his hips, meaning business.
She looked gorgeous, her hair slicked back, her shoulders still damp, a drop of water spilling between her bountiful breasts, visible in her parting robe. She told him everything Sue Ahn had told her, her eyes a glaring whiskey-brown as she added the part about him supposedly breaking Sue’s heart and lying about loving her.
“And you believed that bullshit?” He started laughing, unable to stop, even when Solene turned from peeved to furious.
“You think it’s funny that you’re going around breaking hearts? What? Just one more conquest to add to your long list? What am I? Number six hundred and twenty?”
He stopped laughing long enough to mock her. “You are so stupid for someone so smart.”
“Fuck you.”
“I thought we already did that.” He jeered. “Now, if you’re done being insane for two seconds, think. Think hard. No way in hell would I ever touch Sue Ahn. She was a contractor groupie, and she had a real thing for Hammer. When he refused to take advantage of a naïve trainee, she moved on to me. I said hell no. Not as nicely as Hammer did. Then she glommed on to Burleigh.”
Solene blinked. “Burleigh? The same guy you think is behind all this?”
“Yep. So that’s your first mark of stupidity. Thinking I’d ever do a woman like that.”
“What? An innocent, naïve woman?”
“No, a user. Sue has never been anything but a scheming manipulator out to use whoever she can to her advantage. No way I’d sleep with her. I have some standards.” He gave her a throughout once-over and nodded. “I mean, I did you.”
She glared.
“I don’t know why you’re getting so pissed at me. I never lied to you. I never promised you a seven-carat diamond and a house in the Hamptons. I thought we were enjoying each other. I’m not forcing you to do anything you don’t want to.”
“I didn’t say you were,” she snapped.
He wanted to bang his head against the wall. “Then what the hell is your problem?” he enunciated, his voice rising. “Because I’m confused as hell!”
“So am I!” she yelled back. Then she sniffled.
Panic hit him, freezing everything. “Stop. Damn it. Don’t you cry.”
“I’m not.” She sniffled again. Then she wiped her eye, blinking rapidly.
“Aw, shit. Solene.”
“What?” More tears, these she couldn’t hide.
He groaned and joined her on the bed, pulling her stiff frame into his as he cuddled her on top of the covers. He kept his voice gentle, not wanting to upset her more. “What is your problem, woman?”
“People are trying to kidnap and kill me. I’m scared.”
“Baby, it’s okay. I got you.”
“I’m scared of you, you moron.” She gave his arm an ineffectual punch. “You’re sexy and funny and great in bed.”
“More like amazing, but okay.” This time he oofed as she socked him in the gut.
“I like you. More than I should. And it’s all happening so fast.” She hiccupped. “I don’t trust men. I don’t even like people that much,” she said bluntly. “But I like you. I care about you, damn it. Then to hear someone else say what I secretly fear, being burned by a man who’s just using me… I just… I can’t go through that again. I can’t have you turn on me when I need you most.” Tears poured down her cheeks. “I—”
“No,” he interrupted. “I’m sorry.” He wiped her tears, then tilted her chin so he could look into her beautiful eyes. “This is a lot for you to handle. And we brought it to your door.” He sighed. “Solene, if I could take back all the shit you’ve had to deal with—the break-in at the daycare, the attack at your house, the ferry, this cloak and dagger crap—I would. But only to keep you safe. Not ever being able to meet you? Be with you? Watch you laugh, give me shit, pick on Hammer? I wouldn’t trade any of that for the world, Blondie.”
She gave a tremulous smile through her tears, and his heart damn well plummeted and landed at her feet.
“You will surely be the death of me.” He held up a hand when she would have spoken. “Look, we don’t know each other as well as I’d like. But I know the stuff that matters. I know you’d never leave a friend hanging. That you’re stubborn, and you’ll be damned before you let Burle
igh and whoever else is fucking with us get the upper hand. That you care about those kids at your daycare as much as you care about your friends.
“You don’t let anyone in” —he tapped her heart— “because you’ve been burned. Been there, done that. I get it. I do. But Solene, I’m not just any guy. I’m the one who…” He wanted badly to say how he felt, but he couldn’t reconcile it with himself yet. Because Deacon didn’t get loopy about any woman, let alone one he’d come to know on a freakin’ job. And she was a civilian at that.
“The one who…what?” she repeated.
“The one you’re gaga over,” he teased.
“Please.” She started to seem more herself, snarky and confident.
“The one who loves how you make fun of the guys. The one who agrees with you that Addy’s naïve. I’m the guy who’s going to teach all those dickheads who messed with you how to apologize to a lady. That’s you, by the way.”
“Oh. Well then. That’s okay.”
He stroked her back. “And I’m the guy who’s gaga over you, okay?” He cleared his throat, not sure if her wide-eyed stare was good or bad. “I like you a lot, Solene. And man, I love fucking you. No doubt.” Her blush turned him on all over again. “You’re the first person who seems to see the real me and is okay with that. You trusted me before. Why stop now? Because one of Burleigh’s henchmen—”
“Henchwomen.”
“Hench-whatever told you not to? Divide and conquer, baby. That’s what the enemy does. But I’ll be damned if I’m leaving your side. We’re going to find these pricks, take ’em out, and end this.”
“Then what? You go back to spy school and I go back to my life?”
“First of all, I haven’t been to spy school since I was a teenager. Second, you don’t have a life.”
“Seriously?”
“You work at a daycare and watch monster movies with Addy. What else do you do except razz me for entertainment?”
She opened and closed her mouth.
“Exactly. Now me? I like long walks on the beach. I like being catered to in a house with a view of the Sound. I like burying myself in a hot blond everyone wants but can’t have. And I like thinking up new names for Little Dee while Hammer’s on diaper duty.”
“That’s all clever and funny, but what about after? When you go back?”
“Who says I’m going back so soon? I have some time to kill. Not literally, I just meant I’ve decided to take a real vacation when I’m done with this op.”
“Oh?”
“And, uh, I was planning to take it here. With you, if that’s okay.”
She blinked at him. “Like stay in my house? Eat my food? Mess up my guest room even more?”
“Look, I do my own laundry. I cook. I look good in everything I wear, or don’t wear. I’m practically perfect.”
“Practically.” Her scared, wide-eyed panic had abated, and she seemed more relaxed. “I guess you could stay with me. Until you go back, that is.”
“Right. Just until I go back.” Which he didn’t intend to do anytime soon. Granted, he’d started this thing with Noel by taking time off from work, but he had so much leave stored up it wasn’t funny. When Big Joe had learned what they were dealing with, he put Deacon and Hammer back on the clock to solve this particular mystery. Deacon was on the job as he spoke. But what a job it was.
Just him and Solene Hansen.
And a mistake to put right—wiping Romero Burleigh off the face of the Earth.
Nine
It was all coming together as he’d planned. Romero Burleigh glanced out of his hotel at the ocean waves crashing around him. He’d spent way too much time in that shitty townhouse with men far beneath him. Romero had plans, and frankly, he burned with vengeance, needing to see those plans come to fruition.
He gripped his bourbon, doing his best to concentrate on the end game and not on the petty revenge he’d once decided on. Who the fuck were Ice, Shadow, and Destroyer to look down on him for being an entrepreneur? He’d seen their files, and the bastards were no better than he’d been growing up.
He’d come back time after time, beaten down, yet not out. No fucking way. He’d survived termination orders, avoided contractors for the better part of two years, and now had a thriving part in the flesh trade. So many fingers in so many pies…
He had eyes on Solene Hansen’s business, Addison Rose’s elementary school, and Ice’s house. A baby landing on Ice’s doorstep had turned him soft, but not so soft he wasn’t still a challenge. Especially with Shadow and Destroyer on hand.
Burleigh snorted. Those fuckups were nothing but fodder for when the big plans finally hit. He might have started small time, but he’d worked himself up the chain, just a few rungs below the king. And he’d learned to be patient, to wait and watch.
With Ice settled into domesticated bliss, he was an easy target. Too easy. Boring. So, Burleigh instead focused on the others. He’d sourced a team to follow Destroyer, from his babysitting duties to his cross-country flights, noting everyone the big man met. Shadow was a bit harder to watch. The assassin moved in and out of the shadows with ease, hence his name. Taking him apart would be a pleasure. And knowing how vulnerable he was where Ms. Hansen was concerned only made his grand plans that much better.
Time to put the next piece in play.
He made a phone call. “Let’s get the body out there. I want to wrap this up. I have plans for Ecuador next Tuesday. I think Wilson prefers blonds.” He smiled into the phone. “Imagine how much fun the senator and Solene Hansen will have?” Just the senator and his leathers and Solene and a ball gag. Now that he’d pay to see.
He finished the call after offering a few more suggestions. As he stood and stared out to sea, he promised himself he’d never go back to India. Never allow himself to be exiled again. No matter who thought they owned him, they were wrong.
His cell buzzed, and he glanced at the number. “Yes?” he answered.
“Should I do it at the daycare, her house, or the woods where she likes to jog? Where do you want it to go down?”
“Her home, I think. It’s a much greater violation.”
“That’s what I was thinking.”
“Not a mark on her. I have plans for my merchandise. But feel free to let them know it was you all along.”
“Roger that. I’ll be in touch.” The caller hung up.
Romero kicked back in his reclining chair and smiled, staring at the growing storm, eager to see it let loose.
Two days after their sojourn to Seattle, Solene sat on her couch and stared at Deacon, wondering what he was thinking as he stared back.
He raised a brow. “What?”
“What what?” she said absently.
He had the most amazing features. That square jaw, handsome nose. Those firm lips had a warm touch, made just for kissing. His espresso-brown hair was soft, growing too long, according to him. But she liked the strands trailing down his neck, giving him a roguish appearance. She wanted to kiss his face all over, tracing his features, then make her way down his neck to his pecs, and lower. So much lower…
She wondered if there might be something wrong with her. For one, she couldn’t stop thinking about having sex with Deacon. She’d never been so desperate for a man in her life, and it didn’t help that the moment they’d returned to her home, he’d reverted to being standoffish. No more watching her shower, going down on her, insisting she blow him. All part of her sexual must-haves.
Nope. Deacon had gone cold turkey on the sex. Just two days of no Deacon and she wanted to climb the walls. Not normal at all. Then she’d been crampy and spotty when her period wasn’t due for another two weeks. No doubt aggravated by all the stress she was under.
To her shock, Deacon had learned that the woman he’d seen in Seattle, the one who’d given him such valuable information about Burleigh, had been found raped and strangled down by the Seattle docks this morning.
Solene hated the fear that continued to filter past her bluster
and demands to be seen as strong. Who the hell was she kidding? This Burleigh guy scared the hell out of her, especially since he seemed more focused on capturing and not killing her.
Rape or death? What a choice.
Not wanting to dwell on that ugliness, she studied her handsome protector, looking for a flaw. She couldn’t find one. Not physically. Emotionally, he was distant. Sexually, he might as well have been cloistered in his room like a fucking nun. And yeah, she was probably going to hell for thinking that, but if she could get there on an orgasm, she’d take it.
“That. That look.” Deacon set down the entertainment magazine he’d been reading, muted the television, and leaned closer to her. “What is that?”
She knew he was pushing her buttons. She just didn’t know why or which ones he wanted her to react to. Did she want the man? Hell, yeah. Would she beg him for sex? Not if he were the last guy on the planet. Did you hear that, self-esteem? That’s a big NO on begging for Deacon. She couldn’t understand why he suddenly found it easy to dismiss her charms.
She’d walked around in short lingerie. She’d forgotten to take her clothes into the bathroom to change and found reasons to walk around in front of him in a towel. She’d even had a long and drawn out conversation with him about sexual fantasies and what she was looking for in a man.
His response? The man went to bed earlier, taking naps at all hours of the day. How the hell could he be guarding her if he was sleeping at all hours?
She drew in a breath and let it out slowly, then made her announcement. “I think the time has come.”
“For?”
She wanted to wipe that smirk off his face. So glad I’m entertaining you. “I think it’s time I entered the dating world again.”
The look on his face—priceless. Finally. She’d found the chink in his studly armor.
“I’m not getting any younger, and I’d like to have a family someday.” Someday far away. She had no plans for her own children anytime soon. “I miss being with a man.”