by Marie Harte
But with her, he waited.
“Want to join me?” he asked, the deep baritone of his voice incredibly sexy.
“In a minute.”
“Bring me that glass, would you?”
She took a sip for herself, grimaced, then crossed to him with the tumbler. “Have at it.”
“Don’t like Scotch?” He smirked.
“Not usually. I’m more a rum and Coke kind of gal.”
He lifted the drink to her in a toast then downed it. All.
“Geez, go easy.”
“Relax, Sister No-Fun, I’m a one and done guy.”
“One and done, huh?”
He pushed the empty glass back from the ledge. “Yep, so what’s up?”
She still wore her robe with nothing underneath. Approaching the pool, she held it up from her knees while she sat on the ledge next to him and dangled her feet and calves in the water. “Oh, it’s nice and warm.”
“Joe likes his luxuries.”
She studied him. “Hammer?”
“Yeah?”
“Did you mean it when you said you wanted to be honest with me?”
“Yes.” No hesitation.
“Is this your house or your uncle’s?”
He looked her in the eye and answered, “It was my parents’. I inherited it and a bunch of other properties when they died. Joe and I share it, but he pretty much lives here all the time. And before you ask, I’m rich as fuck. What else do you want to know?”
Fourteen
Vi frowned. “I thought when the Montgomerys died, all the money went to charity.”
“Most of it did, yes. But we went from billionaires to mega-millionaires. So not a huge jump. My folks hid a lot of our money in trusts and fronted organizations. Much of it funds the Business. A portion of it is mine.” He shrugged. “So yeah, money never meant much to me because it was always there. I just wanted my parents, but that ship sailed.”
She heard the pain he didn’t bother hiding. “Would you tell me about them? About all this?”
He watched her, his scrutiny intense, and said, “My mom met my dad when she was in college. She was a real brain, ahead of all her peers, and already in medical school at the age of twenty. She married my dad a week after she’d met him.” He smiled. “He was a goner too. Love at first sight. But he’d been raised to serve. The Business is in our blood and has been since some great-great Montgomery founded it back in the early 1900s.
“Dad was a contractor and damn good at his job. Uncle Joe tried the CIA. He wanted exposure to outside sources of combat and intelligence. A lot of family tends to go that route before coming back home.”
She nodded. “But now it’s just you and Joe? No one else?”
“Yeah. Just the two of us. Joe’s a hell of a guy. Took me in when they died and asked what I wanted to do with my future. Instead of demanding I join up, he wanted it to be my choice.”
“How old were you?”
“Twelve. My parents didn’t die in some freak accident. They were blown up in a Russian sub on a mission that went very wrong.” He sighed. “It still hurts, though it shouldn’t. I can remember them so clearly some days. They were great people, and they loved me.”
“You were lucky.” She remembered her own childhood and didn’t wish it on anyone.
“I know. Maybe that’s why it’s different for me with what we do. I chose to be here. I wasn’t looking for someone to save me from a bad life or poor choices. So many of us, Deacon, Noel—”
“Me.”
His gaze softened. “You, came from shitty childhoods. The Business was the better option, and you took it. But was it really a fair choice? Me? I wanted this. Knowing everything, from how my parents died to our family history. It’s part of me. I like taking out bad guys. I like protecting the greater good, even if they never know what we’re doing. Joe takes on projects that help people, and yeah, sometimes those assignments are paid by shady organizations. But every target we put out of commission has helped save lives.” He gave her a deprecating smile. “Sorry, I’m not the guy to talk to about morality, I guess.”
“But you have issues with what you think is right versus what your uncle thinks is right,” she reminded him, recalling their conversation about the terrorist and the baby.
He scoffed. “Oh, that’s just Joe and his philosophical talk. It’s a pain, but it’s also good to keep in mind. But never tell him that.” He smiled. “Having the power to take a life is a huge responsibility. I never take it for granted. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. And let’s face it, if we’re ever caught, we’re screwed. Society put laws in place for a reason. We’re just a bunch of knuckleheads who always color outside the lines.” He looked at her, into her, it seemed. “I want to hear about you and your answers. I want to know you, Violet. The real woman, not Phantom.”
“That’s the real me.”
“No, it’s part of you. It’s not all of you.”
She loved that he saw that truth and accepted it.
“It’s hard, what we do. And lying is a part of it,” he acknowledged.
“Right. So how can you open yourself to someone when you’re always keeping a part back?”
“Exactly.” He understood.
And that meant so much.
“My mother died when I was born. I told you that. What I didn’t tell you is that my father used to beat us both. A lot. He was harder on Angel. He had bad friends, people he owed money to, people he worked for.” She hated him so much, still. “He pimped my sister out to pay his debts, so when she turned thirteen, she ran away.”
“Damn. I’m sorry.”
Vi nodded, dry eyed. “I was five years younger, so it took a while before he thought about lending my services out. To this day, I’m not sure if I just got lucky or if Angel was keeping an eye on him. But one day, he went out to take care of a debt, and he had a look on his face. I didn’t trust it.”
“Had he ever hurt you like that?” Hammer asked, his voice soft.
“You mean sexually? No. But he had no problem using me when he needed to. I’d run messages to and from the gang he worked for. Sometimes I ferried drugs, though I had no idea what I was carrying back then. I was cute and little, and people didn’t see me as a threat. But I got older, and Papi had another use for me.”
“Christ.”
“I knew what was coming. I was ready for it. Oh, not to go along with anything. I had a gun I’d borrowed from a friend and planned to use it. But instead, Angel came home, told me our dad was dead, and took me away. Next thing I know, I’m getting trained in some no name town, learning how to kill in a million different ways.” She paused and smiled. “I’m good at it. Like you, I enjoy it. Not the killing, but making the world a better place. I like being needed, gathering information. I learned early on that the more you know, the more powerful you are.”
“Yeah.” He crooked his finger at her, and she leaned closer to him.
His kiss, when it came, felt so soft it was barely there. Yet its impact struck her mute.
“I’m the luckiest guy alive when I’m with you. And I’m not just talking about sex.” He smiled.
She cupped his face, mesmerized by the real man behind the lethal grin.
“You think you and I can try to make this work? All this honesty shit, dating, keeping it real while trying to stay alive?” He acted cool when he asked, but he gripped the ledge, his knuckles white.
She sighed his name. “Hammer, I would like nothing more. Let’s try to do our version of normal together.” She kissed him back, and the lack of contact other than their mouths lent the kiss a kind of gravitas, a meaning. A contract between kindred souls.
“Is Big Joe really gone?” she asked, stroking his cheek.
He’d closed his eyes, the stubble of a growing beard making his skin rasp against her hand. When he opened his eyes, the dark brown of his irises looked almost black. “Yeah. He took off a few hours ago.”
“Then I guess it’s time we c
hristened the pool.” She slid her arms out of the robe and entered the water on a gasp. “It’s colder than it looks.”
He smiled and pulled her close, keeping their shoulders under the water. “Then hold tight to me, Phantom. I’ll keep you warm.”
* * *
Hammer had never been so happy before. The future felt bright, so wide open. A life with Vi in it, with him, meant everything. He didn’t know if she understood how much she’d given him by just allowing for a possible tomorrow, but he’d be sure to show her.
“Kiss me, Beautiful.” He smiled at her.
She smiled back, and the temperature around them seemed to rise. “That’s my name. Don’t wear it out.”
His chuckle soon turned to a groan. She wound her arms around his neck and kissed him while wrapping her legs around his waist. He’d been hard since she’d sat next to him, but the need was tempered by emotion.
As it was now.
As she kissed him, the water bobbed, brushing her breasts against his chest, her belly against his arousal. So fucking sexy, that woman in his arms.
His woman.
He wanted her in the worst way and lifted her onto the ledge, her pretty breasts full, her nipples hard points. Her chest rose and fell with her excitement, and he slowly parted her knees, staring at her sex. “Scoot closer, Vi.”
She licked her lips and edged closer to him, but not fast enough.
Hammer grabbed her ass, slid her over the slick tile, and fastened his mouth over her, taken with her sultry essence, the passion of a strong woman in need.
He licked her, loving her soft cries, the way she gripped his hair and tightened her legs around him.
With slow pressure, he sucked on her tight little nub and brought her closer to her end, on fire to have her. He palmed her breasts, flicking her nipples as she cried out and came.
He dragged her back into the pool and slid her over him, lost in her tight body, filling her as he gripped her hips and moved her over him, the vise of her inner walls making him come despite his effort to go slow.
But this time he experienced more than a physical release. As if their understanding erased more walls between them, a clear love for Vi made everything better.
He was moaning her name, coming so hard, and the weightless wonder of it all enhanced his pleasure.
Vi was kissing him at the end, their bodies still joined.
“Fuck me, every time with you stops my heart.”
“And again with the romance,” she teased and kissed him fully on the lips. “Oh, I taste me on your mouth.”
“Yeah,” he breathed. “I love the way you taste.”
“I love the way you fuck,” his lover whispered, so damn sexy he wanted to please her again right now.
“Oh, that’s it. We’re getting out of here and going to my room. I have so much I want to do to you tonight.”
“Sounds good to me.”
After they’d left the pool and toweled off, they walked hand in hand up the stairs.
“Hey, Hammer? So, what was it you found earlier that you wanted to show me?”
He shook his head. “It’ll keep. This, Vi, takes precedence.” He smiled down at her as they reached his room. “Nothing has ever been more important than the job to me. Nothing. Until you.”
Vi loved him. It was that simple. An emotion she’d always wondered about had finally hit her squarely in the chest, between the eyes, and knocked her for a loop.
She didn’t trust people. She barely liked them. But she knew she loved Hammer, because she wanted nothing but to sit under the stars and gaze into his eyes.
Or in this case, lie on top of him in bed while they spent their time talking about their favorite things, their likes and dislikes, learning about each other for no other reason than to get closer.
“Yes, Italy for me,” she said. “Venice was incredible.”
“The water taxis are cool,” he agreed, stroking her back, staring at her as if he couldn’t believe his good fortune.
Vi had never had anyone look at her that way, as if she really mattered.
“They are,” she whispered and kissed him. When she pulled back, his eyes remained closed, his chin tilted up toward her. “Hammer, what is this?”
“What’s that, baby?” He ran a hand over her hair.
This love. Do you feel it too? “This feeling inside me. I just… I’ve never felt this before.” Tears came to her eyes, and she wanted to hide her head in embarrassment.
“Vi, fuck. I love you.” He wiped her eyes with gentle hands, and she darted her gaze back to his, shocked to see his own eyes glassy. “We’ve both had some unconventional upbringings. We see the worst of humanity all the time. We deal with pressure most people can’t even think about. But you, Vi, you’re a gift. I know it’s too soon. I know it makes no sense. But I love you.”
“Damn it.” She sniffed and wiped tears that continued to pour down her cheeks.
“You’re even pretty when you cry,” he teased.
“I hate when you’re so nice.”
“Do you really?” he asked in that smoky voice that never failed to turn her on.
“No,” she admitted. “I think I love you back, and it scares me.”
“Damn, girl. Now you’ve woken the beast.” He nudged against her, and she wasn’t surprised to find him ready for her again.
She’d never been so wanted. And loved. “How do you want me?” She kissed her lips up to his ear. “I bet I know.” She nipped his earlobe, and he bucked. “You love my ass, don’t you, baby?”
“Oh fuck. Vi.” He was panting then kissing her, so wild and honest in his desire. “Yeah, I need you. Turn over for me.”
Excited to feel him again, she turned onto her back and felt him leave the bed. He returned, smearing lubricant over his stiff cock. “Off the bed,” he barked. “Now.”
She shivered at his order and hurried to obey.
“Come on. You know I don’t want to, but I have to torture that information from you. I have a reputation to consider.”
She loved his sexual play. Hammer made life fun. By lightening the idea of their exacting jobs, he made it okay to be who they were.
“Why, Hammer. Do you plan to destroy me?” She bent over the bed, wriggling her ass as she widened her stance.
He loomed over her, his presence warm against her back and legs.
“I do, baby. I plan to come hard inside you too. I’m not wearing a condom.”
Something they’d already agreed to continue, loving the intimacy between them.
Still, she had to play her part and protest. “But—”
He slapped her ass, and it burned. Then a rocket of heat shot though her core.
“Oh, Destroyer, you can’t…” She was praying for another spanking.
“You need to be punished, don’t you?” he growled and spanked her again.
She hadn’t realized she’d started pressing into the mattress, grinding herself into an orgasm while he spanked her. But then he was parting her cheeks and pushing inside her, his cock slick and thick, a new kind of burning as he pushed deeper.
A startling burst of pleasure seared her, and she was coming so hard while he continued to press inside her. His movements grew jerky, his huge hands holding her while he had his way and she continued to come, lost in a headspace of fuzzy pleasure that continued to ripple through her.
He moaned her name and shoved hard once more, and she knew the ultimate satisfaction that she’d brought him such bliss.
* * *
When the morning rolled around, Vi stretched and rolled into a hug from her lover.
He sighed her name and just held her.
Vi let the warmth of acceptance fill her, the rush of feeling love and knowing she deserved love in return.
“Hey, ass-kicker. Good morning.” Hammer pulled back to grin at her.
He was too sexy in the morning. She felt pleasantly sore between her legs. They’d been pretty active throughout the night. And she loved it, e
njoying herself after so many years of being alone.
“Why, Monty, what a nice big…welcome you have for me.” She felt him stiff against her.
“Oh, that name.” He winced. “I can’t help it. You make me hard. You’re like a secret weapon the enemy can never get its hands on.” He laughed. “I’d die of blue balls.”
She took him by the chin and looked up with clear warning. “And speaking of blue balls, I ever catch you with another woman—or man—I’ll slice them off.”
Hammer’s grin grew wider. “For the record, you only have to worry it might be a woman. But before you go hunting for more knives, I agree. You’re it for me. That also means I’m it for you.” He put a lot of mean in his voice, and she loved that her feelings of possession went both ways. “You’re mine. We’ll argue, we’ll make up. You’ll end up admitting I’m right all the time. Then we’ll fuck for days.”
“Wait, what?”
He kissed her hard. “But we’ll be faithful to each other. And we trust each other. No matter what anyone says, Vi. I’ll always trust you. I swear.” A pledge more serious to her than any “I do” he could utter.
“Oh man. Now I have to admit you’re right. That sucks.”
He smirked. “Told you.”
“Yeah, yeah. Well, I swear too. I trust you, Hammer. And only you.” She glared at him. “So don’t fuck me over unless you want the wrath of Violet up your ass.”
Hammer being Hammer only beamed at her threat. “Have I told you how much I love that mean side of yours?”
“What side? I’m all mean.”
“Exactly.”
Fifteen
Once dressed and packed and finishing off breakfast, Violet waited for Hammer to bring his laptop to the table.
“So, you stole this from Joe’s office.”
“His secret office, and yes.”
She wanted to know more but didn’t want to push. Despite feeling so gooey in love she wanted to puke, she realized they’d both fallen hard and fast. For two people not used to trusting others or letting in emotion, they were bound to crash and burn before long. She’d made a study of people, knew how to best exploit frailties.