by S. M. Butler
“I’ve never had complaints.”
“I bet you haven’t,” she replied easily. Any uncertainty he might have seen disappeared completely. She was on the defensive already and she was trying to go on the offensive. Why was it their conversations always ended up like this? “How many women’s lives have you destroyed on your path to being oblivious to anything but yourself?”
“Destroyed?” He chuckled. “You’re getting your panties all twisted up on your own, Bea. I had nothing to do with it.” He smirked and leaned in closer to her. “Okay, maybe I twisted them a little. I’d rather just take them off you.” He brushed his lips across her neck, up to her ear so his lips brushed her lobe. “Admit you like my creepiness.”
Her palm slammed hard against his chest, so hard that he nearly lost his breath. Then she was gone. Like a ghost. He didn’t even see her stand up or leave the bench they’d been sitting on. Normally, he’d let her go, let her calm down, and apologize to her later. But he’d almost died this week, shot at by strangers and he still didn’t know why. He was less inclined to pass this opportunity she’d given him, the opening he’d been hoping to find for months. She’d cracked open the locked door and he wasn’t about to let her close it up again.
~*~*~
What the fuck was she thinking? Bea was so the wrong person for this protective duty bullshit. She killed people for a living. She didn’t save them. That man got under her skin like no other did. Jordan would be a better fit for this. Not her. What she needed… shit. She really didn’t know what she needed. All she knew was she was running for the lair because it was the one place she knew Axel couldn’t go.
And she’d almost made it there when she heard his voice behind her, calling her name.
She froze, like a gazelle caught in the gaze of a predator. She closed her eyes, trying to regain some semblance of control before she turned around to face him.
But all she saw when she closed her eyes was his gaze on her, the way his dark eyes looked at her as if he were hungry. It left an ache between her thighs and she hated that. She didn’t want to feel those things. She didn’t want to be excited by the hard lines of Axel Martinez’s body. Feelings like that got people killed. It would get her killed.
Slowly, she turned, feeling her back hit the wall behind her. The entrance to the lair was right there, but with Axel there, her line to freedom was cut off. He didn’t know that door was there, and Nathan would kill her if she revealed it now.
She was trapped.
He was entirely too close. His huge body towered over hers as he approached, but she didn’t feel scared. At least, not like she might have if some random man had cornered her there. But still her heart pounded, slamming against her sternum over and over, relentlessly racing in her chest as she struggled to heave in air she couldn’t manage to get enough of.
“I’m an ass,” he said.
“Yes, you are,” she agreed.
“You bring out the best in me,” he said, chuckling as he stopped entirely too close.
“Don’t blame me because you act like a dumb shit,” she shot back.
He was so close she could smell the aftershave he used and the sweat and grease and grime from working in the garage. His shoulders flexed inside that tight t-shirt, his biceps tensing as he focused solely on her.
Shit. Fuck her, but she liked the way he looked at her.
Goddamn it. He’d worked his way under her skin and stuck himself there, like a splinter that wouldn’t be pulled out. And he was there, right there, in front of her. So close. Too close.
“What’s different, Bea?” He asked.
“Different?”
“About me. Why won’t you let me in?”
She swallowed. She wasn’t some wilting virgin. She was not going to fall for this. She’d had lovers before, so she wasn’t without knowledge of sexual relations. Genevieve had wielded sex like it was a double-edged sword. She’d never let herself be like that or fall for Axel’s stupid charm. He wouldn’t coerce her.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Axel. If you’ll excuse me…” she tried to side step and leave, but his strong fingers curled around her wrist and held fast.
Her entire body shivered as she struggled not to react on impulse. She didn’t like people touching her, and this… it was entirely too intimate for her.
“Will you let me kiss you?” His voice was soft, his hold on her wrist relaxed.
Her body soared at the thought of his touch, but she couldn’t stop thinking. Kissing Axel was such a bad idea. When she didn’t immediately answer, he let go of her wrist and stepped closer to her, slow and easy, like he knew any fast movements would have resulted in him on the floor writhing in pain and her sprinting down the street.
She fought a tremble as one of his hands slid around her waist, his fingers squeezing into her soft flesh. He didn’t kiss her though. He simply held them close like that, his gaze soft as his free hand slid along her jaw.
His eyes went to her mouth. “I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do. You just have to say no, and I’ll stop.” When she didn’t answer, he twisted them in a strange dance step across the floor then walked forward until her back hit the table.
He rested his hands against the table top, his arms caging her. Instinctually, she knew half a dozen ways to get out of the situation, but she used none of them. Strangely enough, she liked the feel of him, of his warmth against her cold body. How long had it been since she’d felt anything like that warmth? Had she ever?
“You’re a fucking distraction, Bea,” he whispered as he buried his face in her neck.
She was the distraction? She couldn’t even breathe with him that close to her. “Axel…” She wasn’t sure what she wanted to say.
“When I say you’re a fucking distraction, I mean I can’t get you out of my damn head.” His nose nuzzled the crook of her neck, his lips brushing against her sensitive skin as he spoke. “I wonder what your mouth tastes like, if your skin tastes like the caramel it looks like, and if you’d scratch my back raw when you come with me inside you.”
“No, Axel,” she let out the smallest of whispers, because anything louder would have broken her.
“Yes, I think you would,” he growled back. “And I think I’d love every bit of it.” He pressed his hips against her, and all she could feel in that moment was the rock-hard feel of his cock against her belly, hidden behind jeans.
“Axel.” She’d meant to say his name as a warning, but instead it was a weird breathy sigh of his name that could have practically been an invitation. She needed to push him away, breathe in the air he was sucking away from her.
“Just shut up for once, Bea,” he whispered. “Stop thinking.” His lips touched her neck, and her insides lit on fire, his breath a match striking against the box, his lips the flame, and her blood the gasoline looking to explode. “You’re always talking shit.”
“I have great material,” she shot back. She wanted that explosion so much she couldn’t think straight.
“Bea…” His low voice rumbled against her body as he said her name, her breasts tightening, her thighs starting a deliciously agonizing ache of desire.
God help her, she wanted him, wanted this. It was just because she hadn’t had sex in a while, she told herself. She wouldn’t fall for Axel. She wasn’t capable of that kind of emotional attachment.
Genevieve had beaten that ability right out of her years ago. Emotion was weakness. This was sort of a perfect arrangement, really. Axel wanted her, she wanted him, and this would be her perfect opportunity to stay close to him and do her job.
“This isn’t a thing, got it?” she ground out as his lips closed on her ear. She sucked in a breath as his tongue flicked the lobe. “We can do this. But it’s nothing.”
“You’re not going to turn this into nothing, Bea,” Axel growled as he raised his head. “Fucking hell. It’s not fucking nothing. It’s a thing we’re doing.” His gaze fell to her mouth, and the hungry look on
his face almost made her come right there. “It’s a thing you’re going to love.”
His fingers slid into her perfect braid, loosening the tight rope as he closed his fist around a handful of her hair. His mouth crashed on hers, his body shaking like he was restraining himself. Like everything they did, it was a fight for dominance. His big body held her captive, but she nipped at his lower lip, and the resulting groan thrilled her to victory as he rocked his body hard against hers.
He pushed his tongue into her mouth while his hands roamed over her body, his fingers sliding along the waistband of her jeans. Instead of sliding in, his fingertips squeezed the flesh of her hips and slid along her ass, pulling her tight against him.
“Fuck,” he groaned out the word against her lips as she dragged in a labored breath. “That’s so much better than I imagined.”
“You imagined?” She lifted an eyebrow.
“Fuck yeah,” he said, kissing the crook of her neck. His big hands wrapped around her waist and lifted her onto the table like she weighed nothing, settling himself between her legs.
Her impulse was to jump down and put distance between them and that would have been the smart thing to do, but the feel of his hands sliding up her body, his hot skin smoothing hers when his fingers went under her tank top. Her head fell back, and she released a breathy sigh as he stopped just shy of her breasts. Her nipples ached for attention, but he didn’t oblige.
“I’ve wanted to touch you for months.” He grinned at her. “You’re kind of scary sometimes, though.”
He didn’t know the half of it. But the way he’d said it woke up the reasonable part of her brain. She didn’t want to move, but she could feel herself losing control and she hated that feeling. She started to get down from the table, but he stopped her. “Where are you going? We’re not done, Bea.”
She shook her head, trying not to look at him. “We can’t do this.”
“Actually, I’m pretty sure we can. Let me show you,” he said, sliding his hands up to cup her breasts. She moaned as his thumbs brushed across her hard nipples, even over the lace of her bra. “See, baby?”
Every touch of him against her body made her soar higher and higher. She had to stop it. She had to wrestle the control back. She captured his hands and pulled them away from her body, holding them together. “I can’t.” She stressed the “I” and gently pushed him back by the hands she held. “I’m saying no.”
The words sunk in slowly, but they did sink in. And to his credit, which only made her want him more, he nodded and stepped back. As his hands and body left her personal space, she shivered at the loss of his heat. Being naked with him was all her body wanted. Every thrum of her blood pulsed her arousal through every cell of her body. Stopping was the last thing she wanted to do, but she’d let it get too out of control here. Professional distance. It was her job to protect him, and she couldn’t do that while tangled up in his body. He made her feel too much.
Not to mention… In ways she wasn’t even sure of yet but could see within those dark orbs that watched her, Axel was just as damaged as the Reapers she worked with. She swore it was a requisite for Nathan that they be damaged mentally in some way to be recruited. Maybe the man got off on watching his broken soldiers do his bidding. Fuck if she knew why.
Maybe Axel didn’t even know he was damaged yet, but to take advantage of his feelings, even if they had root in the physical… and then when she’d break it off when the mission was over? Because they would have to break it off… That would shatter him.
Hell, after the way she’d just reacted to his touch? It would shatter her too.
6
Changing out of his expensive suit was always a bit like taking off a layer of skin. A persona set aside, another one put on. Nathan walked down the hall, his trainers echoing through the high ceiling of the hallway. He always felt a bit naked in the suits, like it displayed something inside him that he wanted to keep locked away.
He stopped outside the interrogation room. Scott Muldoon sat inside, as he’d ordered. Nathan took a long breath in, trying to center the storm inside his chest. He didn’t typically have a lot of emotion. He kept it in check as much as he could, because he couldn’t afford the mistakes he made when he lost control. And he’d already done that once with Muldoon. He wouldn’t allow himself to do it again.
Not with Muldoon’s sister involved. He couldn’t afford to lose Bridget. She was brilliant and capable, and Nathan was fairly sure if she left his employ, his entire operation would probably burn to the ground. If she knew what kind of monstrous things Nathan was capable—of what he’d actually done—she would probably run in the other direction, and she’d be right to do it.
Once he felt more in control of himself, he lifted his hands to the palm print scanner and waited as the thing buzzed against his hand and the door unlocked.
He pushed open the door, nodded to the Ghost who stood just inside the door, who left without a word, shutting the door behind him.
He glanced at the man cuffed to the table. Muldoon’s hair had grown out a bit in the last year. When he had been with his Reapers, Muldoon had preferred it short, but now, it was almost chin length. His beard had grown in, not a lot since he had them come in once a week to shave him. You didn’t hand a killer a razor blade after all, even a cheap disposable razor.
Muldoon’s eyes burned with hate, which was what interested Nathan the most. Muldoon’s original motivator to turn had been money, for a family that believed him dead. It had been an oversight on Nathan’s part that he hadn’t figured out the betrayal early enough. The signs had been there. He should have known.
When he’d had Sierra look at the logs, she’d seen him tapping into their resources to check on his family. She’d seen the small deposits to his accounts that were just low enough not to make waves that would attract the attention of his team. The computer expert had known exactly how to not attract attention and cover his tracks. But wasn’t that why Nathan recruited his Reapers? Because they were both skilled and capable. This time it had backfired on him.
“Miss me so much you had to fly me in, Nathan?”
Muldoon’s smirk brought Nathan out of his thoughts. Nathan strode over without answering and sat down across from the former Reaper. Crossing his legs at his knees, he leaned back in his chair. “I see you’re feeling better since the last time we spoke.”
“That was a year ago, Nathan. I’m sure it feels just like yesterday for you. It’s been a little longer for me.” Muldoon’s blue eyes glittered with the promise of violence. “Well, I’m feeling good enough to take a little more from you, if you feel like letting out a little more frustration.”
“As much fun as that would be, Mr. Muldoon, I have a better use for you than a punching bag.”
“What’s that?” Muldoon leaned forward, his elbows resting against the surface of the table.
“You’re going back into the field.”
Muldoon’s face lost all expression, which was as close to surprise as he would get from the man. “You would trust me not to turn on you?”
“You were kind enough to tell me your buttons,” Nathan replied. “The ones Lewis pressed. I can press those same buttons.”
Muldoon licked his lips, looking away from Nathan. “My family is not part of this.”
Oh, if he only knew. His family was directly responsible for him being there at all. Of course, he was still under the impression that his sister was dead, and Nathan was quite happy to keep her tucked away from the ugly side of his business.
“They are now,” Nathan replied. “You did that when you let Lewis influence you with them.”
“I didn’t have a choice.”
“Of course, you did. You could have come to me. I could have protected them.” And he would have. He knew firsthand what losing family did to a person. Maybe that was why he’d let Bridget talk him into folding Scott into his organization.
“Daniel Lewis knew about all of it before he ever approached me. He knew
how to find me, knew what to say to me. How could you protect them when he found us without even breaking a sweat?” Muldoon shook his head. “That place… Jubilee… It’s not nearly as secure as you want it to be. Powerful people… They know about it. They’re just biding their time before they pick off each member of the team. All of your little pets… They all have targets on their backs.”
“Scott,” Nathan started quietly. He used the man’s first name to get his attention. It always worked with the others. They seemed to understand why he did it. “Lewis is dead. I made sure of it, months ago. Any files he had on us are gone. Now, the only question here is… where are you going to refocus that fear of him?” Nathan smiled as Muldoon’s face paled.
“My family… They’re not part of this,” Muldoon repeated softly. “I’m dead to them. My parents lost two of their children. I just… They don’t deserve this.”
“No, they don’t,” Nathan replied. “So, let’s talk about what you’re going to do for me, Scott.”
Muldoon took a breath, exhaling slowly. “I can’t go back to Jubilee. They’ll never accept me again.”
“Yes, I agree. You will not be going there.”
The man rolled his lower lip into his mouth while he considered what Nathan said.
Nathan waited silently, letting him think about his options before he sprung the next mission on him.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Excellent choice, Scott.” He pushed his tablet across the table. As Muldoon opened it and read through the files, Nathan discreetly let out the breath he’d been holding this whole time, even while he’d been talking.
Once an asset was turned, it was difficult to turn them back. But it could be done, if the right combination of buttons were pressed. Like the rest of his Reapers, Scott Muldoon had a heart inside. Maybe it was broken, maybe it was hidden behind the layers of anger and hurt they’d all built over the years of their lives, but it was still there, beating away. Nathan had worked with Hardy to recruit them all for exactly that reason. Hell, he’d even chosen Hardy for that reason as well. It was why they worked so well together.