by S. M. Butler
That was how he knew Muldoon would look up from the tablet and say, “I’m in.”
~*~*~
Axel’s entire body was uncomfortably tense. All he wanted was to touch Bea’s tight little body. His cock strained against his jeans. But he stepped back, giving her room to breathe. She’d looked panicked, and he imagined that maybe she’d felt the same thing he had.
But fuck, he didn’t want to stop. Shit, as soon as he’d kissed her, he’d been lost. The taste of her… fuck, she was intoxicating. And for a moment, she’d felt the same. He could feel her melt into his arms. But then her brain had kicked in.
He cleared his throat as she slid off the table and straightened her tank top back up. He rearranged the uncomfortable bulge in his jeans, though it probably wouldn’t stop that future case of blue balls. She glanced back at the door to the garage. Was that her way to escape him?
“We could go get that drink,” he said, trying to sound light. His voice came out entirely too husky, though and he wasn’t ready to say good night to her.
“I don’t think that’s wise,” she whispered, her eyes still everywhere but on him.
He forced a grin on his face. “Probably not, but nothing in life ever worth having comes with no risk involved.” He cocked his head to the side, focusing entirely on her face. “When’s the last time you took a risk, Bea?”
She snorted, an unbelievably adorable sound. This was not helping his situation any because somehow, she managed to be sexy about it, too. What the hell was going on with him right now? “You can stop trying so hard, Axel. It’s not happening. It’s just a bad idea.”
“Come to my place then. We can have drinks there, and then I’ll fuck you until you can’t stand anymore.”
Her eyes bugged, but she recovered from his bluntness quickly. “Go home, Axel. Get some sleep and relax.”
He shrugged. “I’d rather help you get that stick out of your ass. I want you naked and under me. Or over me, if that’s what you prefer.”
Her jaw snapped shut, her teeth grinding. Fuck. He couldn’t stop sticking his foot in his mouth with her.
Her eyes narrowed, the fire inside exploding into a tightly contained inferno. “Go fuck yourself, Axel.”
“I’d rather have your help,” he replied, easily. Her face reddened with anger. Shit, he couldn’t stop the idiocy coming out of his mouth. Something inside him just loved to antagonize the woman. God, but she was sexy when her blood was pumping.
“Ass,” she hissed.
“I mean, if you’re into ass play, I suppose we can try that too,” he replied. Her fist struck out and he dodged, barely missing impact by a few inches. She was so close that he felt the air displacement from her strike. She followed it with a low jab into his gut that totally hit its mark.
He grunted, falling back a step, just as she tried to kick him. He grabbed her ankle before it could hit him and pulled her leg in the same direction she’d already committed. She lost her balance and hit the ground on her ass.
She growled and flipped to her feet—a bona fide fucking flip—and leapt at him. He blocked two more kicks then got fed up and grabbed her wrists, backing her directly into the wall behind her. He pinned her wrists with both his, because the way she was struggling against him, he’d have lost control over her if he didn’t, and she was aiming to hurt him.
“Let. Me. Go.” Each word snapped out of her with barely controlled rage.
“No. You’re gonna hit me again,” he replied, pressing his body against hers, his legs caging hers. She bucked her hips, her body rubbing against his erection. He groaned and dropped his head to her shoulder. That was so not helping. “Bea…”
“Let go of me.”
“Don’t hit or kick me,” he shot back. “I’m defending myself here.”
She made a strangled noise he couldn’t recognize. Then she took another long breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, they were clear of the anger she’d been radiating out, like she’d flipped some kind of internal switch. “Fine. I won’t.”
Slowly, he released her wrists. She pulled her arms down to cross her chest, because he hadn’t moved away from her yet. He enjoyed the feel of her against him. He wanted to prolong it as much as he could. But Bea had other ideas. She placed her palms on his chest and pushed. He stepped back from her, the coolness of the air around them slicing between them.
She stomped away, her boots clicking across the hard floor as she did. He looked after her. He told himself it was so he could watch her ass, but in reality, he was struggling to not run after her so she wouldn’t be mad at him. Somewhere within wanting to fuck her senseless, he’d gotten a real glimpse of her. He’d always seen her as this strong woman he worked with, and maybe that was part of his attraction to her that was so different than what he normally bedded. But in that moment, when she’d fought him, he’d seen something else. Fear. Not fear of him, but of what he might have represented.
From what he knew of her, she didn’t hang out in town. Most of the town steered clear of her, not because of any reason other than she let out that fuck-off vibe. He was pretty sure the entire town of Jubilee was scared of her. All five feet of her.
But that short taste of her, that brief moment where he tasted her lips, her skin… That couldn’t be all that he would have. No. He wanted more. He needed more.
And fuck him, he was going to have more if it killed him. And she very well might.
7
Nathan had been gone for hours. Not that Bridget should be surprised. He always tended to disappear for hours at a time, particularly when something was bothering him. He’d spent about a day in Jubilee, and right after he’d returned, he’d told her he would be out of communication for a few hours and left again.
Bridget sunk onto her couch in the nice, plush apartment Nathan had set up for her. She didn’t have much of her own things anymore. She’d given a lot of it up when she died. Going back for it was out of the question. By the time she’d woken up from the surgery, it was days after her death. Her family was all over her apartment, boxing up her life, tossing the trash she’d left behind.
Bridget grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, but she couldn’t focus on what was on it. The only thing she could see was the exhausted look on her mother’s face as she’d left the funeral, like she hadn’t slept for days. Knowing her mother, she probably hadn’t.
Putting Bridget in the ground was probably exactly the end that her mother had needed. She’d probably organized the entire affair. Burying her daughter, as bad as it sounded, was probably a relief for her after that week.
Now, here she was, sitting in this plush apartment that belonged to her boss. No friends. No family. Nothing but a billionaire boss to keep her company. Wasn’t that the premise of a romance novel?
She snorted. If her billionaire boss had any interest in romantic relations, maybe. But Nathan had lost any emotion years ago. He was all business, all the time. Maybe that was how she’d lasted with him so long. Their working relationship gelled together well. They didn’t complicate matters with silly notions of romance or sex.
She’d like to have thought that it was honesty between them that made it work. But she knew better. Nathan lived in the shadows. He manipulated people, events… He probably thought she didn’t know. He was good at manipulation. It was how he’d built his Reaper teams. The first one. He’d given each of the team something they’d wanted. Hardy had wanted to be whole again, to not be a burden on his family. Allen wanted his daughter to live a life free of his mistakes. Levi? That man had several disasters ready to explode at any given time. And Li? Bridget would have liked to talk to her outside of the scope of her job. Based on what she’d seen, Li seemed like a woman with a lot of knowledge and wisdom.
And then there was Scott. Her brother. His heart was his Achilles heel. She’d read some of the reports on Scott after Nathan had him taken away. Even from the grave, Scott was protecting their family the best he could, providing for them.
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It was more than what she’d ever done. She’d made a clean break. Nathan had explained what her death meant, and she’d gone right along with it. But maybe she should have fought it more. Maybe she should have insisted on helping her family, like Scott did. Maybe then he wouldn’t be rotting away in a ten-foot cell because of her.
Footsteps out in the hallway caught her attention. She jumped to her feet before she even considered what she was doing and threw open her front door just as Nathan passed.
He stopped.
He was in jeans that had seen better days, rips and holes all over them. A white t-shirt was half hidden under a flannel. His black-rimmed glasses reflected the light of the fluorescent overhead lights of the hallway. Yet somehow, he managed to look every bit the billionaire he was.
“Miss Muldoon?” His deep voice purred from his lips. “Is there something I can do for you?”
She stared at him for a minute. Why had she come out here? She swallowed. “I… um…” She frowned. “Have you eaten?”
His dark eyebrow quirked up. “It’s late.”
Was it? She didn’t even know what time it was anymore. She shrugged. “I was going to warm up some take-out. You’re welcome to join me.”
What was she telling herself earlier? It was good that they didn’t complicate things. But here she was…
Not that she was expecting romance. She was offering chicken and broccoli, not sex.
“It’s been a long day, Miss Muldoon,” he said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
“Of course.” She nodded, slightly smiling, though she couldn’t mask the disappointment she felt. “I didn’t mean to ambush you. I’m sure you’re tired.”
He let out a long breath from his nose. “Perhaps a small portion.”
She nodded and pushed open her door the rest of the way as Nathan came inside. He didn’t say anything as she walked to the kitchen, but he did follow her.
As she pulled containers out of the fridge and got them settled into the microwave, she turned to Nathan. “Where did you go today?”
Nathan shrugged. “I had some work to do.”
“Really.” She frowned. “I didn’t see anything on the schedule.”
“It was personal.”
She rolled her eyes and turned to face him. “Nathan, nothing you do is personal. In the four years I’ve known you, you’ve never once taken a personal day.”
Nathan sighed. “You are entirely too perceptive, my dear.”
“And you’re lying to me. Why?”
Nathan stared at the microwave, as if he could will the food done so he wouldn’t have to talk. “I’m not lying. I’m just not telling you everything, that’s all.”
“I see.”
She turned away from him as the microwave beeped, pulling the cartons out and setting them on the table. The fact that he wasn’t telling her everything hurt. Somehow in the last four years, she’d thought they’d forged a little bit of a friendship, even if it was based on professional relations.
Nathan sunk into the seat across from her and they ate in silence for a while. Nathan was obviously hungrier than he’d led on, because he scarfed half of it before he spoke again.
“I went to see Scott.”
She stopped and glanced up at her boss. “My brother, Scott?”
He nodded.
Well. She forced her face into some kind of neutral expression. She hadn’t expected the admission and she wasn’t going to scare him into silence again.
“Why?”
“It was time. I’m going to put him back in the field.”
Bridget set her box down and ran her hands over her face. “You’re serious?”
Nathan nodded. “Yes.”
She had to give him credit. His attention was entirely focused on her reaction, like he was waiting for her to explode on him. Exploding was what she wanted to do, but not for the reason that he thought she was. She wasn’t angry, exactly.
“What exactly do you want me to say, Nathan?”
“Honestly? I don’t know. I thought you might be upset with me.”
“If you recall, recruiting Scott was my idea,” she said. “He was on a bad path. Seems he kept going despite what I did. I can’t be upset with you over something my brother’s decisions have caused.”
Oh, boy, but did she want to. All her protective instincts were roaring inside her. She didn’t want Scott back into the field. She wanted him under lock and key where she could keep him safe.
“What exactly do you have him doing?”
“I can’t tell you,” he said, quietly. “It’s a personal project.”
“Nathan, you know everything there is to know about me. Everything. There’s never been secrets between us. Why can’t you tell me about this?”
He sighed. “There have always been things I don’t tell you, Miss Muldoon.”
“But none that involve my family,” she shot back. “I think I deserve to know what you’re getting him into.”
“He signed a contract, Bridget. He’s an adult. An adult that works for me.”
“Don’t give me that bullshit, Nathan. That is my little brother.”
He blinked, which she supposed was deserved, because she never cussed at him. But she was not feeling like tiptoeing around her boss right now. “Perhaps I should have waited to tell you about this. My mistake.” He stood up, pushing the chair away from the table. “Good night, Miss Muldoon.”
“No!” She shouted. He stared at her, a little bit like she might have sprouted horns. “You don’t get to drop bombs on me and then leave because it’s something you don’t want to deal with.”
“It’s not that.”
“What is it then?”
“Just let it go, Bridget.”
“Why can’t you tell me?”
He cursed. “I should go.”
“Nathan, wait!” Before she could muster up any real words, he slipped out of her apartment, the door slamming shut behind him. She stared after him, her eyes casing that door like he might realize he was wrong and come back. But after long agonizing seconds of silence, she realized he wasn’t coming back.
She’d never lost her temper with Nathan before. But he’d never withheld any information about her family before either. She growled and turned away from the door. She’d let him keep his secrets for tonight.
But tomorrow?
She was going to find her own answers, whether Nathan Hawk liked it or not.
~*~*~
Even with the bruising from Jack’s interrogation session, Bea could see the features of the man’s face. Harry. It had to mean Genevieve was close. Maybe their little town wasn’t as secure as they’d thought. Or maybe it was simply the wrong circles of people overlapping. Someone had hired Genevieve to kill Axel. That someone might not know about the Reapers, but if Genevieve found out Bea was alive… Well, that would be a security breach no one on either side would like.
“What do you think?” Hardy asked as he stepped into the observation room. “Do you recognize him?”
Here was where she’d have preferred to blurt out all the ugly truths of her past. She knew Harry and she knew what his presence represented. But Nathan had stuck to his demand that she not tell the team anything about her past life.
She shook her head, her stomach dropping down into the bottoms of her feet, weighted with guilt. “No. Never seen him before.”
The lie made her chest tighten and her stomach churn.
What did Genevieve want with Axel? If she wanted him dead, it would be an easy hit. It was a small town with no police presence and there wasn’t an emergency room for miles. At least, not a public one. So why the games with sending her flunkies? Why not just hit and be done with it?
Maybe whoever wanted Axel dead actually wanted him alive first. Did they think he knew something? Axel Martinez was just a small-town mechanic who happened to have been a Marine once upon a time. Unless these people knew about Nathan’s secret businesses. But going after Axel s
till didn’t make sense. He wasn’t a Reaper. He didn’t have any clearance to know about their operation here.
“He hasn’t said a word since he regained consciousness,” Chris said. “Which suggests training, maybe.”
Shit, training was right. Genevieve was ruthless in that, at least.
“I don’t think he will,” she said. “He doesn’t have the look of a man that will crack.”
“Everyone cracks,” Hardy replied. “if you push the right spot.”
Wasn’t that the truth? She was pretty sure she was already cracking. It wouldn’t be long before her brain exploded right out of her skull.
“You should get some sleep before Axel is up and around. It’s late and that fucker gets up earlier than I do.”
Oh, right. Her charge. She’d messed that one up too. Now if she tried to hang close, he’d be totally suspicious. But she couldn’t quite allow herself to feel what Axel was making her feel.
“You good?”
Bea turned to face Hardy. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I know being that close to him isn’t your first choice…”
“Is that how you felt about your last bodyguarding mission?” She blurted out.
He frowned. She hadn’t meant to ask the question. Shit.
“I think somewhere inside, I have always loved Abigail, since I met her,” he said. “So… No, that’s not how I felt.” He glanced at her. “Are you saying you have feelings for Axel?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
No. You big fat liar. You liked him kissing you. You wanted more. Big. Fat. Fucking. Liar.
She drew in a breath. “I’m just tired. You’re right. I should get some rest. I’m blurting out a lot of random shit.”
Hardy’s eyebrow lifted. Bea wanted to run and hide, but her own stubbornness made her stand still while his eyes cased over her, like he could see her lies.
“How about I’ll take the morning run? I’m up then anyway and he won’t think anything of it if I join him,” Hardy said, looking away. “Meet me down at the security room at eight and we’ll rotate out.” Sometimes, she wondered if Hardy was psychic. Maybe he had some special talents given to him by Nathan. The Reaper procedure was experimental, so it was impossible to know exactly what it did to their bodies. Or maybe she was just that tired that the walls she so carefully cultivated weren’t as strong as she’d like.