MasterofVelvet

by Kirstie Abbot

  Back to homework. That meant two things—the first was more familiarization with the layout of the house and the second was working on her manuscript. She opted for the second.

  Beth sat in front of her laptop. She hadn’t wanted to impinge on Adam’s workspace but he had insisted on having her share his office. He had occasionally spent time in there with her keeping in touch with the office but at the moment she was alone—and couldn’t concentrate worth a damn.

  She stood up and stretched. Maybe some fresh air would help. It was dull outside, probably cold as well, but at least it wasn’t raining. Wrapped up in a bright red knee-length duffle coat, feet shod in warm boots, she headed for the woods, away from the sound of shotguns—plural—being fired.

  Boys and their toys.

  Fallen leaves crackled and crunched satisfyingly beneath her feet as she walked through the trees, mostly denuded by autumn winds. Although she loved the colors of autumn Beth’s favorite season was spring, when all the trees would be sporting the light, fresh greens of new growth, birdsong would be making the woods come alive and the days would be getting longer.

  And by next spring all of this would be nothing more than a bad memory.

  Another barrage of shots sounded in the distance. Beth shivered—not from cold but by imagining what might happen to cause those weapons to be fired in anger. She really didn’t want to think about it. It would all be over soon. It had to be. Perhaps that was the reason for Dan’s visit—to tell them that it was all over and there was nothing to worry about.

  No. Who was she fooling? That was the sort of news the blond Dom could have imparted via a phone call. Even if he’d felt a need to deliver it in person he and Adam wouldn’t have gone off to practice on the shooting range. Something must have happened that required the two of them to talk in person and if that were the case it couldn’t be good.

  She was washing dishes in the kitchen when the two men returned to the house. Masculine arms came round her waist, pulling her into a hard male body while firm lips planted a sneaky kiss at the side of her neck.

  “Did you lose the dishwasher again, love?”

  Beth raised her eyebrows. “It wasn’t worth loading it with so few dishes and I hate leaving the things lying around.”

  “Will you two quit already? You’ll put me off my lunch.”

  Beth felt Adam chuckle at his friend’s words, spoken with mock disapproval. If only things could have been like this without the threat that was hanging over them. “So what have you two been talking about?”

  She felt Adam tense up. “Nothing much,” he said dismissively.

  Dan coughed. “She should know, Ad.”

  “Yes, she should,” Beth agreed. “Don’t keep me in the dark. I need to know. This affects me just as much as it affects you.”

  Adam’s arms tightened around her waist. “Come on. If we’re going to talk we might as well do it in comfort. Dan?”

  All three of them went to the family room. Adam sat on the sofa with Beth while Dan made himself comfortable in one of the armchairs.

  “Beth, my love,” Adam began, “we know what’s going on now. It’s not industrial espionage. Someone from my past is coming after me.”

  “What exactly does that mean?” She didn’t want to know the answer but knew she had to face the facts.

  “Revenge,” Dan supplied succinctly.

  “Have you told the police?”

  A look flashed between the two men. It was Adam who spoke. “I don’t want the police involved in this. Dan and I can handle it between us.”

  Beth couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Excuse me?”

  “The evidence we have won’t stand up in court, so there’s no way they’ll take action,” Adam said soberly. “It’s too flimsy and it’s going to take too long to get more evidence to convince them to get involved, assuming that such evidence even exists. And while we’re trying to do that the person responsible could take this to the next level. That means it’s up to us.”

  Beth nodded, feeling sick inside. “There’s not enough evidence for the police but enough for you to believe it’s a real threat?”

  “Yes,” Dan responded tautly. “Adam and I are working on a plan to deal with it.”

  She looked from one man to the other. “What can I do to help? There must be something I can do.”

  Adam put his arm around her and drew her to his side. “Make sure you know where the secure room is and how to get there. If the worst happens we can deal with it so long as you’re safe.”

  “You won’t get in trouble with the police because of what you’re doing, will you?”

  The two men exchanged a brief look. It was Adam who answered the question, albeit in a roundabout way. “We know what we’re doing, Beth. We’re putting a plan together to ensure that we keep you safe—”

  “But what about you? Both of you. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  “Neither do we, Beth,” Dan said, his tone as serious as his manner. He was a million miles away from the lighthearted charmer she knew from her interactions with him in the office. “Trust us—we know what we’re doing.”

  “Dan, I just had a thought. I don’t suppose you’ve managed to convince Ros Allen to come and work for you, have you?”

  Dan grimaced. “Not for want of trying. She’s still thinking about it.”

  The heavy emphasis he placed on the last three words left Beth somewhat bemused. “Who’s Ros Allen?”

  Adam hugged her tightly to him. “Someone I would trust with your life, love. I was thinking that if Dan had managed to charm her into quitting on her uncle and working for him we’d get her down here to keep an eye on you.”

  “I’ve been trying to get her to come and work for me for at least a year,” Dan explained, “and every time I ask her she says ‘I’ll think about it.’ ”

  Beth wanted to know more about this woman whom they both knew and knew well, or so it seemed. “What does she do?”

  The two men glanced at each other, it was Adam who spoke first. “There’s only so much we can tell you, because of OSA—”

  “And what’s that?” Beth felt like she was rapidly getting out of her depth and clutching at anything remotely resembling a lifeline.

  “The Official Secrets Act,” Dan supplied. “Ros used to be in the Army. She was a military police officer but she came out about eighteen months ago and went to work for her uncle. He commands a covert unit—“

  “And that’s as much as we can tell you,” Adam finished off. “But if Ros is still working for Giles she’s probably off somewhere we can’t talk about doing things you can’t imagine, Beth. For which I am extremely grateful.” He kissed the top of her head.

  “You now know for sure that it’s not just industrial espionage?” She had to be certain.

  “We know, sweetheart,” Adam’s tone was grave with resignation. “And we can’t just sit here waiting for something to happen so that the police will get involved. We have to be prepared to protect ourselves.”

  Beth turned her face into Adam’s chest, her arm resting across his waist. Her mind was fighting the worst-case scenario—that she could lose the warm, vital man she loved. She breathed in the scent that was uniquely him, feeling her body respond in its usual way.

  Her voice was muffled. “What’s going to happen? What do you think they’ll do?”

  Adam’s arms went around her. “Not they. It’s one man and we know who it is. And why.” He paused. The look on his face was a look of revisiting a past that wasn’t a good place. “I killed his brother.”

  “That’s bullshit and you know it, Adam!” Dan exploded. “Underwood was a damn fool and didn’t obey your orders—“

  “He was under my command when he was killed and there wasn’t enough left to bring home for his family to bury.” Adam’s voice was quiet and bleak.

  Whatever it was that had happened it had clearly hit Adam hard. Beth nestled closer, offering her man the comfort of her body in spite of Dan�
��s presence just a few feet away.

  “Jimmy Underwood was a loose cannon,” Dan insisted. “You know that as well as I do. You gave the order to stay back but he charged into that building anyway. You didn’t lay the IEDs, Adam, any more than any of us did. If that idiot had followed orders—your orders—he’d still be alive now.”

  “When did this happen?” Beth asked.

  “Fifteen years ago,” Dan replied. “The building blew seconds after Underwood ran into it. Adam went in after him and that was when a second wave of explosions went off. We were able to pull Adam out but there was nothing left of Underwood.”

  Beth went very still, glancing from one man to the other as she took in what had been said. That was the incident that had given Adam the scars. It had to be. “You mean that that man deliberately disobeyed orders, Adam risked his life to try to save him and now his brother’s coming after Adam in some misguided desire for revenge? And isn’t fifteen years a long time to wait?”

  She felt Adam’s arms tighten around her. “I survived, Beth—Underwood didn’t. I was his officer commanding, it’s hardly surprising Ewan blames me for his brother’s death. That family’s been through enough—another reason why I’d like to keep the police out of this if we can.”

  “But why now? That’s what I don’t understand.” Beth was genuinely puzzled.

  “There could be any number of reasons,” Dan said. “It was a covert op—it could have taken him years to find out Adam was in command at the time of his brother’s death.”

  Beth’s mind was racing. “If you know who it is does that mean you know where he is now?”

  “He’s gone to ground, which means we’ve lost him for the time being,” Adam told her. “Dan has contacts on the lookout and as soon as they find out anything they’ll let us know.

  “Beth, I don’t want you to worry about this,” he continued. “Ewan will make a mistake and then we’ll deal with him.”

  “You don’t want me to worry? You’ll deal with him?” She was incredulous. “First of all you might as well tell me not to breathe as not to worry. And what does ‘deal with him’ mean exactly? He was either smart enough to get into the office and plant the surveillance equipment himself or he knew who to pay to do it. And if he does track us down to Winterleigh who’s to say he’ll come here alone? Do you know anything about him? Any training he might have had?”

  All of a sudden Beth stopped talking. It struck her that she’d just stepped into the realm of teaching her grandmother to suck eggs, judging by the look that passed between the two men.

  “Everything will be all right, Beth,” Adam reassured her. “We’re putting a plan together and we’ll deal with Ewan Underwood.” Even so he still held her a little more tightly.

  “I know what we can do,“ Dan said suddenly. “Get some of the boys down here for a training exercise out in the woods. It’ll stop them getting too soft between jobs.”

  “Can’t hurt,” Adam agreed.

  “They could do with some unarmed combat training and knife practice and remembering how to live rough won’t hurt them. I’ll get them organized.”

  Again Beth was confused. “And what does all that mean?”

  “It means, my love, that a couple of Dan’s operatives who aren’t on assignment will be spending an indefinite but hopefully short period camping in the woods around the house.” Adam’s tone held an audible degree of satisfaction.

  “Bodyguards. You’re talking about bodyguards.” Beth couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

  “Did I say that, Dan?” He looked all innocent. “I don’t think I did.”

  Dan shook his head. “Nope, can’t say I heard you say that. Don’t think I said it either. Besides,” he continued, struggling to keep the smirk off his face, “if we were going to say ‘bodyguards’, we wouldn’t say ’bodyguards’, we’d say ‘close protection officers’, wouldn’t we?”

  Beth sighed. They really were like two little kids at times.

  No, she decided. They were worse than two little kids.

  * * * * *

  After lunch, Dan made his excuses and left—he had preparations to make for those of his employees who would be taking part in the training exercise, potentially half a dozen all told. He would be returning late, though, having been invited for dinner and an overnight stay.

  Adam saw his friend off then went back into the house. To say that what Dan had told him that morning was disturbing would be a vast understatement. There was a very real threat to his safety, a threat that had been a long time in the making and the signs were that it would become a reality very soon.

  Adam had never met the elder Underwood brother. He’d been in hospital at the time of the funeral but his commanding officer had told him all about Ewan’s angry outburst after the service at the perceived futility of his younger brother’s death. The last part of his tirade had taken the form of a violent, vehement promise to “get the bastard responsible”.

  For Ewan to have found out that Adam was the officer commanding on the mission, and have organized the bugging of his offices and the sabotage of some of his business deals, it perhaps indicated that the man was more resourceful than they’d given him credit for, and Adam’s gut feeling was that it was only a matter of time before Underwood tracked him down to Winterleigh.

  And now the threat was so real that if Beth had still had any family left he would have sent her to stay with them. But she didn’t and from what she’d said on another occasion she had no intention of going to stay with friends either. She was determined to stay with him and while his instincts were all in favor, his common sense, now in agreement with Dan, was sounding the alarm.

  He should make her leave. He knew he should. She would be safer away from him but there was that stubborn part of him that wanted to keep her close so that he knew exactly where she was and he could protect her—with his life if necessary.

  “Adam.”

  She was standing in the office doorway, looking so heartbreakingly vulnerable and beautiful. Adam felt his body leap in response at the sight of her. “Beth, there’s something I have to ask—“

  “No. Don’t you dare tell me to leave, Adam Granger.” She was visibly trembling. “I’m staying here with you because if anything happens to you—he might as well do it to me too.”

  A tight band wrapped itself round his heart. No, he would never—never—allow that to happen. “Beth, my love, I have to keep you safe.”

  She took a couple of steps toward him. “You think I’d want to be safe without you? Don’t you know, Adam?”

  He knew. Damn it, he knew with every last cell in his body just how much this woman loved him and that he had less than a snowball’s chance in hell of convincing her to seek sanctuary elsewhere until the danger was over. Even if he tried as her Master to order her to go, his instincts told him she’d defy him. He went to her.

  “Please don’t make me leave you, Adam. I’m begging you.”

  “Beth, let’s go to bed.”

  He lifted her easily into his arms. Her arms went around his neck. He felt her lips tender on his cheek, heard her quietly whispered words of love. Anxious to feel the soft satin of her delicate skin next to his body, he took the stairs two at a time, shouldering his way into the bedroom, slamming the door shut with his foot. He set Beth gently on her feet by the bed, exhorting her not to move while he closed the heavy chocolate velvet drapes and put the lights on a dimmed setting.

  Beth stood where he’d left her, hands clasped in front of her, looking as sexy as hell in jeans that hugged her hips and a scarlet shirt with long sleeves. The fit was snug over her breasts and there were enough buttons left undone to display her cleavage. The stupidity of the male sex dumbfounded him sometimes—he still hadn’t worked out how she’d remained unattached so far but he thanked heaven that she had.

  He went to her slowly, savoring the moment. First he released the silken sheen of her hair from the ponytail, threading his fingers through it to encourage the
waves to find freedom. He watched her face as he let his palm almost touch her cheek, saw how she wanted to turn that cheek to seek his caress.

  Adam stepped closer, framed her face with his hands and tilted her head to receive his kiss. Her hands rested briefly at his waist then went around him in an embrace so tight that he could feel the hard peaks of her nipples through two layers of fabric.

  Beth loved him so much that she wanted her body to merge and become one with his. Perhaps that way she could keep him safe.

  She couldn’t ignore the quiet desperation lurking within her heart now that she knew there was someone out there wanting to—what? Kill Adam? Kidnap him? She pushed the thoughts away. The trouble was they pushed right back. Her mind ached as much as her heart from all the worry.

  “What are you thinking, Beth?” He lifted her chin to look into her eyes. “Tell me.”

  “I want it to be over,” she said simply. “I want him to leave us alone—leave you alone. You don’t deserve this.”

  “I don’t deserve you.” The intensity of the look in his dark eyes imprisoned her breath, froze it in her lungs.

  “Adam, I belong here with you, to you. I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else with anyone else.” She glanced toward the bed. “In this room you’re my Dom, you own me and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Outside this room you’re the man I love and want to be with for the rest of my life. ‘Deserving’ doesn’t come into it in either case.” She moistened suddenly dry lips, wondering how he would react to what was going through her mind. She doubted he’d object.

  “Sir,” she chose the word carefully, “please may I undress you?”

  The darkness in his eyes disappeared, replaced by the hot flame of need and complete understanding of her need for formality. “My sweet sub may do whatever she desires with me.”

  “Thank you, Sir.”

  She began with his shirt slowly, taking her time, pressing a tender kiss to his skin for each button that she unfastened. When the garment was hanging open she pushed it back, exposing the masculine contours of his impressive chest. Closing her eyes she nuzzled into him, inhaling the warm, male scent of him.