In Too Deep: A Romantic Suspense Novel

by Landish, Lauren

  When he was in action as what I could best call the Snowman, Mark's face was set, cold and distant. It took me a while to recognize that it wasn't that Mark didn't feel anything during those times, but instead he was compartmentalizing himself, setting aside the immediate visceral emotional reactions for later. He was focused, and yes, a little bit scary.

  But these were the times that I enjoyed most, looking at Mark as Mark, the man I loved. With me, and with a very select few other people he had let into his life, they got to see him as he really was.

  It was the little things, like the fact that despite being a very high level athlete and financial genius, he still enjoyed eating Reese's Peanut Butter Puff cereal for breakfast or snacks, or that he had the world's cheesiest air guitar routine while jamming along to old Queen tracks. Those were the things that really were endearing about him, and what let me know just how amazing he was and how comfortable he felt around me.

  "What are you looking at?" Mark said without opening his eyes. His ability to sense those things was another of his unique gifts.

  "I was just thinking," I said, turning on my side and brushing a bit of hair off his forehead.

  "About what?"

  "How much I love you," I said, causing him to smile, "and something else."

  "Hmmm? What's that?"

  I took a deep breath, and said what was in my heart. "I want to have a baby with you."

  Mark opened his eyes and looked over at me. "Seriously?"

  "Seriously," I said. “I know we’ve talked about it before, and I know that our lives are full of danger, but I don't see that ending for a while. In the meantime, I can’t think of a better man to be with, nor someone who would make a better father than you. I know we got rid of my birth control a while back, but I was thinking maybe we could really try, you know, timing things and trying to get it right with my cycle."

  Mark blinked, and peered into my soul with his piercing eyes. “Are you sure about this?" he asked, his voice soft and contemplative. "After all the terrible things I've done?"

  "You’re the only one I could think of doing this with, I know that for sure," I said, turning over to kiss him. In between the soft, warm kisses I continued. "You protect me, you have a good heart, and you're everything a woman could ever want."

  Mark smiled at me. "You’ve made me into a better man, Sophie. But when?"

  "You are a good man. And you're all mine," I said, claiming his mouth again in a kiss. "As for when, well, according to the websites, the next four days would be best.”

  Running my hands over his body, I couldn't suppress the small giggle as the tip of Mark's cock rose to break the surface of the water. "Seems someone else wants a kiss too? He's certainly not shy tonight."

  "Maybe," Mark replied, stroking his hands through my purple hair. "But I don't think the bath is the right place for it to happen, you know?"

  "Why?" I said, reaching down and taking him in my hand. "We've never done it in here before."

  Mark was distracted as I stroked his cock slowly, a playful smile on my face. Finally, he took a deep breath and replied. "For all the erotic look," he said in between small groans, "the hot water would leave us drained. I don't need either of us passing out from heat exhaustion during sex."

  I couldn't refute his argument, I already had a fine sheen of sweat on my body from the soaking. Still, part of me regretted getting out of the tub, and watching the water glisten as it ran over Mark's body. Waiting just until he was out of the bath, I pulled him down with my left hand for another kiss while my right hand grasped his cock lightly again, pumping it slowly while we kissed. The feel of his rock hard shaft in my hand and pressing against my lower belly filled me with a thick liquid heat, like melted caramel.

  Leading him playfully by his cock, I retreated down the hallway, all the way to our bedroom. The large bed was exactly what I wanted, turning and pushing Mark onto the crisp cotton sheets. "I'm still dripping wet," Mark laughed when he hit.

  "So am I," I said, the double meaning clear in my voice. "We can change the sheets later, or go sleep on the sofa. Right now I want to make love with you."

  I fell on top of Mark, letting gravity dangle my breasts in front of his face. Despite his strong, tender lovemaking skills that doesn't ignore a single erogenous zone on my body, Mark definitely loves my breasts. I have to say I love teasing him by just brushing them in front of his lips, pulling them back if he reaches up for them. Normally, I could keep the game up for a very long time, but Mark and I were both too eager that night, and he pulled me down, his hands playing a symphony of sensation on my back while his lips feasted, going back and forth from one side to the other, sucking and nipping at my pale skin. When his tongue traced circles around my right nipple, I saw stars shoot across my vision.

  Pulling back, I slid down until I could feel Mark's cock pressing against the wet juncture between my thighs. Looking him in the eyes, I kissed him again, resisting the urge to lift my hips up so I could impale myself on him. Instead we rubbed slowly, grinding against each other, my juices coating his hard shaft while my clit ground into the firm muscles of his lower stomach.

  "I love you so much," I groaned as my hips circled, while his hands massaged my hips.

  "I'll be with you forever," Mark said. He lowered his lips to the curve of my neck, sucking and licking the secret spot that only he knew about. "I swear."

  "I swear," I echoed, lifting my hips up until I could feel his cock pressing against my entrance. Lowering myself slowly, not because I needed to but because I wanted to prolong the wonderful sensation of being filled by the greatest man in the world, my body trembled in lustful want as I felt his cock slowly, inch by beautiful inch, spread me open and fill me up. Finally, I pushed back off of Mark's chest to let that last inch push deep into me, my body's nerves singing heavenly choruses as it did.

  "I never get tired of this," I sighed as my hips started to move back and forth. I put my hands on Mark's chest, teasing his own nipples with my thumbs while I slowly rode him.

  "Me either," Mark said, running his hands over my arms. "And I’ve thought about it."

  "What?" I said, my hips slipping back and forth in their own subconscious harmonious wave. Mark's own hips started to rise up and down as well, meeting my hips in soft little explosions.

  "What you asked for in the bath. I agree," he said, his eyes full of intense emotion. "I want to have a baby with you too."

  His words added fuel to my fire, and I moved my hips faster, my clit dragging deliciously against him with every thrust of our hips. I could feel the rising bubble of passion within me, and I let myself enjoy it, going faster and faster. Mark let go of my arms to cup my breasts, teasing my nipples with his fingers while I rode him, throwing back my head and groaning thickly. I was close, so close, and I knew what I needed.

  "Fuck me, Mark. Please fuck me," I groaned into the air. I needed him, and sobbed for a moment as Mark lifted me off of him. "What?"

  Mark kissed my lips quickly as he guided me onto my knees, and he slid behind me. "One shot knockout for both of us, baby."

  I grinned and nodded at Mark's term, one we had picked up from some strange combination of our mutual martial arts training and something I had read for fun soon afterwards. Bending over, I let my breasts press into the the damp sheets and held on. I closed my eyes, letting my skin tell me everything I needed to know.

  Mark's hands stroked my ass and back for a moment, and I knew what he was doing, looking at me bent over open and ready for him. The first stroke of Mark's cock up and down my labia sent electric shivers up my spine, and I could feel the muscles on the inside of my thighs jump in anticipation. "Ready?"

  "Oh yeah," I barely breathed, "I'm so ready."

  Mark took my waist in his hands, sliding inside me with one beautiful, breath driving thrust of his hips. He didn't hold back, his cock driving in and out of me quickly, barely giving me the chance to breathe before another soul-searing cascade of pleasure tore through my bod
y. I buried my face in the sheets and screamed my joy as I clenched and pushed back into him. For all of the bitching I sometimes do about working out with Mark, being in good shape has a wonderful effect on sex. Being able to keep going, even as the breath burned in my lungs from the gasps and the sweat dripped off of me added to the pleasure.

  Still, even with all of that, neither of us could hold back much longer. Mark's thrusts came faster and deeper, my ass warming as our hips slapped together harder and harder. My ears could hear the dual gasps and grunts coming from his and my lips as we sought our climax, and I squeezed as tight as I could with my inner muscles.

  The feeling of Mark's cock swelling inside me is perhaps the greatest joy I have in making love with him outside of an actual orgasm. It's the sensation that not only stretches me that much more, but it also tells me that he only has a few seconds, ten or fifteen at most, before he comes. It's so wonderful because it’s so fleeting, and when I felt it then, I was overjoyed. I was holding back my own orgasm by only sheer force of will, and feeling him swell shattered even the illusion of control I had. My world paused, teetering on the razor's edge of insanity for a mere heartbeat before my orgasm exploded, and my wails of passion became a single long, undulating scream of joy and pleasure. I could feel Mark's hands clamp almost painfully on my waist as he also came, and we both froze, his arms tight on me.

  In my mind I could see the swell of his biceps as he pulled, and the clear definition of his stomach muscles as his cock pumped and filled me up. The moment passed, and both of us collapsed to the side, Mark keeping himself buried inside me while we spooned, and we let the warm afterglow wash over us.

  "God you're amazing," I breathed as I felt him wrap me in his arms and kiss the back of my neck.

  Chapter 42

  Mark

  Sophie found me the next morning typing away at my computer. She came padding in from the living room with her beautiful purple hair tousled and stringy. With one of my large white t-shirts being stretched out quite seductively by her breasts, I doubt there was a more beautiful sight a man could see in the morning.

  "Wow, if you wanted to tempt me, I could think of worse looks," I said, standing up and pulling her into a good morning kiss.

  "You're sweet, and I have horrible morning breath," Sophie said after we stepped apart. It was true, she did have morning breath, but still, kissing her was nice. "So what are you looking at?"

  "The end game," I said, showing her the monitor I was plugged into. "It's a plan I've been working on for quite a while now. The final piece of the puzzle was using the information we stole from the Confederation computers."

  Sophie nodded, studying the plan I had mapped out. I was worried she would object to the amount of bloodshed that could be required, and I prepared myself for the flood of concerns about the danger and violence. As Sophie's studying grew longer, punctuated with a few hums and other small sounds, I grew more and more nervous. Finally, she turned away from the plan and looked me in the eyes. "It's okay, but you left a lot of stuff out."

  That was not the answer I'd been expecting, to say the least. It took me a moment not to just smile defensively, and clear my mind to hear what she had to say. "What did I leave out?" I asked, when I could let my curiosity be stronger than my ego or surprise.

  "The biggest thing you left out is me," she replied, tapping the screen. “You’re planning on taking out four of the Confederation heads and you have yourself taking the shot each and every time."

  "Yeah, I didn't want to place you in danger, and I figured that it would be best if I did...." I said, before Sophie cut me off.

  "When I agreed to come back to the city, I told you I wanted to be fully involved, not sit and watch while you do everything,” she said, shaking her head. "I've worn the stupid suits, I've dealt with the danger, I shot a Spetznatz commando, all because I'm not your sidekick. I'm your partner, remember? Now, if I'm reading this plan right, you think that by taking out these four Confederation family heads, you can trigger a self consuming battle between the various Confederation members and Owen Lynch. But, you want to try and take each of these people out on separate days."

  "Of course. Prepping a hit on people as protected as these people are takes either planning and patience, an overwhelming attack force, a shitload of luck, or a bit of all three. We don't have an overwhelming attack force."

  Sophie chuckled. "You working by yourself isn't overwhelming at all. But the two of us working together, we can double our forces, and at the same time I was looking here at the first two hits."

  "What about them?" I said, grudgingly admitting that Sophie had a point. Still, I wanted to start this damn war to clean up the city to protect her, not to put her into firefights with criminals.

  "If you and I strike the first two targets on your list at the same time, we can increase the panic within the Confederation. Also, they'll start to doubt that it was Owen Lynch, because we can hit them where Lynch won't or can't. This first target, Han Faoxin, is the head of the local Chinese, right?"

  "Yeah."

  "But you note here that Owen Lynch doesn't know who he is. Of all the hits, his is actually the hardest because very few people know who he is. So if we take him and the second target, Illyusas Petrokias out at the same time, it turns the Confederation immediately against each other, and makes them unwilling to trust each other. Then their deaths can't be seen as either accidents or random chance."

  I started laughing, causing Sophie to frown. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

  "No, your logic is totally sound," I said after calming down. "It's just that you made the same mistake that a lot of people do with Han Faoxin."

  "What?" Sophie said, getting a little peeved. I leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, and grabbed a chair. Sophie was right, I needed to bring her into the plan, and to let her know everything I knew.

  "Han Faoxin is a woman," I said. I grabbed the wireless trackball for the computer and went into the file explorer. I quickly navigated to the profiles I had compiled over the years for the various criminals I had worked with, targeted, or were somehow related to either the Confederation or Owen Lynch. Pulling up Han Faoxin's file folder, I opened her personal profile.

  "Han Faoxin, daughter of Han Gaotan, is the third generation of her family to control the Asian crime syndicate in the city. One of the things that made her control so different from her father's is that she's been able to cross the cultural lines that divided the various Asian groups. While the Yakuza aren't happy about it, being mostly locked out, she created an amalgamation of Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, and independent Japanese criminal groups that gave her total control over anything coming into the city from eastern Asia. She doesn't have control of the Middle Eastern groups, but has a good working relationship with them. Considering how relatively young she is, she's been considered next in line when Sal Giodano retires for taking control of the entire Confederation."

  Sophie looked closely at the picture I had of her, the only picture I knew in existence of Faoxin that tied her to criminal activity. "Is that.... is that you next to her?"

  Blushing, I nodded. "Yes. Just before she took over from her father, Faoxin and I were.... well, it was complicated."

  "How so?"

  "This isn't the conversation I thought I'd be having with my fiancée," I said sheepishly. "I guess you could say that while Faoxin and I weren't exactly dating, I was more than a hook-up to her as well. Perhaps you could say I was one of her steady boys for about a year. She had a penchant for younger men."

  "Really?" Sophie said with a smirk. "So she was the one who taught you all those ancient Asian bedroom techniques you use on me. I'm not sure if we should kill her, or send her a thank you card."

  I groaned and shook my head. "Note to self, hold off on discussing prior partners until after breakfast."

  Sophie leaned over and kissed my cheek. "Don't worry, I'm not jealous," she said. "I can see from the picture that this was years ago, you could pass a
s a high schooler almost. And since you and I came together, you've been nothing but a loyal, wonderful boyfriend and lover. It's not like I expected that either of us came into this as pristine virgins. Although I do have to say one thing."

  "What's that?"

  "Faoxin, she's quite beautiful. It's kind of good for my ego to know that I can tempt you away from such a beautiful and powerful woman. How old is she anyway?"

  I laughed and stood up, pulling Sophie to her feet. "First of all, you are far more beautiful than Faoxin," I said, kissing her nose. "Not just on the outside, but far more on the inside. That woman is as evil as she is beautiful, trust me on that. Now, before we discuss anything else, we're getting some breakfast, and then we have to put in our daily appearance as Marcus Smiley and Sophie Warbird."

  "So how old is she?"

  * * *

  That night, up on the third floor of what had come to be known as the Smiley Building, if such a grand name could be given to a four story converted warehouse in the industrial district near the docks, I started the more difficult part, which was prepping my hit. The key to my plan was using a mix of styles. If each of the four hits were done in my preferred manner, a long range sniper shot using a heavy caliber rifle, I'd leave too consistent a trail, one that could be assigned to an individual. That individual was most likely me, since both Lynch and the Confederation knew I was active in town again. That was the last thing I wanted. I wanted the Confederation looking at each other and Owen Lynch first.

  Sophie and I had agreed on one thing, and that was I needed to do the hit on Faoxin. There were a lot of reasons for this. First of all, while I had a picture of Faoxin, it was older, and I had enough memories of her that I could pick her out easily. Secondly, with Sophie taking at least one of the four hits, I wanted her to use her best skill, which was the long range rifle shot. While she wasn't as good as me, with the setup we had agreed on for the hit on Illyusas Petrokias, she didn't need to be, taking only a three hundred meter shot. That left me to focus on Faoxin.