Bound to Serve (Dangerous Liaisons #1)

by Julie Castle

  “I like a man who’s focused, but from now on, all future arrangements need to go through me. It’s the only way I can keep you here. You’re going to be on a very short leash, Mr. Welch.”

  “As long as you’re the one holding it, I won’t mind.” He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it. Her ice-blue eyes softened for a moment, but her guard was definitely up. He had to smooth this over so that they could stay and he could take down Perez. “Like I said, I was a little overeager to see blue water again. It was all for naught. I wound up napping in the mangroves.” He flicked another wary look toward the cabana.

  “What do you keep looking at?” Lola said, annoyed.

  “Some strange surfer-type chatting up Star,” he said, watching Lola go still. Her reaction was telling. She and James had something personal going on between them.

  “Strange surfer-type?” Her brow wrinkled and she turned to look. “Well, damn. What the hell is he doing here?” After a moment, she turned to look at Condor. “You’re jealous,” she said in a disgruntled tone, staring at the stiff set of his shoulders.

  “No, just territorial,” he said with a negligent nod, doing his best to deny the accusation. It hit too damned close to home. “I told you before, I don’t like to share my toys. Star is mine for the next week, and I mean to keep her and hold her to her contract.” He watched Lola’s militant expression ease and a pleased smile steal across her face. Of course she thought in only monetary terms.

  Across the compound, James seemed to notice Lola glaring at him. He frowned and let go of Bridget. Condor breathed a sigh of relief. Looked like Lola kept him on a short leash, too.

  “I’ve got business to take care of, Jason,” Lola said, giving him a smile before stepping away. “Later.”

  Condor smiled at Lola and eased back to give her space, but he surreptitiously watched her movements. Seeing James with Bridget had unsettled her. She made a beeline to the table where Perez’s women sat looking bored out of their minds. Lola’s nod to an armed guard sent him scurrying to their table. The guard led the two women back to their bungalow, and Lola walked to the far end of the dance floor. She glared at James, who immediately went still. He slapped Bridget on the ass and sent her on her way. One thing was for sure—Lola’s scrutiny had cooled his ardor.

  Condor pasted on a slow smile as Bridget headed directly toward him. He could read the banked anger in her eyes. She was furious with James, not attracted to him. The relief he felt knowing this troubled him. He didn’t want to fall for Bridget. Didn’t want to need her in his life. He was a ghost who traveled alone. He had no business burdening her with that. His strength, his skill, his courage as an agent came from having no connections. No attachments. There was more at stake than his heart if he let himself be compromised.

  As she stepped into his personal space, her eyes damp with unshed tears, his heart melted and his anger built. One thing was sure, when this was over, he was going to take out Clayton permanently.

  “All done playing waitress?” he asked to forestall her when she opened her mouth. Wetzel and Kahn were within shouting distance, and he didn’t want them to overhear a possible hysterical reaction. A glance back to the far side told him Lola and James were gone. Good. It was time to make a strategic retreat.

  “Uh huh,” she managed to say, her body trembling a little.

  He hadn’t been able to hear her conversation with James, but he could read Bridget’s body language now. She was close to her breaking point. “Come on, let’s go.” He took her arm and steered her away from the party.

  “But the miss…”

  “Fuck that,” he muttered, furious with Frost for sending Bridget into a war zone and enraged with himself for not pulling her out.

  She shuddered and leaned close to him, their bodies touching as they walked. “Okay.”

  Condor growled as noisy couples brushed by them on the path. He steered her off the path and onto the grass to get away from the crowds. Whatever had happened between her and James wasn’t good. He drew her to a halt near some bougainvillea bushes and turned her to face him. “You okay?”

  “Never better,” she said grimly, her teeth chattering a little. “We’ve got to get that jerk. I can’t believe he thought me that stupid and lovesick.”

  Condor nodded, glad that she was getting her feisty spirit back. “Tell you what, I’ll take you back to the bungalow, then go follow him and pound him for you,” he said, smiling when she flashed a startled look up at him.

  “You would?”

  He relaxed and chucked her under the chin. “For you, anything, love. Just say the word.”

  She grinned. “Thanks, but I’d rather pound him myself, and we do have a job to do.”

  He relaxed and recalled her groping the jerk. “You two were getting rather cozy.”

  “So were you and the dragon lady,” Bridget shot back, and then she sighed. “Honest, I didn’t enjoy it. I was trying to distract him. He thought he recognized you. You two didn’t work together, did you?”

  He’d anticipated such things. He always did. He ensured he looked one way during his interactions with anyone from the agency—and he always changed his appearance when going undercover. “No. He might have seen me once or twice around the compound. I think he took one of the intro courses I taught. I doubt he’d recognize me, but there’s a chance. Think we should tell Frost?”

  “Don’t, I diverted his attention. Actually, I convinced him that I never got over him, and that I’d like him to own me and take me in hand.”

  “Like hell.”

  “I agree,” she said, focusing a wobbly smile at him. “You’re the only one I want to take me in hand.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Bridget fought to keep the tears from falling as they stood in seclusion. Moonlight shone down on them, turning the small clearing into a magical nook. If not for the devastating scene she’d just played out with James, the moment would have been perfect.

  Her body still trembled, a delayed reaction that she couldn’t seem to control. She leaned into Condor for strength, touched by his offer to pound James. It was true that James was a traitor. Somehow, she’d held out hope that it wasn’t true, that they’d been mistaken about seeing him. She’d never meant a thing to James, and she refused to shed a single tear over the loss not just of his loyalty but the possibility that he’d ever loved her.

  “Easy, babe, only a little farther to the bungalow and then you can cry your eyes out.”

  “I’m not crying,” she protested, fighting the assertion, but she found wet spots on his shirt where she’d been leaning against him.

  Suddenly he went still and shushed her. He pulled them further behind the bush and pointed toward the courtyard. James and Lola were standing in the moonlight, arguing. Their heated words punctuated the air.

  Lola stepped forward. “I don’t trust the red-headed bitch. I told you I want her gone.”

  James smiled, leaned toward her in a confidant pose, and casually brushed a hand through her blond hair. “Why? Are you jealous, Lolly?”

  “Don’t call me that or pull your stud games on me, Jimmy boy. Remember, I know where the bodies are buried, literally. Give me too much cause and the boss will dump you.”

  “Now, honey, don’t make threats you don’t have the power to carry out. You know that you need me. Come back to the suite with me and I’ll…” he moved closer to whisper.

  Lola sucked in a breath. “I don’t do that. Just because you’re okay in the sack, doesn’t mean I’ll let you ride roughshod over me. Stop trying to disarm me with sex. It’s not gonna work.”

  James scowled. “I bet you’d let the dude you were canoodling with fuck you.”

  “What Jason and I do is none of your business,” she said, withdrawing from him.

  “You were getting too cozy. You wouldn’t like me to spill the beans to Perez when he shows up tomorrow.”

  “Don’t worry about Welch,” Lola snapped. “I just want to keep close tabs on him.
”

  “And screw him,” James said sourly.

  “What’s it to you? He’ll be gone in a few days, and so will your Bridget. Wonder why he said her name was Star?”

  “Probably because she’s Delta Star.”

  Lola let out a gasp. “What the fuck kind of sick game are you playing? Perez is gonna kill you for real this time.”

  “Relax, they fired her after she went psycho when I was bombed. But she’s got connections we can make use of. Her father was the former head of the agency, and her whole snobby family is as well-connected as they come.”

  “And Welch?” Lola asked.

  “Seems to be who he claims to be…but…”

  “You don’t trust anyone,” Lola filled in.

  “And that’s why we’re the perfect pair…you get me, Lola baby.”

  “We’ve got to run this by Perez.”

  “And wake him up! Are you nuts? You know he’s always in bed by ten. It can wait until he comes over tomorrow night. Until then, I’ll have the guards put the place on lockdown and do extra patrols by their bungalow.”

  Lola huffed out a breath. “I guess it’ll have to do. We still have the issue of getting rid of Bridget.”

  “Bullshit. I’m taking her from Welch. She won’t be leaving the island with him. Her contract is up in a week.”

  “And have her replace me?” she hissed. “Now who’s the one acting lovesick?”

  “Nobody could replace you, sweet. And it’s business, babe. I’ll have my fun, and she could still have some live connections back at Delta we could tap into. When I’m through with her, I’ll sell her back to her family. They’d pay big bucks to get her back and hush up any scandal.”

  Lola smiled. “Now I remember why I recruited you all those years ago.”

  …

  Bridget stood there frozen as her worst fears were confirmed. Not only was James planning to use her, he was suspicious of Condor, too. The mission was in serious jeopardy, they were both in danger, and it was all her fault.

  Even as she thought it, her fury built. How dare he think that he could get away with his despicable acts, that she’d be such a dupe? And now what must Condor think of her? A worse partner he couldn’t get.

  Condor tugged on her arm, and she looked at him, afraid that her guilt was written all over her face. But he wasn’t looking at her with the condemnation she would expect. His reaction only made her love him more. When he took her hand and led her away from their bungalow, she followed him without a word. A few moments alone would help her cope, would give them a chance to plan. Frankly, she didn’t want to go back and be under Lola’s scrutiny or island arrest.

  “Come on, let’s make tracks.”

  It just proved how in harmony they were. They were both feeling the same thing, and he was trying to make her feel better. “I’m okay,” she said softly, feeling anything but. “I’ll understand… if you want to scrub the mission…”

  “Screw the mission.” He walked her down the beach to the far side of the island.

  She relaxed with gratitude she couldn’t express and leaned into him, her bare feet crunching in the sand. The full moon shone down on them, and she reveled in the feeling of being alone with him as the sounds of the party faded into the distance. She didn’t even bother asking where they were headed, didn’t care. All she cared about was being alone with him, savoring their last moments together.

  “I’m so sorry. I should have known James for the traitor he is,” she said, not even wanting to look at him. She didn’t want to see the pity that would probably be there.

  “I don’t want to talk about that turkey,” he said, walking faster.

  Startled by his gruff tone, she glanced his way and took in his profile…strong, determined, and when he turned to look at her, possessive. It made her heart beat faster and helped push away her pain.

  They walked toward the unoccupied part of the island. The rocky outcroppings and the wild untamed beauty of the place surrounded them. In the distance, she heard a rush of water. As they turned, passing a large boulder, she saw the reason. A beautiful waterfall glistened in the moonlight. She caught her breath in wonder. This was a far cry from the manicured staginess of the Retreat. The water splashed down into a beautiful pool.

  “It’s lovely,” she said.

  “Thought you’d like it.”

  She glanced at his pleased expression, her heart opening to him. He was such a complicated man, hard one moment, soft the next. She took the hand he extended and walked with him around the edge of the pool and back into the rocks. They were dotted with ferns, vines, and birds of paradise. “Just where are you taking me?”

  “Somewhere private,” he said.

  She walked with him back toward the moonlit opening of a grotto. It was a cave, she realized, the floor soft and sandy. “How did you ever find this?”

  “Scouting around the island before the mission, I decided that it was the perfect choice for an outpost.”

  “Good choice,” she said. “I’m sorry I screwed up back there. I’d hoped to prove my worth as a partner, and instead I’ve complicated things. When Frost writes us up for this, I want you to let me take the fall.” She could see by the way his eyes softened that he was touched. Hell, she wasn’t trying to be soft. She scowled and looked away, but his hand on her chin turned her back to face him.

  “That may be the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me.”

  “I’m not sweet,” she muttered.

  “I know, you’re the whole package. Sweet, salty, and sour.”

  “Gee, thanks,” she said, and she allowed herself a small laugh.

  He chuckled and bent to kiss her.

  She shut up and kissed him back, and she whimpered when her tortured nipples brushed against his hard chest. Damn, she’d almost forgotten about the star shaped clamps she was wearing. His hands came up to fondle her breasts, and his fingertips toyed with her clamps and made her gasp into his mouth.

  He broke the kiss to nibble her ear. “Honey, you can make all the noise you want tonight. This night is just for us.”

  “Oh, my,” she gasped when he bent down to lap at her. The flick of his hot, rough, wet tongue on her swollen peak made her clench, and she let out a whimper of surrender. Her knees wobbled, and Condor caught her in his strong arms.

  “Hang on to me,” he said, and he carried her into the clearing.

  She saw a looped cord hanging from a tree branch. “You planning to tie me up and gag me after all?” she teased, half-nervously as she looked at the bondage gear.

  “Do you trust me?” he asked, looking down at her solemnly.

  “With my life,” she said, smiling up at him because it was true.

  “Good call.” He set her down on her feet under the pulley, lifted one of her hands up in the air, and hooked it through the loop. When he reached for the other, he moved slowly and asked again, “Are you sure?”

  This wasn’t the role-play anymore, she realized. This was them—for real.

  “Yes,” she said, placing her hand in his. He reached up and placed her other hand through the loop, and she gasped, her breasts trembling. She stood flat-footed but suspended, her breasts thrust out at him, her heart racing. The look Condor swept over her made her crazy with need. He kissed her gently, and his hands toyed with her breasts, making her whimper, making her sex pulse.

  “Make all the noise you want, sugar, no one will hear you.”

  Her breathing was the loudest thing in the air. The isolation was both scary and freeing. They could be themselves, but who was she really? The buttoned-up agent she had been or the sex kitten she pretended to be? She looked deep into his hot chocolate gaze, her heart tripping, her body heating and melting.

  “Oh, Condor,” she moaned.

  He chuckled and took off her clamp.

  She let out a cry as the blood rushed back into her swollen peak. He sucked it deep into his hot mouth, drawing hard and insistent on it. Her toes curled in the sand, and she
tightened inside. He slowed the pace, alternately soothing and drawing on her throbbing bud. She whimpered, her knees weakening, and now she knew why he’d tied her up. She couldn’t have remained standing.

  Condor thrust his leg between her open thighs, supporting and teasing her. She helplessly ground her need against him, out of her head with desire. Flashes of heat swept through her. Then he reached for the other clamp, and she wailed in anticipation.

  He chuckled. “I love that sound, red.”

  He opened her other clamp, and she gasped as fire and ice shot through her peak. He bent and sucked it into his waiting mouth, and he drew hard on it, making her eyes roll back in her head. She ground her stiff clit against him—

  And she came, her sex contracting, and she let out a cry.

  “Easy, babe,” he said when the moment passed, and he eased her off him.

  She whimpered in protest when he set her back on her shaking legs. “I don’t want it easy. I want it hard,” she demanded.

  He smiled, knelt at her feet, and looped his fingers in the waistband of her thong, and she stopped complaining. He slowly eased the garment down her legs, and she let out a frustrated growl, realizing he was teasing her. His knowing chuckle made her crazy, and she trembled in response. He gently lifted one of her feet, and then the other, to take the garment off and place it on the ground next to him. He smiled up at her in the moonlight, and she held her breath in anticipation. Then he leaned in and licked the inside of her thigh. She gasped as his tongue swept a path of liquid fire up her trembling naked flesh.

  Her sex pulsed, rippling, as she arched out at him wordlessly, begging for more. He let out a long hot breath. His tongue unerringly flicked out to lick her clit, and she cried out.

  “Oh, no,” she muttered, feeling completely out of control. She’d never let herself go, ceding control completely, like this.

  “Oh, yes,” he said, licking the damp curves of her sex, sucking on her labia. He swirled up and down and probed her with a thrust of his tongue. She gasped as he teased her that way.