by Dawn Ryder
Logan reached for the brim of his hat and tugged it. “I stand ready to prove myself, ma’am.”
“Ditto.” Dack let his gaze slip down her body and the blush heating her cheeks doubled. If the man took half the amount of time with his hands as he was with his eyes…
A pair of heels tapped on the marble floor, breaking into her thoughts.
“It’s been fun but I’ve got to run.”
“Now that’s a disappointment.” Dack reached out, surprising her with how fast he moved. His hand cupped her chin, only the lightest of touches, but it sent a bolt of sensation through her. He tapped his thumb over her bottom lip, stroking the delicate skin for a mere second. “A real pity.”
Giving them her back, she took a ragged breath before she smiled at Mia. Grabbing the box she swept her friend out the door along with her.
“Oooh…ohhhh.” Mia covered her mouth with a hand as she squealed. “They showed up early.”
Cambria shrugged, less at ease than she appeared. “Yeah, we’ll they’re the kind of guys who make a living out of catching folks with their pants down. Those suits say they’re good at it too. You’d better be ready to leave.”
A shiver shook her again and she lost her amused expression. There was something intense about the pair. They sure did deliver a real jolt of electricity, something she couldn’t place her finger on. Amidst all her poise and confidence she’d lost the ability to control the way they got to her. The connection had struck with the fury of a typhoon, ripping into her with a force she wasn’t prepared for. Her nipples were still hard, and between her thighs her slit was moist with the first hint of fluid from her body. Arousal twisted softly through her, trying to talk her into finding a way to run into Dack and his friend again.
That was a bad idea. Very bad. The sort of thing that would knock her world off balance. Sex was great. Hooking up with a hot guy was fun, but the sort of emotions Dack and Logan unleashed inside her with their comments was the kind she didn’t need complicating her life. It just might explode into the sort of mess that turned logical, strong women into pathetic doormats for great sex. Nope. She wasn’t going near them. They were Pandora’s box. She’d just have to find another man to play with who didn’t knock her sanity out of whack.
But temptation had never called to her so strongly before. It followed her, ignoring her orders to drop it. Her mind wasn’t willing to drop Dack and Logan. It replayed the moments, teasing her as the miles separated her from them.
Chapter Two
“I take it back, Beck can live.” Dack had followed their unexpected company back through the lobby and stood watching her taillights as she waited at a red light. He enjoyed the edge of arousal pulsing through his blood.
“I think you did an excellent job of pissing her off.” Logan offered him a smirk.
“I ruffled her feathers but it wasn’t anger that made her edgy.” Dack shot Logan a grin. “Sorry to see that you couldn’t tell the difference.”
“I noticed.”
Logan’s voice held a trace of male enjoyment that made Dack shift his attention to his partner. An unexpected surge of possessiveness burned through him as he noted the glitter of interest on his comrade’s face.
Logan lifted an eyebrow at him. “Get a grip, Dack. If she didn’t turn me on, you’d need to be a pal and put me out of my misery. That one was all woman.”
A dry chuckle worked up his throat as Dack took the hit, acknowledging his own mistake. He and Logan shared a whole lot, and even when one of them managed to hook up with a female who wasn’t interested in double action, the other one witnessed the entire event. That turned on any red-blooded male. At least as far as the pair of them went.
Moving around the lobby, he went behind the ornate reception desk to inspect it. Pissing people off was often a great way to cut to the truth real fast but he regretted being so heavy with her. A jolt of white-hot arousal went through him as he considered just how she’d puffed out her chest and shot his own attitude back at him. He wasn’t sorry, just sorry that they hadn’t been someplace more private.
“Remind me to mention to Trace that he should track her down and hire her at the Play Yard. She handled me like a pro.”
Logan chuckled. It wasn’t an amused sound but full of male anticipation. “If he does, I’m going to become a regular. But I think she just might think we were trying to hint that she’s selling flesh again.”
The Play Yard was an upscale nightclub with an exclusive clientele. It drew its members from Special Forces and operatives. Although it wasn’t the sort of place that many non-invited guests imagined it to be. The place was designed to calm a man down, a nonthreatening environment, calm enough for the newly returned to adjust to civilian life. The woman that had just faced off with them had the brass to take on the clientele. It was the honest truth that he would love to watch her engage some of the more arrogant bastards who frequented the place, the ones who flaunted their submissive partners.
“She’s not selling sex. You have to charm it out of that one.” Dack allowed himself to think about the fire in her eyes. It was a dangerous little deviation from his normal, isolated approach to people. Most women backed down from him, even his lovers.
“She’d be a hit at the Play Yard.”
The Play Yard needed confident females who could flirt with dangerous men and keep a handle on their own emotions. Playing with the flame, just enough to scorch your skin but not burn it. It wasn’t about sex.
Somehow, Dack figured that she could tackle even the most dominating jerk and hand him his leash. It would sure be worth showing up to watch. Except that he was more interested in being the one attempting to handle her.
He frowned as he considered the fact that he didn’t know her name. Picking up a pen, he scribbled down her license plate number before it faded from his memory. He snorted as he looked at the paper. Impulses were trouble when they came in connection with females. She wouldn’t thank him for tracking her down.
Or would she?
After she got done spitting, would she purr? His lips twitched up. Only if he stroked her just right.
Temptation started chewing at him as he recalled every little detail about her. Her skin was light coffee, with just a touch of cream in it. Her hair wasn’t the tight curls that often came with black skin, but smooth and shiny. She’d had it arranged in a twist held at the back of her head by two polished wooden chopsticks. Elegant and classy, perfect to go with her solid confidence.
She flat out turned him on. The license plate number in his hand taunted him with the possibility that he might get to try his hand at convincing her to become his lover. His cock twitched, thickening behind his fly as he contemplated how to corner a female like that. It wouldn’t be easy and that sent more heat towards his cock.
“Well here’s another little surprise.” Dack lifted a single sheet of paper left in the laser printer tray. One neatly worded letter of resignation. After handing it across the marble desktop to Logan, he swept an eye over the remaining items on the desktop.
Nothing personal remained. Even in a high-class environment such as this one, every employee brought hints of their personality. It was there in a magnet or picture or decorating item. The desk area was cleared out.
What he wanted to know was why. Good employees didn’t leave bad companies, they left bad managers most of the time. Sitting down at the computer, he punched in his override code, something that was always in place before one of his teams hit a location. The managers and vice presidents never knew that their files had already been swept remotely.
Mia Kerstin was organized and on top of every email in her files. Even, he noted, the ones that didn’t deserve her time. Such as the personal notes from her boss that ranged from dry-cleaning pick-ups to research for his kids’ school projects. She’d clearly planned to be gone before he and Logan arrived.
Logan laid the paper down. “I think we may have found the smoking gun already.”
“This job
is looking less boring by the second.” Dack flipped through the new emails, his radar picking up the hints of a troubled office. There were always little hints that could be used to target the source of budget trouble. He was hired when it wasn’t as simple as lack of clients. This gym had plenty of money coming in each month; it should have been in the black.
And then maybe he’d just have to tie up all the loose strings by finding Mia’s friend again. After all, he had a reputation of being the best and he couldn’t disappoint anyone. She’d dared him to try her, it had flickered through her eyes as she’d stood there refusing to back away from him. That was a challenge.
He loved a challenge.
* * * * *
“That was perfect. I really owe you.” Mia was still nervous an hour later. Cambria offered her a smile as she raised a hand to get the waitress to bring them their bill.
“Well, I’ve encouraged you to misbehave again. How nice to know that we haven’t slipped off the edge into old age yet. Don’t let your family send your brothers after me.”
Mia took a last sip of coffee before swiping the check from the waitress’s hand. “I’m paying.” Lifting her hand, she showed her palm to Cambria. “Talk to the hand.”
“You’re not black enough to pull that phrase off.”
Mia shrugged. “And you’re way too black if you think you can intimidate this bill out of my hands just because I’m skin tone challenged.”
Cambria grinned at her friend. “Well, it’s worked before.”
“Not today.” Mia pulled a few bills out of her pocket book and stuck them in the vinyl folder the check was in. “But I’d better get home and send out emails. I’m not asking my parents for money.”
Mia’s family had spare cash too. But it came with a string attached. Their darling girl wasn’t allowed to have a temper or even an opinion. Taking Burton’s crap was perfectly acceptable by their standards, because her position had been located in an exclusive establishment. Who cared if she had to shine shoes at her desk, as long as those loafers belonged to some high-profile name and wore Gucci. They could brag to their friends about the gold-star clientele their daughter worked among, never mind the fact that she was the hamster that scurried to appease each and every childish whim.
Mia also wasn’t allowed to be friends with a black chick, at least not one who had grown up with a single mom and half siblings from several different fathers. They’d been tight since high school in spite of every attempt her parents had made to separate them. It was a funky sort of relationship, each of them entertaining the other with their differences. All in all, they were both bold women, even if Mia snuck her licks in like a ninja. Cambria loved her because she grounded her wilder side, acting as the safety rope that jerked her back before she went too far over the edge.
They were cohorts in crime and partners in persevering among the mundane realities necessary for life. They were girlfriends, the best thing any woman ever had.
“Wish me luck, I’m off to the Hudsten building first thing tomorrow morning for my first and hopefully last interview.”
“Knock ’em dead, sister. I’ve got conference calls most of the day.” Reaching up, Cambria mimicked a collar choking her.
Mia wrapped her arms around her in a hug, before scurrying towards her car.
A touch of guilt landed on Cambria’s shoulders as she maneuvered through the traffic on the way home. It had actually been fun. Dack and Logan were a feast for the eyes of any red-blooded, male-appreciating woman. Which she definitely was. Hands down they were two of the finest examples of beefcake she’d spied in the last few weeks. Tall, immaculate and pure brawn.
Mind you, she was guessing about the exact condition of their bodies. It was a real shame that she couldn’t follow up on them. If she’d met them anywhere else, her brain would be cheerfully trying to concoct a means of running into them again.
Finding them together was like a double-scoop ice-cream cone on a hundred-and-five-degree afternoon. Sure, you thought about it, but it was going to drip all over your hand while you tried to control it. Two was too much.
The idea turned her on though. Her nipples were tingling when she pulled into her garage. Climbing up the stairs sent a little zip of sensation through her as the folds of her slit rubbed against her clit. Need pulsed softly through her belly as she sat down to check her email. Sunday didn’t mean “no work day”. Half of the globe was already waking up to Monday morning. With her load of calls tomorrow, she’d be wise to spend a couple of hours dealing with her inbox today.
Well, she had certainly gotten a fair amount of entertainment out of the morning. Now it was time to pay the bills.
Logan and Dack…hmmm, it certainly had paid to get up early today.
* * * * *
Cambria Porcha Jones.
Dack stared at her picture, his laptop displaying her driver’s license. Connections got him a lot of information that most people thought was private. She’d be pissed if she knew what he was about, but that didn’t normally bother him. His job was digging into personal files. He might even construct a lame excuse about needing to investigate her because she’d been on the property when he arrived.
But that had nothing to do with it. Mia Kirsten and her abrupt resignation were in need of investigation but Cambria was a personal matter.
He felt his cock twitch again. His brain was tumbling ideas around, smoothing out a plan to confound her once more.
Oh it would be a confrontation. He was looking forward to that part. Actually looking forward to it. She’d hooked his attention like a fish, only he wasn’t going to be a simple catch. But the clash would be worthy of a good setup when he did engage her again. Fingering his phone, he moved through the interface looking for a number. With a last look at his laptop, he pressed the send key.
* * * * *
She didn’t get many calls from secured numbers. Cambria stared at her cell phone but shrugged and opened it. Her brother Remington had a habit of calling on secure lines.
“Good evening.”
“You picked up. Trusting girl.”
A jolt of awareness speared through her. Her eyes narrowed as she forced herself to not answer too quickly. “Are you anyone I know?”
A soft male chuckle was her response. Her lips twitched up, enjoying the moment a little too much.
“Because I really detest telemarketers.”
“You haven’t listened to my pitch yet.”
Oh she’d heard it all right. His voice was layer upon layer of rich, dark male temptation. Heat flowed towards her breasts, the nipples rising into sharp points.
“I could make it worth your time to listen, Cambria.”
He used her name to place her on the defensive. A tiny shiver touched the nape of her neck as she heard the slightest change in his voice. Not only was the man sharp, he was dangerous. She didn’t know a lot of his type, only that he was a breed apart from the men she’d dated. Dack would come with a gun, she’d bet her new gold bracelet on it.
“If you think learning my name is going to impress me…”
“I’m correct.” All amusement had vanished from his tone. “Right now, your mind is racing in a circle, attempting to discover just how I got your number.”
“Maybe, but that would mean that I think about you at all.” She shivered, pacing across her office. There was an addictive nature to sparing with him. That tail-tugging urge was growing with each parried verbal barb.
“I’ve thought about you, happy to admit it.”
Her teeth bit into her lower lip. It wasn’t indecision that made her nervous, it was the spike of heat that went through her pussy. Hard, deep and hot, passion was licking across her clit. No man had ever done that to her over the phone. Just the friction of her thighs brushing against each other made her want to climax.
“I’d like to have a drink with you, Cambria.”
Oh hell…his voice had dipped down into that dark, syrupy zone. She forced her brain to think before she
did something completely impulsive. “Before you ride out of town, you mean?”
“I don’t live here, if that’s what you’re asking.”
And he didn’t sound as if he was interested in staying. “I’ll think about it.” Keeping her voice steady took way too much control but she still enjoyed the buzz of excitement. It was just too rare to not savor. Dack wasn’t boring, she had to hand that to him. But she wasn’t sure if she wanted to live with the fallout of having tasted him after he disappeared into the sunset. She hit the end key as a shaky breath rattled out of her throat. The man was potent.
Possibly too potent.
Dack clutched the phone in a tight fist. Arousal snaked through his cock, making it rock hard. Standing up, he adjusted the swollen flesh then tucked his phone into his shirt pocket. A little ripple of disappointment moved through him as he went looking for a fresh pot of coffee. He wanted a drink but it was his turn to be on watch so alcohol was out.
He knew she wouldn’t be easy and she hadn’t been. The abrupt end of their conversation only added fuel to his growing enjoyment of the chase. His better judgment warned him to break it off but he just wasn’t willing to do it. Not this time. He was a little too hungry for true companionship. That woman raised his dick but also made him chuckle.
It had just been too damn long since he tasted life.
* * * * *
Mia stepped out onto the pavement Monday morning with a smile decorating her lips. Her interview had gone so well, it was possible the lack of reference from her last employer wouldn’t become a factor. She hoped so anyway. Her cell phone buzzed and she plucked it out of her purse, opening it without checking the number. Her résumé was hot on the internet highway and she needed to get a job before facing her parents.
“What the fuck did you think you were doing, Mia?”