by Desiree Holt
“I want a bodyguard detail, too,” he went on, as if Luke hadn’t spoken. “Two-legged and four-legged kind.”
“I’m assuming you’re taking care of the two-legged variety yourself?” Luke chuckled.
“Let’s look at the work schedule and see who’s available for what,” Brian said, ignoring his brother’s comments.
He was having a hard enough time focusing as it was. He’d fucked a lot of women in his life. Probably more than his share. Some had been pliable, some exciting, some challenging. But none of them had set his body on fire the way Regan Matthews did. He’d taken her twice more before dawn, and he was hard again now, wanting her as if his life depended on it.
He had no idea what the hell he was going to do. Taking her to bed was a simple enough process, but what he felt for Regan was much deeper and more complex. And what would happen if he told her he was a shape shifter, half man and half wolf. After one disastrous experience years ago, he’d sought out and mated only with women of his kind. None of them had even come close to igniting the raging fire within him that Regan did.
Shit! Hell and damn, too.
He realised Luke was still talking and tried to get his brain in gear again.
“I’m sorry. What?”
“Damn!” Luke swallowed a smile. “You must have it bad. I said who do you like for the most logical suspect?”
Brian shook his head. “The list she gave me runs three pages. She’s sure pissed off a lot of people. But four of them stand out.” He tapped a key on his keyboard, and a page emerged on his computer screen. “Regan doesn’t agree with me, but I don’t think she can be objective.”
He pointed to the first one. “Hart Cameron. Multimillionaire investor who killed his wife. Regan got the goods on him and put him away forever. He’s got the money and contacts to hire someone to get rid of her.”
“Possible,” Luke agreed. “Very possible.”
“Then there’s Manuel Acosta, local chief of a huge Mexican drug cartel. Those guys don’t mess around. If he’s ordered a hit, she’s already in someone’s sights.”
“Except for one thing,” Luke interrupted. “Cartel leaders don’t send advance notice or use phone calls to intimidate people. They drive by, shoot, and get the hell out. Same thing with the third name on your list. This is too sophisticated for him.” He leaned forward and looked more closely at the screen. “Who’s the fourth one? Greg Sampson. Ex-boy friend?”
“Yeah. Another attorney on the district attorney’s homicide staff. But Regan insists the break-up was amicable and that there were no hard feelings.”
“Bullshit.” Luke tossed the pencil he’d been playing with onto the desk. “There’s no such thing as an ‘amicable’ break-up, especially if the two people have to continue working together.”
“I checked into this guy myself,” Brian said. “The picture I get is an arrogant asshole, who thinks he’s every woman’s desire. Doesn’t sound like the forgiving sort to me.” He pushed away from his desk. “I’m on my way to check him out in person. Thought I’d use the excuse of installing the car alarm as an opportunity to give the entire staff a good look-see.”
“Okay. I’ll set up a bodyguard schedule and email it to your cell.” He moved to the doorway, forcing Brian to turn and confront him before leaving. “Watch your dick, okay? Don’t get into trouble you can’t get out of. And you know what I mean.”
“Things worked out fine for you and Sierra,” he reminded his brother who was married now for six months to a human.
“Sierra is one in a million. Not all women are as…accepting. You know that.”
“I can handle things.” He brushed past his brother. “Just see that the things get done that I need.”
He had just pulled out of the parking lot when his cell rang.
“Brian?”
Regan’s voice, sounding far from the confident woman who’d been only cautiously worried last night.
“Great minds,” he answered. “I’m on my way to your office as we speak.”
“I-I got another one.”
Brian’s gut clenched. He sensed the effort she was using to keep the panic at bay, but this note seemed to have tipped her past the flash point. “When? Where? What did it say?”
“On my windshield again. I went to get a box I’d left in the car, and the note was stuck under the wiper.” Her voice rose slightly. “It says, You had your chance, bitch. Now you’ll find out what real pain is. Brian, I park in a secure garage. How is he doing this?”
Rage surge through Brian’s body, the urge to shift into feral form so strong he had to grit his teeth to exert every ounce of control. Just what he’d need…to shape shift in the middle of traffic and lope into Regan’s office.
Way to scare the lady even more, dumbass.
“Where are you now?”
“In my office. With the door closed. I asked Lisa Jensen to take two depositions for me. Said I had a crisis to handle. She’s a junior prosecutor on the homicide staff and is always looking for a chance to get herself noticed. And she’s good.”
“Okay,” Brian muttered. “Stay right where you are. Do not leave your office. I’ll be there right away.”
All of his wolf rage threatened to break loose, and he controlled himself forcibly. He’d known this woman less than twenty-four hours, yet in that first moment, he’d known, impossibly, she was his mate. It had worked for Luke and Sierra. He’d make it work for them, if he didn’t freak her out.
But first it was up to him to protect her. To keep her safe.
* * * *
Regan heard the commotion in the outer office, a man’s voice raised then her door flew open and Brian was there. Sharon, the department secretary, hovered behind him, eyes avid with curiosity.
“I told him I needed to check with you first,” she told Regan. “Shall I call security?”
Regan stood up so quickly she almost knocked over her chair. “No, it’s all right, Sharon. Mr. Spencer is just a little, um, aggressive.”
Aggressive or not, she’d never been so glad to see anyone in her life.
“Fine. As long as everything’s all right.” She favoured Brian with a come hither smile and managed to brush up against him as she closed the door with obvious reluctance.
Brian was around her desk and hauling her into his arms in seconds, holding her so tightly she was afraid he’d crush her ribs. But she didn’t care. The minute she felt his arms around her, the panic ebbed and her heart rate began to return to normal.
His mouth came down on hers in a bruising kiss, his tongue like a flame branding her. He tasted her tongue, her teeth, the sensitive inner side of her lips. Finally, he eased his grip and set her slightly away from him, his eyes raking over her.
“Are you okay?” His amber eyes burned into her, and a muscle jumped in his cheek.
“Yes.” She tried to keep her voice from shaking. “I think so, anyway. Brian, how is he getting into secure places? Is no place safe?”
“Where’s Sampson?” he demanded.
“He’s in court all morning.” Did Brian really think Greg was doing this? “I’m sorry, I just can’t see him threatening me this way. He was angry when we broke up but not enough for something like this. Anyway, I hear he’s dating someone else, although I have no idea who it is. Maybe whoever he was seeing before he and I got together.”
“When a secure facility is violated, Regan, we have to look at every suspect who has access to it. Don’t be so quick to cross him off the list.”
“God, Brian.” The thought of Greg doing something like this to her made her physically ill. She’d almost prefer it to be someone from one of her cases. She expected it from criminals.
“What about the secretary with the ‘fuck me’ sign on her?”
“Sharon?” Regan couldn’t help laughing. “She’s got a problem with every woman in this office, so she’d have to come after us all en masse.”
“She certainly let me know subtly she was available if I was int
erested.”
Regan shook her head. “That’s standard operating procedure with her. She’s harmless.”
Brian’s face was just inches from hers. “No one is harmless, Regan. Certainly not in a situation like this. Remember that.” He took a step back. “Does the garage have security cameras?”
She nodded. “But only a couple of them. They think it’s safe because everything is locked and requires a coded card. Also, there’s a guard at the entrance.”
“All right. Let’s go to the building security office and get them to replay the tapes for us. Tell your secretary you’re unavailable for the rest of the day.”
“B-but I have ongoing cases. I can’t just—”
“Get your files together. You can work from home today.”
She shook her head. “I can’t. I have court appearances.” She bit her lip. “C-can you stay here with me?” If he was with her all the time, she wouldn’t feel so much like collapsing. This was a new and strange feeling for her, and she hated it. Hated being dependent on someone else. But with Brian, she could handle it.
He blew out a breath. “All right. Let’s go look at the tapes. Then you can go over your schedule with me.”
On their way down to the security office, she listened to Brian on his cell with his office.
“That’s right. Progress on the fingerprints from the note I left and on those four names on the list. And send someone to her office to pick up the latest one.”
The tapes showed them nothing. Regan’s parking space was located out of sight of either camera, and nothing else they viewed looked suspicious. Brian thanked the security guard and hustled Regan back to her office. He was about to close the door when a deep male voice called to them.
“Regan? Hey, wait a minute.”
“Oh, hell,” she muttered.
“Regan, what the hell is going on?”
She sighed and turned to the man who’d hurried up beside them. Next to Brian, the ultimate alpha male, Greg Sampson looked a pale imitation. Where Brian was tall and lean, Greg was more tall and thin. The sun-streaked hair and angular face Regan had once thought so appealing, today, looked washed out beside Brian’s dark good looks.
Okay, he’s not bad, but what the hell did I ever see in him?
“Nothing’s going on, Greg. I got jammed up this morning and asked Lisa to cover some depositions for me. Why is everyone making such a big deal about it?”
His hand closed over her shoulder, and she saw Brian’s eyes smoulder. “Honey, if you’ve got a problem, I wish you’d let me help you.”
“I don’t have a problem. Thanks for asking, though. Now, if you’ll excuse us?”
Instead, he let his eyes travel over Brian who had moved protectively close. He stuck out his hand. “Greg Sampson. Regan and I have a…special relationship. Who are you?”
“Brian Spencer.”
Regan noticed he offered no further explanation, except to casually drape his arm around her shoulder, effectively pushing Greg’s hand out of the way. Something close to anger flared in Greg’s eyes then he pasted on a smile.
“Whatever. Regan, you know you can call me if you need anything.”
“Thanks again,” she told him. “Now I really have to check on some things.”
Brian closed and locked the door. His face was taut when he looked at her. “That’s the idiot you went out with?”
She sighed. “We all have lapses. Meanwhile, someone’s still after me.”
“It’s got to be someone who works here,” he pointed out. “And I’m not ruling out Sampson, no matter what you say. We’re going to sit down and make another list before your first court appearance today.” He pulled her roughly against him. “But first I have to do this.”
His kiss shot fire through her, silencing any protest she might make about where they were. His fingers unbuttoned her blouse, unclasped her bra and were pinching and rolling her nipples before her brain kicked in.
“We can’t do this here,” she gasped, moisture dampening her crotch even as she made her feeble protest.
“I have to do this,” he rumbled. “I have to imprint myself on you. Let everyone know you’re mine. Let whoever this is realise what a foolish thing he’s doing. Jesus, you don’t know how I felt when you called and said you’d gotten another note.”
“I’m yours?” Her eyes widened as she focused on the one phrase. “But we hardly—”
“I don’t think it’s something either of us can deny, Regan. You know it as well as I do.” The raw need in his voice made her even more aroused. “You knew it the minute we met last night, just like I did. And certainly after the first time we fucked. Right?”
She swallowed. God, what was happening to her? Everything in her well-organised life was spinning out of control. And, for some unknown reason, she had no desire to stop it, at least where it came to Brian Spencer. It seemed just inconceivable that she, Regan Matthews, commonsense individual, hard-nosed and hard-assed, was falling in lust—or whatever it was—so instantly with a man she didn’t even know. But he was telling the truth. It happened and she knew it.
“R-right.”
She barely had the words out of her mouth before he had her skirt up around her waist, her pantyhose down around her ankles and had lifted her to her desk. Impatiently, he yanked her pantyhose off one foot, dug in his wallet for a condom and rolled it on.
“No time for foreplay today, darlin’. If I’m not inside you in two seconds, I’ll explode.” He bent and lapped at her cunt, testing her moisture. “Shit, you’re already wet and ready for me.”
He paused with the head of his cock at the entrance to her pussy, gripped her hips, and pushed himself inside.
“Oh, God,” she moaned and thrust her hips at him, clutching at his arms.
“Wrap your legs around me,” he commanded.
At that moment, the buzzer on Regan’s intercom sounded.
“Shit.” Brian bit down on her lip. “Don’t answer it.”
“I have to.” Regan could hardly catch her breath. “It’s probably Sharon, our secretary. If I ignore it, she’ll come banging on the door.”
Brian swore again and shifted her body so she could reach the phone.
“Yes?” She hoped her voice sounded calmer to the secretary than it did to her. She had no idea where her control came from with desire racing through her body like a runaway train.
“Sam Franklin says you’re locked up in your office with that man who pushed his way in earlier.” Sharon’s voice held just a touch of acid. “Are you all right? What’s going on? You have a deposition in five minutes.”
“Lisa Jensen’s taking it for me.” Her voice rose slightly as Brian rolled his hips. “I have something urgent to take care of. Hold all my calls for right now.” She dropped the received in place before Sharon could say anything else. “I’ll pay for that,” she mumbled, her mouth against Brian’s neck. “Besides being a man-eater, she’s the queen of bitches. She only keeps her job because she’s so damn good at it.”
“You told her this was urgent. We’d better get to it.”
He pressed his mouth against hers, forcing his tongue inside and scorching her flesh with it as he began to pump steadily in and out of her. Her body seemed to remember him as the muscles of her pussy automatically stretched to accommodate him and clutched at his shaft.
“Ah, darlin’,” he rasped. “Are you too sore? I should have thought about that, but my dick doesn’t have a brain.”
“I-I’m fine,” she gasped. “Don’t you dare stop.”
“I couldn’t if I wanted to. Which I don’t. Jesus, it feels like you’re squeezing my cock. Keep those tight cunt muscles flexing just like that.”
The orgasm ripped at them so quickly and with such force Regan couldn’t breathe. If not for Brian’s corded arms holding her, she was sure she would have flown apart, shattering on her desk. The spasms held her like a giant fist as the walls of her pussy contracted again and again. Brian’s cock pulsed inside h
er, his hot seed spurting into the latex reservoir.
When her heart stopped beating in triple time, she loosened her death grip on his shoulders and eased her legs down. Brian relaxed his arms and leaned his head down until his forehead touched hers.
“I don’t do this as a habit,” he told her, still trying to draw air into his lungs.
“Oh, I think you do it often and well.” Her voice was still breathless as she teased him.
He laughed, the vibrations rumbling through his penis and into her body. “I mean, having sex with a client in her office.” His face sobered. “But you’re more than a client. You know that, right? Last night was about more than just sex, and that shocks the hell out of me.”
“Me, too,” she whispered.
Exhaling slowly, he gradually withdrew from her body. Regan opened a desk drawer and grabbed a box of tissues. Her face heated as she handed some to Brian to dispose of the condom then proceeded to clean herself.
He put a finger under her chin and tilted it up. “No embarrassment. Not with each other. Not ever, for anything. Okay?”
“O-okay.”
When they had finished rearranging their clothing, Brian pulled out his cell phone and punched in a number. “Me,” he said. “Did you get photos of the footprints outside her house? Yeah. Uh huh. Anything on the information I left you about the text messages? Okay. I hear you. Whoever’s doing the alarm system at her house, have him set up a caller ID on the phone. Regan can call the phone company to connect it. And fit her up with a better answering machine. And one more thing. I want special sentry duty tonight. Okay. Later.”
Regan was full of questions. “Okay, give. Did they find anything? About anything? What about the text message?”
Brian held up a hand. “One thing at a time. Our geek partner checked the SIM card from your phone. The text message came from a throwaway so nothing there.”
“Damn.” She nibbled at a fingernail. She’d been hoping they could trace it back to someone. “What about the footprints?”
“Looks like a man’s size eleven. They measured the impression and figure whoever it is has to be a pretty skinny guy. The footprint wasn’t too deep. How tall is this Greg character and how much does he weigh?”