Locke and Key (Titan Book 12)

by Cristin Harber

  Locke’s hands went under her arms, pulling her off his hard-on. “Up and on the bed, babe.”

  Whoa. They rolled onto the bed, stripping away her towel. “Cold! I need my towel.”

  “You’re fine.”

  He spun her around and upside down before she could grab the just-out-of-reach towel. “Oh. God.”

  His hands grabbed her ass as she realized he’d spread her bare over his face. Locke licked her again. “Suck my cock, Beauty.” His tongue delved into her entrance as his fingers stroked, curling, deeper and deeper.

  Pleasure surprised her with each touch—one right after the other after the other. “God!”

  “Don’t care about the towel now?” He kissed, laughing against her sensitive folds, and she shook her head, getting her bearings. Every word he said made her body rejoice. Goosebumps spiraled across every inch of her skin. He worked her from the inside out, teased her open as she tensed, and made love to her body with his tongue again.

  “Locke!” She whimpered and shook, grabbing his cock in her hands and stroking, hands stacked on top one another. “Don’t stop!”

  His hands on her held her down, and she moaned—God, he did too, lapping slow strokes as she melted for him and shuddering as she opened her mouth to him, letting him pass her lips at the same pace and insane voltage that Locke made her build.

  She channeled every never-ending reaction, determined to suck him as well as he kissed her, and wrapped her hands around his cock, pumping while she sucked.

  “Mmm,” she moaned, needing to climax. Cassidy pulled back, moving her hands and gasping. “If I die, lie about how I went.”

  She was flying high. Her canal began to tighten, and her muscles began to quiver. Cassidy took him into her mouth, tightening and wriggling as his fingers dug to keep her lower half still.

  Just like him, she took as good as she gave. Impaled with pleasure, dying to come, he gave incoherent groans and moans, and his hip thrusts into her mouth were harsher. They both toed the edge of orgasm.

  “Cassidy, love, do not stop,” he demanded.

  Every single word pushed her toward an erotic explosion. His tongue thrust in and out, and his fingers held her still as she began to pull away from the near painful-pleasure the man was putting her through.

  Cassidy dipped her head to take more of him. It wasn’t fair. She couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. Maybe couldn’t come. But goddamn, she wouldn’t let him get away from a climax.

  On the precipice of the orgasm, her thighs clenched, and she moaned. A hand shifted, and Locke slid two fingers inside of her, curling them just enough, sucking and teasing her clit until she could explode, driving her higher.

  And higher.

  And even higher.

  “Locke,” she begged with him in her mouth. “Please…”

  His hand clamped onto her ass, holding her to him, and his tongue ran through her folds until he swirled into her, kissing her, pulsing and pressing, gliding in and out, and she couldn’t stop the wave of orgasm that slammed.

  Drunk on him, she sucked wildly on his shaft as she came, bucking; his hands held her to his mouth as she spasmed, shaking until she cursed, and Locke rolled away from her, abandoning her on the bed. Her arm reached for him, but limply. She could barely move a muscle. She was too weak to open her eyes, too lazy to drag more of a gasp into her lungs than she had managed.

  Then he was by her side, tucking an arm under her head and putting a hand on her thigh.

  “Where’d you go,” she murmured as he kissed her.

  “Condom.”

  “Oh, you’re a good man.”

  Once they were on their sides, Locke hooked her knee over his. She draped over him and finally opened her eyes, taking in his erection, sheathed and bobbing heavily between them. “A very good, very thoughtful man.”

  “It’s the manners.” He palmed his shaft, rubbing it against her sensitive flesh.

  She was wet with arousal, lubricated by his tongue, and as he teased her, she couldn’t help but squirm. The thick, blunt head of his dick was so damn close to her entrance. “It’s not polite to tease.”

  “My bad, baby.” Locke eased deep inside her, and Cassidy’s head dropped back as he held her tight.

  The sensation nearly overwhelmed her, bringing her to dizzying heights. But there was more—his arms, his blue eyes. She trusted him. There was a depth to his gaze that was stronger than every inch that slid inside her.

  “Locke.” She needed him as much as she wanted him. The feeling had clawed its way inside her heart. She couldn’t be without him. “When we get home, promise me you aren’t going anywhere.”

  He rolled on top of her, caging the sides of her face with his forearms, and his lips danced with hers, easing her mouth open so their tongues could touch. “Not going anywhere.”

  Those three words were the best. “Good.”

  Locke lazily moved in and out of her, their effort to keep it quick long since given up. He was making love to her, and she’d never experienced a connection like that before. It was as though he could feel her thoughts, as though she could read his mind.

  “I’m sorry I ever did anything to hurt you,” she whispered, butterfly kissing him from his cheek to his ear.

  “You didn’t.”

  “But you were in a dark place. I was to blame.” Emotion caught in her throat. It was almost as thick as arousal. How could she have ever caused someone like him to hurt?

  “No, you were the key to letting all of that go.” His throaty promise ran the course of her body as he gathered her tighter. Seated deep inside her, Locke held her eyes. “Beauty, I love you.”

  She clung to him, crying. She couldn’t help it. He withdrew his cock and then slowly pumped deep into her body, giving her a reprieve long enough to gasp, “I love you too.”

  “God, baby,” he growled. “That’s what I needed to hear.”

  He pushed up on his fists, sliding his length, driving it, in and out, harder and faster, building until she lost her breath. Each thrust scored her longer, stronger, deeper than the last until she needed to scream.

  Locke cursed and growled. “You’re my woman.”

  “Yours.” It was all she could manage. Him owning her was what she needed to hear. Cassidy went over the edge. She came hard, and he dropped against her, gathering her body into his arms as he strained, climaxing with her.

  Their rollercoaster had started years before, and gathered tightly in his arms, Cassidy felt like it was still just starting. She needed this man, needed how he needed her too. That was something for the future. He was the one she never knew she was waiting for.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  The last time Cassidy had walked into Titan Group’s war room was just a few short days earlier. Wait, that wasn’t right. She counted back. Just over a week. Wow. So much had happened.

  “Ready?” Locke took her hand.

  That was one thing that was different. They were officially out of the closet, not that they’d been hiding before. But whatever happened overseas had transformed them from the brewing-relationship stage to most definitely in love.

  Because this man was her world. And it wasn’t puppy love or white-knight syndrome. She’d had boyfriends and substantial relationships before, and nothing compared to the depth of her connection with Locke.

  Truthfully, Cassidy hadn’t known that a single person could cause such a paradigm shift. But he had straggly hair, sexy blue eyes, and a secret hidden talent for saying dirty things when he wanted to set her on fire—which was always.

  “Sure, I’m ready. Why wouldn’t I be?” Locke had said something about people saying thanks, but that was ridiculous. They’d thanked her before she signed up, and she appreciated it. But that was said and done.

  “All right, then.” Locke let go of her hand and placed his palm on her back as she walked into the room.

  Everyone had already gathered around the table, and Jared Westin stood. Then everyone else did too.


  The room began to… clap.

  Cassidy froze, and a blush hit in her cheeks. It overtook her entire body. Yes, she was a journalist and liked the spotlight, but oh, the accolades? This was too much. Locke put his hands on her shoulders as though she were some MVP of a championship game, and she tried to sidestep the attention. He gave her a quick squeeze, leaning to her ear. “You earned it, Beauty.”

  Her eyes bugged, and she tipped her head back to him. “You knew about this?”

  “Ha.” Locke winked. “Some things are best to never admit to.”

  “Come on in, Cassidy,” Jared said, waving her in farther.

  Oh, gee. If she didn’t fall over from the attention, maybe she could walk in. “I get it. Thanks. Okay.”

  “Woot, woot,” a guy in a cowboy hat said and rapped the table twice before he took a seat.

  The whole room had the same type of response until they settled and sat down. Jared and Locke were the only ones who remained standing. Jared walked over to Cassidy, and Locke gave her one more shoulder squeeze and left her with his boss.

  “If I thought that I would have all this attention”—Cassidy shrugged sarcastically, making Jared laugh—“I might not have agreed to do all of that.”

  “Well, Cassidy, we like to keep our people on their toes.” He stuck his hand out. “Thank you for everything you did.”

  Oh, good gracious. Jared Westin was shaking her hand. It should have been the other way around. Still, Cassidy shook his hand, and the entire room erupted in hoots and hollers, table raps and whistles.

  “I’ve heard that things mentioned in here are never to be mentioned again.” Cassidy gave Jared a side-eye then playfully pointed at everybody. “All of this attention will never be mentioned again.”

  Jax protested loudly, and the rest agreed with good humor and smiles.

  “I actually have something to share with you.” Cassidy pivoted to Jared and then back to the table. “I wanted to let you know I plan on being in here all the time.” She pointed to the ground. “In the war room, or at the very least, Titan. Let the gossipy guys chew on that for a minute.” She bounced her eyebrows at Parker. “You will see me a lot.”

  Parker shifted and gave Locke a funny look. “Oh yeah? What’s going on there?”

  Locke leaned back in his chair, chuckling. “Don’t look at me, though you’ll probably see plenty of Cassidy Noble where I’m involved.”

  Parker looked back at Cassidy. “What gives?”

  She drew in a breath, and it felt so good, getting ready to say this. Everything had come full circle. This was why she’d first started down the road with the job at St. Andrew’s. “ZNN just offered me a primetime gig.”

  “Oh, hell yeah.” Parker laughed. “You’re going to be on all our TVs.”

  “You got it, buddy.” Her on-air report on trafficking the night before had done so well and had gone so viral with people asking where she had been that the major news network made the offer that morning, and she’d gladly accepted while curled in Locke’s arms.

  What had started out as a goal to rise from the ashes as a fallen reporter had become so much more. Yes, she created a whole new career for herself, but then, there was everything else that she did.

  She fell in love.

  She helped her country.

  She saved women from being trafficked.

  And she watched a father meet his daughter.

  It had been one hell of a week.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  Two Months Later

  Even the cool air conditioning pumped into the congressional hearing hall was stagnating with the hot air of the politicians. Cassidy had been in the hot seat for hours and said one-tenth the number of words said by the people questioning her. Maybe they just wanted to hear themselves speak and not ask a single question. Maybe they didn’t actually care what she had to say and only wanted sound bites for their commercials. Or perhaps she had just grown cynical.

  “Again, you used anonymous sources regarding government intelligence. Is that twice? Once years before, and now, a few months ago?”

  And Cassidy would do it all over again if it meant saving people’s lives. She gave zero fucks about furthering any politician’s career. “That’s what my calendar says also. Sir.”

  “Miss Noble,” Senator Brown said with far too much spit coming out of his mouth. “I don’t think we’re going let you leave until we have a proper answer this time. The American public deserves it.”

  The chairman banged his gavel. “Be that as it may, you are out of time.”

  “I would request the chairman reconsider. She knows. The Russians know. Everyone in DC seems to know who her sources are—”

  “We are out of time and adjourning. Even the Russians want to eat dinner.”

  Cassidy agreed. Not that the hearing chairman, Senator Land, was a fan of hers, but he was probably hungry, because she was. They had gone through lunch without adjournment and were pressing close to dinnertime.

  She had given nothing up regarding her sources. They knew this wasn’t her first congressional hearing or her first deposition with members of Congress yelling at her. They should realize that she wasn’t going to give up her sources, and Senator Brown wouldn’t get anywhere with her. All he could do was punish her.

  Cassidy knew what was right, and she knew her rights. In the two months since they had returned from Russia, and she had been assured that Alex, Taisia, and Alyona had been safely stowed somewhere in the United States to start their lives under new names as Americans, Cassidy had gone about doing several things.

  One: she finished that article for St. Andrew’s.

  Two: she worked with both the CIA and the Department of Homeland Security to map out the FSB network in Maryland and DC. Alex had explained that it existed just outside of the reach of the Russian embassy and tinkered in everything from low-level Russian crime families to attempted high-level espionage. It was quite the network—the FSB likely hated her for that. But what was a girl to do—hide?

  And three: she worked with Brock Gamble and Titan’s Delta team, which apparently had a niche focus on human trafficking, particularly sex trafficking. That was a global issue that Cassidy had learned more about and was taking as a career cause.

  But she wasn’t going to give up Delta team. Nope. She wouldn’t even breathe their existence. A term she had heard regarding them was ghost team. They didn’t exist. You never saw them. That was Delta… though she wondered if any of Delta ever stayed in touch with people they worked with.

  Her mind wandered to Victoria. If Cassidy was to ever follow up with a rescued victim, she thought Victoria would be the one. There was something in her eyes, a bravery that spoke when her lips didn’t.

  And Cassidy wouldn’t give up any information about Alex and his family to any politician who wanted to use love and a family to grandstand. They were aware he was in witness protection. End of story. Some members of Congress had received intelligence briefings; others had not. The choice of who to tell and to what degree wasn’t her call. Cassidy would play no part in hanging others out to dry. Simply, all she would do was share the truth.

  “She’s in contempt of Congress,” Senator Brown snarled with his spittle flying. His red cheeks grew ruddier, and his brow furrowed deeper. “Again!”

  Cassidy tried her hardest not to roll her eyes. She was positive that Senator Brown had been briefed as to what actually happened. She had no fucks left to give about that either, so instead, she just smiled.

  “This hearing is adjourned.” Senator Land banged the gavel.

  Ten seconds later, everyone was out of their seats, probably headed to find some food. She sure was, as soon as she could find Locke, who was probably asleep somewhere in the back row. She would’ve gone to sleep hours earlier, too, if she could have gotten away with it.

  She turned around, and there her man was, gorgeous and sexy as ever, and wearing a suit. Couldn’t beat that.

  “I would’ve thought you were
asleep.” She laughed but still raked her eyes over him.

  He winked. “My girlfriend’s the devil, and I didn’t know.”

  Cassidy gave him a push, and Locke threw his arm over her shoulder. “Hungry?” He held out a granola bar.

  “You’re an angel.” She snatched it out of his hand and peeled it open.

  “One of us has to be.” They joined the crowd and proceeded into the hallway, making their way toward the exit.

  She took a bite of the bar. “I’m not sure I’m going to make it to my place.” And she certainly wouldn’t make it to his. “There have to be more options for food. Did you see vending machines around here? We could do granola bars, fruit snacks, and juice. Make a meal out of it.”

  Locke chuckled and pulled her through the crowd. “As appetizing as that sounds—hang on—”

  His eyes darkened, and the arm around her shoulder yanked her close. Confused, Cassidy tugged back. Staffers surrounded them, but he acted as though a threat suddenly loomed.

  “Locke?” The crowd surged, and Cassidy peered over her shoulder. Her warning bells screamed at a man with dead eyes. He wore a suit, but his gait was mechanical. “Locke!”

  Locke spun them into the thick throng of people. “Head down. We have to go.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “Don’t know. Head against me.” He wrapped an arm around her waist, lifting her off her feet, and pushed like a linebacker as people yelled at him for causing the disturbance. “Goddamn it.”

  “What—”

  “Damn it. Head against me, Cassidy.” He turned toward the wall as she saw another man like the first, but closer.

  Two men. Both sides. Locke covered her head, curling her to his chest, trying to ram them through the crowd.

  A gunshot popped. Pain exploded. Cassidy screamed until the strength to call for the pain to end left her.