by Cynthia Eden
In fact, she seemed to push a little closer.
“Do you always wake up this way?” Harper wondered.
“No. I don’t usually wake up with my dick quite so rock hard.” Though, sure, he had plenty of morning hard-ons. What guy didn’t? His eyes opened as he stared at the focus of his obsession. “But when I open my eyes and find you on top of me, it’s not exactly a typical morning.”
Her lips parted.
“So unless you want to fuck, and based on the whole no-touch rule from earlier, I’m guessing that’s a no, then how about you move your ever-so-hot ass back to your side of the—”
She bent her head. Nestled her head right back in the crook of his shoulder. He felt her mouth press against his skin. A soft, sensual kiss. Her tongue licked over him.
His whole body jolted. “Harper…” She was playing with him? Such a bad, bad idea.
He wasn’t the type to play. Especially not when all he wanted to do was take.
“We should really find time to sign that waiver form about relationships at Wilde,” she mused. Another lick. “You know, before things get too complicated.”
What the hell was she even talking about?
She bit him. A quick, sexy bite.
If possible, his dick got even bigger as it shoved against her. Her legs were spread, and he wanted in. “Your…side…” he grunted.
“But I think I like your side better.” She pushed up again. Straddled him. “I think I like you a whole lot better than I ever expected.”
He stared up at her. He had never seen a more beautiful woman. No makeup, but her skin still glowed. Her lips were plump and perfect. Her hair was a sinful, tousled mane. He wanted to sink his hands into it. Wanted his mouth to take hers.
Wanted to drive his cock into her until she screamed with pleasure.
Instead, he didn’t move. He barely breathed.
Was this a dream? Dammit, was he still asleep? Would he wake soon to discover Harper curled on her side of the bed, with her back to him? That would just be his luck.
“I’ve felt the attraction from the beginning.” Her voice was soft and sensual. “I just wasn’t sure what to do about it.”
The first time he’d seen her, Roman had felt as if he’d taken a punch to the gut. Eric had led him to the office he’d share with his new partner. Eric had rapped on the open door and then they’d both entered. Harper had been sitting at her desk, and she’d looked up.
Smiled.
Her dimples had done Roman in immediately.
But then she’d soon stopped smiling for him, and he’d realized men tended to fall right at her dainty feet. He’d never been the type to fall. “Don’t play,” he growled. “That’s not who I am.”
“That’s not who I am, either.” Her hands were now splayed on his chest. Caressing him lightly. Carefully.
“You went to sleep and told me to stay the hell away.” He swallowed. “You woke up, and now you want me?”
“I wanted you before I went to sleep. I woke up, and I realized that I still want you. So maybe we should see where this goes.” Still husky, but her voice was also hesitant. She caught her plump lower lip between her teeth.
Screw it. He could feel his control break. Could practically hear the sound of it shattering as he shot up into a sitting position. His arms locked tightly around her as he hauled her even closer. His mouth crashed onto hers. He wanted to be the one biting her lower lip. He wanted to taste her and to take. He’d warned her, he’d told her exactly who he was.
But then she’d crawled on top of him. Harper had said she wanted to see where things would go. He’d show her.
They’d go straight to hot, dirty, fantastic sex.
Her lips were open and eager on his. He thrust his tongue into her mouth and tasted her as he craved. Her mouth obsessed him. Her sweet little tongue. Those plump lips.
He caught her lower lip. Sucked it.
His fingers slid around her side. Up her rib cage. Eased toward her breast. She wasn’t wearing a bra beneath the t-shirt, and when he touched her through the thin cotton, he could feel her pebbled nipple.
I want to taste it. He wanted to taste every single inch of her. That was exactly what he would do. Every single—
“Rise and shine, princess!” Dex’s voice boomed out.
Roman stiffened.
See. Maybe I am dreaming. Only the hot dream just turned into a nightmare.
“Yo, princess!” Dex shouted again. “We have to talk, ASAP! Come on out!”
Dex sounded dangerously close to the bedroom door. Figured the guy had gotten inside the cabin easily. Eric would have given him the security access codes.
“Is he calling me?” Harper asked. Her breath panted. Her fingers had curled around Roman’s shoulders.
“Princess!” Dex wheedled again. “Got news you’ll want to hear.”
“No, he’s calling me,” Roman groused. “Because the dumbass thinks he’s funny. He’s not.” Grudgingly, hating every moment, Roman eased Harper to the side—then let her go completely. He rose from the bed. He still had his jeans on, and he was now sporting one majorly uncomfortable erection. Fuck. Dex had the shittiest timing. “I’ll be right back.”
“But—”
“I’ll handle Dex.” His voice was rough. Ragged. That happened when a man was close to paradise and got cock-blocked by a power-mad jerk. He stalked forward. Opened the door just a small amount and slipped out. Roman immediately shut the bedroom door behind him because he didn’t want Dex glancing inside and seeing Harper.
“Oh, there you are.” Dex smiled at him. “Sleeping Beauty finally wakes.”
“This had better be important.”
“Everything I have to say is always important. You should know that.”
Roman crossed his arms over his chest and blocked the bedroom door with his body.
“Where is your lovely partner?” Dex’s gaze darted to the second floor of the cabin. “Did you give her a room upstairs? Figured you had. That way, any bad guys would have to get past you on the first floor before they could get up to her.”
Roman stared straight at him. “Bad guys will definitely have to get past me before they can get to her.”
“So she is upstairs. Good. Not sure if you wanted her to hear all this intel that I have—”
“Then maybe you should have tried a quieter approach so you didn’t wake her.”
A shrug from Dex. “I could have been wrong. She could have been in the bedroom with you instead of upstairs.”
She was with me. I had my hand on her nipple, and I was about to lick every single inch of her body.
“If she was with you, I didn’t want to swing open the door and be psychologically scarred by what I saw. So, you know, the shout-out seemed like the better option.” An exhale. “Now let’s cut the chit-chat and get down to business. You’re not fucking her which is good—actually, great news.”
The hell it was.
“Antony picked up some chatter on the Dark Web. You remember my guy, Antony, don’t you? Freaking tech genius. The man can do anything with tech if you just give him a little bit of time.”
He remembered Antony, all right. Antony Kyle was one of Dex’s top operatives at the CIA. By day, Antony ran a huge, billion-dollar gaming business with his partner, Sebastian. The company was certainly legit. But Antony also did use the company as a cover. It allowed him to slip in and out of different countries under the guise of doing business when he was really working secrets.
Back before Roman had entered his current, well, partnership, with Dex, he’d researched Antony. He’d wanted to learn as much as he could about the people allied with Dex. For too long, Roman had believed that Dex betrayed him. That Dex left him to die.
More lies.
Sometimes, Roman felt as if his entire life had been nothing but a giant cluster of lies.
“Uh, hello?” Dex tilted his head. “Are you with me or did you just phase out?”
Roman locked his jaw. “I
remember Antony.”
“Good. Great. Wonderful. That speeds things along. He picked up chatter saying that someone wanted proof of your death—”
The door opened behind Roman.
Dex’s eyes widened. “So…there you are.” A nod. “Not upstairs. Right there. In the same room that Roman was in.”
“You are incredibly observant,” Harper noted dryly. “Same room. Yes.”
Dex’s gaze had turned hooded. He looked at Roman. Then her. Then back to Roman. “We should continue this discussion alone.” He turned on his heel. “There’s a study off the dining room. Saw it when I came inside. Let’s talk there.”
“I want to hear what you have to say.” Harper’s voice was firm.
Dex stopped. Turned slowly.
Roman instinctively moved a little closer to Harper, making sure to shield her with his body.
“When I said we should continue the discussion alone, it wasn’t a choice-type statement. It was an order.” Dex’s voice was mild. “Sorry, Harper, but you don’t have the clearance for what we’re going to discuss.”
“I was the one kidnapped.”
Dex’s expression didn’t change.
“Oh, come on!” Harper took an aggressive step forward, putting herself at Roman’s side. “I am his partner. I want to help him!”
“Is that what you want? Truly?”
Roman frowned at Dex. “What in the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“It means sometimes, the deadliest enemies can hide behind the sweetest faces. After your last girlfriend, you should have learned that lesson.”
He stiffened. “She wasn’t my girlfriend.” He knew what Dex was talking about. Or rather, who. Heather Madding. The woman had been a bodyguard, someone that Roman had made the mistake of almost trusting. Then she’d sold him out. Sometimes, they’d used the cover of being lovers, but they had never actually been involved.
“You have a girlfriend?” Harper asked. Her face had gone white.
“Oh, don’t worry about her,” Dex inserted as he waved a hand vaguely in the air. “She’s dead.”
Harper shook her head. Concern flooded her features. “Roman?”
“Don’t worry about him, either. He’s fine.” Dex was still oversharing. “He didn’t love her. That’s why she was so eager to sell him out. The lady got pissed. Turned on him. People will betray you for all sorts of reasons. Money and vengeance, those are the two that I usually see at the top of the list.” A pause. “Are those two items on your list, Harper?”
She wasn’t looking at Dex. Her gaze was still on Roman. She stared at him with sympathy clear to see in her eyes. “I’m so sorry.”
She didn’t even know the full story. “Nothing for you to be sorry about.”
Harper reached for his arm. Her fingers squeezed him. “You were hurt. That’s enough for me.”
When in the hell had anyone offered him comfort before? His body curled around her. The move was just instinctual. He wanted to be closer to Harper. She offered him everything he’d ever wanted.
“Ahem. Remember my order? Talking alone? I have intel to discuss with you, Roman, and again, Harper doesn’t have clearance.”
Roman sent him a disgusted stare. “You were spouting out plenty of information a few moments ago.” Overshare much?
“Do you truly want her hearing everything I have to say? Once some skeletons are pulled out of the closet, you can’t shove them back.”
No, you couldn’t. He caught Harper’s hand. “I need to talk to him.”
Her small nostrils flared. “You’re shutting me out.”
“I’m trying to protect you.” He didn’t want the evil from his past touching her.
“I don’t remember asking for protection.”
But I still want to give it to you. Roman brought her hand to his lips. Kissed her knuckles. “I’ll tell you everything that I can.” She wouldn’t get how much of a compromise that was for him. He guarded his secrets like a dragon guarded his gold. But for Harper, he would try.
He pulled away from her. Headed toward Dex. Gave a grim nod. “The study.”
The wooden floor groaned behind them. “I just have one question before you two disappear…”
They both looked back at Harper.
She smiled.
Freaking dimples. Damn.
“Why does someone want proof of Roman’s death?” She pursed her lips. “Yeah, I overheard that part. Had my ear pressed to the door so I could overhear it.” She waited. “No answer?”
Roman didn’t know what the hell to say.
“I will expect a full answer.” Her green stare focused on Roman. “Sooner or later. Though I much prefer for it to be sooner.”
He swallowed.
“Go have your chat. I’ll be waiting.”
She sure didn’t sound happy about it.
As they walked away, Dex whispered, “I think you’re in trouble.”
Tell me something I don’t fucking know.
Chapter Eight
“I want you to be careful with Harper,” Dex warned. His expression had turned inscrutable. Typical Dex. “Emotional attachments can be dangerous. Though I’m sure you learned that lesson for yourself after the way things went down with Heather.”
Heather. He wasn’t going to take that bait. “Emotional attachments.” Roman nodded. “Right. You mean like the attachment you formed with my sister when you tricked her into working with you? When you were intending to use her against me?”
A faint hardening of the jaw was the only sign Dex gave of his displeasure. “I was intending to protect her, always. Lacey knows that.”
Roman glanced toward the closed study door. They were being quiet, keeping their voices barely above a whisper, but he was still worried that Harper would hear them.
“She knows Lacey.”
His gaze snapped back to Dex.
“You must have realized that by now. Lacey did work for Wilde before she decided to put her skills to use for my team. And Harper has been at Wilde for quite some time. It’s only natural that their paths have crossed, but I’m betting you haven’t brought up your sister’s name to Harper even once, have you?”
No, he hadn’t. “What did Antony discover?”
“Told you already. Someone is looking for proof of your death. I would have thought the teeth and the bones we left behind when we faked your death would have been proof enough that you had left the land of the living. My people did a stand-up job, but I guess there will always be folks who want more and more.”
“So in this case, someone wants…what?” A bitter laugh escaped him. “My head? Think that will satisfy them?”
“That’s what they used in the old days.”
Roman glared at Dex.
“They did. People were real savage, bloodthirsty beasts in the past. Don’t get all pissy with me just because I know history. If you hated someone back in the Middle Ages, then you lopped off the bastard’s head and brought it back to your ruler as proof that you’d gotten the job done.”
“No one is taking my head.”
“Nah, I figure they’ll just go after your heart instead.”
Roman paced across the room. “Haven’t you heard? I don’t have one of those.” But tension snaked through him. “So, Lacey, I mean…” He stumbled to a halt because he didn’t know how to talk about his sister. The sister who had never been in his life, not until recently.
Their relationship was strained. Not her fault. Maybe his? Hell, he had no clue. He just knew that for most of his life, he’d been jealous as hell of her.
Their mother had kept Lacey. She’d raised her. Loved her.
While Roman had been left with a monster.
Or at least, that was the story he’d believed for so long. Until he’d actually met Lacey. Until he’d learned that she had no clue he existed. Until Dex had given him proof that Roman’s mother had wanted him. She’d fought to get him back. But when you went up against Dex’s father…
You lost
.
Roman’s father had killed the mother he’d longed to have in his life. His father had destroyed everything good. He sure destroyed everything good in me.
“Don’t worry about Lacey.” Suddenly, Dex’s tone and expression were fierce. Deadly. “No one will touch her. I immediately sent her to a safe house with some of my best guards when I learned Antony’s news.”
Not many knew the true nature of Roman’s relationship with Lacey. Roman wanted to keep things that way. For her safety.
“But Lacey isn’t the one I was talking about here,” Dex added. “You know what’s happening.”
Roman flexed and clenched his hands. “Spell it out for me.”
“Fine. Someone caught you with your pants down. Same way I almost did a few minutes ago.”
He took a lunging step toward Dex.
“Easy, tiger.” Dex held up his hands. “Harper was taken because someone thinks she matters to you. The fact that you immediately raced out to find her? That proves your attachment. So does the fact that, once she was safe, you rushed her to this romantic cabin and locked her in your bedroom.”
“I didn’t lock her in—”
“No?”
“I wasn’t having sex with her!”
“You sure about that?”
“Oh, for shit’s sake, Dex! I think I know when I’m having sex with someone.” He’d been very, very close to sex, but Dex had ruined that moment for him.
Some of the tension seemed to ease from Dex’s shoulders. “Good. No sex. How about you keep things that way, hmm? You know, just be partners. Don’t make things more complicated than they already are. You’ll regret it if you do.”
“I do not want relationship advice from you.” Again, his hands flexed and clenched. “I want to know what intel Antony discovered that I can use. I want to know how someone found out I was alive. I want—”
“You are a needy bastard.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Look, Antony is working undercover on the Dark Web. He’s ferreting out what he can. Seems like most people in the game believe you are dead, if that’s any consolation. Obviously, someone with power thinks differently. That person tracked you and now Harper is part of the equation, too.” Dex scratched his chin. “You know, I could move her to a safe house. Until this is all over.”