by Becky McGraw
Susan had done what Dave asked and was practicing her trophy wife persona—a little too well in his opinion. Susan would parry, dive in and flirt with him then feint left when he responded like so many other southern socialites he’d met. It was his opinion that those women were taught the art of teasing a man from birth. Susan must be a quick study. In two hours alone with Cherry Blossom Branch, she’d learned all she needed to know. Because Dave Logan was definitely hooked and wanting more.
But she wasn’t giving it up. She was playing it as coy as any debutante. Every time he tried to corner her, Susan found something else to do—laundry, grocery shopping, a fucking manicure, taking Lola for a walk for Slade. Her latest trick was washing her hair, in his bathroom, while he was in the bedroom. In bed. The door unlocked and she walked out of a cloud of steam like an angel, covered only in two towels. Instead of stopping at his bed, she strode by and gave him that little finger wave he was getting very tired of seeing.
That was going to stop tonight. Susan had teased a man to his breaking point, and needed to learn what happened when a woman did that. He was going to teach her that tonight. They were leaving in the morning to go to the clinic, so this was his last chance until they got back. And if he went into this mission as frustrated as he was at the moment, with her teasing him like she had been, there was no way he would be able to focus.
Dave looked up when Slade walked into his office with Lola on his heels. He sat down in the chair across from his desk. “You ready for tomorrow?” he asked casually. “Sue sure looks like she’s ready,” he added with a whistle, then grinned. “That woman looks like sex on two very long sticks, doesn’t she?”
Yes she did, and it pissed Dave off that Slade noticed. He was quite sure Slade wasn’t alone though. Every man in his office noticed. They’d have to be blind or not into women if they didn’t notice the walking wet dream that Susan had become since her transformation.
“Is that what you came in here for, Slade?” Dave asked angrily.
“No, I came in to relay something I overheard while I was at the college the other day. I wanted to do a little more checking before I freaked Susan out.”
“What would freak her out?” Dave demanded. “It’s been four day since we had that meeting, you should’ve told someone. Namely your boss.”
“I didn’t tell anyone, because it could’ve just been gossip. I don’t carry gossip, or peddle panic. I substantiated some of it.”
“What?”
“I kind of struck up a conversation with a girl over by the library when I went to pick up Susan’s car at the college. I told her my little sister was thinking of going to school there, but she couldn’t afford tuition. I told her the bursar had mentioned the GenMax project to her, and I just wondered what it was. I never saw a girl’s face turn so white. She told me to tell my sister not to get involved with that project, that some girls were getting sick from the drug. She gave me a few names and I checked them out. One girl is in the hospital and another girl is dead.”
“How’d she die?” Dave asked, his stomach rolling. There was no way he could tell Susan this now. She would not only back out of going with him to the clinic, she might very well head to Wellington to kick the bursar’s ass. That would send her to jail, and he wasn’t sure he could get her out the next time. No, it’s best if he swore Slade to secrecy, at least until this weekend was over and they knew where they were with the surrogate case. After that, he would personally help her take down that program and get her sister out of there. One case at a time. “And you need to keep this to yourself for now.”
“I couldn’t get specific details. An autopsy is being ordered by the FDA, but the medical records are sealed. The girl told me her ovaries exploded, or something. And shit brother, I can’t believe you’d ask me not to tell Susan that her sister is in danger.”
“I’m not asking you not to tell her, Slade. I’m asking you to wait to tell her. Her sister is not in immediate danger, but my need to have her go with me to that clinic is immediate. You tell her now, and she will freak out and go to that college where she’ll get herself in trouble again. We’ve got to get into that clinic and get this information for the surrogate case. I’ll tell her Sunday on the way home, and we’ll help her work things out next week.”
Slade’s breath left him in a rush and his body relaxed. “Yeah, I don’t want that woman mad at me. She could kick my ass,” he said with a laugh. “Even though she’s acting like a southern belle these days, that’s a steel-lined magnolia for sure.”
Dave felt guilty as hell for not telling Susan right away too. Her sister could be in danger, and if something happened to her over the weekend Dave would feel awful. They definitely needed more information on that project too. “Well, here’s something for you to do this weekend. Go back to Wellington, see what you can find out, and keep an eye on her sister. Make sure she’s okay.”
Slade snapped a salute and stood. “I’ll see you on Monday—and I hope for our sakes she doesn’t find out we kept this from her. Or if she does, that we have a head start.”
“It’ll be fine, Slade. Just be on that girl like her shadow. If something happens, handle it until we’re back on the radar Sunday night. After their recon out at the clinic, Dex and Mac said they had jamming tech, so I don’t think we’ll be able to use our cell phones there.”
“I’ll hold down the fort, but if something happens Susan is going to blow it to hell come Monday morning,” Slade said with a laugh as he walked out the door.
I’ll just have to take that risk, Dave thought as he picked up the phone to call Hawk and set up their transport for tomorrow morning.
Excitement and relief battled for pole position inside of Susan as she tiptoed in her power heels from her car to the front porch of the office building at the compound. She was convinced now that these shoes had magical powers, and Cherry Branch was a genius. These shoes made her ass and calves look like a million bucks. And they had gotten her a new job at the Department of Justice which she started in three weeks.
Why she’d wasted so many years in ugly flat pumps, Susan had no idea. If she’d had these magical shoes years ago, maybe she’d have had a husband and family now, instead of becoming a thirty-six-year-old bitter, career woman. Life was too short for a woman not to have shoes like these. They hurt her feet, pinched her toes, but they were perfect. The woman who hired her an hour ago said so. Susan had high hopes that she and Charity Bledsoe, her new boss, would get along just fine. During the interview they’d just clicked. They talked about crazy cases and the even crazier men they’d worked with over their years in law enforcement. It was an unusual experience, but a welcome one. Susan walked out of there feeling almost like she had a new friend. Her first friend in a long time. And it was because of these shoes, she thought, as she walked inside the office.
Susan strode down the hallway to Logan’s office, and knocked on the doorframe. He looked up, and waved her in without missing a beat in his conversation with whomever he was talking to on the phone. She sat in the chair across from his desk, and watched his eyes skim up her legs to the hem of her short skirt as she crossed them. Susan wondered if he realized she hadn’t worn underwear that morning to avoid panty lines, and that accounted for the intensity in his eyes. Nah, it was probably just the magical shoes, she thought with a smile.
He’d probably have a meltdown if he knew about the panties. Dave Logan was primed and more than ready if she just gave him a sign. Susan was determined she wasn’t going to do that until the man begged. He deserved to beg after the way he treated her at that mall on Monday. But she should probably cut him a little slack too. He had bought her the magical shoes, she thought, lifting her leg to twist her ankle to look at the elegant, five-inch long silver spikes on the heel.
Susan dropped her leg back in place and looked up. Logan had stopped talking, and was staring at her like he wanted to eat her alive. She could almost see drool at the corner of his mouth, and her body turned to liquid silv
er. He held her eyes, as the receiver in his hand drifted toward the base. He fumbled trying to find the place it fit, and found it on the third try. Pupils dilated, nostrils flared, he got up and walked around the desk. In a quick motion, he grabbed her wrist and jerked her to her feet. Susan’s purse slithered off of her shoulder, and she tried to catch it, but he yanked her through the doorway and it fell to the floor.
“I need to get my purse,” she said with a laugh as she stumbled behind him.
“You won’t need it,” Logan replied gruffly, dragging her toward his suite at the end of the hallway. “But you will need those shoes.”
Susan laughed, and finally found her balance to almost sprint behind him. Logan stopped at the metal door separating his suite from the office and angrily punched in the code to open the door. He held the door open for her and stood aside. She walked inside, but he didn’t follow. He stood at the door and said, “Get undressed and get your ass in my bed, I’ll be right back.” The door swung shut, but he stopped to lean back inside. “Leave the shoes on,” he added, before he let the heavy door slam behind him.
A shiver snaked down her spine to her toes and ricocheted back up to her j-bar to vibrate there. Susan kind of liked Logan’s caveman impersonation and that really confused her. She was a woman who always wanted to be in control, never gave up that power to anyone, especially a man. But Cherry Blossom Branch might be the smartest woman she’d ever met. She said you didn’t have to be overbearing to control a man. Women had the power right there between their legs, they just needed to realize that. Southern debutantes realized their power. Walk softly in nice shoes and carry a big purse to hit them over the head with if they get fresh, she’d said.
Mayhaps the little southern belle was onto something, Susan thought with a laugh, as she walked to Logan’s bedroom. She didn’t undress as he demanded, instead she sat on the edge of the bed, crossed her legs and leaned back on her arms to wait. Even though she was in the best mood ever, and more than ready herself for round two with Mr. Sexy, Susan wasn’t ready to give up her power to him just yet. Her lesson to him wasn’t quite learned yet.
A minute or so later, she heard the outer door click open and a thrill shot through her. Anticipation hummed through her until he walked through the bedroom door. He had something in his hands, but Susan missed what it was because he turned his back to lock the door.
When he faced her again, Susan was surprised to see a box of orange popsicles in his hand, and a look of purpose on his handsome face. “I thought I told you to get naked,” he said gruffly.
“And I thought you’d realize just because you told me to do something doesn’t mean I’m going to do it,” she volleyed.
“Let me rephrase my request, then…get your beautiful ass naked, or I’ll rip those fucking clothes off your back. The teasing is over, Susan.”
How could a man make her feel so angry, and so—titillated—in one sentence? Dave Logan had a way of doing that. “Teasing?” she asked coyly.
“The flirting, the exaggerated walk in those come-fuck-me shoes, the blowpop sucking,” he said, then his eyebrows slammed down over his eyes as they dropped to her crotch. “The fact that you’re not wearing fucking underwear under that suit,” he growled, then sucked in a deep breath, before blowing it out. “All of it, Susan. The teasing is over. You evidently want it, so get your ass naked, I’m about to give you exactly what you’ve been asking for.”
So he did notice, she thought, sitting up and uncrossing her legs. “I’m just practicing for our mission like you asked me to do,” she drawled, widening her eyes to give him two bats of her eyelashes.
Dave sat the popsicles down on the dresser and walked to stand over her. “Do you know what happens to little southern belles when they lie?”
“No, because I was raised in the north mostly, Washington DC. My mother was a pedigreed belle, a born and bred Texas Rose, but I am not. I’m just pretending, remember?” she said with a wide smile. If the frustrated look on Logan’s face was any indication, Susan was doing a very good job at her impersonation too.
“Well, honey. I’m about to show you what happens,” he said grabbing her wrist to jerk her to her feet. Susan could fight, but what was the fun in that? If he did something she didn’t like, she’d put him on his ass. Until then, she was going to find out just what Dave Logan could do with his frustration. She thought he’d pull her to him and kiss her silly like he’d done before, but he surprised her when he turned her and sat on the bed. The look of glee on his face preceded him yanking her across his lap. The impact of the landing knocked her breath out of her, and before she recovered, he clamped the steel band of his arm over hers, and she felt a breeze as his other hand yanked the hem of her skirt up to her waist.
A whoosh of air announced it, but Susan still didn’t believe it until Logan’s large palm stung both cheeks of her ass. Her clit piercing vibrated and her inner muscles flexed in time with her pained moan.
“What the hell, Logan!?!” Susan screeched, writhing to get off his lap, but he held her tight.
Another rush of air had her tensing her body, as his hand landed a little harder the second time. Susan felt the imprint of every finger of his hand on her ass, and they throbbed in time with her heart, which was pounding at the moment
“Stop it!” she shouted, but for some reason her inner muscles pulsed now, her nipples hardened and her breath came out in a long, slow sigh as her body wilted over his lap. His long, strong fingers kneaded her, soothed out the sting, then rubbed until the sting turned into fire inside of her body, and a tremor rocked her.
What the hell was this? Susan didn’t know, but she had to be a freak for liking it.
“Let me up, Logan,” she growled, wiggling again to get up. His body tensed, and a rush of air told her he wasn’t finished. Susan flinched, tensed and her clit throbbed expecting, wanting to feel the impact, but it didn’t come. His hand swooped down, hovered millimeters from her skin, she felt the heat, but no sting and she grumbled. What was his game? Was he wanting her to beg him to spank her? Well that would come the day he ice skated in hell.
But fuck if she didn’t think about doing just that, as he shoved her off of his lap and pulled her skirt down. She rubbed her ass, and turned on him. “Don’t you dare hit me again, or I’ll kick your ass,” she hissed.
He laughed, and she fought the urge to wipe that smug grin off of his face. “Now get yourself undressed,” he said, then lifted a brow. “Unless you want more? Bad little southern belles who don’t do what they’re told get the same treatment.”
Did southern women really like this? It looked like northern women did too, she thought as she enjoyed the delicious soreness when she sat on the edge of the bed. Maybe all women did, and Susan had just lived a very sheltered, deprived life, she thought lifting her foot to grab her shoe. Or maybe she was just a freak.
“Leave the shoes on, I said,” he growled and a liquid tremor moved through her to settle at the apex of her thighs. Susan lowered her foot to the floor and reached for the top button on her suit. Dave’s eyes burned as she pushed the first button through the hole. She flicked another, and he sucked in a breath. She could see his heart pounding at the side of his throat, and his beautiful eyes became almost navy-colored as his pupils dilated.
“Popsicles are melting, hurry up,” he said in a gravelly tone.
Oh good, Lord. Susan’s breathing hitched, as she tried to think of things he could do to her with those frozen pops. Her mind froze at the possibilities, but her fingers quickly skimmed down the buttons to the bottom of her suit coat. She held his gaze as she slid the coat off of her shoulders. Logan stalked over to her and pulled her to her feet.
“Fuck it. The popsicles will wait, I can’t.” He turned her toward the bed and pushed. Susan bounced on the bed, and squealed when Logan grabbed her ankles to drag her lower body back to the end. He propped her up on her heels and shoved his hand into her lower back, then yanked her skirt up to her waist again.
“Put on your seatbelt, Bunny. I’m about to rock your world,” he growled as he spread her moisture over her fold with his finger, then positioned himself. Gripping her ass, Logan spread her then without warning, his hips shot forward and he plunged himself inside her body.
“Mmm…” she moaned, her fingers curling into the sheets as the burning stretch took her breath, and he was only halfway inside of her. Her body pulsed around his cock and her fists closed tighter, as she anticipated taking more of him, all of him. Logan seemed to be holding back, giving her time to adjust, but what Susan needed was more.
She lifted her butt higher, shoved back against him and he slipped further inside, but his fingers dug deeper into her skin stopping her. “One second, sweet cheeks. I need a second,” he begged.
Susan heard his ragged breathing, felt the tension in his body. He was about to come, and he’d just gotten inside of her. “You doing okay back there, Logan?” she asked with a laugh, wiggling her behind and enjoying the sound of his pained groan.
The stinging slap on her ass came out of nowhere, and Susan sucked in a sharp breath as the reverberations skittered along her nerve endings. “I just realized I don’t have on a condom and I’m very near the edge,” he growled. “Now fucking be still and let me enjoy this for a second!”