Deliberate Deceptions hp-3

by Leah Braemel

  It was almost comical the way both Troy’s and Lauren’s expression mirrored identical looks of understanding within a split second of each other.

  “We set him up.” Troy scooped up the transponder and started pacing, toying with it with each step. “We choose a place we can watch without him realizing it. Make him think Lauren’s there. Catch him in the act of breaking in.”

  “There’s always the chance he may not have Ed’s device or the right codes,” Lauren said.

  Chad shook his head. “Someone’s going to know if it’s among Weir’s things. Sam said there was a single report on the news this morning but nothing since. Someone is keeping a lid on it.” Which meant Davis had a helluva lot of connections to keep the press muzzled.

  “Andy might be able to find out if it’s missing through his police buddies,” Troy suggested. “In the meantime, I’ll take this effin’ thing back to D.C. and set something up with Cooper so he can…neutralize Harris nice and quiet.”

  “We’ll be fine with Andy in charge of things up here.” Chad stopped Troy before he could leave the room. “When I came in, you two were talking about the club being used as a front. Lauren, will Harris be looking for you there?”

  Lauren hesitated. “I don’t think Harris knew anything about the club. There was some emergency going on that Cooper couldn’t get away from, so he had Ed and I meet him there. It was one time only. I don’t think any of the other team members knew about it, or would connect it with the group.”

  It didn’t quite add up. If it was only used the one time, why refer to it as a front? “Tell me no one in the club has ever been put into any sort of danger.”

  “No.” But doubt fluttered about the edges of her response. Shit, he had to get word out. Make sure Thalia stayed away. Sam and Rosie too.

  “Is it possible Harris will go after Cooper himself?”

  Lauren pursed her lips for a second before shaking her head. “Cooper’s deliberately created opportunities for Harris to go after him if he wanted. As far as we can tell, Harris is fixated on me.”

  “Have you told me everything I should know about it?”

  There was a split second’s hesitation to her “yes” this time. Shit. Shit. SHIT.

  “I’ve told you everything I’m allowed to tell you,” she finally allowed.

  His suspicions settled down at her answer. Somewhat. Rules and secrets were part of his world. And hers. “Is there anything you’re not telling me that might affect how we’ve set up the protection of this place? Or of the club?”

  “No.” No hesitation.

  All right, he could live with that. As long as she was telling him the truth. “When this is over, you and I are going to sit down and have a long talk.”

  Troy snorted. “Since you’re both stuck here until we stop Harris, I’d say you two could start talking now.”

  He turned on Troy. “Before you start casting stones, you might want to remember that you’ve known about this for almost a year and not said anything. So don’t go postal on Lauren for keeping quiet.”

  Troy had the good grace to look away.

  Chad rolled his shoulders, releasing the tension that had been building in them. “All right. Let’s plan what we’re going to do to draw him in. The sooner we can get it underway the sooner we can get out of here.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Lauren shifted her weight between the balls of her feet, watching for an opening. When she saw it, she brought up her knee and snapped her foot out, aiming toward Chad’s solar plexus. Perhaps she’d telegraphed what she was going to do, or maybe she shouldn’t have tried it twice in a row because this time he deflected the kick and spun away.

  “You always did have a nice roundhouse.”

  “Thanks.” She raised her hands and started circling again, allowing herself to admire the play of his shoulder muscles. Muscles that had rippled beneath her fingers the night before. The quick jab she took at him didn’t make it past his glove.

  For the next two minutes there was only the smack of leather on leather, and the occasional grunt when a hit connected, interrupting the silence of the gym. Then Chad telegraphed what she thought was going to be a right cross. Turned out it was a feint and he landed a forward kick to her solar plexus. She would have cursed him. If she could have drawn a breath.

  “Shit! I tried to pull it but you leaned in.” He grabbed her under her arms and held her so her lungs could fill with the air he’d knocked from her.

  She hauled in a breath, then another. “Good one.”

  “Thanks.”

  Covered in sweat from her workout, Lauren stripped as she followed Chad to the bathroom. “Mind if I join you?”

  The dark look he gave her sent a thrill down her spine and into her very core. “I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.”

  He turned on the shower then stripped off his tee. Lauren frowned when he folded it before putting it in the hamper. She’d noticed that about him before-from the way his clothes were arranged in his closet, to how everything on his desk was neat and tidy. Even tidier than hers. “What’s up with the neat freak routine all of a sudden? Did you have a housekeeper who complained about how you left your clothes on the floor the way you did when we were married?”

  The heat in his eyes changed to ice, as did his tone. “There’s no pleasing you, is there? When we were married, you’d complain that you were always having to pick up after me, and now I put things away properly, you’re questioning me?”

  Tread carefully. “I just wondered what changed-you never used to worry about dropping your clothes on the floor or leaving papers piled up on the desk…”

  “What changed?” He advanced on her until they were inches apart. “You left. That’s what changed.”

  Oh God. He didn’t mean…“You thought if you kept things cleaner, if you hung up your clothes, I’d come back?” She reached up and stroked his neck. “Chad, I didn’t leave you because you left your clothes on the floor. You know that, don’t you?”

  He shook his head. “All I knew was you weren’t there anymore.” He rested his forehead against hers. “I knew you were upset that I didn’t talk to you about going against orders to protect Thalia but I couldn’t go back into the past and change it.”

  “So you changed what you could.” She wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his shoulder. He stayed tense for a moment then relaxed and held her too. “We were both trying to change things in our own way, weren’t we? To fix things we couldn’t fix.”

  “I was willing to do anything I could to get you back.”

  She knew that feeling. After all, she’d spent years running, fixing up other people’s messes, living from a suitcase while leaving no traces of herself wherever she went. How she wished there was some magic time machine…but there wasn’t. “I know we can’t go back, but is there a future for us?”

  When this is over, will I lose you again?

  His brows drew together in that familiar way.

  “We have a lot to work out. I know there are things you’re still not telling me.”

  She dropped her gaze. “You know I signed-”

  “I’m not talking about your agreement with the Brigade. There’s something else you’re not telling me, isn’t there? Like the divorce that you think I asked you for while I think it was the other way around. About the letters that you sent me that I never got.”

  “There are going to be some things you may not want to hear. I need you to trust me about some of the rest. That there may be things that I’m protecting you from.”

  “Did you remarry? Has there been someone else?”

  She smiled at his gruff tone. He was jealous. “No. There’s never been anyone else.”

  He fell silent for a moment but she didn’t dare break the spell. “Remember I said I bought a house? I’ve spent a lot of time fixing it up-I’ve put in hardwood floors and torn out a lot of ’70s paneling. I put in a new kitchen too.”

  She knew that already. Except Thal
ia had told her he’d bought it with his new wife. “I’d like to see it one day.”

  “You don’t have to share a bedroom with me, but I’ve got one to spare. If you’d like.”

  That would last for…a minute. “I’d like that.”

  Footsteps slapped across the mats, slowed then stopped at the door. A half-second later, someone knocked. “You two decent in there?”

  “Come on in.”

  Andy stuck his head in, his gaze taking a long sweep down Lauren’s form that had a growl forming in Chad’s throat.

  “What do you want?”

  “Troy called. The setup worked. They caught Harris attempting to break into the decoy home. He ate a bullet rather than be arrested.” He tossed Lauren’s cellphone to them; Chad caught it handily. “He says Lauren’s boss wants to talk to you both.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Lauren pulled the Brigade’s Humvee into the driveway of a modest two-story Colonial Chad had directed her to. It was the type they used to drive by and say some day, we’ll own a house like that. A massive beech tree shaded the front lawn, though its leaves now covered the lawn not the branches. She could picture Chad playing catch with a son, or daughter, beneath it. Or maybe he’d put up a hoop over the two-car garage and teach their child how to free throw. If she even dared thinking about having another child.

  One hurdle at a time.

  “You’re right. It’s just the type of house we used to dream about.” She pulled the keys from the ignition and pressed the button to release the trunk latch.

  “I’ll get it,” he said calmly when she reached for the door handle.

  Ever the gentleman, he walked around the car and held open the door for her. She took the hand he offered to help her out-it wasn’t that she needed the help. Or maybe, from the way her knees were shaking, she did.

  Lauren tightened the grip on her purse and followed him in, waiting in the open doorway while he turned off the alarm. A beam of late afternoon sunlight bounced off the crystal chandelier hanging from the two-story ceiling. The oak banister gleamed as if it had just been polished, as did the matching hardwood floor. “It’s beautiful.”

  “Do you want a tour?” Chad had his hands stuck in his pockets again, a sign she remembered meant he was nervous. At least she wasn’t the only one whose knees were beating a tattoo to rival a woodpecker.

  She trailed him as he took her on a tour of the house. They started in the kitchen where she admired the glass-fronted units and granite counter then proceeded through the first floor-an office they could share, the living room with its marble-fronted fireplace and two-story wood-beamed ceilings.

  “I hired an architect to redesign it,” he explained when they reached the top floor. “It used to be a four bedroom but I had him combine one of the smaller bedrooms with the master. You’d always said you wanted an ensuite…I thought maybe…”

  That if he’d made everything perfect, she’d come back to him. The same way he’d become almost obsessive about picking up his clothes and keeping things neat. “Show me?”

  He held out his hand, waiting until she’d laced their fingers together before leading her to the master suite dominated by a king-sized bed.

  “I can’t tell you how long I’ve waited to show you this room. To…” He shook his head. “Never mind. One day at a time, right?”

  Right about certain things. But not for what she sensed he needed. “To what? To make love to me? To tie me up and have your way with me the way we used to?”

  “Yes.” Need and desire filled both his voice and his eyes.

  “So what are you waiting for? I’m here. Tell me what you want me to do.”

  “Take your clothes off.” A command, not a question. A shiver of anticipation ran up her spine with heated fingers.

  Dropping her purse on the floor, she removed her holster and placed it on the dresser. She slipped off her blouse, then unhooked her bra and let it fall beside her purse. Her slacks hit the floor moments later followed by her thin, lacy boy shorts. Her pulse jacked into the triple digits as she stood naked while he was completely clothed. The air in the room thinned and heated at the same time, especially as his gaze raked her.

  “Play with yourself. Touch yourself the way you want me to touch you.” His voice rasped over her skin, setting her nerve endings on fire as if he’d scraped her all over with sandpaper.

  The way she wanted him to touch her? She let her head fall back and closed her eyes as she fondled her breasts. As she had so many times in the past, she imagined it was his fingers stroking the sensitive skin, tweaking her nipples.

  “Don’t close your eyes, Lauren. Look at me while you’re pleasuring yourself.”

  Her eyelids were heavy but she forced them open and found he’d moved closer. She pinched her nipples hard enough to create a sting that soon changed to heat. This, this is what I want you to do. She tugged and rolled them again and again, the moisture below gathering as the sensation shot to her pussy.

  Not breaking her gaze, one hand slipped over her belly and between her thighs. Cream drenched her fingers as they slid through her folds.

  “Is that what you want me to do to you?”

  “Yes.”

  He crowded her, so close the heat from his body warmed her over-sensitized skin. “My mouth or my fingers?”

  “Either. Both.” While her one hand continued to play with her breasts, her hips rotated, pressing her clit against her palm. She quickened her pace then needing more, plunged one finger, then another inside her. Each breath grew harder to draw. “Oh God, Chad, I want you inside me. Your fingers, your cock, I don’t care. I need…”

  Before she could push herself over the edge and climax, Chad grabbed her hand from between her legs. He lifted it to his mouth, sucking first one finger then the other. Once they were clean, he bent his head and captured one of her taut nipples with his teeth while his other hand ventured where hers had been.

  Lauren moaned as he plunged his fingers inside her at the same time he nipped at her breast. The stinging caused by his teeth combined with the pleasure of his fingers until she had to hang onto his shoulders to remain upright. He varied the speed and the depth of his penetration, bringing her close to climax at least twice before he withdrew.

  As much as she wanted to moan her complaint, to beg him to let her come, she kept her mouth shut. He took great pride in making her come multiple times, so whatever he had planned, she was prepared to wait him out.

  “Kneel on the bed with your ass in the air.”

  She did as he bid, turning her head to watch him methodically strip. He removed his gun from its holster and placed it in the bedside table. Leaving her waiting was part of his plan she decided as he opened the closet and hung his suit jacket. Like at the farm, he folded his shirt and placed it in the hamper. She used the time to watch the play of muscles on his back and abdomen as he stripped his trousers and hung them on a press. When he was finally naked, his cock was still fully erect. Instead of returning to her, he headed into the bathroom.

  She didn’t have to ask what he was looking for-she’d known as soon as he’d turned her onto her stomach what he’d want. He returned a few moments later, his erection hard and tall against his belly.

  Her eyes widened at the items he carried upon his return. The butt plug he placed on the mattress beside her was at least the same size as his cock so she wasn’t too worried about it, but her pulse raced at the riding crop he set beside her.

  He knelt behind her and murmured, “Spread your legs wider, babe.”

  She shuffled until her knees were the distance apart he’d indicated. As soon as she stopped moving, he picked up the bottle of lube and applied a generous dollop to the anal plug and coated it with his fingers. “Relax.”

  It was easier for him to say than for her to do, especially when he squirted lube over her behind. And even tougher when he pressed the hard tip of the plug against her opening. As he pressed it inward, his other hand toyed with her clit. Before s
he knew it, her hips were rotating against his fingers, her ass pressed against the plug and it popped past the ring of muscles. “Stand up, Lauren.”

  She carefully pushed herself to a stand. His features, normally so carefully controlled, were unguarded, the lust and desire filling his eyes, hardening his lips. He wanted her like this. He needed her. As much as she needed him.

  She stayed still as he fixed the harness to the plug and around her hips.

  “Get back on the bed the way you were before. Grab hold of the headboard.”

  She bit her lip to keep herself from moaning and hurried to position herself the way he’d ordered. He’d not fastened the second cuff around her wrist securing her to the headboard, and she was already trembling in anticipation.

  After laying a kiss on her shoulder, he set to work massaging her shoulders and working down her back with the skill of a trained masseuse. By the time he’d reached her hips, she’d forgotten about the restraints. Hell, her body had forgotten it had bones, she was so relaxed. If she’d been a cat, she’d have been purring.

  He shifted his weight, parting her legs so he could kneel between them. His fingers trailed over the globes of her cheeks and down to her pussy. She just about purred when he dipped them into her opening and filled her. Between his thumb on her clit and his two fingers deep inside, he soon had her pressing back, her body heating as her second orgasm overtook her.

  Until he picked up the riding crop she’d forgotten. He’d spanked her on occasion, a light tap on her behind, and she’d enjoyed it, but this…this was different. This would hurt.

  He leaned over her, stroking the leather strip of the crop down her spine. Her body tensed, tightening around the butt plug until it felt massive.

  “You either trust me.” His fingers parted her folds and unerringly found her clit, toying with it until she was ready to agree to anything. Then he withdrew. “Or you don’t.”

  If he’d wanted to seek revenge from her, wouldn’t he have done that back at the farm?