“Yet,” Cam added.
“These guys are passing information back and forth and hiding it. When you peel the layers away, Tyler’s past looks more like the men he hunts than the people he purports to respect.” Shane visibly swallowed. “I don’t want you alone with him.”
No matter what she did, grab on to the counter or blink, she could not stop the spinning in her head. The facts swirled. Every word he said ran through her mind and she tried to grab on and analyze each one. She didn’t understand why Tyler would lie or how any of this could be true, but Shane’s stern expression told her it was.
Tyler was guilty of something, maybe just coloring the truth. She didn’t know, but the team would find out, and she would have to deal with the fallout.
“I hate being lied to.” That qualified as an understatement.
Shane walked over to her. There, in front of his friends and coworkers, he wrapped his arms around her. “We’ll find out that truth.”
And she knew he would.
* * *
SHANE PUSHED INSIDE her as his muscles trembled and his breath punched out of his lungs. The thin legs of the bed shook and the springs rattled. He ignored every noise except the soft growl coming from the back of Makena’s throat. He loved that sound.
Shifting his weight, he plunged again, in and out, slow and steady, until she grabbed on to his shoulders and tugged him closer. “Shane, now.”
“I want it to last.” He didn’t realize he’d said the words out loud until they pulsed in his ears.
“I need to...” She threw her head back. “Please.”
Her shoulders rose off the bed and her ankles dug into the back of his thighs. He pressed her into the mattress as she wrapped her body around his. Friction had their bodies rubbing together, ratcheting up the need flowing through him.
It had been this way from the first time. All wild heat and pounding satisfaction. From her soft skin to every impressive curve, he could not get enough. For the first time in his life he wanted to crawl into bed with her and stay there. Forget work and responsibilities. Forget his past and every wrong turn he’d ever taken.
Her fingernails dug into his shoulders. “I can’t hold back.”
“Don’t.”
Before he even got the word out, her hips started bucking. Heavy breaths rocked her body as her lips skimmed over his chin. Energy spooled off her and wove its way around him. She clung to him, pressing her legs tighter against him. The tightness, the clenching, watching the orgasm rip through her, all combined to set him off. He wanted to wait, savor each pulse inside her, but his body had other ideas.
The tightness that had been building inside him let go. His muscles stiffened the second before they released. Unable to hold his sore neck up for one more second, he let his head drop. Buried his face in her shoulder and breathed in as the orgasm overtook him.
When his hips stopped moving, he collapsed, careful not to drop his full weight on top of her. Lifting off and out of her qualified as the sweetest torture, but then he was next to her with his arm wrapped around her shoulder and her body curled up against his side.
He dropped an arm over his face and closed his eyes. “That should not be so good.” Nothing should feel that good.
She laughed and the sound vibrated against his skin. “Because I’m Holt’s sister?”
Shane lifted his arm and stared down into her flushed face. “Because much more of that and I’ll need a hospital.”
“Challenge accepted.” She leaned her head against his chest again.
This he could handle. The hot during and quiet after. He’d never really experienced the combination before. He loved feeling frenetic and out of control, but this, the part where he combed his fingers through her hair and drifted off to sleep, was new.
He never talked about this, but with her the temptation proved stronger than his will to put it all behind him. “Losing my marriage doubled me over.”
She stiffened against him. “Do you miss her?”
“That’s not what I mean.” He didn’t know how to explain and worried that even if he managed to put the right words together he might still sound like a jerk. “I liked the idea of being married.”
She lifted her head and rested her chin on her hand. “I don’t get it.”
“Marriage meant family and security. It meant I managed to accomplish something.” But he couldn’t hold it together. “But I failed, and it knocked me off stride. I kept thinking that the divorce said something about who I was.”
“You married the wrong person. That’s all.” She pressed her other palm against his chest. “You guys both wanted an out, but that’s not enough. Marriage as escape can only go so far if there’s nothing fundamental holding it up.”
“You can’t deny that the danger of my job is a huge stumbling block to anything long term and meaningful.”
She nodded. “You better tell Connor and his wife. Talk to all the other guys on the team and explain that the love they feel now means nothing and that they should run.”
“Okay, I get—”
“And then call my brother and tell him to leave Lindsey on the West Coast.” Makena made a face. “He shouldn’t waste his time building a life with her.”
She made it sound so easy. So did the guys on the team. You fell, you accepted it and you tried to minimize the risks. It helped if you found a woman strong enough and determined enough to stand up and face the danger on her own terms.
“You should have been a lawyer.” Because she made it all sound possible.
“I’m happy right here.” She kissed his chest. “With you.”
“I’m sorry you heard about the Tyler suspicions like that, with Cam and Connor standing right there.” He rubbed a thumb over her forehead, then down her nose to her mouth. “I wanted to give you that information in pieces.”
“I’m pretty tough, you know.” She raked her nails over his nipple, lightly but enough to get the nerves underneath jumping.
He flattened her hand under his. “Toughest woman I know.”
“That’s probably an overstatement.”
“Not at all.” He shook his head. “The woman I’ve been watching has handled every awful thing thrown her way and kept standing. She’s overcome her fear and stood up to Jeff, who is a guy no woman should have to deal with.”
“We should call Holt.”
Shane hadn’t been expecting that conversation change. “Really?”
“If I can handle gunmen, I can handle an overprotective brother with a list of questions to ask.”
“You’re tougher than I am.” Shane dreaded Holt’s reaction. They knew so much about each other. Shane couldn’t hide or smooth over anything. Holt would know exactly what kind of man wanted his sister, and Shane did not see that as a good thing. “But you’re right. It’s time.”
“You’re going to admit we’ve been sharing a bed?” She whistled. “Brave man.”
“I think the word dating sounds less likely to get me killed.” But not by much. Holt had made it clear Makena was off-limits. If Shane wanted to bumble around, sleep with other women and never get serious, Holt was fine with that, but Makena could not be another number.
She wasn’t.
Her eyes widened. “Is that what we’re doing?”
Good question. He honestly didn’t know. “We can use whatever word you want. I just know I don’t want it to end.”
He’d finally said it. Admitted it to himself and to her. The walls didn’t crumble and the earth didn’t open up and swallow him. He’d survived the truth, that being a lone wolf grew exhausting as the days passed, and with her he wanted more.
She moved up his body until her lips hovered over his. “Good, because we’re not over.”
The words shot through him. Instead of running and panicking, he settled in and enjoyed. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
Her fingers slipped into his hair. “Why don’t you show me how grateful you are?”
“Done.”
>
Chapter Fifteen
He couldn’t do this one more minute.
Frank shut the cover to his laptop and leaned back in his chair. He’d been investigating every avenue, trying to figure out who had blackmailed him and thought they owned his every move. He’d followed instructions, thinking each new order would be the last. But the assignments bombarded him. He read discussions on the loop and picked out secret messages in every one. He had no idea if he’d grown paranoid or if his life really was closing in on him from every direction.
But he couldn’t keep doing this. Every day he clicked on a news link, worrying some action he’d put in motion had ended in death. He’d made so many wrong turns, but he could not tolerate the idea of having more blood on his hands.
That meant coming clean. Taking the venom out of the blackmail and telling one last secret. He’d already been chastised and ignored. What else could happen? Begging Tyler to take his name off the site hadn’t worked. Telling his blackmailer one assignment after another would be his last didn’t threaten anyone.
The address. The license-plate number. The police contacts. Information on this Shane guy. Frank had done it all, and he was done. Long done.
He picked up his phone and dialed the number. In a half hour it would all be over.
* * *
“FRANK WANTS TO see us.” Makena almost hated to utter the words. She didn’t look up because she could only imagine the scowl on Shane’s face.
When he didn’t say anything and the silence continued, she glanced across to the other side of the couch. He’d been crouched over the laptop a second ago. Now he sat back and stared at her with a blank expression.
That couldn’t be good.
She tried again. It actually didn’t matter if he wanted to be convinced or not; they were going. “He sounds desperate.”
“Did you talk with him?” Still no readable expression. Just the question.
She had her legs stretched out until her feet touched the side of his leg. She pointed her toes and pushed against him. “He texted.”
“How does one sound desperate in a text?” Shane’s hand went to her leg.
She didn’t know if he even realized he rubbed a hand over her calf as he spoke. The gesture was so comforting. Sprawling on the couch as the rain hammered the roof felt normal and right. “My point is he asked that we meet him immediately.”
His hand kept soothing and caressing. “We?”
The heat from his hand seeped through her jeans and touched her skin. She knew that probably grew out of her imagination, but she felt it. She also wondered why he thought she wanted to tackle anything on her own. “Of course.”
Shane smiled then. “I like that.”
“As if I’d be dumb enough to go into a meeting with any of these guys right now without firepower.” She said it as a joke, but it kind of wasn’t.
“So romantic.” Shane stood up and reached down to her. “Let’s go.”
“That’s it?” She stared at his hand, then looked at his face. His quick agreement minus a lecture stunned her. The guy thrived on lectures. “No arguments about the danger or...I don’t know, anything?”
“You mean the part where this is likely a setup to get us both killed.” His wiggled his fingers.
She grabbed on and let him lift her to her feet. “I wasn’t going to put it that way.”
“I’ll call Cam and Connor on the way. They can provide backup and be our eyes.”
“You didn’t ask where we were meeting.”
He dropped a quick kiss on her mouth before stepping around the couch on the way to pick up the keys to the loaner car Connor had gotten for him. “Somewhere dangerous and hard to guard, I’m assuming.”
“Aren’t you hysterical today?” More like lighthearted and calm. The thrum of tension that normally followed him had disappeared. He came off as relaxed yet just as determined as ever.
She had no idea what to make of the change or why it had happened. She half expected him to pretend to bring her along and then dump her off at one of the team members’ houses for safekeeping while he rushed into danger. That was the guy she knew.
“Don’t let the sarcasm fool you.” He picked up his gun. Then a knife.
That was more like it. “This isn’t a kinder, gentler Shane?”
“No such thing.”
* * *
THEY ARRIVED AT the meeting place a half hour later. Not the park and not the diner. Not even the bridge where they’d almost died. They walked up to the marina that sat just a few miles from her house, which she hadn’t been back to since the original shooting. Being this close to the scene where it had all started had something jumping around in her stomach. Nerves or panic...something.
She punched in the code Frank had given her and opened the gate to the docks. Shane followed without saying a word. He was armed and ready, and that was all that mattered. But as they made their way down the incline, she did see Shane’s point. There were so many places to hide. So many ways to get lost in a maze of docks and ships, and not come out again.
She blew out long breaths as she struggled to maintain some sense of control. Her heartbeat ran off at a gallop and her chest ached from the force of it. She’d get through this. She had to. She had so much to live for, so much hope for the future for the first time in so long. She wouldn’t give that up for a website or Jeff or Frank or anyone else.
The water lapped and metal clanked against metal as the boats bobbed in the water. No one was around. She knew Connor played some role in that. Rain or not, people should be milling around. The mist chilled her skin, but the total quiet was what had her ready to jump on top of Shane and demand he take her out of there.
They reached a T and Shane pointed to the right. “This way.”
She looked down, mentally reading off the numbers as they passed each one. They needed 280. Of course it wasn’t right near the front where the buildings sat. No, she walked beside Shane as the distance between them and land grew.
One final turn and they reached the point farthest away from the opening gate. Just a few more...something made her look up. Probably a hint in the way Shane carried his body or a shift in the breeze. It didn’t matter why, but she saw Frank in front of her. Or a version of him. This Frank was disheveled and jerky in panic. He moved around, his gaze touring the distance as he stood there.
“What do you want?” Shane asked without any inflection in his voice. The wind whipped around him and the rain kicked up, but he didn’t show any signs of being uncomfortable. He was in his element and in control.
Frank nodded toward the boat in the slip next to him. “We need to go inside.”
Makena looked at the hull. The boat was small, and having any kind of conversation likely meant crawling under and into a space they couldn’t see right now. Shane had been right about this, too. It was a setup and one they might not survive if they weren’t careful. Sure, Connor lurked out there somewhere and Cam was submerged in the water, ready to come up firing. But one mistake, one second too late, and this could be the last shooting in this case.
She thought about her brother and how many good things lay ahead for him. Her mind wandered over all the mistakes and focused on the good times. On the bright moments of the past few days. She glanced at Shane and took in his strength and energy and realized loving him had switched from a desperate state to a happy one.
“There’s no way we’re getting on that boat.” Shane widened his stance. “So talk.”
Frank shook his head. “You’re not in charge here.”
“This says I am.” Shane lifted his hand and flashed his gun. Didn’t wave it around or make a big show. Just leveled the playing field with one small gesture.
But she needed to avoid whatever harsh thing came next. She also wanted to know why he wanted them here so badly. “Okay, enough.” She glared at the man she once believed had turned a corner to a new life. “You called us, Frank.”
Whether it was whatever he saw on her f
ace or the gun, something got him talking. He slipped to the side, getting closer to the boat, but he didn’t run as he talked. “There’s a group. They’ve banded together to come after you.”
The loop. The men who sat around complaining about getting caught. She hated them even more now. “Right.”
“How do you know?” Shane asked in a deceptively soft voice.
Frank took another step back. One more and his foot would slip into the small space between the dock and the boat, and he’d fall in the water. “I’ve been helping them.”
Pain shot through her. She’d believed in him. Stood up for him. “So the ‘new Frank’ thing is a lie.”
“It wasn’t my fault.” He rubbed his hands together as he shifted around. Every movement choreographed the frenzy taking off inside him.
Guilt could do that to a person. She refused to feel bad for him. Not again. She could not be fooled twice.
“You never get tired of saying that, do you?” Shane took a threatening step forward. “That thing where you shift the blame and pretend you’re not at fault.”
“I’m being blackmailed,” Frank said.
That didn’t make any sense. Before he’d been exposed, sure. He’d been a potential target for anyone looking to benefit from people’s fake backgrounds. “Everyone knows your worst secret. What can—”
“No.” Shane shook his head. “We don’t, do we?”
The blows kept coming. Makena could barely find her breath. “What did you do?”
Frank waved his hands in front of him. The haze covering his gaze suggested a battle waged inside him. He tried to spit out a sentence a few times before getting it out. “I hid the secret.”
She knew that. Everyone knew that. The whole point was that his story only worked so long as people didn’t know the truth. “And?”
“You weren’t the first person to figure it out.”
The words sliced into her. They sounded so ominous, and he stopped giving eye contact. The guilt practically radiated off him.
She hated to ask, but she had to know. “Who did?”
Tamed (Corcoran Team: Bulletproof Bachelors Book 3) Page 13