TATIANA: Book Three; The Trouble Sisters Saga

by Lee Taylor

  At his entrance, Tatiana startled and leapt to her feet. Reaching for the matching satin robe on the back of the lounge, she slipped it on as she fled across the room, away from him. It didn’t help that the shimmering robe hit her at mid-thigh, highlighting her showgirl legs.

  Assuming a casual demeanor he was far from feeling, Zane grinned at Tanya. “Your relief shift is here, Deputy Trouble. I trust that our incorrigible miscreant behaved herself. At least that she focused her outrage on the men in her life and not her patient and loving sister.”

  Tanya laughed. “Let’s just say between the two of us, we had more than enough evidence to fill a night of male bashing.” She added with a stealthy grin, “Fortunately for you, Zane, I may have swayed my skeptical sister to at least consider how good life can be for an avowed man-disparager when she’s captured by the right man. A man who is worthy of her and is powerful enough to convince her of the error of her male-bashing ways.”

  “I’m glad to hear that, Tanya. Perhaps there is hope for me. Particularly if being madly in love is an important criterion for that powerful man to be successful.”

  “Heck yeah, Counselor, being crazy in love is essential.” She winked at him. “Equally critical is that the powerful man is a demanding and accomplished lover.”

  “Hmm, may I assume that arrogance is also a criterion? If so, I’m confident that I’ve checked all the boxes.”

  Tanya laughed again and nodded to her sister who was standing across the room, her back to them, tension apparent in her slim body. “Yes, Mr. District Attorney, who happens to be my favorite drinking buddy, I can assure you, like the dashing man who swept me off my male-bashing feet, you have more than checked all the boxes.”

  “In that case, I presume it’s safe for me to pick up the next shift and free you to go to that dashing fellow, who I’m confident is wondering where the hell you are. As I’m sure you know, we arrogant, powerful men are demanding as hell.”

  “That I do, Zane, which is what makes my life so spectacular.” Throwing her sister a jaunty wave and assuring her that she would see her in the morning, she murmured as she passed by Zane, “Pecker up, buddy. Do us all proud. We’re depending on you.”

  Studying Tatiana’s willowy figure, Zane allowed the silence between them to settle. He needed her to make the first move. Frankly, his passions were so contorted he didn’t trust himself. No telling whether his seething anger or churning lust would win out. The answer became clear when she turned to face him. As always, Zane was struck by her ethereal beauty. She was pale and clearly anxious. But he saw an emotion in her emerald eyes that gave him hope. If he’d felt as cocky as he was at base, he would have called it desire.

  The answer was clear when she bit down on her already puffy bottom lip and asked tentatively, “Zane, will you hold me?”

  Swallowing the passion threatening to overtake him, he smiled and said with a shrug, “To be honest, sweetheart, I don’t know if I can.”

  Her surprise apparent, she murmured, “You don’t know . . . if you can hold me?”

  “No, I know I can do that. But frankly, sweetheart, as inappropriate as it is given what you are facing and how compromised I am, I don’t know if I can hold you without making passionate love to you.”

  She swallowed visibly. Her cheeks flushing, she said softly, “What if I told you I don’t want you to hold me? What if I said that I want you to . . . fuck me . . . ”

  Zane did his best to keep his response cool, which was almost impossible given the rush of testosterone flooding him at her unexpected request. “Hmm, given that wish, I need to be sure that I understand. More important, that you understand what you are asking for.” Taking several steps toward her, he shrugged. “You see, to me, fucking you means that I will drive my cock up into you, as hard and as deep as I can.” Seeing her cheeks flush hotter and her eyes flair in surprise, he added, “It’s important that you know I won’t hold back any of the lust that is about to bring me to my knees.”

  She choked back a slight moan, then gnawing on her bottom lip, said coolly, “Given that we apparently agree on the parameters of our upcoming encounter, tell me, Counselor, what’s it going to take for you to begin?”

  He squelched a grin at her surprising bravado and said as seriously as he could, “Hmm, that’s a good question. And an easy one to answer. To be specific, a good beginning would be to take you in my arms and strip those fuck-me pajamas off you so I can revel in the most beautiful and sexiest goddamned woman I’ve ever seen.”

  She lifted a dismissive shoulder. “So what’s stopping you?”

  As he began to close the distance between them with a surprised chortle, she held up her hands. Holding his gaze, she murmured, “No, Counselor, let me help you.” Shrugging off the filmy robe, she let it drift to the floor. When he sucked in an audible breath, she smiled, then reached for the hem of the night slip and pulled it over her head. Tossing it aside, she stood tall, baring her full, proud breasts to his heated gaze. As if to torment him, she hesitated, then tugged on her nipples, gasping when they hardened in her fingertips. Sharing a startled gaze with Zane at her clearly aroused nipples, she couldn’t hold back a throaty moan. At his responding groan, she lifted her chin, then, as if claiming her courage, slid her fingers under the waistband of her butt-hugging panties. Easing the lacy scraps over her hips, she daintily stepped out of them. Standing up straight, her cheeks flamed when he reached out and took the panties from her, burying his nose in the fragrant satin.

  As if she hadn’t damn near brought him to his knees with her unexpected striptease, Zane almost lost his breath when she planted her hands on her hips and said with a cheeky smile, “Your turn, Counselor.”

  Getting control of his rioting emotions, he returned her grin. He dragged his gaze over her naked body, stopping at her luscious breasts, then salaciously surveying her curvy hips, he settled on her dew-covered labia. “Seeing your perfection, I should be intimidated, Tatiana.” He shrugged. “But you know how cocky we powerful men are.” He slowly unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it aside, baring his impressively muscled torso and bulging biceps. Grinning at her impressed gasp, he toed off his boots, then made a production of unbuckling his belt and stripping it out of the belt loops on his trousers. He let it hang for a moment at his side, then tossed it on the bed and murmured quizzically, “For later, naughty girl, but for now . . . ” Holding her wide-eyed gaze, he unzipped his pants and shoved them off, freeing his prominent arousal.

  Standing naked before her, he was gratified by her astonished gasp as she gazed at his wildly aroused cock. He couldn’t hold back a grin. “How about it, sexy woman? Do I make the grade?”

  Pressing her fingers against her lips, she nodded, “Ah yes, God yes, Zane! You . . . definitely make the grade.” Seeming to remember that she was the one who’d asked him to fuck her, she tipped up her chin and said saucily, “Um, now that you’re finally naked, what are you waiting for?”

  Zane laughed aloud at her daring as he reached for her. Picking her up in his arms, he strode over to the bed and laid her down. Crawling over her, he said, “Holy Christ, as if anything could stop me now.”

  After he brought her to a body-shaking climax and, as promised, drove into her harder and deeper than he’d known was possible, he crooned as she stretched out beside him, “I hope you don’t think that spectacular orgasm we had obviates you from that spanking I promised you. The one you earned in spades earlier tonight.”

  Given the passionate ways she’d responded to his fierce loving, he shouldn’t have been surprised at her response. But he couldn’t hold back a surprised chortle when she pushed up on one elbow and flashed an impudent grin. “So what’s stopping you, Mr. Hotshot District Attorney? Don’t tell me you’re a member of the ‘one and done’ crowd?”

  Zane threw back his head and roared as he moved up over her. Grasping her chin, he forced her to meet his fierce gaze. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Don’t tell me the ‘shy, well-behaved, ever-so-amenable middle sist
er’ might not only be seething with rage but also with—dare I say it—lust?”

  She shrugged. “Hmm, if I was, it would appear that I’m appealing to the wrong man. One who is more concerned about niceties than . . . lusty ones.”

  His lips twisting in a strained grin, Zane growled, “Ah, sweetheart, to put it mildly, you’ve done it now.”

  Before she could answer, he flipped her over and in seconds had her up on her hands and knees. Sharply spanking one pale cheek, he laughed at her surprised yelp. Landing another crisp swat on her curvy bottom, he said, “Oh yeah, baby. Not only am I going to redden this spectacular ass of yours but I’m going to follow that up with hardcore fucking, particularly from behind.” Grasping her hips in his big hands, he yanked her ass up higher, next to his powerful thighs. “How about it, Tatiana, does this turn you on? That I plan to rut in you like a fierce animal?” Slipping his fingers inside her nether lips, he chuckled. “Hmm, methinks perhaps it does, given those sweet juices seeping from your lush cunt.”

  At her lusty cry, he crowed, “Hell yeah, sweetheart. You can’t say you didn’t ask for this. It’s clear I need to deal with your outrageous charge that I’m a member of the one and done crowd. And in the process, baby, I plan to show you what a true badass can do to a feisty woman who has been waiting a lifetime for a lover worthy of her.”

  Chapter 27

  Zane, what . . . what’s going to happen to me?”

  Tatiana didn’t have to hear Zane’s troubled sigh or feel his arms tighten around her to know that he had likely been awake for hours. It wasn’t surprising that neither of them had spoken until she could no longer hold back her tortured question. She was confident that, like her, Zane didn’t want to meet the challenging day ahead of them until absolutely necessary.

  Thinking back on their wildly erotic night, she should have been shocked that she had brazenly challenged him. But at an intuitive level, she’d known the only way she could deal with her horror that someone had murdered Arnold in such a hideous way and she was the prime suspect was to find respite in Zane’s strong body. She’d heard Tanya and her father talk about the power of adrenaline, how it could empower a small woman to lift a car off a trapped child. In her case, that rush of adrenaline had been potent enough to convince her to open her body and soul to the most powerful man she’d ever known. She’d even gone so far as to dare him to take her as egregiously as he could. Being the adrenaline junkie Zane clearly was, he’d more than complied with her feverish demands.

  She marveled that she’d been sassy enough to taunt him. God, was she crazy? At base, she knew that Zane was an aggressive lover, but to her astonishment, she’d intentionally goaded him. And dear God, he’d more than taken her up on her provocations. He not only paddled her bare bottom but had dragged her to her hands and knees and pounded into her from behind. But he wasn’t done with that. Again and again he’d taken her. Armed with his skillful fingers, provocatively explicit words, and taunting dares, he’d pushed her far beyond where she’d ever known she could go. Finally, with his talented tongue, he’d licked round and round her clit. When she foolishly thought she couldn’t climb any higher, once again, he’d proved her wrong. Inserting one, then two fingers high up in her ass, he bit down on her throbbing clit, spiraling her to a shrieking climax.

  Now, hearing her halting question, Zane blew out a hard sigh. He brushed her hair off her face, then tugged her closer to him, pressing her cheek against his chest. Knowing that she had likely been awake as long as he had been, he acknowledged they both needed to face the challenging day ahead of them. As much as he wished that he could continue to revel in their passionate night, he knew he couldn’t delay the inevitable. Sucking in a deep breath, he forced himself to respond to her loaded question. He needed to sound calm, contained, as though the possibility of being charged with murder was an everyday occurrence. As much as he wanted to protect her, he knew the best way he could help her was to lay out their options and not sugarcoat the odds they were facing. Most of all, he needed to make it clear that no matter what happened in the next few days, they were going to survive the challenges and ultimately beat back the charges that were almost certain to be filed.

  “In answer to your question, sweetheart, this is the likely sequence we face today: I expect Lieutenant Sorenson to contact you within a couple of hours. He will indicate that given the circumstances, he needs you to come to the precinct to answer questions regarding the events from last night.”

  Tatiana stiffened. “Will my father or Tanya be at the precinct with him?”

  “No, honey, they won’t be. As I told you last night, your father, Tanya, and I have to recuse ourselves from the ongoing investigation. We’re compromised by our relationship with you to participate in any way except as your advocates—necessarily from behind the scenes.”

  Tatiana hesitated, then asked in a quavering voice, “What about Marcie, Max? I . . . I need to see them or at least talk to them. But I don’t want them to know what is happening. I . . . I want to be the one to tell them that . . . Arnold is dead.” Shaking her head, she added, “But I don’t want to tell them yet.”

  “That’s wise, Tatiana. And frankly, given what’s going to happen today, there is no way that you can see them . . . at least not until tonight at the earliest. They’re with Tara now, and according to Griffin, they’re having a great time. Griffin and Tara have decided not to tell Brooke and Hunter about Arnold, at least not until you are ready to talk with Marcie and Max.” Seeing her concerned frown, he said, “You definitely should call them and say good morning, sweetheart. Reassure them that you will be seeing them soon.”

  She nodded, then persisted. “When I go to meet Gunnar, who . . . who will be with him if neither my dad nor Tanya can be involved?”

  Feeling the tremor raking her slender frame as she buried her face against his shoulder, Zane kept his voice as calm as he could. “You won’t be alone, Tatiana. I’ve taken the liberty, with your father’s consent, of hiring the best damn defense attorney I know. Rita Davidson is a pit bull if there ever was one. Any of us prosecutors, including me, would rather face Better Call Saul, Saul Goodman, in court than be up against Ranting Rita, as we call her behind her back. I met with her last night and laid out the circumstances. She agreed to represent you.” He glanced at his watch. “I asked Rita to come here at nine o’clock. That will give you a chance to meet with her before she accompanies you to the precinct.”

  Tatiana was quiet for a long moment and then asked tremulously, “Does she, the lawyer, know about me?” She added bitterly, “That I’m a fraud?”

  Zane drew himself up against the headboard, hauling Tatiana with him. With an effort, he forced himself to keep his tone light. “Hmm, if you are referring to that idiocy you were spouting last night—that because you were in an abusive relationship, you are somehow professionally compromised—yes, I did describe your relationship with your ex-husband to Rita. I also told her that you blame yourself for, and I quote, ‘allowing yourself to be abused.’ ”

  When she stiffened, he ran his hand across her bare bottom, lightly pinching one firm cheek, and added, “I didn’t tell her that I intend to beat that absurdity out of you on a regular basis until we put it to rest. But I felt she needed to know that at least at this point you are your own worst enemy.”

  She was quiet. Pressing against him, she asked, “Am I . . . is Gunnar going to arrest me?”

  “No, honey, not now. However, depending on how your interview goes with him, he may have to file charges.” Keeping his arms wrapped tightly around her, Zane blew out a hard breath. “I need to be honest with you, Tatiana, and tell you that there is another component to this controversy that will play out whether or not you are charged.” Not able to avoid the obvious, Zane was firm. “Honey, as painful as it is for me to tell you this, Chloe Richards is also going to be involved in the case.”

  Tatiana shoved against him and sat up, staring at him. “Chloe Richards? I . . . I don’t understand
. What does she have to do with this?”

  “Unfortunately, because I have to recuse myself, the next ADA in the prosecutorial line-up in my shop is none other than Chloe Richards. I trust I don’t have to tell you how much I regret her involvement. Regrettably, there is no way that I can pull her off without insinuating myself into the prosecution.”

  “But, Zane, she hates me. You know that.”

  “Yeah, honey, I do. Trust me, I’m not minimizing how dicey it is to have her in the leading prosecutorial role. But at this point, our relationship requires me to step back. Withdraw from my usual leadership role. This is what I’ve been trying to tell you, Tatiana. All the usual guardrails that your father and I ensure are in place in any criminal case we work together are less certain in our absence. Gunnar Sorenson will do the best he can to ensure that you have a fair hearing, but I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that ADA Richards will be coming at you with both barrels blazing.”

  “Will she have to know . . . about the abuse?”

  Zane shrugged. “She already knows. When I turned the prosecution over to her, Gunnar Sorenson apprised her of the preliminary facts of the case. Which, as you know, includes the abuse, Arnold’s ongoing threats, and most damning, the fact that your pistol appears to be the murder weapon.” He added with a heartfelt sigh, “All of which, at first blush, confirms that you are the most likely suspect in the murder of your ex-husband.”

  “Zane, I . . . I’m scared.”

  Blowing out a hard sigh, Zane agreed. “Sweetheart, I’m not going to sugarcoat what we are facing. As I told you last night, the cards are stacked against you. Chloe Richards’s involvement only compromises you further.” Sitting up straighter, Zane tipped up her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. “Which is why I reached out to Rita Davidson. No one, including me, could defend you better than she can. I’m telling you Rita is as strong a defense attorney as there is in this state, hell, anywhere in the Southwest. Even Chloe, as fierce as she is, knows what she is up against. Except for me, there isn’t a prosecutor on my team who has gone up against Rita and prevailed.”