by Desiree Holt
She went back to work on his body, loving the feel of his muscles beneath her fingers as she squeezed and kneaded muscles that were so tight, they felt like cast iron. She deliberately stayed away from his balls, but each time she moved up his thigh, always getting a little closer, his body tightened for a different reason.
“You’re killing me,” he groaned.
“At least I’ve got your mind on something else. Right?”
He didn’t answer, but she could feel his response beneath her hands. She touched lightly as she worked her hands closer and closer to where he wanted them.
“For fuck’s sake, Peyton. Have mercy.”
“Mercy? You want mercy? Let’s see what we can do.”
She shifted so she was kneeling beside him, slid one hand between his muscular thighs and wrapped the fingers of the other around his cock that was so hot to her touch. Then she added her tongue to the movements that he seemed to take such pleasure from. She worked his cock so intently that Blaze nearly levitated off the bed.
Peyton looked over at his face, doing her best to swallow her smile. “Did I hurt you? Do you want me to stop?”
“Stop? Fuck, no!” He almost shouted the words. “I want you to do it faster.”
“All in good time,” she teased. “You don’t want to miss anything.”
Another groan.
She ran the flat of her tongue up and down his length, dragging it slowly over the heated flesh. As she continued to use her mouth on his cock, she squeezed and manipulated his balls with the fingers of the other hand. The sac fit neatly into her hand and she tried to time the movements of those fingers with those of her mouth.
A sideways glance at Blaze revealed the taut muscles of his face and his hooded gaze focused intently on her. She lifted her mouth from his rigid shaft and sat back on her heels, toying with his balls.
“For the love of god, Peyton. You’re killing me here.”
“Really?” She swallowed a grin. “That was not my intention.”
“Could have fooled me.”
He threaded his fingers through her hair and tried to push her head lower again, but she knocked his hand away.
“Uh-uh. I’m calling the shots here.”
“Call them a little faster, will you?”
His cock was so hot to the touch, so hard beneath the soft skin, and when she placed her hand on his stomach, she could actually feel the strain in his body. She was sure he wasn’t thinking of Warren Sulzberger or anything else right now. Good. Time for the big finale.
Taking the head in her mouth again and wrapping her fingers around him, she sucked as she stroked him, the tempo growing faster and faster. With each stroke she squeezed his balls, and his moans grew louder.
When he dug his heels into the mattress and tried to push himself against her touch, she knew he was ready. Now she stroked faster, sucked harder, again and again and again. Then he was there, his shaft like steel beneath her fingers as he spurted again and again into her mouth. She never stopped until he pumped the last drop and she gave one last powerful pull with her mouth.
At last his body went limp and his cock softened beneath her grip. She licked the head clean before lifting her head and looking at him.
“Good?”
“Are you kidding me? That’s such a mild word for what happened. You have an incredibly talented mouth, sugar.” He lifted his arms. “C’mere.”
She moved until she was lying beside him, one of his arms circling her body, his other hand cupping her chin.
“Yes?” She curved her lips in another grin.
“That was incredible. That’s the only word for it.”
He pulled her mouth closer to his, enough so that he could skim his lips over hers. He drew a light line over the seam with the tip of his tongue before nudging those lips apart and slipping his tongue inside. It danced with hers before tasting every inch of the inner surface. She forced herself to pull back before her body began demanding more. This was all about Blaze, not her at all.
“Glad I could help,” she teased, and started to slide under the covers next to him.
“You ready for sleep?” he asked, curving his arm around her. “You haven’t had your turn yet. It’s my rule not to leave a woman unsatisfied, although I think I’d need some recovery time before I could do you any good.”
“Oh, I’m satisfied all right. Don’t you worry. This one was all about you.”
He shifted so that his face was almost touching hers, his tongue still doing its erotic dance. His was more than a kiss of passion, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to examine exactly what it was. She slid her own tongue over his, the contact warming every part of her body. The fact that it was about more than passion made it all the more special.
At last he drew back, then shifted both of them so they were spooning, his body curved around hers. She was almost asleep when he whispered in her ear.
“Thank you, Peyton.”
“You’re welcome.”
What she really wanted to say was, Bet you’re not thinking of Warren Sulzberger now.
Chapter Thirteen
The ringing of Blaze’s cell phone woke them in the morning. He fished it from his nightstand where he’d finally tossed it the night before, saw Eagle’s name on the readout and punched Accept.
“What’s up?” He looked at the time on the phone and frowned. “It’s fucking six o’clock in the morning. This better be good.”
“Would I call you otherwise? Rocket and I were working while you were snoozing. I downloaded some new software from a friend that helped me clean up the CCTV picture and he found out what happened to the car. We need to head to the plane. I don’t want to discuss this where there’s the least chance of eavesdropping. With Sulzberger mixed into this, he could easily have people watching all of us. The one place they can’t tap into us is the plane.”
In an instant Blaze was on full alert. “What’s up?”
“Uh-uh. Not until we’re on the plane. We already called Saint and told him to get everything ready. We’ll pick up something for breakfast on the way.”
“Okay. On it.”
“I figured so.”
He disconnected the call and saw that Peyton was already awake.
“What is it?” She frowned. “Bad news?”
“No, as a matter of fact. It’s good. Let’s get dressed and I’ll tell you on the way.”
She wrinkled her forehead. “On the way to where?”
“The plane.” He dusted a brief kiss on her forehead. “We need to get moving.”
They dressed quickly, foregoing showers, and in less than twenty minutes were headed to the hangar. On the way, he checked in with both Leo’s man and Chuck at the hospital, relaxing a little when both reported no action at all. Peyton, meanwhile, called the charge nurse to get a report on her sister’s condition.
“All quiet,” he told Peyton when they both hung up. “Alan’s there this morning and he says no action. I think having the two men there is discouraging anything overt. And Leo’s man is checking the badge of everyone who comes into the room against the hospital’s employee database.”
“The nurse says she’s about the same, but she continues to show signs of restlessness. I’m just praying very hard.”
“I know you are. We’ll stop by and see her after this meeting.”
When they reached the hangar, he spotted two cars parked and the plane already on the tarmac.
“They must have called Saint very early,” he commented to Peyton. “And since only Eagle’s car is here, I’m guessing they all rode here together. Let’s get going.”
They climbed the stairs to the cabin and found the others seated at the same table arrangement as the day before. They were barely inside before Saint retracted the stairs and headed to the cockpit. Blaze was happy to see the others greeted Peyton as if she were an old friend, even if they did give him a quick side-eye.
He noticed that today only Eagle and Rocket had laptops sitting in front o
f them.
“You’re not on the Show and Tell today?” he asked Viper.
“Nope. These guys have it all.”
Saint’s voice on the intercom interrupted their conversation.
“Buckle up, everyone. Here we go.”
No one said anything as the engine noise increased and the big plane started to move. Then they were moving faster, rolling down the runway, the sound of the engines increasing as they picked up speed. No one said a word until they were in the air and they heard, “We’re at thirty thousand,” over the intercom.
“I’ll get breakfast.” Viper unbuckled his seat belt and rose from his chair. “Rocket and Eagle are doing all the talking.”
“I’ll go first.” Rocket activated his laptop and tapped some keys. “The software my friend has can clean up almost anything. He’s a programming nut and creates his own. After I ran the CCTV video through his program twice, I got an amazingly clear picture of the driver. At least enough to then run it through facial recognition software.”
“But then how do you know who it is?” Peyton asked. “How do you identify the person?”
“What’s the one thing that almost every legal citizen has in the United States?”
“I don’t…” She snapped her fingers as the answer flashed in her brain. “A driver’s license.”
Blaze nodded. “Right.”
“But can you get into that database? It’s not accessible to the public, is it?”
Rocket’s mouth tilted in a tiny grin. “We can get into anything.”
Before he could continue, Viper was back with coffee and a plate full of donuts.
“Not as fancy as yesterday, but it’s edible.”
Blaze served himself and Peyton then gave Eagle a verbal nudge.
“Okay, don’t keep us in suspense any longer. Who is it? Is it Owen Kendrick?”
“First, look at the cleaned-up picture.” Eagle turned his laptop so everyone could see the screen.
Blaze was startled at the image he saw. He leaned closer, studying it. Had they been wrong all this time? “Damn! It’s a woman.”
Peyton rubbed her forehead. “I don’t understand. We haven’t talked about a woman at all. There hasn’t even been a mention. Who is she?”
“I’ll let Rocket show you,” Eagle told her. “He’s the one who worked the database.”
“Okay.” Blaze looked at the other man. “Let’s have it. Who the fuck is it?”
“That’s the kicker,” Rocket told them. He clicked some keys on his laptop then turned it around. “Have a look.”
Everyone stared at the driver’s license displayed on the screen.
Finally Blaze cleared his throat. “Diane Kendrick? Is she Owen’s sister?"
Rocket shook his head. “His wife.”
For a long moment no one said a word as the name dangled in the air.
Peyton spoke first. “His wife? No one’s even mentioned her before this. I mean, she’s barely been a blip in the background. If she’s the driver, do you think Owen knew about this and has been protecting her all this time?”
Blaze nodded. “That’s my guess. But what about Peter Kendrick, Owen’s father? Do you think he knows it’s her? That she was the one driving the car?”
Tom shook his head. “Not from what I gather. I think we’d be seeing a lot different situation if he knew.”
“You think he’d throw her under the bus?”
“Without a doubt. Word on the street is Peter Kendrick is building a long-term political campaign for his son. Having a murderer for a wife wouldn’t do him any good. They’d ditch her like yesterday’s trash and find him someone more suitable.”
“Okay.” Blaze looked at Rocket. “The car. What did you find out?”
“Tom helped with this.” Rocket grinned. “Again, it helps to know people in low places.”
“Yeah, I get it. Let’s have it.”
“Long story short, I found the last few pieces in a chop shop. How it got there is immaterial unless we need the info for leverage.”
“But if it’s his wife’s car,” Peyton said, slowly, “what’s she been driving since then?”
“We’re still working on that. But now we need a whole new game plan. We can’t use regular police channels with this because we don’t know who else is paid off.”
“But we did a job for the police commissioner,” Viper drawled. “He was very grateful. Said if we ever needed anything to ask him.”
“Agreed.” Blaze took a slow sip of his coffee. “But let’s make sure we have all our shit together before we do. “
“We can’t just go to them with what we’ve got?” Peyton’s voice was edgy. “I mean, we have the picture and the driver’s license. What else do we need?”
“We need to make sure of two things,” Blaze told her. “That there’s no way to dispute the identity in the picture for one.”
“And that we have backup proof, which we need to work on.”
Blaze clenched his fists in his lap, working on his control.
“And making Sulzberger face the music after all this time. Where the hell does he live, anyway? I thought he had that big estate in Maryland?”
“He does.” Rocket nodded. “But he also has a place in Miami where he hides out. Tom says he only bought it less than a year ago. Apparently, he’d been up here helping his good friend Peter Kendrick solve his problems.”
“Just realize,” Viper told him, “you can’t go off and shoot him, much as you’d like to. Much as we’d all like to.”
“If you really want to destroy him,” Viper put in, “let’s get everything we can together. You know there’s proof somewhere. Then send it wide to the media. He’ll be as good as dead after that.”
Everyone sat quietly while Blaze rolled it all over in his mind.
“Tom can help us with that. He’s got connections.”
“And we’ll talk to him about it,” Rocket agreed. “After we get our primary objective achieved.”
“Getting the police to open the case again?” Peyton asked. “And giving them the info on Diane Kendrick?”
“Yes.” Viper leaned forward, his face set in determined lines. “You can count on it.”
“Are you contacting the police commissioner like you said before?”
“We are.” Blaze answered her himself. “I promise you, this will get taken care of and Dane and Brianne will be avenged. That’s what we do.” He looked around the table. “Who’s contacting the commissioner? Eagle, I think it should be you, since you were the lead on the case we did for him.”
“No problem.” Eagle picked up his cell phone and stood up. “Let me go in the back and give him a call right now. I still have his direct number.”
Blaze looked at Rocket. “Did you retrieve any of the remaining pieces of the car from the chop shop?”
“I did. They’re locked in the storage closet in the hangar. We also need to find out what Diane Kendrick’s driving now. How did her husband get her a new car without arousing people’s suspicions, especially her father-in-law?”
Blaze scowled. “Good question.”
“Let me tap into my sources,” Rocket told him, “and see what I can find out.”
Viper chuckled. “I have to say, man, you sure look the part for someone who collects the creepy-looking characters you do as sources.”
Rocket’s mouth turned up in a big grin. “Why, thank you. I consider that high praise.” Then the grin was replaced by a serious expression. “But if anyone can find out about under-the-table dealings no matter who’s involved, it’s one of my guys.” He winked. “Or gals.”
“Okay.” Blaze slapped his hands on the table. He wanted to get moving on this stuff. “So we’re good to go? Everyone knows what they have to do?”
The others nodded just as Eagle returned to the table.
“All set. I have a meeting with the commissioner at two this afternoon, at his home. When I explained the situation, he said we’re better to keep it out of offici
al places until we have everything locked down. I have all the files on my computer to show him. Rocket, make sure I have the couple of pieces of Diane Kendrick’s car.” He turned to Peyton. “We’ll need Brianne’s cell, also, so Rocket has the pictures she took.”
“No problem. I’ve still got it with me.” She pulled it from her purse, brought up the specific pictures and handed the phone to Rocket.
He scanned the table again. “I’d say we’re good to go.”
“We all need to be on the alert, though.” Blaze looked around the table. “Rocket, if your meeting with the commissioner is successful, the Kendricks and Sulzberger are going to panic. We don’t know what the hell they’ll do.”
“You don’t think they’d try to get my sister again, do you?” The color had leached from Peyton’s face and her voice was tight.
“I never know what desperate people will do, so it’s best to be prepared. We’ll stop by the hospital on the way home so I can double-check the security arrangements. I might even ask Nolan if he can move Brianne Hollister again.”
“Oh, my god.” Peyton clutched his arm. “Why won’t they leave her alone? She can’t tell them anything.”
“They don’t know that. Anyway, I’m just covering all bases. This is an unpredictable situation.”
“And you?” Viper gave him a penetrating look. “What will you be doing?”
“Pulling the strings I have out there to hunt down Warren Sulzberger and make him pay.” His face tightened in murderous rage. “I want to kill that fucker for what he did. And now he’s been helping to hide the evidence of the accident that killed Dane and put Brianne in a coma.”
There was a long moment of silence, broken at last by Viper.
“Be very careful what you do. I know exactly how you feel, but we have a good thing going here. Let’s not fuck it up.”
Fury raged through Blaze. “So I should just let him get away with most of my team being slaughtered? That’s not an option.”
“We’re not saying that.” Viper’s eyes were filled with compassion. “Just choose your options carefully.”
Beside him, Peyton cleared her throat.
“I, uh, might be able to help with this. I have an idea if you think it will accomplish the purpose.” She turned in her seat to lock her gaze with Blaze’s. “And keep you from going to jail for whatever it is you plan to do.”