Lucian was usually the one to attend these events, and more public ones like the gala, but despite returning to work, the pain from his injuries was sometimes too much. Tonight he was home in bed, sedated into a painless sleep while one of his nurses kept an eye on him.
Victor interrupted our conversation. “Let me get you a drink, Karen. We should let Mr. Gabriel focus on his task.” He took her by the elbow and was already turning away when he addressed Tyler. “Report to me in the morning, before the meetings, so we can debrief.” He walked away, barely giving Karen an opportunity to wave goodbye.
“Dick,” I muttered under my breath. I couldn’t help it—the man had no manners.
Tyler shushed me, even as he chuckled, and led me the rest of the way to the bar.
“There are ears everywhere.” Alec leaned in and tapped the earpiece that allowed him to communicate with the other agents. “Both electronic and of the Variant kind. Several people here have enhanced hearing.”
As if I could know which ones they were by looking at them, my eyes scanned the room. Enhanced hearing was one of the common abilities, often overlooked and easy to hide once the Variant learned to turn it on and off. But it was probably one of the most underrated too, especially in the spy game. I made a mental note to watch my words and accepted the champagne flute Tyler offered me.
I took a sip and was not at all surprised to find it tasted incredible. I looked behind the bar; instead of Dom Perignon, as Alec had insinuated, they were serving Cristal. Just as expensive, and it would be just as much of a shame if it ended up being vomited out in a back alleyway.
My nerves calmed significantly once I realized how little attention most people were paying me, and the next hour crawled by. Tyler and I floated about the room, engaging in brief and seemingly insignificant conversations as I sipped on my champagne and he nursed a scotch. Waiters carried around finger food, and the band kept playing pleasant background music.
We schmoozed with dignitaries, military leaders, and directors of intelligence organizations and other private security firms. None of them were recognizable or particularly famous, but the people in this room, if they chose to work together, could change the world . . . or control it.
Occasionally, I was even included in the conversation.
It seemed like boring chitchat on the surface, and for the most part it was, but Tyler was getting more from it than anyone could possibly know. I kept transferring Light to him in controlled doses as he needed it.
It felt good to know I was doing my part, despite it being a bit boring. Seeing as how I couldn’t just glow in the middle of a crowded room, I had to stay right at his side, and because he was wearing a suit, I had to be crafty in how I transferred.
It was a brush of our fingers there, a straightening of his perfectly straight collar here, a push when his hand came into contact with the bare skin at my back. I was quite literally glued to him.
And Alec was glued to me. He wasn’t always in sight, but I could feel him nearby, feel his eyes on me. I would look over my shoulder, and there he was, giving me a slight nod, his blue eyes piercing into mine.
As I finished my second glass of champagne and dropped it on a nearby high table, another couple approached us.
The Japanese couple both looked to be in their late forties. The man wore a perfectly tailored blue suit, and the woman was in a stunning traditional kimono, her black hair in an elaborate updo.
They bowed, and the man spoke in perfect, if slightly accented, English. “Good evening. I am Itsuki Takata. This is my wife and Vital, Yui.”
Tyler and I returned the respectful bow.
“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Takata. I’m Tyler Gabriel, and this is my Vital, Evelyn Maynard.”
A spark of recognition entered Mr. Takata’s expression, but he quickly hid it behind a warm, polite smile.
I thought back to the months my mother and I had spent in Japan and greeted them in their own language. They both looked pleasantly surprised. Mrs. Takata immediately started talking to me, explaining that she didn’t speak much English and had been unable to chat with almost anyone. I apologized for how rusty my Japanese was, but we managed to carry a short conversation while Tyler asked Mr. Takata some seemingly innocuous questions.
As they moved off, I seized the opportunity to take a little break.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” I whispered to Tyler.
“No problem.” He smiled and grabbed my hand. We stood together for just a moment, and I gave him a good dose of Light, making sure he would have enough until I returned.
As I headed across the foyer, Alec silently fell in at my side.
“You know, you can’t go into the ladies room with me,” I teased, not even looking at him.
He scoffed. “I take my job very seriously.”
At that I did turn to look at him, my eyebrows raised. Was he being serious? We couldn’t just clear out the ladies room so I could pee. But then he smirked, the glint in his eyes telling me he was teasing, and I slapped him lightly on the stomach. He wasn’t in a bulletproof vest, but it still felt as if I were hitting steel.
He positioned himself right outside the door. Just as I entered, he lifted his sleeve to his lips, murmuring something I couldn’t hear without taking his eyes off me.
Only two other women were in there, and I didn’t have to wait for a stall, so I finished in no time, fixed up my makeup, and headed back out.
I walked straight past Alec—I couldn’t resist provoking him a little. As we were about to enter the main room again, his warm hand wrapped gently but firmly around my elbow and pulled me to the side.
“What are you doing?” I asked. My instincts weren’t telling me yet that Tyler needed more Light, but I still wanted to be there for him.
“Just following orders from my superior” was Alec’s cryptic answer, but his lips twitched, and his voice had turned to honey—the professional, neutral tone gone. It sent shivers of anticipation down my spine, and I let him lead me into a side room that shared a wall with the main function area.
An oval table in the center of the room looked as if it could seat about a dozen people, but at the moment there was only one. Tyler was leaning on the table, his legs crossed at the ankles, his suit jacket hanging over the back of a chair. He looked so fucking sexy in the vest as he rolled his sleeves up and looked at me sideways, as if he were preparing to get his hands dirty.
My breath quickened and I swallowed. “Your superior, eh?” I had no idea why they’d dragged me into this abandoned, dark room—the city lights behind Tyler were the only illumination, casting his face in shadow—but I could take a guess.
“Yes.” I could feel Alec’s heat at my back. “Tyler is my superior . . . technically. I was following his orders to bring you here.”
“Good work, Alec.” Tyler’s voice was pitched low, and it was doing things to me . . . also somewhere low.
Alec wasn’t touching me, and I leaned into him, hoping to get a reaction. But Tyler issued another order.
“Bring her to me.”
Alec wrapped an arm around my middle and slowly walked me forward until we were inches away from Tyler.
“You’ve been exceptional tonight, Evelyn,” he whispered, leaning in. My lips parted. “I know this has been a little boring for you, so I thought we might reward you with a little break.”
He didn’t wait for my response before crushing his lips to mine, pushing his tongue right into my mouth. I moaned and lifted my hands to his neck, returning the kiss eagerly. Alec remained mostly still, but his chest rose and lowered a little faster against my back, his breath tickling my neck.
Just as suddenly as he’d initiated the kiss, Tyler broke it. He stood up to his full height and removed my arms from around his neck.
“Turn her,” he demanded, and Alec obeyed. With firm hands on my hips, he pushed until I was facing him.
“I think Alec’s getting a little hot,” Tyler whispered against the nape of my neck befo
re placing a firm kiss there. “I think you should remove his jacket.”
“Yes, sir,” I breathed. Tyler froze, his lips on my skin. I felt him smile, and pleasure welled up inside me.
I slowly pushed Alec’s jacket off his shoulders, and he let it fall to the floor behind him. As I ran my hands over the hard planes of his chest, then his shoulders and muscular arms, he watched my every move as if he had all night, his lips parted, his breath quickening even more.
I rested my hands on his hips and tilted my face up to kiss him, but before I could crash my mouth to his, Tyler’s hands covered mine. He caressed my fingers until his hands were wrapped around my wrists, and then he tugged my arms to his sides, pulling me flush with his chest and away from Alec.
“Not yet.” His voice was deceptively calm—I could feel his arousal pressing into my ass. I leaned my head back on his shoulder, sparing a fleeting thought for my appearance and hoping they didn’t ruin my hair and makeup too much. “Alec, remove her underwear. Take your time.”
Alec and I both moaned lightly. I was like putty in his hands, loving this side of him, and Alec wasn’t arguing either. Maybe he could learn to share after all—maybe he just needed someone to order him to do it. But I would have to puzzle that one out later.
Alec inched forward.
The way Tyler had my arms pulled back made my chest jut out, my breasts rising and falling with every labored breath. I was ready and wanting. When Alec got his hands on my underwear, it would be soaked through.
Alec bent down just slightly, then placed both hands flat over my thighs. He dragged his palms up, bringing the layers of tulle with him. His fingers crawled over the dress bit by bit until the hem was in his hands.
With his fist full of tulle, he pressed the fabric against my belly while his other hand found my hip under the dress. Gently, very slowly, he traced my hip, then once again dragged his palm up my thigh. It took all the willpower I had not to squirm, move to the side, try to get his hand where I wanted it most. When he reached the top of my underwear, he dipped one finger under the fabric and ran it from one hip to the other, his nail scaping lightly just above my pubic bone.
He watched me the whole time, his icy blue eyes boring into mine, his lips parted. He watched as my breath hitched, as my eyes drooped, as my chest heaved and pushed my breasts out.
He snapped the top of my panties against my skin as he removed his fingertip, but he didn’t pull away. With the backs of his fingers, he trailed a path over my pubic bone and down to my most sensitive area. As his knuckles grazed my clit through the fabric, I nearly gave in, ready to beg them to end this torture. But the look of pure lust on Alec’s face and the impossibly hard erection against my ass kept me quiet. They were enjoying this as much as I was—it was just as exquisitely torturous for them as it was for me.
Alec’s fingers found the lower hem of my panties, and he slipped two fingers underneath, hooking the front of my underwear through the leg holes. He held it as if he was about to rip it away from my body. I wished he would. The visual made me moan, and Tyler’s hot breath at my neck started to come harder, his hips rolling against me in tiny, slow movements.
Alec just kept doing what he was doing, the picture of control except for his heavy breathing. His knuckles grazed my pubic hair as he dragged his fingers lower—lower, lower, between my legs. When he reached the warm, moist apex of my thighs, with his fingers caught between the wetness of my flesh and the wetness of the fabric, he showed his first sign of weakness. He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing, and a barely audible “fuck” passed his lips. But he didn’t stop. He rubbed his fingers up and down my folds, spreading the wetness.
Nothing escaped Tyler’s notice though. “Alec. Report,” he demanded, his voice still pitched low but suddenly strained.
Alec cleared his throat. “It seems our girl’s more responsive than we anticipated. She’s soaked through her underwear.”
“Mmm.” Tyler hummed his approval and pressed a sensuous kiss to my neck. “Excellent. I want to see the evidence myself. Remove them. No more teasing.”
“Yes, sir,” Alec answered with a smirk just as I moaned a “yes” of my own.
Tightening his grip on the crotch of the panties, Alec pulled down, but before the fabric was past my hips, he froze. His shoulders tensed, and the hand holding the dress up clenched tight. His gaze fixed loosely on my chin, but I had a feeling he wasn’t really paying attention to me anymore.
Even as my skin still burned with lust, a cold chill ran down my spine.
“Alec?” Tyler’s voice lost that smoky, sultry quality, and his grip on my arms loosened.
In answer, Alec pulled my underwear back into place and dropped the front of my dress. He straightened to his full height. “Building is breached. We need to go.”
Twelve
“Shit.” I was anything but calm as Tyler released me and they both put their jackets back on. “Shit, shit, shit.”
Not this again. Not more guns and fighting and people trying to hurt us.
I backed away from the door and stumbled against the boardroom table.
Both of them pulled their guns out, and Alec pressed his left hand to his ear. “K, I need an exit.” He was quiet for a few moments, listening to whatever Kyo was saying on the other end.
Tyler’s face appeared in front of me, and only then did I realize how blurry my vision was. I blinked, and fat tears fell down my cheeks.
“Eve.” Tyler held his gun firmly in one hand, but his other cupped my cheek, wiping the tears away with his thumb. “I need you to be strong. We’ll get you through this. We’ll get you out. But you need to keep your shit together, baby.”
I can’t do this. Not again. I can’t.
“Yes, you can.” Alec crowded me in on the other side, his hand squeezing my waist. Apparently the filter between my brain and my mouth had disappeared. “Evie, you’re the strongest person I know. It’s time to pull those soaked panties up and get the fuck out of here.”
He flashed me his cocky, lopsided smirk that immediately made me want to call him an asshole—but it helped. It was dragging me out of my head, pulling me out of my panic, making my back straighten.
“Is this really the best time to make inappropriate jokes?” My voice still shook, but I was getting there. Feeling their touch grounded me. I placed my palms flat against the sides of their necks and pushed Light into them—giving them as much as I could in a short burst.
“There’s my girl.” Tyler smiled. Alec just nodded and moved to the door.
I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and walked to the door by Tyler’s side. Music still drifted out of the main event area, along with the sounds of polite conversation and clinking glassware.
“Why aren’t we hearing chaos?” I asked, my voice low.
“Wait for it,” Tyler replied. A mere two seconds later, the music cut off, and the timbre of the voices changed, growing more intense, more panicked.
“Wait, why aren’t you ordering everyone around?” My question was directed at Tyler, but he didn’t have a chance to answer.
“Time to go.” Alec pulled the door open and stepped through. I followed, staying as close as I could without impeding his range of movement. I could feel Tyler doing the same behind me.
In the foyer, beautifully dressed people were filing out of the function room and, to their credit, calmly if hurriedly making their way toward the exits. Melior Group agents ushered some people down in the service elevator, while others were sent up the few flights of stairs to the roof.
Alec led the way toward the same service elevators but headed past them. “Kyo said there’s a large balcony off the eighty-ninth floor—three floors below the roof, where the choppers are being sent. He said it looks abandoned and doesn’t appear to be a target. He’s sending Jamie up with gear. Is this the best option, Gabe?”
Tyler thought about it for only a few seconds. “Yes. For now. But things are changing fast—it’s like they had a
plan, but they’re changing it as they go. They’re either really disorganized or really fucking good.”
“We’d better haul ass then.” Alec picked up his pace, and I had to jog to keep up.
We climbed up a dingy back staircase. A faulty fluorescent light kept flickering, making my nerves even worse. After the first flight, I made them stop so I could take my heels off, after which we were able to climb faster without making as much noise.
“Who. Is. Doing this?” I asked between panting breaths, not daring to slow down. Tyler was breathing only a little harder than usual—as if he were going for a light jog, not sprinting up stairs with his life in danger. Alec wasn’t even breaking a sweat.
“I’m not entirely sure.” Tyler’s voice echoed off the concrete walls. “It’s not my focus right now. We just need to get you out of here.”
I was about to argue, demand he give me answers, when the sound of gunfire startled me so badly I flung myself against the wall. Alec didn’t even flinch. Tyler grabbed me firmly by the elbow and pulled me forward.
“Move,” he ground out, keeping his voice low. I obeyed.
The gunfire sounded way too close. It came in bursts, separated by silence and occasional shouting. Whoever it was had made it to the higher floors of the building, but it wouldn’t be an easy win for them. There was a small army of Melior Group agents to get through.
At a door marked with a plain red “89,” Alec stopped. I leaned on the railing, trying to catch my breath quietly.
He cracked the door open, peeked through, then swung it wide and stepped into the service corridor of the eighty-ninth floor. We followed close behind, Tyler closing the door soundlessly.
The gunfire and shouting sounded farther away now—as if someone had left an action movie playing on the TV in the next room—but I knew it could catch up with us at any moment. Both my guys crept forward cautiously, guns raised.
Alec led the way down the corridor and back into the nice part of the building. The plush carpet soothed my bare feet after all those rough concrete stairs.
Vivid Avowed (The Evelyn Maynard Trilogy Book 3) Page 14