The Agent

by Herkness, Nancy

  “I guess I can’t kiss you at your place of business,” he said, his eyes on the sweet curves of her mouth, “but I sure as hell want to.”

  “If I didn’t have a client in the chair, I’d take you to my office and we could do more than kiss,” she said, the blue of her eyes burning.

  His cock got very happy at his vision of bending her over her cream-colored desk and coming into her from behind. “You are one surprising lady.” He snaked a hand around her waist to give her gorgeous rounded butt a squeeze. “And I like that about you.”

  “It’s Marta’s fault,” Natalie said, a delicate flush tinting her cheeks. “She put ideas into my head.”

  “She said to take all the time you wanted,” Tully teased. “And frankly, right now, I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t take either one of us very long.”

  Natalie gave him a slanted smile that made him want to kiss her even more. “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “Did you ask a question?” he joked. “Oh yeah, Dobs.” All the fun went out of the conversation. “He’s bad news but I’ll tell you more later. Right now, I’d like to get the key to Deion’s apartment. He gave me permission to check the video from the security cam he set up in the window. He caught a car running surveillance on the salon.”

  Natalie’s elegant brows drew down into a fierce scowl. “Someone’s watching the salon? Why? I hope my staff and clients aren’t in danger.”

  “I did my own surveillance before I came in. The SUV didn’t show, so it’s probably gone now.” There was no point in worrying her any more. “By the way, I officially hired Deion to work at KRG.”

  The scowl disappeared, as he’d hoped it would. “You’re so kind to take him on.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t do ‘kind’ when it comes to business. I want that sort of initiative on my team.”

  She beamed him a grateful look before saying, “Wait here.” She went to the reception desk, knelt, unlocked a drawer, and pulled out a ring of keys. Returning, she handed it to him with a gold one separated from the rest. “Here you go. There’s no alarm up there.”

  He let his fingertips brush across her palm as he took the keys. She inhaled sharply at his deliberate touch.

  “You’d better get back to Marta,” he said. “Or I might be tempted to throw you over my shoulder and take you to your office anyway.”

  “Well, that would provide the salon with some really good gossip.” Natalie flashed him a wicked look before she sashayed down the hall.

  He stayed long enough to enjoy every last swing of her hips before she disappeared into the main room. Tonight was going to be real good.

  Natalie slipped out of her lavender smock and dropped it in the laundry bin. “Good night, Bianca,” she called to the receptionist as the young woman left the now-quiet salon. Natalie rubbed a hand over the back of her neck and then jumped when two big hands came down on her shoulders and began to knead them. “How do you walk so quietly in cowboy boots?”

  “Training at Quantico and practice.”

  His strong fingers pressed against the knotted muscles in her shoulders, balancing on the precise edge between pleasure and pain. “Oh, God! That feels amazing. Did they teach you that at Quantico too?”

  “Well, my firearms instructor always told me I had good hands.” His voice seemed to rumble up and down her spine in a delicious way. Then he leaned down to whisper right beside her ear, “I hear there are massage tables in the room next door.”

  Heat shimmered through her, winding into a tight, pulsing point between her legs.

  His whisper came again as he continued to massage her shoulders. “You could take all your clothes off and let me work on every muscle in your body.”

  She moaned at the image he conjured up of her body naked on the table while he ran those powerful hands all over her bare skin. She could almost feel his fingers sliding between her thighs and stroking into the ache she felt growing low inside her.

  “Those massage tables can’t hold two people who are . . . moving,” she said with regret.

  “Well, depending on how you feel about it, the table would only have to hold one.” His voice was a warm rasp now.

  Now she had a picture of him bending her over the end of the table and driving into her from behind, his hands gripping her hips while her breasts were pressed against the smooth vinyl of the tabletop. “I think I may come just from thinking about it,” she said on a gasp.

  He moved in closer so she could feel his erection against her bottom. His hands skimmed down from her shoulders to her breasts, his finger finding her hard nipples through the silk and lace of her clothes and circling them. His touch set off a shower of sparks that burned down into the desire pooling in her belly.

  “Yes!” she said, letting her head fall back against his shoulder.

  “Yes to what, sweetheart?” Now he moved his entire palm over each breast, the friction making her hips begin to pulse in rhythm with his hands.

  “All of it.” She wanted his hands on her and his cock inside her.

  Before she knew what was happening, he’d scooped her up against his chest and was striding toward the treatment rooms. “Very Neanderthal,” she said, looping one hand around the back of his neck. “I like it.”

  “I just want to get there quicker,” he said, waiting as she reached out to turn the knob for Room 1 and push open the door.

  The scent of lavender with a citrus note of bergamot lingered in the room from the last aromatherapy message. Tully sniffed. “Nice.”

  He shoved the door closed with his boot before he eased her down onto the pale blue sheet covering the massage table. He leaned over to kiss her, his mouth soft and firm at the same time. She curled one hand around the back of his head, his hair springy against her palm. With her other hand, she gripped the hard muscle of his shoulder.

  His kiss was so distracting that it took her a few moments to realize that his fingers were busy with the buttons of her blouse. She smiled against his lips. “Are you really going to give me a massage?”

  “A promise is a promise,” he said. “It may be a very short one.”

  When he got to the last button, she sat up and shimmied out of her blouse before she unfastened her bra and peeled it off.

  Tully’s gaze fell to her now-bare breasts, his face taut with lust. She leaned back on her arms and arched her back to tempt him. He gave in with a groan, leaning down to suck on one nipple. The heat and moisture on her sensitized skin sent exquisite thrills racing through her body. When he switched to the other breast, she dropped her head back and moaned.

  And then he slipped his hand between her thighs to press exactly where she wanted it, rubbing the fabric back and forth against her. To her shock, she exploded into orgasm after only moments, her head thrown back to cry out Tully’s name.

  As the tremors lessened, she eased down onto the table, opening her eyes to find Tully standing over her and looking down with a blaze of heat lighting his gray eyes. “Every time I think you can’t get any hotter, you prove me wrong,” he said as he stroked a hand over her bare shoulder and down her arm. When he reached her hand, he picked it up and set a kiss in her palm, his lips warm.

  A tingle ran down her arm. “You generated the heat. I just soaked it up,” she said, the orgasm still sending gentle ripples of pleasure through her.

  “Let me know when you’re ready for your massage.” He kept her hand in his warm, strong grip.

  “That wasn’t it?”

  “You don’t know much about massages, do you?”

  She smiled up at him with half-closed eyes. “I’m pretty sure that one was illegal in most states.”

  “Not half as illegal as what I’m planning now.”

  Her nerve-endings did a little dance. “Okay, I’m ready.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Tully stripped off her trousers, panties, and shoes, his heavy-lidded gaze skimming over her body like a torch. “I hate to say this, but roll over onto your stomach.”

  She
obliged, putting her face in the cradle at the end of the table. She heard a sound that it took her a moment to place as a pump bottle being pressed. Then his hands were stroking down her back and buttocks with a lack of friction that meant he’d used the massage lotion to oil them. When he began to work on her shoulders, she moaned in bliss. The orgasm had relaxed her muscles enough so that he could loosen them fully. He worked over her arms and hands, then moved to her legs and feet. When he pushed his thumbs into her tired arches, she groaned in ecstasy.

  “Sweetheart, I think this massage is over.” His voice was husky and he skimmed his hands up her legs before wrapping them around her hips to slide her gently toward him.

  Heat flashed through her like a brushfire. She put her palms on the table and helped him scoot her to the end so that her feet touched the floor. Arousal went liquid inside her as she heard his belt buckle clink, his zipper whine, and the sound of a condom envelope being ripped open.

  He positioned his cock and then his hands held her hips while he thrust inside her in one smooth motion.

  They both gasped out inarticulate cries of pleasure and he began to move. She couldn’t do much except enjoy the feel of him filling her before he pulled almost all the way out and entered her again. His grip on her grew tighter as his rhythm increased. Her body skidded on the sheet, the friction stroking her peaked nipples. Her muscles began to tighten in anticipation, and then he reached around to find her clit with one hand.

  Her climax ripped through her so hard that she arched up from the table, her back bowed, as she nearly shrieked at the intensity.

  “Oh yeah, sweetheart,” Tully panted, going still as her internal muscles clamped around him. “That feels so good. Make me come.”

  Which made her muscles contract again. And then he began to drive in and out of her in a frenzy, shouting her name as he pushed deep and pulsed inside her.

  She lay still, savoring the feel of Tully still inside her, his thighs in their fine wool trousers pressed against hers, his breath gusting above her. He let go of her hips and braced his hands on either side of her. She sensed him shifting even before she felt the brush of his lips on her shoulder blade.

  “I wish you could see how beautiful you look right now,” he said against her skin.

  She turned her head against the table to smile. “All you can see is my back.”

  “It’s an amazing back—all curves and dips.” His fingers feathered over her, triggering a delicious shiver. “Your skin looks like cream satin against the blue sheet.”

  “I didn’t know you could be so poetic.” Matt had preferred crudity during sex.

  “Only when inspired.” He shifted again and slipped out of her, leaving an ache of emptiness. It was dangerous to feel so connected to him during sex.

  She shoved up from the table and looked around for her panties while he disposed of the condom. Before she could retrieve her clothes, Tully pulled her into his arms. All the expensive textures of his clothing grazed her naked skin, sending a sensual thrill skittering through her. “I feel like that painting of the naked woman picnicking with the fully dressed men.”

  “That painting is sexy as hell,” Tully said.

  “It was meant to be shocking.” She leaned against him with a sigh. He was so solid, so strong. She could enjoy that for just a little while without compromising her promises to herself.

  “One and the same, in this case,” Tully said, clearly in no hurry to move either. He let out a long exhale, his breath ruffling her hair. “This is nice, Nat. This is real nice.”

  She tried to make herself move because it was too nice. But her muscles refused to obey her brain. Her body knew what it wanted.

  They stood in an easy silence for several minutes before Tully exhaled again, this time with a note of regret. “Okay, sweetheart, let’s go get some takeout. I’ve got a powerful craving for some barbecued ribs.”

  Half an hour later, she pulled into her driveway with Tully’s Maserati right behind her. As usual, he told her to stay in the car until he’d done recon, so she entertained herself by watching the way his long stride ate up the expanse of lawn before he took her porch steps in a single leap. She lost sight of him when he walked farther onto the porch, so she pulled out her phone to check for stalker emails. So far today, there had been none. Maybe the psycho had gotten whatever nasty thrill he wanted and would leave her alone now.

  When Tully knocked at her car window, she jumped before she unlocked the door. He swung it open and said, “We’re leaving.”

  It was only then that she noticed the grim set of his mouth and the icy look in his eyes. “What is it?”

  “He left something on your door that you don’t want to see. You’re coming to my place for the night.”

  Fear froze her as she tried to imagine what was on her door. “Is it a dead animal?” She would hate to be the cause of an innocent creature’s death, even indirectly.

  He shook his head. “Trust me, you don’t need this image in your mind.”

  “Can you just tell me what it is? I think not knowing makes it worse.”

  He looked away for a moment as though debating before he pinned her with that hard gaze. “I’ll tell you if you agree to leave.”

  Anger roiled through the fear. “I’ll make that decision after I know what the stalker left for me.”

  He made a gesture of frustration. “It’s the picture of you from the email, pinned to the door with a big ugly knife.”

  A strange sense of relief eased her tension. “That’s bad but I can handle it.”

  “He threw blood all over your front door.”

  “You mean red paint?”

  “No, I mean blood. You can buy it from a butcher.” He took her hand. “Let’s get you out of here. I’ll have one of my people clean it up after they take photos and samples.”

  Maybe he was right that she shouldn’t see what her door looked like. She might never be able to walk through it again with a quiet mind.

  “Nat,” he said, interlacing their fingers so that his hand enveloped hers. “This is a major escalation. You can’t stay here tonight.”

  “I agree.”

  “Thank God! I thought you were going to argue with me.” The tension in his jaw relaxed a fraction.

  “I’m smart enough to know when you’re right.”

  “That’s one of the things I like about you,” he said with a flash of a tight-lipped smile.

  She huffed out a laugh and reached into her car for her purse and laptop bag. “Wait, why didn’t Pam see something on the surveillance camera?” she asked as Tully took the laptop from her. “She had the video feed going to her cell phone.”

  “The UPS man had to be a fake,” Tully said, his voice a growl. “He found a way to fool your front door camera. I should have replaced it with one of mine. They’re a lot harder to mess with.”

  He held the door for her while she slid onto the luxurious leather seat of Tully’s fancy sports car.

  As Tully folded his big body into the driver’s seat, another thought struck her. “He didn’t want me to be home when he left his message, did he? That’s why he cruised past the salon several times. To make sure my car was there in the parking lot.”

  Somehow it made her feel better that her stalker was avoiding her. She shuddered. Thank God she hadn’t been home when the stalker splashed blood over her front door.

  However, when she looked at Tully, the stern set of his profile wasn’t reassuring. He backed out of the driveway and headed down the road before he said, “He’s still hiding his identity.” Then he bared his teeth in a smile that was downright feral. “But we’ve got the license plate number, thanks to Deion. We’ll nail him with that.”

  “Do you think Dobs is doing this?” She couldn’t picture the sobbing wreck of a man stabbing a knife in her door before splashing it with blood. But didn’t the neighbors always say that the psychopath next door seemed like a nice person, just a little quiet?

  “Yeah, I do,” Tul
ly said, his hands flexing on the leather-wrapped steering wheel. “Except he wouldn’t do it himself. That’s beneath him. He’d send his minions. That’s who was cruising past the salon. Minions make mistakes because they’ve got less skin in the game.”

  “But why? He couldn’t have known that I helped Regina.” She was so careful, and Regina hadn’t spoken to him since she packed her bag and left.

  “My guess is that he had her watched. He’s the type who would.” Tully turned onto the highway, the car accelerating with a potent roar that Natalie would have enjoyed if she hadn’t been so worried.

  Natalie’s stomach lurched at how close Regina had come to being caught by her abusive husband. “I’m so glad she’s safe now.”

  “We have to keep her that way.”

  “What do you mean? As long as she’s at Dawn and Leland’s, she’ll be fine, won’t she?” Even Dobs—with all his wealth—couldn’t drag his wife out of Leland’s penthouse.

  “The legal stuff may get complicated,” Tully said. “You’re meeting with Regina and the divorce lawyer tomorrow. See what he says.”

  Regina had asked Natalie to be there for support during the initial consultation. She’d said she wasn’t sure her brain was functioning properly between her pregnancy and her fear.

  Natalie understood. She’d gone through the divorce with only her lawyer to advise her. The woman had been smart and tough, but she had always told Natalie that the final decisions about what she wanted to fight for were up to her. Sometimes Natalie’s emotions were so knotted up that she had no idea what the right answer was. So Natalie had cleared her schedule for the morning.

  “And now I don’t have to deal with Lincoln Tunnel traffic during rush hour,” she said with a wry smile.

  Tully threw her an approving glance. “That’s right. Don’t let the bastard get you down.”

  “But what if it isn’t Dobs? What if it’s some random stranger? Or someone I know who’s doing this for an entirely different reason?” She would have two problems on her hands.