by Shayla Black
The three of them exchanged another glance, then seemed to come to some silent conclusion he wasn’t privy to.
“Then here’s the deal: You’ve got two weeks to figure out which one of them is guilty or we’re letting them both go.”
“What?”
Hunter picked up where his brother left off. “We made it easier for you by sending Trees out of town for a week. Invent a reason you need to stay at his place while he’s gone. Search it from top to bottom. If he’s got dirt, you need to hand it the fuck over.”
“He doesn’t.” Zy knew he kept repeating that, but Trees wouldn’t stab him—or anyone else—in the back like that.
“Now you get to find out for sure…at the same time you investigate Tessa.”
Were they insane? “How? You sending her out of town, too?”
“Nope.” Logan reached behind him and plucked a file folder off his credenza, then whipped out a small pile of papers held together by a staple. He flipped a few pages, drew a giant X on one, then jotted something in the margin. He passed it to his brothers next. Each of them also scribbled on the side. Finally, Logan shoved the document back in the folder and slid it down the table to him. “You’re welcome.”
Zy opened the folder and found his employment contract inside. The nonfraternization clause had been crossed out. All three of them had initialed.
They had removed the restrictions keeping him from pursuing Tessa? Even the goddamn idea made his skin tingle.
When he looked up, Logan smiled. “Yes, you’re now free to fuck her. Congratulations. But you better think with something other than your dick.”
Too late. His dick was already having a party…and his conscience was choking on guilt. The only way to get close to her was to deceive her?
“No.” He couldn’t do that to Tessa.
Joaquin shrugged. “Told you we should have just fired Trees and Tess and been done with it.”
It took everything he had not to jump out of his seat and tell them to go fuck themselves. “Neither of them deserves that.”
“No?” Hunter shrugged. “Then prove it.”
Over the past ten months, he’d seen the three of them push, shove, and maneuver some of his fellow operators into tight spaces and corners to get what they wanted. Zy had always been careful to keep his nose clean, so he’d never had it happen to him. He’d even wondered if the rumors were an exaggeration. But no.
They really were manipulative motherfuckers.
“Tessa won’t touch me. She needs this job.”
Joaquin flashed him a rare smile. “I’m going to take her aside this morning and present her with a new contract. Better sick pay and vacation, tighter non-disclosure…and no nonfraternization clause. She’ll sign. Then you’re both off the hook.”
Goddamn it. Their coercion pissed him off. But the thought of touching Tess while proving she’d done nothing wrong? “Fine. I’m in.”
“We know.” Logan sounded like an arrogant prick. “You’ve got two weeks. Get a move on.”
He clenched his jaw against some choice words that would probably get him fired and stood. As he marched for the door, it crashed open. In walked a man he hadn’t imagined he’d see in this office ever again.
Caleb Edgington looked shell-shocked, like he’d collided with panic and run face-first into death.
What the fuck was wrong? “Colonel, sir?”
Hunter and Logan both stood. Joaquin, not far behind, rose with a frown.
“Dad?” Hunter approached him.
The older man swallowed. “Your sister…”
Sudden tension gripped the room.
“What’s wrong with Kimber?” Logan scowled.
“I received a threat a couple of weeks ago. It wasn’t specific, just a tube of lipstick and a warning to hand over Valeria Montilla before they took whoever the tube belonged to. I didn’t know who—” Emotion choked off the colonel’s words. He pressed his fist to his lips, grasping for the fortitude to finish delivering the bad news.
Zy stood in shock, his gut twisting. The man’s only daughter, Hunter and Logan’s sister…
Another guy came in behind the colonel—big, blond, badass, and totally pissed off. Deke Trenton, Kimber’s husband. “She’s gone. She dropped the kids off at preschool, then made a trip to the grocery store…and didn’t come home. A courier delivered this thirty minutes ago.”
They all crowded around as he whipped out a picture of Kimber, her auburn hair tangled, her big eyes red rimmed, with a gag over her mouth, her hands tied behind her back, and a gun to her head.
Oh, holy shit.
“We’ll get her back.” Despite having gone ghostly pale, Hunter found his voice. “We’ll do whatever it takes—”
“You’re fucking right we will,” Deke spat. “I want my kitten back. Jack and the rest of the Oracle team are at our offices strategizing. Any help you can spare…”
“You’ll have it,” Hunter promised. “We need to lock down the rest of the wives and kids.”
“Fast,” the colonel managed. “Before it’s too late.”
The older man ducked out, looking as if he could barely keep himself together.
Deke didn’t look much calmer. “Thanks for whatever you can do.”
“Fuck that, she’s our sister. We’ll devote day and night to saving her.”
Kimber’s husband nodded, then he was gone. Silence prevailed for a protracted moment. Then Hunter swallowed, collecting himself first. He turned to ice in an instant. Logan lived up to his fiery temper, grabbing an eraser from the nearest whiteboard then throwing it violently. His empty coffee mug followed next, shattering against the wall.
Before he could toss anything else, Joaquin stepped in. “We don’t have time.”
“I know. I fucking know. Goddamn son of a bitch!”
Hunter and Joaquin raced out the door, already strategizing to keep all the others in their family safe. Logan fumed, trying to gather himself, his lungs working like a bellows.
“I’ll come with you,” Zy offered. “I’ll devote all my energy—”
“No. This shit is centered around Valeria Montilla. Trees and Kane are going to protect and relocate her pronto—and we’ll be monitoring every step. But none of that will mean shit if you can’t figure out our mole. Two fucking weeks—max—or they’re both off the fucking payroll and we bury them professionally. If you fail, we’ll do the same to your fucking ass, too.”
Logan tore out of the conference room, slamming the door behind him. After some shouting in the hall and more door slamming in the distance, the office fell silent.
Two weeks? Zy cursed. He had to start planning and setting some wheels in motion now—or they were all fucked.
* * *
LOOK FOR ZY AND TESSA’S STORY COMING LATE 2020!
Want to see how Alpha operative Cutter Bryant and starlet Shealyn West fall in love? Get sucked into the sexy, high-octane, suspenseful Devoted Lovers series!
* * *
DEVOTED TO PLEASURE
Devoted Lovers, Book 1
By Shayla Black
Available now!
Click here to order!
* * *
A bodyguard should never fall for his client…but she’s too tempting to refuse.
* * *
Bodyguard and former military man Cutter Bryant has always done his duty–no matter what the personal cost. Now he's taking one last high-octane, high-dollar assignment before settling down in a new role that means sacrificing his chance at love. But he never expects to share an irresistible chemistry with his beautiful new client.
* * *
Fame claimed Shealyn West suddenly and with a vengeance after starring in a steamy television drama, but it has come at the expense of her heart. Though she's pretending to date a co-star for her image, a past mistake has come back to haunt her. With a blackmailer watching her every move and the threat of career-ending exposure looming, Shealyn hires Cutter to shore up her security, never imagining their attraction will be t
oo powerful to contain.
* * *
As Shealyn and Cutter navigate the scintillating line between business and pleasure, they unravel a web of secrets that threaten their relationship and their lives. When danger strikes, Cutter must decide whether to follow his heart for the first time, or risk losing Shealyn forever.
EXCERPT
* * *
“Cutter?”
She sounded unsure. Was she afraid of the dark? Of what had happened with her blackmailer earlier? Or what might happen between the two of them next?
He moved closer slowly, giving her plenty of time to back away. “I’m here.”
Shealyn allayed his worries when, instead of retreating or flipping the light switch beside her, she reached for him, fingers curling around his arm like she was grabbing a lifeline.
Cutter edged into her personal space. She didn’t put distance between them, just exhaled in relief and pressed herself against him.
Oh, god. She wanted something from him that didn’t feel merely like comfort.
He was going to have to deal with the two dirtbags who were after Shealyn and convince her to let him hunt them down to see justice served. To do that, he would have to focus on something besides her sweet, addicting mouth.
But unless someone charged in, gun drawn, threats spewing, that wasn’t happening now.
The thought that she was here, safe, and wanting his touch tore the leash from his restraint.
Cutter took her shoulders in hand and nudged her back against the wall. She went with a gasp. In one motion, he flattened himself against her, palms braced above her head, hips rocking against the soft pad of her pussy. He couldn’t hold in the groan that tore from his chest.
“I shouldn’t do this but . . . goddamn it. If you don’t want this, stop me. A word will do it.” Cutter tried to wait for her assent, but the sensual curve of her throat beckoned him. He bent, inhaled her, grew dizzy from her scent. It reminded him of the gardenias Mama used to grow in the spring. Blended with that scent was the thick aroma of her arousal, pungent and dizzying. “Say it now, sweetheart.”
Shealyn ignored him, rocking against him, her head falling to the side as she offered him her neck—and any other part of her he wanted. “Why would I tell you to go when I want you closer?”
She wasn’t going to stop him. And she wouldn’t save him from himself. Drowning in her would be a singular pleasure that would be worth whatever the price—even his heart.
Cutter fastened his mouth to hers again and tugged on the bottom of her turtleneck, only breaking the kiss when the sweater came between them. The moment he yanked it over her head and tossed it to the floor, he captured her lips once more, growling at the heady feel of the warm, smooth skin of her back, bare under his palms.
Shealyn moved restlessly against him, fisting his T-shirt in her hands and giving it a tug. She raised the thin cotton over his abdomen and chest, but got stuck at his shoulders. Her moan pleaded with him. She wanted the shirt gone and she wanted it now.
Cutter took over, tearing his mouth from hers and shrugging off the holster. When it fell to the tile with a seemingly distant clang, he reached behind his neck and jerked the T-shirt from his body. Using one hand, he tossed it aside. The other slid down Shealyn’s spine to cup her pretty, pert ass.
Jesus, she was like all his hottest fantasies, but better. Because she was real and, right now, she desired him.
When his second hand joined the first on her luscious backside, he bent and lifted her, parting her legs and sliding between them with a growl. She wrapped her legs around him, clutched his shoulders, and swayed against him as if she wanted nothing more than to be as close as two people could.
The attraction between them was chemical, animal—unlike anything he’d ever felt. He needed to get on top of her, be inside of her, root as deep into her as he could. The wall had been convenient for a mere kiss, but it was a damn hindrance now. He couldn’t have Shealyn the way he craved her here.
“Hold on to me,” he demanded as he clasped her tighter and trekked down the hall, across the expansive living room and the glitzy view, then strode into her bedroom.
The stars of L.A. beckoned beyond the French doors. He didn’t give them a second glance, not when he had Shealyn West in his arms.
She pressed kisses to his jaw, his lips, his forehead. She nipped at his earlobe, her soft pant a shiver down his spine. “Cutter . . . I-I need you.”
Yeah, he understood her perfectly, even though nothing between them made a damn lick of sense. But tonight had flipped some switch inside him. He could no longer pretend—to her or himself—that his feelings for her were strictly professional. No, he craved her alive and responding, clawing, wailing, begging, seemingly his . . . even if it wouldn’t last.
“I’m here.” He laid her across the bed and climbed over her, settling his hips between her legs. He wished they were naked. He wished he was inside of her, already one with her as he pressed his erection to her softness. “I’m not going anywhere unless you want me to.”
She paused and blinked up at him as if she was trying to gauge how much he really meant that. Why would she doubt him? Or her own appeal, given how quickly she’d dismantled his self-control?
“I don’t want you anywhere else.” She skated her palms over his shoulders, even as she parted her thighs to take him deeper.
Her touch sent an electric reaction zipping through his veins. He curled his fingers around one of her shoulders in return, lowering her bra strap. When she didn’t object, he tugged down the lacy cup and exposed her breast.
Holy hell. He had to have that taut pink flesh in his mouth now. He had to savor her, suck her like a sweet summer berry. He craved his lips against her skin.
Without another thought, he lowered his head and lapped her rigid peak with his tongue. She gasped, arched up, clasping him like she never wanted him to let go. He sucked harder.
He’d known she would be beautiful. He’d known she would feel like heaven. He had never expected her to respond so perfectly to him, with little catches of breath as she burrowed her fingers in his hair, urging him closer.
Under his body, Shealyn writhed, trying to shimmy out of her bra. She couldn’t reach the clasp—and he couldn’t bring himself to allow enough space between them for her to do the job—but she still managed to work the other strap down and peel the cup away.
Cutter seized the unclaimed space instantly. He broke the suction from the first peak and shifted to the other. Oh, hell yes. Soft and velvety, her breasts beckoned him the way the rest of her did—every part from her pouty lips to her sweetly sassy spirit. He loved that she wasn’t all bones, hadn’t subscribed to the Hollywood belief that a woman with hips should immediately begin starving to save her career.
He couldn’t wait to see Shealyn naked, wrap his arms around her, sink into her. Take her. Make her his for the few golden hours it lasted.
With a move Cage had taught him in high school, Cutter slid a hand beneath her and pinched the clasp of her bra. The undergarment propped free, and he stripped it from her body.
A voice in the back of his head reminded him that getting inside her shouldn’t be his top priority. But a primal fever burned him, urging him on. It wouldn’t cool and it wouldn’t bow to logic or civility. It didn’t give a shit right now if he was professional. It could care less what else was going on in their lives. It wanted to claim Shealyn, mark her as his woman.
Wicked & Devoted World
Thank you for joining me in the new Wicked & Devoted world. In case you didn’t know, this cast of characters started in my Wicked Lovers world, continued into my Devoted Lovers series, and have collided here. Between Wicked as Sin and Wicked Ever After, you’ve read about a few other characters who may interest you. I’ve already told some of their stories. Others are still to come. Below is a guide in case you’d like to read more from this cast, listed in order of release:
* * *
WICKED LOVERS
Wic
ked Ties
Jack Cole (and Morgan O’Malley)
She didn’t know what she wanted…until he made her beg for it.
Decadent
Deke Trenton (and Kimber Edgington)
The boss’ innocent daughter. A forbidden favor he can’t refuse…
* * *
Surrender to Me
Hunter Edgington (and Katalina Muñoz)
A secret fantasy. An uncontrollable obsession. A forever love?
* * *
Belong to Me
Logan Edgington (and Tara Jacobs)
He’s got everything under control until he falls for his first love…again.
* * *
Mine to Hold
Tyler Murphy (Delaney Catalano)
His best friend’s ex. A night he can’t forget. A secret that could destroy them both.
* * *
Wicked All the Way
Caleb Edgington (and Carlotta Muñoz Buckley)
Could their second chance be their first real love?
* * *
His to Take
Joaquin Muñoz (and Bailey Benson)
Giving in to her dark stranger might be the most delicious danger of all…
* * *
Falling in Deeper
Stone Sutter (and Lily Taylor)
Will her terrifying past threaten their passionate future?
* * *
Holding on Tighter
Heath Powell (and Jolie Quinn)
Mixing business with pleasure can be a dangerous proposition…