Innocent Target

by Katie Reus

  “It’s good. I’m impressed with the system you have and the layout. Nothing is ever flawless, but everything surrounding the house and the sensors you have set up, it’s pretty damn close.”

  “And if anyone does breach the house, we are all armed. Not that it would be easy to find us without a fucking map of this place.” Douglas laughed lightly.

  Axel nodded, waiting for him to say something. When he didn’t speak, Axel cleared his throat. “I care about your daughter. A lot. And I would never hurt her.”

  “I’m a pretty good judge of character. And I’m pretty sure you have absolutely no intention of hurting her. But if you do, I’ll hurt you.” Axel could respect that. No angry words or anything else, Douglas simply shook Axel’s hand. “As long as you treat her right, you’re okay with me.”

  “I will, sir. And fair warning, I’m serious about her. I’m not going anywhere.”

  The older man blinked, maybe at Axel’s brusque tone.

  And that was that—it was time to find Hadley. Ten minutes later, Axel wasn’t panicked exactly, but he didn’t like the heavy sensation that settled on his chest as he left Hadley’s room—because she wasn’t there.

  The house was locked down and the security at the ranch was top of the line, but he’d assumed she’d be in her room. It didn’t take him too long to make it back to his wing of the house. When he stepped inside his guest bedroom, he froze for a second.

  Hadley sat on his bed, her laptop set up in her lap. She smiled when she saw him and closed it, putting it on the bedside table.

  There was something so right about seeing her waiting for him in his bed. He wanted her there always.

  “How did things go with my dad?” she asked, stretching out on the covers as if she belonged there.

  “He just wanted to talk security.”

  She rolled her eyes. “He might have talked about security, but I guarantee he had something else to say to you.”

  Axel simply shrugged and locked the door behind him. He definitely didn’t want to talk about her dad right now. “I hope you’re planning to stay the rest of the night.”

  She lifted an eyebrow. “Maybe.”

  “Maybe?”

  “Yeah, it depends on if you make it worth my while.” The grin she gave him was a little bit sweet and a whole lot wicked. And even though she was fairly innocent, he knew there were a lot of layers to this woman. He wanted to spend a lifetime peeling all of them back.

  Wordlessly, he stripped his sweater over his head as he stalked toward the bed.

  Her breathing hitched slightly as she swept her dark gaze over his bare chest. He couldn’t help the swell of pride at the hunger he saw there as she drank him in. He wanted her to like what she saw, to want him as much as he wanted her. Though that didn’t feel possible.

  There would be no more waiting between them. He didn’t have enough self-control, not when she was offering herself up. There were so many things he wanted to say, had tried to say earlier, but failed.

  Even if he wasn’t good with words, he still needed to put himself out there. “I’m not experienced at relationships in general. But I want you to know where I stand. I want to move to Redemption Harbor—to be near you. I’ll find a respectable job and be someone that you’re proud of. I don’t want to go back to my old life. And no matter what happens between us, I’m not going back to that.” A solid truth. He’d been drowning for a long time in his own loneliness and meeting Hadley had been like seeing the light. Because that’s what she was, a light in the darkness.

  “That’s a big change. To…give up everything.” A little frown tugged at her kissable mouth.

  He knelt on the edge of the bed, still not touching her because he wanted to get all of this out. “I’m not giving up anything. And hopefully I’m gaining you.”

  “You have me. We can worry about some of that future stuff later, but for now…” She reached for him.

  That was all he needed as he moved onto the bed and on top of her. She had on matching pajamas with little dogs all over them. Which just made her more adorable. The top was a button-down so he took his time unhooking each button, his fingers grazing her soft, smooth skin. Every time he made contact, she shivered beneath him, watching him intently.

  He’d never been nervous about sex before but he really didn’t want to screw this up. Maybe that was part of the reason he’d been holding back. He never wanted to disappoint her, for her to question whether she’d made the right choice.

  As she arched up, slipping her top the rest of the way off, he dipped a head to one breast.

  Moaning at his kisses, she reached for the button of his jeans. “Are you sure about this?” Her voice was raspy and unsteady as she pulled his zipper down.

  Her question surprised him, mainly because she was so sweet and sincere about it.

  Pulling back, he cupped her cheek with one hand, stroking over her soft skin with his thumb. He knew without a doubt that he would never get tired of this woman. She was everything he never knew he’d been missing. “I feel like I should be asking you that question.”

  There went that wicked smile again. “I’m definitely ready.”

  The eagerness in her tone nearly undid him. That was all he needed to hear as he reached for the top of her pants and tugged them down her legs. No panties either. Holy hell, she was trying to give him a heart attack. He wondered if this was common for her or if she’d done it for him. He couldn’t find his voice to ask her, however.

  After tasting her last night, he was officially addicted. And it was the best kind of addiction.

  Axel forced himself to go slow as he drank in all her soft curves and smooth, kissable skin. It was hard to think, let alone remember to breathe, as he knelt above her. Right about now he wished that he had four hands and two mouths. He wanted to kiss and touch her all over, to have her trembling from exhaustion with his name on her lips. He wanted her as addicted to him as he was to her.

  For always.

  “Pants off,” she whispered.

  Yeah, he could manage that. He’d been planning to keep them on as a small barrier but screw it. She was naked in his bed, wanting him.

  There should be nothing between them anymore.

  Hadley could tell that something had shifted for Axel, and while she wasn’t sure what it was, she knew that it was a good thing. He didn’t seem to be holding back anymore.

  When he took his pants off, a pleasurable gasp escaped. She’d seen him before, had stroked him off, but seeing his thick length again… Oh yeah. The man was certainly blessed.

  Her inner muscles tightened as she watched him crawl up her body and once again cover her, his mouth searching hers out. She arched into him, savoring the feel of her already sensitized nipples rubbing against his chest.

  The man was hard all over. Scars nicked his chest and abs and she wanted to ask him about every single one. But later. Once she could think straight again.

  Stroking her fingers down the tightly bunched muscles of his back, she only stopped once she reached his perfectly carved ass. When she dug her fingers in, he moaned into her mouth, the primal sound reverberating through her.

  She desperately wanted to feel him stretching her, to come around his thickness. Yesterday had been like a little teaser before the real deal.

  Reaching between their bodies, he cupped her mound, teasing a gentle finger along her folds. Knowing what he could do with his hands had her growing even slicker with need.

  When he slid a finger inside her, she arched into him, wrapping her legs tighter around him. She felt as if they’d been building up to this from the moment they’d met. When he’d first smiled at her outside that coffee shop.

  As he added another finger and began stroking so slowly she was certain he was trying to make her crazy, she bit his bottom lip.

  He jerked against her, all his muscles pulling taut. So she did it again, nipping at him playfully. The sexy moans he made were worth everything.

  Her inner wa
lls tightened even more the faster he stroked and she knew it wouldn’t take her long. “Not your fingers,” she rasped out, glad he understood what she was trying to say. She wanted to come around him this time.

  Leaning up, he looked down at her as he shifted position and poised his cock at her entrance. The way he watched her was as if he saw every thought inside her.

  “Move.” The word wasn’t so much a demand as a plea.

  Thankfully he thrust inside her, filling her completely and stealing her breath. As he started kissing her again, he cupped her face, his hold possessive. With his other hand he gently teased a nipple, rolling it with his thumb, slowly driving her crazy.

  When she started rolling her hips, he met her stroke for stroke, the sensation of him filling her with pure bliss. All her inner muscles tightened harder and harder the faster he thrust inside her.

  She ran her fingers over his back and chest even as he explored her body with his hands. Everywhere he touched her, her nerve endings flared to life. She wanted more, all of him.

  Knowing he wanted to move to Redemption Harbor, to be near her…it was a lot to take. She should be freaked out. Instead, she loved the thought of being able to wake up with him, to do this every day.

  When he started strumming her clit, that was all it took for her to find release. Her orgasm slammed into her hard and fast, overwhelming her as she arched up into him.

  “Axel.” She dug her fingers into his back as he thrust again, finding his own release.

  He growled out her name as he buried his face against her neck, coming inside her in hard strokes until they collapsed against the bed, both breathing erratically.

  She never wanted to leave the room, and while she wasn’t remotely glad about the fact that someone wanted to kidnap her, she was grateful that this whole situation had brought Axel into her life.

  Because she was pretty sure she wasn’t letting him go.

  Chapter 19

  —You always have a choice.—

  As she watched through the two-way mirror, Skye couldn’t help but admire as her husband got ready to interrogate Steve Barclay, all-around douchebag.

  She hated having to sit this one out, but she understood why she couldn’t be the one to question Barclay. Once they were done with him they were going to basically giftwrap him for the Feds, and if he ever decided to talk about being questioned by some random guy who kidnapped him, it was better that it was a masked man. And not a woman. The three guys had done rock-paper-scissors and Colt had won.

  Probably better, too, considering the guy had been planning to kidnap Brooks’s sister. Even though the cowboy had wanted to take point, and he’d once been a stone-cold sniper, Barclay had still planned to kidnap his baby sister. Brooks had no business questioning the guy because he would likely lose his cool and Barclay would remember that later. They didn’t want anything linking back to them.

  “I want to be in there,” Brooks growled.

  Skye simply looked at him.

  He lifted his shoulders. “I know it’s good that I’m not in there. I’m just making a statement.”

  “So…I was thinking that instead of giving Barclay over to Hazel we should give him over to Agent Darius Moore. We can do it as an anonymous delivery.”

  Gage and Brooks were silent for a long moment, and Gage was the first one to speak. “Are you going to let him know the gift is from us?”

  She snorted. “No, but if we ever need to call in a favor or if he ever figures out we were the ones to kidnap him in Miami, maybe this will give us some goodwill.” They’d sort of kidnapped a DEA agent a few months ago. They’d only done it to save his life—and save Olivia and Savage’s cover during an op. They’d been masked at the time and Skye was pretty sure that if Agent Moore dug hard enough he could figure out who they were. But he’d gotten credit for a huge bust because of them. The kind that made careers. Still, she felt a little bad about what they’d done, so giving him a present like this would ease her conscience.

  Brooks shrugged. “I don’t care who we give the guy to. But we do need to get Barclay out of my sight soon before I change my mind and kill him.”

  Skye wasn’t sure if he was kidding or not so she simply nodded. Turning back to the two-way mirror, she adjusted the volume on the speakers so she could hear what was going on better.

  She knew Colt didn’t like to torture. No, he preferred psychological warfare. If she had to guess how Colt was going to play this, he’d end up threatening with torture in a subtle way. Back when they’d been in the CIA together, she’d watched him work and he was a master.

  Barclay was now zip-tied to a chair and hooked up to a high-tech lie detector that synced with Colt’s laptop.

  “The machine doesn’t lie, dumbass. Do you know who hired you, yes or no?” Colt’s voice was deceptively casual.

  “No. I already told you.” He struggled once against the bindings.

  It was clear the guy was lying from the spike on screen.

  Colt shrugged, and shut his laptop. Then he lifted the small duffel bag he’d kept on the floor next to the table between him and Barclay. Casual as fuck, he unzipped it and pulled out a small rolled bag that reminded her of a makeup bag Mary Grace owned. When Colt popped the button and unrolled it to reveal a plethora of torture devices, the man strapped to the other seat shifted slightly, pulling at his bindings.

  “I don’t like torture,” Colt said casually. “It’ll get the job done, but you’ll be in a lot of pain by the time I’m through and I’ll have blood on my clothes. It’s annoying.”

  The guy’s eyes widened slightly as he shifted again, not so subtly struggling now as the chair scraped against the flooring. They’d bought this place months ago for this very reason—because Skye liked to be prepared—but it wasn’t attached to their actual consulting building. On the outside, this place looked like a kept-up townhome, but they owned all of the attached townhomes as well. Under a bunch of shell corporations that would never trace back to the company. Because Gage was a genius.

  “I don’t know why you’re bothering to protect the guy who hired you. Do you think he’d take torture for you? This is just a job, not top-secret bullshit. I seriously don’t get why you’re not talking right now.” Colt lifted a shiny pair of pliers and inspected them under the light.

  The guy cleared his throat. “How do I know you won’t torture me after I tell you?”

  Colt didn’t stop inspecting his instruments as he said, “You don’t. But I find torture to be a waste of time when you could simply tell me the truth. I don’t care about you, I just want to know who hired you. I was hired by someone else, simple as that. How do you feel about losing your toes first? Or should I start with your fingers? I’m in a good mood so I’m going to let you pick. Usually guys go with the pinky toe first.”

  Skye snickered as the guy started panting, his breath becoming more and more labored. “Fine, I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you anything you want to know, man!”

  Colt shifted the tools so that they were directly in front of the guy, right in his line of sight. Then he sat down and opened his laptop again. “For every lie you tell me, you lose a body part. If I ask if your favorite color is purple and you lie about it, there goes a toe. Nod if you understand.”

  Still breathing erratically, the guy nodded. “Yes, I understand.”

  “Good. Take a couple deep breaths, get yourself under control and I’ll start with some basic questions.”

  And that was how it was done. Colt really was better at this than her. She’d have probably throat- or dick-punched Barclay by now. “We’ve definitely got him,” she murmured. Next to her, Gage had his laptop open and was ready to start doing whatever sort of voodoo magic he did once he got the name of who’d hired Barclay.

  And that was all they needed. A name. Once they had the guy who’d hired this loser, it would just be a matter of time until the threat was neutralized for good. Then Hadley would be safe.

  * * *

  Hadley sa
t at the center island in the kitchen with her dad and Axel—who was holding her hand as they listened to Brooks via speakerphone. Her dad had just woken both her and Axel even though it was three in the morning, so whatever was going on was important.

  “Things are looking good,” her brother said. “We just delivered the third man hired to kidnap Hadley to a federal agent. Anonymously. He was wanted on a pretty bad federal warrant. He never saw any of our faces so nothing should ever link to any of us. But Gage will be keeping an eye on him if he’s ever released from prison.”

  Hadley squeezed Axel’s hand once. That was definitely good news.

  “Tell me you know who hired him,” her dad said as he started the coffee maker.

  “A man named Barron Fuller. I already know from Gage that you recently bought his business in a deal.”

  Her dad frowned. “Are you sure about that? I more or less bailed him out. He was ready to go bankrupt. I did him a favor—and bought the business at far greater than what it’s valued at. And I only did it out of respect for his deceased father. Barron has a cocaine problem. And I don’t know for certain, I still have accountants poring over the last few years, but I think he was skimming money. Probably to support his addiction. I…actually sat down with him, talked to him about his dad and tried to make sure he wasn’t digging such a huge hole he couldn’t get out of it.”

  “Well, Gage is sure. He started digging into the guy as soon as we got the name. Gage and I are headed to the ranch, and Skye and Colt are on their way to Miami as we speak. They’re taking the jet.”

  “What are they doing down there?” Hadley asked.

  “Taking care of the problem,” Brooks said evasively. “I still want to keep you locked down at the ranch for now, until we know for certain that you’re safe, but I think it’s okay to say that you’re out of the woods.”

  Relief flooded her system like a shot of adrenaline. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Hadley hadn’t even realized the weight that had been sitting on her chest until it no longer existed. The man might not be in jail yet, but her brother and his team knew who the guy was. Which meant they would be able to stop him. “Thank you.”