My stomach was hungry, but my body craved the touch and feel of Marcus even more. “If I’ve died and gone to heaven, I’ll be happy.” I guess sexual bliss and reaching subspace numerous times over had taken away my filter, allowing me to speak my mind and thoughts.
He ran his hand softly up and down my back and then gave me a squeeze. His chest moved as he chuckled. “I feel the same way, Kenna. I could die today a happy man. My only regret is being unable to find you when you slipped out of my life.”
He placed a soft kiss on my temple as his hand roamed over my backside, giving my ass a sharp smack before rubbing the heat into that cheek. He always did have a way of making my body come alive, and now he’d just caused my center to clench more. The need to have him inside me was just as strong as it had been when we’d started several hours ago. I guess we were making up for the five years we’d spent apart, and having been celibate the entire time.
My hips began to move against his leg, letting him know I was ready to go another round with him, when my stomach’s need for food roared to life. Marcus shifted slightly, but I tightened my arms around him, not wanting him to leave the comfort of the bed. I wasn’t ready to go back into the real world where the unknown still loomed ahead of us.
He turned my face up toward his. “I need to feed you.” The words were simple, but he’d always gone to great lengths to take care of me, especially aftercare from scenes we’d done. However today was closer to vanilla than anything we’d ever done in the past. It was hard and fast, but oh so good.
“Don’t leave me.” I didn’t know why I let those words tumble out of my mouth. I guess deep down there was some level of fear that he’d want retribution for me disappearing years ago.
He turned onto his side, where we were nose to nose with one another. Marcus leaned forward to give my lips a chaste kiss but pulled away when I tried to deepen it. His hand reached up to push some of my hair behind one ear. “I’m not going anywhere, love. I want nothing more than to spend all day, every day, tucked away from the horrors of the world, consumed with our love for one another. But you and I both need sustenance, especially after the multiple workouts we just had. And I’m thinking the boys downstairs might start coming in to question what we’re doing.
“I can go downstairs and finish breakfast”—he looked down at his Titan-issued watch and corrected—“sorry, make that brunch and serve you in bed.” He got a wicked yet playful smile on his face as his eyebrows wiggled up and down. “I can bring up some whipped cream and syrup to add to our pancakes . . . and places I’d like to lick it off your delicious body.”
My mind immediately painted a visual and caused me to blush every shade of pink. “I’d like that.”
He pinched my ass once more before he dressed in his pants, ones that hung low on his hips, emphasizing his perfectly sculpted V that pointed toward my idea of fantasyland. “You might want to put your shirt back on to cover the hickey I put on your chest,” I admitted with a smirk.
Looking down, he laughed at the mark I’d placed on him. “You don’t have to mark me to know I’m forever yours, Makenna. No one but you will ever own my heart and my body.”
My heart melted some more at his words. Once he left the room, my mind began to go over everything we still had left to do and how little time remained to find the proof we needed to dismiss the case against Marcus. Could I even handle the thought of him going to jail, separating us again?
Every once in a while, my thoughts would drift back to the day I’d left him, and instant regret filled me. If only I’d dug deeper. If only I’d pushed into the building and ripped Cassia from his arms and asked him to explain. If only I’d peeled back the layers and looked below the surface . . . holy hell, that’s it. My mind began to think in terms of computer programs, videos, pictures—encryption. “Oh, my god!” I voiced aloud to the air around me. Why hadn’t I thought of this before?
I jumped out of bed and paused as I reached for my clothes. The evidence of Marcus’s desire was extreme, flowing down my leg and starting to pool in a puddle of goo on the carpet below. I shifted to the bathroom to clean up. What I needed was a shower, but decided to wait until we could both take one together, one thing we both had loved doing in the past. I knew he wouldn’t want me to wash off all of his scent, as he’d want me marked so others would know that I was his and he’d laid new claim to me, and to my surprise, I wanted that too. I opted, instead, to wipe away some of his excess loving and straighten my hair a bit, before getting back into my clothes.
Thankfully I’d picked something today that didn’t have any mid-riff showing. Otherwise, I would’ve had to use makeup to conceal the love bites Marcus had placed on me. I knew he’d left hickeys all over my breasts and inner thighs, but damn him for leaving them all over the place. I didn’t know whether to be pissed or honored with the fact he’d marked me in more ways than one.
I stopped short at the bottom of the stairs when I noticed Spencer talking with Marcus. “What’s up?” I asked, wondering if there was another update or change in the case and praying the trial hadn’t been moved up even more than it already was.
Marcus flipped a couple pancakes in a pan on the stove. He motioned the spatula towards Spencer. “He just asked to come in and check on us, since there was no activity on the camera or any audible talking being picked up. I was just reassuring him that you had been upset over some news you’d received from your sister and needed to talk about it in private.” His facial expression told me to play along with everything he was saying.
Spencer looked my way for validation, and I nodded in agreement. Luke seemed to sense there was something a little off, so he walked over to where I stood and flanked me. “He’s right. The package that had arrived this morning was a bit troubling, and I needed to talk to someone who knew me, who was familiar with my past.”
Spencer’s eyes narrowed as his face carried an expression of doubt. “I would’ve been happy to talk with you.” He tried to step forward, but a low growl kept him in place. Luke hadn’t quite warmed up to him yet.
I shook my head and held up my hand toward Spencer to stop him. “I’m sure you or Kyle would work as a backup, and I thank you for offering, but I needed someone who’d dealt with my father and knew what he was capable of.” Spencer’s eyes seemed to question what I was saying, so I added, “Long story short, my father can be a controlling and manipulative bastard. He tried to control my sister and failed, but he’d managed to influence and alter the course of my life in such a way that I now harbor feelings of disgust for him and—”
“You can stop right there.” Spencer held his hands up as he took several steps back toward the door. “Family drama is not something I want to be involved in. I’ll just accept the fact that you two have known one another for a long time and Marcus was your sounding board. I’ll let headquarters know all is fine and you’ll spend more time downstairs the rest of the day.” His firm tone and look told me that was more of an order than a request.
Marcus and I both nodded the affirmative and watched as he returned to his post. I was grateful to see that Agent Dillon, another member of Titan Security, had been removed from his position now that I was back to full capacity. For some reason, he made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, and I’d learned long ago to trust that instinct, both in the field of combat and back here in the States. Something about the way he always followed me with his eyes just rubbed me the wrong way. He even gave Marcus weird looks, almost like he hated him.
I’d asked Rick about him and was even given permission to view his files, but nothing of concern popped up. Dillon seemed to be an exemplary former Army Ranger. He’d only been on Titan’s team for the past year, joining just a couple months after me, but with the New York team. He’d received high praises for his work. The only complaint in his file was that he was too serious and also too quiet.
A warm arm wrapped around my chest and pulled me back into its solid frame, dispelling my thoughts. I jumped init
ially, but then the scent of Marcus overwhelmed me, and I found my body melting against his.
His breath caressed the side of my face as he whispered, “I thought you were going to stay in bed and wait for me.”
Turning in his arms, I got up on tiptoes and murmured, “My mind started racing like crazy, and I realized there’s something I hadn’t tried on the scrambled video.” I started bouncing up and down a bit with excitement. “So I came down here hoping you’d be a while longer, not expecting to find Spencer questioning us.”
Marcus sighed heavily as he muttered under his breath. “I feel like I’m getting cock-blocked. There are so many more things I want to do with you, to you. But they’ll have to wait.” He pushed a strand of loose hair behind my ear and cupped the side of my face.
Okay, this had my attention. “Like what?” I was curious now.
A lascivious smile formed at his lips. “Let’s just say I kept all the items we used to play with at the apartment.”
I felt my center clench and had to move my legs to ease a bit of the discomfort I felt between them. My breath seemed to alter, and I knew I had the look of lust in my eyes, remembering how well this man played my body like a finely tuned piano. “You kept everything?” My words were but a whisper and laden with the need building inside me.
“Every single piece, love, even some of the items we’d ordered and had yet to break in.” Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. When he opened them, I saw the fire that burned inside, waiting to get out.
He leaned closer, saying, “I knew one day our paths would cross again, and when they did, I’d use each and every treasure contained within those boxes to drive you mad with desire and remind you of who owns your body.” He whispered the words so low in my ear that they wouldn’t be picked up on the listening devices throughout the penthouse. To drive his point home, he rubbed his hardened length against my lower abdomen just enough for me to feel, but not to the point the person watching the video feed would see anything of significance.
My hands fisted his biceps in an attempt to keep myself upright. His words sent my senses into overload. I wanted him now. But I knew we had an audience and a great deal of work to do. Damn cock-blocking FBI agents.
“I’d like nothing more than to have you do your worst to me, Master. However, time is of the essence, and we need to focus on work. But just think of the reward coming to us later.” Hoping he understood my message, I pressed my knee against his cock, and heard him groan.
I watched as Marcus swallowed hard before he collected himself and stepped back. “Shall I bring the food to the office so we can use the computers while we eat?” His eyes were still half-lidded, and he had to reach down and adjust his manhood so it no longer looked like a threatening weapon pointed right at me.
“That would work wonderfully. Thank you.” I pointed toward the office. “I’m going to go ahead and start our computers.” I would’ve offered to carry my own plate, but I needed to cool down by putting some space between us.
Luke started to follow on my heels, when I remembered. “Does he need to be fed?”
“I already fed him. He had his food dish in his mouth when I got downstairs.” A small chuckle escaped his lips. I could tell he’d grown fond of Luke, and I was happy to see they were both getting along.
Firing up the computers took longer than I wanted. I’d been raring to go since the new idea had popped into my head. Once everything was up, I quickly pulled up the scrambled video before I opened another file full of various programs Sophia and Ethan had created, along with a few I’d produced as well.
I let the video begin playing as I activated specific program files to see if there were any changes in the video. It took five tries, but then a couple squiggled lines disappeared, and I could make out a small portion of the contents.
After making a copy of the video with the new file incorporated, I opened more files, laying them over the video. It took three attempts before I found another file that took a little more haziness off of the video.
I kept at it until I made out a file name. “Bingo. I just hit pay dirt, Luke.” I reached down to rub his head. He could sense my excitement, as his tail wagged and his tongue hung out. I wanted to scream it to the world but knew we had ears on us, so I had to be a bit cryptic and use hushed tones.
I now understood why this was sent to the lawyer’s office. The video didn’t show anything because it was essentially scrambled beyond recognition. But I’d managed to uncover a partial file link that would lead me back to the financial group’s computers and, more importantly, to a folder I suspected contained the actual footage showing Marcus’s innocence.
“You seem happy.” Marcus stated as he carried a tray loaded with food into the office, before placing it on the desk to the side of me.
He leaned down and gave my cheek a quick kiss. His eyes went wide when he took in the partially unscrambled video I had up on the computer screen. “You figured it out?”
I nodded, but spoke the words, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I haven’t had any luck on this damn video. It’s all garbage. But the lawyer did state he’s about to get his hands on the actual copy and that we should be able to review it soon.”
Marcus look dumbfounded, so I switched to a Word program and typed in:
I was thinking about how there were so many layers to what happened to drive our lives apart from one another, which made me think maybe there were layers of encryption on the video.
He looked up at me with eyes wide. I deleted what I’d just typed and added some more:
I realized someone is either trying to keep us from seeing the truth on the video or they are hiding evidence within the video. I’m still working on it.
Taking a fork, he speared a few bites of pancake and lifted them to my mouth. I shook my head, but he held the fork there and gave me a look that told me he’d win, so I complied and ate the bite. I watched as he took the same fork and took a bite of his own. He motioned toward the computer and whispered, “Please continue.”
I pulled one file after another and cleared up some, but not all, of the video from Marcus’s office. It was still so grainy, like I was looking through a smudged covered piece of glass or another file. The only thing I could make out, with certainty, was the full name of a file with an extension that led to the master server for the W.H.A.T. Financial Group.
Since this was taking longer than expected, Marcus pulled his chair over to sit beside me so he could feed me while I worked. The breakfast was tasty and reminded me of happier times when he’d made this same breakfast for me when we were in college studying for finals. If only we could go back to those simpler times.
We continued to take turns eating as I attempted to hack my way back into the financial group’s computer system. I was surprised they still didn’t have a very secure system. I didn’t suspect anyone was paying close attention to the server, but as a safety, I’d thrown up a dummy program that mimicked the current server, allowing me to search for what I needed.
“What are you doing?” Marcus asked as he leaned right next to me and nipped at my earlobe.
I didn’t have time to type everything out, so I softly uttered, “Just watch and learn.”
To no surprise, the file was in the folder, exactly where it said it was located in the video. The only shock was the other items located within the folder. I didn’t want to spend any extra time on their server to open everything, so I quickly copied it all to my system before disengaging from the network.
I was anxious to open the video but would put the files through an intense search before doing so in case one or more was rigged with a virus. I remembered going through computer training where our goal had been to hack into the teacher’s computer and retrieve files with our names on them. Most of the class had been successful in acquiring the data but too quick to open them. However, I hadn’t trusted our military instructor, knowing he was a smug asshole. I’d isolated the file from the rest of the compute
r and had run a scan, which discovered a bug set to go off within minutes of the file being opened. I had deactivated it and followed the instructions within the file to receive top honors in the class.
Sure enough, there were a couple of bugs attached to the files I downloaded from the financial group. I deactivated both within no time and started looking into the video files first.
The video had definitely been chopped and edited into one long run. The time and date stamps were all over the place. I saw Marcus enter his office to begin work in the morning, but the time jumped to several hours later, where the office was empty. Then I saw someone walk into his office that looked like him from behind, but I could easily tell the build and gait were slightly off, and the person carried himself differently.
The image switched to the gentleman with his back to us at the computer. I could see some of the transactions being handled. I paused the tape and referred to the file where we had Marcus at the dentist at the same time, because it would be impossible for him to be at two places at once. At the dental office, I was able to not only acquire the videotape but also get a close-up picture of Marcus, proving he was there.
Whoever this guy was had been clever enough to keep the cameras off of their face and only be seen from the behind. The tape had definitely been cut and pasted together to make Marcus look bad.
We continued watching and saw Cassia come in and pitch a fit at the man behind the desk. She tried to pull them out of the seat, even slammed her hand down on the desk a few times and tried to unplug the computer, to no avail, so she left the office. She returned later to find the individual had left. But before he did, I spotted his reflection on the glass wall beside the door. “I’ve got you now,” I muttered under my breath.
I froze the image, reversed it, and enhanced the size. I pointed to the screen and asked, “Who is this?”
Marcus didn’t answer my question immediately. He looked shell-shocked, as he shook his head repeatedly and muttered, “It can’t be.”
Makenna's Trust: Titan Security Series #3 Page 17