I ran my hands over his muscles, feeling the indentations and the way they bulged as he moved. In between his loving words, his talented mouth sucked and nipped my nipples until each hardened and my breasts throbbed with rerouted circulation.
They weren’t alone.
By the time Reid made his way to my core, I was slick with anticipation and needy for more of what he could give.
Now fully in the lead—the choreographer of our dance—Reid rolled me to my stomach, up onto my knees, and directed my hands to the headboard. Slowly, he teased, as his freshly showered body enveloped mine. His front to my back, my flesh tingled as I was lost in the fog of his fresh scent and his muscular body. Even before we became one, we were melded together.
I whimpered and moaned as he skillfully teased my core, assuring himself of my readiness. It was bliss and torture. Finally, I could no longer contain my wanton desire. “Please, Reid.”
Bracing myself, I held to the headboard as his cock plunged between my folds. I called out as he found my entrance and thrust deep within. My back arched and my core clenched as we became one. Gripping tighter, my fingers blanched as I held on and with increased rhythm, he probed in and out. The friction within me built as his large hands held securely to my hips. Each movement was heaven as I became lost in the sensations within me.
My pleasure built. Such as bringing heat to water, the growing temperature radiated through my body until the once-still water rolled. No longer simmering, radiant heat burst like mini explosions within my veins. The heated contents rapidly flowed throughout my circulation until no part of me was left untouched.
Unable to maintain my grasp, my fingers loosened, and my forehead fell to the pillows below. As my body continued to convulse, Reid too found his release, filling me in every way.
When we were no longer one, I rolled to my back, nose to nose with the man I loved and adored. He teased a strand of my new shorter hair away from my face. “I’m sorry someone hurt you.”
I lifted my palm to his freshly shaved cheek. “It wasn’t you.”
“I never want to remind you...if I ever...” His Adam’s apple bobbed.
“I wasn’t raped.”
He nodded as his forehead fell to mine. “You’re always safe with me.”
“I know that. I always have.”
He rolled to my side.
“I’ve never thought about it,” I began, “I guess I” —my head shook— “I had a flash of a man, a white man with jet-black hair. The room was cold like a jail cell.”
Reid lifted his head. “Recent memory or old?”
“Recent,” I replied, not completely sure what he meant by old. I reached for his hand and intertwined our fingers. “You.” I swallowed and looked from our hands to his face. “I fell in love with you for so many reasons. I think part of it was how different you are.”
“More than this?” he said lifting our hands, their total dissimilarity on display. One light and the other dark. One large and the other small.
“I never knew a good man,” I said, moving my gaze back to Reid’s. “I knew my brother, but he will always be my brother. But men, they...” I refused to fall into a rabbit hole I couldn’t navigate. I smiled up at Reid. “You, Reid Murray, were nothing like any man I ever knew. Yes, you were much handsomer.”
He grinned.
“But it wasn’t just your appearance. You have never treated me...assumed or insisted. You’ve been patient and kind. It’s not just with me. I watch you with everyone. You’re quiet, deliberate, and thoughtful. You’re so smart, but you don’t make me feel inferior. You listen when I speak—when anyone does. I never knew anyone like you.”
Lying back on the pillow, my husband reached for my arms and pulled me to his chest. “Lorna, I love you.” A grin came to my lips at the way his chest vibrated under my cheek.
“I love you, too.”
Reid
After Lorna’s shower, I had breakfast ready for her in our own apartment. My cooking skills were minimal, but I could handle scrambled eggs, toast, fruit, and coffee. As I began to cook, I sent Madeline a text message, asking if she would mind cooking for everyone in the penthouse this morning without Lorna. Of course, she responded she’d be happy to, followed by questions about Lorna. I told her Lorna had overslept. It wasn’t completely inaccurate, perhaps misleading.
My wife had awakened. We’d just spent a little more time in bed than on a normal morning.
Cleaning up our dishes, I smiled at seeing my wife’s hair.
“What?” she asked, running her fingers through the chin-length ends.
“I think you’re beautiful.”
“How was it fucking a brunette?” she asked, lifting her coffee cup to hide her seductive grin.
“Much better than the last time.”
“Wait. What?” She set her cup down on the breakfast bar. “Oh no. If this hair color reminds you of someone else, I’ll be a redhead before you get back from downstairs for dinner.”
Going around the counter, I reached for her waist, spun the tall stool, and brought our noses together. “I’m teasing you.”
“I like you teasing. You haven’t been in much of a jovial mood lately.”
“Oh, sweetheart, I’m not, but I’m closer. Your comment about the dark-haired man and the cold room—Araneae remembered the same. And it matches what the forensics team found as well as the man we had on satellite. Mason and I are working on something else too. My mood will improve after a few other people’s worsen.”
Lorna reached for my hand. “I don’t need or want a head.”
“How about a finger?”
She let go. “Gross. No.”
“Are you going upstairs to the penthouse?” I asked.
“Yeah, I want to see everyone. I’m not sure how I’ll explain this.” She again fluffed the sides of her hair.
“Don’t.”
“Oh, you don’t know them like I do. They’ll want answers.”
“Tell them you were fulfilling my fantasy.” That wasn’t a lie. “Tell them I was dying to fuck a brunette.” That part was an exaggeration.
Lorna playfully swatted my chest. “I think I can come up with something better. And I’ll probably talk to Araneae about what she remembers.”
“We’d rather you don’t.”
“Why?” she asked.
“We don’t want her memories to confuse yours or vice versa.”
Lorna sighed and reached again for her coffee mug. “Can I talk with Laurel about them?”
I nodded. The phone in my pocket vibrated again. It had been vibrating on and off since we started eating.
“Go,” Lorna said. “I’m fine. Do what you do and come back. Maybe I’ll be blonde tonight.”
After giving her a kiss, I told her what I promised would never change. “I love you.”
“I love you too. Come back.”
“You can’t keep me away.”
Leaving our apartment, I took my phone from my pocket and walked toward the elevator. From the number on the screen, I’d missed six text messages and a call from Mason. Before I’d come back to the apartment to shower, Mason and I had located Gordon Maples. We planned to pay him a visit.
I hit the call button, returning his call.
Mason answered right away. “We were getting worried. Is Lorna all right?”
“She seems better.”
“It’s weird for her not to be at breakfast.”
My cheeks rose. “We decided to take the morning slow.”
“Good.”
“Are you ready to go?” I asked.
“Come to 2 first. Everyone is here.”
Fuck.
I would concentrate on everyone and everything better after we paid Maples a visit.
However, experience told me that there was no fighting my near future. If Sparrow, Patrick, and Mason were assembled on 2, mine was the empty chair. I would fill it.
Entering the elevator, I hit 2.
Nearly a minute later,
I scanned my hand and the steel door moved.
Three sets of eyes met mine. Patrick and Sparrow were dressed in their usual Michigan Avenue finest. Mason’s attire was improved over our middle-of-the-night work session. It appeared we were all showered and ready for the day. My glance went toward the coffee machine. The earlier mess was gone. Mason and I had cleaned it and replaced the mugs.
I stopped and looked at Sparrow. “Sorry, Lorna—”
He lifted his hand, stopping my apology. “I get it. I wasn’t here last night when you were all working. I’m not thrilled about going downtown today.”
“How is Araneae?”
“Better since she’s talked about things.”
“You?” I asked.
“Still seeing fucking red. I want to locate Jettison yesterday, and I want to find out who the woman is.”
“Woman?” I looked around.
Sparrow went on. “Araneae remembers a woman. Blonde and petite. She said she was in charge. There was the man with dark black hair—”
“Lorna remembers him too.”
“Araneae said she thinks there were other men, but she can’t remember specifics.”
“Did she see Nancy?” Mason asked.
“Not that she mentioned.”
“I’ve got a call out to Top,” Mason said. “It’s the second one I’ve sent. When we met, he was confident this wasn’t the Order. There have been very few soldiers to go rogue on the Order, but I knew one. So did Laurel.”
Patrick stood. “Stephanie? What was her name...Moore?”
“Real name, Morehead,” I said. “She was the one who tracked Laurel and her research.”
“Yeah,” Patrick said, “but she died in the fire at your house.”
“I thought so, too.”
“No,” Sparrow said, “I remember Walters saying they recovered her body.” He looked at Patrick. “Can you pull up the audio on that meeting a few years ago?”
“Yes.”
Sparrow looked at his watch. “Listen, I’m booked until about three. Keep me informed, but if you have a lead, move on it. I’m tired of this shit. And if the same people who are supplying guns on my streets are the ones who took the women, they need to go down.”
My gaze met Mason’s. Just as quickly, Sparrow pointed our direction. “No rogue shit. Keep me informed. Keep Patrick informed.”
“No rogue shit,” Mason said.
I looked at Patrick. “Where are you headed?”
“I have a list and I’m taking Romero with me. Sparrow has Garrett. First, I’m headed downtown to Sinful Threads. Jana has prototypes for Araneae. Then, I’m following up with the capos who went to Dino’s last night. Their report isn’t as informative as I’d like. Either they’ll give me more, or I’ll go to the source.”
“Take more backup,” Sparrow said. When no one spoke, he went on. “If whoever they are figure out that we’re on to them, things could get fucking crazy. No chances.”
Patrick nodded. “I’ll make calls.” He looked at us. “Are you two following leads here? Mason, we need you to scour the dark web. My gut is telling me that’s where the factions are connecting to this supplier.”
“Mostly,” he replied. “I have a few loose ends on the near South Side, and Reid is coming with me. We’ll be back before lunch and work on leads.”
“Take backup,” Sparrow said as he walked toward the door looking at his phone and shaking his head. “I’d fucking fire my assistant if I—”
“Could get anyone else to put up with you?” Mason offered, finishing his sentence.
When Sparrow glared, Mason added, “I mean, you’ve found the only two women who can keep you in place. I’d say there aren’t many more options.”
“Keep me in place?”
“No, definitely the other way around,” Patrick said as he smiled at Mason and me.
After Mason and I were alone, my brother-in-law exhaled. “Listen, I know we have other shit, but I am itching to meet up with that son of a bitch Maples.”
“Let’s go.”
Reid
“He still lives in the same house?” I asked as Mason drove us closer to our destination. Craning my neck, I looked back at the car behind us. “You didn’t want those Sparrows in our car?”
“Yes, same house,” he responded. “And no. I didn’t want anyone hearing even a word that may be said about my sister.”
“I wasn’t planning on saying any.”
“Wrong,” he said, his grip tightening on the steering wheel. “You are. I want to know what I’m accusing this man of before I cut his fucking throat.”
That’s a messy way to kill someone.
“Did you call for a cleanup crew?”
“I did.” His stare turned my way. “It seems too easy. Kader was his own crew. Either way, this fucker is going to pay for what he did.”
“Well, fuck.” I exhaled, leaning against the leather seat of the reinforced SUV and feeling the gun I had holstered near my side. “I have no issue with retaliation if it is due. Lorna hasn’t said his name. She acted confused when I asked her if the memories were recent or older.”
“You said that she said she wasn’t her. She wasn’t Anna.”
I nodded as Mason pulled the SUV right toward an exit. Soon we were leaving I-94 onto city streets. The sign caught my attention. “Fuck, this is Englewood.”
“Yeah.”
“The same location as Dino’s liquor store.”
“How the fuck could this all be connected?”
“Maybe it isn’t.”
I stared out the windshield at the colorful, tree-lined roadway leading into an older neighborhood. Many of the houses appeared well maintained while others were more dilapidated. The GPS on our dashboard directed our way until we came to a stop on the side of a residential street.
“That one,” Mason said, pointing to a less-maintained older white two-story house. “See that window up in the gable?”
“Above the second floor?”
“Yeah, that’s where we slept. It’s an attic. No fucking insulation. Hell, rarely a light. It was cold as a witch’s tit in the winter. We moved in during the autumn. Thankfully, we’d left before summer hit.”
“There weren’t enough rooms in the house?”
“No, there were. Maples’s room was on the first floor. We weren’t allowed in there. The second floor had three or four others. I don’t remember. He didn’t want us using the rooms. We slept in the attic like fucking mice, making beds out of discarded clothes and blankets. I’d cut his throat for that alone and sleep like a baby tonight.”
The other Sparrow vehicle parked behind us.
Compared to the other cars on the street, our newer models stood out like sore thumbs.
“Let’s do this,” I said, reaching for the handle.
“Just a minute.” Mason pulled out his phone and accessed an app we’d created. He could see the location of our men. We’d done as Sparrow said and secured backup. We had two Sparrows on foot in the alley behind the house and two others in another vehicle across the street.
Mason typed out a message.
“There, we’re all on the same page.” Mason turned to me. “I’m going to make him confess.”
“I won’t stop you.”
“Just go with it. I promise, it’s worked before.”
Considering his life as Kader, my agreement could be for a wide range of plans.
The car doors slammed as we both stepped from the cab. I walked around the front of the SUV and met Mason on the street. For only a moment, we both stared up at that third-floor window. Seeing it tugged at my chest.
My Lorna deserved a castle, not a fucking attic.
“I used to climb out of there to get us food,” Mason said.
Seeing the house caused the rage within me to simmer. Each consecutive bit of information added heat. The simmer was nearing the boiling point.
Together we stepped up onto the porch. A television playing some sort of talk show sounded from b
ehind the closed door. Mason stepped forward to knock.
We waited as I tried to assess the sounds from within.
“He lives alone?”
“Never saw where he married,” Mason replied.
A woman not much older but more haggard than both of us came to the door. Her dirty oversized shirt hung from her thin frame. Her legs were covered with leggings with holes in the knees and runs. Despite the cool autumn morning, her feet were bare. On her hip was a baby in what my nose told me was a dirty diaper. I wasn’t a good judge of age; the kid was maybe nine or ten months. The woman’s gaze first came to me. Her lips made a straight line as she scanned me up and down.
That’s right. There’s a black man at your door, and if my fucking thoughts were confirmed, I’d bulldoze this dump—a little Forest Gump on you.
“What do you want?” she finally asked.
“I’m here for Gordon Maples,” Mason said.
Her eyes went to him.
With his scars and tattoos covered, he could be almost handsome.
“Why?”
“He won a million dollars.”
Without moving a muscle, I internally snickered. I’d never questioned Mason about his years as a mercenary, but I had a hard time imagining it was this easy. Then again, taking down an international terrorist wasn’t the same as gutting a child predator.
“Dad,” she called, yelling behind her. “Some men are here. You won something.”
She opened the door wider as the volume of the TV grew louder, and an elderly man hobbled our direction. Much like his daughter, his clothes were dirty and stained. I tried to look away from his pants.
Shit, had he wet himself?
“What?” he asked, his voice raised over the television as he came closer.
His yellowed teeth, raspy voice, and shaking hands were clues that he was a contributor to the lingering stench of tobacco and alcohol that seemed to permeate from the paneling and carpet.
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