“Where are you guys going tonight?” Trinnie asked.
“We’re cooking dinner together at my place.”
“Ooh, I know what’s bound to happen after dinner on Valentine’s Day.”
Felicity grinned even as she felt her cheeks get warm. What was the point of denying that she’d be having sex with her gorgeous hunk of a man? She was too excited to see Aidan again that she couldn’t be bothered being coy about it.
“Have you said the L word yet?” Trinnie asked teasingly.
“No,” she said, her heart hammering as the word love entered her consciousness. “It’s too early for that.”
“Oh, I thought you guys were serious.”
“We are, but it’s too soon to be saying that.”
“Well, I wouldn’t drag out this phase if I were you. I know one or two girls who are hoping that things won’t work out between you and Aidan.”
Felicity frowned. “Really? How rude. Who are they?”
“Sorry. Can’t name names. All I can assure you is that they’re not your friends.”
Felicity looked around, trying to figure out who those two women might be.
“They’re not from this department,” Trinnie said definitively.
“Thank God for that,” she murmured.
Her phone buzzed with a text from Aidan. He was at the car park, waiting for her.
“I better go,” she said to Trinnie as she got up.
“Have fun!”
Felicity waved goodbye to her colleague and hurried out the door. As she made her way to Aidan, she glanced around, trying to spot women who might want to catch a glimpse of her date. Gosh, she couldn’t believe how possessive of him she felt.
Her heart skipped a beat when her gaze landed on Aidan, standing next to his car. She returned his happy grin with one of her own. “Hi,” she said, walking faster.
“Hey,” said Aidan.
When she reached him, Aidan curved an arm around her waist and kissed her lips longingly. She couldn’t help but sigh against his mouth.
“How was your day?” Aidan asked, releasing her to open the car door.
“Busy, but same-same. Yours?”
“Not same-same, but busy.”
She chuckled, then froze, her heart beating faster as she spotted what was on the seat.
“Happy Valentine’s Day,” Aidan said in her ear.
Felicity felt her eyes moisten. She’d never received a Valentine’s Day present from any guy, ever. Nolan hadn’t believed in celebrating it.
She carefully lifted the bouquet of red roses from the seat and inhaled its fragrance. It was heavenly. “Thank you,” she murmured before slinging an arm around his neck and giving him a passionate smooch, uncaring of who might be watching them.
“You can thank me like that all the time,” Aidan said when they parted.
She laughed and got inside the car. Lucky that she was cooking dinner tonight. She hadn’t bought Aidan anything. That was why she’d thought making a nice dinner was the way to go.
Well, she had bought herself some new lingerie…
Looking out the window, she swallowed a smile. Aidan would see that after dinner.
Aidan started driving, and his phone rang. He took what looked to be a Bluetooth earpiece from the driver’s door pocket and put it in his ear to answer the call.
Felicity glanced at the display screen on the dashboard, wondering why the call hadn’t come through the car speakers. It didn’t matter, but she was rather curious as to who might be calling him after business hours on Valentine’s Day.
“Okay,” Aidan was saying. “Can you give me two hours? I’ll be there.”
Felicity’s heart sank. Surely he wasn’t going to cancel on her tonight of all nights?
“All right. See you soon,” Aidan said to his caller before pressing a button on the steering wheel and taking off his earpiece.
Felicity looked at him questioningly.
“I’m so sorry, but my client has an emergency situation. I need to fix something for them this evening.”
“It can’t wait?” She couldn’t keep the disappointment out of her voice.
Aidan shook his head ruefully. “I know we said we were going to cook together tonight, but can we do that on Saturday instead? My client is at least forty minutes away from your place, so I don’t think we’ll have time for that. Should we just get fast food from somewhere?”
She sighed. “Okay.”
Aidan reached for her hand. “I know this sucks. I’m really sorry.”
Even though she was disappointed, she could see Aidan was sincere. “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”
Aidan lifted her hand to his lips. “Thank you.”
Felicity’s chest heaved. This guy was so sweet that she was mollified that their date would be shorter than planned. At least they’d already agreed on when they’d see each other next. “What do you want for dinner, then? There’s that charcoal chicken shop not far from my building. They have pre-prepared salads as well.”
“Sounds good.”
Thankfully, there weren’t many customers at the takeaway shop when they got there. It only took a few minutes to get some chicken, hot chips, and salad.
When they got to her place, Felicity was chirpier. An hour with Aidan was definitely better than none at all. “The smell of that chicken is making me hungry,” she commented as Aidan put the container on the dining table.
“Yeah?” Aidan asked in a low voice. “Just looking at you makes me hungry.”
She glanced at him, and, just like that, her body ignited from the heat in his gaze. How did he do that?
They rushed to her bedroom, and, in no time flat, they were both naked. They kissed feverishly, her back against the wall. Then, Aidan’s finger dipped inside her already wet centre—in and out and, oh, so damned good. When he started rubbing her clit, she tugged his cock.
It was crazy how Aidan made her feel. She’d never experienced lust like this in all her life—only with Aidan from their very first time together.
Aidan kneeled in front of her, lifting one of her legs to sling it over his shoulder, exposing her womanhood to him.
All she could do was moan out loud as he used his mouth and tongue with such expertise. “You’re gonna make me come too soon.”
In response, Aidan inserted a finger in her again while he continued to lick her clit with the enthusiasm of a starving man.
Felicity keened as she tried to keep her balance. Just as she was seconds away from orgasm, Aidan stopped and stood.
“Bed,” he ordered.
She practically ran to it while Aidan grabbed a condom from his trousers and put it on.
Then, he was on top of her and sliding inside her slick centre.
She wanted to shut her eyes to revel in the pleasure, but she loved watching Aidan’s own rapture while driving into her.
“So fucking good,” Aidan grunted. He went in and out, his steely erection hitting her G-spot over and over.
“Yes. More.” She was delirious with passion, impatient for the tidal wave of orgasm that she knew was seconds away.
Aidan didn’t disappoint. He thrust harder, faster, groaning with every pump of his hips, tireless in this slippery action that was making her drown in mind-blowing pleasure.
She reached the crest. Gasping a breath, she contracted around Aidan’s length.
Aidan moaned, his face contorting from sheer ecstasy as he pumped a few more times before emptying himself inside of her.
Breathless, Felicity wrapped Aidan with her arms and legs. “Wow. What a quickie.”
Aidan chuckled, nuzzling her neck. “Yes. Good. We have time for another one.” He discarded the condom in the bin near her bed, then gathered her in his arms.
Felicity stayed in the clouds for the next half hour as they exchanged gentle caresses, sweet kisses, and another round of equally passionate sex.
“Join me in the shower?” Aidan murmured after a short period of rest. “As long as you don’t temp
t me again.”
“Sure—if you keep your hands to yourself,” she said jokingly.
“Okay, come on.” Aidan got out of bed and pulled her up with him.
“Our dinner’s cold now,” she said, following him to the bathroom.
Aidan turned on the taps in the shower. “Sorry. But no way I was going to waste my one hour with you eating chicken.”
“Well, by the time we finish showering, you’ll only have about ten minutes to eat—if we avoid more hanky-panky, that is.”
“Plenty of time.”
Felicity got inside the shower stall with Aidan, determined for him to have some dinner before leaving. They soaped each other—an activity they’d done a few times before which she loved. When Aidan’s hand lingered too long on her breast, she lightly slapped it away. “None of that, remember?”
Aidan chuckled but obeyed, continuing to clean her body as she cleaned his.
It was nice to pay attention to each other like this, too—being intimate without having sex. They enjoyed it so much that they finished slightly later than expected.
“Can you be late for your meeting?” Felicity asked as they got dressed. “Maybe for only fifteen minutes so you can eat?”
Aidan shook his head. “I’m already as late as I can be. They want me there, like, right now.”
“Okay. Pack up some food so you can eat in the car. I take it they won’t be feeding you.”
Aidan smiled. “You’re the sweetest thing.”
They walked to the lounge room, and Aidan opened the container of food.
Felicity grabbed a couple of sandwich bags and paper napkins from the kitchen. “Here you go,” she said, offering them to him.
“Thanks, babe.” Aidan placed a piece of chicken in each bag before turning to her and kissing her lips. “Enjoy your dinner. Can’t wait to see you again in a couple of days.”
“Me, too. You work too hard, you know?” While she admired Aidan’s work ethic, she also worried that he didn’t get enough rest. He constantly worked overtime.
“Some things just take longer to do, unfortunately,” Aidan said with a regretful smile. “I’ll give you a call before then, though.”
“Okay. Bye.”
“Bye.” Aidan hurried out the door.
Felicity sighed gustily as she took out a vase from the cupboard for her flowers. She missed Aidan already. But even though he had to leave early, she'd still had a wonderful Valentine’s Day.
Her phone rang. She went to her handbag to pick it up and was surprised at who was calling. “Hey, Sophie!”
“Hi, Fel. Am I interrupting anything?”
“No. Aidan just left.”
There was a pause. “Aidan, huh? So you guys are dating?”
She smiled. Sophie hadn’t been to the last two workshops so they hadn’t had a chat since she’d started seeing Aidan. “Yes.”
“That’s great!”
“Thank you. So, what’s up?”
“Oh, I was having a quiet moment here at home by myself when New Again popped into my head. Then I thought about you and, for some reason, Lydia. So I was just wondering if she’s contacted you again.”
“No, thank God. I think she got the message that she won’t get any info that she’s looking for from me.”
“Right. Well, okay. I thought I’d check in to see how you are.”
“Thanks. Appreciate it.”
“No worries. I’ll see you Sunday. I should be able to make it to the workshop.”
“Great. See you then. And try to enjoy your evening without thinking about work.”
Sophie chuckled. “Thanks. I will. Bye.”
“Bye.” Felicity hung up, grateful for Sophie for being such a caring friend. But now her mood had darkened a bit like it always did when she was reminded of Nolan and his family.
She went back to her roses and sniffed them. Mmm. The smile returned to her face. Thinking of Aidan beat anything else.
He’d stick around, right?
Chapter 11
Two weeks later…
Aidan did a final visual check around the property of a man named Mario Johns—a software engineer unmasked by the IRs’ IT experts as the person who’d been sending the threats against Maricar. Sadly, Mario was also the father of an IR initiate who’d passed away five months ago from a car accident on his way home from an IR assignment. It appeared that Mario had somehow discovered his son’s secret identity and blamed the Indie Rebels for his loss.
“Back door, what’s your status?” Aidan asked softly through the tiny microphone attached to his full-face IR mask.
Xavier’s answer came clearly through Aidan’s earpiece. “In position.”
“Left windows?” Aidan asked.
“In sight and clear,” said Holly.
“Right windows?”
“In sight and clear,” Eve answered.
“Approaching front door.” Aidan motioned for Jaxon to go before him.
Jaxon deftly picked the lock and pushed the door open.
The two of them entered quietly. Aidan had his pistol drawn in case of emergency self-defence while Jaxon was ready with his taser. They never had the intention to kill or maim—only to subdue and tie up criminals so the police could do their thing afterwards. It was much simpler and less messy that way.
“Target just entered the bathroom on the right side of the house,” Eve said.
Aidan smiled. That made it so much easier. Lucky that Mario was alone tonight.
Aidan positioned himself outside the bathroom, alongside Jaxon. He put his gun back in its holster while Jaxon aimed his taser towards the door.
Soon, they heard the toilet flush and the water tap turn on. A moment later, the door opened, and Aidan grabbed Mario, quickly cuffing him before Mario even knew what was happening.
After a few seconds, Mario’s shock had worn off, and he started to struggle.
“Hello, Mario,” Aidan said, gripping the man’s arms. “You’ve been threatening one of us, hey?”
Mario let out a loud scream.
Jaxon was quick to put his hand over Mario’s mouth. “Quiet, or we’ll have to sedate you.”
Mario stopped resisting and nodded.
Jaxon took his hand off.
“I hate you guys,” Mario spat out.
“Why?” Aidan asked.
“Why? Why? You got my son killed, you fucking bastards. Why do you even exist? You all should be put in jail.”
“Bruce died in an accident, Mario,” Aidan said quietly.
“He wouldn’t have been out that night if it wasn’t for you.”
Aidan stared at their furious and clearly grieving captive. He understood and felt Mario’s pain. Bruce had been an enthusiastic initiate who’d only wanted to ensure his mother’s safety. “Do you know why he joined us?” Aidan asked in a gentle tone.
Mario glared at him, but didn’t answer.
“Your ex-wife was certain she was being watched by unknown people. No one but Bruce believed that she was in danger, so he became an Indie Rebel in order to get our help to keep his mother safe. After Bruce died, we continued with the case. His mother had overhead certain conversations related to ongoing fraudulent activities by a couple of managers in the company she worked for. They were the people who were trying to intimidate her. We caught them.”
Mario’s eyes widened in shock. After a moment, he looked away, teary.
Based on what Aidan saw, he didn’t believe that Mario was a career criminal. It appeared he simply blamed and hated the Indie Rebels for his son’s death.
“So,” he said, facing Mario fully so he could read his face, “you think you can scare us with your threats against our highest-ranking chief? We know for a fact you don’t know who he is.”
“I do,” Mario insisted. “I know who he is.”
Aidan and Jaxon exchanged glances. What a relief. This guy didn’t even know that their highest-ranking chief was a she. “What’s his name?” he asked.
Mario simpl
y scoffed.
“If you won’t talk, then we have to take you with us.” He started to escort Mario to the door.
“Okay! All right,” Mario said. “If you let me go, I promise not to tell anyone what I know about you. Promise.”
“And if we don’t let you go?”
“Well…I’ve already sent the information to a friend of mine. If I disappear, he has instructions to send it to all the TV stations so they can broadcast them.”
“What info?”
“All your names and addresses. They’re all in writing. You don’t want people to know who you are, right?”
Aidan smirked. Mario’s threat confirmed that this guy didn’t have anything at all regarding the IRs. Bruce couldn’t have revealed to Mario the identities of any Indie Rebel, because, as an initiate, Bruce hadn’t known any details. Whilst Bruce had personally worked on the field with three IR agents, he’d only known their names, not what they looked like, much less where they lived.
But there were still things Aidan needed to clarify. “How did you learn that Bruce was an Indie Rebel?”
“He told me,” Mario said blithely.
“No, he didn’t. As part of his initiation, he had to have a hidden microphone attached to his clothing at all times so we could monitor if we could trust him. We know he didn’t tell you.” That was a lie, but the way Mario’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he gulped, it appeared Mario believed him.
“It’ll be easier on you if you tell us the truth. If we can catch criminals that the police have a hard time catching, we can make you talk—make you give up everything.” Aidan hated that he had to threaten this man, but he had to get to the bottom of how Mario had come to know about the IRs.
“Okay. Fine,” Mario said, defeated.
“Start from the beginning, and give us all the details,” Aidan said calmly but authoritatively.
They waited while Mario appeared to compose himself.
“Bruce always made time to see me once a fortnight,” Mario said. “But on the night he died, I hadn’t seen him in almost six weeks. I got worried when he kept saying he was too busy, because he was very vague with what he was busy with. So, I went to his apartment to check up on him because he hadn’t been answering my calls. He wasn’t home, so I let myself in. I had keys to his place—he gave them to me for emergencies. Because I was so concerned, I decided to do a bit of snooping around. I saw pictures in his drawers of him and his boyfriend. They were in bed, naked. Then, I heard the front door opening. I stayed in his bedroom, expecting him to walk in and see me. Well, I was frozen with guilt, actually. I knew he wouldn’t have appreciated me going through his stuff. Anyway, he was on the phone. I heard him say that he felt honoured that the highest-ranking, Indie Rebel chief had chosen him to participate in that night’s assignment. I was floored. I’ve read about you guys. I know you’re not sanctioned by the police or anything like that, and I couldn’t believe my son became a member of your group. I heard him go to the spare bedroom, opening drawers. I should have come out. I should have confronted him about joining you. I should have begged him not to do what your highest-ranking chief had asked him to do. But I was too shocked to do anything at the time—too shocked to stop him when he left again a few minutes later. That was the last time I heard his voice. He didn’t come back home that night. He never came back home again.” Mario hissed the last sentence in anger.
Aidan: The Rescue (Indie Rebels Book 5) Page 10
