Mayhem’s King: Operation Mayhem

by Cross, Lindsay

  King’s dark gaze dropped to her lips. “I get a kiss just for thinking about it?”

  “You get a kiss for all of it. The gym, the stage…” Last night. A blush heated her neck. She couldn’t quite make herself say the last part out loud.

  King took a step forward, and then another and another, forcing her back until her back was plastered against the wall in the hallway, trapped in a darkened area just out of reach of the wall sconces providing a dim glow. King planted a hand on either side of her head, bending down so that he was face-to-face with her. “What about last night?”

  “That too,” she said in a trembling, breathless voice.

  He pressed his body against hers, the obvious evidence of his arousal digging into her stomach. “I can’t get enough of you,” came his deep response.

  Chill bumps raced across her flesh, tightening her nipples painfully. They were sensitive from where he’d suckled so hard.

  His dark gaze deepened and she recognized the intense look for what it was—hot wanton desire. Her knees were weak. She grabbed onto his solid biceps for support, biting her lip to keep from kissing him right there in the hallway.

  He made a low sound in the back of his throat and then said, “If you don’t stop biting that lip, I’m gonna haul your ass back to my bedroom.”

  She felt her eyes widen, and then the heat settled low in her belly at the thought. She gave a shaky laugh, attempted to push him away but only ended up arching against him.

  “Laura, I’m warning you, I’ve only got so much control.” He leaned in and nipped at her earlobe.

  Her knees did buckle, and if it wasn’t for King holding her up she would’ve hit the floor. Every cell in her body wanted him. Last night should’ve helped quench her need; instead it only made it grow stronger. He’d been so open, so vulnerable, and yet so strong and in control at the same time. She’d never felt so connected before. Forgetting everything but King, she returned the favor, bit gently on his neck and said, “That’s me wanting you too.”

  His obsidian gaze turned black. Without a word, King grabbed her hand, pulled her across the hall, poked his head into the doorway where Faith danced, and yelled to Diggs, “You got this for a minute?”

  He grinned and gave them a thumbs up. Audra was closer to Faith, clapping and cheering her on. Before Laura could argue, King dragged her down the hall and around the corner into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him. Then he was pushing her against the closed door, pulling the thin straps of her dress down to expose her sensitive breasts.

  Desire raced through her veins, and stole the air from her lungs. He lifted her with one arm, taking her nipple in his mouth fully, suckling hard. The gentleness from last night was nowhere to be found, instead he was aggressive, taking—not asking. Laura was lost to his possessive touch. She needed him. Now.

  She yanked on his hair, attempting to pull him closer. With a rough growl, he yanked up her dress and dipped inside her panties. Rough, calloused fingers teased her sensitive clit mercilessly, leaving her squirming and wet. “Now, King. Please.”

  If he didn’t take her, she was going to lose her mind.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” he muttered against her flesh, nipping and sucking ruthlessly.

  She wasn’t gentle when she pulled his head back, or when she took his mouth. He allowed her that control for a few seconds, and then he had her pinned against the door once more, shoving her panties down. She reached for his pants, wanting to feel him too. The loose band at his waist slid down and she wrapped her fingers around his thick, throbbing length. He groaned and a heady sense of power filled her.

  “God, woman, you’re driving me crazy.”

  His words urged her on and she moved her hand up and down his length, loving the feel of his velvet-encased steel. He hissed in a breath, letting his head fall back as she worked him. A bead of moisture gathered at the tip of his wide, flat head and her mouth watered. She wanted to give him the same pleasure he’d given her. Slowly she worked her way across his chest, butterfly kisses around his still healing cuts. His stomach rose and fell sharply, his rock-hard abs beautifully outlined beneath his taut skin.

  She reached his belly button, flipped around the edges and then placed a featherlike kiss on the tip of his cock.

  He hissed and buried his fingers in her hair. “Laura. Christ.”

  The raw need in his voice urged her on and she parted her lips, his wide hard length stretching her mouth. He groaned again when she eased her hand down to the base, her mouth following in its tracks. With her other hand she cupped his balls, testing their heavy weight, she gently tickled the hot skin.

  She sucked firmly down his length, taking him as far as she could before backing off, teasing his sensitive tip with her tongue. She could feel his muscles jumping beneath her hands, and drove herself harder, determined to drive him wild. She moaned, low and deep and took him all the way to the back of her throat. His hips bucked in response and she firmed up her grip, taking him with the same ferocious need that she felt running through her body.

  His hands tightened in her hair, and suddenly he was pulling her off of him, lifting her high in the air he pinned her against the door, lined up his cock at her entrance and slammed into her with one long, hard thrust. He stretched her. He filled her to the breaking point. She cried out at the abrupt fullness, the unimaginable pleasure of having him buried so deep inside her. Her blood pounded in her ears, racing through her body as she clenched around him, her sensitive and swollen core throbbing. His fingers dug into her hips, holding her there, pinned between him and the hard wood. “I’m not going to take it easy this time.” He said at her ear.

  “Good,” she gasped. She wanted him hard and fast. She wanted his possession and his control.

  He pulled out and then thrust back in, dragging the slick link across her weeping folds. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders as best she could and held on as he rammed into her, driving her to the brink of orgasm. She bit her lip, holding back the scream. She felt surrounded by him, enveloped by his heat. She was burning alive. Her body was on fire. Unable to keep silent, she whispered raggedly, “Please, King. Please”

  He growled, low in his throat, and pushed in faster and harder. Laura climbed higher and higher. She couldn’t hold off any longer. Knowing she was about to lose control completely and scream, she buried her face against his neck and bit down on his shoulder, the razor-sharp orgasm bursting inside her. Stealing her thoughts. Speeding through her body. She clenched. She shuddered. She lost all awareness of where she was. Her only solid anchor was King inside her.

  She was distantly aware of him continuing to thrust, and then he yanked her down hard and she felt him release inside her. His cock swelling, stretching her even more. And then he was feathering light kisses across her face, her neck, holding her up with his strong calloused hands.

  She’d never felt so surrounded. So protected.

  So in love.

  Chapter 17

  King rested one hand on the Beretta and the other on the door handle, carefully scanning the darkened road through the tinted windows of the passenger seat in their SUV. Tension coiled through his insides, tightening like a bound screw with each mile of distance they put between themselves and the compound.

  Juarez, just as tense as King, hunched over the steering wheel, scanning the road ahead. Hicks and Diggs were in the blacked-out SUV in front of them. They’d left Reaper behind at the mansion, guarding the women and keeping an eye on their surveillance.

  Laura hunched in the backseat, her arm around Faith, her gaze excited but wary. King gave her a brief nod without speaking and resumed his surveillance in the front seat. He didn’t like leaving the safety of the compound and its tall, protective concrete walls and infrared surveillance. Especially with an assassin of the caliber of John Dawson on the loose.

  He was out there, somewhere, waiting on them to make a mistake. He could feel it in his bones, deep and cold and hard. King hit the commun
ications switch at his wrist and held a mic up to his mouth, “Team one, check in.”

  They were only a few car lengths in front of them. They’d already ran the route, first through satellite surveillance and then physically a few nights before, looking for points they’d be easily ambushed or caught. They were nearing one of those points now.

  “All clear, boss. Keep her rolling,” Diggs said.

  So far everything had gone smoothly without a hitch. Dr. Avery, with some help, had gained access to Faith’s medical records at the children’s hospital. After a thorough review, she’d determined what they needed to order and who they needed to complete the process. Juarez had hacked into the hospital administration under the otolaryngologist’s account and placed the order for the processor. They’d bypassed nearly everyone involved in the kid’s treatment up to the audiologist who would have to program the processor. And with her, they’d gotten lucky. Very lucky.

  “I can’t believe Melissa went to undergrad with the audiologist,” King said.

  “Yeah, it is perfect. So far, everything’s running like clockwork,” Laura said.

  Her words should have reassured King, instead they only made him more wary. One thing he’d learned about missions, nothing ever went perfectly. And when you got comfortable, thinking you were in the clear, that’s when the shit hit the fan.

  And he couldn’t afford any excessive risk to the precious cargo he had in the car with him. He’d come to realize over the past several days how deeply he cared for Laura and for Faith. The thought of anything happening to either of them made his gut roil. They’d checked the hospital schedule. Tapped into the security cameras and monitored the hallways. Done background checks on all relevant personnel.

  He’d even put up extra sensors around the perimeter of the compound, half expecting Dawson to pop out in the front yard at any minute. They’d pulled more surveillance on this mission in a shorter amount of time than they had for any one previous. The amount of intel work they’d done should have reassured him.

  “How much farther?” Laura said from the backseat.

  “Couple more miles. Once we’re in the city, I want you both to keep your heads down. When we park at the hospital—”

  Laura grinned. “I know, stay in the car until you secure the area. Talk to no one. Do not leave your side.”

  “This isn’t a joke.”

  Laura sighed, her expression dropping. “I know, I’m just trying to cut the ice a little bit. You two are making me nervous.”

  “Good, you should be. I want you to be on the lookout too. If you see him, tell me.” He could just imagine Laura spotting her brother in the crowd and completely blowing past him without saying a word. “Remember what we talked about and what you promised me.”

  Before he’d given the final okay for the hospital drive, King had tried to convince her once more about the danger John Dawson presented to both her and her daughter. Laura had politely disagreed that her brother was dangerous, however, she did capitulate to his demand that she stay by his side the whole time and let him know if she sensed John’s presence anywhere near them.

  Laura reached forward and squeezed his shoulder. “I remember.”

  King gently touched her hand and then resumed his position, ready for anything as the bright lights of the city appeared in the distance. He shouldn’t have agreed to this. He should have put his foot down and stayed strong against her plea. Every inch of his skin crawled with awareness to the danger he’d put them in.

  “Juarez, King told me about how you hacked into the hospital system. That’s pretty badass,” Laura said.

  Juarez chuckled, drumming his thumbs on the steering wheel. “It was easy as pie, sugar. An eighth grader could have cracked that firewall.”

  King snorted at that. Computer code was like a foreign language to him. If it wasn’t something he could smash or shoot or blow up, King was lost. Thankfully, Juarez and a couple of others on the team were tech gurus.

  “I think you’re being modest,” Laura said.

  Juarez practically glowed. “I’ll admit it was a little bit hard printing out the fake security cards to scan into the building and the elevators, but not impossible.”

  “If you’re through stroking his ego, it’s time to sink down into the seat. We’re here.” King didn’t even try to hide his annoyance at their casually light banter. He preferred that Laura only joke with him. Did that make him a little bit of an asshole? Did he care if it did?

  * * *

  Laura tried to brush off the ever-tightening nervousness coiling in her system and bunch down in her seat, gesturing for Faith to do the same thing. King’s obvious tension was leaking over into her, but not enough to quash her excitement.

  Getting the new processor for Faith was going to reopen the world of sound to her niece. They could begin working on speech and sounds again. The longer Faith lived without hearing sounds and stimulating her brain, the harder it would be for her to learn how to differentiate between all the sounds in her environment, and the harder it would be for her to distinguish speech.

  But that wasn’t the only reason she was excited. She could sense King’s feelings warming toward them. He might not have said it yet, but he cared for her, and he cared for Faith. There was no way he would have arranged for this top-secret trip to the hospital in the middle of the night if he didn’t.

  So he was a bit gruff around the edges tonight, she was more than willing to deal.

  Juarez turned the vehicle into the covered parking lot, rolling to a stop in front of the elevator doors leading up to the hospital. Gray concrete walls flanked them on all sides and a few cars dotted the interior. The place was basically deserted, as it should be at two o’clock in the morning. Faith started to lean up and look out the window. Laura put a hand on her shoulder, keeping her down. “Stay down until they get us out, okay?” she signed.

  “I need to go to the bathroom,” Faith quickly signed back. Laura bit her lip to keep from grinning. In her short tenure as aunt and mother, she’d learned that Faith’s bladder was about the size of her pinky finger.

  “We’ll go inside, for now we have to wait on Mr. King and Mr. Juarez.”

  King lifted his arm and spoke slowly into what she figured out was a hidden microphone and then he nodded to Juarez. “We’re clear.”

  Both men got out, opening the door closest to the elevator. He reached in and held out his hand and Laura took it and slid from the car. “Thank you.”

  Only King wasn’t looking at her, he was scanning the parking lot, his gaze moving with purpose and concentration. Juarez did the same, his hand resting lightly on the bulge near the waistband of his pants. She’d known the men were armed, but seeing them like this, as if they were preparing for battle, made her frown. Not because she was scared, but because she knew they were expecting her brother to come in guns blazing and kill them all.

  A dash of darkness had thrown her happiness. Laura reached inside the car for Faith, and lifted her onto her hip and carried her to the elevator. King and Juarez entered silently behind her, the door slid shut and then they were moving up.

  Faith trapped Kitty between her arm and Laura’s chest, and she got a whiff of the stuffed animal. She quickly fanned her hand under her nose and pointed to Kitty. “Kitty needs a bath,” she mouthed.

  “Cats don’t take baths,” Faith signed.

  “This one does.”

  Faith gave up on the conversation and laid her head down on Laura’s shoulder. Laura shifted, adjusting Faith up higher on her hip. She might be small for seven years but the girl was solid, and Laura’s arm had already started to ache.

  King reached for her, taking Faith from her arms before Laura could protest. “I’ve got her.”

  Faith immediately got comfortable, wrapped her back arm around King’s neck and laid her face on his chest just like she belonged there. Laura’s heart squeezed. “Thanks.”

  He held her naturally, as if he’d been holding her his whole life. W
hat would he do when he found out Faith wasn’t her daughter?

  Laura had to look away, focusing on her hazy reflection in the stainless-steel elevator doors, praying he wouldn’t see the guilt rushing to her face. These past several days they’d blended so easily together. They’d turned into a type of pseudo family. And in her foolish need to be closer to King, she’d allowed herself to pretend that they were.

  The elevator doors dinged open and Juarez exited first. King gestured for Laura to follow and then he brought up the rear, Faith in his arms. They traveled in silence down the half-lit hallways of the audiology and speech clinic, well away from the active section of the hospital. The clinic here would only need to be open during normal business hours, allowing them to now move about freely.

  They stopped in front of room 504. Juarez held up a hand and then extracted his pistol. Laura’s breath caught. He eased the door open and peered inside. Seconds later, he holstered his weapon and gestured for them to enter. “All clear.”

  Juarez opened the door wide. King waited on Laura to enter first. She entered the smallest clinical room where a young woman she didn’t recognize stood next to a computer, an open and friendly smile on her face. She stuck out her hand as Laura got close, “I’m Dr. Bentley, you can call me Breanne. I’m a friend of Melissa Avery’s.”

  Laura shook her hand, glancing back at King. For some reason, she’d assumed they’d be seeing Faith’s original audiologist. He gave her a reassuring nod and Laura returned the handshake. “I’m Laura, and this is Faith. Thank you so much for doing this for us.”

  Breanne waved a hand in front of her. “Think nothing of it. I know Melissa wouldn’t have asked unless there was a need. Now, are you ready to get down to business?”

  Faith let out a long, sleepy yawn, drawing a chuckle from Laura. “We’d better or I’m afraid our patient is going to fall sleep before she gets her new processor.”

  “I’ll leave y’all to it then,” Juarez said and stepped out into the hallway. “Holler if you need anything.”