by Julia Sykes
“This is serious, Derek. I haven’t told you everything about myself. I’m a Special Agent with the FBI. You need to come with me and answer some questions.”
To my amazement, his hint of a smile gave way to a hard-edged grin. “So my kinky girl’s into role play.”
He began to prowl in a slow circle around me. “You’re an FBI agent. Am I the big bad criminal who’s going to take you down?”
Oh, shit.
I pivoted on the spot, keeping him in my line of sight. “I’m serious, Derek. If you don’t come with me willingly, I’m going to have to arrest you. Please don’t make me do that.”
His chuckle was dark and full of cruel anticipation. “I’m afraid I’m not coming quietly, officer.”
“It’s Agent Silverman.” I couldn’t help the way my voice trembled. This wasn’t going at all as I had planned. I had to make him see the truth. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my handcuffs. “I’ll use these if I have to.”
He laughed again. “Oh, we both know those cuffs aren’t for me.”
“Please, Derek.” He had to believe me.
His grin turned evil. “Begging won’t save you, Agent Silverman.” He said my title with a hint of mockery.
Before I could muster up my anger, he was on me. I didn’t fight him. He had taught me not to resist him. It was a lesson I had learned all too well.
His arms closed around me, the weight of him taking me down. He cushioned the impact with the floor with a hand at the back of my head. That didn’t stop the wind from being knocked out of me, though.
He didn’t give me a chance to draw breath before his mouth was on mine. His tongue was almost harsh in its demanding thrusts. Before I could register what was happening, he grasped my arms and drew them over my head. Cool metal clicked into place as he secured my wrists with my own cuffs.
His lips left mine to tease at my throat. “You’re mine now, Agent Silverman.”
My clit pulsed as his cock hardened against my thigh. His teeth found the sensitive area where my neck met my shoulder, and I cried out at the delicious pain of his bite.
“Sharon!” Clayton’s shout mingled with the sound of splintering wood as he kicked the door open.
I had a moment to register Smith’s furious growl before Derek was wrenched away from me.
“Wait!” I shouted.
Horror registered when I saw Derek grappling with Smith. Clayton advanced to help his partner. Derek was strong, but they would leave him bloody and broken before they were done with him.
Even though I was hampered by my cuffed hands, panic gave me the strength I needed to find my feet. I barreled into Clayton, knocking him to the side before he could get to Derek. I stumbled, and Clayton’s arms closed around me, steadying me. The touch that once would have elicited warmth and longing only brought anger bubbling to the fore. I twisted in his grasp, helpless to stop Smith from landing a brutal blow across Derek’s jaw.
“Stop it!” I screamed. “God damn it! Clayton, make him stop!”
My friend’s blue eyes watched the fight pitilessly. “He hurt you, Sharon.”
“No, he didn’t! He thought it was a game, damn it.” I jerked against Clayton’s hold again, but my hands were cuffed and he was far too strong. “And I wasn’t screaming in pain.” The admission made my cheeks burn, but I had to help Derek.
Clayton blinked and turned an uncertain gaze on me.
“Make. Him. Stop.” I hissed out each word.
“Fuck.” With a muttered curse, he released me to pull Smith off Derek. Smith rounded on him. Violence had taken hold of him, and he only stopped himself from attacking Clayton just in time.
Derek moved to launch himself at Clayton, but my friend coolly pulled his gun. The barrel was leveled between Derek’s eyes. With his free hand, he reached into his pocket and flashed his credentials.
“Clayton Vaughn, FBI,” he informed Derek coldly. “Get on your knees and put your hands behind your head.”
Derek glared up at him, but he complied. He couldn’t fight a bullet. Clayton read him his rights while Smith roughly secured his wrists at the small of his back with a set of cuffs. The sight of them on Derek was so wrong that my stomach churned.
“I hope you rot in jail, motherfucker,” Smith’s low growl was vindictive as he jerked Derek to his feet. “You’re under arrest for drug trafficking and assaulting a Federal Agent.”
“Damn it, Smith! He didn’t assault me!” I moved to throttle him, but Clayton was at my side in an instant, holding me back. With my restraints, it was all too easy for him. I glared at Smith. “When I get out of these, I am going to punch the shit out of your pretty face.”
Smith shrugged and turned his attention to Clayton. “Do me a favor and leave those cuffs on till I’m clear of the building.”
Clayton nodded his agreement.
“Fuck you guys,” I seethed. My hands twitched with the desire to get at Smith, and the unyielding metal bit into the delicate skin of my wrists. Clayton’s hands closed around them, preventing me from hurting myself.
“Stop it, Sharon.” It was the low order of a Dominant. Although my anger still roiled within me, I automatically stilled.
“So that’s how it is,” Derek sneered. “They sent you in with your sweet little submissive act to fuck information out of me. Well, congratu-fucking-lations, Agent Silverman. I hope they give you a medal.”
My heart sank. How had this gone so terribly wrong?
“It wasn’t like that, Derek. I never meant-”
“You never meant what?” He asked with bitter scorn. “You didn’t mean to seduce me? You didn’t mean to beg me to fuck you?”
I flinched and dropped my eyes to hide the tears that pricked at their corners.
“Get him out of here,” Clayton ground out.
I chanced one last glance up at Derek, my pained expression silently pleading with him to understand. His full lips pulled back in a contemptuous snarl, but it was the hurt that dulled the light in his golden eyes that pained me most.
Chapter 13
“Tell us about Charlotte,” Clayton demanded.
“I want to talk to Agent Silverman.” My name was ice on Derek’s tongue.
It was the first thing he had said in an hour. Clayton and Smith had been laying out the evidence against him in interrogation, threatening him with jail time if he didn’t talk. Clayton might be more skilled at harnessing his anger, but it was still a case of bad cop/bad cop in there. For each of Smith’s snarled threats, Clayton had a cold ultimatum.
“Not happening,” Clayton declared. “If you’re ready to talk, talk to us. Tell us about your sister.”
That shadow of deepest betrayal passed over his molten eyes again. Charlotte had been his secret. He had trusted me to keep her secret, to keep her safe. And now he believed I had condemned her. His hands clenched with his anger, jerking against the cuffs that restrained him to the table.
His glare slid past Clayton and Smith to find me. He couldn’t see me through the one-way mirror, but he knew I was there. His fiery gaze burned into me.
“Sharon!” He barked my name. “Come in here. Now.”
Smith’s fist slammed down on the metal table in front of Derek, but he didn’t flinch. “You don’t give her orders.”
Derek shot him a taunting smile. “Oh, yes I do. And she obeys them. Does that bother you, Master S?”
Smith’s silver eyes flashed. Derek recognized him from his days at Decadence. A black half-mask couldn’t disguise those distinctive eyes. The club owner knew what Smith and Clayton were. Dominants. And he wasn’t about to submit to either of them.
Before I realized what I was doing, my hand was on the doorknob, and I stepped into the interrogation room.
“You see?” Derek’s grin was cutting, triumphant. “So obedient. Good girl.”
Heat coiled in my belly, and I wasn’t sure if it was from anger or arousal. His words of approval always made me melt for him. But now they were a cruel parody o
f his honest praise that had so enflamed me. I was furious at him for using them as a weapon against me, and furious at myself for hurting him.
Somehow, I had to make things right between us, and Clayton and Smith were only making everything worse.
“Get out,” I told my friends with quiet surety.
“No fucking way. Leave, Sharon.” Smith’s hand gripped my elbow, ready to forcibly remove me from the room.
I stood my ground. The frosty look I gave him should have frozen his balls off. Smith seemed entirely unaffected.
“Get your hand off me,” my voice was low and imbued with warning. “I might not have fought Derek, but that doesn’t mean I won’t kick your ass if you don’t let me go right now. I am not your submissive, Smith.”
His lips drew back from his teeth, and his grip tightened. “You’re not his, either.”
I didn’t counter Smith’s assertion, but I didn’t agree with him. “He’s not going to talk to you. Now get out of here before everyone in the building dies of testosterone poisoning. It’s reaching toxic levels.”
“She’s right, Smith. Carter isn’t going to talk to us.” As always, Clayton was the voice of reason. It was one of the few voices Smith ever listened to. That list was pretty much limited to two people: Clayton and Kennedy.
Thank god the boss wasn’t here right now, or I would get my ass thrown out of this room. Then there would have been a testosterone explosion. Honestly, this unit needed more women.
I glared at Smith’s hand pointedly. He ground his teeth, but he released me.
“We’ll be right outside. Call us in if you need us.” It was an edict to me and a warning to Derek.
I didn’t watch them leave. I only had eyes for Derek. The metal chair scraped back, and I seated myself across the table from him, putting us on the same level.
“I didn’t want it to be like this,” I began quietly.
Derek scoffed. “What is this? Are you here to play good cop now?” He leaned forward as far as the cuffs would allow. Even though he was restrained, threat still pulsed off him like a palpable thing. Resolutely, I leaned into it, refusing to allow him to push me away.
“I’m not playing at anything. No games, Derek. I wanted to come clean with you at your apartment, but you didn’t give me a chance to explain things.”
“So now this is my fault?” His features twisted in a mockery of contriteness. “I’m terribly sorry for assaulting you today, Agent Silverman. And last night. And dozens of times before that. I’m so sorry I believed your lies.” The last held the bitterness of truth. He regretted everything we had ever done together.
My heart squeezed painfully. I had tainted everything we shared. The peace I had found in Derek’s arms, under his punishing hand, shattered. Trust was the most important aspect of a D/s relationship. Hadn’t he told me that at the very beginning? Derek would never trust me again. Our time together was over.
But that didn’t mean I was going to let him get killed in prison.
“I know you have no reason to trust me, but-”
His derisive laugh split through my words. “Are you honestly about to ask me to trust you? You deceived me, Sharon. You let me fuck you, you let me hurt you, just to get information out of me. You took what was supposed to be a consensual power exchange and turned it into abuse. Does that make you feel good about yourself? Are you going to get a promotion for making me an abusive bastard?”
“No!” The denial was aghast, sickened. “It wasn’t abuse. Don’t say that. Don’t you dare say that. Everything we did was consensual. It was real.”
“You’re a great actress, I’ll give you that. Tell me, Agent Silverman. Did you actually come all over my cock? Or was that faked, too?”
The crack of my palm colliding with his cheek filled the room just before pain flared across my hand. His cheekbones turned out to be every bit as dangerous as I had suspected. He didn’t even flinch, but I had to shake my hand out to ease the throbbing.
“I’ll apologize for lying to you, Derek,” I only just managed to maintain my calm. “I can’t tell you how much I regret it. But I will not sit here and let you insult me. I won’t let you insult what we had. No!” I cut him off before he could say that there was nothing there at all. “I don’t want to hear it. None of this matters now. What matters is keeping you out of prison. Tell me what you know about the Latin Kings.”
Derek’s lips formed a thin line, and he went utterly silent. His cheek was reddening where I slapped it, and I longed to reach out to soothe away the inflammation and the hurt that lay deep beneath it. The hurt that I had inflicted.
“We know the Kings are trafficking drugs through Decadence. Clayton and Smith showed you the evidence. They want to lock you up because they think you took advantage of me, but we both know that’s not true. This isn’t about you and me. It’s about keeping you alive. You have to know the Kings will kill you if you go to jail. Talk to me. Explain what’s happening. I know you’re innocent, but I can’t prove that.”
“If you know I’m innocent, then why did you arrest me?” He demanded.
“It wasn’t my call. And I wanted to calmly talk things out. I never wanted it to come to this, you have to know that.”
His jaw firmed. “I don’t know shit. I don’t know anything about the Latin Kings.”
“We both know that’s not true, Derek,” I said gently. “Tell me about Charlotte.”
“No!” He snarled. “You don’t get to talk to me about Charlotte. I never should have said a fucking word.”
My bearing turned stern. “You think you’re protecting her, but you can’t protect her if you’re dead. If the situation is bad enough that you’re letting the Kings use Decadence-”
“Do you have any idea what it does to me to see those fuckers in my club?” He exploded, and I jolted back from the impact of his anger. “Do you think I wouldn’t kill every one of them if I could? Decadence is supposed to be a safe place. Now I have to watch Doms who are too strung out to hear a safe word take a whip to a submissive who’s too intoxicated to feel pain properly. The Kings have taken everything from me. I’m not going to let them take my sister, too.”
“It sounds like they’ve already taken her,” I countered quietly. “Help us. Tell us what the Kings are doing, and we’ll keep Charlotte safe. You’ll have your sister back. You’ll have your club back.”
Derek shook his head, his expression suddenly weary. “They’ll kill her before they let you save her. That possessive fucker Santiago will break her neck before he lets her go.”
My heart skipped a beat. “What did you say?”
“One of the Kings. Javier Santiago. He has Charlotte. He keeps her locked up so no one can get to her but him.” His teeth snapped closed, as though he had said too much.
“Derek, Charlotte is going to be fine. Javier is one of ours. He’s been in deep cover with the Kings for a year. If he has her, he’s only keeping her locked up to keep her safe.”
Derek gave a short, furious shake of his head. “If that’s true, then your man’s turned. He’s completely loyal to my father. If my father gives the order, Santiago will kill Charlotte.”
“Why would your father-?”
“Silverman!” Kennedy’s bellow penetrated the door to the interrogation room just before it burst open. Every line of his body was taut with rage. “Get out. You’re off this case. In fact, you’re suspended. Indefinitely.”
My brain tripped over itself in an effort to understand. “What?”
“You know what,” he seethed. “Now leave before I do something worse.”
Shit. I knew what this looked like to my boss. He thought I had just betrayed Santiago to a known associate of the Latin Kings. I might have just signed Javier’s death warrant. But I knew Derek. He was innocent. He was a good man.
I turned my gaze to him to find his blazing gold eyes. I couldn’t stay to protect him any longer.
“Don’t you dare get yourself killed, Derek. I will never forgive yo
u.”
The nonplussed look he gave me told me my forgiveness didn’t mean shit to him.
“Please. You have to tell me what’s going on. Is Derek okay?” My fingers were iron around Clayton’s forearm. I had waited for him in the parking garage for hours. Kennedy might have suspended me, but he hadn’t banned me from the premises.
Clayton shifted uncomfortably, eyeing the driver’s side door as though he was tempted to get in and drive away from the moral quandary I was placing him in. Clayton was a stickler for the rules, but he also had a big heart. I hoped his heart won out in this case. I couldn’t bear not knowing what was happening to Derek.
“Don’t be an ass, Clayton. Tell her.” I was shocked to recognize Smith’s deep rumble just over my shoulder. His silver-blue eyes were soft, almost sympathetic. They glanced at his partner, and then rolled dramatically when they took in Clayton’s uncertainty. “For fuck’s sake, Vaughn, what Kennedy doesn’t know can’t hurt him.”
I started at him, my mouth dropping open in disbelief.
“What?” He took in my shocked expression. “I can’t be the good guy sometimes?”
“I don’t think going against a direct order makes you the good guy, James,” Clayton pointed out.
Smith shrugged. “No, but it does make this more appealing.” His attention turned back to me. “Look, Sharon. I know we were pretty hard on Carter.” I snorted, and Smith’s eyes shifted to sharp chips of ice. “Don’t make me regret telling you this.”
“It’s hard enough for him to admit he was wrong without you interrupting him,” Clayton supplied.
“You really do have your ass hat on today, don’t you, Vaughn?” Smith shot a sour look at this friend, but he pressed on. “As I was saying, we thought Carter was a slimy bastard. But after seeing how upset he was about what happened between the two of you, we’ve decided that he’s not a bastard.”
“So you know he’s innocent.”
“No, I said we’ve decided he’s not a bastard. His innocence is still in question.”
