He could only pray he was reaching her. He’d told her as much of the truth as he could; he did need her. He couldn’t hurt her. It was beyond his comprehension.
But Tomi’s wild spirit couldn’t be denied; he knew that was part of the reason she’d run the first time. Had he gone too fast? Is that what had pushed her over the edge? The thought terrified him. He wanted to badly to ask her about the past and demand she tell him why she’d ran, but he knew she wasn’t ready. He couldn’t risk her withdrawing again.
He only had two days left to convince her to stay with him. Two days. And then he risked losing her forever.
No. That was a possibility he couldn’t think about. He had to focus on the now, focus on Tomi—it was the only way he could hope to create a strong enough bond between them that she’d never want to leave. “Are you ready for your punishment?”
Her answer was a breathy whisper, “Yes, Cole.”
He closed his eyes, enjoying his name on her lips.
“Don’t worry about counting,” Cole said, and then lifted his hand and spanked her. Her skin needed warming up, so his first touch was gentle. He had to deliver this spanking as a punishment, but he also intended to see that she came in his hands. The next two smacks were a little bit harder. And then he rained down a series of stinging blows, loving the way her flesh pinked for him. Each time she gasped and wiggled and squirmed, but she never once told him to stop. By the time he reached number ten, she was gripping the edge of the table and sticking her ass in the air, begging for more. Cole obliged. Feeding the beast inside him that needed to dominate, he delivered three stinging blows meant to give pleasure, not pain. And then he delved his fingers between her legs and felt her wetness, evidence of her desire.
Needing to see the proof on her face, Cole rounded the table, every muscle in his body taut, and squatted down. Tomi’s eyes were closed, her lips parted, her cheeks flushed.
“Are you okay?” he asked quietly.
She nodded.
“Tomi, I need to hear you say it.”
Her lids parted, her eyes glazed with pleasure. “Yes, Cole.”
Her breathless words left him shaking. Cole rose over her and kissed her cheek and then he returned to his position behind her. The panties were easy, he ripped them from her body with a quick jerk, and then he stripped out of his pants, freeing his hard cock. Cole stepped close to her, lined himself up with her wet slit, and plunged inside. “Sweet, merciful Jesus.”
She was so tight; she clenched around him, squeezing him so hard he couldn’t think.
Tomi made a low, throaty sound in the back of her throat and gripped the edge of the table, pushing against him. He’d recognized that look on her face, a look of complete submission. Knowing they both needed it, Cole gripped her hips and slammed into her, taking her with enough force to make the table shake on its legs.
With the morning light bathing them through the window in the back door, Cole drove into her. This time he didn’t take it slow—he yanked her against him, taking her faster and harder. Each time he bottomed out inside her, she cried out, her head lifting off the table. It was one of the most beautiful sights he’d ever seen. Her sweet body bent over for him. He was mesmerized by the sight of her. In a daze, he slowed, dipped his fingers into the juices of her pussy, and slowly spread them up to her ass. Each time he worked more and more until she was slick. Slick enough for him to slide the tip of his finger into her back entrance. Each time he drove his cock into her pussy, he pushed his finger farther inside.
Tomi made little mewling sounds, her breath hitching. A tingle started at the base of his spine; his balls drew up. He was so close to coming. Determined, he clenched his jaw and pushed his finger in past the knuckle, embedding it fully inside her as he speared her with his cock.
Tomi lost control. She bucked. She screamed. She begged. Cole was beyond the point of reason or control; he was pure animal instinct now, the need to dominate overriding every other sense. He slammed into her until she was screaming in pleasure, and when her orgasm clenched around him, Cole buried himself to the hilt and let go, roaring his own release inside her.
Completely robbed of strength or breath, he leaned over her, still buried inside her, and placed his elbow on the table as he fought to catch his breath. The small beads of sweat that had formed on his face dripped onto her back. When he could finally speak, Cole said, “We need to take a shower.”
Her answer was a mmmhhhhmmmm. But that was all. The last thing Cole wanted to do was withdraw from her body, but Clint and Carter could come bursting in at any second. With regret hauling out of his gut, Cole fell from her. Tomi groaned. He reached beneath her, flipping her over and up into his arms, and then carried her into the bathroom. Cole reached inside the shower, turned on the water, and tested its temperature until it was just right. Then he put them both inside.
Cole squeezed the sweet-scented body wash onto the loofah and washed Tomi as she stood there pliant and silent, her dazed expression evidence that she was still in the throes of her last orgasm. They made quick work of washing themselves before he stepped out, dried them both off, and placed her on the bed. He should go out and talk to his brothers, check that everything was okay, but the sight of Tomi lying in his bed was too much to overcome. Cole tossed the towel onto the floor and climbed in next to her. She curled right into his arms and tucked her chin against his chest. That moment, Cole felt more at peace than he had in his entire life.
15
The creaking of the bedroom door pulled Cole from a light sleep. He lifted his head and glared at Clint. “What?”
“Got a call for you.” Clint’s normally stonewall expression was firmly in place, but Cole could hear the hint of worry in his brother’s voice. Which was the only reason he was giving Clint a pass for barging into the bedroom uninvited.
Cole ducked his head and placed a kiss on Tomi’s cheek, pressing his lips there for a second before he pulled the covers up over her sweet little body and climbed from the bed. He didn’t bother with the shirt, just yanked on his pants and stalked from the room. It irritated him, he realized, having to leave her.
He’d never felt the least twinge of regret leaving a woman’s bed before, but Tomi wasn’t just any woman. She was his woman.
Both Clint and Carter were waiting in the kitchen. Clint shoved the cell phone in his direction and said, “It’s Stahl. He needs to talk to you now.”
Cole shot his brother a questioning look, but Clint just shook his head, indicating Stahl had been his usual tight-lipped self.
“Cole here.”
“Agent Wise got a phone call this morning,” Stahl said.
“Was he awake to take it?” The last Cole had heard Adam was unconscious and battling the effects of the deadly poison.
“Yes, but he’s still weak.” Talking to Stahl was like pulling teeth; the FBI agent’s ability to keep his cards close was legendary. It was a fact Cole had once admired. Now, it just pissed him off.
“Is he going to make it?” Cole fired off, emotion making his throat feel thick. Adam Wise was one of the few men outside the military whom Cole had gotten close to over the years. He protected those weaker than himself and always put others first. He was a true friend.
“He’s not 100% in the clear yet, but the doctors think he should pull through. But that’s not the reason I called,” Stahl said.
Cole heard the sound of papers shuffling accompanied by a lightly tapping in the background. Stahl was drumming his fingers on the table. This phone call must really have him rattled. “Who was it?”
“Luis’s man. Apparently, Luis was poisoned also. The attack on you leaving the mansion wasn’t him.”
“Who the fuck was it then?”
“The Frenchman. Apparently, he was pissed off that Adam outbid him. He wanted to get his property back.”
“Son of a bitch.”
Both Clint and Carter looked at him questioningly. Cole turned his back on them, pacing the small kitchen as the need
to murder grew inside him. “You believe that?”
Cole could practically feel Stahl shrugging.
“Not sure. He’s insisting they still follow protocol. He plans on paying Adam a visit at his house in two days.”
“Luis can shove his protocol up his ass. Doesn’t matter who made the attack. He lost his bargaining ground on the contract the moment he let it happen on his watch.”
“Wise told him the same thing, but Luis’s man insisted. So, we have one of two scenarios—either he’s telling the truth—”
Cole drew in a breath and covered his eyes. “Or he’s scoping out the territory so he can finish the job he left half done at the mansion.”
“Exactly.”
“Any hit on Luis’ or the Frenchman’s location?”
“Not a damn thing. They’ve gone completely underground. And I don’t need to remind you that we need Luis to get to El Oscuro.”
If Luis truly didn’t know they were working with the FBI, then they couldn’t risk revealing that fact by ignoring Luis’s protocol. This might be the big break they needed to find the missing women. But then again, if Luis was simply playing them, he could be walking Tomi right into a trap.
Stahl didn’t mince his words. “We’ve got to get you set up at Adam Devine’s residence.”
“I’m not putting Tomi at risk,” Cole said quietly.
“This isn’t a suggestion, Fury. It’s an order.” Stahl’s voice took on a harsh, commanding tone.
“I don’t work for you,” Cole replied in exactly the same way.
Stahl cursed. “Don’t make me hold blackballing your family business over your head to get you to cooperate. I don’t like threatening the people I work with.”
“Then don’t fucking do it,” Cole bit out.
“I don’t have a choice. This might be our last chance to get our way back into Luis’s organization. Are you willing to risk all of the missing women’s lives just because you want to plow through an ex-girlfriend?”
Every muscle in Cole’s body tensed. Rage boiled in his gut. The urge to reach through the phone and plant a fist in Stahl’s face nearly overwhelmed him. Tomi wasn’t some ex he needed to fuck out of his system. Tomi was the one; she belonged with him. “You and I both know she’s more than that, or you wouldn’t have put me with her in the first place. I need to tell her about the investigation.”
“Have you completely cleared her of involvement?”
Fuck. “No.”
Stahl blew out a long, hard breath. “You need to take a step back from this overprotective act and look at the situation logically. This might be our last chance to save dozens of innocents. We’ll set that mansion up like a goddamn fortress to protect Tomi. Think about it. I’ll call you back in ten.” Stahl disconnected the phone call. Cole checked the urge to throw the phone across the room. His hand trembled with rage, but he managed to carefully place it on the table. And then he stalked across the kitchen, ignoring his twin brothers, yanked a mug from the open cabinets and sloshed some coffee into it.
“Are you going to fill us in?” Carter said.
Cole turned and leaned his hip against the counter, not bothering to hide the storm raging inside of him. “Luis contacted Adam. He said it wasn’t him who attacked us—it was the Frenchman we outbid. Wants to meet, follow the protocol in the contract.”
Clint crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in the kitchen chair. “Which means you and Tomi have to reappear.”
“I doubt Luis himself will come, but he’ll send one of his guys to the estate the FBI set up as part of Adam’s cover. Tomi will have to be there.”
“And she’ll have to be in proper form,” Carter said, eyebrows raised.
Clint snorted. “Tomi Tomlin couldn’t fake being a slave, even if her life depended on it.”
“Her life does depend on it,” Carter said quietly.
The amusement melted off of Clint’s face.
“It doesn’t matter, because I’m not going to let her do it. This discussion is pointless.”
An uncomfortable silence settled over the room. Feeling slightly more in control now that he’d made that declaration, Cole took a small sip of his coffee. He’d spent the past ten years in the Navy SEALs learning escape and evasion. He knew how to disappear without a trace, and he was prepared to do so at a moment’s notice. Prepared to do what it took to keep her safe.
“You really want to do that? Live the rest of your life on the run?” Carter asked.
Hell, no, he didn’t want to do that, but he would if it meant saving Tomi. “Yes.”
“You’re lying.” Carter stood from his chair and faced Cole straight on. “If Tomi goes completely missing, then Luis will go underground. He’ll send men to find her, and we’ll lose our best chance at finding and saving the rest of the women. You wouldn’t do that. I know you.”
“You don’t know anything,” Cole snarled. The thought of Luis getting his hands on Tomi ripped him apart. His soul couldn’t take losing her again.
“I bet if you gave Tomi the option, she’d make the right choice,” Carter said.
Cole slammed his half-empty mug of coffee on the counter, sloshing some of the liquid over the rim. He balled his hands into fists and stepped toe-to-toe with Carter. “She doesn’t make the choices, I do, and my answer is no.”
Before he did something stupid, like wrap his hands around Carter’s throat, he walked away, grabbed the sink, and stared out the small window. Was Carter right? His protective instincts with Tomi had always been on hyperdrive—just like they were now—but he didn’t want to put any other lives at risk.
Cole dropped his head, the heavy burden weighing him down like a physical force.
“We can protect her, brother, you know we can,” Clint said.
Yeah, they’d all had the same special training, but the risk still felt like a sharp knife to his chest. In a rare show of emotional honesty, Cole admitted, “I can’t lose her again.”
He felt Carter step up behind him. “We know. We won’t let you. But you and I both know you couldn’t live with yourself if you let all those innocents suffer. It’s not in your nature, any more than it is ours.”
He knew that, but with Tomi, he could maybe live with the regret. Without her, he couldn’t live at all.
Carter put his hand on Cole’s shoulder. “What do you say? Are you in?”
Cole stared at the stainless-steel sink, taking in the random patterns scratched in the metal. Ultimately, there was only one answer. “Yes.”
Carter expelled a harsh breath. “Good. When are you going to tell Tomi?”
“I’m not.”
“Why the hell not?” Clint asked.
“She doesn’t need to know.” If only he could strip the knowledge away from his brothers too. Cole was the older brother, so it was his responsibility to look after his younger twins, whether they liked it or not.
Cole turned to see Clint shove back from the table and get to his feet. “Why not? She could be an asset.”
“She doesn’t get to make the choice—I do. I say she doesn’t know. She can’t know.”
“What the hell is going on?” Carter interrupted in a quiet voice, stepping between him and Clint, who was looking at Cole as if he’d lost his damn mind.
“Why can’t Tomi know?” Carter continued.
Shit, of course Carter would pick up on that one little slip. The man could read people like they were a 3D movie.
“Just drop it. You don’t need to know why…you just need to know that you can’t tell her.”
There was a pregnant pause in the kitchen, and then Clint said, “Stahl has something on you, doesn’t he?”
Cole stared at his younger brother without blinking, praying that Clint couldn’t see the truth in his eyes. A lost cause, for sure.
“I fucking knew it,” Clint jabbed a finger in the air. “I knew we couldn’t trust that agent. Stahl is a snake.”
“He’s not a snake,” Cole said.
&nb
sp; “But he does have something on you,” Carter butted in.
Cole stared them down for all of a minute before he caved. He’d never hidden anything from his brothers before. They had always operated as a unit, just as their father had taught them they should. You trust your family with your life, and you protect your family with your life.
“Stahl is threatening to pull our license to operate in the United States if I don’t cooperate and do as he says. He will destroy Fury Security.”
He’d expected them to look shell-shocked, but they looked furious instead. Carter, in a surprise move, burst out, “That prick. I knew you were acting funny.”
“Sure as hell doesn’t surprise me. He’s ruthless, he has no family, and he cares about no one but himself. Don’t let him threaten you with us. That fucker can’t take down our firm. It’s solid. We did everything right,” Clint said.
“He won’t have to take us down legally,” Cole said, “but he can blacklist us for every contract we apply for. We’ll go belly up in months. I can’t do that to our family. This is what we’ve all worked so hard to build. I won’t be the reason Fury Security goes under.”
Clint swore, turned, and punched the wall. His temper always showed itself in hot flashes and quick bangs that appeared and then fizzled out with equal speed. Neither Cole nor Carter reacted in any way.
“Stahl still suspects Tomi, and he’s threatened to destroy us if I tell her the truth. We have to play nice.” Cole paced the kitchen again, his restless energy reaching a plateau. He fucking hated lying to Tomi. It made his mouth taste like sawdust.
“How long do you have before we have to move to the mansion?” Carter said.
“Two days. Two days to make her fall in love with me and trust me completely.” The words sounded as hopeless as they felt. How in the hell could he make her fall in love with him all over again, when he didn’t even know the real reason she’d left in the first place?
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