by Cari Quinn
The angle in the mirror wasn’t good for me. I couldn’t see enough. I twisted to look over my shoulder and he adjusted my hips to line us up. I was too short, and his bed too tall. He swiped the head of his cock along my slit. I rose onto my toes to urge him inside me, but that wasn’t in his plan.
Why couldn’t he be like any other guy and just go at me? Moments like the counter explosion the night before were so rare. It was so unusual for him to lose all control.
Normally, he had to make sure everything was just so. Just his way.
The fitted sheet popped and sprang toward me thanks to my frustrated grip.
He leaned over me. “Impatient, Ms. Copeland?”
“Get on with it. We’re going to be late.”
“As you wish.” He growled and thrust inside me.
I went onto my toes as his teasing dissolved into a relentless slam of hips against my ass. I swear to god he was going to rip me apart.
But I loved it. I pushed back against him and moaned as my body fisted around each inch of him. Overwhelming and intense—the way he owned my body never failed to unnerve me, even as it thrilled me.
I cried out as the orgasm hit me out of nowhere. My thighs shook and I groaned as spots floated in my vision.
He made an inhuman sound and suddenly he was gone. Warmth spread across my lower back followed by his shuddering breath finally dented my blissed out state.
No condom.
Sweet Jesus, I hadn’t even paid attention. I looked up at the mirror and noticed his shoulders heave in reaction. His hair had tumbled forward and shock bloomed across his boyish face.
“Stay still, Grace.”
“It’s fine. I’m on the pill.”
Disheveled and quiet, he finally backed away and disappeared into the bathroom. He came back out with a warm washcloth and the usual Blake in place.
I rather liked when he was out of control, but I also understood how much it cost him to open up in any way.
He gently cleaned me up and curved a hand around my hip. The withdrawal was coming, but letting him get away with it was exhausting. I straightened and turned into his chest.
His arms were like iron bars at his sides.
Nope, not today.
I slid my arms under the tails of his shirt to the skin of his back and held on until he finally relented and held me too. He pressed his cheek to the top of my head. I peered up at him. His eyes were wary, but not as shattered. The possessive gleam was returning actually. Enough that I backed up. He caught me by my elbows and lifted me onto my toes.
Heaven forbid that he would actually lean down to kiss me. Nope, he has to bring me up to him. We stared at each other as he nipped my lower lip before sweeping in for a full on taste.
My eyes fluttered closed as I fell into the rare bit of connection. We didn’t really do well with the actual relationship portion of things.
It was either business or pleasure to the extreme with a hint of barbarian high-handedness. What did it say about me that it was the latter that usually soaked my panties?
He lowered me to my feet. “We have much to accomplish today, Ms. Copeland.”
“I’ll be ready in ten.”
“Make it eight,” he said and left me to go to the bureau to finish dressing.
I curled my fingers around the doorjamb. What was that I said about liking his high-handedness? “You don’t want to come into the shower with me?”
He glanced over his shoulder. “No, I think I’ll wear your scent on me today.”
Well, hell. That was going to be in my head the rest of the day. He was such a bastard.
Six
Grace
The ride into Boston was quiet. Blake seemed to be lost in his thoughts even more so than usual. And for once, I didn’t mind the silence. I needed to get my head in the game. It was stuffed full of random pieces of information.
My grandmother’s secrets.
Numbers which made my head spin, and I was good at numbers, dammit. I practically ran Blake’s business when he was too wrapped up in individual projects. But here and now, I was marching into overwhelmed status.
We parked and spent the elevator ride going over the high points for the day. Instead of coming up to the executive floor with me, he stopped off in RnD.
“I’m going to use my workshop to go through some of the data. Easier to use multiple screens to do side-by-side comparisons.”
I nodded. “Good idea.”
He curled his hand over the open doors. It was early enough that no one was around. I frowned as he hovered at the threshold, one booted foot over, the other still in the elevator.
“Blake? Did you forget something?”
His jaw flexed.
I frowned. “What’s wrong?”
He stepped back into the elevator and pushed me up against the back rail, lifting me onto my toes. His mouth covered mine in a hot and hard kiss.
Distantly, my work brain whispered a warning about cameras, but the lusty side was way louder.
Lusty for the win.
I grasped his shoulder with one hand and slid the other under his coat, suit jacket, and into the silky back of his vest. So much heat and power trapped under classy wool.
He’d always been very dominant in how he kissed and touched me. Oh, there were moments of sweetness, but overall, it always seemed like when he touched me it was as if a padlock had been snapped open and his passion came roaring out.
This was no different—except this was at work.
His hardness dug into my middle. Part of me wanted to palm him again. Another part ached to drop to my knees and take him in hand.
Had the air around us been peppered with some hormone-inducing crazy gas?
Finally he drew hard on my lower lip and stepped back. “I’ll see you for lunch.” His chest was heaving and his impeccable hair had been mauled by my hand…somehow.
I didn’t even remember doing it.
“Yes, Mr. Carson.”
His fingers fisted around his messenger bag. “Ms. Copeland.” His voice was thick and deep and then he was gone, striding down the hall and disappearing into the huge office he kept there.
An office I’d never actually been in.
The doors slid shut silently and the glass-enclosed elevator rose to the executive floor. When the door opened, Jack met me in the hallway.
“You’re late, Blondie.” His eyebrow hiked up into his shaggy blond hair. “And disheveled.”
“Shut up, Jack.” I stalked down the hallway to the bathrooms and he followed me. “Do you mind?”
“Unisex,” he said with a shrug.
“What is it with you men today?”
“I’d figure you’d be in a better mood with the messed-up do and all.”
I turned to the mirror and bit back a groan. I’d started out the day with a smooth ponytail. Somehow Blake had jerked it askew and my blouse was untucked.
Awesome.
Violet had probably caught that little grope and tickle on the video feed. Did I mention awesome?
“Unless you want a show, Jack, I suggest you tell me what you need to say and get the hell out of here.”
Jack leaned against the doorway. “Not that I wouldn’t enjoy the show, but I do value my balls. Blake’s not above snipping them off for being in your dance space.”
I met his gaze in the mirror. “Get to the point.”
“Right, Thorny.”
I tugged out my makeup case and gave him a bland look.
He cleared his throat. “One of the names of the companies was niggling at me, so I did some digging.”
I paused as I slicked on a fresh coat of lipstick. “How much digging?”
“I may be in the private sector these days, but I do have some friends left in the Alphabet Soup of agencies.”
I recapped my Poppin’ Pink and threw it into my bag. “Any particular branch of the military?”
“More like FBI.”
I sighed. Of course Jack knew people in the F
BI. Why not? “Am I going to like this tidbit of info?”
“Depends.”
“Yeah, that means no.”
“Well, it certainly gives us some insight. How much remains to be seen.”
I stuffed my blouse down into my trousers and buttoned my cinnamon-colored blazer. Evidently I wasn’t going to get the chance to do a full reboot of my outfit. I moved to the door, but he held his arm across the threshold.
“I don’t really need this info under the watchful eye of our security cameras.”
I frowned. “That’s not ominous.”
Jack’s mouth tipped up in his usual smirk, but the spark was missing from his eyes. “It could mean nothing.”
“By your reaction, I’m voting for something.”
“Two of the companies listed are in Brooklyn.”
“All right,” I hedged.
He sighed. “I can’t be sure. And these two companies are legit.”
Unlike some of the ones that we researched. “But…” When he drummed his fingers on the doorjamb, I tipped my head back. “Spit it out.”
“Mob ties, Blondie. One definitely, the other all but verified.”
I laughed. “What are we in a movie?”
“I wish. And while the movies make them sound pretty bad, the reality of organized crime in New York City is even worse. No horse heads in bed. Instead, people just go missing. Not floating in the river in three days, just gone.”
I swallowed. “And you think my grandmother was involved with these people?” My voice was little more than a whisper.
“I don’t know what the hell Annabelle Stuart was into, but if she’s even on the outskirts of these dealings then we’re…” Jack dropped his gaze. His nails went white with the pressure of his hold on the doorjamb.
“We’re fucked?”
His gaze snapped to mine. “Let’s just say I’m worried.” He dropped his hand. “Where’s Blake? And why isn’t he with you?”
“He’s on the fifth floor.”
His brows snapped down over his bright blue eyes. “He’s got a wild hair for a design now?”
“Well, that’s what he wants everyone to think. He’s combing through the data on his system.”
“Gotta hand it to that guy. Not an idiot.”
“No.” I twisted my keys on my bag. “Should we tell him what you found?”
“On lunch. We’ll see if he finds the same things I did.”
“Okay. Good idea.”
Jack opened the door. “Ready?”
I smoothed my hand over my middle. “Yeah. Let’s get this charade over with.”
We both moved into the corridor. Jack’s assistant, Derek, waved on his way into Jack’s wing of the top floor.
“I have three calls this morning I can’t miss. And you’re covering for Blake on the Los Angeles call with Lila?”
I nodded. “Yeah, it’s just a check in so the assistants are all that’s necessary.”
“Okay, good. Let me know if you need anything.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“You always are. We were lost when you were gone for those few weeks.”
I grinned as I dumped my bag into my drawer. “Thanks. Blake would rather saw off his tongue than say that.”
“You know him all too well.”
“Yeah, I do.” I dropped into my seat and booted up my system. “I think nutty chicken should be on the menu for later.”
“I think that can be arranged.” Jack gave me a little salute.
The morning went into fast forward after that. Lila Shawcross—now Crandall—and I met via vid conference at eleven. Otherwise the entire morning was filled with administrative duties that left me far too much time to think.
How on Earth was my grandmother involved with something so nefarious? The biggest conversation piece we had around the dinner table was which family was throwing the bigger summer bash. Who was sleeping with who, and who got the bigger divorce settlement.
I rarely cared about the goings on of the Marblehead rich, but I listened to my grandmother because that’s what you did when you loved your family. And she always seemed to get such a kick out of the gossip.
But now it looked like she was stirring half of it.
My lips twitched as the messenger box blinked, dragging me out of my overactive mind.
BC: Have you crumbled my empire this morning?
GC: Only a quarter crumbled. I think we’ll be able to fix everything over nutty chicken this afternoon.
BC: Nutty chicken is not the correct name.
GC: Sure it is. You knew exactly what I was talking about.
BC: Regardless, the lunch will be welcome. Are there any fires to put out?
GC: I have everything well in hand.
BC: Of this, I have no doubt.
The warm glow hit me low and I curled my fingers away from the keyboard. This was the second time he actually gave me a compliment—well, sort of. A Blake compliment.
When there were no other messages forthcoming, I lost myself in the piles of work that had somehow multiplied like gremlins. Handholding with engineers on job sites, a new order for a skyscraper in Seattle under the Chapel Enterprises purview, and another client thanks to Donovan Lewis.
I was hip-deep in spreadsheets and another bottle of Pepsi Max when Jack dropped the bag of Thai on my desk and took three months off my life. “Geeze. Warn a girl, would you?”
“I’ve been calling your name for five minutes, Blondie.”
“Oh.” I pushed my seat back. Somehow I’d crept up until the screen was about six inches from my nose. “Sorry. What time is it?”
“Half past starving.”
I swiveled to face him and stretched my fingers before I laid them against my growling stomach. “Yeah, no kidding.” I pulled the edge of the bag open. “What did you get me?”
“What else?”
My mouth watered. “Any appetizers?”
“Everything is buried.”
“Damn.”
Jack held out a sleeve of spring rolls. “Like I wouldn’t give you your candy.”
I snatched it out of his hand and took a bite. “Oh, yeah. That’s the stuff.”
“Should we go feed the bear?”
I finished off the spring roll and licked my thumb. “Probably. Though he doesn’t seem to be feeling very bear-ish.”
“Are we talking about the same guy?”
I stood and grabbed my blazer off the back of my chair. “This was a few hours ago.”
“Sounds more like it.”
We took the elevator down to the darkened hallways of Research and Development. We got to the doors and Jack tried his card, but they didn’t unlock.
Hmm. That was new and different.
I knocked on the door, but there was no reply. I moved over to the control panel and pressed my card to the reader and it buzzed open.
“Really?” Jack asked.
“I…” What the hell was I going to say? Blake’s CEO didn’t have the code to his lair, but the girlfriend did? That probably wasn’t going to go over well.
Jack swung open the door. “What the hell, Carson?”
Blake looked up from a huge steel table with four thirty-inch screens making up a massive curving work station. Three more wide screens were bolted on the wall behind him and some sort of search was being done on two of them with another running code.
I didn’t even know Blake knew code.
He slapped a few keys and all the screens went dark.
Jack’s eyes went arctic as he pushed the food into my arms. “Are you fucking kidding me with this? I put my neck out for you and now you’re locking me out?”
Blake came around the desk. His jacket was gone and he was just in his vest with rolled-up sleeves and his glasses perched on his nose. The tie I’d fashioned was hanging on the edge of one of the screens, my knot still in place.
Now was definitely not the right time to be getting the swoons about that, and yet…there they were.
&nb
sp; “These aren’t my secrets to share.” Blake’s voice was cool and dismissive.
Yeah, that wasn’t good. I put down our bag of Thai takeout and lunged after Jack.
The two men faced off, both of them similar in height and stature. And for once, Jack was the one in full business armor. His affable nature was gone, and I was pretty sure that I never wanted to be on Jack’s bad side.
Like ever.
Holy crap.
“Okay, separate corners, you two.” I waded in between them, resisting the urge to shut my eyes. Could laser beams actually come out of eyeballs? They were doing a good job of practicing, that was for damn sure.
Jack was immovable, so I went with Blake. His anger was far cooler, more of a slow burn. Jack was more like that fire guy from Inside Out. Good thing he had a thick head of hair or flames were going to shoot out the top.
I pressed both of my hands on his chest. “Blake.”
He broke the dead man’s stare and swiped his hand over my hip before drawing me next to him. “It’s sensitive information.”
I looked between him and Jack and frowned. I trusted Jack, but there was definitely an air of caution blowing off Blake.
And I really didn’t know why. Sure, there had been that cufflink thing Blake had told me about, though Jack had just been trying to look out for me by following me to the beach house. Besides, I thought they’d talked about that and put it to rest.
Apparently not.
I’d once believed Jack was the only man Blake trusted on this planet, but now it didn’t even seem like he trusted him.
“It’s all right,” I said. “Jack is on my short list.”
Blake glanced down at me with a small nod. He moved to the bank of monitors and flipped them back to life.
Jack was still stiff as he rounded the edge of the desk and stood before the ones on the wall. “What the hell kind of algorithms are you running?”
“First screen is to the Massachusetts registry of businesses.”
Jack shot a look over his shoulder. “Do I want to know how you got into that kind of proprietary information?”
Blake lifted a shoulder. “Public record for that one.”
He snorted. “Right.” Jack motioned for the second screen. “And that one?”
