by Brynne Asher
Rattle.
Rattle.
Bloody, fucking rattle.
I’ve always loved Cole’s touch on me—his heavy hand is like a weighted blanket. I sleep better, deeper, and even though I’ve never been a worrier, I’m lighter, sharper, and my focus is beyond superior with him.
He breaks through the silence for the first time since Randolph walked through the door to his condo. “I’m going to tell you something and the only reason I’m saying it is because your body isn’t what it used to be.”
I grab his hand and turn to glare. “What do you mean my body isn’t what it used to be?”
His damn smile lights up the room and he looks pleased with himself. “Not like that. You could be a pile of mush and I’d be obsessed with you.”
I look at the ceiling and sigh. “Then what are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the fact you’re not strong enough to try to hogtie me. Not that you could at your peak, but it was always fun when you tried.”
I listen to glass clinking on glass followed by a slosh of liquid. I hope the old bloke is getting sauced and will eventually spill every secret in his big, fat head. “Please get to the point and quit wasting words.”
His hand returns to my head and this time there’s nothing methodical or hypnotical about it. His touch presses in, bossing one lonely word. “Relax.”
For the second time in a matter of moments, I grab his hand but this time throw it across the bed at him. “You know how I feel about being told to relax.”
He starts to laugh but a knock breaks through our conversation. And since Cole and I were the only ones talking, we shut it down because the three strong raps on wood did not come from our door.
I look at Cole and he loses his cocky and demented sense of humor.
The crystal and ice we’ve been listening to for far too long hits a hard surface right before the latch to his condo turns.
“You’re late.” Not the friendliest of greetings. I assume it’s not a lover he’s intending to woo.
“Ah, Chuck. We’ve got time.” Hmm. A man. An American he could have met in the States?
The door slams. “I’m busy and don’t have time to wait around on you.”
“You’re in paradise. You can’t be busy.”
It doesn’t take much for Randolph’s fire to burn as hot as the tropical sun. “I have no desire to be near you—this is the only safe place we can meet to discuss business. And we have a lot to discuss.”
More ice cubes and glass clinking followed by a dramatic sigh. “Go on then, Chuckie. Get to it.”
A pause settles over the wires before Randolph spills. “I’m raising my rate. From now on, if you want your contracts, I need twenty-five percent.”
If I were a jumpy person, I might jerk out of my skin. But instead, I look at Cole and cock a brow when the gent howls with laughter at Randolph’s pathetic excuse at negotiations. Once he finally gets control of his hilarity, I can barely make out his next words. “You made me leave the country, change planes three times so I wouldn’t be followed, and fucking sweat my ass off to ask me that? I told you how I feel about the fucking heat.”
“I’m not asking,” Randolph bites. “This is non-negotiable. My prices are going up. It’s called inflation. It’s the American way.”
“Bribery.” His associate drawls. He might as well be speaking to a small child, and not one as bright as Abbott. “Bri-ber-y tends to raise prices more than inflation. So many people want a cut, don’t they?”
“Prices have spiked,” Randolph bites. “I can’t help what’s going on with the Euro. Manufacturing costs have increased, so have other services.”
Glass hits glass angrier this time—followed by an even louder bang, and now I’m worried for his decanter. “I’m in the business, Randolph. I know what military-grade weapons cost. You shouldn’t’ve brought me here to feed me shit about an industry I know inside and out. You get fifteen percent to make sure we get awarded the contracts. It won’t change. I won’t allow it. Whatever extra expenses you have are on you and you alone.”
“Dammit, Ambrose. Listen to reason. We need each other for this cycle to keep going.”
Ambrose. My eyes shift to Cole but his are on a laptop he’s tapping away on.
“Wrong. I don’t need you. Without you, I’ll have to make my bids competitive. You seem to forget, your kickback is what we’re gouging from the government. I’m not making any extra, just a guaranteed contract.”
“Raise your bids.” Randolph’s desperation leaks through the wires. I might not be in the same room but his anxiety is easy to feel in his tone. “No one will take a hit—not you and not me. You know my take is small. I might get fifteen percent, but I send most of it to Europe to keep this shit moving. We need to make sure the defense committee continues to buy at the rate they do.”
The man lowers his voice, yet it eerily becomes louder as he’s gotten closer to the bug. “You might’ve started this cyclone, Randolph, but do not fucking tell me how to run my business. You gave me an opportunity years ago, I took it. What you do with the government’s money I feed you under the table is on you. You’re the one who turns your kickbacks into fucking blood money—not me. I keep my employees in jobs, make sure they have health insurance, and offer them a safe place to make a competitive wage. You create havoc on the other side of the world so our military stays engaged. You’ll take that to the grave—not me.”
I sit up straight and ignore the stabbing pain in my abs. When I twist to look at Cole, his expression mirrors my surprise.
Randolph keeps arguing his point. “You’re in as deep as me. The cost is low but the payout high.”
“The cost, you assured me, would be destruction not death. That hasn’t been the case. And yet, you demand more money you won’t have an issue dipping into a vat of blood.”
Another pause and Cole threads his fingers through mine.
“Don’t stop talking,” I whisper, begging them through the wall to feed me more.
“A busload of people here or there isn’t much. It’s not like we had another nine-eleven. I’m making sure the demand is there so our troops will stay busy. It’s basic macroeconomics. Are you familiar with the simple bell curve?”
“You killed those Americans in Spain. You might as well have detonated that bomb with your own middle finger as a fuck you to your own country,” the man clips and all the oxygen leaks out of my body. Cole squeezes my hand but I barely feel it.
It was Randolph. I knew he was linked but I had no idea it would be him.
Randolph keeps spilling. “We needed to make a statement. How was I to know there would be a fucking bus full of tourists from Idaho there?”
The man’s tone takes another dive into a deeper and more dangerous zone. “Consider this your only warning, if more humans die—from any-fucking-where in the world—I’m out. Find yourself another manufacturer to do your dirty work.”
I can barely breathe as there’s movement in the neighboring condo. No, don’t leave. Not yet.
Randolph mirrors my thoughts. “Wait. I’m sure we can come to some sort of agreement.”
“Nice try. Already disgusted with myself that I ended up in bed with you. I don’t want to be in any deeper. You disgust me. I have no idea how you sleep at night.”
No, no. Don’t leave!
Cole lets go of my hand and grabs my cell—the only one left between the two of us after the last couple days. After pressing a button, he speaks into the phone. “Asa. You heard? Yeah. I need someone to tap into the CCV of this building. Ambrose—I want an ID and bio. If you can’t do it, I’ll log into my CIA profile to do it myself. I need a picture for facial recognition.”
Cole pauses and I can’t find the words in my brain … not even one to express the piercing pain in my heart. But I can find others because I know exactly what needs to be done next.
“Money,” I mutter and look at Cole. “We need to follow the money.”
He
holds a finger up and continues speaking to Asa. “Yeah. I want to know every single move he makes electronically. He’s storing funds somewhere and we need to find out where they’re going.”
A slew of tones come across the wires and I smack Cole in the arm to get his attention. “He’s making a call.”
“Asa, hang on.” Cole pops his earbud back in just in time because it’s not a long conversation, but holy hell, what he says next drops my jaw.
“Yeah, it’s me,” Randolph bites. “I tried, but couldn’t negotiate for more. Marie Kasey needs to disappear. For good. And I need to know who else she’s talked to. Make it happen in the next twenty-four hours. I want it done before I land in DC tomorrow night.”
Chapter 19
Do You Trust Me?
Four Years Ago
Cole
“Never?”
She doesn’t answer, but just like my Bella, she doesn’t cower and doesn’t back down. She definitely holds her own. Even after she informed me she has never.
As in, she’s a virgin at the age of twenty-three.
I try not to move a muscle but it’s really fucking difficult seeing as though I’m hard as a rock and my blood is pumping so fast I might as well have just finished a triathlon.
She bites her lip and exhales, her small tits heave inside the bra I was about to rip off. “I’m sorry.”
I don’t move from where I’m lying on top of her, trying to control my lungs and will my blood to leave my cock the fuck alone since he’s pressed against her pussy which has never seen any action. We’re only separated by her panties and my boxers.
I try to wrap my mind around this. This is not what I expected from Isabella Donnelly. We’ve worked together for two months, and I can honestly say, if I ever thought I experienced sexual tension in the past, I was wrong. No woman has ever consumed my thoughts, had an effect on my decisions, or driven me to such a state of frustration I’ve wanted to put my fist through a wall on a daily basis.
“You’re apologizing for being a virgin?”
Okay, probably not appropriate for this exact moment, but to be real—I did not land in bed with Bella stripped down to almost nothing by saying the right things. Not sure I can count on one hand the times I’ve said the right things in life.
Her fingers—along with her nails, dammit—press into my biceps and her face turns hard. “No, Cole. I’m apologizing because I allowed it to go this far. I should have told you sooner. I’ve just never gotten to this point with anyone.”
I know I’m not improving my averages when it comes to perfect words, but I can’t help it and I damn sure can’t keep the self-satisfying grin off my face. Despite what she admitted, I press my cock—that is now even hungrier—into her uncharted territory. “You mean, no one’s ever done this?”
Her panties were soaked when I slipped her jeans off fifteen minutes ago. By the look in her eyes, I know she feels it in her clit.
But she doesn’t answer.
I lean down to take her mouth—her lips might be as swollen as her clit is when I’m done. The need to taste every inch of her just shot through the roof.
I let her mouth go but our breaths are still entangled in a way that might leave a scar on my soul. “Why me?”
Her chest heaves below mine where I have her pressed into the hotel bed. She shakes her head. “I don’t know. You piss me off on a daily basis, Cole. Trust me, I’ve asked myself that same question.”
I slide my hand under her back and roll, pulling her on top of me. But my cock has no desire to lose contact, especially now, so I grab her behind the knees and pull them up my sides. “I’ll tell you why me.”
“For the love, you are a cocky arse. Yes, Cole Carson, please enlighten me as to why I’m here, close to naked, and have just admitted how I’ve never been like this before—with anyone—yet, for some reason you are the chosen one. Tell me. I cannot wait to hear.”
I slide my hands up her thighs and cup her ass, easily palming each beautiful globe as I file away all the wicked plans I had for them. They’re going to have to wait.
It can all wait.
“Because I challenge you. Because I respect you. Because you know I know how good you are at your job. I’ve even stood up for you over the last two months with assholes who have dismissed you because you’re young, beautiful, and they think you got where you are because of your name. And also because I’m hot and you turn into a knot of sexual frustration waiting to be untangled every time I brush a finger across your fair skin.”
Her golden hair curtains us and I’ve seen every emotion pass through the bright eyes I’ve tried my hardest not to get lost in over the last two achingly-long months.
She doesn’t argue, so I run a hand up her spine and press in, her tits molding to my chest. “For a little while there, I thought maybe you were into older men, but now I know that’s not the case. You’re only into me.”
“Cole—”
I shake my head and lift my hips, watching her breath catch. It might be the most fascinating thing I’ve ever experienced—to have complete control over something as complicated and spectacular as Isabella Donnelly. How I can control the oxygen that feeds her body and gives her life by what I do between her legs. And I plan to spend a lot of time there in the foreseeable future.
Who knows, maybe my unforeseeable future too.
I pop her bra clasp with a flick of my fingers and I’m well aware my actions do not mimic my words. “I’m going to slow things down, sweetness.”
I lose her eyes and she buries her face into my neck as her bra hangs slack. I drag my hands up her sides, brushing the small swell of her tits that are still pressed into me. Not sure I could be more obsessed with her body. She’s tall, lean, and strong, yet so very fucking female.
“No sex,” I announce and feel a smile spread across my skin. I dip my hand into the back of her panties and easily reach between her legs where she’s spread wide—open and ready—only for me. And like I knew from earlier, she’s wet. “But I am going to make you come.”
Keeping her tits pressed to me, she leans up on a forearm to gaze down. I see it in her eyes. She wants it.
“Then I’m going to come,” I add and her eyes widen. “And you’re going to watch. I want you to see what you’ve done to me for months.”
I flip her to her back and her bra hits the floor before I have a chance to settle between her legs. We never bothered to turn off the lamp when we stumbled into her room—lips locked and pawing heavier than a couple of lions mating on National Geographic.
She doesn’t try to hide herself but it could be because she can’t take her eyes off my boxers sliding down my thighs. When my cock bounces free, I silently promise him some action to make him feel better—just a different kind than we thought tonight was going to bring.
When the only piece of clothing left on the bed are the panties still snug on her ass, I don’t take my eyes off hers as I fist myself followed by one tight pump. Bella’s tongue sneaks out and I’m forced to wipe the vision of her swallowing me balls deep. After what I learned, that’s not going to happen for a while and I’m surprised at how okay I am with it.
“Do you trust me?” I ask, slowly pulling my fist up and down.
She drags her feet up to her ass and presses her thighs together. “With what?”
“With everything.”
Those long, smooth thighs overlap and I lose her eyes.
“Bella,” I call for her.
She lifts her lids and swallows hard before giving me the nod.
“Say it,” I demand. “After what you just told me, I need to hear it.”
Very English and all Bella, her words wrap me in a vise with no key. It’s at this moment I realize I’m fucked—in every way I never expected. “I trust you, Cole.”
I let go of my needy dick and reach for her hips. By the time her panties pass her toes, she tucks her feet back to her ass with her legs glued together. I’m knees to the bed, looming over her.
> There’s no push or pull when I slip a finger between her knees. Her long legs part willingly and I find myself in a place I only imagined while in the shower or late at night in the room next to hers, hating the wall that kept her from me.
Now, there’s nothing between us, nothing tangible, anyway. Had I only known there would be something else much bigger than I ever imagined.
Huge.
Her innocence.
I’ve never been with a virgin.
I cut the gaze between us, dropping my eyes to her spread before me. Open. Trusting. Untouched.
All fucking mine.
I spread my knees, sitting back on my calves, and drag a finger down her inner thigh. Only when I touch her pussy for the first time do I look up at her. “What about this?”
Her tits rise and fall quicker now with each breath. “What about what?”
“You never,” I look down at my index finger circling the topic at hand, “but has anyone done this? Touched you?” I spread her farther and find I was right. Her clit is as needy as my cock. I circle her swollen little organ, promising it great things in the future. “Played with you?”
She closes her eyes and her exhale comes sharper than a razor. “Would you care for my sexual CV, Carson?”
“Carson.” I barely dip a finger inside her, enough to spread her want everywhere, clit to ass. Getting to know her as she gets to know my touch. “Thought you dropped Carson a long time ago. I’m not Cole to many people, baby, but it’s who I want to be to you.”
“No, dammit,” she clips and opens her eyes. “No one has done what you’re doing besides me. Are you happy?”
“Yeah.” I confirm the feeling coursing through my veins. “I’m actually really happy. Not going to lie—tonight is not turning out like I thought it was going to. Never could’ve thought this up but it’s actually a hell of a lot better.”
