Charmed and Dangerous [Clandestine Affairs 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Zara Chase

  Riley and Maddie laughed.

  “You probably don’t know the half of it,” Maddie said.

  “Did the major intimate to you that anything was amiss with his work?” Riley asked.

  “At the GIS, you mean?” Riley nodded in response. “No, he seldom spoke about it.”

  “Oh well, it was a long shot.”

  Claudia frowned. “Now that you mention it, he had seemed preoccupied just before his death. I asked him if anything was wrong, but he said no.”

  Riley wasn’t surprised to hear it. If the major’s concerns centered on his work, he wouldn’t talk about it to a civilian.

  “Did you meet any of the people he worked with?” he asked, not holding out much hope.

  “No, our relationship was relatively new, and we hadn’t been out much as a couple. We were easing into it, not advertising it until we were completely comfortable with one another. My husband didn’t die that long ago, and your dad, Maddie…well—”

  “I know how he was about Mom. I kept telling him he ought to look for someone else.” Maddie shot Riley a sideways glance, as though the comment was aimed at him as much as Claudia. “Dad only told me a few weeks before he died that he’d found someone special.” She touched Claudia’s hand. “I’m glad he had you, if only for a short time.”

  “Thank you.” Claudia looked suspiciously close to tears. “That means a lot.”

  “Did he leave any of his possessions here for safekeeping?” Riley asked.

  Claudia shook her head. “We hadn’t progressed that far.”

  Damn, Riley had been so sure. “Well, the question needed to be asked.”

  “You know that he volunteered at the drop-in center for veterans?” Claudia asked after a prolonged pause.

  Riley’s head shot up. So, too, did Maddie’s.

  “No,” they said together.

  “He said he wanted to give something back. Try and help some of the guys who’d lost their way since leaving the military.”

  “Typical,” Maddie said softly.

  “Is the center in Falls Church?” Riley asked.

  “Yes.” It was Maddie who replied. “I think I know where it is. There’s a hostel that offers permanent and temporary accommodation according to need, plus a place where vets can drop in for a meal, medical attention, a hot bath, stuff like that.”

  “How long had he been going there?” Riley asked.

  “A few months, I think,” Claudia replied. “He found it depressing and yet rewarding, if that makes any sense.”

  “There was nothing there that caused him particular concern?”

  Claudia spread her hands. “If there was, he didn’t share it with me.”

  Riley stood up. “Well, I guess that about covers it. Thanks for your time, Claudia. It was nice to meet you.”

  “You, too.”

  Riley handed her a card. “If you think of anything else, or if anything happens to bother you, you can reach me on this number. Don’t call the landline. We think…no, we know it’s bugged.”

  “Oh dear, this sounds serious. You will take good care of Maddie, won’t you?”

  Riley flashed what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “Count on it, Claudia.”

  The ladies did a repeat hug, Riley shook Claudia’s hand again, and Riley and Maddie then left the house.

  “Do you think Claudia’s in any danger?” Maddie asked anxiously.

  “No, she’ll be fine.”

  Riley slid behind the wheel and drove them back to Maddie’s.

  “You’re no longer concerned about being seen?”

  “No, if anyone was going to call on Axel, they would have done it by now. You’re probably right anyway and it’s the military that placed the bugs.”

  “Then I shall have a few choice words to address to Major Copeland when he deigns to call.”

  “Save your breath, babe,” he said, patting her knee. “He’ll just deny it all.”

  They arrived home to be told by Axel that all was quiet.

  “Which means we can expect Copeland sooner rather than later,” Riley replied. “The guy in the car would have told him you weren’t alone, Maddie, and that Axel frightened him off. I should have thought of that.”

  “Ah, so you are fallible,” Maddie teased.

  Riley shot her a look that, if she’d known him better, would have warned her she’d just earned herself a spanking.

  “How did it go with Claudia?” Axel asked.

  Riley filled him in. “I wanna check out that vets’ center after lunch,” he said. “I have a feeling about it.”

  “Oh God!” Axel clutched his chest dramatically. “He’s having one of his feelings. This is soooo not good.”

  Maddie laughed. “I’ll prepare lunch right away and then we can get rid of him, Axel.”

  Over sandwiches and salad, the three of them talked about general things. But all the time an air of expectancy that had nothing to do with the case closed in around them. Try as he might—and he had tried real hard—Riley hadn’t been able to shake the images of Maddie in the throes of sexual release. Something had unlocked inside him as he fucked her—something he wasn’t yet prepared to acknowledge. All he knew was that daylight hadn’t shaken the feeling or brought the guilt crashing in on him.

  He glanced across the table at Maddie, fascinated by the way her thick lashes curled against her cheek and her eyes sparkled as she exchanged banter with Axel. He wanted her—no question. But until they knew who or what had caused the major’s murder, they couldn’t afford to let their guard down. Even so, Riley’s decision to check out the vets’ hostel alone that afternoon was a deliberate ploy to give Axel and Maddie some space. It was time to cut themselves some slack and mix business with pleasure.

  But it wasn’t to be. They’d barely finished eating when the doorbell sounded.

  “Showtime,” Riley muttered.

  He held out a hand to prevent Maddie from opening the door and did it himself. He peered through the spyhole and saw a man and woman in civilian clothes standing on the stoop. They were definitely military—Copeland and his female colleague, presumably. Riley opened the door, blocking their entrance with his body.

  “Afternoon. Something I can do for you?”

  Copeland flashed his creds. So, too, did his colleague. Riley took his time studying them. The woman was Captain Shirley Mance, and they were both with CIDC.

  “Come to collect your bugs?” Riley asked, moving aside to let them in.

  “Who are you, sir?” Copeland asked.

  “A friend of Miss McGuire’s,” Riley replied.

  “Sent by Raoul Washington?”

  It was Riley’s turn to dodge a question. He merely shrugged and led the way into the sitting room, where Axel and Maddie awaited them.

  “Major, how nice to see you again,” Maddie said, heavy on the sarcasm.

  “We were just passing—”

  “Of course you were.”

  “We wanted to make sure you were all right and tell you that we’re taking your concerns about your father’s death very seriously.”

  Maddie elevated a brow. “The concerns that you told me were unfounded?”

  “That isn’t precisely what we said.”

  “Even so, I’m guessing you have no news.”

  “Unfortunately not.”

  “Well, as you can see, I’m well protected, so I won’t keep you.”

  “That car you spotted—”

  “Would that be the one you didn’t bother to tell me about?” Maddie glowered at them. “The one that scared me half to death?”

  “It was for your own protection, ma’am,” the woman said smoothly.

  “But you all but told me I was imagining things.” Maddie plonked her hands on her hips. “Why did you break in here and place bugs in my father’s house? What were you hoping to hear?”

  “There were certain…er, anomalies about your father’s death and we wanted to be absolutely sure.”

  “If you tell us what i
t is that you suspect, or hope to find,” Riley said, “we’ll be happy to work with you.”

  Copeland fixed him with a steely glare. “I can’t help you.”

  “Ditto,” Riley replied.

  “Leaving aside the fact that you told me there was nothing suspicious about Dad’s death,” Maddie reiterated, “what right did you have to break in?”

  “Did I say we knew anything about listening devices or break-ins?” Copeland asked with an arrogant snarl.

  “Don’t play word games with me, Major,” Maddie replied, clearly seething. “You just all but admitted it.”

  “Did I?”

  Riley hadn’t known the man for five minutes but could already understand Maddie’s desire to knee him in the nuts.

  “If you or your friends have anything concrete to share with us, we’re more than ready to hear it,” Copeland said.

  “I’ll bet,” Riley muttered.

  “Leave me alone, Major,” Maddie said, getting right up into his face. “When I needed your help, you didn’t want to know. It’s too late now.”

  “You don’t seem to understand.”

  “No, it’s you that doesn’t understand, so let me make myself crystal clear. If I detect anyone following me, watching me, or trying to bug my house, then I have friends in high places who’ll make life damned uncomfortable for you.” Maddie was magnificent in her anger. Riley wanted to applaud but made do with sending Copeland a smug half-smile. “Now, get out.”

  The two investigators turned to go.

  “I think this belongs to you,” Axel said, tossing the bug he’d extracted from the landline to Copeland, who reflexively caught it.

  Chapter Eight

  “What the hell’s going on?” Maddie asked, sinking into a chair.

  “Good question,” Riley replied.

  Maddie frowned. “I don’t get it. If they still think Dad’s death wasn’t an accident, why go to the trouble of bugging the house and having me followed?”

  “Sorry, babe, but I just don’t know.” Riley fixed her with a thoughtful gaze. “But I have my suspicions.”

  Riley paced the length of the room, abstractedly rubbing his chin between his thumb and forefinger. Angry as Maddie was with Copeland and his heavy-handed tactics, she found herself easily distracted by Riley’s physicality. Lean, hard, and unquestionably male, he and Axel made the spacious room feel crowded. Their taut bodies and not entirely civilized male auras were squashed into a space that was too small to contain them.

  Maddie moistened her lips as she continued to enjoy the view. She must be a very bad person because right now she could barely summon up the will to think about her father. Instead she was fascinated by the six-o’clock shadow stubbling Riley’s jaw and the way his hair fell across his chocolate-brown eyes as he brooded on her problems. His strong forearms roped with muscles and his long, capable fingers also caught her attention. She shuddered when she recalled just how enthusiastically her body had come to life beneath those skilled fingers the night before. She turned away from him, mortified to think that her feelings must be written all over her face and that she was drooling like a lovesick teenager.

  “If they were sure your dad had been murdered,” Riley said pensively, “they wouldn’t have had to resort to those methods. They could have told you what they were looking for, asked your permission to search the house, and if you’d failed to give it they could have gotten a warrant and gone ahead with the search anyway.”

  “They’re fishing, in other words,” Axel added.

  “No, it’s worse than that.” Riley ground his jaw. “They know what’s going on, whatever it was your father found out about, Maddie, or at the very least they suspect something. But they don’t want the army to be tainted by association.”

  Maddie scowled. “You mean they want to cover it up? Sweep Dad’s death under the carpet and pretend it never happened?”

  “Looks that way. We’re all posturing around each other right now. I’ll show you mine if you show me yours, and all that shit. Basically that means they want to know what we know but won’t reciprocate.”

  “Only problem is,” Axel said, “we don’t know diddly-squat.”

  “We’ll just have to figure it out then.” Riley picked up the keys to their truck. “I’m going to check out that veterans’ hostel, see what shakes loose. Play nice without me, children.”

  He winked at Maddie and was gone.

  Maddie’s heart rate quickened when she found herself alone with Axel in a house that suddenly seemed too quiet. Something told her that the immediate danger—if there had ever been any—had passed with Copeland’s visit and Axel’s mind was no longer on business. He fixed her with a penetrating gaze that confirmed her suspicions—a gaze she felt all the way to her pussy. Her nipples solidified and an anticipatory tingle passed through her body. Axel was making it clear that now was the time to collect on his rain check from the night before, if she’d let him.

  Like there was any question of her turning him down! Her entire body was on fire with expectation, and the desire to discover a little bit more about the form of loving he’d already described to her was compulsive. His gaze was still fixed on her face, and she met it head-on.

  “Come here.”

  Axel sat himself in the corner of the sofa, one arm dangling casually along its back, long legs stretched out in front of him, and beckoned to her. She walked slowly toward him, her heart hammering at twice its normal rate. As soon as she was within range his arm snaked out and snagged her around the waist, tumbling her onto his lap. She landed with a soft thud, and her arms automatically worked their way around his neck. She buried her fingers in his thick curls, feeling safe and secure again, just as she had when she’d been with Riley the previous night.

  “It’s playtime,” he said softly. “Are you ready for your first lesson?”

  “Yes, absolutely.”

  “That would be, ‘Yes, sir,’ or ‘Yes, master.’”

  “Oh, is that right?”

  “Hmm.” His lips grazed her neck. “We’re more used to giving orders than taking them nowadays.”

  “My problem is that I’ve never been good at doing as I’m told,” she said, biting her lower lip to stop herself from laughing as she got into the spirit of things.

  “Oh, you’ll do as we ask you, darlin’,” he said, chuckling. “You won’t be able to help yourself.”

  “What happens if I don’t?”

  Axel shook his head, sending his mop of curls dancing across his eyes. “You sure you want to know? It’s pretty bad.”

  “What can be so very bad?”

  “Not getting to have any orgasms when you’re desperate to come is worse than water-boarding. Trust me on this.”

  She opened her eyes very wide, conscious of his thick cock pressing into her buttocks. “Not even once?”

  “Nope.”

  She pouted. “That’s just plain mean.”

  “It gets worse,” he replied softly. “Instead of getting release you’ll have to stand naked in the corner until Riley and I decide you’ve learned your lesson.”

  “Hmm, that doesn’t sound like much fun.”

  “Not for you perhaps, but we’ll enjoy looking at your sweet ass and those gorgeous tits.” He flicked his fingers across one throbbing nipple through the fabric of her sweatshirt. “But your hands will be tied and your legs shackled apart so you can’t do anything to make yourself come.”

  “You seem to have thought of everything.”

  Axel chuckled. “We’ve met females who imagine they can take matters into their own hands before.”

  Maddie’s spine stiffened. “I’m sure you’re vastly experienced,” she said primly.

  Axel chuckled and resumed nuzzling her neck. “And if you do as you’re told, you’ll benefit from all that experience.” His hands drifted beneath her sweatshirt and pushed her bra up. His fingers then sank into the soft flesh of her breasts, kneading and caressing like he had a point to prove. “Good g
irls get to be fucked as often as they can take it.”

  “That would be…er, nice.”

  Axel appeared amused by her feeble response. “Baby, you have no idea.”

  “Then show me, master.”

  “Ah, you’re getting the idea already. That deserves a reward.” Axel pinched her nipple hard and pushed his cock against her backside. Maddie groaned. “You like that, darlin’?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  He tapped her butt and tipped her off his knee. “Take your sweatshirt and bra off. I want to look at you properly.”

  She stood up and removed both items, then reached for the snap to her jeans.

  “Leave them!” Axel ordered curtly. “Never do more than either of us asks of you.”

  “Oh.”

  Maddie swallowed, feeling exposed and unsure of herself standing half-dressed in front of Axel. He continued to lounge in the corner of the couch, watching her with an intent expression. Not critical or disappointed, she realized, but deeply appreciative, which made her feel better about herself. Unsure what to do with her hands, Maddie allowed them to fall to her sides as she sent a questioning look Axel’s way.

  “Lower your eyes and bow your head, Maddie. Never look directly at me when we’re you’re submitting to me unless I tell you to.”

  Maddie hesitated for a second or two, thought about arguing, decided against it, and dutifully did as he asked. Far from feeling humiliated, a strange sense of freedom spiraled through her. She was fast discovering that she enjoyed being told what to do. She had no idea what would happen next, and anticipation was half the fun.

  “Touch your tits for me,” Axel said. “Pinch the nipples as hard as you can take it.”

  Her hands came up and did as he asked. She’d never gotten much pleasure from touching herself in the past, but seeing the way his eyes darkened and the bulge in his pants expanded as he watched her changed all of that. Maddie was already starting to realize that being dominated didn’t mean she wasn’t the one wielding the actual power. She gasped when Axel unfastened his jeans and yanked the zip down. He wasn’t wearing shorts, and a huge erection, thick and pulsating, sprang from the opening. Axel idly toyed with it, his gaze never once leaving Maddie.