Emma wraps her arms around my back and pulls me in close. Her hips roll with my gentle thrusts, her sweet noises combining with my deep groans. I keep the pace steady and slow, tilting my hips so I’m hitting that sensitive spot inside her at just the right angle with every inward thrust.
I smooth back the damp hair across her forehead and cheeks and kiss her tenderly as our bodies rock in a sensual rhythm. Little moans escape her lips as our kiss deepens, and I wrap my arms around her, holding her as close as I can.
She flexes beneath me, her spine arching, her back lifting from the bed. She cries out, and I move my lips to her neck as her arousal soaks us both.
The slick friction from her orgasm drives me to quicken my pace. So much for heroic stamina — my balls are already tightening with an impending climax. I can’t help it, not with the way her body moves with mine, the way my cock fits inside her, not with how hard I already was from watching her come and the feelings swelling inside my chest.
Emma’s hands sweep down my back to my ass, her fingers grabbing, pressing me in deeper. “Come for me,” she whispers.
If I wasn’t already on the brink, that would have done me in, right there. I hold my breath, my stomach tightening, then I let myself release inside her. My body shudders, and I swear I glimpse the edge of heaven as I climax with her in my arms.
I pant to take in air, collapsing to the side to let the mattress take most of my weight, and yet, I still cover her.
“Stay with me,” I tell her, breathing hard, a hand on her stomach. “I’m not finished with you. There’s more where that came from.”
“I hope so,” Emma says with a soft smile that makes my heart skip. She lays back on my pillow, her fingertips grazing across my cheek. “I’m not going anywhere. Not tonight.”
21
Jude
“Do you know her name?” Gunner asks.
“She didn’t have a tag. But I’m thinking Mabel.”
“A little old fashioned, don’t you think?” He squints at me, not sure if I’m serious.
“It’s a perfectly good name for a dog. And we can’t all go by nicknames from our jarhead days, Oswald.”
“Hey. You promised.”
“Then tell me Mabel is a great name for a dog.”
Gunner’s squished into the center of our corner booth at the pub. It only serves to make him look even more disproportionately large. He taps his empty beer bottle on the table at a steady clip, but a smile breaks out. “Mabel’s a great name for a dog. If it’s a bloodhound from the eighteen-fifties.”
Ready to continue our dispute, I raise my eyebrows at him, but Trigg cuts in.
“She putting any weight on?”
I take my attention off Gunner, who raises his empty beer bottle and waves it in the air, signaling for a refill. Our waiter will be over quickly. They take good care of us here, and we tip damn well. One of the reasons it’s my favorite laid back place to have a drink. Not too noisy, not too crowded. And there’s a lot of off duty cops, firefighters, and ex-military who hang out here, so there’s a masculine comradery that hangs in the air — something I miss from my military days but having the boys around me as much as I do helps with that.
“I’d say she’s put on five pounds already.”
Trigg nods. “Good. Poor thing needs it. Probably another ten pounds after that. She’s one of the skinnier ones I’ve seen you take in.”
I wad my napkin up, needing something to crush. “Yeah. I had to be careful how much I fed her at first so she didn’t get sick, but she’s up to a full portion size now. She should put the weight on quickly.”
Gunner leans back, patting his stomach with both hands. “Just have Emma cook for the pup, that’ll do the trick. I’m having to get in a little more cardio these days.”
“You don’t have to eat every last serving — we have Tupperware for leftovers, you know?” Trigg says. “You’re not going to be able to pack food away like that forever.”
“Hey, if Emma keeps cooking, I’ll keep eating.”
Those two have been roommates ever since getting stationed together soon after Gunner joined up. They could each afford their own place ten times over, but kind of like me, I think there’s something about those days they miss, and they just keep going on together. I’m a little envious of that, actually — being that close to someone after all these years and still choosing to live together — just because you like the person.
Across from me, Jax tilts his head at Daniel. “Speaking of Emma — what’s the report?”
Daniel diverts his eyes down to the table, using the waiter coming over with a fresh beer for Gunner as an excuse to collect himself. He’s obviously uncomfortable, and there’s only so many things Daniel gets that uncomfortable about. The look on his face tells me it’s something bigger than the last time he acted like this, when he backed his Mercedes into my brand new Land Rover. Brand new as in just delivered and not even driven once. But this nervousness today, it’s something else.
“What are you fidgeting so damn much for?” Gunner complains.
“Went that well?” I ask, on edge.
Daniel clears his throat and speaks calmly, but his eyes are darting everywhere. “We discussed what you wanted me to talk to her about, yes.”
Gunner stares at him for a minute before slamming a big hand down on the table. “You churned the butter, didn’t you?”
Daniel’s jaw opens, but he quickly shuts it and looks away.
“You know, the squat thrust in the cucumber patch?”
Trigg issues a warning shot to Gunner’s arm with the back of his hand. “Hey, he knows what you’re talking about.”
Daniel arranges the napkin in front of him. “Gentlemen don’t speak of such things.”
“You fucking dog,” Gunner scoffs in disbelief. “After all the bitching the other day about what we’ve done — you went right out and planted one in the melon field, yourself, didn’t you? Had to even the sco—owww!” Gunner rubs his skin. “That one hurt.”
Trigg shakes his hand from delivering a hard blow to Gunner’s shoulder. “Good. Now shut the fuck up,” he says, glancing around at the rest of us warily.
Tension fills the air momentarily as we all grow silent and fiddle with our drinks. We’ve come to a tenuous agreement on Emma. Meaning we just aren’t talking about it, other than business and her safety.
Gunner gets Trigg’s not-so-subtle hint and grows quiet. He grabs his fresh beer from the table, leaning back in the seat as he takes a long pull.
I turn back to Daniel. “You were saying?”
He takes a deep breath before beginning. “I would have to say that our talk confirmed our suspicions. The apartment, paying her living expenses, the five of us—”
“It must feel heavy-handed to her,” I cut in.
Daniel adjusts his napkin into a perfect square in front of him. “Yes, I believe it does. The reality is she chose us because of a series of unfortunate events — and it certainly could seem like we’ve orchestrated this situation to put her in a position of vulnerability.”
“But you helped to convince her otherwise, right? Does she think it’s us screwing her?” Trigg asks.
Gunner opens his mouth to make a quip but thinks better and takes another swallow of beer.
“I don’t think so. I mean, it’s possible there’s some question in the back of her mind, but I don’t think she really believes it’s us, not at the moment, anyway,” Daniel says. He pauses a beat, taking a deep breath. “But... that’s the good news.”
My body tenses at his words. “There’s bad news?”
Jax raises a skeptical eyebrow. “Something worse than her having doubts about our involvement?”
Daniel nods, his brow furrowed, a heavy frown on his lips. “Much worse, I’m afraid.”
I’m not sure I want to hear this.
“You know that asshole I had to work with before I officially joined you guys at the Doghouse?” Daniel says, referring to our nickname for
the forward operating base where we spent our last year of service. “Actually, Jude, you met him once for all of ten seconds. I wouldn’t expect you to remember him; you were never even introduced.”
“The one who brought in the new drone technology?” Trigg asks.
“Yeah, Jeremy Brandt.”
Gunner sits up. “The asshole on the boat?”
“Yeah. Him. He’s one of the main reasons I got out of the government contracting work. It’s not that there isn’t some level of sketchy shit going on everywhere, but that guy kept dropping these hints that he screwed his partner over in the deal with the DoD. Joking about it like it was a badge of honor.”
I nod uneasily, not sure where this is going. “I don’t remember the guy, but I do remember you telling us about that project.”
“Right. Well, I got the feeling that the program might not have been his to sell. I mentioned it to my superiors at the time, but nothing came of it.” He takes another deep breath. “Now I know all the innuendo about fucking his partner was much more literal.”
A silent beat passes as things click in place for all of us. “Emma?”
Daniel nods.
My lips pull back in a snarl at the confirmation. “Goddamn it. I knew there was a reason she’s so guarded.”
“I should have taken that fucker out when I had a chance.” Jax’s jaw is clenched so tightly, I’m surprised he can speak at all. “I’ll snap his fucking neck the next time I see him.”
Gunner and I exchange an uneasy look. We both know that tone in Jax’s voice. If Jeremy was here right now, my twin would smash a bottle into his face and cut his throat with the shards, no hesitation.
“He’s the new rep at BHC, right?” I ask, trying to shift gears. “So why is she still entertaining an offer from them? I can’t imagine she’d want to do business with him?”
“Well, there’s two problems,” Daniel says slowly, choosing his words carefully. “First, I don’t know if she’s aware BHC has recruited Brandt. I’m guessing she isn’t, because like you say, I find it unlikely she’d be willing to give them the time of day if she knew.”
“Then we need to fucking tell her!” Gunner pipes up.
Daniel holds out a hand. “That’s the other problem.”
“We’re their direct competition,” Jax says, an angry breath pouring from his nose. “Goddamn it.”
“So? I don’t care,” Gunner huffs. “Fuck ethics and all that, she needs to know.”
“We swore we wouldn’t interfere. That we’d be completely hands-off with her negotiations,” Trigg reminds him.
“This is different,” Gunner insists.
Trigg rubs his forehead. “I hear you. But we just keep crossing all these lines with her and justifying them. Where does it stop?”
“This whole situation is already way more complicated than any other business deal we’ve touched,” I say, just as pissed off as Gunner, but trying for a logical approach. “And it’s not just business anymore, is it?”
“No, it sure as fuck isn’t.” Jax says, crossing his arms. He turns to Daniel. “I take it you didn’t tell her that you worked with Jeremy?”
Daniel doesn’t have to answer; the guilty expression on his face says it all. But he doesn’t pull any punches, throwing the question right back. “Does she know about your history with him?” he asks, his eyes fixed on Jax.
Jax turns away from his stare, and our booth gets quiet again as we all contemplate the situation. The hole we’ve dug ourselves into just keeps gets getting deeper. We’re damned if we do, damned if we don’t.
“I worked practically hand in hand with Jeremy for months on the drone program,” Daniel says quietly, his eyes on the label of his beer. “I couldn’t bring myself to tell Emma.”
“The fact that both you and Jax have connections to Brandt... just fuck. Fuck.” Trigg smacks the table in frustration.
Daniel releases an uneasy sigh. “I don’t think any amount of explaining is going to fix this. Not with Emma already skittish.”
I grunt unhappily in agreement. “If anything, it just puts us higher on the list of suspects.”
“Do I hear Major Jude Turner?”
We all cease our conversation immediately at the deep voice and look to the opening of the booth.
I need to blink a few times for the face to register. “Holy shit. Last time I saw you, you had a five-inch beard. How the hell are you, Sergeant Roth?”
I stand to give my old comrade a true man’s hug — chest to chest and palms slapping hard on the back.
He steps back, taking in the group. “Doing great. Man, look at all of you. Trigg, Gunner, you guys haven’t changed a bit. Shit, I think you’ve gotten bigger, Gunner.”
Trigg’s up next, offering the sergeant a man’s hug as well. “He still steals all my protein shakes. Drinks them like they’re water.”
Sergeant Roth turns to my twin. “You must be Jax. Christ, you weren’t kidding. You guys really are carbon copies, aren’t you?”
Jax doesn’t have a chance to make an introduction, because Gunner practically climbs over the table and wraps his former comrade up in one of his trademark rib crushing, gravity defying bear hugs. Roth expels a grunted breath before Gunner puts him down and rubs the other man’s chin. “I liked the beard.”
Roth shrugs. “Spec ops didn’t mind, but the FBI likes us clean cut.”
“That’s right, you’re a suit and tie man now,” Trigg says.
“As are you,” Roth counters. “Nice you finally taught these other chumps how to make some coin.”
“Hey, I know a good thing when I see it.” Trigg gestures toward Daniel. “Ever work with this guy?”
“I don’t think so. Aiden Roth,” he says, extending a hand. “I shared some missions with these guys back in my Devil Dog days.”
“Daniel Kent,” he replies, giving Roth’s hand a firm shake. “I was a contractor. Tech based.”
“The brains behind all that specialized gear,” Gunner explains.
“You stationed at the local Bureau office, then?” I ask.
“Transferred in two months ago. I finally have enough seniority; I’ll be able to stay in one place for a while now.”
“Does that mean they have you playing desk jockey?” I know Roth loved being out in the field with his men just as much as I did.
He holds his hand out, giving it a so-so twist. “A bit of both. There’s always a shit load of computer work these days, but they let me out to play sometimes.” Roth’s eyes divert over my shoulder, and a smile lights his features. “Say, my date just arrived, but do you guys hang out here much?”
“My favorite pub,” I tell him. “You can probably find me here at least once a week.”
“Perfect. I’ll catch up with you guys later.”
Gunner salutes his former sergeant with his beer bottle. “To getting lucky.”
Trigg punches him in the shoulder again.
“Dude. You’re going to give me a bruise.”
Roth gives me a knowing grin — the setting may have changed, but Trigg and Gunner haven’t. We share a silent handshake, one more hard pat on the shoulder, and he’s off to meet up with a pretty blonde standing by the bar.
“Damn, it’s good to see him again,” Gunner says as everyone shuffles back into the booth.
Daniel looks at me. “Do many guys join the Bureau when they get out?”
“Quite a few,” I reply. I try to add up just the ones I’ve met in this bar. “Between the FBI, the CIA, and just local and state police departments — that takes up a pretty solid chunk of veterans. Bet you half of the cops and firefighters in here have served. If you don’t want to run into someone you were deployed with, don’t go to cop bars.”
“Maybe that’s it,” he says.
We all turn to Daniel.
“That’s what?” I ask.
“We moved Emma right into our apartment building. It’s made it easy for us to just pop in to her place or have her up for dinner. We run into h
er constantly, in the parking garage, the elevator, the lobby.”
“You think we’re smothering her?” Trigg’s brow is creased with concern.
“I think she feels like she owes us. Maybe like we’re trying to buy her loyalty,” he says.
I clear my throat, remembering her words in my office. The less I owe you, the better. “You might be right. She told me she doesn’t want to be in our debt.”
“So then, what?” Jax asks. “She and Zoey gave up their apartment; they can’t go back there.”
“What if we just set Emma up in a different building?” Daniel suggests.
“One in her old neighborhood,” Trigg adds. “Give her some distance. Someplace she won’t be tripping over us all the time.”
“I like her being in our place,” Gunner says, frowning.
Daniel nods. “Me, too. But this isn’t about what we want.”
All eyes turn to me as Trigg asks, “What do you say, boss?”
I’m with Gunner — I don’t like the idea. If it were up to me, Emma would have an around-the-clock security detail. But keeping her close might come across differently to Emma. It might feel too much like keeping her under our thumb. “If it’s going to make her more comfortable,” I say reluctantly. The last thing I want is for Emma to be uncomfortable around me.
“I want to get her an attorney as well — of her choosing,” Daniel says. “Part of me suspects that when she was offering for Jax and I to take a look at the Gamma segment, she was just testing us. She’s smart as hell, but with this kind of money on the table, she needs a good legal team to advise her on contract terms and help oversee any deal, no matter who she signs with.”
“Done.” I agree. “Let’s put the ball in Emma’s court, where it belongs.”
22
Emma
“Thank you. That would have taken me forever by myself.” I lean against the wall of my new, scaled-down apartment, appreciating the sight of Gunner bending over to place a stack of boxes on the floor.
Hidden Agenda: A Reverse Harem Romance (The Code Book 2) Page 18
