I.N.E.T 2

by Brenda Cothern

  Agent Payne was entrenched in a motorcycle club just outside of Miami. The Satan’s Blades were well known. Not only to the locals, but to every alphabet agency. It was no surprise that INET had an agent embedded within the MC.

  Knight instinctively recalled Agent Payne’s personnel file. 6’1, 215 pounds, blonde hair and green eyes. Ex-Delta Force. He joined INET after eight years serving Uncle Sam. His parents were deceased and he had no siblings. He was a loner just like the rest of them for the most part.

  Lack of family ties seems to be par for the course for INET agents, Knight thought.

  He forced himself to push all thoughts of the other agents’ profiles from his mind. They were easy to dismiss. However, the thought that he might be the exception to the ‘INET norm’ was harder to bury in the back of his mind. But, he refused to think about his sister when he needed to concentrate on their next assignment.

  “He’s been under for almost two years, right?” Knight asked Fish for confirmation of his calculations from the file.

  “Yes,” Slade answered before Fish had the chance. The tone in his partner’s voice made Knight raise an eyebrow in his direction.

  Slade acknowledged Knight’s questioning look with his lips pressed tight together after he spoke. He glanced at Fish to see, to hope, his boss would say something. Fish met his look steadily for several seconds and Slade knew his boss was going to leave it up to him to fill in his new partner on Payne.

  “Payne went under almost two years ago, but you already know that from his file. He’s been under deep and only sends in names from time to time…” Slade started to inform his partner.

  “What do you mean time to time?” Knight interrupted. “He doesn’t have a check-in schedule?” Knight inquired, but already knew the answer from the case files he had already committed to memory.

  Any agent who went solo undercover didn’t have a set schedule to report in to INET. It was too dangerous to their cover to keep any type of schedule. Most agencies would assume an extended silence from an operative meant they had been exposed or were dead. INET didn’t have that concern since all of the field agents agreed to be chipped with a bio tracker.

  That spot in Knight’s right armpit didn’t even feel tender anymore after he was chipped. The decision to be chipped or not was his, but after considering all the pros and cons, it only made sense for the agency he put his trust in to protect him while undercover, to be able to do just that by knowing his location.

  “No. In fact, we haven’t heard from Payne in over four months,” Fish interjected.

  Knight couldn’t read anything in his boss’ expression. He didn’t know and couldn’t tell if this was the norm for Payne or something that they should be concerned about.

  “We usually don’t go more than two, two and a half months without hearing from him,” Slade answered the question he knew his partner was about to ask.

  He hadn’t given any thought to Payne’s silence lasting longer than normal since they had all been in positions where they couldn’t report in on a regular time schedule. In fact, when Fish did the last team brief and there was no update, Slade hadn’t given any thought to the lack of an update on Payne’s status. Of course, dealing with his new partner for the last couple of months probably had to do with that as well.

  “So, the 911?” Knight asked and looked at Fish.

  He knew a 911 was indicative of a request for extraction. The last 911 Knight had experienced had been before he was even officially an INET agent when he joined Hunt and Lita to get Slade and Zep out of Fernandez’s clutches.

  “Payne’s 911 only included that his current op had escalated. He didn’t give any details, but what he did send made it clear that he needed backup,” Fish answered steadily. “So, you two and the rest of the team are going to Miami. I’ve already scheduled with the other ABCs and apparently they have an ICE agent already embedded in the Satan’s Blades MC.” Fish held up his hand to stop either of them from speaking.

  “Payne isn’t aware of the agent or he would have mentioned it. So, it’s safe to assume homeland isn’t aware of Payne either.”

  “Shit,” Slade cursed and scrubbed a hand over his face.

  Knight wasn’t sure what to make of his partner’s reaction to the news of another federal agency being embedded in the motorcycle club. He thought that having some sort of backup for Payne, even if it was from another agency, would be a good thing. Apparently not, based on his partner’s reaction to the news.

  “Exactly,” Fish agreed. “There’s no way to let either of them know about the other, but that’s not going to be our biggest concern before a bust.”

  Both Slade and Knight looked at Fish expectedly because neither man could think of a worse cluster-fuck than one agency raiding and an agent from another getting caught up in the crossfire net.

  “Dare I ask what is?” Slade asked because he really couldn’t think of anything worse than the situation Payne currently found himself in while undercover in the club.

  “ATF already has their wheels turning to send their own agent in.” Fish looked pointedly at Slade.

  Slade tensed and tried to cover his reaction to Fish’s words. Why he tried to hide his reaction to his boss’ implication of who ATF might be sending in, he didn’t know. Knight would sense the minutest change in his body language so he wasn’t sure why he bothered at all. Habit?

  “You know who they’re sending,” Knight stated instead of asked when he looked at Slade. There was something in his partner’s body language that made the hairs on the back of Knight’s neck stand up.

  “Spider,” Fish answered and when he didn’t elaborate, Knight shifted his focus from his partner to his boss.

  “Who the fuck is Spider?” Knight knew his question came across as more anger laced than he actually felt. He didn’t like the way Slade was acting after the news that ATF was about to be involved in an op that was theirs for the last two years. It was bad enough ICE was already involved, but there wasn’t shit they could do about that.

  “We’ve been trying to recruit Spider for years,” Fish answered. “Every time Slade’s approached him with the offer to join INET, well let’s just say, Spider made it more than clear that he was happy with ATF.”

  Knight looked from Fish back to Slade and stared at the man until his partner finally turned his head to look at him.

  “So, he’s going to be a problem working with?” Knight’s mind was already sifting through scenarios that could possibly fuck up there op.

  “He won’t be a problem,” Fish assured. “I’ve already arranged for him and Slade to approach the Satan’s Blades as members of the Knights of Valor.” Slade coughed, but Fish ignored him and continued. “Payne’s back story is that he had been a part of KoV before he moved to Florida and he was now looking for a new MC.”

  “And what’s the back story of the Knights of Valor?” Knight asked with a raised brow. “Are they even a real club?”

  “Oh, they are a real club.” Fish grinned. “Requirement for membership is previous enlistment in the Special Forces.”

  “Really?” Knight looked at Fish skeptically. “Seems like discharged or retired Spec Op guys would be a little too squeaky clean to have any street credit with those who are dealing in the shit we are trying to bust.”

  Fish’s unexpected bark of laughter caught Knight off guard even though he had been staring at their boss. Fish’s mirth seemed genuine and all Knight could do was wait for the man to respond to his comment.

  “The Knights of Valor are like the lowercase version of our alphabet soup.” Fish chuckled. “They don’t fall under any one agency, but work for all of us in their own way when we need them to. The KoV are all Spec Op operatives; Delta, Seals, Marine Recon, Green Berets. They’ve all been through hell and they are still serving their country, just not officially on Uncle Sam’s payroll or leash.”

  “Still, if that’s the case,” Knight started, but Fish walked right over whatever argument he was about to
present.

  “The ABCs have provided them a reputation as outlaws. Former military who are disgruntled over their experience with Uncle Sam.”

  Knight found it hard to believe a motorcycle club that was comprised of former Special Forces military personnel could be acting as some rogue undercover group for all the federal agencies.

  “And they have no oversight?” The question escaped Knight’s lips before he even realized he had had the thought.

  “They don’t need it,” Slade spoke up and his words caused Knight to glance at him. “They tip off the ABCs to shit we would never know about and offer their service without question when we request it.” Slade shrugged. “If any of the ABC agencies tried to collar the Knights of Valor they would be cutting off a resource they could never hope to replace.”

  Knight weighed Slade’s words. Everything his partner and boss said made total sense to him when he thought about the value of undercover agents’ information.

  “We have info on them somewhere?” Knight looked at Fish for confirmation.

  “I’ll send you the file.” Fish grinned. “But, it won’t tell you much about Spider.”

  Knight heard Fish’s warning at the same time he caught his partner, from the corner of his eye, tense again. He decided he would figure out what Slade’s reaction to the man’s name was after they were finished with Fish.

  “So when do we leave?” Slade didn’t wait for an answer before he continued. “If I have to ride the bike to Miami, I at least want a night’s sleep beforehand.”

  Fish snorted and Knight was sure it was because of the look on his face. There was no way in hell that Knight was going to ride ‘bitch’ on Slade’s hog all the way to Miami.

  “You’ll head out tomorrow. Hit up Deat. He’ll give you your Knights of Valor vest and the rest of what you’ll need,” Fish told Slade. Knight didn’t get a chance to say a damn thing, question, or otherwise before Fish hit a button on his phone.

  “Get your asses in here,” Fish spoke into the speaker of his desk phone.

  The door to Fish’s office opened so quickly that Knight suspected that their teammates may have been eavesdropping. The thought of Lita, Hunt, and Zep crouched down outside Fisher’s door made him chuckle.

  “Lita, report to Deat with Slade to get outfitted. He’ll fill you in on the way. You’re both leaving first thing in the morning.” Fish only paused for a moment before he addressed the rest of them. “Knight, Hunt, and Zep, you’ll be back up for Lita and Slade when they meet up with Spider to backup Payne.”

  A sound like a canary chirping rebounded off the walls of the small office and every head turned toward the source of the noise. The silence stretched on for several moments before Fish addressed the awkward response from his agent.

  “There a problem, Zep?”

  Zep cleared his throat and the flush that caressed his skin spoke of his embarrassment. “Nope. No problem,” Zep assured without looking at any of his teammates.

  “Good. Now get your asses up-to-date on Payne’s op. ATF is sending us what they have and we’ve done the same, so that Spider is on the same page as us.”

  Knight’s eyes hadn’t left Zep’s since the man made the squeaky toy sound. His teammate appeared paler than normal and nothing like the man who had just pointed his weapon at them not that long ago. Knight didn’t know his teammate well, but he knew body language. Zep was either nervous or scared as hell to be working with whoever this Spider person was and Knight had a feeling working with the man wasn’t going to be a good thing.

  He followed his teammates out of Fish’s office. Knight was still focused on Zep’s strange behavior when he walked into the cubicle that he shared with his partner. He didn’t realize that Slade was still standing, still staring at him, until he sat down at his desk.

  “What?” Knight asked because he didn’t recognize the expression on his partner’s face.

  “Why are you drilling holes into the back of Zep’s head?”

  Knight raised a brow. He knew Slade wasn’t jealous about his sudden focus on their teammate. Still, that didn’t stop the smart ass smirk that spread his lips or the words that followed.

  “You jealous?” Knight stood back up from his desk and stepped into Slade’s personal space.

  Slade couldn’t help but grin when Knight retorted. His grin was widening when Knight stepped closer. Of course his grin wasn’t the only thing that was getting bigger. The sight of his partner stepping into his space was enough to make his cock that had wilted from meeting with Fish, spark back to life.

  “Should I be?” Slade returned Knight’s smirk because he knew there was nothing for him to be jealous over about Knight’s focus on their teammate.

  If anything, Knight’s focus on Zep was because of Zep’s reaction to hearing they would be working with Spider again. They all had history with the ex-Delta soldier. However, the tension between Zep and Spider was almost to the point that Slade just wanted to lock them in a room together. They could beat the shit out of each other or fuck. He didn’t care either way, but dealing with the tension between his teammates and the ATF agent was not something he was looking forward to dealing with at all.

  Knight laughed. He knew Slade’s comment was because his partner thought he was sexually interested in Zep. Still, he liked hearing the slight uncertainty he detected in Slade’s tone.

  “Do you want me to be?” Slade’s mind and body reacted to his partner’s words and body that was so close.

  “Maybe.” Knight closed the distance between them and grasped Slade’s hips. “What would you do about it?”

  Slade growled in response to Knight’s question and pulled his partner flush against him. He didn’t waste energy on words, but instead grasped the side of Knight’s head to hold him in place before he attacked the man’s mouth. Slade was reveling in the sensation of Knight kissing him back just as hungrily when a voice broke through the haze of lust that was beginning to consume them both.

  “Get a stall!” Lita laughed.

  Slade pulled back from Knight and smiled against his partner’s lips. He didn’t say anything. Instead, he grabbed Knight’s hand and pulled his partner out of the cubicle and toward the men’s room.

  ##~~##

  Three

  Regardless of Slade implying he needed a full night sleep before riding his Harley to Miami, he didn’t get much sleep. No instead, he was deliciously sore from all the sex they had had.

  The moment the door to Knight’s apartment closed, his partner was on him. He had been just as hungry for Knight. There was no telling how long they were going to be working different ends of this op. Since Knight didn’t ride, he was regulated to surveillance. His partner wasn’t the least bit happy about it, either. In fact, Slade wouldn’t put it past Knight to learn to ride the moment this op was over.

  He winced slightly when he sat down at the breakfast bar to drink his coffee. It was going to be a bitch riding the bike for a few hours. Slade grinned. At least Knight would be just as sore for his ride down even if he was going to be in a car with the rest of the guys.

  “Shit,” Slade cursed at another jolt of pain that shot from his ass when he turned toward the sound of Knight walking into the kitchen.

  Knight chuckled. “You wanted it hard.”

  Knight could feel his partner’s eyes on him while he poured his cup of coffee. Knowing his partner was staring at him like a side of beef he wanted to devour made Knight’s cock twitch.

  “I did,” Slade whispered against Knight’s lips when his partner pulled back from a good morning kiss. A laugh escaped Slade’s throat when Knight winced when he sat down next to him.

  “You did, too.” Slade grinned around the rim of his coffee mug before he took a sip.

  “I did,” Knight agreed, echoing Slade’s words, and matched Slade’s grin with one of his own.

  He wasn’t sure what had gotten into either of them the night before, but whatever it was, Knight couldn’t wait to do it again. Even if his
ass was killing him. They had each topped the other before, but had never switched off in the same night. It was a wild ride. Made even more so by Slade pulling out rope to secure his wrists to the headboard. Just thinking about how kinky his lover was had Knight’s cock rock hard.

  The first time his partner told him to borrow a T-shirt out of his closet had been an eye-opener. They had only been back in the office for a week and had ended up at Slade’s place. Hot and dirty sex resulted in Knight’s T-shirt being cut off his body. Hence, the need to borrow a shirt from Slade.

  The array of kink related shit that littered Slade’s closet had stunned Knight. Stunned or not, that didn’t stop him from touching the various pieces of leather and running his fingers through the tails of several floggers.

  “This going to be a deal breaker?”

  Slade’s voice had startled him and when he looked over his shoulder, Slade was grinning. It was that grin that let Knight know he’d been set up to find Slade’s kinky collection.

  Knight’s cock had been so hard that he knew the items in Slade’s closet weren’t breaking any deal that they had between them. He turned to show Slade his answer instead of replying. That morning was the first time Slade had restrained him. It was also the morning that Knight demanded to be taught how to use all of the shit so he could return the favor and use it on Slade. His partner laughed and agreed.

  “My ass can’t take any more before I leave.”

  Slade’s comment brought Knight back to the present. His partner was eyeing up his erection that was clearly outlined in his black boxer briefs.

  “But, if yours can…” Slade smirked. He knew Knight’s ass was just as torn up as his so there wouldn’t be any fucking before they both left for Miami.

  “Uh, no.” Knight chuckled and leaned closer to Slade. He wasn’t surprised to find his partner’s cock hard as steel when he dropped his hand into Slade’s lap.

  “Still, we should take care of this because I am sure you’ll be uncomfortable riding your hog with your dick this hard.”