Brain

by Candace Blevins

  I nodded and gave her a peck on the forehead, then brushed my lips across hers, and dipped down to tease her lips with my tongue until she opened and let me in, smiling as we kissed, and I knew she was okay.

  * * * *

  Harmony

  I asked for Gonzo and Bash to be brought in for the meeting. This was about everyone’s safety, and leaving team members out of informational meetings was a bad idea. I’d just have to put my big girl panties on and deal with it.

  They were in the room when Brain and I entered, and I ignored my body’s knee-jerk anger response when I saw them.

  Ranger growled, low in his chest, and patted the empty sofa cushion beside him. When I sat, he looked at me, his eyes dark, and said, “If the Russian comes here there’s a good chance I’ll rip him to pieces, because I don’t know what he did to you, but the kind of terror I smelled when you heard his voice tells me it was bad.” He looked around the room, and back to me. “If you want me to, I’ll tear into Gonzo and Bash. Not enough to kill them, and they’ll be okay again by the time we need them, but it’ll still hurt like hell.”

  “Can’t let you do that,” came Duke’s deeper than normal voice from behind Ranger. We all looked at him, and he said, “They were actin’ on my orders. You need to tear someone apart, it should be me. I didn’t know she’d been tortured, but to be honest, we might’ve used that to our advantage, if we’d known.”

  “You know what?” I told them, pissed at the whole situation. “None of that matters right now. Yeah, I had a moment when I heard Ivankov’s voice, but I’m okay now, and no one will right the wrongs for me — I can take care of handling that, myself. Ivankov’s son was tortured and killed because of events I set in motion, and he knows his other adult children who’ve chosen the same career path are at risk as well, if he comes after me again, and yet he’s decided to risk it. I went after his son because I couldn’t get to him, before. If he comes here, he’s mine, understood?”

  I looked everyone in the eye, and they all seemed to understand I meant what I said. I nodded and started the meeting by letting them listen to the bank manager make the original call to Ivankov and leave a message, and then the return call. I outlined what we’d picked up from network traffic, and the fact Ivankov is apparently in New York right now, and not Russia, which means he could very well come here in person.

  “Brain is watching the flight manifests, to see if he buys a ticket, though we know he likely has access to a private plane so it may not net us anything. We’re also watching his email, cellphone, and texting activity.”

  Brain picked up with, “I’ve viewed the feeds they’ll have access to — traffic and security cams from around the city, and I feel confident they’ll lose the trail so they can’t follow her back to here, and then when they reverse the feeds, to see where she came from, they’ll lose the trail there, too. I don’t foresee them attacking the house, though we’ll need to keep our guard up, obviously. Our next big danger zone is likely when Harmony and Duke leave the bank with the money, since the Russians will think they’ll get her and her cash all at once. We already know the game plan for D-day, and as of this moment I see no reason to alter those plans.”

  I looked at Bash, got eye contact, and said, “Thanks for wearing a dress, today. I know it was asking a lot of you, and it’s appreciated.” I scanned the room and added, “Thanks to all of you, actually. I’m going out onto the veranda to read for a while.” I touched Ranger’s arm and asked, “Ranger, would you mind being my plus-one outside for a while, so Brain can keep an eye on communications?”

  “I’m capable of manning the control room, if you’d rather have Brain outside.”

  “No offense to either of you, but he’s better with electronics, and you’re better with personal security. I think we need to play to our strengths, right now. I’ll relieve him in the control room in a few hours, so he can have some down time.”

  I went to the room I shared with Brain, changed clothes, washed my face, and got my hat and sunglasses. Ranger met me downstairs, also in a hat and sunglasses, and walked me out to the veranda. As I sat, he said, “A few questions, and then I won’t bring it up again.”

  I looked at him without agreeing to answer anything, and he asked, “How long did they have you?”

  “Counting the plane ride halfway ‘round the world, seventeen days. I thought the first seven were bad, but then Ivankov arrived, and… things got infinitely worse.” I paused as I considered how much to tell him, and finally said, “He isn’t the man who demanded my capture, he’s just one of their lead torturers. My beef with him is personal, and now his with me is personal, as well. I made things right with his boss, and Ivankov was long ago told to leave me alone, but I’m the one who got away, and he couldn’t let me go. I thought going after his son would make him back off, and it did for a while, but apparently not anymore.”

  Ranger looked doubtful. “You made things right with the Russian Mafia, after they felt the need to capture and torture you, and you escaped?”

  I nodded. “I didn’t have the names to give them when they tortured me, which is a good thing, because my cred went way up for not divulging. Plus, they’d have probably killed me once they had the info, and then I’d have never managed to escape. However, I knew something else they wanted to know, so I traded them that info, plus a job I knew they were struggling to handle. So far, they’ve kept their end of the deal, though they’d already set the NSA and FBI on me, which has been a bitch to live with.”

  “You don’t seem eat up inside over being the cause of Ivankov’s son’s death.”

  I smiled, and knew it to be what people had told me in the past was my ‘scary smile’. I saw the recognition in his eyes when he understood I’d kill in order to survive, and wouldn’t be sorry about it, and I told him, “His son was a bad man. My intention was for him to suffer horrible torture at the hands of his Mafia family, but I’m not sorry the man didn’t survive the ordeal. I was passed out and likely near death many times when they threw cold water on me, or put something under my nose to bring me back to consciousness. Ivankov didn’t let me die, no matter how badly I wanted to.”

  “If we get him, he has to die, or you’ll always be looking over your shoulder after him.”

  “I know.”

  “I was going to offer to kill him for you. My soul has enough stains on it, one more won’t hurt it… but now I’m not so certain you’ll take the offer in the spirit it’s intended.”

  I shook my head. “If you get a shot, take it, but don’t step in to save me from having to do it, if I have a shot.”

  “Deal, but if I step in front of you to catch a bullet, it’s because I can heal from it, and you might not. Okay?”

  I smiled. “Yeah, okay.”

  I read for a few hours, and then relieved Brain, though he merely sat in a more comfortable chair behind me, his eyes closed. He said he just needed to be in the same room with me a while.

  I kept an eye on things using his set up, and poked around on Ivankov’s IP address with my laptop proxied so he’d never trace back to me. I got into his computer, but all I learned was the man liked really sick porn.

  Apparently, my smell changed when I saw it, and Brain was to me in an instant. “I’m okay,” I assured him, “just a little disgusted at his porn collection, is all.”

  “You seemed okay interacting with Duke, making it look real. Anything you need to talk about?”

  I shook my head as I looked through Ivankov’s other folders and files, and Brain watched from his seat beside me.

  “Him looking different made it easier. Every time I see his face, I see him coming at me with that damned syringe, and feel the panic at being out of control and not knowing where I’d wake up.” I sighed. “You did it to me, too, but then you went out of your way to treat me with respect, even though I was your prisoner. It was about power and revenge for them. It was different, and I’m having a hard time moving past it.”

  “You don’t h
ave to move past it. When we finish here, you’ll never have to see them again, and I intend to have a discussion with Aaron that’ll guarantee we don’t run into this problem again.”

  “No, Brain. Aaron’s right. They’re your family, and families fight sometimes, but they make up. I’ll figure out a way to be okay with Duke, eventually, and while I may never be okay with Gonzo or Bash, I need you to be able to join your family, again, so I’ll work it out enough I can be in the same room with them.” I ran my fingers through his silky hair and reminded him, “I was the bad guy at the time. Bash enjoyed humiliating me, and Gonzo was a cold assed bastard, but neither of them actually hurt me. I’ve survived worse, and Bash was probably a little humiliated in the dress today. Seriously, I’ll get over it. They’re trying.”

  He shook his head and leaned down to brush his lips across my cheek. “I’ll leave you alone so you can snoop through his computer. If he has a log-in for the Mafia’s systems, he’s probably had the software remember his passwords, that’s where I’d head from here.”

  “Already looked. I have the IP address he logs into, but nothing more. I installed a keylogger that’ll email me his strokes at three o’clock every morning, and I already put an exception for it in his firewall. If we don’t get something out of it in the next couple of days, I’ll decide whether I want in bad enough to hack in. Honestly, at this point I’m inclined to leave the organization alone and just focus on him.”

  “Are you gonna be okay if you come face to face with him?”

  I took my hands off the keyboard, turned to Brain, and met his gaze. “Before, I wasn’t sure, but now, with you in my life, and the healing I’ve done with your help, I will be. I might fall apart afterwards, but I’ll be fine while I’m facing him, if it comes to it.”

  I held his gaze until I could see he believed me, and I turned back to the laptop. “I’m only going to stay in another three or four minutes, and then we can chat about whatever you want.”

  As it turned out, he didn’t want to chat. He called Bash in to watch everything, and he took me upstairs to bed.

  As I slid into my pajamas, he said, “I’m just going to take them off.”

  “You’re the one who keeps reminding me about wolf hearing. No way can I relax, knowing they’re listening.”

  He sat on the side of the bed, pulled me to him so I was standing between his legs. “I know why you had to touch Duke, let him put his arm around you, hold his hand, but my wolf’s having trouble with it. I don’t ask for a lot, but I kind of need this, tonight.”

  I just looked at him through a dozen of my rapid heartbeats, unsure how to respond, and he added, “They know we’ve had sex, and wolves are used to hearing stuff humans don’t normally hear.”

  “Just knowing some of them might be hearing this conversation is a little mortifying.”

  He gave his cocky-assed grin and said “Well, then, we should probably stop having it and get to work.”

  I rolled my eyes, but I knew I’d do my best to give him what he wanted. He was right — he didn’t ask for much. Plus, he’d done so much to help me through my fucked-up baggage. I could do this.

  Maybe.

  I leaned in, kissed him, and he groaned as I sat in his lap, straddling him.

  He reclined back, his hands braced on the bed, and his voice was a rough growl as he said, “Take the shirt off for me, Buttercup.”

  I complied, and then took the bra off as well, teasing a little before I let it fall. He let me see his wolf looking out of his eyes, and I held his gaze a few seconds before dropping my gaze. I didn’t need to play dominance games with his wolf. Brain respected me as a woman and a person, if I needed to lower my gaze for his wolf, I would.

  He sat up, his arms around my back to support me without trapping me, and his tongue circled my nipple, teasing me. I knew he wouldn’t do much more than this, so I could relax and enjoy, and let the sensations travel from nipples to clit as I ground my hips in his lap.

  His tongue trailed up to my neck, and he kissed and nibbled below my ear, along my jawline, and I sank into the kiss as his lips met mine again.

  He pulled back a little, and I moaned at the loss, but he said, “Stand up, finish undressing, and then show me how you want it.”

  My breath caught at the order, his voice low, deep. I stood and removed my shorts and panties all at once, and asked him, “Scoot back on the bed? Please?”

  He did as I asked, but ordered, “Sit on me, then. Wanna see you move on me, watch you get off.” He propped up on his elbows, his hazel human eyes focused on me as if nothing else in the world mattered.

  I’d been slowly getting used to him in my mouth. He hadn’t pushed, it’d been all me, forcing myself, but now I could tease the head of his cock in my mouth, swirl my tongue around a little, and enjoy myself. I relished the sounds he made as I tantalized him a little with the tip of my tongue, but then I straddled him, let him help aim, and I sat on him — taking him into me all at once, letting the shock of it hit us both, and I leaned down for a kiss before I sat up and rode him.

  Several long, delicious minutes in, he ordered, “Lean back and lift up.”

  I didn’t think twice about obeying — I reclined back as his legs came up on either side of me, and I placed my hands on top of his feet, groaning as he adjusted us so his cock pressed across my g-spot with every slide in and out.

  He went slow, at first, but I knew he needed more, knew he was waiting for me to be ready, and I wished he didn’t have to be so careful with me. I mustered my courage and said, “Now it’s your turn to decide. What does your wolf need?”

  I saw his wolf look out his eyes a few seconds, and then it was Brain again. He shook his head, and I immediately knew there was something he wasn’t telling me. I sat up, stopped moving. “Tell me.”

  “He wants it doggie style, but we can wait, Buttercup. How about I stand up and you wrap your legs around my waist? You’ve only had one tiny orgasm, and I can smell your arousal, but let’s not push it, okay? I know you aren’t as relaxed as…”

  I shook my head, climbed off him, and walked to one of the chairs. I propped my hands in the seat, spread my legs, and arched my back. “If this doesn’t work, flip me around and we’ll do the standing thing.”

  It wasn’t exactly doggie style, but it was nothing like any of the positions the Russians had me in when they’d raped me.

  I wasn’t sure I’d ever handle being fucked with my front against the wall, or bent over a table, but I hoped I could handle this.

  All thoughts of the Russians flew out of my head when Brain’s tongue swiped my opening from behind, and I moaned as I arched my back even more, to give him better access. His fingers moved up my labia, enough to stimulate my clit a little from an inch away, but today it was too much. As always, he immediately knew and slid them back down and away so I only felt his tongue, his lips, and within moments I needed more.

  “God, Brain, you’re going to drive me crazy with your tongue. I’m ready for you.” He didn’t let up with his tongue, though, and I growled at him as I arched my back even more.

  When he finally stood and pressed his thick length into me, nothing existed except his hands on my waist, his cock spreading me open, and my need.

  “Don’t you dare start out slow,” I warned as he sank into me, and thankfully, he gave me what we both wanted, and within a few moments I was screaming my way through an orgasm as he continued to pound me from behind.

  As soon as the orgasm was over, he lifted me and carried me to bed, put me on my back, and went back into me as he ordered, “Wrap your legs around me.” His voice was rough, feral, wild, and I knew his wolf was close to the surface, but I wasn’t afraid.

  I wrapped my arms and legs around him, and felt every damned inch of him as he went in and out, in and out, and I was lost in his eyes. He’d been right to change positions after I came, I needed to see his face, know who was in me, because I knew nothing bad could happen to me when I was in Brain’s arms. />
  Brain worked me to another screaming orgasm, and it wasn’t until later, when I rested quietly in his arms I remembered where we were, and that I’d intended to be quiet. I felt my face flame red as I said, “Oh, fuck.”

  I could hear the cockiness in his voice as he said, “Yeah, my wolf’s pretty happy about that.” He kissed the top of my head. “You’re mine, Buttercup. All mine, but that means I’m yours, too. I’ll always choose you over them. Always.”

  “I know you will,” I told him, and let it drop.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Brain

  We had a day of downtime, which I spent monitoring communications as much as possible. I knew Ivankov was headed here, but I couldn’t get a handle on how many people he’d brought with him. He’d been told to leave her alone, so anyone he brought would be loyal specifically to him, and I couldn’t help but think he wouldn’t have many people willing to go against the orders of the Pakhan.

  Bottom line, though, was I knew we’d have a fight on our hands, likely between the bank and the plane. We’d made arrangements to fly to Cozumel, take a ship to Cancun, and then fly to a small, private airport north of New Orleans on a different private, chartered jet.

  I brainstormed with Ranger and Harmony, and then we brought the other three in for more suggestions and ideas.

  I wanted to go home, forget all about this and just get on with our lives, but Harmony was set on following through, and I knew she needed to do it for personal reasons — the money was just the stimulus driving the op and pulling everyone together… not the true reason for it.

  Harmony and I spent the morning in bed, with Bash and Ranger monitoring communications. I’d set everything up for them, all they had to do was listen.

  And I needed the morning with her in my arms, because I had no idea what the day would bring.

  * * * *