The Laughing Assassin [Assassin's Diary] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Jennifer Willows

  “It was the best one I’ve ever had, and that says a lot.” He was a grown man and hadn’t indulged in one of the tiny cakes since his last childhood birthday party at the age of ten, let alone the larger version of baked goods. He liked it just as much now as he did then, and he vaguely wondered why he never bothered to eat them anymore. But what the hell would a grown man look like baking cupcakes for himself or buying a tray of them from the grocery store?

  “I’m glad you enjoyed it.” But the way she said the words led him to believe she wanted him to enjoy her more.

  It would only take a single foot to bring them together and give him the kiss that he had longed for at the first sight of her. Her eyes spoke to a need that had to be tapped, and impulsively he leaned forward. Just halfway in her direction, but the six inches that separated the two of them brimmed with anticipation and hunger. She mirrored him, but instead of her movement completely closing the gap between them, the space now doubled.

  Jaden toyed with him, teased him unknowingly, and if he let her, she would take the handful of stolen inches and use them to gain the whole mile. The only saving grace was the fact that a twinkle in her eyes said she loved the idea of being chased, and Jonas didn’t mind the idea of hunting a hunter. Not at all.

  He could see it now. One day when she would not only trust him in her personal space, but welcome his affectionate gestures as well. Jonah would stalk her the same way a ravenous lion stalks a gazelle, around the small dining area until she backpedaled into the kitchen. When he got her back flush to the wall, he would take her there hungrily and without mercy until she begged for him to fuck her brains out.

  He could well imagine how she would respond to his desires, her full lips gaped open for a mere gasp of air as he speared her full force. Her panties would rest on the floor after he ripped them from her hips, but he would let her keep the apron. The femininely frilled frippery made him harder than a rock, even though he had seen more expensive and explicit lingerie on other women before.

  But in his imagination he could take her from behind and grip the fat ribbon bow as leverage to drag her back for more.

  When he realized his thoughts had gotten out of hand and looked Jaden in the eye again, now she was a perfect mirror of his lust, and she seemed as hungry as he did. Almost as if she plucked the risqué thoughts from his head and enjoyed each one. Her pupils began to dilate, the irises into dark-chocolate rings, and her skin was flushed. His breathing was heavy, as if he had worked out long and hard until he had nothing left to give.

  He had not been brought to that point in a long time. When he worked out now, it took at least an hour to even leave the sparring arena with a damp shirt and heavy breaths. If he wanted to break a true sweat, it was least two hours of no-holds-barred, bare-knuckled fighting. His endurance was a problem now. It seemed there was nowhere to go. He had several degrees of black belts, and no one was dumb enough to actively work out with him on the mat.

  Usually that meant he gave concessions and handicaps left and right, just to keep in fighting shape. He’d fought with no arms, blindfolded, and with multiple opponents. One of his teammates asked that his feet be shackled as well. That did give him a run for his money, but once he freed himself, the match was over in two minutes. The only reason it took that long was because he had to get his circulation going again to be completely effective with his attacks.

  “Who are you?” she asked as if she already knew and just wanted to see if he would shovel dirt from his own grave with an inaccurate response.

  “Jonah Whitmore, at your service.” He readily gave her the truth, as he knew that as soon as he left, she would start in her dig for information. She was too cautious not to, and it was the same thing he would do if the roles were reversed. His family was too well known for him to lie to this woman and get away with it for long. Even if she was a dumbass, and she was far from that based on his knowledge, she would eventually learn the truth.

  “Nice to meet you, Jonah. I’m Jaden Bishop.” He already knew who she was, but he bet she had figured that out, too.

  She stuck her hand out, and he shook his head.

  “Well, since we are becoming acquainted with each other, I think in the spirit of fairness you should come around here and greet me properly.” He knew it was a risk. She could easily get offended and rebuff him, but she surprised him by complying with his thinly veiled command. What he could see from the other side of the counter wasn’t even the half of it.

  At first he assumed her jeans were just very tight, but when he saw the entirety of her, he realized that she wore cotton-and–spandex-blended tights patterned like denim. They fit every inch of her long legs to the ankle with her custom bakery logo tee above the painted-on pants. She wore a pair of Nikes that he personally preferred due to their comfort even when he was sweated through to his underwear. He had the exact same ones, only his were black-on-black and special ordered from the website.

  Jonah was sure that hers were ordered the same way, as he knew they didn’t offer the hot-pink-and-lime-green combination in stores. She was tiny, but every inch of her frame was well trained and honed for battle. Most people that saw her deceptive stature would never believe she was capable of the things she had done in her life, let alone killing a fly. He had almost a full foot in height on her, but he knew if he was the average guy, she could have him flat on his back and begging for mercy in no time at all.

  Her hair had grown on him in the moments since he saw her, and the pixie cut of the short strands only framed her face. The hair was too short to conceal anything from him, and he loved that fact. When he finally got inside the minx, he could see everything, and there was no way for her to hide how much she loved what he would do to her.

  He couldn’t make her submit with the locks, which was probably her point in maintaining such a short style. In combat she couldn’t allow another person to use her hair against her. But that was fine with him. He knew of too many ways to gain her submission that he wouldn’t lament the loss of one of his favorites.

  This time Jonah made the first move and proffered his hand to her. When she accepted the offer, he didn’t shake her hand. Instead he clenched her fingers and dipped his head to kiss her palm. The reason was twofold. First, he wanted to kiss her badly and knew that may not be in the cards just yet. Secondly, he wanted the chance to see if he affected her the same way she did him.

  Her pulse raced, and he knew that he was right with his initial assessment. Jaden was definitely attracted to him. Her eyes were wide, as if the simple press of lips was more than she could deal with. He knew he was rapidly falling into the heat that burned her from within. But she quickly collected herself and took her hand back without him even knowing how she did it.

  The shop was past closing time, but he didn’t care. Apparently she did, as she looked at the door then back at him. Her perfectly arched brows canted upward, and he wondered what she was thinking. Was she trying to tell him to go? Or did she want to lock the door?

  “Is there something you would like to tell me, Jaden?”

  “Sure is. I’ve gotta shut down shop now. My assistant will be back soon, and I have some work to attend to.” She smiled, and the glint her of teeth sparkled in the florescence of the recessed overhead lighting.

  “Ouch. And here I thought we were getting to know one another.” Or at least he was attempting to get to know her as a whole and not just the assorted facts that he had previously uncovered.

  “Well, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Neither is anything else.” Her tone was deadpan, and if not for the sparkle in her eyes, he would have been certain she could care less about their tête-à-tête.

  “Touché.” She had not only quick hands, but apparently a quicker tongue to match.

  “But thank you for dropping into Sweet Tooth. I hope you come by again.”

  “Wild horses couldn’t stop me.” Nor could she, but the only thing was, she didn’t know it yet.

  “Well that’s good to h
ear. We pride ourselves on making the best baked goods south of the Mason-Dixon Line, and all according to season.”

  “Sounds delightful.”

  “It is.” She smiled as if the two words meant a heap more.

  She walked him to the door as she spoke, her eviction evident but gentle. Before she could send him on his way with a metaphorical hat in hand, he stopped her.

  “When can I see you again?” He knew he sounded stupid as hell, but for some reason he really wanted to get to know her before she got to know him. Or rather what he represented.

  “The bakery opens at seven a.m. on weekdays.”

  “I don’t mean the bakery, although your establishment is nice. I mean see you again, Jaden.”

  “That’s not possible.”

  “And why not? You are lovely, but I think you know that already, and the attraction seems mutual.”

  “I am in a satisfactory relationship right now, but thank you for the offer anyway.”

  There was no way she was dating someone. Fucking maybe, but dating? He had his doubts about that. His information was damn near impeccable, and there was not hide or hair of any man in her life, save a neighborhood tomcat she fed when it came around her way. But he couldn’t say any of that aloud, at least not yet.

  “I’ll be back.”

  “Yeah, I like that movie, too. Have a nice evening.” He let her usher him out of the front door. He walked back to the car he used this time, the plates crafted solely for this operational recon. She might need a starting point when she began investigating him. He knew she watched his departure. He could feel the burn of her chocolate eyes as they bored into his back.

  Jonah moved the car two blocks north and waited. He turned on the bug he’d planted beneath the counter when he gripped its surface. It should go unnoticed for a few days, that was, if she wasn’t overly paranoid. There wasn’t much to hear, but after a half hour he finally heard something more than the blare of techno when she turned the radio station to a local R and B channel. The song playing now was by Robin Thicke, one he knew well.

  He could envision her gyrating to the slow groove of the music as she mopped floors or cleaned countertops. Then he heard a familiar sound, the groan of self-fulfilled desire if he wasn’t mistaken. When he heard her gasp, he knew he was right. He wanted to fist his own cock until he could explode, but now definitely wasn’t the time or place for it.

  There was a phone call he needed to make. There was going to be a change in his carefully exacted plan that would rock the Casbah.

  The phone only rang twice before the handset was picked up from the cradle. “Stein?”

  “Yes?” The other man was not much for speech. It normally took an act of congress to get the man to say exactly what was on his mind.

  “There’s been a change in the plan. I’m going in.”

  Stein seemed to weigh the merits of diplomacy versus harsh reality before he responded. “You have no idea what you’re doing. And the time it would take to train you on most of the etiquette, let alone behavior, would surpass the deadline.”

  It was no surprise that Stein had as always spoken bluntly. It was as if the man had a quota of how many words he could use in a day and counted each as if they were beans. “I know. But regardless, I will be at the sale as the entertainer. The point is that I need you to help me do it. Are you in?”

  “Of course. But decisions made in haste are repented at leisure. And that’s if you’re lucky.”

  “I already thought about the logistics, and really this is for the best.” The silence spoke volumes, as if Stein mulled over what just occurred. Jonah could only imagine what the team had to say about this entire operation. First, he kicked Toro off his usual duties, and now, he had wrested Stein’s job away, too. But Jonah went with his gut, and something told him that he was the one who would work the best with Jaden.

  Although there was a part of him a little lower that didn’t want another man to touch her, even if for a covert op. “She wasn’t quite what you expected, huh?” Stein’s usually dry tone was lightened slightly with a warmer note that was as close to laughter as the man was capable of. No one that Jonah knew personally had ever heard the man so much as chuckle. At best, the funniest of jokes would get a grin to cock up the corners of the man’s mouth and maybe a huff of breath. But that was about all.

  “No, she was much better.” And damn if that wasn’t the truth.

  Chapter Two:

  To Fap is…To Masturbate

  Jaden knew the handsome man was something more than he presented himself as. She was good at reading people, but his desire to fuck her got in the way of her attempts of discerning what he was after. When she realized she was being sucked under his spell, she cut him off at the knees. She couldn’t let him get too close. He was fishing for something, but what?

  He wasn’t a G-man or a garden-variety spook. That she could deal with easily and alone.

  But this? He was one of the best-trained men she had ever seen. Every muscle his body owned was under his control, even when hers were shot. The way he kissed her hand made her lower half wet, wanting, and that thought made her angry beyond belief. How in the hell after ten years of celibacy did her hormones pick now to go into overdrive?

  Because he’s the only man that can give you a run for your money, Jaden. That’s why. She knew her intuition was right. It had been years since any person could best her. She worked hard for that honor. To know that no matter the situation she could handle herself. To know that she could never be fucked with without serious consequences and repercussions to the persons that did so.

  Damn it, Jaden thought. She wanted him more than she ever knew was possible to want a man. If she hadn’t swiftly taken control and pushed him away, she wasn’t going to be responsible for what she might have done given a little less air and the slightest of possibilities.

  But even with a pile of hard work a half hour later, she still felt the acute spark of need, and her body wasn’t going to stop its complaints without a little quid pro quo. Her back to the wall, she did what she always had when her body made sexual complaints. Jaden rubbed two fingers briskly over her clit and held her frame upright with one foot propped onto the ledge of her desk.

  There were few preliminaries. She didn’t need or want them. But it was a shame that even with the extra fodder for her imagination, her orgasm was shallow and left her more sexually starved than she was to begin with.

  Although, it did take the edge off enough to make her feel at equilibrium once again.

  She barely had time to finish her impromptu masturbation session before she heard the back door open and close with a slam. She could hear Kris putter about for a moment. Most likely the girl was fumbling with her usual full assortment of books and such. For once, Jaden was grateful that Kris was a bad student. There had been too many lessons where Kris failed because she was ill prepared for a surprise attack from full hands. But today, Kris’s inability to be ready at all times gave Jaden the moment needed to get back in unruffled order.

  “You ready to go yet?”

  “Nope.” Jaden sighed. “Not yet. I’ve gotta get this order in tonight. Otherwise we are out of sugar and molding chocolate by Tuesday. Not to mention that even if we got past those hurdles and made doughnuts, there wouldn’t be flour for them on Wednesday. So yeah, it’s going to be a few more.”

  Kris grimaced at Jaden’s phrasing. Doughnuts were far from her assistant’s favorite thing to make. Although, they both found they could eat the freshly fried dough by the dozen and want another when done.

  “Okay then, I guess that means I’ll let you get on that. You wanna hit the dojo tonight? Or are we doing something else?”

  “I’m not telling. It’s a surprise.” Jaden knew if she told Kris what she was thinking, the girl would conveniently vanish.

  “Oh, goody surprises.” Kris scowled as she said it, but that was okay.

  “Don’t sound so sad. It’ll be fun.” Not for Kris, but Jaden woul
d love every minute.

  “That makes it even worse. Every time you say that, my back hurts for the rest of the week.”

  “But think about the massages we could have tomorrow, Kris. It’ll be worth it, I promise.”

  “You said that last time, too.” This time a snarky look accompanied the words.

  Kris didn’t know it, but tonight was going to be awesome. Jaden had to admit, she was a little addicted to working her body to the maximum. The adrenaline rush was better than an orgasm in her opinion. Kris had a fear of heights, and tonight, she was going to take her through the wringer on the ground then they would go rock climbing in the dark.

  Then when they made the summit, they would make a small campsite and ride the night out in the wild. When they left in the morning, Kris would have to climb back down in the dawn light. They could then run the three miles back to the Jeep and head back for their luxurious day of girl pleasures.

  The trip to Stone Mountain would take a few hours. She was borrowing a plane complete with pilot from a friend of a friend, and they would parachute to the ground and hike to their rendezvous point before they would get to actually work out. All in all, if Kris wasn’t a whiner, they could have a great night. Then in the morning, she would be able to drive back to town in the Jeep she requested for delivery by seven.

  Kris did complain, quite a bit, but after a while she got the point that Jaden wasn’t playing. Either she got with the program or her feelings were going to get hurt. Kris wasn’t going to get the chance to tag along on an op if she refused to move past the discomforts of her own body. If nothing else, Kris really wanted to work on an operation. It was all the girl spoke of after she learned what Jaden really did. She took to everything else like a duck to water, but the physical part of operation was paramount. It didn’t matter how well she could shoot if her gun was a liability in a situation.

  What if Kris couldn’t shoot her way out of the problem? Then what could she do?

  Jaden felt that it was imperative to make Kris understand that she needed to be able to fight for her own life with every dirty trick the world could offer her. If every problem could be solved with a bullet, then Jaden had shot enough already to murder every bad guy on earth three times over. But more often than not, she found that she couldn’t solve things with brute force. It took finesse and planning. There was no need to waste time with bullets when a knife was silent and more efficient.