It was easy to do, when they were so good together. They belonged together and he knew it. She knew it, too. She was just too scared to admit it and let him in. To stop keeping secrets and telling lies. And as desire heated his blood to the boiling point, he could almost fool himself into believing that all he had to do was show her how good they could be together, and all their problems would be solved. But he knew better.
She might lust after him, but she’d never loved him. Not the way he loved her. If she had, she wouldn’t have left him like she had. And yet, he still wanted her.
Almost on their own, his fingers found the top lace of her panties and slipped inside the satin. Her moist heat beckoned him out of his dark thoughts. She was soft and pliant. He massaged her pleasure center until she blossomed, swelling and tightening. A husky groan escaped her mouth.
“Strings are good,” he whispered. “Emotional strings, all kinds of strings. Strings build trust. And trust builds intimacy.”
An intimacy he was determined to finally make a reality between them.
Once he freed her from her panties, he slipped two fingers between her moist folds, feeling her melt around him. She was hot, wet and ready. And he was throbbing beneath the thin cotton of his shorts.
“Strings tie and bind,” she murmured in response.
The musky scent of her desire filled his senses, making it hard for him to think. To plan and strategize. He buried his face in her neck beneath the silky strands of her hair, gently grasped her earlobe between his teeth, and sucked it into his mouth. He focused on the smooth skin and the way her hair caressed, almost tickling him, and tried desperately to ignore the slick heat filling his hand and her intoxicating moans crowding the air in the room.
He was rock hard and aching, but he couldn’t have her. No matter how irresistible she sounded, smelled, and felt. Not yet. Not until he made her stop playing at what they could be, and finally admit that she wanted him—all of him. With no strings attached.
He dropped his lips down to her breast, drawing her tight nipple into his mouth and sucked feverishly while moving his other hand around her backside and cradling her body in his loving grasp. He had to stop. To pull away. Her head fell back on a shuddering gasp and she trembled, unsteady on her beautiful long bare legs. Now. Before he went so far he wouldn’t be able to resist her. He kissed her deeply—a long, ravishing kiss. Then he took a deep breath, filling his chest with it, steeled his willpower, and pulled away from her. He peeled first one hand, and then the other, from her delectable body.
He let her go. Stepped away and left her standing unsupported on weak and wobbling knees.
She licked her lips, gazing after him in confusion. “Where are you going?” she demanded, her voice husky and a tinged with desperation. “Come back.”
He couldn’t help the smile filling his face as he turned and walked into the bedroom.
Oh, yeah. He’d come back all right. But on his terms.
This time he wanted it all.
…
“Dammit, Kyle!” Genie watched his fine ass walk away from her into the bedroom at the back of the cabin, leaving her standing in the living room naked and alone. And not in a way that invited her to follow. She buzzed with a need so strong it bordered on torture.
Damn him anyway! Part of her wanted to shrug and get dressed, and show him she would be just fine without him. Because she would. Of course, she would. But the other part of her, the stronger more insistent part, wanted to go after him and show him exactly why she wasn’t so easy to walk away from or forget. Right after she smacked him.
“Kyle,” she said again, her voice strong and insistent as she strode after him into the bedroom. She stepped inside and closed the door behind her. It was growing dark outside and the room was dim. Dim enough that she couldn’t immediately see him. She stepped further into the room, her gaze sweeping the empty bed and the corners of the room. Suddenly he was behind her, pulling her roughly against his chest. Her backside pressed against his cock. It was long, and hard, and hot as a piston.
A thrill of anticipation raced through her.
“It isn’t always about you, Genie,” he growled. “About what you want and when you want it.” He ground against her and she knew she should be annoyed, but she so wasn’t. She was excited. More than she’d ever been. This was a side of Kyle she hadn’t seen before. Dominant. Uncompromising. And she liked it. She pressed against him and wriggled, feeling his stiffness fall into the groove between her cheeks. He wasn’t the only one who could play dirty.
He pushed her forward and she braced herself against the bed as he bent his knees and rocked himself in the junction between her thighs. The hard ridge of his erection slid against her sensitive flesh, back and forth.
“So wet. So hot,” he murmured, moving back and forth, sliding across the folds of her skin, but refusing to give her what she so desperately needed and slip inside her. No matter how she gyrated against him, he only teased and tantalized, coming so close only to pull back. His control was truly…unbelievable. He kneaded the round globes of her ass, his fingers spreading inward, the tips of them touching her in all her most sensitive places, while wielding his hardness expertly against her, teasing her mercilessly.
“Come on, Kyle,” she moaned as arousal pulsed within her, stealing her ability to think about anything but the feel of his hard tool shoving against her. He pitched back and forth, the friction driving her maddeningly close to the brink. So close, but not close enough to go over and find the release she so desperately craved. She wanted to scream with frustration.
“Give it to me!” she demanded, her voice echoing around the small room. “Now. Please,” she added almost desperately when he didn’t immediately comply.
“Where do you want it? Here?” His thumb teased the outside of her forbidden zone. Heat shot through her, making her gasp.
“Or here?” The rounded tip of his cock slipped between her folds, hovering just inside her sweet zone and causing an urgent clench of pleasure to sweep through her. A fine sheen of desire slicked her body.
“Oh, hell, anywhere.” She took a shuddering breath. “Just do it!”
If he didn’t fuck her right now, her need would surely implode, and she knew she’d have some sort of aneurysm.
And then he was sliding inside her, slowly and deliberately, like a hot knife cleaving through soft butter. She moaned as a rush of molten pleasure almost had her climaxing on the spot. He pushed deep inside her until she felt the hard wall of his hips against her bottom, and she started to writhe, pushing back against him as he swayed forward, slowly rocking, teasing, pleasing, as her body formed around him, a perfect glorious fit.
As he moved, tears of pleasure and intense need sprang to her eyes. He rocked harder, taking her closer to that place of utter, urgent hunger. That place of ultimate joy that she only seemed to find with him. Damn him. A place of warm intimacy where she felt truly loved and safe. A feeling she only had while lying in his arms, a feeling she’d missed too much.
“Kyle,” she whispered, rolling his name off her tongue, tasting it, feeling it. Absorbing it as they moved together as one. And then she knew she couldn’t let him go. Not ever. She couldn’t go back to living without him, to spending her nights alone. Not again.
Not ever again.
Faster and faster he pushed, thrusting violently into her. Faster and harder, until she couldn’t hold on any longer, until she screamed and let go, succumbing to wave after wave of intense mind-jolting pleasure. Once. Twice. Three times, and still they kept coming, orgasmic rushes that swept her away until she was completely unaware of anything but the rush of pleasure flooding her body. And then Kyle was right there with her, finding his own release, taking as well as giving, until they both collapsed onto the bed, struggling to breathe.
As she lay there feeling his weight on her, his heat in her, she wasn’t sure who’d won this battle.
But frankly, she didn’t care. Because if this was losing, she was
ready to lose to Kyle anytime, anywhere.
…
For the first time in eight months, Genie felt safe, secure and loved, lying beneath the covers nestled against Kyle. But as much as she enjoyed the feel of his warm body next to hers, and wanted to pretend that this moment could last forever, she still feared it was too late for them to go back to the way things were. Too much remained between them—too many lies and secrets, and not enough substance to grab hold of, for there to be a foundation to build a life upon. Not unless she came clean about everything. And how could she, when the real deal-breaker was the fact that she’d sworn she would never go back to the CTA, and she knew he would never leave it?
Which left the question, where did they go from here?
She was soaking up every last moment she could, being with him like this, safe and content and sated. Together in every sense of the word.
But Kyle was restless. She could feel the conflict building higher within him over what they’d done. The can of worms it had opened up. The questions he still had about her, and where this was headed. She knew the dam would burst sooner than later.
She didn’t have long to wait.
“Why didn’t you tell me Becca was your sister?” he finally asked. “The truth, please.”
Even if she hadn’t been able to feel the hesitant but powerful emotions coming off him, the pain in his voice was easy to hear, the vulnerability in his eyes clear as day. It was a rare sight. Kyle opening up to her was not something he’d often done.
Her auto-response in the past had always been to go on the offense and attack, in order to keep herself from empathizing too much. But she wouldn’t do that to him now. Not this time. Not when she still felt so connected to him, body and soul. And not when she could feel the need to understand consuming him.
“I told you earlier. I couldn’t,” she said, hating that their moment of bliss was already over.
“I didn’t buy that this morning, and I’m not buying it now. You always have a choice—come clean or lie. But, Genie, you always choose to lie. Or evade, or misdirect. What I don’t understand is why. What is such a big deal about having sisters? Having family is something you should be happy about, not try to hide.”
The admonition stung, even though she knew she’d done the right thing. He just didn’t understand. “Like I said, it was to keep us all safe. My dad insisted—still insists—that we don’t have any ties that could be used against one another. Nothing that would keep us from picking up and leaving at a moment’s notice.”
Kyle regarded her. She could feel the confusion flowing through every pore of his skin. And the growing anger. She could tell he was beginning to understand that whatever was behind her secrets about her family, was at the very root of all their problems. And he clearly didn’t like it.
“I’m sorry, but I need more. Blaming your dad isn’t good enough. Not this time.”
Genie cringed at his directness. “That’s a little harsh, don’t you think?”
“Maybe. But necessary.”
“I’m not blaming my dad. That’s what happened. After my mom died, he sent my sisters and me to the four corners of the earth. We weren’t allowed to tell anyone about each other. Not our closest friends, not our teachers. We didn’t talk about each other. Ever. To anyone. Hell, we barely even spoke to one another. Suddenly we were alone with no one. With nothing.”
She had to stop for a moment to swallow down the sudden tight hitch in her throat.
But Kyle was not about to let up. “But why? Why did you have to hide?”
“My dad didn’t want anyone to know who we are.”
“Because of your mother’s death? You said it was an accident. Was there something sinister behind it?”
Genie’s heart stilled. “My mom died in a random car accident,” she said quickly.
His eyes narrowed. “Are you sure?”
“Of course.” But she wasn’t so sure anymore. Just as she was no longer certain, thanks to Kyle’s questions, of her father’s motives for separating her from her sisters. He’d never actually said what being apart was keeping them safe from. And she’d never asked. She’d been a kid. She’d never even thought to challenge his reasoning. Because she’d never doubted her father’s judgment—until now.
It was a harrowing feeling, accepting that she might have been making a terrible mistake all along.
“Why would your dad have done that?” he asked, stealing the words right from her mind. “Separating you so completely is beyond extreme. Why were you suddenly not allowed to be a family? What was the connection with your mother’s accident?”
“I-I don’t actually know. I’m sure he had his reasons.” Why hadn’t she ever thought about it before? To question it? Why had she just meekly accepted?
“If there was no connection, no immediate threat,” Kyle continued relentlessly, “how come you were all torn apart at the one time in your lives when you really needed to be together? That was not only cruel, but extremely negligent.”
Had there been a threat against them? Even then? There must have been…otherwise— She stared at Kyle, a sharp chill slicing through her.
“I guess I never thought about it, I just accepted that my father knew what was best for us. He always had. Besides, right after that, he became the director of CTA. He sent us to our boarding schools and relocated to Washington. I suppose I thought he couldn’t be there for both us and the CTA. That he had to focus on his new job.”
“And then you came to work there, too.”
“Sure. I wanted to be closer to him, and that was the best way. I didn’t blame the CTA for our situation. Not like—”
“Like?”
Genie took a deep breath, contemplating what she should say. But his accusation niggled at her conscience.
What was it he’d said she did? Evade? Lie? Misdirect? Well, a girl could change, couldn’t she?
Genie looked into his beautiful eyes and told the truth. “Like Becca did.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “Did she hate CTA enough to work against us?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “That’s why I went to the warehouse. I needed to talk to her. To find out what the hell was going on. And if she really was working with Emerich and aware of everything he was doing.”
“But you never saw her…”
There it was, that same question again. She wondered how she could explain what had really happened that day. Or at least what she remembered of it. She felt the expectation growing within him. His need for her to confide in him was so strong it was almost palpable. “I honestly do not remember seeing Becca, but I have a recurring dream about that day. In my dream, she’s there at the warehouse, taunting me, running and hiding like we did when we were children playing. Except we’re both adults in the dream.”
“And you’re sure it’s the same warehouse?”
She nodded. “So the truth is, I don’t know if I saw her or not. I just can’t remember. All I know is these nightmares haunt me. I wish I knew what really happened that day. I need to know for my own peace of mind. You have no idea how frustrating it is not to remember.”
“I’m sorry. I know it’s tough on you.” Kyle pulled her tighter against him and kissed her hair. “I just wish you’d trusted me enough to let me help you.”
She took a moment to absorb his warmth, and the profound joy she felt being in his arms.
And to come to terms with a couple of hard truths. This morning she’d touched on the danger Kyle had walked into because of the text he’d gotten, but hadn’t thought about herself.
“If it wasn’t Becca who texted me to meet her there,” she said, “then someone must have wanted me to die in that explosion.” She snuggled closer. “And I would have died, if you hadn’t been there to save me.”
“I wouldn’t have been there if someone hadn’t sent me a text to meet you there,” he reminded her.
She ran her fingers across his chest. “Yeah,” she whispered. “Which makes me think
Becca wasn’t there. So I couldn’t have seen her.”
“Obviously she was there. They found her body.”
“But what if that wasn’t Becca?” It couldn’t be. Genie was growing more convinced her sister was still alive. She had no proof, but there were too many things adding up.
And if it wasn’t Becca’s body, her sister might never have been at the warehouse at all. Which meant… Hell, she had no idea what that meant.
He looked down at her. “You really think she could still be alive?”
“Do you know if they checked the DNA from the body?” she asked. “Or the dental records?”
He stared down at her for a moment. “I suppose they—honestly, I have no idea.”
“Sounds like something to ask Cameron.”
“Do you think it could have been Becca who sent me the text?” he asked. “Do you think maybe she knew what Emerich was planning, and wanted me to stop him from hurting you?”
“But then why not send me the text? Or even save me herself?”
“Maybe that’s what got her killed,” he suggested. “If it is her body,” he added for Genie’s benefit.
Clearly, he didn’t believe her crazy theory. Heck, she didn’t know if she really believed it herself. She just really hoped.
“Maybe she was there to help you,” he said.
“But if Emerich wanted me dead, his men could have shot me today when I was hanging on the ladder from the helicopter. I was an easy target. They didn’t take the shot.”
“So what does he want?”
“Me. Alive. But don’t ask me why. The only thing I can think of is so that he has some kind of leverage against my dad.”
“But your dad is retired.”
“Yep, right after Becca was buried. Timing is more than a little suspect, but when it comes to my dad, we never really know what’s happening. And there’s obviously a lot more going on here that we originally thought.”
Deadly Secrets, Loving Lies Page 12
