by Aubrey Ross
Anger ignited within the sorrow and she clenched her hands into fists. Taking on the elder council might be beyond her reach, but the Burtons would pay for what they’d done. She wouldn’t let their power and influence intimidate her. Some would argue that their past actions had been inadvertent, but no one could deny that they were directly responsible for ending Aidan’s life.
Crawling out of bed, she crossed to the adjoining bathroom and turned on the light. Wetting a cloth with cool water, she pressed it against her flushed face. If Aidan hadn’t been so determined to repay the Burtons en masse, he might still be alive. Aidan had wanted to destroy them, to dismantle their empire, and ensure history forgot they ever existed.
Her goal was far more realistic. A life for a life. She would exact her price then disappear, leaving the others to torture themselves with guilt and sorrow.
An arm wrapped around her waist and she screamed, instinctively slamming her elbow backward. A startled grunt assured her she’d found her target an instant before the hold loosened. She stepped to the side and tossed the washcloth into the sink, frantically blinking the moisture out of her eyes.
“Have you lost your mind?” Her uninvited guest stood in the doorway, preventing her retreat. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Trying not to throw up.” Jason, her employee turned lover, massaged his abused abdomen, but mischief sparkled in his eyes.
“Very funny.” She shoved past him and stomped into the bedroom. “How did you get in here?”
“I wanted to surprise you, so I let myself in.” Still rubbing his belly, he followed two steps behind.
“That’s what I get for hiring a thief.”
His blond hair was getting shaggy, which only added to his rugged appeal. Jason had applied for a position with Exotic Escorts at the suggestion of one of Brook’s best girls. Brook hesitated to take on a convicted felon regardless of his physical attributes. Jason assured her all his crimes were nonviolent and her meticulous investigation verified his claim.
She opened the drapes and stared into the night, needing the tranquility of the city to soothe her. Patchy clouds obscured the stars and made the night seem gloomy. In the distance, illuminated by stubborn moonlight, the familiar shape of the Golden Gate Bridge dominated the horizon.
“It’s nearly three.” Jason came up behind her and carefully wrapped his arms around her waist. “Why aren’t you sleeping? I wanted to crawl into bed and wake you slowly with my hands and mouth.”
His thumb grazed the underside of her breast, and Brook resisted the urge to melt into his embrace. He was a pleasant distraction, nothing more. She couldn’t afford to get attached to anyone.
Pushing his wandering hand downward, she asked, “Do you have information for me?”
“I’d rather talk after I fuck you.” He rubbed against her back, his arousal unmistakable.
“If I’m not pleased with what you’ve learned, there might not be any fucking.”
“Is that so?” He tightened his hold on her waist, immobilizing her arms in the process. “And how are you going to stop me if I decide to take what I want?”
Excitement swirled through her, curling ever downward. She would never admit it, but she loved to be controlled. She came faster and harder when he took over than when he willingly obeyed. None of her other lovers had tested the boundaries. Only Jason had dared, which made him far more dangerous than she cared to consider.
He tugged the straps of her nightgown to her elbows, further restricting her movement. “Did you miss me?”
The upper swell of her breasts gleamed in the moonlight as the material caught on her nipples. She ignored his question, doing well to keep from grinding her ass against his erection.
“Stop playing games,” she snapped. “Tell me what you learned.”
He tugged the nightgown to her waist, exposing her breasts to anyone who happened to look up. The apartment was on the sixth floor, but he’d left the light on in the bathroom. Her nipples tingled and the curling heat settled between her thighs. Would he take her here in full view of the street? A strangled groan escaped her throat and Jason chuckled.
“It excites you, doesn’t it? You’d love it if a crowd gathered to watch me fuck you. Why haven’t we explored this fantasy before?”
“Stop it.” She writhed and wiggled, the nightgown slipping lower with each twist. He disentangled her arms from the straps and gave the garment a helpful push. Cool air washed over her body as he positioned her hands on the window frame.
“Don’t move. Pretend there’s someone out there, watching us, wishing they were this uninhibited.” He swept his hands up and down her sides, his long fingers brushing the outer swell of her breasts. “Are you getting wet?”
Teasing his way across her abdomen, he eased his hand between her thighs and cupped her mound. She grasped the window frame and moved her feet apart, giving him better access to her pussy.
“Oh, you naughty girl,” he whispered into her ear. “You’re so wet your thighs are slick with it.” The heel of his hand pressed against her clit as he pushed two fingers into her core.
She ground against his hand, needing more than his teasing fingers. “Weren’t you able to find out anything? Is that why you’re doing this?”
“I’m doing this because you love it when I make you do nasty things.” As if to demonstrate, he pulled his fingers free of her body and brought them to her mouth. “Lick it. Taste how much you want me.”
Undeterred by the command, she eagerly licked his fingers. The salty taste only made her ache even more. He stroked her breasts, tugging firmly on her nipples until they stood proud and tall. He turned her to the side and guided her hand to the wide windowsill as he sank to his knees in front of her.
“Lift your knee to my shoulder, but stay in front of the window. I want the world to watch while I eat you out.”
She glanced into the night. Except for a few parked cars, the street was empty. But he was right; she didn’t care. The possibility of being watched had always aroused her. She steadied herself against the windowsill and moved her leg into position. Her thigh rested against his shoulder and her heel pressed into his spine. He parted her outer lips with his tongue, grasping her ass to keep her in place. His mouth moved against her as his tongue skillfully circled her clit.
Tingling pressure gathered low in her abdomen. God it felt good! She rocked against his mouth, thrusting her breasts forward. She imagined a stranger huddling in the shadows below, watching her, wanting her, wishing he could join the passionate dance.
Her hair swished across her shoulders as she tossed her head. Jason pinched her nipple, while his tongue ventured deeper. He couldn’t talk while he pleasured her, but she didn’t care. There would be time for questions later. His lips closed around her clit and sucked. She trembled. Her thighs tensed and she clutched his hair with her free hand.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Just like that.”
His treacherous mouth released her clit and he rocked back on his heels. “We come together or not at all.”
She didn’t need to tell him she was nearly there. He obviously knew what he’d denied her.
“Your turn.” He pushed her to her knees as he stood. She glared up at him while he unfastened his jeans. “You don’t look happy.”
“I don’t like being toyed with.”
“Sure you do.” He tangled one hand in her hair and guided his cock to her mouth with the other. “Suck me good and I’ll tell you what I learned.”
Circling the broad crest with her tongue, she considered his offer. “If you tell me everything now, I’ll let you come in my mouth.”
“You’re not going to let me do anything.” He held her face between his hands and slid his cock deeper. “If I want to fuck your mouth, I will.” He rocked his hips, bumping the back of her throat with each forceful thrust.
The hot slide of his smooth shaft and the musky scent of aroused male sent sensations zinging along her nerve endings. His fist
tightened in her hair and he found her nipple with his other hand, twisting and tugging until she whimpered.
“If I want your pussy, you’ll spread your legs.” His voice sounded strangled and lust contorted his handsome features. “If I want the tight grip of your ass, you’ll get on your hands and knees.”
The graphic descriptions made her eager for each indignity. She wanted to feel him pounding into her core, while another cock filled her mouth. She wanted fingers sliding in her ass until she came so hard she screamed. It had been so long since she indulged her secret passion, so long since she trusted anyone enough to be that vulnerable.
He pulled out suddenly and dragged her to her feet. A disapproving growl was her only response as he spun her toward the window and angled her hips. He thrust between her legs, easily finding her creamy passage.
Locking her elbows and arching her back, she savored each distinct impact. His cock filled her again and again, drilling into her with enough force to jostle her breasts. She tightened her inner muscles and he groaned.
“Fuck, yeah,” he muttered. “Squeeze me tight. That feels so good!”
She happily obliged, tossing her hair out of her eyes. He cupped her breasts and abraded her nipples, never slowing the pounding rhythm of his hips.
An orgasm built within her, demanding completion with breath-stealing intensity. She fought back the urge to tense, unsure if he would allow her release. Her inner muscles rippled and he wrapped his forearm around her hips.
“No!” she cried as his body went still against her back. “Let me come, you son of a bitch, or I’ll have you castrated.” His laughter made his cock buck inside her. She closed her eyes against the subtle stimulation.
“We both know that would be counterproductive to your pleasure.”
“Either let me come or get the hell away from me. I’m tired of your games.” She tried to twist away, but he cupped her mound with one hand and banded her waist with his other arm.
“I thought you wanted to hear what I’d found out.”
An exasperated cry was her only response.
“How old is Leos Burton?”
She dug her fingernails into the windowsill and slowly opened her eyes. “His age is irrelevant to your assignment. I want to know about his connection to Nicole Fierbrose.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to determine.” His fingers massaged her mound, rubbing her aching clit against his shaft. “I couldn’t find an indication of a romance between Nicole and any of the Burtons, so I wondered about family ties. Was she their half-sister or something like that?”
“And?” His middle finger brushed across her clit and her hips jerked. This wasn’t the first time he’d controlled her, but he’d never taken it this far before. She wanted to strangle him. Her entire body ached with unfulfilled desire.
“The records I found were inconsistent, as if someone had tampered with them. But even if the most current dates are accurate, which I doubt, all of Sebastian Burton’s sons are in their sixties.”
“What does this have to do with Nicole?” She jammed her butt backward and met his gaze in the windowpane.
“It wasn’t easy, but several bribes finally pointed me in the right direction and unlocked the right archives.” His free hand drifted across her breasts, squeezing one then toying with the other. “Sebastian Burton had two wives. Nicole’s grandmother, not her mother, was the second.”
“Then Nicole is still a distant relative.”
“Not by blood. Her grandmother had a son and a daughter. The daughter is Nicole’s mother and she was born after Sebastian died.”
“But the son could have been fathered by Sebastian?”
“It’s possible. I could find very little on any of them. They’ve become far more careful in recent years.”
“Probably because access to information has become more widespread,” she mused. He pulled his hips back, drawing nearly out of her. A low moan escaped her throat as heat expanded inside her.
“How badly do you want to come?” he whispered in her ear.
She squeezed him as tightly as she could, letting her body reply.
“You know what they are. Don’t you?” He moved a little faster. “That’s why you’re so fascinated with them.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Harder, deeper, but still mercilessly slow, he slid inside her.
“Tell me what they are and I’ll make you come so hard, I’ll have to hold you up.”
“I don’t know what they are.” He found her clit with his fingertips and gave it a gentle tug. “Please!”
“You know. Now tell me!”
His fingers compounded the lazy slide of his cock. Smoldering embers ignited, licking at her senses like tongues of flame. She shuddered and groaned, desperate for the culmination of these feelings.
“I can’t tell you what they are.” She relaxed into the rhythm, absorbing each new wave of tingling heat. “I only know what they’re not.”
“They’re not human.” There was no way to misinterpret the hope in his breathless tone.
“Yes.” She infused the word with drama as her mind rushed on ahead. This had been a risk when she gave Jason the assignment, but she’d seen no other alternative. The Burtons had always been Aidan’s area of expertise. She’d obviously underestimated Jason’s resourcefulness.
“If. I. Let. You. Come. Will. You. Tell. Me. Ev-ery-thing?” He punctuated each syllable with a deep thrust, forcing her arousal beyond distraction, beyond thought.
Pleasure built, completion hovering just out of reach. “Yes!”
He slammed into her over and over. Flesh slapped against flesh. Her breasts bounced and her pussy throbbed. She squeezed her eyes shut, focusing entirely on sensation. He rubbed her clit in a firm circle and the dam burst. Pleasure rushed out from beneath his fingertips as his cock pushed her higher and higher. Her cries echoed off the windowpane as wave after wave swept through her.
Her knees buckled and she sagged in his arms just as he’d predicted. She wasn’t even sure she’d taken him with her, didn’t honestly care. Her body tingled with aftershocks and her brain felt muddled.
He separated their bodies and turned her around. “I kept up my end of the bargain. Now I want to know what you know!”
She offered him a sleepy smile and stretched her arms overhead. “Let me grab a bottle of wine and I’ll tell you everything.” Pausing to don her nightgown, she waited until he turned his back then snatched her cell phone off the nightstand. “I’ll be right back.”
He made some unintelligible response as she headed for the door. Damn it! She hadn’t wanted to call in this marker until she had one of the Burtons in her trap. Besides, Jason was the best fuck she’d had in years.
With a frustrated sigh, she activated her sister’s number and hurried across the living room. Her call went straight to voicemail, so she entered a numerical code then closed the phone. She flipped on the light in the kitchen and blew out a shaky breath. She’d never ordered a person’s death before. Shouldn’t she feel a rush of emotion, horror or excitement? Something. All she felt was an odd sense of resignation.
Her phone vibrated in her hand and she gasped then laughed at her foolishness. “Hey, Val. I wasn’t sure you’d be awake.”
“Old habits die hard. When and where do you want this done?”
“As soon as possible.”
“Where’s the target?”
“In my bedroom.”
“And where are you?”
“In the kitchen.”
“Taerok is on his way. Stay put. Don’t open the bedroom door no matter what you hear. I’ll call you back when it’s over.”
Chapter Two
Leos Burton stood on the landing to Nicole’s townhouse, waiting for her to unlock the security door. She’d asked him to stop by after his meeting and he’d offered to bring dinner as a peace offering for missing the opening of her first solo exhibition. Chinese takeout wasn’t much of an olive branch, but sh
e understood why he’d been unable to attend.
Nicole was aware of many things other humans weren’t and he’d always found the fact comforting. He didn’t have to pretend with her. She knew what he was and all the complications that arose from his dual nature.
“The food better be amazing if you expect it to wipe your slate clean,” she warned as she pushed open the door.
He smiled and kissed her on the cheek. “If the kung pao falls short, I’ll rub your feet.”
“Silly man. You’ve just doomed the food to failure, guaranteed.” She locked the door behind them and motioned toward the stairs. “Let’s eat in the studio. The sky is beautiful tonight.”
His gaze was drawn to her rounded behind as he followed her up the stairs. He couldn’t remember ever seeing her in jeans quite this tight before. They rode low on her hips and hugged her ass like a lover’s hands. Damn!
“How’s your week going? How’s Daniel?”
He raised his gaze a millisecond before she glanced over her shoulder. “Daniel’s fine.” Daniel was his day-dwelling twin, the other half of his Dichotomy. Daniel existed as energy while Leos was solid, and Leos was energy during the hours Daniel had a tangible form. Only during transition, one hour at dusk and dawn, did both halves of a Dichotomy appear in the physical realm. “We’re both fine.”
“Glad to hear it.” She chuckled and led him across her studio. She’d laid out plates and flatware in preparation for their date. Date? He was spending time with a family friend. This wasn’t a date.
“Hello.” She waved her hand in front of his face, green eyes twinkling. “Where’d you go?”
“Sorry.” He raked his hair with his fingers and tried to focus his thoughts. “It’s been a long day.”
“You transitioned out of sleep state about three hours ago.”
“It’s been a long…three hours.” He chuckled, unsure what had him so flustered. He’d been alone with Nicole countless times before. It just hadn’t felt intimate before. A memory stirred within his mind and he amended the conclusion. It hadn’t felt intimate since the fire.
