Dark Deception (DARC Ops Book 11)

by Jamie Garrett

  She watched, unsure if he would clasp his hand tighter around the doorknob and pull the door closed, or drop it and step further into the bathroom. He didn’t close the door. Asher stepped over the threshold, his gaze locked on hers. Until he dropped the clean shirt he was carrying and yanked his own over his head. Now she looked. Admired his broad shoulders, his biceps, that chest . . . and it took everything she had to pull her gaze from his muscled abs, to watch him quickly divest himself of the rest of his clothes.

  His arms danced with rippling muscle, veins threading their way through his biceps and forearms every time he so much as twitched a finger. He was barefoot. She stared and watched with fascination as his hands reached for his pants, his fingers quickly unbuttoning that single button, then unzipping, shoving the pants down to his knees, and then kicking them off.

  No tightie-whities for Asher, no sir. Good old-fashioned boxers, which soon followed the pants to the floor. His cock already stood at full attention, reaching toward her, pulsing with a life of its own. It was only when he moved toward the tub that she forced herself to pull her gaze from his cock, up that broad expanse of chest and up toward his face. Not sure why, she extended a hand. He took it and stepped over the rim of the tub. They stared at one another for several seconds as the water cascaded around them. Then, once again, she was wrapped in his embrace, his lips on hers, this time with his naked erection pressed against her belly.

  They played tongue tango as her nipples hardened. His cock wiggled, bumping against her, and another wave of heat rushed through her body, matching the heat of the water pounding down her back and ass. She sank into his embrace, giving herself up to the strength of his body. Asher’s hands stroked along her back, pausing at the slight dip in her lower back before venturing beyond, his palms skimming along her ass and then cupping it, urging her closer to him. Her hands also roamed and explored, tracing the bumps of his abs before caressing his wide chest. She looked down. Could she? Ellie sucked in a breath as his hand slid around her hip and moved upward, traveling along wet skin until his huge palm cradled a breast, his thumb flicking over her nipple.

  The kiss broke off. Close to gasping for breath, every cell and muscle in her body on high alert and thrumming, she rested her head again against his chest, her hands now wrapped around his lower waist, listening to the pounding of his heart, his hard body pressed against hers.

  Asher dipped his head, and then his mouth found the crook of her neck. His knees bent, and he crouched lower, half-lifting her until his lips could latch onto her nipple. She groaned as he suckled and swirled his tongue, her hips pressed close to his. With a mind of its own, her right hand stroked his thigh only to trail inside to cup his balls. Her other hand slid between them, her fingers grasping his cock, wrapped tightly around his shaft, the veins on its surface engorged, the skin smoothing under her palm, velvety soft on the outside, hard on the inside. Her thumb stroked the top of his head, eliciting a bead of warm, liquid heat.

  The water pounded against the porcelain tub. Her ears caught his hitch of breath, his low groan of pleasure. Their hands seemed everywhere at once, and then one slid between her thighs and cupped her pussy, his fingers tentative while they explored. She spread her feet apart to give him access and then gasped as he slid a finger toward her core and dipped inside. Her muscles clenched around it, sending the first waves of pleasure outward through her body. Asher responded. His finger slowly dipped deeper while his palm caressed her nub. Sliding in, sliding out. Waves of pleasure filled her. She forgot everything except the sensations raging through her body. Her hand stroked his cock, almost automatically, with the rhythm of his finger inside her. Her hips pumped gently and her breath came harder, faster. So did his. So did her strokes along his shaft, her other hand cradling his balls, massaging. She heard the rumble of pleasure erupt from his throat. His finger moved faster, as did her hand. Her head fell forward, and she rested her chin against his chest. His warm breath caressed her lips. She opened her eyes and watched him watching her, his pupils dilated, his mouth slightly open. He grinned, his own hips moving now.

  She wanted to feel him inside her, wanted to feel his shaft surging upward inside her, but she didn’t have any protection, and she sure as hell wasn’t about to break the moment by asking if Asher did. Ellie pushed her thoughts away and focused on the rhythm they shared, the building sensations of his palm swirling around her clitoris every time his finger dipped deep inside, her hips rocking faster and harder now, her hand tightening around his cock with each stroke.

  She felt her orgasm rising, and he must have sensed she was close, speeding up the pace of his finger sliding in and out of her pussy. She heard a gasp and a low, mewling sound, realizing afterward that it came from her own throat. The pressure and pleasure rushed over her, and she came with a cry. Asher covered her lips with his own, their tongues again swirling together. He sucked on it as his palm stroked her nub over and over again, prolonging her pleasure. Her muscles contracted rhythmically around his finger. Ellie closed her eyes and let the waves of pleasure take her away, her hand still stroking his cock . . . and then his hips pumped harder, faster, his body pressing ever closer. She felt the rippling upward, and then the hot splash of come squirting rhythmically through her fingers, onto her belly, immediately washed away by the water.

  Then it was over, both now leaning against one another, one of his hands braced against the tiled wall beneath the shower head as they stood gasping for breath. They stood quietly for several moments, she didn’t know how long, her head spinning, her pussy still enjoying the rhythmic contractions that gradually ebbed.

  As the bliss cooled, Ellie suddenly felt awkward. She didn’t want to glance up at him, didn’t want to see the look in his eyes, but she did anyway. At that very moment, as their gazes locked, the hot water disappeared, replaced by lukewarm, and just mere seconds later, that too was gone. Cold water pelted her back. She stiffened and squealed, prompting Asher to wrap his arms around her wet body. He lifted her over the lip of the tub and onto the floor, quickly following. They both reached for the folded towels at the same time. He wrapped one around his waist, water dripping from his hair and his chin while she wrapped her towel around her shoulders like a shroud.

  His hands cupped her face and urged her to look up at him. He studied her face for a moment and then smiled.

  “No regrets,” he said softly.

  She agreed. “No regrets.”

  Without another word, he nodded, stepped toward the door, and left the bathroom, closing it softly behind him. She was alone again.

  13

  Asher

  Asher slept fitfully that night, despite the release of sexual tension that had been building up inside him since the moment he’d snatched Ellie from the alleyway—the tension he’d refused to acknowledge until now. He needed to call Jackson, fill him in on what had happened, but he also needed some guidance from his boss. What the hell was he supposed to do with Ellie? Bring her in? Stay on the road? Find a place to hunker down and hide? Right now, he didn’t trust his heart not to do something stupid.

  As dawn lightened the eastern sky, he rose from the bed, quickly dressed, and stepped toward the window, gently pulling the curtain aside to peer out. Nothing. The fact that he didn’t see anything moving out there didn’t make him feel much better. He hadn’t felt anything yesterday, either, and those two assholes had still snuck up on him.

  He glanced toward the office just as the lights went on. Behind him, Ellie’s deep breathing was the only sound in the room. He regretted having to wake her, but couldn’t leave her in the room alone without telling her where he was going. She’d emerged from the bathroom the night before only moments before he was about to go back in and start apologizing. Asher had been about to invite her to his bed, but she’d walked to the other without a word and climbed in, turning her face to the wall. Not wanting to do anything even more stupid than he already had, he’d let her be, but he’d spent more of the night gazing at her still
form that he had sleeping himself.

  He moved toward her bed and jostled it. She grumbled in her sleep.

  “Ellie, wake up.” He tapped her hip through the blankets. “Wake up.”

  She jolted upright so suddenly that he took a step back.

  “What?” she snapped, gazing wildly around, then looking up at him. “What is it?”

  “It’s almost dawn. I’m going to go to the lobby. I need to use the payphone to make a phone call. Get dressed, get your things, and be ready to go when I get back.”

  She said nothing but merely nodded, throwing the covers back. Unlike him, she’d gotten dressed after the sex in the shower, forgoing his T-shirt offer, and slept in her clothes. A warning? Asher wasn’t sure, but he couldn’t deal with that right now. Not while their lives were in danger. He’d made enough of a mess of things the night before.

  Ellie swung her legs over the side and lifted a hand to her head, brushing mussed hair away from her face. With bed head, and rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she looked like a little girl. A lost little girl. He fought the urge to sit down on the bed next to her, to offer a comforting hug. He doubted she’d appreciate that right then. She sat silently, shoulders slumped, but whether that slump was caused by leftover sleep or growing despair over her situation, he didn’t know.

  “I’ll be right back. Lock the door behind me.”

  She nodded again, and he walked to the door, opened it, then stepped out, closing the door softly behind him. He paused in front of the door until he heard it lock behind him. Only then did he walk across the cracked asphalt toward the office. Weeds growing up in the cracks reaffirmed his low opinion of the place. His eyes continually scanned the parking lot, the elongated shadows along its western edges, and into the trees across the road. No way in hell was somebody going to sneak up on him again.

  He stepped into the motel lobby, reached into his wallet, and pulled out a five-dollar bill, placing it on the counter as the manager watched. “Can I get some quarters?”

  The manager brushed the back of his hand across his stubbled chin, glancing at the five-dollar bill, and then up at Asher. “What, I look like a bank to you?”

  Asher pulled a ten-dollar bill from his wallet and placed it on the counter. “That’s for your trouble, thank you.”

  The owner shrugged, snatched the ten, tucked it into his pocket, then opened his cash register. In a matter of moments, Asher walked out, his pocket filled with twenty quarters. He’d need every one, as he’d be using solely cellphones for the next while.

  He rounded the corner of the office payphone booth nearby. Fortunately for him, it looked to be in working order. Damn, he should’ve checked it first. His brain clearly wasn’t working. He would’ve like to blame that on Ellie, but he couldn’t. It was his job to remain alert, focused, and detail-oriented. No matter what was going on around him, that was his responsibility. Asher shook his head. He wasn’t doing such a good job of keeping Ellie out of harm’s way. Those goons, whoever they were, had been a step ahead of them for every move he made.

  He stepped into the booth, slid a quarter into the slot, dialed the number, and then added a few more quarters, leaving the door open, facing the exterior, his eyes constantly roaming.

  The ring on the other end stopped as the phone was answered, but no voice responded. “Jackson, it’s Asher.”

  “What the hell?”

  “I’m at a pay phone.” He quickly filled Jackson in on what had happened since his last update. Jackson cursed under his breath.

  “My sentiments exactly,” Asher said dryly. “Suggestions?”

  “Until we figure out who’s behind all this, let’s not transport her down here. Do you have enough money to stay off the grid for a few days?”

  Asher nodded, and then, realizing that Jackson couldn’t see it, mumbled an affirmative. “I still have my laptop. I’ll find us a secluded spot, maybe a couple of counties over, maybe even head up into New York—”

  “No, not New York, not even if it is away from New York City,” Jackson interrupted. “Head up further north, New Hampshire or Vermont. We’re trying to get a fix on these people, but they’ve hidden their tracks well. Tansy is close to pulling his hair out with this one.”

  “But wouldn’t it be better for him and Ellie to work on this together? Could he meet us somewhere?”

  “I’m hesitant to do even that,” Jackson admitted. “We’ve got to stay under the radar as well. He’s making a little headway, it’s just taking some time. You’ll have to be patient. And careful.”

  “Doing my best,” Asher said, then sighed. “We’ll hit the road, head north. I’ll touch base with you tonight or sooner if necessary. I’ll be calling from landlines and pay phones for the time being.”

  “Got it,” Jackson said, then hung up.

  Asher hung up the receiver and stepped out of the phone booth. Ellie emerged from the motel room. Even from the distance, he saw the pinched, annoyed expression she wore. He almost smiled as he walked across the parking lot. She hadn’t looked like that in the shower . . .

  The sun shone in his face as he walked around the back of the truck, still grinning. She glared at him, standing with his backpack slung over one shoulder, the laptop tucked in the other. He unlocked the door, and she tossed the backpack in, placed the laptop on the seat, pushed it over, and climbed in after it. He closed the door and stepped around the hood of the truck, then climbed in, glancing at her.

  “Got everything?” She nodded. “You’re sure?” She gave him another look.

  “Of course, I’m sure. All we have is your backpack and the laptop. I don’t even have a change of clothes.” She paused. “I have bad breath. I need to brush my teeth, but I don’t have a toothbrush, do I?” She eyed him. “I don’t have anything. No deodorant, no toothbrush, no underwear . . .”

  He nodded. “Got it. We’ll stop someplace and get you a change of clothes and some . . . whatever you need to hold us for a couple of days,” he said.

  She sighed, staring out the windshield at the side of the motel as she mumbled an apology over her foul mood. “Where are we going?”

  “North.”

  She said nothing, and he didn’t either. He slid the key into the ignition and started the truck, giving it about thirty seconds to warm up before he slipped it out of the park and into reverse. The engine hitched, only a slight cough, but not normal. He frowned. It almost sounded like one of the pistons was misfiring. He swore, muttering under his breath. He backed out of the parking space, then turned the nose of the vehicle toward the road. The truck coughed again, belched exhaust, and jerked. “Now what?” He put the truck in park, left the engine running, and glanced at Ellie. “Wait here. I’ll check it out.”

  She nodded, idly staring out the passenger side window into the semidarkness. He glanced around as well, but saw no movement from the other side of the road, nothing in the trees or shrubs nearby. In the distance to the east, he glimpsed the crests of giant sand dunes, but on the other side of the road, trees, shrubs, nothing exciting. No industrial complexes, no neighborhoods, not much of anything. A few widely spread lights from houses.

  Still muttering under his breath, Asher opened the hood. It took him only a few seconds to note the source of the problem. Heart racing, he ran to the passenger side door. Locked. Fuck!

  “Get out!” he shouted. She stared at him with wide-eyed alarm. “Get out! Now!”

  For a second, she froze, and then quickly unlocked her door and slid out. She turned to reach for the backpack and his laptop but he cursed, grabbed her wrist, and began to run away from the truck.

  “Asher! Wait! The laptop—”

  Damn it! She wasn’t fast enough! He paused, and with another curse, bent down, lifted her upward, and threw her over his shoulder. He ran away from the truck, her shouts of anger the only sound in the otherwise still morning.

  He heard her grunt with every step he took. She tried to adjust her position, tried to grab at the waistline of his pants
.

  “Asher—”

  A loud whooshing sound erupted from behind him. A split second later, a blast of hot air pushed him forward, causing him to topple, Ellie falling with him. She cried out as they fell, but he managed to twist and fall on his side, doing his best to cushion her fall. She landed on top of him, his hand clutching the back of her head. His hand struck the asphalt. Her skull bounced against it and then slammed upward, her forehead making contact with his jaw. Asher ignored the pain, clutching her close to him, rolling as an explosion rocked the ground beneath them.

  The explosion was violent. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched his truck bulge and then separate into pieces. A flash of orange and red momentarily blinded him. He shouted and hunched over Ellie as a tire flew past, so close he smelled the burning rubber. Pieces of metal and plastic rained down around them. Asher looked down into Ellie’s startled face, eyes wide, mouth open in a silent scream. He glanced over his shoulder to find his truck now on its rims, tilted toward them due to the crunched front axle, the flames shooting from the engine and into the cab—

  “The computer!”

  Asher stared. Anger replaced shock and he cursed, long and loud to the accompaniment of popping and shattering glass, the whoosh and crackle of flames. The smell of burning oil, melting rubber, and the acrid stench of melting plastic wafted toward them on the breeze. Ellie’s harsh breathing filled his senses. He slowly sat up, arms still wrapped around her, upper torso still protecting her from any potential flying shrapnel or other debris. He pressed her head into the crook of his shoulder. The warmth of her skin plus her ragged breath against his cheek reassured him she was still alive as they huddled close together. His heart pounded hard, as Ellie trembled wildly in his arms. She clutched at him. Her breasts pressed against his chest. Despite the danger, despite the fact that the two of them had almost been blown to bits, he couldn’t help a surge of desire that erupted deep in his groin.