Undercover in the Dark

by Ann Jensen

  “Hands on the log.” He let go of her hair and enjoyed the way she swayed.

  Her eyes flared with desire, then she moved with a sexy grace. The few steps she took were a test of his will as he traced every curve of her body with his eyes. Her tiny smile told him he was about to get a surprise.

  The log he had indicated was large, but she still had to bend over at the waist, so her ass was pointing right towards him. Max enjoyed the way the fabric of her skirt slid up her thighs, till it revealed her bare ass underneath. Fuck, if he had known she wasn’t wearing underwear this entire time, his concentration would have been shit. He stepped forward and enjoyed the smooth feel of her skin against his palms as he ran his hands up the backs of her thighs.

  “Why the hell aren’t you wearing any underwear?” He didn’t bother to hide the hunger in his voice.

  “There wasn’t any in the bag you left me.”

  Max chuckled and smacked her ass at her saucy reply. If one of his brothers had packed the bag, he would have believed it was an oversight. But he knew the Old Ladies had packed for her. Instead of sensible clothes. They had dressed her up to seduce him.

  He would have to thank them for it later. His fingers played across her gorgeous tempting crease. Her honey was visible even in the dim light. Her moan as his finger slid through her folds and found the little pearl of pleasure made his cock pulse. Cat’s sounds weren’t loud enough. If he was going do this, he was going do it right.

  He used his other hand to slap her ass, enjoying the sound of flesh hitting flesh. “You wanted this, Wildcat. Don’t hide your sounds from me.”

  She pushed back against him with a little wiggle. “You have to give me something to make noise about.”

  God, he loved her sass. Everything about her challenged him in the best possible way. She was wild, surprising, and rarely did what he expected. No moment with this woman would ever be boring.

  He circled her clit with one hand while peppering down blows on either side of her ass. Cat’s pants and moans were music in the evening as her breath started to catch. He thrust two fingers deep into her core. Her scream of pleasure was music to his ears.

  It only took a few pumps, and she was trembling against his hand. He wanted to draw this out, push her to the point she begged for him, but the temptation of her and the needs of his own body were too great.

  He undid his pants and the pleasure of freeing his cock from the tight confines of his jeans forced a groan from him. Max gripped her hips and pulled her into position. The sight of his fingers as they pressed into her flesh was amazing. Her whimper begged for him to take her. They were made for one another, their needs perfectly aligned.

  Max thrust forward, and her body welcomed him. Cat’s tight muscles clenched around his length like a vise. This was where he belonged. This was his home.

  She tried to buck against him, but he held her still, needing to savor the moment. He enjoyed knowing she would have bruises where his fingers gripped her so tightly. A mark to remind her she was his. He reached forward and wrapped her hair around his hand, forcing her body to arch up beautifully.

  “You’re mine,” he growled.

  “Yes!” Her response was a shout as she tried to thrash against him.

  Only then did he release his tightly coiled control and set the rhythm that both her body and his needed. They were in perfect synchronization. He didn’t even bother to try to hold back his own sounds of pleasure.

  Every thrust brought him to the ends of her depths, and he marveled at how perfectly their bodies fit. It was like she had been created for him so that they were able to lose themselves in the most primal of rhythms.

  Her body, her soul, her spirit. All of it was the perfect match for his own. When she started to tighten around him his own orgasm built in his spine.

  “I love you, Wildcat.”

  “Oh God, I love you, Max.” Her words were a scream that probably was heard for miles.

  Her body spasmed and milked his orgasm straight out of his body. Lightning jolts of pleasure raced across his skin then seemed to flow into her body and back to him.

  Silence fell, only the popping of the bonfire making any sound other than their harsh breathing. He finally forced himself to pull out of her. The sight of his cum dripping out of her and down her leg was probably the sexiest thing he had ever seen.

  He pulled her up, and turned her so her body pressed against his. Max needed to hold her against him for a minute. Their heartbeats thundered against each other’s chests. Over her head, he caught Hawk’s eye, and the man gave him a smile and a chin lift.

  Max wasn’t sure how long they had stood there holding each other but eventually the moment was broken by a crackle over his earpiece.

  “Drone incoming,” Dragon spoke.

  What the hell? He stepped back and pulled Avery behind him. There was a big tree close to them, so he maneuvered her so the tree was at her back.

  “Stay behind me.” Max hoped she wouldn’t resist him.

  “What’s going on?” Her voice was calm, and he was glad to hear it lacked fear.

  “I’m not sure–”

  “Drone doesn’t have any obvious weapons. It is carrying a small thin package.” Dragon’s voice cut him off.

  “Heads up, everyone. This could be a distraction.” Hawk’s voice echoed through the clearing.

  “Dragon spotted a drone,” Max whispered. Damn it, he should have gotten her an earpiece so she would know what was going on. If the shit hit the fan, she would be completely dependent on him. A tense minute passed before Max finally heard the unmistakable sound of a mechanized drone.

  When Max could make out the shape of the flying object, he could see it was a small, commercially available model that was carrying something that looked like a manila envelope. The drone flew over their heads and hovered above Hawk before dropping the object. The scowl on his President’s face would have made him laugh, if the situation wasn’t so serious.

  Hawk looked up at the flying delivery drone that hovered above them. “I guess you’re not coming.” His voice was flat.

  The drone did a sideway weaving pattern and then took off into the night. His President’s disappointment was evident for only a moment before he pulled himself together.

  “All right men, let’s see what she gave us.” He strode straight over to one of the few picnic tables that were around the clearing.

  Max joined him, with Avery close on his heels. After a quick check, Hawk opened the manila envelope and pulled out several pages. His President glanced over the papers quickly, then handed them over.

  Avery pressed against his shoulder as she squinted at the pages. He tilted the paper to catch the light of the bonfire so they could both read. The papers appeared to be reports on different individuals.

  The top sheet was titled Maria Gomez. It held a picture of a Latina woman, along with her vitals. DOB, height, weight, address, it was all there. Then came more personalized notes, probably from Akula.

  Maria is a low level assassin for the family, contracted last year to take out Agent Nathan Chatham. She was chosen because at a distance with bad video she would be mistaken for Avery. Paid for by Mitchel Thomas and recently contracted by Andrey Petrov to kill the guards who had been contracted to kill Avery in order to clean up the loose ends.

  On the second page there was a picture of a man Max recognized as one of Petrov’s higher ranking soldiers. Timur Sokolov’s vital statistics were listed as well.

  Timur acted as backup for Maria Gomez during the assassination last year. He is currently partnered with her again with instructions to eliminate her once the job is done.

  The last page was a personal letter to Cat.

  Hello New Friend,

  I’ve searched through all of both Viktor and Andrey’s records. Unfortunately, they are professionals. There was nothing I could find to tie them to what happened to you or your partner. Nothing that would be usable to clear your name.

  I have b
een briefed on the situation as I’ve been ordered to clean up the mess and remove all loose ends. Andrey wants this embarrassment over and if possible for Viktor to remain in place, as he is useful to the family in his current position.

  Understand that taking you out was originally just a job for hire for Mitchel Thomas. He worked closely with my family on many things. When all of the players, but Viktor, were eliminated, the fool decided getting rid of you would reduce the chance his part in the operation would be revealed.

  He’s had plenty of time to clean up his tracks. I doubt if there’s any way now, other than getting a confession, to prove he did any of this.

  I wish I had better news for you, but understand at this point, killing you is a point of pride. He is not going to stop. It is my job to make sure this mess doesn’t blow back on the family.

  I wish you all the best of luck,

  Akula

  Cat’s body tightened against his as she read the note. Her body practically vibrated with rage.

  “So that’s it? He gets away with it, and I’m a mess that needs to be cleaned up.”

  Max wrapped his arm around her shoulders and ignored her when she tried to shove him off.

  “This is more information. It doesn’t mean the end of it. We will keep you safe and Tek and Cami are very good at hunting down a digital trail. With two more names maybe they can find something that connects them.”

  “Maybe. You mean probably not.” Max hated the defeat in her voice.

  Hawk stepped forward with Highdive at his side. “All right everybody, let’s pack this up. Give us some space.”

  With that, all the Brothers, except for Highdive and Hawk, started moving what gear they had over to the bikes. They started the process of putting out the bonfire.

  “I talked to National earlier,” Hawk said.

  Max snapped his head up, startled. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

  “I was hoping we would get better information out of Akula.”

  “What did they say?”

  Hawk ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “They said we can’t move against Viktor. It would break our treaty with the Bratva.”

  “And if he continues to move against my woman?” Max clenched his fists, not liking the way the conversation was going.

  Highdive cleared his throat. “The contract on her head started long before she was ever associated with us. We’ll defend her but can’t take any proactive measures. It will put us all at risk. The best solution we could come up with was for both of you to disappear into one of the other chapters until this is sorted.”

  His Brother’s words were like a punch to the stomach. Max had started out in the Dark Sons Los Angeles chapter, but had been with his Brothers in Denver since its creation. He had never considered leaving them for another chapter.

  There was a cold logic in the solution. He could protect both Cat and his Brothers. It didn’t mean that the move would not hurt. Every man in the Denver chapter wasn’t just his Brother. They were his friends.

  He’d spent years with them, getting to know everything about them. Could he walk away and start again? He looked down at Cat and knew he could.

  The guilt and fear in her eyes tore him up. He hated that she was going to have to live this way. They would always be on the run from assassins, but it was better than dead.

  He gave her a small smile and loved the way her eyes practically lit up with fire. “No.” Her denial was a shock. “I’ll leave. You guys have done everything you could for me. I appreciate it but I won’t let Max get punished for my problems.”

  Max shook his head. “That’s not the way it works, Wildcat.” He tilted her chin up and caught her gaze. “You’re mine now. There’s no turning back from that. I don’t care if the two of us have to go to the gates of Hell itself. We are not separating.”

  The words rang true in his heart, solidifying into a plan in his mind. Yes, these men were his Brothers and his friends. But she was the missing part of him. She was the reason everything he’d done and everything he would do in his life was worthwhile.

  They would start over together this time. Build a home they could both enjoy. Together, they would find peace and purpose. And if Viktor kept coming after his woman, he knew hundreds of ways to make problems disappear.

  Chapter 27

  Giving a woman space is like having all you can eat Mexican. Great for the short term but often extremely painful later that night.

  * * *

  Guilt turned Avery’s gut into a swirling mass of tension. Why was he so ready to give up everything for her? She was no one. Just a foster kid who did well in school and managed to get a good job.

  She’d even screwed that up. Now this man who had fought his way out of Hell was ready to give up the peace he had found with the family and Brothers, who had his back. Just to keep her safe. It wasn’t right.

  “So what, you guys would exile Max? I guess they didn’t teach you giving in to a bully is wrong, in special ops school.”

  Hawk’s chuckle stoked her anger further. His condescending look didn’t help. “Putting down Viktor would be easy, that’s not what we are worried about. It’s Andrey, his boss.”

  She knew she shouldn’t snap at Hawk, but her frustration made her reckless. “Too big of a fish for you?”

  Hawk’s eyes were like chips of ice. “Andrey leads over thirty men in Denver alone. Then there is his boss who has access to over a thousand loyal men and even more who can be bought. That doesn’t even take into account, Akula, who has found and killed much harder targets than you.”

  “And you think they would bring them in to attack you if we went after Viktor?”

  The scope of everything was making her head hurt. All she wanted was for the truth to come out and for the man to pay for what he had done. Instead, she was stuck in the middle of a game where she didn’t understand the rules.

  “He is a highly valued operative with access to information they want. Now that we know about him, he might get pulled. But protecting him will be a point of pride for them.”

  “Why is pride so important to you men?” Avery had seen it time and again when she was undercover. Mexicans, Russians, Italians, all of them seem to put reputation above reality. Max placed a steadying hand on her shoulder. She was surprised he hadn’t tried to shut her up already.

  Max turned her a little, so she was looking at him. “The only thing that keeps the Underworld from turning into chaos is fear and reputation. If any of us don’t enforce our rules or live up to our promises, none of us can work together peacefully.”

  Hawk gave her a smile, which held too much pity for her tastes. “We’ve had an uneasy treaty with the Bratva for almost ten years. Without treaties, our Brothers would die in pointless fights over territory. Not just here, but in every chapter across the United States.”

  It wasn’t the fact that she didn’t understand what they were trying to say. It was that she didn’t want to accept it.

  Max squeezed her shoulder. “We aren’t superheroes, Cat. There is only so much we can do. Those treaties limit what can or can’t be done in our territories. This situation sucks but we still have options as long as we aren’t at war.”

  “So you have to run because of me.”

  Hawk’s sigh held much of the frustration she was feeling. “A smart man knows when it’s best to retreat and regroup.”

  Why were they all willing to let Max pay for her problems? “This is bullshit.”

  “Wildcat.” Max’s look was so intense she had to swallow back the words clawing at her throat. “I agree with them. Do I like the fact this dickhead’s going to get away with this? No. But if it means keeping you safe and stopping a war that would claim the lives of many of my Brothers,” he shrugged, “it’s something I’m willing to do.”

  Avery hated the logic of the whole thing. She wanted to scream and rail against the unfairness of it all. She looked at Hawk and hoped he felt all the anger in her gaze. “Just so I’m clear,
you’re saying, even if Viktor walked up and threatened me with a gun. If Max took him out, it would create a war.”

  Hawk nodded. “Yes. Not only with the Bratva, but probably the FBI. We may know that he’s dirty, but there is no proof. Maybe, given some time, Cami might be able to find something, or Tek. But until that happens, we can’t act.”

  The fact that Hawk obviously hated what he was saying, as much as she hated hearing it, was only a small salve to her anger.

  “What about the other two? The ones who killed my partner.”

  Hawk’s icy glare slid down her spine. “According to Akula, Maria’s good as dead. Timur will be harder but we’ll find a way.”

  “I want to be part of that.”

  She needed to do something. This helpless wave of emotions was tearing at her. A dark part of her resented Max, because he wouldn’t give her up. A bigger part of her rejoiced knowing for once someone was choosing her, even though the path was hard.

  If they weren’t connected, she would be free to do whatever she wanted. The Dark Sons wouldn’t have to worry about blowback. They wouldn’t have to worry about keeping her alive. It would have been so much easier for them, but because Max loved her they would try to find a way to make it work.

  It was crazy thinking about how much she had changed over the last year. She wasn’t proud that she no longer cared if Viktor paid through the legal system, or simply with his life. To hell with her freedom. It barely meant anything to her anymore.

  The fantasy that she could ride off peacefully into the sunset with Max was just that, fiction. Reality was so much harsher. She was going to have to be on the run for the rest of her life. Dragging him down with her.

  Why should Viktor get to roam free?

  Max cupped her cheek, making her body want to melt into his. When he touched her, it was tempting to let him make all the decisions. Give over her control. But that wasn’t who she was.

  “I don’t like the thoughts that I see flickering through your eyes, Wildcat. We’re going to figure this out together.”