The Spy Who Wants Me

by Lucy Monroe

  His hands gripped the sides of her head. “Stop, sweetheart. Please.”

  She released him and leaned back so she could see his face. He looked like he was in pain.

  “You didn’t like it?” she asked, knowing darn well he had loved it.

  “I was going to come and I want to be inside you when that happens. I want you to share the pleasure.”

  “I was enjoying myself.”

  “Trust me, you can enjoy yourself just that way any time you like, but for right now, let me pleasure you so we are on a level playing field.”

  “Are we playing?”

  “For keeps, for a lifetime—those are the stakes and I warn you now, I intend to win.”

  “If I don’t oppose you, is it still a game?”

  “It was never a game, but if you don’t oppose me, then we both win.”

  “I like that.”

  “Me too.”

  Then Mat was doing as he’d promised, pleasuring her body until she was just as close to reaching her pinnacle as he had been. He put on a condom and entered her slowly, stretching her swollen, sensitive inner tissues until she was sure they wouldn’t stretch any more. But they did and finally he was seated fully inside her.

  He looked down into her eyes, his own deeply serious. “We are one.”

  Chantal couldn’t say anything, but she nodded. She felt connected to him at a molecular level and her emotions twined with his in a knot she didn’t want to try to undo. Ever.

  Then he started to move, and the memories of ten years of lackluster sex got blasted from her, to be replaced with shattering delight.

  She reached her climax first, her whole body bowing up, going rigid while her inner muscles convulsed. He came with a roar above her.

  Afterward, Mat cuddled Chantal, telling her about a near decade of searching for something he’d only realized recently that he’d had once and lost.

  She knew what he meant, only she’d known exactly what she’d lost. “I spent the last ten years comparing every other man to you. It was stupid—you weren’t there—but I couldn’t help myself. I had boyfriends, but they were all like Eddie. Mistakes.”

  “I am not a mistake.”

  “No. You are the one I have wanted.”

  “And I am the last man you will have.”

  “Oh, so possessive.”

  “Desperate.”

  She smiled and snuggled into his big body. “We have to go downstairs and face your sister. She had to have heard you. You shouted really loud at the last.”

  “She will be happy for us both.”

  “I hope so.”

  “I know it.”

  Beau did catch a ride with Frank after their meeting at ETRD. They talked about the investigation and speculated on who might have put the bug in Frank’s office.

  “I thought I was going to laugh out loud when Elle accused Mr. Smith of doing it.”

  Frank chuckled. “I know what you mean. That lady is a match for our mysterious boss.”

  “Did you wonder, for a minute, if it had been him?”

  “Nope. I’m not saying I’d put it past him to bug my office, or anywhere else at ETRD, for that matter, but he has full access. He’d put something in hooked to ongoing power, not something that required a battery.”

  “So, who do you think did it?”

  “Honestly?”

  “Yes.”

  “If the security breach on the project hadn’t happened, I would have immediately assumed it was Archer Sandstone for no other reason than so that he could know what was going on.”

  “He has access to everything.”

  “Not our private meetings.”

  “You really think he’s that jealous?”

  “I’m not sure. I’m just telling you what I would have thought if I didn’t know there was someone after the antigravity project.”

  “The thought of those plans falling into the wrong hands is enough to give me nightmares.”

  “You and me both.”

  “People could die.”

  “And it would be our fault. We should have had better security to begin with.”

  “No matter how good security is, there will always be someone willing to sell out the people who trust him if the price is right. I don’t care how good Elle is, she can’t guarantee against that.”

  “No.”

  Beau and Frank shared a moment of frustration at Eddie Danza’s betrayal and the threats leveled against Chantal. They didn’t have to talk about it for Beau to know his mentor was thinking about the same stuff he was. He knew Frank well enough to guess. Beau was pretty sure that at this point, his boss didn’t know anything more than he did. It went without saying they were both angry at Mr. Smith for keeping them in the dark about the nature of Gil Bigsley’s disappearance.

  They decided to work a little of that stress off with some racquetball at their club. Beau won the first game, Frank the second and Beau the next two. Beau figured he might have had a tad more frustration to work off.

  Especially after the way Elle had acted after the meeting. She was withdrawing from him, but he wasn’t ready to let her go. It might only be sex, but right now it was addictive sex. And no way was she going to convince him she didn’t want it every bit as much as he did.

  A couple of hours after leaving ETRD, Beau was once again in the passenger seat of Frank’s car. Rather than taking him home, the older man was headed toward Mat’s house. Beau had told him he wanted to talk over some things with Elle regarding the security breach. He also wanted to meet the bodyguards for Mat and Chantal.

  If he planned to convince her to take him home after the Black Eagles arrived, that was his business. Though he doubted he fooled Frank. The man knew him better than anyone else.

  “Do you think this is a good idea?” the older man asked as Beau went to get out of the car.

  Beau stopped and faced his friend and mentor. “I don’t know, but I do know it’s something I can’t ignore.”

  Frank nodded. “Just don’t go getting yourself hurt. She’s not a settling down kind of woman.”

  “I know.”

  “Okay then. See you Monday. Call me if anything comes up beforehand.”

  “Will do.”

  Beau wasn’t surprised that Elle answered the door when he knocked. She was the bodyguard. What did surprise him was the look of absolute consternation on her features when she did so.

  “You didn’t expect me?” he asked, a little stunned.

  She was a smart woman. She had to realize her brush-off at the company was only going to work for so long.

  “I…uh…”

  He followed her into the living room and noticed that she’d been working on that subcompact laptop of hers. It was out and open on the coffee table.

  A moan sounded from the room above them, followed by a litany of French that Beau was kind of glad he couldn’t understand. Considering the fact it was in Chantal Renaud’s voice. A voice clearly strained by passion. The sounds were coming through the heating duct and echoed a little, but other than that, the noise could have been created in the same room.

  Elle turned wild eyes on Beau. “They’re making love. I mean seriously. They couldn’t wait for tonight? A sister shouldn’t be hearing this kind of thing.”

  “I doubt Mat realizes the acoustics carry like this.”

  “Right. And it’s not like I’m going to knock on his door and tell him.”

  He managed to suppress his grin. Just. “Why not?”

  “You’re kidding, aren’t you?” She sounded as close to panicked as he was sure the supercool, über-efficient spy ever got. “That’s my big brother up there. With his…his…”

  “Girlfriend?”

  “I think she’s more than that.”

  “After only two weeks of working together?”

  “They knew each other ten years ago. At university, I think.” She started pacing. “I wasn’t trying to listen. I didn’t even realize what I was hearing at first. Thought he�
�d turned a television on, or something. But then I heard them talking and I got caught up in what they were saying. Curiosity, it’s one of my good-bad traits, you know?”

  “I get that.”

  “As soon as I realized they were getting naked, I hightailed it for the kitchen.”

  He looked down and realized her computer was in standby. “You forgot to take your computer with you.”

  “I know. I just couldn’t come back in here for it.”

  “We’re in here now.”

  “I thought they were done. It’s been going on forever!”

  A loud roar sounded through the vent and Beau was surprised the rafters didn’t shake. Elle looked like she was going to faint. “Get my computer,” she gasped and then rushed from the room.

  Laughing like a hyena the whole time, Beau grabbed the computer and her phone, which she’d dropped when the first moan had sounded. He never would have guessed his sexy, very together lover would have this side.

  He found her in the kitchen, making tea, her expression hunted.

  “Computer.” He put it down on the small table dwarfed by the open expanse of the kitchen. “Phone.” He laid the hitech cellular beside the laptop.

  “Thank you.”

  “So, what have you been doing, standing in here and trying to work up the courage to retrieve your notebook?”

  “Something like that.” She waved her hand vaguely toward the tea things. “Want a cup?”

  “Sure. So, if not worrying about how to get your computer back, what?” Then he latched on to what would really be worrying her. “Ah, you’ve been wondering how you’re going to tell your big brother about the sound system between the living room and the master bedroom.”

  “Yes.”

  They doctored their tea and he put both mugs onto the table, one beside the computer and the other across from it. “I’ll do it.”

  She looked over her shoulder at him, from putting the tea things away, a glimmer of relief showing in her eyes before it was doused by mistrust. “I should be relieved, but I have a feeling that if I let you, there wouldn’t be one iota’s diminishment of my mortification. Or his either. Though he probably deserves it, putting me through this.”

  Beau shrugged, unable to deny the allegation. This was just too damn fun.

  Elle collapsed into one of the dinette chairs, her head landing on her hand in a classic pose.

  Beau laughed out loud.

  She looked up at him. “Why are you here?”

  “Why, princess, you don’t act glad to see me. After I rescued your computer and everything.”

  She sighed. “I do appreciate that.”

  “You really thought they’d be done?” he asked, on the verge of another belly laugh.

  Oh, she had a good glare on her.

  Luckily, Texans were impervious to that sort of thing. “Don’t you remember last night?” They’d taken all night long.

  “It’s not nighttime!” Elle retorted.

  “Elle, I never would have guessed you were so puritanical.”

  “I’m not. It’s just—”

  “Your big brother.”

  “Exactly.”

  He patted her shoulder and pushed her tea in front of her. “Relax, sugar. You’ve faced worse.”

  “I have? I don’t know. My job…it’s dangerous, I guess. Can even get scary sometimes—a lot less often than you might imagine—but this? I think I’m mentally scarred for life.”

  “What’s scarred you for life?” Mat asked from the doorway, barefoot, wearing a pair of black jeans that had been washed so many times they were faded to gray and a black T-shirt, his hair shiny wet.

  Elle groaned and hid behind her mug of tea.

  Mat’s brows furrowed and then he sighed before giving Beau a questioning glance. “Did I know you were coming over?”

  “Nope.”

  “Did Elle know?”

  Beau shook his head. “It was a spontaneous decision.”

  “Related to work, or related to being at my sister’s apartment for breakfast wearing nothing but a pair of jeans?”

  “Both.”

  Elle made another pained sound and was now sharing her death glare between Beau and her brother.

  Mat’s scowl was directed entirely at Beau.

  Beau couldn’t help grinning. Who would have known hanging out with a grouchy scientist and his sexy but deadly sister could be this entertaining? “I wanted to talk some things over with Elle.”

  “I wouldn’t mind hearing what she found out this afternoon myself.”

  Now, that was too good to pass up. “I think she discovered her brother is indeed human and enamored of one of his coworkers.”

  “My feelings for Chantal were pretty obvious this morning.” Mat looked pained and then faced his sister head-on with the attitude of a man about to face a newbie ISO auditor. “If you’re talking about my loud and according to Chantal unmistakable-as-to-the-cause-for shout, I’m sorry about that.”

  Elle just covered her face with her hands and moaned. Damn, she was cute when she was pitiful. And Beau’d bet it wasn’t a look he’d get to see often, if ever again.

  He laid his hand on Mat’s shoulder. “I think this is where I tell you that the forced-air ducts transmit sound a lot less carrying than the aforementioned shout—from the master bedroom directly to the living room. With surround-sound quality.”

  “The hell it does. This house is practically soundproof the way it was built.”

  “Maybe room to room, but trust me, the duct system installed for the heat and central air has added a new dimension to the equation.”

  “Sukin sin,” Mat bit out.

  Elle let out a sort of strange-sounding laugh. “If you’re using Ukrainian to protect my sensibilities, one, they’ve already been demolished.” She shuddered. “And two, I know just as many cusswords in the mother tongue as you do.”

  Mat closed his eyes and appeared to be counting to ten—or maybe fifty. Eventually, he asked, “You heard us?”

  Chapter 13

  Elle shook her head vehemently. “Not that. I mean, I left. After…I heard some. Oh, this is just not the kind of thing I want stuck in my head. It’s worse than a badly done horror movie.”

  Mat looked offended. “Hey!”

  Beau knew he had to hide his amusement, but it sure wasn’t easy. “You chased her out of the living room. She’s been hiding in the kitchen like a scared rabbit since the discovery. She even abandoned her precious computer.”

  Mat gave his own impression of a man trying very hard to hold in his hilarity. “Sorry about that, sis. It wasn’t on purpose, I promise.”

  “I never thought it was, but darn it—couldn’t you have waited until tonight?”

  “No.”

  Beau understood the certainty in Mat’s voice. He was, after all, another man. But Elle? She was gulping air like a drunk with a bottle of fine wine and the expression in her eyes was turning downright scary.

  “Think of it this way: you wouldn’t want the Black Eagles to discover the way sound carries in the house, would you?” Beau asked.

  “Yes.” Elle was nodding like a bobblehead on the dashboard of a car with bad shocks. “Definitely. Way better.”

  “What would be way better?” Chantal asked as she came into the kitchen, her hair damp.

  They all froze. Elle jumped up, and the change that came over her was phenomenal. The wild-eyed baby sister who had overheard her big brother roaring out his climax became a calm, collected woman without a care in the world. In like one second. This was Beau’s sugar’s game face; he was sure of it.

  Elle smiled serenely. “I would have preferred it if Mr. Smith had revealed the nature of Gil Bigsley’s disappearance before today.”

  Beau was impressed. She hadn’t lied, but she hadn’t told the whole truth either.

  “Me too.” Chantal gave a sweet little secretive smile to Mat and then focused on Elle. “Did you get a chance to talk to Gil today?”

  The
sexy TGP agent nodded. “Mr. Smith called me on a three-way not long after we got back here.”

  “What did Gil say?” Beau asked.

  “His story is almost identical to Chantal’s except that whoever is trying to get the plans for the antigravity project threatened his elderly parents as well. He got scared and went straight to Mr. Smith. Turns out it was a smart move. Mr. Smith had him and his parents in a safe house within hours.”

  “I guess there are benefits to not having a family,” Chantal said.

  Mat hugged her from behind, wrapping his arms around her waist. “You have one now, miy liúbyy.”

  Elle’s expression softened.

  “What does that mean?” Beau asked, guessing it wasn’t anything like another Ukrainian swearword.

  “My precious,” Mat interpreted for him.

  “My brother is right. You have a family now, Chantal. You are not alone and you never will be again. We’re a tough bunch to get rid of; trust me, I’ve tried.”

  Mat winced, but Chantal looked really moved by Elle’s words. “Thank you.”

  Elle lightly punched her brother in the arm. “I didn’t try that hard; you know I didn’t. And I’m done avoiding the people I love, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “So, you didn’t learn anything new from Gil?” Beau asked.

  “I’m not sure. He thought the man he talked to had an accent, but not British. What about you, Chantal?”

  “Um…let me think. His accent isn’t British, but it’s close. Not Australian. Definitely not Canadian.”

  “South African?” Elle asked.

  Chantal’s eyes widened and she nodded. “Yes. That’s it. It’s very subtle, but it’s there.”

  “Was it always the same man who called?” Elle asked.

  “Yes. I don’t recognize the voice as someone I’ve met before, but it’s definitely the same one.”

  “Gil said the same.”

  “So, that means what?” Chantal asked.

  “I’m not sure except that it looks very much like the same person who contacted Gil threatened Chantal. The agent who investigated the initial security breach has a list of names, buyers who were supposed to participate in the auction for the plans. We can cross-reference it for a South African connection.”