Well, didn’t that just make his traitorous cock wake up and twitch again. Not what he needed to be thinking about right now, but damn if he could forget it once she’d planted the erotic seed. He shifted on the bed and forced himself to concentrate. “Rumors?”
“Todavi, or Todd as he likes to call himself these days, has a friend who owns a club in DC. A club that caters to soldiers and arms dealers. The man’s name is Fritz. That’s all I know. But I would guess that if he’s trying to move that sort of information, this man is where he would go to do so.” Natasha gave a disgusted sigh. “I can’t believe I didn’t pick up on what he was doing until now. I always assumed the leaks were coming from inside the KGB organization, that it was on the government side of things. I never suspected an agent would turn, especially Todavi. His parents are practically gods in the Kremlin.” Her shoulder slumped. “As I said, I am getting too old for this cat and mouse shit. I am done. I won’t kill either of you. Consider this a final thank you, myshka, for all your service.”
“Do you have a name?” Loki asked, relieved when she lowered the pistol and clicked the safety back on. He could’ve taken Natasha then, but given the unknown relationship between the two women, he wasn’t sure whose side M would be on in this dog fight. “Anyone specific we should look for?”
“Other than Fritz? No. And the club’s name is Stripes, I believe.” Natasha walked back to the closet and stowed the gun away, then locked it behind her, sliding the key into her bra. “It’s in the Georgetown area.” She walked back to the entrance, her heels clacking on the hardwood floor. “Now, I must go. They will be watching me for any changes to my routine.”
Loki rose to go, but M placed a hand on his arm, stopping him. “Sit.”
“But we need to get out of here,” he said, frowning. “Get to that club and find Martin.”
“We won’t be leaving until the morning,” M said, staring at Natasha. “Right?”
“Unfortunately, your myshka is correct. This building is heavily monitored by the KGB. They have seen you both enter and will expect you to stay through the night, as is customary with my clients. If you try to leave before morning, they will be suspicious and they will take you into custody. I will lock the door behind me. There are no cameras or hidden listening devices within this room. I sweep regularly for confidentiality reasons, but the same is not true for the hallways, lobby, or exterior of the building. The KGB monitors them all quite thoroughly. My recommendation would be for you both to consider this a spa stay. Relax. Don’t try anything stupid. I’ll have someone bring you food and drinks shortly. You’ll be free to leave in the morning. Enjoy your evening.”
With that, she walked out, leaving Loki and M alone. The lock clicked into place with an ominous finality.
“There’s got to be a way out of here,” Loki said, getting to his feet to inspect every inch of the room. He could understand now why the decorations were so sparse. Nowhere to hide anything.
M stood and proceeded to toe off her shoes and remove her jewelry. “I’m going to take a shower.”
“Seriously?” Loki threw up his hands, exasperated. “That’s the most useful thing you can think of to do right now?”
“Mistress is right. We won’t get out of here until morning without capture. She might be a Russian sympathizer, but she’s also fair. Nothing will happen to us here.”
“I don’t want to stay here. I don’t like to feel trapped,” he said, sudden anger rising inside him. Being locked in this room, with no way to escape, hit far too close to home for his comfort. Not that he was claustrophobic. No, his fears ran much deeper. It wasn’t the physical confinement that bothered him so much, it was the mental demons he did his best to avoid at all costs. Ever since he’d started on this journey of espionage and false identities, his greatest fear had always been going too deep undercover, getting lost in the imaginary worlds he created and never finding his way back to normal again. Tonight, here, with M, those fears roared back to life in a way they hadn’t since that long-ago night when his older brother had left to go into Witness Protection. At the time, young Loki couldn’t imagine anything cooler than leaving your past behind to start a fresh new life. Now, though, he knew such beginnings came at a terrible cost, one he wasn’t prepared to pay.
Muscles tight with tension, he lashed out at M, since she was the only other person there. “And what was all that Mistress shit, huh? You didn’t think it might be important to tell me about knowing Simcova before we walked into this place?”
M walked over to the bathroom and turned on the lights, then flipped on the shower to let it heat up. “No, I didn’t. There was a chance she wouldn’t remember me at all. It was years ago and I look a lot different now.”
“Yeah.” Loki ran an agitated hand through his hair. “That’s your thing, isn’t it? Always changing, always moving. You can’t even commit to one hair color, let alone a mission like the one we’re trying to work together. I should’ve known better than to trust someone like you.”
Even as he said the words, he knew they were horseshit, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. Rage at his own ineptitude and adrenaline pumped through his system, spurring him on. Signs were there that something wasn’t right. He should’ve seen them, heeded them. But no. He just raced on ahead, so goddamned cocky and confident in his own skills. Those skills would get him killed in the end, if he wasn’t careful.
Must be more careful. Must not trust this woman. Must not give in to this connection between us. Must not touch her, taste her, take her, because if I do then I might never stop.
His body, however, didn’t seem to have gotten the memo about not wanting M—judging from the rising of his cock along with his fury and the squeezing of his chest from need and yearning. Good thing she was heading into the bathroom and not facing him.
The door slammed shut behind her and Loki sunk down on the bed once more, scrubbing a hand over his face. What a fucking mess. And yeah, they’d gotten a new lead on Todd Martin, but they couldn’t do anything about it until tomorrow. Because tonight they were trapped. Trapped in this den of iniquity.
He flopped back onto the mattress and stared up at the ceiling, replaying the last hour or so in his head. The conversations, the glimpse into that closet full of sex toys, M’s words—what I do or have done in the privacy of my bedroom is none of your concern…
Oh, but how he wished it was.
Frustrated and frazzled, Loki sat up and hung his head in his hands. The sounds of running water and soft, slightly off-key feminine humming drifted through the air and all he could picture now was M in that shower, steam rising around her, her hands gliding over her wet curves…
Yep. He was in big, big trouble here.
She wanted him too, he was sure of that, after their initial encounter in her kitchen that night making mac and cheese, then in the gym earlier. But there was so much at risk, so much they both had to lose here, with his business and her promotion.
It would be madness to put that all aside for a night of incredible sex.
Wouldn’t it?
As he stared out the tinted windows at the glittering DC skyline beyond, Loki had to admit that maybe the idea wasn’t as crazy as it sounded after all. There were locked in here, no cameras, no recording equipment. No one had to know except them.
He got up and did another sweep of the room just to be sure. Nope. Nothing. He shed his suit coat and toed off his shoes and socks, yanked open the buttons of his white dress shirt so that it was open to his mid-chest.
Standing outside the bathroom door, he placed his hand on the wood and closed his eyes, feeling a need he hadn’t felt before for the woman on the other side.
Perhaps they could share one night together, before reality crashed back in.
If she was willing.
Loki turned the handle and walked into the steamy bathroom.
8
M froze the minute Loki stepped into the room, her heart caught in her throat. Not because of fear, bu
t because of desire. Honestly, being back in this place, back around Natasha and her girl, back to this sordid part of her past where flesh was fantasy stirred her passions like she’d never expected.
She hadn’t lied to Loki either, about her and Natasha. They’d never slept together. Nor had she slept with any of the clients. Didn’t mean she hadn’t fantasized. Boy, had she fantasized.
In fact, she’d been imagining Loki bursting in here—caveman-style—and taking her right here in this very shower. Crazy, really, given that they had a mission to run and her entire future was on the line, but damn. Wouldn’t it be nice just to have this one night, this one moment, just for herself? Just for her and Loki to explore this wild connection between them for the next few hours and savor that sweetness before it was gone. Natasha had told the truth about the surveillance too. M had no doubt about that. The Mistress was nothing if not discreet.
“M?” Loki whispered, barely loud enough for her to hear over the rush of the water surrounding her. “Can I come in?”
She nodded, eyes closed, poised on a precipice of unknowns. Would he want her, just as she was? Would he like what he saw? Would he break her heart in the end? The only question she had a certain answer to was number three. Of course, he would break her heart, if she let him. But if she kept her emotions out of this, kept a clear head, she could escape all this relatively unscathed emotionally. As for the others, it was hard to tell. She’d spent so much time over the last few years being someone else—fake hair, the makeup, the clothes, all of it—that sometimes she didn’t know who she was anymore. Loki played his parts too, always wearing a front. Could two such imposters have any chance of a real bond?
Before she could answer that question, his silhouette appeared on the other side of the frosted glass blocks surrounding the shower. Broad shoulders, cut torso forming a V down to his slim hips and long, muscled legs. He had a hand up, palm pressed to the glass, and she placed hers over it, feeling silly and giddy all at the same time. Yeah, maybe they could bond over this, over their mutual need to connect, if only for one night.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, come in.”
He did. Stepped around the wall and into the spray of water still wearing his shirt and pants. The cotton of his shirt soon turned transparent under the shower, conforming to every ripple of tanned flesh beneath it. M raised a hand and traced shaky fingers over the exposed flesh of his neck, biting her lip to keep from groaning. God, he was so beautiful. His skin felt like silk to her touch, warm and supple, and as he stepped closer to her, she could see the outline of his hard arousal pressed tight against the fly of his wet khakis.
Molten heat gathered in her core and she wrapped her arms around his neck, unable to resist any longer. With a groan, she dragged him closer still, until their bodies were tight together and kissed him hard. Their tongues dueled, danced. He grabbed her by the waist and lifted her off the ground, pinning her against the wall using his body as she ripped open his shirt. Buttons scattered, but M didn’t care. She’d bet good money Natasha kept spare men’s clothes around somewhere in this place and all M could think about anyway was getting Loki naked.
Shrugging out of the wet shirt, Loki wasted no time rubbing his slick chest against her, wiry hair teasing her stiff nipples as he ground his hard cock into the heat between her legs. No gentle coupling this time, they both wanted each other too badly. M dug her nails into his scalp, pulling him back for another open-mouthed kiss. The tiles felt cool against her spine, but Loki was so incredibly hot pressed to her front. The shocking contrast only drove her desire higher.
“God, I’ve dreamed about doing this with you for so long, ever since I first saw you at that air show in Ohio.”
“Yeah?” she traced her fingers down the center of his chest, enjoying his answering shudder, then slipped her fingers inside the waistband of his sodden trousers. “Know what I’ve dreamed about?”
He swallowed hard, his green eyes boring into her as he shook his head.
“This.” Her fingertips grazed the head of his cock, causing him to moan low in his throat. Velvet with a hint of moisture. Oh, yeah. He wanted her every bit as much as she wanted him. It was there in the flush atop his cheekbones, there in his dilated pupils, there in his panting breath and parted lips. She slid slowly down his front until her feet hit the floor, then knelt before him, taking her time undoing his pants, her gaze locked with his as she freed his arousal and wrapped an eager hand around his length. “And this. I want to taste you.”
At the first swipe of her tongue over his sensitive head, Loki squeezed his eyes shut and fisted his hands against the slippery shower wall. At the second lick, his tense thighs quivered. By the time she took him into her mouth and tasted his salty flavor for the first time, Loki wasn’t the only one trembling with need. She wanted him so badly, she couldn’t stop herself from slipping her fingers between her legs and stroking her swollen clit. Her slick folds pounded in time with her pulse and if she didn’t get him inside her soon, it would all be over too fast. And she wanted this to last forever.
After a few moments Loki placed his hand on her shoulders and drew her away from him to stand before him once more. “I’m sorry, darling. But I need to be inside you. Please.”
“Yes. I want that too.”
Never one to scrimp on amenities, Natasha had a full dispenser of condoms on the wall just outside the shower. Loki reached out and grabbed one without ever losing contact with M. He kissed her deeply as he kicked off his pants then slicked on the condom, his fingers between her legs, caressing her, preparing her.
“Ready?” he asked, picking her up again.
“God yes,” M said, wrapping her legs around his waist. “Do it.”
That was all the encouragement he needed. He entered her in one long stroke, burying himself balls deep inside her. She felt so full and stretched, yet she wanted more of him, so much more. She wanted everything.
He pulled out nearly to his tip then drove back into her, taking his time, his eyes closed and head thrown back, the ultimate picture of masculine abandon. M didn’t think she’d ever seen a more gorgeous picture in her life. She clasped her hands in his hair, kissing his cheek, his ear, his neck, anywhere she could reach as he thrust into her just right, hitting that bundle of nerves inside her that sent off fireworks throughout her blood.
“You feel amazing,” he whispered into her chest before taking one of her nipples into the wet heat of his mouth. She cried out and arched hard against him, pulling him closer, closer. He slipped a hand between them to stroke her clit and she soon teetered on the edge of oblivion.
“I’m going to cum,” she said, straining toward release. “Please.”
“Yes!” He drove hard into her once, twice, then the world around her shattered into billions of iridescent shards of pleasure, her body contracting hard around him and driving him over the edge as well. Loki’s body went stiff and he dropped his head forward, his face buried in the side of her neck as he murmured sweet nothings into her skin.
Long moments later, he slowly lowered her to the ground, her legs shaky and weak with satisfaction as the water cooled around them. She shivered and he turned off the shower, reaching outside to dispose of the condom then grab a thick towel to wrap around her.
“You were amazing,” Loki said, kissing her forehead. “Truly amazing.”
M smiled up at him, exhausted and sated. “You weren’t so bad yourself.”
He laughed then picked her up and carried her out into the room and tossed her on the bed, using her towel to dry himself before shutting off the lights then joining her between the sheets. “How about a nap before we try that again?”
“Sounds good.” She snuggled against him in the dark, feeling safe and secure for the first time in years, even though in the back of her mind she knew it wasn’t true. This had been a one-time event, a shared need for release and connection. Tomorrow they’d be back to the same old same old. Still, she waited until his breath evened out into t
he patterns of sleep before whispering, “Sounds perfect.”
9
Loki stood outside the Stripes club the next night, M by his side, and watched the parade of patrons going in and out from the shadows. The day had been interesting, to say the least. Waking up with M in his arms was a great way to start the day, her soft breath ghosting his skin, her warm curves pressed tight to his side. But then she’d gotten up and things had gotten weird between them and everything had gone downhill from there.
He couldn’t honestly say he regretted sleeping with her last night. That would be a lie. Truth was the sex had been incredible. He’d never had a partner so attuned to him and who responded so beautifully to his touch. Making love to M had been hot and exciting and sweet in a way he hadn’t expected. When he’d first opened his eyes in the darkness of the apartment and looked down on her head resting on his chest, he’d felt an overwhelming urge to protect her, to keep her close, to share his life with her—good and bad. Which was ridiculous. Guys like him didn’t have relationships. He worked far too much to be tied down. His jobs were dangerous and required him to travel at a moment’s notice to anywhere in the world. That was hardly conducive to settling in with a wife and kids in the suburbs.
M’s different, his brain argued, playing devil’s advocate. She’s like you. She understands.
And wasn’t that just a blessing and a curse.
She understood the demands of working undercover because she had the same crazy lifestyle. Hardly the best foundation for creating lasting coupledom bliss.
“We going to stand out here all night or are we actually going inside?” M said, her tone annoyed. She’d been pleasantly cool to him since this morning, never once mentioning what they’d shared last night. Loki, being a gentleman, wasn’t going to bring it up either. If she wanted to discuss it, then he’d talk. That was the right thing to do.
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