Deadly Testimony

by Piper J. Drake

  He opened his eyes as she straddled him again, watched her roll the condom over his length. His hands took her hips and helped her settle over him. When the tip of his penis found her entrance, he caught her gaze and asked quietly, sincerely, “May I?”

  She bit her lip then. His consideration undid her. Lost for words, she nodded, bracing her hands against his chest as she lowered herself down on him and he lifted his hips to meet her.

  He entered her in a slow, delicious slide.

  She shuddered as he filled her, stretched her just enough to make her core clench around him. Oh, he was magnificent, no lie. He buried himself to the hilt inside her and they were a perfect fit.

  After savoring the feel of him for a moment, she started to rock her hips. He watched her with a lazy smile, his hands lightly playing over her hips and the curve of her ass as she moved, then his hips started to move to match her.

  The change in motion made her clit rub against the very lowest part of his abs, the light brush of skin against her a fantastic tease. She leaned forward, trying to increase the friction, and let her nipples rub against his chest.

  He lifted his head to her lips and kissed her then, deep and long until she was drowning.

  When the kiss ended, he gently placed a hand against her shoulder and pressed her back into an upright position. His hips still lifted into her, picking up speed. Her breath caught as his hand slid from her shoulder to her breast, kneading and toying with her nipple. His other hand coasted over her thigh and reached between her legs until his thumb pressed against her clit.

  His hips surged up then, his cock driving into her as his thumb rubbed tiny circles around her clit.

  She cried out and held on to him.

  He froze. “Hurt?”

  “Oh my God,” she gasped, “If you stop, I swear I’ll kill you.”

  He laughed then and did it again. And again.

  It felt so incredibly good. She rocked her hips to meet him, encourage him, as the pleasure of it took over. She threw her head back as the muscles deep inside her tightened.

  “I’m coming,” she gasped out the warning.

  His hands settled on her hips as he drove upward into her one more time and she went over the edge, crying out as she did.

  He sat up as the orgasm shook her, wrapping his arms around her and holding her to his chest. He buried his face in the side of her neck and came with her.

  * * *

  Kyle came to awareness slowly, noting with appreciation that the carpet beneath his back was reasonably easy on the skin. No rug burns, though he’d have considered them a small price to pay for the amazingly enjoyable time they’d both just had.

  Lizzy had lowered herself to lay tucked against his side, her legs entwined with his and her head pillowed on his biceps. “Welcome back to the world.”

  He chuckled, supremely satisfied for the moment. “Was I gone long?”

  She shifted next to him, propping herself up on one elbow and leaning over him to trail a fingertip over his chest. “Only a few minutes. Long enough to catch your breath.”

  She sounded smug. He smiled and reached up to play with a few loose strands of her dark hair. She had every right to be.

  He let his eyes close again, relaxing under her fingertips and curving his arm around her so he could enjoy the softness of her skin under his own hand. He stroked her back gently, amazed at the supple softness of a woman so strong. He couldn’t get enough of touching her.

  “Mmm. We’re going to end up falling asleep here.” Her warning was halfhearted.

  He opened his eyes and looked up into her playful gaze. “You look wide-awake. But if you are so inclined, I have no qualms with pulling the blankets down off the bed and making a nest right here.”

  He’d dispose of the used condom and perhaps move a few others to a more readily accessible location. Just in case.

  She chuckled. “It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve slept on the floor.”

  “I can imagine your line of work has taken you to some uncomfortable places.” He found himself curious. He’d never been much for pillow talk but she fascinated him.

  “Sure.” She rose though, sitting back on her heels, and gathered her hair into a tidy ponytail. “Deploy enough times and you learn to catch sleep however it comes to you. Mostly, I catnap but I don’t sleep in often and I don’t crash on the floor unless the bed is too soft.”

  “Ah.” He paused. Her background was mostly a mystery to him, he realized, but he could make some guesses about the kind of danger soldiers lived through. “It must be hard to sleep in the presence of a stranger.”

  “I generally don’t, if I can help it.” She definitely wasn’t sleepy. He propped himself up on his elbows as she stood and walked into the sitting room. Naked.

  “I’d think you’d like the comfort of a good mattress.” It seemed wiser to retreat to a more harmless path for their conversation. He was enjoying the view as she checked the door and then her laptop. She was continually vigilant, even in the midst of an unexpected tryst. He should be grateful even if his pride did end up somewhat bruised to be so easily set aside for work.

  She shrugged as she returned and stepped into the bathroom, only partially closing the door as she ran water and freshened up. “Some hotel beds are too soft, like trying to sleep on a marshmallow. Pillow tops aren’t my favorite and I definitely don’t like memory foam.”

  There he agreed with her. “It’s hard to move on memory foam mattresses and I wake up with a sore back.”

  “Yeah.” She emerged and sat on the edge of the bed, holding out a washcloth. “This hotel has promise though. The bed doesn’t seem too squishy.”

  “It’s quite firm, actually.” He rose and stood in front of her, other parts of him waking up in response to her continued relaxed exposure. Every inch of her was sleekly beautiful and he appreciated how comfortable she was in just her skin.

  Instead of handing the cloth to him, she proceeded to gently wash him. “I can see that.”

  He’d become erect under her gaze and he was getting harder as she continued her ministrations. He enjoyed her consideration too. Usually he was the one to take care of such practicalities. Cleanliness was important to him. He’d set the earlier used condom aside discretely and he was happy to see she’d brought a handful with her along with the wash cloth.

  “Perhaps I could convince you to give the bed a try tonight.” He pressed her back, pausing to nuzzle her breasts as she lay down for him.

  As interested as he was in conversation, he was also ready to explore other means of getting to know her better.

  * * *

  Lizzy rose and stretched, completely naked and utterly satisfied. No doubt about it, good sex was the best kind of therapy, especially when her partner was up for several rounds through the course of a night. They’d gone from the floor to the bed to the sofa and back to the bed again with only enough rest in between for her to assure herself that their room was still secure. And she was seriously hoping they’d have time to consider the bathroom counter.

  Kyle sat in the bed, looking rumpled and equally as satisfied. His eyelids heavy over his dark eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re getting back to work already?”

  His tone was light but there was an underlying hesitation there. Maybe she imagined it but she knew better. It was a worry she’d experienced herself.

  She turned to him, smiling. “I’m hungry. And I figure this might be a long day, so I was going to get us something to eat.”

  He returned her smile. “I see. Do you already have our next meal planned, then? Or are you willing to entertain orders?”

  “I was thinking room service.” She retrieved the hotel’s menu from the dresser and tossed it onto the bed before bending to sort through the random articles of clothing to grab hers.

&nbs
p; “I thought your rules stated there would be no room service.” His voice took on an edge.

  Temper, temper.

  Though to be fair, she hadn’t explained that particular rule fully. “No room service to this room, no. And you shouldn’t order it at all. But I think I mentioned I have more than one room booked in this hotel.”

  Bundling her clothes and tucking them under her arm, she grabbed her laptop from the sitting area and brought it all to the bed. This was new for her, but she’d been working with Kyle rather than near him and she didn’t want to put the distance between them at the moment.

  Bringing up her surveillance, she selected the room located in the same hotel as them and made the streaming video full screen.

  “No one’s been in there and no one’s knocked on the door.” She tapped the screen. “I’d put the do not disturb sign on the door and every time I’ve left the hotel, I’ve made sure to stop in and move a few things around. No maid service, same as what we’ve been doing in here. But I can head down there and call for room service, then bring the meal back up here for us.”

  He studied the screen. “And there’s more than one room on your surveillance.”

  Wariness made her respond slowly. “Yes.”

  She’d been checking the other security feeds throughout the night, even though they’d been indulging in each other.

  He held up his hands. “I admire the thought you’d put into all of this. There was every possibility we could have stayed in that original apartment, if I am correct?”

  She nodded.

  “But you had all of this in place. Alternatives. Backup plan after backup plan.” He shook his head. “And you had less than twenty-four hours to set it all up.”

  When he put it that way, it sounded like a lot more than it was. Her cheeks heated and she busied herself getting her pants back on. “I like options. You can’t be sure there will always be choices so leaving yourself with as many as possible makes sense.”

  “It does,” he agreed. After a moment, he tapped the menu. “Rather standard fare here. A few specialties by the restaurant attached to the hotel. I think the lamb burger looks the most interesting with the whipped feta cheese and olive tapenade.”

  Yum. “Actually, that sounds really good.”

  He grinned. “Would you like to share and get an appetizer too? I find I prefer to order several things so I don’t get bored halfway through my meal.”

  Considering the traditional Korean meal Maylin had taken the time to send them before, she wondered if it was a cultural thing. Could be, though there were other cuisines that encouraged a broad variety of tastes and textures in a meal. She loved tapas and small plates, for example. Whether it was a preference born of his background or not, it suited her very well.

  Sharing small bites of food with Kyle on the bed had its own range of tempting possibilities.

  “They’ve got the usual starters, don’t they?” She slipped her bra straps over her shoulders and leaned forward to peer at the menu as she settled herself into the bra cups and hooked the back. Actually, the restaurant menu was fairly eclectic. She paused to take in the choices and really consider the options.

  When she glanced up, his gaze was on her cleavage and filled with heat. As soon as he noticed her watching him, he met her eye to eye. Her heart rate kicked up and a low heat grew in her lower belly with a hunger of a different kind. She licked her lips.

  It was Kyle who eased them back from the brink of jumping all over each other. He tapped the menu again. “I think we’d enjoy each other better if we have fuel to sustain us.”

  True. And she had more work to do, ensuring they were still safe here. She was hungry enough to gnaw at random things at this point and while she did plan to have her mouth on various parts of him again later, she didn’t have any desire to do him damage while she did it. Exactly the opposite.

  “How about the truffle fries? There’s a little store in Pike Place Market that had samples out with some of their white truffle-infused salt and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. The fries sound fantastic.” Her mouth was watering just thinking about it.

  “The burger does come with fries already so I imagine we could request a substitution.” He was seriously considering the menu.

  This was an odd situation. Sure she’d tumbled with her share of partners. And she’d lingered with them if she could deal with their company past the pillow talk stage. But this comfortable chatter was different. The chemistry between them was still going strong like whoa but it was unhurried, simmering. As if Kyle had every intention to enjoy her over the course of many hours.

  Her chest tightened and expanded at the same time, if that was possible. It was a warm, fluttering tickle. She liked it.

  “Agreed. We’ll get them to substitute the truffle fries for the regular fries with the lamb burger.” She sighed. “Oh, they have poutine.”

  His eyes held a twinkle of amusement as he glanced at the appetizer and back to her. “Duck confit poutine, no less. Sounds delicious. You do have quite the palette.”

  “I’m going to take that as a compliment.” She straightened. Maybe he didn’t notice, or maybe it was habit, but his tone had taken a teasing edge. It was still warm, inviting her to smile with him, but she’d heard him add dry sarcasm to a compliment before. Sweet words could quickly turn cutting.

  Gah. She just had to go looking for things to be cautious about, didn’t she?

  “It’s meant to be a compliment.” That came quietly, earnest and with sincerity.

  He was back to watching her again. Intense without pressure. Open desire tempered by patience.

  The man definitely knew how to make a girl feel wanted.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate it. But while falling into bed with him was a reasonable risk, falling for him wasn’t. A breather would do her good. She could get her head right, then come back and enjoy him the way he was probably hoping to enjoy her.

  Uncomplicated. No expectations. No strings attached. None of this overthinking shit. Suddenly she was caring too much about something that wouldn’t matter in a few days’ time.

  If she kept this up, she’d ruin the good the deliciously sweaty exertion had done her and just be stressed again.

  She shoved her feet into her boots. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. Did you want to pull up something to watch on the laptop while we eat?”

  He chuckled. “Do you think we’ll be paying attention to a movie if we play it?”

  She grinned at him. “It could be background noise.”

  “I’ll take a look.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Lizzy returned to the room balancing the room service tray laden with stacked plates on one hand, her backpack slung over her back to keep one hand free. She scanned the room as she entered and closed the door behind her.

  The atmosphere had changed.

  Kyle sat on the bed staring at her laptop, his face twisted with anger.

  No, he’d gone past that and well into cold rage. It was the kind of thing she’d seen before, when men were pushed to a point where they were willing to do anything—kill—because of whatever caused it.

  “Hey.” She set the covered plates on the side table. Better to have free hands. If he was about to go out on a rampage, she’d need to stop him. Based on their light match earlier, it was doable but not as easy as stopping most people. She’d have to be careful or they could both end up seriously hurt in the process.

  But Kyle’s voice when he spoke was calm, neutral, quiet. “Would you please come watch this?”

  Warning bells clanged inside her head. The quiet ones were always the ones to watch.

  She crossed the sitting room to the bedside cautiously, giving herself time to react if he decided to try to surprise her. “I’m guessing I’m not g
oing to like what I see.”

  His lips pressed together in a grim line. “Watch. Tell me what you perceive and I hope I am simply paranoid.”

  Maybe. But paranoid wasn’t necessarily wrong. In her experience, it was about a fifty-fifty chance as to whether there was a legit reason to be. Trick was, knowing which side of the fifty you landed on in a given situation.

  She stood patiently, still just outside of easy reach, while he tapped the touch pad to start the streaming video.

  It was a news interview, streamed live early this morning based on the logo and time stamp displayed at the corner of the feed. “We’re here live with Jaime Douglas, Vice President of Research and Development, biochemical division, at Phoenix Biotech as he welcomes the latest sponsored family. Phoenix Biotech, and Mr. Douglas’s department in particular, has begun an initiative to support charities this year.”

  The pretty news correspondent beamed at the silver-haired man in the expensive suit as he tugged self-consciously at his jacket hem. Not a man comfortable in front of a camera.

  “Yes.” He cleared his throat and tried for a stronger start. “We at Phoenix Biotech believe in making an impact not only in life sciences, but with humankind. And so we polled our employees to determine what charities mattered to them, taking a vested interested in their cares, their hopes for their families.”

  Grand words but they dripped with honey. Lizzy narrowed her eyes. Not all sweet things were actually good for you. Antifreeze, for example.

  The man continued with his goodwill-toward-all-men speech until the news correspondent asked him directly about the slender Asian woman and teen standing to one side. “Ah yes, this is the first family of several we’ve extended the hand of sponsorship to. The young man has key talents and will be attending a university here in the US on scholarship. His mother has accompanied him. We’re hoping to reunite them both with his uncle, her brother, once we’re able to locate him. They’re wonderful people. I’m sure it would just kill them if we’re not able to find him. “

  Uh-huh. Cue dramatic music. Three guesses on who they were looking for, considering the way Kyle surged to his feet and started to stalk around the bed. Since he stayed in the bedroom area and didn’t seem to be heading to the door, she didn’t stop him. But she did stand up and move into the sitting area to give him room, and give her time to respond if he did decide to go charging out of here.