by Kadie Scott
He pointed to the drawer. In a second she had one out and rolled it on with torturously slow motions.
“Cassie,” he groaned.
“Let’s see if you can hold on for at least eight seconds,” she teased.
Then she positioned him at her entrance and inched down his length, raising and lowering until every inch was sheathed inside her.
The sight of her above him, her head thrown back, long pale hair tumbling almost to her waist, ecstasy twisting her face, was everything he’d fantasized about.
Drew was going to explode if he couldn’t move this faster.
“Drew?” she moaned.
“Yeah?”
“I think you’d better take over.”
No need to ask him twice. In a heartbeat, he rolled them both over, taking a quick second to hitch her legs higher around his waist, smiling at the answering hitch in her breathing. He pulled out and sank back in with a groan. Then he let the pace take a natural course, slow at first, then kicking into a faster rhythm.
Cassie gazed up at him with wide, desire-glazed eyes, her mouth parted as she panted out his name. He could feel the tension in her building, her legs squeezing him tighter, her hips pumping in time with his.
“Oh God…Oh God. Drew, please.”
He reached between them and pressed down on the bundle of nerves at her core. Cassie arched against him as her orgasm ripped through her. Her body clenched around him, milking his own orgasm from his body. The tingle started at the base of his spine then gathered in his balls before bursting outward.
He gave a shout as stars exploded behind his eyes, coming long and hard in a way no other woman had made him come before.
His body slowed, his raging heart gradually returning to a normal pace, his breathing slowing. Drew took Cassie’s mouth in a lingering kiss. Mindful of his weight on her body, he moved to the side, pulling her in close, facing him.
They lay there for a long time, coming down from the insanely high cliff their bodies had willingly hurled off.
“I plan to take my time on the next go,” Drew murmured. Then chuckled, because he hadn’t meant to say that out loud.
“Oh?” Cassie traced the ridges of his stomach idly. “There’s going to be a next time?”
He kissed the top of her head. “Just give me a few minutes.”
“I thought it took men longer to…errrr…recover.”
“It’s not the bandwidth, it’s how you use it.”
His stupid joke earned him an adorable giggle. She grinned up at him. “Nerdy sex jokes. Who knew?”
Drew smiled back. “Who knew?” he echoed.
“So…what’s with the book on your bedside table?”
He took a moment to mentally switch topics. Book? Oh damn. The book on communicating with women. She’d apparently noticed.
He glanced down to find her watching him with dancing eyes. “Was it for me?”
What would Max say? What would the book tell him to say? He came up blank. “Maybe.”
“That’s really…cute.”
Drew shook his head but smiled back, relieved she’d found it cute rather than manipulative or pathetic. Honestly, he hadn’t picked the thing up in a long time, or thought about Max’s advice, either. Cassie seemed to get him as-is.
She snuggled into him, and he found he couldn’t stop smiling. Cassie’s sigh of utter repletion settled in the region of Drew’s heart. Content to just lay, he toyed with a lock of her pale hair.
“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured, and received a sweet, sleepy smile for his trouble.
She reached out with one hand and trailed it over his chest and stomach, which clenched under her touch. “So are you,” she said.
“Men aren’t supposed to be beautiful,” he groused.
Cassie rolled her eyes. “Well, you are anyway. Where’d the muscles come from?”
She’d asked earlier, but hadn’t waited for an answer. He loved that he could drive her wild enough not to wait.
Drew shrugged. “Air Force. I still keep in shape. My friend Max and I work out most mornings together.”
“Military. I didn’t see that one coming.”
Drew chuckled. “You did say government work the first day we met.”
She put a hand up to one of her suddenly red cheeks. “Oh gosh. I was such a bitch.”
He pulled her hand away and threaded their fingers together, unwilling to stop touching her. “No, you weren’t. You were cute.”
She gave a delicate snort. “Yeah, right.”
“It’s true.”
She rolled her eyes. “I wanted you fired, but then you turned out to be a nice guy.”
A guy who’d wanted to pin a crime on her. The sting of his guilt was overpowered by a stronger urge. The need to protect her. To keep her safe. And happy.
“I’d like to buy you a puppy.” As seemed to happen around Cassie, thoughts came out before he’d properly vetted the idea. Maybe he was picking up her habit. Either way, could he be more of an idiot? Buying a woman he’d just slept with a dog because she always wanted one was an extremely inappropriate, and improbable suggestion. Maybe he should’ve been reading that book more than he thought.
For her part, Cassie raised a single brow. In surprise? In question? Apparently, they’d changed roles because he was spewing nonsense while she remained silent.
Too late to back out now. “You said you always wanted a dog.”
“That’s true,” she said slowly.
“I found a litter of Cairn Terriers close to where my mother lives.”
She studied him for a long moment, her expression indecipherable. “You tried to find me a litter so I could get the kind of dog I want?”
He shrugged. “My mom mentioned it when I called to ask her about your flowers.”
Now she grinned. “You asked your mom about flowers?”
Damn. She was going to think he was an incompetent dolt. “She owns a flower shop.”
“I remember.” With a tender smile, she unthreaded their clasped hands so she could lay hers against his cheek. “You are a decent man, Drew Kerrigan.”
Warmth spread out from her touch, and he covered her hand with his and squeezed. “I’d say what we just did together was anything but decent.”
Cassie laughed, the genuine sound going straight to his cock, which was already recovering. “I think you have a bit of bad boy in you,” she teased. At the same time, she lowered the sheet in a slow slide, exposing her breasts to his eager gaze.
In one swift motion, he rolled her underneath him. “I think maybe you’re right.”
Chapter Eleven
Drew shot upright in the middle of his bed, covered in a cold sweat. He took a minute to orient himself. What had woken him? Something wasn’t right.
Cassie.
The bed was empty. Had she left? No. The smell of fresh ground coffee teased his nose. That must be what woke him.
A glance at the clock revealed it was six in the morning. Last thing he remembered, he’d offered to buy her a dog, which had somehow turned into another round of long hot sex. Before falling asleep, she’d let him off the hook about the pet. “It’s a sweet idea.” She’d given a sleepy yawn. “But no. I’m not home enough to have a puppy yet.”
Drew nodded, both relieved she’d given him an out and strangely disappointed. He’d like to have seen her glow with happiness when she got something she’d always wanted. Cassie’s eyes had fluttered closed and her breathing soon evened out. Drew enjoyed the view until sleep overtook him as well.
A new experience for him. Sleep didn’t usually come easily, and never when a woman was involved. He’d even slept through the night.
Curious about where she was, Drew crawled out of bed, and pulled on a pair of jeans. He was pulling a T-shirt over his head as he walked out of the room when he spotted her, and froze.
Damn, what a sight. He didn’t give a shit if it was cliché. One glimpse of Cassie in nothing but his white button-down shirt, and every
thought left his brain along with the blood, which deserted his head for other parts of his body.
He must’ve choked or something, because she glanced over. “Morning.” She smiled and held up a mug of coffee. “Want some?”
Drew nodded, still trying to make his vocal chords operate. As he moved forward into the room, a stack of papers on one of the end tables in his living room caught his eye, and his stomach dropped straight to the bottom of his feet as a string of swear words went off like bombs in his brain.
Like a colossal, sex-obsessed dumbass, he hadn’t hidden all traces of his assignment before he’d left for work yesterday morning. Max had provided his analysis of Data Minds’ financials in paper form, “off the grid” as it wasn’t official, and he’d left it in plain view for her to stumble across. Even rookies wouldn’t have made that mistake.
He quickly glanced in Cassie’s direction. She hadn’t acted suspicious. That was something. Finding her distracted in the kitchen, he started toward the living room, intending to pull a stack of magazines on top of the evidence of his stupidity.
“I like your apartment,” Cassie called out to him.
Drew paused mid-step, unsure what to do. For a trained FBI agent, he was certainly flubbing this up in spectacular fashion. Kids playing at being spies had more finesse than he did at this moment. “Thanks,” he called back.
If she’d already seen the papers, covering them up would look worse. There was nothing about the FBI in those papers, or anything else to tip her off about the investigation. Most people who stumbled across the pile would probably think he was simply being uber-thorough about getting to know his new employer.
But Cassie wasn’t most people. He prayed to every higher power in the universe that she hadn’t seen those while she’d been puttering around his apartment without him. Now, he just had to keep her out of the living room.
Drew changed direction and headed toward the kitchen, then sat down at the small round table in his kitchenette. Cassie brought over a mug of steaming black coffee, but not even the anticipation of caffeine could break through his anxiety.
She leaned over and gave him a sweet kiss, and he could smell himself on her skin. Okay, that might distract him.
“You have a great layout.” She nodded around the room. “And the combination of traditional and modern is lovely.”
His apartment was an open floor plan with the living room, small dining area, and kitchen all flowing together. He liked his place for the same reasons, so the fact she appreciated it, too, would’ve made him smile. If he could concentrate.
She pulled a chair close to his and sat. Her jasmine scent floated around him, and his shirt parted to reveal long, lean legs. Legs which had been wrapped around him just last night while she’d begged…
Hell. Drew resisted dragging a hand through his hair. He should’ve waited until the investigation was over before taking things to this level.
Through sheer force of will, he dragged his gaze up her body to find her watching him closely. What had she said? Oh yeah, the apartment. “I like it.”
He grimaced at the lame response.
She hid a smile behind her cup of coffee, but he still caught it. “What?” he asked.
She gave a little shrug as she lowered her mug. “Like what you see?”
Despite the sassy words, Drew couldn’t miss the way she watched him closely. With suspicion or self-doubt? Either way, play it cool. “You know I do.” The words came out low and rough.
Her shoulders dropped a fraction, and her smile widened. “Good.” Another swallow. “But we’ll have to wait.”
Why? He stared back, waiting for her to get to the reason.
“I have to get home and change before we go to work.”
Work. The real world. Damn, he’d rather stay in bed and recreate the fantasy they’d discovered together last night. So would she, if the fire in her gaze was anything to go by.
Bad idea, Kerrigan.
Wasn’t the definition of insanity to repeat the same mistakes while hoping for a different outcome?
“Before I change into something decent and head out, can I talk to you about a work-related issue?” she asked.
Work? Where was she going with this? Apprehension tightened in his chest. “Sure.”
She took a deep breath and put her cup on the table. “I’ve stumbled across something fishy. Several things, actually.”
Drew did his best to appear appropriately confused and concerned while hiding the tidal wave of panic slamming through him. “Fishy?”
She nodded slowly, never taking her gaze off him. “I found some odd code in the system a while back. Remember that weird code I discovered at work that I was sure I didn’t write?”
He tried not to jerk in reaction. He’d gone back and removed that code.
Oblivious of his panic, she continued. “Well, it’s gone now, but I’ve found a few other things and have been keeping track of different anomalies. Things that shouldn’t be there. At first I thought it was bad code, but now I’m convinced something bigger, and possibly illegal, is going on.” She leaned forward and lowered her voice, as if someone might hear them. “I think we’re being hacked.”
Drew swallowed. He was in deep shit. What had started as the hottest night of his life just took a turn for the seriously messed up.
“Are you sure?” Fuck. That’s the best he could do? As soon as this op was over, he’d take acting classes. Then again, they might never allow him undercover again.
She frowned. “I wouldn’t be asking for help if I weren’t sure.”
He nodded and did his no comment thing.
Luckily, she seemed to take it as him saying he believed her, because she continued. “I’m on the trail of whoever it is, but I could use a second set of eyes.”
Drew held up both hands. “Of course. I’m happy to help.”
Cassie eyed him closely for a second—and there went the bug and microscope effect—but then she smiled. “Great,” she finally murmured.
She stood and kissed him. Brief and sweet, and not enough. He stilled under the touch.
“I’d better go get dressed.”
Drew’s body vehemently protested as she deposited her mug in the sink and left the room. Meanwhile, his brain churned over the problem.
It was only a matter of time before she figured out the person hacking into Data Minds was him. If she hadn’t already.
…
Cassie waved at Drew as the cab pulled away from the curb. She should be floating around on cloud ten, or wherever people floated, given they’d shared the hottest night of her life. Instead, all she could think about was the stack of papers she’d seen at Drew’s.
She’d been hugging herself, and just looking around—enjoying pictures of him with his mother, and one with his dog, Rustbucket. She found a military medal in a fancy glass case on the wall and admired it, trying to picture him during his military days. She wasn’t trying to snoop, not really, but it was just…there.
At first, she’d figured the stack of papers was research from when he was interviewing with Data Minds. That could still be a plausible explanation, except the “research” came across as completely off to her. Too thorough, though she could see Drew taking due diligence to a whole new level.
Warning bells had chimed in her head, regardless, and she didn’t know what the hell to think. The math wasn’t adding up in his favor—the code she’d found in the system combined with what she saw in his apartment and Drew’s constant questions at work could all be total coincidence. Taken separately, each was innocuous. For once in her life, she hoped two plus two plus two added up to zero. Zero things wrong.
“What was that?” the cabbie broke into her thoughts.
“Nothing,” she muttered.
She’d deliberately mentioned the weird things she’d been seeing in their systems, hoping to get a reaction. When she had, she watched him. Carefully. He didn’t even flinch. In fact, he gave her a solid show of being shoc
ked and concerned. Or at least his stoic version of those emotions.
While that would reassure a normal person, Cassie’s gut didn’t unclench. Really bad sign. She’d expected a request for proof, or even a protest she couldn’t be right, but that’s not what she got. New York passed by her window in a blur of buildings and people as she tried to make all the puzzle pieces fit together.
At the same time, she couldn’t make her head or heart wrap around Drew doing something wrong. She’d finally found a decent guy whose brains turned her on and who managed to make her world tilt on its axis when he touched her. He had too much integrity to not perform as a stellar employee—her gut also told her that was true.
“Make up your mind,” she muttered. Then pinched the bridge of her nose as she realized she was talking to her gut like it might talk back.
With a deep breath, she sat up straighter. Catalog both sides, she told herself. Mentally she ticked everything off. He was a fantastic analyst and one who shared credit when it was due. Yes, he stepped on her toes and sometimes asked a lot of nosy questions. Okay, daily. But being the other smartest person in the room, she got why that happened. The man had wanted to buy her a dog, for heaven’s sake, and he loved his mother. Yes, he’d done research on the Data Minds financial situation, but nothing in the code she’d found remotely pointed back to Drew.
Decision made. She’d give Drew the benefit of the doubt.
So why didn’t she feel better? What she needed to do was figure out the coding issues. “Can we go a little faster?” she asked the cabbie.
She was more determined than ever to get to the bottom of what she’d found at work.
…
“Kerrigan, you want to explain what the fuck you think you’re doing?”
Drew leaned back in his chair as his director thundered over the screen. “Excuse me, but I—”
“This isn’t a dating show, son. This is an op. A serious investigation into a potential cyber crime.”
Hell. That’s the only place he had to go. He was screwed. No pun or innuendo intended. He could feel the stares of his team drilling into the back of his head even now.
“You didn’t think we knew?” his director continued. “Of course we’ve been keeping tabs on you.”
