The elevator door opened, and one of the hotel staff nodded to her as she exited. The lobby of the Carstairs, Washington, was always a busy place. It was the accommodation of choice for many of the business travelers who had occasion to come to the District. Various luminaries passing through DC could be found here—she’d once seen Robert Redford hunkered down and talking to a senator in the coffee shop.
If buildings could talk, I bet this one would have a lot of interesting things to say. Nancy smiled at the off-the-wall thought. It was nice to finally be getting back to being herself, a woman who sometimes let silly thoughts rule the day, and one who never took herself too seriously.
I took myself way too seriously the entire time I lived and worked here.
The coffee shop was tucked into a corner of the lobby. The large open space made quite the first impression, when one arrived and headed for the check-in desk. Lush with plants and artwork, the high elegance and consummate taste that was the hallmark of every Carstairs hotel could be found here.
She’d met Dylan Pierce, the current President of Carstairs International and grandson of Eugenia Carstairs, and his wife Pamela at a reception here last year. She recalled thinking that she’d rarely seen the kind of single-minded devotion of a husband to his wife outside of Lusty as she saw displayed between the Pierces that evening.
Love seemed to absolutely take over when the couple’s two children joined them. She’d heard through the grapevine that the Pierces were as devoted to family as they were to business. She remembered thinking at the time that they would fit right in, in Lusty.
Nancy thought the lobby was crowded for a weekday midmorning. She wondered if there were any conventions in town—although that was likely a silly question as there always seemed to be something happening in Washington. She scanned the crowd, looking for Roman James’s trademark flowing blond hair.
She saw no sign of Roman but there was someone who looked familiar—she nearly dismissed the sense completely, because it would have been stranger if there’d been no one in the crowd who seemed familiar to her.
But this wasn’t a person she’d met, she was almost certain of it. At about the same time he spotted her, she recalled where she’d seen his face before.
He was the man she’d caught with her cell phone camera on that park bench in the Mall, handing a large envelope to Reese Davies.
He stared at her for a long moment, and then he began to move toward her. Watching him come her way, she understood he was someone else, too.
He was the man who’d broken into her apartment.
Well, cupcake, now what the hell are you going to do?
Nancy began backing away from him, unable to take her eyes off him long enough to see where she was going. She didn’t like the look in his eyes. She couldn’t begin to imagine what he thought he was going to do to her here in the middle of a crowded hotel lobby. And then Morgan’s words came back to her.
Tobin Lewis was displaying an appalling lack of impulse control and she was very much afraid she was going to pay the price for that.
“Umph.” Nancy bumped into what felt like an immovable granite wall. Two hands fastened onto her shoulders and a beautiful male voice said, “This time, sweetheart, you’re definitely going to get that spanking.”
“Eli.” Such relief flooded her, it was a wonder her knees could continue to hold her upright. Lewis came to a stop about four feet away from her, and if looks could kill, she’d be dead. The man didn’t seem to see that she was no longer alone.
Nancy blinked and noticed Jeremiah approaching Lewis from behind, and Morgan coming toward him from his right—likely having just got off the elevators.
“You have something that belongs to me, Ms. Jessop, and I want it now.”
Nancy hadn’t brought her purse downstairs with her. All she’d brought was her elevator and room key, and her cell phone. Some inner demon made her pull out the pink device and hold it aloft.
“You mean this?” She pressed two buttons and snapped his picture.
Lewis reached with his right hand for the phone—and blinked in the next instant when a shiny silver handcuff snapped across his wrist.
Jeremiah moved so quick that his actions appeared to be a blur, and had the man’s other hand behind his back and secured in less time than it took her to gasp.
“Tobin Lewis, you’re under arrest for influence pedaling, breaking and entering, and accessory to attempted murder.”
“Attempted murder! What attempted murder? Are you fucking crazy?”
“No,” Eli said, “but the jury’s still out on your pal, Davies.”
“Davies is an asshole.” Lewis spat that, then met Eli’s gaze. “I want to talk to someone in authority. I have names, and dates, and transaction amounts—solid proof against a couple of people who are much higher up on the food chain than I am—a married couple who’ve been buying several politicians.”
Jeremiah grunted. “Why am I not surprised? Lewis, consider it your lucky day that I’m not the man you have to talk to.”
Eli turned and signaled someone, and a moment later two uniformed officers took custody of the man.
“Special Agent Compton is waiting to talk to Mr. Lewis,” Eli said.
Nancy sighed as the man was taken away. She leaned back for a moment against Eli. “Did you mean what you said about that spanking?”
“Morgan called us, mad as hell that you’d left the suite just as we got word that Lewis was here, wrapping up some sort of meeting. What do you think?”
The quiet quality in Eli’s voice told her how worried he’d been. “I think I owe Morgan an apology. I also think my ass is grass,” Nancy said.
Morgan had heard that and coughed to cover his laughter. Jeremiah just grinned.
“You think right, sweetheart. Just as soon as we’re back in Lusty, and we’re alone.”
* * * *
Eli really couldn’t blame Nancy for wanting to go and visit Senator Cordell. Neither could he stop her. The best he could do—the best they could do—was go with her and be there for her.
Eli knew that Nancy had been wondering why, after so many years, Cyrus Cordell had simply called her in and told her that her job was done. Two days’ notice wasn’t much time, even though in government, for those who served at the pleasure of elected officials, quite often no prior notice was given.
Eli and Jeremiah had both talked about the man’s sudden retirement, and they’d both come to the same conclusion. If they were right, their woman was going to need them close at hand.
Sharon Cordell, the senator’s wife of fifty-two years, showed them into the study where her husband sat in a large arm chair, a book open on his lap.
Eli saw that Nancy knew the moment she laid eyes on her former boss that he was very sick.
“It’s good to see you again, Nancy. I hear you had a little excitement a few days ago,” Cyrus Cordell said.
“I…yes. Yes, I did. Cyrus? Why didn’t you tell me you were ill?”
The older man waved his hand. “I didn’t want to upset you. I knew you were getting as fed up as I was with the way things are around the Hill. If you knew I was dying, you’d stay, despite being fired. I wanted you to get out of this damn city and get on with your life.” He looked at Eli, and then Jeremiah. He gave her a half smile, and a nod. “And I see that you’ve done just that. Good for you. Sit down, sit down. Sharon is bringing coffee for you—and herbal tea for me. I’ve gotten used to it.”
Jeremiah moved one of the chairs so Nancy could sit closer to the senator. Then he joined Eli on the sofa opposite them.
“Now first, tell me what happened to you in Lusty. And are my sources accurate? Is that snot-nosed little brat Davies really in custody?”
Eli had gotten word just before they’d left the hotel to come and visit Senator Cordell that Davies had been arrested. He’d make bail, of course, despite that it would likely be a hefty one. No one expected the case to be prosecuted quickly, but there was already a move a
foot in the Senate to have Davies removed from all his committees. Since the charge was conspiracy to commit murder, Eli figured that within forty-eight hours Davies would be a complete pariah.
Nancy met Eli’s gaze, and he knew she wanted him to answer the Senator’s questions. His woman was having some difficulty coming to terms with her new knowledge.
Cyrus listened to the recounting, and the entire time Nancy kept her gaze on her former boss. When he turned his attention to her, he said, “I’ve lived a good life, Nancy Jessop. I’ve been blessed and highly favored. It’s all right, girl.” He patted her hand.
Nancy sighed. “Yes, sir.”
Cordell cackled. “I always knew I was in deep doo-doo when our girl here called me ‘sir.’” He turned his attention back to Eli. “So you’ve got the brat. What about his daddy?”
“Sir?” Eli had made himself familiar with the details of the ongoing investigation into Reese Davies. Before he’d been elected, Davies had worked as a consultant for other political figures, putting his law degree to use by learning campaign law so he could skillfully skirt the edge of what was legal in the service of his clients.
And on a few occasions, he didn’t keep to the edges at all.
“I knew that task force that Travers headed up had their eye on the son, but I always wondered about Davies, the father. I met a man once, oh, must have been ten years ago, who told me an interesting story about a snake-oil salesman who founded himself a church. You know how the son, when he smiles, that smile never makes it to his eyes? Well, I’ve heard tell that his pappy was the consummate confidence man. He had a way of looking at you and talking to you that cut through any doubts you might have—the kind of man who inspired almost blind loyalty. He believes himself and his son are special, above the law, better than anyone else alive on God’s green earth.”
Sharon Cordell came in just then, wheeling a cart. As she served her husband his tea, she laid her hand on his shoulder, an obvious show of affection. Cordell reached up and covered her hand with his.
“I just always figured,” Cordell said, “that since Reese and his daddy were so close, the father had to have a pretty good inkling as to what the son was up to. That might make him an accessory, don’t you think?”
Eli looked at Jeremiah. He could see his best friend and partner was on the same wavelength as he was.
To the senator, he said, “Yes, sir, it just might. We’ll have to have a look at the man.” That was no lie. Eli did think that it would make the father an accessory.
Especially if he happened to send one very devoted disciple—in the person of Uriah Stone—to do his son’s bidding. It was certainly a possibility to mention to Jim Compton.
Chapter 27
Nancy sighed as the door closed to the outside world. Jeremiah set her overnight bag down by the stairs, while Eli turned the lock on the door.
“Was that a sigh that said, ‘it’s good to be home,’” Eli asked, “or was that a sigh that said, ‘we’re in Lusty, and alone, and now I’m going to get that spanking’?”
Nancy smiled. It was amazing to her how very quickly and easily these two undercover cops could make her hot and wet. They only had to talk. And when they promised delights like a spanking? Well, all she could do was purr in anticipation.
“Yes…to both.”
Eli came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. “You scared the shit out of us both, sweetheart. And though it wasn’t your intention, you ended up putting yourself at risk.”
Nancy leaned back against Eli. He would always suffer whenever something like that happened, because he took upon his shoulders the weight of keeping her safe. She understood that about him, because it was the same trait she saw in most of the men in her family—be they Jessops, Kendalls, or Benedicts, they all took seriously their responsibility as Protector.
That was in fact the very first thing she’d ever understood about Eli Barton—and she didn’t really wonder if that trait, shared by so many men she respected, was in no small part why she loved him.
She knew that it was.
So she put her hands on top of his. “You’re right. I did put myself at risk. It pleases me, deep down inside, that you’re committed to protecting me, even from myself. It means that I’m completely safe with you.”
“Lord, woman, when you say things like that to me…” Eli sighed and kissed the top of her head.
Nancy looked over at Jeremiah. His smile said it all. He understood his best friend completely, and he was very pleased that she did, too.
“You both make me feel safe and secure and loved. That trust we talked about on the way to DC? It’s proving easier than I ever could have imagined for me to develop. When I was backing up there in the lobby of the Carstairs, and then I backed into you? The first thought I had was that my men were there and everything was going to be all right, because they’d take care of me.”
“Even if you’re going to get a spanking for being there in the first place?” Jeremiah took the few steps that separated them.
There was nothing better than being between Eli and Jeremiah, even if they all were fully dressed.
Nancy didn’t believe in playing games. She licked her lips. “Yeah, about that. Spankings—both the idea of them and the few swats you’ve given me—well, they really turn me on. So I don’t know how much of a deterrent the threat of one will be against my leaping before I look or jumping to conclusions. But because I know that I did frighten and worry you, I will promise to do my best not to do anything reckless from here on out.”
Jeremiah grinned. “Why do I have the feeling that you’re going to misbehave from time to time just so you get a spanking?”
Nancy smiled. “Because you know me pretty well?”
Jeremiah’s eyes danced with mischief. “Yeah, I think that’s it.” He wore such an expression of intent that she shivered. “So far, Eli has had the privilege of spanking that sweet ass of yours. This time, it’s my turn.”
“Oh, goody.”
Jeremiah chuckled, and shook his head. Then he took her hand, kissed it, and led her upstairs. Another sense of rightness filled her as they stepped into the master suite. Lusty was home, yes, and so was this house. But the absolute definition of home for her had changed. Now, it was being intimate with these two men.
“I want that spanking, but I want something else, too.”
“What else do you want, sweetheart?” Eli pressed against her back again, and ran his hands up and down her arms.
“I want you both inside me at the same time.” She licked her lips. “I know that’s asking a lot of you, because it means the two of you…” She didn’t know how to put into words the caution she wanted to give them. They hadn’t grown up in Lusty, hadn’t shared fathers who could explain the unique facts of life to them when they were two men loving the same woman. They hadn’t had a lifetime of preparing for the moment when they would become intimate with each other in the act of making love to her.
Jeremiah’s look turned tender. “We know, baby. One of the reasons we knew we wanted you—that you were the one for us, was that we already knew sharing a woman turned us on. And when we met you, we understood why. It was because you were meant to be ours.”
“Good.” She nodded, and then just stood there, waiting for Jeremiah to tell her what to do next.
He met her gaze, and she saw right there in his eyes not only understanding, but appreciation for her demeanor. “Nancy, take your clothes off.” Jeremiah’s voice sounded rougher, deeper, and the change in it aroused her. She moved to the dresser, and turned to face them, and began to do as she’d been ordered.
Nancy reached for the buttons of her blouse and slipped them, one by one, from their holes. Only eagerness filled her. These men had proven to her that to them, she was beautiful. As she shrugged her top off her shoulders, she saw the way their eyes devoured her, and she felt beautiful.
She let the cotton garment fall, and kicked off her shoes. She took delight in knowing t
he sexy lingerie she’d bought at Discretion whet their appetites. For the last week she’d chosen a new bit of gilding each day, and each day she loved the way their eyes lit with appreciation.
Today was no different. Her gaze never left her men as she unfastened the snap on her jeans and lowered the zipper. Their avid attention fed her passion. Her insides began to quake, not in fear, but in arousal.
She’d never considered herself a temptress, and yet, here and now she was exactly that. Sliding into her full feminine powers, Nancy felt drunk on the men who’d seen that part of her when she doubted its existence herself.
She was intoxicated by the men she loved.
Anxious now, she very quickly shed her brand-new bra and panties—they never stayed on long anyway—and while the urge to run to them pulled strongly, she forced herself to stand and wait on her lovers.
Jeremiah sat on the end of the bed, placing his feet slightly apart. A quick glance at the front of his pants told her he was as aroused by what he was about to do as she was.
“Come here, woman.”
It occurred to her that Eli was content to stand back and let Jeremiah have this moment because, just as she was learning to trust them, he was learning to trust her.
Gone was that nearly manic need to seize control for himself like he’d displayed that first night she’d brought them to her house and to her bed.
We’ve helped each other with our issues. They had and it had been an almost seamless process.
And Jeremiah—Jeremiah felt comfortable enough in his power and his welcome to make this demand, claim this privilege—no, this right.
Jeremiah said nothing more, just held his hand out to her. Likewise saying nothing, she went to him. He easily placed her over his lap. His left hand gripped her waist, anchoring her.
“I remember how Eli’s hand print showed so red against your skin one of the times he smacked you,” Jeremiah said. His voice turned husky. “And while a part of me was horrified, a part of me was pleased. And I wanted my mark on you, too.”
Love Under Two Undercover Cops [The Lusty, Texas Collection] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 26
