Gray Wolf Security: Wyoming

by Glenna Sinclair

  I was the one dragging my fingers through my hair now, trying in a stupid sort of way to wipe the memory away. I hated this connection, hated that I’d allowed him to dictate how my life should go. I hated that I hadn’t been strong enough to stand up to him long ago.

  “He had a dossier. It contained pictures of my family; my parents, my sister and her family, Jonah. It had pictures of Jonah when he was selling drugs on the street, pictures that made it very clear what it was he was doing. There were pictures of my mother, standing on my doorstep, talking to me. There was a birth certificate—I have no fucking idea how he got that! My adoptive parents told me it was destroyed by the court. He had all this stuff and the threat was clear without him saying a word. If I didn’t do what he wanted, he’d make sure all of that went to the press. Not only that, but he’d make sure my family paid a price.”

  “What did he want?”

  “He wanted me to do things for him. At first, it was just little things. He wanted me to provide a distraction at a party. He wanted me to give him a little information on a new director I was working with. He wanted me to go out with this up and coming starlet, wanted me to convince her father to go in on a business deal with him. Little things. Stupid things.”

  “And then?”

  She was smart, Sutherland was. I could see the wheels turning in her head, could see the tension returning to her shoulders. She had an idea where this was going.

  “I had wanted to buy a ranch for a long time. It was a sort of dream of mine since I was a kid. We had a little land and my parents invested in a pony one summer. I fell in love with the fella, rode him every chance I got. When they sold him, I was heartbroken. When the money started rolling in, the first thing I did was buy my parents a new home. And then I began to do research on horse ranches, looking for a good place to raise a few horses. I had a place in Kentucky for a while, but that was…it just wasn’t right for me. Then I came to Wyoming to work with a trainer who has a place down near Cheyenne. I fell in love with the place and decided to buy a place here. I was a signature away from buying a ranch down there when Jack Mahoney sent me pictures of Circle B.

  “Thought this would fit your needs better, he said. He was right, but I dragged my feet about it because I knew it came with strings. But then he tells me that it’s the last time, that if I do this last thing for him, he won’t ever bother me again. Stupid me, I believed him. So, I bought the place. He sends this guy to my place in Los Angeles the very next day with another dossier. This one has pictures of you and Ash Grayson and a couple of other people. He tells me he wants me to keep an eye on your place, that he just wants to know about the comings and goings of these people. After I tell him I saw Grayson at your place the day I moved in, he delivers a box full of these cameras, tells me how they need to be installed, tells me you’re going to build a bunk house and I should get the electrician to install them.”

  Sutherland was quiet for a long moment, standing very still on the other side of the room, her hand pressed to her mouth. Her eyes were wide as she stared at me. I could almost see the memories unfolding in her mind, could see the night she first set eyes on me in that restaurant outside Casper. She was there with Hank Stratton, a dinner that ended early when he nearly got into a fist fight with the man his girl was also there with. I went up to them, not because of what Jack Mahoney had asked me to do, but because she was a beautiful woman and her companion was clearly in distress. And when she smiled at me…it was a moment I would never forget.

  The second time she set eyes on me, she thought I’d blown a hole in the fence that stood between her property line and mine. I’d laughed because the look on her face was priceless.

  The third time…

  “He told you to watch me? He told you to put cameras in my bunk house? And you just jumped right in?”

  “I did.”

  “And everything that’s happened since?”

  “What do you want to know, Sutherland?” I got up and walked toward her, forcing her back against the wall. “Do you want to know if he ordered me to sleep with you?”

  “You were always there when I needed you.”

  “Because I was watching you on the cameras. I saw you when trouble hit over there at MidKnight.”

  “You said it was rumors…”

  “Does it matter how I knew? Doesn’t the fact that I cared enough to go check on you have nothing to do with it?”

  “But you were only doing it to get out from under Jack Mahoney’s thumb!”

  I took her face between my hands, pushing her back against the wall as I slid my fingers into her hair. “If you believe that,” I said, my lips close to hers. “If you believe I only took you into my bed because of that man, that I only cared because of his power over me, then you know nothing about me.”

  She looked up, defiance bright in her eyes. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I know even less about you than I thought I did.”

  “Then why are you still here?”

  Tears filled her eyes. “You have no idea how hard it is for me to trust someone. And I trusted you.”

  “I know you, Sutherland. I know you and I are the same. I know you grew up in the system, that you never found the family you felt as though you belonged in. I never did, either. Even though these kind people adopted me, I always felt like an outsider. I was always the kid they were so kind hearted to take in. I was their charity case. You were the same, moving from family to family, always an outsider. But you found what you were looking for when you met your husband. I didn’t find it until I met you.”

  She tried to shake her head, to deny my words, but I could see it in her eyes. She knew what I was talking about. She knew we were the same deep down. She knew we were two halves of the same whole.

  “Why do you think I’m here? Why do you think I’m telling you these things?” I brushed my lips against her forehead. “I want you to know the truth. I want us to find a way out of this mess we’ve managed to get ourselves into. Together.”

  “You used me.”

  “I watched you.”

  “You gave him information about us.” A sudden realization made her eyes grow wider. She jerked back, pulled away from my touch with vehemence. “You told them about the raids! You’re the reason Ash is where he is!”

  “Sutherland—”

  “You’re the reason Kipling was shot!”

  The horror in her voice bit through the frustration and the shame and the anger quicker than anything else she’d done or said since we began this discussion. I knew Kipling was important to her, but until this moment I didn’t really appreciate just how important.

  “I thought I had no choice.”

  “You had no choice?” She stared at me like I was speaking a foreign language. “We were trying to take Mahoney down! We were trying to end all this. How could you pretend that you couldn’t see that? How could you give him information that would stop us?”

  “I was protecting my family. If I hadn’t given him that information and you raided that place, he would have known I lied to him. He could have hurt my adoptive parents, my sister. He could have gone after Jonah.”

  “No. He would have exposed your secrets to the press. That’s what really frightens you.”

  “You really think my career is more important to me than my family? Than you?”

  “What do I matter? The only reason you were with me was to save your own ass!”

  She stared at me, daring me to deny it. The thing was, I couldn’t deny it. I did do everything I’ve done since coming to Wyoming to save my own ass. Did she have any idea what it would do to my career if the world learned that my brother was a drug dealer? Fuck everything else, that was the smoking gun. But that stopped mattering the moment I heard her screams over the phone this morning.

  “You don’t have to believe me,” I said softly. “I don’t even expect you to. But I don’t really care what happens to me now. I’m here to help you take down Mahoney. I know things about him, things about my m
other, that could help. And this Carrington guy…he still thinks I’m on their side—”

  “Carrington?”

  “Carrington Matthews. He’s the one who’s running things out here in Wyoming. He’s the one I give all the information to.”

  “Carrington Matthews? You’re sure that’s his name?”

  “Couldn’t get that wrong. A fucking pompous name for a fucking pompous man.”

  She turned away from me.

  “They couldn’t have known that we would be sending everyone in all at once.”

  “What?”

  “At the warehouse in Casper. They couldn’t have known we’d be sending you all in at once. Ash said he planned to change up things when we arrived, but he didn’t say how. You couldn’t have known.”

  I frowned, trying to follow what she was talking about.

  “I heard you talking to Ash the night before the raid. He told you about the Bazarovs, told you how he stumbled across information on the Mahoneys. And when he was leaving, he said they might change up the plan a little, keep everyone on their toes. I heard that part.”

  “That’s all you reported?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Then Matthews must have told them about sending all three teams in at the same time. He must have told them that two of the teams would be going upstairs. He must be the reason they were waiting for them.”

  “But how would he know?”

  “Because he knows Ash. He knows Gray Wolf. He knows how they operate.”

  Now I was the one who was confused. “How?”

  “And the tracking device? Did you tell them about Ryan and Clint? Did you tell them how to track them?”

  I shook my head slowly, thinking over all the information I’d given Carrington.

  “I knew Ryan was missing with a detective from Casper. I heard someone mention it on one of the feeds from the bunk house. But I don’t know anything about tracking devices or whatever.”

  She nodded, excitement burning in her eyes. “Kipling was right. That wasn’t part of the equation. That wasn’t something the mole had done!” She spun around and stared at me. “He’s married to Joss Matthews. One of Ash’s closest associates!”

  “Carrington? Then what the hell is he doing working for Mahoney?”

  “What were you doing working for him? Maybe he’s being blackmailed, too. Or maybe he’s been working with him all along. I know he was behind the Bazarov thing. It was his case Joss was working when she killed old man Bazarov. Maybe he lied about why the Bazarovs were threatening his daughter. Maybe he was involved with Mahoney and Jack Mahoney wanted the Bazarovs gone.”

  “He mentioned something today. He said I had no idea how many people were being hurt by what he was doing. Maybe…I think he was hinting that he was being blackmailed.”

  Sutherland nodded, turning away again, pacing the small space beside the bed. I watched her, found that I really enjoyed watching the wheels spin in her head.

  “I wonder if Joss knows that Carrington’s involved. You don’t think…no.” She shook her head. “I don’t think she would do anything to hurt Ash.”

  “So where does this leave us?”

  She turned back to me, her eyes moving slowly over me. “You have to admit, it’s pretty brilliant to use a Hollywood hunk to spy on people. That’s kind of the last person anyone would suspect.”

  I bit back a smile, trying not to let my hopes get up too quickly.

  She came to me, her hand coming to rest on the center of my chest.

  “No more secrets.”

  “None.”

  She studied my face. “If I hadn’t been the aggressor that night, would this have happened? All that stuff…you kissing me that afternoon, was that real?”

  “Deadly.”

  “Yeah? And the night in the restaurant?”

  “All I saw was a beautiful woman. I didn’t even realize who you were until we were standing face to face.”

  It was her turn to bite back a smile.

  “And today, the hospital? The things you said?”

  “That was all me.” I brushed the hair back from her face. “There’s something about you, Sutherland. I can’t stop thinking about you. I can’t stop wanting to be near you. When you’re in my bed, I want nothing more than to keep you there always. And when you leave, I’m distracted for the rest of the day. I can’t stop wishing I was back in that bed next to you.”

  “You’re just horny.”

  I laughed, because that word falling from her pristine lips was almost shocking. But then her hand slid down over the front of my jeans and the laughter died as quickly as it’d been born. I slid my arms around her waist and ran my hands over her ass.

  “I can’t help it. You’re irresistible.”

  “You’re the first man I’ve been with since my husband died. Did I tell you that?”

  “No. But it’s an honor to know that.”

  “I want to trust you, Bodhi. I want to believe we could have some sort of future together. But there are so many doubts…”

  “I know.”

  She moved up against me, her hands sliding over my hips, her fingertips brushing my skin over the edge of my low riders. Her eyes were focused on the center of my chest as though she was thinking hard, as though she was trying to decide if this was really where she wanted to be. But her hands were still moving, sliding under the back of my shirt, smoothing themselves over the small of my back.

  “It’s been hard,” she said softly. “I never had a family, but then I did and it disappeared in a heartbeat. Then it was just me and Elizabeth and it was frightening to start over, to live a life I’d never expected to live. But the people of Midnight rallied around me, neighbors becoming friends, friends becoming family. And there was always Ash and Kipling and Donovan. And then Hank. All of Mitchell’s brothers, coming to take care of me in the little ways that I would allow it. I never even realized what a big family I had until it started to fall apart.”

  “I want you to know that you can trust me. It’s all out on the table now.”

  “Everything?’

  “All the big stuff. And as far as the little stuff goes, I’m more than happy to tell you whatever you want to know.”

  “I might take you up on that. But not tonight. I think that pill is starting to kick in.”

  She swayed a little as she finished speaking. I immediately lifted her into my arms and lay her gently on the bed. When I pulled back to undress her, she was reluctant to let go but then she realized what it was I was doing. She lay back as I carefully tugged her jeans from her hips, only moving to help me slip her blouse over her head. Then she rolled onto her back, giggling softly as she exposed her back, allowing me to unfasten her bra.

  “I like Vicodin,” she said on a little giggle. “It’s better than a whole bottle of wine.”

  I laughed. “I suppose it is.”

  She rolled back over and grabbed my arms. “Take advantage of me, Mr. Archer. I’m feeling really good right now.”

  “I thought you were mad at me.”

  “I’ll be mad tomorrow.”

  “Hmmm,” I said, swallowing more laughter, “I feel so used.”

  “Then come here and let me use you.”

  I fell onto the bed and she pushed me onto my back, proving just how good she felt by moving slowly down the length of my body, her lips crazy what bare skin she could find by moving my shirt up and down and around, finally scrunching it up under my chin. And then she was tugging at the snap on my jeans, her fingers already sliding under the denim and teasing the base of my cock.

  “Hey,” I said, reaching for her hands. “Slow down, babe.”

  “I don’t want to.”

  She tugged her hands free and continued to touch me, her tongue dancing along the bottom edge of my navel. I groaned, my cock harder than it had probably been since I was a fifteen-year-old boy jacking off to the freshmen girls on the other side of the peep hole in the boy’s locker room wall. And just as ready to blow
my fucking load as I’d been then.

  “I want you,” she said as she finally freed my cock, pulling it free of the tight jeans. “I want to taste you.”

  “Oh, babe, you’re pushing me over the edge.”

  She glanced up at me, a dirty smile on that perfect face. “Good.”

  She lay her head on my hip and watched her own hand grasp my shaft and move slowly up and down the length of me, her palm sliding over my sensitive glans from time to time. She took her time, her fingers barely grasping me in one moment, holding me too tight the next. I bit back a groan more than once, needing to touch her, to make her do more, but wanting to let her play her games the way she wanted to do it.

  I owed her that much, didn’t I?

  It seemed like forever that she did this, touching me with everything but the things I wanted so desperately to feel. And then she was moving, her tongue wet and warm on my glans, then her mouth wrapped around my head until my vision was darkening and I was sure I was going to lose all control. I buried my fingers in her hair, drew her tighter against me, encouraging her to take as much as she could. And she did, taking more than I’d imagined she would, a hum vibrating over my cock, adding to the deliciousness of the moment.

  She was so beautiful, so sexy, and this thing was…it was incredible!

  I wanted her, wanted everything she had to offer. I wanted to touch her and to kiss her, wanted to taste every inch of her. But, right now, I just wanted to bury myself as deep inside of her as she’d allow.

  I sat up and pulled her onto my lap, loving the slight look of confusion in her eyes. Her panties shredded under my determined tugs, disappearing as her hips settled against mine. She arched her back as I encouraged her hips to move, as I handed her the power to set the rhythm, to dictate how this game would finish. She took full control, rolling her hips with enthusiasm as moans slipped from between her lips. I nibbled at her throat, her jaw, barely holding on, barely keeping my own control in check. She was wild, running her hands over her own breasts, making sounds that any man would crumble upon hearing. She was the most erotic thing I’d ever known, the most passionate and seductive lover I’d ever had. I couldn’t get enough of her, yet it never lasted quite long enough.