Beneath the Secrets: Part Four

by Lisa Renee Jones

  He watched relief wash over her expression, her body softening into his, as if she’d been on edge, as if she actually doubted his feelings. “Whatever you are, Blake,” she vowed, “whatever you have been or will be, I’m here. Like I’ve never been with anyone in my life.”

  He wanted nothing more than those words, and to kiss her again, to make love to her and show her how much she meant to him, but it wasn’t that simple. He knew how messed up he was over Whitney and how deep that damage ran. How it had impacted not only who he was, but who he and Kara, would be together. He owed it to her to make sure she did, too.

  Blake moved off the bed to join Kara on the floor. He moved behind her, his knees straddling her knees, so that she faced the bed, her back to his chest. He inhaled on regret, hating that for a few minutes, he was about to make her feel uncomfortable, but he had to do this. Without any preamble, no soft words, no seductive caresses, he tugged her dress up her body, over her head, and then tossed it away. Before her arms were even down, he reached for her bra and unhooked it, shoving it forward down her arms so she’d get rid of it. He wasn’t gentle. He wasn’t tender. He didn’t kiss her or caress her. He was what he’d been before her, what the hell of his life had made him. What she needed to fully understand.

  Blake’s gaze skimmed a path over her body, his cock throbbing with the sight of her slender, perfect curves before settling on the thin strip of lace between the cheeks of her gorgeous backside. He reached for the delicate lace and he ripped it away. Kara gasped and he leaned forward, her hands gripping the sheets in front of her. His hands down beside hers, his mouth finding her ear. “I’m going to spank you, Kara.”

  “What?” She gasped, trying to jerk around, but he had her pinned, pressed fully between him and the mattress.

  “That’s right,” he said. “I’m going to spank you.”

  “No,” she said, sounding urgent, almost panicked. “No. You aren’t.”

  “Do you trust me, Kara?” he asked, resisting the urge to nibble on the delicate spot behind her ear. This wasn’t the time to be gentle. This wasn’t the time to show her how much he loved her. Not yet, but soon.

  “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, Blake, but—”

  “There is no ‘but’. There is only trust or no trust.” The feel of her body pressed to his was driving him crazy and he curled his fingers around the sheets, forcing himself not to touch her. He couldn’t touch her. Not like this. Not until she understood what he was trying to tell her.

  “I don’t understand why this is important.”

  He didn’t miss the tremble of her voice, the shiver of her body against his. “It is,” he told her. “And I need you to say yes, Kara.”

  Her head fell forward, the soft strands of her silky hair draping her face, and it took everything in him not to lean forward and inhale the sweet scent, to taste the salty sweetness of her skin. And he would taste her. Hell, he was going to lick every damn inch of her before this night was over. Just not right now. Right now he held his breath for her answer, the seconds ticking by like hours, until finally she whispered, “Yes. For you. Yes.”

  He squeezed his eyes shut, letting the relief flow through him, absorbing the impact of how much trust she’d just given to him, promising himself he would never take that for granted. “Lean forward on the bed and flatten your arms and hands on the mattress.”

  She shook her head. “No. I can’t do that. I need some control. I need to stay upright.”

  Yes. She needed control. That was part of his message, part of why he needed her to understand where he was at inside, and what he’d become. He covered her hands with his on the bed. “Then promise to keep your hands right here. No matter what, don’t move them.”

  “Yes. Okay. I promise.”

  He began to pull away but she grabbed his wrists, pulling him forward. “Wait. Will it hurt?”

  This time he let himself be gentle, nuzzling her neck, trying to calm the panic in her voice. “I would never hurt you.”

  “I know that.” But still she held onto his arms.

  “Then let go, Kara.”

  “Let go,” she repeated, as if the words weren’t quite making it to her brain. “Okay.” Slowly, her grip loosened and she released him.

  Blake’s hands settled on her slender waist and traveled downward to cup her backside. She stiffened instantly and he began a gentle caress of her cheeks. He could almost feel her holding her breath, almost taste her anticipation. He leaned in, pressing his face to her face, drawing in the sweet floral scent of her, and demanding, “What are you thinking? Exactly what is in your head right this moment? Say it. Say it now.”

  “Blake,” she protested.

  He squeezed her cheeks. “Now, Kara, or I’ll spank you this instant.”

  “Nothing,” she panted. “Everything. I don’t know what is about to happen. I don’t know what to expect. I can’t believe I’m doing this or you’re doing this, and—”

  Blake turned her around to face him, her back against the end of the bed, his legs caging her. “That’s what I was after,” he said, his hands resting on her shoulders.

  “What?” she asked, looking confused. “What you were after? I don’t understand.”

  “I’m not going to spank you. I was never going to spank you. I just needed you to feel what you just felt. I wanted you to experience that moment when you could think of nothing but what came next. That moment when nothing else could find its way into your head. That’s the kind of escape I’ve used to get through these past two years. It’s the only way I survived and I got it however I could get it. I lived on the edge and I pushed every limit I could push. Kara, I need you to know that’s how far gone I was over Whitney, because that’s how just the idea of losing you makes me. Your job is going to make me insane and I’m going to be overbearing and impossibly protective. I’ll try not to be, but I’ll fail sometimes. I might fail more than I don’t. We’ll fight. We’ll probably fight a lot.”

  “I can handle it.” Her hands went to his face. “We’ll get through it. I promise, though, you didn’t have to do the whole spanking thing. I’m going to pay you back for that.”

  “Kara—”

  “I can handle it, Blake.”

  He covered her hands with his and pulled them down between them. “Can you? Because, Kara, I can’t let you go back undercover with Alvarez. I won’t let you.”

  “I’m okay with that. My cover is blown, and—”

  Blake kissed her, swallowing the rest of her words, drinking them in, claiming them as he wanted to claim her, as he would claim her. She was his and he had no intention of ever letting her go. No intention of anyone taking her from him. His hands caressed her back, over her ribcage to skim her breasts, and her soft whimper drove him crazy.

  He cupped her breasts, pushing them together to lean down and lick one nipple and then the next. Her fingers tunneled into his hair. “What do I have to do to get you naked?” she whispered. “Please tell me now.”

  Blake’s lips curved and he glanced up at her, suckling one of the stiff peaks and then twirling his tongue around it. Her lashes fluttered. “Blake…” she panted, and then moaned.

  He laced his fingers into her hair, hungrily kissing her one last time before pushing away from her to stand up to undress. Kara moved off of the floor, sitting on the edge of the mattress, her breasts high, her nipples tight little buds. His cock pulsed at the sight she made, urgency driving him to shove down his pants and boxers. And Kara seemed to sense his need, mercilessly egging him on, her beautiful green eyes sliding over his body, settling boldly on the thick pulse of his erection, and Blake groaned with the impact.

  Blake closed the distance between them and went down on the mattress on top of her, laughing with a flashback of Denver. “What’s so funny?” she asked, her fingers lacing together at the back of his neck, and biting her lip as he settled thickly between her thighs.

  “You drugged me,” he said incredulously. “How did I fall in love with
the woman who drugged me?”

  “I got your attention, didn’t I?” she asked, smiling, her voice thick with desire and sexy as hell.

  He slid his cock along the seam of her sex, back and forth, until she was panting. “Do I have your attention?” he murmured, nipping her ear.

  “Yes,” she whispered. “You most definitely have my attention.”

  Blake rolled to his back and molded her on top of him. “You let me take your control a few minutes ago. I’ll give it to you now.”

  Surprise slid over her face and she pressed on his shoulders, lifting herself so that her eyes met his. “No,” she said, suddenly serious. “I gave it to you.” She slid off of him, curling herself at his side, her fingers stroking his cheek. “I don’t need it. I just need you.”

  Blake pressed her to her back, settling on top of her, staring down at her in wonder. He knew what a control freak she was. He knew how much she valued control. And he knew this was her way of telling him she could handle what was before them. That she was with him all the way and, if it was possible, he’d just fallen more in love with her. “We’ll share it,” he promised her. “We’ll share it, Kara.”

  Her mouth curved playfully. “I’d like that very much. Can I tie you up and have my way with you?”

  “Only if I can tie you up and have my wicked way with you.”

  “You already did that. It’s my turn next.”

  “Let me give you some incentive to give me an extra turn,” he suggested, stroking his cock along her sex. Teasing them both, and then driving into her, burying himself inside her, where he planned to spend a hell of a lot of the rest of his life. “How is that for incentive?”

  “It’s a good start,” she teased.

  “This is just a start, Kara,” he promised, and then he kissed her, silently vowing to make this the first night the first of forever. She was his. He wasn’t letting her go.

  ***

  Kara’s day started with the wonderful feeling of being wrapped in Blake’s arms, and she had been amazed it was nearly noon when she’d looked at the hotel clock. Any guilt at the late hour that might have driven her out of bed faded when Blake gave her a reason—or two or three—to stay a little longer.

  Now, at nearly two o’clock in the afternoon, freshly showered and dressed in dark jeans, a turquoise silk blouse, and black lace-up boots, Kara exited the bathroom, expecting to find only Blake. Instead, she was once again submerged in testosterone overload, with Blake, Royce, Luke, and Kyle all present, all eating hamburgers from a takeout joint.

  “There has to be a fire code about this many men in one room,” Kara said, as Blake, who was sitting on the bed, wrapped his arm around her hip and pulled her close.

  “Hungry?” he asked, glancing up at her, his long, dark hair damp and loose, framing brown eyes that said he wasn’t talking about food.

  “Starving, actually,” she replied, barely containing a smile sure to make their flirtation more obvious.

  “Kyle isn’t,” Luke said with a bark of laughter. “First time I’ve ever seen him miss a meal.”

  Kara cast Kyle a closer inspection to realize he actually wasn’t eating. He was slumped over in a chair, his blond hair mussed, though he wasn’t quite as bluish. “You any better?”

  “I’m sitting in a room without a toilet,” he said. “That’s an improvement, but I hear you’ve decided to be smart about Alvarez. I won’t throttle you.” He winked.

  Kara laughed and Blake’s fingers flexed at her hip. “Something I need to know about you two?”

  Kara grinned. “Don’t worry. I drugged you first. You’re my number one.”

  “Kara,” Royce said, drawing her attention to where he’d claimed the desk as his own again. “We were just talking about how to get you out of the cartel without blowing Blake’s cover.”

  “Yes, well,” she said, “I was thinking about that. Before we pull me out—”

  “Kara,” Blake growled, turning her to face him.

  “Relax,” she said, her hands settling on his shoulders. “I’m not suggesting I stay in.”

  “You just said—”

  “I didn’t say anything. You cut me off. I was going to say that I have access to Mendez’s office. It’s Saturday. We should go in and dig up everything we can before Monday morning.”

  “I don’t want you anywhere near Mendez.”

  “The offices are closed, Blake. I know my way around. You and I can go in, and if we’re caught we say we’re auditing the books to find the thief who’s stealing drugs from the operation.” Kara glanced around the room. “You all know it makes sense.” No one said anything and she grimaced. “Come on, someone say something.” Still nothing. Crickets. In fact, the big, brawny, overbearing Walker brothers, and Kyle along with them, looked like deer in the headlights. Kara refocused on Blake. “They know I’m right. They’re afraid of you.”

  “If only you were,” he complained.

  She ignored that comment. “Once I’m out, I’m out. This might be our last chance to get to certain information. We have to do this, Blake.”

  Blake’s jaw flexed. “I don’t like this, Kara.”

  “I know. But you’ll be with me. Nothing is going to go wrong.”

  Chapter Six

  “Any luck?”

  Kara glanced up from the desk she was sitting at to find Blake, dressed in black jeans and a black t-shirt that stretched deliciously over his impressive chest, standing in the doorway of the human resources manager’s office she’d been searching for the past hour. She shook her head. “Nothing. I took pictures of the files for female employees who seemed like obvious targets for the trafficking operation, though.” Thankfully Kyle had hacked the computers, but pictures reinforced the evidence trail.

  “Mendez’s office is clean,” he said, scrubbing his jaw, and while he was every bit the tall and dark, and gorgeous man she’d fallen in lust, and then love with, he practically radiated edginess. Her being here after Alvarez recognized her was making him crazy.

  “I’ve only got a few more files and I’ll be done,” she promised. “We need to hit accounting before we go.”

  “Great,” Blake said, looking relieved. “I’m headed to the lobby to dig through messages and then we’re out of here. Five minutes, Kara, and then we go to accounting. We’ve already been here too long in my book.” He disappeared and she quickly finished with two more files before she stood up.

  Her cell phone rang and a chill ran down her spine. No one but Blake and the rest of his team had this number, and she was on mic and camera. They wouldn’t call her. She dug it from purse and glanced at the “unknown” number on her screen.

  Swallowing hard, Kara answered the call and immediately heard, “Kara.”

  Oh God. “Myla?” She started walking toward the door.

  “Stop,” Myla said, sounding panicked. “Don’t leave the office. If you say anything to anyone right now Alvarez told them to kill me. And they said to tell you Blake’s at the reception desk and they have a gun pointed at him. They’ll kill him too, Kara.”

  No. No. This wasn’t happening. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes,” a male voice said. “She’s fine but she won’t be if you aren’t downstairs at the back door sixty seconds after we hang up. And Kara—we have a camera on you, too. We’ll know if you dial, text, or call out. We’ll kill Blake first. That way you see the bloody results of your failure.” The line went dead.

  Kara squeezed her eyes shut, and for the sake of Blake and Myla, she willed herself into “calm agent” mode, her mind racing. If she used the mic, Blake would hear and come to help, which would be sure to get him killed. She had to count on Kyle realizing something was off once she’d hit the stairwell, but she couldn’t let him know there was a problem any sooner. She had to get out of the building before they killed Blake. And what if they killed him anyway? She couldn’t think of that or she’d panic.

  Somehow, she calmly walked out of the office and went to the exit door. Once
she was inside the stairwell, she took off running. She had a tracking device in her boot, one that Kyle had assured Blake was about ten times better than the one he’d used on the boat. They’d find her. She’d be okay and she’d bring Myla home with her.

  At the bottom of the stairwell, driven by her deadline of one minute, Kara burst out of the doorway and ran for the back exit, punching the red button and the glass. The instant she stepped outside, she was aware of the dumpster to her left—a moment before a man grabbed her. Another man was in front of her as she kicked, but they were too big, and the cloth one of them held found her mouth, fumes penetrating her senses. And just like that, everything went black.

  ***

  “Meet me at the back exit now. Kara’s gone. Go now and I’ll meet you at the door.”

  Blake went completely still at Kyle’s words for all of two seconds, before he took off running. “Do you have her on camera?”

  “She took off down the stairwell and exited the back door, and—”

  Blake was already in the stairwell, headed down the steps, and his heart felt like it was going to explode out of his chest. “And what? What happened?”

  “Blake—”

  What the fuck happened, Kyle?” he growled, jumping four steps to get to the next flight.

  “Two guys grabbed her and a car pulled up and”—a pause—“she’s gone, Blake.”

  Every nightmare he could possibly have came to life in that moment. His world spun. His stomach rolled and his muscles ached as he pushed harder down the stairs. Everything was a blur until he burst out of the back door of the building. The van his team was using waited with an open door. Blake was inside and it was moving before Luke shut the door behind him.

  “Tell me you’re tracking her,” Blake said to Kyle, who was sitting at a computer panel. Kyle pointed out the beeping dot on a large screen mounted on the wall. “That’s her. They’ve got a lead on us but we’re gaining.”