Nick brought his hands to the front and wrapped one around Jake’s dick while cupping his balls with the other. Gently, he rolled and tugged on them before using his middle finger to stroke the sensitive tissue between them and Jake’s asshole. All the while, his head bobbed up and down as Jake fucked his mouth. The soothing sounds of nature surrounded them—birds chatting, animals scurrying, and leaves rustling. But Nick only focused on the sounds stemming from his lover—gasps of pleasure, sexy growls, and tortured moans. The hand in his hair tightened, lighting up the nerves in his scalp.
The Dom threw his head back. “Damn, baby, I could fuck your mouth all fucking day and never get tired of it.”
Pumping his hips, Jake drove his cock to the back of Nick’s throat, over and over. Nick licked and sucked the steel-hard shaft, encouraged by the words of praise. His middle finger inched closer to Jake’s anus with each stroke, and he felt the man’s body tense in anticipation of his impending orgasm. Pressing on the tight rim and sucking hard at the same time got him what he wanted—his lover’s roar of ecstasy as jets of hot, salty cum shot into Nick’s mouth and throat. He swallowed rapidly several times, not wanting to spill a single drop, just as Jake had ordered. He may have screwed up and disappointed him earlier, but he was damn well going to try and redeem himself.
The grip on Nick’s hair eased as Jake’s hips slowed and his cock softened. Nick released him and sat back on his haunches. Licking his lips, he lifted his gaze to Jake’s face and the satisfaction he saw there was more than he could’ve asked for. Jake reached for the waistband of his sweats and stumbled back a few steps to lean against the rock again. “Damn, I forgot how talented that mouth of yours is.” Securing the strings of his sweatpants again, his eyes dropped to Nick’s prominent hard-on. “You won’t be getting any relief from me, Junior, and you better not think of taking care of that on your own again. I meant what I said—that’s my property and I’ll decide when my property gets to cum. And just because you gave me one fucking awesome blowjob, doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten about your punishment.”
“I know. And I’m really sorry, Jake.” He gestured with his hand to the two of them. “This is going to take some getting used to.”
Jake cocked his head and studied him a moment. “If you don’t want this to continue, tell me now, Nick. I won’t be pissed, but I will be if you’re saying yes just so we can fuck while you’re here. The lifestyle is important to me. I need that control. And any relationship I have, the power exchange has to be a part of it. So, tell me now. Is this a game to you? Or are you willing to submit to my control over the sexual part of our relationship?”
“Why?” Nick hadn’t meant for the question to come out, but there it was. Jake’s gaze narrowed and he rushed to explain his question. “I mean, I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing, but I’m not playing a game. And I want to know…why is this so important to you? There has to be a reason.”
Seconds passed as the two men studied each other. Nick saw the pain in Jake’s eyes and wished he understood why it was there. He suddenly realized he didn’t know a lot about his lover’s past. He knew the basics—his mother was alive, his father was dead, and his only sibling had taken over the family pub, while Jake had gone into the Navy, eventually becoming a SEAL. But other than all that, and the fact that he was a Dom, Nick knew very little else about him. He watched Jake’s expression become shuttered, and knew he wasn’t going to get any answers to his question…at least not now.
Jake pushed off the rock and extended his hand. Accepting it, Nick let the man haul him to his feet. “You’re not going to answer me, are you?”
Stepping back on the trail, Jake shook his head. “Some other time, Nick. Some other time.”
Letting out a disappointed sigh, Nick stared at Jake’s back as the man, literally and figuratively, ran away.
* * *
It was a few minutes before noon when Jake stood on the porch, arms crossed, as a dark SUV parked next to Carter’s vehicle. Earlier, he’d finished his six-mile run alone and was still trying to convince himself that was what he’d wanted. Nick hadn’t followed him, instead, taking a different route. By the time the kid had returned to the house, Jake had been emerging from his shower. It was obvious to him that both of them were trying to act as normal as possible, but as far as he could tell, no one else noticed the tension in the house. He didn’t know about Nick, but for him, it was difficult to pretend there was nothing wrong. He was going to fuck this up, just like every other relationship he’d had over the years. Great sex—check. Exert dominance—check. Open heart and fall in love—never going to happen. But this time, the thought of his lover walking away was something which made him fill with regret.
Fuck! He should’ve known better. One of the biggest mistakes of his life was going to Nick’s hotel room that night. He needed to end this before things went to shit. Nick would one day retire from the Navy and come work with his brothers. Jake didn’t want anything coming between his team and him—especially the bosses’ brother. Dev and Ian would kick his ass—not about getting involved with Nick, but for fucking it up and screwing with the dynamics of the team. Trust was a major part of that. If you couldn’t trust your teammate in everyday shit, how were you supposed to trust him when it truly mattered? If it came down to Nick or him, Jake knew he would be the one who had to man up and offer to leave Trident. Damn. Instead of finding reasons to work things out with the kid, all he was doing was adding to the list of why he shouldn’t. And yet part of him couldn’t do it—he couldn’t end it. He was so fucked.
The front doors of the SUV swung open and two men climbed out. One was Tiny, a huge, bald, black man and, according to the ladies, a big mush. The other guy was one of Chase Dixon’s operatives, Doug Henderson. It was good to see him back to work after he’d taken a bullet to the chest six months earlier while guarding Jenn Mullins. She’d been kidnapped by dirty DEA agents who were after Ian’s fiancée. They wanted to use Angie as a trap for her best friend, an undercover agent, who’d been killed during the women’s rescue, along with the other two agents. Henderson’s partner that day also hadn’t been lucky, dying instantly from a gunshot wound to the head.
After retrieving several bags of Chinese food—Tiny’s favorite—from the backseat, the pair approached Jake who met them at the bottom of the stairs. “Hey. How was the trip?”
Tiny gave him a fist bump. “A little late taking off due to a passing storm, but the Blackhawk pilot was able to make up the time in the air. He was going to catch some Z’s after refueling. You’ll find him by hanger four.” Jake wasn’t surprised that they hadn’t flown up in the Trident jet, since Ian had told him it had landed in Tampa this morning with the rest of the team. Their pilot would need some rest after the flight from South America.
“Thanks.” He turned toward the other man and shook his hand. “D.H., nice to have you back. Everything in working order?” Henderson had been cleared for light duty recently and since there was less than one percent chance of anyone finding Alyssa all the way up here, Jake was okay with the former Marine sharpshooter being on guard duty.
The guy grunted and rubbed his chest where the bullet had entered him. “Yeah. Still trying to get back up to my fighting weight, but at least I can blow up balloons for my nieces and nephews again. A collapsed lung and almost bleeding to death sucks.”
“I’ll take your word for it. Come on inside and I’ll introduce you to Alyssa. She’s a sweet kid, but wary around men…with good reason.”
Ascending the steps behind him, Tiny growled. “Yeah. Ian gave us the basics. When you finally put the squeeze on her perverted sperm donor, let me know. It’s been a while since I rearranged someone’s face and made him choke on his balls.”
“Stand in line, my friend. Stand in line.”
Jake led them inside to where the other three men and Alyssa were sitting at the dining table, playing Texas Hold ‘Em. And judging by the amount of chips in front of them, the teenager and Carter wer
e winning.
“Jack high straight, little lady,” Nick taunted, laying down his hand. “Beat that.”
Alyssa frowned, but even as he approached, Jake could tell she didn’t mean it. Winking at Carter, her grin reappeared as she flipped her cards over. “Full house! Queens over twos. Sorry, little man, but you lose.”
The guys all laughed except for Nick, who slapped his forehead and stared at the better hand while letting out a string of PG-13 curses. "Dang! A full house? Are you frigging kidding me? Who the heck dealt that hand?”
Tossing his own losing hand on the table, Carter smirked. “Uh, that would be you, ass-hat.”
“Hey, watch the language in front of the lady, dirt-bag.”
While stacking her newly won chips, Alyssa rolled her eyes. “Please…I’m seventeen. I’ve heard a lot worse than that.”
Jake placed his hands on her shoulders and she tilted her head back to look at him. “That may be, sweetheart, but it’s still not polite to curse like that in front of a lady.”
“He’s right, honey,” Carter acknowledged. “Please, forgive me for being rude. There are times I forget I wasn’t raised in a barn.” Placing his wide-spread hand on his chest, he gave her that puppy-dog look again—the one that had women, old and young, absolving his sins.
She shrugged her shoulders at the spy’s admission of guilt. “It’s okay. Apology accepted.” She glanced back up at Jake, worry and sadness filling her eyes once more. “You’re leaving now, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, sweetheart, but we’re going to eat first. That food smells too good to pass up.” He wanted to give her a little time to feel comfortable with the newcomers before he left. Carter would be around for a few more hours as well before heading out to whatever mission Uncle Sam was sending him on next. “Then Nick, Cain, and I are going to find a way to make sure you never have to worry about your father again. In the meantime, I want you to meet my friends, Travis Daultry, otherwise known as Tiny, and Doug Henderson. They’re going to keep you safe here.”
Warily, she eyed the two men standing behind Nick’s chair.
Knowing his size was intimidating, Tiny gave her a single nod of his head and one of his signature smiles. “Hello, Miss Alyssa. Don’t think I’ll let you beat me at poker like these pansies. I don’t take any prisoners.”
Jake leaned down and whispered in her ear. “When he rubs his nose, he’s bluffing.”
A giggle escaped her as Tiny’s eyes narrowed at his friend, but his scoff sounded more teasing than harsh. “What’d you tell her, Donovan? You know I can whoop your butt, just like when we were kids.”
Smiling, he held up his hands in surrender. “Just telling her to take it easy on you, big guy.”
Laughing and joking, the poker players cleared the table and started to spread out the containers of food while Jake and Tiny retrieved paper plates, utensils, napkins, and drinks for everyone. Before sitting at the table, Tiny pulled a phone out of his pocket and handed it to Alyssa. “This is so you can call Jake if you need to talk to him. I already texted the number to him, so he has it, and his number is programmed in for you, as well as Trident Security’s main number. Keep it with you at all times, because it also has a tracking device in it, in case we get separated for some reason.”
That’d been another thing Jake had thought would help her feel more comfortable while he was gone. He wanted her to know she could call him anytime she didn’t feel safe. He’d discovered last night during their video game rally that she’d been seeing a rape counselor with positive results for the past year. As long as a man didn’t remind her of her bastard father, she was able to relax, unless he was a ‘creep-a-zoid’, as she put it. And out of all the guards he could’ve picked to watch over her, he knew Tiny’s personality would win her over very quickly, with Henderson being a close second. Both men were marshmallows when it came to women, yet relentless Rottweilers if any of those women were threatened.
Jake was halfway through his second helping of beef lo mien when his cell rang and Pete Archer’s name appeared across the screen. Rising from the table, he headed out to the porch, answering the call as he went. “Hey, Pete. Any updates?”
“Yeah. Just heard a local news report. Apparently a woman’s body, wrapped in a rug, was thrown off a backroad overpass into the Arkansas River near Pueblo yesterday. Whoever dumped her hadn’t counted on the two guys fishing under the bridge. They hooked the rug and called the sheriff when they noticed the body inside. No ID yet and they haven’t released a description, but unconfirmed reports say she’d been shot in the face.”
Jake sat down on the top step of the porch and sighed. “So, it’s most likely Carrie. Well, we knew she was dead, so this doesn’t come as a surprise to us, but I’d love to see Wagner’s face when the cops knock on his door to tell him his allegedly deceased wife was alive. And now dead again.”
“So would I. Anyway, I’ll keep my ears open and let you know if I hear anything new.”
The door behind Jake opened and soft footfalls followed. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw it was Nick. “Thanks, Pete.”
“No problem, Reverend. Give Alyssa my love and stay safe.”
“Will do. Talk to you later.” Standing, Jake disconnected the call and faced Nick who was sporting a neutral expression…one that bothered Jake, but he wouldn’t admit it. “Sounds like they found the mother’s body, but no positive ID yet. I don’t want to tell Alyssa until we have it though.”
Nick shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “Okay. That makes sense. So, what’s next?”
“We figure out how to take down Wagner once and for all, without needing her to testify, if possible.”
Nodding, the kid agreed. “Let’s do it.”
CHAPTER 13
Frustrated, Jake hung up his cell phone for the third time since they’d hit the road an hour ago. The first call was to Trudy, his contact at Friends of Patty, who told him that, unfortunately, there was little chance of figuring out which contacts Alyssa and her mother had encountered on their journey to a new life. It was set up that way to safeguard against weak links. They were not supposed to tell anyone who they handed the package off to, even if it was another member of the organization who was asking. But the whole point became unnecessary, anyway, during his second call, which had been from Brody.
The geek had checked out a possible lead, which occurred to Jake while on the second half of his run earlier, after he’d pushed Nick from his mind. While Brody hadn’t been able to trace any calls Carrie Wagner had made on her throwaway cell phone, he’d been able to check the incoming calls to her friend’s landline phone in Georgia. And sure enough there’d been a call to the friend originating from a Canon City, Colorado cell tower. When Jake suggested they pay the woman a visit, Brody had given him the bad news. She’d been found stabbed to death in her home after she didn’t show up for work three days ago. Someone must have been monitoring her calls, and when Carrie, for some unknown stupid reason, had contacted her, it’d sealed the fate of both women. Thankfully, Alyssa’s fate hadn’t been the same, and Jake was determined to keep it that way. The Trident team would protect her with their own lives.
The final call, which he’d just disconnected from, had been from Carter. The spy had heard from his associate, Jordyn, and Jake’s interest was piqued when his friend’s earlier sunny attitude toward the woman had soured. The only reason Jake could think of was, even though the female operative had agreed to help them after hearing Alyssa’s story, the rest of the conversation hadn’t gone the way his friend had hoped it would. Carter had given Jake’s cell number to Jordyn because she apparently didn’t want to talk to her one-time lover again. Jake would give his left nut to know what was going on between those two since Carter was a man who had women falling at his feet 24/7—submissive or not.
“So, is she going to do it?” Driving the SUV back to Spartanburg, South Carolina, where their plane was waiting, Nick glanced at Jake. Talk about a soured attitude. Ja
ke would have to wait until they were alone again to try and smooth things over with the kid. In the back seat, Cain leaned forward to listen in on the conversation.
“Yeah, but it’ll take her a day or two to get to Tampa. No clue where she’s coming from. Carter called Brody to have him send her the floor plans and alarm info on Wagner’s house. She’ll call me when the job is done.”
Cain grinned. “When she does, give her my number. A combination firecracker, cat-burglar, and assassin is a woman I never would’ve considered while in the Secret Service, but, damn, does she sound hot.
Snorting, Jake shook his head in amusement. “Dude, I’m not questioning your sexual expertise, but if Master Carter can’t handle her, I doubt anyone can. There isn’t one female submissive at the club who doesn’t sigh when they say his name.”
“Maybe, but I’d be more than willing to give it a fucking shot if she fits the image I have in mind. I’m picturing about five-foot-five, a size four or six, long dark hair she keeps in a ponytail most of the time, and exotic-looking eyes. Add in the fact she’s probably trained in martial arts and almost every weapon out there and, yeah, I’m fucking interested.”
Jake chuckled, knowing the new guy was going to fit in quite well with both Trident and The Covenant. As far as he knew, two more of the six Omega Team operatives were Doms and the new female chopper pilot was a switch, meaning she was a top or bottom depending on her mood or current relationship. The others had no issues with working in the vicinity of the club, nor had any problem with going inside if needed. And whether they were members or not, they still had to sign the non-disclosure oath everyone else did. It’d been part of the interview process and psychological exams the team candidates had gone through. Ian and Devon rightfully refused to hire anyone who could possibly endanger the club’s membership with exposure. If at any time during the interview, background check, and testing process, a candidate showed any form of bigotry or closed-mindedness toward the lifestyle, gays, or the opposite sex in general, their file was tossed into the garbage can. Jake knew at least two candidates had been disqualified for those reasons.
Topping the Alpha: Trident Security Series Page 9
