by Desiree Holt
“What—” He jerked his eyes open when she took her hands away.
“Even I can see you’re close to the edge,” she told him. “And I want you inside me, too.”
“Good,” he growled. “Because here I come.”
When he had her on her back again, he spread her legs and bent them at the knees. She was wide open to him, every glistening pink inch of her. Lifting her legs and placing them over his shoulders, he held open the lips of her sex and slid his tongue over her heated flesh.
Peyton gasped, sucking in her breath and letting out a tiny moan.
He did it again. Another moan.
Jesus!
She tasted so fucking good.
He thrust his tongue deep inside her, feeling the tremors in the tiny muscles. Then he dragged it back out, teasing her swollen clit as he did so.
“Oh, god.”
She arched her body up to his mouth and squeezed her thighs against him, so he did it again and again, sure he’d died and gone to heaven. As he laved her over and over with his tongue, he felt his dick thickening even more. Pressing her open with his thumbs, he gently bit her clit then reached into his nightstand drawer for a condom. His hands were actually trembling as he rolled it on.
He slid into her wet heat with a feeling that he was coming home. Her heated flesh closed around him, gripping his cock as he slid it all the way in. He had to close his eyes and reach for his control, or this would be over in seconds. And he wanted it to last as long as possible.
He studied her face, which was flushed with desire, lips kiss-swollen, long lashes brushing her cheeks. The pulse at the base of her throat beat furiously, matching the beat of his own heart.
“Open your eyes.” He heard the hunger in his own voice. “Look at me, Peyton.”
She lifted her lids as if they carried a heavy weight on them, and when she did, he saw a hunger in her eyes ferocious enough to match his own. He took her mouth with a need so fierce he wasn’t sure it would ever be satisfied. Tangled his tongue with her delicious one. Scraped it lightly with his teeth.
And when her inner walls clenched around him, he began to move. In and out, a slow slide, his cock dragging against the tight channel. Then a deep thrust and another one. Again. And again.
He dipped his head, took one of her taut, rosy nipples between his teeth and bit gently on it, tugging it lightly, before doing the same to the other tip. The little sounds of pleasure she made went straight to his balls. Thank god he could feel how wet and slick she was, because he was damn near getting to the end of his rope.
And still he never took his eyes from hers. He swore he could see flames dancing in that rich green, heat that reached right into his core.
Then the time for going slow was past. He increased his rhythm, thrust and retreat. Peyton tightened her legs around him and dug her heels into the small of his back, pulling them together even more tightly.
“Faster,” she urged.
And he obliged, pounding into her harder and faster, again and again, the edge so close he could see it. Feel it.
Then…it was there.
They exploded as one, her muscles clenching his dick, squeezing it hard. They shuddered together as they came again and again.
He had no idea how long it went on until finally, he collapsed forward on his elbows, shaking, his heart beating a million miles an hour. Or was that hers he was feeling? He wasn’t sure he could even tell. He brushed stray tendrils of hair from her cheeks and smiled, happy when her mouth curved in an answering smile.
“I might have had better sex sometime in my life,” he told her, “but I sure can’t remember when.” He touched his lips to hers. “I don’t have words.”
Her tiny smile told him she was trying to play this casual.
“That’s okay. Your body did the talking for you. You must get in a lot of practice at this.”
For some reason, her words bothered him. They shouldn’t have. He was a man who always made it clear to women he wasn’t in it for the long haul or a permanent arrangement, and so far, everyone had been happy with that. But for whatever reason, Peyton West didn’t fall into that category. She was in one all by herself. He already knew, in a little more than twenty-four hours, that this was different and he didn’t want to let her go.
And how stupid was that? They hadn’t even been on a date yet. Hadn’t done the tell-me-about-yourself thing. Even lived in different cities. Then a thought struck him and nearly sucked the breath out of him. What if she was involved with someone?
No. No, no, no.
He only knew what he’d learned on the Internet and from observation, but if Peyton West was involved with someone else, she wouldn’t be here in his bed with him, naked and flushed from hot, sweaty, satisfying sex. So what came next? She was a client with a complex, urgent case, and he always took care of business. They all did.
All. His partners. What the fuck would they think about this?
“Blaze.”
“Yeah?” He blinked. Then he kissed her again.
“You looked so deep in thought there.” She swallowed. “Listen. In case you’re worried, I don’t expect anything else from this. I mean, it was great! No, stupendous. No spectacular. But I don’t want you to think—”
He kissed her again to stop her from talking.
“I was just wondering how the hell this happened. I know you for just a little more than twenty-four hours and already I don’t want to let you go. That’s a big first for me.”
He waited, not sure he wanted to hear what she’d have to say.
She blew out a breath.
“I should tell you I’m all about no entanglements. I have a career I’ve worked very hard for and all my focus is on that.” Her face tightened. “At least it was until this happened with Dane and Brianne.” Then her expression softened. “But just so you don’t think you’re the only one who’s crazy here, I’m having the same feelings you are. How nuts is that?”
He chuckled, the tension around his chest easing.
“I guess that means we’re both nuts. And hold that thought.”
He eased from her body, pinching the edges of the condom, and headed for the bathroom. In seconds he was back and sliding into bed next to her. He pulled her against him so his body curved around hers, and slipped an arm around her waist, cupping a breast in his palm. He gave it a gentle squeeze, rolling the nipple in his fingers.
They lay there like that for a long moment, so long he began to wonder if she’d changed her mind.
“I’m not sorry about this,” she said at last. “Maybe I’m losing my mind, but if that’s the case, I don’t think I want to find it.”
“Ditto.” He cleared his throat. “We’re going to find out who did this, Peyton. And we’re going to see where this goes. We can do them both at the same time. Do you believe that?”
She let out a long sigh. “Yes. I shouldn’t, but I do.”
He smiled against her hair. “Me, too.”
He fell asleep with her naked body curved against his and memories of their hot sex flashing in his dreams.
Chapter Nine
Peter Kendrick looked at his watch. It was the evening and the last thing he wanted to be doing after a long day in court was sitting here in his den with Warren Sulzberger. But the man was doing him a huge favor and he owed him a lot. And if it got Owen off the hook, he wouldn’t care if it was three o’clock in the morning.
He glanced at the other man now, who was sitting in one of the large armchairs in the den in his library, sipping single malt Scotch and smoking a cigar. Despite the subject of their meeting, he should have looked relaxed. Instead he looked like someone sitting on an electrified fence. Kendrick was sure that whatever news he had was far from good, and not for the first time wanted nothing better than to beat the shit out of his fully grown but hardly mature son.
“First of all, I cannot tell you enough times what a fucking big mess your son has made. Accept the fact that it’s so big it’s taking an e
arthmover to clean it up.” He took a swallow of his drink. “You also didn’t think the sister would be a problem, and look at the mess she’s stirring up.”
“We’re handling it.”
Sulzberger made a rude noise. “You mean I’m handling it.”
“For which I am very grateful. Thank you.” He ground out the words. They had still barely scratched the surface of what needed to be done. “By the way, your people obviously did a good job at the Hollister house,” Kendrick pointed out, “since there hasn’t been any fallout from it.”
“Of course they did.” Sulzberger glared at him. “My people always do a good job. And we now have both laptops and the desktop computer. Besides, the crew I sent was meticulous about not leaving anything out of place. They left it exactly as they found it.”
“Damn, Warren, I’m giving you a compliment and expressing my gratitude.” Kendrick smiled, although there was little humor in it. “The fact no one has reported any break-in or anything stolen is more proof, I’d say, that no one is checking on the house. You even took care of the problem with the security system.”
“We needed to kill it to gain entry to the house. Couldn’t have any alarms going off to the security company. Then we called and canceled the service, which, under the circumstances, no one questioned.” Sulzberger took a sip of his drink.
“I’d have asked you to do it sooner, but I couldn’t afford to have anyone show up before the funeral and Hollister’s parents left town. Too chancy.” Kendrick took another swallow of his drink, bigger than the last one. He’d need a gallon of whiskey by the time this clusterfuck was taken care of.
“I agree. You know these people. How long do you think it will take before someone finally does check up on it?”
Kendrick shrugged. “I’d guess, under the circumstances, a long while. The parents are gone, Brianne Hollister is still in a coma and as far as we know the sister is focusing all her time and attention on her.”
“Except when she’s badgering the police or trying to hire a private investigator.” Sulzberger’s voice had a nasty edge to it.
Kendrick had to restrain himself from snapping at the man. He couldn’t argue the implication that much of this was his fault for not keeping a closer eye on his son in the first placed. “She hasn’t been to the house. If she did go and had discovered anything out of sync we’d have heard about it by now.”
“I agree.” Sulzberger shifted in his chair. “Let’s talk about the cars next. You were worried someone would come out of the woodwork and remember Owen’s car, and give a description to the police, possibly someone we couldn’t get to. You asked me to get rid of it and it’s done.”
“Good. He’s driving a rental for the moment while he decides on a new car. Anybody asking gets told his car is in for service, but we’re thinking of buying a new one. It’s taken care of.”
“Also, I reached out to make sure all the tapes that had the image of the, uh, incident on it have been erased.”
Kendrick arched an eyebrow. “You believe?”
“Let me rephrase. I know we have. It’s gone from everywhere. Even if someone somehow got a description, without license plates and without a vehicle they have no place to go.” Sulzberger’s smile held little humor. “Enough money can make anything go away.”
“And the car itself?” Kendrick frowned. “What did you do with it?”
“It’s in pieces, but of course, that won’t necessarily stop someone from looking for it. Worse if that someone knows what the fuck they’re doing. If they start digging into every little corner and they don’t stop until they get answers.”
“How would anyone even know to look for Owen’s vehicle? His name hasn’t been attached to this at all.”
Sulzberger snorted. “Only because we’ve paid off everyone we had to and twisted a few arms to make sure of it. You should have let them pick up Hollister’s car. That at least would have satisfied them for a while. Strangers will wonder about it.”
Kendrick rubbed his forehead, trying to ease the beginning of a headache.
“His cell and laptop were in there. I couldn’t let them get hold of those. God only knows what was on them.”
“You could have had someone just wipe everything,” Sulzberger pointed out.
“This is better. So let’s have the most important thing you came to tell me, Warren. Enough beating around the bush.” Kendrick stared at him. “I appreciate everything you’re doing, Warren, but it’s late. I have a headache, I feel a crisis brewing and you’ve been dancing around this issue since you got here. So let’s have it.”
“It’s not going to make you happy.” Sulzberger shifted in his chair.
“I didn’t expect it would. Enough, already. Who the fuck are these goddamn people who are now sticking their noses into this? And where did she find them?”
He noticed that Sulzberger looked distinctly uneasy as he nodded.
“I just want you to know it took a lot of digging to find out who they are.”
Kendrick took a sip of scotch, needing it to hold on to his self-control. This had to be really bad if Sulzberger was avoiding it. “Then you’d better give it to me. What did you find out about them? How bad could they be? She can’t possibly have the kind of connections for anyone we’d have to worry about.”
“If that were true,” Sulzberger pointed out, “you’d have been able to find out who they were without me.”
“Yes. I hear you.”
Sulzberger rubbed his forehead. “Be prepared. You won’t be happy. I’m not. There’s a lot on the line for both of us.”
Kendrick leaned forward. “What the hell does that mean? What is there about them that I won’t like?”
Sulzberger nodded. “Plenty.”
Kendrick ground his teeth. “Then for god’s sake, you’d better let me have it.”
“Remember that unfortunate business that caused my untimely departure from the Senate?”
“Unfortunate business?” Kendrick’s laugh was anything but humorous. “Don’t you mean a bucket full of shit that we all dug you out of? Selling the information about a SEAL Team mission that got nearly everyone killed? And almost got you sent to prison? That unfortunate business?”
“Whatever.” Another pull on the cigar.
“Why are you bringing that up now? I thought we’d buried that in the bowels of hell.”
“Apparently there are some things you can never get away from. Just as you asked, I managed to learn the identity of the people Peyton West hired. They are very private, high-level, ultra-covert contractors. All Special Forces, all former SEALs, and even an idiot knows what that means. On top of that, they are obnoxiously rich and very picky about the jobs they take.”
“And?” Kendrick was losing what little patience he had left. What the fuck was going on here? “Will you get to the fucking point already? Don’t tell me the people Peyton West hired have any connection to that other nasty business.”
“The leader of that SEAL team, Scott Hamilton, is now a partner in the agency looking into Dane Hollister’s death.”
Kendrick felt an icy little shiver crawl up his spine. This could be an even bigger disaster.
“Tell me about them.”
“They call themselves Galaxy. God knows where they came up with that name. He has three partners and, worse yet, all of them are SEALs, and that means they are trained to execute in ways you and I never even thought of. They can do and find things no one else can. That’s what they do.”
“For god’s sake, Warren.” He bit down on his irritation. He had to think of Owen, not the man across from him. He had to do whatever it took to put an end to this mess. He didn’t need this curve ball. “These men aren’t gods.”
Sulzberger snorted. “Maybe, but they think they are. We can’t just buy them off or get rid of them some other way. Not these men. Besides, Scott Hamilton, the SEAL Team leader, swore he’d kill me if he ever got his hands on me, and I don’t doubt for a minute he’d do just that.”<
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Kendrick had to restrain himself from hurling his glass across the room. Or punching Sulzberger in the jaw. The asshole with the unquenchable thirst for money and power had created a situation that was going to haunt them forever. If he, Kendrick, had been smart, he’d never have helped Sulzberger slide out of that fucking mess way back when and ultimately end up more powerful than he’d been in the Senate. But they’d known each other for years, the man was Owen’s godfather and he’d felt an obligation.
Now, however, he feared it was all about to come back to haunt him. All because his son, who he was grooming for political power, didn’t appear to have any self-control.
He drew in a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Do you happen to have a suggestion of how we do deal with this?”
Sulzberger was silent for a long moment, then took a slow sip of his drink. “Peter, you know I’ve been doing my best to make this whole situation go away, but I don’t know if I can butt heads with Galaxy. I have no leverage over them, not to mention the fact they have a target on my back. I can tell you this is one big fucking mess.”
“That you can’t make go away.”
“Exactly. If I keep poking around in this,” Sulzberger continued, “they’re sure to find out it’s me behind all the digging—then I’m well and truly fucked. I’ve done what I could for you and now I have to get out of this.”
“You have to be kidding me.”
“Not even a little. I just wanted you to be prepared, if this all blows up, that it’s my ass I’ll be covering first. I’ve given you all the information I’ve got. I made sure we covered everything over, got the cops and everyone else to back away from this and label it a hit and run accident, driver unknown. That’s all I can do. I have to back the hell away from this and protect myself.”
“Yeah? How about a way to neutralize them? You’re the one with all the shady contacts.”
“Shady?” Sulzberger’s face darkened. “You didn’t mind taking advantage of my so-called shady contacts when it suited you. Besides, from what I could find out, there’s no way to neutralize these people.”
