by Em Petrova
Yes, it was the only way, and Lennon couldn’t dwell on how many relationship rules he’d just broken.
When she entered the house with a panting Ranger, he came to greet her. Taking the leash from her hand, he disconnected it from the dog and hung it up.
Ranger trotted through the living room to the kitchen. They heard him lapping water.
Edie flashed Lennon a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. She cocked her head. “Sure he’s drinking from his bowl and not the toilet?”
“No, I’m not sure.” He laughed. Then he eyed up her body. In a curve-skimming tank top and workout pants, she was sexy as hell.
He moved closer.
“I’m so sweaty, you won’t want to touch me,” she protested, dodging aside.
He made a grab for her again. She giggled and sidestepped him again.
Finally, he nabbed her around the middle and hauled her up against him. Looking down into her beautiful blue eyes, he rumbled, “Why don’t we hit the shower together?”
“Mmm. That sounds pretty nice.” She stared at his mouth.
He lowered it to kiss her, the soft brushing of lips making him instantly hard.
Taking her by the hand, he led her through the house to the bathroom. The option of tub or shower gave him pause, but when Edie began to strip, he didn’t care what they did as long as she was naked and wet.
Watching her openly, he switched on the water in the shower and gave her a striptease of his own. He tugged his T-shirt out of his cargo pants.
She drew her sports bra up and over her head.
Her candy-hard nipples puckered even further.
He pulled off his own shirt, standing still for her to stare at back. Her gaze zigzagged over his chest to his abs and lower to the bulge growing in his pants.
When she hooked her thumbs into her panties and slowly lowered them over her thighs, exposing her bare mound and her slit beneath it, he let out a hungry growl.
He dropped to his knees, hands planted on her hips. He swayed her a step closer at the same time he opened his mouth. His tongue met her outer lips and sank into her sweet nectar.
She shivered and dug her fingers into his shoulders, rocking her body closer as he slowly lapped up and down her seam. She was soaked and ready for him. And he was hard after only one taste.
The feel of her pussy clenching and releasing on his tongue sent him into overdrive. He pulled back and looked up at her.
She’d bitten her lips into a plumpness that was driving him crazy. “Don’t stop, Lennon.”
Guiding her to the shower, he placed her inside, dropped the rest of his clothing and joined her. He backed her up against the wall and plunged his tongue into her mouth.
She gasped as she tasted herself and yanked him closer, fingers wrapping around his cock. When she guided him to her bare pussy, he shuddered.
“I forgot a condom,” he grated out. “We’ll have to play in other ways.”
She rewarded him with a sassy smile and dropped to her knees. When she took him into her mouth, he let his head drop back. Water coursed over his spine, but he hardly felt it as her lips closed around him.
* * * * *
The need to pleasure Lennon drove her on. With increasingly stronger pulls of her mouth, she reveled in the sound of his throaty groans. She stole a peek at his face, and her heart swelled with passion and love.
The past day or so had been difficult on her—she hated the entire situation and dragging her lover and his team into it was making her sick to her stomach. But in the end, she had to trust them.
She trusted Lennon with her life… and her heart.
As he let out a rough moan, her inner thighs clenched, and her pussy flooded with desire. The sexy way he looked down at her while she pleasured him gave her a dizzying sensation.
Running her tongue down the side of his shaft and back up to the tip, where she swirled it over the depression, she stared into his eyes.
“Jesus,” he gritted out, clamping a hand on her shoulder. He drew her up to her feet and trapped her against the wall of the shower. Holding her gaze prisoner too, he slipped two slick fingers between her legs.
She sucked in a harsh cry of ecstasy as he stroked her clit and then eased his fingers down to her opening. When he drove them in, high and hard, she cried out without restraint.
Need blasted her. For long moments as he finger-fucked her with slow, precise movements, she lost herself. His lips moved across hers, nibbling and biting. He moved to her earlobe and grazed it with his teeth.
He settled the pad of his thumb over her clit and pressed down.
She exploded in a brilliant display of stars behind her eyes. He thrust his tongue into her mouth and dragged her bliss on and on until her knees sagged and he was supporting her against the shower wall.
Before she’d totally come to her senses, she reached for his cock, guiding it to her pussy. “Fuck me, Lennon. I need you.”
He went dead still, eyes dark and burning.
“Baby—”
She hitched her thigh around his hip and angled her pussy toward his swollen head. “I’m clean, I’m protected. I’ve had an IUD for years. Lennon—”
He cut her off, slamming his mouth over hers. The bruising and desperate kiss had her digging her fingers into his shoulders. The tip of his cock brushed her folds, without barriers.
He went still. Tore his mouth free.
“I’m clean, baby. And I’ve been dying to make you mine since the first time I set eyes on you.” With that, he plunged deep into her pussy, half lifting her against the wall to sink right to the base.
Her inner walls clutched at him. He stole her mind with another kiss and withdrew his cock before thrusting back inside. On a whimper, she said, “I love you, Lennon.”
“God, woman, you rip me up.” He sank deep and began to pulsate, his cock shooting into her, coating her walls with warm cum. The sensation made her pussy squeeze hard, and then she was shaking apart for him too.
The last thing she heard before the final pulsation hit her was, “I love you, Edie. Fuck, I love you.”
Somehow the rough declaration was the best in the world.
* * * * *
Lennon was rarely so keyed up before a mission. He went in, did his job and did it well. But this time was different.
It meant putting Edie in danger before they could protect her.
He paced back and forth, shoving his fingers through his hair every four steps. Then he looked at his phone for word from Jess that they had everything set up and ready to roll.
As soon as Edie dialed her father’s number that Jess had been able to discover by means of hacking, her texts would ping off cell towers and satellites, making her traceable. Her location would be found, and Jess had done the research on the senator too. His phone wasn’t as clean as he and his protective team believed it was.
Lennon issued a sigh.
“Sit down,” Linc commanded. “You’re driving me crazy with your pacing.”
He turned to look at his twin. “If this was Nealy, what would you be doing?”
“Not pacing.”
Lennon snorted. “Yeah, you’d be kicking down someone’s door and throwing grenades through windows.”
Linc glanced up with a grin. “You know me too well, brother.”
“When is Jess going to give her the go-ahead to text the senator?”
“Soon. We have a strict timeline. Stick to the plan.” Linc hitched his ankle over his opposite knee in a relaxed pose that made Lennon grind his teeth.
The decision had been made to go forward with this plan of attack—but there was still time to back out.
Linc cleared his throat, gaining Lennon’s attention. When he looked to his twin, Linc pointed at a chair. “Sit before I break your legs.”
Lennon shot his brother a glare but took the seat.
When his phone buzzed seconds later, he leaped up and brought it to his ear. “Jess, whattaya got?”
“You’r
e not gonna like it, Lennon. Something just came through.”
“What the fuck is it?”
Linc stood and came closer. Lennon put the phone on speaker so he could hear as well.
Jess continued, “The senator took money from this extremist group knowing full well what he was doing. It’s all a hoax, Lennon. He knew the group would attack him. He did it for sympathy votes and publicity.”
Lennon blinked. Then his blood ran cold.
Linc grabbed Lennon’s shoulder. “Jess, Linc here. If this is the case, the senator put his daughter into danger knowingly.”
“Technically, she got on that stage and made herself visible to the group he put himself in the target zone with. But yeah, it’s all his doing. They know where he’s at 24/7 anyway—our plan isn’t going to work to draw them in. They’ve made a deal with them to get the most for their money. They’re going to shoot high—hit the family he has in the public eye, not a secret daughter.”
“Fuck!” Lennon scraped his fingers through his hair again, heart rattling hard in his chest. The fury running through him was bigger than anything he’d felt since his twin had been taken.
The fucking senator had entered the agreement with the rebel group knowing he’d be attacked. And he’d done so without regard to his family’s safety.
All for the numbers at the voting polls.
He was too infuriated to speak.
“Thanks, Jess. Keep us informed of anything new,” Linc said.
Lennon ended the call, and he and Linc stared at each other. “The son of a bitch deserves to be blown up for taking such chances. No wonder the investigations haven’t led anywhere substantial—someone must have discovered this already, and that’s why nothing’s being done.”
“All we can do is keep digging for ways to protect Edie.”
“What—with WITSEC? No way could she go into protection. I’d never see her again.”
“Are you seriously only thinking of yourself right now, man?” Linc gazed at him.
Lennon’s shoulders slumped, and he turned away from his brother. “You’re right. If she’s got to go into the program to protect herself from this group and her stupid father’s doing, then that’s what she does. It’s just… goddammit, I love her.”
Linc bowed his head. “I knew you did.”
Lennon didn’t think the moment could get much darker after hearing the senator had basically set himself up for the attacks, but this was it. Knowing he’d have to give Edie up in order to keep her safe and alive was ripping his heart out of his chest.
“You’ve gotta call her and at least tell her about what Jess found,” Linc said.
He still could find a way to disconnect her from the senator—a fake DNA test or something—and put it out to the press.
“Lennon.” Linc’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “Call her and get it over with.”
Drawing a deep breath, he nodded. What he was about to tell her would tarnish any decent opinion she had about the senator.
There was no choice.
He walked away from his twin, phone in hand. A second later, he heard Linc go out and the soft click of the door closing.
When he dialed Edie, he flinched at the worry in her tone.
“Lennon, I don’t know if I can go through with this.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “You won’t have to. It seems we have an issue.”
“What is it?”
He drew a deep breath and exhaled. “The senator took that campaign money knowing he’d become a target. He did this to himself, for votes, Edie.”
Silence.
It went on so long, he ached to think of what she must be feeling right now.
“Edie.”
“You’re saying my father put himself in danger so he could gain public sympathy and more votes?”
“It seems that way. Jess uncovered something.”
“I’d like to know what that is. Can you find out for me?” she asked in a stronger tone.
He was proud of her character and ability to move forward even in the face of shock and fear. “Of course.”
“So it won’t matter if I call the senator. These people probably have attacks planned out weeks beforehand—and the senator might even know of them and be prepared.”
“God, I hate to say it, but it could be the case, yes.”
“I’m so stupid for getting on that stage,” she said softly.
“Baby, you can’t go back, only forward.”
“Yeah, now I know that I can’t have a relationship with my father, never did and never could.”
“Edie, I’m sorry. You know you’ve got me. We’ll create our own family. My momma will adore you, and Linc already does.”
When her voice came through into his ear, it was thick with emotion. “You’re the best, Lennon. I’ll talk to you later when you get home, okay? I’m going to take Ranger for a walk and clear my head.”
* * * * *
Edie kissed the dog’s head and rubbed his ears. As soon as her tears started to fall, Ranger had planted himself in front of her and hadn’t budged since. He stared at her with baleful eyes, as if he felt everything she did.
“I’m all right now, boy. Want to go for a walk?”
His ears perked forward at the word, and he jumped to his feet. She followed him as he ran to the door and put on her shoes. When she hooked the leash to his collar, he gave an excited leap.
It was impossible not to chuckle at his antics, and that made her feel better. She went out and set the alarm system. Before she stepped onto the sidewalk, Jordan was calling out to her and waving.
“I’ll be by tomorrow to mow the lawn!” he called.
“Sounds good, thanks,” she returned and continued walking, Ranger in the lead.
The ache in her heart made her footsteps slower than usual, and she had to give the dog a command so he didn’t pull her down the street.
Her father… how greasy could he get? She knew politicians were often swayed to dirty acts in order to reach the top, but she’d never believed it of Senator Arthur.
What had her mother seen in the man? Edie could chalk the affair up to the stupidity of a young woman with stars in her eyes as she followed him around the campaign circuit. But had he been so crazed for success that he didn’t care how he climbed the rungs of the ladder even back then?
It was a question she’d never have answered. It was best to let go of any thoughts of the senator in relation to herself—they were too different. She never would have put people she loved into danger the way he had.
Then she’d added herself to the target list. How was she going to get herself out of this mire?
Knowing she had Penn to watch her back gave her the freedom to think—and mentally rage. The anger hit hard and hot, leaving her stomping down the sidewalk, practically dragging Ranger now.
Her breaths came faster, and she tried to slow her steps. Killing herself walking the dog in the Texas heat wouldn’t do her any good in the end. She had to keep a level head.
In her mind, she listed the things she did have—Lennon and his team prepared to keep her safe. But she couldn’t continue to live this way, with Penn following her every time she set foot outside and keeping to the shadows outside Lennon’s home in case somebody tried to breach it.
She had Hallie. Her friend would do anything in her power to help her, and Edie could use more help digging into what she’d learned about the senator from Lennon.
She also had her own wits. She’d clawed her way up before, and she would now. She would get her life back.
As she and Ranger turned another corner on the stretch for home, an idea began to form in her head… It just might work.
But Lennon wouldn’t like it one bit.
Chapter Eleven
Lennon grabbed his Kevlar and slipped it over his chest. The rest of the team was in similar stages of putting on their gear. Being on standby sucked in the best of times, but with so much weighing on Lennon’s mind, he’d r
ather be anywhere else.
“This is bad timing,” he muttered to Jess at his left.
“Is there ever a good time?” The man had stress creases between his brows and extending up into his forehead.
Lennon looked at him closer. “You good, man?”
Jess sank to the bench to lace up his combat boots. “Never better.”
“Sure sounds like it. What’s up? More woman troubles?”
“I wish. It’s some new intel OFFSUS has me working on. Listening to terrorists and cartel at all hours of the day is getting pretty fucking old.”
“It’s gotta weigh on you, hearing all that shit and dissecting it into something real. Just keep taking the breaks you need—stay centered on what’s going on in your own life. It’s the only way to process that shit.”
It was a known fact that military intelligence officers got into dark places. You couldn’t very well listen into plans to torture humans and not lose a little humanity yourself. Hearing that shit made a man want to grab a fucking machine gun and wipe out everybody involved.
“Talk to the team counselor too. Don’t let it overcome you, Jess.”
“I’ll be good.” The man tugged hard on his boot lace without looking up.
Lennon watched him another second before returning to his gear.
Linc walked over and leaned against the locker, watching.
“Need somethin’?” Lennon asked.
“Wondered if you might. I know this morning wasn’t easy for you, after learning that shit about the senator.”
He blew out a sigh. “I’ve had better moments. But I’m good.”
“And Edie?”
“She’s all right, I think.”
“Tough break, us getting put on standby and you can’t go home and talk things out with her.”
He looked up at his twin. If anyone understood how Lennon was feeling right now, it was Linc. He nodded. “I wish I had some time, that’s for sure. That’s the downfall of having this gig and working around a family. I’m seeing that now.”
“Yeah, but it’s not so bad. Don’t let it deter you. Nealy and I make it work. Same with the others.” He did a chin-lift toward the rest of the guys at their lockers, strapping on their gear.
At that moment, Sully and Shaw laughed at something Cav said. Lennon found himself smiling too without even knowing what they were laughing over. The team was a constant for him—they had his back and he had theirs. They were family he chose, a brotherhood.
