by Lisa Hughey
She moaned and gripped his head, pulling him closer.
Jillian’s aches slipped away as Hamish licked his way over the mounds of her breasts. Then he sucked her nipple, zapping her with a direct line to her sex. He cupped her breasts in his hands. He should be resting but she couldn’t bring herself to stop him.
His cock throbbed hard and insistent against the soft skin of her belly.
She scraped her fingers through his hair arching her back and pushing her breast into his kiss.
She cupped him through his jeans, the hot length pulsing against her palm. “Happy to see me?”
He stopped kissing her. “You know it, love.” He pressed a line of kisses down the center of her stomach, stopping to pay close attention to her belly button, the soft hair of his beard a sensual caress, while his fingers traced the line of her panties. Her belly contracted at the soft touch.
Jillian moaned, then pushed her hands inside his underwear and curved her palm around his silky hard erection.
She pumped once, twice, savoring the thick length of him. Her core clenched, craving him inside her.
She wanted him pressing her into the soft mattress of the bed, covering her with his body. But her head still hurt so that would have to wait for another time.
His eyes were closed, his lashes dark against the bruised skin of his cheekbone, and her heart stumbled. He’d taken quite the beating and she couldn’t bear to hurt him. “Maybe we should stop. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Stop? Are you daft?” He lifted his head from his very thorough exploration of her body.
She snorted. “That’s not very complimentary.”
“You’re brilliant and half-starkers and I’m clearly up for the job.” He rolled onto his back releasing her, and his erection rose from the open V of his jeans. “Why would we stop?”
“You’re pretty beat up.”
“Then make me feel better.” He grinned at her, his swollen bottom lip slightly cockeyed.
“You’re sure?”
He pushed his jeans to his ankles and lifted his hips to shove them off to the end of the bed. He lifted his hand showing off the condom packet between two fingers.
“I guess you’re sure.” Since he was on his back, she lifted up and straddled him.
“Ho now, what’s this.” He cupped her ass and rubbed his thumbs over her hip bones then slid them down until he stroked her clit. “These need to come off.”
All her blood rushed south and she could only nod. God, don’t stop that.
Jill skimmed her panties off while Hamish dispensed with her bra.
When she was above him on all fours, she began to lift the tank undershirt up from his rippled abs. He must not spend all his time at the keyboard.
But he grimaced. “Let’s just leave that where it is, shall we?”
Jill sat back on her knees, her butt on the back of his thighs. She watched his slightly darker fingers slide through her blond curls to play with her clit. Jill’s heart beat accelerated, thumping against her breastbone with a mix of anticipation and wonder.
Desire blasted through her with each sensuous caress.
She wrapped her hands around his erection, the dark skin and engorged head leaked with the evidence of his arousal. She swiped her thumb over the head and spread the liquid so she could pump his cock in steady strokes.
He penetrated her with one finger, then two, rubbing her g-spot and hitting every erogenous nerve inside her. He was gentle, so deliberate and cautious, stoking her arousal with every tender glide of his fingers. The slow ascent to pleasure was an effortless climb until she soared off the cliff. Her hands tightened on his cock as she threw her head back and let the orgasm, the pleasure cascade through her. She shivered and shook as the aftershocks rolled over her in waves. Hamish continued to stroke and comfort as she flowed over his fingers.
“Put the rubber on, love.” He cupped her breasts, tugging on her nipples with his rough fingers as she rolled the condom over his erection.
“Let me do the work.” Let me give you pleasure. Let me give you peace. That’s what she wanted to say. Instead she sheathed him quickly.
Jillian lifted up on her knees and positioned her sex over his erection.
He raised his hips, rubbing the head along her swollen sex. She sank down on him slowly, reveling in his invasion as he penetrated her with intoxicating slowness until he was seated fully inside her.
He groaned.
“Are you hurt?”
“Nothing that can’t be fixed.” Hamish smiled. “Move, love.”
She’d promised to do the work, so Jillian began to move, rising and falling on his cock, holding onto his biceps as she used her thigh muscles to control their rhythm.
“Come here.” He beckoned with a crook of his finger and Jillian bent over.
Hamish ran his hands up her back stroking her bare skin and tracing the bumps of her spine, the trail of his fingers causing more shivers.
Jillian was careful not to lean on his chest and stomach as she rode him slowly.
He stared up at her, his navy eyes dark and intense, watching as she controlled the pace of their joining. His cock swelled inside her, growing bigger, and his hips punched up, becoming more insistent.
The deep shove hit her g-spot and she moaned again.
Hamish’s hands went to her hips, increasing the pace as he thrust faster and faster. Her breath quickened as he watched her as if she were a puzzle he wanted to solve. His hands roamed up to her breasts and squeezed.
Her breath caught as the sharp pinch of his fingers caused her womb to contract again.
“Like that?”
“I’m supposed to be doing the work.”
“It’s not work if you’re having fun.”
His little joke surprised her and she laughed. Laughed!
His muscles strained as his pace quickened and his cock grew thicker inside her. The bump of his pubic bone against her clit threw her over again.
Jillian cried out as her orgasm slammed into her.
Hamish groaned and arched beneath her. His cock jerked inside her in hard insistent pumps as he flew into the abyss with her.
Jillian collapsed next to him, rolling so she didn’t crush his already battered body. But she collapsed with a smile on her face. He curled his arm around her shoulders, and she nestled into the curve of his neck.
Hamish’s body pulsed with aftershocks. They’d have to move soon, clean up. But right now he savored the intimacy of their positions. She was so damn giving, so willing to take care of everyone, even in the aftermath of an explosive orgasm she’d carefully disentangled so that she didn’t hurt him.
His brain was blotto; endorphins from really excellent sex had him addled and not thinking clearly. Which is why he blurted out the question that had been festering at the back of his mind for a while. “What really happened with your witness?”
She blinked. Stopped smiling. “He died.”
“Nope.” He mimicked her earlier comment. “Tell me.”
“It’s classified.”
“Ha. So I was right,” Hamish crowed. “Tell me.”
“Hypothetically, an informant against the mob has a much greater chance of being killed in WitSec than other witnesses.”
That didn’t explain what really happened, but he waited patiently.
“Hypothetically a situation could be set up to make it look like he’d been killed.”
“But what I don’t understand is why, hypothetically of course, someone would torpedo their career in order to make that scenario believable.”
All the hypothetically was getting old. “I was in love with him.”
That shut him up.
Yes, the morals and ethics queen had broken all sorts of rules.
“You…sacrificed your career so that he could live.”
When you put it like that.
“Yes,” she said softly.
Hamish was silent for a moment, trailing his finger over her shoulder and dow
n her arm. She arched into him, needing the comfort of his touch.
“That’s….”
“Crazy. Insane.” Nothing she hadn’t heard before.
“Unbelievably heroic.”
Her heart melted. Even Marsh and Dee had thought she was crazy. But at the time, she couldn’t bear to think of a world without Dominic in it.
He pressed another kiss to the side of her head.
“The hardest part was dealing with the fallout.” All the people who thought she’d been so enthralled that she’d put her protectee’s life in jeopardy. “People who were close to me believed I’d put everyone, including Dominic, in danger.”
“But you went on to start Adams-Larsen.”
“Sure. But my father still doesn’t speak to me.”
“Your da?”
She shrugged as if it still didn’t hurt immensely. They’d been a pair for a long time. Ever since her mother left when Jill had been a kid.
“I’m over it.” Mostly.
And yes, she had abandonment issues. How could she not? But she’d thought she was over them until Marsh had ghosted her over the past three months.
“What about your mam?”
“She left when I was a little kid.”
“How could she leave you?”
Wasn’t that sweet. “She never really wanted me. My mother got pregnant to try and use my cells to save my brother.”
“You have a brother?”
“No. He died before I was born. Cancer.”
Seven words pretty much summed up her life. Everything that had happened in her life was about her brother.
She’d been trying to atone since she was born. So she really did understand his need to avenge his brother.
He was silent for a few moments. “What are the beanies for?”
Yes, even her hobby was about atonement. “For children undergoing chemo. To keep their heads warm.”
“You’re an extraordinary woman, love.”
Yeah. So extraordinary that everyone left.
He squeezed her close as if he’d heard her thoughts. “You have your partner.”
Marsh had left the agency with her and they’d started Adams-Larsen. She’d been given a severance with sealed terms so no one would ever learn of her role in saving Dominic. Everyone would always believe that she’d be negligent on the job. “He’s always been my biggest supporter.”
So where she found herself now hurt doubly bad. She wanted to have faith in Marsh. She did. But the circumstantial evidence pointed to him being with Beatrice.
“What does Adams-Larsen really do?”
The languid post-sex glow shattered. Sharing about Dominic was a big step but telling him about ALIAS?
He sighed. “Forget I asked.”
But she couldn’t forget. And truly she owed him an explanation. They had made Brianna Walsh aka Beatrice Winter disappear. She’d been trying to do the right thing but instead she had helped a criminal escape justice.
Jill inhaled, the scent of sex filling the room. Passion, desire, love competed with remorse. She didn’t want to be sorry, she wanted to be happy, fulfilled.
Her heart thudded and her palms went damp. Maybe he didn’t realize what a watershed moment this was but she understood that she trusted him. On a deep visceral level she knew that he would safeguard her admission and protect her secret.
“We relocate people who are in danger but don’t qualify for government protection.”
“How hard was that?” he teased.
“Pretty damn.” She snuggled into his embrace. “I’ve never told anyone who didn’t work for me what we actually do.”
He was silent, absorbing her confession. “So why did you help Brianna?”
“My old boss asked for a favor,” Jill said. “Said there was a leak in their office regarding that case and she was concerned for the client’s safety.”
Which the more she thought about it, the more she wondered what had been going through Dee’s mind when she asked.
“Have you done many favors for her?”
“No. This was the first.” Jill said, “She’s referred a few clients to us but we’ve never placed a federal witness before.”
“I’ve only got one more question.”
She tensed, wondering how much more she could reveal. She felt flayed open and raw. Exposed by the baring of her soul. But she owed him an answer.
“Go ahead.”
Hamish yawned widely, his jaw cracking audibly in the hushed hotel room. “If you loved him, why didn’t you go with him?”
“He didn’t ask.” There had been moments where she had wanted him to, but Jill had spent her whole life working toward being a marshal just like her dad, and Dominic had known that. He’d known about her dreams. Except she’d ended up giving up her dreams for him anyway.
Hamish’s eyes drifted closed. “I would have asked.” His soft snore filled the room. She was going to have to wake him up periodically. Just because they didn’t go to the hospital, she was still going to follow concussion protocol and check him every few hours.
His simple exhale caused a pang in her chest.
He brought up a good point. Dom hadn’t even asked. And she hadn’t pushed him. She could have made the request but growing up her father’s love had been conditional. And his exacting standards had been hard to maintain. But she’d tried. The truth was she’d sacrificed her career for love yes, but also for freedom. Because now she was her own boss.
And she fucking loved it.
Most of the time.
“Don’t fall asleep yet. It’s time for your concussion check.”
He exhaled softly and she poked him. “Hamish, I need to confirm you are up to snuff.” She stroked her palms over his muscled chest. The sheet covering his lower half tented.
He raised his arms over his head and stretched. “I’m up to something.”
“Smart ass.”
“Does that count as passing?”
“How are you feeling?”
“I think I’m feeling faint.” His grin widened. “All my blood has vacated my brain.”
She persisted, even though she was pretty sure he was fine. “Who’s the vice president?”
“Do we have to do this?” he groaned.
“Yes.” She tapped him on his bare chest. “Vice President?”
“I haven’t the foggiest, love,” he grinned at her, eyes twinkling. “But the Queen is still the Queen. Perhaps you can help me with my…problem.”
“Fine.” She pressed him onto his back and straddled his hips. “Lie back and think of England.”
Chapter 14
Getting the information from the pharmacy was a challenge.
The process took time they didn’t have. All three women were relatively the same age and Brianna could pass for any of them.
They ruled out one because of her location, a larger home on the ocean that she had lived in for ten years.
The final two women were the same age, Brigid Pilsen and Annabella Streeter.
Hamish’s heart quickened. “It’s Brigid.”
“What makes you say that?”
“That was her grandmother’s name.”
“Okay, we’ll check that one out first.”
They staked out Brigid Pilsen’s address. It was a typical New England house chopped up with a separate entrance to add an in-law apartment or a small rental unit for additional income. Besides the front door with the peeling red paint, there was another entrance on the back side that fed into an alley. After watching for about an hour, Brianna made an appearance.
“We’ve got her.” The woman who had hurt his brother was finally in his grasp.
She tromped down the set of half stairs in tennis shoes, a pair of tight cropped jeans, and an even tighter T-shirt with the name of the bar emblazoned across her ample chest. That explained why the owner and his goons had gone after them. She must work there. She dumped a bag of trash in the can and then headed back inside.
“This is
it.”
“I have a confession.” Hamish took a deep breath. She was going to be pissed. And he couldn’t blame her. “I don’t have extradition papers.”
Jillian whipped her head around.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” she whispered back. “Can you get your boss on the phone and get some quick?”
Hamish shook his head. “This isn’t actually a sanctioned visit.”
“What did you think you were going to do once we found her?”
“I wasn’t really counting on finding her. But it was my last hope.” Hamish just looked at her. “And that maybe she would confess to stealing the money, and then she would have violated her agreement with the government.”
She hesitated.
Hamish’s stomach flipped. “Can we hold her until we can find the money or get her to confess?”
“We’ll take her back to the hotel,” Jill caved. “We’ll go from there.”
“Thank you.” He shifted in the front seat of the car and clasped her face in his hands. He pressed a soft, reverent kiss to her lips.
“Don’t thank me yet.” Jillian pulled away from his kiss, clearly uncomfortable with the thanks. “Is she dangerous?”
“Physically? I don’t believe so.” Hamish knew Brianna. “She doesn’t touch guns. But she could have a knife.”
“How do you want to handle this?” Jill reached behind the seat and pulled out a small pistol.
“Where did that come from?” It was the first Hamish had seen of it.
“We are apprehending a criminal. What else would I bring?” She efficiently checked the weapon and pulled the slide in preparation for using it. Then she tucked the weapon into a small holster clipped at her waist on her right hip.
“Roger that.” Hamish hesitated. “We’ve got to play this so that she believes she can turn you.”
Jillian nodded.
“How good at improvising are you?”
“I’ll make it work.”
“Just…go along with whatever I say.” Hamish squeezed her bicep. “Don’t believe any of it.”
“Okay.” She blinked.
“We could wait until she leaves for work.” But it was midmorning. Her workday might not start for hours, and in the meantime the owner of the bar could warn her.
