by Erin R Flynn
“I really liked the rainbow too,” I promised. I turned to Bain. “I was clear you lost your chance to ever touch me. Why would you think that changed? You have blown up that cover, and I’m getting death threats on social media and more because you’re now super popular.”
He winced. “It just came out. I needed to find you.” I didn’t reply, knowing how easily people dug themselves in if you let them. “I’ll help in any way I can.” He seemed to realize that was too easy. “Dinnah. No, I get a couple dinnahs with you.” He frowned and glanced behind me. “And to watch the dag massage you the way you like.”
I frowned. “Stop insulting people. I might not be fluent in Aussie, but even I knew that was a dig.”
Aidan snorted. “Wolves aren’t known for sharing, darling.”
“Hey, I didn’t so much as kiss the guy,” I defended.
“No, you let me watch Caden do everything to you and egged me into dreaming it was me,” Bain told them.
I shrugged. “I needed Kyle to steal his keycard, and I knew the douche would be a good feed. I didn’t egg you into shit. You went very willingly.”
“Yeah, and I would again.” He shrugged. “We have a deal?”
I stormed over to him and shoved at his chest. “Did you miss the part where they have abducted people and are using them as sex slaves? Probably more.”
He swallowed loudly and then sighed. “I’ll help however you need me to.”
Much better. “Fine, you can have one dinner, and if you want to sit and watch Mason worship me, I don’t care, that’s up to him, but the digs will stop or I will show you that even if you’re a wolf and MMA fighter, I can wipe the floor with you.” I felt better when he nodded at least.
“You need all six,” Mason said quietly as I sat back up on the counter.
I shot him a look to stuff it. “I can take care of myself just fine. I don’t get what you saw, but I don’t need protectors or help.”
6
“And yet you have six heavy hitters wanting you,” Aidan chuckled as he ran his fingers through his hair. His deep green eyes locked with mine. “An ancient vampire who is basically mayor of the supes in New York and a junior councilman.” He gestured to Dylan. “The now deputy director of ISLE and centuries old Alpha bear. The powerful dark elves over there.”
I flinched and saw they did as well. Aidan knew who or what they were, which was troubling.
“The eldest son of the most powerful noble warlock blood line and head elder of their council.” That was news to me, Mason’s cheeks flushing at being called out. “And now the beloved son and next in line of the insanely popular councilwoman and basically Alpha of all wolves in Australia and more, and oh, he’s just won the supe MMA title belt.”
Yeah, I didn’t know that one either.
“I’m not next,” Bain bit out, storming over to Aidan and leaning in. “I have heterochromia iridium, two different colored eyes. That’s the sign of the insane Alpha, and they never take over anything, so I am my own, thanks, mate.”
I slid off the counter while Aidan focused on Bain and moved up behind him, sweeping his legs out from under him. Aidan landed with a hard thud, blinking up at me in shock. “Stop outing people! Do you have any idea how terrifying that is? And seriously, keep your fucking mouth closed. None of those secrets were yours! You did the same with me when Dylan was sniffing around.”
He narrowed his eyes at me and quicker than I could track, he grabbed my ankle and yanked me off my feet so I landed on him. He sat up and kept me there, the slit in the dress the only way I could straddle his lap though it showed way more than my thigh now. He cupped my face gently and brushed his lips over mine.
“I’m sorry you’re angry, but I care for you. If you want them, fine, as long as they don’t try and get rid of me, but you need to know who they are to be kept safe. The warlock’s father is trying to sign mating contracts for him every time he’s located. Even I know this as he widened the search circle after he slipped his father last time. That puts a target on you if he’s by you.”
“Then discuss this privately,” I growled, pulling his hands off of me. “Not everything needs to be shared with the class.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Should I tell them you put a tracker in me when we met and basically blackmailed me into fucking and your bitch PA offered me a mistress agreement? You think they’d want me near you after hearing that?”
“I know I don’t,” Evan seethed. “You blackmailed her for sex?”
I smirked at Aidan. “See, not so fun. Maybe the answer is to not have you around if you can’t—”
We were up and off the floor before I could blink, his body molded to mine as he boxed me in against the wall. His lips were hard and demanding on mine. His tongue pushed in my mouth as he cupped my face, tangling his fingers in my hair, until his fangs came out and then he pulled back. He leaned his forehead against mine.
“You drive me insane, woman. I lose all reason, and all I want is you safe, to see you, be near you, but you jump into danger and run from me no matter what I do. I’m sorry. Kyle asked Mason if he was sleeping over again, and I saw red. You just met him, and he slept over. The wolf won’t want to share you. I will be better. Let him show me how to treat a goddess. Please?”
I shivered, wanting it and shocked they would too. “You are such trouble.” I rolled my eyes when he gave me a look that seriously said it wasn’t him. “This all started with you, remember? You upset a lot and then teaming up with Dylan and trying for everything I’ve run from.”
“I just wanted my cocoa date with you,” he murmured, totally full of shit but getting the smile he’d been aiming for from me.
“I hate to interrupt, but that owner is calling me again,” Mason said quietly. “That was also why Kyle decided to speak with Dylan.”
“Too many problems,” I grumbled, pulling away from Aidan. “Okay, put it on speaker. Let’s see what we’re dealing with.”
Mason nodded and connected the call. “Hello?”
“Where the fuck have you been?” the owner of the nightclub from the other day demanded.
“It was Thanksgiving,” Mason defended.
“Whatever, I need you here right now.”
“On another job,” I mouthed to Mason, glad when he repeated it.
“I don’t give a flying fuck what you’re doing,” he snapped. “Get here now. I need you to find a bitch for me. She’s here somewhere in LA, and I need to find her.”
Rage filled Mason’s eyes, guessing he meant me. “The job I agreed to is done. I’m not a hacker, and I don’t go tracking people down. If you need someone found, I suggest you go to the police or a private investigator. I’m neither. I do—”
“I know what you do, and I know you now do what I fucking tell you to. I’ve already hired PIs to get me what they can on the bitch. I need more than that, and you’re going to get it. All you tech guys can find phones and hack into whatever. So you’re going to come here and do it, or you won’t like what I do next, Mason. I’m not getting fucked over because you have a conscience about one bitch.”
“Contact me again and I’ll call the police,” he said calmly, his voice cold. “Or I’ll just pull everything I did off your system and post your files everywhere. Our contract was finished, and I’m not a criminal.” He ended the call, his hand shaking a bit as he adjusted his glasses. “I doubt that was the right way to handle it.”
I grabbed his arm and turned him to me, hugging him tightly. “I’m sorry this blew up your life.”
He hugged me back, nuzzling my hair. “This would have been the result even if I hadn’t met you, as you were using this glamour, goddess. I just wouldn’t have you to help me now that I need it.” His warm breath tickled my ear. “And I officially contracted with Elijah through Kyle if you guys need me, so I’m not even your subordinate, as I heard you have a no employees policy.”
“I think I was going to break it with you,” I admitted, smiling that he danced around the minefield I was t
o figure that out. “Let’s clean out your apartment before he sends goons there.”
“I’ll make sure to bring the massage table.” He chuckled when I shivered. “Anytime you want I will rub you down, my goddess.”
“Shit, don’t offer that while I still have so much work,” I practically whined. I growled and pushed away from him. “Now I’m wet. You—you’re all trouble!” I headed for the stairs but then went back to the portal, remembering I had to activate it. I set it to Mason’s closet and so it stayed open for the next ten minutes.
“Where are you going?” Dylan asked, trying to intercept me.
“To put on normal clothes.” I sighed when he hugged me from behind. “My feet hurt.”
His answer was to lift me up, chuckling when I yelped. “Are you changing so we can go meet this asshole?”
I blinked at him. “You want to go now and announce you’re my boyfriend?”
“Yes, yes I do,” he murmured, smiling widely with an evil glint in his eyes as he did. “Let’s take something off your plate so you can focus where you need to be, your friends don’t worry—”
“And you get to lock me in as your girlfriend,” I finished for him.
“Is that really so bad?” he whispered, sounding hurt.
“No, just scary. I’ve never done this before,” I reminded him.
“I know, and you ran before I could get you to agree,” he grumbled as I pointed to where we were going. “And the warlock slept over.”
“We haven’t had sex,” I defended. “No one else has slept over, I promise. I haven’t even—I partied with Kiera to blow off steam and handle some backlogged stuff I could at a beach. I wasn’t looking for sex.”
“I know, the angels told me when I called. It was how we’ve been able to not hunt you down.” He cleared his throat as he set me on my feet. “I haven’t been with anyone either.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” I admitted, shocked I was, but he deserved to know at least that. “I don’t think you should do this, not publicly.”
He shrugged. “Jasmine Stewart isn’t some big starlet, sweetie. Only certain circles even know of you and any rarely get a picture. If it was this Cara cover, I would completely agree, as I shouldn’t be that visible, but this gives you a line of protection now that the wrong people do know you’re the one up top to target. Kyle said this was all maybe a trap? Hassling employees so you came out?”
“Maybe,” I sighed, undoing the dress so I could slip it off. “We’re not sure. Maybe. It fits, but it seems pretty rash and traceable if I’m honest.”
“Maybe it’s not who you’ve pissed off but who you could put away,” he admitted. “Do you ever testify? I mean, are there any baddies who think you might testify or want you to stick your head out?”
I thought about that as I picked out another outfit to wear as Jasmine like we were just going to dinner. “The previous ISLE director? Someone in his camp wanting revenge? I’m a witness there, but no, we give the police or whoever full files and confessions. I never have to testify.”
“Yeah, he’s already been sentenced and is dead,” Dylan chuckled. “So not him. Some are in deep shit, but none know you were the hacker or any of that. They blame Elijah way more than just you, and none knew you were Jasmine too, just a spy under Elijah.”
“It’s probably better that way,” I admitted, even if I was a bit miffed I only got to be a small footnote when I was at the center of it all. I changed to my Jasmine glamour and held up a red collared dress with three quarter sleeves that would go well with my blonde hair and brown eyes. “This work?”
“I prefer you naked, but yes, I think that nice for kicking some ass,” he murmured, giving me a heated look. “I’ve missed you, sweetie.”
“How much?” I teased him, gasping when instantly I was up in his arms, wrapped around him with his jeans covered groin rubbing me intimately. “What’s the price for acting my boyfriend?”
“To be your actual boyfriend,” he murmured, his big hand cupping my ass. “You need a break or time out, fine, I get it, but no more running, Jasmine. It hurts my heart to think you might not come back.”
And it hurt my heart to hurt him. “Okay, I’ll try it, but please just—I’m terrified, Dylan.”
“I know, I know you are,” he breathed, kissing my neck. “All I want is to stand next to you, be with you. I promise it won’t be as scary as you think. We’ll have lazy Sundays and eat nummies while you work on cases and hot sex when you want it.” He cleared his throat. “And I can watch the warlock worship you.”
“I can’t believe you all want to see that,” I admitted.
“The amount of pheromones coming off of you made me need to see what the man did to you to get that sort of reaction,” he admitted. “You were about vibrating with need.”
We were getting into awkward territory. I cleared my throat, and he let me slide to my feet. “I’ve never been with someone who only wanted my pleasure.” I quickly dressed and found shoes. “He—all I saw was his desire to please me. Not once thinking he wanted to fuck me or get a blow job or—every second was about me and for hours. It was—shit, yeah, it was addictive and I want more.”
“I can tell,” he murmured. “Sorry I was selfish with you.”
I shook my head as I walked out of the closet. “You weren’t. I swear you weren’t. You were normal, Dylan, better even as you worried about me getting more, getting the best from you. Most men don’t think like that. You just wanted to have fun too. That’s expected.” I shrugged, I wasn’t sure how else to explain it. “It’s also his thing. He orgasmed from eating me out.”
“And how did you like that?” He chuckled when I shivered. Yeah, I didn’t think any woman wouldn’t enjoy a man so into their pleasure. “So do I get to see it?”
“If he’s fine with it.”
“Did you really desire what Kiera said?” he checked, his voice gentle.
“Yes. It’s not nice, but yes, I wanted all of my favorites and fantasies and she caught it.”
“Maybe for Christmas if you’re a good girl,” he teased me, grunting when I elbowed him. “Will you braid your hair like you did when you were Acadia? I want to take it down tonight.”
“Alright,” I agreed, smiling at him. “Kyle’s room is two down. Why don’t you pick a different shirt if you’re taking me out?”
“Done.” He kissed my cheek as I went to apply makeup. “I always make sure to look good when taking out my girlfriend.”
I swallowed loudly and glanced over at him, seeing he was watching me as if looking for a sign I was freaking out. I must have passed, as he gave me a wink and left. Oh good because I was flipping shits inside.
Mason set down what he was carrying when he saw me walking down the stairs. He came over to me and took my hand, kissing the inside of my wrist in a way that made me shiver before spinning me to see more. “Perfect. You are perfection.” He smiled when I did. “You’ll be careful?”
“Always.”
“Good, and I’m fine if they all watch as long as I get to dance with you in this dress when you get back.”
“I can suffer through that,” I chuckled, leaning into him, running my fingertips along his cheek. “I’m really glad you passed my tests. We needed the help, and I haven’t been able to find someone I knew could handle what I do.”
“Whatever you need, my goddess,” he murmured, his silky voice rolling over me.
“Will you work with Lewis and start digging deeper into the new security applications? Kyle’s right and we need to do better. I want to start there and then go backwards until we have it on all of them. For all we know, the guy leaking my name and ideas works security and has access.”
“Of course,” he breathed against my lips, not kissing me but driving me crazy with the heat and tension. “Tell me what you like for breakfast so I can make it for you.”
I licked my lips as I stared into his eyes. “You’re going to spoil me if I let you do that. What about what you want?”
“I want to make you breakfast,” he promised, running his nose along my cheek to my ear. “And if you sat on my lap while eating it and moaning it was good, then I’ll be a ridiculously happy and spoiled man.”
I shivered. “Fine, but I might touch you in the shower after my massage. I want to touch you too, Mason.”
“I haven’t earned such attentions from you, but I’m thrilled you want to. I’m all yours.” His arm slid around me, holding me tighter to his firm body. “What does the goddess like for breakfast? Tell me your favorite and I’ll make what I can, I promise.”
I understood what he meant. I wasn’t being demanding or spoiled but sharing. “Breakfast potatoes. I love scramblers or skillets with those, eggs, bacon, and cheese. That’s my favorite.”
“Veggies?”
“Tomatoes, onions, and mushrooms are my favorites. I love bell peppers, but I prefer them raw,” I confessed, willing to tell him just about anything in that moment.
“That’s my favorite breakfast too,” he chuckled. “Add a fruit salad and it’s heaven. I make it all the time when I splurge on groceries.”
“I love fruit salad as long as it has strawberries and blueberries.”
“Shit, you are talking about brekky and the hormones are more than people having sex,” Bain muttered, his voice deeper than normal. “I can’t fucking cook.”
“We shouldn’t be long,” I told Mason, ignoring Bain. “Kyle can reactivate the portal again.”
“I’m almost done. I don’t have much, and really all I care about is my setup.”
I smiled at him as I pulled away. “Always my first priority as well.”
Dylan was frowning as he moved closer. “What was his desires? You’re vibrating again.”
I tried to hide I was still smiling, noting the other frowns. “All he wants is to make me moan and worship me, get the chance to touch me and please me. Yeah, most women would vibrate from that if they could feel it like I do.”
“Mate, how about we have a talk?” Owen said to Mason as we headed out.
