Serving Fallon

by Kaely Steel

  “How is Bree holding up?” This from Hart. I knew the men had all been close with Bree. G Force had been created out of a need and desire to do the right thing, which often included making a victim feel safe and loved and taken care of, no matter what direction that might lead. Sex was only one of many tools in the G Force arsenal. One they were good at.

  “Vincent is seeing to her relocation.” I smiled with more assurance than I felt. “She’ll be fine. I’m sure she’ll never forget any of you.”

  “When are you going to tell us about the blood we found?” Dare asked.

  I blew out a breath and started my campaign to gain their trust. “The blood belongs to one of our strongest former allies, The General.”

  They all exchanged a glance. “What was The General doing here?”

  “Obviously he was accompanied by someone from The Group. There is no other way he could have got onto the property. Dare, when you had the sample analyzed, that same person or persons wiped out the results before they even got to you. But not before I saw them.”

  “Are they the same unknown persons who took down our system?” Dare asked.

  “It looks that way.”

  “What is The General up to? Is he trying to take over The Group?” Dare said.

  “I’m afraid it’s worse than that. He wants control of G Force. In order to do that he needs to control The Group first.”

  Their questions came hard and fast.

  “Who’s helping him?”

  “What does he want with us?”

  I raised my voice in order to be heard above theirs. “You are a powerful, efficient, untraceable entity with 100% success rate on every assignment. The General has big ambitions for the future and G Force figures into those plans.”

  “I don’t like it,” Wulff said.

  “Trust me. Neither do it,” I said.

  Kiernan spoke for the first time. “We’re all about the little guy. The underdog. Balancing wrong with right.”

  “Which is why I need your absolute trust and loyalty. No one from The Group, other than Vincent, knows I’m here and I intend for it to remain that way. I need to find out who is loyal to The Group and who is on side with The General. Then, and only then, can we get back to doing what we do best. Defending those who can’t defend themselves.”

  LEDGER

  On that solemn note I returned to putting the finishing touches on our meal while the others digested what Fallon had told us. Not for one second did I believe she had told us everything. It was obvious she was doling out snippets on a need-to-know basis. Enough to keep us interested. Not enough to surrender her power, knowledge being synonymous with power.

  She cocked one hip against the kitchen island and watched me with a silence I found unnerving. It reminded me of being in prison. Always being watched. Although never by someone so beautiful.

  “Something is bothering you,” she said.

  I turned, butcher knife in hand, pleased when she took a small step back. “You’re damn rights. How do we know you’re not in bed with The General? Anyone from The Group could have shown up with a similar story, saying they need our help. How do we know who to believe? How do we know we are doing the right thing by helping you?”

  “What was your interpretation of that footage I showed you earlier?”

  “One can do amazing things with photoshop.”

  She burst out laughing. I looked out into the great room but no one was paying us any attention.

  I continued. “If we are to believe the tape is real, then somehow The General managed to commandeer help from a member or members of The Group in order to gain access to sensitive information. Information The Group prefers not fall into the wrong hands.”

  Fallon nodded approvingly. Why did I feel like I’d just got an A+ on an assignment?

  She said, “I expect to see the information up for sale soon.”

  “You don’t seem too worried.”

  “The information was a plant. It has no value. The value comes from finding out who gave The General access to those files. Who’s on his team.”

  “What are you planning?”

  “No one from The Group has met Kiernan yet. Once the information comes available I plan to send him in to purchase it.”

  “From The General.”

  “I doubt The General will handle the sale personally. He’ll use a third party. There will, of course, be other interested purchasers. One or more might be from The Group, trying to get the information back because they don’t know it’s a plant, and they are trying to solidify their false loyalty to The Group.”

  I didn’t bother to hide my skepticism. “If you ask me, that’s a pretty round-about way to make your mark.”

  “There is nothing straight-forward about anyone who is part of The Group,” Fallon said.

  I gave her a knowing look. “What does that tell us about you?”

  FALLON

  Ledger had me there. “I never pretended to be straight-forward. I do, however, believe in the greater good.”

  “Despite being a lawyer?” Ledger said, cynically.

  “I don’t blame you for not trusting anyone from the legal profession.” Before joining G Force Ledger been royally screwed over. Set up, falsely accused of espionage, and then unfairly defended by the very people behind the set up. He was sent to jail. We broke him out.

  I’d followed his case out of interest, aware how useful he could be to us. It wasn’t hard to arrange to break him out of prison, fake his death in the aftermath, and own his loyalty. “But maybe there’s something I can do to change your mind.”

  He slanted me a look. “Maybe you can be straight-forward enough to let us know who you plan to take to bed first.”

  Chapter 3

  FALLON

  If Ledger was going for shock value, he wasn’t getting it from me. “What makes you think I want to sleep with any of you?” Truth be told, I was here to win their trust and their loyalty. Getting them naked could be a useful first step to having them fall in love with me. And where there was love, there was loyalty. Or so I’d been told.

  I gave him my most seductive smile. “Actually, I was wondering if it would be more fun to go one-on-one, or one big happy-together-go-round. Any preference?”

  His answering smile tripped my racing heart, despite my efforts not to be affected. “None of us do guys. I saw enough of that in jail. Other than that, we’re always willing to share. To meet a lady’s needs and help fulfill her fantasies.”

  “I like the sound of that.” I helped myself to a chunk of the raw carrot he was peeling and sauntered back to the others. “Dare, I need your expertise down in the command center.”

  “Of course, Fallon.”

  Damn, Dare was cute. He had this boyish, eager-to-please air about him. Maybe it was the glasses. They made him appear younger than the others and I realized I didn’t know as much about him as I did the rest of the team. His file had been on the skimpy side, other than he had a brilliant mind. I found intelligence very sexy.

  Ledger called out as we headed for the stairs. “Half an hour, guys.”

  Dare gave me a serious stare from those seductive blue eyes. “Ledger gets really pissed if we’re late for a meal.”

  I gave his shoulder a squeeze, felt the warmth of his skin through the cotton fabric. He smelled good. “Let’s not get Ledger pissed. We might all starve.”

  Inside the command center I deliberately pulled my chair close against Dare’s and positioned myself so my knees and shoulder brushed his from time to time. His pupils dilated, telling me he was not immune to my presence.

  I leaned forward so my breasts brushed his arm, pleased when he didn’t move away. My nipples perked right up and I made sure he was aware of it. Next, I had him check a few sites where I thought the stolen information might be offered for sale. Nothing so far. I tamped down my impatience. I knew these things took time.

  “Do you mind if I take another look at that video you brought with you?” Dare
asked.

  I waved a hand. “Go ahead.”

  He leaned close and studied the screen intently. I did as well, resting my hand lightly on his shoulder. “What do you see?”

  “From what I’ve learned about the General, he’s very detail-oriented. Too smart to tip his hand and give away who’s working with him.”

  “How did he access those files?”

  Dare cocked me a glance. “How did you know he would? I mean, The Group, or someone in it, made certain to plant false information.”

  “Precautionary,” I said, but I doubted he heard me. He was intent on the image before him.

  “See that?”

  I looked to where Dare had frozen the enlarged image on the screen. “You’re right. Something looks off.”

  “I’m quite certain the General is wearing a lens in his right eye. Latest technology. It emits a light field that allows it to jam the retina scan so the user can gain access.”

  I sat back, impressed by his savvy. “How long has that technology been around?”

  “Brand new,” Dare said. “Fascinating breakthrough. I wish I had invented it.”

  I cocked my head to study him from a different angle. “Do you ever regret joining G Force?”

  “Hell, no. I do more good here than I ever did out in the real world. Out there, you stumble across the wrong thing the way I did, you can easy get killed.”

  He fell silent, no doubt remembering his fiancée and unborn child-both slaughtered. I gave his knee a sympathetic squeeze. My touch jolted him back to the present. He looked at me. “With G Force, there is no wrong thing.”

  “I hope you’re right about that.” I pushed my chair back and stood.

  Dare stood at the same time and caught his sleeve on his armrest before he lurched forward into me and regained his footing. I placed my hands instinctively toward him but once he straightened, I didn’t bother to remove them.

  Instead, my hands against his chest softened into a caress. The thin chambray of his blue shirt enhanced the deep blue of his eyes as he gazed down at me. I tilted my head up. Even with heeled boots on I barely grazed 5’5”. Dare had nearly a foot on me, which seemed the perfect height difference as my hands stole up to seek the warm skin bared at the open collar of his shirt. I stood on tip toe to allow my lips to follow the pathway blazed by my hands.

  “Ledger sent me to fetch you both for dinner.” I recognized Kiernan’s voice behind us but my eyes never left Dare’s as I sought and acknowledged the dark promise of more to follow.

  “We’ll be right there,” Dare said.

  KIERNAN

  I didn’t care if I interrupted something between the boss lady and Dare. When it came right down to it, hired help was what we were. Minions being controlled and manipulated and made to feel important. Effective but expendable minions.

  Before I was recruited there had been a different guy named Pierce. No one talked about him. I gather he fell hard for someone close to The Group, someone that G Force had been protecting. Shit happened. He was out and I was in.

  Ledger had told me Fallon was working on a starring role for my next assignment. I couldn’t wait to find out what was involved. And it didn’t take long.

  She cozied up to me after dinner, sitting closer than necessary on the arm of the overstuffed chair I had claimed near the fire. She was a sexy bitch, if a little cold. I wouldn’t mind taking a run at thawing her out.

  She had a thick file folder with her. I didn’t know where the others had scattered off to, but they were conspicuously absent. Fallon’s hair fell softly past her shoulders, shiny dark and straight as a brush full of black paint. When she leaned forward it swept across my cheek, stirring up feelings I thought I had shut down years ago.

  “I always trust paper over the screen,” she said as she opened the file. “How good are you with memorizing faces?”

  I slanted her a look. “I think you know the answer to that. I have a photographic memory.” My gift was both a curse and a blessing, but I didn’t mention that.

  “Good. These are the other eleven members of The Group. I want you to be able to recognize all of them in a crowd, even if they try to change their appearance.”

  “They’ll all be hanging out in a crowd?”

  “Hard to say. There may be one. There may be more than one.” She handed me the photos one at a time. She smelled faintly like roses- soft and sweet and feminine. I hadn’t smelled anything so erotic in a long time.

  “She’s a tank.” The woman in the photo had a square face and a square body.

  Fallon bit back a smile. “That’s Sezanne. Her bite is worse than her bark.”

  “I’ll make sure not to get too close.” I moved on to the next photo as Fallon kept talking.

  “Once I hear a meeting has been set with certain classified information for sale I plan to send you in as an interested purchaser. I need to know who from The Group is also in attendance.”

  “Will they be buying or selling?”

  “I don’t know. Possibly both.”

  I studied the rest of the photos one at a time, then handed them back. “You’re not giving me much to go on.”

  “You know as much as you need to.”

  I doubted that. I narrowed my eyes, waiting for more. I didn’t have long to wait.

  “I was originally against you joining G Force,” she said. “I was worried you might be a bit of a loose cannon. Funny the way things work out. Turns out you’re the perfect guy for this assignment.”

  “Haven’t you heard? I’m not the perfect guy for anything.” I tried to keep my words light, but a bitter edge backed them.

  She cupped my cheek with the palm of her hand. Her touch was cool despite the warmth of the fire. “You’re wrong about that, Kiernan. Very wrong. You and I, we were both betrayed.”

  “Does that make us stupid or unlucky?”

  “I would vote on the side of wary.” She tucked her precious photos away. “You got this?”

  I tapped my temple with my index finger. “In the vault.”

  FALLON

  You would think that, being a lawyer, I’d be good at playing the waiting game. But my affiliation with The Group meant I was used to action, to being confronted by situation after situation, situations that required an immediate response.

  The house was quiet the next day as I made my way to the pool. I needed to work off some of my percolating energy. I didn’t know what the G Force males did all day to keep busy running the ranch, but they clearly had their routine which I had no intention of disrupting until I had reason to.

  The pool room echoed hollowly as I walked to the far end and dropped my robe and towel onto a lounge. I heard the muffled hum from the pump room. The air smelled faintly of chlorine. I looked up at the glass roof where a steady spatter of raindrops added to the overall grey tones of the day.

  Once upon a time I’d been a strong swimmer but I’d fallen out of practice over the years. It was good to feel my muscle memory kick in and my breathing pattern take over as I kicked and stroked my way from end to end. The water slicked past my limbs as I propelled my way through it and let my mind drift.

  Abruptly I became aware I was no longer alone, and clearly being challenged. I found myself in a race. Never one to back down, I switched from leisurely crawl to torpedo mode, cutting through the water with barely a splash, no wasted motion or breath. Back and forth we went, my challenger and I. But he was fresh to the race and I’d already been swimming for some time. My muscles protested. In spite of my best efforts, my challenger drew into the lead and was waiting for me when I reached the deep end.

  I was breathing hard as I surfaced, where I was pulled close in a band of sinewy arms and held against smooth dark skin and lean muscle. I pushed my hair back to see my victor was none other than Kiernan. And like myself he had elected to swim ‘au naturel’.

  I ran a hand over his dark, military-buzzed hair. “You had an unfair advantage. My hair got in the way.”

  “Yo
ur hair? I thought it was these.”

  I grew warm as his hands grazed, ever so lightly, the side swell of my breasts.

  “That’s true.” I didn’t move away or remove his hands. “Do the others know you’re here?”

  “Know? They sent me. Seems it’s my initiation.

  Chapter 4

  FALLON

  I pushed his hands away. “I won’t be used as someone’s initiation. You need to win this one on your own merits.”

  “Win their acceptance? Or win you into bed?”

  “I guess that all depends what you want.”

  “No Fallon. It’s what you want. You know our mantra is to serve and protect. Haven’t you been waiting for one of us to make a move?”

  Of course I’d been waiting. Wondering which one of them would be first responder to my subtle moves. The first step in using my feminine wiles to win their lust and their trust. My ultimate goal? Own their loyalty.

  Now it turns out there was no need. All I had to do was make my wishes known.

  I wrapped my arms around Kiernan’s neck and hopped up so my legs were wrapped around his waist. “You might be first, but I play no favorites.”

  His big hands cupped my ass cheeks and held me against him. I could feel his big, black cock stir to life as my breasts cradled his chest. “It goes both ways.”

  He lowered his head and plundered my mouth with his. Open wet heat that I could drown in.

  I cupped his face, felt the hard planes of his cheekbones under my fingertips as I angled his mouth against mine, allowing us to both go deep. His kiss was hot, hard, hungry, and I responded with an aching need of my own. My breasts longed to be loved. My central core was an inferno, my clit pulsing with want. I pushed myself harder against him till the tip of his cock was nudging my wanton clit. I was reeling with desire, too impatient to do more than grind against him, seeking relief.