“Do you really have no heart?”
“Yes. They took my heart and trounced it soundly five years ago. So instead of sitting here making plans to keep house with me, thank your lucky stars you got almost a week of sex camp and spy camp out of me. I tried to be nice. I told you no. But you don’t get no. So there’s the truth, lover boy. I can’t give you what I don’t have. I don’t have a future.”
“You don’t have to die. That’s…pessimistic.”
“Pessimistic?” She laughed. “The glass isn’t half full here. It’s empty. I know what I’m up against. This is the mouse taking down the giant, even with Chase’s support. So when Jake told me to live, I finally did. I used every delectable inch of you, and now I’m done.”
He fought the ache brewing. She didn’t mean it. He knew she felt something for him. “What about New York.”
“What about it?” She hesitated just a nanosecond, her hand in mid-air as she removed pins from her curls. Something in her expression changed, flitted, and he realized she had no intention of going to New York. Somehow, she was bolting, but it didn’t seem like her to run. The Charlotte he knew would run at the problem head on, in a different direction.
“You’re not going to New York with me.” His mind flew, trying to head her off at the pass, so to speak. She wasn’t dying on his watch. “You’re going to see if your cover is blown, aren’t you. You’re not going to sit here and wait.”
“Aaron—”
“Good. Let’s go, Char. I’m sick of L.A., and I don’t have anything contractual left on this film. I’ve done it. I don’t need to be on the sound stage for part two until after the first of the year. Let’s go see what the riff raff knows.”
She held her hand to her neck, her fingers splayed on her pale skin, eyes wide and horrified. “I can’t take you.”
“Sure, you can. I have training. It will be like overnight spy camp. We’ll be partners.”
She snorted and shook her head, as if to clear it. “You don’t have jack shit for training or brains.”
“I’m smarter than I am hot.”
“And your blood is still red,” she snapped. “When it bleeds out all over, Jake will kick my ass.”
“You’ll be dead, so what does it matter?”
She closed her eyes, and her expression lost the cold and hard aspect, the lines softening with sadness. “You make me regret being truthful.”
Well, he regretted her ever meeting Chase. “Why would Satan do this to you?”
“Satan?” Her eyes flew open.
“Chase.”
She rose, slowly set the handful of pins on the dresser and faced him. “It was my decision, Aaron. Not his. He just provided me a way to get what I wanted. A job, training. Access to information. Yes, they went behind my back to start this, but I fully intend to end it. My way, though. Not theirs.”
Aaron just hated the guy more. Fuck him, with his smelly shirts and endgame party plan. “You going to tell me why?”
“No. Just let me go, okay? Treat this like camp, like I suggested. We kiss, part, and you’ll think of me wistfully when you bed your next girlfriend.”
Fuck that.
He kicked off his shoes and put them in the closet. He wanted a shot or two of whiskey to numb the horror. But that’s what chicken shits did, and she was right. He’d be strung out on coke and dead in two years, not ten. That couldn’t be his crutch any longer. This sucked, and he’d face it, save himself, and find a way to save her, too. She didn’t need to die. “When do you leave?”
“What?”
He decided to play stupid. “Leave? Depart? Or do I need to ask Jake? I’m assuming they’re sending you elsewhere.”
He got the trifecta of pissed—a glare, pursed lips, and the pointed finger. “Don’t talk to Jake about any of this.”
“Oh-ho, he doesn’t know, does he?” Aaron studied her body language. Back ramrod stiff, shoulders tense, hand on her cocked hip. Nope, Jake didn’t know diddly.
“He knows.” But she wouldn’t meet his gaze as she traced the pattern of her tattoo on her wrist.
“You’re going out alone. Won’t you get in a shitload of trouble for that?”
“Yes,” she muttered, turning. “Unzip me.”
He skimmed his hands down her back. “Why won’t you take Jake?”
“Because I’ve asked them to move on this for years, and they won’t. Jake will shut me down immediately and tell Chase.”
“Okay.” He slid her zipper down, taking a moment to think. No way was she going anywhere near death alone. He had been told before he could sell ice to Eskimos. Time to see if he could. “You need back up for this. Someone who’s a great liar with acting skills. Someone who can sort of handle a gun and look tough while you take the names and kick the asses.”
She whirled around, hand holding her dress up, eyes wide. “You’re not coming.”
“Yes, I am. Take me or I’ll tell Jake.”
“You wouldn’t!”
“Hell, yes, I would.”
Her eyes couldn’t get any wider. She clenched her fist around the bodice of her dress, her teeth grinding. “So. Fucking. Dead.”
“Really? I dared you before. Here I still am.”
Something wavered in her eyes, and though she fought it, the power shifted, ever so slightly. He felt it. He had the upper hand, and the way she dropped her eyes told him there was no way she was killing him. He was going on a trip, he’d ensure she didn’t have to die, and he was going to make senseless love to her before they left. Didn’t get any better than that.
“Fucking punk.” Charlotte stared at Aaron. Someone should have beaten the shit out of him when he was a kid, before he learned how to manipulate people. He knew what buttons to push and how to get exactly what he wanted, damn him.
She studied him as he removed his shirt, button by button, revealing that hard chest she loved so much. Maybe taking him wouldn’t be so bad. It would buy her precious time. The plan Chase had devised so far was to stay overnight in D.C., then leave as a team for New York Friday afternoon.
If they left for London on an overnight flight Thursday, she’d have eight hours of lead-time before Chase burned her—froze her assets, scared her contacts, and put her aliases on a no-fly list. If she made it to England, she was home free. She had money hidden, associates to help her if she called in favors. She just had to get there.
If she took Aaron, she’d have to change her plans so he’d be safe. He could stay in the hotel, and she could give him something to do…laptop stuff. Make him feel important. She wasn’t taking him down with her.
She sighed, one big heave that left her breathless and dizzy.
“I promise I’ll behave,” he whispered, now gloriously naked. He leaned in to caress her cheek with his knuckle in that way that always gave her shivers. Gently, he removed her hand from her bodice and let her dress slide to pool at her feet so she stood only in panties and her gun. She removed the holster and set it on his dresser.
The promise that lingered in his eyes had nothing to do with behaving. It was one that dialogued directly with her lust. “You have a better chance of capturing a unicorn.”
“If you take me, I’ll let you give me blowjobs, Ma’am.”
“Aaron, no.” But she was melting, especially when his hand slipped to her breast, and he dipped his head to nuzzle her neck. “You need to let Jake guard you.”
He changed to a grumpy frown, ever the bad boy, working all of the angles. “You promised me you’d help with the Anderson contest. We’re way behind, and I want to beat those bastards.” He teased her nipples. “Don’t you want four orgasms, Ma’am?”
Yes, damn him, she did, but she couldn’t think about that, not now. Not when she was about to knock down the dominoes Chase had put in place, had asked her to wait to tumble.
Damn this man of hers. If she wanted her endgame, she’d have to take Aaron. She didn’t see a way around it. Yet.
“If I bring you, you have to listen. No matter what. I can’t take you if I can’t trust you.”
“I’ll listen. I’ll try to behave.” He frowned. “How about I agree to operate within your best interests?”
“I think I’d have a better chance surviving alone. You need to listen or else.”
He sighed. “Okay.”
She ran her hands through his hair as he bent to suck her nipples, twirling his tongue around them in that naughty way of his. “You’re sure you don’t have to go to Manhattan?”
“Don’t need to.” He relinquished sucking and looked up, almost breathless and eager, and not for sex. “You’re taking me, then?”
“I’ll regret this, but yes.”
He gave her the most breathtaking smile, one that grabbed her heart and made her very glad she said yes. “Where are we going?”
“England. I’m going to talk to a very bad man about my past.”
“Will you have to die for it?”
“Hopefully not.” But that only meant she was closer. So much closer.
“Good. Because I’ll want a blowjob for not telling Jake and another blowjob when we land for being good on the plane. We’ll negotiate the return trip in England.”
“Cheeky,” she breathed as his lips drew in her nipple again. “Is this what our adventure will be about? How many international blowjobs you’ll get?”
“Oh, no.” He blew hot air across her aching peak, sending a shiver of gooseflesh across her breast. “This will be about how many orgasms I can give you. The blowjobs will help keep me from coming so you get your four.”
“So unselfish.”
He grinned and gently pushed her to the foot of the bed so her legs hung off the side of the bed. He grabbed a pillow, set it on the hardwood floor and sank between her thighs. “You promised me I could make love to you, without a condom,” he reminded.
“That was if we were going our separate ways. If you’re coming to Europe, I would assume you’d want sex, yes?”
He caressed her inner thighs, starting at her knees. “Yes.”
“Then plan on using a condom.” So hard to think straight when he was touching her like that, those little patterns with his fingers that tickled and teased. “But I was mean earlier. I’ll let you top me.”
“Thank you, Ma’am.” He spread her legs a little wider, the grin he gave her was one that told her he knew the power had shifted and she didn’t have a say anyway. Damn him. “I’m a great traveler, Char. You wait and see. You’ll want to take me everywhere with you.”
“I bet you are,” she said on a gasp as he began his own favorite travel to the South Pole. She needed to revoke that boy’s passport. Not tonight, though.
He gave one long lick up her slit and paused, one arm on her thigh, the other playing with her slick folds. “I want to use the toys Tia sent you.”
Her fingers froze in his hair. “How do you know Tia sent me anything?”
“Because you blushed profusely when you opened the little gift bag. You’re damned cute when you blush, too.”
“I do not blush.” Not usually, but when pseudo-sisters send erotic toys, all bets were off. The gift bag from Tia and Kate had been inside the box used to ship her dresses.
“Liar. You’re blushing now.” Aaron shook a finger at her. “So I figured it had to be naughty, and surprise, surprise, it was.”
“You snooped. Again.” The word
again
was higher pitched because he shoved two fingers inside her pussy and stroked them against that spongy pad of nerves, just as she liked. Her hips bucked on their own accord. “Harder.”
He slipped his fingers free, ignoring her protests as he rose and went to his top drawer in his dresser and removed the little bag. “Scoot up the bed.”
She eyed the bag. This would be dangerous sex, sex that would just shove him closer to who she was. “Aaron, I don’t think—”
He arched a brow. “You think these were for Jake, not us?”
“No.” Especially when the note was addressed to Charlotte, telling her to do to Aaron all of the naughty things Tia and Kate wanted to do to him. “Tia and Kate meant them for us.”
“Then scoot up the bed. It’s rude not to use a gift, especially such a thoughtful one from the competition.”
“Competition?”
“They’re out for four, too.” He snapped a handcuff on her wrist. “Too tight?”
“No, but I hope she sent keys.”
“You can teach me to pick the lock, I’m sure. But yes, there are keys.” His gaze flicked down to her pale wrist encased in metal. “How do you want me to do these? I don’t know enough.”
Finally, something he didn’t research. “What do you want to do to me?”
“I want you from…behind.”
“Not on top?”
He shook his head. “No.”
Her breathing caught at the image forming in her mind. His muscular form bent over her back, his fingers biting into her hips as he rammed into her pussy. And of course, she’d be face down, ass in the air, so vulnerable and helpless… “You can handcuff my hands behind my back. I’d like that. Fuck my pussy hard and fast, punk.”
“That’s not what I want to do.” He swallowed and looked scared, excited, and on edge all at the same time. “I can’t find a romantic way to ask if you’d like to try anal sex with me.”
Her heart jumped in her chest, and she cupped his jaw in her hand. “Why are you asking for this, love?”
“I know you like it, and if you’re thinking of ditching me, maybe you’ll think twice if I go there.” His expression darkened. “But also, I want to claim all of you. Every inch. I’m scared as hell of hurting you, but I want to love you in every way possible. Anal sex is supposed to be amazing, especially if we use the vibrator in your pussy. I want to give you amazing.”
Her heart had a difficult time staying cold, hard, and mean when he said things like that. She gave him a reassuring smile. “There’s no need to be afraid. You won’t hurt me.”
He hesitated, and his jaw worked like it did when he was mulling something over. “This goes against everything I’ve been taught. I know anything I do with you can’t possibly be wrong, but…” He swallowed.
Her heart tugged harder. She used to worry about what God thought, too. “If God doesn’t like anal, then it’s good he isn’t not here to try it.”
That got him to crack a smile. “I guess.” A fresh batch of worry brought another wrinkle to his forehead. “The article said if you’re handcuffing someone they should have a safeword.”
The boy read too much. “I don’t need a safeword for anal sex and handcuffs.”
The wrinkle deepened, and his jaw worked harder. “Did you have a safeword before?”