Secrets and Satin: A MacKenzie Novel (Romantic Suspense) (MacKenzie Family) (17 page)

She didn’t ev
en feel his presence until the cool breeze wafted across her skin as the shower door opened. It had always amazed her how quiet he could be for a man of his size. He moved with lethal and predatory grace, and he knew how to get the job done efficiently. When his hands came around and cupped her breasts and his hard cock probed between the crease of her rear, she knew it to be truer than ever.

“If my lover catches you in here
, he’ll kill you,” she whispered.

She felt him pause just before his hands tightened on her breasts.
“He’ll never know I was here. I’ll be in and out before he gets back.”

Jade’s hands pressed against the cold tile of the shower as he pushed his way inside of her. There was no foreplay, no preparation, and the fit was snug and uneasy
, the penetration almost painful. The muscles of his thighs strained against her, and she went up on her toes and started to push back.

“Mmm, that’s it, baby. I can feel you starting to cream for me.
” He pinched her nipples, bringing them to a standing peak, and she could feel the tug and pull in her clit. “This is going to be fast and hard. You’d better hang on for the ride.”

“All I’ve heard so far is a lot of dirty talk and no follow through—” She gasped as he thrust deep and hard, the snug tissues of her vagina grasping at him as she tried to adjust.
He was right. All she could do was hold on for the ride.

Her hands slid down the tile until she was grasping the small
built-in bench, and Max’s grasp on her hips only grew tighter as he pounded harder and harder. She felt like a rag doll as he controlled her body, and she felt him grow impossibly large inside of her. Her hand slipped down between the wet folds of her pussy and she found the tight knot of nerves there, swollen and ready to explode. Every time he pushed inside her fingers glanced over where their bodies joined.

“Come on, baby. Come for me. Play with that sweet pussy.”

She flicked her fingers expertly and felt the spasms deep inside as she felt the first spurt of come shoot from his cock. It had been a hard and fast ride, just like he’d promised.

“Wow,” she panted
a few minutes later. “I’m lucky I didn’t drown. I don’t think my legs work anymore.”

He laughed and pulled out of her and they both groaned at the sensation. “Tell your lover he’ll be hard pressed to beat that.
Though I’m not sure my heart could take another round.”

He helped her stand and then grabbed the washrag folded on the little shelf in the corner. “Why don’t we grab some dinner and have some fun before Vassin calls? We’ve still got a couple of hours to kill.”

He lathered the rag and scrubbed her from head to toe before repeating the process with himself. Jade was still trying to catch her breath, whereas he seemed to be full of energy all of a sudden.

“I could probably eat,” she said.

They dried off quickly and she walked naked into the bedroom where her clothes and underwear were. She still wasn’t used to the clothes that had been selected for the trip, and she stood staring into the closet, wondering what the hell she should wear and why the dresses couldn’t leave any room for her weapons.

“Wear the red one,” Max said, toweling his hair.

Jade rolled her eyes and then pulled the red strapless dress from the hangar. It had enough elastic in it so she wouldn’t have to pull it up every five seconds, but there wasn’t a lot of room for error if she bent or sat the wrong way. And no way in hell would she be able to wear a bra.

She grabbed a red lacy thong from the drawer and stepped into
it, shimmying it up her legs with quick efficiency, and she was just about to pull the dress on in the same manner when she caught Max’s stare. Her eyes widened and she had to stifle a laugh at his quick recovery. His dick was already hard again.

“Geez, Max. I thought you said your heart wouldn’t be able to stand another round.”

“Apparently my body thinks it’d be worthwhile to die trying. Christ, you’re beautiful. You take my breath away.”

She
shook her head and went back to dressing, never comfortable with the compliments he seemed to be able to give so freely. “With that kind of talk I’m going to let you buy me a steak dinner.” Her hair was mostly dry and she combed it down with her fingers so it wasn’t sticking up every which way, and she slipped on a pair of flat gold sandals.

It wasn’t often she just got to sit and watch Max, but she took advantage of
the opportunity while he finished dressing. He’d changed so much since his injury. The suave and debonair playboy was still there somewhere. You could see it in the way he easily pulled on the expensive slacks and shirt, the way his demeanor became almost haughty with the change of his clothes. But there was a roughness to him now—a wildness that wasn’t easily contained—and she wondered if he’d have been the same kind of lover two years ago as he was now.

“Max,” she said, waiting until he finished slipping on his shoes. “I want you to know that whatever happens I don’t regret anything.” She saw his lips tighten and knew she wasn’t getting the words out right. “I just mean that I’m glad it was you. And that you wanted me.”

He came up to where she was sitting and held out his hand, waiting for her to take it, and he pulled her to her feet. “I want you like I want to breathe. Never doubt that for a second.”

For as long as it last
ed, she thought to herself.

It always amazed her how easily she and Max fell into a rhythm outside of work. They knew each other better than most spouses did—quirks and likes and dislikes—because you had to know the person who was guarding your back, and you had to trust that they were doing it right.

Dinner w
as a relaxed affair, and Max delivered on the steak—medium and juicy for both of them. They talked about books, because that was one of the biggest things they had in common. It was a love she hadn’t been able to share with Donovan because he’d pick a movie any day over a book.

They also talked about their childhoods and how similar Max’s was to her own—the disinterest and lack of love his grandparents showed—even though he’d grown up in a house with everything at his fingertips. It just went to show that you could be neglected inside the home as much as outside, and from what she could tell, he had no desire to try and mend the rift between them. He’d told her some people just weren’t capable of love, and then he’d changed the subject.

Jade could admit she was grateful he didn’t
try to talk about their future again, or bring up their fight from the day before. He hadn’t questioned her again or tried to convince her that he loved her, and she wondered if maybe he regretted the words now, because he was acting like they’d never been said to begin with. She told herself that was a good thing. That the sooner he moved on, the better it would be for both of them, because it was getting harder and harder to convince herself they shouldn’t be together—that she shouldn’t come clean and take her chances.

Max wasn’t a man who would go long without a woman. He was too—sexual. Even now
, sitting in a public restaurant and obviously with his current lover, he drew the attention of other women like moths to a flame. They gave him long looks and flirtatious smiles, but he acted as if there was no other woman in the room but her. She still didn’t understand why he wanted her, but it was very easy for her to understand his appeal, because even now she wanted to lure him back to the room and have her way with him. He was turning her into a sex maniac. She smiled at the thought.

“Do you think he’ll call?” she asked after the dessert dishes had been cleared
. It was five minutes until the first delivery was supposed to be made.

“He’ll call. He’s tryin
g to gain the upper hand again by manipulating my instructions.”

They stood and left the restaurant, passing by the expensive shops and the tunnel where an aquarium of sea life swam overhead. The hotel
was loud and boisterous, richly gaudy with bright colors and hanging crystal chandeliers. Everyone moved at a frantic pace, as if they’d never get to experience all the delights one hotel could offer them.

Max’s hand was a warm comfort on her back as they headed into the casino. The carpets and walls were rich and red, trimmed with gold and the flashing lights of the machines. The clanging of bells, the rush of voices, and the sound of coins hitting metal made her head throb with the need for quiet. She definitely wasn’t a Vegas kind of girl.
She liked the quiet, the solitude of her life. Her circle of friends wasn’t large, mostly those that worked at the agency, because no one outside understood what it was like to take a life to save countless others. But she was okay with the path she’d chosen because she knew it was a job that had to be done for everyone’s sake. And she was good at it.

She caught sight of Brant dressed in cargo shorts and a T-shirt sitting at one of the machines nearby, a bottle of beer at his side as he fed coins into the slot.
Max led her over to one of the high stakes blackjack tables and put down enough cash to have paid all of her bills for an entire year. They were the only ones at the table besides the dealer, and she caught sight of Declan at one of the poker tables on the opposite side of the room with a big stack of chips in front of him. He was dressed in a tuxedo with the top button unbuttoned and his tie draped around the collar like he’d been on an all night bender.

She didn’t see Cade but she knew he was around somewhere. He and Declan looked so much alike they couldn’t stand too close together without drawing attention to themselves. God hadn’t made men like that to go unnoticed.

At one minute until the deadline, Max’s phone vibrated against the green felt of the table. He placed his bet and asked for a hit before he picked it up.

“You’re late,” he said into the phone. “You’ve got one minute to
find me in the casino. Otherwise I’m on the next plane out of here to go meet Jarron Sikes.”

He hung up the phone without waiting for a reply and finished his hand of cards. Jade watched the second hand click on Max’s watch as the minute passed, and then another, and then twenty more. He handed her a stack of chips so she could play too, and he was relaxed beside her, making jokes as her pile grew smaller and his grew larger, but she could tell he was worried that Vassin hadn’t taken the bait.

“I’m out of chips,” she said almost an hour after Vassin had called.

“Don’t worry, you can have more of mine.” He gave her one of those slow, lazy smiles that made her heart flip in her chest, and he push
ed his chips toward the dealer to cash in. “I guess we should go find something else to occupy our time.”

S
he saw the smirk from the dealer out of the corner of her eye, and she took the hand Max offered her. Dec and Brant had moved around over the last hour, and she finally caught sight of Cade at the sports bar, watching a baseball game with seemingly rapt attention. She knew he was highly aware that they were leaving though, and she felt Dec start to circle in closer.

“Stay close,” Max whispered in her ear. “Something isn’t right.”

The problem was going to be when they reached the elevator. Because they were in the penthouse suite their entrance was restricted to regular guests, but Vassin and his men had access to the whole hotel. She caught Dec’s worried gaze and then took a step away and to the left of Max just in case he needed room to maneuver. She had her own instincts, and the only thing she knew was that she had to protect Max, no matter what the cost.

***

Max opened the door that led to the private elevator and saw the long hallway was clear. There wasn’t any sound or any sign that someone waited for them, and he and Jade moved quickly to the elevator, their footsteps silenced by the plush carpet. He swiped the keycard and the elevator doors whooshed open immediately. He looked inside and saw it was empty before they stepped inside.

Just before the doors closed a man slipped through and had a knife at Jade’s throat
before Max could move to intercept. He must have been waiting, lurking behind one of the closed doors that lined the hallway. That quickly, things were out of control, and he had no way to get to the man without harming Jade too.

Max’s blood turned to ice as he saw the man’s hands on her. Her pulse beat rapidly just above where the knife was held, but she was completely still, completely calm.
The air felt as if it had been sucked out of the elevator, and Max and the man stared at each other, taking each other’s measure.

“You’ve made a very dangerous enemy, Mr. Devlin,”
the man said. He was the same height as Jade and he used her body effectively to protect his own. His dark hair was shaved close to the scalp and his beard was the same length. Brown, soulless eyes stared at him, and Max knew he’d slice Jade’s throat in a heartbeat and show no remorse if Max didn’t tread very carefully.

“I can easily say it’s mutual, Mr.—?”

“Smith.”

“Yes, very clever. You can tell Mr. Vassin that if she dies then he won’t find a corner of the world far enough away to hide in.”

The man’s eyes narrowed and he tightened his hold around her neck so the blade bit into the skin. A single drop of red welled and Max felt his whole body go still. This fucker was a dead man.