Cuckoo (Kindred Book 3) (20 page)

“Sutcliffe lost his arsenal,” Zara said. “Grant tried to take over, and you took him out before he could get in your way.”

“I’d think you’d be grateful for that,” Ben said. “He was going to kill your friend.”

Brodie was more than her friend, but she didn’t need to remind them of that. “You spared us because you wanted to use us. If you couldn’t find Game Time on the compound, you planned to get it from us. How could you kill a man for that?”

“I care about you, Zara. You were upset, I thought I was doing you a favor,” Ben said. “Your boss man would’ve been a much bigger problem for all of us if we’d let him take control out there.”

“That’s why you killed him? He’d served his purpose and was going to get in your way?” she asked. “I thought you were a good guy. I thought—”

“Everybody thinks they’re the good guy,” Ben said. “My motivation is money, power. Kahlil’s is revenge. What’s yours?”

Her motivation was to do what was right. Game Time was under Kindred control, so if it got out there, it would be on them. Zara didn’t like these two men being affiliated, between them they had quite a conniving mind. Brodie had his answer on who Leatt was working with, Rigor could rest easy because Sutcliffe’s compound was old news to every other party.

“We’ll let you talk to your people. We’ll come to a mutual agreement about the terms of the exchange,” he said, and she was still thinking about how Brodie and the others would react to this when Ben took her hand, forcing her to look at him. “I hope this will make you feel better, knowing that I’m involved. I would never hurt you. You and your friends aren’t our target. The time we shared, Zara, that was real to me.”

Real that they got along or real that he developed feelings for her? Brodie had already said that Ben might have. If this was Grant or another man who might be declaring their intentions towards her, she’d put them in their place without blinking. But this man was a potential client and one she might have to work, depending on Brodie’s orders.

“I was hurt and confused,” she said. “When I thought you were with Grant and were going to hurt us.”

Ben smiled. “You don’t have to worry about that.” He took her hand to his lips. “No dog will come near you.”

That would be reassuring, if she didn’t suspect that she was being played all over again. This game was complicated, and she needed more practice. Kahlil got up first but was closely followed by Ben. The men made stilted goodbyes and left her alone with her coffee. She hung around in Purdy’s for an extra few minutes just to make sure Ben and Kahlil were long gone and that Julian was back at work.

She didn’t need any more meetings today. The one conversation she was interested in having had nothing to do with Game Time, which was in itself refreshing.

Ben being back, with Kahlil, was shocking. But at least they didn’t have to worry about Ben sneaking up behind them when they weren’t looking. Brodie would have more answers, and she was eager to find out what he and Tuck had witnessed.

But it was her conversation with Cuckoo that she was determined to address with her love. Kindred business should always take precedence over their personal matters. But Cuckoo wanted Game Time, maybe because Caine had told her about it or just because she wanted to play with the toy that everyone else wanted.

Zara had to know if Brodie knew about Caine’s motivation and how it might change their approach to the guy. She had to get to base, to seek out her love and to give him a truth they’d all missed.

She went to the manor security hub before going anywhere else. There she checked her messages and was pleased to see that she had one from Thad, until she read that there was no antidote. A list of questions followed this statement, asking why they needed such a thing and if he should be worried. The Kindred were in the midst of a mission, they should all be worried.

An email from Julian explained that he’d meet with the accountant later in the afternoon and should have answers for her by this evening. Progress, it made her feel good. The last message was from Bess, who apologized for taking Zave away from the mission, stating he had urgent business that had just come up. That guy was a puzzle.

Because she was in the basement anyway, she checked the gym, the shooting range, and their weapons room. Brodie wasn’t in any of them. She checked the kitchen, but he wasn’t there either. Running up the stairs to their bedroom, she was confident that if he wasn’t here, he would be at the hotel staking out Kahlil or maybe still on his tail. If either of these were the case, she would want to get changed and pack some supplies before heading over to spend another night on the stakeout.

Pressing her fingerprint into the circular security panel on their doorknob, she smiled when it flashed to grant her entry. She still got a kick that her print worked on his bedroom door. The first time she’d come up here, she hadn’t dreamed that one day she’d be this ensconced in the life of her mysterious bedroom intruder.

Closing the door, she exhaled all her worries when she saw his familiar form sprawled in the middle of their bed. She wasn’t just established in his life, she was entrenched in his trust too. Being this exposed, alone in bed, asleep, gave her the opportunity to hurt or take advantage of him if she wanted to. But he trusted her enough that he could be this unprotected without any worry she’d hurt him.

This was the same man who kept his jeans on anytime he wasn’t at home, just in case someone attacked while he was vulnerable. After hearing Cuckoo’s story of them being caught in the act by Caine, Zara guessed that was where Brodie’s compulsion to remain semi-dressed if they were having sex off-base began. If he’d been wary before that happened, then having a guy come at him with a knife while he was naked and getting busy would increase his paranoia level to eleven.

Tuck had slept last night and wasn’t around in the manor. He was probably at their stakeout location, or he was the one still tailing Kahlil. This was Brodie’s time to rest because he’d no doubt be on the nightshift again.

She should let Brodie sleep because the more rest he had, the quicker his reflexes would be. So she considered calling Tuck to discuss the developments with him. But cutting Brodie out just because he was unconscious was too reminiscent of how they’d coddled him during his grief period.

Sliding her shoes from her feet, Zara stripped off all of her clothes and crept over to the bed. Picking up the blanket, she slid beneath it. She wasn’t exhausted but if she got a nap and synced her pattern with his, then she could keep him company tonight if they were watching Kahlil again, though whether they were or not would depend on what information Brodie and Tuck had discovered that morning.

Insinuating her flat hand between his chest and the bedcovers, she stroked down Brodie’s solid body from his collarbone to the head of his dick. Since her hand was there anyway, she curled her fingers around his cock and he grumbled. His eyes didn’t open and she wasn’t here to wake him up, she was here to sleep, so she let him go.

Brushing her hand down him again, she stroked his thickening dick and kept on going until it was at full salute. Kissing his pec, she rubbed her cheek on the solid muscle beneath and barely contained her enthusiasm. He was unconscious, and his body was reacting to her insistence. It seemed a waste to ignore her effort, so she carefully peeled back the covers and pushed them down to his shins.

He was a magnificent man, all those hours in the gym kept him in shape for anything the job might require. His form was like art. Even marred by the odd scar and his tattoos, she thought he was perfect. Clutching her handiwork, she crawled down the bed and kissed the head of his dick. Opening her lips, she licked and sucked, working his balls in her other hand with a gentle caress. Forcing herself to take him deeper, she hummed and shifted angle to let her nipples graze his thigh as she bobbed her upper body in time with her suck and withdraw.

Blinking her eyes up, she was surprised to see his were open to slits, observing her work. Smiling around her toy, she pushed one hand up his torso to stop on his abdomen. “What are you doing?” he grumbled.

Pulling back enough that his head stayed just between her lips, she held him there with her free hand and swirled her tongue around him. “I would’ve thought that was obvious,” she mumbled with her mouth still full.

“Come here,” he said, opening his arm.

Taking him out of her mouth, she kept him clamped in her fist while she slid her body up on top of his. Working her hand around him, she felt the increased beat of his heart through her ribs until he got his hands between them to fondle her breasts, which separated them a little.

His rough hands were assured in their possession, he squeezed the sensitive flesh, and caressed her nipples with his broad thumbs. In time with her first whimper, he bent a knee, drawing it up between her thighs to her damp core. “You always get distracted when I’m naked,” he said. Snatching a handful of her hair at the back of her skull, he pulled her body away from his and rolled her onto her back.

With his fist still locked in her hair, he forced his mouth onto hers. Just a few seconds ago, he’d been sleeping, and now he was alert and firing her to be ready for anything. Tugging one nipple, he stroked her abdomen and over her clit to press his digits into her opening.

“You gonna wake me up this way every day, plaything?” he asked, sucking on her lip and neck, near to the spot he’d already branded as his. “Get that hot, hungry mouth wrapped around my cock to suck me awake?”

If that was what he wanted, then that was what he would get. Grabbing her inner thigh, he pressed it to the bed and let go of her hair to grab his dick. Watching their joining, he forced himself into her, pushing in and sliding back until she’d expanded to fit around him. The wicked twist of his smile flashed to her, and she crunched up to drive her nails into the pec she’d been kissing minutes before.

Brodie grabbed her by the throat and thrust her down, pinning her there while he fucked her body with the cock she’d worshipped awake.

“Beau—” His other hand landed on her mouth, and she couldn’t speak a word, all of her concentration went to breathing through her nose because his weight was concentrated on two vital parts of her body.

“I love fucking this body. I love playing with it, watching how you heat up the faster I go. You love taking my cock. You couldn’t keep your damned dirty hands off. Soon as you get close to my dick, you can’t keep your mouth closed or your legs shut. You let me fuck you any way I want to.”

Whimpering behind his silencing hand, she wriggled and bucked. He was so hard and long inside her and was moving so fast that her insides were burning in carnal friction. Her body clenched, orgasm tore through her, and took over her senses with concentrated pleasure. She couldn’t relax, just clenched again at the second spasm that impeded his speed.

“Relax,” he demanded, wearing a frown. “Relax that pussy. Take my cock like a good little plaything.” But she was struggling to control her own body. The weight of orgasm was forcing her body to close around his. “Feels like I’m ripping you in two, it’s so damn tight in here.” He grit his teeth and when he lifted his head, it felt like he grew, enlarging the passage he was fucking. One whispered curse became a hiss, then he fired into her all the spunk he cooked up just for her.

Letting her go, he flopped to his back beside her and exhaled. “You took that one hard, baby,” he said, resting an arm over her abdomen so his hand came to rest over her core.

Taking his fingers from between her thighs, she squeezed them together and purred in the shocks of pleasure still thrumming through her. Bending his elbow, she brought his hand to her mouth. “Sex with you is incredible,” she panted. “You turn me on so much.” Her whole body was still hot, trembling, and conscious of every touch of his flesh and the fabric of the bed she lay on.

Rolling over, she thought nothing of lying on top of him, and she closed her eyes. “I’m obsessed with your pussy, my dick can’t get enough.”

“You’ll sleep better now,” she said, because she could already feel the change in his breathing. “Can I sleep with you?”

“That’s a crazy question, this is your bed and I’m your guy, where else would you sleep?”

She laughed and twisted onto her front so her breasts were squashed into him and her lips were on his sternum. “I meant, did you need me to do anything? It’s the middle of the day. You’re my chief, too, so if there are any orders…?”

“Orders,” he said, bending enough to grab her ass so he could shunt her higher. He licked her lip, and she opened for the invasion of his tongue. Parting her legs over his hips, she squirmed against his pelvis. “How about you tie yourself to this here bed so you’re always available when my dick needs a distraction?”

The implication that he might have wanted her here when he first got into bed was an ego boost. “After this mission, I might just do that.”

“After this mission, I’m taking you somewhere hot and relaxing.”

“You wouldn’t be happy just lounging around on a beach all day. We could go sightseeing in cities or hiking somewhere if you like.”

“Hiking?” he asked. “You’re into that?”

His definition of hiking and hers were probably two different things. “I have endurance, so as long as we start off with something easy, I should be OK. No Everest on my first day.”

“OK,” he said, gathering up her hair to hold it in a bunch at the back of her neck.

Considering the possibilities for where they could go and what they might get up to on this global trip they’d discussed before, she realized it wouldn’t always feature five-star living. “I’ve never been camping, but I should be fine with it. It’s just sleeping outside, isn’t it? You’re not going to make me eat a snake or anything?”

“Only the one you can’t chew,” he said, elevating his hips to grind his dick on her. She laughed and stroked his face. “You’ve never been camping? I have a lot of work to do with you.”

To get her up to speed with his life experiences would take decades, but she wouldn’t shy from the challenge. “Art taught you well.”

“He did,” Brodie said and kissed her again.

This time was supposed to be for sleeping, for recuperating for what would come next. She had his attention and given that they were alone, she decided to take the opportunity. “What would you do if you walked in and saw another guy having sex with me?”

Tightening his hold on her hair, he drew them apart enough that he could frown at her. The question was unexpected, but that didn’t stop him from answering it. “I’d cut off his dick and make him eat it. I’d cut off his hands and skin him alive while he was screaming his apologies, then I’d slit his throat to shut the bastard up. Why do you ask?”

His matter of fact words were concise, like he’d given this some thought, or it was something he’d done before. She mustered one word. “Wow.”

“If you were getting fucked by another guy it would be rape, and any man who dares hurt my pretty baby doesn’t get a quick, easy out.”

Such graphic words, yet her heart sang and she had to kiss him again. He was right, of course, that she would never screw around on him. Brodie would be the last man to have the pleasure of her body. The question had been a reference to what Cuckoo had told her about Caine, and she’d thought it was a way to ease him into finding out that she knew about his past.

“I love you so much,” she said and dug her teeth into his jaw as she scratched her nails into him.

“I’d never let anyone hurt you. You don’t have to be afraid of being hurt by—”

“That’s not why I brought it up.”

“So why did you bring it up? Did someone proposition you? Was it that fucking lawyer from CI? He’s been slobbering to get into your panties for months. I’ll give him the scare of his life, we’ll get Tuck to hack his address and I’ll—”

“No. I have to tell you something,” she said, running her hands up over his jaw to tempt his eyes to hers. “And I think it’s going to shock the shit out of you… I’m not quite sure how to say it.”

“Just say it,” he said, and the stiff suspicion in his eyes made her wonder if he suspected her of infidelity, and that was something she wanted to dispel quickly.

“It’s about Caine.”

“Fuck! Did that bastard touch you?” Thrusting her body away from his, he leapt out of bed before she got her hair out of her eyes. “I promise, baby. I’ll make the fucker suffer, I should’ve—”

Leaping to her knees, she clambered over the bed and caught his shoulders before he could walk away from her. “He’s not obsessed with you,” she said, searching the confusion in Brodie’s features. “It’s not him who’s been stalking you. I mean it is, but…”

His scrunched expression betrayed that he wasn’t following her, and she didn’t blame him. “You’re not making any sense.”

“It’s Cuckoo, Corvi, Mischa, whatever you want to call her. She’s the one… she’s been directing him, since the beginning it’s been her.” He still didn’t seem to get it. “She told me, today in Grant’s office. She told me how she used Caine to get to you and about how he got his scar after he found you and her in bed together. She told me that after you dumped her and took off with Art, she went to Caine. She makes him report your every move to her. She told him to come to me in Purdy’s. She told him to call Grant to insinuate himself into our lives. She’s the one who made him bring me to Sutcliffe’s compound, everything he’s done… he did it for her.”