Fixing Justice (4 page)

Tori was tongue-tied and frozen in place the moment that icy blue stare locked on her presence.
Good grief!
The man rose from the swing and stalked into the darkness was even more gorgeous up close than she imagined. He should definitely be declared illegal, because nobody so devastatingly handsome could possibly be good for her health.

He wasn’t huge in that steroid-crazed way so many men had these days, but he had a menacing air about him that did more than hint at his domineering nature. The tuxedo told her he was the missing Justice Brother who had flown in at the last moment for Cameron and Lacey’s nuptials. So, this was the infamous Draegyn St. John. Didn’t take but a second for her to understand why everyone joked that he was the agency’s equivalent to James Bond’s 007.

The man was exactly what you’d expect.
God
, she nearly laughed out loud at the notion that he was probably in his natural state, dressed in a designer tuxedo, sipping extremely expensive champagne. Tori had a hard time working up a vision of him in jeans and a t-shirt.

Unlike Cam who was built like a movie star superhero or big, burly Alex, the fair-haired god invading her body space was lean and graceful with an underlying air of menace that tingled along Tori’s nerve-endings. Immaculately groomed hair the color of wheat framed a face showing the lines and crinkles of a very adult male. Besides the piercing blue-iced eyes, she saw a nose that had probably been broken once or twice and a short jagged scar barely visible between blond brows. With cheekbones that any male model worth his salt would die for, and a light smattering of pale body hair showing at the opening of his shirt, it was his mouth that had Tori’s eyebrows reaching for her hairline. She’d never seen a mouth quite so uncompromising or blatantly sensual as his. He was just so damn perfect. Everything about him seemed hard and unyielding. Even before he’d spoken, she knew he’d be an arrogant devil.

Clearing her throat, hoping it would help get her wayward thoughts under heel, she tried to answer his question but found she forgot what he’d asked. Hot damn, the man actually scrambled her brain! She thought such things were the stuff of overactive imaginations. Apparently, she had a living, breathing fantasy right in front of her. Fan-fucking-tastic! Just what she didn’t need.

“Um, hi, Mister St. John. I’m, uh - Alex’s assistant?”
Ah, fuck my life
, she thought as her eyes momentarily squeezed shut at how absurdly lame she sounded.

Smirking, the blond Adonis asked, “Is that an answer or a question?”

Godammit
. “Oh, um….sorry. Guess you took me by surprise. I hadn’t expected anyone else to be out here.” Extending her hand politely she tried for something sounding a bit less dumb. “Mister St. John,
hello
. My name is Victoria Bennett. We haven’t been formally introduced yet, but I am Alex’s new assistant. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

He took hold of the hand she offered and held fast, making her heart skip a beat and then speed up at an alarmingly quickened pace.
Wow
. This guy was good. One touch and she was almost drooling. She knew all about his sexual history. The women in the Villa were quick to point out his man-whore reputation. Apparently there wasn’t a supermodel or actress he hadn’t bedded. Her initial impression that he wasn’t going to be good for her health lit up inside her head like a warning beacon.

His voice had a distinctive, upper class drawl that rumbled up from his chest, adding to the raw, masculine appeal he had in spades. “Ah,
Victoria
.” The way he pronounced her formal name almost put her silly ass in a swoon. “Please call me Draegyn. I’ll have none of that Mister St. John nonsense. I’d heard Alex found a lifesaver to keep him in line and stop all of us from wanting to murder him in his sleep. Despite the lack of a formal introduction, I am pleased to make your acquaintance.”

Shit.
He was still holding her hand. It felt a little like he was taking her temperature through his touch. She doubted her reaction to his oozing sex appeal was going unnoticed.

“Yes, well, uh, if you’ll excuse me,” she blathered while trying to extricate her trembling hand from his powerful grip. “I have a few loose ends to take care of. Nice meeting you, Mister…..um, I mean Draegyn.”
Oh my God
, she was an idiot! Could this possibly get any worse?

With the precision and speed of a frightened mouse, which was just how she felt, Tori scurried away from the temptation that was Draegyn St. John and made a beeline for the safety of her apartment. He stayed put in the shadows as she ran away, but she felt his eyes on her the whole way. Just before she turned the corner, a quick glance over her shoulder revealed his startling blue-iced gaze following her every move.
Oh my, my.

Well, that had certainly been interesting,
Drae thought as he watched the intriguing female with the God-awful dress sense bolt for safety. Searching his champagne-fuzzed brain, he recalled Alex telling him about the lucky find he’d stumbled on in his search for a right-hand, but not much else. Truth was, he hadn’t given a fuck about the details at the time. All he cared about was that things would return to normal now that their tech-guru had gotten some help. Alex might be brilliant, even scarily so, but without someone to keep him focused and on task, he had an easy time making a mess of things.
All of it intentional
, he admitted with a small grin.

Jamming his hands into the pockets of his pants, Drae wandered to the front of the Villa where he’d left one of the many expensive and indulgent cars at his disposal. It was well past time for him to face plant in his own bed, which was a quick, five-minute ride further into the compound. There were still a couple of vehicles scattered around the wide circular driveway, left by anyone too drunk to drive safely or from those staying over.

Folding his lean, muscular frame into the low, super charged beast that rumbled to life at the push of a button, Drae eased the red sports car onto the lane that wound behind the hacienda, past Cameron and Lacey’s homey log cabin, and down onto a low-lying stretch of flatland where his house sat.

Each of their homes was unique. Alex, of course, lived in the main house. An enormous, sprawling Spanish hacienda that matched old-world elegance with modern style. From the wow factor standpoint, the Villa took the prize with its multiple courtyards, breathtaking interiors, and attention to classic Spanish architecture.

Cameron’s impressive log homestead actually made light of the term
cabin
. Drae had been involved in the design and layout of Cam’s home base. If it came from a tree and was carved or cut, Drae was the man to go to. The woodworking hobby he’d begun as a boy had developed over time into an all-consuming passion.

His own home was quite different. Unlike Cam’s rustic log structure, he’d designed his home to be a statement in modern practicality with almost five thousand square feet of contemporary craftsmanship featuring a heavy-timbered soaring roof structure, and an open interior with stairways and a second floor overhang that resembled a wood bridge.

He enjoyed pulling into the stone drive and seeing the massive two-story home with its unusual angles and corners punctuated with enormous windows and clever glass walls that captured the beautiful vistas and the changing light throughout the desert day. Sometimes, it was good to be him.

Tomorrow would be here soon enough
, he thought after closing the door behind him and taking a deep breath to clear some of the champagne buzz. For now, he needed to indulge in his high-tech wet room with its steam shower and multiple sprays. Maybe he’d follow-up with Alex in the morning and find out more about the odd creature he’d just met. She’d piqued his curiosity; that was for sure. If he were being honest, he’d have to admit that the way she had run off threw him just a bit. Usually, his well-practiced charm earned him more than a quick dismissal.

Thinking of being thrown to the curb made Drae remember how he’d rather ruthlessly done just that not all that long ago, when it was time to end his most recent sexual interlude. He couldn’t help the sneer that lit up his brain or the nod that came along with acknowledging that he didn’t do relationships. It was sex and nothing more. Before his latest assignment in Washington, he’d been babysitting a high profile teenage heartthrob during a world tour that had stretched on for months. Drae hated having to take that obnoxious little fucker on, but the kid actually did need a serious security arrangement, and his record label had been willing to pay through the nose for the agency’s services.

Surrounded by bodyguards with their own headshots and Hollywood aspirations, plus the endless wave of hangers-on and an entourage of sycophants that stretched his nerves to their limit, the appearance one night of a certain actress with a set of expensive tits and the randiness of a sex-addict had helped ease his annoyance. Jessamyn What’s-Her-Name had set her sights on Drae the moment she saw him. The kinky bitch got off on the fact that he wore a shoulder holster.
Women
, go figure.

He’d seduced the skinny actress out of her thong, after a bottle of Ciroc and rather straightforwardly telling her,
if you come any closer I’m going to have to fuck you.
Apparently America’s latest manufactured sweetheart liked it nasty. She’d flitted in and out of his bed for months while the European leg of his assignment ground on.

Jessamyn –
who thought up these ridiculous names,
he wondered – had been an energetic lover willing to do just about anything and then some. He’d sometimes found her enthusiasm tedious and questioned how many of the dramatic screaming orgasms she had were actually real or just performances in her repertoire of acting credits.

Shedding his tuxedo, Draegyn stepped into the luxury en suite and headed for the shower. Catching sight of his naked body reflected in the glass enclosure, he paused and took stock. Except for a few new nicks and scars, he looked as he always did. Fit, lean, and rocking a seriously hard-core body. Years of martial arts and hand-to-hand defense training had given him a textbook perfect physique.

Thinking about the sex-obsessed Jessamyn and how they’d more or less fucked their way across Europe had unfortunately triggered the start of an erection that wasn’t exactly welcome at this moment. Seeing his rising cock made him pause. He was too tired and, truth be told, disinterested in the idea of jerking off to take matters into his own hands.

Remembering how he’d firmly informed Jess that their fun times had to end only turned her into stage-four clinger. She’d cried and begged, told him how much she loved him. Who the fuck had brought love into the equation? He sure as hell hadn’t. Drae was very good at spelling out the limits of being involved with him right from the beginning. Since she’d obviously disregarded his warnings and turned hysterical, he’d quite literally thrown her out. When it was time to move on, well - it was time to move on.

Setting the shower controls he flung himself into the steaming water and simply stood there letting the water pound away the champagne buzz and tension in his body. Hopefully, the hard-on would fade, and he could think about other things. Things like chocolate eyes and a pouty mouth.

Well shit
. That thought came out of nowhere and certainly wasn’t helping things. The minute he envisioned Victoria Bennett, and her irritating dismissal of him, his cock rapidly stood at attention in the hot shower. She wasn’t his type, not by a long shot, so why she was appearing in his thoughts baffled him. Drae preferred his women sophisticated and experienced. He wasn’t looking for any sort of relationship or happily ever after bullshit. The bodies underneath him in bed were interchangeable and forgettable as a whole. Some mousey computer nerd was in no way his style. So why then did his thoughts circle around to her?

Once he’d asked the question, his mind flooded with a montage of sex-fueled scenarios all featuring the plain little woman with the mouth of a goddess. He bet she gave a mean blowjob with those pouty lips of hers. It wasn’t a stretch to imagine her down on her knees with his thick cock sliding in and out of her lush mouth. When his staff pulsed, Drae groaned aloud at the irony of his situation. He didn’t want the anorexic actress with the insatiable sex drive. Instead he was fantasizing about some plain little nobody who in just a few short minutes had climbed inside his libido. So much for being disinterested in jerking off. His dick had other ideas as it throbbed and twitched in the pouring water.