Secret Agent Boyfriend (14 page)

“What’s the matter?”

Unaware of the tears until they spilled over, hot against her cheeks, Landry shook her head. “It’s silly.”

“Landry?” The haze of passion rapidly faded from his gaze, replaced by a very real concern in those dark depths. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing. Nothing.” She shook her head and tried to dash away the stubborn tears that continued to fall. “I think too much, that’s all.”

He kept his arm around her but laid them both back on the bed, face to face. “Please tell me what’s wrong.”

“Nothing. That’s the problem. Absolutely nothing is wrong.” A hard sob welled up and she tried to swallow it back. “And now I’m ruining this between us.”

“You’re not ruining anything.”

“I’m certainly not helping.”

Despite her rising embarrassment, he said nothing, just continued to hold her. She willed the tears back, swallowing around the hard knot in her throat before she spoke. “I’m crying because you look at me like I’m precious.”

His arms flexed and tightened before he brought a hand to her chin, lifting her gaze to his. “Because you are. Precious and rare and incredibly special.”

“Yes. But—” She broke off, well aware she’d ruined the mood between them and any chance of returning to the sexy, lighthearted passion that had carried them upstairs.

“But what?”

“Until a few moments ago, I’d never realized how rare that was. Or how rare it’s been in my life.”

“I know this can’t make up for it, but you do realize that’s their problem? That the inability to show love and affection rests solely on your family? Your mother and father. Your aunt. Your grandparents.”

Landry knew he was right. And still the pull of a lifetime of inertia held her back. “I’m a part of that. Descended from that.”

“Yet you’ve made yourself. And you make choices every day that prove you’re not like them. From your charity work to your love of animals, you have chosen a different life. A different path.”

The lure of what he promised pulled at her, more tempting than she ever could have imagined. “You make it sound so simple.”

“Because it is.” His gaze never wavered. Where in the past she might have thought that sort of intensity was too much, Landry found herself unable to look away.

“You make me feel things, and I’m not entirely sure what to do about it.”

The smile filled his dark eyes first, before it spread to his lips. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m not sure myself.”

Whether it was the smile, the words of support or the gentle honesty, she wasn’t sure. But as she reveled in the glow of simple understanding, her sadness faded, replaced with a life-affirming need to be with him.

His arms were still locked around her, the two of them curled against each other on the bed. She used their proximity to reach out and run her index finger over his broad chest. His skin tensed wherever she touched, a live wire sparking under her explorations. When she reached a nipple, she ran the tip of her fingernail gently around the flattened edge, gratified by his sharp intake of breath.

“You really do kill me.”

“I really do need you alive for this.” Feminine anticipation filled her with a buoyant spirit. “Perhaps you could find a way to hold on?”

His hand came up and covered hers, flattening it against his chest. “I’ll do my best.”

* * *

Derek pulled her close, his lips finding hers once more, eager to pillage and plunder the rich depths of her mouth.

Had he ever seen such deep-rooted pain?

The thought drifted through Derek’s mind, along with a healthy dose of anger, before he pushed them both away. There’d be plenty of time to analyze later. For now, it was enough to simply be with her. To make love with her and push the demons they both carried to the furthest reaches of their minds. What came before and what would come after had no place in this moment.

No place at all.

Hungry for her, Derek pulled Landry against him, shifting their positions so he covered her body. She responded immediately, a small mewl of pleasure rumbling from the back of her throat as her long legs came up to wrap around his waist.

Heat assailed him, scorching his skin from the top of his head to the tips of his toes in every place they touched, and it took every ounce of willpower he possessed to remember the small packet in his jeans.

“Damn it.” The curse came out on a hard moan and he reluctantly dragged himself from her.

“What’s wrong?”

“I need to get something.”

Awareness flashed, along with a broad smile. “End table. Top drawer.”

He snaked out one long hand, gratified to find the condoms right where she promised. “You’re amazing.”

“I did a bit of advance planning when I was out running errands for Elizabeth’s shower. I thought—” She broke off. “No. I hoped.”

The emotions that had threatened earlier swamped him with a heavy sucker punch to the gut, and when he finally spoke, the words were a low whisper. “I hoped, too.”

The packet disappeared between her fingers and he lifted up on his elbows to give her room to maneuver. She finished in moments, then guided him into her body, welcoming him home.

Derek stilled and took the moment to watch her as her body adjusted to his. And when he sensed she was ready—when he simply couldn’t wait another moment for her—he began to move.

The emotional moments between them gave way to something raw and needy, both of them hungry for completion. He filled her and with each thrust, felt himself slipping further and further away.

Here there was no danger. No lurking threats. No unfinished assignments. In this moment, there was only Landry and the mind-numbing passion that had a grip on them both.

Her breathing quickened and her cries grew more urgent. He increased his pace, willing himself to hold on until he sensed she was near peak. And as a hard cry escaped her, her fingers flexed along his back. She pressed herself to him; he allowed himself to let go.

Chapter 14

L
andry listened to the quiet sounds of Derek’s breathing and let her mind float in long, lazy circles. She thought about the first morning she met him, his large form staring down at her as she finished her pool laps. Their horseback rides and their day in Los Angeles.

She even thought about the tense moments in the stables as they worked in tandem to eliminate the snake.

Had it really been less than a week? Less than seven days for him to walk into her life and make such an irrevocable place for himself it was hard to imagine life without him?

Her racing heartbeat had begun to slow, but at that thought—spending her life with Derek Winchester—it sped right back up. They’d had sex. Amazing, awesome, incredible sex. And if she had anything to say about it, they’d have quite a bit more.

But sex was different from permanence. He was here to do a job and when that was over, he’d go back to his life, as would she. The two of them didn’t have a relationship. They had a fake arrangement that was in place to expediently deal with whatever wasteland her family had managed to scorch over the past four decades.

Thinking otherwise would open up a world of emotions she would prefer stayed closed.

What she would take away was how he’d made her see herself. The encouragement and support inherent in who he was and how he saw others had given her a boost she didn’t even realize she needed. If nothing else came out of their time together, she was grateful for that.

“You do realize your thoughts are louder than a marching band on the Fourth of July.”

“Hmm?”

“I can hear you thinking.” Derek pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her waist and drawing her back to his front. “And sex that amazing shouldn’t include any thinking afterward.”

“You’re talking, which means you’re thinking.”

He pressed a kiss to her neck. “My brains have already leached out all over the pillow. I’m simply babbling incoherently until I manage to drum up a thought or two from whatever’s still left.”

“A woman’s mind is never still.”

“Pity.” He kissed her neck again before snuggling into the crook between her head and shoulder, his hands traveling on a lazy exploration over her stomach before reaching up to cup one of her breasts.

Her earlier thought—to simply enjoy the time together—skipped its way through her mind as his hands worked magic over her skin. But when his thumb pressed over her nipple, shooting sparks to her core, she gave up her resistance.

There’d be time for thinking later.

Right now, there was Derek.

She turned in his arms, giving him better access to her body. He took full advantage, changing the direction of his kisses from her neck to shoulder to chest. When she thought he might drive her mad with the teasing flicks of his fingers in counterpoint to the erotic play of his tongue over her skin, his mouth closed over one nipple and she pressed into him on a hard cry.

Hot, wet suction dragged another cry from the very depths of her as an elemental sort of electricity began to swirl beneath her skin.

That wet heat continued to torment her as his hand drifted lower, back over her stomach before settling between her thighs. His clever fingers pressed against her core, igniting sparks she was helpless to resist. Ruthless, he drove her up, pushing her toward another release so soon after she’d come apart in his arms.

Shocked by her body’s readiness, she clung to his shoulders and rode the current. Hard, churning waves buffeted her through the storm of pleasure, but he was her true north throughout. His big, strong body and the safety to be found with him, even as he pushed her toward the most vulnerable moment of her life.

And then she was tumbling, screaming his name, falling into the swirling storm.

* * *

Darkness had fallen while they slept and Derek awoke to the disorienting sensation of his phone’s muffled ring. He normally slept with it near his head, so it took him a moment to realize it was across the room, tucked in the pocket of his jeans.

He disentangled himself from Landry’s warm body, her small sigh tugging at something deep inside him when she sprawled into his place on the bed.

The muffled phone rang once more before it went to voicemail, and he was tempted to leave it. Ignore whoever lay on the other end and wake Landry back up with an inventive series of kisses...

Heated images faded from his mind as duty stole in like a thief in the night. It might be Mark. Or a lead from his buddy at the office who was looking into the security breach at Adair Acres.

He was here on a job, damn it. How had he forgotten that?

Another glance at Landry, her naked back golden in the moonlit room, and he had his answer.

Landry Adair was the reason he’d forgotten.

She’d gotten into his system like an addictive drug, and now that he’d had a taste of her, there was no going back. No unremembering the moments in her arms. Or the taste of her skin. Or the generous way she shared herself fully in the act of giving and receiving pleasure.

His hand closed around the flat, rectangular shape of his phone and he fought to keep his mind on whatever issue had generated a call at almost eleven at night. He swiped through the screens and hit Voicemail.

Mark’s frantic voice barked out words on the message.

He needed to come. Now. To the warehouse they’d staked out early on but thought was empty. The one down past LAX.

A vision of the abandoned space came to mind. The building had been between tenants when they caught wind it might have been a temporary home base for Rena’s kidnappers before they moved her out of the country. He and Mark had spent a long week staring at the building’s exit points, waiting for proof that their lead was sound.

All they’d gotten for it had been several days of stale coffee and a ten-point spike in their cholesterol levels from too many take-out burgers.

“I think we’ve found Rena!” The message disconnected on Mark’s parting words and Derek moved into action. He knew he owed Landry and her family his attention, but he needed to be there in LA.

Needed to see this through and bring that young girl home.

“What’s the matter?” Landry’s voice drifted toward him and he turned from where he pulled his pants on. She sat up in bed, the sleep fading from her tone. “Where are you going?”

“I got a call. Well, a message.” Images jumbled in his mind and he tried to find the right words to reassure, even as the need to leave as fast as possible gripped him. “Mark. He thinks he’s found Rena.”

“That’s incredible.” Landry was up and out of the bed, rushing toward him. She seemed oblivious to her nudity, instead crossing with speed and purpose. “Let’s get down there.”

“You can’t go.”

She stilled where she was, on her way to her closet. “Why not?”

“This is an FBI investigation.”

“You can’t go by yourself.”

“Like hell I can’t.”

“Derek.” She grabbed a robe off a hook on the door and slipped into it. “You haven’t even talked to Mark. Where are you supposed to go?”

“I’ll find it. She’s at a warehouse we’d staked out early on.”

“And you’re just going to go barreling in there? With no backup?”

“Mark will be there.”

“Then you’re both fools.”

Frustration punched holes in his patience and he lashed out. “Let me do my job, Landry.”

“I’m not standing in your way. But even I know you can’t go there unprotected. And where’s your boss in all this? Shouldn’t you talk to him first?”

“Mark’s been keeping me informed on the side. My boss doesn’t know I’m up to speed.”

She stood before him, her hand on his arm. “Which makes this seem even worse. Why aren’t you following protocol?”

“A young girl’s life is at stake.”

“So is yours.” The gentle, soothing calm faded, replaced by a veritable taskmaster.

“And your coming with me is going to make that better.”

“Let me at least drive you to headquarters. You’re too close to this. I can get you there and you can call for information along the way.”

“And risk having my boss get involved, pissed as hell I’ve been keeping tabs on this investigation?”

She stilled at that. “So getting the brass involved is less preferable to getting that girl home safely?”

“Yes.” He dragged at his shirt, pulling it over his head as he tried to calm his thoughts. “No. No, of course not.”

“It’s over an hour to the office. Let me drive and you can make plans as we go. I promise I’ll stay out of the way. But you can’t go alone.”

“I can and will.”

“You don’t have to do this alone. I’m offering help. Not to stop you from doing what’s right but to make sure you can do what’s right. Why won’t you let me?”

Determination lined her features, firmly setting her jaw. She wasn’t going to be swayed, and the more time he spent allowing sparks of rational thought to leach into the urgent need to act, the more he knew she was right.

“You’re a civilian, Landry. I can’t take you into this.”

“For the last time, I’m not suggesting you take me on an op. I’m suggesting you let me get you there so you can prepare for it properly.”

He thought to argue—and wanted to—but she’d already walked off and disappeared into a closet so large it looked like another room.

It looked as if he had a ride-along partner, whether he wanted one or not.

* * *

Landry kept the pace steady as they drove ever closer to Los Angeles. She knew Derek was still mad—she had a good mad on herself—but she was also pleased she’d worked her way around it.

And she’d done it with honesty and direct action.

She’d spent years watching her parents. Their destructive relationship tactics designed to go behind each other’s backs to constantly prove some sort of one-upmanship. It was only now, faced with the moment of actually disagreeing with Derek on something, that she realized just how poor an example had been set for her and her brothers.

There you go again, Landry-girl. Acting like this is some sort of real relationship.

But real or not, the man walked a dangerous path, and if left to his own devices, he’d have gone charging off mindlessly.

The very idea he’d go walking into something completely unprepared bothered her more than she wanted to admit. She knew the situation with this young kidnapped girl had wreaked havoc with his career and, she was increasingly coming to learn, his self-worth.

She had no idea it had damaged his judgment, as well.

“Why is this child so important to you?”

The question slipped out and she risked a glance at his profile as she drove, the oncoming headlights painting his face in a wash of harsh fluorescence.

Derek said nothing and she was almost convinced he wasn’t going to say anything when he finally spoke. “I don’t know.”

“You’re willing to risk your life for her. You must feel something.”

“It’s Rena, yes. I want to bring that child home and give her some quality of life. But it’s also the idea of her.”

Landry nodded, the underlying meaning of his words a strange echo for her thoughts earlier about Whit and Elizabeth’s baby. She knew she’d love her nephew, but with all that was going on, that innocent baby had begun to represent something more.

The restoration of her family.

A new life for them all to nurture and help grow into the next generation of Adairs. A stronger generation, if she had anything to say about it.

“That child stands for all that’s not right with the world around us. She’s the reason I do what I do and she’s the reason I hate that my very job even exists.”

“Humans can do terrible things to each other.”

“Terrible, horrible things. And as long as they do, it’s my job to make sure I can save as many as possible.”

His comments matched the very same strains he’d mentioned earlier when he finally told her about Rena. But still, she sensed that wasn’t the entire story.

“Isn’t there something else?”

“Maybe she’s—”

Derek was an action-oriented man—she’d witnessed it several times over the past week—so it was odd to see him hesitate.

“Rena’s kidnapping forced me to look at my life differently. Where I was going. What I wanted. Who I wanted to share it with. People talk about cases that are turning points in their life, and this case has been one for me.”

“Sarah?”

“Among other things.”

“What happened?”

“Hell, Landry!” His voice bounced off the confines of her SUV, even the high-end leather not thick enough to absorb his upset and pain.

She wanted to lash out. Might have even a week ago. But she was a different person now. The woman who had stripped away every defense—every pretense—in this man’s presence had changed. And she’d grown into someone who expected the same in return.

A wash of oncoming headlights lit the interior in harsh detail while highlighting a sign indicating they were about thirty miles outside Los Angeles.

Thirty miles until he headed straight into danger.

“Damn it.” He shifted in his seat, his large shoulders rocking the back of it as he maneuvered.

“Damn. It.” He muttered the words once more before he turned to face her, twisting against the confines of his seat belt. “How can you ask me questions about Sarah when we were in bed an hour ago?”

“It’s a simple question.”

“No, actually, it’s not.”

Now it was her turn to shrug. Yes, she wanted to know more about the mysterious Sarah, but she also wanted him to know he had a safe space to share. Whatever had come before they met, Derek had made it more than clear he wasn’t in love with his ex-fiancée any longer. Landry knew most women would still find the circumstances a threat, but strangely, she didn’t.

“She’s a good part of the reason this situation with Rena is so upsetting to you. Whatever else might have come between us this past week, I hope you consider me a friend.”

“Of course I do.” And then, “I consider you more than a friend.”

“So talk to me.”

“You are persistent.”

“I’m an Adair. It comes with the territory.”

“You don’t say.”

When she made no move to say anything further, he let out a small sigh. “I never saw the signs. Not once until it was too late. I think that’s the part I can’t quite get past.”