Seduction in Session (23 page)

He’d never once in his life been described that way. “We must have different definitions of the word. Now, very carefully, roll down my boxers and let the impatient beast free.”

He had to take a deep breath when she did as he asked and released his cock from the confines of his boxers. She worked his jeans halfway down his hips and then stared down at him.

“Tell me what to do. I want to make you feel as good as I did last night.”

“You liked it when I kissed you and sucked on you, didn’t you?” It was a test of sorts. A calculating woman would play coy, not give him too much power via her praise.

“So much. It was the best night of my life. I hate the fact that we wasted any time at all when we could have been sleeping together all along.” The note in her voice held no artifice, just honest desire.

She confused him on every level.

“Touch me. Take my cock in your hand and slowly pump up and down.” He wanted to come the minute she touched him. How long did they have before Gabe and Everly got here? He forced himself to talk, to get his mind off the pounding need to mark her again. “I got the feeling you didn’t like me very much that first day we met.”

“I was scared of you. Then I was embarrassed about Niall. I behaved very stupidly with him and I was determined not to do it again.”

He tugged her chin up. “You weren’t stupid. He was a bad guy taking advantage of you.”

“And you’re not?”

“Not in the same way. I can offer you something. It’s always an exchange, princess. Besides exchanging my body for yours, I’m willing to exchange my affection for yours, though you should know I’m not great at that.”

Her soft hand gripped him. “I don’t know. I think you’re educable.”

Maybe but she had a lot to learn, too. “I’m never going to be the guy who goes antiquing with you.”

She pumped his cock, her hand tightening to a pleasurable level. “So if I want to ditch you, I should go looking for some colonial American furniture.”

He realized the problem with his statement and that he was caught in a trap of his own damn making. “First, don’t ever try to ditch me. I won’t take it well. Second, yes, I would go with you. Let me amend. I’m never going to be the guy who pretends to enjoy antiquing.”

“So no romantic weekend getaways are in my future? No date nights? Just sex.”

Yep, he was caught. “I didn’t say that. Once the danger has passed, if you want to go somewhere, I’ll take you. If you want to see a movie or eat out, I’ll go with you. I’m just saying don’t expect all the romantic stuff.”

“I know you have way more experience than me when it comes to sex, but I know more about relationships than you do and you aren’t so different from other men, Connor.” Her hand kept up the hard grind while she rose to her toes and pressed her lips to his. “They’ll pretend they like the stuff you do to get you into bed, but once you’re there, they totally give up. No man likes antiquing, but one who thinks I’m important will go with me anyway. That
is
incredibly romantic.”

Maybe she wasn’t really lying to him. Maybe what he’d perceived as a falsehood was simply her guilt for asking him to break into Freddy’s place. Hell, he didn’t know anything except that her touch was making his head cloudy again and he was looking for any way to believe she wasn’t a mercenary bitch who intended to sell Zack out.

Fuck. What was wrong with him? He was a guilty-until-proven-otherwise kind of a guy. He did not sit around and hope someone was innocent.

“Get on your knees, Lara. I need to feel your mouth on me.”

She dropped down without a single protest and she wrapped her lips around him in an instant. She pressed kisses on the head of his cock while her hand moved over the stalk.

“Use your tongue. Get my cock wet.”

Again, she didn’t tease or try to make him beg. She simply tackled the task with an enthusiasm that made all the damn-near-professional blow jobs he’d ever gotten disappear from his memory. None of those women had her artless ardor, her boundless joy. He watched as the head of his dick disappeared into that sexy mouth of hers. This was how he would deal with her in the future. When she argued with him, he’d just give her mouth something better to do. He would kiss her or fuck her so hard she couldn’t say anything but his name.

“Take more. Suck me harder.” He pushed his hips out, his cock sliding deeper into her mouth.

He shoved his hands in her hair, pulling it out of the bun she’d wrapped it in. He wanted to feel all that softness in his hands. He definitely wanted a better grip. Her mouth was so small, so heated and perfect. Her tongue whirled around his flesh and he could feel himself pulsing. So good. She felt so right. Why did this woman do it for him?

He forced her to take more. Lara braced her hands on his hips. For a brief moment he thought she was going to push him away, to tell him he was being too rough. She was so fragile. But then she eased her grip around to the cheeks of his ass. Her nails sank lightly into his flesh and he couldn’t stop the wave of molten heat that engulfed him.

“Princess, I’m going to come. You might want to let go.”

She shook her head without releasing him from the hot vise of her mouth. She dragged her lips up his length, finally letting go with a soft pop, before looking up at him. “I want to taste you. I want to swallow you down.”

Fuck. His hands tightened on her hair and he gave up. She could take what he dished out. Her fragility was only an illusion. She wanted it and so did he, so he fucked her mouth, thrusting in and dragging out and yes, he felt the bare edge of her teeth scrape against him. That just made him fuck her harder.

He held himself hard against her mouth as he bellowed out her name and came in a dizzying rush. She didn’t stop, her tongue working him the whole time. She drank him down as he gave up everything he had. He hadn’t thought after the night before or the shower this morning that he had an ounce of semen left, but his body seemed to produce an endless supply for her.

Only her.

She licked him clean from head to base, like she couldn’t get enough of his taste.

He let his head fall forward as he dragged oxygen into his lungs and
stared down at her. Through the thick fringe of her dark lashes, he watched as she smiled up at him, the adoring expression in her glittering blue eyes making his heart kick around in his chest.

Who the hell was she? Innocent do-gooder taken in by a crazy asshole? Or a calculating seductress determined to take him down?

Either way, she was his and he would deal. Tonight he would learn all her secrets and then she would find out just who was running this show.

L
ara offered Everly Parker a cup of tea. She had a complete set her mother had given her for Christmas a few years before but she so rarely had the chance to use it. Kiki was more of a wine person and Tom wondered why she would spend so much time making something that only required boiling water and a store-bought bag.

Connor didn’t seem like the type who appreciated a nice oolong. Her whole body warmed at the thought of what he did appreciate. And it didn’t matter that he wouldn’t enjoy it. He would still escort her, and she couldn’t believe for a second that he would ruin her enjoyment by showing his displeasure. He’d already proven he could be indulgent.

God, she hated lying to him.

“This is lovely. I’ve never actually had tea like this before.” Everly was a beautiful woman with strawberry blonde hair and a smile that Lara would have called mysterious a few days before. Now she recognized it. Everly Parker was well loved and it showed.

She finished pouring and sat on the couch. She’d decided to have tea in the living room because she was fairly certain it would be a while before she could be in the breakfast nook without thinking
about how it felt to take Connor into her mouth. She was surprised by how much she’d loved it.

She flushed as she poured her own cup. “My mom used to take me to high tea a couple of times a year. I love the ritual of it. It’s very civilized.”

“I was raised by a cop. I’m afraid civilized wasn’t in my vocabulary for much of my life. My dad was lucky to get me to wash my hair a few times a week when I was a kid.” She smiled as though she truly enjoyed the memory. “I was something of a tomboy.”

“You couldn’t tell now. You look every inch the New York sophisticate.” Lara had been slightly intimidated by the cool, chic woman who had walked into her condo with her gorgeous god of a billionaire on her arm. Everly Parker and Gabriel Bond made a striking couple. He’d come dressed in a tailored suit and he’d shaken hands with both her and Connor before Connor offered to take him out on the balcony so she and Everly could talk.

She’d been a little surprised, but pleased. He trusted her.

She shook her head. “That’s Gabriel’s doing. Well, and his sister’s. Sara took one look at my wardrobe and declared we were going shopping. Bergdorf’s was happy to see us that day.”

“There’s a rumor that Sara Bond is pregnant with Maddox Crawford’s baby. Are you going to be an aunt? I can’t imagine losing a brother, but a baby would be a wonderful balm, I suspect.”

A chill settled in Everly’s previously warm eyes. “There are rumors everywhere. Did you agree to meet with me so you could exploit my fiancé’s sister? I should warn you, I wouldn’t take that well.”

Lara set the teapot down and hoped she hadn’t gone bright red. She didn’t hide embarrassment very well. She took a deep breath and kind of wished Connor was sitting next to her. “So our confidential informant told you about my . . . venture?”

“I know about Capitol Scandals,” Everly affirmed, setting her cup and saucer down. It looked like her very civil meeting was over. “It doesn’t really matter how. I want to know if you’re planning on writing up a nasty story about Sara.”

She was actually really sick of being painted as the villain. “Have you ever read Capitol Scandals? Even once?”

“I’ve seen the site.” The distaste in Everly’s eyes told Lara she didn’t like what she’d seen.

“Have you read a single story?”

“I did read the one about the president’s girth . . .”

Naturally. “Yeah, that was my shining moment. Maybe you should actually read some of the other pieces before you dismiss me. And no, I would never write a story about Sara Bond’s pregnancy. I just thought you should know those rumors are circulating.”

Everly sat back, regarding her cynically. “Why wouldn’t you expose Sara? You write about all kinds of scandals. You wrote about Congressman Johnson’s affair.”

“I publish stories that have political ramifications and even then, I only do so when I believe releasing the information is performing a public service. Revealing the father of Sara Bond’s baby would serve no purpose other than to spew hurtful, salacious gossip. On the other hand, Congressman Johnson was sponsoring a bill that would have made it mandatory for all school-age children to get a vaccine that medical specialists decried as being potentially dangerous. It caused neurological defects in one percent of the test subjects in the clinical trial. The company paid off officials in the FDA. The woman he was having the affair with was on the board of the pharmaceutical company.”

Everly shook her head, her eyes troubled. “How was that not news?”

“Because no one cares until it happens to them. In the corporate world one percent failure is practically a victory, but I met those kids. Their lives are ruined and all their parents got was some cash and a nondisclosure agreement. After Congressman Johnson stepped down, the bill died and the vaccine is now being reevaluated. Is your fiancé’s sister threatening to ruin the lives of a couple thousand children?”

“Of course not.”

“Then she’s safe from my personal brand of evil, Ms. Parker. I brought it up because I’m stupid enough to think talking about your
sister-in-law’s pregnancy would be a female-type bonding thing. I was trying to be friends, but I’ll stop that now and get straight to the point. Are you planning on outing me as the owner of Capitol Scandals?”

“No. I came because I need to find out what you know about the circumstances surrounding my brother’s death. Like I said in my e-mail, I was contacted a few weeks ago by a man who said he knew why my brother was murdered.”

“The newspapers claimed it was an accident.”

“I don’t believe that report.” Everly shook her head.

“Do you think someone influenced the FAA to declare it an accident?” Just because it looked like she wasn’t going to find a new friend didn’t mean she couldn’t get some information.

“I know everyone will point the finger at the president or his chief of staff, but I don’t believe Zack or Roman had any real reason to bully anyone into officially changing their findings. They were close to my brother. They would want his killer brought to justice. That said, I don’t necessarily believe the FAA report. My fiancé swears my brother was a good pilot.”

“Do you recognize a company named Harrison Chemicals?”

Everly seemed to ponder that for a second. “I’ve heard the name.”

“It’s a company with a plant roughly two miles east of the spot where your brother’s plane crashed.” She’d been looking into Maddox Crawford’s death since that meeting in Manhattan. This was the first time she’d been able to talk about her findings with anyone who would care. “The FAA report stated that the evidence of an incendiary device in the wreckage was actually a cross-contamination from the plant and its chemicals showing up in the water table. Don’t you find it odd that the EPA has rated that plant as one of the best in the country for years? Just a year before, a local environmental group did a study of the surrounding area and declared the plant to be a model of modern waste management.”

Everly paused. “EPA investigators can be bought.”

“So can FAA investigators, but I’ve found private environmental
groups can’t be. This particular group is known for being very hard on corporations. If they say this company is clean, they’re clean. The question becomes who would want to shut down the investigation of your brother’s death? Who benefitted by his crash being an accident instead of murder?” She realized what she’d just said and sat forward. “I wasn’t saying you killed him.”

Everly opened her mouth then shut it with a rueful smile. “Can we start over again? I think we’re both a touch anxious. I’m very protective of my future sister-in-law. She’s been through a lot and the idea of anyone exploiting her makes me very angry.”

“Of course. I can understand that.”

“And I haven’t read your work. If what you say is true, you’ve found a creative way to get the word out. I’m sorry I dismissed your site. I’d like it if we could start over again. It seems like you have a lot of information I don’t. Moneywise, there’s only one person who gained from Mad’s death and that’s my fiancé. But Gabe had no idea he was Mad’s beneficiary.”

“And I’ve heard he’s put everything in trust for the baby.”

“Wow. The rumors really are out there. Yes, that’s correct. He’s actually going to turn Crawford Industries over to Sara when the time is right. Gabriel had no reason to kill Mad. He wanted my brother alive so he could be a father to Sara’s child. My turn to ask a question. Why were you bidding on Natalia Kuilikov’s diary?”

“Bidding on what?”

Everly watched her closely. “I heard about an auction on the Deep Web. Supposedly Capitol Scandals was a major player in it.”

Lara felt her jaw drop. Disbelief spread through her. “I had never heard the name Natalia Kuilikov until a few weeks ago, and I certainly didn’t get into a bidding war over her diary.”

“Someone claiming to be a rep from your site was bidding hard.”

“I am the whole site. I know what the Deep Web is but I didn’t have an invitation to anything like that. It would be easy to pretend to be me.” After the Niall debacle, she knew well that a person on the
Internet could say whatever they wanted. “The question is why would they pretend to be me?”

“And why would Deep Throat contact you? Of all the journalists and bloggers in the country, why you? Unless it’s a little like that environmental group. Maybe he chose you because he doesn’t think you can be bought or intimidated. He contacted me because he knew I would do anything to solve my brother’s murder. And then he suggested I contact you. So here we are, two women with nothing in common except him, from what I can tell.”

She had a confession to make. “I met your brother a few times.”

“You did?”

Lara winced. “I might have been the one who brought the problems with his Third World manufacturers to light.”

Everly’s eyes lit up. “Are you the one who sent fifty pounds of rotted rice to his office?”

Put like that it sounded terrible, but she’d learned it took a lot to get someone’s attention. “That’s what the factory was feeding the employees. And they were forcing them to work eighteen-hour shifts without breaks.”

Everly smiled. “Oh, he liked you. You’ve got to understand. My brother, for all his foibles, truly appreciated passion. He talked about that prank a lot. He was really impressed with how you managed to suppress that smell until he got the package open.”

“He didn’t seem all that happy when he spoke to me later that afternoon.” He’d yelled quite a bit.

“Maybe not, but he shut down that factory very quickly and opened a new facility even though it cost Crawford millions. And what almost no one knows is that he used his own money to set up an education fund for the village. My brother believed in capitalism, but he had a heart and sense of fairness. He might have been pissed that day, but he thanked you later on because he hadn’t known how the factory was being run. His father had set up that whole system and Mad eventually dismantled it. He told Gabe that he was doing a tour of Thai brothels,
but I found out he’d been investigating the factories and making sure they’d cleaned up their acts. I can’t believe you’re Rotten Rice Fucker.” She blushed a little. “His name for you, not mine.”

Lara had to laugh. She really had tried to get his attention by sending e-mails and letters. He’d been a busy man, so she’d resorted to something slightly crazy. She felt good knowing he’d done the right thing in the end. That made her feel good, yet worse about his death. Many men in his position wouldn’t have cared and simply let the abuse continue.

“Someone wanted the two of us to put our heads together,” Lara observed.

“I think you’re right. Let’s figure it out.”

Despite the uncomfortable start of their meeting, she was beginning to relax around Everly. If she was going to get the other woman to talk, she would have to offer her something. “I have a theory about Natalia Kuilikov. I think she’s tied in with the president. I learned that she actually worked for Zack Hayes’s father as a domestic caregiver when he was the ambassador to Russia. Since the woman began working for the family shortly before President Hayes was born until the family returned to the States, it’s very likely she was one of the current president’s nannies.”

“Are you sure you didn’t win the diary in that auction?”

Lara sat forward, her heart starting to race. “There’s really a diary out there?”

“Yes. I’ve read it but it doesn’t tell me much more than the fact that she really loved Zack as a baby and she had high hopes for him. She was married herself, but she lost a baby and she couldn’t seem to get over it. She seems to have put all her love into caring for Zack.”

“Do you think she had an affair with the ambassador?”

Everly shrugged. “I don’t know. I know she was trained at a girls’ school, one created and run by the same human trafficking ring that was exposed a few weeks back. My brother found Natalia’s diary
somewhere at some point in the past. Someone killed him for it. I have to know why. I have to figure out the reason this woman is so important.”