What About Love (Club Decadence Book 6) (9 page)

“I did not run,” she snapped. She couldn’t refute the mild freak out or the PVC skirt, however. Although she willed it not to, her face flamed with heat. “So instead of going in as a couple, we act like we don’t know each other. Keep our distance.”

“No. I can’t protect you that way and as a newbie, you could get yourself in some awkward situations. The LA crowd is younger, less reserved. If you think San Antonio is shocking, wait until you see what LA has to offer.” He shifted, once again crossing his massive arms over his broad chest, obviously readying himself for a showdown on this. Stubborn man. “If you’re shouting the club safeword every other second, that would raise brows too.”

Cap stroked his chin appearing contemplative for a moment. “I agree with T. Your safety is a priority. What if we change your cover story? Instead of being a D/s couple with you in training as we’d planned with Dano, what if you and T are engaged? Exclusivity won’t be questioned if you’re committed. Simply make up a reason why you’re not having sex. Punishment, or something. I’m sure you two can figure it out.” He stared them both up and down. “The only problem I see is that you’ll have to act like you’re in love, which I see now might be a stretch.”

Act like she was in love with Antonio Minelli? That wouldn’t require much skill. When he touched her intimately as she knew he would, her real challenge would be convincing him that she wasn’t.

An awkward silence settled like a dense cloud in the room. Neither of them said a word about Cap’s new plan, Angie refusing to as much as look at T. That’s when the big boss’s patience reached its end.

“Whatever this is about, you two need to clear the air, pronto.” The authority in his tone incited an urge in her to stand at attention and salute. T, who was evidently used to it, didn’t move a muscle, only staring at her without even a blink. Cap moved in and got in his face. “You’re in charge, Minelli, so I expect you to figure out a way to work together. Another girl went missing last night. That’s three in as many months and we don’t have time to dick around. Got it?”

“Loud and clear, Cap.”

“Angie?” It was all she could do not to jump when he bellowed her way.

“I got it, sir.”

His face clouded with anger, he strode to the door, still barking orders. “Be in the conference room at eleven o’clock sharp. Eric will be joining us by web conference. He’ll have the details on the most recent missing girl by then.” They were clearly dismissed as the door slammed behind him.

Angie stared after him. “Was he like that in the service?”

“Worse.”

Her eyes bugged out. She’d seen him stern with Megan at times and in full command at Rossi often, but never in scary take-no-shit-from-anyone Green Beret Captain mode.

“You get used to it over time.”

Six members of the Rossi team had been in the same Special Ops unit, led by Cap. When he retired a few years ago, his men had soon followed into his new business. It was a testament to the respect and regard they had for their captain.

“He went easy on us because of you. If it had been only me with the problem, the pronto speech would have come ten minutes earlier and been wrapped in so many F-bombs your ears would be singed.”

“How did you do it for so many years?”

“The same way you handled being on the force until Stapleton’s shit made it all go south. The big difference is I have nothing except respect for my captain, darlin’. When he announced he was done, Rick, Dex, Sean, Jonas and I soon followed. None of us were about to stay and put our asses on the line for anyone else, or without our full team intact.”

Angie raised her eyes to find him watching her intently. For a long silent moment, she looked back at him.

“Six men working in the trenches for years, you learn to read each other, anticipate one another’s reactions. That’s what he’s asking us to do in less than seventy-two hours. Are you up for it, little bit?”

It seemed an impossible task with the uneasiness between them, but three lives weighed in the balance. She nodded, meeting his gaze without reservation. “Let’s find this bastard and make him pay.”

His grin, despite the heaviness of the situation, came quickly. “That’s my girl, let’s get to work.”

As her eyes followed him to the equipment locker to get protective gear for their sparring session, her mind kept replaying his words. “My girl,” if that were only true.

*****

When Cap called him that morning at dawn with his new assignment, his first reaction was to refuse, right off. Getting close to Angie when she had feelings for him wasn’t fair to her. But having taken the time to consider things—and as Cap pointed out, there were few other options—he realized he was better suited for this mission than Dan in many ways.

First, as Angie had keyed in on, being one of the owners gave him an inside edge at the club. He had complete access to membership files, personnel records and the facilities, all of which gave him a definite advantage over Dan.

Second, sending an operative in undercover was always dangerous, with a new one the risk doubled. Although Dan was an excellent field man, T was convinced he was better able to keep her safe since at forty-five Dan had nearly a decade and a half on T. It had to be said that he was a hair slower in his response time than a much younger man.

Third, she was submissive. He knew it, Cap knew it, and if he wasn’t blind, Dan knew it too. Angie was the only one who hadn’t clued into the fact. As a Dom, he felt strongly that she needed to. Although long term with him could never be, he wanted her. He wanted to be the one to introduce her to the beauty of surrender and give her the chance to explore her submissive side and set it free. He suspected that keeping it bottled up was the reason a woman like her, strong and independent in her professional life, but also wanting traditional roles of mother and wife, had never committed. She needed a man who understood the amalgamation of her needs, but she was concentrating on the wrong kind of man, the wrong flavor. Vanilla was always going to leave her wanting.

And finally, if this was his chance to have her, no matter how limited, he’d take it and hopefully purge the hazel-eyed beauty from his system at last. Knowing that she loved him, he’d have to be careful with her tender heart. Maybe the best way to do that was to prove to her that he wasn’t the one that she wanted after all.

Dex had faxed over her limit list, which he had perused briefly ahead of their meeting this morning. It was a beginner’s list as it should be, asking preferences for or against typical BDSM activities like restraints, blindfolds and basic play, such as spanking, implements and other toys. Sex, he’d noted straightaway, was off limits, though she hadn’t ruled out touching with fingers, lips and tongue, all of which were still in play. The only restriction had been no penetration. That left a world of options for him to teach and explore.

Prior to moving on, however, there were a few points he needed to clarify. He closed the locker with her padded head gear in hand and faced her. Best to take care of it right away.

“Cap’s right. We’ve got to learn to trust each other and we have to do it quickly. As soon as you step foot inside that club you become a target. Wearing a corset and garters, you’re not going to have your Glock at the ready. That’s where I come in. I’ve got your back, but to keep you safe you’ll need to do exactly as I say. Your job is to listen, observe and lure in this motherfucker while me, Eric, and the rest of the LA team lower the boom, got it?”

“Yeah, I got it, T.” He could also tell she didn’t like it. She’d like his next point, even less.

“Tell me something, Angie, are there any boyfriends who’ll be gunning for me if they find my handprint on your sexy ass?”

“No, I’m single. For some odd reason men get intimidated by a woman with handcuffs.”

Laughter rumbled up from his throat. “Not in my world.”

“And since you mentioned it, I have a similar reaction to handprints.”

T ignored that for the time being. Sex might be prohibited, but no way would she fool the LA bunch into believing she was a willing sub, if she didn’t have a Dom’s hands all over those round cheeks and full breasts, both of which had been on tempting display in her club wear the past two nights. The perp would have to be blind not to notice her. An unpleasant thought popped into his head.

“What about Dan? You two seemed pretty tight last night. Now that I’m clued in on the mission, is there anything going on between the two of you that I should know about? Outside of work?” As he spoke, he crossed to her, approaching slowly as he would a skittish deer, but steadily closing the gap between them. She stiffened, although he noted she didn’t retreat as he came to stand within arm’s length.

“Dan was my trainer, nothing more, the same as you will be.”

As set downs went, that should have put him in his place. It didn’t, and for some reason he pressed her further.

“Does he know that? He selected your outfits to entice and I’m thinking for his enjoyment. I recognize his taste. He has a thing for color and PVC. Beyond that, there is one sure fire way to tell if Dano had more on his mind than training.” His voice pitched lower as he stepped closer, invading her space. “Tell me, darlin’, did he get you off? That’s the real kicker.”

“Please don’t make this anymore awkward than it already is.”

Admittedly, he was jealous—an ugly and unfamiliar emotion—with her it burned deep because he couldn’t get the image of her with Dan out of his head. T realized he was acting surly and like a colossal ass. Taking this out on her was unfair. On the other hand, if he could keep up the act and make her think it was true, by the end of the mission it would help his cause and hopefully keep her heart from becoming further engaged. Still, being a prick wouldn’t inspire the trust he needed from her and he didn’t want her to hate him in the end. They had to work together at Rossi for Christ’s sake.

Damn, which tack to take?

As he considered her newness to her job and BDSM, his protective instincts took priority. Honesty would have to prevail.

“I’m sorry, Angie. That comment was personal and out of line.”

She blinked up at him in surprise, clearly not expecting an apology.

“Here’s the problem with this mission. For this to work, things are going to have to get intimate between us.” He stepped closer, his free hand sliding around her waist. Pulling her front tightly against his, he used his strength to keep her still as she stiffened and leaned away. “For us to be effective, little bit, we need to be believable. A willing submissive will crave a Dom’s touch, not flinch away from it or avoid it, as you just did.” His hand came up to stroke her cheek, the fingers trailing lightly over her exceptionally soft skin. As he changed angles, his thumb smoothed across her lower lip, then down over her chin and along her throat. “And, I’ll need to touch not only your face, but your body as well.”

Dropping her safety gear to the mat, his other hand moved up her back. Its goal, the high ponytail that held her gorgeous mass of hair away from him. Grabbing hold of the band, he pulled it free and tossed it.

“I’ll need to handle you, gently at times and more firmly at others. I’ll put you in restraints, play with you and punish you, all of that will be expected. To get you used to me and my touch, we’ll need to practice. So until we arrive, I’m going to caress you, put my mouth all over your gorgeous skin, and yes, darlin’, I’ll spank you too. But I’ll respect your limits, never doubt that.” He dipped his head, his lips finding her neck as he whispered, “Unless you ask me for more.”

As he stroked a hand through her soft, silky hair, he brushed it over one shoulder, giving him access to more of her tempting neck and throat on the opposite side. He inhaled deeply. Her scent surrounded him, light and clean, faintly fruity, most likely from her shampoo. She didn’t reek of cloying perfumes—very nice.

Her head fell back, offering more of herself for his attention. This arched her back enough so that her tits pressed against his chest. In the stretchy clinging top, she couldn’t hide the fact that her nipples were already pebbled into hard little points. His tongue slipped out and licked up her throat to her ear, tasting her for the first time.

“I’ll have no trouble with any of this, Angie, because I want you. The real question is can
you
handle this?”

He lifted his head, staring down into her half-lidded eyes, which were hazy with passion. She didn’t respond, not verbally at least, though her body hummed with desire. For all her vibrato about a different trainer, she wanted him too.

“Answer me. Can you handle being this close and not losing your heart? If not, say so now and I’ll go to bat for you with the boss.”

She stiffened, trying to pull away. He wouldn’t let her.

“There’s no shame in wanting. Lord knows I’ve wanted you for a very long time. But a word of warning, Angie. I can’t offer you more than this. I want to be up front about that. It’s not in me to give.”

Her hands moved quickly, pushing against his chest as she arched away. “You’re mighty full of yourself. This is a job.”

“So say your lips.” His arms tightened, his hands sliding along her spine as he pulled her back, fully molding her soft breasts to the unforgiving hardness of his chest. “Your body tells me otherwise. You want me too, Angie. Admit it.”

She twisted in his arms, struggling to be free of his hold as surely as she fought the urge to succumb. The hitch in her breathing and the rock hard tips of her breasts telling a different story than resistance.

Her voice squeaked when she blurted out, “Shouldn’t we get back to work?”

“We are working.” He bent his head, giving her throat one more brush of his lips before stepping back. She was flushed, her body heat and respirations elevated. He didn’t need to touch his fingers to the flutter visible in her throat to know her heart was racing. And he was sure if he slipped his hand between her thighs, she’d be wet. Stubborn woman that she was, she wasn’t about to admit it.

“Okay. We’ll play it your way. It’s a job. We have our roles set. Within the walls of Club Decadence, here and when we get to LA, I’m your Dom and you are my submissive. I will honor your limits and you will submit to my commands, having your safewords as a safety net. Everything in between is fair game. Agreed?”