30DaystoSyn (33 page)

Before he could say anything else, she slid
off his lap. She nudged his knees apart and pushed his suit coat from his
shoulders.

“Oh, you’re going to undress me?” he asked,
one dark brow cocked.

“Stop talking,” she ordered and his slow,
sexy smile sent tendrils of warmth through her lower body.

Helping him out of the coat, she laid it
carefully on the twisted driftwood at the foot of the bed then put her fingers
to his tie, slowly working the knot loose.

The knot undone, she pulled the tie from
around his neck and draped it over his coat. She removed his cufflinks then
dropped them into the pocket of his coat before she tugged the hem of his black
shirt from his trousers. Slowly, sensuously she undid the buttons then peeled
the soft silk from his broad shoulders. She folded it in half and laid it atop
the suit coat as well.

Gracefully, she dropped to her knees in
front of him. The low growl that came when she did so made her hands shake as
she reached for his loafers and slipped them off, set them to one side. She
removed his socks and poked them into the shoes. She got to her feet.

Next she leaned over to unbuckle his belt.
Buckle undone, she unbuttoned his fly to the accompaniment of another low growl
then stepped back. She arched a brow.

He stood and she moved in again to tug down
the zipper. She slid her hands into the opening of his waistband and pushed the
trousers over his hips.

Commando—as she knew he would be.

Hard as steel—as she hoped he would be.

The sight of him fully erect with a bead of
pre-cum glistening on the broad mushroom head of his penis made her mouth go
dry.

She stepped back. Took still another step
as he stood there with his arms akimbo and his eyes blazing hot as he stared at
her, waiting to see what she did next.

She reached her hands behind her to pull
down the zipper of her dress—curious to see his reaction when she slid the
sheath from her body. She flexed her shoulders and the bodice began to drop.

The black sheath slithered down her body
with a soft rustle and he sucked in a breath. She was completely naked beneath
the silk.

“You saucy little minx,” he whispered.

He snaked out an arm, hooked it around her
waist and lifted her from the floor. Pivoting, he swung her around and to the
bed, sitting her down all in one continuous movement. He gave her no time to
react but fell to his knees, thrust her legs apart, hooked them over his
shoulders and buried his face between her spread thighs.

“Kiwi!” she gasped, her hands going to his
head.

With his hands shoved under her sweet ass,
he flicked his tongue over her warm folds, lapping at her as though he were a
cat and she the cream. He licked her from one end to the other as far as he
could reach her flesh. He used the tip of his tongue to stab at her clit then
latched his lips upon the tiny bud.

She was making gasping noises and her hands
were circling his head trying to gain purchase. Offhandedly he made a mental
note to let his hair grow long enough for her to get a damn good handful from
now on. He wanted to feel her fingers threaded through his hair. He wanted to
feel her tugging against his scalp.

He groaned against her and her ass left the
bed with a jolt. He knew the vibration against her very sensitive spot would
drive her wild and it did. Her squirming her ass off the bed gave him room to
slide his thumbs to the core of her and spread her wide so he could delve
inside with his tongue. He thrust inside her and she cried out, coming so hard
he swore he could feel the little quivers.

Before the last little spasm faded, he had
his arms under her legs and was scooting her to the center of the bed. She was
panting as he wedged himself between her thighs and lowered his mouth to her
breast. He locked her fingers between his and pinned them beside her head. He
ravaged her nipple with his lips, flicked his tongue over and around it,
lightly worried it with his teeth.

Beneath him she was squirming for he had
given her no respite from the moment she’d climaxed until he had stretched his
full weight upon her, pressing her firmly to the bed, his cock tight against
her nether curls. He was giving her no time to think—just experience the
headiness of impending penetration. He wanted her panting with need, craving
what he had to give her. He wanted sensory overload to take hold of her and
keep her tight in its grip.

His lips pulled at her nipples. His body writhed
over hers. Inch by inch, he used his knees to slowly push her thighs farther
and farther apart. Her fingernails dug into the backs of his hands and her head
was pushed back, her heels digging into the mattress. She was making little
mewing sounds that drove straight to his cock.

He shifted his attention to her other
breast and she cried out. He arched his hips from her until his cock was
sliding against her folds and she was in essence riding it. She tried to close
her thighs but with one final, brutal shove he pushed them as far apart as he
could. He reared up over her and with his lips on her nipple positioned the tip
of his shaft at her opening.

“Lie still,” he mumbled against her breast.

She couldn’t and he knew she couldn’t. He
really didn’t want her to. She was trapped by the sensations rippling through
her and he would capitalize on that. He pressed the head of his cock upward and
she bucked beneath him.

“Synjyn!” she shrieked and tried to impale
herself on him.

He pulled back and she sobbed with
frustration.

“Lie still,” he said once more and she
twisted her shapely ass under him.

Kissing his way from her breast, up her
exposed throat, he latched his mouth hotly on hers and thrust his tongue deeply
inside. She groaned and he snapped his tongue back at the same time he pressed
the head of his rod all the way into her body.

She stiffened then went wild beneath
him—writhing and wriggling, arching her hips in invitation. There had been only
a minute resistance to his shaft and then he was well seated within her but she
wanted more. He pressed deeper and stilled.

She mumbled against the invasion of his
mouth and he thrust his tongue past her lips as he thrust his cock deeper yet.

He stilled.

She moaned with growing aggravation.

He pulled almost all the way out.

“No!” she snarled against his mouth.

He thrust a little ways in then stilled.

“Synjyn, please!” she begged and her
fingernails drew blood on the back of his hand.

He grinned against her lips then shoved
himself to the hilt.

She screamed—not from the pain but the
immense orgasm that shook her entire body. Her legs came up and her thighs went
around his hips. She rocked against him until he was rocking into her like a
racehorse on its course. He flicked his hips forward, jerked them back then plunged
so deep he believed he could feel her womb.

She was hissing as she met him stroke for
stroke and when he came he threw back his head and bellowed.

At long last, she was completely his.

Night Twenty-Seven

It was the day before Thanksgiving and one
of the days of the week when she always visited her brother. Yet when she
arrived at the nursing home she was told he had already been transferred to
Cedar Oaks.

“Mr. McGregor hired a private ambulance
service to take him,” the head nurse told her. “I tried to phone you but you
must have already left your house.”

“I wish he’d told me he was going to do
this,” she said, a bit annoyed with the Kiwi.

On the thirty-minute drive out to Cedar
Oaks, she turned on the CD player expecting Mumford and Sons. The song that
began playing was
Red is the Rose
.

“You sneaky bastard,” she said, laughing,
her irritation with him evaporating.

He—or Jonny most likely—had replaced the
CD. It was a not-so-subtle reminder of their night together. The song had been
playing when she was shown to his table in the dining room of the club and he
had played it later that evening as they lay locked together in his bed,
watching the fish shimmering through the water overhead. He had sung along with
the instrumental and she was delighted to learn the man had an excellent voice.

“Come over the hills, my bonnie Irish
lass

Come over the hills to your darling

You choose the road, love, and I‘ll make
the vow

And I‘ll be your true love forever.”

Now she sang with the music and her heart
ached wishing he was there in the car to harmonize with her as he had the night
before.

The night before, she thought. What a night
it had been.

And would be again tonight for she was
going back to Club Triumph.
That
was his new Room, she thought, and what
a Room it was!

Her mind on him, on the purely carnal and
satisfying things he’d done to her, she flicked on her turn signal as soon as
she saw the sign for Cedar Oaks. Like the sign at Club Triumph, it was
discreetly placed at the entrance to a long, serpentine drive that meandered
through moss-draped live oaks, azalea bushes, magnolia trees and stately
Georgia pines. A weathered split-rail fence upon which grew wild honeysuckle
and trumpet vine bracketed each side of the road.

The song changed to
Wild Mountain Thyme
and she began to hum along with the instrumental. She was still humming when
she came around the last bend before reaching the main building.

The hum died in her throat when she saw the
news vans lined up on either side of the road and the talking heads with
microphones in hand standing at the bottom of the steps leading up to the
entrance. The care center administrator was on the top step in front of a trio
of microphones on stands. Beside her was a tall, cadaverous-looking man she’d
be willing to bet was either the chief of staff or the legal rep.

“Shit,” she said as unease shifted down her
back. She had no doubt whatsoever the press was there because of her connection
to Synjyn McGregor.

“What the fuck do you mean she’s hiding inside
Cedar Oaks?” he shouted.

“They ambushed her when she went out to see
her brother,” Jono informed him. “The lady who runs the place was holding a
press conference when Lina arrived. As soon as one of the reporters recognized
her, they rushed her car.”

“A press conference?” he snarled. “What the
fuck for?”

“The press was asking questions about Drew
and your connection to him. She was trying to fend them off. In hindsight, that
might not have been the wisest thing to do.”

“You think?” he asked sarcastically.

“One reporter tried to slip past security
but got caught,” Jono replied. “He got a bit roughed up in the scuffle and that
didn’t help matters.”

“How the
hell
did they find out
where he’d been moved?” he demanded.

“I don’t
know
, Synnie!” Jono yelled
back at him. “They must have had someone at the other nursing home tip them off
or they followed the ambulance.”

“Fuck!” he exploded.

“Most likely they followed the ambulance,”
Spike told him. “They’ve had people all around the nursing home since they
found out about Lina. Her office too.”

“The security guards ran over to Lina and
got her out—pushing and shoving the reporters out of the way. They said she was
crying by the time they got her inside the building.”

“Goddamn it!” he said and swept his arm
across his desk, sending everything to the floor. “Goddamn it to hell and back!
They made my woman cry! I’ll gut every last one of them!”

Accustomed to his bouts of destructive
rage, neither Spike nor Jono batted an eye.

“This is because of
her
!” he
snarled.

“Her and the Ukrainian slut,” Jono agreed.
“You wound up on the press radar with both of them.”

“Did it ever occur to you that Tatyana
might have been in league with Olivia?” Spike asked.

He turned toward her. “Eh?”

“Lina asked me if I thought it was a
coincidence that both of them accused you of beating them. That Olivia showed
up mere days after Tatyana’s claim was disapproved. Both of them were
determined to either put you in jail or extort money from you and when neither
could, Olivia had the living shit beaten out of you.” She shrugged. “Lina
doesn’t think it’s coincidence.”

“If she’s right, that could also explain
how the press found out about Lina,” Jono said. “That dirty cop Jack Bass works
for or with the Ukrainian hoor. He saw Lina with Craigie at the police station.
Wouldn’t have taken much for him to discover her name and everything he wanted
to know about her.”

“And don’t you find it odd that no one knew
about Lina until Olivia showed up and her nasty little plan failed?” Spike
suggested.

He stared at her. “The press has been all
over my ass since I got out of the hospital. I won’t give them a statement
about Olivia so they go after my woman instead?” He kicked the desk. “For what?
To piss me off?” He kicked it again. “Well, they succeeded!”

“Don’t get off the bike, we’ll pick up the
pump,” Spike mumbled.

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” he yelled at
her. “I want them off my property! They are on
my
property without my
permission. Get them the fuck off!”

“Your…?” Spike frowned. “Did you buy the
nursing facility?”

“Yesterday,” Jono replied with a grimace.
“Surprise.”

“Diversity,” he said—which was what he
always said when he bought something that made no sense to anyone other than
himself. “Did you hear me, Jono? I want them gone!”

“I’ll get right on it,” Jono said.

“And take my chopper out there to pick up
Melina. I want her here with me!”

“Good idea,” Jono told him. “I was
wondering how we were going to run the gauntlet to get her out.”

“She’s been through enough for one day,”
Spike put in.

He pointed a finger at her. “Call Kit and
tell him I want a state-of-the-art security kiosk built at the entrance to the
road into Cedar Oaks. Take Ellis out there with you on the chopper to begin
scanning handprints of all employees. If they’re off duty, have them come in
and be photographed and scanned. Tell that woman out there that every vendor
and visitor will be vetted and scanned or they will not be allowed on the
property. Anyone who has a problem with that can find another job or facility
for their people. I also want security fencing installed around the perimeter
and guards patrolling 24/7.”

Spike and Jono exchanged looks.

“
Did you hear me
?” he bellowed. “Are
your arms and legs painted on, Christine?”

“I’ve been doing this since your arsehole
was the size of a shirt button,” she snapped at him. “I’ll do what needs
doing.”

“And start looking for another job!” he
shouted at her as she left his office.

“Don’t tempt me!” came the angry retort.

“And call Jake! I want him here. Now!” When
there was no answer, he all but shrieked at the top of his lungs. “
Christine,
did you hear me
?”

“
Yes, I heard you, you dickhead. People
on the other side of the Ditch heard you
!”

“If you don’t calm down, you’re going to
have stroke, bro,” Jono said. “Let us handle this before you wind up with a
migraine.”

“They made my woman cry!” he said. “They
made her cry, Jono!”

Jono walked over and put a hand on his
shoulder. “Jake told you that you needed to make a statement to the press.
They’re not going to rest until you do so you might as well suck it up and do
it. If you want me to write something…”

“I’ve got people for that,” he grumbled.
“You go get my woman. That’s more important than anything else.”

“Don’t be like this when I bring her back,”
Jono said. “You need to be calm and collected for her. Can you do that?”

“I want to fucking
kill
somebody!”
he growled.

“Aye, well, let’s hold off on that, okay?”

He hung his head. “Just go get her, Jono,”
he said, his shoulders slumping. “I need my woman.”

“I imagine she needs you too, bro,” Jono
said softly.

She left Drew’s room with Mrs.
Holloway-Lutz, administrator for Cedar Oaks, accompanying the woman to her
office. She’d been in the long-term-care center for nearly two hours and had
yet to stop shaking. Every sound made her jump and tears threatened to erupt
all over again.

“Sit down, sweetie,” Mrs. Holloway-Lutz
said. “What you need is a nice strong drink.”

“It’s not even noon,” she protested.

“It’s five o’clock somewhere,” was the
answer.

Twisting her hands in her lap, she looked
out the window where the news people were still loitering. They weren’t as
close to the steps as they had been but—like vultures—were circling the
grounds.

“I don’t imagine Mr. McGregor will be very
pleased when he hears of this,” the woman said. “I have heard he is a very
private man.”

“He is,” she replied and when Mrs.
Holloway-Lutz brought a glass of dark amber liquid over to her, her hand shook
when she took the offering. “Thank you, Mrs…”

“Please call me Ann-Louise,” the woman
said. She took a seat on the settee and lifted the glass. “To new friends.”

“New friends,” she repeated and took a sip
of the very strong drink.

“He strikes me as being a man who gets
whatever he wants,” Ann-Louise said. “And refuses to take no for an answer.”
She looked at her over the rim of the glass. “Am I wrong?”

“No,” she said. “He’s accustomed to having
his way.”

“Powerful men always are,” Ann-Louise said.
“And in this town, you don’t get much more powerful than Synjyn McGregor.” She
smiled. “Or more alluring.” She lifted her glass again. “You, my dear, are a
very lucky young woman to have caught his eye.”

She didn’t know what to say to that so took
another sip of the potent brew, trying not to wince.

“Do you think he will ride to your rescue?”

She shook her head. “That would only make
matters worse. I suppose he’ll send someone to handle the situation.”

“Someone like that very handsome young
native man I met yesterday?”

“I’m not sure who you mean?”

“Jon, was it?”

“Oh, Jono Taunoa?” At Ann-Louise’s nod, she
smiled. “He’s Mr. McGregor’s right-hand man,” she said.

“Was he here to see to Drew being moved?”

“No, he was here to deliver the new
contracts for our employees,” she said.

“New contracts?”

“Surely you know Cedar Oaks is now a
subsidiary of McGregor Industries,” Ann-Louise replied.

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” she
muttered under her breath then took a large swallow of the terrible-tasting
liquor, trying not to cough as it made her eyes water.

“My guess is there will be some very strict
security measures put into place after today,” Ann-Louise said. “There won’t be
a repeat of today’s intrusion.”

“I imagine you’re right,” she said.

The sound of a helicopter engine made both
women glance out the window. The news people were busy aiming their cameras at
the sky and the approaching helo. They were jockeying for better positions from
which to get a good shot.

“Well, good Lord,” Ann-Louise said, getting
to her feet. She hurried to the window. “I hope the pilot doesn’t attempt to
land that thing on my front lawn!”

Getting up, she followed the older woman
and reached the window just as the black Bell 429 turbine engine helo
emblazoned with the silver MI logo underscored by a broad silver fern frond
appeared. It was hovering above the scramble of news vans, the downward wash
kicking up Georgia red-clay dust. The sound of the chopper did not quite drown
out the blaring sirens of the state patrol and county police vehicles that
suddenly appeared in the parking area. As the cops got out of their cruisers,
the bird veered off.

“This should be interesting,” Ann-Louise
said.

It didn’t take long for the county mounties
and state troopers to disperse the news vans and send them packing. When the
interlopers were packed up and rolling back down the entry road with the
cruisers tagging along behind, the helo returned to hover over the far end of
the parking lot.

“Don’t you just love a determined man,”
Ann-Louise said.

“He is that,” she mumbled in reply.

Before the skids touched down, the phone on
Ann-Louise’s desk rang and the older woman snorted indelicately as she turned
to answer it. “Yes, Karin?” She listened then smiled. “It’s for you, sweetie.”

Surprised, she took the receiver being
offered to her. “Hello?”

“I’m sorry, baby,” he said. “We’ll sort it
out when you get here.”

“Here?”

“Jono is bringing you to my office. Gotta
go.”

He hung up as though there were an
impending crisis—and she supposed to him this whole mess was.