Assassin's Promise, The Red Team Series, Book 5 (6 page)

He pushed her jeans down her hips, knelt in front of her to kiss her ribs, her bellybutton, one of her hips as he lowered them down to her ankles. She stepped out of them. He pushed them away, then brought his hands around her thighs. When he palmed the back of her thighs, a shiver whispered over her skin. His face pressed against the soft skin of her belly. She looked down at him, bowed before her. Her hands dug into his hair as she watched the play of muscles over his shoulders and arms as his hands stroked her ass.
 

She didn’t even care that her pink panties didn’t match her white bra. It certainly didn’t seem to bother him. His fingers slipped under the edge of her lacy boyshorts. She sucked in a breath as his fingers went from outer thigh to inner thigh. He looked up at her, watching her reaction as his fingers slipped the whole way to the back.
 

She was getting wet. If he touched her, he would know how much she wanted him. He smiled up at her. She wanted the ride he was offering, curious to see where it took them. It wasn’t like her to be so passive, but she liked how he was making her feel. She bit her lip as she looked down at him.

He touched her thighs. “You have goosebumps.”

She didn’t answer. She couldn’t.
 

He straightened and unfastened his belt as he walked over to the sofa. He disarmed his gun, set it on the coffee table, then sat down to remove his boots and socks. Standing, he shucked his cargo pants. He was commando. Her gaze dropped to his stiff erection which stood rigid and at a slight angle from a nest of dark hair. If she had any doubt he was ready for her, it was gone before she thought it.
 

He closed the distance between them and handed her the condom. “Cover me.”

Her fingers tingled as she opened the packet and rolled it over him. It was a tight fit. She looked up at him. He smiled. Her heart jumped. He took her hand and led her over to the stairs. He sat on the second step and brought her up to the first step. Looking up at her, he tugged her panties down her thighs. When they were at her ankles, she stepped free of them. His gaze moved over her body as he had her straddle him, facing him.

“You ever do it on stairs?” he asked. She shook her head. “It’s like a sex gym.” His cock was between them, resting against her thigh. He reached around her to unfasten her bra. It was a front opening clasp. He traced the band to the front and opened it, releasing all of her to his view.
 

He swallowed hard as he looked up at her. She wasn’t large breasted, but she wasn’t small either. She wondered briefly if she pleased him—a concern she’d never had before. He cupped her breasts in his hands and grinned as if he’d just been given his favorite toy. She arched her back, pressing herself forward, hungry to join with him.
 

His hands were warm on her soft flesh. He kissed the top of her breasts, the sides, nuzzling them. When he licked her nipples, she drew a sharp breath in. She put her hands on his shoulders, felt him flex as he moved forward to taste her.
 

“Greer—I need you.”

He pulled back and looked up at her. Leaving her breasts to their own heavy weight, he stroked her thighs, then rubbed his cock against her core. She lifted a bit. He held himself to her opening. She slowly lowered herself over him. He was wide and hard. Her slick body took him all the way in. She wanted to push up and down over him, but he held her hips still. He was throbbing inside her. Tension tightened his face.

She moved his hands to her breasts and held them there as she moved over him. She controlled their joining, moving at the speed she wished until he touched her clit and sent her spiraling into an orgasm.
 

When the waves eased away, he wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her until her breathing returned to normal. She realized he hadn’t come yet. He was still like iron inside her. She rocked her hips against his. He hissed a breath, then eased her off his lap. He caught her hand and started up the stairs. At the landing, she moved in front of him.

Halfway up the stairs, he said, “Remi, wait.”

She stopped and looked back at him. “Bend over.”

“Here?”

He nodded. “Right here. Right now.”

She did as he asked. She was sprawled over a couple of steps on the second upward set of stairs. He moved her legs farther apart and entered her. Leaning over her, he knelt on the step below her and braced himself on the step above her. She felt him sweep the hair from her neck, then kiss the back of her neck, her shoulder. Each long thrust into her made her nipples brush against the stair under her. She felt so much of him this way. She didn’t want it to end, but she was already close to peaking again.

His hand stroked the length of her back, moved around front, and caught her breast. He moved it down her ribs, going between her hips to play with her clitoris. She never thought she could orgasm like she did right there on the stairs. She cried out, pressing herself back against him.
 

When he pulled out of her, he was still hard. He led her up to the top step. Her body was still heated and hungry. He sat on the top step and drew her onto his lap. He kissed her chest, her neck, her chin. He leaned her back and bent over her to tongue her breast as he entered her.
 

She caught the banister and held on to his wide upper arm. “I’m going to fall, Greer.”

“Never gonna happen. Not while you’re in my arms. Hold on to me and let yourself go.”

He filled her completely. When he straightened, he leaned her against him. His tempo increased. One hand held her hip, the other her back, pressing her breasts to his chest. She lifted his face so she could kiss him. Midway through the kiss his orgasm hit. He pistoned inside of her, pumping hard and fast, sending her off again at the same time he found his own release.

He smiled as she came down from the high of passion. She touched his cheek and smiled back. He caught her face, bringing her to him for a kiss, one that promised the night was long from over.
 

He stood, lifting her with him, keeping their bodies joined as he carried her into her bedroom. He withdrew and set her on her feet next to the bed. “Want me to leave, Remi?”

No. She didn’t, and that should have panicked her. Instead, she felt a wonderful warmth she wasn’t ready to let go of. “No. I want you to stay.”

“Good.”

Remi’s bed was a crisp white-on-white set of cotton pillows and duvet cover. The air conditioning made the room cool. Greer ditched the condom in her bathroom. When he came back, Remi was in the middle of the bed. He picked the side nearest the door and settled next to her.

She moved closer, draping herself over his chest, twining her leg with his. He kissed her forehead, letting his lips linger there. He closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of her in his arms, warm and sated. Her fingers were playing with his chest hair.
 

“Tired?” he asked.

“I am. Thank you for staying. I would have been scared alone.”

He knew the feeling well. He hated being alone when he slept. “Close your eyes and sleep.” He felt the sigh she drew as if it came from his own lungs.
 

“I hope you’re going to be around here for a little while.”

“I am. A very little while.”

“I’d like to see more of you. While you’re here.”

Greer smiled as he touched her face. “You’ve seen all of me.”

She shook her head. “I’ve only seen your shell.”

His smile faded. “It’s dark inside the shell. Not a place for someone like you.”

“Because of the war?”

“Because of my war.” He reached for the sheet and drew it up over her shoulder. “Remi—before I leave, can I take a copy of your laptop?”

She pulled the sheet with her and sat up slightly to look down at him. “No.”

He touched her arm. “The WKB’s like a—” he struggled for the right word “—a flesh eating bacteria. Given a task, they will keep throwing resources at it until it’s achieved or until they’re ended. You don’t know what they’re after. Let me try to see what it is they want.”

“My laptop has a good amount of my research on it. I can’t risk that.”

“I’m not going to mess it up. I’ll take an image and use some of my team’s analytics to figure it out. Your data’s going no farther than my team.”

She frowned. “You have a team?”

“Yeah.”

“Why? What are you working on? What is so important about Sally that she’s of interest to the Department of Homeland Security?”

“Sally is a symptom of a bigger issue. She’s a lead we’re following.”

“Villalobo said you’re working on a case. What is it?”

“I don’t have clearance to tell you.”

“You want me to share my data, put my sources at risk—without any information from you. No.”

“I’m asking for your help. Have your sources committed any crimes? Are they engaged in treasonous behavior?”

“No. They’re pacifists, Greer. They’re good people who just want to live their lives.”

“Then we don’t give a shit about them. I need to know what it is the WKB wants so damn badly that they’ll expose themselves to outsiders in order to get.”

“The Friends are not involved in anything treasonous.”

“They’re friendly with the WKB. Makes them guilty by association.”

“Don’t do this. Please don’t do this. I promised them I would protect them in exchange for opening their community to me. No one, ever, has been allowed as close as I’ve gotten. My research is unique in my field. The Friends are one of the few surviving utopian societies from the nineteenth century. That’s huge.”

Greer touched her face, easing a lock of hair from her eyes. “Remi, something very bad is underway. When I said it was a war, I wasn’t being dramatic. You know the Friends. I know the WKB. You don’t want to be in their sights.”

She leaned away from him. “I think you should go.”

Greer sighed. “All right.” He swept the sheet off and crossed the room naked.
 

Remi put a robe on and followed him downstairs. He dressed, then holstered his weapon. He looked at her, reluctant to go—and not because he hadn’t succeeded in securing her information. “This isn’t over. The WKB are going to keep coming at you.”

She crossed her arms. “I’m sorry I can’t help you.” Her hair was still mussed from bed. She was rumpled and bed-warm and sexy as hell.

Greer looked at her beautiful face, and wished things were different.
 

The life he’d chosen to live had cost him everything so far—his parents, his sisters and their families, and his fiancée —all of his options were owned by the war he fought. He had no latitude for dreams.
 

“Night, Remi.”

“
Goodbye
, Greer.”

He nodded, not once doubting he’d hear from her again.

* * *

Greer wiped the last of his shaving cream from his face. He’d managed a few hours sleep after he got to Blade’s last night. He was up early so he could catch the team up with the info Remi found.

He heard someone come into his room. He stepped out of the bathroom, naked, to find Max standing with crossed arms at the end of the short hallway into his room. Angel was leaning against his dresser, grinning at him. Val was seated in the armchair by the window.

“You’re right,” Max growled, looking at him but talking to the others. “He does have a certain glow about him.”

“How would you know?” Greer asked.

Max arched a brow. “You think the shower washed it off?”

“We saw you sneaking in to the house on the camera,” Angel told him.

“I wasn’t sneaking in. I live here.”

“Whatevs. Who is she?” Val asked.
 

Greer sighed, then moved into his closet to pull on a fresh pair of cargo pants. He came out drawing a black tee over his head.
 

“He rescued a professor last night at UW,” Angel told the group.

“Whoa. You’re banging a cougar?” Val asked. “Kinda Oedipal, but yeah, go for it.”

“Val, you’re a sick motherfucker,” Greer complained.

“Not me. You’re the one doing a professor.”

“What makes you think all professors are old?” Greer asked. “And why are you guys so curious about my love life?” His glance swept the three of them. They all spoke at the same time.

“Um…the word ‘professor’?” Val answered.
 

“Who said anything about love?” Angel asked.
 

“Because you have no life,” Max added.

“Her name’s Dr. Remington Chase.” He looked at Val. “And she’s only a few years older than me.”
 

“She have any friends?” Angel asked.

Greer had to think about that. The vibe he got from Remi was that she was something of a loner. He shook his head. “Somehow, I don’t think so.”

“Way to represent the team,” Val said as he stood and crossed the room. “I’m going to breakfast. At least I can satisfy one appetite.”

Angel followed him, scowling at Greer as he went by.
 

Max stayed behind. Greer glared at him. “What?”

“Chasing Dr. Chase?”

“She’s a sociologist who’s studying the Friendship Community. She did some population analysis that might be interesting to us.”

“Like what?”

“She discovered an anomaly in the community which seems to indicate that, while it’s growing in size, it isn’t doing so from within. They’re losing a large percentage of their teenagers. Enough that without outsiders joining the community, it would have imploded long before now.”

Max frowned. “She know anything about Lion and his pride?”

“Haven’t asked.”

“What was up with the WKB and you last night? I almost had to leave a really warm bed to pull your hide out of trouble.”

Greer laughed. “Have you ever had to pull me out of trouble?”

“What happened?”

“Couple bikers started doing donuts around us. I thought they were there for me, but seems they wanted Remi’s laptop.”

“Did they get it?”

“No.”

“What was on it?”

“She won’t let me look at it—yet.”

Chapter Six