Courting Passion (4 page)

“I’m not making excuses,” she added. “A lot has happened in the last day or so. Forgive me. If we’re going to work together we need at least a minimal level of trust. I’ll try to not jump down your throat again. This is a big change for me. I’m not adapting as well as I could.”

“Sweetheart, you can jump down my throat any time you like,” Garth riposted with a wicked grin. He turned to look at her, the laughter in his dark eyes making her belly roll with lust.

Damn the man was sin incarnate.

Katherine huffed out a low laugh and punched him lightly in the shoulder. Warmth spread through her chest, grateful acknowledgement of how easily he had let her sharpness go.

“I’ve been thinking about how we can try to narrow potential suspects for who the traitor might be,” Katherine said. “Now you’re firmly crossed off the list, of course, it takes us back to square one.”

Garth stood, an intrigued look on his face. His hands rested on his hips as they talked in quiet tones to each other. The sexual chemistry still burned between them, but the serious note to their conversation distracted her.

“I presume word of Oscar’s identity has filtered through the rank and file?” he stated more than asked.

Katherine nodded and tilted her head towards a small group of agents clustered around one workstation on the other side of the large room.

“Walters and Peterson are leading. I think they’ve got three different pairs rotating on shifts to get everything they can within the next day or so.”

“I’m sure the overtime will be welcome,” Garth inserted. “Have you heard from Henley yet?”

Emma Henley was the team leader, responsible for overseeing each of their partnerships and coordinating everyone’s missions. “No, I haven’t seen her since I left yesterday to pick you up for questioning,” Katherine replied. “I’ve emailed her a brief update after our interview yesterday to clear your name, but things have been hectic since. I haven’t seen or heard from her.”

Garth looked around the office. The hum of activity was evidence of contained chaos. After perusing the large room his gaze came to rest on hers again. Katherine chuckled, no words needed to be said.

“Yes, I know. It is rather crazy around here right now, isn’t it? I can just imagine how upper management has their knickers in a twist over events so far. Even with Victor safely returned to us, an unknown terrorist organisation has the resources and competency to not only kidnap one of our own, but instigate an exchange of data so valuable we don’t fully understand how deeply it reaches into our government. Then, of course, there’s the insult added to the injury that an untrained civilian and an external PI managed to crack the case and instigate Victor’s return, practically unassisted by us. Yes, I can imagine how heads will roll soon.”

“We need to get our hands on a copy of whatever Walters and his men have on Jennings,” Garth suggested. “We can go over it, maybe do some data mining ourselves while we wait for our chance to trace where Jennings and his goons are hiding out.”

“Do you want to go over and organise that while I pack up, or should I?” she asked, her mind flickering ahead to the potential of what the forthcoming evening could bring.

Garth’s gaze lingered on her lips, then lowered to her chest. Katherine felt her cheeks heat. She felt as if he were caressing her, his nimble hands tracing over her skin tantalisingly, his fingers once again pinching her nipples with that exquisite blend of pleasure and pain.

Finally, his eyes lifted and the naked need she saw in those black orbs stole her breath away.

“I think Walters will be far more susceptible to a suggestion from you, sweetheart,” he purred. “I’ll pack up the laptop and gather our things. I’ll meet you out front when you’ve sweet-talked poor, unsuspecting Walters into emailing the file to you.”

Katherine grinned and squeezed his shoulder in an innocent gesture of camaraderie. She tilted her head so she could whisper in his ear.

“Who knows? Maybe I can be persuasive enough to get him to print me out a hard copy.”

Garth growled low in his throat, the sound one of masculine defensiveness.

“Don’t go overboard, Kate,” he warned her with a harsh snap. “My patience only extends so far. I’ve been rock hard for you all this time. You don’t want to see me snap and lose control.”

Katherine released his shoulder and stepped back, her gaze thoughtful. Despite her initial distrust of him, she knew he wouldn’t let her down. They could rely on each other to cover each other’s back and arse. Indeed, her arse was safest with Garth rather than anyone else.

The thought made her smile.

“I trust you,” she replied. “You might snap, you might even cause me some…discomfort, Garth, but you’d never harm me, not irreparably. I know that.”

Surprise flared in his eyes as his eyebrows rose. Throwing him an impish grin over her shoulder, she added an extra sway to her hips as she stalked across the room. The men were gathered together over the other side, discussing Jennings and dissecting possible connections to others within the Agency.

Her sway was purely for Garth, though she noticed that, one by one, the other agents took note of her sultry walk. She’d never thought to use her charms on her colleagues, it had seemed beneath her. As the mental image of Tarek lying bleeding and dead on the ground burned behind her eyes, she knew her attitude had been permanently altered.

She still didn’t trust the cowboy, borderline rogue methods, but if they worked she’d use them now. Justice was not as black and white as she had always believed. If a bit of a smile and slutty kink to her walk helped her get the results she needed, then so be it.

“Hi, guys,” she upped the voltage of her smile. “You’re working on Jennings? I have the biggest favour to ask.”

She didn’t need to pretend to add the tremble to her smile when she thought of her fallen partner. Despite overplaying her hand right now, her grief for her friend remained deep and true.

After a pause, when she knew she held their attention, Katherine continued. “You know he’s responsible for harming Tarek, don’t you?”

The men nodded. Katherine pressed her lips together and restrained herself, reluctant to press.

“I don’t have to tell you I want this bastard badly, along with the possible traitor—if we have one internally. I promise to not step all over your feet, but I’m hoping you’ll agree to share everything you’ve found with me.”

Katherine met each of their gazes as they stared hard at her. She tilted her head. The innocent gesture turned one of her shoulders and, in a smooth motion, pushed one of her breasts against her shirt.

“He has been my partner for five years,” she reminded them. “If the situation was reversed you know I’d do the same for you.”

One of the men nodded, then Peterson joined in and glanced at Walters. With a sigh he waved a hand, conceding defeat. Katherine grinned, relieved.

“Can you email it to me?” she asked as she moved in to glance at the screen they’d all been discussing. She brightened her smile once again, thinking of Garth and their teasing.

“And maybe I could print out a hard copy? Just for the road, you know.”

Chapter Two

“I can’t believe how little data there is on Jennings,” Katherine said, amazed. Garth returned from the kitchen holding two mugs of tea. “In this day and age it should be impossible for a man in his late fifties to have so little in the way of information against his name.”

“Maybe his name isn’t really Oscar Jennings?” he hypothesised.

Katherine took the mug Garth offered her and cupped it in her hand to absorb the warmth. The night had turned cool. It had been almost forty-eight hours since she’d been in her flat, the rooms had become uncomfortably chilly after a long stretch without the heating on.

She cast a quick gaze at the laptop. They had set it up to one side of her coffee table. It emitted sporadic hums and pings as the programme cycled through, searching for any indication the frequency they sought was being used. Katherine had set up her own laptop in the centre of the table so they could both view the data Walters and the other agents had collected so far on Jennings.

“Victor recognised him as Jennings, though,” she answered with a frown. “So either it’s an alias he uses a lot and is commonly known, or he’s deleted any background information held on him. Wiped himself clean.”

“Gee,” Garth replied with a sarcastic grin. “No one in our industry ever does that.”

Katherine laughed, drank some of her tea and placed the mug down on a coaster.

“If I were in Peterson and Walters’ shoes I’d get some of the techs on to unearthing his background,” she commented. “What we really need is to find a connection between Jennings and someone from the Agency, a link we can use as proof to get another interview set up.”

Garth rubbed his eyes and Katherine saw him glance at the frequency scanner before returning his attention to the files she scrolled between. She found it interesting she had tuned into his personal ticks and mannerisms enough that she could feel the impatience radiating from him. She wondered how long it would take before he’d break down and pounce on her.

Just as she figured she had ten or fifteen minutes, he sat back on the couch and snaked a hand under and up the bottom of her shirt. In a swift motion, he unsnapped her bra and reached around to cup one of her breasts as it spilled out of the soft lace. He sat up again, his chest pressed into her back, his other hand at her neck, unbuttoning her shirt.

Stepping out of her pumps, Katherine lifted up, turned around and swung a leg over Garth’s thighs so she straddled him. Cupping her hands to his jaw she ground her dripping pussy over his pants to show just how ready for him she was.

“I could hardly pay attention when Scott explained everything to us,” she confessed, panting as she dipped to cover his mouth with hers. Katherine had no clue where her shirt fell as Garth pulled it from her arms. She slid her bra off and tossed it to a corner of the couch. Garth moaned as he palmed both her breasts.

“Bloody hell, I could spend a whole day doing nothing but playing with these,” he said, his voice rough with need. Katherine gasped as he bent his head and suckled her right nipple, his tongue flickering over the tight nub as his teeth latched firmly on.

Her back arched and rational thought fled from her mind as intoxicating pleasure radiated from her nipples down to her clit, electrifying each nerve on its way through. It took her a moment to get her hands working again and, with fumbling fingers, she undid the buttons of his shirt. Finally, she opened each side and exposed his chest to her view.

Garth played her body to perfection. His teeth and tongue worked her to a fever pitch. Moving his fingers delicately over her breasts and nipples, he made sure the luscious peaks didn’t feel neglected. The tingling deep within her stomach grew, her clit thrummed and she knew she couldn’t last.

Katherine didn’t want to come too soon, though. She’d already climaxed once today because of this man’s wicked fingers. It was his turn. Rising up on her knees, she inserted one thigh between his legs, and nudged them apart. Tugging gently, she urged Garth to scoot forward on the couch and she turned to move the coffee table back to give herself room.

Kneeling between his thighs, she felt her excitement skyrocket as she unfastened his pants. Garth toed off his shoes, bent to remove his socks and lifted his hips as she pulled his trousers and boxers off. She lifted his sac with one hand and wrapped her other around his girth.

Closing her hand around his shaft into a fist, she pumped her hand up his length, swiping her thumb over his tip to collect the fluid already leaking from his slit. Garth rocked his hips up, thrusting his cock faster through her hand. Rolling her fingers beneath his balls, she explored him with a decadent slowness, to further inflame him.

“Kate…” he growled at her. She looked up to catch his gaze as she continued to stroke along his shaft. He was warm beneath her touch, his head slick as she toyed with him.

Kate needed to assuage her curiosity. She lowered her head and feathered her lips around his tip. Caressing his cock with her tongue, she taunted Garth with how close—and yet how far—he was from her mouth enfolding him.

“Suck me,” Garth demanded as he canted his hips towards her. His tone demanded, brooked no argument.

With a small smile of private victory, Katherine complied. She’d discovered within herself a hitherto unknown desire to push this dark man’s buttons.

All of them.

She shivered at the thought of what it would be like to truly feel him lose control.

Katherine opened her lips and swallowed down around Garth’s thick cock. She breathed through her nose, focused and relaxed her throat muscles to take him even further down as he pressed inside her. Sitting down on her heels, Katherine lifted her gaze to catch Garth’s. She stared at him innocently, her expression clearly asking, “Is this what you wanted?”

“Yesss, just like that,” Garth hissed between clenched teeth. His hand cradled the back of her skull. He pulled a dozen or so pins from her hair and the tresses fell just below her shoulders.

Immediately, his fingers twisted in the strands and he groaned his approval. His hips set a driving rhythm and, once she’d acclimatised to it, she began to bob her head in time. Her tongue flicked out and she laved at the pre-cum that leaked from his tip.

Katherine found she had to focus on keeping her breathing regulated, her excitement warring with her racing heart and threatening to make her lose control. After a moment, her eyes fluttered closed and she massaged her breasts, squeezing the nipples in mimicry of what Garth had done earlier in the day.

“Let me,” he said, his voice thick with lust. Garth covered her hand with his and he took over from her with evident pleasure. Katherine’s head fell back as much as it was able and a moan of deep satisfaction rumbled through her, vibrating in her throat and caressing his cock with the sound.

Garth pumped his prick faster into her mouth, the usually fierce grip on his control clearly slipping. With one hand he guided her head down in an ever increasing pace while the other fondled her breasts with skill.