Inescapable (10 page)

He really did want to know. Was it important? Had to be. His job was to protect the witness, but she guessed he was reporting back to his colleagues on the blond guy, the

’shooter’ as he had previously called him.

“He knew where he was going, or seemed to.”

“Probably checked the place out before hand,” Seth commented. “He knew the fire escape went around to Adrian’s office.”

“When he got out of the elevator, he pushed me out of the way. I followed behind, trying to locate the suite. He kept looking back at me, so I lingered outside a door about half way down the corridor. That’s when he shot out of the window.” Seth’s expression grew overcast.

“I figured he was a maintenance man,” she added.

Seth rubbed a hand through his hair, putting his mug down. “You would, of course you would.” He gave her a brief smile, but he was deep in thought.

She felt Adrian growing tense again, and wished Seth hadn’t gone into it while he was there. “I’m guessing this is pretty heavy stuff, because of the evidence you’re giving?” Adrian nodded.

“What happens next? I mean, how long is it until the trial?”

“Ten days and hopefully Carlisle will be locked up for good. It can’t be over soon enough.” Adrian looked across at Seth. “Oh, bloody hell…I shouldn’t have even said that, should I. Sorry.”

“I didn’t hear it,” she offered, sensing this was difficult for them all.

Seth squeezed her hand. “Good girl.”

Adrian had lost his relaxed demeanour, and he stared across at Seth. “Did any of your other witnesses ever regret giving evidence?”

“Just about every one, at one point or another.”

“Well, I guess that’s reassuring, kind of.” He had a faraway look in his eye and he turned away and drank his tea. Lily noticed how browbeaten he looked. No wonder he had overlooked their date. This was heavy stuff.

“It always seems like a long wait,” Seth said, “but it’ll be behind you soon and you will have no regrets then, believe me.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Trust me.”

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The moment was heavy, but it obviously needed to be said. Lily considered that first meeting, how angry Seth had been when he’d almost lost his witness, how much care he’d taken about getting the pair of them out of the building and out of London. After a moment, she flipped open the duvet cover, and invited Seth back into the bed.

Putting his mug down on the floor, he climbed in and spooned her hips with his, his hand moving around her to cup her breast. He nuzzled at the back of her neck before he continued speaking. “The less you know the better. I know that’s hard, but it’s safest for everyone involved.”

“I understand.” Lily exhaled, her back tingling as he took up residence against it. He seemed to like planting kisses on the back of her neck, and he breathed against the skin in the most provocative way. That area had never had so much attention, but she wasn’t complaining. Apparently it was a sensitive place and it made her respond to him in the most delicious way, sending darts of stimulation all over her, from her nipples to her toes.

Adrian took the cup from her hand and she wriggled further down in the bed. Seth grazed her earlobe softly with his teeth, his breath warm on her skin. Her body simmered against his, her eyelids fluttering shut, the arousal simmering in the pit of her belly flaring demandingly.

“So…we just have to amuse ourselves for the foreseeable future?” she asked, with laughter in her voice when she felt his fingers moving over her nipples. “Is that what you are trying to tell us?”

Adrian’s concerned look had evaporated.

“You’re a cheeky sort,” Seth commented.

Lily rolled onto her back between them. She was turned on, but she also wanted to know what made him tick. “I’m also sharper than you give me credit for.” She gave him a knowing look. “You are using sex to distract us.”

“No.” He looked down at her with curiosity. “Well…maybe a bit, but the fact you are here made this pretty unavoidable.” He shot her an accusing look. “You are trouble, and I knew that the moment I saw you.”

“Oh that’s right, blame me.” Peering up at him, she took a moment to consider the implications of what he’d said, and they were varied. “You don’t seduce every couple you have in witness protection?”

His face was a picture. He stared across at Adrian dubiously. “I didn’t seduce Adrian.”

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“Ah, so you admit you seduced me.”

He frowned at her, and then rubbed his hand around the back of his neck before answering. It was fascinating for Lily, because he was experiencing the same sort of dilemmas she was, the morning after the day before. Last night it had been so simple. Now she was confused. Seth, too, was clearly uneasy with the idea that she thought he’d seduced another man, not to mention the fact he’d moved in on Adrian’s date.

She tapped his chest with one finger. “Just trying to get a rise out of you.” His mouth tightened in a wry smile, and then he nodded at Adrian. “You’re with Adrian. I don’t do relationships.”

They both stared at him. Lily hadn’t realised he was thinking along those lines as well.

“Seriously,” Adrian commented, with mock surprise. “You’ve never shagged a woman before?”

“Now you’re just pushing your luck that bit too far.” Seth shook his head. “I’m just an add-on feature here, is what I mean.”

“An add-on?” This was a bit of a dilemma for him, Lily realised, even as she teased him about it. He shouldn’t be in bed with either of them, she supposed. “Like a sex toy, huh?

Comes with a screw-in attachment that will have you moaning with pleasure.” Seth lifted one eyebrow at her, but the comment had diffused his tension. “So, have you ever done this kind of thing before?” he asked, his thigh resting heavily against hers again.

He was good at changing the subject, Lily noted. “What, get stranded in Wales in police custody?” She stuck her tongue out at him, but she loved how this felt, the simmering arousal, the playful banter. It echoed the hot, easy-going intimacy she had felt with Adrian online. Something tickled the back of her consciousness all the same. The joke she had made in passing about Seth doing this to distract them. Was he? All of it, even the easy going attitude? Had he picked that up from Adrian? Was he the sort of man you could ever get close to, really? She pushed the thought away, because she didn’t like the way it felt.

Seth nudged the duvet down, making it obvious he was taking a better look at her.

“You know what I mean, taking on two men at the same time.”

“No. I’ve never done this before. In fact,” she said, thinking aloud, ”I never even thought about anything like this, and I’ve had some pretty wild fantasies.” Her face heated, because the way they were both staring at her made her wish she hadn’t said that. “Shut up,” she declared.

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Seth shrugged. “We didn’t say a word.”

He might not have said a word, but his cock was getting harder.

“You were thinking something though, weren’t you?”

“Nothing at all.” He nudged his erection against her hip. “Right now, my brain is completely empty. I have no clue why.”

Adrian laughed.

Moaning softly, she wriggled between them. Turning to face Adrian, she found his cock solid against her belly. Automatically, her hand closed around it.

Seth grumbled at her back, his cock upright and hard in the groove where her thighs met. Resting a kiss against her shoulder, he breathed her in then growled, before biting her playfully. There he was on that sensitive spot again. It was like he knew exactly what it did to her. “I do hope this isn’t a cold shoulder.”

“Luckily for you, it isn’t.” She opened her legs and trapped his rock-hard cock between her thighs, squeezing it hard. He groaned, and she purred, her hands closing over Adrian’s upright cock. Adrian kissed her, his hands cupping her face, his cock pushing gratefully into her hands. Seth kissed and bit into her shoulder from behind while his cock slid in and out between her thighs, the slick head moving against her sensitive inner thighs, making her clit throb.

Seth’s hand reached around to rest on her pussy. Against her back she felt how hard his muscles were, the wall of his chest and the tight ridges of his abdomen. Rolling her hips, she moaned into Adrian’s mouth as he kissed her. Seth’s fingers rubbed her clit in a self-assured, almost lazy rhythm. “So wet, you naughty lady.”

“I wonder why,” she responded, breathily, his touch making her clit thrum. Wrapped in them both, the double-dose of machismo that surrounded her made her feel lush, rich to overflowing with female power. She was so wet her thighs were slick, and his fingers slid readily between her folds, sending waves of pure ecstasy deep inside her. Bound up in the unfolding sexual rapport, her body undulated between them.

Glancing down, she marvelled at Adrian’s upright cock in her hands, the way it bowed, the swollen crown, the slick opening. Running her thumb against its sensitive underside, she gasped as he tweaked her nipple in return. Her thighs tightened on Seth’s cock.

“Oh yes, like that, squeeze tight,” Seth encouraged, thrusting faster, his fingers homing in on her clit, rolling back and forth over it.

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She was totally given over to the decadent experience of hands and cocks and fingers and sticky wet pleasure, her climax on the horizon. Adrian’s eyes closed, then opened, and his gaze seared her, so intense that she felt his need as though it were inside her.

I want him; I want to feel him inside me while he looks at me like that.

It was too late to change their position. The symbioses of their three bodies in motion was so intoxicating that she lost herself in the moment, her orgasm blossoming, the grind of hips and hands in mutual masturbation fated to fulfil.

Adrian arched his head back, the muscles in his neck cording, his face contorting as his cock jerked in her hands. She buckled when she felt his hot semen on her skin, her body tightening, her spine rigid, before she melted into relinquishment. As she did, Seth thrust hard and fast, and she heard his grunt of release close behind her, his mouth resting against her ear as he soaked her thighs and pulled free.

Panting, she moved her hands to her belly then up to her breasts, massaging them there, the slick essence of Adrian’s semen like a signature on her, a brand she wanted to wear, proudly. Her thighs were stained with Seth, her breasts and hands with Adrian.

“Bloody hell.” Adrian stared at her.

“I don’t want to forget,” she whispered, trying to explain her strange, instinctive ritual.

“I don’t think any of us will forget this.” Seth’s lips brushed over her neck and her skin was so sensitive she moaned aloud.

“No. Let’s just enjoy it, life’s short.” It was Adrian.

Looking into his eyes, she saw all the things that he had tried to hide from her. The deep concerns; the need to know that he was doing the right thing. She saw and felt it all, and she knew what else he was thinking—that she wouldn’t have slept with him if it hadn’t been for Seth. That was wrong, so wrong. Reaching out, she found his hand and meshed her fingers with his

Deep inside her she wanted to hold the moment forever, to hold both of them and chase away the world. Instead, a face flashed in her mind—the face of the man who had been in the elevator with her in London. Doubts crowded in, like unwelcome shadows, shadows that Lily resented. Mustering all her inner strength, she pushed them away. Pure pleasure was at their fingertips, and who knew what lay beyond—tomorrow, or the day after that. Her friend Andrea was always telling her to live for the moment. For the first time ever, Lily totally

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understood the sentiment. “We’re here together, let’s enjoy every minute. It would be wrong not to grab the chance for happiness when it happens like this.”

“You’re not wrong there,” Seth said, and Adrian nodded, gratefully, putting the seal on it for her.

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Emery Lavonne stood in the entrance of the East End grill bar Keane had designated as a meeting venue and grimaced. The place was noisy and reeked of fast food and high cholesterol. A waitress was on her way over, but he spied Jason Keane sitting in a booth nearby and headed over. He recognised him from his photos on police records, always a sign of criminal pedigree. Keane was tucking into a burger, and he didn’t stop eating when Lavonne joined him.

Sliding into the seat opposite, Lavonne noticed a lone man sitting on the other side of the restaurant, watching. A bodyguard? Jason Keane would have at least two minders, much like Carlisle. Between them they were responsible for a large percentage of London’s drug trafficking, and they always travelled in packs.

“Coffee, black,” Lavonne said, when the waitress appeared. “That’s all.” Keane wiped his mouth with his paper napkin and eyed Lavonne across the table, then he took an envelope out of his pocket and put it on the table between them. “How long will this take? Mr Carlisle is understandably eager to have his errant accountant taken care of as quickly as possible.”

“There’s been a change of location.” He shrugged. “High profile witness, it happens.”

“And?” Keane narrowed his eyes.

“And the sooner I’m done here,” he said, pointedly, “the sooner I can find out where that is.”

Keane picked at his teeth for a moment, annoyance flickering in his eyes. “So why did you offer to do this, don’t the police pay you enough?”

“Think what you like.” He’d got a taste for the killing. That wasn’t something you admitted to, especially when you were a policeman. Eighteen months before he’d killed for the first time, whilst protecting a witness. The buzz was unlike anything else he’d ever experienced, and he’d craved more of it. He’d fought it, for a while. Then he didn’t fight anymore. Now he had to deal with Seth Jones and the job promised to be doubly rewarding.

He’d never liked Jones. He’d have his man soon enough.

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The waitress arrived with his coffee. He took a mouthful and then pushed the cup away. “Was there something else?”

Keane looked across the table with undisguised animosity. “I don’t have any faith in you. I want you to know that I’m only going along with this because Eric does, and I have to respect that. I have, however, told him I have my doubts. If you mess up, you’ll make my day.”

Lavonne faked a smile. “If you’re trying to motivate me, it’s really not necessary.”

“We’ll see.”

He stood up, pocketed the envelope of money, and left. Glancing back over his shoulder, he noticed Keane nod at his henchman. They were going to try to follow him.

Lavonne smiled to himself. If they thought they were going to use him to find Walsh they had another thing coming.

Not going to happen, buddy. This is my kill.

* * * *

Adrian and Seth were in the kitchen hunting for food, when Adrian spotted the clock on the cooker and noticed it was near one in the afternoon. He was starting to lose all sense of time, as well as all sense of the outside world. Was that a good thing, or a bad thing, he wondered?

“We’re almost out of milk.” Seth grabbed a box of cereal and dipped into it, eating it directly from the box. “I’ll have a cup of tea and then go get some fresh supplies.” Adrian plugged the kettle in and then leaned against the work surface. “Is it far?” Seth shook his head. “I’ll be gone forty minutes, maybe less.” He had that assessing look in his eyes. “Can I trust you two to stay inside and out of view?”

“Yes, of course.” He was trying to picture where they were in Wales. He’d visited Cardiff, but he didn’t know this area at all. How far away was the nearest town?

Seth lifted three cups out of a cupboard and opened the tea caddy. He glanced back at Adrian while he did so. “Should I be apologising to you, about Lily?” Adrian was surprised, and amused. He resisted the urge to chuckle, and stared at Seth, deadpan. Shrugging, he waited expectantly. After a moment, Seth put the tea caddy down

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and raised his hands, a tea bag rather comically clutched between the fingers of one hand.

“Look mate, I’m sorry, it just sort of happened.” Adrian laughed. “I’m kidding…although I have to say it is good of you to apologise.” He smiled. Seth relaxed, visibly. He really had been worried. “It’s not the sort of thing that anyone can orchestrate,” he added. “It just happened. As you said, it took all three of us to agree to it. Lily was up for it, I enjoyed it, and if it hadn’t been for your presence it might never have happened.”

“It would have happened,” Seth responded. “She was ready for you when she arrived at your office.” He shook his head. “Man, was she ever ready.” Adrian paused before replying to that one. “I’m not going to lie, I do wish I had been the one who opened the door, but things might have taken a very different turn. As my secretary is always telling me, we have to believe in fate sometimes, especially when it deals us out such a bloody good hand as this one.”

“Agreed.” There was respect in Seth’s eyes.

“I’d be climbing the walls here if it wasn’t for Lily, what with the case pending.” Seth nodded.

The black clouds on his horizon crowded in again. “I don’t want to regret agreeing to give evidence, but I have to say, it’s doing my head in right now.”

“It’s natural. Think about how you’d feel if you hadn’t come forward. You’d still be at his beck and call, and that would only escalate once he got a hold on you.”

“That’s true.”

Seth had been with witnesses before, many times. This kind of stress would be something he’d be familiar with.

“Thanks.”

“Any time, really. If you want to talk, I’m here.”

“There is something I’m curious about. Why did you change the location? Not that I’m complaining, mind you. This place is great, very comfortable. I’m just curious.”

“The attempt,” Seth answered, simply, eyes downcast. “Just wanted to be doubly sure.” Silence hung between them for a moment, and then Adrian reached out and put his hand on Seth’s shoulder. “I appreciate everything you’ve done for my safety, mine and Lily’s.”

Seth gave a lopsided smile. “It’s my job.”

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Lily wandered in. She was wearing one of the T-shirts Seth had offered, socks, and not a lot else. As she joined them she looked the pair of them over, a bemused smile took up residence on her face. “I’m not interrupting a special moment between you two, am I?” Seth frowned. “Huh?”

“You two seemed to be getting so much closer…should I be jealous?” Her eyes rounded and then she winked. “I mean, you will still need me at bedtime, right?”

“No way, you can’t be serious.” Seth laughed. “I don’t mind sharing, but it’s this I’m after.” He spanked her firmly on the bottom, and Lily jolted and then moaned, audibly, eyelids lowering.

“Whereas me, on the other hand…” Adrian said, adopting a deadpan expression again.

He waited until they both looked his way. Lily looked fascinated, Seth wary. “I’ve always wondered what it would feel like, to make another man come.” Seth looked seriously disturbed, and then Adrian laughed.

Seth reached again for the cereal packet, shaking his head. “You’ve got a seriously warped sense of humour. You’re ganging up on me, the pair of you.” The clouds had gone again, at least for the time being, and Adrian preferred it that way.

* * * *

The shower cubicle in Adrian’s en-suite bathroom was large, which was just as well.

Lily stood just outside of the fall of water with her back against the tiled wall. Steam filled the cubicle—steam, and the sound of her sighs of approval.

Adrian was facing her, the spray from the shower beating against his back. With his palms alternately cupped and splayed, he soaped her breasts—slowly, luxuriously—and he’d been doing it for at least a minute. Lily was in heaven.

Seth had gone to get milk and bread and once he’d left them, Adrian led her to the shower. First he’d shampooed her hair, carefully, silently. Lily was still in a haze of pleasure from what had gone before, and she felt languid and cherished as he washed her. With intricate care, he’d soaped her hands and arms, his cock half-risen as he did so. His hair was plastered to his head, and it made him look even leaner, the line of his jaw constantly drawing her hand to it. He stared at her as if learning every inch of her body, and now his attention to her breasts had turned into an erotic massage of which she had never known the

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like. Watchful and responsive to her sighs, he had sensitised her breasts to the extreme, kneading them gently and then tweaking the nut hard nipples, alternating between the two.

Lily sighed with ecstasy.

“When I first said I’d give evidence, I never imagined I would be doing something like this while in witness protection.”

She rested her hands on his shoulder for balance, looking deep into his eyes. “No, I never even thought that we’d be able to get this intimate on our first date, let alone spend so much time together.”

He nodded happily. “I didn’t dare think about it beyond the first meeting. I just wanted that to go well, hoping that we could experience a bit of what we’d had online.”

“This is even better.” She nodded down at where his hands were squeezing her. “That’s so, so good,” she added, breathlessly. “I actually think you could make me come like that.”

“You reckon?” Holding his gaze with hers, he stroked her breasts for a moment longer, and then kissed her, long and slow, before continuing. “That’s good to know, but I really want to be inside you when you come.”

Lily’s pussy fluttered with expectation, and then he bent down to take one nipple in his mouth, his hands cupping both breasts as he did so.

“Are you sure your dodgy knee is up to it?” She managed to get the words out while she clenched her hands to stay focused. Her nipples were so hard they stung and the one he was licking burned as he sucked on it and then grazed it with his teeth, sending a jagged riff from her breasts to her centre and back again. Her clit pounded, and she blinked into the steam as she rested her head back against the tiled wall, barely able to stand.

“It’s fine, and I’m more than ready.” Adrian lifted his head and moved his hand, stroking his entire palm up and down the mound of her pussy, kneading it as he did so.

“Believe me, I am so ready. All those weeks of foreplay, the anticipation.” He shook his head.

“Watching you with Seth is such a turn on. The only thing that has stopped me going completely insane last night and this morning is the fact that you are so damn good with your mouth and your hands.” His fingers made their way inside her, and she could see he was barely holding back as he thrust one finger into her sex, his erection long and hard against her hip. “But now I need to fuck you, badly.” Lily moaned.

“I want to be inside you when you come,” he repeated.

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“In that case you better get us back to the bed, quickly.” She gasped when he thrust another finger inside her. “Especially if you are going to continue doing that.” His eyes seemed to light, and his grin was wicked. With one hand claiming her pussy, he plucked her nipple with the other, pulling on it until she cursed, loudly.

She reached for the shower faucet, and turned it off. “I’m not kidding! On the bed, quickly.”

Adrian laughed when she staggered out of the cubicle, grabbing his hand as she went.

He lifted a towel as they passed the rail, but when he went to dry her off she flung herself on the bed on her back.

“Hurry,” she said.

But Adrian paused and he nodded down at her groin. “Show me.” He was standing at the edge of the bed, her viewpoint placing him right between her thighs, right where he’d told her he’d stand in all those raunchy chats they’d shared.

Moaning, she lifted her feet, planting them on the bed, opening her legs as she did so, baring her pussy to him.

“Touch yourself; I want to see it, long to see it.” His cock was rigid and tapping against his belly. He stroked himself, one hand riding up and down, rhythmic and purposeful on his cock.

With her fingers, she splayed her pussy, moving over its slick surface. Her folds were engorged and hot, and her clit beat wildly, so swollen and expectant that when she touched it her back arched against the bed. “Please, Adrian.”

“Please what?”

“Please. I want you, now.”

“Ah, ah, ah,” he teased, wagging a finger at her, eyes warm and filled with desire and affection. “I
am
going to fuck you, believe me. But I’m living the dream, lady, all the things you put in my head. I’m living out the promise. Make yourself come, I want to see it. Then you’ll get the rest.”

Knees lifted, urgency swamping her, she rubbed herself quickly for relief. It didn’t take long, not in her current state. With her clit captured between two fingers, she squeezed it then rolled back and forth until she climaxed, her body feverish because of the way he was watching her, so obviously wanting her and ready to go.

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He strode to the bedside cabinet, where Seth had left a box of condoms, and quickly pulled one out and on. Then he was there, between her legs, his sheathed cock pressed upright between the lips of her pussy.

Lily’s head thrashed against the pillows, her hips lifting against the rigid shaft, her clit thrumming with sensation. “I want you, want you so badly.”

“Music to my ears, lover.” He manoeuvred his cock to her opening and drove inside in one swift, possessive movement.

It took her breath away, making her spine stretch. Her thighs locked around his hips, heels against the back of his legs, her body clamping onto him, inside and out.