Like Honey (17 page)

W
hen Jennifer felt him slide in the bed next to her, she awakened out of her deep sleep. It was like a dream. He was behind her, circling her with his arms and legs and kissing her neck. He sucked in air when he realized she was naked. His hands moved all over her, as her legs held him closer. Skin on skin. Breath on her neck. She arched against him and almost purred.

“Mmmmmmm,” she said. “You're home.”

“Yes,” he said with a raspy note to his voice. “And here you are.”

She turned around to face him, tangling their arms and legs until they found the right spots to lay their limbs. He was already hot and hard and pressing against her. She reached for him and gently moved her fingers along the ridge of his erection, twitching at her touch. Jennifer found his nipple with her other finger and plucked at it, then she playfully pushed him back on the bed. Back to bed, running her hands along the length of his whole body, finding his nipple with her teeth and tongue, then his stomach.

His hands in her hair, pulling gently.

“Jen—” he managed to say.

“Shut up, Gray,” she said, then brought the tip of him to her tongue and swirled around on the head of his cock till his moans and sighs filled the cottage. He tasted salty and musky, and she slid her mouth down the shaft and brought it back up, sucking gently, then down again.

He throbbed in her mouth—his veins and vessels pulsed.

“Jesus,” he said. “I can't—” He started to pull away from her.

She held him there. He had no choice. He bucked and spurted into her mouth with a seemingly endless stream.

She laid her head on his stomach as he caught his breath. He brought her close to him.

Did he know that he released things in her that she had never known existed? That she wanted to be with him like this, pleasing him, submitting to his whim, whenever, where ever? Oh, man, she couldn't believe she was thinking those thoughts. She was independent, strong, but Gray brought her to her knees. What would she do when he left—as she was certain he would. Another man vanishing from her life?

She slid up to the crevice between his shoulder and neck.

“Should we talk?” she said, and looked at him as he reposed on the pillows.

He kissed her and reached between her thighs.

“So wet,” he said, moving his fingers through her center, sending her shivering. Just a few more strokes like that and . . . her hips took on another life, or so it seemed. She moved and opened up to him. A small sigh escaped from her chest as he slipped a few fingers inside of her and massaged the outside of her. She lost herself beneath his expert hand. A tide of energy roared through her as she convulsed with orgasm.

She barely opened her eyes, but when she did he was looking at her with a self-satisfied grin that made her want to smack him. But when she tried, he caught her hand.

“What's wrong?” he said, smirking. “Looked like you were having fun.”

“I was, but you said we'd talk,” she said.

He kissed her again—long and luscious. What did she want from him again? What was her name? Her brain was not her own. Oh, yes . . . the talk.

“You know,” she whispered more than said. “You were going to tell me your secrets.”

“Oh, that, it's um, really hard for me to concentrate about anything when you're naked in my bed, and I've just gotten some very good head and watched your gorgeous face as I pleasured you. In fact,” he said, and placed her hand back on his cock. “I'm not thinking about anything right now except fucking you.”

He placed himself between her legs, which opened for them all on their own. Her body reacted of its own accord, it seemed. She had no control. In that moment, her only thought was getting him inside of her as she lifted her hips.

“Gray,” she said, then he pushed himself into her.

He wrapped her legs around his shoulders and went deeper. His lips on hers, kissing her, biting her. “We can talk later, heh?” he whispered.

She pushed back and squeezed around him, sending him reeling with pleasure—then she pulled away from him. Her body did not like it. It ached and pulsed for him. But she was determined that her body not take over—not this time.

He pulled her closer to him and thrust deep inside of her, sending her into near oblivion. “Talk later,” he groaned.

“We'll talk now,” she said, pulling away again. She hated the empty way she felt. The sudden coldness on her body. The yearning.

“Now?” he said, looking at himself as he sat up.

She nodded. “You don't need to think that because you're the best lover I've ever had you're going to get away with this shit. I'm sorry.”

He looked at her as if he didn't know whether to hit her or to laugh. Finally, a laugh escaped from him. He smirked. “I'm the best you've ever had, huh?”

She felt heat creeping into her face.
Had she really said that?

“Let's get back to the issue at hand,” she said, wishing for a simple answer so that she could slide back on top of him.

“Trust me?”

“I'm not sure.”

“Well, you should. I think we need to have sex, then chat about it.”

Oh, man, yes
. Every pore in her body called out for him. Somehow, her brain managed to hold firm.

“No, I don't think so. I'm going home.” She reached for her clothes. What kind of game was he playing with her? He said he wanted to talk. She was giving him that opportunity. She didn't want to find out his secret from Sanj. If there was one to find, Sanj's investigator would find it.

“Okay,” he said. “It's just hard for me to think with all the blood in my cock instead of my brain.”

“If you think that's an excuse—”

He held his hand up in submission.

“I hear you and I give up. Come back to bed and we'll talk. I promise.”

He looked delicious wrapped in those sheets and quilt. She knew better than to get back in bed with him. She just couldn't. She placed her shirt over her head and slipped into her underwear. She sat on the chair next to the bed.

“I think it will be easier for us to chat like this,” she said, crossing her arms. “And you, um, really need to get dressed.” She eyed him.

“Oh, no. You can say no to the sex. But you don't get to tell me to get dressed,” he said, smirking, lying completely naked over the quilt, looking scrumptious and tempting.

G
ray stretched and filled out the bed. He felt pretty good, despite the raging hard-on. Lust seemed to ooze from Jennifer. She wanted him, but wasn't allowing herself the pleasure. What a woman.

“Okay,” he said, mustering his most ornery look. “What do you want to know?”

She looked as if she was either going to be sick or jump his bones. He couldn't quite tell from this angle.

“You said you have a secret,” she replied.

His cock throbbed. His erection was not going away. He nodded. He felt mildly absurd lying in bed with a hard-on, attempting to have a serious conversation.

“Well,” she said. “Spit it out.”

“Jennifer,” he began. “First I want to tell you something. You need to listen. I really like you. I don't want to hurt you.”

“Humph. You think pretty highly of yourself.”

He knew where the sarcasm was coming from, and he didn't blame her. Not one bit.

“But from the minute I saw you, I was extremely attracted to you. And I tried really hard to resist,” he said.

“Ah, yeah, I remember that conversation,” she said.

“It's not good to get involved with your boss. Especially when she's not your real boss,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“I need your word, Jennifer. Your word that this goes nowhere. It stays between us.”

“Okay,” she said as her cell phone rang. She looked at it and hit a button. The ignore button? He had no way of knowing. “You have my word.”

“I'm not really a master beekeeper,” he said after a minute and gauging her reaction.

She nodded, seemed to take that well, then said, “So you faked your résumé? Why?”

“I needed the job.”

“But you know bees so well.”

“That I do.”

Her cell phone rang again.

“Shit,” she said, picking it up again and looking at it. “It's Sanj again. I'm sure it's important.”

“Do you really need to take it?” he asked.

“I've been expecting a call from him. I better take it,” she said. “Hello. Sanj?”

Gray leaned back into the pillow and stared up at the ceiling. Weren't they just about to fuck a few minutes ago? Man, now here he was just about ready to spill the beans. Kasey would find this so gratifying. But Jennifer deserved to know. Hell, they both knew that she had no involvement. Kasey never needed to know about his breaking the cover.

“Oh, that's interesting,” Jennifer said. “No, you don't need to come here. Now, Sanj—”

Sanj? That was the guy she almost married, wasn't it? He seemed to be wanting to visit with her. His stomach tightened, his haunches twitched, as the spasm of jealousy moved through him.

Jealousy? Why would he be jealous? He tried to shrug that off. Jennifer and he both knew this wasn't going to last, didn't they? Wait. Didn't she?

“I mean it, Sanj. I'm a big girl and can handle this,” she said, and threw her phone on the table. “Sonofabitch. The man still wants to be my knight in shining armor.” She stood from the chair and was trembling slightly.

“Okay, McGhilly, the jig is up. I know more about you than I ever want to. I just need to know what an agent from Homeland Security is doing here, pretending to be a beekeeper.”

He bolted upright in the bed. “Who were you just talking to?”

“That's none of your concern.”

“Well, I heard the name Sanj.”

“Why did you ask, then?”

“I guess I should have asked where he got this information.”

He reached over and grabbed his underwear, slipped it on, and stood facing Jennifer. “And who the fuck is he to get that kind of information.”

“Look, I'm not going to allow you to divert attention away from the issue.” She folded her arms. Her cheek trembled a bit. She was nervous, she was upset, and she had every right to be.

He reached out to touch her shoulder. She pulled away from him and left the room.

“I was just getting ready to tell you,” he said, following.

“Really?” A tear formed in her eye. Her voice quavered. “I'm not sure exactly what you were getting ready to tell me.”

“Sit down, Jennifer. It's going to be a long night.”

She sat down, more like wilted, at the breakfast table.

“Can I get you some water? Tea?”

She shook her head, but he put the kettle on anyway. His granny always said tea was good for the soul.

“I've been an agent for thirteen years. This part never gets any easier. We usually avoid this part, as a matter of fact. We get in, get the job done, and get out,” he said, reaching into the cupboard for cups, which he placed on his kitchen counter.

Jennifer was still staring off into the distance.

“I wanted to bring you in a few weeks ago, but Kasey couldn't get the go-ahead. We're still waiting on that.”

“Kasey?” Jennifer looked at him now.

“My boss,” he said, sitting down at the table. “I told you that there's nothing between us . . . Well, there used to be many years ago. It didn't work out.”

Jennifer went back to staring in the opposite direction.

“So my assignment was surveillance. Then the job opportunity came up. Kasey told me to apply. I didn't have a choice. And you hired me,” he said.

“Surveillance for what? You mean you've been watching me?” Her voice was raised.

“Well, not just you. The whole place.”

The teakettle went off. He stood and readied the tea.

“Why?”

“Drugs are being exported through your honey to China. We've been watching the Chinese connection for years, trying to figure out where they were getting this huge amount of cocaine. It was from here.”

“Here? As in Scotland? Or here as in D'Amico Honey Farm?” she said, walking toward the kitchen.

“Both,” he said, handing her a cup of steaming tea. “Honey is on the table.”

They sat down. He tried to gauge her reaction. She appeared to be deep in thought.

“So, this might have been going on for years? Ren's parents?”

He nodded. “This is the issue with the money. They've never been just beekeepers. They had this multimillion-dollar sideline.”

“Well, then, where is the money?”

“Near as I can tell, whoever their handlers are now are keeping the money.”

“Handlers?”

“Whoever is actually handling the details of the operations, packing the drugs, collecting the money.”

She stirred honey into her tea.

“Must be the Gradys,” she said.

Amused, Gray said. “Why do you say that?”

“Think about it. Liam tried to kill me. Then he killed himself. His mother wanted to kill me. For some reason, they want me gone. I must be in the way,” she said.

“I wish it was as simple as that,” he replied. “But they probably want you gone for other reasons.”

“What would that be?” she asked after sipping her tea.

“We just found out today that Liam was not a Grady. His was a D'Amico, by blood.”

“What?” she squealed.

“Ren's half brother looking for his inheritance.”