Love & Deception (Agents in Love - Book 1) (14 page)

“Good.” He moved back up her body, rubbing
his chin over her skin until he reached her mouth. He kissed her
softly, his supple tongue dancing a tango with hers that turned her
on again, despite the prior belief she was spent.

“I need to return the favor,” she said into
his mouth. “The deal is we both give up control, not just me.”

Nick stood, and Carlie reach for his hard
length. He sucked in a deep breath and undid the button of his
jeans. Carlie eased his zipper down and slipped her hand inside the
opening.

A pounding on the front door cut through the
otherwise silent room, startling Carlie.

“Go away,” Nick groaned softly.

Carlie put a finger against her lips,
shushing him, and swung her legs off the couch, pulling him next to
her. She curled against his side, ignoring the twinges of pain. If
it was someone looking to kill her, they wouldn’t have knocked.
Anyone else could wait until later.

She latched onto his ear, sucking the lobe
powerfully while she stroked her hand down his stomach. She tucked
her fingers inside the top of his underwear, tickling the curly
hair there.

The person outside pounded again.

“Don’t make a sound,” she breathed.

The pounding didn’t stop. “Carlie! Open
up!”

“Crap.” Carlie leaned away from Nick,
meeting his eyes. “It’s Shelley.”

“No, no, no.” He shook his head. “Please
tell me you’re kidding. Not now. You can talk to her later.”

“Carlie!” The pounding got louder. “I spoke
with Muhammad. I’ve been going out of my mind with worry. Is Nick
in there? Open up.”

Nick flopped his head against the couch.
“She’s not going away, is she?”

Carlie shook her head. “I’m afraid not.
Didn’t you call her and tell her what happened?” She paused. “Well,
an excuse anyway?”

“Damn.” He shook his head. “I didn’t think
about it. I called Muhammad yesterday morning, then hung signs on
the front door of the shop while you bathed. I just didn’t think to
call her.”

Groaning, he stood and pulled Carlie to her
feet, wrapping his arms around her. His erection pressed into her
stomach and he nuzzled his mouth against her neck, sending shivers
through her.

“Guess I’ll go into the bathroom until I get
myself under control.”

She couldn’t help but find humor in the
situation, since it had been his idea. “Maybe you shouldn’t have
given up control yet.”

“Not funny.”

“You’re right.” She gave his crotch one
last, loving stroke. “How about I owe you?”

“Big time.”

The doorbell rang. “Carlie? Please let me
know you’re okay!”

“I’m coming!” she yelled.

Nick growled. “I was trying to.”

She couldn’t stop her mouth from twitching.
“I promise I’ll make this up to you.”

He headed toward the bathroom. “I’m holding
you to that.”

Carlie buttoned her pants and waited for
Nick to turn the corner into the hallway before unlocking the
door.

“Took you long enough.” Shelley brushed past
her as if she owned the place. “What were you doing?”

Hoping the bruises made it hard to see her
blush, Carlie shut and relocked the door. “I didn’t mean to worry
you.”

“Never mind. I’m just glad you’re okay. When
I showed up at the shop and saw the sign hanging on the door, I
didn’t know what to think.” She crossed to the window and pulled
open the blinds, filling the shadowed room with sunshine. “Muhammad
said you were in a car accident. I tried to call, but your phone is
off.”

“Nick must have my phone.” Carlie felt
guilty for not thinking about her friend. She wondered how many
people worried about her over the years when she disappeared
without a word. “I’m really sorry, Shelley. I should have called.
I’m fine.”

Shelley turned from the window and faced
her. A soft gasp escaped her throat. “What…the…hell?” She rushed
over and grabbed Carlie’s chin, forcing it up similar to the way
Nick had before. “Those are finger marks. That didn’t happen in a
car accident.” Her eyes glanced to the side and narrowed before
meeting Carlie’s again. “Nick did this? I’ll kill him!”

Barely catching the back of her shirt when
Shelley attempted to storm from the room, Carlie yanked her back.
“Calm down. It wasn’t Nick.”

“Fine.” Shelley put her hands on her hips,
jerking her head to toss long black hair over her shoulder. “Who do
I need to kill?”

Unable to help herself, Carlie smiled. It
felt good to have people care about her. “No one. Nick took care of
that—almost literally from what I remember. This won’t happen
again.”

“It was Stephen, wasn’t it?” Shelley’s upper
lip curled and she crossed the room to flop inelegantly onto the
couch. “What’s that asshole’s problem? Couldn’t handle it when you
ditched him for a real man?”

“Something like that.” Carlie nodded. It
would be best to change the subject before Shelley got too curious.
“So, you talked to Muhammad? I thought you hated him.”

Shelley waved her hand through the air. “I
don’t hate
him
. I hate that he takes advantage of you, and
you let him get away with it.” She shrugged. “When you didn’t
answer your phone, I went to Compassion For All to see if he’d
heard from you.”

Carlie sat on the couch, overwhelmed with
guilt at worrying Shelley. “I wasn’t thinking clearly. It’s been a
rough couple days.”

“I imagine it has.” Shelley hugged her
gently. “That explains why you never called and told me how the
date went. I thought I’d hear from you yesterday, and I’ve been
curious.”

“As far as the date, dinner was nice.”
Carlie tried hard not to think about what Shelley interrupted on
her couch and how much ‘nicer’ things would have become, given more
time. “We went to a Chinese restaurant Nick’s invested in, and we
danced in the dining room. It was romantic.”

“And did you guys...” She arched a
perfectly-shaped eyebrow.

“Kiss?” Carlie strived to keep an innocent
look on her face and think about nothing but their first kiss when
he tucked her into bed.

Shelley pouted her lips out and cocked her
head to the side. “My, my, my. On the first date? I can’t believe
you, Carlie. I said flirt not fu—”

“I didn’t say I did that!”

“Oh, your face told me.” She winked. “You
wouldn’t even kiss Stephen, and you’ve known him for months. Nick
must be special.”

“Well...” Carlie gestured to her face.
“Turns out I was right about Stephen.”

She grimaced. “Of course. Jerk. How bad do
you hurt?”

“Actually, I feel better than I thought I
would.”

Shelley glanced toward the hallway and
smirked. “A little of that man’s medicine must go a long way.”

“You’re horrible.” Even if she was
right.

“You already knew that.” She laughed and
Carlie joined in.

“It was pretty intense, for a first date. I
think it must count as more than just one.”

Shelley shrugged. “I’ve heard other girls
say no sex until the third date.”

Which was probably three hours together at
the most each time. Nick spent a lot more time than that with her,
not to mention being in the life and death situation together and
him saving her. “I think we put in the time for more than three
dates.”

“I never follow that rule anyway. Life’s too
short to wait.” Shelley smoothed her hands against her hair, a
small grin around her lips. “Ah, there’s nothing like first
lust.”

Carlie couldn’t help but be a little
offended. “I hope it’s more than simple lust.”

“One can always hope, I suppose.” Shelley
patted her leg. “Tell me what happened. Start when I left the shop,
and don’t leave anything out.”

Carlie was more than happy to fill her
friend in on the events of the last few days. However, she’d skip
the details of what they’d been doing when Shelley knocked on the
door.

***

Nick finally regained control of his
hormones. Holy shit. He’d never wanted someone so bad and been
denied like that, but he reminded himself Shelley was Carlie’s best
friend. If it was anyone else, he’d march back out there—erection
and all—and demand she get the hell out until they were
finished.

His only consolation was Carlie promised to
make it up to him. Plus, he did get the satisfaction of pleasing
her. He grinned at himself in the mirror. Carlie’s husband sounded
like a selfish asshole. He only married her out of duty and
probably never did anything to make her eyes roll into the back of
her head. Nick felt it was up to him to teach Carlie the spicier
side of lovemaking.

He tried to tell himself this was part of
the job—he was getting close to Carlie as a S.A.T.O. agent, just
following orders. It was a lie, though, and he knew it. Thinking
back to the few women Nick had been with over the years, no one
ever made him feel the way he did now.

All he wanted was to keep her safe. To
accomplish that, he had to find out what the President and S.A.T.O.
had planned for her. He still wasn’t sure whether he believed Paul
hadn’t known Carlie’s true identity. It seemed too coincidental for
S.A.T.O. to decide she was a terrorist threat and investigate her.
There had to be a reason they became interested in her.

Pulling the phone from his pocket, he tapped
on Paul’s number and opened the texting program.

I’m living in the target’s house now.
Awaiting further instructions after your meeting.

At least Paul would know he acted the part
of a good little agent. Depending how things went, at some point
Nick might have to call his friend in California. Donovan Andrews
had been a huge help when Paul sent the order to kill Jason Steele.
Maybe he’d help again.

For now, Nick needed to secure things here,
teach Carlie new defenses, and take care of Stephen if the jerk
came around again.

He turned on the faucet and cupped cold
water in his hands, splashing it over his face. Carlie had
decorated the bathroom in blacks and yellows, and he grabbed a
sunny hand towel and dried off before walking out to the living
room.

The girls sat together on the couch. Carlie
appeared to be on death’s door. In comparison, Shelley had her hair
and makeup perfectly done. She looked ready to hit the town for a
night of Flamenco dancing, not like a woman on her way to work.
They talked in hushed tones, but both looked up when he
entered.

Shelley rose from her seat and rushed him,
shoving his shoulder hard. “Why didn’t you kill that asshole?”

“Shelley,” Carlie protested, “it wasn’t
Nick’s fault. He saved my life. Don’t attack him.”

Nick leaned against the wall next to the
entertainment center and folded his arms. “I nearly did. I wanted
to. But Carlie needed me, and I doubt snapping someone’s neck is as
easy as movies make it seem.”

Shelley’s eyes widened and she looked a bit
more respectful. “You actually thought about snapping his
neck?”

Carlie made an impatient sound. “It doesn’t
matter, guys. What I really need is to learn better defenses. I
couldn’t even figure out how to get him to stop choking me.” She
rolled her eyes. “Clearly repeated punches to the gut don’t do the
trick.”

Shaking her head, Shelley turned back to
Carlie. “You’re going for your black belt and you don’t know how to
break a choke hold?”

Looking dejected, Carlie shrugged. “I
panicked and couldn’t remember what to do. I haven’t gone over that
stuff very much. I’m an okay fighter, but he got the upper hand.”
She looked at the ground, not meeting either of their eyes.

Knowing her past, it made sense to Nick why
she didn’t have all the necessary skills. If she had changed where
she lived every six months, things likely slipped through the
cracks. She probably learned the basic skills of each belt level,
and none of her past instructors realized she had gaps in her
education. Which must have been why Sensei Hideaki told her she
wasn’t ready to test yet. He saw she was lacking.

Nick crossed the room and caught Carlie’s
hand in his. She glanced up and he stared into her hazel eyes,
trying not to lose himself in the drug that was her gaze. “It’s not
your fault, Carlie. I’m going to teach you properly and everything
will be okay.”

She bit her lip and shook her head slowly.
“What if it isn’t?” She glanced Shelley’s direction and whispered,
“I don’t want to run again.”

Leaning down, he brushed a soft kiss against
her lips. “We’re going to fix this. I promise.”

He let go of her hand and stood upright,
facing Shelley. Even though she was barely a black belt, Nick had
trained with her for almost a month and knew she was a capable
fighter. “I have to take care of a few things. Will you stay with
Carlie?”

Shelley nodded at the same time as Carlie
asked, “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to switch out the signs at
Carlie’s Creations to let people know you’ll be closed again
tomorrow, and I need to check in at my restaurant.”

Carlie nodded. “I appreciate that. Make sure
you’re clear that the shop will open Wednesday. I don’t hurt too
much. If I use ice packs a lot, maybe I can get the bruising down
enough to work without scaring the customers off.”

“I’ll help too,” Shelley said. “We can cover
a lot with makeup.”

He nodded. “Great. For now, though, the
focus has to be on getting you up to speed protecting yourself.”
Nick couldn’t be with her every second. If she had assassins after
her in addition to S.A.T.O.’s agents, Carlie had a lot to learn in
a hurry.

Shelley crossed to the couch and grabbed her
purse. “Don’t worry about us for now. I’ll teach her while you’re
gone.”

“And what are you doing with the purse?” he
asked.

She unzipped it pulled out a shiny black
handgun. “I’ve won every shooting competition I’ve entered for the
last five years.” There was a hard glint in her eye. “If Stephen
comes near her again, he won’t have time to wonder what hit
him.”