Pure Desire [Pure 3] (Siren Publishing Allure) (45 page)

He could handle the nuisances but preferred to get in and out without incident just in case he wasn’t the only one after Denny. With the rumors surfacing about her involvement with the emperor, it wouldn’t surprise him if Denny didn’t have a target on her back if the Federation Conglomerate or any other line of Sanguine’s government had a clue she was a rat. A very large, nasty rodent that had sold her soul to Emperor Agaci by buying into his mad scheme of world power that anybody with sense knew only existed in comic books. The villain always gets it in the end and goodness prevails. Denny should have known that. Maybe she did and was just stupid.

A sleek solo-cruiser pulled up to the curb. The door attendant rushed over, opened the door of the vessel, and helped Denny out. Noor watched long tanned legs and velvet black high-heeled pumps appear before Denny emerged, perfectly manicured from head to toe. Everyone on the street stopped and paid attention to her Hollywood starlet looks, mesmerized by her beauty. Denny did enjoy the attention. She paused for the effect and let the breeze filter through her red-flaming hair, which flowed in the wind, a halo of fiery shimmers. She removed her dark designer D&Gs sunglasses, tossed back the red mane, glanced around at her admirers, and looked them over like paupers with a condescending air. Noor noticed she smirked, wetted her bottom lip, making her red lipstick glisten as she moved toward the entrance with a model’s catwalk stride.

“I see you haven’t lost your touch.” Noor moved up beside Denny and took her elbow to keep her headed to the entrance.

Denny seemed unsurprised by his sudden appearance. If she was shocked by his appearance, she masked it. “Noor Rynoir, how are you? This is a pleasant surprise, since I haven’t seen you in ages. Not even at Asher’s funeral, but then, I heard you were on an assignment.”

He firmed his hold, leaned in close, and said, “Cut the bullshit. I’m not in the mood.”

Denny’s façade slipped and her eyes darkened a second before she regained her composure. But not before the armed pitbull at the door took notice and decided to interfere with their reunion.

“We have a problem, Mrs. Sterns?” the pitbull said, giving Noor the once-over.

 
Sarcasm dripping, Noor said, “We’re good friends. I assure you Mrs. Sterns is happy to see me. Isn’t that right, darling?” His grip tightened, and he kissed her cheek.

Denny flinched.

The pitbull moved closer, and his hand went inside his jacket. “Mrs. Sterns?”

“Tell the man there isn’t a problem or there will be one.” Noor’s expression was implacable.

For a second, Noor thought Denny would do something foolish, and then she relaxed and turned on her million-dollar smile. “He’s with me. Thank you.”

“That’s a good girl,” he said.

“Just say the word, Mrs. Sterns, and he’s history.”

“Go have a doughnut or something. That means fuck off.” Noor led Denny to the elevator, jabbed the button for the penthouse, keeping an eye on the pitbull who circled like a ravenous dog on the scent of blood.

When the doors closed, Denny snatched free of his hold and spun around. “What do you want? It isn’t wise for you to be here.”

“Nor is it to try and kill my wife. Oh, by the way, you and your narcissistic boyfriend failed.”

Denny’s eyes flashed, astounded. She quickly regained her stone persona.

“Emperor Agaci didn’t share that information with you?” He tsk-tsked and said, “If I were you, that would concern me greatly. Lovers should never keep secrets of that magnitude. It might mean you are more dispensable than you considered.”

Denny clenched her teeth. “I have no idea what you are talking about. When was the last time you had a psych evaluation? The hazards of the job can get to you, you know. Just last week, one of my top officers put a blast through his head. It seemed the pressure became too much for him.” There was no remorse in her tone.

“Really? Just like Asher? I’m still trying to figure out how he managed to hold a stunner, rip open his chest, and then aim between his eyes—a dead shot. The forensics and your statement don’t match, Denny. That and we both know what a pussy your husband was. He couldn’t kill himself.”

“The case was investigated and concluded to be a suicide.”

“You are one cold bitch. Sit…down.” When she resisted, Noor shoved her into a chair, leaned forward, and breathed into Denny’s face. “My first inclination is to put a blast between your eyes and be done with the entire matter. However, I reconsidered my options to deal with you.”

“You always had a soft spot, or should I say
hard
?” Her smile was insolent. She stretched her legs forward and rubbed him between her thighs with the movement.

Noor pushed her leg away with his thigh to keep her from touching him. “Don’t get it twisted. You were an easy fuck. Now, don’t get it wrong, you were superb in the sack, but pussy whipping is underrated. It doesn’t work with me.”

She chuckled softly, tossing back her hair and licking her lips suggestively. “Yet, you kept coming back for more and more. Just like a well-trained pet,” she challenged. Then she reached out and cupped his groin. Her fingers massaged and stroked his phallus through his pants to try to get a rise. The male in him reacted to the stroke. Inwardly, he was repulsed he didn’t have better control of his libido. Angry with himself, he shoved her hand away.

Denny burst into laughter. “If I recall, you kind of liked it rough. Does that backwater country girl do it for you, Noor? I hear heathens are hot-blooded.”

Noor grabbed Denny by the throat before he realized what he did. Sanity returned, and he loosened his hold. “Don’t fuck with me, Denny.”

She was a wild woman. Springing forward, she wrapped her arms around Noor’s neck and crushed her lips to his. She forced her tongue into his mouth and teeth clashed—she whipped her tongue inside his mouth in frenzy. “Is this what you came for?” She breathed, and the heat of her mouth lashed his cheek. “C’mon, Noor, we can do this the easy or hard way. Just like old times…you and me together. Fuck the emperor. He’s as good as dead anyway. The order to have him assassinated given earlier came down from the highest officials of the Federation Conglomerate. And guess who will lead the assault?” she said, laughing and making nefarious, eerie sounds that raked over Noor like salty claws and made him disgusted.

“You’re insane.” Noor sneered.

Noor pulled her hands off. She curled her fingers around him and clung to him. “We were good together. What we had was special, and we can get it back if you let this matter go. It’s not what you think, anyway.” She faced him unblinking. “I was undercover. My mission was to infiltrate the emperor and bring the son of a bitch down.”

“You’re insane and a liar.”

“Listen to me. Think about it. You were sent on your assignment and I had my role to play. You know that the agency never sends in one to do a task. There is always a plan B—always.”

“If that were true, I would have known.”

“How many people know about your assignment? It’s not as if these types of things are broadcast on the evening news. Even within the agency, it’s all NTK or higher, dependent on the case. They sent me in after the emperor and you after Allura because they knew you would succeed in finding her, keep her safe, and bring her back to Sanguine. They chose you, Noor, because you are the best. We knew you wouldn’t fail and you didn’t.”

“Then why did Asher take Allura under political arrest as soon as I returned. She was handed over to the emperor as a bargaining tool?”

“That was Asher’s doing. He rode solo on that one. The emperor and Asher had a relationship that Theopolis used to blackmail my husband and make him snitch. The agency figured this out and that’s why I ended up killing him. He knew we were onto him. We argued and struggled, and he tried to kill me. I didn’t have a choice. Why do you think the agency documented the murder as a suicide? To save my ass and keep the egg off the agency’s face.”

He hated that there seemed to be some logic to Denny’s story. The last thing he wanted to do was give her an inch. “You paid Caroline to try to get to us.”

“That’s not true. Caroline was an informer who got greedy when she realized Theopolis pulled all the strings. I tried to keep her out of his way, but she insisted. She refused to do business with me and forced me to take her to Theopolis. As much as I could, I tried to be a buffer between the girl and Theopolis. He was going to kill the silly fool that night. If it weren’t for me, she’d be dead.”

“You know the bastard raped Caroline. She’s as good as dead, anyway.” Noor watched Denny’s reaction to his words carefully. She dropped her head into her hands and buried it. She exhaled, and her body trembled. She matched his stare, saying quietly, “Damn it, I gave her the pill to block his seed from taking. I thought she took it. She pretended to.”

Noor frowned, considering what she said. Caroline never mentioned anything about a pill. “Your story sounds all nice and neat, but I talked with Caroline, and she pointed the finger at you, Denny. She said you enjoyed the emperor’s sick show as much as he liked performing it.”

“I drugged her before she met Theopolis. The bastard is one sick twist, you think I don’t know that? The girl was pumped full of deladivus and my hope was to numb the hell out of her because I knew there was a chance what Theopolis would do. What he did. She probably couldn’t recall her name that night, let alone anything else, Noor.”

“Yes, well, she seemed to recant a decent story, which I believe. Besides, my own eyes saw her condition. The baby she is carrying is cretin. Whether you lie through your teeth or not, I don’t believe she signed up for what happened. If you were on the case, it was your job to protect Caroline and not feed the emperor bait.”

“I did everything I could.” Denny fumed. “Don’t you dare accuse me of anything less, you sonofabitch. You, of all people, know what kind of conditions we work under. Sometimes you have to improvise and hope like hell it works.”

Noor couldn’t believe he was falling for this shit. If he caught Denny red-handed, it would be different. He couldn’t disclaim too many circumstantial parts of her story. Noor sat down in a chair and studied her wearily, wondering just how good an actress Denny could portray. Denny met his suspicious stare boldly. If she was bullshitting him, he couldn’t detect it. Even his hypersensitive sensors picked up nothing except distress in Denny. She could be lying or telling the truth. The agency trained their agents well, and Denny could not only fake her death by dropping her heart rate, she could lower her pulse and do other things to bypass a lie detector, if required. “You better not be feeding me bullshit.”

Denny walked over to him. She slid on his lap and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She whispered, “You know me, Noor. I’m many things, including still mad about you and hot as hell for you. What I’m not is some sick psycho murderer. Or part of some manic plot to rule the galaxy, which we both know isn’t going to happen. How crazy is that? The emperor will fall like all the other overzealous nutcases who want universal power.” She ran her fingers over his chin. Noor caught her hand and shoved it away. Denny wasn’t thwarted. “My assignment was bullshit just like yours, and we both got caught up in the fallout. There are still some officials we think are conspiring with Theopolis, but we haven’t been able to ferret them out. That’s why I have to keep playing this game. Nobody can know about my part in all this. Until the case is solved completely, my life could be in jeopardy if the wrong person finds out my undercover role. Frankly, if it were me, I would have put blasts in Theopolis’s sick head a long time ago.”

“Why haven’t you?”

“The government wants to know who is all on his side. We need names and a solid list of who might be working with Theopolis before we can make a move. You know the agency. They like to be thorough before playing rough.”

Noor rubbed his eyes, intensifying the acidy burn he felt in the sockets. He massaged his temples and tried to wade through the dark murky details of the case, and Denny’s lies or truths. Disgruntled, he admitted to himself it was difficult. Like him, Denny had to be a chameleon to work covertly and present two faces, lie with ease, and sink to the lowest level of scum to survive. He couldn’t remember how many times he had to do the unthinkable to infiltrate successful knowing if he failed he was a dead man.

He decided to test her. “Did you fuck Theopolis?” He felt her tense. Her pause was unsettling, a little telling.

Then she looked him in the eyes. Tears were on the surface of her eyelids and she shuddered as if it hurt to answer. “Yes,” she said finally. “I didn’t have a choice. You don’t refuse a man like Theopolis.” She whimpered pitifully. “You know, no matter how much you rub your skin raw and try to cleanse the vileness from your body…his touch, taste, and scent is permanently branded in my brain.” Denny laid her cheek on his shoulder. Her voice trembled as she said, “Make me feel clean again, Noor.” Her pelvis ground into his, a friction of heat surfaced, and against his will, he felt his cock react to the stimulus. Her lips caressed his throat…

Commonsense should have kicked in, but he found it didn’t work like that when she slid up her skirt and spread her legs over his thighs. Urgently, she worked on the zipper of his pants, released his cock, and stroked him until his length thickened and strained between her fingers.

“C’mon, make me feel good,” she murmured. “Fuck me and make me forget, if only for the moment.”