Secrets and Satin: A MacKenzie Novel (Romantic Suspense) (MacKenzie Family) (3 page)

A piratical smile slashed across his face. “It’s nice to see you’re looking out for me, but no. I’m pretty sure nothing will make me feel better. Not even pants. Though a couple of aspirin couldn’t hurt. You could always come back later—when I’m wearing pants—if I’m making you uncomfortable. Or maybe you just like what you see a little too much.”

Her lips pressed in a thin line, and she felt her blood surge at the challenge. She knew he was kidding. She was used to banter. Hell, she worked with a team of men, almost all of them ex-military, and she would have left long ago if she hadn’t been able to take their colorful vocabulary and trash talk. But this time the banter was too close to the truth. Moisture pooled between her thighs and she was swollen and throbbing with need.

Wasn’t she allowed to need? Donovan was dead, dammit. And no matter how angry she was or how many times she’d gotten down on her knees and
begged for his death to be a lie, he wasn’t coming back. She was tired of being alone. She was tired of rolling over in a cold bed with no one there beside her. And she was tired of the constant ache inside her soul. 

Her emotions warred inside her until she finally found the courage to say to hell with her brain. She wasn’t dead.
She wasn’t dead
. And Max was safe. She wasn’t interested in hooking up with a stranger. It just wasn’t part of her makeup to do that. But Max knew her better than anyone, and she knew him.

Max was a sexual creature by nature. He never seemed to be without female attention, and she figured with as many women who had shared his bed that he probably knew what the hell he was doing at this point. She wanted someone who knew how to give her what her body craved and then the ability to walk away with no hard feelings later. It should’ve been an easy enough task because Max wasn’t the type of man to get attached to any woman.

“Maybe you’re right,” she said.

From the look on Max’s face, she could have knocked him over with a feather. Jade stalked her way around the counter and smiled when he took a few steps back. Her gaze raked down his body and her eyes widened at the sight of him fully aroused. His cock was thick and heavy and ridged, the head flushed dark purple and his testicles drawn tight against his body.

“I guess it’s nice to know it’s not one sided,” she purred.

“Listen, Jade—” he backed away again when she took another step closer.

“You’re the one that made the challenge. I’m just calling you on it.”

His jaw clamped shut and she could see the pulse pounding at the side of his neck. His eyes were hooded and the blue of his iris
es had darkened to the color of a lake in the evening. Jade grabbed the hem of her tank top and slowly lifted it over the top of her head. She hadn’t bothered with a bra. Her breasts weren’t large, but they were high and taut, and she smiled a woman’s smile when Max sucked in a startled breath and his cock flexed against his stomach.

“You’re making this really difficult,” he choked out.

“No.” Jade took another step closer, and then another, and Max was effectively trapped with his back to the island. “I’m making this very, very easy.” She was just a hairsbreadth away, so the hair on his chest touched her sensitive nipples.

Her hand reached out and she pressed her palm against his chest. His warmth seeped into her skin and she was suddenly
ravenous for more. She was five-foot-ten in her bare feet, so there was only a few inches difference in their height. His heart pounded beneath her hand and she leaned up to nip at his chin before fusing her mouth and body to his.

He stood still as a statue for a minute while she kissed him,
while she gave him all the pent-up longing and frustration and desire she’d just started to feel again over the last months. And then he was kissing her back and she wanted to shout in triumph.

***

Max’s brain deserted him the moment her soft lips had touched his, and all his thoughts rested in the several inches of flesh that was pressed into her stomach. He’d wanted this, dreamed of this for five long years, but even though his dreams seemed to be coming true, he knew this wasn’t the way it was supposed to be.

But she was relentless in her pursuit. There was a hunger and desperation inside of her he wanted to soothe. A wildness built inside of him he’d never felt before. She was his mate, and his body recognized her as such, and all he wanted was to possess, to take.

Her lips parted and her tongue licked into his mouth, and the flavor of her exploded through his system. She was sweet to the taste, like sweet cream and melted sugar, and he’d never in his life experienced anything that felt as good as touching her.

“You taste
so good,” she moaned. “Touch me.”

His hands came around her, cupping the rounded globes of her rear, and he pulled her against him so she could feel how much he wanted her. She groaned into his mouth and he
drank in the sound. His tongue dueled with hers and he growled as her fingers threaded through his hair and tugged him closer.

Her legs came around his waist and clamped tight around him, and she moved against his cock, searching for release. He’d forgotten how strong she was—long legs and lean muscles—and when she leaned back in his arms, his mouth found the tight bud of her nipple.

“Please, please,” she chanted, and he was helpless to deny her.

He spun her around and settled her on the island. His knees were weak and he couldn’t seem to find his balance. She was going too fast—racing too hard to the end—and he wanted to take his time now that he finally had her where he wanted her. Their rhythm was off, and he tried to pull back and shake some sense into his head, but her hot hand found his cock and began to stroke.

“Christ, Jade,” he panted. “I won’t last ten seconds if you keep doing that.”

Her laugh was low and sultr
y, and a little wild. “Touch me,” she begged again.

His fingers found the snap of her jeans, jerking it open and then pulling down the zipper.
She lifted her hips so he could pull them down, but just the sight of her in the little white panties had him desperate for more. The cotton was damp and his fingers traced along the outer edge before slipping beneath to the soft curls.

She moaned as his finger whispered against the taut bud of her clit and she cried out when he moved lower and his finger slipped just inside of her. Max grit
ted his teeth as she clamped around his finger. She was snug and wet, and when he pushed farther inside, her velvety pussy rippled around his finger.

“So hot, baby.” He was barely able to form a coherent thought. “You’re so tight. You’re going to fit like a glove around my cock.”

Sweet syrup trickled over his fingers at the picture he painted, and her hips thrust against him, taking more of his finger inside. He kissed her stomach and then moved higher so his mouth latched on to her nipple. They were small and dark brown and they tasted like heaven. His teeth scraped one lightly and he felt her flex around him.

He was getting past the point of no return, and he knew he needed to get control of the situation because she clearly wasn’t. He withdrew his finger and flicked it gently over her clit. It was swollen and so primed she probably could have come from the whisper of his breath. He placed several kisses along her collarbone and then kissed his way up her neck to the lush mouth that had tempted him from the first time he’d seen her. Her top lip was fuller than the bottom and utterly
bitable.

“Look at me, baby,” he said. Her nails dug into his arms and it was the sweetest pain he’d ever felt.

Her eyes opened and he had to kiss her again. She was stunning. Her face was flushed with arousal and there was a glow about her he hadn’t seen in much too long. The green of her eyes was vibrant, and she looked like a woman ripe for loving. But he knew her like he knew his own soul, and this wasn’t how he’d dreamed of their first time together.

“Don’t stop, Max,” she cried. “Don’t you dare stop.”

“I won’t be a substitute for anyone else.” His breath was labored with his restraint, but he made sure he got his point across. “I’ve wanted you too long. And if you’re coming to my bed it’s because you want to be there. Because you want
me
.”

She shook her head in confusion and tears filled her eyes. His heart broke at the sight of her tears and all she’d had to endure, but he couldn’t do this. He
wouldn’t
do this. He’d waited too long for her to see him as a man. As something other than a friend.

“It’s okay if you don’t want me,” she said, pushing at his chest. “But maybe you could have told me before we got to this point. Now I’ll just have to find someone else.”

She struggled against him harder as the tears fell, and she swiped at them viciously, but it was like a dam had broken inside of her and nothing was going to stop them from falling.

“Don’t make threats, baby. We’re past that now.”

“It’s none of your business, Max. If you don’t want it, no big deal. Someone else will.”

He clamped a hand on her leg to keep her from running, but she wouldn’t look at him. “It is my business. I’ve wanted you from the first moment I laid eyes on you, but you weren’t mine to have. And I haven’t waited this long to be some itch you can scratch because you’re still grieving for someone else. When you come to my bed, there won’t be anyone between us.” 

A choked sob came from deep inside of her as she struggled to get up. He released her leg and she jumped down from the counter, fastening her pants and scooping up her shirt from the floor.

“This is your fault, Max,” she said, pulling the shirt over her head. She turned and headed for the door as fast as she could. “You’re the one who made me feel again, and now you’re not man enough to follow through with what you started. Well, fuck you. Have a nice life in Texas.”

He waited until she got to the door and jerked it open before he called out to her. His body throbbed with unfulfilled desire, and his heart felt as if it had been stomped into the ground. But she didn’t mean what she said. She wasn’t the kind of woman to sleep with just anyone. He knew a part of her had to trust and care for him deeply for her to go as far as she did. But he wanted more. He wanted all of her and he’d meant what he said. He wasn’t going to be a substitute for Donovan.

“I’ve made you feel again,” he said. “Remember that it was me when you’re alone in that cold apartment. And when you’re ready to live for real, you know where to find me.”

She didn’t look back as she stepped out of his house and his life, and when the door closed with a quiet click, he felt the emptiness of not having her near like a punch to the solar plexus. 

“Well, hell,” he said. He punched the wall with enough force to leave a dent and then headed to the shower. He could take care of the ache in his balls now. He’d have to take care of Jade later.

Present Day

“I’m on the roof,” Max said. “You’ve got to be my eyes.”

“I’ve got you in my sights,” Elena Nayal said through the tiny bud in his ear. “You’ve got about a minute-and-a-half until the two Secret Service agents make their way back around the house next door. Otherwise you’re clear.”

“Plenty of time.”

His rubber-soled shoes helped him keep traction as he slid down the sharply pitched roof to the small window on the top floor. Black gloves kept his fingers from being torn to shreds, and the black mask over his face and the matching clothes helped him blend in with the night.

The climb up the side of the Dallas mansion had been the hardest part—not to mention a former president lived in the house next door, and on a night like this, where unfamiliar cars and people lined the street, security was at a peak.

The climb had tested his strength and endurance ten fold, and he was glad he’d pushed himself so hard through rehab. Even now, his leg was aching and he’d had to stop for a few seconds to catch his breath once he’d reached the top.

His feet touched on the tiny lip that jutted from the edge of the roof, and he lowered himself down until his hands had a good grasp on the ledge. His muscles bunched and strained and sweat dripped from his temple from the relentless summer heat. He lowered himself inches at a time and then dropped the rest of the way to the balcony. He landed silently and then took the tools from the zippered pocket of his pants.

“Forty-five seconds,” Elena said. “I’ve deactivated the alarms for the top two floors.”

“I’ve got a visual on the senator,” Cade MacKenzie said. “He’s dancing with a woman who has a face like a hatchet and a diamond the size of a quail egg on her finger.
”

Cade was the oldest MacKenzie—there being five in all—and once upon a time, Cade had been one of Max’s best DEA agents. At least before the del Fuego cartel had killed Cade’s lover
right in front of him. Cade had left the DEA and moved to Texas, which was where he’d met the love of his life and settled down to a nice, normal life, where they had a house in a busy neighborhood, a toddler, and another baby on the way. Or at least it was normal if you ignored Cade’s highly trained intuition and his ability to protect and defend—no matter what it took.