TrackingDesire (3 page)

“Oh that’s wonderful, baby,” he groaned quietly. A gasp cut
off any further words as she took him once more all the way into her mouth. He
could feel his sensitive head bumping against the moist back of her throat and
it damn near made him come.

“You’re amazing.” His mind about to explode, he couldn’t
think coherently anymore. “Please don’t stop—I’m almost there.”

Liv continued to suck hard on him, her teeth gently scraping
the length of his shaft as she raised and lowered herself over him. She rumbled
a sweet purr in her throat, the vibrations finally sending him wild and
plummeting over the edge of climax.

“Oh, Circe,” he cried. “Liv. Baby!”

With a strangled cry, he bit down on his lip to shut himself
up, fisted her hair to pull her down farther onto his thrusting cock. Emptied
himself and rode through an endless, exquisite climax.

His fingers tangled in the soft, silky red curls, but his
senses were already on overload. She relaxed her throat as he pumped into her.
Lightly, she scraped her teeth over his over-sensitive skin as he thrust
himself more deeply, fucking her mouth and throat in earnest as hot seed gushed
from his cock head.

Over and over, Julian sank into her wet, warm, willing mouth
and he had never felt such intense pleasure before. He was gasping for breath,
sweating beneath his shirt, and his hands trembled as he gently brushed stray curls
out of Liv’s eyes so she could see him more clearly as he panted from the
pleasure she had given him.

Finally she pulled herself off him with a wet
plop
sound.

Julian gently touched her shoulder and helped her to stand
up so he could bend and kiss her thoroughly. The surprisingly salty taste of
his own essence filled her mouth and he enjoyed the taste of himself mingled
with her spicy, erotic flavor. With a quick motion, he replaced his now-flaccid
cock in his boxer-briefs and fastened his jeans.

Placing his hands on her hips, Julian lifted Liv and turned
them around again, sitting her on the clean kitchen bench. Standing between her
spread legs, he stroked her pussy, feeling the heat radiating from her core
even through her jeans.

“And now, babe, I get to return the favor,” he said huskily,
already feeling mischievous and daring. Liv gave him that. With her, he felt as
if he could conquer armies, climb mountains or do anything at all he wished.

Julian unsnapped her jeans and pulled them down. A quick gasp
escaped his lips as he saw the lacy dark-green thong she wore. It barely
concealed her pussy, her lips wet and glistening with her cream. He could see
her red, luscious opening and wanted nothing more than to plunge inside her and
taste, exploring all her secrets.

He bent his head and licked his tongue out, her cream salty,
musky and delicious even through the thin lace. His fingers shook as he hooked
them into the sides of her thong and he had just begun to tug the material over
her hips when Kelly’s voice came from the living area, calling out loudly.

“Are you two okay in there? Do you need help finding plates
or something?” she asked.

Julian caught Liv’s gaze and for a frozen moment they stared
at each other. Wickedly, he cocked an enquiring eyebrow.

“I’m game if you are,” he whispered to her. Heat exploded in
her sultry gaze, but with visible reluctance she shook her head.

“They’ll come in after a minute,” she warned him. “And much
as I’d love for you to do this, it’s not something I think I want to share with
them.”

Julian smiled, understanding exactly where she was coming
from. A bit of naughty risk was like spice to an already delicious dish. It
wouldn’t do to spoil it, though, and he didn’t really want to share her with
Matt, Will or even Kelly. Their first time together should be just
them
,
intimately tasting and exploring each other.

He helped her to scoot back into her jeans and re-button
them. His fingers itched to delve deeper and start them down that long road to
satisfaction again. Behaving himself, Julian set Liv to rights, then softly
kissed her lips.

Usually Julian wasn’t one to consider exhibitionist sex,
especially not when his boss and partner would be the ones walking in without a
moment’s notice. Liv brought out something wild and wicked inside him,
something that had been buried very deeply forever. Despite a bit of cautious
concern, the thought of the things he could do with her—and wanted to do with
her—excited him greatly. Anticipation was a wickedly wonderful thing to be full
of, he decided.

“I’ll make it up to you,” he promised solemnly. “Now the
worst of the edge has been taken off, I’ll make sure you come twice before I
let you get that naughty, delicious tongue of yours on me.”

“Mmm,” she murmured huskily. “Now there’s a promise I’m
going to force you to keep.”

“Gladly,” he replied honestly. They shared a few more heated
kisses before finally grabbing an armful of plates and glasses and heading back
out into the main living area to join the rest of the team.

Liv would have been lying if she’d said her chicken salad
and bread sticks satisfied her most voracious appetite. Despite being hungry,
it wasn’t precisely food she craved just now. Kelly had looked
very
knowingly at her as she and Julian had returned from the kitchen.

Her friend had deep curiosity in her warm brown eyes, and
the tilt to her head clearly asked the silent question, “
Are you okay?
”
Liv smiled secretively and inclined her head in the affirmative, so briefly and
discreetly that no one except Kelly could possibly have noticed it.

Kelly’s face broke out into a happy smile and Liv had to
stifle her laughter. She knew the moment her friend got her alone there would
be a million questions, all of them happy, eager and exceedingly excited. They
all ate their meals in relative silence, Kelly and Matt exchanging infrequent,
softly muttered thoughts with each other and Will totally focused on the laptop
in front of him.

Julian perched on the arm of the large stuffed chair Liv had
been occupying for most of the morning. Julian did not embarrass either of them
by giving her moon eyes or grazing his hands possessively over her arms or
shoulders. She hadn’t expected him to act in such a juvenile manner, but it
still pleased her that they could both act like coherent, rational adults.

He didn’t even try to whisper naughty things in her ear.
Instead, Julian remained silent and thoughtful as he ate his food, seemingly
content just to sit near her and share the same space.

As the minutes passed, Liv relaxed in his presence and it
felt more and more natural as they ate in companionable silence. With her
stomach full, she discovered that once again her natural optimism had returned
and she felt ready to take on anything. Balling up her trash and tossing it
into one of the plastic bags they’d used to carry the food to the apartment,
Liv scooted to the edge of the plush cushioned seat. Leaning over, she picked
up the other laptop from the coffee table and rested it on her knees.

“I’m just going to see if the Thailand Retrievers have
answered my email and sent over any background information that they have on
Erik Tien,” she muttered to Julian. The others probably heard her, but for now
no one commented, lost in their own thoughts.

Julian turned so he could watch her and simultaneously look
over her shoulder at the screen. This caused his thigh to graze her arm and a
few shivers raced down her spine at the subtle but intimate contact. With a
deep breath to steady the flutter in her chest, Liv checked her email for what
felt like the millionth time and frowned when she realized the Thais hadn’t
even acknowledged her email of the day before, let alone answered it or passed
on any information.

“I’m finding an almost total blackout on this guy,” she
complained as she lifted her head. Julian shot her a sympathetic but
unsurprised look, and Will, Kelly and Matt all stopped what they were doing to
exchange glances.

“Let’s go over the little we know from the top,” Liv
suggested as she closed her inbox. “We stumbled upon Rafe Merrick and discovered
he’d withdrawn a huge amount of cash and held it in his safe. He’d been
contacted by Tien as a potential investor in what they’re calling Phase Two of
the manufacturing and selling of a partial antidote to Jolt.”

“Jolt is a drug somehow infused with magical energy which
gives the human addict a temporary, innate magical power, a truly stupendous
high with devastating lows when it wears off. It’s intensely addictive,” Kelly
added for clarification.

“Tien is our main link, probably as a third party for the
creators of the so-called antidote. He is obviously scouting for infusions of
cash so they can further their research,” Matt rounded it out. “With the main
manufacturing of Jolt dismantled thanks to Will and our team, it has gone
deeply underground and is now so expensive it’s an elitist drug. It’s still
powerful but only available to a much smaller population. These are people who
can afford to pay through the nose for a presumed cure and are willing to do so
to continue experiencing the highs and effects of Jolt.”

Will picked up the thread. “We need a sample of this
antidote, because it’s only a temporary relief at best and is not a long-term
solution to the Jolt problem. However, with a partial answer our laboratory
analysts might very well be able to solve the problem in very little time,
simply because it’s already half completed for them.”

“So we’re back to Tien again,” Liv concluded with a sigh.
“We know he immigrated to the States three years ago with his wife, Blossom,
from Thailand. He is considered wizard royalty—over there, at least—but we
can’t find any explanation or evidence to support this. He, and especially
Blossom, are eccentric to say the least. Rumor is that they’re both martial
arts experts and in a quiet, subtle way are both dangerous and violent. But
again, we have no supporting evidence to clarify this one way or the other.
It’s all speculation and conjecture at this point.”

“I raided the archives and have blueprints to their Manor,”
Kelly added. “They had a Thai garden added when they bought the mansion, so the
schematics are fairly recent and well-documented. All the little details we
could possibly want seem to be here, thankfully. That’s the good news. The bad
news is that his security levels are astronomical. This wizard takes paranoid
caution to a whole new level. It will prove difficult at best to beat his
system.”

“Difficult, but not impossible for Kelly,” Matt added with
pride, referring to Kelly’s alter ego as a master thief. Liv saw him gently
squeeze Kelly’s hand, and her friend blushed, still not used to her secret
being “out” between more than just Liv and herself. “We quickly decided we
would need a team to do this properly. It would certainly be impenetrable if we
were to try to break in by ourselves, but with a group of us it should only
prove tricky and a challenge for us all.”

Liv nodded, now understanding why she and Julian had been
included in this session. Later Will would decide whether the rest of their
crew should also be called in. Just to keep herself busy as they threw around
possible ideas and scenarios, Liv searched the local online wizards’ newspaper.
She flicked through the virtual pages as the discussion flowed around her and
she listened in and offered the odd suggestion.

A familiar name caught her attention on the website’s
society page. She quickly scanned the brief write-up.

“Hey,” she interrupted Matt as he talked about how many of
them it might take to search all three levels of the mansion. “Listen to this.
It’s from the society page’s upcoming ‘who’s who’ column.”

Eagerly, she read out the appropriate bit of the short
article.

And for those of you still not in the know, this Friday
evening Erik and Blossom Tien are holding what will begin an annual tradition
of a charity ball at their sprawling mansion by the lake. Erik and Blossom Tien
appeared on our radar when rumors of their possible connection to Thai royalty
surfaced soon after their arrival stateside. The couple is renowned for their
eccentricities and elusive nature, so the fact that they plan to open their
doors to the crème de la crème merely adds to their social mystique.

This year proceeds will go to the Academy, in particular
the scholarship fund for promising students with no family support. Tickets
are—of course—by invitation only and this author has it on good authority that
Enforcers will be on security detail to forcibly evict anyone not lucky enough
to have a golden invitation in their possession.

Needless to say, more details and photos to come after
the weekend…

Liv looked up from her laptop screen to see an eager glint
in Julian’s eyes. She nodded her head, equally happy about this positive turn
of events.

“If the Enforcers are doing security…” She trailed off, a
grin spreading across her face. Liv turned to look at Matt. “It should be
simple for you to see if friends of yours are on that detail. The mansion is
huge. There are three floors, more than a dozen bedrooms and even more
general-purpose rooms, according to Kelly’s blueprints. That doesn’t even count
the extensive gardens and gazebos and so forth. They will need at least a
couple of teams of two or more to cover that sort of area. There should be
someone
who owes you a favor on the roster, I would think.”

Liv hadn’t even finished speaking before Matt had taken
possession of the laptop from Will and was typing quickly.

“Don’t fry it,” Will said wryly. “That’s my work laptop and
my ass is already in a sling over the two cell phones I’ve had to explain were
killed by magic.”

Liv snickered but felt a pang of sympathy. Magical essence
did not go meekly hand in hand with new technology. Continual exposure to the
innately different force of magical energy had a tendency to fry many newer
objects such as laptops, cell phones and other technological devices.

“I won’t be a minute,” Matt said, his mind clearly on what
he was doing. “Besides, I don’t hear you complaining about Liv using your
laptop.”

“Olivia is a whole lot easier on the eye than you are.”

Will snorted and reached into the breast pocket of his shirt
to pull out a partially gnawed cigar. Liv had seen him chewing on it earlier
that morning but he had put it away while he ate his lunch.

“There,” Matt cried in triumph.

Liv felt a faint stirring of anticipation. After hours of
fruitless searching and going in circles it appeared they were finally getting
somewhere.

“I’m in the Enforcer projects and assignments database,”
Matt explained. “If a mission isn’t deemed classified, they all tend to be
input so those away in the field can check if they’ve been reassigned to
something, or what partners are supposed to be doing and the like. The Tiens’
party on Friday is just deemed a regular security contract. A dozen Enforcers
in pairs will be patrolling the grounds and selected areas inside the mansion.”

“Well that’s useful information to have,” Will said as he
scratched out a few rough notes on his notepad in his scraggly writing.

“No, it gets better,” Matt continued excitedly. “Blade and
Flame are two of the Enforcers. They’re scheduled to be one of the pairs
patrolling the gardens and the grounds outside.”

“That’s brilliant!” Julian slapped his thigh and cast a
pleased look at Liv. She grinned in response, feeling their luck finally
beginning to turn.

“We need to start drawing up a plan,” Liv said eagerly as
she shut down the laptop and powered it off. Will and Kelly cleared space on
the coffee table as Matt typed quickly, sending an email to Blade and Flame.
Along with Sage and Chase, they completed the merged police-Enforcer team Matt
and Julian had been working with for the last few months.

Renewed energy had infused them all with this positive leap
forward and they quickly set about organizing themselves and tying up the loose
ends. Will tore a number of sheets of blank paper from his notepad and spread
them out on the coffee table. After a minute, both the laptops had been turned
off and stored neatly away under the table, and chairs had been pulled closer
so they could all peer over the large master plan they would work on.

“We won’t be able to finalize details until Blade and Flame
get in touch with us, but we can definitely start a working plan,” Will said
determinedly.

“Now, our final objective is to get a physical sample of the
antidote,” Will said as he wrote in block letters at the top of the page. “So
far our only viable link is Erik Tien. We know he’s connected, but we’re
currently uncertain how deeply he is involved. Discovering whether he’s a
middle man or just a broker to get investors is a priority.”

“I also think we shouldn’t close our minds to the
possibility that Blossom is involved,” Liv added. The team looked at her and
she shrugged. “Never underestimate a woman. Erik might have been the one who
sent out the emails, he might even be the one rounding up the investors, but
that doesn’t mean Blossom is simply a bystander. Neither does it mean she’s as
pure as the driven snow and not an integral part of another aspect of this
case. I’m not saying we should hound her, but we should still keep our eyes
open.”

“Agreed,” Will said firmly as he chewed the end of his
cigar. “We keep our minds open. No one is innocent until we’re certain of the
facts. So we focus on Erik, but keep Blossom in our sights. What else?”

“The chances of them leaving anything unlocked and open to
perusal by lost guests are slim to none,” Julian added. “But I would think
there would be a fair likelihood of them having samples of the antidote
somewhere in the mansion. Their respective offices would be a good place to
start looking, as would their bedroom if it’s possible to search there. Do
those schematics of yours show where their safe is, Kelly?”

“No,” Kelly replied, “but I did notice something last night
when going over the measurements. The master bedroom has an en suite and a
walk-in wardrobe. The dimensions are slightly off. The space that seems empty
in the walls there is a bit too big for a safe, and it’s placed at an odd
angle, so it’s really difficult to make a judgment call about whether it’s
anything or not. It
is
intriguing, though, and I think it’s worth
checking out.”

Liv had been listening to the discussion with half an ear,
poring over the blueprints. After Will and Matt had agreed to check out the
extra space in the master walk-in closet, Liv tilted her head and caught
Kelly’s attention.

“There’s a whole lot of wiring down here in the basement,”
she said with a furrowed brow. “But from what I can gather it’s related to
heating lamps and humidity controllers. I’ve been trying to think what it could
be needed for. I’m positive a wine cellar needs to be cooled, not heated.
Humidity is important, but a cooler temperature—around sixty degrees—is what’s
usually recommended isn’t it?”