TrackingDesire (8 page)

With evident reluctance, Blossom hurried to join the two
Enforcers and the three of them almost bolted out of the other end of the
conservatory and down the corridor. As soon as it became obvious they were
determined to go down into the basement and not double back, Julian started to
crawl out from the garden, taking Liv with him. She carried the palm frond with
her and swiped at the markings they left behind in the soil, using up precious
seconds to do so.

When she’d finished, the imprints of their feet were still
there if someone really
stared
at the spot they had crouched in, but to
the casual observer nothing was left of their sojourn. Liv tossed the frond
back into the underbrush and together they ran silently through the rest of the
conservatory and along the corridors.

Every single second that ticked by, Liv waited for some sort
of loud alarm to begin blaring, or for Erik to pounce out and catch them.
Logically, she knew that the Tiens would not disturb their guests and
dignitaries with an actual alarm unless it were a true, dire emergency.
Moreover, the chances were good that Erik had remained behind to pretend to
their guests that nothing at all was amiss, so he wasn’t going to jump out and
scare the life from her.

Clear thinking and logic, however, were not at the top of
her priority list just then, and Liv got a full and revolting taste of what the
downside of being a thief could be like. In her haste and fear, the corridors
all looked identical, and she sent a silent prayer of thanks to the goddess of
magic, Circe, that Julian was there with her. His calm presence helped to
ground her and he stayed a pace or two ahead of her the whole way, leading her
out to safety.

After what felt like an eternity, they entered the bathroom
they had designated as an emergency exit. Closing the door behind them, Julian
pointed to the window on the far wall that backed out onto the gardens. Liv ran
over to it, unlocked it and pulled it open. No alarm sounded and she glanced
back to check that Julian was right behind her.

He pressed his finger to his ear and spoke quickly into his
comm.

“We’re about to make our exit by the back bathroom window,”
he said in a quick, distracted tone as his eyes searched the garden below them.
“Did Matt and Kelly get out all right?”

There was a pause as hopefully Flame replied, and Julian
nodded, his eyes meeting Liv’s with relief as he mouthed, “They’re okay.”

“Excellent,” Julian continued. “We’re leaving right now and
will be passing through the south gardens, as discussed, within the minute.
Thanks for your backup. We’ll see you around soon, I expect.”

Julian was silent for another moment, then huffed out a nearly
silent laugh at something Flame had said.

“I’m sure Blade will love telling Sage and Chase about this.
I bet they’ll both be green with envy that they missed out on all the
excitement. Catch you later, Flame.”

Another press on the comm unit and Julian grinned at her.
“Matt and Kelly are out, apparently, as of a few minutes ago. They must have
made much better time than us, which means they weren’t held up or discovered.
As you heard earlier, they’ll be meeting us at my apartment as soon as we can
all get there.”

Liv felt a slight lessening of her tension. Her best friend
and Matt were safe. That eased much of her worry.

“That’s a huge relief,” Liv replied thankfully. “Now let’s
get out of here—I think I’ve had enough excitement for one evening. You sure know
how to show a girl a good time.”

Bending so she could climb through the open window, Liv
wriggled through the gap and jumped down onto the soft soil of the back
gardens. She moved quickly to the side to make room for Julian, who jumped down
just a moment later. Liv grinned broadly at Julian, who gave her an enormous
smile. Adrenaline surged through Liv’s body as she realized they had made it
out successfully despite tripping the silent alarm. They shared a silent moment
before turning toward the back fence and running across the sprawling,
seemingly endless dark yard.

“What was that last thing Flame said to you?” Liv asked
curiously as they ran, her words snatched from her by the wind as they
sprinted. “Something about Sage? And Chase?”

“Oh,” Julian laughed, not even a little breathless from the
exertion of running. “Flame said that Blade was going to enjoy telling Sage
about this little antic of ours. Sage and Chase are in the middle of some very
boring, incredibly political meetings and pow-wows. They’ll be as pissed as
hell to hear they missed something as interesting as this. Sage and Blade used
to be partners until this team was formed, so he’ll enjoy ribbing her and
having one up on her. Despite the fact they aren’t partners anymore, they still
share a close connection and friendship, not to mention a very friendly but
still deep-rooted rivalry.”

Liv smirked, amused. “Well, I’m glad Kelly and I could
provide the ammunition for him, though I bet no one else would have made such a
rookie mistake as to set off a silent alarm.”

“Nah, don’t beat yourself up over that,” Julian insisted.
“Even if we’d checked, we might not have spotted it. Those doors were glass and
I didn’t see any external wiring. If it was sensors inside, we wouldn’t have
been able to disable them with the tools we had on us. We would have wasted a
minute or so debating between ourselves and still decided to risk getting the
powder.”

Liv thought about it as they ran, the wall now coming into
view through the darkness of the night. As they came to the stone structure,
Liv looked around for the nearest climbable tree to aid them in scaling it.
Julian linked his hands to give her a boost to the first solid branch.

“I guess you’re right,” she finally agreed as he helped her
to climb. “I just hope this stuff is worth the gamble we took.”

Julian grunted his agreement as she bent back down to offer
him a hand up. Together they leaped the distance to the top of the wall before
jumping down onto the other side. Liv winced as she grazed her palm on the
gravel near the foot path.

They stood, dusted the worst of the leaves and dirt from
their dark clothes and checked up and down the quiet street. No one was
loitering around and there were no cars visible. With studied casualness,
Julian and Liv turned and walked in the direction of the nearest main road,
where they could flag down a cab.

Julian reached out and took her hand in his, their fingers
automatically linking. Liv looked at him and tilted her head with faint
curiosity, but didn’t say anything about the small intimacy. As they walked her
heart finally calmed down, and she could breathe again.

When they reached the main road, Julian whistled to catch
the attention of a passing cab and as it pulled up beside them he opened the
door for Liv in a courtly manner. She grinned at him, pleased and flattered.

“You really
do
know how to show a girl a good time,”
she teased him.

Julian winked at her, the cheeky, sexy mannerism causing her
stomach to flutter in arousal. “Always,” he assured her. “It’s a promise.”

Intrigued and more than a little turned-on, Liv kissed him
softly on the lips before ducking inside the cab and scooting over to make room
for him. Julian gave the cabbie his address and slammed the door. A second
later they were on their way, the powder hidden within Liv’s jacket keeping her
heart rate rapid even as they put more and more distance between themselves and
the Tiens. The potent pleasure of success hammered her and kept her cheeks
flushed with mingled excitement and arousal.

The cab pulled up at a little park, the playground equipment
looking strangely lonely and isolated in the late evening darkness. Julian paid
the driver as they climbed out and as soon as the doors were slammed shut he
pulled away from the curb and disappeared down the road.

Liv looked up and down the street and hastily pulled the
plastic bag of ochre powder from inside her jacket and instead zipped it up in
one of her large, deep pockets. She was worried that it would slip while she
walked and she couldn’t bear to lose the powder after all the effort they had
put into getting it. With it zipped up safely now in her jacket, she looked
rather bulky on one side, but that didn’t concern her, as it was now securely
in their possession.

“I’m only a block away,” Julian clarified for the others.

Liv grinned. “You’re worried? We’re practically home free,”
she teased him.

Julian shrugged and slid an arm around her shoulders in a
familiar motion that had her heart pounding in her chest.

“Habit. You hang around cops and Enforcers long enough and
you’ll be doing the same thing.”

Liv laughed and followed Julian’s lead down the street. They
turned and headed toward a large brown apartment complex.

“I was wondering if you’d like to stay on for some supper
once Will has debriefed us,” Julian said, a slight hesitation in his voice.

Liv turned her head to look at him. She smiled softly and
searched his face. The handsome planes appeared comfortable to her now,
familiar. Her breath hitched slightly as he twisted one loose curl around his
index finger. He rubbed the lock between his fingers, appearing to enjoy the
softness of the strands.

“I’d like that,” she replied. “But you almost sound
reluctant to offer the invitation. If you don’t want to, then—“

“No,” he replied firmly, his fingers stroking her cheek.
“No, it’s not that,” he repeated, more quietly this time. “It’s just that I
know a lot of people think the bonds created between people when they’re in
situations like what we just went through—intense, emotional, life and death situations—they
think the sense of intimacy it creates can sometimes can be false. I don’t want
you to think I only want you because we’ve been through something so
heart-racing and profound together. Nor do I want you to stay and let off some
sexual steam with me just because you’re all hot and horny after a near miss
like that.”

Liv had been about to argue with Julian, but his final words
struck a chord with her. She had been scared—really terrified in a way she
hadn’t been for a long time. Julian represented safety, comfort, a strong rock
for her to trust in and cling to. Yes, the breaking and entering had made her
hot, and she still felt the remnants of that desire coursing through her blood.
But those emotions had merged and mingled with the fear, adrenaline and her
outright lust for this blond hunk.

Liv knew beyond a doubt that the events of this evening had
not created her feelings for this man—she had desired Julian from the moment
he’d walked into her office. That had been long before they’d broken about a
dozen federal laws together, before she’d known he was a police officer, or
even what his name was.

They paused outside the apartment building, half hidden by
the shadows of a large, overhanging jasmine bush that seemed to have taken over
the fence and staked its claim. Liv wrapped her arms tightly around Julian’s
waist, drawing their bodies flush against each other and rubbing her breasts
and aching, erect nipples against his black sweatshirt.

Julian grinned sexily at her and turned them so he could
push her back against the fence, amongst the thick branches of the jasmine
bush. They were concealed by the dense vines, which offered a semblance of
privacy.

“Julian,” Liv said huskily, “I wanted you back in my
Retriever’s office, when you and Matt came to pump me for information about
Kelly. I wanted you those few times we met for coffee to brainstorm with them.
I most definitely wanted to feel you deep inside me, thrusting away and
claiming me in Kelly’s kitchen, barely twenty-four hours ago. This isn’t
precisely a new lust-addled desire that has sprung on me out of nowhere.”

He laughed softly and tilted his head down, but she pressed
a finger to his lips to stop him for a moment.

“I’m not going to deny that tonight made me hot and horny,”
she admitted. Liv didn’t want Julian to have any questions about her state of
mind, or to keep secrets from him. “Nor am I going to deny that if we hadn’t
had to run for our lives there in the conservatory after Blossom got talked
away by those two Enforcers, I could easily have rolled you over in the dirt,
torn your clothes from your body and ridden you so hard we’d both be bruised
and aching right now. But I don’t want you
because
of what we’ve done
together, nor do I believe that’s the only reason you want me. A man doesn’t
fuck a girl’s mouth and throat like that—in his friend’s partner’s kitchen, no
less—just for kicks. He does it because he wants her.”

Julian closed the distance between them and kissed her,
hard. Liv could feel his hands trembling. He was either overcome with passion
or with the need to control himself. He unzipped her jacket and lifted her
shirt so he could cup his palms around her aching breasts. Their tongues
tangled intimately together and Liv arched her back and gasped as Julian’s
fingers tweaked her erect nipples.

“Oh!” she cried, digging her hand into his ass to pull his
hips closer to her body. Even through the fabric of his black slacks, she could
feel the thick hardness of his cock pressing against her seeking hand.

Lifting her fingers, she reached the buttons of his slacks,
wanting to follow this hot path wherever it led. With a small sound, Julian
moved away from her.

“No, babe,” he warned her. “This time I’m returning that
favor. Let me do this for you instead.”

“You don’t need to—”

“I know, Red.” The tenderness Julian placed on his pet name
for her acted like a caress to her senses. “But I want to. I have no idea what
new twists or missions will be waiting for us in my apartment. The debrief
could take hours and I don’t think I can wait that long before I finally taste
you properly and bring you the pleasure I’ve been aching to share with you.
This time I want to make it all about you.” Julian leaned forward and lowered
his voice so he could whisper naughtily against the shell of her ear.

“I want to hear you scream my name.” His low voice was
decadent.

Liv felt her heart beat harder against her breast bone and
moisture pooled in her cunt, her pussy lips heating with slick wetness as her
lover promised her ecstasy. “I want to feel you close around my fingers and
milk me dry. I want to feel your walls contract around me and squeeze me until
I can’t breathe for wanting my prick inside your hot pussy, possessing you more
deeply and more thoroughly than any man ever has.”

His words were making her hot, and Liv moaned with desire.
Just the mental images that he portrayed, that he taunted her with, made her
crave to strip herself naked and open herself to him as she never had to any
other. A dark flush crept over her cheeks, heating her skin and making it
prickle with lust-filled desire.

“Julian,” she moaned, turned-on and wetter than she could
ever have believed possible. Her panties were tight and constricting against
her skin, her labia slick with her arousal and juices.

Julian opened the waistband of her black slacks and eased
the material over her ass and part of the way down her thighs. He paused and
she watched his eyes darken as he drank in the sight of her pale legs and her
sheer lacy black panties, high cut and only partially concealing her secrets.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered softly in the darkness of
the evening.

Liv blushed, her pale skin heating at his words and the
hunger in them.

Julian pressed her deeper into the bushes and kneeled at her
feet. His tongue swiped out and licked her lips, rasping over the lace of her
panties and collecting the moisture she’d already leaked.

“Mmm,” he added wickedly, “and you taste like ambrosia.
Absolutely delicious.”

“Oh, Circe, Julian.” Liv panted as her pleasure intensified.

Julian wedged his shoulder between her legs, spreading her
so he had better access, and tugged her panties down to twist mid-thigh with
her slacks.

Now bare, Liv felt both heated and exposed, but wickedly
sensual and decadent in a way she had never experienced before. Thrills chased
over her body as Julian buried his head between her legs and licked, nipped and
thoroughly tasted her. He strung tiny, biting kisses across the lithe muscles
of her thigh, grazing his teeth over the delicate, sensitive skin.

Liv twined her fingers in his short hair. The light blond
was clearly defined in the darkness and his position kneeling at her feet made
him appear like some wicked fallen angel, busy at his lusty, erotic work. The
first time Julian stroked his tongue over her clit, electric tingles of energy
shot straight through her stomach and up to her nipples, causing her to cry out
in pleasure.

Recalling that they were outside—hidden from anyone walking
down the street, yes, but well within view of anyone curious enough to look out
of their window on this side of the apartment complex—Liv lifted a fist to her
mouth to try to stifle her moans.

Julian laughed softly, the puffs of air from his lips
further sensitizing her and making her juices flow more copiously at the
sensual overload.

“Please,” Liv muttered, trying to keep her voice low.
“Julian, please fill me—I need to feel you.”

Instead of speaking he continued to lick her, finally
spearing his tongue, stiff and hard, directly into her pussy. He caressed her
clit more earnestly with his thumb and Liv’s eyes fluttered closed as her
climax built. She canted her hips into him and thrust her body in time to his
tongue as it fucked into her cunt.

Liv let her head fall back on a deep moan as Julian replaced
his tongue with two of his thick, long fingers.

“Yes!” she hissed, the pleasure of the deeper penetration
from his fingers causing a wobble in her voice.

“More,” she pleaded shakily. “Please, Julian—I need more.”

Obligingly, he added a third finger and Liv had to press her
lips firmly together to keep from crying out again. Her pussy was stretched
full, his fingers feeling thick and hard inside her. Liv continued to thrust
her hips, riding his fingers and breathing heavily as her body wound itself
tight and climbed through the intoxicating pleasure.

She could feel her climax approaching and desperately
struggled to hold it in. She wanted to milk every moment of her first orgasm
from Julian for all it was worth. There would only ever be one first time with
him, and she knew she would cherish the memory forever. Coming too soon, while
not exactly the end of the world, would not be as heart-stoppingly wonderful as
if she could hold on to each and every second and burn it into her brain to
re-live mentally whenever she felt like it.

A part of her felt amazed, hardly able to believe she and
Julian were fucking in his front garden. Yet the reality was undeniable. She
was here, held up largely by the wooden fence, draped in jasmine vines. Three
of Julian’s fingers were buried deeply in her cunt and his thumb toyed with her
clit as he finger-fucked her toward a blinding, earth-shattering orgasm.

Liv lifted her hands to her breasts and cupped herself. Her
fingers expertly tweaked her nipples exactly how she liked it. At first she
touched herself gently, not wanting to work herself up too fast, but as Julian
continued to finger her, fucking her hard and thrusting himself inside her, she
had to pinch her nipples harder to keep up with him, deepening her pleasure as
it crawled along her skin and set her on fire with need.

“You are amazing.” Julian breathed heavily. He took a
sucking bite of the skin of her inner thigh, creating a dark flush on her flesh
that faded into a hickey. Liv looked down and watched him as he lifted his gaze
to stare at her, his eyes dark and filled with lust. Breathing hard, she
couldn’t summon up the breath to reply, but she smiled beatifically at him,
wanting him to know beyond a doubt how unbearably aroused she was and how very
much pleasure she derived from his touch.

Just as she licked her lips to try to express this, his
fingers grazed along her G-spot and her world exploded.

“Oh, Circe!” she cried, pinching her nipples as her whole
body disintegrated. Pleasure broke out within her, and everything felt on fire.
Her nipples ached, her clit became super-sensitive and her pussy contracted
around the thick digits lodged inside her as she rode out her climax.

Milking his fingers, her inner walls squeezed him hard as
her body sought its relief. Long seconds passed as she came over and over, her
body rippling with the force of the pleasure until she was wrung dry. Her legs
wobbled a little as she shook unsteadily.

Julian pulled his fingers free and stood, holding her firmly
and keeping her balanced against the fence.

Panting hard, Liv tilted her face and kissed her lover with
ravenous need. Their tongues parried and they ate hungrily at each other,
seeking further satisfaction. A minute later, reluctantly, Julian pulled away
and tugged up first her panties, then her pants. Her fingers trembled as she
helped to set herself to rights.

“They’re going to worry if we make them wait much longer,”
he said huskily, desire and need still thick in his voice. Liv tilted her head
and pressed a hand only a little shakily to his still thick and heavily aroused
cock.

“What about you?” she asked, concerned. “I can help you with
that. We wouldn’t take up that much more time…”

“No,” he said regretfully and kissed her lips again. “I want
to—I
need
to. But I can wait a little while longer. I’m going to make
sure next time is absolutely perfect between us, and I’ll need more than just a
few minutes and a quickie for that. We’re even now—the slate is clean. So I
want us to move to the next level of intimacy somewhere where we won’t have to
rush and where we won’t have to be quiet or restrain ourselves so the neighbors
don’t hear and call the cops on us.”