“Mm-hmm.”
Save for an occasional sigh, she stayed silent as he glided over her tense muscles, pausing to work on a knot before moving on. He took his time massaging her neck and shoulders, then her back, dropping a kiss or two as he moved down her body.
“I want to rub your legs.” He pushed off the chair and an extremely relaxed Providence lifted her face.
He guided her to the bed and she lay face down. He worked her glutes, appreciating her toned bottom before moving on to rub her muscular thighs. As he doted on her, he realized that he hadn’t appreciated a woman in a non-sexual way in a long time.
From out of nowhere, the blackmail threat crashed into his thoughts and hung over him like an angry storm cloud. Ignoring the outside world, he stayed focused on the sublime creature before him. Tomorrow would come soon enough.
“Can you roll over?”
“Mmm, you feel amazing,” she murmured as she turned.
He continued massaging her upper chest, her arms, legs and feet. And he finished with a tender kiss. “Feel better?”
The serenity radiating from her eyes calmed him. The tension she carried in her shoulders was gone, as was the worry knot between her brows. Her smile was lazy and carefree and his hardened, vengeful heart softened…ever so slightly.
Time had taken on a different meaning, or maybe he had slowed himself down enough to enjoyher.
After pushing up on her elbows, she said, “You’ve worked a miracle on me and I am indebted to you. My offer is still on the table.” She spread her legs a little and he glanced at her enticing pussy.
“I’d love to, but I won’t. This was my apology for dragging you into this mess.”
A shadow fell over her eyes. “You don’t owe me a thing. You didn’t murder anyone.” Then, she broke eye contact. “What I mean is…you didn’t murder Matt Hastings, and I will do everything I can to help you.”
She started to get up, so he brought her her clothes. After dressing, she stood close, peered up at him, and ran her soft fingers over his beard. “Thank you for going out of your way to do something special for me.”
In silence, they left the club. They’d parked beside each other and she glanced at his rental car.
“I pictured you in something—I don’t know—bigger.”
“My truck is in the shop.”
Her smile charged through him like a bolt of lightning. “You, in a truck, makes more sense.” Thanks for tonight.”
He waited until she pulled out before he left. As he drove through the quiet streets, he wondered if she would think about him. He was convinced he couldn’tstopthinking about her, even if he had wanted to.
THE FOLLOWING MORNING, Dakota drove the hour to Middletown, Maryland. The quaint town was home to ALPHA headquarters, and a quick thirty-minute jaunt to Camp David. Decades earlier, leadership responsible for creating the organization had wanted to build something far away from the nation’s capital, but close to the President’s secure vacation location.
The nondescript, warehouse-looking structure blended in to the area. The windows, located along the front of the building were covered with reflective glass. The only identifier was the company sign over the door. Dakota depressed the doorbell, the buzzer sounded, and he entered. After greeting the receptionist, he strode down the hallway to Luther’s office.
The door was open, so he entered. Skipping the small talk, Dakota set the envelope on Luther’s desk, eased into a guest chair, and waited.
Luther slipped on gloves before studying the photo of the four men in tactical gear. “I can’t confirm that’s you, but I can’t rule it out.” Then, he read the blackmail letter. “You’re not going to pay this, are you?”
“Hell, no. I did that once to disastrous results.”
“That was different. Your wife went missing. I would have reacted the same way.”
Dakota shook his head. Conversation over. “I’ve got extra protection on Sammy,” he said, changing the subject.
“Good.” Luther slid the letter and photos back into the envelope “Wearing your vest?”
“Yeah.”
“Bring me up to speed on the Hastings case.”
Dakota detailed everything from the firing of Matt to the all-nighter with Providence and the police visit.
