Assassin's Promise, The Red Team Series, Book 5 (13 page)

“I’ll stay until you’ve dozed off. Good night, Remi.”

“Night, Greer.”

He didn’t want to let go of her hand. Even in sleep, she clung to him. He was glad she was here, safe, and not facing the WKB all on her own. It weighed on his conscience that he hadn’t been able to keep Sally safe; he wasn’t going to fail Remi.

Something caught his attention from the corner of his eye. A movement in the front yard—a strange light, anyway. He eased his hand from hers, then went to the window. The blinds were lowered but half open. Spreading two slats of the blinds, he looked out…at a face.

Startled, Greer jumped back, then looked again. Whoever it was had turned away and was moving down the driveway. He bolted from the house. There was no time to check the security system or find out why the alarm hadn’t triggered. The person was moving fast…or rather, disappearing fast.

Greer moved around the cars and out into the black night at the edge of Mandy’s tall farm light, moving farther from the house than he’d intended. The person was gone. Vanished. Another light caught his attention. Blade’s dad was coming over from the bunkhouse with a big flashlight. He closed the distance between them.

“Ryker,” Greer greeted him.

“Greer.”

“Didn’t mean to wake you.”

“You didn’t.”

“You saw it, too, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“What did you see?”

Ryker shrugged. “Don’t know. A face in the window.”

Greer felt goosebumps on his arms and a tension along his spine. “Was it male or female?”

“Wasn’t there long enough for me to see.”

“Yeah. I blinked and it was gone.” Greer flipped his phone to the security cameras on Mandy’s property. Somehow, none of their alarms had been tripped. He looked over at Ryker, glad he wasn’t the only person who had seen something odd.

He shrugged. “Nothing shows on the cams. Guess maybe it was an owl flying too close to the houses.”

Ryker looked at him as if he were an idiot. “You don’t believe in ghosts?”

“You do?”

“Callum had a lot of them. You get used to seeing them. Question is, was it here for me or you?”

A cold chill blew through Greer, raising the specter of the disembodied eyes that had been commandeering his dreams. “You think it was a ghost?”

Blade’s dad gave a dry laugh and shook his head. “It sure as hell weren’t no owl.”

Greer watched Ryker walk back to his little cabin. He put his phone back into his pocket.
 

Question is, was it here for me or you?
 

He had a bad feeling he knew the answer. He turned back to Mandy’s house, which was still quiet. Too quiet. Too dark. Too ripe for a visit from his nightmare. Maybe he wasn’t awake at all. Maybe this was just part of his dream. He stepped toward the hallway where a white figure moved in the shadows. He stopped and tensed, instinctively preparing for an attack from a ghost.
 

“Greer, you okay?”

Remi
. Only Remi. The air left him in a fast exhale. Fucking Ryker, spooking him. “Yeah.”

“You ran out of the house. I thought the WKB had come.”

“I saw something out the window. Was just an owl flying low for a mouse or something.”

She didn’t move as he came toward her. He didn’t stop until his bare feet touched hers. He knew what he needed…the only thing that would delay his dance with the devil’s eyes.

Greer flattened his hand against Remi’s face, keeping still long enough for his senses to take note of her warmth and softness and humanness. She was very much alive.

He bent his head and kissed her, flattening his mouth to hers, pressing in to her as his other hand gripped her back. He walked her backward to the wall. Her hands reached for his face. She lifted herself against his body as her head tilted and her mouth opened for him.
 

A faint scent of something sweet and spicy drifted to him. He couldn’t place it, but he liked it. His nostrils flared as he breathed more of her, felt more of her.
 

He gripped her hips, her ass, and lifted her as she leaned back against the wall. Holding her legs spread over his hips, he rocked into her. Bumping. Grinding. He kissed her again and timed the thrusts of his tongue with the meeting of their hips.
 

She arched her back. Her legs tightened against him. He heard the hiss she made as their bodies connected. He broke from the kiss and buried his face in her neck, breathing her in until her scent was locked in his soul.

He opened his mouth and licked the line of her smooth, soft skin. Waves of anticipation throbbed in his cock. Her touch, her moans—all of it stirred him as he’d never been stirred before.

He carried her into his room. She wore nothing beneath her loose T-shirt and panties. Moving one hand to her opposite cheek, he freed his other hand to reach under her shirt and grip her breast. Her lips parted.
 

The moonlight streaming in from his window let him see how dark her eyes had become. He wanted her shirt off, but didn’t want to let go of her.
 

“Take it off.” He tugged at it, then held her as she lifted it over her head. His eyes feasted on the bare skin she revealed. Her nipples were tight. He pressed her against his bare chest, feeling those mounds and the hard points of her nipples. He moved his hand slowly, so slowly, up her spine, pressing her closer to him. When his hand reached her neck, he eased her down onto the bed.

She moaned in complaint at the cool air that separated their bodies. He smiled. Hooking his fingers in the edge of her panties, he pulled them down her hips and legs, far too slowly to please her. He brought her feet up to his chest so he could run his hands over her silky skin from her ankles to her thighs.

He bent and kissed her calf, opening her legs as he did so, then knelt on the floor so he could press his face to the back of her knee. Her thighs were slim. His big hands had complete control of her legs, holding her open for the taking. Her sweet, spicy scent was in the curve of her knee, as it was everywhere else on her.
 

He licked the space behind her knee. Her body contracted. He grinned and nibbled the tendon next to the soft crease, then continued toward the V of her legs, stopping just short of the dark curls at her core.
 

Switching his attention to her other knee, he repeated the licks, tastes, and nibbles. When he neared her center again, he looked up at her. She was leaning on her elbows, watching him. As soon as his mouth left her, she hissed.
 

Forking her fingers through his hair, she brought his face down to her sweet center. Greer hooked her legs over his shoulders. Gripping her hips, he held her immobile as his tongue swept along her seam. Her thighs tightened around his face. He wrapped his arms around them, opening her again.
 

His tongue slipped between her folds and leisurely stroked the length of her feminine core, from her clit to her opening. He lost himself in the pleasure of tasting her. He could feel in the tension of her legs the waves of desire growing, becoming, thrumming for release. Each time she nearly peaked, he paused, waiting for it to pass, until at last there was no stopping her release. She screamed as it racked her body. He prolonged her ecstasy by penetrating her with two of his fingers, leaving his thumb to manipulate her clit so that he could watch her writhe on his bed.
 

When the moment slowly eased away, he kissed the inside of one of her thighs. He stood and withdrew a handful of condoms from his go-pack that one of the guys had brought over to Mandy’s for him. Dropping his jeans, he kicked them off and covered himself.

Kneeling between her legs, he braced his arms on both sides of her body. “Anyone ever tell you how good you taste?” he asked.

She smiled as she bit her lip. Running her hands up his arms, she said, “Anyone ever tell you you get chatty at the wrong times?”

“Do I?”

“Mm-hmm.”

He kissed her shoulder. Holding a breast, he kissed the soft mound. “Sounds like you’re in a hurry.”

“Sounds like you’re not.”

“Don’t conflate speed and desire. I could happily fuck you all night. Slowly.”

She braced her heels on the mattress and pushed herself up against him. “Less talking. More action.”

“Or what, professor?” He caught her nipple between his teeth and ran his tongue roughly over the tight peak. “You know, I could make you come half a dozen different ways without any penetration.”

“Really?”

“Yep. Want to see?”

“No. I want to feel.”

“Not in a hurry anymore?”

“Greer, I’m on fire. All of me hurts. All of me wants all of you.”

“Mm-mmm,” he growled. “In time.”

She caught his face. “No. Now.”

He stood and wrapped his hands around her knees. “Now?”

“Greer.”

He grinned and lifted her legs. “Put your feet on the bed.” She braced her feet on the edge of the mattress. He took hold of her hips and fitted himself to her, then thrust into her, all the way. Her small muscles gripped him like a hot fist. She was tight and slick. He watched their bodies joining, knew the way he was holding her gave her no leverage. She was dependent on him for her pleasure and release.

Still holding her hips, he knelt on the bed and pushed her farther across the bed, making room for himself. Her legs folded on either side of him, gripping his hips. He settled his torso over hers, holding his weight on his elbows to keep from crushing her beneath him.

He was moving slowly inside her now, watching her watch him. She had the most beautiful eyes, deep and mysterious. His thumb brushed her face, and he wondered at the soft texture of her cheek. He wanted to see her in the light, but didn’t want to leave her body to turn it on.

He kissed her eyebrow, the corner of her eye, the hollow of her cheek. Then pressed his mouth to hers with soft kisses. Slow sex with her was amazing, but he didn’t think he could hold out much longer.

Slipping his hand down her ribs, over her hip, down between their bodies, he fingered her clit. She gasped. Her body tightened like a compressed spring. He joined hands with hers just as she went over the edge. He met her thrusts with his own. She orgasmed twice more before he found his own release.
 

When the passion eased enough that their breathing calmed, Greer became aware of a stinging near his knuckles. She’d dug her nails into him.
 

“Did I hurt you?” he asked.

“No.” Her eyes watered, her tears like diamonds in the moonlight.

“Why are you crying?”

“I’m not.”

“Then do you think you can retract your nails now?”

She gasped and eased her grip on his hands. “Sorry.”

His thumbs brushed the moisture from her eyes. He kissed her cheek as he withdrew from her. “Stay with me tonight?”

She nodded. He disposed of the condom, then slipped onto his side, curling his body around hers, holding her with an arm around her ribs. He pulled the quilt up over them.

The eyes wouldn’t come to him tonight, not here, in the cocoon he’d made for them. Tonight, he could sleep.

And he had Remi to thank for that.

Chapter Twelve

Greer’s eyes slammed open. Sunlight poured into the little bedroom at Mandy’s house with relentless cheer. Remi hadn’t been gone from his bed long—her side was still warm. He turned over, rolling in the faint scent of her that lingered in his sheets. He moved his hips, grinding himself against the linens as he thought about calling her back to bed.

And then he made the mistake of checking his watch. It was just after six a.m. He didn’t hear Remi moving around. She was probably still getting dressed. No alarms had been triggered, so he knew she was still in the house.
 

He took his shave pack from his bag and headed for the shower in the bathroom across the hall. He’d almost made it when Remi’s door opened.
 

He did a once-over to see what she was wearing—a light green camp shirt, jeans, and a pair of hiking shoes. She looked situated and ready for their trip to the Friends. For some reason, that bugged the hell out of him.
 

He’d woken in a mood. “Remi.”
 

“Greer.” She grinned, then bit her lower lip as her gaze dropped to the raging morning boner that was saluting her, the hallway, and anything else he looked at.
 

“You didn’t wake me,” he complained churlishly.

“You were sleeping like a baby.”

He rubbed his chest. “I’ll be with you as soon as I shower.”

“I don’t think we’re in a hurry to get out there this morning, are we?”

“No. The team’s probably still putting together the list of items you requisitioned.” He was surprised he could string normal words together. He stepped into the bathroom and shut the door, ending their conversation. He looked outside where he’d seen the figure last night.
 

He realized anyone who’d been looking in the front windows had to have been more than ten feet tall. Or standing on a stool. After his shower, he meant to check it out.
 

Ryker thought it’d been a ghost.
Question is, was it here for me or you?

Greer turned the water on and waited for it to heat up. There wasn’t a human alive he feared, but ghosts were an entirely different matter.

After his shower, he pulled on a fresh pair of tan cargos, then went back to the bathroom to finish getting ready. He brushed his teeth, then lathered his face. He’d just lifted his razor when a movement from the corner of his eye caught his attention.

Remi stood in the open door. “Mind if I watch?”

He couldn’t stop a half-grin. “It’s riveting.”

She moved into the bathroom and lifted herself up on the counter.

“Why a straight razor?” she asked with an arched brow.

He looked at her, then back at the mirror. “I can sharpen it as needed, so it’s cheaper than disposable. And it doubles as a weapon.” The razor scraped his skin, clearing a path through the cream. This was the innocent side of her that he wanted to protect. “Did you watch your dad shave?”