Mistress's Master: Men in Blue, Book 3 (34 page)

“I’m awake.”

So was his cock after taking in her adorably mussed hair and the well-fucked pout of her slightly swollen lips. He unbuttoned his pants, thankful neither of his friends could pry their stares from the gorgeous woman lounging in his bed.

“Sorry, Lily.” Matt winced.

“After you stood by and let Clint manhandle me, this is the least you should be apologizing for, asshole.” The gentle smile accompanying her harsh dress down remediated some of the bite.

“C’mon, JRad.” Clint huffed as though he were actually offended. “You’re not going to let your girl talk to us like that, are you?”

“Absolutely.” He hoped she could read his approval in his smile. “As long as she kneels for me, the rest of you are on your own.”

Their jaws dropped when she climbed from the enormous mattress, unconcerned with her nudity. Thank God Jeremy’s earlier explorations hadn’t damaged her no-holds-barred sensibilities.

Lily stuck to her guns. Slinking over to them, she propped one hand on her hip. “I’ll forgive you both if you join my harem for a day. Beg nicely and I’ll consider your newbie status.”

Respect flared in Jeremy’s chest at her brazen sexuality. A soul-deep laugh overcame the remnants of worry their strategizing and the results of his hacking had planted in his mind.

His friends exchanged nervous glances as if unable to tell she was joking. Mostly. They flip-flopped between avoiding gazing below her shoulders and meeting her fierce stare. Adorable yet formidable, she kept them off balance with her extended silence. Hell, it wasn’t like the cops hadn’t fucked her the night before.

Lily toyed with them because she had to know as well as he did, the other men had only been his agents. He’d directed their attraction to bolster her pleasure and relied on their loyalty to keep her safe. She had a million times more experience with mind games than either of his friends and she didn’t hesitate when it came to exacting a bit of revenge.

“Or…” She drew a meandering path down Clint’s chest. “You could perform a little right here in the comfort of our private quarters. I think a simple kiss might do the trick.”

“You got it.” The younger cop fell right into her trap. “A kiss I can do.”

“Fantastic.” She beamed up at him. “Matt, get over here.”

“What?” The muscle-bound giant looked at him for help. “JRad?”

“This is between you and her.” He chuckled. Observing her craftiness would never get old.

“I have a thing for watching my guys touch.” She shrugged, distracting them with the bounce of her luscious tits. “Give each other one tiny peck—on the lips—and I’ll consider it bygones. Who knows, you might like it.”

Lily had bitten off more than she could chew this time. Jeremy had worked closely with the men for years and they’d never once given any indication of bisexual tendencies. However, instead of the objections JRad expected, Clint shrugged.

“Fuck it. I’ve done crazier shit on dares.” He wrapped his hand around Matt’s beefy neck and yanked. Such an artless move couldn’t have forced the larger man if he hadn’t been willing. Their stares clashed for a fraction of a second before Clint laid a perfunctory smack on his partner’s mouth.

“Lovely.” She patted each of the men on their abdomens, which rose and fell more quickly than usual. “I caught your fascinated stares at Ryan and Ben when they pleasured me while Jeremy fucked me last night. Feel free to discuss amongst yourselves later. I’ll be giving Jambrea a call soon. I think I have some terrific advice for her.”

“We’re totally screwed.” Matt smacked his forehead.

“Pretty much.” Jeremy laughed out loud then winked at Lily. “Jesus, you’re hot when you’re devious.”

“Mind if I take a shower?” She bowed her head as she stood, feet spread, hands clasped behind her back. The subtle shift might not have been noticeable to Matt and Clint. Jeremy sure as hell cherished her submissive pose.

“Go ahead. Make it quick, though.” He glanced at the thick leather cuff supporting his square watch face. “There are a few things we need to discuss before we figure out how to plant this drive, minus the data, back in Morselli’s office. You should hear it. Weigh in on our plans.”

“Ten minutes tops.” She thrilled him by leaning in. Considering her bare feet, their faces were level as he sat and she stood, presenting her an opportunity to kiss his stubbly cheek.

At the last moment, he angled his jaw so she caught him on the mouth instead. He tried to keep their encounter fun. When she parted her lips, he staked his claim.

Clint’s cleared throat made it clear he’d failed.

“Clock’s ticking. Nine and a half minutes. You’ll earn a stroke with my belt for every ten seconds you’re late. I don’t like to be kept waiting.”

“Yes, sir.”

None of the three men spoke as she sauntered into the bathroom.

“JRad, was that your handprint on her ass?” Clint swallowed hard.

“It sure as hell better not be anyone else’s.”

“I’m not going to claim I get how everything works between you.” Matt surprised him by tackling the potentially awkward subject head-on. “But I can tell you’re happy. Like really…in a way I stopped expecting to see from you. I’m glad she helped you find what you were missing.”

“What he said.” Clint nodded at the other man. “Don’t fuck this up.”

“Not planning on it.” He sighed. “One thing at a time. Let’s finish this first, huh?”

“Yeah. I still can’t believe you cracked that password. I wish we could bounce this off Mason, Ty and Razor.” Matt paced the marble floor. “It feels odd not having them at our backs.”

“They’re probably doing their best to hold off Agent Sterns.” Jeremy assessed the various clues swirling around them, trying to assemble the bigger picture of Morselli, the Scientist and Sex Offender. Something didn’t quite add up. He just hadn’t figured out what it was yet. Without their three homebound teammates, they didn’t have as many theories to test. “We’ll ask Ryan to smuggle this into Morselli’s office. I’ll come back here, keep working on the formula. I might be able to build a query that attempts every combination. I don’t know how we’ll know which one’s the right one. It’s the only thing I can think of though.”

Long before her deadline, Lily emerged from the bathroom in a cloud of steam. She sported a thin, fuzzy robe. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“Normally, yes. I prefer you nude.” He situated her on his lap, cradling her close. “For now, we have other problems.”

“What was on the drive?” She peeked at his computer screen, tilting her head first one way then the other. “Is that what I think it is?”

“Do you think it’s the chemical formula for some derivative of amphetamine in the entactogen family?”

“I have no idea what you just said.” She squirmed on his lap. “But I do find nerds incredibly sexy.”

“Good to know. Though I prefer to think of myself as a geek.” He permitted himself a tiny taste of her smile before getting down to business. “Entactogens are the group of drugs ecstasy belongs to. They fuck with your serotonin levels for the most part. It seems like Sex Offender uses X as a base then twists it even more. The key is whatever’s going on here.”

He pointed to a blank spot in the structure.

“One of those doo-dads is missing, right?” She wiggled her finger toward the honeycombed lines of the molecular drawing.

“At least one. Maybe more.” He clenched his fingers on her hip. “It’s hard to say for sure. I’m guessing the gap is the reason The Scientist is spending time in Morselli’s dungeon instead of swimming with the fishes.”

“Do people really do that?”

“What? Murder their opposition?” He raised his eyebrows at her. Considering the lengths her father had gone to, she should have no doubt of the stakes.

“No, I meant the cement shoes thing. Seems a little old-fashioned.”

“Figure of speech.” Matt rolled his eyes.

“I wouldn’t put anything past people after all the shit I’ve seen on the job.” Clint would have spun away except Lily reached out and laid a hand on his arm.

“Stay.” She laced her fingers with his.

“Thanks.” He kissed her knuckles, not letting go.

Jeremy stared, in awe of her ability to read people. She had real talents you couldn’t train. No, she’d been born with this aptitude. Her empathy turned him on as much as the curves beneath his palms.

“Maybe this is good news.” Lily peeked up at him from beneath thick lashes. “If The Scientist isn’t sharing and Morselli can’t figure it out either, then the whole thing will go away. Morselli isn’t patient. If The Scientist doesn’t crack soon, he’ll kill the bastard.”

“She has a point.” Matt nodded.

“If not them, someone will figure this out. There are notes. Lab techs.
Someone
knows.” Jeremy groaned. “It’s not that easy.”

“Ryan told me his sister was hired by Morselli. To do research. She didn’t know anything. They’re kept in the dark. Only managing their little piece of the pie.” Lily shared Ellie’s story. The collateral their suspect had kept the submissive man in line with had them all fired up. “I know. And it gets worse. He has Ben’s sister and his seven-year-old niece, too. We have to find them…if Morselli hasn’t already gotten rid of them.”

“Damn, this thing is spiraling.” Clint smacked his palm on his thigh. “Too many objectives. We’d do better to divide and conquer.”

Jeremy looked at the woman he held. She didn’t object. Trust sparkled from her deep blue eyes. As much as he longed to lock her up somewhere far from danger, he couldn’t risk damaging her faith by making the wrong call. So new, fresh, it wouldn’t take much to wither her conviction. “No. Lily stays with me. Priorities are replacing this drive and locating The Scientist. She and I will hunt him. If Morselli spots us on his surveillance we can always claim to be checking out the facilities. From what we have so far, I assume he expects me to torture the man anyway. When I went up there before—” Lily massaged his chest over his pounding heart, “—I had to think of some reason for my visit. I told him Lily was addicted to SO. He offered a job he would pay handsomely for me to take care of and counted on me not asking too many questions up front. In the meantime, he gave me that. In his mind, I’m on the hook.”

Matt stared at the vial next to the computer equipment. So unassuming, it cloaked the deadly hazard bottled inside. “Agent Sterns will be glad for the sample. You didn’t hear him the other day, ranting and raving about it. We can run it out to Mason so he can coordinate work on the formula. If we figure out what’s missing, we could identify some of the component compounds. By tracking bulk purchases of the supplies, we can try to locate the production facility.”

“Good idea.” Jeremy nodded. “In the meantime, Lily and I will snoop around for The Scientist.”

“I wish you would wait for us to get back.” Matt frowned.

“What time is it anyway?” Lily had lost all her bearings.

“Two-fifteen.” Clint stifled a yawn.

“In the morning?” She ran through the day in her mind. Waking up in Jeremy’s arms seemed like a million years ago and yet it was hard to believe almost an entire day had passed. “Damn.”

“We can’t afford to sit around any longer.” Jeremy shook his head. “Things are changing. I can feel it.”

“Fine. Then take Ryan and Ben with you.” Clint glanced at his partner.

“Yeah, that would make me feel a little better anyway.”

“We need them to return the drive to Morselli’s office. Staff are used to them roaming those halls, especially near his private quarters. No one will question them.” Jeremy argued against it.

“Damn it.” Clint turned toward Lily. “Lucas will watch your back. Steve can handle your guys. Hell, most of them could kick some serious ass if necessary. They don’t need both of their handlers for the time you’ll be away.”

She peeked up at Jeremy. “What do you think?”

“They’re right. I’ll be more comfortable if you have another set of friendly eyes on you.” He stroked her cheek. “Not because I think you can’t take care of yourself. But because I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you. Okay?”

“Yes, sir.” She leaned into his touch.

“Verify Sterns has warrants and is standing by to raid.” Jeremy rose, setting Lily on the floor. “If we find what we’re looking for, today could be the day.”

“I hope you’re right, JRad.” Matt clapped him on the shoulder.

He snatched the vial off the desk and handed it to Clint. “Be careful.”

“We’re not the ones heading deeper into this mess.” The men bumped his outstretched fist then took turns hugging Lily.

“Tell Izzy I love her,” she whispered to Matt.

“You can tell her yourself as soon as this is over.” He reached out as though to rumple her hair, but stopped short when he caught her do-you-want-to-keep-those-fingers glare.

“Right.” He chuckled. “Later.”

Jeremy wondered what the hell was wrong with him. He cataloged Lily’s tight black jeans and matching lace tank along with her flat-bottomed shit-kickers and missed her usual racy Mistress gear.

“What?” She swiped a hand over the triple strand of onyx beads draped over her fair décolletage then down her chest and flat belly.

He would have paid a million dollars to lick the same path.

“Do I have something on me?”

“No.” He twined their fingers as they followed Ben’s scribbled directions toward the holding cells. “It’s nothing.”

Without the drastic heels she preferred enhancing the shape of her legs, most of her wicked curves were hidden. The solid six inches she’d lost in height didn’t help him forget how easy it would be for someone to hurt her either.

“You’re tense.” Her thumb caressed his knuckles. “Jumpy. What’s your gut telling you?”

“I don’t know.” Jeremy cursed. “For the first time I understand how fucked up Razor was when he lost his edge. He doubted himself constantly. It’s like living with a false alarm ringing nonstop in my brain because I want you as far away from this as possible. Having you here screws with magnetic north. Instead of honing in on the right path I feel like I could chase my tail for hours.”

“I’ll go.” The line of her tight lips went white on the fringes when she pursed them.