Sexual Games [The Heroes of Silver Springs 8] (Siren Publishing Classic) (4 page)

He didn’t sweat asking her to come to this part of town where reports of carjacking and rape came with bone-chilling frequency. The time when he’d coddled her, kept her under his wing, and watched her every move had long ago passed. Well, okay, he still watched her every move, but not to protect her. The only thing Mallory Stone needed protection from was herself.

Jackson listened to three and a half rings before Mallory’s sex-kitten voice filled the line.

“Hello?”

He closed his eyes as that single word sent an excess of testosterone straight to his cock. The woman’s voice dripped sex, even when she didn’t intend for it to. One word,
any
word, brought vivid images to his mind of supreme out-of-this-world fucking that he knew would leave him bleeding and still wanting more.

“Are you there?” she asked when he didn’t answer. “I can’t hear you.”

It clicked then, both that she was apparently in a club somewhere and she didn’t want anyone around her to know who was on the phone. The high techno beat of music nearly drowned out the purr of her voice, and the fact that she’d answered with a simple
hello
rather than her usual clipped and businesslike Stone told him as much. She didn’t use his name either, another sign she wasn’t alone.

Is she on a date?

Jackson shut off that question before any semblance of an answer started to form. No way did he need to think about her being with another man right now, especially not after what he’d first thought was a sex game between her and him had turned into a total, mortifying disaster.

“Mal, where are you?”

“Cinderella’s. Where are you, Slick?”

Slick. Of all the names for her to pick up calling him. Christa Hutchens had called him Slick during the assignment he’d worked with her in Silver Springs.

You’re supposed to invite me in, Slick.

Oh, that had been a bad idea.

Does it feel good, Slick?

Oh, yes, it had. Hence the reason inviting her in had been a bad idea.

Don’t look so surprised, Slick.

That one had come after she’d blown his mind by telling him she already knew he wasn’t the man for her, that she knew his heart belonged to someone else.

“In the woods next to Stardust,” he told Mallory. “You know the place?”

“What are you doing there?”

Jackson took a deep breath and let it out slow. “I’ll explain later. Are you in a position where you can come get me?”

Mallory laughed, low and hot, and the sound burned a path from his ear straight to his cock. “Now what kind of position do you think I’m in, handsome?”

Oh, no, he was so not going to answer that one. He wasn’t going to think about it either. The woman was a pro at turning every thought in his head into pure, carnal, provocative explosions.

Jackson sighed. “Just come get me, Mallory.”

“Why is it that you finally say the words I’ve been waiting to hear and I still don’t feel like I’m getting anywhere?”

The blaring music started to fade and he knew she was already headed for her car. “Because you know that’s not the way I meant them.”
Not unless you plan on giving me what I want in return.

“Yeah.” Her disappointed sigh filled the line and he heard the beep of her car alarm as she disarmed it. “I know. I’m on my way.”

“Mal, be careful.”

“I always am,” she sing-songed and cut the connection.

Yeah, she was, even when she didn’t need to be.

* * * *

Cameron Stone stepped off the elevator on the third floor of Jackson’s apartment building and immediately spotted the firefighters planted outside Jackson’s door. Both turned to look at him as the elevator doors swooshed closed behind him. He took Terri Vega in with a glance as he walked toward them. Her trim, muscular body, deep bronze flesh and short bob of blonde ringlets gave him an unexpected stir in his groin. His step faltered, though, when his attention shifted to Thaddeus Carter, when the man’s thin, pink lips unfolded in a dazzling smile that affected Cameron from his head straight to his suddenly stiffening cock.

Sweet Jesus.

Cameron’s gaze dropped to the man’s feet and did a slow climb back up strong legs encased in navy cargo pants that led to narrow hips, a trim waist, and a mouthwatering torso. The SSFD T-shirt he wore defined every rip of his hard-tone abs and put his impressive set of pectorals on a delicious display. Cameron’s attention skipped over the wide expanse of the man’s shoulders, over the man’s square jaw, over those damnable lips, and collided with a set of Hershey chocolate eyes that made his stomach growl.

“You must be Agent Stone.” Thaddeus extended his hand when Cameron reached them, his smile widening to reach his eyes.

Cameron’s insides started a milk-chocolate meltdown. “Call me Cameron.” He took the man’s hand, registered the warmth of his palm, the firm grip of his handshake, and realized he was staring into the man’s eyes as if they were lovers.

Christ
. What had gotten into him? Cameron liked men. He liked women. He liked sex, in any variation of the act. In truth, he was a playboy and he liked it that way. Few people realized his attraction to other men. He didn’t attempt to hide it. He simply kept it on the down-low. Openly flirting with a man he barely knew beyond his name was so not keeping it cool.

“I’m Thaddeus, but you can call me Thad.” The man lifted a nonchalant shoulder. “Most people do.”

Cameron eased his hand from Thaddeus’s grip and broke eye contact because,
holy cow
, the swirls in the man’s eyes were telling him he would far more prefer to be called honey or baby over Thad any day of the week. And, yes, that was one other thing he knew about this man besides his name. Thaddeus Carter was openly, undeniably gay and, if that even glide in his rich, deep baritone was any indication, he was openly and undeniably flirting with Cameron.

You started flirting with him first, dumb shit.

“You must be Terri.” He turned his attention to the woman, needing a distraction before he did something crazy like back Thaddeus against the wall, capture his way-too-kissable lips, and send both their hormones flying to get-it-on-ville.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph
. He hadn’t had this kind of reaction to a man since meeting Adrien. Even then, he’d been able to control the intense lust coursing through his system. So much so, he’d kept Adrien wondering for well over a year if Cameron even swung to his side of the plate.

“Yep.” Terri gave him a smile and a quick nod that had her ringlets bouncing.

Cameron shook her hand and didn’t feel more than an ounce of desire wind through him at the contact. She was beautiful, obviously spunky, and smelled of roses and aloe, and she did absolutely nothing for him.

“It’s nice to meet you, Cam.” She lifted one perfectly plucked blonde eyebrow, the corner of her lips twitching in a knowing grin as she released his hand and let her gaze fall down his front. “So, what, are you protesting the whole MIB look?”

Cameron chuckled and made a mental note to thank her later. Her vivaciousness broke the sexual tension floating in the hallway and gave him the ability to think again. He shot a glance down the pale blue button-down shirt he wore untucked with a pair of khaki cargo shorts and worn tennis shoes.

Rather than answer her because,
hello, testosterone
, he could literally feel Thaddeus’s gaze moving slowly down his body inch by cock-teasing inch, he changed the subject. “I talked to Jackson on my way over. He, uh, had a sudden change in plans for the night.”

Cameron hadn’t been able to get his buddy to tell him exactly what went down tonight. He knew only that Jackson had ended up on the wrong side of town and his car had stayed behind at his apartment. Cameron had parked next to it in the parking garage when he’d arrived.

“He called a few minutes before you showed up. He said he’d be working late,” Thaddeus said. “I guess that means you’re headed back to the office, too.”

Cameron blinked. The way Thaddeus was looking at him left him no doubt the other man wanted him to stay. Funny thing was Cameron suddenly found himself wishing he could, too. “I, well, yeah,” he finally stammered.

“Then let us in, if you will, and you can be on your way. Terri and I can get settled in ourselves.”

Cameron unlocked the door to Jackson’s apartment, pushed it open, and stepped aside. Terri went in first, moving at a brisk walk as if the blazes of hell were after her ankles.

She must have to pee.

But, no, he realized in the next nanosecond when Thaddeus positioned himself between the doorframe and Cameron. She’d hightailed it inside to purposely leave him and Thaddeus alone. He squashed all ideas of thanking her later as he drew in a deep breath and started to say good-bye. The deep breath proved to be a mistake.

Damn, he smells good.

“We’ll be in town for a few days.” Thaddeus’s cheeks turned a truly charming shade of red, yet he still didn’t let up. “Maybe I’ll see you around again.”

Holy heaven.

Cameron held the other man’s gaze inappropriately long. His heart pounded against his ribcage. Every response that came to mind rang a warning bell, but for the life of him, he didn’t know why. He licked his lips, watched as Thaddeus’s gaze dropped to follow the path of his tongue, and his cock pulsed in sheer agony.

“I’m sure you will,” Cameron dared to say, then turned and walked swiftly back to the elevator, feeling Thaddeus’s heated gaze on him with every retreating step.

Mallory kept her speed to the posted limit, driving through the Waterston streets with one hand on the wheel and the other on the console gearshift. She hoped she painted the picture for laid-back cool even though everything inside her was tied in knots. A tension-filled silence tainted the air inside her Lexus. Jackson hadn’t said much since getting into the car. She’d noticed him scoping the area as she’d pulled away from the woods where she’d found him and could almost see the wheels turning in his head in full FBI mode.

“What happened tonight?” She glanced at him and desire tightened another knot in her core. He looked the same as he had when their paths had crossed earlier that day at HQ. He had the same effect on her now, too. Everything from his shiny black shoes with a black Armani suit and tie over a crisp white button-down shirt to his utilitarian-cut brown hair screamed agent-licious. The man was sexy as sin and dangerously yummy. Okay, so she was guessing on the yummy part. In all her years of chasing after him, he’d never allowed his control to slip even for a kiss.

He’d held her, though. In a moment of apparent weakness after she’d finally pushed him too far, he’d drawn her against him and short-circuited every sense in her body. She’d fit against him like a long-lost puzzle piece, her pliant curves to his solid frame, and she’d known he felt it, too. When he held her, he couldn’t hide his attraction to her, couldn’t hide the need she so often saw brewing in his stormy gray eyes. That had been the first and only time he’d admitted aloud that he wanted her.

Then he’d made the threat that stayed with her till this day, released her, and walked away.

Beside her, Jackson shook his head and continued staring out the passenger-door window. “I’d prefer to only tell the story once, at the office when we get everyone rounded up.”

“Were you hurt?” She started to slow for a stale yellow then gauged the distance too close to stop. She punched the gas, gliding the car beneath the traffic light just as it turned red. She glanced at him. The fleeting red glow illuminated the muscle ticking in his jaw.

“Not physically,” he answered dryly, not looking at her. “My ego took a hell of a blow, though.”

Mallory knew what it cost him to admit that. Tough as nails, stuffy, and often a pompous ass, Jackson Graham didn’t let much penetrate his steely shell, especially on the job. He was a robot, or at least that’s what he preferred people to believe. He kept his emotions hidden, on and off assignment.

Except for that one time.

Yeah, and that one time had scared her to the tips of her toes.

“I apologize for pulling you away from Cinderella’s.”

He made the conversational shift before she could prod for more answers. She let it go, finding a string of patience within herself to latch onto until they reached HQ.

“It’s no big deal. I was considering leaving when you called anyway.” That was a half-truth, but she went with it. She’d really been debating on another drink, a dance with Jim, possibly more.

“Considering?” Jackson finally looked at her, his expression blank, guarded. “Was there something that might have kept you there if I hadn’t called?”

Should she tell him? Would it help her mission or hinder it? Making Jackson jealous had never worked for her before. That was if she’d ever managed to make him jealous in the past. If she had, he damn sure never let it show.

“I thought about staying for another drink, maybe a dance or two.” As she said it, she felt herself slip into you-want-to-fuck-me mode. She’d been playing the game with Jackson for years, laying it on thick, not attempting to hide an ounce of her attraction to him. That, too, hadn’t worked yet, but hope sprung eternal. “What’s the matter, handsome? Does the thought of me on a dance floor make that conservative brain of yours think provocative thoughts?”