Targets Entangled (23 page)

Daegan watched his friend enter his stateroom and he couldn’t help but wonder if something hadn’t happened back home that he was keeping to himself. Stick hadn’t been himself these last couple of days and it had nothing to do with what was happening on board. He’d take time in the morning to check in with Stick and ensure that nothing would get in the way of tomorrow’s mission. He opened the hatch and found Ferrin lying in his rack with a pair of handcuffs hanging from one finger while wearing nothing more than a smile.

“Got any plans, Einstein?”

‡

F
errin’s day had
turned out better than any previous one aboard
The Promised Land
. After having a bite to eat with Daegan, she and Jerry had continued working and finished the day on a good note with all nets up, keyed, and passing traffic as they handed their operational assignments off to the next shift. Chief Jackson had been on hand and everyone seemed to be more at ease as hours passed without incident. She’d even gone back to her own cabin and spent time talking with Nina about who could have possibly set the bomb and what their intended purpose had been. They had heard that the amount of explosives used would only have damaged the radio room and not much more. The conversation had eventually turned to Tami and it was really nice to have another friend to grieve with. Nina hadn’t known Tami all that well, but she’d still been a crewmember and it was helpful to have another female friend to talk to considering the circumstances.

Hours had passed until late evening when she’d gathered up more of her personal items and brought them back to Daegan’s stateroom. As she’d been putting her things away and opened up a drawer to put some of her more intimate apparel in, she’d been surprised to find a set of handcuffs. Now as she swung them from her finger, the look of hunger on Daegan’s face was more than enough to heighten her desire when she had asked if he had any plans.

“I was wondering when you’d come back to collect your winnings,” Ferrin said, trying to sound sensual and cringing when it came out sounding a bit fearful. Daegan’s knowing smile didn’t help and she would have flung the cuffs at him had he not moved toward her. “So Einstein, are you ready to count your riches?”

“Very much so,” Daegan replied, although his actions said differently. He took the handcuffs from her and set them on the table. He went into the bathroom and came out with a towel. “Those will hurt your wrists so we’re going to go with something a little softer.”

“Hmmm, interesting.” Ferrin sat up, pulling the white sheet with her so that she could cover herself. It was an impractical gesture when he’d already seen her multiple times, but it was instinct. “A towel? I don’t think that’s going to do the trick.”

“O ye of little faith.” Daegan withdrew a pocketknife from his front pocket and started cutting the fabric into strips. Ferrin’s heart rate skyrocketed at watching him, knowing exactly where that material was going to end up. Her wrists already tingled, along with other parts of her body. This was going to be very interesting. “Here. You hold these for me while I take a shower.”

“A shower?” Ferrin asked, ready to commence with their plans immediately. She didn’t like that he was postponing it and made that verbally clear. “Really? You look and smell fine to me. In fact, you—”

Daegan leaned forward and kissed her, cutting off the rest of her sentence and making her want him even more. His tongue caressed her lower lip and to keep him there, she lightly bit him with her teeth and then sucked him into her mouth. She released the sheet and let it fall to her waist as she wrapped her arm around his neck with every intention of pulling him down on top of her.

“Shower,” Daegan said in a raspy voice and she was glad to know that she wasn’t the only one affected. She didn’t release him quite yet though, running one hand down the front of him and cupping the straining bulge in his jeans. She hadn’t expected him to tweak her nipple and then reach farther below. She laughed and released him, falling back against the pillow and clutching the strips of material. “I’m going to love having you tied to my bed, all helpless to resist my every desire.”

Daegan had risen from the mattress and had his shirt already off by the time he made it around the partition. Ferrin admired the back of him, loving how his muscles moved gracefully under his smooth flesh. She wanted to be the one who could take her time with him, seeing what may harden even more or cause his blue eyes to darken in arousal. Her mind was already thinking of things they could bet where she could win her turn and tease him so mercilessly.

Ferrin watched him disappear and then heard the spray of the water. She almost got off of the bunk just so she could continue to watch his striptease but then thought better of it. It would only delay him from returning to bed and she wanted his hands on her, doing the wicked things that kept crossing her mind throughout the day.

“Could you do me a favor tomorrow after your shift?” Daegan called out from the shower.

“I’d love to go shooting with you,” Ferrin said loudly, knowing that was his plan from when they’d had lunch earlier. He’d gone over his routine, although when she’d gone up to the weather deck after her shift had ended he wasn’t there. “I was a pretty good shot back in my service days.”

Ferrin waited for a reply and none came. She turned and lifted her head off of the pillow, propping herself up by her elbow. She’d let her hair down, knowing he liked to stroke it and run his fingers through the strands. Brushing it away, she briefly thought about getting up and walking into the head, but what he had to say stopped her.

“One of these days I’ll take you, but this is regarding something else,” Daegan said over the water. It was another few minutes before Ferrin finally heard him shut off the shower and he appeared around the partition with a towel wrapped around his waist. Her eyes followed the path of the fabric until he spoke again, causing her to understand that this wasn’t a normal request. “I want you to follow instructions to the letter if there is any type of announcement tomorrow. Can you do that for me?”

“Do you know something?” Ferrin asked, meeting his gaze and sitting up just a bit.

“You said that you trusted me before.” Daegan searched her eyes for the truth as he ran a hand over his face to get rid of the droplets that had been left behind. “I’m asking for you to keep doing so without an explanation.”

Ferrin slowly nodded, not used to witnessing Daegan be so resolute. It wasn’t as if she thought he didn’t take his job seriously, otherwise Red Starr never would have hired him. He was not usually like this with her and it made her think of his decision to see where their relationship could take them. Was it possible for a person to change their outlook or had Daegan always had this side of him and he just hadn’t shown too many people outside the team?

“Good.” The solemnity on Daegan’s face disappeared and his usual charming half grin took its place. His blue eyes sparkled with mischief as he closed the distance between them. “Now we can concentrate on my fiduciary responsibilities.”

“Oh?” Ferrin asked a little breathlessly. It never ceased to amaze her that he could make her feel so many emotions in such a small timespan. “And what other things would that be? You took away the handcuffs and delayed collecting your debt so that you could take a shower. I’m wondering if you’re really that interested in your financial windfall, coin of the realm as it were.”

The towel fell to the floor and revealed Daegan’s erect cock, once again making her wish she’d won the bet. His dick was quite wide while his length was just as impressive. He caught her wrist when she reached out a hand so that she could stroke him with her fingers to feel the smooth flesh.

“As you can see, I’m very interested in my winnings,” Daegan murmured, taking one of the strips from her other hand and wrapping it gently around her wrist. Arousal washed over her as her blood caught fire in her veins and she suddenly felt more alive than any zip lining adventure could cause. No matter how she tried to even her breathing, her heart rate stayed elevated as she lay back down on the sheets. “Have I mentioned that I love how beautiful your breasts are? Perfect size nipples, ample rounded flesh where your swell matches the natural arch of my palm, and sensitive enough that I could spend hours hearing you whimper in aching pleasure.”

Ferrin couldn’t take her eyes off of Daegan’s face as he went about securing her wrists behind her head. It felt odd to be in this position, but she did trust him completely. She’d never done anything like this sexually, but if her body reacted this way just from feeling the material around her wrists…she was more than ready to feel his hands on her body where she couldn’t push him away when the pleasure became too much. Already her clit was throbbing in need just thinking of it.

“We should make another bet,” Ferrin whispered, still wanting to be able to do the same to him. She would love to have unlimited access to his body. “This time where I get to tie you to the bed and be given all the time I want to see what arouses you.”

Daegan lifted himself over her until his body was stretched out against hers. He elevated himself up on his elbow, similar to how she’d been positioned a few minutes earlier. His blue eyes took in her flushed body and finally came to rest on her face, which felt just as heated.

“My sweet little siren, there isn’t a chance in hell that I’ll ever be tied to a bed, but I am more than willing to let you try.” Daegan mildly brushed a finger down her arm and around the curve of her breast, causing her nipple to harden even more. Ferrin bit her lip, wanting him to move this along. She hadn’t counted on needing him inside of her so fast. “The experts say that the neck is a very erogenous zone. Shall we see?”

Daegan didn’t lift his finger from her sensitized skin, but instead circled her breast and continued upward until he caressed the side of her neck. Her skin tingled and her breathing became a little shallow. Her lips involuntarily parted when he dipped his head and followed the pattern with his warm, moist tongue dotting the landscape. The sensations were almost too much and she arched slightly, wanting him to do more with his mouth. She couldn’t help but whisper his name when his lips melded to the chord of muscle that she was straining.

“Oh, this is going to be fun,” Daegan murmured, taking his time in that one delicate spot that had her wanting more. “Is the other side as responsive?”

Daegan skimmed his tender lips to the other side of her neck and she couldn’t help herself from assisting him by turning to accept his touch. She shifted so that her body could feel more of his heat and maybe instigate him to use his hands on other places that were feeling left out.

“Einstein, you should be smart enough to know that other areas on my body need attention.”

Daegan let out a sensual laugh that she’d never heard before and that made her want him even more. He lowered his head and finally caught her hardened nipple in between his lips. It was after a good minute when he was still nibbling on the now oversensitized nub that she might have asked for more than she could handle. She tried to bring down her hand to shift his mouth to her other breast, but it stayed exactly where he wanted it.

“Okay,” Ferrin cried out, trying to move away from the onslaught of pleasure. “You’ve made your point.”

Daegan finally stopped and met her gaze, his blue eyes a color she’d never seen before. They had turned almost grey, like hers. The intensity within him had her holding her breath and she melted against the sheets when he spoke.

“Not nearly enough,” Daegan whispered, bending down and giving her nipple a long, teasing lick. “I’ve heard that a woman can come just from breast play. Should we try it at length?”

Ferrin whimpered when he went back to nibbling and suckling her nipple as if he had all the time in the world. Her cream was leaking out of her pussy, which he hadn’t bothered to give his attention to yet and that was even worse. He continued his ministrations and she cried out when he brought his hand up to her other breast.

“It’s too much, Daegan,” Ferrin choked out, her arousal climbing with each flick of his tongue and gentle squeeze of his fingers. The stimulation was overwhelming and she arched even higher, needing him to do something else. It was exquisite torture and she wondered if anyone had ever died from too much pleasure. “Oh…”

Daegan switched his warm mouth to her other breast, but didn’t let up on either of her nipples. His fingers tugged and kneaded the one that was still wet from his tongue, sending small electric shots traveling to her clit. If he kept this up, there would be a puddle on the sheets. Already she could feel her pussy contracting and wanting something to fill it that would ease the awakening he’d fashioned.

Daegan must have lightly bit her nipple, for the mixture of the slight sting and pleasure sent a small wave of pleasure through her and much to her surprise triggered a tiny orgasm. She lifted her hips in time with the pulsations, calling out his name softly as he continued to manipulate her breasts. It was amazing and yet not nearly enough to satisfy her needs.