Swift (Kindred, #4) E-Book

Scarlett Finn

• Herausgeber: Scarlett Finn
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

Swift
He's smart and loyal,
Skilled and focused.
He broke her heart,
To save her life.

Kadie Harris can’t understand why the only man she’s ever loved has turned his back on her. He vanishes into the night without explanation, not unusual for him maybe, except this time he’s not coming back.
Tucker Holt has just watched his mentor die. The tragedy forces him to confront the danger in his life, and he knows it’s time to cut Kadie loose.

What he doesn’t bank on is Kadie’s tenacity. She won’t let him get away easy. In her pursuit of him, she stumbles into the path of a lethal Kindred enemy. Will Swift and the others get her out of danger before it’s too late?

Warning: Contains explicit language and imagery. Suitable only for ages 18 and over.

**HEA STANDALONE**

Leseprobe

Copyright © 2016, 2022 Scarlett Finn

Published by Moriona Press 2016, 2022

All rights reserved.

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

First published in 2016

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by an electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. It may not be used to train AI software or for the creation of AI works.

All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Original cover by Najla Qamber Designs

www.najlaqamberdesigns.com

www.scarlettfinn.com

KINDRED SERIES

Raven

Swallow

Cuckoo

Swift

Falcon

Finch

Read them in order for maximized reading pleasure.

For other titles from Scarlett Finn, please read on after the story.

Click here if you’d like to leave a message for Scarlett.

Enjoy!

CONTENTS

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

TWENTY

TWENTY-ONE

TWENTY-TWO

TWENTY-THREE

TWENTY-FOUR

TWENTY-FIVE

TWENTY-SIX

ONE

Nine months ago

KADIE HARRIS COULD feel him watching.

It didn’t matter that she couldn’t see him, she could feel him lurking. The prickle on the back of her neck wasn’t unpleasant anxiety, it was agitated anticipation building to fever pitch. Somehow, somewhere, he was here.

Walking through the deserted park on her way back to work, she took one measured step after another, listening to the tattoo of her high-heels and speculating about when he might choose to show himself.

Being without him tortured her every day they were apart. Their agonizing periods of separation were interrupted by sudden concentrations of intensity that were often cut short. Passion and love exploded when they came together to make up for every second he’d spent away from her side and it defined their pained farewells.

Their apartment was nearby. She considered whether or not she should go home just to try to draw him out. But she’d learned long ago to trust him. He knew how to play her, how to torment her, how to be patient in the face of her zeal. Only in his own good time would he appear to her, and he’d make sure it was worth the wait.

Experience taught her that he always made their reunion memorable, but that didn’t assuage her eagerness. Kadie had never been particularly good at holding her horses. “Come on, Hotshot. Where are you?” she muttered to herself.

It had been too long, and she needed him. She didn’t want to wait anymore. Weeks had passed since she had last heard from him. Worrying was ridiculous because the man she loved was capable of defending himself. Yet somehow that never quite alleviated the concern that plagued her every day she didn’t receive word.

In the five years they’d been together, he’d spent weeks, sometimes months, away from their life, but he always came back to her and she had to make herself believe that he always would.

After another half dozen steps, Kadie stopped. A spike of adrenaline told her he was close, closer than he’d been all day. She’d learned not to ignore her instincts. Sure enough, when she spun around, there stood her love, right on her heels.

“This is your version of a hello?” Kadie asked, trying not to show any joy. “Some people would call it stalking.” Usually when they came back together after a period apart, there was elation in his affect. Today, there was nothing but blank intensity, and that wiped the grin from her face. “What? What is it?”

One of his arms came around her waist, and without further ceremony, she was tugged to his body. Tucker Holt’s mouth took her words and sanity. She should have known better than to try to think or reason when Tuck had made up his mind.

There she was in his arms, pressed against the broad, solid chest that had served as her pillow on so many nights. This was what she’d been waiting for and she was going to enjoy it.

All too soon his mouth left hers. Drifting on the memory of their previous goodbye, which had lasted her all these weeks, she had to convince herself that this was real and not another of her lucid dreams. Sometimes when she woke in a sweat, coiled in their sheets, she would reach for him because the sensations in her dreams had been so real that she’d be almost convinced they’d just made love. But he had never been there, he so rarely was.

Releasing her tension, she slid a hand from his shoulder to his bicep and let her fingers slip under the fabric of his tee shirt sleeve to pinch his flesh with her long nails.

“All real, Toots.”

His heated words rested on her lips. Try as he might to convince her everything was rosy, she could tell that he was carrying a burden heavier than any she’d seen on his shoulders before. Her head was still swimming. His presence made her heady, making it difficult to think and questioning him even harder.

Just having him with her, safe, alive, holding her, gave her an endorphin boost. He had come back to her just as she’d known he would. The only thing that would keep him from her side was death. He joked with her about having a return to sender tattooed on his ass in case of the worst. While he found the idea funny, she did not.

If he wasn’t going to be forthcoming about what was on his mind, she was going to have to be creative about getting her answers. “Two weeks,” she said, punching his shoulder with the hand that had just caressed and pinched. “I haven’t heard a peep from you in two weeks!”

He didn’t decrease the stranglehold of his embrace. “I told you I’d hit a delay.”

If she cut him any slack, he wouldn’t recognize her. “And you were nowhere near a server of any kind? Somehow I doubt that.”

Shoving out of his clinch, she sprang back when his arms flexed then locked. Tuck would let go of her when he was ready and not a single heartbeat before, “Are you sulking?”

Unwilling to relent just yet, she considered his question because her answer would depend on his reply to her next query. “How long are you home for?”

Crouching lower, he smelled her hair. Burying his face in her locks, he moved it side to side reveling in the texture. Tuck could be affectionate. He’d learned how to trust her enough to act on his emotional impulses in the same way he would to physical threats: on instinct. Their usual greetings were teasing and flirtatious, and sex was high on the agenda. This man, squeezing her, seeking comfort, was troubled.

Reducing her rankle, she wanted to be what he needed, but he so rarely let her in. “Anyone would think that you missed me,” she murmured, stroking the back of his head.

“You have no idea.”

When he kissed her again, he cradled the back of her skull and dipped her until her balance was entirely at his mercy. They’d kissed a million times over the last five years, but the chemical reaction that their bodies created when combined hadn’t become any less combustible.

As he eased his lips away, he didn’t put her back onto her feet. Kadie didn’t care about her physical balance, she’d forgotten where she was, who was here, and her very reason for being. In his presence, Kadie’s world shrank, just as his did. Together, their universe reduced itself to two occupants and that was all they needed. With each other, anything could be achieved. He made her feel that she could take on the world. Not that she would ever need to because he would do it for her, every time.

Forcing herself to open her eyes, she absorbed his features. Every minute together was so precious that she felt the need to cling onto every nuance. “You are something to look at, Tucker Holt,” she whispered.

Lean and always ready for action, Kadie knew just how ripped every inch of her man’s body was. Not that the light-brown hair, presently a little on the long side, with its sparkling natural blonde highlights and his penetrating blue eyes were anything to shrug at.

Pulling her upright again, he held her close and squeezed her so tight that there was no denying something was plaguing him. The stubble on his chin dragged and snagged on her hair, but she enjoyed the familiarity of the friction.

“Let’s go home,” he said and began to pull her toward the path that would take them to their apartment.

Ah, this was more like just-come-back Tuck, single-minded and overbearing, edgy until he released himself into her. Kadie laughed. “I have to go back to work. I have a meeting and—”

“Dempsey can handle it,” he said and when he took her hand and tugged her along, she followed.

While scurrying along behind him, she tried to make him see sense and remind him of their responsibilities, even though she wanted to go home as much as he did. Except making his life hard was what kept things interesting between them. Ubiquitous banter was synonymous with foreplay. “Dempsey and I have a meeting this afternoon, with a company we’ve been courting for a while.”

Dempsey, her cousin, had been the one to introduce her to Tuck. Since then, she and her cousin had run Tuck’s firm while he gallivanted off to take care of less reputable practitioners. Truth was, she didn’t know what he did when he wasn’t with her and she didn’t like to ask. Maintaining their often separate lives never made her doubt their relationship, having him sometimes was better than having him never.

“The meeting has been canceled,” Tuck called over his shoulder, still dragging her along. “They’ve hit a digital snag.”

Her brows rose. Tuck was a planner. Always had been. He hadn’t met a hiccup he couldn’t thwart with his superior tech skills. “A digital snag?” she asked. “What is that code for? What did you do?”

“They might have a little virus problem.”

The amused pride in his voice didn’t surprise her. “A virus,” she said and stopped, pulling her arm up and down to shake it out of his hold. “Tuck!”

The company’s duty was to find weaknesses in corporate security. Tuck was the brains behind the operation, she and Dempsey ran the company for him and were the public face of it. None of their clients knew who Tuck was because he did his hacking from external locations. He was the faceless wizard behind the curtain. Once he’d poked holes in their client’s electronic security, he gave reports to Dempsey, who then worked with the client to toughen up their barriers.

That was what Tuck’s legitimate company did. The work that took him away for such long periods of time wasn’t exactly on the books… or the up and up from what she gathered.

Tuck wasn’t dissuaded. “The system will reset in twelve hours. By the time they’re enjoying their morning coffee, everything will be back as it should be,” he said and came back to put an arm around her waist to get her moving again.

She kept on going until they were out of the park and down the block on their way to the apartment she shared with him when he was around. Having an apartment that bordered the park was her dream and Tuck delivered. Everything he did seemed effortless; nothing was too much for her. She could ask for the moon and he’d find a way to give it to her.

“Only you could come up with that solution,” she said as they ran up the external stairs to their place. “I tell you that I have an appointment with a client—our client—and what do you tell me? That you’ve already infected their company with a computer virus, ensuring that my appointment has been canceled because the whole place is in disarray.”

Her key slid into the lock and his hands landed on her shoulders from behind when she turned it and pushed through the glass paneled wooden door that opened into their dining kitchen.

“It was only a little virus,” he said.

“A little virus,” she said, going inside and dumping her purse on the table. These teasing exchanges were missed when he wasn’t around, not that this was the time to tell him that. No, this was the time to read him the riot act. Ruffling her feathers got him going and she’d learned the carnal value of ruffling his. “Dempsey has been working to improve their security. They’re our client, now we look like idiots.”

She spun around to glare but received no apology. “I did it for a good cause,” he said.

The predatory tone in his voice matched the look in his eye. She hadn’t even taken her jacket off and he was onto the seduction.

Resisting with disapproval was her role. “To free up my afternoon so you can get laid is not a good cause. Do we have to talk about your boundary issues again?”

He snapped the lock on the door, shirked his jacket, and began to stalk her. “Depends on your perspective. I say it’s a good cause,” he said. “And you’re going to get laid too.”

He knew her too well. Boy, had she missed him. Edging back as he advanced, she could never escape him when he was this hungry. “You expect me to give it up when you haven’t answered my question?” Her spine hit the wall beside the fridge just next to the corridor that led to the bathroom… and their bedroom.

“What question?”

The most important question, the one she always asked: how long did she have with him before he deserted her again? Now, he was upon her, gathering her into his arms, forcing her weight to her tiptoes. He knew what she wanted to know and that saying goodbye was always a raw sorrow, so she could forgive him for not wanting to address the issue, especially if it would have an answer that might upset her.

Shallow breaths and a pliant soul signaled her surrender, she was his, in every sense. “Tuck,” she murmured, pressing her hands to his chest, reminding herself again and again that this was real. She couldn’t wake from this dream and be disappointed again. Speckled shivers darted through her skull as her body grew heavier, he didn’t hesitate.

“Shh,” he reassured, covering her hands with his and then bringing them to his mouth. “You’ve got me, baby, I’m home.”

“For real?” she asked, daring herself to believe he meant it. In time he would go, he always did, it was the nature of his occupation. It could be days, weeks, sometimes months, but eventually he would leave and they would do this all over again.

“For real.”

Bending his knees to line up their mouths, Tuck let his eyes linger on hers for half a beat before he leaned in and pressed his mouth to hers. Alone at last, in the home they shared, Kadie could forgive him for threatening the contract with the client. She’d forgive him anything as he collected her into his embrace and began to maneuver her backwards toward their bedroom. Joining, connecting, savoring their time together, he was her only priority.

Their relationship was what kept her going. Despite the distance, she was never lonely because he would always be there for her. If she demanded that he drop everything and come home to her then he would. Kadie had never done it, recalled him on a whim, but she had full faith that he wouldn’t hesitate if she did.

“I’ve got a lot saved up for you, Toots. You ready for a ride?”

They entered the bedroom and he gave the door a shove to close it. After scooping her legs from under her, it took him two strides to reach the bedside where he tossed her down to the mattress.

“You’re stalling, Hotshot,” she said, pouncing to her knees and whipping her top off over her head. “Get your dick over here now, and I’ll take exactly what I need.”

Tuck stripped down at the same time she did, racing her to naked. “You’re not going to outlast me, Toots.”

“We’ll see about that,” she said, leaping up off the bed and into his arms.

They lived their lives in a power struggle with each other. It was yet to be determined which of them was actually the dominant one. Maybe that was because the truth didn’t really matter as long as they were together.

The way he kissed her told her so much about his mood. When they came together after spells apart, their unions were frantic, and this time was no different. Laying her on the bed, Tuck suspended his weight above her, except she didn’t want that, she wanted to feel the full length of his ravenous body stimulating every part of hers.

Biting his lip to get his attention, she smiled at the glare he returned. “You’re holding back,” she teased. “Get with it.”

“Oh, I’m with it,” he said, seizing her waist and rolling their bodies over to put her in the dominant position. “You could work a little harder.”

If he was trying to rile her, she’d take it. After half a decade together, she had nothing to prove to him between the sheets and there were few surprises. But she had what she wanted, control over the body that starred in her fantasies.

Working her hips until his dick was nestled deep between her folds, she pinched and rubbed her nipples, stopping when she wanted to slide her hands over his ripped torso. There might be no surprises, but that didn’t mean there was no effect. He’d been working hard on his body since they saw each other last, leaving her curious about where he worked out and if he did it alone.

With her nails, she stimulated his nipples, then let them glide down to circle his belly button, before taking them lower. But when she tried to slide her hips away, he caught them and raised her up, and the head of his erection followed. She’d tested his patience long enough, just as she knew she would. Kadie had pleasured herself in front of him before, and he loved nothing more than watching her hands go from her tits to his torso.

This time, he pulled her down onto him and there was no more teasing, he was all the way inside and after a satisfied exhale, she laughed. “Doesn’t it feel good to be home, Hotshot?” she asked, rocking her hips, relishing his intimate occupation, and reminding him of the warm constriction she provided.

“It sure does, Toots,” he said, flipping them over in a slick maneuver that allowed him to begin pumping into her before she was even flat on her back.

Sex with Tuck was different every time and exactly the same as well. Their connection, the security, it heightened every luxurious stroke of his powerful shaft that demanded satisfaction through to his soul.

Kadie wanted to be fucked by him, wanted his body to take advantage of everything hers could offer. But the speed of their union slowed and when she released her lip from her teeth and opened her eyes, she saw him staring down into her, still moving, but preoccupied by something that wasn’t the pleasure of sex.

“Tuck?” she asked, touching his face.

Taking her wrist, he moved her palm to his lips and kissed it in a long tender moment that re-inspired the concern she’d sidelined earlier. When he released her, a new determination took over his expression and his actions. He was thrusting harder than before, faster. So fast that it only took a minute more for them both to come together, panting and shouting for each other in ecstasy.

He was here, he was home, and when he took her into his arms and kissed her again, Kadie didn’t want to think about anything negative. Being his girl had its disadvantages, but they were all erased in moments of post-coital bliss like this one.

Whatever was bothering him, whatever was different, they’d deal with it, she’d always be here for him and he kept coming back, proving that he knew he could rely on her. Even when they fought and teased, it was submerged in love, they had real, unshakable security, maybe all he needed was a reminder that no matter how much she riled him, she loved him even more.

TWO

THE KINDRED TOOK up most of Tuck’s life. Kadie had given up asking him about what he did when they weren’t together. For the first time, he wished he could tell her everything. Just a couple of days ago, he had watched Art die in the Atlas warehouse. Brodie’s pain might be subdued now, but the loss was going to change everything.

Tuck had to leave the manor, Zara could probably have used his support with Brodie, but he had done his duty and needed to get out of there for his own sanity. He’d helped her to secure the device and given her a quick rundown of the manor systems, then he’d split. Driving without aim, he planned to head for a dive bar and a cheap motel, except he’d come back here on autopilot. To Kadie.

Hacking her calendar didn’t take him long and when he saw the meeting she had scheduled, he’d dumped the virus into the client’s system to make sure that appointment wouldn’t be going ahead. Watching her wasn’t enough, which was odd. Playing with her, stalking her from afar, had been a hobby he’d always enjoyed. Tempting himself with the sight of her, while resisting making direct contact, he placed bets with himself each time on how long he’d be able to keep his hands off her, it was a game. But it was one he hadn’t enjoyed playing the previous day. As soon as he saw her, he needed to be in her arms, which meant he had no patience to let her go to business appointments.

Seeing Art die had changed something in his bones and a desire for comfort had overwhelmed him. Kadie was the only person who’d ever had a grounding effect on him when his world went off-kilter, which was probably why his aimless journey had steered him to her.

Going back to work after spending the night with Kadie was bittersweet. Tuck liked to see that the place was doing well, liked to see how Kadie kept the place fresh and made adjustments to the décor. Every time he came back here something was different. His woman wasn’t so great at keeping still, she was a bee, always buzzing around, getting things done, keeping busy. For so long he’d been encouraged by her optimism and enjoyed picking out details simply because he knew it would give her a thrill that he noticed them.

This time was different. Coming back, he’d wanted home comforts and familiarity with the belief that they could make him forget the tragedy in his other life. Being intimate with the woman he loved gave him an anchor and erased the images of his latest Kindred mission. Kadie had always made him feel like he was a good guy worthy of her love and that he was capable of giving her what she deserved.

But he didn’t feel like that anymore. Not after what had happened to Art. Losing his mentor and witnessing the implosion of his closest ally brought the consequences of Tuck’s risks into harsh focus. He couldn’t shake the feeling that this life he had with Kadie was on borrowed time.

The brownstone he’d bought years ago as a base for his company, housed vital equipment and contained more electronics than any passer-by would assume, which was exactly the point. Dempsey and Kadie didn’t see clients here, they went to their consumers premises. Keeping their base low-key didn’t draw attention to their operation and the art of deception was something he’d gotten good at in his time with the Kindred. Occasionally, those lessons transferred to his life with Kadie, though he tried to limit their impact.

Kadie had left him in their apartment this morning to come into work. He’d been not too far behind her and had spent most of his morning in the brownstone basement. That space was his private lair, the one place in the world he could call himself king. Filled with his machines, the dark cavern was out-of-bounds for anyone except him and Kadie.

Dempsey had been coming in the front entrance just as Tuck was walking upstairs. Greeting his old friend was a strange kind of normalcy and they’d gone out to the coffee cart to catch up. Coming back inside, they ascended toward the first floor where their main offices were. “I don’t give a shit,” Tuck said.

“I do,” Dempsey said. “You can’t miss my sister’s birthday party.”

“Why not?” Tuck asked, taking the steps two at a time at Dempsey’s six. His colleague stopped on the stairs with his hands stretched to each banister and glared over his shoulder. “I’m more interested in figuring out what’s up with your cousin.”

“Your re-entry is always bumpy. Kadie’s just thinking about when you’ll waltz off again… Which is all the more reason you should come to my sister’s birthday party. Gwen always has great parties and you can make some memories with Kade.”

“Gwen hates me,” Tuck said.

Dempsey smiled. “Most everyone who knows you hates you. It’s what comes from being an enigma. If you won’t let people in, they won’t trust you.” Dempsey let this hang in the air and finished mounting the stairs. “Give me a minute.”

The wooden stairway hadn’t changed, although if he didn’t know better, he would say the walls up here had been re-plastered. Being paid to be observant meant he was positive he was right. Given the number of zeros on his bank balance, he’d guess he was good at details. Dempsey had disappeared into their breakroom. Tuck didn’t wait.

Heading forward, he opened the double doors to enter their outer office. From here, the other four doors led to their offices and the file room. Inspecting the frame, and moldings, he ran his hand up the seam of the hinge and peered up at the ceiling. If something was different, Kadie needed him to notice.

Lifting his head as he moved into the office, he noticed there was a male on the chrome-footed leather couch under the window, probably in his early twenties. He could be younger than that, he looked it, especially in his current pose. Sunk into the three-seater, his feet and knees were tight together, and he clasped a leather binder on his lap with two white-knuckled hands.

The stranger stared right back, but there wasn’t any attempt to intimidate in his returning stare. This dude was firmly on the receiving end, fear was all he portrayed. The boy blinked, shifted, blinked again, and swallowed once, twice. He was nervous, in fact he was sweating. Tuck grew more curious.

“Can I help you?” Tuck asked, giving the door a shove, and sending it clattering into its frame.

Tuck didn’t flinch at the noise, he just kept staring. If there was one thing the Kindred were good at, it was getting to the bottom of mysteries.

The stranger blinked again, twice, then again, then there was another swallow. “I—”he croaked, coughed and cleared his throat. “I…”

“You what?” Tuck asked, widening his stance and folding his arms. “No one gets in here without a reason or a security clearance. Explain yourself.”

“I—”

The file room door opened behind him. Though the boy shifted again, Tuck kept his scowl steady. The boy tried to push up from the couch but slid only an inch to the edge. The seat was too soft and too low for a reason. It was meant to keep people uncomfortable, it looked like luxury, but its purpose was intimidation.

Tuck didn’t need to turn around to know who had opened the file room door. The shoe heels clacking on the oak floor told him who it was. A moment after a door closed, the unmistakable scent of her perfume dosed him. Fighting the urge to close his eyes and let the scent drug his senses, Tuck gritted his teeth against the knowledge that even just the smell of her made his jeans shift.

She didn’t say a word, although her heels continued to click on the floor. From the direction of the occasional movement, he imagined she was at one of the two filing cabinets between the doors on the far wall, opposite the couch that the boy sat on. Tuck didn’t miss how the youngster tried to peek around him to the woman Tuck couldn’t see.

He was subtle, or at least trying to be. He didn’t lean too far, but the slight movement of his eyes, and the constant shifting on the couch, told Tuck exactly what their guest was trying to do. The stranger wanted to see Kadie, he wanted to watch her while her back was to them. Under other circumstances, Tuck may not blame the boy because he understood the effect she could have on a male. But he didn’t like strangers, he liked them even less within their sanctuary, and he liked them less than that when they took an interest in Kadie—understandable or not.

“You got a problem?” Tuck asked.

Still, the boy said nothing, though he had returned to swallowing and blinking. The kid squeezed his cracked lips together, nervous didn’t begin to explain this guy’s state. The nature of what he did with the Kindred meant being suspicious was a necessity. Tuck had been told he was a formidable guy, but this reaction was extreme, which made him wonder if this boy had something to hide.

“I need you,” Kadie’s voice carried to them. Relaxing his rigid form, he was ready to accommodate his woman. But when she walked past him and he moved to follow, she spoke again. “Not you, Hotshot,” she said over her shoulder without making eye contact, then nodded to the boy on the couch.

The boy scrambled to his feet, dropping the binder, then tripped over himself to pick it up. Tuck watched him run to Kadie who stood at his office door holding it open, she bestowed the youngster with her most accommodating smile. With a shrug of her shoulders, she laughed, and shook her head.

“Take your time. I’m not going anywhere,” she soothed.

The boy nodded and darted past her into the office. Kadie followed him in and closed the door. She didn’t look at him, not once. And she closed the door! That was his fucking office! Tuck took a minute to replay events.

Every time he left her, he counted the seconds until he was home again. Dempsey was right that his re-entry was always bumpy, but Kadie was his smoothest transition. It might take time for him to get back up to speed and into a routine, but this, strangers in his office, wasn’t something he wanted to get on board with.

Deciding that it was time he took charge of what was his, the steel returned to his spine. He marched to his office and opened the door without hesitation. A laugh died on Kadie’s lips. The boy was in his chair behind his desk. Kadie had one hand on the desk, and the other on the back of his chair. The youngster was doing everything he could to keep his tongue in his mouth, and his eyes off of her cleavage, which was on display a couple of inches from the thick rimmed glasses that had appeared on his face from somewhere.

The boy’s mouth dropped open when he registered Tuck’s presence, his Adams-apple bounced again. The boy’s obvious initial reaction was to flee, but Kadie’s position trapped him in. A laptop was open in front them, both had to have been working on something because they were both positioned to see the screen, and the youngster’s hands still rested on the keyboard.

Bad enough that the boy was at his desk, drooling over his woman, but Tuck sucked in an audible breath when he recognized that the laptop was also one of his. Jesus! Give the boy the keys to his apartment, turn down the sheets, and give him Tuck’s credit card for the rubbers, why not? What was wrong with everyone?

“Can we help you?” Kadie asked, not moving an inch. The boy’s impulse was to look at her, so he found himself once again lost in her cleavage.

Guys had to drool over her all the time and he wasn’t usually here to see or police that interest. Watching this performance made him consider installing cameras just like the ones at the McCormack Manor. “This here is my office, Toots,” Tuck said.

“We can move,” she said, pushing away from the desk to stand up. “You won’t mind if we go down to the lab if you’re in here, will you?” He and Kadie were the only two with security access to his basement lab. To his knowledge no one had been in there except them, the key being: to his knowledge.

Was she playing or was something eating her snatch? “Hey now, Kade—”

The sly slink of her smile grabbed him by the balls, she was playing, and if she wanted satisfaction, he’d deliver. “It’s that or I take him home with me.”

Sauntering a few steps inside, he hooked his thumbs into his jeans. “Neither of us are home enough to take care of a pet, Toots. We’ve had this discussion.”

“I—”The boy tried to rise, but Kadie moved behind the chair and pushed him back down into it.

“Don’t let him bully you, I told you he would try to intimidate you,” she said, massaging the boy’s shoulders, this time treating Tuck to the vision of her cleavage. Much as he wanted to enjoy it, the knowledge that the boy had been spoiled by the same view made him grind his teeth.

This kid was in the middle of their foreplay, but Tuck didn’t give a shit about his feelings. “You have to show them who’s boss on day one,” Tuck said.

An almost smile quirked to Kadie’s lips. “He knows who rules the roost. He’s my new intern and it’s about time you two met. Tuck this is Howie. Howie meet Tucker.”

“It’s an honor, I—”

Again, Kadie pushed Howie back down when he tried to stand. “You’re not supposed to name them,” Tuck said, not diverting his attention from her. “It’s how you get attached.”

“Someone woke up on the wrong side of bed this morning,” she said. “Or was it the draft that bothered you?”

So that was her game, she was playing tit-for-tat, usually it was her waking up alone in their cold bed after he’d abandoned her to go back to the Kindred. This was payback for all of those times, giving him a taste of his own medicine.

Tuck took one step toward the desk, Howie tensed, and Kadie released the youngster to round the desk and match Tuck, step for step, until they were toe to toe. “Are you playing with me, Toots?”

“Moi?” she asked, her manicured nails grazed her breast, as she gaped in mock indignation. “We’re only trying to get some work done.”

“Work on what exactly?”

“Now, Tucker,” she said, touching his sternum with those same fingernails. “I taught you how to ask nicely, do I have to explain it to you again?”

Seizing her upper arms, he stole her breath from her lungs causing it to flood his chest as he yanked her against him. Panic made the kid move fast. Howie bounced up from the chair, causing it to ricochet off the wall under the window behind him.

“Oh!” Howie exclaimed, going no further, proving he had no idea what action he was supposed to take to save his mentor. “I—should I—”

“Scram, kid,” Tuck growled, glaring down at the woman in his clutches. She didn’t need saving from anything except his devotion to her, and Howie wouldn’t be able to combat that with any success.

“I—But I—”

“Howie,” Kadie breathed, matching the ferocity of his stare. “Lesson over.”

The words barely had time to leave her lips before Tuck snatched her up on the ends of her toes and forced his mouth down on hers. The grasping, desperate tangle of her tongue on his raised their heart rates until their hearts seemed to be trying to switch bodies. He didn’t know if the boy had left but when he pulled his mouth from hers, she sucked in a sob on her breath.

Leaving her to sleep alone in their bed was as tough for him as it was for her, and he couldn’t let her forget that. “Damn you, Kadie Harris,” he huffed and kissed her again. “You’re my fucking world, my—”

“Oh, shut up, Tuck.” Grabbing his shirt in her fists, she pulled him to the desk and shoved everything out of the way to perch up on it.

The boy had gone, and he’d taken the laptop with him. Tuck would get to the bottom of that, and get his property back, but not before he reclaimed the most important thing in his world. Kadie shoved up his tee shirt. Gathering it in her fists, she reached to try to remove it. Helping her out, he whipped it off and groaned when her hungry, eager lips began to taste the width of him.

“Kadie,” he said, driving his hands into her hair, but she ducked lower, kissing down to his diaphragm before he got hold of her again and thrust her away.

She fumbled with the buttons on his jeans. Too quickly, she freed his solid want and her fingers curled around him. Panting out his name, she dipped her head, but he couldn’t let her taste him or he’d be done before they got started. Capturing her wrists, he pinned her down on the desk and flattened himself against her. “I missed you, Toots. You’ve got no idea what you do to me, what the thought of you gets me through.”

“Tuck,” she said, wriggling her hands out of his grip. “Shut up and fuck me.”

She unhooked her belt and tossed it over his shoulder, then got to work on her shirt buttons. He knew his woman and the mischief she could get up to. After five years of dedicating himself to her, he knew exactly what she liked. Taking hold of her lapels, he ripped the shirt open and unclipped the front clasp of her bra. Stooping to suckle one nipple, he massaged her breasts closer to his mouth, deeper, until she squirmed beneath him and whimpered out his name, then it was time to switch sides.

“Tucker,” she sighed, pushing her hips up, seeking out the bulge she’d had her greedy hands on moments before. But he wasn’t about to let her take control. Backing off enough to flip her over, he gripped her thighs and dragged her closer, forcing his erection against her ass. He knew how she loved to feel the effect she had on him, and sure enough, she moaned and tried to push up. Tuck held her down and forced up her skirt. Tugging her underwear down her thighs, he probed his fingers between her folds, and let himself bounce against her as he stroked himself in time with the rhythm of his caress of her slick sex.

“You always did get off on screwing the boss,” he said. The sound that came from her was a cross between a laugh and a whine.

“So far the boss hasn’t screwed anything today,” she said, elevating her rump.

Tuck clamped her in his grip, taking hold of her hips, so he could lift her for ease of access. “Consider this your bonus.” Just like that, he slammed into her center and she cried out.

A scream that loud would vibrate the foundations of this structure. Everyone else on the premises knew exactly what they were up to, but that suited him, interruptions were the last thing he wanted when he was this deep inside the woman he loved.

***

RESTING HER FOREHEAD on the solid desk beneath her, Kadie let her eyes close, and tried to quiet her panting breaths. His hand slid from her waist to between her shoulder blades and he circled the clasp of her necklace with his thumb.

“I knew you were trouble the first second I laid eyes on you,” she whispered. Proximity made her lips sample the texture of the wood. “Do you remember the night we met?”

Still stroking her upper back, his voice stayed low. “Have you ever known me to forget anything important to us?”

“I couldn’t breathe when you looked at me. You ate every inch of me with that lethal gaze. You hadn’t said a word, we weren’t even in the same group, but I knew my life would never be the same.”

“I haven’t disappointed you, have I?”

His hand slid down her spine, and covered half of her behind, giving her a squeeze before he let his member slide from her body. She stayed put, bent over the desk, her hands tangled in her shirt somewhere at her hips. He moved across the room, those heavy boots of his clumping on the floor, he hadn’t taken off his jeans, and she imagined that his tee shirt had to be in a twisted mess somewhere on the floor.

The bathroom door opened, and she listened to the water run before rolling onto her back. Sitting up, she shrugged her shirt back to her shoulders and fastened her bra. Her torn underwear lay on his tee shirt, which was clear on the other side of the room. In no hurry to button her shirt, or retrieve her lost underwear, she sat in the middle of the desk, and tried to think about how to explain herself. As much as she’d avoided him, and the discussion, thus far, she knew that she couldn’t avoid it forever.

Tuck returned to the room with his jeans buttoned again. Rubbing his face dry with the towel, he hooked it around his neck when he was done and leaned against the doorframe. The damp locks of his hair on the periphery of his face stuck to his temples.

“What are you trying to say to me, Toots?”

What a picture he made. His perfect form was draped with such confidence, it was hard to tell if the wall held him up, or if it was the other way around. Over the years, she had lost count of the number of times she’d seen him naked, yet as she examined the ridges and grooves of his abdomen, and the trail of hair that disappeared down into the band of his underwear peeking over his jeans, she wondered if she would ever tire of it. Somehow, he was never something she had taken for granted. Seemingly, he didn’t feel the same.

“I don’t know if I can do this anymore,” she said, and saw the muscles in his stomach bunch in time with a hissing intake of breath.

“Do what, Toots?”

“This,” she said. “What we do—you gone half the year, me wondering where you are, what’s going on, if you’re safe, who you’re with—”

“Hey now,” he said, shoving away from the doorjamb. “Don’t get crazy. There’s no one else, there couldn’t be—”

“This isn’t about that,” she said, shaking her head.

“But you don’t trust me?”

Peering, she tried to see his mind. “Do you think this is about sex, Tuck? Do you think that’s what I’m worried about? I don’t even think you’d be able to perform with another woman. You’re the most honorable man I know. You always come home to me, always. And you always will.”

“So what’s the problem?” he asked, maintaining his position on the defensive.

“Do you know what it’s like never knowing? Sitting home alone, and—”

“Dempsey looks out for you.”

“Is that the same?” she asked. “If it is then explain it to me, because I don’t get it.”

He went quiet, and still, so very still she couldn’t see, or hear him breathe. Despite their long-term relationship this stoic side of him still made her shiver. It was like a visual off switch. One minute he was there, animated, in the moment, and the next he went on pause. He crashed, that’s how she put it. Like a computer that freezes as it tries to sort through the multiple processes it’s been overloaded with, he didn’t move, react, or respond until order had been formed, only then did normal service resume.

Sometimes he stood like this for half a second, but she’d seen him like this for as many as five minutes at a time. Knowing better than to try and get anything out of him at this time, she pushed her weight to her hands and swung herself off the desk. Wriggling her skirt back down over her thighs, she buttoned her shirt and retrieved her useless underwear along with his tee shirt.

“Is this about the marriage thing?” he asked.

Taking a deep breath, she took her belt from the hat stand it had hooked itself onto. “That’s what you came up with?” she asked, pulling the stretchy cinch belt around her waist, and breathing in as she hooked the ends together.

“If it’s the baby thing, that’s easily fixed—”

Pinning him with her own icy stare, she shut him up. “Do you think that I would have a child in this relationship? I know how painful it is to watch you go. To wait, and wonder if you’ll come back, when you’ll come back, what state you’ll be in when you get here.”

“Are you saying you don’t want to have children?” he asked.

“I’m saying I wouldn’t put a child through that torment.”

“So you’re saying you don’t want a kid with me, is that it?”

This was going to descend into an argument, and not the fun kind. She’d have to be careful not to trigger his anger or she’d never finish saying what she had to say. “Do you think I would carry another man’s child?” she asked. “Do you think that’s what I want?”

“Right now, Toots, I have no idea.”

“Clearly,” she said, tossing his tee shirt at him as she strode past and went into the bathroom. Leaving the door open as she washed up, she gave him another chance to regroup.

“Do you want me to give it up?” he asked from a place closer to the door than he had been. If she had to guess she would say he was leaning against the wall just outside, but he didn’t invade her privacy. That was a joke, there had been no privacy between them from day one of their relationship.

Opening the drawer next to the sink, she retrieved fresh underwear and pulled them on. This wasn’t the first time that her underwear had been a casualty of their prolonged time apart. Straightening her clothes, she opened another of the long narrow drawers he had built into the vanity just for her. With a swipe of mascara, and some lip gloss, she was back to normal—almost.

“You can’t give it up, Tuck,” she called to her own reflection in the mirror. “You would never be able to give it up. You told me that in the beginning.”

“You’ve been patient,” he murmured. “We never talked about marriage and kids.”

“I knew that those were things you never wanted.” Tuck had never been typical, or had it in his life. Staying at home, stuck in one place, trapped, that would be the quickest way for them to lose their spark. “What did you think the first time you saw me?” she asked.

“I’ve told you that before.”

Yes, he had, but the sound of his voice soothed her. Hearing that she’d had an impact on the man she coveted never got old. “Tell me again,” she said, keeping her tone neutral.

“I found my reason,” he said.

The mumble in his voice wasn’t embarrassment, anything but. Tuck wasn’t one to get embarrassed, ever. The concept was foreign to him. She could picture him exactly, arms folded over his chest, shoulders hunched back against the wall, his feet far from the baseboard, one ankle crossed over the other.

From the tone of his voice, she knew everything about him—his position, his mood, even his thoughts. They had nothing left to learn, they knew everything there was to know about each other’s personalities and demeanors. It hadn’t always been easy, but patience and trust paid dividends time and again.

“You were the first thing I saw when I walked in. You were it. My reason for being. Everything I had been for my entire life had been for you. It was the most illogical moment of my life. Since then, every moment with you has been a tie.”

It didn’t matter how many times she heard it. He always said it with such conviction it was like he dared her, or anyone, to challenge him. Still basking in his words, she was knocked off kilter by his next declaration. “I won’t leave you again. You’re right. It has been unfair. I’ll give up the job.”

“That’s not what you want,” she said, still speaking to herself in the mirror, his disembodied voice could have been in her head. Knowing him as she did, she could have played this argument out in her mind, playing his part as accurately as her own. What she wanted was for him to be honest about whatever had happened in his life before he came back to her.

Until now, she’d always believed he kept his dealings secret to protect her. Now she could see in him that something was wrong and yet, he wouldn’t share his pain with her. Gaining that knowledge allowed her to admit that their relationship wasn’t as real or as whole as either of them wanted it to be, because there was a huge part of their lives that they didn’t share.

The Tuck she knew was always certain. Except since he’d come back this time, he hadn’t been as assured. Kadie wanted to know what was weighing on him, wanted to be the one he leaned on in his time of need. Whatever he’d endured, he was carrying that burden alone and that made her feel like a failure.

Keeping his unknown grief a secret was a symptom of what she wanted to remedy between them. Tuck had been the only man in her life for five years, he shouldn’t be a mystery to her, not like this, not at the detriment of his own emotional well-being.

“I want you,” he said. “I would do anything you asked me to. If that’s what will make you happy…”

Again, her eyes closed. He might as well have pierced her heart with a blade. In that moment, his words hurt as much as a physical injury would. “I want you to be happy,” she said.

“My happiness shouldn’t come at the expense of yours.”