Mistress's Master: Men in Blue, Book 3 (38 page)

“Seems extreme to prove Morselli was the ringleader.” Jeremy shrugged. “What does it matter anymore? The man is dead. We’re shutting down the premises and no one but me knows the formula. Why not let it die here?”

“Too many people know about Sex Offender.” Sterns shook his head vigorously like a dog after a bath. “Someone will figure it out. If we have the formula we can take countermeasures. Bolster the antidote, monitor key supplies…”

“I see your point.” Jeremy had to agree since he’d argued the same points earlier. “Diethanolamine.”

No sooner had the information passed his tight lips than Agent Sterns drew his service weapon and aimed it dead center on Jeremy’s forehead. “Thank you, Detective.”

“So it’s like this, huh?” Jeremy didn’t bother to react. Instead, he stared down the cold steel barrel and into the eyes of Judas.

“Don’t worry. I’ll put you out of your misery.” Sterns cracked a smile that revealed his crooked, yellow teeth. “Couldn’t have planned it better, really. The reports will be easy to fabricate. Plagued by guilt over failing your lover and killing a man, you take your own life. Tragic. At least you’ll probably be honored as a martyr.”

“Could be worse.” Without Lily, he would have nothing to lose.

“Yeah, you could be spending life behind bars for betraying everything you ever stood for.” Matt smothered Sterns in a bear hug. The cop could be scarily quiet for someone his size.

Clint swooped in to steal the agent’s gun and knock his knees out from beneath him before the fucker realized what had happened. In the blink of an eye, the agent knelt with his hands cuffed behind his back.

The men in blue dashed from their hiding spots. They surrounded the traitor who’d disgraced all they upheld. If looks could kill, Sterns would have been rotting in hell with Morselli.

“You think you’re so fucking smart? Take me away. It doesn’t matter. I have the information I need. Something with this kind of potential can’t be stopped by steel bars.”

“You really think I’d give you the key? How stupid do you think I am?” Jeremy imagined pummeling the asshole, maybe landing a few solid kicks to his ribs. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest and glared.

Sterns shrank away, whimpering.

“Dumbass.” Jeremy shook his head. “I can’t believe it took this long to map your trail of lies. I should have seen it sooner. Sure, you rated the occasional hand-slap for tampering, tainting evidence or skirting space between black and white, but you were smart about hiding your addictions. I’ll give you that.”

“No one understands. Until they try it. You could have been one of the few. The power, the stamina, the drive…” Obsession flashed in Sterns’s eyes. “I could have had it as often as I wanted. No more tiny samples from the evidence locker.”

Oh shit.
Jeremy wondered how he could have missed the signs. The investigation had moved too slowly. All those delays. Not to facilitate proper substantiation. No, more like time to ensure the cooking operations had been restored. Mother fucking Sex Offender. “I don’t need drugs for a free pass. You could have earned those things from a true partner.”

“Like your dead bitch?”

Jeremy growled. He whipped the tarp off the figure on the floor.

Lily’s faint smile expanded as she sat up, slow but steady. She held the sleek digital recorder he’d equipped her with. “I could hear him crystal clear once you lured him closer. It’s all here. Every bit of the confession you need to put him away for life.”

“All I care about is you.” Jeremy settled to the floor, welcoming her into his arms. “That’s enough. You’re done. We’re going to the hospital right fucking now. You need to be examined. So long. God, you stopped breathing forever.”

Lily snuggled into his chest and patted the muscle above his stuttering heart. “I’m okay, Jeremy. I promise.”

“I’m not sure I am.” He pretended not to notice his fellow cops forming a barrier between him and the corrupt agent. They shuttered him from sight, granting him as much privacy and protection as they could.

“We will be okay.” Her eyelids fluttered closed. “It’s finally over.”

Epilogue

Jeremy sat beside Lily on a stone bench at the top of the hill in their friends’ backyard. Wildflowers rioted in colors ranging from white to yellow to pink to blue. Crisp air rolling off the lake in the distance puffed his lungs full of peace and tranquility.

Below them, their ever-growing family celebrated Mason, Tyler and Lacey’s garden wedding. Matt and Clint shared a table with Jambrea, falling all over themselves to be next in line to bring her a drink or another slice of cake. Lucas lingered nearby in his wheelchair. Ellie surprised Jeremy by keeping the brooding soldier, who’d been honorably discharged from a no-name Special Forces group once the extent of his injury had become clear, company.

Ryan hovered nearby, sharing occasional laughs with Ben and Gunther. Little Julie frolicked in the long grass. Despite the loss of her mother, she seemed to be hanging in as best as could be expected. The intimate gathering of a few other friends including Zina, Rhonda, Dr. Joy and Mama Rose overflowed with smiles. They created good memories to replace some of the terrifying ones they’d lived through in the past year. Camera flashes dotted the dimming evening.

Razor swung Isabella in a circle while executing some fancy move on the cobblestone patio they’d transformed into a dance floor. Their puppy barked and jumped for the ribbon dangling from Izzy’s light and airy dress. They laughed and scooped the adorable mutt between them.

“They’ll make great parents one day.” He hadn’t meant to speak out loud.

Lily hummed and snuggled closer. Her silence lingered a little too long.

“What?” He tipped her chin up and studied her eyes. The electric blue—the most beautiful color in the world—would never dull in his esteem.

“It’s a secret.”

“I’m good at keeping my mouth shut.” He frowned. “Besides, we don’t have any of those from each other, do we?”

“Of course not.” She kissed his palm then whispered, though no one else was near enough to overhear. “Isabella is pregnant.”

“What?” He sounded like a broken record. Damn, he’d have thought he’d be one of the first to find out. “The kid didn’t say anything to me.”

“He doesn’t know yet.” Lily smirked up at him. “Izzy told me when I found her in the bathroom last week. She knew it was the only way to keep me from ratting her out about being sick. She didn’t want to steal any of the wedding thunder.”

“No shit.” Jeremy grinned. “Were they trying…”

“No, but she said they’re ready. They’ve talked about family. Marriage. She’s going to tell him tonight.” She smiled. “So it looks like you’re going to be an honorary uncle.”

The joy in her gaze hit him like a ton of bricks. He couldn’t stay quiet a moment longer. “What if I want to be an official uncle?”

“What?” It was her turn to be surprised.

Jeremy liked this side of the game a lot better. “I love you, Lily. There will never be anyone else for me. I know this is all new and fresh, but I’m sure.”

He dropped down on one knee and took her hand in his.

“Are you…?”

“Yeah.” He withdrew a red satin pouch from his pocket. “I saw this the other day when I went with Razor to buy a ring for Izzy.”

He laughed out loud. “He’s not the only one who’ll be getting the surprise of a lifetime tonight, huh?”

“She’ll be so happy.” Tears welled in Lily’s eyes.

“And you? I know how important family is to you.” He kissed her knuckles before lining up a platinum and diamond ring, shaped like two calla lilies entwined, at the end of her finger. “It would be my honor to share the rest of my life with you. I promise I’ll do my best to make you happy every day. Will you marry me?”

“Yes,” she sobbed as he slid the band on her finger. A perfect fit. “I love you, Master Jeremy.”

He cleared his throat. “About that…”

Her eyes bugged when he tipped the bag upside down and a matching necklace dropped into his palm. The thick chain formed a solid rope dotted with more lilies and subtle yet handsome stones.

“Do you like it?” He studied her reaction as she ran her fingertip along the length he held out to her.

“It’s gorgeous.” She stared into his eyes, her fingers trembling in his.

“Not even close to how spectacular you are. As what we have together is.” He had practiced this speech for weeks, never finding exactly the right words to express himself. Here, with her, it came easily. Natural. Just like always. “I want you to be my wife. More, I want you to belong to me. Accept my collar, my promises and my love. Lily, I know how much I’m asking of you, and I swear I’ll earn every bit of your devotion. Please, give me everything.”

“I already have.” She bowed her neck so he could fasten the collar around the slender column. “I’m yours. Always.”

“And I’m yours.” He smothered her in his arms. The shift in their weight as she leaned in knocked him off balance.

They laughed as they tumbled to the long grass. He pillowed her descent on his chest before rolling her beneath him. “One last thing—”

“There’s nothing else. I have everything that matters.” She gazed up at him, touching her fingertips to his cheek.

“Let’s just say, I’m glad you didn’t turn me down.” He grinned as he shucked his sport coat then unbuttoned his dress shirt. When he’d made it about halfway, she gasped.

“Is that real?” She dropped her hand, lightly tracing the pattern through the clear saran bandage holding the healing gel against his new tattoo.

“Fuck, yes.” He laughed. “Permanent. Just like us.”

Lily laid a kiss beside the bouquet of lilies tattooed over his heart. “Forever.”

“Starting right now.” He couldn’t help himself. His hand slid up her thigh beneath the flirty skirt Lacey and Izzy had convinced her to wear. Pausing briefly, he soothed the healing mark on her thigh. It would scar. But it wouldn’t mar her beauty. The evidence of her strength only made him love her more. When he reached her pussy he hissed. “No panties? You naughty girl.”

“Maybe you should spank me.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

“Later,” he growled against her lips as he unfastened his pants. “Right now I want to love you. Sweet and slow.”

“Another first?” She massaged his scalp as she kissed him with lingering swipes of her lips. She tasted like icing from the wedding cake.

Yum.
“Yeah, but not a last.”

A soft moan escaped her when he pushed inside her pussy with gradual shifts of his hips. The sound of birds chipping, the wind in the flowers and their friends laughing in the distance accompanied their gentle mating and the only variety of love that mattered.

The forever kind.

About the Author

Jayne Rylon’s stories usually begin as a daydream in an endless business meeting. Her writing acts as a creative counterpoint to her straight-laced corporate existence. She lives in Ohio with two cats and her husband who both inspires her fantasies and supports her careers. When she can escape her office, she loves to travel the world, avoid speeding tickets in her beloved Sky and, of course, read.

To learn more about Jayne Rylon, please visit
www.jaynerylon.com
. She enjoys hearing from readers. You can send an email to Jayne at
[email protected]
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Look for these titles by Jayne Rylon

Now Available:

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Powertools

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Coming Soon:

Powertools

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Nothing’s sexier than a man, or five, with power tools.

Kate’s Crew

© 2010 Jayne Rylon

Sultry summer heat has nothing on the five-man crew renovating the house next door. No one could blame Kate for leaning out the window for a better view of the manscape. The nasty fall that follows isn’t part of her fantasy—but the man who saves her from splattering the sidewalk is definitely the star.

When Mike personally attends to her injuries, she realizes her white knight in a hard hat has a tender side, giving her no choice but to surrender to the lust that’s been arcing between them since day one. In the aftermath of the best sex of her life, she whispers her most secret desire: to be ravaged by his crew.

She never expected Mike would dare her to take what she wants—or that the freedom to make her most decadent desires come true could be the foundation for something lasting…
 

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Kate’s Crew:
 

Where the hell had Mike disappeared to? Kate shouldn’t care, but she did. She scolded herself when she scanned the yard for the tenth time that minute. She’d spent the morning trying to ignore his insufferable smirk, as he strutted around the site, while mentally reciting all the reasons she couldn’t accept his unconventional proposition.

Despite this morning’s wake-up call, affairs weren’t her style. The unwise urge to prevent him from walking away after one sweaty liaison had almost overwhelmed her sense of self-preservation. Instead, she’d driven her hand beneath her thigh to keep from reaching out to tug him into bed for another romp following his shower. She couldn’t risk getting any more involved. No matter how she prayed she could change, she would always want more—something lasting.

The thunk of her forehead hitting the sheetrock patch she’d finished installing an hour ago almost drowned out her sigh. Her cell phone vibrated, alerting her to an incoming text message. Every hypersensitive nerve in her body jumped to attention.

She flipped open the phone. Mike.