You Only Love Twice (24 page)

“I didn’t tell Ten, but I think Jake knows.” He pulled up
her shirt and ran one hand up to her breast, cupping it over the satin of her
bra. His other hand dipped past the waistband of her slacks, inching ever
closer to her pussy.

Oh, god. Jake Dean was in that truck. He was the one
watching. He would have a set of binoculars and he would notice everything
going on. He could be watching her right that minute. She had no designs on
Jake Dean. None. She couldn’t handle the man she did have, much less have any
interest in someone else’s, but the thought of him watching her, watching what
Jesse could do to her got her all hot and bothered again.

When had she become such a pervert? She’d always been so
staid.

“You like that he could be watching,” Jesse whispered as his
fingers found her clit. His other hand tugged gently on her nipple. It wasn’t
hard to pretend it was his mouth there. “Make a deal with me, Phoebe.”

She couldn’t think, much less bargain. Her body was
completely his to command, and lust made her thinking hazy. Still, the words
came as if he was a magician who could call them out. “What kind of deal?”

“Play with me. Be with me. No more running away. Give me
until the end of this operation to show you that we can work.” He kissed the
back of her neck as he started to work her clit. The man knew exactly where to
touch her. Though he stood behind her, she couldn’t help but feel surrounded by
him. It was like there wasn’t an inch of her flesh that wasn’t aware of him.

“I don’t know if I can.”

“Just for these weeks. I’m not asking for anything beyond
that. Give me this time. Be my submissive. Let me take care of you and all I’ll
ask in return is that you be my sweet little fuck toy. Your body will belong to
me. Mine to fuck and love and worship how I like.”

His words were a drug in her veins, racing through and
clouding her better judgment. How nice would it be to forget for a while? She
would have to go back to reality, but for these days she could be Jesse’s. She
could revel in his affection and give him hers in return because she wasn’t
really this girl. She was someone else, but she could sink into the role and
for a few days she wouldn’t have to grieve. She could live again.

“Yes.”

His fingers picked up the pace. “Be still. Let me start out
right. You read up about the lifestyle. You know that right now, I’m in charge
and you obey me. I won’t demand it most of the time, but when it comes to this,
know that I require complete obedience. You can stop me if you’re scared or if
you don’t like something, but we’ll talk about it. No more running away and
putting walls between us. I won’t stand for it.”

She could barely stand at all. His hands were doing magical
things to her flesh.

“Open your eyes,” he commanded. “Open your eyes while I make
you come and think about how many people could be watching you. There are all
those windows. How many people are stopping what they’re doing because they can
see you? They can see that my hand is down your slacks. They know I’m playing
with your pussy. They might want to be the man getting to touch all this sweet
flesh, but I’m the only one.”

She forced her eyes open. Her pussy didn’t give a damn that
this was contrary to proper societal displays of affection. Her pussy was not
only a traitor but a blatant exhibitionist.

“How does it feel? Talk to me,” Jesse ordered. He gave her
nipple a nasty twist that made her shiver in his arms.

“So good. Just a little more,” she practically begged. She
looked down. She knew she should be embarrassed but she couldn’t help it.

Jesse’s cock ground against her backside, pressing her
against his fingers. She was deliciously squeezed by him and it didn’t take
long before she called out his name and gave in to the pure pleasure he offered
her.

She sagged in his arms, staring down at the street below.

“I’m going to take you over to that lounge chair and fuck
you in the sunshine,” Jesse vowed as he pulled his hands back.

She dragged air into her lungs and braced herself against
the wall when Jesse let her go.

That was when she saw it. The van. The same van that had
been driving by every couple of minutes was slowing in front of the building.

It was wrong. There was no work to be done here. Taggart
wouldn’t have anyone in the building he hadn’t thoroughly vetted, and he
wouldn’t have anyone at all who didn’t have to be here. Even Kori, Ferguson’s
assistant, was escorted in and out of the building every day while she gathered
messages and files and watered the plants.

Something was wrong with that van.

“Jesse?”

The van stopped in front of the locked gate. Maybe it was
turning around. Across the street, she could see the door to Jake Dean’s
vehicle open and he stepped out, already talking on his cell.

“Who the hell is that?” The sexy growl was gone from Jesse’s
voice, though there was still a hard edge there.

“Maybe he’s turning around.”

A SIG appeared in Jesse’s hand and he started to pull her
away. “We’re going inside.”

A loud rev split the air and then a crash as the gate gave
way to the big van. It smashed its way through, tore through the parking lot
and then stopped right in front of the building. She saw another car, this one
a massive truck, race toward the building from the street.

Even Jesse watched as the driver’s side door to the van
opened and then closed. A man in a ski mask stepped out, leveled his gun, and
started firing toward Dean.

But it wasn’t the gun that terrified Phoebe. It was the fact
that he had a small black box in his hand. She heard tires squealing as the
truck rammed into the van, but her eyes were on that little box in the tall
man’s hand.

“Shit, he’s got a bomb.” Jesse started pulling her away from
the side as the world exploded around them.

Jesse felt the heat and tackled Phoebe just as the first
blast hit them. It forced him forward, but he was fairly certain he’d taken the
majority of the explosion. Pain flared in his shoulder, but it didn’t matter
because he was far more worried about getting her off this damn building than
he was any piece of shrapnel he might have lodged in his body.

The ground beneath him quaked and he felt the fucking
building move and shake.

The sound of gunfire split the air again. Someone was having
a firefight. He had to think it was Dean and the traitor, though the last thing
he’d seen was another vehicle joining the apparent fray. He’d heard a crash and
now the sound of gunfire made him think there were more than two people in that
firefight. He heard the sound of several weapons firing. Was there more than
one damn traitor? It was a scenario they hadn’t paid attention to.

“We have to get out of here,” he said, rolling off her. He
prayed the damn roof held. “Are you all right? I didn’t mean to hit you quite
so hard. I panicked a little.”

She turned over and got to her knees, blood on her palms and
her clothes twisted and torn. Still, when he reached his hand out, she slid
hers in and allowed herself to be pulled up. “You panicked when the crazy
person tried to blow up the building we’re currently standing on. That’s
totally unreasonable, Murdoch.”

At least she was staying calm. He ran his hands over her.
“You sure you’re all right? I didn’t break anything?”

She stopped him, forcing him to look into her eyes. “I’m
fine, Jesse. I’m good. A little scraped, but alive. Get your gun. We’re going
to need it.”

He nodded. Now that he was sure she was good, he could calm
down. Freaking out wouldn’t get them anywhere. There would be plenty of time
for panic later. For now he let his training take over. He picked up the SIG
and checked it out, flicking the safety off. “We have to get to the ground.”

“How bad is it?” She looked back toward the edge of the
roof.

“You are not going over there to look.” He caught her hand
again. It was too dangerous. He had no idea what kind of structural damage had
been done.

“Ten and Ian were in the conference room. Oh, god, it’s
toward the front of the building.” Her breath caught. “What happened to my
brother?”

“He’s alive.” There was no other acceptable outcome. Before
the bomb had gone off, he’d seen Dean on his phone. Dean was as smart and
instinctive as an operative could be. He’d known something was up the minute
that van moved in, and Tag would have hustled everyone to safety. He was fairly
certain the front of Sanctum was blown all to hell, but he had to believe that
Tag and Ten and Kai were safe. He couldn’t think anything less. Still, when he
turned, the wall he’d just been standing at was gone, and about three feet that
was formerly Sanctum now was a hole that led down to the street.

Their bedroom had to be gone. He could see rebar and
smoldering ruins where their roof used to be.

He tugged her close, wrapping his arms around her. He could
have lost her. They’d been standing right there. He’d been holding her and
talking to her, trying to seduce her, and then someone was trying to kill him
and about to take out her while they did it.

“We have to move.” The SIG was a happy weight in his free
hand. It was going to be used for what it was meant for this afternoon. He
would defend them with it and he would take down anyone who got in his way.
“Stay close to me. You’re not carrying, are you?”

Her mouth turned down and her hand squeezed his. “No. I left
my piece downstairs, damn it. I wasn’t thinking.”

She’d been emotional. He understood that now. “It’s all
right. We’re going out the back, but we have to get downstairs first.”

“We have to find Ten.”

“No. This is one of those times that you obey me, Phoebe.
This is one of those times that I’m in charge. I get you to safety and then
I’ll go back and find Ten. It’s what I want. It’s what he wants—you safe. Come
with me.”

She didn’t argue further as the gunfire increased. He led
her toward the stairs. They were in the center of the building. They should
still be somewhat solid. He hoped. Jesse opened the door and started down
tentatively.

The door closed behind them and they were in the dark. The
power had been knocked out by the blast.

Phoebe’s hand tensed in his. She was scared.

“Stay close. Baby, keep close to me. If we fall, I’ll go
first and I’ll cushion you.”

“How about we don’t fall at all?” Her voice was solid in the
gloom. That squeeze of her hand was suddenly reassuring.

They were a team. She would follow his lead and watch his
back. He wasn’t dumb. She wouldn’t go quietly when the time came to leave her
safely behind, but he liked that, too. She was fierce, his woman.

“Who the hell is out there? That’s more than two people
firing,” she whispered as they started down the stairs. He could feel her
fumbling with something and then there was a bright light illuminating the
stairwell. “Flashlight app. I did have my phone.”

Jesse stopped, allowing his eyes to adjust as he took in the
space. “Text Grace. A simple 911 will do. It will bring everyone here. I don’t
think there’s any way the cops aren’t already on their way. Derek is going to
have some work to do. And that’s definitely more than two guns. Someone was
using an AK-47 and the rest sounded like semiautomatics. Apparently our traitor
has some friends.”

“The text is sent,” Phoebe said. “But I don’t think they
were friendlies. It doesn’t make sense. I can buy one person can get past me
and Ten, but not several. Besides, they didn’t have outside connections. I
think Ten’s men are smart and highly suspicious. They wouldn’t leave the
investigation to McKay-Taggart. They started looking at their own team. I would
bet anything someone was tailing the same people we were. I think Case drives a
truck like that.”

“Why would he drive into the van?”

“If he suspected there was a bomb in the van and that it
would take out the whole building, the best play he had was to force the van as
far away as possible. Maybe that’s why it took out the right side of the
building and not the center. It makes more sense to blow up the center and hope
the thing falls in on itself. But it looked like the east side got hit the
worst.”

Fuck. He hoped Case hadn’t been in that truck when it blew.
He wasn’t sure Ian could handle losing a brother even if he didn’t really know
the man. He worried that if Case had been in that truck, Theo had probably been
sitting beside him.

“Can you shine that down?” The stairs seemed solid beneath
him. They were close to the center of the building so if they were solid this
far up, the stairs should hold up enough for he and Phoebe to get down.
Unfortunately, with the exception of the rooms upstairs and the front doors,
there were no windows in Sanctum. Given the nature of what the space was used
for, Tag had found an industrial building that hid the inside from view of any
curious passersby. It also meant that they would be totally in the dark and the
flashlight would give away their position once he opened the door and entered
the first level.

They took the stairs cautiously, Jesse listening to the continuing
gunfire. It sounded closer now. They were in the building.

“Stay behind me. Hold on to my belt and don’t let go. We’re
going to have to turn that off once we’re on the club floor.”

He felt her hand grip his belt at his back. “Yes. It’ll be a
beacon. Hey, please shoot us.”

Her voice was calm, but she had to be terrified. She was an
operative, but she’d mostly had desk jobs. The idea of losing Ten had to send
her into a tailspin, but she was quiet and following instructions. They reached
the door that would lead them past the privacy rooms and on to the club floor.

Jesse closed his eyes and tried to see the layout. The
locker rooms were toward the east wall and they were likely in complete ruins.
There was a storage room behind the main stage in the dungeon that led to the
basketball court. Since he couldn’t take her out front, it was his best bet.
She could scale the fence and be out of harm’s way. They were coming after him.
Whoever it was would let Phoebe run because he would be far too busy hunting
down one Jesse Murdoch.

Adrenaline pumped through his system. As soon as Phoebe was
safe, he was ready for this fight. He wanted his damn life back and that meant
figuring out who the traitor was and confirming his own theory.

He turned when they reached the door. “Hey, it’s going to be
okay.”

She nodded. “Yes. You’re not going to let that fucker kill
you so it’s going to be okay.”

He leaned over and kissed her. He meant to do it swiftly,
just a little affection before going into self-defense mode, but Phoebe’s arms
came around his neck and she opened her mouth under his. When he felt her
tongue swipe across his lower lip, his passion took over and he devoured her.
It was only a few seconds, but he needed them. He needed to remind himself
about what mattered. His anger didn’t matter. She did. Tag and Ten and Kai did.

What was waiting for him was not a traitor but a man who had
died a long time ago. Now he was simply a predator to be put down. Anger had no
place here. Cool precision would win the day. His opponent was desperate. Jesse
had to be the opposite.

“Turn off the light and follow me. Whatever happens, don’t
let go.”

The light went out and he opened the door. Pure darkness
surrounded them as he took his first tentative step out into the hallway. This
was the hall with the privacy rooms. There were three of them. Two on his left.
One on his right. He put his left hand out and felt for the wall before moving
forward. One door brushed under his fingers. He walked forward slowly but
steadily. Door number two. His heart rate calmed. His breathing got back to
normal. He could feel the adrenaline, but it wasn’t affecting him the way it
used to.

He stopped where the hallway ended and listened. Up ahead he
could finally see some light. It was where the doors had blown open and the
afternoon was now shining through. Once they left the hallway, anyone waiting
would be able to see them.

There was a crash ahead, a piece of the ceiling dropping,
and he saw something that terrified him.

Smoke. He took a deep breath and could smell it. Some part
of Sanctum was burning. He had to get her outside.

“Murdoch!”

Phoebe tried to pull him back, but he stood his ground.

“I’ll kill everyone to get to you. I already took out Dean.
I don’t feel bad about any of it. They’re all perverts of the worst kind.
Infidels. But you’re worse because you’ve seen the truth and you still turn
from it.”

“I think that’s Ace,” Phoebe whispered in his ear.

He took a step back. The door they needed was across the
dungeon, where they would be completely exposed. But he could stash her in one
of the rooms. If Ace was telling him the truth, this was between the two of
them and he would leave Phoebe out of it. He just had to convince Phoebe. He
found the first privacy room and thanked god it was unlocked. As quietly as he
could, he opened it and drew her inside. “Stay here.”

“No,” her voice came back as a whisper but there was no way
to miss the outrage there. “I’m not leaving you.”

“It’s me he wants. I can’t deal with him and you at the same
time. He says Jake is dead, but I can’t believe it. If he’s bleeding somewhere
though we have to get to him, and that means going through that fuckwad out
there. Please, Phoebe. Stay here and I’ll come for you.”

Arms went around his middle. “Work fast, Murdoch. I won’t stay
here for long.”

He did believe that. She might be able to follow orders for
a few minutes, but after that she would go looking for her brother and then he
would have to worry about her.

So he needed to get this done and quickly. He turned and
quietly went out the door.

“Come on, Murdoch. Your friends are dying.” Ace’s voice
echoed through the space.

Jesse concentrated, trying to figure out where the fucker
was. His eyes were useless so he focused on the sounds. He could hear the
thwack
of falling metal. Something was moving to his left. The conference room was
that way. From the sound of it, his friends were trying to dig out. Every
instinct told him to rush to help them, but then he would be a target. Of
course, they would be targets, too. The minute they made their way out, Ace
would start picking them off.

“How could you see the truth and turn from it?” Ace’s voice
was different. In previous meetings, he’d had that laid-back, easy Western
drawl it seemed to Jesse that most pilots had. Now there was a harshness to his
tone, a certainty that he couldn’t mistake. This was the real man who existed
in Ace’s body. “I’m happy to kill you myself. I’m happy to perform this duty
for my master.”