Leah Braemel - Deliberate Deceptions

“So you changed what you could.” She wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his shoulder. He stayed tense for a moment then relaxed and held her too. “We were both trying to change things in our own way, weren’t we? To fix things we couldn’t fix.”

“I was willing to do anything I could to get you back.”

She knew that feeling. After all, she’d spent years running, fixing up other people’s messes, living from a suitcase while leaving no traces of herself wherever she went. How she wished there was some magic time machine…but there wasn’t. “I know we can’t go back, but is there a future for us?”

When this is over, will I lose you again?

His brows drew together in that familiar way.

“We have a lot to work out. I know there are things you’re still not telling me.”

She dropped her gaze. “You know I signed-”

“I’m not talking about your agreement with the Brigade. There’s something else you’re not telling me, isn’t there? Like the divorce that you think I asked you for while I think it was the other way around. About the letters that you sent me that I never got.”

“There are going to be some things you may not want to hear. I need you to trust me about some of the rest. That there may be things that I’m protecting you from.”

“Did you remarry? Has there been someone else?”

She smiled at his gruff tone. He was jealous. “No. There’s never been anyone else.”

He fell silent for a moment but she didn’t dare break the spell. “Remember I said I bought a house? I’ve spent a lot of time fixing it up-I’ve put in hardwood floors and torn out a lot of ’70s paneling. I put in a new kitchen too.”

She knew that already. Except Thalia had told her he’d bought it with his new wife. “I’d like to see it one day.”

“You don’t have to share a bedroom with me, but I’ve got one to spare. If you’d like.”

That would last for…a minute. “I’d like that.”

Footsteps slapped across the mats, slowed then stopped at the door. A half-second later, someone knocked. “You two decent in there?”

“Come on in.”

Andy stuck his head in, his gaze taking a long sweep down Lauren’s form that had a growl forming in Chad’s throat.

“What do you want?”

“Troy called. The setup worked. They caught Harris attempting to break into the decoy home. He ate a bullet rather than be arrested.” He tossed Lauren’s cellphone to them; Chad caught it handily. “He says Lauren’s boss wants to talk to you both.”

Lauren pulled the Brigade’s Humvee into the driveway of a modest two-story Colonial Chad had directed her to. It was the type they used to drive by and say some day, we’ll own a house like that. A massive beech tree shaded the front lawn, though its leaves now covered the lawn not the branches. She could picture Chad playing catch with a son, or daughter, beneath it. Or maybe he’d put up a hoop over the two-car garage and teach their child how to free throw. If she even dared thinking about having another child.

One hurdle at a time.

“You’re right. It’s just the type of house we used to dream about.” She pulled the keys from the ignition and pressed the button to release the trunk latch.

“I’ll get it,” he said calmly when she reached for the door handle.

Ever the gentleman, he walked around the car and held open the door for her. She took the hand he offered to help her out-it wasn’t that she needed the help. Or maybe, from the way her knees were shaking, she did.

Lauren tightened the grip on her purse and followed him in, waiting in the open doorway while he turned off the alarm. A beam of late afternoon sunlight bounced off the crystal chandelier hanging from the two-story ceiling. The oak banister gleamed as if it had just been polished, as did the matching hardwood floor. “It’s beautiful.”

“Do you want a tour?” Chad had his hands stuck in his pockets again, a sign she remembered meant he was nervous. At least she wasn’t the only one whose knees were beating a tattoo to rival a woodpecker.

She trailed him as he took her on a tour of the house. They started in the kitchen where she admired the glass-fronted units and granite counter then proceeded through the first floor-an office they could share, the living room with its marble-fronted fireplace and two-story wood-beamed ceilings.

“I hired an architect to redesign it,” he explained when they reached the top floor. “It used to be a four bedroom but I had him combine one of the smaller bedrooms with the master. You’d always said you wanted an ensuite…I thought maybe…”

That if he’d made everything perfect, she’d come back to him. The same way he’d become almost obsessive about picking up his clothes and keeping things neat. “Show me?”

He held out his hand, waiting until she’d laced their fingers together before leading her to the master suite dominated by a king-sized bed.

“I can’t tell you how long I’ve waited to show you this room. To…” He shook his head. “Never mind. One day at a time, right?”

Right about certain things. But not for what she sensed he needed. “To what? To make love to me? To tie me up and have your way with me the way we used to?”

“Yes.” Need and desire filled both his voice and his eyes.

“So what are you waiting for? I’m here. Tell me what you want me to do.”

“Take your clothes off.” A command, not a question. A shiver of anticipation ran up her spine with heated fingers.

Dropping her purse on the floor, she removed her holster and placed it on the dresser. She slipped off her blouse, then unhooked her bra and let it fall beside her purse. Her slacks hit the floor moments later followed by her thin, lacy boy shorts. Her pulse jacked into the triple digits as she stood naked while he was completely clothed. The air in the room thinned and heated at the same time, especially as his gaze raked her.

“Play with yourself. Touch yourself the way you want me to touch you.” His voice rasped over her skin, setting her nerve endings on fire as if he’d scraped her all over with sandpaper.

The way she wanted him to touch her? She let her head fall back and closed her eyes as she fondled her breasts. As she had so many times in the past, she imagined it was his fingers stroking the sensitive skin, tweaking her nipples.

“Don’t close your eyes, Lauren. Look at me while you’re pleasuring yourself.”

Her eyelids were heavy but she forced them open and found he’d moved closer. She pinched her nipples hard enough to create a sting that soon changed to heat. This, this is what I want you to do. She tugged and rolled them again and again, the moisture below gathering as the sensation shot to her pussy.

Not breaking her gaze, one hand slipped over her belly and between her thighs. Cream drenched her fingers as they slid through her folds.

“Is that what you want me to do to you?”

“Yes.”

He crowded her, so close the heat from his body warmed her over-sensitized skin. “My mouth or my fingers?”

“Either. Both.” While her one hand continued to play with her breasts, her hips rotated, pressing her clit against her palm. She quickened her pace then needing more, plunged one finger, then another inside her. Each breath grew harder to draw. “Oh God, Chad, I want you inside me. Your fingers, your cock, I don’t care. I need…”

Before she could push herself over the edge and climax, Chad grabbed her hand from between her legs. He lifted it to his mouth, sucking first one finger then the other. Once they were clean, he bent his head and captured one of her taut nipples with his teeth while his other hand ventured where hers had been.