Protect & Serve(41)

“What do you know about computers?” I asked quietly.

“Not much. But what does that matter? Didn’t you hear what I just said? How do you know about the shipment?”

“I didn’t come here to be with you, Nathan. I came here because Captain Pierce wants access to your computer. He knew about the shipment. He thinks you’re still involved with the Irish mob.”

It was all out in the open now. No more secrets. Captain Pierce was building a case. He was setting Nathan up for a fall, and I was just one of the pawns.

I closed my eyes for a moment, letting that realization set in. I believed every word Nathan had said thus far. There was too much that just didn’t add up on Captain Pierce’s side of things, too many questions he didn’t have answers for.

Part of me felt relieved. Nathan wasn’t a sex trafficker. He hadn’t lied to me—not in the way I’d thought, at least. But another part of me felt sick all over again. Captain Pierce and God knows who else in the department had a connection with the Irish mob. That meant they were complicit in murdering thirty-six women and children and trafficking countless others. My whole world was crumbling around me. The cops were supposed to be the good guys…

And clearly, I didn’t know Nathan as well as I’d thought. Maybe he was trying to do the right thing, but he’d had no qualms about hiding it from me. What exactly was his game plan, anyway—to disappear from my life, to hide out in this safe house until the threat passed, and then just waltz back up to me once it as all over?

I needed to be careful around him. Despite how much he had changed, it was obvious that he still thought of himself first and everyone else second.

I looked down to the floor, and almost embarrassed feeling rolling through me for not seeing this sooner. I was a detective. I should have seen this coming, asked more questions, demanded more answers. After all of this, Pierce was just setting me up as collateral damage.

“Sandra, if Captain Pierce is involved, this whole thing might go deeper than even I suspected. I knew Mr. Wallace had men on the inside, but I never would have guessed the good captain was one of them. If he gets access to my computer…”

“What is on the computer, Nathan?”

“Leverage.”

I snarled. I was tired of his cryptic bullshit, his “cover my ass” attitude. “What the hell do you mean?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he said evasively. “Look, we have to stop him,” he continued, reaching out and laying his hand on top of mine. His skin was soft and warm, and it felt nice to connect like this.

I shook my head. That was hardly an answer, but he was right. Time might be of the essence.

“How do we do that?” I asked softly, staring back at him.

“We give him what he wants,” Nathan replied, lifting the t22 transmitter into the air and smiling. “We give him exactly what he wants.”





13





If I was going to make this believable, I had to play my part. That meant spending a lot of time around Mr. Hale for the next few days and reporting back to Captain Pierce on my progress at getting him computer access.

On the plus side, this gave us plenty of time to explore each other’s wild sides.

Some people deal with stress by drinking, some do it by smoking, and I was dealing with stress by riding Nathaniel Hale’s incredible cock. His hands gripped my luscious hips and rocked me softly as I straddled him, bringing our flesh together. Everything about it was primal, animal, beyond the scope of human control. It was just what I needed: less thinking, more doing.

There was something to be said about living like this. Nathan rarely had to leave the house, choosing to do most of his work via his computer, and although we were holed up here in his mansion for a few days, it wasn’t like we were lacking for things to do, or places where we could have a little fun.

For one, there was the indoor pool. And the hot tub. And the sauna. And the kitchen…

Okay, maybe that last one was a little impromptu. Turns out, granite countertops are cold, and it’s not nearly as fun as it sounds to be propped up on top of one.

“I can’t hold out, baby…” Nathan whispered beneath me, my body bouncing on him ever so softly. We weren’t fucking right now. This was love making, the oldest and purest thing in all the world. Nathan had once pushed my limits, drawn out the experience with such delicious agony that I’d almost lost my damn mind right there in his arms. Now I wanted to return the favor.

“You’re vibrating…” Nathan said. I laughed, throwing my head back and riding him faster.

“I’m good, but I’m not that good, Nathan,” I replied with a sultry voice. Lowering my eyes back to his, I saw that he’d grabbed the phone from my pants, still strewn across the bed.