Elite Metal-ARE-epub (9 page)

“I’m gonna stay down and gamble a little bit, peaches. Maybe get a bit better acquainted with our new friends. And I left something on the bed for you to wear tonight.”

She couldn’t control the shocked expression, or the smile lifting her lips. “You did?” She wasn’t Vera Reid in that moment. She was Alayna Devlin, staring at the man she already craved.

“Yes I did. Can’t wait to see it on. Red is so hot.”

Biting her lip she tried to remind herself of the mission. The goal. She leaned over and kissed, Steele.  “Thank you,” she whispered only loud enough for him to hear. “See you later, boys.” She gave them all a little finger wave and turned to go. As she sashayed away she heard Steele say, “You boys said you gamble? How about a little friendly wager?”

Chapter Seven

“Alayna. Come on.” Steele knocked on the bathroom door. “We’ve got to get going.”

“Almost ready. One more second.”

He paced to the other side of their small suite and back again. After another circuit, he asked himself for the millionth time if he could go through with the next step in the plan. Seeing a naked Alayna on that kid’s lap earlier had been the most arousing and frustrating moment of his life. Part of him was proud to have such a sexy woman claiming to be his, while the other part was ready to kill the four little fuckers. They were so green, there were about ready to jizz themselves just by watching her breathe.

Fuck, even he had been ready to come as he spied her removing her top from his lookout spot. And now they were about to enter a club where sex was not only expected, but encouraged. If it were just the two of them, as Steele and Alayna, he’d be all for it. But it wasn’t just them. They were going in to find a traitor—the man responsible for selling out his team.

“Get Korovin. Go home. Get Korovin. Go… fuck,” slipped out as a vision of red stepped out from the bathroom.

They were so screwed. How was he supposed to concentrate while she wore the corset he’d bought her that lifted her tits so high, he was certain that if she sneezed, her nipples would pop out? She wore a skirt, well, he thought she wore a skirt. At the moment she could have been wearing a hula skirt for all he knew as his attention was glued to the shelf of boobs spilling from her top.

“Can you help me?” she asked and turned around. She had pinned her hair into a low bun, leaving the expanse of her back above the corset bare. “I can’t get this tied right.”

“Be happy to help, Mrs. Reid.”

He pulled and knotted the ropes of her corset. Once done, he couldn’t resist cupping the generous mounds from behind. He bit at her shoulder, wanting his mark on her before they left their room.

“Steele. Stop.” She latched onto his wrists. “We can’t.”

“Why not?” He loved it when she fell back against him.

No. He did not love. He liked it. He liked it when she melted.

“Because you said we had to go.”

“Damn you for throwing my words back at me.” He spun her around. “Are you done with your make-up?”

“Yes.”

“Too bad.” He covered her mouth with his, tasting her lips until she wilted against him in surrender.

He slid his hands around her slender waist, made even tinier by the bindings of her corset. She was so small, so curvy, so fragile. He couldn’t release her. His blood was on fire for this woman. Never had he been so completely caught off guard by the desire to protect, to keep her close.

At the mission’s onset he told himself kissing her would mean nothing, it was just a part of their cover, but who the hell was he kidding. She’d already gotten under his skin in the worst way.

Each grinding movement of her body against his was about to send him over the edge as his pulse hammered hard, echoing in his ears. He was going to take this woman, he so badly wanted. Everything male in him was lit like a match to a flame with need. He needed to feel her wet heat swallowing him again. Their time together before hadn’t nearly been long enough.

“I want you, here, now,” he groaned pressing his mouth to hers again. He needed her taste. She was like a drug and it had only taken one hit to fuck him up. He was so engrossed in pleasure. Wanting to feel that tight heat clenching tightly around him. He couldn’t think of anything else. Only wanting her.

“W-wait. We have to stop.” She jerked her chin away.

“Why?”

She huffed out a breath, as if she were having a hard time keeping her hands off him.
Thank fuck.
Then she moved her hand down to the chain around his neck. Pulled up the dog tags, she didn’t stop until they dangled in front of his face. “You know why.”

Fuuuuck.

Guilt swamped him. How could he forgot? For even a moment?

“What is it about you?” he panted into the crook of her neck. “Why is it I…why…”

“It’s the situation,” she said and held on tight. “It’s stress. This room. All of this skin. Where we’re going. Where we’ve been. It’s a full moon out tonight. It’s Vegas. Take your pick or make up one of your own. What stays in Vegas and all that jazz.”

How did she do that? Make him want to laugh when there really wasn’t anything remotely funny about the situation.

“Go.” He let go of her. “Finish up and let’s go get Korovin so we can get the fuck home.”

“Home?” The baffled look in her eyes was another punch in the gut as he realized the source of her confusion.

Home. What exactly did that mean? Before, home meant the Marines and the Elite Recon squad. Then home meant his tiny bunkroom on the oil rig. But all night long when he thought of home, the only picture in his mind was of Alayna.

“Just get ready…Vera.”

While she reapplied her lipstick, he went through his notes again on the encrypted notepad Poppy had sent along with him. He needed to focus. The mission. He was married to the mission.

“I’m ready.” Once more she spritzed whatever kind of magical perfume on that had him so damn horny he couldn’t think straight.

“Good.” He slipped his wallet into his back pocket and led the way out of the room without looking in her direction. One glance at her kiss swollen lips and he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop until he fucked her silly.

“Hey, Steele?” She called as he held the door for her.

He raised his eyebrows and waited.

“Thank you for my present.” Her smile.

Fuck.

The elevator ride down was silent and filled with so much sexual tension it had him near grunting, and the pressure didn’t alleviate as he escorted her through the casino to the porte-cochère. Every XY chromosome they passed stopped in their tracks to gawk at the stunner on his arm. To see such open desire for his woman on so many faces, put the swagger right back in his step. Zinc must be laughing in his grave over how one tiny woman had him tied up in knots.

“Mr. Reid,” came a shout as they stepped out into the hot desert evening.

“Who’s that?” she asked and nodded at the man in the suit waving them down.

“That is our ride for the night.”

“Ride?”

“Yep.” He ushered her over to the stretch black limousine and the driver holding the door open. “Compliments of our friend Bear.”

She raised a brow but said nothing as she climbed inside. Maybe this hadn’t been a good idea he realized as they were enclosed inside the darkened interior with the expanse of her creamy cleavage glowing in the lowlight. Not to mention a fair bit of exposed thigh.

“Care to explain all of this?” she asked as they pulled away from the curb.

“I made a bet with Bear before we left the pool I could get his friend Yuri a woman for tonight.” He smiled broadly. “I got him two.”

“How did you- no. Nope. I don’t need to know the details.”

Was she a little jealous he talked to other women? Now wasn’t that a turn on. “It wasn’t that difficult. I told them he had a big dick and a wallet to match.”

“Classy. Really classy.” She might have acted holier than thou, but he saw her fighting a smile.

Taking temptation by the horns, he opened his arms. “Come here, little wife.”

“What?”

“You’re too far away.” He nodded to where the driver sat on the other side of the glass partition. Sure, he was using the fact they had a potential audience as an excuse to hold her close. He wasn’t stupid.

She slid across the seat and settled against his side with a little sigh and her breasts shimmied.

He tilted her chin up so he could look down at her sweet face. “You really are beautiful.”

She began to melt, then stiffened as her gaze flew to the driver.

“No. I mean it.” He feathered his thumb over her shiny lower lip. “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever met. I just wanted you to know that.”

The tip of her tongue swept out and brushed his thumb as her eyes glittered. She pursed her lips and then sighed. “You look hot in your suit.” She touched his red tie. “We match.”

“Yes we do.” He couldn’t help buying her a present. He wanted to spoil her and erase some of the shadows in her eyes. He’d probably get all kinds of shit from Poppy when he got back from the compound since he had to ask her about sizes for the corset. Yet seeing Alayna happy made it worth any potential ribbing or grief.

She curled into his lap, and he held her close as the bright, flashing lights of the strip soon turned into the normal, non-exciting illumination of suburbia, with the rows of streetlights and neighborhood after pre-planned neighborhood sprawling throughout the valley.

Once they stepped out of the car, neither of them knew exactly what was going to happen. The few stolen moments in the quiet of the limousine were for the two of them. And he was grateful to have that time to enjoy holding such an amazing woman in his arms.

Sooner than he wanted, they came upon a gated entrance, and the driver paused to enter a set of numbers into the keypad. After the gate opened, he drove down a path leading to the back of a large home that looked like an old gothic church, complete with stained glass windows and gargoyles.

A valet met them and opened their door. His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he came face to breast with Alayna’s cleavage. For being at a known sex club that was saying something.

“Down, boy,” he warned the kid, then tipped the driver a twenty before guiding Alayna to the entry where a man dressed in a dark suit greeted them.

“May I help you, Sir?”

“Jonathan Reid and slave here for the Laskin party.”

The man checked his clipboard and smiled as they stepped inside. “Ah, yes. Is this your first time at the Purple Curtain?”

“Sure is, but hopefully not the last.”

“The main floor holds the bar and tables along with a rather large dance floor. The second floor holds private rooms for changing and showering, while the playrooms are on the third level. You will go through those doors and down the set of stairs to our private events and VIP area. Signs will lead the way. If you need assistance of any kind, look for an attendant dressed as a member of the clergy or postulant. Enjoy your evening.” He stepped aside.

“Thank you.”

Steele opened the heavy doors leading to an opening with stairs that went underground. A neon sign hung above the entry that said Chateau Prive. Loud laughter and techno music filtered up the stairs.

He stopped her before she stepped forward. “One more thing before we go.”

From his belt he unclipped a length of chain and secured the end to the loop on her collar. With a muttered curse, he turned away from the shimmy of her breasts and her dark, fathomless eyes then marched her down into the recesses of the church. The next few hours were going to be torture.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs it was to a scene straight from the pits of Sodom and Gomorrah. In the middle of the room people danced and drank, while off to the side couples and threesomes, were making out on couches or were already naked and fucking in full view of everyone.

They spotted Laskin on a sofa watching two girls in a sixty-nine position. He walked over to greet them.

“Comrade,” he greeted Steele and they shook hands. “Vera, Vera, Vera,” he shook his head and reached for Alayna before he stopped and looked at Steele. “May I?”

“Go right ahead.”

The eager twenty-one year old grabbed her close and face planted right into her cleavage, shaking his head wildly.

She met Steele’s gaze and mouthed the word, “Classy,” then squealed and wiggled as if being motor boated was her favorite kink.

“Are you ready for the big show?” Laskin asked as he set her on her feet.

“What show?”

“Come along.” He tugged on her hand, but she refused to budge.

“One second. Let me just double check with my husband, okay?”

“Sure. Sure. Don’t take long.”

The second he was out of earshot, she rounded on Steele with her eyes blazing. “Explain.”

Yeah, this was going to be tougher to explain. “There was another bet.”

“Do tell.”

“I bet him that he couldn’t walk a straight line after drinking a fifth of vodka.” He shrugged. “What can I say? The kid can hold his liquor.”

Her eyes widened and then narrowed into slits as her face turned to granite. Ah, there was the CIA operative that wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet through his brain. The spy even he would be frightened to run across in a dark alley.

“He’s Russian. We drink vodka from a bottle. What did he win?” she asked in a low tone that made the hairs on his arms stand on end.

“You get to be part of the entertainment.” He dropped a kiss on her cheek. “You better get going. They’re waiting. You entertain the birthday boy and I’ll be on the lookout for Korovin.”

“You will pay for this, husband of mine,” she said with her eyes glittering like wildfire. “Mark my words.”

He kissed her lips, deciding to remain silent. Turning her around with a smile and a little slap on the ass they followed the crowd making their way to another section of the dungeon.

They entered a room with terraced steps that led down to a stage. At each level couches and pillows of various sizes laid scattered for the viewers’ comfort.

A smiling attendant came over, “Are you, Mrs. Reid?”