Live Wire (9 page)

Parker and Gornovsky didn’t turn but remained eyeball to eyeball. Another man pushed out of his chair. Parker forced his hands to steady, needing to remain stoic and not check for a gun pressed to Lexi’s temple. His heart slammed in his chest, and for a moment, he prayed that his calculated risk was right and that Lexi wouldn’t be a casualty and Render Rossi’s bank account was about to be filled with an illegal Russian payment.

“Pay the man.”

The Russian barked into the phone, and Parker hid his sigh of relief.

Shaky seconds later, a slip of paper was handed to Gornovsky, and only then did the man look away from Parker. He read it and nodded, sliding it across the table. “Your bank transfer.”

Parker nodded, opening his laptop again. “And now for your—”

The hotel room windows rattled as the door burst wide. The familiar-enough sound of a raid stabbed him with shock as booted men wielding high-powered weapons swarmed.

“Police! Everybody down on the ground.”

The Russian task force engulfed the space. Shouts repeated, voices escalating. “Faces on the ground. Get down. Weapons down. Police.”

The Russians complied but with menace and threats that needed no words.

The civilians shouted their innocence and begged for help.

Bishop covered Lexi, and Parker took a deep, thankful breath, slowly unfolding himself from the chair, keeping his cover as Render Rossi and dropping to the floor alongside his cursing Russian counterparts.

They had what they needed for Gornovsky arrests, and his woman was safe. Job well done.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Lexi would have been lying to herself if she said neither adrenaline nor worry had affected her thinking the whole day. But those feelings had gone. What still had her buzzing?

Parker—in those glasses. She wasn’t one for fetishes. That wasn’t even her thing. But those were
hot
.

And they were coming home. He could lose the khaki pants. Or maybe not. The button-down geeky-professor look did something for her too. It was different. As if he were another guy. His hair accentuated his bone structure, and his eyes were dark. It was fun. Like playing dress up.

She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. All she had to do was wait for him to come find her once this was over and—God, could these cops who had a million questions for her tell that she was hot and bothered—
because of a pair of glasses
?

The hotel room door opened, and there Parker stood, eyes searching the room. They landed on her. “Are you done with Lexi Black?”

She shivered at the way he said her name and how he owned her with an unwavering stare.

“Absolutely.” Bishop strode forward to Parker, and they made introductions and small talk. Parker kept her in his line of sight until Bishop nodded good-bye, then he headed her way.

“Nice meeting you, Lex. For someone who says she doesn’t do field ops, you were a pro.”

A proud blush hit her cheeks. “Thanks, Bishop.”

“Ready?” Parker asked. The tenor of his voice screamed that he wanted his hands on her as much as she wanted to get hers on him. It was less a question and more
Hurry the hell up
.

“Yup.”

With a quick handhold, Parker moved her into the empty hall and had her pressed against the wall. “Lexi, damn it. All I wanted was you safe.”

“Hey.” She kissed his neck, nuzzling against him, and hugged his neck until he lifted her off the ground.

“You have no idea the thoughts that went through my mind.” He squeezed her tight, and still she hung on.

“Same.”

He put her down. “You in workout clothes? It’s a good look for you.”

Lexi raised her eyebrow. “You in glasses, crazy hot… where’d they go?”

“I forgot about these things.” His hand went for his suit coat. With a quick move, he put them on and struck a pose. “Beth says they might get me laid.”

Lexi laughed, and as Parker went to take them off, she jumped at his hand. “Don’t you dare take those off.”

With an amused smile, he shook his head, walking to the elevators. He pressed the button and pulled her against him. “All right. Fun is fun.”

“I’m not kidding. Crazy hot. They might’ve been the only thing to get me through the last couple hours of questioning.”

“Stop it.” His eyes danced, and Lexi could’ve sworn he blushed slightly.

“Not a chance.” The elevator dinged. “I saw you in your glasses and fantasized about my husband. It made hours feel like minutes.”

His smile could have made her clothes melt away as he held the elevator door for her. “Then let’s get home. We have to make a pit stop on the second floor. I need to grab my wallet and keys to a car.”

She went onto her tiptoes and whispered in his ear. “As long as you don’t take off those glasses.”

He grabbed her ass. “Dirty girl.”

“You like it.”

Parker slid a key card into a hotel room. Jared and Sugar were two steps from walking out as Parker and Lexi headed in.

“Looking good, Boy Genius.” Sugar rested a hand on her stomach and let Jared pull her into the hall with the other.

“Sugar’s exhausted. We’re out,” Boss Man said. “See you mañana?”

“You got it.”

Lexi pushed her way into the hotel room as Parker continued to chat with Jared, dead set on collecting Parker’s bag so they could go home as well.

But… Parker came back into the room, gathering his wallet and a set of keys. “Ready, sexy?”

“Anyone else have a key to this room?” Lexi leaned against the edge of the bed.

A smile curled on his cheeks as he turned to see her sitting with her best come-hither grin. “Nope.”

“Just you and me. Those glasses, and—”

“Those yoga pants.”

His hungry gaze went straight to her stomach, then below. If she’d been turned on before, then her husband had just lit a fire with a look. “You like?”

“It’s a nice change of scenery.” Parker strode forward.

“You’re kind of like the professor right now.”

His brows jumped predatorily. “I am?”

Lexi nodded. “Or maybe Mister CEO. The boss. Either way, super sexy.” She ran her hands up his stomach, enjoying the feel of the starched shirt and his rock-hard body. Parker loosened his tie, and her hands dropped to his belt. “Can we play?”

“Undo the belt, Lexi.”

Her stomach flipped into her throat. Anticipation she hadn’t experienced before jumpstarted her already-raging arousal.

“Yes, sir.” Slowly, Lexi unfastened his belt, letting the clasp clink, and then unzipped his pants.

His bulge made her come alive. Holding his hand out, Parker backed into a chair and beckoned her forward. Lexi dropped to her knees, pulling his pants and boxer briefs down as she went. Kneeling between his thighs, his massive erection in her hand, she leaned forward and licked from the base of his shaft to the tip of his crown, lingering as Parker groaned. His sexy glasses and his tousled hair looked like her fantasy come true, and she wanted to make sure he knew it.

She kissed the top of his cock, slowly sucking, and watched his eyes flutter shut, his jaw hinge open. Lexi inched down, swirling her tongue, groaning as his thickness filled her mouth and touched the back of her throat.

“Shit, Lex.” His hips bucked up as she wrapped her mouth around his head, still watching him.

What a gloriously beautiful man. He opened his eyes, and she took him in, relaxing as best she could, loving how Parker filled her mouth, how her hands wrapped his shaft and worked him. Their eyes were connected even when hers watered.

Her tongue swirled the crown, and he spread his legs, trapped by the pants, letting his powerful thighs hug her. Lexi bobbed her head, worked her hands. His fingers threaded into her hair, and his hips found a rhythm with her mouth.

“Lex.” Parker’s voice went gravelly and sent shivers down her spine.

He was going to come, and she would make him love every second of it.

It was something about the damn glasses. Seriously. He even had a lazy, sated grin on his face that might’ve been one of her favorite looks ever.

Lexi rocked back off her knees and—

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked.

She blinked. “Um, I—”

“On the bed, Lex.”

Her heart jumped. Wherever that sated, lazy grin had gone, it was g-o-n-e. Glasses or not, she knew that tone. That was the sound of Parker on the hunt. “Yes, sir.”

He kicked off his shoes, followed by his pants. Parker untied his tie, letting it hang around his neck as he walked to where she sat on the bed. His nod was his unspoken command, and she unbuttoned his shirt.

Carefully,
reverently
, Lexi undid each little white button with shaking hands. His powerful physique stood godlike, and even if he wore clothes like this every day, she wasn’t sure that she’d ever get used to it. She didn’t want her normal Parker to change one bit, but this was luscious.

“Good,” he said. “Very good.”

Goose bumps sparked across her skin at the praise. “Thank you.”

He snaked the tie off his neck in one quick pull, letting it drop to the ground. Lexi’s eyes went wide as her core clenched. Parker shrugged off the button-down shirt and tore off the white undershirt until it was just him in glasses. “All for you, Lex.”

She didn’t want to wait for whatever Parker had in mind. She kicked off her shoes and tugged off her socks. There was too much fun to be had.

“Slow down, sweetheart. You’re my package to unwrap.”

“I can’t. You’re killing me. And you’ll never get a sports bra off of me.” Which was true. He was naked, and she wouldn’t stay clothed—no way, no how.

“On the bed, baby.”

“Thank you, Jesus.”

He snickered, shaking his head, and crawled up to the headboard, pulling her with him. “I’m going to take the glasses off now.”

She had her fill—his dark hair sprawled out on the pillows, him reaching for the glasses. Who knew this was what it would take for her to go to heaven happy?

“Fuck it.” He growled. “Look at me like that, and they’re never coming off.” He attacked her neck with kisses, teeth scraping, tongue lapping. His rock-hard erection pressed between her legs as his body burrowed between her thighs.

“God, Parker.”

She used her hand to guide his cock, and he pressed against her slick slit. Holy… shit. He hadn’t touched her all day. But she was more than turned on, and as he thrust inside her body, Lexi moaned and clawed his back, biting his shoulder, needing his cock to fill her.

He inched back and thrust again.

“Yes,” she said, panting, her body adjusting to the invasion. “Again. Please.”

He did. Deeper. Harder.

His chiseled body was a machine. He moved as though he knew her every breath, her every thought. Parker drove into her, gritting into her ear, cursing her for how good her pussy felt, how tight she felt, how hot she made him. Lexi arched into him, needing it all—the words, the rhythm, the intensity.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he buried his head against her hair. They were lost in each other, and as their orgasms slammed together, the only thing she could think or feel, the only thing she could remember as the stars exploded, was how Parker murmured in her ear how much he loved her.

Whispering and catching her breath, she felt her world begin and end with the man in her arms. “Love you too.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Jared could count only a few times in his life he’d been legitimately confused, and they included the last few hours. He popped a couple knuckles and tried to make sense of what he’d been watching and came up clueless.

“Are you cleaning?” Jared eyed Sugar. For the third time, she rearranged a shelf in the kitchen pantry. It was notable since she didn’t rearrange anything that didn’t have ammo associated with it, and if she went into the pantry, it generally involved eating. None of which was happening. So he was lost.

“Nope.”

He continued to watch, wondering what the hell had happened to his wife. “Organizing, then?”

“No.” She didn’t turn around.

“What is it that you’re doing?”

“Asal wants Jell-O.”

That was not what she had been doing for the last few hours. “Do we have Jell-O?”

“I have no idea.” Finally, she pivoted, exasperated. “But I’m not going to find the answer if you keep asking.”

“Why don’t I go and get some?” he said, thinking it might be a solution. Solutions were what he did best, but then again, this was not a well-defined problem. Jell-O was a symptom. Of what, he had no idea. Literally, there was no way Sugar had been looking for Jell-O for hours. Or had pregnancy made her lose her mind?

Sugar tugged a bright-red lip between her teeth. “And can you get some sour cream? That stuff is chronic on Cheez-Its.”

“Check the fridge, Baby Cakes. You’re fully stocked.” He high-fived himself mentally.