You Only Love Twice (27 page)

“When we’re playing.” She said the words in a hesitant
whisper, as though she was just trying to remind herself of her version of the
truth.

“If that makes you feel better, you can say it.” He wasn’t
going to push her into forever. He couldn’t or he might lose her. “But for now,
there’s no question that this belongs to me.”

She groaned as he pressed his fingers to her asshole. He
didn’t need to ask the question if she’d done this before. It was obvious.
She’d had one lover and they’d been very young. They’d thought sex was sacred
and it was, but they obviously hadn’t learned that it could be dirty and nasty
and fun, too. Phoebe needed to see that.

Play. He bet there hadn’t been much of it in Phoebe’s life.
She was so serious and always in control. He was going to strip that control
away from her and show her it was safe to play with him.

He slowly worked his finger inside, rolling over and over
her flesh, teasing and playing until he finally slipped inside.

And that was when he used his free hand to continue the
punishment.

SMACK. SMACK. SMACK. SMACK. SMACK.

She squealed beautifully and her asshole clenched hard
around his finger. “Oh my, god.”

“Tell me how it feels.” If she hated it, he would stop. He
didn’t need to take her there if she couldn’t enjoy it.

She whimpered a little and then seemed to relax. “Pressure.
There’s pressure, but it doesn’t hurt. I don’t know how I feel.”

He rimmed her and her pelvis moved, not to get away, but to
keep him inside.

At least her body knew what she wanted. He rimmed her again,
opening her wider before giving her another five smacks that cracked through
the shower.

She shivered. “Is that all you have, Sir?”

Oh, she was so getting more. He grabbed the prepped plug and
replaced his finger with something much closer to his own size. She whimpered
and wriggled as he lubed her again and then pressed the plastic against her
flesh. She moved her hips, aiding in the insertion. The tip slipped inside, and
Jesse watched the way she moved against it. He fucked her gently with the plug,
giving her more and more with every pass. Every time he fucked, she opened a
little more, accepting another inch until she was finally moving against the
toy actively.

Jesse’s cock was fully erect and damn straight jealous of
that stupid plug.

He pressed the plug in, seating it. He stepped away and
grabbed the condom he’d placed on the bench before he’d escorted her to the
shower. He watched her as he rolled the condom on. He adored every curve of her
and the way her hair hung around her, making her look like the sweetest,
sexiest drenched kitty he’d ever seen. And a naughty one since she hadn’t
fulfilled her punishment yet. His cock would have to wait.

“Hold on to that plug. If you don’t keep it, I’ll make you
wear it to dinner, and you won’t like the way I lube it up. You’ll squirm all
night because your little asshole burns.”

Her breath hitched. “Burns?”

“Because I’ll put ginger lube on the plug and then make you
wear it all night. And when it starts to feel all right again, I’ll find a
private place and I’ll switch the plugs so you won’t have a minute’s relief.
You’ll be squirming all night and everyone will be watching you. They won’t
know why, but they’ll see the way your skin flushes and how you can’t quite sit
still and they’ll know. They’ll know you need something, but they won’t be able
to give it to you. Who can give you relief?”

“Only you. I’ll be good. I’ll keep it.”

He loved how husky her voice got when she was really
aroused. He washed his hands off before paying attention to her backside again.
He spanked her with purpose, ready to move on. He kept the count, speaking each
number aloud before bringing his hand down again. He spread out the discipline,
giving every inch of her ass attention until it was finally through and he was
able to run his fingers over her pussy, to feel just how wet she’d gotten.

Perfection. Her pussy was pure perfection. It was wet and
soft and waiting for a cock. “Tell me you want me.”

“I want you.”

“Say my name, Phoebe.” He had to know she was thinking about
him. He could share her in a lot of ways. He wouldn’t demand that she pretend her
husband hadn’t existed or that she’d never cared about anyone but Jesse, but he
had a sudden need to know she was thinking of him when he fucked her. “Say my
name.”

“Jesse.”

He cupped the curves of her hips from behind, his cock
touching her pussy. “Tell me you want me, you want this.”

There was only a tiny moment’s hesitation. “I do want this.
I want you, Jesse.”

That was all he needed. He lined his cock up and sank in,
his vision shrinking down to only her. She was all he could see or feel or
think of. His world focused in on how soft she was, the way she moaned and how
she clenched around his dick.

He forced his cock in as far as he could, holding himself
hard against her. “I want you, too, Phoebe. I’ve never wanted anything the way
I want you.”

He let his right hand move around her waist, skimming down
to find the pearl of her clit. He wasn’t going to last. He had to make it good
for her. She was too tight, too hot and wet, and he could feel that plug
dragging on his cock with every hard thrust.

“Oh, Jesse, it feels so good.” She moved back against him.
She fought to keep his cock and then slammed against him when he thrust back
in. They found a perfect rhythm, his cock thrusting hard and his finger
pressing down in time.

She shuddered and her pussy clamped down around him. She
called out his name as he rode the mini wave of her orgasm. He kept up the pace
until he couldn’t do it one second more because his cock exploded inside her,
giving her everything he had and lighting his body up like a firecracker
splitting the night air.

He ground against her, milking every second he could before
he caught her in his arms and brought her up against his body.

He wouldn’t make the mistake of leaving her alone for a
second. Though his body was humming with satisfaction, his hands roamed all
over her skin. He held her close, his front to her back. He kissed her neck and
cupped her breasts and let her sag into him.

“Are you all right?” He had zero intentions of ignoring what
had happened the time before. He was going to face it, get her through it.

Her head fell back against his shoulder. “I think so. I
don’t know.”

It was better than listening to her cry through a closed
door. He would have to thank Kai and Tag for giving him the kick in the ass he
needed.

He turned her toward the showerhead and grabbed the soap.
She was quiet, but he wasn’t going to force her to talk. She just needed to
know that she could and that he wouldn’t leave her alone. They were silent as
he started to soap her body and finally washed her hair, his fingers moving
over her scalp.

He turned her around to help wash the shampoo from her hair
and saw the tears in her eyes. Damn, but they kicked him in the gut.

“It’s not about him,” she said quietly.

He wasn’t sure she was being honest, but he simply brushed
them away and kissed her softly. “It doesn’t matter, Phoebe. I don’t want to
push him out. I just want a place in your life.”

“You won’t.”

“Because of this horrible thing you have to tell me?”

“Because sometimes we make mistakes in the past that cost us
our futures,” she explained.

He kissed her nose. “All right, princess. Well, if I’m going
to be so deeply disturbed, we should enjoy the time we have.”

“Jesse, this isn’t a joke.”

“I’m not treating it like one. I just know something you
don’t.”

“No, you don’t and that’s the problem.”

“I wasn’t talking about your little secret.” He moved her
under the water, gently tilting her head back. She seemed determined to be
dramatic so he had to be the sensible one. He was all right with the role. “I
was talking about the fact that I happen to know there’s nothing you can say
that will make me turn away from you.”

“You’re wrong.” Her head was back, the water sliding down
her body. When she opened her eyes, her hands came up, cupping his face.
“Promise me you won’t hate me. I can’t live with you hating me.”

“Never.” He found it hard to hate anyone. He couldn’t
imagine hating the woman he loved.

“I’ll hold you to those words, Murdoch.” She went on her
toes and kissed him before hugging her body to his. Her head went to his chest
and he could have sworn she was listening to his heartbeat. He let his hands
find her head and held her there, warmth surrounding him.

They stayed that way for the longest time.

He was going to make her crazy. Phoebe watched Jesse as he
moved through the ballroom. He was dressed in a tux and looked so predatory she
almost didn’t recognize him. She’d only seen him in the building when they were
working before. This was Jesse in the field, and he was a gorgeous beast.

“Ms. Graham, is it?” A man in an expensive tux approached
her, his silver hair slicked back. He was at least six foot two and lean,
obviously a man who cared about his appearance.

She glanced at his nametag. Dale Albertson, assistant to US
Senator McDonald. Now she was intrigued. She put on her game face. In this
place, she wasn’t a woman trying to figure out how to let go of the best man
she’d ever met. God, she included Jamie in that list. Jesse Murdoch was the
best person she’d met. But here she wasn’t Jesse’s or Jamie’s. She belonged to
the Agency, to the United States of America, and she was deeply interested in
why a senator was here without the backing of the Agency.

She smiled at Mr. Dale Albertson and gave him her best
British accent. She’d traveled on a British passport, and according to all of
her security paperwork was a marketing consultant from London specializing in
the energy industry. “Yes. Phoebe Graham. It’s so nice to meet you.”

Her British accent was perfect, of course.

Dale held out a hand and she took it, fighting to hide her
distaste when he moved past professional. He covered her hand with both of his,
holding it just a moment too long to be anything but a come-on. “You’re with
the crazy king, aren’t you? I have to say, we’re all curious about Kamdar.”

Which meant her cover was holding and her brother had been
the paranoid son of a bitch she loved him for being. She was proud to be his
sister, but for now she was another woman entirely. “The king is a brilliant
man. He’s put his whole country to work with his initiatives. If he’s correct
about his potential output, he could fundamentally change the way people use
energy in his part of the world.”

“If he’s correct. I seem to remember he claimed he was close
once and then there was that terrible explosion. I guess that kind of thing is
really better left to the First World.”

She studied him for a moment. His lips had curled up
slightly as though he knew something he thought she didn’t. “I’m not concerned
about a repeat of that particular incident. The king learned a lot from it. It
hasn’t taken him long at all to get his lab working again.”

The explosion in Loa Mali hadn’t been about worker error. It
had been an act of corporate sabotage perpetrated by an ex-CIA operative. Eli
Nelson had been turned years before by the shadowy group known as The
Collective. They were the elite of the elite, the wealthiest men in the world,
and they hadn’t taken kindly to the king of Loa Mali potentially killing their
oil revenues.

Eli Nelson was dead thanks to the Taggarts, but someone
would quickly take his place.

The thing they’d been missing was the government tie. Phoebe
had been able to tie The Collective to various criminal organizations and
foreign countries, but she knew they would also have a group of US politicians
under their sway. She had to wonder if she wasn’t looking at one. Well, at his
assistant anyway.

“We’ll see about that. Why is a man who is determined to
change the world over to solar and wind power here at an oil conference?” He
leaned in, just a little flirty. “Can I get you a drink?”

“Sure.” A little flirtation might help. She wanted
information, too. “I’d love some champagne.”

He held up a hand and immediately a tuxedoed waiter turned
to bring them glasses of champagne. She took hers and held it to her chest. She
wore a designer black dress that Jesse had claimed should be illegal, but then
he was the gorgeous pervert who had promised to fig her if she didn’t behave.
Yes, she knew what that was. She read. A lot, lately. And every damn hero
turned into a blond hottie with a Western accent. She pretended she was looking
at Dale and let her chest thrust out. Jesse watched her from across the room,
and the minute she turned his way, his eyes flared. Because Jesse liked her
boobs. A lot. “This is an energy conference, Mr. Albertson. The king has every
right to be here.”

“Energy in this part of the world means oil.”

“It doesn’t have to. Not if my boss has his way.”

He tipped back his champagne, swallowing the whole glass in
quick order and grabbing another before the waiter could move away. “There are
a few people who think he shouldn’t be here.”

There had been more than a subtle hint of threat in those
words. “Really? Do you think he’s in danger?”

Albertson glanced around the room, his eyes shifting until
they found Kamdar. The king was holding court, his bevy of gorgeous ladies
surrounding him and laughing at his very horrible jokes. She was a little
surprised to see Erin was hovering around the king. “I think Kamdar needs to
play ball if he wants to keep his position.”

“His position is hereditary and they don’t play ball there.
Cricket is really more popular in Loa Mali.” She was starting to feel the
slightest bit uncomfortable. He was more inebriated than she’d counted on, and
she couldn’t take him out with a quick uppercut. She was supposed to be a
marketing consultant, and women in this part of the world weren’t exactly
smiled on for kicking ass.

Albertson nodded. “Funny girl. What do you say we go back to
my room? I would do just about anything to get out of this hotel, but
apparently it’s the only place where we can get a damn drink in this country.”

She was tempted to lead him out into the city anyway. Even
slight inebriation in public could get a citizen arrested in Dubai. It might be
fun to watch this dipshit rot in a Middle Eastern prison for a while.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t dressed for the streets of Dubai
since a woman could get arrested for showing her knees, so that little pleasure
would have to wait. “I’m afraid I’m supposed to stay here at the conference. My
boss was very insistent we all stay and do our jobs.”

“Which is what?” He was openly looking at her breasts now
and Jesse had noticed.

He started across the ballroom, but luckily Simon was there
to stop him from doing something stupid. She breathed a sigh of relief as the
big Brit put a hand on Jesse’s shoulder and started talking to him.

“Phoebe, that’s the senior assistant to Senator McDonald
you’ve ensnared with your far too on-display bosom.” Ten’s voice came over the
tiny communications device in her ear. Ten and Hutch were watching from the
suite, having cut into the security feeds. She could hear them, but she
couldn’t directly respond since she wasn’t alone. The small bug planted in the
broach on her left side allowed them to hear everything going on. She simply
looked to her left, acknowledging the camera there to let him know she’d heard.

“I’m here to help the king with packaging and marketing his
product to the outside world. As an alternative energy source, I’ve got to
convince the big oil boys that we’re not really a threat. After all, they
control the world when you think about it. We just want a tiny part of the
market.”

“To begin with,” Albertson shot back. “You know Kamdar isn’t
the first person to try this. His crap will go the same way the electric car
went. He’s a dreamer if he thinks the cartels will allow him to have any kind
of a foothold.”

“Well, it’s a good thing that they don’t get to have a say
in it. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed but hybrid vehicles are very popular
these days.”

“Because we allowed it,” he said, his voice taking on a
nasty edge.

“Oh, I like that ‘we.’ That’s a very interesting statement,”
Ten said.

“I always love the personal pronouns, too, boss.” Hutch put
in his two cents.

She needed to bring the testosterone level down a bit. She
smiled up at the senator’s aide. “I wouldn’t know anything about that. I did
work on a few of the hybrid marketing plans in Europe. We did spectacularly
well with women in Southern Europe. I’ve found the key is to give them a choice
of pretty colors and have a proper celebrity endorsement. You have to get
Clooney for Italy. He could sell anything there. They love him.”

The man stared at her for a second and then laughed, that
menace in him gone and the drunken playboy back. “It’s good to know American
star power is still at work.”

“Get him talking about the senator, sister,” Ten said into
her ear.

She really wished she could flip him off. She knew how to do
her damn job. “So you work for a real senator?”

He leaned in, giving her what he probably thought were sexy
eyes, but they mostly made him look sleepy. “As real as they come. I don’t know
how closely you Brits follow American politics, but my boss is going to make a
real run at the White House in a few years. Senator McDonald from the great
state of Texas.”

That was what all the news stations believed. Hank McDonald
was eyeing the presidency. He was an older man with all the charm of Clinton
and the backing and power base of a Bush. “What is the US government doing
here?”

“We’re not here in a strictly professional capacity. We’re
just looking out for US interests. That’s kind of my job.”

“Is it?”

He looked left and then right and leaned in closer. “I watch
out for my country, if you know what I mean.”

She heard Ten snort. “I do believe he’s going to try to
convince you to sleep with him because he’s a spy.”

“Well, you know that’s the only reason I joined up,” Hutch
replied. “I was promised an enormous amount of tail.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the
ballroom door opening and a group of men in traditional Arab robes and
keffiyehs covering their heads entering the room. She turned to get a good look
at the new guys. “I thought you were an assistant to Senator McDonald.”

“That’s just my cover. I really work a much more important
job. Ah, the Saudis are here. I’ll have to set up a meeting. The al Fareeds are
old friends.”

“Really?” That was interesting. They were represented by
Ibrahim and Hani. From the reports she’d compiled, she knew they were brothers,
both in their forties, and they had taken over many of their family’s business
operations recently. Like many wealthy Saudi sons, they’d been educated in the
west. They’d both attended Oxford. Ibrahim had graduated with a master’s in
world politics. Hani had a degree in business administration. The brothers had
been back in Saudi for the better part of two decades and seemed uninterested
in anything but business. On the surface, they were perfect family men who
eschewed all the decadence their wealth could afford them.

“Yes, good men. Reasonable men, unlike your boss. I think
you should really think about changing jobs.” He winked at her. “I can talk to
the senator about finding you a place that will really offer you job growth. I
think you’ll find Loa Mali is a dead end. Trust me. I know things other people
don’t know.”

She didn’t like how certain he seemed. “I’m always on the
lookout for a better opportunity. Any smart girl is. Perhaps you could
introduce me to your friends.”

She didn’t want Jesse anywhere near the man who tortured
him.

And killed her husband. She might be standing in the same
room as the man who killed her husband and the only thing she could think about
was protecting Jesse from him. She should be ready for vengeance, but all she
could think about was what she could lose.

Didn’t Jamie deserve more?

He frowned. “Oh, I don’t think that’s such a good idea. You
know how your boss loves women and surrounds himself with them at all times?
The al Fareed brothers are pretty much the opposite. They have wives, but they
don’t speak, if you know what I mean. They stay in the home and those men don’t
party.”

“But they’re friends with the senator?”

“More like business associates.”

“The senator is actually in the business? I thought he was
on some committee.”

“He is, but hey, there’s always money to be made. Everyone
knows that.” His fingers ran up her arm. “Let’s head back to my room and we’ll
talk about it some more.”

“Let’s let Murdoch go insane on his ass,” Hutch chuckled in
her ear. “It’s been a while since I saw some blood sport.”

“Phoebe, you are not to leave that damn room. Am I
understood?” Ten’s voice held no humor.

Like she would docilely walk away with her would-be rapist.
Not likely. Still, she would love to put a bug in his room. She wanted to know
what kind of money the senator thought he was going to make while here. No. She
would just have to make sure the poor man couldn’t possibly perform. “How about
one more drink? I’ll get it this time. I think I want something stronger than
champagne.”

He glanced back down at her breasts and she knew she had
him. “Of course, gorgeous. A whiskey on the rocks for me.”