Until Midnight (7 page)

information and pinpointed the exact location.

“No sweat,” he told her. “I know the spot. There’s a small plateau between two

short hills, and even a place to leave the SUV.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Doesn’t someone have to pick it up?”

“They will. Not a problem.” He closed the little computer, stood up and stretched.

“That leaves us with some time to kill before we have to leave.”

“My.” She smiled. “Whatever shall we do?”

“Well, we could have some food.” He grinned, a wicked gleam in his eyes. “We

need more to eat than each other.”

Nicki chuckled, but heat surged through her body as it remembered the feel of his

mouth. “There must be a cheap store around here.”

“Taking a shower is first on my list.” He picked her up easily in his arms. “Yours, too.”

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “Are you trying to tell me I need a

bath?”

He elbowed aside the shower curtain, balanced her on one knee and turned on the

water. “No. I’m trying to tell you that I can’t wait to see that sweet pussy slick with soap.”

Moisture instantly soaked the crotch of her thong and a whisper of heat skittered

over her skin. Her muscles still remembered the feel of Adam’s thick hard cock in her cunt, stretching her, filling her.

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Letting the water run, Adam stood her on her feet and peeled her out of her clothes.

“Do you know how fucking hard I’ve been sitting next to you and remembering

what that sweet little cunt of yours feels like? How soft the curls are around it? The taste of your nipples in my mouth?”

Her attraction, their sex, was just like the first time. And the second. Instant, hard heat. Sizzling heat. Carnal heat. Desire that erupted like a geyser, bathing both of them.

It couldn’t be too hard or too fast. Nicki pressed her hips against him, seeking the steely length of his cock, rubbing herself back and forth against the rigid planes of his body.

His warm hands moved to cup her breasts. His mouth surrounded a nipple, pulling

and sucking. He shifted so his knee edged between her thighs, pressing hard against the moist heat of her pussy. Nicki moaned, a delicious sound of pleasure that echoed at the back of her throat, and arched herself into him.

Adam sucked first one nipple, then the other and each hardened to the point of

painful pleasure. All the while he was busy caressing her hips, her tummy and teasing her with deft touches to her bush. When he released her nipple he knelt on the tile and reverently spread the lips of her pussy with his lean fingers.

“You have the most gorgeous lips, beautiful. Pink and pouty and slick now with

that cream that tastes like champagne. I could eat you for breakfast, lunch and dinner.”

Her legs shaking under the assault of his tongue, Nicki had to brace herself with her hands on his shoulders and lean back against the small counter as he pressed his open mouth over her cunt. He licked every bit of her labia and then nipped at her already sensitive clit.

“Do it,” she ordered. “Don’t tease.”

His laugh vibrated through her body. “But I love to taunt you. You are so

responsive.”

“You want responsive? Fuck me, and I’ll show you responsive.”

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“We were made for each other, honey. But one of these times it won’t be hard, fast and furious. One of these times I’m going to take hours to enjoy your body.” He nipped and she gasped. “And let you enjoy mine. But in the meantime…”

Two fingers slid into the channel of her pussy and he pulled on her clit with his

teeth. Nicki exploded, the climax taking her by surprise. She held on for dear life until the shudders subsided, then tried to settle her breathing. When she looked down at Adam he was smiling up at her, his lips slick with her cream.

“God. I’ve looked for a woman like you all my life. Don’t go anywhere anytime

soon.”

“As if I could,” she breathed.

She watched through heavy-lidded eyes as he stripped off his own clothes, then

reached into the pocket of his shorts to retrieve a condom.

“After fucking you the first time I figured I’d better be prepared.” He kissed her, hard, his tongue probing into her mouth carrying with it the flavor of her musk. “Come on. Into the shower.”

She stepped in, eager as a cat in heat. He reached for her instantly. His hands

massaged lather into her, starting at her shoulders, working their way down her

breasts, tweaking her nipples, rimming the tiny folds of flesh in her navel. Nudging her thighs apart he paid careful attention to every bit of her cunt, sliding his fingers inside and scissoring them to catch her sweet spot. Again she could do nothing but hold on for the ride as heat sizzled through her and lust encased her in an erotic fog.

He paid as much attention to her back, kneading the muscles as he worked his way

down to her waist. When he reached the globes of her buttocks he bent for a moment to nip each one lightly, then slipped his fingers through the cleft. She heard herself moan again as he teased at the tight ring of muscle at her anus, almost begging him to take her there.

His low laugh against her ear was filled with need. “Later. When we’re in a time

and place to do it right. But it will be my pleasure, beautiful. Believe me.”

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He turned her to face him again, handing her the soap.

“What?”

“Your turn.“

Her hands were shaking as she returned the favor, soaping his body, scraping her

fingers across his nipples, loving the way he caught his breath when she did. But it was the tightening of his body when she grabbed his cock that made the inner muscles of her pussy quiver in anticipation. Thick and long and hard, with its swollen plum-colored head, his penis was a living thing in her hand and she stroked and caressed and squeezed. When she dipped her hand between his thighs to cup his sac he grabbed her wrists.

“You send all my control straight to hell,” he said between clenched teeth.

Reaching past the shower curtain, he found the condom and rolled it on.

“Spread your legs,” he commanded as his strong hands lifted her.

Nicki spread them wide and he lowered her onto his shaft with one quick plunge.

Nicki wrapped her legs around him, pulling him closer. He tightened his hands on her waist and pounded into her as if this was the last time he’d ever get to do this.

“Look at me, Nicki.”

She opened her eyes, aroused even more by the sight of him like some dark god

with the water pouring down his face and body, pistoning into her again and again.

“Tell me what you want, Nicki.”

She sucked in a breath. “Fuck me. Hard.”

“My pleasure.”

He leaned her against the tiled wall and pounded into her, again and again. She felt his big body tighten as her own release blasted up through her and they exploded

together. His cock flexed with each spurt of semen as the walls of her pussy clenched and milked him. The spasms rocketed through her hard and fast, stealing her breath, until at last they died into aftershocks.

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He was still holding her tightly when her legs slid down his thighs to the floor. She stood there shaking while he rinsed them off, turned off the water and grabbed two bath towels. When they were dry he lifted her out of the tub and carried her to the bed.

“I think we need a little rest before we head out for some food,” he told her.

Nicki looked at him and burst out laughing. “Ya think?”

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Nicki gazed out the chopper window down at the familiar sight of her compound,

the headquarters of Nemesis, her security company. Nestled into the rugged hills of central Texas, the main building consisted of fourteen thousand square feet resembling a modern ranch house. Few could tell, from the road or the air, that inside were housed the most efficient state-of-the-art communications systems and the finest experts to run them. One of the two out-buildings of stucco and limestone contained back-up

generators to independently power the compound, while the other stored an arsenal of weaponry only a few security firms in the world could rival for quality and quantity.

“Nice,” Adam complimented her, squeezing her hand. “I should have heard about

you long ago.”

She smiled at him. “I’ll introduce you around. Show you the sights.”

His gaze zeroed in on her lips and he whispered so the pilot couldn’t hear. “I’ve

seen the best already and I love ’em.”

She elbowed him.

Soon, they were climbing down, and striding along the path to the main building.

She led the way. “I’ve been dreaming of owning my own company for years.

Started this almost five years ago. Growth has been swift, given the current state of the world’s troubles. But only in the past three years has Nemesis really blossomed. Great clients. Wonderful new additions to my staff. Meanwhile, so many other security firms have come under a cloud.”

“Corruption charges. Operatives who are loose cannons in the field. Gives private

ops a big bad name,” Adam said as he took note of the profusion of live oaks and yucca amid the rocky landscaping leading to the wide front doors.

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Until Midnight

“Right. So I have strict procedures. Strict ethics. One misstep and a consultant is severed. No questions. No excuses. Gone, baby, gone.”

Adam swung open the front door for her and let her precede him. “Good practice.”

“Saves lives,” she told him as she beckoned him down the hall with a nod in one

direction. “And a lot of heartache. In here,” she told him and opened the heavy door to her private office.

He whistled as he measured the thickness of the metal door. “Are all the doors this tempered steel?”

“Every one. No one can get to us. Or me.” She caught a lift of his brows. “Except

you,” she murmured and gave him a smile. “Straighten up, Molloy.” She spun and

smiled at her assistant. “Say hello to Catrina Cardoza. Hey, Cat. Meet Mr. Adam

Molloy.”

The young woman stood and grinned at Nicki, then handed her a stack of neatly

opened mail and a glass of sparkling water. “Hello, Mister Molloy, welcome. Nicki, you’ve got Maddie and Dan Foreman in your private conference room, as you

requested and you can call Ridge Tarleton whenever you want. He said to emphasize

that, once I told him you were on your way in.”

“Good to know. Thanks, Cat.”

“Mister Molloy, would you like a drink? Anything to eat?” Cat’s dark brown gaze

traveled over his rumpled clothes. “Anything? Name it.”

“Sure. Now that you mention it. How about a pastrami sandwich on rye, a bottle of

Johnnie Walker Red and a glass?”

Nicki had to chuckle. “Make that two sandwiches and two glasses, Cat. Come on

inside,” she told Adam. “My lair.”

“You shock me,” he told her after she closed the door behind him. His hands on his hips, he surveyed the room. “When you said the latest technology, I really didn’t expect you to rival our setup in Jerusalem.”

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She grinned as she took her chair behind her large granite-topped steel desk.

“Actually, I’ve been told we rival the toys that the boys at NSA have at Fort Meade.”

“Never been there. But I believe it!” He sank into a chair opposite her. “Cozy.”

She pressed a button and a screen opened on the far wall. “For teleconferencing.

Similar system to what’s in Camp David and the Secure Room under 1600

Pennsylvania. Over here—” she clicked on another screen for him to swivel and admire,

“a traffic monitoring system for most major cities where we have client operations in progress.”

“Isn’t that illegal in the States?”

She nodded. “It is. But all of these are in cities outside the country. Addis Ababa.

Singapore. Sana’i.”

He got a horrible look of delight on his face. “No wonder you get big bucks. The

worst hellholes in the world and you are monitoring them like hawks.”

“Make no mistake. When we find something that we think the Feds or Interpol

should know, we share. Good intelligence is all about being a team player. Gets you where you want to be.”

“Not left in the dust?” He shook his head. “Amen to that, babe. I’ve worked with a clamp on for so many years, I don’t know if I’m able to share.”

That got to the core of their issue and her problem here. “But with me, here, on this, you must, Adam.” She let that sink in before she let him know more. “Or we cannot go on.”

He went still. “Old habits are hard to break.”

She waited.

“My entire identity is tied up with what I do.”

She bit her lip.

“I don’t think anyone has ever quit the service. Ever even tried.”

As the silence in the room lengthened, he added, “A few have gone on to politics.”

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She tipped her head in question.

“Not my ambition.”

She arched a brow.

“Mine has always been just finding bad guys and putting them away. Occasionally,

I’ve helped a few people get justice, but it was always justice for the state, too.”

She swallowed. Was she losing him here?

He sat forward. “I’ll make you a deal for now. For this.”

She held her breath.

“What I know, what I learn, you’ll know. What resources I have, I’ll use them for

this. I owe it to King Saul Boulevard. I owe it to my country. I owe it to myself. And my friend’s sister. At the end of this, when we find out who does this and why, I’ll make a choice.”

She nodded. “I see.”

“You agree?”

“Deal,” she told him, knowing she had to take what he offered and run with it. He

was key now to her thinking about this mystery. He knew facts, understood the