“Well, I guess I got my wish, though we’re in Dallas and not Virginia.” A sudden thought occurred to him that had his hand practically twitching. “You brought my friends together all right, but that’s not all you did is it, you little brat?”

She gave him a weak smile. “I had to keep you away, Master. I changed parts of my appearance, but I would never have been able to fool you. You would have shut everything down. You can be a bit of a bully when you want to be.”

She’d pretended to be a reporter and offered to help Alex track down the man who had raped and terrorized Alex’s wife, Eve. She’d brought most of the team to her condo in St. Augustine, Florida, but Ian had found himself in a series of clusterfucks. “You put me on a no-fly list.”

Among other things. She’d wreaked havoc on his life.

“If I hadn’t, you would have found out it was me and the whole op would have been blown.”

“You tied up my banking accounts. You moved them to another name.” He’d been so fucking stupid. He’d believed it was Nelson screwing with him. God, would he ever have a brain in his head when it came to this woman?

“I should get points for calling you Hottie McHot Pants. I meant it as a compliment. You look so good, Master. And actually it was Chelsea who handled all the computer stuff. I’m mostly just muscle compared to her. I’m good at finding information, but nothing like her. She’s very smart, you see. If I had known better I would have changed it all over to Big Tag.” The sexiest smile curled her lips up. “I got to know your brother a little on the Florida op. He is an excellent cook, but he thinks far too much of his own looks. He’s attractive, but nothing compared to you.”

Now his dick was right back to fighting strength. She was kneeling at his feet, her eyes all soft and sweet, that husky voice of hers calling to him. She always looked at him like she could eat him up and come back for more. He could reach out and wind his hands in her hair and tug on it. She fucking loved to have her hair pulled. He could be rough with Charlie because it just got her hot.

That was precisely why he couldn’t touch her. She was his Achilles’ heel. Nelson had always known it. “So I owe my recent body cavity search to this Chelsea person.”

“Like I said, Chelsea is my sister, Master. I’d love to tell you all about her. Why don’t you let me make you a drink and we can talk more? If you’re hungry, I can fix you something.” She placed her hand on his thigh. “I’ve become a much better cook over the years. I know how much you enjoy Italian, so I worked on that. I might not be as good as Sean, but I look better cooking naked than he does.”

His cock twitched. His heart rate sped up. His whole central nervous system was attuned to her. Five years later and she had him on edge with a simple touch. No one ever got to him the way Charlie did. She was his sexual hot spot.

Or you just loved her, idiot. His inner voice was starting to sound an awful lot like Alex.

He carefully moved her hand off his leg. “I think I’ll pass. I have a job to do. You should let your boss know that I’m going to kill him really slowly.”

“He’s not my boss, Ian.” Her cheeks had flushed, her brows coming together in a frustrated V.

Finally he was getting to her. “I would totally believe you, sweetheart, if you weren’t such an excellent liar.”

“I’m not lying.” She seemed to take control of herself again. Her face grew placid, her submissive look. She’d used it on him more than once, and it always got to him. “I’ve spent the last five years trying to be a better person for you, Master. How do I prove it to you?”

She couldn’t. There was no possible way he could ever believe her again. He’d been a fool to believe her in the first place.

But her hand was right back on his leg, her breasts showcased in a scoop-necked shirt. He loved her breasts. They were just the right size and real. He loved how they looked outside of the punishing bras she wore. They would sag just slightly, but that proved how soft they were. Her nipples used to pucker up sweetly for him. Were they hard little pebbles now?

“Master…Ian, I know this is going to be difficult, but you should know that I’m not giving up. I love you. The only other people I’ve loved in my life are my sister and my mom, so I won’t give up on you.”

Or she had another agenda, and fucking him senseless had worked before. She wasn’t being terribly creative, but then he’d given her no reason to think she had to be. She’d flashed him her love-me, save-me, fuck-me eyes and Ian let his whole career and a major operation go into the toilet. He’d almost cost Liam his life.

Of course, turnabout was always fair play. Not that it mattered. He didn’t play fair.

“Did you miss me, Charlie?” He didn’t fight his cock this time. Maybe he and his cock could get what they wanted. There was always a compromise. Charlie hadn’t minded taking about a thousand orgasms from him without explaining her true intentions.

There was no way to miss the hitch in her voice. Her hand slid across his thigh. “You know I did. I missed you every minute of every day.”

He’d certainly missed fucking her. He ignored that little voice that sounded way too much like Alex, that was kind of screaming at him that this was a horrible idea. If Alex was the angel on his shoulder, his cock was the devil, and the devil thought this was one of his more brilliant plans. “Show me.”

He flexed his hips, demonstrating exactly what part of him needed her attention.

Charlotte’s hands went straight to his pants, and Ian let the devil take firm control.


* * * *


He was up to something. She wasn’t stupid. But she also wasn’t willing to let the chance go. Sex had bonded them together all those years ago. It could do the same thing now.

It had to work. She’d come too far to give up. She wanted him too much.

She struggled a little with the button on his slacks. He was still dressed in his tuxedo pants. She’d watched him walk into Sanctum, his club, earlier this evening. Alex and Eve’s wedding ceremony had been held there. She’d wanted so much to join him. Alex and Eve and Adam and Sean had become her friends during the time they spent in Florida. Sure, they hadn’t known her real name or anything, but she’d been honest about most things. She’d felt like she belonged in that little circle of friends—Ian’s circle.

She’d been brutally jealous that Jesse the jerk had gotten an invitation and she hadn’t. Jesse had been the one to shoot her. Oh, he’d thought he was aiming at Alex, but she’d taken that bullet, and Jesse had been all smiles and grins as he’d waltzed right into Sanctum like he owned the place. Shouldn’t they have brutally murdered the little fucker?

“Is there a problem?” Ian’s voice was positively arctic.

Sometimes she went the slightest bit ADD when she felt safe enough. She lived her life on the edge so often that when she had a chance to relax, she tended to take it. She could usually only relax in her well-secured apartment, high above the city, but just being in Ian’s presence had an effect on her. “I apologize, Master. My mind wandered.”

“Some things never change,” he grumbled.

No they didn’t. She sighed as Ian’s cock pulsed against his slacks. It was a monster in his pants. Yes, her Master was hungry, but then he always was. This might be the only chance she had to put him in a reasonable frame of mind. He could really be an unconscionable prick when he wanted to be.

She worked the button free and eased down the zipper. She hadn’t done this in years. Since that moment when she’d “died,” she’d remained perfectly pure because while Ian might have thought their marriage was over, Charlie knew damn well it wasn’t. Couldn’t ever be.

He wasn’t wearing underwear. He often didn’t when he was wearing slacks. She loved that, loved that he was one zipper away from taking her. Now that she was here in the same space with him, all she wanted to do was revel in everything about her husband—his scent, the way his skin felt against hers, and most of all she wanted to remind herself just how good he tasted.

“I saw you hired Jesse Murdoch.”

“Don’t talk,” Ian commanded between gritted teeth. “I don’t need a running commentary.”

“But I can do both.” She was good at multitasking, and there was really only one way to keep Ian on task or he would go off on one of his arctic, curse-filled rants that tended to make everyone around him dive for cover. “Jesse Murdoch shot me.”

Ian grunted a little, his hips bucking slightly. “I knew there was a reason I liked the kid.”

She rolled her eyes. “Nice.”

She took his cock in hand and was deeply satisfied with the sigh that filled him. He leaned back in his chair, forcing his hips up, putting his cock on display. “It wasn’t like I hired him. I don’t fucking hire any of them. They show up for work and then Grace gets pissed when I won’t pay them. PTSD Jesse followed Alex back from Florida like some lost puppy. I keep telling Alex not to feed strays. They never fucking go away. Not even after they die.”

She couldn’t help but smile. “I was a little bit of a stray, wasn’t I?” She’d been lost and Ian had taken her in.

He growled a little. “I don’t want to listen to you talk, Charlie. I definitely don’t want to rehash our very pathetic past. Don’t romanticize this. I’ve had a shit day and I want to come. That’s all I’m willing to offer you. I want you to suck me off and then leave. If you won’t do it, I can call someone in who will.”

He’d always been honest about sex, but she was pretty sure she could convince him otherwise. Sex had always been incendiary between them. One kiss and she went up like a match. She planned to be riding her Master’s cock before the night was through. She would be back in his bed, his arms wrapped around her. She would make him listen.