Veiled Target (A Veilers Novel) Read online

  Don’t let his hot and bothered make you hot and bothered.

  “It means—”

  “Never mind,” he said, interrupting Gavin. “I don’t give a shit what it means. Isn’t it time for you to go home?”

  “I could do that. Or I could—”

  “Go home, Gavin. I know you’ve been putting in extra time.”

  Gavin glanced at his watch and stood. “Am I to assume it’ll be that way for a couple more days?”

  Hugh shifted his weight looking a wee bit uncomfortable at Gavin’s remark. She knew Hugh hated needing help, so leaving Gavin with extra responsibilities probably killed him. The fact made her that much more smitten with him. He could have easily walked away from her tonight. Instead, he’d kept his word, put her before Langston Aviation.

  “Yeah.”

  “Tess, it was great meeting you.” Gavin gave her a farewell nod. “I hope we see each other again. And Hugh…” He paused for a moment until he had Hugh’s attention. “Don’t worry about anything. I’ve got it covered. And this doesn’t mean you’re excused from your vacation, so don’t even think about forgetting it. As soon as you finish with Tess, I’m kicking your ass to the Rockies whether you like it or not.”

  Hugh gave some sort of gurgled response that appeased Gavin enough. The preppy partner waved a hand and headed out into the hangar.

  Finish with Tess. Gavin’s words rolled around in her head like the tiny metal ball in the plastic mazes she’d loved to play as a kid. Once Hugh fulfilled his obligation, would they be finished? Would she be able to fulfill her obligation to P.I.E.? If there was one thing she’d learned tonight, it was not all humans are created equal. The Wolf Seekers were not operating by a code of ethics. And if that were the case, didn’t it reinforce that not all Veilers were created equal either?

  The man standing in front of her certainly blew her notion of Veilers out of the water.

  Their eyes locked for the hundredth time. A comfortable yet static silence passed, as if speaking would snap the electricity in the air between them. Whenever she was alone with him, she was torn between uncertainty and desire. Want and apprehension. He watched her like a caged animal willing to do anything to escape.

  When he inched closer, his gaze never wavering, a nervous sigh almost slipped from her lips. She backed up as far as she could into the corner of the couch. He moved without making a sound, convincing her he could hear every wild damn beat of her heart.

  She had to prove his innocence. Because with every second that ticked by, she lost the urge to fight. He sat down, the gravity in the room changing, her willpower weakening. Just looking at him made her tremble and no matter the exorbitant fee P.I.E. received for eliminations, the man in front of her was worth more.

  A ring and vibration interrupted her thoughts. She jumped and broke eye contact to rummage in her purse for her phone. “Hello?”

  “Tess, it’s Francesca.”

  “Francesca. Hi. Hold on a second.” She covered the receiver with her hand and whispered to Hugh, “Could you give me a minute?”

  His eyes darkened, narrowed. She looked away and inhaled slowly. Lord, his gaze made her nervous. He let a second pass before standing and heading into the hangar.

  “I’m back. What’s going on?”

  When Francesca called, it always meant business. She made the no-nonsense side of the P.I.E. roommate triangle and paid little attention to anything that wasn’t work-related unless Kensie dragged her into it.

  “Christian wants to see you.”

  “Did you tell him I’m working on my assignment?” And hell if I know what I’ll say to him if I see him now.

  “Of course. He’s in a god-awful mood. Says you need to come in as soon as you safely can.”

  Tess choked. “Yeah, right. Safely to him means before he takes his next target practice. Which is what, every six hours?”

  “Like clockwork. You’ve never had trouble coming in before when you’re on assignment. Is something wrong? Do you need some—”

  “No, Francesca. You know I don’t need help. Nothing’s wrong.” She watched through the glass wall as Hugh closed up the hangar, locking them inside. Just the two of them. Alone. “I’ll be in tomorrow. I’m in the middle of something now that could prove valuable to my investigation.”

  Or her libido. The two were intertwined, weren’t they?

  “Don’t screw up again, Tess. I’m afraid of what will happen if you do.”

  “Thanks for that. Your vote of confidence is awesome. Do I sound like I’m going to do something foolish? I’m handling my mark just fine. Tell Christian to chill and I’ll be there when I can.”

  “Tess—”

  “Tomorrow. I promise tomorrow morning.” So much for flying the friendly skies with Hugh.

  “Fine. Stay safe.”

  “I always do.” She stowed the phone back in her bag just as Hugh’s broad shoulders filled the doorway to the reception area.

  “Finished?” he asked, a rascally look on his face.

  Dammit. She’d forgotten about that hearing of his. Had he listened in? She decided to play it like he hadn’t. “Yep. Why’d you close up the hangar? I thought we were flying out as soon as the weather improved.”

  He looked like he didn’t know what to do with himself. Sit on the couch? The coffee table? Keep standing? Move behind the desk? “We are. It’s easy to open up when we’re ready to leave. I closed it for security reasons.”

  “You afraid someone might steal me?” A week ago the idea of Hugh—of anyone— keeping her safe would have riled her. Now the thought didn’t bother her so much.

  “Something like that.”

  “What are we going to do until it’s time to go?” The memory of what they’d started earlier ambushed her. Being alone with him, she ached for his touch all over again. For those few minutes in his bedroom, he’d made her forget her job, their agenda, everything. And she so wanted to stop thinking. She got up from the couch, letting her purse fall to the floor, and moved around the coffee table to check out the reception area. “How about a tour of your office and a lesson in aviation?”

  Translation: do me in every room and take me higher than I’ve ever felt before.

  Her cheeks flushed. The dirty things going on in her mind were new to her. Hugh was new to her. Feeling a tug so strong, a desire so fervent, was new to her. The steady feet she’d had when she stood started to fail. Probably because all the blood in her body was rushing to certain parts of her anatomy that she didn’t want to think about, but couldn’t stop thinking about.

  She held herself up by putting her hands atop the reception desk with her back to Hugh.

  “We could do that,” he said coming up behind her. He braced his arms on either side of her sensitive body and rested his palms on the desk.

  And once again, she found herself in the delightful position of being tucked into him.

  “Or we could do this.” He kissed the side of her neck and sparks, yes sparks—the kind at the end of the sparkler sticks she used to light on the Fourth of July—went off in her body.

  Then he kissed her earlobe, tugged on it with his teeth. Went back down to her neck and dropped achingly soft kisses there.

  “What do you say?” His whisper sounded better than her favorite song.

  “This.” The word came out breathy. “I say we do this.”

  For one night, she planned to let herself go. Forget about investigations, about her past, about revenge. She’d relinquish the control she so carefully maintained. Overlook the vulnerability that scared the shit out of her. Tonight she’d be a woman who took what she wanted.

  She’d never been just that before.

  What she did for a living, the job, had always defined her. Always been the reason, the foundation, for the person everybody saw. Even alone with Jason all those years ago, she wasn’t the person he’d met in foster care. She’d hidden from him too and he’d never questioned her, never seemed to see any change in her after they’
d reconnected. How disconcerting that he’d been in love with a woman who wasn’t at all what she appeared to be, and he hadn’t noticed.

  Hugh knew more about her than anyone else. Knew she’d killed.

  And still he wanted her.

  The urge to get physical with him, to shed everything and wrap herself bare around him, made everything inside her come alive with bone-melting mania. She spun around and kissed him. Hard.

  By now, they knew each other’s mouths well and the kiss quickly escalated to tongue and lip locks that made her heart pound in double time. She gripped the back of his shirt and yanked him closer. Nestled his thigh between her legs and shamelessly rubbed against him. Tingle after tingle rushed to the juncture there. She remembered his fingers and how he’d stroked and grazed her sensitive skin over her panties.

  He pulled back, sucking, then lightly nibbling her lower lip just like he’d done earlier. “If you don’t slow down this is going to take all of two minutes.”

  “I don’t want to go slow this first time.” She nibbled back.

  “First time?” He lifted her hand to his mouth and dropped kisses on each of her knuckles.

  “I want this all night. I want you all night. Now stop talking and get my clothes off me.”

  The hunger in his eyes stripped her of any misgivings. She put her hands on his face and lavished him with kisses that fueled cravings she didn’t know she had. She wanted to crawl inside him. Wanted so much more of him.

  Pressed up against the tall reception desk, she felt his hands reach for the button of her jeans and excitement stormed through her. His fingers moved with dexterity and her pants slid down her legs. She marched in place to assist in their removal, eager to get beyond where they’d been earlier. It made kissing more difficult and they bumped teeth. A giggle escaped her mouth. His lips curled up in a smile she felt pressed against her own happy face.

  When the jeans reached her ankles, she remembered she still had her shoes on. Without breaking the ridiculously hot, heart-stopping lip connection, she let go of his face and tried to reach down. But with her pants that low, it was impossible to lift a leg to meet her outstretched arm. Hugh sucked, nibbled and tasted the whole of her mouth one more time before pulling away to lift her in the air.

  “What are you—”

  He planted her on top of the desk, her bottom on the solid surface while her legs dangled down. His gaze raked over her thighs before he tugged the jeans from her with one easy swoop, shoes and all.

  “Oh,” she said, turned on by his strength and impatience. “Is it hot in here?” The ten-second kissing reprieve didn’t squelch the heat coursing through her blood. Nor did the way he contemplated every teensy tiny bit of her exposed flesh as if he were trying to figure out where to conquer first.

  “Very,” he mused back, dropping his mouth to the inside of her thigh.

  That’s a good place to start.

  An involuntary shudder swept through her as his lips caressed her thigh with so much care the clamp on her heart weakened. She didn’t have to like him, didn’t have to think him the best thing since red velvet cupcakes, to have sex with him.

  But she did—she did both those things.

  She grabbed his shoulders and pushed him away, hopped off the desk, and proceeded to unbutton his jeans. “We need to even the playing field.”

  He kicked off his shoes so that by the time she had him undone, sliding the jeans down took all of three seconds. She skimmed her hands up his legs, his muscles taut beneath her palms. His skin was hot and delicious and she’d be perfectly okay with the night lasting forever. She reached his boxer briefs and gulped.

  His erection molded against the black cotton, huge, thick and…

  She wrapped her hand around the base and slowly stroked upward.

  …hard enough to hammer nails.

  Tess bit her lip. She glanced up at the sexiest man alive and then grabbed the waistband of his briefs with her teeth, ready to slide them down and take his entire length into her mouth until pleasure unraveled inside him.

  He growled and pulled her up. “Jesus fucking Christ.” He slammed a kiss to her lips, then lifted her shirt over her head. Tess grabbed the bottom of his tee and pulled it off. His eyes darted to her tattoo and swept over her midriff. She returned the look by eyeing his ink and taking in all his smooth, delicious muscles. The man should be on the cover of GQ. Without any clothes.

  Something raw and real—a must-have-you-now urgency—overcame her. She raked her nails over his shoulders, pressed her breasts against his chest and wrapped one leg around his thigh. His erection hit her center just right. Sensations spiraled through her like a meteor. She moved against him and felt her wetness increase. One big, strong hand molded to her ass. The other cupped the back of her head.

  And then they were kissing again. She got all her air from him, from some invisible yet powerful force deep inside him that he shared with every sweep of his tongue. His fingers unclasped her bra and she shimmied her upper body until the straps fell down her arms. A moment later, the lingerie hit the floor.

  He groaned and gently forced her against the desk. His mouth moved to the delicate part of her neck where soft, gentle caresses tickled and burned at the same time. Involuntarily, she dropped her head to the side to give him easier access. She’d lost all control over herself. Would die if he stopped. His heart beat against her own and for the first time in her life, her heart wasn’t ticking like a time bomb. Instead, it hummed.

  She let her leg fall until it reached his calf. Every slope, every bump of his body molded to hers. The liquid heat between her legs grew slicker, intense waves of pleasure rolled over her. She teetered on the edge of climax and they’d barely progressed past kissing.

  Whether it was the muggy weather from outside seeping in, or the heat between them, perspiration trickled between her breasts. His body grew wet too. She took the initiative and slipped up and down him, dragging her tongue down his neck and chest to drink in his flavor. Heaviness filled her breasts, her nipples pebbled, ached. He stopped her momentum by capturing her bottom lip with his teeth. Then he kissed her again, only this time he took much more than her kisses in return. Something potent, something that fused them together, that made her beginning entwine with his end, passed between them. He’d marked her his.

  And she didn’t want to fight it.

  With his mouth still pressed to hers his hands moved to the tiny shred of material at her hips. His greedy touch tore any remaining strength from her, and she melted into him. He inhaled, as if gathering focus, and rather than slide the panties off as she expected, he ripped them with one needy pull.

  The action made her hotter than hell. Made her desperate to have him inside her. When he ended the kiss and dropped his forehead against the side of her head in animalistic affection, she let go of her hold on him and reached for the ribbing of his boxer briefs.

  She slipped her hand underneath and ran her thumb over the head of his penis. He slid a hand down and ran his thumb over her clit. “Oh,” she breathed, because his touch was amazing and felt sooo good.

  Tess stroked up and down his shaft. He grunted something unintelligible, and inched one, then two fingers inside her.

  “Oh God, Hugh,” she cooed. “Please come in me. Now.”

  “I want to feel you,” he said, nuzzling her neck. “Do we need protection?”

  Shit. “I’m clean, but I’m not on birth control.” God how she wanted to feel him, not a condom. Unfortunately, that seemed out of the question.

  “I’m clean too.” He lifted his head and looked deep into her eyes. “And I’m going to take you right here before I lose my fucking mind.” He pushed down his boxers.

  And stood completely naked before her.

  All gorgeous muscle and sinew and she almost stopped breathing.

  He looked his fill too. “Damn, you’re magnificent.”

  “You’re pretty spectacular yourself.”

  “Wrap your legs around me.�
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  “What about a condom?”

  “You’re not ovulating. I can smell everything about you, and we’re good to go.” He lifted her up and she obliged his request.

  “Okay, then.” The breathless, raspy words were barely audible to her ears.

  A split second later he leaned her against the desk and thrust inside her with one smooth upward glide.

  “Oh, oh… Hugh.” She wrapped her arms around his neck.

  His heated gaze bore into her. “Aw, hell. You’re so wet for me. So fucking tight. I want to hear you come. I want to watch you let go.”

  She was on board with that.

  Especially when he buried himself so deep that hot, sweet pleasure overwhelmed every inch of her body.

  He moved inside her with slow, sensual strokes. She met each one, undulating against him. He rocked her to his rhythm and she lost herself to every spot their bodies touched. Then slowly, he rotated his hips and oh sweet heaven, she writhed and circled her hips to match the burning caresses.

  “You are so damn beautiful,” he whispered, bending his head to kiss the side of her neck.

  “Mmmm,” was all she managed to get out, because his mouth moved along her jaw with devastating rightness before he lifted his head away.

  Rather than kiss her again, he watched her. Watched her head loll back. Watched her open her mouth to breath. Watched her eyes close and open. The way he looked at her…she thought he might steal the one thing she didn’t ever want to give away again.

  Her heart.

  It’s the sex. The unbelievable sex. That’s all it is.

  He took the moment further by moving an arm to her lower back and arching her pelvis toward him. The direct stimulation to her clit heightened the bursts of hot pulses engulfing her.

  Now if he’d only go…

  Faster. As if reading her mind, he sped up. The friction intensified, his movements lost some of the control he’d started out with. He thrust harder, his eyes closed, his lips parted. Audible breaths escaped his mouth.

  She dug her nails into his shoulder blades and moved with him in perfect sync. Her flesh tingled. The feel of his cock filling her so perfectly, so completely, intensified the emotions swirling inside her.