22. Clementine
CHAPTER 22
Clementine
T he dress rehearsal had gone much better than expected. Mr. Perkins and Mr. McDougal were even getting along. Dennis had not attempted to set anything on fire in weeks, and he even came up to me and asked if he could be in the next show.
“I’m sure you can,” I said, fighting my shock.
“Grayson said you could write a much better play, though,” he said. “Maybe one with some murders in it this time? Or maybe some swords or katanas? Like what about some ninjas trying to take down a swamp monster?”
“I’ve never written a play before,” I choked out. “Agent Bentley has. . .a flattering view of my abilities. But I’ll see what I can do.”
I was feeling very verklempt when I came home, but as soon as I arrived Dad hustled me into the laundry room, his eyes glowing with a wicked gleam I recognized very well.
“I’ve found out how to get my 50 million dollars back!”
“And?” I asked with foreboding.
“That bastard Rocky Mariano has it, of course! And I could get it back easily. Once I figure out where he has it. According to my informants he’s got a private island somewhere nearby. After that, it’s a simple matter of boating over and breaking open the safe.”
“But his private island could be anywhere,” I objected.
“That’s where I’ll need your help, my dear child. I need to tail him. I’ve bribed his secretary to tell me his usual working hours, but even she doesn’t know where he lives. Suspicious bastard! All I need you to do is wait at one end of the street, while I wait at the other. Then we’ll drive along behind him and figure out where he goes after work.”
“All right,” I said.
There was a disgruntled noise on the other side of the door, and in another moment, Grayson had burst through it. There was a frown on his face.
“Get out,” Dad said immediately.
“No,” Grayson said. “Anything involving Clementine is my business, too!”
“It is not ,” I cried.
“You are going to put a damper on the whole proceedings,” Dad complained. “Your vibes are all off.”
“Clementine will not be tailing any of your associates by herself,” Grayson ground out. “I will accompany her or she will not be going at all.”
“I’d like to see you try to stop me,” I said indignantly, but Dad waved my objections aside. “I supposed it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a man of his size around.”
“This is very illegal,” I reminded Grayson as we walked out to my SUV. “You better leave if you don’t want to be involved.”
“How mad would you be if I threw you over my shoulder and locked you in your bedroom?” he countered.
“Very,” I replied coldly. “I would probably set all your little security systems on fire. Dennis gave me some tips.”
“All right,” he said. “Then let’s go.”
Tailing Rocky Mariano after work was no problem. The problem was that he drove out of the city and stopped at a tiny strip club outside of town, out in the middle of nowhere and set up against a thick forest. Our car was hidden under some branches in one direction, with Dad in some bum friend’s car parked at a sketchy 24-7 deli in the other direction.
It was not a very comfortable prospect to spend the next several hours in a car with Grayson.
I could not stop looking at how his powerful thighs strained at his navy slacks. Even worse, I couldn’t stop remembering how it had felt to have sex with him.
His big arm wrapping around my waist, picking me up easily and kissing me, always with a desperate, raw edge to it.
Now I knew why that was.
He had never known when his boss would decide they had enough evidence to charge my dad, so he never knew when it would be the last time to have sex with me.
My legs would part eagerly, my core liquid with the feel of his knee, then his cock between my thighs.
And I’d feel tiny and cradled in his big arms.
I’d had plenty of good sex since then, but it had never felt like that. Like that the whole roof could cave in on top of us, and I’d still be untouched and safe in his arms.
Maybe just one time.
Just to get Grayson Bentley out of my system.
“All right,” I said. “You’ve been wanting to show me your moves. Now’s your chance.”
Grayson stilled, whipping his head around to look at me.
“You mean tonight?” he said. “After this moronic stakeout is over?”
“No,” I countered. “I mean right here in the car. Rocky Mariano might be at this strip club for hours. Take it or leave it.”
“I’m taking it,” Grayson said, shoving his binoculars in the side pocket of the car. “How do you want to do this?”
“The organization is up to you,” I retorted, although my heart had started pounding in my chest. “But frankly I think your car sex days are behind you, old man, so I can’t wait to see how you manage to get over the stick shift.”
My eyes met his, and there was a gleam in them that suddenly made my belly clench in a mixture of fear and anticipation.
“Change of plans,” I said, my voice sounding strangled. “If you can catch me, you can fuck me.”
Then I yanked on the door and shot off into the night forest.
I ran as fast as I could.
What was I trying to outrun? Grayson? My own desire?
My feet flew through the trees, ducking to avoid the thick branches that slashed at my face.
I didn’t dare to look behind me.
I felt him there behind me, his fingers reaching for my shirt, and I darted wildly off in another direction, scrambling through a narrow space between two bushes I knew he couldn’t get through easily.
Then I threw myself into a hollow in a big tree and waited, my heart pounding. There was the gurgling and rushing of a nearby river, but for a moment I didn’t hear anything else.
His steps were soft and quiet, and he walked right by me, his gaze scanning the treeline to see where I’d gone.
My heart hammered in my chest, and it seemed like my whole body tingled with his proximity. His harsh, heavy breathing seemed to go right to my core, spread down to my knees with a throbbing need for him that I couldn’t deny anymore.
When he had passed by, I broke free and ran to where I heard running water.
The stream didn’t look very big, and I could easily cross it and hide on the other side.
I jumped onto the first rock, glad I was wearing my sneakers.
Stepping carefully, I jumped on the next rock.
But once I was out in the middle of the stream, it seemed much wider and stronger, the water rushing far faster than I had expected from the bank.
I moved to the next rock, but it was a little smaller than I thought, sinking down under my weight, and I had to jump hastily to the next one.
This one was very slippery, and my feet skidded off, oh shit , I was going to go headfirst into the stream, and land right on those other sharp rocks, oh god, fuck
And then Grayson was there, grabbing me around the waist and jumping safely to the bank.
I led out of a huge sobbing shudder of relief.
“Caught you,” he growled in my ear, and he flipped me around and pressed me up on my belly against a tree.
I bit my lip to feel him behind me, the bottom half of his legs soaking wet from the river.
Grayson’s hands were on me, curving around my waist and pulling me so I was flush up against his body.
“Oh, Clementine,” he groaned, his hand tangling in my hair, grabbing handfuls pleasurably tightly. “I want you so badly.”
My skin felt prickly with his admission. “Well, that’s not what the court transcripts say,” I shot at him, gasping as his mouth fell to my throat so he could run his tongue up my skin, nibble teasingly at my ear.
“I lied,” he said, and I ground back against him, my fingers tightening on the rough bark of the tree as I wiggled my ass into his big cock.
“Oh fuck, you better stop me now, Clementine,” he warned, but I only did it again, grinding down so hard on his cock that I could feel it between my legs, and he ripped down my leggings in one swift motion.
I moaned, spreading my legs eagerly, and he grabbed my ass and thighs, plunging his cock so deep I felt my eyes roll back in my head.
His hand on my ass felt heated, his skin burning up as he made a low guttural noise of pleasure.
“Holy shit,” I said, because I remembered that delicious stretch, that feeling of being totally stretched and filled by him.
My fingers clutched desperately at the bark for something to hold onto as he began to stroke in and out of me, his thrusts rough and jagged, taking me with a raw, primal need.
“Clementine—hell,” he said, his voice sounding raw too, almost cracking with emotion. “I missed you so much.”
My whole core felt on fire, my nipples now painfully tight and taut against the tree.
I was on my tiptoes, stretched to get as close to him as I could as he tipped my ass up in the air to pound inside me.
He was so big there was a moment of delicious, heady panic each time he pulled out, as I wondered if he could possibly fit, that split second before he bottomed out again, and I gasped with pleasure.
Grayson had never been so vocal before, with each thrust he groaned over and over again in my ear
I love you so much
You feel so goddamn perfect
Fuck, I love you
Please baby girl
Please
Shit, I can’t last much longer
With one hand, he reached down to my clit, and he began to rub gently with two calloused fingers.
It felt like he had memorized every inch of my body, remembered the perfect pressure, just the perfect mix of gentle and firm, and my head fell back onto his chest as I felt the first flush of my orgasm, heat blooming in my cheeks.
“Come for me, sweet girl,” he rumbled, his chest vibrating, and I did, the bark scraping off in big, jagged pieces as my core tightened around his cock and I came with a wild, exultant shriek, the pleasure unbearably strong, my pussy tightening with powerful pulses.
He came immediately in me, his voice low and rough in my ear, his stubble scraping my throat. He was so big I felt each pulse and twitch of his cock as he filled me, the pleasure of each liquid jet searing through me.
When he was done, I gasped for air, the sweat trickling down my back and sides.
“Please give me another chance,” he whispered in my ear.
I didn’t even know Agent Grayson Bentley could whisper, send the sticky hairs on my neck curling around my throat.
“Please,” he said again, his hands tightening on me, tangling in my hair so there was a tiny pleasurable ache in my skull.
“I’ll make it up to you, I promise I’ll make it up to you,” he said. “There could never be anyone for me but you.”
I couldn’t speak, my eyes still unfocused, my knees still like jelly, my hands trembling.
I hadn’t wanted Grayson Bentley back in my life.
But now that he was, could I ever go back to anyone else?
Before I could decide what to say, my cellphone rang.
“He’s headed your way!” Dad blasted in my ear.
“Oh, shit!” I said. “We’ve got to go and I don’t think I can walk.”
I took an experimental step and almost collapsed on the ground. Fuck, no, I was still as boneless as a gumby doll.
Grayson laughed in a low, amused tone.
“Get on my back,” he said. “I’m only doing this because I think it’s the best way to get your father out of our hair.”
Then he ran swiftly back to the SUV, with me clinging onto his back, legs wrapped around his waist.
“Are you on the pill?” he asked as we hopped back into the car and headed out after Rocky.
“Yes,” I said, tightening my legs together as I felt his cum begin to seep out onto my thighs.
“Get off it,” he said. “Anytime you like and I’ll put a baby in you.”
“There he goes,” I said, ignoring the low seduction of his words, and we tailed Rocky Mariano carefully all the way to his marina.