Chapter 23 - Sly
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
SLY
As we leave Harry’s place, I can feel the mood has shifted. I’m not the best at picking up emotions, but even I can tell everyone is feeling a little down after that conversation.
As we wait on the side of the road for the car lift, I pull Wren over to me, but address the group as a whole when I speak. “I know things look grim.”
“You can say that again,” Pete says with a humorless chuckle.
“But we’re in a better spot than we were before we walked in there. We know what the weapon is and where it is, thanks to Harry. These are valuable pieces of information.”
“You’re right,” Elias says with a nod. “We can make a plan after we visit the site. We don’t even know what we’re dealing with yet.”
“Are we doing that today?” Wren asks.
“No,” I say quickly before anyone else answers. “Actually, I had something planned,” I tell her.
“You taking our girl on a date?” Dex asks with a raised eyebrow.
“No, we are,” I clarify, pointing to the five of us.
“Really?” Wren asks excitedly. “Where are we going?”
“Just wait, you’re gonna love it.”
“That’s a pretty bold statement,” Elias says with a grin as our ride pulls up.
“What can I say?” I shrug my shoulder as I help her climb in after Pete. “I know my girl.”
“We have some time to kill first. Why don’t we go back to the room and change, then we can get in some more target practice before our outing?” Elias suggests.
“Yes!” Wren says excitedly.
Pete lets out an exaggerated groan. “Please don’t give her another gun.”
“I didn’t give her a gun,” Elias says, rolling his eyes as the SUV starts moving. “I let her use one while she was practicing, then I promptly took it back from her.”
“Well, just make sure I’m standing far behind her before you give it to her.”
“You’re mean,” Wren says, narrowing her eyes at Pete.
He kisses the tip of her nose before grinning at her. “You love it.”
“No, I like when you’re sweet.”
“Liar,” he accuses before lowering his voice. “I bet if I dipped my hand inside your panties, I’d find you wet.”
“Well, that’s barely fair,” she fires back, poking him in the chest. “You just saying that made me wet.”
“Just to be clear,” Dex says from the back seat as he leans his head forward between the two of them, “was it the word panties or wet?”
“The whole thing,” I answer for her.
She grunts, which I think means I’m right, before she lifts my arm and leans against my side. I pull her tight, raising an eyebrow as I ask, “Feeling good about your teasing now?”
But he takes it in stride as his grin grows wide. “Damn straight. She’s acting all pouty now, but little does she know I love getting her worked up. It’ll make it that much sweeter when I—”
“Careful,” I say, stopping him, my eyes bouncing to the driver.
“Oh, right, we’re not alone,” he says with a chuckle.
We drive in silence, but I notice when Wren’s hand slowly stretches out to grab Pete’s. She just can’t help herself.
“We’re going on a boat?” Wren asks, sounding confused and excited.
“It’s a dinner cruise on the Moskva River,” I explain.
“Wow, I’ve never been on a boat before!”
“Me neither,” Dex says as the two of them cross the docking arm that connects the ship to the main dock.
Pete’s right behind them, and the three of them are wide-eyed, looking at everything as we board the ship.
Jagger, Elias, and I are more on alert, but I know once we set sail and feel like we’ve checked out the ship for threats, we’ll be a little more at ease.
Nobody’s gonna attack us on a cruise ship in the middle of the river.
If Ivan wanted to get to us, there were much easier places, like where we’d been at the edge of the forest, practicing shooting.
The captain welcomes us aboard, then a staff member says he’ll be escorting us to our dining area. We follow him through the lower dining area and up a set of stairs.
“Wow!” Wren exclaims as she tries to take everything in. There are dark blue plush chairs around tables, each decorated with white linen and shiny silver cutlery. Both walls are covered with large windows that curve up into the roof, giving us an almost unobscured view outside.
“This is amazing!” Wren says in disbelief. “We get to eat in here?” she asks me.
“Yes, in fact, we have the whole room to ourselves.”
Her wide eyes turn to me. “What do you mean? Did you rent out the whole room? That must have cost a fortune!”
“When converted to American, it wasn’t that much. I wanted us to have some privacy with you.”
“Speaking of money,” Wren says as I pull out a chair for her at the center table that’s been set for us. “Do you guys still have the money I took from Robert? Is that what you’ve been using? I probably should have asked about this before now.”
“Yes, we still have enough to last us a while,” Elias tells her. “Plus, the Feds gave us a decent chunk to help finance our stay.”
“What’s a decent chunk?” she asks.
“Fifty grand.”
“Fifty thousand?” she asks in shock. “U.S.?”
“Yes.”
“Wow, that’s a lot.”
“Our room is pretty pricey, and these guys eat a lot,” he says, gesturing toward Dex and Pete.
“Like you don’t,” Dex fires back, but he just shrugs in return.
The servers bring in warm bread and butter, pouring us all a glass of wine.
“To Wren,” I toast, holding up my glass. The guys all repeat it, holding up their own.
“To all of us,” Wren says, adding her own glass as we clink them together. The wine has a pleasant fruity taste to it, and I glance at Wren, who’s thankfully sitting beside me, and watch her face as she takes a drink.
I can tell she likes it. She’s unable to hide her emotions, and I love her for it. I rarely have to second-guess myself when it comes to her. Her face tells me everything I need to know.
I watch her take another sip, her black choker moving as she swallows.
I’d give anything to wrap my hand around her pretty little throat and control her breath.
I gave her a little taste of it when we first made love, but that was a while ago, and I’m starting to grow restless.
I know this long wait wouldn’t be usual.
She’d been stolen from us for three weeks, then when we got her back, she was badly injured, and I needed her to heal first. I know I won’t have to wait this long in the future, even if I am sharing her with four other men.
My little vixen’s libido seemed to be more than ample to keep up with the needs of all of us. But even though I’d gotten to feel her wrapped around my cock just two days ago, I was dying to do it again, this time asserting more of my control over her, particularly her breathing.
There was just something so erotic about her giving that control over to me. Not only that, but I could make her orgasm twice as powerful when she put all her trust in me.
The cruise ship pulls away from the shore as we’re brought our appetizers. Wren laughs as everyone talks, even Jagger signing to join in with the conversation.
I almost find their company… enjoyable. It’s strange, and I’m not sure how I feel about it.
Being with Wren is always something I enjoy, but the others?
I merely tolerate them. Or at least that’s what I thought.
But as we sit around the table and I listen to Pete and Dex make Wren laugh, and Jagger give her a look that has her smiling, and Elias, making sure she eats enough as he manages to get a few jabs of his own in against Pete and Dex, I realize that I actually enjoy their company.
Where I used to find Dex dimwitted and annoying, I now know him to actually be a giant gentleman with a heart of gold.
Pete used to aggravate me with his constant nattering and ridiculous jokes, but now I find myself amused by his comments and enjoying the way he can cut the tension with just a few words, something I’m unable to do.
I never minded Jagger’s presence as he didn’t speak and was far less annoying than the other two, and I’ve come to enjoy his silent company even more over the past few months.
The most surprising change of heart I’ve had has been over Elias.
When I first met him, I thought he was a pompous, pretty boy who would steal our girl right from under us if he could.
But he might have the best intentions of any of us. He took a bullet for Dex, protected Wren from Robert’s men, and has been invaluable in everything we’ve done since we met him. We would have been caught and thrown back in prison long ago if it weren’t for him.
The meal is beef stroganoff, a Russian classic, and everyone enjoys it. After we’re served dinner, I pay the servers a hefty tip to leave us alone for the rest of the cruise. They leave us with a few bottles of wine and tell me they won’t come back until we dock.
Which gives me a little over an hour. With all our plates having been cleared, only our wine glasses are left on the table, so I grab mine and hand it to Jagger, who’s sitting on my other side. He takes it without question as I push to my feet and tell them. “Glasses up!”
I shove Wren’s chair back, hard, and she gasps as I grip her under the arms and turn, sitting her on the table. Thankfully, someone moved her glass, so now the only things on the table are the white linen and her.
She looks up at me in question as she bites her lip. “There’s my little vixen,” I say, shoving her legs apart a little roughly, finding it hard to hold back.
“Oh shit,” Pete says with a chuckle. “I think someone’s ready to play.”
Running my hands up her outer thighs, I lift an eyebrow as I ask, “Are you wearing these garters again for us?”
“Maybe,” she says with a little shrug.
“Were you hoping we’d get a little glimpse of them?
” I ask, and she doesn’t respond. “Were you hoping to tease us with what’s hiding under here?
” I push up her pleated skirt so I can get a better look at her upper thighs.
They are bare, apart from the garters holding up a pair of thin black stockings.