Chapter 32
Peyton
When we set the table for dinner in the Presidential Suite, I’d thought it was going to be way too much food. But the Hawk crew surprised me and devoured almost all of it.
I was bummed when Lucas had insisted that Zane sit with him, Jordy and Yates during the meal to discuss the merger of Yates’s group into Hawk Security. That left me paired with Constance, across from Duke and Serena, and just down the table from Terry and Grace.
The badass ex-Secret Service agent was sweet as could be. I looked over at my man, but he was occupied with what his boss was saying.
“He’s a really good guy,” Constance whispered when she noticed me looking toward Zane for the millionth time. “He’s not ignoring you. He just has to pay full attention to what Lucas has to say. It’s his job.”
I nodded. “I know.”
“Personally, I think you hit the jackpot,” she added.
I nodded again and pulled in a deep breath. “Yeah.” Then, a shiver ran down my back.
We’d been forced together because it was his job to protect me. It’s his job. Those words rattled around in my head as tears pricked at my eyes.
I’d been watching and listening to two couples who were so obviously in love, I’d realized I wanted that when this craziness ended.
I wanted what Serena and Grace had. I wanted Zane to look at me like their men did them, to stick around and treat me like their men did them.
I wanted this thing between us, whatever it was, to last beyond the job of protecting me from the Strangler.
“What’s wrong?” Constance prodded. She’d sensed my worry.
“Nothing.”
Placing a hand over mine, she pressed on. “Don’t try to kid a kidder.”
“I’m worried about the future,” I admitted.
“Zane?”
I nodded.
“I was told he’d claimed you, said you were his.
The only thing you have to worry about is, can you handle that?
These SEALs are full-throttle men, so you dive in and hang on for a wild ride.
You have to accept that part of them. At times they’re bossy and argumentative, and they’re always overprotective, but it comes from an honest place.
There’s not a single Milton Milquetoast among them. ”
I giggled at her description. Her confidence that Zane wouldn’t go back on saying he wanted me warmed me to my core.
“King Arthur had his knights of the Round Table. We have SEALs, Delta, Rangers, Omega, and the like,” she said. “They’re our present-day knights of the Round Table.”
“Omega?”
“Forget I said that.” Her tone was firm. Her eyes communicated that I’d heard something I wasn’t meant to.
“Constance and Winston,” Lucas said, cutting off any questions I might have. “Have we learned anything more from the files?”
Constance pointed at Winston to go first.
“Not much. They have witnesses who think they might have seen the victim with someone prior to the murder, but they only got very vague descriptions. Brown hair, about five-ten, nothing to distinguish the perp, and nothing on the vehicle. He’s very methodical.
All the cases are the same. The victim was always sexually assaulted and strangled with a red necktie.
The body was always dumped three days after going missing. He kept them that long.”
“Except for the Moulton case,” Constance corrected.
I cringed at her name.
“He didn’t keep her for three days,” she added.
“After the first two, the files had fewer interviews than I would have expected,” Winston said.
Constance nodded. “Disorganized police work in general. The files only have autopsy summaries, not the full reports.”
“That’s on me,” Lucas said. “I was supposed to talk to O’Connor about that.”
Winston did not look happy. “He said the coroner didn’t give them copies because they had sensitive photographs. Boston has real bullshit rules, if you ask me.”
“No wonder they haven’t caught the guy yet,” Terry mumbled.
“What does O’Connor have to say about the interviews?” Lucas asked.
“He says they have additional interviews back in Boston,” Winston answered. “Their procedure is to segregate the ones that don’t have anything relevant. Another bullshit procedure. But he can get us those.”
Lucas nodded. “Then have him send for them.”
Serena, Grace, and I had gone to a separate room while Constance and all the Hawk guys discussed their plans to take down the Strangler. With some luck, it might even be tomorrow.
“Hey, there.”
My heart leaped as Zane poked his head around the corner. I jumped up.
Duke and Terry arrived right behind Zane.
“All done planning your world takeover?” Serena asked as she got up and marched toward her man.
“Not nearly,” Duke answered.
“Too big an area and too many damned variables,” Terry complained.
Zane took me in his arms. “Don’t worry,” he assured me. “We’ll get him.”
Lucas’s voice boomed. “You guys have the guard schedule and assignments for tomorrow. Now let’s all get some rest, because this is going to be a challenging one.”
Serena unwound herself from Duke and gave me a goodbye hug. “I have to work tomorrow, but I’ll have my fingers crossed.”
“Thanks.”
“Get ready for bed, and I’ll be there in a minute,” Zane whispered in my ear.
I nodded, bidding Grace and Constance goodbye before heading off with tingles running all the way to my toes. I’d been aching for more alone time since we’d gotten here.
I was brushing my teeth when Zane came up and wrapped his arms around me from behind.
“I missed you,” I mumbled through a mouthful of toothpaste.
His hand glided up inside my shirt to cup my breast. “I missed you too.” Thankfully, he let me rinse and spit before he carried me off to bed.
I didn’t complain. Now that I was in his arms, the tension of the day didn’t matter anymore.
He set me down on the bed and reclined next to me, both of us still clothed.
“I have a good feeling about tomorrow,” I told him.
“Uh-huh,” he agreed. “The interrogations yielded something interesting. The three guys we nabbed today didn’t know each other. Each of them met with him along a short stretch of Santa Monica Boulevard. It’s an area with a lot of surveillance cameras.”
It felt so perfect to be lying here with him. The closeness I felt worked to push away all worries I’d had since leaving Boston. For a minute we lay there, looking into each other’s eyes.
I could see him as the kind of knight in shining armor Constance mentioned. He’d claimed me, and I didn’t need to worry about being just a job. “Lucas said to get some rest for tomorrow, so we can just sleep,” I offered, hugging him close.
In a second, he was on top of me, his face an inch from mine. “Maybe when I’m ninety I’ll take you up on that, but not today.”
I pulled his head down to meet mine and kissed him with all the intensity I could muster. A few minutes later, we were both naked, and his far-too-clever mouth was between my legs giving me stubble burn.
I moaned as his tongue traced the length of me and circled my clit. As he continued, I gripped his hair. “God, Zane.” Every swipe of his tongue, every suck, was like he’d known my body forever and knew exactly how to break me. “You’re too good at this.”
He pulled away and bit my thigh lightly. “Does that mean you want me to stop?”
“No.” Hell no was what I meant. His chuckle as his mouth found my sex again sent a shudder through me.
I clamped my legs around his head.
He added two fingers inside me, and his mouth remained relentless. When he sucked my clit again, I couldn’t hold it off any longer. “Zane, God yes.”
Panting rapidly, my climax shattered me, rocking my world and starting my legs shaking again.
He rested his chin on my mound and smiled as I slowly came down to earth. Then, Zane went up on his elbows, his smile as wide as I’d ever seen it. His mouth glistened with my juices. “You have no idea how gorgeous you are.”
Constance was right. I had hit the jackpot.
He moved up my body and planted a wet, sloppy kiss on me. A week ago it would have grossed me out, but today it was the hottest thing I’d ever experienced, as odd as that sounded.
Zane got up, went to the nightstand, and pulled out a condom, lobbing it at me. Yes, he’d definitely enjoyed having me roll it down his length.
I grabbed the condom reluctantly. “I have an idea.”
He joined me on the bed, kneeling beside me with his big cock bobbing.
“How do you do that?” I asked.
“What, this?” Without touching himself, he made his cock bob once, twice.
“Yes, that.”
“Call me talented.”
I sat up and grabbed his mischievous cock with both hands. “Well, Mr. Talented…” I stroked him. “I’ll have you know…I have an implant…and I’m clean… I’ve tested, I mean I tested clean.” I was so nervous I couldn’t get the words out. This would be a first for me.
He grabbed my wrist, and his face turned serious. “I’m clean too, but before I can take you bare, you have to say the words.”
“I thought we could skip the condom. If you trust me, I mean.” It was a gift I wanted to give him. “If you want to.”
He rolled me onto my back and moved between my legs.
This was it.
“Angel, you have no idea.”
I widened my legs and gasped when he entered me.
“God, you’re wet.” He pushed all the way in. “So tight and yet so slick.”
The stretch took a moment to get used to, but as he began, the sensations of him moving inside me took over. “Zane.” Ignoring the pain in my calf, I linked my heels behind him, pulling him in.
After starting out fast, he slowed. He kissed his way from my ear, down my neck and along my collarbone and back, all while sliding slowly in and out of me. He caressed my breasts and every inch of my body that he could reach with his hands.
I floated on an endless cloud of pleasure and sensation.
In the end, his finger found my clit, and I detonated like never before. Once again, my legs embarrassed me. “My God, Zane.” They were the only words I could manage.
He raised up on his elbows. “You’re so pretty when you come.”
“What about you? Do you want me to suck you?”