19. Sloane
19
SLOANE
M y nerves are shot when I see my name printed on the top of a package with no other marks. It’s too early for mail delivery, and there’s nothing to show how it got here.
I step away from my new bodyguard and up to my desk to take a better look. But Sterling Elias Cole grabs my hands when they shake above it.
“Let me,” he says in my ear.
What is it about having this man at my back that shakes me up even further?
The generally encompassing warmth? How safe he makes me feel simply by being around? That he can somehow see through my bullshit and still wants to protect me from everything?
I retreat, moving around to the side of my desk to give him room.
Sterling pulls a knife from his belt and carefully cuts the box open. Under a layer of packing paper, there’s a bullet nestled at the bottom with my name carved into the jacket. The inside of the box reads, Let it go , in a black marker scrawl.
The words mirror the warning Caspian Vorn gave me.
A weak part of me takes heed of the warning. Maybe I should have just let it go. Dropped it. Then, all I would have to worry about is my stupid, overbearing ex and his empty threats to make my life even more miserable without him.
Only, his threats aren’t completely empty. And neither is this one.
The look Sterling gives me makes my blood boil, turning that fear into rage. I shake the mouse on my computer to wake it up, and it takes too long. My anger builds higher and higher with every passing second.
I print off the new manifest and storm back into the warehouse to find something, anything that will help us figure out who these guys are.
Sterling shadows me. Unlike Rhett and Jack, he doesn’t pretend to work through the shelves with me. He simply watches, staying near enough that I can feel his presence at every moment but far enough that he doesn’t get in my way.
I’m working double time to find any kind of real lead. And I can dive into it since we don’t have a delivery until this afternoon.
I can’t be sure how many crates and pallets I search, but when I come up for air, Rhett is at my shoulder instead of Sterling. I jump from the surprise, my eyes bugging as I take him in.
He’s got a tight, button-up shirt that accentuates the muscles in his shoulders and clings nicely to his chest, showing off his strong, lean torso. God, did I have to be surrounded by hot, older men who are just authoritative enough with the right level of sensitivity to be dangerous in too many ways?
“Where’s Sterling?” I ask, my filters slowly reforming.
His dark brows go up at my use of his boss’s first name. “Left over an hour ago. You’ve got tunnel vision. Come on. Time for a break.”
He touches my elbow gently, and the heat of his hand tempts me to turn into him and distract myself. Take control and power back for myself, but I’m not sure Rhett cares to be played with, even if he looks at me like he might.
Those brown eyes grow darker as he waits me out.
He’s one bold move away from breaking his restraint.
I shouldn’t even be considering it, but here I am, wanting to lean in and bite him. My teeth pinch into my own bottom lip instead, and Rhett’s eyes flash.
He tilts nearer without making a move, his voice lowering. “I mean lunch.”
I don’t take the way out he’s offering. Instead, I step closer, almost flush against him. His body is hot, threatening to sear me through already. It pools low in my center, burning away any hang ups that might be dangling along.
“What are you going to do if I say I’d rather have a really, really good distraction instead?”
Those dark eyes lower to my mouth again. Rhett’s nostrils flare.
Leaning in a bit more, I lift my mouth for easier access. It finally breaks him. His mouth slants across mine a second later. Electricity sizzles down my spine, rocketing my chest into his as I grab ahold of him.
Rhett’s lips are soft, his kiss firm but careful as his hands slide around my back. God, it’s so little but so much at the same time.
My grip shifts, one hand fisting in the front of his shirt and the other sinking into his dark, wavy hair.
The width of his palms splays around my ribcage, smoothing down the curve of my waist to my hips as I open my mouth to him in a tease. He takes the bait, nipping and sucking until his tongue slides against mine, tasting me.
Tension thrums from him, like he’s holding himself back with some effort.
But I need more before the thoughts of this morning seep back in.
My knee lifts up his thigh, foot hooking around him. Rhett takes my direction, sliding a hand over my hip, my ass, and cinching under the back of my thigh to hitch me higher, pressing us more tightly together.
God, he’s moving so slow for as fast as I’m feeling.
After another small hesitation, Rhett lifts me to the edge of the crate behind me. My knees squeeze his hips, yanking him in tighter. I spread a little wider for him to feel him completely flush against me.
I’m swelling with a heavy ache at my center, one that needs prodded and coaxed to a steady flame. I’m a spark ready to ignite.
His hands squeeze the swell of my ass, taunting me. We tip together, fitting perfectly with our clothes on.
Muscles flexing under my touch, Rhett kisses me deeper. His hunger grows as his hips swivel into mine. It takes only a few moves for the hard length in his pants to find just the right spot.
Core clenching, I grab onto Rhett harder, urging him to stay in place because as much as every little move he makes ratchets up the need consuming me, it promises me satisfaction. I moan into his mouth.
His hand sinks into my hair, pulling it free from its loose bun, and he kisses me with more fervor. Hips grinding together, he angles himself to ping against my clit again and again and again until I struggle to breathe.
Rhett pulls back enough to look me over, his swiveling thrusts making my mouth fall open. His thumb slides across my tongue, a reminder to keep quiet.
Right. At work.
My vision can’t focus on the details around us. I’m trusting him to keep some kind of sense in case someone approaches. It happens so infrequently that I merely close my mouth around his thumb and suck.
His groan is half growl as he bends to nip at my throat, pulling a sensitive bit of flesh into his mouth. My moan is only slightly muffled by this thumb.
A hushing whisper finds my ear. “Not so loud, Sloane. Or I won’t be able to give you what you want.”
The roll of his hips reminds me of how far gone I already am.
I nod, grasping at the strings of my shredded concentration and nudging my core over his trapped hard-on. Rhett’s grunt is half tortured, half determined.
His attention shifts, doubling down on his chosen path and lifting my right knee a little higher to access me even better.
God, what would it be like to have his cock sliding against me bare, spreading me open, tunneling into me until I’m hollowed out and exhausted? I want to know, but not enough to wait.
When I can’t help but take the small moves that fling me within reach of my own end, I claw my way toward an orgasm, catching it by the tips of my fingers as his mouth comes down on mine again.
Rhett swallows my moan, hips grinding relentlessly until my every muscle shakes. With my core pulsing, bearing down empty, the pleasure spikes, and I let it take me.
My hips are immobile, but Rhett’s still in motion, hands smoothing and soothing over my heated skin, mouth laying sweet kisses on my mouth, jaw, neck. His arousal stays nestled at my core, and I know this won’t be enough for long. Not for either of us.
Not with the way his pupils are still blown wide in his dark eyes.
I suck my bottom lip into my mouth as I blink at him, waiting for him to demand that I return the favor. But he doesn’t.
His hands merely grab ahold of my hips, kneading them possessively before he taps his nose against mine. “Thank you.”
Biting back a laugh, my grin spreads wide. “Isn’t that my line?”
Rhett shakes his head, but before he can explain, his attention shifts behind me.
“Hey,” Shepard calls from a few aisles down. “Grub time.”
Heat filters into my cheeks, and Rhett rewards me with the best smile. One that lifts my fingers of their own accord to graze against the short stubble on his cheek.
I hop down, pulling my hair back into place. Boom, as unruffled as I’m going to get. Other than the lingering wetness in my panties.
Rhett, however, looks bent out of shape. No hiding what we’ve been up to. Not with a trained profiler waiting on us. The tight squeeze of my ass tells me Shepard’s not the only one who’s been analyzing my every reaction.
There’s nowhere to hide from this team.