Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Esme was incredibly comfortable. Granted, her pillow was as hard as a rock, but she felt warm and protected. And being protected? Safe? That was a very new feeling for her. She’d fallen into a deep sleep shortly after the plane took off. Plane rides always made her sleepy. And she had been up for more hours than she could clearly recall.
So, she’d drifted off.
And had some very steamy dreams about a certain U.S. Marshal.
Her eyes opened. Her head turned. And she realized that her pillow? Her ever-so-hard pillow? That would be his thigh. She was actually stretched out across the seats, and her head was on his rock-hard thigh. When she turned her head, she found herself staring straight up at him.
Grimly, he stared down at her.
“So…” Esme cleared her throat. “I don’t actually recall how I got in this position.”
He kept staring back.
She should get up. She would. Her head moved and …
Oh.
“Ahem.” Esme winced. “I’ll get up…carefully, shall I?”
His jaw could not possibly clench any harder.
She got up, carefully, because there had been a very aroused cock not far from her head. Once she was securely in her seat again, Esme discovered that the skirt of her dress had hiked way, way up. She pushed it down, extremely aware of the silence from the stone-faced man beside her. “Plane rides make me sleepy.”
“Um.”
“Though, for the record, I can’t remember ever just making the passenger next to me into my own personal pillow. You’re the first on that count.”
His eyes were on her. So very watchful. “Good to know.”
“Guess you’re special?” She tried a smile.
He didn’t smile back. “You were slumped on my arm. Your neck was all twisted.”
Now that he mentioned it, her neck did ache a bit.
“I put you down so you’d be more comfortable.”
He had? She couldn’t control her beaming grin. “That was incredibly thoughtful of you.” Her fingers skimmed up his arm. So warm. “Thank you, Ty.”
“Tyler.”
“That’s what I said.”
“No, you called me Ty.”
She waited. With brows expectantly raised and everything.
He didn’t speak.
This man. Shaking her head, she politely inquired, “Do you have a problem with being called Ty?”
“It’s not my name.”
Playing with him was too fun. “It’s a shortened version of your name.” The man was precious. “Do you not have any friends who call you Ty?”
“ No one calls me Ty .”
“Well, all right then. Jeez. Don’t have to get all growly, Tyler. ” She was still stroking his arm, but since he was being bitey, she pulled her hand back. No strokes should be given when someone was being rude. “I was just trying to get into my new role. As your loving wife, I would think it would be okay for me to call you by a nickname. But if you don’t like Ty?—”
“I don’t.”
So huffy. “Then I’ll just call you something else. Darling. Sweetheart. Love of my life. Best sex ever.” She shrugged one shoulder. “I’ll think of something that works. No worries.”
“Is everything a joke to you?”
“Are you saying that you will not be the best sex ever for me?” They were the only ones on the plane. Well, other than the two pilots up front. She and Tyler were the only ones in the back of the plane. So it wasn’t as if she had to worry that they were being overheard. “This news greatly disappoints me. I had very high expectations where you were concerned. Especially when I woke up, and there was a giant cock so close to my face.”
He sucked in a breath. “My job is to protect you. Not to fuck you.”
She made a distinct point of not looking down at his giant dick. “But you want to fuck me.”
“It is a physical response,” he gritted.
“Well, yes, lust is very physical.” As if she’d argue that point. “You don’t have to get snippy about it.”
“Snippy?” Tyler seemed to be choking.
She hadn’t stuttered, so Esme knew he’d understood. It was time for him to understand something else. “I want you, too. Or do you think I just go around kissing every man I meet?”
Silence.
“Oh, bad form,” she whispered. Her chest ached. “You do think I kiss every man I meet.” Very insulting. And hurtful. “You are wrong. I happen to be very choosy about my partners. I like you. I was simply being honest and telling you how I felt.” She rose.
He immediately threw out a hand to block her path.
She looked at the hand. Then at him. “Is there a problem?”
“Where are you going?”
“Well, considering that I am trapped in mid-air with you, I’m obviously not going far. Not like I plan to jump out of the plane. I seem to be without a parachute.” She sniffed. “But your kind FBI friend did bring me a bag.” One that was currently in the overhead compartment. “I assume it has clothing inside it. I was going to change out of this fabulous dress and into another outfit. That way, I’d be less likely to attract attention when we get to our mystery destination.” Because he hadn’t told her where they were going.
Probably for the best.
His gaze could not get harder. Or hotter. That blue seemed to blaze.
His hand lowered.
She maneuvered past him. Tried to, anyway. Their bodies brushed a great deal because he was unnecessarily large. At one point, she basically straddled him. A fun position for another time.
“Stop. ”
Her hands came down on his shoulders. “It’s not my fault you’re so big.”
“I’ll get up.” His hands closed around her waist. He lifted her up as he rose. Turned and a moment or so later, she was in the narrow aisle. Tyler even reached up and snagged her bag for her.
“Aren’t you the gentlemen? Merci, monsieur.”
The faint lines near his mouth tightened. “You…don’t have to speak French.”
“It’s my native tongue. Sometimes, it just slips out.” But she was intrigued. She pressed closer to him. “Or do you like it too much when I speak French?” A teasing murmur.
Faster than any striking snake could be, his hand flew out. Curled around her shoulder. “You have to stop playing with me.”
But she wasn’t playing. When would he get a clue on that score?
“You don’t want to fuck me. Despite what you said in French at the station. And what you just said here and now.”
“How do you know what I want?”
“I’m part of the game you’re working. You think I don’t know a con artist when I see one?”
She leaned closer to him. Parted her lips.
His gaze was on her mouth. Totally focused.
“That is an asshole thing to say,” Esme informed him. “Absolute asshole. Here’s a helpful tip about me. I don’t always lie.” In fact, she tried to tell the truth the majority of the time. “Wasn’t I helpful to your friend at the FBI? Before we left, didn’t I give him reliable intel that he could use to solve several big crimes?” She had. She’d considered the info as a down payment on her protection plan. “Those offshore accounts will check out. And the locations I gave him that had stolen artifacts? All legitimate. I was helping.”
“The very fact that you knew that information means you’re involved in illegal activities up to your gorgeous eyes.”
She batted her lashes. “You like my eyes? Good to know. At this point, we’ve established you like both my eyes and my ass. Thank you. To be fair, I also like your eyes. I find it particularly charming when they blaze with heat and go all molten blue.”
“I don’t think molten blue is a thing,” he muttered.
“Then clearly you have never seen your eyes when you are battling a hard case of lust.” Esme cleared her throat. “I suppose you have an okay ass, too.”
“You were just…honest with me.”
“No, I wasn’t. I was lying.” A wince. “Your ass is actually far better than okay.”
“ Esme. ”
“I’m not a villainess. Don’t make me out to be one.” Another bit of honesty. “You’re the hero, though. That is plain for anyone to see. Surely, I’m not the first woman who has been attracted to you. Not all women go for the bad guys. Some of us have other preferences.”
“You want to fuck me…because I’m good? Baby, you could not be more wrong about me.”
“Are you getting into the role of my loving husband? Or did that endearment just slip out accidentally?”
He blinked.
“I’ll assume that we keep our first names during the course of this undercover operation. Easier for us to fall into character, yes? If we keep using our real first names?” Esme tapped her chin with her right index finger. “But what will our last names be?”
“Hollow.”
She nodded. “Esme and Tyler Hollow. Fair enough. After I get back from changing, you’ll have to tell me all about our cover story.” She took the bag from him. Their fingers brushed. A bolt of heat shot through her, but she refused to acknowledge it. She’d told him how she felt. He’d have to make the next move. She couldn’t very well do all the romantic heavy lifting herself. A woman did like some pursuit. “I am hoping you have some marvelously splendid how-we-met story that you are planning to share with me. And your proposal to me?” She swung away from him. “Has to be epic. People aren’t going to believe we have some super passionate marriage if we are not epic.” She made her way down the plane’s aisle and toward the small bathroom.
“Esme.”
His voice stopped her just as she reached for the bathroom door.
“I should have told you that another one of my rules was no lying. You can’t manipulate me. You can’t pretend with me. I’m the man saving that sweet ass of yours. I have to know everything about you.”
No one knew everything about her. “You stood between me and a gun today.” She peered back at him.
“You had already done the same for me.”
Yes, but the gun he’d stood in front of had actually been loaded. The one she’d stood in front of hadn’t been. Something she wondered if he knew. Surely his FBI buddies had told him that fact already? “You’re the hero. Not me.” A warning for him.
“You told me you weren’t a villainess.”
Yes, but not being a villain didn’t necessarily make you into the good girl, either. “Shades of gray.” She bobbed her head. “I’ve got to ditch these heels. They are killing my feet. See you soon.” She opened the door. Crept into the small bathroom. And her first order of business? She did ditch the heels. Then she bent and twisted the bottom of the right shoe. The heel opened because it had been hollow. A perfect hiding space. The small USB drive fell into her palm. “Hello, gorgeous,” she whispered.
As if she’d waste her time stealing something as boring as diamonds. Please. She could get diamonds any day of the week. But the USB drive? Oh, it was special. Worth killing for, in fact.
Her fingers closed around the drive. Now the big question…had Jorlan realized what she’d done? And just how long did she have before he started to hunt her? Probably not long at all.
And that’s why it is such a good thing that I have my own personal U.S. Marshal for protection.
Such a very, very good thing…because recently, Esme may have done a few very, very wicked things.
“So where exactly are we headed?” The plane had touched down an hour ago on a deserted air-strip. She’d been whisked out of the plane and into a dark SUV in record time. Esme had barely had a chance to wave goodbye to the pilots before Tyler had been hitting the road. Hard.
The darkness of night surrounded her, and he hadn’t taken anything close to a main road, so there had been no road signs for her to see. In fact, when she squinted hard enough, all she could see in the dark were the twisting outlines of trees. Lots and lots of trees.
He took me to the middle of nowhere, check.
“Where are we headed?” she repeated her question. “ And do tell me our delicious cover story.” Because he had not shared it on the plane. When she’d gone back to the seat, Tyler had been dead silent. “Did we meet in Paris? Beneath the Eiffel Tower? Did you take one look at me and fall hopelessly in love?”
“I fell into something, all right.”
Her gaze whipped away from the trees and onto him. They narrowed suspiciously. “Are you making a joke? Because I had no clue you were the joking kind.”
“There’s going to be no talk of France, Esme. Not when we share our, uh, backstory with people. And since you are so good at not having any accent at all, go with that,” he ordered her. “Don’t slip up and speak any French.”
“I’m sure I can manage to avoid slipups.” Not like the man was talking to some kind of amateur. She yawned. The plane flight had actually been pretty short, and though she’d slept, she could use a good five or six hours more of rest time. Before they’d boarded the plane, Tyler had whisked her through Miami and in and out of several different locations in what she suspected had been an attempt to throw any other tracking hitmen off their trail. Hours had drifted by. He’d fed her some takeout, they’d waited for the plane to be ready, and now—nightfall. Nightfall plus her new home. “I’ve got our last names. How about we flesh out more of our story since you’re not telling me where we’re headed?” How many times did a woman have to ask for details?
“No need to flesh it out. I’ve got a full file for you in my bag. After we get to the house, you can read over it all tonight, or you can check it out first thing in the morning.”
“A whole file, huh? Someone works fast.” Her fingers tapped against her leg. “Why don’t you give me a few highlights?”
“You just don’t want to ride in silence, do you?”
Actually, she didn’t. Besides, she’d already had plenty of silence on the plane, thank you very much. “I may look all bold on the outside, but I’m quite shaken, if you want the truth. It’s not every day that a man bursts into an interrogation room and tries to kill you.” She swallowed and could have sworn she tasted the bitterness of fear on her tongue. Fear was bitter. Lust was spicy. Love? She had to guess on that one, but Esme thought it would taste sweet. Maybe one day she’d find out. But, back to business. “There is the matter of the five million dollars on my head. That amount of money tells me that more bad guys will be coming after me. The life I knew before is over.” Dead and buried. A good thing.
“They aren’t going to get you.” Grim. “They’d have to go through me first.”
Oh, wow, but he was sweet.
“I’m not easy to get through,” Tyler added. “I’ll rip them apart before they ever so much as touch you.”
So, sweet was probably not the right word for him. Bloodthirsty . That fit much better. “Where have you been all my life?”
A shake of his head. “You’re not going to manipulate me, Esme.”
He kept saying that, but, alas, Tyler was wrong. She already was manipulating him. “I really like the way you say my name, FYI. It’s all hot and dark and rumbling. Pretty much how I’d imagine you’d say it if we were in bed together.”
He sucked in a breath, then rasped, “ Not going to manipulate me. ”
“Who’s manipulating? I’m stating a fact.” She went back to peering through the windshield. “I swear, I haven’t seen a single sign of anyone. Are you taking me deep into the woods? Are we going to be all isolated and have to share one bed because that’s the only thing available and you just can’t keep those wicked hands of yours off my body when we are thrust together into such close, intimate confines?”
More silence. Hadn’t she told him that she didn’t enjoy silence?
Silence made her think too much. She didn’t want to think right then. If she thought too much, she’d realize just how screwed she was. Tyler is the only thing standing between me and some extreme danger. Good thing he was so bloodthirsty.
“There’s gonna be more than one bed,” he finally said.
“Oh.” A sigh. “That’s disappointing.”
“What?”
“You heard me. Don’t pretend you didn’t.”
He cleared his throat. “The house was set up on short notice. I didn’t want to go through the usual channels.”
Once more, her attention shifted back to him.
“So I pulled strings. I’m not exactly sure what all I’ll be facing on this case, and I needed to have some people I trusted close by.”
Okay, that all sounded good to her.
“We’re almost there.” He turned the SUV to the right.
How had he known when to turn? She could see nothing, but, sure enough, they were on another road.
“And since you are so eager for details…you and I are newlyweds.”
She couldn’t help her smile. “Delightful.” A nod. “We are passionately-in-love newlyweds. We can’t keep our hands off each other. Check.” Her fingers were itching to touch him, but she was holding herself back.
“We wanted to get out of the big city because we want to raise our future kids in a small town.”
“Oh my!” A thrilled exclamation from her. “This is sounding like one of my favorite Hallmark movies. Pinch me because I have to be dreaming.”
He growled.
A little glow spilled inside her. She liked his growls far too much. Other men would not be able to pull off those deep, rumbling sounds. Tyler did. He made them ridiculously sexy.
“We rented property in town because I have an old Marine buddy in the area who gave us a great deal on the house. We’re going to fix it up a bit. Make it our own. Turn it into a home and raise a family.”
Okay, the glow had changed, and damn if she didn’t feel wistful. “Is it going to be a picket-fence place? With flowers in the yard? Cute shutters on the windows?”
“Ah, not exactly.”
She waved that away. “I’m sure it will be amazing.”
He coughed.
“What is it that I do in this amazing life of ours?”
“You’re an interior designer.”
Esme nodded. “That’s why I’m so keen to fix up the place.” She could get into this role. “And what about you?”
“Private security. We’ll say I manage a cyber company. I work from home, and that’s how I’ll be able to stay close to you day and night.”
They were going through some sort of town. Finally. She could barely make out the buildings. Excitement pumped through her because this was actually happening. She’d kissed her old life goodbye. She was starting fresh with her marshal. Good things were going to happen. She could do good, or at least, fake doing good .
When the SUV pulled to a stop about ten minutes later, she jumped from the vehicle. The headlights were still on so she could see…
Her shoulders slumped.
No picket fence. No flowers. No shutters.
Instead, the house sat, seemingly forgotten and alone, in the dark. Big, looming, with a sloping roof and twisting trees that surrounded it, as if fighting to consume the home.
It was stark. Intense. Slightly scary.
Her new home sweet home.
“I’ll get the bags,” Tyler said from right behind her. She hadn’t heard him leave the SUV, so Esme gave a little jump. And not like she wanted him taking her bag, so she rushed to snag it herself.
He followed her as she cautiously made her way up the steps in front of the house. They creaked beneath her feet. Spooky. She could have sworn that the wind was even howling as she crept toward the front door.
Tyler dropped his bag on the porch. She was pretty sure that dust shot into the air around them when it dropped. He pulled out a key and opened the door a moment later. His hand waved. “Ladies first.”
She didn’t go first. She did look around. There was another house—she could see the dim light from it—about fifty yards away. A neighbor. “People can always be watching.” Even when you thought you were safe and alone.
“What? Uh, no, no one is watching.”
Esme still did not advance. Her right foot tapped. “I think you’re supposed to carry me over the threshold.”
She caught his curse. Esme bit back a smile.
“You like messing with me, don’t you?” Tyler suddenly accused .
To be honest, it was one of the few things bringing her joy at the moment.
“If you’re not strong enough to carry me, it’s okay,” she assured him in a placating tone. “I’ll just tell any neighbors who ask that you threw out your back a few days ago. Because of that, we now have to be careful with strenuous activities when it comes to you—” The last bit ended on a gasp because he’d swung her into his arms.
Yes, please. This was what she’d wanted.
He held her easily. And, oh, indeed, it was hot. Sexy. Because Tyler strode across the threshold as if carrying her was no problem whatsoever. As if her weight didn’t matter at all. She could feel his strength all around her. She dropped her bag as soon as they swept inside, and her arm looped around his neck. He was walking forward into the dark with her held tenderly in his arms, and her head tipped back.
This man was so very different from the people who usually inhabited her world. He was the hero. The good guy. Who would have thought that the good guy would make her want to do so many very bad things?
Tyler’s head had turned toward her. And, granted, it was dark, but she was pretty sure his eyes were on her mouth. Her eyes were definitely on his mouth. And her fingers might just be applying the smallest amount of pressure on the back of his neck in order to get him to bend his head so that those slightly cruel— but ever so sexy—lips of his would press to hers.
Come on. Come on. Just a little closer.
Their lips were so close that she could almost taste him. Spicy. Because lust was, indeed, spicy and rich and somehow decadent all at the same time. At least, with Tyler, it was .
Her mouth parted?—
And he dropped her.
She bounced when she hit the couch. A couch that had been covered by a giant, white cloth.
“Welcome home, wife.” He swung away and turned on the lights.
The bright illumination had her flinching. “Thanks so much, husband.”
“The bedrooms are upstairs. One for you, and one for me. You can take your pick first. I want to check the perimeter.” He didn’t even look back at her as he marched out of the room.
So much for having a romantic moment. How many times did a woman have to make a move before she got tired of rejection? Fine. She could take a hint.
Or a giant, flashing sign that said the man wasn’t interested.
Esme climbed off the cloth-covered couch. She swept a glance around the den, then went to collect her bag. At the foot of the stairs, she paused just a moment.
Then she began to climb. One step at a time.
I want her mouth.
Tyler stalked around the perimeter of the house. All of the security cameras were in place. Fully functional. He’d engaged the system moments before—right after he’d basically run out of the home in order to get away from Esme.
Or rather, in order to get away so he didn’t do all the things he wanted to do with Esme.
Her mouth had been less than an inch from his. He’d wanted to kiss her. To taste her. To make her moan. He’d wanted her.
To fuck her and claim her and have her scratching her nails down his back as she begged for more.
He’d never crossed a line on any case. But with her, that was all he wanted to do. Cross lines. Break rules. Take. Her.
And she knows it. Esme knew how sexy she was. It was a game to her. Her seduction was a power play. He had to remember that. No matter how damn cute and engaging she looked when she flashed her dimples at him. He could not trust her.
Con artist. Thief. Criminal.
He knew what she was.
The problem?
His body didn’t seem to care.
Satisfied that the location was, in fact, safe, he headed back into the home. Locked the door. Set the system for the remainder of the night. The interior lights were still on, blazing, but there was no sign of Esme in the den. Good. She’d gone to bed. One less problem for him to face.
“Oh, Tyler!”
Shit.
He looked up.
Esme stood at the top of the stairs. She’d changed clothes. Put on some silky pajama top. Where was the pajama bottom to match the top? “Aren’t you missing pants?” he rumbled.
She laughed and darted down a few of the steps. Her bare feet skated over the stairs. “The top is long enough to cover me.”
No, it wasn’t. It stopped mid-thigh.
“We have bigger problems,” she told him.
His body instantly went on alert. Well, a different kind of alert because his dick had already decided to salute the moment he’d seen her standing at the top of the stairs in that silky top.
He rushed up the stairs and met her half-way. “What’s wrong?” Dammit, he’d been so busy checking outside. He should have looked inside first. But he hadn’t thought the place could be compromised so quickly. Only a select few trusted individuals knew he’d been planning to arrive at the house with Esme.
“You’ve been misled.” Her hands were tucked behind her back. The placement stretched the fabric of the black, silk pajama top across her breasts.
Misled? Tell me something I didn’t already figure out, sweetheart. Like he and Gray didn’t realize the woman was working her own agenda? Not their first ballgame. But he’d decided to play along. He had two jobs on this case.
Job one…Keep Esme alive. Protect her. He would absolutely get that job done. No one would hurt her on his watch.
Job two? That was a little more complicated. Because job two involved him getting close to her and discovering every single secret that Esme possessed. The Feds and the CIA wanted her intel. He was the guy who was supposed to deliver those juicy secrets to them on a silver platter. In order to do that, though, Tyler had to make Esme trust him completely.
He suspected Esme didn’t trust easily.
He’d stopped a few stairs below her, but she still had to tip her head back just a little to stare up at him. Her eyes were big and deep and so dark. If a man looked into them too long, he might just lose his soul.
So why am I looking so long? “How was I misled?” Was she already about to confess ?
She looked both innocent and tempting as she stood on the stairs. Innocent because her hands were behind her back. Her eyes so wide.
Tempting because…it was Esme. And she appeared to only wear a top, dammit. Did she even have on a bra beneath that top? Panties?
Sweet hell. Esme…with no panties. His back teeth clenched.
Her hands came up. Curled around his shoulders. “We have a problem,” she whispered.
Battle-ready tension flooded through him. As if he hadn’t already been tense enough.
“There are two bedrooms upstairs,” she informed him. “But one is completely empty. No furniture at all. Just a big, empty space.”
What? His brows shot up.
“So, I regret to inform you, Mr. U.S. Marshal…” Her fingers bit lightly into his shoulders through the t-shirt that he wore. “We are, in fact, in a one-bed situation.”
Fuck.
“I really hope you don’t snore,” she added sweetly.