Chapter 20
CHAPTER 20
G abby waved as her parents' limo and the team guarding the outside of the building departed. She shut the door, activated the alarm, and sighed. Tonight had gone much better than she’d anticipated. Con was charming in his slightly off-kilter way. Her mom had loved him, and Con had even gotten her dad to smile a time or two.
She went back into the kitchen and stopped to watch the muscles in Con’s back move as he washed the dishes. “You didn’t have to volunteer to do the dishes.” She walked up beside him and grabbed a towel to dry the items he’d washed.
He smiled at her and winked. “It got me brownie points with your mom.”
“Major brownie points.” She laughed as she wiped off the Dutch oven her mom had used to cook the roast.
“Your dad is a good guy,” Con said as he finished the last pan.
“He didn’t try to intimidate you?” She looked up at him when he turned toward her and used her towel to dry his hands.
“Oh, he tried. He basically told me he’d kill me if I hurt you.” Con laughed. “When I smiled at him and thanked him for letting me continue to see you, I think I threw him for a loop.”
“Wait, what?” Her heart dropped, and she felt sick. She leaned against the counter. “He did what?”
Con wrapped his arms around her waist as he told her the rest of what happened.
“Oh my God, he asked if you loved me?” She covered her face with her hands. “I’m going to kill him.”
Con pulled her closer and leaned down to whisper in her ear. “I told him my feelings for you were big, bigger than I’ve ever had for any other person, and I told him I thought they were heading in that direction, at least for me.”
She dropped her hands and lifted her eyes. “To keep him off your back. I get it.”
Con smiled and shook his head slowly. “No, I told him the truth. I think that man would have been able to tell if I wasn’t.” Con dropped a kiss on her nose. “I know me getting too close is scary to you, but I’m not good at hiding what I’m thinking or feeling. You’ll always know with me.”
She stared up at him. “Do you want to know my real name? My first name? I can’t tell you my last name; that would out my mom and dad, and I’d never do that.”
“Only if you want to tell me.” He pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. “No matter what your name is, it won’t change who you are when you’re in my arms.”
She smiled at him. “My name is Gabrielle Jacqueline. My family calls me Gabby.”
“A beautiful name for a beautiful woman.” Con narrowed his eyes. “You’re named after your father.”
She nodded. “I am.”
“What do you want me to call you? Gabby, Jackie, or Ronnie?” He put his finger under her chin and dropped for a kiss. Right before he took her lips, he whispered, “Or lover.” A full-body shiver passed through her, and she melted into him.
When Con released her from the kiss, he gazed down at her. With her eyes closed and her mouth slightly open, she was stunning. She opened her eyes and stared up at him. He could see the hunger in her eyes. “I don’t care what you call me when we’re alone. When anyone from Guardian is present, it has to be Ronnie.”
“Then that’s what’ll happen.” He bent down, cupped her ass, and lifted her up. Her legs went around him, and they kissed again. He held her tight and started to walk to the door.
She pulled away. “No. Here. Now.”
He let her feet drop to the floor. He was so on board with that idea. He wasn’t sure whose hands were moving faster, hers or his. Clothes dropped to the floor. The clank of metal echoed on the tile. Con broke the kiss and looked down at the katana and holster.
“Never mind that,” Gabby said, kissing his throat and reaching for his belt buckle.
Con was okay with that. He reached for her belt buckle and unfastened it. Then he pulled it to get it out of the way, and that was when the zip of a thin metal wire extended almost two feet. Con looked down. “What is that?”
“A garrot.” She unzipped her pants and let them drop. He let the wire go and skimmed his hands down her waist to the light lacy material covering her sex. Con dropped to his knees, his own jeans half off. He licked the thin waistband and ran his finger up the leg holes of the lace, taking them down past her knees.
“Beautiful.” He wasted no time and found her center with his mouth. Her hands grabbed his hair while he tried to spread her legs for better access. After a brief struggle with her clothes, he dropped the idea and backed away. Then he took her hand. “Come down here.”
She sank to her knees, and he gently laid her back on the floor. Her dark hair plumed out around her, making her look like a dark angel. And she was, wasn’t she? She was his angel, tinged in the darkness of the world but illuminating his life in so many ways. He took off her heels and slid her slacks down. The material caught. He tried again and found a handgun attached to the inside of her leg about halfway to her knee. He took the holster off and set the weapon down on the floor. “Are there any other weapons I need to be concerned about?” he asked as he finally stripped the last of her clothing off her.
“Not unless you count me.” She sat up and grabbed him by the back of the neck, pulling him toward her.
He dropped on top of her. “God, wait a minute … I need to get rid of these jeans.” He rolled to his side, kicked out of the jeans, and lost his briefs. In the hurry, his jeans ended up on top of her. She lifted them off her face and stared at him. “Crap, sorry.” He snatched them and pitched them across the kitchen before grabbing her and lifting her on top of him.
Her hair fell over her shoulders as she looked down at him, and he cupped her cheek. “Knives, guns, and a garrot. So damn hot.”
“Conner, you’re a mess.” She smiled at him and bent down to kiss him.
“I know, but I’m your mess.” He chased her lips, which she moved just before they would have kissed.
“You’re mine. I’m yours. Don’t fuck with that.”
She reached for his cock, halfway turning around to grab him. His hips lurched up. “For the love of … That is not what I want to fuck with.”
She stopped and turned her head back to him. “For future reference, sex or making love is what I prefer. I don’t fuck. There’s too much vulnerability in what this is to me to be that vulgar.”
Con lifted off the floor and wrapped his arm around her, using one hand to make sure she looked directly at him. “I would never belittle what’s between us. My mouth works without a filter sometimes.”
Gabby smiled down at him. “Sometimes?”
He widened his eyes and made a face. “All right. All the time. I know how hard it is for you to trust, and we’re both vulnerable.” He glanced around. “We’re naked on a tile floor because of the thing developing between us. It’s wonderful, hot, sexy, and beautiful.” He closed the gap between them and kissed her.
She opened, and he explored, tasted, and teased her until he had no more breath. When they broke free, she reached back and grabbed his cock. He dropped his hands back onto the tile floor to prop himself up. She lifted on her knees and slowly slid down his cock. His head fell back, and his eyes closed. The feeling was unbelievable. Hot, tight, and gloriously mind-bendingly erotic.
Her hands landed on his shoulders, and he lifted his head again. Leaning forward, she kissed him as she rode him. He made a move to roll her, but she resisted. “No, my speed, my way.”
“You’re going to kill me.” He needed her faster and harder.
“Kill you? No, never. Just a bit of torture.” She leaned forward and licked a stripe up his neck, ending at his ear. She frenched his ear until his body trembled from the stimulus and her constant, slow up and down slide of her sex taking his cock.
“I’m not going to be able to …” His body almost convulsed. “Gabby …”
She leaned backward and rested one hand on his knee as the other reached for her sex.
“Oh, fuuuck .” The erotic sight of her pleasuring herself while riding him snapped several lightning bolts of white-hot heat straight to his balls. He dropped to his elbows, but he never stopped watching her. Her chest blossomed in a rose color as the muscles in her body tightened, and he felt that unbelievable undulation of her core against his shaft. That was when the world exploded, and he fucking came harder than he’d ever come before. Con felt her collapse on top of him, and he slowly lowered them both down.
He ran his hand down her back. “How in the hell are you here with me? How did I get this lucky?”
She hummed and then sighed. “I think we’re both pretty lucky.”
“I have a confession.” He felt her body tighten on top of him. “I’ve never had sex in the kitchen before.”
She relaxed with a chuckle. “Any other places we need to take off your list?”
“Many.” He laughed. “I have an extensive list.”
She lifted her head and smiled at him. “I’ll do my best to shorten it.”
He laughed and dropped his head to the floor. “Sounds like a wonderful plan.” Con’s head popped up at a rumbling noise from somewhere near the refrigerator. “Do you hear that?”
Gabby lifted onto her elbow and blinked. “No, what did you hear?”
The rumbling sounded again. “That. Shit, it’s my cell.” Con moved her off him and scrambled up, heading to his jeans. He pulled his cell out and answered it. “Con.” He mouthed Archangel to Gabby, and her eyebrows raised.
“We’ve had what we believe is a break in the case. Giovanni was able to get the woman at the embassy to talk. She’s Eisenberger’s second cousin. She impersonated the ambassador’s public relations officer and requested two tickets to be left at the front for Eisenberger and Trueman.”
Con frowned. “I’m sorry, sir, I don’t understand how that’s a break in the case.” He picked up his jeans and slid them on, holding the phone to his ear with his shoulder. Somehow, talking to his boss while naked was awkward as hell.
“Giovanni also found out Eisenberger had given his cousin a duplicate of whatever he’d given Trueman. He told her if he died or she didn’t hear from him in four days, to get the device to someone she believed could disseminate the information. His cousin didn’t know he’d been shot and killed. When the time came and passed for him to contact her, and he didn’t, she spilled everything.”
“How did she not know Eisenberger was dead?” Con asked as he watched Gabby gather her clothes. Damn, she was gorgeous.
“The French media was kept out of it for the most part. There were a couple of mentions in online publications and social media. CCS was able to delete those posts. When the French lock down, they do a good job. With all the elite money at that event, there was intense pressure to ensure nothing made it to the press.”
“I didn’t see that end of the process,” Con admitted. Maybe he should’ve been more aware of what was happening at the back end of the incident.
“You shouldn’t have. You were forward facing on this situation. Ring picked up for Jewell when she was sick and did a great job. The device the cousin gave Giovanni looks to have a computer port of some type.”
“Sir, don’t let them plug that in. It could have safeguards and fry whatever’s on that device.”
“That’s what Jewell said, too. So, the team will be on their way to London as soon as we get private air transport for them. We’ve been cleared for a private landing strip near London. I’ll send the coordinates. Centurion will need to pick up the device and get it to you. I can’t stress how important this information is.”
“I understand.” Con leaned back against the counter. “I’ll let her know. We’ll get it done.”
“Good. And on a personal note, Gabriel was impressed with you today. You did well.”
Con straightened and blinked. “Did he actually say that?”
Jason chuckled. “Not in so many words, but the implication was there.”
“Oh.” Con chuckled. “Well, you can tell him he impressed the hell out of me, too.”
“About that … You know that will never happen, right?”
Con barked out a laugh. “I know. We’ll get the drive and information.”
“Call me as soon as you do. Archangel is clear.”
Con hung up his phone and stared at the face. Gabriel was impressed with him . “It was probably the dishes,” he murmured.
“What?” Gabby said, coming back into the kitchen wearing a dressing gown and slippers.
“Nothing. We may have a break in the case.” As he told her what he’d been briefed, his phone pinged with coordinates and a time.
She nodded. “Find out where that is.” She walked up to him and lifted to her toes. “Kitchen sex is pretty amazing. Just saying.”
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him. She placed her hands on his chest to separate them. “Later. Work now.”
Con groaned, “Spoilsport.”
“Poor baby.” Gabby kissed him on the chin. “I’ll make it up to you.”
“Deal,” Con said before pulling her back in and dropping down to kiss her. When he lifted, he stared directly into her eyes. “You’ll be careful when you meet the plane, right?”
She lifted a single eyebrow. “Do you remember who you’re talking to?”
Oh, he knew, and that scared the shit out of him. She walked into danger instead of away from it like a normal person. But that was one of the reasons he’d fallen for her. She was an unapologetic badass. He just wished she could be that and not an assassin. Not. Your. Call. Asshole. He nodded. “Yes. I remember.” He glanced at where he’d deposited the weapons she was wearing around the house. “But I’m still going to worry.”
She winked at him and gathered her weapons before walking out of the kitchen. The silky material of the dressing gown billowed around her legs as she walked. Damn. The woman was every dream, fantasy, and hope he’d ever had rolled into a hot-as-hell assassin. How had he gotten so damn lucky?