Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
B rynn steeled herself. “Vander, we—”
He shook his head violently. “Absolutely not.”
She fought for control of her own anger. “I’m a cop. That’s all I’ve ever wanted to be. I wanted to help people, like my dad did.”
A muscle ticked in Vander’s jaw.
“My dad loved being a cop. Kids drew him pictures, people baked him things to say thank you. I idolized him.” She swallowed. “Every day, I try to live up to his memory and make him proud.”
Vander was silent for a moment. “Tell me what happened to him?”
“You already know. I gave you the highlights, and it’s in whatever report you put together on me.” Her stomach churned.
“But I haven’t heard you tell me.”
She sucked in a breath. The pain was old, but it still hurt so much.
“His partner started taking bribes. A little here and there. To pay the bills. For a college fund for his kids.” She closed her eyes for a second.
“A deal went bad, and my father caught him. Dad was shot. Three bullets to the chest. One minute he was there, so big and so alive, and the next he was gone.”
“I know how that feels.”
Yes, Vander had lost men he’d fought alongside. He knew that pain.
“I can’t stand by and let bad people get away with doing bad things. My father didn’t. I can’t hide.” She walked toward Vander. His body was stiff, his jaw like rock. “Not even to make you feel better.”
“There has to be another way.” His tone was razor sharp.
“I’ll be the bait, but we’ll plan it. Hunt, you, and me. We won’t take unnecessary risks.” She pressed her hands to his chest. “We can flush out Tony Garcia and take him down. It’s worth whatever risk.”
“Not to me.”
His body was strung tight, and she saw how hard his jaw was. “Vander—”
He moved fast, one big hand circling her throat. She froze and he leaned in.
“Do you know what he’ll do to you?”
“He’s not going to get me.”
Vander shook his head, terrible emotions churning in his eyes. “I know you’ve seen horrible things on the job, but in a war zone, you can’t even imagine what people can do to one another, let alone their enemy.”
“Don’t go there,” she whispered. “I’m right here, Vander.”
He yanked her against him. “I want to keep you right here. Alive and breathing.”
God . Her man. She wrapped her arms around him.
“I have to take Nomad down. This is my job. What I was born to do. If you try and lock me up, it’ll kill me.
I need you to stand beside me, Vander, not in front of me.
” She looked up at him, saw things working behind his eyes.
“If I stood aside and played the damsel, you wouldn’t feel the same way about me. ”
“You’d hate yourself,” he said quietly. “ Fuck .” He dragged in a breath. “I hate this. Dangling you like juicy bait.”
“You don’t think I can handle it?” Her belly clutched.
He pulled back, dark eyes glittering. “Oh, I know you can, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
Warmth bloomed in her…and another emotion she wasn’t quite ready to process.
His gaze traced her face, then he made a low sound. He pulled her in for a hard, fierce kiss.
Oh. God .
She clung to him. The kiss was like a storm that had swept in with no warning, swamping her, dragging her under. He started backing her up.
Brynn kissed him back, and the low, hungry sound he made vibrated through her.
It ignited deep, dark desires.
“I need you,” he said.
“So have me.”
His mouth was back on hers, his hands everywhere. He cupped her breasts, and she moaned into his mouth.
He spun her and she found herself bent over the dining table.
She sucked in a breath, and felt him jerking her shorts open.
Yes. Yes . Wild, edgy excitement tore through her. She clenched her thighs, her panties already damp.
Sensation washed over her—her breathing was fast, her skin felt hot. Vander’s mouth was on her ear, neck. He bit her and she arched.
He finished yanking her shorts down and then shoved her shirt up. He palmed her bare ass, making a deep, tortured sound.
Then he grabbed her arms, pulling them behind her back. Her upper body was pressed to the table, her cheek to the wood.
He kept both her wrists in one hand at her lower back. She tested his hold, and his grip tightened. He wasn’t letting go. She felt him unfastening his shorts.
Brynn sucked in a breath, biting her lip.
“Fuck. Fuck .” He freed his cock, then with one thrust was inside her.
“Oh… Vander .”
He pulled back and thrust again. Both Brynn’s body and the table shook. With steady, heavy thrusts, he possessed her.
And she loved it.
She tilted her hips, trying to take more of him.
His thrusts were relentless, every plunge sending electric jolts of pleasure through her. She felt the pressure build. A glowing, hot ball in her belly.
He kept pumping, and her climax exploded—fast and furious.
As the pleasure drowned her, she cried out his name. She shook under him, her body clamping down on his cock.
He growled, and thrust deep, his body covering her. She listened to him groan through his own orgasm.
Then he released her hands and slumped on her. His lips touched her neck.
His chest was heaving. Still drunk on the last echoes of her release, she smiled. She was so damn happy she could wring so much out of this man.
Her man.
She let out a happy sigh.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Don’t be on my account.”
“I was rough.”
“I know. It was glorious.”
That got a bark of surprised laughter out of him. He pulled out of her and she bit her lip. His hands stroked down her back.
“I never told you that I like your tattoo.” He touched the curve of her right butt cheek.
“Thanks.” She had a small heart with a blue line through it. A symbol of the job she loved. She was too boneless to move. “I’ll just have a little nap here.”
He spun her and scooped her up like she weighed nothing. She managed a startled squeak.
When he dropped onto the couch, then stretched out with her, she nuzzled into him.
“Feel better?” she asked.
He sighed. “We plan this op down to the last detail.”
She nodded.
“If I think it’s going south, you’re out. Period.”
She saw the fear in his eyes. He usually hid it so well, but she’d become something of an expert at reading Vander Norcross.
“Okay,” she agreed.
She felt his body relax.
“And you owe me extra sexual favors now,” he added.
She bit her lip to keep from smiling. “Deal.”
“I really didn’t mean to be so rough.” He stroked her jaw.
“Yes, you did. And I liked it.” She rubbed her nose against his. “I do need one thing though.”
“What?”
“A cookie.”
The oven dinged.
He shook his head. “You never do what I expect.”
She grinned at him. “That’s never going to change, Norcross, so get used to it. Now, cookies.”
* * *
Sitting at the table, Vander glanced at the tablet, the laptop, and the notepads spread out before them.
Brynn had one foot up on her chair, chin resting on her knee as she chewed on the end of a pen.
Vander was experiencing a problem he’d never had before—trouble concentrating.
He kept picturing fucking Brynn on the table. It was messing with his focus. All he could see was that bare ass, her sweet body taking his cock.
She made a sound and scribbled something on a notepad. “Ace’s intel on Nomad is good. He was getting too pushy and problematic at his old club in Arizona.”
“So his boss sent him off to cause trouble somewhere else.” They picked the wrong fucking city.
She made another notation. “To lure him out, it needs to be somewhere contained. I need to go in alone, but have you guys, and some undercover cops close.”
Vander had learned that even though she was fine with technology, Brynn loved to write things down.
He still hated this plan.
Dangling her as bait for Nomad went against everything inside him.
“You wear a tracker,” he said.
She looked up. “I—”
“It’s non-negotiable. Ace has some that are microscopic. No one will find it.”
“I—”
“No arguing,” he bit out.
She leaned over and slapped her hand over his mouth. “I was going to say that I’m fine with that.”
He raised a brow and she shifted her hand.
“You’re humoring me,” he said.
“No, Vander, I’m doing something to make my man feel a little more at ease.”
Damn, he felt like she could see right inside him. He didn’t really like it. He’d avoided letting people read anything often pretty much his entire life.
“Your man?” he said.
She rose and slipped onto his lap. “Well, if I’m your woman, that makes you my man. Boyfriend sounds way too juvenile.”
He’d never been anyone’s boyfriend, even when he was younger. He slid a hand down her thigh.
She grinned. “Want me to beat my chest? Me Brynn, you Vander. You—”
He took that sassy mouth in a hard kiss. “You’re a troublemaker.”
She looked a little dazed and breathless. It was his new favorite pastime to leave the competent detective a little mussed up.
“Yes,” she said. “But I’m all yours.”
He felt those words hit his chest, dead center. “You are.”
And now he needed to find a way to keep her safe. Especially when she’d run headlong into trouble without hesitation.
He gripped her chin and kissed her again. No hesitation. She melted into him, kissing him back. He slid a hand under her shirt—actually, his shirt.
Suddenly, a low, male chuckle followed by a strangled sound filled the room.
Vander whipped his head to the laptop on the table.
A laughing Ace, a highly amused Saxon, and a pissed-off Hunt were looking at them on a video call.
“Oops.” Brynn kissed Vander again, then slid back into her chair.
“I see having a bounty on your head and being in hiding is really tough for you,” Saxon said dryly.
Vander shot his friend the finger, then shifted his gaze to Hunt.
The detective’s face was carved from stone as he glared.
Brynn leaned forward. “Please, you can’t beat each other up across the computer.” She pointed at her cousin. “And this is none of your business.”
“We’ll see.” Hunt pinned Vander with a hard stare. “You were supposed to protect her.”
“I am.”
“You and I will have a conversation.”
Vander nodded.
“No, you won’t.” Brynn’s eyes fired.
“We will,” Hunt growled.
Her gaze narrowed.
“It’s a guy thing,” Vander told her. “You don’t have the right bits to understand.”
She rolled her eyes. “No, I actually have a brain that I use.”
Out of sight of the camera, he pinched her butt. Then he looked back at the computer. “I assume you have something for us.”
“If you can manage to pull yourself away from the lovely detective,” Ace said with an unrepentant grin.
Hunt swiveled to glare at Vander’s tech guru.
“What have you got?” Vander asked.
“Drug delivery coming in tonight. A big one.”
Brynn leaned forward. “Where?”
“There’s a nightclub re-opening,” Saxon said. “The Cathedral. It’s been closed for a full renovation. It’s a multi-floor affair. Think lots of lights and lots of bodies.”
It sounded like hell to Vander. “And?”
“It’s owned by two young guys. Brownlee and Lindsey. They scrounged up a bunch of private investors to fund it. Not all of those investors are upstanding citizens.”
Vander’s jaw tightened. “One of them might’ve made a deal. To allow one of their private investors to run drugs in the club.”
Brynn tapped her fingers on the table, her brow creased. “It’s the kind of place that attracts an upscale clientele, with a lot of ready cash. Ripe for the picking.”
“So they’re going to deliver tonight?” Vander said.
Saxon nodded.
“We can’t let that product flood the club or get on the streets,” Hunt said. “And there is a chance the delivery driver might know where Nomad is.”
“We need a plan,” Saxon said.
“I can get some undercover officers in,” Hunt said.
“They need to blend well,” Vander warned. “Nomad will be watching this drop like a hawk.”
“Any idea how it will get delivered?” Brynn asked.
The three men shook their heads.
“Likely, it’ll have to be by truck.” Vander frowned. “And everything would already be packaged up for easy delivery.”
Hell . If they botched this, Stardust went straight into the hands of young people, and no doubt eventually kids.
“All right,” Vander said. “We need to seed the club with our people. Be on the lookout for anything. Hunt has the lead.”
The detective nodded. “We want to stop the drugs, arrest the delivery drivers, and then I can bring Brownlee and Lindsey in for questioning.”
“Ace,” Vander said. “Keep digging for any more info.”
Brynn leaned closer to the screen. “I want to be there.”
Vander frowned. “Nomad is looking for you.”
“For us. I don’t care. This is my case and I won’t allow these drugs to get loose.” She met his gaze. “I won’t let Nomad force us to hide forever.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
She smiled. “Not if we go undercover.” She cocked her head. “Do you like playing dress-up, Norcross?”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “No.”
“Don’t worry. By the time I’m finished, no one will recognize us.”
Ah, hell. If he tried to stop her, she’d find a way to go anyway.
And wherever Brynn was, he was staying close. Besides, he wanted in on this anyway.
“We were planning to come back anyway,” she continued. “We have a plan to lure Nomad out of hiding.”
Hunt frowned. “How?”
“Use me as bait.”
“No!” Her cousin speared Vander with a look. “You agreed to this?”
“No. But have you tried to argue with her?”
Brynn lifted her chin. “As an adult woman, who happens to be a police detective in charge of this case, I make my own decisions.” She gave a small smile. “And there were possibly sexual favors involved.”
Ace and Saxon grinned, and Hunt made a pained sound.
“We’ll meet you at the office,” Vander said.
Hunt frowned. “The Wanderers will have people watching your office.”
“I have a secondary entrance. They won’t see us.”
“You’re sure?” Hunt said.
“I’m sure. See you in a few hours, and then we’ll crash a nightclub opening.”