“I was just making sure we’d be comfortable with each other.”
He shook his head. “It would be better if we kept things professional.”
“You’re going to be my submissive on the island, so this is professional.” I pushed away from the wall, hoping like hell my legs would hold me up. I zipped back up and glared at him. “You’re just being an ass for no reason. Your need to be fucked isn’t going to interfere with our mission. If anything, it will make the acting we need to do a hell of a lot easier.”
“No. I need to focus while I’m there. This is only going to make that harder.”
“That’s because you can’t relax except when you’re so hungry for my cock you have to drop to your knees and forget everything but sucking me off.”
“That’s not…” But it was. It was exactly what had happened.
I glanced down at the wet spot on the front of his pants. “If we were back at my place, I’d clean you up and give you a pair of my sweats. Of course that wouldn’t be very professional.”
I could almost hear Niall grinding his teeth.
“Let’s just get this finished.”
“I thought we did, but if you need more, my recovery time is excellent.” The frustrated sound he made only made me want him again.
“Are you ever serious?”
“I’m usually serious. You just make this so easy.”
“How the hell are we supposed to—”
“The rumors I’m spreading say I only pretended to work with the Marchesis so they would take out my uncle and cousin for me.” I loved the startled expression on Niall’s face when he realized I was giving him the information he’d demanded. “I delayed my comeback when my uncle’s previously unknown son appeared. I continued to work with the Marchesis until they eliminated him too.”
“So why haven’t you made a move yet?”
“I was biding my time, making sure I had dirt on the Marchesis so they couldn’t do shit to me once I turned on them.”
“You think Arlington and the rest will buy that? Will they believe Lucien wouldn’t come after you even if you had dirt on him? Your uncle captured and tortured him. Wouldn’t Lucien want revenge? Or wouldn’t his brother, Angelo, since they tried to capture his boyfriend?”
“In reality Devil would be the one they’d send. He’d be thrilled for the opportunity to take me out.”
He seemed to consider my theory for a moment. “I can see that, and I actually like your plan. You believe your sources can sell it?”
I nodded. “And Arlington will invite me because he’s curious. He’ll think that because I don’t have many people backing me now, I’m an easy mark. He’ll believe all he has to do is contact Lucien, and the Marchesis will take care of me without him being connected.”
“Lucien wouldn’t have let that asshole into his office even before we’d discovered this connection.”
I grinned. “Too true.”
“What if Arlington doesn’t bite?”
“He will.”
“There are no guarantees.”
I sighed. “You may be even more cynical than me, and that’s saying a lot.”
“I’m realistic.”
“Were you realistic about how much you could take down your throat?”
He scowled at me, but the heat in his eyes had my cock coming to life again.
“Can we please stick to talking about the mission?” Niall asked.
“You do realize what they mean when they say to bring a guest, don’t you?”
“I know it’s going to take some acting, but when we’re in our suite, there won’t be any need for it.”
“That doesn’t mean we don’t need to practice. Although I’m thinking maybe the role won’t be as difficult for you as you’ve implied.”
“Fuck you.”
“Only if you’re much better behaved.”
He ignored my comment. “What happens if they don’t take the bait?”
“Then I send them a gift as proof of my interest.”
Niall frowned. “What kind of gift?”
“You’re better off not knowing.”
“Can you get it through your head that I’m not a fed anymore? I can’t arrest you. I don’t even want to.”
“Really?”
“Not unless you’re involved in something like Arlington.”
“I’m not. I just happen to know a lot of very capable sex workers. They know how to drug a man and make him think he’s had an amazing time even though he can’t remember it.”
“No. We don’t know what these men might do to someone they’re with. I don’t want to risk anyone else.”
I huffed. “You’re willing to risk me.”
“Yes, but—”
“Trust me. The person I have in mind is far from innocent.”
He gave a long sigh. “Let me see if I can think of an alternative.”
“Be my guest, but we won’t need it. I don’t know Arlington personally, but I do know some of the other men, and I know their type. They’ll take the bait, and that means we need to get you outfitted for the trip.”
8
Niall
When I realized what day it was shortly after waking up, I lay in bed with my arm over my eyes, wishing I could ignore reality. A few days ago, X had sent me to be tortured with a very thorough waxing and now he’d made an appointment for me at a spa where I was going to get manicured, spray-tanned, and made over. He said it was necessary for me to look the part, and he was probably fucking right, but that didn’t mean I was looking forward to any of it.