Christ, the guy could be relentless. He was ex-military, systems-oriented and detail-obsessed, which made his security expertise legendary. It also made him a pain in the arse to deal with. I honestly didn’t know how Freya, his best friend other than Ulysses and me, managed to deal with him without wanting to punch him in the face.
Maybe she did want to punch him in the face. I certainly wanted to on a regular basis. But it wouldn’t do to get irritated with him. He’d just want to know what the problem was and that might lead to other questions I didn’t want him to ask.
‘And I checked out all the staff,’ I said easily. ‘You know how anal I am about making sure only people who are actually cleared to be there are there.’
Everett grunted again. ‘There were—’
‘Yeah, Ev... I don’t care what there fucking were.’ I tried to keep the growl out of my voice. ‘Everything was roses as far as I’m concerned. Now, I have a very naked woman in my bed who I’m very keen to get back to, so if you don’t have any other bullshit to talk to me about, why don’t you go get on that goddamn flight of yours?’
There was a long silence.
‘Fine,’ Everett said expressionlessly. ‘But if I hear anything different I’ll be calling you back.’
I opened my mouth to tell him what he could do with his damned call, but he disconnected before I could get a word out.
Shit, this was a problem. If Everett had had reports of a security breach, he wouldn’t stop sniffing round until he’d discovered the truth. Which meant I needed to deal with Thea, and fast, starting with getting some answers out of her.
And then what?
That would all depend on what answers she gave me. Still, I wasn’t going to lie to myself and pretend that all I was concerned about was security. No, last night I’d had enough of a taste of her to know that I wanted more. Our chemistry was through the roof and I wasn’t letting that go in a hurry.
Jamming my phone in the back pocket of my jeans—the first item of clothing that had come to hand when I’d got up to answer Ev’s call—I turned around and stalked back into the apartment, heading for my bedroom.
Getting answers out of Thea might be a problem, given she hadn’t been keen on giving them to me the night before; then again, one thing I’d discovered about her was that she was passionate. She’d been into everything I’d done to her and everything I’d showed her how to do to me. Fuck, she’d been incredible. The way she’d looked at me, the way she’d touched me, as if all of this had been new and exciting to her...
She’d been a virgin, if I wasn’t much mistaken.
I was normally pretty good at judging when a woman was experienced or not, but I had been too busy getting hot for her last night to notice. In fact, it had only been after she’d snuggled down into my arms after our fourth round and fallen fast asleep that I’d had a chance to think about it and her behaviour. To go over in my head the moment I’d first pushed inside her and to see that what had flickered through her eyes had been uncertainty. And a bit of fear.
My memory was good for some things; I’d give it that.
But that was another thing I’d have to ask her about, because she really should have told me. Especially when I’d given her every opportunity.
Feeling not a little pissed about it, I got to the bedroom and pushed the door open, expecting to see her where I’d left her, all curled up in my bed and wrapped in the white high-thread-count cotton sheets I preferred.
Except the bed was empty.
Okay. Where the hell had she gone?
Acting on a hunch, I turned and went back down the hall, heading to my office. And sure enough, when I pushed open the unlocked door, there she was, standing in front of a painting I had on the wall, her hand already on the frame.
Looking for my safe and the Red Queen, clearly.
She must have heard the door open because she whirled around as soon I came in, her dark eyes clashing with mine. She wore nothing but the shirt I’d had on the night before, the black cotton making her eyes look even darker and highlighting the flawless, deep ivory of her skin.
Christ, the more time I spent with her, the more beautiful she became. Especially wearing my shirt and nothing else.
A possessive streak I didn’t realise I had woke up and suddenly I wanted the shirt gone and her naked so I could see again all those luscious curves she’d showed me the night before. Rounded hips and thighs, full tits, small waist. Classic hourglass; fucking perfection.
I could drape her in the black-pearl jewellery I’d bought from a destitute British aristocrat, ropes of baroque pearls, rich and glossy and unique, lying against her glowing skin.
Yeah, black pearls. She’d look gorgeous in black pearls.
Leaning against the doorframe, I folded my arms. ‘Am I interrupting anything?’
Her expression was instantly guarded, but her chin lifted in unconscious challenge. She dropped her hand from the frame. ‘No. I was just having a look around.’
Little liar.
‘Sure you were.’ I grinned. ‘If you want the safe, it’s behind that picture and, yes, the necklace is inside.’
‘I wasn’t—’
‘Yeah, we went through that last night.’ Pushing myself away from the doorframe, I strolled calmly over to where she stood and pulled the picture away from the wall to reveal the safe. The lock was biometric so I put my thumb on the pad and the lock flashed green as it disengaged. I pulled open the door and reached inside for the sleek black jewellery case that held the necklace.
She watched me, her expression opaque, but I could tell by the way she blinked that she was surprised. That was a mannerism I remembered from last night, just as I remembered everything about last night—from the way she’d moaned when I’d licked her, to the sob of release when I’d made her come all over my cock.
The way I was going to make her come again. Maybe soon. And all I could think about was how that guarded gaze of hers had splintered under my touch like a cheap paste jewel, revealing heat and passion hot as lava. She was like my safe. Only the right touch could open her up.
I held out the box to her. ‘This what you’re looking for?’
She blinked again, rapidly, glancing at the box then back at me, but made no move to take it. So I flicked it open so she could see the intricate loops and coils of diamonds that formed the neck piece and the rubies that fell from it like red rain on silver chains. The Red Queen, finally.
Her eyes widened as she glanced at it, then back at me.
‘Beautiful, isn’t it?’ I took the necklace out, discarding the box onto the floor, and held it up, the weight heavy in my hands. ‘It was made for a queen, which is what gave it its name.’ The light caught the rubies, sending them burning, glittering in the fascinating way jewels did, but she didn’t stare at it.
She looked at me instead. Which told me something else about her: it wasn’t jewels per se that she was interested in, not the way some people were. I’d seen enough of that to recognise the glint some people got in their eyes when confronted with a piece they wanted. Greedy. Possessive.
No, my little thief wasn’t looking at the jewel like that at all.
That greedy, possessive glint in her eyes right now was all for me.
Something hot clenched tight in my chest.
I always gave a lover diamonds as a goodbye gift and I’d never had any complaints. In fact, once the diamonds were in their hands, they never looked at me again, which I was completely happy with. I didn’t want anyone getting close. I was in it