“Well, I guess you better do as I say then. Now clean up and get back out there. Anders, you don’t get to fuck her unless I say you can, alright? When you clean up when we close, make sure you keep that dick away from her. I have plans for her, and that doesn’t include any of you indulging in a little fun,” Matthew orders as he tosses more napkins at me, which I grab.
“Sure, boss, thank you for the treat,” Anders agrees affably, plucking one of the napkins out of my hand and wiping his dick before redressing. How he managed to keep his jeans and underwear mostly on while I was completely naked, I have no idea. I got a little caught up in the fun.
“But… But…” I start to argue with Matthew, but he just steps forward and slaps me, my head jolting to the side from the impact. Tears well in my eyes from the pain, and I gape at him, holding my cheek.
“I own you now, and you better not think about running off to tell anyone. This town is not as nice as it looks, and there is no one who is going to help a desperate little slut like you, especially one with a solicitation record. Hell, I’m an upstanding businessman, you’ll get laughed at. Keep your mouth shut if you want to keep breathing and living freely,” he threatens before winking and leaving without another word.
Conscious of the camera filming us, Anders bends down, picks up my uniform, and tosses it at me. I drop the napkins I was holding to grab my clothes out of the air. “Get dressed, break’s over,” he tells me and goes to leave. As he walks past me, he leans in. I’m worried he’s going to blow his cover by checking to make sure I’m alright, but all he does is whisper, “Remember what Miller said. Leave his cum where it is. Let’s keep the emotional man child happy.” Then loudly, he says, “Hurry up.”
My mouth drops open, and I gape at him as he leaves me naked, alone, and well fucked.
Chapter 18
LATHAN
We had a short team meeting, minus Mac, after we all returned in the afternoon. Ry made us coffee, and we sat in the conservatory again. It seems to be our go-to meeting place, as there is enough room for all of us. I brought everyone up to speed on what Mac and I found under the library.
“So you saw Billy and Ashley carrying Bishop’s body? But that doesn’t explain why Mac wasn’t wearing panties when Dayton and I took her to the hot springs.” Anders has a smirk on his face, and the others all look at me with surprise. Asshole!
I glare at him, but he just keeps smirking at me.
“What does Anders mean, Lath?” Ry is the first to break, just like always.
Max chuckles. “Poor Mackenzie, she’s really struggling to keep her underwear on during this mission.”
I feel my cheeks heat as I think about how Mac and I had sex in the tunnels under the library. I’ve never been so attracted to a woman before. She’s smart, funny, and freaking ballsy as shit. She makes all of the other female agents we’ve had look like amateurs. I also think there’s something a little fragile about her. I know she and her parents have an amazing relationship and she’s close to them, but in her line of work, she really has to distance herself emotionally, and I think it can wear on someone after a while. All I wanted to do was find a bed and hold her. I’m not sure if Mac is the snuggling type though.
“Um, well, it wasn’t my fault she wasn’t wearing panties… or not completely,” I argue, and I tell them about her session with the pastor. Anders and Dayton already knew, but the others didn’t.
“We knew that was the case. I’m surprised he risked that in the confessional though.” Max rubs the stubble on his chin. He doesn’t shave because Stella hates it and keeps asking him to shave it off. She says it gives her a rash, so he refuses to. I call it his forcefield.
I feel so sorry for him. He came through the door about an hour after I arrived home from dropping Jessica off. Anders and Dayton had already gone for a swim with Mac. He didn’t say anything, and he went directly to the shower and didn’t emerge for another half an hour. Ryland and Miller were home by then. Ry quizzed him, but he’s tight-lipped on what occurs between him and Stella. He did say he hasn’t slept with her, using the excuse that he respects her purity vow. Apparently, Stella was head of her morality group in her senior year as well. She can’t argue with him, since she still wears the purity ring, but we can see she’s wearing him down. He says he feels dirty even just kissing her.
Although we haven’t talked about it as a team yet, I can see Max is smitten with Mac. Everyone is, and it’s a subject we need to broach.
“So you’re saying nothing happened in the tunnels between you and Mac?” Dayton’s eyes are narrowed on me, and I look from him to Anders.
“Did she tell you something did?” I hedge, and I know I said the wrong thing when Dayton grins.
“No, but we know all your tells, and avoiding answering a question is one of them. Spill.”
Without going into detail, I tell them what happened. Ry laughs like it’s the funniest thing he’s heard, but the rest are quiet for a moment as they contemplate what I told them. I forge on, knowing our team will dance around the subject until the mission’s over and we end up going our separate ways. She will return to her ghost status, and we will miss out on someone who would suit our team perfectly.
“I really like her. I’m sick of being alone. I want someone to come home to at night, but none of the agents we’ve trialed before suited us. None of them were as skilled and talented as she is, not to mention she’s kind of awesome, and all of them picked favorites amongst us. That was never going to work. Mackenzie won’t pick favorites, I can already tell. She likes all of us and respects us, even Miller, who has been downright hostile to her. She also isn’t going to get annoyed when I’m lost in my work and can’t focus all of my attention on her, or when Ryland and Miller need alone time. Hell, she even stands up to Max when he’s being all daddy dom.” Dayton and Anders chuckle at that.
I can hear the desperation in my voice, and I’m shocked at it. All of this was just sitting below the surface, and I hadn’t realized. I guess I’ve been bottling up more than I thought I was. “I’m sick of living out of a suitcase and can’t wait to put down roots in our new house. I don’t want to look at another mission for at least a couple of months once this one is done.” I really am tired, and I hadn’t realized how dysfunctional our team had become with Bishop in it. We’ve all kind of avoided hanging out together because he always did something to wind someone up. I miss my friends, the men who have become my brothers.
Again, there’s silence for a moment. My heart is racing, and I’m worried I’ve spoken too soon, but Max slowly raises his hands in a defensive gesture. “You aren’t going to get an argument from me. I fell for her the minute she dropped her towel in defiance. I agree with you completely, but it has to be unanimous. This team has come too far to let it fall apart. Unlike the Bishop issue, this has the potential to break us if we are not in agreement.”
“I like her. I’m certainly willing to give it a try, but we all need to agree,” Anders adds, looking at Miller and Ryland. Before either of them can give their input, Dayton speaks up.
“Guys, is there any point in talking about this? Mac might not even want it. She seemed pretty adamant about keeping her ghost status when her dad sprung this on us.”
“Yes, she did, but that might have changed too. We certainly changed our opinions,” I argue.
Miller and Ryland are whispering to each other, and I’m not sure how it’s going. Both of them have excellent poker faces, but Miller hasn’t stormed off, so that’s something.
“Well, until we know how she feels, there’s no point in continuing this conversation.” Dayton is always practical.