Page 20 of Deceive Me
Great.
Trapper’s skeptical gaze landed on Deacon, who shrugged. What could he say? He certainly wasn’t going to tell them why Elliot had gotten the jump on him.
“She surprised you?” Trapper asked.
Well… “Yeah.”
Fionn snorted. “More like he was surprised by what the little spitfire’s tight jumper sho—”
“Fionn.”
At Deacon’s growled warning, his friend subsided into a chuckle. Even Trap gave a faint, rusty laugh. “Well, that explains it.”
Deacon shifted against the wall, trying to ignore the effect that memory had on his cock. Thank fuck his fatigues weren’t snug, though if he didn’t get himself under control soon…
“It’s not all one-sided, though. That tough little wan isn’t striking me as one who gets flustered very often, but around Deac? She can barely talk—unless she’s defying him, that is.”
Funny that Fionn could see Elliot’s interest so clearly but was completely oblivious to Sheppard’s attraction to him. If Deacon wasn’t such a gentleman, he’d point that out, if only to push the topic away from his own…curiosity…where Elliot was concerned. Instead he clamped his mouth shut and let his closed expression speak for him.
Trapper eyed Deacon speculatively across the room. “Is that so?”
“Course it is.” Fionn seemed to take offense at anyone questioning his intuition when it came to the opposite sex. “Not that she’s flaunting it. Elliot Smith’s a professional through and through, despite her tendency to defy Deac.”
“There’s only one way to deal with defiance,” Trapper said. “Bring it to heel ASAP.”
“Amen.” Fionn crossed his arms over his chest as he tilted his chair back on two legs. “Be using the best tools you got. Sex is my top choice.”
“And the fastest choice,” Trap added.
“I’m not going to seduce a team member just so I can keep her under my thumb.” Although the idea did have merit. Kill two birds with one stone.
No, he couldn’t—
Trapper grunted. “Believe me, Deac,”—he lifted one wrapped arm about six inches off the bed before grimacing and lowering it back to the sheet—“these men have no qualms using women, men, children, anything they can, and they won’t hold back or show common decency when they do. You’ve got to be on your toes, and you’ve got to have a team you can trust a hundred percent to follow your orders without question. Without hesitation.”
Deacon tightened his lips against his agreement. Just because their enemy acted a certain way didn’t change his own ethics.
Except, if he was honest, he needed something to counter the willfulness that seemed to rise in Elliot whenever he was around. He’d already acknowledged it; he simply hadn’t come up with a plan. Could his conscience accept using sex to get a member of what was essentially his own team, however temporary, to obey?
There was only one way to get Fionn off the subject of sex, and when Cho entered the room, Deacon took it. “We need to have a chat with Sheppard real quick. Why don’t we let you get settled and come back in a few?”
Sheppard’s office was in the next building over. When they arrived in the Bat Cave, it was to find her staring intently at one of five screens, her eyes tracking code faster than Deacon could read The Cat in the Hat to Sydney. “Hey.”
Sheppard spun around, jerking the cord for her headset from its plug. Pounding hard rock flooded the office. Sheppard’s blush hit about the time her gaze landed on Fionn standing at Deacon’s back. “Oh, hi.” She cleared her throat.
The words were drowned out by the music. Sheppard wavered, her hands doing this funny little dance as if she couldn’t decide whether to usher the two of them into her office or turn down the god-awful noise. Finally she reached for the mouse on her desk. With a couple of clicks, the sledgehammer beat cut off.
“What’s the story, Bat Girl?” Fionn asked in the same teasing tone he used with every woman he’d ever encountered. The memory of that tone being used on Elliot had Deacon gritting his teeth.
The pleasure in Sheppard’s eyes dimmed. “Not much, Fionn.” She turned back to the screen, closed the program she was working on, then faced them again. “I suppose you want to talk about Trapper.”
“We do.” Trapper was a loose end, and if Mansa decided to clip him, they needed to be ready. Few would have the balls to bring the fight to GFS’s compound, but Mansa was definitely one of the few.
The girl nodded toward a screen on her left. “Here’s what we have set up.”
For the next few minutes they talked security. GFS owned a three-hundred acre complex situated between Atlanta and the northwest corner of the state. They were guarded both by woods and hills shrouding the location, and the best in security and personnel. Sheppard walked them through the details of the extra security they’d implemented, answering questions and showing them reports. Deacon didn’t miss that the sidelong glances she threw Fionn’s way went completely unnoticed.
When he was satisfied with the setup, he asked about the surveillance on his home. He had his own security system, but everything from door sensors to camera feeds were being monitored by GFS as well. They couldn’t have too much backup when it came to Sydney’s safety.
