A Dom is Forever (Masters and Mercenaries #3)(58)

“No, baby, I can handle it. You made the cookies.” He leaned over and whispered in her ear. “And it looks like you were very obedient.” He didn’t seem satisfied with her little kiss. He pulled her close and covered her mouth with his, his hands tightening around her. Possession and dominance flowed from him. Avery softened, giving him the lead. He had absolutely nothing to be jealous of. “Be right back.”

“Maybe I should go,” Simon said. “I didn’t want to intrude if you have plans.”

“No plans,” Avery said.

“Yes, we do,” Lee called out from the kitchen. “I have lots of plans, and they don’t involve a third.”

She felt her whole body flush. “Lee!”

He walked back with a glass of milk in his hand and an innocent look on his face. “I thought we were going to do that Eye thing with the champagne. Does Weston here want to hang around with the tourists?”

Simon shook his head. “Not at all.” He reached for the folder he’d handed her and put it on the table. “Go with the Bradford Quartet, dear. And if you don’t mind helping me out with those files, I would appreciate it.”

“Sure.” She was a little anxious about it, but she would rather know. She liked Thomas, but something was off. Surely there was a reasonable explanation, but she wanted to know.

She walked Simon out. By the time she got back, Lee was sitting on the couch munching on cookies. He gestured for her to sit in his lap.

It was a long time before she got back up again. It was only much later that she thought to put the folder away. She’d thought she’d left it on the table, but sometime it had gotten moved to the couch.

Avery put the folder in her briefcase. That particular mystery could wait until another day. She had some sites to see and nothing was more spectacular than Lee’s body as he walked toward the shower.

“Come with me.”

She left all her suspicions behind and joined her lover.





Chapter Ten


Liam rolled out of bed and marveled at the fact that he’d never slept as much as he had in the last four days. He’d slept every night in Avery’s bed, making love to her and then falling into a peaceful sleep. Then he would wake up and cuddle close to her. Except he had nothing to cuddle this morning. He frowned and looked around before hearing the shower turn on.

He needed to train her better. She should have woken him up. He liked showering with her. Four days of living with Avery Charles and he’d proven his own f*cking words wrong. He’d promised to make her crave him, but he was the one with the addiction. He was addicted to being her Dom. He was addicted to her.

He sighed and scrubbed a hand through his hair. A low vibration hummed, his cell moving slightly on the bedside table.

He was going to have to answer eventually. Avery was going back to work today. She’d used a couple of vacation days and spent them with him. He’d had her close for four days, but she had some sort of meeting today that she couldn’t get out of.

Four days of freedom. Four days of paradise. Four days when he hadn’t thought of anything except her. He’d ignored his f*cking phone. He’d walked away from Jake when they passed in the hall. He’d pretended he didn’t know what he knew.

Ian had secrets, and Liam needed to figure out how to handle it. Was he a member of this team or a chess piece Ian Taggart was maneuvering?

He’d avoided the question for days, preferring to dive into Avery. He’d f*cked her and taken her all over London. And f*cked her again.

He’d started her training. Nothing hard core. Just some light bondage and protocol.

His phone just kept on. He looked down. Eve. Damn it. They were sending in the big guns. He picked it up. “Donnelly.”

“Can I talk?” Eve asked. What she was really asking was whether she was on speaker or whether someone was close enough to potentially hear her over the phone.

“Sure.” He never put anyone on speaker, and his volume was always low.

“Liam, you need to come in. Ian is so concerned.” Her soft voice came over the line. “We’re all concerned. I know what Weston showed you, and Ian would like a chance to explain.”

Damon Knight had looked at the file folder. It had been a good bet he would let his friend know he’d been made. Liam thought quickly knowing that someone, somewhere was listening in to his side of the conversation. He hoped the f*ckers had enjoyed the show last night. Avery was turning out to be a screamer. “It’s so good to hear from you. Yeah, I’m going to stay in London for a while. I don’t think I’ll be taking on any new jobs soon.”

She sighed over the line. “Liam, this is your family. Are you really just going to drop us because some * puts a thought in your head?”

“I don’t know. I need some time to think it over.”

“He’s getting ready to pull you from the op, Li.”

A savage rage rolled over him. No f*cking way. He kept his voice calm. “That’s not a good idea.”

“Someone ran a trace on your cover. They’re looking at you.”

“It’s only to be expected.” He was going to have to deal with this.

“Please, Liam,” Eve pleaded. “Come to the club tonight. Talk to Ian. He’s messed up over this.”