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He leaves with a nod, and I walk away from Harvey without giving him a second glance. Grabbing my towel, I use it to cover the wound on my chest and to try and soothe my pounding heart.

16

HARVEY

Sly, conniving, little cock-tease.Fuck. I’m buzzing, my nerves are shattered, and my cock is hard as stone. I’m using the shower in one of the derelict bedrooms, the taste of Annika’s blood still on my tongue and the feel of her body flush against mine imprinted on my skin. I’m being sucked into her vortex, drawn to her like a bee to the most beautiful flower. I’m completely off my game; I haven’t thought about reporting to the captain in days. I don’t want to.

She’s playing me, shehasto be. I bet this little routine has had many men tumbling at her feet, begging to be deemed worthy of just a taste of her. And I’m just another sucker falling for her wicked seduction. But I will not bend the knee for the ice queen. I can’t. Instead, I want her on hers. Looking up at me with wide, ocean-blue eyes that hold an innocence that isn’t really there. Naked. Fuck, she’d be entirely naked. I slam my palm against the tile as freezing cold water pounds over my head, neck, and back. I won’t touch myself. If I come to images of Annika in my head, I will never get her out of there. And touching myself won’t be enough, I’ll need to have her, fuck her, claim her. Jesus, this is not me. I don’t get possessive over women, I don’t fuckingclaimwomen.

But there she is, kneeling in front of me, creamy skin on full display, that white-gold hair plastering itself to her cheeks from the water dripping on her from my naked body. Her pink lips just begging to slide over my cock. I give in, my hand wrapping around my base and pumping up my length with a grip tighter than I’d normally use. Her mouth closes over my thick crown, tongue fluttering over my slit and driving me wild as I jerk myself. She’s beautiful. I’d reach down to cup her flushed cheek, feeling as it works around my length. I’d watch as her throat bulges from taking me as far as she can. She’d want to please me; she’d want to submit to me. Christ I’m close. My fist corkscrews over my tip and slides back to my balls and my other hand cups my sac, rolling it in my palm. I can feel the tingling in the base of my spine and know that I’m about to blow over the fucking shower floor, my movements speeding up. I wouldn’t come down her throat where I couldn’t witness my mark. I’d pull out from those soft lips and shoot off over that beautiful face, my cum painting her cheeks and clinging to her lashes, teasing at the corner of her mouth. She’d dart her tongue out to capture as much of it as she can reach.Good girl.

Of course, my cum doesn’t land on the face of my boss, who I’m actually plotting to betray by working in cohorts with an organization she has a severe grudge against. No. I come hard and loud, alone in the shower, the evidence being washed away along with the Annika from my fantasy who would gladly submit to me. The very real woman currently sat with Stuart somewhere in this ridiculous fucking mansion isnotsubmissive at all and she would more likely press her blade to my dick than her lips.

After washing myself quickly and changing into the additional clothes Murray gave me, I start heading down to find Annika when my phone buzzes in the pocket of the slightly too tight grey sweats.

CAPTAIN: I’ve not heard anything from you, Harv. I need you to get your head in the game. I’ve put my neck on the line for you and I need results. Give me something.

I scrub my hand over my face and my two-day old stubble. Just fucking great. I haven’t even thought about information that I could be passing to the captain. I haven’t been hungry to get my old job back at all. I need to get my head back in the game. Being a detective is all I’ve ever wanted; I cannot let a week with a beautiful and unobtainable woman who I—theoretically—hate derail that. I try and bide myself some time.

ME:I know. I’m trying but she doesn’t exactly trust me with anything yet. I’ll let you know as soon as I have anything.

CAPTAIN:We should meet.

ME:I don’t know when I next have time.

CAPTAIN:Make time, Campos.

Sure, that tracks. Of course, he would choose the time that I’m having some sort of existential crisis to put the pressure on. Pocketing my phone, I continue toward Annika’s office, the door is closed and I debate whether she wants me in there, I wasn’tactually invited. Despite my uncertainty, I knock on the door and wait.

“Enter.” How can I go from fantasizing about her as the perfect sub to sporting a semi when she barks orders at me? These aren’t the pants to be getting hard in.

After taking a moment to tame the beast trying to escape its cotton confines, I push the door open and lock eyes with the woman from my dirty shower fantasy. She’s changed and presumably showered although her hair is dry, piled on top of her head in an artfully designed mess. The caramel coloured, lightweight, loose-fitting top she’s wearing is high enough to cover the cut on her chest, but it doesn’t stop my gaze flicking to the spot. She rolls her shoulders and clears her throat, drawing my attention back to her face.

Opposite her sits Stuart, his posture forcibly relaxed, but my view of his profile shows the abject rage he’s holding on to. He looks tired, older in the couple of days since I saw him last.

“Come in, sit down.” Annika’s ice queen persona is in full force, no hint that twenty minutes ago she was in my arms and bleeding for me.

“This has been going on in our territory?” Stuart says with barely controlled anger, carrying on the conversation I’ve clearly interrupted.

“Difficult to say,” Annika sighs. “The girls have been running scared for four days and can’t tell us where they’ve come from or where they’ve been.”

“You think one of our guys would orchestrate something like this?” His growl sends a shiver downmyspine. God help the person who is responsible when Stuart gets a hold of them.

Annika shakes her head but it’s more an ‘I don’t know’ gesture than an answer to the question. “There are big problems in our ranks if they did.” For the first time, I see Annika falter, the thought of rebellion in her organisation upsets her. She rubsher face with both hands and tilts her head back in the chair to look up at the ceiling. “We need to find out where they’ve been held before we do anything else.”

“You think The Daos would have anything to do with this?” Stuart asks.

Annika’s eyes dart to mine, a brief moment of consideration before she speaks. “The Talons are officially in an alliance with The Daos,” she tells me.

That’s a surprise. As far as I’m aware, apart from some mutually agreed upon rules, there have never been any agreements between the syndicates. I try to keep the shock off my face and just nod.

Turning back to Stuart, she says, “I can’t rule it out completely, but my gut tells me that Lance wouldn’t stand for this kind of thing either.”

“You trust him?” I ask, taken back by the notion. If I’ve learnt anything, it’s that Annika doesn’t trust anyone.

She pins me with a hard stare. “I’ve no reason not to. Lance Preston made an agreement with me, and he hasn’t let me down.”

HaveIlet her down?That’s what I want to ask her. She definitely doesn’t trust me, but I’ve never given her reason not to, right? I mean, I’m going to betray her to get my old job back, but she doesn’t know that…I think. Instead, I just say, “I see.”