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Austen stretched like a contented cat. A happy hum vibrated from the back of his throat. He couldn’t stop. While straddling his ass, Rain painted designs on Austen’s back in chocolate and then licked each one away.

“What’s this?”

Austen focused on the brush strokes. “A star.”

“Good boy.” Rain licked, tracing the lines with this tongue and tormenting Austen.

A shaky breath escaped Austen as Rain moved lower.

They hadn’t left the bed all day. Austen had put down some towels, and they’d eaten in bed before the food had ended up on each other.

It had been a long time since he felt this way.

His muscles were completely relaxed. No stress touched his mind. Nothing existed outside of this bed.

Rain bit his ass cheek.

Austen moaned without meaning to.

He felt Rain smile against his skin. “That’s a sensation you like, huh? You enjoy getting eaten?”

Austen pressed his face against the mattress.

“Oh God.” He didn’t know how much more he could handle.

While they had played all day and he wasn’t as young as he used to be, Rain had him so fucking hard with all the licking and teasing.

He would never smell chocolate again without getting an erection.

An evil chuckle vibrated against his ass. Rain shifted positions, moving to settle between his thighs. He felt chocolate dribble down his crack.

“Fuck.” It was the breathless curse of a dying man.

Rain slapped his ass. “Lift those hips. Give me what I want.”

Austen dutifully moved to his knees, giving Rain all the access he wanted.

He held his breath and focused on every sensation.

With that first swipe of Rain’s tongue, moving toward his asshole, Austen nearly came.

A sound he had never made fell from his lips.

Thankfully, it was muffled by the mattress. He sounded exactly like a needy whore.

Rain didn’t stop. His tongue explored every centimeter of Austen.

He used the appendage against Austen in every way until Austen whined, begged, and rode his fingers and tongue with zero care of how desperate he looked.

He was at a point of no return. If Rain stopped, he would die.

Austen didn’t think he was being dramatic at all. His life depended on Rain’s tongue.

Rain moaned and Austen realized he stroked himself as he ate Austen.

The thought alone was enough. His body jerked so hard, he felt a muscle tweak.

The pain was gone as fast as it came, masked by the orgasm that shook his soul.

Austen cried out against the mattress as he took what he wanted from Rain’s tongue.

He had never come from this alone before.

Rain hadn’t once touched his dick. In a detached way, he heard Rain cry out, but all he knew was the pleasure dancing on his dick.

He couldn’t stop twitching out drops of cum.

His muscles gave out while Rain kissed his spine.

A rhythmic buzzing cut through his joy. Austen thought he might cry. A whimper escaped him. Not now. His brain wouldn’t work enough to help anyone. Rain had wrecked him.

“That’s me, actually.”

Austen couldn’t move to even turn his head to watch Rain dig for his phone. Rain answered in Russian and stuck to that language. With his eyes closed, Austen enjoyed the cadence of each word. He was so tired. Sleep dragged on his soul.

Rain kissed his nape. “I’m sorry, beautiful. My family calls. You should sleep.”

Austen pretended to cry. He didn’t want to lose Rain. “No. Let’s stay like this forever. Nobody needs to know where to find us.”

Rain smiled against his skin. “I love this picture you paint. Unfortunately, I’m not free to make that choice.”

It hit Austen. This was related to Rain’s other job. The one they didn’t talk about. He mentioned his family. Austen understood now why none of Rain’s brothers looked like him. They weren’t blood kin. They were killing kin. It was a brotherhood of assassins. That wasn’t terrifying at all.

Austen rolled. Rain looked well satisfied, and Austen didn’t want him to leave twice as badly.

He ran his fingers through Rain’s hair, trying to tame it from the mess they had made.

“Please be careful. I’m pretty sure it would kill me if anything happened to you.

” Austen knew he sounded ridiculous. It was their first night together, except he had been so obsessed for so long, it didn’t feel that way to him.

Rain turned his head and kissed the inside of Austen’s wrist. His eyes closed as if he savored the moment. Austen couldn’t look away. His heart twisted. He so desperately wanted this.

When Rain’s beautiful eyes focused on him again, Austen stopped breathing. He saw his crazed infatuation mirrored back at him. “You never have to worry about me. I’ll always come back to you.”

Austen’s throat swelled. This was really happening. They were doing this thing. “Okay. I’ll always be waiting.”

With a serious nod, sealing them as a them, Rain swiped a sweet kiss across Austen’s lips. “Sleep.”

As if Rain’s demand cast a spell over him, Austen’s eyes fell closed and wouldn’t reopen. He felt Rain kiss his cheek and listened as he dressed. Austen was out before Rain was gone.

Flanked on all sides by his brothers, Rain kept his mind blank.

He couldn’t bring Austen here. Nothing beautiful belonged in his world.

As they hit the mouth of the alleyway between two buildings owned by a key client of their Russian foes, they spread out, taking up their usual posts.

Edge and Ridge scaled the buildings with ease, taking up sniper positions.

As always, Shore and Field were already in position on ground sniper duty.

Shadow did his job, moving in step with Rain and watching his back.

“Area clear.” Tracker’s voice came through his earpiece, letting Rain know he was good to go. With cameras already in place for days, Tracker would cover every inch they couldn’t see.

Rain dipped low. His every step turned lighter, making no noise as a dance routine fired to life in his mind.

Each move rehearsed, ensuring they all made it home alive.

He didn’t have to think about anything. Shadow had him covered.

Rain could move exactly like that—like the rain…

uncatchable. He could destroy everything in his path with deceptive ease.

Tonight, he would do just that. He used his years of training and flexibility to slip inside the nondescript brick building, avoiding motion sensors with ease.

As always, Shadow moved with him as if they were one.

A lone light shone through an open doorway.

Men’s voices carried through the otherwise vacant building.

They laughed. Smoke poured from the door.

The sound of money quickly flitting through counting machines fought to be the loudest sound in the building.

Rain kept his gaze locked on his target as he slipped knives from their sheaths.

With one in each hand, he crept closer. Shadow was back-to-back with him, mimicking every move, and proving why they were so beautiful together on the stage. They were always in perfect unison.

Rain paused. He measured each breath as he readied his stance. The world held its breath. Nothing existed beyond the prey locked in his sights.

“Now.”

At Tracker’s order, he sprang. With Shadow keeping pace, blood sprayed through the air.

They spun in unison. Men grabbed their throats, falling slowly to the floor one right after the other.

Using Shadow’s back as leverage, Rain ran up the wall, avoiding a lunge his way.

Another throat gone. This time at Shadow’s blade.

Then everything went quiet. Only the sound of men choking on their blood filled the otherwise silent building.

“Clear.”

In reverse, Rain and Shadow retraced their steps, avoiding carefully placed alarms. Their black clothes hid the blood that covered them, but the coppery scent still filled his nostrils.

Tidy and Crisp would ensure all the mess disappeared, and the money was cleaned before finding its new home.

At the mouth of the alleyway, Edge and Ridge scrambled from the buildings, flanking them.

In ten steps, Shore and Field appeared. As a solid unit, they returned to the van. Another successful job complete.

Rain’s mind immediately turned to Austen—alone and sleeping in a warm bed. Rain wanted to be there.

“Where were you all day?”

Edge’s question was the first words spoken among the group since they left for the night.

Rain pulled a face with his LED mask. He was allowed a personal life. At least, he thought he was. Sometimes he wasn’t so sure.

Edge snagged Rain’s mask and pulled it off. “Use your words.”

Rain sighed. He genuinely hated sharing this one thing. It was his and his alone. “I met with a surgeon about my foot. He’s supposed to be the best in the country. So I made arrangements to have my surgery as soon as this run ends. He promised I’ll be back on stage before the next run begins.”

Edge lost the cold tone. His features softened. “Oh. That’s good. I’m glad you’re admitting this needs to be addressed. I know you’re tough, but your refusal to treat your injury could be the thing that ruins your career.”

A smile snapped to Rain’s lips without a thought. “That’s exactly what he said. I get it. It’ll get fixed.”

Edge nodded.

Rain nearly sighed when Edge focused on someone else.

“Text the client, Field.” He touched his earpiece. “Send video proof, Tracker. Let me know when payment is confirmed.”

Silence met his demands. They all waited, equally understanding nonpayment meant a second job tonight. It was just as well rehearsed, but they didn’t want to do it. Getting paid was always best.

“Payment complete.”

Even though no one sighed in relief, it was practically understood.

Killing a client came with a lot more risks.

They would know the crew came for them. That was the terms. Payment or death.

A person who expected to die set up protection.

That made things trickier. Rain could do it.

No problem, but he still didn’t like the extra complications.

Plus, a sexy man waited for him. Rain needed to shower and then sneak out for the night.

He wasn’t exactly sure why he hid Austen.

Rain just wasn’t ready to introduce him.

Killers Inc. was a brotherhood. They were family.

His family would take it out of Austen, testing his mettle.

Rain wasn’t ready for that. He wasn’t sure Austen would stay through that bullshit.

Rain just needed a little more time. He could addict Austen to his touch.

Then maybe they could survive his crazy brothers.

Until then, it was his little secret. No one had to know.