Page 69 of Dark ’N’ Deadly

If she had to leave Flemington, she’d be leaving a piece of her heart behind.

Chapter Twenty-Two

The drums still hadn’t moved.

Eric stood over Agent Mike Dawson’s shoulder in the A/V room. The cameras worked perfectly, providing a clear if dimly lit view of the four drums. Everything looked exactly as he and Dayne had left it.

“All’s quiet, Eric,” the other agent said. “Hey, Tiger.”

His dog acknowledged Dawson’s greeting with a wag of his tail.

“Thanks, Mike.” He and Tiger headed back to his desk. Along the way, his cell phone rang. “Hey, Millie,” he said, stopping to take the call from one of the ATF’s financial investigative auditors.

“Hey, Eric.” The sound of a car starting came through the phone. “I’m out of the office for a two-day conference. I left a folder on your desk with those lookups you wanted on Ruffalo and Fenway.”

“Great, thanks.” He practically knew Mark Pritchard’s history by heart, but the other two men’s names were new to him.

“Most of us are in this training,” Millie continued, “but Verrone pulled Miles and Jodi out in case this thing heats up and you need more names run. It’s a local conference, so I can always come back to the office.”

“Thanks, Millie. I appreciate the quick work.” He ended the call, and as he and Tiger continued down the corridor, he noticed that most of the forensic auditors’ and intel specialists’ cubicles were empty.

When he arrived at his desk, he wasn’t surprised to find Dayne sitting across from him, tapping away on his laptop. Remy lay in front of the desk. Her tail thumped on the floor as she caught sight of Tiger and rose to greet his dog. Their noses touched, and their tails waved back and forth.

“Yo,” Dayne grunted without looking up.

“Yo back at ya.” Eric sat behind his desk, watching Tiger and Remy complete their canine ritual by giving each other a thorough sniffing before lying down. They were friends, which made Eric’s and Dayne’s working relationship a lot easier. Too bad all relationships aren’t that simple.

He flipped open the manila folder Millie had left for him. When he tried reading it, the words blurred. All he could see was Tess’s beautiful lips wrapped around his cock, giving him the most un-fucking-believable BJ.

Not every woman liked giving oral sex, and something about her actions told him she hadn’t done it very often. The fact that she wanted to do it to him had touched something deep inside him. She’d made him feel special, and he couldn’t recall another woman having done that. Watching her do that to him had been the most erotically beautiful sexual moment he’d ever experienced.

Taking her up against the shower wall, pounding into her sweet flesh while she gripped his ass with her legs, screaming out his name when she came… Now that had been a fan-fucking-tastic way to start the morning.

“Get any sleep last night?” The corners of Dayne’s mouth lifted.

“Some.” He and Dayne were as close as brothers, but he wasn’t willing to share intimate moments of his sex life. Not even to Dayne.

“Tess is special,” Dayne added, surprising Eric. His friend wasn’t much for social chitchat, particularly where women were concerned. “Maybe you shouldn’t let her go.”

“Maybe you’re right,” he muttered, more to himself than to Dayne. It was a thought he’d begun having with increasing frequency.

“Seriously?” Dayne’s brows shot up. “I was half kidding. What about your vow of marital chastity?”

Eric stiffened. “Don’t jump the gun, bro.” He waited for the usual “marriage” panic to set in.

Profuse sweating. His balls shriveling to the size of raisins. The absolute need to haul ass out the door and never look back.

Still, he waited. Nothing’s happening.

He leaned back in his chair. Huh. If his sister could find marital bliss, and his mother had finally found the fortitude to leave their bastard father, maybe he could change, too.

Dayne continued staring. “Well, damn.”

Tiger and Remy swiveled their heads to watch Eric. Between Dayne and the two dogs, three sets of eyes looked at him as if he’d just lost his marbles.

Maybe he had.

“Gentlemen.” RAC Luis Verrone sat on the corner of his desk. “I’m sure you’ve been receiving field reports from the agents sitting on the barn and the hotel.”