Muscles bunched and flexed beneath her lips as she kissed a trail up and along the hard ridges of Dylan’s stomach. He removed the shirt and tossed it beside them, then took over.

The man was a God of kissing. Mary ground herself against him and whimpered when he slowed the pace to an agonizing meander rather than the harried progression the hunger in her demanded. He settled them down on the bed after removing their shoes.

Hot kisses landed across her forehead, across her cheeks, and down her nose. He tasted, caressed, and touched every inch as he worked his way southward. By the time his tongue darted along her cleavage, she trembled beneath him.

“Dylan.” She threaded her fingers through his hair and held on as he lifted her up and pulled the dress off with a swiftness that ignited her blood. She smiled and claimed his mouth, allowing the need in her free reign.

He was hers.

Dylan cupped her breasts, stroking along the outside until tiny goosebumps formed along her skin. Her nipples hardened beneath his fingers. Heat suffused the achy buds. A gasp escaped her parted lips as he sucked first one, then the other, into his mouth.

Pleasure danced along her skin wherever he touched. Tiny bursts of searing heat sparked and imploded within her, pooling between her legs. By the time he removed the dress completely, her entire body burned with his touch.

Anticipation hummed in her veins, a pulsating presence in her as he rose from the bed and removed his pants. He paused, as if testing her response. She reached out and dragged the boxer briefs down, exposing his hard cock. She grasped it with her good hand and pumped a couple times.

Before he could do more than groan, she closed her eyes and wrapped her lips around the tip, licking the head and along the back. Her pulse quickened when he growled and grabbed her head. His hips pumped forward, surging him deeper into her mouth.

She guided his thick, long length with her hand as she took what she could of him deep into her mouth. Oral sex hadn’t ever been something she enjoyed, but it was different with Dylan. His entire body trembled, flexed from the effort he expended to give her slow. Her hand roamed, wandering along the washboard plane of his stomach, down his thick, powerful thighs. Across and up to his delectable ass.

He dragged her off him too soon. She hissed her displeasure, then he was on her. Dylan kissed until her brain fogged over and all she felt, thought about, was him. Her. What was about to happen.

“Dylan.”

“I’ve got you, Mary. Relax.” He kissed down her neck, pausing to worship her breasts.

Then he angled downward, and she groaned. “Don’t. You don’t have to.”

He pinned her to the mattress and settled between her legs. With a kiss to the top of her mound, he ran a finger across her wet slit then plunged it in. A moan, long and loud, escaped her parted lips as she writhed upward, craving more.

Deft fingers worked her as he licked and kissed around her clit. The tiny nub throbbed with need by the time he rolled it beneath his touch. Awareness sparked, imploded inward throughout her body, until she quaked and trembled beneath him. He plunged and worked his fingers into her, but she set the pace as she ground down on him.

“You’re so sexy riding my fingers, Mary. I can’t wait to feel you gripping my cock.” He stroked her thigh, then cupped her breast.

“Please, Dylan, I need you.”

“Come for me, sweetheart. Let me see you come undone.”

Mary melted beneath his firm touch. He held her close as she came on his hand. He put her on the bed and kissed her, a slow, steadying kiss that guided her back to the reality she’d spiraled away from.

“So beautiful. All mine.” He nibbled down her neck. “You okay, Mary?”

“Dylan.” She scored his back with her nails and pulled him closer by wrapping her legs around his hips. “Please.”

He loomed over her, hands braced on either side. The fiery intensity in his gaze rekindled the desire smoldering in her, like hot embers stoked after a warm, languid night. She returned his kiss and reached between them. She palmed his arousal.

“Jesus, I’m two seconds away from losing control, sweetheart.” His growly voice boomed in a low octave filled with pain. Need.

“Then lose control. I want this, Dylan.”

“So fucking beautiful and sweet.” He feathered kisses along her face, then reached over and pulled a condom from the drawer. “The good thing about meddling brothers? One, or several, dropped off enough of these to supply half the compound.”

Laughter tumbled from her as he pulled out another handful. The assortment of wrappers, colors, and styles rushed heat to her cheeks. “You can’t say they don’t care.”

“You sure about this, sweetheart?”

“Make love to me, Dylan Mason.” She grabbed his head and pressed her forehead against his. “That’s an order.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He smiled as he rolled the condom over his thick, hard length.

He kissed, nibbled, and stroked his way down and across her body another couple of times, enough to have her entire body aching and ready for him. Fingers glided across her slit. “I love how wet you are for me.”

“Dylan, please.” She writhed upward.

His fiery heat settled between her legs. A gasp escaped her as he filled her. He kissed her until the turbulent emotions clawing her insides died beneath the desire he commanded. He caressed her cheek, fingering her hair back off her face.

“Look at me, Mary.”

Gazes locked, he slid deeper into her. Her body stretched as she wrapped her legs around his thighs and followed his lead. Pleasure spiraled through her as the desire building within her fanned outward, engulfing everything and everyone. No thought existed beyond the man carrying her toward whatever bliss he created.

“This is what matters, Mary. You,” he whispered against her ear. “Only you.”

“Dylan.” The word was more a plea than a reply. Emotion clogged her throat. She held on as he surged into her faster, as if spurred by the arcing awareness between them. She tasted the need in his kiss, felt the emotion in his eyes.

“I have you, Mary. Let go.” He pumped into her deeper, harder, driving her over the edge, into the explosive pleasure she’d enjoyed moments before.

“Dylan.”

The cry escaped her as she surrendered to the white-hot desire bursting within her. He cried out as he released moments after her. His weight pressed against her, his hot breath fell near her cheek. She relished his heated, sweaty skin against hers.

“Wow,” she whispered between gasps.

“That’s about the only word I can manage, too, sweetheart. You’re amazing.”

“That was all you,” she replied as he flipped them over so she was settled against his side.

“Be right back,” he mumbled as he moved away to dispose of the condom.

Alone with her thoughts a moment, she willed the doubts crawling through her mind away. Dylan was a good man. Tonight had been wonderful. Each happy moment he gave her sliced off a hunk of the insidiousness buried in her.

He kissed her and settled back into position, wrapping a sheet around them both. She sighed in contentment, too spent to offer sage wisdom or do much else except breathe.

“We’re questioning him tomorrow. I know this isn’t the best time to bring him up, but I need to know if you want to be there.” He ran a hand down her shoulder. “I’d stay beside you. He wouldn’t see you.”

“I want to watch. Whatever you do, I want to watch.”

“Are you sure? You know how it has to end.”

Death. Driggs wouldn’t breathe after they were done.

“I don’t want you haunted by what we do to get answers.”

“I’m okay with him not breathing,” she admitted.

“You think that now, but things have a way of changing after. Memories chase you, plague you with doubts. Decisions haunt you.” 

She swallowed back the unease. “Are you? Haunted?”

He expended a weary breath. “I couldn’t stare through my sight and end another life, know I stopped another heartbeat with my bullet. Even if they deserved it. I couldn’t kill to live, not anymore. Because I was starting to forget why I bothered living at all.”

God. God. Oh, God. Tears burned her eyes. She buried her head into the crook of his neck and inhaled. What horrid monsters chased him?

“Trust me to handle this for you, Mary. I swear he’ll pay. We’ll get your answers.”

“I swore three-fold. I have to hear why. Who.” She squeezed his arms and dragged in a watery breath. “I have to be there to get closure.”

“Then you will.” He pulled her closer and kissed her temple. “We need to know, sweetheart. Was he one of the ones who hurt you? Do you know?”

“I...” Mary swallowed back the anger and shame. “I don’t know.”

“Do you want to know who hurt you? We’ll get the answer if you want it.”

“I want them caught, punished. I don’t want to look in the faces of operatives, wondering if one of them...” She bit back the angered response. “I need to know.”

“Then you will.” He kissed her mouth. “Don’t bottle up your emotions and thoughts, not here. This is our safety zone.”

“I know. It’s just so raw inside me. It’s hard to find words.”

“Was tonight too much, sweetheart? You can tell me if it was.”

“No.” She ran a hand along his chest, admiring the fiery dragon stretching along his side. “What they did was about power, nothing else. It was a weapon to break me. What we did tonight was so much more. It mattered.”

“Yeah, Mary. It mattered. No matter what goes down, remember that. You aren’t alone. Never again.” He reached over and turned off the light, shrouding them in darkness.

For the first time in a long while, Mary didn’t mind the inky blackness swallowing the environment around her. She nestled into Dylan’s arms. “I read your file.”

“Oh yeah?” he asked.

“You were the elite of the elite. Everyone wanted you on their team. Everything looked like you were poised for career military. You’d retire only when they kicked you out of the field.”

“Then I realized there are better things to live for that I wouldn’t find behind a gun.”

She squeezed his hand. “I’m glad you got out, came home then. You have a lot to live for.”

“You do, too.”

Yeah. She was starting to think so.

“CORD TEXTED ME TODAY, said Dylan looked like the cat who stole the cream this morning.” Riley waggled her eyebrows. “And someone else is pretty darn smiley today.”

Heat rose in Mary’s cheeks as she averted her gaze and ignored the gasps and squeals of the other women with them. They’d headed into Resino, with strict instructions to text every thirty minutes without fail.

Cord was on surveillance, using HERA to track their every second while they were in town. Dylan had spoken with his brothers and reassessed their plans. Driving into Marville was too much of a red flag for any Mason to do, and things were hot with Driggs.

As much as it pained them to admit, they were stretched too thin to handle Rachelle.

They’d headed into town an hour early to stop by Lady’s Closet, a local clothing store run by one of Riley’s friends, Vanessa Noble. The woman was the polar opposite of the outgoing blonde. Quiet and shy, she hovered near them as they perused the clothing.

“I’m not the kissing and telling kind,” Mary responded.

“She’s really not,” Vi added.

“There was a  lot more than kissing in that room,” Addy muttered.

“How the hell would you know?” Bree asked.

“Because I was on surveillance last night with Nolan after the party, and those cameras have wicked hearing.” Addy chuckled. “The man laughed himself sick, then fired off texts to his brothers. Your man’s in a world of sibling hell today.”

Great. To say they’d gone a bit overboard after the first round was an understatement. They’d rested a few moments, then a kiss led to a pet here and a grope there. Pretty soon they were like two feral animals going at one another in the zoo.

Her body ached, but she wouldn’t trade a second of last night. She bit her lip and hoped her friends didn’t push her for details. She didn’t want to spoil things by oversharing or breaking Dylan’s trust.

Sex was a very private thing for Mary. She liked the idea of closing a door and having those special moments with someone, ones never mentioned to others. After their last time together, she’d pulled out her journal and done her homework, amused when Dylan did the same.

Her body clenched, remembering the way he looked, glasses on as he scrawled in the notebook. Legs crossed. Chest bare and marked up with her nibbles and fingernail indentations.

Vi and Addy dragged her into the shop’s one changing room as Bree, Rhea, and Riley went around the shop and hauled half the inventory to the back for her to try on. Like some live, dress-up doll.

She grumbled and muttered her way through the first three disastrous outfits, then finally surrendered herself to the retail therapy process. It was more for them than her, anyway. They needed a pulse check of where she was.

So, even though this wasn’t remotely close to where she wanted to be, she’d endure. For them. It was what friends did.

“We turned off the sound, by the way,” Addy commented into the silence as she slid on a nightie. “The moment we realized where the sound was coming from, Nolan burst out laughing but turned the sound off.”

“Thanks. I didn’t know we were that loud.”

“I’m glad you had fun. Seriously,” Vi added.

“Nolan didn’t text to be a dick. He rotated shifts so Sanderson and Graves took the late-night hours to give you and Dylan some privacy. He didn’t want the other guys who were supposed to be on watch to hear.”

Wow. That was sweet.

“Dylan’s the monk of the six apparently,” Addy said. “That’s why he’ll catch the shit. They’ve been building it up for years.”

“I’m sure he caught some with Hailey.”

“Not even close. None of them could stand her. Those who were here, that is. Most were away on long-term missions they’d taken on. They didn’t have a lot of operatives working since they were a start-up.”

“You staying on? I know they asked you.”

“Are you and Vi? I go where my geeks are. They’ve got a sweet as hell set-up a couple levels below ground. Their weapons and equipment armory is one level down, then there’s the holding facilities and other rooms on the second. The third was for expansion. Marshall wants to split it up, half to Bree and the other to Rhea.”

Three sub levels? How did they not know about this? Mary stared at Vi, shock registered on her BFF’s face.

“We need security down there,” Vi said firmly. “We’ll insist on touring everything, scoping it out.”

“I’ll probably be down there later. Dylan said I could observe Driggs’s interrogation.”

“You sure you’re ready for that?” Addy asked.

“Yeah.” She eyed the blue nighty in the mirror and smiled. Dylan would like this one. She pulled it over her head and set it in the keep pile. “I’ve thought about it quite a bit. I need the closure. If it’s too much, Dylan will get me safe. He said he’d stay beside me.”

“I’m happy for you, sweetie,” Addy whispered. “He’s a good man.”

“Yeah, he is. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, you know? Every time I feel the happy, I wait for the bad. It always comes. I’m so happy right now it terrifies me because the bad’s gonna be worse than ever, I’m afraid.”

“That’s not on you, not this time,” Vi said. “Let Dylan and his bad ass brothers handle this. They’ve got tons of commandos ready to go medieval on anyone who messes with you, me, or any of them.”

“So that means you two are staying,” Addy finished.

“I could handle living with hundreds of sexy, muscled bad boys with guns,” Vi commented wistfully. “You?”

“Yeah, though I think one’s all I need.”

“Think we figured that one out for ourselves.” Addy tossed Mary’s shirt to her. “Let’s go. Don’t say anything to Bree and Rhea about the level yet. Marshall wants another few things handled first, then he’ll show it to them, see what they say.”

“I told Dylan about the funds, how we finance everything,” Mary admitted. “I don’t want to keep secrets from him, not with everything so new.”

“He was okay with it?” Vi asked nervously. “It’s not exactly illegal, but it’s definitely not in a manual of acceptable practices, you know?”

“The Arsenal runs in multitudes of gray. I suspect he was more than okay with it,” Addy said.

“Yeah, more than okay. He just wants us to be careful, not siphon from someone with the smarts to track us down and put on the hurt.”

“Pft, like I’d ever be that stupid.”