notes about where he should stand or lay so Seth could capture optimal audio and video.
“Let’s do a quick sound check, then you’ll be good to go.”
Several adjustments later, Seth gave him the thumbs-up.
“You’re ready.” He clapped River on the back. “Now go be a hero.”
Once the guy had disappeared into the adjoining room, River took a long, hot shower, shaved, and sprayed on the pheromone cologne Raine had shoved in his hands designed to drive women wild with lust.
Carefully laying his Class A’s out across the bed, River skimmed his fingers over the rows of ribbons, medals, and patches—milestones of his multiple tours in Afghanistan. Closing his eyes, he sent up a mental salute to his brothers who hadn’t made it home from that godforsaken fuckhole.
After meticulously donning his dress blues, he slanted the beret on his head and slapped a hand to his bicep. Paying silent homage, he pressed his fingers against the Unit Insignia, the Special Forces, Ranger, and Airborne rockers at the top of his sleeve. Adjusting his tie once more, he waved to Seth in one of the hidden cameras, then strutted out the door.
When River arrived at the swanky bar, he strolled in nonchalantly, scanning the crowd for the blonde. He spotted her sitting, swirling a straw in some fruity girly drink.
Tamping down animosity, River bellied up to the bar a few feet from her and ordered a beer. Almost instantly he could feel her eyes on him. He counted to ten before he raised his head to meet her stare. Definitely pretty—at least from a distance. She blushed.
After flashing him a smile, she lowered her gaze to her drink. Absently, she slid her glossy red nail suggestively up and down the straw. He’d bet she’d practiced the move on dozens of horny saps. But he didn’t care who’d come before him. He was on a mission.
She wrapped her lips around the end of the straw, and her little pink tongue peeked out before she took a long pull of her drink. Her cheeks concaved with the suction. He envisioned her on her knees, sucking him down. He wasn’t proud of it, but his cock leapt to life.
She set her drink down, then looked his way again in coy flirtation. He manufactured an inviting smile for her before he tipped back his beer and guzzled it in a few long swallows. Once done, he set the bottle down and strolled her way, moving in for the kill.
Up close, she didn’t look quite real. Her lips and forehead didn’t move naturally when she smiled. She wore her makeup thick. The swells of her breasts above the neckline of her little black dress looked way too symmetrical and perky.
River glanced down at her empty glass. “I’d like to buy you another drink.”
Marlie looked him up and down, her stare lingering on his chest full of medals pinned to his dress blues and his wide shoulders. A slow smile curled the corners of her mouth. “Would you, sailor?”
“Green Beret, actually. And I’ll buy you drinks until I look good to you.”
Marlie threw back her head and laughed. “Well, that’s one line I’ve never heard before, Corporal Green Beret.”
“Captain,” he corrected her.
“Pardon me, Captain. But I don’t need another drink.”
He leaned closer. “You afraid I’ll try to take advantage of you?”
“No.” Marlie looked away, then met his gaze once more—another practiced move. “I’m not afraid at all. I just don’t need more alcohol to think you look good. In fact, I can better appreciate every inch of you when I’m sober.”
“Every inch, huh? Just how many inches do you want to see, baby?”
The woman batted her lashes, managing to look breathlessly surprised by her attraction to him. Yeah, she’d been around the block a few times, and she was a hell of a practiced flirt.
“All of them,” she whispered.
Score.
“Hmm.” He leaned in close, face skimming her neck, and inhaled deeply. He nearly choked. Hair products and some overpowering scent. “Christ, you smell…edible. What’s the name of the perfume you’re wearing?”
“Guilty Seduction.” She sank her pearly-white teeth into her bottom lip.
Fitting.
“Hopefully, you’ll only be feeling satisfied when we’re through.” River trailed a finger over her collarbone, flirting with her hard silicone swells below.
Her lashes fluttered shut as she sighed in seeming arousal—a sign that he should proceed to the next phase.
River slid a knee between Marlie’s thighs, nudging them apart. Then he wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her close, until her breasts all but spilled from the vee in her skintight dress.
“You’re awfully sure of yourself, Captain.”
“I’m a man who knows what he wants.” River leaned in until his lips touched her ear. “You, naked and tied to my bed, while I explore your luscious body with my mouth until you’re all screamed out.”
He heard a soft gasp catch in her throat. “T-Tied?”
“Unless you’re not into that.” He shrugged.
“Oh, no. I’ve never tried but that sounds…exciting.”
Liar. At least it was good to know that giving her a reaming with her fucking was going to be easy.
“I do enjoy an open-minded woman. What’s your name, baby?”
“Marlie Natelnash.”
“Rick Storm.” He lifted her slender fingers and pressed a kiss to the sensitive inside of her wrist.
Marlie swallowed hard. “Please tell me you have a hotel room upstairs, Captain.”
Was she always this easy? “I do. You want to come up?”
She glanced down at his straining erection. “Do I get to lock my lips around that fat cock about to bust through your zipper?”
Shit, she might be a plastic bitch, but his dick thought that sounded damn good.
“What are we waiting for?” River extended his hand to her.
Marlie took it and slid off the barstool. Her knees weren’t quite steady, and she latched on to his arm. “You feel very strong.”
“Yes, ma’am. And capable, too. I won’t let you down.”
“Is that a promise?”
“You bet, baby.”
With her hand in his, he led her to the elevator. They stepped inside. Before the doors even closed, Marlie locked her lips on his.
Don’t give her the upper hand. You’re the Dom. Take control.
With Seth’s words resonating in his ears, River sank a fist into Marlie’s…hair extensions? What the hell?
Was there any place on her body that hadn’t been Botoxed, spray tanned, or otherwise enhanced? Hell, maybe he needed to keep her away from any open flames in case she melted into a puddle of silicone and plastic.
Ignoring the hard clips beneath his fingers, he thrust out his chest and pushed her into the corner of the elevator. Marlie moaned, wrapping her tongue around his. Plastic or not, this whore possessed some mad skills with that wicked tongue. River looked forward to feeling her talented mouth dance down south.
Rocking his hips, he drove between her legs, giving her a feel for just how seriously he could violate her.
Marlie tore away from his mouth and gasped. “Good lord. All that?”
“Yeah. I’ll give you every thick, hard inch, send you to ecstasy over and over.”
The elevator came to a stop. River lifted Marlie into his arms. She squealed, a seeming protest that sounded more like delight as he carried her down the hall. He unlocked the door to his room, making as much noise as possible to alert Seth so he’d turn on the recording devices.
The door snicked shut. Before River could get Marlie onto the bed, she dropped to her knees, lifted his coat, and began tearing at his belt.
River clasped his hands around hers, stilling them. “Hold on, baby. Let’s get on the bed…and take it from there.”
“All right.” With an eager little moan, she jumped to her feet, stripped off her dress, and posed herself on the mattress. “I don’t usually do this, Rick. Meet a man in a bar and go to his room.”
Bullshit.
“That thought never crossed my mind. There’s some connection between us. I’m glad you feel it, too.”
“I’m sizzling all over.”
“Not yet, baby, but you will. Trust me.”
River stripped off his tie, coat, and shirt. He’d had a few women since returning Stateside, but none as brazen—or artificial—as this one.
Before he unzipped his pants, he paused and stared down at her. “Oh, baby, you’re so sexy…”
Marlie seemed to melt at his compliment.
“How is someone as beautiful as you still single? Why hasn’t some man snapped you up?”
Hurt, then anger flashed in her eyes. She quickly banked it. “I recently came out of a relationship. He left me for some trailer trash whore.”
“I can’t believe that.” River forced a look of sympathy. “Why? Who is this idiot? I mean, his loss is my gain, but…”
“I needed to hear that.” She sniffled delicately. “He broke my heart so cruelly.”
She really should stick to flirting. She was decent at kick-starting desire, terrible at inspiring sympathy.
Hands on his hips, River flexed his biceps. “Where does he live? I’ll go teach him a lesson for you. No man should get away with crushing someone as perfect as you.”
“See, you get it. I just don’t understand how he could possibly leave me for that desperate bitch in heat. She all but humped his leg until he knocked her up.”
You’re calling my sister desperate? Look in the mirror.
River arched his brows in mock surprise. “Did he marry her?”
“No,” Marlie huffed. “So maybe he hasn’t completely lost his mind. He’s just too worldly and sophisticated for someone so…unpolished. For the life of me, I can’t figure out what he sees in her. She’s completely unremarkable. She’s definitely no match for him intellectually. I grant you, she looks at him like he’s a god. He owns a kink club, which isn’t really my thing but…he’s the type to like obedience, so this whore probably sinks to her knees the instant he points at the ground. I realize she’s got a huge rack, but then…I do, too.”
She thrust out her chest, breasts artfully lifted with something lacy and expensive. He wouldn’t hate getting his mouth on those, but no matter how impatient his cock was, Marlie was on a roll. He couldn’t stop her now.
“These have got to be the prettiest tits I’ve ever seen. Hmm.” River scrubbed at his chin and stared. “But make me proud. Tell me you didn’t take his bullshit lying down.”
A terrible grin curled her mouth. For the first time, River glimpsed the viper within the pretty package. “I did at first, but I found a way to get him back.”
“Good for you,” River cheered. “How did you do it, turn the mousy girl against him?”
“Oh, no. I did something—” Marlie suddenly covered her mouth with her hand. “I shouldn’t be telling anyone this. I could get into serious trouble.”
River scoffed. “Not from me. I’m shipping back to the desert soon. C’mon. You can’t leave me in agony. Whatever you hatched in that pretty little head of yours must be epic.”
“It is,” she gushed.
“I won’t breathe a word to anyone.” He dragged his knuckles over her collarbones, down, down over the swell of one breast and its hard tip. “I’ll keep all your secrets safe, right here.” He patted his heart and sent her a reassuring smile.
“Promise?”
“Cross my heart, baby.”
She bounced slightly on the mattress with glee. “I’ve been dying to tell someone, and well, since you’re shipping out, or whatever you call it, I’ll share my secret with you. You seem like someone I can trust.”
That’s your second mistake. Your first was hitting my sister. But please tell me how you’re framing her lover and ruining their lives.
“You can.” River smiled, acting as if he hung on her every word.
“I might have told a teeny white lie to a new…friend who works in the federal court system. I persuaded him to prosecute my ex. This friend’s wife just had a baby, and you know men have needs. It was bad of me, but I help him...and he’s helping this case along for me.”
“Very smart. Did your ex do something illegal?”
“Since actually being attracted to that white trash bitch isn’t a crime, no.”
River wanted to shake Marlie until her extensions fell out. For Raine’s sake, he forced a wider smile. As long as this piece of ass kept vomiting up the evidence they needed to toss her fake tits in jail, he’d do whatever he had to so she’d keep talking.
Then she’d learn not to fuck with him—or his sister.
“But in case my lie wasn’t enough, I did…an oral favor or two for the tech guy who works for my ex. In exchange, the nerd gave me some incriminating video of him damn near raping this tramp.”
“Rape? Holy shit.” What the hell was she talking about? “Did he do it? I don’t want you anywhere near him if he did.”
“Of course not. He didn’t have to. He’s that good.” She nearly moaned the words. “Too good for her. He’s rich, too. What a waste… This hussy can’t even wear designer. I look so much better in Vuitton. But did he pick me? No.” She sighed in disgust. “Maybe I should consider myself lucky. After all, his best friend has now moved in with the two of them so they can ‘share’ her. What a stupid slut.”
“I can see where you’d think that,” River forced himself to say.
“Well, she can have him now. I’d never go back to that bastard. I just want to make him suffer. He thinks he’s some big, bad Dom.” She smiled archly. “And I’m about to nail him for thirty years.”
Translation: Macen had been a great fuck, and Marlie was pissed that he’d dumped her because she was an egotistical whore who didn’t care if she ruined an innocent man’s life.
“Ah.” He rubbed his hands together to keep himself from strangling her. “I love a woman with a sharp mind. You’re brilliant, baby.”
“Thank you. I feel like a genius, bringing the ‘hammer’ down on him and separating him from that wretched whore all in one move. He’ll be labeled a pedophile, too!” she squealed happily. “Win-win-win.”
“’Atta girl. Don’t ever let a man treat you any different than you deserve.”
And right now, this cunt deserved to be behind bars.
“Never. He’ll be going down soon now. I can’t wait.”
“So how friendly did you have to get with the federal prosecutor?”
“Well, he’s the AUSA in this case, and there’s not much evidence, so I had to be particularly persuasive. Every Monday and Friday at noon.” She rolled her eyes. “He’s a dull fish, and he’s terrible in bed. But it’s for a good cause, right?”
“Absolutely.”
River darted a glance at the hidden camera on the headboard, praying that Seth was picking up every incriminating word rolling off Marlie’s tongue.
Suddenly, she sobered and pinned him with a frown.
Fuck. Had she spotted the surveillance equipment?
“What’s wrong, baby? Why so serious?”
“You won’t tell anyone, right? I mean, I’m really not a vengeful person, but…honestly, how could I let him leave me for some unworthy bitch?”
River smiled and unzipped his fly. He either had to get this show on the road or she’d get suspicious. And he was already so pissed he wasn’t sure he could find the stomach to fuck her.