Chapter 31

Landon stroked Colette's bare back as she lay half-draped over his chest.

It felt good, having her in his bed.

And if he weren't such a fucking coward, he would admit it felt more than good. It felt right.

It was morning, several hours past dawn. After fucking her on the spanking bench he'd started aftercare, which had turned into him fucking her in a shower. He'd started over with the aftercare, but one soft needy look from under her lashes had resulted in a third session—a quick rope harness that pressed her arms to her sides, with a doubled length of rope as a crotch strap to hold a wand against her clit while she knelt and sucked his cock.

That third session had pushed them both to the point of physical fatigue. Even after he'd come, and watched her swallow, he'd kept the vibe in place on her clit, forcing her to keep his semi-erect cock in her mouth until she'd come at least once more and was whimpering around his dick and wiggling to try and get the vibe off her sensitive clit.

After that, he finally managed aftercare that didn't turn into foreplay. She'd been half asleep in his arms as he spread her legs and cleaned her pussy and ass, then inspected every inch of her. She had a slight rope burn on one arm, and her pussy was swollen from hours of arousal and hard use.

His own aftercare needs were satisfied by holding her in his arms, telling her how beautiful she was, and how proud he was of her for being so obedient and responsive. The way she relaxed into him, going almost boneless, satisfied a need deep inside him he didn't have a name for.

He'd carried her blanket-wrapped self to his room, and hesitated by the bed. There were some people who, even if they were in a relationship with their play partner, needed space after a scene.

When she whispered, "I want to stay with you," he'd climbed into bed, fitting her body against his own.

They'd fallen asleep almost instantly.

He'd been woken several times, including only moments ago, because it turned out Colette was a restless sleeper. She'd alternately pushed him away and flung off the covers—clearly too hot, and snuggled up against him, pressing shockingly cold toes against his calves.

Ten minutes ago, she'd rolled over onto him, her torso draped over his, her head on his shoulder, one leg between his. He repositioned her a little, moving her leg so that she wouldn't knee him in the balls while she slept. She groaned and wiggled until he started stroking her back, at which point she settled, her breathing deep and measured.

The door to his room cracked open.

Landon raised his head, careful not to jostle her, a snarl already curling his lips.

Andrei stuck his head in. He took a moment to look at Colette, then smiled at Landon.

Landon bared his teeth.

"You have a call," Andrei said quietly.

"Tell them to call back," he whispered, though given her proximity, whispering wasn't going to stop him from disturbing Colette.

"It's Novak."

"Fuck."

"And he won't wait. I tried that."

"Fuck."

"It looks like you did. Feel better?"

"Go the fuck away."

"I feel like your matchmaker."

"Tell Novak I'll be on in five minutes."

"Ah, you see, this is the problem with English. When I said ‘you' I meant it plural. Both of you."

Colette rolled off him and sat up. Landon hadn't realized she was awake. Nothing about her had changed. He needed to remember that about her—she could feign sleep in a way he couldn't detect.

Landon too sat up, yanking up the sheet to cover her bare breasts. She glanced over at him, looking a little unsure. He pulled her against him, wrapping his arms around her to hold the sheet in place and kissed her hair.

She leaned into him, her arms draped atop his.

"The agent in charge wants to talk to both of us, or talk to Landon and question me?" she asked.

"Probably that one."

Colette twisted to look at Landon. "I won't agree to be bait, or to go back to Damien."

"I wouldn't let you, and not just because I don't fucking want to. My assignment is your safety. Novak's job is arresting Damien."

"Does Novak outrank you?" she asked softly.

Technically, yes, but they worked for different NCBs, and the technical organization of Interpol was a bureaucratic nightmare. Landon squeezed her to him. "He can't order me to do anything." Novak could talk to his boss, Anu, and ask her to order him to do something. "If you don't want to talk to him, you don't have to."

"I would if I were you," Andrei said.

"Why are you still here?" Landon snarled.

Andrei smirked, looked at his watch, and said, "Five minutes," before pulling the door closed.

Landon released Colette as she pulled away. "Colette, I won't let them force you to do anything that would compromise your safety."

She slid naked off the bed, and he was terrified she'd walk out without turning back, the way she had the night she tied him down and fucked him.

But she did turn, smiling softly, though her eyes were worried. "I know. I'm going to get dressed."

She slipped through the connecting door, leaving it open. He stood and stretched, listening to her move around and then exit her room, undoubtedly going to the bathroom.

Three minutes later, he met her in the hall. Colette wore casual loose slacks, a satin dress shirt, buttons undone low enough to create a deep V neckline, and a trim sweater. She looked effortlessly elegant and composed. She was even wearing makeup, and after days of seeing her bare-faced, it was almost startling to see her with eye makeup and maybe some lip stuff, though he couldn't say what.

He started to gesture for her to proceed him, but changed his mind. Landon laced his arm around her waist, yanking her against him. He grinned at her surprised squeak, and kissed those glossy lips.

He kissed her hard, reminding her who she belonged to. When they broke apart there was a faint smear of pink on her chin. He wiped it away with his thumb.

"Ready?"

She smiled. "I am now."

* * *

"The safety of an informant or witness is paramount. If we start fucking them over, no one will talk to us," Landon said through his teeth.

Colette was perfectly still beside him, staring at the speakerphone. They were crammed into the small storage room turned office on the first floor. Andrei leaned against the door frame, his expression flat, almost bored, unless you looked at his eyes.

"Ms. Beaumont is uniquely positioned to give us unprecedented access. Damien Tarasov is a major threat to all member countries."

It wasn't the first time Novak had said this, and each time he did, it pissed Landon off a little more.

"He didn't trust me before, and he certainly wouldn't trust me if I went back," Colette said. Again, not for the first time. Her accent was becoming more pronounced, and he wasn't sure if it was on purpose, or if she was getting more and more upset. Like Andrei, she was almost blank, no emotion showing even as Novak outlined his plan.

"Who else knows about this plan?" Landon said, deciding to go on the attack. "Because I doubt any director would agree to this. And there's no way the executive committee would sanction it."

"Why not?" Novak sounded genuinely curious.

"You really think we can send a civilian woman to infiltrate the fucking Bratva? Knowing full well what they'd do to her?"

"The information she'd have access to?—"

"Do you know what he'd fucking do to her?" Landon cut in

Novak paused. "I agree there's some risk of physical assault."

Colette looked away from the phone, her only sign of distress.

"No, there's a fucking certainty that he'd rape her and beat her." Landon clenched his fists together, knowing that the angrier he got, the less Novak would respect what he said.

Andrei stepped closer. "How did you pass the exam to join? I am certain you said yes when asked if you'd sacrifice someone to try and save many."

"Sometimes the ends justify the means," Novak said stiffly.

"No, they don't," Landon snarled.

"Thinking like that is why people don't trust law enforcement," Andrei added.

"I can make this simple." Finally, there was some emotion in Novak's words. "Ms. Beaumont can agree to this, or I will look long and hard at cases where she's named as a person of interest. I'm sure I can find enough to arrest her."

He wouldn't find anything, he'd manufacture it. Landon had looked long and hard for evidence, and there wasn't any to find.

"I do this, or you arrest me," Colette said softly.

"Cooperation could be exchanged for immunity."

"And what if I do cooperate, but tell Damien everything? Letting him know that Interpol is watching him would be a good bargaining ploy to protect myself." Colette still wasn't looking at the phone. All he could see was the side of her cheek.

"I'm not concerned about that," Novak said.

What the fuck?

Landon stared at the phone.

"If I were to do what you wanted, act as your spy to get you information, what are you offering me in return?"

"Immunity," Novak said immediately.

"And what good is that to me if I'm trapped with the Bratva?"

Finally, Colette looked back at the phone. He expected to see tears in her eyes, and he'd been dreading it. But she was dry-eyed and smiling slightly.

"At no point have you mentioned rescuing me," she continued. "It sounds very much like this is a suicide mission."

"It goes without saying that, once we had a solid case, we'd arrest all parties at which time you'd be rescued, with Interpol's thanks."

"And how long would that take?" Colette asked softly. "For you to build a case."

"That depends on how long it takes you to get me the information I want."

Colette's smile seemed frozen on her face. "What if it takes months, or years?"

Landon was about to cut in, tell Novak to go fuck himself, and end the call, when his mobile beeped in his pocket. He pulled it out, quickly reading the email that had just come in. His shoulders sagged in relief.

"Check your email, Novak," he said, passing his phone to Colette.

She took it, face going slack with relief as she read.

Landon had emailed Anu the moment Novak reiterated his plan at the start of this call. He'd given the other agent the benefit of the doubt yesterday, assuming that once someone pointed out to him how fucked his plan was, he'd back down. But he'd stuck to it this morning, and Landon had roped his boss into the conversation.

Though Anu wasn't in Novak's chain of command, she was a power player within Interpol. She knew people in every member country's office.

She'd gone to Novak's boss and cited internal policies, protocols, and even international court case law as she outlined all the ways what Novak was proposed was a terrible, almost unforgivable, idea.

"Excuse me," Novak said after a moment.

Hold music came on.

"What the fuck is he thinking?" Landon said to no one in particular. "He doubled down on this."

"He really wants Damien Tarasov," Andrei added.

"There's got to be more going on for him to even propose this." Landon scrubbed his face with his hands. "And I bet he was planning on writing it up like this was Colette's idea. She offered to go back in exchange for immunity."

"He plans to create evidence so he can arrest me," she said.

Landon nodded once. "That's my take too. Fuck knows there's no evidence to find. I looked."

"Maybe I didn't steal anything. Ever."

He glanced at her, brows raised. Her lips twitched, and the stiffness faded from her shoulders. Good.

Colette passed him back his phone. "Does this mean Interpol has decided giving me back to Damien is a bad idea?"

"It means Interpol never thought it was a good idea. Novak is an ‘anything to make the case' agent, and that's a fucking problem. Hopefully now other people realize it."

"And if you were to be arrested with manufactured evidence," Andrei said, "Landon and I could both testify about what he said."

"He never explicitly said he'd manufacture evidence."

"A good barrister would be fucking giddy at the prospect of getting this to trial."

Colette glanced between them. "You do realize you just offered to help an…alleged…thief."

Landon couldn't handle not touching her any longer. He hauled her onto his lap. "The only person putting you in prison is me," he declared.

Colette twisted. "Is that meant to be…sweet?"

"Maybe he means the playroom with the cage when he says prison." Andrei was back to lounging in the doorway.

"All these accusations of theft." Colette shook her head and tsked. "I didn't steal the Saudi Diamond."

"Not originally," he agreed.

"Not this time either. I bought it at auction." Colette picked up his phone, opening a typing app. "Here's the date and location of the auction. It's not black market, though I must admit there have been a few accusations and rumors around this particular auction house, so its reputation isn't untarnished." She typed fast. "I'm adding how much I paid, and the information for the wire transfer I used for payment."

Landon stared at her, shocked. "You're…giving me the information."

"Yes," she said with a quick smile. "I'm afraid I don't know where it was before it was put up for auction. After I purchased it, and realized what it was, I brought it to you."

That had to be a lie. There was no way she'd bought the diamond, then realized what it was. She either knew or suspected, but couldn't tell him that, because it would be admitting to purchasing stolen property.

There were a lot of things Colette couldn't tell him, because of his job. That thought wasn't new, but left him feeling uneasy.

She handed him back his phone, and he glanced at the information. He nearly choked on his own spit.

"You paid that?" He stared at the eight-figure number.

"Yes."

Andrei came over to look, his brows rising. "That's a lot of money to pay for something you planned to give away."

"I was desperate," she said calmly.

Landon was still processing. "Was it real money or…wire fraud?"

"Why does sound like you want it to be wire fraud?" Colette teased.

"Because then I'd know you didn't bankrupt yourself doing this."

"Aww." Colette kissed his cheek. "I didn't bankrupt myself, though I did deplete my liquid funds."

Landon and Andrei both stared at her.

"You're…rich?" Landon said after a moment.

"It would be rather sad if I wasn't, don't you think?"

"You could have hired a good hit man for a fraction of this." Andrei pointed at the phone. "I would have done it for a tenth of this."

"Thank you?" Colette laughed, and Landon who was still processing this information smiled slightly at the sound. "I did consider hiring protection, one of those expensive personal protection security firms, but for how long? What would my life become?"

The hold music clicked off.

"Ms. Beaumont." Novak no long sounded calm and composed. There was frustration in his voice. "While I feel it is a missed opportunity, the idea I previously mentioned is no longer an option."

Colette relaxed against Landon.

"In order to move forward with the investigation, I need you to come in and look at some photos," Novak said.

"London offices?" Landon asked.

"Yes."

"We'll be there in an hour."

"Not now," Novak countered. "This afternoon. Five o'clock."

Landon frowned, but said, "Very well. We'll be there. Please make sure protective protocols are in place."

"Yes," Novak snapped, then ended the call.

Colette released a long, slow breath and stood. "That was…"

Landon stood too, wrapping his arms around her from behind. "We both need a cup of tea."

Andrei turned. "I'll boil the kettle."