Chapter Twenty
Damon stared down at her body. Flushed with her recent orgasm, she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
And he really wanted to punish her some more.
“Turn over. Arse in the air.” He was well aware his voice was harsh, but he couldn’t seem to control it. Like all things when it came to Penelope Cash, he wasn’t in control. Not really. He could play at it, but he’d been hers from the first moment he’d touched her, the first time he put his lips on hers and realized what it meant to kiss a woman with his whole being. He’d fought it, likely would still have a few battles with it, but he wasn’t willing to ever walk away.
He could have it all. He could still work and he could have Penelope. All he had to do was be more careful. Knowing Penelope was waiting for him would make him think before he did reckless shit like today.
But she needed to understand that he could only be pushed so far.
She smiled up at him, a lazy gorgeous thing. “You’re going to torture me, aren’t you?” She flipped over, moving with a slow grace as if she wasn’t really worried about what he would do. “I did say I was sorry.”
He moved from the bed, but couldn’t take his eyes off the way she presented herself to him. Her knees were wide, her cheeks in the air. He could see her labia. It was rich and creamy and still had his come coating it.
He was so hard he could barely breathe. He sent a small thanks to the universe that his heart could survive sex with her because he’d rather die than give it up.
“I require more than your apology.” She’d put him through hell. It was stupid because he was a man who had actually been tortured by people who knew bloody well what they were doing, but he’d rather have his balls crushed by Afghan terrorists than spend another day thinking he’d broken her.
Her lips curled in a serene smile. “Yes, Master. What are you going to do to your poor sub?”
“I’m going to show you who’s boss. I’m going to take that pretty arse and make it mine. No one else’s. God, Penelope. How could you possibly think I would share you? I can’t stand it when other men look at you.” He kicked his pants and shorts to the side. He wouldn’t need them for the rest of the night. He might just keep her naked and in bed until they reached Berlin.
He loved how she shivered. “Damon, I was insecure. I still am. I love you so much. I couldn’t stand the thought that I meant nothing to you. I know that’s wrong now. I won’t make the same mistake, but you should know, my insecurities will likely come up again.”
“Then I’ll have to slap your arse silly until we get rid of them.” How did he make her understand? How did he tell her that of the hundreds of women he’d slept with, she was the only one to really engage him? Well, for starters, he would never mention that there had been hundreds of women. He wasn’t a bloody idiot. “I only want you, Penelope.”
He grabbed his kit out of the drawer and found what he was looking for. He set aside the toys he would use later on the small bedside table and then pulled out his prize. He’d prepped a pretty purple plug for her. Her favorite color. It looked good on her. It would look damn fine forcing her tiny hole open in preparation for him. She’d slept with a plug a few nights when they were in London, but it was still so small, so tight. He would be the only man to ever touch her like this.
“That’s good because I only want you, Damon.”
He frowned her way. He was indulgent, but this was the only place he had any real control and he wasn’t about to give it up. He swatted her arse, right down the middle. Her squeal made his dick jump. “What do you call me when I’m f*cking you?”
“Master. I call you my Master.”
“That’s right.” His sub. She was his and she would remain his. He reached down and touched the silver collar around her neck. He would replace it with something better, more expensive. His sub deserved diamonds. “Relax, Penelope. I’m going to open you up a bit.”
He lubed up the plug and then took a look at the petite hole he was going to f*ck. Pretty and pink, and so tight he could already feel it strangling his cock.
She took a deep breath in, and he loved the way her spine straightened as she waited for him. She didn’t protest as he placed the plug against the rings of her hole, teasing it in tight circles.
He stared at that sweet hole, watching it fight him. He would win. She didn’t stand a chance against him. Patience was all that was required, patience and a steady hand. He had both. “Tell me what you’re feeling.”
He loved to hear her talk about sex. She sounded like a dirty Victorian heroine.
“Pressure, Master. It feels weird and jangly and I don’t want it, but I know I really do.”
Because she trusted him. Because she knew he wouldn’t hurt her. He pressed in a bit, gaining a centimeter before drawing the plug back out again. Her gasp of relief was short-lived because he pushed the plastic back in, deeper this time.
“I’m larger than the plug, Penelope.”
“I know that. Believe me, Master, I’m thinking about that fact right this very minute.” She panted a bit as he rounded the plug’s tip around her, the rings of her muscles tightening in a vain attempt to keep it out.
“I’ll fit, love. I’ll fit just fine.” His dick strained up, pre-come pulsing from his slit. He’d had her not five minutes before and he was already dying to be inside her again. He couldn’t imagine a time when he wouldn’t be desperate for her.
He pressed in again, her hole opening beautifully and the plug sliding in halfway. He held it there, allowing her to get used to the feeling. “I can f*ck you with the plug inside and you’ll be so full. You’ll be packed tight and you’ll scream for your Master.”
She moaned as he forced the plug deep, burying it inside to the flat head that kept it anchored.
“Turn over. Don’t you lose that plug or I’ll know you need a bigger one.”
She moved carefully, gingerly twisting her body while clenching her cheeks together. The expression on her face was so sweet as she concentrated on doing his biding.
And she looked scrumptious. He hadn’t eaten all day. Not speaking to her had set off his appetite, but now it was back with a vengeance. “Spread your legs.”
“Master, if I spread my legs, I’ll likely lose the plug.”
Ah, the joys of torture. “That’s exactly what I intend for you to do, love. I intend for you to lose that plug and then I’ll smack your arse and maybe get out the ginger lube. That will teach you not to lose my plug.” He climbed on the bed, letting his hands slide up her legs. Curvy and petite. He loved how small she was compared to him. Feminine and yet solid. She could handle everything he wanted to give her.
Her whole body tightened. “You want me to fail. You want to punish me.”
It was his nature, but he liked a fair fight for the most part. “If you concentrate very hard, you can keep it in.” He licked his lips as he stared down at her p-ssy. So pretty.
A little laugh huffed out, making her chest rise and fall, her nipples peak. “You’re going to make it hell for me to concentrate, aren’t you?”
No one ever said she wasn’t smart. He moved her legs apart, cautiously, giving her the chance to adjust. Now that he was here, he kind of wanted to see her succeed. She was biting her lip, trying so hard. She tackled tasks he set for her with the single-minded determination of a pure type-A personality.
“Oh, yes, love. We’re going to play a game. I’m going to lick you and suck on your *. I’m going to bite your nipples and make a feast of you, and if you keep the plug in, you’ll get a prize. If you don’t, you’ll get a bigger plug.”
“And what does my Master get?”
“Oh, your Master gets to taste you, and either way he’s still going to shove his cock in your virgin arse and fill you with his come.” He had to admit, the game was stacked in his favor. Either way, he won.
His cock split her labia, resting against her * as he stared down at her. The eager bugger wanted back in, but he wasn’t in charge right now. Damon reached down and palmed her breasts, cupping them before he took her nipples between his fingers. He had more toys to torture her with.
“I think you’re beautiful, love. I mean for you to understand that. You’ll be even prettier with a bit of jewelry.” He reached for the clamps he’d set up. Tweezer clamps with a T-chain running through them.
“Oh, Master.” Her face tightened as he rubbed her nipples between his thumb and forefinger.
He leaned over and tongued her nipple, loving the way her skin tasted, inhaling her clean, feminine scent. He sucked the tip into his mouth, pulling hard. Her body tightened under his, her skin heating up. She moaned a little, her legs restless.
He switched to the other nipple, tonguing and sucking. When he was satisfied with her squirming, he got back to his knees. He took her nipple in his fingers and pinched down, bringing the blood to her peak before slipping the clamp on.
She gasped, her eyes widening.
“Very nice.” He played with the opposite nipple, toying with it before attaching the jewel. “See. You don’t need anything else. Well, maybe one more thing.”
He held up the final clamp, perfectly satisfied with the way her eyes widened.
“Where does that go, Master?” She asked the question with the deep suspicion of one who worried she already knew.
There was no point in telling her when he could show her. He got to his belly because he wasn’t going to pay any less attention to her *oris than he had her nipples. It deserved some love before he tortured it.
He licked her *, a long, slow pass of his tongue. He could still taste himself on her, knew his come would be inside her for a good long while.
“Master. Please, Master,” she panted out her pleas.
That was what he wanted to hear. He wanted her breathy cries, wanted her desperation. He wanted to hear her beg him. He wanted her so far from any worries or cares that all that existed in her head was pleasure.
He suckled her, letting his fingers part her flesh. She was still so wet, so warm and soft from her previous orgasm. Her * was swollen, extended from behind its hood. It poked out, desperate for another bout of pleasure.
But he wasn’t giving it to her just yet.
He suckled her, taking her * between his teeth and biting down gently.
She screamed. “Please. Please, Damon. Please more.”
And she graciously gave him the chance to punish her. He reached up and gently pulled the chain, making the clamps bite into her nipples.
Penelope gasped, losing her breath. “Master. Master. I meant Master.”
“Then you should say Master, love.” He gave it one more yank before setting it back down. The T-shaped chain looked beautiful against her skin. He smoothed it out, drawing the lower line down her sweetly curved belly toward the place where he would soon clip it to the final piece of jewelry. “For a woman who speaks so many languages, you seem to have a bit of trouble with English.”
“As long as I speak Damon Knight fluently, I think I’ll be all right, Master.”
So he spoke a different language, did he? She was probably right and he was fine with it. As long as Penelope could understand it, he didn’t give a damn if anyone else could.
“Are they too tight?” He focused on her * again.
“They’re making me crazy, Master. It feels like you’re everywhere.”
That was the point. He wanted her aware of him. In her nipples, her p-ssy, her arse. He wanted to touch her everywhere at once.
He suckled her * one last time before easing the clamp on. Very gently, he tightened it until it was a pearly jewel, throbbing just for him.
He got to his knees, looking down on his work. She was writhing, her muscles clenching, her pretty face desperate but filled with trust. She wasn’t fighting him. She was waiting for his pleasure, his discipline, anything he wanted to give her.
No one had ever trusted him the way Penelope did, and he had to do everything in his power to be worthy of that trust.
He couldn’t do that if he was bloody well dead because he wasn’t smart enough to know when to hang it up.
He shoved the thought away because he didn’t have to make any decisions now. He couldn’t imagine not being an operative, but he also couldn’t imagine life without her. The job required long times away from home. The job sometimes required him to f*ck for information.
He couldn’t ever take another woman. How was he supposed to f*ck a target and then come home to Penelope?
“Master? Don’t. Not now.” She reached for him. “Stay with me.”
She understood him, saw him in a way no one else could, not even himself. She knew when he was drifting and knew how to bring him back. He had to make a few things clear. He touched the chain, tracing it with his fingertips. The metal was cool and her skin warm. The chain twinkled with polished beauty but she was the real gem. He’d been so cold, hard, until he’d managed to fasten himself around her warm heart. “I won’t let you down. We have things to work out, but I won’t let you down. Not ever.”
Her hands covered his, holding the chain to her body. “Say it, Damon. Say the words for me.”
He frowned. He knew what she wanted. He just didn’t know if he should give them to her, didn’t know if it was right. “Penelope, I’m not sure that I believe them. I want you. I care for you. I need you.”
“You don’t have to believe them. I believe them. Damon, I can love enough for both of us. Say them. Say them for me. Say them because I need to hear them.”
When she put it like that, he couldn’t refuse. “I love you, Penelope.”
“I love you, my Master.” The tears shining in her eyes were worth the little lie.
If it was a lie. Maybe he just didn’t understand. She’d said she spoke his language. He should try to speak hers. “I love you. I love you.”
Maybe, if he said it enough, he would believe it. Maybe he would believe he was capable of more than fighting and killing, that he was capable of nurturing her, of giving her a home she could be happy in.
Maybe if he said it enough, he would believe he could give her a family.
He couldn’t hold back a moment longer. She’d been a good girl. She’d held the plug through everything. She’d been steadfast.
“Turn over for me.” He helped her turn over, getting her to her hands and knees.
“Oh, god, Master. The chain.”
It was pulling on her, forcing her to focus on her nipples and her *. “Tell me if it hurts.”
Her back moved with a chuckle. “It hurts. It aches. I need more.”
She was perfect for him. And he would give her so much more. He reached for the lube, finally able to give his dick some small relief. He lubed up his hand and stroked himself, preparing for her. He gently pulled out the plug, watching her hole struggling to keep it now. He brought it out by the base and placed it on the stand, his whole being focused on making this good for her.
He needed to take her every way he could, to push past any barriers that were still between them. He wanted to bind her to him in every way a man could bind a woman.
With a long sigh, he pressed the head of his cock against her sweetly puckered hole. She moaned as he rimmed her with his dick.
“Open for me. I won’t let you keep me out. Press back against me. Take me inside, Penelope.” Heat was already coursing through his system. The pressure was building and he wasn’t inside her yet.
Penelope straightened her back, her arse moving toward him.
He slipped inside, just a bit, but he wouldn’t give up his territory. With ruthless intent, he gripped her hips and began to impale her on his cock, the tight hole fighting him all the way.
He f*cked his way inside, her muscles already threatening to milk his dick.
She clenched around him. Pleasure raced along his skin. Little thrusts. He kept them tight, giving her time to adjust to his size. His whole consciousness faded to the point where only their connection mattered. His whole world was Penelope and the pleasure they shared.
“Master. I can’t. You’re too big.”
He reached down and jingled the chain and she cried out again. He slid home. “You can handle me.”
Her head fell forward. “You’re killing me. I’m so full. I can’t breathe. I can’t even think.”
Because he was stimulating her everywhere. He pulled the chain gently, toying with her *. Penelope responded with a low moan, clenching around him. “I don’t want you to think. I want you to feel. Feel me.”
“I can’t feel anything else. Oh, god, Master. Please move. You have to move. If you would just move I think…”
She could breathe? Oh, he was going to show her. He dragged his cock slowly back out.
“Oh, my god.” Her whole spine straightened, her body moving back toward him, trying to get his dick back, fighting for the sensation. “It feels so good.”
That was what he wanted to hear. He pulled out so just the tip of his cock remained within the tight ring of her muscles. He stroked her back, soothing her as he tilted his pelvis up and f*cked his way back in.
He gave over to the pleasure, moving in and out of her, letting the world fall away because nothing else mattered. He lost himself in her, giving and receiving pleasure because she was his.
He finally understood that meant he was hers. He belonged to Penelope Cash and that was a good thing. Before her, the power exchange had been a mere transfer of responsibilities. It was a contract that could be easily broken.
He could never break with her. He could never be complete without her.
Damon felt her body shake with her orgasm. She called out his name over and over. Damon. Not Master. He wouldn’t punish her because in that moment he was hers. Her Damon. He’d hidden behind Master because he understood the role in a way he’d never understood himself.
Now he realized he liked being Penny’s Damon. He wasn’t exactly sure who that man was, but he intended to find out.
The minute she relaxed beneath him, he let go. His balls drew up, come exploding from him in a hot wash of joy and pleasure and connection unlike anything he’d felt before. He pumped into her until he had nothing left to give.
Peace settled on him as he moved out of her, drawing her to her side as he fell to the bed. He settled her on her back, admiring the way her skin flushed and her breasts moved with the force of her breaths.
He hated to do it, wanted to see the marks of his possession on her always, but he couldn’t leave them there.
He slipped the first clamp off, delighting in her squeal and the way she squirmed as he eased the pain with his tongue and lips. He moved to her other nipple, and she didn’t fight him at all. Her hands found his hair, holding him to her breast.
“I love you, Master.”
He looked up at her. “Damon.”
A soft smile spread on her lips. Her hands smoothed his hair back. “I love you, Damon.”
“I love you, Penelope.” The words came easier.
He rather thought that had been her point in making him say them. He chuckled as he kissed his way down the chain.
* * * *
Two days later, Penny sat in the suite Damon had rented for her and the rest of the team in Berlin. She wished she could spend time enjoying the city, but it looked like this would be a very short trip. After a three-hour train ride from the cruise terminal, Damon still wasn’t done going over and over all the logistics with the afternoon’s operation. Penny gave her Master her surest smile. He was so nervous. It made him a bit crabby with everyone.
“Do you understand what I’ll do if anyone deviates from the plan?” Damon asked, looking sternly at the man and women assigned to keep her company.
Damon had told her it was so she wouldn’t be lonely, but she rather thought he was leaving them behind as bodyguards.
“Yeah, yeah, you’ll murder me in cold blood,” Simon Weston said, rolling his eyes. He turned to Ian Taggart. “Why am I babysitting the women?”
“Because Jake let the girls run wild last time,” Taggart announced.
“Hey, I could stay behind. I’m good at watching a couple of pretty ladies.” Brody Carter looked a bit more cheerful without his hands cuffed behind his back and his mouth ball gag free.
The Aussie had proven perfectly charming once he realized they weren’t the enemy. They had been careful to keep him in one of the cabins and out of the sight of the ship’s many cameras just in case. He seemed to spend all of his time either eating massive quantities of food or working out. She had to admit she and Charlotte had spent a nice afternoon watching him do one-armed pushups. He was a lovely man.
But she would never let her Master know it. He was a tad possessive.
“I believe you’re required at today’s mission. I think Mr. Bennett would be a tad surprised if you didn’t show up,” Penelope said. She put a hand on Damon’s shoulder. She’d discovered she could calm him down by touching him.
She’d had to do a lot of calming during their days at sea. When he wasn’t on top of her, he was pretty much coming up with all the ways the mission could go wrong and she could die. She’d had to promise to stay at the hotel in Berlin. Then he and Taggart had decided that Charlotte should stay with her.
Now she and Charlotte needed a bodyguard and they’d decided Jake was too indulgent.
“I’m merely saying I could be more helpful in the field,” Simon said with a frown. “Charlotte can handle this. For that matter, Penny is quite smart. I think she can bloody well lock her door and stay in her room.”
Ian frowned his wife’s way. “Leaving Charlotte in charge is a very bad idea. She could blow up the hotel while we’re gone.”
Charlotte smiled. “I would yell at him but he’s right. I can’t help it. It’s fun to cause trouble.”
“And he’s not watching me.” Chelsea shot Damon a grumpy look. She was nearly lost behind a mountain of computer equipment she was hooking up. “I don’t need a bodyguard.”
“I’ll make sure Simon knows he can let you die,” Taggart said.
Chelsea sent him her middle finger. “When I hack into the CCTVs, if I see you being horribly murdered on one, I’m just going to watch, a*shole.”
Charlotte rolled her eyes. “You two make my life complete.”
God, she hoped her brother and sister got on with Damon. “I really would be all right here with Chelsea. I can help her monitor the CCTVs. I promise I won’t try anything crazy.”
Candice looked up from her computer. “I would feel better if we had a man with us.”
Chelsea rolled her eyes. “Why isn’t she at the airport?”
“Because Walt wanted to talk to her,” Brody replied. “And I don’t like the thought of her being on her own, what with that boyfriend of hers up and leaving like he did. She cried all day when she found out he left the boat in Helsinki. We have to protect her. That bastard in Finland knows what she looks like.”
Candice smiled the Aussie’s way. “At least there are some real gentlemen left. Like I said, I would actually feel better with two guards. I think you’re going to scare Walter off if he sees too many of you.”
“He won’t realize we’re not tourists. Now if you’re all done complaining about the plan, let’s go over it again,” Damon said.
The room groaned collectively.
“I just think it’s a little sexist,” Charlotte said. “You’re leaving the women behind. What if Walter Bennett would feel better talking to a woman? We’re far less threatening.”
“And far more unpredictable,” Ian said. “No. You stay, Charlie. After that shit you pulled with the van last time, it’s going to be a while before I let you go into the field alone again.”
Charlotte stood up. “We wouldn’t have Brody if I hadn’t pulled that shit with the van.”
The Taggarts squared off. “We damn near lost Damon because of it. And you and Penny are staying behind because Damon and I can’t think about a goddamn thing but our women when you’re in danger.”
Charlotte softened. “Oh, sweetie. See, you can learn.” She went on her toes and kissed her husband. “Fine. Penny, Candice, and I will get in-room massages. I didn’t even get to go to the spa on the boat. Oh, and let’s order room service. SIS is paying, right?”
Penny needed to calm her Dom down. She put a hand in his and nodded to Charlotte. “Why don’t you go ahead and call for tea? Simon takes his with milk and sugar. The least we can do is properly feed our poor guard. I’m going to say good-bye to this one.”
The men had to leave in fifteen minutes. She didn’t like the thought of Damon out there, but she had to get used to it. He wasn’t going to stop working anytime soon. She would spend every day they were apart worried that he wouldn’t come home, but she was determined to not waste the time they did have.
She led him back to the bedroom. He was dressed in khakis and a polo, ready to blend in with the rest of the tourists who would throng around Berlin’s sights. “Calm down.”
He stopped, staring down at her. “Is that any way to talk to your Master?”
Oh, he was on edge. She gave him her big sub eyes and bit her bottom lip. She’d noticed it seemed to do something for him. He’d kept her in bed for almost two days. She’d learned a lot about how to distract him from his troubles. “I’m sorry, Master.”
He sighed, his head shaking ruefully. “You’re going to be the death of me.”
She hated that word. She wrapped her arms around him, praying she didn’t have to hear the word “death” for a long while. “You’ll be careful?”
His heart beat against her ear. The steady sound had become her whole world. His hand soothed down her back. “I think it’s going to be all right, love. Carter is sure he can talk Walter into coming in. He called Candice because he got it in his head that they couldn’t touch him if he went public. We’re going to convince him there’s another way. He can talk to the press without giving away the information.”
“I just want you back safe.”
He tilted her head up. “I will be back before you can finish your tea. And dear god, don’t let Charlotte bankrupt me. I don’t think Nigel will let me expense personal masseuses.”
A long moment passed between them.
“I love you, Penelope.” He said it without prompting now. She’d read somewhere that it took a human being about eight times to memorize something, to commit it to memory. Damon seemed to be well on his way.
“I love you, too.” It was so easy now. He’d been tentative at first. His face would tighten every time she said it, ask her to say it again. Now he often said the words first.
He was educable, her Dom.
There was a knock on the door and Taggart’s voice came through. “Damon, we need to go.”
His eyes closed briefly and he put his forehead to hers. “I won’t be long. In a couple of hours this is all over, and we’ll get on a plane for London tonight. We’ll be back in The Garden before you know it. You’re living with me now, you know.”
She smiled. He couldn’t help but be a bit bossy. “Well, I better because I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
His arms tightened. “Your place is with me.”
She nodded. Her place was with him for as long as they had. She didn’t mention that if he kept it up, she might be a widow before her time.
Her arms wound around him. She wouldn’t think that way.
He kissed her again and then he was gone, walking out the door with Brody Carter, Taggart, Jake, and Jesse. He would stay close to the Aussie. The others would be in the area, staking the place out.
And she was going to spend the entire afternoon worrying.
There was nothing for it. This was the way her life would be from now on. She would kiss him and send him off and pray he came home to her. Women had been doing it from the beginning of humanity. They sent their warriors off with a heavy heart. Unfortunately, her warrior had a damaged one, but that wasn’t a fight she could win.
She stood by the window overlooking the magnificent Brandenburg Gate. The Platz surrounding it was mobbed with tourists out on a lovely summer day. The sun shone, making everything around it seem crisp and clean.
“He’s going to be okay.” Charlotte put an arm around her, leaning into her as she looked down as well. “He’s not going in alone. Ian will watch his back.”
But Taggart wouldn’t always be there to watch his back. Perhaps if Taggart and his crew were around, she would feel better. But they would be back in America and Damon would be on his own. Still, she nodded, not wanting to spend the next few hours crying.
“Ladies, the tea should be here in a moment.” Simon smiled at her, seeming to forget the fact that he’d railed at being left to babysit. “Chelsea, how many headphones do you have?”
Chelsea’s eyes came up warily, as if Simon was a tiger who would attack at any moment. “Two or three, but only two that have communication capability. If you want to sit in front of that monitor, you can talk to them through these.”
She held out a pair of state-of-the-art headphones that would be connected to the communication devices each member of the team had placed in their ears before they left. Simon reached out, his hands brushing hers as he took the headphones from her. Their fingers touched, lingering slightly before Chelsea pulled away and her shell came snapping back down.
“Thank you,” Simon said in his smoothest tones.
Chelsea frowned. “Don’t screw up my system.”
Charlotte groaned, shaking her head. “You really know how to make a moment special, sis.”
“That’s not my job.” She touched something on her computer and then she wasn’t talking to the people in the room anymore. “I’ve taken over the few CCTVs here. Apparently this is a country that doesn’t like being watched. Something about the former USSR and occupation and crap. Get over it, people. How can I watch you if you don’t have cameras everywhere? Get me back to England.”
“What coverage do you have?” Penelope asked, not wanting to debate the long history of abuse of power that had plagued Germans from World War II until the Berlin Wall had come down.
“Well, it’s shit. It’s mostly from private shop owners but I can get some coverage. Satan, I have you in my sights. I can see Jesse. I’ve lost Damon and the big guy. No. I have them. And they’re gone.” Chelsea groaned her frustration.
Simon put the headphones on, chuckling lightly. “Thank you so much for leaving me here, Tag. I’ll pay you back somehow. No. We’re not going to be able to see the meet. There’s no camera there. We can’t see anything but the area around the memorial.”
Chelsea stiffened suddenly. “Oh, shit.”
“What?” Penny asked.
Chelsea shook her head. “Probably nothing.”
Simon frowned her way, pulling his headphones off. “What is it, Chelsea?”
She bit her bottom lip, her hands flying across the keys of her laptop. “I couldn’t monitor all the sites I would normally monitor while I was on the boat. I was stuck with their crappy Internet and downloading the proper browser onto their systems would have outed me.”
“They don’t use Google?” Penny asked.
Chelsea snorted slightly. “Google is a search engine, hon. I’m talking about a browser and not the kind a normal person uses.”
“I thought you gave up brokering information.” Simon stood up, looking perfectly ready to discipline her.
Charlotte held a hand up. “Whoa, boy. Ian asked her to monitor some of the old sites. He wants to have an ear to the ground.”
“But it’s not the ground she’s monitoring,” Simon argued. “She’s on the Deep Web. He’s got her out there with terrorists and traffickers.”
“And intelligence agencies,” Chelsea pointed out. “I can handle myself, Weston. But unfortunately Walter Bennett can’t. Mother flying f*cker. Someone’s been talking.” She closed her eyes briefly before touching the button that connected her to the team. “Damon, you might have a problem. I can’t promise anything, but the Agency and MI6 aren’t the only interested parties anymore. And there have been hits on your information and Tag’s. Sixteen in the last twenty-four hours. And I’m finding chatter about the boat and Berlin.”
Penny’s stomach dropped. If the word was out, there would likely be several governments and organizations who would love to have the information Walter Bennett was offering.
There was a knock on the door. Candice seemed lost in her computer. Charlotte was staring at the monitors. It looked like she got to play hostess. Simon and Chelsea were talking about all the ramifications of trying to get Bennett out of the country if other agencies were after him as well.
She clenched her fists. It was hard to be the only one without a task. Well, she was British and they damn well knew how to handle a crisis. Tea. There was nothing she could do except make sure everyone remained calm, and tea would help.
Penny stepped out of the main room of the suite and answered the door. She ushered in the room service men.
They pushed a cart along. A cart they needed to push into the suite, and then there might be questions about why they had an army of computers set up. No one had thought of that. Yes, thank you, Super Spies. She gave the two men her best smile.
“I’ll handle it. Sorry, I’m afraid my husband isn’t completely dressed, if you know what I mean.” Better to let them think she was having an orgy than spying. She initialed the bill and left them a decent tip, hoping they wouldn’t walk away talking about the crazy Brits and their sex party. The last thing she needed now was a curious staff.
“Of course, Miss Cash,” the larger of the two men said in heavily accented German as he turned and left. She locked the door behind them.
She pushed the cart through the marbled foyer and into the main room. Everything smelled delightful but she doubted she could eat a thing.
Candice looked up, closing the top of her computer. “I’ll help you.”
“Who do we think is interested?” Simon was asking. He had his headset on so she couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation. She imagined Damon was using a lot of curse words.
“Definitely the Germans. God, I can’t even pronounce that,” Chelsea complained.
“Bundesnachrichtendienst,” Penny said, looking at the screen. Chelsea had pulled up what looked like a series of messages written in German.
Chelsea sighed. “Oh, I forgot. Penny, please come work with us. It would take me forever to run that through damn translation software, and half the time it comes out as gobbledygook. I’ll print it out so you can see it more easily.”
Thank god, something she could do. “All right.” She could already hear the small printer starting to spit out paper. “I speak most of the Northern European languages. I’m starting to learn Mandarin and Pashtun. I’m not excellent at either but I can likely pull enough information out.”
Candice set a cup of tea in front of Simon, who immediately took a long sip. She passed out the rest, pouring it with the expert hand of a woman who had served more than a few times.
Charlotte shook her head. “I’d rather have the coffee. I know. I’m a horrible American. I’ll get it.”
Candice shook her head. “I don’t mind. I can’t do much else. Cream and sugar?”
Penny pulled the printout into her hands and immediately started working. She walked out toward the balcony. The rest of the group was talking and she needed some silence.
Warm sun stroked her skin as she looked down at the words, her mind making sense of the puzzle.
What Chelsea had found was the discussion between two operatives about something they had heard from informants. One of Walter’s colleagues had been talking. A woman. She sighed. Walter had kept in contact with a German woman from his lab, and she’d reached out to the authorities with what he’d told her.
Damn it. She also knew he would be in Berlin today. She was going to have to call Nigel and likely get more than just SIS involved. This could become an international incident.
She looked out over the Platz, wishing she could catch sight of Damon. He was in such danger. He was an intelligence operative working on foreign soil. If the Germans caught him, he would at least be in for a long, possibly uncomfortable interview. If Nigel wasn’t willing to negotiate for him, Damon might disappear. It wouldn’t matter that England and Germany weren’t enemies. No one would want to admit they had the information on the bioweapon.
How had the waiter known her name?
The question flipped through her brain, stopping all other thought. The suite was under an assumed name. Damon had paid for it with a safe card, one set up with SIS. Her name hadn’t been involved in any way.
Yet he’d thanked her as Miss Cash.
Bugger, the Germans were already here.
She pushed through the door and then her stomach threatened to roll.
Simon was slumped over the desk, his tea dripping onto the carpet below. Chelsea’s head was thrown back. Charlotte had slipped to the floor.
Not a one of them was conscious. Please don’t let them be dead.
“You really should have some tea,” Candice said. She stood in the middle of the room, a gun in her hand. Though her voice shook slightly, she held the gun like she knew what she was doing.
“Did you kill them?” Tears filled her eyes, but she was determined to remain calm. She had to figure a way out of this. She could handle Candice. She had to.
“No. They’re just asleep and you should be, too. I don’t want to do this, but do you understand how hard it is to move up in my world? If you aren’t gorgeous and don’t have great connections, you end up on some bloody town paper reporting nonsense about local gentry. That’s not going to happen to me.”
“Miss Jones is getting a promotion. You see, my employers run several of the world’s largest news agencies,” a familiar voice said.
Terror threatened to take over. She wasn’t dealing with German intelligence. Oh, it was so much worse.
Basil Champion stepped into the room.
“Hello, Damon’s whore. It’s so good to see you again.”