Double Deception Read online

  She screamed as the orgasm shook her in its grasp, her inner muscles convulsing and every nerve firing. Her body shuddered as her inner walls spasmed over and over. Liam held her in place, his mouth busy, his tongue lapping every bit of her cream.

  The shudders subsided and she lay there, limp, her breathing erratic.

  “Your body is so beautiful when you orgasm.” He licked each nipple, twisting his tongue around the tips. “Your nipples darken and get so hard. I can see the beat of your pulse at the hollow of your throat that tells me how aroused you are.”

  He lowered his head and pressed his tongue to that spot, licking it gently.

  “But what about you? Your clothes are still on.”

  His laugh rumbled from his chest. “Not for long.”

  With an economy of movement, he stripped off his shirt, his slacks and his boxer briefs. From beneath the heavy lids of her eyes she admired the lean, muscular line of his body, the curve of his ass, the long, toned legs. And, when he turned around, the impressive size of his cock.

  She caught her breath. “I don’t think it will fit.”

  He chuckled and wrapped his fingers around his shaft.

  “You’d be surprised. Tonight, I’m going to feel the walls of your sweet cunt grasping it and milking it. Feel your cum bathing it.”

  And he proceeded to describe in filthy, erotic details exactly how he was going to fuck her. With each word, each phrase, her need increased. As exhausted as she was from her orgasm, her body was already responding to his words and the rough tone of voice.

  He adjusted her on the bed so she lay flat with her legs splayed. Then he took the condom he’d moved from his wallet and placed on the nightstand earlier and rolled it on with practiced ease. Sydney watched fascinated, as he managed to cover the entire length of him.

  Positioning himself between her thighs, he reached with his fingers to press open the lips of her core, his gaze focused on her wet flesh. He teased at her opening with the tip of his shaft, heat blazing in his eyes, the muscles in his body tightening as he slowly eased himself inside.

  The fit was tight, but she was so well lubricated from before that he was able to slide into her hot passage with minimal effort. He moved slowly, inches at a time, his gaze locked with hers, watching her for signals that it was too much or too little. The moment every inch of him filled her, she clenched her inner muscles around him.

  “Yes. Do that more,” he urged in a taut voice. “God. Your cunt is like a tight fist around my cock. I could stay like this forever. Tell me how it feels for you.”

  “Full,” she breathed. “Like you fill every one of my empty spaces. And hot.”

  “We can do better,” he told her. “Wrap your legs around my waist.”

  When she did, she crossed her ankles and dug her heels into the small of his back, pulling them together even more tightly. Liam leaned forward, bracing himself on either side of her, and began the slow glide and climb up that ladder to the pinnacle.

  Then he began to move, slowly at first, letting her body adjust to him. Then faster. With every increment in speed, her body responded even more, until she was pulling him as deeply inside herself as she could.

  Liam was thrusting harder now, an accelerated in-and-out glide, the muscles of her sex gripping down on him like a vise. Desire spiked as his eyes darkened.

  For a long moment, their gazes locked and she was sure he could see right into her soul. Then, hips pistoning, cock filling her, he drove them both to completion.

  By the time her body had stopped shuddering and Liam’s breathing had steadied, they were both covered with sweat. They lay there, glued together, while their racing pulses and their heart rates slowed.

  Liam eased himself from her body, taking care with the condom. Sydney lay where she was, exhausted, while he disposed of it. Then he lifted her and placed her on the bed so her head was on the pillows. Sliding in beside her, he spooned around her and tugged the covers over them both.

  Sydney sighed in satisfaction as she nestled against him. She had never felt so replete, so fulfilled or satisfied. She thought she could lie in Liam’s arms forever. If only that pesky little noise that had suddenly drifted in from somewhere would go away. She pressed her head into the pillow, willing the whatever it was to silence but instead it kept getting louder.

  “Liam?” she murmured. “What’s that sound?” When he didn’t answer, she nudged him, with no effect, so she finally pushed herself, unwillingly, to a sitting position and—

  “Fuck!”

  Sydney shoved her hair out of her eyes. The first thing she realized was that Liam Benedict was not in bed with her and she had not just had the most incredible sex of her life. The second thing was the insistent sound of her alarm, letting her know that it was business before pleasure and she’d better get her ass into gear.

  With a heavy sigh, she climbed out of bed and headed for the shower. Trial prep waited for no man. Or woman.

  Damn!

  She wondered how Liam’s day was going and if he’d think it odd if she called later to find out?

  * * * *

  Shan sat in the coffee shop, forehead pinched in a frown, speaking softly to the man opposite.

  “We do not have to kill him, you fool.” The words were spat out in a clipped, angry tone. “Just incapacitate him. Besides, since when have you been so squeamish about disposing of anyone?”

  Aaron Huang looked across the booth, his body rigid with controlled anger. “What’s the point in just injuring him? He could still get to the meetings. Still proceed with the merger. Still sign the papers. It defeats our purpose.”

  “Our purpose,” Shan said, in a slow, measured voice, “was to incapacitate him long enough to delay the signing of the papers until our project is finished. Or at least that was the point when we last discussed this.”

  “Yes.” Huang glared at her, his face set in an implacable expression. “Because when the idiot you hired failed to kill him on the first try, we had to alter our plans.”

  “I don’t see why.” Shan took a slow, deliberate sip of hot coffee. “What’s the difference if we had to make another try to kill him or just knock him out of the action for a while?”

  “First of all, in case it didn’t occur to you, too many attempts to kill him would have negative results. It would raise questions. He could call the police. Or hire a security firm to guard him. You said Eight told you he is big on security, right?”

  “Yes, that’s true. But why would it not have the same effect to just injure him? I don’t understand.”

  “The method of driving the car changes. It is less direct. You can’t brush off someone who heads a car directly toward you. But an accidental sideswipe? He could chalk it up to a careless driver.”

  “Well,” Shan sneered, “it doesn’t matter, because your drivers didn’t succeed, either.”

  Huang curled his hands into tight fists. “If your friend Eight wasn’t so stupid and had realized how important this merger is and told you about it when Benedict first announced it to his staff, we would have been better prepared. Now it is my neck on the line as well as yours, you idiot.”

  Shan kept his voice low and even, although the undertone of rage was detectable. “I don’t think you want to start pointing fingers. You are the one who pointed me toward Eight to begin with.”

  “Because Eight is the most talented of the coders. For what we want, we need someone who can do this without leaving any trace whatsoever, either in the program itself or the files stored on Software By Design’s server. And who, by the way, could hack into that server if necessary.”

  Shan took a moment to answer. “If you think that, you are a fool. Eight has already told me that Benedict is such a talented and sophisticated code writer there is no way to get into the server once the files are locked. And any attempt to do so trips a number of warnings that would lead right back to Eight and complicate our situation. I thought you knew everything there was to know about this.”
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  Huang rested his forearms on the table and leaned forward.

  “Do not think to criticize me, not for this or anything else. My position is such that I can replace you at any time.” He paused for effect. “And bury you so deep in the organization no one would ever hear of you again.”

  At that moment Shan knew why people committed murder and was very glad for the absence of a weapon. There was already enough trouble brewing in this operation that needed to be kept way below the radar.

  “Fine. Since we cannot do anything to sabotage the meeting, we need to discuss ways to accomplish what we need before Benedict begins making changes.”

  “I have some thoughts on that matter.” Huang leaned back, lifted his cold drink and took a sip. “Listen carefully.”

  Chapter Four

  Liam looked down the length of the long table around which his staff were gathered, trying to read the expressions on their faces. They all looked so youthful to him, all of them in their twenties, which to him at his age seemed decades younger. Was that how he’d been ten years ago? Five?

  He wondered if that had been the way the partners at Winters and Pryce had looked at him. Lord knew they’d been shocked senseless when he’d told them he was leaving. The first couple of years had been lean, with just enough contracts to take care of Rosalie and the two software engineers who had left to join him. Rosalie was pure gold, working for a smaller salary until the contracts began rolling in, and keeping every end of the business running smoothly so he could find clients and design programs.

  Then one of his clients had recommended him to someone and his name had gotten passed along again and his client base had begun to build. Now, with this new security program he’d designed, with its ability to be reconfigured for each individual business, his client base was exploding. The Arroyo deal was not just the frosting on the cake; it offered him unlimited opportunity for growth and opened the doors to international expansion.

  He wanted his staff to be as excited as he was. Last week he had explained to them what was happening, wanting to give them a heads-up, with the proviso that anything could sidetrack it at the last minute. Now he was able to tell them it was a done deal and he waited for their reaction.

  “Okay, people. This is it. A new chapter for Software By Design. The deal with Arroyo is done. Agreements signed. It’s all official.”

  For a long moment, no one said anything.

  Finally, Teri LaGrange broke the silence. “So, we’re officially part of Arroyo now?”

  Liam smiled and nodded. “Everything’s been signed and we’re good to go.”

  Teri, Phil Hamilton and Sy Fantip were the three software engineers who had left Winters and Pryce to join Liam’s startup company. In the beginning before the first check came in, he had paid them even when he was not drawing a paycheck himself. They had worked long hours to satisfy each client. To Liam, they were his extended family and were paid more than the three people Liam had hired subsequent to that. They had a vested interest in whatever happened.

  Teri leaned forward, her eyes filled with a questioning look. “We know that means a hugely big deal to you and, trust me, we are all celebrating for you. But exactly what does it mean for the rest of us?”

  “Yeah.” Pete Herriot shifted in his chair. “What’s gonna be happening here? I’m guessing a lot of changes, but how will they affect us?”

  Liam had done his best to keep them in the loop from the beginning. And Pete’s question was one that no doubt everyone else wanted to ask.

  “Yes.” Liam nodded. “There will be some changes, but good ones.”

  “Like how?” Teri again. “What kind of changes?”

  Tall, with masses of dark hair that she wore in a long braid, she was usually dressed in jeans and what he called her T-shirt du jour. Today’s said, Keep calm and don’t fuck up your program. She always took the lead in a meeting and kept the questions coming.

  “To start with, we’ll be moving to larger quarters, which should make all of you happy. When I rented this space, there were just four of us. Now we are seven and sharing space not meant to be shared. Plus, with the increase in our client base, I’ll need to hire more software engineers.”

  Liam could almost feel everyone’s brain vibrate with that.

  “Are you saying we can’t handle the load?” Teri demanded.

  “Not even a little.” He chose his words carefully. “But I think we can all agree everyone is struggling right now under the tremendous increase in workload. The reason our client base has exploded is because of the quality of our work. I don’t want anyone so overloaded they can’t give the proper attention to every project. This is no reflection on any of you. I hope you know that.”

  Pete nodded. “We do. So where are we moving to? And when?”

  “As to where, once I knew this deal was going through, I spent time checking out possible locations and I narrowed it down. There’s a new building in the West Shore district that will be a perfect fit for us. We’ll have an entire floor, so more room for everyone, like individual workspaces. We’ll also have a bigger room for the servers. The rest will be office space plus that bigger break room you’ve all been asking for.”

  “Yes. Thanks.” Pete looked around at the others. “I think all of us will be happy with more space.”

  “You’ll also have a lot more places for lunch. You can get almost any kind of food within minutes of where we’ll be.”

  The news was received with laughter, as he expected.

  “Do they deliver?” Teri asked.

  Liam took a moment to frame his answer. “They do, but not to us. That’s one of the changes we’ll be making in the move.”

  “Why?” Sy frowned. “What’s the big deal about getting food delivered?”

  “The entire building will now be secure, not just our offices.” Liam looked around the table to make sure everyone was listening. “Each one of you will use a digital fingerprint to open the building’s external doors, front and back, along with a coded key card. Same card gets you into the elevator and same thumbprint gets you into our offices. We’ll have cameras set up front and back to cover the parking areas. There will also be two guards on duty, including one in the lobby, and cameras at the front and back entrances.”

  “Why do we need guards if the building is that secure?” Jason Hamill was the first person he’d hired when his client list had begun to grow. His work was incredible and Liam considered it a feather in his cap he’d enticed him away from the larger firm he was with. “Isn’t that overkill?”

  “Yeah.” Carl Lopez, one of SBD’s newer and best coders, sat forward in his chair at the far end of the table. “Who are we so afraid of all of a sudden?”

  Liam had expected all of this and was prepared for it. Software engineers whose sole function was to create the codes for specific programs had a tendency to look at the world through a narrow lens. It was up to him to make them comfortable with changes and create the best work environment for them. While he was still happiest, as were most of them, locked to a computer in jeans and a T-shirt fueled by coffee and sugar, he had moved well beyond that. He might handle the more delicate programs and created the base codes from which many other programs sprang, but he could still get into their heads. He wanted an environment in which they felt comfortable to do their best work.

  “It has to do with the nature of the other businesses in the building as well as ours,” he explained. “Besides SBD, there are only three other tenants. Two are defense contractors—one of whom happens to be a client— and the other is a firm that specializes in data recovery and backup systems. There may be some rare times we work a project together. But in each case, the firm is required to have a security clearance for the business and each of its employees. You know that. You all went through that when we got our first government contract. Right?”

  Heads bobbed in acknowledgment.

  “Becoming part of Arroyo,” he added, “also means that more of those lucrative
government contracts will be coming our way. You know the security those demand.” He grinned. “But it also means bigger salaries for everyone.”

  “You won’t hear anyone complaining about that,” Jason assured him. “So is the new location confirmed? Do you know when we’ll move?”

  “Arroyo is taking the lead on this,” Liam said, “mostly because they have the clout and the power to make things move fast.”

  “You mean the money,” Teri pointed out. “Are we selling ourselves to them?”

  Liam had been waiting for this to crop up. From the time he’d made the announcement about the change, he’d known there was apprehension running through the staff. Everyone was territorial about what they had built here and not too happy with anything that might change that.

  “Not at all. But we are definitely taking advantage of their resources. I had started negotiating a lease on a new building when Arroyo first approached me, but I wasn’t getting anywhere fast. So, they did the expedient thing—they bought the building and will be setting our floor up to our specs.”

  “What about existing tenants?” Jason wanted to know.

  “They stay. Arroyo will work with them to make sure they’re happy, but I think that’s a given. Their work is as sensitive as ours. Maybe more so.”

  “What do we do about our work during the move?” Jason again.

  “Good question. We will have a twenty-four-hour shutdown and reboot. I’ll go over the specifics with you when we get to it. You’ll have plenty of notice and we’ll secure all the files digitally. I’ll meet with each of you individually to see where we are with your particular project and take it from there.”

  “Won’t that put us behind?” Jason persisted. “We’ll lose time and momentum while we’re down.”