The Payback (Team Zulu 2)

When he stalked toward me on the bed, I propped a foot against his chest, halting his advance. He glanced at it, then gave me a raised brow. “Sick of me already?”

“Not even close.”

“Sore? I promise to only use my tongue until you’ve recovered.”

This guy was killing me. “A little. But no, that’s not why I’m hitting pause.” I lowered my chin. “How’s our list looking?”

Brandon took hold of my foot and kissed my ankle before resuming his slow crawl toward me. “Despite being thoroughly tempted by you every minute of the day, I’ve been rather productive.” His lips grazed my calf. “There are only a few low-ranking officials to go.” A kiss on my inner thigh. “But I’ve still got nothing on the governor, that dodgy-as-fuck Supreme Court judge, the chief of police, a few senators, and several filthy rich CEOs.”

“Our big players,” I said, not at all surprised their names remained, because they were the ones we suspected were on Dante’s hard drive. I’d really hoped Brandon might find something on them. That’d mean we could forget about the vault and skip the ball altogether. My heart sank with the final realization there’d be no getting around it.

“Are you satisfied with my report?”

“I am.”

“Then it’s time to claim my reward.” Brandon raised my T-shirt to my waist, leaving my lower body exposed to him. Staring between my thighs, he said, “I swear to God, if you never wear panties again, I’ll be a very happy man.”

Come tomorrow evening, this bubble we’d created in our hotel room, where we lost ourselves in each other, would burst. I’d play my part at the ball despite my fears of Brandon getting hurt and the possibility of crossing paths with Maxim.

Brandon might think I was brave, but I was terrified as all hell about entering Dante’s compound. The moment he put his mouth on me, I decided to put my worries about the masquerade aside. I had better things to occupy my mind than murderous assholes.