Niall (Vigilance 2)

Compton looked down his nose at both of us. “If I tell Arlington the deal is off, then you’re out.”

Marco shrugged. “You’re the ones who seem to need money.”

“You asked for this invitation.”

“I was intrigued by what I’d heard. You’re not making a very good impression.”

Compton snarled. “Neither are you and your submissive. Arlington expected you to bring someone well trained.”

Marco wrapped his arm around me, and the look he gave Compton should have had the man running for his life. “You will not insult what is mine.”

I felt Marco trembling with anger, and despite the possibility of his feud with Compton fucking up our chances to learn more, it was fucking hot to have Marco come to my defense. I stood there watching him growl at Compton with my cock pressed tight against the shorts I’d changed into.

“Watch yourself,” Compton said, his voice like ice. He whirled around dramatically and walked out. I didn’t know what I wanted to do more: laugh at Compton or grind up against Marco’s delicious ass.

Marco let go of me and crossed the room to put the security chain in place. “Are you sure he didn’t hurt you?”

“I can defend myself.”

Marco nodded. “I know, but you’re not yourself here.”

“He tried to slap me, and I blocked it. I don’t know what would’ve happened next if you hadn’t come in.” Marco turned like he was going to go after Compton, but I grabbed his arm.

“We need to learn more from these men. What we just recorded is good, but it’s not enough.”

“I will not let Compton or any of the rest of them touch you.”

His protectiveness was doing nothing to calm my erection. “I would’ve had him tied up and waiting for our interrogation if I didn’t have to pretend to be fucking helpless.”

“He really has a key to our room?”

“He says it’s a master key. He intends to keep tabs on everyone because Arlington is too soft.”

“I’m going to talk to Arlington about that. I won’t have Compton walking in here again.”

“One way or another, we have to block him. If I hadn’t heard him coming and sensed something was off, he would have seen what I was up to.”

“That’s important, but it’s more important that you’re safe.” Marco laid a hand on my shoulder, and I wanted to sigh at the warmth of his touch. “We need to preserve our identities if we can, but if you need to break character to protect yourself, do it.”

“Only if my life is in danger.”

“Niall—”

I shook my head. “I won’t compromise this mission for less.”

“I’ll get the key from him at dinner.”

“You think you can—”

Marco smiled. “I know I can. Trust me.”

I watched him as he walked over to the bar, poured himself a large whiskey, and downed half of it in one go.

“Yeah, it’s that kind of day, isn’t it?”

Marco gave a bitter laugh. “I don’t know how I sat there listening to them talk about people as if they were products like sacks of rice or crates of canned goods. Teens. And people who are vulnerable. People from the streets. People they are luring into this fucked up shit, and I…” His voice broke.

I hurried over to him, took hold of his shoulders, and turned him to face me. The sadness in his eyes made my chest tight. “It’s horrible, but you—”

“My cousin helped start this, and I will make sure it’s finished, but I won’t allow them to hurt you or anyone else I care about.”

We both froze. His words hung in the air.

He cared about me? No, he must’ve misspoke. He couldn’t…” I saw the truth in his eyes, but I couldn’t let myself think about that. I cupped his face and rubbed my thumb over his lips.

After what had happened earlier, there was no point in trying to keep our hands off each other. We might not like each other, and we might not agree on a lot, but Marco was right. We were going to need a release from the tension of being here with these monsters. Even though he’d fucked me thoroughly only a few hours ago, I wanted him again.

“How long do we have until dinner?”

He licked my thumb, then caught it with his teeth before answering. “Long enough.”

“We shouldn’t be late. We need to look like we’re playing their game.”

“No, we need to look like we don’t need them.”

“I’m not—”

He stopped my words with a kiss, and the need I’d tried to hold back exploded. I laced my hands together behind his neck, and he squeezed my hips, holding me so he could grind against me. Our tongues pushed into each other’s mouths, tasting, grappling. His lips were so soft, such a contrast to the rest of him. I shifted my grip, cupping his ass and pulling him harder against me. How hot and tight would his ass be? Would he let me fuck him, or would he insist I play my role? Either sounded hot as fuck. I was pretty sure I would let him do anything to me.