Submission Impossible (Masters & Mercenaries Reloaded 1)

He got into her space because it had been a whole ten minutes since he’d kissed her last. “We move on our own time.” He brushed his lips over hers. “You want some breakfast? I’ve got frozen waffles and maybe some eggs.”

She sighed, a happy sound, and wrapped an arm around him, hugging him close. “Tempting, but I think I’ll grab something on my way in. Pete texted me and he’s got the experiment ready for me. I’m hoping to run it a couple of times today.”

He didn’t want her to work at all. Well, he didn’t want her working at Genedyne until they figured out what was going on. The thought of her going into that building alone scared the shit out of him. Kyle would be somewhere close, but he wouldn’t be standing over Noelle making sure no one could get to her. “I’ll be there at five.”

She stepped back. “Hutch, I might need to work late.”

“I’ll be there at five, and you can work right here in this house.”

She stared at him as though trying to figure out how far to push him. She finally grimaced. “Fine, but I have to have this report done by Monday.”

“I would rather you worked on Saturday than late at night.” He would bet a lot of people worked Saturdays at a place like Genedyne. She wouldn’t even be alone in her lab, which he knew was part of the attraction of working at night, but he couldn’t let her do it now.

She frowned but still went up on her toes to kiss him. “Fine. But I better get to the office. Are you coming with us? Your car is still dead, right?”

Yeah, he hadn’t even thought about the fact that he’d fucked up his battery. But he had a plan in place. “Theo and Erin live a couple of doors down, and whichever one isn’t on kid patrol can give me a ride.”

They switched off carpool duties for their son and daughter, and whoever had the day off had an hour alone in the house. He still had forty minutes until he needed to head into the office.

But maybe he should go with Noelle. He could take a train from Genedyne to the McKay-Taggart building.

“Let’s head out if we’re stopping somewhere to pick up breakfast.” Kyle put his mug in the sink. “I’m getting to sit in on some fun meetings today, and I’m supposed to cover a dinner date tonight. I might end up at Jessica’s, so you should pick Noelle up. I’ll leave the car and take an Uber back here because I don’t want Jessica’s driver to know we’ve switched locations.”

“I’ll come in with you.” He should take a shower. Big Tag had a famously sensitive nose, and he could smell sex on a dude from five miles away. And he did not stint on the sarcasm.

“I’ll be fine. Kyle is an excellent driver, and he’s learned how to make small talk.” Noelle took a long swig of coffee before her mug joined Kyle’s.

“I have to talk about stupid shit or she starts in on her relationships. All of them,” Kyle admitted. “I know a lot about her feelings. So we talk about dogs and TV shows I pretend I watch so I don’t have to know more about her feelings.”

Kyle was an asshole. “Fine. Take care of her. Text me when she’s safe in the lab.”

God, he hoped she would be safe in the lab.

Noelle kissed him again and then walked off, her cane in her right hand. Stretchy sex seemed to have done wonders for her.

It sure had done wonders for him. Noelle made her way out to the garage, and Kyle glanced back as he walked after her.

“Dude, take a shower. You smell like sex.” Kyle shook his head and the door closed.

He was surrounded by assholes. He found his phone and texted Theo, who promised to pick him up in half an hour and made fun of him for his nonfunctional car. Hutch was making his way to the bathroom when the phone trilled.

Michael. Hutch slid his thumb across the screen. “Hey, Mike. You heading out?”

Michael had been assigned to watch the house overnight.

“I thought I might follow them to work. Just in case. What’s going on? I don’t buy the story about testing Kyle,” Michael said over the line.

Big Tag was slipping. “It’s probably coming from the bodyguard unit. You know Fisher is always trying new things out.”

“And when I ask Fisher about it, what do you think he’ll say?” Michael asked.

Hutch sighed. “Please don’t.”

“All right. This is one of those things I shouldn’t ask about so I won’t. But I don’t feel right tailing one of our own,” Michael admitted. “He left the house last night.”

Hutch stopped. “He turned my security system off?”