Xavier (Vigilance 4)

Emilio shivered and licked his lips, but he didn’t look away.

I lowered myself onto him.

“Yes.” The word was more of an exhale than speech, but I’d heard it, and I was powerless not to react. I could take down four men at a time, execute a nearly impossible mission without fear, and stand in front of a crowd of thousands, certain I could command their attention, but one look from the man beneath me and I melted.

I brushed my lips over his, tentative in a way I hadn’t been since I was in high school. He responded by reaching for me. I groaned as he pushed his fingers into my short hair and pulled me against him.

I kissed him fully then. His lips parted from my tongue’s insistence. I needed to taste him, needed to explore. His legs dropped open, and I settled against him. He was as hard as I was. I gave in to the urge to thrust my hips, and my cock slid along his. It should feel strange, but it felt completely right.

He gasped into my mouth as I thrust against him. His legs wrapped around my waist, and I marveled at his enthusiasm. I needed to stop. We couldn’t do this. I needed to treat him like a client, but he tasted so good, so perfect, and his body against mine was so hard. He might be small, but he wasn’t weak. I needed more of him, so much more.

Our tongues tangled, and his hands tightened in my hair. I could break his hold, but I had no desire to.

He tilted his head back, and I moved my kisses along his jaw and down his throat, licking and sucking at his skin.

I wanted to mark him, to claim him as mine. I’d never felt this possessive of anyone before. He cried out as I bit down on his neck, but he didn’t try to pull away. I sucked hard, knowing he would bruise, then my phone rang, startling us both.

I let him go and sat back, but I didn’t reach for my phone.

We stared at each other, both trying to catch our breaths, then Emilio scrambled away. He looked ready to run.

“Don’t move,” I ordered, not about to let him go off on his own.

“What was… Did you…”

I held up a hand and checked my phone. His mocking smile made me want to punch him. It was Niall. I had to answer.

“Is there a problem there?” I asked, my voice harsher than it should have been.

“Leo and Giorgio are both fine, but we have a problem with Swain’s associates.”

“Give me the short version, and I’ll call you back for more.”

“Is something wrong there? Has someone tried to get to you?”

“I don’t think so, but I’m… in the middle of working out some details.”

“Right.” Niall sounded less than convinced, but I wasn’t going to explain myself further.

“The New Orleans connections are moving faster than we would’ve guessed, and they want you dead.”

“Me specifically? They know who I am?”

“I’m afraid so.”

This was bad. “So Swain really did share the intel he had on me?”

“Apparently.”

“We need to find out how many of them know.” I glanced at Emilio.

I didn’t want to ask him to look into these men if it would put him at greater risk. The best thing to do would be to send him to a safe house somewhere in New England with a member of my team to guard him while I stayed away.

Swain’s associates likely knew about the island, and I’d much rather them bring the fight here than to my family back in Boston. “How long do you think I have before they come for me?”

Emilio’s eyes went wide, and the color drained from his face. I wanted to reassure him, but I’d be lying if I did. I would fight these men as hard as I could, but I couldn’t guarantee my safety anymore than I’d been able to on Ranger missions. I could guarantee Emilio’s safety, though.

“I’m going to send Emilio to you on my jet, and I’m going to need you—”

“You’re going to need him to help you figure this out.”

“No.”

“X, we’re not leaving you on the island alone. I’ve already got Lucien talking to his contacts in New Orleans.”

“I don’t want to involve anyone else in this.”

Niall sighed. “For once, just accept some help when you need it.”

“Now is not—”

I tossed my phone down. He’d fucking hung up on me. As if I didn’t have enough going on, now my own people were going fucking rogue.

“What’s going on?” Emilio asked, his voice shaking.

I hadn’t meant to scare him. “I’ve got shit to work out to prepare for men who will come looking for me. I’m going to send someone to guard your room. Don’t leave it, and if—”

“I may have agreed to come here because you ordered me to, and I may have just kissed the hell out of you, even though you’re… straight, but there’s a limit to exactly how much you can order me around.”