Elie wanted to laugh at Dario’s raised eyebrow. Both of the men knew Brielle was still playing Elie’s little toy, but she had totally outsmarted him with her flowing grace. He had the remote and he hadn’t used it on her. He could have. She still wore the jeweled butt plug. The shock of the thing vibrating at just the right moment would have interrupted her little performance, but he was just too proud of her to take her perceived victory from her.
He patted his lap when she would have seated herself a little distance from him on the same sofa. Pressing her lips together, she curled her body sideways onto his, trying to turn away from the flames. Elie didn’t allow it. His much larger and stronger hands caught at her hips and straightened her so she was straddling his thighs and facing Dario.
“Dario has a business proposition for you, bébé. I realize it’s late, and you aren’t dressed appropriately, but the matter is pressing and he caught us in the middle of your punishment.” Deliberately, Elie pushed the tangle of wild, out-of-control waves and spirals of curls cascading down her back away from her neck so he could bite down on her soft skin. She shivered, reacting instantly. He loved that she was always so receptive to his touch.
Brielle tipped her head back just as he knew she would, resting against his shoulder to offer him her bare neck. That slight change in her body thrust her full breasts against the pale smoke-and-rose robe. Elie ran his fingernails very gently along her bare thigh, all the way to her buttocks. Back and forth, as though he wasn’t aware of what he was doing, but he knew he was bringing every nerve ending to life and that small movement would center her entire attention right back on her hunger and need to climax. Right on him. She needed release and he was very skilled at keeping her on edge.
“You’re extremely good with your investigations,” Dario said. “Did Elie tell you that you won the competition?”
“No, but I didn’t ask.” Brielle’s voice was low. Shaky. She curled her fingers around Elie’s wrist as if she might try to still his fingers as they moved up and down her thigh, but she only rested her hand there.
“Why wouldn’t you ask? You spent a good deal of the day working to prove you were faster at getting information than the others. Wouldn’t you want to know if you were?”
Dario leaned forward, both hands around his phone, his dark eyes boring into Brielle’s as he wholly focused on her. Elie had seen him look like this when he was interrogating a prisoner. Compelling. Utterly focused. Dangerously so. A relentless, merciless pursuit for answers. Voice soft. That low rasp he had that only added to the effect of warning the one he questioned they might be in the room with a predator, not a human. As looks went, it was extremely intimidating.
“I get caught up in what I’m investigating, and the last one, the one on the Colombo crime family in Los Angeles, nagged at me when I was looking into them. Stefano had set boundaries we weren’t to go beyond. That didn’t seem to fit with a normal investigation. When we’re looking into someone, you want to know everything there is to know about them so there aren’t any surprises.”
“So, you disobeyed the order.” Dario’s voice dropped an octave. The lines in his face deepened. The flickering firelight played over him for just a moment, revealing his extremely handsome features, the cruel set of his mouth, and the flames of hell burning in his dark, pitiless eyes.
“I’m an investigator. Of course I did. I would never allow anyone to walk into a bad situation because I didn’t do my job. I went a little deeper before I sent the report.” Brielle’s voice strengthened.
When talking about the love of her work, her passion showed. She moved her body against Elie restlessly, leaning into his fingernails, her bottom rubbing along his thighs like a little cat. She was distracted by Dario, her body reacting naturally to the stimulation, while her mind struggled to answer honestly.
“The consensus was that you did win. You were thorough in every report and you were fast. There were times when others were faster, but then your report held more information than two-man teams’。 Valentino and I have need of someone with your talents. On the other hand, you don’t seem to follow direction very well. Not even your man’s.”
Brielle tensed, not liking the implication that she might make Elie look bad in front of his friend. Elie soothed her, bringing his fingernails gently up the sides of her body over the robe, along her rib cage and the sides of her breasts. She had such beautiful breasts. So full. She thought they were too full, but Elie loved the way the soft, perfect flesh flared out from the side, giving him access as he ran his fingers up her body and stroked her breasts with his fingernails as he had her thighs.