Secrets and Satin: A MacKenzie Novel (Romantic Suspense) (MacKenzie Family) Read online

  Spending so much time with her was heaven—and hell. She’d slimmed down since Donovan’s death—her tall frame was lean and muscular—and she had an edge to her that looked dangerous. Her dark skin had lost its healthy glow and she’d cut off all of her beautiful dark hair, so it was short as a boy’s and wisped around her face, making her cheekbones more prominent and her face more angular. And her eyes—he’d always been a sucker for those eyes. Brilliant green and a little too lost—a little too sad.

  He wanted to hold her—to hug her and take care of her. She’d had much too little of that in her life growing up, and he knew that’s why Donovan had been so protective of her. But she didn’t need anyone to take care of her. And wouldn’t welcome it.

  “You’re slacking on me, Devlin. If you’ve got time to daydream then you’re not working hard enough.”

  He leaned forward and took her mouth in a hard kiss before she could say another word. When he pulled back, her eyes had that deer in the headlights stare and her mouth had opened on a gasp.

  “Good,” he nodded. “Looks like I figured out a way to shut you up.”

  “Why’d you do that?” she asked. Her face paled and she took a step back, running her hand through her short hair with trembling fingers. He felt like a total cad.

  “Sorry. It was self-preservation. I thought you’d prefer a kiss instead of my hands around your throat.”

  Her breath shuddered out with a laugh and she relaxed. “I guess I have been pushing you pretty hard. Maybe we should call it a day.”

  “I’ll finish the damn reps, woman. I’m not an invalid.”

  Jade rolled her eyes and Max gritted his teeth. He struggled through the last two reps and let the leg weights drop back to the machine with a clank. He felt a little sick and a lot exhausted. “Finished. Kiss my ass, Jax.”

  “It’s a good thing I know you so well. Someone else might take offense.”

  She wrapped her arm around his waist and helped him stand and stretch a little. He squeezed her shoulder, silently apologizing for his behavior, and said, “Yeah. I guess it’s a good thing. Sorry about the kiss.”

  “Your technique needs work, Devlin, but I guess it beats the hell out of being strangled to death.”

  Max stopped her before she could drag him out to the car. His limbs were shaking with exhaustion and he just wanted to lie down, but he needed to get the words out. “I haven’t thanked you for being here for me.” What he didn’t say was that she’d been there for him when even his own family had been absent over the last months.

  “That’s what family does, babe.”

  He couldn’t have said it better himself. There was the family a person couldn’t choose, those that shared blood and were obligated to love you because of it. And there was the family that didn’t share blood but chose to love you anyway. He much preferred the latter.

  ***

  Six months later…

  “Jesus, Devlin,” Jade said, clapping her hands over her eyes. “Your neighbors must love you.”

  It was just past eight in the morning and she’d only planned to drop off the little going away gift and leave. She hadn’t been prepared for Max to answer the door stark naked and angry as a bear. His morning beard was scruffy and glinted with hints of red in the sunlight, and his arm was thrown across his eyes. His chest was broad and ridged with muscle, his waist trim, and a light smattering of white blond hairs trailed down his flat stomach and to the very impressive inches of flesh below.

  She’d taken in the full sight of him before slamming her eyes closed. Not that having her eyes closed would erase what she’d seen. Her mouth went dry, and something like fear clutched in her belly. She never thought of Max as a man—well, maybe she had a little, but that was only because he’d kissed her and she remembered the heat of his lips against hers and the tingles that had awakened inside her dormant body. He was her friend and he stayed nicely tucked away in that “friend” box.

  He grunted something unintelligible at her and went back into the house, leaving the door wide open. Jade followed him in, admiring the back view as only a woman could, and closed the door behind her. She’d have to be dead not to notice, and that was something that had become increasingly clear over the last few months—she wasn’t dead. Shame ate at her as thoughts of her husband came to mind and she averted her gaze.

  Max’s house had always been a little stark, even though it was about ten times the size of her apartment. It was all white walls and neutral colors, light hardwood floors and stainless steel appliances. A few photographs of the team sat about here and there, but he wasn’t one for plants or dust catching knickknacks other than a signed football that sat in a glass case on his mantel. Boxes were stacked and labeled, and it looked like he was all but ready for the moving company to come load his things.

  “I take it the boys decided to send you out in style,” she said, breaking the silence.

  Max ignored her and walked into the kitchen. It was a big open space, and the only thing that divided it from the living room was the long island counter and the barstools that sat in front of it. He dunked his head into the sink, dousing himself with cold water. He’d let his hair grow longer since the accident, and when he came back up for air it dripped into his face and onto the counter.

  Beads of water snaked down his naked chest, and Jade licked her lips, following the trails with her gaze until they disappeared below his waist. Her skin flushed hot and her nipples beaded beneath the thin tank top she wore. Her mind fought against what her body seemed to want—screamed that she wasn’t ready for this—while the throbbing bud between her legs argued that it wouldn’t mean anything. It would be a mindless release, and just because her heart was dead didn’t mean her body needed to suffer needlessly.

  Max dug around blindly in the drawer next to the sink and pulled out a dishtowel, drying his face and giving her a look that would have had her shaking in her skin if she’d been anyone else. She crossed her arms over her chest and arched a brow.

  “Why the hell do you always have to be so damned chipper at the crack of dawn? It’s an unforgivable personality trait.”

  “That’s funny, because I’ve always thought the fact you can’t hold your liquor better than a college freshman was pretty unforgivable.”

  “I’m sure that’s supposed to be funny.”

  “Maybe you’ll feel better if you put on some pants. It’s probably not a good thing for every housewife on the street to know you’re circumcised.” Please put on some pants, she prayed. Her control was slipping by the second.

  A piratical smile slashed across his face. “It’s nice to see you’re looking out for me, but no. I’m pretty sure nothing will make me feel better. Not even pants. Though a couple of aspirin couldn’t hurt. You could always come back later—when I’m wearing pants—if I’m making you uncomfortable. Or maybe you just like what you see a little too much.”

  Her lips pressed in a thin line, and she felt her blood surge at the challenge. She knew he was kidding. She was used to banter. Hell, she worked with a team of men, almost all of them ex-military, and she would have left long ago if she hadn’t been able to take their colorful vocabulary and trash talk. But this time the banter was too close to the truth. Moisture pooled between her thighs and she was swollen and throbbing with need.

  Wasn’t she allowed to need? Donovan was dead, dammit. And no matter how angry she was or how many times she’d gotten down on her knees and begged for his death to be a lie, he wasn’t coming back. She was tired of being alone. She was tired of rolling over in a cold bed with no one there beside her. And she was tired of the constant ache inside her soul.

  Her emotions warred inside her until she finally found the courage to say to hell with her brain. She wasn’t dead. She wasn’t dead. And Max was safe. She wasn’t interested in hooking up with a stranger. It just wasn’t part of her makeup to do that. But Max knew her better than anyone, and she knew him.

  Max was a sexual creature by nature.
He never seemed to be without female attention, and she figured with as many women who had shared his bed that he probably knew what the hell he was doing at this point. She wanted someone who knew how to give her what her body craved and then the ability to walk away with no hard feelings later. It should’ve been an easy enough task because Max wasn’t the type of man to get attached to any woman.

  “Maybe you’re right,” she said.

  From the look on Max’s face, she could have knocked him over with a feather. Jade stalked her way around the counter and smiled when he took a few steps back. Her gaze raked down his body and her eyes widened at the sight of him fully aroused. His cock was thick and heavy and ridged, the head flushed dark purple and his testicles drawn tight against his body.

  “I guess it’s nice to know it’s not one sided,” she purred.

  “Listen, Jade—” he backed away again when she took another step closer.

  “You’re the one that made the challenge. I’m just calling you on it.”

  His jaw clamped shut and she could see the pulse pounding at the side of his neck. His eyes were hooded and the blue of his irises had darkened to the color of a lake in the evening. Jade grabbed the hem of her tank top and slowly lifted it over the top of her head. She hadn’t bothered with a bra. Her breasts weren’t large, but they were high and taut, and she smiled a woman’s smile when Max sucked in a startled breath and his cock flexed against his stomach.

  “You’re making this really difficult,” he choked out.

  “No.” Jade took another step closer, and then another, and Max was effectively trapped with his back to the island. “I’m making this very, very easy.” She was just a hairsbreadth away, so the hair on his chest touched her sensitive nipples.

  Her hand reached out and she pressed her palm against his chest. His warmth seeped into her skin and she was suddenly ravenous for more. She was five-foot-ten in her bare feet, so there was only a few inches difference in their height. His heart pounded beneath her hand and she leaned up to nip at his chin before fusing her mouth and body to his.

  He stood still as a statue for a minute while she kissed him, while she gave him all the pent-up longing and frustration and desire she’d just started to feel again over the last months. And then he was kissing her back and she wanted to shout in triumph.

  ***

  Max’s brain deserted him the moment her soft lips had touched his, and all his thoughts rested in the several inches of flesh that was pressed into her stomach. He’d wanted this, dreamed of this for five long years, but even though his dreams seemed to be coming true, he knew this wasn’t the way it was supposed to be.

  But she was relentless in her pursuit. There was a hunger and desperation inside of her he wanted to soothe. A wildness built inside of him he’d never felt before. She was his mate, and his body recognized her as such, and all he wanted was to possess, to take.

  Her lips parted and her tongue licked into his mouth, and the flavor of her exploded through his system. She was sweet to the taste, like sweet cream and melted sugar, and he’d never in his life experienced anything that felt as good as touching her.

  “You taste so good,” she moaned. “Touch me.”

  His hands came around her, cupping the rounded globes of her rear, and he pulled her against him so she could feel how much he wanted her. She groaned into his mouth and he drank in the sound. His tongue dueled with hers and he growled as her fingers threaded through his hair and tugged him closer.

  Her legs came around his waist and clamped tight around him, and she moved against his cock, searching for release. He’d forgotten how strong she was—long legs and lean muscles—and when she leaned back in his arms, his mouth found the tight bud of her nipple.

  “Please, please,” she chanted, and he was helpless to deny her.

  He spun her around and settled her on the island. His knees were weak and he couldn’t seem to find his balance. She was going too fast—racing too hard to the end—and he wanted to take his time now that he finally had her where he wanted her. Their rhythm was off, and he tried to pull back and shake some sense into his head, but her hot hand found his cock and began to stroke.

  “Christ, Jade,” he panted. “I won’t last ten seconds if you keep doing that.”

  Her laugh was low and sultry, and a little wild. “Touch me,” she begged again.

  His fingers found the snap of her jeans, jerking it open and then pulling down the zipper. She lifted her hips so he could pull them down, but just the sight of her in the little white panties had him desperate for more. The cotton was damp and his fingers traced along the outer edge before slipping beneath to the soft curls.

  She moaned as his finger whispered against the taut bud of her clit and she cried out when he moved lower and his finger slipped just inside of her. Max gritted his teeth as she clamped around his finger. She was snug and wet, and when he pushed farther inside, her velvety pussy rippled around his finger.

  “So hot, baby.” He was barely able to form a coherent thought. “You’re so tight. You’re going to fit like a glove around my cock.”

  Sweet syrup trickled over his fingers at the picture he painted, and her hips thrust against him, taking more of his finger inside. He kissed her stomach and then moved higher so his mouth latched on to her nipple. They were small and dark brown and they tasted like heaven. His teeth scraped one lightly and he felt her flex around him.

  He was getting past the point of no return, and he knew he needed to get control of the situation because she clearly wasn’t. He withdrew his finger and flicked it gently over her clit. It was swollen and so primed she probably could have come from the whisper of his breath. He placed several kisses along her collarbone and then kissed his way up her neck to the lush mouth that had tempted him from the first time he’d seen her. Her top lip was fuller than the bottom and utterly bitable.

  “Look at me, baby,” he said. Her nails dug into his arms and it was the sweetest pain he’d ever felt.

  Her eyes opened and he had to kiss her again. She was stunning. Her face was flushed with arousal and there was a glow about her he hadn’t seen in much too long. The green of her eyes was vibrant, and she looked like a woman ripe for loving. But he knew her like he knew his own soul, and this wasn’t how he’d dreamed of their first time together.

  “Don’t stop, Max,” she cried. “Don’t you dare stop.”

  “I won’t be a substitute for anyone else.” His breath was labored with his restraint, but he made sure he got his point across. “I’ve wanted you too long. And if you’re coming to my bed it’s because you want to be there. Because you want me.”

  She shook her head in confusion and tears filled her eyes. His heart broke at the sight of her tears and all she’d had to endure, but he couldn’t do this. He wouldn’t do this. He’d waited too long for her to see him as a man. As something other than a friend.

  “It’s okay if you don’t want me,” she said, pushing at his chest. “But maybe you could have told me before we got to this point. Now I’ll just have to find someone else.”

  She struggled against him harder as the tears fell, and she swiped at them viciously, but it was like a dam had broken inside of her and nothing was going to stop them from falling.

  “Don’t make threats, baby. We’re past that now.”

  “It’s none of your business, Max. If you don’t want it, no big deal. Someone else will.”

  He clamped a hand on her leg to keep her from running, but she wouldn’t look at him. “It is my business. I’ve wanted you from the first moment I laid eyes on you, but you weren’t mine to have. And I haven’t waited this long to be some itch you can scratch because you’re still grieving for someone else. When you come to my bed, there won’t be anyone between us.”

  A choked sob came from deep inside of her as she struggled to get up. He released her leg and she jumped down from the counter, fastening her pants and scooping up her shirt from the floor.

  “This is y
our fault, Max,” she said, pulling the shirt over her head. She turned and headed for the door as fast as she could. “You’re the one who made me feel again, and now you’re not man enough to follow through with what you started. Well, fuck you. Have a nice life in Texas.”

  He waited until she got to the door and jerked it open before he called out to her. His body throbbed with unfulfilled desire, and his heart felt as if it had been stomped into the ground. But she didn’t mean what she said. She wasn’t the kind of woman to sleep with just anyone. He knew a part of her had to trust and care for him deeply for her to go as far as she did. But he wanted more. He wanted all of her and he’d meant what he said. He wasn’t going to be a substitute for Donovan.

  “I’ve made you feel again,” he said. “Remember that it was me when you’re alone in that cold apartment. And when you’re ready to live for real, you know where to find me.”

  She didn’t look back as she stepped out of his house and his life, and when the door closed with a quiet click, he felt the emptiness of not having her near like a punch to the solar plexus.

  “Well, hell,” he said. He punched the wall with enough force to leave a dent and then headed to the shower. He could take care of the ache in his balls now. He’d have to take care of Jade later.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Present Day

  “I’m on the roof,” Max said. “You’ve got to be my eyes.”

  “I’ve got you in my sights,” Elena Nayal said through the tiny bud in his ear. “You’ve got about a minute-and-a-half until the two Secret Service agents make their way back around the house next door. Otherwise you’re clear.”

  “Plenty of time.”

  His rubber-soled shoes helped him keep traction as he slid down the sharply pitched roof to the small window on the top floor. Black gloves kept his fingers from being torn to shreds, and the black mask over his face and the matching clothes helped him blend in with the night.

  The climb up the side of the Dallas mansion had been the hardest part—not to mention a former president lived in the house next door, and on a night like this, where unfamiliar cars and people lined the street, security was at a peak.