Samiah wrapped her lips around the straw and drew in a deep swallow of the pineapple passion fruit kombucha. She guessed some would consider her a convert, if the top shelf of her refrigerator was anything to go on. The yogurts and cottage cheese had been demoted to the second shelf. She set the bottle on her bedside table, picked up her electronic pencil, and made a note in the corner of the screen, just above the proposed spot for the settings button.
She’d switched it from one side to the other, piddled with the thought of going rogue and placing it at the bottom of the app, then settled for the traditional upper right-hand corner. The last thing she wanted to do was frustrate people by changing things up too much.
She used the blunt end of the pencil to move icons around, but wasn’t happy with any of the ideas she came up with.
“Just put it away,” she blew out on an exasperated breath, setting the tablet next to her on the bed.
Her purpose for picking up the thing in the first place was to help London find a knock ’em dead outfit for her upcoming class reunion. They’d messaged each other links to various online stores, but then London was called into an emergency patient consultation and Samiah had switched from her browser to her developer software without even thinking about it.
She would have to break this habit; her brain needed time to recoup. She’d been working on Just Friends almost nonstop since finishing the Leyland Group project and could feel burnout creeping up on her like those extra five pounds that always made it to her hips during the holidays.
She’d experienced burnout at the ripe old age of twenty-seven, only months after she started at Trendsetters. She would not put herself in that position again.
She scooted off the bed and went to her closet, looking for the wide-leg silk jumpsuit she’d bought last year. The red one she’d found for London online had a plunging neckline and attached cape, and it was much better suited for turning heads than the blue pinstripe, but she figured London could try this one on first to make sure she wanted the jumpsuit look before shelling out four hundred dollars.
After locating the jumpsuit, she searched for other looks she could offer London as she bided her time until Daniel could get there. He’d texted earlier, apologizing for running late. His roommate, Quentin, had some big issue with his wife that he was trying to work out and needed Daniel there for emotional support. Samiah did her best to quell her agitation. She couldn’t fault him for wanting to be a good friend. If her sister, or Taylor or London, needed her, she wouldn’t think twice about running to their aid. She just hoped to God none of her friends called on her when she was feeling this horny.
Her intercom buzzed.
“Thank goodness.” She tossed aside the off-the-shoulder sweater she’d just pulled from a hanger and raced to the keypad on her bedroom wall, becoming absurdly happy to see Daniel’s smiling face staring back at her from the display screen.
Samiah keyed him in, then moved the tablet from her bed to her dresser and slipped on a pair of shorts before rushing to her front door. She opened it and leaned against the doorjamb, waiting for him. The elevator chimed its arrival. The stainless-steel panels separated and he walked out, turning left and striding toward her condo with purpose.
He stopped two feet in front of her.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey,” she answered. She tilted her head toward the open door, inviting him inside. The second she closed the door behind her, she went in for a kiss, wrapping her arms around his head and slamming her body flush against his. It was a chaotic mingling of lips, teeth, and tongue, all vying for position as they tried to inhale each other on their way to the living room.
Without ever relinquishing her mouth, Daniel peeled his jacket off and tossed it on the armless accent chair next to her couch. His hands caught the hem of her T-shirt and pulled it up and over her head, then he peeled down the cups of the bra that should have been off already—dammit—and licked first one, then the other nipple with his strong, wet tongue.
Samiah fell back onto the couch and urged him to follow, cradling his head between her hands as he laved her breast with sure, toe-curling strokes. A desperate moan slipped from her lips. As much as she loved foreplay, her body demanded they skip the appetizer and get straight to the main course.
Just as she was about to tell Daniel her wishes, he left her breasts and began pressing light kisses down her torso. He dropped to his knees, hooked his thumbs underneath the rim of her shorts and panties, and tugged them over her hips and down her legs. The ambient air hit her heated center, causing her to shiver. Or maybe it was the man hunched over her. He wedged his shoulders between her thighs and Samiah decided she wanted to remain in this position until the end of time.
“Holy fuck, you look amazing,” Daniel said, his warm breath wisping across her sensitive skin.
He ran both palms up and down her thighs before dipping his head and stroking the tip of his tongue between her legs. Samiah braced her hands on either side of her and lifted her lower half up, feeding herself to him. His decadent licks grew more insistent with each sweep of his tongue, spreading her open and delving inside, driving her out of her mind.
Pressure started to build low in her belly, the sensation blossoming from her core and spreading throughout her limbs, until it felt as if her entire body was on the verge of erupting. He wrapped his lips around her clit and sucked hard, and she went off like a cannon, her body’s response so powerful she felt it across every single inch of her skin.
Daniel rode out her orgasm on his knees, his mouth still intent on giving her more pleasure than she knew what to do with. He continued his relentless pursuit, sending another heart-stopping orgasm spiraling through her before wrapping her legs around his waist and carrying her to her bedroom. Once there, he did with his powerful erection what he’d done with his mouth, bringing on climax after sweet, fiery climax, until Samiah was ready to surrender every single piece of herself to him.
She gripped his shoulders and levered herself up on her elbows, then with a strong push, flipped their positions.
“Can’t a girl get a piece of this action?”
A stunned smile lit up his face. He held his hands up. “Have at it.”
Steadying herself with one hand against his tight abdomen, Samiah used the other to guide him inside of her. She tilted her head back, bringing her hands behind her and bracing them on his strong thighs. She rolled her hips back and forth, riding him like her life depended on it.
They found an addicting rhythm; quick, shallow dips followed by slow, deep plunges. That intoxicating tremor fluttered to life in her belly once again. She tried to stave it off, fought to make this time last a bit longer, but when Daniel clasped her waist and held her down just as he tilted his hips upward and thrust into her, her world once again exploded in a blinding burst of sensations that ricocheted throughout her body.
She screamed her release toward the ceiling, then collapsed onto his chest.
“My God,” Samiah breathed. “Do the Marines give out medals for this kind of stuff? Is that why you’re so good at it?”
She felt his laugh rumbling beneath her cheek.
She snuggled more securely against him, relishing the feel of his warm skin against her body. She could get used to feeling this replete every night.
Goodness, where had that come from? It was insane to even begin thinking in terms of lying beside him on a nightly basis.
But, then again, maybe it wasn’t.
She knew couples who’d moved in after dating just a few weeks. Hell, look at the people who met on those crazy reality TV shows. Some of them were making it work despite not knowing anything about their significant other beforehand. At least she and Daniel had been together longer than the people on Married at First Sight or 90 Day Fiancé.
Okay, they hadn’t known each other ninety days yet, but what was another thirty days?
“Stop it.”
“What was that?” Daniel asked.
“Huh? Nothing,” she said. “I need to use the bathroom.”
She levered herself up, hoping her legs had the strength to carry her the fifteen or so feet. She could picture herself getting out of bed on wobbly legs and collapsing like a newborn colt just learning to walk.
She made it to the bathroom without injury. When she returned to the bedroom, she found Daniel sitting with his back against the headboard, a deep frown marring his brow as he stared at his phone.
Samiah stopped short. “Is everything okay?”
His head jerked up. “What? Uh, yeah,” he said. He set the phone on the bedside table and pulled the cover back, inviting her to join him. Her eyes went straight to the erection that was already growing thick again.
Her pulse started to pound as excitement skidded across her skin.
She was going to be so sore in the morning. But she would be satisfied.
* * *
The faint scent of the sweet almond body cream Samiah had rubbed into her skin after their shower wafted up from where she rested, snuggled up next to him, her head nestled against his chest. Daniel stared straight ahead, his eyes set on the dove-gray clay pots that looked as if they were floating on air with the way they were lined along the glass display shelf above her chest of drawers.
His sated body should feel relaxed after a solid hour of starring in American Ninja Warrior: Bedroom Edition with Samiah, but rest continued to elude him. His muscles felt at ease, but his brain was hard at work, conjuring boundless nefarious scenarios ever since he’d read that text from Preston. Another two bank accounts had gone dark, and the subject they’d targeted in Belize had gone missing.
The window was rapidly closing. If whoever was behind this closed up all the bank accounts they’d been monitoring, tracking them would be almost impossible.
He had to infiltrate that database. In it lay everything they would need for a capture and conviction. Someone on the Trendsetters side was inflating the number of customers logging into Hughes Hospitality’s free Wi-Fi every month. Even if he wasn’t able to discover who was behind it, getting into their system would give him the raw data on the actual number of logins. Once they were able to show the discrepancy, that would be enough for a court order.
But none of that would happen if he couldn’t bypass their security and access the damn database.
Except now he could.
Daniel sucked in a swift breath, fighting against the wave of nausea that pummeled him. The thought had lingered at the periphery of his conscience since the moment he learned that Samiah’s security access had been changed. He’d quickly banished any notion of using her. This job was important, but it could not come at the expense of hers.
As he peered down at her face right now, the tension in his shoulders eased by a tiny degree. She was peace and fire and satisfaction and love all rolled into one. He could not do this to her.
But would he ever have a better chance of getting into that system?
Weighing the costs of betraying Samiah versus not betraying her was a game he never wanted to play, but he didn’t have the luxury of not playing it. Not anymore. He’d wanted to give himself one more week to infiltrate the Trendsetters licensing database, but now Daniel wasn’t sure he had a week to spare. At the rate those bank accounts were closing, he might not have another twenty-four hours before the money-laundering outfit went completely dark.
The implications of that happening sent the tension shooting right back into his muscles. At last count, a little over eighteen million dollars had been laundered through the Trendsetters Wi-Fi payment system software. The money had been used to fund a chain of payday loan businesses, but the DHS had put Quentin on the case because they suspected those were just a front for other criminal enterprises. They had to put a stop to it now. Before more money could be funneled. Before more people met with “accidents” like the one Daniel suspected Mike Epsen had.
There was no question that Mike’s accident was related to this case, not after discovering the man had been on the initial rollout team. The fact that the anonymous tipster had been uncommunicative since the accident only proved that those behind the money-laundering scheme who wanted to silence Epsen had accomplished the mission they’d set out to achieve when they ran him into that city bus.
But what if their mission had been something more sinister than a broken leg and a few cracked ribs? What if their target who’d gone missing in Belize had met with a more lethal fate? Could Daniel live with himself if, months from now, it was revealed that what they first thought was a simple white-collar case had a much darker side? That the money laundered through Trendsetters’ WiMax software had somehow made it into the hands of a hardened criminal and led to even more crimes?
And because he hadn’t been able to complete his mission, even more people were harmed? The answer was simple: He wouldn’t be able to live with himself.
This case would haunt him no matter what; the choice before him was one he would give anything not to make. Sacrifice the woman he could very likely see himself falling in love with, or sacrifice the principles that drove every aspect of his career, of his life. Losing either one would send him into his own personal hell. He just had to decide which hell would be worse.
Daniel closed his eyes. His throat felt raw as he tried to swallow past the anguish clogging it.
There was no going back from this. If he went through with his plan, it would obliterate any chance he could possibly have with Samiah. She would hate him forever. And he wouldn’t blame her.
But he had no choice. The stakes were too high.
Daniel pulled in a deep breath and opened his eyes. He knew what he had to do.
As gingerly as possible, he slipped his hand underneath Samiah’s head and gently shifted her from his chest to a pillow. She stirred and mumbled something unintelligible, but then she turned her head and, moments later, her soft snore started up again. Daniel slowly eased out of the bed and pulled on the sweats he’d left here the last time he’d come over. He padded out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, heading straight for the counter where Samiah had left her purse.
He didn’t touch it. For several moments he just stood there staring, and hating himself.
It didn’t have to go down like this.
He should come clean to her. Right here, right now. He could reveal the real reason he’d come to Austin, stress the importance of keeping his undercover work under wraps until he could figure out who was behind the money-laundering scheme. He could underscore the potential danger Samiah could face if word ever got out that he wasn’t who everyone at Trendsetters believed him to be.
And that danger was exactly why Daniel couldn’t say anything. He couldn’t risk her unwittingly divulging classified information. Not only would it put this case in peril; it could possibly put Samiah in danger as well. He didn’t care how tenuous the link between Mike Epsen and that bicycle accident was; the possibility of Samiah suffering the same fate was enough to solidify Daniel’s decision to keep her in the dark. It was better this way.
He closed his eyes again. Sucked in a breath.
He reached for the purse and slowly released the teeth on the zipper one by one, pausing several times to listen for any sounds coming from the bedroom. His heart thumped like a drumbeat within his chest as he angled the purse toward the moonlight streaming in from the large windows. The soft glow glinted off the gold chip that ran along the left edge of the green-and-white access card. He slipped the card out and went over to his jacket. He pulled the scanner from the jacket’s inside pocket and inserted Samiah’s keycard. A green light blinked methodically as the device accessed the information on the card.
In less than two minutes, it was done. The scanner beeped and the green light went from blinking to solid.
Daniel held his breath, waiting to see if she’d heard the beep. There was no stirring coming from the bedroom. Not a sound.
He shoved the scanner back into his jacket pocket and slid Samiah’s access card back into her purse. Then he returned to her bedroom and removed the sweatpants, climbing back under the covers naked and wrapping his arms around Samiah’s waist.
But Daniel knew he wasn’t falling asleep anytime soon.
Even if she never discovered his betrayal, he knew he would never be able to get past it. With that one move, he’d shattered the trust between them forever.
He closed his eyes.
What good would regret and recriminations do him now? He’d had a choice to make and he’d made it. He would just have to learn to live with it, and hope there was some way that Samiah could eventually forgive him. Some way he could learn to eventually forgive himself.