Page 68 of Covert Obsession

She did, the coil inside her exploding again. Her head fell back as she cried out, not caring who heard. He bucked into her, stroking deep around her tight walls, and when she was done, he rolled her onto her back, driving home.

She turned her head to expose her neck and he licked the throbbing pulse, while he thrust in and out. Slow and powerful, he teased her into a fresh wave of lust. It grew tighter and tighter and she smiled to herself, grabbing his ass cheeks and prompting him to move harder, faster.

He did, and soon she was spiraling out a third time. A new record for her. He flew over the cliff with her, invoking her name and that of God which made her laugh.

In the aftermath, he stroked her hair and confessed his love again.

And when Parker woke in the morning, he was still there, his warm body curled around hers.

THIRTY-SIX

Two weeks later

SFI Headquarters

The sun was rising,pushing the night back as Moe descended the side of the mountain that overlooked the SFI compound with Sissy, the emotional support dog Jon had assigned him, at his feet. He cleared a branch from their path and stopped to survey the area.

Montgomery was finishing her morning walk around the lake, heading for a picnic table under a big oak tree. Ian lay nearby in the grass, soaking up the sun and waiting for her after his return from his last op.

On the opposite side of the expanse, Rory and Amelia walked hand-in-hand. Parker jogged, past them as she worked on regaining strength and flexibility in her leg. The wound was healing nicely, and she’d sustained no permanent damage from the head trauma.

As part of his probation and therapy, he was spending one night a week in the woods, learning to be comfortable with his thoughts and emotions. Alone, except for the dog, who’d been failing her training. Jon still held out hope for her, and Vivi held out hope for Moe.

He and Sissy were quite the pair. She was a crazy mix of long-haired terrier and golden retriever, and the Queen only knew what else. She was fearless and got along with people and other dogs fine, but she had a weakness for squirrels, and she would chase any and all who got in her path. Their overnight stints in the woods were challenging for both of them.

She stuck close as they walked the incline, sniffing every rock and leaf along the way. He’d fallen for her the moment Jon presented him with three potentials to choose from. There was something about her scruffy face that reminded him of Henley and something about her squirrel obsession that reminded him of himself. At the moment, she was covered in dirt and had a leaf caught in her fur, but she was happy and loyal, and he couldn’t ask for more.

Parker, however, was asking him for a lot more. He’d spent the night considering her requests. He wanted to commit to both, but like Sissy, he was working on rewiring his brain to control his impulses. It was a slow, awkward process.

Ian kissed his wife before noticing Moe, then gave a nod and left them in privacy. Moe stopped at the picnic table where Montgomery wrote in a blue journal. She didn’t glance up when she spoke. “Any progress with the dog? Is her cork floating?”

She wasn’t asking about Sissy. “She’s doing great. Definitely keeping her head above water.”

Said dog was jumping into the lake with great abandon. Vivi glanced toward her and smiled. “I’m glad to hear that. I like her.”

He slid the backpack off his shoulder and sat, watching the dog return to shore only to fling herself into the water again and swim out past the dock, paddling fiercely. Like the analogy, she kept her head just above water. She flailed around for a minute and then turned for the shoreline. “Any luck getting our resident queen to budge on my probationary period?”

“Not an inch.” She wrote something else in her journal, placed a bookmark in it, and shut it before setting down her pen. “You know how she is.”

He did, and truth be told, he didn’t care. He was busy helping Rory with a new mission involving a cybersecurity hacker that was taking hours every day. He also assisted Vivi with her virtual reality lab, and she had her first session with one of the employees that afternoon.

Working with computers and technology wasn’t the same as being in the field. It didn’t have the same rush of adrenaline or the lure of the action, but something in him had shifted, no longer requiring the focus he’d previously needed to keep the world at bay.

Moving closer, Parker slowed to a walk. He could see her leg was bugging her, although she would never admit it. She was like what the shoreline was for Sissy, showing him the way.

In the woods, he’d thought long and hard about the proposition she’d given him the previous week, not coming to any easy conclusion, but a conclusion he had. “She wants a family,” he said quietly. “A rug rat or two.”

Vivi didn’t miss a beat. “How does that make you feel?”

“I never wanted kids after discovering I’d been adopted. I can’t quite wrap my head around the idea of being a father.”

“One day at a time,” she encouraged. “It’s a big decision and it’s okay to take your time and think it through.”

Sissy returned to shore once again, shaking her long fur and sending lake water spraying everywhere. Rory and Amelia had completed their circuit and took the path past the picnic table toward the main building, saying good morning as they went. “You need to shower, douchebag,” Rory said, screwing up his nose. “You smell like you’ve been sleeping with Oscar.”

Moe flipped him the bird, chuckling. The verbal sparring felt good, the two of them back to their sarcastic selves and harassing each other like normal. “Too bad you smell like a wanker all the time.”

Rory put an arm around Amelia’s shoulders and she asked, “Are we on for dinner tonight with you and Parker?”

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