Whistleblower (PALADIN Book 1)

Linc’s home is like a mausoleum. It’s eerily minimalist, and that’s coming from a minimalist myself. He has so little furniture that my words are echoing off his dark gray walls. Outside of the barren, drafty ambiance, his place is magnificent. I shouldn’t be so surprised at the grandeur of the interior, seeing as the drive from the privacy gate to his front door was a good quarter mile of beautiful, hand-laid cobblestone, curving in a roundabout at the front of the entry.

Being from Silicon Valley, I am no stranger to men who are incredibly proud of their over-the-top homes. On my past dates, the walk from the car to the front door was a boring lecture on all the lawn and security upgrades they made to the property. We’d get through the door and I’d spend another ten minutes covering my yawn as I was informed that the kitchen marble is incredibly rare and was imported from Venice on a tugboat.

Linc’s home is brag worthy, but he’s not interested in peacocking. The only thing he keeps bragging about is how beautiful his new girlfriend is and how he’s going to rip her dress to shreds.

I’m torn. I want his raw, animalistic passion…but I also really like this dress. It’s a perfect mix of sexy and classy, and of course I brought out the showstopper for my first date with Linc. He’s A-game worthy.

Passing the foyer, we enter Linc’s kitchen, which is the size of my entire apartment.

“White or red, Bambi?” he asks, examining bottles on a metal wine rack.

“White, please,” I say distractedly, taking in the luxurious kitchen. Linc abandons the rack and opens a tall cabinet which turns out to be a hidden fridge. “Linc, are you rich?” I ask with my brows cinched in curiosity.

Uncorking a bottle of what looks like White Zinfandel, he pours two glasses and then points to the living room area behind me, silently instructing me to take a seat and get comfortable.

After handing me a glass, he sits down next to me on his oversized black leather sectional. His knee is touching my thigh, sending glorious anticipatory jitters up my leg. The kind of jitters you get when you know you’re about to have the best sex of your entire life. Nothing will match this night for the rest of my life, I’m sure of it. Not even another night with Linc, because this is the first time. It’s lust mixed with the tantalizing unknown. It’s the most seductive combination in the world and we’ll only have it once. No pressure.

“What’s rich to you?” he asks before taking a sip from his glass.

“Before my fall from grace, I thought I was doing pretty well for myself, but I could never afford a place like this, especially in this city.”

“How much were you making?”

Instinctively, I flinch. I used to lie about my salary to men I dated. Even my boyfriend of eight months never knew I out earned him tenfold. I didn’t want to be taken advantage of or start a pissing competition, so it was easier to omit the truth. But Linc’s a different breed of man.

“At my peak? A little north of a quarter million, annually.”

Linc takes another long sip from his glass. “Then yes, in comparison, I’m rich,” he says before a sexy smile takes over his face. “Why? Are you looking for a sugar daddy? Because I’m open to it. I’ll buy you all the pretty things you want. Just keep wearing dresses like this and doing that thing with your mouth that I like.” He chuckles at his joke before setting his wine glass down on the leather-top coffee table. His hand creeps up my thigh, pushing the hem of my dress upward. I’m undecided amidst the growing heat between my thighs and my inescapable curiosity. I should just shut up and kiss him…

“I was just wondering what the going rate is for taking someone’s life?”

Linc’s hand freezes in place. Dammit, Eden. You and your big mouth. Removing his hand from my thigh, he sits back on the couch. He’s silent. I sip from my glass just to have something to do. I swirl around the tart, crisp white wine in my mouth until it goes warm and I have to swallow. It’s not until I take another sip, that he speaks.

“It depends on the benefactor. But it’s more complicated than getting paid for a hit. The money goes through the house first—it gets pooled for family needs.”

“I’m sorry, what? Family needs…? Like groceries?” I can’t help but smirk at his bizarre response.

“No, Eden.” Linc sighs in exasperation. “I mean like the time we had to pay a foreign dictator over forty million dollars to release Lance from torture after he fucked his wife. ‘Supposedly,’ he didn’t know who she was.” Linc’s pointed stare tells me he doesn’t believe that for one second.

“I want to say I’m surprised…but it’s Lance, so…”

“Right,” he says, chuckling. “Anyway, all the money logistics go through Vesper. I don’t make deals, so I can’t give you a dollar amount. Something’s changed since the FBI took over, but again, I don’t handle the money outside of recovering funds from closed accounts.”

“Closed accounts?” I bring the glass to my lips, but I don’t sip. I’m too transfixed with anticipation.

“Deceased colleagues. Usually, they keep emergency reserves somewhere in their residences.”

I sputter, choking briefly on my own spit that went down the wrong pipe. My blood begins to bubble in agitation and I can’t control my outburst. “You rob your dead cohorts? Are you kidding me?”

“Rob?” Linc asks, looking offended.

Slamming my glass on the table, I stare Linc dead in the eyes. “After I exposed Empress, the company sued me, threatening to put me in jail for breach of confidentiality. The FBI was building their case and couldn’t help me in the interim. The whistleblower association couldn’t do anything because they protect against intracompany retaliation. Empress was no longer a company, so there was nothing they could do.

“I had to lawyer up immediately. And I’m not talking about public defenders. I needed the best defense to go up against their corporate lawyers and they were not cheap. The money my dad left me when he passed paid for the top legal minds of Silicon Valley, and I owe him everything for it. To think you’re depriving the families of your comrades of—”

“Eden,” Linc interrupts me. He squeezes my knee gently, which is what catches me off guard—every time. When I cross the line I expect to be met with anger, instead all he shows is…tenderness. “We don’t have next of kin. Our parents have either passed or think we’re dead. PALADIN is the only family we have. Are we supposed to be buried with our cash?”

My stomach cramps as if someone is grabbing a handful of my intestines and twisting their fist. I drop my head in shame. “I’m sorry. I’m such an idiot. I’ll shut up now.” Pouting at my own insensitivity, I swivel the wine in my glass. I can feel his eyes on me but I don’t look up.

Linc grabs my glass and sets it aside. Leaning into me, he finds my lips with his, but I can hardly commit to the kiss.

“Don’t ask me questions you don’t want answers to, Bambi, because I’m not going to lie to you,” he says, softly. “But you have nothing to apologize for.”

“Thank you for—”

He interrupts me by shoving his thumb into my mouth. “What did I tell you about saying thank you for the rest of the evening?” I’d tell him that I’d used my last one at the restaurant, but his thumb still fills my mouth, making it impossible to talk. “Suck,” he commands. I do, and when he pulls his thumb back out it’s wet with my saliva.

Grabbing my hips, Linc pulls me into a lying position on his couch. He pushes the hem of my dress all the way up and yanks my lacy thong to the side. My pretty black underwear is an overcompensation from my plain comfort cotton panties he saw at our last encounter.

I groan in pleasure as he begins to rub small circles against my clit with his wet thumb. I clamp my eyes shut, and grasp my bottom lip with my top teeth, enjoying the pressure that begins to build.

“You’re going to want to thank me all night long.” He slides his thumb down my crease and teases my entrance. His thumb easily slicks over my slit. I’m already wet. Lately, I’m always wet and wanting. I wait, then buck my hips with perfect timing, forcing the tip of his thumb to barely penetrate me. I groan like I’m in agony as I open my eyes and see his sly smile. “But try to resist.”

“Please, just this once, don’t make me wait,” I beg. “Then, the rest of the night is yours.”

He kisses me while he trades fingers, and slinks his longest finger into me. I cry into his mouth as his tongue dances over mine. When his knuckle presses against my clit, everything inside me is jolted awake. He pumps his finger slowly, purposely toying with me. I beg for my release but judging from the wet sloshing sounds as his finger slides in and out, I’m really enjoying the teasing. My nipples are hard and aching, barely shielded by my lace bra and thin dress. I press them into Linc’s warm chest as I arch my back, trying to withstand the slow torment he’s unleashing upon me. I want his thick cock so bad, but I also could die happy in this anticipatory torture. It’s so damn good. I don’t know which way to go—suspending in pleasure as long as I can or exploding in relief.

This…

This is why I want Linc in control.

I can’t decide.

“What makes you come fastest?” Linc asks with his eyes on my mouth. “Can you come from this?”

“You want this to go fast?” My breath hitches, making a coherent response difficult.

“No. I just need you soaking wet so it’s not uncomfortable when you take every single inch of my cock.” I don’t respond, I just breathe, staying focused on his fingers, trying to clench around them. “Eden,” he says warningly, “answer me.”

“Your tongue,” I grumble, annoyed he’s making me think and speak when I want to float away in the pleasure. “Or rub my clit. That’s the only way I can have an orgasm.”

His finger slows, then stops. He pulls away completely. “You’ve never had one from penetration?”

I shake my head. “I don’t think I can. It takes too long. None of my exes had the patience.”

The corners of Linc’s lips turn down as he bobs his head slowly. I see the challenge in his eyes. Dammit. The blinding ecstasy from his fingers was more than satisfying. I just want to go back to when he was touching me.

“Linc, please don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

I waggle my finger in his face. “Whatever is going through your head. I know men take it as a challenge, but I’ve tried before and it never works. I end up rubbed raw and sore. Then I just fake an orgasm anyway. I’m twenty-nine, I know my body by now. Trust me. Just give me your fingers again.”

He lets out a low hum and for a moment I think I’m about to get my way. But then he smiles…that wicked smile. “Wish I could, Bambi, but that sounds like a boundary to me, and we both know you want those pushed.”

I gripe in protest. “Linc—”

“What’s the safe word?”

I roll my eyes, both annoyed at my admission but also intrigued to find out if Linc’s the one to challenge what I know about myself. “You’re going to have to do more than ask if you want me to say it.”

“Good girl,” he says, drawing out the syllables. He wraps his hand gently around my throat and my heartbeat begins to race. I can literally feel the power in his large hand, all he’d have to do is squeeze. He could crush my windpipe with minimal effort. Linc could end my life right now.

In a moment of panic, I push his hand away. “Sorry, I like it. I just wasn’t expec—”

“Don’t be sorry.” He bites his lip, something hazy claiming his face. “It’s sexy when you fight back. Let her out tonight.”

“Who?” I ask.

He moans, his voice dropping to a low, rumbling growl. “That naughty little freak inside you who wants to come all over my cock.”

My world goes blurry when his sweet breath, filled with wine and mint, is so close I can taste it. I tap my throat. “Try it again, I’m ready now.”

“Later. I have another idea.”

Linc grabs my hand and pulls me off the couch before leading me down a long hallway. We enter the double doors to his bedroom, which, in line with what I’ve already seen of his home, is minimally furnished. No matter, there’s only one thing we need right now and it’s King-sized, plush-looking, and neatly made up. I suspect that’s about to change.

“I need to get something,” Linc says, before heading toward what I’m sure is his walk-in closet. He pauses and smirks at me over his shoulder. “If you want that pretty dress to stay in one piece, you better have it off before I get back.”