By the time his vision cleared, Franklin’s mind was still functioning so far under par, it was a wonder he could stand on his own. At the moment, diminished capacity was probably as accurate a description as he could muster.
“I think you killed me. My heart is still racing to the finish line, but my brain is melting into a puddle as we speak.” He shuddered against her, trying to form a coherent thought. “It was worth dying for, though.” The note of amusement in her voice made him smile against her sweat, damned skin.
“Good to know, my beloved pet. I aim to please.” His goal involved something far more permanent, but at the moment, he didn’t have enough functioning brain cells to broach that particular topic. “I’ll move as soon as I’m convinced my muscles have recovered enough to be trusted. You are one hot woman, Asia Adler.”
And you are mine—even if you aren’t convinced yet.
Chapter Two
“Who do you work for, Franklin? Don’t blow smoke up my ass about a consortium of big pharma corporations because I know it’s more.” It had taken them both several minutes to recover from their explosive round of sex before he’d carried her to a large lounger. With a quick wave of his hand, Franklin was holding a soft rag, she’d have sworn had been soaking in warm water.
He’d cleaned the evidence of their mating from her thighs and swollen folds with such tenderness, she’d only been dimly aware of his ministrations. With another quick flick of his wrist, the soiled cloth disappeared, a soft, warm towel appearing in its place. Patting her damp skin dry, Asia felt his breath wafting over her bare pussy, the first stirrings of arousal, making their way to the surface.
“Greedy little sub.” He chuckled as he pressed kisses against the insides of both thighs. The first time he’d taken such tender care of her after a scene, Asia found herself uncomfortable with all the attention. Her fidgeting during that first round of aftercare quickly earned her a spanking she’d felt every time she sat down for the next several days. Being a quick study, Asia quickly learned to lie back and enjoy being pampered. It didn’t escape her attention, he still hadn’t answered her question. Using the tips of her fingers, Asia traced a line down the side of his face.
“I noticed a recurring theme among the companies in your file. I’m not finished researching, but there seems to be a unique pattern… let’s just say, it’s piqued my interest.”
“Enlighten me, Cara.”
He met her gaze, his eyes still dark with latent desire, but she saw something else as well—honesty. He wouldn’t lie to her, but she doubted he’d tell her the entire truth either. If her suspicions were right, he probably couldn’t tell anyone the whole truth—at least not until he had a wife. She was determined to get answers, so she plunged ahead.
“Shadow founders. All the companies were established over a hundred years ago. Many of the core founders were difficult to backtrack, and every one of them can be traced to the Templars in one way or another. The corporations have morphed into what they are now, but their central values are all the same. Coincidently, those values are virtual mirror images of the guiding tenets of the Knights Templar.” As a lawyer, Asia knew coincidences were rare… extremely rare. As a magical, she didn’t believe they existed.
Closing her legs as she straightened her dress, Asia watched Franklin closely. He didn’t have many tells—any magical as gifted as Franklin Cordesi would have learned at a young age to control his reactions. During the time they’d been seeing one another, Asia had studied him and knew exactly what to look for… and there it was, the subtle flex of his jaw.
Damn. He had to give her credit—she’d done her homework. Listening to what she said had been enlightening, but it was the thoughts she hadn’t spoken aloud he considered most significant. She was right, he wouldn’t lie to her, but he couldn’t tell her the whole truth either—not yet.
“The connection between the magic world and the Knights Templar is well-documented if you know where to look. It’s no accident the Templars were persecuted—their power and influence were huge. Remember, the church was the most powerful organization in Europe for many years, and quite frankly, they didn’t appreciate the competition.” He saw her lips twitch as she fought the smile he could see in her twinkling eyes.
As a shifter, Asia’s ancestors would have also feared the church. So much of history was littered with the persecution of anything and everything people didn’t understand. Organized religion had done their best to bring about the extinction of any group not falling within their narrow parameters of acceptable. The church was a political powerhouse, and their relentless pursuit was the reason many shifters left their homes to establish bases in the New World.
“Have you felt any connection since you arrived? Were your forebears from this area?” He was genuinely curious if she’d felt any of the earthbound connection shifters often spoke about.
“Forebears? My ancestors are probably rolling over in their graves.” Shaking his head at her, Franklin couldn’t help but laugh at her emphasis on the word bears.
“I didn’t realize wolf shifters were such snobs.” Using his thumb and first finger, Franklin rubbed his chin to appear as though he was lost, deep in thought. “So, you’re telling me you wouldn’t want to be mistaken for a bear shifter, is that right?”
“No, I would prefer you didn’t make such a crass mistake within hearing range of my siblings—blood is so hard to remove from… well, everything.” He could hear the teasing in her voice but knew there was plenty of truth in her request. “I’ve never been particularly interested in genealogy. Kensington has always sworn we are mutts.” She rolled her eyes, but affection for her famous sibling was coming off her in waves. “He swears his mixed heritage accounts for his ability to adopt accents so easily. I say it’s because he is simply stellar when it comes to pretending he is someone else.” Rather than argue, Franklin nodded his head in understanding. He wasn’t going to argue the point since it was apt to be a combination of the two.
Lifting her hand, he tucked it into the crook of his arm, leading her from the room. He still wanted to finish their walk-through of the ground floor before anyone else arrived. So far, he’d noted numerous stolen artifacts. Making certain everything was well-documented, so things didn’t disappear, was going to be his second priority. Keeping Asia safe would always come first, and with his internal alarms clanging, keeping her out of the line of fire might not be as easy as he’d hoped.
“Are you going to tell me who you work for?”
Franklin hid his smile. Goddess above, you have to love a straightforward, persistent woman.
“I do contract work for various organizations who’ve fallen on the Council of Magic’s radar. The Council is particularly interested when a magical is working for a secular organization, and it’s suspected they are using magic. That was the case with London. I managed to ingratiate myself with a few of her employers, which afforded me the perfect opportunity to investigate. As soon as I knew what she was working on, the scope of my mission changed dramatically.