Free Secrets and Satin: A MacKenzie Novel (Romantic Suspense) (MacKenzie Family) by Liliana Hart

wanted to know about your anatomy, or lack thereof.”
    Everyone at the table broke into loud guffaws, and Cade’s lips quirked, acknowledging that round to Declan. Except for Max. He was motionless in his chair, his eyes drilling holes into the side of her head. She’d seen the way his gaze shuttered at the mention of her going in as his bodyguard, and she tried not to let it bother her. But dammit—it did. She was tired of the men in her life trying to stand in front of her all the time. Max had relied on her before this thing between them became personal.
    “Max, you and Jade will head down to your place tonight,” Dec said. “It won’t be long before Vassin gets in contact with you. The rest of us are going to stay here for the time being and keep going through Senator Henry’s passcoded files to see if we can find anything else that could lead us to where his daughter is being kept.”
    Dec scooted back his chair and stood, tossing his beer bottle in the recycler before heading toward the door. The others all followed suit, and Jade went with them to the door while Max leaned back in the chair on two legs and watched them all.
    “Take what you need out of the weapons room with you,” Dec said. “And take the black Explorer in the garage. We’ll dispose of the one you lifted earlier. Both of you stay on your guard. Vassin likes to play dirty.”
    Jade closed the door behind them and turned to face Max, her arms crossing over her chest. “I can tell you right now you’re not going to say one word about my assignment,” she said. “I saw the look on your face the minute it left Declan’s mouth. This is my job. And I may sleep with you, but that doesn’t give you the right to act like a Neanderthal and make me stand two steps behind you. I mean it, Max. The minute you try to stand in front of me, I walk. Period.”
    Max’s lips thinned in a straight line and he stalked toward her until he stood so close they were almost touching. His arms came up on each side of her shoulders and trapped her against the door. She narrowed her eyes in warning.
    “ Stop threatening to walk out on me, or your ass is going to be so red you can’t sit for a week. I know better than anyone how capable you are on the job. But that doesn’t mean I can help the natural instincts to try and protect what’s mine. I’m a man. I think the Neanderthal is in our genes.”
    “Some more than others,” she said sweetly. “Do you trust me to have your back?”
    “Always,” he said, with no hesitation. “But that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Especially since you are going to be sleeping with me. There are certain allowances that have to be made for people you’re intimate with.”
    “Clearly you’ve been reading Emily Post again.”
    “Don’t be a smartass.” He leaned down and gave her a hard kiss, and Jade couldn’t help but twine her arms around his neck and kiss him back with everything she had. When he broke away they were both panting and she wondered if they had time to disobey orders and take the edge off before they headed out.
    “We’d better not chance it,” he whispered against her lips. “Declan will be down here pounding on the door if we’re not out of here in the next five minutes. And once I get you naked, nothing is going to stop me until I’m coming so hard inside of you that you feel me for a week.”
    Jade’s mouth went dry and her fingers tightened at the nape of his neck. “Promises, promises,” she said. “Or maybe it’ll be the other way, Agent Devlin. Maybe I’ll ride you so hard you’ll be feeling me for a week.”
    Jade pushed him back and gave him a saucy wink, and Max let out a startled laugh. She felt good. Free. And she realized it had been a long time since it hadn’t felt like something was strangling her from the inside. She wasn’t weak. And she didn’t need to be coddled. Donovan would always have a special place in her heart. He was her first love and the man she