She knew most of that, or had guessed it. But the phrase on the surface clued her in to bigger trouble. “But?”
“The man who came to your house and started all of this was on the loop with Jeff.” Shane exhaled. “In other words, all of these men are connected.”
They clearly thought they were saying something, but she could not follow what. “Didn’t we know that?”
“Many claim not to know each other.” Shane stopped as if weighing how much to say and how to say it. “They don’t live near each other or have any public contacts, but there are contacts. Behind the scenes and not through the usual channels, like emails and phone calls.”
“So this is some big conspiracy to wipe out the website.” She could believe that. Push bad men hard enough and they shoved back. Some of the men who had been uncovered didn’t have much left to lose. Going out by taking down the people who unveiled their lies would not be a surprise.
“Normally I would say yes, but there’s more than that.” Connor glanced at Shane.
He filled in the blank. “Tyler doesn’t appear to be who he claims to be.”
Anger rose inside her and she clamped it down. Her inclination was to rush to Tyler’s defense, get indignant on his behalf. He’d never been anything but good to her. But she looked around and saw the faces of men who cared about her and her brother. Men who wouldn’t lie. Men who clearly knew more than she did. “Explain that.”
“The suspicions are in pieces. All circumstantial.” Connor flipped the computer back to face him. “We can’t prove anything.”
“Yet,” Cam added.
“These guys are passing information back and forth and hiding it. When you peel the layers away, Tyler’s past looks more like the men he hunts than the people he purports to respect.” Shane visibly swallowed. “I don’t want you alone with him.”
No matter what she did, grab on to the counter or blink, she could not stop the spinning in her head. The facts swirled. Every word he said ran through her mind and she tried to grab on and analyze each one. She didn’t understand why Tyler would lie or how any of this could be true, but Shane’s stern expression told her it was.
Tyler was guilty of something, maybe just coloring the truth. She didn’t know, but the team would find out, and she would have to deal with the fallout.
“I hate being lied to.” That qualified as an understatement.
Shane walked over to her. There, in front of his friends and coworkers, he wrapped his arms around her. “We’ll find out that truth.”
And she knew he would.
* * *
SHANE PUSHED INSIDE her as his muscles trembled and his breath punched out of his lungs. The thin legs of the bed shook and the springs rattled. He ignored every noise except the soft growl coming from the back of Makena’s throat. He loved that sound.
Shifting his weight, he plunged again, in and out, slow and steady, until she grabbed on to his shoulders and tugged him closer. “Shane, now.”
“I want it to last.” He didn’t realize he’d said the words out loud until they pulsed in his ears.
“I need to...” She threw her head back. “Please.”
Her shoulders rose off the bed and her ankles dug into the back of his thighs. He pressed her into the mattress as she wrapped her body around his. Friction had their bodies rubbing together, ratcheting up the need flowing through him.
It had been this way from the first time. All wild heat and pounding satisfaction. From her soft skin to every impressive curve, he could not get enough. For the first time in his life he wanted to crawl into bed with her and stay there. Forget work and responsibilities. Forget his past and every wrong turn he’d ever taken.
Her fingernails dug into his shoulders. “I can’t hold back.”
“Don’t.”
Before he even got the word out, her hips started bucking. Heavy breaths rocked her body as her lips skimmed over his chin. Energy spooled off her and wove its way around him. She clung to him, pressing her legs tighter against him. The tightness, the clenching, watching the orgasm rip through her, all combined to set him off. He wanted to wait, savor each pulse inside her, but his body had other ideas.
The tightness that had been building inside him let go. His muscles stiffened the second before they released. Unable to hold his sore neck up for one more second, he let his head drop. Buried his face in her shoulder and breathed in as the orgasm overtook him.
When his hips stopped moving, he collapsed, careful not to drop his full weight on top of her. Lifting off and out of her qualified as the sweetest torture, but then he was next to her with his arm wrapped around her shoulder and her body curled up against his side.