Chapter 10: The art of persuasion

“Rafe?” Joss was looking at me with not-very-well-concealed amusement. “Are you with me here? You checked out.”

“Sorry.” I cut into my steak and took a bite. It was a crazy burst of flavor and texture, and I almost moaned. “Oh, my God. This is incredible.”

“Yeah, they do steak well here.”

We ate without speaking for a few minutes. Joss uncorked a bottle of red wine and offered me a glass. It was the perfect complement to my steak, and not what my willpower needed when it came to resisting her.

“You said your grandparents don’t want you to work for Carruthers. But you don’t seem like you’ve made up your mind.”

I blew out a breath and took another sip of wine. “I thought I had. My grandmother doesn’t ask much of me, so I like to make her happy. She almost never asks me not to do something, and she took a stand on this. Told me I should say no.”

“But maybe you don’t want to say no?”

I didn’t. I didn’t want to say no to anything Jocelyn was offering, whether it was a job, a meal or another crazy night of wild animal sex. I met her eyes across the table and groaned when I saw my own desire mirrored right back at me.

“Don’t do that.” I didn’t meant to growl, but it came out that way.

“Do what?” Her innocence was a total sham, I could hear it. She was playing me, and while part of me hated it, another part found it a huge turn-on.

“Don’t look at me the way I’m probably looking at you. God, Joss, this is supposed to be business. Right?”

She cast her eyes to the ceiling and the tip of her tongue shot out to touch the corner of her mouth. Oh, yeah, I was hard. Again. Harder.

“Well, yes, it’s business. But when you work with Carruthers, it’s not like having a regular job. Because you’re working with people who are like you, who are sometimes the only ones you can talk to about the real shit in your life. They’ve become my friends, my family. So yeah, I’m here to recruit you for Carruthers, but if I’m going to be honest...” She leaned her head on her hand, her eyes never leaving mine. “If I’m going to tell you the truth, I have more than one reason for hoping you say yes.”

I tried to find my focus again. “How do I know you aren’t using this as an angle to get me to sign on? Do you work on commission for recruiting new—what did you call them? Operatives?”

“Oh, for the love of God, Rafe. No, I don’t get a commission, and I can tell you I’ve never slept with another recruit. Have I had sex with other Carruthers employees? Yes. I have. But not someone I was trying bring in. And I would have slept with you even if you weren’t a potential. How’s that? Make you feel better?”

“I’m not sure,” I muttered. “I can’t think straight right now. None of my blood is anywhere near my brain.”

Joss grinned. “Why, Rafe, that’s the greatest compliment anyone has ever paid me. Thanks.”

“Any time.” I finished my steak and laid down the fork on the side of the plate.

“Look, Rafe. I have an idea. I was kind of afraid you were still going to be on the fence tonight about Carruthers, so I got approval to offer you something that might help. I have this job tomorrow. Last thing I’m doing before I leave the Big Easy.” She stretched her hand across the table and laid it over mine. “You could come with me. Help me. See what we do, and then maybe you’ll have a better idea about Carruthers and whether or not you want to work with us. How does that sound?”

I studied her with narrow eyes. “I thought you had to keep everything confidential until I officially signed on. Isn’t it a little dicey to have me tag along when I might go tell-all on you?”

She smiled again, this time looking more than a little like the Cheshire Cat. “Because you have as much to lose as we do, Rafe. If you go public on Carruthers, we can do the same right back to you. We can expose your whole family.”

My face must have reflected the sick plunge to my stomach because Jocelyn hurried to go on.

“We never would. You can check us out. Carruthers lives by a code of discretion and silence. We would never tell anyone about your family or your community. I’m not threatening you, I’m just pointing out that you have as much to lose as we do. Understand?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I get it. But I want it clear that what I do is on me, and only on me. I don’t want my grandparents or any of my family put at risk. Do you understand?”

“Of course.”

“Okay. Then I’ll do the job with you tomorrow. You want to tell me about it? Give me the background?”

A predatory glint shone in Joss’s eye. “Tomorrow there’ll be plenty of time for that. Tonight, I think we have other ways of preparing for the mission.”

She shifted in her chair, and I felt her bare foot skim up the inside of my leg, settling at the seam of my jeans, the part that was straining at the stitches. She wriggled her toes, and I gripped the side of the table, unable to breathe.

“God, Joss.” I wish I hadn’t moaned the words, but I totally did. “You...are...incredible.”

“In a good way?” Her other foot joined the game, and I think I went cross-eyed.

“Uh, yeah. In a very good way.”

“Then that’s all right.” She undulated her feet in such a way that I thought I was going to explode right there. I needed to be out of these pants and on top of her. Now. Or maybe five minutes ago.

“No, don’t move.” She slipped her feet away, and I was afraid I was going to cry. That would be fucking embarrassing. But before I could really protest, I realized she had disappeared beneath the table.

“Jocelyn, what are you...Oh. Oh, my God.”

She was under the table, between my legs, and her fingers were busily working on the zipper of my jeans. She tugged it down, letting my erection spring free. Her hands were on me right away. My mouth opened, but nothing came out.

“This is what I wanted to do last night at the restaurant. But you know, I go there a lot. With clients.” Her hands were stroking me, up and down my length as my hips bucked involuntarily. She slipped her fingers beneath to cup me, and with the other hand held me near the head.

“And so it would have been awkward for me to crawl under the table.” Her lips covered me as she spoke, and the vibrations shot up my body. She ran her fingers over my cock as her tongue circled the tip lazily.

“But this is what I would have done. Like I said, I like being in control.” And then she took all of me into her mouth, humming a little in appreciation or being turned on or I don’t know what the hell, but God, it felt so good. I was squirming in my chair, and one of my hands finally moved to knot into her hair.

She lifted her mouth, sucking just a little, and then plunged down again until I hit the back of her throat.

“Joss...get up. I want to...I’m going to...” I was panting, and I couldn’t get the words out. I don’t know if I had ever been so completely turned on.

“No. I’ll have my turn later. For now, this is for you. And for me.” She kept her lips on me even when she was talking, and the movement was insane. I felt the building pressure, the pleasure tunneling my vision to one spot, one focus.

“Ahhhhh...Joss...” I ground out her name as my hips began to pump. “God, Joss, I’m going to come.”

She picked up her tempo, sucking harder, her hands gripping my base as I rode against her mouth, my whole world narrowing to that one place, to her lips, her teeth, her tongue.

When I erupted, it was with a growl and a shout, and my hand clutching the back of her neck. I fell back, panting.

Joss’s face appeared from beneath the tablecloth. She smiled at me, her eyes both lazy and triumphant as she used the napkin to dab at her mouth.

“So...ready for dessert?”